Chapter 1: The Journey Begins
Notes:
Hm? Who are you? You're looking at me like you want something.
...A story? That's what you're here for? I'm pretty busy right now, you know. One of the Storyteller's threads broke, you see... then again, I am pretty bored. I've just been watching this group for a few months now.
Well... you know what? I could use the company. I myself am a teller of tales. But right now, I've got to ensure the Storyteller's own tales go to plan.
See that creature? That's Cinderella - or Grey, as she's known here. You know how Cinderella's story goes, right? With the mean stepfamily, the glass slippers, marrying a prince at the end? If she'd followed her thread properly, she would've had that happily ever after.
Then again, the odds were stacked against her from the start. Her father reproduced with an entity beyond the Storyteller's control, and our Cinderella was only half-human. We had to bring in some elements of Rapunzel's tale to keep her contained... but she didn't find a prince. Instead, she's run off with a crazy knight lady who was supposed to get killed by a local guard captain. Now all of their threads are broken, and I'm stuck babysitting them to make sure they don't unravel anyone else's threads.
Sit with me for a while. Let us watch them together.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Even while asleep, Vanica could tell that Grey was cuddling her, because she was dreaming about the universe again.
Thousands of stars glittered in the abyssal void, some only little white pinpricks while other, giant red ones lit up the cosmos like the sun. Nebulae shone against the darkness, vividly coloured dust scattering through space, pink and blue and deep red and orange and blinding white. They seemed so close, yet so far away. The universe was full and bright, but also bleak and empty. If she squinted, she could see shadows flitting through that emptiness, wriggling and squirming like sea creatures.
And then there was the silence. It was deafening. Between that and the yawning void separating her from the stars, Vanica found that the universe actually got kind of boring after a while. She whiled away the time by focusing on those shadows, those writhing tendrils, only to find that they were slipping away beyond human reach at an incredible speed, as if hurrying away from her.
And then the cosmos burst into flames. Suddenly, scorching white light was blinding her as a gaping chasm opened before her, stardust and fire spilling out in a tidal wave, hell itself opening up beyond the heavens. It emitted an unearthly scream, breaking the solemn silence, and the shadows shrieked right back at it as they scattered.
Vanica woke up. Damn it. That was a pretty cool dream, so why’d she have to wake up at the best part?! She glared up at the roof as sunlight shone onto her face through the holes in the rotting wooden planks, the straw mat beneath her tickling her skin. Above her feet, Megicula was hanging upside-down from the rafters by a wiry black tail, her batlike wings folded around her while she stared unblinkingly at the human below. Vanica had never seen her sleep. Did she even need to?
Grey had apparently relaxed her form overnight, her body a tangled heap of black tendrils and hairy limbs. She was cuddling up to Vanica, coiled around her and purring softly in her sleep while one of her mouths nibbled at Vanica’s kneecap. Another one was drooling thick black fluid all over the floor, studded with tiny white spots like liquefied stars. It reeked like something had died, and there was no way that nasty black stain was ever coming out of the floorboards. God, she was so cute. Vanica wrapped her arms around what she was pretty sure was Grey’s waist and hugged her, feeling that low purr reverberating through her body. Her girlfriend’s skin – if it could even be called that – possessed the consistency of thick treacle.
Grey’s weirdness was what drew Vanica to her. Everything about her entire existence was just so exciting. She wasn’t constrained by human limitations. She possessed strange powers one could only dream of. If she wanted, she could kill Vanica in a thousand different ways or leave her insane and nonfunctional, yet she wouldn’t. While Grey embodied the nightmares of most humans, Vanica loved the thrill of a nightmare. They made life so much more fun.
The fifteen mouths Vanica could see all yawned at the same time, gaping unnaturally wide as their unnervingly large and perfectly square teeth gleamed a brilliant white in the sunlight. Grey’s limbs folded into her body as patches of human skin grew across her length, connecting with strands of tissue in a great web of flesh to encase her essence, which coiled tightly to fit its new vessel. On top of that, she coated herself in a layer of white sponge-like tendrils, much like her mother’s, to hide the fact that she wasn’t dressed. Within seconds, a blue-haired human woman was curled up against Vanica’s chest, gazing lovingly at her with soft grey eyes.
Vanica kissed Grey’s forehead. “Morning!”
In response, Grey blushed and hid her face under Vanica’s chin. “Hi...” She was just so cute! Megicula studied them, a twinge of envy in her red eyes, but said nothing.
But they needed to get up soon, to make the most of the day and travel as far as they could before nightfall. Vanica tried to push her girlfriend off of her, but Grey whined and melted straight through her fingers, stubbornly tightening her grip. “Grey, c’mon. Zenon’s gonna get pissy if we’re late again.”
That got her to move, since she was apparently a bit afraid of Zenon. Grey reluctantly slithered away, her legs merging into one thick black tail that left a trail of ooze on the rickety floorboards. While she headed for the room’s corner to grab her light blue dress, Vanica gathered up her clothes and armour to take to the nearest free bathroom, carefully opening the door and making sure there weren’t any other patrons about to catch a glimpse of Grey’s half-human state or Megicula hanging like a bat. Stepping out into the cramped corridor, she ushered Grey out before closing the wooden door behind them. Megicula never moved – apparently, she didn’t need to practise human hygiene due to being nonhuman or something?
Since it was 5 AM and the sun had barely risen, only Zenon was up. He was already kitted out in his armour, his sword securely in its scabbard on his belt and his shield across his back, standing stiff and straight as a board outside his room while he waited for his roommate, Dante, to hurry up. He nodded at the women as they passed.
The inn had exactly one bathroom due to its small size, which five rooms of people had to share between each other. Two round, wooden tubs were supplied for washing, alongside a trough of water gathered from the river to fill them, and there was a small hole at the far end of the room that stank something awful. Since there was no locking mechanism on the door, Vanica watched as Zenon’s shadow seeped underneath, her brother positioning himself in front of the door to warn other guests that the bathroom was in use and prevent any accidental onlookers who might freak out over Grey.
While Vanica took off her coarse wool pyjamas and sat in a tub to wash herself, Grey just dissolved and rested on top of the water in the other tub, forming a sticky purple-black layer resembling an oil spill. Once they were done, it was quite simple for Grey to get dressed – she just slipped into her dress and materialised in a human form. It took a little longer for Vanica, who had to put on all of her armour over linen clothes. Sometimes, she envied Grey’s ability to change shape. Having more arms would make the process so much faster.
Grey waited patiently while Vanica slipped both of her swords into their scabbards. After losing her original sword in a scuffle with Damnatio a few months ago, she’d taken to using a pair of smaller ones for extra power. Shields were for weaklings. Before they left, Vanica took a moment to look over Grey and ensure nothing nonhuman was visible. The last thing they needed was for people to freak out and call the guards on them.
Once everybody had dressed and eaten, they met up outside the inn. Each human carried a knapsack containing their pyjamas and their meagre rations and funds. Megicula had taken on a petite human form that now lacked horns and wings, with black tendrils clustered together to form the shape of a little black dress. With her wand in hand, she looked no different from any human sorceress. The streets were still deserted, early morning mist enshrouding the little timber houses. A light breeze was blowing from the west, across the enormous fairy forest they’d finally made it through.
“So, where to next?” Dante asked.
Zenon was holding a crumpled map. “Hm. We’re in Lawton now – just outside the fairy forest – which would put us at the eastern edge of Spade. Clover’s at the eastern end of the continent.”
“Excuse me?” Dante peered over his shoulder and frowned. “But we’re at the western end! I’m not travelling across an entire continent!”
“If you would like to be left behind, you are welcome to that.”
Dante grumbled a little but didn’t volunteer to stay back. Instead, he turned to Megicula. “I thought you said you were in the Clover Kingdom when Grey was freed? If you could travel so fast then, why not just take us there now?”
Megicula shook her head. “I did warn you that your presence would slow us down. A human travelling at that speed will explode. Furthermore, were it not for three of you being entirely unable to follow basic instructions, we could have been more than halfway there by now.”
The Spade Kingdom was separated from the rest of the continent by a giant fairy forest. They’d gotten stuck in there for three months, running around in circles. It was super boring, but Vanica and Grey had also shared their first kiss under the stars, on a little cliff they’d found somewhere in there – and that made it totally worth it.
Megicula scowled and started scolding the group. “Quite frankly, it is a miracle we ever found each other again. I had one instruction for all of you – do not deviate from the path, no matter what. Zenon appears to be the only one who could remember that.” She glared at Dante. “There were no pretty women in there. Those were tricks of the fairies. What woman would roam an enchanted forest known for being dangerous? Think with your head.” Then she scowled at Grey. “The fairies didn’t even need to trick you. You just ran off after some flowers, like a fool. And Vanica, what would possess you to run after her?”
“Because I didn’t want her to get lost forever!” Vanica protested. “Aren’t I supposed to stay with her?”
Grey shrank back, blushing with shame. “S-sorry...”
“Make that four,” said Zenon. “Lady Megicula, I seem to recall you leaving the path as well.”
She glared at the ground, her grip tightening on her wand. “I was not aware that the fairies could mimic one of my own kind in distress. I thought it was Grey.” Then she changed the subject remarkably quickly. “Where is the nearest village on the map?”
Zenon traced a line to the east of Lawton. “We can cut through the Diamond Kingdom by going east.”
“Absolutely not,” Megicula declared. “I’d rather avoid Diamond altogether. That kingdom has a history of dire political instability, civil wars and infighting. The ruling dynasty has changed three times in this past decade alone. If we cut through there, we risk being caught up in ongoing violence – it’ll take longer, but we need to head around.”
“Aww, c’mon!” Vanica complained. “That sounds so fun! Why can’t we just go through with your powers?”
“If too many come to fear us, we risk a continental manhunt. We are going around.”
“Hm...” Using the forest to the west, Zenon oriented himself to face southeast. “If we head for the sea and follow the southern coastline, there’s a settlement called Raquey. Following that...” He dragged his finger northeast of Raquey on the map. “There’s a village called Hage. It’ll require passing through a woodland and will take us just inside Diamond’s border, but will enable us to bypass most of the kingdom’s territory.”
Megicula scrutinised the map. “That will do. If we take a few jobs in each village, we should be able to replenish our yuls as well.”
“Can we go already?” Vanica whined. Standing around and talking was boring!
“If we’re all in agreement, then yes.” Megicula waited for any objections, but none came. “Very well. If we start now, we should reach Raquey in two days.”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Megicula watched as Grey and Vanica ran ahead of the group. While she, Dante and Zenon maintained a steady pace and remained on the dirt path connecting Raquey and Lawton’s main trade route, Vanica and Grey kept dashing ahead and deviating from the route for the most mundane things, like a pair of chaos tornadoes. If they didn’t slow down, they were going to exhaust all of their energy and slow the entire group down.
As soon as they’d left Lawton, Grey’s lower body had shifted to become that of a multi-legged beast, and she now resembled a centaur. As a youngling, she didn’t have enough control to keep herself folded up in a tiny human form like Megicula could. Furthermore, after being forced into a human form for decades, Grey seemed unwilling to stay in such a form unless absolutely necessary.
All around the path were sprawling fields of green grass and vivid flowers across the rolling hills. A pleasant breeze was coming from the west, across the cloudless blue sky, and all sorts of bees and butterflies roamed the meadows from flower to flower. The land sang of bounty, plenty and peace, though it was a little difficult to hear over the ever-present dull, droning song of Megicula’s own kind, scattered across the cosmos.
Where Megicula walked, winter flowers sprang up behind her – poinsettias, pansies, winter jasmines and snowdrops – reflecting her upbringing in the frigid void of space. Where Grey walked, she mostly left bluebells, violets and lilies of the valley. Those flowers represented humility.
Megicula watched carefully as Grey ran off to pluck a dandelion, before almost tripping over her own tangled legs as she rushed to place it in Vanica’s hair. Vanica grinned at her, now sporting a chaotic crown of random flowers, and affectionately tousled Grey’s hair. Exactly how many flowers was Grey planning on picking? That had to be the fifth dandelion alone. Megicula didn’t understand what she found so fascinating about them.
Grey found another flower. She stopped entirely, staring at it with fascination, before turning around and shyly approaching Megicula with it. “Mother... w-what’s this?”
“Hm?” Megicula studied the light pink flower gently cupped in Grey’s hands. “That’s a carnation.” Every living thing had a song she and Grey could hear. Flowers proudly sang of what humans saw in them – they were almost arrogant about it. The pink carnation sang of motherhood and maternal love.
Grey listened to the song. “Oh...! Then...” She held out her hands, offering the flower.
Megicula took the flower, unsure of what to do with it. “...Thank you.” Grey smiled at her, before bounding away again. Though Grey was her daughter, Megicula couldn’t figure out quite how she was supposed to interact with her. They hadn’t seen each other for 25 years. Grey was a stranger to her. Megicula studied her closely, trying to understand what kind of person she was.
Now Vanica was running ahead for something. “Oh, hey! Did someone get attacked? That’s so cool!”
“An attack?” Megicula sprouted a set of spidery, spindly limbs and rushed forward to examine the scene. Vanica had found the abandoned remains of a simple horse-drawn wagon, its wooden side punctured by feathered arrows and no horse or rider in sight. There was nothing inside. Megicula scanned her surroundings, listening for human songs and searching for their auras to indicate the presence of any hostile parties, though she found none. Meanwhile, Vanica yanked out one of the arrows while Grey hid behind her.
“Look at this!” Vanica showed the arrow to Grey, who whimpered and scuttled away from it. “Isn’t it awesome?”
Zenon pulled out another one, examining the black feathers on its end. “Hm. This does not appear to match the standard-issue arrows of Spade’s royal archers.”
“Yeah, ‘cause those ones are boring! These ones are cool!”
Dante had drawn his rapier and was prowling around the wagon. “Might we be in for a little entertainment, perhaps?”
“I do not sense anybody,” Megicula answered. “It is likely that all involved parties have moved on.”
“Well, that’s just boring,” he grumbled. Humans were such fascinatingly bloodthirsty creatures.
“It is best that we leave,” Zenon advised, drawing his sword and shield and scanning his surroundings as he took several cautious steps forward. “We risk being mistaken for the perpetrators of the crime.”
“Hey, do you think they’ll come back?” Vanica was so excited that she was shivering. What an odd individual. “Can we fight them? D’you think they’ll be fun?”
Grey whimpered, sticking close to her ♡☆ as the group began to walk again. “B-but I don’t want to fight...”
“Aww, c’mon! It would be so fun if you'd just let loose!”
Truly, they were a bizarre pair. Vanica’s fiery red aura completely overwhelmed her partner’s dull grey aura when they were close together. Furthermore, this human was unusually fixated on violence as a form of entertainment, while Grey seemed to be rather shy and easily frightened. Yet even so, their songs were in harmony, singing of love and adoration. Vanica was a rather strange choice for an ♡☆... then again, considering what had happened 25 years ago, Megicula’s own choice of ♡☆ had been far worse. At the very least, this human accepted Grey as she was without question. That was the best outcome one could hope for. Maybe that was why Grey had chosen to bestow half of her soul onto Vanica.
Megicula was still missing half of her soul. Without it, her powers were greatly diminished. She could still hear it calling to her from the Spade Kingdom, yearning for her presence. Alas, once an ♡☆ was selected, that choice could not be taken back. What had she been thinking when she chose him?
In all honesty, she envied what Grey and Vanica had. Grey could be herself with Vanica. If only Megicula’s ♡☆ had been so accepting...
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
“We can’t find them, sire.” The knight knelt before the throne, on the royal blue carpet that rolled out from there almost to the door. Gordon watched the conversation unfold from one side of the grand, square stone chamber, taking his place alongside the rest of the king’s staff.
King Lycaon stared down at the messenger, his piercing grey eyes as judgemental and wary as ever. “And where were they last seen?”
“Entering the fairy forest. They’ve either left the kingdom or fallen to the fairies’ tricks.”
“Fairies...” Lycaon growled. He tapped his fingers on the armrests of his throne. “Call off the search. Do not follow them in. If the monsters have left my land, they are no longer my problem.”
Ever since Damnatio had been incapacitated three months ago, Lycaon had been obsessed with tracking down those responsible – a pair of horrifying beasts and three disgraced knights, apparently. Gordon had been unable to restore Damnatio’s faculties, and the guard captain would only babble about the other side of the universe. The way in which more senior housekeeping staff talked of the monsters was strange too. They spoke in hushed whispers, seeking not to be overheard, leaving newer hires like Gordon in the dark. What were these beasts? How could any creature rob a man of his sanity and independence, just like that?
The knight hurriedly left the throne room to spread the word, and Lycaon sat back and sighed as he slumped in his throne, his wariness and alertness replaced by exhaustion. He was still anxious, as evidenced by the way he frantically combed his fingers through his magnificent messy mane of blue hair and gritted his teeth. He seemed tired and weary, drained by his constant fear. But if the monsters were gone – and therefore no longer a threat, as he’d just claimed – why was Lycaon still so afraid of them?
Gordon watched as Lycaon pinched the bridge of his nose, a small hiss of pain escaping from between his clenched teeth. Was another headache coming on, perhaps? That was the fifth one this week... Gordon expected that he’d probably be summoned again if it didn’t abate by sundown.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
As the sun began to sink, the grassy hills ended in a sheer drop at the land’s southern edge. It was only the second cliff Grey had ever seen, and she anchored several legs to the ground like stakes – just in case – while she extended her neck to safely look over the edge at the dizzying drop below. At the bottom was a layer of pristine white grains, water rushing in to lap at them. The cliff sang of danger and peril, of the thousands who had perished falling from its edge, while the water sang of adventure, lost treasures and a world unknown to land dwellers.
Grey withdrew, the height making her nervous and sick. That water stretched on forever, seeming to merge with the vast sky as the sun descended beneath the surface, turning it gold as fire met water. The air smelled strange, a scent that Grey couldn’t quite place.
Zenon was roaming dangerously close to the cliff’s edge, examining the surrounding area. “This may be the most ideal place to spend the night. If we descend to the beach itself, we risk being swept out by the tide as it rises.”
Beach? Tide? Those were new words. Grey shyly sidled up to Zenon, shrinking back a little as those icy blue eyes pierced through her soul. “Um... um... w-what’s this?” She pointed over the side of the cliff.
“Ah. You’ve not seen this before.” He began to point at each feature as he spoke. “Down there is a beach. The white granules are sand, and the water is the ocean. The tide refers to the water level rising and receding according to the moon’s position.”
“T-thank you...” She shuffled back, bobbing her head respectfully and receiving a slight nod in return. Zenon was kind of scary, and this cliff was just so high... Grey felt afraid, but she always felt safe with Vanica. Where was she?
Grey turned around to search for Vanica and found her sitting right on the very edge, mesmerised by the crashing waves and sheer rock face below her. Oh no... that didn’t look safe. Humans couldn’t stop large falls or land safely after suffering one. Grey merged her many legs into a glistening black and purple tail, wrapping it around Vanica’s waist to keep her secure while she sat beside her. Sitting on a cliff’s edge, bodies entangled under the stars, Grey was reminded of their first kiss.
As the sky glowed pink and purple, the stars began to emerge in their thousands to pepper the night sky. The dull, droning song of Grey’s peers seemed to increase in volume as the vastness of space became visible, and she found herself yearning for something she’d never known.
She felt Vanica’s heartbeat speed up, and Grey looked over to see Vanica grinning at her. For some reason, she seemed to get really happy whenever Grey coiled around her. She was very strange, but it was nice to feel wanted like this. Vanica pulled her in, and Grey cuddled up against her chest. She felt safe here, in the arms of her ♡☆.
Further back, a safe distance away from the cliff’s edge, Mother was keeping a careful eye on them as she began to unfold, her inky star-studded form billowing out and blooming like a cosmic flower. Dante had flopped down in the grass next to her and now watched, intrigued, as he was enveloped in a protective dome that kept out the biting cold of the night’s winds. Crimson eyes dotted its exterior, watching their surroundings, and it briefly opened up to let Zenon in before closing again. Aside from Mother, Grey and Vanica were alone under the darkening sky.
Grey’s hearts slowed as she began to relax. Vanica still had loads of flowers in her hair. She was so pretty... Grey really wanted to kiss her, but she felt awkward about the fact that Mother was right there.
Vanica leaned over to watch the waves crashing against the cliff. “Hey, can I use you to bungee-jump from here? It looks fun!”
The mere thought of it was rather horrifying. Before Grey could decline, Mother materialised a mouth of needle-like teeth to intervene. “Do not attempt it, especially in the dark.”
“Don’t be a buzzkill!”
Then Mother extended a set of tendrils and pulled them both back toward her. “I do not trust you to conduct yourself with appropriate caution over there.” Now they were sat right next to the dome. “Behave.”
The sea breeze was picking up, quickly developing a chilly edge as the sun disappeared entirely. It didn’t bother Grey, but she felt Vanica shiver in her coils. Mother noticed it too and seemed to remember that humans slept at this time, opening her tent-like form to allow them in. “We will be departing early tomorrow. You will need to replenish your stamina.”
Grey slithered inside with Vanica. Just before Mother’s form closed up behind them, leaving them in a comfortable darkness, Grey noticed that she was gazing wistfully at the stars above.
Notes:
Hm... I don't like how close they're getting to Raquey. There's a myth unfolding there right now, you see. Perhaps I could convince them to turn around...
I don't suppose it would harm the tale's course to send HER over for a little detour. She's been working so hard on destroying that village, you know. I'd say she deserves a snack to keep her going.
Chapter 2: Scourge of the Sea
Summary:
The travellers are attacked by a giant sea monster in the middle of the night! In the ensuing battle, not everyone will emerge unscathed...
CONTENT WARNING for dislocated bones being forced back into place. Don't try this at home!
Notes:
Here, fishy, fishy... yes, this way! Who's a good lil sea beast, huh?
Hm? What am I doing? I'm leading this monster along the coast! Isn't she beautiful? The Storyteller crafts only the best adversaries for his heroes! She's been playing her role beautifully so far, but she's at a loose end while we wait for preparations to be completed, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to take her on a little detour. I need these fools out of the picture! We can't have threads tangling and unravelling, can we now?
What? Why don't I just kill them directly or turn them around? Well, we can't control a creation's thoughts or desires once we make it. The Storyteller dictates where one is born and who they're born to, but once they're here? They make their own way. That's why he plans his tales and endings so meticulously, down to the minute, to make sure they're naturally inclined to follow his story. I can't make this creature follow me - she chooses to do that herself - but I'm confident she'll do what I need her to. She's not a big fan of humans, after all.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Grey didn’t actually need to sleep. She just liked to because dreams were fun, and it provided a way to pass the time until Vanica woke up again. But sometimes, like tonight, sleep eluded her.
Grey watched the Zogratis siblings as they slept, wondering how on earth they could be so dead to the world despite how uncomfortable they looked. Though they were cushioned in Mother’s coils, they were also sleeping in full armour due to the fact that the roads simply weren’t safe and any sudden combat required them to be ready. As a result, they were unwashed and sweaty from travelling all day.
Zenon was laid out on his back, stiff as a board and entirely still with his muscles poised, ready to leap up at a moment’s notice. Dante was lazily sprawled out, snoring with his mouth agape and entirely relaxed, like a cat leisurely sunbathing. Vanica was curled up on her side and tightly hugging one of Grey’s tendrils, frequently twitching and kicking a little in her sleep. Several of Mother’s eyes remained trained on them, while many others roved over her surroundings.
Grey stared up at the black expanse above her, watching as white spots in the shapes of constellations slithered through the ooze. She could still hear the song of her own kind, increasing in volume and becoming a shrill chittering sound as panic started to seep through the connection they all shared. Not only was the sound disruptive, but it scared Grey. What were they afraid of?
“Mother,” she whispered. “That song...”
Mother didn’t outwardly react, though her eyes seemed to swivel around a little faster. “This is normal. Worry not – we will be safe so long as we remain on this planet.”
Was that why they were travelling in search of a home here, rather than taking the easy way out by simply flying off into the cosmos? Was there something out there to fear?
Grey wanted to ask what they were afraid of, but she had a feeling the answer would scare her even more. Instead, she curled up and shivered, whimpering a little. Mother said nothing, apparently choosing not to share just what kind of horrors existed out there.
The silence became rather awkward and tense. Grey still couldn’t sleep, instead watching the arrangements of stars moving through her mother’s body. She wanted to ask about them, but she was hesitant. Though she dearly loved Mother – and was loved in return – Grey didn’t really know her, and Mother was similarly distant. They hadn’t seen each other since Grey was merely a few days old, and Mother wasn’t the most affectionate or emotive individual beyond their initial emotional reunion three months ago. Grey wasn’t sure how to approach her, how to talk to her, and was always worried about bothering Mother too much.
Luckily, the silence was broken when Mother noticed several of Grey’s eyes following the stars. “You wish to know about them?” she murmured.
Grey nodded shyly. “I-if that’s okay...”
“Come outside,” she whispered. “The real ones are out here, and I wish to avoid disturbing the humans.” Part of her skin pulled away, opening up a little hole that Grey slithered through to sit on top of the dome. Mother’s upper body materialised to sit with her, her flowing white hair seeming to glow in the darkness, their tendrils entwining.
Above them, thousands upon thousands of stars twinkled in the endless void above the heavens. Grey wasn’t sure which ones to ask about first.
“The stars hold stories,” Mother explained. “Which ones catch your eye?”
“Um... there’s so many...”
“Don’t overthink it. Point at something.”
“Uh...” Grey pointed at a group of three blue-white stars, arranged in a straight line. “Those ones...”
“Ah. Those make up Orion’s Belt. The humans identify these stars with a hunter named Orion.” Mother started pointing at other stars close to it. “If you imagine lines between these stars, they look vaguely like a human. Do you see?”
No matter how she tried, Grey couldn’t imagine a human in the stars. They just still looked like stars. “Not really...”
“It takes some exercising of the imagination. No matter. Either way, some humans consider them an image of him.” Then Mother pointed at a cluster of stars just next to Orion, a line of them that branched out into two longer lines. “Next to him is Taurus, the bull that he is hunting.”
Grey still didn’t understand how the stars were supposed to be shaped like a bull, but she could sort of see how the two lines might be horns. “I think... m-maybe I see it...”
“But you know... there are all kinds of humans. Nobody sees the same sky in the same way. To some, Orion might be another man – Gilgamesh – slaying the Bull of Heaven sent to kill him. Or his belt may be the final resting place of Osiris, a god of the dead from the south. How intriguing.”
“Then... the same stars are different people?”
“Fascinating, isn’t it?” A flicker of a smile crossed Mother’s face. “They see the same things in different ways. That was why I dared to approach them. I was curious and wished to study these humans.” Then the smile faded, replaced by a glower. “I underestimated how troublesome they can be. In hindsight, directly involving myself was a grave error.”
Silence fell between them again, and Grey stared down at the ground. On the one hand, she understood and agreed with that sentiment. Humans could be dangerous creatures when they were afraid. But on the other hand, if Mother hadn’t met Father, Grey would not exist. Did that make her an error too? Did Mother regret having her? She was too afraid of the answer to ask the question. And... not all humans were so fearful or prejudiced. Just below their entangled tendrils, three human allies slept peacefully. Vanica...
In the distance, they heard a ghostly crooning, resembling the bellow of a whale. Mother fixed her eyes on the ocean beyond the cliff, searching for the source in the crashing waves. As the wailing spanned from lower notes to higher ones, Grey realised that it was singing. It wasn’t the ethereal song that emanated from all bodies and lands, but a song that all creatures could hear, beautiful yet haunting.
Mother stretched some tendrils out to poke the sleeping humans. “Up. Now.”
“Oh, come on...” Dante grumbled, sighing. Meanwhile, his siblings leapt to their feet, drawing their weapons as they emerged to stand vigilantly by their allies. Mother and Grey disentangled themselves and took on their human forms.
Zenon’s sharp eyes spotted it first. “There.” He pointed with his blade. Almost invisible under a mantle of darkness, a large sail-like fin was cutting through the waves like a hot knife through butter, parallel to the cliff. Grey noticed a dark pink aura exuding from it, subdued yet powerful.
Vanica saw the fin and clenched her sword hilts tighter, shivering as she tensed up. “Ooh, it’s a big one! Hey, do you think it can get up here? I wanna have a go at it!”
“Quiet!” Mother hissed. “Do not draw its attention.”
“You’re no fun...”
Dante lazily drew his rapier, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s that sound? Perhaps a lovely siren?”
Zenon shook his head. “If it were, you would have already walked off the cliff. That fin is also too large.”
It silently descended beneath the waves, the aura stifled as the creature sank deeper beneath the ocean. The singing stopped. Was it gone? Perhaps it hadn’t noticed them, considering the darkness and how high up they were? Nobody moved, waiting in tense silence.
Everybody was so focused on looking at the ocean that they never thought to look at the land behind them. After all, why would they? It was a sea beast.
It was Mother who heard the slithering and squelching first. “Hm?” She turned her head 180 degrees to see behind herself. “It’s aiming to trap us!”
An enormous white-finned tail had emerged from the sea beside the cliff and now lay across the grass, a wall of glistening dark pink scales cutting them off from the fields beyond the beast’s reach. It had to be ten feet tall... the humans couldn’t climb that! Perhaps, if Grey and Mother pulled them up...
Grey unfolded her body, hairy arms emerging from her back as her legs fused and elongated into a serpentine form lined with legs and tendrils. She opened all of her eyes, furtively scanning her surroundings as she attempted to approach the blockage. But as she scuttled over, the tip of the tail – previously hanging over one edge of the cliff – reared up to strike, forcing her to jump back as the tail of a whale slammed into the ground where she’d been. The sea began to churn, almost seeming to squirm as pulsating coils rose up above the ocean, twisting and curling.
Mother studied the thrashing tail as it lifted up into the air again, towering over the group and aiming to crush them. “Impeding our escape...” she muttered. “A degree of sapience...?”
At the cliff’s far edge – which definitely did not feel far enough away – a giant serpentine head emerged from the sea, the spear-like horn on its snout cutting straight through the waves, its roar shrill and harsh as it shook the earth. Its white-finned ears splayed out threateningly as its dark red mane was whipped by the sea breeze, its bulbous red eyes bulging unnaturally from its head and glaring hungrily at its far smaller opponents as its bright yellow slit-shaped pupils glowed in the darkness. Serrated fangs lined its maw, glistening in the moonlight as it gnashed its teeth, each as tall as a man.
“Yes!” Vanica screamed, threateningly rattling her swords at the monster. “C’mon! Give us a good fight!”
“No!” Grey protested, horrified. She dragged Vanica back with a tendril before she could leap straight into that gaping mouth. “I-it’s too big!”
“Well, what else are we supposed to do?! C’mon, lighten up and have some fun!”
Dante faced its head, keeping an eye on its movements, while Zenon assessed the wall of scales and lashing tail blocking the path to safety. “A sea beast...” Zenon mumbled. He glowered at its smooth, sinuous scales. “Heavy, defensive scales would prevent such swift movement. These may be thin enough to damage.”
“Watch out!” Dante yelled, leaping to one side as the monster’s head lunged forward. Grey yelped as she jumped to the side, only to be faced with one of those quivering eyes staring right into her soul as its jaws snapped shut on empty air like a bear trap, its breath rancid and hot.
Vanica lunged at the thick, rubbery white skin on its throat, hacking at it with wild abandon. It simply contorted and flexed under her blades, resistant to their cutting edges, so she reached a little higher to strike its sodden scales next to its ear, splitting them and opening a thin gash. Meanwhile, Mother calmly approached its mouth and slammed her wand against a tooth, causing it to crumble and melt down like rock turning molten. The beast withdrew to safety before screaming furiously at its prey and swinging its head from side to side, blood and fire dripping from its head and spit flying as the thick ropes of saliva between its teeth quivered from the force of its roar. It sang of pure and fiery anger, sheer rage emanating from every scale, driven entirely by wrath.
“Why don’t you just make it go mad?” Dante yelled at Mother. “Like you did to Damnatio!”
“That doesn’t work on monsters,” she answered. “They’re born of the darkness within god and man. They’ve seen the void before.”
“W-what do we do?” Grey shrieked, terrified.
“Force it to move!” Zenon shouted over the din, sidestepping another mighty slam of its tail to bury his sword in the coil resting on the land. Before it could lift its tail up again, Vanica set upon it like a demon from hell, slashing across its flukes to draw more blood and stain the grass red. It rose and slammed her in the chest in retaliation, sending her catapulting into Grey’s many waiting arms.
“Are you alright?!” Grey could feel that something wasn’t right. Vanica’s breaths were pained, and she appeared to be winded – but for some reason, that pain only seemed to energise her more, and she cackled as she rose for another round, coughing as she stood unsteadily.
“I’m fine!” she wheezed. Her entire body was trembling from excitement. “This is fantastic!” Her eye followed that thrashing tail, waiting for it to come back into reach as blood trickled down its length. “Hey, c’mere! I wanna have fun with youuu!” She leapt at the blockade and started to hack at it, aiming to make herself a target rather than actually help her little brother.
Dante was way too close to the cliff’s far edge, taunting the beast, which now wisely kept its head out of reach. While he aggressively jabbed at it with his rapier, Mother remained the only combatant who wasn’t scrambling to do something. She stared up into those bulging eyes, musing to herself. “Now, what manner of warning might you be?”
The writhing coils surrounding the cliff encroached ever closer, churning up the sea and sending frothing waves crashing against the rocks. Droplets and foam soaked the hair of every combatant, the beast’s shrill screeching deafening them and drowning out the roar of the whirling ocean. As it brought its head back down to snap at Dante, he thrust his rapier into one of its gums, causing it to recoil with a shriek. Meanwhile, Grey watched as its tail came crashing down, attempting to slam onto Vanica and Zenon. She rushed forward to help – as it slammed into the earth again, she wrapped multiple arms and tendrils around it, aiming to restrain it while Zenon slashed across the beast’s coil and opened up a wide gash.
Grey shuddered as she coiled around the tail’s tip, lashing it to the ground and tightening her grip as it fought against her. Its powerful muscles flexed, and she gritted her teeth as she buried several claws in the ground to tie them both down. Vanica launched herself at the tail and buried a sword in each fluke, completely ignoring what she was supposed to be doing in favour of having some fun. The monster turned its head to the side, studying the pair with an unblinking eye, before lowering its head and disappearing beneath the waves.
Dante ran to the edge to watch it. “Is it leaving?”
“I don’t believe so.” Zenon was still cutting away at that coil, splitting scales and flesh alike as rivulets of blood trickled out. “It hasn’t moved from here. Help me break through.”
“Don’t order me around!” Dante complained. Nonetheless, he headed over anyway and began to jab at the coil. “But I will deign to aid you anyway, because I am such a good elder brother.” Zenon rolled his eyes.
Mother accompanied them, melting scales with her wand. She nodded approvingly at Grey and Vanica. “Continue holding it back.” As the three companions continued to punish the blockade, Grey and her ♡☆ were left a little further behind, struggling to hold the beast’s tail.
Sweat beaded on Grey’s brow as she remained stubbornly in place. She could feel those muscles pulsing and straining against her grip, slowly but surely sapping her strength as exhaustion started to set in. Another wave shattered against the cliff, sea spray soaking her hair and blinding her as her captive started to rise a little. “Can’t... hold it...!”
“Yeah you can!” Vanica insisted, sheathing her swords to stand beside her and shove the tail back into the grass. As she shuddered from the effort, she started to cough again as her breathing became strained, yet she was grinning widely nonetheless. “Isn’t this awesome?!”
“No!” Grey hated conflict. She didn’t understand why Vanica got so happy about it – or why she seemed to enjoy difficult, risky fights more than easier, less scary ones. Still, considering that she appeared to be hurt, perhaps that excitement was better than being put out of commission. Grey looked back at that coil, desperately praying that it might soon move. The pain had to become too much at some point, right? Between the lacerations criss-crossing it and the burns sizzling and stinging in the sea breeze, surely it was almost too much to take?
She heard the monster bellowing like a whale again. Its head arose opposite Grey and Vanica, its mane soaked through and dripping seawater, its throat oddly swollen and distended. It fixed its eyes upon them, inhaling deeply through its nostrils.
A split second before disaster struck, Mother looked over. “Grey – your ♡☆!” In that same moment, Grey let go of the beast’s tail and rushed forward to shield Vanica with her body. She had to keep her ♡☆ safe! A human couldn’t survive such force!
As the monster expelled gallons of water from its gaping maw in one concentrated jet, Grey took the brunt of the impact and the pair were washed off the cliff.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Fiiiinally, this boring journey was seeing some decent action! Vanica had never been thrown off a cliff by a sea beast before, and it was awesome! Provided she didn’t die, of course. Dying would get in the way of having fun. Actually, maybe that was about to be an issue.
Plummeting through the empty air, squirming coils surrounded her as the spray kicked up by crashing waves blinded her. The tide had come in to entirely engulf the beach overnight, and there was now nothing but whirling ocean and jagged rocks beneath her. Come to think of it, none of the Zogratis siblings had ever learned to swim. Hm. If Vanica survived falling roughly a hundred feet, that was going to be a problem.
A black tendril wrapped itself around her waist, breaking her fall and leaving her dangling in midair, staring eagerly at the raging waves and whirlpools below. That sharp pain in her chest was getting worse with every cough or deep breath. Vanica didn’t mind the pain – she found it a fun change of pace and an indicator of a good opponent – but it was a little annoying.
She turned her head back to see Grey above her, clinging to the rocky side of the cliff roughly halfway up. She carefully wound her tendril back in, like reeling in a fish, before wrapping two more around Vanica’s torso and securing her hold. They were now back to back.
Grey was sopping wet, shivering from the cold and the effort of hanging on. Several arms were hanging limply at very strange angles that shouldn’t have been possible and were probably a bad sign. A soft, pained moan escaped her. Come to think of it, she’d just taken a hit that would’ve shattered human bones. And she’d survived! Now that was some strength!
Vanica reached back to ruffle her hair encouragingly. “Keep going!” That seemed to help her summon her strength, and Grey started to slowly and painfully crawl up the cliff, holding on for dear life with hooked claws as she hauled Vanica up with her. At the top, Vanica could see that tail writhing again, locked in combat with Megicula as it tried to keep her away from the edge. Presumably, Dante and Zenon were still clearing a path.
Another wave smashed against the cliff, slamming into them both and soaking them. Vanica coughed and spluttered, the force of the impact aggravating her injury. Grey yelped in pain and slipped a little as the surface became slippery, sliding down a few feet before she secured her grip again.
There was that low bellow again. The monster circled around the cliff to find its prey, its unblinking eyes trained on the water in search of broken bodies battered by the currents. It twisted and squirmed, almost tying itself into knots as it checked around its coils. Its head was right below them, nostrils flaring as water spouted out with every exhalation, sniffing for them. Its lips curled back to reveal its teeth as it snarled, a low growl reverberating through its body.
Then it swivelled its eyes upward and caught sight of them. Shrieking shrilly, the beast reared up to tower over them, leering at its tiny opponents as it brought its head forward to examine them. Its breath stank of rotting fish and sea salt.
Oh, yeah. Now this was more like it! “Bring it!” Vanica drew her swords and slashed at that spear-like horn, only for her blades to bounce off. Oooh, this one was a tough one! Perfect! Meanwhile, Grey stopped moving entirely, enduring her pain silently and unable to muster any more of her strength. They were stuck.
Vanica had been hoping to get more of a reaction from the monster, so that they could have an epic battle. Instead, it stopped and stared. Those gigantic fishlike eyes seemed to be fixated on the Spade Kingdom’s emblem on Vanica’s eyepatch. “What are you doing?” she yelled at it. “C’mon! Don’t be so boring! What’s wrong with you?”
“S-stop it...” Grey protested weakly. “Don’t make it angry...”
And then the beast retreated, diving into the ocean. Its coiling, serpentine body descended into the swirling sea, unwinding and straightening as it moved on. Seriously? It was just leaving? Coward! Boring! That was so disappointing! “Hey, come back!” Vanica yelled. “We were having so much fun!” Then she held her chest and winced as her shouting made the pain worse.
Far above them, Dante leaned over the cliff with a stupid smirk on his face. “Still alive, then?” he hollered.
“Yeah!” Vanica nudged Grey, eliciting a little whimper. “C’mon. Take us back up.”
“I can’t...”
“Huh? Why?”
She was panting, struggling to support the weight of a fully-armoured human while hurt. “Can’t move...”
Megicula was standing alongside Dante, scowling down at them. “What’s the matter? Come back up.”
Zenon was the first of the three to realise the situation. “The princess does not look particularly well.”
“For Astaroth’s sake...” Megicula dissolved into a gooey mass and slithered down the cliff, extending numerous tendrils to grab the stranded pair before hauling them both up. Depositing them both on the grass, she studied them as Vanica sat up and caught her breath and Grey made no attempt to move, lying on her front. “Have you both suffered injury?”
“I got hit kinda hard,” Vanica admitted. “But I’m fine!” It wasn’t a huge deal. The pain made the experience more fun!
“S-something’s broken,” Grey gasped. “Um, some bones...”
“Dissolve them,” Megicula suggested. “If you need a skeleton later, remake it from scratch.” Wait, they could do that?
Grey stared up at her, wide-eyed. “I... um, I can’t do that...”
“That shouldn’t be the case. Unless...” A flicker of realisation crossed her face. “Are your bones permanent, child?”
“Some of them... s-sorry...” Vanica was curious about which ones were permanent. They definitely had to be reconfigurable, right? Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible for Grey to squeeze out of that cell when they’d first met. She was so weird! That was so fun!
Grey was breathing heavily, digging several hands into the ground and gripping the grass for dear life. “Um, sorry... I-I can change them in a minute...”
She arched her back, her limbs cracking and crunching as she forced them back into position. It was mesmerising to watch as her skin pulsed and shifted, rearranging her skeleton. Vanica watched in fascination as the damaged bones retreated deeper inside her body to heal in a safe spot, new ones growing in their place. Dante and Zenon seemed to share that morbid intrigue, unable to tear their eyes away. Grey was so very strange. Every time Vanica thought nothing else would surprise her, she’d pull something like this. It really kept her on her toes!
Grey stood up on her many feet, hiding her face with several hands as she noticed everybody staring at her. “Sorry... I-I’m okay...”
Dante yawned. “Well, then. Can we go back to sleep now?”
“I’d rather move further inland first.” Zenon squinted suspiciously at the sea monster’s retreating dorsal fin. “There is every possibility it may return to attack again. It seems too odd that it would let us go so easily.”
Megicula nodded in agreement. “You humans and your need for sleep... fine. Come.”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
How had Megicula miscalculated so severely? How had it not occurred to her that a half-human individual was likely to carry human traits? When she’d reminded Grey to protect her ♡☆, she’d done so under the impression that Grey was unlikely to suffer any serious injuries in doing so. Though she’d reconfigured her bones and shaped new ones to use while the others healed, it was clear that she was still pained by the broken ones.
The group had moved closer to the road, a safe distance away from the ocean where their assailant couldn’t reach them. Megicula had shaped herself into a dome once more in the grass beside the dirt track, sheltering the humans as they slept. However, that Vanica human refused to sleep, apparently unable to as a result of nursing an injury and being too excited about Grey’s ability to reconfigure her skeletal structure. She and Grey sat outside of Megicula, talking – although Vanica was carrying the conversation, as Grey was even quieter than usual and stared at the grass, her face tight with pain. She’d wrapped herself in a large black tail that glistened with a slimy film, mouths gnashing as a way of releasing stress. Hm. If Grey had some permanent bones, that further explained why she never stayed in an acceptable human form for long. There were simply too many for one human to comfortably contain.
Megicula really didn’t know her daughter. She didn’t even know the basics of her anatomy and biology. Furthermore, while a part of her was concerned for Grey, a far bigger part was simply intrigued by the idea of bones that weren’t erasable. She knew Grey would be just fine in time, but did that lack of worry make her a bad mother? She’d never been a particularly maternal individual. She’d only had a child with Lycaon because that was part of the human life rituals. She’d just been interested to see what happened, and she’d realised the gravity of her decision only after the birth. Megicula didn’t have a particularly strong bond with Grey outside of the instinct to stay with others of her kind. Grey was a subject to study, more than a daughter to love. Perhaps Megicula was never meant to be a mother.
Who was Grey anyway? Who were any of these people? Megicula was worlds apart from them all, a fascinated observer rather than a fellow comrade. That was fine by her. She’d always liked sating her curiosity by experimenting with the object of intrigue. She silently observed Grey and Vanica, studying them.
“Where do the bones even go?” Vanica was asking, running her hand up and down Grey’s tail in search of them. “Is there a... a... bone pouch or something? Or do you just shove them anywhere?” She was grinning, her eye bright, apparently in a good mood.
Grey was clinging to Vanica’s other hand, apparently afraid after the experience. “They go deeper...”
“Deeper where?”
She thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know... I-I just started doing it a few years back...”
“Oh! You’ve broken bones before?” Vanica seemed bizarrely excited at the prospect. “So have I! When you feel that crack and all that pain and then the blood gets pumping... do you get those shivers, too?”
“Um... I did start shaking, yes...” Grey opened more eyes to survey her surroundings, becoming far warier than before. “B-but that was less from the break itself... a-and it wasn’t fun...” She held her ♡☆’s hand more tightly.
Vanica remained entirely oblivious to her discomfort. “So can you move your bones wherever you want? Can you fold up really small? How many new ones can you make at once?”
Somehow, that lack of any further questioning or interest in her history seemed to be oddly comforting for Grey – or at the very least, it seemed to take her mind off of things. She relaxed a little. “I... can move them anywhere I want. But I don’t know about the other things...”
“Wanna find out when you’re better? Your mom can squeeze between bricks!” She said that like it was some impressive feat rather than a basic ability of the entire species. Still, Megicula felt a little amused at how easily impressed humans were.
“I, um... I can’t go through bricks...” Grey burned red with shame.
Vanica didn’t seem any less interested. “But you can go between iron bars! That’s kinda close!”
Looking at them both, Megicula was reminded of herself and Lycaon, once upon a time. He’d been the curious one, asking her incessant questions once he’d learned that she was foreign to the Spade Kingdom.
“So, where do you come from?”
“Do you have anywhere to stay?”
“Do you feel okay, so far away from your friends and family? If you want to talk, I...”
“Hey, uh... what do roses mean in your culture? J-just curious...”
“What’s beyond the fairy forest? Have you been there? What’s it like? Me? Oh... the fairies, t-they scare me.”
Initially annoyed and amused by his pestering, she’d humoured him in exchange for learning more about human culture. Somewhere along the way, her hearts had opened up to allow a new emotion she wasn’t familiar with. It was something more tender than curiosity, more intimate and personal than a simple desire to study him. First, she’d regarded him the way one might a pet. Before she knew it, half of her soul had transferred to him of its own volition.
And what a horrendous ♡☆ he turned out to be. Megicula still had a bitter taste in her mouth, all these years later. How had she allowed herself to become entangled in such a situation? Such a ridiculous blunder on her part.
She could see Lycaon in Grey. She was gripped by the same anxiety, the same fear of the unknown – but his old kindness was there too. She was ever so patient with her loose cannon of an ♡☆, constantly entertaining Vanica’s boredom and giving her every single flower they passed on the road. Somewhere in her void, Megicula had that pink carnation from earlier. She didn’t understand why – flowers served no useful purpose – but she couldn’t bring herself to discard it. What was this emotion? She needed to study it in greater detail.
As for Vanica, the more things she learned about Grey, the more she seemed to gravitate towards her. It was the exact opposite of most humans Megicula had seen, who pulled away out of a fear that Vanica seemed to lack entirely. Furthermore, her siblings were similarly comfortable, with Dante being too wrapped up in himself to care and Zenon being simply unbothered by anything. Far from being tolerant, these humans appeared to have some fundamental problems, but perhaps that strangeness made them more similar to Grey and Megicula than it would first seem. After all, they were outcasts too.
Vanica doubled over and held her chest, a pained hiss escaping her. Ah, right. She was injured, wasn’t she? “A-are you alright?” Grey asked, starting to fret over her.
“I’m fine,” Vanica wheezed. What a ridiculously stubborn human. She said that every time, apparently genuinely believing it, yet it was clear that she was in great pain.
Megicula chimed in. “Once we reach Raquey tomorrow, we’ll see if we can find a village doctor. Most places have one.”
“I don’t need a doctor! They always tell me to stop moving and that’s boring!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Megicula snapped. “We need that input to ensure your body heals correctly. Or would you prefer to make it worse and impede your combat prowess?”
She seemed to think about it for a bit, possibly because of the combat mention. Meanwhile, Grey put a hand on her back. “Vanica, please... I can heal on my own, but you...”
She finally relented. “Fine! Just stop worrying already!” Then she quietened, holding her chest again. Megicula paid her no mind, preferring to gaze up at the stars as she listened to the separate songs of her scattered peers merging into one constant drone.
They were fearful tonight, which could only mean he had emerged once more. Was he close by? Or was he prowling the universe’s edge? Either way, Megicula and her entourage were safe as long as they remained on one of his precious planets. He wouldn’t destroy one of his carefully crafted creations for a few stray threads.
She hoped she’d never have to tell Grey what lurked out there. Knowing her, she’d never feel safe again if she knew.
Notes:
Now, WHERE do you think you're going? Bad fishy! Come back!
Agh... see what I mean about the lack of direct control? She's under a few rules from her god at the moment. I was hoping she wouldn't realise she had the wrong people, but I suppose I should have expected former Spade knights to have an identifiable kingdom crest on them somewhere.
Still, she did some damage while she was there, so I can't really complain. Yes, these idiots are STILL heading for Raquey - I really can't fix stupid, I guess - but this should serve as a warning not to engage if they're still there once the tale reaches its climax. She'll be dealt with in due time anyhow.
Chapter 3: Trouble on the Road
Summary:
Vanica and Grey struggle to keep going due to their injuries, forcing the group to stop at the little fishing village of Raquey.
A village which seems rather worse for wear, having apparently been attacked...
And there, they will meet a certain someone...
Notes:
Look at these fools, still heading for Raquey when they can barely walk! Are they stupid? Do they have a death wish?
Hmm... fine. They can do whatever they want for all I care. Two of them are out of commission anyway. They can just sit somewhere out of the way while our dear Andromeda finishes her preparations.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Vanica was bored again.
After the excitement of a giant sea monster attacking in the middle of the night, the ensuing hours of walking were even more mind-numbing than before. Were it not for the constant sharp pain in her chest, she’d be feeling entirely listless. As it was, she was currently able to just barely care about the journey.
Frustratingly, she was also not allowed to walk. She’d accidentally let slip to Megicula earlier that morning that the pain had increased after she walked too far. Vanica thought that was fun because it added a challenge. Megicula disagreed, went into condescending mother hen mode and insisted that she needed support to avoid worsening the injury and to improve the group’s travel speed. But... it wasn’t all bad.
Because who else could boast that they’d been carried on the back of their cosmic soulmate?
Grey had volunteered to carry Vanica despite her own pain. She’d decided to copy the form of the tiny lizards they’d seen skittering along the sand, only with a lot more legs involved. She kept herself low to the ground, eight flat feet firmly planted squarely on the earth, her form rippling with powerful muscles in order to support the extra weight. She carried Vanica on the back of her monstrous lower body as easily as a feather, two purple-black arms sprouting from the back of her human upper body to hold Vanica’s hands and keep her secure. All over her skin, grey eyes opened and closed, fixating on Vanica from all angles and searching for any sign of discomfort. She plodded along through the grass, lagging a little behind everyone else, taking her time as the rolling hills dipped lower and the fields gave way to dunes and grains of sand.
Grey was strong. Dangerous. With every movement of her many legs, her muscles would flex and pulsate, thrumming with power beyond human limits. Those hands holding Vanica’s own were thick and leathery, no doubt difficult to cut through, possessing sharp nails that dug into the soft skin of the human hands they held. Her many eyes could see all, her many mouths lined with teeth that could crush bones, her powerful legs faster than any man, her body ever-changing and able to reduce the impact of injuries on her performance. Grey was the perfect hunter. She was stronger and faster than any human, able to overcome any setback. If she so desired, nothing would prevent her from turning on Vanica and killing her within seconds. And yet...
Grey was gentle. Kind. Every step was hesitant and purposeful, calculated to avoid unnecessarily jostling her passenger. The grip of those hands was ever so careful, those nails not even breaking skin let alone drawing blood. They were trembling a little, holding Vanica’s hands so gingerly, like she was porcelain that would break at any second. Grey was always restraining herself, holding back her true strength, as if she feared she’d break her girlfriend in a moment of carelessness. It was a constant reminder of how much stronger she was, how deadly she was.
Despite being an armed former knight who sought the strongest of foes for fun, Vanica felt that she was truly in danger when she was with Grey. It sent wonderful shivers down her spine, and it felt like she was living life on the edge, putting her life in the hands of an unknowable being. When she was with Grey, life became worth living, more exciting, her usual boredom banished. Vanica wanted to know this unknowable beast. She had to know her.
Vanica leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the back of Grey’s neck. Her skin was icy cold, with a strangely rubbery texture. Anyone else would be disgusted, but it just made Vanica hunger to know more about this creature. This beautiful, deadly creature.
Grey stopped and stiffened. How incredible it was that a simple kiss could force a mighty monster to completely shut down for a few seconds. She still wasn’t used to affection and never seemed to know how to react. She shivered a little, before angling her head back to lean into it. They stayed that way for a few moments before continuing on their journey, saying nothing to the others.
On their right, the sea was visible, the white-capped waves sparkling in the sun as its heat bore down relentlessly on the travellers. Grey kept several eyes facing the water at all times as she hissed warily, searching for any sign of the sea beast. She refused to deviate from the path, staying away from the beach to keep as much distance as possible.
Now that she wasn’t exerting herself so much, the pain in Vanica’s chest had dulled just a little. Aww. That was no fun. Devoid of any interest in the journey, she started to zone out, staring mindlessly up at the brilliant blue sky.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Gordon bowed his head. “My apologies,” he muttered. “I still cannot find anything physically wrong with you.”
He stood by the side of King Lycaon, who glared at him from the examination table. “Look again,” he insisted.
“Your Majesty, I have examined you four times...” He felt awful about not being able to help a patient, but he really couldn’t find anything wrong with Lycaon. He was eating well, sleeping well, staying hydrated and he had no other symptoms. There was no reason for him to be plagued by successive splitting headaches out of nowhere.
In fact, he was extremely healthy for his age. Though he was already 50, Lycaon didn’t look a day over 25. It was unnerving, almost as if he’d stopped aging entirely.
Perhaps he was reacting to an external stimulus? “Is there a specific trigger?”
“No.” The answer was quick, instinctive – but his body told a different story. Lycaon turned away from Gordon as he said it, as if unable to face him, and his eyes briefly became pensive and sad. He had to know something, but Gordon couldn’t force information out of an unwilling patient.
“Are you stressed, perhaps?” That was the only other possibility. Lycaon was so tense all the time. That had to be exhausting.
“What do you think?” the king growled, facing him with a cold, stony expression. “Monsters destroyed the sanity of my longtime ally. Even if they aren’t on my land, they’re out there, slithering in the dark and no doubt preying on innocents. And who knows if they’ll come back again for more?”
Security was tight after Damnatio’s incapacitation. Gordon highly doubted that anything could get through – then again, that depended on what manner of creatures these were. If they could drive men mad just like that, would the castle guards be okay? Hmm... perhaps, if he knew more, Gordon could try to create a medicine that would counteract that sanity slippage. But he couldn’t ask his patient about something that so clearly upset him. He’d have to speak with other castle staff. Some of them seemed to be familiar with these beasts.
As silence fell upon them, Lycaon clenched his trembling fists and gritted his teeth, glaring down at the stone-tiled floor. “I should’ve killed them when I had the chance,” he muttered.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Grey stopped by the side of the path as a splash of colour caught her eye in the long, wild grass. Another dandelion! She carefully plucked it from the earth and placed it in Vanica’s hair, being careful not to nick her skin with her claws.
She was worried about Vanica. Grey could lessen the impact of her own injuries on her performance by shifting her bones around, and she could heal more quickly than a human. Vanica didn’t have that kind of advantage. Her injury couldn’t be fixed so quickly or moved out of the way, and it was slowing her down and wearing her out. At times like this, Grey was reminded that humans really were quite fragile creatures. They broke easily under only a little force. If Grey wasn’t careful, she could lose her.
She opened a few more eyes to see her, just in case. Vanica was slightly slumped over on Grey’s back, breathing shallowly and starting to nod off after struggling to sleep the night before. Grey said nothing, letting her catch up on some rest. In the meantime, she kept a careful watch on her surroundings.
On the left side of the dirt path, the grass was long and wild, encroaching on the track and starting to engulf it. On the right side of the path were large lumps of sand sculpted by the sea breeze – sand dunes, as Zenon had explained to her – which formed a natural bumpy ridge separating the group from the descending slopes of sand where land met sea. Every so often, the breeze would send tiny grains fluttering into Grey’s eyes, causing them to water as she blinked fiercely, and she could feel some itching between her toes. Hm. It didn’t feel very nice. Along the coast, she could see multiple trees she wasn’t familiar with, growing in the sand and bearing large, flat leaves that flared out from their tops. Oh, uh... palm trees. That was what Mother had said, right?
The land spoke of travel and adventure. Each grain of sand sang of its journey over the millennia, beginning as mighty rocks only to be ground down and shifted by water, wind and ice, washed and scattered across the earth before settling with others of their kind at the land’s edge. Each palm tree sang of striking out into the unknown before they were even truly born, being borne on the waves across oceans before being washed up onto strange shores and putting down their roots. The sea sang of its bounty, of the creatures in its embrace, of the treasures lost to its abyssal depths – and of the dangers that arose in their place, of the monsters that writhed in the dark, of the bones that lay in its deepest, darkest recesses.
Zenon was at the back of the group, ensuring the injured stragglers wouldn’t get left behind. Mother was at the front, scouting ahead for danger. Meanwhile, Dante was leisurely strolling alongside Grey, kicking a pebble along the path. While everyone else was tense and wary, he alone remained relaxed, as if he thought he was untouchable. His lime green aura was so bright and bold that it seemed to swallow up all colour around it, radiating out from his skin to engulf all else.
He started to walk faster, taking the lead as he began to get bored. “Hurry up!” He barely looked back even as he spoke to her. His song oozed pride, charisma and confidence, unshakeable belief in himself. Grey found that she was quite envious.
But she couldn’t go any faster. Though they were tucked away, safely folded under multiple layers, her bones still hurt her. How long had it been since Grey had last been hurt like this? It was definitely before she was sent away to that tower – it was punishment for accidentally having nonhuman limbs visible, for scaring Father. She’d forgotten just how sharp that pain was.
But it was worth it this time. Vanica would’ve been killed on impact if Grey hadn’t shielded her. Losing an ♡☆ would mean losing half of one’s soul, and Grey had no desire to find out how that would affect her. Aside from that, her ♡☆ was precious to her. She’d gladly shatter every bone in her body if that would ensure Vanica’s safety.
Yet at the same time, Grey felt more distant from everyone else. She’d always assumed she was just like Mother, that she travelled with a kindred spirit who fully understood her... but now she’d learned that Mother had no permanent bones. Grey was different from her too. But she was also different from the Zogratis siblings. Was there nobody out there like her? Was she alone, not truly belonging to either of the species she was born of? Did she belong anywhere in this vast universe?
Vanica finally fell asleep, leaning forward against Grey’s human back. She was warm and soft, the feeling of her skin different from Grey’s own, and her breath tickled the back of Grey’s neck. Her hearts started to pound at the sensation as she remembered she wasn’t alone. Vanica came the closest to understanding her, ironically because she didn’t understand Grey. She asked endless questions whenever she learned something new, just accepting everything she saw even when Grey couldn’t answer her. Maybe humans were never meant to understand something like her, but Vanica seemed to be perfectly content with that.
Further along the coastline, safely sheltered from the tide behind the dunes at the top of the beach, Grey could see a small collection of round wooden houses with thatched roofs. Opposite them, at the water’s edge, were a series of wooden... paths? They stretched out into the sea, and these strange hollow, oval wooden objects were tied up around them.
She stopped and stared, trying to figure out what these were. Zenon caught up and stopped next to her. “What’s wrong?”
Grey shyly pointed at the weird things in the water. “What are they?” Zenon had become the main person to ask about human architecture she’d never seen before.
“Those are docks. Around them are boats used to traverse the sea.” Then he stiffened, glowering at them, before calling to the others. “Hold. Something isn’t right.”
Several of the boats had holes in their hulls and chunks taken out of the edges, having apparently been severely battered. Two of the four docks were also shorter than the others, ending in jagged wooden splinters as stray planks bobbed in the sea around them. The smashed remains of other boats were strewn further up the beach, as if they’d been tossed up there. Upon closer inspection, one of the houses had a boat on top of its roof, upside-down and cracked open like an eggshell.
The place was wrecked. Mother scanned the waters for any sign of trouble, though she found none. “Hm. Perhaps that sea beast has been here too.”
Grey shivered at the thought of it. “W-will we be safe here?” The sea was far from the land, but that beast... it was huge. What if it stretched over to overcome the distance? What if it threw more boats at them?
“Hard to say. We could move on, but...” Mother studied Vanica’s slumbering form. “Vanica needs to be seen to. Further travel may only worsen her condition.”
“Don’t forget that it also just left,” Dante reminded them. “Perhaps you two aren’t to its taste?” Grey really hoped so. And if it did come back... she’d try fleeing with Vanica and hope for the best.
Despite the potential danger, they approached the little fishing village of Raquey. A few hundred metres from it, Mother stopped. “Grey. Take on an appropriate human form.”
Oh, no...
Grey gently nudged her sleeping passenger. “You need to get off...”
Vanica blearily opened her eye, blinking the sleep out of it. “Uh?”
“We’re here... um, and I can’t stay like this.” Grey extended multiple hands to gently wrap around her waist, lifting her sleepy knight off of her and setting her on her feet next to her.
Vanica woke up remarkably quickly when she saw the wreckage on the beach. “Hey, did they get attacked by that thing too? Do you think it’ll come back? Can we fight it again?”
“No.” Mother glowered sternly at her. “You are going to see a doctor.”
“Aww, come on! That’s boring!”
As they started bickering about their next course of action, Grey started to fold back into her human form. Trying to stay in such a tiny space was already painful for her – there were too many bones and too many organs to fit comfortably in there – but squeezing broken bones into the jumbled mess that was her squashed, folded skeleton turned the experience into a living hell. This shell was too tight, and it almost felt like it was burning.
She was trying to keep a brave face on – she didn’t want to inconvenience or bother anyone – but a tight groan of agony escaped from between gritted teeth nonetheless. Mother and Vanica were too busy arguing to notice. Dante didn’t care. Zenon alone acknowledged her plight.
“Princess?” He didn’t look concerned, instead scrutinising Grey to try and figure out what was wrong so that it could be fixed. He valued efficiency over all else, not letting his emotions take precedence, and that calmness was soothing to her.
She was swaying on only two feet, still trying to find her balance. “T-t-too tight...” It was hard to speak. Her body wasn’t moving correctly. Everything hurt.
Zenon swooped in and caught her as she fell over, helping her stand and bracing her against his chest. “Lady Megicula. The princess is very unwell.”
That got them to stop arguing. Mother turned and stood stock still, assessing the situation before she made a move. Meanwhile, Vanica staggered over to Grey and held her shoulder supportively. “Hey, what’s up?”
Grey couldn’t figure out how to move her vocal cords right now. She remained silent, trying to rearrange her innards into a more comfortable configuration, but nothing worked. This form just wasn’t possible without a lot of pain right now.
Mother understood first. “If some of your bones are permanent... that form really is too small, yes? The broken ones are hurting you?”
“Do we take her to the doctor as well?” Vanica asked.
“Astaroth, no. Her true nature would be discovered immediately. But if you can’t be human, then...” Her eyes flicked from Grey to Zenon, calculating something. “If you require a wider space for comfort, you might disguise yourself as a garment of some kind. A long coat, perhaps – although somebody will need to wear you.”
Vanica tugged at her arm. “Hey, c’mere. I’ll wear you.”
“Not you.” Mother scowled at her. “You’re already struggling in full armour. We will not be adding any more burdens.” Grey definitely felt like a burden right now. If only she was better at dealing with her pain...
“S-sorry...” she gasped.
Mother just seemed mystified by her apology. “I have no idea what that is for.”
Dante fanned himself. “A coat? In this heat? On top of armour? Count me out.”
Zenon raised his hand without hesitation. “I will carry her. Princess, if you would?”
“I-is that okay...?”
“It is far more efficient than keeping you as you are. Our travel speed will be increased, and your predicament will not draw unnecessary attention.” He really didn’t mind. Grey could tell from his icy blue aura that Zenon didn’t feel much emotion, driven only by cold efficiency. He wasn’t volunteering out of the kindness of his heart, nor because he cared that she was in pain. He was going to do this because it made the most sense at that moment. His treating it like any other task rather than a sudden, unforeseen difficulty made Grey feel a bit less like she was bothering everybody.
She unfolded her form, experiencing instant relief as her human body dissolved into an indistinct purple-black mass and stretched out. Zenon slung her over his shoulders, and Grey enveloped his back and arms as she settled into position and clung to him with tiny black hooks. She relaxed a little, feeling far better. As long as she didn’t move or grow any appendages, she’d be hidden well – provided nobody touched her.
Zenon was a bit scary and seemed unapproachable, but he was wholly loyal to the Spade Kingdom and its royal family. Even if she didn’t know how to talk to him, Grey knew she was safe with him.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Zenon now understood why the queen had insisted on not allowing Vanica to aid the princess. Despite the fairly thin shape she was currently taking, Princess Grey was unusually heavy. Then again, he’d seen both her and the queen stretch out fairly far before. It seemed that their bodies were organised in layers, each beneath the next, like the skin of an onion. How many layers they held, he didn’t know, but they were definitely both larger than humans.
It was not for him to question. Zenon always treated the unknown with caution and wariness. Some things were not meant for man to know, and attempting to understand such things often carried consequences. He’d seen Damnatio’s fate. He’d looked into those eyes and seen nothing but fear and horror, with no trace of the man this broken husk used to be. Zenon and his siblings were faring well only because these creatures had taken a liking to them.
He’d assumed he would be at risk of overheating with the extra layer. However, the princess’s skin was strangely cold to the touch and helped to cool him down. Every so often, a wary eye would appear on his arm to stare up at him, and he could feel one nervous mouth gnawing on his armour somewhere on his back. He paid it no mind. If the fidgeting helped her calm down, she’d be able to take any necessary actions with a sharper mind.
Ahead of him, Vanica was staggering along like the living dead, too stubborn to give up. That trait was serving her well, as Dante was apparently unwilling to help her at all and had left her to fend for herself. Zenon wondered why she’d gravitated to the princess in the first place. Vanica had mentioned before that she’d been interested because she was “exciting”. It would not surprise him if he were to learn that the potentially dangerous aspects were what she was drawn to. Still, as long as Vanica conducted herself with appropriate caution – though he highly doubted she would – her extremely strange love life was not his concern.
Lady Megicula now walked with Zenon. She was very small and slight, only reaching up to his abdomen. Looks were extremely deceptive. He knew what she was capable of. He knew how powerful she was. But regardless of what species she was, she was also the Spade Queen. As Zenon was no longer in the king’s service following the stripping of his knighthood, he only served the queen and princess now.
Lady Megicula would occasionally turn to glance at her ailing daughter, her gaze calculating as she apparently pondered how to help her. She was very much like Zenon in that regard – methodical, focused on achieving her goals – though she also possessed a curious, whimsical side fixated on studying whatever interested her at the time, like a more subdued and sensible version of Vanica.
“Once we have some privacy,” she murmured, “I believe I may be able to heal Grey’s injuries.”
Ah... yes, Vanica had mentioned that something like that had occurred while rescuing the princess from Damnatio. Apparently, a slight brush of Lady Megicula’s tendril had closed up a wound caused by an arrow.
“Can you do the same for Vanica?” Zenon asked. If both injured parties could be healed, they could travel sooner.
In answer, Lady Megicula held up a tendril which began to ooze with a thick, sizzling fluid. Some dribbled to the ground, scorching the dirt below, before she hid it away again. “Are you humans able to withstand the temperature of a star? Grey is perfectly fine with it, but I believe that may be due to her hybrid status...”
“We cannot.”
“A shame.” She looked ahead, watching Vanica carefully. “We will simply have to wait for her.”
Finally, the group set foot in Raquey. Silence fell between them and Zenon felt his passenger suddenly stop squirming, remaining still in an attempt to look like a regular item of clothing. Taking his first steps into the village, Zenon scanned his surroundings, seeking to glean as much information as possible.
Most of the circular houses were small, with only a single storey. They surrounded one far larger house in the village’s centre, a rectangular one that was two storeys tall. Apparently, the owner was wealthy enough to own curtains – the only ones to be found here – which were currently drawn over every window. Based on its size and position as the central landmark, this was most likely the home of a leading figure.
Inside the other homes, Zenon would frequently catch sight of villagers who stared warily back at him. There were very few outside despite the favourable weather – he counted only five – and they all turned their heads to look at the group with confusion but otherwise didn’t engage, their faces tired and weary. Half-woven fishing nets were laid out on the sand, abandoned by their weavers, which struck him as odd considering the importance of such equipment. Considering the nets, boats, docks and general location, this settlement most likely relied on a diet heavy in fish, which made it strange that he couldn’t spy a single person preparing or even holding a fish. The lack of people outside, the abandoned fishing equipment, the damaged boats and the absence of fish indicated a severe problem.
Raquey had been recently attacked from the sea. The villagers were afraid and either couldn’t or wouldn’t put out to sea. If that was the case, they were likely struggling to obtain food, and it was unlikely that they could adequately accommodate travellers. Would they have to move on after all? Perhaps they could stay long enough to diagnose Vanica’s injury and then attempt to remedy it on the road.
Before Zenon could think on it any further, a young woman in a royal blue robe approached them, the sunlight reflecting off the golden necklace she wore. Her gaze was unflinching, her pink eyes possessed of a resolve and courage lacking in her fellows. She carried herself with confidence, holding her head high and never breaking eye contact. Standing in front of the group, she suspiciously scrutinised the four (actually five) of them, silver pigtails fluttering in the sea breeze, before she asked a single question with more than a little disdain.
“Who are you?”
Notes:
No, don't talk to them! Oh, for heaven's sake...
Okay, okay. Nothing's happened yet. A little socialisation won't hurt her. It's fine. It's fine!
...Hm? Who is she, you ask? This little lady is playing a very big role! Tell me... have you heard the tale of Perseus and the sea monster?
Sit with me, and let me tell you the story while we wait...
Chapter 4: Andromeda
Summary:
Our very dubious heroes stop in Raquey to see to Vanica and Grey. While Grey is treated by Megicula, Vanica is discovered to have an injury that will take several weeks to recover from, putting the brakes on the journey for now.
All they have to do is act normal for a few weeks to avoid causing a stir - but already, Noelle is somewhat suspicious of the group.
And then Grey takes on a potentially perilous task, the beginning of a great unravelling of threads...
CONTENT WARNING for a skeleton, minor injury detail and the unfortunate death of a shellfish. The tale of the Author's Notes also briefly mentions sexual harassment and decapitation.
Notes:
Listen to my tale, dear reader. First, before you can know of the sea monster, a little background on our hero Perseus is required. Perhaps you know of this tale - indeed, it is one of the more famous Greek myths. But please, indulge me a while as I weave my words.
But first, a word of caution. Every tale that has ever been told has multiple variants which contain subtle differences. Different people in different places are prone to putting their own local spin on things. As such, the tale I tell may not be the same as the one you've heard before. That doesn't mean I am wrong, nor that the one you heard before is wrong either. Stories contain humanity's essence - and humans are such fluid creatures, yes? Always changing. Now, then...
Once upon a time, there was a great hero named Perseus. The son of Danaë, the princess of Argos, and the mighty sky god Zeus, he was the heir to the throne of Argos. But his grandfather, King Acrisius, had learned of a prophecy that Perseus would kill him, and so he sent the boy and his mother out to sea in a box, intending for them to die.
Zeus asked for the aid of his brother, the sea god Poseidon, who safely carried the box upon the waves to the island of Seriphos. Little Perseus grew up in safety here - but his mother was lusted after by the island's king, Polydectes. Sensing that he was no honourable king, Perseus protected Danaë from his advances, and Polydectes plotted to have him... shall we say, removed from the picture.
He hosted a great banquet and requested that all of the guests bring horses as a gift, knowing that Perseus did not own a horse. As he had no horse to give, Perseus rashly declared that he would bring back any gift that Polydectes requested.
The king, knowing that the youth would likely die in the attempt, requested that he bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa, a monster so hideous that a single look at her would turn the observer to stone...
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The last thing Noelle needed was more people to deal with. Being in charge of everyone was already difficult enough, what with the attacks, the endless questions and the uncertainty of the future... and now there were four more people to add to this mess?
They seemed like they could hold their own, at least. They’d need to. Three of them wore armour and possessed weapons – warriors, perhaps? They all had the same black hair and pale skin. The woman’s eyepatch bore a crest Noelle wasn’t familiar with, and she was taking ragged breaths as she struggled to stay standing. Oh, great. An injury? Seriously? Was she going to expect to stay while she recovered? Meanwhile, one of the male knights was wearing a long purple-black coat on top of his armour. How was he not baking with all those layers?
The fourth person was another woman, smaller than her peers and possessing long, flowing white hair. Her dark red eyes seemed to pierce straight through Noelle’s soul, and she was gripping a wand topped with a round, brightly glowing orange-yellow object. Not only that, but plants kept springing up in the soil around her feet. A sorceress, maybe?
“Well? I asked you a question.” Noelle tapped her foot impatiently.
“Dante,” one of the men answered. “Such a feisty little lady!” He had this weird, stupid grin on his face. He gave Noelle the ick.
The white-haired woman studied Noelle intently. “Meg.” She was hard to read.
The man who was somehow surviving in the coat stared at her, entirely expressionless. “Zenon.”
The one-eyed woman seemed pretty happy despite the state of her, grinning delightedly at Noelle. “I’m Vanica! And then there’s my girlfriend-“
Zenon immediately interrupted her. “Who will be arriving at a later time.”
“Right!”
...That seemed a bit weird. He’d jumped in and cut her off, like she was saying something she wasn’t meant to. Actually, something about this whole group gave Noelle a weird vibe. They all seemed... wary, guarded. Zenon and Meg looked particularly on edge, their bodies alert and stiff. They both kept glancing at Dante and Vanica, like they were expecting something to happen. And why would a fifth person be arriving later and not with the rest of them? Had she been held up or separated?
“Is there a doctor here?” Zenon asked. “My sister has injured her chest.”
“You should’ve seen it!” Vanica chimed in. “There was this huuuuge sea monster! It was so long and wrapping itself all over the place and then it blocked us in and it hit me with its tail!”
A giant, long sea monster? No, surely not... She was only supposed to be attacking people from Raquey. There was no reason for her to attack anyone else. It couldn’t be, but...
“Hold on.” Noelle held up a hand and spoke over Vanica’s excited yapping. “What colour was it?”
“Dark pink on top, white on its underside,” Meg answered. “It possessed a mane of dark red fur, multiple white fins, a single horn jutting forward from the snout and a pair of red eyes with yellow pupils.” She rattled off the attributes like she was reading from a list, as if she’d committed every detail to memory. There was only one beast that fit that description.
“Kahono attacked you?” That made no sense. She’d never liked humans, but she only attacked when she had to. Even then, she cared only about harassing those from Raquey. “She isn’t supposed to do that. What did you do?”
“Really?” Meg narrowed her eyes. “How curious. We were simply sleeping on the cliff.” Seriously? That was bizarre. Were they lying? “You know this... Kahono?”
“Yeah. She attacks us every night.” Would this make them leave? Noelle was too busy to be dealing with this.
Vanica’s eye lit up. “Cool! Hey, can we fight-“ Then she winced and held her chest.
“Give it up,” Meg snapped. “Is there a doctor we can see?”
“Just over there.” Noelle pointed towards Owen’s house, which still had that boat on top of it. He’d opted to leave it up there, hoping it would shield his roof from further ammunition. “Well? Off you go.” She didn’t have time to guide random travellers.
As they traipsed past, a strange movement caught Noelle’s eye. Zenon’s coat... for the briefest of moments, she thought she saw it wriggle, as if it were alive.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
When Megicula knocked on the wooden door, a man with glasses and pale blue hair opened it, concern etched on his face. “May I help you?”
“This one has been injured.” She pulled Vanica forward. “If you would see to her – do you take yuls as payment?”
“Well, yes...” He looked briefly over his shoulder at the many other patients in the house, nursing various injuries and wrapped up in bandages. “My apologies, but there isn’t much room in here. Could the rest of you wait outside?”
As he retreated, Vanica followed and waved cheerily back at them. “See ya!”
Now, then... what to do with this time? If Megicula could find a place away from prying eyes, she could attempt to help Grey. Where was the nearest inn?
Grabbing Zenon by the arm, she started dragging him around the village. He came willingly, without any resistance or even a single word. He was sensible, far easier to work with than everybody else, apparently harbouring a healthy respect for Megicula. Dante trailed behind them, bored and listless, only following in the hope of finding something more fun to do.
She found a little inn on the outskirts of the village. Understandably, no other travellers were using it as Kahono had scared them all off. The group got themselves settled in a pair of tiny rooms – one for the men, one for the women – and dropped off their luggage. While Dante took off his armour in his room, his complaints about the heat audible through the thin walls, Zenon stood awkwardly in the doorway of Megicula’s room, waiting for further instruction.
She beckoned him inside and shut the door behind him. Then she took a moment to look outside the window, checking for any onlookers, before unfolding part of her back to cover the window in imitation of drawn curtains. “Grey. Lay yourself on the floor.”
Grey sloughed off of Zenon’s back, lying in a crumpled purple-black heap on the ground. Megicula approached her, stretching herself out to keep her back firmly on the window. “Listen carefully, Zenon. You are to stand guard outside the door and let nobody inside for any reason. Not even Dante or Vanica. You are to permit entry only when I tell you.”
Zenon nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He wasted no time taking his leave, his shadow hovering under the door as he stood right in front of it outside. He was sensibly cautious. She trusted him to perform his job well.
Now... what was she dealing with? “Show me your bones, ◇♡.” (Starspeak for “child”.)
Grey hesitated. Of course she would. They barely knew each other. Megicula didn’t take it personally, as it was simply logical to resist being handled by a near-stranger while vulnerable. She waited until Grey finally started to unfold her layers, peeling back like the petals of a blossoming flower to reveal what was inside. As she did so, she stared up at Megicula with dozens of eyes, watching her carefully.
Megicula wrapped her up in a few tendrils to keep her still. There, deep inside, was the void. Any human looking upon it would be driven to madness in an instant. Grey had apparently stored her injured bones a couple of layers above it. Hm... Megicula had seen human bones many times in the last thousand years, but she’d never glimpsed the bones of her own kind due to their ability to dissolve and reform. They were longer and larger than human bones, certainly sturdier but apparently not immune to damage. How fascinating...
Grey shifted uncomfortably, prompting Megicula to refocus on the task. Identifying the breaks and fractures, she reached in with a tendril and brushed it over the affected areas, knitting them back together and leaving them sizzling in her wake. Could Grey be taught to use this healing power as well? Megicula was one of only a few who could use it, but Grey’s hybrid status left it uncertain whether she’d inherited that ability. Even if she could be taught to harness it, only she and Megicula would see its benefits. Humans died when exposed to the required temperature. Such a shame. It could’ve been used to help Vanica otherwise. Now, they’d most likely have to stay here and try to seem ordinary, to avoid causing panic and being ousted prematurely.
Megicula checked over her one last time to ensure she hadn’t missed anything else. Holding her daughter in her tendrils, glimpsing the void within, Megicula was transported 25 years back into the past. She’d done the same then. She’d held Grey in her coils, dozens of limbs trembling as the gravity of her decisions finally crushed her under their weight, staring at a deceptively normal-looking human baby as she calculated the chances of being able to bring up a child – who wouldn’t yet be able to control her power, who wouldn’t yet understand the need for secrecy – with a man who feared the unknown and detested nonhumans. Those chances were infinitesimal. Indeed, they’d made it only a few days before Lycaon discovered the truth. And it wasn’t even Grey who gave it away. It was Megicula. She should’ve known that humans were susceptible to the siren song of forbidden temptation.
Grey was an anomaly. A mistake. That was the simple truth. Something like her should not have existed. Megicula had participated in the human fertility ritual simply out of a desire to study humans in more depth, believing that their different anatomies would render reproduction impossible. Then she’d studied the effects of pregnancy with fascination only for the biological changes it brought, not really seeing the child as a child until she’d held her for the first time.
And now, 25 years later, it hit Megicula all over again. This was her child. Her ◇♡. Hers. How was she supposed to act, as a mother? She was hardly the maternal type. Mothering required love. Love did not come easily to her, as it wasn’t something she understood. And yet...
In her life, spanning thousands of years, she had cried only twice. Once as she fled Lycaon and his men, too weak to fight for her child. Once three months ago, looking into that dreary cell and seeing how her daughter had suddenly grown in what seemed a short time. Truly, it was out of character for her to be so emotional. Megicula was driven by curiosity, but her feelings were always restrained and minimal. This sudden weakness of the hearts was baffling. Perhaps exposure to humans had made her soft.
But it still wouldn’t change the fact that she didn’t know how to feel about or interact with Grey. She had no idea if she was following the steps correctly. Grey was more visibly comfortable with Vanica than Megicula. Megicula wasn’t particularly fussed, but she needed to make sure that Grey would at least trust her enough to follow her lead in the event of any crises in the future.
It was then that she realised she’d been staring silently at the wall for several minutes, lost in pointless sentiment. How irresponsible, yet intriguing. There was surely something wrong with her that warranted further investigation. Grey was still waiting. How patient she was.
“I believe that should suffice.” Megicula pulled back, allowing Grey to fold up again. She took on her human form once more, standing uncertainly as she waited for any pain. As she showed no greater discomfort than any other time in this form, Megicula could surmise that her recovery was successful. That just left Vanica, who would need to heal naturally.
Grey shuffled her feet awkwardly, as if considering whether to move closer or not. She briefly looked up at Megicula before casting her eyes down again. “Um... t-thank you...”
Being thanked was certainly a nice change of pace. Megicula folded back up as well, before opening the door to see Zenon. “The endeavour has been successful. It is safe to enter.”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Grey was still somewhat sore and quite uncomfortable, but maintaining a human form was no longer unbearable. She was more worried about Mother and Vanica though...
Mother seemed strangely distracted in a way that she usually wasn’t. She’d spent several minutes just standing there, staring at nothing in particular. Now she was carrying on as if nothing had happened, but her song was confused and conflicted. Was it because of Grey? Had she done something wrong? Had she made Mother feel this way? Oh noooo...
Grey wanted to ask if everything was okay or if she’d done something wrong, but she was afraid of being pushy or intrusive. If Mother wanted to discuss it, she’d say something... right? Grey didn’t want to upset her by prying into her personal business...
And Vanica wasn’t back yet either. Was she okay? Could the doctor help her? What was wrong with her? What if it was bad? Grey started anxiously pacing up and down the room while Mother sat on the wooden stool in the corner and studied her.
In the distance, she heard someone violently throw open the inn’s front door before footsteps staggered towards their room. There was a knock on their door before Zenon entered, supporting his sister.
“Vanica...!” Grey rushed to her side and helped Zenon to remove her armour, revealing the beige linen clothing she wore underneath. “Are you okay?”
She grinned at Grey, though she was panting heavily. “I bruised my ribs!” she cheerfully announced. “Check it out!” She excitedly pulled up her shirt to reveal a nasty blue-black bruise spread across her chest, as well as some swelling. It looked awful. Grey winced sympathetically at the sight. Her poor ♡☆...
Mother slithered off the stool. “Sit down,” she ordered, pulling Vanica onto it. “Now. How long is the recovery period?”
“Uhhh... he said between 2 and 6 weeks?” She shrugged. “He said to take short walks every day.” Then she looked Grey up and down, just noticing her human form. “Hey, you got your bones fixed? Can I get mine fixed?”
“It doesn’t work on humans,” Mother informed her.
“Damn. So we’re stuck here?” Vanica tried to rise. “Can’t we just try and keep goi-“
Mother pulled her back down with a pair of tendrils. “You will only hinder us and hamper your own recovery. Sit down.”
“But I’m bored!”
Mother sighed exasperatedly and held her down. “Good grief... you’re fascinating, Vanica. Such a handful...”
Both of their songs were getting very tetchy and upsetting to listen to. They’d already argued on the road, and Grey didn’t really want to listen to any more of it. “S-stop it...” she whimpered. Neither of them paid any attention, glaring daggers at each other as Mother restrained her squirming prisoner. Zenon helped her hold Vanica down, staring disapprovingly at her.
Grey was prepared to stay with Vanica all day. She was rather worried for her ♡☆, especially since she seemed unwilling to look after herself, and Grey was wary of new places and the humans within. She wasn’t planning to go outside, especially not alone.
Unfortunately, the window in this room was little more than a hole in the wall, looking out over a field of wild grasses and flowers. And, as is a known hazard of having open entrances in such places, a lost insect flew into the room. It was an unfamiliar black and yellow creature, like the bees Grey had seen yet sleeker and sharper, and its song was mean and full of malice towards the world around it. It buzzed around the group gathered at the door, badly spooking her, and she hissed fearfully as she backed slowly out of the door.
Mother was entirely unbothered. “Stay still, child. It will leave in a moment.” Nobody else seemed afraid of this thing, but...
It flew at Grey, causing her to shriek and flee outside for safety, leaving everyone else mildly amused by her panic. “...Wait, has she never seen a wasp before?” Vanica asked.
“We are only just approaching the season in which they emerge,” Zenon explained. “I would not be surprised if that is the case.”
Meanwhile, Mother shooed it away nonchalantly. “They are rather hostile creatures. Such an angry song for something so small... Zenon, could you remove it and then bring her back inside?”
Meanwhile, Grey was now outside the inn, shivering as she calmed herself. It was only a small creature... she could go back inside, right? She crept up to the door, about to re-enter, before stopping as a familiar voice spoke.
“Another one?”
Grey jumped and turned to see that woman from before, the one with the silver hair. Her song was confident and prideful, her gaze somewhat disdainful, and she definitely wasn’t pleased to see Grey. But... she also didn’t seem to mean any harm, at least for now. Aside from that, there was something hidden in her song, wrapped up underneath the confidence and currently impossible to make out.
It would be okay to talk to her for a bit... right? Everyone else was just inside if Grey needed any help.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Noelle was sure she would’ve seen this blue-haired woman entering the village. Yet somehow she hadn’t, and this girl seemed to have appeared from thin air and exited an inn she’d seemingly never entered. How many more travellers were going to appear?! Raquey couldn’t accommodate them like this... there wasn’t enough food!
“Your name?” she asked. The newcomer stared at her with wide, grey eyes like a startled deer, shrinking back a little and shivering pitifully. She looked pathetic.
“...Grey...” Then she pointed at the inn. “I-I’m, um, with them...”
Was this Vanica’s girlfriend, then? And just as odd as the rest of them, too. Still, it wasn’t like it mattered. They needed to go.
“You need to leave,” Noelle said flatly. “We can’t accommodate travellers right now.”
“Oh! B-because of, um...” Grey seemed to be concentrating really hard. “Ka-ho-no?” She enunciated each individual syllable, as if learning to speak a foreign language.
“Right.” The others must have filled her in.
“I-I’m sorry, but...” Grey shrank back and curled inward defensively, like she was expecting Noelle to hit her. “Vanica bruised her ribs... um, s-she can’t go far.”
What?! Oh, for Julius’ sake! Well, if these tourists were so keen to get attacked tonight, then so be it! It wasn’t like Noelle cared about what happened to them or anything.
“She’ll attack again tonight.” Noelle turned on her heels, uninterested in further conversation. “Stay out of her way.” Kahono would punish Raquey again and retreat beneath the waves once she’d had her fill of violence. They only needed to endure for a few more nights. And then... it would be over soon.
Noelle headed down to the waterfront, her sandals leaving imprints in the sand. Behind her, she heard panicked pattering of bare feet as Grey followed her. “D-don’t go there!” Icy cold fingers wrapped around her wrist and caused her to shiver with revulsion, and Grey’s skin was strangely rubbery. It felt disgusting.
Noelle shook her off, repulsed, her lip curling as she glared at her. The audacity of this woman! “Don’t touch me like that! Don’t you know who I am?!”
Grey shuffled back hurriedly, shaking. “N-no...” She really wasn’t from around here, was she?
“I’m Noelle. I’m descended from royalty, you know.”
“No-elle... No-elle...” Irritatingly, Grey didn’t seem to even care that Noelle was descended from royalty. The cheek! Instead, she was repeating her name over and over, as if trying to learn how to say it properly. Noelle turned and kept walking down the beach, paying her no mind.
The only problem was that Grey wouldn’t stop following her like a lost puppy. Every so often, Noelle would glance over her shoulder to see her following from a safe distance. Flowers were growing in her wake, cropping up in little rings around her feet while she occasionally stopped to feel the sand between her toes. Was she a sorceress too? Grey also walked strangely stiffly, her gait a little unbalanced, like she didn’t know how to move in her own body.
Eventually, annoyed by her shadow, Noelle stopped at the water’s edge. She turned, the waves lapping at her feet. “What do you want?” she snapped.
Grey was emitting a very odd whimpering noise from deep inside her throat. Noelle didn’t know it was even possible for a person to do that. “Ka-ho-no might be there...”
Wait. Was she... concerned for Noelle? Why? They’d literally just met, and Noelle thought she’d made it pretty clear that she didn’t want Grey hanging around her. So why? Why did she care? What would Grey stand to gain from that? Did she want something from Noelle, or...?
For some reason, it really took the wind out of her sails. Noelle blinked, surprised and suddenly struggling to stay annoyed. “Oh... I’ll be fine. She spends the day further out while the tide is low.”
“Oh...” Grey tentatively stepped into the surf, flinching as a little wave rolled over her feet and submerged them. “Where are you going?”
Noelle shed her royal blue robe, throwing it up onto the dock and revealing her pink swimsuit underneath. “Pearl diving. I’ve got a few already, but I need five more.” She strode out into the sea, leaving her curious observer behind on the beach, wading in up to her waist before swimming out into the blue expanse.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Grey watched Noelle go, fidgeting nervously as she disappeared under the waves. Was she going to be okay out there? The ocean sang of its riches, but also of the many human lives it had taken. What if she got hurt out there? What if she didn’t return before Kahono’s arrival?
The few people who were outside were staring at Grey. She could feel their gazes upon her back, resisting the urge to open more eyes to warily look back. The staring made her nervous, but their auras and songs were curious and downtrodden, not hostile. She’d be safe for now. She wanted to go back and see how Vanica was doing, but... she was worried about Noelle.
Sure, she hadn’t been very nice to Grey, but it wasn’t like that was anything new so it didn’t bother her much. But she couldn’t help but be concerned for a human paddling out into a place she didn’t belong, haunted by a monster. Vanica would’ve brushed it off and lost interest in Noelle, but Grey couldn’t bring herself to stop worrying about others. Maybe that was weak. But so were human bodies...
And so, just in case, Grey sat in the surf and watched the ocean vigilantly, the cold water splashing over her lower body as each gentle wave rolled in.
There was a splash as Noelle resurfaced, completely soaked and gasping for breath, before swimming back to the beach. In her hand was a small black-shelled creature, singing of fear and a promise of possessing nothing worthwhile. Crawling up onto the sand, Noelle knelt next to Grey and focused on forcibly pulling open the poor thing, which unfortunately died of the stress. Then, peering inside, she sighed in exasperation.
“Nothing.” She discarded the open shell on the sand.
Grey scooped it out and held it, intrigued yet saddened. “What is it?”
“A mussel, obviously. Sometimes they have pearls inside. Oysters, too. But it’s rare.”
Oh no... was she going to open up more creatures to find these pearls? How many would she destroy to find them? That was awfully sad. Grey listened to the ghostly song of the dead as the mussel crossed the veil to sing from a place beyond sight, mourning its inability to avoid its fate. Then it was wishing that Noelle had grabbed its neighbour, who had apparently formed a nice pearl.
“To aid the Sea God’s chosen is a noble thing, but to die for it is so unfair. But perhaps that is a kinder fate in comparison...”
“Where is that... um, pearl?” Grey murmured. Maybe she could minimise the casualties if she could tell Noelle where to look. Meanwhile, Noelle stared at her like she was insane. Perhaps, cradling a dead mussel and talking to it was not an ordinary human thing.
The spirit took an interest in Grey. “A child of Astaroth... you hear us. You hear all of us. Speak to my living peers, and they can guide you. We will willingly open our shells for one who listens.”
That would mean a lot less violence, and it would help Noelle too. She wouldn’t have to risk Kahono’s wrath if they could get this done quickly. “C-can I help?” Grey asked.
Noelle thought about it, before swimming back out. “Just don’t get in my way. I don’t care if you drown.”
By the mussel’s request, Grey left it on the sand to fulfil its final purpose as food for another being, whether that be a person or a passing seagull. Wading out into the sea, she submerged up to her waist and gathered up her courage to venture into the unknown. There were thousands of songs down there, deep and far, ranging from welcoming to hostile. If anything went wrong, Grey and Mother could hear each other’s songs from any distance. She could ask for help if she needed it.
Then she awkwardly paddled out, before diving into the depths. It was cold and somewhat dark, and her human lungs couldn’t breathe. Floating in a dark void bereft of air, it seemed to remind Grey of Mother’s tales of a place she’d never known, far above the heavens. The cosmos they hailed from.
Of course, any creature that lived in such a place couldn’t depend on oxygen to survive. It would die instantly. Grey discovered here, in a similar place beneath the sea, that she simply didn’t need to breathe. No doubt Vanica was going to love this when she heard about it.
Diving to the ocean floor no longer seemed so scary. In fact... it felt like coming home.
Notes:
Perseus prayed to Zeus for guidance and received aid from two of his divine peers, Athena and Hermes, who provided him with magical items and directions. He received winged sandals to fly, and a helmet that conferred invisibility when worn. Athena also lended her shield to him (in some other versions, he got it from either the Grey Sisters or the Hesperides nymphs).
First, he flew to the isle of the Grey Sisters, a trio of hags who shared an eye and a tooth between them. By holding their eye and tooth hostage, he forced them to tell him the location of Medusa's lair, a cave halfway up a cliff and overlooking the sea on the island of Sarpedon.
There, Perseus crept up on the sleeping Medusa, using the reflection in his shield to safely observe her. He beheaded her, and from her blood sprang the two children she had conceived with Poseidon (truly a tragic tale for another day) - the winged Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor. Awoken by the attack, Medusa's two sisters chased Perseus as he absconded with her head, only losing his trail when he used his helmet to turn invisible.
Much later, Perseus would bring the head to Polydectes and turn him to stone with its gaze, saving his mother from further harassment. But before that, he wandered the Mediterranean for a while, taking up other quests. And that brings us to Andromeda, a beautiful princess Perseus met in Africa...
Hm? Where's our incarnation of Perseus? Patience, dear reader. He's on his way. It is crucial that he arrives at a very specific time.
Chapter 5: Song of the Shellfish
Summary:
Grey uses her ability to hear songs in order to help Noelle search for pearls, letting the shellfish guide her to those who possess what they seek. In the course of helping her, the travellers learn of the terrible price that must be paid to appease the wrathful Sea God.
Notes:
What? Cinderella's giving Andromeda a hand now? Well... fine! See if I care! Even with two of you, pearl-hunting is hard work anyway!
Anywho, where were we, my dear reader? Ah, yes... I'd just told you how Perseus obtained the head of Medusa. I'm sure you're itching to hear more? Or perhaps you don't care? Either way, you may as well listen while you're here.
Now then... once upon a time, there was a great kingdom in the land of Africa known as Aethiopia (not to be confused with Ethiopia). It was ruled by the great King Cepheus and the beautiful Queen Kassiopeia. Their daughter, Princess Andromeda, was blessed with her mother's beauty.
But Kassiopeia was vain and arrogant. So prideful was she that she even declared herself and Andromeda to be even more beautiful than the Nereids, fifty goddesses of the sea. If there is one thing you should know of the gods, it is that they despise it when mortals compare themselves to them. Enraged, the Nereids complained to Poseidon, the god who ruled the seas, and asked that he put this arrogant mortal in her place.
And so, to punish Kassiopeia for her hubris, Poseidon sent the mighty sea monster Cetus to rampage in the waters around Aethiopia, ravaging the kingdom and terrorising its people.
Depending on the version, he might be a whale, or a serpent with fishlike characteristics. The Storyteller combined all three of these for our Cetus here.
The term "monster" comes from "monstrum", meaning "divine omen". Monstrum in turn derives from "moneō", meaning "to warn". You see? Monsters are warnings of the gods. Mighty Cetus was sent to make an example of Aethiopia, in order to warn humanity of the consequences of arrogance and pride. Our Cetus is warning of a different sin, however. You will have to wait and see.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Noelle wasn’t expecting Grey to follow her in while still wearing that dress. That fabric was going to get all soaked and heavy, and then she’d be at risk of drowning. But, well... whatever. It wasn’t like it mattered or anything, since Grey didn’t appear to be struggling. If anything, she was thriving. She took to the sea like a duck to water, gliding effortlessly down to the rocks on the seabed. Had she grown up by the ocean as well?
Noelle dived down and grabbed another mussel, before quickly ascending to the surface and swimming back to the beach. It was routine by now. How many hundreds of times had she done this over the last few weeks, in her search for pearls? The seagulls were certainly well-fed.
She forced the shellfish open. Nothing. Of course. The chances of finding a pearl were several thousand to one. But if she couldn’t find them soon, there was no telling how long Raquey would survive being battered. She needed them for the ceremony, as tribute...
Noelle waded out again. Grey was still hanging around that cluster of rocks, staring curiously at a group of mussels clinging to it. What was she waiting for? She couldn’t hang around like that forever – she’d need to take a breath soon! Why wouldn’t she grab one and go already?
Noelle joined her on the seabed, reaching out for a mussel, but Grey had the audacity to push her hand away and shake her head. Noelle made an angry noise at her, unfortunately releasing the breath she was holding as a result, and had to go back up to breathe again. This woman was already a hindrance and it hadn’t even been five minutes!
She took a breath and went back down again, fully intending to push Grey if she needed to – but then she witnessed something strange. Grey was still watching those mussels, nodding as if in conversation, before reaching for a specific one. She didn’t even touch it, yet it opened up of its own accord, and she reached in to grab something before it closed up again. Then she swam up to Noelle and shyly offered an object to her.
A tiny, misshapen pearl, glinting in the flickering sunlight penetrating the shallows. It wasn’t commercially valuable, nor was it particularly attractive, but it didn’t need to be either. Kahono and the Sea God wouldn’t be fussy. Noelle took it, grasping it tightly as she ascended once more, before climbing onto the dock to safely tuck it into her crumpled robe. She expected to see Grey surface too, but the sea remained undisturbed. Maybe she’d taken a breath already, while Noelle wasn’t watching?
One down. Four more to go. Noelle took a deep breath and gracefully dived from the dock, her arms out straight in front of her. Submerging once more, she spied Grey further away from the shore, methodically combing the rocks and stopping by each shellfish she found, before moving on without even grabbing one. Considering the time-sensitive nature of this endeavour – between Kahono’s impending return and the little time they had to search before needing to breathe again – Grey was moving way too slowly. Yes, she’d miraculously found one pearl on her first try, but she surely wouldn’t be so lucky again, and she’d never get anywhere if she didn’t even check the shellfish.
Noelle grabbed another mussel. As if sensing what she’d done, Grey immediately turned right around and shot over to her at a frankly inhuman speed before wresting it from her grip and gently putting it back on the seabed. No pearl, she mouthed. What?! How would she even know that without checking? And what was she playing at, getting in Noelle’s way? That was too far!
Infuriated, Noelle grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up to the surface, taking a moment to catch her breath before chiding her. “What are you doing?!” she scolded. “I told you not to get in my way!”
Grey wasn’t even out of breath, though she recoiled and put some distance between them. “B-but that one doesn’t have a pearl...”
“How would you even know?! You didn’t even check! You just snatched it off me!” Noelle gritted her teeth, her already thin patience wearing even more.
“But it said so! I-in its song...”
Noelle was now just confused. “What song? I don’t hear anything.”
“Y-you don’t hear them?” Grey swam a little closer, intrigued. “Oh, but... I forgot you can’t hear them...”
“Focus. What song?”
“Um...” Grey was lacing her fingers together anxiously. “The song everything sings. T-they want to help you, but they don’t want to die... s-so they’re telling me who’s grown a pearl.”
This was ridiculous. Noelle was supposed to be finding pearls, yet here she was listening to a woman talking about apparently being some shellfish whisperer who could talk to the damn things. Surely, she had to be mad. Noelle would’ve written her off as delusional, were it not for what she’d witnessed earlier.
Grey had immediately found a pearl in the first mussel she’d checked, despite the odds being roughly ten thousand to one. She’d passed over at least a dozen others just for that one. Shellfish also tended to close up and tighten their grip when under threat, yet that one had opened for her despite the risk. It was as if she really was communicating with them to find what she sought. Was she performing some kind of magic?
Despite her misgivings, Noelle could see there was some truth to Grey’s claim. Begrudgingly, she decided to humour her. “...Fine. Take me to the pearls.”
Grey didn’t say a word, instead sinking beneath the waves again and continuing her search. Noelle followed her to the seabed, watching as she took her time swimming from mussels to oysters. Grey would stop by each one, listen for a few seconds, then move on to the next.
This was too slow, even if it was more reliable. Noelle had to go up and take a breath. She expected her weird companion to ascend with her, but she went back down to find Grey still happily paddling between shellfish on the sand and in the rocks, entirely untroubled by the lack of oxygen. Was she just really good at holding her breath? Noelle followed as she descended further, getting further away from the shore.
Noelle had to take another breath. Was this really going to work? It seemed too time-consuming. She wanted to ask Grey about it, but she still hadn’t resurfaced, and Noelle submerged again to see her carefully searching through colourful corals. She seemingly hadn’t come up to breathe for several minutes, but she wasn’t slowing or losing consciousness despite the fact that she ought to have drowned by now. How was she doing this? But then again, she could swim pretty fast. Was she just shooting up for breath at a record pace when Noelle wasn’t looking? After all, it wasn’t possible for a human to survive for so long without air.
Grey reached in between branches of coral to gently pick up an oyster that Noelle would never have found in that little gap. She cradled it in her hands as it opened, carefully extracting another tiny pearl, before depositing the oyster back where she’d found it and shyly waving farewell to it. Then she offered the pearl to Noelle, who took it back to the surface while Grey continued the search.
Two down, three to go. After Noelle had spent months diligently searching every day, Grey was now making pearl-hunting look like child’s play. Two in less than an hour? That was ridiculous... Noelle had assumed she’d just be a hindrance, but she was very decisively being proved wrong. Had she been too quick to judge?
In the time that Noelle had taken to get back to the shore, Grey had swum even further out and was approaching a sheer drop at the edge of the shallows. The bottom of this drop wasn’t visible, as it was deep enough that all light was swallowed up past a certain point. This marked the border of Noelle’s search area, as diving so deep was too risky. It was too dark to see, and the pressure could cause people to get sick if they ascended too rapidly – which they'd have no choice but to do, as one could only hold a breath for so long.
Grey listened to some mussels at the edge, before hovering over the abyss and staring curiously into its inky depths. No way... she surely wasn’t thinking of heading down there? Noelle waved her arms to try and get Grey’s attention, emphatically shaking her head in an attempt to tell her to stop. Yet despite her efforts to tell her not to go down there, Grey didn’t pay her any attention and descended nonetheless, apparently too focused on the song of the shellfish to see the risk, disappearing from sight in the darkness. Noelle waited by the edge, occasionally surfacing to breathe, hoping that Grey would come back up to take a breath.
But she didn’t return.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
When Grey turned around, Noelle wasn’t with her anymore. Oh. Had she lost her somewhere? But then again, Grey had seen her often heading up to the surface. Humans seemed to struggle down here...
If that was the case, then it would really help Noelle if Grey could retrieve inaccessible pearls for her. She followed the songs of the shellfish, now far deeper and hidden in the darkness. Since she was alone, she unfolded her body to swim even faster with multiple legs and tentacles, opening a dozen more eyes to stare into the blackness with their lamp-like gaze. That felt much better, and she could navigate more easily too. Though it was freezing down here, the temperature didn’t affect her.
Mother’s song was getting further away. “Where are you going, child?”
Grey’s own song was carried over the waves. “I-I’m helping No-elle! She wants pearls...”
“...Who?”
“T-the lady you met earlier...”
Mother sighed in exasperation. “You are aware that Kahono is in the area, yes?”
“N-not until later. I’ll be quick...”
“Don’t go too far. Call me if you require aid.”
Grey found the seabed over a hundred feet down. She stopped and stared at the sight before her. Dozens of little mounds had grown in the sand, taking on various different shapes ranging from spiky to frilly to round – she would later learn that these were called “corals”. Fish swam in and out of them and sheltered under jagged rocks, singing of a shared desire to survive by hunting for food and hiding from predators. Around the rocks, safely gathered in tiny nooks and crannies, the shellfish Grey sought were singing in the same way. So were the corals. Beyond their own needs, all of these creatures – great and small – also sang of the mighty Sea God who ruled the ocean.
“He is angry with the humans, child of Astaroth. They are inconsiderate and greedy creatures, taking more than they need and discarding their junk, and they slew his faithful servant in his time of greatest need. Is nothing sacred? See for yourself what destruction they have wrought upon our home...”
This beautiful landscape was marred by human trinkets and tools. Several coral reefs had been crushed, dashed against the seafloor by the splintered wreckage of a sunken boat. Fishing nets were strewn across the rocks and sand, carelessly discarded, and had caught several unfortunate fish who pleaded for help. Putting the pearl hunt aside for a moment, Grey busied herself with releasing these poor creatures, far too familiar with their helpless despair of being trapped. She carefully snapped the woven netting with her claws, opening up each net to free its captives. As she glided over the sand, she would occasionally catch sight of foreign objects that had been lost or tossed by humans, glimmering under her luminous gaze. Coins, jewellery, fishing equipment, even clothing...
As these were not living things or a part of the planet, they had no song. They were unnatural. They all smelled like different humans they had once belonged to, and they were everywhere. Grey could see why the Sea God would be so upset. It was just so sad...
As she passed, some fish approached her, eager to investigate. Others shrank away, afraid of her. Their songs clashed, two very different opinions being expressed as they cried out to her.
“A friend!”
“A beast!”
“The children of Astaroth understand our plight. You can hear us...”
“The children of Astaroth are dangerous! They’ll find us wherever we hide! Even while we are silent, they hear us!”
“The ocean suits you well, dear. It is as if you are one of us...”
“Go back to the place you came from! You don’t belong with us, star-dweller!”
It reminded Grey of the humans. She’d spent her early years surrounded by those who feared and loathed her, condemned as a monster. They’d locked her up out of hatred and fright – and for a long time, she’d believed that all humans were so cruel.
And then she’d met Vanica, a human who approached her without fear and preferred to see Grey as she truly was. She was by no means a good person. She lacked empathy for her peers, kindness didn’t come naturally to her, and she had a habit of thinking only of her own desires and leading others into danger for the sake of her whims. But despite all of that, even if she hadn’t meant to, Vanica had been the first to treat Grey with anything remotely resembling basic decency. The bar was very low, but she was still Grey’s beloved human, because that recklessness and whimsy drove her to give Grey freedom and hope. She felt like she belonged when she was with Vanica, because Vanica treated the species divide between them like it didn’t even matter. Vanica’s brothers accepted Grey and Mother, too. This triad of humans had no fear.
Humans could think differently of the same thing – such as the sky, as Mother had mentioned – and it was the same with these fish. Though the criticism and fear was upsetting to hear, Grey tried to focus on the ones that liked her.
“I-I’m trying to find pearls for No-elle...” she silently explained.
That sent ripples through their songs. “The Sea God’s chosen? So, you are gathering tributes on her behalf?” The fish chattered among themselves for a while. “Is that allowed? She ought to be gathering the tributes herself...”
Grey followed the call of the shellfish, speaking with each in turn as she probed the rocks. “E-excuse me... I’m so sorry, b-but do you have a pearl No-elle could have? Please...”
The mussel she was speaking to unfortunately didn’t have one. “Sorry, mate. Oi, Jim! Didn’t Abigail have a nice pearl?”
An oyster answered from a few rocks away. “She did, but she got tossed up by old Kahono’s thrashing. Pretty sure she went further south...”
Grey headed south, following the directions of the shellfish.
“Not that way! Nobody has anything down there. Look, over here...”
“Look, I’m trying, okay? No luck so far... it’s hard to make a pearl!”
“I think I heard an old friend grew a good one, but he’s a bit buried in the sand after Kahono dislodged him and I haven’t seen him...”
Grey stopped when she heard that last one. “Is he around here?”
“Yeah, near that boat just there.”
The boat in question was upside-down and split lengthways down the middle. It was half buried in the sand, having clearly been settled here for a long, long time. Around it were strewn various items – yet another net, dozens of coins, and... what was that?
A weird, spiky object caught Grey’s eye. It had no song, so it wasn’t a shellfish, but that scent... it smelled similar to Noelle. Digging it out of the sand, she turned a pointed blue cross-shaped piece of jewellery over in her hand, wiping the sand off of it. Was it something Noelle had lost? Grey wrapped it up tightly in a tendril, keeping her grip secure.
A muffled song was emanating from the sand just next to the boat’s upturned hull, oozing with pride. Grey carefully dug a little hole and unearthed one very happy mussel, presumably the friend of the last one she’d spoken to.
“Check me out!” He opened to reveal a particularly shiny pearl. “Now I get to help the Sea God! Hey, can you put me back on that rock?”
Grey took the pearl, holding it in a clawed hand. “Thank you...” She put the mussel back on the rock with his friend before continuing onward, further into the ocean. Three down, two to go.
It took three hours to find the next one. It turned out that it was quite rare for these animals to produce pearls, and she passed hundreds if not thousands in her search, listening to their songs and following them further south into the open ocean. Each shellfish knew another, who knew another, who knew another... and some of them had friends who’d grown pearls. Grey followed their network, searching. Even with guidance, this was difficult. For a human who couldn’t hear songs, it had to take forever.
Most of the shellfish were clinging to rocks, reefs, shipwrecks, or buried in the sand – but, in a particularly barren part of the ocean, Grey found an oyster on top of the sand, on its back. That didn’t seem right. All the other oysters she’d seen had been attached to a hard surface. “A-are you alright?”
“Oh, thank the Sea God you’re friendly. I got swept away, and I’ve been stuck here ever since! Could you find me a nice rock to stick to?”
Grey carefully picked it up and deposited it on the underside of an overhanging rock, out of sight of unfriendly eyes. The oyster immediately secreted an adhesive to securely stick itself on. “Oh, that’s very sweet of you. Thank you. What’s a child of Astaroth doing down here, eh?”
“No-elle needs pearls...”
“Oh! I can help you there!” The oyster opened up to reveal another little pearl. “Hopefully, the tributes will appease their wrath...”
An oyster with a pearl, who’d been swept away by Kahono? “Oh! Um... are you Abigail?” Grey asked.
“That’s me! You met my friends, then?”
“Um, yes... do you want me to take you back to them?”
Abigail didn’t even hesitate. “Goodness, no! Not right now, anyway. Raquey’s the last place I want to be, what with Kahono terrorising the place. I think I’ll shelter down here until she’s all done.”
She seemed okay where she was, so Grey continued on. She just had one more pearl to find now, and she continued to follow the shellfish like a trail of breadcrumbs, diligently combing the seafloor for another hour. As the seabed sloped even further, the human wreckage and battered coral reefs increased in number, and the songs became wary.
“This way, this way... but be quiet...”
“I’d hurry it up if I were you.”
“Hey, not so much paddling. You’ll disturb the water too much.”
Grey took their advice and sped up a little while keeping movement to a minimum, gliding silently through the ocean with her hearts in her mouths as she furtively surveyed the area with her many eyes. How much time had passed, while she was so focused on her task? The sun would be setting soon, right? The urgency of her dwindling time suddenly hit her, and she started to panic. She needed to go. Kahono attacked at night – she’d be making her way to Raquey. There was no telling how close she might be.
Just as she was about to abandon the search and run away, a mussel next to one of her legs got her attention. “Psst! Hey – this is what you came all the way here for, right?” It opened for her. Oh thank the stars. After following the songs all this way, there was the last pearl. Grey wouldn’t need to come back here again. Now she just needed to head back north. “You gotta go!” the mussel urged. “Before she finds you!”
Grey began the journey back, swimming as fast as she could without kicking too much. Her eyes restlessly roved over her surroundings, now devoid of life as creatures began to hide, and every shadow seemed to writhe and squirm, as if they were about to uncoil and attack. A horribly familiar ghostly crooning reverberated through the water, leaving her feeling like her body had been shaken up. She remembered last night, how that haunting song had been the first sign...
The songs of the creatures around her were full of abject fear, which hardly helped Grey’s terror. As that song came closer, she made the terrifying decision to close her nonhuman eyes, plunging her into darkness and leaving her unable to see a thing. Now blind, Grey felt helpless and vulnerable, unable to see the beast in her vicinity – but, more importantly, Kahono wouldn’t be able to see her either. Leaving those luminous eyes open would have given her away. Now, she could try to slip away under the cover of darkness, or remain in place and wait for her to pass.
The one thing Grey could see was Kahono’s dark pink aura, radiating from her serpentine body as she slithered right underneath Grey. It was big and cloudy, billowing all over the place, both revealing and obscuring Kahono’s exact location. How close was she? Where was her face? Grey could feel the ripples in the water as each coil undulated, wafting her around like a leaf caught in a breeze. Her hearts pounded as she listened to the sand shifting under Kahono’s long belly, the great beast coming to a stop and resting gently on the seabed as lightly as a feather despite her enormous size. Grey’s breathing and heartbeats felt way too loud in the sudden, eerie silence.
Mother could sense Grey’s distress and fear. “Do you require aid?”
“W-wait!” If Mother rushed to her now, they risked catching Kahono’s attention. “I-I think... m-maybe I can get out... i-it’s not safe...”
Mother remained on standby. “Call me when it’s safe.”
Kahono’s song was so full of hatred and rage that it took Grey’s breath away. It was such an awful, discordant song, lacking any kind of harmony and instead full of loathing. It was brutal, raw. And yet... in this quiet moment, with Kahono at rest, it was also heavy. A layer of fresh grief spilled out from beneath the anger, like blood blooming beneath clothing and soaking through the woven threads. Was that why she was so angry? It felt so terrible, such loneliness and sadness weighing so heavily on a beast who didn’t even have shoulders to bear it.
Neither of them moved for several minutes, the sea falling deathly silent as Kahono stopped singing. Grey kept her eyes on that aura, waiting for its owner to move on. She didn’t dare move herself, for fear of attracting attention.
There was a deep, heavy sigh. Bubbles spouted up from further to Grey’s left, on the seafloor, as Kahono exhaled through her nostrils. “Kiato...” She could speak...
The anger in her song fell away for a moment, to be replaced by weariness. “I’m tired...” Another sigh.
More stillness. Kahono started singing again, the deep hum sending ripples through the water. If she strained her eyes, Grey could just about make out that long body resting underneath. It was marred by old scars, new lacerations, and a few fishing spears were sticking out. A net was wrapped around one of Kahono’s white fins, fluttering in the current. She looked like a battle-scarred veteran, resting her weary head before going to war once more. No wonder she was tired.
She started to move again, slithering along the seafloor and to the west, still singing. Grey waited until she was further away, then wasted no time shooting up to the surface like a rocket at a speed that would have killed any human attempting it. Her hearts were hammering so fast that she felt she might be sick, and she couldn’t stop shaking. That was far too close. As nice as the ocean was, she wouldn’t be entering again until Kahono was no longer a threat. She just hoped the pearls were worth it.
The sun was setting, bathing the surface of the waves in its golden hue. Raquey was a pinprick in the distance. Tightly clutching the precious items she’d gathered, Grey sped over to the safety of the shore, only slowing down once she came within sight of the beach. Then she swam at a more normal pace, folding back into a human form and holding her spoils in her two hands.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Throughout the afternoon, Noelle had tried to continue pearl-hunting, but had found she couldn’t help but worry. Grey hadn’t returned from her journey to the ocean floor, and that could mean one of two things. Either she had drowned, or she had been swept out into the perilous open ocean and was as good as dead anyway. And now Noelle needed to tell the rest of those travellers that one of their own was dead or lost. She dreaded their reaction. It wasn’t like she cared or anything – it was just really awkward to be the one to break the news, that was all.
She held off for a few hours, hoping vainly that Grey might find her way back to the shore and spare Noelle the awkwardness. But five hours later, it was beginning to look bleak. Not many people could swim for that long without tiring and subsequently drowning, and Kahono would be making her way to shore as well. Damn it, Grey... why had she gone so deep? Had she not known the risks?
Noelle resurfaced and opened a mussel on the sand. Nothing again. She couldn’t find the last three pearls, and she’d have to look again tomorrow. Climbing out of the surf, she spied Meg, standing stiller than a statue on the end of the pier and gazing out at the sea. It was like she was waiting for something. Did she know?
And then, further up the beach, Noelle spotted Vanica. She was sat down, staring listlessly off into the distance and clearly very bored. Apparently, she was supposed to take short walks to prevent any stiffness while her injury healed?
She was Grey’s girlfriend, so... maybe it was time to say something. It was clear that Grey wasn’t coming back, and Vanica deserved to know first. Noelle stood, first retrieving her robe from the dock and donning it, holding the pearls Grey had found for her. It was not unheard of for people to drown around Raquey, but this was Noelle’s first time being the one to break the news of it happening. She had to force herself to take each step, her heart in her mouth as she anticipated the reaction. Was this how it had felt so long ago, when one of the adults had approached Noelle to tell her something no 5-year-old should ever have to hear?
Vanica spotted her and met her gaze with a look of disinterest. Noelle took a shaky breath as she stood in front of the knight. “Uh...”
“What?” Vanica sounded mildly annoyed, like she was waiting for Noelle to spit it out already.
“Your girlfriend... uh, Grey...”
Vanica’s eye lit up at the mention of her name, and she leaned forward. “Oh, you know her? Where is she?” Oh gods, no. Oh, no. That happy look was making it even worse.
“She...” Noelle swallowed thickly, struggling to force out the words through the lump in her throat. “...Drowned.” That was possibly the worst way to say it, but she could barely speak.
Vanica took a second to react. Noelle was expecting some disbelief, maybe some anger, and definitely some crushing grief. Instead, Vanica shrugged nonchalantly, not even bothered. “Yeah, no. That would be too boring for her. She’s fine.”
Oh, so she was in denial then? “No. She... well, last time I saw her, she went down to the seabed and didn’t come back.” Surely, Vanica could piece it together from there?
“Well, did you see her die?”
“No?” Noelle wasn’t entirely sure what that had to do with anything. A person going down and not returning was either clearly already dead or lost at sea and doomed to eventually tire and drown anyway.
Vanica leaned back and relaxed again. “Then she’s fine.” Was she actually just stupid? How could she hear this and think Grey was okay? Then she looked past Noelle and waved at something behind her, grinning. “See? Told you!”
Noelle turned to see Grey crawling out of the surf, clutching something in her hands. She was soaked through, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, her eyes haunted by terror and her skin so pale that she looked like she might pass away on the spot. Noelle couldn’t figure out if that was from fear, the cold or both. Meg jumped off the dock to meet her and stood stiffly and awkwardly while Grey wrapped her arms around her, shivering and clearly trying not to cry. She was alive... clearly not doing well, but very much alive. Noelle didn’t even realise she’d been feeling a weight on her chest until it lifted.
It was great that Noelle wouldn’t have to deal with a bunch of grieving travellers, but... how was Grey alive? She’d descended into the depths, where it was far colder and ascending too fast could be potentially fatal. She’d presumably been swimming nonstop for hours on end. How had exhaustion not caused her to drown? It seemed impossible – inhuman, even – that she’d made it back. Between her improbable survival and the weird thing with the shellfish, something about Grey didn’t seem quite right.
Grey stumbled past on shaking legs and sat next to Vanica, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Vanica wrapped an arm around her, and Grey leaned into her shoulder. “What’s up with you?” Vanica asked.
Grey swallowed shakily, her hands still tightly closed over whatever she was holding. “I saw... um, Ka-ho-no...”
Vanica didn’t seem particularly fussed. “That’s it? C’mon, calm down. You’re fine, right?” The fact that she wasn’t panicking seemed to help Grey’s nerves, and the shivering lessened a little as she got more comfortable.
“Kahono won’t attack anyone who’s not from Raquey,” Noelle informed her. “I know she looks scary, but she wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Liar,” Vanica muttered. “She tried to eat us last night.”
“I’ve told you, she isn’t supposed to do that!” Noelle was still baffled by that. In an entire year of nightly attacks, Kahono had exclusively gone after those from Raquey. Had she mistaken these travellers for inhabitants? “Wait, how far out were you? She won’t be here for a few hours yet...”
“S-she was resting on the floor...”
Noelle paused to process that and make sure she’d heard correctly. “On the floor? You mean the seabed?” Grey nodded shyly and shrank back a little. “How did you get down there without drowning?”
She blinked. “What’s... drowning?”
Noelle stared at her in utter shock while Grey blushed and buried her face in Vanica’s shoulder. What’s drowning? What’s drowning? How could... how... did she not know that? She was either incredibly stupid or incredibly lucky.
Vanica helpfully explained, “It’s when you die ‘cause you can’t breathe!” That explanation was a bit too simple and applied to suffocation more than drowning, but it would do.
Grey looked at her girlfriend, a little mystified. “Oh... um, I don’t need to breathe.”
There was no way. She had to be making this up. She was messing with Noelle, right? For some reason, Vanica took it completely seriously. “Really?! That’s so cool!”
Meg had crept up behind Noelle at some point and had been watching silently – but she now interjected a little hastily. “That would be a result of the spell you cast, yes?”
Grey paused, before nodding hurriedly. “Oh! Uh, yes...” She didn’t sound very sure. “Oh, um... No-elle? I found things for you...”
She opened one hand, fingers trembling slightly, to reveal three tiny misshapen pearls. No way... she’d actually gone and found them all. Five pearls in one day was unheard of. Between talking to shellfish, somehow not dying and finishing a hunt Noelle had started months ago, Noelle was starting to wonder if Grey was really all she seemed. Was she an emissary of the Sea God, sick of waiting for the ceremony and sent to hurry it up?
Noelle took the pearls from her and was about to leave with them when Grey opened her other hand. “I saw this and, um, i-it smells like you...”
Smelled like her? What was she saying about Noelle’s body odour? That was so rude! Noelle was about to snap at Grey until she noticed what she was holding, and her rising anger suddenly shattered from the shock.
Grey was holding out a small, blue, pointed cross. Noelle swallowed thickly as she took it with a shaking hand, brushing the mud from its surface as it gleamed in the sunset. “Where... did you find this?” Please say it was on an island or something. Somewhere on the land. Anywhere but down there-
“Down there... um, next to a boat. It sank...”
Noelle had known for over a decade now that her siblings were never coming back, but a small part of her had held an impossible hope that maybe, just maybe, they’d return. But if Nozel’s hair accessory had been resting on the seafloor, next to a sunken boat... there was no doubt about it. Noelle felt like she’d been punched in the gut and dragged back to the past, like she was a little girl once again, losing them for the first time all over again. Those words rang again in her ears.
Their boat was caught in the storm. We can’t find them... I’m sorry.
Noelle really was all alone. She had no one.
Her breathing sped up as a horrible lump rose in her throat. She couldn’t lose it here. She’d look stupid. Her vision was blurring. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear it, but it only got worse.
Meg stared at her, intrigued, but said nothing. Vanica didn’t react at all, entirely unmoved and unbothered. But Grey peered at Noelle with worry, tentatively holding out a hand. “No-elle...?”
A part of Noelle wanted to take that hand. But that was the hand of the person who’d just cemented what Noelle already knew, who’d decisively chased away the fleeting fantasies that had given her comfort over the years. Unable to contain her rising emotions, unable to process them in a healthy way, she did the only thing she knew how to.
She ran away. Away from those inquisitive eyes. Away from the memories. Away from herself. But she couldn’t run away from the past, couldn’t shut it out as she sprinted through the village and slammed her front door shut behind her.
Noelle wished she could take Grey’s hand, but she didn’t know how to be anything other than lonely.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Vanica watched Noelle run away without a word. “Huh. She runs fast.”
Grey whimpered. “D-did I do something wrong...? Her song was so sad...”
Megicula sat next to them in the sand. “I don’t believe so. Perhaps that trinket means something to her.” Then she looked over at Grey. “What drove you to enter the sea? I had assumed that fear of yours would keep you out of trouble.”
“I wanted to help No-elle find pearls... sorry...” Grey looked down and blushed from embarrassment. “I-I didn’t think I’d have to go out so far...”
“So did you fight Kahono?” Vanica asked eagerly.
“Um, no. I stayed still and waited for her to go.” Grey shuddered at the memory, but Vanica thought that was pretty boring.
“You are not to enter the sea again,” Megicula ordered. “At least not until Kahono is dealt with. Risking yourself for a human you barely know is truly pointless. I expected better from one so cautious.”
“Megi, c’mon!” Vanica complained. “She’s fine, so who cares?”
Megicula scowled at her. “Refrain from using that awful abbreviation.”
“Excuse me.” The three of them turned their heads to see Doctor Owen, who was looking at Grey with concern as he noted how sodden she was. “I was coming to check up on Vanica – but may I ask that you avoid swimming while you’re here? Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing a sea monster problem.”
Vanica waved away his concerns. “Yeah, we know. Grey went pearl-hunting!”
“You did?” He frowned. “I suggest you be careful for your own safety, but... can I ask if you found any? We’ve been searching for them, you see.”
“Um, five,” Grey answered. “I gave them to No-elle.”
“Five...” he breathed.
“What do you even need them for?” Vanica asked, shrugging. “They’re boring.”
Owen looked out at the sinking sun before casting his eyes down. “They are needed as part of a ceremony we’re preparing for, in order to drive Kahono away.”
“Huh. So are you gonna lure her in for a fight?” If that was the case, Vanica wanted in!
“...No. She’s too mighty, and we risk the Sea God’s wrath. Noelle will be offering the pearls as tribute, and then... well...”
Megicula was staring hard at him. “This ceremony you speak of... considering it will solve your beast problem, you do not seem particularly pleased. There’s something more to this, yes?”
He wouldn’t look any of them in the eyes. “In order to appease the Sea God... Noelle must sacrifice herself to Kahono.”
Notes:
Cetus troubled Aethiopia for an entire year. No matter how much the people prayed or sacrificed, Poseidon wouldn't lift their punishment. Eventually, desperate for a solution, the royal family consulted an oracle.
That oracle informed them that, for Poseidon to forgive the people of Aethiopia, Cepheus and Kassiopeia were required to sacrifice their beloved daughter Andromeda, and allow Cetus to devour her.
And so, with heavy hearts, they chained her to a spire on the cliff above the swirling sea, where she awaited her fate...
Hm? You say that's not fair? Well, you're correct. It isn't. But the gods really can be cruel when they're in a foul mood, and they don't share the same concept of morality. Take the Storyteller. He's here to weave fates, not baby his creations. Many will live unhappy lives and die terrible deaths, because that is what the Storyteller has decided. As for me, I just want to tell tales. I do love a good story. Now, how is our Andromeda getting on?
She... she found the pearls?! Cinderella retrieved them for her? How?! What wizardry is this? The Storyteller told me that the children of Astaroth are a force to be reckoned with, but I did not realise just how meddlesome they could be... I'll need to keep an eye on them.
Chapter 6: Wishes Are Pointless
Summary:
As Noelle readies herself for the sacrificial ceremony in three days' time, she struggles to remain accepting of her impending death. That struggle is amplified tenfold after spending time with Megicula and Grey, their influence causing her buried fear to resurface...
Also Vanica escapes horny jail and no, we can't put her back in.
Notes:
As Andromeda awaited the arrival of mighty Cetus, there came a miracle - a man appeared seemingly from thin air, held aloft on winged sandals and bearing a strange sack.
It was Perseus, wandering the world and possibly a little lost. The two fell in love at first sight, and he agreed to slay the beast upon hearing of the princess's plight.
When Cetus reared his dreadful head, expecting to devour his helpless prey, he was instead faced by the great hero, who brought out the head of Medusa and turned him to stone in an instant. Aethiopia was saved, and the grateful king and queen gave Perseus their blessing to wed Andromeda. The hero flew back with his bride to the isle of Seriphos, where he then confronted Polydectes with the gift he had promised to secure. Perseus turned him to stone too, sparing his beloved mother from his advances.
Danaë, understandably, chose not to return to Argos and lived out her days in peace on Seriphos. Perseus and Andromeda triumphantly returned to his birthplace, anticipating conflict with his grandfather... only to find that King Acrisius had heard of their coming and fled from fear, believing that Perseus meant to kill him for exiling Danaë. Perseus and Andromeda settled down as the new king and queen, having children who would continue their lineage for years to come.
And Acrisius never could outrun the prophecy. Years later, as an old man, he was part of a crowd who watched Perseus take part in a discus-throwing competition. Alas, the wind caught Perseus' discus and sent it sailing into the crowd, where it collided with Acrisius' head and killed him instantly. Fate always finds a way, you see? All endings are always the same, as the Storyteller decrees.
Perseus is one of the luckier Greek heroes. He's one of the only ones to achieve an unambiguously happy ending. We have great things in store for our Perseus, too.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As the stars began to dot the darkening sky, the travellers sat in a cramped little dining room at the inn, huddled around a round wooden table. The dim lamplight flickered faintly, barely holding the shadows at bay as the night came creeping in. On the table itself were the rations they’d been carrying – three slightly stale loaves of bread – as well as a juicy cut of beef the innkeeper had prepared, which Megicula was methodically dividing up into equal portions.
Zenon was scrutinising the beef in the same way one would stare disdainfully at a criminal behind bars. “What’s with that face?” Dante asked. “Come now, stop sulking! It’s quite passable.”
“That’s not it,” he replied. “I’m just trying to figure out how it’s possible.”
“You kill a cow!” Vanica explained. She didn’t understand why Zenon wouldn’t know that.
“I am aware of that.” Now he was scowling at her for some reason. “However, I would like to know how it came to be here. As far as I’ve gathered, Raquey is dependent on fish and has no livestock.”
He looked pointedly at the innkeeper, who nodded and smiled jovially. “Ah, yes. A merry little band of men came through here the other day and kindly donated some food and yuls to us. We can’t catch any fish, you see – the lads heard of our plight and came all the way here to help. Alas, you missed them by a day or so.”
“Doesn’t Kahono stay out during the day?” Vanica asked. “Just go out while she’s gone!”
“Our boats aren’t in any condition to sail. We’re currently relying on the shellfish we find in the shallows.”
Grey and Megicula refrained from eating, trying to conserve supplies. Being immune to starvation was super neat, but then where did they get energy from? The void or something? They got a few concerned looks from the innkeeper, though he said nothing.
Once they’d finished up, each loaf had been halfway eaten. Now they had three half-loaves that were definitely not making it through breakfast tomorrow. Maybe they could dive in the day for something...
Right before Zenon shut the door to the men’s bedroom, Vanica caught a glimpse of him and Dante polishing their weapons, the pieces of their armour lined up on their straw-stuffed mattresses as they prepared to put it on. She was ready to do the same, even despite the pain she was in, because who in their right mind would pass up on a chance to fight a sea monster?! But then she entered the women’s bedroom to discover that her armour and swords were nowhere to be found.
Vanica turned to Grey. “Hey. D’you know where my stuff is?” She received a nervous shake of the head in return.
“I have confiscated it.” Megicula was standing in the middle of the room. “I anticipated that you would attempt to combat Kahono.”
“Where’d you put it?”
“I will not be disclosing that information. You are staying here. I will watch for Kahono and engage if the need arises.”
“Seriously? I’m not that fragile-“ A sudden stab of sharp pain caused Vanica to double over. Gods, she surely couldn’t be that weak. This sucked. The pain itself was fairly exhilarating, but now everyone else was getting in her way and stopping her from doing anything fun, and that was a nightmare. She didn’t need to be coddled like some weakling!
Grey was holding onto her arm, as if expecting her to make a break for it at any second. “Um, you’ll get better if you rest...”
“I don’t want to rest!” Vanica snapped. “That’s boring!”
Megicula pursed her lips, thinking. “You like spending time with Grey, yes?”
“Yeah!”
“In that case, Grey can remain here with you. ◇♡, I trust you will keep an eye on her?” In response, Grey nodded quickly.
“You can’t just leave us out!” Vanica protested.
Megicula raised an eyebrow, as if confused. “You have your ♡☆. You like your ♡☆. Therefore, I do not understand the issue.” Refusing to entertain the conversation any further, she made for the door. “Your complaining is fascinating, though tiring. Grey, do not let her leave this room.”
She left them by themselves. Through the wall, Vanica could hear Dante and Zenon departing as well, leaving her and Grey by themselves. “Your mom’s such a buzzkill.”
Grey shook her head. “She’s trying to help you...”
Vanica looked over at the window. “Hey, c’mon. Let’s sneak out and-“
She only managed to take two steps before a black tentacle wrapped itself around her abdomen. Grey gently tugged at her. “Um, no. Y-you won’t get better if you don’t rest...”
“I’m not gonna wait for that! Don’t be such a-“
Grey lifted her off the floor with that tentacle, the weight of an entire adult human meaning absolutely nothing to her. Then she sat Vanica down on the bed. “Please...”
Vanica was a bit too flustered to keep arguing. Whoa, that was hot. That was so hot. Gods, Grey was so strong. For a moment, Vanica couldn’t find her words and stared in fascination at her. Grey blushed and shrank back under her gaze.
Focus. Focus! There was a battle calling Vanica’s name! She shook her head and braced her hands against the mattress as she stood. “Look, just let me-“
“No!” Grey dissolved into a multi-limbed mass and coiled around Vanica, forcing her to sit back down and holding her there in a web of arms and legs. Dozens of eyes peered at every corner of the room, diligently keeping watch, and there were a few mouths here and there. “I-I don’t want you to get hurt more...”
“I’m not gonna get hurt!” Vanica couldn’t push her off. Grey had a grip of steel, and she was actually pretty heavy. Around Vanica’s waist, she could feel those muscles flexing with each movement, feel those hearts beating in unison. “I don’t need protecting! I’m fine!”
Then the struggle aggravated her injury, and she hissed in pain and held her chest. Stupid bruised ribs. Grey carefully wrapped an arm around Vanica’s chest, her cool skin acting like a cold compress to reduce the pain. Vanica held onto that arm, feeling its coarse, wiry hair under her fingers.
“...I hate this,” she muttered. For someone as fiercely independent as Vanica, being put out of commission and forced to rely on others to do the fun stuff was hell on earth.
Grey cuddled up against her. “I know...” It seemed that she couldn’t really think of anything to say that would help. That was fine. Vanica didn’t see the point in expressing sympathy anyway. One of those hands squeezed her shoulder, the grip of those leathery fingers sturdy and strong.
It could be worse. At least Vanica was being held hostage by a monster. That was very sexy and a lot better than whiling away the time by herself. She gripped Grey’s hand tighter, squeezing those powerful muscles and feeling them twitch beneath her fingers. Vanica didn’t even think about it. She just pressed a kiss to the back of that hand, feeling its coldness against her lips. When she pulled away, Grey whined in protest, a pitiful chorus emanating from all over the undefined mass that was her body. The back of her hand cracked open like a fissure, a gaping mouth revealing itself, begging for more. Vanica would’ve obliged, but...
“Grey. That’s too big.” Seriously, how were they supposed to properly kiss like that? Grey’s mouths varied in size but even the smallest were half the size of Vanica’s whole face, and they didn’t really have definable lips. “Where’s your human one?”
“No,” Grey softly protested. “I’ve already been human today...”
Vanica knew she hated being confined to such a tiny form, certainly not helped by years of imprisonment in her own body. Grey always avoided looking fully human if she could, always leaving herself partially unfolded into her majestic true form to give herself some breathing room. Vanica liked to encourage this – Grey’s true, natural state was amazing – but there were occasional problems with dating a monster. The kissing debacle was a perfect example of that. They couldn’t kiss each other properly unless Grey used her human mouth, and sometimes she seemed to forget about Vanica’s limitations.
“Well, how are you planning to kiss me then?”
Grey thought about it for a moment before making her decision. A slimy black tongue emerged from that gaping maw and dragged itself up Vanica’s face, leaving a thick trail of frigid black saliva in its wake. It absolutely reeked and left her shivering. But wow, that tongue was muscular. It left Vanica with the distinct impression that she was at risk of being eaten, and that was amazing. Her heart started to race as her breathing got heavier.
Grey noted the change in her heartbeat and breathing. “W-was that bad?”
“Nope.” It was the furthest thing from bad. Vanica squeezed Grey’s hand encouragingly. “Do it again!” Enamoured by her bizarre lover, she forgot all about her eagerness to fight Kahono.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Noelle sat on her bed, with only silence for company in this huge, empty house. In one hand, she held ten pearls – the five she’d gathered over several months, and the five Grey had found earlier that day. In her other hand, she held Nozel’s accessory, once lost to the depths.
He was home. She’d regained him and lost him again all at once. Clasping it to her chest with a shivering hand, she looked through the open doorway, to the room across the hall. There was Solid’s room, the same as it was before. One of his wooden drawers was pulled out slightly, having been left carelessly as he hurried out of the door to catch the boat for his final fishing trip. Noelle remembered running after him to remind him.
“Brother! You left your drawer open...”
Solid had taken a second to shrug before dashing out and slamming the door behind him, calling out, “I’ll get it when I’m back!”
It still waited for him to come home.
Noelle never closed it. It was a last remnant of Solid now, proof that the room had ever been inhabited. Nozel and Nebra’s rooms were similarly untouched, preserved forever in time. Noelle didn’t want to clean them, even as layers of dust piled up like sediment on a river bed, because she didn’t want to accidentally brush away the last traces of her family.
And in mere days, her own room would be empty too, acquiring a coating of dust over another decade. She’d finally see her siblings again. The Sea God would be appeased, and Raquey would be saved. Her sacrifice would be a good thing.
But she was scared.
Noelle brushed her thumb over Nozel’s cross, recalling his lessons on acting like a royal. Though the Silva household ruled nothing more than a little fishing hamlet, their history as descendants of Clover Kingdom royals had always been close to their hearts, and they sought to carry that regal spirit accordingly. Like many younger siblings in times of fear and anxiety, Noelle looked to her eldest brother as a shining star to guide her, an example to follow. What would Nozel have done, if he faced the maw of Kahono?
“Royals are to follow their duties with unwavering conviction. You cannot allow your personal feelings to come before upholding the household’s reputation.”
Noelle closed her hand over the pearls, those harbingers of her demise. She took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and forcing her shaking body to fall still. First and foremost, she was descended from royalty. She couldn’t disgrace the storied house of Silva by fleeing from her duty. Nozel, Nebra and Solid would turn in their graves at her cowardice, at her weakness. She had to honour them, even if it meant letting a monster tear her body apart, drinking her blood and crushing her bones. She had to be brave to the very end, in order to be worthy of the name of Silva. Her family’s reputation came before her wellbeing.
The furniture trembled and rattled as that ghastly crooning began, a warning of the calamity to come. Holding Nozel’s cross close, Noelle got to her feet and gripped those pearls for dear life, steeling her resolve and burying her terror so deep that it could never surface again.
It was time to meet Kahono.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Megicula waited on a rooftop, watching the tide come in. She could feel it. Kahono’s aura slithered towards the shore as she sang for all to hear.
Grey’s song became fearful as she heard Kahono. “W-what should we do?”
“Remain where you are. It is safest to stay out of sight.” The inn was at the village’s edge, the furthest building inland. Furthermore, houses were a lot sturdier than the easily breakable bodies of humans.
Below her vantage point, Dante and Zenon watched the sea. Under normal circumstances, Megicula would’ve ushered the entire group out of the village and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves. She was not defending them out of charity or empathy for their plight, and couldn’t care less for their wellbeing. However, Vanica was in no condition to move too far, and it was imperative that Grey’s ♡☆ remained unharmed. To that end, Megicula watched the conflict, to ensure Kahono was driven back and intervene if things got out of hand. Of course, with human eyes upon her, her options were quite limited. The best she could do was wield her wand and spin a story of training as a sorceress.
Down on the beach, villagers were gathering with fishing spears and nets. How foolish. Humans insisted on fighting monsters, always too short-sighted to remember what they were dealing with. Monsters were not mindless, rampaging beasts who attacked for the sake of it. They were warnings, steering humanity’s development by making examples of select humans to deter the rest of their race from making the same mistakes. Alas, the fools remained unwilling to listen. They resisted the consequences of their sins. They slaughtered their punishers and learned nothing. They doomed themselves to a cycle of repeating their mistakes, over and over again.
Hmm... now what was Kahono warning of? How intriguing it was that a human sacrifice would be considered a lesson learned in the Sea God’s eyes...
“There.” Zenon pointed at the waves, his eyes as keen as ever. The sea was starting to swirl and churn as a white fin surfaced, the water darkening as an undulating shadow stretched for miles beneath. Dante threw caution to the wind and jogged leisurely down to the beach, eager to join those humans resisting their punishment. Megicula stayed on the roof. She knew the importance of letting humans suffer consequences and only planned to step in if Kahono was getting too close to the inn.
The mighty sea beast made her grand entrance by spearing a boat on her horn, carrying it high into the air as she rose from the depths, seawater cascading from her sodden mane. Villagers began to shout and throw their spears with all their might, but they were woefully inadequate despite their experience with this creature. They aimed for the thick, rubbery white skin on Kahono’s throat and underbelly – perhaps mistakenly but understandably assuming it was more vulnerable than her scaled back – only for their weapons to bounce harmlessly off. Looking down on the irritating little bugs far below her, Kahono snarled derisively and violently shook her head from side to side until she dislodged the boat, sending it sailing through the air until it crashed into the village square and smashed upon impact, wooden splinters flying like shrapnel. Then she began to violently thrash around with her entire body, the earth itself rattling as her lashing coils slammed against the shallow seabed and stirred up enormous waves to flood the village. Megicula watched with mild interest as a towering wave crashed over her, drenching her from head to toe and running off the thatched roof like water off a duck’s back.
Zenon maintained a safe distance. “Dante!” he called. “Do not engage her! Our directive was to supervise, not participate!”
Dante paid him no mind, hurrying onto the docks to join the bedraggled villagers. “Aim for the scales!” he barked. “They’re thinner than the throat!” He clearly had no interest in following Megicula’s instructions, preferring to stir up more trouble instead.
The problem with Dante wasn’t that he was reckless, or self-absorbed, or entirely unwilling to cooperate – though none of those qualities helped. He was unusually charismatic, gifted with a commanding voice and an arrogant swagger that other humans seemed naturally inclined to flock to and rally around. When he spoke, others listened. This would be an excellent advantage to Megicula if he would use that quality for anything other than his own whims. As of now, he was nothing but a hindrance.
Somebody followed his directions. A spear buried itself in Kahono’s neck, and she shrieked shrilly. Dante, that fool, had no interest in keeping a low profile, and instead brandished his rapier at her. “You see?” he crowed. “That is what happens when you get in my way! That’s for last night!” Zenon started sprinting over, apparently foreseeing what his foolish brother could not.
Kahono roared angrily at him, the earth quaking as spit flew from her gaping maw. Dante seemed to bask in the monster’s rage, apparently quite pleased with his own idiocy. Zenon ran out onto the pier and shoved him with all his strength, sending them both tumbling into the frothing ocean right as Kahono reared up and slammed down onto the wooden structure with thousands of pounds of weight, smashing it beneath her bulk with all the ease of a child snapping a twig. The docks sank into the sea, leaving everybody on them treading water and in even worse peril. Such pointless folly, and for what? Revenge? Humans really were prideful creatures.
Alas, Megicula could hardly leave two of Grey’s bodyguards to die, no matter how much one of them deserved to feel consequences. Between the thrashing beast, the churning sea and their heavy armour, the brothers were sure to drown. Zenon in particular was far too useful to lose. However, reaching them in time from here would require potentially blowing her cover. In the houses around her, Megicula could see the auras and hear the songs of fearful villagers watching the altercation. Hm... if anyone asked, she would concoct a tale of a temporary transformation spell. Such things were known to exist, practised by witches.
Spreading a pair of black batlike wings, Megicula glided silently through the night sky, taking advantage of the scene Kahono was making to sneak by. Dissolving her wings, she dived into the water to retrieve the sinking brothers, pulling them up with little effort and dragging them onto the shore.
One of Kahono’s bulging eyes swivelled downward to focus on her. “Stay out of this, child of Astaroth!” she bellowed. “This has nothing to do with you!”
“I agree with your assessment,” Megicula calmly replied, pulling her dazed allies up the beach. “Carry on.”
Kahono was really rather reasonable despite the destruction she was causing. She snorted and huffed, but turned away to continue carrying out her duty, apparently interested only in the objects of the Sea God’s ire. She leered at those in the water, clearly intent on severely punishing these humans specifically. Megicula was curious to know what carnage she might leave in her wake.
But before the situation could worsen, Noelle appeared at the top of the beach, gasping for breath after sprinting across the village. Her song was steely and determined, admirably sturdy despite the beast before her. “KAHONO!” she yelled.
Kahono stopped. “You,” she growled. “Keep yourself safe, Sea God’s chosen. It isn’t your time yet.”
“I’ve come to make a deal!” Noelle held out the pearls. “I have the tributes right here!”
Kahono stretched out to come face to face with the tiny human before her, lowering her mighty head to scrutinise the miniscule objects in her hand. That huge horn hovered over Noelle’s head as she steadily met the gaze of those fishlike eyes, clearly struggling not to wince as that rancid breath rolled over her.
“Oh, hey. You really do have them!” Kahono was oddly friendly despite bargaining with an enemy. “What’s up?”
“Leave Raquey alone,” Noelle requested. She was shaking a little. “Just so we can prepare for the ceremony. Unless you want to keep the Sea God waiting?”
Kahono considered it, licking her lips. Nobody dared to move, hoping she’d call off her attack early. Megicula watched the exchange, fascinated by Noelle’s courage. Perhaps it was easier to be brave when death was inevitable.
Finally, she moved back. “Fine. I’m giving you three days. By sundown on the third day, I’m expecting you at the peninsula.” Then she snarled, her lips curling back to bare her fangs. “You know the one,” she spat bitterly. A pang of grief pierced the rage in her song as she retreated to the ocean, sparing Raquey from further punishment.
Despite Kahono leaving in record time, none of the villagers cheered or celebrated. As they pulled themselves out of the water, a heavy silence smothered the beach as they became sullen and morose. Noelle herself was quick to turn on her heel and leave, unwilling to speak on the matter – though she did briefly look at Megicula for just a little too long. Nobody seemed to like the idea of a human sacrifice, even if it would end the trouble.
Raquey had only been under assault for a short time, yet it was badly battered. Wooden splinters from the thrown boat were lodged in the walls of several houses, and the entire village was swamped by ankle-deep water from Kahono’s thrashing. The people disbanded, agreeing to fix the damage tomorrow once they had more light.
Dante watched as rivulets of water seeped out of the joints in his armour. “It’s going to rust!” he complained.
“Then you should not have aggravated Kahono,” Zenon replied, scowling disapprovingly. “We’ll need a barrel of sand and vinegar.”
They split off to investigate, asking around the village. Since they didn’t already have a coating of oil on their armour to protect it, time was of the essence for them. That left Megicula alone to wade back to the inn. Grey hadn’t asked her for help, nor had she seen Vanica trying to rush in, so she surmised that Grey had presumably been successful in keeping her put.
Megicula entered the inn, leaving wet footsteps in her wake, and headed for the women’s room. She opened the door, only to see that Grey had unfolded her form and pinned her ♡☆ down to one of the beds. Vanica was now on her back and was coated head to toe in a thick black fluid, flushed red and looking extremely pleased, while Grey had wrapped several tongues around her limbs. Grey paused and stared at Megicula with thirteen wide eyes, looking very embarrassed, and apparently caught the bemused look Megicula was giving her. “Vanica likes it...” she explained.
That was abundantly clear. Vanica made direct eye contact with Megicula, then made the audacious decision to entirely ignore her in favour of reaching up to pull Grey down on top of her. “Hey, don’t stop now!”
Megicula shut the door on them without a word. What her daughter got up to with her lover was none of her business, but she had no desire to watch. Well... at least Grey had found a way to keep Vanica out of the fray.
Megicula chose to stay on the roof instead, allowing them some privacy. She spent the night watching the stars, remembering the void she once came from.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The next day, Grey searched the village for Noelle. She was worried about her. The rest of her group were quite apathetic to Noelle’s horrible fate – Vanica and Dante didn’t care, while Megicula and Zenon preferred to let the Sea God punish his people as he wished – but Grey just couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving Noelle like that. Sure, it wasn’t like she could do much to stop Kahono, but the least she could do was try to help Noelle maybe... feel a bit better? Was that possible, considering what loomed ahead?
She also felt personally responsible for this. She’d really thought she was helping Noelle by finding those pearls... but instead, Grey had brought the date of her death forward by several weeks, if not months. This was all her fault...
The villagers’ songs were strange. They’d sing of impending relief, then guilt, then grief, in an endless cycle. It was so sad. Grey was able to differentiate Noelle’s song from the rest because it remained solid and unwavering, singing of conviction and fiery determination. She seemed to be taking things fairly well, but...
Grey located Noelle’s song in that giant house in the village’s centre. She crept up to the door and knocked on it, before flinching and drawing back. She waited for Noelle to answer, but the song never moved, and Grey couldn’t hear any footsteps indicating that she was coming. She knocked again. No answer. Was Noelle okay? The lack of an answer was worrisome...
She looked at one of the curtained windows. None of the windows here had panes or closing mechanisms. If Noelle was in trouble, Grey would go to her instead. To that end, she climbed through the window.
The inside of the house was larger and more lavishly furnished than anywhere else in the village. Grey found herself in the dining room, right next to a long oak table with six chairs pushed underneath. But there was only one silver plate at the table, in front of one chair. Heading into the main hall, she stepped onto a soft red carpet. Oh... not many people could afford those.
Noelle’s song was coming from upstairs. Grey climbed them slowly, tripping over a couple of times – she really struggled to keep these tiny limbs moving in the appropriate order – before she reached the upstairs landing. There were four wooden doors around the rectangular perimeter, two on each side. One of them was open.
Grey peered in to see an immaculately made bed, with not a single wrinkle visible on the mattress. Against one wall was a sky-blue tapestry bearing a coat of arms, a silver shield depicting a matching eagle with its wings spread wide. On its chest, it bore a cross symbol that matched the object Grey had given to Noelle the day before. Opposite the bed was a neatly organised desk, its surface clear and tidy to allow usage with only a quill and ink pot near the back.
What stood out most was the dust. Layers of it coated all of this furniture, as if the room hadn’t been used in years. It looked... lonely. With just one look, Grey could tell that nobody had inhabited this room for a very long time.
Another door opened, and Noelle stepped out, holding a dagger in one hand and a pair of chains and shackles in the other. She jumped upon catching sight of Grey, who shrank back in response. “What- how did you get in here?!” Noelle exclaimed.
“I-I climbed through the window...”
Noelle quickly recovered and scowled at her. “Why are you even here?”
“I was worried...”
“So you broke into my house?”
“Yes...” Wait, did humans not like that kind of thing? “Um, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Noelle said that a little too quickly, and she averted her eyed as she spoke. For a moment, her song wavered, threatening to reveal something more before it stabilised again. “Why do you care?”
“B-because I don’t want you to die...” Grey didn’t know her, but she didn’t like the idea of anyone facing that fate, no matter how little she knew of them. It was just horrible.
Noelle turned her nose up and marched purposefully down the stairs. “Well, that’s just how it goes. I’m descended from royalty, and that is my duty.”
Grey followed her, tripped on the steps and had to hang onto the banister to stop herself from colliding with Noelle, which earned her a very strange look. “Um, um, w-what does royalty have to do with being eaten?”
Noelle opened the front door and walked out, barely paying her any attention as her tone became irritable. “It’s about the responsibility. A peasant like you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh...” Grey continued to follow her, keeping a safe distance as her song started to become hostile. “B-but can I... can I help?”
“Don’t get in my way.”
Noelle left the village through the eastern exit, walking on a sandy path across the southern coast. Her sandals kicked up grains of sand with every footfall, leaving imprints behind for Grey to follow.
Mother’s song was carried on the wind. “You’re leaving the village? After what occurred yesterday, I judge it best to accompany you.”
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
When Noelle next turned around, Meg had popped up from seemingly nowhere to walk alongside Grey. How bizarre... Noelle hadn’t seen her approach, nor heard her. It was like she’d appeared from the ether.
“What is wrong with you people?!” she exclaimed. “Why do you keep following me?!”
“Good question,” Meg replied. “Grey, why do you keep following her?”
“I’m worried...”
“Then stop worrying!” Noelle snapped. “I don’t even know you!” Seriously, why would she do that? It wasn’t like Grey could change anything. They weren’t even friends. As of now, she was a purely distracting presence. Every time she expressed fear and worry, Noelle could feel her resolve falter a little.
And still, Grey kept following. Meg as well. It was like they were drawn to Noelle. She was ready to yell at them some more and maybe scare them off, but she stopped herself at the last second. Noelle remembered what had happened yesterday. Grey’s ability to explore the depths without needing to breathe. Her affinity with the shellfish. What if she really was an emissary of the Sea God, sent to preside over the ceremony’s preparations? What if the excuse of being worried about Noelle was a ruse to ensure Grey could watch her? After all, why would a stranger care for her? It was the only explanation. If Grey really was the Sea God’s servant, then Noelle couldn’t defy her... and maybe Meg was one too. Noelle knew what she saw last night, silently gliding over the houses towards the sea. Those black wings.
Reluctantly, she swallowed her pride and anger. “...Fine. Just... do what you need to do, but don’t get in my way!”
Meg raised an eyebrow, as if surprised by the sudden change in heart, but didn’t comment. Those crimson eyes were piercing her soul again, as if probing her mind. Something about Meg felt... off, in the way Grey felt off, but slightly different. And Kahono had said something strange to her...
Stay out of this, child of Astaroth!
It was as if Kahono knew something Noelle didn’t. A child of Astaroth... what exactly was that? Was it literal – did Kahono know one of Meg’s parents? Or was it linked to a group of some kind? Between Meg and Grey, this was a strange group of travellers. Noelle couldn’t help but wonder where they were going... if they were even travellers at all.
Up ahead was the peninsula, a long spit of land extending into the sea located a few hundred metres to the east of Raquey. At its tip was a jagged spire of rock overlooking the sea below, its craggy surface still dyed brown with old blood that would never truly fade. A reminder of the original sin that had started this all. Noelle should have stopped them. Why hadn’t she stopped them? Why had she stood and watched, and let it happen?
Noelle stood by the foot of the spire, its shadow looming over her. Behind her, Grey whimpered. “Mother... that song...”
...Mother?
Much to Noelle’s surprise, Meg answered. “Yes. This spire has borne witness to truly foul events.” How did either of them know that? Then again, the bloodstain was extremely obvious. But... wait, Meg was Grey’s mother? They didn’t look anything like each other...
Before Noelle could think about it more, Meg turned to her and asked, “What manner of ceremony will be performed here?”
Noelle dumped the chains and shackles next to the spire, before nodding towards a set of hooks hammered into the rock face halfway up, rusted by years of exposure to the rain and the sea breeze. “This is where we normally sacrifice to the Sea God. The chains will be going up there, and they’re usually used to restrain sacrificial animals... and in two days, I need to be chained there at sundown. But first...”
She turned away from the chains and walked to the very edge of the peninsula, peering down at the crashing waves slamming against the rocks below. The water had washed the blood off of them. Washed the bones back out to sea. But it hadn’t washed away the blood on Raquey’s hands.
Behind her, she could hear somebody pattering over to the chains she’d left. Then came Meg’s voice. “Ah. So these are to be hung up there?” Noelle paid it no mind. As long as Meg and Grey didn’t steal them or anything, Noelle didn’t care.
She brought the dagger up, untied her hair and then stretched it out, adjusting the dagger’s position against the ends of her hair. She was so focused on her task that she barely noticed the strange squelching and slithering sounds behind her. Severing a full inch of her silver hair, Noelle held it over the sheer drop and then let it fall to the ocean, strands twirling and fluttering in the wind before being carried away by the sea. The gesture was done to catch the Sea God’s attention, to tell him that the ceremony would soon be performed. It seemed to have an effect on the local wildlife too. Every time a sacrifice’s hair or fur was dropped into the sea, the fish and birds would desert the area for the next week, as if they knew not to disturb this holy ground.
Noelle watched the waves sweep away those silver strands, ensuring that the Sea God received the message. Once she was certain, she turned around, ready to climb the spire to hang up those chains – only to see them already dangling from the hooks. Below them, Meg was admiring her handiwork.
Meg nodded. “This is correct, yes?”
“I... yes, but... how?” Noelle couldn’t understand it. How had Meg hauled those chains up and climbed back down in only two minutes? Surely that wasn’t possible... unless it had something to do with those wings Meg had last night? Noelle had been expecting to spend at least an hour on this. Now what? She was just waiting for the village tailor to sew the pearls into the priestess’s robe now...
“Is that it?” Meg asked.
“Well... yeah.” Noelle was feeling a little lost. Without something to occupy her time, she could feel her thoughts wandering back to... to her fear. She couldn’t think about that too much. She needed something to do.
Grey was giving her a strangely sad look, like she could sense her turmoil. “No-elle...”
Noelle turned on her heel and marched away, unable to face that look. “We’re done here.”
“B-but...”
“Stop!” She didn’t even look back. She didn’t want to see that face Grey was making right now. She walked back along the sandy path, away from the site of her impending death, trying to forget about it for just a little longer. Behind her, she could hear Grey’s unsteady footsteps, and the light pattering of Meg’s dainty feet. Why did these travellers insist on following her around? Raquey’s problems had nothing to do with them. They were poking their noses into places they didn’t belong.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Megicula had never heard such a conflicted song before. Such a curious little human Noelle was. She insisted she was fine and got angry with Grey, yet she was clearly fearful and desperately desired comfort. How was she to receive counsel if she pushed everybody away?
Not that Megicula could provide what Noelle sought anyway. She didn’t see the point of empty platitudes and reassuring lies. The fact of the matter was simply that Noelle was going to die, and nothing anybody said would change that. Not even the bizarre human concept of hope – something intangible that didn’t even exist – would help her.
Megicula broke the silence. “I’m rather curious to know why the Sea God would demand a human sacrifice. As I recall, he accepts only sacrifices of fish and livestock.” In her thousand years on this planet, she’d studied many human religions. Each one had different rules – based on the decrees of the gods they worshipped and the culture of the humans – and practices that were completely normal in one place could be deemed downright offensive to another and could even lead to divine smiting when performed for the wrong god. Human sacrifice wasn’t exactly common, though it did certainly exist... but the Sea God’s followers had never engaged in the practice before. As far as Megicula was aware, the Sea God disapproved of it. What would drive him to make an exception here?
“That’s none of your business!” Noelle snapped.
“Is it not? Kahono has already attacked us and injured one of our own. It became our business when she forced us to suspend our journey.”
Noelle didn’t deny it, but she glowered at Megicula. Her song was guarded and guilty, as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.
Grey was trailing behind them both, saying nothing as her eyes darted between them. Her song was jumpy, as usual. Always on guard. Always afraid. But as they entered the village, she crept out from their shadows, tentatively padding out ahead of them and into the open as she scanned her surroundings. Searching.
Her eyes landed on the wreckage of the sunken pier – and then on Vanica, who was staring out to sea and admiring the destruction. Grey froze. And then she took off, awkwardly sprinting to the beach and repeatedly tripping over her own feet. Really, for someone who was supposed to be trying to keep her true nature under wraps, Grey had so far done a terrible job and almost jeopardised the group. It was painfully clear that she wasn’t used to her own body. Then again, trying to move on only four limbs with dozens of others crammed inside was akin to trying to walk while wearing socks stuffed full of living, writhing snakes. It was certainly doable with practice – Megicula, of course, had mastered the ability to contain herself in a smaller form – but Grey clearly needed to be taught to move properly as a human. Hmm. That would require Megicula to teach her... but a nonhuman could only mimic a human so well. Even one who was half-human remained fundamentally different from full-blooded humans. And in a world dominated by humans, no space existed where Grey and Megicula could simply be themselves. Megicula had determined that the Clover Kingdom would be the safest place for them to live, but even there they would have to hide their true selves for safety’s sake.
It was the best place to go... yet Megicula couldn’t help but wonder if she could have provided a better solution for Grey. Space was their true home, but she wouldn’t risk taking Grey up there – not after Megicula herself had been forced to descend to a planet for her own safety. The ocean was another possibility, but now Grey had an ♡☆ who couldn’t survive down there. Actually, Vanica wouldn’t survive in space either. Good grief...
Sometimes, Megicula contemplated just leaving the four of them to fend for themselves. But the three humans were somewhat amusing in the way that pets were. As for Grey, Megicula wanted to keep an eye on her, curious to chart her continued growth as a hybrid.
Megicula always preferred to plan her moves before she made them – but perhaps a journey with unusual variables added to it would create unexpected results. She did like to experiment, after all.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Noelle watched Grey race over to her girlfriend. Truly, it was a bizarre sight to behold. Her gait was uneven and clumsy, she kept tripping over her feet, and she was generally so oddly stiff... she was so strange. Noelle had never seen anyone like her.
When Grey reached Vanica, she grabbed her arm to get her attention. Vanica tousled her hair affectionately and wrapped an arm around her, saying something that Noelle couldn’t hear. With her, Grey didn’t seem so afraid anymore. She wasn’t shrinking back or hunching over, instead standing up straight and cuddling up to Vanica.
The sight of them caused Noelle to yearn for something she’d never had. “They seem happy,” she muttered.
“Indeed.” Meg nodded. “It’s really quite curious to see the difference. Grey fears most people, yet not this individual...”
“She’s scared of people?”
Meg pursed her lips and stared unblinkingly at Grey, studying her closely with an unreadable expression. “Her father has treated her extremely poorly. I have removed her from that environment to take her elsewhere.”
Oh... now it made sense. The whimpering, the backward shuffling, the defensive hunched position. Was that also why Grey was just so odd? Noelle didn’t care to think before opening her mouth. “Is that why she’s weird then?”
Meg turned to Noelle. Her expression was one that held only intrigue. “Could you explain what you are referring to?”
Noelle thought it was fairly obvious to anyone with eyes. “How she moves and talks. It’s weird.”
“Hm. No. I don’t think so. Grey has always been Grey, as far as I’m aware.” Meg looked back at her daughter, who was now sat on the sand with Vanica, their hands entwined. “That term you used. Weird. It used to relate to fate. Now, it has been reduced to a manner of describing the unusual – one that should theoretically be neutral, but seems to have adopted a derogatory connotation. Grey treats those around her with perhaps too much kindness and patience, both of them virtues endlessly extolled across your society. As such, her mannerisms should not be negatively affecting others. I therefore fail to grasp why Grey simply being Grey should be a negative prospect.”
When she put it that way, a deep feeling of shame and embarrassment burned within Noelle. Judging people at face value was simply second nature to her, but hearing Meg’s confusion over how little Grey deserved that made her realise how flawed that was. Meg was right. Noelle had been annoyed by Grey’s strangeness, but so far all she’d done was try to help Noelle, even while she pushed her away.
But at the same time, there genuinely was something unusual about her. Meg as well. Grey could survive underwater. Meg could fly. They were still hiding something, though Noelle wasn’t sure if they really were the Sea God’s emissaries after all. Meg didn’t seem to know about Kiato, and Kahono had yelled at her to stop involving herself.
Yet even if they were hiding something... what did it matter? Noelle was about to die. These travellers didn’t seem all that bad. What was the point of thinking about it? What was the point of worrying?
But if they really weren’t the Sea God’s servants, that meant they were actually travellers. In that case...
“Can you... tell me where you’re going?” Noelle asked.
Meg didn’t answer for a full minute. She scrutinised Noelle with a calculating stare, as if measuring her trustworthiness using some hidden metric. Finally, she seemed to deem it safe to reveal. “The Clover Kingdom. I’ve lived there for several years.”
“Clover...” The ancestral home of the Silvas, one they’d once ruled over as kings before being ousted over a hundred years ago. Noelle had always dreamed of visiting, to see where she’d once come from, to explore the famous capital city sprawling across a mountain. But now she’d never get that chance. “I wish I could see it.”
“Wishes are pointless,” Meg answered flatly. “If you are to accomplish a goal, then you need to just do it.”
Just do it...
But Noelle couldn’t. Running from her duty wasn’t an option. The Sea God would send his servants after her, and she couldn’t stand up to Kahono. She had no choice...
She watched Vanica and Grey, wanting what they had and knowing she’d never get to experience it. She thought of the Clover Kingdom, and all the places she’d never get to see. The one silver lining was that she’d finally reunite with her siblings after years of loneliness... but was it worth throwing her whole life away, even if she wanted to see them again? Was it worth giving up her hopes and dreams? And if it wasn’t, then what? It was hopeless.
Noelle had been denying her fear and despair, shoving it deep inside where she’d never see it again. But wreckage buried beneath the ocean had a way of resurfacing unexpectedly, and her resolve began to crack under its crushing weight.
Notes:
Oh, don't worry about Andromeda. I told you the tale already. She'll be just fine! Our Perseus will show up, slay the vile beast and carry her off to be wed in his home kingdom!
...What? Kahono? You mean Cetus, right? Didn't you just hear me? She'll die. Oh, don't look at me like that. Don't tell me you actually feel sorry for a monster? Monsters are just narrative devices to test a hero's mettle and nothing more. Her entire purpose is to die!
And Perseus really does need to get a move on, since that meddling Cinderella brought the ceremony forward... excuse me while I look for him.
Awakefor48hours on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Jun 2025 03:35AM UTC
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Dappled_Sunlight_Dap on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Jun 2025 05:27AM UTC
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Awakefor48hours on Chapter 2 Fri 11 Jul 2025 12:53AM UTC
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Dappled_Sunlight_Dap on Chapter 2 Fri 11 Jul 2025 07:57AM UTC
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Awakefor48hours on Chapter 3 Fri 08 Aug 2025 08:04PM UTC
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Dappled_Sunlight_Dap on Chapter 3 Fri 08 Aug 2025 08:52PM UTC
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anastasialunatic1 on Chapter 4 Thu 07 Aug 2025 04:32PM UTC
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Dappled_Sunlight_Dap on Chapter 4 Thu 07 Aug 2025 04:35PM UTC
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