After Ice

Nemaephis

We're going to die. 

My hair is lifted up and wrenched back and forth in the whirlpool, water progressively sucking us downward. I clench my hands tighter around Rei's, his tattoos the only part I can see of him along with his shadow in the monumentous, downward spiraling cascade. My lungs scream as if trying to escape my suffocating state. 

Or, as we are underwater, drowning state. 

When at last the joyride ends, we float in silence, my head still spinning. Rei taps my shoulder, zoning my attention to him in the darkness. He points to himself.

"Shai, you can breathe." My eyes widen - his voice is different, more contrasted, deeper, and more musical even if it's just talking. Sure that I am about to allow water to rush into my lungs, I take a breath. 

Air. 

Out of the blue, a wave of sound curls around us, and I propel myself in a circle, searching the darkness in which we are floating.

"Are we here?" I whisper as another shriek pierces my eardrums.

"Unfortunately," Rei murmurs. "We're in a bubble right now; the Mer have it at the end of the portal in case someone who isn't Delmari comes to bargain with them."

"Delmari as in of the ocean-" I yelp, pushing myself backward into Rei's chest. A creature stares back at us, just having swum out of the obscured waters. Large ever-changing eyes stare back at me, a mouthful of sharp teeth flashing. 

It's one of the Mer, but Changed.

They have a flat nose, and webbed hands, both of which grip a rusted trident that is conveniently pointed at us. Wait... after further notice, I realize it's pointed at the almost transparent surface that protects us (the small bubble of air in which we reside). More Mer arrive, long trailing fins floating in the water attached to a muscular tail. I can clearly see how powerful it is, twisting and turning as they circle. 

I regain my composure, straightening to not to seem so fragile and weak. I guess I will have to get used to everyone being able to kill me in 5 seconds flat. Or less.

*

The Mer with the trident hisses and the rest of them zone in on Rei like greedy serpents. His eyes are shadowy, fingers curling. Slowly, their flat gazes travel to me. I remain unflinching, staring back at them. One whispers something along the lines of anima but their voice is either so deep or high that I can't catch the rest of it. Another Mer swims closer, an inch away from Rei's face, only the bubble separating him from the deadly water.

"Humani amans," it whispers, it's gaze flickering to me darkly. Rei turns away towards the Mer with the trident.

"We need to see Esther," he says coldly. The Mer recoil, their high voices echoing around the water.

"You dare speak her name?" Their shrieking voices bounce around the inside of my head, mixing together. 

Rei's glare is murderous.

"I'm no longer one of you, it doesn't matter." With a flicker of their tails, the Mer swim away. A few stay behind the bubble, teeth and webbed hands bared. Rei doesn't look at me as we begin to sink softly down onto the ocean floor. That was your world, his downcast eyes seem to say. This is mine. My feet encounter solid ground, sand and rock stretching out in all directions. There has to be something here besides the desert wasteland; I have a feeling that there are objects all around yet I just can't see them.

That feeling is compressing. 

We begin walking, the Mer swimming back and forth behind us like a prison escort. I hold my head high, becoming conscious that I'm barely wearing anything at all. That shouldn't be a problem though, seeing as the Mer don't wear any clothes either, only when they Change. The ocean is silent all around us, but as we continue walking, a thrumming noise starts up in my ears. Faint cries reach this far out, piercing notes and low ones. 

Starkly different from human voices. 

My hammering heart starts up again, leaping at every sound wave. I glance at Rei, my hand brushing against his. He flinches, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. I pull my hand back, wondering what it was that the Mer told him. Humani amans, I believe it was Latin. Now that I think about it, so was the vow that Rei described as a bargain. 

The Alliges Duplicia.

My vision begins to clear as if a veil was previously draped over my eyes. Suddenly, everything becomes sharper and defined. Shadows swim overhead, twisting their flexible bodies towards us. Their black outlines above are laced with different ocean lights, swirls of blue and aqua that glow softly. Sounds echo above as well, notes that wind their way through the water, clear even at this depth. I swallow thickly, the leafy plant that I ate long ago churning in my stomach. My limbs are jittery as if hyper-charged with adrenaline that makes them move of their own accord if I don't force myself to be still. Their high pitched notes of communication don't help my nerves either. Cold swirls all around, threatening to make me shiver. 

Cracks in the earth slowly appear and become more frequent, yawning gaps down into darkness as towering cliffs loom towards the faraway surface. 

This is just the beginning. 

Rei's eyes fill with some sort of emotion I can't decipher, but it's gone in an instant, his expression flat and cold. I swallow and turn to see what lies ahead.

My mouth falls open. 

Ruins cluster on the seafloor, massive pipes, and pillars of stone. Algae and towering seaweed plants wave in the currents, growing in between the underwater monuments. It's dark down here, the light faint, and I get the feeling that no ordinary person would be able to distinguish the buildings. 

I know you're not human. 

I refuse to wrap my arms around myself, craning my head back to see the structures. Icy cold continues to creep its way up my spine, but I don't shiver. 

You're a child of the sea, Shai. 

More shadows watch from above, their tattoos allowing them to be spotted amongst the ancient ruins. These buildings spiral up so high that I can't see where they end, for we are on the ground where they only begin. 

The Mer escorts shove our bubble upwards, and it floats up through the columns which are wider than a town building sideways. Glowing eyes peer at us behind the stone, but whenever I look their way, all I can see is the flicker of a tail as they disappear into the sea plants. Even the fish seem to be wary, silver and gray ones swimming past to glance my way before diving back behind the floating leaves.

We arrive at a long slab of stone extending into the tall archway of a monument. I can see the ocean floor thousands of feet below me, vertigo once more taking hold even if I know I technically can't fall. The columns everywhere still rise upward, the top of them obscured. Damn. Intricate carvings of stone adorn the roof, so high up that I can't see what they say. I bring my gaze back to the "bridge" which extends all the way to where many Mer are gathered. All hold tridents with their webbed hands, their long tails motionless in the water. Rei and I walk along the stone, the surface rough; no one walks on it anymore. I can't help glancing down at the long drop every few seconds before something else catches my eye.

The people of my town have known that the Mer aren't petty creatures. No fancy thrones or glowing golden crowns, no seashell garments or pearls in their hair, no pretty white teeth or lovely personalities. We were always taught that they were ruthless savages. Now, I don't know if they're ruthless, but they certainly are warriors. My mind always reverts back to the word creature. Not quite human in their characteristics.

And so

Before us floats a Mer that isn't the same. I've noticed distinctly that some Mer are more human-looking than others, their teeth not so sharp, their eyes not so differently shaped, and their skin more human toned than the ocean coloring. 

Not so for this Mer.

Her eyes are such a deep blue that they're almost black, her hair a writing dark mass of tangles. Her skin is paler than mine, sickly white, and has a slight green/blue coloring. Her tail has more flowing fins than the others, and her tattoos... black. Different swirls all over her body instead of just the chest, arms, and back. 

She tilts her head up, eyeing us with a superior otherworldly gaze. 

It's Esther. 

The Queen.