Ever After #7: Waves of Scales

Chapter 10.2 The War

“ASCEIA...”

She opened her eyes and found herself in her human form with no clothes, and standing in the middle of the vast dark ocean. She didn’t sink, as if the rippling water underneath her feet was a hard surface. She felt warmth in the air despite the dark and cloudy sky. And she was hearing the seagulls cawing even though she was not seeing any. She’s wondering how did she end up in the middle of an unknown ocean and how possible it was for her to walk on the water.

She tried recalling the events that led up to her at this moment, but she doesn’t have any, as if her mind was wiped off clean. She looked around, there was nothing but an infinite ocean; no piece of land in sight, only the beautiful horizon she’ll never reach. She doesn’t know where to go, but she walked and walked, hoping she will see something in this endless ocean. Every step she took created a ripple that spread around. She looked down and under the surface of the water she saw fishes swimming and passing by, but she doesn’t sense any presence of sercean nearby.

“Asceia...” the voice of the woman calling her echoed as if she was inside an enclosed chamber. Judging from the volume of her voice, it seemed like the stranger was close.

“Who are you? Where are you?”

“I’m Yrevia of Family Sirencean. You need to wake up...before you fade. You are the only chance we have.”

“What do you mean fade?” She looked around, trying to locate her but there was none. She was completely alone. “Where are you?”

She quickly turned around when she heard trickles of water behind her. Meters from her position, the water formed into an image of a woman she never met before. “Your body is calcified into the wall of the memory chamber, a place where the dying serceans were brought to save their consciousness. But this became a prison when Senthuria became the Crown of the Order.”

“Oh no...” She instantly touched her throat when the name of her Mother triggered her memories back. “Mother...”

“The Order is killing the chosen warriors to remain in control of the serceans.”

“I can’t believe this is happening...Do Goddess Aesercean know about this?”

“Goddess Aesercean agrees as to whatever the elders want.”

“There are six of us now, isolated in our version of the world. Your mind is currently feasted by memrae, an organism that feeds on the memories of a sercean. You need to wake up before your consciousness is separated from your body.”

“B...But how? I don’t know what to do. I feel so awake right now.”

“This is your mind. You need to take control.”

She closed her eyes. “Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!” she screamed to her mind. But when she opened her eyes, she was still standing on the surface of the water and facing the image of Yrevia. “I really can’t.”

“Asceia, when you are trapped in your mind. There’s a thick wall in between your world and this version of the world that you can’t get through. What is it? I can’t see it, only you can.”

She looked around. She extended her arms trying to feel the wall the woman was saying. She walked, hoping she will bump into it. “No, there’s no wall.”

“It is not necessarily a wall. It is something that you wanted but you can’t get it.”

And there, right at that moment, she realized something. She looked down and stared at her reflection on the surface of the water rippling because of her movements. “It’s the water...I can’t get under. I am just standing on the surface.”

“That’s it. You need to go under.”

She kneeled and banged the surface with her palm, but still, she can’t get through. The surface felt like thick semisolid glass. She kept on hitting it with her clenched fists hoping she can break it. Every second that passed, her blows kept getting stronger and stronger. But then, it only rippled, as if her force was distributed. She didn’t last long when her hands started to get hurt.
                                            
“It’s impenetrable.”

“This is the hardest part. You need to think that this is your mind. You need to regain control or become a prisoner forever. This is your mind, you have power over it. Think of something that pushes you to get back...a reason to wake up, a desperate reason to get back to your body.”

The first thing that came to her mind was Troy. She didn’t know why at first, but she then realized and understand that Troy was one of the good people she met while she was on her mission, he was willing to risk his life just to save them, serceans, without any hesitation. He’s very unique in some ways. He and the millions of Filipinos in danger right now were the reason she needed, she must wake up to save them.

“Okay...” She thought of them so hard as she threw some punches, but still, nothing. Hitting the surface of the water seemed like she was also making it thicker.

“You can do this! You’re the warrior, Asceia. You’re powerful, I can sense it!”

“I really can’t...I can’t do it,” she whispered hopelessly. “I’m not powerful enough.”

“I have an idea, but I don’t know if this will work.”

“What? Tell me.” She looked over her shoulder for a second

“Maybe...the six of us can break the barrier.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are four other consciousness trapped in the colony of memraes, maybe, if we will work together, there’s a high possibility we can break free.”

Desperate to escape, she nodded. “Okay. Let’s do that.”

Behind the image of a woman appeared four more images shaped by water. They came closer to her and her focus shifted back to the surface of the rippling water. She felt their palms pressed on her back, giving these weird cold sensations to her body. Again, she thought of her friends and humanity in danger. One more punch and her fist went through the water. In a blink of an eye, she felt how the gravity pulled her body down. She gave in to it and dove under.

Letting the cold water embrace her body, she felt something clinging to her back. But it didn’t matter when she was blinded by the very bright white light for a second. As the light faded into black, her senses kicked in, and she felt the hard calcified material pressing her against the wall. She was barely breathing, her gills were twitching for water. In fear of suffocation, she tried to scream but no sound came out of her throat.

She was desperate. She kept on moving violently until the calcified corals wrapping her finally cracked. She broke free, and she instantly drop to the ground when she can’t feel her tail, and her gills were shaking as she breathe in some water. Her head was heavy and throbbing in pain. Her hands reached for her head hoping to ease the pain by massaging it, but instead, she touched a slimy thing wrapped around her head. She buried her claws in it and forcefully pulled it off.

On her palm, she looked at the thin, flat-like, and black gelatinous organism.“Memrae...” she uttered when she realized what it was. The organism was sticking to her palm and arms, it was trying to crawl back up to her head. But she didn’t let go of it and crushed it in anger until its glowing and vibrant blood was scattered in the water. She looked around and noticed the cracks on the wall, within those cracks, was where these memraes were settling and growing.

Recovering her strength and when her breathing calmed, she telepathically search for other serceans, including her trusted humans, Troy and Frejean. She was hoping to determine their locations. She had to know how long she was gone in fear of realizing she was too late.