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Atlantica, the bastion of mer civilization, the shining jewel of the Coral Sea. Full of laughter and song, of brilliantly coloured citizens and exotic fish all living in perfect harmony with one another… at least on the surface. But all places look beautiful on the surface and so rarely does one look beneath to see what skulks and crawls below in the shadows.
Most of the time, what lurks beneath simply hides away, terrified of the light of exposure. Other times, it bites back… but sometimes… sometimes it slips out to live among you.
Lazuli swam through her gardens, gently tending to the beautiful corals which grew under her tender care, flanked by verdant beds of kelp and a legion of colourful anemones. The notoriously shy creatures had long ago grown used to her presence, their simple minds recognizing her as a gentle benefactor and guardian, a purveyor of food and gentle, soothing song.
Lately, all her songs had been sorrowful, pain filled dirges which hung heavy with untold suffering which confused the primitive creatures of her garden, but still soothed, nonetheless.
Normally, it was a place of restful peace, but not today. Something was wrong in her garden. Lazuli knew this almost instantly as she approached. The delicate tendrils of the anemones were pulled in tightly, not even so much as twitching in recognition at the sound of her voice and the hundreds of tiny fish which called the coral their home had scattered. She’d never seen her lovely garden so… bereft of live and her tail twitched against the current, bringing her to a cautious stop.
“Hello?” Swimming a little closer to the garden, Lazuli’s vibrant blue eyes scanned for any hint of movement. “Is anyone here?” Normally, this would be when the legion of little fish would shoot out, begging for treats, telling her about whatever pretty treasures they’d found, or gossiping in their high little voices, each one eager for her attention. Instead, she was greeted with silence.
“Is anyone there?” Something was wrong, she could feel it down the entire lateral line of her tail, but a lifetime of living within the safety of the city had dulled her survival instincts enough that she continued forward when most would have turned tail and swum away. “I have food.” The little bag she carried was full of scraps. Inedible to mer but highly prized by the fish of her garden. The scent along should have tempted them into view.
Instead, the only movement was a small and nervous looking crab named Sigmund. His home was beneath the root of a rather old fan coral and he’d been living there for longer than Lazuli could remember. Quiet and taciturn, he rarely spoke or came to her calls, preferring to remain in his little hole and avoid the rush of the hungry fish. His shell had long ago faded to a dull tan and grown covered with a soft layer of algae, one of his claws had broken off and never regrown quite right, causing him to look lopsided.
“Shhh.” He hissed at her, spitting out a few mouthfuls of bubbles and giving his good claw a wave. “It’ll hear you!” There was panic in his voice and he took a few cautious steps out from his hole.
“What will?” Lazuli drifted a little closer, glancing around her garden for some sort of hidden danger. Her eyes were only off the crab for a moment, but it was long enough for him to vanish. One moment he was there, the next, there was only drifting sediment.
It was so easy to convince herself that it had been nothing more than a trick, some strange game played by the old crustacean, but there was a sense of movement in the deepest shadows beneath the coral. Instinct warned her to leave, but curiosity drove her further forward.
“Sigmund?” She called out, feeling an all too familiar lump of sadness clench in her chest at the realization that the crab was no more. Death was as inevitable as the current in the ocean, it was a fact of life which every living creature understood and accepted, especially among the lesser denizens, but it didn’t make the loss any easier to bear. There’d been so much death lately, its pall hung over the glorious city and its people, stealing away their songs and muting their colours.
“Oh Sigmund… I’m so sorry.” She murmured softly, moving to turn back towards her house, then paused. He’d died trying to warn her away, to protect her as he’d no doubt protected all the other little fish which called the garden home… she should at least see what had ended his life. If nothing else, she’d have to convince whoever it was to move on, or her little friends would never come back. After losing so much, she didn’t think that she could bear to lose them as well.
If Lapis were here, he’d no doubt tell her to just leave whatever it was well enough alone. If it was small enough to hunt beneath the coral, then it was too tiny to be a threat to them, and its not as if they had anymore little fry to lose to predators. Hunger would send it on its way soon enough, then their fish friends could return.
Her mate was always the more practical one, and normally she appreciated that, but… but not today. Today the pain of her loss hit a little too hard, cut too deeply. She’d already lost so much, now she was going to have to sit back quietly and lose her garden as well?
“Whoever you are, you’re going to have to move on.” She stated, doing her best to keep her voice from wavering as she reached down to carefully pick up her pruning sheers. They were carved from the shell of an ancient clam and razor sharp, perfect for cutting either stubborn kelp or sick coral. “You can’t stay here.”
Holding the sheers made her feel stronger, more in control of the situation, though deep inside she knew that she was being dangerously foolish. If the hidden creature happened to be an eel, her weapon wouldn’t offer more than a paltry defense, but it was better than nothing and she wasn’t about to surrender her garden so easily.
“Go on, this isn’t a good place to nest. You’ve scared the fish off and all my… all my fry have already been eaten, so find somewhere else to hunt.” Her voice caught, causing her to stutter as the pain of her loss tore through her heart, just as sharp and consuming as it had been the day she’d learned of their fate.
Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on the sheers and swam closer. She knew that she was being foolish with her attachment, everyone said so… Lapis even promised that they’d try again next summer. Besides, its not as if she’d been the only one to lose her brood. This had been a bad year overall for little fry, and hers had barely made it past hatching, so it’s not as if she’d had a chance to get attached to them. They hadn’t even had names.
A sob threatened to wrench itself past her lips and she drew back for a moment, her hand lightly stroking across her abdomen, as everything suddenly threatened to become too much, and the weight of the world pressed down on her.
There would be no more fry for her… she hadn’t had the courage to tell this to Lapis, letting him continue to live with the promise of a house full of curious and bright-eyed fry. The Kraken’s Curse, a summer sickness which had always existed just on the periphery of the city had stabbed into its shining heart this year, released by the seasonal glacial thaw. It had torn through many of the boroughs, decimating the fry population and causing many of the adult mer to grow ill. It had hit Lazuli especially hard, leaving her barley able to eat or take care of herself. She’d spent most of her summer resting in her alcove, fighting for her life as the vicious fever ravaged her body. While she’d survived her brush with death, she hadn’t escaped unscathed. Her vicious fever had left her barren, her future eggs dead inside her.
Poor Lapis had been forced to choose between saving her or protecting their brood. He’d chosen her, and even now, she wasn’t wholly convinced that he’d made the right decision. It tore her apart knowing that he must have suffered, seeing fewer and fewer fry in their little brood tank every day. Those who hadn’t succumbed to the sickness had either drifted away or been picked off by the countless small predators which haunted every nook and cranny of Atlantica. They’d never had a chance.
“Please Poseidon.” She murmured as she once again swan closer to the coral. “Don’t take this away from me as well… haven’t I suffered enough?” As if in answer, a shattered scrap of claw drifted out from the shadows, drifting gently on the current. Listening, she could hear the soft sound of hungry chewing and the sharp crunch of an old and hard shell giving way beneath sharp teeth. It seemed that she had her answer. There was always something to lose in Atlantica.
Refusing to allow this newest loss to pass by unanswered, she raised her sheers, preparing to strike, and with a wave of her powerful tail, drew up to the shadowy space beneath the coral.
“I’m sorry.” She stated softly. “I know you’re hungry and only trying to survive… but I can’t lose anyone el-” Her voice caught in her throat as she gasped in shock, staring into a pair of large blue eyes shining out of the darkness. They stared into hers, as bright as polished sapphires and so full of terror that she felt her own heart stutter in sympathy. Shifting slightly, those poor little eyes saw the raised sheers and grew impossibly wider. There was a soft squeak, then the shadows seemed to explode around her, billowing out and blocking out the rest of the world.
Lapis knew that something was wrong the instant he swam in through the door. These days, it seemed that something was always wrong, the weight of it all pressed down on him relentlessly, the silence which now always hung over their once happy house was an affront to everything he held dear and try as he might, he had no idea how to stop it and return everything to how it had been.
He desperately missed those gentle smiles his wife would give him whenever she saw him, how she’d lightly brush her tail against his as they swam, how they’d dance and sing, surrounded by a veritable cloud of happy little fry.
It had all changed, been stripped away day after day until there was nothing but a faint memory of happiness, goading him every time he came home. Where once there was light and laughter, there was now silence. Where once there was joyous songs, the water now carried dirges.
Even now, he could hear his wife’s voice raised in song. It was so beautiful and pure as it drifted through those lovely melodies, causing the very water around him to lighten as if kissed by sunlight and he found himself smiling despite himself. They were the sort of songs a parent would sing to a restless fry they were trying to calm for sleep. Songs which had only been heard for an achingly brief time… songs which didn’t belong in his house.
Rather than calm him, those soothing tones awakened an odd sense of dread deep down in his soul and he felt the scales on his tail twitch in response.
As much as he missed hearing Lazuli give voice to the beauty in her soul, he knew that something had broken deep down inside her. It was no secret that she blamed herself for the loss of their children, that she felt as if she’d allowed herself to be too great a burden on him, that she’d forced a terrible decision out of him.
No matter how many times he told her that he loved her, that he promised to always be by her side, there was always pain in her eyes. He wished that she understood that he didn’t regret choosing her over their brood. Yes, it hurt to lose them, but it was simply a cruel fact of life that one had to accept.
Countless fry died every summer, so many that most never really counted them as children until they’d survived to feel the waters cool for the first time. It wasn’t even uncommon for families to lose their entire brood, especially first-time parents. They would do better next year, be more vigilant, more cautious.
No matter how often he explained it to her, she seemed to wilt a little more inside. Every little life lost was a deep wound to her soul and she held onto each one fiercely, refusing to let go. It had become an obsession for her, and an unhealthy one at that. It hurt to watch, but all he could do was promise to stay by her side and pray to Poseidon that she’d be over the loss by next mating season.
The singing lured him forward despite his dread and he found himself hardening his heart, preparing himself for what he might find. She was in the nursery, that’s where she always was when not outside tending to her precious garden, treating it and the little fish within as surrogate children, spoiling them until they grew into fat little beacons to every predator in the area.
He’d wanted to seal the room away, to block out the pain of their loss, pretend that it had never happened and simply start over, but Lazuli clung to the past tenaciously. Even now, he knew that she’d be floating in there, no doubt surrounded by the many playthings they’d chosen to occupy the little minds of their countless children, singing to the little ghosts too young to even recognize her as their mother.
Drawing closer, her voice grew louder, radiating so much love and hope that he knew she wasn’t alone. Someone was with her and dear Poseidon, he prayed that she hadn’t gotten it into her head to kidnap someone’s fry. There were always stories of some young mother or father sneaking into nurseries or snatching up free floating fry when their true parent’s backs were turned. While it wasn’t exactly condemned, it was somewhat frowned upon and their neighbours would know. They were already always gossiping about Lazuli’s unnatural attachment to her children, he didn’t want to add to it. Ugh, hopefully she’d at least had the foresight to take one from across town, making it harder to trace back to them.
Most families didn’t care enough to worry about one or two missing fry, but it was late enough in the summer season that they might have formed some level of attachment and go looking. He’d never hear the end of this.
Stopping at the doorway, he gently brushed aside the curtain of soft kelp, already speaking the words he’d long ago rehearsed in his head and hoped to never have to say.
“Lazuli…” He began, his voice heavy with resignation, knowing all too well that he was about to break her heart once more, but any further words died on his tongue as he realized that the lights were off. The once brilliantly lit room full of colourfully glowing plant life and coral was as dark as night, the gloomy shadows somehow seeming oddly sinister.
It took a moment to find his wife within the darkness and as he carefully edged in, he noticed her curled up on the floor in the corner by the brood tank which had once been the safe little bed for their children. It was thankfully empty, the soft seaweed mesh they’d used to cover the top now lay draped across the floor, propped up like a tent, creating a dark little cave.
Whatever was in that darkness seemed to hold all of her attention and he doubted that she’d even heard him come in. Her lovely song continued to fill the air, and he could almost hear something crooning along with her in a soft, high pitched voice. A voice which could only belong to a fry. Oh dear Poseidon, she’d done it. She’d really taken someone’s child. Now, once again he was going to have to choose between his wife and a fry, and once again, he knew that the choice was already made… if need be, they could grow a new home on the outskirts of town, away from nosey neighbours and their whispered slander. They could be a happy family and their house would once more be filled with song and dance.
“Lazuli?” He asked again, his voice growing softer as he made his decision to support her no matter what. They belonged together after all, and nothing could come between them.
This time she heard him and looked up with a radiant smile on her face which seemed to make her entire body glow. This was his precious Lazuli, back from her sorrow, revitalized and reborn with brilliant hope, causing him to fall in love with her all over again.
“Oh Lapis!” She was so radiant that even the water around her seemed to glow with her delight. “The most amazing thing happened today!”
“I know.” He replied, slowly swimming into the room, holding his arms open for her. “I know my love, and I’m happy. I’m truly happy for you. We’ll be a perfect family.” It was just as he’d always dreamed it would be. She laughed in pure delight and swam into his arms, their bodies spinning together so perfectly, tails gently twining.
The waves they created caused the little tent to ripple and lift for a moment, allowing him to catch sight of their new little fry… of a stubby black tentacle, gleaming dully in the reflected light of the hall before being snatched back into darkness.
In that instant, Lapis felt his dream shatter around him, his entire body stiffened in horror as his eyes locked onto that hidden abomination. That wasn’t… he hadn’t seen… it was impossible! Never in his life had he felt such horror fill him and he wanted to crush the life out of that foul abomination even as his heart hammered in his chest, demanding that he flee as fast as his tail could taken him.
“I found him in the garden!” She announced brightly, pulling away from his suddenly slack grip, not even noticing the dawning horror in his eyes as she swam back down to the little nightmare made flesh, her delicate hands distressingly close to those shadows.
He wanted to swim, to escape, but he knew that she wouldn’t leave. He’d have to drag her away and she’d fight him every inch of the way. Somehow… he’d have to reason with her, and there was a very good chance that said reason had been borne away with the tide.
“Lazuli… back away slowly… please…” Lapis found himself pleading. Unable to bring himself to approach, he instead held his hand out to her. Rather than take it, she simply laughed in delight and motioned him forward, looking as proud as could be… like a new mother wanting to show off her offspring.
“Oh don’t be so dramatic.” She smiled at him without a care in the world. “Look! Poseidon finally blessed us with a fry!” Her attention returned to that… thing hidden in the shadows, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Worse, she pulled out a small scrap of fish from a little bowl on the floor next to her and to his ever-growing horror, dangled it in front of the little tent.
“Now be quiet.” She cautioned him. “And don’t make any sudden movements. He’s still extremely nervous… he’s been through a lot the poor little baby.” Her voice was full of honest sympathy and a deep love, as if she’d already bonded with the beast, seeing it as her own.
“Why is it so dark in here?” He asked, trying to keep the fear from his voice as he edged closer to her, resigned to the realization that he’d have to grab her and swim no matter how hard she fought him. He couldn’t leave her here with that thing. They’d leave the house, find somewhere else to live, anything so long as they got away from that thing in the darkness.
“I told you, he’s nervous, and the light seems to hurt his eyes. Poor thing, he was so scared, hiding in our garden. I couldn’t leave him.”
“Right… of course…” A nervous chuckle worked its way past his lips as he began to reach out, ready to grab her arm and yank her back. If they were lucky, the thing would die here, if not… well… then he’d have to come back and end it. There was no way he could let something like this live.
Just before he touched Lazuli’s arm, he saw a flicker of brilliant blue in the darkness. It was such a beautiful colour, so bright and pure that it stole his breath away. His hand froze as terror filled him. All he could do was stare as something within the darkness moved, began to uncoil with an unnatural grace.
A short little black tentacle shot out with lethal speed, wrapping around the sliver of fish, the tiny suckers latching on viciously before the meat was pulled back into the darkness.
It was over so quickly that Lapis had to blink a few times, trying to convince his mind of what his eyes had seen. There was no mistake… it was a tentacle. A black tentacle, as dark as the Abyss which had no doubt spawned it. Please… oh Poseidon please, let it just be some simple octopus that she’d found, a little sea creature she could keep as a pet… harmless.
“He must have been starving, he’s eaten two whole fish already.” Lazuli cooed with obvious pride. “My sweet little boy is going to grow up so big and strong, aren’t you honey?” Reaching out with her hand, she gently placed it on the floor in front of the tunnel. Lapis wanted to reach out and stop her, to pull her hand back, but he was paralyzed with shock, barely able to even breathe.
Once again, that tentacle reached out, slower this time, nervous. It moved as if it wasn’t sure about the light and it twisted around to keep where the shadows were darkest, all while drawing inexorably closer to her hand… to her vulnerable fingers.
He wanted to scream, to kill the vile thing before it tainted his wife with its foul touch. It was going to kill her, to snatch her hand into the shadows and devour it while he watched! Bracing for the sound of her scream and the billowing cloud of blood, he instead saw that tentacle curl tenderly around her finger, squeezing gently when she chuckled, playfully spreading her fingers.
Another tentacle reached out, just as dark as its companions, then another, and another. Lapis couldn’t help but count them, marvelling at how unnatural it was to have so many limbs, how he couldn’t imagine crawling around on the bottom of the ocean instead of swimming. Please… let it be some bulbous headed cephalopod, just an ugly coloured octopus.
The darkness shifted, seemed to unfurl, and to his horror, a small dark body slid out, pulled by its little limbs. No bigger than Lazuli’s palm, it curled up in her hand, the short tentacles stretching around her, holding tightly to her fingers. It was so tiny, so soft and weak, but it was no octopus. No, above its nest of inky black tentacles was the plump little body of a mer fry. Two arms, a rounded chest and a large head topped with shining hair of purest seafoam white, seeming to almost scintillate with trapped colour. The worst were those two huge eyes, so innocent and fearful as they looked up at him as if HE was the alien freak, the monster.
Didn’t it know that it was the monster? That it was the thing which shouldn’t exist outside of legend… an octopus mer… a child of the Kraken… a living breathing curse upon all that was good in the ocean.
He’d heard the legends, they all had. Stories of the vicious race of dark mer who dwelled in the deepest, most lightless parts of the ocean, revelling in all sorts of horrifying atrocities and sending their foul minions out to torment the pure mer of Atlantica.
They were the villains in the tales told to little fry and merlings to scare them into behaving, they were the insubstantial figures you cursed when life went awry, but no one truly believed that they still existed. The Royal Family would never tolerate such atrocities… such threats.
But here was one. A tiny little creature, a helpless fry that he could crush in his hands like a jelly. It would be so easy to end this nightmare. The scavengers could take care of the corpse and no one would even know of his wife’s foolishness.
Unaware of the growing danger, Lazuli smiled proudly down at the little life in her hand and carefully fed it another slice of fish. She loved how his little tentacles wrapped around the meat, protecting it from theft while he nibbled at it with tiny but relentless bites, his cheeks puffing up with the meat. Only when he couldn’t hold any more did he swallow, his entire body seeming to ripple with the movement.
Looking up at her with those huge eyes, he gave a tiny little burp and snuggled a little deeper into her hand while his tentacles shifted, allowing him to grab at more of the meat hidden beneath them.
“Look at his eyes, so beautiful, aren’t they? Look how they shine like jewels, and his hair… he’s gorgeous!”
Lapis swallowed painfully, not understanding how his wife couldn’t see the predatory counter shading of corpse grey against abyssal black or notice how the slick mucous which covered his little alien body was now smearing across her own pristine hands. How could she not be utterly repulsed by the vile, boneless arms coiling around her fingers or worse, those sharp little claws which dug into the meat, feeding it into that fang filled mouth.
This wasn’t a mer, it was something else. It was a thing, a Beast from the Trenches!
As if sensing his thoughts, the little creature stopped eating and looked up, those huge eyes staring at him, growing larger and wider until the creature hissed at him like some animal before launching itself from her hand and hiding back in its little tent, leaving a blast of inky darkness in its wake.
The water around them turned foul and black. It tasted brackish and burned the tender lining of his gills, causing him to shudder from the taint and swim back out of the foul cloud.
“Oh! Oh honey, it’s alright.” Lazuli crooned, ignoring the disgusting mess it had made and instead, reaching out towards the darkness once again. “He won’t hurt you. He’s your daddy now.”
No… oh Poseidon no… there was no way he’d ever call that abomination his son. He’d have to kill it. One way or another… for the sake of Atlantica and the sanity of his wife, he’d have to find a way to end this nightmare.
“Isn’t he beautiful Lapis?” Lazuli’s proud smile which usually warmed him right down to his bones only made him shudder and feel sick. HIs eyes burned, and he wasn’t sure that it was entirely from the ink. “I want to call him Azul… that way, he’ll always know that I’m his mother. What do you think honey?”
“We… we can’t keep him Lazuli… you have to realize that.” He knew that it was pointless to argue, but he had to try one last time, he had to make her see reason. It was only as he saw how her face darkened at his words that he realized that he was far too late. “That’s a monster… you must see that…”
“He’s a fry.” She stated on no uncertain terms. “He’s a fry who needs a family. Poseidon has gifted us with this perfect little boy and I’m not throwing him away.” There was a cold strength in her voice that he’d never heard before and her eyes blazed with a fierce determination which he knew no words would ever sway. “Azul is home.”
He hadn’t regretted the choice he’d made back during the summer sickness. Lazuli over their nameless fry. It had hurt to make, it still hurt deep down inside, but he’d stood by it, drawing strength from his devotion to her and his confidence that had the currents been different, had the choice been hers, that she’d make the same one. She’d have chosen him. That understanding had kept him going through all the pain and sorrow, but now… looking into her eyes, it seemed that he was wrong.
Once again, he’d have to make the choice for her. One way or another, the fry… the monster would have to go.