13.Familiar Waters

13. Familiar Waters

Samson and I are still in my apartment trying to figure out our next move when something odd happens.

A gurgling noise grabs my attention.

"The hell is that?" Samson wonders before I can ask if he hears it too.

I look around and see the basin on the kitchen table bubbling. The basin is my looking glass, my connection to Calypso Bay. We watch in silence as the dark blue clay basin begins to bubble and churn, water spilling over the sides.

"Again, what the hell?"

I shake my head, not answering as I get up to inspect the basin. I'm not even sure what's wrong, but I don't have a good feeling about this.

When placing my hands on the basin, the frothing water stills. Peering inside, I see only inky blackness, just an abyss instead of water or the sight of the bay. A chill runs down my spine.

Something is wrong. It has to be. Right?

Samson shrugs when I fill him in. "Magical looking glasses aren't an exact science. It could mean something is wrong now, or it could be a bad omen for the future. But it could also mean you need fresh water for the bowl."

Oh. I take a deep breath, leaning into his steady presence at my side. At least one of those options isn't terrible, and I pray that's all it is, that the water has grown stale. But whenever I look into the bowl, I get a bad feeling, one that goes beyond an innocent explanation.

"Why don't I drive you down there and you can check things out for yourself?" he offers.

"We didn't get very far last time," I say. "We don't even know for sure something's wrong."

"True, but you'll feel better when we know for sure."

"You don't have to go with me," I tell him. "Not if you don't feel up to it."

"This could be good for us both," he points out. "Spend some time away from campus, get off my father's radar for a bit."

Good point. Still… We were dealing with his screwed up family history, not whatever disaster is potentially happening back at my home. "You don't have to put on a brave face for me."

"I know," he says. "But I want to be there for you. Just like you're there for me."

Samson does seem better than he was a moment ago. Like it's easier to get himself together for me than it is for himself. Guess I get that. We both want to support each other.

"Let's take a vacation," I say.

Once we begin forming a plan, it all comes together quickly. We pack enough for a weekend away, and soon we're setting off.

Staying at the bay isn't an option. Not all of the nymph territory is submerged underwater, but I'm not even welcome there, and Samson—well, he's even less welcome than I am. But if everything at the bay turns out to be fine, we wouldn't have to stay in the area and could find somewhere else to kill some time. So, I don't look into accommodations just yet.

It's getting late by the time we finally arrive at Calypso Bay, the sun setting and almost picturesque against the calm waters below. But things aren't so serene on land when we get down to the beach.

Samson nods to the potential trouble up ahead. "This doesn’t look good.”

Standing on the dock and highlighted by the setting sun, a trio of nymphs have appeared from the water to greet us, their scaly skin glimmering like polished aquamarine against the setting sunlight.

Our ‘welcoming' party. I recognize each one of them, but they look at me like an outsider now, poised and ready to strike at the first sign of aggression.

"Argyle, what are you doing here?" The river god in front speaks first, Koi.

"I received a strange message,” I respond. “I was worried."

Anemone, the nymph on Koi's right, huffs dismissively. "How kind of you to think of us."

Koi’s gaze flicks past me to Samson. “Why did you bring him?”

"He’s a friend. Why don’t we go down to the coves and talk—"

"That’s rich," Koi sneers. "You think can show up whenever you desire and start making demands?”

This isn't how I imagined my return would go. No wait, this is exactly how I pictured it. Returning was never going to be easy. They rejected me for embracing life on land. At least all the nymphs aren’t here with spears, ready to chase me away.

“Please,” I say. “I know something is going on. Can’t we put our differences aside and—"

"It’s not that simple!” Koi interjects. "You can't just abandon us and then swim back in with some..." He glances at Samson with a scowl. "Stranger and expect us to welcome you.”

Abandoning them? That’s rich. I didn't have much of a choice. I take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "I didn’t forget about the bay, and I didn’t abandon anyone."

"You left."

So much for calm. My anger bubbles over. "Left? I was kicked out. I’m exiled! You exiled me!”

"How dare you!" Koi’s face clouds and he steps forward, the other nymphs falling in step behind him.

Samson and I don’t back down, preparing ourselves for whatever comes next. Are we really about to brawl?

A soft sigh from the water brings our standoff to an abrupt halt.

“Oh dear.” My mother emerges from the water and gracefully climbs onto the dock. She looks similar to how I saw her last, even the same sadness in her eyes that I still haven’t become used to. “I better explain.”

~

Koi ushers us into a cabin that has seen better days. Spiderwebs lace the corners and dust particles float aimlessly in the lantern light. The air is stale and musty, like nobody has used this place in a long time.

“I’d say welcome, but the circumstances make it feel inappropriate,” says Reef, an elder river god sitting next to my mother at a creaky old table.

I’ve barely seen the pair set foot on the beach, so it’s surreal to see them inside. Samson pulls out a chair with a loud scrape as we sit down across from them. Koi hovers behind us.

"Something is wrong," I say. "When I tried to check in, I saw nothing but blackness. It must be a bad omen."

Reef leans back, his eyes dark pools in the faltering light. "Or perhaps you were seeing the bay, exactly as you expected."

"No way. I know what the water should look like. There’s a problem. What are you hiding?”

"Our past,” my mother says. “You can’t understand what’s happening now without learning how it all started.”

I blink at her. What the hell's going on?

Before I can ask more questions, a knock at the door interrupts us. Koi answers the door and brings a basin and other familiar ingredients to the table. It’s everything we need to create another looking glass and view the bay.

Reef carefully pours sand into the clay basin while my mother speaks.

"Things were different before you grew up. No imps and trolls lived at our borders. We didn’t see humans often due to our remote location. However, we welcomed those who did reach our shores."

That’s news to me. "What changed?"

"When you were a baby, a strange rotting sickness infected the bay. A black sludge that resisted our cleansing. We were powerless, watching as our home was destroyed."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Black sludge? Destroying the bay? None of this rings a bell. "I don’t remember any of this.”

"You were too young. This sickness hurt the water, and we began to lose our strength."

Once Reef finishes mixing the sand and water from the bay into the bowl, we huddle closer and look into the surface of the water. The same picture I saw earlier appears, a haunting blackness where the deep blue waters I'm used to seeing should be.

"Oh my god," I breathe. "It wasn't an omen or a mistake, was it?" I look to them across the table and their grave nods confirm my fears. The looking glass worked. It showed me what I wanted to see. There are parts of the bay that look like this now.

"Even as the rot spread, we did not give up," Reef tells us. "Desperate to uncover the source of this sludge and decay, we eventually discovered a deranged caster was targeting us."

"What? Why would a caster do that?" I wonder in horror.

"The man believed in conquering magic and the elements," Mom says. "He wanted to conquer us too."

Samson tenses beside me, and his fist clenches on top of the table. Her words ring a bell, but I'm too distracted to figure out why that sounds familiar. I keep thinking back over my life, searching for evidence about any of this.

All of this had happened when I was little, and no one had ever told me about it. I had no idea.

I look at Koi, now perched behind Reef and Maris against the windowsill. Maybe it's the growing shadows as night takes hold, but he appears tired, his scales not shining as brightly as they usually do.

"I had no idea about any of this," I say.

Reef sighs heavily. "No, we never told any of the younger generation. We thought the trouble was over and wished to protect you. You aren't the only one who was shocked to hear all this."

Koi snorts as he stares outside the cracked windowpane. He glances back at me for a second, and I can see 'shocked' is an understatement. He had no idea either. None of the younger nymphs did. Why did they keep this from us?

"Removing this rot took a heavy toll on our community the first time." Reef stares down into the water in the basin as he speaks with deep sadness. "Our magic made no dent, but the bravest and most determined of us refused to give up. They ended up pouring more and more of themselves into the effort to heal our waters, until they had given up their very lives. It wasn't their magic but this sacrifice that finally cleared away the rot.”

Oh my god. Lives lost? Nymphs are connected to the water. The bay suffering hurts them, and if it dies, so do they. But the link is meant to prevent both from falling. Nymphs can give and take strength from the waters to protect and heal their home.

But giving up their entire life force while trying to prevent the destruction of our bay, it's extreme.

"I can’t believe…" My voice trails off, and it takes a few tries to complete the thought. "How many?"

"The rot took half our community the first time," Reef answers somberly.

Half the community? The sheer scale of that loss is staggering. I suspected there were things my mother hadn't told me, just like I knew that there had to be some reason for the deep fear of land dwellers. I thought it was some legend or superstition, something back in the past. I had no idea it was this recent and devastating.

When I glance to the man beside me, I can't tell what he's thinking. Samson's gaze is fixed on the lantern’s flickering flame.

“The caster responsible fled after the sacrifice saved us from the darkness he spread, but the damage had been done,” Reef says.

My mother watches me sadly as I grapple with the devastating news she'd never wanted to share with me. "You know what happened next. Hurting from our losses, suspicious of outsiders, we sheltered ourselves and refused to have contact with the outside world again. We wanted to shield the younger generations from this pain. Why make you share in our sorrows? Then this sickness started infecting our bay again."

“And once again, we're powerless to stop the damage.” Reef takes over. "We did not discuss the troubles of our past, but many still remembered. They sent their offspring to distant waters, places that had been stable for many years. I scolded them and cursed them, as our shrinking numbers made it more difficult to rebuild. I thought our troubles were over and done." Reef chuckles bitterly. "Then we found the rot again. Now I wish I gave my own offspring different advice, yet they are tied here, just like me."

He shakes off his bitter regrets and takes notice of me once more. "Some of my anger was directed at your mother too. For sending you off to school once she suspected something was wrong.”

“Yes,” I agree distantly. “Sending me off.”

"Whether they have gone to other seas or swim in the waters of the afterlife, none of the others can come back." Shadows flicker over his face as he leans over the lantern, clasping my hands. "It is fortunate you have returned.”

Yeah. I'm back alright. And already in the deep end with misfortune I never expected to find here.