Chapter Text
"Ye ain' gonna fish wit' us, Alma?"
"Mm' nn'," she replied while tugging her camisole over her head. Under her breath she hissed in frustration from having caught it on her horn. "I'd wanna-" Finally she removed the top, grunting as she did. "I just want'd ta take a deep dive. Ya skipper be th'only boat docked that ain' gonna jostle me stomach."
Iyrnskal chortled with a wide grin. "Waves callin'ya lass?"
The xaela undid the tie above her tail to shimmy off her pants. No one batted an eye at the young woman dressing down to swimwear. "Ih' be singin' season."
"Fattest sirens o'the sea." Eada shook her head in amusement before casting her line. "We'll stay on larboard."
"Thank'ye, mate!"
With that confirmed, Alma leapt off the opposite side of the boat into open sea.
… it felt so peaceful beneath the surface. Like a cool blanket enveloping her, inviting her. She kept her body straight like a plank to descend deeper… deeper… deeper… This far out from the beach she'd never reach the bottom, but that wasn't her intent.
The water brushed along gooseflesh and the curves of her scales. It combed through her floating hair, tickled between fingers and toes. The further Alma descended, the tighter that blanket became. Putting pressure on her limbs, her tail, her horns, her neck, her eyes.
Deeper…
Deeper…
Deeper…
Absolute silence was interrupted by a deep hum, echoing as if she wandered into a cave. The note changed into a more high pitched whine. Hiccups, bubbles, long sighs, honks, purring. Like a trombone being played without rhythm, without logic. One song became two. Two became three. Or maybe an entire herd malms away from one another added their own measures to create their symphony. Didn't matter how many times she'd traveled out into the emptiness to hear them sing, Alma would forever be amazed that some of the largest creatures of the sea made the most beautiful music.
Deeper…
Deeper…
'Hear…'
That was not a whale noise.
'Feel…'
It echoed in the water much like the hums of the whales. Distant, but growing closer.
'Think…'
Something sharp rang in her horns and she winced at the sudden burst of pain. The pressure grew worse. Panic hit her. She desperately tried to swim back to the surface, though still sinking.
Deeper.
'Hear…'
Deeper.
'Feel…'
Deeper.
'Think…'
Don't breathe. Don't open your eyes. You have to get up. Her seamates knew how long she could hold her breath but might not realize until it was too late. Every time the voice spoke her head felt like it would explode.
'Hear… Feel…'
Alma's body reacted on its own. She opened her mouth and gasped for air. Absolute fear enveloped her until she realized her lungs did not fill with water. A second later her feet touched down onto a new cool, watery surface, while she no longer felt wet herself.
Slowly, still full of unease, she opened her eyes.
A star speckled sky replaced the darkness of the sea. There was no floor to speak of, giving her the illusion she stood in a completely empty space. She caught a dancing piece of what looked like blue crystal, dragging her attention to the warmth of a yellow orb. A star? The sun? Staring at it didn't burn her eyes like it should. And like the sea it gave off an inviting aura. Not enveloping like a blanket, but the soothing embrace of a loved one, almost akin to her papas.
Without thinking, or really questioning it, Alma walked towards that sun.
Suddenly the light of the star went out, replaced by a pitch black void opening before her. Through the smoke and wisps of darkness a figure appeared: clad in a black and silver robe, sharp talons attached to gloves reaching towards her. Most of his face was obscured by an eerie, vivid crimson mask.
'Hear… Feel… Think…'
The missing star returned, zipping around the space until floating in front of her. Its energy swelled until consuming her vision with vivid yellow, then bright white light. That aether gathered at the floor beneath her feet before shooting up around her like a geyser.
Enveloped like the sea; embraced by a warmth that she could not describe. Her skin prickled as a garment formed on her form, the long robe weighing down on her like a sturdy mantle. She'd worn the green, white, and brown attire before- or felt as if she always had. Even the new weight of the wooden orange band with the horn extending from her forehead did not upset her balance.
Something warm gathered behind her eyes and the state of the world around her changed, seeing through the veil hidden from plain sight. Blue stars seemed brighter, streams of mint green traveled through the excess space like slow moving rivers of fog. The portal behind the figure had vanished, but she could see the outline of that same darkness around him like a beacon of black aether. It mixed with hues of vivid red that she knew without thinking meant anger- a fiery soul meant to fight. He meant her harm.
Alma lifted her left hand from her side and that same vivid white light formed a mighty tome. Every vein in her body sparked to life, pulsing with that strength, surging with a power both unfamiliar and yet known to her.
The man before her spread his arms, jaw dropped and appeared to scream. A sigil of vivid red light formed from the explosion of darkness in front of his face, the space around him enveloping in shadow. Its power pushed against her akin the force of the riptide to drag her under, crush her beneath the force. Her body did not budge.
Magick. Aether. Light. She commanded it into her grimoire with ease, as if it was an extension of her being. It gathered and swarmed, rolling back like a tidal wave; swelling with pressure like a typhoon.
And there, in the back of her mind, she felt that embrace. A weight touched her shoulder gently, a hand traveled up her arm until fingertips settled just below her knuckles, helping to cup the ball of pure aether. Less akin to an ally supporting their compatriot in battle to strike and more like someone older, someone wiser, gently guiding her as if she was a child taking her first steps.
Her opponent darted forward with darkness exploding from every fiber of his being. Alma too dropped her jaw to roar, the sound lost in the emptiness. Light and void crashed with an explosion that felt powerful enough to rip apart time and space; sunder the physical word, shattering all existence.
Blinding brilliance consumed her vision before it turned completely black.
Emptiness… sinking- no. Floating. Returning to the surface.
Pain ricocheted through Alma's torso when she tried to inhale. It took several heaves for her to get the water out of her lungs, and even more coughs to make it possible to breathe again. She desperately gasped for air while also trying to grab hold of something, anything to give her grounding.
"Seven 'ells Alma!" Iyrnskal cried. He scrambled to get her upright, using one arm to keep her steady while their hyur companion slapped her back as if she was a babe needing to be burped. "Almost thought th'sea would take ya. Thank the Navigata' fo' bringin' ye back."
"C'mon lass. Keep coughin' will ya." Eada used a little more force than she needed to with every slap. "If ya die on me'h skippa', ye papa will 'ave me 'ead."
Somehow between her painful chokes with salty water still coming out, Alma found herself laughing.
"That all ya… worri'd 'bout Eada?" She swallowed down another urge to heave, inhaled deeply, then smiled. "Papa Verdom o' Papa Nabuhito…?"
"The fukk'n blade a'ight?" Eada snorted. "Man can t'row a dagga' 'alf way 'cross port 'n take out'a gull."
Even amidst his own fear, Irynskal found himself laughing with the younger woman. "Aye. He be a frightnin' one that Verdom."
Alma shifted herself to sit upright on her own, curling over at the waist to cough out what felt like the last remnants of water. It hurt so badly to breathe and she could feel her lungs still trembling in pain from her wheezing. "Fault be… me'h own… seems the sirens got ta'me…"
"Well no mo' whale shanties fo' ye, Alma." The young xaela was still recovering and Eada still slapped the back of her head, summoning a whine. "Least not on me skip. We ain't even got fish ta show fo' it."
Irynskal shook his head. "Warned ya the mist'ress be a fickle one todaey."
Eada hissed. "Bollocks… Let's get ta' sho'h."