Chapter 4

Remember when you were a child and, drifting off to sleep, you’d suddenly become hyper aware of every creek, thud and whisper within your home. Do you remember how the shadows would dance? What shapes they took? Did they chase after you, wishing to gobble you up or were they playful, wishing to whisk you away to some far-off land? As a child were you afraid? Did you know then all that you know now? If you had known what the world was going to be like would the darkness, the noises, the shadows, really be the things that scared you? Before you ever lost someone, before you watched a loved one laid in the ground, before a failure lost you everything, before you came to terms with your own limitations, what did you really have to be afraid of? For Jennifer she knew one fear more so than anyone else, loneliness. Her loneliness tore away at her and, as she drifted off to sleep she shivered fearing that James would be gone when she awoke. She’d had friends before and, now that James had come dangerously close to the, “friend” territory Jennifer knew what had to happen next; he had to leave. That’s what friends do, Jennifer assured herself, they leave. She hated herself letting her guard down, but she swore to herself that it would not happen again. She would not allow James to hurt her, when they awoke he would find her apathetic, distant, and this, Jennifer knew, was the only way to keep herself safe. She certainly couldn’t have known that James was having a very similar conversation in his own head as he drifted off to sleep.

Waking up neither of them found the other missing and neither would ever admit the joy that made them each feel.

“We need to keep moving, we wasted a lot of time last night.” James said, casually casting an accusing glance toward Jennifer. Jennifer gritted her teeth and smiled,

“I was just thinking the same thing, why waste anymore time? I hope my ignorance won’t end up being a burden to your mission again.” And with that last nights unwanted lapse into “friendship” territory was… tactfully undone.

Humans have a tendency to force people they despise to fit the mold of people that should be despised. You know what I mean, you dislike someone so you look for every bad quality they have in an attempt to rationalize your dislike for them. Well Jennifer and James happened to both be experts in this particular exercise. Jennifer’s thought process went a little something like this:

He thinks he’s taking pity on me, the bastard… I’m just some stray cat he found as far as he’s concerned. And what was that last night? I didn’t ask for a lecture, I don’t need some curly haired condescending ass telling me how the world works, I’ve gotten by just fine on my own. And is it possible for him to look at me without sticking his nose up? The guy just seems to have something up his butt at all times! And the way he talks about his food, like somehow I’m responsible for him running out, he’s completely forgetting the fact that I never asked for it in the first place! He offered! And why did he offer? Because he wants to feel like some big man, all important and what not, taking pity on some poor little girl, well he can shove it, I’ll find us some food and then he’ll have to take charity from me. And what’s with that stupid scarf? You don’t need to look like an idiot to stay warm you know!...

And so on like that for the next few hours of their trip. Don’t judge her too harshly though, James was thinking pretty much along the same lines. The thing that finally broke them of their… evaluations… of each other was a sudden and quite large slope into a vast canyon that the two now stood at the edge of. Unlike other ravines the two had come across this one did not begin with a steep drop off but rather a gentle slope down to a rather large drop off, followed by a flatter expanse. Jennifer had never seen anything quite like it and so she ran through the snow down the slope to the first drop off. James followed along behind quite a bit more casually.

“I’ve never seen anything like this…” Jennifer mused in wonderment as she gazed out into the unending expanse before her.

“It’s all dried up now, that’s a shame we might’ve found some fish.” James said as he began to turn back. Jennifer knew dried up things usually were once filled with water, but that couldn’t be right… How could an area this large be filled with water.

“What do you mean dried up?” Jennifer finally asked, hating displaying her ignorance again. James sighed and walked back toward the canyon. Squatting down on the slope James began to dig in the snow, throwing it off to the side. As Jennifer watched quizzically she noticed how the snow he discarded was turning into a rather large pile, this gave her an idea. After two or so minutes of digging James finally reached what he was after. He held aloft a handful of sand and, allowing it to slide through his fingers, began to explain.

“A while back there were a lot of these large bodies of water called oceans full of massive amounts of water, more than you could ever imagine. Around the oceans there was sand instead of dirt, that’s what this stuff here is. You should have seen it, massive waves of water foaming up and crashing into the sand, it was truly a sight to behold… The oceans all produced life; fish and whales and krill, crabs and lobsters, dolphins and sharks… It was perfect,” James’ gaze grew more longing as he looked out across the vacant ocean, “It’s a shame, I bet this ocean was really something once upon a time…” James turned to see Jennifer’s reaction to all this only to be met with a large snow pile with a smile drawn about face level. James jolted in surprise and was met by Jennifer’s booming laughter. James clenched his fist, took a few deep breaths and regained his composure,

“Did you listen to a word I just said?” But Jennifer was already walking back toward the drop off, her mind clearly somewhere else entirely. James made eye contact with the snow monstrosity, and, somewhere in the back of his head, a memory played, one of him finding a snowman that looked strikingly like him wearing a coat and a scarf as a young man with a gold pocket watch stood proudly behind it. James shook off the memory and followed after Jennifer.

“Do you see that”

“See what”? James replied shortly as he squinted his eyes in the direction Jennifer was pointing.

“At the bottom there, something’s moving…” Jennifer said softly as she stepped cautiously toward the drop off. James told her to come back but she ignored him, the moving thing was becoming clearer and clearer as she carefully descended the rocky drop off. The climb down was far from easy, the snow still scratched angrily at her ears and the frozen stones stung Jennifer’s hands, occasionally cutting them open whenever Jennifer made a wrong move or gripped too tightly. Jennifer’s curiosity was insatiable though and she continued her descent blissfully unaware of James’ shouting as he too began the descent.

Upon reaching the bottom, she noticed that, not only was the moving thing moving, but it was moving toward her. She hesitated slightly before taking a firm step in the moving thing’s direction. She was now vaguely aware of James yelling at her to stay back, that they had no idea what that thing was, but Jennifer ignored him. Whatever this thing was it was big, probably the size of a small house, and it was hurt, the closer she got the more the howling of the wind was replaced with the agonized howls of the moving thing. Eventually a form began to take shape through the snow, a long creature without arms or legs, but a long tail that was either most of its body or perhaps was its body. Along the creature’s back was a large fin, fins like the fish in the books Jennifer read back in school. The creature’s face held two enormous eyes with pupils resembling slits like blinds in a window. In fact they quite reminded Jennifer of a cat’s eye. But, unlike cats, the thing blinked wrong, it’s eyelids closed from the sides and not the top and bottom like most creatures. It’s mouth was elongated and rows upon rows of glimmering teeth refracted the little bit of red light coming from the sun. Such a monster would have scared Jennifer more if not for the massive wooden poles that protruded from the beast’s back. From the protrusions Jennifer could plainly see dried blood now aged sickly and black. The beast continued to wail as Jennifer slowly approached. Jennifer yelped in surprise as something grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing?!” James hissed, glancing nervously toward the moving thing.

“It sounds like it’s hurt.” Jennifer tried to walk away but James’ grip tightened.

“We don’t even know what that thing is! What if it tries to eat you?” James pleaded. Jennifer turned around, looked James dead in the eye,

“Then I guess I’ll get eaten.” She brushed off James’ arm and left him standing there, helpless.

Jennifer, now with far more confidence, strode over to the moving thing until she was close enough to reach out and touch it. From this distance she was better able to see the brutality this creature had undergone, whatever had attacked this beast clearly did not have any intention of leaving it in one piece. Each large wooden pole seemed meticulously jammed into the most gruesome, pain inducing places on the creature’s battered body. Jennifer saw vast sections of flesh presenting a sickly array of purple and black that emanated from slightly indented areas the width of a tree trunk. A putrid stench lingered in the air, Jennifer gagged when she caught a whiff of it and drove her nose into her arm and took deep breaths, fully appreciating her jacket’s musky odor. For Jennifer this was a brand new and frankly unpleasant discovery, that is, the smell of rotted fish.

Despite the bruises and infected wounds Jennifer was still able to catch glimpses of the great beast that once was, a kind of nobility that, even in the worst of situations, manages to remain. Jennifer reached out a hand and brushed the nose of the creature and was surprised to find it was wet. The skin felt smooth, like stones at the bottom of a pond and the creature trembled slightly at her touch. Jennifer rested her hand on the creature’s nose and thought for a moment, she thought about the creature’s suffering, she thought about what a proud beast it must have been, she thought about what she’d want in that position. Jennifer walked around to the side of the beast, took one of the wooden poles into the folds of her arms gripping the bottom tightly, placing one foot on the creature and offering a quick warning of the pain to come, and yanked. The creature howled and thrashed back and forth nearly causing Jennifer to lose her grip. The wooden pole was old and began to splinter slightly in Jennifer’s hand and pain coursed up her arms as some of those splinters broke through her skin, but still she refused to let go. The pole she’d chosen was lodged in the creature’s gills and was by far the most painful looking of the bunch, it was also the most painful to remove as Jennifer and the creature were discovering. The creature’s thrashing began to slow down, not because the pain had subsided, far from it, but because it simply didn’t have the strength to keep it up. It made a few more small attempts to throw Jennifer off and even attempted to bring its head around to bite her, but eventually it gave up entirely and resumed howling.

Jennifer began to sweat, an impressive feat in a snowstorm, and her whole body shook as she pressed her foot into the creature and pulled back on the almost shattered pole. When one section of the pole broke off entirely she would reposition herself and try again, each time getting a little closer to the point of entry. Overtime she found herself with a little over a foot of pole left and she realized this may be her last try, if she lost this remaining section the pole would be stuck there forever, and she’d have caused the beast to suffer for nothing. Taking in a deep breath and ignoring the hundreds of splinters now protruding awkwardly from her palms, she wrapped her arms around the pole, jiggled it back and forth a bit until she felt something come loose and, seizing her moment, wrenched the pole from the creature and watched as a geyser of water shot out from the wound. The beast with newfound strength reared its head in triumph and let out a bone chilling roar as the other poles began to rumble until they too found themselves wrenched free with water now shooting from all across her body. Jennifer watched in awe as the creature’s skin, once bruised and caked in black dried blood now shone like sapphires in sunlight. As if that change wasn’t enough Jennifer stepped back as the creature began to grow longer and longer, its body wider and wider, until the serpent, once the size of a small house, now rivaled Jennifer’s tower in size. The water pulsing out of the creature increased in tandem with the creature’s size and soon the vast expanse began filling with water. The spray from the water created a mist that reflected the light of the sun causing Jennifer to see every color at once. Soaking wet Jennifer grinned wider than she thought possible as she stared into the beautiful rainbow unfolding before her.

Soon the water reached Jennifer’s knees and she became aware of James running toward her shouting something that was drowned out by the sound of the torrential downpour and motioning toward the drop off they’d come from. He reached her and she was now able to catch most of what he was saying.

“WE HAVE TO GO, THE WATER’S GOING TO KEEP RISING! IF WE STAY HERE WE’RE GOING TO DROWN! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!” He shouted as he tugged at her jacket, but, when she finally began to move, the two were stopped by a massive wave that came crashing down in front of them knocking them both to the ground. The water began to churn and pulse and the two had barely made it to their feet when another wave brought them right back to the ground. The foam of the waves and the mist swirled around them and blocked out the sky. The two gasped for air as the water rose more and more now closer to Jennifer’s shoulders and James’ chest. James shouted something inaudible and pointed again toward the drop off, Jennifer got the message and the two began trudging through the waves with unyielding ferocity. Ferocity however that amounted to very little as the churning water dragged both of them away from the drop off and further into the raging sea. The water rose higher and higher and the closer they got to the center of it all the deeper the water became and soon both James and Jennifer were completely submerged.

Holding her breath Jennifer spun back and forth in panic hoping to find some way to the surface. James was beside her and he was moving his arms in strange yet purposeful movements with his eyes locked firmly toward the surface, but he stopped when a huge shadow swam past them. Jennifer wheeled around to catch a better look but the shadow had vanished. Panicked she began to imitate James’ arm movements, pushing the water around her down and lifting her body up. She’d never been a swimmer, the only water around her came from the pond in the grove, and the water there only came up to her knees…. But the shadow kept coming, circling them, the water whooshing by them with each of its passes. Each time the shadow passed she might as well have her eyes shut seeing as the behemoth of a shadow completely blocked out every last speck of light in that deep abyss. After observing it for a while she could follow the form from its start to its finish, like an enormous building going on endlessly into the dark ocean depths. Then, silence.

The shadow had stopped circling them, the water grew still and Jennifer hung silently beneath the waves. She began to hope that the shadow may have left, that it had received whatever it was after and now she could resume her crawl back to the surface. But then she noticed the ground beneath her begin to shake. It didn’t take her long to come to the petrifying realization that the ground beneath her wasn’t shaking at all, it was writhing. The shadow, the ground, whatever it was began to rise, the shadow’s body whipped upwards like roots of a tree until the whole shadow now rested above her, looming over Jennifer with one large green eye opened ten feet from where she was swimming. The eye, now the same size as the creature had been when they first found it, started intently with a pupil that appeared large enough for Jennifer to walk through. The beast’s body encircled the pair and the beast’s face turned toward them. It’s mouth gaped open revealing teeth the size of trees and a great forked tongue that swayed in the ocean currents. We’ve all been afraid before; Jennifer was petrified. The water began to swirl around her, the beast remained still as the water pulsed and battered against her until she no longer knew up from down and she was merely floating in nothingness, unable to breath, to think, to hope. The eyes of the creature followed her every movement, clearly intrigued by her struggle. With the beast as her only constant in this swirling chaos she chose to meet its gaze head on, knowing that if she was to suffer then her captor would have to look her in the eye as she did.

The creature looked conflicted as Jennifer stared deeply into the emerald eyes once full of malice now swapping back and forth between hatred and empathy. The beast began to shrink until it returned to the size of Jennifer’s tower, as it shrunk the waters began to calm and soon Jennifer found herself with her head above the waves, a revelation met with pained gasps and massive amounts of water coughed and gagged out of her now inflamed throat. She noticed James floating beside her sharing a quite similar experience. Jennifer, who had never learned to swim began to wonder how it was she was staying afloat, she certainly didn’t mind that she was no longer drowning, but she was merely curious. As if in answer to her question the massive serpent burst out of the waves, reared its head back and lashed out toward Jennifer’s face, jaws wide open as Jennifer braced for the worst. But the jaws snapped shut mere inches from her face and a low rumble could be heard from the serpent. The waters rippled in unison with the rumble emanating from the throat of the beast as its eyes watched Jennifer’s confusion with glee. Following the rumble came a shifting, the water rocking back and forth and back and forth with Jennifer seemingly caught right in the middle of it all. Soon the rocking revealed a dip in the water that grew wider and wider, deeper and deeper as the waters parted to each side, slowly but surely. Jennifer’s body was lowered as the waters parted until her feet touched solid ground. She looked up in awe to see the water she’d been floating in moments ago surrounding her like walls of an alleyway. The walls of water must have been miles high and Jennifer realized that she was probably a very long way from the drop off she’d descended from initially. James’ body shot out from the wall to her left and landed heavily on the ground beside her. The two made quick eye contact and then looked down the alley between the waves where the beast had begun its approach, its head and body winding between the great walls of water, breaching one wall only to quickly dive into the other. The movement, while strange, were undeniably leading the serpent toward them.

Jennifer and James would have run, but the creature had used the last few minutes as fairly convincing evidence that running would get them nowhere, it was as if the ocean bent to the creature’s every whim and neither Jennifer or James believed that challenging the ocean while surrounded by it was in any way a good idea. Finally, the serpent reached them, a large part of its body resting on one side of the wall and all but the head and a few bits of its body resting on the other. So great the spectacle of intimidation that Jennifer had to wonder, which of them had more reason to be afraid. The head hovered between the two walls and loomed over the pair, the game had ended, the serpent was done playing with its food.

“Humans are such pitiful creatures, devoid of mercy, decency, or any virtue, but long ago I found one desirable quality among the slew of bad ones. You all taste quite wonderful.”

Jennifer, certainly not fond of the words, found herself far more concerned that this serpent just spoke to her.

“You can talk?” Jennifer stammered.

“Can I speak?!” The serpent bellowed as the walls of water shook and great geysers burst from the ground around them, covering the pair in a mist and obscuring the beast’s face, leaving only its silhouette, “Little human I can do far more than speak. Did you think me a mere beast? Some pitiful animal you came across with a brain wielding the functioning power of a common fish?” The voice of the beast had a serpentine and strangely feminine quality to it, an observation Jennifer jumped on.

“I’m sorry, I’m new to this part of the world and I shouldn’t have made those assumptions about you. I saw it before and ignored it, but you are a lady of high nobility, right? You’re not a beast, but a ruler, a queen. I should not have pitied you, you sounded as if you were in pain and I know that’s not a position I’d want to be in.” The serpent considered this for a moment.

“You are correct of course, my nobility in this part of the world was once unquestionable, but I was betrayed. Would you care to guess by who?” The serpent smiled revealing her glimmering teeth. Neither of them really needed to guess the answer.

“You may not have a high opinion of the humans you’ve met before, but we aren’t them, you don’t know us, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice by treating us like traitors.”

“And why might that be?”

“Because you’re better than those humans, right? The ones that betrayed you? What would those humans do in this situation?” The serpent’s grin turned to a frown and she swung away in frustration. But she quickly swung her head back toward them as a thought struck her,

“I’ll tell you what they’d do, they’d attempt to trick me using smooth words and empty compliments.” Jennifer shuffled nervously and tried to come up with a reply, but once your word is questioned there’s very few words you can use to defend it.

“Then let her actions speak for her!” Jennifer was surprised to see James standing beside her, no longer silent but seemingly frustrated by the serpent’s accusations, “didn’t she save you just fifteen minutes ago? We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if she hadn’t dislodged that harpoon from your gills and now you accuse her of lying? I thought Forms were supposed to be greater than petty grudges, I’d heard you had a code, does that code involve killing those that show you kindness?” The serpent swung its whole body toward James and bore down on him with the full magnitude of her size.

“And who are you to talk of Forms? Your kind betrayed us, and now you wish to beg for our mercy?”

“No, the ones that betrayed you need to beg your forgiveness, but we aren’t them. My …friend-“Jennifer perked up when she heard the word and looked to James who refused to meet her eyes, “saved you from probable death and certain agony, I’d like to believe that should separate her from all other humans you’ve dealt with before.”

“I know you don’t hate me either,” Jennifer chimed in, “I saw it when you were watching me drown, mercy… whatever humans did to you it hurt even worse because you cared for them, didn’t you? You’re not evil or malicious, you’re just hurt. I’m hurt too, and to be honest I’m not really all that fond of humans either, but we shouldn’t let the actions of other humans dictate how we act toward each other. We can’t let them take that away from us as well!” Part of what she was saying was an attempt to not be eaten, the rest some much needed venting. Following her grand speech, a silence fell over the alley, Jennifer and James dared not say anything more and the serpent was still mulling over what she’d heard.

“Meerous.” The serpent muttered.

“What?” Jennifer and James asked in unison.

“My name is Meerous.” Meerous snapped as she flung her head away from the two humans before her.

“Jennifer.” She smiled.

“James.” He sighed in relief.

“Thank you… Jennifer... for helping me. Humans lodged those harpoons in me, I suppose it’s fitting that a human should be the one to remove them…” She spoke softly as she brought her head back around slowly, refusing to make eye contact with these humans. There followed an awkward pause where all parties sat silently, none sure where exactly this left them. James rocked back and forth on the sides of his feet and studied the wall of water before him intently as if it were an issue that required his full and utmost attention and justified his position of not having to be the first one to speak. Meerous floated in place, occasionally whipping her head to the side to watch some fish swim by and returning her head slowly to face the two, not quite sure what she was supposed to be doing either. Jennifer finally broke the silence, but in a way that neither James or Meerous would have preferred,

“So what happened to ya? You said humans betrayed you, but I can’t imagine any humans stupid enough to mess with ya…” James would have preferred to not remind Meerous of her gripe against humanity, Meerous preferred not to relive it, but Jennifer was persistent and wouldn’t drop it, “I mean humans can be assholes, don’t get me wrong, but to take on someone like you just seems… well dumb.” The words came out with a kind of blunt sincerity and Meerous, who hadn’t exactly had a lot of chances to make conversation lately sighed and obliged, begrudgingly at first, but she soon warmed up to the idea.

“It might be easier to just show you.” Meerous said as the water around Jennifer and James began to rise again, rising until the pair was level with Meerous’ head, at which point she dipped her head under them. Once Meerous felt the pair safely situated atop her head she began to slowly rise out of the water until twenty or so feet of her body sat above the waves with her head raised proudly. From their perch Jennifer’s jaw dropped as, for the first time in her life, she stood before the full majesty of the ocean. The waves rolled in an endless cascade as the light from the setting sun reflected off the churning foam creating the illusion that the waves were formed from liquid gold. At the edge of her vision Jennifer saw the horizon where the sun hung in eternal repose, beams of light emanating outward like a road leading to somewhere ancient and sacred. All Jennifer could muster at the sight of such majesty was,

“Woah…” Meerous laughed at her observation, not the mocking rumble Jennifer had heard earlier, but an almost human chuckle.

“Why thank you, I’ve always thought I looked my best in the sunset.” Meerous hummed as she glided through the golden expanse.

“What do you mean, you? Not that you’re not beautiful and all, because you are, you’re absolutely stunning, but I was sort of referring to the water…” Jennifer explained, her voice growing slightly shakier near the end. Meerous began to slow down to a stop and her head again rose high into the air,

“I am the waters, this body you’re standing on is merely the Form I took on after the conversion. How is it that you don’t know this? Surely you’ve met a Form before?” Out of all the words Jennifer just heard one or two managed to make some sort of sense,

“I don’t even know what a Form is!” Jennifer shouted, her frustration at again being ignorant of something everyone else seemed to think was common knowledge trumping her current fear of the Leviathan on which she currently stood. Meerous chuckled again as James fought back the urge to shove his hand over Jennifer’s mouth before she got them killed.

“A Form my dear child is what I am, I am what it means to be this ocean. The ocean you see in front of you is nothing more than a reflection of me.” Meerous explained with a not so subtle hint of pride in her voice.

“So are there other oceans? Other… Forms or whatever? Is every ocean like you?” Jennifer said as she scratched her head and leaned on the fin protruding from Meerous’ head.

“There is no one like me,” Meerous smirked as the ocean sprung geysers to punctuate her words, the spray from which reflected the sunlight creating that same odd trick that made Jennifer see all colors at once, “But it is as you say, other oceans have also made the conversion and they too swim within their own waters.”

“And it’s not just oceans,” James chimed in, finally having mustered the courage to speak again, “mountains, forests, most animals, and the very planet we live on have made the same conversion.”

“Like Time!” Jennifer shouted excitedly, happy to finally feel like she’s on the same page.

“What do you know of him?” Meerous asked, her whole demeanor changing, becoming rigid and tense.

“Only stories,” Jennifer replied, “stories about how Destiny left, and Time messed something up… I don’t really know any specifics…” Meerous began to loosen up a little, but her next words came across without a hint of humor or levity,

“The less you know about those cowards the better, they are not worth yours or anyone else’s time.” Jennifer wanted to push, but Meerous’ tone made her think twice.

“So what’s this conversion thing?” Jennifer asked, hoping to change the subject since she still had a hundred more questions. It was James who answered, something Jennifer was less than thrilled about,

“The Forms, like Meerous, were once just oceans and mountains and forests, but, when humans came along, they found they could overwhelm one and merge with them, creating beings like Meerous that aren’t just oceans anymore but are physical embodiments of what it means to be that thing.” There was an undercurrent of bitterness in his explanation that Jennifer noticed, but was unable to dwell on as Meerous had cut in,

“How is it that you know all this and she doesn’t?” Meerous asked, a note of suspicion in her voice that put James on edge.

“We’re from different cities is all, my city happened to have a lot of books on the subject and a few Forms still live with us.” James replied, the note of bitterness either gone or better covered up.

“What do you mean still live with you? Where are the Forms now?” Meerous asked with the first sign of genuine shock. Shaking his head James only had to say one word to satisfy Meerous’ curiosity,

“Death.” Meerous nodded her head somberly and whispered,

“So, he’s finally back then? And Time did nothing to stop him?”

“He tried, but Death outsmarted him.”

“And the other Forms?”

“Dead or in hiding.”

“I’ve been gone for longer than I thought…” Meerous mused though she didn’t appear all that choked up by the news.

“What exactly happened to you? I find it hard to believe that the humans would be able to injure you like that without Death’s help, and Death never leaves his victims to freely roam around, if he even chooses to leave them alive at all.” Meerous twitched with frustration as she began gliding through the waves again, heading west. She didn’t speak again until they reached a coast where the ruins of a large city rested.

The wreckage on the coast’s edge left little to work with if you wanted some kind of clue as to how the city appeared before this mass devastation. The coast line was littered with cracked red and tan bricks, half destroyed ships stuck out of the soil where the tide had buried them long ago. Winding between the piles of crumbling bricks were the final remains of a cobbled road, now missing large chunks and that was only where one could discern where the road even was, but they all lead to the coast eventually and it was at the coast that the waves had taken them. A little way from the coast toward the center of the city sat a foundation a bit more intact then the rest. The building that once stood there must have been something truly spectacular as the foundation was quite large and the piles of rotted wood and brick that lay haphazardly atop it told the story of a building folks could be proud of. Jennifer noticed that the strange symbol with the spears and the numbers lay amongst the wreckage of the larger building, surrounded by bricks and topped with a spire of shingles it lay on its side a few feet from the foundation, leading Jennifer to guess that the symbol here was raised high just like the symbol back home, she noted that for later.

Meerous looked shocked at the wreckage of the city, but the shock was followed by a smile and bitter laughter,

“Serves them right.” She stated matter of factly as she swayed her head back and forth to observe the ruined remains with smug satisfaction.

“So these are the people that betrayed you?” Jennifer asked, afraid that this level of destruction may have been perpetrated by the very creature she stood on.

“No, not the people, just one man.” She whispered.

“Death?” James asked, the name came out like a man spitting on the ground. Meerous shook her head in frustration,

“No not Death!” She shouted, her rage growing by the second the more she stared at the city. Suddenly a glint of metal caught her eye, in response to her curiosity the ocean began to rise and crash onto the ground where the bit of metal was buried. The water pulled the soil into the sea revealing the statue of a large bearded man with a harpoon in his hand, his other raised proudly in the air. The statue was made out of solid gold and pointed to a great wealth that must have filled this city at one time. When the waves receded and the statue came into full view Meerous lost it. With a roar of unbridled rage she grew larger and larger as the ocean rose higher and higher behind her eventually blotting out the sun and casting the ruined city into complete and total darkness. Meerous reared back her head and then whipped it forward, Jennifer and James barely able to grip her fin enough to not be flung down onto the wreckage. Following her head the rising water descended upon the city, crushing any bricks laid atop another, any ship peaking out of the ground, every last remnant of road, all of it overwhelmed by the magnitude of water pulsating through it. And once the waters receded back into the sea Meerous raised her head again, raising the water and then bringing it crashing back down onto the empty ruins. She wailed constantly as she decimated all remnants of human influence, bringing the waves back and forth over and over and over and over again until nothing was left but solid rock now uncovered by the waves and the statue that had set her off initially. The statue surviving was no accident though and Meerous snapped up the statue with her jaws and lifted it high into the air and, with one swift motion shattered the statue into hundreds of tiny pieces. Those pieces landed in the water only to be swallowed up and pulled down into the deep. James and Jennifer were speechless and soaked from head to toe, two things they’d quickly learned to associate with Meerous’ presence.

A silence fell over the group as Meerous stood deathly still, her breathing heavy and strained as her eyes fixed on the destroyed town, James and Jennifer were silent due to a strong sense of self preservation.

“I’m… I’m sorry about that, I may have lost my head there. Are the two of you alright?” Meerous’ voice regaining its usual booming confidence, but there was still a strained quality underneath it all, as if Meerous herself couldn’t bare to think what was in her heart much less say it aloud. Jennifer oddly enough was intimately familiar with that feeling and picked up on the strain in Meerous’ voice instantly. But she wasn’t alone as she looked over and saw James’ empathetic gaze fixed onto the town below. And in there lies a truth about lonely people, people so often hurt, alone, afraid and desperate for no one to see any of it, but, despite their best efforts, there is one group from whom lonely people are utterly incapable of hiding their pain from, those like them. They hear every subtle word and silent pause, they see every momentary wayward glance, and they feel every bit of the pain, if only for a moment. But this is another truth about lonely people, a sad one; lonely people rarely, if ever, offer up the one thing that might help, friendship. Friendship would acknowledge need, it would cause vulnerability, and, in the end, would make the inevitable loneliness hurt all the more. Jennifer knew this, James knew this, and Meerous knew this, three lonely people together, but no less lonely.

But something stirred inside Jennifer, an odd urge that might have been curiosity, a concussion from being hurtled about underwater or maybe some quality inside herself that she didn’t yet know existed, but either way she spoke,

“Tell me about him.”

“About who”? Meerous replied, the strain in her voice even more apparent as she failed to appear uninterested.

“The statue man, what did he to do you”? Jennifer spoke softly as she bent down and rested her hand on Meerous’ neck. Meerous’ whole body shook with uncertainty.

Meerous gently lowered her head and nudged Jennifer and James onto the ground. She looked off into the distance as the ocean before them grew still, the sunset sparkling off of Meerous’ deep green eyes and, though it may have been a simple trick of the light, Jennifer swore she saw tears glistening in the corners of the noble serpent’s eyes.

“He… He broke my heart.” Meerous whispered, acknowledging something she’d fought to deny for so long.

“Do ya wanna talk about it?” Jennifer asked, a reassuring smile on her face and a hand outstretched. Meerous turned around slowly to face her, and though she was far larger than Jennifer in that moment she appeared so much smaller.

“I… I think it’d be better if I showed you.” As she spoke the waters around her rose up and began to slowly flood the land around Jennifer and James until the two were again surrounded entirely by water. But this time the water began to mold itself into the forms of houses and streets, lamp posts and sidewalks, boats and peers and suddenly Jennifer and James were standing in a large harbor town made entirely of water.

“This was the way the town was when I first found it,” Meerous began, “and this is how it ruined me…”

A group of sailors returned from a voyage undertaken for the sole purpose of finding a treasure so wonderful, so elusive that generations of men had drowned in its pursuit, the, ‘heart of the ocean’ they called it, not knowing of course that this treasure was more than a mere trinket. The harbor town boasted beautiful brick houses aligning a quiet coast edged with peers that ran the length of the coast and out over a hundred feet into the ocean. Along the peer stood some of the largest and finest ships any man had ever laid eyes on, each ship ornately crafted by the hands of one man. The Boat smith, as he was known to the folk within the city, was a broad shouldered man with large scarred hands, a big friendly face hosting a fiery red beard and eyebrows that seemed to burn like fire, contrasting nicely his shiny bald head. His eyes were the deepest blue and they gazed out upon the ocean like a familiar friend. The Boat smith crafted the finest vessels that the world had ever seen and he knew each one inside out without ever having to look twice, every nook, cranny, hull and quarter could be immediately recalled and described on a moments notice and, though he had never been out to sea, he had a knowledge of the ocean that was the envy of most any sailor. Little did the people of the harbor town know that they housed the very Form of ships. When man had crafted their first ship it was by his reflection they envisioned it and it was his reflection he resided in until a man came along with whom he would finally converge, and with the convergence came the identity of the Boat smith. He didn’t merely know every ship and sea faring vessel for the connection was deeper than that, every ship, boat, raft, canoe, and each man made thing that floats upon the waves to carry people, exists as a reflection of one man, the Boat smith. When he had chosen this town it had been nothing more than a lowly fishing hamlet but with his knowledge and influence larger and larger merchant ships mysteriously found their way to this little hamlet as if the ships had a mind of their own. The ships would arrive and trade with the hamlet, stay in their inns and eat their food and soon the hamlet became known by sailors all around the ocean. Soon the hamlet grew too large to be considered a mere hamlet and it was renamed Nautica, a proud name that every citizen of the town held with pride.

The Boat smith garnered favor from the people who did not know him to be a Form, but as a craftsman of the finest order and, to stave off questions regarding his lack of aging, the Boat smith had claimed to have found a treasure that had gifted him eternal life. This treasure he called, ‘the heart of ocean,’ and he claimed to have come across it on an island in the center of the sea. The legend stuck, and men spent their entire lives in search of a treasure to grant them eternal life, not knowing the futility of their search. The Boat smith was nominated for town mayor and the town thrived.

Then one day the Boat smith vanished. The town searched for him for months checking every ship log to see whether he had finally decided to go out to sea, but his name appeared on no logs and none of the captains of any of the ships found their ships missing. The absence of the Boat smith left the town in utter disarray, suddenly captains, once gliding across the waves with precision and grace, now found themselves utterly incompetent in the ways of the sea. But this was to be expected as it had never been the captains guiding the ships, but the ships guiding the captains and, at the center of it all, the Boat smith ensuring all went smoothly. Quickly the town’s economy plummeted as more and more sailors left the town to never return. All that the Boat smith had left behind was a single son named William. Those that remained in the town placed all of their hopes in the small baby William, the entire town pitching in to raise, feed, shelter and educate William in the profession of ship crafting. But the hope William inspired had to last until he was old enough to take his father’s place and the town would certainly not last that long.

When William turned eight years old, already sick of the smothering of every adult in the town and the envious stares of all the other children, he decided to forge his own path. Under the cover of night while the whole town slept, William climbed into a small rowboat with a few weeks supply of water and a fishing pole and he set sail. Though William was not the Form of Ships he had his father’s blood in his veins and so every ship he set foot in bent to his every whim. The rowboat, though small, carried William miles and miles into the sea where he hoped to find the, ‘heart of the ocean,’ but, unlike the lie the other sailors had searched for, William was searching for the truth behind the myth. For you see, before he left, the Boat smith had left his son a letter confessing to his lies and his true nature and urging his son to find the ocean’s true heart. But despite all his searching William found nothing. Discouraged, dehydrated and having not caught a fish in nearly a month William, only a child, began to come to terms with his death at sea. But, before he could enter that eternal rest, a bubbling began beneath his boat and from the depths emerged a beautiful sea serpent. The serpent asked the young man why she should not eat him here and now as he might be small but he certainly looked tasty. The young man explained who he was and, upon mentioning his father, caught the serpent’s attention. She explained that his father and her had met many years ago back when he was first coming to terms with his decision to converge. They had bonded from their shared identities as Forms of the water, the serpent the sea and the Boat smith that which sailed those seas. The serpent introduced herself as Meerous and the form of this ocean and the young man returned her introduction with a big toothed grin that went from ear to ear, he said he’d been looking for her. He explained to her the troubles his town was in, the suffering of his people and the responsibility he had to make it right. Meerous listened for as long as she could stomach until she could stomach it no longer.

She explained to William that her job was not to help the humans or give them special treatment, but to care for all the life that lived beneath her. She explained how important every tide, current, wave, whirlpool and shift of the waters was to the balance of the delicate ecosystem she cared for. William could certainly not refute her position but another concern popped into his head, he asked if she was lonely. She had never considered that she might be lonely before but, the more she considered it, the more she realized how lonely she really was. William admitted that he had been lonely too, and so he asked if they could be friends and Meerous accepted with a grin of her own.

When William returned to the town he was greeted by a slew of worried and exasperated townsfolk who made him promise to never leave again. But William had not wasted his trip and he would sneak out every night to go and meet with Meerous who would whisk him away across the sea in pursuit of adventures. The two came across pirates, fish people, merchant vessels, undersea volcanoes and all sorts of wonderful things that Meerous was glad to finally be able to share with someone. William marveled at each and every wonderful sight Meerous showed him helping Meerous see everything she loved with new eyes. She found the experience intoxicating and couldn’t imagine exploring her ocean without him, the two had become, in every sense of the word, friends.

Meerous did not abandon her friend though and soon fish began to mysteriously wash ashore onto the Nautica beaches, ships caught in previously unknown currents found their way to the town and soon the town began to thrive once more. The people of the town hailed William as a hero, a man to equal his father, and some even claimed, a man to surpass his father. Meerous listened with proud eyes and a warm heart as William recounted the love the people were showing him and she knew that it was all thanks to her, but she was happy to hear William say it as well. The town of Nautica began entrusting William with more and more responsibilities and people would come from all around to seek out his advice, and soon he’d garnered a reputation as a man of great wisdom. They even erected a statue in his honor and elected him the new mayor of Nautica to carry on his father’s legacy. The work kept him busy, but he always made time to go and chat with Meerous, but those conversations became more and more scarce as time went on.

What Meerous had not foreseen and what stirred in her a new and dark feeling, was the jealousy that grew as William began to move into his role as mayor. Though she had accepted his explanations and understood why it was that he could no longer join her on adventures, the pain was still present and growing by the day. Meerous attempted to hide this pain, to keep it bottled away as to not ruin the remaining relationship she still had with William, but pain cannot be swallowed forever and soon Meerous gave into her rage.

Sailors from Nautica had set out on the first excursion in fifteen years in search of the elusive, ‘heart of the ocean,’ with the town now in the best shape in all its long history sailors were now again free to pursue lost treasures and ancient legends. But the sea can be a dangerous place and the sailors stumbled across a cave housing a great sea serpent, grumpy, overwhelmed with envy and currently not too fond of humans. Though Meerous knew she shouldn’t she couldn’t stop herself from releasing all of her frustration onto this crew and sending them hurtling to the depths. She was surprised to find how much she enjoyed the experience and soon she began sinking a few ships a month, each time enjoying the experience a little more. She never told William of her escapades and when they spoke he would lament over the lost lives of those missing sailors and she would smile and comfort him, knowing that she had been the one to send every last one of them to the ocean floor. But no one avoids slipping up forever and Meerous, focused on the joy of the hunt, failed to notice a ship following behind her current target that bore witness to her massacre. The ship returned to Nautica and ran to tell William what had happened.

The conversation between William and Meerous was not a pleasant one, each side refused to give any ground and no amount of shared history could salvage the wreck before them. William ended the conversation demanding that Meerous never come anywhere near his town again and Meerous promised she would never wish to again. But Meerous had lied as she descended down into the depths and saw the chaos and destruction she’d caused, then she lamented and wished she could have taken it all back. But she knew that William had meant what he’d said and she wished to respect his wishes and so she kept her promise and stayed clear of Nautica. Her days of sinking ships were now behind her and she continued assisting the ships coming in and out of Nautica as she had in the old days in the hopes that William may one day forgive her. At one point she even sent him a message utilizing the tides, a trick they’d come up with when William was young and they needed to talk without alerting the adults. She told William she was sorry, explained that she would never harm another sailor ever again and promised to always protect the town in memory of their earlier friendship though she expected no reply.

So imagine her surprise when she felt William’s hand in the ocean writing out an apology of his own, an eloquent speech about how he had allowed his anger to cloud his judgement and how he’d been wrong to neglect their friendship for so long. He ended his message with an invitation to return and a promise that all was forgiven. Meerous didn’t think twice and she strode through the waves faster than ever before as she headed to see the only friend she’d ever had. Arriving in the middle of the night Meerous found an empty town shrouded in darkness without a single shred of light to be seen. The lamps along the street posts were out, the windows of the houses revealed only darkened rooms and empty beds as if the whole town had vanished all at once. Meerous, frightened for William’s safety cried out his name only to hear it echoed back by the darkness. But she refused to give up and she cried his name again and again hoping that he may answer her until she heard a muffled yell from an alcove a little ways outside the town. She rushed over and saw William standing on top of a large concrete structure that fit like a square inside the cave with one end open at the entrance, along the walls of the structure sat cannons next to men, women, and children armed with harpoons and spears. William starred Meerous down, his eyes cold and his mouth set in a firm grimace, Meerous found no trace of love in those eyes. She swung around toward the exit but a large concrete block fell to block the entrance of the cave trapping her in the middle cut off from the rest of the ocean. She begged William for an explanation, some reason for why he lied to her, why he now stood before her as her executioner. William replied with cold indifference, ignoring her questions and offering up only a deal. He told her that she may live here in this cave, being regularly fed and cared for if she would serve the town entirely, if she would cede control of the ocean over to him she would be allowed to live, if not… He didn’t need to finish; the implication was clear.

Meerous sneered at his offer as she grew larger and utilized the small amount of water trapped with her in the cave to defend herself against the onslaught of cannon fire raining down upon her. The cannons bruised her skin leaving indentations that marked crushed bones and internal bleeding, each townsperson hurled harpoons toward her piercing her flesh and causing her to shrink in pain as she made herself a smaller and smaller target. But through the mass confusion of harpoons and cannon fire Meerous managed to lock eyes with William one last time. She remembered the first time they’d met, how small and helpless he was, she remembered his smile and his offer of friendship, that little boy that had reignited her passion for life was not the man standing before her, all remnants of that child’s care and innocence had been wrung out by the trials of life, burden and necessity. This man before her was a leader, a man who had sold his soul for his people, a man with no soul to cry out to for mercy, and it was this man that threw the final harpoon into Meerous’ gills.

The great serpent let out one final wail as the water around her began receding back into her, her body becoming smaller and smaller, her eyes fixed onto William’s the whole time. With one final push she called upon the water to break through every crack within the concrete until she found a crack large enough, the water burst through the opening enveloping her and hiding her from view and, once she was safely surrounded by the water, she allowed it to flow back through the crack and launch her into the ocean. The water around her was receding rapidly and so she utilized the small amount of ocean she had left to carry her as far away from the town as possible, far enough so that they’d never find her.

When she finally stopped and all the remaining water had dried up around her she rolled onto her side and wept, occasionally screaming in rage and cursing William with every breath. She had lost everything, her ocean, her might, her health, and the only friend she’d ever had… She took solace in the knowledge that a seafaring town would certainly crumble without the ocean to sustain it and she wished she could see it happen. So, all alone and on the verge of death, Meerous did the only thing she could, she crawled; across the ground, groaning in agony, hoping beyond hope that she may find help, that someone might find her and take pity on her and, as she crawled she replayed that moment in her head over and over again, William with the harpoon over his shoulder, his eyes showing no emotion, the kind of eyes you see in a man slaughtering livestock. That memory gave Meerous strength, it fanned a fire inside of her, a burning hatred for all mankind and everything they stood for, she promised herself that, if she ever found another human, she’d eat it on the spot.

Jennifer and James watched all this unfold as the water shifted around them to tell the story. When the story had concluded the only thing left was a water replica of Meerous crawling through the empty seabed just the way they’d found her. Meerous watched herself crawling around and, though she was the one telling the story, she seemed to be seeing it all for the first time. When the water receded, and Jennifer and James could again see the wreckage of the town before them they understood, they understood Meerous’ anger, her hatred, her pain…

“You see now don’t you, humans are not capable of friendship… you two should leave.” She turned her head slowly toward the ocean and raised it high as she prepared to dive under the waves when a voice stopped her.

“What about servants?” Meerous whipped her head around to see Jennifer staring up at her, eyes full of tears and a half smile on her face. “You’re right, you can’t trust a human to be your friend after that… What William did to you is unforgivable and you should never have to owe another human anything! But you showed us mercy when we crossed into your kingdom, you allowed us safe passage to the edge of your border and you gave us an audience in your presence.” Meerous stared at Jennifer dumbfounded, but the sincerity in Jennifer’s voice kept her listening,

“Go on…” She said hesitantly.

“You’re the queen of this ocean, your friend betrayed you and you lost it, but now you’re back and no one’s ever going to take your throne from you again! So, all my friend and I here are asking, is that you allow us to become your subjects, servants willing to come to your aid whenever you ask and, in return, we ask only that you allow us to visit you and your kingdom from time to time.” Jennifer ended her speech by curtseying with her jacket. She was happy to note that James had followed her lead and had bowed toward Meerous with a smile full of empathy and respect, a single tear managed to make its way down his cheek. A smile crept across Meerous’ face as tears flowed freely down her face until she blinked them away and assumed a regal pose, her neck curved and her head held aloft with her mouth pointing out toward the shore, the sun directly behind her causing her whole body to shine. She spoke with the authority of a queen and the manners of a princess,

“Do you Jennifer and you James promise to serve me faithfully for as long as you may live? Do you swear your fealty to me and the ocean that reflects me? Will you always honor your promise to follow me, trusting in my leadership?”

“We do.” They replied, big smiles on their faces as they knelt in over dramatized submission.

“Then I, Meerous, queen of these waters, do declare you lady Jennifer and you sir James, Duchess and Duke of this province of my great and mighty kingdom; trusting that you will take better care of it than the previous tenants. Now my lovely and loyal subjects you may rise.” Meerous laughed a bit at the end as James and Jennifer stood back on their feet laughing right along with her.

“Thank you, my queen,” Jennifer declared with a flourish of the hand just like the old man used to do, “we must be off now as we are in pursuit of Duke James’ brother, but we shall return to you bringing with us great treasures to show our gratitude.”

“I will await your return with great patience Duchess Jennifer,” Meerous nodded her head as she acknowledged Jennifer’s new title with the highest of respects, “and I shall insist that you take with you these fish that I have discovered to be… traitors to the cause! It is up to you to see to their execution in whatever way you see fit, whether that be boiling them in water, roasting them over a fire or eating them raw with some seaweed. I know that the job of an executioner can be hard, so I will also provide you with salt and seaweed to ensure that the execution goes smoothly.” Meerous winked at the pair as a large bundle of fish washed ashore with seaweed in the shape of a large pouch seated nicely atop. James’ eyes widened, and he looked at Meerous in disbelief.

“Tha-Thank you!” But then remembering the terms of this agreement he put on a serious face, placed his arms rigidly at his sides and announced, “I will see to it that these… traitors are given a… proper execution!” While he certainly did not possess the flair of Meerous or Jennifer the attempt was appreciated. A long drawn out goodbye didn’t appeal to any of them, so James placed the fish into his bag along with the seaweed bundle full of salt and slung the whole thing over his shoulder as Jennifer took one last look at the ocean. Meerous stooped down and rested her head alongside her,

“It’s rare these days to come across human beings who still look out upon me with such wonder, please return sometime to see me again.” Meerous whispered as she nuzzled Jennifer with her cheek. Jennifer smiled and nodded her head, she would be back, if she couldn’t return to her old home then maybe this ocean could be her new home, a place for her to come back to, a place where she was wanted.