Chapter 25: 23 : The Second Wave of the Sea Witch

The villager’s escape turned sour after the ebb of monsters managed to capture some people whom they used as hostages. Scylla planned to use her scream to make everyone unable to defend themselves and isolated in their bedroom for easy picking. But because of Alphonse, a large group formed, and although about 80% were paralyzed by the scream, the remaining 20% were able to rescue and protect them. As such, the number of civilians able to fight snowballed until the invading sea monsters needed to change plans. Right now, the goal was to simply weaken and delay the villagers until backup came and use the fact they bundle together to round them up easily.

In the wealthy district, the situation was dire since Alphonse didn’t visit them, and the monstrosities were focused on this side. Luckily for them, a few well-known mercenaries employed by rich merchants were now protecting the villagers. Among all the riffraff, a band clothed in white distinguished themselves for their bravery and strength as they changed the calm dainty streets into a grim scene of mutilated walking fish.

Rouhong in the west and those brave heroes in the east, Scylla’s plan was being foiled. The monsters she sent were simply too weak and if she wasn’t able to capture enough people, it would make her attack a complete failure. Retreat wasn’t an option for this goddess as she needed to recoup the cost of making her army and also expanding it. So, with this in mind, she let out another piercing scream. This one didn’t paralyze anyone but instead instilled fear into people’s minds. It was a call for her three children, ordering them to join the fight. The eternally unborn child’s cries followed suit as she lamented the ongoing suffering. Her sobs gave shivers to everyone with an ear to listen to, but her violet tears couldn’t change her prison’s actions…

 

I remember the list you made when you knew I was coming.
All those wonderful names whether I was a boy or a girl cooking in your mind…
Pleione…I loved that name and couldn’t wait to be born.

I remember the cloth you bought me with the little money you had.
All those wonderful siblings that I wanted to play with…
Pleione…I loved that name and wished anyone could call me by it.

I remember when you promised to keep me safe.
All those wonderful promises made me happy…
Pleione…I loved that name but I think you forgot it.

Pleione, Pleione, Pleione. Why won’t you listen to Pleione’s cries?
You keep feeding Pleione those I wanted to meet!
Pleione wants to drown in her tears; Pleione just wanted to be born…

Please save me,
call me by my name,
and Pleione will follow you to the end of time…

❀

 

While this chaos was happening, a fragile peace reigned over a cliff overlooking the empty gulf. On a small wooden table covered with a few orange leaves, two warm cups of tea were served to a man and a young girl.

“Let go of me!” Tsuki was forcefully seated as roots entwined around her legs and formed a kind of throne.

“Ho Farishta,” said Carlson with emptiness in his eyes. “I did as you said! I followed our promise! So why did you make me wait?”

“Wha-what? I don’t understand. I don’t…please let me go—”

“—NO! you promised me. If I made those people happy, that you’ll stay with me forever. My dear Farishta. I know it’s you. Do you know ho—”

“—SHUT UP! I’m not your wife! She’s dead!”

“I know, I know…I was the one to put you out of your misery. But you're back! You don’t have to hide it; I know it’s you.”

Tsuki was at a loss for words. This man was insane, she said to herself while struggling to get up.

While escaping, Tsuki was met with a few sea creatures entering people’s houses and pulling the residents with gnarly poles, hooks, and bills as they screamed in pain unable to do anything. She was even almost caught by a tall and thin, flying sardine but a man who managed to break free from his captor by tearing off its antenna-like eyes attempted to save her. Sadly, all he managed to do was take the attention of the monster from Tsuki, only because he was bigger than her, and his heroic action rewarded him with his gut getting pierced by a man-catcher too small for him.

Tsuki ran as fast as she could, using her lantern to illuminate the dark places no one knew about, and somehow found herself going in the direction of Carlson’s house which was secluded from the chaos. Even so, her tired mind was the one falling into a dark abyss.

Twirling stars and croaking trees.
Dancing rock and whispering grass.
“Samsara, did you know what she does? She kills everyone she loves!”
Gushing moon and singing cloth.
Spinning tale and mocking time.
“Moksha, she’s not even human, it’s no wonder you don’t want this pig.”
Grinning clouds and crying void.
Burning sea and shouting flowers.
“Sunyata was even wounded by her! She should be punished for that!”

The girl walked on a path of her own making as deep-rooted issues flared up from all the stress afflicting her mind. She walked not even seeing the path ahead until she was awoken on a throne of branches.

❀

 

Tsuki was forced to listen to Carlson rambling about how much he missed his wife and how he somehow made himself believe that he was fine with living alone. She didn’t care and was honestly creeped out by him.

“Honeybun? Why don’t you drink some tea? You look tired.” Said the madman who pointed the cup in front of Tsuki with a long finger.

The cup itself was quite welcoming and warm. It was the same model he had gifted the girl alongside the bag. Inside was a liquid with a discreet green color but with a strong medicinal smell.

Even if Tsuki wanted to drink it, she couldn’t: her arms were wrapped in vines and so was her mouth after shouting too much. She could only give a pleading look at the man which somehow shook him.

“Ha, it’s right. I’m sorry my dear, I’ll undo those pesky vines immediately.” Said he as the girl’s mouth and arms were freed. Only her chained legs stopped her from running. “Drink. I made your favorite.”

With trembling fingers, Tsuki placed one hand across and another below the cup. Her delicate skin brushed over the cloisonne of stone: smooth and cold, porous and warm, and all the between. It was as if the tea seeped into the cup itself to bring life to the tree made from stones. Taking the cup closer to her face, the fume of this concoction invaded her nose, making her sick of the deep unnatural smell.

Not risking it, she threw the cup at the man’s head as it shattered into sharp fragments cutting apart Carlson’s left cheek. In that instant of pain, Tsuki saw it clearly, Carlson’s eyes regained their intelligent shine as if this man was brought back from the dead.

Instantly, the root binding Tsuki’s legs were undone while Carlson removed his shirt to display a disgusting eel measuring two meters digging into his thorax and wrapping around his heart. Without missing a beat, Tsuki lunged at him with her black dagger in hand. Instinct made her move, not an action born after seeing the eel.

But before she was able to land a deadly blow, more vines sprung up and locked her in place. The dagger was just centimeters from piercing the eel dancing around Carlson’s visible heart.

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She looked into his eyes and only one side was still awake and fighting the control of the parasite. Neither could gain control of the other which led Tsuki and Carlson to be frozen in place.

So close yet so far, the dagger was ready to spill more blood, but the eel simply did what it had to survive. But if only the dagger was longer, if only she was faster, if only she was stronger…If only the dagger could cut her foe.

This dagger she could manifest from a piece of cloth, this dagger she could change the sharpness of, this dagger that made her tired after using too much. Tsuki then realized in this instant what this tiredness was all along. It was simply what was sacrificed to manifest the blade. Sacrificing a leg to cast a spell; sacrificing her energy to create a blade. They were the same: give and create.

Tsuki focused on this dark blade, imagining it piercing the man in front of her. She thought about spending more energy, but if she did, she wouldn’t be able to run away from the village. Fat, muscle? She almost had none. She also couldn’t accept damaging Alice’s body in any way that could leave a permanent scar. She raked her brain trying to figure out something and did just before Carlson was about to lose control of his body again.

*Splotch*

A large hole was opened in Carlson’s chest completely vaporizing the eel and his heart along the way. In the girl’s hand was now a magnificent dark glaive with painted white fish swimming with grace along the shaft. The curved blade which ended its course in the ground shined brightly as white and black flowers grew around it…

❀❀❀

 

Tsuki had just killed Carlson. His warm blood left his body like a river until the flow ceased at once. After all, his heart was gone, taken by the glaive when it formed. With nothing to pump blood to his brain, Carlson was doomed to die. Still, he wasn’t human, but a fae which meant he could survive for some time and if he had the strength, even heal from such a wound…But he wasn’t strong enough. He was old and tired. He was ready to die and embraced the inevitable long ago. When his wife died, he wanted to follow her. When his only son was murdered, he was ashamed to still be alive. And when his grandkids died, he wanted to kill himself. But that promise he made to his wife on her deathbed was to make others happy and find joy for himself. At that time, those simple words ‘I promise’ brought him so much anguish that life became meaningless.

He made stories from this day on that many kids could enjoy. Sculpting slabs of wood and using them to print many drawings of cats going on adventures and bringing joy to people was now his life. For more than 200 years he sculpted and printed, waiting for the grim reaper to knock at his door.

“How ironic—” –for the one to end me to be wearing her ribbon...He tried to say but vomited blood over the girl’s hands.

Tsuki moved back, pulling her glaive from his body in the process. It was surprisingly light as if it moved itself following her intent. She was mesmerized by its luster and delicate pattern over the shaft that she could only feel with her hand as the colors didn’t change. Instead, the pattern was created from a colder material.

Carlson tried to say something to the girl entranced by her weapon but all that came out was a disgusting gurgling. Understanding that it was useless to say anything, even if he desperately wanted to beg for forgiveness, he simply sat on a bench overlooking the sea. It took him back to the day he made it. Someone had given him a kid to take care of and as the child grew, he would read him stories about adventurers discovering unknown islands while watching merchant ships leaving the calm gulf.

He snapped his fingers, and a root made its way inside his house and came back with a leather satchel filled with woodblock printing tools, small blades, and whetstones. The vine headed toward Tsuki who got startled – she had a bad experience with them – and gifted her the satchel while gesturing a sort of adorable bow. Not knowing any better, Tsuki took this offering and the vine flopped on the ground without any strength left.

She looked one last time at the back of the man looking down the empty gulf and left without saying a word.

❀

 

When Tsuki came back to the usually occupied village that was squirming with plenty of creatures a moment ago, she was shocked to notice that there wasn’t the slightest sign of life. There were bodies in plenty all over the place, but nothing was alive. Not even the usual insects or birds which lived by feasting on the dead showed a sign of existing.

For the sea monsters and the villagers, the confrontation had taken them somewhere close to the exit while the bugs and birds were simply scared and were long gone from the village.

As such, Tsuki managed to walk in the dark with relative safety. She used the backstreets with ease until she found herself in front of the main street in the market. It was empty with not even a body to show the carnage that took place. The only way forward required her to leave her peaceful backstreet and run in the large market road until she could reach someplace safe.

She looked left and right and ready herself. There was no one. It was now or— *meow!* —or so she tried but a cat meowed behind her as she was about to run for it. She looked back startled, but there was no trace of any cat.

“That’s why I don’t like those sneaky…” Said Tsuki under her breath before freezing after a gigantic shadow passed above her.

A large snake-like creature slithered on the roofs nearby and sent rubble flying everywhere, almost killing Tsuki outright as she had to hide from stone the size of her head. She tried to jump inside a building from a broken window but just before she could get inside, a piece of wood clipped her left foot.

“!!!” She tried to not make a sound, but a low yelp still managed to escape her cracked lips.

Then she realized something frighteningly wrong, the loud destruction had stopped. She held her breath scared that the unknown snake knew her location and was about to jump at her, swallowing her whole. But nothing came and nothing changed. The monster made no sound.

The girl was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She either hide forever from this gigantic snake and be swallowed by a tsunami or run as fast as she could and die from this giant. Waiting was an absolute death but escaping gave her a chance to survive…

Tsuki crawled as far away from the window as she could while trying to not make a sound. When she found out she couldn’t go any further, threw a rock out the window in the hope to distract the lurking predator, possibly waiting for her. But nothing happened. The rock resounded in the oppressive silence that made Tsuki’s own heart sound loud.

She had no choice: to run. She opened the front door to leave this prison and there it was, looking at her. The head of an old lady dangling a tapered snake-like neck. She had a mystifying smile filled with freedom while her eyes, dark and profound, observed the girl as if planning something.

Tsuki threatened this creature with her glaive, swinging left and right as if saying: “Ya bastard! I’ll make filets out of you and feed them to your brother by the ears till their heads pop!” or so it was how the creature interpreted Tsuki’s actions. In this giant point of view, Tsuki was nothing more than a prairie dog screaming their anger against the world.

Surprisingly, the giant snake gave an amused smile and left. Tsuki, confused, could only look as it went back toward the sea while destroying as many buildings as possible.

The old lady was Scylla’s daughter, the one blessed with a calculating mind but lacking a heart. When she was absorbed by her mother after dying, the anger and rage that should have infected her did nothing of the sort. She simply saw the world as it was: a young girl without parents trying to survive alone…It reminded her of her past and thus she was left lacking the will to kill this child.

In truth, the only one of the siblings able to fight was the eldest brother who followed all of his mother’s orders without a thought. The youngest despised fighting and was more apt at taking care of the soldiers his mother created. He was even the one who had cleaned most bodies in the village, understanding they would degrade otherwise.

Tsuki, not knowing any of that, simply ran as fast as she could toward the village’s entrance. Her weapon shined brightly under the waning moon while strange flowers seemed to form behind her. Separating her from the village and the wilderness was now just a bloody confrontation between the villagers and the sea monsters.

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