Heartworm

I did not have the best will towards the Bestille as I plunged into the swirling depths of the Uroro lake.

Was now a time to be rhyming in my head? Most certainly not, but it came to mind regardless. I wanted to fully consider the breadth of the conversation I had just had with Lucas, but there were far more pressing matters to attend to. That being the growing pressure that tightened across my chest as I sunk through the depths of the lake. It was already hard to see before I had been dropped into the salty drink of Uroro, but it was becoming nearly impossible to spot even the outline of my hands that were tied in front of my body. The calming pitter of the rain on the surface of the lake was growing even more distant as I sunk further towards the bottom of the lake. If that was possible. I had read that Uroro was astoundingly deep back in Varenthell, so it was possible I would gently drift into the abyss below for the rest of my life.

Though, without being able to die from drowning, that would mean I would spend Gods know how long resting in the darkest crevices of Uroro. Lilith, how does drowning work for a Deathless? Didn’t you mention something about it before?

Nothing. Lilith was still uncomfortably silent in my mind, along with the other animalistic voice that I had previously heard. I was alone. As much as I hated to admit it to myself, I would love to have Lilith’s menial badgering in the back of my mind right now. Anything so that I didn’t feel entirely alone as I uselessly attempted to fight the water enough to stop myself from sinking further. Drowning did not sound appealing, but drowning alone sounded even worse. I had yet to take a breath since being dropped into the water, something which was growing more difficult to maintain with every passing second.

Time and time again I had been killed, reassured that very little in the world was even capable of ending me for good. Yet it gave me no reassurance of my safety as my lungs burned for air that it was being deprived of. I knew I could survive without oxygen, yet my mind flared with the desperation to suck in a deep breath. The body of a Deathless was endlessly perplexing to me. You would think beings built to sustain and persevere through any injuries would have a higher pain tolerance, or some sort of capability to turn their minds away from suffering. The way that Lilith had talked about it made it sound like Deathless just adjusted to pain as they grew up. A terrifying thought that one could endure such intense suffering in a calm manner. Then again, I had already adjusted in my own right. The wounds along my body, though they ached, had not incapacitated me as much as they did in my first few fights. Was pain tolerance a natural part of a Deathless growing up? In the same vein as a human might learn to walk, or write?

There was no more time for deliberation over my nature as I instinctively sucked in a breath out of desperation, my body having reached an ache for air that was impossible to resist. I still could not remember what Lilith had previously told me about drowning as a Deathless, would I wake up soon after regenerating? Would my body be kept in a state of eternal death as I regenerated as fast as I was dying in the lake? Was I ever going to escape this lake? I wouldn’t be able to find the Bandits again. I couldn’t see-

CECELIA!

I can’t leave her bleeding in the boat, I need to get back to the surface! To Cecelia!

The salty cold water drained into my lungs, sending a shocking panic through every muscle in my body. A revolting shiver to accompany what my body knew was a deadly amount of unwelcome liquid. I choked and sputtered, the burning pain of asphyxiation accompanied by an uncomfortable coldness spreading through my body. The result of either the lake’s water or my failing organs. It was hard to notice my vision slipping away with the utter lack of any discernible features in my blurry eyesight. Before I decided to close my eyes and pray to some merciful God that I would wake again eventually, I noticed a change in the swirling darkness around me. A faint green glow that seemed to originate from beneath me was growing closer. The closer it drew, the brighter the sickly green light that followed it. My expiring mind could barely process that the bright orb was headed directly towards me before my body shut down altogether.

* * * * *

“Lily, are you ready?”

“I’ve told you numerous times, Calliope, I am not going to put any additional effort into meeting your electric man. He will see me as he will see me. If he has a problem, I’ll convince him to assuage his concerns with a claw or two.”

“Lily! Do NOT threaten Sebil! He wanted to meet you because he cares about me! The least you could do is feign some kind of politeness.”

“You will owe me some form of recompense for going along with this. You know I have no interest in meeting your Sea Bill.”

“Sebil. Suh-Bill. If you mispronounce his name in front of him after I’ve reminded you countless times I’ll trim all of your claws in your sleep.”

“Threats are my thing, Calliope. They don’t suit you nearly as well.”

“Yeah, whatever. I mean it either way. He should be here any second, so if you wouldn’t mind shifting into a human form we can-”

A laugh escaped my lips before I had the chance to stop it. Calliope did not seem impressed with my interruption. It was rare that her anger ever crossed over from ‘annoyance’ to ‘aggression’, but for a moment I feared I was just about to witness such a display. Her frustration at me was far more bearable than the alternative. I would not be shifting into a disguise, a filthy human form, just for the benefit of her lover.

“He knows of our nature. Why should I need to stuff myself into some kind of human form? Does he think it would be more civilized that way? Is he only okay with you being a Deathless so long as you wear the disguise of a human?” I scoffed at her preposterous implication. I would not hide my form in my own home.

“No- he doesn’t think that at all!”

“Then why would it be a concern? Unless you think it would be more appropriate? Is that what this is about, Calliope?”

“I just want to have a normal fucking dinner, Lilith! Is that too much to ask? People usually introduce their partners to family, and I’m trying my absolute best here.”

“A normal dinner? You don’t think we can be normal as Deathless?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Lily! Gods damn it, can you just listen to me? I’m asking if you can do this for me, because I care about you. I also care about Sebil-”

“Who you just met-”

“-We did not just meet!”

“We’ve lived for centuries, Calliope! The time you’ve known him is but a raindrop in a storm!”

“LISTEN TO ME, LILITH!” Calliope’s voice quivered with a deeper tone, the vocal cords of her Deathless form slipping through the facade of her human form. There it was, the rarely seen fury of my sister peeking through the veil to put me in my place. I gave no response, partly out of spite, instead waiting for her to finish her thought as she was desperate to before continuing.

“I know you’re pissy about me being with Sebil, but can you just suck it the fuck up? I don’t care about your hatred for humans, I don’t care about your overprotective urges. Can you just let me have this? A nice, simple, charming dinner between the three of us. No tension, just introductions. I’m asking as your sister, Lily.”

She knew the right words to place, the right strings to pull, and the correct tone to use. I might have had my reservations, my protective instinct leap into the back of my throat, but it was hard to argue against Calliope’s desires when they were stated so clearly. I care about her more than anyone or anything, and though I disagreed with most everything else about this, it seemed like it would do her more good than it would do me bad.

“I deserve to be let out of any ‘introductory dinner’ events for the next ten years if I do this for you.” I replied, hesitantly. Seeing the bright smile flash across her face, mixed with a healthy dose of surprise, made it easier to follow along with her requests.

“Thank you! I… I really appreciate it, Lily.” Calliope leaned forwards to wrap me in a hug before I had a chance to pull away. The strength with which she tightened her arms around me warmed my heart even after she pulled away from me.

“Calliope? Are you in there, love?” A deep voice resonated from beyond the doorway, accompanied by slow and heavy footsteps. Despite how much I hated the sensation, I began to shift my form as Calliope rapidly scrambled towards the door to open it for her guest.

“Yes! Come on in! The food is all meat, as I’m sure you could assume, but it’s great!” Calliope excitedly rushed out to greet Sebil, walking in with him in tow, their hands wrapped tightly together. I moved towards a seat just before they arrived, but figured I would need to get the basic cordial greetings out of the way before I sat down.

“Oh this looks wonderful, love. Oh! You must be Lilith, I’ve heard wonderful things from Calliope. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The man quickly closed the distance between the two of us, holding out his right hand towards me for a shake. I responded in kind by clasping my hands around his and squeezing tightly. More than an average handshake, but not enough that it couldn’t be written off as anything more than ‘firm’.

“My, what a firm handshake! I fear an arm wrestle between the two of us would have my arm torn right off!” Sebil let out a chuckle as he awkwardly tried to pull his hand away from mine. I held it for a few moments longer to see him squirm before letting go and smiling. His joke was amusing, but also realistic. At least he knew how foolish it would be to attempt to harm either of us.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Sebil.”

* * * * *

I was wet. Not wet, on second thought. Damp. By all means, I should still be submerged somewhere sinking through the currents of the Uroro lake. Had I somehow floated to safety? My eyes stung as I opened them, the lids sticking to one another in a desperate attempt to protect my eyes from the light above me. A room?

“You’re awake.” A voice, close to the right sight of my head scared me out of my half-awake stupor.

“Fuck!” I pulled away from the voice, pushing myself along the table I was laid across. My hands squeaked against the smooth shiny stone as I backpedaled with my palms until a hand slipped off of the far edge, sending me tumbling backwards off of the table. Or… bed? It was hard to tell what the structure was intended for, its form and material completely unknown to me. When my head hit the floor the rest of my body folded over me until I was a lump of groaning flesh.

“Don’t be alarmed.”

How reassuring. Alarm was the only thing racing through my mind in the current moment. A small, snake-like creature had landed on my face after I tumbled onto the floor. With flailing arms and perhaps a few short squeaks I scrambled away from the snake, pushing myself across the floor until my back hit the nearest wall. Despite my swift movements, the snake was still following me, seemingly attached to the seam of my pants between my legs. Had it latched onto me with its teeth without me feeling it? Could I not feel it because the venom was already numbing my body?!

In fear of what the poison could do to me if I waited any longer, I slammed my fist into the snake as hard as I could to ‘persuade’ it to unlatch from my skin.

“FUCK THAT HURTS!” I screamed aloud, instinctively gripping onto the part of my body that suddenly flared out in throbbing pain. When I looked down, I was holding the snake.

…or not a snake? On closer, and calmer, inspection it was not a snake at all. Despite its resemblance to one, a scaled and leathery appendage rested in my hands, a small spade-like tip at the end. A tail?

“What the fuck did you do to me?” I interrogated the voice as I scrambled to my feet, turning to the side to hold the small tail out to the side. The voice from earlier seemed to come from the strange creature across the table from me. They were unlike anything I had ever seen. The closest resemblance I had seen in any of the books in Varenthell were all underneath the mythological creatures, supposedly unconfirmed creatures throughout Kistram that may or may not exist somewhere out in the world.

A fairly tall, scaled woman stood across the room from me. A teal iridescence to her body that made her look like some magical work of art as opposed to a moving, breathing being before me. Her scales were fish-like, a sheen to them that made her teal color sometimes appear completely blue one moment, and then completely green the next. Her body itself was thin, but thickened more down the length of her arms and legs. Three flowing tails flitted through the air behind her, waving through the air like seaweed on the ocean floor.

“You mean the tail? You had it when I brought you here.” The woman spoke in the same manner as before. It was a trance-like lull, like a reverent calm flowed through her veins instead of blood. I wanted to question her further, insinuate that me suddenly sprouting a tail while unconscious was an incredibly unlikely thing to occur, but if I was honest with myself it wouldn’t be entirely out of the ordinary. If this change was anything like the rest it stemmed from an increased use of my magic. I knew I had used plenty, far more than I had ever used before, even if it was Lilith piloting for most of it. The beginnings of a tail were the least of my concerns at the moment.

“Here? Where exactly is here? Did I die?”

“Is that a trick question?”

“No?”

“You did, and you didn’t. I am familiar with your nature as a Deathless, but I’m unsure of how you discuss fatal incidents. Do you call it dying, even though you are not really dead?”

“I do. I suppose it’s for ease of understanding? Even though I come back it still feels like dying for me.”

“Do all Deathless think that way? A fascinating perception of one’s mortality as an immortal being.” The woman cocked her head to the side as she analyzed both my appearance and my words. Her eyes seemed to be sharpened by a lifelong curiosity, constantly shifting and darting around my body like she was looking for clues.

“I’m not really- I am a Deathless, but I wouldn’t wrap me in with them. I’m new to this. Like a guest at a party I wasn’t invited to.” I shrugged, finding it hard to truly classify my existence. I lacked the lifelong experience of a Deathless which made it hard to truly identify myself as one, yet I was living the experience of one now, which could not be ignored.

“You are peculiar. Every facet of your being is exhilarating to behold.”

“Uh, thanks?” I wasn’t sure how to react to the woman’s words. They certainly seemed like compliments, but I hadn’t done anything yet that I felt would be worthy of compliments.

“Uroro.” The woman spoke smoothly.

“What?”

“The answer to your question from earlier. You wanted to know where you are. You are in Uroro.” She gestured towards the door, which gave me little to work with. The door itself was covered by a thick opaque material. It looked vaguely similar to the bubble magic that children used in Varenthell. Mostly useless magic, but entertaining for children to play with and chase around until they popped. Without the ability to see through the material itself, I simply had to assume that ‘Uroro’ was out there.

“The lake? We’re under it, I take it?”

“Indeed.” She smiled, a comforting gesture that was undercut by the presence of her sharp teeth gleaming from behind her slitted lips.

“You’re the one that saved me?”

“Indeed.”

“Why? I-I’ve never heard of a city under Uroro lake, I don’t even know what you are!”

“I saved you because of our previous interactions. Sentimentality and curiosity together in a profound mixture.” The woman cocked her head to the side when she mentioned our previous interactions, like it was something that should have been obvious to me.

“Oh shit. The light. You’re the green light!”

Her smile brightened, sending another unsettling shiver down my spine. “You are such a peculiar thing, I didn’t dare let you drown eternally within the Uroro lake. There is so much I want to discover about you.”

“Uh, yeah. Well hey, if it saved me from becoming a soggy buoy in the Uroro lake I can’t complain too much.”

“I want to know your name, so I suggest a mutual exchange. My name is Nessyndra Aliocoama.” The woman smiled, this time in a much less concerning manner. Either I was getting used to it, or this time it actually carried a slight tenderness to it.

“Nessie… Gods damn it Phern…” I muttered to myself, frustrated and confused how Phern always seemed to stumble into correctness even when she wasn’t present.

“Your name is Nessie? How coincidental and magnificent that we share such similar titles.”

“No, sorry. I was just talking about someone else. My name is Ester Sylberith. It’s nice to meet you, Nessyndra.” I slowly walked around the table-or-bed, still hadn’t figured that out yet, in order to close the distance between myself and Nessyndra. When I reached her, I cordially offered a handshake towards her.

“Do you need something from me?” Nessyndra looked down at me with a curious expression.

“Do they not shake hands down here?”

“I suppose I can shake my hands if you like.” Nessyndra responded. She then moved both of her hands up to her sides and started to wiggle them in the air, shaking them back and forth while looking expectantly at me.

“Ah. Okay that one’s on me. Should’ve been more clear.” I sighed and began to explain the difference in what I said, eventually finishing with an explanation of how most people would use a handshake. We settled on an awkward, yet technically correct handshake before the material that made up the ‘door’ shifted. A new figure walked through the stretched bubble-door, a furious scowl on his face as he turned to look towards Nessyndra and I. Before he even spoke, I knew that I was about to hear a mouthful.

“Nessyndra…”