Instincts (Mermaid Short Story)

Instincts

By Kit Falbo

“Hey, Fatso.” Tony isn’t fat; it is just that the pressure differential is too low for his body in Reef city, so he cannot hold his shape. His family immigrated from the depths, and those mocking the boy lacked the appreciation that he could survive the abyssal zones that would crush them. Zae Darkwave hated that kind of ignorance, and with a mighty swing of her tail, she darted towards the group aiming to give them a piece of her mind.

What Zae meant to do was lecture them on the science of it, but when she opened her mouth, a threatening hiss came out as she showed her pointy row of serrated teeth. All except for Tony scattered at the predatory display leaving the frigid scent of fear in the water. The mermaid cleared her throat, “Sorry about that, Tony. I didn’t mean to… “

“You’re not the one they’ll take out their frustrations on Zae. I can handle the name-calling. Scaring them like that will only make it worse.“ Then he swam off too, leaving Zae alone to float in the currents of the schoolyard. The mershark wondered if her impulsive social awkwardness cost her the only friend she had at Neptune High.

Fear in the water tasting good didn’t help Zae’s mood. A thousand years ago, she would have trained as a royal or warrior because of the rare type she was born as, the killer who protected others from the horrors that come from above or below. Now mersharks were always the killers in the media, prominent athletes, or soldiers. The Sea-Ring coach had recruited her heavily when she entered the high school because of her size alone, and spurning the popular sport had left her ostracized by the team members who influenced most of the social cliques at school.  Only Tony didn’t care, and she just blew that.

Zae didn’t notice the other merfolk gave her a wider berth than usual while she swam home, her aura of anger setting off all their danger senses even if that anger focused inwardly. She squeezed into her coral home, shoulders scraping the entryway. She knew how silly she must look, taking up most of the space.  “My little fry. You doing okay?” The concern in her mom’s voice brought her feelings of guilt as she looked towards the small form with its orange and white striped tail, a small clown-fish type almost as rare as her shark one. Half the size of most mermaids while she ended up twice the size of most mermen proportionally.

“One of those days, ma.”

Cora swam over and gave Zae a hug. Her arms not even going close to reaching halfway around her frame. “I know what it is like for people only to see what they see and not the person beyond it.“

Zae winced. She had been angry and given into her instincts, acting as aggressive as she looked. There was no winning, and now he knew he had no more friends. “I don’t think this school is for me.”

“Everyone has these feelings.”

A threatening hiss escaped Zae’s lips, and even after she managed to stop it, she cringed but continued. ”I’m not everyone! Sharks are rare enough, but my kind…”  She wiggled out of her mom’s grasp. In the process, her tail scraped the wall, taking off a chunk of pink coral.

“Your kind can’t even swim comfortably at home.” Cora interrupted her daughter. “It is time for us to find you a place where you can be comfortable being who you are rather than a place where you can’t even stretch out.”

“Ma, I’m not asking to.”  Cora raised her dainty hand to her large daughter, who immediately quieted.

“The truth is I’ve kept you here for longer than I should have, considering how quickly you have grown. I’ve been selfish in wanting my little girl around. I never wanted to add to your problems.”

Zae opened her mouth but had nothing to say. Once her mom made a decision, she knew nothing would stop the mermaid. Her mom was constantly standing up to merfolk many times her size, and that wasn’t just to protect her daughter’s feelings when other parents attempted to exclude her genetic subtype.   Zae had already thought today was one of the worst in her memory. But now, she was going to lose the home she’d always known. The big mershark started to cry, her tears hiding in the flow of the sea.

The hardened sandcastle was still in the school district even though it was outside the city’s clustered coral houses. It gleamed from the fading light filtered in from the above as a thick layer of glass coated the castle’s frame after its construction. Once the light faded, glowing magi-tech sigil spheres started to flicker on.  It was uncle Ulrich’s place, and Zae knew he was wealthy; she just didn’t think he was this wealthy. How her mother convinced her uncle to board her, she could only assume it was because Cora wouldn’t accept no, not where her baby was involved.

Unlike the coral-grown homes, she at least knew this place should give him plenty of space to move around. The young mershark could only wonder why She’d never been here before if Ulrich lived so close. Family gatherings were crowded occasions when most had clutches of three to six eggs.  Very few chose only to have one or live alone like Zae knew her  mom had chosen. However, it was getting more popular as the merfolk population centered around the nine massive underwater cities instead of ranging like they used to. The council government provided incentives to those who did.

The large house was eerily empty as Zae swam near the entrance. Zae tapped one of the magical spheres that lighted the outside of the building. Most homes had one to make it easier for merfolk whose eyes were not as adjusted for dark. Lighting up a structure this way was something work spires did near the center of the city, and it was rare to see them on houses. Shark types never had a talent for magic. As much as she would like to do water crafting, she knew fate denied it to her.

She peered down into the building, wondering what if this is the right place. A few seconds of self-doubt resided in her until she spotted Ulrich swimming his way down one of the spacious halls of the large dwelling. A rare type himself, spines jutted off the man’s orange, black, and white striped tail. Even his skin had small protrusions on his back, though not nearly pronounced. Older than mom, Zae wondered if the white in the merman’s hair was due to coloring or age. “Niece, I wasn’t expecting you quite so soon. I suppose Cora is one of those who feels better to be early than on time. Never could convince her of the value of making some people wait, not that she doesn’t get her way most of the time anyway, eh.” Ulrich spoke loud and fast, which reminded Zae of why she usually hung out on the opposite side of the sphere booked for gatherings.

“Mom is hard to say no to,” Zae muttered quietly, glad she didn’t hiss in her nervousness.

Ulrich made his grin wider. “If Cora had been born any other type, she’d be a power in the nation. I kid, of course. Nothing is stopping her now. Other priorities. Other goals in life. Still, that iron will is there.”  Ulrich paused for a few breaths staring into the distance. “Now we have you, girl. Cora and I don’t always see eye to eye, so I was surprised when asked for this favor. One season she says she’ll never let me get my spines into you, and then later she’s handing your care off to me.”

The family was there but rarely talked about at home. “Sorry if I’m a burden, uncle.”

“Not at all.” Ulrich motioned for Zae to follow him. “It was just a small family disagreement on the power of the Darkwave legacy.” Zae winced at that. The family was large and diverse enough that it isn’t an uncommon name. The Darkwave name loomed large in History class.   “Kings, queens, heroes, villains, sadly the bad have overtaken the good in recognition, but did you know that Roarian Darkwave was only vilified two generations after his death and was quite popular before then.” The hallway opened up to a room filled with hundreds of portraits done in such detail they almost looked alive, each with a glowstone lighting them up. “I like to think of myself as the family historian, genealogist, fanatic.”

Zae felt the room’s pressure as the pictures climbed the walls so you can swim up to them. Ulrich gave her a nod to go ahead with her interest clear, and the young mershark took off to read the names.  Ballow Darkwave, Queen of the shallows. It showed a mershark but one that looked daintier than Zae, with sandy stripes on her tail. Ren Darkwave, the general who cowed a Kraken, an eel subtype with electricity dancing around his form. Meera Waverly, First counselor of the free cities, Her shimmering blue-green scales were that of a common type, but her eyes blazed a rare shade of purple.  “Why’s a Waverly here?” Zae called down to her uncle. There were two Waverly’s currently on the council.

“Cousins who changed their name to avoid the bad press around the name. Most Waverly’s have as strong a bloodline linking them to the best and the worst as you do.”

“Where’s your portrait?” Zae asked.

Ulrich shrugs. “The portraits are only for famous members of the family line. Haven’t added one in sixty years, since Bella Nighthunter Darkwater.” Zae shivered. He didn’t need to say what she was famous for. The killer's cold shadow still casts a wide net even today. “We highlight our flaws as much as our successes. I’m hopeful we can have a bright future to put the past out to the shore.”

There were more portraits to look at, but Zae’s interest faded. “Drying up the worst would make things better. “  Zae had always been a little grateful that Bella Nighthunter Darkwave hadn’t been a Mershark, vicious barracuda that she was.

Ulrich swam to her and put a palm on the young mermaid.”Let me show you to your room. I don’t know why your mom couldn’t wait until a school break to send you here. I’d never call Cora impatient. She just doesn’t see the point in waiting most of the time.”

The room was nearly as big as the house she shared with her mom. Once Ulrich left, the mershark wondered if it would be difficult to sleep without being packed into her space until she closed her eyes, and sleep took her while her body finally stretched out fully and relaxed in the stillness of the water the walls brought. Fully extended, the room still wasn’t nearly big enough. Ulrich smiled at the hissing snore echoing down the hall. Zae wasn’t just a mershark, but the greatest of mersharks. He knew that if anyone could restore the name Darkwater, it would be her.

Zae woke to the delicious smell of cooking crustaceans drifting through the water. She could feel her razor-sharp speartip teeth instinctively get bared. It was time to hunt. The smell was so good that what would be an unfamiliar maze of the castle design, she followed that scent the most direct route possible. Soon she found herself at the castle’s large kitchen.

Ulrich operated a magi-tech stove, the orange glowing heat source making the room warm as the Merman tossed crabs and lobsters out of cages and onto the glowing rectangle. The crustaceans stuck to the heat source, unable to get away, but died quickly with slight squeals as they got cooked. “Hey, Your mom gave me a list of your favorite foods. I hope you don’t mind.”

Favorite food, the kind that Cora only cooked on special occasions and in smaller amounts. Zae always found it hard to eat until she was full after watching the amount her mom ate. “Not at all.“ A large pile, already cooked, sat stored in a net off to the side.

“Dig in. It’s not every day I get guests.” Zae dove in. Her teeth handled the crunchy shells as efficiently as the flesh inside.

The initial burst of hunger satisfied, the young mershark slowed her pace. “Do you live here alone?”  She hadn’t seen anyone here other than her uncle.

“For now. It’s the family’s house, and I’m more of a caretaker. There have been temporary guests from time to time, but it has been a long time since this place has had regular staff and occupants.”

Zae pondered the fact that she could have asked her mom for more details while she kept eating. She stopped eating, with a claw halfway to her mouth. For the first time in a long time, she felt full, which caused her to squirm a little. “I didn’t mean to…” She quieted as she watched Ulrich pile a bunch into a sack.

“Don’t worry. I’m here to help you reach your full potential. If that means keeping you full, I’m happy to help. You’d better get going if you want to catch the shuttle to school.”

Zae blinked. The new location, the food, had messed with her internal sense of the time. With a deep breath, she focused inwardly and could feel the world around her. The salinity of the water, the depth she resided at, the time. “Eeek!” She yelped. Ulrich tossed her the bag, and she caught it before darting away. A hallway length away, she realized she should have asked where the exit was.

Zae found herself chasing the tail end of a shuttle as it left the blue coral pillar that represented its stop. Not that she liked riding the shuttles, her size made them cramped. The magi-tech creations helped ferry merfolk who preferred closer to surface pressures and found it tiring to swim at the city’s depths. The abundance of modern magi-tech allowed for a destratification; no longer were merfolk like Zae, who could do well at wide ranges of pressures, be cherished for such skills.  Home with mom had been close enough to the school-zone that it rarely mattered, and right now, the Mershark wondered if she could beat the shuttle to school.

With a decisive swish of her tail, she pushed out after it. She could feel herself catching up. The shuttle had to slow down, but she didn’t. The passengers looking out the windows yelped as she shot by, and Zae couldn’t keep herself from giggling as she rushed by and off to school. The fear of the reaction if she came barreling into the school, caused her to slow down. Not that it mattered, she noticed the other students giving her extra space, more than they usually do. She figured it was due to her going in to defend Tony.

The distancing only ended once she was in the school building, not that anyone got close enough to touch her. Everyone needed to get to their classrooms. Tony was there already but positioned at the front of the room instead of the usual back where he and Zae hung out. The teacher had sent her there to keep her from blocking other students’ views and hone her excellent mershark eyes. Resigned, she took her usual spot.

Miss Marl swam into the room, her hair white and scales fading into gray. It was not a spry swim. “Listen up, class! Today we’re going to go over the details of the trip to the depths. We could not get a shuttle rated for the abyssal depths only to that of the middle range of the midnight one.” A mutter of disappointment rippled through the class, the midnight zone was impossible to traverse for much of them, but it wasn’t as special for them as the inky depths would be. “It is an older transport, and as such, there are other issues that will affect some students.” Zae frowned at that some students usually meant the outliers.

Bradley Waverly turned in her direction and pointed, mouthing “You.” as if the point wasn’t already clear enough. Zae felt a little queasy, not at her situation and more at the fact that he might be her cousin with that last name.

The teacher continued speaking. “The pressure in the shuttle is fixed for the sunlight depths. Some of you will be more comfortable and others less, but it leaves out those who can’t survive at such low pressure.” Marl didn’t need to say the student’s name as everyone knew she was talking about Tony. “The shuttle also has space issues. The older models are not designed to fit larger types. Luckily both students are well equipped to accompany the class outside of the transport.” Zae managed to contain her hiss enough to make it sound like a small sigh. She was pretty sure the older small shuttle designs were partly because the large type merfolk like sharks decided there would not be a point because they would never travel with the masses. Zae tuned out the rest of the conversation as it drifted onto midnight zone sights they planned to see.

Tony exited the classroom quickly enough that Zae knew she couldn’t catch up with him unless she pushed through the crowd. Even if he didn’t want to, they would be stuck together tomorrow, and Zae hoped she’d get the chance to apologize then.  She felt her voice trapped in her throat, and as the day went on, no one talked to her. The warm company of Ulrich this morning almost made the day feel colder here, but she shook that idea away. After school, she looked in all of Tony’s regular haunts. Finding them empty, she left back to the Darkwave castle.

“How was school?” Ulrich cheerfully asked as Zae entered the kitchen again, having been lured by the smell of another one of her favorite foods, sweet clams.

“Belly up. The other students are either afraid of me or upset that I’m not interested in joining the Sea-Ring team.”

“You’d do well in Sea-Ring,” Ulrich says nonchalantly.

Zae found herself hissing. “They’d just see me as my type and not who I am.”

“And what’s wrong with that? You’re special. They can’t see beyond that now, and denying that you have those skills and instincts doesn’t change that. The good ones will see beyond that, but you denying yourself won’t help.”

Ulrich’s emotionless bluntness hit Zae in the gut. The man was cooking her a delicious meal, so she took it upon herself not to argue and instead changed the topic. “What do you do?”

“Other than the small stiped to look after this place. I’m an independent consultant. Which is a fancy way of saying businesses pay me for advice, and I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands when they aren’t.”

When Zae asked for specifics, she got an extra-long and dry explanation of how a magi-tech factor needed to optimize their accounting and felt her eyes glaze over as he made a joke about a dancing decimal point.  That was when she decided to go to bed early to get rest before the class trip in the morning.

The other students gathered around the shuttle. Despite being old and too narrow, it was a sleek magi-tech adorned metal tube with pearls affixed to control temperature, pressure, emit light, and even some defensive ones on the side. A fantastic improvement to the clunky city shuttles that hauled merfolk about so they wouldn’t get tired, Zae had to keep herself from hissing since she’s stuck outside of it.

As Miss Marl led the other students inside, Zae knew she’d have her chance to talk with Tony on the trip. At first, the Mershark spent much of the time gathering her courage as she swam along. Tony chose to travel on the opposite side, hiding him from her sight.

As they slipped into darker waters, Zae made her move and, with a swish, spiraled under and around to the other side. “You can’t avoid me forever, Tony.”

“I don’t see why not.”  Tony retorted. Zae got a better look at the now less fat, Tony, as the water pressure slowly let his body get into a better shape.

“That would make you just as bad as the others who avoid me because of my size.”

“Don’t be a hypocrite. You only hang out and talk to me because I’m different at that depth, Zae.” He took a deep breath and flexed his body. It slimmed under his work. “I’m normal, like all the others when I go a little bit deeper. While you are the same as always.”

“I didn’t talk to you only because of how you look!” Zae protested.

“You don’t talk. Then why did you make an effort with me when you don’t make an effort with anyone else.”

Zae realized Tony thought she only wanted to hang out with him because he was different. She felt the same way when others tried to hang with her and get her into sports upon entering the school. “I talked to you because I thought you would understand what it feels like to be looked at differently!”

“Not good enough,” Tony said flatly and darted up and over to the other side of the shuttle.

Zae grappled with anger as the water got darker, her eyes adjusting quickly even as the lights on the shuttle went on. Anger at Tony, anger at herself, anger at the world. The teacher started droning on about different topics, but it was difficult to hear outside the shuttle as the speakers had a thick layer of static. The mershark barely paid any attention when the shuttle visited the wreck of an old wooden surface ship, a garden of glowing sea anemone, some nearly as large as the shuttle. She only felt a little calmer as the shuttle approached the edge of a crevasse that dropped down to abyss depths.  Bzzzt, “Depth changes have species shifts.”

A large tube-like shape shot out of the inky blackness and proceeded to wrap around the shuttle. Zae yelped in surprise, trying to focus on what the creature was. The teacher spooked too as one of the defensive enhancements on the shuttle started to glow.  Then Zae recognized the monster. “Wait!” She could hear Tony yelling the same thing. They weren't quick enough as blue arcs of energy spat out, exploding the creature.

Where the creature was bisected, two more heads started to grow. “It’s a Hydra-eel!” It wasn’t growing slowly as the two new heads snaked around the shuttle.  The teacher may have realized her mistake as the defensive magi-tech started to power down, not quick enough as it released another charge destroying the two heads, and now there are four worming their way around the shuttle.  Then it started to pull.

Zae spotted Tony swimming around to her. All his pressure differential fat was gone this close to the abyss. He in no way was he soft. “What do we do?”

The Mershark was irked because she would think that Tony would have more info than her on monsters of the abyss. She chastised herself a little, they both recognized the creature, but that doesn’t mean that Tony would have a better idea of what to do. Freezing magic controlled by magically talented merfolk stopped the hydra aspect from regenerating. Tony never revealed any talent for magic, and she knew she had one.

She searched for information on the creatures. Ambush predators that drag their prey into their homes and slowly seat them. If the monster dragged the shuttle into the abyss, the shuttle could break, and she knew most of the class couldn’t survive that pressure any more than Tony could survive near the surface.  “I don’t know. Try to untangle the heads.” Zae desperately suggested as she thought.

Tony swam up and started trying to wrestle them off. Zae joined him and grabbed at one of the eel’s appendages. It attempted to slip away and gave off a shuddering wave of fear. The fear always tasted delicious. While the eel struggled against Tony, she could feel it panic when she grabbed it, thankfully loosening its grip some in the process, allowing the shuttle to try to pull away from the creature a little, but it was no use.

The eel head she was closest to Zae let out a high pitched shriek of fear. That is when the mermaid realized what was happening. The hydra-eels' most dangerous and feared natural predator was that of the larger sharks. She bared her sharp pointed teeth and hissed. “Time to follow my instincts.” She whispered and bit in.

Where one head had panicked when she touched it, all of them started whipping about once she took a bite. Tony gets thrown from the Shuttle, and the screaming monster begins erratically pounding on the shuttle.  Zae used her strength to hold onto hers and take more bites while careful not to sever the neck. It was chewy but not the worst thing she’d eaten.

Then one of the other heads struck back, the thud was uncomfortable, and it pinched as the mouth chewed on her side but didn’t manage to break through her scales. In reaction to this, the tips of her fingers turned into long claws as sharp as her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the shuttle rising away. She felt a little bit of relief before the battle with the hydra-eel’s four heads drew her full attention.

She chewed, clawed,  and fought. Careful not to go more than a quarter of the way deep to trigger the regeneration and head growth. Time kind of drifted away, and she enjoyed it, the fight, the activity, and the release of anger. Here was an enemy she could fight, and when the eel started to move back into the abyss after disengaging, Zae had to stop herself from following it.

She turned around to find Tony waiting at a short but respectable distance away near the slightly beat-up shuttle. He was staring at her with wide eyes, “What?”

“Teacher says we should get back.”

As they swam back, Zae noticed Tony avoiding her at an even greater distance. This time she didn’t care, spending most of the time thinking of that fight between her and the hydra eel. Looking down, the mermaid could see blackening bruises on her white and gray skin, some the shape of bites. Other than that, she’d managed to escape uninjured, better feeling even.

The school grounds had a crowd waiting for them. Students gathered to witness the sight. Principal Schruit was waiting to check in with the teacher, some magi-technicians, to look at the shuttle.  Zae spotted uncle Ulrich in the back though she couldn’t read the sparkling eyes and cool expression he held. The mershark settled into the waiting area and watched the shuttle doors blocking the rest of her class open. She could smell the waves of fear as they departed. It tasted different from what she normally felt from them. How they looked at her, staring as they stepped off. Yes, fear was there, but with it was awe, and Zae Darkwater liked it.

-The End

I wrote this for an anthology slush pile. Then after being rejected sent it around a few more times. Latest rejection was from Levar Burton Reads. ( Oh, reading rainbow, why crush my soul?)