5 minutes after Fobus left the three were ready to leave, having taken the time to fix what they had touched. The three exhausted companions nodded to one another, then crept out of the house as silently as they could. Bio had used a bit of her power to make the three of them look different, their skin and clothes acting almost as camouflage now as they moved silently through the streets. The main street felt like a death trap, so instead, they stuck to the back alleys and twisting pathways.
This turned out to be a bad idea, as only seconds after they left the sound of crashing echoed from behind them, bouncing off the walls. "They must have found us missing at the inn... ten minutes my- "
Bio went silent as Selena put a finger to her lips before gesturing ahead, where a shadow neared the end of the current path. The small bit of light present stretched out the shadow, making it look as if a giant were approaching as a figure turned into the same path they were on. They pressed themselves to the sides of the alley almost immediately as he began to walk forward, hobbling along as if his left foot were injured. As he began to near their spot Bio could hear him grumbling under his breath, cursing and -gurgling? Insults at the sneaky sacrifices.
His eyes seemed to have no pupil, only inky black spheres that sat in his face like glistening orbs. His skin was scaley and grey, his fingers showing just the tiniest amount of webbing between them. His stomach was bloated and stretched the white t-shirt he wore, sloshing as if full of water. Bio couldn't help but shiver as he passed, unable to control the instinctual fear that ran down her spine.
His head snapped toward her without warning, mouth opening to reveal blunted teeth as if tasting the air. She froze, unmoving - not even blinking as he stared at her for what felt like years. Then finally he continued on, heading towards the inn where the sounds of crashing and gurgled yells sounded. "I think they can only see movement, it's like how fish react to quick movements but not things that aren't moving," Bio called over softly, taking care of tilting her head in the direction of the Fishman. The two nodded, then the three hurried forward.
The rest of the walk was fairly uneventful, the fishmen seeming to have lost track of them, and the edge of the town was in sight. Bio felt relieved to be leaving but was surprised when Selena suddenly raised her hand and the three stopped, Bio shooting her a questioning look.
"What is it? Were almost out can't it wait?"
"Shouldn't we try to help them?"
Bio was stuck in stunned silence for a moment, Pomella seeming equally surprised. "Are you nuts!?"
"Keep your voice down!" Selena whispered back furiously, looking back at the town they were so close to escaping. "We're here to try and help this place, right?"
"No we got stuck here by some random person and are now trying to leave," Bio huffed, starting forward again. Selena grabbed her wrist, anchoring her in place while giving her a glare. "Why shouldn't we help them? Didn't you see that poor guy that walked by us?"
"You mean the one that was going to 'sacrifice' us?" Bio growled out, her bewilderment slowly turning to anger. Why was this happening now? This wasn't their problem, why should they have to deal with it?
"They obviously aren't in their right mind, I mean who would want to look like that?" she insisted, gaze flicking back towards the sea.
"Because they're nuts!"
"Tell me they're nuts after you stare into that ocean!" she snapped, finger shooting forward to point at the waves. Bio went silent as she watched them, that same mesmerizing rhythm starting to drag her forward. She could swear she heard a melody playing over the wind, calling her in...
"Okay so the sea drove them crazy, that doesn't change the fact that they are crazy," she asserted, focusing her gaze instead on Selena's face.
"Would you help me if I went crazy?" Selena challenged, suddenly turning her gaze to the ocean. Bio saw within only seconds her eyes start to grow distant, her foot taking an unconscious step forward towards the waves. Without even thinking Bio reached forward to cover her eyes, Selena growing still again. "What makes me different than all those villagers, huh?..."
"Because I don't know them!"
"So you know me?" Selena shot back quietly, pulling her hand away from Bio's hand. The two of us fell into an awkward silence, the only sound being their breathing and the waves crashing in the back. Her mind made up excuse after excuse, reasons why Bio was different than all those villagers. Was it because Selena was pretty? Was it her caring personality with its times of weakness when she cared too much? Or... was it how Bio was starting to feel towards her?
"Please, help me help them..." Selena pleaded quietly, reaching out to gently squeeze her hand. "Or I'll help them by myself,"
Bio was quiet, looking up at her as conflicting emotions battled for dominance in her mind. Then, seemingly out of the blue a voice cracked the heavy silence next to the two.
"You won't be alone in helping them," Pomella murmured softly, putting a hand on Selena's back. With that gesture, Bio's mind was made up and she nodded, squeezing her hand back. "Just... don't get sacrificed to the ocean, okay?"
"That's the plan," Selena confirmed smiling, then the three of us headed back. The streets were empty now, the townsfolk all gathered at the water or the inn leaving them free to walk the main street. "So, what is the plan for actually breaking them free?"
"We talk to them!"
Pomella stopped in her tracks and, sighing deeply, shook her head. "Oookay, what's plan B?"
"Well, we're going to have to find someone who can tell us how this started in the first place, otherwise we could be at this all night," Bio reasoned, a frown contorting her features. "The problem is finding someone who isn't crazy and who will actually talk to us..."
"Oh you all should be fine, there is always some crazy coot who is just a different kind of crazy than the others," a playful voice whispered into Bio's ear causing her to spin around, only finding a sign having been placed behind them. There were no words on the sign, only an arrow pointing down a nearby alley. She wasn't sure how she had missed it before, but now that she saw it it was so obvious it hurt.
The sign was placed to the side of the road, and when she looked down the alley she saw in paint the words "Nick nacks emporium" above a single wooden door, a bit of light shining through a tiny window set into the planks. "I think... I think we might have just found our lead," Bio proclaimed hesitantly, slowly starting her way down the alley. The three approached the shop slowly, unsure if it was safe to knock. Even Selena, who had wanted to talk to the fish people, took a step away from the door seeming unsure.
Bio, glowering at the others too, reached forward tentatively and knocked on the door. "You crazies leave me out of it! I want no part in your mad ramblings and rituals!" came a male voice from inside the shop. "We aren't the crazies your thinking of, but we do want to learn what made them what they are so we can stop it!" Selena called back in, seeming to have found her voice.
There was silence for a few moments, then the sounds of footsteps approached the door before the handle turned and was cracked open. After a second to examine the arrivals, the door opened the rest of the way to reveal an average looking elderly man, wispy grey hair resting on a balding head. His face was creased with wrinkles and his eyes were slightly sunken as he gave them the hairy eyeball. The three of them waited there as he stared, shifting uncomfortably for a solid minute before he finally waved his hand.
"If you wish to hear the tale of madness then come inside, and for this town's sake I hope your promise of help is truthful," he intoned as they walked by and into the shop.
Small trinkets and items sat on shelves that took up nearly every inch of space in the small house, only leaving room for a small kitchen and bed tucked into the corners. Bio found herself interested in a few of the displayed items but turned her head to focus on the man who had let them in as he slowly closed the door behind them. He took a moment to stretch, back audibly popping back into place as he limped his way to his bed and took a seat. His eyes focused on the three of them as they stood awkwardly in the middle of the store.
He took a moment to get comfortable, settling into the bed before letting out a sigh. "I'll tell you now if yous be squeamish then you best walk out that door now, this ain't some pretty little tale I'm bout to tell ya," he announced, waiting to see if anyone would take the offered out. They all stood firm, although Bio wishing she had somewhere to sit instead. He nodded, then closed his eyes and began to speak.
"A very, very long time ago - and we talkin hundreds of years here - this town used to be one of the prettiest beach towns you could find this side of the kingdom. Sparklin blue ocean that shined as if the sun was enveloped in its waters, the town standing tall with new buildings decorated in the findins of the sea. You couldn't walk ten feet without being greeted by someone, and the sky was always clear and a blue only the sea could match," he made a sweeping motion in the sky as if clearing the clouds that choked the sky, painting the world in the image of the past.
"The sea sang such sweet melodies, the sea itself would sing to you as you swam and seemed to play with the littluns, pushing and pulling as a gentle mother would. My great grand-daddy passed on the stories the sea told him, tales of adventurers and great palaces of crystal and coral that grew from the bottom of the seafloor, the monthly town parties and birthday celebrations, an absolute paradise!" his mouth was stretched in a wide grin, his eyes reflecting the joy and fun he had heard so much about. But like a storm front advancing across the sky they darkened again, his haunted eyes making him look 100 years older than he really was.
"But then there was an accident - for ya see the sea was gentle and the village nice, but no matter how sweet the place it can always be tainted - the details are lost to the waves, but the day after a town party a boy's body was found on the shore, and his blood seemed to circulate through the waves like an infection. The wave's melodies soured and the townsfolk grew scared, the sea abandoned for fear of what could have killed the child," he sat back farther into his chair, looking them each in the eye.
"Murder is something that can never be wiped away and I want y'all to remember that - the sin of murder will haunt you for your life, and you will never escape the consequences that come from it - and just like it haunts life, it haunted that ocean till the crystal clear waves turned murky, and began to smell. The town did no better, their parties abandoned as they watched their town begin to decay around them,"
"How could all this happen from just one death?" Bio questioned, the rational part of her brain unable to wrap around what she was hearing.
"It is never just one death!" he snapped, glancing at her sharply. "Life is a magical thing that is fleeting, a time meant to be filled with happiness and strife hand in hand, and whenever one grows fruitfull the other harvests the crop... the crop this time happened to bear fruit as sweet as candy, so a scythe rotted to the core is what harvested that fruit,"
"Life holds magic and energy, and magical pollution does exist..." Selena muttered, rubbing her chin subconsciously. "are you saying the murder of this child, whatever caused it, became a catalyst for magical pollution?"
"I don't know all those fancy terms you're speakin, but if you mean his death caused it all then yes. The sea began to rot and the melodies and stories it sang grew disturbing, men who says they heard the songs unable to sleep for days. With conditions like that, it was only a matter of time before someone grew mad enough to seek the water,"
"Is that how the... infection, spread to the people?"
"Indeed, a man had gone insane and went for a swim in the black waters, and the sea sang to him twisted melodies filled with pain and suffering. The townsfolk speak so fondly of them, the tales of death and torture that the sea speaks. The deep ones call to them, and spread the blight of the sea to the living, corrupting them to serve their bidding,"
"The deep ones? I don't like the sound of that..." Pomella groaned, dragging her hand across her face. The store owner barked a bitter laugh, grimacing.
"well good, it means you's ain't insane like them psychos that wander the streets, but I can't tell you what they look like - if I could, then I would be wandering those streets too,"
"So if this all happened so long ago, how are we supposed to fix them?"
"Well I reckon the sea doesn't know what murdered that poor boy all that time ago - or maybe it does, I can't say. If you wants to purge this blight on our town though, your gonna have to figure out what happened all that time ago and try to make it right," he intoned, his eyes wandering towards the door that led outside, the insidious sea waiting beyond. "You best be careful though, if the sea did cause all this then you better shore up your sanity best you can - cause you'll be goin for a swim,"