Merrow Sorrow

SJ Shoemaker
Word Count: 5,360
9/29/2021

<Muffled Conversation>

A: It speaks, you say?

B: Aye.

A: Then open. I will have words.

<BEAT>

A: Give me no such look! The charges will be read and it will be shot like the animal it is. But it will first answer for the men murdered by its own hand.

B: And teeth.

A: Open!

<Heavy wooden door opens with a groan>

A: By God!

M: By man! Do not blame thy lord for ills brought upon thy own self.

A: I? Never have I seen your kind let alone you.

M: Yet thy kind and mine hath clashed for centuries.

A: Yes, the tales are quite familiar. That is the source of my confusion. You are not as…

M: As beautiful as claimed?

A: As claimed. Wholly. They paint you in far too favorable a light.

M: Then write new tales.

A: (to self) With my very next drink, I assure. (clears throat) You are charged with the murder of four of my men.

M: Am I not gracious?

A: Gracious?

M: I take no interest in thy cargo.

A: It is not mine from which to offer a ransom even if inclined.

M: As spoken, no interest. But thou have crossed into mine waters–

A: –These are the Queen’s waters. The storm blew us off course, yes. But we are yet on her claimed routes.

M: Thy queen claims what she doth not own. These waters belong to mine kin and hath since the dawn of time. From mine grandmother, to mine mother, and to me for the last millennia.

A: How were we to know of any other claim? We have no record of–

M: –The penalty of trespass is death. A fate which I graciously delivered to a mere tenth of thy vessel. Leave and the rest shall be spared.

A: Speaks the captive. You will find me unswayed by threats. And for killing my men, the laws are clear. You are to be shot and killed. Make now any entreaty for mercy you wish to plea, and I might ensure my aim be true.

M: Pleas I ne’r again shall hast. Mine grandmother, sister, mother. They plead to men with deaf ears for mercy they didst not receive. If thee wish for a plea, hear theirs.

A: They are of little import.

M: As deaf as the others.

A: You killed my men. Your family had no hand in it.

M: Their deaths formed me, their memories motivated mine hand, their unheeded pleas drove my every deed. I killed for them, because of them. Thou wished to know why dyest thy men? Thou wished to learn the source of enmity ‘twixt our kinds? Thou wished to understand where the tales went wrong in mine kind’s depiction? For three wishes, I offer up three tales. Three pleas from three merfolk no longer on this plane. Three changes wrought upon me by man and mer alike.

<Long BEAT>

A: You have until sundown. Speak as little or as much as you like, it will not stay your execution another day.

---

M: Thy stories paint a portrait of a mermaid likened to my grandmother with every stroke. Beauty was too harsh a word. A crown of kelp sat upon her head, long hair flowed in abundance. Gold as the sun.

A: And a tail? Unlike you.

M: Indeed, a tail. We will arrive there with another story. This one, alas, is concerned most severely with a trait long since forgotten of merfolk, written only in the oldest among thy libraries. Immortality.

A: She was immortal?

M: In a sense. We all were at one time.

A: Were? But no longer?

M: Yes, that is why I tell her tale. She was immortal, yet not in the way men long for in their fantasies. Impervious to a blade strike. Regrowing limbs. Ushered from death’s grasp with naught but will. Rather, she lived as long as fate wouldst hast. Ne’r aging or growing ill, but as mortal as man in all else.

Villages washed upon the island shore like so many broken shells. They harvested the water and food the sea wrought ‘til it became enraged and washed them away once more. Mine grandmother took pity on these villages. Unsinewed and helpless. And, being an eternal creature of the sea, took command of the waters and protected man from the sea’s fury. They were grateful, of course. They worshipped her like a goddess. Prayed to her. Built statues of her. Bore banquets in her name. Yet they refused to seat her at their banquets for fear of offense in every action and conversation. What man couldst know the nature of an eternal? Whom couldst know which word, which gesture, which hairstyle or clothing wouldst send the goddess into a rage of indignation? And If she became angry with them, they reasoned, whom wouldst save them from the angry sea? Best to gain favor from afar than spite from familiarity.

There was a small island among those which she loved most. Brivry. They invited her into their walls with a smile and a hug, for she had saved the village so many times ‘twas as much hers as theirs. They too, like the other islands, worshipped her as a goddess at first. Built her a temple in the midst of their walls. When she wished not be bid a goddess, they made the temple into a home. When she asked of them not bow, they instead shook her hand. The prayers ceased of their own accord, for why pray when thou may speak with the protector thineself? Through the centuries, they helped each other. She pushed back the hungry waters. They, in turn, granted freely all she asked. And when outsiders invaded to dispatch their perceived foe, the sea witch whom practices magic and charms men with unnatural beauty. Brivry fought valiantly. With words at first, reason for the confused. Then with weapons. Anything to protect her from harm. And she was grateful.

In time, she became revered for her eternal wisdom. Brivry named her chief advisor to the King. Kings. Thirteen good, long-lived rulers sat on the throne and called upon her boundless wisdom. They ruled compassionately. She advised admirably. All was well, for a time.

Fardur. Son of Melmet. Most beloved ruler of Brivry. Last to call mine grandmother advisor. His belly fled from his body. Dark hair covered his cheeks, black against the white of his unfading smile. He was most playful and kind with children. He took me up on his shoulders and ran through the town square on more than one occasion.

A: You were a party to all this?

M: Most all. Thou find it hard to receive?

A: I assumed it no more than a story. A myth passed down through your family.

M: Myth it is not. I tell thou firsthand. She was advisor. He was King. Compassionate to all but her.

His rule was not long, less than couldst be counted on one hand. He grew weak and ill. None couldst discern his plight. Physics men and alchemists, doctors ere such a name existed, tried all to save him from his mysterious illness. In desperation, he bid forth his advisor and implored her reveal her source of perpetual health. She answered thusly: “It is as it is. I am as I am. There is no secret to beray. Nay a source from which to share. I am immortal for I was made to be immortal.”

In anguish, he wept. His people wept by his side. N’er had such a just man sat upon the throne. To unseat him so soon after he first sat. The sea had found a way after so long to crash upon their kingdom once more. In a way such that their protector couldst not forstall. The people did not rest that night. Talk and debate reached long into the late hours, something must be done. Within the crowd, an idea took shape. No individual started it. Like a wave in the sea. Which drop created the wave? None can say, but the wave emerges all the same. The next morning, they presented Fardur the Fair, the idea fully formed. He couldst have rejected the evil thing. He was the King. His word was law. But he agreed.

The advisor was called once more. She stood before the King at his request, having done naught but protect Brivry through the ages. She asked how she couldst help. His response?

“I understand. Thy immortality canst not be shared. It must be taken.”

Presently, a hundred guards sprung upon her. Stabbing her heart. Slitting her throat. She begged them halt. Entreated them for mercy. The sea, she cried. The sea. Her final words.

They treated her like any common fish. Gutted and filleted her. Cooked her in a stew fit for a king.

<BEAT>

A: And? Did it work?

M: He recovered, yes. Wouldst have lived a thousand lifetimes with his stolen immortality, had fate not intervened. He ruled another three months before the sea reclaimed her land. Immortality squandered for a few months.

Mine mother whereupon hearing this tragedy, granted warning to mine sister and me. Mankind had learned a secret they wouldst n’er forget. The temptation wouldst be too great. Our kind wouldst n’er be safe whilst we bore their deepest desire. Hence, like the filthy man, we spoiled our precious gift. We supped on the flesh of the dead. Once. Both first on final, the rotten meat passed our lips. Color fading from our skin and scales. Vibrant greens and pinks, mine mother’s royal blue. Gone. It is why I appear before you a lifeless grey. I am no longer immortal. Whether or not it was taken by man, Man has taken my gift from me. And I am slow to forgive.

<LONG BEAT>

A: I… you have my sympathies. But that does not lend you my support for your actions. Killing my men–

M: –For entering mine domain. ‘tis mine right.

A: An unwritten and long-forgotten rule. Carried out with prejudice.

M: Prejudice?

A: Do you slaughter the fish who swim through? What of the whaler vessel pursuing its prey?

M: Neither carries thy flag.

A: And what ailment is to blame for our flag? Your missing tail? Perhaps your thinning locks?

M: These!

A: I have said it once and will make it my refrain if must. Threats move me not. Put away your claws.

M: Yes, those come later.

---

M: First I might not but say the tale of mine sister.

A: And what interest is she to me?

M: She? Most naught. E’en still, she is of great import to me. Her groom, contrarily, once flew thy flag.

A: Many do. Am I to be held to account for men and vessels I’ve neither known nor seen?

M: His left eye was lost during a great battle at sea. He oft spoke of it. Great valor. Hardy men. One young deckhand, he quoth, “saved his life”. Worked ‘til captain, so ‘twas known.

A: (Chuckling) Elias. He wed a mermaid, the old fool. He failed to mention a wife of any kind when he returned to duty.

M: Ere his return, he wouldst murder mine sister.

A: Not so. Not Elias. You must be mistaken.

M: Wouldst thou argue mine sister lives?

A: He would not murder. An accident, perhaps. An unavoidable tragedy of some sort, but not murder.

M: What difference is there? She is dead, regardless.

A: Honor, I say.

M: Yes, honor. That is the conceit.

Mine sister had naught but seen ten centuries when she met the honorable captain. Young. Kind. Naive. He returned to the fishing town where he was raised. One year. He was ordered that time to heal from his injuries and readjust to life with vision halved. She frequented the village shores. A morbid fascination with the mediocrity of human life. Wherein courage consumed her, she dried her entire self. A fish tale sprouting into human legs ‘til she met water once more. She wouldst walk among their market and gazed upon their valueless trinkets, granted prices e’en so. Her skin was long since grey. The people thought her albino. It was there that she met him. Ne’r didst she see such beauty in man. N’er didst she see such sorrow in a creature. Her heart ached for him.

Through the market he moved each day with n’er a word aside. A bawbling vessel awaited. Aboard, he’d row to a hidden cove and let down a fishing line, or what wouldst appear as such. Nay bait nor hook bore he on the line. Precluding curious fish from mounting. A string hopeless for strain. Tautless and untouched. There he wouldst sit each day, shoulders fallen, motionless, ‘til sunfall. If a passing vessel bid to him, asking his purpose, “fishing” spake he. Isolation meant he.

Mine sister, childlike and charitable, followed to his cove. And, having concealed her person, sang beautifully for him each day. For weeks, she sang her intoxicating melody. Each day he arrived more eager, calling for her to lift his spirits. With the eve, while she rested her voice, he recalled tales of his adventures. Knowing not to whom he spake, he bid to the cliffs, their reiterating echos assuring someone or something was attentive. They wouldst both go on to describe this time to me as bliss.

One morn, he arove in distress beyond aye seen. He wept uproariously. His family home wouldst be taken from his that night. As captain, he wouldst send his earnings home to maintain the crumbling building. Yet, injured and on leave, these funds halted. ‘Twas his childhood home. His parents had grown aged and died there, and he wished naught but to try the like after he retired. His dreams strove against his grasp, and he possessed not the strength to clench still. Mine sister, drove to weeping for his sake, cried. Rare is the sight. Many tales from long past claimed to witness such was to wrought a curse upon thou and thy kin. It is a falsehood. Merfolk canst not curse. Theirs is but to bless or withhold. Our tears are thick. They bring pain whilst brought forth. Congeal to pearls.

A: You cry pearls? If you had not my disbelief before, you do so now.

M: Sorrow drips from mine every word as an acrid poison, yet n’er again shall they fall from mine eyes. Your belief matters not. Believe I can or canst. I won’t. She but didst.

She swam to his vessel. Rising from the water, handed the pearl him. “To-morrow and to-morrow,”  spake she, “I will cry a thousand pearls for thou.” And it was so. Each morn she’d sing to him. Each eve, she’d cry for him. Each night he’d return home and sell the pearl. Saving his home for but one day more.

When the weather changed and the storms arrived, he rowed out e’en still. ‘til one day, with whelming waves and thunder, his vessel dashed against the rocks and shattered. Hitting his head, he fell deep below, deep asleep. Mine sister swam after with grace. Yet, lacking strength, couldst not carry him again to the surface.

Rather, she granted him breath below to keep drowning from he. She brought him to me and mine mother and entrusted us with his care. ‘Twas there, having recovered, he greeted and embraced us. Withal excitement unmatched, they regaled us with their growing love. And, gaining our blessings, wed with storm raging above. This I regret. He appeared strong and fair, a compliment to mine sister. Deception! Hearing their tales, I smiled. Watching them wed, I celebrated. Awaiting her murder, I permitted.

<BEAT>

He couldst not stay below. His home waited above. And where he went, she followed. Revealing her legs, she showed she couldst walk above so long as water didst not touch her skin. So together they went. Together they lived. Together they laid. With haste, they found trouble above. For though they were wed in the eyes of the sea, the land didst not see beyond its own shores. His friends and neighbors saw not husband and wife. They saw only the decorated captain convinced the young albino from the marketplace to live under his roof. Most unchristian of him.

A: That is untrue. They did not know the whole of it.

M: Yet judge they didst. Shame they didst. And he aye felt ashamed. He couldst not explain how they met and wed under the sea. They wouldst regard him mad. Yet neither couldst he allow her freedom to walk among piercing eyes.

A: They impugn his honor with such accusations. Were I there–

M: He impugned his very self. Wouldst thou have restrained thy honorable captain from what he next didst?

A: Of what do you accuse him?

M: He locked her within, forbade her e’er to leave. Secreted her away like a pirate and his stash of gold. She longed for the sea, her sorrow growing with each day. Where once was freedom to swim from shore to shore as she pleased, was now four walls. N’er yielding to her struggling spirit. She screamed for help. Clawed ‘til nails wore red. Kicked ‘til feet bruised black. She cried with ferocity. Pearls unending. Each pearl he wouldst purloin to pay his debts. So, she bought her own prison with each thought of sorrow.

As the months passed she realized herself with child. If she remained, she wouldst deliver her child within the captain’s house. This frightened her e’er so. For a mermaid must birth within the sea. Were a mermaid’s first breath not of salt water, they wouldst suffocate. Were their first moments not within the mystic foam of the deep, how wouldst the sea grant them its blessings? The mother as well, will suffer horrific pain in birthing without a tail. Mine sister, pleaded with the captain. She must return to the sea. She wouldst return with gifts. More pearls. Gold from sunken wrecks. Plenary his desire. Were only she granted leave pro tempore.

The captain was swayed not by her pleas. They strengthened his decision. Wherein locked she within, he couldst claim ignorance at the least. Was it uncouth to offer a poor girl a bed for the night? ‘Twas demanded by God, charity. His honor wouldst recover in time. Yet now, she was with child, bore within the eyes of the church in sin. N’er couldst she leave. N’er couldst she reveal her child and bring dishonor upon him.

The squelch of floorboards under weight provided the slimmest of hopes. Whilst the captain rebuilt reputation daily, mine sister pried loose floorboards and clawed dirt and stone. The sea remained solely her import. Raw fingers, bloody hams, aching back be damned. The tunnel lengthen daily, and expanded weekly. Were she given yet more time… The child declared its arrival as she dug still. She pressed on with pain unmatched, crying solid tears, she moved handful after handful, reaching the air at last. Reaching… rain. Relieving her self of the prison at last, she couldst no longer run as she hoped, to the sea. Water had touched her skin, her tail sprouted once more. She crawled ‘til her strength gave.

When the captain returned home to find her, she begged for help. If only he’d carry her to the water, she pleaded. But he couldst naught but stare. Shoulders fallen, motionless, ‘til sunfall. He couldst n’er explain himself now. His reputation forever ruined. As she and her child died ere him, these occupied his mind. Thoughts of honor misplaced. Mutated beyond recognition. Not love for his wife. Not empathy for harm caused, for danger preventable. But, honor lost.

A: When returned to duty, he took not well to my congratulation. When I inquired his whereabouts over the last year, “selling my house” was his sole reply. I thought it off, but… 

M: As with mine grandmother, mine sister’s tale served to change us lest we fall as she had. Scale by scale, we plucked clean our bodies. We clipped our fins to feet. We rend our tails to legs. On land or sea, we will ere carry ourselves on two legs.

<SHORT BEAT>

A: Why my ship? The royal flag flies on countless vessels. And you have reign over the sea itself. You could attack any, yet you found my vessel. Why?

M: Honor.

A: What mean you? What role do I have to play in your tale?

M: You press on too quickly. I have yet another tale. That of mine mother.

A: Make it quick, the sun is beginning to set.

---

M: Mine mother discovered the bodies. Daughter and Granddaughter alike, broken and discarded. Left to rot near the shore. Upon retrieving them, the alarm was raised. What orb doth man inhabit when burying the dead frightens them? How fragile must their world be to fear e’en banality?

A: We are not the hardiest of creatures. It should not surprise, then, that strange sickly sea monsters taken to our shores and stealing our dead–

M: Thy dead?

A: She was a man’s wife!

M: She was mine sister! Killed by cruelty and unminded out of spite for that man. I spit on thy human decency!

A: Honor indeed.

M: They called upon thy queen. Bid her rescue a defenseless village from their sea monster. She obliged, and with all due haste, contracted a hunter. We had naught but prepared the bodies for last rites when the first bomb fell upon us. Mine mother and I concealed our selves among the detritus throughout. We awaited a cease to the destruction for hours. E’er more our home retained blast upon blast. Naught survived save us. Mine sister. Mine niece. They rest not with their ancestors. Inurn’d not near the geyser of life. Bombed to oblivion.

But I forget order. Ere mine fruitless search, we were met with another occurrence. At last, the blasts subsided. The ocean stilled and the dust settled. And as we emerged we presently heard another splash. Two. They echoed deeper than ere. Looking toward the surface, we spied metal domes of considerable heft. They each bore a chain above and concealed a man below.

A: Diving bells?

M: They sought our bodies. Proof of task complete. They wouldst dive below and delve through our home’s remains. We couldst not hide throughout.

A: A bounty rested upon your heads. They thought you monsters indeed if they required a corpse to pay the wage.

M: My mother bid me remain, mere the burials upon their departure. Then, swam she fiercely with destination unknown. Away. The men below pulled the lines within their domes and were retrieved. Their vessel took chase anon, tracking mine mother.

‘Twas then I conducted mine search. Sister and niece vanished without such as a sign. For a time I remained amongst mine fallen home, wept for loss of kin. The pearls are there still. Treasures within a sunken wreck, polluting the seafloor ‘til taken by time or thief. My last tears, I assure thou once more. Whilst I wept, I looked to one side. The nearby reef stood tall as aye yet lifeless. Its inhabitants having surely fled during the attack. I looked to other side. Floor untouched. I spied through the layer of dust our shell-lined trails leading this way and that. I gave chase. Mine mother had to be warned.

A: Warned of what?

M: They bombed us.

A: Yes. You have said.

M: They did not bomb the shores looking for us. They bombed us. With precision. They knew of our home as if they had been there before.

A: Elias was the Queen’s hunter. Of course. He would have seized upon the opportunity. Honor and prestige anew to replace that which was lost.

M: Mine mother knew not of this. It cost her life. I swam after with all power within me. They were half a day’s time ere me and it took many more to recover that distance. Had I still mine tail. My strength waned. Had I still mine immortal renewal. Yet mine mother fared no better. I pressed on for her sake. She wouldst tire, hereafter. And, were I not to slow and stagnate, fate may grant I reach her ere the hunter.

Swam I through day and night alike, as passing waves. ‘Til at last the vessel crested the horizon. Mine mother faced the ship with head and voiced upraised. Her words remained unheard, yet her tone rang true. Outrage. I approached aye closer, the scene’s detail resolving ere mine eyes. Nay figurehead bore the ship, yet a figure I spied. Kicking the air. Mine sister’s husband hung freely. Whe’r set on his rescue or his death by her own hands, I know not. The deception worked its intent.

She approached and a net sprang upon her. Was I but faster in my pursuit. I cried to her, bid her take care. It mattered not. She became engulfed and entangled. Straining, she met no give. Biting, she frayed no thread. Had she but claws. Were her teeth but sharpened, living she wouldst be.

Hauled onboard, they left her hanging, fighting for freedom that wouldst not come. Craved she for an honorable man to hear her cries, to show sympathy her. The captain laughed all the while as he was helped back on board. No words did he speak, no speech was offered, no recognition granted his kin. Without hesitation or ceremony, he gutted her. As if she were no more than a common fish.

<SHORT BEAT>

A: Elias is… he is not the man I once served under.

M: He was not. Is no longer.

A: You killed him.

M: My rage was infinite. I left him and mine mother only so long as it took to prepare. Mine nails I grew to points. Mine teeth, I sharpened to razors. Then, hunting his vessel as he hunted mine mother, I attacked. His vessel, I whelmed with my command of the sea, overturning it. Withal claws and teeth I struck down any whom fled. ‘Til only Elias remained. Three tales I told him. Three pleas I spit at him. “Damnation,” spake I, “Damnation has been wrought upon humanity by thy actions. I shall sleep not ‘til the sea reclaims every town from the brow of the earth.”

“Please,” quoth he. “To rid the world of my ilk, I canst not object. Yet men of true honor, to see them lost I wouldst regret ‘til the end of time.”

A test we agreed upon. He wouldst speak the name of such a man, with honor truely. And he I wouldst seek out. Weighing his honor against mine spite, I wouldst grant humanity the dying chance denied mine kin. “Whom?” I inquired. And ere gutting him as he gutted mine mother, his answer came forth.

“Andro.”

A: Me?

---

M: Three tales I spake thee. Three pleas I made known thee.

A: What wicked test have you devised for me.

M: I sought out thou vessel. Fortune engulfed thee with storms.

A: What test!?

M: Me. Our encounter in whole. The raging storm hid the waves sent by mine hand, exhorting thou to mine territory. Ancient decrees long forgotten by man and merfolk alike. Excuse enough to grant me audience with the hope of humanity.

A: You drove us here?

M: Aye.

A: And then killed my men.

M: Aye.

A: You killed them for something you had done yourself!

M: And what of mine mother? Mine sister? Mine grandmother? Were they killed for actions their own? Man does so hate their cruelty turned back upon them.

A: Should you not be better than those you criticize?

M: We were. For centuries we were the better people, silently suffering at the cruel hands of man. The encroachment upon our homes. Theft of our pets. Murder of our people. Now they are gone. Mine kin was all that remained from the one-sided battle. Now not e’en they. Naught of the Mer survive. Naught save I.

A: You are the last?

M: Aye. And whilst mine ancestors beg from the beyond that I follow in-turn, too proud of our ways to press against doom foregone, I liveth yet. I am not them. Nor hath I their pride.

A: What do you ask of me?

<SHORT BEAT>

M: ‘Tis put to thee. The facts, now known. Wouldst thou carry out thou office, obey thou human laws, and end mine life and race alike, barring magic from this earth aye more?

A: As somber as it would be to end a people I only today discovered, I see no alternative.

M: Thou couldst release me.

A: No. The law is clear. I have a duty to the men lost.

M: Duty and honor, whilst markedly aligned, are yet distinct.

A: You do not appreciate my meaning. There are nearly 40 men aboard who will have you killed, my grace or protests aside.

M: Are not thou captain?

A: So long as I follow those human laws you so despise…. I could… hmm.

M: Thou couldst?

<BEAT>

A: (to self) Why must it have been me?

M: Hath mine intentions not been laid bare?

A: When I step out those doors, either you will be shot for murder or I will be hung for treachery.

M: And were I to escape?

A: Under my watch? I would be made to stand trial in your place. We will not both survive this encounter.

<LONG BEAT>

A: (deep sigh) Honor compels me to your side, even with distaste for the consequences. You have my sympathies and condolences, both.

M: Truely?

A: The door will be opened and a path cleared for you. But, I make my final request in two parts. First, spare my men. They know not of your scorn, and that need not change. Second, strike me true. I have no desire for humiliation or suffering.

M: (to self, surprised) Honor indeed.

A: Ready yourself, you will have but a moment.

M: Andro. Mine presence hath been absent deception save one. Mine fate lies not within thy hands. I remain its keeper in whole.

A: I do not understand.

M: How few men doth thy vessel require to sail?

A: I… at least six.

<Muffled noises>

<a roiling sea>

<large waves crash against the hull>

<screams throughout>

<All noise quickly subsides>

A: What have you done?

M: I command the sea yet.

A: What have you done?!

M: Revealed mine power. Mine escape couldst be stopped not. The survivors six will contest to such.

A: I had bid you spare them!

M: At the cost of thy own life. Honorable men are rare indeed. Rare as merfolk. Neither shall be lost or wasted this day.

A: They need not have died.

M: Mine kin neither. Yet both have.

A: Disembark my vessel immediately.

<SHORT BEAT>

M: Wouldst thou disembark at mine side?

A: Would I?

M: I am the last, but mine people need not die with me. Were I to bring forth a child, conceived from man enough worthy.

A: My sympathy you have taken as well as my patience. Now you draw forth my anger. You will disembark. I grant you this mercy for your family’s sake. But unlike them, if I am to see you ever again, your death will be justified.

M: Pity.

A: Wait there while I open the door.

M: A final lesson of mine people. One final power revealed to thee, the sole human deemed worthy to learn. We live within the sea, true. It is a part of us. And, with prompt sufficient, we may likewise become part of it.

A: What?

M: I sense salt upon the air, a draft from below. A minor leak.

A: Had a freak storm not engulfed our ship–

M: –From water, I came. To water, I return. No doors want I. Farewell.

<water splashes, trickles between floorboards, drips>

A: May we never again meet.