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Indigo takes me on the excursion of a lifetime, squeezing her body through rock formations and natural tunnels as she shows me her home. The ocean has always captured my heart and imagination, but seeing this ecosystem as the goddess who is supposed to protect it is unnerving and invigorating in equal measure.
My underwater tour guide leaves nothing out of the journey she’s taking me on. Not even the bright red eels that snap at her tentacles and blow bubbles of smoke through their enlarged nostrils.
There’s such harmony below the surface of the water that my chest clenches with joy and sadness. This feels like home to me, though I know part of that is Indigo’s emotions leaking into my own. I can’t let this environment be destroyed; the wildlife won’t bounce back the way people do.
You can’t explain war to creatures who only know peace and survival.
And as I glance around, the peace surrounding me is mesmerizing.
A fish swims nearby, and I reach my hand out to touch it. It shows me no fear. It doesn’t scurry away or hide in the crevice of a rock. The eels aren’t as friendly, but maybe one day, I’ll get closer to them. I’m assuming I’ll need Indigo’s permission for that adventure. As for today, she scoots me away from them and swats her tentacle like they’re disobedient children.
I don’t realize how deep we are until I look up and see Jade floating in the distance. We’ve not played at all, but Indigo doesn’t seem to mind. I turn to gaze into her purple eyes. Happy clicks fill my mind, and she pushes us to the surface of her home toward our companions.
Ecaeris wipes droplets of water from his face and does a double take. “Have you been under the water this entire time?”
“It wasn’t that long.”
“It was,” he begins to argue, but Jade shoves him with her tentacle, hurling him several yards from us.
Indigo clicks quietly, and I snort. I don’t know how to interpret the tone of her sounds, but I find myself mumbling to her anyway.
“I agree. They are a bit rough, aren’t they?”
Jade swats at us, and Indigo pulls me backward, ready to keep me out of reach of the elder kraken.
“Are they fighting?” I ask aloud. “Or did we interrupt their wrestling match? I can’t tell.”
Indigo doesn’t reply immediately, not that I’m expecting her to, but she does blow bubbles, which is something new for me to understand. I need more time with her, though I’m not sure that will improve communications between a human and a mythological sea creature…
I mean, it could. But I don’t know. It’s just a hunch.
Three months ago, I’d have laughed at the person who told me I’d be swimming with krakens in a mysterious new world.... If they told me I was a goddess of said world, I’d have called the cops.
But here I am. Next queen of the Mongrels. Water goddess of an entire world. Happy.
That’s the biggest kicker of them all.
I, the former Adelaide Storm, am happy.
“Do you want to let them fight while we pick shells? I need some teeny-tiny ones to mix in with the ones you’ve already given me.” I pinch my fingers together, not quite sure Indigo knows what teeny-tiny means. “Like this small.”
She clicks quickly, and it’s the only warning I have to take a big breath before she dives, carrying me to exactly what I’m looking for.
And all day... No matter which way I look or how hard I search, I don’t see a single shark.
* * *
Ecaeris and I lounge on the beach, his arm behind my head as I press my cheek against his chest. The krakens have disappeared into the chilly depths of their home, away from the sun’s heat until the moons bring cooler temperatures. They had enough time on the surface with us, and I’m grateful for the privacy they give.
“She’s gotten big,” he mentions, his mind wandering far beyond the krakens’ playground.
“I didn’t believe she would grow so fast,” I admit. “It’s mind-boggling.”
He chuckles, the humorous sound rumbling beneath my ear. “I never thought there would be two.”
“Where did they come from?” I inquire, curiosity finally getting the better of me.
It’s a question I haven’t wanted answers to because it leads to others I don’t have the mental capacity to comprehend right now. But later… Later, I want to know all the things about Indigo and Jade.
