Page 68 of Whispers of the Deep

“I know.”

“You know it is impossible, then. And that future cannot change, no matter how hard you fight against the sea.”

He did. And yet there was still something in his chest that whispered, “Maybe.”

Mitéra shook her head and backed away from him. “You need to seek the ancients. Beg them to show you the future, so that you may understand why I warn you. You seek only a life of sadness and ruin.”

“The ancients only welcome you, Mitéra.”

“They will welcome you this time.” Her features hardened, and he saw the tendrils underneath the bell of her hair lifting. “I will tell them you are coming, and you will go to them now. My son. Tell them to fix you and give me back my warrior.”

He did not want to be fixed. He didn’t want all of this to change his mind about who or what he was, it simply wasn’t... right. Arges didn’t want to forget her. Mira was so much more than just an achromo that he had stolen, and yet he was powerless to disagree with Mitéra.

If the ancients wished to speak with him, then he would do so.

Arges moved through his home with his eyes on the ground and his thoughts in the billowing sand. The sea would drag him farther down, into the very depths where all the lights went out. And even then, he did not care. He kept his own bright blue lights dim and close to his skin, so as not to attract the attention of the creatures far in the depths.

The ancients were monstrous beings who lived in the depths. They no longer moved, although legends claimed they used to in the old days. Apparently, there were many of them. Massive sea beasts with long necks and lights that dangled off the fronts of their heads, like anglerfish but infinitely larger. Their mouths were wide enough to swallow a whale whole, but they could not move very quickly.

Many of them died early on, and now his own people took care of them. Every year they made sacrifices to the depths, sending whales and sharks and other large sea creatures into the depths in the hopes that the ancients would remain hidden.

He had never seen one before, and he wasn’t certain he was prepared to see them at all.

But as soon as he neared the depths, three lights illuminated everything around him. He saw in a sudden flash the skeleton creatures who had trailed along with him. Fish with sharp, massive teeth. Sharks larger than he was with dead eyes that had not seen anything in the darkness for a hundred years. Strange, alien squids with tiny bodies but arms that were longer than he was in thin, razor sharp lines.

All of these creatures fled the moment he came close to the ancients. And he knew why.

They truly were terrifying. Their massive bodies were nearly as large as the achromos’ cities were tall. Covered in massive, thick plated scales, they were impossible to kill unless through starvation. Their long necks led only to mouths. He could not even see their eyes. Didn’t know if they even had eyes. His gaze remained on their teeth, and their gills that opened and closed with breaths that were so slow, he feared they might no longer be living.

“Arges.” They spoke as one. Three of them with booming voices that were so loud he felt the delicate membranes of his ears seal shut in an attempt to not bleed through the power of their voices. “You are here. Mitéra said you would come.”

“I seek my future,” he said quietly, trying not to show fear. “She said you would show it to me.”

“You have two.” The nearest ancient shifted, and he realized they actually had fins. Short, stubby fins, like a seal. With bones inside them that moved like a hand, even though they were encased in a thick layer of blubbery fat and leathery hide. “Your futures have always intrigued us. You are an outlier, Arges. A creature who can defy the natural order of things.”

He didn’t want to hear their opinions of who he was or what he could do with his life. He wanted to know what the truth was. He wanted to know... “Two?” he asked. “How is that possible?”

A great wave of energy blasted against his spine. Though he knew it was a deep sea shark with smooth skin that had bumped him nearer to the ancients, he couldn’t stop himself from struggling. He also did not want to get anywhere near these massive creatures and yet, he was forced. He wasn’t given the option to remain far from them.

Instead, he was ushered closer to the first one’s teeth. He stared into that maw and then froze as the mouth opened. “Come.” He watched as the massive tongue moved to shape the word. “Seek out your future, Arges of the sea.”

The current moved him even closer, and before he knew it, he was inside the maw of the monster. There was only a split second for him to feel the massive tongue against his back before something sharp nicked through his scales. He arched into the pain, surprised by the sudden poisonous heat that flowed through his veins and then... he disappeared.

Arges wasn’t here. He wasn’t in the monster, nor was he even in the sea. He was in the middle of nothing, darkness that stretched out from all angles until a light bloomed in the distance. The moment he noticed it, the future barreled toward him.

Striking the wall of that memory, he floated like he was observing himself. He was right there, in a kelp forest with a strange device attached to his hip. He had more tattoos, more muscle as well, but he hunted through the kelp with a single-minded intent. Perhaps this memory was to warn him that if he wasn’t careful, the achromos would spread out into the water just like Mira had done.

But what moved through the water toward the image of himself was not a strange achromo or even a creature he was stalking. Instead, it was her.

Mira.

Unbound red hair trailing behind her as she swam up behind him, fins on her feet and a smile on her face beneath that strange bubble around her mouth. She attached herself to him, wrapping one of her legs around his waist because that was as close as she could get.

He noticed the tattoos of his pod winding down her arm and across her chest. She wore a top woven out of kelp, just like his mother used to make. And her belly was so round she could barely hold on to him.

She tilted her head back with laughter, eventually allowing herself to flatten out in the water and gripped him with only her legs as the image of himself reached for her belly. He watched as he touched the rounded mound, running his fingers carefully over her skin and then pressing his webs against her. There was slight movement underneath her skin, large and rippling, just like a tail moving inside her.

It wasn’t possible. Surely the ancients weren’t telling him that he could start a new species. That he and Mira could be the link between their kind. It wasn’t possible.

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