TREADING WATER - Chapter Eight

You can't believe how bleeding scary the sea is! There's, like, whales and storms and shit! They don't bloody tell you that!

- Libba Bray

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"The Fenton Wetsuit," Jack Fenton proclaimed, fists on his hips and one foot propped upon an overturned bucket. Waves crashed behind him, spraying above the deck and glimmering in a brief rainbow. "The only wetsuit in the world that's actually a dry suit! And I'm not just saying that to cover up the fact that I didn't know the difference between the two when I named them," he added, winking.

"Jack, dear, who are you talking to?" said his wife, who was busy checking the data log for the first buoy on their route.

Jack's audience, the seagull sitting on the railing of the MAC, squawked and flew away. "I'm practicing, Mads!" he said, whirling around. "For the day everyone believes in merpeople, and we'll need to start selling our inventions. We're so close to catching one of those merfiends that I can almost taste it..." He paused, thinking about what a merperson would taste like. "And when we do, the world will have to take us seriously! No one will call me, Jack Fenton, a crackpot again! Ha!"

"It would be nice if we could mass produce the wetsuits for market," Maddie said, distractedly. "The darn things cost enough to make. It's probably good the kids never use theirs; we'll never have to worry about replacing them."

"You kidding?" Jack pinched the arm of his suit, yanked, and let it snap back tightly against his skin. "These things are practically indestructible! You'd have to lose your suit at the bottom of the ocean to get rid of it, and what are the chances of that?"

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(meanwhile, at the bottom of the ocean…)

Danny's head felt like someone, probably Dash, had been hitting it with a baseball bat. Little nails of pain dug into his temples and sinuses, and everything felt heavy. He didn't want to open his eyes, fearing that if he did, he would find that Dash actually had decided to beat his brains out with a bat and had succeeding in knocking him unconscious.

…finally waking up… a voice crept through his head. Notify the em… elp me secure…

Hands grabbed Danny under his arms, and he felt himself being dragged somewhere. Intermittently he experienced a sensation of floating, and he wondered if, finally, Dash had given him a concussion. Even the air around him felt heavy to move through.

Danny cracked open his eyes. He registered a blur of shadows and light. He closed them again.

Eventually, he was back on the ground, lying on his side with his face pressed to the floor. It was cold and smooth beneath him, like metal, and the room was strangely, almost oppressively, silent. Danny, however, was content to remain in blackness for a while longer, and he did not try to open his eyes again until he felt something hard and cold being clamped tightly around his waist. When he did open his eyes, his vision swam for a few moments before it focused.

The first thing he noticed was that he was underwater. Panicked, he automatically sucked in a breath, and the water was pushed out the sides of his neck, reminding him that he had gills and yes, he had fallen unconscious while wearing them, again. Before he could berate himself or imagine the deadly scenario he'd once more skirted, other details began rushing back. Like, being attacked.

Considering that the discolored metal floor he was lying on was totally unfamiliar, he realized the scary merpersons from the seaweed forest must have captured him and taken him somewhere.

Why is it I'm always getting attacked by someone? Do I have a target on me that only I can't see?

Finally, Danny realized the full extent of what it meant, being attacked and kidnapped by merpeople. It was Vlad Masters all over again. …Oh my god. They're going to eat me.

Shaking and feeling drained of energy, Danny rolled onto his stomach, pushed himself up with his hands, and tried to put his legs underneath himself, to stand. He knew he had been chained to the floor, but he felt like if he could face his attackers standing, his chances of survival would be moved from zero, to zero with confidence. His legs moved, but not the way he wanted them to. It was like full consciousness had yet to return to that part of his body. Bemused, Danny took a look at his legs.

Glancing down, Danny quickly realized that his Fenton Wetsuit was gone. He saw his arms first – pearly white, glowing, forearms ridged by some sort of black fins, ending in the webbed, clawed hands he'd grown used to seeing that past week. Under the manacle, his chest and stomach were colored the same shade of white, until that skin faded into something scaly and black… Two flowing, gossamer black-and-white fins fanned out from his hips, obscuring everything past them.

But Danny didn't need to be a genius to figure out the rest; which was good, because he certainly wasn't a genius. His legs were gone.

Danny recoiled. Then somehow, he shot into the open water, and the manacle and chain jerked at his midsection, and he crashed shoulder-first into the floor. He wanted to scream, both in his horror and pain, but though he opened his mouth and willed a sound, nothing came, not even a stream of bubbles.

You're awake.

It was a cold, somewhat amused and somewhat condescending voice – like wind chimes in a storm. It entered his brain uninvited, the same as when Kaima had spoken to him, and those mermen who had captured him.

Danny looked around for the speaker. He was on what appeared to be the deck of a wrecked freighter. The floor was rectangular and bare, bordered by some low, corroded walls. The water here was dark blue, far from the surface, but in the distance, tall, bright, crystalline spires stretched to unimaginable heights from an unknown structure. More immediately, a group of merfolk provided weak light to the area with their natural bioluminescence.

There were maybe a dozen of them. Danny noticed the two leaders of the party who had captured him – the tattooed indigo one and the slimy-feeling purple one. He also noticed, to his increasing confusion, Kaima, hovering at the shoulder of a sizable, orange-colored merman with long hair and mustaches that floated wildly in the currents.

But the speaker was clearly the one who spearheaded the group. It was a mermaid. She was almost entirely white in color, but for the blue that colored her hair, eyes, and the tips of her fins. Her bright blue hair was worn atop her head, wound around a white mollusk shell, from which hung several strings of pearls. She appeared to be wearing a breastplate made of bright blue… was that plastic? Finally, fastened at the corners of her armor was a cape of woven seagrass, speckled with small, white flowers with flowing petals. Her aura was bright and cold, and while she seemed young, there was a hard wisdom in her eyes.

She pursed her pale, white lips. Have you nothing to say to the Empress of the Merfolk, spy?

Danny opened his mouth, with no idea at all what he wanted to say. 'Please don't kill me?' 'What the heck is going on?' 'Spy? Who's a spy?' Anything at all to prolong his life by a few seconds. But, like his previous attempts at words, no sounds passed over his lips.

The Empress waited, and her expression hardened further. What are you doing?

The muscular, indigo one turned his head to the mermaid, golden eyes flashing through the dark. I think it might be an idiot, he said. All the whelp seems capable of doing is moving its jaws. It can't speak.

Danny gaped. An idiot? But, the merman was right – Danny couldn't speak.

Suddenly, Danny noticed Kaima's eyes widening and her expression turning to amazement. He met her eyes with his, hoping his desperation was clear in them, but she didn't make any move to help. Then, the Empress addressed him again.

Can you understand me?

Danny swallowed, and knowing words were impossible for him, closed his mouth and nodded his head frantically.

Then it becomes a game of questions… she muttered. Do you know who I am?

Danny shook his head.

Do you know where you are?

Again, he shook his head.

The Empress tilted her head back slightly and narrowed her eyes. Are you working for the Siren King?

Danny blinked. Who? Then, realizing that answering 'yes' to this question would undoubtedly sign his death warrant, shook his head with vigor.

The Empress's face turned guarded, and she inclined her head toward the others in the group. It became silent again, and it took Danny several minutes of this silence to realize that they were talking among themselves, and he was the only one not privy to the conversation. The changes in their expressions and body language were the only clues that something was passing between them.

Dread weighed heavily on Danny. He was so scared he could hardly think. His whole body was trembling. The only thing he knew with certainty just then was – I don't want to die.

Every few seconds, Kaima's anxious face turned toward him, and then turned back to the group.

Without warning, the indigo merman and the silver-purple one began to swim toward him. Danny clumsily backed away, but the chain at his waist and his own ineptitude in the water did not let him get far. They removed the manacle and, holding Danny's arms tightly in their clawed grips, carried him from the ship.

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Daru watched the black-and-white creature being dragged from the ship, tail trailing uselessly in its wake and green eyes wide in undisguised terror. It was hard to imagine it being a threat to anyone.

At a signal from the Empress, the council (and its one uninvited guest), returned to the palace, to their usual meeting chambers. Daru could not help glancing at Kaima, glued to his side as though he would protect her from being dismissed, and wondering at her worried face. Her bright blue eyes were downcast, and she was biting her lip.

The girl knew something about the creature, and Daru was fairly certain he knew what that something was.

They entered the chambers through the floor and took their usual positions around the glassy meeting table. Kaima crouched at Daru's side, trying to hide behind his girth, but from the Empress's disapproving glare, it was clear the hiding spot was no good. But, Birghid said nothing about it.

We should kill it, one of the councilors, Orlock, said at once.

Even if we don't know what it is? countered Daru.

We know what it is, said Orlock. His fiery red pelvic fins flapped in his irritation. It's one of the sirens' failed experiments, sent into our territory to spy.

Daru raised a brow, imagining what good a lame and dumb spy would be to the Siren King.

At the very least, it is an abomination. It should not be allowed to exist. So - all in favor of killing the beast? said Orlock, raising a hand. Five more hands rose, including the Empress's.

Daru saw Kaima's hands clenched tightly into trembling fists at her sides.

I truly think that is a bad idea, Empress, he said.

And why is that, Alchemist? Birghid replied. She bore her fangs testily.

Think about how the creature looked when we found it. It had legs, like a human. For what other purpose could it have been created than to go on land?

Orlock started to argue, but the Empress held up a hand to silence him. Continue, Daru.

Clearly the experiment was a failure, he said. More likely than not, it will die on its own in a matter of days, like all the rest. Birghid nodded, easily accepting that idea. But I think their magics have progressed a long way if they were able to make such a creature. If nothing else, I'd like to keep it alive to study it.

The Empress bristled. I don't want you replicating this, Daru.

I wouldn't dream of it, said Daru, feigning his sincerity perfectly. I just want to better understand our enemy. To understand what they are capable of, and if it could be used against us. Who could argue with that?

From the silence in the chamber, apparently no one could – although Orlock seemed to want to.

Daru continued. It can't swim, and it can't speak. Like I said before, it will probably die on its own in a matter of days. Keep it alive, and let me study it. That's all I ask.

Empress Birghid stared at him, blue eyes calculating. At length, she nodded. Fine. I will grant you that. To the rest of the council: Any objections? No? Then, the issue is closed.

One of the older members of the council, a withered elder named Ingrith, spoke up then. While we're gathered here, she said, can we talk about the fishing grounds?

Another tedious hour was spent in the council chambers, discussing new hunting methods – something that Daru couldn't care less about, and by the way Kaima alternatively fidgeted and dozed off, neither could she. At long last, they were dismissed.

As the council members were dispersing, the Empress finally acknowledged the girl at Daru's side. Kaima, a word.

Flinching and hunching her shoulders, Kaima swam meekly across the room to meet her. Daru decided it would be best to wait for the girl outside. He exited through the floor and hovered there, pouring over the implications of the creature and what consequences his decision was sure to bring over the next few days. Especially if the creature did not die as Daru had promised it would.

After a few minutes, Kaima came out of the chamber, swimming past Daru in a straight line that left no doubt as to where she was headed.

Before she could get too far, Daru called to her. You stole something of mine.

Surprised, Kaima spun and stared at him. She obviously knew what he meant, and she had no response.

Daru sighed and laid his hands across his large orange belly. Go. I know you want to see it.

Kaima nodded thankfully, if still somewhat terrified, and darted out of the palace. Daru watched the bubbles that trailed in her wake as she swam to the Hold.

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It was funny – in a way that really wasn't funny at all – how against all odds Danny had found the person he had been looking for in the vast expanse of the ocean, only to discover she was in league with the people who had captured him and locked him up.

Danny considered this bitterly from the confines of his cell. It was a small, cramped hole, one of many in a honeycomb labyrinth of caves a few minutes' swim from the shipwreck. The room, although that was probably a generous word to use to describe the place, would have been pitch black if not for some glowing turquoise algae growing on the walls and the white light from Danny's own skin. He wasn't entirely sure what the 'bars' of his cell were made from. After the two mermen had dumped him here and insulted him a few more times, it was like the water had solidified in certain places behind them. Even now, the odd, 'hardened' water reflected light like it was made of ice.

Two guards were posted outside.

Danny had dragged himself to the far corner of the room and was now curled there, facing the opposite wall and staring at his… well, his tail.

Nearly useless and entirely incomprehensible, it stretched out from him across the floor, somewhat longer than his legs would have been. It was scaly and almost all black, but for the white that streaked the fins at his hips and the white at the very tip of the tail, which fanned out and looked like it would tear if it caught on a sharp rock – a thought which made Danny shudder.

Basically, except for the white parts, the tail didn't glow. Danny had also discovered another fin that started midway up his back and continued down part of his tail, and it was currently making sitting uncomfortable.

The weirdest part was that he could feel it. When his tailfin brushed against the rocks of the floor, for example, Danny perceived it with sharp sensitivity, and he would shiver at the wrongness of it. He kept trying to move his legs, but they were gone, and this new thing would just twitch, not knowing what to do with the signals it was receiving from Danny's brain.

In short, he didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

A long time passed, and while Danny had not thought it possible, he began to calm down. He supposed there was only so long a person could sit doing nothing and still feel terrified. He even started to fall into a daze.

Absentmindedly, staring at his tail, he thought about moving it. Obediently, the tailfin flicked up and back down again. Amazed, Danny repeated the action, and it was like something in his brain clicked into place. After all, he had been treating the tail like it was two pieces, like his legs, not one. Experimentally, he lifted the end of the tail from the floor and curled it toward him, until it was within reach of his hands. He brushed the fin gingerly with his clawed fingers, awestruck by the new sensations and the responsiveness.

Danny? A familiar voice broke the silence. His tail dropped to the floor like a stone, and he turned his head to the door.

On the other side of the bars of water was Kaima. Seeing his response, her expression changed from worried to joyful. It really is you!

Danny merely glared. Being it was the only thing he could do, he tried to put as much meaning into the expression as possible. Go away.

Kaima said something to the guards at the door, or at least Danny assumed she did, because the next second the bars vanished and she was allowed to swim into the chamber. They reformed behind her as she kneeled next to Danny, blue tail tucked neatly under her.

You're the last person I want to see right now, thought Danny.

Again, Kaima was deaf to this and undaunted by his chilly expression. In fact, she grinned.

I didn't think it worked. But it did, and you're here.

Yeah, and it's all your fault.

Kaima grabbed his hands, but he jerked them away. Finally, her face fell. You're mad at me.

No duh.

She grinned again, sheepishly this time, and looked off to one side. Okay, maybe you are a prisoner. But at least they don't want to kill you anymore. She peered closer at his face, unblinkingly, and her scrutiny made Danny squirm. You don't know how to speak, do you? Just like before.

Scowling, Danny shook his head; his white hair floated at the edges of his vision.

I can teach you. Since we can hardly have a conversation like this. Kaima smiled at Danny's hopeful expression. She continued, I've never taught someone how to speak before. I mean, it seems obvious. You just do it. Again, Danny glared at her. Er, never mind.

The young mermaid adopted a thoughtful expression, and Danny wondered if the guards had any idea what she was saying to him. However, if what had happened before was any indication, merpeople could choose who heard what.

It's simple really. A baby could do it. Babies can do it. Just think about what you want to say, and say it in the other person's head.

Danny gaped at Kaima, disbelieving. Simple? How was that simple? And if he failed, what, he was more inept than a baby?

Just try. It's like thinking, only with more substance. Think heavy, tangible thoughts.

Danny frowned, but he had decided what he wanted to say. Now, he concentrated on putting the words where they needed to go, into Kaima's head. He thought about how her words crawled across his brain, invasively, and imagined his own words doing the same. Focusing on Kaima, he pointedly thought, That was the worst explanation ever.

She beamed. No, it wasn't. I heard you.

Danny blinked. Repeating the process, he thought, in her head, You did?

Yes. She nodded enthusiastically. See, it's easy.

Dumbfounded, Danny leaned his head back against the wall. This was too much. It was all too much. He shouldn't be able to do this. He shouldn't be here. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his fists into his temples.

Are you okay?

Danny shook his head. After a few seconds of concentration, he opened his eyes and said, I don't want this. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be like this, he waved a hand over himself, and I don't want this weird mind-reading power.

It's not weird, said Kaima, and it's not 'mind-reading'.

That's not the point! Danny fumed. I want you to change me back to normal. My normal.

You don't want to be a merperson? Why not?

For a moment, Danny lost his focus, and he knew from Kaima's expectant face that his words weren't reaching her. On the third try he managed to say, Because I don't want to be different from everyone! I want to live a normal life, and I can't do that if I'm not human like everyone else!

Kaima flinched at his outburst, and he realized that, being it was being spoken directly into her head, it must have felt very harsh.

You can live down here, the girl suggested. Right?

In here? No, thank you. Danny closed his eyes for a few seconds, reigning in his temper, and said, Look, Kaima, I have family up there, and friends. Who are all human. Surely you understand. That's my life – whatever problems I might have, I can't just leave it. I don't want to. So please. He opened his eyes again and looked at her earnestly. Please change me back.

Kaima was quiet, and from his short time around the girl, Danny got the feeling this was uncharacteristic. Meaning, it was bad news. His heart sank, and before she began to speak, he knew what she was going to say.

I can't.

Danny was almost too devastated to reply, but he forced himself to ask, Why not?

Kaima shook her head, eyes downcast. It doesn't work like that.

Danny stared at the opposite wall, at the glowing algae, telling himself that from now on, this would be his reality. In fact, these very walls might be his reality. He would be trapped, in this body, in this prison, for the rest of his life. This is it. In truth, though, no matter what he told himself, he felt numb. He couldn't even muster anger.

You did this to me, knowing you couldn't reverse it. That's so… irresponsible.

I thought I was helping you, Kaima said, in a small voice. Danny believed her. After all, no matter if she was a merperson, she was just a kid, and kids did stupid things. He should know.

After a while Danny said, if only to change the subject to something less uncomfortable: So they aren't going to eat me?

Why do you keep saying that? said Kaima. Like Danny had intended, her guilt was momentarily forgotten. Merfolk don't eat humans, and we definitely don't eat other merfolk… or, whatever you are now. We eat fish.

Danny frowned. That didn't make sense. According to his parents, and the story of the boat attack and Vlad Masters's kidnapping, that was the number one proven fact about merpeople. And if merpeople could manipulate water, and by this point Danny was certain they could, that would explain the water tentacles that pulled the people overboard.

If not merpeople, just what were his parents hunting? Or better yet, what should they have been hunting?

Before Danny could wonder much more about that, Kaima asked him another question. Skulker and Reever said you had legs when they found you. Why did you only now turn into a real merperson?

Danny shrugged. I only turn into one when I touch water. Then, when I dry off, I change back. When… those two… found me, I was wearing a wetsuit. Danny groaned. Oh man. The wetsuit. Mom and Dad are going to kill me.

Kaima's eyes were wide. Really? She raised her hands, and suddenly the water around Danny's left hand began to slide around.

He raised his hand in front of his eyes and gaped as the water was sucked away and a bubble of air formed around it. The air inside the bubble became drier and drier until, seconds later, his hand had reverted to its normal, human form.

You're right! Kaima said. She let the bubble pop, and Danny's hand quickly changed again to match the rest of him. That's so weird. I wonder if Daru knew about this…

Who?

Oh. Nothing, Kaima lied. She bounced a little. If you can change back into a human whenever you want to, isn't everything fine?

Whenever I want to? asked Danny, incredulous. Finally, he was becoming used to talking like this. Until now, his responses had lagged by several seconds. You can't imagine how hard this past week has been for me.

Just keep the water off of you! said Kaima, altogether too cheerfully. Or, don't tell me you can't control water either?

Danny thought about the incident at the crosswalk on Thursday afternoon. Hesitantly, he said, No, I can…

Then, great! This is perfect. You can be a human and a merperson all at the same time.

Danny wouldn't call it perfect. It was just about the farthest thing from perfect. But, it might have been the best offer he was going to get from the universe just then, and he wasn't about to spit on it.

Of course, if he couldn't escape from this cave, whether or not he could change back to human at will would become a moot point. It was too soon to feel hopeful.

Yeah, but only if I get out of here first.

The magenta mermaid showed her fangs in a smile that suggested both determination and mischievousness. No problem. Leave that to me.