The Waters of Death
My first attempt at Mermay. I was kinda dissatisfied with this as a Mermay thing, so I am going to write something else, but I’m proud of this as a piece of writing.
Water is an interesting element. In some cultures, it is associated with life and birth. Humans are born from the waters of life. They drink water to survive. Water is often part of many religious ceremonies, like the Christian baptism or Conversion to Judaism. But water is also death. Water can burn or freeze you. You can drown in it. Many cultures have myths about some kind of creature that drowns an unlucky passerby; Greek Sirens, Mexican La Llorona, Scottish Kelpies. Most of the time, those myths are actually about Water Demons on the human surface. In the Demonic religion of Endal, the God of Water is also the God of Death. The majority of Water Demons also live separately from the rest of demonkind, in underwater communities in the Rivers of Hell. Water Demons are sometimes considered omens of death. As a result, a doctor is not a job commonly associated with a Water Demon.
Yet here I was, giving a (former) prince, a check-up as he had fallen ill. Again. “Honestly, Ernest, I do wish you took better care of yourself. This is the second time in as many months.” The serpentine royal in question just scowled at me. I sighed and gave him a vewy sewious, “I'm sorry. You're dying.” That got him to crack a small smile as he rolled his eyes.
“Yes, I'm dying. I'm dead.” He chuckled and coughed. I gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
“Get some rest. It’s only a cold, so you should feel better when I get back on Monday.”
“Yes, Doctor Insko. Weekend off?” He questioned. I gave him a fond smile and a nod as I packed my medical supplies. “Well, have a good weekend then.”
“Thank you, Ernest. Feel better.” I responded as I turned off the light and left the room.
I do not get out often. Not to say I am overworked; just that I often have paperwork to do or a royal to look after. I was usually somewhere on the castle grounds, doing something or helping someone. Honestly, I knew I needed to get out more. So, I was doing so. I was free to go and do as I liked for the next few days. I did not know exactly where I was heading when I teleported to the surface; all I knew is I wanted to swim. I found a beach that appeared to be completely devoid of humans. I shed my glamour like an ill-fitting coat as I swam out into the water, retaking my demonic form; including my Blue-ringed octopus tentacles. Despite the fact that I choose to live on dry land, I will always feel more at home in the water. My lungs can change but they were not created for breathing air. I belong in the water.
I swam aimlessly for what I assume to be hours, but it felt like no time at all before I sensed a disturbance in the water. Like someone dropping a lit match into a bathtub. I swam towards the surface to see a human child, probably no older than five. I assumed they had fallen off a boat and apparently lost consciousness as they were now sinking lower and lower into the water, not trying to swim upwards. I gently grabbed them around the middle and took them to the beach, being careful not to poison them. I checked their vitals once I laid them on the sand, frowning as they were not breathing. Humans are biologically different from demons and I, a Hell-born demonic physician, did not know much about humans’ physiology, but I knew the child was supposed to be breathing, which they were not presently doing. I panicked momentarily, trying to remember anything about humans to help them, before remembering I am hydrokinetic. I used my abilities to pull the water from their lungs; just as I did so, the child coughed and sputtered, then they stared straight at me. In all the panic, I didn’t think to glamour myself so I must’ve looked pretty odd to this human child; yellow skin, solid purple eyes, blue hair and the body of an octopus below the waist. I gave them a weak smile, it much too late for me to hide my form. Hopefully, they’ll just think this encounter was a drowning fueled dream. The child blinked at me, then said something softly in a language I didn’t understand. I gave them an apologetic shrug before diving back into the water.
I sometimes still thought about the encounter. Wondering whatever happened to that child. Why had they been in the water? Were they alright afterwards? What had they said to me? I was thinking about the child when my boyfriend, Icarus, came into my clinic. “Val? Valentine? Earth to Valentine Iplier. Come in, Valentine Iplier. Do you read me?” He called softly with a chuckle. I blinked out of my thoughts and gave him a soft smile.
“Sorry. I was just thinking about... Did you need something, Icarus? Are your eyes bothering you?” I asked as I guided him to a bed, but he just shook his head.
“Some of us are going swimming. Want to come with? You’re a Water Demon, right? Having you there would make me feel a lot safer since I can’t really narrate in the water.” I felt my face light up at the mention of swimming.
“I am. I’d love to come with you. Just let me tidy the clinic first.” Icarus nodded and leaned on the bed as I started putting things away.
“Did I ever tell you I actually met a Water Demon, years before I knew Demons existed.”
“Oh? You hadn’t.” I responded, half listening, putting bottles away. “Mhm. I was four-years-old and we were still living in Korea. I had been by a beach on my own and something in my four-year-old brain decided I should go swimming. So I decided to go out into the water despite the fact that I did not know how to swim. I paddled out into the water but I couldn’t keep my head above the water and I eventually began to sink. Next thing I knew, I felt the water leave my lungs and I came face to face with this beautiful merperson. They were more of an octopus than a fish, but they had the most beautiful purple eyes-” At that moment, I nearly dropped the keys I was holding. “Val? Is everything alright?”
“Uh, yeah,” I fumbled with the keys and my words. “Icarus, by any chance, do you know what kind of octopus the demon was?” The blind man pursed his lips slightly as he thought about it.
“Yes, actually. I looked it up years later and they were like a Blue-ringed octopus. Lucky they weren’t venomous, huh?” I gave a short chuckle.
“I am, actually...”
“No…”
Water is an interesting element. Water is both the push and the pull. Life and death. Humans are born from water. They can die from water. Water is cyclical, just as is life. Lake, clouds, rain. Birth, life, death. Water is the element of change. It is not stagnant, always changing and shifting like the tides. Sometimes water brings that death. But sometimes water also saves lives. Water is an interesting element indeed.
