44. Neptune? Is that you? #3
‘Yes, and you’re a Harpy?’ Levi replies, chuckling as a few bubbles leave his nose and drift to the surface.
‘You mean Harpies are real?’ she shrieks as she looks down her body to see her shells and turquoise tail. ‘I thought that was just a nickname. Back home, this is what humans call a mermaid,’ she insists.
‘Yeah, that’s what they are called there, but here, they are Harpies, truly. So it’s funny how you came up with that name on your own,’ Knox says, laughing until Rez shoots him a death glare.
‘Just watch out for your mouth. Those teeth are razor sharp,’ Ryker says, and the muscles in Rez’s body go rigid before she slowly turns towards him.
Awww shit. She’s gonna kill him. He just brought up his past with Serafin. How else would he know all of this shit? Ugh. I need to stop her.
I try to swim towards her, but I get yanked back by something, and I yell out in frustration.
‘What the fuck am I stuck on?’ I growl, whipping myself around and coming face to face with an electric eel. ‘Who the fuck are you and why are you fucking with me?’ I demand, losing my patience.
‘I’m not in the mood, hairball,’ Knots growls.
Instead of getting to Rez, I hear her instead.
‘I’m going to act like you didn’t say that, nor do you have personal knowledge of any of that. Got it?’ she says in a deliberate tone to Ryker.
Rolling my eyes, I turn around and try to move, only to be stopped again. ‘I swear to all the Fates, you better stop fucking with me.’ I turn around, baring my teeth, and Knots just blinks.
‘Read it and understood,’ Ryker replies to Rez.
‘Believe me, I would wish for Death right now if I could. Wiggle your body and look down,’ Knots says to me. I roll my eyes, and since I can’t look straight down, I tilt my head to the side and look down as he suggests.
I follow my wiggling green body as it leads away from me and continues all the way over to Knots’ head.
What the nightmarish CatDog underwater Hell is this FinTwin? ScaleTail? GlubBlub? LatchLynx?
Snickers ring out throughout my head as my family, that I’m about to disown, finds humor in my pain.
“Well, they are two peas in a pod most days,” Zeke chuckles. “Figures they should be stuck together.”
“Aww, look, Chestie.” Moni cocks her body to lean on him. “I think they even beat us out for best couple,” she teases.
‘Man, you two got the shit end of the stick, huh?’ Ryker swims up, sporting his own electric blue body of tentacles.
The bottom half of him is a blue-ringed octopus, but from his waist up, he’s the same old Ryker.
Lucky bastard. I’m stuck sharing a body with a blind, knotty, featherbrain who’s probably going to get me killed, while Ryker is the ocean equivalent of a majestic centaur.
‘You think I’m happy literally being stuck to you? I’m probably going to get Toxoplasmosis from just being attached to you,’ Knots complains.
‘If only my dreams came true,’ I reply under my breath.
A black horse with a fiery red mane comes into the fray and rears back, shaking off what looks like floating ropes of tar.
‘What the hell is that?’ I wrinkle my nose in disgust. Instead of a beautiful, soft coat or the watery effect that JP has, this thing is all tar-like with strips of thick black ropes trailing off its body.
‘Damn, baby. You’re looking good as an Each-Uisge,’ JP purrs as he makes a claw motion with his hand towards the horse.
‘What’s that?’ Rez asks, moving closer and running her hand over Zeke’s mane.
‘It’s a vicious and dangerous shape-shifting water spirit that’s carnivorous, eating its victims completely except for the liver,’ JP explains, and Rez pales as she pulls her hand away from Zeke. ‘It’s a good thing he’s on our side, huh?’
‘Okay, guys,’ Levi calls out, unraveling himself and proving that size does matter. ‘Since we’re all here, let’s get going. Does anyone know which way to go? I can’t find a Ley line down here either.’
I look around, gauging everyone else's mannerisms, and realize it’s going to be harder to read them in these forms. I sure hope we don’t have to actually fight like this, because if we do, we’re fucked.
‘Nope,” I confess while looking around. JP hesitates before he raises a finger with an uneasy smile. “I’m assuming you get to lead us through the vast ocean, huh?’ I guess, and try to move, only to find I’m still stuck.
‘I’ll try, it’s not like I’m an expert on this power. I don’t know how to explain it,’ JP speaks up timidly. ‘I know it sounds weird, and I’ll have to dive into it later, because now is not the time, but we need to head North.’ JP nods in the direction we need to go.
‘Sweet, we at least have a direction. Onward, Chestnut!’ Moni yells before plastering herself to Chester’s tail.
I turn back to my ball and chain and growl, ‘Mind helping? Because right now you’re dead weight.’
Knots rolls his eyes but tries to move, and for the first few moments, we struggle to get down a rhythm to snake our way through the water. Thankfully, we’re not the only ones trying to get used to our bodies. But we are the worst and the ones who slow up the entire party.