The Sea in our Veins

Virgil felt something wet soak into his socks. It felt cold and uncomfortable, and Virgil shied away. He heard a faint rushing sound and felt gentle arms carrying him as the wetness spread up his socks and into his legs. Virgil’s feet and legs started to grow numb and tingles spread up his legs, getting increasingly more painful and more noticeable. Virgil opened his eyes when the feeling got too painful for him. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was in the ocean with the beach growing smaller and smaller as he went deeper into the water. He struggled frantically against the arms that were holding him, only to have them grip him tighter, preventing his escape. He looked up to find Wesley holding him, sunglasses still firmly on his face, with the water already up to his waist and a pleased smile on his face.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked, his voice shaking, “Let me go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Wesley replied.

Virgil grew more desperate as Wesley went deeper into thot the water, causing waves of pain to rack his body.

“Please,” he begged, “Let me go.”

“I’m sorry,” Wesley apologized as he slowly dragged Virgil under the surface.

Virgil managed to take a deep breath before he went under. Wesley kept a firm grip on his arm as he pushed him down, forcing Virgil after him as he swam deeper and deeper into the ocean. Virgil’s lungs soon grew empty and he tugged frantically at Wesley’s grip, trying to free himself but the pain from being submerged in water made it hard for him to focus. He glanced up and saw that the surface was far away. He was getting so far down that Virgil knew that he wouldn’t make it to the surface in time. He didn’t give up though and tried his hardest to escape from Wesley’s grip but no matter how much he pulled or hit Wesley, all he got was Wesley to look at him. Wesley’s eyes widened slightly and he started swimming faster.

Virgil started to black out from the pain of being in the water and the lack of air. He felt detached from his body and felt like he was floating. Virgil heard faintly in the distance a quiet haunting melody that echoed through the water. Wesley didn’t seem to hear it but Virgil couldn’t get it out of his head. They reached a rock wall and Wesley swam through an opening as fast as he could as the water rushed past them. Virgil felt himself rising and then he surfaced in a pool, gasping frantically for breath. He started coughing as he slowly caught his breath. When his breathing finally showed, he looked around and found himself in a cave. There were glowing pillars, made out of a crystal, that rose to the ceiling of the cave and sent flickers of light dancing onto the walls. Virgil pulled himself out of pool, shivering, the pain in his limbs slowly fading. His wet clothes were heavy and dragged him down.

“What did you do that for?” Virgil demanded, “You nearly killed me.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Wesley replied, “I didn’t mean to keep you under water for so long.”

Virgil wanted to argue but he decided to drop it. Instead, Virgil asked, “What is this place?”

“I come here when I want to be alone and think.” Wesley explained, “I don’t really come here that often, but I wanted to show it to you.”

“How did you find this place?” Virgil asked, the pain slowly fading from his limbs.

“I just stumbled upon it while I was swimming.” Wesley replied, “What do you think?”

“You do seem like the kind of guy who lives in a cave.” Virgil replied.

“I don’t live in a cave,” Wesley complained.

“Yeah, uh huh,” Virgil replied, sarcastically, “I believe you.”

“Thank you,” Wesley replied, satisfied, completely missing the sarcasm. Virgil started laughing while Wesley floated in the pool confused.

“Never mind,” Virgil replied. He sat down against one of the pillars and released a breath he didn’t realize that he had been holding.

“Actually, I came here to show you another thing,” Wesley said.

“What?” Virgil asked, curious.

Wesley took off of his sunglasses and set them on the edge of the pool. Virgil finally got to look Wesley in his eyes without the sunglasses blocking them. Wesley’s eyes were a bright blue that seemed to draw Virgil in. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from them.

“Are you ready?” Wesley asked.

“I guess,” Virgil replied, “Ready for what?”

Right in front of Virgil’s eyes, Wesley started to change. It was not noticeable at first but Virgil started to notice little changes to Wesley’s appearance. Little pale blue dots appeared on Wesley’s face and neck. His ears morphed into fish-like looking fins. Wesley stretched, revealing arms which were covered in the dots, which Virgil realized were scales. Wesley hoisted himself out of the pool before sitting on the edge. Where Wesley’s legs would have been, there was instead one long tail that disappeared into the water. It looked like it should belong to an eel. Wesley stared at Virgil as Virgil tried to back away, only to slam his back into the column he had been leaning against.

“What are you?” Virgil demanded, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Wesley grinned, revealing sharp, pointed teeth, which only terrified Virgil more.

“Are you going to eat me?” Virgil asked.

Wesley laughed, a familiar laugh which slightly creeped Virgil out. “No,” Wesley replied, “Why would I want to eat you? If I wanted to eat you I would have done it a long time ago. You also would probably taste terrible.”

“What are you then?” Virgil asked. “And what do you want with me?”

“I’m what is known as a mer,” Wesley replied, “And I just want to be friends with you. I was tired of lying to you.”

“Are you serious?” Virgil asked, “You’re some kind of mermaid?”

“Actually, not a mermaid, a mer,” Wesley replied, “And I believe you’re one too.”

Virgil stared at him in shock. Clearly the water or something had messed with Wesley’s brain, “Are you crazy?” Virgil demanded, “I would know if I’m some weird fish person and I definitely am not one so you’re wrong.”

“Fine,” Wesley replied, “Then get in the water.”

“Why would I do that?” Virgil asked.

“I’ll take you back. This was clearly a mistake and I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Virgil stared at Wesley, trying to figure out what he was planning, “I’m not going to get in the water,” he said.

“Fine,” Wesley shrugged, “Enjoy heading back on your own. With a water source, you should be able to survive a couple of weeks before you die of starvation.” Wesley turned to go and Virgil hesitated. Slowly starving to death in a cave was not the way that Virgil wanted to die.

Wesley turned back, “Are you going to let me take you back?” he asked, a strange grin on his face.

“If you drown me,” Virgil warned, “I’ll make sure that my ghost haunts you.”

“Deal,” Wesley replied, “I would hate to be haunted by your ghost.”

“Hey,” Virgil replied, offended, “My ghost would be amazing.” Joking with Wesley almost helped Virgil forget that Wesley was a fish person. Virgil slowly got up from leaning against the pillar and walked over the pool that Wesley who was floating in it. He extended his arm but then hesitated. Every time Virgil got in water, he felt pain. Virgil wasn’t ready to experience that pain again.

Wesley noticed his hesitation and smiled gently, “I promise it’ll be over before you think.”

“Now I really think you’re trying to drown me. What do you even eat as a fish person?” Virgil asked, trying to stall.

“Trust me,” Wesley replied, “Fish person food is to die for.” Wesley realized his poor choice of words and looked embarrassed, “I mean, it’s really good. I’ll get you some to try one day.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Virgil said, “Though I don’t think that the food that you eat would taste good. Remember, you don’t have any taste.”

Wesley examined Virgil and realized something, “You’re stalling aren’t you?” he asked.

Virgil froze, “No…” he said hesitantly. He sighed and sat down at the edge of the pool. He could feel Wesley’s eyes on him but tried his best to ignore him as he stared at the water. He slowly stood up, “I think I’ll stay here,” he said, staring at the pool of water.

Before Virgil could blink, Wesley grabbed his arm and pulled him into the pool with a large splash. Virgil felt the same blinding pain as before as he slowly sunk. He opened his mouth to scream and a stream of bubbles escaped. He saw Wesley in front of him and Virgil could have sworn that Wesley looked worried but all Virgil could focus on was the pain. He saw Wesley’s lips move but he couldn’t hear. Virgil tried desperately to cover his ears but they did nothing to block out the melody. The song rang out through his bones and mind.

Somehow, Virgil heard Wesley say clearly underwater, “It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”

And Wesley was right. Slowly, the song faded and as the song grew quieter, so did the pain. Wesley looked so happy which scared Virgil, “It worked,” Wesley exclaimed, “I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Virgil asked.

“What happened to you Rafael?” Wesley asked.

“Rafael?” Virgil asked confused, “Who’s Rafael?”

Wesley seemed at a loss for words, “What do you mean who’s Rafael?” Wesley asked, “You’re Rafael. Do you not even know your own name?”

It was then that Virgil realized that he was still underwater. Somehow, he had been able to hear Wesley clearly through the water. And Wesley realized that his chest didn’t feel tight and he didn’t feel the need to breath.

Virgil wrenched his arm free from where Wesley gripped it, “My name is Virgil not Rafael. You have me confused with someone else.”

“No, I don’t,” Wesley replied. He grabbed Virgil’s hand and held it in front of his face. Virgil stared at the hand in confusion. Wesley waved the hand in his face and it took Virgil a bit to realize that the hand was his. But it looked exactly like Wesley’s hand, covered in scales with webbed fingers and claws. Virgil yanked his hand back and stared at it.

“What did you do to me?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Wesley replied, “I just righted a wrong.”

Virgil felt something brush against his legs and looked down to find Wesley’s tail brushing against where his legs would be. But instead of seeing his legs, all Virgil could see was a tail covered in blue scales. It gently swayed in the water, keeping Virgil upright and floating in the water. When Virgil tried to move his legs, the tail started thrashing, scaring Virgil.

“What did you do to me?” he demanded again.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Wesley replied, “I didn’t do anything. This is all you.”

“I am not a fish person,” Virgil replied firmly, “I’m human.”

“You’re mer,” Wesley replied, “You just didn’t know.”

“Undo what you did to me,” Virgil demanded.

“Will you listen to me?” Wesley replied, “I didn’t do anything to you. How many times do I have to explain to you? Come on, let’s go back to the cave. I’ll explain everything there.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Virgil replied angrily. “I’m going back home.” He spotted an opening in the rock wall, where he assumed Wesley and him had come through and used his webbed fingers to try and propel himself towards it.

He didn’t make it far before Wesley grabbed his arm. “I’m not going to lose you again,” he said, the desperation plain in his voice.

The grip of Wesley’s fingers on his arm made Virgil panic. He slashed frantically with his claws trying to get Wesley to let go of him. He must have scored a hit as Wesley let go of him. Virgil didn’t look back as he swam frantically for the opening, trying to get as far away from Wesley as he could.

Virgil was able to get used to his tail pretty quickly and used it to propel himself through the water faster. He felt like he was flying as he swam through the narrow tunnel. Finally, the tunnel opened up and deposited him in the middle of the ocean. Virgil spotted the surface far above him and swam frantically for him. When he surfaced, Virgil gasped for breath, trying to calm down. He saw land in the distance and ducked back under the surface, trying not to look at his arms or his tail. He swam under the surface, close to the sea bed, too afraid to come up for air. When Virgil got close enough to land, he saw a deserted beach and started swimming towards it. When it got too shallow to swim, he floated on the water, and let the waves wash over him. Virgil felt so exhausted from swimming, he just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. He hated the fact that he couldn’t even get out of the water with his useless tail dragging him down.

Then he remembered Wesley. Wesley, who had lied to him and befriended him only to try and drown him. Wesley had looked human, maybe Virgil could do something similar.

Virgil closed his eyes. He felt a little self conscious as he tried to will his legs back into existence. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to chant something, but he hoped that his will power would be enough. Eventually he gave up but when he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see his tail replaced by legs. He slowly climbed out of the water and collapsed on the sand, far away from the reach of the water. He let the sun warm him as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.