The Merman and the Moon Forgotten

Twelve • Mermaids





They were thrown out of a bloom of red fire.

“Did it work—?” Haley’s voice faded away and then returned. “That’s awesome! Are you guys seeing this?”

Xanthus and Nick gasped. Grand’s stardust rendering had nothing on the real Mon and Earth.

“Are you seeing this, Nick?” Haley repeated. Brandy and Caroline squealed from somewhere in the background.

“Yeah,” said Nick. “There is another world, but it is in this one.”

It was Xanthus’ turn to look at Nick.

“Yeats,” said Nick.

The brother planets were anything but peaceable. Mon hung over Earth, recalling images of Atlas bearing the weight of an entire planet. The sun cast a paternal light between the two weather systems, revealing a black mass of cloud and dust. Lightning crackled around the otherwise hidden tether. But it was the unreal beauty of Mon that made Nick unbuckle his harness and crawl over Xanthus. Scattered underneath the clouds were islands, craggy and desperate. The continents were covered in ripples of mountains smoothing into deep valleys. The land masses were utterly blanketed in wild vegetation. There might be cities down there, but Nick couldn’t see them.

It looked nothing like Moon.

“Are you guys getting this?” Tim said.

“Yeah,” said Nick. “All of it.”

“Please remain in your seats as we begin our descent to Earth’s Keranu Walls,” the auto-pilot announced. The shuttle took a sharp right from Mon and steered directly toward Earth.

“Wait,” said Xanthus. “We’re not supposed to land on Earth. We’re going to Huron, I thought?”

“I don’t know.” Nick buckled himself in. “We’ll see, I guess.”

The shuttle nosed toward Earth. Belts of clouds were the only thing they could see for several minutes until they hit atmosphere. The stars disappeared under steam and fire. Finally, they passed through the cloud line, revealing a swampy landscape with a circle of stone crowning the tether. On a closer look, the tether seemed to be organic, even tree-like. Well, aside from the fact that trees don’t grow to the size of mountains.

“I think that’s the Keranu Wall,” Xanthus said.

“Landing sequence initiated,” announced the auto-pilot.

Suddenly, a grey object flashed by. Before Nick could make out what it was, wind punched through the cockpit and sprayed glass everywhere.

“Hold on to something!” Nick yelled to the intercom. “We’ve been hit! Something blew out the windshield. Prepare for a crash landing.”

The space shuttle flipped over, turning cloud and Earth into a kaleidoscope. After a few rotations, the shuttle stopped tumbling and fell into a corkscrew.

“Sorry, Caroline,” Nick said to himself.

The passenger door whipped open, revealing a very confused Grand. He leapt for Nick’s controls.

“Auto-pilot overridden. Emergency landing sequence initiated,” the auto-pilot announced.

After a few grunts and curses, Grand leveled the shuttle. Nick heard something like the small blast of air and two parachutes opening from the wings.

Too late.

Branches slapped the window. The shuttle slammed ground, skipping over rocks and bushes. Tree limbs shredded the parachutes. Rocks scrapped the bottom, and muddy water sprayed over the windshield. They slid for what seemed like an eternity, until a tuft of land kicked them to a stop. Grass and dirt flicked upward and then rained down in thick, muddy plops.

Welcome to the south side of the Keranu Wall, announced the computer.

Grand’s quivering brow set on Nick. A ribbon of blood cake ran around his eyes, down his cheek and across his chest. He breathed deeply and roared, “Well done, Nikolas! There’s my copilot.”

“That was awesome!” Nick stood to his feet, adrenaline still pumping through him. “We were like spinning, and then the parachute and then we just rammed into the ground.”

“Something hit us?” said Xanthus.

“You mean those?” Grand pointed to the tether. “Groungers.”

Several winged tadpoles the size of a small plane swarmed the tether. Electricity threaded through their bodies, lighting up a mangle of intestines and bones.

“Groungers?” Xanthus said. “Those aren’t in my bestiary. . . .”

“They feed off the tether’s electricity. The shuttle’s power system was just another meal.”

Grand stood full height, let out a triumphant breath and stepped into the cabin door. “How are we? Appendages connected to their traditional counterparts?”

Most said, “Yes.”

“Good, good,” Grand said. “Then we make for Huron, by way of the Mottle Craw.”

“Wait,” said Caroline. “Shouldn’t we rest up? Maybe eat or something? We did just crash land, you know.”

“Impossible, Miss Wendell,” said Grand. “If we miss this flight, the next won’t be for a month. Huron cannot wait.”

Grand fisted the shuttle door button. Beep, beep. The air hissed. Harnesses unclicked, and feet banged through the cabin.

“Why didn’t we just land in Huron in the first place?” asked Xanthus. “Would’ve saved all the screaming and flames of death.”

“Couldn’t,” said Grand. “Mon guards its skies from illegal Earthlings sneaking across. They’d burn us alive before we touched the clouds.”

They all piled up around the cabin door, except for Tim. He was white knuckling the back of a seat.

“Nothing blew up, Tim,” said Nick. “We made it.”

“Is there a bathroom on this shuttle?” Tim stood up carefully. “I really hope there’s a bathroom on the shuttle.”

Nick didn’t bother to answer Tim. He was too busy gawking. There was mud and fog, everywhere.

“Earth. Epochs ago,” Grand announced, hopping out into a slab of mud.

Xanthus put a hand to his chest and took a ceremonial step into the mud. “Oh wow wow wow. Here I step, Xanthus Kobayashi. The first boy to touch foot upon an ancient and magical Earth . . . Mr. Grand, I’ve got some questions for yo—cawk! Cawk! Cawk!”

Before Xanthus could unleash his litany of questions, everyone started to cough.

“I got some questions, too!” Nick gagged. “Like, what is that smell?” The air was rank with a filthy, iron stench.

“That—” Grand’s nostrils whistled. “—smells like dirt.”

“It smells disgusting!” Brandy covered her mouth with a black silk handkerchief.

“Come now,” said Grand. “They have dirt where you’re from.”

“Not in the cities,” Daniel said, covering his own mouth. “It’s synthetic dirt. Meant to keep the germs out.”

Mud wasn’t the only invasion to their senses. Small, little creatures bizzed and buzzed everywhere.

“Are those?” said Brandy.

“Yes, Brandy.” Daniel steadied himself. “Insects. I’ve seen them once before, in that museum off of Rollhill Pass.”

And then came the barrage of Xanthus-questions.

“First, I gotta ask, Mr. Grand, dude. Are Furies benevolent or not? I’ve always been partial to the anti-hero camp, cause, you know, they seek justice, but they’re pretty psychotic about it. Like Marvel’s The Punisher. Second, and this is really important. Are any of Tolkein’s creatures actually real? I hope that’s the case. Maybe an Ent, perhaps? Fimbrethil the Ent? But I’ll settle for a gollum. Also, are gumnut babies and chucklebuds the same creature? There’s been a raging debate on the Myth-us boards for, well . . . as long as I’ve been alive. To give my two cents, I would say they were the same creature at one point in history, but a mage or a wizard got involved and created a second species. I’d say the chucklebuds were the original. Kinda like mogwai and gremlins.”

Meanwhile, Brandy toed the mud with her Louboutins, shivered, and then retrieved a small bottle of hand sanitizer from her black purse. She lathered it all over her neck, arms and legs. She lifted another glop to her face, squeezed her eyes shut and—

Whheeeebooom.

Brandy screamed, dropped her sanitizer into the mud, and shielded herself from a mushroom of fire and shrapnel. The shuttle blazed white hot.

“Well—” Brandy kept her hand over her face, “—you didn’t blow us up, Nick. Guess you didn’t break your promise.”

“My bestiary—” Xanthus said, reaching into the flames. “My hologlasses!”

Grand grabbed Xanthus by his coat. “Nothing in there you need.”

“This is unacceptable!” Xanthus protested. “I have spent the better part of my teen career beating Magicgeddon. I need my escape, man.”

Grand looked upward. “Well, I suppose the brother planets will have to do.”

Everyone followed Grand’s gaze to the sky. They had landed in some bowl-shaped valley. Trees, with no sense of direction, climbed out of rock face and brackish pools. Where there weren’t moldy leaves, mud pockmarked the ground. And where there weren’t moldy leaves and pockmarked mud, there were small bits of grass pushing out like upside down goatees. Several winged ships looked like they had been hung out to dry on the cliff sides. Each ship had a shabby ladder filled with a long line of odd, malformed looking people.

Still, there was mud. Everywhere.

“Let’s get moving,” said Grand. “Our ship waits for no one.”

“Ok,” said Xanthus. “But I still have some questions for you Mr. Grand. Minotaurs. Are their hooves split or not, cause . . .”

And so they began the long march toward the Mottle Craw, escorted by the sound of muddy footfall. Daniel’s cane presshed and prushed in the mud while sneakers and black dress shoes plopped. That is, except for Brandy’s. She insisted Xanthus give her a piggy back ride because she wouldn’t dare subject her Louboutins to that filth. Chattering voices began to build in the group. They either talked about the smell, the strange ships off in the distance, or who screamed the loudest during the landing. But there was only one person who remained silent. Haley. Not just silent, Nick noticed her unsteady stride, and that golden blond hair had gone limp and stringy. He moved closer to her to ask if she was OK. She waved him off.

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They walked for at least another hour. By this time Xanthus had switched from conversations about mythological body types to a diatribe on why he believed dragon lore originated in China, and not Europe, which was clearly a Eurocentric idea. He then began to list off several other creatures that predated European mythology. That was when Haley lunged for Nick.

“Haley?!” Nick caught her. “Are you OK? Haley—your eyes—?”

Dark circles hung under Haley’s blue eyes, and parts of her skin were covered with a creamy, bluish film.

“Just—motion sickness. I get it sometimes.” Haley tried to pull herself up.

“Haley?” Tim turned around.

“I’m OK, Tim. Just need to catch my breath.” Haley put her hand up, proving she could stand on her own.

“You need to sit down,” Tim insisted. “Just for a minute. Let me help you.”

“Seriously, Tim.” Haley’s fingers formed into a karate defense position. “Back off.”

Unaware of the scene behind him, Grand continued to march forward.

“Hey!” Xanthus said. “What’s with those guys?”

“The swayers?” said Brandy.

“Yeah. Look,” said Xanthus. See, over there. A ton of people standing on that wall, holding their hands up like they’re praying to the tether or something.”

Brandy slipped off Xanthus’ back to have a better look, then shrugged. “Probably some religious stuff.”

“Not religious,” Grand said. “They hope to breathe in Mon air. Find their inner-air, I’m certain.”

Everyone turned with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve got a lot to catch you up on, I see. Earth has little magic, but Mon is filled with it. Its very air is rife with magic. The swayers stand on the wall to catch a bit of Mon air.”

“What’s it doing for them?” Brandy said.

“To begin with, it will extend your life tenfold.”

“Tenfold? How old are you?” Daniel tilted over his cane.

“Five-hundred and twenty-three.”

“Geez,” Nick said. “Holding up well, Grand.”

“You cannot be that old,” Daniel’s mouth hung open. “It is . . . impossible.”

“I am, laddie,” Grand chuckled. “One doesn’t forget five-hundred and twenty-three years. But more importantly,” Grand continued. “Mon air gives you jynn’us. These poor souls don’t need to stand so close to the tether and risk being struck by lightning. This entire valley holds enough deep air to awaken any power they might have.”

“Oh yeah. That’s another question I had,” said Xanthus. “Can you give me some of that jynn’us?”

“Let’s not be hasty, lad,” Grand said. “You cannot get jynn’us. Magic has a mind of its own. It will choose you if it so desires. And the jynn’us may not always be to your liking. There are a variety of powers for a variety of souls.”

“OK,” nodded Xanthus. “Variety of powers. I can live with that. So what are my options?”

“There are many options,” Grand said. “Trinkes, automa, atla—that one is mine by the way. Those are the conventional ones. There’s also lustratio, transe, ethereal. Thousands really. And new ones crop up everyday. But this is all irrelevant at the moment, Xanthus. It will be months before you’d undergo the transformation.”

Xanthus tilted his head. “Is there any way to speed up?”

Behind the throng of questions, Nick noticed Haley looking to the Keranu Wall. Her head swayed unsteadily, and the blue film had now covered every part of her skin. She was absolutely disinterested in their conversation on jynn’us. No, more than that. It looked like she was about to—

“Eeeewww!” Brandy hopped on one leg. “Not on the shoes! Uggh! You did not just blow chunks all over my Louboutins.”

Haley clutched Caroline’s arm, trying not to collapse again.

Grand moved around Caroline and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Lass. Look at me.”

Her head slowly rose to Grand’s. The blue film had now covered her hair and teeth.

“I see everything.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “It hurts to look. I can see it all.”

Grand shook his head and looked to Xanthus. “Afraid I owe you an apology, Mr. Kobayashi.”

Caroline cooed as she wrapped an arm around Haley and found a lone boulder. She turned her horn-rimmed glasses on Grand. “What’s wrong with her, Mr. Lyons?”

“Everything! Everything is wrong with her, but that will change soon enough,” Grand grinned. “Jynn’us has found Haley, and within only an hour of our landing . . . quite extraordinary . . .”

“No way, Haley!” Xanthus cried. “You got some jynn’us? Already?! I love this place! OK, OK. I gotta record everything that happens to you. And . . . I need samples. Lots of samples. Hair. Skin. Urine.”

“That is disgusting, Xanthus,” Caroline said.

“This is a momentous occasion!” Xanthus raised his hands in the air. “You’re so lucky, Haley. Oh, wait. You breathe it in, right? Maybe I just need to breathe deeper. You know, open up my lung capacity.” Xanthus went bug-eyed, inhaling like a gorilla suffering from cardiac arrest.

Without warning, Grand began to march again. “She will be sick over the next few days. Lucky for you, we have proper quarters on the Mottle Craw. Let’s keep it moving, if we want to make it by sunset.”

“Ugh.” Brandy smacked her shoes on a rock. “Sounds just about right. Haley gets a power up, and I’m scrubbing chunks off my shoes.”

It took another hour of spongy bogs, unrelenting rocks, and piggy back rides, but they finally made it to the cliff face. Haley looked at the large airship clinging to the side of the cliff and the half-mile stairwell leading to it.

She groaned.

Grand quickly explained that prepaid passengers didn’t have to wait in line and pointed to a massive bowl.

“It’s a willy-kirk,” Grand marched to the bowl. “It’ll take us up to our ship. I’ve never been too good with these willy-kirks, though. They require a more delicate touch.” Grand petted the rim of the bowl. It shook like a wet cat, and then tipped over. “Will you look at that? It responded right away. Too much of your world’s moisturized soap, I’d wager.”

They all stepped slowly into the willy-kirk. When everyone was in, the willy-kirk righted itself and began to rise skyward toward the Mottle Craw. Xanthus gingerly leaned out of the bowl to see what mechanism lifted them up. He looked slowly to Nick, grinned, and then looked back over. Nick peered over. They weren’t being lifted up by a mechanical lift, rather a very strong root system.

Xanthus spun around and began reviewing all the strange creatures walking up the rickety stairs. “Gabans, Salks . . . Wait, I know that one. I know it . . .” He reached into his vest, and then remembered his bestiary had gone up in flames with the shuttle. “A tragedy . . . Mr. Grand, dude. Are they coming with us?”

“If fate wills it,” Grand shook his head. “They’re standing in line for the lottery. It is a privilege to go Monside. You’ll find that people will do all sorts of tricks to cross the tether. I once met a fell—”

“Mermaids!” Xanthus cut Grand off and flung himself to the other end of the willy-kirk. A second willy-kirk below them carried two mermen in wheelchairs. “Wicked cool.”

Huron knifed Nick’s skull: The Rones lie about their true intent. They enter the city of Huron at the peril of us all.

Nick grabbed the edge of the willy-kirk.

The Rones lie about their true intent. They enter the city of Huron at the peril of us all.

Nick crumpled to his knees.

“Nikolas?” Grand looked to his grandson.

“It’s her . . .” Nick tried to stand up.

The Rones lie about their true intent. They enter the city of Huron at the peril of us all.

Nick moaned and wiped something warm from his lip.

Blood.

“What’s going on, Grand?” said Nick.

“Is it her?” Grand whispered over his shoulder. “Is Huron speaking to you?”

“She just keeps repeating herself. Goes on and on about those Rones.”

“Mermaids, Mr. Grand,” Xanthus shouted, pointing to the willy-kirk below them.

“Merrows, Mr. Kobayashi,” Grand called back. “That is what we call them. Even so, that isn’t their true name. In more ancient times they were called something else.” Grand looked back to Nick. “Rones.”

“Rones?” Nick turned slowly and edged over the willy-kirk. “Rones . . . The Rones lie about their true intent . . . Those Merrows are Rones?”

“One and the same,” said Grand. “Huron knows the ancient tongue better than our own. She warns you of the evil the Merrows bring to her city.”

Nick shook his head. “What? She—what?”

“The Council of Teine summoned me to aid the Merrows. So imagine my shock when you told me Huron’s message,” Grand breathed deeply. “Nikolas, she didn’t call you to save the Merrows. She called you to stop them.”

Nick watched an older Merrow adjust his fishtail and pat down a powdered wig.

“Everything just got complicated, didn’t it?”

“Yes, lad.” Grand gripped the edge of the willy-kirk. “I’m afraid your troubles have just begun.”

Nick let out a long, tired sigh.