Mariana Trench

Six: The Undead Tales

"Everyone remembers what he said that night, mostly because he routinely takes over the city's communications, once a week, always around the same time. He even has a villain saying," we waited, Jesse said nothing. "So, what is it?" I drawled. Demelza gave me a half admiring, half exasperating look. No doubt she was thinking, "Good Thalea, good on the human expressions, but do you have to be so rude." Jesse however, seemed to be immune to my rudeness. Of course, I get the human who's not easily offended.
"It's Mors Venit." "What?" Demelza asked stupidly, but I knew what it meant. It was one of the many languages I and her had learned. "Mors venit, it's Latin for—"Death is coming." I said. "Yeah, wait how did you know that?" "I know languages, just didn't think other, people, did." It was difficult, very difficult, to avoid saying, "Other humans," Demelza nodded. "We know a few different languages, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek—"Wow, that's fucking cool." Said Jesse, looking excited, though I couldnt imagine why. "So, other than having a weird saying, what is so bad about these people?" "Huh, oh right, them, so anyway, the Undead Gang have a serious grip on the Reef Crest. It's where the cops believe is there base of operations, but no one knows where it is exactly. When cops go in, they usually never come back out." Demelza shuttered, I looked bored.
"No one knows their numbers, meaning how many there are, no one knows their method of communication, besides taking over the city's communications. There's been a city wide curfew, anyone who isn't a resident ofthe Crest has to leave it before sunset, and all residence must be indoors by sunset. That way, they can minimize casualties." "Are you saying that no one is doing something about this, about them?" "No, but the cops can't really do much, they're fighting an enemy that relies heavily in the darkness. Even in broad daylight, the Corpses, that's what they call their members, they know how to get away in the most unexpected ways."
"How's that?" Asked Demelza. "They can climb buildings like you wouldn't believe, they can disappear like ghosts in a heartbeat, doesn't matter if it's a robbery, kidnapping, killing or torture, they vanish and there's no trace left behind." "Sounds like the League Of Assassins from The Arrow." Said Demelza, giving me a sharp look. Jesse frowned, "You know what, that's a freaking good description. Though their master, The Vampire, he's more like Damien Darhk. He's not shy about showing off his costume either." Jesse paused by a resturant and pulled out a miny flat electronic, a phone. "Here, this is what he looks like." Demelza took it and I reluctantly looked over her shoulder. A white face, an extremely white face, stared back, long red hair in human braids fell to his shoulders, his eyes though, the eyes were red, pure, red, no pupils, just red orbs. There was red around his mouth and chin, and he was dressed in black.
"Wow," Said Demelza, staring at the image. "Oh honey it gets worse." Said Jesse pulling up another image. This one was taken at a distance, and, I frowned, "It looks—"Like he's flying doesn't it." I shook my head, though the popular human saying came to mind, "It's twenty twenty-two, anything is possible." "They, the cops I mean, at first thought he was an Indigo, but realized it was due to the red cloak he wears. Somehow he's fashioned it so he can glide around the damn city like a real bat." I remembered from my lessons that the Indigo were creatures with inhuman abilities. There was a theory that the merepeople could be considered indigo as well. "Is all this available on the internet?" Asked Demelza. "Most of it yeah, but my parents are cops, so I am able to hear more than the general public." The look Demelza gave me might have actually hurt if she'd sang it out underwater.
"When's the last time they've been active?" Demelza asked. "Oh just a few nights ago, they robbed one of the banks in the Crest and put a few of the workers and three security guards in the hospital." "What did they take?" "Money and jewels. No one knows what their motives are besides the fact they do The Vampire's bidding. Whatever he commands, they do." Jesse stared off into the distance as we walked for a bit. "I honestly wonder why the government is allowing school to start, clearly nowhere is safe, not now they are here, not now they've been here for so long. Part of it is because I don't wanna go back to school, I mean who does, but still, they are clearly a huge threat. Where's the National Guard or something. The army or military."
I was honestly going to throw Demelza into the nearest ocean, which wasn't near at all, but I was. The looks she was giving me was very, very, very vexing. Part of me wondered if somehow Minerva orchestrated this meeting with this girl, or Demelza. I wouldn't have been surprised, though a smaller part of me wondered if it could have been the god or goddess of the deep blue sea. If the one who ruled the waves could've orchestrated this meeting. Though if they had, then they meant for me to suffer above the waves, meant for me to be tortured by leaving my home in the sea. Jesse kept talking to herself, seeming to forget Demelza and I were there. "They have such a control over everything, they basically rule Coral City, it won't be long before they go for the city's infrastructure, the mayor, all the city's leaders. Hell, they already have the Mayor under their thumb. Won't be long until we're really suffering, then it'll be too late."
"It's not too late already?" Asked Demelza. Jesse gave her head a little shake, as if she really did forget we were here with her. "No, it's not, if the cops had more help, or bigger balls, they could take the Undead Gang and catch The Vampire. But because they're outnumbered, outgunned, and honestly, outmatched, they can't but do so much. The corpses know all about venoms and poisons, thanks to their master, they know things cops never learn." "De—Penelope," I was getting very annoyed by her non-discrete looks. Demelza however, just smiled. Jesse looked around and said, "Shit, I need to head home, well I hope to run into you guys again, especially you." She looked at me, "I see you let your sister do most of the talking, but I'd love to know more about you too." Then she turned and walked away.
"Well?" Demelza asked. "I wish we were still underwater so I could savagely rip out your throat." She smirked and patted my arm. "I love you too." She tugged on my hand, "Come on, we have a lot to tell Ophelia." Ophelia, or Minerva, didn't at all like what we had to say. "We're not here to get rid of a smalltime gang, we are here to discover the major organization that is hunting merepeople. We're here to stop them, not to go running through the streets." "Don't you see though, this city needs help, like Jesse said, it's only a matter of time before they take it over completely. We won't be able to find anything if they are controlling the entire city." "We're here for one thing and one thing only, that's it." Said Minerva coldly before walking away. Demelza smiled at me. "What?" I asked. "What do you think?" "I think the sooner we find this organization, the sooner I get to go home." Demelza's face fell, and she walked to her human room her head bowed, meekly, weakly.
    As if I were ever going to help humans. I was sentenced above to stop humans discovering our existence. I was shunned, imprisoned to this life, trapped, why would I even dare to help the very creatures who I was supposed to be protecting merpeople from. The very creatures who shunned me to this life anyway. I snarled, stuck in this never ending circle, swimming in this cavern I couldn't get out of. I walked toward the hidden doorway that lead down to the lower level, to the secret entrance that was my only way home. The Undead Gang, the Vampire, another organization that was supposedly hunting us, one that supposedly may be close. All these what ifs, all these maybes, all these unanswered questions.
    When I entered the gigantic space, I smelled the lovely scent of salt and water. I gave the water a longing look, that is, until I saw her. Zoe floated on her belly, her eyes on me. I scowled viciously and bared my human teeth. She said nothing, just watched me. I turned to the array of weapons and supplies. Gangs and leaders, terrors that may not be so different than under the waves. There were marauding gangs, Swarms we called them, under the waves. Rogue merepeople or animals who tortured, killed, took others for the hell of it. Just because they loved to hurt others. I frowned over the weapons, running a hand over a few.
    A bow, arrows, guns, swords, bow staffs, chains, throwing things, darts, knives. All of which I learned, learned how to control, how to fight with, how to kill with. Their were bottles of different colored liquids, poisons and miracle cures. I lifted a bow, and reached for an arrow, then paused. Then, moved to the tridents, three pronged spears, none of which would fit on a bow, unless. It took several human hours, work that was oddly relaxing. Taking already made arrows, taking the feathers off, melting them together in what humans called a forge, pausing, then taking pure ore and working it into three separate points, then molding them together.
    Hours upon hours of hard work, and time, time I spent brooding, time I spent thinking, and, relaxing. I lifted the newly made arrow from the cooling water, and stared at it. I honestly didn't realize the care I took in making the weapon. A little longer than a normal arrow, it was light, and the trident's end didn't have so much weight on it. And, on the arrow's length, repeated up to the points, were strange designs I didn't remember creating. The feathers were longer than the original feathers. "Well, are you going to try it out?" I snarled viciously spinning around on the spot. Demelza stood there, a small smile on her face. "You really didn't think we wouldn't notice you were gone right? I just hoped I'd find you down here." She approached reaching out a hand to touch the weapon's tip. "Strange, you know, the Indigo have a similar thing, they have a bow with a trident as an arrow, that's like, their major symbol deal."
    I ignored that little bit of human trivia, and loaded the trident on to the string, feeling comfortable in the motion. Though of course, I'd trained using a bow several times. I drew the string back, and fired the trident into a target two hundred human yards away. The trident hit the center mark, punching smoothly in. Demelza smiled broadly and said, "Look at that, going to become a vigilante after all? After all that?" I snarled at her. "People need someone like you Thalea, someone who understands them. And this city, this whole city understands. Do you remember what Coral City was before—"It was the base of the Keeper organization, those who wanted to destroy the Indigo." I said. "Yes, and after all that, they rebuilt this place into a wonder, into something that was supposed to be a place of magic, of sea breezes, of happiness. And look at it, overrun with a gang who has the police completely out numbered, and the police won't enlist help from the Indigo. And the Mayor ordering them to withdraw." She reached out and touched my hand.
    "I know you abhor humans, abhor merepeople just as much, if not more. But humans need our help, and merepeople need our help. You can help them both, you can bring peace, not as a vigilante like The Arrow, or the Black Canary. Maybe not even like The Flash or Supergirl. But become your own vigilante. End the Undead Gang's reign." I snarled, and, relented, slightly. "One condition." Demelza looked like the happiest mermaid alive. "Anything—"You have to join me, and you, get to tell Minerva." Demelza's face fell. "Ah—"Yeah, ah." I said. Demelza touched the bow and looked at the hot forge, all the materials still laid out. "Why don't we make more?"
I could've refused, wanted to refuse, needed to refuse. She was a mermaid, and merepeople casted me out. They through me out of the ocean and abandoned me on shore. She was merely another mermaid, she, Minerva, even Zoe over there watching me, silently. "Thalea"0"What?" Demelza reached for a sword and unsheathed it. "It's almost going to be time for ing to go back in the water, so, why don't we see how you do with a little sparing?" I frowned as she began to strip out of her human clothing. "Why bother, we both know I'm perfect, there's no need for me to." Demelza shrugged, "Humor me." A human concept.
I stripped my heart oddly racing as the idea of getting to be back in the water excited, yes, excited me. "Pick your weapons." Demelza grabbed a, What was it? A boomerang. I grabbed a sword for myself, then hesitated. I looked to where I rad the bow and the newly made arrows, arrows that would've taken any human forever to make but us just a number of hours. I grabbed it, sliding the sheath over a shoulder. Demelza smiled and said, "This should be interesting." With that, she sprang for me.
I blocked her first strike and backed up swiftly. I pulled my bow off ' shoulder and loaded a trident, firing in the same breath. Demelza slashed the arrow out of the air, and the next, and, the, next. Demelza moved toward me, ignoring the tridents I shot her way. I dodged a swing, and blocked the next with the bow before drawing my sword. I lashed out with a kick and slashed for Demelza's throat. She flipped backward and flung her boomerang. I instinctively ducked, and rose, and sensed the attack a human millisecond too late. I flung myself to one side, but couldn't completely avoid the the boomerang struck on it's return trip. As Demelza caught it, I opened my mouth, and let out my Orca Cry.
Demelza gasped and let out a cry of pain, putting her hands over her ears. Then, she rushed me, slamming into me, she sent us both flying ten feet, and into the water. Strength flooded my body and mind, and something a little foreign to me. It allowed me to blip Demelza and slash at her, leaving sparkling trails in the dark water. My gills opened, and I drank in the water deliciously, well, oxygen filled water. Was it my imagination, or were Demelza's eyes glowing? Either way—"She lash out and I blocked her strikes, again, again, again. I hadn't realized it, but I had shifted into my mermaid body, my tail lashing in time with my heartbeats, filling me with that odd thing. We both rose and broke the surface. She grinned at me and said, "How do you feel?" "How do I feel?" Was that a trick question? I felt like a mereperson should, felt like I should. "The word you're looking for, is powerful. Because we are powerful. And you should use that to protect—"Enough." I snarled and lashed out again. Demelza laughed.