THE SECRET SEA: EXPANDED EDITION

15

I rise slowly, trying not to piss myself. "Your majesty...um...Suzy...may I speak?"

"You already are, boy."

"Right," I say. "What happened to Steven?"

"I borrowed his guise and memories to ease the strain of remaining in the physical realm. Now that we have entered the magickal plane, I have no more need for his soul. I released him so that we may speak more intimately."

"His soul? Steven's dead?"

"It's okay, Tim," says Eve. "Please don't freak out."

I force myself to meet the gaze of the goddess. "Please, Suzy...I just want to know what's happening."

"Eve, ease this boy's mind, but do not belabor your explanation," says the queen, turning her back to me.

"Tim, just finish the journal. Please. There's not much left."

The book is back in my hands somehow. I open the cover with trepidation.

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x
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ENTRY 16

I found myself hiking deep within an unfamiliar forest with no memory of having traveled there. Queen Suzerain was walking in front of me on a tiny trail cut by deer hooves. "Queen Suzerain, why are we here?" I finally asked.

We stopped in a clearing of dewy ferns surrounded by red pines so tall they scraped the sky. "The Courier lives near this place," said the queen. "Here, I will prepare you for your final task."

"Tell me more about this courier," I said, taking a deep breath.

"The Courier, the keeper of the sacred phrase, is but a mortal. A young human man, average in all respects. The task ahead of him is great—likely impossible—but I intend to give him a fighting chance."

"How?"

"He needs a guide. Someone to help him navigate the trials of magick he must face. This will be you. Alas, his will is weak. I doubt he will trust an outsider."

I nodded and steeled myself. "How can he be convinced?"

"Unbeknownst to The Courier, his dearest friend was recently lost at sea—a woman named Eve Plimb. She perished in a horrible maelstrom along with her husband. I retrieved their souls before they left the mortal plane with these." The queen pulled two small vials from a gold band around her waist. "Soul vessels."

A spark of pale blue light danced in each minuscule jar. "Why?" I asked.

"I will reform your flesh until you resemble Eve Plimb, then merge your soul with hers. This will imbue Eve Plimb with your deep understanding of the ways of magick from your time with the faeries—and if we're lucky, a dose of your courage."

"Will...we...retain the powers of the Aloja?"

"No. Your combined form will be mortal in all ways. No magick abilities at all, just knowledge of its use. Even though you will not retain any mystical power, your muscle memory should enhance Eve's physical prowess. You are a fine warrior."

This wasn't what I had been expecting. "And what becomes of my mind once our fates are intertwined?"

The queen put her hand gently on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Pteridophia, but I'm afraid your essence will not survive the transference. However, you already know you were not long for this world. As a halfbreed residing in a realm of fading magick, your life was always destined to be tragically short. Eve Plimb's resurrection will ensure a part of you lives on—your memories."