Talen

Memories

From that day forward, there was not a single thought for my son. There was an echo of something protective that sputtered weakly once, and it was for a pair of eels who had had their tails tied together. I drove off the merchildren tormenting them, and I didn't even know why. From that day on, Flotsam and Jetsam were my only companions. I gave them protection and food, and they gave me a set of eyes with which to spy on the world.

Through them, I learned of the merfolks' weaknesses. Not their collective weakness, but their individual failings, downfalls, and longings. And I knew my plan of attack.

I found, just on the borders of Atlantis, the carcass of some ancient, land-dwelling creature that had found its end on the ocean floor. Here I began amassing a collection of necessities. Herbs, books, and spells I had learned the hard way painstakingly copied down on scraps of hide. Wherever I could, I stole information. I hoarded every last drop of useless data, picking through them to find base roots of spells buried deep in the merfolk's everyday conversation. I was disgusted. This was a people saturated in magic, yet they no longer remembered how to use it themselves. If they turned their wills just a bit, they could move whole reefs with their words. But they had forgotten, and they carelessly mouthed words that could rend the ocean floor had they only known it.

My most valuable discovery, though, was in experimentation with the hands. I found that I could delay the collection of the price of magic for up to three days. After that, collection was swift and merciless. This I learned at the cost of my memories of my family. One moment they were there, and the next there were holes in my memory. I didn't even know what it was I was missing, just that there was an ache whenever I tried to recall what it was.

By sending out Flotsam and Jetsam, I learned to lure the merfolk with promises of acquiring what they desired. Most were a blur to me, faces and fins and desperate measures demanded, but the first two I remember with excruciating clarity.

The first was little more than a fishbone of a merman, barely more than a slip of skin swimming forlornly into my lair. There was a mermaid, he said haltingly, eyes darting around the dimly lit corners of the leviathan's carcass with fear, whom he loved. He wanted to woo her, to tell her how much he adored her, but she would surely never look at him, not like this. Please, he pleaded, wringing his hands, do something.

I laughed to myself. Flotsam had already visited his beloved's home and relayed to me that she loved him as well, and also thought he would never look at her. This situation was perfect. For me.

I produced for him a magical contract that allowed him three days, after which he must either produce the payment of a fresh shark's liver, or be mine forever. He barely listened, so eager was he for my services. The fool signed the contract, not even thinking about the dangers of lone shark hunting. I gave him the body of a god, and sent him on his way.

Not two hours later, his beloved came to me. She lived well, in a wealthy house, and it showed. Her form curved and billowed nearly as much as mine did. I admired her for a moment, until she opened her mouth. Then it was all I could do not to fly into a rage. She wasn't pretty, she wanted to be thin, she wanted to be little again. Did she not know what she had? Was she not grateful for the chance to have so much protection against hunger hanging around her? I seethed under my smile, I could hardly wait for three days to pass for this one.

The price I required of her was her very first toy. She laughed and signed away her life, as if she could even remember what her very first toy was. I stripped away her flesh and left her a skinny shriveling, but she crowed and said it was the most marvelous change she had ever felt. She swam out, eager to find her man.

I counted the hours as the days passed, and when they did, I sent my hands to drag the lovers to my home.

"Where is my shark's liver?" I asked the merman. He didn't have it, he quailed. How was he supposed to get one? Did I really expect he could pay such a ridiculous price? I grinned, turning to the mermaid. "Where is your first toy?" She began begging right away, claiming she had searched every corner of her house, but couldn't find it. Perhaps merely her favorite childhood toy would suffice?