"In the beginning there was nothing. Then from nothing, the four Goddesses came. Some stories talk of them as sisters, some stories talk of them as lovers. The truth is that divinity in our world is not something so simple, and does not adhere to the labels that we may use. However, for the story I'm going to tell today, I will be using both terms to refer to the Goddesses, so try not to get confused, okay kids?" We all nodded, though most of my classmates did so absent-mindedly. "Very well then. When the four Goddesses first came into existence, their presence alone caused our world to form, and all the life that inhabits it. They all loved each other very much, and from them came into being many more Goddesses. One day, however, Water and Fire, usually the most united, had an argument. The ancient scriptures do not tell us what the reason for the discussion was, but what we do know is that shortly after, Water, in a fit of rage against not only Fire but all three of her sisters, engulfed our world in water, sinking the lands and bringing all life down with them. However, those beings did not perish, instead they quickly adapted to the new ecosystem they found themselves in, and thrived. One of those species, the humans, managed to evolve by observing the animals that had lived underwater for many eons before them, and so, while they all remained part of the same species, they had drastic differences among each other. That is why us mermaids, descendants of the humans, can look very different from one another." What the elder was saying was clearly meant to teach us equality, that we're the same despite our differences. However that's not what I was interested in, no, rather than learning about such basic concepts I wanted to know more about the history of our world. I wanted to know why Water and Fire argued, I wanted to know what truly set in motion the events that led to the world being as we know it today. In that very moment I made a decision: one day I would set out to find Water herself and ask her why she flooded our world.


Many, many years later, I wake up in my bed. Today is a day like any other, nothing in the schedule except for the usual work at the museum. So I get out of bed, put on some clothes and try to find a way to kiss my girlfriend without pricking my face on her spines before heading out to work. The village seems particularly alive today, with many people all over the streets. As I'm on my way to the museum, I hear the bells ring. That's odd, my clock says the new hour began only 20 minutes ago, and the sound the bell is making, it feels... different... As the bell keeps ringing, I realize: it's not being rang to signify that the hour has changed, but to signal an emergency. Immediately my mind rushes to Valerie: she's probably still sleeping in our bed, I have to go get her! I immediately rush back home, and once I get there I notice no one is outside anymore, they've probably all locked themselves inside their own homes. I enter the house and close the door, the windows and the curtains before going to our room to wake up Valerie.

I put my hand on her and shake her gently, whispering: "Val! Val! Wake up!"

She groans and, still with her eyes closed, replies: "Mhhh? What is it, love? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"They rang the emergency bell, it could be dangerous, you should be awake."

She yawns. "Whaaaaat? But isn't megalodon season still 5 months away? Are you sure you didn't hear it wrong?"

"The whole village must've heard it wrong as well, seeing as they all locked themselves in their homes!"

She gets up from the bed, not even bothering to put on some clothes, and begins walking towards the window. "I think sometimes you really worry too much, dear Susanne. Now, I'm gonna take a look out the window and everything is gonna be fine, so stop stressing out so much, alright?" She moves away the curtain and takes a look outside. "See? Nothing out of the... um... dear, has the neighbor's house always looked like a pile of rubble or am I seeing things?" Confused, I throw some clothes at her to get dressed before taking a look out the window myself. Valerie's description was accurate, the neighbor's house is looking an awful lot like a pile of rubble, but I could've swore it was perfectly normal before I came inside. I keep looking and see that many other houses are in a similar state, until eventually, a big, purple eye swims in front of the window. It's looking right at me, almost into my soul, and I can't help but stare back. Valerie pushes me back and close the window, before rushing to the other side of the house while dragging me by the arm. "What the fuck were you thinking? Just staring at that thing, whatever it was! What if it's a predator?!" Valerie angrily whispers at me. Still partly shocked, I reply: "Sorry, I... it's just... that eye was so interesting... it felt like it was calling to me..." Valerie seems even more enraged. "The only eyes that should be calling to you are mine! Anyways, that was dangerous, have you ever seen a beast with similar eyes?" Now that I think about it, a can't recall a single animal that had distinctively purple eyes, so I shake my head. "Exactly! This is something which we haven't seen before, you can't just stare right at it! Chances are, that's whatever tore down the other houses in the neighborhood. If I had to guess, it's probably some creature from the deeper regions that lost the way back home and ended up here. You're lucky it didn't lunge at you the moment it spotted you, it's out of its natural habitat, it must be starving! Now what we're gonna do is stay here and stay quiet until-" she suddenly closes her eyes for a couple seconds, before opening them back up. "Do not look to your right. It's staring right at us, and if you look at it, you might provoke it. Let's go to the underground cellar, nice and slow. Now." We slowly tip-toe down there, and once we've arrived, Valerie grabs a bottle of wine and starts drinking. "What are you doing?!"

"Listen honey, that thing out there, it is dangerous, it is smart, smarter than most other predators at least, and is capable of tearing down whole houses in a matter of minutes. Now, I'm definitely an optimist, however, if this is it, I choose to go out happy, drunk and making out with my girlfriend, rather than scared and sober. Don't you agree?" She leans in for a kiss, and I push her back with one of my tentacles. "Woah, since when do you use your hair to push your girlfriend away?"
"Since she decided that getting drunk is preferable to trying her best to survive. And I used my tentacles because I didn't wanna prick my hand on your hair." She pouts. "That monster can tear down houses, Sue, houses. I don't think there is much I can do, except for staying down here. So I choose to do what I actually can do, which get drunk and, more importantly, have fun with you." She gets closer again, but this time, rather than trying to get a kiss from me, she goes for a hug. "I'm really scared. That thing up there isn't normal. Most if not all of our neighbors might be dead and I fear we're gonna be next." I hug her as well, and start caressing her head with one of my tentacles. "Don't worry, we're not gonna die. I'm gonna take a very quick look at what's going on outside to check if that thing is still there, ok?"

"But... it could be dangerous..."

"Don't worry, I'll be perfectly fine." I say as I approach the exit to the cellar. However, when I try to push the trapdoor up, it doesn't budge. "It's not opening..."

"Well, then it probably tore down our house as well, wonderful. The rubble must be blocking it. However, if it destroyed the house and didn't come down here, then it probably gave up, which means... we should be... safe..." Valerie faints as she says these words. She must've passed out from the anxiety, and probably also from the half bottle of wine that she drank in less than a minute. I decide to sit beside her while waiting for someone to come rescue us, and start drinking some wine as well.


After what felt like hours, I hear some noise coming from above. A couple more minutes pass and someone opens the trapdoor to look in our cellar. "Hello!" I say to the rescuers, slightly drunk. I may have also drank a bit too much. "Are either of you injured? Is anyone missing?" I shake my head. "Alright then, let's get you out of here." The workers help me get out and, since she's still sleeping soundly, they also carry Val. "What happened to that thing? Did it go away?"

"Well, we managed to kill it, though not before it took many of us down with it..."

"Really? What was it? I only saw its eye."

"We're not sure, but apparently it looked an awful lot like a megalodon."

"What? But isn't their season still almost half a year away?"

"That's what I said, but they kept insisting it looked just like one. Well, except that its skin was much more brown, and apparently not only were its eyes purple, but also its heart, and you could see it through the skin..." I tilt my head, confused. I've never heard of any such shark, and clearly Valerie hasn't either, since she couldn't recognize the eye. "How's the rest of the village doing?"

"We put that thing down before it caused much destruction in the more populated areas, but I'm afraid to say this isn't the only neighborhood in such a dire condition." This is bad... A beast that's never been seen before suddenly starts terrorizing our village, tearing down houses, killing many... I think it's time I do what I promised myself many years ago. I need to set out, find Water, and ask her just what the fuck is going on. I should leave as soon as possible, there's no time to waste and... I don't want to have second thoughts once she wakes up... Suddenly, I feel something small and a bit spiky slam against my chest. "Mhhh, what are you thinking, dearie?" Shit. My eyes dart away from hers. "N-nothing, just where we should go, since you know, the house got destroyed..." She pouts. "I can tell you're lying, you know? Tell me what you really want to do."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous and stupid and I don't want you getting hurt."

"Oh, is it that childhood dream of yours, going to find where Water is to ask her all your questions?"

"How did you...?"

"It's literally the only stupid and dangerous thing you've ever said in your life, it really wasn't that hard of a guess." I begin blushing. "Well, I don't want you coming with me! You shouldn't be put in danger just because of what I want to do!" Her eyes narrow as she keeps staring right at me. "Mhhh, you see, this thought process is ignoring one vital detail."

"And that would be?"

"It's not taking into consideration what I want to do. And I want to go with you." I want to say no, but... I mean just look at how cute she is, how could I possibly deny her something? "Ugh, fine, but promise me to stay nearby and not go looking for danger, ok?" She nods, and then promptly goes to snuggle with my chest. We're the same age, but sometimes she really acts like a baby... Well then, I guess this settles it: tomorrow, me and Val are heading out to find the Goddess of Water. Though before that, we should probably find a place to sleep for tonight...