Watery Graves

by Theophilus Monroe

  I smiled widely. “You got it.”

  “Tell your sister hi for me, would ya?” Joni asked. “Roger, too?”

  I nodded.

  “Nice to meet you, Pauli. You’re looking great by the way.”

  “Always, honey! Nice to meet you, too!”

  We turned to leave, and Agwe appeared around the corner. His face showed a mixture of emotions, but the dominant one was confusion. “Where are they taking La Sirene?”

  “She wants to be locked up,” I said. “She absorbed Anne Bonny’s curse, just before I sent the old pirate to Davey Jones’s locker.”

  Agwe raised his eyebrow. “Davey Jones?”

  “It’s slang. You know… pirates use it. At least in the movies. It means the grave… I think.”

  Agwe grinned slightly, but his eyes were following Joni as Titus took her away to the “brig,” wherever that was. “You’re right,” Agwe said, still not looking at me directly. “I was just surprised you knew of it.”

  “She says once I defeat Kalfu, she’ll be free of the curse. That is, if she isn’t able to overcome it naturally using Fomorian magic.”

  “She’s always getting herself into trouble, that one.” Agwe released an exacerbated sigh.

  “Some things never change,” I said. “She was like that when I knew her before.”

  “Seeing that your slithery friend has taken a new form, it appears what used to be my trident has chosen for itself a new steward.”

  I nodded. “I have to confess, I was kind of looking forward to going on a quest to get this thing. But it sort of came to us instead.”

  Agwe grinned. “I think your quest is still beginning. Which brings me to another subject we must address before we return you ashore to your friends.”

  “Sure thing,” I said.

  “Dumballah’s blessing,” Agwe said. “Are you aware of its power?”

  “I was told that it could basically make anything if I imagined it,” I said as I pulled the miniature statuette—a serpent coiled on a stick—from my bra. “One shot kind of deal. Make it count.”

  “It is not precisely true that it can make anything. What you choose must reflect the will of Dumballah himself.”

  “So a freezer full of ice cream that never runs out is strictly out of the question?”

  Agwe shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I’m not sure of Dumballah’s taste for ice cream. But I would hope you would create something that might aid you in your battle with Kalfu. Something that will benefit the Voodoo world.”

  “That’s just the thing. I mean, can’t I just will it to become a Kalfu killer?”

  “Well, that would be convenient, would it not? But again, the legends surrounding Dumballah’s blessing and what it actually entails are two different things.”

  “Marie Laveau created a quill that allowed her to predict the future,” I said.

  “That is not strictly true,” Agwe said. “Marie Laveau asked for foresight. Dumballah gave her the quill.”

  I twirled the miniature statue in my hand. “So this thing isn’t exactly God power.”

  Agwe shook his head. “Dumballah would never grant a mortal what you call ‘God power’ even if he could. He is ancient and powerful. But he is not Bondye.”

  “So Laveau asked for foresight. Not the quill. What I should ask for is a virtue, not an actually thing?”

  “This would be wise,” Agwe said. “Choose a virtue and allow Dumballah to craft for you a tool in kind, something that will aid you in your pursuit of the virtue you seek.”

  I nodded and turned to Pauli. “Sorry, buddy. I can’t give you your man harem after all.”

  “But you promised!” Pauli whined. “What good is my extra inch and a half without a harem to share it with!”

  The joke was lost on Agwe, who looked mildly horrified. “Again, I hope you choose a virtue, not a passion.”

  “I get it,” I said. “I was just giving Pauli a hard time.”

  “Sounds like that’s exactly what he wants,” Agwe said, grinning widely.

  My eyes widened a little. “Was that a joke?”

  “I’m not as humorless as I allow myself to appear.”

  I smirked. “So this trident… what do we do with it? You said it could restore Vilokan?”

  “I used this very trident, while mounted to my prior host, to form the firmament that protected Vilokan. It was impenetrable from without but, as you saw, vulnerable from within. It bathed all of Vilokan with the power of the sea. In my absence, particularly on account of my prior unwillingness to commit to the Academy, it nonetheless allowed me to offer the people who first came to it—mostly slaves—a place safe from their oppressors. A place where they could explore the arts—not just Voodoo, but the human arts, too.”

  Pauli scratched his head. “And I can use this thing to restore Vilokan’s firmament?”

  Agwe nodded. “And more importantly, to prevent Kalfu from arresting the souls who still languish in the waters.”

  “So how does this thing work? I mean, I grabbed it earlier and just sort of willed myself to change form. Seemed to happen.”

  “You need to take the trident by hand to wield its power. You will retain this form until you call it back into your hand and ask of it to change you still. Unlike the weapon Annabelle wields, yours will only manifest in a single form. But this single form has many powers, all powers drawn from the elements of water.”

  “So shape-shifting is water magic,” Pauli said. “Makes sense I guess, since water is fluid, but I can make big firmaments with it, too?”

  “Think of it as directing ordered chaos.”

  “So it’s like herding cats?”

  “I wouldn’t know. Never had a cat on account of living underwater.”

  “Good point,” Pauli said.

  “But if cats behave at all similar to two-year-old Merfolk, the analogy is fitting.”

  Pauli shrugged. “Not that I have a lot of experience with Mer-children, but I presume they aren’t that different than human children. And in that case, insofar as you can’t usually get two-year-olds to do anything you want, the analogy works.”

  “Then it is not altogether unlike herding cats. Water can be restrained, an order imposed on it to a degree, but at its core it remains chaotic, ever-changing.”

  “And I make a firmament with this stuff by…”

  “By directing the water to its place—but you do not command it. Chaos cannot be commanded, only directed and guided.”

  Pauli nodded. “So I just point and shoot?”

  “Speak to the element. An elementally forged weapon, as Annabelle can surely tell you, is more like a partner than a tool. Speak to it. Even if only through your mind. Allow it to see what you visualize and give it the freedom to respond in kind.”

  “How do I call it out to begin with, though?”

  “Say its name—Nix.”

  “Nix,” Pauli said. Instantly the trident formed in his hand, its diamond-tipped forks glistening in the glow of its own magic. Pauli’s eyes widened. “Almost as beautiful as me…”

  I elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Ow! Bitch, what was that for?”

  “The elemental gave you your body back. Unless you want to go back to snake form, best show Nix some respect.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Moonlight glistened off of my wet body as I reached the beach, Pauli walking just beside me. I felt the sand squish between my toes. Damn, it felt good to have toes again. Pauli stood beside me and took a deep breath.

  “Oxygen… oh how I’ve missed thee.”

  “We should probably find you some pants,” I said, thankful that the Merfolk were at least able to offer me a dress to wear after my tail shift wore off. Pauli would have worn a dress, too—wouldn’t have been the first time. But the Mer seemed a bit put off by the idea. I suppose trans acceptance simply hadn’t made its way into Mer culture yet. “And you should rethink the extra length you gave yourself. You look like a two-legged horse for Christ�
�s sake. I’m surprised you haven’t tripped over that thing.”

  “You know, technically I could shift it into anything I wanted. Why not a third leg? Who said it had to be a penis?”

  I giggled. “You said penis.”

  “I mean, do I really have one at all? Technically speaking, I’m still a boa constrictor, with a human soul, who has taken human form. Is this really a penis, or is the penis an illusion?”

  “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”

  “It’s probably a penis!” Pauli exclaimed.

  “I was going to say it’s a duck and let you assume that the analogy applied. Penises don’t usually quack. If they did, I’d seriously consider becoming a lesbian.”

  “Fair point,” Pauli said. “So I suppose we should find me some pants before we wander into town.”

  “Can’t you just shift into a clothed version of your bottom half?”

  “Doesn’t work like that, honey. I already tried giving myself a set of Louboutins. Speaking of which… I swear to God, if my Louboutins got ruined when Vilokan flooded…”

  “The whole place flooded, of course they got ruined.”

  “Ugh. That Kalfu fucker is going to have to face some serious diva rage when I get ahold of him.”

  “Can you just shift into something else, then? Until we can get you a pair of pants? I seriously don’t know how we’re going to get back to New Orleans if we have to hitchhike and you don’t have any pants on.”

  “Honey, that’s the only way to hitchhike. When they see what I’m packin’ they’ll have to stop. Who could resist?”

  “Gee, let me think… anyone who doesn’t have a death wish?”

  “It’s just a penis, Annabelle. It isn’t going to hurt anyone.”

  “Would you pick up a pantless man and give him a ride? Wait, don’t answer that question. You probably would. But believe me. No one else would.”

  “Fine,” Pauli said. “I’ll go back to snake form because, as you know, people are much more inclined to give a chick with a boa constrictor a ride.”

  “I’m a girl. I could get a ride a lot easier than you. Even with a snake.”

  Pauli smirked. “I’m going to turn into a snake, but not because snakes are more likely than pantless men to get picked up on the side of the road. I’m turning back into a snake because I can’t seem to access my aspect while shifted. I’ll teleport our asses back to New Orleans and we can skip the whole hitchhiking plan entirely.”

  I huffed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about that first. Can you really teleport that far?”

  Pauli shrugged. “Here’s to finding out? Where to do you suppose… your place?”

  I nodded. “With Vilokan gone, I’m betting Ashley is there at the very least, unless she’s on the reservation. But if she hid there, Oggie wouldn’t be with her.”

  “That’s right. Loa can’t get through the wards at the res. And you’re hoping he’s there waiting for you… in your bed, in your thousand-thread-count sheets, his rippling muscles, his semi-divine member pitching your sheets like a tent.”

  “Stop it,” I said, blushing. The last time I’d seen Oggie he kissed me—it was the first and only time he had. It was the culmination of months of flirtation, pain, and loss all poured into one senseless, no-holds-barred embrace. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been reliving that moment in my mind at least a couple times an hour since it happened. The one thing I hadn’t allowed myself to do is imagine anything more than that… and certainly not the ridiculous scene Pauli was trying to verbally paint for me.

  Pauli quickly shifted back into boa constrictor form, curled himself around my waist, and the next thing I knew we reappeared on what had been the driveway in front of my family’s plantation home.

  My jaw dropped. My house… where it once stood was now a pile of charred rubble. I fell to my knees. Emotion flooded over me. What had happened to my house? Centuries of heirlooms… I wasn’t proud of my family’s history. They’d owned slaves and, by all accounts, treated them real shitty. I hated that part of my heritage. But it was still history. My history. A history I valued if for no other reason than that it inspired me to want to be better, to do something noble with my family name.

  What happened here? I can’t believe…

  “Me either,” Pauli said, resuming human form and putting his hand on my shoulder as I remained kneeling.

  I glanced toward him.

  “Oh dear God, Pauli. We need to get you pants!”

  I recoiled from the sight of his massive you-know-what and began to laugh even as I was crying. He hadn’t meant to cause that reaction—but with so many emotions flooding my mind, I wasn’t sure of the right way to respond…

  “Kalfu and the Bokors attacked midday,” a familiar voice said. I turned and saw Mercy Brown standing there—the vampire who’d been helping my parents adjust to their blood cravings. She was the last “thing” I’d expected to find here. “We were powerless to intervene in the daylight. I’m sorry, Annabelle.”

  “Kalfu and the Bokors?” I asked. “And you’re sorry? As if you would have come to help anyway?”

  Mercy shook her head. “Our differences aside, Annabelle, Kalfu is as much my enemy as yours.”

  “But what about Ashley? Who all was here when they attacked?”

  “Mikah and Oggie, Ashley, her Shaman boyfriend, even Ellie and Sauron. They were all hiding out here. In your house.”

  “So my sister, Mikah, Oggie and the rest…”

  “They are all alive and well,” Mercy said. “I’ve given them all but Mikah and Oggie temporary shelter. In fact, Ashley gave me this. Asked me to give it to you when I found you.”

  Mercy handed me my cell phone.

  “Yeah, you’re a regular saint,” I said sarcastically. Technically, she could have stolen my phone, so it didn’t prove that what she was saying was true. Still, it struck me as I took my phone that it was probably the last possession I had left. Everything else I owned had either been destroyed in the flood of Vilokan or in the fire that consumed my house. Maybe my Camaro was okay… I could only hope.

  “What about Oggie and Mikah?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t drop the wards at Casa Do Diabo right away. Nico set those up, and they are a bit beyond my pay grade. So I’m afraid they couldn’t come in. You won’t be able to either.”

  “Any idea where they went?”

  Mercy shrugged. “Probably hunting down Kalfu. Oggie was the one who burned down your house.”

  “What? Oggie did that? Why would he…”

  “Kalfu showed up. Oggie said something about being cold…”

  “His testicles,” I said, chuckling. “He says that every time he casts a fire spell at his feet. No one ever laughs.”

  “You just did.”

  “Not at his joke, at the fact that he keeps trying to get a laugh out of it. I’m guessing his fire spread…”

  Mercy nodded. “He was protecting everyone else. The Bokors had broken through the front door.”

  I sighed. “Should have led with that. He didn’t just burn down my house for shits and giggles.”

  Mercy cocked her head sideways. “What more must I do to prove to you that I am no devil? I have been caring for your parents when I could have allowed them to simply give in to their cravings, which would have ended up with them at the end of a hunter’s stake.”

  “Your guidance during the Trials. See where it brought us? It got Brayden killed and Vilokan destroyed. Pardon me for questioning your intentions.”

  “I had no way of knowing those things would happen, Annabelle. I only knew what Death Rites revealed, nothing more. And there was nothing in that book about those events.”

  “Still, I don’t trust you,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “I’m not asking you to trust me, Annabelle. I’m offering you a chance to come with us. Unless you’d rather hang out here and wait for Kalfu and the Bokors to return.”

  I shrugged. “I could take my ch
ances against them.”

  “Not once he completes what he intends to do,” Mercy said.

  “You mean fusing the souls from Vilokan into the bodies of his Bokors?”

  “He’s trying that?” Mercy asked, pinching her chin. “I thought he was just raising them as zombies to fight against us.”

  “I had a vision,” Pauli said. “Since he’s in my body, I can see things he’s doing from time to time. Not always. Just flashes.”

  Mercy bit her lip. “Wait, how did you get your body back anyway… if he’s in your body. Are you…”

  “It’s Pauli,” I said, anticipating her line of thought. “It is not Kalfu. He acquired a new ability while we were away. He can change his shape. He’s still the snake we know and love, but he has found a way to look more like his old self.”

  “He clearly flattered himself a few inches more than what is realistic,” Mercy said, smirking.

  “Told you,” I said, looking at Pauli. “You went too far.”

  “Come on!” Pauli protested. “Too much wiener. That’s like too much money. No such thing!”

  I rolled my eyes away from Pauli toward Mercy. “We’ll join you at Casa do Diabo later,” I said. “But I must decline your invitation for the moment. We have to get to the ruins of Vilokan before it’s too late.”

  “Very well,” Mercy said. “If you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

  Pauli and I exchanged glances. “Fine, but no funny business or I’ll plunge my soul stake right through your heart.”

  “I don’t have a heart, sweetheart. And even if I did, I’d like to see you try.”

  “Just because you’re heartless…”

  “I wasn’t speaking metaphorically. I don’t have a heart. I’m not stakeable in the normal sense.”

  “My stake is different,” I said.

  “Perhaps. But if you sent me to the land of the dead, you’d be down one ally in a fight you’re already unlikely to win.”

  “How are you still alive without a heart anyway?”

  “I’m not alive.”

  “You know what I mean. How are you still… animated?”

  “You just threatened to stake me back to hell. Why would I trust you with my secrets now?”