La Nocturne
Twelve.
All at once Elaine was plunged into a separate world. The water was an oppressive, never-ending blackness all around her, roaring in her ears and stinging her eyes. They dove deeper and the weight increased, the darkness became more profound. She felt a fish’s cold, scaly belly slip inadvertently past her cheek, and let out a cry that was instantly drowned out by the great molecular turbulences of the mighty ocean. Slowly, the world was condensing, the pressure growing more and more until she no longer felt Spira’s hand on her wrist and had the sensation instead of being sucked headlong into a terrifying Hell. Elaine felt that she would go insane in another moment when there appeared the faintest of lights up ahead.
At first she supposed it to be only her imagination, but then noticed she was moving in more forward than downward a motion, in the direction of the glimmer. Their speed had also decreased. Steadily the group made their way toward the light until at last they floated before a great underwater forest of translucent water-plants, parted with a path down the middle. Swimming along the path, Elaine noticed that the light up ahead, in different shades of yellow and green-blue, pulsed and undulated ever so slightly as if alive. A few more twists and turns in the path, and they came face-to-face with what appeared to be a rock of fantastic size floating and suspended in the middle of the ocean. All over it were blinking patches of yellow or turquoise light.
Elaine stared in wonderment. “This is where all of you live?” she tried to ask, but only bubbles and a few water-garbled sounds came out of her mouth. Spira understood, though. “The Undines, yes, not all the Waterfolk. The Merfolk, for instance, live in an underwater palace of crystal and jewels, right at the place where the sun sets so when the rays strike the water, their castle reflects them back and makes the ocean sparkling and transparent.” A note of jealousy soured her voice.
“That’s lovely,” Elaine said, then feeling compelled to compliment their own living-place, added, “But yours is pretty too. All those twinkling lights – and how does it float there all on its own? How does that rock not sink to the bottom of the ocean?”
Potamia muttered in Spira’s ear, “See, she knows it’s but a rock. Why did we not put the glamour on her? Then she’d be looking at a palace twenty times finer than the Mermaids’ by now.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” the leader of the trio retorted. “Let her see it for what it is, she’s here to stay anyway. She’ll have to like it; if she tries to leave, she’ll die. So why waste our energy?”
They ignored Elaine’s question and went on. Abashedly she realized that they were Faeries, after all, and there was probably nothing on earth that they could not do.
“Our light is supplied by tiny, bioluminescent (I think that’s what you humans call it) creatures that we have turned to the servitude and use of the Faerie. Thus they are unheard of to the human world.” Spira’s voice was clearly prideful of such a deceit.
“We call them simply light-bugs,” Rhodesia added. “They are half fish and half plant if you look at them very closely, but other than that they are rather boring.”
“They breed like lunatics,” chimed in Potamia. “But we keep them in check. The light-bugs are edible as a sort of novelty food and they are also a narcotic of sorts.”
Elaine was fascinated by this last part. “Like opium, you mean?”
“Maybe. I don’t know what any of your human drugs do. Light-bugs eaten raw give a pleasantly giddy sensation. A paste of them smoked through a pipe gives one a feeling of euphoria and connectedness to a greater, ubiquitous power. Perhaps it is the ocean, perhaps the universe. Who knows. It’s also an aphrodisiac.”
“Really?” Elaine blushed, slightly embarrassed. If Aria were there she would have smiled mischievously and told them “Good for you.” Aria? Will I get to see her again? Elaine wondered frantically. They’d now reached the huge stone and, slipping through a crack in the surface, began to zigzag along narrow circular passages, all illuminated by light-bugs. Her heart hammered against its cage at the prospect of seeing her sister in the flesh again.
“Well, not an aphrodisiac in the human sense,” Potamia continued. “The Faerie are forbidden to feel love for reasons I would think are very clear – there is always the danger of falling in love with a human, something that has never proven not to be disastrous for all parties. Sexuality is fine, however. What could be the negative of a quick intimacy with no responsibilities, or hard feelings, or possessiveness, or quarrels afterward?”
Elaine had never heard a more scandalous thing in her life. Her jaw dropped and she stared at the Undine in what she eventually realized was a rude way. “But – “she tried to speak. “But what if afterward they realize they are actually in love? What about love between members of the Faerie? That can’t have any harm, can it?”
“There’s really no such thing. All romance is purely sexual. And even if two Faerie did think themselves in love, I should quite hope they be embarrassed enough to never speak of it!” Elaine could not respond to this. She noted how the Undine said the offending word the same way her governess said “bosoms” or, God forbid, “monthly cycle.” Elaine smiled to herself at Miss Marrovy’s squeamishness, and wondered how her governess was faring at this moment. Had she yet discovered the truth behind Elaine’s scheme? Had she informed her parents? No, she’d only been gone for a day; it was doubtful. How would they all feel upon discovering their younger daughter’s disappearance? Would there be a widespread police search, her face put on posters in store windows? Would they hold a funeral even though they could never recover her body? She felt a stab of pain at the grief she would cause.
But Aria would be back in the human world, replacing her. She was always the better-liked daughter; she’d make sure their grief did not last too long or cut too deeply. Aria would make everything better like she always did. Everything would be alright. Elaine would be content knowing they were happier than they were now.
At last, they stopped in front of an elaborate set of double doors set in the stone, carved with wave-like designs and grotesque faces. It rather mirrored Elaine’s mental state. They entered the chamber. Lighted wall sconces and a chandelier illuminated a spacious, high-ceilinged room furnished with carved chairs and tables of wood and translucent colored minerals, which were adorned with gems and cushioned with seaweed.
Rhodesia immediately wrinkled her nose and complained, “Ugh, it smells like old seaweed. Good riddance the other human is going back, she never did a breath of work in all the blasted days we had her.”
Instinctively Elaine tried to catch the smell; it then dawned on her that she couldn’t remember breathing for the entire time she’d been underwater. Indeed, it was as if she did not need to anymore. Spira, as if reading her mind, said, “So you’ve noticed that breathing is no longer a necessity. Think of it this way. Suppose you were under an enchantment that made you clap your hands constantly, wherever you went, even when you slept. But are with the Faerie now. When I took you, I lifted the so-called ‘human enchantment’ of breathing from you.”
“Oh, I see now.” Elaine was about to ask of her sister when a wave of dizziness rolled over her. She clutched at a chair back to support herself, hands shaking. “Could I – “ she began, “Could I please – “ Then a crushing vertigo blotted out her world and she fell away into nothingness.
At first she supposed it to be only her imagination, but then noticed she was moving in more forward than downward a motion, in the direction of the glimmer. Their speed had also decreased. Steadily the group made their way toward the light until at last they floated before a great underwater forest of translucent water-plants, parted with a path down the middle. Swimming along the path, Elaine noticed that the light up ahead, in different shades of yellow and green-blue, pulsed and undulated ever so slightly as if alive. A few more twists and turns in the path, and they came face-to-face with what appeared to be a rock of fantastic size floating and suspended in the middle of the ocean. All over it were blinking patches of yellow or turquoise light.
Elaine stared in wonderment. “This is where all of you live?” she tried to ask, but only bubbles and a few water-garbled sounds came out of her mouth. Spira understood, though. “The Undines, yes, not all the Waterfolk. The Merfolk, for instance, live in an underwater palace of crystal and jewels, right at the place where the sun sets so when the rays strike the water, their castle reflects them back and makes the ocean sparkling and transparent.” A note of jealousy soured her voice.
“That’s lovely,” Elaine said, then feeling compelled to compliment their own living-place, added, “But yours is pretty too. All those twinkling lights – and how does it float there all on its own? How does that rock not sink to the bottom of the ocean?”
Potamia muttered in Spira’s ear, “See, she knows it’s but a rock. Why did we not put the glamour on her? Then she’d be looking at a palace twenty times finer than the Mermaids’ by now.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” the leader of the trio retorted. “Let her see it for what it is, she’s here to stay anyway. She’ll have to like it; if she tries to leave, she’ll die. So why waste our energy?”
They ignored Elaine’s question and went on. Abashedly she realized that they were Faeries, after all, and there was probably nothing on earth that they could not do.
“Our light is supplied by tiny, bioluminescent (I think that’s what you humans call it) creatures that we have turned to the servitude and use of the Faerie. Thus they are unheard of to the human world.” Spira’s voice was clearly prideful of such a deceit.
“We call them simply light-bugs,” Rhodesia added. “They are half fish and half plant if you look at them very closely, but other than that they are rather boring.”
“They breed like lunatics,” chimed in Potamia. “But we keep them in check. The light-bugs are edible as a sort of novelty food and they are also a narcotic of sorts.”
Elaine was fascinated by this last part. “Like opium, you mean?”
“Maybe. I don’t know what any of your human drugs do. Light-bugs eaten raw give a pleasantly giddy sensation. A paste of them smoked through a pipe gives one a feeling of euphoria and connectedness to a greater, ubiquitous power. Perhaps it is the ocean, perhaps the universe. Who knows. It’s also an aphrodisiac.”
“Really?” Elaine blushed, slightly embarrassed. If Aria were there she would have smiled mischievously and told them “Good for you.” Aria? Will I get to see her again? Elaine wondered frantically. They’d now reached the huge stone and, slipping through a crack in the surface, began to zigzag along narrow circular passages, all illuminated by light-bugs. Her heart hammered against its cage at the prospect of seeing her sister in the flesh again.
“Well, not an aphrodisiac in the human sense,” Potamia continued. “The Faerie are forbidden to feel love for reasons I would think are very clear – there is always the danger of falling in love with a human, something that has never proven not to be disastrous for all parties. Sexuality is fine, however. What could be the negative of a quick intimacy with no responsibilities, or hard feelings, or possessiveness, or quarrels afterward?”
Elaine had never heard a more scandalous thing in her life. Her jaw dropped and she stared at the Undine in what she eventually realized was a rude way. “But – “she tried to speak. “But what if afterward they realize they are actually in love? What about love between members of the Faerie? That can’t have any harm, can it?”
“There’s really no such thing. All romance is purely sexual. And even if two Faerie did think themselves in love, I should quite hope they be embarrassed enough to never speak of it!” Elaine could not respond to this. She noted how the Undine said the offending word the same way her governess said “bosoms” or, God forbid, “monthly cycle.” Elaine smiled to herself at Miss Marrovy’s squeamishness, and wondered how her governess was faring at this moment. Had she yet discovered the truth behind Elaine’s scheme? Had she informed her parents? No, she’d only been gone for a day; it was doubtful. How would they all feel upon discovering their younger daughter’s disappearance? Would there be a widespread police search, her face put on posters in store windows? Would they hold a funeral even though they could never recover her body? She felt a stab of pain at the grief she would cause.
But Aria would be back in the human world, replacing her. She was always the better-liked daughter; she’d make sure their grief did not last too long or cut too deeply. Aria would make everything better like she always did. Everything would be alright. Elaine would be content knowing they were happier than they were now.
At last, they stopped in front of an elaborate set of double doors set in the stone, carved with wave-like designs and grotesque faces. It rather mirrored Elaine’s mental state. They entered the chamber. Lighted wall sconces and a chandelier illuminated a spacious, high-ceilinged room furnished with carved chairs and tables of wood and translucent colored minerals, which were adorned with gems and cushioned with seaweed.
Rhodesia immediately wrinkled her nose and complained, “Ugh, it smells like old seaweed. Good riddance the other human is going back, she never did a breath of work in all the blasted days we had her.”
Instinctively Elaine tried to catch the smell; it then dawned on her that she couldn’t remember breathing for the entire time she’d been underwater. Indeed, it was as if she did not need to anymore. Spira, as if reading her mind, said, “So you’ve noticed that breathing is no longer a necessity. Think of it this way. Suppose you were under an enchantment that made you clap your hands constantly, wherever you went, even when you slept. But are with the Faerie now. When I took you, I lifted the so-called ‘human enchantment’ of breathing from you.”
“Oh, I see now.” Elaine was about to ask of her sister when a wave of dizziness rolled over her. She clutched at a chair back to support herself, hands shaking. “Could I – “ she began, “Could I please – “ Then a crushing vertigo blotted out her world and she fell away into nothingness.