From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
There's one thing that makes Delta actually feel some sort of genuine emotion during this time: shitty humans.
okay, maybe that's a little bit mean.
What she means by that is she gets really really pissed off when people treat the ocean like shit. It's one thing to dislike it, it's a completely other idea to actually do bad things to it. It's so rude and disrespectful and gah! Don't they realize that their actions have an impact on many living things? Apparently not! Because after LongNight, whilst moping around and laying on rocks, Delta noticed that there was rubbish all over the beaches. It wasn't coating it, but there was way too much for it to be natural. Way. Too. Much.
With a grumble, she hobbled her way over and started to try and reach for things that she could find. Almost falling over, Delta managed to grab a bottle, one that had clearly been filled with alcohol. She didn't exactly have anywhere to put it, so she just held onto it for now, hoping she'd be able to call out to someone for help.
Hadn’t I said somethin’ ‘bout shitty people last time I saw Delta? I’ve definitely said it before and I’ll say it again, people are shitty. Just look at this place. Fucking drunks and Grounders and Outlanders. Hoa doesn’t really hiss, but he does kinda open his mouth in displeasure, slithering forward to help begin cleaning up the beach. He tackles the smaller things, whatever he can carry in his mouth or pull along with his body, while I handle the heavier stuff - the bottles, the discarded and lost clothing, the random things buried in the sand, lost and forgotten in the dark.
We slowly but surely seem to make some progress, filling two bags with shit and then I round a small bend and see a familiar figure flopped (?) on the beach. Can’t tell if she’s purposefully like that (how mobile are merfolk on ground? I’ve no fuckin’ clue) or if she needs help (an’ is it insulting to offer?). I raise my hand to shade my eyes and wave the other one a bit. “Delta? You alright?”
Her train of thought ended abruptly as a very familiar voice called out, saying her name directly. Delta's eyes looked around before she saw the familiar figure and even though she was in pain and exhausted, she somehow was able to drop the frown and the corners of her lip turned upwards into a smile for a brief moment. "What? Oh no! I'm doing just fine-" Fine indeed as when she was talking, she began to shift- or partially shift. She cut herself short as she realized it, but by then it was a little too late. A shark fin now protruded from her back; her teeth became shark-like and sharp, and would now cause a lisp; and her skin along the outer region along her arms became gray and shark like whilst the inner portions remained the same. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight, but Delta seemed calm, only a small bit annoyed.
She forced an awkward smile on her face and offer the woman a shrug. "I'm sorry you had to see that...I was kinda cursed? But at least I didn't go full shark on you." Even though she was extremely exhausted, there was something about the familiarity of Raza that allowed her to force out a joke. "I... promise you I can control it, if I do shift into a shark." Cover all grounds first so she didn't get stabbed by an onlooker.
Glancing down at the bottle and back up, she continued on. "Are you.... also cleaning around here?" Using context clues, it did seem to be the case but Delta should a least try to make sure first.
She says she’s fine, even as I continue towards her, but it’s quickly negated by - holy fucking shit - shifting to a shark on land. Partially shifting? I know Attuned can do that, but I still ain’t ready for the teeth and the fin.
In fact, I kinda pause in horror at it. Which I don’t mean to do, but, like, fuck, man.
And sharks… don’t they breathe underwater? Like fish? Hoa feels my alarm and comes over as fast as he kind, sliding on the sand and debris until he’s at my foot, where I reach down and pick him up. For safety, or something like that. “But.. you can breathe okay, yeah?” Call it selfish, but I don’t want to be responsible for trying to push a shark back into the ocean so the mermaid inside doesn’t die on me. That’s a whole other level of Caido.
I can’t get back to the cleaning just yet. This ain’t exactly somethin’ to just gloss over. “ ‘oo cursed you?”
A snake very similar to one she had seen before slithers across the sand and makes his way over to Raza. As the woman speaks, Delta watches the snake with keen eyes. If she wasn't randomly shifting, she would absolutely ask to hold the creature, but right now Raza seemed genuinely concerned for her. It....was kinda sweet. "Right now I can, yeah." Ouch, seeing as Raza had asked that, looks like Delta had the responsibility of explaining the rest. "Though.... I may become a full on shark and in that case, no, I need water to breathe." Honesty was the best policy, really, and Raza seemed like someone who would understand her situation.
Rather than getting angry or scared like some of the people who have seen her in this state, Raza stays relatively quiet, save for a question that she has been commonly asked. "A spirit, I don't know it's name." There's an obvious frown on Delta's face, not only is she embarrassed it happened in the first place but she also feels bad for not being able to fully answer the question. "They've taken over our Shrine and I tried to reach the gods, but it showed up instead and cursed me." Were the other shrines like this? Or did the spirits despise merfolk?
“Mmmm,” I hum in response, nose scrunching up a bit. “Right. So shall we get you back in the water, just in case?” Like I said… I don’t want to have to deal with a full blown shark outta water. Cause sharks ain’t bad, and I’d try to unbeach it even if it wasn’t a mermaid in disguise. I just know I can’t push one by myself an’ Hoa ain’t any help. Movin’ a bit closer, I try to find the best angle to push (?), looking at Delta to see if maybe she can give me some insight as I’ve never been half-fish before.
But as she says she was cursed by a spirit, I nod. “I met one a’em. No curses though. They just seemed really interested in Hoa.” Jerkin’ my head back towards the snake, I kinda shrug. It was an interesting, if baffling experience. Little did I know I would have another one soon - far more baffling than the first. Lucky, lucky me.
Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow
The concern was understandable, though, kinda silly in Delta's eyes. Couldn't Raza just push her into the water? Whatever, if it made Raza happy then Delta would go along.
Almost as if she were doing a push up. Delta placed her hands on either side of her body and lifted up. Slowly, but surely, Delta started to slide herself deeper into the water, hands pushing against the sand. It was clear to anyone that this was something she was used to and just a way of life.
Whilst pulling herself back into the water, Delta begins to speak to hopefully ease the situation and distract from the possibility of her turning into a shark. Honestly, she was going to try and reassure Raza but then she FINALLY got confirmation that others have seen the spirits. Her eyes widened and she looked at her, basically staring. "You- you've seen a spirit?! Tell me ev-" And then just like that, she fully shifted. In the place of the dainty mermaid was now a rather massive shark. Luckily, her gills were covered by now so all she could do was sit there looking like a very annoyed shark.
Delta rolled a 16 so now she's a shark c:
Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go into the unknown?
I follow awkwardly behind - in front? - not knowin’ where to put my hands or how to help. She’s obviously got it under control and it seems to me like any ‘help’ would just slow her down or be insultingly detrimental. Delta knows her body an’ how it works best.
I begin to nod yes again, but before I can begin to tell her about the spirits (well, two by now because what are timelines), she’s morphin’ again and I have to take a step back. And another step. At least until the transformation is complete. It’s really quite fascinating, exactly like an Attuned shift, tho I dunno what else I was expectin’. There also goes the end of our conversation, because I don’t have one’a them bond thingies to talk to her now.
“Welll…” I begin with a shrug. “Guess I should get ya into the water. We can talk again once you ain’t a shark.” I begin to try and push her into the water, and if that doesn’t work, to try and dig sand out from underneath her so she can wiggle back on in.
Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow
Poor Raza.
If the woman were attuned then the embarrassment would be evident- practically screaming. Because gods- Delta was embarrassing herself in front of Raza. It's so lame and she was trying to make a decent impression before. Why wouldn't she want to? Raza was a cool person and she was pretty and nice and fun to talk to and-
And she had other things to think about that weren't how incredible Raza was.
The main thing being the whole, well, shark thing. Luckily, Raza seemed willing to help and so, Delta would try her best to move along with her help, allowing her body to slowly slide deeper into the water. Even though Raza wouldn't hear, Delta couldn't stop herself from speaking. I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll shift back soon. Meanwhile all Raza would see was a blank stare on the face of the shark because sharks cant exactly smile... or blink.... or show any emotions.
Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go into the unknown?
When we finally get the shark!Delta back in the water, I slowly step back onto dry land and sigh as my hands find my hips. What a weird turn of events. It’s easy to see why the mermaid was eager to hear about my experience with the shrines, if this is what she’s dealin’ with. An’ of course I can’t hear her speak, so I’ll have to do the talkin’ for us.
“Guess there ain’t much to do until ya turn back.” A brief pause. “Hope it ain’t long.” With a weak smile an’ a shrug, I take another step back. “I’ll see ya later, Delta.” The hard truth of the matter is that I can’t spend all day waitin’ for her to turn back. Maybe some other day, in the canals, or after monsoon season.
