#ohhhhhhhh this is magnificent and chilling

[elsewhereuniversity]

The Hesitant Zones

“I want to ask you something.” Trench told her roommate. Not-Chad sat on his bed, contorted beyond human limits, his shining eyes (green and blue like stormy arctic sea, without pupils or irises) unblinking,producing sounds that should be impossible for any type of  mouth (or machine) to produce. He was holding flowers and cookies Joshua from second floor brought him, so she supposed that was cooing.

Chad was gone for half year already, which was honestly all well by Trench. He never cleaned the room, and always brought his loud, annoying friends over. She had no idea why he was taken, and didn’t care. Not-Chad was clean, great help with homework and even since he moved in, Joshua, who was one of best chemistry majors on whole campus ever started helping her with her projects- she thought he would bail out once he learnt what Not-Chad was, or Not-Chad would curse him, but changeling lavished in pathetic romantic wooing and Joshua stopped wearing iron, so Trench counted herself lucky.

“I guessed so. You brought me thirteen raspberry tarts yesterday.So what zones do you want to talk about?” Again, luck had rained upon her. Trench was forbidden major, as were many biologists, but smart one. She didn’t try to figure out how fae worked-she doubted something like that was even possible with magic. Instead, she gathered information about their world and customs, by giving fae treats in exchange for stories.

Fae saw nothing wrong with that. They got presents in exchange for talking about their favorite subject-themselves. They would talk, and Trench would separate pearls from useless chatting. Not-Chad happened to be quite talkative fae (some sort of shape shifting merman, she found out) who didn’t waste words on useless information. In exchange for cakes, he would tell her about structure of his universe, The Elsewhere itself. For sake of metaphor, and because she was marine biologist and he sea fae, they called different regions of Elsewhere zones.

“About hadopelagic, demersal and benthic.” Not-Chad froze, and turned towards her, his glamour flickering so she could see his toned chest, silver skin, gills and long  bioluminescent hair.

“What?”

“You heard me. Spit it out..”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said that Elsewhere is like ocean. That it has just as many zones. That each zone contains stronger powers, that each one is less defined and more deadly to lesser beings. But abyssopelagic zone isn’t bottom of ocean. There are three more. So what dwells there?” Mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones contained things that didn’t bow to Courts, creatures best described as sentient archetypes and natural personifications, godlike fae who could freeze and burn and shatter the whole world. Abyssopelagic zone contained True Royalty.

She couldn’t imagine what horrible, mad things existed beyond them. But she had to know.

“No.  All food in world wouldn’t be enough for such information. You could bring me everything edible in world and it wouldn’t be enough.” He wasn’t joking, Trench knew and paled. Fae considered many things edible. Cakes, infants, diamonds,dreams, radiation.

“What would be?”

“No.” He trembled as he whispered that word, too caught in imagining what he knew and wouldn’t give her. That information would bring her fame, and more importantly, save so many lives. If they knew more about fae, they could protect themselves better.

“You will tell me.” Not- Chad’s teeth became those of shark, and mist surrounded him as glow of his eyes intensified.

“YOU WILL NOT THREATEN ME, MORTAL.”

“Nor will you harm me, Innglu-Sakkan.” She spoke, and  Not-Chad fell on floor upon sound of his Name.

“How..”

“A birdie gave me that name for a price.” He snarled, his spit red like corals.

“ Sentry-Mary!” He spat out.

“Yes.” Trench confirmed with smile upon her face. “They gave me this sweet name in exchange for my hesitation. Such a bargain.” Fool, Not-Chad thought.Hesitation gives conscience, holds base instincts in check, brings terror and caution. It is child of fear and wisdom, and you need to lose both to lose hesitation. It saves lives. And souls.

“Now, if you don’t tell me what I need to know, I will have you kill your pretty boy toy.” Old Trench would have never demanded that. But Trench had no fear, no doubt anymore that she was right.

“His roommate is very embittered knight. Hates your people. And so gullible. But big iron mace. I will just need to sob, and order you not to properly defend yourself, and I won’t even need to order you to keep your mouth shut. You could spill all beans and she wouldn’t believe you. Your friends won’t protect you because you broke Treaty.”

Fool, he thought. Giving names of their rivals to humans was discouraged and frowned upon, but not forbidden. Sentry-mary would keep quiet, but once word got out that he was gone, they would connect dots and go to Court. Trench and Joshua’s knight would be nothing but petals on wind.

“How do I know you won’t get rid of me either way?”

“You don’t. But I have no need to dispose of you. You are far more useful as source of information. Now free.’‘ 

’'This information won’t come free. There are laws even power of Name cannot overrule. You need to give up something to know about Great Ones.”

“Very well. What?” She said with frown. Old Trench would have considered it.

“There is somebody I want to protect.They are my… ..” He spoke some word her ears couldn’t process. He sometimes did that, when word couldn’t be explained by any human language. “ That child is very dear to me. Promise me they will always have place withing your family, as equal as yours.” You will be gone, forgotten by world, and creature of myth and dream will take your place, and none will know.

“That is all? I accept. Now speak.” Old Trench would have understood, would have gotten meaning of words.

“There are indeed three more zones, or layers as some call them.‘He cried as he spoke. Whisper released power that rattled Trench’s bones and echoed across all fae in world. Silence deeper than that of space filled room, and all light was extinguished, and Trench could feel water pour down her throat as hundred fae rattled door and windows ( it wasn’t salt and iron that stopped them. None may interrupt until information about Royalty was given out. After…). had Trench still any hesitation left, ounce of fear and wisdom, her heart would have been filled with such dread that it would have given out (yet she could feel shadow of horror, but ignored it).

’'They too are inhabited by the Great Ones. they aren’t nobles as you know that word, or we for that matter. They are  enormous, and unreal, and too powerful for your reality to contain. They play no games and fear  no charm. They are predators, and like ocean, they take what they want when they want how they want.  They swim and devour, and only beware of those  who are bigger, stronger than they. All of us bow to them, and only time they join with each other is when they form packs to tear stronger foe to pieces.

But for sake of metaphor, think of it like this. Abyssal zone is for princes, and archdukes, and despots. Hadal is for high kings,devarajas and pharaohs. The demersal zone is for emperors, tsars and great chiefs.” His kinsmen break through, army of shadow too many of them to fit in room yet they all do.

“And benthic? What creatures dwell there?” Trench asks, uncaring of cold fingers that grasp her limbs.

“A creature, or perhaps the creature. You have your God. We have our Queen, the Queen of Queens, She Who Dreams.”  He says as strong jaws bite down on his shoulders.

“What does she dream?” Trench asks, not even noticing claws that rip beneath her ribs (but she notices alien, uncaring light streaming in through window, stronger than that of Sun, and her blood knows fear again).

“Stars and oceans. Life and death. Destiny and desire. You and me.” Changeling speaks as shadows devour him.

“She dreams everything.”

x

[voyages-extraordinaires]

C:R ~VE~ Chapter 43

“Sweetheart!” Ned Land shoves past the others waiting in the hangar and runs to Conseil, sweeping him up in a tight hug.

I can’t help but feel a little envious as Ned spins him around, and I wonder what it might be like to have a lover strong enough to do that to me. I take a glance over at Nemo, who’s still following after Aleister’s duster coat like an excited puppy. I would find it sad if he weren’t being so…

I can’t just call it “pathetic”, though that is part of what it is. It’s more than that, though… it’s frightening. What was he trying to convey to me with that steely glare? What did he want me to understand? Why can’t I make HIM understand?

My head is spinning with these thoughts much like Ned is still spinning Conseil, who by this point is protesting magnificently for Ned to put him down.

“Haha… all right, then,” Aleister gives that fatherly laugh of his again that makes my blood curdle. “Everything is to your satisfaction now, I take it?”

Ned turns towards Aleister with his teeth grit in anger, but before he can say anything, Nemo begins hopping from one foot to the other like he had just had an entire pot of coffee. “Ohhhhhhhh---!! Yes, yes yes yes yeeeeees! Let’s see moooooooore of this incredible place!”

“Well, then…” Aleister nods before having a pair of guards open a door for us. The web-like pattern of the base we saw from above is apparently thanks to long, narrow hallways that connect massive buildings, shielding the workers from the bitter wind and cold.

“This hallway feels temporary,” says Cardia.

“Yeah, totally agree with you,” replies Barbicane. “It’s more like a tent than a building.”

“It is, in a way,” says Aleister. “The North Pole has no landmass. It is a solid block of ice. So, yes, in reality these are very temporary buildings.”

Ned leans down towards Conseil and whispers, though it’s so loud that everyone can hear: “Isn’t building a base on ice kind of stupid?”

“I’m sure it’s veeeeeeery cutting-edge technology��” Nemo mutters.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Science. Couldn’t this place just be built at the South Pole?” Ned gives a shrug.

Aleister laughs again before giving a shrug. “I’m afraid our Captain was rather picky about our location. Once we have amassed enough resources to satisfy him, we will relocate to the closest landmass.”

“Captain?” as I ask this, I notice Nemo instinctively turn towards me—only for a moment.

“Yes,” says Aleister. “He is the one who had me extend this invitation to you all.”

“You mean he’s the one who had you kidnap us!” Smith steps forward and clenches her fist. At this, the two guards trailing behind us cock their pistols, reminding us that we are still technically prisoners.

Nemo puts a hand on Smith’s shoulder and smiles at him reassuringly, but she looks away with a scowl. Though he’s usually oblivious, Nemo’s lips twitch into a frown before he bounces back to his normal, jovial self. “Soooooo, when are we going to meet this Captaaaaaaaain?”

Aleister nods, and the two guards walk around to push open the doors at the end of the hall.

Barbicane looks at Cardia the moment the guards have their back turned, but she shakes her head.

There’s no way we could escape the North Pole so easily.

So we all file neatly through the doors and down another hallway, silent save Nemo chattering at Aleister about various things. We pass through countless of these corridors until we enter a large, circular room.

“It feels different in here,” says Cardia, but when she hears her own voice she claps her hand over it.

“What is it?” I ask, only to have the same surprising reaction. It sounds almost like I’m whispering in my own ear. It sounds unnerving, to say the least.

“The acoustics in this room are different,” says Barbicane, looking around. “It’s like it was designed for… silence.”

“You’re right, of course,” says Aleister, his voice low. “This building in particular was designed using very particular acoustic engineering. A whisper will carry as much as a shout, and excess volume will be absorbed.”

All of us turn towards Nemo.

“W-Whaaaaaaat’s everyone staaaaaaaaaring for? Ah, of cooooourse! You want to know how my graaaaaaaand voice will be affected by the magnificence of sciiiiiiience!”

Even Aleister has a shocked expression.

It appears that, despite all the powers of acoustic engineering, Nemo’s voice isn’t dulled one bit.

“I guess some things are more powerful than current technology,” says Cardia.

Cardia is interrupted by a melancholic moan.

We look around for the source, thrown off by the warped sound, and eventually we follow Aleister’s gaze to a dark doorway in the very back of the room.

That moan sounded like it had been right in my ear!

“What is that…” a hushed voice creeps around us. “What is that noise…? Aleister…?”

“Captain,” says Aleister. “I’ve brought your guests here.”

There’s a long silence punctuated only by Nemo’s breathing.

At last, there’s a shuffle and a sigh. “Thank you, Aleister. You may bring them in. I ask for silence, as always.”

Aleister nods and gestures to us before the guards begin to walk towards us, corralling us towards the darkened room.

As we walk in, Aleister puts a hand on Nemo’s shoulder and holds a finger to his lips.

“For me, old friend,” he says.

Nemo nods and somehow still manages to generate sound.

Aleister and the guards lead us, their seven prisoners, quietly into the room.

“Aleister. A light, if you would?”

Aleister walks over to a table and flips a switch. The room is still dim, but we can at least see our speaker now.

The captain sits in a comfortable chair, long legs bent like he’s a lethargic grasshopper and a cheek resting upon his hand. He shifts, a wave of dark hair cascading over his shoulder and tumbling towards the floor.

He’s breathtaking, but somehow strange and off-putting… in a way he’s very much like Nemo, and at the same time a flipped image. Quiet, powerful, able to convey his feelings with a mere tilt of his head. As still as the icebergs surrounding us.

I shudder when he turns those chilled eyes on me.

“Welcome,” says the captain. “I’m grateful that you are here.”

Smith looks like she wants to say something, but the oppressive silence makes her merely grit her teeth in frustration.

“Welcome to the Northernmost Base,” the captain continues. “I am Captain Jonathan Hatteras.”

“Hatteras…?” I look at him, the name somehow familiar to me.

“Oh! I know you!” Barbicane points at the man, his exuberant shout absorbed by the room. “You’re that explorer that tried to make it up here years ago!”

Hatteras lowers his head in a motion that could only be a nod. “Nobody thought I could. So I did.” He closes his eyes, leaving us alone with his silence.

“The Captain wants to make new kingdom up here in the north,” says Aleister.

“The land I love…” Hatteras dreamily whispers.

“He had me… recruit all of you to that end,” Aleister continues.

“You KIDNAPPED us!” Smith repeats, shattering the stillness that Hatteras clearly prized. “No matter how many ways you try to twist it, Aleister, we know the truth!”

“Aleister, did you kidnap them?” Hatteras looks towards Aleister. “That’s a shame… I was hoping to hear that they had come of their own accord.”

Aleister shrugs. “Unfortunately, they’re just as stubborn as you are, Jonathan, and I know you were eager to meet them.”

“Yes… eager to meet each and every one of them…” Hatteras’ eyes roam over all of us before they narrow at Conseil and Ned in apparent confusion.

“Hey, I just came to get my sweetheart,” says Ned, shrugged.

“… That aside…” Hatteras slowly stands up from his chair and begins to slowly walk towards us. His attire is interesting: the coat and epaulettes of a captain slung over a loose shirt and what appears to be a sheet around his waist. At his hip hangs a sword, a frayed Union Jack tied around the handle. “Let me take a look at you all…”

He says ‘you all’, but he walks straight towards Barbicane. They’re almost the same height, Barbicane remaining the tallest in the room by only a few stray hairs.

“You must be Impey Barbicane, the man who will one day go to the moon,” says Hatteras.

He goes silent before suddenly leaning it and quirking an eyebrow. “Has anyone told you how ridiculous that dream of yours is?”

Barbicane closes his eyes and sighs before putting a hand on his hip and returning Hatteras’ gaze, a smile playing on his face. “Yep! All the time! Words like that won’t stop me, though!” Barbicane flexes his arm, his large wrench in his hand as he flashes a smile. “Words can’t stop my dream!”

Hatteras stares at Barbicane before taking a step back, his quiet voice grave: “I’m glad. People said the same thing to me… my crew even abandoned me, left me for dead… but I still made it. I accomplished my dream!”

Hatteras spreads his arms wide. “I’m here, at the top of the world--!”

His voice was still quiet, but it was filled with such emotion that it was like the walls rumbled from force instead of volume.

But then Hatteras’ arms fall to his sides and he looks up at the ceiling as though he’s searching the sky for answers.

At that moment, he looks very much like Nemo.

“But now I’m here… I’ve reached my dream… now what? What is there for me now?”

He looks at Barbicane with wide eyes. “What will you do after you get to the moon?”

“After?” Barbicane looks deep in thought. “I guess… after I get to the moon, I’d like to work on developing more tech to help people. There’s all kinds of things out there that people need. Maybe I can—h-hey?”

Hatteras has already moved on from Barbicane, not even listening to his answer. He stops in front of Cardia, looking down at her with an even expression. “You’re the Blue Fairy.”

“I’m the… what?”

Hatteras leans down and looks into her eyes. “Against all odds, you turned a puppet into a living boy.”

Cardia’s expression turns stern. “My brother has always been a living boy. Whether that life was ‘created’ or not doesn’t matter.”

“Do excuse her, won’t you, Jonathan?” Aleister says with a light laugh. “Cardia-kun is a rather fierce older sister.”

“Ho hoooooo!” Nemo throws his head back and gives a mighty laugh. “She is, she iiiiiiiiiiiis! She’s always been quite remaaaaaaarkable!”

“And you…” Hatteras straightens up and walks over to Nemo, the sheet fluttering about his legs so it looks like he’s gliding across the floor. “Well, who hasn’t heard about you? A revolutionary.”

Nemo chortles, looking rather pleased with himself. “Yeeees… yes, my science is a revoluuuuution--!”

Hatteras shakes his head. “No, I’m talking about your tragedy. You bore a revolution on your back, and the Crown retaliated as was its right.”

“Eh?” Nemo’s eyebrows arc in surprise.

“Wait, that’s not…” I shake my head. “Captain Hatteras, that—”

Hatteras unties the pitiful remains of the flag from his sword and holds it reverently. “The Empire. My Empire. You left your country when the embers of your home were still cooling and sought out the power the Empire had to offer. You studied and studied, and worked hard to become someone completely different from that revolutionary boy.”

Nemo scratches his head, looking at Hatteras like a second head is sprouting from his neck.

“And you built another home for yourself, one completely devoted to your worship of science… but the Crown cast you out of the Royal Society. You have just trudged through tragedy after tragedy, haven’t you? You weren’t even able to truly reunite with Isaac Beckford…”

“That’s enough,” my voice is firm, but still swallowed by the strange room. However, the force of my words reaches Hatteras, and he stares at me.

“Arronaaaaaaaaaax…..”

I look back at Nemo, who has his arms crossed and is staring at me with a curled lip. Me, who only wanted to help, me—

“I really… reeeeeeeeeeeeally don’t need you speaking for me.”

I think a bullet might have hurt less.

“And you’re…”

The pain’s sting is interrupted by Hatteras approaching me, leaning over me, examining me.

“You’re the one I don’t understand,” says Hatteras. “Pauline Aronnax. The others have stories that make sense- a dream, a desire to find ‘home’, a desire to be ‘real’. What about you, then? Did you decide that you needed this adventure on a mere whim? Did the thought of romancing a broken man intrigue you?”

I grit my teeth. “What is the meaning of all of this, Captain Hatteras? You kidnap our friends, force us to your base, and now you’re insulting us?”

Hatteras shakes his head. “I’m not insulting you, though I can see where you would get that idea. I simply want to know more about all of you.”

“And—and Nemo is not ‘broken’…” my voice trails off when I remember what Nemo had said. He doesn’t need my protection. He doesn’t need me speaking for him. My shoulders droop and I shake my head, going silent.

“Professor…” Conseil begins to walk towards me, but a large hand on my shoulder turns my attention from him. Aleister is standing behind me, a warm smile on his face as he takes in my expression contorted by pain.

“Jonathan is right. He has a strange way of expressing his curiosity, but he bears you no ill will, Aronnax. In fact, you are perhaps the one he was most excited to meet,” says Aleister.

“Jimmy…” Hatteras’ voice trails off as he looks away. “Saying things like that isn’t necessary.”

Aleister laughs. “Don’t be shy, now. Why don’t you take the Professor on a tour of your base? I think she could benefit with some quiet, don’t you?”

“She is the one he was the most excited about…?” it’s a quiet voice, a wound shown for only a moment before being bandaged by the usual bravado. “Haaaaaaaahahaha! I agree, I agreeeeee! Yes, too much stimulation caaaaaaaan’t be good for an overworked mind!”

As Nemo laughs, Hatteras puts his hands over his ears and trembles. “Jimmy…”

Aleister looks back towards Nemo and shakes his head. “We’ll have to do something about the volume difference, I suppose. For now, you two… go on.”

Aleister gives me a gentle push towards Hatteras before turning back to the rest of the group. Hatteras straightens up and gives me a slight bow before turning me away towards one of the exits. As I turn, my eyes seek out Nemo’s. He lifts his hands and curls his fingers in a wave, but it looks more confused than enthusiastic.

“Nemo…”

But Hatteras closes the door behind us before I can say anything else.