Stories of the Stars: Poison Water I

Dark bubbles raised from the abyss. Two yellow eyes opened in the darkness, before the startled passers. Pond Scales slowly backed down trying to hide in the darkness of the unclear water, behind the two grifix with their heads in two bubbles she made for them in order to let them breathe.

‘What is it that you desire, daring to lay foot in my waters?’ Thundered a voice around them. Pond Scales was already gone, leaving the two alone with the monster.

The female grifix was too scared to talk. She pulled herself behind the male, trembling with fear.

‘Um…’ the male tried to speak, but the monster was already behind them, with the mouth wide opened. It was so fast as the male didn’t get to turn, but the female was so terrified as she clinged to him so hard as he couldn’t talk anymore. He turned around and shouted at the monster: ‘WAIT!’ He brought out a package. The inside seemed to not be filled with water. It sounded like something solid, but soft was inside. He bowed and held the package in front of him, towards Poison Water.

‘Hmm, very well.’ She spoke, taking the package from him. ‘You may leave.’

But the Grifix didn’t leave.

‘Huh? So is it?’ Said Poison Water, then she held out her hoof as if waiting for the Grifix to give her something. The Grifix started searching for something in his bag, then placed in her hoof a necklace made of clay, rocks and other various grifix crafts. Poison didn’t seem pleased, probably because it didn’t look like that necklace would hold much underwater, but she took it anyway.

‘So, what is it that you want?’

‘We… um…’ the Grifix looked nervous trying to find his words, but then he seemed to remember what he was supposed to say. ‘Oh great and powerful spirit of the water, who watches over us and…’

‘Huh? I don’t watch over anybody, just get to it already. I hate this kind of stupid small talk. I don’t need your veneration, I only want quiet.’ She cut him coldly. He seemed totally disoriented after that, but the female, who seemed to feel less scared now, talked:

‘Um… we were hoping that we could get some help from you. There's information that we need and there is nobody on land that knows the answer. They’d probably even kill us if they knew we were looking for that…’

‘Haa? Very well, you know what you must do. But let me warn you before. Here, in the depths of the abyss lies knowledge that might make you as powerful as the sun, but send you to the depths of Tartarus and drown you in the river Styx. Every information has a price to pay as high as the benefit it may bring you - and that is NOT what you have to pay me in exchange for it. Only you will find out what the actual price is. The world needs to keep its balance and therefore anything you will gain here will take something greater from you. So be careful, for what you wish to know might bring your demise - or even worse.’

The two grifix were hugging each other, looking terrified at the monster in front of them. The female pushed herself away from the male.

‘It is what I must do… for her. It doesn’t matter what I lose.’ She swam towards Poison Waters and placed a small object in her hoof. Poison looked at it and then, satisfied, pulled it to her chest.

‘Very well.’ She swam a bit upwards, distancing herself from the Grifix. ‘But don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

The dark waters blurred her sight. If she would’ve been out of the water, her eyes would’ve been teared. She hated taking innocent mortals to Poison Water. They all came searching for fortune, salvation, love or happiness… but all they found was despair. And it wasn’t like it was Poison’s fault. It was nobody’s fault. And that’s why she hated it so much. She couldn’t put the blame on someone.

‘Why is it that the only thing that persists in my memories forever is the faces of all those mortals, before giving into despair?’ Pond thought.