Howl Your Appellations

Magic Blue

Lissana Mons

Everything’s black and cold; it feels like the sea. Nothing feels right, not even the way my eyes feel behind my eyelids. I’m too scared to open them because I might see the people I love the most. I can’t see them yet, not now that I finally found someone I want to cherish…I have to give her her moon ring back. I fought bone and fang for it; and now I can’t …I can’t move a muscle; I can’t smell anything and I can’t see. Maybe this is how Luna weighs the mass of our sins. How would she judge a rock hard soul of a blasphemous sinner? I’m dyed in such thick red that my soul would appear black. If this is really the destination before The Final then, what else can I do? There’s no way to go back like before. If I just accept it maybe my final wishes will be granted and Boen will magically find her moon ring inside her clasped hands, and she will smile again. Then, I’ll smile too…

“Darn, you’re one of the dramatic ones, I suppose? Don’t worry, you’re not dead yet.” I can’t really recall right now but this old man voice seems familiar. Huh? He seems to be putting something on my body, “H-hey! What are you doing!?!? Wh-what are these??!”

“Oh you should be still. You weren’t like this the last time you were here.” his knowing voice definitely sounds familiar. He sounds just like the guy in the Eardrum Caves! The place I where I almost died and got dragged around by a stupid water nymph!

“That’s because I am! You big dumb wolf goof! And don’t call Colleh stupid. She will bite you.” Oh what?!  So it really is him! Wait, can he hear my thoughts? Has he been hearing my thoughts the whole time!? Ahww f**k….oh man…

“Yes the whole time! I could hear all your thoughts, even the ones you try to hide! Now if you could just keep your mind still, those little critters need to eat up that really thick layer of curse that’s eating away at you. Everyone else has done their job and now all that’s left is the deep cleaning. You’re lucky the curse hasn’t seeped in deeper. If you hadn’t reached this place in time, I wouldn’t be able to help you.”

I don’t understand any of this, but I guess I somehow managed to reach the caves and the old man is helping me out? But…ah Imus probably told me to go here. Everything about the fight with me and Prince was so frantic and blurred by the high rush of adrenaline. I kept biting and slashing and ripping things off. I don’t remember how I got away, but I do remember Shaen helping a bit… or at least I think it was Shaen that I smelled that night…

“You’re a pretty loud thinker, aren’t cha? Not that that’s a bad thing. You also don’t seem like a clever lady so I’ll let  you can ask about what I know. It’s part of the service. Hm? Why are you suddenly so quiet, tiny?”

“Don’t call me tiny!! And did you just call me dumb?!”

“Oh! The glass slugs are working fast, aren’t they? You have control over your voice again. Good for you!”

This man is as annoying as I remember. I can’t see him, but I know he has that knowing smile and thick white hair with an annoyingly thin shepherd's staff.

“You know I can still hear everything you’re thinking, right? And you forgot to compliment my striking blue eyes!”

“Striking my ass! You just look like a regular hermit!”

“Hmm, then I guess I’ll just remove my little buggie boos and let them eat somebody else’s curse then?”

“Ah wawawawawait! You’re beautiful! I would never forget to compliment your magic blue eyes! Never in a million f*****g years!!”

“You didn’t need to go off like that. I was merely playing a small joke. Tehee~!”

I want to clobber him. Wait ‘til I get my hands on you, you…wait what am I doing. This dude’s the reason I’m alive. s**t. I’m glad my pack isn’t here to catch my second hand embarrassment. Apologize quick! “Ah…um…thanks for helping me. I’ll get through this, and I’ll pay you back.”

Splash!!!

“There’s no need for that. I’m merely doing my job. I wasn’t the one who decided to let you live. Although, a curse as resentful as yours isn’t something I can ignore. You’re a lucky little Were, Lissana.”

“Hmm…lucky, huh? That’s the first time I heard someone say tha--AHH!AHHHHGGG!!!”

“What’s wrong, this process isn’t supposed to hurt! Colleh!! Call Neel and help me with her! The slugs are eating more than they should!!”

Ah…it hurts so much…what’s happening. Ah, I can finally open my eyes…my vision, everything’s all watery. Are these my tears or am I under water,,,aaahhgghhh,,,it hurtss! Ack!! Oh it’s her. It’s the dumb water nymph and…another one? Man what’s going on now!?

“The glass slugs seem to have found another curse buried inside you! But this process is supposed to be harmless so why… ”such a soft voice for a guy.

“Just take them off right now, Neel! Colleh! Now!!”

“AAGHKKK!! f**k!!…me…”

“That’s all seven of them. Lissana, are you okay?”

“Ah, man, ow. What just happened. Ah! I can move! Yesss!!! OWFF---”

“You. Don’t try and move too much. You’re still on the waters and you sustained wounds from the glass slugs. Let me and Colleh lead you to a dune. You can recover there.”

Oh? So he can talk, and the other one can’t. Now that I can make things out a bit, this doesn’t seem like the place I fell on last time. There are waterfalls coming from the ceiling and the walls don’t seem to be anywhere close to where we are; there are little islets with fruit bushes scattered everywhere. This place seems too big to be inside the caves. No, no, no, the caves are as big as the forests, maybe even bigger, it’s the one place the Weres from the surface are too scared to go to. I may have fallen in deeper than I thought.

“There. Safe on the shore. You may partake of the fruits. They’re very nutritious and effective on curses.”

He kinda sounds like Imus. “Well, don’t mind if I do!!”

“Haha! Well she seems fine! I’ll leave her to yous then! See you again, Lissana!”

“Hm? Ah, wait! Wh---he's gone. Who was that guy? And Hmmm! These fruits taste great! They almost taste like the fruits we get at the inner market.”

“That guy was ‘Cocoo’. He’s one of the watchers of the caves. You guys might call him a really, really old Elemental. He’s been here for centuries, that’s what I heard at least. And the fruits here are exclusive. You must be mistaking tastes--”

“--Wh--WHOA WAIT! You mean?? He’s an Elemental? I’ve never encountered one before wow! He doesn’t seem like an Elem--so that’s why I couldn’t see his Appellations! He must have tons!!”

“There aren’t much of them yes. Cocoo treats his existence like a game, though I don’t really know what Elementals have to go through. It’s important to respect them. ”

“Yeah! I know that much! And um what about you? And her over there? Y’all want some fruit?”

“Thank you. And yes I would like some fruit. Colleh over there is a water nymph that lives here. She eats these everyday. She’s sick of them.”

Oh? Well isn’t that something cute. This dude is kinda nice. He doesn’t joke around, and he explains things well. I take it back, he’s nothing like Imus. Let’s see…

“Your Appellations are interesting,um, Neel? ”

“Oh! Ahahaha! Wow!”

Huh? Did I read it wrong? Is Neel not his name?  “Ah! Did I pronounce it wrong?”

“Ah no! One of my Appellations is Neel. You are correct. I just didn’t expect you to call me that. The perks of being a  Mer-Were I guess.”

“M-MER-WERE!!!?”