Moonfin (33 page)

“Mhmhmhmh—yes, anything.”

“If I used to be a Glimmruyn …” she looked down uncomfortably, “can I ever go back?”

“I am afraid I do not know the answer to that, Lizzy. It would seem you are a daughter of both worlds now. When you left, you knew you might not make it back, and felt the risk was worth it.”

“And about that … is ‘Elizabeth' my real name?”

“No, your parents gave that name to you.” Xili dipped her head to one side, searching for the right words to say. “You were the bravest of us all, you know. It was your idea to do this, and you could not ask anyone but yourself to do it.”

“That's hard to believe. I wish I could remember more than bits and pieces.”

Xili came closer and lifted her watery arm. “Take my hand into yours, and I will share some things with you.” Lizzy did so, and her mind filled with coral reefs bursting with color, majestic mountains under the sea, smoking sea vents and sunken ships full of gold and jewels—secret places never before seen from times past until now. And people too, hundreds of the Waterpeople. They were all doing their jobs, caring for all the ocean creatures with so much joy and song and contentment. Xili let go of her hand, and Lizzy was sad she did so.

“You are very special to us,” she said encouragingly.

Lizzy smiled awkwardly. When one of her lab pets hitchhiked its way out of her backpack and into the library, the little old ladies would say she was “special,” but not in a nice way.

“What did you call me—my name, I mean?”

“Let's see. In your language it is hard to translate. It means ‘little surprise' to us.”

“Like, ‘what a delightful surprise'?”

Xili giggled, and Tevu rose up beside her.

“More like, ‘what a surprise she did that'!” he laughed.

Lizzy gave him a proper smirk.

“But it roughly sounds like ‘Qrrrrrb' in our tongue,” said Xili.

“You're joking. That is …
different
,” she said, wondering why her name lacked vowels. “Well, at least I was a daring Glimmruyn, if not a brave human girl.”

“We still have a problem, you know, if the clone in the Quarantine room lives,” Tevu said, turning serious.

“The clones all died of disease. I read that in the computer files on the island. Dr. Krell used some crazy way to replicate them and they all died, except the one—it's unlikely to have survived.”

“Yes, but if even one survives and grows into adulthood, it could upset the way of things.” His watery face cascaded downward. “Moonfin suffered so much abuse at his hands. It will take some time for her to heal, I'm afraid.”

“Poor creature! All of these events are so strange. I wish we knew more about what Krell is up to in Blowing Prawn,” said Xili.

Lizzy recalled the Constelluliary and the Brane transport. With everything that's happened, she'd forgotten to tell Xili about it.

“Speaking of strange things, there's this place on the island called the Waystation. It's filled with people called the Sightseers. Have you heard of them?”

Xili's and Tevu's drippy faces looked shocked and pained all at once.

“Then it is true, they have come,” Xili breathed. “Krell will not hesitate to violate the laws of nature to get what he wants.” She glided a bit closer to the shore, almost as if she were going to step out onto the sand.

Lizzy told them all about Frog Mountain and what she saw there: the Brane, and the giants, Bernie and Joe, who were fishing on Pluto's moon, Charon.

“And d'you know what else? Right before we left, I saw a mark flash on Joe's skin.” She leaned down and drew a picture in the sand. “It was some kind of symbol—”

“That is the sign of the Forgers,” said Xili. “The Sightseers were one of us—a Glimmruyn: a Protector, a Teller, a Grappler, or from one of the other Pillars—who have left their posts to be like the humans. I say ‘like' because they are not human at all, they just appear to be. Pretenders and imitators.

“Imitators!” snorted Tevu. “They
try
anyway. They can manage to mimic human or animal appearance to a certain point, but they can't grow ears, teeth, eyes … or even hair properly,” he said, chuckling darkly.

“Is that why there are so many bizarre shops in the Waystation?” said Lizzy. “It makes perfect sense—they even had horns and manes and other funny stuff for sale there.”

“Yes, they have to acquire those
special
items.”

Xili continued, “When the Glimmruyn leave their posts, they are marked with the symbol of their house for all time, so they never forget what they abandoned. That is what you saw on Joe's skin.”

“But why is it bad to leave their post? Can't they go back?” asked Lizzy.

Xili considered her question for a moment.

“What happens in nature if the Golden Eagle refuses to carry food to its nestlings in the high eyries?” she asked very seriously.

“The baby birdlings would die if they were neglected, of course.”

“It is like this, but on catastrophic levels. If one's job is to hold back the winds, to corral the waves, to manage the moons, and feed the buffalo, and one abandons their post…. Do you see? Once they make the decision to leave, there is no turning back. Their place is given to another. It is written in The Book of Glimmruyn Law.”

“But don't they ever wish to return?”

Tevu shook his head, his black hair and gray eyes showing forth through the fountain of constantly moving water.

“It's not a matter of
can't,
it's that they
won't
return. They do not wish to go back—such is the magnitude of their selfish ways. You see, the Law is in place to protect them, not punish them. When they leave and take on these forms, it's a poison to them.”

Xili sighed deeply. “They grow backward—stupid and oafish—and spend all their time in search of amusement and mischief, always hungry and never satisfied. It is not like being human, they cannot be wounded or die—this is so hard to explain. The old poems tell the story:

 

 

 

 

So they are doomed to wander in uselessness, and some of the worst dwell in the Desolate Planes for all time.”

“But the Sightseers we saw on Charon seemed harmless enough.” Lizzy couldn't imagine the geyser-bowling people ever being dangerous. Even the bald man she saw trapped in the ice was a helpless, although disturbingly creepy, wall ornament.

“Yeah, but only for a time,” said Tevu. “Eventually their thirst for amusement ceases to be satisfied, and they seek darker ways to fill their time. That means visits to earth to toy with humans—a whole new playground of fun.”

Lizzy's face blanched in realization. “You mean …
here
, in Blowing Prawn?”

“Yep—shopkeepers, friends—it's hard to tell them apart. They're very fond of pretending to be human, much like small children playing a dress-up game.”

It occurred to Lizzy that she had left her place in the sea to live in Blowing Prawn as a human. Xili looked into her eyes and knew what she was thinking (which seemed to happen often).

“It is not the same with you, little one. There is a vast difference between running away in disobedience, and offering your life to save people from danger. The poison does not infect you.”

“I still don't get how Dr. Krell is connected to the Sightseers?” Lizzy was wondering back to when Xili said what he did was not “humanly possible.”

“Dr. Krell
is
a Sightseer,” said Tevu. “One of the very first. It was he that lured the Sightseers with shiny human gifts and empty promises in the first place. We didn't know until recently because his appearance has changed. He takes on many names and many faces. His ancient name is Belialakor. Or we like to call him Old Bellyacher.”

“Sounds like he's been around for a while.”

“Yes, close to one billion years (Lizzy looked aghast), and his time is almost at an end. I am afraid he has become desperate and quite dangerous,” added Xili.

“I guess that explains who Mrs. Gates really is, and why she was able to be photographed over one hundred years ago: She's a Sightseer—in the guise of a grumpy science teacher—who hates me. Oh, I can't wait for school to start back up in September!”

Two more forms rose up out of the sea. It was Rhizoo and Cheroo. They were fussing about kelp bed health and the best way to fertilize.

“It's so important, you know, for proper oxygen exchange,” said Cheroo.

“Yes, but the crabs are complaining that it makes them gassy,” twittered Rhizoo.

They both seemed pleased to see Lizzy for some reason.

“Ah, Lizzy, we certainly do miss your expertise when it comes to the ocean gardens!” exhaled Cheroo in one exasperated breath. “Rhizoo and I just hobble along, really.”

“Excuse me?”

“The farms flourished under your care,” agreed Rhizoo, pausing when Lizzy cast a puzzled their way. Realizing Lizzy's confusion, she added, “Why, you were the best keeper of the gardens we ever had! That was before you left the sea to become human, of course.”

“Except for that time when you felt the lobsters needed more vitamins and minerals in their diet,” chortled Cheroo.

“Oh, yes,” clucked Rhizoo. “They all contracted a glowing blue pox with a very unpleasant itch. What a week that was, making sure the humans didn't see!”

“Then there was that time all the pufferfish ate something and deflated,” said Cheroo.

“We had to find a bicycle pump, and fast,” said Rhizoo.

“And the sea anemones sprouted mustaches and began speaking French.”

“‘Zut alors! Zut alors!' they cried all day.”

Lizzy blinked. “I did all that?”
Sheesh
. No wonder she was always blowing up food in her solarium laboratory.

“Yes, but all the animals thrived under your watchful eye. I do wish you'd pop down and help us sort out the kelp beds when you get a chance,” insisted Rhizoo.

She nodded in dazed agreement.

Xili turned to Rhizoo and Cheroo, and for a moment her beautiful silvery hair and sapphire eyes shone out through the streams of water in transparent reflection. It was very difficult for the water Glimmruyn to take this form, so Rhizoo and Cheroo stopped talking immediately and turned their full attention to her.

“Lizzy has met some Sightseers,” she said gravely.

This news seemed to put them all in a flutter. Their watery bodies twitched and flailed about in fluidic panic, and they couldn't
stop
talking. Rhizoo set off spinning and spitting salt-spray everywhere. Lizzy thought she might explode with how fast she was twirling.

“Oh, those stinky trolls! They're always consuming everything in sight!”

“Nothing good will come from them being here,” fretted Cheroo. “Just you wait and see!”

They chitted and chatted with Tevu and Xili for some time on the subject, and while they did so, Lizzy thought about Moonfin, and wondered if she liked her new home after being cooped up for so long in the undersea cave. Lizzy opened her mouth and was about to ask, but shut it again, tightly. For now, she'd had enough of adventures and sea dragons and moons with shimmery fish in cryo-geysers, and only longed to sit quietly in her lab, or hide in her big green reading chair with a nice book while eating peppermint taffy. And that's exactly what she planned to do for the rest of the summer, because although being a brave Glimmruyn was nice for a while, being a nerdy science bookworm seemed so much nicer right now.