What Siblings Leave Unsaid
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Hello! We’re with this story, and I’m inviting you to check out the video we just released!
There’s also a patron exclusive introduction to this story (, where this is part 2), and I’m curious how it feels when you’re reading that one first. That being said, this story stands on its own, and is published as intended.
A soft purple glow drew his eyes. Someone was coming. A patrol?
Had Skehl been on his own, he could have hidden himself easily enough. While all living Skaltressians emitted a soft glow, his sister, with her multitude of pink and magenta tentacles (many of which were not even naturally hers, but were awarded to her for her service in the Reefguard) shone like a beacon. There was no hiding her. Not in a place so open as ‘the belly’.
So, they waited.
An older sister — slender, with soft-glowing mauve tentacles — approached from the haze of clouding lifelight, her arm draped over the shoulders of a boy barely beyond his youngling years. Skehl noted the boy’s vibrant red-sun tentacles that rustled from his tilted, unbalanced posture. But it wasn’t until he saw the sheer white of his eyes that he knew…
He’s shattered… And nearly the color we need… Skehl hated himself for what he knew he was going to have to do.The boy was technically still alive. Though, not really. And if Skehl could manage to swim back to the palace sooner… It could be that he still had a chance. Maybe…
And a quick death is better than a drawn-out one… Those were his older sister’s words. Binah’s words. Before she had shattered herself. We’d be sparing the boy so much unnecessary pain…
“What are you two doing out here?” the mauve sister said, her tone sharp and expectant.
Just as there was no hiding Thressel, neither could they have hidden the two dead and charred bodies she still held in her grip. And, from the persistent dullness in his sister’s eyes, he was fairly certain she still didn’t have it in her to offer any assistance. So it was up to him.
“They were, uh, Reefguards,” Skehl spoke quickly, crafting his story as he went. “They beat then took our older sister away for smuggling trenchshrooms to help with…” He gestured to his nearly blind left eye.
The mauve sister recoiled when she realized, lips pursed. Revolted. She held her brother tighter, as though Skehl’s own recklessness could have somehow harmed her brother more than he had already harmed himself. Seeing was risky, riskier than Shocking ever was. To See untrained was to call forth an early death — and only the Tide’s Eyes contained the Master Seers, those who had trained their whole lives and have studied the ancient secrets of the craft. Seeing had an allure to it unlike any other gods-given ability, making it the most dangerous. That’s why Skehl needed to return to the palace as soon as possible. There was no life for him without Seeing, and there was only a short life for him should he go on untrained. That was the danger. No one could resist the draw after having submerged themself into the depth of Time, and the infinite futures she contained.
“We haven’t seen our sister in years,” Skehl continued, “So, when we learned that they had passed… well, sometimes vengeance calls with a fervor.”
The mauve sister traced her eyes across Skehl’s form, that disgusted look never leaving her face. Her gaze then went to Thressel, the multitude of pristine-quality tentacles dangling from the gelatinous dome atop her head. Skehl worried, for a moment, that the mauve sister suspected Thressel for what she was: a Reefguard. It was quite rare for any Skaltressian to bear so many tentacles as her, lest they be a Reefguard or a noble.
When the mauve sister finally turned back to Skehl, she said, “Your sister was taken due to your own negligence. You never should have done what you did. This — ” she gestured to her brother, “Is where your naivety will get you. And what you two did to those Reefguards… It’s perverse and disgraceful. They were… just doing as they were told…” Something flashed across her face, then. “Though… I can understand the sentiment.”
She floated before Skehl, keeping her shattered brother close, and then asked in a frightened whisper, “Was it worth it? Whatever it was you Saw?”
Skehl glanced again at her younger brother, still tilted and lifeless. And breathing.
“It was,” he said. “I’ll… never forget it.”
The mauve sister held his gaze for what seemed like a short eternity, and in her eyes, he saw glints of shame and guilt, embarrassment and self-loathing.
Thressel grabbed Skehl’s hand and squeezed.
“Well, that’s that…” the mauve sister said, “Off with you, then. And please remember, the belly is a place for mourning, not vengeance. Regardless of who they were in life, the dead are entitled to their rest. Understand?”
Skehl’s stomach was a tangle of knots.
“Of course. We won’t do it again.”
The mauve sister nodded, then turned and began tying the end of her brother’s kelptwine to an available boulder piled on the floor of the belly.
Skehl squeezed Thressel’s hand. It was like with their older sister, Binah. She had loved them both dearly, but Skehl had felt a connection with Binah that Thressel never understood. Binah was a Seer, like him. Yes, she could Shock, too, but that had never been her strength. Binah had instilled a love and a wonder for Seeing in Skehl. They had spent so many afternoons Seeing together — it was always easier with her around. She had taught him everything she knew, which wasn’t much, but it was something. And, like the mauve sister, it had fallen to Skehl to manage Binah’s passing. He knew Thressel hadn’t meant for that, but she was never home. Friends and Shock-competitions always drew her away — those, she could understand. Laughter and violence. And on the day Binah had plunged too deep into her Seeing, on the day when she shattered herself, only Skehl had been with her. And so his heart ached, though he knew now wasn’t the time to linger on that. He still had hope for his future. And a dream.
“Let’s go,” Thressel said in his ear. “Best we leave her to say her goodbye.”
Skehl left with Thressel, swimming a short distance away, the two charred Skaltressians still held tight in his sister’s grip.
“Not too far,” Skehl whispered. “I suspect she’ll be quick.”
Thressel looked at him, her head turned to the side.
“His size. His coloring…” Skehl nodded towards the young, dying boy. “A strong charring and we’ve got our third body.”
“But…” Thressel blinked, stunned. “Skehl, he’s still alive…”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “But he’s not…there anymore, you know that. Binah always said — ”
“And it would get you back to the palace faster, wouldn’t it?” Thressel’s tentacles furled, and as she turned away, Skehl noted the flash of something fierce in her eyes: a spark. “We’ll find another.” She practically spat the words over her shoulder at him. “Besides, his coloring is too dark. I can’t char him to complete unrecognizability. Reefess Elviah is a nosy little eel and her beady eyes are too primed for details. These two,” she nodded at the corpses floating above her, “Are close. Very, very close. You did well with finding them. But not him, Skehl. Not that boy.”
Skehl clasped his hands together, sighed.
“Thressel — ”
“No.” Resolve absolute.
Now you come alive… Not earlier, when I needed you. But now. To hold me back again.
They floated for a moment, eyes intent on each other. Steady in the weighing, slow rocking water.
When Skehl glanced back at the dying boy, the mauve sister was departing, swimming off and swallowed by the trench. He kicked his tail, shooting straight for the boy. You never lift a tentacle to help me… He was almost there, a pang of pain in his chest. Well, let’s see if you’ll lift one to stop me.
With another kick, he was by the boy’s side, only slowing when he heard that paralyzing sound: breathing, low and droning, but breathing. But this isn’t living, Skehl reassured himself, Like Binah wasn’t living when I set her free… Part of him had always wondered how Binah had known what she did — how could someone know what it was to be shattered without having experienced it for themselves? He wasn’t certain whether she had been right, but every piece of him needed to believe it. For Binah. And for himself.
Past the dying boy was an expanse of the dead — all swaying, most bloated and colorless. Vibrancy was the mark of life in the Aghata Trench. Every Skaltressian glowed and glittered with their brilliant colors. And so it was strange, facing the reality of death. In life, Skaltressians were adored for their dazzling colors — many were sought after specifically for their color, chosen then their tentacles plucked so as to adorn the bodies of those who could afford them. And for all the dim, glowless faces around him, vibrant color still clung to the dying boy. Even the other two bodies Skehl had already found had lost the faintest bit of their vibrancy. But that subtle loss made all the difference. There was no question about them.
His face… Skehl could feel the whisper of warmth radiating from the dying boy’s cheeks. And in the boy’s eyes, Skehl saw Binah. He saw himself. And he saw who he needed to be.
I can do this. He lifted the clamshell-knife to the boy’s throat. Pressed it against his flesh, lightly flecked with shimmery scales, so bright and red. I can do this.
He didn’t move. Not a muscle.
I can do this. I’ve done this before and I… His eyes began to sting. I…
“Is the Tide’s Eyes really worth it?” Thressel’s question caught him off-guard. He hadn’t noticed her swim up beside him. “We can find another if it’s not.”
Isn’t it?
“Yes,” he said. “And it’s not like I haven’t had to do this on my own before.”
Thressel winced.
“Why can’t you just… not See, Skehl? I’ve never understood it. I don’t need to shock, it’s not even something I have to try to resist. Why is it so important to you?”
Because it’s the only thing you can never take away from me. And you won’t say it, but I know that you’re miserable, living this life. Being what you had to become to achieve it… I don’t know how we got so lost along the way, but… the Tide’s Eyes is the only way I know how to get us out of it. And you could retire… Let me take care of you for once…
“It just is.” He had meant to slit the boy’s throat, then, but couldn’t. He couldn’t.
“Kick off,” Thressel said. And then that small spark in her eyes dulled once more.
“What are you…” He stopped. The question was pointless.
Thressel had already wound her tentacles around the dying boy’s body. Skehl could almost feel the thousand stabbing grips as the tiny hooks all along them pierced through the boy’s scales and flesh.
“Kick off!”
Skehl kicked away and watched as his sister, more clinging to the boy then strangling him, let loose a bright, powerful, charring shock. And all Skehl could do was watch.
No wonder you think so little of me…
It was over and done in a blazing flash of power. More black burning filled Skehl’s nostrils and gagged his gills, making him cough as they started back to the palace. But it was done. Three lives set free and three bodies stolen to cover it up. That was their scheme. And for the past two years, Skehl had borne the weight of what it had cost him.. He had borne the fear of being discovered by the Tide’s Eyes and reported for treason, though that had never come to pass. He had borne the growing disdain and distance Thressel had treated him to. And he had borne the loss of his own will and independence, living so long as a suckler-fish trapped beneath the immensity of his sister’s shadow. If he could swim straight to the palace swiftly enough, then perhaps he could still take the exam and…
“Let’s take a swim for a few days. Out in the empty. Just you and me. What do you say?”
Skehl was startled when he realized that Brehn — Thressel’s lover of three years — was speaking with her in his suave, “predatorial-voice” that he thought was so charming. They must have arrived at the Skaltessian territory check-point where the deep narrowing walls of the Aghata Trench opened to the vast empty ocean to the west. Intent on keeping himself focused, Skehl had not noticed their arrival. Not until Brehn’s most ridiculous offer.
No one left Skaltressian waters without approval from a member of the Skaltressian Royal Family — not unless you were willing to be labeled a deserter with a Reefguard or two sent after you to administer a so-called “mercy-killing.” And Skehl was doubtful Brehn had filled the proper scrollwork for any such approval.
“We both have the next two days off, and you clearly need a break. So…just say ‘yes.’”
Thressel hesitated.
Skehl shot a glance towards Brehn’s partner, Cahla, curious if she was going to offer up a comment on Brehn’s proposal. The only reason Skehl and Thressel had managed their little scheme for so long was because all three of them paid bribes to Cahla. She had never been one to take her job seriously, but where she could squeeze something to her benefit, she squeezed hard.
“Before everyone gets all mushy,” Cahla said, “Pay up.”
Skehl and Brenh each handed her three moonstone shards apiece.
“Everyone.” Cahla reiterated.
“I forgot the shards at home,” Thressel said. “Assignment came earlier than usual…”
Cahla flared her nostrils and her autumn-kelp yellow glow.
“That’s the second time you forgot this month. I’m not running a Carekeeper’s home here.”
“You’re not doing anything here.”
“What’d you just say?”
“Oh, by Cal’s decree, can you two just sink all that?” Skehl found himself shouting. “Here.” He pulled another three shards from his satchel and shoved them into Cahla’s hand. “Some of us have places to be.”
Cahla flitted her eyes between Thressel and Skehl, then grunted as she kicked off and swam a short distance away.
Skehl turned to Thressel, nodded surfaceward, then said, “Whatever you do, just be smart about it.”
And he kicked off, giving Thressel and Brehn a few minutes alone.
She won’t talk to me… He sighed. But maybe she’ll talk with him.
It took a while to swim high enough for Skehl to notice the sun rays piercing through, but when he did, his heart fluttered.
Only the red sun’s risen. I… I might actually make it… He glanced down. I have to.
