Chapter Eleven: Rip Current

Proving herself in the field might have been exactly what Malia needed. While it wasn't the cleanest of wins, Malia was comforted that she managed to be a step closer to the kind of spirit Beatrice needed at her side. That, and whenever Malia doubted her actions from that day, Beatrice's warm voice would echo in her mind:

"You did very well, Malia."

Even if Malia knew she could do better, Beatrice's kind words were a reminder that she wasn't a complete failure. There was still hope. And Malia wanted to be worthy of her commendations.

So every day, Malia would practice. En route to missions, she would focus on the ideal balance of speed and stability of her swimming. During rescues, she would challenge herself to push boats faster out of danger; if ghouls were involved, she kept mental records of how many she could interfere with, and she pushed herself to increase that number each time. On their days off, Malia would spend hours perfecting her swimming and control over the water. Every so often, she would even ask Beatrice for help, and the woman was patient enough to allow Malia to practice her anti-ghoul techniques.

By the end of the day, Malia would drag herself to bed, tired but proud. While she would go to sleep knowing that she still had much to learn, she was at least a step closer to where she needed to be. And she would keep practicing until there was no doubt that she deserved Beatrice's praise.

As the weeks passed, the number of ghoul sightings decreased. That was normal, apparently; according to Beatrice, their disconnection from the water forced them to attack in waves and spend the lulls recuperating. Right now, they must be in the trough.

"Trough?" Beatrice repeated Malia's observation. "What is that?"

"Well, there are a few meanings," Malia said.

As they continued to swim, patrolling the waters, Malia held her hands in front of her. And thanks to her practice, she could still keep pace with Beatrice and not collide with her.

"The one I'm talking about involves waves," Malia continued, making two wave-like shapes with her hands. "That low part between two waves is called the trough."

"Strange that I've never heard about that before," Beatrice said. "Considering that we live under waves and all."

Malia shrugged. "It probably doesn't come up in conversation a lot. I don't know how often boat people refer to the bottom of waves; I've only seen it used in math."

"Boat people?" Beatrice repeated with a small smile. "You mean sailors? Or seafarers?"

Normally, a similar slip-up would send Malia into a defensive frenzy. So she was surprised when she merely laughed at Beatrice's correction, more amused at her mistake than ashamed.

"That sounds much more official than 'boat people,'" Malia said.

Beatrice's smile widened. "'Boat people' doesn't sound all that terrible though. But you said there were other definitions of that word? Trough?"

"Yeah, uh..." Malia paused, contemplating a way to make the additional meaning more elegant; she gave up quickly. "The thing pigs eat out of. Like on a farm."

"Pigs." Beatrice paused in thought. "I haven't seen a pig in... years."

"They can be pretty cute," Malia said, slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to explain farm animals when she knew nothing about them. "I was a little bit obsessed with pigs for maybe a month when I was a kid. There's this book we had to read in school about a pig. And a spider. I don't really like spiders. But the pig was cute. The picture on the cover, at least. I remember I wanted to be a pig for Halloween until..."

"Successful ladies don't dress up as pigs. Pigs are animals. Are you an animal?"

"... I decided on something else," Malia continued a split second later. "Probably a... princess or something."

If Beatrice noticed Malia's hesitation, she didn't show it, her gaze unfocused at the distant waters. "Books... I haven't read a book recently either."

Before Malia had a chance to express her surprise, common sense hit her. "I guess paper doesn't last that long underwater, huh?"

"Unfortunately not." Beatrice sighed softly, and her eyes drifted downwards. "Maybe a century ago, we had a small stash on a deserted atoll south of here, but years of storms destroyed what's left."

"Would you..." Malia began before she could stop herself, then quickly cleared her throat. "Nevermind."

"Want to go back to land?" Beatrice said, and when Malia responded with a meek nod, Beatrice went quiet.

"I don't have fond memories of land," Beatrice finally whispered. "Of the people."

The hint of pain in Beatrice's voice made Malia's own heart ache. After all the times Beatrice comforted her, Malia wanted to reach out and provide her with the same reassurances.

Malia hadn't realized she had done just that, her hand reaching for Beatrice's shoulders like the woman hand done for her. But just when her fingers were an inch away, she was engulfed by Beatrice's energy, and it wasn't the soothing warmth she remembered.

Instead, she felt an overwhelming chill shiver throughout her body, like she was swimming in a pool of ice. A sharp pain blossomed from her gut, the intensity making her eyes burn and muscles tense. Her lungs felt that infamous burn, and Malia could already hear the echoes of the screams that would inevitably follow.

Until a firm grip on her wrist jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry!" Malia immediately said, still frantically blinking her vision into focus. "I didn't mean— I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Malia, it's not your fault," Beatrice's soft voice calmed Malia's racing heart. "I... I may have felt similar sensations. From you."

Malia's shock was enough to confuse her into tranquility. "Huh?"

At last, Beatrice's face was clear. They had stopped swimming, and instead floated steadily in the still blue waters. Beatrice had Malia's wrist in hand, and she gently released it with a soft sigh.

"Your energy... When you panic, I feel it," she said quietly, her gaze still on Malia's hand. "It can't really be helped, not when we have to be aware of all the energy flowing through the water, but still... I should've told you. I'm sorry."

At first, Malia wasn't sure what to think. Embarrassment and self-consciousness won out amongst the popular contenders, and she began to scour her memories for all the potentially shameful emotions she felt while in Beatrice's presence.

That moment only lasted for a second before Malia realized that she didn't mind. Beatrice knew of her emotions, but she didn't refer to them as shameful or weak. She didn't ridicule Malia or berate her for being so sensitive. Instead, she would commend Malia's efforts and had faith in her even when Malia herself did not.

"Can you teach me?" Malia asked, then clarified at Beatrice's confusion. "How to feel the energy around me. Like you do."

After a few seconds of silence, Beatrice nodded. "Your way may need to be different, but I spread my energy throughout the water in all directions. If I sense something odd in one location, I move the rest of my energy there to gather more information about what it is."

Right away, Malia knew that such a feat wasn't possible with her current skill level, but she simply had to adapt. If she only had a fraction of Beatrice's power, perhaps she could extend her energy over a small area, then move it constantly around her.

"Like a lighthouse," Malia muttered to herself.

"What?" Beatrice said at first; a beat later, realization replaced confusion in her expression. "Oh, like a lighthouse."

Malia grinned, then closed her eyes to try out her theory.

She extended her energy through a small section of the water, just how she did when she was targeting ghouls. And after weeks of training, her reach extended, and she couldn't help but grin from seeing the fruits of her labor.

When she started to move the beam of energy, she could feel slight changes in what her senses detected. Some she recognized as shifts in currents and rocks. Others, such as something that felt like a school of small fish, were less familiar. Nevertheless, she felt like she could see so much more. Of course, she couldn't tell if her reverse emergency beacon was actually fulfilling its intended purpose, but Malia was still pleased to have her eyes opened in yet another way.

Until her senses were engulfed by panic. She felt her body jump into fight-or-flight mode, but her mind wasn't sure what she was scared of or where she was supposed to go. All she knew was that she feared for her life, and her lungs burned for the air she couldn't have.

Even when Malia cut off her energy's reach, her mysterious panic still kept her from conveying what she found with words. Thankfully, Beatrice's eyes showed she completely understood. They took off without another word, Beatrice holding Malia's shaking upper arm to keep her steady, and Malia more grateful than ashamed to protest.

They were ghouls. A swarm of eight were hovering near the surface of the water, taking turns dragging down a small brown figure before letting them scramble back up to the surface. And judging by the victim's lethargic motions, they didn't have long left.

Malia and Beatrice only needed to glance at each other before they jumped into action.

Beatrice sent a shockwave through the water just below the victim, catching five of the ghouls in its wake. At the same time, Malia shoved back two others in quick succession, but just as she targeted the last one, the ghoul seized the small brown figure and sped away.

But Malia couldn't let them.

If she wasn't so determined, Malia would've been proud about how it only took her a few seconds to catch up to the ghoul, and she didn't hesitate to direct a pinpoint shockwave at the arm that held their victim. The ghoul released their target immediately upon impact, and Malia briefly saw their scarlet eyes and bared yellow teeth before they scrambled after their weakly swimming victim. And as soon as the ghoul reached for a furry brown tail, Malia's determination was replaced by rage at the realization: the ghouls were targeting a defenseless dog.

Her next attack sent a shuddering ripple of energy into the ghoul, just enough to send them flying backwards. Unfortunately, they seemed to regain their balance almost instantly, but Malia didn't plan on sticking around to confirm. Instead, she grabbed the dog as she surfaced, trying not to think about how they flinched at her appearance and shook violently in her grasp.

She didn't get far before a sharp burn sliced across her back and to her shoulder that shielded the dog. Malia's yelp merged into a hiss as the salt stung her wounds, then cut off entirely when a pale green hand reached into the corner of her vision. She pushed the dog away just as the ghoul swiped at them, and a thin fog of red rose from her arm as a burn settled into her skin. The ghoul's scarlet eyes were camouflaged behind the cloud of blood, but their gleaming grin was impossible to ignore.

When the ghoul raised their arm again, Malia's body didn't wait for what they would target next. Her instincts kicked off their chest like a springboard; her consciousness sent a push through the water towards the dog, hoping to give them enough distance to get out of the fray. Only when the ghoul dug their nails into Malia's leg did she redirect a shockwave towards them, and she didn't waste time charging after them, determined to stop their cruelty once and for all. But when she followed their trail to a small seamount, she froze.

The ghoul was clinging to the rocks below, staring up at her with their dark crimson eyes. Their seafoam green skin was commonplace now, but Malia recognized their tangle of black hair that floated around their head; it reminded her of a clump of dark seaweed. And when they grinned at her, the sight of their crooked yellow teeth seized the last of Malia's reason.

They were the ghoul that attacked the research vessel. They killed the team leader, the researchers, and the rest of the ship's crew. They killed her.

And Malia was going to make them pay.

"Someone's looking a little green around the gills," the ghoul said, just before cackling. "Welcome to immortality! You're welcome, by the way."

Malia expressed her thanks with a quick shockwave, sending shards of stone flying with a heavy crunch. The ghoul lurched backwards at the same time, but their devilish smirk showed that they were dodging instead of succumbing. As if to confirm this, they nimbly darted to the side, their movements akin to a small fish.

Months ago, the speed would've been too much for Malia, and she wouldn't have noticed them skulking around the shadows of the rocks below. But things had changed, and while she had yet to personally keep pace with Beatrice's quick movements, she at least learned how to predict them. That was enough for her to use her newest acquired skill, and shortly after she sensed the ghoul lurking in a small cavern, a sharp shockwave quickly followed.

A yelping snarl billowed out from the resulting cloud of debris, and Malia re-extended her energy to detect what her eyes no longer couldn't. The range was much wider than she was used to, and she expanded it just in time to feel the ghoul above her—and they were coming in fast.

Malia dove to her side just in time—or so she assumed. Just as she thought she was in the clear, a cold force clamped on her ankle, and her body lurched downwards.

For a split second, her vision was filled with the spinning dust-filled water before her back crashed into jagged rocks with a heavy grunt. A sharp pain burned throughout her body at the impact, and before she could recover, the ghoul's sinister smirk eclipsed her vision.

"You know what? You're pretty fun. I'm glad the 'magical' ocean deemed you worthy." Somehow, the ghoul's sneer deepened even more as they gripped her neck before leaning closer to whisper in her ear. "Judging by your screams, I figured it wouldn't."

The memory of being trapped in darkness engulfed her just as a cold wave swept through her body. She could feel her focus drifting as if the water was drowning her yet again, and her leadened limbs only succeeded in dragging her down further.

The ghoul's chilly chuckles echoed in her ear. "Say hello to your little science friends for me."

In the darkness that clouded her vision, Malia saw the team leader pleading with her to escape—to survive.

She couldn't let them down.

Her next attack was a classic punch, and while it was weak, it was enough to loosen the ghoul's hold in her neck. Immediately, the blur that clouded her vision began to lift, but her mind was still lost in a fog.

So she let her body act for her, aiming for the ghoul's vague figure and firing the strongest shockwave she could muster. It wasn't much, judging by the ghoul's amused cackles, but it was enough to buy her some time to find her real attack: a boulder twice her size, lifted by the currents only she could control.

The ghoul's laughter was cut off by a howl when the boulder landed on one of their arms, but that only spurred Malia to continue, sending another shockwave at their anchored body. When the ghoul retaliated with a scarlet glare, Malia sent another attack, and then another, and another...

But with every hit, the ghoul turned their eyes back to her. And when they showed her their sadistic sneer, Malia couldn't take it anymore.

She dove for them, landing directly on their other arm. The sharp snap was quickly followed by a shrill scream, but Malia barely heard it. Not when all she wanted to do was send another shockwave at the ghoul's face, silencing them forever.

"Malia, don't!"

Malia froze with her arm drawn back to strike. She knew she wanted—no, needed revenge, but she couldn't move, not when that voice warned her otherwise.

"Malia." Beatrice's voice was calm, but Malia could sense a hint of something else within. "Malia, I know you're angry; I can feel it, and I don't blame you. But don't kill them. Please."

But she had to. The blazing rage that churned through her body begged her to, to destroy the one that not only destroyed her life but so many others as well. The team leader, the researchers and the crew—they all had dreams to fulfill when they stepped onto that ship so many months ago. She remembered their cheerful chatter as they boarded, and the way they stared in wonder at the ocean around them—the ocean that killed them.

No, the ocean didn't kill them; this ghoul did. And they had to pay.

"Malia, please, trust me," Beatrice begged. "You can't do this."

But she could. She had to, for the people that couldn't.

"You can't. If you do... you won't be able to return to land again. You'll have to live in the water, forever."

Malia froze. She had forgotten about her true goal, about her life on land.

"You have a duty to the water, remember?" Beatrice desperately said. "You must repay your debt by saving mortal lives. And if you take a life... that debt becomes impossible to repay."

Malia's drawn arm trembled with the choice at hand. Achieving her goal of life, or enacting revenge for the people whose dreams were taken from them? Their futures had been promising and selfless; hers were unattainable and conceited.

And what's more, her "dreams" weren't even her own.

"They wouldn't want you to do this," Beatrice continued. "Those people, your friends, they wouldn't want you to throw away your life for their memory. We may have the power of the water, but we can't change the past. We can only think about the future.

"So please, Malia, please think about your own future. Even if that's not what you want, even if you think it's not worth it, it might become so later. You still have the chance to change things. But if you... if you kill them, then you won't. Not anymore."

At first, everything in Malia's mind told her that Beatrice was wrong. All her life, she knew that her goals were unachievable, but she still went after them for the sake of meeting expectations. There was no way that her future was worth more than the ones lost.

But Beatrice never lied to her before. And as her words echoed in Malia's mind, her voice filled with a soothing calm, Malia found herself wanting only one thing from her future: hope.

Malia felt her arm drop before she could stop herself, and she felt the ghoul's scarlet stare stalking her as she forced her body to retreat. Beatrice waited a moment before blasting the boulder away, and Malia lost sight of the ghoul when Beatrice drifted between them.

"Leave," Beatrice ordered the ghoul, the harshness of her voice sending a chill through the water. "And don't you dare come back."

Malia didn't see if the ghoul listened. All she knew was that she felt cold and empty, and the only thing that kept her warm was the physical ache that burned her back.

"Malia..." Beatrice whispered, her soothing voice a complete contrast to how she was moments before. "Are you alright?"

She couldn't answer that, not when she didn't even know the answer. But she had to say something, and as her hazy mind searched through possible answers, the clearest one jolted her into action.

"The dog!"

Malia sped off without a word, only hoping that Beatrice would follow. She had no idea how long it had been since she last saw the animal, nor what shape they could possibly be in after the day's events. She could only hope that they survived.

It was both a comfort and a concern that she found them seconds later, and the latter was in regards to how slowly they were moving. They were about half her size and on the older side, judging by the thin white fur that dotted their face. When Malia wrapped them gently in her arms, they didn't resist, resting their head on her chest with a heavy sigh.

Beatrice surfaced next to her shortly after, and after they exchanged a quiet glance, she joined Malia in gently stroking the dog's matted fur. Until a few seconds later, her hand froze, and she turned to Malia with wide eyes.

Unfortunately, Malia could feel it too.

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