The Sea Seer - Short Story

I expected to wake up, clean up, drink black coffee, and probably eat two slices of bread on our rickety porch before I depart with Captain Wren. What I don’t expect while eating the second slice, is to watch young Gellir wrestling with an octopus on the town’s pier at eight a.m.

My mum, who was sweeping near the front door, steps out and pauses. My dad slept late again, I guess. He was busy tinkering with a new clock yesterday.

“What on Earth is Gellir doing?”

“Beats me, ibu. In this day and age, I won’t be surprised anymore,” I mutter and swallow the bile down my throat with coffee.

I’m only twenty-five years old but quite behind my times because my adolescent years were occupied with... problems. My friends were badgering me about buying a phone, which I understand about keeping in contact. Internet, though? Shudder at the thought. I surfed it five years ago, and wooo boy! There was a lot to unpack, including this octopus stuff.

God forgive me; I shouldn’t be thinking so lewdly, although Gellir’s scandalous past deeds make it easy for me to assume so. I pity that octopus, but my gut tells me it doesn’t like help.

Finishing my coffee, I then gather my stuff and kiss my mum’s clasped hands goodbye. She hugs me tightly, always does before I go out to the cold seas.

“You always worry, ibu.”

“You can’t blame me, Merah. This is farther than you’ve ever gone through. I don’t know if you can handle it,” she warns with a grimace.

A door clicks from inside. My dad comes out, shuffles here, and yawns. “Merah, you’re going?”

“I am, ayah. Ibu is worried. Again.” I roll my eyes.

He kisses her temple, and I kiss his clasped hands before he hugs me. Then, he looks at me tensely, making me nervous. He’s usually a laid-back man.

His fingers tap two spots under my eyes. “Be careful about these.”

Oh, not him too! “I always have, ayah.”

“Merah. I’m serious. The seas out there are different than here.”

“How do you know?” I question with a weird look.

“Your ibu experienced it.”

I blink. My mouth opens to inquire, but the ship’s horn echoes. I grab my bag, mention salam to them, and run on the pier... but not before I whirl around for one more question. I ignore the struggling Gellir near my right. “Is that why you stayed here for forty years, ayah? Ibu?”

My dad stays quiet and hugs my mum closer by the waist. Their fearful faces remain, and I tighten the jacket around me. Well, I’m a tad spooked about what’s out there.

“MERAH! GET YOUR ARSE HERE! WE’RE LEAVING!” The captain spits to the waves.

The ship’s crew removes the boarding plank before I sprint and leap onto the vessel. While I catch my breath, most of them stare at me warily—their captain grunts.

“Why stand there as if a shark’s thrashing on board? Get to work, lads!”

They scatter. He beckons me to a crate near the railing. Not sure what’s happening, my legs hesitantly move forward, and I take my place. The salt’s scent in chilling winds dances around me as I watch the dark sky. The daylight hours are short around this time of year.

“You can put your bag in the wheelhouse later,” the captain’s voice rings me out of my reverie.

“Why not in the cabin straightaway?”

He laughs loudly. I don’t think it’s funny. My arms cross, and I cock an eyebrow. He falters and says, “Hold on, you’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious! Where do I sleep?”

“You have to be on guard all day.”

“I’m still a human! I need rest and eat— Oh, please tell me you’ve got enough food for me,” I groan. This is worse than my last job. This ship seems small but I’m sure they have a spare room??

“Hah! We can feed a hundred men.”

“But not enough room?”

“You see, I need their muscles to do the job. They get to rest. So yes, limited rooms.”

“I don’t need energy?” I cast him a disbelief glance.

He scoffs. “Your job is just guarding. That’s it.”

“What if I fall asleep, eh?” A bitter tone bleeds through my teeth.

His hand motions carelessly to the wheelhouse. Sleeping there, huh? I sigh and shake my head. That’ll do, I guess.

I don’t understand his logic. If one has power or is gifted, they’ll stop being human? His logic must have been shared with his fellow captain friends because that’s how I got this job.

I had multiple jobs until seven years ago. Grocery boy, cashier, mailman, you name it. But they weren’t enough to support my parents, who are now reaching their seventies. I was an accidental child, not because they didn’t want kids, but assumed they couldn’t afford it. My mum called me a happy accident like Bob Ross used to say. God bless her.

They worked hard for me. Now it’s my turn, even though I’m scared shitless about the sea. Thalassophobia is the word, I think. Shoot, I was an amazing swimmer and still miss swimming. Swam in every body of water I could find despite how cold they were. Until my gift happened when I hit puberty.

I was in hysteria.

My mum feels guilty to this day even when I don’t blame her at all.

Word spread. The townspeople believed me. Years later, the outsiders, like captains, didn’t. In fact, one of them challenged me. My dad almost decked his face until I stopped him and went on board. I feared before the sea and the captain had his laugh. Funny enough, he saw them later.

Word spread again among captains. Offered me lucrative jobs by watching the sea for their safety, and the rest is history. To this day, my dad is my gatekeeper when they want to use my gift. He must be scared for my mind’s sake...

This captain here? By far the worst. Not a goddamn room for me. Unbelievable.

I drawl, “To the left until ten metres. Sharp if you’re able.”

He turns the ship. I guess he’s smart enough not to question me. Nobody sane wants to know about what I’ve seen underwater. Certainly not want to know about a group of sirens glaring at us now.

I have to thank my dad again for his myth books.

~~~

“Hey.”

I jump on my seat when Matt sits beside me. My body relaxes, and I continue to eat my dinner. The sea below is... crowded, taking up my view and causing my mind to be frazzled.

“What’s with your name? It doesn’t sound Icelandic,” he asks softly. He seems decent compared to others.

“It means red in our native language. My parents were from Malaysia, and my mum’s name is Merah too.”

“Oh, you’re a Malay?”

“Yeah. Born in Iceland.”

“It’s weird that your name is based on colour. Why?”

“Eh beats me. I don’t see anyone questioning the name Violet or Blue.”

“Touché.” He snorts lightheartedly and finishes his dinner. Soon after, he nudges me and whispers, “Don’t mind them. They’re jealous that you get to sit.”

“I’m doing my job too.”

“Guarding us against who?” His head tilts in wonder.

I can’t focus on his question when these things are dashing around and set my nerves on edge. They showed up three days ago after the capta—Wren purchased more supplies, which was... strange. He’s an average sea merchant, and these excessive supplies show that he does more than a normal job.

Anyway, I’m sick of sitting here. It’s not good for my muscles and sanity. The ship’s strong lights beaming on the black waters don’t help.

“Stare at the water long enough,” Dale barks, “and the sea will pull you in, haha!”

I glance at Dale, who chuckles mockingly, but I pay him no mind. Not when he’s insignificant for a moment.

“He is a sea seer! From what his old man told me, Jameson,” Wren retorts.

“Seer or no seer, he could’ve put his sweat to works around here, cap’n!”

The others have been evil eyeing me ever since I only sit on the docks and stare out to the seas whenever we stop, almost all day and night. See me as a slacker and a guard dog, confirmed when they gossiped in their cabins. The decks’ boards are thin.

Wren believes me yet leaves me out here like a statue. What if I fall off?? At least Prince Eric was picked up by a pretty mermaid. In reality, the things I see ain’t pretty little mermaids. Not one.

The sea is a clear vast window to the other world, just for my feeble eyes. That’s my gift. That’s my mother’s curse. I used to think like that, too, until I could make money out of it.

Of course, wondrous creatures are swimming and drifting under these deep waves. Sea fairies, hippocampi, vodyanoys, lion’s mane jellyfish, and everything we can imagine of. Terrifying creatures are no exception. Things that are incomprehensible to human eyes—for animal eyes too, I bet. I don’t want to remember them, but I’m learning not to be afraid of their grotesques. Most of them never meant harm.

I’ve seen a lot throughout the years, but this is the farthest I’ve ever ventured: the Barents Sea. Never in my life, I thought I’d see...

A huge pair of coral eyes and never blink.

A gaping maw with sharp teeth rivalling the abyss.

Large open palms yet never hold anything.

Embedded deep into the sea floor. What stranger is that... these parts move abnormally fast, separately, and towards everywhere. Like puzzle pieces shifting on the earth.

When plenty of times the crew littered the sea, the palm was reaching the surface near our ship at an alarming speed. I pleaded to the nights with desperate whispers every time, and it always, very slowly, retreated.

I’m watching the mouth since it’s far below our spot. However, the speed makes up for it. To my dismay, a crewmate called Sam almost dumps his leftovers off the ship.

“Do not do that!” I snarl.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake! Why does this lazy arse always bother about our trash!? The sea ain’t going to wither and die!” With a glare, he scrapes off his dinner.

SHIT.

The waves are crashing. I look below, half of my body over the railing. The mouth’s coming up and wide open with jagged pillars. Its wind pressure blasts into my pores like a train.

I shout at it, “Please stop! We’re sorry, we won’t do it again!”

Stupid Sam asks, “Why the fuck you’re yelling at the sea?!”

Aah! I clap my ears shut when a roar from below gets louder, and the others lose their minds in fear. The deafening scream quakes the ship… Thankfully, the mouth stops just around a hundred metres from our vessel.

The roar goes on; as if days have passed when the mouth slowly descends and retreats, pulling its noise too. Not soon after, silence falls upon us. I turn around and catch Wren’s wide-eyed look.

“Merah?”

“Yes?” My butt slides down from the railing to the floor.

“...What is that?”

The rest are either trembling, hiding, or hugging each other. Still frightened, I see. “Don’t fucking throw out the trash. That’s the last warning.”

Because the palm was supposed to go up. Not the goddamn mouth. Astaghfirullah, I should stop cursing.

“How do you know about that??” Matt panics.

I tell them about my gift. They listen with awe while their captain is distant, going back and forth to the wheelhouse and below the deck. What is up with him?

“Your mum and yourself have this gift? Your dad doesn’t?” Matt questions, concerned.

“Yes, just the two of us, and my current job is being your guard dog.” I shrug. Some of them are grimacing guiltily.

All of a sudden, Wren is walking erratically. Something’s wrong. Sam frowns. “Captain! What’s up?”

The eyes of Wren are wild, darting around. Oh no...

Panic builds up in me. “What did you do, Wren?”

“Finally, it’s here.”

“Wren!?”

He carries a box down to the wheelhouse. I hold his shoulder— Whoa! His fist swings toward my head, but I duck, punch his stomach, and snatch his box. I open it. It’s full of unknown liquid bottles. The crew holds him down, confused by his behaviour.

“NO!” he groans out.

The roar comes back. The palm shoots up to the sky, towering over this ship! Its scaly skin grates the ship’s side. There’s a... humanoid coming out from the mouth down there. A woman? A naked woman! God forgive me! I look everywhere except at her.

“Throw the bottles to that disgusting creature! Kill it!” Wren’s mouth is foaming at this point.

“Why? It doesn’t do anything!” Sure, the palm is hovering over us and threatening to smash us down but it doesn’t move. Yet.

“No infernal being should exist!”

I lower the box. Who is he to say that? I’m scared of these creatures but never wished for that.

“Because my daughter is a monster.”

All of us jump at a woman’s voice. We peer down at her, dumbstruck as she’s staring up at me intensely. Scaly, hairless, and greenish skin with a yellow undertone. Scars are scattered everywhere. She is beautiful but unsettling with those full black eyes.

“That’s your daughter?”

“Mine and his.” Her chin juts in Wren’s way. Wait...

“...You’re Grendel’s mother?”

“You’re quite educated,” she purrs.

“I thought you were dead.”

“Beowulf was ruled by lust and denial and changed history.” Her look eventually turns tired. “Your captain there captured my child years ago, cut him to pieces, and sold them off. He was only a babe...”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper when sadness washes over me.

Despite her stony expression, her shoulders sag and her eyes well up with unresolved grief. “Let us finish our vengeance, please.”

“No! Kill them, Merah!” Wren struggles more.

“Why did you kill her child?”

“Bloody ugly! But such a creature has diamonds entrenched in its skin; how can I ever pass that up?” He laughs in a frenzy.

I shake my head, sharing disgusted looks with the crew. He’s gone mad. I shatter the bottles to the floor.

“Hahaha! There’s more where they came from!”

The supplies... The others are horrified. Without a word, I walk over to him and keep punching his face until he’s out cold. They throw him off to the water, and the woman drags him down to the mouth’s void while I inspect my bloody knuckles. I then stare at the suspending palm when it slowly descends.

Dale sighs, “Aw hell, we don’t have a captain.”

“Can’t believe we killed our captain...” Matt blinks at the water.

“Man, we have to find another job!” Sam complains.

Murmurs among them stop when one of them yelps, pointing to the railing beside me. I back up in surprise when the woman is sitting on it. She frowns in my way. “You’re not human.”

What does she— “Excuse me??”

She drags me by hand to the sea!! GOD HELP ME!

I’m screaming my head off as I fall into the clear water, where it’s filled with grotesque beings. Those huge coral eyes gaze up at me—my body curls in when I hit the freezing water.

I gasp and scramble my way up to the surface, then back up to the ship behind me, far from the creatures below if I can. My teeth chatter. The woman seems shocked.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” I sputter.

“The legend is true...”

“What legend?”

“You’re a finfolk, boy. Though you have the sight. I’ve sensed it.”

I watch her, processing her words. She stares at me back, specifically on my arms... where they are now turning scaly. Ibu and Ayah... Why didn’t they tell me?

“YOU’RE A MERMAID, DUDE??” Matt shouts in disbelief.

“No, Matt... Finfolk is different,” I mutter. All is quiet except for the splashing waves and the creaking ship. “I have a gift because I’m a finfolk? Why is my body changing?”

She frowns more. Her mouth slightly opens. “Your gift is a curse. Your forefathers made a grave sin and you bore their generational curse.”

“What sin?”

“They wiped out a handful of aquatic species because they looked different.”

My whole body is shaking from this information, maybe from the cold.

“Your ancestors were sea Nazis, Merah,” a voice chimes in.

I look up. “Gee, thanks, Dale,” I huff out in exhaustion. Today being overwhelmed is an understatement.

“Merah? Is your parent named Merah too?”

My head snaps down to her. “Yes, my mum. Why?” My legs are transforming.

She swims to me and carefully brings up my scaly hand. “Your mum didn’t tell you about your own kind? Why didn’t you know about your body’s ability? You should’ve known if you swim under the sea after the first sign of pubescent growth.”

“She’d rather move forward than talk about her past life. I stopped swimming in the sea when I first saw it clearly from afar. Is my dad a human?”

“From what I’ve heard through rumours, he is a finfolk too. A normal one.”

“Are they famous? How do you know her name too?”

“Your family’s generational curse is the talk of the world. Names are powerful hopes for us aquatic beings, though just as vulnerable. A reason why no one knows my name in history.” She hums. “There’s one way to break the curse.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Save a creature that your ancestors would kill, yet fear of.”

I glance at the coral eyes underwater, and they’re dashing off again. I’m still spooked but... The water is turning dim. Wait, why is it dim??

“How do I know if I break it?”

She lifts my hand and the vessel’s light hits it. My scales change...

“The cursed sight will be gone, and your supposed transparent scales will permanently change into a certain colour.”

My scales change into red. Crimson red.

I hug my hands to my chest. The transformation stops at my limbs only. God, it’s hard to breathe.

“My parents have a lot of explaining to do.”