Legends of Belariath

Tsunami

Nereid Grace Part Three

Recalling Past

She woke up, with a happy smile on her face. Glad, very glad to be alive. Despite her not having been really hurt for a while she knew how close she had been to death, to the eternal end for her. At least that is what she thought. She knows better now. Freed of her curse given to her by her goddess. She lay staring up to the ceiling while she was being watched by several other nymphs around her. All of them friends and lovers in her lair hidden under the waterfalls. Each of them allowed in and to do as they please in her cozy and large home. She looked at the greenish face of the dryad known as Aijen, a lover and friend who has been around since the first days that she was here in Nanthalion. Her gaze shifted a little and looked upon the gray looks of the oread Yggdrassil, gaze going shortly to the tag on her collar, a tag denouncing that that collar she wore was Tsunami’s collar. Her heart beat a few times more as she reminded herself of the devotion and love of that nymph to her. Eyes of pink gazed on eyes of orange. Eleana, the other oread spawned by the mountains of which the waterfalls is part of, a kind new being with a past of her own that now has been rewritten like Tsunami’s old one. A colder hand on her cheek brought her to look upon the face of the sylph known as Whisper. One of her lovers, once slave, but Tsunami knew she had made an error with her to collar her. Whisper was far stronger than that, she was free now and it suited her very well. Over her shoulder looked on a more human girl with feathers in her hair, a swan may who too has been under Tsunami’s banner and still a member of her glade. Her own sister Katsumi sat on the foot end too, she didn’t really look on Tsunami, the only one who would remain silent all the time as she already knew what had happened. She missed a few faces now… Those of her male lovers and some of her lovers who she has bouts with. Wishing they were here now, but she can apologize to them later on. She knew now that she had to do so. She felt reborn to say the least. Her entire self had been rewritten again after that ordeal. The looks on the faces around her made her ponder and nod. Knowing they wanted an answer why she for no apparent reason had gone into a coma for a long while. Those pink eyes flared up with more life then ever as she slowly sat up. Her famous scent of the ocean now permeated with that of coconuts, a strong sweet smell added. Sitting on the huge bed she motioned for the rest to sit before her on the large and comfortable bed on which many an orgy had already happened. She took a few minutes of rest and to answer some basic questions on her condition before she addressed the entire group.

“My lovers, friends and pets. I thank you all from the deepest of my heart for your concern for my health. It does me good and reminds me I never was truly lost. I learned to love and got a lot of love by all of you. But for now, for giving you all this fright I’ll explain to you all what happened and why. It is a long story which involves my memories of the past and the now. Things done and things I thought I had done.”

She shifted on the bed and relaxed her back against the headrest of the bed, overlooking the other nature spirits present there. A warm glow in her heart and a most happy smile was seen on her lips. It was good now. At least… it was good now for her personally. She knew she still lived in the dangerous area of Nanthalion. She could go home now safely and see her birthplace again. But she wouldn’t. This was her home now till the day she would get killed or the end of the world would be. Here with her lovers and friend and the few enemies she had, including the few more she knew she might make now that she was… changed. Some who were friends would no longer be able to be friends. Some she had made enemies with she could make friends with hopefully. Her heart felt a little turmoil there, but she knew she could not make all people happy she knew. She knew she could not protect all those sisters she cared for. Neither was it her role or purpose to protect all of them. She knew that some of them were destined to serve fates that seemed cruel, but their sacrifices at least kept others from harm and as well would keep nature from being despoiled. A cruel thing and she herself would suffer for that fate too, but now she would no longer complain.

“It started when I was born. Not two thousand years ago, but only a mere fifty one years ago. Born in the area known as Nuyga, far from here. The area near tropical and has many other plants and animals then it has here. I am not one fond of cold for I am one from an area of warmth. I and my twin sister Katsumi indeed lived there happily, basking in sun and playing in the waves. We were no different from any other free nymph. But… we were disobedient as a default. Never listening to any words of the elder nereids there. Our mentors Uime, Hezze and Ai’Noriko had to baby-sit us most of the time. Me more, far more then the more demure Katsumi. But she too was disobedient, to the point where we both proclaimed that Gaea was not a good goddess for our kind. That she was lazy and uncaring of the common people. She was only concerned with her own concerns and with the few chosen who she likes to toy with. That she was nothing better then a goddess of death.”

She looked on their faces in confusion safe one. All of them had this look of how is that possible, how could you. She nodded and sighed, idly brushing some of her long hair with her fingers while taking a breather. It was difficult to talk continually while being as drained as she felt. Her body not yet having adapted to her new self fully. That would take a while before she would have fully recovered from this, but her healing as it is, was nearly finished.

“Of course we got Gaea’s ire for this. She looked on for a long while, but not even our mentors work on us could make us behave so Gaea punished us with a long taking lesson which last night has ended for me. For Katsumi it had ended a while ago and she never had it as bad as I had. You see, she… altered us both. She took our memories of till then and pushed them away. In stead we got new memories that were not our own. All the tales I told you all about from my past. They were not mine and Katsumi’s. They were the memories of a pair of Water Weirds. Other beings of the sea, powerful, and these were powerful to the extreme. Elemental forces of water that had gotten a humanoid form and sentience. They served Gaea too long, long ago. But they were hardly caring for life as would Gaea like them to be. While they were powerful on their own the mother goddess managed to defeat them in time and stripped them of most powers before they ended up dead at the hands of those who they had terrorized for so long.”

Blank stares the got from most of them, not fully understanding what she had said just there. Not knowing what those Water Weirds had to do with this at all. The nereid hugged her knees to her chest and sighed a little, taking in air to keep able to talk and tell her story to her friends surrounding her. Unknown to her Katsumi was writing everything down.

“Those memories of them were put in me and Katsumi. Made so we assumed they were our own, then we were put again into teaching. Having been with the other nymph for a long time till they got sick of us. The area we called home was to peaceful and nothing could trigger us to learn from those bad memories. But here… when we went to this place about half a year ago we found ourselves confronted with power, a lot of it. It forced us to think and relate to our memories. But it also forced us here to think on values which we lacked before. Now… we know those values and know to think before we act. We have been restored to the nymphs we were before the memory fusion, but with all effects of what happened to us still in effect. I still am Tsunami and she is still Katsumi, but we both are now more responsible beings. As on why was I in coma? Simple, last night in the inn my mind was flooded for the first time clearly with how the Water Weird who represented me came to her demise. She was stripped of powers and was given to the fishermen who she had terrorized, who’s families she had killed. The nightmare I had was long and brutal and I saw how they raped her and then killed her. Leaving her husk to vaporize forever.”

Several faces showed shock and confusion as to this revelation. The nereid they taught to be an elder was a new nymph in relative terms. But then Tsunami motioned them all closer and took them all into a loving group hug.

“I love you all… thank you.”

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