La Sirene signed emphatically to the warrior, who was paying very close attention and subtly nodding along with the movements of her hands and webbed fingers.
“Only Fonlanders born on this Disc are allowed to even approach Absence Trench. If they are not natives of the Disc and they refuse to cease their efforts to enter the Trench, then the Nommo have my authorization to use deadly force. Is that understood?”
The warrior was Nommo, and despite his impressive size – he was about seven feet long from head to the tip of his flipper – he was afraid, and rightly so. Nommo warriors are large and as strong as any Fonlander of the Fonlands, but La Sirene was one of the first of the mer-Fonlander kin including the Nommo, the Njuzu, and the Jengu, many refer to her as one of the three mothers of the mer-kin because they emerged as the first of their kind from Absence Trench (along with Yemaya and Mamlambo), even though she didn’t directly give rise to the kin. Sirene is sturdy to navigate the pressures of the depths with ease, but she glides in the waters so effortlessly that it is easy to underestimate her. The Nommo warrior does not underestimate her.
“Ma’am,” the warrior stammered with his hands, “the young hippo king of the swamps is demanding access and he has brought a contingent. We have been told to respect the young monarchs, they are quick to violence if they feel slighted. That is orders from the highest command, ma’am.”
“Young monarchs,” Sirene gestures like it sullies her hands to make the words, “there are no monarchs in the Fonlands, only the Vodun and the Mother-Father. Delay this hippo while I talk to Agbe, she won’t be happy to hear that they even hope to approach Absence Trench.”
The Nommo warrior was relieved to leave La Sirene, he was happy that he hadn’t angered her enough that she asked his name, that would mean reprimands from commanders.
Sirene left the shelter she occupied in the coral reef that housed millions of inhabitants of the Disc, and she went east to the central kelp forest where she found Yemaya and Mamlambo seemingly waiting for her.
“This should not be an issue,” Mamlambo hissed as her long serpentine body looped in the water to keep her upper body stationary as she signed with her scaly arms and heavily webbed fingers. “Absence Trench is the Disc of Agbe, things born in the overlap are born of the Disc of Agbe, allow the annoying hippo king access to the Trench. They are only demonstrating its importance to all inhabitants of the Disc, whether they emerged from the Trench or not.”
“I understand the sensitivities,” Yemaya admitted, signing with her articulated fingers. Among the three of them, she had the most prominent humanoid features and she was the only one of them wearing a garment to cover her chest. “But I think that Mamlambo is right. Absence is the Disc of Agbe and we shouldn’t police who has access to it.”
“Tell that to the Vodun,” Sirene signed with her hands that were more humanoid than Mamlambo’s but webbed with fins on her knuckles. “She holds Absence sacred, not really because it is desecrated by outsiders, but because it is a nursery, things are regularly born from there and to allow things to just swim in and out on a whim is irresponsible. Agbe puts the youngest of us first, she calls them the realization of the dreams of the Mother-Father.”
“Maybe we can tell them that?” Yemaya offered with an unsure hand. “Maybe we can explain all this from a distance and it will force them to tread carefully or seem disrespectful to the Vodun.
“I always forget that Agbe uses the ‘not born from the Trench’ thing as a way to discourage frequent visitors,” Mamlambo signed. “Let’s go see if we can satiate the hippo king and keep them from angering the Vodun.”
They all agreed and swam quickly toward Absence Trench that is located deep in the northern oceans, close to the pillar to the Lofted Disc. They caught up to the long procession of hippos that led the hippo king to the trench and lucky for the three merfon, the hippo king was in the back of the procession as they caught up to it. He was relaxed in what amounted to a comfortable couch that was round like a wheel and large enough to accommodate the three other passengers that were being pulled by other hippos with ropes clenched in their teeth. Only Sirene could rest comfortably on the couch when they caught up to it and the other two swam close enough to watch the conversation.
The hippo king was surprised by the sudden arrival of Sirene but when he recognized her, he smiled and introduced himself with a bow.
“I am Choer of the marshes and swamps, newly crowned king,” he signed with both hands on his short arms and he moved the digits of his hands quickly. The hippos walk on all fours when they are on land and their digits aren’t ideal for signing the language of the oceans, but he managed to get his points across. “I am honored to bring my family to see the Absence Trench…”
“Absence Trench,” Sirene lifted a hand before his face to correct him. “It is not the Absence Trench, just Absence Trench.”
“Hardly seems like a difference,” Choer chuckled to himself. The members of his family that accompanied him were not well-versed in sign language and could barely understand what was being said. “It is an honor to see the Trench and that the first of the merfon are here to show me.”
“And we are happy to escort you,” Sirene signed. “What do you know about Absence?”
“That it is the womb of the Disc, everything of the oceans was born from it. I was born in water, but on shallow ground, far from the Trench, but it is the same ground, no?”
“Indeed it is,” Sirene said. “I understand why you all have come here, every dweller of the Disc should see Absence at least once, and not just this city that has grown up around it,” Sirene indicated to the villages that they swam over that glowed with the bioluminescent flora and swirled with the activity of Fonlanders. “Absence welcomes you as a child of the Disc, but it is a place of birth, new things emerge here all the time and the beings that live here permanently are charged with their care if they require it, or at least to guide them towards the oceans that are best suited for them.”
“Are we close?” Choer asked absently with one hand, looking over the side of the circular couch as the view below whizzed by.
They were approaching Absence Trench, and it looked like the sea floor in the distance had opened like a mouth with rounded edges of Essence blue rock for lips. Absence was alive with activity, things were constantly emerging from it along the long line of it that stretched beyond the view of the horizon on either side of it and there was a line of attendants being as much help as the new Fonlanders required. But Choer was distracted by the view of the city, and Sirene understood, seeing the glowing city on the bottom of Agbe’s oceans was a sight that few born of those depths could handle. Even the things born from Absence that found lives at shallower depths cannot withstand the pressure of the floor of the oceans for long because they lose their acclimation. Choer and the other hippos were sturdy Fonlanders and they had trained for this trip, which any Fonlander of any Disc could do with time.
“We are here, your kingliness,” Sirene signed after tapping his shoulder, only barely hiding her mockery of the monarch. “You should stop your procession.”
When Choer looked up from the city, he saw the gaping trench in the distance, but his procession was slowing on their own accord, as though they had expected the king to slow them well before that point, but weren’t willing to go any further.
“I had thought we could go inside of it,” Choer signed as the circular couch was surrounded by the hippos who had been pulling it and they carried it on their backs to lift the king and the passengers of his circular chair above the procession. They stopped at a distance, on a high ragged cliff so that they could see it from a high vantage.
“Truly a wonder,” Choer signed, “I am glad that I made this journey. It was worth the acclimation exercises. My family is pleased as well.”
“I admit that I came with Mamlambo and Yemaya because we were worried that you would disturb the nursery that is Absence Trench.”
“Everyone voiced that objection to my traveling here, but seeing it, I understand better. No one explained to me that it was this. I’d be a fool, or pervert, to try and explore the trench. Does anyone ever go inside?” Choer asked.
“The attendants will if they spot something struggling beyond what is normally expected of a newborn, but only so deep. They try not to interfere, if something can’t emerge from Absence then maybe it was not meant to.”
“That is a harsh reality,” Choer signed as he stared at Absence Trench like he was hypnotized by it. “I will ponder my position on that. Maybe the attendants should dive down as deep as they can to ensure that everything the Disc makes has a chance to thrive. But there are so many bursting out of that seam unaided. So many, I know the Disc is big, but if this is always like this, there must be so many Fonlanders of this Disc.”
“There are, and Agbe’s oceans accommodate them.”
“I would like to meet the Vodun as well,” Choer signed. “I have never even seen her in person. Is she here at the Trench?”
“Agbe likes to swim the oceans. If you want to meet her, you have to catch her. She is a very strong swimmer and only gives words to those who can keep up. She does rest every now and then, but the oceans are vast and she can only be found by one who knows all of the oceans as intimately as she does. Some have gotten lost in their pursuit of her, but know that if she is needed anywhere on the Disc, she will be there.”
“You know her? You swim with her?” Choer asked.
Sirene nodded. She watched Mamlambo and Yemaya in the distance, they had gone to a lower part of the ledge that was closer to Absence and they were conversing between them.
“We are the only ones who can keep up with her, but some Fonlanders are getting faster. I’m sure you can if you train at it. Acclimating to these depths is no small feat. I think that Agbe would be honored to know you,” Sirene signed earnestly.
All conflicts avoided, the procession of the hippo king enjoyed the wonder of Absence Trench and then went back west to the marshes and swamps. When they were gone, the three merfon huddled together.
“He better not go looking for Agbe!” Yemaya signed emphatically. “If he manages to catch her, I’m telling her you told him how to speak with her. She said that we should keep it a secret. She’s not interested in playing wise god, he can go hike the mountains to find Sakpata if he wants that.”
“That tubby thing?” Sirene asked mockingly, then apologized for her callousness. “But I honestly don’t feel that he will ever be able to catch up to Agbe, even if he is fast, he’s not made for those speeds.”
“You will live to regret those words,” Mamlambo signed with a look of pity on her face. “Hopefully it’s later rather than sooner, but judging by the overall obnoxiousness of the monarchs, I feel like it will be soon.”
Agbe can become the water and allow herself to be at the whim of gravity and the currents of her oceans. She likes to be frozen water, there is something very satisfying about solidifying and being as hard as a rock. As satisfying as that feeling is, she loves to swim more than everything. She likes moving her body through water and she can lose entire days in constant movement, not seeing the same terrain more than once. Yemaya had accused her of running from the leadership role the Vodun enjoyed on the Disc and Agbe shrugged it off.
“I wasn’t made to lead the Fonlanders born on the Disc, that is the delusion of Agê.”
“Then why were the Vodun created if not to be the leader?’ Yemaya asked. They were on an island of black sand and Yemaya rested on a rock. She had long hair that was wet past her shoulders, and occasionally she grabbed chuncks of it to rend water from it to wet her skin that preferred being in water, though she could manage on dryland with little difficulty.
“We are the embodiment of the Disc. When you communicate with me, you are talking to this land, these seas, the body is just a vessel. Fonlanders don’t need to be led, we are expressions of the Mother-Father, stewards of the Disc to maintain it until the Mother-Father says otherwise. We don’t need anyone between the directive of the Mother-Father and our actions because our actions always line up with the mandate.”
“Tell that to the dingonek who got pushed out of Lifewell. The dingonek went from Absence to that sunken forest, but those hippos whose king Sirene went to Absence with recently have been pushing in and making life uncomfortable for the dingonek. It is not your business, it is not mine, even though I enjoyed time in Lifewell because the dingonek had made it peaceful and welcoming. The hippos are loud and they have no concept of personal space. But the worst is that the dingonek are welcoming, and intimidating enough to forcefully remove the hippos if they wanted, but they only attack when attacked and the hippos aren’t threatening exactly, they are just annoying in a way that the more of them visit or settle Lifewell, the less the dingonek want to reside there and now more hippos live there than the dingonek. The hippos only came because of the good time the dingonek created, but they overstay their welcome and disrupt the balance. It isn’t life threatening, nothing has ground to a halt as a result, but that is the reality and unfortunate for Lifewell that should be a place like Absence that all Fonlanders of the Fonlands should experience at least one. And a leader of the Disc could make gentle suggestions to correct what amounts to an unfortunate reality. I’m not making the strongest argument, but there is something there I suppose.”
“Then I anoint you leader in my stead, fair Yemaya,” Jo said and she bowed at her waist. She was the shortest Vodun but solid and muscular and she wore garments that clung tight to her body when she was on her disc, like a wetsuit that covered her torso, thighs and shoulders. “And Mamlambo, and Sirene. You three can swim as fast as me, I think that affords you stewardship of the flock.”
“How did I know you would say that?” Yemaya said with anger that she didn’t bother to veil. The merfon had infinite respect for her Vodun, but they had grown up together on the Disc as inseparable friends, and they were more mature by that point, though they were very young compared to the lives that lay before them, and they shared a familiarity that superceded the hierarchy of the Fonlands.
“If or when these unfortunate realities arise and I can actually be of assistance, I am happy to intercede, but you are well suited to intervene in a natural way, and not to be crass, I couldn’t honestly care less,” Agbe admitted and she was pacing on the sands as Yemaya wet her body with the water she rung from her hair. “I would like every Fonlander of the Disc to be happy and comfortable, but shepherding the flock in the way that you describe sounds like the hobby of someone who is bored and looking for a reason to matter. And I really don’t mean that to sound as aggressive as it does, but I have already said it and I offer my apologies.” Agbe put a hand to the back of her head and stared down at the sand in embarrassment.
Yemaya was used to Agbe being frank and rude in the process.
“I presented it as a me problem, but everyone who doesn’t spend all of their time swimming as fast as they can go has mentioned it to me as well. The monarchs aren’t just annoying, but they are attempting to rewrite the reality of the natural flow we have settled into on this Disc. They only care about their own renown and want to be legendary without having really done anything of note. Nobody wants outright aggression, so it’s allowed to get bigger and more obnoxious, and that’s what’s happening, which you could be helpful with if you were to go to these self proclaimed monarchs and educate them so trips to Absence Trench don’t become full on panics because we don’t think they understand. You could talk to them and change their behavior and the oceans can remain one of the few Discs that hasn’t devolved into factions warring for dominance or over oppression.”
“Fine, I will think on it and talk to you soon” Agbe said. She hugged Yemaya without another word and then they both went their separate ways in the oceans.
“It will not stand a chance in the waters,” Mamlambo signs to Agbe. “We should flood the entirety of the Fonlands. It will be another layer for the enemy to get through before landing on the Fonlands. You control the waters better than Jo controls space and there is so much of it before they will arrive to the Fonlands.”
“That idea sounds ridiculous,” Agbe signs very deliberately, “but there is a kernel of good in it. What if there was a layer of water around the Fonlands, like a moat? Then we could use the might of the oceans to slow it down in the worst case, or stop it completely if things go well.”
Yemaya and Sirene exchange looks of doubt.
“They’re are just mad that it was my idea,” Mamlambo signs.
“I was trying to decide if you all were serious,” Sirene signs with one hand. “How will we make a moat around the Fonlands? Will we have to drain the Disc, where is the water coming from?”
“I can become an ocean,” Agbe signs. “But can I become an ocean to completely surround the Fonlands? That is the question.”
“No,” Yemaya signs, “you are going to drown everything if the enemy doesn’t kill them. There is no need for an ocean around the Fonlands. Maybe we can’t travel to the ether where Aido Hwedo floats, but we can make the waters rise up from the surface. We will find a way to do what we can.”
Agbe is still for a moment.
“Do that as soon as you can. The enemy has arrived to the Fonlands!”
PRL Serials 