New Story: Playing Koi (Patreon)

Jemma circled around the little car, kicking one foot into the bright yellow boot on its front tire. But even without the notes scrawled in the pad of paper under one arm, there was no mistaking Kisten's car for anyone else's. 

Despite all the cash they had flowing in, despite her girlfriend's growing fame, she insisted on driving a bright pink bug, dented and peeling from a life of hard service since whatever lunatic had ordered one in that color back in the 90s. It was all there—handicapped placard, Pokémon plush dolls on the back seat, and the little whiteboard she kept on the passenger seat in case she needed to drive through.

There was only one thing missing—Jemma's girlfriend.

She ran her fingers over her own keyring, then slipped the correct one into the lock. Neat bags packed into the backseat, labeled in Jemma's own handwriting. All were unopened. 

Jemma settled into the driver's seat, trying to see it as Kisten might have. It was much too cramped—her chest brushed up against the wheel, and her knees weren't much better off. She slid it back, grumbling under her breath. "What did you get yourself into this time, Kisty?"

Over their last few years living together, her mute girlfriend had jumped headlong into more than her fair share of trouble. Most of it wasn't her fault—when you’d been cursed not to make a sound, cursed to speak only in a strange physical sign language incomprehensible to ordinary people, it was easy for Kisten to get into trouble and quite a challenge to get herself out of it again. 

Jemma had convinced her on an intellectual level that she was the victim of a spell, and that she needed to listen to her advice about how to behave in public. But her persuasion never sunk in—Kisten was too stubborn to stay inside all the time, or else pretend she was comfortable in a tanktop and shorts and just accept she had to text or scribble whatever she wanted to say.

Jemma unfurled the crumpled page, torn from Kisten's notebook. She usually used that book to plan her next story. But when she hadn't come home the night before, Jemma got worried. Worried enough to poke around, until she found this.

There was the address of the mall, along with a few scribbled sketches of mermaids. Some were long, some short, a scattered mixture of different fish species.

●               Why don't they notice?

●               Magic everywhere.

●               No one knows when they built it.

●               Human magic won't stick to me. Maybe fish will.

●               Time magic!

●               Illusions. Very strong.

●               Rescue! Fish jailbreak.

●               My own magic. Wouldn't need to ask for help.

Lots of little details, until the last item on her list:

●               Tell Jemma? She'd say no.

Damn right I'd say no, she thought, clenching one hand into a fist, and crumpling the pages in her fingers. It was one thing to have her girlfriend take a trip to the beach without her. But finding some cursed aquarium to try and harvest the magic inside for herself?

That was levels of insane that made Jemma want to kick something. Kisten had instructions for how to get into the aquarium, but only vague hints for how she would get back out again. Find and control the source of its magic, and she could wield its powers of transformation for her own ends. She could even change her own curse.

Why can't you just be happy with what we have? I'm always willing to help you!

She briefly considered whether she would turn around, walk back to her car, and let Kisten sort this one out herself. She hadn't wanted Jemma to know, so maybe this should be her problem to solve! She obviously thought she was clever enough to handle the dangers on her own.

Jemma rose with a groan, then tossed Kisten's notes into the car. We could've talked about this! Why did you have to be so stupid?

The car still smelled like her, all fruity perfume and sweat. That alone was enough to make her long for Kisten's company again. She'd certainly chastise her, enough that she would think twice before doing something so catastrophically stupid. We need to have a serious conversation about boundaries after this.

It was already early afternoon—she'd spent the better part of the day calling everyone else she could think of, then deliberating fruitlessly about whether or not she would go after Kisten. That meant a mall mostly filled with highschoolers and middle schoolers who didn't want to go home yet. Would be nice if they could keep it down, a little, though. Kids were loud! Most of them ignored her, though she caught the older guys occasionally staring at her chest. 

Even when she wore a wrinkly Eevee tee shirt, she couldn't keep them from watching her.

Days like today, when Kisten made herself as difficult as possible, Jemma sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a boyfriend instead.

Briefly, anyway. She silenced that thought quickly. If her girlfriend could just behave herself...

She didn't have to go looking very far for the aquarium. It dominated the mall's central concourse, about waist height but continuing for hundreds of meters. It melded into the theme of the shops and displays behind it, at one with corny sunken ship decorations, while in another section plastic kelp swayed in front of a photo of a sunbathing otter.

Kisten's notes were right about one thing: nobody paid any attention. The passing people seemed almost subconsciously averse to getting close to it. Nobody looked at it for too long without getting distracted and turning back to their phones.

That wasn't usually a big deal—mall decorations were hardly high art. But no mall Jemma had ever seen contained tiny, naked humanoids in a tank.

She walked along the tank, taking out her phone and pretending to look at it as she stopped beside it. But in reality, she hadn't even turned on the screen.

Beside her the tank held several large plastic caves, most open towards the front to give passersby an uninterrupted view.

A strikingly human figure peered back at her from inside. Human from the waist up, along with breasts wrapped in a little seaweed. Scales started just a little lower, brilliant yellow and black joined by a large yellow frill down her back and a few more fins on her sides.

How did you get here? she thought, reaching up with one hand to touch the glass. Strangely, the fish responded, emerging from the cave and following Jemma's fingers. This one was large so far as aquarium fish went, about three inches long. When she touched both hands to the glass, Jemma could cover them with one finger.

The fish seemed to grow more agitated, swimming up to Jemma's head level. She gestured with both hands, along with shouting something. Well—she was obviously trying to shout something. But between her size, the hum of the aquarium filters, and the mall's air conditioner, Jemma couldn't hear a single word.

After years with Kisten, Jemma could probably pen a master's thesis on reading body language. There were no words, not like her girlfriend's curse, but the general intent remained clear. The fish was begging her for help.

Jemma nodded to the tank, as large as she dared. Her notes didn't say how many were trapped in there. A lot.

The fish zipped away as quickly as she'd come, back to the cave she'd emerged from. Jemma remained in place, watching the rest of the tank to either direction. There were hundreds of fish inside, divided into their false ecosystems by lighting and decorations. But if she tried to watch the ones too far away, she could see only ordinary fish. An occasional flash of orange—but that wasn't hair, just the scales of a goldfish. 

Maybe most of the fish are real. A prison for their cursed victims, surrounded by animals.

A burst of black and yellow drew her eyes back down to the plastic cave again. Only this time there were two fish—the same grown one, with her hair cut short and some seaweed to support her chest—and a kid, not even half her size.

The little fish had the same colors, right down to the girl's blue eyes. She couldn't be older than ten, maybe less. Jemma pointed, tapping against the glass in front of her. "Your sister?"

The girl withdrew, yanking free of the bigger fish and zipping back into the cave, vanishing from sight. That left the older of the two to float in front of her, expression desperate and pleading.

Kisten isn't the only one who got cursed. The only difference was her girlfriend had gone in willingly. Now she was about to do the same.

The instructions for getting in were simple enough. She walked along the aquarium, until it connected to an escalator to the second floor. She kept her attention on the aquarium while she walked, scanning the interior for her girlfriend's familiar features.

But Kisten wasn't easy to find. Maybe she'd found a cozy rock to hide behind, or maybe she was still out there hunting the source of the aquarium's magic. Jemma would find out soon enough.

The mall's second floor was as uninteresting as the first. Fewer shops were up here, mostly just arcades, the movie theater, and the food court. Importantly, there was a large pond, directly under a skylight. Several chairs clustered nearby, with little tables for overflow from the nearby food court.

No one ate there now—lucky for them. The mall's visitors couldn't possibly know how much danger they were in.

Kisten's notes suggested that touching the water anywhere in the aquarium would inflict its curse. Unless someone was bending displays out of the way, this was the only practical way to do that.

The pond even had a path of raised steps running across it, obviously just decorative. But if anyone decided to try it for themselves, and they slipped...

I can't believe I'm doing this. Jemma sat down in the chair nearest the water, close enough that she could reach it with one of her flats. 

This was it—her final chance to turn around. She could go home and wait for Kisten to figure this out on her own, or maybe call the only spellcaster she knew. But the last time she'd spoken about Kisten to her, the spellcaster suggested she would “make her into a pillow and spare her the trouble.”

She'd seen enough of her domain to know that was no empty threat. If we're stuck forever, at least we can be together. 

She glanced to either side, making sure no one was close enough to watch her. If there were witnesses, the strangeness might be enough to provoke them to investigate, damning them to the same fate. Better for ordinary people to continue their lives in blissful ignorance.

When the last group of teenagers passed her by, she reached out with one foot, sinking it down into the water.