A SWIM

Sibyl's POV

Undulating and rapid, the void sucked her down. Over and over again, the sea laughed at her hubris, as it had done to many before her since the beginning of humanity. The cold had already eaten through what was left of her clothing, so when she was tossed like an unwanted doll against a reef it was almost like feeling nothing at all. She couldn't even feel the wind being knocked out of her, for her lungs were filled to the brim with water. Thoughts raced by, too quick to be understood besides the feeling of despair.

The last thing she held in her head before succumbing to the ocean was, "At least it was a free death."

—---------------------------

It should have hurt, which led her to believe that she was, in fact, dead. A thought that should have been distressing was more or less neutral news to Sibyl. She knew when she left The Sanctuary that it was basically a long winded suicide, no rational person could have believed they'd reached American shores. What they knew of as American shores most likely didn't even exist anymore. Those maps were at least a thousand years old, and neglecting including in the destruction wreaked by nuclear warfare, sea levels most certainly had risen, and combining that with natural erosion, her map was more historical artifact than utilitarian item.

"I think she's awake," a voice whispered, "should we remove the blinder or…"

Before the being could finish their sentence Sibyl had switched from passive acceptance of death to emergency mode. She tried to sit up rapidly, but felt like she was being held down gently by a large cloud.

"Oh, yes, that'll be for the best before the poor thing distresses herself," another voice replied, its lithesome voice soft with a hint of humor.

Everything came into focus after those words. A bright, sunny room. Flora everywhere. Walls drenched a cool berry tone. Wooden windows spanning floor to ceiling, indicative to a time passed. A side table. A gold velvet chair. A lissom, tall figure sat in the chair. Purples, magentas, and greens, mixing in solids and patterns, wrapped around them like silk.

The more Sibyl focused on the world, the less she could breathe. The lissom figure smiled with closed lips, their lavender lips pulling to each side, contrasting against sage colored skin. They had wispy, lilac hair curling and tossing about, with large pointed ears, decorated in all kinds of ornamentations, jutting out from it. Yellow eyes scanned her own blue ones. A human man stood beside the bed Sibyl was laid upon, holding a blindfold in his hands. He smiled at her brightly, as if trying to reassure her that somehow laying trapped in a bed with a monster beside her was a good thing.

"Now," the monster began, "before I untether you, I must have you promise me you will not begin behaving like a nuisance, " they waved their pointer finger, a pointed claw reminding her of the fake nails her peers occasionally wore, "there will be no screaming, for there is no one to help you here," they said this as if it was a kindness, "and for your own sake I suggest not flailing about. Your kind is prone to it and though we remedied most of your issues I don't wish to fix anything twice."

They stared at her for a moment before putting their thumb and ring finger together and lightly snapping. There was a bright blue shimmer directly above her skin over her whole body, then it turned a reddish pink and dissipated. Suddenly, she felt everything. The scratchiness of her throat, the soreness all over her entire body from being tossed in the waves like a salad, yet she no longer felt the pain in her left shoulder she had most of her life from breaking it in her childhood and it healing slightly incorrectly. As she took stock of her entire body, trying to ground herself before potential panic took her, that's the only major change she could find. On top of that, she seemed safe. The stories said that the demons would rip you apart on sight, yet this being…

"What did you mean exactly by remedy?" she questioned as she sat up, using her forearms as a rest.

The being laughed, a ringing sound that reminded her of bells.

"That's your first question? I applaud the air of reservation but your question seems to lack priority,"

If only you knew, she thought to herself.

"Just as well," they continued, " let's start from the beginning. Dominic over here," the being gestured to the auburn haired man beside him, "found you in our fishing grounds in the west. You were nothing but a bloody pulp," the demon shook their head, "I do not want an answer at the moment, but what in the demiurge's name were you thinking? Those reefs will eat a fae alive, let alone a human."

"...Fae?" She let slip, her words from her brain leaking through her lips.

She had no idea what a demiurge was, but could assume it was some sort of deity due to context, but the word fae was familiar but also indistinct. As if she had heard the word, but it had no connection to what she was hearing.

"Yes," the creature pointed at itself, "fae."

She tried connecting the dots but felt like it wasn't fitting into what she already knew.

"...are fae a kind of demon?" she questioned, unwilling to make assumptions and seeking fact.

The fae howled, a laugh much louder than before, "Ha, ha, no. Fae is fae, demon is demon," they shook their head, "this may be more troublesome than I originally thought. Getting back to your original question, you were on death's doorstep when you arrived. I specialize in remedial magic and simply did what you humans may refer to as a "factory reset". It expends a large amount of mana, please do not cause me to do it again."

"Now, I will get to ask a question," the fae learned forward with their hands clasped together, all of their jewelry jingling, "where do you hail from, little human, my musa?"

There wasn't a good answer to that question and she knew that. She didn't know what the fae and demons knew. She didn't know if they were aware that The Sanctuary existed. She searched the others' faces, trying to understand and infer so much that she just couldn't possibly. There was so much fear inside of her that she felt like a spring that was about to be released.

The fae put up both of their hands in a placating manner, "I can feel your desperation, child," they frowned slightly, "who are you running from? It is safe here. This is the Menagerie of Sins, we're quite prolific but if you haven't heard of us we're here to help your kind. Runaways. We can help you but only if you share with us."

She felt like she was back under water again. She knew that everything that they had been taught in The Sanctuary was a bastardization of the truth, but this was just too much. The only way to come up for air, she knew, was to dig deeper. She knew she could not necessarily trust this person, but she also knew there was a possibility to answer questions that have haunted her for the last three years.

"What is a runaway to you?" she questioned, easing herself into the conversation, unwilling to give more than she got.

The fae sighed and shook its head slightly, "You're completely ignorant, aren't you? A runaway chattel. Human slave. As some sovrans call you, forgive the slur, nequam, or vile."

They stifled a laugh and glanced over apologetically, "Sorry, my musa, I mean no disrespect, it is just ironic to me that they call your kind vile."

Sibyl wasn't surprised, though she wished that she could be. It made sense that humans had become naught but slaves, chattel as the fae said, when left to the demons. Humans became human slaves under other humans after all, even up until World War IV happened, though from what she understood from reading in the Grand Library most people didn't even know that modern slavery was happening.

She knew now though, through the fae's disdainful voice about the demons who keep her kind in servitude, that they were most likely an ally and not foe.

The fae twisted its head in almost a bird-like manner and questioned, "Though, for someone so ignorant I am stupefied as to how you removed your brand. You are clearly not with an independent faction, and I have never met a chattel so kept in the dark capable of this. Allow us to assist. I am sure you are worried about being found."

She gave in, finding it meaningless to fight the truth away from someone who may be able to offer her some truths of her own.She coughed a bit, shifting in her nervousness, knowing that after making the choice to leave she set in motion things she could not stop.

"I come from The Sanctuary. A place far from… chattel."

The fae's face paled dramatically, turning from sage to almost white. A hand went to their mouth. The human, Dominic, picked up a hand fan on the side table and began fanning them as if they were going to pass out.

"Now, this is outside of my expectation completely. My musa, but… why?"