The Rise of Fish

The bottom. 

B O T T O M

She traced the cold wet stone and looked up at the small dot of light, the only illumination she got. She licked the moisture off of the stone, it did nothing to quench her thirst and caused her stomach to roll even deeper into itself. She stared back at the blackness, it was maddening the fact she could only hear herself breathe and occasionally her own heart. She had worn herself out trying to climb up the slippery walls, so much so that her once long nails were either broken or blunt. She tried looking back up at the pinprick of light. 

"Help me." 

She knew it was pointless. They never came. 

"Please." Her voice cracked. 

She remembered the lessons she had been taught, and she knew that this would not kill her but still this darkness hurt and she suddenly found herself scratching into her skin, rather than blood like a human pure light flowed out and she wanted nothing more than to scream... but there was no more screaming. She hit her head against the stone and shut her eyes... maybe somewhere out there if Xaina was even listening she would take mercy and allow the star inside her to finally die. She hit her fist against the wall again when the light faded, why hadn't anyone come to rescue her? Surely they knew she was here? Was the war still going? She shifted so that her body was both against the wall and not at all, she dug her fingers into the rapidly healing gash, more light spilled out. When she had been threatened with this, she had thought at least they would be nice enough to throw her in clothed but instead they stripped her clean of the uniform she had come to know as a maiden of the house of light. She tried again to summon her ancient, but as one would say later on it was like a dead man trying to talk his way out of the grave that had already been dug for him. All of this; because she dared to be something other than just a mumbling nun. 

She forgot what it was like to be clean, what it was like to fly. At first she thought she was dead and this was the sensation of being dead when instead, all it was – was that one side had won and they had been told of the living star at the bottom of the blackest hole. They continued to tug until she was touching the lip of the well, she expected them to finish hauling her over, maybe do terrible things with her body... she didn't want to think about it and wanted her mind to drift, she had expected alcohol or the scent of humans but instead she felt the sensation of a claimant's hands on her shoulders. Oregano. The person was either blind or just a dumb idiot as they continued to touch her skin, it had been so long that it felt like she was being branded. 

"Alive. Qrow! Alive! Found alive! Female! Claimant!"

He was excitable and maybe even a little careless as he finished lowering her down onto solid ground in broad daylight, hasty footfalls approached and there was an uncomfortable silence as a man who looked exhausted from battle offered her his cloak to cover herself with, his eyes hadn't even bothered to really look at the woman on the floor naked and covered in gold. Qrow kept his eyes firmly on the horizon and hoped that the woman would just take the cloak... that and he didn't want to suddenly find himself missing his eyes; maidens were vicious like that. 

"I expected a fire claimant. Never thought the 'morning star' would be a light claimant." 

"Can she stand?"

"Her legs look fine. But it's been nine thousand eons or so since someone found her."

She wasn't sure if this man was exaggerating by the number, taking the cloak she wrapped herself self-consciously and was helped up by the blind claimant. When she tried to step forward she staggered and he caught her. He placed his hands once more on her shoulders. 

"I will be your guide. You just warn me if I am about to step on something."

She did not respond. What was the point of responding? Xaina had always been agitated when one of the maidens had any of their own thoughts, their own ideas of how to better serve their ancient, she wondered if Alvax had finally disposed of the old and was in charge... Seren was too afraid to ask. They moved towards a realmic creature that looked like a gigantic bear with a series of plants of different varieties growing off of it's back, she was helped up by the blind claimant who cooed at the bear... it must have been creature. As she settled into the soft grass atop it's torso, the cloak made it so that she practically dissolved into the background, she had hoped to sleep but was prevented from doing so when the bear offered her an apple. Taking it in her hand, she bit into the red fruit and felt like she had been healed entirely, she didn't want to think that it was a miracle and she hadn't wanted to hope that this sudden release from the bottom of the hole was just a cruel trick being played on her by her own mind. 

"Shame the Woxia never learn, fighting Desdon never accounts for anything good." 

The last time she had been out of the hole, the war had been between the Contus and the Dimea. Her eyebrows furrowed, the man who had offered her his cloak – a victorious Desdon by all accounts glimpsed at her as she bit into the second apple she was offered by the bear, having quickly devoured all but the core of the first one. She had so many questions. She wanted to ask him and yet when he turned away, only to summon several blades out of pockets of the voids to slay anyone who was still somehow alive yet in terrible pain. She dared not to look at the fallen bodies, and by her fifth apple they were, well clear of the battlefield that she had come to know as her home. The Blonde Desdon always seemed to walk several miles ahead and not at all at the same time, the blind one who had first helped her out of the prison she had thought was her final fate, rode on the back of the bear and was weaving something out of vines, how could he be weaving if he was blind she wondered? 

"A Contus eh? Haven't seen one of you lot around since the reformation of the house." 

The life claimant who stood opposite her, held a butcher's knife in one hand and a chalice in the other. She had been whisked into the building without any information, she had been assisted by fellow female claimants one of whom nearly fainted at the sight of her marred skin; with the other apologising profusely for the former's behaviour... it amused Seren just a bit that claimants could be so anxious and afraid of naked bodies. She had been bathed in something akin to the bath water from her home realm. Once they were sure she knew her way around the place, the same blind claimant who called himself 'Needle' led her up the tower, past several cats to a circular area covered in bolts of fabric, containers worth of beads and many needles and pair of scissors. 

"This is the tower, where we work for Godfrey." 

"Godfrey?"

"He will come by later, he has a fever. We make clothes for the rest of the house and for some claimants."

They returned back downstairs to an area that Chef had explained was meant for upper house staff like them, there other claimants including those who had helped her bath and had made sure she had been given a proper bed and some food; all of them sat in different positions on different inanimate objects. Most of them were talking, and when they were talking they were playing a game akin to chess. She had to take a moment to compose herself as they introduced themselves... she found herself naturally drawn towards the woman who had introduced herself as 'Broom', Broom looked up from the napkins she was folding and patted a spare portion of the bench not yet taken up by the fine squares of white fabric. 

"You must have a lot of questions, I am sure the masters and Chef tried his best to explain." 

"Where are we?"

"The outskirts of the human nation called Italy, part of the property goes into the human land of France and Austria." 

"They spoke of a war.... the last war was between my house and the Dimea." 

"A near archaic conflict, haven't heard anyone bring that up in a long time." A man named Root mused 

"The war that just ended was a series of many between the Woxian and the Desdonese. The true master of the house is the Prince of Desdon." 

She picked up one of the squares of fabric and folded it just as Broom had, Seren partially wondered if any of the claimants knew of her true identity or for that matter the reason she had been originally thrown into that black hole. There was a knock on the wall and a dark haired man stepped in, most of the upper house servants stood up and greeted this male as he made a beeline for Seren. Seren could tell something was wrong with this man... he was one of them but he was also very ill. She frowned as she was gestured to stand up, he like the man before overshadowed her in height and for a moment Seren wondered if she should scream or run. She didn't have a chance to do either as the man took the square of fabric she had been holding, their fingers touched and she found herself against the wall. The pain was immediate and she winced. 

"So it seems you are still coveted as a Maiden for such a harsh reaction to occur." 

"It didn't happen when Needle touched me before." 

"I suppose it would not, as the Contus are allied with the Fovey who have changed lines. They are intertwined with the Desdon now. I am however, a Mucmoi." 

She was helped up from the floor by Branch and Root, both of them like Needle smelt like Oregano so she knew they were to be trusted and safe. If that was the case then... could this new man be trusted; she thought about the politics of the war and realised immediately that this man must be the other master of the house that Broom had somewhat mentioned as the nicer of the two... how could he the nicer if he was on the wrong side of the war entirely. She reached for a butter knife that had been left out after Tub had made a sandwich and had forgotten to return the blade to Chef downstairs. She held it up with the blade pointed at the Metal Aikekunai. Rather than laughing at her or telling her to lower the blade he sighed and said something to the female staff and then Needle who all nodded in agreement. 

"Don't come near me." 

"I wouldn't even if we were allies. I do however have to tell you that now that you are here. You'll be assisting Needle in the tower." 

"How can any of you be alright with this man?"

She asked each of the servants in turn who all shrugged and began to leave, going back to their former duties until Needle, Godfrey and her were left. 

"Usually it is my husband who provides names. However he is at the moment occupied. Do you have a name?" 

"Why should I tell you?" 

"She is Thread." 

"Excuse me?" She glared at the blind claimant 

"Thread. How quaint. Suits the theme too." 

"My name is not Thread. Its–"

The male clapped his hands over his ears. She tried to tell him but he left before she could finish and she looked at Needle who informed her that usually as the second master of the house he was privy to names because he could read her skin and know her secrets... that immediately caused Seren to be hellishly glad that the protective magics that she had been given as a Maiden would keep such a loathsome creature out and away from her mind, and whilst he was blind Needle shook Seren furiously. Her head spun as Needle pushed her to the floor, knife forgotten, she tried to get up but he forced vines through the floor to keep her captured. 

"Do not think ill of Godfrey. He is the nicer of the two masters of this house. You might not approve of him and his house allegiance but it is not his choice. His element already is trying to kill him. We do need an assassin in our ranks. If you dare think such terrible thoughts again I will have Qrow dispose of you." 

"So you're not comfortable either with his house allegiance?" She asked Needle skeptically 

"I do not care for the house allegiance. He saved me during a time when I was thought useless by my own ancient. I have done the same for you, your Ancient has forgotten you. Coming here is your chance to be something other than a fallen star at the bottom of a black hole." 

"We'll be keeping an eye on you." 

Another voice, this one raspy seemed to be coming from the walls, causing Seren to flinch and attempt to reach for the knife now that she was free of the vines... where had that voice came from? She near jumped into the ceiling when she realised that the voice had come from her own shadow and another male in a neater uniform than any of the other house staff altogether. Tonic dusted himself off and confiscated the knife, sending it back to the kitchen where it would not be used to cause a mess. The Light claimant clearly uncomfortable moved away from him and towards Needle who was not in the mood to do Seren anymore favours. 

"I'm Tonic. Master Qrow's second in command. I also deal with the dirty laundry before it becomes a disaster." 

"You can read my mind?" 

"No. But your arrival here is thrown the balance of this house off kilter. Which is unacceptable. Death is an easy out. We will have you returned to the hole in which Needle found you in. Make no mistake, you are here because they were nice enough to save you. Make no mistake that raising a hand or even a thought against Godfrey will result in your swift return." 

"How can you hide in the shadows? You are not a Dimea." 

"How I hide in the shadows is not your concern." 

Fish was jolted from her sleep by Ears, who had a finger on her lips... she blinked sleepily as he gestured for her to hurry up and get up; she rubbed her eyes and changed still wondering why on Florita's green earth she was being forced to be up so early, once she was presentable Ears grabbed her by the wrist and suddenly she found herself running after him, or at least in theory they were running. It was only made apparent what all the fuss was about when they popped into the area of the kitchen that had a massive window. Chef was smoking something and murmuring to Tub, Tub was leaning against the older claimant with a look of utter adoration... the same adoration that Fish had learnt was the same look that Godfrey gave to Qrow. She had never really spoken to Tub but amongst the rest of the house staff who did know the smallest in size – she was considered the best water claimant north of the ones found closer to the city of Naples. 

"What's happening?" 

"Shh! Godfrey will be mad if he knows we're watching." 

"Please don't drop me. I really didn't mean it. Please." 

"Is that Spinach?" She murmured under her breath 

"Yes, the girl got caught inside of Qrow's wardrobe. Nasty business. Godfrey had to restrain himself, nearly threw her off the roof... which would have been a favourable death compared to the 'well.'" 

It had long been suspected that Spinach's interest in Qrow was anything but innocent, Fish winced as Godfrey seemed to lift Spinach up higher by the scruff of her neck... none of them well none of the humans who were watching could hear what Godfrey was saying to Spinach but it must have been harsh because the girl was barely keeping herself composed, her eyes were red and puffy, there was snot dribbling down which she was trying to keep from being a further nuisance. Chef turned and blocked the view of Ears and Fish as they heard Spinach fall what sounded like a very great height. They had no idea if she died from the fall or if she was very injured at the bottom of the well. Fish tried to move past Chef to leave the kitchen and go towards the well but was prevent from doing so by Tub, the last thing Fish saw before Godfrey seemingly vanished into thin air was a large marble like lid being put back on the Well – as though someone hadn't just been dropped in. 

"Olives stuffed with umm goat cheese." 

She had spent the minute or so explaining each of the many small plates of food to Godfrey, occasionally she looked at the slip of paper that she had been handed by Chef, according to him today was important because it when all of the freshest produce of the season was about to be harvested and so Godfrey needed to sample it all – thus allowing Chef to be aware of the man's preference for the upcoming months, Fish had been told by Ears that this happened four times a year and now that she had been there for close to a year she was going to help Chef with this most crucial task. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Godfrey popped the cheese stuffed olive into his mouth and chewed. 

"None of this... the cheese is foul."

Despite the taste being foul, Godfrey swallowed it anyway and picked up the next small plate, this one was adorned with a type of shellfish covered in butter and some pepper. Fish didn't bother trying to describe that one as Godfrey took upon himself to try it, the girl had been keeping track of his preferences with her fingers and he didn't want her to stress out trying to remember what he did and did not like by forcing her to tell him what everything was all of the time. He nodded in approval, she sighed in relief and then he decided to make it even easier to shift the plates around. 

"If it is away from me, I do not like it. If it is closer to me then it will do for the next few months." 

"Understood."

"Chef works too hard." 

She made no comment. 

"You must have also noticed Tub and Chef." 

She didn't know what to say. 

"I hope they marry." 

"She is part of your kind yes?"

"A claimant. Yes. Water and her are all but one and the same. As long as we have Tub we needn't fear running out." 

The food sampling continued well into the evening. Once it was finished, Godfrey thanked her for keeping him company as he returned to his room to sleep. She made sure to keep the ones he did not like away from the ones he did like as she returned to the kitchen, there was a bit of a commotion in the kitchen she noticed as Carrot was not where she was supposed to be (the redheaded human was supposed to be by the cauldron keeping an eye on the stewing potatoes) but rather she was on her knees by Chef pleading for Chef to rescue Spinach. Chef turned to face Fish, who quickly rattled off her observations – what shocked him most was that Godfrey no longer seemed to be in the mood for things that were pickled and wanted more seafood... which Chef had told Fish earlier was in very low supply because of the huge demand for it by the upper echelons on the society in the area. 

"I suppose we could always bribe the other kitchens. Broom will make something sweet." 

Carrot continued to wail, Fish helped the youngest of the staff members back onto her feet and once the tears were wiped away and Fish had rescued the potatoes from being burned to utter charcoal, they sat down to their meal of rye bread, rich creamy cheese, some of the dried smoked ham that Chef kept in his personal larder and a cup of apple cider from four months ago. As they ate, Carrot continued to rattle to Fish about how and why she thought that the punishment of being dropped down the well was not at all fair on her sister, Fish could only nod and try to keep her mind focused. Both of them stood up as Ears brought in a very pale, very malnourished Spinach... it had only been what...

"Fifty days in the well. Not the longest time someone has been down there. Take her to her room. I will have Tub and Soap."

How had it been fifty days?! How had Carrot been crying for fifty days? It suddenly felt like whiplash for Fish who had to hold her head in her hands for a second. 

"Spinach!" Carrot ran towards her sister, only to be stopped by Chef. 

"If you try to hug her now you will kill her. Her body is too frail for much at the moment." 

So busy trying to look after Spinach who really did look very close to the grave, that neither Fish, Carrot nor even Ears was entirely aware of the pair of identical individuals who were standing at the very back close to the well; one of them turned to wave whilst the other seemed to be inspecting the well and pointing to Spinach. The pair finally made their way inside and this caused Chef, Tub and Soap to seemly become agitated. 

"Who are they?" She asked Ears

"Those are the timekeepers. They speed time up or down as needed by Godfrey and Qrow. They don't do anything else all day and when not in use they become statues..."

"Why do I recognise them?"

"They are the statues by the front door." 

"It hasn't been fifty days has it?"

"No, it's only been three days but Castor made it feel like it had been fifty days... the effects are scary. Usually very indulgent of Godfrey's desires to punish. Pollux is the opposite and can return time to what it should be. They were part of the higher circles in the house of Time but left and have since made this manor their haven." 

It took three natural months before Spinach was able to work again, and even then Chef had restricted her to her bedroom and helping him in the kitchen with tasks otherwise considered entirely useless. She was not allowed to go anywhere other than the two specified areas – it had been announced by Tonic after Spinach had been returned that she was forbidden from walking anywhere near close to the main areas and would be from henceforth restricted to the area kept for the kitchen staff, when Chef had tried to protest Tonic had mentioned something close to the lines of Spinach not seeing out her first three months of being there otherwise. 

Normally on any given day, Fish was awoken by Ears shouting for them to wake up but this morning was different, she had been allowed to sleep in and she was panicked. Running into the kitchen half dressed, she tripped over a basket of baked goods and down the stairs into Ear's arms. The Kitchen was organised and neat... there was only two differences to any other day, one the fires had gone out and two that Chef was nowhere to be seen. 

"Where is Chef?"

"Out." 

"What do you mean out?" Spinach asked 

"Out as in he had a fight with master Qrow and left." 

"What the fuck is going to happen to us then?" 

"I don't know..." Ears admitted, a tad bit frightened of the sudden situation they found themselves in. 

"What do we do?" 

"I have no idea. Chef packed up his knives and left. He didn't even leave a note." 

"What were they fighting over?"

"Breakfast should have been served more than ninety minutes ago. Godfrey is hungry."

The group of humans jumped as Tonic emerged from some dark corner of the kitchen. Tonic was about to scream at them but he too realised the situation they were in. The upper servant looked at the humans who looked about ready to die, all of them like sheep now suddenly without a shepherd. Tonic pinched his temple and returned to which he came leaving the group even more in a panic, if Tonic had no idea what to do then things really were bad. Rather than running around like headless chickens at the mere thought that their superior was missing, the Dairy Maids as well as the Laundry women came in and began to get this back to normal - none of them bothering to ask the humans to ask. Broom taking charge of the situation and had the humans go out to collect fruits whilst they determined what could be salvaged from the tripped over basket of baked goods.