Heretical Fishing

Book 4: Chapter 8: Those Driven Mad

As the last of the Church’s original members streamed into the headquarters, I smiled out at the room, focusing on everyone present. Most were engaged in animated conversation, their many voices combining into a pleasant burble. I could focus on each of their exchanges if I wanted to, my enhanced awareness capable of parsing dozens of speakers at once.

I didn’t, though, completely happy with the way things were and the smile their contagious excitement brought to my face. I’d been nervous about this meeting, part of me still feeling a little awkward about taking control of the church. But their expressions calmed me. All knew my aversion to public speaking, which gave what I wanted to address a certain sense of seriousness.

Unaware of my musings, the conversations continued. Behind each syllable spoken, the steady tapping of Roger’s pencil on paper added a rhythmic drumming to the susurration. The last people into the room were Sue and Sturgill, one carrying a tray filled with pastries, the other balancing an armload of coffees. They swept around the congregation, offering the afternoon snacks out to anyone wanting. Before they had a chance to sit, the tapping came to a stop, and Ellis shot to his feet.

He loudly cleared his throat, a fervency in his eyes that was bordering on fanatical. “Everyone, if you would please sit, we can begin the meeting.”

I smirked at him. “I think they were already doing that, mate.”

“Truth,” Theo said tauntingly, looking at the ceiling to avoid the death stare Ellis leveled at him.

“Thank you for coming,” I interjected, taking control before they could descend into good-natured bickering. “As you all know by now, we went to subdue a rogue spirit beast less than an hour ago.”

The room nodded, not a sound breaking the silence.

“For better or worse, I learned a lot from our encounter with the beast.” I recounted the things I’d felt from the creature: chi of multiple aspects; a soul afflicted by countless sources of rot; and primal, unfathomable hunger. The room was completely silent as I spoke, even Ellis looking up from his notepad, every ounce of attention focused on my words. When I finished, an undertone of worry radiated from the cores of those present. Stronger, though, was a sense of confusion.

“Truth,” Theo joked again, getting a smattering of half-hearted laughs.

I took a deep breath, willing the pulse thumping in my ears to calm. “It’s probably best to keep this on a need-to-know basis, which is why I’m only telling you.” I swallowed, my throat feeling dry and scratchy. My chest seemed to constrict a little, my body reacting to my mental state of being.

In a blur of movement, Sergeant Snips appeared before me on the table, looping one of her mighty claws around my abdomen. Her touch drew my attention to the outside world, where a tidal wave of compassion crashed into my spiraling thoughts. Trust and encouragement flowed freely from my friends’ cores, clearing away any lingering worry and confusion. I took another slow breath, releasing it in a calming hiss. The old me would have lingered in that moment, putting on a brave face while still harboring doubts.

But I was no longer that man.

I had willingly taken control of the church and Tropica, finally understanding that to take responsibility didn’t mean that I couldn’t live a peaceful life. Even now, the only thing affecting my idyllic lifestyle were my own thoughts, my enhanced brain easily able to hyper-fixate on future problems. With that in mind, I acknowledged my worries, and let them pass like clouds in a windy sky.

“Thank you,” I said, letting genuine gratitude flow toward Snips as I petted her sturdy shell. I looked back up at the room. “The reason I’m telling only those here is that I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about any of our animal pals.” I gestured to the side of the table, where most of them had gathered. More than a few of their faces stared back curiously.

“What do you know that we do not?” Ellis asked, his hand tensing at the prospect of new information.

Rocky, taking a deep drag of his cigarette and throwing the butt of it into his mouth—which was still disgusting but better than littering—jumped up onto the table. Every head turned his way, all but Snips, Maria, and I not understanding why he’d presented himself.

I gestured at him with one hand, letting tension build in the quiet room. Just when I thought Ellis would demand an explanation, I pulled the pin on the metaphorical grenade and lobbed it into the room.

“Rocky ate a bloke.”

Following my declaration, I pursed my lips and looked around the room with a raised eyebrow, waiting for the reactions.

They were wonderful.

Most moved back subconsciously, getting further from Rocky. Claws’s jaw dropped open, exposing her needle-sharp teeth. Rocky, for the first time since his breakthrough, hissed angry bubbles at me. Theo, who was able to identify my words as the truth, stood so fast that his chair fell over, clattering to the floor. His response was all that everyone else needed to know; I had been telling the complete truth. The room erupted into shocked gasps, yelled exclamations, and a half-dozen indiscernible questions.

“Fischer!” Maria yelled loud enough to cut through the din. She slapped me on the arm. “That isn’t funny!”

I chortled, completely disagreeing with her assessment. Snips wrapped her snippers around my neck and pulled her face close, spewing an absolute waterfall of bubbles. She ordered me to tell the complete truth. It was the first time she’d ever done so, and despite still laughing, I rubbed her carapace.

“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping a tear from my eye as I looked past Snips and over at Rocky. “I saw a chance for revenge and had to take it. You were a real prick for a long time, mate.”

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By now, everyone had realized something was amiss, and confusion reigned once more.

I rubbed my cheeks with a thumb and forefinger. “Okay, so Rocky did eat a bloke, but it’s more complicated than that. Remember when you brought Leroy and that evil guy in an attempt to find a rogue cultivator, Trent?”

Trent nodded. “To find you, you mean? The other cultivator’s name was Robert.”

“Right. And you told me that Snips and Claws had to take him out. Right, Barry? The homie was truly evil, and was trying to kill, well, everyone.”

The blood ran from Barry’s face, his head darting toward Rocky. “Don’t tell me...”

“Ah-huh. Rocky became a spirit beast by eating Robert’s, er, no-longer-alive body.”

In the void that followed my statement, there was a loud crack, followed by a muffled grinding. Ellis blinked and opened his hand. What remained of his pencil, mere splinters and dust, tumbled down to the table. “Oh...”

I waited as he swept the remnants to the floor and procured another pencil from his robe. He opened his mouth, no doubt intent on beginning an endless torrent of questions, but I raised a finger to interrupt him.

“Let me explain what I learned, and I’ll answer questions afterward.” I shot a look Rocky’s way. “Is it okay if I tell your story, mate?” When he nodded, his cool demeanor having once more returned, I returned the gesture. “If I mess up any details, correct me.”

I rubbed my chin for a moment as I gathered my thoughts.

“So, before Rocky returned and defended Tropica against the shitty royal family—er, no offense, Trent.”

He shrugged. “None taken.”

“Good. Where was I? Before Rocky changed, he was kind of the worst, right?”

There was a chorus of agreement.

“Well, he actually had a really good reason for it. When Rocky ate Robert, he somehow absorbed part of his consciousness. Given that Rocky was a regular ol’ crab at the time, it’s only natural that he didn’t recognize an evil hitchhiker in his core.” I saw realization on their faces. I nodded. “Yep. Robert was influencing Rocky the whole time. Considering how psychologically damaged the cultivator was, I’m exceedingly proud of Rocky for not going full murder hobo on us.”

Snips had made her way to Rocky’s side as I spoke. She nestled in beside him and blew a slow stream of bubbles, her visible eye filled with adoration.

I smiled, happy for them. “Some of you have probably heard parts of what Rocky went through after I yeeted him out to sea. A volcano, a swift return, and his acquisition of cigarettes, a story he still refuses to elaborate on.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, hoping he’d feel encouraged to share. He merely made a vague motion with a claw, which was both annoying and exceedingly cool of him. The cheeky little crab had once more chosen to keep his secrets.

I sighed. “Well, you’ve heard the whispers, but the entire truth is this: Robert’s core had lightning-aspected chi. When Rocky leaped into the volcano, its essence tried to annihilate him, mistaking Robert’s lightning power as a foreign threat. That’s what Rocky surmised, anyway, and I trust his judgment.”

“So...” Ellis said, his eyes unfocused and staring down at the table. “The fish...?”

“Yeahhhh. I can tell you’ve worked out what I’m about to say, but let me do so anyway, for the sake of clarity. When it slapped its tail and unleashed countless different chis, and the dozens of imperfections running through its nexus of power, making its core like that of a rotten apple? The cause is the same.

“The spirit beast has consumed a lot of cultivators, and a part of each of them latched onto its being. Together, their influence has left the fish mindless. A beast only filled with fury, hatred, and hunger. If anything, their influence has appeared to grow over time as the fish’s madness deepened.”

Ellis dropped his pencil, his pupils darting around as fast as his racing thoughts. “If that was how all spirit beasts awakened...”

I nodded, giving him a rueful smile. “Yeah, mate. That’s the crux of the issue. If the only way for spirit beasts to ascend was to eat cultivators, or even if that was how most of them ascended... Well, let’s just say that it’s no surprise they were so reviled in the past. It would mean that the only exposure people had to spirit beasts were those driven mad by the lingering soul of whomever—or whatever—they’d consumed.”

“Fascinating,” Ellis said, his hand once more a blur as he took notes. “I wonder if that was always the way it was, or if it was a side effect of the world’s power waning? We know from Lemon’s vision of the past that the world’s chi didn’t flee all at once, correct? What if the last few hundred years were just an endless transfer of power? Spirit beasts growing stronger and stronger as they consumed other awakened beings?”

“It would explain the one we found,” I replied. “But it doesn’t explain the jungle mudminnows or the potent alligator gar that live in a lake above the dormant fish. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the followers of the god Ceto chose to experiment right above it.”

“Hmm...” Ellis stroked his beard. “It could also be that the fish sought them out for their power, then went into hibernation when the world’s chi could no longer sustain it. It’s the chicken or the egg—which came first...?” He shook his head, a hint of a smile taking shape on his lips. “We answer one question, and ten more pop up.”

Theo snorted. “The chicken and the egg in this hypothetical are a man-made species of fish and a spirit beast that has eaten dozens of cultivators. You could at least pretend to hide your excitement.”

Ellis glared at him. “My interests are purely scientific, and I do not appreciate your insinuations.”

“Hmmm. That appears to be the truth, but maybe you just believe it’s the truth. What do you think, Danny? Is Ellis a hidden deviant?”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on him,” the former quartermaster replied, giving a grave nod. “Just to make sure he’s not developing some kind of kink.”

Ellis shot to his feet, the three men getting into a minute-long spat filled with childlike name calling and one or two verbal jabs at one of the other men’s mothers. I let the joust continue, happy to let it peter out naturally. An air of seriousness had cloyed the room following the meeting, but it slowly drifted away, everyone too enraptured by the ongoing tiff to linger on negative possibilities.

Rather than interrupt them, I locked eyes with Maria, George, and Geraldine. All it took from me was a subtle nod, and we all stood.

“And that’s why your entire family is a gaggle of pox-infused—” Ellis cut off mid-tirade when he noticed our departure. “Fischer? Where are you going?”

“I already shared all I had to.” I waved a hand dismissively. “And we’ve got some business to tend to.”

Ellis shot to his feet. “I’m coming with you.”

“What?” I cocked my head, expecting him to stay and grill Rocky. “Why?”

“I was there when the beans poured out of the new coffee roaster. I wish to—”

“New coffee roaster?” Sue bellowed, throwing her chair back so hard that it shattered against the wall. “Where?”

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