Zephyr gives me a little house tour after she explains a little more about being a masca. There are common powers the jellyfish give and there are rare powers that are given to the stronger masca. Most of the powers are used for the village to survive such as the ability to speak to plants to make them grow or the ability to make borders around the village to protect it from fish or any other harmful things out there.

During the house tour, I find that there isn’t much different than the world I lived in my previous life. There is a living room and a kitchen that works from the eternal flame. Zephyr tells me that she will show me the eternal flame after she shows me around the village.

We go upstairs and I notice that Zephyr doesn’t move her legs when she is going up. She floats up gracefully without even moving a muscle in her legs. I look down at my own feet noticing that I still move my legs as if I were walking even though I am not touching the ground.

I think Zephyr notices me thinking about how to stop moving my legs because she says, “Don’t worry, you will get used to it. I didn’t get used to it for a couple of days.”

She had to get used to this as well?

“What do you mean you had to get used to it too?” I ask.

She stops in her tracks and turns around with her face formed into confusion. Brows go from a furrow up back to their natural state when she realizes. “Oh, my dear, I was like you once. I used to be human as well. This life seems to be where people end up if they die from something that relates to this lake.”

That makes sense since I think I downed in this lake. Ever since I woke up as a masca, I keep trying to figure out if I have drowned in the lake or if I died when the tree fell on top of me. I can’t tell since I am not experiencing any symptoms from my death except this weird upside-down version of my previous life.

“So that means Briar was human once too?”

“Yep,” Zephyr says quickly. She turns around and continues the tour of the second level of the house. I learn that a bathroom and three bedrooms are the only rooms up on the second floor. The first bedroom that is on the left side of the hall is the bedroom U woke up in and across from it is th bedroom. Next to my room is Briar’s room and at the end of the hall on the back wall is Zephyr’s wall. She tells me that multiple newcomers and people who are not married live in a house together which means that we are all roommates.

The thought of my room right next to Briar’s is not a happy thought. I can only assume that if he gave me such a cold welcome then he will probably be a horrible roommate. Luckily I have Zephyr if I need saving. Briar seems to listen to Zephyr and so if the time comes, I can count on her putting him in his place.

Once Zephyr is done with the house tour, she lets me know that her and Briar are going into the village to get some groceries and asks if I would like to come. I am tempted to Zephyr I need some time to rest and soak all of this in, but I also don’t like the idea of being alone right now and getting into my thoughts. Thoughts about death and worst of all, thoughts of Alex getting another girl pregnant. Now that the initial shock of the afterlife has worn off, the flashbacks of Alex admitting he cheated on me replay in my head over and over again. I don’t understand why this happened. I was good to him. I took care of him, cleaned our apartment, and treated him so well. Why would he ever feel the need to sleep with another woman?

Shaking the thought out of my head, I tell Zephyr that I will join them on their trip into the village. After Zephyr and Briar pack for the little trip we are about to take, we head out of the house. I look back at the house and see that it is gorgeous. The combination of the stone wall and the green plants that are growing on top of the roof give the house a mythical aspect to it. I see that there is a balcony on the side of house on the second floor. I don’t remember seeing that in the tour but maybe one of my roommates got a main bedroom and it came with a beautiful deck on the outside. The chimney starts off as stone but by the top of it, it is covered in the same green plants that are on the roof.

“If you think our house is pretty, your mind is about to be blown when we are on our way to the village,” Zephyr says.

I hadn’t noticed that Zephyr and Briar were staring at me while I gape at the beautiful house in front of me. The slight smile on Zephyr’s face hints that she is excited to show me around but I can’t tell what Briar is thinking with that bored expression on his face. His eyes wander after I make eye contact with him as if he is telling me to move faster so we can get to our destination.

Zephyr gets to know me a little but more on our way to town. As our conversation grows deeper and deeper, I learn more about her as well. She has been here for four hundred years. Apparently, the creatures that we have become after death only die when they get murdered. It is quite horrific but that means a lot of the masca that live in the village that we are about to enter have been there for centuries. Zephyr died a few days after she and her brother were playing in the lake that used to be near her childhood home. For old time's sake, they wanted to take a dive into the lake they grew up in. A few years later, Zephyr found out that she had only a few months to live with some life-threatening cancer. Surprisingly, doctors gave her prescriptions after she requested doctor insisted suicide. She only requested one thing and that was to die and be left alone in the lake that held so many childhood memories.

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Just like me, Zephyr’s childhood was drenched in the lake that our lives ended in. Our life cycles started and ended there. Memories of times shared with loved ones ripple through this lake. It makes me wonder how many more stories and secrets this lake was hiding.

A little while later, we finally make it to the village. Breathtaking, gorgeous views present themselves in front of me. The three of us stand under a stone arch that acts as a gate to the village center. Bright, colorful flowers paint themselves all over the arch’s curves and moss gives the colors a pop of neutral tone that makes it even more beautiful. Seagrass starts to cover the ground except in certain areas which lead into a path.

Looking ahead, my breath gets caught in my throat. I have never seen anything like this before and experiencing it now makes this day feel even more like a dream. Stone buildings reach up so high it looks like I am visiting an underwater New York City but there are no cars. There are plenty of mascas all around and it looks like there is a market going on up ahead.

“Welcome to the village. This is where we get our food and the supplies we need. Every day there are markets going on but different shops are open at different days and times so it will take some getting used to knowing when to go into the village for what,” Zephyr explains to me. I stop to take in the beauty of this village that seems too big to be called a village.

Briar walks past us as if he doesn’t notice that we stopped. Then all of a sudden I hear a squeal and see a bright blue figure dash towards us. The blue figure almost tackles Briar and my heart starts to race but then I realize that the tackle was not out of harm but out of love. Giggles follow after the tackle and I think I hear Briar give a slight chuckle as well.

“Briar, it is so good to see you. Will you be stopping by my shop later today? I have your favorite snacks today,” the blue figure says. She is beautiful with emerald green eyes and a sky blue jellyfish. There are slightly darker blue dots across her cheeks and nose as if she has freckles. She doesn’t take her eyes off Briar as if she is marking her territory.

“Thanks, we got a new roommate today so I will be joining Zephyr and showing Ester around. After that I will stop by your shop and pick up some kelps,” Briar responds.

The girl looks over at me and looks me up and down as if assessing if I am worth her time. Turning to smile at Zephyr she tells us she has to go back to her shop and says her goodbye and let us walk on our way into the village.

Zephyr turns and gives me an odd look as if the girl who just left did something she never had expected before. “That was Ingrid. Her older brother is a soldier along with Briar and they are really close.”

“Wait, Briar is a solder?” I ask.

It would explain his personality and the constant look of seriousness on his face. I look over to Briar who is not paying attention to us while we walk through the village. The more I analyze him the more I can see the soldier in him. His posture is straight and perfect and his hands are behind his back as he walks. Everyone in the village seems to like him and says hi to him. He is so nice back so I wonder why I am getting the cold shoulder.

“Yeah, he and Ingrid’s brother are two of our best soldiers. They go on secret missions together all the time.”

Ingrid’s brother must have a boatload of patience if he spends time with Briar. I wonder if Briar somehow manipulated him to be friends with Briar or if he is willing to be friends with him. This all makes me confused.

The thoughts leave after Zephyr shows me more about the market. The food, clothes, and little trinkets remind me of the little markets my parents used to take me to when I was little. We spend many hours looking around the market. I buy some new foods to try and some new clothing but I don’t feel like getting anything else.

This is my first day as a masca and I already feel homesick. This doesn’t feel like my home. And I don’t think it ever will feel like my home.