Noel and Caleb had to ask the turtle to give them a moment to process everything they just heard. Everything about the turtle, as well as the very idea of an alien race capable of instantaneous long-distance travel and shapeshifting other living beings invading Earth to turn its inhabitants into their prey was a lot to take in. But if that was indeed the truth they had to accept it, even if they weren’t sure if actually knowing it at this point would be of any help. Besides, what would the rest of what was left of the world make of this if they also knew? Assuming, of course, it was remotely possible to get the word out to anyone anywhere at this point?
That said, once their minds were more composed after the acceptance of the truth, and after they’d expressed their condolences to the turtle’s loss, Noel and Caleb had a few more questions to ask it to fill in some of the missing blanks and properly look at the big picture, such as;
“If they can change the physical state of other living things, why didn’t they think of changing themselves to come onto land and look for their prey?”
“They were too hungry and desperate by the time they remembered about this planet and created rifts to connect the two worlds. They didn’t want to risk anything by changing their form to venture into a place unfamiliar to them. I did tell you my home planet is completely covered in water, so they thought it would benefit them to use this planet’s waters to their advantage, what with them covering about three quarters or so of the surface. In short, their plan was to lure every life form on this planet to the one place where they would have the upper hand.”
“By that do you mean all life forms living in both water and on land?”
“No doubt they’re trying to exploit all of it to their benefit… I did hear something from them saying they don’t intend to make the same mistakes again, but judging by what they’re doing I doubt it…”
“Oh dear, this is gonna be the end of the whole world, not just humanity…” Noel muttered with a hint of fear in her voice. “By the looks of it, they’re trying to leech off every last animal and human on Earth… what are they gonna do when there’s nothing left, leave in search of another planet with life, like a bunch of parasites?”
“Wait, wait… every last animal and HUMAN?” Caleb asked, waving his hands in front of him. “I don’t think that’s true, we saw there’s still few people out there who aren’t affected, and so are we… what about them and us?”
“If there’s others out there who aren’t affected like yourselves, most likely that’s because my kind’s body-altering abilities weren’t able to reach out to them just yet. They’re still trying to fully recover their powers after they were weakened from starving for a long time and setting up those world-connecting rifts. And I hate to say this, but it won’t be long before their powers are fully restored and they’re able to lure even those humans into the waters as well.”
“And us?” Noel asked. “Judging by everything that’s been going on around us I’m pretty sure we would have been well within their powers’ range too, but we’re still here…”
“Like I said, I want to help you and that’s why I’ve been providing you protection. But before I can explain that to you in detail I must apologize dearly…”
“Apologize?” Caleb asked in confusion. “For what?”
“For only being able to protect both of you and no one else. When you found me Noel – that’s what you call yourself, isn’t it – I was so weak to the point of almost dying, if it weren’t for you saving me. That, I once again cannot thank you enough for, but during my recovery I was still much too weak, and so my brain couldn’t block off my kind’s powers from more than two of you. I wasn’t strong enough yet to provide the same protection for your parents as well, so I could only do my best with the strength I had left when you brought Caleb over to this place… That’s why you two are the only ones around here who are safe from my kind’s powers. I’m so sorry, and even though I may not deserve to say it, but please accept my condolences for the loss of your families. There isn’t a moment that goes by in which I regret being powerless to protect them along with you…”
There was another moment of silence that Noel and Caleb had to take to comprehend what the turtle just told them. At first they didn’t know what to make of this; hearing the reason as to why they were the only ones left all alone here didn’t exactly help them feel any better about that very situation. But it wasn’t anyone’s fault but the invaders’ that their families were potentially dead so they didn’t want to start guilt tripping the turtle over it either. And unreasonably lashing out at the turtle for something it had no control over would not bring their families back.
That said, despite its claims of being too weak to protect everyone in the house, Noel and Caleb did acknowledge they owed the turtle big time for at the very least being able to protect them, so they told it so along with words of gratitude.
“We don’t blame you for what happened to our parents, as devastating as it is.” Said Noel. She gently placed a hand on the tank’s glass in reassurance. “You still did the best you could despite your weakened condition to protect us from those monsters, and for that we ought to be more than thankful.” And Caleb nodded to this in agreement.
This time it was the turtle who had to be silent for a bit as it took a brief moment contemplating all of this, then it swam closer to the glass and put a front fin on it like Noel did with her hand.
“I guess we’re both equally grateful here for saving each other’s lives…”
After that line of “dialogue” the turtle went back to looking somber again, lowering its fin from the glass and its head towards the gravel-filled floor of the tank.
“You may not blame me for anything, but I can’t help but continue to feel sorry for all this. It’s my own kind that’s doing it after all, and seeing innocent lives like you two suffer so much from having your entire lives taken away in an instant, it’s just… this shouldn’t even be happening at all! Why should your lives be worth less than my kind just because they need to survive from a crisis they brought upon themselves? The species we used to prey on weren’t worth less than us either, and look what happened to them… I don’t want history to repeat itself, my kind has to be stopped!”
“That makes all three of us.” Noel muttered. But once again those were just empty words. While there was no denying that these aliens had to be stopped before they consumed every life form on earth, the question of how remained unchanged. What assets did they have against monsters from another world who were not only huge in size and numbers, but could also manipulate certain things to their favor? The idea of assembling an army to go against them was nothing short of nonsense when they had no way of making everyone else still left on land to come together, even if the turtle was capable of making more of them immune to the aliens’ powers. And most of all, who out of the few still alive would even have the guts or abilities to do the deed in the first place?
Apparently these thoughts running through Noel’s brain were read by the turtle because it raised its head back up to look at her and Caleb again as it replied;
“You’re absolutely right Noel, in the time it takes for us to so much as gather even a dozen of your kind, mine will fully recover their powers and lure the rest into the waters, and that’s if we’re even able to reach out to anyone else.”
“A big goddamn ‘if’.” Caleb muttered under his breath, having heard the turtle’s words inside his head. He then added, “You were thinking the same thing as me, Noel?” to which she nodded.
“It is indeed a situation in which the solution to it will be extremely difficult…”
“Yeah…” Noel and Caleb said in unison with hopelessness in their voices.
“…but not impossible.”
“Hm?” Caleb turned to stare at the turtle in mild disbelief. “So you’re saying there’s a way to save the world aside from that outlandish and unlikely idea me and Noel were just thinking?”
“There is one that could work, and the only one I could think of that would work. But it’ll still be hard and take up a ton of time, not to mention very dangerous… Most of all, I should warn you that the solution I have in mind can only be carried out by you both, as the only ones of your kind in this world so far who’s immune to my kind’s powers. On top of that, it’s a method that requires stealth, so perhaps it would be for the best if it’s done in a small number of individuals as opposed to a large amount.”
Noel and Caleb stared at each other. If this was heading where they thought it was, they couldn’t expect to hear anything pleasant (even though what they’ve been told already had been no sunshine and rainbows either). But they still let the turtle speak what was on its mind.
“My kind has set up rifts in several parts of this planet’s oceans and inland waters so they could cross over. Because of the unimaginably long distance between worlds that the rift is connecting, and adding the fact that my kind was still rather weak from starvation when setting them up, understandably the state of the rifts is rather unstable. How unstable? To the point that should even the slightest disturbance be applied to a rift it would cause it to implode on itself. Not only would this destroy that one connection, but also the resulting implosion would cause any living being that used the rift to cross over between worlds to immediately be sent back to where it came from. These are biologically generated rifts we’re talking about, therefore any living being crossing over using one of those also forms some sort of connection with it – that’s how it works.”
“That’s some new wormhole logic we’ve never heard of before.” Caleb mumbled, and Noel asked with dread in her voice, “What are you suggesting with all of this?”
“I’m saying the only way to stop all of this is for us to go out into the sea, locate all the rifts, and destroy them until every connection between this world and mine is severed.”
“This is insane!” Caleb blurted out as soon as the turtle’s “words” were finished. “You expect us, a couple of Average Joes with nothing other than an immunity to these aliens’ powers, to go right into the belly of the beast? That doesn’t change the fact that we’re still susceptible to getting eaten whole by one of those things in just one bite, and even you don’t know how many of these so-called ‘rifts’ are out there for us to get to every last one!”
“I did say it would be extremely time consuming, and also risky. Though considering how weakened they were by hunger when they first began creating those rifts it’s safe to assume they didn’t make as much as you think they did, and thus that they’re few and far between all across the planet. But I promise you two, no matter how long it may take to bring them all down, you won’t be alone in it; follow everything I say and do and we still have a chance-”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“How much of a chance?” Interrupted Caleb. “I’m sorry if I sound like I’ve given up, but I’m just trying to think realistically here! It’s only three against an entire planet’s worth of aliens, it doesn’t take a math genius to tell how much the odds are against us!”
Noel hated to see Caleb in this much panic and distress, especially after his reaction to the thought of his father no longer being alive, but she didn’t know what to say that would calm him down in the slightest either. Everything he was saying to the turtle had a truth to them that she couldn’t argue with if she wanted to, and on top of that…
“No offense, but you said yourself how you’re one of the weaker ones of your kind, that kind of makes me uncertain about whether you do have the proper capabilities to enable us to carry out your suggestion.” Noel mumbled, looking rather guilty to question something like that to the thing they owed their lives to. To her (somewhat) relief, the turtle didn’t seem to take any kind of offense to her words, judging by the tone in its “voice” as it spoke again.
“Please carry me to that plant over there for a moment, will you?”
There was a potted plant placed on the windowsill of the window nearest to the fish tank, and that was what the turtle was glancing at right now. Having no idea how this would answer her question, Noel took the turtle out of the tank anyway and held it close to the plant.
The turtle took a moment to stare intently at the plant, and to Noel’s sheer surprise, in a matter of just a couple of seconds the leaves on the plant had turned into what looked a lot like kelp, seaweed, or some other species of aquatic plants similar to them.
“I assume that answers your question – oh my, that’s kind of tiring to pull off after I just finished recovering…”
Seeing the turtle slump down onto her palms where it lay, Noel asked, “Is shapeshifting other living beings always this strength-consuming for your kind?” as she put it back into the tank and poured some fish food into it for the turtle to refuel itself with.
“Not really, although it does require a certain amount of strength to do it. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried this so soon after recovery. And thanks again.”
Noel watched the turtle eat up the fish food in its typical fashion of coming up to the surface and scooping them into its mouth before sinking back to the tank’s floor and replied, “I get it now, you intend to partially shapeshift us like the other aliens did to everyone else. So that way we’ll be fit for treading water, and thus be able to reach the rifts out in the oceans.”
“This is why my kind always partially shapeshifted their prey to a desirable physical condition before eating them. It’s much less energy-consuming than its worth because they only need to reconstruct certain parts while leaving the rest of the body alone. Fully changing the prey meant having to break living beings down to a cellular level and then putting everything back together from scratch to create something completely different. They found out about it the hard way a long time ago and from then on just stuck to the former tactic.”
The thought of reconstructing a living thing by breaking it down to cells and then putting it all back together like demolishing a Lego creation to build something else made Noel shiver a little. “That explains why everyone turned into merfolk instead of straight up fish or something.” She muttered.
“Supposedly they didn’t feel like they had to change much, all they needed was for your kind to be able to swim more efficiently and breathe underwater, which would require some limbs to be changed but leave the rest of the body as it is, with some minor tweaks to the lungs, skin, and eyes.”
Noel couldn’t hold back a shiver again at the thought of the same thing being done to her and Caleb in order to make them fit to destroy all the underwater rifts. She would have sufficed without the detailed description of what would happen to their bodies if it did happen – assuming, of course, either of them actually agreed for it to happen at all. Because Noel still agreed with Caleb that this was an insane idea that couldn’t be done.
“My apologies if I disturbed you with such talk, but rest assured, it’ll only bring slight discomfort when the times comes for me to shapeshift you and Caleb for our plan.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Caleb piped up after being silent during the turtle’s demonstration of its abilities. “I don’t recall us ever saying we agreed to actually do what you have in mind, do I need to remind you again of-“
This time the turtle interrupted Caleb, with what sounded like a sigh – assuming, of course, it was even capable of sighing.
“I did tell you earlier that my kind came to make your world theirs and hunt for food. If they do intend to make this place their hunting ground, there’s no guarantee they’ll continue to stay only in the water after they’ve grown familiar enough to their new surroundings. Chances are they’ll eventually get both enough strength and courage to start exploring what lies above the water in search of more food. The only reason they didn’t do this when they first found this planet is because they didn’t need to. But you’ve already heard from how I lost my own family what my kind will do if they absolutely need to, especially if their survival is on the line…”
There was a second of silence in which Caleb tried to say something in response to that but held himself back. But as the turtle could read his thoughts, it still heard what he had on his mind.
“If I really was on the side of my kind, I wouldn’t have done anything to protect you from them in the first place. And I can never forgive them for what they did to those like me just so they could fill their stomachs… but at the same time, I can’t blame you for momentarily thinking I’m doing this to get you killed, because I do understand how scared everything about this must be for you two. It’s just that you don’t have any other choice if you want to survive in the long run…”
Despite fully knowing what she needed to know now, Noel felt more lost than ever. Stuck between a rock and a hard place that were either remain in the one place they were safe until the aliens eventually decided to climb up onto land in search of more prey (and inevitably find them, to which their immunity to their powers won’t do any good then), or take even the slimmest chance at stopping this disaster (and probably die much faster than the former option), she didn’t know what to do. It was like picking between a poison that would either kill her fast or several days later.
Caleb was obviously having similar thoughts as well, judging by the way he was now pacing back and forth across the living room, his brow furrowed. Every now and then he was also seen muttering to himself, “That’s no way to live… we can’t run forever… but they’re so much stronger and bigger… not to mention greater in number… what are the goddamn odds…”
Seeing neither Noel nor Caleb being able to make a clear decision, the turtle sighed again and spoke up to them after a while.
“I’m not asking you to decide what to do right now, I know this isn’t something to go over lightly. Take all the time you need, it’s not like my kind’s coming for you right now…”
Even though this did nothing to change their current situation, Noel felt the pressure in her relieve itself a little at these words, and she slumped onto the living room couch, letting out a deep breath. Caleb joined her there, staring blankly into space as if burnt out by his own thoughts.
“I’ll just say this for now, in the words that came from your own lips several days ago, Caleb; Better to try something and have a slight chance at a way out of this rather than try nothing and remain sitting ducks to what’s happening out there.”
Caleb’s eyes came back into focus as he turned back to the turtle and stared at it in disbelief. “You actually remember me saying that when it’s slipped even my mind?”
“It just seemed like a sentence that fit this situation perfectly… I’ll just leave it at that to both of you as some food for thought.”
Unfortunately though, neither Noel nor Caleb’s minds could pave a way to any sort of clear thought even as night began to fall. As each of them headed off to bed for tonight, they said exhaustedly to one another, “Maybe a good idea will pop into our heads after some well-needed sleep.” “It had better, because my mind’s a bloody mess after all that thinking…”
Watching Noel and Caleb disappear behind the bedroom doors, the turtle laid its head down on the bottom of the fish tank, feeling just as mentally burnt out from how sorry it felt for both humans. It also didn’t help that the way they acted so scared and confused in the face of danger constantly reminded it of how its offspring reacted when the bigger and stronger ones of its kind had begun to hunt down and eat the smaller and weaker ones, wondering in terror whether they’d be next.
“I can’t let these two be next, like with my family… I don’t want to watch it happen again to others who doesn’t deserve it… these poor creatures… they need a guide to help them through this crisis…”
With its mind swimming in thoughts of how badly it wanted to help and protect Noel and Caleb like they were its family, despite only knowing them for several days at best, the turtle also drifted off to sleep.
* * *
“Noel! Noel, wake up! We’re in serious trouble right now! Hurry!”
Noel woke up next morning to Caleb’s panicked whispering in her ear. Confused as much as she was groggy, she asked, “What kind of serious trouble-“
“Shhh!” Caleb hissed with a finger to his lips. “Keep your voice low, they haven’t sensed us yet but they might hear us if we’re not careful!”
Noel felt her heart skip a beat. If she, Caleb, and the turtle really were the only living things left in this area, then the only reason for Caleb to act as if there were other things out there was if…
No. It couldn’t be.
Noel jumped out of her bed and quickly but quietly raced to her bedroom window, which Caleb had drawn the curtains over, and ever so slightly she peeked outside between the curtains. What she saw nearly made her gasp in utter shock, had it not been for her hands that she immediately clasped over her mouth to stop herself.
The outside of the apartment was crawling with a number of bizarre creatures unlike anything Noel and Caleb had seen before (and that was saying something). The creatures were about the size of leopards, but their appearance was nothing like the sort. They looked more like Komodo dragons than anything, only the grayish-blue scales on its skin were as big as computer mouses, and its four feet had long, sharp, curved claws. A few were even using such claws to easily scale the walls of nearby buildings like giant lizards. The claws were also webbed like something fit for swimming in water, and so was their tails, which were two-thirds the length of their bodies.
Noel slowly backed away from the window and turned to Caleb. “Are those what I think they are?” She asked in a terrified whisper.
“Only one way to confirm…” Caleb replied as his eyes fell on the fish tank just outside the bedroom door. “…as well as think of a solution…”
And indeed, their fears were right. No sooner had Caleb showed the turtle what was happening outside after scooping it out of the fish tank did it confirm these were aliens that had crawled up onto land to find more prey.
“I can’t believe it… they’ve shapeshifted some of the lesser ones of themselves so they could climb up onto land! They’re trying to get them to see what it’s like outside the water before they can make a move themselves! But this is way too soon… just how desperate are they?!”
“One thing’s for sure…” Noel mumbled under her breath, slumping back down onto the bed almost in defeat. “We’re not safe here anymore either now that they’ve begun to advance onto land too…”
Even as the fear of the situation spread through her veins like a venom to paralyze both her body and mind, Noel still managed to glance at the turtle – still held in Caleb’s hands – and said, “You were right about what you said yesterday… about them getting the guts to explore land sooner or later for more food… we had no idea that… that…”
“Don’t feel that way, even I couldn’t have imagined they’d do it so quickly.”
“What now then?” Caleb asked. “I don’t wanna just sit here and wait for them to find and eat us, we gotta do something!”
“Okay; first off, if you’re worried about making noise then you don’t have to speak to me verbally. We can still communicate through our brains. Second, I must tell you my kind can also use their powers to sense whether any life forms – or rather, in their case, prey – are within their power range. The reason we haven’t been detected yet is because by the looks of it, they’re more focused on familiarizing themselves with the land rather than looking for and luring in prey… we’re lucky.”
“I’d call this anything but lucky, but yeah, lucky indeed compared to getting digested inside one of those things’ stomachs.” Caleb thought, which the turtle heard as clearly as if he’d said it out loud.
“So for the time being I say it’d be best to simply stay silent in here for a while. Most likely they won’t be scouring around this one place for too long when they’ve got so much more ground to cover out there to report back to the others at sea.”
“And what do you suppose we do once they do go away?” Noel asked, also via thought.
“Well, you’ve seen for yourselves it won’t do you any good to keep staying here, so… it would be much better for all of us to take my suggestion from yesterday into effect.”
“I was afraid of that.” Noel and Caleb both thought at the same time. They knew what this meant and the thought scared them just as badly as the sight of those creatures out there. But what else was there to do other than helplessly wait for the aliens to eventually come and hunt them down… or indeed try something, anything, to have a slight chance at a way out of this, and live.