Regroup, Reuse, Recycle - Chapter 3

The words dropped like an anchor within my chest. My gifting? Was this what Lance and my mother spoke of? If so, then I am very much ahead of the curve, I mean, it’s not even my twelfth birthday! It wasn’t even supposed to happen until the ceremony. Why? I’d been curious as to what the ceremony would pertain to, but I didn’t think I wouldn’t even get to it! The crab watched me as I held my hands within one another, festering with thoughts.

Gil’s eyes went wide at the notion; he even let out a small whistle. “No wonder the symbols looked familiar. I’ve heard the story since I was a little boy. The Fish God…It’d bless sailors who proved themselves with power stronger than most.” He scratched his jaw, frowning. “But for someone like Chloe getting that? That’s…unheard of, to say the least. Not in a small, fragile girl. And definitely not outside of the sea…” His words stung, even if he didn’t mean for them to. I sat rigid, the crab clicked faintly beside me as though in defiance of Gil’s doubt.

Father didn’t respond to Gil directly. His eyes remained locked on me, heavy with thought. “Early giftings aren’t unheard of,” he said at last. “But tied directly to the Fish God? That’s no small thing.” My heart pounded in my ears. The ceremony, the possibilities awaiting that day, would I not even get the chance to experience such a thing because of this? Would the others look at me differently because of this? Fear festered more and more within me, as I couldn’t speak during their discussion. All I could do was sit and watch. One thing was for certain; no one in the room knew what it all truly meant, even me.

Gil leaned forward, his elbows now braced on his knees. “So, what does this mean for her? If the gifting’s already appeared—” Father rubbed his temple, staring down at the closed book as though it carried the weight of his thoughts. “I’ve…heard whispers,” he admitted, voice low. “Men in ports, merchants from across the way…stories of one who bore the same blessing that seems to have landed on Chloe. The Fish God’s blessing. But I never pressed for details, since I thought it was just a fairytale of sorts, or even a rumor being passed around at the time.” The words hit me like a strike of lightning. I leaned forward, eyes wide. “Someone else? Like me? Please, tell me. Who were they? Where—”

“Enough, Chloe.” Father cut me off, sharper than I expected. His voice carried a much deeper and serious tone than I’d seen. His gaze pinned me. I couldn’t sort out how he’d been feeling with his words. Though it felt as if he wasn’t just confused…he might have been truly concerned. “Once you’re gifted,” he said slowly, carefully, “the chapel will insist on placing you on a path. The path they think suits your blessing best. That’s the way of things. But if they found out your gifting came this early….” He trailed off, shaking his head. “They won’t treat it as a blessing. They’ll see it as something unnatural. And unnatural things get…controlled, more or less.”

A shiver crept down my spine as I heard the words leave his lips. “So, you’ll keep this a secret, whatever blessing this is,” he finished firmly, looking not only at me but also at Luisa and Gil. “No one else must know of what happened tonight.” Gil sat back, stunned at the words. “A secret like this? That’s—” Luisa’s fists clenched. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Mother’s voice cut through the air.

“A secret?” She stood, cloth still in hand from tending to the boy’s wounds, her green eyes flashing with a sudden fire. "Hiding things from the chapel, hiding such a thing from the world?” Her words were filled with questions, confusion even. But Father met her words with a calm steel. “I’d protect her from it.” Mother’s eyes felt as if they’d enlarged at the statement. “Protect?” her voice cracked, “By keeping her caged? She’s already had to deal with such things all of these years, and now even this is being kept from her? We don’t even know what the blessing is—” Father held his hand out, asking for my mother to calm her words. His face was stern. “Exactly, we don’t know what her blessing is. And it seems she doesn’t either.”

Mother’s onslaught of words continued, “But she’s just a child—our child! Not one of your little trinkets or trade secrets to be kept away. That’s not right!” The room bristled with her fury, and I shrank beneath it. Guilt built with every passing second. The two continued their bickering until a faint groan was heard, grabbing everyone’s attention. The boy stirred. His eyes opened slowly, and though his body sagged with weakness, his gaze found mine first. Those same yellow, bright, and sharp eyes. Unyielding—even dulled by his exhaustion, they burned brightly like the fire next to him. For a moment, he just looked at me. But then, with a small effort, he tilted his head in the smallest of nods. Approval.

My chest tightened at the sight. Mother rushed to his side, “No, no, don’t try to push yourself. You can rest, you’re safe now—” But the boy raised a trembling hand, curing the air weakly, refusing to silence his motions. A low grunt escaped him, then another. His motions were jagged, but clear. He gestured toward himself, then to the cave’s direction, then back to me. Father’s eyes narrowed, watching the boy play charades of sorts with his hands. He thought it’d be best to guess what was being explained.

“So…you’re saying she helped you?” he said, rubbing his temple once more. He removed his hat, placing it down on the countertop. The boy nodded once, firmly so that there’d be no mistake. His tail shifted slightly, showing off the damage done to it within the firelight. A hush fell in the room. Gil leaned back, stunned. “So…that’s what happened, huh?” The crab on the table clicked its pincers excitedly, as if cheering. It scuttled to the edge of the wood and waved toward me, chittering with pride.

My face burned, torn between shame and the strange warmth of his approval, as if I’d done something right. Father studied the boy for a long, silent moment. His gaze flicked to me again, softened only slightly. “Tell me more about where this all started, and make sure to include what happened in this cave, Chloe. No half-truths.”