Like Old Friends
She has known death for more years than she can count. It has been a shadow at her side all these years, a friend whose language she knew intimately, whose signs she could read as easy as she breathed. That's why she knows it's come for her now.
The water passes over her gills, her heart still beats, but there is something else there. A whisper. She closes her eyes. She can hear Mina fussing with breakfast below, her beautiful Mina.
She knows death too, not quite like Alkali, but she knows this has been coming. That each day of Alkali's long life has become ever more uncertain. She sleeps with Alkali close, her hand always on her chest. Alkali teases her still about copping feels, but Mina rarely sleeps without a hand over her heart these days. Just to know, just to be sure.
Alkali stretches slowly, old bones popping and creaking, before swimming down from their room into the kitchen like any other morning, because it will be any other morning. She refuses to make a fuss. She refuses to see Mina cry over her before she goes. Let her have this time. Let them both have this time.
There are kisses shared and morning rituals of easy conversation had over breakfast. Just like any other day. Mina smiles and she smiles back, squeezing a wrinkled hand over smooth knuckles across the table.
Mina talks about the future. She talks about going into the city next week, about seeing a show in one of the theatres like they used to. She talks about the market in town, how maybe they should go tomorrow if Alkali was up for the swim. She talks about the future as if trying to will it into being. Alkali wishes she could, but even their little seer never truly had that power.
She is glad they went once more into Barovia this year, never knowing when their last trip would be their last. They visited their friends, like always, treading lightly over earthen graves. The Von Dietrichs, together in the woods. The Frostwhispers in the cemetery. The Fensiks too, at the Monastery. All of them gone so long before. Mina had carried flowers for them as they went, small gestures of thoughtfulness when few days went by without a mention of one of them.
The whole time, Mina slowed her long strides to match Alkali's slow trek to their friends and back. Alkali had long since needed her walking stick for trips to land, her spear hung up and traded for something lighter. In water she was just fine yet, but the cobblestones of Vallaki and the twisted roots of the woods were no longer so kind to her. And gravity had always been a bit of a bitch.
Carriages had waited for them at the edge of town and the newest of Jenkins (was it Winston now?) greeted them as they returned from the woods. She had fussed over Mina helping her, insisting the young man was being paid well enough to give the High Priestess a hand, and settled into the Estate's carriage for the long ride.
They watched Barovia go by out their windows, glimpses of Lake Umber glittering in the sun. It had been a beautiful day, a good day, she is so very thankful for that now. She rested her head on Mina and squeezed her hand tight. Had she already known her time was counted in weeks then?
She'd tapped on the carriage as they approached the Estate and directed New Jenkins to drive past it, to the small cemetery further north. She would visit the others first. Mina helped her down from the carriage this time and she walked a familiar path to another pair of graves, one long settled and grown over, the other only just beginning to show signs of life taking root again. Her Ludmilla. Her Escher. She sat there for awhile, waving off Mina's fussing as she slowly got to her knees in the dirt.
Mina sighed and sat beside her, a hand around her waist like she might topple and break, or fall into a grave herself. "They're alright you know."
"Of course I know. I buried them."
"It's the other ones who will worry when we're late."
"Bah. Volenta won't even be back yet."
"You spoke with her yesterday, she was on her way."
"And where on her way? Goddess forbid she tell me where she went this time."
Time had been good to her vampires, something she trusted was in no small part to their rituals all those years ago. Eternal they were, but they weren't stuck. They weren't Strahd. They weren't left to dwell and rot in a body that wouldn't rest. They would be fine without her one day.
Anastrasya was no less fiery, no less wild, but she'd grown. She had taken Ludmilla's guidance to heart and now ran the Estate and all that came with it just as well as she (though Jenkins still did much of it until his own successor stepped in).
And Volenta had found her wanderlust again, traveling beyond Barovia and Falkenmere and Timaeus even. She came back with stories and trinkets and trophies, sharing it all and wanting more, but always happy to have a place and people that were home.
She would see them soon, they wouldn't hold this against her.
She ran her hands through the dirt, a silent prayer for them both. Escher had been all too happy to accept his mortality back. But the half elf was nearly as long lived as she and even though Ludmilla had waffled on the idea of humanity for over a decade, she was the one they lost first.
Alkali still regretted not being there when she passed, but it had come sudden and quietly. Trust Ludmilla to not make a fuss.
Escher had somehow gotten more... Escher in his final years, making sure every manuscript and poem were finished to his liking lest he be remembered for half hearted words. They spoke often, Sending back and forth. And the night he mentioned dreams of darkness returning for him, Alkali had demanded Mina be ready to travel come morning.
Of course, the damn elf lived another two weeks. Didn't stop him from predicting his death each night as Alkali hobbled about cursing every stair in the Estate and Escher too.
After a time, she took Mina's hand and rose up to her feet, letting Mina lead them to their carriage. It was a quick ride from there to the Estate proper and New Jenkins led them inside, promising to bring their things to their usual room, a space in the main wing of the house they'd taken to a century ago.
Before they could consider following, there was a squeal from down the hall and Alkali had braced herself on her cane just before Volenta surged into them, nearly lifting her off her feet.
Volenta, still dressed in her travel clothes, and smelling faintly of soot, wrapped her arms around them both. "I knew I could get here before you!"
Alkali paused, looked up at the now taller woman, and blinked slowly at her. "Dear... Were you day flying?"
"Yes!"
"Oh good, maybe you can knock some sense into her," Anastrasya called, making her way towards them as well.
Mina chuckled. "Doubtful." And it was as if time had barely passed in that century.
It was easy and wonderful and the greetings and laughter shared with them came as easy as it ever had. They were family, hers and Mina's.
They moved to a sitting room, the curtains open despite the sun thanks to Tanner's work so many years ago. They drank and ate and talked. Volenta pulled out gifts she'd squirreled away in pockets and bags. Anastrasya regaled them with stories of the last dance in Vallaki and how Ismark's grandaughter was just as easy to fluster as her grandfather.
Alkali's stories were fewer, her life far quieter than theirs now. She shared stories of some pilgrims who'd come to her ships, of old rivalries and feuds among other holy folk back home, but even as she shared the stories she knew she must have said them before. Still they listened and smiled and laughed and for a time she could forget the century behind her when none of them had aged a day.
When night had come, Mina was the first to consider retiring for the evening, no doubt reading Alkali's exhaustion from the day. But as she turned to Alkali, to ask her preference for the evening, Anastrasya stood first and offered hands to them both.
"Our bed is plenty big enough. You're both coming to it."
It wasn't a first in their long life together, but it was more unusual than not. Still, Alkali caught the looks the two of them shared, an agreement, to share something invaluable and precious and fleeting.
She let herself be pulled to her feet and enveloped briefly into the arms of the women she loved. Volenta huffed and shoved at them, nudging them all along to bed and linking her arm easily with Alkali's.
The master bedroom was no one's room and everyone's room. Alkali had spent countless nights within these walls, tangled in sheets and lovers alike. The bed was huge and soft and rarely saw its comforters and sheets in place for long. Volenta burrowed into pillows and Escher had always wrapped himself tight in a bundle of sheets. It was a wonder the bed stood as firmly as it did with the blanket wars it had weathered among other sleepless nights.
Volenta kissed her gently as they entered and Anastrasya and Mina came up behind her. They hushed her fussing over their fussing and she let them help her out of her things and into bed. A puddle of long limbs, wrinkled skin, and cold toes and Alkali couldn't imagine a better way to fall asleep than with her lovers surrounding her. She knew well enough to know come morning it would be a disaster, but that was its own gift.
They'd spent the better part of a few weeks at the Estate. It was tradition to come visit in the early fall, when Barovia celebrated Densol, the anniversary of the sun. Strahd was now a memory here, a boogie man and nothing more. Barovians didn't even celebrate his death, just the sunlight and prosperity that followed.
Over the years, the two Timaians bounced between the homes of their friends and the inn, visiting and playing auntie to the little ones who came along. There were still homes that would welcome them now, nephews and nieces and the grand-variety that would be happy to have them, but the Estate was as it always would be.
At Densol, they rode out to Vallaki, with promises from the other two to meet them come dusk, and Alkali and Mina were treated once more as the Heroes of Vallaki. The new burgomaster greeted them warmly, his wife sent them warm wishes from the rest of the Martikovs too. They mingled and old stories were shared, a few asked to hear of their other adventures, some asked about the day the tides came to protect the city. It was a whirlwind day, Densol always was, but she wouldn't trade it.
She'd sat for a moment, out of the way just enough as elders often do when wanting a moment alone, and took in their Vallaki. A city now in its own right. No Falkenmere just yet, but a far far cry from the dismal village they first found.
"Granmama!"
She turned to see the little girl running towards her and smiled, bending down to scoop her up into her lap with a soft groan. "You are getting so big!"
The little girl laughed, wrapping her arms around Alkali's neck. She had the same dark hair as her actual grandmother, and the bright fire eyes of her father and grandfather. "Did you miss me?"
"Of course, I did. I always do." She kissed her temple. "One day, we'll steal your father's ring and Nonna and I will steal you away to the ocean."
"Do you promise?"
She smiled. "I do. You know Granmama keeps her promises."
The little girl in her lap pulled away to look her in the eye and Alkali couldn't help but wonder if there was something else she got from her grandmother. Sometimes she seemed so much older than five.
"I miss you lots. I had a dream you didn't come visit for Densol and I got so sad. Mummy heard me crying."
Alkali had pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "I'm here right now, my dear. No tears. Granmama is here."
Her mother came for her eventually, but by then Alkali had her laughing and giggling again with tricks of magic. The little cantrips that came at reflex were absolute wonders to the little girl. Her mother gave her an appreciative smile, a quick fond kiss to her old cheek, and took her daughter back to the rest of the family.
She saw them all in time, Arabelle and Rowan's families, Tanner and Kalina's, the Martikovs, and the rest. Alkali and Mina had no child of their own, but there was no shortage of children to coddle and spoil over the years. And now those children had children, some even with grandchildren of their own on the way.
It was a good legacy to leave behind.
The rest of their stay was a blur. They ventured in and out of the lake over the week, even with Volenta at one point to visit an old henge of stones in the depths. It was a familiar spot, one Volenta admitted to not like visiting alone.
She and Alkali settled in the silt before one of the conical stones. She pulled a little carved stone from her pocket and placed it amidst a series of sandy lumps of the trinkets that had come before it. "Hey Tare."
The practices down in the lake were different from home, but Alkali had made sure that in time the merfolk down here were remembered well and proper. This circle was perhaps more than others saw... But she was never known for hiding her biases.
Her twins deserved it and more in her eyes.
She pressed a palm to the stone, fingers trailing over the inlaid pearl swirls before she drifted over to the second stone that matched it. Here she pressed her hand to the twin waves cresting on the stone and she cast her eyes out into the water beyond. Nadia swam in deeper waters now.
The other stones she cared for no less, but their memories were not hers to carry. The people Nadia and Taron called family, the friends and lovers who were as good as. She said a soft prayer for them as a whole, demanding they be treated well in oceans beyond, but it was still her twins who she came here for.
Other days they made sure to visit the temple. Others to the sanctuaries and the villages. She couldn't do the whirlwind tours they used to in a day, but they made sure to get to each in time.
Along one swim Alkali kept pausing them, convinced something was... off in the water around them.
"You're seeing sharks in clear water," Mina chided and Alkali swat bubbles at her for it.
"I'm old, not senile."
Something in the water shifted and she immediately looked down only to watch a dark scaled dhampir coming to a floundering halt ten feet below.
"Oh come on!"
She cackled and Mina looked down before shaking her head. "Hello to you too, Veris."
"You're practically a hag! How do you still always know??" Veris swam closer, the red of his narrowed eyes glimmering in the low light.
"It's because I am a hag that I always know."
He huffed, floating some feet away before he swam in to hug her. "Is Auntkali always like this?" Veris asked over her shoulder.
"Always. You learn to love it after the first decade."
He chuckled and pulled away. "You coming to Shel?"
"We were just on our way."
He swam along with them, gleefully sharing stories of his adventures since their last visit, and steared them straight towards the outer edge of the inner village. "Mom! Guess who!"
Another merfolk some fifty feet ahead of them in the water turned and blinked before a small smirk tugged at her lips. "So you brought home the hag."
"Always a fucking pleasure seeing you too, Caol."
Veris snickered, swimming circles around the lot of them as the three women caught up to each other. Despite their harsh greetings, Caol pulled Alkali into a firm hug, before of course prodding at her wrinkles.
"Did you get more of these?"
Her spines flared briefly. "Don't make me poison you."
"I'd be surprised if you even could."
At least someone didn't try to coddle her for her age.
Alkali and Mina made the rest of their rounds after that. Veris tailed along, often getting bored and swimming off before rejoining them, and made sure to swim them at least halfway to the shore when they were through.
"Do me a favor? Tell Volenta to get her ass back down here again sometime, yeah? Girl fucking flies about, she can come visit."
"I'll do my best."
"Well. If I see her in two years I'll say you succeeded."
There were so many good days over the years after so many bad ones in their beginning. That that trip was full of them was a blessing.
As she held Mina's hand across the table, she hoped she would remember those days as well. The tides had been kind to them for so many years.
She tried to savor each moment. She asked Mina to come for a swim with her out towards her trench. She had left it in good hands to the next priestess who would steward it through the years, but she wanted to see those waters one more time.
Mina fussed gently over her tiring herself out, but Alkali hushed her. It was good to get out a little and Mina couldn't argue that.
But the day's end felt unnaturally close and when they returned to their home, Alkali knew her time was near. She didn't plan it, despite how it would seem. She had wanted just a little more time than this. But the swim exhausted her, she needed to close her eyes just a little when they got home. Mina pushed her hair behind her fins, kissed her gently, and promised lunch would be ready when she woke.
She knew as soon as her eyes opened to calm black waters that she wouldn't be making lunch.
She closed her eyes again, maybe just willing herself back, but she sighed, and turned to take in the depths around her.
"Look at you." Her vision narrowed in on the cecaelia watching her. "Even without the wrinkles you're still a hag."
She narrowed her eyes, flared her fins, and realized just how good she felt without the weight of centuries on her shoulders. Every ache and twinge gone, her spine straighter, her body lighter. She may not have been the girl who first entered Barovia either, but she was a far far cry from the old women who last left.
She let her spines settle and she sat, one leg crossed over the other, in the water. "I was hoping it would be anyone but you, Nyneve."
"Well I'm the lucky one who drew the short kelp when it came to ushering you home."
Alkali shook her head and looked away into the dark water. "Like this though? Really?"
Nyneve swam closer and floated around her. "Someone was going to have to find you somehow. Be grateful. You went quiet and peacefully in your bed an old, old woman. Most mortals wish they had that luxury."
"I wanted more time..."
"You had plenty. Would you have preferred the elf wake up next to your body come morning? This was a gift."
Alkali watched her. "Did you time this?"
Nyneve laughed. "I'm flattered for the credit, but no. That comes from deeper down."
She let those words sit with her for a moment and Nyneve, blessedly, let her take her time. Eventually, she started to move, until she and Nyneve were swimming slow circles around each other. "Now what? I follow you to Umberlee's Waters?"
And Nyneve began to smile. "Now the rest of your life begins— Temptress."