Nymphaea

Chapter 15: A myth comes to life

As Mr. Doherty moved in Mr. Williams’ office for the time of his suspension to take over his tasks, Stephen could move into Mr. Doherty’s former room which was much more comfortable than the cold file storage that he had spent most of his time in so far.

The first thing they did together – he and his new colleague – was drink a good cup of coffee and discuss minor topics. Stephen was soon offered to call each other by their first names. His colleague was called Sean. Sean seemed to be a simple, down to earth kind of man and they got along fine. Yet, Stephen was still cautious not to give too much away.

Of course their talks turned to the case and Sean would have loved to hear the story how Stephen had known what questions he had had to pose. But Stephen beat around the bush by saying he had only applied snippets of conversations he had had with Ayve to the hints the interviewee had given. That it had been lucky that he had remembered them at all.

Stephen had fought for his present position in the investigations, to become indispensable, and he would not give his trump – his knowledge – away unless it was necessary.

As they had not many clues to work on, Stephen started collecting anything he could find about these mythical creatures that the red haired man had named as reference points. Most of the stuff he found about nymphs came from Greek mythology and indeed referred to alluring females, just as Seya had already mentioned. The material about elves was much wider spread. Works about the history of the belief in elves usually started in Norse mythology, distinguishing black elves, a synonym for dwarves, and light elves. But from there information varied. Some sources differentiated dark elves from black elves, dark elves being yet another group of beings living underground; others used those labels to describe the same beings. Some books explained the different shapes of elf-belief in the European countries (from thumb-sized to ghostly to Christmas elves), others showed in what ways that belief had entered the languages (the German word for nightmare ‘Albtraum’, for example, contained ‘Alb’, an old word for elf, and therefore referred to a negative conception of these beings sitting on the head of the human causing bad dreams) and many naturally mirrored the long history elves had in modern fantasy.

All in all there seemed more pictures and music about elves and nymphs than books.

What both types of mythological creatures shared was a strong relatedness with nature. Nymphs were known to be bound to a forest, a river, a tree, a cave, a fount or something the like; elves were also rumoured to be living in the mountains or in forests. Following Seya’s accounts, they still lived in tribes like primitive people and that indeed pointed to a nature-bound living.

And of course both creatures were reported to be beautiful beyond imagination and gifted with an unnaturally long life or even immortality.

But dissenting from Seya’s description, in mythology these beings had absolutely no problem with pairing with humans. Many children were reported to have emerged from such relationships. And indeed Stephen did not quite get it: how could Ayve have spent nights with him if – as Seya had declared – sex between a human and one of them was impossible?

*

One and a half weeks after the interview, Stephen’s phone rang. He recognized the soft voice immediately. Seya always spoke in silent words, hardly more than a whisper. But that did not sound insecure. It made the listener more attentive.

Seya reported that after another long discussion he had managed to convince his kinsmen to let him do the medical tests, that they did not mean danger. But he insisted that there would not be used radiography or computer tomography and that he would not have to take any sort of drug. He would not agree to anything unnatural. They could have a blood sample and they could use magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound. That was it. His kind had a very special elaborate way of treating their bodies and he did not wish to disturb his organism, he explained. Of course Stephen agreed to his terms (not quite sure what all the technical terms meant but hastily scribbling along).

They appointed a meeting for four days later. Then the medical examination would take place and they could resume their talks. Stephen assured his dialogue partner that the Secret Service had reconsidered their attitude towards him.

*

Stephen and his new colleague fetched Seya from his hotel. He was clad in a light brown suit this time that looked just as good on him. His hair was bound back with a leather strap. Mr. Doherty waited in the car as Stephen greeted Seya. When they entered the car, Stephen joined the tiny man on the back seat, demonstrating equality.

“May I ask whom you had to convince to let you take part in the medical examination?” Stephen said as they headed towards their research institute. They were in London this time as the Secret Service had their best research associates here in the capital. “I mean are there general reservations of your kind towards us or is it a special person you have to convince?”

“Both,” the young looking man to his left replied smiling. “Of course there is a general anxiety we might have to face the old problems as soon as we make ourselves known. Humans usually fear what they do not understand and tend to act violently in reaction. But there are many who believe in the good in every being and that we have to give you a chance. Yet the more one of us had to face human cruelty himself, the harder it is for him to trust you, as you will understand. The leader of my tribe has been put to an acid test, one might say. He has lost his father, his mother and the woman that was chosen to bear his child. He had to watch his people die helplessly. I’ll never forget that picture of him, bent over the dead body of his father who was everything to him, covered in blood, lamenting.” Seya wiped a tear out of his eye. “I’ll never forget that moment. And neither will he.”

They were stuck in the thick London traffic. “You know, his father was a highly admired man, both rich in wisdom and age, not to mention his good heart. It was a loss none of us could easily overcome.”

They were silent for a moment. Stephen felt it would be indecent to dig deeper immediately. There were many questions in his mind but he presently stuck to the already posed. “So your leader would rather you hid from us?” he gave Seya a slight nudge to go on talking after a while.

The tape recorder did its job, lying on Stephen’s knee.

“Yes and no. He sees the world of men close in around us. He is actually much more familiar with it than most of us as he travels a lot. But he dreads the avalanche of unpredictable reactions that will be set off if our existence turns into public knowledge. Not only does he fear a direct danger through attack but also an indirect endangerment of our culture through curiosity. That is why we will not reveal the location of our tribes: we fear we would be overrun by the media, tourists, whoever. Our culture is not made for this. We need to make sure that we are not influenced by mankind. This is really essential.”

Seya used his hands in gestures that gave his words more weight. “Our leader therefore is torn between asking the human governments for help, asking you to regard us as an ‘endangered species’, so to speak” – Seya smiled again – “or to take things into his own hand to keep us from human notice completely. He is a mighty man. But he is wise enough not to want to control everything. He knows things should find their natural course. He has done a lot for my people but he carries a heavy burden already. He should not shoulder more. That’s why I’m here now.”

They went up the drive and parked the car.

The two investigators spent the next hours waiting in corridors, accompanying their protégé to a different ward and waiting some more. When Seya was finally ‘returned’ to them, the head of the medical team said a full report would reach them within two days. But a certain excitement could not be hidden from them. There had definitely been noticed differences in size and arrangement of organs but they had to wait for the laboratory analysis of composition of blood and the DNA to see whether that just was due to an illness or a mutation or whether this really pointed to a different race.

They returned to the car and went to the Secret Service Headquarters were there had been a room allocated for them to continue their interview. On their way, Seya annotated that he never was comfortable in such clinical surrounding. He said he still spent most of his time with his people who lived in untouched nature and the limited space humans organized their lives in irritated him.

It was early in the afternoon when they sat down in some comfortable armchairs and Mr. Doherty readied the tape recorder while Stephen took a look at his notes so he would see how to start the talks. A secretary served them tea and biscuits.

Strictly speaking, these investigations were not the task Stephen had been hired for. This was a totally new case, not about the phenomenon of humans (or more generally speaking beings) gaining longer life but about investigating a new race. He was lucky that the two cases were so closely linked.

Seya sat leisurely in his chair, the cup of tea in his hand out of which steam rose and watched Stephen with interest. Feeling that intense gaze on himself, the question in Stephen silently arose whether he might have only been drawn to Ayve because of this intense radiance these beings had. Had he been in love with Ayve the person or Ayve the nymph/elf? But he had no time to consider this.

“I have spent the last days collecting information about elves and nymphs in mythology. I guessed from the short dialogue we have had about two weeks ago that many things do not correspond to reality. But one thing is left: when my colleague asked you about your age you said you didn’t know. But you were able to give precise information about the point in time that you died. That leads me to the conclusion that your kind’s life span is less limited than ours, am I right there?”

Sean hastily scribbled the question on the clipboard and looked with expectancy to Seya.

The nymph smiled. “Yes. We do not consider ourselves to be mortal in the common sense of this human word. Neither do we speak of immortality. None of these words exist in our tongue. Our lives surely evolve more slowly and therefore consume more time. A child is carried for about fifty years before it leaves its mother’s womb and will not leave its mother’s or father’s arms for another one hundred years (in human count).
Death in turn is not part of our culture and neither is violence.”

That was one answer and Stephen had added three more questions to his list. “But you do pass away eventually?”

Seya sipped on his tea, musingly. “I suppose so,” he finally answered. “I remember that when I was young every now and again with wide gaps in between an elder would silently take his leave to journey outside our lands and would not return. But nowadays there are not many old people. We were like orphans, back then. I was already a full grown man when we were attacked, but of my ‘generation’ – well, I do not think such a term applies to our standards – there have none stayed alive. Only the youngsters travel. The few who were presently exploring the outside world were lucky. But people around my age and older who were engaged with their ritual life, with hunting, maybe thinking of going through the complex process of siring a child – they were all…” He silenced.

Stephen left a pause for Seya.

Then he spoke on in a softer voice. “When you say you carry babies for fifty years and nurse them like an infant for another one hundred years – at what point do you look at a person as full grown member of your community then?”

“There is no clear date as we don’t measure time, as I have already explained. But there are certain initial rites that introduce the individual to its duties and rights. It is more a process than a clear point in time. You take responsibility, you develop skills, you strive for wisdom…” He took a break, reconsidering how to continue. “We do not share the human hierarchical system. Everybody is responsible for everything. Even a leader is not generally set above the rest of us. He will share the daily duties. The only thing that lets him stand out is his skills. The family line of my tribe’s leader is known for their strong will, their skills in mind reading and empathy as well as in ‘manipulating’ – please excuse this word it sounds so negative but I find no other in your tongue – the human mind. Let me point out that they do not make use of their powers lightly! We will not betray your trust!” Seya emphasized.

Stephen nodded calmly.

“The lady who presently leads the ancient Asian tribe on the other hand is rumoured to be gifted with the talent of foresight. Which is always a very vague thing as of course nothing is predetermined, you can merely see the most likely course things are going to take or the variety of possibilities.

All these gifts are not exclusively granted to the leaders of course. Empathy, for example, is a common skill in our tribe, although seldom as well developed as in our leaders.”

“What are your skills?” Stephen asked.

“I had minor skills in mind reading and empathising but they have increased after my death.”

Sean stirred in his seat, obviously uncomfortable with the idea of not having his thoughts to himself – or with the mentioning of death.

Stephen had a different inspiration. He hesitated for a moment, not sure whether he wanted his colleague to hear the answer to that question but put it forth in the end: “Can you read my mind?” His heart beat a little faster.

The green eyes of his dialogue partner looked at him sharper but relaxed immediately in a smile and a shaking head. “No. I heard your greeting at our first meeting but I cannot decipher anything that you do not display for me.”

“So he is still shielding my thoughts?” Seya looked at him clueless. “Who is he?”

“Ayve,” Stephen stated in wonder.

Surprise displayed in Seya’s face. “So that’s why you said I reminded you of him. I was wondering about that all along. You have met him!”

Stephen felt a little embarrassed. He had taken that knowledge for granted all along. The only thing he could hope for now was that his conversational partner did not strive to hear why Ayve covered his mind.

“I had only sensed that your attitude towards me was positive and was mildly surprised when you mentioned him at our first meeting,” Seya explained.

“Are you friends?” Stephen wanted to know.

Seya giggled into his tea. “Are you?” he countered.

Stephen negated. “I haven’t met him in years.”

Seya smiled as if he had expected this kind of answer. “Yes, he is very closed, cagey even. But who will blame him?”

So that was not Stephen’s problem alone.

He looked down onto his own clipboard, rearranging his thoughts, waiting for Sean’s pen to stop moving. The notes that were taken despite the tape recording described besides the main information of the talks also the body movements and facial expressions of the interviewee. Stephen reckoned there were notes of his behaviour taken as well in this special case.

“What exactly is your goal, what are you aiming at when you are sitting here answering our questions?” Stephen came back to the essential part of their talks.

“I mean to act as a representative of my people with the final goal of gaining official acknowledgement of my race and my race’s rights,” Seya phrased his intentions precisely. “I am sitting here at the moment with the hope of convincing the British government to help us in this. An advocate might be helpful.”

Stephen nodded. “And why do you approach us now? How come you were chosen to represent your people and no one else? Why, for example, did not your leader take these matters into his own hands?”

Seya smiled. “He considered doing that. But he decided that others were more fitting for the job and asked me to do it, as someone who could negotiate without reservations. We will meet and discuss possible progresses of course. I will have full authority.” He stood up and walked around his seat, explaining he was not used to sitting that long.

“The question ‘why now?’ is simply answered by saying our leader decided so. Voices were raised that we might give it a try for several decades already but there were still major flashpoints of violence even between humans and our leader was still categorically against trusting humans. Since there have at least developed certain stable isles of peacefulness and although danger and war is still at the doorstep there is a positive development visible, he seems to have adjusted his opinion. Although I think the main reason for his change of mind is that we do not really have a choice as mankind consumes more and more areas on this planet and we lack living space, as I have already explained earlier.”

*

A few days later Stephen’s boss decided to send a summary of their investigation results including the medical records that had proven a major difference between Seya’s body and that of a usual human to a high government official by expedited service. He told Stephen that he should prepare for being interviewed on this as the person deepest involved in the matter.

And right: the official demanded to meet with Stephen two weeks later, asked him to give a short account of everything and met up with Seya later on.

The following months were stuffed with diplomatic negotiations, with competing for concessions on either side. The British government demanded more information, long insisted on visiting elfish/nymph settlements. Seya sat calmly opposite the government official, explaining over and over again that this would not happen. After a week’s battle he finally came up with the suggestion of another nymph – female this time – to submit itself to the medical examination to deliver further proof of their existence. This compromise was accepted.

So Seya introduced another being of not more than five foot five in height with long strawberry blond hair and freckles on her cheeks. She was a little younger, he explained, in fact a cousin of his although such a word did not exist in their language. She was one of the lucky beings who had been absent when their settlement had been attacked. In her body the differences of their races were even more obvious. She lacked certain female attributes such as widened hips or the smaller heart in comparison to a male’s. It seemed as if males and females of this species were much more alike in physique. The only difference were the genitals, and even those were smaller than human’s. The womb seemed only fit for babies not much more than half the human size.

Finally, the home secretary was going to sign an unofficial agreement with the elf/nymph-leader.

***

End of Part II

a/n
Guess what’s happening next… ^^