Let Me Float

by MasterMartin

Deep in the No-Zone, Sash Lilac of FP-062 is enjoying a little swim time to herself after an unlikely intervention and the discovery of an infinite amount of worlds beyond her own. But when she is confronted by another version of her who met a grisly fate, she comes along for the ride to see just why Drowned Lilac is who and what she is - and things get more complicated from there.

To water dragons like Lilac, mundane objects could be so much more. Water, rather predictably, was one of those; for many, it was just a liquid needed to survive, but to the Lilacs of the multiverse it could be something far more liberating. Some of them found floating in water to be one of the very best ways to unwind after a long day. No more stress, no more worries, just allowing oneself to float around, letting the calming water remove their sorrows. But for others, those unworthy of even a peaceful afterlife, the water was a devil, a curse. It would be how many would shed their mortality and join the ranks of the undead.

Sash Lilac of Universe FP-062 was, quite thankfully for her, a Lilac of the former. Even here, in this empty swimming pool, she was alone to float in the treated waters and tend to both her wounds and her fatigue. It was certainly something she needed. A Dragon from Planet Avalice, she had always thought that she was the only one of her kind, in the whole universe. A fact that the monster Lord Brevon decided to taunt her with as he hooked her to his torture machine. The shock wounds would heal - heck the water helped to soothe them a bit - but the memories would forever linger. The pain, the regret, the betrayal of her own friends...if only she knew one of the core differences between her world and the next was that her own best friend would work for Brevon after she abandoned her.

She almost thought she would die...until heavily armoured soldiers burst into the room and broke Brevon's arm when he resisted arrest. Things were a blur after that, and next thing she remembered was awakening in a hospital bed of some sorts, bandages over her wounds and her tendrils reattached. She could remember the feelings that she felt when she kicked off the covers and stumbled out of the room, only to find herself in a whole new world. The butterflies in her stomach, the pounding confusion in her head and the twisted knots in her nerves as she found herself in a world of things that were sideways and strange...almost alien. Running into a couple duplicates of herself was certainly unexpected...and sent a light-headed Lilac straight back to her hospital bed.

It was only after further recovering that she was made aware of what they called The No-Zone. A sort of hub world for an interconnected web of universes from every type of story out there, millions and millions from Lilac's own world. Fat Lilacs, giant Lilacs, lunatic Lilacs and even ones with missing limbs or in wheelchairs. They all came here from their worlds, seeking refuge or therapy or even just information of the Lilacs that existed alongside them. Even this Lilac was somewhat deflated by the revelation of being but one in a million, but at the very least she felt like she was no longer alone either.

It was now a full week since the incident. The No-Zone ensured her that there was no rush to return to her homeworld for a while; her version of Brevon had been incarcerated, as had her Carol. Lilac had decided to kick back and stay in this crazy hub world until she fully recovered and built up the strength to return. Even the No-Zoners who were busy with their own work had advised her to check out Community Swimming Pool A356, and she was glad they did. Buoyant water, so drowning was less of an issue, the calm echoes of the place, and a glass ceiling that showed the night sky above her. Could it even BE night time in the No-Zone? She didn't know, nor did she care. She just enjoyed floating in the pool, toes peeking out of the water and limbs limp to allow herself to float aimlessly in. Her ear fin...things were submerged so that all she could hear was the rumble of the water, and the beat of her own heart. One with herself, to put it in a way even she knew was overly flowery. But she didn't mind - this was paradise.

"NiCe ViEw, IsN't It?"

What was this? A new voice? And one that sounded so...warbled, as well. Lilac gasped from the shock and exited her floating pose, splashing about in the water until she managed to stay upright and keep herself afloat. She peered out across the pool, to the source of that voice. It was someone she was told of, but had not met in person yet. Her appearance caused Lilac to skip a couple heartbeats; she looked like her but...wrong. Her scales a drenched and dulled purple, her skin pale and near transparent, her limbs bony and draped in bandages, her tendrils nothing but bone outright, her clothes ripped and dishevelled, her hands like claws, her eyes...her two piercing dark blue eyes, half full of water and leaking a lot of it regardless. She was known to many Lilacs across the multiverse, but few of them had seen her in person...Drowned Lilac.

"...Drowned Lilac?" Lilac asked, swimming up to the edge of the pool and resting her arms on the spill zone, "Is that who you are?"

The drenched being did not reply for some time. She was sitting by the edge of the pool, staring deeply into it with a sunken look on her face, much like a man who looked down a building while afraid of heights. She was shivering, hands rested on her crossed-legged lap, but still twitching and balled into hard fists. She finally broke her gaze from the water and turned to look at her living counterpart. She spoke again, her voice a wailing of souls, "...I aM. ThEy CaLl Me DrOwNeD LiLaC, fRoM FP-009. BeCaUsE...wElL..."

"Well, you drowned, I'm aware," Lilac sighed, still splashing around in the water, "...Why're you here?"

"I jUsT wAnT tO sIt HeRe..." Drowned Lilac sighed, eyeing the water once more, "BeCaUsE...i WaNt To."

"But why?"

"BeCaUsE..." Drowned Lilac tried again, struggling to come up with something, "...BeCaUsE i WaNt tO wAtCh. I wAnT tO wAtCh PeOpLe SwIm ArOuNd HeRe. I hAvE sEeN iT bEfOrE."

Lilac was about to stop, content with the answer, ready to slip into the water again, "Well, I kind of wanted the session to myself here, seeing that no-one else has joined me yet. But I suppose I could float around and...uh..." she paused. Something felt off. Like, why was she here? Of all the Lilacs who could have intruded on her, why this one? She could understand War Lilac or Evil Lilac or even Sans Lilac, she was told those Lilacs liked to mess with others. But this one? The one that drowned? Even the guy who fell of a building wouldn't turn up to see someone BASE Jump in the afterlife...would he? Lilac turned back, a look of confusion on her face, "Wait a second...aren't you afraid of water?"

Drowned Lilac's face went blank, "...ExCuSe Me?"

"Well, you know..." Lilac said, raising a hand out of the water to accentuate her point, "You drowned. It left you afraid of water. The others told me so. Word is that you shiver if you so much as look at a glass of water. I...didn't laugh, by the way. If...if that helps."

"..." Drowned Lilac turned to her duplicate, "WeLl...ThAt Is sOmEwHaT tRuE. I dO nOt cOwEr BeFoRe A gLaSs Of wAtEr...BuT wHeNeVeR i SeE wAtEr, I rEmEmBeR tHe DaY i..." she shivered, her hands shifting to grip the poolside edge - and quite hard as well, "PaSsEd On."

"Is that so?" Lilac questioned, "Then why're you here?" Drowned Lilac did not respond, instead, she merely nodded and stared back into the water. Her entire body was trembling now, her voice now a set of whines and murmurs that showed something was indeed off. Lilac sighed, getting up out of the water and sitting on the edge, next to her counterpart. While she did not try to escape, Drowned did move back, ever so slightly edging away from Lilac. Lilac nevertheless reached out and touched Drowned's face, softly stroking it in an attempt to calm her down; her skin was ice cold to the touch, as soaked as Lilac's own even when she knew she had gone nowhere near the pool since...her death. That was it, her death! Perhaps it was subconscious, this whole thing. She tried to bring it up, "Perhaps, it's this fear that motivates you to come here. Perhaps you want to get over this fear of what killed you, maybe of your death at all. You think I'm close?"

Drowned Lilac reached out and grabbed Lilac's arm as she continued to hold the side of her face; it was soft, cushioned...normal. Drowned had not been normal, not for a long, long time. She nodded back, "ThAt CoUlD...vErY wEll bE tHe CaSe."

A small knot tied itself in Lilac's stomach. This creature, this poor alternate of herself, everything about her just made her...pitiable. Even looking at her made Lilac feel down, which to her was not good in the slightest, "You poor girl...what did your Brevon do to you?"

Drowned did not respond for about ten or so seconds, but finally, let out, "...I don't know..." and began to sob, head in hands. Lilac sighed, reaching over to the drowned dragon and pulling her into a hug.

"I didn't think so," Lilac said, stroking her alternate's ruined hair, "But don't worry, I'll help you get over this fear of yours, even if it takes a while. And this sort of thing kinda does. So hey, I'll be with you every step of the way. We'll start slow and small if that's okay with you."

"I sUpPoSe..." Drowned shrugged, "WhAt Do YoU sUgGeSt? ThErApY? MeDiCaTiOn? ...SwImMiNg LeSsOnS?"

"...No..." Lilac shrugged, "Think I might leave that stuff to the No-Zone, that's kinda beyond me. Nah, I have a better idea, actually. And it has something to do with you, me..." she pointed to the water below, "And this pool."

"...ExCuSe Me?"

"What's the best way to deal with a phobia? Deal with it head on, ensure that you make it known that you're not afraid...even though you are."

"BuT...iSn'T tHaT lIkE a LiLaC dEaLiNg WiTh A fEaR oF eLeCtRoCuTiOn By ShOcKiNg HeRsElF?"

"So anyway," Lilac continued, "A good first way to get over a fear of water is to start slow, start easy. I propose that you just get into the pool, and do...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Beleive me, it's such a good feeling to let these waters just carry your body along. Don't worry, the water's been treated, so you float a lot easier. I'll even hold your hand if that helps. Just...don't swallow it."

"I dOn'T kNoW..." Drowned gulped, "I hAvE nOt EnTeReD wAtEr FoR a WhIlE...wHaT iF i CoRrUpT iT?"

"Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?" Lilac asked, taking Drowned's hand, "After me now, slowly."

Taking Drowned back to the steps into the shallow end of the pool, Lilac entered first, a soft splashing resonating around the room as she dipped her feet into the water and lowered it to her waist. Still holding Drowned by the wrist, she carefully allowed her alternate to feed herself to the water once more. Drowned's foot slowly dipped into the warm water, and already Lilac could feel Drowned's body tense up from shock and fear. She could only imagine what was going on inside of her head, of the flashbacks she was doubtless having...but still, they pressed on. Drowned dipped her second foot in and, already shivering, went further until the water was up to her knees. Lilac silently slipped behind her, grabbing her sides, and nodding to Drowned in a way as to relax her body. She did so, and Lilac slowly moved her counterpart until she was fully in the water, face up and floating on the surface. Lilac could feel Drowned reach out to grab her wrist and clench it tightly, but Lilac was adamant that this would have some effect.

Drowned's own mind was awash with all sorts of thoughts. Internally she was screaming, crying out and fearful. The memories, those painful memories of her death, they were beginning to swarm her already clouded thoughts. They threatened to cause her panic and discomfort and commence the thrashing in earnest, so they could be let in easier...and yet she stayed perfectly still. Something, a feeling welled within her, was fighting this reaction. It certainly had a lot to fight. Ever since her death and reincarnation, if one could even call it that, Drowned Lilac had steered clear of all kinds of water - she found it impossible to bathe, being forever clung to by the stagnant liquid, nor did she need to drink due to her non-living form. But she still felt its string, for she was almost completely water herself; internal organs and the like remained, but they lacked function. Even her blood had been replaced with the stuff, ensuring the irony of her being made of the one thing she was deathly afraid of.

But here, with her living alternate's compassionate acts and the comfort of holding her hand, Drowned felt almost at ease. This feeling was not something she had experienced in a long, long time. And now here she was, floating in the water that once claimed her life...and she was fine. Not at peace, for even now she continued to tremble and send ripples and waves through the pool's otherwise calm waters, but she allowed her limp body to be carried by a combination of Lilac's own swimming motions and the natural flow of the water itself. Staring at the ceiling, looking up at the double-pane windows that showed a beautiful night sky filled to the brim with stars, the engravings on the sloped ceiling edges, the clean beige tiles that surrounded the upper layer and the white pillars that circled the room. She arched her head up, looking down to the rest of the room with its pastel light blue colours with waves painted over them. She saw her tendrils, skinned to the sharpest of bone, bob around just below the surface of the water, while her bare feet poked up from out of the blue.

She lay her head down, her mind quite literally awash with confusing thoughts and a pang of fear, "WhAt Is ThIs? I hAvEn'T fElT tHiS fReE fOr A lOnG tImE..."

"Nice, isn't it?" Lilac asked, floating alongside her and gripping her hand more thoroughly, "Just...floating. Letting the water soothe your body."

"BuT tHiS IsN't..." Drowned whimpered, "ThIs IsN't RiGhT...sOmEtHiNg'S wRoNg. I fEeL...sOmEtHiNg. It'S eNtErInG mY hEaD...oH gOd-"

"Drowned, keep it together," Lilac quickly said, moving upright and grabbing her, "It's going to be fine! What is it? What do you feel?"

"MeMoRiEs..." Drowned Lilac wailed, "ThE mEmOrIeS...iT's AlL bEeN wRoNg! ThEy NEVER hApPeNeD! DID THEY?!"

"Drowned, please!" Lilac yelped, "Calm down, it's okay! It's-"

"I REMEMBER!" Drowned screeched back in response, swatting Lilac's hand away and spasming around in the pool. She was churning water, throwing jets of it this way and that, in a mad scramble to get to the side of the pool. She hit the side, clambering over it, and not stopping until she had crawled all the way to the side of the room, just below the window. The memories had come in thick and fast, the feeling and the sights and the screaming in her head as she pulled herself into a near fetal position and hugged her own legs tight, "I remember...I remember...I rEmEmBeR..."

"Oh no..." Lilac gasped, something hitting the bottom of her own stomach as well, a pang of fear and guilt that she hadn't felt since Carol had abandoned her back in Jade Creek. She too climbed up out of the pool and slowly approached her Drowned counterpart; she was still sitting by the side of the room, hugging her legs and breathing erratically. She didn't even need to breathe, she was a wraith for the Great Dragon's sake. So it could only be automatic...and a bad sign. Lilac sat down beside her, pulling her into another hug, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SO...sorry!" she said quietly, "This is my fault I didn't think this through of course it wouldn't work getting someone who drowned to float in water I'm such a-"

"iT'S OkAy..." Drowned sighed, hugging back, "i...i rEmEmBeR."

"Clearly," Lilac said, her face feeling a little numb, "Well, what DO you remember? Your death? Do you remember the events of your death?" Drowned turned to look at her, then gave a silent nod, "Great! Well, what happened? Can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm TrYiNg..." Drowned stammered, "BuT...ThE PoOl. It's tOo dEeP. i fEeL LiKe i wIlL SiNk, ThE MeMoRiEs cOmE ToO FaSt. I NeEd sOmEtHiNg...sHaLlOw."

"Shallow?" Lilac asked, "Something shallower than the...of course!" she slapped her head, "The Floatation Tanks! Why didn't I think of them before?!"

"FlOaTaTiOn..." Drowned asked, "...TaNkS?"

"Yeah. They're like, really shallow tanks of water treated for buoyancy, like the water in that pool, but with no risk of drowning. It's used as a relaxation tool, heck I have one myself. That should be just enough to calm you without setting off the memories like that...again. Jeez, you gave me a real scare there. I thought you were gonna sink! L-Look, just dry off...oh wait you can't, well meet me outside the changing rooms. Get a cola or something. I'm gonna dry off and walk you down there, okay?"

"oKaY...OkAy..." Drowned shivered, slowly getting up and walking down to the door to outside the pool. She exited from the changing rooms, sitting by the side of the window that she was underneath a mere minute before. She indeed had a cola, despite her not needing one. She cracked it open, took a sip...and made a content face before taking a quick swig from the bottle. Lilac, drained from that outburst, sighed and sat under the window for a good minute more.

"Oh boy...I'm definitely gonna get in trouble for THIS one..."

It took a few minutes, but soon the two Lilacs were reunited outside of the pool itself. Many had talked to Drowned during that time, mostly to say hello or the like; Drowned responded with a mere wave and a small smile. Eventually, Lilac would walk out of the changing rooms and towards her; this Lilac didn't exactly wear the same sort of clothing as the rest of the Lilacs did, instead wearing a tank top and long jeans, with a light blue and yellow jacket wrapped around her waist. She still wore the same boots and gloves as the other Lilacs, however, and she did wrap her own tendrils in two tight coverings that were also light blue with yellow accents. She nudged Drowned slowly and she helped her to stand up. The two walked down the corridors, turning this way and that, navigating what had become a maze of different rooms and other Lilacs from across the multiverse - so many felt similar, but so many more felt different. Vampires, zombies, robots and AI alike.

It was this sort of thing that this Lilac worried about - how many of Drowned's "kind" existed within the multiverse. How many other characters, all having their own stories and lives and worlds, had these Drowned incarnations? What about that nice Sonic guy she ran into one time? That wolf with the beige trenchcoat and goggles? That happy plumber, the apple-eating marsupial...even that nice large-eared medic hedgehog she came across a few days back? It worried her greatly, and it almost felt like she didn't want to know what she probably DID know. Perhaps one day she would bring it up with the No-Zone's higher-ups...see what they thought.

"MiSs?" Drowned asked, still grabbing onto Lilac's hand as she stumbled down the seventeenth corridor, "ArE yOu OkAy? YoU aRe KiNd Of StArInG oFf InTo SpAcE..."

"Huh? OH!" Lilac stammered, "Y-Yeah, sorry. Just...just thinking. About...you. And what you would be called. A Drownedkin? No offence."

"...NoNe TaKeN..." Drowned smiled, ever so slightly, "SoMe DayS eVeN i StArT tO wOnDeR tHaT. HoW mAnY oF mY kInD eXiSt In ThE mUlTivErSe, Do YoU tHiNk?"

"I don't know..." Lilac sighed, "And I'm not sure I want to. Ooh, here, this is the place."

Drowned looked up; the sign above the door read "Flotation Chamber G56" on a light-up placard flashing neon. The door was standard, boxy and grey with a viewing window high above the handle. Lilac stepped forward, taking a card out of her pocket and pressing it against a small panel by the handle. The panel sprung to life and spoke to her, in a basic mechanical voice; "SASH LILAC, UNIVERSE FP ZERO SIX TWO. DO YOU WISH TO USE THIS FLOTATION TANK?" Lilac responded silently, pressing a button or two that turned up on the panel; "YOU HAVE SELECTED 'THREE' HOURS. YOUR SESSION HAS BEEN BOOKED. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY." Satisfied, Lilac finally took the handle and gave it a solid twist. Inside the room, Drowned noted, was a few things scattered around; two or three chairs, an overhead light, a tannoy for certain items...and in the middle, a big white curved tank. There was an opening to it, with the lid open and propped up by two black rods, while inside was some water and a few more mood lights. The water did not bubble, nor did the thing hum, it remained silent and still. Drowned turned to Lilac.

"Me?" she asked, "WhAt Is ThIs?"

"This..." Lilac walked forward and placed her hand on the top of the tank, "Is a Floatation Tank, or Sensory Deprivation Tank to give its full name. Designed for relaxation, made from fibreglass, has a couple mood lights inside. The water is treated with Epsom-salt (or Magnesium Sulfate), so even gravity doesn't really affect you. You simply cannot drown in this thing, you just...float."

"...Oh?" Drowned asked, "AnD yOu ThInK tHiS wIlL hElP?"

"Yeah!" Lilac cooed, "Come on, hop in! I'll be by your side..." Lilac stretched out her hand, "I promise."

Drowned took one look at the tank, then to Lilac's hand, and she sighed. Grabbing her hand, Lilac slowly helped Drowned into the pool; first both feet, then setting her down so that she was on the surface. No earplugs in this case; considering what Drowned Lilac was, it was not deemed necessary. Finally, Drowned was floating in the tank, back-down and staring up at the opening of the tank so that she could see Lilac smiling back at her. This time, Drowned felt...something. She couldn't feel the water trying to pull her under, nor could she feel the memories flooding in again. She felt like she was floating in mid-air...and it was the best feeling she had felt in months. Ever since that demon had come across and...revived her, made her take this cursed form. She felt...at peace. The rushing feeling overtook her, and she closed her eyes in satisfaction, knowing what was about to happen.

"Well?" Lilac asked, "It's nice, isn't it? You don't feel like gravity is dragging you down. How's it feel?"

Drowned took a while to speak, but in that timeframe, her stitched mouth had twisted itself into a smile. She finally opened her eyes, and to Lilac's surprise, her eyes had changed from the inky black that it was to a paler white, as if it was normal. Her pupils too went from a dull yellow to a more vibrant one. Drowned opened her mouth to speak, but what came out was something unexpected; her voice was much clearer. It still had the tinge of a ghostly voice, as it echoed and doubled at times, but now she sounded more coherent, less garbled, more...normal.

"Yes...this is fine."

"...Drowned?" Lilac asked, shocked, "Your voice! It's...well it's not all layered and stuff! And your eyes aren't...weird!"

"I know..." Drowned hummed, "This is what happens when I am...relaxed. Zamy has told me that my warbled speech is because of my hysteria and extreme depression. Feeds into the ghost image, causes my body and mind to be slightly desynchronised. Hence the shambling and the echoing voice."

"So, what, does suppressing that hysteria sync you up or something?" Lilac asked.

"For a short while..." Drowned hummed, "When the euphoria wears off I'll go back. But for right now, I'm...relaxed. And I can remember how I...how I died. How should I start? Well, do you know what the common theory for my death is?"

"Uh...yeah," Lilac said, "It was told to me by the others. None of them know for certain, but they say it's what the No-Zone thinks. They say you had this Godmother, I think. You loved her very much, to the point you were exiled for defending her actions. And then, one day, you and her met by a pool, like the one I was in. She suggested that you perform this trust exercise so you can get out of enclosed spaces much easier after Brevon's...uh, torture. So she put you in this spinning steel pod with a key, and you had to unlock your restraints and swim out as fast as possible. Gonna be honest...that sounds a bit dumb. But because the pod broke and the key floated out of reach, you couldn't actually unlock yourself nor could your Godmother save you. And because water entered the pod...you drowned."

"...Yes. That is indeed what they say. Anything else?" Drowned added.

"Y-Yeah. They say there's this multiverse traveller guy? Bit of a...uh, massive psychopath, really didn't like that your Godmother did this and got away with it. So he found her, hacked her into little pieces, and the energy of his rage plus the blood of your Godmother in the pool...revived you, and made you like this? Is that right?"

"...It was," Drowned shrugged, her grip loosening on Lilac's hand, "Back in what they call the Old World. But then this thing they call The Event comes around. Everything and everyone starts from scratch. Some of us even get a rewrite of sorts. Happened to me too. This is the truth; I have no Godmother anymore, nor did I drown by my family's hand or by that horrible steel pod. No, my death this time was a bit more...conventional."

"Conventional?" Lilac asked, "You mean..."

"Brevon," Drowned sniffled, "That...that FrEaK..." Drowned's voice wavered a bit, which caused Lilac to jump, but she cleared her throat and resumed, "Sorry...this kind of thing brings back memories. Painful memories, at that. I suppose, in some ways, I was lucky enough. I...avoided the torture you and so many others were subjected to. Trust me, I know which Lilacs went through that and which ones didn't. If I can't smell the charred scales, I can smell the suppressed fear..." Lilac stared at her, a look of confusion on her face, "...It's a ghost thing. I think. Anyway, it was Thermal Base. You remember when you fought that AI, and won, and then you bumped into Brevon and his henchmen. Right?" Lilac nodded, "Good. And you remember him cutting off your tendrils and knocking you out, right?" Another nod, "Good. Well, my world has two key differences; Carol went to live with the Red Scarves instead of getting their help...and Torque squealed. He told Brevon EVERYTHING. He already knew what he needed to about the Kingdom Stone. He didn't NEED to use me as a hostage."

"So why didn't he just kill you?" Lilac asked, still gripping Drowned's hand, "Like, there and then?"

"I'm not sure..." Drowned said, staring up at her, "I think it was because Serpentine told him about when we kicked his butt at Shang Mu's outskirts. Me, and Carol, and Milla. I was a hero to those people. A small one, but a hero nevertheless. Perhaps Brevon thought he could terrify the populace into surrendering without much of a fight. Perhaps there are multiple worlds where he just shoots me point-blank in the face and dumps my corpse in the water, never to be seen again. I guess that's all I was to him; a scare tactic. And boy, did it work. Brevon had more in plan for me than just dancing on his glorified execution chair."

"So..." Lilac paused, a sense of panic in her voice, "What did he do? Do you mind telling me, or..."

"...Engine Bay #62," Drowned answered, with no fear in her voice, "Where they keep and cleanse the water needed to power the geothermal engines. Brevon hooked up a camera for a worldwide broadcast...then he tried heavy blocks to my feet and pushed me in. He recorded my death, thrashing and splashing in the water, for all to see. Even Carol. Even...Milla. I remember...so much. The panic overtook any pain I may have had at the time, my mind racing in a near-existential fever, trying to come to terms with what was happening. I could feel my lungs deflate, my blood cool, my heart beat slowing from the lack of oxygen. It was...agony. I remember, scrambling, right to the top for some air. But I didn't make it. I could let out only one more gasp as the last of the air left my failing body...and I died."

"...Wow," Lilac gasped herself, her own skin a touch paler and a small tear escaping her eye, "I'm...I-I-I'm so sorry, I mean...I can't imagine how horrible that must have felt."

"I can..." Drowned sighed, "And I do. There was sometime after where I...wasn't alive. Demoralised by my death, my Carol went into exile and didn't stick around to fight Brevon herself, while Milla went catatonic and had to be taken care of by Spade. Brevon rampaged through city after city, with no-one to stop him. And then...they came in. The wolf, and the porcupine. Trenchcoats, firearms and funny boots. They fought back against Brevon but even they were beginning to lose. And then...try and picture this...actually, never mind. Let me just..."

Before Lilac could say anything, Drowned grabbed her wrist tighter, and her eyes began to glow. Before Lilac knew it, a bright flash appeared before her eyes, causing her to recoil and cover her eyes with her remaining arm. When her vision had cleared, she gasped, for she found herself in a world beyond what she knew. It was a void, black and white in colour and checkerboard in design. The sky was a void with no clouds or sun, and cliffs ran into the air only to melt at the top and droop back down. All around was the howling of winds, that only served to aid the howling of the disembodied voices that were likely other souls elsewhere. Lilac's mind drew a blank at the sight, "Wh-what is this?"

"The Underworld..." Drowned sighed, her voice a disconnected booming throughout the area, "At least, this is what it was like for me. This is...one of my memories. One of the few I can easily share, even in this state. When I drowned in that tank, this is where I lay for months on end. This...black tar pit in the middle of nowhere. In fact, here I come now..." Lilac looked up, and indeed there was another version of her within the wastelands. She was sort of between her and Drowned, with Drowned's general pale tone and lifeless body, but she still wore the clothes of a normal Lilac. She was hobbling, prancing almost, through the tar pits with her boots squishing and squelching at every opportunity. She was sobbing, gasping for air, her voice clearly too weak to cry out for help. She looked tired, as if she had been running for days with no stopping, until she finally twisted and fell face-first into the black soup. She couldn't even get up, much less continue running, so she lay in the tar and cried instead. Lilac's own heart sank as Drowned continued, "Three months. Three...long...months, of this. No food, no water, no real life. It was...agony. I couldn't die again, I was stuck here, alone in the void...actually, that's not true. You always face your inner demons in the dark..."

"What're you-"

"AAh, MIss LIlaC...WEllCOme..."

Lilac jumped. That voice...it was another Lilac! And yet it sounded so...similar. She gulped, "Drowned? Are you okay?"

"That isn't me," Drowned boomed back, "It is her."

Lilac was confused, but she turned back to look at what Drowned was talking about. There, out in the open, with Drowned's previous body slowly sinking in the mud, came along a new figure. Another Lilac for sure, but she looked...wrong. She almost like a demon, with the red-tint fur and scales, the black claws that almost spilt out of her fingers, her ruined boots that sprouted even more claw, her tail that had been mangled into a bone serpent with a pointy tip on the end. Even her tendrils were burnt and spiked, with brambles wrapped around them. And her eyes, far from the purple ones most Lilacs had, were narrow and yellow, with a slit pupil. She was walking forward, unaffected by the ooze and muck that had trapped Drowned's body. She stopped, looking down at Drowned, and she wailed, "OH loOK, if IT isN'T thE LatESt vICtiM Of dEAth'S ColD EmbRAce..."

"Who..." Drowned's past self tried to say, coughing up bits of the gunk as she did so, "Who are you?"

"THe nAMe's LIliTH, deAR..." the demon spoke, "WEll, AT leASt iT Was WHen I TooK ThiS BodY OveR."

"Whoever you are..." Drowned whined, "Help me...please! I don't belong here! I don't want to die!"

"TOugH Tea LEavES..." Lilith grinned, showing a mouth full of neverending teeth, "YOu dROwnED! YOu'rE DeaD As a DooRKnoB! Why DO yoU ThiNK yoU'Ve bEEn rUNniNG arOUnd IN ciRCleS For THe pASt tHRee MOntHS?"

"I wanna leave!" Drowned's past continued to plead, "It's dark, and it's cold. There's no food, there's no water, there's no light...everything's trying to kill me! This is HELL!"

"NOt eXActLY, deAR..." Lilith said, "BUt yOU're CLosE. JusT CloSE enOUgh FOr yOUr...sALvaTIon."

"Really?"

"YEs!" Lilith said pitifully, grabbing this Lilac's wrist and yanking her out of the muck, "YOu pOOr tHIng, SInkINg aND roTTinG For ALl tHIs tIMe. BUt nOT anYMorE, You'VE caUGht A LuCKy bREaK TodAY, frIEndO. I goTS me A ScoRE to SEttLE up THerE, And I NeeD SomEOne TA maKE suRE my ENd oF The BArgIN is KEpt."

"So...a deal, for my life..." Drowned huffed, "A deal with..."

"THe dEVil?" Lilith chuckled, "IT's a BIt tRIte, I KnoW. A faIR biT OveRUsed...BUt iT'S stILl tHE caSE at HAnd. I WilL...ResTOre YOu bACk tA LifE, You SEttLE my SCorE. DeaL?"

"Or what, I rot here?" Drowned asked, to which Lilith nodded, "Okay...deal."

"GReaT!" Lilith giggled, "NO phYSicAL coNTraCT to SIgn, SOrrY. But A DeaL Is a DEal. NOw tHEn, tIMe tO Get CHanGEd."

Before her past self could even utter a confused gasp, Lilith threw Drowned back into the muck, where she landed on her back with a sickening splat. Only now the muck seemed alive, for it WAS alive, with grasping fingers grabbing her and starting to pull her under. Drowned's past self clearly had no energy to fight back, her struggles weak and her voice faint, so she turned up screaming at the demon, "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?"

"Ooohohohoho! REviVIng SOmeONe iSN't aS SimPLe aS WavINg a WAnd OR thE LikE!" Lilith laughed with a noblewoman's laugh, "YOu nEEd a LIttLE elBOw gREasE FirST! I HavE A buDDy uP Top PErfORmiNG thE RitUAl rIGht NOw! WHen WE brINg yOU baCK, yoU'Ll bE StrONgeR! FAstER! BEttER! ...FOr a PRicE. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR NEW LIFE, O POOR SOUL! OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

"NO, PLEASE!" Drowned screamed as she sank beneath the waves, "NOOOOOOOOOOooooo..."

Lilac catapulted up, screaming and yelling. She caught what little breath she had, then looked around her once more. She was back in the floatation tank room now, still holding Drowned's wrist. Drowned herself was still in the tank, floating easier than she was before and with her hand on her chest, as if she was trying to hear her lack of heartbeat. She looked up at Lilac, whose face was written with a look of fear and confusion, "...That's gonna be in my nightmares for a while."

"I see it every night," Drowned said back, "But yes, that was what happened. I made a deal with a demon. After sinking in the ooze, I remember an hour of agony as the transformation took its hold on me, then shooting up out of the ink and back towards this land. I remember awakening on the side of a pond somewhere in Jade Creek. I turned around, looking into the water and I saw...this. This face, this body...it made me scream and lash out. Then I looked up, seeing Brevon's warship just about to attack Shang Tu...and I knew what deal this demon wanted me to keep..."

"Oh yeah, now this part I think is a bit true," Lilac said, "I heard that these defenders were in Brevon's throne room, fighting him off. Brevon got the higher ground, started to boast a bit, then this massive water spike goes through his chest. Then you rise up out of nowhere, drag him down to...somewhere, and he's never seen again."

"...Correct," Drowned answered, "I took a few hours to practice what skills this new body had given me, then I went off after Brevon himself. I snuck up on him while he was gloating, I changed my hand into a giant spike...and I let him have it. I will forever remember the scream he put out when I pierced his chest. I grabbed him, dragging him back into that black void...then I roared and bit his neck, tearing out out his throat with my teeth. I waited until the very last second of his life ended before me, watching his eyes go out and his pained, fearful gurgling stopped...and then I dropped him to sink in the ooze, never to be seen again."

"Gosh..." Lilac gasped, "Did he ever come back?"

"No..." Drowned sighed, "Lilith made sure he never came back, deader than dead. Turns out that this Brevon owed his power and army to a demon like herself, and he stiffed his side of the deal. Guess my death was the most fortunate thing she'd come across all of those three months. Now that he was gone for good, she let me off the hook of the contract and let me go. Still like...this, of course. Still this horrible water wraith that couldn't eat, bathe or even sleep for a time. I was so lost, I didn't know where I could go, who I could talk to. I couldn't go home...not like this."

"But what about the No-Zone?" Lilac asked, "Didn't they help?"

"...Yes," Drowned said, finally releasing her grip on Lilac's wrist, "Those vigilantes with their coats and guns took me in so that they could look after me properly. Even told me what I was; I was now a Water Wraith, a spirit of vengeance. It was a ray of light at the end of this long tunnel, finally a true way out of what little life I had left...but I wasn't satisfied. Something just felt wrong. I could never really pass on, not of my own volition. I couldn't...move on. I stuck to my ghostly mannerisms almost as if it was habit, crying and sobbing, depressed and lethargic. Only when they realised that my body and mind were desynced, and they found the right medicine to resync it for a short time, could I finally make some progress and come to terms with my death. But every time I desync...I feel like I'm dying all over again. The memories come back, I become an almost completely different person I feel...hollow. Like the No-Zone gave me back my soul, but I don't want it."

"Well..." Lilac whimpered, "I'm sorry. I-I don't know what to do, I don't know how to help."

"I'm sure someone will figure something out..." Drowned sighed, "I'm just glad someone listened to my story instead of spreading rumours like the other Lilacs do. I think we have another two or so hours in this room. I don't suppose you could give me some privacy? The syncronising wears off the moment these calm feelings go away, so I kind of want to...make the most of it. Just...let me float, please?"

"I gotcha," Lilac sighed happily, tussling Drowned's ruined hair, "I'll come back for you in a couple of hours, then. And after that, I'm gonna make sure I can help you any way I can. We can go get some sushi if you'd like!"

"...Sushi..." Drowned smiled warmly in a way Lilac was sure she had never seen before, "I haven't eaten sushi since I passed away...count me in."

"Cool! Well, I'll leave you to soak for a bit. See you in two hours!" Lilac chirped, getting up out of the chair and heading for the door. Before she was able to grasp the handle, however, Drowned spoke cleared her throat, leading to Lilac to turn to face her again, "Yeah?"

"Well one, please close the lid so I can be in total darkness," Drowned said, "And two...thank you. For all of this."

Lilac smiled warmly too, walking up to her counterpart and grabbing the lid. She uttered a final, "You're welcome, Lilac," and softly closed the lid to the tank. The door closing and her footsteps clomping down the hallway was the last thing Drowned could hear before she was all alone in the room, allowed to close her eyes and float around in total darkness. No memories to disturb her, no monsters to drag her back to that infernal place. Just her, alone, floating in almost nothing. Waiting for Lilac to return for sushi. Waiting for this horrible curse to finally leave her. Waiting for the day that she could return to her universe and see her Carol once more, comfort her as she lost composure and cried directly into her shoulder. Waiting for the day that she could finally hug her Milla, give her a kiss and motherly tell her that everything would be alright.

Waiting for the day she could live once more.

So, I decided to rise from the dead and try to post this Best Work of 2017 onto here, instead.

The DA version is here; art/Let-Me-Float-708735573