Title: The Water of Life
Summary: Very few knew the secret, but with it comes an awful responsibility.
Pairings: None
Disclaimer: Hetalia Axis Powers and the 200 Phenomena in the City of Calgary are the creations of Hidekaz Himaruya and an unknown author respectively. I am merely a writer taking creative liberties.
Throughout the city there are little fenced off buildings with the logo of the city's Wastewater department on metal signs in front of them or on the door. The buildings are identified by the signs as being anything from water testing buildings to pumping substations, and by and large, this is what they are. However, about half a dozen of these buildings actually contain something else.
Four of these buildings are part of the city's actual water treatment system. They contain pumps that push the city's water through thin grilles made from human bone. The calcium from these bone filters is why Calgary's water is so often hard. The filters clean the water not only of contaminants, but of the city's collective sin for its involvement in the oil industry. The other two are shacks that contain taps. One of these buildings is where the filters are installed when they're full. The water from the tap passes through all of the filters and emerges brackish and foul. Drinking it, however, is the only way to permanently purify the city's soul. The other building contains a tap that dispenses water so pure that any scars, mutations, cancers or birth defects will vanish.
Very few knew the secret.
Feliciano lifted the glass to his lips and nearly flinched away as the first sip entered his mouth, its foul odor permeating his senses in an instant. Still, his mind remained clear and he took a longer drink, then another, until the chalk-tasting water was gone, and he was left with an empty need to leave immediately and make some pasta to comfort himself.
Instead, he turned to the other tap, wrestling half-heartedly with the gears until a sparkling, clear liquid gushed into his glass. He stopped the flow of water as soon as the glass was half-filled; he did not want it to overflow. Wincing, he threw his head back and drank.
It tasted horrible, like iron and salt, with a hint of something else. He had barely choked down the entire half-glass when he doubled over, the glass smashing at his side. The liquid that dripped out of his mouth was a deep, ruby red and faintly viscous, and tasted of acid and iron and salt and just a hint of something else.
At last, when the reflex retching had stopped, Feliciano sat up, completely exhausted. He was lucky, very lucky…
Very few knew the secret.