"You suspect he's the founder of the cult?" Mr. Beo winced.
The detective leaned into his office chair as he planted his feet on the desk.
"I'm uncertain." Ari slipped a report onto the desk.
"However, I do believe he's the one who resurfaced the necromancy technique. The new guy also mentioned he made a film about Nadine. Are you familiar with this guy, Beo?"
"I actually brought it up when Ms. Sarah relayed that name to me. In that case, I believe there might be a motive hidden in the film."
"Have you watched it?"
Mr. Beo yawned, covering his mouth.
"Not yet, but I have a tape from a movie collector's meet up that's been collecting dust. I'll see what's up when I get home."
The detective was a fan of Alexei Gardenia's style — he was pretty popular for his genre. However, it definitely made a lot of sense hearing that he was involved with a cult.
"Make sure to read the report."
"Nahhh… it's not like its my job or anything."
"Beo."
"Ok, ok, — just go."
Sighhhh… his coffee was running out.
You'd think being the Bureau's dog would entail running all over the place. But no—they had him sitting in a dark room to manage the ink network Heron had left while she was off on a little nice trip.
[Sunflower]:
mama coffee plzzz ૮ ◞ ﻌ ◟ ა
[Shiitake]:
wait a min sweetie!!!
૮꒰∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ა
Beo was truly a jack of all trades: a healer, vet, chaperone, tour guide, I.T person, part-time podcast guest—since apparently his voice was nice? And of course, he was a Private Investigator — oh that's right, even a mentor. Aren't healers 'supposed ta be rare?' What's Beo doing here?
Mr. Beo made a sour look, knowing very well his 'work' was identifying whatever was wrong for Heron to deal with. Reallyyy, she should have some goons to order around by now with how long she'd been with the Bureau.
He began to search for context around the film and its circumstances to find any clues. It wasn't too long before he found an article of Selene's actress coming forward about Alexei's odd behaviors in an interview about her past acting experiences.
She detailed his odd behavior towards her during the filming process as, no—not sexual harassment—but something more… unsettling. He kept giving her clothes, jewelry that clearly wasn't her style (a silver woman, whereas he kept handing her gold), and the same lipstick again and again. From the way she saw it, he was trying to find something in her that he had lost.
[Another woman, probably.]
Was all she could speculate in the end, really.
"Reviving a dead lover," Beo mused. "Sounds cliche — is cliche for a reason."
He checked that off as the first possible motive.
Checking the reviews, the movie seemed to be a one-to-one adaptation of the myth. With, of course, an uncanny and eerie portrayal. There was also a shocking ending, but spoilers—he could find that out for himself after work.
Now for the report… ugh.
***
Mr Beo slung his arm across his couch, waiting for the movie to start. He nibbled on some cheddar popcorn and sipped on some extra-fizzy cold cola.
The film opened with a black screen and a woman's holy humming in the back, then faded into the scene of a sepia-filtered shore. The waves gently rocked against the sand. The POV panned up, revealing that mist covered the beach. A dark figure in the distance approached closer to the camera, revealing the curvy silhouette of a nude woman and her long curls—for her to suddenly dissipate into particles as a rugged hand reached out.
The background music was staticky, vague, and ominous — rising in anticipation and quieting in uncertainty as the camera zoomed out to reveal the Fisherman. He was staring at his empty palm, familiar bewilderment and a certain loneliness in his eyes, but his mouth shut.
That was the thing about Gardenia's movies. Nobody did the talking; the visuals did.
It cut to the Fisherman in his little wooden hut staring longingly out the window. Selene's turquoise scales reflected the moonlight like opal. Her curly, long blonde hair draped across the rock she was sitting on as she played a conch. The music filled the beach; it was a lovely slow tune embodying the peaceful night while the rest of the world slept. Even the ripples of the water seemed to be listening. She was truly his Selene—her presence as mythical as the moon. She glowed in the faint screen of moonlight.
Mr. Beo rolled his eyes. "It was definitely a first love."
And oh — how the Fisherman yearned for his mermaid. But it was no use. Every day he watched his Selene play in the ocean through the mist. Every once in a while, he caught a glimpse of her doe-like, aqua colored eyes yearning for him in the same way at a distance.
A montage of the same day and night cycle repeated, rapidly speeding up as the music intensified before it 'broke' into insanity.
Suddenly, the screen snapped into blank darkness. The black screen faded into the shore, and suspicious violin strings tightened the waxing and waning tension with their intensity. Selene was beached on the shoreline. Her complexion was growing gray. The mermaid's eyes twitched, rolling into the back of her head. Her eyes fogged up like a dead fish's.
The camera zoomed out to frame her entirely, revealing her mauled off tail. The pink raw flesh began to coarse from the salty sea water, and her vertebrae bones peeked out.
It cut to an overview of the ocean, then zoomed into the waves to reveal a pitch-black amalgamation of vague aquatic-life forms lurking nearby the mermaid. Undigested opal scales stuck onto its slimy form. It sank back into the water, hunting for its prey.
Selene's fate was rather inevitable by now. As one last cry to the Fisherman, she began to sing. Her voice cracked, growing thin in some parts – almost like a wail. But nonetheless, her innocent, ocean maiden's voice was hypnotic to Him. Through the rosy sepia filter, her blonde hair shone like gold. So lost, helpless and hopeless, fair and innocent. Her beauty was still apparent in the shots framing the moments before her death. It was almost seductive.
His moon angel, beloved Selene.
Through the mist, The Fisherman appeared. He fondly gazed at her with a hint of sorrow in his eyes and bent down to pick her up:
But as soon as his fingertips hit the water, he turned to seafoam before her very eyes.
She layed on her side, nuzzling the soft seafoam that was left of her could be love. The sea breeze whistled, and eerie, holy music played as it cut to an overview shot zooming out—capturing the depressing end as the amalgamation's silhoutte crept closer.
The film cut to its final scene. The waves gently crashed into all that was left of the upper half of the mermaid. Her arms circled the nearly fizzled out seafoam.
-END-
…HUh????
When he searched up Alexei Gardenia, Mr. Beo learned he had never had a girlfriend before his relatively young death. He didn't have anything romantic going on… perhaps a young unrequited love?
Seriously, he'd have to look up what women were involved with him…
What did that monster at the end have to do with the movie anyway, let alone necromancy? Why'd it eat Selene?
Hmmm. It was the rule of energy transfer; only 10% of energy gets transferred to the next level of the food chain. So to sustain that big of a life force, that organism would have to be constantly eating until it died of starvation. That had Mr. Beo thinking. Necromancy didn't really follow the laws of life – but perhaps it was constrained by the other limits of nature.