Chapter 10.33

  Just a little over one and a quarter centuries ago a handful of fishermen discovered something strange in the depths a half mile from the shore. While fishing after sunset, their attention had been drawn to an odd glowing light in the depths off the starboard bow of their fishing vessel. The fishermen aboard the vessel had no realistic theories to describe the light's existence.

  So being a wooden craft filled with men who loved to prove to each other just how much manlier they were than all of the other men in the crew, they made finding the solution into a contest to prove their manhood. Throwing caution to the wind, every last crewman leapt into the ice cold depths, searching for the source of the light.

  Only one member of the crew had the lung capacity and swimming ability to reach the source of the light, so of course they won the prize of being most manly. They also received the prize of a strange idol with a glowing blue gemstone embedded in it.

  At first the seamen were thrilled at what they thought might be a statue of a naked mermaid, but were quickly disappointed to find that the figure did not have breasts, so instead their attention turned to the gemstone on the mer-thing's belly.

  The victor of manliest man among all seamen, used his manly knife to pry the gemstone from its place on the statue, pocketing it for himself.

  Having the gemstone removed, and not containing breasts, the statue no longer held any value to the fishermen, so it was tossed back into the depths.

  And with that, the most obvious scenario to trigger a curse in the history of humanity came to a close. There's no real plot twist, those dudes totally screwed the residents of Marblehead for the rest of time. But in their defense, they proved how manly they were, and they got a shiny rock.

  ___

  Juan Mann was born to parents Abe and Enid Mann, both residents of Marblehead. The town doctor, Townsperson #48, delivered the healthy baby boy, remarking that he'd never seen a healthier baby. He was exaggerating to be polite to Abe and Enid, but it was a fact that Juan had been at least moderately healthy upon birth. There was nothing about him that would have stood out to anyone, nor should there have been.

  Juan grew up normally, doing normal things for an old timey New England fishing town. He played games like kick the crab and don't die of dysentery. Compared to most kids his age, he was quite skilled at the game of don't die of dysentery, so unlike many others he survived long enough to start having funny feelings about the girls who had also proven to be quite skilled at don't die of dysentery. He was actually quite fond of one in particular, Child Template J, who was the most beautiful person in the world to Juan.

  Sadly, Child Template J passed away in the Great Kerfuffle of '28, leaving Juan inconsolable. Luckily his late love's sister Teenager Template K was still alive and single, so Juan moved on quickly. There weren't fun date activities like drive in movies and roller rinks to serve as excuses to do stuff that adolescents like to do, so instead they did the next best thing, betting on illegal jellyfish fighting matches. With a mixture of luck and jellyfish scouting skill, the two love-birds amassed enough money to get married and purchase their own shack. Having attained a house, they immediately went about having kids because there was literally nothing better to do for a young married couple to do in Marblehead. Just like when he was born, Townsperson #48 delivered Juan and Adult Template K's babies. By the time they got bored making more babies the couple had produced three. Ariel, Sebastian, and Archibald grew up in as loving of family as you could expect for a backstory about how a curse effects a small fishing town.

  Don't worry, the kids were fine. The three of them and Adult Template K still live in the same shack as always. Juan on the other hand...

  At the ripe old age of twenty-seven, Juan had experienced nearly everything life had to offer. Aside from the town doctor, Juan had outlived most residents in the town due to his skill at don't die of dysentery. Sadly he was not nearly as skilled at the game of don't be a random victim to a hundred-year-old curse.

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  One morning, Juan awoke to a strange itching sensation, which was different from his normal bed-bug induced morning itching sensation. This particular itching sensation was caused by a strange hardening patch on his arm. Deciding it probably wasn't normal to start growing hard spots on his skin, Juan visited Townsperson #48 to get checked out. The results of the exam changed Juan's life forever.

  Juan was asked to stay in the exam room while Townsperson #48 retrieved the town mayor, Mayor Night. The two of them relayed the terrible news to Juan. He was the victim of a curse that reared its ugly head to dozens of Marblehead residents once every thirty-three years. While he was asked if it was any consolation that the one who triggered the curse had proven their manliness, Juan seemed to still be upset with the news. Afterall, curses usually aren't pleasant things.

  As it was described to him, Juan would only have a few days to get his affairs in order before the curse would claim his humanity. For his family's safety, he was forbidden from telling them anything about what was going on with him and the curse. After his few days were up, he would be forced to shed his skin and would begin his life as a Deep One. While gross fish creatures were not welcome in town, Mayor Night promised Juan would be allowed to live in a settlement locked away from humanity under the lighthouse.

  There were hundreds of others who had succumbed to the same curse as Juan over the years who would live with him at the settlement. They were allowed to live their lives as long as they adhered to a very strict rule: Outside of the settlement, they were not allowed to attack humans unless it was an act of self defense. If this rule was broken, any surviving family members or descendants remaining in the town would be sacrificed. It was really extreme, but remember this was all lore created by a lazy eldritch god, so just be happy that it was even remotely coherent.

  Inside the settlement, however, the transformed residents did not have to adhere to the same rule. Infiltrators would be severely punished at the will of the residents.

  On the night that Juan finally transformed from human into Deep One, Mayor Night was supposed to meet him in the alley next to Generic Tavern D, but he was late. While waiting for his escort out of town, Juan was confronted by some sort of super fast annoying man, and a lady with aggression issues and an unhealthy attachment to her pen. Sadly, after the transformation, Juan no longer had the capability to explain the situation to the two maniacs who just kept trying to stab and kick him.

  Not used the his new form, he succumbed to its natural rage. Knocking the stabby lady into a nearby wall, he prepared to finish her off for good. The act would have made it very difficult to claim he had only been defending himself, but his mind was no longer able to think such rational thoughts.

  In the final moment before he took the woman's life, he was hit with the force of a thousand slaps from his wife for drinking too much at the tavern. Thrown through the air from the impact, his body bounced off of a nearby dumpster clearing any murderous thoughts from his head in the process. Looking back at the source of the impact, Juan was surprised to find the annoying jumpy guy. With a clear head and a body unable to stand on its own, Juan pleaded to the stabby lady's boyfriend.

  "Self... defense..."

  The man, who was at most five foot eight inches tall, turned his focus to the female pen enthusiast. Completely forgetting that his words would never reach a normal human, Juan continued to plead for his attackers to not report his actions.

  "It was... self... defense..."

  Unless either of them had some sort of strange convenient ability to speak the language of the Deep Ones, his words would be a complete waste. Juan regained his footing as he watched the weak one trip and fall, causing the queen of shivs to bounce off the ground next to him. He fled into the night.

  Not even a day later, Juan found himself in the settlement nursing his stab wounds when he heard a commotion outside his new home. A human had infiltrated the settlement. Looking outside, he saw a familiar sight, the weird man moved like a deranged monkey, flipping over his pursuers instead of fighting them like a real man. Juan didn't really care to burden himself with the drama, the human dug his own grave by entering their settlement. The human was clearly attacking the residents, even if it was in a really strange and unmanly way. There was no reason for any of the residents to hold back.

  As he continued to watch, he noticed the strange human successfully hide from the pursuers on a nearby rooftop. They wouldn't last long in that spot, and the human moved to a new hiding spot behind some boxes near Juan's home. Just as he was about to lose interest, the infiltrator did something really really stupid. He stepped out from behind the boxes with his hands up as if that had any chance of stopping the residents from ripping him to shreds. It wasn't until he opened his mouth that Juan had any pity for this man.

  "I acted in self defense. I mean no harm."

  Even the man's voice was annoying. But the words he spoke gripped Juan's chest, reminding him of his pleas the night before. He was reminded that if it had not been for the actions of that idiot, he would have killed a human. If he had committed that act, his family would likely have been killed for a violation of the treaty. This absolute moron who thought that surrendering to a bunch of bloodthirsty eldritch beings was a good idea was the same one who had inadvertently saved Juan's family.

  Juan found himself with his scaley arms stretched wide, creating a barrier between the pitiful human and the residents.

  "Stop unless you want to want to violate the treaty."

  At his words, the residents stopped their advance. Breathing a sigh of relief, Juan looked over his shoulder, realizing just how obnoxious this human looked up close.

  "The name's Deep Juan. It looks like we should probably have a little chat. Especially before your stabby little friend shows up."

  So if you ever find yourself in a fishing vessel trying to prove your manliness by skin diving for a shiny object, just go masturbate to a crude drawing of a mermaid and leave the shiny light alone.