GLOGtober 2023-6

So the prompt for today is 「ふかひれスープ」. What a coincidence, that's the name of my blog! I've frequently regretted naming it that, but I've perhaps just as frequently felt the opposite.

Blog Name

ふかひれスープ

The Death Fish has been a plague for 250 years, ever since it ate the fin of the previous Death Fish and attained its powers and immortality. The Death Fish has tough grey skin, pitch black eyes, a large mouth full of jagged teeth, is taller than any human, stronger than most, and has a fin on its back which radiates black. Its powers are not truly Death but rather Hunger. It can summon huge phantasmal jaws that bite and swallow; anything eaten by the jaws disappears forever. It can also turn into a more fish-like shape, with their arms and legs turning into large fins.

The Death Fish currently sits in the ruins of a coastal palace. At its current stage it is driven by hunger and possibly racism. The town surrounding the palace is nearly abandoned, save for the few dozen ningyo who pay tribute to the Fish - in the form of as much fish as they can hunt - in exchange for protection from seekers of immortality.

This is a ningyo, but I'm asserting they can grow legs.

The Death Fish's hunger can be sated by the ningyo's tribute for now, but it has no emotion for them. If they stop being able to provide fish, it will simply eat as many of them as it can. The effect of that much immortality being concentrated in one body is unknown.

The Death Fish's fin contains its power. Cut it from the body, and the Fish returns to a mere man (one who has long since forgotten his name). The fish is hard as stone, but if it is boiled for a month it becomes soft enough to eat and absorb. The eater of the Death Fish's fin swiftly transforms into the new Death Fish.