Beneath the Sea

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Part One: A Test of Strength

Breath of Fresh Life

"I ask that you forgive my sins..." He stretched out his arms. "This is my redemption."

For the first time, he kneeled in absolute submission. "How can I even call myself a king, if I do not do everything in my power to defend my people?"

"As the final Ice Queen, I forfeit my life to preserve the Great Ocean," she murmured, opening her heart to death. "Good-bye..."

Although her head was bowed in reverence, untamed fire still burned in her eyes. "I'm going to protect them, even if they don't deserve it. No matter what!"

"I wanted to find the Lost Ocean, but... ah...! It's dark... It feels so..."

The first thing Kalas was aware of was the taste of dirt. He scraped the cracked mud from his face, groaning, but his mouth still felt caked shut. Blue locks hung limply in his eyes, coated with sweat and soil, and he lifted a bloodied hand to smear them away. Where was he? He sat up, body aching.

Vision burst into his mind like a phoenix arching in the sky. The colors stung his half-closed eyes and pulled him further into consciousness. Squinting against the glare, he observed his surroundings. The sun seemed small against the colliding planes of sky and earth, and the clouds lazed along, high and remote. He seemed to be in a crater of endless brown, a gigantic chasm of rock and mud. Another look brought four monstrous columns into view and he craned his neck to peer up one massive side. Shielding his eyes, he noticed the metallic frown of machinery at the top. Was that Alfard...? Kalas searched another pillar and saw that on the peak rested the passive beauty of Sadal Suud.

What happened... did...? How is my—

The thought was cut off as the ground before him suddenly began to swell. A bloated head erupted from the earth, chunks of rock collapsing down its neck as it opened a cavernous mouth. "Kalas, I've found you!" it roared, flecks of grime bubbling down its chin. "You sickly raven, you'll pay now!"

What? Kalas climbed laboriously to his feet and tried to find himself a Battle Magnus, but a devastating pain in his abdomen made him double over with the effort. The mountain hurtled toward him at an alarming speed, consuming him in a blast of mud before he could rise again.

Is this...?

Something was jabbing him and it hurt. He moaned and rolled over, but the pain merely shifted angles and increased. Using his elbow to prop himself up, Kalas gingerly touched his stomach.

"Look, he has awakened!" a strained voice cried.

"You don't need to state the obvious. Go send for food, immediately. And a servant woman to clean up this repulsive thing." This voice was female, and considerably harsher.

A rustle of cloth, possibly a salute or bow, and the first person was gone. Kalas clasped his hands over his sides, staring up at the approaching shadow. A young woman came into view who assessed him with disgusted interest and hoisted her gun into a threatening position. Sharp eyes flickered from his mud-stained face to the slowly oozing wound in his middle and back again. "Perhaps he should've sent for two servants to clean you," she said, lips twisting with a touch of amusement. "You will be summoned to serve our lord and ruler the Emperor in precisely seven hours. Rest your worthless eyes."

As she sneered and marched away, Kalas slid his eyelids shut obediently and yielded to the darkness. That woman had red hair and an imperial uniform, just like... He rolled over on his side, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. With his face pushed against the cold metal floor, the lights above flickering dimly like glowing skeletons, and the rhythmic punches of pain in his body, Kalas knew that Death had decided to torture him before killing him off.

His shoulders tensed up. No, I won't die... I can't!

He lay in pitiful resolve, trying to remember how or why he ended up in the clutches of the empire. The last thing he remembered... That weird mud-head thing. What had happened? And before that...

The distinct tap of boots signaled the other soldier's return. "Sister, I'm back. The servant will be here shortly."

"Do not call me 'sister' in public, worm. You are to refer to me as Officer Vallye, and I must call you Soldier Lyude. Show respect for higher ranking officers, I will have no more of your insolence." She practically spat the last word.

"Y-yes, Officer Vallye..."

"Better. Now check up on the filthy prisoner."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kalas lifted his head to stare at the approaching soldier through the short window grate. The man sported red hair like his sister, though not as dark, and the same crisp imperial uniform. He held himself as proudly as any imperial would, but there was an undeniable look of sadness in his eyes.

Glancing at the woman down the hall, he mumbled, "Are the living conditions suitable?"

"How did I get here?" Kalas evaded.

For a moment he looked curious, but Soldier Lyude said absently, "You were brought here to serve our Emperor."

"What do you mean 'serve'? Who brought me here?"

The soldier hesitated. "Some say the Emperor himself, but... Nevermind. Please be patient until a servant comes."

As he turned to leave, Kalas asked, "What happened to the islands? Has the Earth returned?"

A small smile crept onto Lyude's face. "Yes."

In a single word, he had summed up the destruction of age-old legends, everyday life, even reality itself. Once humans regarded the idea of living on the Earth with incredulity, yet now they were surrounded on all sides not by ceaseless sky, but by a labyrinth of canyons.

"And the... Ocean? Cor Hydrae?"

"There have been no reports of large bodies of water or castles in the sky." Soldier Lyude quickly leaned into a small bow, saying, "Now you must excuse me. I have other duties to attend to." Kalas' eyes wearily followed the man as he retreated.

He looks just like... but, must... be dead...

Letting his head drop back to the floor, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at his sides.

How am I alive...?

"Soldier Lyude, what were you telling the prisoner?" The words of the Imperial Elite echoed down the hall like shadows flitting through the night.

"I was merely informing him of the world's current situation, ma'am. He didn't seem to know that the Earth and Sky have been reunited or that the Ocean's missing. And he probably hasn't heard about the five heroes, either."

"You shouldn't waste your time on such filth." Her voice hardened. "Remember, he's a barbarian. We are superior in every way."

"But Vallye, I was just—"

"Shut up!" she barked in irritation. "When will the servant arrive?"

There was a small sound, probably Lyude holding up his hands helplessly, and the young man replied in a pacifying tone, "She should be here any..."

"Hmph." Vallye silenced him with a clear and percussive stomp. Kalas strained to hear more, but it seemed that short-tempered redhead had destroyed any hopes of further conversation.

As he fought to make his muscles go limp, another rush of pain surged through his body. Slowly his fingers found their way beneath his armor, inching toward the pulsing wound. They came across something smooth and sharp. He carefully drew it from his skin, feeling warmth trickle behind the jagged edges. Kalas examined the object once it was freed: a shattered silver mirror coated with glistening blood.

This mirror...?

He looked into his broken reflection, red tainting its edges.

"Sir, ma'am," a timid stranger's voice called outside, "the serving woman will be here shortly. There was a bit of trouble in the kitchen..."

"What?!" Vallye shrieked.

"Sister, please have patience!"

Dedicated to Holyknightsteve, Super Sheba, and... my mom. The next chapter will be longer, guys. I promise.

Hello, hello, hellooo. Writer speaking, here. Just to let ya'll know, I won't be reading any of your reviews. Why? Because I don't want reviewers to influence me in any way, shape, or banana. This way if I happen to include something that you suggest in a review, it does not mean that I'm copying you! Everything in this story is completely and entirely my own creation. Except the characters themselves...

Disregard all rumors of the Kalas clone I'm keeping in my closet. Liars.

If you really want to tell me something, you can email me. And just because I'm currently not reading reviews, that doesn't mean don't leave any...! At some point, I will read what you have to say.