Hey everybody... Sorry about the late update. Turns out a new job I got that I thought would be the answer to my prayers in terms of time didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so I don't have all that much free time anymore as is, but I will still endeavor to keep writing! because this is in fact my longest running series so far! But anyway, I'm sure you all wanna get to the comment reviews, so lets get to that!
notstudying6527: yep, currently working on all of that!
MGEObserver: You would be right to guess as such in terms of those thoughts! Look forward to more!
Karharot: lel, Lab is a very well aged demon after all, I'm sure she can pass her time very easily with a young girl or two... or other things. and don't worry, though I have a very sex oriented mind, I do enjoy me some action as well.
f1uffy5prinkles: Thank you kindly! I Might like the isekei gener itself, but classic adventure style has to have power build up. Nobody is gonna know how to use a sword or weapon the first time they are holding it. also, in regards to OC's, I'm not particular, but if you wanna give me details, then let me know in the PM's so we can discuss.
Astrogamer: Aruma's corruption has only just begun my good sir! This setting is corruption heavy after all, even if I have toned it way down in my own story. I'm more of a slow burn person myself though, he he he...
THE GREAT AARON: You are right, no adventure styled story is very good without some action, so I will strive harder to try to achieve that!
Thank you all for the reads and the feedback! So, without any more delay! enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 12
Andrew felt that he may be in a bit of a pickle. It wasn't anything major, but at the same time, he wasn't very used to being the center of attention in… well, any kind of event. It had been a little over thirty minutes since he had gotten done showering with Unoma and Aruma. Thankfully, nothing of a lewd nature had happened while he had bathed (both girls being content to wash themselves, though Unoma had seemed to hint at wanting to do something more) and by the time he had gotten done, one of the crew told them that Dinner was pretty much ready. Unlike what he had been expecting, dinner was a kind of soup that was easily served. There also wasn't any kind of place to sit at like a dinner table. From what Andrew could see, the crew ate out on the deck, that way they could respond to any situations that needed their attention. Andrew, who had opted to eat outside, had set himself down close to the mast so that he could have something to lean his back against as he ate. However, seeing as pretty much everyone was out here eating under the sun and the sea breeze, he had managed to focus most of the crew's attention onto himself… along with some of his own party. Most of the females outside of the captain and Imh'ege (who hadn't left the Bilge) where busy looking at him with expectation and suspense. Though it was of varying degrees based on who was looking.
Andrew had to admit that he knew why the crew was looking at him, seeing as he had made several promises to them. His familiars made sense because he knew they would get a kick out of what he was going to do. Serena only looked at him with an annoyed expression, though he really doubted he could fault her on it since he was pretty much acting like a deviant with all of these women. Aruma oddly enough didn't seem to be making eye contact with him. That was something he noticed when he had been bathing with her and Unoma. Though he wasn't sure what for. Opting to push it out of his mind, Andrew took a a drink of the soup in his hand. It was quite hearty and filled with a lot of sea flavors, a flavor he greatly enjoyed. Though truth be told he wouldn't have minded if he had some solid seafood, though the bits of kelp and other items where quite tasty and fulfilling in their own way. Obviously focused on the bowl in his hands, Andrew didn't notice someone approached until they where in his line of sight.
That person was Sarya, the elf.
Curious, Andrew looked at her and gave her a big smile.
"Hey there, come and sit with me. It kinda lonely when nobody seems to want to talk with me."
"Don't mind if I do then."
Smiling down at him, Sarya moved around to his side and sat down.
"So Sarya, What brings you over here? As you can see, the crew is ready to jump me the first chance they get and my own party seems content to let them have me."
"That would probably be because it's kinda what they expect from you at this point, so I don't think they want to get in the way when the inevitable happens. Anyway, as for the reason why I'm here, I wanted to talk with you about something."
Nodding his head at her, Andrew took another drink out of his soup bowl, his curiosity piqued.
"Alright, what did you wanna talk about?"
"It about two of your members of your party. Aruma and Serena."
Curious, Andrew looked over at aforementioned girls for a quick second before his attention was focused back on Sarya.
"What about them? Is something the matter?"
Sarya had to think about that for a moment before she sheepishly nodded at him.
"Kinda… yeah. Let's focus on Aruma first though since she's the biggest mystery. What is she so nervous about all of a sudden? She seems to be looking at you in an odd fashion."
Andrew shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no idea. She seemed to be acting that way when I came back from… doing something else."
"The Kraken right?"
"Ehe he he he… yeeeeeeah."
Andrew simply smiled at her with a meek expression on his face. Though it quickly fell away when he continued.
"But yeah, I have no idea why she's acting the way she is right now."
Sarya hummed a little under her breath as she looked at the girl, Aruma seemingly more interested in something Labareda was saying to her at the moment for the angelic girl to focus over on Andrew.
"I see… well if you don't know, then maybe I can ask someone else about it from your group. I do worry about the girl after all."
"Me thinks you would be trying to adopt her at this point if given a chance."
"Oh most definitely. However, she seems more attached to your group then to me at the moment, so I doubt she would want to travel with us. Not only that, but Morgana is terrible with Kids, and Jonathan would want to leave her somewhere for her own safety. He wouldn't be wrong, but I think her being with you and your group would be much better for her."
Andrew nodded, though he was a little surprised that Sarya seemed to hold him in a high regard.
"Well… that's comforting to hear… But if that's all about Aruma, what is it you want to talk about with Serena?"
"Ah Right…"
For a moment, she didn't say anything, leaving Andrew a little confused at the fact that she normally would have just straight up told him. He got the feeling that it was going to be important though, so he opted to be patient until she worked up enough will to speak her mind.
"So… about Serena… I'm curious. In the time you've spent together, have you noticed anything odd about her?"
Curious as to why she would start off with a question off all things, Andrew had to think about it for a moment before he tried to recall anything that may have seemed off. In comparison to her character from the game in comparison to how she was in person, Andrew had to admit that she seemed… different in various aspects. Of course, he had to admit that a person was vastly more complex in comparison to a video game character. However, he hadn't noticed anything odd about her at first. Though his mind did fall to the more recent interaction with her. Like when she was in the shower or yesterday. Or even that time with the minotaur. Thinking about it, he had been noticing some things, and he nodded his head to affirm Sarya's question.
"Some things."
Sarya nodded her head before she continued.
"Where any of them more… sexual in nature."
"Oh yeah. I think that makes up a majority of it."
He had said all of that without any hesitation, his interest now high in relation to what Sarya might say.
"I see… so she's started to exhibit those natural instincts…"
She had seemingly said that more to herself, but Andrew had heard it all the same. Only confused, Andrew waited a moment longer to see if she was going to explain what she was on about. Thankfully his patience was rewarded.
"So… do you remember some time back when we were talking about mamono in general? And how I said that there was a certain energy that now permeated the world that could turn woman into mamono though its only strong in certain areas?"
Andrew could see exactly where this was going.
"I do recall that yes. And I don't think I like where this is about to go."
"Well, don't knock it just yet. But as you have no doubt guessed, Serena is being turned into one. Actually, when we first met, she was in the process of becoming one."
Andrew only nodded his head before he let out a low sigh.
"Right… I figured you where going to say something along those lines… can you guess what from? And is there a way to reverse it? How far along is she?"
"I'll answer in order of the questions presented. I don't need to guess. It was that sword of hers. In many ancient tombs and forgotten relics of the past, people can find these powerful looking weapons. However, not all of them are normal, many of them having the 'cursed' attribute. They're rare anymore, but any cursed weapon tends to be littered with the power of the current Maou, so anybody who picks them up gets much much stronger, but it converts them into a mamono known as a cursed weapon. In Serenas case, she's being turned into a Cursed Sword. As for if there is a cure for Monsterization, sadly there isn't. Fourteen hundred years and nobody can do it. Even the Maou has stated that she can't do anything about it at this point. As for how far along she is… well, I'd give her another month before she's turned completely."
Andrew honestly didn't have a response to that. It was hard to find anything meaningful to say in the face of finding something like this out, even more so when it has something to do with someone he knows and cared about. Putting his food next to him, Andrew brought a hand to his brow and started to rub there, as if to stimulate his brain into thinking of things to ask. He was a man that was taught to think and to collect information, gather everything he could so that he could come up with the best solution available.
"Alright… so… what changes about her? Outside of getting more sexual I mean? Also, why didn't you tell me sooner? Or better yet, why aren't you telling Serena about this? This has to do with her after all, so she should be informed of what's occurring in her mind and body."
Sarya laughed sheepishly as she turned away from him and drew her attention to something in the distance.
"Um… I guess I didn't tell her because… I didn't think it was important. See, I've been a mamono for a number of years, and nothing really changed about me… well, outside of my sudden spike in love for dick. I may have changed just a bit, but I got stronger in the process. But I was an elf originally… still am really, but I'm what would be called a corrupted elf. It's not a bad thing really… anyway, back to Serena. She won't change, but I'm sure she's starting to get a little confused about her emotional state. For me, I suddenly started to become more attracted to sexual acts, and I can tell that she hasn't been told about it… despite the fact that Labareda and Unoma could very easily see it. But they seemed to think along the same lines I did. There isn't much that can be done for her now. But your right, she should be informed about it. I feel like it would be better coming from someone she likes though."
Andrew was going to say something about all of this, something a little hard due to the fact that he felt that it wasn't a minor issue, but the tail end of her sentence stopped him.
"Wait… what? Someone she likes?"
"Yeah. A Mamono can have sex with anybody they want, but when they find someone they truly love or are really set on a particular man, then they kinda give off this signal. Serena exhibits this aura when your around, meaning that she's really into you. Lucky you right?"
Andrew only blinked a bit, an almost vacant stare on his face at this realization. However, he quickly shook it away as another thought came into mind.
"How can you be sure that's how she really feels about me? What if it's just some cause of her transformation?"
Sarya actually looked like she was annoyed at that, surprising for Andrew considering what was actually being discussed right now.
"Look, it's not something that can really be explained. A girl… a mamono will give off this kind of feeling that will show this. For humans its love, for mamono we just know. Just trust me on it."
Andrew nodded his head at her, the woman's conviction easily identifiable. Letting a low sigh escape his mouth, Andrew could only mentally draw inward at this. Serena was turning into a Mamono and there was nothing he could do about it. Sadly, now that he knew, it would obviously need to fall to him to tell her the truth at some point. It wasn't going to be easy though, trying to explain to her that her own body was changing on an emotional and physical level. It still needed to be done.
Sarya's voice a moment later brought him out of it though.
"Well… that was all I really needed to talk to you about… but I guess I could also ask one more thing. How are you holding up?"
Curious, Andrew cocked his head to the side in some confusion.
"How do you mean?"
"Well, I'm asking because you've been here for a while now… you said at some point that you're from another world, right? I'm just wondering how you're holding up at this point."
Andrew had to think about that for a moment. How was he holding up? He had given it some thought at one point or another, but he would always push it to the back of his mind. He knew thinking about it would only lead to negative thoughts, but it was only negative because of the ramifications of what this all meant. He was currently in another world with no idea how to get home. He didn't know if time flowed the same here as it did back on earth, but if it did, that meant he had been gone for a month now. His family was no doubt worried sick for him, and the military would obviously consider him AWOL at this point. It wasn't a fun thing to think about in any stretch of the word. But he felt that thinking and worrying about it wouldn't do him any good. He would just need to do all he could later on to find out what he needed.
Turning his attention back to Sarya, Andrew shrugged his shoulders.
"Kinda so-so in that regard right now. Yeah, I might be worrying about a few things, but I seriously doubt I could do anything about it at the moment."
The elven woman nodded her head at him in some understanding before she turned to look at the soup in her hands.
"I see… well, just remember. You don't have to worry about things alone. If you can help it, you can always talk with your group if you need to… though you might want to get the bit with Serena out of the way as quickly as you can. The longer that goes on the tougher it gets to actually talk about it."
Agreeing with that statement, Andrew chuckled a little.
"You got that right."
Smiling, Sarya downed the last of her food before she quickly got to her feet.
"Well… that was all I really needed to talk with you about. If you don't have anything you want or need to speak with me about, I'm going to go and see if Morgana can stomach the idea of eating right now."
Laughing at the pun she made, Andrew shook his head at her.
"No. I'm good, thank you for coming to talk with me though."
"Anytime."
Was all she said before she walked away. Andrew, for his part, let out a low sigh as the troubles on his mind resurfaced. Deciding that he should distract himself from them, Andrew turned his attention to look at the crew and was surprised to see that they looked a little busy talking with each other.
Silque seemed to have Tannath's attention while Fenella only seemed to be half heartedly paying attention to the mermaid. Andrew looked at where the Selkie's gaze was and was surprised to see that she was looking at Frida, the mershark standing off the starboard side of the boat with her face in the air, as if trying to smell something. Curious about this, Andrew finished up the last of his food before he stood up and made his way to the Mershark. He managed to get close to her before she seemed to notice him and turned around with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey Handsome. Did you enjoy the food?"
Andrew nodded with a small grin on his face.
"Yeah. It was pretty good. if you don't mind my asking though… what are you doing?"
Looking at him with a contemplative stare for a few moments, Frida let a sigh out from her nose, the woman looking back out into the ocean.
"I'm smelling the ocean. Something about it smells off right now."
Andrew looked out in the direction she was also facing, a puzzled expression on his face as he tried to look for anything unusual out on the waves.
"I'm surprised you can smell anything past the brine."
The mershark chuckled smugly as she pointed at her nose.
"I might not look it, but my species has a very keen nose for certain scents. Its even better when I'm actually in the water, but even on land, I can smell a whole bunch of things. Like the fact that Silque's pussy is practically radiating her desire to breed or that the woman down in the crew's quarters just upchucked for the twelfth time today. Even more so that I can smell your scent down on Imh'ege in the bilge."
Andrew only nodded despite having been called out for his sexual escapade.
"Impressive."
"I know right? That's why I'm trying to get a reading on this smell right now."
Andrew again found his gaze looking to the ocean for a second before he turned his attention back to Frida, no less enlightened about the situation then he was before he looked.
"Well, if you don't mind my asking, what does it smell like?"
"Blood. And a lot of it. But it's not just that."
Andrew had not been expecting that answer and was a little worried when she said it. But the fact that it was 'more than just that' didn't leave him with a good feeling.
"Well, just the smell of blood is already worrying, but what else is there that would make you question it?"
Taking another sniff, Frida scrunched up her nose as if doing this would provide her with more details. Hell, maybe it would. Andrew wasn't a mamono biologist.
"Two different kinds of blood. One smells… up top? Like it lives closer to the surface of the ocean. The other smells… deep, dank. Rancid even."
Andrew couldn't even begin to put an answer to what she was saying, but that didn't stop him from asking the expert in front of him.
"What do you mean exactly?"
"Easy, the more disgusting smell is easy to identify. Its some kind of King Angler. A very ugly deep-sea monster with a massive mouth that takes up about half of its body. Me and Fenella have tangled with a few of them in the past and killed them. It's pretty big, but you just got to know where to aim to kill them. The problem is the other smell. I don't recognize it."
It took him a moment, but Andrew was starting to piece an image together.
"Hum… this Angler thing. I take it that it's really big? And if you smell the blood of two different beasts, then I can guess that they've been fighting."
Frida only nodded her head at him.
"Yeah. That's what I was thinking as well. Thing is, a King Angler is something most animals won't deal with. It tastes terrible and it's a hassle to hunt, plus, it's about as big as this ship. People like me hunt it for sport and because the lure on its head is valuable to sell. Mages use them in alchemy and stuff. It's got me a little worried is all."
Andrew only looked out at the ocean, expecting to see supposed King Angler out on the horizon or something. However, he heard the sound of beating wings behind him and he quickly turned around to see that Tannath had taken off from the deck. Mystified by this, he watched her ascend on hidden currents of air rapidly, the Harpy becoming a blur in the sky. Andrew turned to look at Frida to see what she thought about it, but he noticed that her usual smile was gone, a much more serious expression on her face. Andrew could instantly tell that something was wrong with the situation, especially when he heard Silque behind him say something.
"Frida, need me to go and get your Trident?"
The Mershark looked back at the young mermaid, a quick jerk of her head indicating her answer. Andrew watched the mermaid scamper off and into the kitchen, no doubt to go below deck to fetch said weapon.
"Hey handsome, you might want to go and get your party below deck. Me and the rest of the crew got a bad feeling about this, and I don't want you to get caught up in it if it turns out to be bad news."
Andrew only looked at her with a concerned expression on his face, the fact that the situation seemed to be deteriorating rapidly not doing him much good with his nerves. However, thoughts of his group gave him some ideas.
"Do you need some help? I'm sure I could get Unoma or Labareda to help you with it. They are noted to be very powerful spellcasters… or so they boast to me on a number of occasions."
Frida only smirked at him before she rolled her shoulders and turned her attention back out to the ocean.
"Nah, we should be good. It's the crew's job to make sure you and yours stays safe after all. Besides, the captain is pretty good at magic herself, so much so that you might even find yourself surprised."
Nodding at her, Andrew only smiled as well, the mershark's positive attitude somewhat infectious. Folding his arms across his chest, Andrew huffed lightly.
"Alright then… I'll believe that. Try to stay safe though."
"Of course! Can't get to your dick if I bust myself up now can I."
Actually laughing at that one, Andrew waved the mershark goodbye as he turned around and began to make his way below deck, passing Silque as he did, the girl running past with a trident in her arms. Only somewhat curious about the weapon, Andrew only paid it little mind as he continued on, noticing that everyone who wasn't a crew member had already made their way down before he did. Continuing on below deck, Andrew quickly made his way down the steps until he hit the second floor. Though he was about to make his way down the hall, he had to come to a stop when he heard something.
Curious about what it was he may have heard, Andrew stood still for a moment until her was able to hear someone talking. It was a familiar voice, and one he was able to pick up on quickly.
"That sounds like Imh'ege… who is she talking to?"
Turning himself to where he heard the voice, Andrew was able pinpoint that it was coming from the Bilge where she normally was. Deciding that his curiosity needed to be satiated, Andrew walked over to the steps and started to make his way downstairs. He was surprised when he saw that her door was wide open, but was even more curious when he heard her muttering almost non-stop. Peering into the room, Andrew saw that the inky darkness that was here originally was long gone, and the area looked like part of the ship now. However, his attention was more focused on Imh'ege and the way she seemed to be standing there and staring into space, her mouth moving rapidly as words seemed to spill out from her mouth. Andrew couldn't hear it well enough, but opting to get closer allowed him the opportunity start to make out certain words.
"Splinter, rend, steam, crush, death, sink, time, devour, eat, boil, look, nothing, stand, lack-"
On and on, Imh'ege continued to spout a stream of words that didn't seem to have any kind of coherent structure to them, leaving Andrew confused and maybe a little freaked out at the monotone she was delivering it all in. Not sure if he should disturb her, Andrew walked around to where she was facing to look at her, a little to afraid to call out to her in the current state she was in. When he saw her face to face though, he kinda wished he had called out instead.
What he saw when he looked her dead in the eye was unnatural and very disturbing. Unlike what normal Iris's do, which is stay to a specific size and shape, Imh'ege's own inner eyes seem to be expanding and contracting, the shapes even changing in ways that should not be normal and in ways that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. It was like watching a kaleidoscope, only on a persons face as they seemed to ramble like a mad man. Still not sure what to make of all of this, Andrew actually jumped when Imh'ege actually seemed to shift her head, to look directly at him.
"Crush, negate, above, now, scald, violence, demon. Nobulax."
Andrew blinked when she let those string of words out of her mouth, but before he could even think about it, the kraken girl closed her eyes, opening them a moment later. Only this time her eyes where back to normal (for the most part) with a confused look on her face. Not sure what the fuck just happened, Andrew prodded her with a question.
"Um… Imh'ege… you okay there?"
The girl only cocked her head to the side in some confusion before realization hit her.
"Am fine? Am Fine! Imh'ege sometimes dwells deep deep in Fathers eyes. See's things, knows things? Knows things! Does not remember things though. Only flashes, only the dredges. Fathers eyes see so much, Imh'ege understands little. But helps? It helps!"
Andrew only nodded in some mock sense of understanding. Deciding that it would be best to try to put all that she said out of his mind for a moment, Andrew then prompted himself to ask another question that had been lingering in the back of his mind.
"Okay… now that we got that out of the way. Imh'ege, are you not going to join the rest of the crew on deck?"
The Kraken only shook her head at him.
"Up above? Up above! No no… Imh'ege only comes out when captain calls. Kanneth only calls when problem comes! Imh'ege stay in boat, all moist and cuddly… you come to cuddle?"
Andrew smiled sheepishly at her sudden eagerness, the memory of earlier obviously still fresh in the girl's mind.
"Ah no… not this time… it would best if you remained active and not in the middle of something in the event you're needed."
Imh'ege seemed to think about that for a few more moments before it seemed to Andrew that she understood what he was talking about.
"No cuddle? No cuddle. Make sense, Imh'ege will wait patiently until time for more cuddles."
Finding her manner rather adorable, Andrew couldn't help but pat the girl on the head. Though with that he came to the realization that he should probably be on his way and out of here. Giving the kraken one more gentle head pat, Andrew made his way out of the bilge and back into the hall. However, his movement was slowed by his thoughts as he repeated over and over the series of words that the deep sea dweller had been muttering and what kind of implication they might have. He wasn't sure what exactly that had been all about, but Andrew was something of a believer in that everything had some kind of purpose. This odd incident was not outside of that spectrum, but at the same time, he couldn't piece together anything of importance about it.
'That would be because those who have been touched by dark ones hardly ever make sense.'
Jolting at the words and the sudden invasion into his mind, Andrew was surprised when he felt the presence of Leviathan there. Remaining flustered for only a few moments longer, Andrew quickly shook himself out of it and quizzically posed a question to the inner demon.
'Dark one? What the hell is that supposed to be? Also, a little heads up before you come crawling into my head would be much appreciated.'
The feeling of some annoyance followed by some sense of regret filled his mind a moment later.
'I apologize for my intrusion. However, there is no real way to inform you of my coming sadly, so you would be wise to start preparing for it in the future.'
Andrew let his annoyance be known.
'Ugh… fine. Anyway, answer my question. What's a dark one?'
For a moment, Andrew felt Leviathan seem to think about it, a deep pondering filling his mind before he felt that the demon was ready to explain.
'A dark one is something like… a foreign god of this world. Or more in this case, something that came from outside the world and now inhabits it. Lord Oda did combat with a number of them before he was sealed away, a number of them from this world being forced to bend to his power when he had managed to utterly devastate them. He forced them into servitude, but after his sealing, I am not sure what happened to them. Though I recall that those who had managed to escape him fled to the deepest parts of this world's oceans.'
Andrew nodded to himself, but realizing that it was meaningless since Leviathan could just feel his understanding, stopped doing it.
'Alright, that explains what they are… but what does it have to do with Imh'ege?'
'As I said, I can feel the corruption on her from one of the dark ones… however, now that I get a better feel for it, she seems less touched and more born from it…
which in turn would make her a child of one. I vaguely recall the signature though… I think… ah yes. Į̸̯̭̫͎̮͓̬͋͒͆̅̇̆̉̄̚z̤̗̼̝͉̬̗̺̭͔̽̔̏͊̀̽̑͝'̨̢̯͍̺̥̺̽̌͂͊̊̔̈́̊̕͘͢͟ë͍͎͍́͒͐̄̐̒̅͘ͅͅd̶̨̫̹̭̰͓̙̞͓̄̔̌̊̋̕͜͠͠ṙ̡̮̦̺͉͕͍͚͌̎̕͟͟͝r͚̖̳̤̳͙̻̬̅̔́͊̎͐̓̽͂̀͢͢'̢̨̨̭̭̝̰̫̄̽̂̓̀͘͠k̸̢͚̱̣̳̰̦̮͑̇̀̆̈̅̇̚̚r̷̟͉̙̘͇̣̭͚̳͇̀̌̋͛̍̈̈́ȩ̛̺̰̳̹̹̗͎̙̏̆͂͝͡l̵̨̛̖̰̫̠͓̀͊̎̂̒͘͞, that was his name.'
Andrew felt a sharp and rapid pain shoot through his mind as he tried to comprehend a particular word that Leviathan projected. Though as he tried to go back and think on it, all he got was a growing headache.
'Gah… fuck… what did you say? Whatever that word was I couldn't… comprehend it or something.'
For a moment, Andrew was simply met with silence. Though some growing feeling of understanding came from Leviathan.
'Ahhhh… I see. You cannot understand the tongue of chaos beasts. I apologize, 'tis an oversight on my part. If I was to put it into the words of the common, his name would translate to something like "he who consumes the inner eyes" or something to that effect. But if you seek a name, many of his followers referred to him as Iz'edrr'krel. He was known for being able to see overlapping futures, though it did him little good when Oda destroyed him utterly… or so we had believed him destroyed. Clearly, he had evaded death, though I am not sure how. Anyway, the girl seems to be his child, and seems thus to carry tints of the madness of chaos in her. However, I get the feeling not all of it was inane rambling, her father known for seeing the future after all. Take it as you will young master.'
Andrew nodded his head as he thought on it. If it was brought into that kind of light, then maybe a lot what she had been saying made some sense? Andrew couldn't be sure since he was just now coming to that conclusion, but he felt that maybe he should think on it some more. However, his inner mind was still pervaded by the feeling of Leviathan still there.
'Okay, so I guess it makes what she was doing make a little more sense, but I get the feeling that wasn't the only reason you popped up.'
'Correct young master. Though in actuality it is not I who wished to speak with you, but Grendel. However, he tells me that before he ordains to speak with you, he would like you to go to the deck of the ship. At that point I'll let him speak with you.'
Andrew, too curious to try to argue otherwise, complied with the request. Making his way back up to the deck, Andrew was curious to see that nobody save for the captain was left on the deck, The Hakutaku to focused out on the waves to notice Andrew having come back up on the deck. At that point, Andrew felt Leviathan slip away only to be filled with another presence. This one filled with more energy and bloodlust.
'So! You finally got your ass up and about eh?'
Andrew let out a small huff, the demons tone indicating that it was somewhat mocking him. Pushing It to the side, Andrew replied flatly.
'I suppose so. So, what in the fuck did you want me up here for? And it better be for a good reason. If you tell me you made me come up here because you wanted a taste of the sea breeze…'
Andrew left the thought off at that, as if doing so would implicate some kind of retribution to the demon. However, Grendel only laughed at him before he answered him.
'Relax, I got a little something I want you to do here.'
Andrew couldn't help but let his curiosity come through on that one.
'A little something?'
'Think of it like a test. Kinda like a proving. See, I'm sure the crew has figured it out, but there's something big and nasty on the way over here right now come to fuck with your crew. If left alone, it'll destroy the boat… or it'll try at any rate. I'm sure those bitches of yours won't let it come to that though. But I will guarantee that some of the crew will die.'
Feeling somewhat panicked at that, Andrew was about to say something, but Grendel beat him to it.
'Calm your ass down. This test of mine, I want you to either kill or repel the thing coming. Simple enough right?'
For a moment, Andrew didn't say anything, but then it dawned on him what this demon was asking of him.
'You want me to do what now?'
'Kill or repel the big bad monster come to fuck with the boat. Prove your strength to me in some way. I want to see you actually fight something for once. Test your power and all that.'
Letting a small sigh escape his lips, Andrew could only comply with the request. Though he honestly didn't feel like he should care, but at the same time, these demons did have some standards, and Andrew also could relate with them on some level. No point in working with an inept boss after all.
'Fine… so just kill or repel it right? Sounds simple enough… in theory anyway, what the hell am I about to throw myself against anyway.'
With a low chuckling in his mind, Grendel let off waves of dark satisfaction.
'Just ask that big titty cow Captain, I'm sure she knows already.'
Andrew could only sigh once again at how this demon seemed to be making demands of him all of a sudden without any kind of prior knowledge, but he had mentally agreed to do it regardless, so he could only roll his shoulders and hope for the best. Making his way to Kanneth, Andrew only made it to a few feet behind her before the sounds of his steps caught her attention, causing her to turn around. She was somewhat confused when she saw him and opted to voice it.
"Andrew? What are you doing above deck? I had informed my crew to tell you all to go into the hold for safety."
Andrew nodded at her as he walked up next to her and looked out into the water.
"They did. But uh… as I went down, I came across Imh'ege… mostly talking to herself… she was muttering a long string of words over and over again. I listened in on her and I sorta made sense of it. Due to that, I came back up here."
He honestly felt that he could have come up with a much better excuse, but at the same time, it wasn't a complete lie. Turning to look at the captain, he saw that she was in a state of deep thought before bringing her eyes level with his.
"So… she was doing one of her predictions again… I take it nothing you heard was good?"
Andrew shook his head.
"It was mostly a lot of words along the lines of 'crush', 'death', 'scald' and other such things. Though when she noticed I was in the room, it seemed to change up to something more positive. So I can only take it that my presence altered it in some way. I'm not one hundred percent certain about it though, so that's why I came up here."
The captain put a hand to her chin in some thought, the things Andrew said causing her mind to work much harder.
"Scald? That's an interesting word to use…"
Obviously in some thought about it, Andrew opted to leave her to it for a moment as he focused back out into the ocean. However, Kanneths voice next to him caused him to look back at her.
"I wonder… I thank you for bringing this to me, but as a Very important person on this ship, it's my job to see you safe and sound on this trip. I don't mean to sound rude, but I would ask for your own safety to head back down."
Andrew looked at her directly, feeling kinda conflicted about what it was he needed to do, and what it was that the captain wanted him to do. However, before he could argue the point further, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. That something caused him to turn to look and see a small shape rapidly swimming toward them. It was familiar to him, in both color and shape, causing him to light up in familiarity.
"Oh look, Silque is here."
Turning her eyes to where he was looking, Kanneth saw aforementioned mermaid before she seemed to dive below the waters surface. However, the sound of water being shot up indicated what exactly she had done and the both of them took a few steps back as the body of the mermaid collided heavily with the deck of the ship a few moments later. The mermaid was out of breath, as if she had swum a whole marathon. Kanneth looked worried when she saw the girls face, desperately trying to catch her breath and looking quite terrified.
"Silque, your back! What's wrong? What did you and the girls find?"
Andrew watched as the girl tried her best to get breath in her lungs, both her mouth and her gills working overtime to do that very function before she started to speak.
"Big! Really big! And dangerous! Never seen anything like it before! Was tearing the giant angler apart with its mouth!"
Kanneth, now getting worried, kneeled down and put her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"What do you mean Silque?"
"I dunno captain! I've never seen anything like it before, Frida seemed to know though and told me to get back as quickly as I could! It looked like some kinda giant turtle! But not like one of the friendly ones! It looked like someone took a dragon and a turtle and mashed them together! With a big spiky shell, a really sharp serrated beak mouth, clawed fins, and a long spiky tail!"
At that, both Andrew and the captain stiffened up, Andrew being the first to speak up.
"That sounds like a fucking Dragon Turtle."
Kanneth looked to Andrew as she got up, only nodding her head.
"I'm not surprised you know of it, though where I come from, they are generally referred to as Longgui… though in this case, it's more then likely a corrupted one. I was not expecting something like this at all…"
Andrew only grimaced at her as he looked out into the ocean.
"You think it would be a good idea to call the crew back and go around or wait it out? It sounds like it's eating."
The captain only shook her head.
"If only it was that simple. No, it would be more likely that it's taken up residence around here and has started to treat this area as a part of its territory. A corrupted version of this monster won't let us get away, especially since it more then likely has already identified us as invading its territory."
"So… what? What's your plan to deal with it then?"
Kanneth looked to Silque before she looked back out into the water.
"I can only hope Frida and the rest are doing what they can at this point. Otherwise, we need to get Imh'ege out here now. Nobody but her is strong enough to deal with it as is. But we need to draw it here since she's not the fastest swimmer around. Silque, try to get Tannaths attention out there and signal her to tell Frida and Fen to fall back to the boat."
Silque nodded her head with a 'yes captain' before she spring-boarded herself back into the water and disappeared in a flash. Kanneth then looked to Andrew with a dead serious expression on her face.
"I need you to get back below deck to safety. But in the event the crew can't deal with this… try to keep an ear out for a horn. That will be the signal to abandon ship."
Andrew only blinked a few times in some surprise before he spoke up.
"Abandon the ship?"
"Yes. The Longgui will only aim for the boat since it will perceive it as a large creature, it should ignore smaller boats like a lifeboat or a dingy."
Andrew felt like arguing, but she put up her hand to stop him.
"Enough, I know you mean well, but I can't risk the lives of my crew and passengers, end of story. Now please, start making your way below deck to inform everyone of what will need to be done."
Without another word, the captain turned to make her way down below deck to get Imh'ege. Andrew only watched her vanish behind the door before he mentally turned inward.
'You want me to fight a giant fucking turtle dragon?'
'Dragon Turtle. Very big difference between the two. And yes, I want you to do something about it. Kinda weak for a first test, but it'll do until something stronger shows up later on.'
Andrew wasn't sure if he could mentally show off rolling his eyes, but he felt that was the only thing that fit with what he said next.
'Oh yes, let me go ahead and dive down into the ocean, swim around a giant monstrosity that obviously isn't adapt at swimming, and beat the living shit out of a beast that can fucking eat me whole!'
'I sense heavy levels of sarcasm coming out of you.'
Again, Andrew felt that he could only roll his eyes mentally at Grendel.
'No shit! In case you didn't notice, I can't swim in the ocean and fight like this! I have like… what? Maybe ten minutes of ground fighting under my belt tops! That thing will fucking kill me if I go down there! That fucker has home field advantage over me!'
With what felt like a scoff in his mind followed by irritation, Andrew felt Grendel speak up again.
'Well you'll die if you keep that mentality up, your thinking in terms of pathetic humans. You have the fucking power of Oda Nobulax in your body. He could kill this level of threat with his eyes closed and simple slap of his tail.'
'Well good for him! I have neither tail nor years of battle experience to fall back on!'
With a feeling of disapproval and even more irritation radiating from his mind, Andrew felt Grendel only sigh at him.
'Holy fuck, you bitch way to much for someone with godlike power. Just jump in the fucking water and I'll give you a hint on what to do next okay?'
Only letting a sigh of disinterest cross his mouth at this point, Andrew made his way to the side of the ship before he peered down over the edge, a sudden thought coming to mind.
'Hey, genius. How the fuck am I supposed to get down from here without killing myself.'
For a moment, nothing was said. However, that changed when he felt something behind him. Not sure what it was, Andrew turned his head around only to see a giant hand that was weirdly familiar to him appear from a black mist that was coming off of him. The next thing he heard internally was Grendel, and he sounded smug as fuck.
'Like this.'
Next thing he knew, the hand swung back and open hand smacked him off the ship and about thirty yards out into the open ocean. Andrew would have complained that it would have hurt, but oddly enough, it didn't. Well, not badly at any rate. However, he was furious and confused as he hurtled through the air, until he hit the water. Then he tried to right himself enough to find the surface so he could get a breath of air. That being a lot easier then he thought it would be, Andrew swam as quickly as he could to get to the surface, breaking the wake with a massive inhale of air. It took him a few moments of sputtering and coughing, but he was eventually able to get to a point where he could drive his righteous fury at the demon.
'You fucking dick! Are you trying to kill me?!'
'I can't kill you even if I wanted to.'
'Could have fooled me!'
Despite the anger he felt at the rough treatment, Andrew was being pushed too much by the open water for him to stay on it for very long, his mind and body suddenly realizing that he was in the open water with what would amount to a giant and very lethal dragon turtle. However, as he started thinking about it and the inane request he had signed up for, Andrew started to ponder on another problem.
'Alright… so despite the initial process to get down here… how the fuck am I supposed to breath underwater? Especially since I'll need to be fighting this thing after all.'
With what sounded like a knowing laugh in his mind, Andrew listened in when Grendel started talking to him again.
'That's easy, just gotta circulate mana in a way to act as part of your respiratory system. Basically, turn mana into air for your body.'
'Sounds cool. How the fuck do I do it.'
Despite the sarcasm in his mind, Andrew was only further annoyed when Grendel seemed to ignore the initial question.
'I ain't got the patience to teach you that shit, so pay attention to this feeling I'm about to give you and you should be able to emulate it well enough on your own.'
Not sure what he meant by that, Andrew was about to ask him for more details before he suddenly felt his body, more specifically his lungs, start to burn up for a moment. However, it quickly changed to an almost suffocating feeling, like his body was trying to suck in too much air. Oddly enough, this caused him to stop breathing, but it didn't burn his lungs or anything. Andrew felt the pull of mana around his body, and he had to admit that Grendel was right. It actually felt very easy to do, especially with what little Unoma and Labareda had shown him.
'Huh… this is easier then I thought.'
'This is basic level shit. Anybody should be able to do this. Anyway, now onto the meat of the matter, cause let me tell you, you got about a minute tops before that beast is in range.'
Suddenly remembering what it was he was pushed off the boat for in the first place, Andrew started to look around in hopes of catching sight of the thing. Grendel interrupted that search when he spoke up again.
'Alright… I said I would give you a hint on how to fight it didn't I? Well shut your mouth and open your ears, cause here is a tip from your friendly contracted war beast! For this situation, it's better to feel primal then to think about it.'
Andrew physically blinked, his mind working over what he had just heard.
'That sounds like some zen bullshit. Meaning, what the fuck does it even mean.'
'Hey brat, that's the only hint your getting out of me. Good luck, and go wild!'
With that little bit out of the way, Andrew felt the demon retract itself back into his mind, leaving his consciousness vacant.
"… fucking seriously?"
Was all he got out of his mouth before he was hit with a slightly high wave, causing him to sputter and spit out sea water. Now feeling even more frustrated at his situation, Andrew couldn't help but mentally curse at the whole thing.
'God I must be losing my mind to have agreed to this… but fuck if I'm not gonna try.'
Despite his misgivings of both what he was doing and his own mental health, Andrew could only resolve himself to get this done. Looking around for a moment, he realized that he probably should have asked the demon how to keep his eyes open underwater as well. Thinking on it for a moment, he realized that he could probably put some kind of protective coating over his eyes like how he was doing with making his lungs generate its own oxygen with his magic. He only had to think about it for a moment before he felt the same odd feeling on his eyes like what he was feeling with his lungs. With that out of the way, Andrew dove under the waves, surprised at the clarity of the water around him… though he couldn't help but wonder if that was something he was doing or if it was the nature of the water. Putting it out of his mind, Andrew looked around him and saw something large off in the distance. It was steadily getting closer, and he quickly realized that that 'something' was steadily taking shape. That shape being in the form of the aforementioned dragon turtle.
It looked kinda like how one would imagine a dragon turtle to be, large as the boat he had ridden on, a head that looked like a cross between a snapping turtle and serpent, only with a crest that went well down its neck where it ended at the savage looking spike hook shell. Its front dorsal fins looked as if it had somewhat evolved into clawed appendages while still retaining mostly a shape of flippers, though the back legs looked like normal reptile legs with sharp looking talons on them. One of the odder-looking things on it was the long tail that ended with a bifurcated tip, though it still looked dangerous with the long-segmented spikes running along the whole top length.
Though he was somewhat terrified by the size, Andrew had to admit that it was an impressive specimen of its type. That admiration turned to fear when the things beak mouth opened wide and shot out to snap down on… nothing from the looks of it, moving at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a creature its size. Andrew was willing to admit that he jumped pretty badly when it did that. Though his fear gave way to curiosity when he tried to puzzle why it did that. The answer came when he watched a little more closely and he saw a grayish blue streak zip past it's face, a small line of red opening up under the creature's eye as it did. Andrew quickly recognized the form as Frida, the mersharks body looking fishier from the waist down since the last time he saw her. Noticing another blur of sorts, Andrew looked over to see that Fenella was also swimming around it, using some kind of barbed harpoon to stab at the creatures more exposed flesh. He couldn't help but notice that just like Frida, her lower body had also take on a different form, only it made her look more like a seal then a fish.
However, at most they where irritating it, a clear indication of its mood when it lashed out again with its unnatural speed. It missed again, but Andrew could see that the two girls where hardly doing anything to it, the creature more intent on something else then the two pests that hovered around its body. Andrew could only guess that it was aiming for the ship, taking a quick glance over his shoulder to see it a distance back, but directly in the sights and path of the turtle. Suddenly realizing that he had agreed to do something about this gargantuan size beast, Andrew couldn't help but feel that he may be way in over his head on this bit.
'I think I may have royally fucked myself on this one.'
With that depressing thought in his head, Andrew found himself trying to shake it off. He then thought back to what Grendel had told him, the demon obviously having some faith in him to be able to do… something in this situation. Considering the hint given, Andrew tried to spend as much of his time analyzing it as he could before the monstrosity got any closer. It was better to feel primal rather then to think about it? Those words must have had some meaning, but at the same time, Andrew found that it didn't make all that much sense. However, one of the words in that sentence couldn't help but ring with him.
Primal.
The word itself was a derivative of primeval, an early stage of evolution. But what did that mean? To feel primal? Andrew could only think of it in terms of primal emotions. The basics of human evolution. Was there something there in that thought process he could use?
Then it seemed to hit him. A phrase that made total sense in relation with what Grendel had said.
Don't think, feel.
Andrew couldn't help but think it sounded ridiculous, a Jedi from a movie being the first time he had ever heard it. But… the fact that it made so much sense for him couldn't be ignored.
'Well… I guess… just gotta stop thinking about it.'
Only shaking his head to himself, Andrew did the one thing he felt he shouldn't do in this kind of situation. Close his eyes and turn inward. Stop thinking and simply let instinct take over. Frankly he had never done something like it before, but he felt that now was as good a time as any… or else he would end up dead. Mentally… shutting himself off, Andrew started to shut his thoughts out, to stop thinking, only bringing himself to concentrate on the emotions currently broiling in his mind and body. Surprisingly, when he did so, it seemed to click with him naturally. As if his mind was willing to turn itself off for a moment. After that, he felt the raw emotions. The fear of beaing eaten, the anger at being pushed into this situation, the regrets of letting people die if he didn't do anything. It was all there… but he felt something deeper. He felt it past the raw emotion, something much further in his mind, almost as if it was an instinct. Oddly enough, it felt so tiny to him… but at the same time, Andrew knew deep in his body that this thing in him was perhaps the most dangerous thing of all. Deep in his soul, buried in his emotion, was an unusual feeling.
Andrew… pondered on it, feeling that this was the correct choice. Something in him saying this was the right way. That this was the key to his survival, that this would lead him to the correct choice. Andrew dug deeper until he felt himself to the point of touching it. After only a moment of hesitation, Andrew grasped it in hand.
And then the floodgate opened in him.
It was like a raw wave of fury mixed with fear, of euphoria mixed with deep lamentation, a swirling cocktail of everything that made him who he was, of all the things that made him alive. It overwhelmed him, engulfed him, drowned him in the very basis of himself. It was as if he felt more himself then ever before. He was losing out to himself, his mind slipping away to be filled with everything that was him. Before he lost it, he could hear a mix of several familiar voices in his mind, the voices of the demons he harbored. They radiated a sick joy at this, and only a small series of words could be heard over the din.
'Very good young master.'
And that was all he knew as he lost himself.
Meanwhile, on the boat, and a few minutes before, Labareda and Unoma where looking agitated. The demonic familiar pacing up and down the length of the bed, her eyes either on the door, or looking at the floor when she would turn away from it. Unoma, for her part, was focused more on something not seen in the room, the woman seemingly drilling a hole into the air if it could be called that. The state of these two was, put mildly, on edge, and Serena could tell that the both of them where thinking about the fact that their master, Andrew, had yet to come back.
For her part, Serena was sitting on the bed with Aruma sitting in her lap, the red head having taken to fiddling with the girl's white wings and feathers as she had done for the last ten or so minutes. Thankfully Aruma didn't mind it when she did, but the girl was also somewhat worried over the fact that Andrew wasn't there. Serena could only let out a low sigh as she looked out over at the other two.
"Will you two relax? I'm sure he'll be here any time now. Hell, maybe the captain wanted to say something to him about whats going on. We where kinda just told to hurry up and get off the deck."
As she said, a few minutes ago as they had been eating, Fenella seemed to notice something and told them all to start heading back to their rooms. Lab had tried to question it, but the Selkie had not been willing to let her do so, and mostly forced them to leave. Oddly enough, Andrew had been talking with Frida, the mershark, about something but Serena hadn't heard anything before they left. However, more then a few minutes had passed when they got down here, and the fact that he was still away had started to worry both of the familiars, and that in turn had started to make Aruma nervous as well. Serena was just a little agitated about the whole thing, but she wasn't so small minded as to voice a complaint about it.
Labareda stopped pacing and looked to Serena, not agitated, but still somewhat level with her expression.
"I'll relax when he's not taking his time. Master is prone to caution, but at the same time I fear that he may sometimes overestimate the protection we can provide to him as is. Our link isn't strong enough yet to where I can just appear right next to him when the need should arise. Not only that, but he appears to have gone back up to the deck. Whatever for I cannot fathom, but I get a bad feeling about this all the same."
Unoma, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange, decided to speak up.
"It doesn't really matter does it? He'll do as he wishes, and thus you and I need only do as is required of us. Though I will admit that-"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off as both her and Labareda stopped dead with what they where doing, the both of them turning in a particular direction with growing apprehension and terror on their faces.
"What in-"
Labareda didn't give Unoma anymore time to speak.
"He's off the boat! How the fuck did he get into open water that quickly!?"
Serena and Aruma only looked between the two familiars with rapidly growing concern. They didn't get a chance to say anything though as the next moment, both familiars where already rapidly making their way for the door. Serena, also somewhat concerned about what had just happened, set Aruma off to the side and bolted right after them. Serena quickly followed the both of them down the hall, the two familiars pace frantic as they tried to get Andrew. Serena was having a hard time figuring something out as well. From what Labareda said, he apparently had managed to get himself out into the open water, something that was disastrous out here in the ocean. The whole way up. It wasn't until they got to the deck and started to make their way for the railing that something seemed to happen. Serena felt it before she saw anything, like a deep writhing mass of oppression pushing down on her. She quickly recognized it to, it was the exact same feeling she got when they were outside of that room. The one where Andrew had been releasing that awful pressure. She almost fell to her knees, but it was manageable… but just barely. However, Serena watched as Unoma and Labareda had very different reactions from her own. Unlike her, both of them just dropped to the ground, clutching at their skulls and curling up in balls in agony. Serena, becoming deeply concerned by this sudden scenario, ran over to the closer of the two, that being Unoma. Kneeling down next to the older woman, Serena looked down and saw the pained expression on her face, her hands clutching at the side of her head as if to apply pressure to the problem. Sadly, it didn't seem to be doing anything, and the red head could only look on in worry, her hands up but not sure where to direct them due to lack of understanding what might be causing her so much pain.
"Hey! Hey! What's going on! What's happening to you two!?"
Unoma, past sheer agony and what might feel like someone digging her brain out from the inside, looked to the girl and tried to her best to communicate as she was.
"M-Master… NGH! Somethings wrong with- AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
It was all she could get out before the pain was to severe for her to continue, the woman writhing on the ground as she continued to be mentally destroyed. Serena was now very worried, not only for Unoma and Labareda, but also for Andrew.
They both counted as his familiars after all, and the way it was explained to her, Andrew shared a mental link with the two. If the two of them where in such pain just from this link, then what in the world was going on with Andrew. She didn't get much further then that when that oppressive feeling got even stronger, the water about thirty yards out seemingly exploding outward in surf and… something else? It looked like some kind of dark Miasma. That was all she managed to get though, as she practically collapsed next to Unoma, feeling as if she was being held down by an actual physical force.
Despite all of this, Serena couldn't help but think on one thing as she tried to force herself back to her feet.
'I hope Andrew is okay.'
Meanwhile, even further out into the ocean, Frida was trying to make sense of everything that was going on right now. The fact that a Dragon turtle of all things had been found in the area was bad enough, her and the rest of the crew having found it tearing a King Angler to pieces. The problem was when it had seemingly detected the boat and had opted to abandon its dead prey to go after another would be invader. She and Fenelle had told Silque to hurry back to inform the captain ahead of time, and they had tried to do everything they could to let Tannath know that she needed to go and find another ship or some kind of navy vessel. This thing had obviously being outside of their ability to handle, but they could at least try to hurt it enough to not be much of a fight, so both she and the selkie did everything they could to slow it down, to give everyone time to prepare while also doing as much damage as they could. Thankfully they could swim around it easily enough, and that it didn't seem very fixated on them. But that in of itself was also a bad thing since they could at most do superficial damage to its body.
Just as they had begun to get in sight of the ship, Frida could smell the situation going from bad, to worse. She had smelled Andrew come into the water, not sure how or why he was down in here. She would have gone back and tried to get him back onto the boat, but before she could inform Fenelle of her plan, that was when the dark writhing mass of energy sprouted up behind her.
Frida, in all of her years in service of the blissful tide, in all the time she had spent in her life seeing odd or unusual things, what she was feeling right now was something she had no inkling of. The feeling was powerful, far too powerful to be of a normal mortal, and even worse, it felt deadly beyond all else. Frida wanted to turn tail and run in the direction past the Dragon turtle, that oppressive and obscenely powerful energy far more dangerous to her then anything she had ever faced before. Even the turtle behind her had stopped in its tracks, suddenly very wary of something it now counted as a legitimate threat. Frida was stunned, the turtle however was not. Weather due to some instinctual pride of never seemingly encountering anything higher then it on the food chain or from something else, the beast only bellowed and dived forward at a speed unlike its earlier progress. However, Frida could only turn around and look at the beast, the poor mershark just now realizing that she was in its way.
More specifically, in the way of that massive fin. Her body was still frozen from the power behind her, but her mind quickly concluded that the moment that thing hit her at the speed it was going at, she would either be ripped apart if hit with a talon, or hit so hard that she would die on impact. Either way, she knew she wasn't going to live.
'Ah… well… this fucking sucks. I would have liked to have gotten one more good fuck in before I go to Poseidon's realm.'
It perhaps wasn't the most noble of final thoughts, but it was what she felt on the inside. Looking dead on as the fin began to makes its way to her body, Frida only prepared for it. It never happened though. Unlike what she was expecting, which was to be mercilessly killed, something behind her seemingly shot through the water and rammed the beast directly in the head, stopping it cold in the water. Frida would have thought about it, but the rapid displacement of all that water at high speed shot out around her and buffeted her out into an uncontrollable spiral, leaving her in the dark about what had just happened until she worked furiously to right herself and to stop her erratic motions through the turbulent undersea current.
After getting herself back in order, Frida looked back to see that the dragon turtle was halted, the creature thrashing in place, but held still by something attached to its head. Frida was hard pressed to get a good look at it, but she could faintly make out a humanoid shape about it. But it looked… odd. It was like a person, but a person covered in a shadow. Like a form fitting shadow, but still somewhat different. However, Frida didn't have much more time to think about it as a moment latter, Fenella caught the mersharks attention as she rapidly closed the distance.
"Frida! Are you Alright?!"
Said mershark looked at her for a moment before she stretched her neck a few times.
"Sorta. Whatever that thing is kinda roughed me up a bit when it swam by, but not much else is wrong with me otherwise… by the way, what in the name of Poseidon is that thing anyway?"
Fenella only shook her head as she turned to look at it, the turtle still thrashing about.
"I'm not sure, but it's radiating a malevolent energy like nothing I've ever felt before. It's hard for me to stay as I am now, but thankfully it seems intent on the turtle itself. However, I don't think we should stick around much longer for-"
Whatever she was going to say next was instantly cut off, the resounded noise of a very audible cracking sound causing the both of them to turn and look at the direction it came from, and what they saw they almost couldn't comprehend. Where the sounds of a thrashing wild animal had been heard recently, was filled with nothing but silence. Now laying still and floating upward was the Dragon turtle, it's head twisted at an ungodly angle, it's mouth wide open in shock and it's lifeless eyes retaining its last look of surprise.
Between the both of them, the girls would be willing to admit that they had never seen anything be able to break the neck of such a massive creature. But that was what they where looking at. And the cause of that was currently just… floating there, looking like some kind of dark mass taking the vague form of a person. In that moment, both fighters realized that they had to get away from this thing, right now.
However, the moment either girl made a move, the black thing rounded on them, a pair of fiercely glowing white eyes staring at them. It was a horrifying look, but that was the least of their concerns right now. No, they now had its full attention, and the pressure that they where just barely keeping aside, had pretty much increased to an ungodly amount, the both of them feeling as if their own lungs had seized up, the gills on their bodies even coming to a halt. It felt as if the black specter of death was looking at them, and the very thread of their lives hung by weather it would come after them or not.
Fate would prove to not be so kind, as the moment Frida attempted to move by even a millimeter, the thing angled its head by almost ninety degrees and seemingly appear right in front of her. Frida would have jumped, she could have screamed, she might have tried to stab at it, but it had moved to fast for her body to even comprehend the fact that her death was a near foot away from her. But past that sudden lack of fear was some recognition, for at this distance, Frida could smell Andrews scent on this thing. But it only lasted for a moment, her mind only coming to that realization a moment before her body realized she was about to die. Fenella, who wasn't being directly stared at, tried to move, but the thing grabbed her spear without even looking at her, the crunch of the weapon in her hand breaking Frida out of it. She tried to take a stab at it, the moment her spear moved, the head of the weapon vanished from sight, only for the mershark to see it floating downward into the deep ocean. But just as she was about to retaliate, to move, to try to do something, a sudden bright flash of light appeared around the creature, as if light had seeped into its outline.
A near moment later and the shadows vanished into nothing, leaving behind the form of Andrew, who only seemed to look at her with a dead look in his eyes before said eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he passed out right there. Moving out of subconscious movement, Frida took hold of the unconscious male, still utterly surprised by what had just transpired in the span of what had been no more then a few minutes at most. Fenelle looked to Frida, the mershark only looking back with an equally dumbfounded look on her face. The both of them wordlessly looking to each other with the same thought in their heads.
'What in the fuck just happened.'
Xx a few minutes prior, just as Andrew had lost his mind. xX
The pain was almost unbearable to Unoma, this sudden explosion of power and almost destructive mental hammering having long driven her to the ground as she did everything she could to preserve her sanity and spirit. She easily recognized this power, this same feeling of dark malevolence only ever having come from one entity in the entire history of the world. And she currently shared a familiar bond with the man who was unloading this unholy power outward. Thankfully she had access to what many considered to be 'ultimate magic', the poor woman knowing she would be long dead if she didn't have access to it right at this very moment. She wasn't sure how Labareda might be feeling right now, the familiar having high resistance to mental attacks, but even Unoma would be willing to bet that the familiar was feeling sheer agony. However, the Dark Mages current concern was with herself and her attempt at trying to save her mind.
But she knew it would be useless, this mental erosion far to fast and for her to do anything about by herself except maybe spare her from a quick death. Unoma had no illusion that she would survive, but she couldn't help but feel regret at the fact that her master would probably die due to this. However, as she continued to think, she began to notice that… something was off. For starters, the mental attack was lessening, which was odd in of itself. But what was more interesting was that it seemed to receding from her, only to be replaced with an unusual energy in her mind and body. Finally having some clarity to even see in front of her, Unoma was confused when she saw Aruma kneeling next to her, the girl's hands on the woman's body and divine energy being poured into her. It took her a few more moments of this before she quickly remembered to check on her pact holder.
Mentally focusing in on him, she was amazed to see that Aruma's power was not only working on herself, but also affecting others connected in this link, Labareda and Andrew feeling as if they where quickly calming down.
Unoma, feeling better despite a moment ago, tried to sit up, but Aruma quickly stopped her.
"No! Don't move yet… I'm trying to suppress that evil energy from Andrew through you and your familiar bond."
Unoma wasn't sure what she had just heard until she played it over in her rapidly clearing mind. It wasn't until a moment later that she began to understand that Aruma was pushing energy back through a closed mental link from sheer power and effort alone, something that was obviously putting strain on the girl if she was looking at her correctly. Reaching her hand out, Unoma took the girls smaller hand in her own.
"If you want in, it would be better to ask, no?"
Without another word, Unoma mentally pulled the small girls mind in with her, allowing Aruma full access to work her magic. The effect was immediate in that the mental pollution was rapidly dissipated, allowing Unoma to breath easier and to finally get her bearings. The first thing she did upon getting cleared up was to check on Andrew, the mage becoming quite relaxed when she felt his mind whole and sound, if not unconscious. She might have been bothered to try to check the mental state of her fellow 'familiar' but the sounds of groaning followed by some low cursing gave her an indication to that. Feeling that her mind along with the rest of the empathetic link had been cleared up, Unoma let go of Aruma and let the girl breath out a sigh of relief, though she began to tilt in exhaustion. Unoma made to catch her, but Serena, who had been standing behind her it would seem, quickly reached out and caught her. Out of danger of falling to the hard deck, The Dark Mage looked more closely at the girl and saw that she was unconscious. Not only that, but Unoma could feel that her energy was weaker then before, this ordeal having taxed her greatly.
"Hey, is she gonna be okay?"
A little shocked by the sudden voice, Unoma looked up to see that Serena had asked that question, the girl looking worried. Before the silver haired mage could answer though, the sound of Labareda cursing caused the both of them to look behind them to see the demon getting up off the deck.
"She'll be fine. She just used a lot of what was left of her energy after all. It'll be a while before she wakes up though, so I would suggest you get her down into the hold and put her in a bed. Serena, I would suggest you do that seeing as myself and Unoma are still… recovering."
Only looking between the two of them with some skepticism on her face, Serena complied anyway.
"Alright. I'll take her down and put her in bed. But you two need to keep an eye out for Andrew Alright?"
Labareda only waved her paw at her.
"I would have done that without you even saying anything."
Not going to say anything more to the familiar, Serena only picked up Aruma and made her way back down into the ship, leaving the two familiars to watch her until she vanished below deck. The moment she was out of sight though, the both of them turned to each other with knowing looks on their faces, Unoma being the first to say anything.
"He's alive as far as I can tell, but I'm worried about if he's sinking or floating."
"Floating. I think one of the crew has him and is bringing him to the ship. However, our bigger concern should be about what just happened."
Unoma nodded as she turned back out in the direction of the ocean.
"Yes… I fear he must have attempted to access something in his power or perhaps even the power of one of Odas familiars. We can see the result of what happened with that."
Labareda only nodded in answer.
"Very true. I think we've been a little to withholding in regards to Masters power and what it can do. I fear that if he is in contact with Oda's familiars, they might be trying to spur him to use more. We might need to do more in regards to training him. Or at least informing him about it. I'm afraid of what might happen if we continue with our lack of diligence on the matter."
Unoma only nodded, the both of them turning there attention to where they knew Andrew was coming from, not looking forward to see what state he might be in, but also in part of what they would need to do from now on in regards to their beloved master.
Excellent! I hope you enjoyed! I'll try my best to get the next chapter out in a timely manner, but I can only do so when my job gives me more time off...
;A;
hears hoping that happens!