Chapter 20
The songs of thousands of cetaceans were heard far above anything else. The entire evening sea was filled with a melodious bounty of life, as sentience from far and wide left their differences behind in order to gratefully help their hero and the Asterite. Kitnee was the first to see them: Blue whales. The giants of the sea led the entire mega-pod to converge in the bay. Behind them, humpback whales. Sei whales, sperm whales, gray whales, right whales, beaked whales, every Great Singer within miles led the charge.
Among them were their small cousins: every species of dolphin imaginable, except for river dolphins. Bottlenosed, spotted, all manners of dolphin and porpoise in every shape and every form were swimming like pygmies alongside the leviathans of the whales. Their songs combined into one: bass, tenor, alto, soprano...the serenade seemed to elevate the very waves.
Kitnee even whistled for joy at the sight of his own family, a proud pod of Orcas, led by his father.
"Asterite, they've come!" he shouted, swimming back into the bay where the others were gathered. "I have never seen such a spectacle, there are so many Singers!"
Do you doubt, Kitnee? The Asterite chuckled. Lonus, Enuia, and Radero arrived along with the other pod members to welcome them, and surrounding their giant Glyph, crafted from the many they have recovered. The great crystal was so large; it rose ten feet above the surface and caught the glare of the setting sun.
Ecco and Tara were the last Singers to arrive. Like usual, Ecco assumed the lead role and swam to the head of the pod, ready to welcome the newcomers. Tara swam with him and a little behind, for the first time feeling slightly inferior to her podmate. His stature was unmatched in the sea, and he seemed like an equal to Delphineus with the trademark adorning his melon, saying not a word.
The mass of Singers stopped upon seeing Ecco's group. The lead blue whale was the speaker for each of them. "Greetings, Little Singer Ecco," he bellowed in a grand, majestic voice as he towered over him, "I remember you from when you were simply a calf. I am Risho-tun, the Little Blue."
"Yes, I remember you as well, Risho," Ecco smiled, "You are the son of the Big Blue. It is an honor to see you again."
"The honor is mine, Ecco," Risho sang. "And I see the entity that calls himself the Asterite is with you as well. Well greeted."
Well met, the Asterite answered, As soon as I am synchronized with my past and future selves, I shall tell you of my plan.
Trellia, try as she might, could not keep the massive form of Teo afloat. His body was nearly limp, and his heart was pumping slower and slower by the minute. He could no longer swim on his own, for the shock permanently paralyzed his tail muscles. His pod members surrounded the Orca, each of them lowering their heads in mourning. Their leader was dying.
"You cannot die, Teo," Trellia cried, "You are the last Sky Killer with the ability of song..."
"For once, Jewel Brow..." Teo slowly coughed, "I was wrong about something. The ability to sing isn't lost to them...they simply forgot how...please..." he groaned. "If you survive this ordeal, please, you and your family...teach them how to sing."
"But, Teo..."
"That is my final wish!" he shouted with all his might, then smiled and spoke softly again. "I am finally going to join my love in the afterlife...will you accept my request, Trellia?"
Trellia's body shook violently, but she quickly overcame it with her newfound courage. "I will, Teo, I give you my word."
"The word of a small one..." Teo chuckled weakly, "Perhaps that is the treasure the Jewel Brows...keep..." With one last breath, his body fell limp. His heart stopped. His eyes glazed over and closed. Trellia let him sink into the dark, murky depths. For Teo was dead.
She turned to the cause of the suffering, along with Teo's old pod. Each and every Singer in Trella Bay glared with malice and hatred. But the Glyph Caller and the Asterite's eyes were filled half with pity, and half with the rush of finding a solution.
Tiderider spoke, but it was in a voice that seemed fierce, pushing his once gentle voice into a distant void. There was no pity or remorse in his voice: only cause of fear and the upbringing of death.
"A pity. I had hoped to kill you instead, Trellia. You didn't listen to me. Now this world is ours."
Tell us who you are this instant! The Asterite demanded.
The Glyph Caller nodded agreeably. "Most certainly you are not my descendant."
"Agreed," the creature hissed, drawing the word out, "You are the one, Glyph Caller, that released me when you unleashed the power of the Glyphs upon the Vortex. The Glyphs hold together the powers of time. Without Atlantis, and the Glyphs, time is ready to come under my command. Such a fool you are...and with you gone, I was able to manipulate the ruins. With the help of a creation of the Asterite, of course."
What do you mean, 'my creation?' the Asterite asked.
"Why, the Shadow Ecco, of course. Right now, unbeknownst, it is my anchor to Ecco's present. That is why the future is now dark...I have my hold there now."
The Asterite gasped. But the Shadow Ecco was only meant to help guide Ecco to me when the Vortex Queen followed him.
"And yet," the creature hissed again, "He has grown smarter and demanded fish of his own free will, a clue that I have control. Asterite, you were brought by the Vortex, and with only a small fluke they call luck, you learned to manipulate time by sending Ecco through it. It is also because of you that I have come to be. And by the way, don't try destroying him in the present...I've already taken root long past."
"And who are you?" The Glyph Caller asked.
The creature grinned menacingly, twisting Tiderider's body in a gesture of defiance. "Once, the locked darkness between dimensions. Where concepts are gathered as objects. I was born of the concept of evil. And found my hold when you ripped the space apart. Coupled with the paradox the Asterite and Ecco have created through time, I live and catch the Glyph Caller's blood...within his dreams. I am king of nightmares."
"Blasphemy!" Trellia shouted, "Nothing like that exists!" The lone star on her forehead shimmered brightly. The others shouted with agreement, releasing blasts of song that echoed across the sea as pure anger.
With that action, the Asterite started shimmering as well. "The self in Ecco's present time is calling to me. It is time, Trellia. Glyph Caller, get your Caller's Song ready. I know how to free Tiderider."
Kii and his pack stayed near the sea, their heads cast up to the sky. The Asterite regarded them from nearby, his globes slowly turning in the double helix pattern. The sky was turning an ominous black, though night hadn't fallen yet.
"'Tis a bad sign, yes it is," Kii sighed.
Just then, the Asterite's globes started rotating faster. Land Singers, it called out, I receive a message from the future. Open your minds and learn this song, then sing with me when I call it!
Then, just as if to be recalled from memory, the notes of a song appeared in Kii's thoughts, as well as that of his comrades. The Caller's Song resounded through his primitive Singer mind like a newer, more powerful possibility. But what he didn't notice was the new power granted to him, as three stars in the pattern of a triangle appeared on his forehead...
Ecco's stars glimmered as the Asterite's globes did. The giant Glyph that the cetaceans surrounded started to take on a powerful white light, illuminating the sea of night and filling the floor with shadows.
The constellation Delphineus hung like a powerful beacon of hope to all Singers.
During the few minutes, while the Asterite was contacting his past and future selves, he also filled each and every cetacean's head with visions of his past. He told the entire story of his time on the Earth, from his Vortex creation and all the way into his conversion from Trellia's future.
"Finally, the great Asterite's mystery is revealed..." Ecco sang softly, his eyes still tightly shut as the visions of a vast world of time flashed before him. Tara's flank was pressed against his for comfort as the visions entered her mind as well.
"I never imagined I'd be part of all this," she sighed.
Kitnee hovered nearby, contemplating. "If we survive, the Singers will tell of this story for thousands of eons."
"It isn't a story," his father corrected, his strong voice reminding Ecco of Teo, "It will be a veritable legend. In a thousand years' time, calves will have this locked in their memories and their songs will portray Ecco, the great hero, and my son, the Orca sidekick," he laughed.
Kitnee glared. "This is hardly the time for jokes, father."
"I know, I know," his expression hardened as his glance wavered from his son, to the vast waves of worried and anticipated cetaceans, and finally to Ecco's group. "I simply wonder what your mother would think of this."
"My mother? The Resie?" Kitnee smiled, "I expect she'd be very proud of me."
"We shall see, my son. The legend isn't over yet. And whether it ends up a tragedy depends on all of us now."
Enough now, my Singers, the Asterite announced loudly as the crowd hushed, The time approaches. Soon, the times of the past, the present, and the future will have a common link...at the exact time the moon rises. When that happens, the tide will gain its greatest power, and from that, so do the Glyphs. I will harness that power and open all three timelines at once. That is when all of you, led by the young Radero, will sing the Caller's Song. I know many of you don't know the notes, but just follow as best you can. The giant Glyph will rise to the heavens, its power prepared to seal the river of time into its true course for good. However, in order to do that, one factor must be destroyed.
"What is that, Asterite?" Risho the Little Blue inquired.
That is I. When the time streams are open, and the Caller's Song has reached its peak, Ecco must travel into the past, when I first arrived. He is the only one of all here with immortality. He must destroy me.
Ecco's eyes snapped open. "But Asterite, what about your life? All of the knowledge you have gained, in order to liberate yourself from the influence of the Vortex, will have been wasted."
No it will not be, Ecco. I have lived my live once, truly. My fate is sealed, and it's for the greater good. My Singer, you have given me my life. I lived paradise. Now my wish is for you to take it from me. My gift has been your curse.
"You do realize that the Caller's Song is a dangerous one. It has the power to destroy in the notes of the wicked."
Are you wicked, Caller? The Asterite answered his own question, You deem yourself wicked because of what you have done. You must not let the words of this demon pierce your soul. You may have been a factor in destruction, unwittingly. Now, you will willingly factor in healing.
The Singers, the Sky Killers, and the Asterite all faced the possessed Tiderider and his horde of dark shadows summoned from new dimensions.
"What are you going to do," Tiderider chuckled maniacally, "You cannot possibly seal me. I have this power, remember?" At his cue, Trellia suddenly doubled over in pain. She screamed out, for her mind once again was filled with her greatest fear.
"Get out of my MIND!" Trellia shouted, trying to open her eyes as if they were sealed shut, "Don't do this to Tiderider! NO! STOP!"
Then, just as quickly as it happened, she was released from the hold of darkness, her lone star shining intensely. But instead of breaking down, she slowly cast a poisonous glare to the creature holding her love in bondage. "You have shamed me, and him, for the last time, demon..." she growled. "We cannot fight you, because Teo couldn't. But we know one entity who could."
"And who is that?" the evil one sneered, using Tiderider's eyes.
The Asterite answered for her as two holes opened in the time stream, showing two scenes played at the same moment in their times: Ecco's present, and the Earth's past.
Delphineus himself.
The sky darkened as Kii and the others witnessed the time stream opening. One with Trellia facing her own love, and one with Ecco facing his final destiny, determination in his ebony eyes showing up more defined than ever.
Kii shouted with excitement. "There is Ecco and the others! But what is going on?"
Now, Kii! All of you...sing!
As soon as the command was uttered, Kii led his pack of Land Singers in a chorus. The surroundings became dead quiet, as the notes reverberated around the world.
"Now everyone! Sing! Now!"
Radero whistled nervously. "But I don't know if I can..."
Enuia gently nuzzled him forward. "Go, my son. I have faith in you. Sing with them." Lonus nodded proudly.
And so, led by a nervous Radero, a determined Ecco, and his proud pod, every cetacean on the planet for miles around erupted in song. The humpback whales released their haunting melodies to the tune of the Caller's Song. The blue whales serenaded. The dolphins backed them up. The porpoises erupted in play as they too rang aloud. The Orcas, whose songs were always directed to the thrill of the hunt, were now ironically synchronized as one with their Singer cousins.
Slowly, surely, the giant crystal Glyph hovered out of the water and into the heavens, and with them, in the front, was Ecco.
The dark seas were silenced. Trellia listened to the vast chorus of cetaceans in the other times, and she could hear others of her pod starting to sing as well. The Asterite proudly looked on, then turned his confident gaze to the captured Tiderider. And for the first time, there was a fit of worry within them. Tiderider's body started fits of convulsions.
Trellia smiled, for the first time in ages. "Glyph Caller, we need your help as well."
The Caller whistled his assent. "I agree. Prayers to Delphineus that I don't end up destroying the Earth, as I nearly did long ago."
He waited until the notes of the song started over again. Then, he joined in, his voice stronger and more powerful than any other was. And those were the notes that started breaking Tiderider's bond.
His captor struggled, but to no avail. "No...his mind...resisting...me..." he roared, his voice warping between evil and the gentle voice of the original Singer.
The bond still held strong, though, until Trellia added just a few words into the song.
"I love you, Tiderider. Please free yourself."
Slowly, the trademark of the Caller appeared on his chest between the pectoral fins: a pattern mark of the Glyph. With that, the hold was released, and his body was dropped hard from many hundreds of feet up to the surface. Trellia ascended, and caught him.