Alma 138 A Wish Fufilled at the Bottom of the Sea

The Centlani Deep was the first major destination that Reed and Lu'um needed to reach in their journey. It was an unfathomably deep trench that laid past Haufin out into the open ocean that'd been taken along with the continent of Mulia at the time of the activation of the Heavenly Barrier.

Before Lacrima's wisp faded into oblivion after the fight at Cem-Elle, she had forewarned Reed that the Eventide of Faith, the final day for the continent, would befall the world in mere months and that he did not have much time left if he was to prevent the inevitable end.

Reed wanted to ask her more but he had been denied the opportunity. She had denied Reed and told him that if he was to correct his past failures and push the needle of fate toward another future, he would have to trust her. She only asked that he have faith in her words and not inquire about her cursed foreknowledge.

Lacrima had told Reed in her own words, "There is nothing worse than knowing the endless, indifferent, and repetitive pattern of woven fate. You do not deserve to suffer such a misery thing yet. Simply follow the path I set you forth and believe in my love for you, my poor, most beloved half."

Her words rung in a timbre most desolate -- both sorrowful and foreign, which unnerved Reed much at the time. In all the time he had known her, never had she spoken to him in such a manner. Unease filled his heart, as if to warn him of something terrible in the making. She sounded distantly hopeful up until the moment she faded away, a scene that had not left Reed's mind that day...

It was a place of perpetual darkness and hidden beauty, the Centlani Deep. The abyssal trench was home to different, exquisite forms of life that were adapted to pressures of the deep sea.

Giant whales, more than a three dozen meters in length, swam in the dark and illuminated the seemingly bottomless trench as they hunted for their favorite prey, tiny bioluminescent plankton that lived off Anima near the bottom of the titanic construct that had been built into the planet itself. Whenever these giants

Everything in the sea or rather, what was left of it, had been set on an evolutionary path unknown even to the Ancient Mulians. The Heavenly Barrier had changed the sea in ways that would have left them dumbfounded. For the last five thousand years since they'd left, much had changed beneath the waves.

It was an electric light show in Centlani Deep now, a place filled with all manner of strange and unknown life, even to Lu'um, who was presently having the time of her life recording everything that swam past them with her tome.

"We could've taken the elevator," Reed said, "But I suppose we would have missed out on a lot, huh? I mean, look just at this guy...!"

Reed gazed at a looming, colossal figure in the darkness as it inched past them at a glacial pace. Three eyeballs, each the size of their hovercraft stared right back at them. He noticed a curious glimmer within them, one that hinted the presence of some kind of sapience.

The creature, a massive type of sea turtle, seemed mildly interested in them as it cruised in the dark, illuminating the Centlani Deep with its brilliantly glowing shell.

This guy is, at a bare minimum, sixty meters wide and that's a conservative guess!

Reed and Lu'um landed the pocket bubble they'd entered the sea with on top of the massive turtle's shell and gazed at their surroundings. A colorful parade of the little lanterns they'd seen in Mardeimus had seemingly tagged along for the ride too, as they coasted on the sea turtle's wake for transportation.

In a weird, beautiful way, it was as if the sea turtle had a glowing halo around him made up of the bioluminescent jellyfish. Perhaps a royal entourage described the scene better, Reed thought.

At least the big guy doesn't seem to mind us from the looks of it... Seems like he got bored of us real quickly after we settled on top of his back.

Reed swore that he'd felt an almost indescribable feeling of majesty coming off of the turtle's gaze when it stared at them. As if it possessed a sense of pride not unlike themselves.

"This guy's probably the king of this place, right? I mean, we haven't seen anything bigger than it since we've gotten down here," said Reed as he inspected their surroundings in awe.

"You mean she, dear, and yes, she's the queen of this trench," said Lu'um, correcting Reed on his innocent mistake as she jotted down a flurry of notes into her tome.

"It's a girl?! How'd you figure that out? Do you know the physical characteristics of male and female turtles?"

Lu'um smirked and said," Yes, I do know how to differentiate them based on their biological features, but that's not how I figured out its sex."

"Then how did you do it?" said Reed in confusion.

Lu'um smiled and said, "I just asked her. Simple as that."

She did what now? Did she just imply that she talked to the turtle?!

He stared at the sea turtle with an astonished expression and then turned back to Lu'um and said, "So it's actually capable of conversation?! You speak turtle, Sweetcheeks?!"

The sea turtle suddenly turned it's head around and stared at Reed with an expression of contempt, but also pity, as if it were staring at someone hopeless.

When Reed noticed the sea turtle's expression he laughed out of the absurdity of it all. He couldn't even muster the will to feel offended that a sea turtle had looked down upon him.

What a beautiful, wondrous place this world is... to have created something as amazing this... Empress of the Sea.

And this entire place, too. It's a garden of ending marvels! Every nook and cranny of this undersea domain is chockfull of phenomenal sights and creatures!

This right here, this experience is worth all the pain I've had to endure since I first arrived in this world.

For the first time, Reed truly felt as if he'd crossed over into another world. The place he'd always dreamed of visiting before he went to sleep as a child.

And now, he had accomplished it. That little boy inside of Reed who'd always dreamt of an adventure beyond the dirty slums had finally gotten one of his wishes fulfilled.

Reed's eyes glistened a little bit as he struggled to keep his emotions in check and sniffled quietly as he softly laughed.

When Lu'um noticed the abrupt change in Reed's composure, she immediately put down her tome and said, "What's the matter, dear? What troubles you?"

"I-It's nothing big, honest! ...I'm just happy that I finally got to see something like this, that's all. Remember how I told that I'd always go bed dreaming about the magical worlds in my books?

...Well, look at me now, I'm in one of them right now! I'm riding the giant shell of a talking sea turtle in a bubble of air at the bottom of the sea!

You can't make this make stuff this stuff up, haha! ...I've thought that I've seen it all in this world, but I've been proven wrong today! This is the best thing I've ever seen, period."

Lu'um's expression softened when she heard Reed explain himself and then suddenly giggled. She waved her hands hurriedly and said, "Oh, no! I'm not laughing at you, dear, I swear! It's just that... well, she told me something pretty funny," as she nodded at the sea turtle.

She whispered in Reed's ear, "It seems that you've charmed her, dear. She said that you're pretty cute, even if you're a little dumb. Her name is

"I-It's nothing big, honest! ...I'm just happy that I finally got to see something like this, that's all. Remember how I told that I'd always go bed dreaming about the magical worlds in my books?

...Well, look at me now, I'm in one of them right now! I'm riding the giant shell of a talking sea turtle in a bubble of air at the bottom of the sea!

You can't make this make stuff this stuff up, haha! ...I've thought that I've seen it all in this world, but I've been proven wrong today! This is the best thing I've ever seen, period."

Lu'um's expression softened when she heard Reed explain himself and then suddenly giggled. She waved her hands hurriedly and said, "Oh, no! I'm not laughing at you, dear, I swear! It's just that... well, she told me something pretty funny," as she nodded at the sea turtle.

Chapter end