Alma 139 A Fool He Was No

Only their empress had the strength to venture into the deepest regions of the Centlani deep without fear of certain death. It would have been a death sentence for them had they followed her any further.

Down below, where the seafloor lay, existed a region of pure chaos and unending conflict. The bottommost layer of the Centlani Deep was a place reserved for monsters. A den for creatures of unprecedented ferocity and cunning; only the strongest were permitted to survive at the bottom, where prey was scarce and always in demand.

Terrifying monsters lived in the great deep. Of that, there was no doubt. Immense seserpents, devil-whales, sespiders, and fiend-eels laid waiting in the dark for an opportune moment. To the creatures at the bottom of Centlani Deep, there was nothing they would not do to survive another day. Surviving was all that mattered to them.

These cruel beasts loved to imitate the bioelectric patterns of weaker prey as bait in clever schemes.

They knew how to use their enormous, bioluminescent bodies for maximum effect. When they were hungry, they'd mask themselves and dim their lights so as to appear weaker and timider than they actually were. Sometimes they'd even imitate the light patterns of other prey, too. Anything was fine as long as they could bait an unsuspecting idiot close enough for them to tear apart in a single bite.

Thousands of years at the bottom of the sea, specifically were the Anima was the densest had transformed everything in incredible ways. Although the original creatures in Centlani Deep had not possessed an affinity with Anima, they had eventually developed one over the course of more than a hundred generations.

Even Mother-Bound-In-Stars, who ruled the uppermost half of Centlani Deep, did not dare venture too far into abyssal depths beneath her underwater kingdom. What laid at the bottom of the sea was unbound carnage, desolation, and cruelty...

"That was how it usually was down here," Lu'um said, "but it seems that things have changed down here... for the worse. Mother-Bound-In-Stars said that not too long ago, something strange has begun to happen."

It was pitch-dark and silent in the abyssal layer of Centlani Deep, far too calm for the likes of everyone present. Not a single sign of life could be found in the black of the deep, where monsters should have been waiting for them.

Only floating, bloated corpses. Faint outlines of gigantic, dead creatures could be seen in the murky distance whenever the light coming off Mother-Bound-In-Stars's glowing shell fell upon them.

None survived whatever had afflicted them. For the creatures of the abyssal deep, there had been no escape. They all silently perished in the black. Had their bloated corpses not risen up from the blackened crypt they called home, Mother-Bound-In-Stars would have never discovered the truth in time.

"As soon as Mother-Bound-In-Stars discovered what had happened down here, she ordered all of her subjects to flee upward as far as they could manage. She herded the more mindless fellows, like the little lanterns away from the depths, too. They would not have survived had it not been for her efforts on preserving the ecosystem down here as much as possible," said Lu'um.

Reed sighed. This tragedy fell on his shoulders, too. Only now did he realize the true ramifications of his actions, or rather his lack thereof. Although it could be argued that Centlani Deep was better off without the violent monsters that lurked at the bottom, it could not be argued that they still deserved the right to live.

Life was life. Nothing more, nothing less. It was innocent in all of its terrible and majestic forms, despite what Man might think of it.

The brutal nature of the creatures at the bottom was something they had developed only as a means of survival. They, too, desired to live. Reed had no doubt that it was incredibly demanding to live at the bottom of, perhaps, one of the deepest oceanic trenches on the planet.

He felt a pang of guilt that he had been so narrow-minded. That he had only considered the safety of the lives on the surface. Of those who possessed intelligent minds capable of higher thought and reasoning, like himself.

It was a strange thing, though, and he knew it deep down. He had promised himself that he would protect the world and save it, if only to ensure that the people he cared about lived another day.

This was true; he only acted in the world's best interests for the sake of the few, and not the many. Not for Humanity, the Avunians, the Eisalons, or everyone else. Sure, it still hurt him to see the suffering of the many, and of the world but in the end, he had decided to focus on the few precious that mattered to him.

Reed was impartial and fair in that all too human way, in that he was only truly concerned for his family and friends, and had only committed himself to save the world for the sake.

That was what Reed had thought, and yet... he felt like he had failed in some unexplainable sort of way, different than he had with those on the surface.

Although the people, the many races on the surface were also innocents caught up in his failure, Reed felt especially guilty when it came to the creatures that had died here, at the bottom of the sea. He could not even begin to describe how wrong it felt to have caused the deaths of the most innocent kind of life, that of animals.

It was frightening how little he had paid attention to the suffering of what he would have considered mere animals, had he not met Mother-Bound-In-Stars. How he had not even considered the consequences his failure had upon the whole world. ...They, too, were living beings.

Reed couldn't properly describe the shame he felt, but he knew that he failed them the most out of everything on Mulia. He had made them pay a heavy price that would he never be able to repay. After all, they had all died...

They were innocent monsters -- no, just survivors. Reed corrected himself.

Survivors that I ended up killing because of my negligence and cowardice. ...I have to protect what little remains, or else...!

When they finally reached the bottom of the sea, Reed and Lu'um gasped. It was far worse they could have ever predicted.

Innumerable skeletons littered the seafloor to the point that mountains had formed across the desolate plain, as far as they could see into the dark. While that had been a horrific sight to behold, that was not what had caught their attention.

It was the tremendous fissure below that seemingly stretched forever that caught them unaware.

The festering wound shone in the darkness with a hostile light reminiscent of the toxic miasma that belonged to the Infestation.

Lu'um pushed Reed and herself off of Mother-Bound-In-Stars's shell and said, "From here on, we're on our own. She's offered to take us even further below but it'll likely kill her, so I told her that we'll be fine."

Reed gazed at Mother-Bound-In-Stars and said, "Your people need you now more than ever, Your Highness. You would be wise to remember where your true responsibilities lie. Take this morsel of advice from... a great fool who had to acquire it the hard way."

The Empress of the Sea shook her head slowly, as if to imply that Reed was wrong and then gazed at Lu'um one final time before she eventually began her ascent towards her people above.

"...I wonder what I said that was wrong," said Reed as he stared at her shrinking figure in the dark. Mother-Bound-In-Stars had already turned into a little dot of light in the distance, barely visible now.

Lu'um gazed at the tiny dot of light in the distance as well and said, "She thought that you are too hard on yourself and... that you are no fool. ...And I completely agree with her."

A small smile for on Reed's lips and he said, "Now you're just trying to make me blush."

They'd reached the place that Lacrima had sent them to, the bottom of Centlani Deep. 

One of the five main fissures present on Mulia that threatened the stability of the continent. Repairing them would not be an easy task, but Reed and Lu'um could manage the feat, they would be able to postpone the end long enough for the second stage of the plan. 

A small smile for on Reed's lips and he said, "Now you're just trying to make me blush."

They'd reached the place that Lacrima had sent them to, the bottom of Centlani Deep. 

One of the five main fissures present on Mulia that threatened the stability of the continent. Repairing them would not be an easy task, but Reed and Lu'um could manage the feat, they would be able to postpone the end long enough for the second stage of the plan. 

Chapter end