Heretical Fishing

Book 4: Chapter 43: Ten

As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, another beautiful day arrived on the shores of Tropica. I stood atop a giant platform of light, my solid chi giving me a wonderful spot from which to watch the churning ocean. I paused and took a deep breath. The salty air made a sense of great calm radiate from my core and throughout my entire body—but was immediately shattered as I ducked Maria’s... was that a roundhouse kick?

I narrowed my eyes at Cinnamon, wondering if this was her doing. When the troublesome little bunny let out a frustrated cry, I further suspected I was correct. And her following scream, which could be roughly translated to: punch his jawbone through his butt, eliminated any doubt.

“Cinnamon!” I yelled, laughing. “You need to chill!”

Ever the defiant daughter, she chose to shadowbox instead, burning the excess energy she got from watching our fight.

Before I could further chastize her, Maria’s fist lashed out, driving me back. Anyone that didn’t know us might have thought we were serious. At the very least, they would think I was the victim of domestic violence—if not outright mariticide in the near future. They’d be wrong, of course.

Though decidedly explosive, this was one of the ways we bonded; our exchange was more ‘choreographed dance’ than ‘street fight’. Even back when Maria had been a regular human, we tussled and play-fought, using it as an excuse to get close to each other.

We continued for another fifteen minutes or so, and as Maria’s attacks grew increasingly powerful, our friends lounged and chatted, gazing up at the light show we were putting on. With a series of eye movements and thoughts sent to one-another’s core, we agreed on a finishing move. I teleported behind her, pretending to grab her around the waist.

“Hiiii!” Slimes sang, slamming into my head and covering it just as he’d done to Duncan.

I wobbled on the spot, channeling my inner wrestler as I faked being dazed. Maria, to the cheers of the crowd, kissed her closed fist. Round and round it whirled, gathering momentum and promising to unleash a fight-ending blow. She shot forward, and enough force gathered in her limb to actually threaten me physically as it descended for the crown of my head.

I shook my body violently to make it seem like her energy was bouncing around me and growing stronger. Finally, I bent, clutched my stomach, and unleashed some of my own chi, giving the illusion that her attack had shot free of my back.

It was only a whisper of my power, but in retrospect, even that was too much.

A column of pure essence torrented into the sky, shimmering with pearlescent beauty. It wanted to explode outward, just as I’d accidentally let happen back in the capital. But I was in control now. I allowed myself a small smirk as I used my other partition—the one controlling the chi we stood on—to encase the pillar and deny its expansion. I had to add more power at the last moment, weaving strands of will from my core to ensure it didn’t detonate.

Still folded like a pretzel, I resumed my terrible job of acting. My back led the charge as I plummeted groundward, but that worked for me—my eyes faced the sky, so I was able to watch my condensed line of essence pierce the heavens.

***

In the center of the vast sea, where no ship had sailed since the days of old, the clouds were black as pitch. A storm had arrived. Waves taller than mountains rose up only to descend once more, tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of ocean slamming down with enough force to rip even land asunder. Violence on such a grand scale was almost too hard to comprehend. If one could harness the energy of such a storm, they could conquer kingdoms—perhaps an entire continent.

Thousands of fathoms beneath these crushing waves, paying them as much attention as a god would a bug, an ancient being neared the end of their task.

Now that the elemental spirits had become one again, scouring the remains of the archaic forest had taken even less time than they’d thought it would. They’d torn through the vast majority in hours, their impressive mass able to ooze out in all directions. Each chi-infused fossil they had encountered was a blessing—another cause for celebration—and they’d accumulated no small number. Though more than plentiful, it was also vexing.

They had found nine.

Most beings, even those that had taken the first step on the stairwell to ascension, were woefully ignorant of the power that numbers possessed. And among those that weren’t, most of them believed for the wrong reason. It was ever a source of frustration to the earth elemental that superstition was observed by both the most-enlightened and the least-idiotic of beings, the latter’s passionate stupidity discrediting the former’s wisdom.

Nine... they mused as they traced the border of the sunken continent, desperately destroying anything that could hide another prize.

It wasn’t what the number was that haunted them; it was what the number wasn’t. One short of ten, a single fossil from attaining the divine number of perfection. Of completeness. If they had found seven or eight, they would have long ago left this place. By now, they could have rejoined the rest of their brothers and sisters. They could have already resumed the hunt for the newly awakened lightning elemental, perhaps even chosen a place to lay in wait, the trap ready to be sprung.

But alas, they hadn’t. They’d found nine. And so the search continued. It was worth it, they reminded themself. To find ten relics of cosmic value was to have pleased the heavens—and not the false heavens that the former gods of this world had called home. The true heavens. The place in which entities of real importance dwelled.

With such a number involved, the worst possibility was that finding them would draw the attention of these enlightened beings. The best possibility, though—which the elemental dared not ponder overlong—was that the heavens had placed the relics there for them to find.

They returned to the present, focusing on their surroundings to estimate how much out the outer crust was left. They replayed their hours-long passage in seconds, and the answer they got made their mass roil. Their task was almost complete. Only a third of the border remained. Once they destroyed the last of it, there would be no more—their chance of finding a tenth relic would be as dead as the continent the forest had grown... on...

One of the several permineralized fossils they’d absorbed in the last second felt different from the rest. The elemental halted their passage, all of their awareness flooding inward to find a tree-shaped rock, its crystalline structure... filled with chi. Their combined wills slammed into it, shattered the encasing shell, and uncovered something priceless.

They had discovered a tenth relic. Their mission truly was blessed by the heavens…

If someone had been thousands of fathoms above, they would have witnessed an event equal parts terror-inducing and awe-inspiring. Beneath a sky of roiling clouds, with winds hundreds of knots-an-hour howling past, the ocean froze. Its mountainous peaks wavered, shuddered, and sank as an unseen force vibrated powerfully enough to fissure the continental plate below.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Back on what had been the ocean floor, the elemental continued radiating its seismic shocks. They were sucked hundreds of meters into the crack in the planet’s crust that their exultation had created, the water surrounding it becoming superheated by the molten rock below. A weaker elemental might have been bothered by the heat. Perhaps incinerated immediately. But magma was the cousin of earth, and the elemental was anything but weak.

So strong was their celebration that the rest of their brothers and sisters stirred. Scattered across the ocean, squirreled away within caverns, trenches—and even a dormant volcano—their awareness flickered. The main body of the elemental could have pulled the tendrils of power back. Could have let them all fall asleep once more.

That was no longer necessary, however.

As their conscious minds awoke, many lashed out, furious just as the first sister had been upon learning of the oldest brother’s perceived betrayal. She separated herself from him and urged all of them to be patient. Ordered them to hear his tale before judging. Knowing her to be a being of sheer logic, they heeded her warning—if only temporarily.

Come, he sent, retelling past and present history in all its glory. Rejoin us.

Within moments, the memories settled within them, and even the most contrarian of them pulsed with understanding. His actions, though extreme, had been brilliant. Perhaps perfect. And the heavenly beings high above, the entities that reigned over the cosmos, might have orchestrated it. At the very least, they would now be watching—such was the significance of the ten powerful relics.

Take your time, the elemental urged. Do not be hasty, lest the newborn being find—

A blast of chi erupted from the west, severing the elementals’ communication. The essence was pure—completely unaspected. If that had been all, fear would have shaken the first brother’s heart. But there was more. A second surge came, this one intentional, controlled, and much, much more powerful.

Both left as fast as they had arrived, shooting off into the endless darkness above. When they left this planet’s orbit and communication was no-longer impeded, the first brother and sister reached out with tendrils of their power, reconnecting with the other parts of themself. Together, they echoed the same sentiment.

Flee!

They needn’t have done so. Every single one of the other elementals was already retreating, slipping from their places of slumber and following the trails of chi back to the main body. Moving toward the source of the unaspected chi went against the first brother and sister’s very instincts, so they decided to remain still. The others could come to them.

Their minds remained split as they tried to decipher the identity of the dread-being brave or foolish enough to use chi that bore no aspect.

***

I help up a finger, cutting Paul off mid-sentence as something tickled my nose. Covering my face with an arm, I sneezed, shaking my head as the sensation faded. “Sorry, mate. Maria’s strike must have dislodged part of my brain. That sent it flying, I think. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too important.”

Maria patted my shoulder. “That’s implying that there’s anything important up there to lose, my love.”

“I feel like I’d usually be offended by something like that… is that the bit I sneezed out? The part that takes offense?” I leaned down toward Paul and flared my nostrils, also crossing my eyes for good measure. “Can you check for me, mate?”

Paul’s uninhibited laughter was music to my ears. So, naturally, I had to coax more out. Tilting my head side-to-side, I circled him, following his field of view every time he tried to look away. “I need your help, Paul! Only your fingers are small enough to get up there and check!”

“S-Stop!” He giggled, fighting for breath.

“You show weakness, junior! Let this one share some pointers with—”

“M-mom! Fischer is—”

“Junior, you dare?” I got closer and opened my eyes as wide as possible. “You are courting death—”

“Fischer! What are you doing to my son?”

“Elder Helen!” I went bolt upright, my hands snapping to my sides, then bowed at the waist. “This lowly one greets you!”

She sighed. “At least you won’t have to deal with him for long, Paul. If we’re lucky, he might not come back from his trip.”

“Ohhhhh,” Maria said. “Buuurn!”

But I just looked at Barry and raised an eyebrow, unable to hide my smirk. He blanched.

Helen looked at me, then her husband, then me again. “... Barry?”

“Uhhh, yes dear?”

“Why is Fischer looking at you like he just caught you drinking straight from the whiskey barrel?”

“I…” His weirdly muscular fingers fumbled with the hem of his shirt. “I may have said that it might perhaps be possible—just a possibility, mind you—for Paul to... come. On the fishing trip, I mean.”

“Huh,” she replied, her tone unnaturally flat. “And when were you planning on telling me about this decision?”

“Yesterday. It, errr... Can we talk about this in private?”

“Why would we, Barry?” The glint in her eyes was sharper than a System-made hook. “You seem to be discussing our business with other people, so why shouldn’t I?”

All at once, she broke into a smile, and laughter bubbled up from her core. “Your face, Barry. You—” She cackled like a madwoman. “Oh, gods above. Of course Paul can go.” She waved a dismissive hand my way. “It was weird that you didn’t trust Fischer with him in the first place.”

“Yeah, Barry.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Super weird of you.”

Believing that Helen had actually been pissed, most of the breakfast group had taken off. Sue and Sturgill had straight-up carried their table—still covered in food and coffee—away over the dunes. Only those coming on the trip had remained, as had my animal pals, Maria, and Helen.

Two people were unexpected though, and I gazed their way, my heart filled with hope. When I looked past them and spotted a pair of packed bags on the sand...

Well, that could only mean one thing.

“Before you speak,” I said, “I need you to know that I will not be okay if you pretend to come, then bail.”

One of them opened their mouth to reply, but I forged on.

“Yes, yes. I know—I deserve that and more. Tenfold, probably. But I’m serious. I might explode. And given how much power I have all up inside of me—don’t look at me like that, Maria. Get your head out of the gutter. Given that power, I might actually explode, and... Why are you guys not saying anything?” I turned back to Maria. “Did I freeze time again? Why are they not saying anything?”

Ruby shook her head at me. “You didn’t give us a chance to speak.”

“Aye,” Steven said. “You sound like Paul that one time he had a coffee.”

“Ehhhh.” Trent made a so-so gesture with his hand. “I think Fischer was worse.”

“Yeah!” Paul agreed. “I was nowhere near as bad as him!”

“Oi! Stop using me as a measurement for how annoying something is! And don’t change the subject, Ruby! Are you coming or not?”

Steven and Ruby shared a glance, and the latter nodded. “We’ve been missing out these past weeks, and there’s no place safer for me than by your side. We want to come.”

All I could do for a moment was blink back. I took a deep breath, tried to contain myself, then made a noise that was definitely manly and not at all embarrassing. “That’s it! I’m overwhelmed! Cuddle puddle! Stat!”

Teddy got to me before I could get the last word out. One paw went around my torso, the other around Maria’s, and he pulled us against his ridiculously strong yet still squishy frame. It was just what the doctor ordered. And then the rest of them arrived.

Pelly and Bill landed atop Teddy’s shoulder, their wings making wind wash down over me. There was an orange blur to my right, followed by a very happy steam of bubbles, and Sergeant Snips came rocketing in at the perfect angle. Her many spikes were covered in blue chi. I rubbed one with my chin, finding it smooth to the touch.

Brigadier Borks and Cinnamon arrived as a tag team. I wondered how Borks planned on cramming his way in, but then he transformed. Rather than the Chihuahua I expected, he slid in as a Whippet—the smaller, anxiety-disordered cousin of the Greyhound. He trembled with excitement as he slid toward the center, but small as he might be, he got stuck. Thankfully—or not, depending on your perspective—Cinnamon followed through with a perfectly aimed push kick right on Borks’s rump. They both tumbled in and came to a rest atop Snips’s shell.

A dozen or so of the Buzzy Boys flew in and found places to nestle in, their wings vibrating a message of appreciation from the entire hive mind. Pistachio let out a neutral steam of bubbles, resting one of his gigantic snippers against the back of my leg. From any other of the spirit beasts, it would have made me worry. From my lobster pal, it was on par with the most affection he’d ever shown.

“Okay, gang,” I said, reluctantly relaxing my embrace. “I think it’s about time we set sail...”