*Bing-Bong*
Wait a minute...hey, you rembered to lock up while we were out, right?
|I should have, yes.|
Why do our records show unauthorized access?
|Huh?|
*Bing-Bong*
________________________________________
’So she’s the lost princess of Undertow, huh? She looks the part...but why do I feel jealous?’
Terra had rather complicated feelings about seeing her father reunited with a princess that went missing for most of her life. Especially when she noticed the age difference.
Chronologically speaking, both she and her were born in the sa year, in that case, they both should’ve been about the sa age.
Visually, that appeared to be the case.
In reality, Terra was at least three to four tis older than Jin Fang.
Now, this may seem like a strange detail to harp over, but this ant that she had been by Tortallion’s side for all of her life.
Through the good, the bad and the in-between.
Which is why Terra felt a little…jealous, about the way he was treating this girl like she was so long lost daughter of his.
It was silly, she knew that, but…it’s hard to deny one’s feeling, when one is half made from a creature born of feeling.
Thankfully(?), she wasn’t going to be alone in this matter.
[Hey, hey! What’s the matter, Smolheel? Crab got your tongue?,] Slug-at-arms asked while siding up to Terra.
At this point in ti, the Neo Storm Knights(na pending) were settling in getting to know their new compatriots, which included Zhen Liu’s cousins and the kaijin possessing them.
Which led to the revival and modification of an old question.
…
"Wait, so you guys were technically made from the power of the Storm Queen, a previous ’Kaijin Lord’, or whatever the term is?"
"More or less, yes," Wave Breaker confird.
"Although, our forms were slightly influenced by the current Lord."
"Huh…yet again, I need to ask why he keeps making unusually sexy looking kaijin then…"
"I’m telling you, it’s psychological warfare!"
…
[It’s nothing, Slug-at-arms,] Terra dismissed with a wave of her hand.[Its just a montary weakness of the…hang on…]
Before Terra could finish sharing her feelings, she finally noticed that sothing in the air felt wrong.
Yet...familiar...
[Slug-at-arms...do you sense sothing weird in the air too, or is it just ?]
[No...I sense it too...but I can’t pin a finger as to why or where...]
...
[Kaijin Lord of the Current Era. I apologize for disturbing you while you’re-]
[There’s no need to be sorry, Tortallion,] Zhen Liu interrupted in [Chaos] speech. [I know why you’re here.]
[You...you do?]
[Jin Fang? I think this is the part where you should introduce yourself.]
[? But I don’t...huh.]
Prompted by Zhen Liu’s words, Jin Fang floated to Tortallion’s side, but not to introduce herself quite yet. Instead, she began to float around and examine Tortallion with a more critical eye.
As for Tortallion himself though, he was simply over the moon.
’This feeling is...strangely nostalgic.’,
[So you’re the last of my mother’s kaijin, right? I must say, I’m impressed...but also confused.]
[Thank you, princess...wait a minute, confused?]
[Yes,] Jin Fang nodded. [Why do you carry your shell as a shield and not have it a part of your body? Aren’t turtle spines connected to their shells?]
At this question, a wave of nostalgia washed over Tortallion in an instant. For he recalled that a rather long ti ago, she had asked him this very question before.
Albeit, she was much smaller than...and had significantly less teeth.
Which is why, instead of giving a more straightforward answer like he would normally do, Tortallion gave the sa answer that he gave her all of those years ago.
[Well, I carry my shell as a shield, because I’m a very special turtle. One ant to protect little princesses like you.]
[Little princesses like...huh.]
Once again, Jin Fang was flabbergasted upon being referred to with that particular title.
For years, she had always considered herself a maid, an assassin, an attendant, an orphan and a lover. So now, being suddenly gifted the title of royalty like so fairy tale or illegitimate heir felt...odd.
Odd in the sense that it felt right and wrong at the sa ti.
It felt wrong being given such a title...and yet, it felt right coming from this kaijin that was older than any human she ever t.
It almost felt as if this wasn’t the first ti she...wait...
[That’s not the complete saying.]
[Oh?]
[You...used to carry on your back,] Jin Fang managed to say after thinking in silence for a bit, a mory from a long ti ago suddenly popping back into existence. [And you’d say that the other reason you could remove your shell was so that you could shade while you carried ...]
[Yes...I did say that,] Tortallion nodded as a single tear rolled down his face.
This was a reunion that was a long ti coming.
For Jin Fang, it was a chance to learn about a past that she didn’t know she had until recently.
For Tortallion, this was a chance to finally find closure with one of the many regrets of his life.
And by spending ti with each other, they’d be able to-
"Oh, what the fuck?"
"Huh?"
[Is sothing the matter, Kaijin...wait a minute...why am I sensing such…an impending feeling of dread…]
"It probably has sothing to do with what my zakos are seeing. Apparently, the Fallen weren’t investing all of their eggs in a single basket…"
...What Zhen Liu was referring to…
In the dark waters of the [Abyssal Lands], an unusual skirmish was taking place.
Unlike the usual battles for survival, of beasts attempting to devour one another in the great ga of life, this battle was between two forces.
One side, a horde of unusual artificial humanoids, shaped into forms that vaguely resemble creatures of the deep, but were made of a variety of materials ranging from bone to wood to tal. These were the zakos of Zhen Liu, the current kaijin lord.
On the other, a massive castle, embedded into the body of an even more massive scallop that served as the ho to a clan of warriors that had long since been shunned by society at large for a cri their ancestors committed a long ti ago. This was the stronghold of the Fallen, a clan of warriors that were Zhen Liu’s enemy by blood right.
For the past few minutes or so, the horde of zakos were trying their damndest to breach the defenses of the Darkshell Citadel, while the aforentioned Citadel and its denizens were doing their damndest to blast them out of the water using a special defensive array.
On the surface, it appeared that the Citadel was nigh impenetrable and that the horde were essentially doing nothing more than banging their heads against an unbreakable wall.
However, the reality was that the defensive array was slowly getting worn down by the constant flow of zakos.
Eventually, the zakos would’ve won through sheer attrition.
Zhen Liu’s horde of zakos were near infinite and every one of them were inexhaustible, while the people controlling the array were a limited number of humans that would eventually falter due to stamina loss.
However, while this was happening, the Fallen were adding the finishing touches to sothing that was going to flip the board entirely.
And drown the entirety of Undertow...like it had almost done so over a century ago.
...
"Aether crystals have been set into the focal points of the main control array. Initiating transfer."
"Flood chambers have been sufficiently filled with [Shadow Water]. Activating concentration arrays to further refine."
"[Dragon Skull] is prid and ready. We can fire as soon we breach the surface."
"Good...good."
A cruel smile ford on Matriarch Gao Shen Yuan’s face as she oversaw the final touches.
This entire day had been a trial and a half, hell, this entire month was just bullshit situation after bullshit situation.
But now, finally, it was all coming to a head.
And that head was taking the form of a giant beast of weapon that was a thing of legends.
Literally.
"Matriarch, the honor is yours."
"Very well...ARISE, [SHADOW SOVEREIGN]! AND BRING ABOUT YOUR JUDGENT, AS YOU DID CENTURIES AGO."
KYRRRUUUUU!
...
KYRRRUUUUU!
[Bah!]
[That hurts!]
[What…]
[...the…]
[Fuck…]
From their point in the air, Zhen Liu and his entourage were stunned silent as an unnatural roar ripped through the cavern and shook their ear drums.
And it wasn’t just because the roar was laced with Dragon Force.
The sound was loud, ten tis louder than any natural disaster and a thousand tis louder than any beast was capable of making.
To a majority of those present, this sound was unnatural, terrifying and bone chilling.
To Zhen Liu though, it reminded him of sothing he was hoping to never hear.
’That roar doesn’t belong to anything natural...it belongs to a machine!"
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