Deep beneath the waves on Earth, the undersea city of the merkin was abuzz with news. A new aquatic predator had recently been sighted in the area, one that was rather unusual in both its appearance and method of hunting. The merkin themselves referred to it as the ‘hungry wave’.
Perhaps the most unusual thing about this predator was that it did not target those below the sea like themselves. Rather, it only targeted creatures roaming the surface of the waves, or those within a few hundred meters of its surface.
We should warn the surface-singers. One of the merkin said, voicing his opinion as many others echoed their agreement, their voices forming a deep, mental chorus. The surface-singers have done no harm by us, and have given us much help over the years. To turn our song away from this threat would sour our voice for generations.
Opposing his group was a far smaller one, those who believed that the hungry wave was not their problem, and that it was the will of the Divine to give birth to a creature that hunted the surface-singers. Still, their voices were far more quiet than those of the larger group, with the city’s leader standing by at the side.
After listening to both sides, he determined that the side with the greatest will to act was the one with the majority vote. With that confirmed, he nodded his head, swimming to his coral abode. Once there, he retrieved his communication stone to make the call.
Libris sat atop a small raft deep within the ocean of Sanctum. As a man who loved to live alongside the water, his home was far from what one would call normal. A house made purely of water, positioned along the surface of the ocean. Every now and then, he would leave his home to drift for hours, maybe even days on his raft.
However, his relaxing trip this time was destined to be cut short as light flashed through the sky. Before Libris could react, a familiar figure was standing atop his raft, her luminescent tails reflecting off the waves around them. “Lady Tsubaki.” Libris stood on the raft, offering a respectful bow.
“Mister Storn.” Tsubaki nodded in greeting. “I apologize for disturbing you, but I have a mission that I believe you are most suitable for.”
Libris tilted his head in confusion. There had only been one point in his memory that he was truly called on for a mission. “Do you require me to scry again?” He asked with uncertainty. Surely, by now they would have devised other methods for locating individuals or objects on their own.
Tsubaki shook her head to deny his thoughts. “No, this time it is properly for your domain of water. A new creature has been sighted in the oceans of Earth, and I would like you to investigate it in your capacity as a god.”
A normal monster would never cause the servants of the Citadel to seek out a deity like himself, causing Libris to feel cautious towards this mission. “Can I ask for the details, first?”
As if expecting this, Tsubaki nodded her head. “The creature in question manifests in the form of a large wave, its crest filled with foaming white teeth. These teeth are almost indiscernible, according to our sources, and it appears to be highly carnivorous.”
“Oddly, the creature only attacks those on the water’s surface, rather than finding prey below, where they would be more plentiful. Furthermore, it is most strange in that the source reported that the creature did not feel like an elemental.”
Libris nodded his head, able to think of a few things that could cause such a situation. “Was there a core to the creature?” Most creatures that took the form of an element had some type of core, even if it was well-hidden within their bodies. For a being made of water, this would typically be rather easy to spot.
“Not that they were able to discern. As the creature is carnivorous, it only targets those with physical bodies, not those who have reached perfection or godhood. Thus, I don’t believe you will be in much danger on this mission.” Tsubaki assured him. “What I want is for you to find the creature and identify its nature. Given the peculiarities of this case, I feel like it might be connected to the void. If your divine control of water does not work, don’t hesitate to return to Sanctum. We don’t know what will happen if this creature is provoked.”
Libris nodded his head again, actually feeling more relieved after hearing the details. If it was a being made of water, then it was truly something he was specialized to deal with. Furthermore, if his powers didn’t work, he was simply free to leave. “I understand. Since this is a mission–”
Tsubaki held her hand up to stop him. “I’ve already prepared a payment.” She said as she tapped at the air, transferring a not inconsiderable amount of faith to his ‘account’. “A down payment. If you get any usable information, you will receive an additional payment.”
Libris smiled, happy to have a considerable down payment. As this was a mission to use his divine power, he would have to consume his own energy to do so. Without a church of his own on Earth, it was rather difficult for Libris to naturally accumulate divinity. “Well, I suppose all that is left is to ask where the creature appears.”
Hearing his question, Tsubaki shook her head. “That’s part of the problem. Despite its presence only just being reported, there are traces of it appearing all over the world on Earth. Even some larger lakes and rivers appear to show signs of smaller versions of the creature.” Tsubaki had mobilized Blank and his AI retinue after learning of the monster’s existence, feeling that the possibility of a void incursion was high. If every body of water in the world turned into an enemy, it would spell the end of most organic life on the planet.
Libris furrowed his brows, nodding his head. “Have the seafaring vessels been recalled?”
Tsubaki again shook her head. “There has not yet been time. I only learned of this myself yesterday, and received the full report only minutes ago. My main body is currently issuing an order for all maritime vessels to urgently dock, but there is no telling how long the order will take to carry out.”
“I understand. In that case, I wish to enter the Mortal Realm.” Golden mist spread along his figure, causing him to vanish from his raft. Having used the transportation command created by the Goddess of Travel herself, Libris was quietly deposited onto the surface of Earth’s ocean, the same spot he had originally traveled to Sanctum from.
Naturally, his raft was no longer present, having long ago been washed away with the tide. That was of no importance to the green-skinned deity, however, as he simply walked along the surface of the waves, muttering to himself. “It doesn’t attack divines like myself… then, it will probably go after cargo vessels or low-flying monsters.”
With that in mind, Libris strode forward, the water carrying him a great distance with every step. This was a peculiar technique that he had created called the Tidal Step. As long as what he was looking for was within the same body of water that he was connected to, he could summon his own surface current to guide him. While walking along this current, every step he took would cross several kilometers at a time until he reached his destination.
His current goal was to find the nearest vessel along the water’s surface, and it took him roughly half an hour of walking before he saw one on the horizon. However, there was something quite peculiar about this vessel. Chunks of the hull seemed to be torn out of it, long gashes formed that resembled teeth marks.
As he arrived at the side of the ship, a small wave lifted him onto its deck, allowing him to see the state of the crew. It was unheard of for a ship of this size to not have defensive measures in place to deter or eliminate monsters. Yet, he saw scattered corpses littered about the deck, not a single one fully intact.
Shaking his head, he was about to leave the ship to its fate when he heard something rattling below the deck. With a flash of movement, he appeared near the source of the sound, startling a muscular felyn in his late forties. The man looked like a sailor if ever Libris saw one, though his face was pale and expression cowed.
“What happened here?” The God of Water asked, doing his best to keep his voice gentle for fear of damaging the man’s already fragile mental state.
“The water… the water came alive.” The man reported. “Sharp teeth, tearing claws… everyone screamed. They tried to calm the waves, even freeze them, but nothing worked. They kept coming… coming in waves.” The man laughed deliriously as he said that.
“What about you?” Libris pressed, noticing that the man was entirely uninjured minus a very small cut on one arm. The blood dripped down onto the wet floor, where water was steadily pouring in from the gaps of the hull.
“Heheh… I was in the brig. Caught drinking on duty. But I saw it all from the portcullis. Ten, fifty, a hundred meters. Each one bigger than the last. We didn’t care at first, we get waves all the time. But when the first one damaged our ship, and we couldn’t calm the water, we knew something was wrong. They didn’t even trigger the barriers…”
Libris shook his head, realizing that he wasn’t likely to get anything else out of the man. “Your ship is sinking. You can either come with me, and I’ll send you back to shore after my job’s done, or you can go down with your ship.”
In truth, it would not have been difficult for Libris to send the man directly to shore with his divine power. However, he needed a living organic creature with him to have any hope of summoning the deadly waves. While he did not feel particularly happy about using the man as bait, he had little in the way of an alternative.
“D-Don’t leave me here, please.” The man pleaded, realizing clearly that sinking with the ship was a death sentence. They were too far from the shore for a druid’s portal to work, and the ship did not have a planar gate.
Libris gave a small nod, controlling the water to carry himself and the sailor back out of the ship, and onto the surface of the water. Now outside, he could clearly see how the ship was sinking into the water, tilting back as its nose began to point skyward
With a sigh, Libris began walking again, using his Tidal Step to carry himself and the man forward. However, he barely made it three steps before feeling that something was wrong with the water around him.
While the surface appeared relatively normal, Libris could sense an unnatural undercurrent, one that seemed to be forming a circle around them. Whenever they moved, this current would move with them. Reaching out with his power, he felt that there were several large points within the circular current that seemed to be driving the water. Like sharks circling their prey.
Looking to his side, he saw the drops of blood dripping off the man’s arm, realizing that they had likely been drawn by the presence of his blood. Oddly, Libris could not feel the presence of any kind of creature within the water, just the water itself acting as a driving point for the current.
One of those driving points swam away, weakening the current, before Libris saw a large wave rising in the distance. With the rest of the ocean peaceful for the moment, this wave naturally stood out as it rushed straight towards them at high speeds. Having heard the report from Tsubaki, Libris’s eyes focused on the crest of the wave. Sure enough, he was able to see rows of sharp teeth protruding just beneath the crest itself, as if formed from the very water within the wave.
Reaching his hand out, Libris focused his domain of water on the swelling wave, forcing it to a standstill. Although he did not force the wave to collapse, it was no longer able to move towards him. Still, he saw those same teeth remaining in the water, puzzled by the very existence of what he saw.
This is clearly just water. I would recognize an elemental monster immediately. But… the water is warm. Unnaturally so for the area. Feeling it out again, Libris found that the circular currents were also considerably warmer than the rest of the surrounding water. So that’s why freezing didn’t work, the water was warming itself faster than their spells could freeze it.
As he was considering this, three more of the driving forces for the current vanished, and he could see a greater wave forming on the horizon. Like a great shadow stretching the border between the sea and the sky, it was quickly moving in his direction.
