Chapter 1 - The Return
The Ward Spire | Tritanus| Aleria
The chamber within the spire was dimly lit, casting elongated shadows over the walls adorned with the intricate carvings of sea beasts, and the Tritanus lineage.
The only sound that broke the silence was the rhythmic tapping of the old scholar's staff against the coral-encrusted floor.
His eyes, gray and clouded with age yet sharp with wisdom, seemed to flicker as he looked upon the haughty princess standing before him.
The iridescent light from the bioluminescent moss growing in the crevices of the room added an ethereal glow to his gray hair and the ancient robes he wore, passed down through generations of his family.
"Your Highness, I must urge you to reconsider," the old scholar, Archivist Thaleos, implored, his voice wavering as he spoke to the figure standing before him.
"This spire, erected by the First King Alistair himself, has served as a watchtower over the sea's very essence for centuries now. Its quite literally our only tool that can sense disturbances in the sea and provide warning for us if the Leviathan King ever returns. Suffice to say this spire's existence is a matter of the utmost oceanic security!"
The Princess of the undersea kingdom, Aequora, shifted her weight as she floated, her eyes narrowing imperiously as she looked down at Thaleos.
Her finned fingers tapped impatiently against her ornate pearlescent trident as her shimmering golden scales reflected softly in the low light.
"Yes, yes, old man, I've heard this story a thousand times. The spire that my great, great, great ancestor built, yadda yadda, beware the ides of the spire, blah blah." She twirled a lock of her luminous golden hair dismissively. "It's a decrepit relic. I have better plans for this place."
"Your Highness," Thaleos pleaded, desperation coloring his tone. "It was the First King himself who warned that—"
"Who warned," the princess interrupted, her voice dripping with disdain and boredom, "that one day the spire would light up like a beacon when the Leviathan King returned, hungry for revenge. And that it would spell doom for all of Tritanus. Yes, I know." She waved her hand dismissively. "It's a nursery rhyme. And I, for one, have had quite enough of gloomy prophecies."
Thaleos's eyes flared with a fleeting fire, the fire of conviction that came with the weight of tradition. "Your Highness, this is not a mere fable. My family has guarded this spire for generations! My father, and his father before him, and his father's father's father—"
"And you're all equally dusty and irrelevant," Aequora interjected sharply. "I've decided that this old heap of rocks and runes is a waste of prime oceanfront property. I'm going to have it demolished and build a luxury spa in its place. The nobles have been begging for something new, and I'll be damned if I let some silly superstition hold back progress."
"Progress?" Thaleos gasped, his gills fluttering with disbelief. "You would tear down a monument that has guarded us for centuries? That has kept us safe?"
"I would," she snapped, her tone final. "And I will."
But before the princess could continue, a sudden, deep rumble shook the chamber releasing a storm of bubbles.
Thaleos staggered back as a cacophony of alarms began to blare throughout the spire. A harsh, jarring noise erupted from the walls, reverberating through the chamber like the bellow of a wounded beast.
"What… what is happening?" the princess demanded, her voice now edged with uncertainty.
"The spire speaks." The old man's eyes were wide with awe and terror as he watched the lights and runes dance across the walls. "It was said… that King Alistair himself warned on his deathbed, 'Beware the ides of the spire, for it will sing when the Leviathan King returns for his revenge.'"
A blinding flash of light then filled the room, and the machinery that lined the walls flared to life.
Strange symbols appeared in the water, their patterns forming a sequence that had not been seen for centuries. And then, with a grinding roar, a large section of the chamber's wall cracked, then crumbled away, revealing a hidden compartment.
From within the dark recesses emerged the forms of several massive, sleek figures.
They were made of some polished metallic alloy, their mermaid-like tails elongated and segmented with intricate joints. Their bodies gleamed with an eerie, silver light, and their eyes—pale blue orbs set deep in smooth, angular faces—flickered to life one by one.
These androids, crafted subtly in the likeness of the Mer, had been dormant for so long that not even Thaleos had known of their existence.
"W-what in the name of the deep…?" Aequora stammered, her haughty demeanor shattered.
She instinctively took a swim back, her grip on her trident tightening instinctively.
The old scholar, his gaze fixed on the metallic androids, whispered, "Impossible...th-these must be the Sea Sentinels. Said to have been built by the First King to guard the spire… they were always thought to be just a legend..."
"Legend or not, who cares?! Why the hell are they active now?" Aequora demanded to know, her voice rising in pitch as she struggled to regain her composure.
WHOOSH
Thaleos's gaze drifted beyond the androids to the massive statue of King Nereus Azr that loomed in the center of the chamber and now suddenly began to glow in an azure otherworldly light.
He took a trembling swim forward, his fins nearly giving out beneath him.
"Shh don't you see what this means...the legends… the legends are true…" His voice was barely a whisper. "He has returned!"
A sudden silence suddenly fell over the chamber.
The alarms ceased, the machinery quieted, and the crimson glow faded, leaving only the cold, unblinking stares of the Sea Sentinels as they slowly began to rouse and move from their alcoves.
Princess Aequora's face twisted in shock, her mouth opening and closing as if she struggled to find words. "No… it's impossible… Nereus Azr is dead!"
And yet, as the old man and the princess locked eyes, they both knew.
The King of Leviathans had returned.
And with him, the wrath of the depths would inevitably soon follow.