Beginning of the End

Esther stood in the middle of the pier, surrounded by a sea of flames. The searing heat and dancing fire bathed everything in hues of orange.

Rain was in front of her, sprinting toward her with unwavering determination.

She felt lost, like someone waking up from a nightmare, her mind clouded by the vivid images of everyone she knew being slaughtered in unspeakable ways.

Was this just another dream?

Something sharp pierced through Esther's shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, she was lifted into the air.

The pain hadn't even reached her mind when it happened.

And then, she was dreaming again.

…

She saw herself beneath the ocean. Her field of vision had changed, expanding and brightening in a way that defied the natural darkness of the deep sea. She could see the moss-covered walls of underwater caves, shipwrecks scattered across the seabed, and shoals of small fish darting past her—impossible sights given the crushing darkness that should have surrounded her.

It dawned on her that she wasn't seeing through her own eyes anymore.

The creature whose eyes she was using was enormous. Esther could see a fully-grown shark in front of her—a creature that appeared minuscule in comparison to the being she now inhabited.

She felt the massive entity propel itself upward. The scenery shifted rapidly as it lifted its head and looked toward the surface above.

Silhouettes of countless ships floated on the water's surface—military vessels, by the look of them.

Then the water rippled, as if something were being cast overboard. Several objects plummeted into the depths. Esther squinted at the falling figures.

They weren't objects. They weren't mines.

They were human bodies.

A chill ran through Esther. Were they falling off the ships? Whatever the cause, her instincts screamed at her that these people shouldn't come anywhere near the creature she now inhabited.

Then she saw the truth: the people in the water weren't flailing in panic. They were swimming, deliberately diving down toward her.

These weren't victims of an accident. They had jumped willingly from their ships, diving straight into the abyss.

The water teemed with bodies, all eagerly swimming into certain doom.

And from the encroaching darkness, something else emerged.

A pod of massive, pitch-black whales. Dozens, no—hundreds of them. Their sizes varied, though most were as large as the battleships above.

The whales opened their cavernous mouths, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and writhing appendages that spilled forth like predatory vines.

Esther finally understood what was happening. She wanted to shut her eyes, to look away from the horrors unfolding before her. But she was merely a witness now.

A witness to the feast of the whales.

They swam toward the people struggling in the water. Tentacles from their mouths shot out, piercing the nearest victim's body with brutal force, dragging the mangled form into their depths.

The water began to slowly turn crimson.

Esther fought to keep herself from thinking about it, trying to block out the horror.

 I don't want to see this. I don't want to see this.

"But you have to."

A voice responded in her head. It wasn't her own.

"What am I supposed to see?" she thought back.

"The beginning of the war," the voice answered coldly.

And then Esther felt the speed increase—bubbles, blood, and pieces of dismembered limbs flew past her in a fast-moving stream. The shadow of a ship loomed in front of her.

"Stop!" she tried to shout, but only in her thoughts.

The sound of impact echoed in her mind, followed by the grinding snap of metal.

Then the surroundings erupted in flames, the fire flashing violently.

Her vision broke through the surface of the water, and all she saw were warships ablaze or sinking slowly beneath the waves. Among them, the whales still surfaced, their massive forms looming eerily against the chaos.

The creature's back spouted a jet of blood high into the air.

'Why?' Esther asked, her voice trembling.

"Because we decided that you are a threat to our species. You broke the truce."

'A truce?'

"We made an agreement with your kind. Our domain is the Abyss, yours is the surface. But you violated the pact."

'No one has ever explored the Abyss!'

"You killed our kin." The voice continued, ignoring her.

'Your kin slaughtered nearly half of our continent!?'

"If there were no humans on the land you call Africa, you would not have been able to cross into our domain. It was merely self-defense."

'Self-defense by exterminating another species?'

"You built your civilizations near water sources, but you exploited everything around you too much. The waste, the oil spills, the chemicals. All of that is silently killing our species as well."

Esther went silent, never having considered this perspective. She had always admired humanity's survival instincts and their ability to preserve their species. She had never thought about how their survival might affect other living beings.

"Above all, you created our greatest enemy and used it against us."

'What are you talking about? The nuclear weapons of the old world?' Esther genuinely wondered which of mankind's current technology could possibly defeat these creatures. She couldn't fathom it.

"You created gods. That is what we fear."

'G-gods?' Esther was clearly confused. Was the creature talking about gods in the religious sense? Were these monsters afraid of religion?

"This is a just response. A reasonable defense." The voice in her head continued, unconcerned with Esther's questions.

'There must be a way! A way for us to coexist!' Esther pleaded, her voice filled with desperation. 'If we cooperate, we will find a solution!'

The voice in her mind fell silent for a while.

Amid the sea of flames consuming the defeated fleet and the whales spouting jets of blood above the water's surface,

Something tore through the smoky curtain of flames into view.

It was a battleship, larger than the whales surrounding it. The deck was bristling with massive cannons, lined up tightly in rows. Above the ship's bridge, a flag bearing the symbol of the sun god from the old world fluttered in the wind.

Yamato. Esther recognized this ship instantly.

Every cannon on the flagship of Saipan slowly rotated to adjust their aim, pointing directly at the surface of the water.

Then, the cave illuminated brightly, revealing the ceiling. As the cannons of the Yamato fired in unison, the whales, spraying jets of blood, exploded into pieces as shells nearly twenty inches in diameter tore through their bodies and hit the water behind them.

Chaos erupted immediately as the remaining whales hastily dove into the water, their bodies colliding as they tried to submerge.

Then, the surface of the water flared up again.

A second volley of shots caused the whales, still struggling in the crowd, to explode simultaneously. Pieces of flesh and blood from the whales scattered in all directions.

Esther could only watch in shock as the whales surrounding her were massacred by the surface battleship she had once admired.

Of course, she shouldn't feel this way, but in the depths of Esther's thoughts, she was screaming,

The enemy was just one ship, while you have hundreds! Why aren't you fighting back now!?

There was no response.

When the sea was littered with the bodies of the whales and the sinking warship, the cannons of Yamato slowly rotated, aiming directly at her.

At that moment, the voice in her head spoke again.

"Do you really want to coexist with us?"

Esther paused at the question.

The sole member of this species possesses the power to wipe out nearly half of the human population across a continent. How could they coexist with such a creature?

But then, Esther thought of a book she once read, one that discussed the theory of the old world's demise. The book mentioned how the pollutants from burning fumes poisoned the air, and how waste disposal and pollution made the seas toxic. A list of hundreds of species driven to extinction because of the impact of humans.

Whether the stories about the old world in the book were true or just a work of fiction from the early century of the new world, Esther realized that her own species hadn't changed a bit. Now, they only cared about surviving day by day in this sunless world.

It was both just and reasonable that the other side feared her, just as she feared them.

'Yes, I want to live alongside your species. I want us to coexist peacefully,' she answered.

All the cannons froze.

'I beg you to help her.'

It was a phrase her father once said, as he placed her mother's body onto the hospital bed.

The other side echoed her father's words from her memory, in the same terrified voice, without any change.

'Help who—' Before Esther could finish the thought, the cave above the sea turned white, as the fire from the barrels erupted simultaneously.

Then, everything went dark.

…

Esther jolted awake.

She shot up in alarm. Was she still dreaming? Which parts were dreams and which parts were real?

Then she realized she was lying on a large four-poster bed, big enough for three people to lie down together. The bed had posts with curtains made of fine silk, and the posts themselves were made from ironwood.

She looked down at her shoulder and noticed there were no signs of any stab wounds, yet her shirt had a clear circular tear.

So that was just a dream? Or was I dead?

Esther began to wonder if she was already dead and this was heaven when a soft clearing of the throat sounded from the foot of the bed.

Her father was standing there, with Holland sitting at the edge of the bed, leaning against the wooden post. Beside him was a table holding bags of medicine and various first aid supplies.

"You're awake!" Her father walked over to her, hugging her tightly. "How are you feeling?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine, just a little uncomfortable," Esther smiled.

Her father didn't react to her joke like he normally would. Instead, he gently stroked her hair. "You're alive... You're still alive..."

She hugged her father back. "We're alive..."

After their embrace, Esther turned to Holland.

"Welcome back," he said with a forced smile. Holland's face was pale, his eyes shadowed like he hadn't slept for weeks. "I'm glad to see you're awake."

Esther felt strangely normal. "What happened?"

"You were controlled by 'something.' Actually, almost the entire ship was affected," Holland sighed. "I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"You didn't even know what the enemy was. What could you have done?" Her father interjected, and Esther agreed. She had no idea what else could've been done in that situation.

"What happened to the beast?" Esther decided to ask the important question.

"Three of our crew members survived the control. They were the ones who killed 'something.' That's why the mayor of Giza has called us heroes. He's made sure the crew members who were affected are being well taken care of."

With the luxury of the room and the bed she was lying on, it wasn't surprising that it was a government building. But Esther was more stunned by something else. "No way… just three people?" She couldn't believe they managed to defeat something that killed so many.

Holland smiled again. "Your friend was one of them."

"Sonia's awake?!" Esther's eyes brightened.

"Right on time. Her, Private Will Warren, and Rain were the ones who killed that whale."

"How did they do it?"

Holland gestured towards the door behind. "I see you're awake now, why don't you go ask them yourself?"

Esther looked at her father. He smiled at her and nodded in permission.

Esther quickly tossed the thick blanket off and dashed for the door.

The hallway ahead was opulent, with a plush carpeted floor and walls and floors lined with wood. Beautiful hand-painted portraits adorned the walls. Before her, there was a long chair with the astonished face of Sonia, and beside her, the soldier she remembered— the one Sonia had slapped, sitting next to her.

Sonia quickly stood up, and Esther rushed into her arms.

"I knew you'd get into trouble while I was away," Sonia teased.

Esther laughed. "Thanks for cleaning up after me!"

Will stood up as well. Sonia looked at him briefly. "Well... This is Will, and this..."

"Ship's academic assistant," Will extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Esther. Your friend talks about you all the time."

Esther took his hand. "And you must be Will, the soldier Sonia..."

"Let's not talk about that anymore," Sonia quickly interrupted. Will chuckled.

"I owe you an apology about that. I was wrong, I was seeing things only from my perspective," he bowed. "I deserved that."

"No, I was at fault too, and you just saved us. So, I think we're even now," Esther smiled. It seemed the two of them were mending their relationship, and they seemed to be getting closer.

"Stop smiling. If you don't, I'll ruffle your hair!" Sonia walked up and locked Esther's neck in a playful headlock, making Esther laugh and quickly apologize.

"How did you two manage it?" Esther asked after she stopped laughing.

Both of them fell silent, the smiles fading from their faces.

"It was actually Rain's plan. He tracked the people who were controlled, found the location of 'something,' then had Will release fuel into the sea from the fueling station and set up the flare to target the Egyptian army's heat-seeking missiles," Sonia explained in one breath.

"Good plan," Esther praised.

Will and Sonia exchanged looks. "Yes, it was a good plan... if you and Holland hadn't been standing in front of 'something,'" Will said. "The heat-seeking missile would have killed you and the captain if Rain hadn't surrendered and gone in to help you."

"Wait… What did he do?"

"I still don't understand," Sonia sighed. "He walked straight up to 'something,' even though he could've been killed by the whole city."

"It's like… he knew you'd be there and the monster would let him approach you," Will added.

Esther tried to process everything in her mind. "Where's Rain?"

Both of them lowered their heads. "He's still unconscious."

"Where is he?" Esther asked again.

…

Rain was in the room next door. He was lying on a bed identical to hers, wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Only one of his eyes, tightly shut, was visible to Esther.

The area around his bed was filled with wires and IV drips, several tubes connected to his wrists.

"What happened?" Esther asked softly, Sonia and Will following behind her.

The Egyptian doctor standing beside the bed turned to her. "He has deep cuts from a sharp object around his chest, severe bruising on his face, a concussion, and two or three broken ribs from the blast."

Esther stared at the wrapped figure on the bed. Rain's breathing was steady. If it weren't for the bandages and some of the cuts, he looked like someone simply asleep.

"You can save him, right?" Esther asked.

The doctor's expression was troubled. "His condition is very unusual. He lost a lot of blood when he arrived. Strangely, his heart rate is dropping, along with his metabolic rate and waste excretion. What's more, his blood is clotting much faster than normal. I was able to stitch up his wounds even though a normal person should have bled to death. It's as if his body is responding naturally to blood loss. I've never seen anything like it. Normally, in cases like this, we'd give him a blood transfusion, but we don't know what type of blood he has..."

"Can't you test his blood?" Sonia asked.

"Yes, but the test didn't match any blood type we have... It's possible that his blood is a rare type that hasn't been identified yet." The Egyptian doctor glanced at the papers in his hands, looking helpless.

"Is there really nothing you can do?" Will asked.

"The way his body is functioning is unlike anything we've seen before. In my opinion, his condition is stable now. He won't die for sure. The only question is when he will wake up."

The question was, would he ever wake up? Esther thought grimly to herself.

Esther recalled the first time they met at the bench outside the fish market in Under D.C. Rain had asked her why she wanted to join a journey filled with dangers, one with a high chance of not coming back. At that time, death seemed like a distant concept in Esther's mind.

Now, she understood that question clearly. She understood that in the Sunless Sea, danger and death were always waiting for them around every corner. For the first time, she felt the true fear of the impermanence of human life. She didn't want that fate to fall upon herself or anyone she loved.

But she wouldn't dare say that she was ready to die for someone she didn't even know well.

At first, when she saw him kill the religious islanders with such ease, she thought it was something he did routinely. When he went on the solo assault at the dam without killing anyone, she thought it was just confidence in his skills. But now, charging into an unknown enemy, at a severe disadvantage, with almost no chance of survival, just to save everyone in the city... Even though he could have run away?

If he wasn't insane, only someone who didn't value their own life would do something like that.

She didn't know Rain that well, but to her, he was the first new friend on this journey. The one who saved her from many dangers, who tried to protect everyone, even willing to sacrifice his own life.

"Why do you have to go this far?" Esther whispered to the figure lying motionless in front of her.

But of course, no one answered.

Sonia was looking at her with a face that seemed slightly annoyed. Esther thought Sonia might be feeling pain, and she squeezed her hand gently. "Actually, I have something to tell you about Rain." Sonia whispered softly to her. "I think you should know."

Esther turned and walked toward the door.

"Esther! Where are you going?!" Sonia started to rush after her.

"Can I be alone for a moment?" Esther spoke softly. She didn't wait for an answer as she closed the door behind her.

She silently apologized to Sonia in her heart.

She walked down the long wooden hallway and collapsed.

Then she cried.

…

Esther walked along the corridor of the luxurious government residence provided by the Giza authorities. It was grand and spacious, with bright light fixtures lining the walls. She passed by several familiar faces of the Washington crew. From the snippets of conversation she overheard, it seemed that the Giza government had rented out thirty hotel suites in the city's finest hotels to reward the heroes who helped save their city. Everyone was either drinking beer or enjoying the local Egyptian cuisine. The atmosphere felt as if it were a celebration.

Esther quickened her pace, searching for a place where she could be alone.

Eventually, she found the fire escape stairs that led outside. She stepped down onto the ground and immediately realized that it sank slightly beneath her feet.

Sand! The ground of this city was all sand, stretching out in every direction. Esther looked around and saw the towering buildings, not constructed in the usual way but carved from stone. The entire area was surrounded by these towering, intricately carved structures. It looked more like art than architecture.

In front of Esther was a grand marble street, much like the one at the harbor. The city streets rose and fell at various points, some elevated while others dipped into lower level, creating a network of arched marble bridges crossing over each other.

The architecture and sculpting skills of the Egyptians were truly as magnificent as the legends suggested. The landscape of Giza left Esther speechless, standing in awe, holding her breath in wonder.

Outside, there were only a few people walking about. Most of the Egyptians wore minimal clothing due to the high temperature in the cavern. They had to conserve as much moisture in their bodies as possible. Esther noticed a middle-aged Egyptian man approaching. He wore a thin cloak and shorts, his well-muscled frame giving the impression of a soldier or a sailor.

He smiled at her. "Welcome to Giza, Washington crew member."

Esther stepped back a pace. "Sorry, I was just looking for some time alone."

"I wanted to thank you for what you did for us."

Esther looked at him, shaking her head. "Don't thank me. I didn't do anything."

The smile vanished from his face.

"I understand what you've been through."

Esther lowered her head. "How could you understand?" She thought. I don't even understand it myself.

"I've lost men too. Many ships... So trust me when I say, I might understand your pain, just a little. You, the ship's assistant scholar."

Esther looked at him again, finally recognizing his face and voice. She hadn't recognized him at first without his captain's hat and naval uniform.

"Captain Sayid?"

He saluted her. "Is this what I need to do for you to remember me?" He smiled at her, extending his hand.

"Since you must be new to Giza, would you like me to show you around?"

…

Esther walked alongside Captain Sayid, the two of them moving silently down the marble street.

The streets were sparsely populated, most people likely resting in their homes. The entire stretch of road felt like it belonged to just her and Sayid.

Esther began to feel a bit better as they walked in silence for a while.

"How do you cope when you feel like this?" Esther suddenly asked.

"Do nothing. Just make things better." He answered simply.

"How do you make things better?"

"Everyone has their own way. For me, I'd plan better, think of ways to risk my men's lives less." He sighed. "It gets harder every time a war breaks out. For you, I guess you'd need to be a better scholar?"

"I put others in danger. Helping me means risking their lives over and over again."

Sayid placed his hand on her shoulder. "Because you matter to them."

She shrugged his hand off. "Don't they ever think about how I'll feel when they have to die for helping me? If I have to live with this feeling, I'd rather have died from the start."

Sayid stopped walking, his brown eyes considering her. "Do you know that Egypt's caverns are covered in sand? We can't farm here. But to survive, we rely on fishing from the Nile. Do you know that Egypt's caverns have almost no water source? We have to store as much water as we can, because when the Nile dries up in summer, we'll have no water left. That's why we built dams to hold the water. Do you know why humans have managed to survive in such a dangerous and cruel world?"

Esther looked up at him, her eyes full of questions.

"We move forward, no matter how many times we fall." He winked. "It doesn't matter what makes you feel like this, as long as you're still alive, you have to live with it. Life will end for all of us one day, whether it's you or those around you. But what matters is the memories we make together. It's the footprints in the sand we leave behind."

What if there are no shared memories yet? Although she thought so, Esther nodded slowly. "Maybe so."

To live with it and keep moving forward, until you're getting used to it like Rain did?

At that moment, Esther noticed a large group of people walking down a street. At the end of the street was a dock, with a sign on the wall displaying the number fourteen.

"What's over there?" she asked Sayid.

Captain of Tutankhamun looked troubled. "The end of 'something.'"

Esther vaguely recalled her dream. Though not entirely clear, she remembered it was of great importance.

"I want to see it," she said and walked toward the dock without waiting for Sayid's answer. He followed quietly behind her.

In front of the dock, a large crowd stood gathered around a wooden stage. They were shouting loudly.

"Burn it!"

"What are you waiting for!?"

A portly man stood on the stage. His fine suit made Esther realize he was likely the mayor of Giza.

"Please, everyone remain calm! The government already has a plan to dispose of the whale carcass. We just need some time to prepare before we remove it," the man on the stage said, dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief.

"That's a lie. He's planning to sell the carcass of 'something' to the Reich Empire for experiments," Sayid growled softly from behind.

Esther began to push her way through the crowd until she stopped right at the barrier in front of the stage.

The barrier enclosed the path over the water of dock number fourteen in a half-circle to keep people out. The path was covered in blood, but Esther's gaze was fixed on the massive body stranded on the dock.

It was a massive black whale. The lower half of its body was gone, along with most of the dock, and piles of body parts and stones were heaped around the area.

Then Esther finally remembered her dream.

The dying whale's plea echoed in her mind.

'I beg you to help her.'

Esther jumped over the barrier, and the crowd turned to look at her in shock.

She paid them no mind, stepping closer to the whale's half-formed corpse.

Its head lay flat, stranding on the shore. Its wide-open mouth was large enough to swallow a fishing boat whole.

Esther stopped right in front of the monstrous creature's mouth.

Inside its mouth was a mix of blood, flesh, and numerous bones caught in its sharp, jagged teeth. Deeper into its throat, countless tendrils hung, swaying under the pull of gravity.

Esther noticed one of the tendrils twitching slightly.

She stepped deeper into the whale's mouth.

The tendril jerked and slowly extended toward her. The tip of it unfurled into four petals, like a blooming flower, but where the stamen should have been, a long needle-like blade extended instead.

Amid the shouts of shock and alarm from the people behind her,

"It's still alive!?"

"Hurry, get that child out of there!"

"Get out from there!"

Esther ignored the shouts. She closed her eyes.

She wouldn't dare admit that she was ready to die for someone she didn't even know.

But what if her death could end the war and save the human race?

What if she was the only one who could do that?

Esther opened her eyes, taking one more step until the tendril was right in front of her.

"I've come to help you," she whispered.

Then the tendril flicked quickly, and the long needle at its tip pierced through her eye.