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Time is an inevitable calling that beacons life into death. It takes and takes but never gives. And throughout time a million stories are told, but soon become lost over the ages. One such story is the tale of the ocean. In the beginning, where there was only land and sea, time graced them with Gods who would create life. The Land God made people, animals and plants, while the Ocean God made reefs and fish. However over time the ocean God grew jealous of the sentient lives that accompanied the Land God, so he created the mer people. In time the few mers grew into a pod, and soon into a thriving city. Just as humans have colonized the land, mers were abundant in the seas.
One such city, the capital, was Atlantis, birthplace of the mers. It was by far the largest colonization in the entire ocean. And the ruler of all merpeople, called it home. The ocean people worshiped their God and frequently threw great feasts and gatherings. No such being stood higher than the Ocean God, not even the king of Atlantis, who humbly bowed before the God.
However time still did no favors for the Ocean God. Despite having sentient life to accompany him, he was still very lonely. The ocean was by far larger than the Earthan lands, and required more care. In order to keep the ocean abundant with beautiful life, there needed to be those who would care for it, even when the Gods time came to pass.
So the Ocean God created Reefbreathers. Beautiful and giant creatures that flew underwater and slipped through the shallows. They made reefs, corals and protected the ocean from the land walkers. They aided the mers and most importantly, tended to their creator.
The Ocean God had finally had it all. But time, time did not bow for anyone. Not even for the mightiest of Gods.
So time bestowed another gift, an enemy to the seas that would end the rule of the Ocean God.
A fire demon, in the form of a beautiful mer. She came from the deepest parts of the ocean, through the earth's crust coated in magma. When born, she knew her purpose and swam towards it.
The king of Atlantis at the time, had no wife but he had an adopted heir to the throne. A young and promising mer named Hazel, whose father died serving in the army. The boy loved his city, its people and their God. But he loved seeing the Reefbreathers most of all.
For them, everything was perfect and the future was bright with Hazel as the heir.
But then, it was love at first sight. The king had immediately fallen for the fire spirit who wandered into Atlantis. For a brief time, it was romantic and the kingdom rejoiced at the prospect of a Queen. She was kind, loving and just.
During that time however, the Ocean God sensed that his time as ruler was drawing near. The ocean could live on without him and he stayed within the nursery one last time, raising the last of the Reefbreathers. It was during this time, the king had married and made the fire demon the next heir to the throne, allowing Hazel to remain a Prince and enjoy his life as a child.
But behind closed doors the Queen began her plot to rule the ocean and overturn it. She learned that after nursing the Reef pups, the God was left weakened for a short time. Once the pups joined the adults, that would be the only time to strike. But a demon could not destroy a God. However an army of the Gods' creations could.
A few years later the Queen had kept up her disguise, until The Ocean Life ceremony began. It was the time where the new pups would finally join the rest of the pod. But first every adult Reefbreather flocked from all corners of the ocean to put on a display for everyone to see. It was a time of celebration and bonding between Reefbreathers and mers.
After the celebration the pod headed to the nursery to collect the pups and take them someplace safe so they can learn how to use their abilities while the God remained in the nursery to rest and recover.
The Queen began to move; time was of the essence. The first step was to rid the King, so she may ascend the throne of Atlantis. But during the plotted assassination, the teenage boy, Hazel had gotten in the way.
The King was mortally injured and fell into a coma. The Queen quickly accused the Prince of plotted assassination, wanting to rule Atlantis for himself, covering up her own failure. The Prince, knowing what truly happened, had no choice but to run. The Queen had all power over him now that his father could not speak on his behalf. So he ran until the day came that he could bring justice.
With the Queen now as ruler and the King and Prince no longer in her way, she put her plan into motion. Using her charm she placed the Atlantian Military Generals under her command (Brainwashed) and deployed them immediately.
The Reefbrethers only answered to their God but they also followed the ruler of Atlantis knowing they were second to their creator, since they too, were of his creation.
All were summoned into one area. A giant valley in the ocean where the great army surrounded them from all sides and placed a metal net from above. They weren't there to fight the Reefbreathers because they'd lose. They were only there to contain the creatures.
With a flick of her wrist, the water began to burn and magma spilled from the floor. The Reefbreathers began to panic and try to escape but the sheer force and size of the army kept them corralled.
The queen watched as they burned, their cries music to her ears.
She knew the God would be coming. His creations' agonizing wails were like the flame luring in a moth.
When the God arrived he was too late. Every last Reefbreather was dead. Their bones littered the sea floor, their holy bodies denied the act to become Reefs as they were slaughtered.
Before the God could allow anger to fill him, and destroy those who were responsible, horror overcame him.
The bones of his creations began to move breaking free from the crust of the earth as they shifted and clacked together. The large dead pod came to life and rather than greet their creator, they attacked him.
~~~
"What happened to the Ocean God?" A boy asked, leaning forwards.
A group of children sat around a campfire while a man with one arm told them the legend of the ocean from long ago.
"Some say he died, others say he fled to land. Rumor has it that if he touches the ocean's water, the undead Reefbreathers will come and kill him." The one armed man hummed.
"What about the Queen?" Another child cuddled her sibling, eyes wide with fear that the fire demon would crawl out from the Earth and snatch her up.
"The Queen" he chuckled, "she rules the ocean but she's not very good at it. Haven't you ever wondered why our fishing nets are becoming more and more empty? Or the water isn't as beautiful as it once was? Maybe you've noticed that there's not a lot of color to the reefs anymore."
The children looked to each other, "Will the ocean ever be healed?"
The man frowned as he looked at all the children, "that I do not know. But what I do know, is that out there somewhere, is hope." He smiled and rubbed their heads. "Now get going before the skeletons come get you!" He growled playfully for the children to run home.
Their squeals and laughter were music to his ears. The children helped each other up, and told the man goodbye before running home with their own ideas on how to help the ocean, smiling brightly despite the bleak future.
The man stretched and glanced at a ship that was docking. It was fairly large and the name, the Relentless, on its side. Large white sails and a decent looking crew manned its deck, fastening the ship to the dock with ropes.
Perhaps he'd go mingle a little bit~