Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jay

I ran through the large door into the next room, struggling to catch my breath. Closing the door behind me, I looked around. I had run into an office, although I hadn’t had the time to read the name on the front of the door before, I could tell that the person who occupied this space held some importance. Considering its size and the abundance of files and documents, it is probably important enough to have the file we needed.

I skimmed through papers, searching for important information, and a certain page caught my eye. It was worn, folded, and bent, but still decorated with many important symbols that I mostly didn't recognize, except for, of course, the symbol of the navy. I slipped it out of the folder where it lay and read.

“Dear Admiral Kuba Kenta,

Our efforts to create a stable relationship with the Elders of the Undersea have been in vain. They have refused our efforts for an alliance against the Pirates and have continued in their stubborn neutral state. Although we have been patient, our ties and our patience are wearing thin.

We have begun to consider the possibility of taking more… forceful strategies. We have been too ignorant of the powers that the Undersea holds, and without it on our side, fighting the Pirates will be a much harder battle. However, we thought that if this were to happen, you should be the one to set it into action. We could use your impressive skills in magic and combat for a heavy task like this.

We will be sending our final offer to the undersea in a few weeks.

Regards,
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

After reading this, I tasted a sour taste in my mouth. The navy was attacking the Undersea. This was one to many steps across the line, I wanted to sit and sulk, but I could here the clattering armor of guards getting closer and closer, so I tucked the paper into my bag and slipped back outside, covering my bag with the Navy jacket I stole from a guard outside and lowering my cap to cover the top hat of my face. I moved swiftly through the halls, trying not to attract any attention, when I heard someone approach me.

“General! So great to see you. There is an…” He hesitated. “Issue, on the lower floor. Some idiot pirate is trying to break in. Could you take care of that?” I looked up at the burly man in front of me, lucky he thought I was someone else.

“Yeah, of course!” I walk towards the elevators, letting out a breath of air I didn’t know I was holding after checking he wasn’t following me.

Arriving on the lower floor, I was finally able to see the complete mess that Chip had made. He was weaving through guards and soldiers, jumping over swords and under arrows, avoiding hits by the inch. For a moment, I considered the possibility of just… walking away, but with a quiet groan, I reached into my bag, which was still peeking out slightly from my jacket and felt for the small metal box I had been tinkering with the night before. It was small but heavy, and mostly it was nothing on it except a small button. Clutching it in my hands, I ran into the group of soldiers and inserted myself in front of Chip. Once he saw me and my contraption, he smiled sheepishly and started backing away towards the door.

“I’d love to help, but I’m not planning on figuring out what that does.” I nodded, and with a mischievous grin, raised my arm and smashed the object against the ground, pressing the smooth button at the last second. The bang was loud enough to get most of the guards' attention, and as the thick black smoke started to cover the room completely, I sprinted outside, grabbing Chip's hand and pulling him with me.

“Giving away your identity is not what I meant by making a distraction.” I chastised. Once we had reached the bottom of the steps, everyone was either too busy panicking or trying to control the crowd to notice us. So I removed my navy jacket, dropping it in a barrel near a house, and we started our short trip down to the docks. Chip just shrugged, inspecting the few scrapes he had been unable to avoid getting, which I promptly healed.

“It worked out, so… Anyways, did you get the information we needed?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. I frowned, reaching towards my bag to pull out the paper I had found.

“Well, technically no.” Chip groaned, but motioned for me to continue. “But I did find this.” I handed he letter to Chip, who skimmed over it. After a moment, he looked up, a deep frown on his face.

“They want to attack the Undersea for being neutral?” He sputtered, exasperated.

“That's what I thought! But, do you think they are ever going to go through with it?” Chip was quiet for a moment, looking at me, then at the paper.

“Jay, they said it here. If they don’t have the Undersea, they don’t have their technology. The Navy is going to do whatever it takes to stay in power and…” He trails off for a moment, lost in thought. “We have to go and warn them! If we do, they can probably figure something out. Or maybe just even be prepared! We can-” I brought my hands up, interrupting him.

“Whoa, slow down. Do you even know where the undersea is? I sure as hell don't!”

“We’ll figure it out! We can’t just know this and let the Navy possibly attack the Undersea.” We had reached the ship now, Ollie was leaning over the railing, waving at us. I sighed, although this seemed pretty important, the Undersea would probably set us horribly, of course. But I nodded to Chip.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said, sharing a smile with him before waving back to Ollie and jogging onto the ship.

__________

Later, we shared our discoveries with the rest of the crew. They were as surprised as us, and it was easy to convince them of our plan. I took a brief trip to a cartographer for some advice. He took my map and, with weathered but steady hands, traced a red X on a place in the middle of the ocean, about a week from here.

“This is the capital. If you need to talk to someone important, that's where you go.” His tone was gruff, but he quickly took my payment and waved me off. Leaving me to restock on food and even find new fruits for Earl.

After that, we set off. The island disappeared behind us, and it was nothing but the empty ocean and us. Because of how much of a remote place The Capital –which is what the cartographer called it– was, we rarely met any other ships, and when we did, they were never aggressive. And the waves never got any rougher than a slight dampness, leading to a pretty calm, or eventually boring, trip.
__________

A couple of days in, and Chip was playing chess, mostly in silence except for the exasperated sighs of Chip losing, when he suddenly put his piece down and looked up at me.

“What even is our plan for when we reach the undersea? Do we just walk right up to the king? Do we sneak in?” I nod, realizing this was probably a way for him to avoid losing again, but an important conversation.

“Well, first of all, I’m pretty sure the Undersea doesn’t have a king. I think they have a council or something. Secondly, saying we have info about the Navy planning an attack on them is probably enough for us to see them.” Chip grunted in agreement before grudgingly moving one of his pieces, which I inevitably took.

“Wha-? How do you know so much about those people anyway?” I chuckled, relishing in Chip's horrible strategies.

“I think I read a book about or something. They live completely differently from us! From the councils, to the prophecies…” Chips leans in at that.

“Prophecies, do you think there's one about me?”

“Chip, why would there be an undersea prophecy about you?” He shrugged, trying to knock over the chess pieces with his foot, but I lifted them just in time.

“Dunno. I’m amazing?” I shook my head, chuckling.

“Well, if there is, we can share the fame.”

“Sure… sure…” He smiles mischievously. Patting me on the back, before standing up. Ignoring my remarks about finishing the game. “I’m going to do… ship stuff!”

__________

The rest of the days passed as normal, tending to the sails, driving the ship. Cooking morning eggs and drinking orange juice. Until we reached our destination.

Over the sea, it was exactly what we had seen the day before. A seemingly endless expanse of ocean. But if you squinted at the waters, you could see some blue lights flickering below. Chip used his bandana to change into Undersea Chip – He looks the same, just adding gills– And I used some magic to let myself breathe underwater, keeping a small air bubble around my face at all times. It was also decided that Chip and I were to be the only ones to go down, considering how rude it would already be to barge in without warning.

With that, Chip and I hopped off the ship and into the ocean. Below the waves, it was mostly dark, the sea floor being too deep to see. However, there was a small blue light connected to a string that was also attached to something deeper, too far to see. On the small blue light, there was a sign that read:

The Trench

I looked over at Chip, who stared at the sign with the same confusion as I.

“Is this it?” He asked, reaching out to touch the light, but his hand went right through it.

“Well, there is nothing else; it’s our best shot.” I shrugged, reaching forward to use the string to pull myself downwards, Chip following behind me.

It was a long trip. After some swimming and pulling, it soon turned dark, then darker, until I could barely see my hand in front of my face. The only thing keeping me somewhat aware of my surroundings was the next blue light in the distance, and the brief conversations between me and Chip.

“Hey Jay?” Chip eventually said, his voice was hard to make out, it was thicker when he spoke with his gills. Or he just wanted to play around.

“Yeah?”

“I’m 90 percent sure we are just pulling ourselves to our deaths here.” I scoffed, peeking over my shoulder to see his silhouette not far behind me.

“It’s creepy, but would it be called the trench if it were right under the waves?”

“I guess, but if we don’t find some proof of life other than the massive sharks I keep seeing soon, I’m outta’ here.” I nod, although I don’t know if Chip sees it. For a moment, I almost got worried that Chip was right, but we were soon able to see the sandy bottom of the ocean, decorated with colourful corals and strange fish. But the sting took a sharp turn, leading us towards a deep trench. Honestly, it shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did.

“Well shit,” Chip says after a moment of peeking into the crevice. “At least we can see the city.” For a moment, I was confused because all I saw was coral, but after following his training of vision, I gasped.

Hidden behind jagged rocks and algae, there was a landscape, hundreds upon hundreds of tall, twisting towers made out of the same aquamarine rocks. They piled beside each other, all of them a different abstract shape and size. And in the middle of it all, lay a prestigious castle, if you could even call it that. It was a collection of huge buildings, the tallest one being a clock tower in the center, tall, smooth and solid. Its roof is the same shade of aquamarine as the other surrounding houses, but the walls are a sleek light grey. It was covered in windows with coloured glass, making out a picture of something I couldn’t see from the height, but it was still breathtaking.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, once I finally found words. Chip nodded.

“I’ll give you two guesses where we need to go to find the Ki– the people in charge.” He says sarcastically, before jumping –swimming? – Up and continuing his trek down to the bottom of the trench, with me following behind.

Chapter Text

Chip

The trek down was short, except for the occasional detour to get around crumbling rocks and walls of algae. When we reached the bottom, the streets were exactly like how you expected them to be: bustling.

All different kinds of sea people were walking and floating around. Tritons, merfolk, grungs. Busy in their conversations, arms filled with shopping bags or food. Pretty much he same as above the sea except for the different types of people. As we walked through the towns, I couldn’t help but notice how many heads had turned when they saw us. Not like a full crowd-stop, but dozens of double-takes, even a few disgusted looks and whispers that made me want to curl inward and hide.

The roads continued to twist and turn the closer we got to the Clocktower. The roads got nicer, the diners more expensive, and the roads less busy. It was a relief to have fewer side-eyes and more quiet.

“Honestly, we should have expected this type of treatment,” Jay says, looking back at the busier streets for a moment.

“I mean, yeah, in Allport, they kind of act the same way to the people from here. It just seems so hostile.” Jay nods, frowning. But I look away from her and back at the clock tower, which was almost right in front of us.

Finally, we reach a gate. It is made of sleek silver metal, carved with intricate designs of moons and a knight in huge armour. In front of said gate, there were two heavily armed guards, their armour didn't have the same delicacy as the one in the carvings, but was fancy enough either way. Seeing us, their gaze turned into dark frowns.

“Can we help you?” One of them says his jaw is square, and his thick hands are wrapped around a huge sword. When our eyes meet, I notice a tiny scar running from the bottom of his eye to his earlobe.

“Yes, we have come across some information. It’s urgent.” The first guard nods before giving a glance to his companion, not even trying to hide the fact that they aren’t taking us seriously.

“We understand, however, you cannot just prance in and demand a meeting.” The second guard says, stepping forward. Jay reaches over to her bag, her fingers fumbling with the strings holding it closed.

“It’s pretty important, it’s about the Navy,” I say as Jay hands over the letter to them from her bag. It is silent while the first guard reads the paper, the colour slowly draining from his face. The other guard peeks over their shoulder, whispering something in a language I didn’t understand. After a moment, they look up.

“Follow me.” They turn around and connect the hilt of their sword with the center of the gate, where the intricate details all meet in a swirling pattern. The silver suddenly lights up in abstract streaks before making a clicking sound and gliding open. The courtyard inside is beautiful, rows upon rows of corals organized to make patterns in the sand. Around, many people are walking and tending to the plants and trimming what is overgrown. We continue to walk through a few more gates, all of them having two armed guards. Each time, one of the guards escorting us shows them the letter, and they give each other the nod to let them through. Inside the main building, we entered a large room filled with windows that bled sunlight. The guards handed us off to a new merwoman, with bright green eyes and flowing teal hair.

“Hello. I am Asherah. Could I see that document?” She said, Jay handed her the letter that the guards had just given back to her. Although Asherah’s smile faltered while reading it, she persisted.

“Well, on the bright side, you’ve earned yourself a meeting with both the Elders and The Chosen One!” I glanced at Jay, who seemed to be just as confused as I was. But before we could ask about it, Ashera turned away, beginning to swim down the hall to the right. She led us through a long hallway, making turns and every once in a while going up a flight of stairs until we reached a tall door, noticeable because it changed material. It was made out of a dark oak wood instead of its usual stone and had a gold handle. In the middle of the double door, there was a small plaque that said.

Council Room.

How ironic. Didn’t know the people of the undersea had this much creativity.

Ashera gives us a nod, her tone suddenly becoming serious. Before opening the door and swimming through. Inside, 4 people sat along a huge, wide table, deep into a discussion, but they quickly went silent the moment they saw us. A small but nimble water Genasi quickly stood up, her brow furrowing.

“Why have you brought them here?” She spits, looking at Ashera, who fumbles the moment she gets noticed.

“Oh! Uhm, they have an im-”

“Do not fumble with your words; we have important matters to discuss without being constantly distracted by the likes of you.” The water Genasi remarks, interrupting Ashera. Ashera looks down, her cheeks growing a dark blue from shame. She pulled out the letter.

“My apologies, they have come with important information concerning the Navy. It is urgent.” I open my mouth to say something, hopefully to in some way defend Ashera, but Jay grabs my arm before I can. Now that we have mentioned the Navy, everyone else at the table had gotten up to take a look at the document. A Triton, a Grung, a Tortle, and the water Genasi we had spoken to before.

“We’re sorry for not sending you a message beforehand, but we have just found this and we couldn’t wait.” Jay says, trying to keep it together. The others nod, too focused on reading to fully notice what she was saying. After the letter was fully passed around, they turned back and sat at the table, waving for us to take a seat.

“Ashera, please go get our Chosen One.” The Triton says he is a large man, with a square jaw and a long scar running from his chin to his neck. All of the undersea folk around us were wearing the same purple and blue robes that fell elegantly to the floor and floated around. “Thank you for giving us this piece of information.” He says after a moment of thought. “Without you, we could have been caught off guard.” I nod, smiling.

“We’re just doing what’s right,” I say, smiling. If we pulled the right strings, we’d probably be able to get some kind of compensation. “It was kind of a detour from our usual travel, but it was necessary.” They nod, the grung looks around, his voice is slightly raspy, and his long arm reaches forward to look at the letter one more time.

“If you didn’t know, we are the Elders, the leaders of the Undersea.” He gives us a brief smile before turning to the rest of the group. “Are we gonna talk about this? We cannot just allow them to attack us.” He waves the paper in their faces impatiently.

“The Navy means business, and we have the resources to outnumber the pirates 100 to 1, and it would be much easier for them to negotiate with us instead of heading into battle directly before their inevitable war with the pirates.” The Torlte grumbles, his voice shaky and weathered. The water Genasi nodded, scowling.

“They’re not here to negotiate. They want what they want, and if we do not bend to them, they will take it. We can’t fight the Navy and somehow stay neutral. Neither can we just do nothing. We have to pick a side eventually.” She remarks, staring daggers at the Triton, who is shaking his head in disapproval. I couldn’t tell whether it would be helpful for me to chip in or not, considering this wasn’t my decision to make, and I could tell Jay couldn’t either.

“This is not our war to fight, Celeste,” The Triton says, leaning towards her. “If we just pounce in on every fight that comes across us, where do we draw the line?”

“This isn’t a fight that's ‘just coming across us,’” Celeste says, making quotation marks with her hands. “The Navy is attacking us. We are here to decide whether we fight back and protect our nation, or bend to their will and dishonour our name.” The tenseness in the room was palpable as the two Elders continued to go back and forth, their voices rising a little higher every time. The other two sat there silently; they had been in this situation before and could not bother to interfere.

“We have the capabilities to turn the tide of a war, Odalath. We can’t just hide away like some–”

“Hello?” Celeste’s yelled rant is interrupted by an unfamiliar voice, everyone's head immediately snaps towards the door, where a young Triton was standing, in a robe similar to the ones of the Elders, except in teal and blue. He was just about our age and height, except for the fact that he still managed to be twice our size. He was buff. With muscled arms and a thick hand that where wrapped around an intricate whalebone sword. He looked around cautiously, his expression changing to confusion the moment he saw us. “You called me? Wha- what is going on?”

The Trition, Odalath, rolled his eyes, his gaze changing from angry to condescending the moment he realized who he was. He and Celeste both sat back down, the tension in the room dissolving as they gave each other a knowing look.

“Guests, I would like to introduce you to our Chosen One, Gillion Tidestrider. We apologize for his tardiness. Gillion, this is…” Odalath paused for a moment, realizing his mistake.

“I’m Chip, and she’s Jay.” I said, smiling widely, he returned with a polite smile, but the confusion in his face did not leave. He slid past the door and into the seat opposite us, on the far side of the table next to the Elders. After that, he refused to meet our eyes, sneaking a glance only when he thought we werent looking. Odalath briefly recapped him on what was going on and Gillion’s face immediately hardened.

“They can’t just control us like that; we need to fight back!” He said, resting his hands spread on the table. Hearing that, Celeste leaned back, hitting Odalath with a major I-told-you-so face, but he didn’t waver. His frown only deepened.

“Let's not be rash with this decision; times are fragile.”

“Well, the Navy won't be able to beat us anyway! They are in our territory now, and the pirates could help us if we needed it.” Gillion continued, he was slightly hesitant, but still passionate. He managed to get most of the Elders nodding along to what he was saying. “Although fighting should never be our first answer. We can do it! We can–” Odalath stood up, towering over Gillion.

“We? Gillion, there is no we. May I remind you that you are not one of the Elders. You should be grateful to even be seated at this table. Just because you are the Chosen One doesn’t make you responsible for any decisions made here. You are not fit for that responsibility. Got it?” Odalath’s voice was powerful; it radiated throughout the room in a way that sent shivers down my spine. I suddenly felt Jay's hand grip my forearm tightly. I looked over and saw a flash of panic on her face before it changed to worry. Gillion was looking down now, the fins on the side of his head—ears? — pinned to his head. His face had turned a bright shade of blue from embarrassment.

“I understand.”

“That’s what I thought.” Odalath's smirk sickened me, and it was even worse how none of the other reacted with anything other than the same disgust for Gillion. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t think it would make anything better. Hell, it would probably make it a whole lot worse. “Now, we can discuss this later. Gillion, you will show Chip and Jay to the guest rooms before reporting back to the training room. And the Elders will meet you there.” Everyone nodded, not daring to speak.

Gillion stood up and walked out, with us following behind. Once out of the hallway, he breathed a sigh of relief, giving us a weak smile.

“I apologize for that. Thank you for bringing us the information.” He says slowly, obviously trying to keep his voice stable. He spoke with an accent, like how most of the Elders did; they are probably more used to speaking another language other than Common. His face was still a darker blue, but Jay smiled supportively.

“It’s fine, really. If I may, Odalath was acting totally out of line, yelling at you.” Gillion shook his head at the comment, rolling his shoulders.

“No, I shouldn’t have been so eager. It wasn’t right of me.”

“You just want to help, I just think he doesn’t like how determined you are. You got us on your side.” Jay said, chuckling, although she still had worry on her face. Gillion gave a hint of a smile, but didn’t look convinced.

“The guest rooms are directly across from mine, so if you need anything, just knock on my door. I’ll be out for the afternoon. Ashera will escort you around if you want to go somewhere.” Gillion stated, the way he changed the subject was sly but noticeable. As I turned towards the door to the guest rooms, I noticed that Ashera had appeared out of thin air with the same bright smile we had seen before. We gave her a wave before opening the door and going inside.

“Hey Gillion?” Jay said, turning around last second, Gillion looked up from where he had zoned out for a moment. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem, I will be returning from training in a couple hours.” He gave a curt bow before turning back into the room across the hall from ours, which was probably his.

Chapter Text

Jay

Gillion had tried to reassure us many times, but a feeling of worry continued to eat at my stomach. Something was wrong with all that was happening. I knew Chip had the same feeling, but he continued to brush it off when I tried to speak to him about it.
After taking a short nap, we decided to go down to the coral gardens that we had seen before with Ashera, who was happy to join us and talk about the history. She was so surprised every time we didn’t know something about the undersea, and she would tell us all about it immediately, always ending with the same “I’m overjoyed to be able to share our culture with outsiders!”. With the immense gardens and overflow of talk, it was nightfall once we returned, and a servant was waiting with our food in our room. On the plates lay a collection of fish, like a tasting plate of colourful meats, most of which I had never seen before. And they tasted as good as they smelled –I had not seen Chip so excited about something for this whole trip–. We ate them fairly quickly, finishing the plates before placing them on a nightstand and getting ready for bed.

There really wasn’t much to prepare, only getting into pyjamas and brushing our teeth, but every time I would start to relax a little, a part of me would get poked and jump away to see some sort of fish in our room. Although it bugged me as much as an insect would above the water, I still walked over to the window once the fish had left to try to stop them from getting in. The window was shaped strangely, although it had a clear part that could be opened or closed, there was no button or lever to do that, and when I tried pushing it in, it wouldn’t budge. After a few seconds, I turned back to Chip, exasperated.

“I can’t get the window closed. I think there's some sort of lock for it, but there isn’t one anywhere.” Chip walked over and examined it before shrugging.

“I mean, if you need it to get closed, Gillion probably knows!” He says, pointing towards the door. “Let's go ask him.” I nod and speed walk towards the door. I felt a little bad for disturbing our host when he might already be asleep, but it was worth a try. I gave the door a knock, and I heard a sudden clattering of metal coming from the other side.

“Hey, uh… Gillion? I was just wondering if you knew how to get the windo– Oh my god, what happened?” I take a step back, shocked. When Gillion opened the door, I immediately noticed 2 things: The stunning armour he was wearing, and the blood dripping from his face. His armour was navy blue with teal accents, covering most of his body and complementing his sword well, but that didn’t seem that important at the moment. Seeing the blood, I immediately reached up, assuming he needed to be healed, but he flinched away, a look of panic flashing on his face.

“Hello,” He says, after a moment, his eyes are fogged over in a way that tells me it’s a miracle he’s still standing, and I could tell by the way he was leaning almost all of his weight on the doorknob that there was another injury somewhere in his leg. “Did you need anything?”

“We did, but this seems much more important. Are you good?” Chip said, rushing forward before hesitating when Gillion stepped back defensively.

“I am fine,” Gillion responded, although he could tell that he wasn’t being very convincing. “I just got back from training. I’m perfectly capable of healing my wounds.”
“Gillion, you can barely stand, just let us help you out.” I don’t think I would be able to sleep tonight if I just let him heal himself. But he continued to shake his head, pretending that his legs weren’t shaking underneath the weight of his armour. Injured or not, constantly carrying that all around must be tiring. Gillion, sensing the inevitable, took a step backward to try to find a safe place to sit, but collapsed the moment he moved his uninjured leg. Hitting the bedframe behind him. Once I entered, I noticed how small the room was. Like a cheap hotel room, small, not the size you would expect for “the Chosen One”.

Chip closed the door behind us while I sat next to Gillion, who was sitting with his back against the wall with his eyes closed, obviously trying to keep it together. I reached out to somehow quickly heal his wound before he saw, but he beat me to it. He reached forward and planted his hand on his thigh in the space between the two pieces of armour, in a way that didn’t seem comfortable, and used his healing magic. But I could tell it was the last of his energy by the way he was shaking. There was a pit in my stomach forming as Chip tried to help him, and he continued to refuse. Something was wrong.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” His tone wasn’t harsh, mostly desperate. He leaned back forward, and gave us a slight smile. But it didn't reach his eyes, and it definitely didn’t stop him from looking pained. “You guys should head to bed, it’s getting–”

“Gillion,” Everyone froze, turning towards the door and seeing the shadow form behind it. “Are you talking to someone in there?” Gillion was sitting up straight now, recognizing the voice of Celeste.

“No, just talking to myself!” Gillion evened out his voice in a way that would’ve been very convincing if I wasn’t looking at him; he put a finger to his lips, motioning for us to stay silent. I don’t think that any of us wanted to know what would happen if the Elders knew we were trying to help him.

“Good.” Celeste’s voice was smooth as silk, “Your performance recently has been… Disappointing at the least.”

“I know, I’ll get better.” Gillion fully agreed with her. I wanted to break down that door and crush Celeste, but I knew it would do more harm than good. How could she say Gillion wasn’t doing well when he was bleeding on the floor right in front of me?

“We’ll see. You know, it's a shame. We were just talking about letting Edyn visit you.” I watched Gillion freeze as Celeste said the name. He grabbed the carpet below him and clenched his fists, refusing to meet our eyes. “Quite the stubborn one, your sister. Coming in every week, demanding to see you.”

“I’ll work harder, I swear.” Gillion’s voice was breaking, but if Celeste noticed, she didn't point it out.

“Maybe, but the real question is, how long until Edyn realizes you're not worth her time?” There was a long pause, but Gillion didn’t answer; he didn’t even breathe until the footsteps of Celeste had made their way to the end of the hall. My blood was boiling, and I could see Chip was feeling the same as me.

“That bitch.” Chip spat, laying a hand on Gillion's shoulder, but it was immediately shrugged off. Gillion had his knees to his chest now, digging his claws into his legs.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Gillion said. His voice was aggressive, but panicked. Tears were spilling slowly from his eyes. “I’m fine.” I shook my head, trying to comfort him somehow.

“Gillion–”

“Leave!” He shouted, Gillion hadn't been this loud for the entire time I had met him. Loud enough to get me and Chip to be begrudgingly walking out the door. “I don't need your help.”

“If you need anything…” I didn’t finish, I knew he probably wasn’t going to listen. I couldn’t help but pity him. Living such a horrible life without wanting to escape. I would be a monster, not too. I expressed my worries to Chip, but he seemed to be less stressed about it than me, but I was glad he couldn’t deny the situation as a whole anymore.

“Look, I want to help him out as much as you do, but we can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” He told me once we got into the room. I shook my head, not able to argue. I was too tired to discuss it now. We both silently agreed to talk about it in the morning, when we were able to think about it for a bit.

__________

I was barely able to sleep the whole night. I continued to listen for any sounds coming from Gillion in the room across the hall. But there was none.

Once sunlight had begun to spill into the windows, Chip and I both got dressed and ate breakfast. We both had a habit of waking up early, mostly due to either nightmares or paranoia. Once we finished, we left the room into the hallway to look for Ashera, maybe see some tourist attractions –do they have something like that? –, but we are immediately met with two faces: Gillion and what appeared to be a servant. Gillion was wearing the same armour we had seen him in yesterday, except its dents have completely disappeared. I doubted he would have gotten a whole new set, but without the use of a bunch of magic, there was no other way for it to end up this way. And he didn’t have a hint of any past injuries either, it was impressive how put together he looked considering how he was yesterday.

When Gillion saw us, he gave us a slight nod before turning to converse with the servant.

“Civilians have reported a gang of Sahuagins trying to enter the city.” The servant said, his tone was soft.

“Really? I thought I took care of that just a week ago!”

“They’re back, and the Elders thought you should take care of it again, for practice.” Gillion frowned, but agreed.

“ Jay and I can help out!” Chip stepped forward, gaining the attention of both the servant and Gillion, who were mostly confused. “We have a lot of experience with this sorta’ thing. Three heads are better than one!” The servant nodded, scared to refuse, but looked at Gillion for his opinion.

“You don’t need to do that,” Gillion said cautiously after a moment.

“It’s the least we can do, you guys have been so kind. We don’t mind!” I pushed, Chip nodding for added effect. He knew that I wanted an excuse to talk more to Gillion, who, after yesterday, was probably going to avoid us. And he was charismatic enough to slide in with little of my help. The servant gave a polite smile, before excusing myself.

“I will inform the Elders of you honorable volontering.” He said, giving a bow to Gillion, wich was quickly returned, and speed-walking down the hall towards the Council Room. Gillion gave out a long sigh, watching him leave.

“How long do you need to get into your armor?” He asked, trying to mask the insincerity in his voice. I glanced at Chip for a moment, before answering.

“My sword is just inside, and it’ll only take a minute to put my armour. Chip doesn’t have any, though.” Gillion nodded until I mentionned Chips armour. At that, he shook his head in shock.

“No armour? What if you get hurt?” He asked, Chip just shrugged.

“I dunno’ man. I’m just slippery, hard to catch.” Chip said sheepishly, making karate-chop moves with his hands. Gillion didn’t laugh, just observed. “And even if I do get hit, Jay will probably just heal me.”

“Interesting.”

__________

Chapter Text

I hurried back into the guest room to throw my armour on, it was pretty easy considering how it was mainly one piece, but I left the helmet, it was a bit too official. I frowned, looking at my sword. It was certainly a better decision than my gun or arrows –would be stupid to try to use it in water–, but still annoying nonetheless. I hadn’t bothered training with a sword in painfully long, and I chastised myself for getting so dependent on my usual weapons.

After a couple of minutes, I exited the guest room, rejoining Chip and Gillion, who were in a polite conversation, but the tension was still there. It was awkward, considering we were practically ignoring all of what had just happened.

“About last night…” Gillion started, shuffling awkwardly.

“Don’t worry about it.” Said Chip, it was a little sensitive to talk about if we were to be together for most of the day. I nodded, and Gillion breathed out a relieved sigh, resting a hand on the sword at his belt.

“Well, then we best be going. The outskirts of town are pretty far away, a couple of hours at the least!” and Chip nods, following behind him as he starts walking down the hall, towards the exit.

__________

After the long walk out of the castle grounds, we reached the main town. It was just as bustling and talkative before. The same full restaurants and busy shops. Except this time, many people stopped mid-conversation to look at us, and by us, I meant The Chosen One standing next to two humans. Gillion stood straighter the moment we entered the bustling square, probably mentally preparing for what was to come.

What came was a huge crowd, compacted around us and Gillion, but still leaving a path for us to walk through. Everyone was mainly focused on Gillion, oohing and ahhing while trying to get his attention. Although I knew he would be pretty important, I never ruled out famous. Gillion walked through bowing and smiling politely every once in a while, giving out handshakes, but speaking as fast as would be polite.

It was strange to watch, standing behind Gillion, with the same view on the crowd as him. It was intense, stressful, and I was glad I wasn’t the one who had to act it up. When the crowd finally cleared and everyone returned to their conversations, Gillion let out a long breath of relief, turning back towards us.

“My apologies, I should have warned you before.” He said, smiling sheepishly.
“Man, that was awesome!” Sputtered Chip, still on a high from the attention from the crowd. “Do you get that every time you come here?”

“Yeah.” Gillion cringed at his words, realizing how they sounded. “I’ve been training under the Elders for a bit. It gave them a lot of time to assume I’m some hero.”

“You kind of are, Chosen One and all,” I say, but he shrugs and shakes his head.

“I’m none of that. Just got lucky with the day I was born.” Chip and I nod. I couldn’t tell if it would be rude to ask what he was chosen for, but it was safer not to.

The farther we walked, the less busy it became, from fancy shops to humble restaurants to run-down houses. Until the road ended and there was nothing but an expanse of fish and coral. Gillion stopped once we reached it, looking around.

“Now that we’ve gotten here, we mostly just need to wait.” He said, Chip agrees, pointing over to a collection of rocks, where we all go to sit. It is awkward for a moment, a small silence. “So, what is your life like, out in the Overseas?”

“We just sail around on our ship, it’s nothing special.” Chip responds, giving him a friendly swish with his hand. But Gillion's eyes only furrowed in confusion.

“What is a ship?” He asks, fully serious. I try my best not to laugh, considering it made perfect sense for him not to know.

“Oh! It is like a strange house that can float on water, and it uses big sheets of fabric and the wind to move around.” I respond quickly, making sure to say anything before Chip, fearing his response wouldn’t be as respectful, although he means well. Gillion thinks for a moment, trying to picture it in his mind.

“We certainly don’t need those down here!’ He jokes, earning a chuckle from me and Chip. “How interesting.”

“Yeah, we go around to other islands and help out,” Chip says, smiling. “Also, I meant to ask about this when I first met you, who’s that?” He points down towards Gillion’s hip, where a small tank held an animal, it seemed to be an octopus, with all tentacles, but with the head of a frog. It was a soft pink, which was slightly amusing; it seemed to be quite the opposite of Gillion. The moment we realized we saw her, she glided out of her tank and climbed over to Gillion’s shoulder.

“Who? Oh!” Gillion said, looking over and seeing the small animal. “This is Pretzel. She was given to me by my sister a while back, when I started training.”

“She’s so cute!” Pretzel spins around at my compliment. I’m equally amazed she can understand us. “How long have you had her?”

“Since I am currently 22, I’ve had her…” He pauses, taking a moment to count the years. “I’ve had her for about 17 years!” I lean away, taken aback.

“You’ve been training since you were five?” The shock in my voice surprises Gillion, his head snaps up from where he was petting Pretzel.

“Yes.”

“Wha– That’s so young!” Gillion chuckles, shaking his head at my statement.

“I have responsibilities that made it necessary.” He states, like we were talking about the weather.

“No five-year-old should be training.” Spat Chip, and I grabbed his arm to stop him from going further, even though I fully agreed with him. Gillion's cheeks flushed a darker blue, and he was smiling sheepishly. He replaced Pretzel into the small glass orb, ignoring her sounds of protest. Opening his mouth to say something, but he suddenly turned around, seemingly hearing something that we didn’t.

“They’re coming.” He stood up, unsheathing his sword and walking towards the edge of the corals. I glanced at Chip to see if he heard it, and I was just deaf, but he was just as confused as me. But we both followed him, maybe Tritons have some skill for hearing, or Gillion just knows what he’s doing.

Speak of the devil, we soon see a collection of silhouettes in the distance, getting closer and closer with surprising speed. I soon realized it’s because they are riding sharks, and if that couldn’t get more terrifying, there were at least five of them. Behind each shark was a different figure. They had polished green skin, gills lining their forearms and the side of their head. Most of them were shirtless, with simple skirts covering their waist and thighs. All of them had either a spear or a trident in their hand. And once they had finally approached, the middle one, the only one with four arms instead of two, stopped forward, a smug grin appearing on its face the moment it saw Gillion.

“Well, isn’t it the Chosen One?” They said, with a deep, playful voice. And he swished the words he said in his mouth as he spoke them, putting on a joking face of disgust. Gillion ignored the backhanded remark, his grip tightening around his sword, and the being got closer.

“Alohi Saki,” Gillion said, his tone neutral. “I’ve warned you before about coming into my kingdom; this time, I will not be so kind.”

“I’m shivering in my boots! Oh, Gillion. Mercy! Mercy!” Alohi retorted, before leaning his head back to laugh. “You know as well as anyone that we could rule twice as well as the Elders ever could. Why don’t you have an independent thought for once? Join us!” I grit my teeth, holding myself from attacking right there. I wanted Gillion to try to talk it out first, although it wasn’t going well.

“If your troop does not leave right now, we will be forced to fight. And we both don’t want that.” The group of Sahuagis did not move, and Alohi Saki’s grin did not budge from its stubborn placement on his face.

“Gillion, sweet Gillion. And I was here thinking we were friends!” He spoke, brandishing his sharp, yellow teeth. “Can’t you see? The Elders have made you their drone. A weapon they can just brandish to scare everyone away! I can tell you're tired, tired of the training, tired of the lack of acknowledgement for all that you have sacrificed, tired of them all. Come with us, and you can do whatever. You. Want.” I hated to say it, but he had a point. Not a good enough one to not kill him in a minute, but still a good one.

“You know I can’t do that, Alohi,” Gillion replied with the same unemotional tone. His muscles flexed, ready for an attack.

“I didn’t hear a no!”

“No.”

“What a shame. Well, I guess I have to fight you now!” And with a swish of his wrist, the four other Sahuagins pounced, two of them stabbing at me, and the two others on Chip, while Alohi and Gillion fought one-to-one.

The two that were on me were less experienced than their leader, making swipes and my legs and my stomach with little worry about protecting themselves. The one to the right of me took a slash at my leg using their long spear, cutting a shallow scratch into my flesh. I quickly stepped away, parrying before managing a stab straight in their abdomen, going through cleanly to the other side. I pulled my sword out, trying my best to ignore the nauseating squelch of blood and gore it made once exiting, and switched around to the second enemy. Their face had paled at the sight of their fallen teammate. But they raised their trident nonetheless, aiming for a stab at my upper thigh, which I had been neglecting to block. It went in, straight into the bone. I swallowed down a scream of pain as he pulled it out, preparing for a second strike. Out of pure panic, I grabbed my sword with two hands and delivered a hard slap with it to her temple. Not how a sword should be used, but it was sorked. She crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut with a steady trickle of blood dripping drom where she was hit.

Before going to help Chip, who was still fighting off one of the Sahuagins, I reached down and healed my wound before I could loose anymore blood. Taking most of my healing magic with it. It was annoying that it would drain that fast, but I could only hope that neither Chip nor Gillion would get injured.

Finishing up with closing my wound, I ran forward, towards where Chip was still dueling the Sahuagin, who was much more experienced then mine. They both delt and blocked blows, moving back in forth in some kind of violent dance. Sneaking up behind the enemy, I made eye contact with Chip, who gave me a crooked smile as he saw what I would do. And without warning, I kicked the Sahuagin in the back of the near, causing them to crumple to the ground. Chip, seeing the chance, delt a final blow into the chest, plunging straight into the heart. Always the one for cinematic endings. Triumphant he pulled his sword out and walked towards me, both of us turning to check on how Gillion was fairing.

He and Alohi Saki we in an intense clash of swords, their hits both having a magical aura to them. Gillion’s sword with bash against Alohi’s armor, sending what seemed to be an electric bolt down the armor it hit, parlyzing Alohi for a moment, before they immediately hopped back up and delt a blow of his own. Making a distracting slash with his sword that Gillion went to block. He suddenly surged forward and bit Gillion on the shoulder, grappling him. But the Triton remained calm, a trained, soldier-like, calm. He stayed stone face as the shark-like teeth of his enemy continued to rip at his shoulder, carefully moving his sword in between him and Alohi. And driving it precisely into his gut.

Alohi stumbled back the moment it hit, releasing his grip on Gillion. The sahuagin’s knees gave out soon after. And Alohi was left unably to attack, only weekly holding his sword in fron of his face.

“Come on man! We can work something out!” Alohi’s voice was panicked, desperate. But Gillion continued to approach. Seeing how he was running out of options, he placed his second hand onro his sword, removing it from where it was blocking the gushing of blood from his abdomen. For a moment, he traced the green gem on the pommel of his sword, while Gillion curiously observed. With a sudden sickening grin, Alohi pushed the gem, and it slid cleanly to the side. For a moment it was silent. Then a strong burst of wind rocketed from it directly towards Gillion, sending him flying into the wall of a nearby house with a horrible crack and thump.

Chip and I immediately burst forward, running to help Gillion. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alohi Saki swimming away, taking his sharks with him. I wanted to chase after him, but I had to focus on the main problem first. Once we reached Gillion, who had already managed to sit up against the wall. I knelt beside him, feeling his head for wounds, but I knew by the way he grimaced when I poked at the back of his head that it was at least a severe concussion.

“That fucker, ‘m gonna get him next time.” Gillion murmured.

Chapter Text

“That fucker, ‘m gonna get him next time,” Gillion murmured.

Chip and I ignored him, continuing to try to figure out what to do. Bringing him back wasn’t an option; it was too much travel, and parading an injured Chosen One through the most popular part of town didn’t sound smart either. If we were going to return home in time, we would have to heal Gillion now.

“Jay, can’t you use your healing magic?” Said Chip, grimacing at the blood dripping from Gillon's shoulder and head. I silently chastised myself for using my magic on an injury that I could’ve dealt with. I relied too much on the fact that Gillon could also heal, but that wasn’t going to help right now.

“I can try, I used most of it on myself.” I reached first for the injury on Gillion's head; the shoulder looked just as bad, but a crack in his skull would be much worse. Ignoring the way Gillon tried to lean away from my hands, I carefully closed up the deeper part of Gillon's wound, although it was still bleeding, it seemed much less worrying. The concussion, though, isn't something I’m able to heal.

“‘m fine.” Gillion continues to insist, weakly using his uninjured arm to make an effort to push himself up. But he was way too weak. “I can do it m’self.”

“Sure you can, but not right now,” Chip said, trying to pull him off the wall he was lying on to see if there were any extra injuries. Gillion ignored him, seemingly in his world. When I waved a hand in front of his face, he didn’t even notice at all. If Gillion’s concussion was as bad as I thought it was, it might be possible that we had to stay the night before travelling tomorrow. But I knew Gillion would oppose that as well.

“Let me bandage you up.” Chip pulled out a roll of white bandages from his pants pocket. And I let out a sigh of relief when I saw them. Once Gillon was all wrapped up, I set up a makeshift bed by picking some seagrass and laying it straight. It wasn’t very nice –or comfortable in the slightest– but it was better than sleeping on the road.

Once we repositioned Gillion onto the seagrass mat, he came back a little to his senses. It seemed he could fully see us again and wasn’t looking at us like we were part of his fever dream. He looked down at his now bandaged shoulder and gave out a long sigh, frowning.

“Fuck.” He says mournfully. Still swaying slightly, but much better than before. He nearly jumps out of his skin when Pretzel surprises him with her head rubbing against his neck. But grumbles when seeing her. “Should’ve left you at home.”

“Well, she seems to be helping a lot, in her way,” I say, interrupting their moment. Gillion looks at me quizzically, but musters a tight smile. I know I’ll have to break it to him that we’ll be staying overnight, but I could tell how Gillion would oppose immediately. “So we’ve been thinking,” Gillion interrupts me, assuming I was about to say something else.

“I’m sorry, I should have expected it. I was being irresponsible.” He says, letting out a disappointed sigh. I reeled back in shock, waving my hands in the air in a placating gesture.

“No! It was a total accident, it isn’t your fault.” Gillion didn’t fully believe me, but his shoulders relaxed a little. “I meant to say that we should spend the night here. Give you some time to rest.” Chip nodded along supportively.

“What? No, we won’t do that. I have to be back before sundown.”

“Gillion, you can barely walk. How are you supposed to get back like that?” Chip retorted.

“I can walk!” Gillioned said defiantly, trying to get up again, but surrendering after a few seconds. “We have to get back or the Elders will think you’ve–” Gillion stopped himself, sucking in a short breath. I looked at Chip, who was leaning in towards Gillion with curiosity.

“Think we’ve what?” Chil asked, Gillion looked like he had eaten a lemon by the way his face was scrunched. He reached up and brought Pretzel down to his lap, focusing on petting her instead of looking us in the eyes.

“Listen, I don’t know why I’m talking to you right now, and I’m pretty sure I'm not even supposed to talk to you.” He breathes in a sharp breath, holding it in for a moment, then letting it out slowly. “But people don’t really like humans down here. And much less trust them.”

I bowed my head, suddenly understanding. If something went wrong out here, which it already has, everyone would automatically assume the worst. Which was worse for us than it was for Gillion. But I stayed silent as he continued.

“Ever since you’ve come here, I’ve learned two things.” Pretzel chirps, rubbing his hand with her face lovingly. “One: that you two are the kindest people I’ve met since I last saw Edyn. And two: You guys existing goes against everything I’ve ever been taught.”

A lump formed in my throat while listening to him speak. The way his voice cracked at his last few words made my heart want to burst. All the things he said to us, all the times he had looked at me and Chip with an indescribable look on his face.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

I could hear Chip shuffling awkwardly next to me; he isn’t one for complicated emotions.

“I’m so sorry.” I managed to force out. Gillion shakes his head, still not looking up.

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.” He says. “And I’m only saying this because I’m in a lot of pain, and those Sahuagins did a great job at getting into my head.” Chip manages to snort at the comment, ignoring the tension.

“If it helps, you looked so badass fighting that Aloha Socks guy,” Chip says, still chuckling.

“Alohi Saki.” Gillion promptly corrects.

“Ah, same difference.”

As the tension faded, Chip and I lay down on the small mattress next to Gillion and tried to get at least a little comfortable, since that’s the most you could get when sleeping on the rocky ground, even when it's a little covered with the plants. We all eventually dozed off, getting some precious hours of rest that would be important tomorrow.

__________
Chip

I was the first one to wake up, surprisingly. Jay and Gillion lying next to me. I grimaced at the way Gillion's bandages had already bled through, but that was something to take care of once he woke up. For a moment, I considered going out for food, but since we wouldn't be able to cook any meat, there was no use. Plus, I don’t think I would’ve been that great at catching fish anyway.

So, I walked around for a bit, although it was much different from the over sea, the scenes here were still extremely beautiful. The corals grew from all sorts of places: cracks in the stones, sides of the roads, and the tops of roofs. They were all shapes and sizes, small, long, bright red or pitch black. It was refreshing from the sights of the islands we would visit. Although there was always a new undiscovered plant, they always end up looking similar –don’t let Jay hear me say that–. And all of the corals were so strangely diverse.

Jay and Gillion woke up at about the same time, roughly an hour later. Jay immediately jumped to her feet –like the earlybird she is– while Gillion, drowsy-eyed, immediately winced when he made a move to get up. I saw this, but Gillion's look of disappointment made me not mention it, and I thought it would be better to talk about it when we were all properly wide awake. Jay seems to immediately have the same idea as I, but we both know that there will be no food until we get back, unless we ask for food from other civilians.

“Do you think Gillion is ready to walk yet?” I ask Jay, fearing the worst. Her brows furrowed when looking at Gillion, who was staring into nothingness while still sitting on the make-shift mat.

“Honestly? No. But I think he might have to be.” She says, letting out a long sigh. Gillion finally looks up, seeing us from where we stood a little ways away.

“Hello.” He says, struggling to find anything more to say. Seeing his shoulder, he made the same grimace that I did. “Well, fuck.” Jay and I nod in agreement. I guess we are all just know realising how much in deep shit we are in. If we don’t return by the end of today, the Elders will start looking for us, if they haven’t already.

“We’ll figure it out.” I try to comfort him as he masks the previous face of panic he had. Gillion is impressively put together about all this. Or he’s just hiding the panic, which seems much more probable. You know, I don't think I should be judging his mental problems that much, it’s sort of hypocritical.

Gillion makes another effort at standing up; this time successful. He uses a nearby stone to use as support with his uninjured arm, slowly pushing himself up. Once he's finally standing, he sighs slightly, swaying with the slight currents.

“I think I’ll be good to walk in a bit.” He says, carefully balancing. His concussion wasn’t helping with whatever he was doing. And it took most of his energy getting up in the first place.

“Ya’ sure?” I respond, not hiding the nervousness in my voice.

“Yes, I am sure.” Gillion grunts, frustrated by his weakness. I know saying anything won’t help, especially from me. I don’t bother continuing to argue, and Jay doesn’t either. We can worry about Gillion accidentally killing himself once he gets back to the safety of his home.

With a little bit of rest and a lot more healing magic from Jay, Gillion was able to walk by noon. It wasn’t fast, or non-worrying in the slightest, but it was enough to get back to the castle, where he could be treated there. Gillion continued to insist that all of the dizziness and nausea had completely disappeared, but by the way he could barely walk in a straight line, we weren’t very convinced.

Begrudgingly, we set off, going down the winding roads and up hills. Jay decided it was best for us to carry his supplies, which meant that Gillion’s gigantic sword was tied to my back. That thing was heavy, like, Jay comparing my struggling walk to Gillion's heavy. It must have taken a lot of practice to get used to this sword, which probably explained his defined muscles.

It was a long walk, longer because of our slow pace, but Gillion came to a full stop once we reached about a block away from the main square. There, it was still busy with talk–seriously, do people not go home sometimes? – and Gillion let out a long sigh, watching the people walk by.

“They can’t see me injured; the Elders will murder me.” He said, but Jay and I didn’t respond. We could take a detour, but it would be too long, and both Jay and I knew that he was probably right. It was either wait for the crowd to clear, if they ever did. Or just walk straight through now. Either way, there weren't any good options, and both would result in some sort of punishment for Gillion, which didn't sit right with me. Gillion seemed to have already accepted his fate, but Jay had the same expression of thought as I.

“Wait here, I have an idea.” Jay suddenly says, her eyes glistening. But before I can ask, she runs down the block towards the crowd of people and the shops, leaving me and Gillion to stay and wait for her return.