Born in Blood

515  The Argonaut, Herald of the Sea

Saying nothing, Liam jumped onto the Kraken's head. He wasn't eaten.

He wasn't shaken off.

He wasn't insulted.

The Kraken was subdued and utterly controlled by Bill.

'Fitting power,' Liam thought. "So… seeing as you're half fish, can you breathe underwater?" Bill McGill asked with a curious tone.

Liam said nothing.

A moment later, gills bloomed out of his neck.

Eyes widened, Bill gasped dramatically.

"No way."

Liam smiled and added nothing. Bill stared at him in disbelief for several seconds, before chuckling incredulously.

"Well… you've certainly made the assassination part easier. If you're part fish, the inhabitants of the seas won't be too harsh with me. Even if they find out."

Right. So Bill settled for killing his opponent. Who would have thought?

That being said, Liam wasn't entirely on board. As of now, he had several goals in mind.

The first, and most important, was beginning his Path.

The second, was improving Primordial Forging.

The third, was enhancing and reworking all three of his blades.

The fourth, but just as important as all the others, was figuring out how to inscribe a Rank 5 body tempering method.

Liam wasn't just about to assassinate some rich fish just because Bill Buttface told him so.

Bill knew that. To an extent. No one was naive enough to kill for a random person they met, least of all the Reaper.

This would start off as a simple… 'tour'. Then, if things went well, then Liam would consider whether or not to work for Billy.

"Alright," Bill said, cracking his knuckles and cranking his neck side to side, before settling his gaze on Liam. "Ready? It'll go zero to a thousand real fast, but I'll slow it down if you can't handle it." Liam scoffed. His feet transformed into claws that pierced itself into the Kraken's skin, which was further strengthened through his shadows and Transfiguration.

Liam looked at Bill with a smug face. "Shoot."

And shoot he did.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Kraken used all twenty-four of its tentacles to whip the surface of the ocean, ravaging the sea with unimaginable might.

Liam's entire being rumbled to its core.

It felt like he was trapped in the cockpit of a modern spaceship, but without the protective suit nor the extensive G-force training.

'…How droll.'

Even as his hearing felt disconnected and his vision blurred, Liam didn't feel like he was in any immediate danger. In fact, there was no pain, which was the most disappointing part. Bill didn't actually want to harm him.

It was just a harmless prank. Not long after, the kraken slowed down, and Liam fixed himself upright. The colossal sea beast continued to swim downward at a fast but steady speed after the initial burst of power, like a plane cruising a certain altitude after liftoff.

Liam's gills worked as intended… except, he quickly realized that the surface of the Kraken's body was riddled with glowing inscriptions, enveloping both him and Bill in a bubble of air.

The bubble was reminiscent of Liam's time at the academy, which made sense. Both were conjured through mermaid magic, after all.

Looking around, Liam saw how pitch black everything was. Neither the King's Eye nor Spirit Sight saw anything. Just like last time.

An ominous, static hum lingered in the background, as though something was watching them through the veil of nothing.

The calm before the storm.

"It'll take a while before anything comes into view," Bill said from the side, peering into the absolute darkness. "This place is called the Division. Absolute nothingness for hours. If you feel like you're being watched… well, it's cause you are. This whole void is a barrier formed by Argonaut, Herald of the Sea."

Liam furrowed his brow. "Who?"

Bill looked at Liam in surprise, then gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry. I just assumed since you were part sea creature, you'd know more about the Great Tidals." Liam's face indicated that he didn't know what 'Great Tidals' were, either.

"The ocean is incredibly vast," Bill began explaining. "I'm famous for sea exploration above land."

"But in the sea? Not even a fraction of the Fishkind know me. Out of just 4 Quadrants that I have control over, the oceans have an uncountable number of them."

"...But despite that, there are some mythical figures that everyone in the depths knows of."

"They're called the Great Tides."

"Among them is Argonaut, Herald of the Sea. This void was built by her to keep the land and sea divided, and the humans and Fishkind separate."

Liam's eyes widened a bit. The blackness was a little more awe-inducing in his eyes.

Something as vast and large as this required at least a Rank 6 being to construct. "And best of all?" Bill said, leaning forward. "She's not even malicious! She appears now and again, heading to wounded Quadrants of the Sea to aid and nurse them back to health. Most Fishkind adore her."

Liam hummed to himself. That was… strange, but strangely fitting. Just as there were horrible specimens in the depths, not all of them were malicious and hostile.

"You said most?" Liam asked, curious. "Why not all?" "Ah. Despite her aid of the weak, the Argonaut does not use her powers to fight. Not even to defend or repel an enemy. You can see why this pisses off some fishfolk."

Can't please everybody, Liam supposed.

"I'll tell you more about them once we're there," Bill said. "If you're lucky, you might even see one in the flesh!" That, Liam hoped.

"We're heading where, exactly?" Liam questioned. "The HQ," Bill said with a toothy smile. "NOCL Headquarters. I'll show you the ins and outs of our operation."

"How can you tell where you're going in all this darkness?" Liam asked. "Navigation isn't hard once you do the same thing for a hundred or so years," Bill said. "It's just muscle memory at this point." Liam nodded, then patiently waited until the Transition was over.

And before long, a droplet of color spread across the void, which bloomed to fill the entirety of his vision in the blink of an eye.

Then, the HQ came into view. apologies for the chopped up crappy schedule. I doing best iovehrere. hard to think with 3 hours of sleep :|