Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Proteus
Proteus did not have time to be so distracted, and yet, here he was. The taste of her still lingered on his tongue. The sounds she made in the throes of passion haunted every waking and dreaming moment.
He couldn't get her out of his head. Every second of his time was spent thinking about her, and still it only seemed to be getting stronger.
The plan was the only thing he should be focusing on.
Proteus knew damn well there wasn't another person in the entire ocean who could do what he could do.
If he played this out correctly, then he could finally get the humans back where they belonged.
He could free the People of Water from their shackles and make certain that the world returned to the way it had been before.
He could and would do this. It was his destiny, as told by the ancients, from the very first moment he was born. He was meant to bring this world back together, putting the pieces back into the whole as they were always meant to be.
And yet, here he was. Distracted by the clone of a woman who was dead, and he couldn't stop thinking about her.
Not the Original. Not the woman who had been the first. But this wonderful, distracting, honorable woman who had given him every ounce of her attention and focus since the very first moment that he'd woken her.
He had to get moving, though. He couldn't stay in here with her forever knowing that, no matter what he did, he was just going to focus on the way she tasted and the noises she made.
Proteus left both her and Pilot in Sanctuary. Both of them had been given very strict instructions, so they were ready when he returned.
Ellie was to focus on building holograms that would inspire the people he brought back with him. He trusted her to know the human mind and what would convince them that it was a good idea to leave the sea permanently.
Pilot was to stay and watch over Ellie. The droid would ground her, and help her in her task, but it was not to leave to go to another facility like it had before.
That kind of behavior would end with the droid's memory bank being wiped, and he would make sure that Pilot would forget every ounce of what he had learned in all these centuries since he had been created.
The threat was perhaps an empty one. Proteus knew he needed the droid. But knowing that Ellie had been left alone specifically because Pilot had been bored made him want to strip the metal parts off of it and scream into the void that was left.
Neither was an easy task. Proteus swam up and over a mound of rocks that had once been part of a towering spire. He remembered this area so easily from when he had been a boy. There had been so much here that used to captivate him.
Once, it had been a mating ground for giant squid. They had been bigger than him, which was surprising considering he'd been massive even as a child. But now there was nothing left here. Just darkness and a wasteland.
The sea was still licking its wounds. After centuries of mistreatment, there was plenty for him to focus on here. His home was still bleeding, and he needed to pay attention to that. Not her. Not the woman he had left behind, who he knew was in safe hands.
He had to focus on the sea he was going to save and the world he left behind. It could be fixed if he could just get the humans out of the sea. Then, he would finally be doing what he had been created for.
But first, he had to convince them. Thankfully, he expected that to be easy.
For a while now, he'd been followed. He knew who was following him from the scent on the waves. This depthstrider had been trying to seek him out for ages. This was the one who had first found his tomb, although Proteus had yet to forgive the male for not trying to release him.
Fortis, he thought, was the depthstrider’s name. If he remembered the ghost of his wife talking to him correctly, Fortis was almost like a human priest to his people.
He saw the future. He spoke to the gods. And now, this massive creature of the depths was about to meet one of his own gods for the very first time.
But depthstriders were smart. They knew the waves better than others, and they knew to follow whatever they were tracking at a distance. Proteus would need to draw him out. A task that might have been more difficult if Proteus himself wasn't such a strange creature to see in the ocean.
He allowed his bones to illuminate. Glowing in the darkness of the sea, he knew that no undine would be able to avoid trying to figure out what had changed in some animal that lived in their home.
Nothing else looked like him, and that curiosity could very well be the end of any depthstrider who thought they could control him. Still, Proteus swam slower through the waves and waited for Fortis to get close enough.
This specific bloodline of their species should have recognized him immediately. Proteus’s parents were, after all, the ones who had given them their power.
Come to think of it, there had been one of their own who was nearly a direct descendant of the ancients like him. Perhaps that's how he would start the conversation, because Fortis would almost certainly recognize the name.
Proteus stopped, floating where he was as his bones illuminated even more. They were so bright that even he couldn't see past their light.
"Here I was seeking someone to ask if Mitera was still alive," he said, his voice booming through the ocean. "And instead I find a familiar face."
The darkness hid Fortis from his sight. The religious fanatic would likely want to remain hidden in that darkness until he was certain it was safe for him to speak with Proteus. But then his voice came from the darkness, and Proteus knew exactly where the male was hiding.
"Mitera still lives," Fortis called out from behind one of the many spires that were still standing. "But she does not speak with just anyone. Who are you?"
"You have met me before."
"I have never seen anyone like you in this sea. I have never seen you in any vision of the future either. Which means you are an anomaly, who does not deserve to be in these sacred grounds."
So at least they remembered that mating grounds were off limits to the People of Water. Somehow, Proteus doubted they remembered why this area of the sea was off limits. It was dangerous to be in the waters when the squid would attack them for being anywhere near during the mating season.
Sighing, he took a deep breath and allowed bubbles to erupt from his gills. "Do I not look like someone you have met before?"
"I would remember such a creature."
So at least Fortis could see him well enough. He would know not to attack. Proteus was too large and far too dangerous.
"You found me not so long ago," Proteus said. "I was stuck in a coffin, trapped there by your people, who no longer wished to worship their gods. And now you have found me again."
He could almost hear Fortis thinking. The male rolled the words around in his head until he finally came to the conclusion that Proteus wanted him to. They had in fact met before. Fortis had taken his words as prophecy, then, as he should have.
"The god at the bottom of the sea," Fortis murmured. "You have been released?"
"It was my time to return. I have come home and now I will guide you and your people into the next stage of your future.
" Proteus allowed his bones to dim just slightly, enough so that Fortis wouldn't see him as a glowing beacon in the darkness, but also be able to see the monstrous features of his face.
"You are the one who will help me in all of this. "
"I cannot help you much. My people have already created their own plan.
" A flick of his tail appeared from behind the spire.
He was forgetting to hide himself, at least. That was a good sign.
"They rebuild the cities. They are building a new city even as we speak.
They will continue to build until they feel as though all people can live together, humans and the People of Water. "
"What if I told you they could live on land again?"
The sudden silence made the sea feel heavy.
But he could feel the goddess swirling around his own tail, and knew she had moved to Fortis as well.
The sea herself was excited by the idea of removing the humans once and for all.
She begged at Fortis's fluke, tugging on his gills and his fins until he would know that she approved of this plan.
"They could see the sun?" Fortis asked quietly. "So few of them ever have."
"But only glimpses. What if they could see it every single day?"
"The storms are too strong."
He scoffed. "The storms are strong, yes. But they are survivable with the right technology and the right homes. More than that, they can be fixed in time."
"The storms cannot be fixed. They have raged for centuries because the very earth is mad at the humans.
That cannot be fixed in a generation, let alone in many.
" But again that tail flicked, and Proteus could see that the depthstrider was thinking about his words.
"How are you going to convince the humans to go above? There is nowhere for them to go."
"What if I had a place for them to go?"
Again, that silence. But now he was reading it better. He could sense that the depthstrider was interested.
Then he moved. Fortis came out from behind the tall spire, and he was everything that Proteus had hoped he would be.
A massive creature, violet because that was the ancients favorite color.
Though his chest was pale, it was obvious that he was laden with muscle.
Every part of his body was built as a weapon, but he would only wield it should he need to or should the sea order him to.
What a specimen. This was the kind of creature that Proteus was proud to call his. These were the men and women who would fight to the death to protect what was theirs, and who he knew would always make a choice with their people's best interest at heart.
"You seek the future," Proteus said, without preamble. He knew what a priestly man like this would be expecting. No deal would be made unless Proteus could offer proof that what he said was true.
"I can see the future on my own."
"Can you? Can you see this future that I will draw to fruition?" Proteus shrugged. "Or perhaps you are not capable of such a thing. The only way to know for certain is if I touch you. If I guide you."
Fortis must know this was a trap. He looked at Proteus as if what he offered was poison, and the depthstrider wasn't wrong. To touch a god was no easy feat, especially for their people.
"You will show me the future?" Fortis asked, clearly tense.
"I will show you all that I have always seen. What the ancients who created me tasked me to create. It is a future that was built by someone who knows what they are doing." Proteus held out his hand. "Let me show you, Fortis. Allow me to guide you."
Though Fortis still hesitated, he reached out his hand and took Proteus's. It was a mistake for him, but it was all part of Proteus's plan.
With a surge of magic that he'd been born with, Proteus launched them both into the prophecy that he had been born to fulfill. The future was one that would not be easily won. He remembered this prophecy bit by bit. He’d never seen any changes to it because it was the only prophecy that was set in stone.
The humans would return to the land. They knew how to hunt and fend for themselves, but the People of Water would still be a large part of their lives. They would trade with each other often, and in doing so, both of their peoples would prosper.
Were the humans entirely safe? No. The storm surges still threatened them, the hurricanes could still kill them, but they were working toward ending all of those things.
The storms would slowly start to understand that.
As the land healed and grew safer, so would the tempests that were caused by a riotous land constantly trying to find its balance once more.
They needed to soothe the beast, and they could only do that if they were on the land to do so.
Their homes were shorter, squatter, and far sturdier than before.
Their research would be focused on healing their land and in making their lives easier, along with living with the People of Water.
He could see it now. Vast cities spread deep underground.
Some of them even stretched out into the sea so they could all work together, but none of them took up too much of the water that was already angry at all of them.
But then Proteus noticed there was something different about the prophecy after all. There were shadowy pieces in the back that he had never seen before. Parts of a future that could be changed, and something that could be affected.
People? Perhaps. Maybe this was a sign that they would find more humans living on the land. Soon enough, if they were lucky, they could unlock allies who would help them far more than they would hurt. These were all good signs that he was on the right path.
They all were.
Finally he pulled away from Fortis, watching as the depthstrider seized like he'd been attacked by an electric eel. Proteus grabbed his chin, forcing the other man to look at him.
"You are lucky, friend. You met me at the right time.
This pain will pass, and you will bring this information to your people.
There is a facility where you will bring them and yourself, to see this future with your own eyes and not just a prophecy made by the ancients long ago.
We will send the coordinates to you through one of your droids.
And you will help us, Fortis. You were born to do so. "
He headed off, leaving the large male to drift down to the bottom of the sea where he would wait until the venom of Proteus's prophecy finally left his body.
It was time for this plan to show movement. Proteus grew tired of waiting.