Was she dead…?

No. I felt her heart. It was pulsing, just… very slowly.

I glanced upward, to the far distant gleam of sunlight on the ocean's surface. Some bubbles leaked from my mouth as I did, and I watched the way they floated upward.

For the amount of air I'd just released, the bubbles were far too tiny. And the way they danced and circled each other was telling too.

The water pressure here was unnatural. Heavy. Strong. As if I was far deeper than I actually was.

Not too surprising when considering who was here though.

Looking back down to my friend's face, I studied the massive eye nearby. It was shut firmly, blending into the rest of her face in a way that almost hid it completely. From certain angles she almost looked like a part of the reef she was sleeping near. From other angles she looked like a craggy cliff face, what with the way her shell was so rough. But no matter how you viewed her, what she was became very apparent after some time. Anyone with eyes to see, even down here in this darkness, could see the outline of her shape. It was unmistakable. It was a good thing humans weren't able to really explore the ocean yet. Otherwise she'd have been found rather easily. Only a few miles away was a port city, one much larger than I had remembered it.

Not that I feared for her life, of course. She was like Miss Beak. Something that would only die once her age finally reached a point that not even her divinity could handle it. And… judging by the way her heart was slowly thumping, that point of time was likely not far at all. It had that same odd rhythm that Miss Beak's once had. One that was likely more noticeable thanks to being in water.

I wanted to sigh, but I had just allowed the last bit of my air to leak out. If given enough time my body would fully adapt to its surroundings, and thus enable me to breathe water, but I didn't plan to stay down here that long.

After saying goodbye to Oplar and Celine, sending them on their way to Telmik, I had come straight here. She wasn't always off this coast, but I'd found her here more often than not so hadn't been surprised to do so. Her being so huge, and also a firstborn like Miss Beak, made it easy to find her just by running up and down the coast line. I had felt her from miles away.

Still… how long was she going to sleep?

Shifting a little, I lifted a foot. With a little more force than necessary I stomped down, causing a rush of bubbles to explode and rush all around. They bubbled upward, up and through my pants as they did.

The mighty tortoise shifted, causing massive swaths of underwater clouds of sand and other particles to spread all around as she did. I kept my footing as her head shifted and a mighty eye slowly peered open, focusing on me. It glowed only ever so faintly, but here in the deep darkness it looked as bright as a sun. The green glow fit her appearance, and I smiled at her since I wasn't able to speak.

A deep, deep, guttural groan told me she had just woken up and was annoyed over having been forced to. I felt her take in a deep breath, sucking in so much water around us as she did that I had to firm my footing lest I got pulled down towards her nostrils. Then I was lifted as her mighty beak stiffly opened as she yawned.

For a small moment I just focused on staying upright as the water all around me swirled, both with bubbles and currents. The dense pressure increased a little, making me feel heavier than I had in a long time, but still I remained in place.

After she yawned she slowly started to get up. I had to again firm my footing as she raised her head towards the surface, and in doing so nearly sent me to my knees from the momentum and pressure of it.

The huge monarch pushed off from the bottom of the sea, and in doing so made some of my internal organs stress from the change in pressure. Thankfully my body had already adapted to it, else I might have had some organs rupture. A few might have torn and broke anyway, even with my adapted body, as she started to slow near the surface.

She lifted her head out of the ocean, and thus me too. It was the middle of the day, and no storm in sight, so it took half a second for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. I'd just been in nearly perpetual darkness down below, so it was a sudden shift.

Massive waves splashed wildly all over thanks to her sudden emergence, having displaced untold tons of water in doing so, and she released a great sigh as she settled on the ocean's surface. The world was noisy for a moment as the ocean settled around us, and then I heard my eardrums pop as they healed from the quick ascent we'd just done. I knew I'd likely soon start to leak some blood, from organs and whatnot having been affected too. But I didn't feel too bad all the same.

"Why waken me, Vim…? I'd been comfortable," the tortoise asked, her voice deep but muddled. Half her face was still submerged, so she had basically just spoken to me from underwater. It made her sound funny. Funny and tired.

"I had seen that. You had crushed half a reef, you know?"

Huge eyes slowly closed in front of me, shutting as if about to fall back asleep. She didn't though. "Come to nitpick have you?"

I smiled at that. Yes, to this massive creature something like destroying a whole ecosystem was just something to be picky about. "Rather I've come with a request," I said.

My old friend hummed at me, and it kind of sounded similar to a whales call. It reverberated in the ocean around us, and likely went out for untold miles. I felt for any nearby sea-life, I knew what such loud noises did under the water. If it didn't outright kill you it at least hurt and made you dizzy.

Not that she had done it on purpose of course… she was simply that big. That momentous.

"Have you been sleeping there long?" I asked her as she closed her eyes and I felt her swim a little. I felt as if I was on a ship that had just made a very stark turn, as I had to shift my weight to stay upright. She seemed to be heading for the nearby shore.

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"I think so… I was down south, but got tired of the current there so returned here. I don't know when I'd done so though," she said.

"Have you been well, though, all things considered?" I asked.

She huffed at me, spraying massive amounts of ocean spray in the process. A lot of it hit me, since she was now swimming at a decent pace. Likely faster than even the Society ship I'd just been on. "I'm well, Vim. My shell is heavy, as is my sleep. Pray tell me your request so I can return to it."

Right… Even when younger she had always complained about my bothering her. She slept more than any other creature I knew, but I was fine with it. She was too massive, and her ability too dangerous, for her to really live any other lifestyle. "I recently encountered a god. One who had summoned a monarch here in the sea, not far from here," I said with a point in the direction where I'd faced them, north.

Huge eyes slowly blinked at me. "And?"

I smirked at her. She really was a creature from a bygone age wasn't she? Who left today would have responded to my words in such a way? Miss Beak might have, to a fault, but… "I've come to ask if you've felt or encountered anything similar. I've recently encountered two gods in a very short time. I fear something is happening, or that they're conspiring something again," I said. Strangely it was comforting to be talking to someone who not just knew all about the past and all it held, but was indifferent to it.

"I've not felt or seen a creator or even their creations in… a long time, Vim. I think I've encountered a few monarchs over the years but I always eat them. And never have any been of note worth," she said.

That was the problem, though. To her they wouldn't have been, but… "Any recently? Say in the last few years?"

"I've been asleep the last few years Vim, easily. Maybe even decades."

Great.

"How about the undersea volcano near the horn?" I asked.

She hummed for a moment, and then blinked. "It is active. It rumbles deep in the earth, and stacks of smoke and other things leak all around in that region. Makes the waters warm, but thick," she said.

Just great… "So it could be soon," I said.

"Likely… in a manner of speaking, to us, at least," she said.

Yes. To those like her and I, even if it happened in a century that was still soon.

"So, Vim. Why have you woken me?" the monarch asked, sounding tired.

"I just asked it of you. I wanted to confirm what you knew, and find out if you'd sensed any gods or powerful monarchs lately."

The huge turtle's eyes focused on me, and I smiled at my own reflection within them. They were bigger than I was. "Such a trifling matter," she said.

"It is, but isn't. I'm glad to hear you've not had any issues, other than my disturbing your slumber of course," I said.

Some birds showed up, squawking as they started to circle her huge shell. A large flock of what looked like pelicans and seagulls started to land upon her shell, noisily cawing at each other as they did. I couldn't see her whole shell, of course, thanks to the shape and size of it. Her shell was likely half a mile wide if not larger and it raised upward quite a distance. It was dark in color, and thanks to the pointed carapace it looked like a large craggily collection of rocks. They looked like little pyramids upon her back, with the way they were actually symmetrical. It was a unique trait, since typically only tortoises grown in captivity had such a shell pattern. It was considered a deformity. But she'd not been grown in captivity, at all; she had simply been made that way on purpose by her creator.

Honestly, other than her head sticking out of the water, she looked like a outcropping island or something, one found on a rocky coastline. A perfect place for creatures to rest upon.

For now. Soon she'll submerge, and maybe even do so while activating her ability. To help her sink, she sometimes used her ability which made the whole area around her become heavier. She was able to increase the strength of gravity around her, to the point when at her strongest efforts the tug of gravity could rip flesh off bones.

She was a tortoise, though her appearance didn't outright imply a singular species. She had the shell of a river turtle, snout of a pond dweller, and feet and legs of a sea-dwelling one.

And she was more monarch than Miss Beak ever pretended to be. She was indifferent to nearly all things, and saw the world through the eyes of what she was. A creature of near semi-omnipotent power. She herself really only had to fear one thing, other than me, in this world. And that was the gods. It made her very… well…

"Are your questions over then…? Nothing else to request of me? No hearts to sizzle in my belly?" she asked lazily.

I turned, and now on the horizon saw land. She was indeed swimming to the shore, likely to drop me off.

"For now… no. Is there anything I can do for you? It might be some time before we see one another again," I asked. I should have brought a few hearts with me to give to her, foolish of me but what can you do?

"Nothing, Vim. I only wish to sleep."

I nodded slowly at that. That was one of the main reasons I had let her be all this time. Like Miss Beak she was willing to live her life without interfering with the world. She might kill animals occasionally, hard not to being a monarch of her size and power, but she did not do so maliciously. She swam around, slept where she felt comfortable, and then swam around some more until she found the next place to rest. She herself didn't even eat anything as far as I was aware.

Her biggest threat was just being seen and as such creating rumors and whatnot of her existence.

"Well, then I apologize for waking you. I had feared… or rather, I am fearing, the worst. I believe gods have become active again. Odds are you might encounter one in the future, or at least their spawn," I said.

"And deal with them I will. I promise you, as I've vowed, I'll defeat them or die trying. It is of no matter to concern yourself with," she said.

"I know… but I'd ask you to survive all the same. I have someone I'd like you to meet, if eventually," I said.

She hummed lightly at me, but didn't inquire further. I knew she wouldn't have though. Unlike Miss Beak she had no real desire to know much about anything or anyone. To her all that mattered was the ocean's depths, and where she could get the nicest nap upon them.

"Then shall I take you to land?" she asked, as if she wasn't already doing so.

"If you don't mind can you drop me off elsewhere?" I asked.

"Hm…?"

"Farther north. At least a hundred miles or so," I said.

The monarch's eyes lazily studied me, and then she slowly turned in the sea. Once again I had to shift my weight as to stay upright as she did so. Without a word she changed course, directing us due north along the shoreline.

"Thank you. In return I'll tell you of what I've been doing these last few years," I said.

"I care not."

"Ah! But you will! You see, I've found a mate!" I said happily.

The lazy eyes shifted a little, focusing a tad more seriously. "Hm…?" she deeply rumbled.

I nodded, smirking proudly as I went to tell her in full detail of my recent marriage. About my finding Renn, and the way she had wormed herself into my heart without me realizing it.

If she had no bad news for me… then it was only fair I gave her good news in return.

At least, that was what I told myself as she ferried me north to Nevi.

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