Heretical Fishing

Fifty meters from shore, in the calm swell just past the breaking waves, two horrors from the deep observed. Other beings might have been offended that their absence wasn’t noticed, identifying it as reflective of their social standing.
Cadet Calamari and Fathom knew better.
Though it paled to the bond between the couple about to be married, the brothers had both spent time connected to Fischer’s mind—they understood just how strong his feelings were, that glimpse into his awareness confirming the affections wrought clear on the bride and groom’s faces whenever they saw one another.
“It’s still a slight shame we weren’t invited,” Cal said, bobbing over an unbroken wave.
“Oh?” Fathom asked. “Why is that?”
“It was a perfect opportunity to show off. The outfits are all wonderful, but can they do this?” Cal, without using a drop of essence, made his skin swim, the myriad colors visible on the shore swirling over him.
“Ahhh, I finally comprehend Roger’s reason for placing us here.” Fathom gave Cal a meaningful glance, his body emulating the same pattern with inhuman perfection. “Our glorious appearances would have detracted from the beauty of our tyrant god-king, which would have surely resulted in our heads adorning Tropica’s walls.”
Their eyes shone in shared amusement, twinkling brighter than the stars in the sky above. Then, before either could release another quip, the true reason for their position arrived.
“I do,” Maria said, sealing the pact.
Ellis dropped to the ground, revealing the fist-sized hole he’d left in the half-sphere structure behind him. It looked like an amplifier. Something that essence or sound could bounce off of just like Slimes had. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
It wasn’t for boosting power; it was for stealing it.
Fathom created a second void on this side of that small opening. It was the last component necessary for Ellis’s funnel, but as the abyssal elemental pushed for its completion, his strength waned. Forming an external vacuum was always possible, but doing so while maintaining an internal one? It was far too much for a single soul to handle. He would lose control of both, resulting in a detonation that would consume everything for kilometers.
Fortunately, he wasn’t alone.
Cal’s will flew out into the night, their bond—and the cuttlefish’s experience with abyssal essence—allowing help that shouldn’t be possible. The second void solidified just in time to catch the brilliance that erupted from the consecration of husband and wife. Oceanic currents of chi Tendrils of chi, better described as oceanic currents, flowed into the endless abyss, the funnel working as intended. The flame-cultivators joined in, their beautiful flowers flaring, reinforcing the structure. The rest of the congregation, all forewarned to release their power when the consecration occurred, also opened their cores. Countless elements and aspects formed a solid net, corralling the light coming from Fischer and Maria toward the closest void.
It was just as Ellis had predicted. If not for their intervention, the truth of what happened here would have flowed up into the heavens, echoes of the monumental event bouncing around before broadcasting beyond. Every strand of that far-reaching power was contained and absorbed. The localized storm of emotion, however, wasn’t.
Fischer and Maria’s feelings for one another poured out for all to witness, and despite Fathom’s intense focus, the enormity of it was like a punch to the beak.
Philosophers and poets spoke of love as if it was flawless. An experience that finds kindred souls if they are so fortunate, elevating them. That view, in Fathom’s informed opinion, was a trap.
Love is not something that happens to you. It is a series of choices, the small and large decisions one makes every single day to put the other first. But neither is it the complete abandonment of self. Love is a
. A constant give and take, only made possible when done with grace, humility, and compassion.
These two souls, a god-king and his wife, knew all this and more. They were free of misconception. They understood exactly how much hard work it would be needed to remain dedicated to one another for all eternity. This knowledge could drive some to despair, but not them. Maria and Fischer saw it as beautiful. A task they were both willing to dive headfirst into, its difficulty to obtain and nourish making it all the more desirable.
That was the secret to their relationship. The foundation underneath their physical and emotional attraction to one another. Their direct bond allowed them to see the other’s intentions.
They’d seen each other’s souls. Weighed the good and the bad and the ugly,. aAnd chosen each other time and time
, just as they would forevermore.
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As the countless currents of brilliance filled his external void, Fathom dismissed these musings. Filling something endless should be, by definition, inconceivable. It was one more impossibility facilitated by Fischer, and Ellis had anticipated it. Which was why there was a second black hole. Fathom focused. The hard part had arrived.
He connected the two abysses, his chi not needing physical proximity to interact. The magnitude of the consecration’s power hit differently now that it was passing through his tentacle, but he didn’t let himself get distracted. What came next should have been unworkable. It definitely would have been if it were just him and his brother handling the distribution.
But as Cal reached for the myriad earthen elements below, another rushed to assist. A volcanic elemental, the second sister, helped carve a tunnel directly down, its width tapering as it got closer to the planet’s core. Magma was solidified by Cal’s intent, becoming the solid walls necessary to—
It happened in an instant. The final wave from Fischer and Maria was stronger, larger than any other, and it flooded into the first void. Fathom merged it into the second, the transition so swift his body hadn’t yet registered the pain of his tentacle rupturing, the surrounding tissue destroyed.
An arcing blade of Roger’s chi severed the limb. Deklan and Dom surrounded them all in a protective shield, just in case. Fathom released his hold on the only remaining abyss, and as a spear of agony shot through him, he poured every remnant ounce of will into a third vacuum—this one kilometers underground.
Cal and the first sister, two elementals of similar aspects, handled the rest. They created the structure Ellis had suggested, the tunnels looking like an upside-down tree. The pure-white currents exploded into it, pulled down by the distant void, then carried onward by momentum when Fathom dismissed his power, the incandescent tempest filling and expanding its confines as it went.
Perhaps Fathom should have experienced a moment of fear. The main trunk was rocketing toward the planet’s core. All he felt, however, was excitement, fatigue, and the deep pleasure derived from a job well done.
The light struck. The Realm shook as it noticed the offering, then absorbed it all in less than an instant, the impossibly vast tide just…
Fathom held his breath, waiting for something to go wrong, but all he could sense was a slowly fading potential, Kallis doing whatever it did with its stores of power.
Cal let out a slow hiss, a stream of contemplative bubbles rising to the ocean’s surface as he looked up at the sky, exhaustion clear. “How long do you think it will take?”
“Logic dictates that it will be millennia. Centuries, at the very least.”
“I didn’t ask what logic dictated, brother.”
“I know.” Fathom studied the stars for a pregnant moment, his discarded limb regrowing to drift in the waves. “I dare not speak a timeline, but things seem to progress rather…
around these parts.”
“Around Fischer, you mean.”
Fathom burbled in agreement, and neither brother said a word more, both content with watching the stars high above as they bobbed up and down, weary and weightless.
I let out a shaky breath, feeling empty for a moment before strength and warmth flooded me once more. Maria did the same, her heart pulsing in tandem with mine as she leaned into me. Silence reigned. The only sounds to be heard were the small waves crashing against hitting the shore, gulls crying from above, and the frothing of sea foam as the ocean retreated, only for it to return and begin anew.
It was serene. A little slice of heaven for us alone. If I hadn’t experienced it first-hand, I never would have assumed we’d both just released multiple nuclear-bombs worth of power.
“Shame about everyone else,” Maria said, standing back.
“It’s their own fault,” I replied. “Serves them right for keeping secrets.”
There was a zapping sound, and Maria and I both spun.
RPM. He’d dashed toward Claws, making a play to steal her suit jacket, but he lost hold of his chi during the approach. His body flopped uselessly over her. She lifted a paw to slap him, but gave up halfway, letting it fall to the sand. Behind those two miscreants, the rest of the congregation were in similar states of exhaustion. They had all been pushed to the absolute limit. Each man, woman, beast, spirit—and even a child—using every drop of essence they possessed, ensuring the power that had just flowed from us wasn’t sent flying up into the heavens.
Ellis groaned. He had one hand on his knee, the other on the ground as he struggled upright. “You may now…” he wheezed, his core absolutely spent. “...
.”
A sliver of will left him—a loose thread that hung in the air, waiting to be harnessed—and he crumpled, hitting the deck like someone had replaced his kneecaps with jelly.
It was objectively hilarious, but neither Maria nor I uttered a peep. Everyone’s selflessness had sobered us; Ellis’s words had made our intoxication return.
We stared at each other, both more knowledgeable about
than ever before. Earlier, we’d expected
to happen when we got married—especially with Ellis’s intentionally grandiose verbiage. Now, though? We understood what this meant. On an instinctive level, we comprehended exactly what would occur when we sealed our marriage.
I lost myself in her beautiful eyes, more green than blue in the low light surrounding us. “Are you sure you want this, my love? I—”
“Shut up and kiss me, Fischer.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. I grabbed her by the waist, one hand drifting up the side of her torso to rest on her neck. The movement was carefully measured, my brain fighting the urge to squeeze her tight and never let go.
Maria was… less controlled. She seized me by the back of the head, pulling herself up with all her strength. When our lips met, something in my core trembled, broke free, and flew across our bond.
The stamp. That mark branded on my soul. Part of it was gone, moved to the woman across from me.
I repeated internally, amused at my own language.
wife.
Maria replied, disbelief lacing our mental voices.
Together, we inspected the permanent marks now etched into our cores.