In the deepest chasm of the undersea canyon, the current was stagnant, like dead water.
A colossal statue of Poseidon stood upon a circular stone dais, its surface covered in constantly writhing deep-sea moss.
It was as if countless tiny black tentacles were breathing.
The statue's eyes were two murky black crystals. Dark red veins were faintly visible within, pulsing slowly like blood vessels.
Stranger still, the statue's abdomen was slightly distended.
A viscous black fluid oozed from between the scale-like patterns on its surface, as if something were gestating within.
Chi Ya knelt before the statue, holding a bowl of scarlet liquid in both hands.
His fox ears had mutated into translucent, fin-like appendages, and several slender tentacles protruded from the back of his head, swaying grotesquely with the current.
"Drink."
The statue's deep voice didn't come from without, but bored directly into the mind:
"You will receive the power you desire."
