'Huh? What the—'
Leo wasn't allowed to finish when a blinding light assaulted his eyes.
"Sir Aquarius. Sir Aquarius."
Leo slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry for a while, and it seemed someone was calling out to Aquarius. When he could finally see, another bright light assaulted him for a split second.
His head ached from the impromptu void travel.
When he finally opened his eyes, he was left speechless.
The person in front of him was like a giant—or maybe just a giant—but a slender one at that. He was made of flesh, which made Leo's heart soften a little.
'Good to see a human again, but why is he so damn tall? Or wait... am I the short one? Ah, I don't even know. I can't feel my scales or fangs or anything. I mean, I can't feel the snake's body.'
"Sir Aquarius. Sir Aquarius! Stop getting lost in your thoughts! Are you crazy?!"
Leo flinched as the giant raged. The giant wore metallic armor covering him from his neck to his feet, with most sides of it glowing blue. His eyes were white orbs that reminded Leo of Mirage, and the giant had long brown hair.
'Gods. He's so big. Is he going to eat me?'
The giant did no such thing; he took a deep breath and calmed himself. He then turned back to Leo with a small smile.
"I'm sorry, Sir Aquarius. You know I always tend to lose my temper over petty little things."
Not knowing how the real Aquarius would have reacted, Leo faked a smile and nodded.
"Ah, it's nothing."
The giant's smile brightened. "Thanks for forgiving me, Sir Aquarius."
He then suddenly switched back to his rage, which felt almost cartoonish to Leo if not for the fact that the giant's eyes were very, very intimidating.
"Now, will you go and complete the damn project?!"
He switched back to his bright smile, flawlessly. "Please."
Leo gulped. "Sure thing."
"Good," the giant said and glided away, which made Leo raise an eyebrow.
When he was out of sight, Leo sighed.
'Wonder how Aquarius handled him. Oh wait, I am Aquarius in a sense.'
He glanced at his hands. They were real human hands! He was no longer a snake!
He was short. Incredibly short. He had long black hair, crimson eyes, and porcelain skin. He wore a white tunic with a black sash. He was exquisitely handsome; he looked like a god.
Overjoyed, he studied the surroundings.
There was no sky.
Instead, a vast, shimmering expanse of turquoise liquid stretched infinitely overhead. It wasn't the air he was used to; everything felt heavy, yet he could breathe perfectly fine. Far above, the sun was nothing more than a distorted, wavering orb of gold, its light filtering down in long, dancing shafts of caustic rays that swayed with the current.
Gigantic, translucent jellyfish drifted lazily through the water, their long, glowing tendrils acting like lanterns against the deeper blues of the distance.
'Wait... I'm underwater? No, we're underwater. Wait, I can't breathe underwater.'
Leo jerked to and fro, clutching his neck and gasping. Then he stopped and rubbed his face.
"Wow! I guess I can breathe and also speak underwater. Cool."
He looked at the ground, which wasn't dirt or sand but a polished pearlescent reef. Bubbles the size of houses rose from distant vents, spiraling toward the surface in a silent, beautiful parade. The buildings nearby weren't made of brick, but of massive, hollowed-out shells and spiraling coral towers that defied gravity.
"The Ocean of Existence..." Leo whispered to himself, though his voice sounded muffled, as if he were speaking through a thick curtain.
"Yes... The Ocean of Existence is bigger than our realm. And no, for the last time, Aquarius, this isn't the Ocean of Existence," a female voice spoke behind him.
Leo nearly jumped out of his skin—or his human clothes, rather—as he spun around.
Standing there was a woman whose presence felt as heavy and deep as the water surrounding them. She didn't look like the armored giant; she was closer to Leo's current size, maybe a bit taller than him, but her hair moved as if it had a life of its own, waving like dark sea grass in a gentle current. Her skin had a faint, bioluminescent glow, tracing patterns that looked suspiciously like the Auric Codex.
"We are in the Abyssal Cradle, Aquarius," she said, crossing her arms. Her eyes weren't white orbs like the giant's, but a deep, piercing violet. "The Ocean of Existence is what connects the nine realms. You know, that place you've been thinking about since you came here instead of finishing the project?"
Leo blinked, trying to play it cool. 'Right. Abyssal Cradle. Of course. Just a few trillion tons of water connecting realms. Wait! Realms?'
"Right, right," Leo said, pitching his voice to sound more confident than he felt. "The Abyssal Cradle. I was just... checking the similarity in respect to the surface. For engineering. You know?"
'What does that even mean?'
The woman narrowed her eyes, stepping closer. The water around her seemed to ripple with her suspicion.
"You're acting strange today," she whispered. "Ever since you started working on that thing, you've been spaced out. Are the whispers from the metal getting to you again? I told you, using enchanted wood for the rivets was a risky move."
'Enchanted wood? Whispers from the metal?'
"The metal is fine," Leo bluffed, glancing back at her. "I'm just... focused on what I want to do. Like the message said. Er, I mean, like I always say."
She softened slightly, a look of pity crossing her face. "We don't know who you are, Aquarius, but if you can build something that can help us escape the water before Shadow gets here, then we will fully trust you. But now I am already deciding on a second option."
Leo's heart slowed.
'Shadow?'
"Umm... Shadow? Remind me. Who is that?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Shadow isn't a person... it's a spirit of madness. Remember?"
Leo faked a smile.
"Yes! Yes! I was just joking."
He paused for a while and turned his gaze away.
"But uh, by any chance, can you tell me more? I think the wood hit my head and it's causing dementia. Or is it amnesia?"
The woman had a weird expression. "What more do you want to know, pervert?"
"Heh? No, not that kind of thing. I mean this place we're in, how I got here, who that respectful giant was... You know what? I think you should start by telling me your name."