The Darkness Comes
12/12/1937, Chasm Village, The Trench
The villagers had noticed the thieves, “Mother of Dragons!” one of Lemurian descent had said out loud, “No! No–” he had went before they started to flee, “Bandits! To the caves! The caves!” another shouted, “But we are not ready, we haven’t secured the harvest!” another farmer had shouted out to them, “They’ll– They’ll kill us all!” a woman shouted as a thief had went and pinned one of them.
“All? No, that would be foolish.” The Thief had said, “But enough of you serve as a message.” he had said towards them, “Do not resist us! Give up your food! Or the price–” he had started when a shadow had appeared above the thief, “Eh?!” he had went, seeing the Deep Tide, the three and Ambrose looking down at them, “Go on.” Kharsa had said towards him.
“You were saying something about paying a price?” he had asked, and hearing that, the two sides had went and engaged, Sycorax had went beside their leader as she blasted one with magic, “The Swift Tide! Slay them quickly, or– AIRKKH!” the blasted one shouted, “Or what, my dear?” Sycorax had asked, “‘Or I’ll fall like weeds before the scythe’? Is THAT what you meant to say?” she had asked.
“Was that…” Kharsa said, hitting one in the face with her swords guard, “Was that meant to be a joke, Sycorax?” she had asked of her, unsure, “Ah well. At least you tried.” their leader said as four more went to engage The Mountain, “Press on!” one shouted, “We outnumber them!” he had said, “Surely we can overwhelm them!” the raider had said as The Mountain smashed two of them.
“Oh, my poor little doomed sea slug.” she had said to him, “Outnumber us? I am not for my skill with numbers… But I fear you do not even outnumber ME.” the woman had said towards them as they had fought, “Ho, Swift Mercy? Do you feel outnumbered?” she had asked of her as Swift Mercy easily dodged one, almost dancing, “Oh, yes, Mountain!” she had said, “Very much so! But–”
Swift Mercy said as she avoided a downward slash, “A little less now!” she had said with a smile as a simple movement sliced his stomach open, “But perhaps Garanna’s overwhelmed. Do you need help, Breaker?” she had asked, swimming over the corpse, “HELP?” The Sharka Lemurian had as she swung, taking three of them, “DO I LOOK LIKE I NEED HELP?” The Breaker asked.
Namor had went and swam forward through a few of them, “Bottom–Feeders! Sea Slime!” he had snarled towards the raiders, “For Atlantis! For The Empire!” Namor had shouted out as Attuma had went and beaten a few with his fists, “Hnh. Yes, of course.” The Sharka had said towards him, “For the glory of The Empire, then.” he had said with little to no enthusiasm.
Meanwhile Dorma and Ambrose were fighting as she had grabbed the ponytail of one and raised a dagger up, “Force them back, Ambrose!” Dorma ordered to the beast, “Teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget!” Dorma snarled, “Stealing food!” the Atlantean had said as a farmer escaped, “Oh! Th– Thank you!” she had said as The Swift Tide saw them all.
“Ahh, look at them go.” Kharsa had said towards her friend, “Were we ever that young?” she had asked of Sycorax, “Speak for yourself, Kharsa.” she had said towards her, “I was born ancient, as you have many times told me.” she said as the Raiders had started to swim away now, “Flee, cowards!” Attuma had shouted out, “Flee long and far and do not return!” The Sharka shouted out.
“There is no plunder for you here this season!” Attuma shouted as The Swift Tide smiled, “Ah, young Attuma,” Kharsa had said towards him, “We’re not done yet.” she said beside him with a smile as the others swam, “They’ll only return as soon as we’re gone, as I’m sure you know.” The Hero had told him, “Come, see how it’s done!” she had said as they had all headed after them.
At least until they had felt a pain now, “HTT!” “FF” “Wh– What? “Nnf!” they had all went, in pain before the raiders and the giant octopus that had three Atlanteans inside, showing their bones underneath their skin, “Heroes of Atlantis, hah!” the probable leader had said towards them all with a grin, “non can stop us… not even the power of The Empire itself… while we have such a formidable Eldritch Servant!” he snapped.
“Y– You… fools!” Sycorax had said in pain, “This is n– no servant! It is a horror… a creature I h–had thought l–long extinct by now!” she had warned towards them, “I k–know not how you f–found it…” she had warned, “But if you th–think you are its masters, you are s–sadly mistaken! You f–feed you own p–people to it as f–fuel!” Sycorax told them all now.
“K–keep… feeding it…” the mage had said before she had went and fired a blast, “And it will destroy you all!” she had warned and as it had connected, they had started to feel it less now and with that, Kharsa went and attacked, “Well done, Sycorax!” she had shouted out, swimming upwards with a spin of of her blade now, “ANd now that you had broken its hold on us, I shall see to it…” Kharsa said, slicing a tentacle.
“That its reign of terror ends forever!” she had said as she continued to slice, “Right here and right now!” Kharsa had shouted out towards them as the beast was killed and the three were killed as The Chasm Tribe had started to chant towards them, “SWIFT TIDE!” They shouted out as they had all looked at them, “And it seems the raiders have fled once again. Shall we–” Kharsa started as she saw the crowd.
“Or perhaps now.” Kharsa said with a smile, “They will not be so bold in the future, those that remain.” the leader had told them all, “And their victims will feel better if we do not abandon them quite so quickly.” Kharsa told them, “Come, friends, let us reassure them.” she said as the Swift Tribe had approached the tribe, The teens looked at each other, “Look at them, Namor.” Dorma had said with a smile on her face.
“It’s like the stories I’ve read in the history scrolls but happening now. Here!” The redhead had said with excitement, “And to think we were part of it!” She said to him, Dorma and Namor smiling while Attuma sighed, “We were, we were. Quite something, Attuma, eh?” Namor had asked his Sharka friend, “Ah, yes.” he said, looking away, “Quite… something.” he had said to them.
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12/12/1937, Campsite, Thermal Vents
The Imperials were all by the vents with the TIde and the teens, all of them smiling and enjoying their night as Namor had looked to The Sharka, “You seem troubled, Attuma.” Namor had said to him, “Is something wrong?” The Prince had asked him, “It’s nothing, Namor.” Attuma admitted, “It’s just… it’s hard for me to fully condemn those raiders when there have been tims they could have been my own people.”
That had confused Namor who had stopped from eating his crustacean, “Huh? But– They’re bandits! Thieves!” he said, thinking them no better than Beemer in his idiocy, “The Chasm people are Nomads, Prince of The Empire, and Attuma and I have long experience with them.” Garra had told him, “They follow the seasonal currents, but there are time’s food is scarce along their path.” she had admitted.
Attuma had nodded at that, “Yes, Garra. There are.” he said as the two boys looked at him, “The ocean can be a cold place, if all you have is hunger and weaponry.” The Breaker had admitted to that, making Dorma shocked, “I had no idea!” Dorma said, “His life… it must have been so different from ours.” She admitted towards them as Kharsa had looked at her.
“That… may be the best part of the alliance between Atlantis and The Chasm People.” She had told her, “Both sides have something to offer.” the captain said, making Namor look to Attuma and smile, “That’s true, Attuma.” he said, patting his shoulder, “We extend out reach, and you… you’ll never be alone, with the Empire to back you up.” he said, but Attuma wasn’t sure, “Yes. I know…” he admitted.
“I must say, Dorma, your pet is quite effective in battle. His name is Ambrose?” Sycorax said, sitting The Mountain’s shoulder as the two looked at the two, “Yes, and he’s just the best!” she said before stroking him, “Aren’t you, Ambrose? Aren’t you?” she had asked of him with a smile, “The Court Sorcerers magicked him up with those powers, because he was so loyal and protective.” The Lady told the two.
“And he just LOVES to be scratched under the chin, don’t you?” she had asked as he blubbed in joy, the two bots watching with interest, “Ha! You’ll have to get used to the Imperial women too, Attuma!” Namor had said to him, “I… daresay I could do that.” he said as she continued to scratch him, “They’re not so different from the Chasm Girls…” he said as Dorma looked to the sorceress, “Oh!” she went.
“But I wanted to ask you about Magic, Sycorax!” Dorma had said towards her, “Is it hard to learn as they say?” Dorma asked, “Because we studied it a little at court, but my tutors told me I had a genuine talent for it!” she said, remembering that day, “But it’s hard to believe anyone could learn to be more powerful than that awful thing you bested…” Dorma said as she had decided to answer.
“It can be quite time–consuming to learn magic, my lady, even for those with talent.” Sycorax had told her, “And I doubt your duties at court would allow for it.” she had said, “But I am not more power than that creature.” she said, surprising those that were listening, “I simply… more resourceful.” She said before creating a glyph, “Magic is rarely about raw power.” she had admitted to them.
“It is much more about will. And about influencing power, shaping it as it flows.” Sycorax had told them,” And about character as well. The forces a spellworker wields must respect you, listen to you, as the creature’s power did to me.” She had told them all, “Power alone is a mere beginning. Which is a good thing.” she admitted, surprising Namor, “A good thing? What do you mean?” he had asked.
That made her sigh as Sycorax spoke, “I was thinking of the release we seek, Prince Namor.” she told him, “The Unforgotten Stone.” Sycorax said, making them quite as they listened to her tale, “If power was all that mattered, we’d have no chance against it.” she told them, “Indeed, we would be enslaved to it, if we existed at all.” she had said as the thermal vents seemed to show a story.
“It is ancient, deadly…” she had said as they could have sworn that there was the stone there, “A dread, malevolent thing, far, far older than The Empire.” Sycorax told them scared of the sight of that, “Older… and hungrier.” she said as the images revealed the shadow of a horror like what they fought, “First came the great old ones…” the mage said as the numbers grew.
An alien city with horrors over it, wraiths like them below, “Near–Gods from The Outer Dark, beyond reality itself.” The Sorceress had explained towards them, “They enslaved the deeps for cold aeons of pain, of blood magic and insanity.” she said as the city had grown, “They built great cities, vast and forbidding, like deep R’lyeh, and spawned terrible creatures, some of whom lurk in the shadowed realms even now.”
They had watched and seem that there was a war in the vents go and fight against their people, “And when The Atlanteans came…” she had said as the abominations fought against them, “They warred bravely against the dark ones, for millennia of struggle. Driving them back, driving them into the depths…” she had said as they saw that the Atlanteans were reaching for the stone.
“Killing them when they could… or imprison them. In shadow, in The Void, in stone.” Sycorax said, making the proverbial ball drop now, “Such is The Forgotten Stone. A Solid manifestation of their evil power. Perhaps even their twisted unearthly souls.” she had said towards them, “But Dark Forces have a will of their own. And no matter how securely Atlantis tried to bind and entomb them…”
“They have a habit of slipping away.” she had said towards them, looking into the light, seeing the darkness before them, “But now we do know.” she had warned, “And we must seize our chance.” she had said to the stunned teens, “We must reclaim the stone, imprison it once again.” she had said towards them which made them all worried at everything.
“And swiftly. Or The Empire… even The Whole World… is in Grave Danger.” she had warned which made the trio confused, “But then… should we even have stopped to fight raiders if the threat of The Stone is so pressing?” Namor had asked them, making Kharsa approach them, “Ah, you must never regret helping, Namor.” she had said towards the Prince.
“These are your people.” she had said to him, “One day, your subjects. Never, no matter what, think to abandon them.” The leader of The Swift Tide had said to him, making Namor a bit nervous, “O– of course.” he had said, making the others agree as they had worried that there was something dangerous soon to happen as they had prepared for the danger to come.
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12/14/1937, German Sea Lab
The group had headed towards the structure, the group all feeling a presence as Kharsa spoke, “There.” she said, looking to the metal, reminding Namor about the rig he and Sandy helped construct, “Sycorax says the emanations come from THAT structure.” she had said towards them, “But we need a closer look…” Kharsa had said and her companion created a green bubble before them.
“That, I can do… now that we are close enough.” Sycorax said, revealing two surface dwellers in some gear with tubes at the top of their heads as they used some form of equipment, “A magnifying distortion of The Waters before us, and…” she had said as Namor was confused, “What– What are those?” he asked, surprised t the sight, “They’re man–shaped but so bulky, and their heads… are they robots?” he asked.
Sandy showed him images, but they looked nothing like that, “I don’t know. But they’re close to the stone.” she had said towards them, “I don’t like that.” Sycorax said and none of them like that, “Nor do I.” Kharsa said, saying what they all thought, “Guardsmen, set up camp, and wait. Be prepared to back us up if needed.” she had told them, “Young ones…” Kharsa said.
“Let’s go see what we can see, hm?” She had asked, the group and their mounts heading in, but as they had approached, there was a noise where they had seen that the area had started to explode, creating a from as the bots saw a pure black hole as well as black tendrils coming out, polluting the area around, making them all start to cough in pain, stopping in their tracks.
Eventually they had started to get their faculties back, “The Three of you! Get back out of range!” Kharsa had shouted to them, “But–” Namor had went, but none of them would listen, “I said get back! To the guardsmen!” she had shouted out towards the teens, “You are the future for our people! And… if we don’t return…” she had said, all of them feeling weaker.
“Someone must carry the tale!” The Captain shouted as the fog had approached them, “But– we can help–” “Sycorax!” their leader shouted towards her friend, “GO.” The Sorceress, blasting the three out to the others there, the Imperial Guardsmen all going to help them as they had all sen that the portal was now closing up, “Karthon’s Bones!” Namor shouted out, “We have to–”
“No, my prince.” he had said towards them, “Let The Tide investigate. They know what they’re doing.” he had said as they had seen that there was was some sort of dark thunder and lightning that was going off inside of the place, “What– What’s in there?” he had asked in shock as they saw the metal starting to collapse and begin to clear now, “What is–?” Dorma had asked as they saw it all.
“Well.” a voice that had sounded so SO inhuman had said towards them as they saw The Monsters that were formerly The Swift Tide, “Well, well, well.” Kharsa had said towards them all, all of them looking like nightmares now, “Where shall we start?” She had asked of them, making the group all realize that there was an immense danger now that had made all three of them worry.
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12/23/1937, The Royal Garden, The Royal Palace
Namor and a weak Dorma had been swimming though the garden, they had been looking at everything that had happened, there was The now christened Black Tide, Attuma Attukarsen, The new leader of The Sharka, There was Ambrose who swam above, now a larger creature, tainted by the eldritch magic but still pure as he had started to swim around with joy right now.
“To think that they are– that– I don’t know what to say right now.” Dorma had said with a nervous laugh, “I wish that I did, but we have to move forward.” he had said, looking down at himself and see that the scaled outfit he was wearing reminded him of Beemer and he wished for something that he could wear when he had felt a shadow, one that made them both look up and see who was there.
What had covered the light had been revealed to be none other than Nammu and Sandra, both of them going and leaping forward, Nammu going and hugging Sandra while Sandy had went and hugged Namor, “Namor! We heard about what happened!” she had said towards the prince while he had sighed, “A– A lot of things have happened,” he said, “Ambrose being the biggest change.” he said.
That had made them look and see that there was Ambrose, making them all smile at that as the group had looked, glad that they were all okay when they had all started to hope that there was nothing more dangerous to come from all of this as they had all headed to go and tell each other everything that had been happening nowadays and what they might do now that they were together again.
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12/24/1937, Bobo’s Home, Long Beach
Bobo had been taking a drink as he had looked around everywhere before he had realized that there was something there, it was a box which had made the Atlantean confused as he had went an opened it up, looking at it in confusion, “Merry… Christ… mas?” he had asked confused, looking and seeing the man dressed in red had went and waved, making him nervously wave back, thinking it wasn’t too bad here.
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8/31/1939, Derelict Ship, Atlantic Ocean
They were looking around in annoyance as everything as he had went and seen that Byrrah and Merano had been having issue, the latter seeming to come to the surface more often then not while Dorma had been following him, he was wearing a more read outfit with a sarong like skirt to it while Namor had worn darker blue shorts now made from scales as they seen everything.
Nammu had been at the distance, looking at everything that was there before they had noticed that there was something off which had made the two of them look up and see that it was a group which had made them realize that it was divers, “No,, not again…” Dorma had said with fear and Namor hadglared as he had swam towards one of them now, at least until one saw him.
They had aimed and fired at him, making Namor move to the side as Nammu had went and grabbed at the spear and threw it back, cutting the tube while the Prince grabbed and tackled him, the other going to help while Dorma had went and tackled them as well, the three f them trying to restrain them when they had seen the struggling coming from them, “What’s happening?” Dorma had asked in confusion.
“They need air!” Nammu had shouted out towards them while the pair of them had realized that there was a strange symbol, one that Dorma and Namor had recognized, both of them remembering it from the rig and hating every second of the thought as they had both went and torn off the helmets, “What are you–?!” Nammu shouted out to them as they had looked at their scared expressions.
They had seen that the life leave their eyes and with that, the two of them had looked at Nammu, “If these villains are returning, then we must warn my grandfather and grandmother.” Namor had said and hearing that, Dorma had nodded, as worried as him as they had went and taken the bodies, both of them knowing that there was a danger here that they needed to prepare for now.