Meanwhile, somewhere in Umbral Spider…
[Huh…well, that’s annoying.]
[Hmm? What’s wrong?]
[It appearzzz that the captured Grafted have officially met their ends.]
[Oh…were they executed?]
[Not exactly. I placed a failsafe inside them that could only be activated if someone were to try and examine their memories and look for information about yourzzz truly.]
[Failsafe?]
[I’ve been doing this for centuries, this is the first time it’s been used.]
[Huh…wait, didn’t you say that anima wielders weren’t able to do such a thing because of the grafted parts acting like a barrier to such intrusions?]
[Who said it was due to an anima wielder?]
[Oh…]
[Besidezzz, this actually works out for us.]
[It does?]
[Yes, but whether we can make use of it or not depends on the actions of the Kaijin Lord.]
________________________________________
Little Later, and in Undertow…
“Welp, I can’t tell if I should be worried or impressed that the only things left of these Grafted guys were the Kaijin bits that were stitched on to them,” Zhen Liu complained after he and the kaijin spent time cleaning up the mess.
The self-destruction of the Grafted warriors was… surprisingly clean in a messed up sense due to the sheer power of the explosion incinerating most of their bodies.
But as Zhen Liu observed, it was only their mortal portions that were burned away into nothingness.
In the now soot covered cells that once contained Gao Su, Gao Kan and Gao Dau, all that remained of them was a strangely metallic throat implant that pulsated, a spine that seemed to have almost triple the amount of vertebrate in comparison to a normal one and a strange looking eyeball that Zhen Liu swore had somehow managed to blink at him.
This was disturbing to Zhen Liu not just in a body horror sense, but in a “Kaijin common sense” sense.
Based on his own experience, fighting Grub and the death of the zakos, alongside with what Logos and Pathos had “taught” him, beings made of [Chaos] would always break back down into [Chaos] when defeated because the entire mortal universe couldn’t tolaerate them.
This effect was usually immediate and under rare circumstances did a Kaijin ever leave behind some evidence that they existed on the mortal realm.
At least, that was the running theory.
Zhen Liu was going to have bring this stuff back to the library so it could be safely studied and broken down by Logos and Pathos, but he had his misgivings over the idea for obvious reasons.
…
‘Are you sure you guys will be able to safely analyze this shit without a fucking virus or something acting upon it? You’ve both been through my memories, we both know that’s a possibility.’
<To be fair, those were mortal viruses on strange electrical machines that are relatively easy to fool with the right tools. The difference between those machines and our ancient library that’s been around since the dawn of time are immense. The last time we had a breach, it took three sects worth of experts.>
‘Didn’t… didn’t we get a breach like last month? We literally have that guy in a cell.’
<Internal accidents are different from external invasions.>
‘Fair enough?’
=Even if there is something nefarious inside of these body parts though, milord, it’s still our duty as curators of the library and caretaker of the Kaijin to see that these remains are properly laid to rest. Not all of us can go out as gloriously and as loved as Sir Tortallion.=
‘I…suppose that’s right.’
<Oh! Speaking of relationships, love and the natives of Undertow, shouldn’t you be wrapping this up so you can go on your date with your girlfriend? Last I checked, this will be the last one you’ll be able to do in awhile.>
‘Right!’
…
[D’awww! I missed this.]
[Huh? Miss what?]
[This slow life stuff! It’s been way to hectic these past few weeks. I think we all deserve a nice break. Don’t you agree?]
[…]
[Nepherage? Why aren’t you answering?]
[…please don’t jinx us, Hurricroak.]
[What do you mean?]
…
Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Zhen Clan, the people of Undertow and the Kaijin, the city of Undertow managed to repair most of the destroyed buildings and restore a sense of normalcy
Merchants started hawking their wares, children returned to school and craftsman plied their skills once more.
Amongst these people going about their business though, a somewhat unusual sight could be seen.
Like any good city, there were plazas where people gathered to meet with one another, go to restaurants or simply exchange commerce.
In one particular plaza, a young woman that nobody could rightly identify was standing and waiting for the arrival of their date.
Little did the passerbys know, that if they were able to identify who this woman was, they’d be on their knees. For she was none other than their new Storm Queen, Jin Fang.
‘Coral, are you sure you can keep up this disguise? It’s not too much for you, is it?’
[No problem, big sis,] the osprey-like Majin, a term Pathos used to refer to the companion, answered. [Compared to being armor and weapon, messing with people’s perception is way easier.]
‘That…actually makes sense.’
Shortly after the Kaijin Lord(Zhen Liu) made himself known and claim the throne of Storm Queen as her successor, he immediately bestowed the right back to Jin Fang and the council.
As tempting as it was to become the official lord of a whole ass underground city with access to unusual goodies, it would involve him moving to the [Abyssal Lands] and he honestly wasn’t ready for all of that responsibility.
There was a massive difference between coordinating highly energetic Kaijin and a whole ass city.
But on a less selfish note, any legacy or resources here were more Jin Fang’s right than his anyways. It would only be right for it to go to it’s intended inheritor. Even if some of those inheritances required a bit more time to process.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting!”
“It wasn’t too long, young ma-I mean…darling.”
The disguised Jin Fang was greeted by a not-so disguised Zhen Liu, who managed to only get away with this because none of the citizens of Undertow saw his real face when he loudly declared himself as Kaijin Lord. Not even the Undertow Council knew the Kaijin Lord’s identity, although, they did have suspicions that he was connected to the Zhen Clan.
“Now then, darling, shall we go for a walk?,” Zhen Liu asked while presenting his arm for her to encircle with her own.
“Yes, let’s.”
Arm in arm, the young lovers from Stampeding Bison enjoyed their stroll through an alien city that seemed like something out of a story.
They spent quite some time simply walking and talking, not even bothering to entertain the idea of stopping by a restaurant or a public show of any kind. After all, this was going to be the last time that they were going to bs able to do such a simple outing.
For the immediate future at least.
As such, they took this opportunity to not only catch-up, but also discuss their feelings for a bit.
“So… you’re gonna be staying here in Undertow, huh? Are you excited or scared about being away from Stone Claw?”
“Well…on the one hand, I’m excited of being treated like royalty as a opposed to staff. Plus, I got the new Kaijin and Terra to help,” Jin Fang mused. “But it is going to be a bit lonely without you, the family, Tiny, Mini and the Kaijin. So…it’s a little of both.”
“Really? Even though you, me and the Storm Knights are all mentally connected?”
“You and I both know that it’s not the same as being physical close to each other,” Jin Fang retorted. “Because I wouldn’t be able to cuddle with you otherwise.”
“True.”
The young lovers eventually reached a point in their walk where they could stare out into the distance pass Undertow’s harbor and stare at the back of the now forever petrified giant body of Tortallion.
Feelings of respect and grief rose in their hearts as they took in the sight of Undertow civilians rowing boats towards the statue, in order to pay their last respects.
“Do…do you wish you could have been able to spend more time with Tortallion?,” Zhen Liu asked. “He did seem to want to say a lot more things to you.”
“Yes…and no,” Jin Fang replied. “Yes in the sense that he knew so much about my mother and baby me that I can’t help but wonder if he could tell me all bout her. On the other, no, because…I’m not sure if I would’ve been ready to hear about her. Maybe I’m still not ready.”
“Is that the other reason why you’re going to be staying? To understand her better?”
“Yes…damn, I keep forgetting you’re getting better at this whole ‘reading people’ thing.”
“Had to learn at some point.”
