Theo Sequel: Otep's Last Case Ch. 06

Under the bellowing fanfare of Aquapolis, the conference began.

*-*-*-*

The plans set forward by Captain Jeanne and the surface delegation were explained at length, enough to be understood by everyone present, including the subject human throngs ringing the building.

Some surfacers would volunteer to live in Aquapolis, bringing the aquatic people up-to-date with the surface on cultural and technical levels.

The Aquapolis people and mamono were less than enthusiastic to lend their arms to the war on the surface, however.

"We need to protect our own." Added The Shark-woman with the eyepatch, her almost-human face contorting in distaste. "Maou's vile creatures that divorced from our reality were spotted in aphotic zones between the Ermorean and the new continent. As you can see, our forges churn out the best orichalchum we can forge, and every Mermaid or Sahuagin is busy patrolling. We think Maou's New Brood hates the sunlight."

"We did not know the situation was that bad..." Was Jeanne's response, fiddling with her scimitar. "But you must understand. Maou has gathered everything he could raise from the dead earth and is marching towards Ruby Island." Seeing heads turn, the succubus admiral added with an assuring voice. "It is where Maou was killed for the second time."

"Still, you'll see our community is far smaller than any surface empire you can think of. But you are welcome to stay and learn from our Aquamancers..."

"Well..." Jeanne responded, tapping her chin. "I hope that at least you'll allow us to construct a portal to link our societies between the seas..." She added. "Evacuation should be a contingency plan..."

"To the surface?" The eyepatch-wearing shark-woman asked with the other eyebrow raised.

"Both. We might be forced to make a last stand. Perhaps here. Our fates are united now; any discussion of the future usage of the portal may come later."

Even the Queen could not deny that, nodding along quietly, as bored as she was, more interested in the celebration of this new relationship. Otep could not blame her. The Jackal-girl mamono could notice telltale details amongst the congregation:

The Sahuagin, shark-formed mamono with mostly human bodies, webbed hands, and feet with reptilian frills looked often scarred, some having the stare of a warrior that was far too blank and distant. The mermaids were often very skinny and skittish. The friendly reception did not hide these details from Otep's eyes.

Yet she was interested in finding out. Perhaps she was hiding something. After all, the overly cheerful reception, combined with the guards insisting that no one enter a cave decked with a strange symbol shaped like ferns...

What was the seaborne mamono hiding?

*-*-*-*

"Hellash wine ish the beeeesht!!!"

A succubus giggled and tipped over in a flail of platinum blonde hair and rubber clothes, eliciting laughter, followed by clinking glasses.

The Hellas civilization's last remnants *knew* how to make wine, that was given, the dark red liquid being the elixir of the celebration.

Otep and Niels nursed another cup, Otep giggling as he squeezed and fondled her plump dark butt above her gold-and-black Ankh panties, or snuck kisses: on her lips and her fluffy ears. She let the young human boy be a boy; after all, mamono appreciated human physical contact on a spiritual level ever since the Succubization three centuries ago.

Already one or two mamono-human couples snuck out of the massive banquet and into alcoves and rooms, as well as the Aquapolis humans and surface men with jugs of wine in hand.

"Love?" Niels mumbled, nuzzling the Anubis' fluffy ears.

"Later." Otep gave him a peck on his lips. "Let's take a walk."

Slightly drunk, Niels, blinked quizzically. Otep's jackal eyes gleamed.

"Care for an adventure? I need my big human to protect me." Chimed Otep in her squeaky, cutest voice.

Niels raised his eyebrows.

*-*-*-*

"So why are we exploring that...cave?"

The Sahuagin guardswomen were too drunk to notice them.

Otep had been dressed in her Kemet clothes with sewn armor plates, her khopesh sword in hand, and her Ma'at staff tied to her back. Niels was still dressed in his Admiralty, escorting his new love with his ceremonial sword and a new experimental "pistol", a new invention.

He was convinced, perhaps by the power of booze, or by sex. Either way, he was convinced that whatever Otep had in mind, was worth it.

Otep let out a big burst of bubbles from her pipe between her lips, making Niels giggle. The Anubis had given up smoking tobacco, replacing the smoking pipe with a cheap children's toy. Niels was grateful she didn't replace the pipe with a squeaky chew toy.

It would have been adorable.

"So what is the plan?"

"Well, the Queen sealed these caves for a reason." Otep started, conjuring a small ball of light from her Ma'at staff with a quiet prayer. "I was watching everyone while your hand was on my butt."

Niels bit his lips and looked down, having acted like a horny teenager. Otep just giggled.

"Mother Isis, human boys are all the same. Anyway..." She went on, her fluffy ears twitching.

"I was watching everyone's souls, and everyone in this city... is fixated on what's hidden under that cave."

Niels, now sobering up, started to listen intensely, feelings of protest bubbling out:

"But what if it is dangerous?"

"We'll take a quick look. Trust me, Niels. I won't push you any more than necessary. Besides..." Otep blew another burst of bubbles. "If it is destructive, what does it matter? We can use *anything* to win this war. What if it is a clue?"

"Otep..." Niels let out a sigh, holding her arm. "Miss, I'm with you all the way. I... I am very fond of you, and I'll protect you the best I can." He swallowed nervously. "But we should flee if things get dangerous."

Otep squeezed his hand back with her fluffy paw.

"Don't worry."

The couple kept walking with quiet steps, diving into the bowels of the earth, the gentle rush of oceanic pressure and the endless ocean hugging the little refuge of enclosed, basalt-covered dry land kept alive and dry by ancient spells.

Otep didn't even know how deep the endless, lifeless tunnels went until the ocean's ice-cold embrace would be felt. The forked, endless paths went down and converged into one, gigantic, pitch-back pit.

The pit was inlaid by signs similar to the one Otep had seen at the cave entrance.

A lifeless, limitless basalt cavern with no life in sight.

Not even bones.

It slowly dawned on both man and mamono, the realization of a horrible entity may be housed here. Breath cooling in the air into white mist, Niels mumbled in Otep's ear.

"We should turn back."

"Wait."

Niels was now starting to get sober, his hand squeezing Otep's hand in worry and anger.

"Love, miss..." He struggled to define the way to address the lovely Anubis he just started to sleep with. "Otep...I was thinking it would be a good idea to turn back."

"But..." Otep raised a paw. "Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

The Anubis' eyes were melancholic, her eye tattoo glowing.

"Loneliness. Hunger and Sorrow..." She added after a long sigh. "But no evil." Niels shrugged, though relaxing, still wary.

"I am just a human, Lady Anubis. I..." His face contorted in frustration, eventually settling into a look of wariness. "I will trust you." He then looked at the endless caverns, adding...

"For now."

*-*-*-*

Otep's soul felt the endless pressure of the ocean, only her age and training keeping the terror at bay as she looked inside the damp, soulless tunnels.

And she felt an ancient presence, a presence that emanated a feeling of ancient hunger; a spiritual one, not of the flesh.

Otep was well-read.

Having been the Police Captain of the Reik forces for decades, Otep had availed herself to the Reikshold libraries for years at once. Ever since Maou had died, crime in the Reik went considerably down, limited to occasional illegal goods busts and regular physical and mental health check-ups at the slave markets, as well as accounting investigations at Manumission Stations where slaves buying their freedom decided to stay or return to their respective countries.

Decided against returning to Kemet to serve the lazy Pharaoh girls and their lazy love slave pyramids which were less like tombs and more like brothels, Otep had gorged on astronomical, religious, and magical information to prepare for a secret mission from Agrat Bat Mahlat herself:

The Permanent Destruction of Maou.

Otep did not divulge this information to Niels.

Maou, once a simple Male Oni, had evolved from a simple male mamono to a Dai Oni, and now a cosmic demigod, bordering on divine. Using forbidden blood magic, rather than simple gods' food of faith and devotion, he had become a horrible entity feeding on pain and blood.

For the good of all beings in the world, Maou had to be destroyed.

The trouble was that the entity once known as Maou had gone off the deep end, and could not be destroyed by mundane means.

Theophilos, once a slave boy who was tortured under slave apprenticeship under a dark elven warlock, had killed him with transformed demon jaws, swords, and blood draining.

It didn't stick.

Then he used ten thousand willing sacrifices in a ritual including himself to cast an overpowered version of the spell called Wish and shattered his soul.

Even that did not help destroy him permanently.

Agrat had schooled her and a few chosen on a secret mission. Since Maou had become part Divine, the entity had to be unraveled at its fundamental blocks.

And unbeknownst to Niels, Otep felt a presence similar to Maou in the caverns. An entity or presence that might be a useful weapon.

"Where did that come from?"

Niels blinked when Otep opened a small, gold-laced book and flipped it open.

"It's a compendium of Arcane Runes." The Anubis said, flipping through the pages. "The fern-like symbol is something I can remember from a long, ancient stele back in Kemet. It's a symbol of "Servitor". Sadly, I don't know what kind of servitor."

Niels listened.

"I observed the Merfolk and they were stressed. Perhaps it is what they fear, and not Maou.

Niels blinked, hand on his sword, wary.

"Otep, maybe we should ask for help."

The jackal girl shook her head.

"You have seen the guards posted, you have seen the avoidance every time Jeanne asked when they needed extra help in patrols, even denying an outright offer of garrisoning goblin engineers as sentries with firearms. Whatever it is down here, it is paramount to Agrat's magical arsenal."

Her dark face turned to face Niels' pale visage.

"They are afraid of it. I can contact it. I am...imbued with such power." Her beautiful dark eyes locked on his. "Please, Niels. Protect me. I need this. At least contact it. I can teleport us if things get dangerous."

Seeing Niels nod hesitantly, Otep laid down her Ma'at staff, jamming it to the dark, soft, damp earth with her strong arms.

Taking the book in her hands, the Anubis opened her cute, fanged mouth and started chanting in a sweet, high-pitched voice. The chant was unlike anything Niels heard.

It was a clicking, primitive tongue that sounded as if it came under the water, gurgling and clicking. The staff apparently was a lightning rod for Mana started to glow and turn around itself, the soil crunching under the stress.

Niels drew his pistol and sword, his body tensing by instinct.

The chanting rose to a crescendo, the magical syllables stirring the ocean in its ancient might.

After a long, silent minute, both man and mamono felt an ancient presence stir from the depths of the endless caverns. A cold, quiet wind blew from the deepest parts of the cavern, dread filling their bones.

Otep kept chanting, her little jackal-mamono soul slowly stirring the cosmic waves of arcane existence.

The entity saw her soul.

From the end of the caverns shone several specks of light.

"What are these?"

"I don't know. Aim, and keep watch."

"Yes." Niels set his feet to his sides and kept aiming.

The air felt damp and sticky.

"The specks are...growing."

"No. It is approaching." Otep corrected, eyes glowing. "Keep watch. I am..."

The wall of light orbs kept approaching.

"Communicating."

"Otep. I'm shooting if this thing lays as much as a finger on you."

Niels' voice was defiant. Otep did not respond, crossing her legs and slapping her hands together.

"W'yzaei..."

"What?"

"W'yzaei A'hlkun..." Otep burbled, clicking her tongue. "A'hlkun Yhan'tleaya..."

Then, all of a sudden, the elastic wall of glowing specks, no, EYES, started to advance on them with amazing alacrity. Panic exploring in Niels' heart, he aimed and raised his sword, stepping between them.

"Oh, shit...oh shit... OH SHIT!" Niels' mind filled with dread, millimeters away from pulling the trigger, when the wall came in full sight of them. An undulating, bubbling wall full of dark flesh was in plain sight. A wall of dark, fish-like meat squirmed like a monument to madness, churning and bubbling.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Otep shrieked, concentrating. "LET ME CHANT! SILENCE!"

Niels shuddered, pointing his sword to the fleshy...thing manifesting in front of them.

"I'm chopping off anything that touches her, YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?"

Almost losing all control, Niels screamed, raising his blade to tear the creature's fleshy parts, the entity's advance suddenly halting when Otep's chanting rose to a crescendo. Her ancient chanting, syllables, and clicks in an unholy mix of half-dead sentences and soundbites must have affected the creature.

Niels could not believe his eyes. The basalt walls started to glow, or more accurately, hitherto unseen engraved signs started to glow.

"It's the rune..."

The glow of a five-pointed star inlaid with a fern-like sign started to appear all around them.

The massive mountain of aquatic flesh shook, shrieking. From its center bubbled and boiled tentacles, claws, and eyes, the shrieking and the sight making Niels' stomach and mind scream in agony. The thing was an affront to reality, and Niels would not give up without a fight.

Otep on the other hand kept chanting, her mind, older and more mature relative to a young human shielded from the sanity-blasting sight before her.

According to her belief, the universe was endless going through kalpas. That was just another entity. Another soul. Another being that was no different than an insect or an elephant, a whale or a human being.

Her mind went to the past. Dancing amongst her memories in the Pharaoh's libraries, trying to ignore the bored Bastets wearing only flimsy white Kemet robes, rubbing their butt on people to get attention, she had read a lot about the creation of the world.

The entity's description was made with runes, each line signifying something, a syllable. And being one of the oldest creatures sung into existence, the thing could be shaped and commanded.

But what was the simple word?

Her chanting blocked the advance, but not enough to address the...thing. She didn't even know what the name was. She could barely concentrate...what was the name?

The pointed runes almost shaped a "Sho..."

"Sho..." Otep mumbled, and the wall of protoplasmic horror froze.

"SHO!"

Niels, sword raised to block a poor little Anubis from a wall of flesh, turned his head. Otep squinted hard, neurons screaming in electric agony to remember the next part.

Then it dawned!

"SHO...GGOTH!"

The bubbling wall stopped.

"Shoggoth! It is a SHOGGOTH!" Otep screamed. "An ancient creature made to serve the gods of old!" Otep's body was gleaming from sweat and magical lightning, her gold-thread Kemet cotton clothes blackened from the energies.

She stared at the strange, hungry, gigantic entity, which regarded her with a mix of confusion, hunger, and desire to learn. Otep could sense it. But she had to say something. Something...

Unique.

She could almost sense it, taste it in her tongue, the ancient word. A tongue-clicker once spoken by Ammit and Caetus, ancient entities tied to the oceans. The limbs of the ancient runes spelled it in an awkward circle, a whole old set of Alphabet Otep never quite remembered.

"If I fail, it will eat us." She thought, pounding her mind for the repetitive order.

Then, she remembered the old, wise Pharaoh Lady Hatshepsut's long-forgotten lessons, a bare minimum done for bureaucracy's sake to get her certified as a Priestess.

"The Elder Sign is made with fingers, each signifying the tongue's distance to the teeth."

A thunderburst of information blossomed in her brain.

"Te.." She chanted, the wall of flesh approaching, Niels finally stepping forward and poking it with the blade and aiming at one of the thing's eyes.

"I'LL SHOOT YOU! STOP!"

Otep concentrated.

"Te! Ke..." She twisted her tongue, now concentrating on each leaf and the repetition of the word in her mind. One wrong word would kill them.

"OTEP! DO SOMETHING!" Niels was being engulfed by the wall of flesh, finally pulling the trigger, the bullet harmlessly bouncing off the protoplasmic horror. "SHIT! SHITSHI-"

He was terrified, but would gladly go down to protect Otep.

...

*-*-*-*

"TE KE LI LI!" Otep screamed, and the buzzing sound of the Shoggoth's advance stopped

"Tekeli Li!"

Otep slammed her hands together again, screaming repeatedly.

"Tekeli! Li! Tekeli Li!"

Niels was about to piss himself from the fear until after another painful minute, the wall pulled back. Otep kept screaming louder and louder.

"Tekeli! Li! Tekeli! Li! Tekeli! Li! Tekeli! Li! Tekeli! Li! Tekeli! Li!"

Otep kept squealing.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Otep's eyes grew, turning her face in anger towards her new paramour.

"What did you say, Niels?"

"I didn't say anything!" The young man was terrified, moments away before doing something very wrong with his pistol by the looks of it.

His apologetic voice confused her.

"What?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

The thundering, ear-shattering, bone-shaking voice came from the wall of flesh, an almost feminine voice screaming cacophony echoing in their minds.

"Your mind, furry sand dog, and earth ape. I read them. I assimilate... I learn. Ape-Fishes did not want to talk. They put small fish. Octopus...Feed..." The voice burbled, trailing into a non-sequitur.

"Small minds. Small meat. I want to learn." The voice commanded, fangs and mouths coming out of its orifices. Otep, now finding her courage, raised her voice as well.

"Of course, they won't talk to you!" The Anubis' voice boomed. "Not like this!"

...

"...l-yke?" the confused shoggoth burbled.

"You must...change...look like us." Otep raised her hands. "You are the Shoggothim, correct?" With the thrill of a nerd discovering ancient knowledge, her voice was exuberant.

"...yes..."

"You serve, yes?" Otep chimed.

"Yes." The voice burbled.

"You must be servile. Helping. With a shape like ours. A voice like ours. Helping and serving people." Otep explained, her voice shifting between excited and serious.

"Then I shall choose a servile form of the contemporary eon...is this what is necessary?"

The voice was more and more feminine now.

"Yes..." Otep nodded and squinted when the thing known as Shoggoth started to undulate, shift and flow into a humanoid form...

*-*-*-*

...

Otep was speechless, now that the dread was gone, she was upset.

"Oh fuck me..."

The shape before her tilted her head, sickeningly so.

"Mentor One desires sex? I can shape phalluses of any-"

"No, I did not mean that..." Otep's eyes rolled. "Where did you see this...form?" Then, slowly turning her head to Niels, her cooling temper turning to one of amusement.

"Humans..."