VIII. Abyssal Collapse. Strength

    After watching the eel sleep for some time, you swim deeper with the jellyfish beside you, past the eel, and find yourself at a depth that almost absolutely no light reaches. The pressure that began building on your head before seems almost all-encompassing now as you reach a depth not humanly possible. All around you, black nothingness causes anxiety to creep up your throat. The jellyfish provides some comfort as it slightly illuminates around it. You try to calm yourself back down, focusing on the vibrations against your skin that come from the jellyfish and the breathing of the ocean. At this depth, the rocking of the water is very subtle, barely moving you. Instead of allowing fear to overpower you, you relax your tense limbs and open your body and soul completely to the nothingness that surrounds you and your companion. As you feel your body melting, you hear a song echoing throughout the water and you turn your head in the direction you believe it to be coming from. The song continues to get louder as you make your way towards it, echoing throughout the water, along with a vibration that begins to hit your skin.

    You're swimming for quite some time, feeling the movements of whatever is in front of you getting stronger, and then stop when the vibrations begin to nearly shake you, swimming backward slightly. You look at what could be in front of you, allowing your eyes to focus with the little amount of light at this depth. At first, you could hardly make it out, but as their attacks shook the ocean around them, it slowly came into view. A giant squid, its orange color stained red with the blood floating in the water around it, has itself wrapped around a gigantic sperm whale. You feel yourself once again frozen with fear at the alien sight in front of you. Having to fight to stay in position, you use your hands to keep your jellyfish friend within reach. The size of the giants in front of you shrinks you, making you feel as though you are nothing more than an ant to them. Their otherworldly movements in a world completely unknown to you make you feel as though you have teleported to another dimension.

    The two beasts fight with all of their power but as you watch the epic battle unfolding in front of you, you notice that the whale is not returning any attacks, but simply defending itself against the squid. Each attack that the squid lands on the sperm whale is met with compassion as it attempts to protect itself against its opponent. The whale could easily overpower its foe but instead chooses to protect itself in hopes that the squid gives up. Even when faced with such malice, the whale remains defensive. The squid strikes the whale near its eye with its beak and the whale counters it by moving to the side quickly, butting the squid away. Their attacks begin to slowly push the beasts' fight closer to you. You quickly back up, pulling your jellyfish friend with you, and continue to watch from a distance. The two beasts continue their battle, the whale never acting with hatred towards the squid. In what seems to be a moment of realization, the squid pulls away from the whale, signaling an end to the battle. The two abyssal creatures could continue this pointless battle until they inevitably destroy one another, or they could decide to stop now. As though the two of them have met a common understanding, the two giants part ways, the squid swimming off into the abyss and the whale staying in position for a moment. You make eye contact with the whale, its large eye staring into yours. The whale sings out once more for you before swimming into the darkness, leaving you alone with only the jellyfish to illuminate your way once again, and you recognize a familiarity in its song.