Heretical Fishing

Book 5: Chapter 47: ¿Por Qué No Los Dos?

Book 5: Chapter 47: ¿Por Qué No Los Dos?

Fischer’s trust flooded through Paul. The doubt and despair coming from Tropica’s god-king had made it hard to think. He’d barely been able to focus on the battle while Fischer’s faith in him waned, let alone make any clear-headed decisions.

But now, Fischer had conquered his misgivings, and Paul felt lighter than air.

Yet his brow still furrowed as he spotted an imbalance in the battlefield. Paul reached out to Toby and Theresa, and they latched onto his tendrils of essence, joining their awarenesses together. The three of them assessed the situation.

The enemy force was about to mobilize. The assault shrimp and recon crabs were already in play, and they were a good match for the two-hundred mages spread evenly across the Divine Fleet. Cinnamon was having to be cautious, but she was still a close match with the god-empress. What Tropica didn’t currently have an answer for was the Prime Cadre and Seer Anius, who were already gathering divine chi in their limbs, preparing to wreak havoc.

The three tacticians had to find a way to nullify those powerful enemies, or else they’d have to initiate the next stage of the battle, which might swing it too far in Tropica’s favor, robbing the defenders of potential breakthroughs.

They found a perfect solution almost immediately. It was playful enough to appease Theresa, and logically sound enough to keep Toby happy. Paul’s sensibilities were smack-bang in the middle of theirs; if they were content, so was he.

With their wills still joined, the three of them addressed different defenders.

“Pistachio! Shelly!” Toby called, facing the nearby dunes. “Supressing fire!”

“Aerial forces!” Paul yelled at the sky through cupped hands. “Diversionary tactics!”

“Maria!” Theresa screamed so loud that Maria jumped a little. “Throw Slimes over there so he can slap! Them! Silly!”

Shelly and Pistachio’s claws were already cocked open and trained on the closest ship as they crested the closest dune. The black, white, and brown forms of the pelicans exploded into view directly above, leaving holes in the clouds they’d shot through. Slimes appeared on Maria’s palm, burbling and jiggling in anticipation.

Teddy’s red offensive aura glowed around every single one of them.

The lobsters’ snippers clacked together, releasing blasts of chi that were thicker than Pistachio. The pelicans honked at full volume, announcing their arrival and already diverting attention. And Slimes yelled “Hiiiii!” as Maria launched him for the dead-center of Anius’s torso.

Slimes got there first. Understanding that his purpose was to be a temporary distraction, his form was gelatinous, not crystalline, when he struck the Seer. The sound of their collision was horrifying. Anius rocketed backwards, and when his body hit Theoris’s mast, it made an only slightly less-horrifying thud.

Paul knew the diversion would be a success, so he tore his eyes from the amusing spectacle and considered the rest of the battlefield.

He grinned as he watched hundreds of assault shrimps unleash attacks at their opposing mages. With the recon crabs guarding them, they didn’t have to hold back. The blasts were devastating. Some of the less-experienced mages failed to block or divert the attacks, resulting in direct hits.

Paul squinted and leaned closer when he saw gold essence flare around the bodies of those struck. He, Toby, and Theresa focused on one such cultivator, combining their forces to examine her core. The woman had been hit in the chest with two arcing blades of water essence, and her core had reacted, expending a large portion of its reserves to counter the strikes. A moment later, her reserves were restored. That same golden essence had flared from Anius when Slimes hit him, but they’d assumed it due to the Seer’s higher level of cultivation. Slimes was clinging to Theoris’s mast and whipping himself around like a gelatinous flail. He caught Evan on the side of the head, and the same thing happened, though Evan hadn’t needed to expend as much chi to defend himself.

“Fascinating,” Toby said, his gaze flicking around the battlefield. “Their cores spent a bunch of their chi to defend against incoming attacks, and then the cores of those around them all pitched in to restore those who’d been drained.”

Toby was right. Paul had seen the thin lines of divine essence flowing across the Divine Fleet, forming an intricate spiderweb.

“I wonder if it’s because of the containers?” Toby continued. “Is it the god-empress’s will? Or is it just the inherent nature of divine chi to defend then bolster anyone else using it?”

Theresa blew a loud, impressively wet raspberry. “Who cares, you nerd!”

“Who cares?” Toby repeated, confused. “We need to understand the enemy if we wish to beat them...”

Theresa rolled her eyes and shook her head.

The difference in their personalities made Paul remember the miscommunications that’d already happened between himself and the two siblings during the battle. But he was feeling too content to let that reminder bring him down. Of course they wouldn’t agree on everything. They were three individual people. Their unique personalities were something to be celebrated—even if the possibility of conflicting orders made him a little nervous.

Though many of the assault shrimp’s attacks had been devastating, the enemy forces recovered swiftly. Many of the ships had actually overcome the attacks, their divine spears eviscerating the arcing projectiles of water essence. Thankfully, the recon crabs had spared the shrimp from any harm, redirecting the golden spears with blasts of their own.

All across the bay, the Divine Fleet continued carrying out their god-empress’s will. Two of the five mages on each lesser vessel were channeling their power up into their sails, making the enemy ships move with surprising alacrity. Some had been blown off course when the onboard mages had to defend themselves, but then the god-empress intervened, flooding out divine chi that pulled the flotilla back into shape.

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Paul glanced up at the god-empress. She’d been drawing in more and more of the golden chi from nearby containers. Cinnamon had been forced to alter her fighting style. Even with the god-empress diverting some of her will and power toward the ships, Cinnamon had to rely on speed and timing, shifting from pure assault to calculated skirmishing.

The fleet resembled a diamond more than a V now. Those at the far ends of the wings fanned in as those towards the front of the formation drifted closer, forming the wedge.

Paul grinned. He could feel Toby and Theresa doing the same. It was time for the next stage. Paul opened his mouth, sending out tendril of chi for his friends to latch onto, inviting them to join him. Toby latched onto it, his ideal in complete alignment. Theresa, however, clearly felt differently.

“Coconut crabs!” she screamed alone, her voice flying across the bay.

Paul’s head whipped toward her, as did Toby’s. It was what they would have yelled too, but their ideals railed at her doing it without them. She had essentially seized control, putting herself above them.

When she realized what she’d done, her cheeks flushed red. Instead of gazing at the sky and pretending it hadn’t happened, she stared down at her toes, her curls hanging to hide her embarrassed face.

“Sorry...” she said.

Guilt and shame roiled in Paul’s core. She hadn’t meant to do it. Sure, she’d gotten carried away, but his and Toby’s visceral reaction hadn’t helped. To make matters worse, Toby hadn’t relented. He was leaning into his anger, clenching his jaw as he stared wordlessly at Theresa. Paul had to get control of this situation. They had to work together, lest it snowball into something as debilitating as Fischer’s earlier doubts.

Thankfully, the perfect distraction was about to arrive.

“Coconut crabs?” Fischer asked. “If you befriended coconut crabs without me, I’m gonna be pissed. That...” He trailed off, staring at the open ocean to the southeast. “What the frack?”

“What are you—” Maria started, cutting off when she spotted what he’d seen. “Wait, is that...?”

Two-dozen lines carved their way toward the Divine fleet. Maria reached out with her senses, frowning as she strained to force her way in. When she succeeded, she cackled with laughter.

“What?” Fischer asked, his head moving back and forth between Maria and the distant lines. “What is it? Is it coconut crabs?”

Maria ignored him, clearly trying to rile him up.

It was working.

“Oh, come on!” Fischer said. “Paul! I see you smirking! I order you to tell me who or what the frack that is!”

“No need. You can see it for yourself.”

Just then, Dodge dropped his aura of invisibility, revealing the twelve beings sailing towards the Divine Fleet’s southern flank. Paul stole a glance at Fischer and found the god-king’s eyes glazed over. Paul smirked, recalling the description Fischer must now be seeing.

Tactical Coconut Boats of the Faithful

Mythical

Created through the multidisciplinary efforts of a god-king’s faithful, these boats are suffused with the will of those who created them. When within their god-king’s Domain, and so long as the creators’ remain faithful, these boats are completely immune to foreign chi.

[Error: Naval systems offline.]

“Immune...?” Maria asked.

“Naval systems offline?” Fischer added, his eyes clearing. “But no mention of insufficient power...”

Tropica’s naval force approached in a V formation of their own.

Dodge led the procession. He wobbled a little, still getting used to the half-shell ‘boat’ strapped to each foot. Following in Dodge’s wake, Barry flexed his muscles and spun on the spot, oiled body glimmering under the morning sun. His prideful ideal had somehow overcome the inherent instability—and insecurity—of someone so muscular skating around on coconuts. Composing the rest of the V was the Church of Carcinization, and their mostly human bodies had assumed the perfect form, with only sparse sections of carapace covering their privates. They clacked their claw hands threateningly.

It was enough for even the god-empress to pause a beat. Her irises glowed golden as she took in the oncoming fleet. The same happened across the entire bay, every battle momentarily pausing, their attention arrested.

“Forty two!” Maria yelled for some reason.

Then, as if they’d all agreed to it beforehand, everyone moved at once. Every single enemy mage with clear line-of-sight to Dodge, Barry, and the Church of Carcinization released a divine projectile at them.

Dodge sped toward a gap between ships in the middle of the enemy flotilla. At the last moment, he crested a small wave, veered to the right, and slammed against the hull of a lesser ship. He made himself go invisible as he bounced off and tried to regain balance.

Barry, either inspired by Dodge or trying to make it seem like his friend had struck the boat on purpose, slammed right into the same spot on the same ship. Unlike Dodge, he didn’t bounce off. His muscular head punched through the hull, followed by the rest of his oiled body, leaving a Barry-shaped hole in the ship. Water poured in after him, and before Paul had a chance to worry about his father, Barry’s muscular form exploded through the upper deck, glistening like a Christmas ham.

“Forty one!” Maria yelled as the boat started to sink.

The Church of Carcinization, who had been moving head-on, suddenly zigged and zagged to the left and right like scuttling crabs, avoiding the countless arrows, spears, and even a bucket someone had thrown overboard in panic. Not one projectile hit its mark. Back and forth and round and round the Church zipped, drawing everyone’s attention toward the ocean.

It was absolute mayhem. Everyone on the shore watched—laughing, awe-struck, or both. Even Eustace and Fern were more amused than horrified.

It was too much for Theresa to handle.

Paul felt it swelling in her chest, a desire to once again act out of turn. He could have stopped her if he wanted. Indeed, his ideal railed against it, ordering him to enforce their equal hierarchy. If he did nothing, she would spend one of their strongest troops. He clenched his fists, grabbed hold of his own ideal, and shoved it aside momentarily.

He would give her this one. He had to. Better to compromise and remain as a unified front.

Paul expected Toby to be giving his sister a baleful glare like the last time she’d presumed to act, but when Paul looked at the older teen, Toby was instead staring his way. Calculating eyes stared at Paul from beneath a furrowed brow, and with a barely perceptible nod, Toby approved.

Rather than invite them to join his will, Paul offered to join hers. Toby followed suit a moment later. Theresa’s head whipped around, and the look on her face alone was enough to tell Paul he’d made the right choice. She absolutely shone with both disbelief and unbridled excitement. She spun her entire body around, not facing the bay, but the nearby mountains. Paul and Toby did the same. Unified, they released their command.

“Zeusify!”

Lightning cracked behind the mountain range. Its blue-white brilliance was bright enough to outshine the morning sun. Or so Paul thought. He blinked, looking all around himself, gazing curiously at the bubbles of chi rising from the ground and coalescing in the air.

“Oh...” the three tacticians said together, then the chi slammed into them.