"Hey, ugly!" Lawrence yelled as he thrashed in the lobster's grip. "What's with all the spooky prophecy bullshit? How do you know about Gabriel?!"

"So you do not deny your connection to the Scourge of the Four Seas?" Dagon mused.

"'Course not! I barely knew the guy, but all I know is that he was some kind of big-shot pirate a long time ago! What's all this business about him being so special?"

"To explain to you would be a waste of oxygen. You'll be dead in moments. Such effort is beneath me."

Another wave of tremors gripped the tidepool.

"C'mon big man," Lawrence continued to plead, "I know you're just dying to hear yourself talk some more. Go on, tell me all about your beef with Gabriel."

"Do you truly believe that would work?" Dagon asked halfheartedly, before gesturing to have the lobsters begin pulling again.

"No, seriously, explain!" Dianna pleaded earnestly. "What is 'the Black Throne?'"

"What is this 'Ancient Enemy?'" Mina added.

Dagon paused, then stared closely at each of the four of them. "...Are you yet blind to the way of the world?" it asked.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Lawrence shouted.

"Hah!" Dagon roared, "it is pointless to explain. Think of it as nothing more than musings to myself. But you've done well, to remind me of your presence."

Dagon waved his crab legs, and conjured two eels. The eels immediately snapped forward, lunging at Dianna and Mina. Dianna dodged out of the way deftly, while Mina scrambled into a run in the opposite direction. Dianna and Mina continued to dash away from the eels, which swam through the air after them at an alarming speed. And more concerningly... were they getting bigger?

"How many spells do you have left?" Dianna asked.

"Four," Mina replied, "but I need to save one."

"Three, then? Now might be a good time to use one."

"Keep the two eels off of me, and I'll do my best."

"On it."

Dianna screeched to a halt, pivoted to face the eels, and conjured a pair of psychic daggers in either hand. The eels darted for her, one on either side. The left one lunged for her legs, while the right one lunged at her head.

Dianna casts Mirage Shift

An advanced spell that allows the user to teleport a short distance forward while leaving behind an illusion of themselves.

Dianna appeared on the other side of the left eel, as the two eels bumped heads with each other. She jabbed her daggers into its head from behind... only for the eel to not react in the slightest.

"What the-" Dianna began before being promptly cut off by an eel's tail to the face, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground.

"Surprised?" Dagon mused. "Within my perfect kingdom, the life I hold dominion over is nigh invincible. Observe:"

To Dianna's surprise, both of the eels grew massive in size, so large that they even rivalled the sea serpent form of Dagon previously. Indeed, they now stood nearly as tall as he did, reared up onto their backs, and were poised to strike.

"Now would be a great time for that spell!" Dianna shouted.

"I- I can't!" Mina shouted back. Around her, faint crackles of green light shifted and sparked, but nothing took.

"Of course not," Dagon laughed. "This is my realm, a demiplane created by a Praetor. Verdant filth has no hold here."

"Verdant?" Mina cocked her head to the side, as the word stirred some faint recollection within her.

Another wave of tremors shook the tidepool, giving the eels enough pause for Dianna to slip away. She dashed over to where Simon and Lawrence were being tortured by their lobsters, and attempted to help. She stabbed her psychic blades into the sides of the head of the lobster that gripped Lawrence, but once again to no effect.

"What the fuck is wrong with these fish?!" Dianna shouted as she conjured more knives to attempt to stab the lobster with, as the eels rapidly gained on her.

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"What did I do?" Lawrence flashed her puppy-dog eyes (puppy-fish eyes?) as the lobster's attempt to rip him in half was briefly swayed by the damage it took.

"Shut up," Dianna snapped, then turned to look at the encroaching eels. She looked at the eels, then at the lobster, then back at the eels.

"You've been bait before, right?" She asked Lawrence.

Lawrence's smile disappeared for the first time in a long time. "Don't you fucking dare-"

The eels reared up behind the lobster, as Dianna remained poised on its back. The moment the first eel came crashing down towards her, she leapt over the head of the lobster, grabbed Lawrence, and pulled on him to rotate him- and herself in the process- out of the path of the eel's bite. Dianna smirked as the eel ate the lobster, and as she pulled the severed claws off of Lawrence, holding him in a bridal carry.

Dianna gained 5 Experience.

"Wow," Lawrence whistled. "I can't believe that actually worked."

Two lobsters appeared and grabbed Dianna and Lawrence.

"Genuinely, genuinely: what did you think was going to happen?" Dagon mocked.

Mina stood alone, seeing Dagon, the massive eels, and all of her friends in the clutches of lobsters. Fear gripped her, much in the way it had when she fought Finn, but to a much greater degree. She knew she would not be able to win this fight- she wasn't even sure if she could beat one lobster. She wasn't even sure if she had it in herself to try... but something called out to her. She felt something stir within her, something spurned by that name Dagon had uttered previously... Verdant. She knew that it was a word that related to plants, and in the past when she'd learned it, it had meant nothing to her. But now, spoken by a being of such power- or perhaps it was the tone with which he said it- she felt a deeper connection to the word.

"...Verdant..." Mina spoke, and as she did a flash of green consumed her. Beneath her feet, moss began to grow on the rock of the tidepool, and a look of horror crossed Dagon's face. Mina, taken aback by this, quickly stepped backwards, and with each step moss began to grow.

"You vile, disgusting harlot!" Dagon shouted, and promptly summoned a ring of sharks to surround the Yanu woman. "It will be my greatest pleasure to rip you limb from limb!"

Another wave of tremors shook the tidepool, this one far greater than the last. Then, with a sudden crunch, a great talon appeared in the sky overhead, as if it had punched through the sky itself. The talon retracted, and then it seemed as though space itself whirlpooled out through the hole. In the span of less than a second, quick enough that Lawrence could not even perceive it as he blinked from the sudden shock, the four were once again standing at the helm of the Zailiens, now noticeably featuring a massive hole in the front.

"You have returned!" Cetus exclaimed.

"Cetus?" Simon winced as he collected himself, checking himself for injuries. "What happened?"

"I am unsure of the details myself," Cetus replied, "but a powerful spell was cast within the helm of the ship, and then the four of you disappeared. Briefly following that, an attack began from that unknown assailant there."

Simon, Mina, Lawrence, and Dianna looked out through the window of the Zailiens, which was fortunately undamaged, as a massive emerald dragon soared through the air in front of them. It swooped in front of the airship, flashing a draconic smile as it passed by.

"To preserve the ship's fuel supply," Cetus explained, "I elected to lower the shields, which allowed it to damage the hull of the ship. I apologize."

"No need to worry," Simon replied as Krythemum passed by again.

"That was really starting to drag-on," Krythemum laughed. "But now I'm here to tip the scales!"

Simon, Mina, and Dianna grimaced. Even if he was their savior- the means by which he was, they were not entirely certain- those were some gods-awful puns. Lawrence, however, had completely collapsed onto the floor in a fit of laughter.

"I love this guy," Lawrence said between laughs.

"MILLEBOREAUS!" Dagon's voice echoed. Simon ran into the cockpit while the other three ran to the front window. Dagon was, unsurprisingly, still below them- but not that far below. He towered over the city of Ad Limosa as a whole, his shoulders cresting over the nearby mountains that guarded the remains of the docks below. Most frighteningly of all: it appeared he could reach out and grab them at any time.

And that he did- but he did not grab them, but instead the dragon. With a flash of crustacean chitin, both of his massive claws lunged out and grabbed Krythemum. One gripped the dragon's torso, while another grabbed hold of his wing.

"Your lack-" Dagon shouted, as a vein in his forehead welled with so much pressure that it burst. "-of discipline-" Dagon's arms strained, as he very clearly threatened to rip the dragon apart. "-has cost us ALL THAT WE HAVE WORKED FOR!"

With a final, definitive uproar, Dagon ripped the dragon's wing clear from his back with a sickening crunch. Dagon threw the wing miles out into the ocean, and then wound up and hurled the remainder of the body into the city. The four watched in horror as the dragon's body sailed clear across the sky and into the city, crashing through countless buildings.

"...Worthless," Dagon at last said menacingly. "My great-grandson had at last located Our Ark, and in spite of all my warnings, he refused to pursue. Now, four blasphemers have disgraced Its sacred body, and a pitiful excuse for dragonkind has gone as far as to not only damage Our Ark itself, but to interfere with the divine machinations of a Praetor... Truly, what a terrible, awful, horrible outcome." Dagon turned his face up towards the Zailiens. "Know this, blasphemers. Know this, woman who has allied herself with the Ancient Enemy. I am Lord of All Undersea. Wherever there is water, I am. And wherever there is water, I shall hunt you down. You shall know no rest until the caress of oblivion consumes you, and until I have claimed Our Ark for myself and for all Praetorkind. This is your final warning. For now, though, I shall merely be content with this."

Dagon casts Absolution: Submerge

Dagon placed his crab legs together, and beneath him all the water disappeared, pulled up and behind him into a wall of water that was taller than he was. The wall grew and grew, until at last it reached the height of the Zailiens. The water rose until it became a solid, perfect cube of water. The cube turned black, and countless fish eyes appeared within it. Simon fearfully activated the shields, then looked down at the countless civilians beneath him that lived in Ad Limosa.

"We have to save them," he said.