Clailip finally finished eating.

He didn't have a particularly strong opinion of the meal, it was good. The same as the ones he had on the daily in the forest, with his family. He expected humans to have unique dishes that he's never tried before, but this was fine too, it gave him a feeling of being home that he was starting to crave.

‘Still, I really expected something different though.’ Clailip thought. A miracle, really, that he kept this one in, instead of his usual saying it out loud. It makes one think if Clailip truly has trouble keeping things in or if it truly is just a completely random reflex of sorts.

It was night time, and the stars shimmered like gemstones painted across a black canvas splashed with nebulae. Clailip’s horse was now finally fixed, though it still looked far from one, it looked far more refined now. Its body was now made up of hard wood, and the limbs were polished and didn’t have random sticks poking out of it, the neck was still the same length. The biggest difference is definitely the head, it was now more ‘horse-like’, in the way that if you look hard enough, you can definitely see the slight resemblance to a horse. The ten inch snout, the hardwood mane, the bulging eyes that looked a tad too humanlike. If you were a couple of miles away then it would most definitely look like a horse.

Clailip sat on the wooden barely-abomination and looked up at the sky. It was a dianian urge to stare up at the night sky and the moon for a whole hour, one could say it was a racial characteristic of sorts. The stars glimmered and Clailip’s eyes twinkled in response. He’s done this a lot in his four years of living here. Being brought outside to just stare at the moon and bathe in its holy light. It was a feeling of comfort for him, and many other dianians.

“I wonder if Mama’s looking up at the moon right now… around this time of the night we gather around and stare together. Is she worried about me? I hope they’re okay.” Clailip reached out to touch the skies, it was something that he enjoys doing, to just reach out to the heavens as he stared. It made him feel closer to the moon, happier, calmer, safer. On cold nights when everyone else was sleeping, when he’s plagued by thoughts and distant hazy memories of an irrelevant past and an uncertain future. He climbs to the treetops and reaches out for the moon, seeking its protection and guidance, seeking its love and affection, and seeking its acknowledgement. He didn’t know why this was, sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even him that felt these things, as if another being inside him longed for the moon also. A feeling of longing and despair welling up in his heart, but a relief of sorts too, as if he was glad that the moon was still there in the sky, visible and enveloping the land in its pale light.

Clailip’s hand reached their full length, and when he did, he could only express his excitement when he saw the sky above him make a ripple as he reached out. As if it was the surface of a calm pond being disturbed. Then a haunting song could be heard, it was faint, beautiful but chilling, and melancholic. Clailip immediately turned around, praying that he was right and that he wasn’t just assuming things. The skies behind him were not dark. It was rather bright actually. Schools of ethereal ghost fish swam in the night sky, and on top of them all was a whale-like entity, its size was terrifying, it looked big enough to be an island, and on its side were airplane sized flippers, calmly and smoothly, yet swiftly, paddling through the sea of stars. Its mouth was open as it played the haunting tune, and Clailip could only stare, happily slack-jawed, at the sight. It swam gracefully and passed Clailip in a matter of minutes, a testament to its speed.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“The Great Whale of The East… Aaah, It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it… A few months at least. That said… It only comes out when Bakunawa makes it run an errand Mama said. I wonder what Bakunawa wants then… It looked like it was in a hurry too, and it didn’t have that many fish with it when I first saw it… I hope there isn’t some massive fight going on, that would be bad, Mama and Papa would get caught up in it definitely, they’re super strong after all.”

“So it begins. I guess that crappy cult finally regained its bearings and are trying to find and rebuild the Arks, huh? I swear when I finally wake up I’ll beat them so hard they’ll come crawling back to their mother’s uteruses.” Dark blue hair flowed beautifully, the light of a candle reflecting off of it, making it gently twinkle. Lilianna Diancia, Matriarch of The Abyss, talked. She wasn’t in the real world, rather, she was in a world fabricated by her own mind as she slumbered and regained her energy for when she finally revives herself. “Even that stuck-up shitty snake’s making her move. I guess they came back stronger than ever. I should’ve never been so merciful as to let a few branch families of those traitors live. I’m too kind.” Lilianna was sat on a golden chair, faced with a banquet table of sweets. “But it doesn't matter. No matter how much they try to trace their stupid progenitor’s footsteps and walk the road they chose to tread on, I have the upper hand… I just hope that my orders came through. My children haven’t been able to listen to me much nowadays because of an Ark floating by the Abyssal Seas…”

"Lady Lilianna, the Ark floating by the northern Abyssal Sea been located by the fifth eye, Grendel. However, due to her constitution she will not be able to directly destroy it. What should we do?" A formless entity whispered, but in the dead-quietness of Lilianna's inner self, it was more than loud enough to hear.

"God, fuck this shitty one way barrier…" Lilianna groaned.

"Apologies, it seems that we still cannot understand a single word. The Black Swallowers have been eating up the magic that the Ark emits… unfortunately, this proves that, that isn't enough." The voice trembled, though it didn't seem to be out of fear, but out of anger. It was made obvious by the slight sound of gritting teeth. "We'll hold off on making decisions until we find a way to properly communicate, I will be leaving now. Thank you, and have a good day, Madame." The formless entity disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Lilianna was left alone in her mindspace yet again.

"Letting me hear my subjects, just so I can hear about how well their plans are going…I'm kicking their asses to the moon, then back." Lilianna grumbled, as the light of a hundred candles scattered across the banquet tables burned brighter, and illuminated the ominous fortress that was Lilianna's mind.