The quiet solace Iris had hoped to find in the crew quarters was instead quite a commotion, as nearly every crew member packed their belongings into bags as if preparing to evacuate the ship. Iris blipped up beside Eli, who was doing so himself.
"What's going on?" Iris asked.
"The crew members who have been around a while are saying we'll have to disembark the ship when we reach the mountain," Eli answered without pausing his packing, "apparently it might be a while before we're allowed back on board, so you'd better pack whatever you need."
Iris shrugged, "I'm always packed. Wanna throw anything in my bag?"
Eli placed the last of his delicately rolled shirts into his tightly packed bag and closed it before holding it out by the trap towards Iris, "if you don't mind."
Eli stumbled back as tentacles erupted from the bag and wrapped around the backpack, accompanied by guttural harmonies that gave the unmistakable impression of a ravenous appetite. The opening of the bag stretched open wide to accept the backpack like a snake's jaw unhinging to swallow a meal. An instant later the tentacles had retreated into the void and the bag was cinched tightly shut.
"She's uh," Eli stammered, "not as a shy as she used to be."
"Yep," Iris smiled proudly, "she's really coming out of her shell."
Iris heard a clanging of metal and looked over to see Autumn attempting to drag a cooking pot large enough to fit three of herself through the definitely-too-small doorway to the galley.
"How did they even get this thing in here?" Autumn was complaining loudly between grunts as she tried to yank it through.
"What is she doing?" Eli asked with a tired voice and slumping shoulders.
"I got it," Iris sighed and blipped away.
______
The path down which the giants carried the ship joined another, even wider path, which acted as one of the four boulevards extending out from each side of the mountain. It led all the way to the base of the mountain, where it transitioned to a massive marble tunnel. In order to accommodate the towering masts of the Gaping Maw, the giants lowered the ship from their shoulders and instead help it with a low, hooking hand as they entered the tunnel.
The change was noticed immediately, even by those within the ship's lower decks, as the ship briefly jostled. Only those new to sailing stumbled, while the rest deftly shifted their weight and reached out for support holds to keep their footing. A moment later, a wave of darkness traveled down the length of the ship as the bright sunlight filtering through the portholes was blocked by the tunnel.
Peeking through a porthole, Iris could see the various halls and archways branching off from the tunnel they traveled though. The walls were all built of the same white and black marble slabs, and comprised mostly of flat, polished surfaces. There were many cracks cutting through the marble, showing its age. She saw marble giants moving through the halls, many so large that their heads were above her even while the ship was carried by giants. Others were much smaller, reaching up only to the knees of the largest giants.
Soon the tunnel ended, and the ship was brought into a large chamber at the center of the artificial mountain. Iris quickly blipped up to the main deck for a better view, and quite soon regretted it. The ceiling was so far above that she struggled to comprehend that it was, in fact, a ceiling -- her mind's first assumption was that, somehow, the sky itself must have been replaced with marble. She swayed in place, and quickly blipped next to a mast to lean against for balance as her gaze spun around the room.
Four tunnels, each equally large, led from the central chamber in a straight line out to the grasslands, meeting at a raised square platform in the center of the room with large, giant sized stairs in the middle of each side and stairs of varying smaller sizes on the corners. In each of the four corners of the chamber were mind-bogglingly large statues, each seated in enormous marble thrones. Iris grew even dizzier when one of the statues leaned forward in his seat and clasped his hands together. The movement washed a large but gentle breeze over the ship, and the interlocking figures echoed the low, rumbling sound of grinding stone.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The ship heaved up and down as the giants carried it up the steps to the center of the raised platform, where they crouched to their knees and settled into place as unmoving statues once more, the Gaping Maw resting on their shoulders.
"Welcome!" the enormous giant with clasped hands spoke, his excited voice carrying a reverberating force through the chamber like most would only witness from dragons and gods. There were no lips on his face to part as he spoke, the words simply emanated from his head.
"I'm honored to be before the Monuments once more," Captain Clement shouted from the helm, his loud, booming voice struggling to reach the edges of the massive room.
Iris was shocked to hear the Shark Titan speak so cordially, and even more surprised to see him crouch to a knee and lower his head.
"Rise, captain," another monument spoke, "I take it you've come for repairs?"
"Aye," the captain answered, somewhat returning to his usual manner of speech, "the Maw has seen much better days."
"And what do you bring the mountain, in return?"
"For the creators, I bring gold. For the Monuments, I bring knowledge."
There was a quiet moment, as each of the four monuments sat still and silent. Finally, one of them spoke.
"Acceptable."
"I have an additional request," the captain shouted, "I carry a hydra in the belly of my ship. She is starved and weakened, and now only a portion of her former size, however --"
"This can be accommodated," a monument interrupted, "she will be secured."
"Thank you," the captain bowed his head respectfully.
"Return to us when these arrangements are complete."
"Yes, Monument South," the captain answered.
The ship was jostled again as the giants rose to their feet and began to carry the ship down the steps of the platform. Though they did a good job of keeping the ship mostly level throughout the descent, the, the motion combined with the already dizzying sights before her immediately turned her stomach. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut and blipped below deck to escape at least the visual sensations.
"You okay?" Victoria asked, half worried and half critically.
"What?" Iris mumbled as she opened her eyes, still struggling avoid vomiting, "oh, yeah. That's all just kind of a lot." She lazily motioned above her shoulder towards the main deck.
Victoria laughed, "yeah, it's pretty cool. Just think, pretty soon we might be walking those giant halls ourselves."
That sent Iris over the edge, and she quickly blipped the nearest bucket into her hands.
______
The ship was brought down a branching path from the main halls and carried deep into the mountain. The first stop was what appeared to be a giant's bathhouse, with marble pillars holding up the vaulted roof of a large rectangular chamber which housed a pool of water large enough to accommodate at least two dozen large giants. The ship's bearers brought it to the edge of the pool and knelt down onto their knees, lowering the bow of the ship near to the pool's waters.
"Damn mermaids broke the lever," the captain called out casually over the railing near the bow, as if speaking to an equal, "you're gonna have to pull it open."
After a silent moment, the front-most giants on either side of the ship reached up and wrapped marble fingers around the large, ivory bow stem.
"Tell them to pull gently," Meredith said from behind the captain.
"Meredith says pull gent--"
The giants began pulling down on the bow stem. Wood creaked all around, and somewhere far below thick metal chains tensioned and snapped, slamming hard into the housings and machinery around them. The bow of the Gaping Maw folded downwards as water gushed from the cracks on either side, pouring out into the giant pool. The giants brought the bow down until the water poured freely like milk from a jug, and a moment later the hydra washed out and splashed into the pool.
It swam out at blinding speed, diverted when it reached a wall, and swam along the wall until it reached a corner, where it quickly turned again. The captain smirked at the thought that it very much looked like a goldfish in a bathhouse -- and then he saw the tiny glinting speck of a fat golden fish washing into the pool with the last of the water.
"He's there!" the Shark Titan climbed onto the railing to leap.
Meredith grabbed his arm to stop him. Her strength was no match for his, but his reflex was to pause when she grabbed him. He looked back at her with a fierce gaze from his beady black eyes.
"We're on business, captain," Meredith said.
The captain pointed to the water, "But Gerald--"
"Think about it first," she said patiently.
After a second, his shoulders slumped, "the Monuments are waiting."
The captain sighed and stepped off the railing, shrugging off Meredith's grasp. He gave her a frustrated look, then looked back over the water -- a sea to the goldfish, but a pond to the hungry the hydra. However, the fish had somehow managed to survive at least some period of time in the Maw's belly. The captain breathed a low, rumbling breath.
"Captain?" Meredith asked.
"The little shit’s working with the hydra."