Unfathomable [Gate in the Deep]

[Magus]

A clever girl could play the damsel in distress when she needed to get her way – it was a sound, if unscrupulous, tactic for those too strong and independent to conform to the old, patriarchal traditions – but it was hard to sell the act when your audience just watched you single-handedly murder nearly a hundred men with what barely amounted to more than a nasty wound.

Maybe Captain Fat-Fuck might have bought it, but the first rule of deception was pretty simple: don’t bullshit a bullshitter. And Magus was a bullshitter of the highest order.

“Interesting,” he said it with a tone that perfectly conveyed kind of disinterested attention, devoid of the sharpness of doubt. “I understand your… difficulty dealing with that. It’s an unfortunate situation, indeed.

“I’ve been pressed into some unfortunate situations. I once had to do battle with the queen of the kingdom from which I hail. It was a bloody and ugly fight, and the kingdom was utterly destroyed. My home disappeared beneath the waves,” he looked out at the endless ocean, and he saw the floating continents of his home plunging through the surface as if it was happening all over again. “I may never know if I could have altered history…”

Magus sighed. He didn’t need to be as candid with her as he had been. Perhaps the isolation of the Omniverse had gotten the better of him.

It’s almost over.

There was a bright flash as the Omnilium he expended finally took solid form, and there, before them, floated a small submarine.

“That’s your ship?” Alexandria sounded unimpressed.

“Rapture’s beneath the waves, isn’t it? We’d have needed some kind of submersible eventually. Besides, you haven’t seen the interior,” Magus replied, leaping from the rickety raft to the sub. He opened the hatch and climbed down, with Alexandria in tow. The Captain followed them, sealing the hatch behind.

Inside, Alexandria and the Captain were greeted to a ridiculously opulent setting. Gleaming marble clothed the floors and the walls were clothed in finely-hewn stone. Rich, leather chairs and benches lined the rooms and corridors, and equally fine bedchambers were tucked away within the vessel.

Before them, the command center of the sub, replete with reams of displays and consoles and other technology, awaited their further instruction.

“Consider this a promotion,” Magus said to the ship-less captain. “Get us to Rapture without incident and you can keep this tub.”

“I-I don’t even know how-”

“Can you read coordinates on a map?” the wizard interrupted.

“Aye, o’course.”

“Then just punch them into the console. This thing should mostly drive itself.”

“A-Are you certain?”

“Well, not entirely. I did only build the goddamn thing by summoning it into existence.”

“Right. Right ye are. Apologies,” the sailor replied, and sat himself in front of the grandest-looking console, in the hope of making himself look busy enough to avoid the purple haired man’s ire. There was a sudden lurch and hum as the sub’s engines spooled up, and they could suddenly feel themselves in motion.

“Well, hopefully the fact that we’re underwater means no more pirates,” Alexandria quipped. “Or maybe mer-pirates? At least that would be interesting.”

Magus snorted a laugh in response. Not that she’d know it, but it was genuine. Alexandria was a snake, but she was bright. That might be a problem in the future. At least for now she wouldn’t be tedious.

“Perhaps we’ll be attacked by a giant squid.”

“Original,” Alex quipped. “Maybe we’ll also find a giant white whale being pursued by a one-legged man.”

“Less original than mermaids?” Magus retorted. “What’s the allure to them anyway?”

“Well, they’re supposed to be stunningly beautiful and captivating-”

“With a fish’s lower half. If anything, they’re just the world’s greatest disappointment. The fact that they’re so captivating would just make it worse.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”

“Enough to know that the whole idea is so ridiculous it wouldn’t hold any weight if people just stopped for a single second to think about it.”

“Okay, clever boy, so if not a mythically beautiful fish-woman, what kind of girl does a man like you go after then?”

Magus seemed genuinely put-off by the question and stammered for a moment. “I haven’t put a lot of thought into it.”

Alex suppressed a laugh and stepped in close, running a hand up Magus’ chest. He immediately pulled back and she realized she’d finally found a chink in his armor. The lithe woman folded her arms and shot him an appraising glance.

“You haven’t put thought into it?” Alexandria scoffed. “Surely even a man as driven as you has slowed down long enough to decide what kind of person he wants to fuck. Don’t be so dull.”