From the deepest depths below they came, a pair of mers whose eyes had seen the blackest of black, haunted beyond haunting. Each had learned a lesson that would never be forgotten. A madness filled one, a deep laughing depravity that could not be shaken so easily as his brother might wish, and his eyes... his eyes had stared into that which should never be found. A great trembling had filled those waters, a booming vibration that shook every scrap of kelp that dared to cling too close to the titan that dwelt below. Shuddering reverberations radiated from that place that was forbidden to all but those chosen few. From the great maw of the deep one brother pried his laughing sibling, dragging him from certain doom to flee to the surface.
The village below would have let them both perish, and he would not allow it. He, who was the son of the elder, he, who loved his brother more than life itself. He would not be defeated, nor would he allow his beloved twin to be sacrificed to their madness and vanity. It had never been their choice. They had been selected as one in a long line to fulfill the doomful prophecy. Destiny had other designs for their fins, and so he led them both to safety, however fragile it might be. "Help us!" he had boomed out, when they had breached the waves that crashed against the shore. "Help us. It's coming. It will be here before too long if you do not help us. If you are so craven and cowardly as to leave our people to their doom, it will be your undoing."
For they had awakened the deep, they who had fled certain death. He was not afraid, he did know fear any longer. He had stared down the enemy, knew its face, and he would not be so easily placated. His voice carried far, dancing on the wind in the wake of a building storm. And oh indeed there was a storm brewing, for the god beneath the waves was one of sea and storms. There was no escaping it, only facing it. Did they dare to pit themselves against such a monstrosity? "If you are brave you can save my people. If you follow me, I will take you down, down below. I need volunteers. Who will come with me?" Time was of the essence, and they had precious little.
