Karpow Underwater Cobalnite Mines | The Vorteesian Sea | Aleria
Located deep below the Western seas of the world of Aleria, the metallic monstrosity that was the Karpow Underwater Cobalnite Mining camp stood out distinctly from the dull blue seamount it rested upon.
With no land or humans for hundreds of miles, this site was normally a bustling hub rife with Mer activity at all hours, tonight however it's waters were completely still and silent... except for the sound of 3 young voices...
"No really Argent you can trust us!" said the olive skinned and pewter blue tailed mermaid named Ruth to her fellow Outer Core disciple and stepbrother.
"Hehe yeah what she said Argent, but hmm... I'm starting to wonder...could it be that you're simply too afraid to follow us into the Old Abandoned Mine Shaft for the secret treasure..." added her similarly pewter blue tailed male companion Rave.
A scowl clouded Argent's childlike pale face at that moment, " I-I'm not scared! I'll go but you two have to come with me, o-or..."
"O-or what you scaredy fish" taunted Rave before taking an imposing swim to Argent's face, "Or how about this, if you don't go to the mine, we'll make sure father forgets to give you supper again tonight.
At that moment a look of abject fear appeared on the young Mer's face before being replaced by a melancholic shadow.
"Whatever" he could only mutter.
Without even waiting for a reply Argent then turned and swam toward the menacing mouth of the mine shaft.
But perhaps if he had turned back he would've noticed the menacing look and subsequent eerie smile the pewter blue tailed mertwins shared before swimming after him.
'Looks like everything is going to plan brother... that foolish plankton will soon no longer be in the way of our promotions haha' she mentally transmitted to her twin.
'Yes sister it looks like he has no idea what we have planned, but let's not celebrate too soon...'
At that moment the Mer trio entered the mine but their vision was immediately impeded by the pitch blackness all around them.
And while as members of the Mer race they had enhanced vision in deep dark ocean environments, for some reason inside this mine they could only see about arm's length ahead of themselves.
Argent though nervous at this development felt along the walls of the mine as he ventured further in while trying to calm his rapidly racing heart.
'This place sure is getting creepy...maybe I should turn back, they're probably lying about a treasure' thought Argent trepidatiously, ' But if I do I definitely won't get to eat tonight...I might as well just keep going.'
He had swam no further then 20 feet when suddenly the mine floor beneath dropped away, revealing a gaping chasm that pulled at him with a vortex like suction force.
Though Argent only managed a quick glance at the deep hole, he noticed it's depth seemed ominously deep and he did not want to stick around to find out just how far it went down.
"What the!" the dark blue tailed merboy gasped in shock.
Fighting the suction force clawing at his tail fins with all his might, Argent rapidly turned around and tried to swim back towards the exit. However the two mertwins just behind him would have none of it.
"Where do you think you're going! Huh?!"
"It's too late now! You're not leaving this mine alive hahaha"
The two mertwins clasped each other's hands blocking his exit as both their eyes began to glow a deep shade of blue, suddenly the suction force that had previously only been mildly pulling at Argent's back strongly increased, turning into a full blown vortex.
Argent stood no chance.
"Rave?...Ruth?' We're family! Why?"
The watery vortex forced the small merboy to the tunnel floor, scraping off his kneescales and bloodying his elbows as it rapidly dragged him towards the beckoning chasm.
"Oh hush up will you? You're no brethren of ours, consider this death a mercy" said Rave.
Argent felt his grip upon the ledge of the chasm slip, just as the vortex relented in it's pulling on him, he was sucked inside the dark and watery abyss below him as he screamed.
'What are these-'
ARGH
All Argent could feel was seemingly endless pain as the sharp metallic taste of blood wafted throughout his mouth.
He wasn't sure how far he'd fallen or where he'd even landed but there was one thing he was certain of.
He was dying.
With every ragged breath he breathed through the slit like gills on his neck , he could feel his already weak lifeforce fade further away.
The darkness at the edges of his consciousness clawed at the meagre sight he had left but he would not close his eyes, he refused to die so easily.
Using the remaining strength in his body Argent tried to sit up from where his body rested when suddenly a painful realization stopped him in his movements.
"T-There's no way- noooo!"
He then craned his neck downward to inspect his injuries before emitting another bone chilling scream.
'I-I can't believe they would do this- to go this far... What kind of joke is this?!'
Argent had hoped that he wasn't too hurt but he now knew that was far from the case.
The sharp omnipresent pain he felt all over his body had been the result of being impaled.
Looking down at his completely skewered body Argent realized that at the bottom of this abyss wasn't hard seafloor like he'd expected, but multiple sharp and jagged stalactites which now rested inside multiple parts of his tail, back, and even part of his head.
"Nice touch with the spikes sis! I'm pretty sure he's dead now look" Rave declared excitedly from where he peered above the trap hole
"They'd better have worked, it took me 3 suns of pressure blasting the bottom to sharpen them to perfection. Now come on! Hurry and use the Sealocke Leach before its too late"
BA...DUMP
BA.....DUMP
The dull and slowing sound of Argent's stopping heart filled his ears as his psyche slowly began to disassociate.
'I-I guess this is...really the end huh? ...
At that moment he lost all sight as his his eyes began to gray and gloss over .
'Haha I can't say a part of me isn't relieved, this life hasn't been easy ever since mom left...'
At that moment he lost all feeling in his limbs and extremities.
'Atleast I'll get to see her again... but them, I hate that they won. I-It's not fair... '
He could barely feel the sea essence signatures from his murderous stepsiblings at the top of the trap hole but the hazening feel of them filled his being with a molten fury that quickly vanished as his heart abruptly stopped beating..
His cold and limp body laid awkwardly atop the sharp stalactites, much to the satisfaction of the two mertwins who smiled with schadenfreude at the current state of their soon to be late stepbrother.
Their eyes shown with a crazed excitement as the male mertwin, Rave suddenly pulled out a conch shell looking item from his space ring and a mysterious energy began to reverberate throughout the water in the tunnel.
The strange conch shell looking item suddenly seemed to come alive as four slimy tendril like tentacles slowly crept out from the innards of it's shell and began waving wildly in the water.
Suddenly the surrounding water made a whirring sound as the tentacles began to glow and extend from 1 to 5 to a staggering 10 meters of length.
"Hurry before his sea essence scatters!" ordered the older mertwin Ruth
"Yeah, yeah I know what I'm doing just prepare to receive it " Rave replied
At that moment the four wildly waving tentacles from the conch shell rapidly hardened and became spearlike before stabbing into Argent's still warm corpse.
Within a breath of time, a chaotic brown colored energy then erupted from the tentacles' points of entry into Argent's body and traveled up the length of the tentacles to the eagerly awaiting mertwins.
"Quickly grab onto the conch as well sister!"
Wasting no time, Ruth thrusted her hands forward and wrapped her webbed fingers around the conch like relic, just as the wildly approaching brownish green energy reached her and her brother's beckoning hands.
"Urgh!" they both grunted in unison as the mysterious energy traveled up their form for some time before seemingly disappearing within their chests.
'Woah who knew this whelp had such talent with the Earth affinity!' Ruth gritted her teeth in closed eyed concentration
As the mertwins closed their eyes and worked to control the tyrannical energy assimilating into their bodies, they noticed with each breath the energy's resistance faded more and more.
'Whew things are getting smoother now...' exhaled Rave.
Relief sprung up in both of their hearts at their plan's successful fruition and they both couldn't help but wish they had undertaken the task sooner.
SQUELCH
After a short while, the strange and slimy tentacles exited the bloody holes in Argent's body before shortening back to their 1 meter length and creeping back into the shell within the awaiting mertwins hands.
The once tyrannical Earthen energy from their slain stepbrother had now melded with their own supply, but the mertwins didn't experience a change in cultivation level like expected, in fact they felt exactly the same.
"D-Did it work?" Rave asked looking at his sister for confirmation.
His raven haired female counterpart raised both her shoulders in reply before sashaying toward Argent's body with a hand outstretched before her.
"Only one way to find out ..."
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
Slowly at first, then all at once, the watery tunnel serving as Argent's tomb began to cave in upon itself as the thick ocean sedimentary walls on both sides began to move and coil upon one another like writhing snakes increasing in height.
After several breaths the trap tunnel could no longer be seen and no longer could Argent's corpse, the ocean floor had swallowed them whole.
"I'll take that as a yes hahaha" Ruth smiled in elation
" Way to kill two birds with one stone sis, now we won't have to worry about hiding that body. Let's get out of here though, it's only a short time until sunrise and father will be worried soon." said Rave before turning his tail and swimming toward the exit with his sister right behind.