Chapter 6 - Into the Depths Of Danger

Chapter 5 - Into the Depths of Danger



He slowly opened his eyes, the light pouring in slowly.

"Ughhhh......where am I....?" groaned Chris, slowly getting to his feet. Looking below him, he saw that he'd been lying on sand.

Looking up, he saw a massive body of water, and he was on the coastline of it.



"Lake Angelis, huh?" he thought out loud.



The huge lake was about 2 miles wide, and quite deep. Half of it was surrounded by cliffs, and Chris could see the waterfall he'd jumped from among them.

"I must have been washed ashore....and the impact on the water must have knocked me out...." He rubbed his head, checking for any injuries. He didn't find any, but knew he was lucky to be alive. Had he been swept underwater, he would have drowned.



As the knight tried to think what to do next, a voice greeted him. "Hey there, sonny!"

Behind him was an elderly man, carrying a red fishing rod and a bagful of fish. He looked around 60 years old, and greeted Chris with a warm friendly smile. He wore green fishing gear and a pair of boots in a light shade. He had a full head of grey hair, despite his age.

"Uhh...hello." replied Chris politely, though a little confused as to how this man hadn't found him before.

"I ain't seen you around these parts before, lad!" grinned the old fisherman. "I'm Giles Caffrey, fisherman extraordinaire, and the best bloody fisherman in Galatea!"

"Uhhh......I'm -” Chris started to introduce himself, but was interrupted.



Giles started to go into a long and winding speech about his fishing exploits how he'd lived at the lake since he was a boy and about his quest to catch the Great Octopus.

Chris just stood there dumbfounded and unimpressed as the fisherman carried on talking, which started to become gibberish.



“- and so, the Great Octopus escaped my clutches yet again! I'll get him next time though, oh boy I will! Maybe I need a bigger net....or some juicier bait? I wonder how much bait like that would cost...?"



"Ahem...." Chris coughed, trying to get Giles' attention.



"Hmmm...that'll set me back quite a bit. Do octopi even like those things....?"



"AHEM...." Chris coughed louder. This old man was getting on his nerves. He didn't want to hear about fish!



"Some help might be good, but then I wouldn't get the glory...after all I am the greatest fisherman -"



"HEY!!!" yelled Chris, exasperated.



Giles jumped a little. "Waah! Hold your horses, boy....no need to get tetchy with me! I was just talking to you, that's all!"



"Hmph....well...." Chris shook his head. "I'm Chris Appleyard, a Knight of the Crown. I need some help......I jumped off of the waterfall up there," he pointed at it, "and I lost my sword on the way down. I think it's gone to the bottom of the lake."



Giles laughed. "Goodness! You jumped off the waterfall?! And you lived? You must have the luck of the Goddess!"

Chris smiled, knowing how ironic that was, because he DID have the luck of the Goddess....

"I'm on a mission to rescue Princess Michelle, and I can't continue without that sword. Can you help me? There's no way I could swim to the bottom of that lake...." Chris looked at the crystal clear waters, and knew he'd need some kind of breathing equipment to get down there. Not even his powers were going to help him here.

"Hmmm.....interesting." said Giles, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I may have just the thing. It's not the best thing for this situation, but it should work for you. Follow me!"

The old masterful fisherman and the young Love-empowered knight left the edge of the lake and made their way towards a simple shack further onwards on the same side of the lake.



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"Looks like someone had a big battle here....."

Crystal was looking at the corpse of Scorban, left behind by Chris' first Grand Memoria. She and Wedge now knew that Chris was alive, after being told so by the barkeep of The Hammer & Anvil.



"It's amazing....whatever killed him, it didn't draw blood. It's almost like it was a holy power or something...." said Wedge, intrigued as to what power could have felled the top mercenary in Galatea.

"Whoever did this, it wasn't Commander Leinard.There would be big cuts from his weapon." chimed in Crystal, taking a look around. She saw the path leading to the Forest of Fairies.

"Chris was here.....the question is where is he going? It looks like he went into the Forest of Fairies...."

Wedge shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but we've got to assume he's hot on the trail of Michelle and her captor. What I don't get is, why didn't he report in first? Let us know he was OK? It's not like him, Crystal."

Crystal sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, Wedge....but I have a thought. What if this has something to do with the light that was seen from the Princess' chambers?"

"That bright light that people reported seeing? Oh come on...that must have been a spell or something..." Wedge knew the rumours, that it was caused by the Goddess of Love, but he didn't believe it.

"Wedge...something happened in those chambers.....something happened to Chris, I'm sure of it." Crystal looked at her friend desperately. "I'm scared for him.....what if he gets himself hurt...?"

"He took down Scorban, Crystal.....somehow, I think Chris can take care of himself!" Wedge grinned. "Come on, we'll have to head to the next city. We can't follow him through the Forest, I know what those fairies are like."

He started to walk away, then looked back at Crystal, who was staring into the sky, worry written across her face.

"Crystal....he'll be OK. You know Chris." he said calmly.

"I hope you're right......" The young female knight slowly followed her friend back onto the Tradesman's Road.



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Chris stood inside the old shack, which looked old and dilapidated on the outside. Inside, it was rather homely, and it was obvious that Giles enjoyed simple pleasures. There were lots of paintings to do with fish, so Chris guessed that the old man calling himself a master fisherman was no exaggeration.

"Ah, here it is!" said Giles, who had been digging through a large pile of junk in the back of the old shack. In his hands he held a small blue coloured bag. "With this, you'll be able to breathe underwater, lad!"

Chris looked unimpressed. "A little bag? THAT'S going to keep me from drowning." It sounded as if this guy was a little senile.....

"This ain't no ordinary paper bag, young 'un!" laughed Giles, walking over to him and handing him the object. Chris felt it in his hands, ands was surprised. It felt slippery, like a fish's scales.

"This is made from the skin of a leviathan, the most famous sea monster in the world!" continued the grinning old man. "It absorbs the water and turns it into oxygen, and no water can remain inside! Simply take a deep breath inside the bag while underwater and you can swim as deep as you like!"

"Amazing....I never would have guessed!" Chris raised his eyebrow in interest, and put the bag in his pouch. "Thank you, this'll be a great help! I'll be sure to return it to you once I get my sword back."

Giles shook his head. "No need, lad. I'm too old to be going under the sea, and you look like you need that more than me. Keep it, as a token of our friendship."

Chris bowed graciously. "Thank you, Mr. Caffrey."

Giles laughed. "It's Giles! I hate being formal, heh heh! Listen, I assume you're going out there now. Take care, lad, and watch out for the Great Octopus."

"The Great Octopus?" inquired Chris as he headed for the door. "You mentioned that before."

"Indeed I did." Giles pointed a picture on the wall, of a large purple creature wrapping itself around a boat. It had eight tentacles, and looked particularly. "That thing's a menace to this lake, and the reason why no-one dares to go boating on it anymore. So many people have been dragged to their deaths by that thing, and I've tried so many times to capture it. The bloody thing was just too strong for any equipment I had!"

He sighed, shaking his head. "One bright spark decided to go underwater and try to kill it. He never came back, lad. The point is, don't dill dally down there, or you'll be lunch meat for that abomination as well!"

"Well, if he shows up, he won't find me so easy to digest." quipped the young knight. "I'll be back soon, Giles." With that, Chris left and made his way back to the lakeside.



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"Cough...cough....splutter.....That scurvy brat will pay for making a fool out of me!"

Skullbeard had been swept downstream after Chris had knocked him from the boat. He'd ended up being swept ashore, exactly the same as the knight. Now he was feeling particularly vengeful.

"If I survived without a boat, then that rascal must have made it back to land as well!" he deducted, looking around for any trace of his quarry. "Har har har......when I find him, I'll feed him to the fishies!"



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The cold air made Chris shiver a little as he looked into the water. He sure couldn't see the bottom of the lake, and wondered just how deep it was. He also had no idea where Michelle Memoria might have ended up, but he would have to allow for the current.

"It must have been swept in the same direction as me, but it'll have sunk and gotten lodged in something." he mused. "I sure hope it didn't sink to the bottom...."

He took the breathing bag, and stepped into the water gingerly. Water was not one of Chris' favourite things, and it was only thanks to Knight of the Crown training that he could swim at all.

He looked down at the deep water. In a few moments, he would be at its mercy, with only a small bag keeping him from losing breath and drowning, and only the Goddess knew what lay beneath the depths of the lake.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and dived under the surface, heading into the depths of Lake Angelis.....



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Skullbeard had been walking the lakeside for a few minutes, and the cold air was beginning to get on his nerves. "Arrrr, I could use a warm blankie right now!" he muttered, rubbing his hands together.

It was just then that he saw a telltale glint of light on something metal. In the distance, a figure was standing in the water, a very familiar figure.

Squinting, Skullbeard saw the young knight! A moment later, he dived under the surface and vanished from view.



"A-harrr!" smiled the crazy pirate with glee. "Trying to get yer sea legs again, are we? Ye won't escape from me this time, pockmark!"

Skullbeard reached into his pocket, and pulled out a treasured item. It was the same kind of breathing bag as Chris had, only the pirate had gotten it through less friendly means.

The maddened old fool walked into the water, and fearlessly dived into the lake in pursuit of his enemy.



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First, there was an intense sound of rushing water filling his ears. Then he felt his hair become soaked by the ice cold liquid. He had to fight to keep his mouth closed and prevent the water from rushing into his lungs, drowning him.

Chris slowly opened his eyes, and found himself in a watery paradise. All around him, he could see marine flora and fauna, with dazzling colours and spectacular shapes and sizes. The light from the moon pierced the surface, casting an almost holy glow down into the dark depths.

Chris swam downwards with his arms, taking in the sights. He couldn't hear very much, but supposed there wasn't much to hear underwater. While having no idea where his precious weapon was located, he decided to follow his instincts and headed towards where he knew the edge of the lake intersected with the waterfall.

A school of fish brushed past the intruder into their waters, but paid no attention to him, swimming off into the distance faster than he possibly could. Chris marvelled how these creatures could adapt so easily to this environment, which was unforgiving to him. He was finding the going tough in his plate armour, but if he needed to walk on the bottom of the lake at some point, it would act as the perfect weight.



Suddenly, he started to choke. He needed to breathe! He moved the breathing bag close to his face, and opened it, pushing his mouth inside. For a moment, he couldn't feel any water. Giles had been right! The bag acted as a vacuum of air, and Chris took a large breath, thankfully feeling air fill his lungs before taking the bag away and resuming his underwater exploration.



The young and wet knight swam for about 15 more minutes, and soon got the hang of breathing underwater. He came close to where the cliffs opened out into the waterfall, and it was then that a flash of light caught his eye.

Looking downwards, he saw an object wedged inside a rock that was perched awkwardly on a ledge. It wasn't until he saw the angel wings that he recognised it.

"Michelle Memoria!" he exclaimed to himself. With extra vigour he propelled himself further down towards his trusty sword, the water beginning to increase its resistance against his moving body.



As he closed in on the sword, Chris saw a shadow fall across the rock. At first he thought it was his own, but then saw that it looked like two shadows in one....

He was suddenly grabbed around the neck by two aged but muscular hands. His assailant squeezed tightly on Chris' neck, attempting to choke him to death.

Chris struggled hard against the stranglehold, but began to feel his breath vanishing. As he tried frantically to pull to arms from around his neck, he caught a glimpse of the attacker's upper arm, which had a skull and crossbones tattooed on it.



"Skullbeard!" he thought. It looked like he hadn't quite sunk the idiot yet....



With a sudden surge of strength, Chris pulled the insane pirate's arms free and swung him round in front of him. He looked into the crazy fool's eyes, and saw vengeance burning in them.

Before Skullbeard could try anything else, Chris kicked him in the stomach. The old and bitter brigand went flying into the side of the nearby cliff, and got the wind knocked out of him.

Snarling through his teeth, Skullbeard took a breath and lunged back at Chris. The knight barely managed to dodge due to the powerful weight of his armour in the water, and Skullbeard was able to grab his arm. He swung Chris around and sent him spinning towards the same cliff.

Chris smashed into the ground near the rock which held Michelle Memoria. he looked up groggily, took a breath from the bag and tried to grab his weapon.

Skullbeard was ready for this, however. As if to say, "Oh no ye don't!" the pirate kicked Chris in the face, and the knight crashed back to the floor.

Chris tried to get back to his feet, but Skullbeard then placed a foot on top of him, preventing him from doing so. The weight of Chris' armour was too heavy for him to struggle back against the idiotic pirate.



Skullbeard picked up a hefty looking rock from next to Chris, and held it above it his head, ready to smash it down onto Chris' head. The knight gritted his teeth and tried desperately to get up. A blow like that would kill him for sure....

It was then that Chris saw a very large shadow fall across the rocky cliff edge. He wasn't sure what it was, but it looked big.



Suddenly, out of nowhere, Skullbeard was swept aside by a large purple tentacle. The appendage curled around him tightly, almost squeezing him to death.

The now panicked pirate pushed against the iron grip, trying to get away. He looked behind him at what the tentacle belonged to......



......and came face to face with the gigantic Great Octopus!



It was purple from head to toe, and was as big as a house. Its two reddened eyes stared hungrily at Skullbeard, while the remaining seven tentacles floated around, keeping the creature from sinking to the lake bottom.

Skullbeard's eyes widened in fear as he saw the creature, and his efforts to escape became more frantic. However, he was too late. The octopus opened its mouth at the very base of its body, and drew its clenched tentacle towards it. The water near the mouth began to be sucked inside.

The petrified old pirate opened his mouth in terror as the tentacle released him and he was sucked into the octopus' mouth. Had he been able to, he would have let out a horrified scream.

Moments later, the octopus closed its mouth, but not before a small trail of blood drifted out.



Chris could only watch this event unfold, and looked away as the octopus ate the pirate. "No-one deserves to die like that..." he thought sadly, even though he was relieved as the Great Octopus had accidentally saved him from Skullbeard's vengeance. The knight stood up, and walked towards the rock holding Michelle Memoria.

He then noticed the octopus eyeing him, and a bad thought entered his mind. "He's still hungry......"



Chris jumped as a tentacle shot towards him, crashing into the spot where he'd just been. He landed a couple of feet away, and cursed himself for not getting to his sword quicker. Without it, he was defenceless against the undersea titan.

The octopus struck again, but Chris jumped yet again, aiming this time to land by his weapon. The creature missed him yet again, and the knight landed on the rock, quickly gripping the hilt of Michelle Memoria.

He pulled hard on it, trying with all his strength to pull the sword from the rock, but it wouldn't budge. "Damn it!" he cursed inwardly.

Suddenly, the Great Octopus struck again, flinging its appendage wide of the knight. At first it looked like it had missed, but in fact, it was curling the tentacle around Chris. It quickly drew tight before he could jump out of the way, and suddenly Chris was held in the iron grip of the Great Octopus.

"Uggh!!!" he groaned, but he knew struggling was useless. Then, he had an idea.......however he would only get one shot....

Instead of trying to free himself, he gripped as tight as he could to the hilt of Michelle Memoria, which he had still been holding. He hoped that when the octopus pulled him back, the force would pull Michelle Memoria free of the rock. If it didn't work, however, he was as good as dead.

The hungry octopus began to move its tentacle towards its opening mouth, but the determined young knight held onto his sword as if his life depended on it.....which it did. He grimaced in pain as he felt his body began to stretch with the tension, and gritted his teeth.

His adversary pulled with all its strength, eager to sate its rumbling hunger. It had never encountered such a fiercely resistant prey before, but nothing had ever escaped its clutches before.



Chris could feel something begin to move. He looked at Michelle Memoria and saw that it was coming free of the rock!

Suddenly, the sword was ripped free and the octopus began to draw Chris towards its waiting mouth. the knight looked into the eye of the beast, and raised his weapon.

"Sorry, but I don't plan on being fish food!"

He sliced down onto the appendage that held him, and a stream of blood flowed out from the gaping wound. The octopus thrashed around wildly in pain, and its grip on Chris loosened. The freed knight swam quickly up towards the surface, and took a long breath of water from his bag before turning back around to face the agonised creature.

"I can't let this thing kill anyone else!" he declared to himself. He pointed Michelle Memoria down at the octopus, and the weapon made a trail in the water as he did.



"GRAND MEMORIA!!!!!"



The projectile shot through the water like a torpedo, and the recoil pushed Chris back quite fiercely, almost knocking him off balance. Despite being underwater, the Grand Memoria kept the same form as always., but it left a distinct trail as it sped towards its target, almost like an aircraft leaving a trail in the sky.

It crashed into the main body of the octopus, and the creature shook violently. However, it seemed to have little effect, and the titanic predator flung most of its arms at Chris.

"Crud!!!" thought the knight. There was no way he could dodge all those arms, but if he was going down, he would do so fighting!



Chris took aim at one of the arms, let rip yet another Grand Memoria. It smashed into the first attacking tentacle, causing it to burn and recoil back.

Three other tentacles streaked towards him, and Chris knew it would be futile, but he tried to fire another Grand Memoria.

However, he was shocked when it did fire! The second appendage was blasted out of the way.

The knight felt less drained than when he used Grand Memoria normally. The shots he'd fired were slightly weaker than the single shot he was used to, but it meant he could fire multiple shots at a time!

"Let's rock, blubber for brains!" he grinned.

He fired round after round of Grand Memorias, two of them striking the remaining two arms just as they reached Chris, and the rest slamming into the Great Octopus itself. The massive titan reared back in pain, exposing its mouth to Chris.

"That's it....the mouth!" he exclaimed. He breathed one last time, and aimed for the gaping jaws of the beast.



Knowing this would require some awesome firepower, Chris willed all the energy he had into Michelle Memoria. "Gimme a GRAND MEMORIA!!!!"



The lake seemed to shudder as Chris fired the doubly powerful Grand Memoria. The massive concentration of energy zoomed straight into the Great Octopus' mouth, and exploded, tearing the great beast apart. the blast knocked Chris back and sent a circular wall of waves across the surface.

Reeling from the blast, Chris let himself float to the surface. He could see daylight floating in from above him, and let himself head into the light.....



A moment later, the knight surfaced, gasping for air. The air flowed into his lungs, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Suddenly, behind him there was a great splash, and the giant, decimated body of the Great Octopus floated to the surface. It wouldn't be a threat to anyone at the lake anymore.

Chris reached the lakeside, and got back on dry land. He was soaked through and shivering, but otherwise was unhurt.

"Good heavens, lad!!!" shouted the familiar aged voice of Giles. The elderly fisherman came running over with a large blanket, which he wrapped around the soaked knight. He stared incredulously at Chris, and then at the bloated and torn body of the quarry he'd long sought after. "You bloody well killed the thing! H-How did you do it???"

"I just went with the flow." replied Chris, looking across the now calm waters of Lake Angelis.



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About 20 minutes later, Chris and Giles were back in the shack, having a celebratory drink of champagne. Giles had towed the body of the fallen octopus to the lakeside, and from the crowd of people outside, news travelled fast.

"Chris, my lad, you're a hero around here now!" grinned Giles, clanking his glass against Chris's. "You got your fancy sword back as well, I see. Guess not even all the money you'll be getting would buy you a weapon better than that!"

"Money?" said a puzzled Chris, drinking up his champagne. "What are you talking about?"

"You killed the Great Octopus, lad!" laughed Giles out loud. "There was a bounty of 500,000 gold on the accursed thing! You're gonna be rich!"

Chris sighed, and shook his head. "I don't want the money. I have no use for it."

Giles almost spat out his champagne. "You don't want the money? You have no use for it? Don't be silly, lad! No sane person would pass this reward up!"

"I'm giving the money to you, Giles." grinned Chris, winking. "You deserve it."

Giles was visibly shocked. "Lad....come on, it's your money! I can't accept it! You've got to have some kind of reward!"

"You're a good man, and you could do some good for the lake with that money." spoke Chris, getting up. "The only reward I want is knowing that I did some good for this world today."

The wise fisherman smiled, and clapped Chris on the shoulder. "You've got a heart of gold, young 'un. There's not many people like you left in this world..."

"I'm just glad I was able to help." beamed Chris, opening the wooden shack door and letting the cold breeze slip inside. "Take care of yourself, Giles."

"You too, Chris. Maybe we'll meet again." The old man waved goodbye to the young knight with a heart of gold.....



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"It's getting late. We'll have to rest for the night."

Michelle and her kidnapper had stopped under a tree that was nearby an old looking church. The Princess thought it was odd that there was a church all the way out from any sign of civilisation, but was just glad to be able to get some rest. Since her capture she'd been walking almost non-stop halfway across Galatea. She remained silent as her equally fatigued captor addressed her.

He sat down under the tree, and so did she. Within minutes, both of them fell asleep, despite the less than ideal sleeping conditions.



Only Michelle didn't fall asleep. She had been waiting for this moment.

"You can't watch me when you're asleep....." she thought, quietly getting up. She was going to run as far away as possible, back towards Lake Angelis which she could still see in the distance. She didn't know what dangers lay out in the Galatean countryside, but she was prepared to take her chances rather than stay captured.

She stole quietly past the church, entering the small graveyard in front of it. Michelle wasn't stupid, and knew that if she was going to escape she would need to cover her tracks. Going through the graveyard, a different way from which they'd came, was a good way of accomplishing this.

"I'll get back to Lake Angelis, I'll summon the Knights of the Crown....then everything will be OK." she thought to herself as she sneaked past the gravestones, which looked spooky in the darkness.



Suddenly, she heard a low moaning sound. The princess stopped and froze with fear. "W-what was that.....?" she thought, shivering.

She turned around, but saw nothing. Everything was quiet, save for the cold wind blowing everywhere.

"Hah......must be hearing things....." Michelle resumed her bid for freedom, but barely got a few feet when she heard the moaning again. She jumped in fright, and looked fearfully around her.



There was a scrabbling sound near her, coming from the ground near a gravestone in front of her. Dirt began to fly up from the grave, and a hand reached upwards.

"Ahhhhh!!!!!" screamed Michelle, backing off as the hand was joined by a head. It was a human figure, crawling out of its own grave, and it looked dead. The skin was mostly rotted away, revealing the skeleton underneath. What remained of the human's face looked at Michelle with its mouth open and its eyes unmoving, the eyeballs twisted in two different directions and looking like they were going to fall out.



Michelle stopped herself from throwing up with disgust, and slowly backed off. However, she heard a pair of moans behind her, and she saw two more of the walking corpses closing in on her.



She'd just come face to face with the undead.



"By the Goddess....." she gasped. "What ARE these things??"

The three zombies closed in on her slowly, their feet dragging along the ground and their moans becoming ever louder. The petrified princess couldn't escape. She was sandwiched between both groups of the undead monsters, and there was nothing she could do.

She didn't know what they would do to her, but knew that she would probably end up like them, walking the earth as a mere shadow of who she was.........

She closed her eyes, and braced herself for whatever horrible fate they would bring. "Death, take me swiftly....." she thought, as the abominations reached their hands out to grab her.....



There was suddenly a bang, and tow of the zombies were blasted back, having just been hit by a fireball. The tattered clothes that they wore had caught fire.

Standing a few feet away was Michelle's captor, who had been woken by the moans. "Get away from them! Don't let them bite you!" he shouted, readying another fireball.

Michelle ran quickly in his direction. It was rather ironic.....the person who had kidnapped her was now trying to protect her.

The third zombie fell to the second fireball, but the victory was short lived. The first two zombies got back to their feet, as if they hadn't been hit at all. Moments later, their buddy did the same, and they began marching towards their attacker.

"We must go, now!" shouted Michelle's captor, but he added to his hostage, "And by the way, I didn't save you out of the goodness of my heart. You're no good to me dead."

Michelle simply glared at him. "How can you be so heartless....?"

He didn't reply, and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her along with him as they made their escape from the undead.



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Deep within the void of the Seal, the Goddess of Hate watched events unfold. She was pleased with the chaos that her emotion was still bringing to the world.

Something was greatly upsetting her, however. She had sensed a great disturbance in her precious chaos, greater than the annoying mortals who refused to bend to their dark desires.

"I smell that foul stench once again......but never before has it been so prominent." She'd begun to notice it when another pawn of hers killed, a powerful one. Then, she felt the goodness of the fairies beginning to proliferate once more. Now, a creature of the water, touched by her will, was deceased. These events had two things connecting them.

First, this had all taken place on the same route that her most important pawn had taken. Second, she could sense a trail of that cursed emotion, the one that was everything she hated.



Love.



The twisted Goddess knew of only one person that could have done this much damage, and smiled to herself.

"So.......he's come, sister? Heh heh......let him come to me. I will show both of you how weak your precious Love really is!"

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