Again, that silence. But now he was reading it better. He could sense that the depthstrider was interested.
Then he moved. Fortis came out from behind the tall spire, and he was everything that Proteus had hoped he would be. A massive creature, violet because that was the ancients favorite color. Though his chest was pale, it was obvious that he was laden with muscle. Every part of his body was built as a weapon, but he would only wield it should he need to or should the sea order him to.
What a specimen. This was the kind of creature that Proteus was proud to call his. These were the men and women who would fight to the death to protect what was theirs, and who he knew would always make a choice with their people's best interest at heart.
"You seek the future," Proteus said, without preamble. He knew what a priestly man like this would be expecting. No dealwould be made unless Proteus could offer proof that what he said was true.
"I can see the future on my own."
"Can you? Can you see this future that I will draw to fruition?" Proteus shrugged. "Or perhaps you are not capable of such a thing. The only way to know for certain is if I touch you. If I guide you."
Fortis must know this was a trap. He looked at Proteus as if what he offered was poison, and the depthstrider wasn't wrong. To touch a god was no easy feat, especially for their people.
"You will show me the future?" Fortis asked, clearly tense.
"I will show you all that I have always seen. What the ancients who created me tasked me to create. It is a future that was built by someone who knows what they are doing." Proteus held out his hand. "Let me show you, Fortis. Allow me to guide you."
Though Fortis still hesitated, he reached out his hand and took Proteus's. It was a mistake for him, but it was all part of Proteus's plan.
With a surge of magic that he'd been born with, Proteus launched them both into the prophecy that he had been born to fulfill. The future was one that would not be easily won. He remembered this prophecy bit by bit. He’d never seen any changes to it because it was the only prophecy that was set in stone.
The humans would return to the land. They knew how to hunt and fend for themselves, but the People of Water would still be a large part of their lives. They would trade with each other often, and in doing so, both of their peoples would prosper.
Were the humans entirely safe? No. The storm surges still threatened them, the hurricanes could still kill them, but they were working toward ending all of those things. The storms would slowly start to understand that. As the land healed andgrew safer, so would the tempests that were caused by a riotous land constantly trying to find its balance once more. They needed to soothe the beast, and they could only do that if they were on the land to do so.
Their homes were shorter, squatter, and far sturdier than before. Their research would be focused on healing their land and in making their lives easier, along with living with the People of Water. He could see it now. Vast cities spread deep underground. Some of them even stretched out into the sea so they could all work together, but none of them took up too much of the water that was already angry at all of them.
But then Proteus noticed there was something different about the prophecy after all. There were shadowy pieces in the back that he had never seen before. Parts of a future that could be changed, and something that could be affected.
People? Perhaps. Maybe this was a sign that they would find more humans living on the land. Soon enough, if they were lucky, they could unlock allies who would help them far more than they would hurt. These were all good signs that he was on the right path.
They all were.
Finally he pulled away from Fortis, watching as the depthstrider seized like he'd been attacked by an electric eel. Proteus grabbed his chin, forcing the other man to look at him.
"You are lucky, friend. You met me at the right time. This pain will pass, and you will bring this information to your people. There is a facility where you will bring them and yourself, to see this future with your own eyes and not just a prophecy made by the ancients long ago. We will send the coordinates to you through one of your droids. And you will help us, Fortis. You were born to do so."
He headed off, leaving the large male to drift down to the bottom of the sea where he would wait until the venom of Proteus's prophecy finally left his body.
It was time for this plan to show movement. Proteus grew tired of waiting.
Twenty-Two
Ellie
Ellie still didn't understand the plan. He wanted to prove that he was a god to these people, who should have worshipped him for centuries, but they had forgotten him. She understood that part.
What she didn't understand was why anyone like him needed to prove that he was what he said he was. Just look at him. Even the undine had to realize there was something different about Proteus. Ellie had seen their kind before. She'd stared at them hanging in the tanks at Tau, and even helped take notes about dissections. She'd seen them a hundred times, if not more than that.
Proteus was not them. Just the sight of him was enough to know that, but it was even more than his looks. It was the way he moved. How he spoke. The strangeness of his gaze and the way he could see straight through her. The determination to fix what had been broken, and the dogged way he continued forward until the end.
Proteus knew what he was doing. He had been in the past, and he had lived for such a long time. Anyone who didn't believe he understood how to fix this world of theirs had to have lost a few of their marbles.
Pilot muttered under his breath, checking the last few modules he had programmed to make it even more impressive when their visitors arrived. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She was hidden behind a makeshift wall, but one that would never be seen by someone who didn't know how the shifting sands worked. The door that led into the room was hidden behind a sand dune. All she had to do was hit the right buttons to make sure that the manual process of the holograms was where it was supposed to be.
But something didn't feel right about this. It wasn't getting people to worship him in the way he deserved. This was all smoke and mirrors. Parlor tricks that entranced the mind, but meant absolutely nothing.
