They turned their faces away from the monstrous things they had done, only to look at the light. But that was no way to live.
Monsters lived in the dark, after all, and those people had been surrounded by the dark their entire lives.
Ellie ran a hand through her hair, catching the movement as one that mimicked what the hologram had done. She had to stopdoing that. She couldn't watch any more of that hologram lest she end up copying the Original of herself.
"I need some time to think," she whispered. "I'll... I'll go double check that everything is ready for our guests."
She disappeared into the back room, suddenly feeling like she didn't know herself all that well after all.
Twenty-Five
Proteus
Proteus made sure he was present for every human scientist, engineer, and research assistant that arrived at Sanctuary. He wanted them to see who was presiding over them, and to ensure that they would not do anything foolish. But the longer he was there, the more overwhelmed he became.
Hundreds of years in a coffin hadn't made it easy for him to be around so many people. It was hard for him to pick out voices, considering how many of them were talking all at the same time. The humans never stopped talking, either.
They were so awed when they got out of the water like silver fish, their wetsuits clinging to their bodies as they pulled themselves onto the floor and then walked around what should have been a museum. Everything here was ancient. Everything was part of their history.
Their wide eyes pleased him as they stared up at the massive ceiling all those stories above them.
Of course, the first few groups were rather unlucky, and they arrived during a terrible storm. The sound of the ice and rain onthe roof barely made them flinch, but the rumbling thunder that shook the walls made a few of them drop to the floor before they realized they were safe. A few awkward chuckles followed, but he could see how nervous they all were. They didn't know how to live here without feeling like they were under constant threat.
Good. They were.
Proteus needed them all to know that this wasn't a vacation. They weren't here because it was safe or that it was even a good idea to be here. There were so many things that could kill them on land, and they knew so very little about where they were. Above, as they called it, had changed a lot since the last time humans were here. Proteus had no idea what nightmares awaited them.
Ellie had asked him to gather food, and he was amenable to it. So many mouths to feed was going to be a problem. Sure, they had brought their own resources. A sight which had delighted Ellie, as she hadn't been able to eat many fresh vegetables, and the guests came with a whole host of them.
Proteus didn't want any of them to complain that they weren't being fed while they were here. The last thing he needed was for that coalition of undine and humans to decide the surface wasn’t viable after all. It was their choice to help, but it was his choice to keep them here.
At least tuna were hardy. Those fish seemed to survive through the greatest downfall of the planet, and he could find them easily enough. Proteus came across a school of them that was so massive even he took one for himself. Usually, he didn't eat prey unless it was large enough to sustain him for some time, and these were sizeable enough to curb his never-ending hunger.
Proteus unhinged his jaw and feasted before killing two more and bringing them to the humans.
As he surfaced, he was surprised to see that there was one of the undine here as well. The male made the waters reek with hisinterest in whomever he was talking to. Undine and their mates. Their stench would turn his insides out, and he had already eaten for the day.
With a massive tuna in each hand, there wasn't much room for him to maneuver around the other male. But he did so, taking up far more space than he needed to when he finally crested the water. Shaking the water from his head, he glared at the massive green male.
"What are you doing here?" he grumbled as he slapped the fish up onto the floor. "At least make yourself useful and gut these."
The male looked at him with surprise in his dark eyes before letting out a little laugh. "I suppose I could do that. When you surround yourself with intellectual women, it's hard not to get distracted, I fear."
Intellectual women? He had counted four females among the humans that arrived. There had been five men with them, although most of those men were seemingly there as support. One of them was clearly a cook, and another was there only to record what went on. He'd told Proteus that four times as he inched by the massive god of the sea.
So, four females and three males who were useful, he had decided then. If one of those women were intellectual, then that was good enough to start their projects.
But his gaze slid over, and he did not see a stranger. Instead, what he saw was... Ellie.
She stood beside the water in new clothing. It had been made out of crudely created fabric, clearly an attempt by the humans in this group to replicate something like cotton. Still, it was pretty. Dyed a lovely shade of green, just like the color of the male in the water. It hugged tight to her hips, showing off how long her legs were. The dress made his mouth water.
And apparently it made the other undine interested as well. Suddenly all he could think about was the scent of lust that had clogged his nose as he came up through the stones.
He saw red.
Proteus grabbed the undine by the gills along his ribs. The hiss of pain was the only sound the other male could make as Proteus lifted him out of the water. His hands slid into the gills easily, feeling the bones of the male's ribs resting in his palms and the wet heat of his breaths. All of it wasn't enough. He wanted blood to smear down his arm, and to hear the rattling gasp of a dying undine that was flattened beneath his touch.
"Proteus!" Ellie shouted. "Put him down!"
