Seated around a large, circular table, in the uppermost tower of the Empress’ palace, the grand council convenes to discuss the matter of the Wheel. Flanked on either side by the large, ceremonial pillars decorating the façade at the rear of the room, the Empress sits. A tall, blonde mermaid, her black eyes flash around the room – settling on the empty seat opposite her. The Wheel, it seems, is absent.
Around her, other council members fill the room – each there for a specific purpose. The Hierophant to the Empress’ right: a nervous tunafish, looking uncomfortable in the confined space, reacts nervously to the sight of the Reaper: a large sea-squirrel, dressed head to tentacle-tip in a large, black robe.
“Fool, Magician, High Priestess,” the clownfish, the koi and the shark arranged in the room each giving her a polite nod as she addresses them.
A mysterious eighth character sits to the Empress’ left. A large, pompous crab huddled over its seat and smiles fatuously in her direction. The others look nonplussed, though the Empress seems flattered. At the back, two further figures stand silently, observing the room.
“Grand Vizier. It’s a pleasure to have you here today.”
The crab chitters a little.
“The Grand Vizier shall, of course, be advising us today on how we should proceed given recent events within Spiral.”
“Thank you, your majesty. As I am sure you are all aware, there have been a series of – shall we say – unplanned events within our city that have detracted somewhat from the pressing external issues that we are facing. I am, of course, referring to the activities of the Wheel.”
“What of it?” the koi pipes up.
“Well, I am sure we can all agree that the Wheel’s recent overtures to the people of Spiral over Pearlescence have, ah, disturbed the balance of things. Upset the sea-apple cart, as it were. Put ideas into their heads that we would rather hoped would not be put there.”
“Did we?”
“I think the current disruption speaks for itself, does it not?”
“Disruption!” blusters the Hierophant. “Disruption!? The Temple is under threat by roving packs of hooligans, encouraged by that anglerfish the Wheel! Thousands of records destroyed! The ancient rites and rulings no longer recorded! Nothing can be recovered while this ‘disruption’ persists, and the very foundation of our city has been brought to ruin!”
“And yet, our home is being ‘brought to ruin’ by the Beast as things stand,” responds the koi. “What sense is there in squabbling about our petty struggles if-”
“Petty struggles? The attack on the most ancient and holy Temple of Spiral is not a ‘petty struggle’! I can hardly believe what I’m hearing!”
“Then do not believe, Hierophant. As we all know, you have been in delusion for a long time,” continues the Magician. Though before they have a chance to continue, the Fool begins to chant:
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief Spiral!”
“Give it a rest, for all our sakes, please!” The Empress tries to call order. “We must unite in the face of chaos!”
At this, the High Priestess begins swimming around the room, chanting
”The Beast lies beyond, consuming all within its path. The Fool is consumed.
Echoed in Dreams, tunnelling to the End.”
At the same time, the Reaper begins babbling away about deals, the beast and Pearlescence.
“Enough!” interrupts the crab, and the room – reluctantly – goes silent. “I think we need to hear from the Reaper here, as I believe they might have a plan to actually deal with both threats at once. They both revolve around Pearlescence, do they not? The Beast is a huge source of the stuff, whereas the revolution is caused by the Wheel whipping up desire for it.”
“Yeeees. Yeeeeeess. We can make a deal with it. Mine it. Use it to placate the people. Enough for everyone! We can control it, placate the people and theeeen keep it all for ourselves if we wish! Don’t you agree Empressss?”
The crab interrupts before the Empress has a chance to respond.
“Oh absolutely. Could you please inform us a little more about the nature of the beast?”
Just as the Reaper begins to speak, the koi and the clownfish – the Magician and the Fool – rise from their seats, somehow unnoticed by the Empress who is now sitting enraptured by what the crab, and the now Reaper, have to say. They make their way silently to the door, and are followed by one of the shadowy figures who appears to be attempting to sneak out. The other figure waits a while, appearing to contemplate what they’re doing, before following them out.
The scene begins to fade as the Reaper begins to speak.
”Well, it is absolutely imperative that we created some kind of industrial-scale extraction of Pearlescence from- … … …
Scene 2
Leaving the room, somewhat confused by the lack of reaction from the Empress, are the Fool, the Magician, a flying fish and a squid. They make their way down, out of the palace, and towards the city gate.
“Well, here we are at last. Off to fight the Beast, I suppose. The Empress is so distracted I hardly think she’ll notice, don’t you think?” The Magician seems a little more upbeat than previously, though there is still a slightly glum edge to their voice.
“So, do you have a strategy yet?” asks the squid.
“Yeah, what exactly are you planning to do? I’m pretty sure that Beast is, uh, quite strong, and I’m not sure if you two are cut out for it. I mean, I’m happy to help, but…” the flying fish continues.
“Well, riddle me this, young fish. What are we left to do? The others are caught up in never-ending arguments, unworkable solutions – even abuse of the very structures this city aims to uphold. Are we really to believe that the solution lies in the Wheel? In reform? What is the point, if the Beast simply destroys all that we have anyway?”
“Well, of course, of course. No-one thinks that no-one should deal with the Beast. But, shouldn’t you be working together?”
“I have been on many adventures, my friend. Outside of Spiral. I have not failed yet, despite many setbacks.”
“Tell me of them. But… what makes you think you have the power to succeed now?”
The group of four slowly makes their way under the guarded gate of Spiral’s wall, and out into the deep ocean. Though the slow current begins to take hold of them, their conversation continues.
“Tell you of them, you ask?”
At this, the Fool speaks up for the first time.
“You sad-faced men, people and children of Spiral,
By uproar sever'd, like a flight of squirrel
Scatter'd by currents and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd pearl into one mutual clam,
These broken limbs again into one body;
Lest Spiral herself be bane unto herself,
And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,
Do shameful execution on herself.”
“Right. Can you speak a bit more plainly?”
“They mean that we are our own worst enemy. I would have thought even such naïve children as you would have been able to work that one out, after your performance last time,” scolds the Magician.
“I see, I see,” continues the squid. “Though, are you contributing to that by simply going out and slaying the beast yourself?”
“I see no other choice. Anyway, enough – allow me to speak of my adventures.”
At length, the koi speaks of journeys far outside of Spiral, to the far ocean world. Of deep whirlpools where Pearlescence may be found; of tales of love and loss between two close siblings, Hope and Despair; of the sea squirrels and sea lizards. The Fool floats silently along, as the four are carried on the current – and the entrancing words of the Magician.
As they float along, caught up in their own little world, the group slowly drift out over the edge of the ocean floor, into the open sea. The vast, ever-dark deeps open before them – and the great whirlpool threatening Spiral looms up, faint and indistinct at first, though ever sharper and greater and more terrible as they approach. Beneath it a betentacled monster sits, lurking, as though waiting for something. Or perhaps someone?
Except… no, that can’t be right. That’s too many tentacles. Far too many. As the quartet draw even closer, it becomes apparent that several beasts lurk in the gloom. Writhing and squirming around and in harmony with each other. Something is very, very wrong.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this? This seems like a lot more than we’d bargained for.”
The Fool draws their sword, and the Magician their staff.
“I think you underestimate us, Th-”
The transmission cuts.
Scene 3
The city is in chaos. As the Empress attempts to call order from her palace, flanked by the Reaper, the ordinary citizens of the city have turned violent in real earnest. The Wheel – a huge anglerfish – has started a protest in the central plaza of the city, attempting to demolish nearby buildings and to keep the Empress imprisoned.
The Hierophant, stationed outside the Temple, is earnestly attempting to read out a long proclamation, while items are thrown at them:
“Imperial Proclamation in light of the *ow* recent decision of the Grand Council *ouch* of Spiral, regarding the ownership and distribution of P-”
Before they have a chance to finish, the crowd surges forward and bashes down the great doors guarding the entrance to the Temple itself. Once inside, they begin looting anything they can find – sacred relics, ancient texts and even the more mundane gold and silver that litter the grand interior, now defiled.
“Oi, down here,” one of them shouts. “They’ve got a massive stash down here!”
“N-no! Not the Pearlescence phylactery!”
“Get it! We’ll all have some!”
At one end of the temple, a vast tank of silver Pearlescence stands for the temple’s holy rituals. Strictly for official use only, it is one of the largest concentrations of the substance available in Spiral.
At first, the crowd attempt to siphon off Pearlescence, though the flow is slow – intended for single users requiring a small amount. Impatience grows, turning to anger, before the crowd swells forward. In the chaos, several people are crushed underfin, and the vast tank begins to sway. The Wheel, lurking at the back, attempts to call some semblance of order, but a particularly fiery piranha takes the initiative and throws a chair at the tank.
There is a crack, and a large crevice opens up on the glass enclosing the tank. Cheering, the crowd redouble their efforts, and a small group pick up a large, silver sceptre – one end glowing a benevolent gold. Reaching upwards with all of their strength, they launch the sceptre forward and straight into the side of the tank which splits.
With a disappointing thud, the Pearlescence begins to spill out of the tank in every direction, while a crackling energy builds up inside the Temple. At first, nobody notices in the excitement, before it becomes so intense that even the most ardent rioters take a pause.
“Does anyone else f-?”
The Pearlescence promptly explodes with the force of a bomb.
Everyone in the Temple is killed immediately, including the Hierophant. Somehow – incredibly – the Temple survives the initial blast, though greatly damaged, as the water at the epicentre of the explosion is pushed outwards, creating a large, spherical vacuum right in the centre of the Temple. The displaced water promptly refills the space, creating a secondary shockwave that finally finishes off the Temple.
In other parts of the city, rioting citizens watch with awe and horror as the Temple is rocked by two, huge blasts – throwing its edifice in all directions. The bodies of the dead float, grimly in the now-calming waters around it.
The mood changes instantly. Where previously the citizens had been on the side of the Wheel, reclaiming what they felt was rightfully theirs – now, they felt they had brought nothing but destruction on their own city, regardless of the injustices of the previous regime.
Rioters descend on the Temple where, miraculously, the Wheel had survived the blast. Attempting to give a victory speech from the remains of the ruined temple stair, the people shout and scream in opposition. This new leader is as bad as the last lot, stuck in their ivory towers.