Thally Ho! [Job//Aura Sparks]

"You know...the water is exactly where I was trying not to go..." Theo mused into their comm-link inside the scuba helmet, arms crossed as he sunk into the depths. His magic wasn't super useful underwater in most cases. Even now he was mulling over any ways he could utilize it effectively. Jello tended to float in water and dissolved with prolonged exposure. Fire may be its primary weakness, but this wasn't good either. He may still be able to freeze it to give him more time... Either way, his words continued, somewhat indignantly. "And that salty old fish dude is kinda mean. It's not my fault it took five freaking days to get out to the middle of nowher--YOW!!!"

Theo flinched away in the ocean's grasp, a stinging sensation assaulting his right calf. As he turned to observe the culprit, only for a majestic and devastating wall of jellyfish to meet his icy hues. There were....a lot. "YEEEEE!" he squealed, flailing. Panicking, he tried to lob jello at the stinging creatures while also trying to backstroke away, but his attacks either floated harmlessly up toward the surface or dissolved after only knocking a few jellyfish out out of the hundreds. He was so dumb to take this mission! His darn curiosity in that high-valued seafood!

It felt awkward, but his only thought was to form a harpoon gun weapon out of ice. Ice floats too, but with his weight it seemed to even out. At least it didn't dissolve or melt too fast. Firing the large pointy spear, he skewered a bunch of jelly fish. They continued on out into the abyss as another ice spear appeared in his weapon. He continually skewed the zappy little blobs, sending them out and ultimately floating to the surface of the water.

Once he'd thinned the herd and put some space between him and the jelly fish, he turned to look for Aura. Other than the bit boat belly floating above them nearby, endless blue stretched in every direction...filled with things worse than jiggly invertebrates. Baracudas! Those sharks from earlier, plus more! Looming in the distance, a mere shadowy blur lurked, obscured by the amount of molecules between them and it. That was probably the Thallasus...Thasalsa....Thassla...Thally. The big stupid fish they apparently would be risking their lives for. The request really hadn't stressed how dangerous this would be. Fishing implied being on a boat and trying to get the fish out of water. This was something else. Something that could get him killed. "Well...crap."

"Hey! We might not die after all. That was sweet!" Theo cheered, all grins as he settled his eyes on Aura once some of the barracudas were cleared out. That key thingy that summoned those fish people was super cool. And super useful underwater, unlike what he had to work with. She deserved the rest she was taking, but Theo was wrong to think the threat was over. He knew darn well there were more of those barracudas coming, as well as sharks. Yet, here he was distracted by that shiny key his guild mate had. Theo wanted one, just because it looked like treasure. It was just an added bonus that it did magic.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, the rest of the gang of barracudas charged forward, enraged by the defeat of their brethren, but also pretty darn scared of the scary girl with the summon. Go for the weaker link! Good instincts. Animals always played by the rules of the food chain, and right now Theo was on the bottom. Aura was tired, and really it wasn't her job to save him. He raised his harpoon gun made of ice, shooting a sharp spear at one of the toothy villains. While that was a good way to kill one of them, there were quite a few more that there was no way he could shoot them all in time.

Panicking, all he could think about was the food chain analogy he'd cursed himself with. Really? Was this how it would go down? He'd die in a watery grave being shredded by a swarm of ugly eels? Their maws gaped open in preparation for a Theo dinner....so he spazzed. "FINE! If you're so hungry, eat this!" he hollered, beginning to shoot gobs of jello into their mouths to knock them back as if punched. It kept them from biting him while they ate the sugary gelatin, so maybe if he kept blocking their mouthes, they'd get tired and give up.

That wasn't really the case, but what did happen was just as good if not better. They had began a feeding frenzy in preparation for eating the two humans, so the tunnel vision and viciousness lead to them continually eating jello until they just...popped. One by one, the barracudas filled with jello until their bodies just could handle no more. Death by overeating jello. What a way to go. Kinda messy...the little poofs of blood and scales accented by clumps of chewed and melting rainbow jello was a bit macabre, but at least he wasn't the one staining the waves red. That was the idea, anyway.

Finding himself huffing from the repeated spell casting, he too took a break. A tired grin slid over his face has he treaded water. Jello wasn't the most useful here, but he'd accidentally found a new nefarious way to use it, and here it was the most obvious! Why didn't he think of it sooner? Glancing over at Aura, he slowly pointed to the looming sharks in the distance, drawn by the scent of blood and bent on defending their oversized mob boss waiting in the back. "What will we do about those?" he asked, offhandedly wondering how much jello it would take to explode a great white.

Not that he knew what was going on in the other mage's mind, but Theo was also transported into memory land once the focus was shifted solely to the sharks. There was a time long ago that he was in a situation like this, but somehow he was even worse off. So much time had passed, something so trivial in comparison to the tragedy that befell him was foggy. But now that the memory was dug up and brought into the spotlight, he got to relive it.

He'd been on the good ship Shippo, hired to travel across the sea and take care of a couple of...matters for his old guild. His ebony hair was tied back at the nape of his neck into a tiny pigtail, the rest of the strands left to frame his face shifted in and out of his field of vision in the salty breeze that filled the sails and sliced them through the ocean waves. He wore a navy yukata, one arm lazing in the fabric on his chest instead of in the sleeve. You know, because that was much cooler looking. Frosty hues seemed bored with the journey, only vaguely interested in the raven haired beauty that sharpened his sword to his left.

Without warning, a large tentacle reached up from the depths, breaking the ship in half and drawing the crew and passengers to a watery grave. As Theo plunged into the water, his mind raced. How would they survive? A few had already passed away, crushed by the initial slap, but most of the others made a break for the surface. It seemed the life boats were still intact. As the crew saved themselves, Theo became aware that the baby Kraken intended to have a nice meal. Not today, baby Kraken! Getting a craving for some calamari sushi, the inky-haired boy swam down with his companion to slay the beast!

He remembered that he drew his sword, but in the face of the toothy beak bigger than him coming in fast, what had he done? And why did the sharks remind him of the baby Kraken to begin with?




The view from below really was exquisite. Chavez Clambourne didn't get out much, being a clam and all, but he fancied himself a connoisseur of the rarer things in life. He'd prided himself for ages over his knowledge of the dreaded mob boss Thassalus. The oversized, heavily armored fish had gripped this part of the ocean by the gonads, squeezing ever tighter the longer he was left to his own devices. To have the great whites, previously a band of queen-bee mean girls, relinquish their reign as top frightening force and become his body guards and harem was an unexpected turn of events, but more would follow. The top heavy pyramid of power easily brought all other aquatic life under the rule of the beast, doing his bidding without question.

That was all witnessed from afar with intense admiration. To be so respected and revered. Clams hardly fell under the hierarchy. They were a species so insignificant that they could do whatever they liked. Most clams cherished this freedom and lived blissful, stress-free lives. Thassalus's rule had zip to do with them. But being the only clam for hundreds of miles that could produce a pearl gave Chavez Clambourne a thirst for a higher tier of living. He had to look smart, educated, and exciting to his peers to keep up the appearance of being above them, right?

The stars in his eyes were too much for Chavez, and his knowledge of the life up top gave him a nasty idea. Even though clams were too insignificant to factor into the dynamic under Thassalus's rule, what if he were to become a Thassalus to his own kind, to the bottom dwellers of the sands? He was already special. He'd observed long enough to have the general idea of intimidation and manipulation. He had a small group of goons that hung on his every word, idolizing him enough to surely lend a strong shell clamp in his defense. He could devise a network, bringing those pearl spitting oysters under his rule to choke off the supply, making his own rare pearls that much more valuable and special. See, clams can make pearls, but it's pretty rare. Oysters, however, just spit 'em out like it's their job. Makes him look like a poser!

Why stop at the oysters? His other cousins, the scallops, where a bit high on the hog, too. They somehow knew their taste was superior to the other mussels in the mouths of evil humans and took pride in their perceived grandeur of gouging the murderers so much per pound. He'd rule all the bivalves. Oh, and don't get him started on those scrubs the univalves. It'd take little effort to bring the conch and snails under his command. Next would be the decapods. The lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and krill would be his transportation crew and his heralds, what with their mobility. too bad Thassalus had already employed those brainless jellyfish. A horde would be quite the shield system...

With all that support and power, he'd be unstoppable. Everyone would bow down and obey. He'd be the bees knees. Even his wife would have to appreciate him, that undeserving, unappreciative wench! His parents would have to stop pressuring him to work harder, as if he was a common laborer!

Anyway, Chavez had been hatching this plan and meticulously chipping away at its goals and daydreaming of his new life when the shadow of that pesky old man's boat appeared. How dare he come back yet again and challenge Thassalus's reign! He was no common fish to be caught, sold, and eaten! A smug grin curled his dual shells. The human didn't know when to accept failure. At least it was entertaining to watch. But wait. This time was different. As the bodyguards rushed up to smack the ship and attempt to discourage the salty old fishermen, extra shadows moved about. Before long, two humans were dumped into the drink. A special performance, and Chavez had a front row seat! Time to observe what his idols would do in the face of a new threat. Maybe he should take notes for future reference...

Even if he'd been able to take notes, there's no way he'd been able to tear his eyes away of the unexpected events. These two monsters decimated the jellyfish brigade! The second round of barracudas were dispatched. Nasty creatures, those. Eel-like fish with razor teeth. Surely it'd be over now...no! The female human summoned fish creatures to turn on their own kind, ripping them up while the man pumped them full of something jiggly until they exploded! This was unprecedented! Even in his dawning horror, he wouldn't wait to pass the gossip along. He wasn't yet Clam Thassalus, so touting his gossip of this event would have to hold him over!

The great whites darted in. As if watching a rigged fight, he took comfort in the threat's end drawing near. Except, the girl drew out something else, some sort of deranged spirit that wrangled one of the mean girls in a golden whip, while her loyal sirens rushed in to lay the smack down. So barbaric!

The male was somehow even worse. He called for no aid, but in his hands formed a long spear. As the other mean girl body guard swam at him, angry maw spread as wide as possible to offer him a horrific view of several rows of teeth, the human boy thrust his weapon forward and stabbed the roof of her mouth! Ouch! The shark recoiled in pain, but only enraged. Now within range, she chomped at the tasty human, looking for an arm or a nice hunk of abdomen meat, but there was something strange about this guy. His body moved in no way Chavez had ever seen another mere fisherman move. It was as if there were no bones inside, so he arched and twisted his flesh just out of the shark's grasp over and over, jabbing her in the sides, fins, and mouth whenever he could. The waters were stained red! Finally, those horrific teeth found their mark on the wiggly boy's arm in what should have sheared it right off. However, the limb seemed to go translucent. How in the world?! The buy cried out, but as the great white opened its maw in confusion over the lack of snack, the arm turned back to normal. The spear shrunk and was jammed in vertically, just long enough to trap her mouth open. She couldn't bite down! Holding it in place, the boy used his bleeding arm to pump out globs of goop like he had the barracudas.

Oh no, he couldn't watch. Though he'd never liked the mean girls, it was hard to watch them be reduced to this level of failure and shame. One floated peacefully, fate unclear, while the other writhed and fruitlessly fought for freedom, only to be filled to bursting with whatever heinous material the boy's magic made. The rest of the great whites' loyalty was tested, but ultimately failed as they turned tail to save themselves, leaving Thassalus to fight his own battle. How quickly the tables had turned! Chavez had no way of knowing this twist in the story was around the bend. With great power comes greater threats. But! He still held out hope that his juicy gossip yarn would roll to a triumphant end, and not one that would dash his very dreams, steal his will to live, and render him just a normal clam with an overinflated pearl ego and champaign taste on a beer wallet. Thassalus would turn this around and rebuild his empire! Maybe with whales and leviathans this time! Bigger and better. He'd just have to win and show this ocean he was the idol! The undisputed boss! The big tuna!

But what did he know? Chavez was just a lowly clam, after all.


Theo was getting tired, too. And though his arm had taken only fifty percent of that shark bite's damage, it still hurt pretty freaking bad and the little holes from the teeth shed bloodlet tears into the water. The little ice stick he'd made in the head of the moment disappeared, allowing the dead shark to float away in the calm currents. It was so weird to have such a tense battle in a place where sound was slow and the waters offered faux comfort. Good thing he'd remembered that time on the Shippo and what his companion had done with a magic staff and some tricky magic, or else only Aura might have survived this far.

Turning to the girl, Theo grinned, pleased they'd won their battles though a bit tense from discomfort. "Heh, I think we scared the other one's awa---" "MY HAREM!!!!" came a baleful roar, causing all the H2O molecules around them to quiver from the vibration. It came from the shadow beyond, which was now becoming larger and less shadowy by the second. "Oh...heck," Theo grimaced, seeing that the true battle would be upon them any second.

“Yup, yup, yup, okay,” Theo psyched himself up, running through spells in his mind looking for one that would be big enough and at least a little useful to set up a killing move from Aura. His face had paled a little in the realization that this enormous fish was actually strong enough to survive and nearly ignore summons. It was a fish. Granted, it talked, but the fact remained that it was something to be pulled from the sea by a hook. Oh, speaking of.. “Be careful how you kill it, Aura! It has to be in one piece to get weighed and photographed, or it won’t be worth any jewel! Then that salty old fisherman will have our hides!” warned the young man before getting down to business.

Due to the size of Thally, Theo was coming to a grim conclusion. None of his spells were really big enough to have much effect on this monster fish. He’d developed nearly all of them with other humans or human-sized creatures in mind. This was definitely out of his area of comfort, since Jello was fairly useless in water let alone on something of this magnitude. That said...there was one. ONe move that might stop the spinning, and may even stun this biggy into holding still for a second. Physical attacks simply bounced off, but it seemed magical ones had more luck. This one move was their only hope, but he’d have to get close.

Theo was no genius, but he knew what he had to do for his best chance. It seemed stupid to risk his life just so this fisherman could get a big payday, but at least it couldn’t be said that Theo didn’t give his all on the job. Swimming closer to the whirlpool, his brain was working. Molten jello. While he had a 100 meter range, being submerged in chilly water would rapidly cool his boiling fruity liquid, rendering it either dissolved or floating. On his best day, he was probably gonna burn his own arms with it. In this case, it would be far worse, just to make sure this Thassalus was hit. Looking back at Aura, he gave her a nervous smile and a shrug, then willingly tossed himself into the spinning waters. Once in, despite the dizzying motion and getting hit with various debris, Theo let loose a tsunami of molten jello. The whirlpool confined it to the area, keeping the heat close and pulling it in toward the fish, turning into a bubbly green tornado. Oddly beautiful, and probably delicious. While this also scalded the majority of Theo’s own body, the roar of pain from the fish signaled that it had done its job. The spinning stopped as the fish shuddered against the burning damage, the pain all but paralyzing him.

Theo was likewise wracked with involuntary shuddering, his flesh turning red already. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he floated out in a random direction. He hated pain. Not feeling it was a powerful motivator. He regretting this decision so much! Why had he done something so stupid, knowing it would get him too? NO FISH WAS WORTH THIS. The fisherman was an idiot. This whole job was ridiculous. How dare this guy hire guild mages to catch a fish so he could get a payday. Where’s the sport in that?! Fishermen were supposed to take pride in catching their own dinner and payday. This guy was a fraud! Oh, just wait until he got back on that friggin’ boat. That salty seaman was getting an earful...for the entire five day trip back!!! That sonuva sea biscuit....