POV 1: Mary – The Abyssal Core

The stillness beneath the world had become her heartbeat.

Mary floated within the cradle of the Leviathan’s coils, her limbs limp, her mind tethered to a consciousness that defied age, time, and reason. There were no words in this connection—only impressions: a drifting memory of ice ages, crushed continents, and the weight of solitude so immense that even the stars above felt like dreams long forgotten.

But now… there was her.

A second heartbeat in the deep.

Aleran knelt near the Leviathan’s scaled body, still reverent, still awed. It no longer frightened him, not exactly—but the vastness of the creature, its calm, unsettled him in ways raw power never could.

“Commander,” he said softly. “Can you hear me?”

Mary’s eyes flickered open. Their silver hue had deepened—now tinged with flecks of shifting blue and black, as if the trench itself had merged with her gaze.

“I hear you,” she said, her voice low, almost echoing within the cavern.

“You’ve been in communion for three hours.”

She nodded. “It feels longer. It’s... difficult to describe. It doesn’t understand time like we do. Or even language. It understands intent. Memory. Pain. It remembers its creators. It remembers being left behind.”

Aleran’s brow furrowed. “Is it going to attack?”

Mary looked down at her hands—still gloved in cracked moonsteel. But something else flowed beneath her skin now. A presence. A pulse.

“No. Not unless it’s made to. Not unless it’s provoked again.”

A shudder ran through the stone beneath them. The Leviathan stirred—but only slightly—reacting to Mary’s rising emotion.

She closed her eyes and whispered, “Easy, old one. I know your rage.”

The tremor ceased.

She stood fully then, slowly and with effort, her strength still returning. “We have work to do.”

POV 2: Asha – Command Center, INS Vikrant

The warship was deathly silent as the global feed continued broadcasting Mary's voice through the secured UN communication channel. Technicians froze mid-keystroke. Generals leaned closer to screens. The psychic-link readings were off the charts.

Mary's voice was calm. Firm. “The Leviathan is stabilized. It will not attack unless threatened. I now speak for it—as its emissary.”

Asha stared at the screen, fingers curling into fists. She hadn’t known Mary deeply, but she’d read the dossiers. Studied her tactics. Fought against her at sea. And now… this?

“She’s changed,” Asha said.

Jamie leaned in from the secondary console. “That’s not just Mary anymore. It’s her merged with something that was never meant to speak with us.”

The Indian Admiral stepped forward, face pale but composed. “What are her demands?”

Asha didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Because just then, Mary’s voice returned—stronger this time.

“If the Elven Prince Dyug is still alive—and in the hands of human nations—you will return him to me. In exchange, I give you peace. The Leviathan will not stir against the surface. I will keep it asleep. That is my offer.”

The room erupted in tension.

Asha’s voice was ice. “She’s bargaining with the world.”

POV 3: Solomon Kane – Southern Naval Watchpost, Zanzibar

Solomon’s boots echoed across the steel deck as he moved toward the observation platform. The Leviathan’s presence had stirred the oceans—fish migrated erratically, sea storms had vanished without explanation, and tectonic pressure was dropping around known fault lines.

“She’s not bluffing,” he muttered.

The officer beside him adjusted the radio. “We just received direct confirmation. Leviathan seismic activity ceased the moment she spoke.”

Solomon nodded slowly. “She’s got the beast on a leash.”

The officer cleared his throat. “But... Dyug? That’s a political minefield. He’s still considered a high-value detainee by the Indian Intelligence Directorate.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Solomon replied. “If we keep him… we’re gambling with something that can drown entire coastlines.”

He turned toward the sea. “She’s giving us a choice. Let’s hope our side’s smart enough to take it.”

POV 4: Commander Dyana – Moonstone Control Interface, Orbit

Dyana stared out of the main viewport as Earth turned slowly beneath her, the trench glowing faintly like a heartbeat through the crust.

“She has leverage,” she said to her advisors.

The senior tactician—an old High Elf named Lytheros—snorted. “She’s gone rogue. She made a pact with an abomination.”

“And she stopped it from destroying our forward units. She prevented a second Trench Collapse. That ‘abomination’ listens to her—and only her.”

Lytheros grunted. “She wants us to turn over a prince. To the humans. And then... to her.”

“No,” Dyana said. “She wants to rescue the prince. And she’s using the only card that makes her impossible to ignore.”

She turned toward the tactical board. “Activate diplomatic channels. I want a summit of Neutral Nations, Luna Faithful, and UN Naval Command. Immediately. She won’t wait forever.”

POV 5: Queen Elara – Royal Throne Hall, Forestia

The mirror-altar shimmered, displaying the faint psychic pulse emanating from Earth’s oceans. At its center was Mary’s essence—altered, strengthened, elevated.

“She’s ascended,” Elara whispered.

The High Priestess behind her frowned. “She has merged with a creature of pre-divine age. This is dangerous, my Queen.”

“Dangerous?” Elara smiled faintly. “Yes. But not to me.”

The Priestess stiffened. “She defies the Moon Doctrine. No one should bind with such a being.”

“And yet,” Elara murmured, “no one else has.”

She turned. “Issue a Royal Decree. Mary of the Royal Knights is hereby granted the title of Voice of the Deep. She is no longer merely commander. She is the Emissary of Leviathan, our bridge to the abyss.”

The Priestess faltered. “Even though she demands Prince Dyug be handed over to her?”

Elara’s gaze turned sharp. “Especially because of that. She’s ensuring the Prince’s survival. And that means… he still matters.”

She stood and raised a hand toward the map of Earth. “Let the humans decide. If they value their shores, they’ll listen.”

POV 6: Dyug – Containment Facility, Indian Ocean Outpost

The cell was dim, cold, and lined with damp stone and human steel. Dyug sat cross-legged, eyes closed, his silver hair dimmed from stasis spells.

But now… something stirred.

A pulse.

A heartbeat he knew.

His eyes snapped open.

“Mary,” he whispered.

The Indian operative monitoring him noticed the spike in his magical signature. The room hummed with restrained power. He felt her. Even across oceans.

The operative blinked, then turned toward the wall communicator.

“Sir, we have a problem. The detainee… is waking up.”

POV 7: Mary – Atop the Leviathan

She stood on the curved ridge of the Leviathan’s upper spine, exposed to the trench waters held at bay by a sphere of force from the creature itself. The beast had become her platform, her altar, her throne.

Her voice echoed through satellite channels now, every navy, every orbital station tuned in.

“I ask not for war. I ask for the return of what was taken. Prince Dyug. My comrade.”

She paused.

“My… beloved.”

The words rang like thunder across the comms.

“In exchange, I give peace. The Leviathan will not rise. The abyss will slumber. The oceans will be calm.”

She opened her eyes—bright with trenchlight.

“Refuse, and you awaken something no army can stop. Accept, and I offer more than peace. I offer alliance.”

Epilogue: Strategic Response Board – UN Global Defense Command

* Mary (Voice of the Deep): Active. Psychic link confirmed with Leviathan.

* Leviathan: Stabilized. Dormant but alert. Tethered to Mary’s consciousness.

* Dyug: Conscious. Magical flare detected. Location classified.

* Elven Empire: No direct threat posturing. Queen Elara endorses Mary’s role.

* Earth Nations: Debate underway. Global summit pending.

Final note from Commander Asha: “We’ve been offered a miracle and a warning wrapped in one. We’re standing at the edge of something ancient, and one woman stands between us and annihilation. The question is not whether we trust her. It’s whether we have any other choice.”