But even with the most believable eyes, how could they have seen what was going on?

Beneath the vast expanse of dark waters, where sunlight dissolved into silence and pressure crushed even the strongest shells, something moved.

It was small by ocean standards—just a crab-like creature, no larger than a dinner plate.

Its shell shimmered faintly, catching the glow of the strange minerals around it. Eight legs scuttled over the rocks, fast and carefully. Its little eyes twitched this way and that.

Something was hunting it.

Bubbles rose from the abyss below, carrying the low, distant tremor of movement. The crab froze. Its pincers lifted, trembling slightly as it pressed itself against a slab of coral rock mottled with greenish moss.

Then, from the shadows, a long shape glided by—an eel, its fins see-through like ghosts, its teeth catching bits of light.

"!!!"

The crab didn't move. Didn't breathe.

Just still. Its heart, if it had one that beat like a mammal's, would have been hammering.

The eel drifted past.

For a while, everything was still again. The crab, thinking it was safe, darted toward a cluster of glowing shrimp. They flickered like tiny stars. Food! Finally, food!

It reached out with its claws, quick and precise, snatching one of the glowing shrimp mid-drift. The shrimp wriggled, the crab's mandibles opened, and victory gleamed in its dark eyes.

But then—

Something brushed the seabed.

The crab froze, mid-bite. The faint vibration wasn't like the current or the movement of another predator. It was deeper, heavier.

A shadow rippled through the water, vast and indistinct. The crab turned, instinct screaming at it to flee. But before it could scuttle away, a thin, whip-like appendage darted out of the gloom.

A tentacle.

It shot forward, coiling around the crab with terrifying precision. The creature struggled, claws snapping wildly, legs thrashing. Another strike followed—a harpoon-like filament that pierced straight through the armored shell with a soft thunk.

The crab twitched once. Then went still.

The tentacle lifted its prey, carrying it upward through the murky darkness. And there, something vast loomed.

It wasn't a rock. It wasn't a cave. It was alive.

The water around it shifted, pulsing as if the sea itself were breathing. The tentacle dragged the crab toward an opening that seemed to pulse faintly with light. It was lined with fleshy ridges that rippled like the surface of an underwater flower.

The crab's body vanished inside.

But the movement didn't stop. It was only the beginning.

The water moved again, this time all around. More tentacles—hundreds, no, thousands of them—slid through the dark, coiling and twisting. Each one carried something—a fish, a shark, even a monstrous squid—all dragged toward that same abyssal maw that pulsed quietly in the dark.

And from above, if one were to look down through the black waters, the creature resembled something blooming—a colossal flower of flesh and light, its tendrils swaying in slow, hypnotic rhythm.

Only this flower didn't live on sunlight.

It lived on everything else.

And it was hungry.

__

Sergeant Nia Kane was on a mission.

Not the usual kind—the running, shooting, saving-the-world kind—but one that she was convinced would either prove her sanity or destroy it completely.

And she was dragging her superior officer, Lieutenant Sera Rivers, along for the ride.

"Come on, come on!" Nia whined, tugging at Sera's mecha arm as the two mechas trudged through the shallow coast toward the inspection site. "I'm telling you, it'll make sense when you see it!"

Sera's laughter came through the comm, warm but teasing. "You said that last time when you made me check for the 'ghost fish of Zone Four,' remember?"

"This is different!" Nia said, completely serious. "If I don't bring someone to back me up, people will just think I'm imagining things again! And if I'm going to defend my honor, I need a second opinion."

Sera hummed thoughtfully. "Then you should've picked someone else. "Because with both of us here, how could you expect anyone to believe the word of two banshees?"

Nia gasped, mock-offended. "You take that back, Lieutenant!"

"Never!" Sera declared, laughter spilling through the comm. "Face it, Sergeant. We scream first, then shoot later."

They both burst out laughing just as their mechas reached the coastal zone.

But when they stopped, the humor faded.

Sera's gaze shifted toward the rocky shoreline—or rather, what used to be the rocky shoreline. "Wait," she said slowly. "Weren't there supposed to be stones here?"

"Exactly!" Nia said triumphantly. "They're gone! Well, not gone gone, but look—they're completely submerged now!"

Sera guided her mecha forward, leaning down slightly as her scanners lit the area. Sure enough, the tips of the stone platforms were several feet below the surface. "Odd. The tide readings don't show any major rise for this hour."

"Right?!" Nia cried, clearly vindicated. "Earlier, I could still see the marker I scratched on one of the rocks, but now it's gone! Like, poof! Vanished! And I know I didn't imagine it because I literally carved 'Nia's Lucky Path—Touch and Die' on it."

Sera chuckled. "You're charming as ever."

"I know," Nia said proudly before huffing. "But seriously, this isn't normal."

Sera nodded. "Agreed. We should document it. Send a report to HQ."

"Oh, I already took photos and scans earlier," Nia said as she began activating her mecha's sensors again. "But let's take another round, just in case. Two sets of readings will shut them up faster."

A soft sequence of beeps echoed in the cockpit as the scans started running. While they waited, Nia leaned back with a grin. "Hey, can I ask something?"

Sera sighed in mock suspicion. "What are you plotting now, Sergeant?"

"Do you think HQ will scold me for bringing you here?" Nia asked, tone playful. "You know… the prized mecha of the base and all that."

"What do you mean, 'prized mecha'?" Sera asked, puzzled.

"Oh, don't play innocent!" Nia teased, eyes sparkling. "My sis-in-law-to-be, piloting the one mecha that made all the master mechanics nearly kill each other! How does it feel to pilot a support-class legend?"

Sera laughed. "You're exaggerating, Nia."

"Yeah, a machine that could probably outlive me," Nia shot back.

"Well," Sera said between laughs, "it's definitely something special. Honestly, I got lucky. I took both courses, combat and mecha manufacturing, so I guess they thought I'd be a good fit. But it's not as if it's going to stay exclusive forever. Eventually, more pilots will qualify."

"So humble," Nia said, feigning despair. "Why did someone as amazing as you even fall for my brother? He's responsible, serious, and boring! You deserve a promotion just for surviving him."

Sera's laugh was bright through the comm. "You're unbelievable."

"What? I like you! I want you in the family," Nia said proudly. "And since you clearly won't dump that doofus, just promise me one thing. If he ever does something dumb, report it to me. I'll handle him off-duty."

Sera was still laughing when the scanner beeped sharply.

Beep! Beep!

Both women froze.

"I don't see anything," Nia said, peering at her data.

"Wait," Sera murmured. "Hold on… How come my energy readings are abnormal?"

Nia blinked. "Abnormal how?"

Before Sera could answer, the readings on both of their screens spiked. The scanners began blaring warnings, red light flashing across their displays.

"Call it in," Sera said quickly. "Get Nico on the line—"

But the call connected a second too late.

Because from the calm, glassy surface of the water, something moved.

A tentacle—thin, dark, and fast—shot up from the depths.

Nia didn't even have time to scream before it wrapped around her mecha's leg, yanking her downward with a violent splash.

"Nia!" Sera screamed.

The comm crackled, and Nico's voice came through, alarmed. "What's happening? Nia?!"

Sera's voice shook. "N-nia! Nia's been pulled into the water! Nico, I swear—something is definitely wrong here!"

Her hands flew over the controls as she plunged her mecha into the sea after Nia.

The last thing anyone heard before the line cut was Sera's shout echoing through the static—

"I'm going after her!"