The Belly of the Beast (Admiral Uranel)

{[Hey, I just want to though this out as a heads up, but I won't be uploading a chapter tomorrow due to the 4th of July holiday. Everything will be back on schedule from the day after, so don't worry.]}

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It's been nearly a month and the ship is finally complete... not my best work but we don't have many materials to work with here. But this should be good enough, so long as we make it away from this island. Even now I still have suspicions about that Sea Dragon. My gut tells me not to trust it, but the rest of the crew seems to practically worship it as their saviour. I'll admit that the Sea Dragon has done a fair amount for us, be it lending us its protection during our stay here or in the form of information of the surrounding areas. But its voice carries the same condescending tone that the nobles in the Empire. Even if I could persuade the rest of the crew to stop working with the Sea Dragon, what can we do? Most of our weaponry was lost at sea and we only have a single mage. Of the few weapons we did salvage, we saved a couple of the new matchlocks but we don't have any ammunition. Completely defenceless, we are at the whim of this Sea Dragon.

"Admiral! We've informed the Dragon of our progress and it says we can leave in an hour if we're ready."

Lieutenant Jaro comes walking up with a smile that's a little unbecoming of a grown man like him, but it's not like I can't understand his thoughts. We've been stuck on this island for longer than any of us want to count and now the prospect of returning home has arrived.

"Alright, go and round everyone up. We set sail the moment we have everyone and our supplies are on board."

"Aye, Sir!"

Heeding my orders, the everyone starts loading up whatever food we've been able to find and after the hour is up we have all preparations taken care of. Just on time, the Sea Dragon moves its head around towards us.

"Are you all ready to leave?"

As the Dragon posed its question I took a quick glance over the remains of the Iron Belly's crew. hopeful faces, shedding tears of joy, many of them are talking amongst themselves about how they'll finally get to see their children or wives after this long journey is over. I can't do it, I just can't bring myself to shatter the atmosphere over my suspicions about this Sea Dragon. Reluctantly, I say that we are ready and cut off the bonds that have kept our makeshift ship in place.

We begin to move, following the river down to the ocean, and after about twenty minutes the wide open ocean lay before our eyes once more. Before long we have escaped the shore and we can no longer see the seafloor beneath the water, and trailing right behind us is the Sea Dragon. Eventually, the island is but a small dot in the distance.

"We made it!"

"I can finally return home!"

"I hope I never have to see this place again!"

Everyone is yelling out in joy, simply happy to be alive and away from the cursed island. But The Spire is still standing tall in the distance. The Dragon hasn't done anything to us and we're away from the island, but I can't help but feel this isn't over.

"What's up Admiral, why the long face? We're free from the islands grasp, we can go home."

"We can still see the spire on the horizon, so we are not in the clear just yet, moreover, Lieutenant, as an experienced seafarer yourself, take a moment to calm yourself and look at the water. Is it not usually rough from the previous calm sea when we left?"

"Huh? What do you mean... hmm, the water does seem a little rougher, but couldn't this be because of the waves created by our saviour the Sea Dragon. While certainly there, it doesn't seem like much of a difference. I know it's your job to be cautious about stuff like this, but lighten up and enjoy the taste of victory."

Seeing this conversation as a dead-end I simply end it by saying that I may have been a little paranoid and move on, continuing to observe both our distance from the spire and the actions of the Sea Dragon.

As the spire from the island becomes smaller and smaller, the water becomes that much rougher, as heavy waves had begun to sway the ship. And the Dragons actions have changed. As the water has gotten harder to navigate through, the Sea Dragon has begun to rapidly shift its head around, as if it is looking for something. And at long last came the moment I always knew would come.

The Sea Dragon dove deep into the water to a point where I could barely see its large frame and darted ahead while whipping our ship with its tail rendering us immobile. Most of the crew didn't even notice the Sea Dragons actions as they were too busy celebrating and the Dragon too deep in the water to notice. Within minutes the waves hit us harder and harder until we all finally see the cause of these rough waters. Jumping out from the ocean was a beast of titanic proportions, making the Sea Dragon and Ikuturso seem tiny in comparison. As the beast crashes back into the water, a massive tidal wave forms and approaches our helpless ship. I didn't even need to use my Investigate to know what this monster was. The other Legendary Monster the Sea Dragon spoke of, Cetus.

Turning around the once hopeful and joyous faces of my subordinates have turned to despair as they realise this is likely their last moments. And the expression of the people who saw the actions of the Sea Dragon are even worse off after the realisation of the trap they-- no, all of us, had fallen prey to. From the very beginning, I didn't trust it, but the Dragon took advantage of everyone else's feelings of desperation and longing for hope, speaking sweat words laced with poison. It manipulated the crew to do it's bidding in return for its protection, and when we needed that protection the most, it backstabbed us, immobilising our ship and running off to save itself. From the moment we first met, it only saw us as nothing more than glorified bait. But I refuse to go down without a fight!

"Attention! We've been backstabbed and betrayed, but do not falter! We are all proud members of the Lausiel Empire's Imperial Navy! We trusted a monster and it led us to our doom, but even so with its help, we lasted far longer than we truly should have! Do not let this monstrosity scare you! As citizens of the Empire, are you all going to accept your deaths without trying to fight back!"

""NO SIR! WE WILL FIGHT!""

As the giant sea monster jumps from the ocean and into the sky, diving with its mouth wide open and aiming for our ship, I successfully raise everyone's morale for one last stand. As Cetus comes crashing down on us I call us to one final battle.

"Pick up anything you can, and follow me! We make our last stand now! Onwards to into the belly of the beats!"