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Regarding my next actions, regarding the sealed passages in the ruins embedded in Terra's mantle, regarding how the other Firstborns will awaken...

Regarding Ægir, regarding the next doom to greet Terra...

We kin are selfless. We kin are devoted. We kin wish to share everything.

The only requirement is that you become one with we many.

Ulpianus meets the Seaborn's 'gaze.'

It has no face, but he can tell that it is observing him. Through its transparent membranes, past the faintly leaping nuclei, Ulpianus sees his own eyes.

You said you 'fell,' earlier?

No, Hunter. The conjoining of flesh is not enough.

Turn endurance to acceptance. Turn humiliation to elation. You must trust the kin... Trust your own instincts.

You must take up a duty far beyond imagination. The duty of we many.

Perhaps you will learn the full truth in our embrace. But when the time comes, you will be unable to, unwilling to, bring it back to Ægir.

...Just as I could not.

The Seaborn passes Ulpianus, swimming ever deeper into the nest. Its back quickly disappears from view, leaving only the nest before him in full bloom.

The contaminated coral shimmers in its multitudes. Countless fantastical lifeforms flit between them, using its glimmer to dispel the darkness of the depths. They grow. They form tides.

But Ulpianus ignores them. His gaze passes over a golden sea, over every scar, every inch of flesh, every cell, every chaotic waking dream...

It falls somewhere he cannot see. The deepest recess of his own self.

Ulpianus follows along.