The Qu’s attack lands, piercing the sahagin in rapid succession. It gives a terrible, strangled cry as it loses its balance, dropping in a crumpled heap onto the ground. The attack, however, is not particularly targeted. The needles scatter, tearing through the sails just as viciously as they tear through the monster. The upper half of the sail is shredded.

Licking the crystal results in no discernable change. It tastes like glass, stone, and something vaguely sweet.

With the combined efforts of Sabin and Caius, the last remnants of the sahagin are swiftly dealt with. However, the storm still rages as fiercely as ever. The heavy rain buffets the adventurers and crew, thunder roaring above as lightning claws across the sky. The howling wind strikes them as sharp as any tridents, and the deck tosses among the waves.

The crystal continues to glitter, inactive and waiting. The mages have all been turned into frogs. Without them, the storm can’t be calmed -- not unless it is activated by a mage of equal caliber that is.

The party doesn’t have long to consider their next course of action. Just long enough for a conversation, a few ideas, maybe some solution. Then the ship gives a terrible tremor. It’s enough to rock it first one way and then the other. A great shadow passes beneath the waves -- vast and black as night. Something is beneath you. Something mysterious, unknowable, and old as the seas themselves.

Something like a roar rumbles from below. It is alien, chilling, and loud enough that the wood creaks under your first. Just when it seems that the call might never end, something bursts around the ship. Several somethings. Tentacles, grasping and puckered and ready to sweep across the deck.

The Kraken has come.

ulla

Caius calls for Rem. Rem, the mage. Rem, the only real chance of easily activating the crystal. However, as Rem nods her affirmation and rushes towards the crystal, the ship gives another lurch, tilting almost sideways. Gravity seems to fall away, and for a terrible, sickening moment it feels as though the ship might capsize. A wave crashes into the deck, rushing against them and threatening to tear away their footing. It’s almost unbearable. Once the ship rights itself, and the terrible, drowning weight of the water lightens enough to stand, one thing becomes horrifyingly clear.

Rem is gone.

Keimusho feels his energy drained into crystal. He can feel it working. He can see the crystal light up in brilliant green, but despite his calls for aid, none comes. Keimusho is left on his own -- his energy powering it to maximum capacity. As the tentacles thrash through the water, the crystal bursts with light, rushing out in a shockwave of magic. In an instant, the rain has slowed to a drizzle. The ship gives a final shudder as the waves calm to slow pulse. Outside of the perimeter of the magic, the storm rages with all of its howling might.

This peace has come with a cost. As Keimusho was the only one giving his energy, he feels drained and tired. His moves are more sluggish. While the immediate threat has been dealt with, Keimusho will have to be more crafty than relying on blunt force.

The tentacles wave menacingly. All eight of them rise out of the water -- four on both sides of the ship. The ones slashed by Caius recoil, thrusting back in a desperate attempt to dodge. Sabin’s aura attack launches in rapid succession, striking two with fireballs that likewise cause the tentacles to writhe in pain.

The others, however, are not so easily given pause.

One tentacle reaches out blindly, sweeping across the deck and coiling around a sailor who cries for help. Another slaps against the mast, threatening to break it in its crushing grasp.

Three of them wrap around the deck itself, one from one side and two from the other. They grasp it tight and the ship gives a lurch.

The Kraken threatens to drag the entire ship under.

---

Rem can’t see anything as she’s thrust underwater. Under the crashing waves, it’s impossible to tell which way is up. Even when she breaks through the waves, she’s quickly forced right back down again.

Her lungs scream for air. Is this how she dies?

No. Anything but that! Rem uses the only spell that comes to mind. Tornado. She feels herself caught in the overwhelming spiral of the spell, helpless in its grasp, and then she’s lifted up, up, up. The whirlwind explodes from the water, reaching high into the sky. Rem feels herself thrown from it, rocketing out at an unnatural speed. She screams, but the sound is stolen away by the wind. Her stomach heaves. Her vision goes black.

Conscious returns to her slowly. Where…? She feels sand underneath her. Wet, sticky sand. A white mage stands over her, a look of worry and astonishment on his face.

”You wouldn’t believe how I found you.”

---

All seems lost when suddenly a great whirlwind overtakes the ship. It lurches heavily. The winds are intense and blinding. One of the tentacles wrapped around the ship is caught by it and thrust backwards, exploding in a great rain of flesh and rubber octopus puckers. Seawater falls down like rain, and if you squint closely, you can see a small, almost human form rocketing out from the whirlwind like a bullet, flying away until it is completely out of sight.

The tentacles draw the eye of a certain Qu. Tasty. Giant octopus could be the tastiest of all. As Quina watches the meat rain down upon the water, the decision is made. They back up before launching themselves into the sea with a cry of "FOR THE MUNCHIES!" The remaining sailors are left baffled as the strange creature disappears beneath the waves.

Quina propels themselves forward, latching onto one of the tentacles from underwater. He stabs it repeatedly with his fork, bringing up clouds of blood. The tentacle writhes, and Quina is left grasping it for their life. With a hard flick, it sends the Qu flying with a sharp "Ughaaaah!" Quina lands outside of the calming sphere of the crystal and into the storm.

The Qu doesn't know how they survived. In fact, as the storm finally dies down, they find themselves floating on their back, squinting into the sun. When their feet hit a bank of sand, they blink dumbly before thrusting themselves upright. Still lodged onto their fork is a chunk of tentacle.

Quina has succeeded in his quest for rare octopus cuisine. Mission accomplished.

ulla