The Ties That Bind.

The unlikely pair, bound by power and begrudging necessity landed in the polar desert deep within the centre of the southern continent. The presence of Morrígan alone began to melt the ancient ice even before she touched down. She cast a gaze towards her comparatively miniscule rider who wasted no time in leaping from her shoulder towards solid ground. "We have arrived, and not too far from one of the few gates on this world to lead into my people's domain. What do you intend to do now?"

Murphy shrugged and, realising that with Morrígan around, and possibly with his own link to her power, he did not need the heavy weather gear and began to remove the majority of the equipment.

"Firstly I need to do a count of my resources here. I spent more ammo than I'd have liked on fighting your little warm up team." Folding the coat and snow pants into a neat pile with routine precision and setting them atop a nearby rock. Along with setting his weapons down with what few magazines he had left.

Morrígan frowned at the back of his head for a moment. "Only the final creature was really a test. The first two were simply an attempt to drive you mad with fear. One that clearly failed."

Murphy simply shrugged. "Yep. Now, are you gonna just watch me? Or are you going to help me? I need you to level the area so we can begin construction of the main citadel."

Morrígan smirked slightly at that. "Level it you say? I can do that!" 

Murphy nodded. "As you do, try to pile the excess rock in a ring ten klicks in radius around where I am now. While you do that, I'm going to try and figure out how to control the power you bound me with."

The depthborn gazed back down at him. "I will have to instruct you on what this power entails if I am to be stuck with you. No ally of mine will be lacking in the understanding of the domain that he serves."

The human nodded and sighed. "You can do that when you finish with the clearing job."

He felt the wind pick up and buffer him as Morrígan turned to begin said task. Using both her incredible size and a few well placed energy blasts to flatten and melt the rock and ice around them. Going so far as to blast the wall of rock and stone, altering its form and turning the natural wall around the area into a glossy obsidian like material.

It took merely a few minutes in order to complete the given task, though only because of the effort given to leaving no imperfections around. When she returned to her little human, the ground was reinforced enough to support her bulk even at such a colossal size. Though she could tell that Murphy was indifferent to her return as he was looking at his hands and concentrating to bring forth the same power he had used the night before. To little success. A few sparks of electricity, a few embers of flame. But not the raging force of energy that had so defiantly stood before her.

She rested her head on her arms as she watched for a little while longer before speaking. "You are trying too hard. Trying to put mortal concepts of fire and lightning into perspective where they are not viable."

The Canadian sighed and dropped his handsitting against the rock by his equipment. "You gonna explain what I'm doing wrong? Or just mock me?"

"I can do both at once. But give me a moment to explain it in a way that your young mind can comprehend."

She held out her hand and a ball of black and purple energy, similar to the one he had thrown at her the night before, appeared in her hand. "This is a power from the domain of Void. the power of cosmic distortion, it is the pull of gravity and the promise of entropy. The vacuum of space, and the gravitational forces that shape it. Void teaches us that emptiness is not nothingness. To wield it, is to draw upon the unfathomably massive, and the incomprehensibly small."

She let the ball of distorted space time collapse in on itself before her hand began to arc with electricity, something he had not done as of yet. "Surge is the element of motion, and conduction. And is created when the electromagnetic forces of our universe struggle to achieve balance. It shows us that change is a fundamental aspect of the universe. To wield it, is to ride the storm of the unguessable."

Murphy looked at his hands for a moment as the explanations, while still relatively complicated, assisted in picturing what this power was capable of. He looked back up to his surprisingly passionate mentor as her body erupted into the same familiar fire he had seen and wielded before. 

"Neutron energy, my personal favourite. Requires us to both exploit, and rely on the power of stars. But to master it, is to understand the stars' duality. The nuclear force that scorches anything foolish enough to draw near. Is the same force that can be harnessed to heal. It feeds the flora of our universe, just as it begets drought and famine. Destruction and re-creation are a necessary cycle."

This one was the easiest thus far for the human to grasp, and seemed rather odd that someone who lusted for murder and mayhem would mention its healing capability. However the flames dimed down and were replaced by chilling winds and crystals of a frozen substance that was not water, as if the fabric of the universe had been frozen over.

"This is Suppression. It is the power of will and control. It slows, detains, and shatters." To emphasise this she crushed the frozen crystal with her tail.

"Suppression thrives on one's individual will. Control over the self can foster control over others. But without power over the self, destruction runs wild. When you wield this power, you must exercise the ultimate authority over the self, and others. You would do well not to try and use this power against the Primals or our Ruler. Your connection to my power may grant you the capacity to directly challenge even some of my ancient peers should we work together. But to challenge the Primals would be akin to suicide."

She watched as the man took this warning and explanation in and thought it over. She could feel that he wanted to argue, and yet knew that she was not lying. So he remained silent and nodded for her to continue. "Two more for now, there is much more to learn. But overwhelming you with information will only cause you to lose focus."

She held both of her hands out and a series of ethereal green strings of energy wrapped around her fingers. "These are the very strings of the minds of all creatures in our universe. All minds are connected in a web of consciousness that we can see, and feel. To wield it, is to pull on the hidden connected threads. And to use them to create, manipulate, and unravel. Unlike stasis, mastering this requires one to relinquish control. To embrace the connecting threads and flow with them."

She raised a hand and a black portal tore into the air before materialising as a vaguely human shape. Its body was almost completely black, with a black aura that drained the colour of the world around it. Though its hands, feet and eyes all glowed with a white eerie light. "This is one of my corrupted. Beings that I have dragged into the Deep and have corrupted and warped paracausally to serve their given purpose."

She stared Murphy in the eye as the corrupted being walked up to him and with its twitching and spasming arm. Saluted him. Murphy glared up at her for a moment before he grabbed his pistol from the ground beside him, intent on putting the thing down. As he was about to pull the trigger however he hesitated.

"Does it know what happened? Can it understand what it sees and feels?"

Morrígan raised a brow before nodding. "They retain their memories, and their capacity to see and feel. They simply are now subservient to me and have been made eternal. When one is killed, it is simply banished back into the deep. Where I can call upon it to return at my leisure."

Murphy looked up at her for a moment and sighed. He looked back to the still saluting facsimile of one of his men and, holstering his pistol, saluted back. "I am sorry that I was incapable of preventing this… but we have a new mission. A new duty."

He clenched his fist. "We will defend our home. No matter the cost. You and the rest of these… corrupted will aid us."

The dark inversion of a human simply placed a cold hand on Murphy's shoulder, as if attempting to release him from his guilt. They let go of him and suddenly disappeared into the dark portal they had come from.

Murphy hated what had happened to his men. But the alternative was death and at least he knew that these men were competent. As opposed to whatever other unknown creatures or non humans that may lay under Morrígan's control.

He sighed and began to focus on what he had been told. Opting for the easiest to conceptualise first. He thought back to the night before, and how his pistol had erupted in a solar flame. Focusing on that memory, and using the knowledge he now knew. He felt a warmth and weight enter his hand as a handgun made purely from solar heat and radiation took form. Morrígan nodded in approval at the act.

"Good, you catch on quickly." She watched as he took aim and fired the weapon off a few times. Unlike the night before, it did not dissipate after a short time.

"You're already improving your endurance. Impressive, for a mortal. One would almost think you had the drive to improve and evolve of one of my kind."

Murphy ignored her, holding out his hand and focusing the energy into something else. As it shifted and changed, it began to change colour to a white-blue. Both of them admired it for a moment before Murphy drew his pistol and shot himself in the arm. Startling the Ancient woman. "Have you gone mad!?"

Through gritted teeth the Canadian shook his head. "You… you said that…ah, fuck… that this could heal."

Morrígan shook her head in disbelief. "And so you shot yourself to test this!?"

Murphy simply nodded and clenched his fist around the light in his hand. His body began to glow a similar light to the energy in his hand and the pain immediately dissipated. He watched, in a relieved curiosity as the wound he had inflicted stitched itself back together until not even a scar remained from the event.

The depthborn was momentarily slack jawed at the whole scene that played out before her. And came to one conclusion. The man she had blessed with her power was endowed with such willpower and drive that it put even some depthborn to shame. She reluctantly admitted to herself that she found it somewhat attractive. While many of her kind had the natural drive towards evolution and survival. Not all had the willpower and determination to achieve that goal, simple minded and brutish as her kind were when young.

Having tested that his arm had indeed fully healed the man smiled softly before turning to face Morrígan. "Alright, that is a good first step. But right now we should focus on construction of the fortress. Question. How many of those corrupted do you have at your disposal?"

Morrígan was about to answer before stopping. She had long ago lost count of how many species she had claimed as her own, in her endless game of tormenting mortals by turning their own friends and family against one another. Causing civilizations to fall by having them fight themselves to extinction. Only to take the corrupted and add them to her ever growing collection. She glanced down at the man and simply offered a shrug. "A lot."

Murphy eyed her for a moment before shaking his head. "Then use as many as you think necessary to help me build a strong fortified citadel for us to operate out of. And then you and I will have to gather the resources necessary to reforge your armour and weapons. Those same weapons will also make for good emplacements for the fortress."

Morrígan tilted her head. "You would help me rebuild my defence?"

The man shrugged. "If I want to protect the earth. Then I need any advantage I can get. Speaking of which. Why did you even have that armour anyway?"

The colossus smiled softly. "The weapons on my wings acted as a focus for my power, it is more devastating to focus energy into a fine point, like a needle. As for the armour… it keeps wandering eyes away from my chest. It is more difficult to torment mortals when they are busy ogling my breasts and not looking into my eyes with fear. It was also aesthetically pleasing, its visage alone was enough to instil fear into civilizations without me even needing to use my power."

Murphy raised a brow as his eyes drifted to her chest. "Yeah, I can see why people would get distracted by those. We are going to need stronger metals than what we have on earth."

The woman nodded and smirked. "I have just the place in mind. I shall have my thrall to mine the metal used to forge my armour. Our fortress will be as if the Deep forged it on the surface. It may draw attention for the material it is made from. But with weapons similar to that of what adorned my armour. Nothing short of another one of my power will pose a threat to this place."

The warrant officer nodded firmly. "Good, I would also suggest having them tunnel below the continent and build a subterranean hangar from here to the ocean. So you can come and go from the fortress without having to break the thing with how big you are."

Morrígan nodded in agreement. "I... can make myself smaller, it would help keep a lower profile should we need to interact with more of your kind. It would also be helpful to not have to come outside before returning to my natural size in the event of an attack."

Murphy raised a brow at that. "You can change your size?"

The depthborn shrugged. "I can alter my body to become smaller should i desire. Though such a thing is rarely advantageous. Being smaller than those who would wish you dead is not something that promotes longevity."

The Canadian nodded softly, he couldn't really argue with that. "Well, then why don't you do that now and then we can get these thralls of yours to work."

Morrígan sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly. "Oh, very well."

Suddenly her entire body was enveloped in a similar black aura to her thralls and began to shift and change. The process was surprisingly quick given how large the woman was naturally. And once the change had been completed Murphy had to admit the now very human looking woman before him was gorgeous. 

Her abyss blue hair had been bleached to be white as the snow that covered the continent and flowed down to her lower back. She now stood at an impressive six foot seven inches. A full seven inches taller than Murphy himself. Bringing the top of his head to level with her still proportionally large chest. Though while they looked soft, Murphy had no problem believing that they could also stop a cruise missile with zero problems. Not to mention the incredible physique of the woman. The muscles she bore put even some of his fellow soldiers to shame. They weren't grotesque or malformed, but her abdomen looked like it could shatter a Tungsten rod from a 120mm cannon.

Moments after shapeshifting, she began to clothe herself. Surprisingly this took form in the shape of a very professional black suit with a red tie and black gloves. Giving her beautiful appearance a more appropriate feeling of danger. He likened her new attire to that of a professional hitman or mafioso. Despite the danger she exuded however. Murphy could not help but be entranced.

Her glorious golden eyes bore into his own like they did in the cockpit of the transport plane and she smiled, showing off her sharp teeth. "Do I look that good?"

Murphy shook his head to break the trance he had fallen into and nodded. "You look pretty damn good I gotta admit. You look very professional in that suit."

The woman grinned at the compliment and crossed her arms. Her eyes began to glow white with her corrupted aura emanating around them. "I am commanding the majority  if my thrall to deposit all the ore and metal they can find here so it may be refined and forged by those who used to be engineers and architects. My builders, the same ones that forged my first set of armour. Using their own planet cores to fashion it. This new armour will be far more durable."

The Canadian nodded softly. "Good, I'm going to need you at your best."

Morrígan tilted her head in confusion. "You are very quick to trust me after last night, what makes you so sure I won't kill you the first chance I get? I'm not going to be baited into giving you a fair fight next time."

Murphy sighed and crossed his arms. "I would rather have a powerful threat that I am aware of and can plan for at my side. Over many unknown and unseen foes that I can't plan for surrounding me."

The white haired beauty simply pursed her lips in thought. "Your logic is sound. We could fight each other to a standstill over and over. And if we were to do so we may be vulnerable should another of my kind attempt to take advantage of my weakened state."

The officer nodded in agreement. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say."

As he spoke, Morrígan raised a hand and opened a larger portal where thousands of her corrupted thrall poured through. All various shapes and sizes, and all carrying with them some kind of black ore. The larger ones carried massive boulders of the stuff on their shoulders. 

"This ore will be refined into Depthsteel. It is difficult to obtain in the quantities we need under normal circumstances. However, it is also rare that a concentrated effort by a large force has attempted to gather it."

The Canadian raised a brow at that and watched in awe as several of the smaller creatures began to shape and refine the raw material into massive walls and began to erect them in exactly the way Murphy had envisioned. He looked over to her with a tilted head and a raised brow. 

"You looked at what I was planning?"

Morrígan chuckled. "Your surface thoughts are so very easy to read. It was almost impossible not to know what you had planned."

Murphy crossed his arms and frowned. "Is that so? What am I thinking right now then?"

The woman tilted her head before scowling at him. "I would not be caught dead wearing such a humiliating outfit!"

The Canadian burst into boisterous laughter at her response and clutched his ribs as he did so. "Come now Morrígan, surely a swimsuit of only your chitin would be natural for you?"

Morrígan took a swipe at him in annoyance as he leaned out of the way. Laughing all the harder.

After a minute of solid laughter. The Canadian finally managed to get a hold of himself and take a few deep breaths. "Okay. Sorry, you just made it so easy."

The taller woman scowled at him and huffed in displeasure. "Let's get back on task shall we? What shall this fortress of ours possess in terms of furnishings?"

Murphy crossed his arms in thought. "Well, if we intend to host your people's leader in our fortress then it will need to have accommodations worthy of royalty. But capable of withstanding the movements and weight your kind possesses."

Morrígan scoffed at him. "At this pathetic size our weight is hardly any different than one of your species."

It took only a moment to realise she had made an error when she saw Murphy walking up to her with a mischievous grin on his face. "What are yo-!"

She was cut off by the Canadian grabbing her by the waist and picking her up off the ground, carrying her over his shoulder. "Huh, you weren't lying. Y'know your surprisingly light now."

The flabbergasted woman sputtered for a moment at being man handled over this human's shoulder. "Unhand me this instant!"

Murphy was once more driven to laughter as he set her down. "Alright, Alright."

Morrígan stood straight and fixed her now wrinkled suit. "Do not do that again."

The Canadian grinned widely. "And if I do?"

Her blazing sun-like eyes glared at him. "You will find out just how heavy I can be."

Murphy smirked and waved her off. "Oh very well. Then what say you show me some of your world. Your domain. We have nothing better to do while the corrupted build this place."

Morrígan frowned slightly. "You will not survive such pressures. The crushing forces in such a place make the depths of your oceans pale in comparison."

"Then come and sit with me. If we're going to be working and fighting together. We should at least understand one another somewhat."

The woman watched as Murphy leaned against one of the newly erected walls as the corrupted forces worked around them. He held his hand out to her in an offer to sit with him. And she stared at it for a moment. "I will divulge some of my history to you. If you do the same."

Murphy smiled softly as Morrígan grasped his hand firmly before sitting beside him, resting her arm on a knee. "That's only fair. What do you want to know?"

She ran a hand through her white hair and frowned. "I wish to know what drives you. What force could have protected your mind from my influence and terror."

This caused Murphy to falter slightly, he had an inkling of what possibly gave him such resistance. But opening that part of his past was going to be difficult. "I… I can tell you. But I will need alcohol… a lot of it."

Morrígan raised a brow. Searching his mind, she could feel a darkness inside. Latched and shackled down in the recesses of the subconscious. Even her great and ancient power failed to reveal what was hidden. Instead she elected to find what alcohol was and where to get it.

With a snap of her fingers, one of her thrall appeared before them with several hundred cases of various alcohols. Beer, Whiskey, Scotch, Eum. You name it, and it was there. Murphy sighed softly and reached over to crack open one of the larger cans of beer that had been brought and simply handed it to her, before taking one for himself and taking a long, deep drink. "I'll start from the beginning. About nine years ago, when I was nineteen."

And as the Canadian began to retell his past to the woman, neither were aware that elsewhere on the planet. Another power was growing in South America. High in the Northern icefields at the pole. Deep below the water. A being watched through his mind's eye at the human and the depthborn sitting and talking. The vision disgusted this beast. It was anathema to him that one of his own kind could tolerate such pathetic creatures. Let alone converse with one of these mortals.

And so this ancient beast plotted, and waited. For the time to finally kill the last of his broodmates, and prove worthy of claiming their masters vacant power.