By Rohan Sreen
Eldritch entities, something to be scared of, something to praise and worship, something to mark all your actions to, or maybe all of the above, all together. They’re said to have a hold over those who follow them, almost a hold strong enough to influence their very lives. Fanaticism as people call it, some just see it as a form of devotion. Nothing is wrong with devotion, not unless your very devotion is the reason for the end of your world.
Cthulhu, an eldritch god, considered a “messiah” by many people who worship it, is a prime example of a god that works off of a cult. The cult of Cthulhu believes in the god that lives in the darkest depths of the oceans, waiting to rise out of the abyss to reclaim the world they believe is rightfully theirs. Going so far to make sure the god is “nourished” for when the time comes to rise. Sacrifices, rituals, worship, even offering their own souls in their own way. The cult works with a belief in drowning as a means to make something reach their deity. Goats, buffaloes, crows, and especially humans. Over the years sightings increased of people in dark green and blue colored robes surrounding firepits where unwilling victims were marked and then thrown into the oceans to be fed upon. Reports kept coming in, but immediately after, the reports would be taken back. Investigations were launched, but no results were yielded, no evidence came up, and no links could be formed. The families of the victims often would not even reach out to report their relatives as missing, they would just accept they were gone, and that nothing could be done.
The Andromeda, an exploration submarine, meant to be used to research the depths of the oceans, was finally brought into the picture to investigate “Cthulhu”. Operation Abyss as it was called, was meant to be a simple reconnaissance mission. Go down deep, scan the area, and surface, and report. When the descent began, the ship’s captain’s identity, a member of an elite task force, was kept confidential and he was referred to as just “Zed”. Under Zed’s command, the sub began to reach its destination. Upon arriving, the ocean bed was not what was expected. Not the pristine sandy and rocky floor where seaweeds would sway with the current, but a graveyard for corpses. While many were dismembered, some miraculously remained in pristine condition, not a scratch on the body, almost as if something was protecting them. Someone was protecting them. Zed although was the captain of the reconnaissance mission, there was another goal he had been assigned. To confirm or deny the presence of Cthulhu, at any cost.
Working through the mass graves, the ship moved deeper into the ocean, soon losing contact with the ships on the surface. As the search continued, an unnatural phenomenon occurred, plunging the sun into complete darkness, not an eclipse, just darkness. As soon as it happened, hundreds of reports came in, about people having seen people surrounding firepits near the ocean in blue and green robes. The cults had planned this ahead of time and it was all executed too flawlessly to have been decided by all the people together. Something, or someone, led them to this. Under the ocean, the Andromeda suddenly picked up strange readings from its sonar. Ruins.
Thousands of feet under the ocean’s surface, ruins. But these were not the normal ruins, a few scattered buildings remains and some relics that sunk to the bottom. It was a city. A city that was not damaged. Everything remained in perfect condition, the architecture very well defined, every brick being placed in a pattern and corners adorned by statues. In mythology, Cthulhu was a local deity of a large city, and to worship the god, its statues used to be put up on every corner of the walls of the city. The city that Andromeda was now hovering over, and the city in the mythology, were proven to be the same given that every corner had the same statue, a tall humanoid creature with wings on its back, tentacles as its mouth, and eyes of ember. Cthulhu. The boundary just outside the walls was littered with corpses, with every corpse having a strange symbol carved on their body in dark green cuts. A symbol showing two slits, and 4 tentacles underneath. That was the symbol of the eldritch being.
Trying to be rational, the crew of Andromeda decided to turn back, as this was more than what they had bargained for, and wanted to return to the surface. But Zed had a mission, brainwashed by the task force, all he knew was to complete his missions, at any cost. The submarine could only turn back at the order of the captain, and the captain was all too determined to continue onwards. The crew, not accepting his decision, decided to turn back anyway, but could not. Forty seconds after their argument, a capsule was released from the Andromeda. The body of the crewmate who opposed Zed and tried to pilot the sub away was launched out and toward the walls of the ancient city. The rest of the crew, now knowing Zed’s nature, and suspecting his secret, could not hope to oppose the captain anymore, for they do not want to have the same fate their former crewmate did.
As the capsule reached the edge of the wall, the casing was ripped apart and the body of the cremate was immediately pulled towards the statue. Immediately the eyes began to glow, and the symbol that every other corpse had, was carved into the torso of the freshly deceased. Zed, now so close to being able to confirm whether or not Cthulhu was really there or not, rushed the Andromeda into the city, hovering over the walls. As they reached near, the metal of the submarine was torn apart and the crew was now suspended in the water, expecting to die of the sheer pressure. But that did not happen, they were totally fine. Zed, and his remaining 3 crewmates were brought down to the center of the city, where a large crater was. Touching the ground, Zed’s crew immediately fell unconscious, and then the symbol was carved onto them by a sudden force. They were dead, and for some reason, Zed was not. As he was put down next to crater, somehow still being able to breathe like there was a bubble of air around the city, he peered into the abyss. And the abyss whispered back.
“Tell them. Tell them what you see. Tell them who I am. Tell them…who they belong to.” A piercing voice echoed from deep in the crater.
Zed knew what it was. His mission was complete. He tapped his watch and sent a message, not knowing whether it could even reach up there to the surface, he didn’t expect it to, but he had to try.
A large arm came up next to him from the crater, and being of no compare rose, peering into his soul, two slits gazed at him, burning a bright orange ember. Cthulhu’s tentacle mouth came forward and that was the last thing Zed saw. His body was a crumpled heap on the floor, the only remaining part of him, having the symbol of Cthulhu. His watch was next to it, and a message flashed on it. The message he sent.
“God Help Us.”
By Rohan Sreen
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