He wanted her to enjoy it for as long as she could, because the seas were calmer today. Almost as though the goddess herself knew that he wanted to show someone something special.
She didn't say a word until they approached the underwater monolith. It was rather impressive to see from this distance. A mountain that had been sunk beneath the waves.
"What is that?" she asked.
"An old volcano," he replied. "It erupted many years ago, and the center has worn back down. The rising tides allowed water to get into the center, but it has hidden the interior from the greatest anger of the waves."
"I'm not really sure what you're about to show me."
"The last living coral reef," he murmured before heading that way. Already he could see it. The coral that clung to the stones, and the schools of fish that decorated it.
This reef had clung to life for years, managing better than he'd expected. Giant brain corals were still there, some of them hundreds of years old. The branching coral had mostly broken in the storms, but deep in the center many of them were still safe.
"The waves break around the reef," he said as he released her from his grip. "And that saves much of the coral from death in the storms. As angry as the sea could get, she always protected this place. Now, I show it to you."
"I... I don't know what to say."
"Explore," he replied with a soft smile. "Say nothing and explore, Sisu."
She turned away from him and glided through the water. At least, she tried to. She kicked off his body and managed for a little while before she sank again.
He'd forgotten she didn't know how to swim. Here he was, choosing the best day he could for her in the sunlight that speared through the coral, and he'd forgotten the most important detail.
Proteus hooked an arm underneath her waist and approached the surface. Flexing a bit, he turned his tail into a float that she could grip onto. He took her hands and made sure she was holding his scales with a solid grip.
"Hold on," he said. "I will keep you on the surface."
She nodded, clearly shocked at what was occurring, but did that matter? He couldn't go too far over the reef himself. There wasn't enough space above the coral for a creature of his size. But he could stretch his tail over it and hold her there.
The rebreather allowed her to watch every tiny fish that darted past them without worrying about lifting her head out of the water. The goggles on her face had yet to fog up either, so he knew she could see all the most incredible parts of this reef.
The tiny fish had always been his favorite. He liked the black and white ones. Striped and quick, they lived a little deeper than the others. They spiraled around the two of them, clearly curious at what new creatures had joined them.
Then there were the needlefish. Long and pointed, they had serrated teeth within their pointed snouts that were sharp enough to break her flesh. But they hovered near the surface in a school, watching the two of them with beady eyes until they all darted away as one.
Ellie touched her fingers to her ears a couple of times, and he thought for a moment there was water in them before he realized she was hearing the reef itself. The crackles and pops of the coral moving made her watch it a little more closely.
He floated her toward some of the larger, colorful parrotfish that were integral to keeping this reef alive. One of them crunched on a coral piece, and he saw Ellie touch her ears again.
Laughing, he pointed out the large creature where the sound was coming from. "A parrotfish," he explained. "They are part of a large ecosystem that helps this entire place work."
But her eyes weren't on the big fish. She was watching a tiny, neon blue and purple fish cleaning a massive clam. The little fish rubbed its side against the massive clam, and the bigger creature slammed shut with a surprisingly loud crack. But not before he had seen the delicate blue insides that were dotted with glittering white like stars.
Then she pointed behind him, and he turned to look at an eagle ray that swam past them. It almost looked like it was flying through the water. Each wing moved with such grace, with its long pointed tail trailing behind it. The black body was dotted with white spots, very similar to the clam before it disappeared through the waves into the darkness of the sea beyond.
They spent hours there, watching the sea move as the tides ebbed and flowed. This was his favorite place to rest. Always had been. And when the sea had told him that it was still safe, that he could still come here, he'd known he had to show it to her.
"This is what you want to rebuild?" she asked, her voice still muffled by the metal device on her face.
Proteus nodded solemnly. "It's what we all need to see rebuilt. The sea needs this to live. Your people need it to survive as well."
She looked at him, and for a moment he thought her goggles had a leak in them. Until he realized she was actually crying. Tears slid down her cheeks within those goggles and had pooled at the bottom. "This is beautiful, Proteus. Everything here is so healthy, so... alive."
"That's all the sea wants. That's all this planet needs. More life and beauty." He reached out and brushed a tangled strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm glad I could share this with you."
"There's so many colors."
He chuckled. "Yes, the sea knows how to put on a show of colors, that much is certain."
