What is a god without a following? What is a deity without worshippers? Nameless, unbound, but void of the luxuries that are meant to come with their titles. Rulers, the greatest and most powerful of the gods, were no exception to this unseen law. Much like their lesser kin, they too craved the praise and adoration that came from worshippers who have devoted their lives, at times even their afterlives, to an existence far beyond anything they could hope to imagine.

Of the Rulers which over creation, none craved such adoration more than Cathay, Tyrant of the Dark Wastes, Lord of the Depths. So it was that when the few occasions came where she could indulge in such mortal vices she’d jump at the chance.

Her size was retracted to a scale that was far more manageable to the humans she had acquired from the surface. She couldn’t be much larger than 600 feet, one of her smaller sizes while still being able to retain her original appearance. Any smaller and she’d have to make alterations to her body.

Though she was still a great deal larger than her ‘pets’ Cathay could feel them very clearly. All of the little humans in her possession walked across her green flesh, as though it were some great expanse they needed to maintain. They dutifully cleaned their majesty’s body, working tirelessly to appease their new master. There was not a thought within their mind that wasn’t devoted to Cathay. To them, she was now their entire world. A far better fate than what normally awaited those forced under her rule.

These humans were fortunate. Were it not for Gilah then Cathay would have gladly devoured them all. Or perhaps she would have forced the leviathan to do it herself? It would have proved to be a suitable punishment. Far worse than what they were going through currently. But, though they were at great fault for their actions on the surface of the earth, it was not Gilah who held most of the Tyrant’s ire.

That position went to the unfortunate human currently working upon the Ruler’s teeth, pulling away at old meat which once belonged to predators of the sea. They were nothing more than snacks to one of Cathay’s stature, only searched for so that she may have a proper punishment ready for Jason. It may have ruined her appetite in the end, but she’d say that the results were more than worth it.

Though she could not see his current predicament she imagined it was far from ideal. Even at a minimal scale, the task must have been troublesome for someone of Jason’s stature. He must have been just shy of being an inch tall to her currently. A luxury, seeing as his girlfriend was well over a thousand feet. The task was still a difficult one no doubt.

Cathay did not attempt to have Jason’s punishment be a simple one. Just like the other humans, who went to work trimming and cleaning the nails of her hands and feet, the latter of which had taken the place of her serpentine tail, she could feel Gilah’s mate as he walked across her tongue. He struggled in his effort to clean the goddess’s mouth, avoiding pools of saliva as well as mashing teeth. Voluntary reflexes for the latter as Cathay wished to remind him of where he was at all times, though it wasn’t like he could forget.

She felt clever in providing him with a tool to help him ‘dispose’ of any unwanted flesh. A spear of legend passed down from generation to generation, once the weapon of choice to some ancient clan of god slayers. Those who defied the will and rule of divinity. A claim that was admittedly held by many, but at the very least this clan, in particular, was mighty enough to back their claims as slayers of deities. At one point the mightiest of them even managed to kill a ruler, though they were young and quite new to their station and as such could not compare to their much older peers.

At one point those very god killers, along with their strongest champions, attempted to invade the depths in a mad plot to purge it clean. Cathay didn’t need more than a single finger to do away with that short-lived scheme. She still kept that legendary weapon of theirs as a reminder to those who not only ignored the power of a ruler like herself but also went out of their way to work against it.

For Jason, the fragile human who had managed to turn Gilah away from her duties down in the Depths, there was no better instrument for him to use in his task. Perhaps Cathay would have him use that spear to clean underneath her nails as well. Despite being capable of erasing entire clusters of galaxies without so much as a little bit of effort there always seemed to be just the smallest speck of grime underneath. Such an irritating task felt fitting for such an irritating mammal.

“Humans. Why did she have to fall in love with humans?” Gilah thought, her anger rising slightly. Though her face remained calm, her growing irritation could be felt in the hearts and souls of those who pampered her. They doubled their efforts in an attempt to appease one of the oldest powers in this universe. All but the one in her mouth that is, his mood at an all-time low because of his great blunder. All these people who were here now, once able to call Earth their home yet were now prisoners of the Depths, were here because of him. Cathay’s anger was lost on him only because he focused on his depression.

“Weak little primates who believed themselves the center of creation. The ‘most important’ species to exist in the infinite expanse of creation? Such hubris. Such bravado! It’s enough to humble even a High Dragon! And that’s not even the worst part!”

Her thoughts went to Jason, an unimpressive specimen of one of the rare few who could witness the nameless terrors of the cosmos unharmed. From outer horrors to deep sea monstrosities, his mind would endure it all. And that infuriated Cathay to no end.

“Gilah chose to love a human! Oh, but not just any human. She just had to pick someone who could survive peering into the unknown! A germ who doesn’t even understand the structure of creation!” A red aura encircled the tyrant’s body as her wings unfurled. Her anger rose to new heights as her worshippers, now once filled with the desire to worship her, found themselves on their backs in fear. Cathay clenched her teeth, seemingly forgetting about the human within her mouth. It still was not enough to break them from their depression.

“Of all the creatures in the cosmos, she just HAD to choose Jason! She could have chosen anyone! Literally anyone and it would have been a better choice than him! SHE COULD HAVE CHOSEN-”

Cathay calmed herself before the situation grew out of hand. Any more and there was no telling what sort of damage she could do. Likely she’d invoke her fellow rulers into action, and that was something she’d very much like to avoid.

This universe was still far too young for a conflict of such scale, and the Depths were too damaged to survive for long. For a good while, yes, but not eternally.   

Cathay’s worshippers looked up at their mistress, the titanic being trying so hard to contain her anger, her frustration. She seemed so ready to fall apart and break as though she were glass. She seemed so…vulnerable? One was even certain he noticed a single tear flow down her cheek, though the act was so fast he could have very well imagined it. All were too stunned to move, that was until Cathay’s eyes fell upon them now that she noticed they were no longer working.

A single glance of her molten yellow eyes and was all it took for their minds to be wiped clean of what they had just seen. It would do her no good if they saw her weak. Though they likely wouldn’t have planned any sort of recourse against her, the chance that they’d see her as anything other than the Ruler of the Deep Wastes wasn’t something she was keen on allowing. A second after they were ‘reset’ Cathay’s little works went back to pampering their master, their devotion apparent once more.

She didn’t want their sympathy. She didn’t need it. All she needed was for Jason and Gilah to listen to her. For them to understand that certain actions were prohibited for a reason. Cathay didn’t wish to bring harm to her dear friend’s mate. Truly, she didn’t. thought she held resentment for the human it became clear through their few talks that he was rather intelligent.

At least for an ape anyway.

“He just needs to understand the danger Gilah poses. Not just to mankind but the gods as well.”

Though they’ve dated for over a year now there was still a great deal Jason did not know of his girlfriend. Secrets that, per her request, were kept from him.

But if he knew who Gilah really was? If he learned what it was she could do if unleashed? Just what sort of light would he view her in?

Even now Cathay could see it. The countless corpses which once lined the walls of the depths. And in the center of it all, a mad warrior who cared only for sating their hunger for both meat and battle.

***

Omnipotence was a sham. Gilah’s existence proved that. In a life filled with beings capable of eradicating entire solar systems, sometimes with nothing more than a thought, Cathay could count on a single hand the number of beings she knew of that were resilient against the ‘all-powerful’.

Warriors and champions which, through means not even the mighty rulers understood, could resist, or even outright deny the power of even the most formidable of deities. From great dreamers who shape pieces of conception, whose unknowable thoughts formulate concepts and principles that define the patchwork of reality, to primeval creator gods that lord over the infinite, none were capable of doing away with those mighty warriors.

To them, size mattered not. Nor did power. To fight such a being at a scale that could swallow the stars was paramount to suicide, freely inviting into themselves a virus that would decimate them from within.

They forced the divine to fight on even grounds, with skills and strength over raw power. Many who relied only on their divinity would of course find themselves at a disadvantage. Others, those who understood the threat, learned to combat them through more traditional means, though they too would often fall. In time, one of said beings had even come to claim the throne of a ruler. A now long since deceased Tyrant of the Depths.

Cathay was there to live under the rule of the seemingly invincible tyrant, unable to so much as challenge him as that in itself would be a death sentence.  They were a careless kind, freely inviting chaos and discord to the once adaptable waves of the deep. Many were forced to adhere to this new order. Those who did not rightly perished. Weakness could not be allowed. Vulnerability was death. To grow old in such an environment was a privilege granted to so very few.

At times, Cathay considered herself fortunate that she even managed to survive it all. The Depths never received aid from the other realms or their rulers. No aid came from the Void, or the Heavens, or even the infernal pits. No creature dared challenge the old king. None save for one.

One single leviathan who at the time barely made it past his kneecaps. A worm whom many believed to be all bark and no bite. Cathay would be ashamed to admit it now, but at the time she was just one of the many who believed that this sole titan, a warrior and nothing more, would amount to nothing against the old king.

They were young, headstrong, and far too chaotic to think of some kind of plan of attack.

Oh, how wrong she was. The battle was not easy. In truth, at no other point in her life did Gilah ever come closer to death. She was wounded. Badly. She survived only thanks to Cathay’s intervention, well after the battle had long since ended. The old king was gone, his body in such disrepair that one would be amiss to think that they were once a living being. Gilah was hardly any better. She had nearly lost her head in the fight and was struggling to keep all her innards within her body. But not once did she ever show fear.

She smiled as she was nursed back to health, even while her organs were painfully pieced together and placed back into their appropriate positions. Even as the Depths devolved into further Chaos now that their king was gone. All who called the Dark Wastes their home wanted the throne. They wanted to rule, ascend their lot in life, and climb to heights greater than any god across creation.

 All save for the one who emptied it. Back then, Gilah never cared to rule. She never held any desire to be a leader or even a god like her kin. All she wanted to do was fight, and feast. To her, there was no greater joy in life than dining on the flesh of a worthy foe. An equal.  Cathay considered herself fortunate then that the young titan held her in high esteem thanks to the hand she played in her continued survival. In a way, she was indebted to her savior. A factor the future Ruler would use to great effect.

In the battle to claim the vacant throne, Gilah became Cathay’s sole and greatest warrior; her champion. They grew close. Closer than the future ruler might have liked.

Together, they decimated the countless contenders that rose against them. All the while, Cathay would learn of the nature that was Gilah. They were most like the old king, bloodlust, and battle given form. They denied the false power that was omnipotence, a claim only given to those deemed so powerful they couldn’t be anything but.

Cathay watched and learned the being that would be her friend. An oddity that defied the very nature of reality itself. An abomination who, if pushed too hard, would not be stopped until everything and everyone was dead.

Or, at least, that’s who she was in the past. Cathay was smart enough to acquire as much power as she needed before taking the throne of the Depths. At the time she rose to the position she was already unchallenged by other denizens of the deep. The only one who could pose a threat was her greatest ally. And she’s only grown stronger since, all the while Gilah had become soft.

Somewhere along the line, the brutal warrior who dethroned the previous king had lost their bloodlust. No longer did she possess the desire to fight. Though Gilah had grown considerably over the years, were the two to fight now, in a battle restricted to skill and strength alone, then Cathay wasn’t certain if her ancient friend could scratch her.

But there was still no doubt in Cathay’s mind that Gilah remained a monstrous threat to all that would call themselves a god. What’s more, her powers were growing as well. Enough to match that of the old king’s. Rearrangement of the stars despite being a sea-bound creature. Driving mortal minds to madness with her gaze. Signs of growth that, if not tempered, could put all they’ve worked for at risk.

Her actions as of late were more than cause for concern. They were worrying not just for Cathay but for the few other rulers who caught wind of the titan’s most recent blunder. Were things to continue as they are now then they’d most likely intervene Cathay could only protect the earth for so long, and by extension the depths.

It took a great deal of time and effort to get where she was now. She’d be damned if she’d let a human of all things bring everything to ruin.

***

A sharp pain upon Cathay’s gums pulled her away from her recollections and back to the present. She had forgotten all about the humans who littered her body, as well as the one inside her mouth.  Jason must have accidentally pierced something if Cathay felt it. He is, after all, using a spear made to harm the gods to clean her teeth.

Cathay tilted her head forward, spitting the human out onto her open palm before inspecting his handiwork. Her tongue worked its way across her teeth, each an ivory wall unbreakable by all but the most powerful of weapons. Nothing machine-made could hope to harm them. They worked wonders in reducing even the most primal of creatures into a fine chum.

It didn’t come as a massive surprise then that Cathay found much of her teeth to still require cleaning. But looking down at Jason it was clear that he was completely spent. Looking at him now only increased Cathay’s worries. No longer did she find herself enraged. How could she be over something so weak?

It still baffled Cathay as to why Gilah could even fall in love with something so small. Jason had no clue about the blood that was spilled in the Depths. He did not know its history or its struggles. Worst of all, he knew absolutely nothing of Gilah. Not her past, her regrets, her fears, or her worries. He only knew the gentle giant that she was now. This small, weak, pathetic human was oblivious to the god-slaying warrior she once was.

Cathay would crush him now if it meant being rid of a problem that had grown out of hand far too fast. But as much as she hated to admit it, the fate of the Depths hinged on his continued existence.

Because without him there was no telling just how far Gilah would fall. Without anything to anchor her, there’d be nothing to stop the carnage she’d create. In time she might even be able to best Cathay, just as she did her predecessor.

With more of a look of resignment than one of anger, she glanced down at the troublesome human. He wasn’t even close to paying for his blunder. Were it up to her then Cathay would have had him endure centuries worth of punishment. But it wasn’t. She had a duty towards her dear friend. As much of a danger as she was, Gilah also occupied a large portion of the Dark Tyrant’s heart.

It was a shame then that such feelings were not shared. She chose Jason. That was just something Cathay had to accept. 

“Not bad for a lesser creature like yourself.” Cathay lied. There was no real reason for her to do so other than the longer Jason spent in her mouth the more likely it was that’d she’d swallow him. He didn’t acknowledge her faux praise, however. Instead, he continued to sulk.

He was not blind to what he had done. If anything, Jason’s punishment did little in taking his mind away from those events.

“At least he understands the consequences” As good a result as any she supposed.

A sly grin formed on Cathay’s lips. She may not be able to torture her dear friend’s mate, but she sure could milk his depression.

Cathay gave her nails a look over, noting their now smooth appearance. She had to give her followers some praise, this was a rather decent job. Not bad at all. Though she couldn’t help but wonder just how much better they’d look with a fresh coat of paint. Her toes as well, it wasn’t often she found herself with legs and she was most certainly going to use them. She was thinking red. Or perhaps black. Green would be far too ‘natural’ for someone of her color.

The thought of putting the human who caused her such headaches through such a humiliating task was enough to bring some semblance of joy to the otherwise desolate ruler. She even scrunched her toes in anticipation of the event, knowingly crushing a few followers which she quickly restructured. She wouldn’t want Jason to back out just yet. Not when she had just decided what his next task will be.  

“Hey, Jason?” Cathay waited for the human to look up towards her, his eyes never betraying his poor mood. Though it was minimal she felt some pity towards Jason. He was smart for a human. Aware of dangers others were not. And though she wouldn't be caught dead admitting it, she enjoyed his company from time to time. An ear to be lent when she was at her wit's end. She resented him, yes, but she appreciated the stability he brought to Gilah outside of their recent mistake. He would learn from this. Of that the Tyrant was certain. That's not to say she would offer him a reprieve. As far as they were both concerned he was far from finished with his duties.

Still, Jason couldn’t help but chuckle slightly upon hearing her question.

“How are you at painting?”