---Gail/Miu-sama---

     "Now will you admit that this was a bad idea?" I say, because yes, I am petty enough to have an "I told you so moment" even when we're all about to be devoured by a giant kraken.

     Ace stands up, causing the raft to totter even more than it already is—how we're even managing to keep afloat with the kraken slamming its giant tentacles against the surface of the water is beyond me. Ace's chest starts to hum as he powers up, activating his arm cannon.

     "Keep him covered!" Topher shouts over the crashing of the waves. His raft floats a few metres away from ours, with Crawford and Mya manning the oars. There's a weary hoarseness in his voice that makes it almost tough to recognize. "We need to buy him time."

     The kraken lashes out with its tentacles again, and a wave of pitch-black seawater comes raining down on us. With all the muck in my eyes from the filthy water, I can only glimpse a blurred vision of moonlight reflecting off of the kraken's glowing orange eyes. The filth stings, and my eyes start to water.

     Martha and Liluye plunge their oars into the sea, trying to manoeuvre the raft out of the path of the next wave. We can't take another hit—the vines tying the logs together aren't likely to hold.

     Our raft bumps up against Em's. Colby struggles to keep their raft from tilting while Melody hops onto our raft, activating her beam sword. We all back away from her, causing the raft to tip to one side.

     One of the kraken's tentacles rises up, blocking out the moon, and then comes crashing down on us. Melody leaps into the air and slashes at the tentacle. The blade makes a hissing noise when it comes into contact with the rubbery flesh.

     Unfortunately, the bit of tentacle she lopped clean off lands right on Em's raft, smashing it to bits. We get soaked by another wave. I frantically try to wipe the muck out of my eyes—did Em manage to dodge in time?

     Everything slows around me as I scan the restless surface of the water.

     Breathe.

     I didn't realize I was holding my breath—I exhale and then take in a deep gulp of air when Em resurfaces, Eloise clinging to his back. Colby thrashes around in the water. If his plan was to get the kraken's attention, it went off without a hitch. The kraken takes another swing, and Colby shoots up out of the water, latching onto the tentacle as it comes swooping down.

     The kraken starts flailing its tentacles about; Colby slides down the tentacle, crushing the air beneath his fingers, and two of the kraken's eyes explode, spewing eye juice all over. Enraged, the kraken lashes out some more.

     Whatever happens next, I don't see it. The raft collapses, and I go flying. I brace myself as I plunge into the sea. I kick my feet and flail my arms, pushing myself back up to the surface, but I'm caught in some sort of undertow. It drags me deeper underwater, and everything goes silent.

     An invisible tendril constricts around my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs. Water rushes in through my opened mouth, and my insides start to burn. Beneath the water, everything is still. Peaceful. Until...

     I'm propelled back up to the surface. I emerge, coughing up water and gasping for air. Miu. She got us out—the splitting pain in my head is evidence of that.

     "Th-thanks." I tread water, shivering in the cold.

     Don't mention it. I've completed my analysis. That is no ordinary kraken.

     "There's such thing as an ordinary kraken?" I start swimming back towards the rafts, kicking my feet frantically so as not to get caught in the undertow again.

     What I mean to say is there's a ninety-six percent chance that this kraken is a spirit animal, subservient to this world's terrestrial. If that is the case, our likelihood of survival drops from seven point eight percent to one point six percent.

     "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

     The waves continue to crash. They toss me back with them. I take a deep breath and dive underwater, where there's less resistance.

     One point six percent, huh? Serves me right for thinking the universe would finally cut us a break. And to think we were so close—we'd paddled more than two-thirds of the way to the island before the kraken's enormous shadow, visible even in the blackness of the sea, appeared beneath us.

     I surface right near the wreckage of our raft. Topher holds out his hand and hoists me up out of the water onto a stray log. Only one of the rafts remains intact—the rest of us are afloat among the debris, utterly vulnerable to the kraken's attacks.

     "Take over," I say, closing my eyes. "We can fight this thing."

     No.

     My eyes jerk open. The kraken roars, and an icy wind pierces through me. "No? What do you mean no?"

     Your body is deteriorating rapidly as the result of our cohabitation. The exertion will put too great a strain on you—there's a very strong possibility that you will not survive another full-on possession.

     To my right, the raft Ace is standing on starts to tip over. He screams and aims his arm cannon at the kraken. A blast of radiant, blue energy erupts from the barrel, jetting towards the tentacled beast.

     The energy ball explodes, its blast sending the debris from the rafts spiraling outwards—and us along with it. I cling to the log as I'm jostled back and forth by the waves. I'm pelted by droplets of water that pelt me like rock pellets, leaving scratches along my skin. By the time the sea settles from the blast, I've barely got enough strength left in me to hang on to the log.

     A roar cuts through the sky as the smoke from the blast starts to clear. I quickly scan the surface of the water—everyone's accounted for. But that's including the kraken, which opens up its cavernous mouth, the moonlight reflecting off rows upon rows of serrated teeth.

     "We don't have a choice," I utter, feeling my grip start to falter.

     I will not let you sacrifice yourself.

     "That's not your decision to make." I look at Eloise, bawling her eyes out as she clings to Em, who's barely managing to keep afloat himself. At Topher, who's hanging on for dear life. At Crawford, who's treading water next to Mya. They've all had their brushes with death, whether that be losing an arm, enduring a face-full of stomach acid, or getting impaled through the heart. Suddenly, I'm feeling confident. "I can handle this. I know I can."

     If you could see the damage your internal organs have sustained, you'd be saying otherwise.

     The pain in my head doubles. It shoots down my neck and expands to my limbs. I scream.

     The wind suddenly shifts direction, and we all start to float towards the kraken. Towards its gaping mouth. I kick back against the current, but it's too powerful to fight.

     We're being sucked in.

     "We have to stop it—now!" I shriek. "There's no other way!"

     Yes, there is.

     The current picks up speed. We're trapped. All the kraken has to do now is wait for us to float right down its throat.

     And yet, all I can focus on is the pain radiating through my body. I have to stop it. Now. I reach into my pocket for the vial containing Martha's numbing serum. My last resort.

     But my pocket's empty. Son of a bitch. The vial must've fallen out of my pocket during all the chaos. I bite down on my tongue—anything to keep me distracted. I stare at the kraken's teeth, growing larger and larger as we're drawn towards it.

     It'll all be over soon. I find the thought soothing.

     Release me.

     Miu's voice echoes in my head. "What?"

     Release me. I can destroy the kraken from the inside.

     And then, amidst all of the crashing waves and all of the splitting pain, there's clarity. "That won't work. You said it yourself—I'm damaged. I won't be able to reabsorb you afterwards. And if you linger too long in a foreign world without a vessel... you'll die."

     Shikigami don't die.

     "You'll dissolve into the fabric of the universe. Semantics."

     I command you to release me.

     I scoff. "I ain't takin' orders from no demon."

     Gail, I will not ask you again.

     We've almost reached the kraken's mouth. Only a few more seconds.

     I'm sorry, Gail. For what it's worth, you were my favourite host.

     I feel my consciousness slip as Miu takes over. My lips move against my will. A tear slides down my cheek. "Kai!"

     My mouth opens wide and Miu pours out of it, a sparkling stream of light that barrels right towards the kraken, vanishing down its throat. Time seems to freeze. Everything goes silent, as if the world ended all over again. And then the kraken explodes, showering us with its innards. The black sea turns red.

     I look up, even as the kraken guts continue to rain down on us. It isn't over. Two shimmering spirits intertwine in the night. Miu, a cloud of pink sparkles, and the kraken's soul, a whirlwind of violet sparks. They each try to absorb the other.

     The sky above us erupts with thunder. The clouds form a funnel, and tendrils of lightning snake down from the centre of it. An overwhelming presence floods the atmosphere, suffocating me from the inside.

     An aura this powerful... it can only mean one thing: Strix herself.

     A purple lightning bolt rips through the sky, leaving the very air scorched in its wake. It pierces right through the entangled mess of Miu and the spirit animal. A scream escapes my lips as they both explode into clouds of shimmering dust. The dust trickles down from the sky, some of it swept away by the wind, some of it fluttering down into the water.

     I forget all about the pain in my head as an even sharper pain erupts in my chest. The lightning subsides, and the waves start to settle.

     I reach out with my hands and try to catch as much of the dust as I can.

     But it just slips right through my fingers.

Author's Note:

This is another one of those chapters that caught me off guard. I knew there was going to be a kraken attack, but I had no idea how it was going to play out until I started writing it. I'm not big on heroic sacrifices, but Miu-sama deserved to go out in a blaze of glory.

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