Stavanger Bay remind him that this city burned for refusing solace

so i had a lot of fun writing this post, haha. it's definitely fun to get to explore Axo's "religion" this way. :D

Axolotl takes in the boy’s awe with a slow smirk and a nostalgic exhale of air from black, leathery nostrils as he remembers to when he felt the same bewitchment though for the leviathan it has never left. Amazement was nurtured until it turned to a deep love to Atlan, deep enough to become Theirs. The questions that came from the chimera’s mouth were rapid fire and Axolotl attempts to place them in some sort of chronological order to make it easier to form his repsonse. “No one knows how old Atlan is, not even Them,” The leviathan begins, patiently answering as he has for many far younger than the chimera. “Atlan has existed since the beginning of everything as They will until the end. There are tales told by Atlanian’s much older than me that everything was once in Atlan’s control but They grew lonely so They created creatures of the Sea and when that was not enough They gave up control and made land and from the foam created all creatures of land.” Axolotl offers the short version of the beginning as believed by the wolves of Nootka Sound. “Atlan is larger than we can fathom, Their’s depths so very abysmal and never ending. Atlan eats when They claim the life of sea creatures and those who drown in Them.” He gives pause here, surveying the chimera’s reaction with careful eyes. His companion is no child and he does not try to sugar coat the truth. “They have many moods, some nicer than others, just like we do.” Axolotl explains as he wads through the water, letting it rush around him, comfortable, as if he has been born of the Sea. “They speak but not in the same way that we do. Only Atlanian’s, trained warrior shamans, can understand Them.” Axolotl does not know this to be a false claim and for the moment it remains a truth to him.

The chimera enters the water and Axolotl turns to face him. Axolotl takes a breath to begin explaining the next step so his companion is aware of what is expected of him. “I will summon Their voice in my native tongue. You may speak to Them, tell Them what ails you as you told me.” Salmon pink tongue draws across his jowls. He does not like “possession”, if that is what one could call it. It siphons his strength from him leaving him lackluster for days but it is a price he is willing to pay. It is duty. Axolotl draws in a deep breath, braces himself against the pliable sand beneath the waves and closes his eyes to murmur in his native tongue a guttural summons for Atlan. The God answers with a mighty wave pushing against the pair almost knocking the "meditating" leviathan off of his feet. He does not break his summoning prayer and ceases abruptly when They take control. Axolotl is still present in his body, still aware but he sees the chimera not as he had before. Different. New; and knows that the other male has Atlan's attention. “Speak.” Atlan commands in a softened voice like waves battering against the shore. Terrible and wonderful, all at once.