Under the barrier called the ocean's surface was always a far different place to those on land.

They had already spent a long time in isolation which was massively helped for the boundary of dangerous beasts who freely lived and protected a three dimensional border. In truth those beasts from above stood no chance against those of the sea if they tried to invade them as had been shown many times before. Using this they were able to develop peacefully with no worry of attack from the ‘outsiders’ who always had greed in their eyes.

Those below actually had more vast diversity yet at the same time they had seen all the mistakes made by those on land so were able to overcome it easier from the start. Plus to them it was those on land who were an ‘enemy’ - there was no need to fight against one another when they could fight those fools. Not to mention they had the strong leadership from Leviathan who was one of the primordial gods loyal to Altas who could also be called one of the strongest warriors to have ever lived.

With their leader being a friend of Atlas there was no surprise that the oni king was also the friend of Leviathan hence they had no reason to fear. On top of that they even got the benefits associated with Tyrant Dealmaker - the future Primordial God of Covenants whenever they decide to ascend to godhood. In terms of medicine none were better than Dealmaker while they also were a kind deity who asked for little in return for their help hence why the constant visits from the primordial serpent was doing wonders.

To top it all off they even had the grace of Gaia herself who was the mother of all life hence was more than kind enough to provide relief from the strict Leviathan. With this combination of elements the civilization under the sea managed to become far stronger, advanced and yet peaceful than anyone but the foxes. These foxes remained loyal to Gaia so were the only land based race who actually remained close to those of the ocean even if it cost them that of the other dragon variants.

As time went on the gap between the ocean & land grew larger yet this gap showed no signs of slowing down. In fact upon the birth of an egg between Gaia & Leviathan the growth of everyone seemed to skyrocket beyond any reason.

Although the dragon egg didn’t hatch for a long time the people couldn’t help worship her as the second coming of Atlas due to the blessing she was giving to them. It wasn’t as simple as them just noticing their harvests growing a little faster - they were quite literally growing stronger at a noticeably faster rate. Birth rates increased, power enhanced, mortal lives extended and even their talents seemed to be even greater.

Every year their children seemed to be born healthier so how could they not praise the egg which seemed to be the cause of it all!

It took centuries for the egg to actually hatch so many mortals only knew about the stories surrounding it from the immortals. While above the water those mortals would be seen as second class citizens this wasn’t the case under the sea; of course there would be some issues involved with leaving important positions to them. Still they were allowed to have their own little councils to make the immortals aware of any situations they may have missed while also having a lot of freedom.

That did mean that they only had heard about the egg of the two ancient primordial gods so their belief in it was lesser. In fact they believed it to be more of a myth while also believing the power associated with those beings they never said to be greatly exaggerated. They truly believed that their primordial gods were beings that others could never compare with which was partly true in many aspects.

Yet one day the egg did indeed hatch.

Gaia who had been patiently protecting the egg noticed the small movements inside of it a long time ago however she did nothing to rush her child. To the mother of all life she didn’t care how long her child decided to stay in the egg as she was happy just to have created a child; although she was the source of all life this child was slightly different. The child in this egg was one developed in her own body.

Her body was quite different from what was believed by the masses of the future; they believed her to simply be a titan (like Atlas) made out of stone.

Some parts of this description were technically correct as she was a titan made from a lot of sturdy earthen elements. Though rather than being like Atlas she was more like Leviathan as she was a dragon rather than humanoid like he was - that wasn’t to say she was exactly the same yet at the very least she had no arms or wings unlike other dragons. Instead the entirety of her back was covered in active volcanos with her appearance being similar to what some may refer to as an axolotl if made from stone.

Not every part of her was stone & magma as her exterior gills were wooden which resulted in their appearance being akin to the roots of a tree… A tree bigger than any mountain since those hundreds of volcanoes weren’t miniature by any definition of the words. If anything they were larger than average with some being large enough to ironically threaten all life on the planet if they didn’t belong to the benevolent dragoness.

In this environment, from which life had first formed, she had patiently waited for longer than some well established races had been alive.

The mothers excitement that her child was showing signs of hatching was high yet even then she didn’t rush the girl. Instead she peacefully did her job while softly speaking words of encouragement to her future successor.

She wasn’t the only one who was excited since there was obviously the titan of the deep who attempted to not seem excited with his stern attitude; those close knew the truth. Even the mighty Leviathan was a softy when it came to his family. As the egg rocked around the excitement from the two parents as well as their martial sibling (Dealmaker) was palpable.

The little girl in the shell was truly in no rush as she could see everything going on within the sea with her very own power. Although the girl hadn’t been hatched she was able to quickly adapt thus managing to understand her inherited memories in no time - as such she understood that she was likely using her ‘blessing’ to help everyone. Through this blessing she also managed to see the great success which was the underwater civilisations yet this wasn’t all.

As she understood her inheritance the girl even understood what her role in the future would be when she took over for her parents. Because of this she used the centuries not even attempting to break out of her egg but instead to understand why her parents succeeded. It was a slow process since she wasn’t even a hatchling however it wasn’t as if she didn’t have the time to comprehend it.

Not to mention she had the chance to watch over it as it grew faster thanks to her blessing.

She didn’t fully understand what her blessing was but everyone always talked about how strong her parents were thus how strong she would become. Compared to that it was far more important for her mind to adapt especially since the body could come later; hence why it took so long for her to hatch. Though another part of it was her love of sleep which meant the girl also spent a lot of time in & out of consciousness (something she got from her mom).

It was a rainy day above, where the underground vents which Gaia slept upon, when Gaia eventually heard an ever so slight *crack* upon her back. At first the titan dragon was confusedly thinking that one of her scales fractured due to thermal expansion since that wasn’t a particularly rare event due to her having literal volcanoes on her back. Many times in the past the expectant mother was excited only to be disappointed.

Quickly she felt an increase in the energy-based blessing of her child so broke out of her confusion to check the egg to find a single crack on the bottom. Noticing it on the bottom she felt her excitement go to horror as Gaia instantly worried for the health of her child thinking that perhaps the egg broke!

This worry proved useless as soon as the cute little lilac paw poked through the hole as if someone who just woke up was looking for their glasses.

Cute little *hip* that was quieter than the sounds of the water rushing around the egg or the bubbles rising from the volcanos the egg was nestled between. At this sight the titan was deadly still as if terrified she would miss this moment however as it turned out the little creature wasn’t in a hurry at all. Days went by with the little amphibian slowly breaking from their egg by suckling on the shell like a baby chewing on anything in their reach.

Compared to her parent’s size… Well the little dragon didn’t even compare as she was even smaller than a human's palm let alone her titanic parents.

A body of lilac with a chubby torso yet a pair of magnificent exterior gills,just like her mother, which glowed golden thanks to Gaia’s blood running through her. In fact her own gills even glowed brighter than her mothers showing her bloodline to actually be stronger than both her parents which was confusing yet no worry. Why would Gaia worry about her little salamander being stronger than her?

At the moment of birth the amphibian also had no interest in exploring; all she did was pull oxygen into her little tubby body as her vibrant pink eyes took in the world around them. All she did was float around while the larger salamander’s paw came up to occasionally tickle her belly making her let out cute little ‘*hips*’ to joy.

Gaia didn’t worry about the abnormally small body of her girl as she happily called her Alice while telling beguiling tales of aland above the ocean which the girl couldn’t see. A land of mystery & adventurer with strong but just people who fought for their own kind due to the dangers left unprotected against. Stories of a wonderland for which the girl, Alice Venus, would surely one day bless with greater potential to grow thus aiding to end the uncontrolled violence.

Unknown to her Alice took this to heart.

Neither was aware at this time that the girl who was just hatched, who preached love of all life in the same vein as her mother, would be the one to eventually plunge the world into war.