Charlie and Aurélie had made it halfway down the beach when the commotion reached them.
"CHARLIE! CHARLIE!"
Eliane swooped down, her wings flaring as she landed in front of them. Her silver hair was plastered against her face, and her eyes were wide with excitement.
Sanza landed beside her a moment later, his tiger form shimmering as he shifted back to human shape.
"Eliane found ships!" Sanza announced. "Under the water!"
"And I floated!" Sanza added, pointing at himself. "I actually floated!"
"Ancient ships!" Eliane corrected, her voice overlapping Sanza's. "Really old ones! There's a whole graveyard of them down there!"
"Ships?" Charlie's head snapped up from his notebook. "What kind of ships?"
"Big ones!" Eliane said. "Huge ones! And submarines too!"
"Submarines," Charlie breathed. His eyes had that familiar gleam—the one that meant he was about to abandon all sense of self-preservation in pursuit of knowledge.
Aurélie raised a single hand.
Eliane and Sanza both fell silent.
"One at a time," Aurélie said, her voice calm but firm. "Eliane. Describe the ships."
Eliane drew a breath. "They're ancient. Really ancient. They've been down there for—" She shrugged. "—a really long time. They're covered in coral and stuff, but you can still see the shapes. Some of them are huge."
"And you found them while diving?" Charlie asked.
Eliane nodded. "I was swimming down, and then I saw them. They're right off the reef."
Aurélie's brow furrowed. "Sanza. You said you floated."
Sanza nodded vigorously. "I was sinking, and then I wasn't! I don't know how, but I was just—" He made a floating motion with his hands. "—there."
Aurélie's eyes narrowed. "Are you certain?"
Sanza nodded again. "Yeah! Ask Eliane! She saw me!"
"He did," Eliane confirmed.
Aurélie's gaze shifted to the water, where Ember was now waist-deep, splashing and laughing without any visible sign of distress. The water lapped against her, and she showed no fear of its effects.
Aurélie's expression flickered—something between curiosity and calculation.
"Interesting," she murmured.
Vesta waded a few steps deeper, strumming Mikasi as the waves rolled around her legs. She called out to Ember, "You still have all your clothes on!"
Ember yelled back, spinning in a circle, "It's so fun!"
Charlie was already moving, shoving the notebook into his satchel. "Show me!"
Eliane's face split into a grin. "This way!" She launched into the air, her wings stretching in the breeze.
Charlie jogged after her, then stopped. He dropped his satchel on the sand, pulled off his pith helmet, and began stripping off his khaki shirt. His boots came next, and then he was running toward the waves.
"They're down there!" Eliane called out.
Charlie dove.
---
Penguin and Shachi broke the surface just as Charlie arrived.
Penguin gasped for air, his dark hair plastered against his forehead. "There are so many ships!"
Shachi nodded, treading water beside him. "Did you see the—"
Charlie didn't wait. He dove under the water, his arms cutting through the waves with surprising efficiency.
Penguin and Shachi exchanged a glance, then shrugged.
"Guess we're going back down," Penguin said.
Shachi nodded. "See you at the bottom."
They dove.
Eliane's wings disappeared, her Lunarian form shifting as she plunged back into the water. Her body moved through the depths with natural grace, her hair streaming behind her like a banner.
Sanza hovered above the surface on his golden disk, his feline features twisted in frustration. His ears flattened against his skull as he watched the others disappear into the depths.
"I'll have to learn how to do more than just float," he muttered to himself.
---
The wreckage stretched across the ocean floor like a forgotten battlefield.
Penguin moved through the water with practiced ease, his eyes scanning the twisted metal. Massive hulls lay on their sides, their structures blackened and cracked. Submarines—ancient things with propellers as tall as men—rested in the sand, their hatches gaping like open mouths.
Shachi swam beside him, his hands tracing the surface of a hull. Barnacles crusted the metal, and coral growths clung to every surface. But the shape was unmistakable—this had been a warship.
Charlie was already examining the nearest submarine, his eyes wide behind his glasses. He pulled out a small tool from somewhere on his person and scraped at the metal, examining the residue.
Eliane swam past, her silver hair trailing behind her. She pointed at a massive hull in the distance, her gestures urgent.
Penguin and Shachi followed her, Charlie trailing behind.
The hull was enormous—easily the size of a small island. Its surface was covered in symbols that Charlie recognized instantly. He swam closer, his heart pounding.
Script, symbols, macrocosmic geometry.
He reached out, his fingers brushing against the ancient carving.
This was a sealing vessel.
---
On the surface, Sanza grew bored.
He hovered on his golden disk for another ten minutes, watching the water for any sign of the others. The waves rolled in, indifferent to his impatience. The sun beat down on his fur.
Finally, he gave up, turning back to the beach towards Aurélie. His disk descended, and he shifted back to his human form as his feet touched the sand.
He walked over to where Aurélie stood, her gaze fixed on the horizon. Her silver hair swayed in the breeze, and her expression was unreadable.
"Didn't want to go with them?" Aurélie asked without turning.
Sanza shook his head. "I don't know how."
Aurélie nodded slowly. "You and I will have to take lessons, then."
Sanza looked up at her, his red hair flopping across his face. "It should be fun."
Aurélie's lips curved—just slightly. "If you say so."
She turned back to the horizon. Sanza followed her gaze.
"Wait," Sanza said, his voice rising with confusion. "What is that?"
Aurélie's expression didn't change. "The Consortium is here."
Sanza squinted at the distant shapes—small submarines emerging from the water, their hulls gleaming in the afternoon sun. "Your friends?"
Aurélie nodded. "Yes."
---
The water erupted as Penguin, Shachi, Charlie, and Eliane broke the surface.
Charlie gasped for air, his glasses askew, his expression one of pure academic ecstasy. "Remarkable! The amount of vessels, so well preserved! It is truly an astonishing find!"
Penguin treaded water beside him, his chest heaving. "Those things are massive. What were they?"
"Sealing vessels," Charlie said, his voice carrying that familiar note of barely contained excitement. "They were part of the containment system. The ancient civilization built them to—"
Aurélie's voice cut across the water. "Charlie!"
Everyone turned.
Aurélie stood on the beach, her arm raised, pointing toward the horizon.
Penguin squinted. "Who are they?"
Charlie's expression shifted. "They are the Consortium. We should go in."
He began paddling toward the beach.
Eliane launched herself out of the water, her wings spreading as she soared upward. Water streamed from her silver hair as she flew toward the beach, her feet touching the sand moments later.
Penguin and Shachi swam after Charlie, their strokes powerful and steady.
As they reached the shore, Charlie pulled himself onto the sand, his chest heaving. He grabbed his satchel and began rummaging through it, muttering to himself.
Penguin flopped onto the beach beside him, his body exhausted. "So. The Consortium. They're the ones who run the library, right?"
Charlie nodded. "Yes. And they're about to meet a very interesting group of people."
---
The submarines grew larger on the horizon, their hulls speckling in the afternoon sun. They moved through the water with purpose, their course set directly for the control room.
Aurélie watched them approach, her expression unreadable. Her hand rested on Anathema's hilt, and her silver hair swayed in the breeze.
Sanza stood beside her, his small form dwarfed by her presence. "Are they dangerous?"
Aurélie's lips curved. "That depends on who you ask."
From the water, Jelly bounced onto the beach, his gelatinous body wobbling. "Bloop! More people! More friends!"
Ember splashed out of the water behind him, her neon-pink hair dripping, her mismatched eyes gleaming. "Friends! I love friends! Josiah, do you see the friends?"
Vesta followed, whining, "do we really have to go in?"
Eliane landed beside them, her wings disappearing. "Are they coming to help?"
Charlie emerged from his satchel, his glasses askew, his eyes wild. "Help? No, they're coming to document! To study! This is a discovery of unprecedented—"
"We'll meet them at the control room," Aurélie interrupted. "All of you. Stay close. And don't touch anything unless I say so."
Vesta, picking up her boots, "Maybe I can play them a song!"
Penguin and Shachi exchanged a glance.
"Touch anything?" Penguin asked. "We've been swimming through ancient shipwrecks for the last hour."
Aurélie's eyebrow rose. "You've been swimming through ancient shipwrecks for the last hour?"
"Charlie," Penguin said, pointing at the archaeologist. "It was his fault."
"It was science!" Charlie protested.
Shachi nodded. "Same thing."
Sanza's form shimmered as he shifted back to his Byakko shape, his tails swishing behind him. "I'm ready!"
Jelly bounced forward. "Bloop! Let's go!"
Ember grabbed his arm. "Race you!"
And then she was off, running toward the control room, her laughter echoing across the beach.
Aurélie raised a hand, signaling the group forward.
"We have company."
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