Undersea Siege

Excitement. 

That's the emotion I felt as I stood there in the drizzling rain next to Seren at the docks. We were about to dive into the dark ocean, to the long lost city of Aequor. And knowing that we miiiight just die. 

...

Oh right, I should explain myself!

The name's Aiza!

Assistant to Seren, the black mage. Yeah. You might have heard of her. Big black colored vespire, travelling around in her magical carriage, investigating magical anomalies.. most recently the sky crack. I work for her! And learn from her sometimes. Apprentice? Yeah I guess you could call me that, but eh, I do more work than training.

As a training mage, I've been practicing using magic, so that one day I can become the best magical investigator! At least that's the hope, heh. I'm not as talented, and if you'd seen how I use magic you'd think it was strange... But a dream's a dream, and I won't give up on it. I'll go on as many adventures as it takes to get there...

And this was about to be the biggest adventure yet on my journey! I wonder what I'll learn in the long lost city of Aequor!

 

Seren and I hit the waves and as we descended, a few other poufs, vesps and ursukis followed us in.

The back of our bodies began to glow and transform, turning our legs into fins. We were given a spell that temporarily turned us all into ocean dwellers, by Naia.

Naia, the princess of Aequor, asked everyone for help a day ago. Her kingdom was being attacked by monsters no one had ever seen before. They looked like the corrupted pippets from what I've heard, but twenty times meaner, and fifty tons larger. 

Awful things. The Aequorean army wasn't doing well, and they needed any aid they could get.

Naia led us down, swimming ahead into the darkness, her pink bioluminescence showing us the way.

She had a perpetual look of worry since we left. I could understand why. Not many have decided to come down, especially when so much happened on the surface. Helping out foreigners in a dangerous place deep underwater, fraught of dangers was the last thing on everyone's minds. And if you had thalassophobia... forget it!

Thankfully Naia attracted the attention of Seren and I… We lived off of studying and solving dangerous magical situations and mysteries. Following the path of destruction the Elemental Shards made, pursuing the mystery of the Sky crack… Honestly, there's no world in which we'd ever say no to investigating Aequor, the long lost city, and to help their denizens.

 

We swam for what felt like hours. All of us were not used to swimming this deep in the ocean, and a few had fallen behind. I kicked my front legs erratically. It was so weird to not have back legs, let me tell you. Almost like I had to worm my way through the water constantly.

Seren was surprisingly agile in the water, probably thanks to her long arms. 

"Hey, give me your arms" I'd joke at her here and there as minutes flew by.

To which she'd snort, retorting, "Only in exchange for your soul", a common dark joke she used one too many times. Seriously, is that all you've got old lady?

Finally, we started to see the faint lights of underwater structures in the distance. 

Naia's nervousness seemed to lessen, and she spoke calmly as we got closer. "When we arrive, please know the Aequoreans will be… slightly unnerved. Forgive them, they are good people, but have been shaken up by the monsters and… strangers coming to their home." 

She gave a smile, trying to hide her worries. "Please be patient with them."

I really didn't understand why she said that... But I would later.

As we neared, the beautiful obsidian kingdom lurched out at us, its surrounding aqua foliage flaring out like fins, and its architecture stunning, like a giant carved sandcastle made of shells. It was like we transported to another world.

Twinkling lights dotted the long walls, and as we got closer, the damage of the monsters were clear as day.

Gashes. Blunt cracks… The beauty of the castle walls and surrounding buildings took a beating.

It really sucked to see such a nice place trashed like that…

"Unfortunate." I heard Seren say, her eyes lost in thought as she stared at the carnage. "These walls probably weren't touched for hundreds of years. Now look at them."

I grit my teeth. "We'll help stop those monsters…" I mumbled.

 

We went further into the city until we arrived at the kingdom plaza. As we neared it, the damage of the monsters lessened. What looked abandoned on the outer areas of the city, became more bustling and alive as we got to the center. More shops and people appeared, all swimming busily around. The plaza and main castle looked untouched, thankfully. We all sighed longingly as we floated down into the plaza.

Naia looked relieved to finally get us to our destination. She flicked her tail as she looked over us, and like a good leader, she noticed we were all exhausted from the travel. "It looks like our warriors are not ready to receive you all yet. Why don't you all take a gander at the shops in the plaza? Or you may rest here at the bubble fountain…"

She smiled kindly, waving at us. "We have some nice apparel.. great kelp cuisine.. just tell the shop owners that I, Princess Naia is treating you as guests." 

We all perked up at that.

I especially perked up at the mention of kelp.

"Hey, where's your favorite kelp spot?" I asked, to which Naia pointed at a flamboyant stall.

"Oh there, they've got great roasted kelp rolls!" 

I gave an excited squeal and beelined awkwardly towards there, rubbing my pooves together. OH BOY! One of my favorite joys in life was to try out every city's local foods. You can really learn a lot about a place by having a meal in it. In my opinion, it's a view into the soul of the city. Citremery had refreshing, fruity foods, Marshgrave had spices that clouded the senses… Now what kind of soul does Aequor have?

 

At the stall, an old looking Aequorean in a vest was fanning at some rolls over some volcanic rocks. The rocks appeared to be roasting the green rolls, giving them a nice char.

The old man saw me coming and turned his head away, avoiding my gaze.

"Hey mister, I'd love to try one of your rolls!" I grinned, waving.

He grumbled, pretending I wasn't there.

"Err… Princess Naia is treating me. So I won't be paying for the first roll, but don't worry, I'll pay for the second roll!" I took out a few coins I had handy, my snacking allowance.

He growled.

"I don't want your dang landwalker money. Here! Take two and scram." He shot a dangerous gaze, shoving two kelp rolls at my direction before turning his back on me.

"Woah… ok then!" I exclaimed, grabbing for the rolls with my pooves before they floated away.

What the heck did I do wrong there? Maybe the rolls cost more than I thought? Oh wait, maybe they don't take Bellacostan gold…

Wait, was this what Naia was talking about? 

"Forgive them, they are good people, but have been shaken up by the monsters and… strangers coming to their home."

Her words echoed.

I wrinkled my nose as I returned to Seren at the bubble fountain. The vespire eyed me, clearly having been watching from the distance.

"The Aequoreans are very welcoming aren't they?" She asked sarcastically.

"I don't get it. We came all the way here to help out. Shouldn't they be a bit more friendly? Like Naia?" I grumbled.

I took a chomp of the roll and felt the salt attack me. I spit it out, trying to get it off my tongue. "Augh!! How much salt did they throw in this.. a whole barrel?!"

Seren laughed at me heartily, keeling over.

"HAH! What did you expect from sea food?" She wiped a tear from her eye with her comically large claw.

"Hey!!! I didn't know! Why don't you try, huh?" I tried to wave the roll in front of her face. Gosh, why is she so tall?

 

"You two, come with me, if you please! If you are ready, of course." 

 

Seren and I blinked in place and looked back. 

Naia was waiting for us next to the fountain. 

"I'll be signing you off with our 12th division leader. You'll be helping him with investigating and evacuating a village on the outskirts of Aequor." She turned and swam towards the castle, where other groups of Bellacostans were talking with the Aequorean warriors. 

With a nod at eachother, Seren and I followed her. 

 

The warriors were all different shapes and sizes, all with crazy styles of fins and markings. Colorful! Many had scars, bandages, and wore heavy looking adamantine armor. The armor was ornate and like everything else in the city, looked carved from seashells. 

Naia stopped short of an elegant looking warrior. He had long red tentacle hair, wore armor on his shoulders and arms,  and carried a trident at his side. The warrior took one look at us, and I saw his face scrunch up slightly, unnerved. Oh boy. He did not like what he saw.

"Princess…  I appreciate you recruiting some land civilians to help me…" The red warrior bowed slightly.

"But I implore you, I need other Aequorean warriors. Even just one will help immensely." 

Naia considered the warrior's request for a second, but shook her head. 

"Warrior Mithril, these two are magical investigators whom I believe will be able to help you best. They too are mages."

She looked him in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. "Furthermore, I would send a warrior to you if I could, but we need all the forces to stay here at the capital to protect it."

The warrior's mouth moved, about to protest. But Naia continued.

"Need I remind you, your platoon is currently defunct from the last wave of battles. Your main goal now is to help the villagers evacuate." 

"I….Yes Princess. I withdraw my request." 

Mithril seemed dejected after that.

The princess gave Seren and I a nod. "Good luck, swim safe." She blessed us all, and then went to attend to the other groups.

…

 

I coughed awkwardly.

"ERM, so, Mithril was it? Nice to…"

"Please address me as Warrior Mithril. We aren't so close to call by first names." He sharply replied, with narrowed eyes.

"Woops. Alrighty then, Warrior Mithril. I'm Aiza." I gave a hesitant chuckle.

"And I am Mage Seren. It's a pleasure." The vespire next to me bowed.

Mithril bowed in response to Seren, and then shot me a glare. 

"Likewise. It's nice to see at least one of you landwalkers has manners." 

Huh? Since when did Seren learn this long lost city's mannerisms?!

"Hey, cut me some slack, I'm new here, I mean.. you guys weren't even on the map for decades…" I smiled nervously.

Mithril scoffed. "Typical of a Land Walker, knowing nothing of our sea… Perhaps you also don't know our cuisine?" 

Seren interjected. "Oh, she tried Roasted Kelp and spit it out. Totally detested it"

I threw the vespire the stinkiest face I could muster. Why, you old croon…!!!

The warrior gasped, his face comically horrified.  "HOW dare you! Have you no respect for our sea food?! And after the Princess was so generous to host you!"

He was approaching me now, trident pointing at me.

"Oh-if-the-princess-didn't-assign-me-to-babysit-you-land-dwellers-i'd-spear-you-like-a-barracuda! Roasted-kelp-is-delicious,-you-food-waster!" He muttered in a low, dangerous voice, his eyes glinting in elegant rage. 

"Woah woah woah we're supposed to be working together!" I exclaimed, raising my pooves at him.

What's the deal with this guy?! For an aqua knight he sure was hostile!

 

"SILENCE!"

 

King Ericius' voice boomed over the castle plaza, quieting everyone in it. Mithril resumed a chivalrous pose, bowing with all the other warriors as they acknowledged their rulers.  I was almost amazed at how fast he spun around from killing me back into looking like a dutiful soldier.

What came next was to be King Ericius' speech. He and Naia were about to send us all off to danger and mystery in the name of saving the Aequean kingdom. 

Seren and I exchanged serious looks. 

Whatever lies out there, we would be as ready as we'll ever be. 

As we listened to King Ericiu's speech, I still felt the searing taste of the roasted kelp roll on my tongue.
Salty. That was currently the flavor of this city...