The ghostly fire spirit looked at the crowd in pity. Tasmanian quoll-men with their spotted coats contrasted against the striped pteroinans. Other creatures that had a soft look to them eyed the pteroinans’ spiny manes in fear. The pungent scent of spices drifted through the air, making Ralangta's apprehension worse. Everyone here was chatting and murmuring. Ralangta’s bretheren, candle cats, hovered about, sometimes flying around the heads of their bigger friends for the fun of it. Curious teenagers peered through the windows next to the front door, which was right across from where Ralangta was at. Nobody seemed to wonder why him and his three companions were here. They looked too joyful to receive the bad news well. Ralangta’s friend, Pakaa bent over to put a square ruby on the floor, and pulled another ruby the size of a cell phone out of his pocket. The shark man nodded.

Ralangta floated a little higher, “May I have everyone's attention?”

All the chatting stopped. Knives and forks clinked as they were put down. Even the candle cats stopped their antics to hear what Ralangta had to say.

Ralangta looked at the two fine earth elementals standing next to his friend for a moment. A hologram appeared two feet above the ruby on the floor, and grew to the size of a bull. Heavy steps were heard as one of the earth elementals, named Tephra, stepped out of the hologram’s way. Tephra sighed.

An image appeared on the hologram. It depicted a strange humanoid that Ralangta had now seen many times over. He could imagine just what the audience was seeing, its geometric form, block-shaped head, jet black face, odd yellow and black coloration and ribbon-like flippers inspired confused expressions among the audience, especially among the earth elementals that looked much like it.

But about half of them looked about, with sweat beads decorating their faces.

Ralangta took notice of this, “Brave Tasmanians, you are very likely wondering why I have come to bother you and show you a poster depicting what looks like a nargun stuffed into a wetsuit. Your question will be answered if you can bear with me and watch this clip.”

Pakaa frowned at the audience and tapped the ruby in his hand.

The hologram then showed this same creature swimming with dolphins in a coral reef, exploring blue temples like an aquatic house cat, seeing what looked like an upside down pyramid, and doing other things that make it look like a modernist mermaid of sorts. All of this happened as an orchestra played in the background. Ralangta observed that some of them looked befuddled. But Ralangta thought he saw one pteroinan raise her spines in suspicion. Everyone else around her watched with opened mouths.

The film ended with a chorus letting out one last note.

Ralangta beamed an ironic smile, “Cute, right?”

The multitude muttered in sincere agreement. That one pteroinan sitting far back expanded her gills in what must be disgust.

Ralangta's smile snapped into a frown, “Wrong! See the proof that this diver has you all fooled!”

The hologram brightened, and its blue light changed to a hideous shade of red. The teenagers peering through the windows broke into a run. Tephra started to gag, and she threw open the door next to her and ran inside. Poor Ralangta squinted in order to avoid seeing what was going on. Some hapless viewers covered their eyes, others ducked under their paper menus and covered their ears, still more couldn't get themselves to move, and instead wore masks of horror and outrage. Spines exploded into position, and so did fur. Some even refused their orders after their waiters skirted the walls to avoid the show. Still more ran out of the restaurant, their slapping of feet barely heard over the noise of the film.

All this sent shivers throughout Ralangta's body.

Ralangta burned with anger, “You see what this sicko is doing? She masquerades as a sweet little robot of a nargun in order to give her human customers a thrill! They're even showing this abomination to children! She has been doing this for months now. By this time, we should have known about it. But due to her still reckless behavior, this threat is going ignored.”

A pteroinan quickly rose from his chair and pointed at Ralangta, “Don't listen to him, everyone. He's obviously lying.”

Ralangta saw the sickly white on the youngster's face, “Take a close look everyone.”

The hologram turned light blue, and then dark green, and then orange. The audience gasped.

Ralangta looked at the fish-man square in the eye, “All these fish here are mascots, sir. They are now being used as symbols for certain things. Do you know that? Did you learn this just now?”

The pteroinan's spines rose up. His face looked like it was dusted with flour.

Ralangta looked past him, “I bet some of you guys know about this and chose not to intervene. I mean look at this male's face.”

The pteroinan stuck his hands in his pockets as the crowd murmured. Seeing some of the monsters shoot dirty looks at their friends made Ralangta smile.

“You guys shouldn't have ignored this, for if she and her accomplices go unpunished, human sin will rise to nightmarish levels, the sewer systems which keep this sin matter out will burst, and we will be subject to the worst sin epidemic since the Darwinian Disaster!”

The crowd gasped at the sight of the graph that appeared on the hologram.

“This can only be stopped by destroying the root before it has time to grow. We can end this diver’s schemes. We can destroy this sin root. We can save ourselves! Let's end man's folly before it's too late!”

The crowd sprang from their seats, uttering cries and shaking fists.

Ralangta flew up over the crowd, “Come on, guys! Get your weapons! Get your money! Meet us at Bijou's portal shop!”

Ralangta flew under the top of the door frame right after the crowd burst out of the restaurant. Ralangta watched everyone get in their cars. He turned and saw his group pile into Omeo's shiny teal van. So he followed Pakaa into the van.

Tephra sat down and looked at a nearby crossbow, “It's so crazy. Those humans found out what we look like. But how?”

There she was. Ralangta's hero was turning white with shock. Now what does a leader do at a time like this?

The van shook a little. Pakaa gave Ralangta a worried look.

Ralangta hovered over to Tephra, “Hey, hey, hey. Don't blanch over this. We're about to hurry into my cousin's portal shop, go into the Internet, and wallop that diver before anybody could realize she resembles you. And you're Tephra the Unconquerable, you'd probably be the one who puts an end to this. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it.”

Everyone felt the pull of the van slowing to a stop. Omeo disappeared from the driver's seat. The doors in the back of the van opened as if by magic, and there stood Omeo with arms akimbo, her stony head glittering in the sun. Pakaa got a running start and jumped out of the van, with Ralangta following close behind him, leaving Tephra to lumber out of the van.

And so the group entered Bijou's Portal Palace. There in the festive-looking building were several full length mirrors with swirling vortexes in them. Beside them was a candle cat that was a spitting image of Ralangta, except for the fashionable hat he wore.

Ralangta moved past Omeo to meet him, “Hey cousin, do you mind taking a whole mob to the Internet dimension?”

Lani confidently mused over her master's teachings as the car drove down the street. She could remember everything she was taught so vividly, and she remembered how her first convention had gone so well. This year, to Lani, shouldn't be too different. Why as she gripped the handle of her sword, she began to think that having another character to guard wouldn't make a difference.

Then, the character next to her, Tashi, nudged her,  “Are you sure you know what to do, Lani?”

“Yes I do, sir,” Lani turned around in the leather seat, “I was just revising my training.”

Tashi's glowing eyes narrowed, “Lani, Abzu is a very likely target. It is very important you don't get too confident.”

Lani nodded, “It's okay, Ambassador, I understand. I already know she resembles a cat, I guess, but so did you and nothing went wrong when I chaperoned you.”

Tashi’s hood did in fact hide what looked like pointed ears. His black face turned gray with embarrassment, “That's because I am an experienced traveler. My cousin's lack of experience makes her first convention all the more dangerous.”

The antivirus sitting across from them coughed, “You know we can hear you, right?”

The Rythulian turned back to Lani, his voice was a whisper, “And the last thing you forgot is that predators go after robots. Abzu is a robot. How else does she live in the ocean without needing air?”

Lani’s eyes grew wide, “I thought she was in a fancy diving suit that somehow gives her oxygen or something.”

The antivirus turned to the character in front of her. The diver creature did the same. For a moment, Lani stared at Abzu’s face, a black mask shape of sorts with dark eyes.

Then Lani heard a voice echo in her head, “What? Did I do something?”

Lani slumped in her seat and thought that explained plenty. With the way Abzu looked, it was enough to make Lani wonder why so many protagonists came out so freakish looking. The head was at best described as a block colored dandelion yellow, with the face being a mask stuck in it. On the sides of the block were cones that appeared to be made of dark glass, and on top of that same block were things that might be cat ears. With an inquisitive chirp, Abzu turned to face the window behind her, and the golden design on her back was shown, where, in the case of a human diver, an oxygen tank would be. Lani simply couldn't understand just why this dull black creature had to be colored yellow in various places, such as the shoulders and knees, or why some of those spots were in the shape of triangles, like the design on her back. Whoever designed Abzu was probably a geometry nerd as well as an abstract enthusiast.

Tashi turned his hooded head, “Abzu?”

The android quickly turned her head, her large feline eyes looked straight ahead.

“You remember what I told you, right?”

“Yes,” Abzu turned around, and crossed her legs neatly.

The whole group felt the jerking stop of the limo and heard the driver, Sandy, barking insults. Lani heard bleating followed by barking from outside. When she looked, the antivirus saw a user in the form of a sheep bouncing about on the street, causing cars to swerve and drivers to curse. A pack of wish dogs chased after the sheep. One leaped onto the hood of a car near the far side of the street and made a metal thud that echoed. To the antivirus, the streets suddenly seemed to be more dangerous than usual. Lani watched as political thugs blocked a user's way. False antiviruses sprang in front of other netizens, flashing fake corruption warnings in their faces. Cimmerians stalked even more innocent users from the shadows. Lani then struggled to get herself to think about her training. After all, Lani reasoned, she was only seeing users getting harassed, not characters. Lani turned to Tashi and looked at his robe. The cloth was colored crimson, and bordering it was a pattern of diamonds and other geometric shapes in the color of pale orange….or was it dandelion yellow?

It was when the buildings near the street stretched into skyscrapers the limo finally reached its destination. The car jerked to a stop, and Sandy hopped out. Lani watched Sandy's hat bob along as its wearer approached the passenger door. With a grunt the door opened next to Drake and a fusillade of camera flashes barged right in. Drake beamed a smile and stepped out, and the cameras seemed to dim at the sight of the antivirus and his bronze uniform, but Lani could see the camera flashes multiply after Drake helped Abzu out of the car. Tashi immediately got out of the limo after Abzu, and Lani was the last to exit, with sword in hand. As Lani walked, she scanned the crowd in search of suspicious activity, but every few seconds a camera would burst in brilliant white. Lani looked above both Tashi’s and Abzu’s heads and saw the building's sign. Written in mauve letters, the sign read:

WELCOME V.G. LIONS AND NEWCOMERS TO THE 2016 CONVENTION

Lani saw just how stiffly the diver walked, how she gripped her upper arms in discomfort. Tashi turned to Abzu, “Once we get this over with, we can go home.” Like herded sheep, the quartet reached the double doors of the tan building looming over them. So far, Lani did not see anything that might be a threat. Just fans trying to get Tashi and Abzu's signatures.

They stepped in, and the atmosphere got quieter much to the characters’ relief. Inside, the atmosphere was cold enough to cause the hairs on Lani’s arm stand up on end. The lighting was comfortably dim. Inside the vast room were many characters, and from Lani’s observation, they went by the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’. There were groups of anime characters at one corner, a herd of aggressive Amazons at another, and another group which consisted of oddballs who ruled over the worst of fandoms. Drones buzzed through and over the crowd. Memers and other users were there also.

A lavender drone zigzagged through the groups in front of Lani. Once it was twenty feet away, it had enough space to make a beeline towards Lani. Lani noted that it was colored lavender. This caused Lani to smile.

Tashi stepped in front of Drake, “Good afternoon, Connor.”

The drone's lens brightened, “Good afternoon, Ambassador,” and took a gander behind Tashi's shoulder, “And I see you brought someone new.”

“Yes, yes. This is my cousin, Abzu.”

Abzu stiffly walked over to Connor.

Connor tilted downward a little, “Pleased to meet you, Lady Abzu.”

Abzu just stood there for a moment. Lani raised a brow until Tashi nudged her.

“Pleased to meet you too,” Abzu bent forward.

Drake walked to Lani and nudged her, “That was so awkward.”

Lani rasped, “Not too awkward. And besides, this is Abzu's first time here.”

A sharp whistle pierced Lani's ear. She lifted her head to see Tashi standing stiffly.

Lani walked to the waiting characters with Drake by her side. His chest was puffed and he almost marched. Abzu gave Lani an embarrassed look.

The drone said, “Now don't you worry, my lady. There are other newcomers here too. Let me take you to your spots.”

Connor turned and flew to the crowds in front of the group. The red carpet again had users skirting its sides. Again, Drake led the two characters, and Lani took the back end. Lani gripped the sword in her hands, feeling its leather handle. It was when they were approaching the groups that all of a sudden, Lani could tell just what some of them were saying.

A male user cupped his hands, “Hey cat girl, where's your tail?”

Lani felt beads of sweat form on her face. Cackles rose from the crowd.

Some old user pointed at Abzu, “You see that triangle on its back? Illuminati CONFIRMED!”

Lani gritted her teeth. She eyed the group of anime girls up ahead.

Believe it or not, one of them snatched Abzu's hand, causing Abzu to think, “Let go of me.”

The anime girl's pupils shrinked, “Why should I?”

Lani pointed her sword under the girl's nose, “Because she said so. Do what she tells you or else.”

The anime girl let go, but somebody started whistling. Lani forced herself to stride. She kept on scanning the crowd for anyone worse than the anime girls they just encountered.

She saw Tashi turn to a scarf-wearing user.

“Stay away,” the princely creature warned.

Drake's sword blade came into view up ahead. It pointed at a fanart file standing to the left of the carpet. The rest of the trip to the front of the room wasn't too bad. Some of the characters gave sad looks to Lani's group. Others smiled and greeted the newcomers. Still more were giving what were hostile glances. Maybe those guys only wanted to look for a second but weren't impressed. Other, more obscure creatures fell to Tashi's feet, and begged to be recognized by such a celebrity. They had to be driven off the carpet by Drake. Up close to the stage, the place was less crowded. The drone turned to the left, toward who must be the other indie characters.

Tashi's robe grew cherry red with curiosity, “To whom are we to be next to?”

Connor answered, “You'll see.”

“Flora?”

“No.”

“Zephyr?”

“No.”

Lani took notice of a humanoid figure. He had his back turned to Lani, so she could only see his dark gray boots and his red cape. The man's arm lifted into view, and in his hand was a sword that looked like Lani's. The man's shoulders were more taut than sailing ropes.

Lani slid her sword back in its sword box. The long weapon slid into the tiny box as if by magic. She felt for a better weapon, in case something happened.

“You see the man with the cape? You're next to him,” Connor’s voice edged with firmness.

Tashi snickered. He threw back his head and burst into laughter.

Connor made a sighing sound.

Abzu turned to Lani. Lani just looked back at her and shrugged.

Tashi wiped a tear, “I'm sorry. You must have made a mistake here, Connor. I mean, what do we have in common with creatures like him?”

Connor's lens turned blue, “Hmm… Well, you three come from scenic worlds, have wordless stories put into your game worlds, and all three of you are indieans.”

Tashi grunted.

Connor said, “Look, just try and talk to him. The last time I checked, he's no psychopath,” and Connor zoomed off.

Tashi sighed. He walked, with Drake by his side, and Lani and Abzu behind him. Lani saw another figure like the first one, except for the hood that obscured his face. He was a sword-wielder too.

Tashi cleared his throat, “Are you indieans like us?”

“Yes, duh,” An antivirus stood next to his caped character with arms crossed.

The caped man turned around, revealing a teal face, “Sakwa, I thought you were supposed to listen to my orders.”

The antivirus’ hair sported a weird sheen, “Sorry, boss. Just thought these people were lost.”

The man gave his antivirus a cold stare, “Don't call me boss.” then he turned to Tashi, “I'm sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself. Everyone calls me Drifter.”

Tashi lifted his head, “If it’s anybody who should be sorry it's me. My cousin and I don't have much in common with you.”

This “Drifter” was dressed like a ninja, with a red cloth over his mouth. He squinted, as though studying the Rythulian and his friends, “What do you mean?”

Tashi’s voice quivered, “Well, it’s that we aren't as violent as you.”

Drifter blinked slowly, but his antivirus stamped a foot, “How can you say that when ONE of you is no better?”

Lani felt a jolt, but she didn't know why she reacted that way.

Drifter lifted up a hand, “We don't know if that's true or not.”

Lani’s face felt hot with anger.

Tashi's tone agreed, “You're obviously hiding something. What is it?”

A voice blurted from the crowd behind Lani, “Shut your faces, everyone! Look who's coming on the stage!”

A woman in a periwinkle dress pranced on the stage in front of everyone, and with a swing of her arm, she grabbed a microphone, “Wow! It's so crowded in here, and I bet that's because we have so many newcomers! And to all of you greenhorns, welcome to IGN!”

Lani clapped and cheered along with everyone else. Except for the three indeans. She looked around and thought she saw something slinking behind everyone.

The lady on the stage continued, “The first one we'll show is the aquatic counterpart of the famous Rythulians, the Diver of Abzu!”

Lani looked up at Abzu and hurried over to her. She grabbed the diver's hand, “That's you, now let's go.”

“Okay...” Abzu answered.

Lani almost pulled at Abzu's hand. The diver was that slow. First, Lani focused on the stairs leading up to the stage, then she looked for anything suspicious in the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, Lani saw Tashi fall to the floor.

Drifter's sounded throaty, “Watch out!”

A blur sped past Abzu, faster than Lani could identify the interloper. Abzu emitted a shrill whistle and then fell on Lani. Her hard head almost collided with Lani's

Someone at the other side of the room screamed, “Cimmerians! Help!”

Soon the assembly jumped into a panic and the cliques scattered like hunted rabbits. Screams echoed back and forth in the building. Dark gray blurs loped about like hunting dogs. What smelled like dust irritated Lani’s nose. As Lani put Abzu down and manifested her satchel, she saw the two swordsmen corner a black thing. Tashi hurried through the crowd and spread out his robe with his injured cousin behind him.

Drake hoisted Abzu onto his shoulder, “Lani, we can't heal her here. We have to get out of here.”

With a hasty flick of her fingers, the satchel vanished back into code. A cimmerian in ashy clothes flew at Tashi, but his much bigger opponent swung at him. Something hit Lani in the back and sent clouds of ash flying everywhere. Someone wedged their foot into Lani's side and fell on her.

“Abzu!” Drake’s voice cut through the chaos.

The person who tripped over Lani got off with an apology. Lani clawed at the slippery floor.

Once she got up, she yelled, “What happened?”

Nobody answered. The ash clouds revealed a kneeling Drifter. Lani ran over to him.

Drifter let out a series of coughs, and then he breathed, “One of them took her. My antivirus abandoned me and they took her.”

Lani helped Drifter up. She didn't think gloved hands could be so cold, “Do you know where?”

Drifter pointed to the far right corner of the building. Lani caught a glimpse of a yellow block.

Lani turned to Drifter, “Thanks,” and she ran through the crowd. She dodged seven people, but didn't see the one that sent her flying to the floor. Lani landed on her arm, her shoulder was racked with pain. The antivirus tried to get up, but someone again tripped over her. Lani wrenched herself free and raced to her feet. There was no sign of Abzu.

Lani began to heave. It was as though everything was closing in on her, the shrieks, the Cimmerians’ cackling, the chaos of it all. This kept up until,

“Put me down!”

Lani turned and saw Abzu's black body slung over a Cimmerian's shoulder. Lani zigzagged her way until Abzu was in front of her. Lani grunted and sped up until she was close to getting kicked by the tall Cimmerian. She pulled out her handgun and pulled the trigger. Another, smaller dust cloud exploded from the Cimmerian's back. Abzu let out a steady squeak. Her captor howled and went down like a great cedar.   

“Abzu. Abzu. Abzu!” Tashi elbowed through the crowd and knelt at the giant's shoulders.

Abzu stretched out her arms. Lani grabbed one, and Tashi the other. Both pulled and pulled until Abzu slipped out of the Cimmerian's grip.

The giant coughed and lifted his head, “You're too late. Someone's already poisoned her-”

Lani pulled Abzu off the giant, “We already know that.”

Lani slung Abzu on her shoulders and looked about for the door. With all the characters trying to get out, only the top can be seen. Lani grunted and made a beeline for the door. After a moment of gliding past frightened anime girls, she heard the rasp of someone shouting, “Get them!”

With heart in her mouth, Lani galloped alongside Tashi. To the door, to the door, that command echoed in Lani's head. Her arms squeezed onto Abzu's hard form until they cramped. There were so many characters at the door, Lani realized that Tashi got behind her just so she and Abzu could get through. Lani squeezed past the fleeing characters and landed a step on the red carpet. That step was a misstep, and in a moment, Lani felt like she ran into a carpet covered wall.

“Come on, get up,” Tashi breathed out.

There was a grunt, then something heavy landed on the antivirus and her robot friend. Except something caused that robot to slip out, “I was hoping you would be a better opponent, but of course, you young uns normally lose.”

Lani's head shifted Tashi onto her back, then shot straight up. In front of Lani was a Cimmerian holding Abzu like a puppet. The air around them was gray with dust. The Cimmerian cackled.

Lani gripped the carpet, “No.”

The Cimmerian's voice edged on a reptilian tone, “Yesss.”

“No. No!” Lani pushed against Tashi but the heavy weight wouldn’t budge.

The Cimmerian looked up and down Abzu's body, then traced his claw on her chest. A yell sounded from behind and the weight became much lighter. The Cimmerian gasped and Abzu fell with a thud. A bronze blur slammed into him and sent him crashing down to the carpet. Nothing was on Lani anymore.

A cloth covered hand touched Lani's, “Get up while everyone's inside.”

Lani got to her feet and hunched over to get Abzu.

Tashi stepped in and grabbed Abzu and ran off toward the limos, past the Cimmerian that lay still on the carpet.

Drake got off the foul creature and looked at the small circle around him and Lani. He pointed his sword at them and they all fled into the coming darkness, with their yelps echoing in their wake.

“Come on, get in here!” Sandy called.

Tashi's scarf slithered into the limo. The door was wide open. Lani and Drake looked at each other and made a run for the car. They ran and ran and stopped. Drake hurried into the car first and Lani immediately followed, slamming the door behind her.

Sandy's face was covered with sweat. He turned back to the windshield, and Lani felt the car's pull. As Lani looked out the window she watched as characters and antiviruses poured out of the auditorium. She couldn't see any trying to go home injured. She sighed in relief, but still muttered a prayer.

“Sorry, what was that?” Drake was collapsed on the long leather seat.

Lani rubbed her head, “Nothing.” but then she gasped, “Oh no. Abzu. Are you okay?”

Lani turned around and saw Tashi cradling Abzu's head. As Lani leaned in closer, raspy breathing echoed in her head. The gash in her side had a scarlet tinge surrounding the tear.

“Quick, Lani. The satchel,” Tashi's robe dulled with worry.

Lani made the gesture and the white bag appeared. She grabbed it and twisted open the lock, threw open the cover and pulled out a roll of cloth. Lani rose to her feet, and threw open her arms. In a few steps, Lani walked over to the opposite seat and the limo hit a bump.

Lani collapsed on the diver's legs, “Sorry,” This time, she got on her knees and inched her way alongside the seat. Once she was close to the diver's side, she unrolled the cloth and pressed a section of it on the cut. She whispered up a storm. The cloth began to turn brown and its fresh scent was replaced with the smell of dirt. Lani lifted the cloth, and all that was left was a thin line.

Tashi gasped, “There's still a cut. What will Inet say?”

“Tashi, you can let go now,” Abzu lifted her head.

Lani's eyes grew big and in an instant, she wrapped the android in a bear hug, “I'm so sorry. I won't lose you again.”

“Oh come on,” Abzu’s voice heightened with annoyance, “I'm not in the mood.”

The whole party just stood in shock. Pretty obviously they had not really thought things through, even though they spent quite a while on attending rallies, buying weapons, and discussing just what they will do to this obnoxious diver and her creepy accomplice.

Now, they have been teleported to a low hill somewhere in a park, or what they think was a park. The grass looked much like strips of paper, blocky and white. The trees that topped the bigger hills sported leaves that appeared to be made of lapis lazuli. Their trunks came in every shade of blue and white. Plenty of the entities here were geometric and came in a variety of pastel colors.

Pakaa looked up at Ralangta, “Uhh, what now?”

Ralangta closed his mouth for a moment, “Oh. Well, since we’re going after a ‘video game character’, we should be somewhere near either the fanart biomes or the search engines.”

Tephra sputtered and shook her hands in frustration, “What- in a language we can understand, please!”

Ralangta sighed and puffed a halo of smoke, “We can either find a zealous goofball of a monster that lives in a forest to help us, or we can teleport along with the users.”

“Users?”

“The creatures that represent humans who use this place.”

The crowd muttered in unison, “Ohhh.”

Ralangta realized he may be the most experienced among them, “Yeah. Since it's pretty clear I’m more familiar to this place than you guys-”

“Actually,” a little voice interrupted, “Me and my copains have came here before.”

Ralangta raised a brow, “Ah, so can you handle a little tourist-guiding?”

“Uhh, we might not be as experienced as you.”

Ralangta frowned, “From the looks of it, we're just going to have to stick together, and the nearest place we should go to would be the forest up ahead. Now, if the kookiest of the creatures there try to give you nonsense, show them that you're not here to lalgambook around.”

The flock of warriors attempted their menacing smiles and raised their weapons. Ralangta couldn't help but shiver as he gazed upon the ragtag bunch. That only lasted for a second. Pretty soon he was smiling like a maniac too, “Alright, let’s get that cat girl.”

The candle cat spun around graciously, with his followers marching behind him. Up the hill they went, toward an especially thick thicket of what resembled thin pine trees. The trees varied little, and the inhabitants were easy to see. These beings resembled cat-people in red Oriental cloaks. One who stood only four feet tall came up to the candle cat floating higher than him.

The fan art creature said in a voice like a chime, “Oh hello, strangers. Do you wish to-”

Ralangta’s tail flared, yet he kept his voice level, “Oh we can't stay. We're looking for a criminal.”

The robed creature looked up in curiosity, “Oh are you sure you're not looking for a companion?”

Tephra’s eyes widened with horror and she pointed, “Ohh... Those little monks look a lot like that diver.”

Inside, Ralangta’s spine tingled in agreement.

Ralangta grew stern, “Yes, we have plenty of company. Now tell us, do you know where a black and yellow android and her obnoxious pets might be?”

The robed creature seemed to have shrunk a little, “Uhh….no?”

Ralangta heard whispers coming from his army. He knew that everyone found the robed figure’s response rather suspicious. That was good because he thought so too.

Ralangta looked straight at Tephra and Omeo, “Get him.”

The dwarf emitted a squeak but was soon grabbed by the two earth elementals. Once the two elementals got hold of the struggling shortstack, they glared at everyone else square in the eye.

The candle cat turned to face the others, which were all muttering and shaking in fear, “You oddballs are clearly hiding something, so obviously you know where this diver is. Tell us her whereabouts now or suffer the consequences.”

A voice in the nearby bushes shrieked, “Wait!”

Out of the bushes ran another robed creature, but his robe was white and gold, and he was taller than the others. He collapsed at the army's feet, “Please, I beseech thee. Don't hurt him. I-I-I can take you to someone who might help you.”

Ralangta turned to the two elementals, “Alright, let go a’ him.”

They hesitated for a moment and put the little robe-wearer down.

Ralangta then returned to the cooperative creature. His expression softened a little, “Take us to this ‘someone’, and we won't stay too long.”

The white robed creature got up, turned around, and led the army further into the forest to what may be the biggest pine tree in the forest. Its trunk was two-and-half feet wide. Their guide took out a knife from his cloak and made a long cut in the pine’s trunk. The bark around the cut chipped off, revealing a vortex of light blue.

The robed creature pointed with the edge of his cloak toward the portal, “You are looking for a young blonde named Patricia Cerf. If I were you, I'd only let the general here go first.”

Ralangta flew through the portal. He came to a place that felt colder than the forest. It was a hallway, beige and gray in color. It was deathly still, and there were hints of lavender… along with the smell of ink and dusty paper.

At the end of the hall was a door labeled with a sign. In thin red letters, the sign sported the words, “PATRICIA CERF”. Ralangta drifted to the door. He looked about and saw no one around. The candle cat then phased through the door. Inside the room was a white desk with IGN in big sky blue letters. Behind the desk sat a skinny blonde in a business suit colored raven black. Her face was partially hidden by a cyan hologram she was examining.

Ralangta said, “Is Patricia Cerf here?”

The hologram disappeared in a wink of light. Two hazel eyes stared back at Ralangta. For a moment, the candle cat almost forgot she was a human and not a predatory bird.

“That's who I am. Now why are you here?”

Ralangta took a breath, and said, “You know about this scandalous diver-”

“Oh don't get me started about her! That fool is going to get the worst of it!”

“So can you tell us where she is? If you know her whereabouts, we’ll help you, since we appear to share the same goal.”

Lani opened the door, and she and Drake were hit with the smell of tomato sauce. Every table seemed to be full. Organetto music added an Italian flair to the atmosphere.

Drake turned to the man near the door, “Yeah, we need a table for two.”

The waiter pointed to the table at the center of the restaurant. Lani and her friend had to walk past several tables. Lani noticed that so many of the creatures here were the tourist type. Not the glowing humanoids browsing on recipes, the strange animal people in funny clothes. One spotted weasel looked in Lani's direction and took off his glasses. Lani's face grew hot and she looked at the ABZU T-shirt she was wearing. Why did I choose this outfit? The antiviruses sat on the hard chairs.

Lani saw the spotted creature turn to his sharky friend, “Who'd want to be caught wearing that T-shirt? I mean, isn't that ‘Abzu’ or whoever a… I dunno a seal?”

A waitress came to the table. She carefully handed out the menus, “I'll be serving you today. Can I get you anything to drink?”

Lani eagerly took up her menu, “I'd like a Pepsi, please.”

Drake frowned, “Just get me some orange juice, please.”

Once the waitress was gone, Lani shoved her face into the menu.

The raspy voice of a pteroinan sounded from Lani's left, “Why that diver is a notorious cassowary! People have been blabbering about her since someone caught her like a snake in a hole.”

A spotted cat pointed to an earth elemental sitting across from him, “And get this, it looks like you, but in a wetsuit.”

The earth elemental gasped. Lani looked to see tears welling up in her eyes.

Lani slapped the table with her menu, “Drake, everyone's talking about Abzu.”

Drake put down his menu, “That's garbage. Abzu is a sweet little girl. The thing these guys are talking about is a jerk.”

Lani's face must be as red as a tomato, “So you didn't hear that guy comment on my shirt?”

“What, you think the world revolves around you? ‘Cause it doesn't,” Drake said to Lani.

“Just leave me alone,” Lani resisted the urge to shake her head.

The waitress appeared next to Lani, “Are you guys ready?”

“I'll take the… whatever number 12 is,” Drake pointed to something on the menu.

The waitress pulled a notebook out of her pocket, “Yes, yes.”

While she was busy writing that down, a spotted cat, which Lani remembered was called a quoll, leaned to the candle cat next to him, “Did you hear about this diver robot? Heard it's another monster. And not the good kind.”

The waitress wore maroon lipstick, “And what about you, ma'am?”

Lani looked down at the menu, “I guess I'll take the plate of spaghetti.”

“Oh the most popular dish then?” The waitress's pen scribbled on her notebook.

Lani's face took on the color of a tomato, “Yes.”

Then the waitress politely asked for the menus and disappeared among the browns, whites, and reds of the restaurant. It seemed like the moment she was gone, the gossip started up again.

“But don't you think it's weird with all the triangles in the game?” A nargun pointed at his friend, “I mean it's enough to raise an eyebrow.”

It was hard to hear what his friend had to say, over the clinking of spoons and forks, “Can't we talk about this later? Now seems like a bad time.”

“No, dude. This thing looks exactly like us. Somehow, the humans found out, and I bet they're up to no good with that knowledge.”

“Hey, Lani,” Lani turned to see Drake, “I'm sorry about what I said earlier.”

Lani put her arms on the table, “It's fine. So did you get Abzu to her usual self yet?”

Drake looked at his reflection on the polished wood, “Oh yeah. She recovered pretty quickly after the first couple days. She's always that sort. Bouncing back up right after getting knocked down. She's as resilient as a nargun.”

“Interesting. So why does she have that triangle on her back?”

“Because she was made by the same thing that made those tetrahedrons. You were told about those, right?”

“Yeah...”

Drake looked at the side, “Well… That's about it.”

After Lani got back from dinner, she wondered how many of the Internet's tourists talked about her friend Abzu. It was almost enough to keep her up that night.

Again, the car shook. Metal rods rattled. Again, Ralangta asked the nargun in front of him, “Are you okay, Tephra? You've been awful quiet.”

Tephra did not lift her head, but only moaned. Again, the passengers screeched as the dragon car met more turbulence.

Tephra said in a harsh voice, “I can't get that cat girl out of my head! The turbulence here and the fact that we're heading to her disgusting ocean is making me want to vomit.”

Ralangta was hit with a flashback, “Oh. Well, don't worry. Just think of what you're going to do once we get there, like everyone else.”

Tephra moaned.

Pakaa nudged Ralangta’s left side, “I don't think that helped any.”

Ralangta said ironically, “Ha, ha.”

The car stopped and its carrier landed lightly with a soft thud. Tephra jumped up and made a beeline for the door, bursting her way through. Ralangta could hear her gagging.

Ralangta streamed outside in a hurry, “Wait, wait, wait! Tephra! The desert doesn't deserve that, the OCEAN does!”

The nargun turned and rushed by the dragon and the car stuck on its back, but didn't make it. She skidded in the sand, buckled to her knees, and she vomited.

Pakaa pointed at Tephra and said, “Ralangta, are you trying to make this worse?”

“No,” Ralangta said, “I'm trying to serve justice.”

Ralangta floated down the side of the Chinese dragon. A few yards away was Tephra lying on her side, with her back facing him.

Ralangta did not move any closer, “Come on, Tephra. Let’s turn that freak into foil-”

The nargun only struggled to all fours, retched again and flopped back down.

Ralangta snorted. Seeing that Omeo was now poking her head out, Ralangta ordered, “Omeo, you should stay with Tephra.”

“What?” Omeo’s ears stuck up in surprise.

“You heard me. We can't have her on the trip if she's ill, and we can't leave her defenseless out here in the open. Who knows what kind of nasties could be lurking here.”

Omeo snorted, crouched down and hopped off the dragon. With a thud, she landed on the ground and went over to kneel over her sister. To Ralangta, Omeo guarding Tephra looked like a kangaroo had just taken down a nargun. And as she bent over just to touch Tephra’s shoulder, Ralangta smirked at his imaginary sarcastic Australian guide saying the roo was going for her prize. Waves crashed against the shore that wasn't too far from here.

Ralangta turned to see some of his companions walking down the metal ramp, “All right, here's where it's going to get ugly. We are going into the territory of the diver and we know that she is a monster who may have all sorts of tricks to pull, but that's why we brought our weapons as well as our sheer bulk. But who knows? Maybe this will be easy. Maybe she doesn't have a whole army protecting her, but this does not mean we shall go easy on her! This is our chance to finally deliver justice in centuries, so let's get in the ocean and not get blown out of the water!”

They just stared at him in shock.

“So,” a nargun pointed to the ocean, “We're supposed to go in there?”

Ralangta snorted, “Yes. I don't think she likes to leave her “beloved ocean”. You may think it’s stupid, but how shall we get to the enemy? Do you really consider sparing her?”

The crowd raised their weapons, “No!”

“That's what I like to hear. Now let's go.”

Ralangta headed toward the sea, and became conscious of the aqua collar he wore. He could hear the marching and the clicking of armor and spears a little behind him. As the posse got closer, with their footsteps ominously clacking on the stone port, the waves grew louder as though it were trying to scare them off. Ralangta, as a fire spirit, had to fight the urge of getting away from the water. He got sick of feeling the water droplets land on his face, so he sped up and within a second, the sea held him captive. For him, it felt nasty. All that cold water rushing over and around him. Accidentally, the candle cat opened his eyes and again, he jolted. The water was clearer than he imagined. All around him was a beautiful teal, and Ralangta finally figured out how to control himself, and turned to see everyone else sink down to the floor with him. The earth elementals’ eyes were like goose eggs and all of them sunk into the water like paralyzed rocks. The samebitos and the other fishfolk, however, were doing fine, though they also looked uncomfortable. Some had uneasy frowns as they breached the water. The noise here was higher pitched than normal. Pakaa was soon right next to him. His clothes were not fluffing out everywhere unlike the clothes some of the land lubbers wore.

Unfortunately, Ralangta had to call out and fill his mouth with saltwater, “Ptuh! Ick! Come on! This way!”

By that time, everyone was quick to get their act together. Ralangta’s next moves were almost by instinct. He swished about in his new aquatic form with ease, and this encouraged him to swim to the dark blue shape not too far from him. He could see a hole in the wall of rock. This had to be the diver’s fortress, low lying, unsophisticated to look at, but possibly dangerous.

Upon closer inspection, this fortress did not have a well-guarded door. There were only a few kelp plants in the stony hall. Even the sand lying at the bottom of the seabed was suspiciously harmless. All this anticlimactic decor was sending chills up Ralangta's spine, and raising spines he never knew he had.

Ralangta looked back at the vigilantes filing into the corridor, “This may look pathetic at first, but don't let your guard down.”

Lovely, but almost ghostly choir music drifted to their ears at the same moment they met an explosion of green at the other end of the corridor. Ralangta gasped at the sight of rock formations covered with sand like a dusting of sugar. Strands of kelp drifted like strings of emerald, with spots of sunlight making what colors there were to see vibrant against the shady environment, and most importantly, fish of hues of rose and yellow were scattered about among all of this beauty. Bands of starfish and shells as colorful as the rainbow littered the floor.

It was a deceptive kind of beauty and Ralangta knew it, “Don’t let all this distract you. Let’s find the patriarch and matriarch here.”

And so they split up and searched the area. As the multitude of the vigilantes checked behind rocks and kelp, Ralangta was following paths of sand to see where they would lead. It wasn't too long when he came across a warm patch of sunlit water when he saw that this really will take a long time. Looming before them, carved into the basalt was a big crack or cavern of sorts, as dark as the despised diver herself. It obviously led somewhere else, and it was goading them to come inside.

Ralangta said, “Harumph, that's not going to intimidate me.”

The gentle voice of a Tasmanian nargun said, “I’ll come with you.”

With the lightweight earth elemental at his side, Ralangta quietly drifted into the darkness. His tail, now a bioluminescent fin, illuminated the cave, and allowed the two to see. Dull thuds behind Ralangta suggested that more of his companions were coming along also. His heavier companions grunted and noisily broke the stalagmites that got in their way. Ralangta and his Tassie companion dodged the stalagcites they simply couldn't bother swimming under. Up ahead, in front of the cave’s end was a stand of kelp. Ralangta wasn't happy to see the kelp sway back and forth.

The heavyweight nargun eyed the kelp and walked outside of the cave. The kilt he wore trailed behind him like a scarf. Ralangta followed and saw that they didn't need to go through the kelp. There was a shady area that wasn't fenced with the slimy plants. The mainlander nargun walked down the crude stairway, with his kilt making him look more ridiculous on the way down. Then he slipped and fell into the pit below with a heavy thud.

Ralangta looked down and asked him, “If you narguns don’t have anything to hide down there, why do you even wear those skirts?”

The nargun pulled himself off the ground and shooed away the green eels that tried to swarm his face, “I don't know, but if you're suggesting I should start acting like a hippie, you're out of your mind.”

And then the male got up, “And for the record, they're called kilts.”

An eel darted toward the nargun’s flat face. He yelled and with a chop of his hand turned instantly to stone, he killed it. The eel disappeared after sinking to the floor.

The nargun looked up at Ralangta, “I don't think there are any traps here.”

“Yeah, I don't see any shark or diver here,” Pakaa suddenly appeared from behind the kelp. Ralangta turned to see the little shark-man standing on a rock in front of the kelp. He stood with his hands in his pockets, and his toothy frown showed that he was rather bored.

“What?” Pakaa asked, “My group and I searched everywhere in that kelp forest and we didn't find either.”

Ralangta turned to see the Tasmanian nargun swim ahead of him.

She called out, “Guys, over here!”

Ralangta excitedly said, “She must have found something. Come on!”

The candle cat darted upward, over the shelves of rock.

One of the mainland narguns called out, “Hey! Wait up!”

Ralangta reached the last shelf, which was bright and covered with white sand, and made a beeline for the nargun that got ahead of him through a hole in the rock.

Within a second of coming into the next area, Ralangta was in awe. He and the Tassie were floating over a bizarre scene. Fifty or so feet below was a circular pool of what appeared to be a liquid colored pale turquoise. In the center of this baffling ‘sea under the sea’ was a dark blue spire with a giant pink coral growing out of the spire’s domed top. Strands of pink kelp grew out of the edges of the pond below, and schools of pale, plate-shaped fish cruised about.

Ralangta heard the shuffling of rocks and a harsh voice saying, “Well, can we get down?”

Ralangta turned to see the kilt-wearing male blocking off the hole. Pakaa darted past the male nargun’s right side, and stopped next to Ralangta.

“Pink kelp? Are you serious?” Pakaa crossed his arms in disgust.

Out of the corner of his eye Ralangta saw a cloak of raven black color narrowly glide past the coral spire. He realized it was a manta ray. The graceful ray turned and slowly flapped its wings as it flew over a wide bridge decorated with blue tiles. The bridge led from the left side of the hexagonal base of the spire to a big rectangle cut into the rock surrounding the lake below.

Ralangta's Tasmanian comrade took notice of the big gate and swam toward it, and Pakaa followed.

Ralangta turned back to everyone else, “If none of you can swim, try to scale the rock. I think our enemies are hiding in that ruin over there. Anyone who can swim, just follow me.”

The heavy nargun stepped onto a stone jutting out near the hole, and skirted down a natural staircase. The Tasmanian narguns that were waiting behind him swam out along with their candle cat companions. Pleased with the efficiency of his lightweight followers, Ralangta turned around and led the group toward the gate. But then, a white face appeared right next to Ralangta's, and there was another, and there were more. These fish came close to blocking Ralangta's way. Their swishing tails stirred the water around the candle cat to where it felt as though he was getting slight shoves all over. A thought at the back of his head nagged the fear that all these pesky tangs would throw him off balance.

“Shoo, shoo!” someone in the back cried, as more fish followed the group and evoked uneasy groans in some of the narguns. Ralangta growled at the unwelcome tangs, and began to speed toward the door. Ralangta hoped to escape the school only to collide face first into an especially big tang. The fish’s smooth scales felt nasty to Ralangta, and in a fit of piranha-like frenzy, Ralangta bit at the fish until it disappeared with no gory remains. As Ralangta breathed heavily through the gills on the sides of his neck, he watched the tangs flee from him and his group, who also looked frazzled. Some of them somehow got themselves floating in odd positions. One candle cat floating away from the bunch was upside down.

Ralangta ordered, “Get inside! The diver might be in here!”

Ralangta made a beeline for the colder darker hallway, into a tunnel filled with golden figures painted onto the blue walls. To his left was another big doorway, but it wasn't as big as the gate. Ralangta guessed that the diver was in there, so he headed toward it, and gave a nod to his troops.

The hallway in here was brighter than the first one. In this hall, there were earthenware jugs strewn about on the floor, some of which were covered with sand. The candle cat clicked to get everyone going. Ralangta cautiously scanned the area while making a few quiet swishes of his tail. Then he and everyone else heard the growl.

Knowing that it was a pteroinan growling, Ralangta's eyes lit up with glee.

Ralangta beamed to his group, “One of those guys must have found something.”

Ralangta swam toward the hall’s end gleefully but in a split second, his heart jumped. In a split second, the diver swam in front of the hallway. The growl turned into a bark. A few behind Ralangta screamed. Ralangta glared at the diver’s neat form, this diver was a disgusting immoral, and yet she looked as angular and pretty as a new car!

Ralangta made an angry snarl and darted toward the hapless android. The diver shot up and Ralangta crashed instead into a cold wall of orange and white. With his vision blurring, Ralangta looked at the face of a giant carp-- no, that's a pteroinan. The fish-man had his mane of spines raised in disgust.

“Nice going, Sparky. That filthy seal’s gittin’ away,” the pteroinan pointed to an opening in the stone ceiling for Ralangta to see a shrinking black mass in the sea.

Then the pteroinan made a beeline for the opening, and Ralangta's vision cleared. Ralangta followed suit, with his tail swishing furiously and his excitement increasing as the mob behind him exploded into yelling. As he shot out of the hole, he ignored the coral reef below and kept his focus on the diver. She was fifteen feet away and, much to Ralangta’s delight, that distance was shrinking.

But out of the blue, something gray shot from the left and nabbed the diver, probably carrying her to safety. The pteroinan flanking Ralangta growled and quickly turned to the right. Ralangta followed, and with a steering of his tail, he was soon shooting out in the other direction. The shark soared over rock formations covered in pink coral. He was definitely faster than his partner, for Ralangta and the others weren't gaining up on him. The steel gray monster of a fish was going for the much lighter surface of the sea, toward the rocky wall surrounding the reef. The shark then shot through the water.

Ralangta's tail muscles already felt on fire. He was only a few yards from the surface.

The pteroinan next to Ralangta barked, “Here it comes! Get ready!”

Ralangta was in the sunkissed air, now feeling much less pressure. Seagulls flew past him and squaked at him. The candle cat looked down at the tan rock wall as he flew over it. And in a second, he collided again with the sea. Under Ralangta and the others was a plateau covered with shamrock green grass. The shark could still be seen, but he was a long way off. Ralangta wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the silhouette dive down below.

Then a column of rock manifested from the blue. Ralangta felt that everyone behind him stopped, so he did the same. The rest of the mob, however, raced past the tower, sending water in Ralangta’s way, thus pushing him and his posse closer to the tower. When the last troop of parlevarians disappeared over the edge, the angry hum of the vigilantes grew faint.

Rough hands noisily brushed against porous stone, “Commander, is this something we should be worried about?”

Ralangta turned to the nargun behind him and saw that the structure was cylindrical in shape and composed of blue bricks. The structure reached above the water’s surface.

One of the fish-men swam down from behind the tower and pointed at the top, “There are sentries up there, sir.”

Ralangta remembered the rest of his vigilantes. He gasped, “Well we ought to get rid of them,” Ralangta began to swim up, “Come on.”

From the looks of it, the tower had to be around 40 feet tall, with the first 18 feet under water. When Ralangta came up to the warm water close to the surface, he stuck his head out, and for a moment was bobbed around by the ocean. Looking up, he saw the dark dome that was likely the roof, and just under it, big windows that allow the sentry to see in different directions. With those windows being tens of feet over sea level, Ralangta couldn't tell just how many there were. An orange and white bunch of spikes surfaced a stone’s throw from Ralangta’s right.

The pteroinan looked up at the tower in dismay, “How do we get up there without being seen?”

Ralangta said, “We have narguns with us, don’t we? They can just earth bend some stairs,” Ralangta looked up, and saw that the windows were only separated by thin iron bars, “Or we can get inside.”

A slab pulled itself out of the brick, and a pale hand slapped onto its wet surface. With a grunt a gray head surfaced, and then came the nargun’s white chest and other arm. The earth elemental looked up and proceeded to get himself out. Judging from his pointed snout and long straight ears, Ralangta identified him as a dog-faced nargun.

The nargun’s face wrinkled, probably looking at the windows.

Ralangta looked down and saw that the other fifteen were only six feet from the surface, “We need a doorway.”

His companion grunted, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. Bricks shifted noisily to create a hole big enough for most of the group to slip through. Ralangta slipped in first, and saw that the spiral staircase was made of stone. Glass lanterns decorated the walls here and there, but none of them were lit. The nargun’s shadow threatened to close off the sunlight, so Ralangta led the way up the stairs, providing the light and warmth for his troop. The dog-faced heavyweight thudded shortly behind Ralangta, while clicking of claws and slapping of shoes trailed behind. The stairway might as well be in a cave, for the place had a musty smell and it was damp enough to make Ralangta uncomfortable. Luckily, the hallway was not narrow. Steps grew quieter, swords and other weapons quietly slid out of their hiding places. A faint blue light barely shone up ahead.

Ralangta backed up with the folks behind him and whispered, “Get ready.”

Ten steep steps later, Ralangta and his two followers were face to face with a metal door. As Ralangta looked through the square window, he saw holograms and two humanoids examining those holograms. Both of them appeared to be too distracted to notice the mob at their door.

The nargun smashed open the door, and Ralangta burst into speed. He slammed into one guard, with his teeth on the man’s throat. Ralangta’s opponent punched him off before Ralangta could ruin his vest. The candle cat was catapulted over the frenzy and landed into a pile of documents. Papers flew everywhere. Dazed, Ralangta phased through the paper stack, and saw weapons scattered everywhere. Fish folks and quolls and narguns and even fellow candle cats have finally ganged up on the guards. In fact, Ralangta couldn't see them.

From the middle of the conflict, someone pleaded, “Stop, stop!”

Ralangta burst from position. Looking down from the ceiling, Ralangta realized that now they were fighting a pteroinan, “Stop!”

The crowd separated, and they looked about in confusion. The sentries were nowhere to be seen. One quoll-faced nargun blushed in shame and helped a darkened pteroinan to his feet.

“I may wear dark clothes, but you novices are complete fools for mistaking me,” the pteroinan glared at the group.

Ralangta wasn't sure how the sentries escaped. They likely disappeared, like the fish he killed, “We'd better get out of here. Don't use the windows to get out.”

A dog-faced nargun lifted his hand, and a breeze stirred up the papers to stack themselves, quietly rustling. Ralangta heard the shuffling of rocks and he turned to see that same nargun create a hole just beyond the doorway. He then gestured towards the opening. Ralangta hovered over to the bright hole, still conscious of the rest behind him. Feeling the warm sunlight, Ralangta looked down to see that there was only water to land on, therefore, it was safe to jump.

So, Ralangta gave a nod to the troop waiting behind him, and he blazed an arc of light. He soared several feet away from the tower, and within a second, he was again a fish in the teal ocean.

What wind there was blowing over the ocean did little to blow off Lani’s anxiety. From where she stood on the boat, the ocean looked endless, with every corner stretching toward the horizon. Then she and Drake dove.

With their uniforms already turned into wetsuits, Lani only needed to put her hands together, point them away from her, and thrust them away from her while saying, “Mataa.”

Lani felt a warm vibrating at her wrists, and saw that her wrists produced a teal glow. The glow and the vibrating moved up to her hands, and the teal light lengthened into a metal spear. As she held the spear up, Lani wondered if there was a better way to do this task.

Drake’s metallic flippers flashed past her, his spear being held close to his chest, “Come on, Lani.”

Lani sighed, and started kicking. She held her lightspear the same way Drake did. Lani then saw a dark shape a good distance from them. It was shaped like a triangle, with one of its points pointing downward. Upon closer inspection, the bizarre structure was found to be covered with lime green algae and kelp. Just then, Lani heard a beeping sound coming from her right forearm. After stopping to look at it, Lani saw a red triangular outline, with a blinking yellow dot on its left side.

“You put a tracking device on Abzu?” Lani looked to see Drake checking his right arm.

Drake pointed toward a jagged area in the structure’s left side. He then swam toward the tear, with all the long skinny pieces of metal spewing out of it.

Lani snorted and followed. This pyramid, or whatever, was massive. After getting within fifty feet of it, Lani saw that it couldn't fit in a football field. It also seemed to be machinery of some sort, for Lani could see large vents and other fixtures under the algae. Lani shivered as she followed Drake toward the hole in the pyramid’s edge, for there were gigantic column-shaped metal pieces surrounding the hole. Many of these rods were positioned like columns looming over the antiviruses. They weren't much of a problem for Lani. Still more were positioned like felled trees, and others just looked like boulders that blocked Lani’s way.

None of this stopped Drake. To his comrade, he might as well be a shiny seal. Drake narrowly arched over one obstacle, bounced of another, and made daring sharp turns, while Lani struggled to stay far away from every steel scrap. Lani saw that Drake was getting further away. With her heart beating against her ribs, Lani pushed forward. Getting faster was terrifying, for Lani could barely control herself as she careened past the metal. Now twenty feet away from the hole, Lani saw that the hole was big enough for an orca to go through. Lani feared that at the rate she was going, she’d never get there in time. Lani saw Drake situating himself behind a big metal rod. Lani wondered why was he stopping when someone was in danger. Finally, Lani was a few feet behind Drake.

Drake checked his forearm again, “Yup. She's still in there. But still, keep your spear.”

Drake quietly swam up and hopped off the rod, with the high-tech spear in his hands. Lani looked at the hole in front of them. Inside was a dimly lit room or hall, with all its industrial features dusted with flora.

Lani knew what to do next. She swam along with Drake toward the edges of the hole. Lani hid behind a shred bordering the hole’s left, and Lani saw Drake’s bronze flippers disappear behind a piece opposite her. Laying a hand on dull steel, Lani peered over the shred to see in the battered hallway. There was no threat, or so it looked.

Holding the cold metal spear, Lani pushed herself up and over her hiding place. Drake's head appeared over his metal shield. Lani felt for the button for the spear’s electricity, and turned into the dark hall. The spear’s blue blade produced a soft blue glow.

A yellow object caught Lani’s eye. It lay two feet under Lani, it was partly hidden by the algae growing on the floor. She pointed her spear towards it, “Drake,”

“What?” Drake swam in.

Then he saw what Lani found. Drake arched down and picked it up. His eyes grew big at the sight of the familiar gold design.

Lani then swam a few feet down to investigate a smooth black object in a clump of growing kelp. When Lani picked it up, it felt slippery, like glass, and it was in the shape of a cone. It didn't take long for Lani to find the other cone. Lani then noticed that these cones were hollow. She looked inside, and saw what looked like a firefly in each one. Whoever left these behind knew about the tracking devices.

Drake put a hand on Lani’s shoulder, “It's fine, Lani. Perhaps one of her pets cut them off.”

Lani’s green eyes were sharpened pencils, “And just how likely would that be?”

“Lani, I'm saying that Abzu is probably somewhere around here,” Drake drifted away from Lani, down the hole’s left hallway.

Lani looked down at the floor beneath her, the evidence of the crime. Lani frowned and used her hands to form a box shape, and a metal box appeared. She typed in the code on the box’s keypad, lifted the lid after hearing the click and grabbed the cones and the scrap of shell. Lani halfheartedly put these things in the box. Was there any way to find out just who was responsible? What if one of the fish saw something? If Abzu was still here, she sure had been quiet.

Lani turned around to the dark corridor behind her. After closing the box, Lani caused it to vanish in a wink of light and lazily swam up and then toward the creepy metal room. If she forgot her spear, she wouldn't be able to see. Lani’s part of the corridor only stretched ten feet until it made a 90 degree turn further into the pyramid. In this part, there were no plants growing here. This place didn't have much features, though there were some bits of metal floating around. Lani poked one piece of what appeared to be piping and watched it spin around.

The antivirus looked toward the murky end of the corridor, “Abzu?”

No answer. To Lani, this was ridiculous. Abzu doesn't seem like the type to hide.

A weird scuttling sound chilled Lani. Perhaps a crab had gotten in the factory. Or whatever this place is, Lani eyed the debris and the mist in front of her. To Lani, The crab would have to be a particularly big one. It simply couldn't be Abzu, she couldn't act like a crab.

That was when two glowing eyes cut through the murkiness. Lani began to see its bulky head, its thin body, and its stick legs at the bottom. Lani thrust her spear at the virus’ head, thus killing it and causing it to disintegrate. Lani immediately turned around and kicked her legs to get out of the hall, turned at the corner and stopped at the hole.

“Drake!”

Drake came out of his part of the hallway. His copper colored eyes shone with worry, “I don't think Abzu’s here anymore.”

Lani resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “That means we shouldn't be wasting our time here. We better get going.”

Lani swam out faster than she got in. She could hear Drake’s flippers rapidly swishing behind her. Once she was out of the hole, Lani positioned herself to swim up, away from the structure and its debris. The journey upward felt like it was taking forever. The pressure all around Lani steadily decreased. Lani stopped, and tilted her head to see Drake swimming up. Soon he was a few feet in front of her.

Lani then noticed all the colorful fish dotting the top side of the pyramid. Up here, where they floated above the tetrahedron’s edge, long strands of kelp can be seen here.

Lani gazed at the giant pink corals here, “So what does Abzu even do anyway?”

Drake smiled, “She had to come along and restore the ocean. She basically had to turn this big factory off because it was literally draining the life out of it.”

Lani frowned, “So what's going to happen now that Abzu’s gone?”

“Well… Let's not find out.”

Drake flutter kicked his way up. Lani immediately followed. When they started, the light blue surface was twenty feet away from them. Lani began to feel slight pushes from the surface waves. The boat drifted a little, and was pretty much a dark pentagon. Lani angled herself to swim to the boat’s deck. She and Drake swam in a semicircle to get to the center of the deck, and now, very close to the surface, the two antiviruses pushed forward and grabbed the edge of the deck. Drake pulled himself out of the water first. Lani grabbed at the metal deck, and pulled herself out. She pulled her knees on board and stayed in a kneeling position after seeing Greenbrier. Drake walked over to the seasoned antivirus.

Greenbrier was the antivirus with ash gray skin and a pine green uniform. She stood with her arms crossed. Lani could barely get herself to look at her mentor’s hard face.

Drake walked over to her, “General, we were too late.”

Lani again made the box shape and caused the evidence box to appear in front of her. The general’s heavy steps sent adrenaline to Lani’s veins. Lani held up the box with shaky hands and imagined her mentor’s scowl as rough hands picked up the box. Lani then looked up at the sound of a metal creak. She watched as Greenbrier picked up a cone. Greenbrier’s forehead wrinkled once she turned the cone’s broad end toward her.

She put the cone back in the box, with a sad shade of gray coloring her face, “Once we get to shore, you both are coming with me. We're going to launch an investigation

The hologram crackled again. The samebito in the hologram said, “When we saw that strange figure, we veered away from the coral reef to investigate. We past that tower you guys ran into, passed over a stretch of sea grass, and we found another kelp forest.”

Ralangta squinted, “You're sure it’s not the same forest?”

“Most certain!” the samebito shook with excitement, “This one's just as green as the one we went through, but we found four statues situated at the forest’s rocky barriers.”

Ralangta’s ears turned more to the hologram, “And did you find anything?”

“Yes. You remember those two earth elementals we left behind? We found them both, and the nargun had caught the diver. We're asking you to come see it.”

Ralangta raised a brow, “Uh, I'm holding a small string. Why don't you just show me the diver?”

The samebito frowned, “All right,” the camera shifted to the left, making a crackling sound as it was being moved. It was set on a hard surface with a thunk, and the image focused. Now Ralangta was seeing a diver making a chirp at someone on the left. Its tormentor growled and a pale hand twisted the diver's head in direction to the camera. From its shoulders down, it was bound with white rope, which tightly held together under the creature’s attempts to escape. Ralangta stared at the light border of the android’s face. Its face was strangely narrow.

Even though the hologram was green, Ralangta noticed the diver looked a bit orange, “Have you checked its back?”

“We don't need to,” Tephra's voice barged in, “It's got a triangle, just like the one we saw earlier.”

“I don't care, just let me see.”

Two pale hands appeared on the diver's shoulders. All of a sudden, the diver let out a squeak as its face changed to ropes. The rope-covered mass turned and went down with a thud. The gray hand of a samebito appeared, and grabbed at the ropes and pulled them downward. Glaring back at Ralangta was a triangle, with two of its points situated just under the light colored shoulders.

Ralangta's eyes grew big, “That's not the diver. The triangle's too low.”

“What?” Tephra barked. The diver suddenly disappeared and landed on a hard surface with a dull clank.

Tephra's face appeared, “There's more than one now?”

Ralangta muttered, “I think s-”

The little machine next to Ralangta sprouted a blue hologram. The nargun in the hologram lifted up a dark humanoid figure, “General, we're beginning to thi-”

And all around Ralangta, holograms are popping up everywhere, seemingly with the same message. All appeared to be saying, “Many divers.”

Two shadows lengthen on both sides of Ralangta, “Ralangta we- woah!”

Kurata, the taller pteroinan, clapped a hand on his forehead, “What are we going to do?”

Ralangta glanced from one hologram to another, “I'm not sure, but I think this calls for a change of plans.”

Kurata swam over toward a machine to Ralangta's right, “There could be hundreds of them, Ralangta.”

Pakaa shook his head, “We're going to be here a long while.”

Ralangta's ears buzzed with the holograms’ chatter, “Yeah. That's what it looks like.”

Ralangta eyed the wall of kelp a little ways behind him as his soldiers pestered him with questions, “Everyone quiet down. It's obvious what we are to do with these creatures. They're going to have to be eliminated.”

Two rough fingers rapped his right shoulder, “Ralangta?”

Ralangta noticed that there were ghostly fish scales stuck on Pakaa's fingers, “What?”

Pakaa gave a worried frown, “Suppose these divers have important information?”

Ralangta frowned. The callers stayed silent, waiting for him, “You have a choice. You can either get the divers to spill some info or make them suffer for what they did.”

Tephra sputtered and said, “What about-”

Ralangta's tail glowed red, “Forget the law Tephra, there's no law here. Do what I commanded you!”

The holographic crowd gasped.

“Guys, even if none of them did produce their brood yet, keep in mind that these temptresses don't have souls, and besides, a year isn't too long here, so I bet they all have a nest of unnatural freaks stashed in this bowl of slime.”

Kurata muttered something to himself. Ralangta turned to the kelp again, with his ears pricked toward it. The kelp swayed side to side, not revealing any sound of a threat. No hum of motor boats, no obvious swishing from diver fins, nothing.

Ralangta turned back to see all the other holograms vanishing, all except the first one.

Tephra's face still took up the whole camera, “Well, ain't you coming?”

Ralangta eyed all the projectors in front of him, “I don't know how far away you guys are. What am I going to do with all these projectors?”

Tephra grunted, “You do realize you have a potential guard for all these projectors.”

Ralangta raised a brow, “Oh yeah, who?”

A deep grunt sounded from near the kelp. Ralangta turned to see Kurata situated next to the dog-faced nargun and that Tasmanian he followed earlier. It was strange to see that all three of them wore similar clothing, with their black garments edged with little white marks.

Kurata feigned surprised, “Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my friends. The Corinanite is Lunta, and our lovely Parlevarian is Renu.”

Okay. Doggie = Lunta. Diver's sister = Renu. Got that. Ralangta thought.

Kurata smirked like a car seller, “Since we need someone to guard our collection, I was thinking we could leave these two up to the job.”

Ralangta frowned, “I like your idea, but why should we do this your way?”

Kurata cocked his head, “Ralangta, think about it. Candle cats and fishfolk may be fast, but we don't have their granite shells. We can't deflect bullets like they can. And besides, I know how to get information out of monsters like the one we're about to see.”

As Kurata stared at Ralangta, Ralangta let that soak in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he thought--

“Well, I guess that makes sense,” Pakaa nodded slowly.

“Indeed, it does,” Ralangta said absentmindedly.

Then Ralangta smiled, “Like Kurata said, you narguns are staying here. We have a meeting to go to.”

As Drake headed down the hall, Lani looked up at General Greenbrier, “What are we going to do once we find out where she is?”

The general looked at her soldier square in the eye, “We already have the investigative party working on that. For now, you are to go with Drake to the 12th unit.”

Lani's hair seemed to have lost its luster, “Yes, general.”

Lani spun about, and walked down the hall after Drake. Her boots made echoing thuds as Lani kept her eyes on Drake and the few other antiviruses walking ahead of her. Her skin felt cold, her heart thudded. It was hard not to think about what may be happening to Abzu right now. One of the antiviruses held the door open for Lani.

“Thanks,” Lani smiled at the youth.

The door closed with a metal thud. The room was about as big as a football stadium. Antiviruses coming through different doors headed toward the guardian lying in the middle of the room. Drake was quite a distance away, his already changed uniform replaced his footsteps with slight slithering sounds. Lani got into a jog, now able to see who was going to lead the mission. Malthus stood straight up on the guardian's back, looking in the direction Lani had come from. Once Lani got to the creature's tail, she was immediately dwarfed by it. The guardian's stony wing lay rigidly on the floor like a ramp. The antivirus veered away from the dragon's side to the tip of its wing. The sound of foot hitting stone was quiet. The way it was angled made the antivirus feel a little off balance. She scurried up the wing, avoiding the carved in designs as she went.

Malthus gaze followed Lani until she sat next to Drake, who, strangely enough, had a smug smirk on his face. Metal rattling met Lani's ears as the double doors rolled open. Bright light shone through, almost obscuring Malthus’ silhouette, “You know the rules. Always follow my orders.”

The crowd murmured, “Yes, sir.”

Malthus turned and crossed the bridge connecting one block of the guardian's body to the other. His footsteps noisily indicated he reached the head. Once he gave the whistle, the guardian took off. It glided out into the desert sky, causing dry air to rush past Lani and everyone else. It soared, with its head pointed toward the heavens until it adjusted itself again, and flew westward. Lani turned her head to see the sloping ruins they were leaving behind. Old sandstone buildings began to peter out, ruins gave way to Rythulia's many sand dunes. Wind whistled in Lani's ears as Lani squinted at the sight of red dots sliding down the largest dunes.

Above the horizon, a gray segment soared over three short buildings. That was when the air blew harsher at Lani, drying her eyes more. Things she could barely see rushed into blurs. What clouds there were to see sped faster towards the east. One rookie yelled in surprise.

They must have flown tens of miles over desert terrain when they reached the ocean. The guardian began to slow down when Lani could only see ocean around them. Lani felt the dragon turn, preparing to make a circle before stopping in hover mode. It did feel something like a relief for the guardian to stop.

Malthus crossed the bridge again, and now stood in front of the unit, “There is a ragtag bunch of these trespassers trashing the coral reef. We chose a landing spot away from the coral reef in order to plan ahead. No Rambos. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now let's get a move on, shall we?”

Malthus pointed toward the block behind the one they were situated, the first block that didn't have wings getting in the way. The antiviruses in the back row quickly rose to their feet and, in single file, crossed the planks connecting the two blocks and dove off the edge, like cormorants. The next row followed, and the row behind Lani. It wasn't long until Lani had to spring to her feet. She sharply turned and followed Drake down the guardian's back to the designated diving spot. For some odd reason, the antivirus behind her marched closely behind her. Once Lani got to the edge, she moved over to the right. Sure enough, the burly antivirus rushed over, knelt down, and catapulted herself over the edge like a bulldog trying to get the mailman.

Lani frowned and jumped off the edge. Sure she was rude, but it could be worse, Lani pointed her arms in front of her, staring down the dark sloshing waves until she broke through them. Again, she felt her outfit turning lighter and felt the cloth spread to her hands as it changed into a wetsuit. Once she realized she was upside down, she kicked her feet and arched upward until she was parallel to the pinkish seafloor. Lani kicked her feet faster. All around Lani were antiviruses scattered along the seafloor, forming a loose circle. Lani swam until she situated herself between two officers. They stayed where they were at, but it only took half a minute for a tall black figure to crash through the waves. Lani summoned her spear at the sight of him, and she watched as rods of teal light appeared from the others’ wrists. The figure floated in the center of the circle. The commander lifted up his wrist and a hologram appeared.

It displayed a map of the reef, with burr shapes representing the trespassers, “If we're lucky, they'd be too busy with their trashing the place while we launch a surprise attack. The eight in front of me are to position themselves at the east edge. You guys on my left are to situate yourselves at the south edge. The group behind me goes to the west border. I'm taking the eight on the right with me to the north border. Now get a move on.”

Divers rose from their positions. Lani turned to her right, and the antivirus next to her did the same. Lani's group appeared to be swimming single file. Lani turned to the rocky wall in the distance. It was hard to see, but it was visible. Her group swam further and further away from the group, and when Lani looked again, the rock wall had faded so much, it was almost impossible to tell its outline from the rest of the sea. The antivirus in front of her turned right. All the other divers did the same. Lani caught on and kicked her legs hard, only to spin herself around like a top. She waved her arms and plunged one into the sand and a second later, Lani was covered in a heavier material. Upon thrusting herself up, sand fell off her. Three yards beyond her, the black suited antiviruses swam to different places, they situated themselves three or so yards from one another, and formed a loose crescent. Again, Lani swam up to them and stopped between two particularly distant antiviruses. A beep sounded from Lani's right wrist. After looking down, the light green dot on her wrist emitted a hologram, which showed a map of the eastern quarter of the reef. The eight dots situated far away from the reef, the wavy edge of the reef, and the cluster of burrs were all there. The antiviruses around her slid to the rocky wall like snakes. Lani immediately followed, and the troop silently swam toward the rock wall. They were about sixty feet away from the wall when Lani made the sign for “spear” and summoned her weapon. The water here was rather bright, and around room temperature.

The tan boulders had little coral on them. The group, now armed, ascended to the lowest point of the wall, only a few feet under the surface. Lani signed for “invisibility” as the rest of her troop did so. Everyone faded out, including their spears, except for the glowing green marks on their wrists. One by one, each antivirus arched over the wall. Lani swam over behind the third set of green lights to do so. Once all of them got over the wall, they again lined themselves up so that they were side by side, although separated by a stone's throw of water. The ground underneath them turned brighter and brighter. A rock jutted out of the center of the coral-filled pit like a shark's fin. Lani pulled the spear a little closer to her chest. They were now twenty feet away from the edge of the pit. An orange figure jutted past the rocky outcrop. Its head turned in the group's direction for an instant, and it dove back down.

Probably didn't see anything, Lani smirked.

“Did you see that? That thing had a big ugly mane,” a voice rasped from Lani's left.

“That's not important. We're very close to the reef now. Get ready,” A deeper voice said from Lani's right.

What beauty there was to see was ruined by the scattering of broken coral. Lani’s heart sank as she viewed the torn-off pieces of coral as scattered beads from a ruined bracelet. The antiviruses stayed at the rocky edge for a moment. Lani saw striped creatures that resembled lionfish. Like city gangsters, they roamed the shallow bowl, looking for fish to kill. Their gigantic spines, unfriendly faces, and leather clothes made Lani bristle.

These creatures, vicious as they looked, probably only stood five feet tall. They were as scrawny as the farm kid who accidentally walked into a sports bar. Four of them swam towards the edge, and like maritime lions, investigated the sandy floor beneath them. To Lani, they were menacing pin cushions lurking fifteen feet below.

The predators moved closer to the edge. Sand came in small clouds.

A voice to Lani's right rasped, “Now.”

Lani snapped her fins into action. She pressed the button and her spear buzzed at the pin cushion. In a second, the monster disappeared, Lani was flying toward sand. She snapped upward just in time, and she shot herself close to the surface. Lani turned, and one of the thorny thugs appeared out of nowhere. The lionfish slammed into her, sending the antivirus somersaulting away from the fight scene. Everything turned into a blur, spears buzzed and lionfish-folk yelled and hissed in response. Lani's side throbbed. She grasped at water flowing through her aching hands. Her heart leaped. Lani thrashed around, and she turned only to be narrowly missed by a hissing intruder. Their cries grew more distant, but then Lani saw a few of them standing on the floor, suffering blows that knocked them down into the sand. Lani looked down, and there was the outline of her spear in the sand. Lani dove down, her side screamed in pain. An orange blur flew over the spear. A cloud of sand billowed in Lani's face. Lani kicked her feet harder, and plunged her hands into the floor, wildly grabbing for the metal rod. She frantically shifted small piles of sand and pushed away heavier sand dunes. Something hit her hard. She fell into the sand, and two feet pressed against her back, but the feet suddenly disappeared. The antivirus sprang up from the sand. She glanced down at what looked like a shark-man, now undulating away from a blue charge.   

She looked in front of her, and a gray diver charged toward her like a bull. It showed its teeth and uttered a maniacal laugh. Lani stopped herself in confusion, and the monster tackled her. The antivirus wrested her arm from the creature's grip and landed her fist into its face. The intruder squealed and let go. Lani grew scared and swam off, thinking the creature's face felt like Jello.

A harsh beep sounded from her right wrist. Lani careened away from the center of the reef, and sent her turning to the edge behind her. The beeping would not cease. Lani saw a black face eight feet below her. The monster grunted and Lani kicked her feet harder as a spear whizzed past her heel. She could see faint blue charges fleeing toward the edge, fish folk lay dazed below. Closer and closer, Lani flew over the reef's limits, over the coral that grew at the very edges of the bluffs. Figures flickered in and out of visibility like dying light bulbs. The ground below loss more and more of its pink color. The rock wall appeared, and so did its noticeable dip. Antiviruses swam over the dip. Lani hurried after the last antivirus. She scraped against the rock, it nearly stuck uncomfortably to her suit. When her chest was over the other side, she gripped at the rock's rough edges and propelled herself forward, the cloth on her hands pulled off the rock's pricks. Lani even swam down until she was a foot under the dip. Antiviruses muttered as their invisibility deactivated. Some panted, others let their limbs dangle below them in exhaustion. Lani didn't enjoy remembering the sting of salt water.

One antivirus swam up to Lani, “How badly does it hurt?”

Lani could only feel the sting, “Not too bad,” a chirp came from Lani's wrist. Lani saw Jada, the other antivirus, looking at an arctic blue band on her wrist, “We're going back anyway, I'll get it checked out once we get back.”

Lani was right. The leading antivirus was soon waving his hand and turning to the left direction. Water swished in Jada's wake. The resulting waves pushed lightly against Lani’ chest. Jada looked back, Lani kicked her legs and slowly followed. The line then turned a little to the right, the rocky wall shrunk in the distance. Lani could feel the slight pushes on her shoulders, she slowed up, but then, she thought of something and turned her head. That was when she saw sand billowing 20 feet behind her.

Lani remembered something, “Jada, Jada.”

“Not now.”

Lani looked back. There was another billow of sand, this time it was ten feet closer.

Sweat beaded on Lani's face, wetting her skin. Her legs moved rigidly. Lani's eyes were big with fear, yet she kept her neck taut, she wasn't going to look again.

Then something hard clasped around the antivirus’ ankle. Lani stretched out her arm in panic but she got sucked into the sand and had a hard landing. She immediately pushed herself up, but she only saw billowing sand and a flying spear before a hand forced her back down. She couldn't see anything. She kicked at the creature above her. The monster squealed, and its hand disappeared from Lani's head. She propelled herself forward, flying past a spear like a rabbit soaring past a hunting arrow. All the antiviruses joined in on the fight. Lani turned her head, and saw a tan figure hunched under the antiviruses’ spears and blows. They all looked like black cats ganging up on a mastiff. Spears bounced off the monster, only getting the creature to throw aside its dwarfed assailants. It uttered an annoyed chatter, as it sent poor Jada flying.

Finally the stupid nargun rose to his feet, his bare white chest just stuck out like a sore thumb. Lani dove toward the nargun just when he laughed at one of his victims. Lani took out a dagger and slammed into the intruder’s side. He bucked upward, hissing. Lani turned the dagger, thus causing the creature to scream louder. Lani could barely see, but his hand seized her neck and she grappled onto his lower ribs, but he tore her off. Lani held onto the dagger, and when all was a blur, Lani slashed at a thick object. Another shriek exploded out of the lanky creature's mouth. Now Lani was sent sailing through the water. The speeding vault of blue surrounding Lani burst into tan, but that faded into black.

Ralangta burst into laughter, “What an ugly robot!”

Tephra's face was three slits, one of which produced the moan of a little dog. Some of her scales raised as though she sighed through them. Omeo blinked slowly and gripped the robot's left arm in a slumping grip.

Pakaa laid his hands on the sides of his face, “Her face is so narrow! Her eyes look like those of a… What's that square-faced dog called?”

Ralangta snickered, and in a squeaky voice, “Tibetan fox.”

“Tibetan fox! That's it!”

Tephra, Omeo, and Kurata wore slight frowns, not too amused with the two friends’ rambunctious laughter.

Tephra closed her eyes for a moment, “We got the android, now what do we do?”

“Isn't it obvious? We interrogate this cassowary,” The fish man's face was close to the shivering robot. He continued, staring downward, “Come on you lazy seal, what are you hiding?”

Ralangta snapped out of his laughing fit, “Hey, hey, hey. I'm the one who makes the decisions here.”

Pakaa shoved his hands into his pockets, “Yes, yes, that's true.”

Kurara gave a very straight frown, and tiptoed off since his feet were on the ruin's floor.

Ralangta slowly came up to the diver, who was still bound with ropes, “Listen, cassowary. You can get out of this by taking us to your...” Ralangta winced, “... pyramid. It's not that hard, we know that you still know where it is,”

A hyperventilating voice went off in Ralangta's head. The diver's head turned this way and that as it made twittering noises.

Tephra and Omeo’s faces wrinkled with worry.

Ralangta didn't like how fast the hyperventilating sounded, “Calm down. I just asked you to take us to the Harvester. Please cooperate.”

The diver's head shook like a chihuahua’s, “I'll do it. Just let me go.”

Kurata stood up straight, with hands behind his back, “She doesn't seem trustworthy.”

Ralangta's firey tail shrank to normal. In Maori he said, “Untie everything except for the wrists.”

Tephra and Omeo glanced at Kurata.

Kurata stopped smirking, “What?”

Tephra squeezed the diver's orange shoulder, “Move aside, dude.”

Kurata waltzed back to where he stood moments before, in the more shady area of the ruin. The two earth elementals quickly circled the android, their backs were nearly pressed together. The fishfolk crowding around Ralangta leaned in at the sound of rope sliding against rope. Pakaa walked away to the left, eyeing the gaping hole and at the two earth elementals. Once the two sisters separated, the diver creature was on its feet. Its hands were bound together. Each earth elemental tightly gripped a rope end.

The diver’s ankles were parted awkwardly, “Hey, you said you were going to untie me.”

Pakaa had his arms akimbo, “Technically, we did.”

Ralangta continued, “We just didn't free you. Now get going.”

The diver's head bobbed like a pigeon's, “Oh nonononono. I can't swim like this.”

Ralangta's tail grew dangerously bright, making the android’s eyes grow bigger, “Yes you can. I've done research.”

Pakaa lifted up a finger, “Technically, I did most of the resear-”

“Zip it, Paco,” Kurata grunted.

“It's Pakaa.”

Ralangta shot a look at Kurata. Then he turned on the diver, “You heard me. Start swimming.”

The diver, with a light push of her feet, soared up a few feet into the water. She turned left and drifted to the hole. Pakaa ducked under the trailing ropes, and walked over to the center of the room. The diver kicked her feet a little more and looked back at Ralangta.

“There's still some rope. Go on.”

The diver swam further out the hole and turned right. Some colorful fish swam past the hole and turned back, making what sounded like grunts. The group saw the rope suddenly turn taut. Fins noisily kicked at the water. Ralangta turned to the small group behind him and pointed, with his head to the outside. He abruptly turned and slid out into the outside. Out here was a hilly coral reef to his left, and the rocky foot of a seamount four feet in front of him. Ralangta swam further out, but a lionfish, with all his spines poking out, swaggered up in his face. A deep growl from behind them both sent the lionfish shooting down toward the reef. Ralangta turned to see a pale pteroinan clutching the hole's rough edge.

“He was going to sting you,” she lowered her mane.

“Also,” Tephra was right behind the little female, “Get out of the way.”

Ralangta turned to the right, seeing the diver floating twenty feet away. The rope began to relax, the diver swam further once it did. Where she was heading to was a ravine flanked by basalt. The water on the other side was a navy blue. As Ralangta got closer, the fishfolk began to murmur. Once the basalt blocked out the watery image of the sun, Ralangta's spines stood on end. The rock here was dotted with kelp. It was crawling with ghost crabs. The water here was rather cold. Kelp and stones crunched under the feet of the earth elementals. Pakaa appeared by Ralangta’s side, causing him to squeak. The diver stopped. She turned her head, and two small lights nearly blinded Ralangta. They both cried in protest.

Pakaa's green eyes widened, “Your cat ears are headlights?”

Ralangta rasped a fin against Pakaa's side, “That's our captive you're talking to.”

“What's that?” Tephra pointed at a teal circle near the diver.

Pakaa said to the group ten feet behind him, “That's a moon jellyfish. They're harmless.”

Ralangta watched a jelly the size of a half-dollar go past him, “Bah.”

The diver turned into the wall on the right, and Pakaa rushed up to follow, “There's a cave filled with jellyfish here.”

Ralangta kept going straight, until he saw the little jellies in a dark cave and dove down. Tephra and Omeo slid down, knocking rocks out of their places. After them, one pteroinan gasped. In here, light blue moon jellies decorated the cave like lanterns. Ralangta was sick of it. This place knew it did wrong but it won't stop denying it, and his greenish light ruined the jellies’ decorating. The diver’s yellow fins went up and down, up and down toward a rectangular hole on the other side. Ralangta looked behind to see Tephra and her sister right behind him. He and Pakaa made a beeline for the opening on the other side.

In here was a corridor whose floor was covered with sand. Thanks to his own light, Ralangta saw what looked like rods here. He refused to look at them and instead focused on the diver in front of him.

“Aw no,” a male in the back whined. The corridor widened and split into several passages.

The diver silently swam toward the chamber right in front of them. Ralangta followed, with the grunts of big lionfish and the earth elemental's footsteps in his wake.

At one point, Ralangta flew over the diver's back, “The cave goes down from here.”

The tunnel angled down at what must be forty-five degrees. The rocks on its floor weren't friendly to look at, and there were few patches of sand here, and there was no jellyfish. The diver pointed itself downward, with Ralangta swimming one foot above it. Stalagtites traced their tips on Ralangta's back, sending shivers up his spine.

The blackish blob flanking the diver's left said, “Come on guys. The cave points up at twenty feet.”

The diver and the two were so close to the low point. It was only eight feet away. The diver stopped and looked back. Ralangta turned and saw Tephra stepping down on some tall rocks. He saw that many of them fell out of place, some fell to the bottom with a clatter, “Be careful.”

“I am being careful,” Tephra insisted.

Omeo’s foot appeared on one of the taller rocks.

Then Tephra yelled. Many rocks slid out of their places. Ralangta and Pakaa made a beeline for the stalactites above. Something dark zoomed down to the bottom and crashed into the colorful android. There was a bang and sediment billowed from the bottom.

Spiky pteroinans made for the bottom.

There was a clicking sound coming from where Tephra was earlier, “Are you okay?”

Tephra groaned, “Hey. Out of the way.”

“We are just trying to help, miss,” Perhaps that was one of the pteroinans.

Omeo came into Ralangta's view. Ralangta and Pakaa stayed among the stalactites and they looked at one another. They both launched themselves downward. The bottom was crowded with it being so small.

“Get off me, get off me,” the sand cleared away, and so did the pteroinans. There sat Tephra, holding the diver by its neck.

Pakaa hurried over to Tephra, “Did you hurt your scar?”

Tephra laid a hand on Pakaa's snout, “No I didn't, but this one tried to get away.”

The fishfolk murmured among themselves. Ralangta thought he saw Kurata shoot a dirty look at Omeo.

Ralangta was tapped on the shoulder. Ralangta looked up at a roo's face and swam to the left wall. Omeo the roo bent over and picked up a rope end, “That's what you think, Tephra.”

Tephra snorted and let go of the diver. The diver made a squeak and headed toward the tunnel's end up ahead, happily heading toward the lighter-colored rocks until it was a good distance away.

“You guys can see from here?” Ralangta turned toward Kurata.

Kurata beamed a smile, “Well of course we can. You go on ahead.”

Ralangta grew brighter, “Okay, I'd better keep an eye on miss cassowary here.”

Ralangta zoomed ahead of everyone else and drifted to a stop a foot above the diver's back. The triangle on it stared back at him, so he stopped looking at it. The diver started again.

Ralangta noticed that the slope here was very gentle, “You see anything on these walls, guys?”

Kurata spat in disgust, “If there are any, they're not worth looking at.”

That was when somebody loudly scratched the wall. The diver stopped and turned around. Tephra was the one who brought the group to a halt. Her arm was turned into a stone spike. She scratched off pieces of the rock.

Ralangta thought he was looking as disgruntled as the diver, “Are you done, now?”

Tephra wedged off one last piece, “Yeah.”

The journey commenced, though one fish man grumbled as he stepped over the rocks in his way. The group kept going up and up until they found themselves at the mouth of the cave. And there it was.

The mossy pyramid floated a good distance above and in front of the cave, right in plain sight. Ralangta agreed with the gasps from his companions and shook his head.

Tephra was looking at it too, “Oh boy. Omeo, tie her onto my back.”

Once Omeo was finished, Tephra asked, “You remember the Giant's Staircase?”

“Yes, I still remember.”

Pakaa’s eyes grew big. He turned to the fishfolk standing at the mouth of the cave, “Yeah, you guys better stay back.”

Ralangta felt a little giddy, “They're about to do something pretty dangerous, in case you're wondering.”

Ralangta zipped toward the cave entrance, and situated himself near Pakaa. The earth elementals stood fifteen feet away. The diver moved and squeaked, but that didn't stop the stony sisters from circling each other. As they sped up, rock shifted and rose under their feet. They went faster, creating a column as they went. The tower rose at one foot per second toward the Harvester. Once it was twenty feet high, rocks flew off the top. This process continued until it reached the middle of the pyramid. Two figures were sent flying off it in opposite directions and soared downward until they landed with a boom. Dust billowed in Ralangta’s direction. Everyone coughed, including Ralangta.

The candle cat made a loop, “That was amazing.”

Tephra teetered toward the seamount's edge, “Yeah, but it wears me out every time we do it.”

Thin black legs kicked out. A whiny voice rattled in Ralangta's head, “Well I didn't enjoy it either.”

Omeo pointed at the diver, “If you wanna be free, quit griping.”

Somebody snickered.

Tephra looked up at the tower and grimaced, “I'll see you at the top, I guess.”

“Alright,” Ralangta knew it would take a while. He turned to the fishfolk behind him, “Everyone follow me.”

And so Ralangta began his ascent. Soon Pakaa was next to him. As they made their way up, an unseen chorus scared off the white noise with a song. It only lasted a few seconds. Ralangta began to feel hot with embarrassment. They got closer to the Harvester, and he remembered that it wasn't what it looks like. The tower looked much like a pine needle next to it, and that actually scared Ralangta.

Pakaa gagged, his voice grew a bit whiny with disgust, “I'm not looking forward to this. What if we get lost inside that thing?”

Ralangta felt a jolt, “That's impossible. We won't.”

Before they were aware of it, the top of the tower was right in front of them. Across from them was the hexagon hole that was supposed to be the doorway.

Ralangta cringed, and turned around. The lionfish people were keeping a good distance from the doorway. Even Kurata looked sick to his stomach.

Rocks broke off their places. Ralangta looked down and saw Tephra sticking out of the tower's side. Her arms were buried in the rock. She crawled through the basalt as though it were made of mud. The diver stuck to her back had its head slumped downward. Soon Tephra was scrambling onto the top of the tower. Omeo climbed up shortly after Tephra.

Once Omeo turned to the entrance, she grunted and stamped her foot on the basalt. Ralangta swam over to see some rock jut out of the tower, and into the Harvester.

Ralangta swam to the entrance, and held up a fin, “Before we go in, I want to make it clear that you better keep an eye out for all sorts of messed up stuff. We could encounter anything disgusting in there. Pathogens, stray animals, and Lord knows what else.”

Tephra broke into a sweat, in her face, “What? Okay, get it off me.”

Omeo set about to free Tephra from the diver. Once freed, Tephra shivered and brushed herself off. Ralangta took one last look at the entrance. It was an awful job, but somebody had to do it.

And so Ralangta, with the diver slowly swimming next to him, began his expedition inside. Due to the light both he and the robot emitted, he saw that the place was really run down. Everywhere, pipes were busted, kelp grew from holes, and sea urchins crawled among the litter. Ralangta heard a scraping sound. The earth elementals were almost too tall for the hallway, and figuring that out only sickened Ralangta more. The diver led them down the hall, and took many sharp turns. At one point, the hall led them into a room the size of a garage.

Ralangta said to Pakaa, “This time the search is real. Everyone needs to split up.”

Pakaa whistled and pteroinans swam out once the earth elementals were out of the way. They dove down to the floor and tossed metal debris about. In fact, Ralangta saw Tephra disappear behind what must be a column.

The sound of sifting through metal was shattered by a scream.

Tephra's eyes cut through the fog. Omeo rushed to the scene, taking the diver with her. Omeo gasped, “You… Murderer. Heartless beast.”

Ralangta came over, hearing a “What did I do?” in his head. There behind the column were the two sisters, holding what looked like a skeleton. The diver cowered before them.

The android turned to Ralangta, “Honest. I didn't do anything.”

Ralangta realized what happened, “What the- yes you did. There's the evidence. Everyone get this piece of slag!”

The earth elementals roared and one of them punched the diver down. It tried to get up, only to be tackled by a samebito. The pteroinans swarmed about, yelling and watching the frenzy of hands and ropes. Once they were done, Ralangta made an arc above the diver.

He glared at the android’s face, “Everyone. Everyone quiet down! I'd like to make an announcement. For her disgusting deeds and evil neglect, she is to be put on trial at our base, the ancient metropolis.”

Everyone jeered at the diver. The diver threw back its head and let out a whistle. Somebody slapped it, calling it a cassowary.

At first, the dream wasn't too bad, but what jolted Lani awake was the falling sensation at the end of the dream. When she awoke, her vision had to clear, and once it did, she saw periwinkle curtains quietly hanging on the ceiling. There was an unusually clean smell, and a monitor next to the cot she was laying on was beeping away told her just where she was: the clinic.

Greenbrier's voice said, “Yes it definitely was.”

Footsteps tapped in Lani's direction. The curtains disappeared with a rasp and now Lani stared back at the face of a fairy in teal.

The thin creature said, “Are you okay? Do you remember how you got here?”

Lani's mind was a fog, “A little dazed, but fine.” But then she remembered, “The nargun! I have to-”

The fairy stopped Lani by touching her shoulder, “It's been two days. There's nothing you can do except rest.”

“Two days? What happened?”

The elfish doctor looked her in the eye, “That nargun knocked you unconscious. That was two days ago.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Nobody got hurt, except for you. I understand you have duties, but now you need to rest.”

Lani slid a bit downward in her pillow. She knew the doctor was right.

Greenbrier held up a hand, “Excuse me, doctor. May I speak with my soldier in private?”

“Yes, you may.” then the fairy tapped her way out of the room.

Greenbrier's steps were quieter than usual, “You did good today, Lani. You noticed the nargun when nobody else did. Once you recover, I have some plans for you.”

Lani realized now she had the time to ask, “What are we going to do about Abzu? The diver, I mean.”

Greenbrier laid a hand on Lani’s, “We will get her back. One way or another.”

They gazed at one another, and Greenbrier got up and left. In a moment, the doctor came in, along with an a fellow medical file and Drake holding an enormous bouquet.

The doctor walked up to the nightstand and sighed once she saw the little glass tube, “Let me get you a bigger vase.” and the doctor was gone.

The bouquet blocked most of Drake's upper body, “The staff said you had a minor concussion. I mean minor. It's so shocking due to the size of that nargun.”

Lani squinted in a bit of suspicion, “Yeah, but thank the Redeemer for my upgrades.”

“I'm sorry. Redeemer?”

“I mean goodness,” Lani's cheeks turned as red as the poppies in the bouquet.

The top of Drake's shaved head turned to the nightstand, “Went to get a bigger vase?”

“Yes, yes. Now Lani, what is in this bouquet your friend is holding?” The other doctor showed up next to Drake.

Lani thought his hair was too black, “Roses, lilies, and a good number of poppies.”

The doctor scratched something off his clipboard. He then went to the computer on the opposite side of the room.

Lani looked at the bouquet again, “Was Tashi involved when you picked those flowers out?”

“Nope.”

“Drake, that bouquet looks like a Rythulian turned into flowers.”

“Okay, yes he was. You know how he likes to butt into stuff. But on an unrelated subject, everyone outside of Rythulia’s talking about the kidnapping.”

Lani's eyes grew wide.

Drake continued, “Some of the guys from the convention are keeping an eye out. Even Drifter.”

Lani felt a bit confused, “Is he that blue guy we ran into at the convention?”

The door creaked and in came the first doctor, with a vase the size of a football, “It's a good thing I found this vase, Mr. Sprinter.”

Drake sidestepped to Lani’s feet, “Thank you.”

The elf supplanted the tube with the bigger vase. Lani saw that she darted a look at Drake. Once she walked up to the second doctor, Drake made a beeline for the vase and put the flowers into the vase.

Lani found out that in the past two days, the antiviruses were making some progress and so were the investigators. Drake put his focus on just what they were up to.

“These creatures really don't know what they were doing,” Drake said. After he left, Lani was swarmed by the doctors. She passed most of the tests except for the vision tests. Once night set in, Lani was given some privacy behind the curtains.

She gazed at the dolphin poster opposite her, “Redeemer in the lights, as the days pass by, I was distracted and failed to contact you from time to time...”

Momentarily, the confusion got a hold of Lani.

“But now that I'm here, I wish to request for everyone's safety, especially Abzu.”

That was how it went on for the rest of the week. Many times a day, Lani prayed for victory and Abzu's return, but she usually prayed when no one was around. She didn't forget to pray for her injury, but she always prayed for the others first.

Every once in a while, however, there'd be frustration. Sometimes she'd imagine Abzu forced down on her knees, with hands tied behind her back, with her captors towering over her. The next part, as Lani told herself, wasn't worth imagining. Even though things do take their time, Lani wondered if that time was being wasted. Just about every time she thought that, she would grip at the smooth bed sheets.