Maka grinned at the beautiful sight before her. The sea shimmered with a thousand shades of blue and green, with even dashes of purple among the white and gray streaks in a myriad of colors that flowed together seamlessly with beauty. As the ship crested another wave, the blonde laughed in exhilaration as the deck beneath her feet bounced and rocked. To her concern, a man stumbled across the deck towards the rail, leaning on it heavily, clearly nauseated rather than delighted by the rolling of the ship. His black and white striped hair hung over his sallow face, golden eyes miserable as he groaned with discomfort. After the brunt of his uneasiness seemed to pass, he stood up and straightened his dark, formal-looking coat.
"Morning," he started, extending a hand cordially.
"I'd say good morning, but it probably isn't for you," Maka answered sympathetically as she shook his hand firmly. The young man, about Maka's age, smiled ruefully as he introduced himself.
"I am-"
"Hey, Kid, let's go! They're about to start the expedition," someone interrupted, their voice carrying easily over the noise of the waves.
Maka cocked her eyebrow, surprised at the nickname for such an official-looking man coming from someone who seemed so rough-and-tumble - the top parts of her overalls swinging around her knees and her thick, heavy boots hitting out a rhythm as she strode across the deck confidently. Sticking out her hand, she said, "Hey, my name's Liz, and this is Kid, as you've probably guessed."
"Mr. Mortimer's son," he supplied. "Because it clearly seems that my name isn't good enough." Maka's eyebrows rose behind her bangs, but she hid her curiosity and surprise well enough as the trio walked inside the ship, taking an elevator to the depths of the steel ship, where the submarine lay. The young woman was jostled by the rivers of workers that flowed in every direction, most carrying bags or pushing wagons of boxes as they all crammed into a giant lift.
When they landed, Maka finally got her first view of the submarine, a gorgeous contraption. It was long and shaped almost like a fish, narrowing a both ends with a wider center and fins on the end, though of course these were engines on the submarine. The metal was dark, dark red, almost black, long segments of it spanning whole length of the sub that were cross ribbed with shorter pieces that circled the submarine's width. The longer pieces stretched to the front, curling slightly over the glass viewing-bubble that glowed like a jack-o-lantern. She had helped with the loading and such earlier, before quickly popped out for a break before the set off.
As a cart went by, commandeered by a man and a woman squabbling so quickly that you couldn't understand a word, something fell off and landed in Maka's path non-threateningly. Picking it up, she sprinted to catch up to them, calling, "Excuse me! You dropped your dynamite!"
"Oh, thanks," said the woman, bubbly and short with bob-cut blonde hair swishing around her chin as she took the brick-red stick back.
"What else do you have in there?" Maka asked curiously, intrigued as to the destructive powers of the stuff in the cart, especially so due to its innocent appearance.
"Eh, nothing special, mostly bombs and different kinds of explosives, though we do have some of the essentials like peanut butter and jelly too," the man answered, beaming at Maka cheerfully. "Who're you?"
"Dr. Maka Albarn, but you can call me Maka. You?" she questioned, shaking the blonde's offered hand.
"I'm Patty Thompson, and this idiot is BlackStar! We're the explosives and weapons specialists on board," the woman answered brightly, punching BlackStar in the arm as she did, not noticing the pained look on his face for a split-second.
Hearing the call for everybody to board, Maka broke away from the pair, waving goodbye as she raced for the gangway, constantly dodging people in the swiftly flowing crowd. Greeting the person who was counting off everyone, she quickly made her way to the front of the glass walls, eager to see the submarine take off and trying to stay out of the way as much as possible, since she couldn't very well learn how to help operate a submarine right now. As the hatchway slammed shut, the metal deck shuddered all throughout the bridge.
Finally… it's starting, everything's coming together.
The relatively low level of noise that had been bubbling in the bridge ceased as only a couple voices, the ones in charge, barked out orders.
"Rig ship for dive!"
"Aye, sir! Rig ship for dive!"
Commander Law's voice was calm and steady, alone in the sea of preparation, "Lieutenant, take her down."
"Diving officer, submerge the ship. Make the depth 1-5-0 feet," Gorgon ordered cooly, even her slightly snappish tone not a damper on Maka's mood.
"Make the depth 1-5-0 feet."
"Dive, dive! Five degrees down bubble."
"Take us down."
The hooks holding the submarine suspended just above the sea released and they free fell for a split second, Maka's stomach flying into her throat as the water cascaded into the air around them, spray flying everywhere. She got a final glimpse of Mr. Mortimer waving to them cheerily as the water enveloped everything and the submarine sank below the surface. Blue surrounded them as the propellers turned on, pushing everything faster and making Maka stumble for a moment, the spotlights at the bottom of the ship illuminating the sea's darkness at least a little.
Maka gawked at everything around her with fascination as she wandered back to the bridge from her room, trying to get a good sense of where everything was, running into someone in her absentmindedness. Maka immediately backpedaled clumsily, embarrassed as she apologized, though they didn't really seem to care. "Oh look, another specimen," the man, dressed in a worn labcoat, muttered monotonously, stepping around her and continuing down the hall. Shaking her head from bewilderment, Maka turned around and went back to searching for her quarters. "Oh wait, you wouldn't be Maka Albarn, would you?" the man called from the end of the corridor.
Nodding cautiously, Maka wondered warily as to where this would lead. All of a sudden, he appeared in front of her, face alight with a terrifying joy. "You're my three o'clock!" Grabbing her wrist, he dragged her along after him, down the corridor and into one of the rooms, a medical office from what it looked like. Reaching into a big black bag on the counter, he pulled out a gigantic saw, showing it to her proudly as he ran his finger along the edge.
"A beauty, isn't she? Wonderful for opening up the patients."
Maka's eyes grew wide as he continued talking, instinctively inching away from the man.
"It can cut through bone in twenty-eight seconds, though I can probably cut that time in half if I really push hard," he told her, looking at the saw with something like adoration. "A fantastic tool for dissections… Oh, what I wouldn't give to take samples!" The look in his eyes didn't fade as he turned to Maka, the doctor not seeming to be disappointed at all, "Alas, we must begin your examination."
"Will Maka Albarn please report to the bridge?"
Already about to bolt from terror, Maka gasped, "Thank heaven," as she leapt out the door, running down the hall away from the man. "I mean, nice to meet you! I have to run, sorry," she tossed over her shoulder, reasonably sure she didn't want to get on his bad side.
As she entered the bridge, Maka looked around curiously, observing and taking in as much as she could. At the bottom of the giant glass window was a sea of technicians sitting in front of elaborate control panels, buttons lighting up left and right and levers so densely packed around the sailors that it seemed impossible not to trip five switches just by twitching the wrong way. Climbing up the grill-floor stairs, Maka carefully breathed in and out slowly, trying to ease her racing heart from the near-escape she just had as she made her way to the top, where Law and Gorgon were. Orders and conversations drifted to her ears as Maka scaled the stairway, some of the words gossipy and some couldn't be more businesslike.
"Describe the face he made at the meatloaf again. Oh wait, hang on Poppy, sorry, I've got another call," a soft voice apologized. The woman's voice rang through the bridge, unexpectedly loud and authoritative, "Sir, we're approaching coordinates." Turning back to her screen, she started talking more quietly again, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry sweetie, that sounds awful."
As Maka stepped on to the floor of the bridge, Law said calmly, "All right, let's have a look around."
"Aye sir. Set course to 2-4-0, on the bow planes." Maka heard someone echo Gorgon's orders far down below, but that was overshadowed by Law's voice.
"Welcome to the bridge, Dr. Albarn," he greeted as she surveyed the platform. Kid and Liz were leaning against the rail, discussing something in quiet tones, Liz waving friendlily as she noticed Maka. The green-eyed girl raised her hand in a wave back, though she was suddenly overwhelmed in a hug from Patty. BlackStar bounced over, shouting something about godliness and worshippers. Smiling slightly as she backed away from the extremely excited duo, Maka turned to listen to Gorgon as the woman addressed her.
"Is there anything you can tell us about what we should be looking for, Albarn?"
Flipping open the Shepherd's Journal, which stayed in a small satchel by Maka's side at all times, she scanned through the words, mind instantly translating a language that was so familiar by now that it might as well have been her own, stopping upon an illustration. The sketchy black-ink drawing looked like some kind of mutant lobster, though if the ship it was destroying was meant to be used as a scale; it was at least a thousand times larger.
"I think that with something like that… you'd have to drink white wine," Liz commented, looking over the shorter blonde's shoulder. "What do you think Kid?"
"What is it, Maka?" he asked, disregarding her question.
"It's an illustration of the Leviathan, the creature guarding the entrance to Atlantis," she explained after a second, surprised to see someone taking a serious interest in her work. "It's a giant mythical whale, described extensively in the book of Job."
"It looks like a lobster," Liz stated frankly, eyebrow raised skeptically.
"Accounts differ as to what it actually is," agreed Maka. "Sailors generally believe it's a whale, while the book of Job seems to indicate a more serpentine creature. In the end, it's probably just a carving or a sculpture to frighten the superstitious and that sort."
"So what would we do after we find this work of art?" questioned Law, face blank as always.
"According to the Journal, the path to Atlantis will take us down a tunnel at the bottom of the ocean, and we'll come up a curve into an air pocket right here where we'll find the remnants of an ancient highway that will lead us to Atlantis."
A voice floated up to the upper level, businesslike and serious, but containing a hint of worry, "Captain, you'd better come look at this, sir."
"Alas, I think that'll have to be it for today," he said, walking up to the man at the wheel. "Give me exterior lights." Curious, Maka followed him, ignoring the way some of the others stared at her presumptuousness.
Two spotlights appeared, illuminating the murky darkness around them to reveal that the submarine was at the bottom of a wide canyon, the sides stretching up above them for eons. To their dismay, the spotlights scouring across the ground revealed broken masts and hulls covering the rocky sea floor more densely than even sand. The pieces were tiny and scattered thickly, edges jagged and smooth areas cracked. Strangely enough, there were also whole galleons and boats wedged in between the rock piles, though they were still intensely battered.
Maka looked around with confusion, bewildered by what she saw, "How are there so many ships from every era here?" For a moment the young woman thought she saw something move in the darkness, but when she stared at it, trying to discern anything in the murky depths, but everything was still. Uneasy, Maka rifled through the pages, searching for any clearer indications of what they should be looking for, ignoring the beeping and hissing in the background, as well as the voice that followed.
"Commander, I think you should hear this."
"Predeshtem logtu nug nah geb," she muttered under her breath, feeling Madeleine's and Law's stares boring into her back.
"Commander? Commander?"
"Enter the lair of the Leviathan," translated Maka, realizing by context that she getting closer to the information she needed.
"Commander?"
"There you will find the path to the gateway."
"Commander?" the radio lady repeated, a hint of impatience souring her tone.
"Yes, Miss Nakatsukasa. What is it?" he sighed, annoyed by the interruption.
"I'm picking up something on the hydrophone I think you should hear."
"Put it on speakers."
A keening sound slowly grew, setting Maka's teeth on edge as Miss Nakatsukasa turned up the speaker. "What is that?" she gasped, hearing muted roars, clicks, and groaning sounds.
"A pod of whales?" Madeleine asked, walking down to the radio station.
"Uh-uh. Bigger."
"It sounds metallic. Could be an echo off one of the rocks," the lieutenant suggested skeptically, turning back to the bridge.
"With all due respect, Ms. Gorgon, I would have recognized it if it were."
"Is it just me, or is that getting louder?" questioned Maka, breaking through the bickering.
As if hearing her words, the noise evaporated. The sailors looked at each other curiously, heads shaking as whispers echoed around the bridge, the sound growing almost like a wave's roar. Maka glanced at Law, wondering what his reaction to all this was. The commander's face was impassive as he said, "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now."
"Helmsman! Bring us about. Tighten our search pattern and slow us to-"
The submarine moved wildly, sending Maka to the floor as it was flung to the right, the port side coming upwards to meet her. Crashing to the ground, Maka looked around wildly, straining to see a cause as she stumbled to her feet. Flipping open the Journal, she searched frantically for anything that could help or explain what was happening. Suddenly, there was another crash, even more monumental than the first. Maka screamed in shock and terror when the submarine flipped stern over bow, perpendicular to the sea floor as it slowed. Landing on the bubble, Maka moaned in pain as she rubbed her head, face pressed against the glass. She looked out in shock, eyes growing wide and jaw dropping.
A glowing red circle, an eye, stared into the submarine from outside. Around it were shutters, like those on a camera. It spun shut, then reopened and disappeared, tentacles and a massive body moving past the window.
"It's a machine?" gasped Maka, stunned. How could the Atlanteans possibly have technology that amazing? No country in the world had power like that now, and they invented the thing eons ago, from the looks of the wreckage! Shaking her head, Maka pushed herself upright, climbing up the sides of the bubble towards the railing, holding onto the membrane that held the glass together tightly as the submarine started righting itself. She watched the sailors that weren't swept all over the bridge working furiously to fix the situation.
Sliding down to the walkway, Maka made her way to the top where Commander Law was, knowing she could help. As she clambered to the top of the bridge, she spotted Kid hanging over the edge, holding onto the railing for dear life. Running now, Maka sprinted towards him. Just as his red fingers seemed to weaken again, Maka grabbed his hand, slowly pulling the relieved man back over the edge.
"You alright?"
"Fine, you?"
"Decent, per the circumstances," Maka shrugged, going back to the book, desperate to find anything that could help as she moved towards the windows, out of the way.
At Kid's shout, she looked up and saw the giant lobster-like creature hurtling towards them, wickedly sharp claws reaching out. It vanished from view and she heard Law order, over the bestial roar that made her very bones shake, "Load the torpedo bays! Subpod crews, battle stations!" Men and women were running everywhere, somehow understanding what to do in the chaos. She saw small ships shoot out from the main submarine, streams of bubbles following them as they sped towards the creature.
Maka barely heard Law bellow, "Fire!" over the noise, despite his voice being one of the most distinctive in the room. Torpedos sped through the ocean and hit the Leviathan with explosive blasts, smoke billowing through the water. Despite the danger, Maka's heart twinged momentarily, torn between saving them and protecting ancient artifacts. Shaking her head, she turned back to the book. Of course they had to do destroy the machine, her instincts didn't extend to weapons that were trying to kill them. It let go, shaking its massive head like a real animal would, only a thousand times bigger. "We're free, all ahead full!"
The Leviathan, for what else could it be, recoiled and shot out a beam of electricity out of its mouth, piercing the submarine somewhere further down, tremors extending the whole length of the sub.
Abruptly, Liz's voice started shouting the intercom, "Law! We've got a big hit down here and we're taking on water fast. I don't want to be around when it hits the boilers."
"How much time do we have?
"Twenty minutes, if the bulkhead holds." They heard a heavy clang through the speaker, Maka's eyes growing wide at the sound. "You better make that five."
Turning around, Law commanded loudly, "You heard her. Let's move!"
Snapping her book shut and stuffing it in her bag, which had miraculously stayed put around her shoulder, Maka followed the swarm of workers as the ran towards the exit. "Here, take this!" yelled a sailor, stuffing a box of supplies into her arms. Nodding, Maka raced after Law and some of the others along the maze of catwalks that wound their way through the submarine.
The alarm sounded, bringing a strange awareness that it hadn't been ringing before now, surprisingly enough. "All hands, abandon ship."
Maka slipped inside a subpod, recognizing Stein and Audrey sitting next to her as she buckled in, tucking the box in beneath her seat. Gorgon ran across pod, jumping in beside Law in the front as Maka flipped open her book searching for where they had to go.
Turning the wheel and adjusting the controls, Law commanded, "Lieutenant, get us out of here!" Gorgon pushed against a lever, groaning from the effort as it appeared to be stuck, making Maka's heart thump even harder as she scanned the text furiously. "Lieutenant!"
"I'm working on it!" As another explosion hit the ship, she turned and hit a pedal with her foot. With a boom, the bay doors burst open and the pod flew out as water rushed into where they had been; Gorgon's steady voice a welcome reprieve from the hoarse shouting. "Hang on."
They shot through the water, the gigantic submarine exploding behind them in a fog of blue. Maka's eyes widened as she watched the creature came after them appearing out of the dim smoke like a mythical creature, the window fogging with her breath. The miniature submarine weaved through the underwater canyon, stray rocks hitting the submarine and making it shudder wildly.
"Where to, Dr. Albarn?" asked Law coolly, flicking switches left and right.
Relieved to have finally found the spot, Maka shouted, voice hoarse, "We're looking for a big crevice of some kind!"
"There! Up ahead," he exclaimed, pointing at something too far in front for Maka to be able to see.
Pulling down a radio, Madeleine ordered, "All craft, make your mark 20 degrees down angle!"
The submarine slid into a large crack in the sea floor, blue electricity shooting past them from the Leviathan. A smaller subpod popped up in front of them in the darkness, missing a beam of lightning only to hit the side of the cavern and explode. Maka's jaw dropped open in horror as she spun around to look behind them, worried about the others. Another bolt hit the rocks behind them, sending many tumbling down through the water, churring up sand and bubbles. Spinning around to look where they were going, she watched as Law and Gorgon pulled on the wheel suddenly, sending them into an almost-ninety-degree angle upwards as the cavern wall appeared out of the murkiness before them. The flashes of blue finally disappeared and they appeared inside a large cavern, swathed in shadows.
