They emerged in an enormous cavern full of towering stalagmites and stalactites. Debris from ships long sunk littered the floor between them, and the image reminded Maka of teeth within the maw of a giant monster. A morbid part of her wondered if they had just escaped one monster only to be swallowed by another. The thought disappeared when she caught sight of the architecture spanning the opposite side of the cavern. An archway carved in a shape of an enormous serpent lay in front of them, and if that wasn't an indication of an Atlantean presence, she didn't know what was.

But to think of what they'd lost just to find it… her heart ached. Judging from the hushed tones and bowed heads surrounding her, the remaining crew felt the same. The only sounds that filled the air were that of the machinery being unloaded, and for a while, the loud clanking served to distract them all from what had come before.

When they were finished unloading, Law gathered the remaining crew and looked around gravely. "I know this isn't what we were expecting, but we've been given a mission. It's our god-given duty to see it through. Each of us has our own tasks to complete, so see to it you get them done. Albarn," he said, turning to Maka. "Keep an eye on the Journal."

She nodded, clutching the Journal to her chest. "Yes, sir." A steely resolve filled her heart. No matter what, she would find Atlantis - for herself, her mother, and the crew that would never get to see it.

Law turned to the stairs leading to the entrance and waved a hand at Gorgon. She began barking out orders until her voice bounced authoritatively off the walls and rang in Maka's eardrums. Crew members sprang into action, lifting crates and loading trucks with a practiced speed and efficiency.

Feeling out of place, Maka focused on the Journal, despite having read it several times over. Even then, she tried to see it in a new light, to find anything that might tell her what lay ahead. It had to be here, somewhere within these pages…

A tentative hand settled on her shoulder. "Maka?" She turned to see Tsubaki standing behind her. "You can ride with me, if you want."

Maka nodded and followed her over to one of the trucks. She climbed in and once more buried her nose in the Journal, hardly even registering the shuddering of the frame as the vehicle roared to life. The cacophony grew louder and louder as more engines jerked into motion. The caravan was off.

Part of her wanted to look around and gape at the scenery around her. No one else had ever seen these caverns and caves… or at least, no one had seen them and lived to tell about it. The thought sent a little chill went down her spine. Everyone was relying on her to interpret the next steps on their journey, and she wasn't about to let them down.

"...important to you, isn't it?"

Maka broke out of her academic haze once she realized that Tsubaki had been speaking to her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"This expedition is important to you, isn't it?" she repeated.

Maka nodded, but didn't break away from the paragraph she was on. "Yes, it is. My mother couldn't have this moment, so I decided that I would give it to her. And I've been working on this so long myself…" She paused, clenching the book closer to her. "It just matters so much to me."

"You'll find it," Tsubaki said confidently. "After all, look at where we are. You got us here."

"No, not just me," she said, peering over at her truckmate warmly . "Everyone did their part. Now it's up to all of us to finish the journey."

Tsubaki smiled. "I have no doubt we will."

Maka smiled back, then closed the book. There wasn't much for her to do anyway, not until they came across some sort of obstacle or decision, anyway. All she could do for now was wait and see what lay ahead.


After a time, even the novelty of the labyrinthine tunnels started to wear off. Every stalagmite began to look the same, as did the crumbling columns that occasionally popped up along their path. Maka tried to find distinct landmarks that might have appeared in the Journal, but as Liz remarked during one of their stops, "Sometimes a rock is just a rock."

Despite her initial unfamiliarity with the crew, she soon began to get to know the various members Mr. Mortimer had assembled. Tsubaki, her truckmate and the team's communications liaison, was unfailingly kind and incredibly patient, if the way she listened to Maka talk about the Journal was any indication. She and Kid, Mr. Mortimer's son, seemed to be the only ones interested about the fascinating artifact that lay in Maka's care. The rest only seemed concerned with the destination, and reaching it as soon as they could.

In that regard, Patti and Black*Star were invaluable. For all that they resembled mere children who enjoyed blowing things up (and perhaps they were), their expertise went far beyond how to create the biggest blast. Whenever the party encountered collapsed tunnels or massive columns blocking the path, a single strategically placed charge from either one could clear the road for the entire caravan. Still, despite their help, it was more than a little disconcerting to see them cavalierly waving sticks of dynamite at each other as they argued.

Liz would most often be found egging her sister on during these debates - when she wasn't kicking at a truck's engine block and swearing colorfully at it, that is. While she wasn't the only mechanic in the caravan, she was by far the best, and the one they all called when something went wrong. When she wasn't elbow-deep in engine grease, she was often teasing Kid or talking with her sister, as the two were incredibly close. "Happens when you grow up in Brooklyn," she told Maka. "Sisters gotta stick together. You got any?"

Maka shook her head. "No. Just my parents."

Liz nodded in understanding. "Y'know, your mom was some kinda lady. Always liked her. Shame what happened."

"Yes," Maka said quietly.

"But boy, if she could see you now!" Liz nudged Maka's shoulder - perhaps a bit too hard, as Maka nearly fell out of the truck. "She would be all kinds of proud."

Maka couldn't help her wide smile. "Thanks."

"Now c'mon, tell me we're getting close."

"Actually, most of the Journal is just text detailing the city itself, along with what civilization there would have looked like. There's very little to do with how to get there, and what there is only written in riddles, which usually-"

"Maka."

"Hm?"

"Tell me we're close."

"...We're close."

"Thanks."

And so the hours passed, the trucks rumbling along the rocky path one after the other. In the rare occurrences that they did encounter a fork in the road, Maka would sit with her nose between the pages, mind racing to figure out whatever clue or puzzle she'd found. Eventually they found their way to a wide, flat wall blocking the path, and after a small discussion, Patti and Black*Star looked up with simultaneous shrugs. "Hell if I know," Black*Star said.

"It's too thick to get through. Not with the supplies we got left, anyway," Patti added.

"You know that's not the problem, it's the support-"

"No, I'm telling you, the wall's too thick!" Patti rapped on it to prove her point.

"You just don't want to risk it."

"I ain't afraid of risking nothing, it's you who thought we needed that extra nitro last time-"

"Hey, we got through, didn't we?"

"Woulda got through if we'd just used the dynamite sticks," Patti muttered.

"Alright," Gorgon said forcefully. "What are our options, then?"

"Could try to find a way around," Patti suggested.

"There's a side road here we might be able to try." Liz pointed to a narrow branch that ran parallel along the wall until it vanished into darkness.

"It looks quite small," Kid murmured. "There is a chance our larger vehicles will not fit."

"Staying here might not be wise," Stein said in his odd monotone. "There's no telling how strong the structural integrity of the cave is."

"See?" Black*Star burst out, pointing to Stein. "Told you it was the structure-"

"No, it's not!"

Maka broke off from the group as everyone descended into arguing and yelling. The noise wasn't helping her to think, and she wanted to get a better feel for the area before she started making suggestions. The last thing she wanted was to lead them down the wrong path.

She noticed a small crack in the right wall, almost invisible to anyone not looking closely. As she approached, she realized that it concealed a small tunnel just wide enough for her to squeeze through. A slight draft issued from the crack, and as it brushed a few strands of hair away from her cheek, the possibility that it was simply dead end was ruled out. Maka glanced back to the rest of the bickering crew. It wouldn't hurt to slip inside and look around, would it? Just to see what lay beyond the tunnel.

The sides of the crack were smooth enough that she didn't get scraped up as she wormed her way into the entrance. The tunnel widened after a few feet, until she could walk comfortably. Watery light filtered in from an unknown source, prompting a spark of hope to take root in Maka's chest, though she tried not to feed it. There was no guarantee that she'd found anything more than a side tunnel leading nowhere. But as the air started to taste a little fresher, she wondered if maybe she'd found their destination.

A low scuffling sound from up ahead stopped her in her tracks, and her blood went cold. Certainly there were a few loose rocks down in the caves, perhaps one of them had just been disturbed? But if that were the case, then something had disturbed it. Part of her wanted to back away and leave, but a fierce curiosity took over. What had caused the sound? If it was an animal, it could be something entirely new to science. Wasn't it her responsibility to find and document it? She could only imagine the benefit to the scientific community once she returned.

Her resolve strengthened, Maka continued, her steps slow and cautious. She didn't want to go barreling into something she didn't know. The path began to slope down a little, and the light began to grow stronger. With it grew her confidence. There was something down here, she was sure of it.

The sides of the tunnel narrowed slightly, then flared out as it emptied into a wide, dome-like cave. Several other tunnels branched out from the other side, all equally-well lit. The more Maka studied her surroundings, the surer she was that it had been man-made. Erosion and nature couldn't create such perfect curves. Hope flared once more. She was so close, she could practically taste it.

Maka stepped forward into the cave, but before she could get any closer, a dark shadow leaped out in front of her. She cried out and leapt back, her back hitting something hard. Turning around, she saw a figure dressed in red cloth, wearing a giant tribal mask. Maka spun, trying to find some other place to run, but she was surrounded by half a dozen people, each wearing a mask. Each one babbled in a strange language she didn't recognize, and given the breadth of Maka's studies, that was saying something.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

One figure stepped forward, giving orders in that same strange language. This was the leader, then. But the language barrier wouldn't help her any, unless… the more she listened, the more familiar the sounds became. She knew this language, she realized. She'd been studying it for years, and now to hear it spoken… she could hardly accept it. But the truth was standing in front of her, speaking in a gravelly voice.

The leader stepped back again while most of the figures darted around Maka into the tunnels. Only two remained, balanced on the balls of their feet as though prepared to spring into action at any moment. One handed the leader a spear of some sort, and suddenly fear clawed at Maka's insides.

They stepped forward, spear extending out towards Maka. She moved back, filled with both anger and fear. It didn't look like he was trying to stab her, but she still didn't want that weapon anywhere near her.

She kicked out, knocking the spear away. "Leave me alone," she said, the foreign words tripping off her tongue. "Get away from me, you-" She added a few of the more unsavory words she'd stumbled across in her studies.

The figure stepped back, the spear slipping from their grasp and clattering to the ground. They brought their hands up to the mask and slid it off carefully. Maka stared at him in shock. Aside from a few features, the man in front of her looked almost completely human.

He was tall and lean, with deeply tanned skin. White hair stood out in stark contrast, as did his blood red eyes. He was dressed in a simple maroon vest and trousers, with ruby tattoos swirling around his arms. He stared down at her in shock, his mouth hanging open. "You speak our tongue?" he asked. "How?"

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours," she shot back.

"I'm not the one trespassing."

"Trespassing… you live here? Then you're Atlanteans!"

The man stepped back, wary. "And if we are?"

"Impossible," she breathed. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined… she thought Atlantis would be an abandoned city, mere ruins beneath the ocean. They were only going to find the city, dig up some artifacts, maybe even find the power source she'd read about, and return with their proof. But Atlantis was populated, maybe even thriving. This was no longer an excavation, but an anthropological expedition. They'd come expecting a gravesite and instead found an entirely new civilization.

"And yet here we stand. I'll ask again, how can you speak our tongue?"

"I'm a scholar. I study languages, including yours."

The man raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Can you read it?"

Maka wrinkled her nose. "Wh - yes, of course I can."

He regarded her for a moment, then nodded. "Then I must ask that you come with me." He called out a few rushed orders Maka didn't catch to the figures behind him, who scurried off down one of the tunnels. It was only the two of them in the cave now, but Maka didn't feel assured.

"Why does it feel like you're not asking?" She edged away from him, reverting to English in her uncertainty.

He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "I'm not going to hurt you! I only need your help."

It took a moment for Maka to register that he hadn't spoken in Atlantean. "You - you can speak English?"

"You're not the only one gifted in languages. Unfortunately, our talent is limited to speaking."

"So… you need me to read something?"

"If you're able."

"I can translate whatever you need, yes. But the rest of my expedition-"

"-Stays where they are." The man's eyes narrowed. "I'm not allowing any more outsiders into my city than I need to. I'm only asking your help because I am desperate. No one else is allowed with you."

"How can I be sure you're not just kidnapping me? That you will let me leave once I've done what you ask?"

"You have my word." Maka normally wouldn't have been inclined to believe him, but there was a gravity in his expression that made her think differently. "Besides," he added, "if I'd wanted to kill you, I'd have done so already."

"You're not helping your case, I hope you realize that."

"I assume you're here looking for Atlantis. Why would you pass up an opportunity to see it?"

She stared at him for a long time, weighing the options in her mind. She hated to admit it, but he was right. Passing this up would be foolish, and her gut told her that he truly didn't mean her harm. Still… "If you do try anything, just know that I can have you on the ground wheezing in seconds."

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "With a mouth like that, I don't doubt it."

Maka huffed, but accepted his hand. His skin was rough, covered in calluses, and he pulled her up with ease. Now that she had a closer view of him, she tried not to stare. The tattoos on his face had an almost tribal look to them, but it wasn't anything she'd ever seen before. Her fingers were itching to sketch the designs in the margins of the Journal. He turned before she could gawk any more, and as he led her towards one of the tunnels, something occurred to her. "What's your name? I'm Maka."

"My name is-" What he said next sounded like nothing more than a confused jumble of syllables. Maka wondered if he had heard her right. Upon seeing the confusion on her face, he rolled his eyes and said, "Soul. You can call me Soul."

"Soul," she repeated. "Well then, Soul, what is it you need me to translate?"

He shook his head. "Not so fast. There's someone you need to see first."

Maka hoped the sentence was not intended to be as sinister as she heard it. Soul had already given his word that she and the crew would be safe, so there was nothing left but to follow him down into the tunnels. That same watery light lit the way, growing stronger and stronger the further they went. A dull roaring noise became audible as they went, until Maka could identify it as rushing water. Her heart beat erratically in her chest.

The tunnel opened up like the previous one had, only this time it emptied onto a cliffside covered in vines. A sturdy rope bridge extended out towards a massive plateau, where a massive city surrounded by water stood tall. Maka couldn't help it - she laughed.

Soul raised an eyebrow at her, so she turned to explain. "I've been searching for this city all my life and I'm finally standing here." Her eyes sought his earnestly. "It's just… it's so beautiful."

He turned away from her abruptly, one hand coming up to rub his neck. After a moment, he looked out at the city. "She is resilient, I'll give her that." When he looked back at her, she glimpsed something like approval in his gaze.

"Welcome to Atlantis."