"Urrrggghhh...", Marinette groaned, rubbing her eyes. How long was she on the sand floor? She sat up with difficulty, instantly squinting at the random bright white light that was right in front of her. She remembered Adrien and looked around frantically for him. He turned out to be right next to her, but standing up. His green eyes were glowing with curiosity and he was swimming closer to the bright white light, fingers outstretched. Marinette's conscious kicked in as she automatically got up, swirling the sand in a cloud. "WAIT, ADRIEN DON'T TOUCH TH-", Marinette yelled. Too late. Adrien's fingers already brushed on the light, causing him to disappear entirely into it in another flash of blinding white light.
"No!" Marinette cried. She glanced over to the bright white light from where Adrien vanished. It was still pulsing with great intensity. There was only one thing left to do, but first...she felt the earrings in her hand and quickly put them back on. She swam closer to the light, hands clammy. There was a light swirl pattern right at the core of the pulsing light. She looked to her left and right and then, sucking in her breath, leaped into the light. Marinette witnessed a great dizziness as she tumbled through a pulsing current of bright white energy. After a few minutes there was an ending of the current leading to a dark menacingly blue ocean, causing Marinette to gulp.
Adrien clutched his head with his right hand in pain. The ride over to this new ocean accidentally caused him to bang his head. He winced in pain as he gazed around his new surroundings. Instead of the peaceful warm waters of light blue ocean, there lay a dark blue ocean, the sand a musty color. Thick, green, kelp fronds sprouted from the sand, swaying high. A bright light flashed behind Adrien, and a squealing mermaid was thrown out. Adrien turned around in surprise and caught Marinette by her arms before she fell into him. Marinette blushed and muttered a word of thanks.
She stood up looking around her surroundings before letting her gaze settle on Adrien. She crossed her her arms, an annoyed look etched on her face. Adrien caught her expression and shrugged, grinning nervously. Marinette just slapped her palm and shook her head. "So how are we going to get out of here?", she asked. "Well..., Adrien began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Our jewels caused a portal of some sort and it wouldn't have done that without a purpose. I honestly think we should explore and find out what's going on." He began swimming around the ocean, observing everything. "Of course you would think that", Marinette mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes.
She watched Adrien swim in circles and got bored. Sitting on a dark gray rock, she took in the scenery. The water had a sort of chill to it that made her shiver. Her eyes traveled to a dimming golden light darting in a pattern behind a kelp frond. Look away...look away, she thought fiercely, but she could not help but stare at the golden light. The pattern was so unique, the brightness so alluring. Marinette inched closer to the light.
Adrien stopped swimming, clearly confused. "Hmm...that's strange. There's nothing special about this place. Why would our jewels send us here? What do you think Mari? ...Marinette?" He turned around to see Marinette following a bright light. And you thought I was the curious one, he thought smiling to himself, an eyebrow rised. He swam closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Hey Marinette, are you okay?" Marinette looked at him and nodded shortly. "I think we need to follow this light...see the pattern it's making? It's trying to tell us something...", she began. "Right, makes sense", he agreed.
The closer they got to the golden light, the more it moved back. They began swimming after the light, dodging the kelp fronds. The light suddenly stopped, causing Marinette to back up into Adrien. "You gotta stop bumping into me like this", Adrien laughed. "Shut up, it's not like I want to...", muttered Marinette with an angry and embarrassed flush on her cheeks. "Anyways, look, the light has stopped. Probably because of that cave over there", she said, nodding her head over.
"A mysterious cave in the middle of a dark ocean. Sounds like something straight out of a horror movie", Adrien grumbled. Marinette looked at him with a look of curiousness. "What? I know some things about humans...", he said, catching her gaze. She sighed. "Whatever, let's just get this over with." They swam over from the kelp fronds they were hiding from and swam to the entrance to the cave. A shiny crystal like rock shifted to an opening. The two merpeople glanced at each other nervously before tentatively swimming in.
The inside of the cave was very rustic looking, the shelves containing strange items. Adrien eyes widened when he saw the contents of the cave. He had never, in his life, saw something as unique as this. He was about to swim off when he felt Marinette grab his hand. He blushed, looking at her in surprise. "Stay here, I don't want to lose you again", she said in a low voice. Adrien could only nod as his pulse quickened. Marinette led him along the dark cave, keeping her attention to an ancient wooden table at the end of the cave. Adrien could do nothing but numbly swim alongside her, more silent than he had ever been before.
They arrived at the table, peering around the cave once more. Marinette let go of Adrien's hand. Adrien nervously rubbed his neck. "Hello, Ladybug, Chat Noir," said a voice out of nowhere. Both jumped at the sound, and Marinette and Adrien frantically looked around, trying to find where the mysterious voice had came from. In the darkest corner of the cave there was an old bent figure of a merman, his tail tucked in underneath him.
