Fort Mekarsari:
The seven Kruna Yura opened up their Sail Gliders once they dropped out of the air about halfway down to one of two neighboring islands surrounded by nothing else but seawater. By Warra's direction, they had aimed for the smaller of the two islands when they made their dive out of the Koopa Cruiser. Both islands, less than a dozen or so miles apart, were tropical in nature and contained ornamental cities that used to be bustling and lively. The difference came in that Pi'illo Island had several other distinct habitats and climates, whereas the smaller Mekarsari Island consisted of just beaches and jungles in between and alongside its cities.
The Kruna soared towards the outer zone of Mekarsari and touched down behind a four-way intersection of rectangular, multitoned cobblestone. The aquatic theme of the water wielder nation was on prominent display in the buildings and layout of the spread urban-suburban structure of the community. As the Kruna put away their Sail Gliders, Warra stepped out to the front of the group and surveyed his home island.
"Does this still look familiar to you, Warra?" asked Daisy.
"Yeah," said Warra. "This looks like the southeastern side of the outer bounds. It hasn't suffered too badly in the time skip. Then again, I can see how Marissa would not pay much mind to this place. It's a quiet nation out in the middle of the Arlan Ocean."
"Just a lot of environmental decay," said Athelstan, pointing up to a billboard. "But wouldn't you know it?"
The billboard Athelstan pointed at displayed a photo of a creepily grinning, winking Marissa Arkana with her Malocchio Eye glowing. On the left side of her face, she had her index and middle finger pointing at her opened third eye. The brow-less, prominent ocular organ in the center of her forehead felt overbearing with its blank stare, and the billboard as a whole served as a constant reminder that at any point in time, Marissa could take a glance at any location on the planet.
That reminder did not last much longer, for a potent shadow burst soon flew at the billboard and blew straight through Marissa's head. The Kruna turned around and saw Andrew looking as if he had just finished throwing something. Andrew laughed through the grimace his Gatekeeper's Seal's painful power check elicited.
"Andrew!" Bowser snapped. "Why'd you do that? Are you trying to make us known?"
"I did everyone a favor!" replied Andrew. "I bet we all and the people living here had to be tired of looking at her stupid face!"
"At least the billboard's not staring at us now," said Daisy.
"By the way, did anyone see a Starbeans here while we glided down?" asked Andrew.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" a Shy Guy called out from the side.
Suddenly, a squad of armed humans, toads, and Shy Guys in blue and red uniforms of authority came out from around the corner of the near intersection. When they noticed Andrew's smoking hand, they linked it to the freshly destroyed billboard and aimed their laser-sight rifles at the seven Kruna.
"This is an Arkana-controlled base, and you destroyed a billboard of the great Lord Arkana!" one of the Shy Guys yelled.
"Thanks for letting us know," said Daisy. "Now I won't feel sorry about doing this-"
With a subtle hand gesture, part of the earthen terrain just offset the cobblestone roads raised up and smacked the group of guards. Athelstan kicked the road and knocked up the cobblestone underneath the guards, launching them into the sky and disarming them of their weapons. Marut flew up and swung his Dragon Bladestaff to blast a strong, heavy gust at the airborne guards that pushed them into the decaying trees.
With those guards out of the way, the Kruna turned tail in the opposite direction and headed out to the beach coastline. Luckily for them, a line of trees separated the beach from the start of the mainland and provided an obscuring barrier for them to stay hidden against...until they realized the beach had watchtowers set up and spread along the whole coast.
"You know, something tells me we shouldn't let those guys see us," said Athelstan.
"Andrew, do you have enough power for an illusion trick?" asked Daisy.
"I wish," replied Andrew.
"Then tread lightly..." Bowser murmured.
The intention for Bowser was for them to sneak around the spotlights that the Skalfers in the watchtowers moved about. Instead, Daisy deemed it a good time to run up to the near tower and smash a kick through its wooden legs. The large snapping, crunching echo traveled up and down the beach as the tower leaned and fell over. Daisy got out of the way, but the Skalfer at the top of the tower dropped out off the side and subsequently plummeted into the sand pit Athelstan caught and trapped him in.
"What is wrong with you?" asked Warra. "You think you can just wage all-out war here?"
"What's wrong with you?" asked Daisy. "Let's go run over and get the next one! Aren't you insulted that they did this to your home?"
"Of course I am!" snapped Warra. "But trying to wreck through everything in sight isn't rational!"
An alarm sounded off from each of the other watchtowers, all of which turned on red and orange alert sirens to flash up and down the coastline. The Kruna did not have much time before the full force of the Mekarsari island base came out on the hunt.
"Hey, Rosalina; how come you didn't warn us about diving right into an enemy base?!" Daisy screamed out loud.
"They must have just recently set it up," said Warra. "That really complicates things..."
"We'll just have to go underwater early," said Bowser. "Everyone, get out your diving masks and jump into the ocean!"
"Hey! Not cool, bro!" Marut barked. "They have names!"
Bowser grunted and snarled. "Fish Faces! There! Did I really have to call them that?!"
"Yes," Marut replied with a giggle.
The Kruna got their Fish Faces out of their Hammerspace Belts and put them on in a rush; all of them except for Andrew, who turned and faced away from the open water. The others fled and ran for the ocean, only for Bowser to stop when he noticed Andrew not following them.
"What's your deal?!" Bowser yelled. "Hurry up and get your mask on so we can go! What are you staring at?!"
"Just leave without me!" Andrew demanded. "Go on! Move it!"
"And why should we?" asked Daisy.
"Because I can't swim, obviously!" Andrew said. "I'd slow you down and then everyone would be right on you. This is the only way to do things."
"Just hold onto me!" Ramona said. "I'll swim for both of us!"
"No, you can't – just go!" screamed Andrew. "You're wasting time!"
"Sorry, Ramona!" Daisy said, snatching her by the arm. The Kruna of Light kept looking back at her best friend as Daisy dragged her out to the ocean all the way until they submerged themselves into the water. After a short swim away from the coast, the six Kruna hastened their plunge under sea level to make their drop into the ocean depths as inconspicuous as possible.
Andrew took off in a sprint along the beach, a hand resting on his Umbra Bladestaff to pull it out and strike anyone who got near. He had no idea what to do or where to go, but he kept running after bulldozing through the squadron of Shield Guys, Pyro Guys, and Skalfers he ran into when he rounded a corner to move inland.
Daisy and Athelstan pulled along under the water at the tail end of the group, their swimming ability the poorest out of the six. Ramona and Bowser generated illumination through their swordstaffs in the dark water, though Bowser's glow took up more energy to maintain on account of the underwater fire usage. Their descent into the deeper parts of the waters came with a stark drop in temperature the further down they went. In fact, they soon found themselves unable to stay too far down for too long once they tried skimming the ocean floor in their accumulation of depth. Their bodies started locking up about twenty minutes in after they passed a depth of seventy meters.
The Kruna ascended back to warmer water near the surface to restore their bodies' plummeting temperatures. In their plunge, they found nothing other than open seawater and ocean rocks; but this was only one section of the offshore underwater area around Mekarsari. With the whole island of Mekarsari on the mounting fritz over their arrival and presence, the Kruna had to limit their travel to the water in their search for a temple that could lie anywhere along the island's boundaries.
Andrew charged at a group of Skalfers, bladestaff ablaze with dark power. In one raging swing, he swept the six skeletal warriors out of the way of the cobblestone path he had been traveling up. Mace Guys approached from behind, the six of them all throwing their spiked metal balls at the Kruna of Shadow. Forced back, Andrew cut to the side and then launched himself at the group for a ferocious slash of his staff just as the four Bomb Guys standing behind the Mace Guys readied their explosives.
Showing some quick reaction and agility, Andrew ceased his attack and flipped over and behind the Bomb Guys to avoid setting their bombs off. He dashed up the street of cobblestone and took a hard left at the next intersection, followed by a right turn that put him in line with an incoming group of Elite Boom Guys. The moment they fired their Bullet Bills, he took one step to the side and backflipped off the road. Landing in a twist, he diverged off path and rushed through the grass and trees while the Boom Guys and Bomb Guys pursued from behind.
If I didn't have this curse mark, you all would be doing the running! Andrew yelled in thought. Skalfers ran at him and tried to tackle him to the ground, only for Andrew to show them up with quick cuts, lateral burst speed, and even a few stiff arms. In order to get past the line of Skalfers that had formed further up ahead on a branch of the cobblestone street, he lowered his shoulder, raised his bladestaff, and barreled through them. Just to make sure no one countered, he swung his staff around in a ferocious spinning attack upon initial contact that slashed away any Skalfers caught in his range.
No time to sit still, Andrew sprinted up the street. His direction of travel put him in line with the fortress at the center of Mekarsari, though he had not a clue what good trying to go there would do. If anything, he would be rushing into an even larger swarm of enemies. Surely, that would not end well for him.
He took a look over his shoulder and did not notice anyone else following him. After a few turns at intersections, he dashed up a short climb of stairs into a courtyard area surrounded by light-less buildings. In profuse panting, Andrew stuck himself to the wall of the nearest building and held position there until he recovered enough air to proceed onward. A quick peek out the side showed plenty of guards running around, though none of them seemed to be on their way towards him.
Andrew did not know how long he could keep this effort up, but he made up his mind and cloaked himself in a misty veil of darkness as a substitute for an actual illusion trick. In the dim world under the Nirvana Barrier, catching sight of him would be near impossible. As a natural light stepper, no one would hear him; not unless he pressed his foot down on something other than solid ground. Now concealed, he moved on through the courtyard to another section of the island.
Since the six swimming Kruna had no way of signaling to one another without getting noticed, they had to search through the waters as one single unit. They came across little in their hunt that they could use to help them find the temple. At this rate, they would have had to scour around the entirety of Mekarsari just to be sure they had covered every possible place the underwater temple could be. Fortunately for them, their Fish Faces held up in the water and developed no problems with their extended time spent submerged.
Of interesting note, the amount of sea creatures they encountered had been minimal for the duration of their stay in the water. The ocean proved surprisingly barren, with little life floating about or anchored to the underwater floor. It almost seemed like there had been a mass exodus out of the Arlan Ocean.
The Kruna continued on, northbound as they curled along the southwest portion of Mekarsari's waters. In a great, wide ocean, they had no idea where to look. Even just constraining themselves to a short distance not too far from Mekarsari did not help their search much. They all wondered if they could even maintain the pace with which they moved, for the search so far had already tired most of them out. Their task could easily be a multi-day job; maybe even requiring multiple weeks.
Oh no, Ramona thought, turning up to resurface. Andrew's in trouble... I can feel it...
The others followed her since she was the only one providing light, Bowser having stopped to conserve his fire power. When the group popped their heads out of the water, they saw all of Fort Mekarsari lit up with sirens and booming with warning signals. Bowser prevented Ramona from moving towards the island the moment he noticed her starting to head in that direction.
The Kruna submerged back under the water before long and swam further through the ocean. They continued on, searching and growing more fatigued the longer they fought to propel their bodies through the water. The more time elapsed and the more distance they covered, the more they felt as though there really was not anything in the ocean for them at all.
At one point, the Kruna stopped where they were in the water as if stuck at a crossroads. They had to have wasted plenty of time looking through the ocean, only for them to turn up without anything to show for their efforts. Now, the Kruna could either continue their search, or they could resurface and try their hand at taking on an entire island base. They could not call for the Koopa Cruiser to leave and return above the Nirvana Barrier, for it would only get detected and shot down if they did.
It seemed increasingly likely that they would have to fight the island base as a whole regardless of whether they continued their search for the underwater temple or not; that is, unless they decided to round the southern edge of Mekarsari and swim all the way to Pi'illo Island. Even then, there was no guarantee that Pi'illo Island would not also be a base; and none of it took into account either Andrew's fate or whatever potential effect the seawater could be having on the Kruna with as long as they've been swimming in it. The lack of other life in the water made them wonder if the ocean had been contaminated somehow or had otherwise been rendered uninhabitable in some way.
Only then did a glowing golden light orb rise up from the ocean depths to a point roughly in line with the Kruna's current distance below sea level. The orb gave off an intermittent visual and audio pulse. Unsure of the orb's nature, the Kruna held off on advancing through the water any further. But then, something surreal happened.
"I will guide you..." a voice echoed in the water.
That voice...why does it sound so familiar? Daisy wondered. Why did that sound like Geno?
The other Kruna more or less wondered the same thing. They had no time to ponder it though, for the light began drifting away. Up front as the faster swimmers of the bunch, Warra and Marut led the Kruna ahead to keep pace with the moving light.
Andrew had fared well sneaking around the base with the obscuring shield of darkness covering him. No one even so much as batted an eye in his direction as he shifted along the bushes and trees of the cobblestone roads. Whenever someone got near, he stopped moving altogether until they passed.
In this manner, he covered a good deal of ground on Mekarsari. But really, he was just stalling and waiting for the others to come up out of the sea. Even so, a part of him also believed he could infiltrate the island's fortress center, take out whoever he came across inside, and then effectively steal control of the island away from all the soldiers and guards lurking about.
If anybody asks, I'm winging all this, Andrew thought. I got better chances against the sentries here than I do floundering about in the water with no idea what I'm doing... Okay, technically, I have no idea what I'm doing here either, but surely, the two options aren't comparable...
Unfortunately for the shadow wielder, his dark mask soon wore off under the strain of the Gatekeeper's Seal. He got ready to try and make another obscuring dark cloud, but he then decided against it and canceled the preparation.
I'm not wasting any more energy, he thought. I can't with this seal. I gotta make sure I still have something to attack with...
Running up another road, he turned and dipped into an alleyway between two buildings. Mekarsari still had its sirens blazing, but it did not seem as though the streets and walkways had gotten any more crowded. He saw no one nearby when he peered out to the left and right in front of him, so he darted from his current alley to a point behind another building on the other side of the stone terrace.
Right when he ran out from his hiding spot to sprint up the path and climb the stairs ahead, a group of Skalfers and humans marched down those very same steps. Andrew backpedaled in a hurry and returned behind the near building, eliciting excitement from the guards sporting the Mark of the Witch on their uniforms. They did not find him, but they did linger a lot longer than he would have preferred. As soon as that group of guards passed by and went on their marry way, Andrew dashed for the stairs.
"Stealth is for cats..." Andrew muttered to himself.
After rushing up all the steps, Andrew made a break for the winding, walled-off inclined road leading into some higher-level buildings and structures. He shifted under the shadows along one of the walls all the way to the top and then zipped back and forth from one side of the road to the next as he ascended the incline. When he saw a group of Bomb Guys and Skalfers round a corner further ahead, he stopped and posted up under the darkness of a building. He did not stay there for long, however.
To Hell with it! Andrew yelled in thought. He flared a burst of shadow in his left hand just within his curse mark's restrictions. When the group of over fifty strong trotted his way, he leapt out from the darkness into the open and tossed the overall underwhelming but still effective shadow blast at them. The attack hit a handful of the guards up front and resulted in a small explosion of darkness Andrew used as cover to dash through another alley.
The Kruna of Shadow cleared over a fence and landed in a roll into a spacious patio and garden area. A few quick glances told him no one else was around, though that could change in a matter of seconds. Footsteps noiseless and breath shallow, he inched along the concrete ground to try and hear anything out of place under the echo of alarm sirens. He kept looking back and forth to his left and right, as well as behind and overhead, just to ensure nobody snuck up on him. In spite of his accumulating fatigue, Andrew felt better and stronger with his rising momentum as time went on.
Mere seconds later, the rally then fell apart and died. Andrew turned around to see one group of Skalfers marching up to him, then another group bursting out from one of the buildings on the side; but he failed to notice a larger wood and metal figure rushing up behind him. The Kruna of Shadow twisted back around just in time for the figure to smash a one-hit knockout punch into his upper abdomen, the hit blanking out his eyes and instantly inducing unconsciousness as he flopped hard onto the ground. Andrew did not even get to see his attacker before the world through his eyes went black.
The golden light guiding the Kruna brought them over to the eastern side of Mekarsari's waters and then dissipated as it went into a descent to deeper depths. In the Kruna's field of vision down below was an ocean floor consisting of a contorted bridge connecting two heavily weathered, lopsided buildings. The buildings appeared as if they had been ripped whole from their foundations and tossed into the ocean to sink into obscurity.
Daisy pointed down at the structures and shrugged, seemingly as if trying to ask if they could all handle going that far. Bowser focused his power and erected a great barrier of fire around him. He then gestured for the others to stay near him so that the heat radiating off his flaming aura would keep them warm for their descent.
Exceeding one hundred meters in depth, the group swam for the bridge and followed it along to the bigger of the two buildings. The structures' rounded off, mounded aesthetic and convergent roofs passed them off as rocky sea protrusions or underwater stalagmites for those that saw them from above. In actuality, they resembled the kind of ancient world architecture seen in history books. A pair of double doors prevented the group from entering the building they picked to scan through, but that did not stop Daisy and Athelstan from smashing them in.
The route that opened up inside took them into a short ascent that almost amounted to nothing, for the entirety of the building's indoor space was waterlogged. Looking around for anything in the pitch-black interior would have been impossible if not for Ramona's light and Bowser's flames; yet aside from unidentifiable, water-damaged debris, the place seemed fairly barren regardless. Just when they thought the building had nothing for them, Daisy noticed markings on the walls and pointed them out to the other Kruna.
Ramona followed Athelstan as he searched all over the inscribed walls. She shined her light on the ancient characters so he could read and decipher them. They had to shuffle around several many times in the large building to get to a section Athelstan recognized as related to the Gate of Time. As they worked, Daisy watched them and cringed with impatience. She just wanted to hurry up and get out of the water after having been in it for so long.
With Bowser forced to cut his flaming aura short to conserve power, Ramona had to expand the scope and intensity of her light to provide warmth for the group. She swam to the center of the building interior and concentrated a high amount of light energy through her swordstaff, almost as if taking on a role as a personal sun for her friends. Ramona had to stay that way and maintain her power output for a long while until Athelstan finished scanning over the hieroglyphs. Even so, she still had plenty of energy left to use. As they exited the building, Daisy wondered if Ramona even noticed just how much power she had expended so far.
Ramona continued providing light and heat as they burst into the smaller of the two buildings. Athelstan only needed to do a quick check within the similarly built structure to come to a concrete conclusion. Their business completed, the Kruna left the two buildings behind and began their ascent back to the surface. They now possessed the information that they had been searching so long for.
