A/N: This is the chapter that prompted me to start the Rejects! 0w0 Every now and then, I'll just write a scene or two from later in Interning. (I even have a scene that will take years to reach, unless I write like the wind this year. If you love spoilers, I'll PM it to you. ;P) Most of this was written while I was working on the Colossal Squid rewrite, before I had decided on including the curse. So, before the curse, I needed ways to make the episode rewrites more interesting. This was originally going to be the Halloween special, really. That's why it's longer than the usual Interning chapter.
Also, if any of you have the newest Animal Crossing for the Switch and want to see my Deep inspired island, my Dream Address is 6450-6237-9167. I've also added some new designs since the last Interning update!
"For a thorough investigation, we'll be here all day, at least," Fontaine told Finn. "Possibly three, if Ant has his way."
"What about Ant?" Finn asked.
"He won't want to leave without seeing a mermaid, and three days is the longest Mom and Dad will indulge him unless we find a logical explanation," Fontaine said with a roll of her eyes. "You'll have the run of the Aronnax. Try to not give Ant too many 'ghost' appearances."
Finn frowned, making Fontaine smile. Finn had been horrified when he'd had to show himself to the Aronnax cameras but, well, Fontaine didn't think he minded too much. He had saved Kaiko's life, after all. Probably all of the Nektons. Now if only she could convince him to show his real self to her family.
Fontaine shook off the train of thought. She wouldn't nag him about it, she'd promised herself, just be ready to support him when he did decide to take the risk.
"What?" Finn asked.
"Nothing," Fontaine said. She backed toward the vent. "I've got to go. We're almost at Ken's location. Keep an eye on the cameras, and turn on your comm if you decide to take a swim."
"Aye, yi, Captain," Finn said with a jaunty salute.
Fontaine reached over and shoved his hat brim down, then leaped into the vent before he could see her grin.
While Nereus and the Nektons floated in the speedboat over the Blue Hole, Fontaine subtly checked behind them. While Finn was too careful about being spotted, he did love to go swimming when there was an opportunity to do so. Fontaine was glad Kaiko had left the Aronnax so far back; Finn would be more at ease swimming if there was some distance between him and the Nektons.
Fontaine's attention was caught when Ant dropped into the water with enough gusto to splash Kaiko and Fontaine.
"Together…" Kaiko said, probably as a tail end of a warning.
Will just smiled at Kaiko and jumped after Ant, causing Fontaine and Kaiko to be splashed yet again. Kaiko stared down at the Nekton males, then glanced at Fontaine. The girl shrugged and slipped into the water with barely a ripple.
As Fontaine followed Ant and Will, she stared in awe. For ages, this complex ecosystem had remained hidden and self-sustaining. Within minutes, the Nektons had spotted a Lazarus species -a species that had been thought to be extinct.
Fontaine looked around as the Nektons dove deeper. There were so many types of coral, and dozens of species of fish swimming in and out of the kelp. Who knew what other secrets the Blue Hold could hold? Secrets like... another Yellowback Basslet?
Fontaine stared as Jeffrey's twin swam up to them. She knew the Blue Hole could support plenty of ecosystems, but a tropical fish in the cool waters? She looked at Will, who just shrugged.
"Hey!" Ant suddenly yelped. He abruptly dove. "Come back!"
"Ant, stop!" Will ordered as Ant swam further away.
"Wait, please!" Ant called, ignoring his dad's orders.
Will became serious and waved Fontaine to follow Ant with him. "You're descending too quickly, stop now!"
Ant responded with a surprised, "What?"
Fontaine passed a ledge in the Blue Hole's wall, and saw Ant had stopped. He simply floated, staring intently down.
"What happened?" Kaik asked, worry in her voice. "Ant?"
"I saw someone down there!" Ant said. "Swimming faster than any human can!"
As Fontaine joined Ant, she couldn't help teasing, "Scales? Trident? Tail?"
"Mock all you want," Ant said with an unimpressed frown. "It was about my size. It looked like a kid."
"A child? Alone down here?"
Will sounded pretty convinced and worried, so Fontaine made herself take the situation seriously. If it had just been Ant, Fontaine would have a harder time believing anything was there to see. But, Ken had seen something. Plus, Nereus had acted as though something could be there.
Kaiko apparently had the same idea, as she asked, "Any ideas, keeper of secrets?"
Fontaine smiled at the title.
"None," Nereus said. "But there are no dive boats for a hundred kilometers."
There was a brief pause. Fontaine glanced down the Blue Hole, but there wasn't anything strange in sight.
"I'm going back to the Aronnax for the Rover so we can explore deeper," Kaiko said. "In the meantime, stay-"
"Together," Ant interrupted with a wry grin. "We promise."
"I'm going to get a better look," Fontaine said. She waved a calming hand at Will. "I'll stay in view. I just want a better look down the Blue Hole."
"Alright," Will conceded.
Fontaine swam away from Ant and Will. Once she'd put a bit of distance between them, she subtly switched her comm to her and Finn's line.
"Finn?" Fontaine said. "Finn, are you there?"
When Finn didn't respond right away, Fontaine guessed he'd gone swimming. Since Finn used only a mouth rebreather, he wouldn't be able to respond until he surfaced.
Sure enough, moments later, Finn's voice came over the comm. "Miss me already?"
"Where are you?" Fontaine asked.
"Uh, right near the Aronnax." His voice lowered. "Behind it, actually. Your mom just got back."
"Good. When she leaves again, you need to go back inside," Fontaine said.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"There might be somebody out here."
"Oh."
Fontaine could hear Finn's wince. "What is it, Finn?"
"When I first dove, I thought I saw something yellow and human-shaped. I hid behind some coral, and it was gone when I checked again. It might have seen me, too."
Fontaine shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Whoever's here is too skittish, anyway. You must have scared them as much as they scared you."
"It didn't scare me!" Finn said defensively.
Fontaine grinned. "Okay, ghost boy."
Finn grumbled under his breath.
"See you back at the Aronnax," Fontaine said, then switched her comms back before he could react. She turned and swam back to Ant and Will. "No sign of any diver of any species."
"I'm not making it up," Ant grumbled. "You saw it, right, Jeffrey?"
Fontaine was about to tell Ant that Jeffrey's word wasn't going to help Ant's cause, when she realized Jeffrey wasn't even nearby.
"Jeffrey?" Ant looked around. "Jeffrey, where are you? He's gone!" Ant spun to face Will. "We have to go deeper to find him!"
Deeper? Did Ant think Jeffrey had followed the mystery diver? He'd probably just gotten distracted with his new friend.
Then again… this was Ant's pet.
"Not until your mother gets back with the Rover," Will said firmly.
"Please, Dad?" Ant pleaded.
Will sighed, his expression telling Fontaine that he was already caving to Ant's seal-pup eyes. "I'm sorry…"
"He's my best friend," Ant said.
Will stared at Ant for a few seconds, then said, "Kaiko, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear!" came the response.
"We're going a little deeper to find Jeffrey."
Ant kicked higher in the water. "Yes!"
"Keep your eyes peeled," Nereus warned. "Remember. The abyss stares back!"
"Sure, man of mystery," Fontaine kidded as the Nektons dove.
Soon, the water darkened so the trio had to take out their flashlights. Fontaine swung her beam around, not liking being in the semi-darkness of unfamiliar waters. There were several tunnels in the Blue Hole's wall, and Fontaine wondered what they hid.
"There!" Will suddenly shouted. "That was definitely human, but way faster!"
"No way," Fontaine said, swinging her beam around. "How?"
At the same time, Fontaine spotted a human-ish shape near a tunnel mouth. She flinched as it darted into the tunnel, out of sight.
"Woah! I saw one, too!"
Ant laughed triumphantly. "Now who's crazy?"
Fontaine's mind raced. The only other person diving in the area would be Finn, but why would he be in the Blue Hole? Maybe he'd been forced along by Kaiko in the Rover and was trying to hide?
"Wait for me here," Will said, then swam toward his "diver."
Fontaine glanced at Ant, then dove. "I'll be back!"
If Finn had been trapped inside the Blue Hole, she needed to help him get back out before he dove too deeply. Besides the water pressure, there were too many mysteries in the Blue Hole to dive alone.
Fontaine swam as quickly as she could into the tunnel, where her flashlight beam found a dark shape shooting ahead. Fontaine raced after it. Even if it wasn't Finn, a diver so deep was worth investigating!
Over the comms, Will said, "This diver is too fast!"
"You were an Olympic swimmer, Dad. How is this person faster than you?" Fontaine asked in disbelief.
Will laughed, already sounding breathless. "I'll ask them when I catch them!"
Fontaine wasn't having any better luck with her diver. No matter how hard she pushed herself, she simply couldn't match their speed.
"Ant, Fontaine," Will said minute later. "We found another one!"
"One what?" Fontaine panted.
"Another Lemurian symbol."
"Great," Fontaine thought. "Just what we need: another mystery!"
Fontaine slowed, too tired to keep chasing. She lifted her camera to take a picture, but the dark shape vanished around a corner.
Fontaine stared after it, panting for breath. She looked around, suddenly aware of how deeply she'd gone into the mystery tunnel in pursuit of what she was increasingly hoping was just a fish or a regular diver.
"I think my diver just disappeared," Fontaine said, fighting to keep her voice from shaking. "On a scale of weird and creepy, this place is rapidly going off the charts."
"Aw, don't say that Fontaine!" Ant said. "Jeffrey's alone out there!"
"Jeffrey's probably the safest one here." Fontaine thought. She felt a quick current against her back, as though something had rushed behind her. She slowly turned. "Safe in the light and probably in the Ro-"
Ant gave a startled yell. Fontaine whipped around, her flashlight lighting up a familiar black wetsuit.
"Finn?" Fontaine thought. Aloud, she said as she lifted the beam, "Don't scare me like-"
Fontaine jerked back with a terrified scream.
The wetsuit told Fontaine it was Finn. But when she looked at his face, there was nothing. No mouth, rebreather, nose, or eyes. Under the black hood of the wetsuit was smooth, pale skin.
Whatever the thing was -because it surely couldn't be Finn?!- flinched at a sudden burst of light and shot away. Fontaine blindly swam in the opposite direction, not knowing or particularly caring which direction she was headed. She just turned when the tunnel did and pushed her legs faster than she'd ever moved before.
Either seconds or minutes later, Fontaine spotted the exit ahead. Just before she was outside, something moved into her path and she plowed full-speed into it. Fontaine tried to push away, only for the thing to grab her! Fontaine screamed and thrashed.
"Fontaine! Fontaine, it's me!"
Will's voice penetrated Fontaine's panic, slowing her struggles. She lifted her head and saw it was Will who'd grabbed her.
"Fontaine, what happened?" Will asked, looking past Fontaine.
"I-I-I-" Fontaine stammered out. She looked down and saw her entire body wracked with shivers.
"It's okay, it's okay," Will said in a soothing tone. He wrapped his arms gently around Fontaine. "Just relax and breathe. I'll take you to the Rover."
Fontaine slumped against Will, too tired and confused to even try to swim. Her shivering slowed, but still hadn't completely stopped by the time they surfaced.
Kaiko's eyes were wide when Fontaine looked at her. "What happened down there?"
"It w-was-" Fontaine shuddered. "He had no face!"
Kaiko and Will exchanged concerned frowns, then they helped Fontaine into the Rover. It took several more minutes for Fontaine's breathing to return to normal. She was still shaking a bit, causing her camera to drop to the Rover floor.
Ant, who'd been watching in silence, picked up the camera. He glanced at the screen, then made a disgusted noise.
"Is this what scared you, Fontaine?" Ant asked, turning the camera.
Fontaine quickly turned her head from the faceless picture. "Yeah. The flash must've scared h… it off."
Kaiko took the camera. She stared at the picture for a long time before coming to a decision.
"Nobody else is getting into the water. Ant and Will, get in with Nereus to wait for Jeffrey. He'll be back soon, I'm sure. I'm taking Fontaine back to the Aronnax, then we'll decide what to do. Fontaine, will you be okay alone for a bit?"
Fontaine nodded. She was still shaking a bit, but she thought she'd be fine once she was inside. Plus, seeing Finn's face would probably help.
"Okay. Ant, Will, I'll be back soon."
Fifteen minutes later, Finn was enduring a hug from Fontaine. Kaiko had left Fontaine in her room, bundled in blankets, and Fontaine had tackle-hugged Finn as soon as he'd appeared, so the blankets half-covered both of the teens.
Finn shifted and looked down. Fontaine thought he'd try to get out of the hug, but instead, he just slowly moved to settle the two of them against the wall and wriggled the blanket across both of their shoulders.
"You okay?" Finn asked softly.
Fontaine just sighed and turned her face into Finn's shoulder. She was glad when he didn't press for an answer. She would be fine soon.
She just hadn't realized until the Blue Hole how scared she was of something happening to Finn. What if Finn got hurt? What if he got trapped somewhere while she was gone?
Yeah, she was fine, and so was Finn. But she had to admit to herself that she alone couldn't keep Finn safe forever.
A/N: In the original plan, this was the big thing that prompted Finn and Fontaine to realize Finn needed to become known. The final version of the Abyss rewrite isn't as exciting, in my opinion, but it works better with how Interning is going now.