Well, I'm back after having my laptop stolen and getting to a point where I have regained my muse for this story. So sorry it took this long, but here we are again folks. Also, it seems that Season 4 for the show is still on! Hopefully we'll be seeing something soon, and maybe if the show's director's looking for some writers, I'd be willing to send an application. Well, on to the story then.

Chapter 7

Eastern Indian Ocean

The blue whales had continued to swim together, the bull whale refusing to let the Aronnax come close, nor did the whale allow the two other vessels to approach his mate and soon-to-be-born calf. It was indeed showing a very un-whalelike territorial aggression towards the group which had Kaiko, Dr. Nomura, and Izumi hyped up in a big way, even when the bull whale would conduct tail slaps, head lunges, or would blow a net of bubbles between them and the female. The fact that they continued to travel without being straight up attacked again told the Nektons that the big whales didn't perceive them as a threat, more of a nuisance whose place the male would occasionally remind them of in a very stern manner.

All the while, Devil Daniels and Will were talking, with Will advising Kaiko on the situation that Daniels was facing. Kaiko certainly had a softening of the heart when she heard of Daniels' yearning for another chance with Izumi. So here she was, giving Daniels some advice on how to approach Izumi and conduct this approach for him. The Nektons were now playing matchmaker.

"So…just talking? I don't know, seems…just…like it's not enough," Daniels said nervously as he leaned on his wheel up on the bridge, looking down at Izumi who was having a blast with Daniels' drone which he'd let her run so she could get some footage.

"It's a start, isn't it? You can't really just jump back in where you left things off, find out what she's been up to since she moved back to Japan," Kaiko urged him as she stood there next to him.

"Just be yourself, not the character," Will added.

"Okay, okay, okay, let's do this," Daniels said as he bounced a bit on his heels, hyping himself up for this.

"Go get 'em tiger," Will chuckled as Daniels slid down the ladder and made his way up to the front of the boat and began talking to Izumi.

"Will…don't you think we should talk about Fontaine?" Kaiko quietly asked.

"What about her?" Will inquired curiously.

"She's almost seventeen, and…she's getting to the age where…y'know, boys are on the mind. And she hasn't had hardly any interactions with any kids her own age. All this talk with Daniels has made me ask the question, I'm worried we've been sheltering our kids too much, we could be robbing them of a great time of their lives."

"Where's this come from Kaiko?" Will asked as he scooted over close to her.

"I…saw the way Fontaine acted after we left the Dark Orca. Our little girl is changing Will, she's taking her first steps as a woman, and I'm worried that we haven't prepared her well enough for the real world," Kaiko sighed, looking out at the distant horizon, the whales not even factoring in for her gaze at this moment.

"Well…I'm sure all homeschool parents think the same thing at a certain point, I think my parents did. But I turned out pretty well didn't I? I mean, you married me didn't you?"

"Makes me wonder if I'm the one who's crazy," Kaiko smirked, a little spark of that same spunky attitude that Will had fallen in love with showing through in the same strength as the day they'd met.

Down below, they could see Devil Daniels was not getting super animated about something and Izumi was as well. It was the drone, it was having some trouble. Daniels was fighting the urge to yank his controller back and return it but he was letting Izumi try and handle it, knowing better apparently than to just yank it. However, he probably should have, because as Izumi was flying it back, it breached back up out of the water, and then beelined straight into Devil Daniels' face, causing him to stumble back, and then keel over onto his back, and his drone, in its semi-autonomous mod, stopped and looked down at him, as if nothing was ever wrong.

"Ooh…" both Nektons winced at the shot Daniels had just taken.

"I'd better go see if he's okay," Will chuckled and made his way down to the deck as Daniels was starting to sit back up.

"Damon-san, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Izumi asked, scared that she might have hurt him.

"I-I'm okay…oh hey Izumi, wow, you look great today, did I ever tell you that?" Daniels said, his eyes slightly whoozy, the hit apparently dazing him a good deal.

"Uh…yeah, sure," Izumi giggled a little.

"No seriously, like way prettier than normal, even back during high school, like your homecoming dress, even better," Daniels giggled back.

"Oh dear…" Izumi said pleasantly with a genuine smile while shaking her head, "I really got you good didn't I? Oh, William-san."

"He okay?" Will asked as he came over and kneeled next to Izumi.

"Will, get outta here man, I'm about to make my move," Daniels ordered groggily.

"Nope, you're going to make a move alright, straight to bed."

"It's okay William-san I can take care of that," Izumi said as Will helped Devil Daniels to his feet, "After all, it is my fault."

"S-sure, I guess," Will said, sensing opportunity to give Daniels his opportunity.

"Will, the Rover's battery needs to recharge," Kaiko said as Izumi walked Daniels past her, "Oh, I see we're making progress?"

"Sure are," Will nodded, "I think these two are going to be just fine. You were saying?"

"The Rover, it needs its battery recharged, plus I know you and Fontaine are itching to get back to work on that necklace. She seemed pretty excited, so did you."

"She sure was, seems like Fontaine's found something of a kindred spirit with Princess Alina, it's hard to explain really. But for me, learning more about Lemuria alongside Fontaine has…it's going to be one of the happiest memories we'll share. I'm sure of it."

"I'm happy for you," Kaiko nodded, "So why don't you go ahead and get the Rover back, I'll stay here with Dr. Nomura and Devil Daniels as long as we can. I'll invite them over for dinner if that's alright."

"Sounds good, see you tonight."

Back aboard the Aronnax, Fontaine was sitting at the dining room table, the Chronicle of the Past sitting before her. She had been talking to Nereus about everything that she'd seen through this incredible artifact, but there was only so much that she could convey through words. Now, during this lull in activity, she was wanting to have another go at the peak into the past that this necklace had provided her, but her parents had told her not to do so without them present in case something happened. It was annoying Fontaine greatly, she wanted to wear the necklace again, to see more of the adventures of Princess Alina and her Lemurians. Nothing bad had happened before, why would it happen again, plus, it wasn't like there was anything happening at the moment.

"Whatcha doing Fontaine?" Ant asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Wondering why you're in the kitchen instead of the bridge?"

"Nereus is in the bridge, if something goes wrong he'll tell us," Ant pointed to his communicator.

"Nereus has the bridge?" Fontaine deadpanned.

"No worries, I gave him a rundown, plus I think he knows a lot about the Aronnax already."

"Yeah, no kidding," Fontaine rolled her eyes as she traced her finger along the necklace's many jewels, wanting to look again as she held her chin in her opposite palm.

"You wanna put it back on don't you?" Ant slid over, prodding her a little bit with a big smile on his face.

"What? Of course, I do, but mom and dad wanted me to wait for them," Fontaine told her brother.

"True…but…"

"But nothing Anteaus," the voice of Nereus interrupted them, the old man walking in, "Lemurian technology is still a mystery, even to the Guardians. Some of it is powerful, such as the Sceptre of Doreus, others are virtually unknown, such as Princess Alina's necklace. It is not to be trifled with."

"Nereus?!" Ant looked over his shoulder, "Shouldn't you be on the bridge?"

"And shouldn't you be getting a drink so that I can talk to Fontaine?" Nereus replied knowingly.

"Uh…right," Ant rubbed the back of his head, "So, yeah, I'll be on the bridge."

Ant was quick to grab a soda and then left the kitchen, quickly returning to the bridge.

"So, you here to make sure I don't try the necklace again?" Fontaine sighed.

"Well actually," Nereus smiled, "I was going to ask you how you deactivated it."

"What? Well, I just decided I wanted to stop, and then I woke up, that simple really," Fontaine replied with a shrug.

"Fascinating, it is truly incredible that even High Lemuria had access to such technology," Nereus rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah I know, considering the Lemurians I saw were wearing armor and swords," Fontaine agreed nonchalantly.

"Hmm…considering that you're perfectly fine now and that you know how to come and go, perhaps you can…take another shot at it, once I talk to your father. I'm sure I can convince him."

"Really?" Fontaine perked up immediately.

"No need Nereus," Will called out from the door.

"Dad!" Fontaine stood up happily, knowing what this meant.

"Ready for another go Fontaine?"

"Do I have to wear the whole dress?" Fontaine asked with a laugh, crossing her arms, showing some more of her mom's spunky attitude.

"Of course not," Will chuckled back as he walked in.

"I have pen and paper ready William," Nereus said, smiling brightly beneath his beard.

"Good, alright Fontaine, go ahead and grab a spot on the couch, we'll wait for you to come out of it here. Try to be out by dinner though," Will told Fontaine, entrusting quite a lot to her, signifying the growing maturity that Fontaine had exhibited lately, and knowing that Fontaine's importance to this new chapter of their adventures could not be understated.

"Sounds good," Fontaine said as she went over to the couch by the large aquarium feature near the back of the kitchen area and began to lay down after tying the necklace back around her neck, and then she reached in, and dabbed her fingers into the water and then let a drop fall onto the central crystal as she'd done before.

To Will's amazement, the entire necklace began to glow, and Fontaine's eyes closed and a satisfied sigh came from her. It was almost as if she had merely taken a nap judging by her slow steady breathing and how peaceful everything looked from the outside.

"Might as well take a seat William, she'll probably be a while," Nereus said as he hobbled over to the counter where the coffee machine was.

"Yeah, I guess so," Will said as he followed, but only after he took a blanket which was folded over the back of the couch and laid it over his daughter's sleeping form.

Going for a coffee Will poured a cup as Nereus poured a little cream and sugar in next to him.

"So, what'd you learn?" Will asked him.

"Well, the Lemurians and Atlanteans apparently had access and some form of mastery over gunpowder. Fontaine reported Napoleonic-style ships, albeit with some design changes she sketched out," Nereus said and offered his notebook, sliding it across the counter.

"Really?" Will arched an eyebrow curiously as he put his coffee down and pulled the notebook over and flipped it open and saw the ship designs that Fontaine had apparently seen.

"Indeed, but…it was as if she were holding something back, something she witnessed. I…I don't know what to make of it. Perhaps you can get through to her? It could be important."

"Considering that the times she is apparently bearing witness to is a time of war I think I can guess," Will sighed, imagining the potential horrors that Fontaine could have seen.

"It's possible, except that she didn't describe a battle at all, more like…a bloodless heist, Fontaine saw Princess Alina captured by the Atlanteans and then stealing the Trident from Prince Deneom. No fighting, nothing of that sort at least."

"Hmm…interesting," Will said as he looked over his shoulder, seeing Fontaine's face clearly etched in a show of pleasant sleep, "Well, at least whatever Fontaine's seeing now can't be too bad."

Indeed, Fontaine was seeing something that wasn't so bad at all. She was witnessing the Lemurian fleet at anchor within a relatively frigid bay with land in every direction save for a sliver of seaward horizon. Fontaine actually hadn't ever seen this place, she didn't recognize the land. But from her studies said about certain geographical features she guessed that the Lemurians were in a southerly area. There was snow falling around them and a howling wind blowing steadily, creating an eerie ghostly moan. The wooden-hulled ships with their ample rigging were rocking back and forth slightly in the waves of this sheltered bay. Their blue flags were whipping lazily as the breeze caught them and it was something Fontaine found herself very much intrigued by. As did Princess Alina of Lemuria.

The Princess was standing under the cover of her ship's quarterdeck weather tarp which was keeping the snow from falling onto the pristine dark wood deck. As a royal vessel of the High Lemurian period it was certainly the most immaculate of the fleet, and the biggest, being every bit as big as the Atlantean flagship that Fontaine had seen before. Their guns were stowed behind their gun ports, and their crews were busying themselves with maintenance, cleaning, and several of the ship's boats were out, clearly fishing or transporting freshly-caught wild game from the mainland, in this case, something that looked like a llama and a kind of deer plus a whole variety of other game which the crew on deck were busy processing. The biggest Lemurian ships numbered forty-one of these heavy vessels with another thirty-five smaller frigates and sloops nearby plus as many as a hundred simple transport ships in this massive bay. Everything Fontaine was seeing was incredible, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Lemurians were here, all in a mix of warm clothing, armor, and coats, all of it a mix of blues and whites and blacks. But the more interesting thing was happening here, with Princess Alina.

Fontaine was just watching the young woman, who now seemed to be older than she did previously, probably nearing eighteen or nineteen years old. Her hair was long, reaching down to the middle of her chest in a braid on one side, tied together at the end with a gold band with the hair going over her left shoulder seeing as the royal was actually wearing a fur-lined coat of a bright navy blue with white fur around her cuffs, around the hood over her head, the bottom of the coat around her ankles, and up the front where it was buttoned closed. Its sleeves around the biceps and the waist were golden-etched with a great many examples of the classic Lemurian aesthetic, repeating golden swirls. Her nose a somewhat vivid pink on the end as she looked at the foggy shoreline which was alive with campfires and lanterns in a large camp. her fleet was encountering, and she seemed to be in deep thought judging from her expression as she looked down at the dark water at the stern of her ship. Fontaine to a certain extent was seeing what she herself could look like in the next few years, as she saw Alina's hair waving in the wind she thought about what she might look like if she grew her out a bit.

"Princess," a large man came up behind the girl, speaking in a deep authoritative tone.

At initial appearance the man appeared as if he were a royal guard of some description judging by the high-end armor he wore and the gold inlays within his helmet and on his steel laminate armor around the collar and top of his shoulders and on his chest and his upper arms. It looked strikingly-like that worn by the Samurai in terms of the general look. The man also bore a large and intimidating pole weapon which had a two-foot blade on the end with a thin pair of bright blue streamers on the back of the curving blade, making it similar to a Korean Woldo of Chinese Guandao while he had a sword, again like a Katana, on his hip. The man also had on a suit of chain mail and a gambeson soft cotton armor padding which draped down to connected pads on his belt that went to his shins and made up his sleeves. He was covered in royal symbolism, golden repeating swirls, a royal gold sash around his waist, and on his chest he had a dark blue emblem in his chest armor, steel disc with a symbol that Fontaine recognized, the symbol of the Guardians. On his head his face was covered by cheek guards going down from his pointed helmet which, like his armor, had gold inlays along the ridges and a golden emblem of the Guardians on top with a blue plume below it with a wide brim around the entire helmet. Only his eyes were visible, as he also wore a thin black veil below the helmet's cheek pads.

"Yes Guardian?" Alina asked, looking over her shoulder.

"The captains and admirals have assembled, as you ordered."

"Very well," Alina nodded and began following him.

As they went below and Fontaine followed she saw that there was more than one, she saw a pair waiting at the doors into the lower decks and then another pair waiting at the ornate cabin for Alina as well. The thudding of the big men's boots as they followed, hands on their swords, was intimidating, reminding Fontaine greatly of the Atlantean royal guards who gave off an equal aura of importance and lethality. But they continued moving, finally leaving through a small hatch down a gangplank to a wooden dock on the shore. The shoreline was full of wooden cabins and storehouses with numerous Lemurian soldiers and crewmen moving about, doing their business and bowing the princess as she passed. The standard for these Lemurian soldiers seemed to be a long dagger-axe pole arm with a tall tower shield, a sword, and dark blue tunics with stitched-together leather-covered armor plates and cone-shaped helmets with the Nekton crest on the top of the helmet with neck and armor flaps lined in fur for protecting them from the weather. Some also seemed to have matchlock muskets, thin and precise, with barrels of gunpowder being offloaded while large long-barreled bronze cannons with ornamental touches on the front and back of the weapons being towed by oxen on their large bulky carriages through the somewhat sloshy mud with some wagons being assembled on shore as dozens of oxen and horses were being led about. Even at this late hour there was a lot of activity, although one could easily see that things were winding down as the soldiers were quietly moving into their cabins and tents, eager to be off their ships.

The group approached a large building which was, like the others, was built in an East Asian style, built on a low but strong stone base with a wrap-around patio with paper windows and solid wood walls and layered bundles of reeds for the roof while wooden planks were on the interior ceiling. As the group walked up the wooden stairs they passed several guards who bowed at their leader's approach while a pair of large lanterns were burning to keep the area warm. Entering this building they saw the Lemurian crest with reed mats on the floor that had seen a great deal of use and then moved in through a sliding door. They entered the room where four tables full of captains and admirals faced a smaller table at the head of the room with a circular window framing a similar-shaped throne-like chair emblazoned with gold and silver and a luxurious padding for Alina to sit in, which she went towards and her guards stood there on either side as her captains stood up upon her entry, helmets and swords on the tables in front of them.

These were grizzled and experienced warriors and leaders, beards and long hair present on all of them alongside men's physiques honed and strengthened by war and the sea. There were also But the reverence and respect with each they bowed to their princess was extraordinary to Fontaine. She couldn't imagine what sort of society of loyalty and honor High Lemuria must have been to have such men entrust such their fates to a girl in her teens. But they did anyway, and Alina sat, and as did they and their meeting began, lanterns and candles casting a nice light within the room.

"Your highness," the admiral which Fontaine recognized from before stepped forward, "We have completed all repairs and necessary maintenance to our ships. We merely await your orders."

"We will wait for our scout ships. I know that Prince Deneom has been sent to shore up the Atlanteans against us specifically. They are sure to have thrown much into their defense of the fortress."

"Our submersibles are ready."

"We will send them in first to scout for what the Atlanteans are doing," Alina nodded.

"I would recommend we attack as soon as possible your highness," one of the young captains spoke quickly, getting murmurs of agreement and nods from the captains.

"I concur, the longer we hesitate, the more preparations we allow the Atlanteans to complete, and it'll be that much more challenging come spring," the one of the other admirals advised her.

"I know, but I won't send us in without at least having an understanding of what we face."

"I would advise that we wait for winter to pass your highness, but…if you wish, we can conduct one assault before the snows and storms fully close in. It is a risk, but we can

"Good," the young royal nodded, sighing internally at that, she didn't like waiting, it was clear to Fontaine that was true, "The longer we remain at anchor the greater the chance of the Atlantean fleet finding us. Prince Deneom is without a doubt searching for us. We cannot let him find the fleet. Our ships will depart when the subs return. Any objections?"

"None your highness," the admirals in charge of squadrons of the Lemurian fleet said quickly and with authority, speaking for their captains as they did so.

"We will reconvene to hear the intelligence brought by the submersibles," Alina declared, standing up, causing the others to stand in response, "Until then, continue to make your ships and crews ready for battle and continue offloading supplies and building the winter camp."

"Dismissed," the senior admiral declared.

"Is my room ready? I'd like to spend the night ashore," Alina asked.

"Yes princess," the lead Guardian nodded in turn.

"I think I'll turn in," Alina said calmly, removing the sash around her waist and removed her coat, revealing her young curving body, which Fontaine couldn't help but be a little bit jealous of as the girl walked into a secondary room, sliding the door open and then closing it behind her, leaving her alone within a warm but albeit dark room with a rather inviting bed and fur bedding waiting for her.

As Alina walked towards the bed the small iron fireplace in the corner caught the girl's attention as a glint caught her eye on the wood-pile shelf next to it. Alina walked across the room, her feet tapping on the soft and thick fur carpet below her feet inaudibly as Fontaine also narrowed her eyes in focus, following behind her ancient ancestor before something caught her attention, a shadowy pair of figures lowered themselves from the rafters without a sound. Both began to creep towards the princess as Alina's eyes widened at what was on her shelf. It was a dagger, an Atlantean dagger.

Fontaine saw what was happening, and she couldn't help herself.

"Look out!" Fontaine called out, which, strangely, caught Alina's attention, who looked over in Fontaine's direction, but it was clear the princess didn't see anything, it was as if she'd heard a ghost.

"Who-hmmph!" Alina asked but was quickly silenced as a gloved hand clamped down around her mouth as her assailant's other hand likewise wrapped around her arms and pinned them to her sides and lifted her up.

It was a kidnapping, and it was clear that whoever was here doing it were no amateurs judging by how quickly the second man quickly jabbed a small dart into Alina's neck, who began to slow in her struggles and her muffled cries for her guards became quieter and quieter before the young princess fell silent, and went limp. Fontaine gasped, sensing quite a bit of déjà vu from this, having been kidnapped a couple of times herself. But she couldn't help but sit there and ask herself something: Did Alina just hear me? The whole time Fontaine saw her ancestor get tied up with ropes around her wrists and ankles. To top it off, the princess had a strip of cloth tied very tightly around her mouth and then get rolled into a large dark blanket, which was likewise tied together.

However, the picture began to go dark for Fontaine at that point, and she knew why, these were Alina's memories, and for Alina who was now unconscious, she obviously didn't remember anything. However, it didn't take long before Fontaine found the darkness beginning to fade away, and both Fontaine and Alina found themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, the sounds of marching, men talking, and the sounds of a blizzard whipping flags about loudly. Fontaine could now see what Alina couldn't, that she was sitting against a wooden post of a cold room sitting upon a soft bag of something. Her arms were tied behind the post with her body likewise tied tightly, while her ankles were likewise bound together in front of her. Alina was still gagged, but she now had a blindfold on, which she could see through a little bit, with the whiteness of daylight shining through a window into dark room she was inside of. Her neck hurt, throbbing where she'd been stuck by the tranquilizer-coated dart, but this wasn't to be her main concern as a loud metallic clank of a key being turned within a lock and then a loud creaking noise rang out as foot steps entered.

"Well, well, well, I send my best spies to retrieve my trident and they come back with the next best thing," a familiar voice said, rather pleased with his reacquired captive, "A princess," he said, pulling her blindfold off, causing Alina wrench her head away defiantly, "Welcome to the Rainstorm Fortress."

"Drnnmm! Mmmrret mmph gff!" Alina screamed into her tight gag, fury etched into her face as she took in Deneom, who was also different from the last time Alina saw him.

Now he looked less like a kid, and more like a man. He was more muscular, his face was sporting a thick but short beard, and his armor was on over the top of a thick woolen coat which had leather sleeves embroidered with silver and red. His lower body was equally-warmly dressed, with dark trousers and fur-lined boots being dirty from recent travel outside. One hand was on his rapier-hilt, the other was hooked around his belt, looking down at the Lemurian princess. Snow was clinging to his hair and to a red cloak around his shoulders and white fur around the collar while he had two of his own royal guards standing on either side, showing a similar complexity of their steel cuirasses and gambeson sleeves and leather with their semi-Corinthian-style helmets on.

They were within a stone room, with a single glass window up on the wall with several large stacks of barrels and canvas bags stacked everywhere behind her with another support post in front of her. It was an obvious storeroom, not a jail cell.

"Well then, I have to say," Deneom squatted down in front of her, and let her long braid slide through his hand as he lifted it up, "I like what you did with your hair. How about me, like the beard?" he ran his own hand through the rough hair on his face.

Fontaine and Alina rolled their eyes at the same time as Fontaine sighed in relief a bit, noting how much the two were reminding her of some of her interactions with Smiling Finn. In fact, she was actually considering if Finn had any ability to grow a beard, she had to admit, the facial hair looked good. Although she thought that Alina, sitting there tied up and gagged as Deneom's prisoner once again, had less than romantic thoughts towards the young man as he took off one of his gloves and then pulled the gag down from Alina's mouth.

"What do you want Atlantean?" Alina demanded.

"What do I want?" Deneom asked with a chuckled, and then snapped and slammed his gloved hand against the post next to her head, causing her to flinch and look away but return his gaze with equal venom, "I want my trident princess! And if your men want to see you alive again, they'll return it to me."

"Lemuria will never bow to your demands! Especially if it means giving you such a weapon to destroy us."

"Oh, you thought the trident was meant to fight Lemuria?" Deneom smirked, "No…it was meant for something far, far worse."

Fontaine perked up at this. Nereus had spoken at length about the Monumentials, but he'd never told them how the Lemurians had found out about them in the first place. It was a total mystery for the most part. As Deneom stood up and faced away from Alina he turned his head back towards her as she sat there looking confused.

"Have you ever heard of a Monumential?"

"What's a Monumential?"