A story was told in a grave song, to six grave listeners and a born immortal. The north waters seemed colder than before as night started to fall. Stars were beginning to make a band of jewels across the sky, the colors of what sunlight ever touched that part of the world fading fast and making way for the ebon night. A moon, full and bright as it gazed upon the earth with its own light like an eye, hung silently among the flickering stars.
The constellation Delphineus could barely be picked out from the billions of small lights that covered the vast beyond of space, but little Niemas seemed almost entranced at his first ever sight of night.
The matriarch Cariu was struggling as she finished her story. "The Seers...they came, and I escaped...but the others, my son...they were taken, imprisoned...then the Seer-Beasts, they came to ensure my death...I fear for the lives of the others..."
Biransa interrupted her with a silent hush. "Diricha, do not speak. We are here now. All of us, including Ecco."
Cariu's eyes widened with urgency. "Ecco...must follow them, save...my..."
"We said rest, now rest, you hear?" Scaroth interrupted as he let Cariu from his back in support. "We'll take care of the Seers and find everyone."
Ecco nodded. "We promise."
Bro-aht scoffed, then chuckled. "Great...I'm going to die helping an Orca."
"An Orca and the great Ecco," Glacier corrected before Scaroth could retort. The narwhal shrugged his flukes as he started to follow Ecco's path, helping him sing out for any stragglers.
Biransa lagged behind as she gently pushed her calf, leading him as well. Her heart was pounding furiously as she searched Niemas's eyes for any trace of the fear they felt...but he was new to the world, naive. There was no fear in his eyes. Would this be the last time that she would ever see those eyes? His fate only to die just like his namesake?
An immortal martyr... the mother thought to herself as Cariu was left behind in the safety of the iceburgs to heal from her wounds. Scaroth swam beside Biransa as she rejoined the group.
"So, where do we start looking for them?" he asked Ecco.
The dolphin's song was rushed as he frantically searched for any clues. "My only guess is that the Seers have them imprisoned in their hidden paradise. But...but I don't know where it is any more..."
Glacier hummed. "Do you remember what the waters looked like?"
"There was less ice and more gray lifeless stone, that is what I remember...and there was the cave of warmth...but what place like that exists in a world where the waters are frozen?"
Sawtooth swam beneath the smaller singers so that his large bulk wouldn't be cut on the icebergs that they passed. "We just search and see. Surely there is a way."
"Bah..." Scaroth growled, "This is hopeless! Ecco can't find his cave of warmth, and the last Keystone Song holder is long dead, its memories only kept alive by a sperm whale that knows how to speak ancient whale."
"Faith, Scaroth, faith..." Biransa whispered.
The search went on for what seemed like hours, but all that was found was more ice. The entire waters were a labyrinth, and the feeling of moving in circles soon clouded their song's vision. Little Niemas often chirped with boredom and complaints of the cold with only his mother's bulk and milk for warmth.
Ecco sighed and stopped, about to give up. Perhaps the Seers had hidden their paradise somewhere else...but he suddenly chirped in surprise as a vision siezed his mind.
The vision was a key...showing an area where the deep waters meet the great ice beach, a line of shadow and darkness that stood out from the rest. From where this vision came, he knew not...but had the feeling that it could be trusted. "I know where it is!" he suddenly shouted, though he probably only had as much of an idea as the others.
"Finally..." Scaroth and Bro-aht both muttered. Biransa gulped as she kept her child next to her protectively, wondering what part a newborn Orca calf would play in all of this.
Try as he could for yet another hour, Ecco could not find the place where his visions led. His comrades were getting restless and tensions filled the waters. Then, an unfamiliar voice caught him off-guard. Illusion once again grips your mind, Ecco...the one chosen and marked by the gods...for you are the savior...
"Savior..." he muttered as the others stared at him in questioning. "Wait...Illusion, again? Who are you?" he asked the air.
Through the Asterite's power he has allowed me to speak to you from the realm of paradise...to remind you not to think harshly of the Seers, creators of Singers.
Only one story from the invader is true...I am among a kind that was created long ago, different from the ancient comb-tooth whales. I was the first to let powers to awry, the first to be punished, and so my kind pays that price. Like the Seers I am immortal. Like my kind now I am imprisoned among others. I am here to guide you and the keeper of the Keystone Song to the gates, and at least repent for the sin that made my kind go through what they do now...hatred by all other singers.
Ecco's eyes widened as he remembered the story of the origin of other singers, and the tale of how their power was misused. The others gasped silently among themselves, for they have heard the story too. "It cannot be...you're the first Orca?"
I am, and I have no time left...the last of the Seers is dead, and their paradise is soon to open to the world and spread from it the malice that now controls it. The gate will appear...beware of the illusion, for it is simply invisible...enter through my instructions...
Ecco listened gravely to the immortal Orca's disembodied voice as it rang through his head from inside the home of the Seers. Everything he knew to open the gates was revealed. And his face registered shock, but knew what had to be done.
"Everyone, follow me, now..." he commanded to his group as they made their way into a gray portion of the ice waters.
As they found the entrance, a chasm billowing with warm water, Ecco called out. "To our guide, thank you! But who are you?"
You will find me in paradise...the Asterite will be out of your reach as soon as you enter, and therefore so shall I until we meet...the voice faded into obscurity.
Glacier and the others simply swam idle to the entrance as it seemed to open further, the warmth now almost encompassing them. "Well, what do we do now?" the beluga asked.
A look of determination came to Ecco's eyes. "I will go in alone, only I can withstand the illusions inside. When you are told, Sawtooth, sing the Keystone Song as best you can so the others can enter."
Nothing more was said of the others. They heeded Ecco's instructions, and with a deep sigh, he started in through the darkness...
