A/N: I renamed the Chronicle arc to the Rune Reader arc, since it fits the overall theme better.

I have seriously been trying to figure out why Fontaine, who was raised in an open, honest family, would keep Finn a secret for so long. This chapter starts off a series of longer chapters in order to answer this question.

By the end of the next few chapters, you'll probably hate either me or Hammerhead. I'm radically changing how I usually write Hammerhead, but it honestly probably is more canon-suitable.

Response to Random Fan: Yes he would be, and yes you do. Join the club. XD Oh, a whole lotta stuff's about to happen.


Fontaine knew something was on Finn's mind the moment she slipped into their hideout. He was antsy and twitchy, reminding Fontaine of when she'd first taken him aboard.

"What's going on?" Fontaine asked carefully as she sat across from Finn.

Finn stared at the floor and fiddled with his fingers for a moment. He looked up and opened his mouth, then seemed to change his mind. Fontaine waited, unsure of what could be going through his head.

"Why do you trust me?" Finn blurted.

Fontaine raised an eyebrow in confusion. Finn stumbled on.

"I'm a- was… was a pirate, you know that. Pirates steal and-and lie, and why would you trust that? I mean, you didn't even care, but your family sure would. They're amazing and helpful and nice, and why would they let a thieving-"

Fontaine pressed a finger to Finn's lips and halted his rambling, less with the action and more with the words, "Because you're my friend."

An odd expression crossed Finn's face. It was equal parts confusion and joy, with a hint of embarrassed hurt.

Fontaine pursed her lips. From his reaction, Fontaine half-wondered if Finn had ever had someone call him "friend." Surely he had; how could a sixteen-year-old not have any friends?

A sixteen-year-old pirate boy who'd likely lived in a sub his whole life with nothing but adults and a little sister to keep him company. Fontaine was sheltered, but at least she had a few friends and actually met people.

"What brings all this up?" Fontaine asked, trying for casual.

Finn blinked and took a moment to respond. "Well, you know yesterday when Nereus stole the Chronicle, and you and I were looking for him?"

"Yes?"

"You didn't… you never asked me if I'd taken it."

"Of course not. You didn't even know it existed." Fontaine grinned, then grew serious. "Plus, I believe you when you say you don't want to steal and lie anymore."

Finn's eyes widened. Fontaine held back a grimace. Was it really so hard for him to believe that people could take him at his word?

"The Cap'n always… heard what he needed to hear," Finn murmured.

Fontaine waited for Finn to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead, Finn gave her a clearly strained smile.

"Well, that isn't a problem here," Fontaine said. Watching Finn's face, she added, "My parents would believe it, too."

Stark terror flooded Finn's eyes. It took him a moment to hide it, then he refused to meet Fontaine's eyes. He suddenly couldn't sit still.

...Fontaine wondered if Finn realized how easy he was to read. Was he really that scared of her parents? Why?

Fontaine guessed that Finn wouldn't tell her if she asked -even former pirates "had no fear"- so she simply changed the subject.

"What were you doing this morning?" she asked simply as she finally removed her backpack of food supplies.

Finn blinked, relief in his eyes, then answered, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something…"

Again with the hesitation. Fontaine feigned disinterest. "Double-checking that plumbing is actually a thing on the Aronnax?"

Fontaine was relieved when Finn chuckled and relaxed. "No, I think you've convinced me of that one."

"Need to run through emergency exits?" Fontaine teased. "In case we spring a leak?"

"Do you actually have emergency exits?" Finn teased right back. "After all, an amazing and indestructible sub like this surely doesn't need emergency exits."

"I never called the Aronnax indestructible!" Fontaine laughed.

"Eh, I can put the clues together." Finn sobered. "But, uh… no, that's not what I wanted to ask."

"Alright, what has your interest now?"

Finn opened his mouth, closed it, then blurted, "I want to know about the Chronicle."

Fontaine blinked. "Huh?"

"Nereus and your dad made it sound important, and I got a peek at the runes…" Finn trailed off.

Fontaine frowned thoughtfully. "That might be the one thing I can't tell you about, Finn."

Finn twitched, like he was ready to pull away. "Oh, right, pretty important…"

"Yes, it's very important," Fontaine agreed. "But Nereus is Dad's friend, and he gets to do whatever he likes with it, so I don't see why my friend can't know. I just can't tell you anything because I don't know a thing about the Chronicle."

Finn blinked at her. "You don't?"

"It was always more Dad and Ant's thing," Fontaine admitted. "They get excited about dead languages and myths."

"And you don't?" Finn's eyes were comically huge.

"It's interesting and all, but I'd rather study what's here now," Fontaine said with a shrug. "If we actually find Lemuria, though…"

"Lemuria?" Finn leaned forward. "You're looking for Lemuria?"

"Yeah. How do you know what Lemuria is? Or, was?" Fontaine returned.

"Why wouldn't I? I mean, it's not as well-known as the Atlantis myth," Finn said.

Fontaine snorted. "Tell me about it. Mom's resorted to explaining Lemuria as 'think of Atlantis, but in the Pacific.'"

Finn sat back with a laugh. "I guess that's a simple way of putting it."

Fontaine smiled and shook her head. "But, yeah, we're looking for Lemuria."

"And that's a secret?" Finn asked.

"Not really. Nektons have been searching for Lemuria for generations," Fontaine said. "Nobody takes our search seriously anymore, but we are. And the Chronicle is the best clue for finding Lemuria in decades. Dad's trying to translate it, so we can find something called an Ephemychron. It's supposed to be, like, an ancient computer or something. I'll believe it when I see it."

"Atlanteans had magic crystals. Could an ancient computer be so weird?"

Fontaine stared at Finn. "The magic crystals are a myth, though."

Finn glanced around the room with exaggerated movements, then leaned closer. He waved Fontaine closer with a childish grin. Fontaine complied, now thoroughly curious.

"They were real," Finn whispered, then sat back.

Fontaine gave a brilliant, "Huh?"

Finn's grin grew. "I've been waiting to tell someone for two years. Da- er, the Cap'n didn't care about such things. We never did find a crystal, so they might all be gone…"

"Wait, back up." Fontaine waited until Finn focused on her. "How do you know that the magic crystals were real?"

"I read it on a rock. He was cursing his misfortune and those 'cursed Atlanteans and their cursed glowing beasts and their cursed magic crystals.' That's a rough translation, of course. It was pretty faded."

"What was?" Fontaine asked, exasperated. "Who was cursing those crystals? It could have been somebody messing around."

"Maybe. But it was carved into a rock, Fontaine," Finn said. "You'd have to be pretty dedicated to do that for a prank. Not to mention the effort of learning Lemurian just to curse a myth? I don't think so."

Fontaine nodded along to Finn's first point, then her brain caught up. "It was written in Lemurian?"

"Pretty sure. I didn't have a name for it at the time, since I'd never seen anything like it. But then I saw the Chronicle, and the runes are very similar."

"Back up again." Fontaine grabbed Finn's shoulders, ignoring his startled jump. "You can read Lemurian?"

"Well… a little bit."

Fontaine just stared. Her family had spent decades, centuries looking for clues to Lemurian's existence or language. And Finn had apparently stumbled across Lemurian carvings?

"How?" Fontaine muttered, wondering how her family could have missed so much.

Finn, misunderstanding the question, responded, "What? I dabble in languages. If you ever need to read a Spanish map or decipher a Latin code, I'm your man. Lemurian is even trickier than Latin, though..."

"Finn, you can read Lemurian!"

Finn raised his eyebrows. "Yes?"

"That's amazing!" Fontaine exclaimed. "Dad's been trying for weeks to translate the Chronicle and Nereus has been absolutely no help. Do you know how thrilled he'd be to have someone who knows Lemurian?"

"I'm not exactly fluent," Finn said hurriedly. "I know a few terms and figured the rest out by context-"

"So?" Fontaine interrupted.

"I…" Finn's eyes moved away. "I don't think I'll be that much help."

Fontaine stared. Finn wasn't usually one to sell himself short; bragging was one pirate habit in which Finn had never failed.

"I just wanted to see some pictures of the Chronicle, maybe," Finn mumbled.

Fontaine shook her head. "If we tell Dad-"

Finn flinched, then immediately glanced at Fontaine as though hoping the action had gone unnoticed. Fontaine thought he looked more confused than upset, but he still acted fearful.

"What's the matter, Finn?"

"Let's just wait," Finn insisted. "Until… until I get better at reading Lemurian. I want to be able to help."

Fontaine was quiet for a moment. She accepted Finn's reason in seconds, but wondered what else was being left unsaid.

He didn't really think her parents would decide he was useless and get rid of him without a second thought, did he? That was ridiculous, though. She knew he'd interacted with her family for several years off-and-on, and Hammerhead was always calling them "do-gooders" anyway.

So, Finn had to know that her family was accepting and friendly -he'd said so himself on multiple occasions- yet he still didn't want to show himself? Why? What had Hammerhead taught Finn?

Fontaine suddenly realized how little she knew about Finn's upbringing. She was as much in the dark about Finn's family as Finn was about hers. She wanted to ask questions, but something told her that he wouldn't be open to sharing.

Fontaine made herself focus on the present. Finn was already getting twitchy again, and Fontaine didn't want to scare him off. She'd have to take it slow, like the orphaned seal pup she'd worked to befriend and relocate with Kaiko a few years back.

...Fontaine was never telling Finn that she was comparing him to a seal pup.

"Alright, we'll do it your way," Fontaine agreed. "I'll get you some pictures of the Chronicle so you can see if you can read it."

The stark relief on Finn's face hardened Fontaine's resolve to figure Finn's family out.


A/N: Yes, Fontaine is kind of betraying her family by telling Finn about the Chronicle and agreeing to letting him see it, but she doesn't see it that way. Finn's her friend and, as far as she's concerned, he as much of a right to seeing it as Nereus.

Also, Finn will be getting his own Knight in the future. Any suggestions?