Hello again! It's me, PuzzleMaster1998 here with another new story!
It's The Deep time!
Now, I am referring to the animated TV show, which is based off the comic book of the same name. I have watched the show, and I love it! It's so interesting!
This story will contain: adventure, romance, fights, magic, transformations, and many other things.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Deep. Tom Taylor and James Brouwer do!
Now, let's begin our tale!
Here Be Dragons
It was a dark and stormy night in the Atlantic Ocean. Thunder rang in the air as lightning flashed and rain poured down on the waters.
At a small port city on the shores of Greenland, a deep blue fishing ship with a large catch of fish secured to the rear deck drove up to the pier, violently rocking around. The fisherman, a short, tanned, middle-aged man with a large red mustache and red hair, was wearing a deep green beanie on his head, gray diving gloves, a gray seater underneath a pair of green waders that ended in black boots with yellow stripes at the tops, and a yellow rain jacket.
"Quickly!" He called out to a balding man on the docks as he grabbed a mooring line and tossed it at the man, who grabbed it and started pulling him in. "Help me unload! I need to get back out there!" He continued as he hopped onto the dock with another mooring line and helped pull his boat in quickly.
The man helping him gave him a shocked look. "Are you crazy?!" He said to the man. "You can't go back out there! That storm-"
"Forget the storm!" The fisherman replied as he continued to pull on the mooring line, looking at the man with a frown. "Something's happening! Like the sea is full of fish!"
"The sea is always full of fish!" The man said with a bit of a snarl.
"No, no. I-It's like every fish in the ocean is-is right out there!" The fisherman replied, looking out at the ocean as he spoke.
The man stared at him for several seconds, before he spotted something coming at them from behind the boat. "Look out!" He exclaimed, pointing up as he did so.
There, barreling right towards them, was a massive tidal wave, with a large object in it that had glowing green eyes.
The men let out yells of shock and fright as the wave washed over them, fish and seaweed hitting their bodies and pushing them off the dock. Fortunately, they managed to grab onto the pier's supports poles, and coughed out seawater as the water receded. The two then pulled themselves up onto the pier, and stared at what they saw before them.
A large chunk of the pier was gone, with what looked like a large bite being in its place.
"D-Did you see-M-My boat?" The fisherman said as he realized that his boat was gone and crouched up as he looked around. "Where's my boat?!"
"It was...huge!" The man said, his mind still trying to comprehend what he had just witnessed, while the fisherman fell to his knees, distraught.
"My boat!" The fisherman yelled out as tears poured down his face.
A large submarine gently moved through the waters of the Caribbean Sea. Said submarine was quite big, being 1,650 feet long and weighing about 50,000 metric tons. It was shaped a lot like a torpedo, but the underside of it bulged out a little at the middle. Several large and small narrow rectangularish light blue windows were scattered on its sides, while several large rectangular and hexagonal windows sat at the front, surrounding the Bridge. Four white round doors could be seen on either side of the ship right in the middle above the bulge, with four more round doors located by the engine. The engine itself looked quite similar to a turbine, and was surrounded by a large fin, with another fin underneath it. At the lowest part of the bulge was a round door surrounded by a row of yellow lights. On the door was the image of a blue circle outline with three squid legs inside: a large one, a medium one and a small one.
The ship was painted with mostly white paint that had a subtle metallic pearlescent tint. Dark blue and light orange were also painted on the ship.
This was the Aronnax, the home of the Nekton family.
Connected to the round door on the bottom of the ship was the moonpool. Said room was rather large, with a large pool of water in the middle of it. The floor around it was made of grayish-black metal with black on the edges of the pieces, as well as caution tape located a foot around the pool. The walls were silver in color, with several large ridges occurring at equal distances, lights shining down from where they met the ceiling.
The ceiling was dome-shaped and dark gray in color, with some pipes running along the outer edge. Several bright lights were attached to it, as well as a movable, four-fingered white claw, and a much bigger yellow claw. An orange metal door with a large rectangular window in the top of it sat on one side, with two large lights above it and two on either side, with some touch screens on the right of the door. Immediately to the left of the door, some of the many pipes and cables running throughout the ship could be seen, with four large air tanks beyond that. Said tanks were orange in color, with dark black bottoms and silver tops. The tanks each had two large black round valves on the front of them, and a black pipe ran above them, connecting to each on at the top.
Next to the tanks sat four large glass tanks, each one having a large touch screen next to it. These were the hyperbaric chambers.
On the right side of the door, five pairs of swim equipment were hung up on a wall, decreasing in size to the right. Above the equipment wall was a large screen showing the current status of the air tanks. Next to the wall was the White Knight, an armored exo-frame EVA (extravehicular activity) suit. It stood against a slanted large, light blue section of the wall, with four more sections visible past it, each one separated by the metal ridges.
Standing by a small canister that had a small fishbowl placed on top of it was Antaeus "Ant" Nekton, a 12 year old, 4 foot 4 inch tall boy with light brown skin and brown, spiky hair. He was slender, with brown eyes, white teeth, and brown lips. He was wearing a blue sleeveless wetsuit, and it featured his signature color, orange, as well as a pair of slip on blue and orange shoes and an orange belt with some pouches on the sides. On his left wrist sat his communicator, which was light blue in color and had a round screen on it.
Inside the fishbowl was a male, 10 centimeter long, 2-year-old Yellowback Basslet with a scar on the top side of his tail.
"Ant, what are you doing?" His sister, Fontaine, asked him as she walked over. She stood 4 feet 10 inches tall and was 15 years old. She was rather slender and had light skin and dark green eyes. Her hair was brown with pink streaks on her bangs, and went down to just below her chin. She had a light sprinkle of freckles on her face and tan lips, and had painted her nails purple. Her eyes are dark-rimmed, and she wore a dark blue long-sleeve wetsuit, and had her signature green as its complimentary color on it and on the belt. She also wore slip on green and blue shoes. She wore her communicator on her left wrist on top of the wetsuit.
"I'm training it," Ant replied matter-of-factly as he held a glowstick up to the fishbowl and waved it to catch the fish's attention.
"You're…training a fish?" She said with surprise.
"Yep!" Ant simply stated as he tapped the glowstick against the glass, catching the fish's attention.
"Heh, to do what?"
"Fetch."
"You're…training your fish to 'Fetch,'" Fontaine replied, a skeptical look on her face.
"Yep!"
"You're deluded," She said after a couple of seconds.
"It could be very useful," Ant replied matter-of-factly as he turned around to look at her.
"How Ant?" She asked him.
"It, uh," Ant paused as he tried to come up with a good excuse.
"How?"
"I-I'm not sure yet Fontaine!" he replied, gripping the glowstick hard. "But I'm sure once I've trained him, I'll find all sorts of practical applications."
"A fish has, like, a three second memory," Fontaine said. "So in the highly-unlikely event that you manage to train the fish, it will just forget what it's learned straight away."
"That's not true!" Ant exclaimed. "You know it's not true! Have faith in my fish!" he continued, gesturing to the fish in the bowl.
She stared at him and his fish for a few seconds, before shaking her head. "You are deluded," She said to him once more.
"Huh! I'll prove it! Get into the Moonpool," He said, pointing to the pool of water next to them.
"I'm gonna humor you, but I'm also going to mock you when this doesn't work," She replied as she jumped into the water.
Once she was in the middle of the pool, he tossed the glowstick at her, which she then caught.
"Alright, here's our chance Jeffrey," Ant said as he held the fishbowl out to the moonpool at an angle, allowing the fish to jump out and into the pool.
"You named your fish 'Jeffrey?'" Fontaine said, arching an eyebrow at him.
"Ignore her Jeffrey," he said to the basslet, who was looking up at him from the water. "She can never understand us." He then stood up, and pointed at Fontaine. "Now, fetch!"
Fontaine then wiggled the glowstick a bit to try to catch his attention. Unfortunately, Jeffrey did not seem to understand Ant's command.
"Fetch!" Ant said, his voice sounding a bit desperate as he pointed at the glowstick again.
Jeffrey did nothing, and Fontaine looked up at him with a shake of her head. "You're deluded," She said. "Can I get out now Ant? Or do you and Jeffrey have other failure you want to show me?"
This made Ant frown in frustration.
Suddenly, a large fin broke the surface, startling Fontaine.
"Aaagh!" Fontaine yelled as she instinctively held her arms against her head, before frowning and dropping her arms. "Mooom!"
"Hahahah! That never gets old," Her mother, who was named Kaiko, replied as she swam over to the edge and pulled herself up. She was a 42-year old, 5 foot 7 inch tall woman with a slender body. She wore her dark brown hair tied in a bun. She had light skin, green eyes that slanted slightly upwards, and tan lips. Her short-sleeve wetsuit had her signature color pink on it, with blue like her family. Her shoes were also connected with her wetsuit, and her communicator was on her left wrist. She was currently taking off her blue, orange, and black fins, as well as her full-face rebreather mask, which was blue on the frame and had pink filter caps located right below where her cheeks would be. "What's up?" She asked Ant as she stood up and walked over to him, having taken off her fins and mask.
"I'm teaching my fish to fetch!" Ant replied as he gestured to the tank, forgetting that Jeffrey was still in the pool.
"No, he isn't," Fontaine said as she sat on the edge of the pool, her legs in the water.
Kaiko smiled at that, before speaking again. "Ant, you should know better than to involve your sister in these things," She said to him, making him gain a smirk, before turning to Fontaine. "Fontaine, have faith in the fish. Where's your brother and father?"
"Gavin's in his room, doing something, and Dad's in the study, staring at some old map," Fontaine replied as she put the glowstick in her belt.
A few minutes later…
Kaiko stepped into the study/laboratory, which was a large round room with a mostly white floor and a grayish blue ceiling, with large circular designs on the ceiling, some surrounding lights. To the right of her the floor and walls had a reddish-brown hardwood pattern on the metal. The wall itself had multiple light yellow glass cases holding various artifacts, many of which were valuable. The cases continued on for a little while, before being replaced by several large blue screens that showed a current map of the world, as well as various statistics on either side of the map, such as water temperatures and wind flow. The cases then reappeared on the other side of the screens, and continued on for a ways, before stopping at a curved wall.
On her left side, more cases were in the silver walls, but this time they held medical supplies. An MRI machine stuck out of the wall slightly, with more medical cases beyond it until they reached the curved wall, as well as a couple tables with microscopes and other science equipment. A large round table, big enough to fit a full-grown man on it, sat by the MRI machine. Said table was white in color, and had various screens and buttons on each of its three triangular legs, while a bright three-bulb light was over head.
As she stepped clear of the doorway, the door automatically slid shut behind her. The door was orange in color and had a long oval glass window in it, while the wall immediately surrounding the doorway was orange in color. The touchpads were located on the left side of the doorway.
"We have newer maps," She said to her husband, who was sitting at the large semicircular black and white table located in front of the screens. Above his head and right behind him was a large round light connected to a glass tube filled with water and holding some seaweed in it.
"I know Kaiko," Her husband, William "Will" Nekton, replied as he looked down at the old parchment pam laid out on his desk through his round white glasses. Will stood 6 foot 4 and was 44 years old. He was quite muscular, and had dark brown skin and a super short brown fro. He also had dark brown eyes, and was wearing a deep blue wetsuit like his family, with his being sleeveless and his personal color being turquoise. He was also wearing blue and turquoise slip-on shoes and his communicator on his left wrist.
"We have satellite maps. All sorts of technology went into them," She said, before cupping one hand to her mouth as she whispered, "Some of them aren't even drawn in pencil."
At that, Will chuckled. "I know Kaiko," he said to his wife again, causing her to put her hands on her hips as she looked at him.
"Then why-"
"There are parts to this map that are surprisingly accurate, and there are parts that are marked 'Here Be Dragons,'" he said, gesturing to one such marking on the map, which had an ancient depiction of an aquatic dragon.
"Will, we have newer maps," Kaiko said, crossing her arms as she spoke.
"A week ago, there was an earthquake off the coast of Greenland," Will replied. "Since then, there have been some strange reports."
"What sort of reports?" She asked him as she walked over to him with curiosity.
"Sightings! Monster sighting!" He said with excitement as he typed on the keyboard next to him, pulling up a holographic screen showing video feed of a reporter interviewing a fisherman in Greenland. "Plus, a fishing boat went missing," He continued as the footage showed the large bite in the pier. He then pressed a button, making the screen go away as he tapped on the map
"This is amap of the exact area," He said to his wife. "And I was just thinking, what if there were?"
"Were…what?"
"Dragons," Will replied as the study door opened.
"Yes!" Ant and his older brother Gavin said together happily from the doorway, with Fontaine behind them. Gavin was a 6 foot 1 inch tall, 17 year old boy with lightly tanned skin, short blondish brown hair, and blue eyes. He was wearing a deep blue short-sleeve wetsuit like the others, with the matching crest of the squid arms on his chest like theirs, and his signature color was purple. He was also wearing his communicator on his right wrist, dark blue and purple slip-on shoes, and a leather necklace with a cat and fox made of some sort of purple stone or gem as the centerpiece.
The two then ran over to their parents, with Fontaine slowly following them.
"It's probably not dragons," Kaiko said with a slight shake of her head.
"Heh, probably not," Will replied, before grinning. "But that's never stopped us before."
"So, we're going to Greenland to search for dragons," Fontaine stated, before looking at her family with a curious look. "What do you think normal families do on a Sunday?"
'I might have some ideas,' Gavin thought as some old memories popped up in his mind.
"Who cares?!" Ant said excitedly, a grin on his face as he looked at everyone. "Dragons!"
As Kaiko headed to the Bridge to start piloting the sub to their Greenland destination from their current location at the tip of Florida, Gavin headed back to his room through the corridors. The corridors were somewhat hexagonal in shape, and had gray metal floor and deep bluish-gray walls, while the ceilings matched the walls. Light blue lights lined the corners between the walls and floor, and yellow lights sat in the ceiling. Some wall panels were replaced by clear ones that let one see the various pipes and cables running through the submarine, and tubes of water ran along one wall, so Jeffrey and any other aquatic life on board could move around the submarine safely.
He reached his bedroom door, and typed his code on the keypad next to the door, with said code being "7653666." He then stepped inside once the door had opened.
His room, like Ant and Fontaine's rooms, was rather large, with mainly ceramic-white walls and floor. His ceiling was triangular and green in color, with yellow lights in it. A large bookshelf was built into the wall next to his door, with each shelf covered by transparent glass to prevent books from falling out. A king-sized bed with green sheets on it and a fish-themed blanket was attached to the wall opposite the door, with some posters of fish, dinosaurs, and video games on the walls.
A small table stuck out of the wall between the bed and the door, with it having a white surface with orange trim. Some books were on it, a couple being about eels, a couple on extinct animals, and at least three being about mythical creatures in the ocean. A green and white computer sat next to the books as well. Several cubbies were sat in the headboard above the bed, as well as at the foot of the bed and around the table. A couple cubbies had puzzles in them, while others had fossils.
A small closet door and a couple drawers were in the corner, holding all his clothes.
The wall directly opposite the table was replaced mostly by a large saltwater aquarium that connected to the water tubes that ran through corridors. Above the aquarium was a large screen that showed the weather and other things, like the current time.
Some emergency equipment, such as a rebreather and fire extinguisher, sat in a cubby right by the door behind a thing of breakable glass, while a life jacket hung on a rung by the aquarium.
"Hey Maria," he said to the sole inhabitant of the aquarium once he entered.
Maria was a female banana eel, which were one of the smallest species of the Moray belonging to the Muraenidae family. She was 2 years old and was 3 feet 6 inches long, which was unusual for banana eels, as they normally grew to be 2 feet maximum. Like the fruit her species was named after, she was bright yellow like a ripe banana, and snake-like in appearance, with patches of black markings scattered across her entire body. This also made her different than other banana eels, since other eels only had the black markings on their upper body and dorsal fin.
She was currently sitting in the fake treasure chest on the bottom, her head sticking out as she looked around with her beady eyes. Like all morays, her mouth opened and closed constantly to push water through her gills, making it look like she was constantly angry or shocked.
As soon as her eyes landed on him, she swam out of the tank in his direction, stopping right before she hit the glass.
"So, we're going to Greenland," He began as he sat on his bed, looking at her as he spoke. "We're going to be investigating monster sightings."
Maria's mouth opened even more upon hearing that. "Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it?" He said, interpreting her jaw drop as a look of surprise. "We might get to see a new creature!"
Maria tilted her head to the side at that. 'What does he mean?' She thought as she sat there. 'What would he call a monster?' She'd seen many things during her life in the ocean. She'd seen an octopus tear apart a crab in front of a hole she'd stayed in. She'd witnessed a large grouper swallow a small green moray whole. She'd even witnessed several sharks tear into fish around a reef, putting blood into the water, with scraps of flesh falling to the floor, which she'd eaten.
But none of those things were monstrous to her, nor did she think they'd be monstrous to him. 'Hmmmmm, what could be a monster?' she thought as she came to rest on the sandy floor of the tank, watching him go over to the table and pick up one of the books, before sitting on his bed. '…I got nothing.'
A couple days later…
Gavin sighed happily and smiled with excitement as he entered the Bridge. They were almost to Greenland.
The Bridge of the Aronnax was quite large, and had two levels. Both levels had primarily gray, silver, and black floors. The lower level connected to the other level by two sets of stairs, and wrapped around the front of the upper level, allowing people to stand closer to the glass front than the driver.
The upper level had three orange doors leading to the rest of the submarine in the back, and an orange spot on the floor about 7 feet from the middle door. Two small consoles with touch screens and multiple switches and buttons sat on the sides of the room, forming a triangle with the main console at the very front of the level. The main console was set in the middle of a large disk on the floor, with a ring of lights surrounding it. The console had several more switches, screens, and lights than the other ones, but it also had a radar like the others.
The three chairs were primarily silver in color, with orange waterproof cushions on them, and were attached to the floor by a swivel, allowing them to move from side to side. The chair by the main console also had two orange joysticks on the arms, allowing one to pilot the submarine, and a pair of footrests at the bottom. A large holographic display right above the main console as well.
"Are we there yet?" Ant asked his mother as he sat on the edge of the upper level, kicking his legs.
His mother sighed.
"We're exactly two minutes closer to Greenland than we were the last time you asked," She replied, causing him to frown and look out the window.
"Which means I have time to fill you in on what we're looking for," Will added as he gestured to the console he was sitting on, which was to the right of the main console.
This prompted the three kids to head over to his console and take a look. There, on the main screen, was an old paper map of Greenland and the waters surrounding it.
"In 1734," Will began, only for Ant to let out a groan.
"Ugh, Dad! Only you could take something as awesome as dragons and turn it into history," Ant complained.
"Heh," Will chuckled. "In 1734, something was sighted off the coast of Greenland. The founder of Greenland's city, Hans Zingedy, and all of those aboard his ship, reported seeing a sea serpent larger than their whole ship," He said as images of old drawings of sea serpents appeared on screen, while Ant started falling asleep from boredom.
"There have been sea monster sightings like this through history," He said, catching Ant's attention. "In fact, my parents swore they encountered one while searching for lost Lemuria."
"Really?" Kaiko said, turning her chair around to look at her husband with a surprised look on her face. "I didn't know that."
Gavin and Fontaine looked intrigued by what they had heard, although Fontaine had a bit of skepticism thrown into her look. They then glanced out at the ocean before them, and spotted something.
"Full stop!" The two cried as they ran over to the windows, staring out into the water.
"You see it?" Gavin asked Fontaine as he looked down at the ocean floor.
"Yeah, I do," She replied as she looked at where he was looking.
"What is it?" Kaiko asked them as she turned around once again.
"It's…something," Gavin said as he squinted, trying to make out what he was seeing.
"Bring us about," Fontaine asked her mom, prompting her to begin doing so.
As the ship was turned around, its front bottom lights on, the two were joined by Will and Ant.
"What are we looking for?" Will asked his kids.
"I'm not entirely sure," Fontaine said as she looked for the object.
"I see it! There!" Gavin said as he pointed at the object laying on the floor ahead of them right by a large trench.
"What is that?" Ant asked as he looked at the object.
"I'd say that's the missing fishing boat," Will replied upon seeing the object.
"We're still twenty kilometers away from the Greenland coast," Fontaine said, before turning to her dad. "So what's it doing out here?"
"I don't know," Will answered her honestly.
"Well, let's go take a closer look!" Ant said with an excited look on his face.
Ant hummed happily as he headed over to the White Knight located in the Moonpool room. The White Knight was a 10 and a half foot tall single-person, armored diving suit that weighed 1.5 tons. It was mainly white and silver in color, with orange on the large pair of super strong arms located at the top of the suit. The cockpit of the suit was right in the front, and enclosed completely around the driver. The windshield of the suit had a heads-up display, and three bright lights above it. The driver's arms stuck out of the cockpit, covered in armored and reinforced orange sleeves, and the squid arms emblem sat right below the windshield in orange.
He then jumped up, and pulled himself into the cockpit, while the Knight turned on and began to close the cockpit around him. He then flexed his arms and grinned.
"How is it your turn in the White Knight?" Fontaine asked him as she stood nearby, her hands on her hips.
"Remember when you went out to see that fascinating deep sea cucumber last week?" He asked her via the White Knights speakers.
"Ugh! It was a cucumber!" Fontaine stated flatly as she looked up at him.
"It was a turn," Ant replied.
"He is right about that," Gavin said as he controlled the white claw via a tablet, picking him up and put him into the closed Moonpool.
Then, Jeffrey jumped out of the water, eager to go with his friend.
"Are you ready big guy?" Ant asked his fish.
"You're taking your fish?" Fontaine said with surprise.
"He needs the exercise," Ant replied.
"But he got all that exercise playing 'Fetch!'" Fontaine said mockingly as she crossed her arms and smirked.
"Don't mock me! Have faith in the fish!" Ant said as he looked at Jeffrey with a smile.
"I will," Gavin said as he tapped a button on the tablet he was holding, opening up the moonpool and causing Ant to sink down into the open ocean.
As he went down, the bright lights of the suit kicked on, and Ant started driving the suit towards the boat with the use of its environmentally friendly propulsion system located on its rear shoulders.
Gavin and Fontaine then went back to the Bridge to join their parents so they could watch Ant and see what he was seeing via the built-in cameras on the suit.
"Anything strange?" Will asked as they watched the camera feed above the main console, which was focused on the boat.
"You mean, aside from a fishing boat being miles away from where it went missing?" Ant asked as he and Jeffrey arrived at the boat and started going around the front of it. "Uh, actually, I call this strange. Half the boat is just…gone," he continued as the feed revealed that indeed, half the boat was gone. "And it's still full of fish!" They could see a large pile of fish in what was left of the hull, and that the wood appeared crushed at the edges.
"What could have caused that?" Gavin asked as he stared at the boat with confusion. 'A storm? No. More of the boat would be destroyed, and all the fish would have spilled out as it sank.'
"I'm going in for a closer look," Ant said.
"Be careful," Kaiko replied as they watched the feed.
As Ant got closer and closer to the boat, Fontaine and Gavin both noticed something odd. "What's that?" Fontaine asked, prompting Ant to start looking to the right.
"To the left Ant," Gavin added, prompting Ant to turn in that direction.
After turning a bit more, he spotted it. "It looks like…a tooth," He said as he stared at the large, thin, and pointy object. He then reached out with the robotic arms, and after grabbing the bottom of the object with the arms three fingers, began to tug on it.
After a few tugs, it came out.
"It's too big to be a tooth," Fontaine said as Ant held the object in front of him with both arms, looking at it closely.
"I don't know," Gavin replied as he looked at the feed. "It might be one."
Will and Kaiko then looked at each other with concern, before Kaiko spoke up. "I think you'd better come back to the sub, Ant," She said.
"Um, yeah," Ant replied, having been freaked out a bit by the object he was holding. "I mean, I'm fine, really. But uh, Jeffrey's getting a bit nervous," He said.
Just then, a light "BWERK! BWERK! BWERK!" started to ring from the main console, catching their attention. On the radar, a large red blip could be seen heading towards them.
"Ant! Get out of there now!" Will ordered.
Okay, now Ant was really freaked out.
Before he could head back though, he heard a loud and deep growl come from behind him, prompting him to turn around.
What he saw emerge from the depths of the trench, both frightened and amazed him and his family in the sub.
A massive creature with an oval-shaped head, a long neck, and a fat body like a turtle swam up and towards him, growling. It was bluish gray in color, and had large gills going a good distance on either side of its neck. Two round nostrils sat on the front of its blunt muzzle, while its two green eyes glowed, and it had a set of sharp teeth matching the object in his arms. Bioluminescent bluish white dots ran along the side of its body from head to tail. Its tail was long and ended in a point, with a thin short fin running along it on either side. Said fin ran along the top of the creature as well, with several sharp spines helping to support it, and ended at the base of the head. Finally, three red jagged stripes ran down the sides of its torso, while it swam using a large pair of paddle-like fins that had webbing on their inner sides.
It came to a stop before Ant, and then let out a loud roar right at him, causing Ant to yell out "Ah!" The creature then reached out and bit down on the remaining boat piece, before pointing its head up towards the surface and crushing the boat with a quick bite.
It then turned its attention to Ant once more, and moved closer to him, moving its head so that its left eye was only a few feet away from him.
"Ohhhh," Ant moaned with worry as he stared back at the creature, terrified.
"Ant, get out of there!" Fontaine yelled at him.
"No! Don't move!" Gavin and Kaiko yelled immediately.
"Stay very, very still," Kaiko continued, the four of the watching with worried looks and bated breath.
The creature moved itself a foot closer, prompting Ant to close his eyes and turn his head away as he stayed still, before peaking at the creature after several seconds had passed.
The creature, having determined he was no threat or food, swam back and turned around before it headed back into the trench.
Once it was gone, Kaiko spoke up. "Ant! Speak to us!" She said with worry.
"Well, my wetsuit just got warmer," he said, causing Jeffrey to look at him with shock and a disgusted look.
"Ew!" Fontaine said with disgust.
"He's fine!" Gavin said with a chuckle, knowing that if his younger brother could say that, then he was alright. "Ant, when you come back, make sure to bring that tooth with you. I want to look at it."
"Okay," Ant replied as he stared at the trench the creature had swam into for several more seconds, before turning around and coming back, tooth in his arms.
When he got back to the Moonpool, the crane reached down and picked him up, before lifting him out of the water.
"Wow, that tooth is big," Gavin said in awe upon seeing the tooth in person. 'I really shouldn't be that surprised honestly,' He thought to himself as Ant set the tooth down on the floor before getting out. He then handed Ant a hose and pointed to the White Knight, causing Ant to groan before he took the hose and started washing it out.
As Ant cleaned out the White Knight, Gavin and Will picked up the tooth, with much difficulty, and placed it on a large, wheeled cart. "Man that is heavy," Gavin said as he stared at the gray tooth, before he pulled out a tape measure he had grabbed on the way to the Moonpool. "It must weigh about 15 pounds or so."
"I'd say 25," Will replied as he took one end of the tape measure and pulled it to the broken base of the tooth, while Gavin held the tip of the tape at the tip of the curved tooth.
"So, what's the tape measure say Dad?" Gavin asked him.
"59 inches," Will replied, before Gavin let go of the end of the tape measure and let it slowly slide back into its carrier.
"Wow, almost 5 feet long," Gavin said with amazement, before he started looking at the tooth closer. "Hmm, it's curved and quite sharp," he muttered. "Adapted for catching and holding slippery prey items, like fish, in its mouth. The creature must be a plesiosaur, based on what we saw. So why is it hunting boats?"" He then hummed again as he pondered the question for several second.
"Well, hunting fish is hard work, even for a creature so big. It must hunt fishing boats full of fish because it's easier than going after shoals of fish itself," Will replied, making Gavin nod.
"Indeed," Gavin said to his dad, before looking down at the tooth again. "Now, where shall we put this tooth? We don't have any room in the study currently."
"Hmm," Will hummed in thought, before he sighed. "Let's just strap it to the cart so it doesn't fall off, and set the cart in an area so it can't roll away for now," he said, prompting Gavin to nod before he ran over to a nearby cabinet and opened it, revealing it was filled with straps. He then grabbed a few, and walked over to the cart once more, before handing a couple to his dad.
Once the tooth was fully strapped down, they moved the cart down the hall and into a closet, before shutting the door. Then, they went their separate ways, with Will heading back to the study to look at the map some more, and Gavin heading back to his room to read up a bit more on plesiosaurs.
Thirty minutes later, at a familiar port…
"The fishing is the best we've ever seen," A young fisherman said to the balding man as they stood on the wooden pier that still had a big chunk missing from it.
"You go out there, and you won't be coming back!" The blading man replied as he pointed out at the ocean.
"Hah! There's no such thing as sea monsters!" The young fisherman said with a roll of his eyes.
"I saw it!"
The three men turned around to see who had spoken, and saw an old man walking towards them. He stood 5 foot 4 inches tall, and appeared to be in his 60s. He had lightly tanned skin, short grey hair, and a large gray bushy mustache and beard that had one big braid going down to his middle, with a gold ring around it. He was wearing a white t-shirt, blue suspenders, light brown boots, a leather bracelet on his right wrist, and walking with a white cane that had a large
"I was young, but I saw that beast as clear as day!" The man said as he got closer to them, sounding wise and mysterious. "It could swallow a boat whole! Here be dragons boy!" He continued as he walked up to the young fisherman.
"There's no such thing," the fisherman replied with a wave of his hand. 'What does this old geezer know?'
"Ohhh, then why aren't you on your boat boy?" The old man asked him. "Why are you still arguing if the fishing's good?"
"You're right," The young fisherman replied. "I'm going out," He said to the other fisherman as he started walking down the pier towards his boat. "You superstitious lot can stay here and stay poor. I'm coming back with enough fish for aaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!" He screamed as a large object began to surface at the end of the pier, and started running back towards the guys in fear.
He leaped into the arms of the old man, who was a bit surprised, and held onto him tightly, while the others looked on at the object. "Eh, what are you doing boy?" The man asked the young fisherman.
"Huh?" The fisherman replied as he looked at the man.
"You never seen a submarine before?" He replied with a smirk as he pointed at the rising object, prompting the young fisherman to turn and look at it.
The rising object was actually the Aronnax. The ship came to a stop after it rose up high enough, and a flat panel built into the front fell down onto the pier, revealing the Nekton family in their above water clothes.
Ant was wearing an orange long-sleeve shirt over a gray short sleeve shirt, white pants, and brown shoes. Fontaine was wearing a purple sweater-vest with black sleeves and a hood, dark blue jeans, and black shoes. Kaiko was wearing a light pink tank top underneath a black leather jacket, a black belt, blue jeans, and pink sneakers. Will was wearing a pale green long sleeve shirt underneath a large gray jacket, blue jeans, and gray boots. Gavin was wearing his necklace, a light green short sleeve shirt underneath a gray hoodie, gray pants, and green sneakers.
The family started walking down the ramp, and Ant and Gavin took note of the large chunk of dock missing, stopping to take a closer look at it, while Kaiko, Will, and Fontaine walked over to the group of fishermen.
"Hi. I'm Will Nekton, and this is my family," Will said as he gestured to his wife and daughter. "We heard you may have some…monster trouble."
"Oh, the dragon's no trouble," The old man replied, the young man still clinging onto him. "We'll just stay out of the water for a while. He'll be gone soon."
"You…have a young man hugging you," Will pointed out, confusion on his face.
"So I-so I noticed, yes," The old man replied, while the young man got off him.
"You were talking about the dragon?" Will asked, curiosity on his face.
"Aye. I've seen him before, 40 years ago," The old man replied. "I know he was around 40 years before that. And 40 years before that. It's been the same every time. An earthquake, then a monster. Then, another earthquake, and no monster."
"Why every 40 years?" Will asked him with curiosity, feeling a bit skeptical of the old man.
"How should I know?"
"You seem familiar," Will said as he looked closer at the man.
"Yes. I…I get that a lot," The old man replied.
"It's real, isn't it? I saw it!" The balding man said to them.
"Yeah, we saw it too," Kaiko replied as she looked at her husband. "It's definitely real."
"It took my boat!" The mustached fisherman said with worry. "Can you find it?"
"Well, we found half of it," Fontaine replied.
"Half of it?!" The fisherman repeated with shock, surprise, and confusion.
"Yes," Will replied. "Sorry, uh, half of your boat was eaten."
"…WHAT?!" The fisherman said with shock.
"Actually…then the other half of your boat was eaten," Fontaine added, while the old man noticed Ant and Gavin over by the large bite in the dock, arching an eyebrow with interest.
As the three Nektons spoke with the fisherman, trying to explain what had happened to his boat, the old man headed over to the two boys.
"Hello, Antaeus Nekton, and Gavin William Woodring Nekton," he said to the two boys, who immediately stood up, confused and suspicious as to why this stranger knew their full names. "My name is Nereus."
"How do you know our full names?" Gavin asked the man, who leaned forward.
"Antaeus, the others won't understand. You see, the dragon isn't important," Nereus replied, ignoring Gavin's question.
"Uh, trust me, it's important," Ant answered the old man. "I was almost eaten by it."
"The creature is nothing compared to the secret it guards," Nereus continued as he walked past them and over to the edge of the dock.
"What secret?" Gavin asked him as they followed him.
"This was no random earthquake," Nereus explained, before pointing out into the ocean. "Out there, a trench has opened, and soon, it will close again. Inside the trench is the creature's lair. Inside the lair, lies the secret," Nereus continued, a grin on his face.
"Again, what is this secret?" Gavin asked him.
"And how do we find it?" Ant added.
"You'll know you're there when you can breathe beneath the waves," Nereus replied cryptically.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Ant asked, while Gavin hummed in thought, trying to decipher what Nereus had said.
"Oh, you'll find it," Nereus said as he pat both of them on the shoulder. "I have great faith in you Antaeus Nekton and Gavin Nekton. In fact, I think it could all come down to you." He then reached into his pocket and grabbed something. "If your family needs persuading, give this to your father," he continued as he pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to Ant. "Remember: The sea is the key."
"'The sea is the key,'" The two repeated, before Ant gained a confused look. "Wait, why?" he asked, looking back up to Nereus, only to gain a shocked look when he saw that the man had disappeared.
"Where the heck did he go?" Gavin said as he looked around along with Ant, only to see no sign of the man. "It's like he teleported out of here."
"I don't know, but we can worry about it later. Right now we need to get everyone and head on out. That trench could start closing any minute!" Ant replied as he hurried over to the other members of his family, who were still talking with the fishermen.
Gavin nodded in agreement, and looked around once more for Nereus, before heading after Ant. 'How'd he leave so quickly?' He thought with confusion and intrigue.
"Mom, Dad, we gotta go! Now!" Ant said to his parents as he pointed at the Aronnax.
"What is it?" Keiko asked him as he started to head back towards the sub.
"We'll explain once we get moving," Gavin replied as he hurried after his brother. "If we don't go now, we'll have to wait another 40 years, and Ant's way too impatient for that!"
At that, their parents looked at each other and shrugged, before they headed after them along with Fontaine.
Soon, the Aronnax had turned around and was going back under the water, while Ant typed on a computer next to the tooth, which was now resting on a table in the Bridge. "It makes sense for the trench to be somewhere around here," He said as he pointed at a red spot on the map, just off the coast of Greenland, he and Gavin having just explained to their parents what they'd been told after changing back into their wetsuits. "Where the earthquake was strongest."
"This makes no sense," Fontaine said skeptically. "Trenches don't just open and close every 40 years."
"According to Nereus, they do," Gavin replied.
"And we just blindly believe strange old men on piers now?" Fontaine asked.
"Does it matter?!" Ant replied. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Well, it sounds like a trench could close on us, or we could be eaten," Fontaine replied.
"Have you ever eaten a submarine?" Ant asked his sister while crossing his arms. "Not the tastiest."
"Ant, Gavin, your sister's right," Keiko replied. "We have no reason to trust this man."
At that, Ant frowned, before he remembered something. "Dad, he said to give this to you," He said as he handed his father the envelope.
His father then opened it and pulled out a photograph, before his eyes widened at what he saw.
"What is it?" Keiko asked him.
"He knew my parents," Will replied as he showed Keiko the photo.
"Oh Will," Keiko said to her husband as she put an arm on his shoulder, while Ant, Fontaine, and Gavin looked at the photo.
Said photo was of three people standing in front of a sunny and cloudy sky. One was a young black woman with dark brown curly hair that lined her face, light brown eyes, gold hoop earrings, and a dazzling smile. Another was a tall young black man with short brown hair, dark brown eyes, a large muscular build, and a large smile. And the final one was of Nereus himself, holding a familiar object in his hands.
"The tooth!" Gavin exclaimed.
"Our grandparents knew about the creature too!" Ant continued as he looked at his parents.
"I have a lot of questions for this 'Nereus,'" Will said with a curious look on his face.
"Dad, Nereus said the trench is going to close," Ant said to him.
"Questions will have to wait," Will replied. "Fontaine, set a course for the hypocenter of the quake." Fontaine nodded, before she hurried over to the console to do just that, while Keiko took the controls, and they were off.
About twenty minutes passed, before Fontaine spoke. "The earthquake originated somewhere around here," She said as she pointed at a spot on the map. "But I don't know what we're looking foooooor-nevermind."
"What is it?" Gavin asked her as he came over to her.
"The sea floor just disappeared," She continued as she got up from her chair and headed to the very front, prompting Ant, Gavin, and Will to follow her over.
A few seconds later, they saw what she was talking about.
"Incredible," Will said as they looked out the windows at the large trench in front of them. "This trench isn't on any map I've ever seen!"
"Yeah dad, but you look at some pretty old maps," Fontaine replied.
"No, I mean no maps at all. This trench doesn't exist," Will said firmly.
"Well it does now," Gavin said as he looked at the trench with awe.
"I think this proves that we can trust the old man," Ant said to his sister, who rolled her eyes.
"Taking us in," Keiko said before she maneuvered the Aronnax into the trench and started to descend into it, turning on the lights as they went. Fontaine then headed back to her seat and looked at the console, typing away on it for several seconds.
"According to the 3D scanners, the walls of the trench just keep going down," Fontaine said. "This trench is deep. Very deep," She continued as they descended deeper. "But, there's something-it looks like a hole in the wall up ahead."
"There!" Gavin said a few seconds later as he spotted what she was talking about. Said hole had multiple sharp rocks around it that were shaped like dragon teeth, making the hole look almost like a mouth.
"The dragon's lair!" Ant said with awe.
"But the scanners don't detect any creatures present," Keiko replied as she looked at the screen.
"Well then, let's go snoop around before any creatures do appear," Gavin said to his parents, who nodded, before they all headed to the Moonpool. Ant got into the White Knight, while everyone else got into the Rover.
The Rover was a 10-foot-long submersible that was orange and white in color. The main body was round like an oval, with a small antenna coming off the back like a fin. Two oval pods sat on either side at the front, while a large dome covered the cockpit almost completely.
As they moved towards the cave and entered it, Ant gasped upon seeing a freshly cleaned skeleton of a whale on the floor. "Wow! Something has been feeding here!" he said with awe.
"Stay close Ant," Keiko said to her son as she drove the Rover forward, with Ant keeping up with her quite well in the White Knight.
"There's something up ahead," Ant said as he noticed that up ahead the floor curved upwards. When they followed it up, they found themselves surfacing in a cave.
"I don't know how, but the air in this chamber is breathable," Will said after doing an air test with the Rover.
"That's what Nereus said!" Gavin exclaimed, his eyes widening with realization.
"What?"
"He said we'd be able to 'breathe beneath the waves,'" Gavin said.
"Shall we go for a walk?" Keiko asked them before she opened the cockpit and they unbuckled themselves.
Then, they got out, and turned on their flashlights as they started to look around the chamber.
"Okay, this was totally worth it," Fontaine said as she found some glowing rocks in the walls nearby.
"Mom! Dad!" Gavin and Ant shouted together from another part of the chamber, catching their attention.
When everyone else ran over, their eyes widened with shock at what they saw.
"Incredible!" Will said as they stared at the structure before them. Said structure looked somewhat like a tooth socket, with inscriptions carved on it, as well as multiple lines running down it all over, and it was about 3 and a half feet tall. "The inscriptions, they look Lemurian."
"Look here! See these lines running down the sides," Gavin said as he crouched next to the structure. "It looks like this thing opens up," he continued as he put a hand on the structure.
*BWEEEP! BWEEEP!*
"The ancient stone is alarmed?!" Ant said with confusion.
"No! It's the Rover!" Keiko said as they looked back at the Rover. "The creature is coming!"
"Move! Move!" Will ordered his family, who all started to run back to the vehicles.
But then Ant stopped. "Hang on! There's something…"
"Ant! Come on!" His mother called to him as he ran back and took a good look at the top of the structure, which was shaped like a dish.
"'The sea is the key,'" He repeated, before his eyes widened with realization and he ran over to the ocean water. He then got a big scoop of water and started to run back.
"What are you doing?!" Fontaine yelled at him as she stood on the Rover.
"Ant, we need to go now!" Keiko said to him as he ran past.
"I think I've worked it out!" Ant called back to them as he ran over to the structure and dumped the water into the dish. "The sea is the key!" he said as the water turned pale blue and started to spread along all the lines.
After several seconds, it had filled every inch of each line and the structure then fall apart and away from the middle, revealing a tall cylinder that was gray and tan in color and had a spiral shell at the very top of it, along with several long slits on the sides.
"Yes!" Ant cheered as he ran over to the artifact. "This is the secret!" He then tried to pick it up, only to struggle, as it was quite heavy. "A little help!" He continued, with his father smiling before he picked it up with both hands and ran back to the Rover, while Fontaine shouted "Hurry!"
Everyone then got in their vehicles and went back under the water.
"No sign of him yet," Ant said as he looked around while they approached the entrance.
Right as it seemed everything was in the clear, the plesiosaur appeared, roaring at them from the entrance.
"I take that back!" Ant said with alarm as they split up, narrowly avoiding getting eaten by the creature. Ant was fortunate enough to get past the creature and sped to the Aronnax, quickly getting into the Moonpool, while his parents maneuvered the Rover around the creature and went down, once again dodging another bite attack.
Once inside, Ant hopped out of the White Knight and ran over to the Moonpool itself, looking down with worry. "No" he said when he saw that the Rover hadn't followed him. He then ran over to a nearby console and pressed button. "Aronnax to Rover! Aronnax to Rover!"
"Ant!" Gavin and Fontaine called back.
"Keep the Moonpool open. We're almost there!" Keiko said as she maneuvered the Rover around the creature, before they were swatted away by its tail.
"Woah!" Keiko shouted along with everyone else, before they hit the wall and bounced off it, causing them to lose connection with the Aronnax.
"Mom! Dad!" Ant cried with worry, unaware that they were now at the edge of a large ledge.
"Stay calm! Stay quiet!" Keiko whispered to everyone as they sat there, while the plesiosaur looked at them carefully. "There's no reason for the creature to attack. We're not a threat to something that large, and we are not food."
"How are we not food?" Fontaine quietly questioned. "Sure we're a round piece of metal and glass, but we have a soft, juicy inside."
"Shhhh!" Gavin and Will shushed her, before the creature let out a low roar, catching their attention. It then swam forward and flicked them away with its nose.
"Hold on!" Will cried as they flew threw the water and fell even deeper, before landing on another ledge upside down. The plesiosaur then swam over to look at them again, before they felt the ground shake beneath them.
"A tremor?!" Giavn said with alarm. "Shoot!"
Back on the pier in Greenland, Nereus came to a stop as he felt the ground shake bit, and stared out at the water with a firm look. "It's closing," He said simply as he stared out at the ocean, hoping the family was alright.
The plesiosaur roared at them one more time, before it swam away.
"Why's it leaving?" Fontaine asked with confusion.
"Perhaps it knows something we don't," Keiko replied.
"Like maybe the trench is starting to close?" Gavin suggested.
"Let's get out of here," Fontaine said upon hearing that, not wanting to be there when that did happen.
"We can't. The power's out," Will replied as he unbuckled his seat belt, as did everyone else.
"What about the homing beacon?" Fontaine asked, prompting Kaiko to take a look at the antenna on the rear.
"It's gone," She replied, with a few blue sparks flashing from the spot the antenna had once been.
"It must have been knocked off by the creature," Gavin said with a sigh.
"Alright, breathe calmly," Will said to calm them down. "Without power we only have so much air. Ant will find us."
"Without the homing beacon?" Fontaine said with a questioning look.
"He will find us," Gavin and Will both replied firmly.
Meanwhile, Ant was freaking out a bit.
"No! No! No! What happened to the homing beacon?!" he said as he gripped his head with his hands. "I can't find you without the beacon!" he continued, before he spotted Jeffrey. "That's it!" he continued as he got an idea, before he ran off to a nearby bag and started to dig through it. "Where's that tracker?! This just has to work! There's no other way!" He continued, before he grinned. "Ah! Yes!" he said as he pulled out the tracker, which was a small red band that had an electronic beacon on it.
"Okay, I'll put the tracker on you," he said as he put the tracker on Jeffrey near his tail. "And you fetch my family! Got it?" He continued as he picked up Jeffrey's bowl and carried him over to the Moonpool, which Jeffrey jumped into. "Fetch!"
When Jeffrey didn't do so, he sighed. "Jeffrey, I need you to fetch!" He said to him with a desperate look. "Please?! Oh, please?! Fetch!"
Jeffrey still didn't move, and he sighed again. "My family needs me. Please!" he begged his fish, before he looked away with a sad look. At that, Jeffrey dived down and started to swim. "Huh? Jeffrey?!" Ant said with some surprise and hope.
Jeffrey swam out of the Moonpool and down into the trench as fast as his little tail could, while Ant ran into the Bridge and hopped into the drivers chair. "We're coming!" he shouted as he grabbed the controls and started to follow the tracker on screen.
"The Rover door has a manual release," Keiko said, only for Fontaine to frown.
"And you want to drown instead of being crushed?!" Fontaine replied.
"There's one suit in here capable of surviving this depth," Will said as he held up a box in his hands.
"No! No, I won't put it on!" Fontaine replied, causing Will and Keiko to sigh. "I won't leave you, and neither will Gavin!" At that, Gavin nodded.
"Fontaine!" Keiko said with a frown. "We don't have time. Just take it!"
"Please," Will said to her.
Fontaine huffed as she took the box, before she smashed it against the steering wheel, breaking the glass helmet inside. "There! Now it's no good to anyone," She said firmly.
"You know, when we survive this, you and I are gonna have a serious talk about acts of defiance that don't destroy very expensive equipment," Will said to her with a frown, before they all noticed something approaching them.
"Huh? Isn't that Ant's fish?" Fontaine said with surprise upon seeing Jeffrey come up to them. "No way!" She said, before she pulled out the glowstick from earlier, which Jeffrey swam towards. "No way!" She exclaimed, while Gavin chuckled.
"Have faith in the fish, Fontaine!" he said as he chuckled some more.
Then, there was a loud rumble, cutting their happy reunion short.
"The trench is closing!" Will said with alarm, repeating what Gavin had said earlier, before a large boulder fell down next to them and pushed them closer to the edge of the ledge. They were just starting to go over the edge when they felt something grab onto the ship.
"Huh?" Fontaine said as she and Gavin looked backwards to see what had grabbed them, as did their mother.
"Need a lift," Ant said as he held the Rover with the large robotic arm and claw.
"It's Ant!" Keiko and Gavin said with a smile, causing Will to laugh.
"Haha! I told you he'd find us!" Will said with a grin as they were lifted up into the Moonpool, with Jeffrey following them inside.
They then got out of the Rover and Gavin ran over to the intercom. "Ant! We're clear. Punch it!" he shouted at him.
"Hold on to something!" Ant replied, before he turned the ship around and started to speed back up. "We're gonna have to move fast!" He continued as the sides of the trench visibly moved closer and closer together.
As they went up, the side of the ship bumped into a rocky outcropping, causing the rest of the family, who were running towards the Bridge, who stumble and fall, with Will grabbing a doorway to prevent himself from dropping the artifact.
Ant grew increasingly more nervous as they got closer and closer to the top, before letting out a loud cheer as they narrowly escaped the trench before it closed shut. "Woohooh! Made it!" he cheered as he leveled out the ship and brought it to a halt.
Then, the door to the Bridge opened, and Fontaine walked in with Jeffrey in his bowl.
"Jeffrey!" Ant said with a smile as he got out of the chair and ran over to the fish with a smile, taking the bowl from Fontaine. "I think someone is owed an apology," He said to Fontaine, who sighed.
"Okay, you were right Ant," She replied. "I should have had faith in your fish. I'm sorry."
"Not me! Jeffrey!" He said as he held up the bowl. "Jeffrey."
"You want me to apologize…to a fish?" She asked him with a tilt of her head.
Jeffrey nodded as he swam towards her, looking at her intently.
"Ugh! Sorry, Jeffrey," She said, before her parents and Gavin stepped into the room, Will still holding the artifact. He then set it on its side on the nearby table that rose up from the floor, and grabbed a small tab that was sticking out of a slit, before he pulled it out, revealing a scroll that was covered in ancient text.
"Is it…?" Gavin asked him.
"Yes! It's written in Lemurian. I'm sure of it," Will said as he looked at the scroll.
"I knew it!" Ant replied with a grin.
"Will, are you okay?" Keiko asked her husband, who looked a bit sad.
"I'm fine, Keiko," He replied. "I just wish my parents were still here to see this. Our family has been searching for Lemuria for so long. And this could be it," He continued as they looked at the scroll. "The key to the sunken world. This could hold the answer to the biggest mystery on the planet."
"Amazing! Can you read it?" Gavin asked his father as he stood back up.
"Not a word," Will replied with a shake of his head.
Back at Greenland, Nereus smiled as he looked out at the sea. "And, it begins," he said as he held his cane. "This should be…interesting," he continued with a grin.
Later that night…
Gavin sighed as he sat on the top deck of the Aronnax in the middle of the ocean, resting in a deck chair. Sitting in a large fishbowl next to him was Maria, who was happily eating her food.
"Man, today's been a good day, Maria," He said to the eel with a smile as he lay there, eyes closed behind sunglasses. "We discovered two new species of squid, and a new species of sea turtle. That's exciting news for the scientific community!"
*KRAKOOM!*
"Wow, that was loud," Gavin said, taking off his sunglasses as he sat up and looked around for the source of the thunder, only to gain a very confused look upon seeing he was no longer on the submarine. "Hey, where did the sub and Maria go?" He continued, standing up from the deck chair.
*KRAKOOOM!*
"And where is that coming from?" He said aloud once more as he looked around again, before noticing that something was off about the floor he was standing on. Bending down, he squinted at the clearish-blue floor, before reaching out and touching it.
As soon as his hand made contact with the floor, a few rings of ripples formed, moving across the floor like it was a liquid. "What in the world?" He said as he stood back up, his confused look growing bigger. His voice echoed around him for several seconds, before it was replaced with silence.
Suddenly, round orbs started slowly floating up from the floor around him, confusing him even more than he already was. He reached out to one orb, and touched it, causing the orb to break apart into smaller ones. The smaller orbs then dispersed, some hitting other orbs and breaking them apart as well. This continued to happen until he was completely surrounded by the tiny orbs. "What is going on here?" He asked aloud, before noticing that the orbs were starting to swirl around him, slowly coalescing into a bigger object. A familiar smell then hit his nose, making him arch an eyebrow as he looked at the coalescing orbs with a confused look. "Saltwater?" he said, before the orbs finished coalescing together, and the object swirling around him came to a stop before him.
The object was a massive block of water, with seaweed and coral inside it. Several creatures could be seen swimming through it, such as grouper, sharks, stingrays, squid, whales, bass, and a crocodile. "What a weird aquarium," he muttered as he stared at the block of water, noticing that some of the creatures were freshwater species. "How are the freshwater creatures still alive in the saltwater?"
Then, several black distorted shapes started appearing inside the block, some appearing as big as or bigger than a sperm whale. "What are they?" He said as he stared at the shapes, trying to figure out what they were.
Unfortunately, they were too distorted for him to tell what they were. All he could tell was that most of them had white spots for eyes, with white jagged lines trailing over their bodies, and more were appearing in the block. And some were walking along the bottom of the block, as if they were more land-based than the others.
Suddenly, the black shapes started swimming towards the middle of the block, with them merging as they touched, forming a slowly growing black orb.
"What the hell?!" He said, taking a step back as he watched the orb continue to grow and grow, before eventually it took up the entire block. "What is that?"
The black block was still and quiet for several seconds, before it suddenly shot out two tendrils that grabbed his arms. "Hey! Let go!" Gavin said as he tried to get out of their cold, wet grip. Unfortunately, though, he failed, as the tendrils were firmly around his wrists. Two more black watery tendrils extended out of the block and grabbed his ankles, before holding his limbs out tightly as it lifted him up off the ground. "Let! GO!" He yelled at the block, before his eyes widened as the block started extending yet another tendril, this one heading towards his face. "No!" He said as the tendril got closer and closer. "No! Don't you dare!"
The tip of the tendril then gently stroked his lips, causing him to scream out, which prompted the tendril to start reaching into his mouth. "Don't do it! Noooooo!"
"Noooooooo!" Gavin said as he woke up, sitting straight up in bed with sweat on his brow. He panted as he looked around at his surroundings, and upon seeing he was still in his room on the Aronnax, sighed with relief. 'Oh thank goodness! It was just a dream,' He thought as he lay back down on his bed, wiping the sweat off his brow with a hand. 'A really weird one. I wonder if it means anything?'
After several seconds had passed, he shook his head.
"Nah," He said as he turned onto his side. "I don't think so." He then went back to sleep.
Well, this was an interesting chapter!
Can't wait to write more!
Please give me suggestions for the harem. Anthros only.
Other stories will be updated! Don't worry!
Please leave a review!
This is PuzzleMaster1998 here, signing off!