Matthias glanced at his watch. It would take Jean-Eric at least ten minutes to reach him, although navigating the unfamiliar rock formations in the dark might slow him down. Plenty of time to explore.

Matthias swam forward, deeper into the ruins. To an observer, it would have looked like an idle dive, but Matthias was scanning every wall and pillar, looking for writings, castle finery, something in good condition. Anything that could lead him to Anaximander.

As he swam, a dark shape glided above him. Matthias glanced up and smiled to see a massive basking shark swimming lazily overhead. The second largest shark in the world, it was one of his dad's favorite creatures - Jean-Eric always did like the big ones. Although, he reflected grimly, that massive great white might have it beat.

He kicked a little harder, determined to put some distance between himself and the memory of the harrowing chase he had somehow just survived. He was here for a reason, he reminded himself. He needed to calm down. Keep moving. Focus.

In the distance, Matthias could barely make out two tall pillars, connected by a stone slab. It was as good a goal as any. He swam over to investigate. As he rounded the first pillar, he startled a brown spiny fish that he recognized as a John Dory. Its body was long and its fins were droopy, with a face that only a mother could love.

Well, or a diver.

"Sorry, little buddy," he said with an affectionate grin.

"What was that, Matthias?" Jean-Eric's voice crackled over the radio.

"Uh… nothing, Dad. Just scared a fish." He could almost hear Jean-Eric shake his head.

"I'm almost there. Surface within the next five minutes so I can find you."

"Got it."

Matthias turned off his microphone, ensuring that he could still receive transmissions but no one would hear him, and reached out to stroke the John Dory's scales. It seemed to like that!

As it turned under his hand, he noticed the distinctive black marking on its side. He suddenly remembered hearing that the John Dory was sometimes called St. Peter's Fish. This is due to old legends stating that the black spots on its sides resemble the fingerprints of Saint Peter. Try as he might, Matthias couldn't remember where he had learned that.

Huh. Trivia.

Matthias decided to move on.

He allowed himself to drift up, coming to rest on the large stone slab connecting the pillars. Surveying the ruined village, he shook his head.

There's nothing here.

Abandoning his perch with a sigh, Matthias began to swim up to the surface. As he turned back for one last look, a flash of red caught his eye. He hesitated, then shrugged.

I've got another minute at least.

Matthias turned back to see a long red fish with an angular head, a sea robin, swimming beneath the pillars. It swam across the ocean floor for a few moments, then began to swim upward, climbing the rim of an old well.

That's odd. Sea robins usually don't leave the floor. With a frown, Matthias noted that this was the first sea robin he'd seen that night. Even with the ruins, this was a much more exposed space than that type of fish tended to prefer.

"So where do you live?" he murmured.

He watched for a moment, idly curious, as the sea robin paused briefly on the lip of the well, then disappeared inside. Matthias kicked lightly, propelling himself over the top of the well.

Squinting through the murky waters, Matthias held out his flashlight, sending a beam of light into the depths. He was surprised to find he could see the bottom - the well wasn't nearly as deep as he had expected.

"Not a bad place to live," he mused to the fish, letting himself sink down towards the well's mouth. "Hidden, safe, enclosed. No predators, which is good, 'cause you'd have nowhere to go…" His voice trailed off as the sea robin, having reached the bottom, suddenly veered to the left and disappeared from view.

Matthias blinked in surprise. "Or not." He leaned forward, angling himself to swim deeper and investigate, when static crackled in his ear.

"I'm above the ruins. Where are you?"

Scrambling to turn his microphone back on, Matthias answered, "On my way up. Be just a minute."

"Be careful. Watch the pressure."

Matthias took a last look at the mysterious well, then turned and swam for the surface. Clearly, something lurked beneath these ruins. Maybe it was a secret tunnel leading to a lost sunken castle. Maybe it was just a depression in the wall. But Matthias's diver's intuition told him that this was something more. Either way, he was determined to come back and find out what.

Matthias's head broke the surface of the water as he reached up for the ladder of the boat. Jean-Eric grabbed his hand and hauled him up into a sopping wet hug. He held him tightly for a moment, then pushed him back, holding him at arm's length.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, shaking him a little. "You could have died!"

"Dad, I'm not sixteen anymore-"

"Died, Matthias! Is that what you want?"

Matthias shoved his father's arms away. "Dad, I'm fine. Things like that happen, I made it through."

"This time, sure." Jean-Eric was pacing now. "And maybe the next time, too. But what about the next, and the next? You're wasting your time and putting your life in danger over myths and fairytales-"

"The Song of Dragons isn't a myth," Matthias insisted. "We've both heard it, and I know Alana heard it too. I have to know what this is and why it killed her."

"This has to stop." Jean-Eric shook his head. "You're not getting answers, you're getting more dangerous. You're the only one Oceana has left. What am I going to say to her when you go the same way as Alana-"

He stopped abruptly and looked over at Matthias, who had gone very still. There was a long silence.

Finally, Jean-Eric sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Sit down," he said quietly, sinking onto one of the boat's low benches. Stonily, Matthias did the same.

"Matthias…" He shook his head. "I know Alana's death was hard for you. It was hard for all of us. But it was an accident. That's all. It happens to even the best." He paused for a moment. "Oceana needs her father back. And I need my son."

And I need answers. Jean-Eric was looking to him for a response. He wouldn't get one.

Jean-Eric stood up. His eyes were disappointed, but his jaw was set, showing a steely resolve. "We're done here," he said, turning his back on his son and stepping to the wheel. "We leave tomorrow morning. Get some sleep while you can."

"Dad!"

"It is not up for debate!" Jean-Eric started the engines and began to cruise back to shore. "This is for your own good, Matthias." His voice softened. "Think about your family."

I am thinking about my family, he fumed, staring out at the dark ocean. I've been thinking of nothing else. He would have to do this alone, he realized, without help or opinions from anyone else. This had been his quest from the beginning, and if finding the answers he needed meant his father's anger, then so be it.

I'm going back, he decided. There's something there, and I'm going to find it. Tonight.

"Do you understand me, Matthias?"

Matthias smiled humorlessly. "Perfectly."

A.N: Hello, all! Look at us, back after more than a year away. It just goes to show that we do indeed respond to reviews. Shout out to that one guy. You go, that one guy.

We do now have the rest of the story at least planned out, so continue to bother us and we will legitimately get to it. Because next week is Thanksgiving, I'm hoping to get another chapter done while Ward Orphan and I are together. That's the goal, anyway. But obviously things are moving along, both in the plot and in the relationships. We may be having too much fun.

-Forever the Optimist

P.S: The included trivia is actually unlocked in the first game, not the one this story is based on, but we thought it was so funny that we had to include it.

Huh. Trivia.