Chapter 2: The search begins
As the sun arose over the island, Kai's mother awoke him, filling the room with a blinding light by pushing open the curtains. He groaned, mornings were the worst, and literally rolled out of bed onto the floor. "Come on sleepyhead. Father prepared fish for breakfast, and I made your favorite- pita chips and tyrokafteri!" she announced, Kai still grumbling but now a bit more enthusiastic to get up. Starting the day with spicy food always made it a good day. In their little marbled home, the family sat together and began eating, Kai loving the homemade food, when his mother spoke. "Listen Kai, we are staying home today, so only go in the shallows, okay? We can't help you if you go any further out and get stuck." she explained, Kai nodding. He planned to look for treasure inland anyway, so it didn't matter too much. He then decided to ask his parents a question. "Did your parents ever tell you about Itar?" he asked, and his father instantly looked at him, Kai averting his eyes. "Once...when I was small." his father mused.
"When I was a little boy, my parents told me they had escaped from a sinking city full of strange creatures and ugly monsters, but they never told me much else. Why, are you curious about it?" his father asked, a smile on his face. Kai shrugged. "Stavros told us about it, and it seemed interesting. I was wondering if I'd find any traces of it in the reef." he thought, his father thinking for a moment. "It's possible, especially if the city has gone into disrepair. Perhaps you'd find an old rock or some silver." he mused, Kai's mother giving a giggle. "That's funny, my parents told me that they came here from a sinking city too. Perhaps we all came from there, once upon a time." she wondered, Kai smiling and continuing to eat. He wanted to sail as soon as possible.
Running down toward the shore, he knocked on the doors of Cori and Miriam, who both were still eating breakfast with their families, Cori boasting that her mother had made souvlaki for them. Slightly jealous, Kai huffed and said he'd had chips and tyrokafteri, and then Cori became the jealous one. Promising to exchange food later, Kai continued rushing down the path, reaching the shore and diving off the rocks without a care in the world. The sea was crystal clear and cool in the heat, and he was happy to swim for a bit. Laying on his back, he let himself float and be gently pushed and pulled by the waves, smiling and feeling the sun warm him up. Cori always complained about getting sunburned, but he was dark enough that it didn't show up. He heard the girls' voices and opened his eyes, seeing them approaching and Cori instantly jumping in beside him, Miriam content to sit and watch from the rocks as the two started splashing each other.
A sudden shout startled the group, as Stavros came running down the path toward them, his face white. Miriam immediately stood up to greet him. "Stavros? Are you okay?" she asked, but the man was far too breathless to speak, Kai and Cori both rushing to the shore and onto the sand to see what was wrong. The man slowly caught his breath and addressed the group, desperate. "Did any of you borrow my fishing boat last night?" he demanded, all three teens immediately shaking their heads. "We just walked home together, and fell asleep I think. Nobody went outside after that." Cori explained, Stavros turning as white as a sheet and falling to his knees. Panicked, Kai helped him to stand, allowing the older man to lean on him and supporting him by putting an arm around him. "My daughter...I haven't been able to find her...and the tile is gone too..." he panted in a stupor, Kai's eyes going wide. This could only mean one thing.
He led the older man toward a collapsed tree trunk and helped him to sit, the girls following and Miriam passing both a towel, as Cori started to shiver slightly. Kai put the towel around Stavros, ignoring his own dripping wet hair, and took a deep breath. "Stavros...could it be possible that Lucia set out to find Itar?" he asked, and the man met his eyes with fear. "If so...I never taught her how to swim!" he yelled, worried and panicked. Kai, supporting the man's weight and shaking, looked at his friends- they looked equally concerned. He thought for a moment. "We can try and look for her inside the reef? She probably just got lost since it's hard to get past those rocks without guidance, and it's likely that she'll be stuck on a rock asleep or have been found by someone else." he reasoned, Stavros nodding. The thought of finding his daughter was all that mattered, but he was grateful for their help nonetheless.
Pulling their boats off the sand and into the water, the teens climbed in, where Kai became their leader by default. Stavros approached them, now able to stand again, and looked at each of them in turn. "May Hermes protect you...and thank you for agreeing to help me." he mumbled, before rushing back up to the village to search on land for Lucia. With a smile, Kai headed out first, the trio ending up in their normal starting point in the shallows. "Alright guys, let's split up. I'm not allowed beyond the outer edge today so I'll need someone else to take that." he explained, Miriam putting her hand up. "I'll go beyond, but stick close. Cori, can you go inland and search nearer the shore?" she asked, Cori nodding and Kai beginning to row toward the middle of the reef. He could swim down and search a section before moving on, looking for snagged fabric or traces of her presence in the rocks. Diving down, he began his search.
Miriam got her boat over the breakers, rowing against the pull of the waves and ending up outside of the island's normal parameters. There, she began her search, scanning for any wood or drifting pieces of fabric locked onto the rocks, though she hoped she wouldn't find any and the others would find the girl instead. Meanwhile, Cori searched the shallows, finding fish and coral but no human trace, much to her disappointment. Kai found himself wondering whether the group should try moving beyond the breaker and toward the open ocean, where they would be able to search for Lucia and the fishing boat by the other islands to the west. He sat in his boat, deliberating, when he felt something strange. The current was going the wrong direction.
Panicked, Kai noticed Miriam furiously rowing toward him, struggling to get over the breakers, and threw her a rope, pulling her toward him with all his strength. The two of them would be sucked out to sea if they weren't careful. The wind suddenly whipped up and the waves became much more violent, toppling Kai out of his boat and leaving him little strength to pull Miriam toward him. Luckily, Cori appeared and threw both of them ropes from afar, which the two used to try and resist the current, gaining harsh burns in the process. "Climb in!" Cori yelled, giving Miriam a hand as Kai hopped over and the group rowed together, staring in horror as their boats were ripped up by the sea into splinters, fearing for both themselves and Lucia.
Despite their frantic attempts to row away, the current was too strong, and Kai found himself praying to Hermes for protection as they were forced out to sea, moving over the breakers with ease despite how tricky it normally was and being thrown around by the ocean, dragged out until they couldn't even see their home island anymore. Panicked, all three teens grabbed a hold of each other, convinced their boat would split into pieces any moment, but fate had an even worse trick for them. As the current swelled and surged, Kai realized that a whirlpool was forming, and even despite Cori's best efforts, her oars were snatched out of her palms by the ocean. The wooden boat creaked and cracked under the surge and all three were separated, flung into the sea and underwater. Kai, struggling to hold his breath, found himself floating to the surface, where he yelled for both of them, but there was no sign of life. His foot suddenly got tangled in something and he was pulled down, flung by the whirlpool and submerged. Slowly losing consciousness, he tried to fight the drowsiness and swim upwards, but his body was inert, and his eyes closed involuntarily, the last thing he heard being a woman giggling.