Siren's Reach - Fallen Lands Book 3

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A Court of Pearls and Problems

Evelyn

Only after the sand began running down the beach and revealing all the treasure left behind did the notifications begin rolling in. I checked the most important of them, confirming K'thralis was dead. My shoulders sagged in relief. Several of those so-called treasure chests looked oddly similar to the one Amélie and I had found under West Peak, and it was good to have confirmation that he'd not melted from that second form only to become a pile of mimics.

Sibylla had been hoping for entirely different notifications, however.

"I knew it! It's unfair! This is experience theft! Not even a single level! I have sand EVERYWHERE and nothing to show for it!"

Amélie perked up with feigned excitement, "Oh, so you do not want your portion of the treasure? I suppose I could—"

"Don't you dare!"

I quickly stepped between the two of them, "Calm down. She's only joking, Sibylla. And we didn't come here for levels. We came here to find clues about where the monsters are coming from and to get rid of that thing before anyone else was hurt. We did both of those things. Everything else is just a bonus."

She crossed her arms, looking away. "Still would have been nice to get another level out of it, at least."

I sighed at her grumbling. "You're already the highest level of the three of us."

"Only because she went full murder hobo in the spirit realm…" Amélie quipped, and Sibylla's gaze shot right back to her, full of affront.

"I did not! I only did what I had to! I'd like to see you go through Elder Haruka's training!"

"Sibylla is the highest level? I thought she was only recently summoned?" Caeda asked, reminding us she was there. "And what's a murder hobo?"

I gave a half shrug and offered her a hand as she slid from the saddle. "That's only somewhat accurate. She was initially summoned at the same time we were, but was murdered by a vampire almost right away. The same ones that killed Alice… only, when Kitsune die here, we're banished back to the spirit realm, so she was there, alive and well with the rest of our family."

Sibylla huffed, "Alive? Sure. Well? That's debatable."

"You came back to us. That is all that matters," Amélie reassured her, earning herself an eyeroll.

We came to a stop just short of the circle of chests, and I interrupted whatever nonsense they were about to get into. "There sure are a lot of them. How should we do this?"

Everyone looked around, and Caeda said, "It's too bad that Alice isn't here. Who knows what's in these boxes?"

I straightened at that. "Actually, that's a good point. We've never been very greedy about treasure. We just give it to whoever needs it the most. Can we just take the chests with us? They won't fit in my bag, but…" I turned a pointed look on Sibylla.

She blinked a few times, but then took a few steps backward. "Oh no. I'm not just some pack horse! I don't see why it's a big deal for us to just open everything up and stuff things into bags like normal people!" She continued to step back slowly as we stared. "Do you have any idea how my inventory works? Do you know how heavy those chests would be for me to lug around? I'm starting to think you're all trying to take advantage of me."

We all turned to follow her motion, and I crossed my arms. "You looted an entire fortress without showing a single bit of strain. I doubt a few boxes are going to hurt."

Her offense tumbled away with an innocent shrug. "You got me. It doesn't actually matter at all. I guess I can carry some stuff for you. What did you have in mind?"

I sighed exasperatedly, and Amélie waved an arm across the beach, "All of that?"

"I'm not carrying sand."

"What?" I turned back around at her words and took in the pristine beach. Waves crashed in, gulls cried, and all was as it should have been had there not just been a cataclysmic battle minutes ago. "What happened to our treasure?!"

"Sibylla, do be kind. Stop teasing your sisters."

Chiasa's voice soothed the sudden panic, and we all turned at once to see her standing on the beach once again. This time, I took a few steps forward and gave her a quick hug, followed shortly by Amélie. However, Sibylla stayed back, her hands half-squeezed into fists, looking terribly conflicted between happiness at seeing her and frustration at her interference.

"You didn't need to deus ex machina our fight."

Her words were an accusation as much as a plea, but I didn't understand that last part until Chiasa answered. Her expression and voice were soft and steady as she met Sibylla's eyes.

"I know I didn't need to, but I chose to. That encounter wasn't designed for a small party of four. It was meant for dozens. I wasn't willing to risk losing one of you just to preserve the purity of the challenge." She let her words settle for a breath, and when we didn't interrupt, she continued. "My involvement in the final phase wasn't deliberate. I overstepped, and I apologize for that. But as Evelyn said… You weren't here to prove anything. You were here to protect this place, and you all did very well. I only nudged the scales back toward fair. I hope, in time, you'll forgive the part I played in ending the battle sooner than you planned."

They stared at each other for another few seconds before Sibylla slumped and sighed. "You're making it really hard to keep pretending I'm mad at you."

She finally stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Chiasa, squeezing as if she thought that if she let go, our mother might disappear. She shouldn't have worried. There really wasn't much chance of that with how relieved Chiasa looked while hugging her back.

Of course, eventually Sibylla realized we were all watching. In a confusingly fluid movement, she disentangled herself and hopped back out of arm's reach, clearing her throat as she smoothed out her clothes. Chiasa did a very good job of suppressing a smile before turning to the rest of us.

"Well then. If everything's wrapped up here, shall we head back to Siren's Reach together?"

Sibylla grinned. "Wrapped up here? Oh, no, Mom. We've still got lunch to take care of."

Before anyone could say a word, a massive cauldron had already appeared on a fire behind her, several familiar giant crab claws peeking over its lip.

***

Sometimes, Sibyl's random ideas weren't so bad. I'd be apprehensive to eat crab claws from the oversized monsters we'd battled, but she hadn't gathered any claws from the weird ones, and after a moment of inspection from Mom, she declared that it was perfectly safe to eat. I hate to admit it, but Sibyl's so-called Revenge Lunch was delicious.

It was mid-afternoon when we finally left the beach, and I was happy to be moving. The longer we stayed there in relative peace, the more I could feel an eerie pull from the dead town itself. The whole place had a sense of gloom and loss. The kind that felt like it was going to swallow me down if I didn't move on, and I was more than eager to do so.

After we convinced Caeda to get back into Haunt's saddle, the rest of us reverted to being foxes and began to run, with Chiasa taking comically prancing steps to keep pace with our far smaller strides. Magic radiated from her, making the world seem to blur as we ran. Soon after, it almost felt as if we were running across a painting instead of through the wilderness between us and Siren's Reach. The world felt both all around us and flattened under our feet. Some part of my mind recognized how much this should have creeped me out, even as my heart soared with the pure fun and joy of the run.

With how the magic accelerated our return into a straight, flat line, we made it back to Siren's Reach in record time. Aware of how high tensions were, we stopped just out of sight of the town to shift back into our humanoid forms and walked the rest of the way in. The town was already looking much better, but the evening streets were nearly abandoned. Everyone seemed eager to be behind locked doors well before sunset, and I doubted the nightlife would return for some time.

As much as I wanted to walk through the city to see how everything was faring, we were all exhausted. Our weary feet carried us straight toward the manor house on autopilot and then directly to the baths. Lilith caught us on the way in and let the others know we were back. But Sibylla was right. Shifting might have gotten the monster goop off, but no one goes through that much sand and saltwater without needing to wash their hair afterward.

We all made our way into the showers, even Haunt coming in to lie down under one of the faucets and letting it rinse the last day away. And then, we made our way to our true goal.

I've probably mentioned this before, but the bath was enormous and enchanted to stay hot. The second we stepped in, the steaming water wrapped around us like a spell, and every ache I'd been ignoring hit at once. I sank lower with a groan, letting the heat work its magic.

Sibylla flopped back dramatically, ears twitching. "If I ever see another grain of sand, I'm setting it on fire."

Amélie arched a brow. "And how exactly does one burn sand?"

"I'll find a way. Maybe I can get Mom to teach me."

I hummed my agreement. "Mmm, yeah. I want that spell."

Caeda was already up to her nose in water, blissed out, probably too tired to even comment.

A moment later, Lilith knocked once, peeked in, then smirked. "Well, aren't you lot a sorry sight." Before I could come up with a snappy reply, she started undoing her armor.

"Lilith, I swear if you try to drown me, I'll haunt you," Sibylla muttered, eyes closed.

Lilith snorted. "As if you wouldn't just haunt me anyway."

Haunt lifted his head from where he was napping near the fireplace at the mention of his name, gave a sleepy chuff, and flopped back down.

By the time Kira and Constance appeared, the bath was starting to feel less like a private retreat and more like a reunion. Kira smiled warmly, and after seeing I was settled and needed nothing, she stripped off her boots and soon after slid in without so much as a hello. Constance tried to stand by and be proper, but the next thing I knew, her feet were in the water, and she was leaning back against the wall, a teacup in hand like she'd planned it all along.

For a minute, we all just existed in the warmth. No battles. No monsters. Just… quiet. I could have lived like that for days, but the obvious empty slot in our roster forced the question.

"Alice?"

Lilith adjusted her position to speak more easily. "She was resting. All of the commotion may have gotten her attention, but she did a lot of work today. Drained her mana entirely a few times between helping with the cleanup and healing the wounded."

"Wounded?" I asked. "I thought they were all taken care of before we left?"

She nodded, "They were, but once we started cleaning up the sea wall and cove, we discovered there were quite a few stragglers hiding in the corpses and flotsam to deal with. She turned out to be just as deadly in the water as she was lifesaving on land." An instant wave of guilt hit me, but Lilith waved it away before my face could finish falling. "Don't start with that. She was frustrated with the slow progress on her skills and levels before she found the monsters in the water, and down there with her, they were the ones in danger."

"Found me a few baubles and trinkets while I was at it, too. Kinda nice gettin' a little revenge," Alice's voice called from the doorway, and we turned to watch her step in. "Figured I oughta let y'all know I'm here if I'm what's bein' talked about."

A mix between a sigh and a laugh escaped me, and I raised a hand to beckon her over. "I'm glad you're alright. Thank you for helping with things again. Want to join us?"

She only hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "That don't sound like a bad idea. Reckon we've all got plenty to talk 'bout anyhow."

As Alice shrugged out of her robe and sat in the water beside me, I could see Amélie doing her best to hold back a joke. But it was Sibylla who called her out for it.

"Good job, Amélie. Not a single peep about Evie's love life. I'm proud of you."

Amélie huffed. "You mean, not a single word about Alice's love life. Evie is still fair game. Soon we will be back east, and the love triangle between her, Prince Lucius, and Cossus can resume!" I glared at her for several seconds… before an epiphany hit me. I grinned wide. I adopted my most courtly princess voice and exclaimed, "You're right, Amélie! Oh, but we must do things properly! If they wish to court me, of course, I will be reasonably open to it… Only they will have to get Mother's permission first. I am certain that she will—"

"Absolutely Not!" she boomed from upstairs, making my grin spread even wider.

"Oops. Sounds like she's not ready to be a grandmother yet, Amélie. I guess we'd better keep your condition a secret."

Amélie's lips twisted in amused annoyance right up until the entire room shuddered with the rush of wind heralding Chiasa's arrival. She landed lightly at the edge of the bath, nine tails flicking with suspicious precision, and arched a brow, voice calm but edged with curiosity and danger.

"And what condition is that?"

Amélie opened her mouth, but I beat her to the punch, "Oh, didn't you know, mother? She's completely in love! Wait, you didn't think I meant something else, did you?"

Chiasa's eyes narrowed, though the glint of amusement beneath the serious exterior betrayed her. She folded her arms, tails settling behind her like a throne of light. "Oh, I see. So this is what happens when I leave you unsupervised for a few weeks. The baths turn into a den of scheming and matchmaking." I did an exceptionally poor job of keeping a straight face as her gaze flicked knowingly between Amélie and me, and she continued, "I suppose I should be grateful you've set your sights on courting rather than chaos… but do remember, both require permission."

Amélie's jaw dropped, an objection stuck in her throat, but it was Sibylla who lazily answered with only her face above water, "Oh. I definitely chose Chaos. Sorry, Mom. Boys are stupid."

A wry smile tugged at the corner of Chiasa's mouth at Sibylla's deadpan declaration. "Then perhaps you can apply that fine logic to help keep your sisters out of trouble while I'm not looking." She almost turned to leave, but stopped, a look of fondness edged with genuine worry in her eyes. "You are far too young for all this courting nonsense, no matter what lives you remember. Try to enjoy being young for a little while longer."

And with that, her tails swept behind her as she turned and finally walked back out the door, leaving us all in an uncomfortable silence. It was a few moments before anyone spoke.

Lilith, eager to move away from that awkward situation, cleared her throat. "So, perhaps you all should tell us about your trip to Darkwater Downs, and we can review what we found while you were gone."

But Alice blinked and stopped staring at the door to the room. "Wait, so... we just gonna ignore the fact an anime goddess just wandered in here to scold y'all like nothin' happened? And where the heck did she even come from?" "Oh!" I shot her a smile. "That's our mom! Don't worry, she's very nice."

"Hold up. You're sayin' we got families here?"

I paused, not having quite thought the implications of that through. "I… don't know. I know we're sisters, and we have our mother, and because of her, the clan."

"Sounds like you know a lot."

I bit my lip, unsure how to continue, but she deserved to know. "I guess I do. Well, at least about us. And I'm afraid of what it implies. I had planned to try to discuss this in private, but perhaps we should talk about it now."

Alice crossed her arms, looking less than impressed. "If you're all stressed 'cause you're about to tell me my fantasy world parents are dead, don't be. I never met 'em, so I ain't got much to mourn."

I slumped a little, but Amélie stepped in. "What she means is that before we had anyone else, we had each other. Sibylla, Evelyn, and I were separated as infants on Earth when our mother passed. We were reunited when we were summoned to this world."

I took a deep breath, prepared to push on, but as Alice's face slowly fell blank, I knew I didn't need to say anything else. The way she carefully schooled her expression was enough confirmation of what we feared about the others who were summoned with us. Carefully, I took her hand under the water and felt her fingers slowly squeeze back. We all sat in silence for a moment while she processed things, but then she gave a slow shake of her head and moved on.

"Alright. Reckon we can get back to talkin' 'bout what's important right now. We can sort out all this family business later." Taking a beat to remember what we were talking about, she cleared her throat and asked, "So. What else do we know? About the dungeon, the coast, or that song magic mess Sibylla spotted?"

After a moment of silence, Kira cleared her throat. "We had good progress here. We found several historical texts on dungeons in and around the shallow sea. Some are confirmed to have collapsed over the years, but there is no updated information on the rest, as they are simply avoided. It is not the best starting point, but combined with the rumors we have been gathering from the docks, we can narrow this down to the most likely culprits."

"Right!" Amélie said, perking back up. "That is easy. We were able to use insight on K'thralis. He was a floor boss from The Drowned Reliquary."

Kira's face scrunched in momentary confusion at her words. "I recognize the name, but it wasn't on my short list of places to investigate. Let me think."

"It's the one that was on the island that sank," Alice provided. "Guess that means it survived better than Atlantis."

"Ah. Yes, that would explain why it fell off my list." Kira answered, looking longingly toward the study.

Alice gave a small, humorless chuckle. "Well, now we got a destination. What's our plan?"

Sibylla sat up, horrified. "The hell we do! No way, no how am I actually going down into the ocean! You guys can pack that idea back up right now. I've had it with all this salt water!"

I sighed. "Let's look at the situation before we start getting dramatic. It isn't like you didn't know water would be involved in a dungeon hosting sea monsters."

"I didn't expect to need to go scuba diving to find the place!"

I ignored the response. "Well, it sounds like we're going to need to do at least a little swimming. Do you remember how far away that one is?"

Alice shook her head. "I didn't measure it. If I had to guess, just goin' off the location, maybe three hundred nautical miles? Closer to the island nations."

"So far? If they were hitting the coast so often from that distance, there must be waves of monsters moving out constantly."

Caeda sat up, moving to sit on Alice's other side, "Or they have commanders closer to the coast directing things."

I nodded, conceding the point. "That would make more sense. And either way, that means we're taking this trip on Dawn's Light. I think it would take two or three days to sail that far by sea. We can do it in one with the runeship, and it'll be safe high above the waves while we're down below."

"You're worried about the town's morale?" Lilith asked, and I nodded.

"They've been through a lot lately. Knowing that we're going to stop the root of the problem might help, but that ship in the sky overhead is a big security blanket."

Alice let go of my hand and lay back further into the water. "You shouldn't worry so much. These folks are tough. They know what they're doin', and they're on guard now. If they could hold off monsters all those years 'fore we showed up, they'll keep doin' it a few more days while we're gone."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Yeah," Amélie agreed. "It is the fastest way to get things back to normal for them. I think the bigger issue is that we may need to stay underwater through the entire dungeon, and as Mother pointed out on the beach, the encounters in that place are designed for a small army."

Sibylla rolled her eyes. "I think the term you're looking for is 'Raid Group.' And who cares? We will simply sneak in, find the queen mermaid or whatever, and take them out. Without the ring leader, the rest will fall apart. Classic head of the snake tactics. Then, we can head far, far away from the coastline forever."

"How exactly are we supposed to sneak underwater?" Caeda asked. "I'm barely passable at it on land."

Sibylla smirked. "Oh, I don't know, Caeda. Maybe try holding your breath and thinking sneaky thoughts. That's my plan."

"That is not helping," Amélie chided. "But perhaps some of the loot we brought back from the fight with K'thralis will. There is quite a lot to sort through."

"I was hoping you forgot about that," Sibylla teased. Or, at least, I hope she was teasing.

"No one is going to forget about that much treasure. And Amélie's right. Once we are done in here, we should look through the treasure we found, and then we can begin planning in earnest." Lilith nodded, "That's a good plan. For now, we can continue going over what we can from the bath on what we've discovered so far."

So, that's what we did. Our bath was slightly less relaxed, but I wasn't going to complain. Everything felt so time sensitive, and if we needed to work and relax at the same time, that is what we were going to do. Lilith and Kira did most of the talking for the crew who stayed behind.

They'd split their time helping the town with recovery and investigating the new dungeon. Kira spent the most time in the library, and Alice the most time out helping the people, but they'd found quite a lot of great information. Not all of it was useful to us now, but if we'd not discovered the name of the dungeon in Darkwater Downs, it would have been. In the end, we had a course, and that was what mattered most.

Almost as important was that we also had a time limit. Lilith explained a little more about the fighting in the cove after we left. Alice had been a terror to the enemy's survivors, but she'd also run into some fresh monsters, and combining that with the theory that they had a local command structure of some sort, they were probably scouts. Whoever was commanding them was likely sending them out to all of the battlegrounds up the coast to determine the levels of damage so they could prepare for the next attack.

It was all speculation, of course, but it made sense, and we knew too little. At Lilith's insistence, we went over our fight in great detail as well and what clues we'd picked up along the way. It felt a lot like telling any adventurer's story, but we knew there were a lot of insights into the dungeon from it. The place being designed for a much larger group was only the first.

The place had to be vast for monsters of that size, and without access to the sky, we were going to need a way to deal with them. The shifting sands and hidden horrors beneath suggested there would be areas of dry footing, but also that environmental hazards would likely be a recurring danger. His spell reflection might not have been unique, and we had to prepare for other monsters with strong magical defenses. The corruption lacing his shell hinted at a theme of mutating abominations, and the way he summoned his fallen minions back as undead guardians made it clear we might face more foes that refused to stay dead.

We still had to see what the library held about the place, but compared to what most people had going into an unexplored dungeon, that fight gave us a significant advantage. Whatever happened to the people of Darkwater Downs was a tragedy, but at least knowing their sacrifice might save so many others gave it meaning.

And with that depressing thought, Constance and Kira led the rest of the group in slowly extracting ourselves from the bath. I had to force myself to rise up and follow everyone out, and I'd taken long enough that Kira was already in a robe and waiting for me with my own.

As we all dried off and got dressed the old-fashioned way, Alice and Sibylla were the first to finish, each by virtue of magic or shifting. Before Kira could finish handing me an evening gown that she'd thoughtfully brought down, Sibylla stepped up beside Alice, linking their arms together and dragging her toward the door. Alice, a little lost in her own thoughts, practically squawked, and Sibylla called over her shoulder, "We're going ahead! Catch up when you're all done down here!"

Amélie looked between the doorway and the rest of us. "Does anyone else find that concerning?"

I nodded before Kira somehow retrieved and stuffed the gown down over my head. That had to be a skill. Muffled through the cloth, I answered, "We should probably hurry."

When we caught up a few minutes later and stepped through the door to the library, I expected them to be discussing the book where they'd found the information on The Drowned Reliquary. Instead, I found Sibylla and Alice sitting on the floor. Alice looked both concerned and amused. Sibylla, on the other hand, resembled an overzealous pirate queen thanks to the gaudy rings on her hands, the oversized golden necklaces piled around her neck, and the jeweled crown sitting at a jaunty angle on her head. As I stared, she casually tossed an uncut gem over her shoulder to land in one of three piles of treasure, then pushed the empty chest in front of her away to join two others off to the side.

That's when she spotted us stepping into the room, and her eyes went wide. She shot a stage-whispered, "Uh oh, busted! Act natural!" to Alice. Then she cleared her throat and flashed us a huge grin. "Ahoy, mates! Welcome aboard the good ship Poor Life Choices. You're just in time for inventory! …Before you ask, no, I have no idea where the real research went. But I did find enough jewelry to finance a small country. Or at least a really irresponsible weekend."

Alice pressed her lips together, fighting back a grin. "You're lucky I like ya, Sibylla. 'Cause you're 'bout this close to gettin' mutinied right off your fancy ship."

I shook my head and stepped forward to sit beside them. "I'm sure her intentions were entirely pure. She's very good at sharing. Right, Sibylla?"

She blinked at me several times, nodding slowly. "Oh yes. Definitely. Speaking of which!" She pulled a wand from under a pile of treasure as if she had just found it, and turned to Alice. She held up the wand, peering down its length like she was some kind of expert. "Hmm. Driftwood heart, kelpie hair core. Bit warped from water damage, but who isn't at this point? Suits you perfectly. Just, uh, don't point it at me."

Alice raised an eyebrow as she took the wand. "You're makin' Potter jokes. Yeah, I caught that one."

I sighed. "She does that. A lot."

"How do you know it was a joke?" Sibylla objected. "Those sound like perfectly reasonable wand materials to me!"

Alice held the wand up, "This is definitely made of some kind of coral."

I pulled a pair of wands from my bag, "Yeah. And I actually make wands. Using hair as a material sounds gross."

"Buncha killjoys."

As she sulked, the rest of the group joined us, everyone shooting confused looks at the piles of loot she'd been sorting things into. I couldn't blame them. I had no idea how she was separating things, or why. Amélie cut right to the point.

"Did you find anything interesting so far?"

Sibylla shrugged, "The wand."

Amélie sighed, "You know what I meant."

"Alright. Then, yes, but not in any way that likely matters."

I blinked. "How so? I think anything could end up being a useful clue." Sibylla took a moment to glance at the treasure, then shrugged again. "Sure, I guess. The place is called a reliquary or whatever, and it really is. I don't think all of this treasure's system loot. This first pile," she indicated where she'd tossed the gem, "looks like it is. But these other two? Mostly money, jewelry, and random junk from different cultures. They've got wear and tear, not that pristine look system stuff has."

"Oh. Well, that is interesting. Maybe it's things from people who came before, or that fell into the ocean. But why two stacks? I don't understand your organizing scheme here."

She raised a brow. "Seriously? Just look! The middle one is the pile with all the cool stuff."

Looking between the two piles of somehow measurably different levels of coolness, I didn't get it. So, instead, I moved on.

"Okay. How much of the stuff have you gone through, anyway?"

She looked at the three empty chests as if how many we could see really mattered with her. After a few seconds of silence, she finally sighed and answered. "Just a few of the common loot boxes, I haven't touched the premium ones."

Amélie reached over and punched her in the arm. "You can not give us that pirate speech and then call treasure chests 'loot boxes!' You have to pick a theme! There are rules about this."

I nodded sagely, "She doesn't even let me get away with that."

Lilith crossed her arms. "Perhaps if you ladies are finished…" she began in a teasing tone that still brought us back on topic.

I straightened. "We're not done, no. I wasn't kidding about how much the boss dropped. It's a lot. We need to sort it out and see what's useful to the group. Then we can go over the notes you guys put together, read more on the dungeon, and make our plan."

The others began sitting, but Kira walked past the group toward a desk piled with books. "With how you ordered those objectives, one might think you are a little excited about the treasure."

I snorted, "Obviously. Speaking of which, did either of you check what that wand actually does?"

Sibylla nodded. "Lots of bonus for water magic, has a recharging spell that can summon fish friends a few times a day. It's very Alice."

"Fish friends?" Alice asked, and Sibyl nodded.

"Yeah. Just don't do that in here. It would ruin the library."

In the moment of silence that followed, I used insight on the wand to be safe.

[Tidemarked Wand of the Bloodied Depths - Artifact. Aquatic Spell Echo once per hour. Water affinity. Offensive water-based magic costs 30% additional mana to cast and hits with 50% additional force. Enchanted: Summon Guardian – Rimecoil Serpent (Master) – Recharge 8 hours. Binding Item.]

"Yeah." I agreed. "Definitely don't use that in here."

At her raised eyebrow, I read out the description, and her mouth slowly moved into a surprised "oh." Suddenly looking less comfortable holding the wand, she looked around for a place to put it, but finally settled on just stuffing it into the pocket of her bathrobe.

"There more surprises like that layin' around? 'Cause next time, maybe give a girl a heads-up before handin' her a death wand."

Sibylla grinned as another chest rose up out of her shadow. "Let's find out!"

And so, we did. The next several hours were spent going through everything that Sibylla had brought back from Darkwater Downs. It turned out that she and Alice hadn't cleared out all three of those chests in the few minutes we were apart, but rather, Sibylla had been slowly working on it during our trip back to Siren's Reach. She'd just set the scene for her own personal amusement, and then they'd done a little work together just before we'd arrived.

The actual process was a little more detailed than how we'd found her tossing items into piles. To her, items that were "cooler" were the ones that were valuable, yes, but also that didn't have any indication that they were from the dungeon's region or even a coastal region at all. Any oceanic iconography or imagery was an immediate disqualifier, and references to any of the three gods of the seas were an immediate rejection right into the salty pile of not-interesting. The only exceptions were if they also had something to do with dragons, because dragons were always cool.

The wand had been somewhat hidden in the not-cool pile, but after she explained her sorting system, we decided we needed a fourth pile for any useful magical items. And only moments later, I had to clarify that it really did need to be useful to qualify. The earrings that were enchanted to make everything taste like fresh fruit were nice, but they didn't have a practical application for our current circumstances.

And that was fine. There were plenty of things that did. By the time we made it through all twelve of the smaller chests, we'd uncovered two rings that granted swiftness while underwater, A string of pearls that protected against cold and pressure, a locket that granted underwater breathing for thirty minutes a day, a monocle that revealed underwater traps, and even a compass that would always lead you back to a specific location once set. It was all very interesting and would certainly come in handy, but it wasn't until we opened the final one that we found something truly useful.

[Crown of the Drowned Queen – Artifact. Grants permanent water breathing and darkvision while worn. Strong resistance to sonic and song-based magical effects. Enchanted: Ward of the Abyssal Choir (Advanced) – Provides advantage against charm, confusion, and fear effects caused by vocal or musical magic. Enchanted: Abyssal Sight (Master) – Enhances vision in complete darkness and underwater, allowing perception through silt, murk, and magical shadow. Binding Item.]

At first, it was confusing. The enchantments were redundant with the effects the artifact already had, but then it occurred to me that this was another clue. The previous owner was seriously concerned about the effects of song-based magic and deeply afraid of the dark. Of course, I told the others my concerns, and rather than the teasing I expected, Kira carefully gathered up a tome and rejoined us from where she and Constance had been trying to find more information in the books.

"That makes sense, actually. We have found surprisingly little on that dungeon, and I can't think of many other places to look. There are some old details on how important it was to the economy in kingdoms that I assume were local to the area, but I have never heard of them. However, I did find one entry, which was more of a curiosity for a scholar who was studying legends in the area. He found several pages of an old journal from a priest and preserved them. The pages were ancient when he found them, and this was hundreds of years ago. They never mention the goddess that he follows, only things that allude to the fact that she was a goddess of the sea, and song was sacred to her. Most of what he has isn't very interesting, but the last page mentions The Drowned Reliquary directly."

I watched as she carefully went through the tome, opening it back to where the journal pages had been added within. "What did it say? I'm not liking the spooky vibes I'm getting from all this. It was something chipper, right?"

She froze, looked at me out of the corner of her eye, delicately cleared her throat, then lied through her teeth. "Yes, my lady. Of course. It's… lyrical. You know. Very poetic. Talks about seafoam and love and… hmm, singing children. It reads like someone deeply moved by their faith. Quite touching, really."

I stared at her. "It's that bad?"

She didn't answer right away, just turned the book slightly as if that might make the words less ominous. "That depends. Do you consider 'the sea remembering' a metaphor, or a threat?"

Amélie leaned closer. "Kira."

She sighed. "Okay, fine. It's the kind of passage that makes you want to pray to gods you don't believe in and then never go near the ocean again."

Sibylla clapped. "Perfect. And you're all going to the ocean. Good luck with that."

I ignored Sibyl and moved next to Kira so I could read the passage. Reluctantly, she turned it to face me. There was the immediate problem that I couldn't read the language, but it was translated into the common language on the page beside the entry.

They would not listen. Not to the waves. Not to the sky. Not to me. We sang the warning into every tide. We carved it into coral and stone. But even the sacred salt grows still when no one remembers its name.

She wept for them. I saw it. A goddess who sang children from the seafoam and named each one. She begged them to flee. But grief becomes hunger. And hunger becomes ruin.

I stood beside her when the waters rose. I knelt before her when she called the storm. I loved her more than I feared her. And still, I helped bind her in silence.

The Drowned Reliquary drank our blood and prayers. It was never meant to be a tomb. Only a pause. A place for her to rest, to forget what the world had done. But time is cruel, and mortals more so. She will remember. And when she returns, the sea will hear her lament once more.

There was no other way. She cannot be killed. The sea has no throat to choke, no heart to still. You can only choose who hears her song last. If you wish to live, run. But if you love this world, then bleed for it. We did. We all did, and still it was not enough.

I looked up at the others, unsure exactly what to make of it or what to say. Alice stepped beside me, reading it as well.

"We sure this translation's right? Some of this don't make a lick of sense."

Kira nodded, "Not every language translates directly. It is possible that this is a literal translation of a language that is more poetic and nuanced, but we can get a general idea of its intent from the words."

I nodded. "Ok. Great. This place is probably haunted. Just…. Great."

Sibylla groaned. "Uggggghhhhhh okay! Come on! We're doing treasure! You guys read the thing. Come back over here so we can keep going! You can talk and loot at the same time!"

As she spoke, one of the much larger chests began rising from her shadow to take the place of the previous one, and she knocked on it for emphasis.

"Yeah, yeah, okay!" I answered. If synchronized eyerolling were an Olympic sport, Alice and I would have taken the gold. Instead, we returned and took our seats. "Well, go on!" I prodded her.

Sibylla grinned and tossed back the lid, then stood on her toes to peek in. After a few seconds of her standing like that, Amélie asked, "Did you get stuck?"

Sibyl finally hopped up, bent over the lip of the chest to reach in, and then hopped back down and took a step back. "What the heck?"

In her hands, she held a dull, blackened lump of iron. It wasn't ornate. It wasn't even symmetrical. Just a squat, heavy crucible, cracked around the rim, pitted from countless uses, and utterly unimpressive next to all the jeweled rings and enchanted relics scattered around the room.

She squinted at it. "Well. That's anticlimactic."

Alice leaned in. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Ugly?" Sibylla flipped it upside down. "No markings. No shimmer. Nothing. It's either the world's most underwhelming chamber pot, or someone dumped their garbage into a raid chest." Then she shrugged and was about to heave it over her shoulder to the not-cool pile.

Amélie took one look and immediately stopped in her tracks. "Wait. Don't throw that. Let me see." She stepped closer, eyes wide, and gently ran a hand along the cracked metal. "This… this is a crafting crucible. A divine one. I have read about these. They are extremely rare. From what I understand, no one knows how to make them anymore, so the few that do exist are very valuable. They are required to make or modify artifacts."

Sibylla stared at it, then at Amélie. "...Seriously? That's not a chamber pot?"

"No," Amélie said, shooting her a look. "I know you have a skill to identify that thing. Stop messing around."

Sibylla glanced down at the lump in her hands, then slowly, reverently, put it down. "Alright. Fine. It's really cool," she admitted guiltily.

My jaw dropped. "You were going to try to sneak off with it!"

"Don't look at me like that! It matches my cauldrons. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who knows how to use it."

"Seriously? I don't even understand what that thing really is. How do you know how to use it?"

"Because I'm a huge nerd, Evelyn. Don't make me say it out loud again."

Alice cleared her throat, "If you say so. But right now, it don't matter. I don't think that thing's gonna help with what we're doin' here, so maybe we set it aside and figure it out after we deal with this dungeon."

Sibylla waved a hand, sinking the now-empty chest back into the shadows to be replaced with the next. "I agree. This one feels lucky."

This time, when she stepped up to open the chest, Amélie went with her, I assume to head off any shenanigans. It wasn't really necessary. The moment the lid was opened, metallic white metal bars tumbled out from where they were stuffed in the chest to absolute capacity.

They both jumped back and started bickering, but I was too busy looking at the metal to catch what they were saying. It wasn't just white, it was, well, luminous. The stuff had been forged into bars the size of a candy bar, but there had to be thousands of them, with how they were packed. Maybe tens of thousands. And all of them felt like they hummed against my magic. I finally used Insight on one.

[Starseel Ingot] – Legendary Material. A refined bar of unknown celestial alloy. This material resonates strongly with ambient magic, especially primal and elemental forces.

"Wow," I managed. It was enough to get my sisters to stop bickering and actually look at the metal.

"So much in one chest.." Kira whispered.

Lilith looked up from the book she'd been flipping through, and her eyes went a little wide. "What is that? I've never heard of it… Based on that description, it's no wonder people were willing to delve a dungeon with monsters like what you described."

Sibylla grinned, "Yeah, no kidding. I bet I can make some great stuff out of this!"

"For the team?" I asked, and after a long moment, she nodded.

"Of course!" Sibylla said brightly, the chest and most of the spilled metal sinking back into her shadows as another began to rise. "Let's keep going while our luck's still holding!"

Almost like she was racing against her own impulse control, she pounced on the next chest, threw the lid open, jumped up to peer inside—and then kept going, toppling headfirst over the edge with a muffled thump.

An indignant voice floated up. "What? Seriously? That's it?" A moment later, her head popped back into view, scowling. "Here, I guess," she added, then promptly chucked something straight at me.

I reached out on instinct, catching it and staggering back under its unexpected weight, then stared in confusion. It was a polearm, but not one I knew how to use. The whole thing was forged from some kind of black metal, veined with a red that reminded me of blood. It had a presence that made it feel almost alive in my hands.

Longer and heavier than my glaive, it had a broad, leaf-shaped spear tip mounted above a wickedly curved axe blade and a brutal rear spike that looked perfect for punching through armor, or maybe for hooking and ripping it apart with that slight curve. The haft ended in a solid metal pommel, capped with yet another spike, because apparently this thing didn't believe in subtlety.

All together, the weapon looked like it had been designed by someone who couldn't decide between a spear, a halberd, or a siege weapon, and just went with Yes.

I blinked at the thing. "Why'd you throw this to me? I'm not even sure what kind of polearm this is, let alone how I'm supposed to use it."

She huffed, climbing over the lip of the chest with all the grace of a cat who meant to fall in. "You're a [Hero]," she said, brushing imaginary dust off her sleeves. "Just hold it photogenically and it'll unlock the skill."

I sighed, but instead used [Insight] to make sure she hadn't just tossed a cursed weapon to me as a prank.

[Zeal of the Vanquished God – Deals double damage against enemies larger than the wielder. Ignores 25% of damage reduction from natural armor or fortifications. While airborne, attacks generate thunderclap shockwaves, dealing bonus damage and staggering smaller enemies. Recharge: 30 seconds. Affinities matched to Devil's Crown. All abilities matching affinity are improved by 15%. Requirements: Strength 35, Agility 60, Intelligence 60, Arcana 100, Devil's Crown, Immortal Bloodline. Binding Item]

I nearly dropped it. "Uh. Is this even safe to use?"

Sibylla shrugged, "It's way safer than my scythe, and I'm still around. Why? It looks like it was made for you."

Amélie stepped forward, and I could tell from the way she looked at it that she was using insight herself. Then, after a moment of thought, she gave a slow shrug. "I understand your apprehension, but I do not see how it could be dangerous to you. We have been told a few times that dungeons provide rewards that are needed or will at least be useful to those who complete them. Sibylla is right, despite the, well, nefarious appearance. It does seem practically made for you."

I looked between them, not understanding how they were missing the bigger problem. "Uh. Yeah. But it wasn't made for me. It was absolutely made for someone else. Someone else who was immortal and had a Devil's Crown! That sounds a lot like a Greater Devil to me!"

Sibylla gave me a pitying smile. "Oh, my sweet sister. Even if it wasn't in the name, whoever owned that is dead. No way it ends up unbound in a dungeon chest otherwise. They're not coming back for it."

I wasn't convinced, and it must have been plain on my face because Amélie added, "Just think of it like this. If that thing belonged to a greater devil, and you killed them yourself, you'd have no problem picking up the weapon and using it. It would just be loot. This is the same."

Sibylla nodded, "And just think. That double damage for enemies larger than you will be very handy. We're kind of short."

I shot a glare at her, but she wasn't wrong. Unsure how I felt about the situation, I sighed and took a firmer, martial grip on the weapon to get a feel for it. It felt natural in my hands, like it really was made for them despite its size. And in that moment, as my grip tightened, something snapped. An electric tingling that traveled from my horns, down through every nerve, and into my hands as the weapon resonated with my crown. I didn't need to check. Even without my willing it, the weapon had bound itself to me. Once again, the world had taken the decision out of my hands.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment, I nodded. "Alright. I'll have to practice with this thing outside and see if I can unlock the skill. It's too big for this space."

Lilith stepped closer, looking the weapon over. "You might do better asking one of the Dragoons if they can teach you. This is at least two feet longer than your glaive. It will be a very different style. Best to make sure you understand the basics." I nodded, awkwardly looking for a place to put the weapon down. "Yeah. I guess. For now, I think we can start planning our trip. I have to admit, I'm kind of disappointed by the lack of items that would help everyone survive underwater."

"I imagine that has to do with the dungeon not being entirely submerged before," Kira replied, carrying another book over to where everyone was gathered.

I settled on laying the polearm along the wall and rushed to sit down and join her. "Yes, but some of it must have been inside. I think that Amélie, Sibylla, and I should be okay if we can master that mermaid form, or at least, some aquatic creature." Thinking, I turned to Alice, "And I think you can breathe underwater already?"

She nodded, "Yeah… Somethin' like that."

"Alright. And we have the crown, but that's only one person covered. So we need a plan for how to get the rest of us down there."

Sibylla snorted. "First off, I still haven't agreed to go. Secondly, if we're going with our stealth plan, I say we plunk that crown on Lilith's head and call it good. No offense to the rest of you, but Constance is about as subtle as a fireball at a teaparty, and I don't think anyone else has the levels. If Alice weren't basically hacks in the water, I'd be voting to leave her here too."

Everyone stared at her.

"...What?" she asked. "Tell me I'm wrong."

I sighed. "Not untrue. And you're right about the approach. We're not going to find forty-something adventurers to join us in any reasonable amount of time. Even if we could, we'd need even more underwater gear. I might be able to learn the runes off the crown, but who knows how long that would take."

Sibylla clapped her hands. "Welp. That's settled. You guys have fun."

I gave her a flat look. "You promised you'd go on all the adventures with me."

She shrugged. "I don't think this counts. This is more of an investigation. Or a fishing expedition."

I tilted my head. "Really? Because I thought it sounded like a sunken dungeon built to house every relic the sea's ever swallowed. A place so rich it held up entire kingdoms before it vanished beneath the waves. It's full of poetic riddles, cursed artifacts, maybe even more things like that crucible, which, let's be honest, is basically a long-lost sister to your creepy cauldrons. And at the center of it all? The shadowy source behind the nightmares that keeps sending armies to attack innocent townfolk in the dead of night. Just waiting to be defeated by a group of legendary heroes."

Sibylla didn't reply right away, but her ears twitched.

"So," I continued, trying not to grin, "are you sure this isn't an adventure?"

She stared at me. Then slowly, "…Alright. Fine. But only because shadowy sources of nightmares are kind of my thing."

Amélie let out a relieved breath. "Thank the stars. I was this close to offering you a bribe."

Sibylla smirked. "You still can. I accept payment in cursed rings, questionable grimoires, and snacks."

Alice raised a hand, looking mildly offended. "Now that y'all got that cleared up, let's be clear that I ain't no hack in the water. I'm grace incarnate, thank you kindly."

Sibylla made a vague splashing motion, "You're a magical murder dolphin and you know it."

Lilith grinned from where she now lounged nearby. "She's got you there."

Kira cleared her throat gently, drawing our attention back to the task at hand. "If we're done ranking each other's aquatic threat levels, I did find something else." She carefully opened the heavy tome she'd brought over, flipping through delicately marked pages. "This one has an old map referencing trade routes that converged around what's believed to be the original location of The Drowned Reliquary before it vanished." She spread a worn parchment on the table next to the book. "Here's the modern map. I marked the distance. Traveling by ship without complications would take at least two days. But with Evelyn's wind control…"

I leaned in, squinting at the faded ink and fresh notations. "Half a day, maybe. I'm not the only one on Dawn's Light with Wind magic. We could push it to go even faster, but I'd rather stay safe. A couple hours isn't going to make a difference."

We stayed up for a bit longer, discussing potential issues and contingencies. We were limited by the fact that people didn't really delve into underwater dungeons anymore, and there wasn't really much in the way of adventuring gear we were going to find nearby to do so. We had some makeshift ideas, like the pair of swim fins Sibylla immediately got to work on for Lilith, but in the end, we knew there was only so much we could plan for without knowing what we were walking into.

In the morning, we'd gather our supplies, finish our preparations, and then we'd be off to the dungeon.