She had been waiting for a long time. Days, weeks even. The world was truly a wondrous place, full of secrets and surprises hidden away over time. Her lead this time came from a string of rumors from local fishermen. The tale of sinking islands wasn't a new one, but rarely did she hear of such a specific location being mentioned. What piqued her curiosity was how close they were to Abed. Usually these stories told of encounters out in the deep blue Nyella Ocean, were the only constants were the sky and sea divided by the horizon. She paid a fisherman to lend her his boat for a day or two. The arcanist made sure he had more than enough silver to cover his loss in business while the boat was in her possession. When Myouga heard someone say they had seen the mysterious sinking islands, she pulled the man aside and grilled him over every excruciating detail surrounding the experience. In the end, she figured out the main points: this had happened before dusk, out in the north west side off the shore of the Sacred City, during the time both moons were full.

While she waited for the phases to be in alignment, she spent the days visiting other locations of interest. Contrary to what one might assume, her travel plans were rarely made up on the spot. She usually had at least five different plans in mind should circumstances prevent her from reaching a destination. After her little expedition in the savanna had concluded, she was just in time to make it here for the moment of truth. Was there a grain of truth in the rumor, or was it all fantasy? Sitting in the dinghy, Myouga waited for hours. Time passed, and she stared out into the open blue. Nothing. Not even a passing ship. The only thing to break the monotony were the cries of seabirds flying overhead. She was about to fall asleep when the little boat began to bob up and down. Fearing that a breaching whale was coming up from below, she scrambled to her feet to see if anything was under her. Then, it happened.

Waves began to rise and fall while the deep rumbling of the earth moving shook the waters. Grasping the oars tightly she watched in awe as coral-covered rocks began to break the surface, then rise rapidly. The rocks were weathered but different somehow, like…arches? Then it wasn't just arches–pillars both broken and pristine were emerging from behind, around. The very boat she was in was rising too, and the mage sat agape as it was now resting atop a wide stone platform. The stone was like black granite, hewn and cut by masons of old. A radial design of geometry formed the center, and before her lay an ancient door wrought of stone and metal. This platform must had been deep below the waves, as the coral growth was thickest above the sealed entrance. The metal was luminescent, enchanted but not lacriamium. When the shaking ceased, she cautiously stepped out of the boat onto solid stone, and looked around. A big smile spread across her face as she spun around. She had hit the jackpot! This was it–the discovery of the century!

It was another one of those days where the skies and seas were calm enough for a dive below the surface. It had been a while since he had went diving off the shores of Abed, and seeing he had no other pressing matters at hand to detain him–it was the perfect opportunity to have some time to himself. The waters surrounding the sacred island were far more interesting to him than the city itself. As colorful as it was, he hated the noise and general chaos that filled the streets and the daily processions that interrupted routine. Sure it was entertaining for the first few hours, but after a while he was sick of staring at garishly colored banners and stepping on painted shreds of confetti. The seafloor surrounding Abed was well-protected and flourishing thanks to the area's climate and the temperature of the currents. The mixing of warm and cold created ideal conditions for kelp forests to grow and for corals to build. The only nearby settlement was Nisshoki, but even then that was far away.

Darting through the underwater arches and reefs, he swam alongside schools of vibrantly colored fish. The butterfly fish's saffron yellow, the big-lipped parrotfish nibbling away at the calciferous coral structures, and the striped orange with white of the anemone-fish formed a quieter, much calmer version of the busy streets of the city above. Everyone here was going about their business in an orderly manner, as fish always did. The corals were growing in reds and purples, and were healthy. He even spotted some sea urchins in their deep aubergine shuffling along the sandy floor. Searching for patches of clams, he slowed his pace combing the area. It was then that the fish suddenly darted away, and a tremor began to shake the waters. Was it an earthquake? He panicked and swam upwards to open water. If something was erupting from a fissure, the last thing he wanted was to be caught in a geyser of scalding steam put under high pressure.

As he broke the surface he looked in shock as the reefs and underwater arches began rising from the depths after him. Frantically moving around as the structures were rising higher and higher, the deafening shaking and rumbling finally came to a stop leaving him in a small circle of broken stone pillars attached to what might have once been a watchtower. There was only a puddle of water where his feet were standing, and hesitantly looking around he found that there were several small islands that had arisen from the sea–surrounding a central platform of dark stone with a good portion of the reef attached to the top.

"Good god…What on earth just happened?" Slipping back into the water he swam around the newly-formed islands of broken stone arches and pillars towards the central platform. Was this thing buried beneath the sand all this time? He could see the pink and red corals overgrown atop the roof of…something. Not only that, but there was a boat sitting in the middle. Whoever was in it was lucky they were sitting right above the platform instead of the pillars. He had seen sunken ruins before, but they weren't supposed to move. Better yet, they were never this pristine.

"Woooaah! This is so cool!" When the platform proved to be solid, Myouga ran around and looked at the patterns and designs in the dark stonework. It was uniform in color, very dark, and dense. It definitely wasn't granite, as it'd be ruined from soaking in salt water for months. Basalt, maybe? It was smooth but not grainy, and had an even texture. Moving on to the coral-overgrown doorway, she stared up at it. The stones were the same material as the platform, and the door had some sort of pattern of geometric circles, lines, and shapes. There weren't any symbols or runes, which was odd. But the door's design did remind her of ley lines and magical circles. The metal was shiny, and glowing when she put her hand on it. "It's like brand new! Definitely magical, or magic-infused. There's no way the saltwater wouldn't have given it a nice greenish patina from sitting in brine day in and day out. …Ooh!"

By coincidence she had put her hand in the center of the circle which the door's design was built around and the metal began to shimmer. In moments, the metal door turned translucent, then disappeared into thin air. It revealed a set of dark stone steps leading down a passage lit with luminescent crystal orbs mounted in wall brackets. Grinning to herself, Myouga peeked her head inside and then did a little happy dance. "Aha! I'm a genius! It's open! And I didn't even do anything! Alright, let's dive in! I bet there's tons of secrets or treasure–or both!" Heading down, she tapped one of the illuminating orbs listening to the sound. "Nope, not glass. I wonder what it's made of? I can't pull one off the wall, it's bolted too well. Hrm…oh well. I'll just have to nab something else!"

The stairs descended into the first floor. The walls here were a lighter grey than the dark stone from above, and a quick check revealed they were very similar to marble. Maybe it was howlite and it just looked grey in the current lighting. She didn't have a chisel, and didn't really want to spend hours chipping away at the walls so she kept moving. The room she was in was wide, with recesses holding empty ornate stone basins built into the walls. The basins had lion-shaped carvings above them like those stone fountains that spewed water in rich people's homes.

Since it was the first room, she figured it was probably safe. What was the point of making a dungeon if nobody got past the first room? There was a doorway at the opposite end, and she skittered over to look. A heavy wooden door reinforced with steel bands barred her way. There was no handle, or knob to open it and no hinges to pry off either. Tapping her chin she looked around. "So a door mechanism, huh? If I was a door-opener where would I be?"

There was nothing obvious on the walls, and the floor didn't seem uneven. The door itself didn't have a chain and pulley either, so it had be a button hidden somewhere in this room. Was it the light fixtures? No… Nothing in the flagstones or frame of the door either. That left the wall-basins, so she stood on her toes to see if there was anything. Feeling around the underside, she came up empty-handed and started poking the carved lions. Jabbing the nose with her wand, she was planning to do the same into their mouths when she heard a click. Out of the mouth came crystal clear water pouring in a small stream directly into the basin. It stopped after a few seconds, leaving a pool of water. After that nothing happened. "…Oh, so that worked! The door's not open though, so let's see if the other ones do the same thing!"

This entire structure was something altogether new to Gerard. Never in his years swimming in the Nyella had he found these ruins, which made it all the stranger as he had swam through almost every mile of shoreline along the west side of Parvpora. Perhaps he had missed them when they emerged. The darkening sky had the light of both moons shining down on the dark stone platform. Tentatively pulling himself up onto solid ground, he began to survey the strange door which the person in white had opened. The dinghy sat beached and forlorn on the basalt stones, high and dry. He had been too far away to see what the figure from the boat had done to open the path leading downwards, but it seemed open for now.

He didn't trust the place, it was too strange and went against reason. However he could find some interesting trinkets to bring back or sell, so he told himself he'd only enter to take a quick look. As he went down, he threw glances over his shoulder to see if the open door would slam itself closed. He was in the first chamber, where it was eerily empty save for the wall decorations. Two fountains, damp in the bottom of the basins meant someone had come through here and they were used recently. Where was the small figure in white he had seen earlier? Had they gone deeper into this underground complex? The door leading further in was open, arched stone with carvings of humanoid figures staring down at those who passed through below. 

Nervous anxiety was coalescing in a knot. There was nothing else to see here, so onto the next room. This one had more to see. Columns of carved stone and alcoves bearing pedestals and stone benches made it resemble some sort of gathering place. There was a statue of a tall, hooded figure with its features concealed entirely by its robes, and strange inscriptions on the plaque mounted upon the base pedestal. They were in good condition, not worn at all. The air was less humid than above, so that would have helped in maintaining its appearance. There were some urns sitting in the corners, and he went to inspect them first. Inside there was only dust, not even cobwebs. I doubted spiders would have anything to eat if this place was submerged most of the time. There were no obvious traps so far, and that worried him. He'd rather have obvious ones than those hidden.

There was only one door that led to a new direction, but it was locked from the other side. Come to think of it, there was no keyhole. Nor a chain to pull it open, as he scowled in dissatisfaction. There was probably a hidden mechanism somewhere to open it. He hated those. Searching every nook and cranny he laid against the wall in exasperation only to hear a click. The sound of stone grinding against stone was heard as the door retracted into the floor, opening the way.

"…You've got to be joking. It was on the wall?! And an entire panel no less! Well fine, at least it's holding open for now. I'm starting to doubt if this idea of exploring is worth its while."

"One room, two rooms, three rooms, four rooms~" Sang the little mage as she skipped through corridors and doors she had unlocked. So far nothing fun except puzzles, and once she got the hang of it the place didn't seem so bad. There wasn't much to take, maybe some trifles like a coin forgotten in the bottom of an urn or things likely left for nosy adventurers to use. This was way easier than that frozen hell of the land down under back in Ignius. There was even that old puzzle requiring the exact amount of water using three urns of specific volumes. "If it's all puzzles, it'd better get more interesting. I'm going through these like a breeze!" She chattered, hopping over the pressure-triggered arrow-trap that was clearly designed to attack the ankles. Myouga had ran down this corridor enough to know how many skips it took until she reached it.

"Hmmmm–where's the door to the next level? They better not make it hidden, that'd be a real pain to find. Did I miss anything down there? No, I think that's where I got the doubloons from the jar. Where's the real treasure–like amulets, statuettes, and cursed shiny things? The place's been picked clean already!" Putting her hands on her hips, she looked around. Deciding to go back into one of the rooms she had been in, she wasn't aware that she was no longer alone in the ruined labyrinth. Entering a room she had glossed over, she marched up to one of the statues of completely concealed figures. Jabbing her fingers into any nook and crevice she could find, she vainly searched for a hidden button that would do…something.

When that did nothing, she finally looked down at the plaque. Squinting her eyes she tried to make out the symbols. "Runic glyphs…kinda basic though. They're not Abedi or anything, just chicken scratch. But I think I saw some other signs around, maybe I could figure out if these are pictographs or an alphabet." Taking out a scroll she placed it over the carved symbols and rubbed over them with some charcoal. "There! Souvenir Number One–get! I should probably get every one I find, and bring 'em back for analysis at work." Skipping out the room, she ran face-first into someone. "MMPH!!" Backing up, she looked up to see a tall person looking down at her with a scowl on his face. "Watch where you're going you dolt! Are you blind?!" 

"Nope! I'm not!" She chirped, grinning up at the scowling man with dark hair. "You looking for some sweet relics to snag too? How 'bout we team up? We'll get through these rooms faster! I've already opened up four of 'em!" Just what she needed–an exploring buddy! The gods must be psychic; she was just thinking about how nice it'd be if she had someone come along. This man looked smart, if not irritable but she'd make do with what she had. 

Out of nowhere, what looked like a small child ran headfirst into him in the halls. His natural reaction was to ready a defensive spell, but that was proven to be unnecessary when he saw who it was. Her completely flippant and carefree demeanor was like having a cold, wet towel thrown unto one's face in the wee hours of the morning. Her cheeky answer to his question told him volumes of what kind of person she was. Gerard was prepared to refuse whatever she would ask, until he heard her say she was the was the one who unlocked the first four rooms. Raising an eyebrow, he questioned her. "So you say you've solved the puzzles in four rooms already?" The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! I can tell you which ones are in each room in order!" He waved his hand. "There's no need for that. Anyway, it seems you're the first person I've seen in my entire time wandering around here. Which reminds me, what is someone like yourself doing in this place?"

"I'm exploring! I've never seen this place before, so I wanted take a look before anybody else comes in and starts looting. It looks like these structures only show up under certain conditions, so I've gotta make the most out of my time. I was thinking of bringing back some souvenirs for the Mage's Academy, but all the good stuff's down below. I guess it'd be too easy to leave shinies on the first level. That's why I'm looking for the stairs!" Gerard crossed his arms as he listened, noting that this particular person was not only carefree, but a chatterbox. He was sure she could've shortened her answer to two sentences or less. Regardless, it would appear this girl was doing so in the name of Iria's Mage Academy. Slightly less than the average tomb robber, as she had a deeper understanding of historical value.

The girl nudged him with her elbow looking up expectantly. "Sooo~ Are gonna team up?" Her face told him that even if he refused, she'd likely badger him until he caved. "…Alright, fine. But don't scamper off without telling me first, and don't just go off on your own." He was more worried about her setting off traps than being separated. This was an unexpected turn of events, but there was one main point that made this situation more ideal than his past experiences. At least the person he was saddled with wasn't an idiot.

"You got it! 'Use the buddy system'!" She said cheerfully, doing a salute. "Now, time's a-wasting! We don't know how long the door out there's gonna stay open so let's go full-throttle 'til we can't go forward anymore!" The little arcanist grabbed the man's arm, and began pulling. Now she knew she had somebody to keep an eye out for her back, she was getting more eager to find secrets. Not letting him get a word in edgewise, she began explaining her plan. "Ok so I've checked the first floor but I know there's gotta be a way down somehow. It shouldn't be hidden, I mean that's if they want people going downstairs. So I'm thinking it's either in one of the other rooms I haven't unlocked or there's a button I missed back there. Whaddya think?"

Looking back at the disgruntled man she was towing along, she grinned. He didn't answer, only shrugged. Myouga assumed he was in agreement and continued. "Are we good? Good! Let's hurry!" There were two more rooms she hadn't entered yet, but they had a lock on each. An obvious keyhole was present, but where were the keys? They had to find them, and it wasn't like people who came in before would be so mean as to take the only items allowing you to progress, right? So far there were four rooms open, plus these two meant six in total. They could search in each room together, but why not just split the search area so they could cover more ground? "Ok–new plan! You look in the first two rooms for a key, or anything that can fit in this here keyhole and I'll check in the other two here! You're already familiar with those, so it'll be easy." The dark-haired man sighed. "Sounds reasonable enough. We'll get this done faster that way. I'll wait for you here after I've searched thoroughly, and the same goes for you." "You got it!" She chirped, and they split up.

Researching the rooms with a fine-toothed comb, she tried everything: pushing statues, pulling statues, stepping on tiles, looking in every crack and crevice. Finally she checked the stones around the door's frame and felt one was somewhat loose. Pushing it in, she heard the gravelly sound of stone receding from behind her. Inspecting for any new changes, she found one of the statues' base had a secret compartment built in and inside was a shiny brass key with a multi-legged creature on the key's head. "Aha! Success! What else's in here?" Sticking her arm into the compartment as far as it could go, she felt something. Pulling it out she grinned in expectation only to find…an arm?

"…Huh?" She stared at it in confusion. Well, it was an arm alright. But it looked rather…old to put it nicely. It was literally a severed arm, with the exposed head of the humerus clean and sticking out. The flesh wasn't really rotting and didn't smell, which made it even weirder. It was relatively clean regardless, and there were no bodily fluids leaking out so she decided to take it. Clearing the rest of the contents of the compartment out, she found a few more old coins and some pearls. Having found her half of the objective, she returned to the designated waiting area for her companion to return with his. 

Returning to the first two rooms he had passed through to reach where he had run into the white-garbed girl, Gerard crossed his arms as he looked the place over. The first room was rather stark compared to the later chambers. There didn't appear to be many hiding places for a key here. Nevertheless, he searched the place from top to bottom. He had found a button cleverly disguised as a stone on the arched doorway earlier, so of course it wouldn't be so glaringly obvious. The fountains mounted on the wall gave nothing. No hidden mechanisms, or pressure-sensitive panels. None of the things he had found from previous experiences turned up anything. Frustrated, he moved to the second chamber.

This one held more promise, and by that it meant it hadn't had the chance to disappoint him yet. Examining the urns he knew were empty, he tried moving them aside. They were incredibly heavy, but with a great effort it budged a few inches. Beneath it, there was a strange circular impression cut into the stonework. No wonder it was so hard to move–the urn itself had the bottom nested into an indent. And as he suspected, there was a small pressure-sensitive mechanism there. With the other urns moved aside, all of the mechanisms were no longer held down. The sound of stone grinding against stone came from below and one of the flagstones retracted downward before sliding away. A hidden compartment was embedded into the floor, and would have never been discovered otherwise. Inside was a string of pure white pearls and polished crystal coiled around an old metal key.

Taking the compartment's contents, Gerard turned the key in his palm. There were no teeth at the end, only a straight protrusion meant for direct insertion. And the head of the key bore a strange mark that resembled an octopus or a squid. "It looks like this is it. Now, let's hope those doors don't have any other 'surprises' barring us entry." He murmured. Moving the urns back into place, the compartment concealed itself again. Walking through to the designated meeting area he had arranged with the carefree explorer, he saw her already present and fooling around. Hearing him come in, she turned to give him a beaming smile. "Did you find it?" She asked without hesitation. In response, he held up what he had found. "Oh good! Now pick a door and we'll get these open!" 

Taking the key she had found, the girl jammed it into the lock and turned. Nothing happened, and she then looked at him. "Hm…ok this is your door then. I'll take the other one!" Retrieving the key from the door, she went to try the other and there was a satisfying click as the door retracted up. While she did so he tried his door and it opened as well. From a first glance, there were nine pressure plates on the center of the floor of his opened chamber. An iron grate was on the other side, which likely would only open when certain pressure plates were weighted down. He didn't know what the consequences were if you chose the wrong combination, so he went to see what was behind the other newly-opened door. This one had several pillars those strange crystalline sphere lighting. The room was fully lit at the moment, and there was no other way out than the way in. 

It would appear that his room was the one that would lead them down to the next level, however the girl was already inside the lit room pushing and prodding things to see what would happen. "What in the blazes do you think you're doing?!" He shouted, half afraid that something horrible would spring out of nowhere. "I'm checking the place out! There's gotta be some treasure stashed away somewhere!" She called back, pulling on one of the lighting fixtures. 

The first thing she did when the doors were opened was to try to find any hidden secrets like where she had found the key. You never knew what was in there, and to her it was a scavenger hunt. The room was strange since it didn't have any obvious puzzles or traps to avoid, which only made her want to find out even more. On the back wall, there was a plaque depicting people around a glowing sphere–probably symbolic for the sun. Most cultures made the sun a shiny circle, so it was a good guess. But what did that have to do with this room and the pillars? The pillars didn't move, and they just had lights.

Going back to the light fixtures, she pushed and pulled. The man yelled at her to stop, but nothing was breaking so she didn't see why it wasn't ok. Letting go, she looked at it more closely. Poking carefully, she found a concealed button on the bottom. Pressing it, the light fixture turned off. She waited for a few minutes. Since nothing happened, it was probably safe. Checking the other lights on the pillars she found buttons on them too. "A combination code? This'll be fun! That means there's a hint somewhere!" Doing a quick count, there were sixteen buttons in all, one for each light on the four sides of four pillars. That meant there were an incredibly large amount of possible combinations, so brute forcing it was impossible. She had to use hints to solve it.

Would the builders of this dungeon be so cruel as to scatter the clues to the puzzle around the first floor? That would be a bit much, since how often did people think of that? There was more than fifty-percent of a chance that the clues were in this room, which made more sense. Also it would take less work for engineering the whole thing. Returning to the plaque she studied the picture more closely. There were four figures around the sun, and they had their hands up as if worshiping it. Did that mean four lights out of sixteen, or did that mean the direction the lights that were one had to be facing? "Grr…think Myouga, think! Don't confuse yourself before you've even started!" Her parents always told her to not only think outside the box, but not to over-analyze something simple. 

So if she was starting from something simple, then she'd assume the four people were four pillars. Two people were facing so the sun was on their right, and two were facing with the sun at their left. If the sun was in the middle, then maybe the lights facing inward of the four pillars was the answer. There was only one way to find out. She turned the lights on and off until only the ones facing the imaginary square formed by the innermost faces of the four pillars were lit. She then heard the sound of something moving, and clapped her hands in joy. "Yessss! Success! Now, onto the spoils!" 

From what he had observed about this peculiar little imp, it appeared there was a method to her madness. Somehow by intention or accident, her actions managed to allow them to progress deeper into the structure. He still didn't like the unpredictability of her choices, however. Following the sound of her successful deductions, a panel opened in the wall. As he walked over to investigate, he was cut off by the impatient mage who against all notions of safety–stuck her hands into the alcove. Pulling them back out with her hands still attached to her wrists, she held up fistfuls of pearl jewelry. They were in many colors, but the same kinds and colors were strung together. "Hey look at this!" She cried, before setting the priceless ornaments onto the ground. Continuing to dig through the compartment's contents, the piles on the floor were increasing as she cleared the inside out.

She didn't seem to care much about the gems, but at least she was being a bit more careful with how she handled them. Kneeling to the ground, Gerard began to sort through the mound of trinkets Myouga had retrieved. Brooches, necklaces, strands of near-perfect pearls whiter than snow, drop-shaped pearl earrings, bracelets, and rings. "Who would bother to store all these valuables in such a convoluted manner?" He grumbled. Though it if weren't for such convoluted methods, they likely would've been taken already. Glancing at the little arcanist, he motioned to the jewels. "So what do you want to take?" Looking behind, the girl thought about it for a few seconds before waving her hand. "Naaah, I don't need 'em. I don't wear stuff like that anyways. Hmm, well maybe leave one or two for me. I'm gonna donate them to the college." The mage had spoken, so that meant he could take what he wanted. "Fine by me. In that case, I'll help myself."

Selecting a few pieces with unique design and unknown symbols, he separated them from the rest of the bunch and set them to the side for her. The remaining jewelry was placed into his bag for safekeeping. Precious metals and stones aside, there were some old rolled parchments and carved plates made from a dark and dense stone. He had no use for either, and the girl gleefully stuffed them into the face of a strange hand mirror. Or rather, stuffed them through it. "…What is that?" Curious, he asked pointing at the mirror in her hand. "Hm? Oh this thing? It's a magic mirror, see!" Came her reply. Holding back the urge to respond with a scathing remark, he sighed and pressed his hand to his forehead. "Yes I know that, but how are you putting those items through it? When you put something into it, where does it go?"

"Right now, it'll end up in my house–in the pantry. Sometimes when I'm traveling I get hungry, and if there aren't any inns nearby I can just grab a quick snack through here! Oh, but there's another mirror like this one in there too." She explained, quickly adding what she had forgotten to mention earlier. "Interesting…so it has the same function as a two-way portal." Gerard mused. "Yup! And the best part? You don't need to use any magic to make it work! It's super convenient!" Myouga chimed in. "I can see why. But what happens when the item you want to stow away is larger than the mirror's surface?" Came his next question. Immediately she answered: "Oh that's easy! Then I just make the mirror bigger!"  As if to make her point, she took the mirror in her hands and proceeded to stretch it out like a baker rolling out a lump of dough. It grew to the size suitable for being used on a wash stand, then she shrunk it back into its pocket-sized form again. "Ta-daaa!!"