Resh’s ocean was something Gwyn didn’t expect to be so vibrant. He wasn’t sure why he thought that way. It was reasonable to think a whole biome would be full of depth like it was back home, but the earthling was seeing that he was thinking about the alien world in such a limited way, as if it were only an illusion to him.

  Yet, no illusion could grasp the underwater splendor of millions of fish, big and small, and so alien yet so familiar, swimming around, and darting off when the brightly colored sub approached. He might have pressed his face to the glass if a blue princess weren’t doing that in front of him, but the Nonpareil was content to view from just behind her.

  Light sparkled from the surface, and some fish glittered like gold before bursting away to make way for a larger grey creature. To Gwyn, it seemed like a dolphin, so he decided it was. The dolphin danced in the water as it approached and then eyed the blue princess through the glass. The creature seemed to give them a funny look, but perhaps that was Gwyn’s imagination, before bumping its nose to the glass. Satisfied with confirmation of a barrier, or possibly giving up, the dolphin zoomed away while snatching a smaller red fish.

  “Oh, it grabbed it!” Fiona marvelled.

  Haliegh leaned in next to Gwyn to take in the sight.

  “There’s always a bigger fish,” the Nonpareil said. He got no response; he should have known better.

  The green-haired girl squinted her eyes and stepped closer to the glass, blocking Gwyn’s view. He took that as a sign that he should stop staring at the ocean and focus on where they were heading.

  The inside of the sub was surprisingly spacious, resembling something close to a modern home rather than an underwater vessel. The floor was carpeted, the walls while curved with the shape of the submarine, painted a cool beige, and narrow stairs took the place of ladders even where space could be better utilized. It was down one of the staircases—past some hung photos of what must have been the characters from whichever book the sub hailed—that Gwyn entered whatever the driver’s seat of an odd submarine ought to be called.

  The space somewhat looked like he expected, with a blipping radar, lots of knobs and levers, and large helm in which the elf girl clapsed onto both sides with white knuckles, but some of the design sense was obviously made to be more cozy, as if high school girls cutened the place without mind of what a military vehicle should look like. Gwyn said nothing about the décor but leaned forward to look past Mina’s shoulder. She jumped, apparently having not noticed him enter.

  “I am seeing some blimps on the radar,” the elf girl said, “We should catch up with those treasure hunters soon!”

  Gwyn was curious about how she was able to track the others with such precision, but let the thought slide.

  “And what are we supposed to do when we find them?”

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  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “Do you expect we’ll just beat them up and take their lunch money—but underwater?”

  “I don’t see why not?” Mina looked at him with such innocent eyes; he was sure she didn’t comprehend what an underwater fight would entail for people who breathed air. The Nonpareil sighed.

  “Well, whatever, what are we supposed to do about this Needaimus stash or whatever? If we catch up, how will we find it?”

  “Oh, I am picking that up on the radar too, we will have no problems!”

  “This radar is awfully convenient.”

  From above the steps, beyond the door, a shout echoed down.

  “Something is about–”

  The whole sub rolled to the side with a sudden boom, and Mina spun the wheel rapidly to straighten it. “–to hit us!”

  “Shit,” Gwyn shouted.

  He ran to the steps, but had to grab the railing as another blow hit the sub on the opposite side.

  Haliegh looked down with wide, red eyes as Fiona shouted in the distance.

  “It’s big! And has tentacles!”

  The submarine groaned and suddenly tilted the nose upward, leading Gwyn to fall up the now upside-down stairs. Haliegh yelped, grabbing onto something. The Nonpareil liquefied the wall and shoved his hand into it. He turned it solid again before the wall ran out, stopping with a painful jerk to his arm, and hanging next to the green-haired girl who latched onto the railing.

  Fiona shouted from the back.

  “Do we have any kind of weapons?”

  The submarine tilted forward, back to a level position, or near enough that everyone was able to stand. Gwyn rushed to the window, where a giant suction-cupped tendril crossed over. Giant squids, that was about right. He shook his head and looked for anything that seemed like a button. Pressing on a couple of decorative rivets first, Gwyn eventually pushed something in. A deep yelp echoed from the beast, and it lost its grip. Red blood colored the water as they sped out of the way. Gwyn felt a knot in his heart. They had to get away, but he still felt bad about hurting something.

  The beast quickly made it clear that it didn’t intend to forgive them. The sound of metal shearing off from the back of the sub made the Earthling jump. He had never considered what it would be like to drown, but with the reality becoming ever more present, Gwyn realized he was afraid of experiencing that agony.

  “Keep pushing stuff,” Gwyn shouted to the girls. He ran down the steps, where a heavily sweating Mina was pushing a lever forward.

  “We need to go faster!”

  “This is max speed!”

  Ahead of the submarine, the open ocean floor was passing by, until it broke into a deep-looking chasm. Mina banged her fist against a button, and the submarine started to descend. A massive, tenticled beast passed overhead. It looked something like an arrowhead, with far too many tendrils for the earthling to count in the situation. The elf suddenly shouted, “Lever to my right!”

  Gwyn pulled it without second thought. Something like torpedoes zipped out and exploded into the face of the beast. It roared loud enough to shake the whole sub. Mina spun the wheel, and they aimed the side at the beast while continuing to drop into deeper waters. The crew that they fought on the beach was visible just ahead of them, propelled by their suits toward a metallic wall. One of the trio turned back to look for just a moment.

  The whole sub jerked to the side as the beast clamped onto them again.

  This time, Gwyn learned what the sound metal made when something was strong enough to tear it like paper. Mina twisted a knob and a burst vibrated across the submarine. She pushed a lever forward, and they continued forward.

  “It’s okay, I think that did it,” the elf girl said in a shaky voice. Gwyn looked at her face to try to read what sort of emotion Mina was feeling. Her eyes grew wide in a flash. He tried to see what was forward, but only picked up on a bright color before the elf jumped in front and wrapped her arms around him. Water burst forward around them, and Gwyn lost consciousness.