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The Dive for Destiny
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The crow’s nest of any ship was a magical place, but especially on a vessel as large as the Mythmaker. It provided an aerial view of the surrounding sea, secluded far enough away from the decks below to provide that certain sense of quiet that Agnos relished. Yes, he had his great cabin, where he could spend all of his day without a single disturbance, but such an environment had grown melancholic. After the year he had spent as a member of the Whale Lord crew, and all of those nights he had spent outside scrubbing the decks, he now found himself craving the outdoors. Perhaps for a young man who had spent the entirety of his childhood experiencing the world from studies and libraries, this was a welcoming change. This was his story.
Tashami leaned against the nest’s wall opposite of Agnos, their backs to each other. As Agnos observed the decks below under the light of the moons and stars, Tashami said, “It looks no different than the rest of the sea.”
Agnos turned, taking the spot next to his friend. “We’re still a few days out, but eventually a small island will rise above the horizon. You’ll also see Phesaw’s High Sever towering beyond it.”
“You’ve never mentioned an island,” Tashami said.
“I never knew it to be relevant to this mission of mine,” Agnos said. “Not until a few days ago, when I realized where it was we were headed. When Zorra and I had our nightly meeting, she informed me of where the three constellations would interconnect. With the event nearing, her interpretations of the stars had become more accurate, and she had been certain that the island was it. In three nights, the Archain Monk, Celestial Puma, and Herb of Gold will intertwine in the sky.”
Tashami glanced at Agnos. “Is it possible that the constellation thing is only a coincidence made to look like an important factor for embellishment purposes of the story?”
Agnos nodded. “I know what you’re getting at. With these ancient legends, you must interpret the stories with a grain of salt. While the overarching arc might be true, small details have likely been altered. Perhaps the Thunder Queen and Mind King hadn’t decided the location of their defeat based off solely the stars, but the environment, too.”
Silence followed. Tashami broke it. “Why that island? I’ve always seen it on global maps, but from what I’ve gathered throughout my life, it’s inhabitable—or, at least, nobody tries to inhabit it ... doesn’t even have a name.”
“Because of the sea surrounding it,” Agnos said. “And this is where my theory comes into play. It’s barbarically tempestuous for no reason. There are no storms, not even the slightest of winds, yet the waves could toss this ship. Nobody can pass through it and live to tell about it. Thus, nobody even tries to approach it.”
“Then why are we trying to?”
“Because we’re headed there on the correct night, the one night the sea lies dormant underneath the constellations previously mentioned.” Agnos straightened up and gazed into the stars. “You see, I think that the Thunder Queen’s chronicle isn’t meant to be found by just anyone. If it is to be discovered, it must be done by someone who has dedicated their life to finding it. Only such a person would know to visit the island on such a specific night.”
“That person would be you,” Tashami concluded.
“And I also think,” Agnos said, “that the information entailed in her chronicle can be either catastrophic or illustrious to the world depending on the character of the person hunting it down.”
“In our case, illustrious,” Tashami said.
Agnos smiled. “Of course.” He paused, reflecting on this voyage’s magnitude. “Either way, what we’ll learn from reading it will be universally consequential.”
The two Jestivan-turned-pirates fell silent over the next half-hour or so. They eventually took a seat in the nest, stretching their legs so that their feet connected with the opposite wall.
“How long will the dive last?” Tashami asked.
Agnos shook his head. “The dive I’m not worried about; I’ll sink like a lead weight. Resurfacing, however ...”
“You can weave a bubble strong enough to withstand the deep sea’s pressure?”
“How would I know, Tashami?” Agnos said. “Having Rhyparia would have helped, for she could have tested the strength of my bubbles with her gravity. Besides that, there is really no other way to simulate the deep sea—if it even requires me going down that far.”
Another moment of silence passed, but a sniffle interrupted it. Agnos glanced at Tashami, whose eyes glistened under the moonlight.
“You finally comprehend the risks of my dream. And this is why only I will embark on it,” Agnos said, sighing as he refocused on the stars. “When Neeko helped push me along this path by making sure I’d never be distracted by anything or anyone, he had made it clear to me that he could not determine endings. Such an important piece to the story was up to the person living it ...”
Agnos paused. “I could die.”
* * *
The Mythmaker’s anchors were set firmly in the seafloor, underneath dusk’s dying light. The crew massed above deck, not an inch of its surface visible from a higher vantage point. Agnos stood at the ship’s bow, Orbaculum in his hand. The ancient piece towered over him. It had never seemed as large whenever he had seen Toono holding it.
Everyone watched the same spectacle: the erratic tidal waves just ahead, crisscrossing every which way for what seemed like hundreds of leagues. Waves would collide, creating walls of sea that’d ultimately crash back to the surface, only to rise again. It was such an unnatural phenomenon. Sure, Agnos had witnessed some amazing scenes in his life: Captain Gray’s command of a blue whale army and Gale Thrasher appearing at Phesaw, but those had explanations. This, however, made no sense.
Agnos liked to rank Kuki Sphaira’s most mysterious forces. And now that he had finally witnessed this section of the sea, he would add it to the list. The Void would drop to third, but the Warpfinate would remain at the top. He’d place this phenomenon as the second most mysterious. For the sea to act in such a way; it was almost as if it had a will of its own.
He only hoped that his recent theory was correct. Zorra had led them to the correct location—or just outside of its reach. Now Agnos had to wait for the sea to calm.
“Let’s say you make it to the cave and find the chronicle,” Tashami mused. “How long would it take you to resurface? I’m assuming dawn will have already arrived by that time; the sea would, once again, be restless.”
“I don’t think the cave is located at any unimaginable depth,” Agnos said. “When we dropped anchor earlier today, we didn’t have to use much of its chain. It hit the seabed abruptly if you recall. While it’s deep, it probably doesn’t compare to some of the sea’s deepest trenches. Still, if I don’t make it back by dawn, then I’ll have to take an alternate route. Instead of swimming directly up toward the surface, I’ll swim through the depths until I reach a point where the sea no longer roars above.”
Tashami shook his head. “That sounds reckless ... something Bryson would think is possible.”
“Come now,” Agnos said. “You’re sounding like your old self, before we visited the Void ... hesitant and cautious.”
“For good reason. This makes our mission in the Void seem like a stroll through Phesaw Park.”
“Like I said, it’s up to how well I weave,” Agnos said.
He turned following a short silence. The Whale Lord lingered in the distance. Gray Whale had tailed Agnos for the voyage’s entirety. As to what purpose she could have possibly served at this point in the journey, he had no clue. Was she to act as a shield while the Mythmaker was vulnerable and without its captain? But how would the loss of Agnos make them vulnerable? He may have had the title of captain, but he could not direct a battle. The ship would operate perfectly fine with Tashami in command.
He gazed back toward the decks of his own ship. Hundreds of dirty faces stared at him, waiting for any sort of cue. He spotted Zorra near the helm, her dreads bundled atop her head. Barloe stood next to her. She pointed to a specific spot in the sky. Agnos whirled, following her gesture and locating all three constellations. Their stars shined just a bit brighter than the rest, making them visible despite the sun’s waning hue still evident.
Agnos turned again, offering a single nod to Zorra. She screamed, “Lift anchors and ready sails! Squallblasters to position in the fighting tops!”
As the crew scurried into positions, a hand rested against Agnos’s shoulder. He turned to see Tashami’s ivory hair and gray eyes. “Good luck, Captain,” Tashami said.
They hugged, Tashami patting Agnos’s back. Just as Tashami went to leave for his position, Agnos said, “Use all the clout you can. We must move fast.”
Tashami sprinted for the stairs that connected the forecastle and the main deck. Agnos observed the sea ahead, as it proved his theory correct. With sunlight gone, the waves calmed, eventually disappearing entirely. The waters lay as flat as the Intel Kingdom’s prairies. After over fifteen centuries, finally, someone had arrived to discover a legend.
* * *
Another interesting quality of this mapped but unnamed island—besides its close proximity to Phesaw—was its terrain. It jutted from the sea, but only by a few feet. It didn’t have a shoreline, berms, or even a plunge point—just a sheer drop below the ocean, sort of like an underwater cliff side. The island housed no animal or plant life, only the hard crust of the land.
But this didn’t require Agnos’s attention. He knew where he needed to go: to the seafloor. The cave was likely at the bottom of the strange landmass. As he crouched low on the rail above the ship’s bow, he gazed down into the Sea of Light. Despite its name, only darkness swirled below him. This dive would have been less daunting had it taken place with daylight.
Agnos exhaled slowly, calming himself. Standing tall, he turned and faced the rest of the ship, illuminated by lanterns and Intelights created by the seashockers of his crew.
“Remember, the moment I take the plunge, you return to safety’s edge!” Agnos said, raising his voice for the first time as a captain. For this, it was necessary. He wanted his crew to understand the severity of this rule. “Take the ship away from these waters! When I resurface, I will make sure to do so away from the island! If there is no sign of me by nightfall tomorrow, return to DaiSo with Tashami as captain!”
Agnos went quiet, waiting for a response. Zorra asked for it instead. “You idiots got that?” she screamed.
“Aye!”
Agnos nodded, turning toward the waters once more. Stepping off the rail, he blew into the bottom hole of Orbaculum, encasing himself in a bubble as tough as steel. He plummeted into the sea, then sunk like an anchor.
