They were inside the structure. The interior was much larger than Livia expected. The hallway was as wide as ten furtives, and as tall as any hallway she had seen. The hallway was illuminated with light that seeped in from various bricks along the wall, all shining at regular intervals. The walls of the hallway were elaborate, with the stone surfaces carved with intricate figures. Livia studied most of the figures closely, seeing if any of them would hold clues that could help her solve her mystery.

  “Leviathan Agronat, master of this palace. His power and grace unmatched.” Livia read aloud one of the inscriptions on the wall. The inscription covered most of a wall and presented a large creature that observed all who stood in the hallway. Agronat seemed to be covered with a large shell. It reminded Livia of a snail.

  “Agronat?” Leander asked.

  “That is what the inscription says.” She replied.

  “I’ve never heard of that one.” He said.

  “Neither have I,” Genno replied.

  “Last record we have of him was from close to two millennia ago.” Giocco calmly replied.

  They all turned to look at him.

  “You’ve heard of him?” Leander asked.

  “One relic that was brought in mentioned him.” Giocco replied, disinterested. “It celebrated Anciudu’s first millennium as the Prime Leviathan.”

  Livia thought closely. She vaguely remembered an old metallic slab that spoke about Anciudu’s millennial celebration as Prime Leviathan, but beyond that she remembered little.

  “Are you sure that’s right?” Genno asked.

  “Of course I am,” Giocco replied, sounding upset.

  “It just seems very-”

  “It’s no use arguing.” Leander interjected. “I assure you he’s probably right.”

  Livia continued looking at the different inscriptions along the wall. They contained stories of Agronat in different clashes with Titans, all celebrating his valor in combat. There were mentions of various sirens that died in service to Agronat as well, but eventually they reached a point where there was no mention of Agronat. Now Ajan was mentioned in the murals.

  Livia continued along the structure. Eventually, she stopped reading the murals. If she stopped to read each of them, she could be here for the rest of her life. Not only was the structure expansive along the sea floor, but it also seemed as if it burrowed deep into the ground. It was not just large hallways, but they also encountered large chambers as they swam across the structure.

  Of the chambers they came across, one was unlike any other. While the others were about two or three stories tall, this one seemed wider and deeper than any other. They were at the top of a walkway as they stared straight down. The chamber was brightly lit, and the immense depth gave Livia a weird, disorienting sensation. Once Livia recovered, she looked along the walls and noticed that they had inscriptions on them all along the walls.

  “Just how deep does this go?” Genno said.

  “It was large enough for Agronat to enter and still move comfortably inside.” Giocco replied.

  “Impossible, how could you know this?” Genno replied astounded.

  “That’s what it said on the inscription right before we came in. Agronat’s personal chamber.” Giocco replied.

  Genno looked down below at the chamber.

  “Agronat was this big?!” he said.

  Giocco looked beneath him.

  “This would seem to be an appropriate size for a Leviathan of his stature. Ajan is probably as large as this room as well.” Giocco replied.

  “And just how strong is Ajan?” Livia asked.

  “The fourth strongest Leviathan.” Giocco calmly replied.

  She looked down and back to Giocco.

  “How was this structure built?” Genno asked now.

  “Agronat recruited many sirens over countless centuries. An inscription earlier noted the great sacrifice of the countless sirens that perished in creating this structure.” He replied.

  “Great sacrifice, huh,” Genno replied. “I am sure the Leviathan was very thankful.”

  Livia focused on the inscriptions once again. She felt that, with it being the Leviathan’s own chamber, there must be something of use here.

  “I am going to look through some of these inscriptions.” She said. “Giocco, I would like you to go down and read through the murals as well. Do you know what information I am looking for?”

  “Of course, Lady Livia, any information relevant to the explosion of the underwater mountain in this domain.” Giocco replied and moved out.

  “Yes,” Livia said, but he was already out of earshot.

  “That is one weird guy,” Genno said.

  “He may be odd, but he is quite useful.” Leander said.

  “I’ll go down as well.” Livia said.

  “We’ll keep an eye out on the hallways.” Leander said.

  Livia nodded and swam down into the middle of the large chamber. Here, she looked to either side and could not believe the sheer size of the structure.

  This is the size of a Leviathan. What are we even thinking? Trying to fight something so massive!

  She looked around again, trying to determine if there was anything that would give her a clue to any useful information.

  We probably are.

  Livia moved toward the wall she faced. She read the text on the wall.

  “The Dragon Tagee had terrorized the seas for far too long. His cruelty was boundless, and when he could not torment the skies or the land anymore, he would turn to the sea and unleash his anger. For far too long the sirens of the surrounding region had suffered under his torment, and they turned to Agronat. They had pled with Ahrun, previous Lord of their region, to protect them against the cruel Tagee, but he did not listen to them. Thus, the sirens, with no other recourse, swam far out into the sea. It was here that they stumbled upon the great Agronat. He who fiercely protected the sea, listened to the plight of the sirens. He usurped the cowardly Ahrun and faced down the cruel Tagee…”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A Titan listening to the plight of furtives? I have never heard of anything like that. Are there other examples of this sort of behavior? It doesn’t matter; that’s not why I’m here.

  Livia moved further along.

  “Village of Guiro. Approximately four thousand inhabitants. Forty lengths in the direction of the thermal vents. Village of…”

  Not what I am looking for.

  She continued along the enormous wall.

  “…Agronat visited the village of Mainz, for no emissary arrived when all tribes were requested present. Mainz sits at the foot of a mountain. When Agronat reached the village, he saw it had been destroyed along with the mountain.”

  This is it!

  Livia continued reading along the wall.

  “… Gupin investigated the matter. The first thing that was investigated was whether this was the work of a Leviathan. The only Leviathan capable of destruction on such a scale would be Prime Anciudu, a finding which would have been grave news for Agronat. But Gupin quickly discovered that Anciudu was not the culprit. Further investigations into the matter included speaking with other neighboring tribes. They described the sound of a loud explosion, with denizens as far as the village of Moordo claiming to hear it. The only remains near the site were of crystallized sand and various fragments of metal, and various shards of bright blue glass…”

  Bright blue glass? I had not heard of this! I need to learn more!

  “…Gupin continued his investigations. He enlisted the help of Meri and Sier to try to understand what could have led to this event, a siren couple known for their many inventions…”

  Sounds like Corin and me.

  At this moment, Livia paused herself.

  That is irrelevant now.

  “… Agronat was determined to find the root cause of the explosion. He knew it must be the work of an unknown enemy trying to destroy his domain, to instill fear into the hearts of those he reigned over, something he would not accept. Agronat looked far and beyond to find a culprit…”

  “… Agronat waged war on Ajuntes, he who had always coveted his mighty realm… Agronat was challenged by Turon, who had been besmirched by claims of his underhanded tactics… Agronat laid waste to the village of Moordo, those who had conspired within his own realm with foreign enemies…”

  No! I don’t care about what Agronat did! What about the explosion! What about the blue rock!?

  Livia scanned the wall ahead of her, searching high and low. She reread sections, swam up and down the wall, but there was no other mention of the explosion or what might have caused it. All the wall seemed to mention were the actions taken by Agronat as he sought to find the culprit behind the attack on his domain.

  Livia moved along the wall, reading further sections of it.

  “… The Leviathan Ajan, a rival in the area…”

  Livia moved further along; everywhere she read, she could not find a good answer.

  “Lady Livia.” A calm voice spoke behind her, Giocco.

  “Yes, what is it, Giocco?” Livia replied without looking at him.

  “…Agronat knew that the emissaries from Moordo lied…”

  “I believe I have found something of interest.” He replied casually.

  “Where?” she asked as she turned around.

  Livia was stunned when she turned around. Giocco carried with him a stone slab that was nearly as tall as he.

  “How did you get that?” She asked him.

  “Well, I used magic to cut this segment from the wall.” He replied, seemingly surprised at the question.

  “What makes you think it is what we are looking for?” Livia asked.

  “Simple,” Giocco replied as he pointed to the tablet. There was a crude diagram etched into the tablet. In it, there were two semicircles at opposite ends with arrows on the outside pointing inwards. At the center, there was a small, round, blue dot. Around the diagram there were various inscriptions describing the scene.

  “The diagram here seems to describe how they believe the explosion was caused by those strange metals you had Leander find. But they mention two conditions for the metals to explode.” Giocco added.

  “Which are?” She asked.

  “For one, a significant amount of the metal needs to be compressed together under very high pressure. As you can assume, this can be caused by the high weight experienced by minerals in an underwater mountain.” Giocco replied.

  “A significant amount of metal needs to be compressed together?” Livia asked. “What was the other condition?”

  “A special type of glass, apparently blue, needs to be present at the site where these metals are compressed in order to initiate the explosion. The description only calls this glass an igniter.” Giocco said.

  “Blue glass? That’s exactly what was described in the writing here!” Livia said, pointing to the wall where she had been reading earlier. Her excitement built quickly as the possibilities in her mind raced, but then she paused when she realized something.

  “But what exactly is this glass?” She asked him.

  “The writing here seems to claim that this material is the byproduct of a magical reaction. It says that the blue gemstone is actually magically infused obsidian.” Giocco replied. “I had read about magically infused obsidian in other texts, for it is described as a useful weapon. It is very sharp and will never lose its edge, but it is very hard to work with. They also describe the color as very bright blue, so there is no mistaking that they are talking about the same material.”

  “So would you be able to make it?”

  “I do not see why not.” Giocco said as he looked over the table. “The mountains near the camp are rich in obsidian. I would have to read through texts in our library to see if I can determine how to infuse the obsidian with the right properties to get what we are looking for.”

  “But I must warn you.” Giocco added. He seemed terribly serious, even more so than usual.

  “What?”

  “I did not see any proof in this room that there was ever any type of event to prove this theory. There were mentions of two sirens, Meri and Sier, who were tasked with proving it, but I did not find any mention of the results.” Giocco added. “We might be chasing down conspiracies from long-dead Leviathans with no results.”

  “We have no choice; we must-”

  At that very moment, the room began to shake. It seemed imperceptible at first, but they soon realized that something around them was happening. Livia thought it might only be a small portion of the room, but everywhere she looked in the cavernous chamber, the walls shook.

  “Hurry!” Leander shouted. “Get out of there!”

  Livia and Giocco swam up as fast as they could. They made it to the footpath at the top of the room and hid in the hallway. The shaking continued on the walls here, and everywhere they looked, they saw the structure tremble.

  “What is happening?” Livia asked.

  “I don’t know.” Leander replied. “Ajan might be near.”

  “What?” Livia replied, fear rising in her voice.

  “Or not! I am as at a loss for what’s occurring as you are!” Leander replied.

  Giocco stood quietly in the hallway, still examining the stone slab he had taken, while Genno stared inside the massive room.

  “What?” Genno said out loud. “Impossible!”

  Livia and the other two went toward Genno. The four of them peered over the edge into the room below and were at a loss for words.

  “It… It opens?!” Leander said.

  Before their eyes, a large opening in the massive chamber formed as the wall slid open. Soon, half of the room was split open, and above the opening, the empty ocean could be seen.

  “Did either of you touch something?” Leander asked, turning his attention to Livia and Giocco.

  “We were talking when the shaking began.” Livia replied.

  “I did remove a piece of the wall.” Giocco replied. “But it took a while before the wall began to shake.”

  “That’s not it.” Genno interjected, still staring at the massive room. “Look.”

  They all turned their attention to the opening, and their hearts sank. The ocean was not empty anymore. In the opening stood an unmistakable being. Ajan had returned to his palace.

  ***

  Livia and the others retreated far into the palace, closer to their entry point.

  “Well, that was surprising.” Giocco said once the four of them had stopped. “Who would have guessed that such a large door could be opened?”

  The other three did not respond to Giocco; they were all in their own thoughts.

  “He probably is not even aware of our presence here.” Livia said. “We should be fine if we wait until he leaves.”

  “Perhaps.” Leander began. “But we don’t know how long that will take. And once he leaves, we don’t know where he is going.”

  “So what do you suggest?” Livia snapped back at Leander.

  “I’m not disagreeing with your approach.” Leander quickly said. “I am mentioning some things to consider.”

  “Sorry,” Livia said.

  “I know our route back.” Leander began. “Much like the route we took to get here, we have to reach a current that will take us near the fortress. But before reaching the current, we have to cover some ground.”

  “How long will that take?” Livia asked.

  “Close to a day.” Leander asked. “And then three days of travel on the current. It is much faster to get here than it is to return.”

  “Damn,” Livia replied.

  “But once we reach the current, we should be far enough from Ajan to be safe. If we make it there, it would be safe to assume that we are not being chased by him.” Leander said.

  “Then the plan is?” Livia asked.

  Leander looked around and locked eyes with Genno. Giocco still studied the piece of the wall he had cut off.

  “We have to wait,” Genno said.

  “We have to wait,” Leander agreed.

  Leander turned to Livia.

  “We either wait for Ajan to leave or we wait long enough until we figure he will not notice us.” He added.

  “Fine by me.” Giocco interjected without raising his head from the tablet.

  “As for me.” Livia added.

  The four of them spent a considerable amount of time waiting until they could move out. Livia rested on the wall and thought about the things she had read within the grand chamber. Of Agronat, of his suspicions, of his descent into madness.

  To think that there was a Titan that seemed to care about those within his domain.

  “I would assume it has been a quarter of a day since Ajan returned.” Giocco announced.

  Leander and Genno exchanged looks.

  “Soon we’ll make our escape.” Leander added. “I think it’s safe to assume we can leave unnoticed.”

  Livia turned back to her thoughts.

  As she leaned on the wall, she felt a slight vibration stir behind her.

  Then suddenly a horrible sound.

  “AAA! ARGH!” The roar of a furious Titan echoed through the halls of the underwater palace. It shook Livia to her core. It reminded her of Arandu’s rage.

  “What is happening?!” She shouted.

  “Ajan!” Genno said. “I don’t understand.”

  “Furtives!” A loud roar echoed through the palace.

  Instinctively they all looked at each other.

  “He knows we are here.” Genno said.

  “But how?” Leander asked.

  Livia looked side to side, she saw Giocco holding onto the stone slab.

  “It’s the piece of the wall!” She said as she pointed to Giocco. “He must have seen that it was taken!”

  The water inside the palace grew hot.

  “Is he trying to flush us out!?” Livia shouted.

  “I’m not sure!” Leander replied.

  “We need to leave!” Livia pressed.

  “Wait!” Leander stopped her. “He knows furtives came here, but he has no way of knowing we are in here!”

  The waters within the palace continued heating. Livia had trouble breathing.

  “If we stay here, we’ll boil to death!” She argued.

  “Listen to me, I know Leviathans!” Leander snapped back. “Right now that thing is angry, and it is looking for something to take its anger out on! If it knew we were here, it would have already begun tearing at the palace to find us! Just wait and pretty soon it will leave the palace and look for something to vent its rage on. And that will be us if we go out right now!”

  “I’ll do my best to temper the surrounding water!” Leander shouted.

  Instantly the surrounding water cooled down. Livia felt some relief, but she could see the strange barrier that existed within the temperate water she currently found herself in and the near boiling water outside it.

  “Cowards!” The loud voice erupted from deep within the palace. “I will find you!”

  Giocco was quiet. The four of them stayed silent as they rode out the Titan’s anger in silence. There was little else they could do.

  “AAAARGH!” The voice roared as it boomed with lessening intensity.

  “You won’t escape!” The voice now shouted from outside the palace.

  Now they could feel the walls of the palace shake as the Leviathan was whipped up in a frenzy.

  Giocco breathed heavily as he could now stop focusing on holding up a barrier.

  “I shall find you!” The Leviathan’s voice echoed from further away.

  The shaking of the palace grew less violent until it died out. The four of them stood in silence.

  “What should we do?” Livia asked.

  Leander turned to look at her, and then Genno.

  “We need to leave.” Leander replied. “We don’t know what Ajan is planning to do, but it is clear he is planning on doing something. We need to let those at the fortress know.”

  “But he will scour the seas, if he finds us he will destroy us.” Giocco replied.

  “You are correct, and Ajan is a gargantuan creature, but compared to the sea he might as well be another grain of sand on the shore. We will have to be careful as we navigate our way back. Genno, will you go out and scout a hiding spot?”

  “Of course.”

  With that Genno set out. It did not take long for him to return. Livia and the others followed him to a small cavern, and the pattern repeated itself. Genno would seek out a hiding spot and the others would wait for his return.

  Upon arriving at their next destination, Leander announced they would stop.

  “So how long do you think it will take us to reach the fortress now?” Livia asked before they set in for the night.

  “If we’re lucky, about ten days.”