Cassandra, Mana and Cobal walked up the path that led from Ravadier itself to the Vadier estate. They had walked this path together once before, when they first set out on their journey towards Milinia after visiting Arana. That was when Cobal learned that he wasn’t the first member of his family to visit the underwater city and that the Vadier family knew about the place, keeping its existence hidden from others. Several puddles made the path quite hazardous and the fallen leaves made it easier to slip, but the coastal region looked quite pretty even in fall and they enjoyed the short walk. Arriving at the front gate to the estate not long after lunch, Cobal was on the one to ring the bell hanging next to the gate. They waited for about a minute before the front door of the estate opened and a servant quickly ran over to the gate.
“Yes, may I help you?” The young man asked. He was wearing a buttoned up shirt and some dark pants that made him look quite fancy. Cobal remembered that the last time he visited the people were more casually dressed and working in the yard.
“Good afternoon. My name is Cobal Blueyerd and these are my friends, Mana and Cassandra. We would like to speak with Lady Vadier about a matter concerning the safety of the peninsula.”
“Your highness, my apologies. We weren’t aware that you were in the area. I will inform Lady Vadier of your visit immediately. Please, come inside.”
They followed the now nervous looking servant into the estate and were led to a waiting room. They were offered something to drink while they waited for the servant to return. The wait didn’t take long. Cobal hadn’t even touched his tea when the young man returned. “Lady Vadier will now see you, your highness.” They followed the young servant through the hallway to the same office where Cobal and Mana met with Diana Vadier’s father not but a year ago. Seated behind the desk was a familiar face that Cobal knew all too well. Shockingly white hair and an almost mischievous smile complimented her green eyes. Where last time they spoke, Cobal remembered her hair being up in a bun, it was now flowing freely past her shoulders. “Welcome, please take a seat,” she said. She was wearing what looked to be a very comfortable gown. It was made of a thick material, probably some very refined wool, and it had a lovely dark green shade to it. If Cobal recalled correctly, the last time they spoke she also wore green. Strange how well he remembered the last time they spoke. Diana and Cobal met a lot when they were children, with Guthir often visiting the capital. They hadn’t spoken nearly as much after they became teenagers and only spoke every so often during parties or important meetings nowadays.
“I would ask what brings you here, but I think I already know the answer.”
“We’re here about the strange disappearances.” Mana said.
“Yes, that’s what I assumed.” She looked at Mana. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced yet, although I do believe I’ve seen you before?”
“I am Mana.”
“No titles?”
“I am an ambassador of Milinia as well as a scribe of the Ruby Observatory in Marsolin.”
“Those are good titles, you should lead with them. I am Lady Diana Vadier, current acting lady of the Ravadier peninsula.”
“I said this to your father last time, but I don’t have any titles,” Cassandra said.
“Daughter of baker,” Cobal suggested.
“Quickly distracted,” Mana suggested.
Diana laughed. “Well it’s nice to meet you Cassandra, daughter of baker, quickly distracted.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Cassandra replied begrudgingly.
“But you are quite right, we are here on account of the disappearing villagers,” Mana said, bringing them back to the topic at hand.
“I’m surprised you found the time to come here.”
“Well, I had some time,” Cobal said. He didn’t want to get into it.
“I see, well,” Diana got up and walked to a nearby shelf. “I’ve done some research myself and this is what I’ve found so far. It’s quite a shocking tale, so prepare yourself.” She picked up a book from the shelf and opened it up.
“A little over two hundred years ago, there was a strange wizard who lived on Shark Tooth Island. That is an island just off the coast of Ravadier, perhaps two or three days by ship. It’s named after its shape. This strange wizard was very powerful and wielded magic never seen before. After he departed, a crew of pirates set off to steal his treasure. They made it onto the island but before they could reach the tower itself, a powerful trap went off, causing the pirates to all die in a single fiery blast. Except they didn’t die and move on to the afterlife. Their spirits were locked to the island and couldn’t leave. As time went on, they managed to get more and more distance from the island and started roaming the ocean around it. You see, after the trap went off, the wizard returned to the island to see what happened. He explained to them that the key to his tower was somewhere in the nearby ocean and that they could undo the curse by entering his domain. It was as if he saw their struggle as a game.” Diana smiled wryly. “They did try to steal his valuables, so perhaps it was a fair reaction, but it does seem overly cruel to me.” She continued. “Either way, the pirates spent decades trying to find the key, but couldn’t. Their inability to actually touch the reefs and search beneath things severely hampered their options. My suspicion is that they found a way to get to shore and lure people into the ocean. For what purpose, I don’t know.” She closed the book and looked at the three. “What do you think?”
“Why haven’t you told anyone about this?” Cassandra asked.
“Because it sounds like a load of rubbish,” she replied. “I have absolutely no proof that this is what is happening.”
“It’s possible,” Mana said. “Maybe they’ve found something that allows them to hypnotize people, but to what end?” She thought for a second. “I’m not sure. We didn’t have any pirate ghosts in my world so I’ve never really had to think about how they would work. If they found out some way to make people help them with their search for this key, then that is probably what they did. What I don’t understand is how the people who walked into the ocean didn’t simply drown, assuming they didn’t.” She looked at Cobal. “I think it’s safe to say that we know where to go next.”
Cobal nodded in agreement.
“Arana?” Diana asked.
“I assumed you knew about it as well. Have you been there?”
Diana shook her head. “I haven’t been there myself, but my father has told me stories about it.”
“Speaking of your father, how is he?”
“Diana’s expression went stiff for a moment. “He has been declining slowly. Where he used to be able to help with paperwork, he’s mostly been in his room these days. I’ve called for a talented healer and hopefully they can help him out, but things aren’t looking great right now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cobal said.
“Do you know the exact ailment he has?” Mana asked.
Cobal remembered that she seemed to recognize something in the symptoms last time they visited, but the look on her face didn’t give him much hope.
“The healers aren’t sure, but it seems to be a strange muscle ailment that leaves him unable to keep his own muscles in check. This makes everyday actions more and more difficult and exhausting.”
Mana nodded. “I think it’s something we have in my world as well, but we don’t have a cure either. I’m sorry.”
“It’s just how things are. Most people don’t have access to a hero from another world to begin with, so it’s nothing lost. It seems like it might be time for him to officially retire though, so he can focus on his health and let me do the work. I’ve been preparing for that eventuality after all.”
Cobal nodded. “You’ve changed a lot from the irritating little girl that fearlessly trotted the halls of the palace whenever she came over.”
Diana laughed. “Is that how you remember me? I remember this scared little boy who hid behind his mother’s skirt because the scary girl was there again.”
Cobal blushed. “Was I that timid?”
Diana ignored him and looked at Mana. “You wouldn’t believe what a mama’s boy he was. He wouldn’t leave her side at all the first few times we met. When I wanted to play outside with him, he’d always look to see if she was still there. He changed pretty quickly though.”
“Enough of that, we have more important matters to talk about,” Cobal interjected.
“No, I’d like to hear more about Cobal as a child,” Cassandra said.
Cobal let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
After the women spent a good twenty minutes talking and laughing about how Cobal was as a child, they eventually left the estate behind and made their way back to town. Diana promised her full cooperation when they needed specific assistance, but until something concrete was brought to her, she would focus on the other work she had instead. Before leaving, Cobal did tell her that he enlisted the help of Eliana. This caused a bit of an argument as the thought of leaving the safety of her people to a notorious pirate didn’t sit right with Diana, but Cobal eventually convinced her to accept the help.
After finishing their meeting with Diana Vadier, the trio returned to Cassandra’s home and brainstormed ideas. It was Cassandra’s idea to iterate upon the air tanks they had made last year. The creation hadn’t been much of a success back then, but Cassandra had been tinkering with the idea on and off in the time she was separate from Mana and Cobal and she was fairly confident that she could make a much better contraption this time around. Especially considering that Mana’s control over magic had improved steadily since the last attempt. She had a ton of ideas that all went over Cobal’s head and it seems like quite a few of the ideas were too complicated for Mana too, but some of them she recognized as different versions of something she already knew about from her world. While the two women continued to exchange ideas, Cobal excused himself and went outside. He was confident that they would figure things out without him. Instead he distracted himself by training the town boys in swordfighting. At least that’s what the boys thought of it, although he was just giving them wooden swords and having them hit a nearby tree. Some of the boys quickly started chasing after each other and Cobal had to be careful they wouldn’t hurt each other. Some of the boys took it very seriously and were actually hitting the tree in the ways he instructed them. Seb was coming along as well and proudly stood next to Cobal as his second in command. At least for about a minute or two until he got bored of that and joined the rest of the boys running around. Cobal made sure they were all safe, but one of the boys got hit in the side and started crying so Cobal had to get him to calm down again. He made the boys then promise that if someone else got hurt, they would immediately stop playing. They seemed to get the message as they were a bit more careful afterwards. It was a fun distraction for Cobal. After about an hour, the kids got bored and started playing other games. He watched on until he noticed Sebastian approaching. “You’re keeping an eye on the kids today?’ He asked.
Cobal nodded. “Seb wanted to introduce me to his friends and then said that he wanted to be a soldier in the royal guard, so they hit some trees with sticks until they got bored.”
Sebastian chuckled. “Welcome to having kids and the lack of attention span they have.” He looked Cobal up and down. “Are you planning to have any of your own?”
Salandra’s face flashed before his eyes and he smiled. “No, not anytime soon. I don’t even have a partner yet, and there is so much going on lately that it’s not something that has been on the forefront of my mind.”
“That is fair enough.” The baker patted him on the shoulder before walking off again. Cobal watched over the children for a while longer until all of them but Seb got picked up by their parents. Finally, Cobal held the exhausted boy’s hand as they walked back home, where they joined Cassandra’s family once more for dinner.
Opal Kaharis 