Qube beamed at the Deep One, even knowing that it couldn’t see her.

“Sewer Bard,” she said urgently, “I think the Deep Ones are the real guardians of the Temple. We should probably avoid offending them.”

“That thing is [fiddlesticking] horrifying,” the Chosen One loudly declared.

Qube buried her face into her hands.

The creature before them exhaled, its breath rolling over them. It smelt powerfully of rotting fish. The Chosen One staggered back, looking ill.

“Why would it smell so bad?” he asked, outraged.

“Chosen One, they can’t help having bad — uh, I mean, ‘differently smelling’ — breath!” Qube hissed at the blurry-eyed Hero. “We don’t know what the Deep Ones’ diet is like, but it’s probably fish-based!”

There was a skittering noise as the Deep One suddenly lurched closer. As it entered the ring of light, Qube noticed that it had several dozen thin legs on which it was precariously balanced. It abruptly stopped, its softly glowing light swinging towards the Chosen One. Inside the bulb there was what looked like a small but thick rainbow hook, swimming within the light itself. It pulsed, and an image flowered within Qube’s mind of Lake Fear, long before today.

In the vision the Deep Ones’ city was open to the sky. The water itself was still somewhat murky, but more in the manner of sunlight light filtered through a forest’s canopy, as opposed to its current appearance of black ink. The houses were dark greens and blues, blending in with the natural environment, tree-size seaweed reaching the very tops of the buildings.

Around the city there were various Deep Ones. And while Qube couldn’t say that they froliced, exactly, they certainly swam about with an air of contentment. Not all of them looked like the one before the party — some had many tentacles, others were umbrella-like ghosts that seemed to float around, trailing ribbons behind them, and still more just seemed like really, really big fish.

Very big fish. In fact, Qube thought, frowning at the Deep Ones, many of them seemed far too large to fit through the entrances of their homes. That didn’t seem like very good village design.

Before she could examine the logistics of Deep Ones architecture, though, the pulse faded, taking the vision with it.

The Chosen One gave a shuddering sigh.

“That was way too intimate,” he said.

“Do you think that was their home before they got buried?” Qube asked the Chosen One. He looked at her, mildly surprised.

“Did you get that scene too? That’s weird.”

“Noble Patron, I believe that must be a vision of Lake Fear as it appeared a thousand years ago!” Sewer Bard exclaimed.

“I would very much like to learn more about this ancient civilisation. There could be much lost knowledge,” Definitely Bad Guy said, his eyes gleaming in the darkness.

“But where were the mermaids?” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady asked.

“Oh, everyone got it,” Chosen One said, shrugging. Qube felt somewhat slighted. As she was trying to figure out why, the Deep One’s bulb flashed again, and another vision appeared.

In this, a large turtle was swimming on the surface of the lake. The Deep Ones far below seemed happy, using its shadow for shade on the hotter days, and sometimes the turtle would dive down and nibble at the tops of their seaweed trees. Time passed, and the city and turtle grew together, until there was a permanent shadow etched onto the lakebed. Here the start of the Water Temple grew.

Before the vision fully faded, another pulsed from the Deep One, ringed with a deep red.

Years had gone by. The turtle had grown humongous, and vegetation had sprouted on its back. Thick soil covered up its shell, and if Qube hadn’t known better she would have just thought it a random island in the middle of the lake.

Beautiful elves glided across the lake in delicate boats. Their hair was long and flowing, their voices lifted in song. They landed on the back of the turtle and began to build. A city sprang up, its gorgeous architecture barely recognisable as the wreckage the party had passed last night.

The suns spiraled across the sky, and the city expanded. As it grew, the turtle started sinking lower and lower in the water. The turtle’s eyes turned white, and deep grooves appeared on its flippers. The Deep Ones, now in perpetual twilight from the shadows cast by the island’s towers’, glared up at them resentfully.

Before Qube could even process what she was seeing, a black-tinged vision hit her.

The turtle had gone. Now there was just a shell, and it was sinking, fast. The islanders ran back and forth, trying to protect themselves, before banding together and linking hands. They sang as one, their voices high and desperate, and magic exploded out of them in a colourful circle of mana as their home was swallowed by the water. The shell fell apart, spreading to cover the entire bottom of the lake, making a base for the city to land on. Once it had settled, the islanders, now equipped with tails and gills, twirled around, exploring their new home.

And beneath the layers of mud and shell the Deep Ones were trapped, left to bide their time.

And wait.

The visions faded, and the bulb swung away from the party. Qube felt something wet touch her cheek, and realised she was crying. The other party members were similarly shaken. Even the Chosen One was uncharacteristically silent.

“I…” he trailed off. Qube realised that she had never really seen the Chosen One be uncertain before. Confused, angry, even afraid once, but never this… lost. Not that she blamed him. The enormity of what they had just witnessed was no doubt weighing heavily on him.

“I dunno if I like the direct beaming information into my head,” the Chosen One continued. “Like, I get it, technically all the data is being put into my head, but this was way more intense than that. Not a fan.”

“Chosen One, I’m sure if the Deep One could talk to you, they would,” Qube hissed, a hint of reprimand in her voice. “They can probably only talk through their brain bulbs.”

“Nah,” the Chosen One said, making a face. “Don’t like it. Feels like my mind is on the edge of being overloaded.”

“Noble Patron, if I may,” Sewer Bard said. “The communication methods of these beings aside, I fail to see why they should be allowed to seek their revenge against the merfolk. Their own visions tell us that the merfolk are not guilty of any wrongdoing! How were they to know that their island was a living creature? What right have these Deep Ones to imprison them, just because their city had the misfortune to fall into their land?”

“You flat-noted fool!” Definitely Bad Guy snapped. Sexy Screamy Spider Lady gasped. “Of course they should have known that they were killing their environment! Ignorance is no excuse for anything, and should not absolve them from the consequences. Especially such easily resolved ignorance.”

“I’m never off key,” Sewer Bard said, standing very, very upright. “My music is —”

“I would scarcely call the tortured cat noises you make music,” Definitely Bad Guy sneered. “Although I would shudder to hear how you butcher any classical music.”

Sewer Bard was trembling. He leveled his gaze at the Mage Advisor, and in his eyes Qube saw the same burning rage that she had glimpsed before.

For a moment, violence hung in the balance.

She saw the urge to lash out, painfully strangled before it could become action. Sewer Bard winced, as if at the tightening of the Golden Prophecy’s grip.

“Sewer Bard, no intra-party conflict,” Qube said, touching one of his poofy sleeves. Definitely Bad Guy scowled. Sewer Bard turned a tortured face towards her. “We’re all supposed to get along,” she explained. “The Golden Prophecy wouldn’t want us to fight. We need to focus on saving the world.”

Sewer Bard seemed to recollect himself at her words, and swallowed his anger.

“Forgive me, fair Healer,” he said, giving her a small, jerky bow. “You are, of course, correct. I shouldn’t allow this degenerate to distract me from what is important.”

Meanwhile, the Chosen One, ignorant to the fact that his companions were moments away from fighting each other, was busy circling the Deep One. The giant beast, despite its intimidating appearance, seemed perfectly content to sit still and wait for the Hero to figure out whatever he was pondering. The Chosen One finally finished walking around it, and stood directly in front of its open mouth.

“So you, what, want us to kill a mermaid or something? Collect some tears?” the Chosen One asked. The fleshy protrusion swung towards him. “No wait, just answer, don’t —”

The vision hit hard. It was different from the earlier ones. It was less defined, like the image had only been roughly sketched out. It showed a shadowy figure standing over a vaguely mermaid-shaped form, a dagger in hand. The dagger rose and fell, again and again, and from the fallen mermaid a single pearl-coloured tear sprang forth.

Then the figure was standing over a giant egg, holding the tear. As the tear touched the top of the shell, the egg cracked, spilling out thick, golden light.

“Stop doing that!” Chosen One snapped as the vision faded. “Seriously, it’s giving me a headache. Knock it off.”

The Deep One seemed to retract back into itself.

“My dear, look,” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady said in a hushed voice. The Chosen One, after giving the ancient guardian of the Water Temple one last withering look, wandered over to the Hunter, who was standing next to a giant window. The others followed.

“What’s up?” he asked her. Some of Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s eyes flickered upwards, noting the softly-glowing mushrooms in the ceiling above them. “No, never mind that,” the Chosen One said with a resigned sigh. “They seriously need a modern day slang update or something. I mean, what do you want me to look at?”

“I think she’s talking about that,” Qube said, pointing out the window. It was the Deep Ones’ city, only now they were close enough to see the battle being waged. Mermaids were being herded by the underground city’s denizens, the Deep Ones grabbing them and putting them in golden chains, rendering them instantly immobile.

Some of the merfolk were able to fight back, gathering into groups and singing, their spells blasting currents of water at their would-be captors, or collapsing the buildings around them, giving them the space they needed to flee.

The Deep Ones who had managed to successfully restrain any of the merfolk were bundling them up, and towing them to the bottom of the Water Temple. The best hunters were Deep Ones who looked like a combination of several different sea creatures, allowing them to utilise their various strengths. It was mayhem.

“This is awful,” Qube whispered.

“How dare those abominations attack such beautiful, innocent creatures?” Sewer Bard cried, forgetting that one of said abominations was directly behind them.

“Innocent? No one in this world is truly innocent,” Definitely Bad Guy sneered. “They are invaders, nothing more. You allow what little wits you have to be overcome by some creature batting their eyes at you.”

“And you, of course, are utterly immune to the temptations of the flesh,” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady purred knowingly. Definitely Bad Guy ignored her, only the reddening of his cheeks showing he’d heard her at all.

The Chosen One, meanwhile, was trying to push himself through the glass. He rubbed his shoulder along the length of the window, before jamming himself into where the glass met the frame.

“Chosen One, what are you doing?” Qube asked the Saviour of all Human and Human-Adjacent Beings as he furiously smushed himself against the glass.

“We’re not supposed to be able to go out into the city,” the Chosen One explained.

“I’m sure we can visit it after we save the world,” Qube said with the infinite patience of a childhood companion.

“Nah, but I reckon if I can just fidget my way through the glass I’d be able to get out there.”

“Is… is that a thing you can do?” Qube felt like if regular people had the ability to walk through glass, she should have known about it. Although she did have vague memories of the Chosen One trying to shove her into a wall at some point. But nothing about glass.

“Eh, sometimes. This place seems like the edges of the world aren’t fully aligned, you know?” the Chosen One explained incomprehensibly. “Generally you’ll get a lot more glitches at the Water Temple than anywhere else.”

“Why is that?” Qube asked, as the Chosen One started pushing himself back along the glass the way he’d come.

“Eh, I dunno, cuz they’re a mess,” the Chosen One shrugged, which was rather impressive considering he was attempting to push his shoulder through a window. “I dunno about design, I just know how to break things.” He stepped back from the window and kicked it. “Ow,” he deadpanned. Seemingly done with trying to defy physics, the Chosen One turned to his party.

“Right,” he said, like everything was totally normal. “Time to backtrack!”