As a young girl, I would stare at the ocean on a regular basis. From the way the waves crashed onto our pale-orange coastline, to the occasional gifts it spewed, everything about it entranced me. By gifts, I mean genetically engineered plants, left and lost by ancient civilisations, that happen to have washed ashore. Take the Lyriss, for example, which can record and send messages! We never had those, let’s say, a hundred years ago. Mother nature just happened to provide us with the plant and we mass reproduced it in return. Even now, its origins remained a mystery.

That’s where the dream started. I would often tell Jett the wonders of the ocean. It contained so much, yet our civilisation had only scratched the surface of it all. I couldn’t understand why though. With the technology that us Drinzilians had, it should have been a simple matter. However, the people were still content staying put on their piece of land. (Granted, it was an enormous piece of land, but that’s beside the point). The modern world still never went beyond the Fluctus Currents (or FC for short). We left the ocean untainted, unmapped and unexplored. Such wasted potential!

So, when Jett told me he wanted to go see this unchartered territory with me, my heart fluttered. He shared the same dream as me! It drove me on to research ways to fulfil our dream. We had no means of aquatic transport. As a single continent, surrounded by dangerous currents, why was there a need to develop any in the first place? That didn’t deter me though, as I continued my studies.

However, I hit my first hurdle. Creating a vehicle was easy. Overcoming the currents was not.

With the help of Jett (oh, I forgot to mention this, but Jett’s my husband), I created several Hover devices. Then I watched as each and every one of them got ripped to shreds by the FC. It proved to be quite the conundrum to solve. Then it hit me. If we can’t sail over the FC, why not go under it?

I went to the Drinzil library to embark on my quest to find a way to move underwater. I could have easily taken out the Digital Flower Files, but I thought that they wouldn’t be of much help. They were too modern. If I was to solve my problem, I would have to go for something more ancient: books. They were written in ancient Soli, but fortunately I knew the language by heart (at the expense of Jett calling me a nerd though). For the sake of learning, you must be prepared!

It was one book in particular that peaked my interest. It had detailed explanations of how the people of the past shared the same dream as me! They came up with many theoretical designs and tests, all of which ultimately failed. It wasn’t because they were bad, but rather they lacked the ability to carry their ideas out. However, it should be possible now. I just needed the right equipment.

Once the plan was set, I rushed over to auntie Rae to get the supplies. Rae was an incredible woman. She was a cook, merchant, doting mother and aunt; you name it. She was a jack-of-all-trades and a master at most of them. No exaggeration at all. If you need something, she was the person to go to.

She was always at the marketplace in the afternoon. She owned a small stall and sold various confectionaries. This wasn’t even her full-time job. This was just a hobby on the side.

‘Auntie Rae!’ I called out. She turned around and greeted me with a large smile.

‘Lyvia! So nice to see you,’ she replied. ‘What brings you over to my humble stall? Oh, don’t tell me that I’m finally going to be a grand-aunt.’

I laughed with mirth. ‘You do this every time.’

‘I’m telling you. One day it’s going to happen. Remember who predicted that you and Jett would end up together, despite your constant denials?’

‘You, auntie,’ I muttered, barely audible above the drum of noises in the market. Of course, Auntie Rae being auntie Rae, heard it. She smirked.

‘Exactly.’

‘But you know Jett. No way would he want a kid.’

Auntie rae wagged her finger at me and said, ‘It’s because you’re such a handful that he’s scared of looking after two fragile little things.’

I gave her an unimpressed look. Her teasing was one of her less likeable traits. She just laughed in response, much to my annoyance.

‘I jest, Lyvia,’ she apologised. ‘Now why are you really here? I doubt it’s for my mince pies.’

‘Oh yeah. Hang on a second.’

I opened my bag, taking out several sheets of papers, which I handed over to her. Each contained my plans for the underwater vehicle, that I had named “Aquaria”, though I never said anything about its purpose in the notes. I just listed what I needed, with a few drawings included.

‘What are you scheming, Lyvia?’ auntie Rae asked me, an eyebrow raised.

‘Oh, just following my dream,’ I replied with a cheeky grin.

‘I understand. You sure you want this design?’

‘Yes, this is the design I’m going for. I can’t tell you what it’s for though.’

‘Such a naïve girl. You plan on going under the currents with this, aren’t you? Though I’ve never seen such a design, it does look like it’ll work like you want it to. Getting everything else on this list shouldn’t be a problem either. I’ll put the payment for it all on your father’s tab.’

Amazing. How did she know? Not that I’m too surprised. Sometimes I believe she’s just this omniscient being that walked with us mortals simply to humble herself.

‘How long will it take?’ I asked.

‘For the Mutans to grow to this size and shape, I’d say six or seven weeks,’ auntie Rae responded, with a firm voice.

‘That gives us plenty of time then. Have it all delivered to the Harun Cave once it’s done.’

‘Will do. Anything else?’

‘Oh, right. Don’t tell Jett you know about it. Knowing him, he’ll get too emotional. You’ve done so much for us. This will probably make him think that he’s indebted to you forever.’

Rae chuckled at my remark. She had an affectionate smile, one that put me in the mind of how a parent would feel when their child is about to leave the household. She was going to miss me. Likewise, I was going to miss her.

‘I’m sure he will,’ she said at last, holding back a lump in her throat.

I didn’t say anything back, fearing that I’d have to do the same. I just hugged and waved her goodbye. I still had a lot to prepare for, but of course, it should go smoothly.

Thus, my dream to explore the aquatic world with my husband had began.