The world was awash in color, Seko sat alone in a long boat trailing down a stream of dissolving lights and sigils. He tried to lift his hand but found it was already performing the action of rowing, something he could have sworn someone else had been doing. His arms were sore, and he couldn't seem to shake the action from his body. It seemed as natural as breathing, yet the pain only built with each stride.

He went to speak, to ask a question to the air, but couldn't find the words. The sounds died on his lips, and suddenly Seko felt the rush of water slamming into him. He flailed and tried to scream, but only resulted in swallowing more of the stinging liquid. He was being pulled down, dragged into the depths by the now sinking longboats undertow. He turned, now realizing his location underwater, but found the massive jaws of a Deep Mother staring back. It closed around him whole, ending his life.

"Land!"

Seko shot up in a cold sweat and threw the thin blanket off onto the floor. Drops of fear clung to him like ornaments on a tree, reflecting the despair he'd just escaped. He reached for his shirt and drew it over, letting it wipe away some of the regret. How long had he slept? Had he been out long? He didn't remember the collapse into the bed, but it most assuredly had happened.

A banging on his door pulled his attention, Yan swung the door wide and stepped in.

"We're here!" He looked as pleased as a kid on their birthday, all but jumping with excitement.

"So I heard." Seko mumbled, "I'll be out in a minute."

Yan left at his word, but kept the door open. Seko pulled on the rest of his ensemble and slowly laced the boots. It would be another day of chasing for them, hopefully this time without the inclusion of sharks. Though, as sharks went, Seko would have preferred the fish to the Empire. It was surprising they'd managed to escape with such a risky move, but he wasn't about to waste the space thinking on it. If they just kept moving, they'd evade any chaser the Empire could throw.

"Come now," Cria cooed from the door, a more subdued smile cresting her lips. "Surely the idea of limitless riches can elicit a more apt response from the Pirate Captain."

"Is there something I can do to assist you?" Seko stood and strapped the sword belt over his waist, finally pulling the Tricorner from his side table.

"Just keep Nakyan in check, I think we may lose him to the heavens with how high he's bouncing."

Seko laughed and nodded, "Noted. Shall we?"

The pair made their way out onto the main deck and were treated to the sight of a massive island with a single large mountain peak split impossibly down the middle. The crack beneath was just wide enough for their ship to pass between and into a large lake at the center of the landmass. The Pasongunan eased its way through the space and was forced to pull the sails in lest they clip the smooth wall.

"What in the world..." Yan muttered, running a hand along the rock face as they passed.

"Gods?" Seko asked, "I can't think of anything the world has made to match,"

"Or magic," Cria whispered.

The crew, similarly struck by the wonder, kept quiet as the ship sailed on the mirror smooth waters into the center of the lake. When they dropped anchor at its middle, they found it took longer to reach the bottom than they'd anticipated. The waters were far darker than those of the coasts, and as such it was impossible to tell what swam below the surface.

"Where does it say the key is?" Seko asked

"It just says that the island is Dotans," Yan said. He leafed through the red journal once more and tried to pull a particular page, clearly looking for an answer, "And that the island is the key."

"The Island is the key?" Cria asked, "That can't be right."

"We thought the material was a metal at first, who can say that we won't find a way of making these Gewels a key?" Yan asked, "Better we search the island and be disappointed than give up and head out."

"On this, we agree." Seko said. "Ready the Longboats, and ready a small team."

Seko had made the intention known that he'd wanted the best for this search, and that was something difficult to determine amongst this group. Each was a specialist in their own way, none were the best of any field, but each could do the work of three normal sailors. In the end it was Seko, Cria, Yan, Eado, Vel, and Reeves that would depart on the longboat and sail onto the island first. The remainder of the crew would follow once they saw that the island was safe enough to beach.

As they pressed the boat ever further towards the shore, they noticed the strange reaction of the water. When the oars broke the surface, they would have normally created a rippling in the skin, instead it remained a mirror. The strangest part was that the image, reflected in the mirror finish, showed the ripple spreading out over the surface.

They pulled the longboat onto the shore and Seko ran a hand through the sand, letting it fall like grains of wheat between his fingers. Something in the island felt unbasoian, like it was pulled from somewhere else entirely. Somewhere none had ever traversed, and perhaps never would.

"Well," Yan stretched and pulled the journal out. He flicked through the thin parchment and eventually settled on the page he'd been searching for. "It says that there's a hut nearby they would stay in."

"Should we bring the Gewels?" Vel asked "in case we need them, I mean we have no idea yet right?"

"That's fair..." Seko hadn't considered the need for them yet, given the lack of knowledge they were going in with. "Perhaps we should have the crew bring the chest along when they come ashore."

"Aye," Eado stepped up to the boat and waved a hand to the ship. Whoops and hollers came as a response. "I'll make sure they bring them, or I'll bring them myself."

"Well, that leaves the rest of us to explore." Cria said.

She picked up a long stick from nearby, swinging it a few times to judge its weight. Satisfied at the heft, she confidently departed for the nearest brush of trees and forest, followed shortly by the remaining members of the entourage. With Yan occasionally shouting directions or vague clues to guide them, they forged their way through the otherwise untouched flora and fauna of the natural ecosystem.

They eventually found a stream that led out of the woods and onto a flattened plain, one that lead up a sloping hill to reveal a thatched roof house and a small untended garden overgrown by years of disservice.

"That might be our hut." Yan said skeptically

"Or we could check the other fifty huts around it," Vel said. "Oh, that's right, there aren't any."

"Sarcasm is beneath you," Yan muttered. The rest of the group chuckled at the exchange, but otherwise followed along, removing or unholstering their preferred weapons should anything happen.

The hut, as it was obviously nowhere near the required stature to be called a home, was little more than four walls and a fron-leaf roof. The surrounding garden showed signs of occasional tending, but was largely unkempt and bursting. Melon vine, citrus fruit, lemons, limes, Rockfish, and dozens of other fruits and vegetables hung happily, ripened but not plucked.

"Odd, who builds a garden on an abandoned island?" Reeves asked, kneeling down to pick one of the pebble shaped Rockfish from its vine. "Especially Rockfish, disgusting."

"Dotan Depairyo, apparently." Seko said, "Let's head inside, see if we can't find what we need to make this key of ours.

Seko pushed aside the tattered scrap of cloth that was being used as a door and held it aside for the rest of the team to enter. Inside was more of a puzzle than the island itself, and that had been something of a mystery before they'd even arrived.

Inside the hut were a myriad of papers strewn about and plastered to the four walls, indicating different aspects of an unwieldy formula for some spell that none of the occupants could make heads or tails of. Vel, closest to the far wall after entering, made her way to a limp paper that hung precariously from a stuck dagger.

"This looks old." She said "Ancient. Easily Third Imperial age."

"That bodes well then," Yan said, "Our good Pirate lord was around during the first Expanse campaign afterall, it would only make sense it'd be from around the third age."

"I very much doubt he had a hand in this work." Vel said, "It's too old to be Imperial studies, and it bares the markings of Alchemical study."

"What?" Seko was shocked, alchemy was around and still in full swing, but it was largely impossible to find something in the wild that bore their original studies work. Those were secrets kept largely by the community as a whole, and outsiders were barred from interfacing with them.

"I know, I hardly believe it myself." She said

"Let me take a look," Reeves crossed the room and grabbed a paper from the wall.

"Well, that's three of us down, how many more should we lose?" Yan asked.

"There has to be something in here that gives us an answer." Seko said. He pulled some of the loose papers down and tried to read the runes and words etched in by ancient ink. He found only a jumbled mess of glyphs that made more sense as artwork than it did as actual legible scripture. "Well, I'm no help in this field."

"Neither of you would be," Cria said, "But that doesn't matter. Dotan left that weapon somewhere, and this place has the answer. So let's just see if we can find it."

They searched the room for another hour, turning over every item and piece of unaided furniture that existed in the miniature space. They pulled down the writings, with Seko making the explicit instruction that they be returned exactly to where they had been on their arrival. Something that Vel saw some joy in performing, maybe as a test, he wasn't sure.

The rest of the island was being searched by the remaining crew that took to the sands, some choosing to hold their positions aboard the Pasongunan to guard against mutiny and Imperials alike. Eado had been one such man, and if he was involved, it was likely things would be fine in their absence. None were so daft as to risk treasure now, so close to the likelihood of it.

What they found turned out to be rather disappointing, as the island itself held little of interest throughout it. The sands were pure white, like the treated sugars that had been growing popular in the Capitals, but everything about the land seemed off. As if reality were shifted ever so slightly apart. Seko tried to pick up a stone and found he missed on his first attempt, even though he'd seen his hand touch the object. Others of the scouting party reported the same, or having seen a figure of a man dash into a shadow, only to fully disappear when they pursued.

As night fell and the ships lights were lit, the crew began to filter out onto the shores and set up small tables and chairs. They were keen on enjoying the landfall, even if it wasn't as keen on them doing so. Grog and dehydrated brandy were peddled about, and by midnight a true stupor of drunken idiocy was well underway.

Seko had opted to depart from the party early, having lacked the company of Vel or Reeves, and had decided to return to the shack and aid their search. Where he found them was entirely unsurprising, what had been surprising was what they were doing. Both Arcanists were staring daggers into a strange metallic sphere in the center of the room, a sphere that had not been there earlier. Each had a single hand on it and were seemingly intensely working to commune with the object.

Their attempts were apparently rebuffed, as when Seko opened the door and took a waiting position to the side, the pair were violently disconnected. Reeves fell to the floor in shock, Vel merely jumping back and giving a light shout of surprise.

"Ow!" She pulled her hand up and blew on it, trying to cool the heat that had suddenly rushed through it. "What in Baso..."

"I don't know! What was that?!" Reeves cried, "I've never felt anything like it."

"What's going on?" Seko asked

"Oh," Vel looked as if she hadn't seen him in days. Jumping back, more from his voice than whatever had sent her partner flying away. She studied him with a discerning eye, and Seko felt himself squirm beneath the gaze.

"Something I can help you with? Vel?" He asked more for himself than her. Her glare was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Perhaps." She pursed her lips and scanned the room. "You said you touched those gewels and its energy went into you, right?"

"That's about what happened," Seko said. The image of the gaping maw of death swam through his mind, but he managed to shove it aside. "What about it?"

"Did that energy feel different to you?" Reeves asked, clearly picking up on his partners' idea, "Something strange about it?"

"Not especially, felt rather normal. OF COURSE IT FELT STRANGE!" Seko nearly howled the words. "What kind of question is that. I told you all that it was a unique feeling, hadn't I?"

"You did," Reeves said fumbling, "But that was before..."

"Before?" Seko asked

"Before we found the sphere." Vel said. "Put your hand on it. Don't worry, you won't commune with it unless you actively try."

Hesitantly, Seko stepped up to the sphere and placed his right palm on its surface. It felt unnaturally smooth, and cold. It seemed to drain all the heat he had within him, sucking it out in mere moment's breath. He yanked his hand away, and an arc of green energy flickered from his finger into the sphere. Colors within it bounced and popped, alighting the room like fireworks and spilling colors everywhere.

"What in the world..."

The sphere shifted in place and spun, bits folding in on itself before stopping suddenly and freezing. Lights vanishing as fast as they had appeared. The trio were left stunned and partially blinded by the instant exposure to projected light, something none had expected from the metal object.

"Did it react..."

"To your energy, yes." Vel said, "Or the energy leftover from when you made contact with the gewels."

"Maybe this thing needs more of that energy then? Whatever its doing may result in that key the journal was talking about."

"Where are the rest of the gewels?" Reeves asked

"In a chest by the shore," Seko said. He ran to the door and shouted for Yan, who came rushing up from his seat close by.

"What?" He asked, journal held in his hand. He hadn't let the thing out of his sight since he'd gotten it.

"We may have the key, or how to make it. We need those gewels though." Seko said

"Well then, get them!" He shouted, "Don't wait for me,"

"I need a hand," He said. Yan gave a stupefied look and shook his head.

"That's it? Just ask Eado."

"Ask me what?" Eado, the large man in question, was already in route carrying a large chest of jangling Gewels that they'd recovered from the Trireme. "I could hear the argument from the shore."

"Sorry bout that." Seko muttered. Eado shrugged and pushed past him into the hut. Yan following.

Each person took a spot in the room until they had formed a strange semicircle around the sphere, currently in its half changed form. Seko swung open the chest and pushed it closer towards the sphere. When nothing happened he pushed it closer still. Yet nothing continued and Seko was left with a group of four very confused individuals around him.

"What?" he asked

"I could ask the same," Yan said, "What, did you think that would work?"

"I don't know." Seko said. "Just grab a Gewel then and touch it to the Sphere."

"Why not just hold them and touch it?" Reeves asked

"No, I think we should try Sekos way." Said Vel laughing, "More chance of failure that way."

"Thank you very much," Seko said.

They each pulled a Gewel from the chest and placed them, one by one, against the sphere. Each small crystal's glow grew triple in shine until they each snapped dark and were left empty. Seko dropped his back into the chest, the others joining suite, as the sphere returned to its motions of spinning and rotating. The lights shone out again, brighter than before, and the object moved faster than their eyes could track.

After a minute of quiet spinning, they were left with a lightly green-glowing ball no larger than an apple. Yan picked up the sphere and felt it over, turning it in his hands to inspect it before placing it back in its spot.

"What do you think it does?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Captains!" one of the crewman called. The five ran out the door, Seko grabbing the sphere as he went, and rushed to the beach where the crew waited in quiet horror.

"What?" Yan asked, anger spilling into his voice "We were in the middle of something."

"The rocks, sir." One man said, raising a shaking finger towards the split peak they'd crossed.

Seko inspected the rocks again, noticing this time that small squares had been removed from either side of the smooth surface. A feature that hadn't been there before, at least not that he could remember. In actuality, he hadn't given the wall much thought as anything other than a strange sight to behold. Now, seeing the divots running up and along it, he felt a more treacherous suspicion creep into his heart.

"What about the rocks?"

"Something moved!" One man said, the panic in his voice causing it to shake.

That was something new, even Deep Mothers rarely scared their crew, so what had concerned them so dearly now Seko wondered.

"When?" Seko asked

"Just before, when the strange lights were coming from the Hut up there. We were sitting around the fire and-"

"And some big light flashed between the rocks and, it happened so fast that all we could tell was that something had moved." Another finished.

"Vel?"

The woman looked perplexed, but confusion wasn't going to stop her. She rushed to the smooth wall and felt along its side. When her hand came to a divot, she stopped and pulled back. She stared at her hand in horror and tried to wipe it on the sand, nothing came from it but she seemed more content.

"Casting stones." She said, "As ancient as the contents of the hut."

"So, what? The peak and the hut are connected?" Yan asked

"Or one is the controller for the other." Cria whispered. "Did someone grab the orb?"

"I did," Seko said, holding the object out. He hadn't noticed because of the commotion, but it was glowing slightly stronger now. "Here."

Cria took the object and cradled it with a certain care that Seko hadn't expected to see from a caster of such fury. She seemed to be almost nursing the orb as she studied it, treating it as if any false move would shatter it to pieces. She ran a hand over some lower section and a small click emanated from it. She stopped and looked at the group.

"I pushed something."

"Well," Yan motioned for her to continue. "The island holds the key, perhaps this is it? Try something."

Cria held the ball out and focused her eyes on its center. It looked as if she were commanding it to fly, and the stubborn ball was adamantly refusing to budge. She shook it twice and tried to wave it.

"Open!" She cried. She made the exaggerated motions of casting that early students without proper form needed to make, trying everything in her power to elicit a reaction. "Nothing."

"Let me try." Yan said. She tossed him the orb, and he tried similarly focusing on it.

Yan didn't wave the orb or go through the pretend motions of trying to cast, instead he studied it and tried to read it for clues. He shifted his attention between the journal and the object before tossing it to Vel and exclaiming, "This isn't it."

"It isn't it?" Seko asked, "What do you mean? It took the magic, it has to be it. It connects with the island!"

"There's nothing in the journal about an orb."

"Maybe he hid bits of the truth so that others wouldn't find it." Vel offered

"Others like who?" Yan asked

"Like those that would steal his journal," Cria shot

"Excuse me, but when we found you, you were up to the same thing. Aside from the being beaten to death part." Yan snapped, "You gave me the journal!"

"I didn't have much of a choice now, did I?" She shouted

"You ungrateful little," Yan sneered and spat towards her feet "We should have left you in those chains to-"

A fist, swung from Cria, drove itself into Yans jaw and sent his sprawling backwards, dropping the ball into the sand. She pounced on him and began striking one shot after another, dealing each blow to his face or chest. Yan forced her off and swung high, striking her waiting arm.

"You bastard!" Cria cried, "You bastard! This is all your fault!"

"Oh, easy talk from the one we rescued!" Yan said, pointing an accusing finger her direction, "You crazy bitch, we saved you!"

"Easy everyone!" Vel raised her arms to try and calm the growing tensions. "We still made it to the island, perhaps there's something else here?"

"Shut it you two-bit spell slinger," Yans anger was seething now, infecting every word he spoke and bolstering them with that venom. "You're no better than that whore,"

"Gods name Yan!" Seko called "Calm yourself!"

"Damn you, you waste of flesh and blood! You're no pirate, you've no manner of concern for this venture anyhow! Failure would suit you just fine, wouldn't it?" Yan looked ready to throw another punch, preparing to swing on anyone who would dare to attempt a move towards him.

"Yan," Seko tried to speak, but Yan cut him off again

"You each are bastards, I'll find this treasure on the island, with or without you!" He stormed off towards the hut without a soul in tow.

"Yan!" Seko called after his brother but felt no urge to chase him, he had made his choice now. He'd simply forgive him when he realized his mistake, the man was just angry and annoyed at the lack of instant gratification.

"What about the rock face?" Reeves asked. Vel was helping Cria to her feet as he asked. Seko looked to the stone face and then to the orb stuck in the sand, and turned away.

"I'm leaving it for tonight. We can try again in the morning. For now, just make sure the crew is taken care of, otherwise spend your time studying the papers." He gave the group a nod and started down the sand beach, alone and wishing it wasn't to stay that way.