Thursday, January 20, 2022 - Greenwich Village, New York City, United States

Ella fingered the empty pendant at her neck and took it off. The bear tooth long being gone — absorbed in a moment of panic and vanity

School would be starting up again soon and she was debating about taking a leave. It would look terrible as a first year, but she was pretty sure her life was going in a strange direction soon enough.

Ella had just emerged from the bathroom to get dressed when Jade came in, letting a cold blast of air in.

“Turn on the news…”

Ella tightened the towel wrapped around her and flipped open her laptop and quickly jumped over to the Reuters news site. The headline was about the mysterious island that had appeared and disappeared right before Christmas. People had called it a hoax just two weeks ago. But now - it was back and there was live footage.

A reporter from Cape Town was reporting live, his Afrikaner accent making her need to pay closer attention, as they were heading down a decrepit marble hallway with indeterminate pictographs lining the walls. The camera lights reflected off the damp walls, so recently emerged from the waters.

They would cut back to the anchors in the studio periodically to bring on talking heads. One was vehemently arguing this was Atlantis. An expert from Washington was talking about the strange tectonics of Madagascar. A third started on how nations were already staking out claims to the land. China, India and the US were already sending aid to the Seychelles and Mauritius and coastal Madagascar in their bids to stake out influence. South Africa, India, and several other nations had already tried to claim the archipelago which extended along the border of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

The anchor cut away from the latest discussion, “we are going back to our team on the ground, they seem to have discovered something.”

The scene went black for a moment before a randomly pixelated scene appeared, the reporter’s voice coming in and out…

“We have come to an opening at the end of this hallway into a large lobby like area. There is a light further down, something crystalline.”

The camera stabilized a bit and she could see the object, an object that appeared to float in the air above a pedestal, shining that same crystalline hue of Ella’s eyes.

It was a gold bracelet and ring combo, of delicate gold strands and crystalline stones. And Ella knew, she knew, this was something of Ekerri, some piece of his magic and divine right of rule. A part of his regalia.

The reporter, having consulted with the archaeologist on his team announced, “we will be entering the room now. This jewel is quite extraordinary. A true treasure of the ages. The light reflecting off has a certain vividness I cannot describe. Like everything feels more real…”

He turned back to the room, the camera light reflecting off his jacket but the glow from the bracelet still shining around him. They moved into the room slowly, reverently.

And something from the high ceiling above, something dark and fast moved quickly and tore through his torso and ripped him in half. The camera stood still for a moment before it dropped to the ground and pieces of viscera and limbs started falling in front of it before the screaming began. Before the camera lens itself was splashed with too much blood for anyone to see anything.

The scene cut back to the anchor and Jade burst in through the thin separator holding her phone in her hand where she had been streaming.

“Shit… shit… shit…” Jade whispered. Her eyes were crying and she looked from her phone to Ella and back again. As if expecting to see that crown appear on her again.

Ella had dropped her towel in shock, but pulled it back up again and ran over to her dresser and quickly tossed on a loose shirt and pants.

“Hey… it is okay. Right?” Ella felt a bit numb if anything. That bracelet was hers. She felt it. But Jade was a pin drop away from bolting. Ella sat down on her bed and patted mattress besides her.

Jade hesitated, oh so briefly, but stumbled over and leaned onto Ella who put her arm around her in a side hug. Jade leaned her head in and Ella used her other hand to brush Jades hair out of the way a bit and then continued to brush her hair with her hand, like her father used to do, so long ago.

“Caitani,” she whispered, “That was… part of what is going on with you? Right?” She was stumbling over the words.

Ella took a deep breath. “Yes. I think it is one of the things I just learned about - a royal bit of jewelry it seems.”

“And that thing? That killed them?”

“Not a clue…” admitted Ella.

They sat there and watched the anchor panic as no response came from the mic, only slipping wet sounds of something feeding.