"And this goes here!" Fiviana picked up a puzzle piece and placed it into the right spot.
Aylin joined in and started placing puzzle pieces with her, while I stood there watching them. That was when someone came by and handed me a letter.
I sighed and placed the letter on the counter, assuming it was something about my grades, then sat down to relax.
Meanwhile, underground Nautilus
Purple linens and bows brushed against the wooden floor as the president of the underground draped clothes over her shoulders.
"Shall we get going, Malitigax?"
She flipped her hair back, and the sound of her high heels striking the wooden floor echoed throughout the room.
"If you weren't so obsessed with looking good, you might have had time to develop that personality of yours," he sighed, digging his hands into his pockets.
"Say whatever you want, Professor. I couldn't care less. I will take my sweet time."
Professor Malitigax rolled his eyes, only to notice that the president was still standing in front of the door, unmoving.
She crossed her arms and turned toward him with an annoyed expression.
"Where is the courtesy of opening the door for a lady?"
"You are no lady," he said, opening the door for himself and closing it immediately behind him.
The president used a tissue and gently pressed it against the door handle before pushing it open. Malitigax was already in the office, handling paperwork. His green eyes looked exhausted and overworked, yet he insisted he did not need sleep.
"Mati, have Dino or Zerstörer caused any more disturbances underground?"
"I have already told you, my name is not Mati. It is Malitigax. M-A-L-I-T-I-G-A-X. If it isn't so hard to remember."
"It just sounds cuter with Mati!" She raised a finger, trying to sound convincing.
Malitigax shot her a side-eye, rubbed his face with the palm of his hand, and continued his paperwork.
The president sat down in her black, comfortable chair and looked at the pile of documents on her desk. Her eyes dimmed with hope as she picked up her pen. She dragged the closest paper toward herself and readied the pen in her hand.
She stopped and carefully read through the letter. Then she slammed her hands down on the desk.
"ARE THEY INSANE?" she screamed so loudly that her colleague beside her covered his ears.
Malitigax sat up, annoyed, picked up the paper, and read it.
"Such insipidity." He crumpled the paper and burned it with loxes.
Back on the surface
Several jigsaw puzzles had been glued together and hung on the wall of our clubroom. Fiviana said her farewells, leaving only Aylin and me in the room. The letter I had received earlier remained untouched.
Aylin stood in front of the puzzles she had spent hours on and apologized for her sudden outburst that day. She admitted she did not know what came over her. She sat down beside me and started fiddling with her fingers.
"I have always loved the moon. It fills me with an emotion nothing else can. But there came a day when I could no longer gaze into the night sky. My family was pretty dysfunctional," she said with a bitter laugh.
"Well, after my mother passed away, I was alone. You remember when I told you how I got recruited by the Captain? There was a period between that which I never told you about. I was…" She trembled as she struggled to force the words out.
I interrupted her by placing my hand over her mouth.
"You don't need to tell me that," I said, shaking my head.
Aylin leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. When she sat up again, she thanked me gratefully before asking what we should have for dinner.
We left the clubroom and went out into the city.
Aylin pointed at the menu and asked if I wanted to try the Nautilus seafood plate. The restaurant was calm and quiet, lit with dim lighting. As we enjoyed our meals, the water in my cup began to ripple. I looked under the table and saw that Aylin was not touching it. Then the entire restaurant began to shake.
Aylin grabbed the table for support. The swinging chandeliers jingled violently.
Once the shaking stopped, we went outside to assess the situation.
"Are earthquakes a normal phenomenon in Nautilus?" I asked.
"Not that I remember," she replied, trying to recall if she had experienced one before.
"Aylin, where is the ocean?" I asked, pointing toward the shore.
The water had completely receded, leaving only black sand stretching as far as the eye could see. Curious bystanders approached the beach to observe the exposed ocean floor.
Aylin suddenly grabbed my hand and started running.
I planted my feet and stopped her, asking what was going on.
"There will be a massive wave. This happened when I was onboard the Serenade Mary. A city was engulfed by a massive tidal wave when the shoreline stretched far beyond normal."
The color of her soul shifted into blue. I trusted her judgment and let her guide me to higher ground. Minutes passed without anything happening.
The people of Nautilus continued their lives, completely oblivious to the impending danger.
Standing in the bustling coastal market was the Captain. She ordered two chicken skewers from a grilling stand. The merchant handed them to her, but before she could take them, a child ran past and both skewers vanished.
They stood in silence for a moment before the vendor prepared two more. This time, she received them, but as she reached for her pouch to pay, a hooded figure rushed past her. When she looked down, her leather purse was gone.
She reached into her pocket, tossed the man a golden coin, grabbed the skewers, and disappeared into the crowd. The merchant examined the coin closely and nearly fainted. It was an Imperial coin, issued only to the wealthiest. One such coin could set a person up for life.
Sekito bit into the meat and tore it from the skewer.
"Man, this rocks as usual."
She walked into an alley, still eating, and turned a few corners before spotting two children counting the money they had stolen.
One was a small girl, the other a boy around fifteen. When the boy saw her, he pulled out a knife and pointed it at her.
"Don't come any closer!"
He shielded the girl with his arm.
"How about you return what isn't yours."
"How about you scram before I make your blood splatter across these walls!" the boy yelled.
Sekito sighed and approached slowly.
"Brother, wait! I re—"
"Quiet, Cecelia."
"Pointing a weapon at someone means you intend to take their life. Here I am, standing before you. Do you intend to take my life?"
She stood mere centimeters from the knife.
"I'm not messing around, you crazy woman! Back off before I shank you!"
Sekito examined the dull, rusty blade and grabbed it.
"Remember this color well."
She clenched her fist, and blood pooled onto the dirty cement floor.
The boy's face twisted in fear and disgust. He dropped the knife immediately. Sekito lifted her hand, examined the cut, then snatched the pouch from the girl's hands and walked away.
The two children watched her leave, a trail of blood behind her.
Then they noticed a pile of coins left behind.
"This is enough for us to live for a month… Brother, isn't this great?"
They grabbed the coins and ran after Sekito, following the blood trail.
When they exited the alley, they froze. It was nighttime, despite it being midday. Screams echoed as people fled. Looking up, they understood why. A massive tidal wave, towering like skyscrapers and spanning the horizon, rushed toward them.
The sister tried to run, but her brother stood frozen, staring at a lone figure on the docks. The same crazy woman.
The girl hugged her brother tightly and closed her eyes.
"How bothersome," Sekito muttered.
A white flower bloomed on her shoulder, its roots spreading down her arm.
"O tides, I who possess the will of the ocean, I who quell the storms, I who shall be your rain for your end, command you!"
She raised her arm, fingers curved like a claw. Roots spread further across her body as more flowers bloomed from her neck to her cheek.
She stepped forward and nearly fell from the docks, but rings of water lifted her feet. She rose into the air, facing the tsunami.
Sekito Sakaranai raised her arm and commanded the tides to return. The lox-embedded portions of her clothes glowed pure white as loxes surged through her body.
"Calmness to quell. I'm here."
The two children, thieves mere moments ago, now stared in awe at the Aeon of Serenity.
Rings of water formed around Sekito as symbols of Serenity appeared beneath her. Loxes flooded the city as the enormous wave rose into the sky, trapped within a massive sphere. The water funneled into Sekito's palm. Her arm snapped under the weight, yet she forced it upward again, dispersing the loxes across Nautilus as torrential rain poured over the city.