ă€ŠShattered Ocean/Broken Dreamsă€‹


 Rainy Days

    "The sky is darker than usual today." I was muttering to myself as I walked along the pavement leading to the rust-stained building that we are forced to call a shipyard.

    Life here in the Meruem Dockyards is pretty uneventful, except for the usual rainy days, as well as the common hurricane here and there. So, in other words, it was boring. Grabbing my bucket and mop, I headed towards the newly brought-in tow ship from the Netherlands. Somehow the Dutch made something that was actually interesting. Suddenly, I felt a large, rough hand slamming on shoulder.

    "Kurtis, stop dadreamin'' about during yer shift. Get ta scrubbin'' boy." Tipping his plaid cap, the massive build of the boatswain for my ''janitorial division'' revealed himself with a wide grin. Naturally, a 6''5 or so Scotsman would give anyone a scare, so I acted accordingly and leapt away from the bear of a man.

    "What are ye'' actin'' like tat for, boy? Get up there and do yer job, rookie!" The man that just ordered me to get up the ropes and clean the deck is Sir Lewis Oliver, the 7th. He would never let anyone be introduced to him any other way. After leaving this side of the harbor for whatever duty he needed to perform, or rather, whoever he felt like smacking in the face to be more precise, I heaved the mop and bucket on my shoulder and began climbing onto the deck.

    As I was climbing up the side of the fairly big ship, I looked to my side and stared at the designation of the vessel I was assigned to.

    KM Dauntless 001

    It was spelt out in big, white, letters that really contrast that light blue hue of the paint. I then continued to climb till I was nearing the edge of the deck, when I felt I hand grab on to mine. Looking up, I saw a feminine face staring at mine. I grabbed the edge of the deck with my free hand as woman heaved me up the ship.

    "Thanks Sis. You really didn''t have to do that." I spoke up as I settled the bucket on the wooden floor.

    "No need. I was coming down anyway. Careful not to trip on anymore planks this time around." The woman in question cheekily waved off my comment as he crouched down and grabbed the rope with her gloved hand.

    "I''ll try not to. Just don''t come home with more burnt palms." I responded to her reply as I dipped the mop onto the water filled side of the bucket. I then took a small bottle of cleaning agent from the back of my belt, and poured the right amount onto the floor as I began to mop the grimy, wooden deck.

    "Since when was I the one who had scalds trying to look cool?" I made one last snark at my sister, who had already gone down to the pier at the bottom. I smiled off handedly as I continued to wipe the floor clean.

    <hr>

    On the pier, the young woman walked onwards to the maintenance office, as she struggled to hold the clipboard filled with papers in her arms, filled with stacks of necessary paperwork for the reworking of the Dauntless come this fall. The rainy season has begun anyway, so there would be time for the contractors to focus on retrofitting the old tow ship to it''s ideal working capacity.

    I adjusted the clipboard and slid it under my arms, then I proceeded to hide all the numerous pens and markers in my pocket (which I secretly used to draw graffiti on the ships my brother is working on, just to annoy him) and knocked on the door to the maintenance office three times.

    I then began to wait until someone answered the door. The chief engineer, a tall, 40 something woman, answered the door and invited me in, as per usual. Taking note of the many frames scattered about, I went over to the chair in front of the desk and laid down the paperwork for the renovation of several utility vessels and the retrofitting of three ships.

    "You know, most people take care of handling these things." The chief chided as she browsed through the papers, her glasses lowered a bit, spinning a pen with her free hand every so often.

    "Most people have sticks so far up their asses that they treat paper as if it''s the most important thing in the world." I offhandedly replied as I took my phone out of my pocket. I then opened up the local news app to look at the current events, opening up different mobile idle games whenever I felt like it.

    "Technically, paper is important." The chief smiled a bit at her favorite colleague, arranging the paperwork into a neat little stack to the side of the desk. She took out several documents and looked through them, carefully picking out several pieces and laying them in front of the me. She looked at the pile and arranged them neatly, before placing them in my clipboard.

    "Wrong. It''s not the paper that''s important, it''s the contents. Gotta read the fine print, am I right?" I grinned as I proceeded waited for the chief to give out further instructions as for who to deliver the documents to. Upon receiving her orders, I began to snatch whatever I needed and quickly texted my brother. I then stood up and went outside of the office.

    <hr>

    Back on the Dauntless, the deck crew slowly began to make the old tow ship just a little more bearable for the maintenance unit and the engineers who were set to work on the ship in the following months. However, there were some things that really confused them for the rest of the clean up operation. Kurtis was quick to erase any graffiti, however, knowing that his sister was usually the prime suspect whenever he sees one.

    "Hey, Kurtis! You should tell your little rascal of a relative to stop leaving these things on the walls! Had to repaint it every time, you know!?" One of the men barked at me from across the deck, scrubbing hard at a small drawing of an anime girl. At least that''s what I think it is.

    "Sorry! I''ll get the detergent!" I shouted back as I hurriedly ran to the back of the vessel. Thankfully, we made short work of the external parts, and most of the crew were already tired from hauling most of the machinery that are going to be used next week onto the deck of the ship. Since I wasn''t that tired, I went ahead and looked for Sir Lewis.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    As I went and dropped down the deck using the rope we use to climb up and down. We would use the lift, but considering how it was current being used to haul machinery to the other vessels in the port, it''s unlikely that we would have enough time for it to actually be used for the Dauntless. I walked along the harbour, looking for the boatswain, and asking people as I went by.

    "Ah, Sir Lewis? He is currently onboard the Exploration. It''s the one with the funny looking island." I furrowed my brows in confusion. "You know? The one that had the massive bridge protruding forward from the main tower?" Oh. That one.

    I thanked the man as I hurriedly ran towards Pier 34. We nicknamed the ship The Surprised, due to it looks like a surprised face from certain angles, so this shouldn''t be hard to find, besides, I could just ask for directiond. All while walking, I suddenly heard my phone vibrate inside my left pocket. I checked it, and saw that it was only the notifications for the mobile games I downloaded. I glared disapprovingly at it and was about to clear my notification bar, when I saw a message that my sister sent me. I opened it and began reading whatever she wants me to do.

    <hr>

    On a car en route to the Ellison Metal Works Building, a woman received a text message while waiting to arrive at her destination. She opened up the message and looked at the contents.

    "Alright sis. If I find something out of place, I''ll contact you immediately. Tell me if there is something that can be done about it, or if I should leave it alone and contact the authorities. Stay safe! ">." I smiled at the message and closed my phone. Hopefully this will be an uneventful meeting. I don''t really need anymore idiots running around her job. My brother is enough.

    I looked outside and stared at the coastline, watching ships in the distance as they did whatever ships do at this time of day. I don''t really know, since I''m just an assistant. Hopefully Kurtis finishes his shift early.

    <hr>

    As the sun rose high in the sky, a young man is seen running across the pier, looking at all the designated numbers to the left of him. As he saw the right number, he dashed towards it.

    ''Jackpot!'' I thought to myself as I climbed the staircase leading to the deck of the Exploration. I hastily looked around me the moment I stepped foot on the deck of the ship, and asked a random cadet if he knew where Sir Lewis was.

    "Dunno. Last saw around the back. He was talking to the Admiral." The cadet then went back to doing his duty. I noted his words and ran towards the back of the ship, avoiding people as much as possible. I did accidentally bump into an officer, but I doubt that he noticed it. The incredulous look on the cadet behind him was probably just my imagination.

    I arrived at the back of the ship and looked around me to see if Sir Lewis was there. I went over the aft and stared at the crowd below me. That''s when I felt the thuds coming my way.

    "Boy! Ah'' heard that ye'' were lookin'' fer me! What''s it that ye'' need, Boy?" The large man walked towards me and stopped at my side.

    "I just wanted to know if we were permitted to enter the Dauntless, Sir. For cleaning duties." I composed myself and gave out my request towards the boatswain. He studied my look for a brief moment before laughing.

    "Why do ye'' need mah permission, Boy!? Yer a crew member! Ya don'' need mah permission to tidy up that hunk-a-junk! Just go and enter tha damn thing!" Sir Lewis then took my shoulders, picked me up and pushed me towards the staircase. "Just don''t trip on yer way down!" He added as he left the railing to go and talk to another officer. I went ahead and headed back to the Dauntless. It was uneventful, save for the chase with the officer on deck. Had to buy a hot dog once I reached the harbour.

    Running back to the Dauntless, I took the time to pace myself and continue eating my little snack. As I reached the port holding the tow ship, I finished my hot dog and proceeded to climb the ropes. I raced to my mop and bucket and threw dirty water overboard, to the ocean. I refilled my bucket with some tap water to the side of the island''s walls, near an LGMD.

    Now that I have permission from the Scottish boatswain to clean up the innards of the ship, I took my cleaning tools, a military issued handgun and a flashlight, I carefully opened the steel doors of the ship and made my way in. The red dimly-lit corridors were a bit unnerving, but they did hold some significant feeling to them. It was as if the ship had sunk and risen so many times. What could possibly had happened to give it the atmosphere?

    "Maybe this used to be a sunken ship?" I shook his head in exasperation at the thought, and so I began to wipe every walls, every pipe and lights clean, mopping the floors as I see fit. Sis told me to look out for anything out of the ordinary as well. This is the ship that I could be assigned to, so I took a little extra time to memorize the locations of different rooms, as well as the layout of each corridor. One extra reason why I decided to volunteer for such a, ''Daunting'' task.

    ˇ­

    That sounded better in my head, and it would only exist in my mind for as long as I am alive.

    "Jeez. This eerie atmosphere is really getting to me, huh?" He supposed he could deal with a few jokes to light up the place. I focused my senses and continued to walk through each hallway with ease. For a supposedly old ship, the worst thing I came across is grime. It''s disgusting, but at least it wasn''t the maggot infested rats. God I hate those.

    I continued to venture deeper into each corridor, searching every nook and cranny for any signs of grime I could clean. After making sure that he had each hallway finished, I turned around and started to walk towards the entrance, thinking I should be done with my cleaning duty for today, when I heard a low, but noticeable sound in one of the rooms at the lower, darker floors.

    "What the hell!?" I whipped around to see what it could be, bringing out my pistol, as well as my flashlight. I had intended to leave out the lower floors, which could possibly be the boiler rooms and the engine rooms, to the others, once they cleaned every other room. I never really liked the smell and temperature of those particular places. I slowly went down the stairs, focused for any other noise but the sound I heard earlier.

    "Hello? Is anyone there? Do you have clearance to enter this vessel?" I spoke out to the darkness, hoping that it was just a random crew member that got stuck here. I don''t really want to deal with any ''Things'', or any ''Aliens'', or ''Mermen''. I had enough of those in my Netflix series.

    Then I heard it again. It was still low, but the sound was loud enough for me to track where it could me. I readied my phone, putting my flashlight underneath my gun. Sis did say that if I find anything out of the ordinary, I should tell her.

    I slowly explored the bottom portion of the ship, and patted myself on the back once I recognized that it really is the boiler room. I looked at the massive array of furnaces that we''re placed side to side. I took note of each and performed extensive investigation into each one, just in case if there really was an alien creature hiding in thing. I pointed the gun at the opening of one furnace and cocked the hammer. I waited for any movement, before I looked inside to see that there really were nothing. I exhaled and continued further into the back of the ship.

    It resounded again.

    I carefully planned my steps as to not alert anything, but i still held my gun at the ready. I feel like I''m in a thriller, and that Michael Jackson is gonna come out of nowhere and Hee-Hee at me. It was a stupid game, but it was fun. I proceeded to enter the engine room, and looked at the array of cranks inside. I feel like the sound was coming from the very back, so I checked the whole room to see if nothing was out of place.

    When I checked the back portion, I saw the origin of that low buzzing noise. I stared hard at the currently active console and wondered what it does. I opened my phone to see if Sis knew about this.

 Stormy Nights

    <hr>

    In 9th floor of the Ellison Metal Works Headquarters, a woman has just stormed out of the room. With angry scowl written all over her face, she walked out of the building with her bag and clipboard with her. She went and grabbed her phone whilst waiting for a taxi cab to come pick her up. Dialing the number of her boss, she rang the phone till someone picked it up. It really didn''t matter now.

    Soon, the phone did pick up, and thankfully it was who she was expecting.

    "Ughˇ­ How did it go, Meredith? Good? Bad? Little bit of both?" The tired voice of the chief rang on my ears. I really feel bad for her. She must be so tired from all the problems she puts up with. My pity for her aside, I had to tell her of what happened.

    "Absolutely. Terrible. They didn''t even consider our deal! They just stared at the documents and handed it back to me! Worst of all, apparently they are moving out of the island!" I vented as a taxi cab soon came close to my lane. I raised my arm and called it''s attention, hoping to get out of this place as soon as possible.

    "What do you mean? Did they just, throw you out or something?" The tired AND confused chief questioned the events that took place. I can''t blame her. If I''m hearing this, I probably would be really confused too. I opened the door of the taxi cab and headed inside. I opened up the news app on my phone to see if there was something that could have influenced what occurred earlier.

    After finding no real headline, my pent up frustration grew and the only thing on my mind was to scream, "YES!!! THEY THREW ME OUT OF THE GODDAMN BUILDING!!!" So I did. I screamed at the phone. I know I''m not in the place to be screaming at my boss, but I''m just feeling so frustrated right now.

    "ˇ­ That''s a bit harsh. Did they have any reason to do so?" My voice sounded very disappointed about the entire situation. To be honest, who wouldn''t?

    "Well, apparently not for them! This is the 27th european country we tried to make deals with! I swear, I''m gonna move to Bath Iron Works if this keeps up. Sorry for bursting on you." I apologized, like any normal human being should. I took out my clipboard and wondered what went wrong. I scanned and skimmed and nothing was out of place. I tried. I really did.

    Why won''t they accept the deal? At the most basic, it''s simple: We provide the resources, they provide the docks. So why can''t they just agree to it!?

    Slovenia. Bosnia. Libya. The Israeli States. Greece. Turkey. Montenegro. Albania. The African States.

    The only saving grace here is that France, Italy, Egypt and Spain all agreed. Everywhere else just flat out rejected the offer. Why?

    "Don''t be. I can understand the stress you''re feeling right now. Alright, how about this, after you come back, we can go for a milk tea. My treat." The chief''s voice reassured me and calmed me down just a little. Maybe their just busy, or they have plans they don''t want to disclose. Plus, the milk tea is promising at least. I smiled a bit and wiped my eyes. Thank God for my iron will. I was so close to breaking down in that office.

    "Thank you, mam. I''ll talk to you later. Bye." I hanged up on her and looked at my phone screen. Just as I was about to put it away, the cab driver, whom I absolutely forgot about spoke up.

    "Tough week, missus?" The old, 50 something years old man let out a tiny grin while looking at me from the rear view mirror. Obviously, I feel extremely ashamed at the fact that I just shouted inside of an old man''s cab.

    "Oh god, I''m so sorry sir! I was just so-" Before I could possibly finish my apology, the driver hushed me.

    "Don''t worry missus. I''ve been driving for a long time. Ain''t my first rodeo. At least you didn''t bring out a handgun in my car." The old man laughed mirthfully, skillfully sticking to the road whilst making conversation with me, a trainwreck of a 27 year old. I still feel ashamed and the urge to speak up and apologise again was very strong inside of my mind. But, as if reading my thoughts, the old man spoke up again.

    "Nope. Don''t apologise missus. I can understand your predicament. I was businessman once. My beautiful baby girl inherited the company. It''s in good hands, that I know much. Listen up, Missus, no matter how much baseballs life throws at you, you gotta learn to bat and hit a home run at least once." The old man chuckles while talking, and before I know it, my anger and stress over the previous event had all but disappeared. I felt a smile overcome my face and I felt a little less sad.

    "Thanks for understanding, sir. I''m still sorry for making a noise inside your car." I fully apologised and I felt more comfortable.

    "My car? Oh no, missus, this ain''t my car." The old man said incredulously. What?

    "What." I uttered.

    "Missus, this car is my daddy''s! All the way from its creation, it''s been a inheritance for a long time. Tried to give it to my girl, but she would have any of it. Says things like ''I''m not worthy pops.'' which is totally horse crap. Anyone who can take whatever hand life deals them is deserving of this car." The old man explained in detail. If this car was his father''s, thenˇ­ Wow! This car is made during the Grand War! That''s old!

    "Wow! How are you maintaining it for quite some time, sir!?" I asked, surprised at the revelation myself. Such an old vehicle would break down before it even hits the double digits! How''d the old man keep it so nice after all these years?If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Missus, this car is an ideal. As long as this car is running, so is the blood of the Harolds is alive, kiddo! This ain''t no ordinary car, this is a top of the line Buick Riviera!" The old man happily exclaimed, as we passed by the final stop before Meruem, I asked the old man one more question.

    "What''s your name, sir? Just a question." I respectfully asked, readying my bags and arranging my papers. I learnt a lot from the old man, so the least I can do I ask his name.

    "The name''s Geralt Frederikson Harold." The old man replied. Geralt, huh? Well, I''m certainly gonna remember that for a while. As I exited the car, I noticed that the car was indeed a Riviera. They must be rich back then. Also, to use a luxury car as a taxi cab? Incredible. As I took my bags, the old man took one last look at me, lowering the windows as he stared me in the eye.

    "Jr."

    Then he raised his window and drove off.

    What an interesting man. I hope I get to meet him and his family someday. They seem nice and influential. Plus, the man seemed really nice.

    As I turned around, I heard my phone ring again.

    "Ugh, it''s probably chief again." I thought to myself as I picked it up. To my surprise, it wasn''t the chief. It was my brother.

    "What in the world?" I asked myself as I accepted the call. "Hello? What do you need, Lee?" I spoke up, hoping that this isn''t a prank call like the last was.

    ˇ­

    "Huh?"

    <hr>

    Back at the Dauntless, in the very depths of the old tow ship, a young man is trying desperately to contact his sister as a low ringing resounded through the whole engine room. It was starting to hurt his ears, and his eyes too. He can''t really do anything about it since the ringing seemed to be coming from a console. He had no idea how to operate the machine, as well as the instruction his sister told him earlier.

    "Come on, pick up, will you?" I slowly began to feel aggravated by the situation. I can''t just destroy the console. It might be an emergency switch, which would prove catastrophic if it was put out of commission. So I did the only thing I could do.

    Wait.

    It was frustrating when the person who''s supposed to give you instructions is not responding to your call, then there''s the problem with the damn console, which seemed to be getting more and more painful every passing minute. Worse, the intervals between the rings were also getting shorter with each ring, so I had to solve this quick, or else I might turn up like that guy in Aliens.

    It has been quite a few minutes now, and the ringing is physically hurting me. The low frequency must be affecting my thoughts. I have to solve it, and fast.

    If my sister''s not answering, then I''ll just do it myself.

    I picked up the phone and called my sister one more time, before placing on a table next to the console. I inspected it to the best of my abilities. From my observation, the console appears to be a siren of some sort. I affixed my hand to side of the case to support myself. I looked at the different buttons and tried to find a way to somehow turn this thing off.

    As I examined the box, I noticed that it was bulging from the center. When I felt it, my hands shook. I also felt the sound travel up my arms. That bulge is probably the speaker. Which means that the off button, or at least the volume changer is somewhere to the side.

    As I tried to feel for anything in particular that might stand out, I failed to notice that someone has answered to phone. In my desperate situation to stop the ringing, which has devolved to nothing but a continuous background noise, only worse, I punched the speaker. In doing so, I shocked my hand and I fell to the ground because of the pain.

    I tried to support myself using my other hand and stood up, now finally hearing my phone faintly chiming it''s alarm. I picked it up and placed it close to my ear.

    "Hello?"

    Back at the entrance to Meruem, a young woman was racing across the harbour to the edge of the port. The woman haphazardly dashed through the crowd, who are in a state of confusion looking the woman almost run through a massive, bulky marine.

    "What the hell just happened!? What was that!?" I screamed at the phone whilst sprinting towards the Dauntless. Whatever that sound was, that wasn''t natural. I looked through my bag and shoved the clipboard inside of it. I took a turn towards the development offices and slammed the doors open.

    "I don''t know!" His breath was labored. Something was definitely wrong. "All I know is that I heard a low ringing in the very back of the engine room. I tried to stop it, but it had no buttons, so I punched it! I looked like a siren of some sorts, or a telephone, hell, I don''t even know anymore!" He seems to be clutching a lever, judging from the creaks being made by the metal. I had to get there, and I have to confirm that there is something in the engine room.

    I ran through the drawers and look through all the ships labeled with D.

    Defiant, Daring, Demise, Denarius, Delaware, Deen,

    There! I found it!

    KM Dauntless 001.

    I looked at the foot notes, I stared hard at the blueprint, I double checked the equipment list, the new and old machinery, everything. But all of them didn''t feature a siren. The Dauntless is a Tow Ship. I didn''t have a speaker, I didn''t have Telephone.

    There were no Sirens in the engine room.

    I bolted out of the room, clutching my bag and my phone with me, as I raced towards the edge of the harbor, where the Dauntless resides. I quickly removed my gloves and climbed up the rope, despite the marines below me to get down from the ship. I ran towards the equipment drawer and acquired myself a handgun and a flashlight. Hastily, I kicked the doors open and ran through the corridors.

    It was only at the final flight of stairs that led down to the boiler room did I meet my brother.

    "Charlotte..?"

    I ran down the stairs and quickly heaved his arm around my back, and placed my other arm around his waist. I hurriedly, but carefully led him up the stairs. It was only then did I notice the blood trickling down his ear, on to my vest.

    I led through the corridors as he slowly began to lose strength. No biggie, my training in the army wasn''t for nothing. I can carry much more than what my looks say. I heaved Lee over my back and carried him all the way to through the corridors. I''m quite proud of my brother. Despite the ambient lighting, the entire place seemed cleaner than expected. But enough of that.

    We were nearing the entrance to the ship, or at least I hope it was. The moment I kicked the door open, a bright light overcame my sight.

    And when it dimmed down, I noticed that the floor wasn''t made of wood, but of steel. I flinched as I heard a loud noise to the left of me. A deafening noise overcame my side, and I was almost thrown across the room.

    It was hot. It was burning.

    I opened my eyes and I saw it.

    Death.

    I tried to get up but I felt a piece of metal stopping my arm from moving. It''s painful.

    I cried, not knowing what was going on. I just wanted to see to it that my brother is safe. But I can''t move. I want to move.

    I felt arms wrap around me.

    Then I felt no more.

 Sunset Waves

    It was unusually dark today. It was the thought that kept nagging at the back of my mind, and at the front of my thoughts. It was a normal thought, if you think about it. The sky is cloudy, and there seemed to be a few super cell clouds forming in the distance. There is probably a storm coming.

    I looked down from the top of of the building. Meruem Harbour is a massive port situated south of Iceland. Many ships that have been put out of commission we''re brought here to be reused and reworked into modern utility ships. The entire port can hold up to 400 active ships at a time, with the underground drydocks hold more than a thousand normally. The harbour wasn''t really built for civil use, as much as it was the final resting place of old ships who weren''t useful to anyone anymore. As such, many nations regard the island as a museum, holding the likes of the Nagato, the Samuel Key, the New Jersey, and many more legendary vessels that are sadly out of date, far from there prime state during both the Great War and the Grand War. Because of this, the harbour reached a popularity similar to that of Pearl Harbor and the Iwo Jima Memorial Harbour.

    It was beautiful, if I say so myself.

    The entire place was situated on a coastline mountainrange, with the buildings escalating up the side of a mountain. Because of this, the harbour looked less like a port and more like a countryside town, with a massive pier stretching out to the ocean. From the top of maintenance building, you can clearly see the rising streets and buildings to the back, as well as the array of ships running around.

    I took my cup of coffee and looked at the message that was sent to me earlier. It was from the UN Embassy situated here. Must be important.

    I looked back the documents that I filed out. The harbour is reaching it''s critical mass, which was why we needed other countries to help with redistributing the vessels laid out in this place. However, many of them rejected the offers, with excuses involving resources, lack of manpower and just general refusal, if the last 26 companies were evidently doing what Charlotte told me.

    However, despite the many problems that have been happening as of late, at least we have established a deal with at least one of the harbours in France, so there was that.

    As I paced back and forth, placing my cup of coffee on the ledge, I checked the international news for anything interesting. It was there that I found somethingˇ­ Confusing.

    The international news spoke of bonds being broken off by most of the Mediterranean countries, the Middle Eastern countries, and the Northern African States. The news headline was made last month, and there had been no more events being broadcasted from those countries. They werent even in stock market or the international currency exchange. Most of their current national information was withheld from the general public.

    As such, it was jarring to say the least. The most recent news about them was Greece breaking off from the UN, which was both confusing and intriguing. There was no reason for that specific country to break off now. Greece had paid off most, if not all of their loans to the UN, so it shouldn''t be doing something so incredulously stupid.

    So why?

    I walked back to the door of my office and went over to my desk. I should see into this.

    Sitting down on my chair, I examined the news of the last decade, looking into every article pertaining to the voided countries. I sat around and searched the wiki and most international news networks when I found something that caught my eye. It was a small article, pertaining back in 2002.

    Turkey and Greece made an alliance of sorts. There was a deal that was made by Turkey, that Greece will be given resources for them to create harbours along the Aegean Sea, as well as the Ionian isles. It was a confusing deal, one that many news site wrote off as simply another shipping company trying to make more money. I, however saw the headline and really looked into it. It was there that I found out the truth.

    There was no company involved in the signing of the documents. At least, no single business was involved. The Prime Ministers of both were the ones who agreed on the deal between Greece and Turkey. These two countries were in on the creation of island harbours. It was both intriguing, and frightening.

    In the following years, more and more Mediterranean countries were in on the agreement, hiding under the guise of their shipping companies being ambitious. There were nothing on the maps as well. The latest satellite pictures didn''t have anything to show about the harbours, but from the information I gathered, many islands had at least one port. These ports were protected by massive amounts of laser munitions that were just imported from Germany and Japan in 2012.

    The advancement of anti missile technology led to the creation of many laser weapons and defense stations. Their effectiveness ultimately led to them being bought by every single country that had half the mind to protect themselves from any attack, even if such a thought has a very low chance of happening nowadays, with the UN overseeing everything that seems to be out of line. Most of the time, at least.

    There were also many developments regarding the new electron energy shields that many scientists in Japan developed. This new invention will definitely change the way we think about science in the future, that much I can say. As for the ships, they were still in ongoing retrofit, but at least the Neo Magnesium was blending well with the design of the ships. That miraculous metal has definitely made more than a dozen engineers and architects cream their pants in delight. To think that Greece would be able to make such a strong, but light metal is very amazing, given their recent history in the world.

    "Hmmˇ­ but there is still a problem with the whole voided out information regarding those countriesˇ­ What could it mean? It was just a shipping deal, right? No need to get so serious over it." I spoke out, as I began to look through the technological advancements that happen in those countries in the past few years. I kept an eye open, looking for something that was possibly out of the ordinary.

    There wasn''t much movement from Greece until back in 2013, where they began a development stage for something called "Project Song Bird." Apparently, Project Song Bird was focused on creating stealth technologies, as well as the retrofitting of several vessels into submarine ships. The first one was understandable, but the second one was confusing. There was only one ship made, and it was codenamed "Project Diver". However, due to the complications of the project, as well as the dangers it created for the testers.

    Project Diver was then sold off to the Dutch and every news from it was thrown away.

    Sold off to the Dutch? That wasˇ­ weird.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    The next news from the allied countries was the creation of several military outposts all across the two countries. They were under the guise of police buildings, but the latest scandal involving Bosnia revealed the existence of these outposts to both the public and the UN. When asked, however, they replied that those outposts were placed there in case riots get out of control. The Prime Minister accepted the excuse and walked away.

    The next news that came in was the creation of the Neo Magnesium. Strong, Lightweight material that was not only durable, but incredibly tough. Even a small film of Neo Magnesium can stop a 9mm bullet, and a vest made out of the stuff can hold a 50.cal with surprising effectiveness. The release of this metal awarded Greece and Turkey with free reign over whatever they will do in the next few years.

    Over the course of the last decade, these two countries were pumping out research stations, mining and excavation works, development on new technologies and the creation of several new age ships, the aptly named "Alexanders". These ships were fast, strong and cheap, capable of fighting off warships and tanking hits from torpedoes and bombs. The next vessel that was created in this time was known as the "Triton". It was made to catch and vessel that sunk the to depths of the ocean floor, and bring it back to a port for repair. It was based of off the tow submarines that were made back in 1942, only more effective now that it was modernized. The design was sold off to the UN and was distributed across different countries, but the Alexander ships were kept heavily disclosed.

    Some time afterwards, there was a huge boom in the wealth of Greece and Turkey that they called it their very own "Golden Age of Development". This led many more Mediterranean countries to join the newly founded "New Unified Mediterranean Alliance." Most, if not all of the countries who joined the deal quickly integrated into the way of governing the two powers were doing, and they too, developed much more over the course of a few years.

    As the NUMA grew, so did their military might. By 2020, the entire alliance had a total of 50 carriers, 200 heavy cruisers, 300 light cruisers, and over 500 destroyers, with a massive pack of 250 submarines and over 2000 other utility boats. Their Air Force boasted a massive 5000 planes of different sizes and their military held over a million soldiers in active duty, growing by the minute. It was unknown how the Alliance became so powerful, but the world just accepted it as the backwater countries of the UN finally getting their shit together and growing into powerhouses of their own.

    As the Alliance grew increasingly wealthy, they set their resources to developing more and more mining and excavation operations over the Middle East, as well as importing a massive amount of metals from China. They also began to set oil rigs over the Mediterranean, and their demand for Oil became lower and lower. At this point in time, all of the countries began to pay off their debts to the UN and the US. As such, the pressure put on them by most countries slowly lightened, until they finally had no more loans to pay off.

    Over the course of 22 years, the Mediterranean Alliance became wealthy through their abundance of exports to other countries, as well as the support they received from every other country in the Alliance. It took these countries only 22 years to go from a group barely known countried, to an Alliance the was capable of standing up to the United Nations, including America.

    As such, the last news about the Alliance, which was made a year ago, confirmed that the following countries were part of the alliance: Greece, Turkey, The Yugoslavian States, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. Each of these countries are powerful at time and no one knows how much they''ve grown in power since then. There were no more new regarding the alliance, and as such, there were no more news regarding their refusal of our deals to distribute our ships to them.

    Giving up any hope to know just what is happening, I was ready pack my bags and leave. The sky has finally been obscured by the clouds, and the dark stormy sky has just begun to set in. Taking the clue that I should leave before the storm starts, I picked up my belongings and was about to head out of the door, when I received a phone call. It was from my colleague, of course. I answered it and tried to see how everything went.

    I already know how I went, but I can''t help letting a little flame of hope burn in me.

    "Ughˇ­ How did it go, Meredith? Good? Bad? Little bit of both?" I

    I tired spoke out as I placed the phone close to my ear. I feel bad for the poor girl. She must be so frustrated from everything that had happened over the past months.

    "Absolutely. Terrible. They didn''t even consider our deal! They just stared at the documents and handed it back to me! Worst of all, apparently they are moving out of the island!" She angrily spat out as I heard the ruffling of paper on the other side of the line. She was probably looking though her papers to see what went wrong. I know how she acts when she''s angry.

    "What do you mean? Did they just, throw you out or something?" I questioned, feeling a yawn coming from my mouth. I swallowed the urge to do so in hopes of consoling Charlotte. I really don''t want her to apologise for calling me when I''m tired to death. She''s going to apologise for venting later anyway. I do feel bad for the cab driver, if she''s in a taxi. Probably wouldn''t notice the guy.

    "YES!!! THEY THREW ME OUT OF THE GODDAMN BUILDING!!!" I took the phone a bit farther from me when I heard that frustrated grunt. I knew that she was going to scream out her lungs, but damn, it was still incredibly loud as all hell. I brought the phone closer to me again, and spoke calmly.

    "ˇ­ That''s a bit harsh. Did they have any reason to do so?" My voice sounded very disappointed about the entire situation. To be honest, who wouldn''t?

    "Well, apparently not for them! This is the 27th european country we tried to make deals with! I swear, I''m gonna move to Bath Iron Works if this keeps up. Sorry for bursting on you." I heard her pitifully speak out. I already knew what was gonna happen, and I won''t blame her for it, but damn do I feel like shit.

    "Don''t be. I can understand the stress you''re feeling right now. Alright, how about this, after you come back, we can go for a milk tea. My treat." I did my best to reassure that everything is fine. I''ve seen many of my colleagues break down after 10 rejections, the fact that this girl can take 27 and still keep going is very admirable. She really deserves a raise.

    "Thank you, mam. I''ll talk to you later. Bye." She proceeded to hang up. I smiled and took my bags. I didn''t have to stay here anyway. Besides, I''m sure that Char could find me. I won''t be going far anyway.

    I took everything else that was necessary and hid all of my important documents in the vault. Making sure that it was locked, I went ahead and climbed the building, since the rooftops is a very neat shortcut to the street above the pier. I then walked the rest of the way to the nearest tea house, hoping that they have a discount of their milk tea.

    As I was walking, however, I heard my phone ring again. When I looked at it, I saw that the caller was the head of security. I answered it and was about to question why I was called, when the panicked voice of the chief of staff loudly alarmed me.

    "LINDA! GET OUT OF THE HARBOR! THIS IS CODE 1101, 1102, 1105!!!"

    Code 1101. Code 1102. Code 1105.

    Invasion Force Spotted.

    Invasion Force Showing Signs of Hostility.

    Invasion Imminent.

    I whipped my head towards the sea so quickly that I thought my neck was gonna snap. When I turned to the sea, and almost dropped my bag. I couldn''t believe. I had to be dreaming.

    Because way off into the distance, the horizon was rougher that it should be. The stormy could possible explain it, but the storm couldn''t possibly explain how the black line seemed to be getting CLOSER.

    I felt the world turn cold. I suddenly felt chills overcome my body. My eyes began seeing things it shouldn''t notice. Everything was slow.

    I ran.

    I ran as fast as I could towards one of the emergency entrances to the inside of the underground dry dock, just as the raid sirens began to sound up one by one. It was there that everyone realized what was happening.

    Meruem Harbour was being invaded. And no one knows who''s responsible.

    I typed the passcode for the vault doors to open, and let out a loud scream, telling everyone to hurry inside. I saw other personnels do the same on different levels of the harbor. I guided as many people as I could inside the entry way. It was the only thing I could do.

    The last thing I saw before I closed the door was light. Brighter than anything.

    And then the door bursted open in front of me.

 Chapter 1- Smoky Mountains

    Fire. There was fire everywhere.

    I can hear them. The screams. So much screams.

    I felt my back ache in protest as I opened my eyes. It was hot. It was burning. There were so much fire around me. I took a free hand as I stood up. I saw red steel all around me. I was in a room.

    ''Oh god. Is this how I''ll die?'' I fearfully asked myself as I tried to correct my position. I tried to move an arm to stand up, but when I did, I felt a massive amount of pain circulate my shoulders. My entire left burnt with agonizing pain. I''ll lifted up my right arm in hopes that it was fine. Thankfully, I managed to use it enough to get my body off of the floor, which was getting hotter by the second.

    I looked around me to see if there were anyone else in this death trap. In a dash of hope and fear, I saw my sister''s body laying on the floor. I limped over to her as quickly as I could possibly go in this situation, and wrapped my good arm around her stomach. With all my remaining energy, I heaved her up and struggled to keep my balance. I felt something drip down my left ear, but I ignored it. My sister''s health and safety is more important right now.

    I carefully limped over to the control panel and sat her body down on the leather chair, which was only meant for the captain. Authority was not as important as survival was at this point, so I carefully arranged her arms and legs. I then quickly ripped her vest off and unbuttoned her sleeves, looking for a pulse. I prayed to God to keep my sister alive as I struggled to hear her heartbeat.

    So when I did, I rejoiced, but only for a brief moment.

    I hastily strapped her to the chair with the buckle that was on the sides, and rushed over to the control pads. It was old, and complex, but I managed to get a semblance of understanding as to what the panels do. I quickly grabbed on to the lever to the side of me and turned it over to flank, pushing down a panel that said ''Emergency Power Supply''.

    Below the deck, the boiler room rose to life, and the dim abyss that made the underside of the vessel was filled with fire and light. The metal furnaces closed under the sudden burst of pressure, and as the fires raged in the bowels of the old tow ship, the cranks in the engine room began to turn, creaking and cracking as the rusted pistons pushed hard against the melded orange steel.

    Once all the pistons finally gave in, succumbing to the massive pressure forced upon them by the heated steam in the pipes, bloated by the sheer volume they are keeping in, there was a great rumble, and the cranks began to spin faster and faster than ever before. The force of the engine shook the ship, and all at once, every emergency power came back in full.

    With all the electricity being generated by the engines, the fire safety began to work it''s course. The external filters began to open up underneath the keel of the vessel, taking in ocean water, filtering them before,

    *Whish*

    Every room and corridors inside of the ship began to spray massive amounts of mist water, covering up every fire in the vessel. Not long after, massive fountains opened up in the deck of the ship, spraying water all over the deck, effectively putting out the fire of the ship.

    "Ack-" I did my best to breathe in the misty atmosphere around me. Taking a piece of my vest, I wrapped it around my sister''s mouth, making sure that she doesn''t get choked. I covered my mouth and nose with one hand and kept my balance as both the rocking of the vessel and the shelling all around me shook the floor I was standing on every passing second. I made my way back to the center of the panel and wiped the panel free of dew after I made sure I had enough oxygen to let go of my mouth.

    I saw the fleet of glinting silver slowly moving towards the island, pumping out shell after shell of pure destruction. I was wondering why I couldn''t hear the trailing death that passed my the deck, so I place a hand on my left ear. I felt a crusty material dripping down from my earlobes, and deduced that my ears must''ve have been busted from all the shellshock that I had experienced earlier. I looked at the speedometer and noted that I am indeed moving away from the deck.

    19 knots

    For an old tow ship, this thing travels fast, faster than most tow ships built now. As the dew on the windshield dried off, I could clearly see the massive ship in the distance encroaching upon the island. It was gargantuan. The width of the deck was far bigger than the other ships to it''s side. It looked stupid. And yet, for all the logic it broke, the massive spray of water in front of it indicated that it was moving. And it was moving fast, given how theˇ­

    Wait. That can''t beˇ­

    The ships beside it were destroyers, right? They had to be. Those cannot be anything other than small utility ships.

    So why did they have a massive island, a large deck and triple barreled superfiring turrets?

    I waved off the thought. They had to be destroyers. There''s no logical way for a ship of that size to even EXIST. There is just no way. The displacement would be bonkers. There would be too much necessary fuel to power. There were just too many problems with building a ship of such size. It shouldn''t even be moving.

    My doubts continued to fill my mind as my eyes can''t help but see the massive shells being fired from the rest of the destroyers. That big ship had to be a ordinary, bigger than usual battleship. I continued to steer the vessel in a zigzag pattern, as I tried my best to avoid the rain of death behind me.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    It was a few seconds after I narrowly avoided a shell that I saw it. The one thing that broke every notion of logic I had right there.

    The turrets of the big ship began to rise. Just a tiny bit. And a second after,

    Light.

    The light was so bright that I had to cover my eyes to keep me from being blinded by the sheer luminosity. A few seconds later, I felt the shockwave. I was thrown off the front of the panel, all the way to the wall at the back. I felt the tow ship getting blasted back by the waves. Then I felt it. One second afterwards.

    I was then thrown off the walls and back down on the floor. I felt something in my nose break, and as I stood up, I felt my body ringing with vibrations. My nose began to bleed, and my busted lips split open. The pain was excruciating, and I wanted to cry right there. However, the adrenaline was enough for me to control myself and wipe my nose with what was left of my clothes. The fibers brushed against my mouth, and it almost made me fall down due to how painful it was.

    I limped towards the chair my sister was still sitting on. Her arm was fine from the blast, but it seemed like she was really knocked cold. From the shockwaves or the sound, I did not know. I adjusted her body again, and noted that the chair itself was creaking, despite the fact that it was welded to the floor itself. I pressed on and turned to the window, where I saw the barrels of the massive ship letting out an entire cloud''s worth of smoke.

    I was leaning back on the control panel, with a broken arm and a bruised face. My left eye began to fade and I did all I can to keep myself alive. I looked for anything, ANYTHING that can get us out of this mess, when I saw a drawer on the bottom of the panel slightly opened. I used my good arm to open it, and I focused on the nearly faded letters on top of an adjusting wheel and a switch

    ''Depth Adjuster''

    ''Diving Mechanism Switch''

    I took a deep breath and flipped the switch. I felt a slight rumble shake the entire vessel, although I noted that I wasn''t originating from any point outside of the ship, but rather, inside. I saw the water slowly rise, and I realized what was happening.

    I looked at the adjusting wheel and saw that it was turned to minus five meter below sea level. I looked as the ship slowly began to sink below the water, stopping just short of the deck. The vessel continued to bob up and down, continuing to move at a pace of 15 knots. As the ship continued to travel away from the island and towards the invading fleet, I ever so slowly turned the adjuster lower and lower.

    At minus twenty meters below sea level, the ship shook and swayed a bit as the waters rose up, covering the wooden deck and obscuring the form of the ship. The only thing I could really see at the moment was the sea, and the waters slowly rose even higher, stopping midway through the bridge. I turned the adjuster as long as I possibly could, all the way to minus fifty meters below sea level.

    The waters rose quickly, and before I knew it, I was traversing the murky blue waters. I saw the fires light up the surface of the sea, and I saw the black clouds obscuring the sky. I took the time to sit down on the floor, hearing the whirr of the engines below deck sound through the entire ship.

    After sitting for what felt like hours, I stood up and checked the time. Only about 20 minutes had passed and the ship was still dropping down to the bottom of the sea. I turned the power off and put a stop to the engine. I couldn''t let anything see that a ship was somehow traversing the bottom of the sea floor. I turned towards a soft patch of sand and let the ship rest for a while. I then let my tiredness overcome me as I laid down next to my sister. The adrenaline inside me kept me from sleeping, so I laid there, waiting as the massive shadows pass by my ship.

    1 hour passed, and I was about to finally let sleep overtake me, when I felt movement coming from the chair I was leaning on.

    I felt my eyes burning when I realized that I was hearing a lot. The darkness I was seeing lasted for a long time. I wasn''t able to anything. For a while, I thought I had died and that I was waiting in purgatory, before I go straight to hell. Fitting, given how my last vision of the world was filled with flames and smoke.

    Wait.

    I quickly trashed around, trying to get out of the darkness that binded me still. There was something wrapped around my mouth, so I wasn''t able to scream or call for help. I smelled the air, and when I did, I calmed down. The faint smell of burning steel wasn''t there, and all that entered my nose was humid steam. Or at least that was what I thought it was.

    I did my best open my eyes, but I was so tired that I was barely able even see light from the slits of my eyebrows. I gave up trying open them, and instead tried to make some semblance of movement. I waved whatever I was binded to left and right, trying my best to fall down. I had to get these bindings off of me.

    I had to make sure that my brother is safe.

    As I wiggled back and forth, I felt the bottom of what felt like a chair creak. I would have smiled if this damn thing wasn''t covering my mouth. I kept wiggling back and forth as the chair kept creaking, when I felt a hand stop me. I stopped doing every action I was thinking of. I felt a hand unwrap the bindings on me. My stomach felt looser andˇ­ I couldn''t feel my vest.

    This wretch! Who the hell does he think he-

    "Charl." Heavy breathing. "Are you-" My heartbeat stopped for a second.

    The moment I was able to move my legs, I pounced on the person in front of me. Wrapped my arms around the first thing I touched and held on tight. I could feel his balance being thrown off, but I kept him in place. I held him even tighter as I felt my eyes becoming wetter. I couldn''t help but cry. Slowly, I felt an arm rise up beside me, and then, a hand grabbed the object keeping me from seeing and speaking. With a small tug, It gave, and I saw the best face I would never admit to seeing.

    "Charlotte, please," I heard him squeak out. "stop crushing me. I alre-" His voice creaked again. "I already have a broken arm, please-" The moment I realized what I was doing, I immediately threw myself off of him, then I tried to reach out to him again, before I forcefully stopped myself with my other arm.

    "Thank youˇ­" I heard him drawl out, whining a bit as he massage his left arm. When I saw it, I immediately tried to jump at him again, although this time, he reacted quicker by placing a hand on my head, effectively stopping my advance. "My goodness, please calm down. I''m ok. A bit bruised, but I can live." That did not make me happy. I tried to speak up, but my voice felt coarse and dry. That and it was painful to do anything more than breath.

    I immediately stopped trying to force myself on my brother, deciding that the best course of action is to just stand to the side. He then stared at me for a full second, before placing his good hand on his left shoulder blade. With a sudden push, the audible ''Pop'' echoed inside the room. It made me feel like shit, not being able to help my brother. He then tried to move his arm, but while he could, I saw his face scrunch up in what I would expect to be pain.

    I placed a hand on his other shoulder, pressing on it mildly, trying to reassure him. I suppose I kinda worked, with how he sent a smile towards me. It made me feel happier knowing that he is alright. I looked out around me, trying to find out where we were. It seemed to me like we were in the bridge of the Dauntless, andˇ­

    Why was the window showing sand and sea weed?

 Chapter 2- Serene Waters

    "Brother, why are we under the sea?" I asked with a hint of fear at the tip of my voice. It''s very nerve wracking to see water everywhere outside the ship, knowing that there is only about 20 inches worth of reinforced glass separating us from the waters outside the vessel. I felt myself trembling, but I''m certain that my brother has an answer, if he is not dead out of fright by now, so I kept myself as composed as I could possibly be.

    I saw him fix his posture and scratch the back of his head. He looked outside towards the glass and began walking towards the control panel at the very front of the vessel. Then he leaned forwards with his good arm and seemingly scouted the area. After a brief minute, I saw him relax and he then spoke up, not letting go of his hold on the panel.

    "We are submerged. I don''t know how a tow ship has such a function, but we are. The most important thing you must know is that we are alive. And that''s all that matters right now." He looked one last time towards the surface, before turning back to me, grabbing hold of the chair as he stopped beside me.

    "Where are we right now? How far off from the coastline are we?" I asked as I thought about what he said. I won''t ask any questions about why we are submerged. It saved our lives, and knowing where we are is currently the top priority as of right now.

    Kurtis decided to look towards one of the screens, and pushed a button beside it. The screen flickered for a brief moment, before showing a depth meter that reads ''51 meter below sea level''. I thought for a bit, before analyzing the distance of which the coastline begins to drop off.

    It seems like we are somewhere in the middle of way towards the nearest oceanic drop, so that was good, at least. I asked another question, just to know why we have yet to surface. Hopefully it''s not because we don''t have enough power, but if the screen lit up, I''m certain that we have more than enough.

    "Well, it seems like our unlikely enemies have yet to set sail. I just hope that the others are safe. Hopefully our invaders treat them well, not kill them off." That statement sent a chill down my spine. So the fire was real, and so was the destruction. I began to remember the last thing I saw before I blacked out. I caught sight of the invading fleet before the last shell struck the side of the Dauntless. I simply hope that the chief is alright.

    "If you''re thinking about everyone, don''t worry. I''m certain that they are fine. All we need to worry about right now is how we are going to get out of this mess. But before that, we have to see if there are still some fuel left over. I had to use an emergency system, and I think it''s out." He replied while clutching his still injured arm. We managed to make a simple cast to make sure that it doesn''t get more injured, but I can understand why he wasn''t able to go down himself.

    "I suppose that you weren''t able to do that yourself because of your injuries, right? I guess I can help you with that. But first, I think we should open the lights." I moved towards the panel, but before I could touch anything, Kurtis'' hand shot out towards mine and grabbed my wrist with a surprising amount of power. I actually felt my wrist hurt and I thought for a second that Kurtis might not have been as injured as I thought he was, before I turned towards him in surprise.

    "The fleet hasn''t left yet, remember? Why do you think that we haven''t been spotted yet? I haven''t used the power because there''s a very good possibility that we might get spotted. I suggest that we use the emergency flashlights instead." He said with an low voice that left no room for other options. I remembered what he said earlier and very nearly slapped my face in realization. He let go of my wrist, and I had to shake it a few times just to get the blood flowing.

    "Yeah, forgot about that. Sorry." I apologized as I followed him to the small drawer over to the back of the room. He took a small piece of steel and placed it in the gap between. He then turned to me and motioned over to the steel. I understood what he was saying, and I grabbed the steel with one hand, and placed the other on the side of drawer.

    With one strong motion, I opened the drawer, ripping the panel straight off. I looked inside and saw a few emergency items, as well as some batteries. Kurtis grabbed the batteries and tapped my shoulders.

    "Can you insert these into my flashlight? Wasn''t able to do that cause of, you know." I spoke up as he motioned his hands towards his belt. I carefully took the flashlight off of him, and opened it up, replacing the batteries with the new ones as I threw the old ones inside the drawer afterwards.

    "Alright, I''ll take care of handling the flashlight. You deal with work. If you get tired, just tell me, and we can switch." He said as he grabbed the flashlight from me. I nodded to him as he looked back towards the outside. After a brief moment, he opened the flashlight and lit up the room.

    <hr>

    The first thing I noted was how surprisingly clean everything was. For a newly brought in ship from the Netherlands, the floor and the walls are cleaner than expected. I walked over to the steel doors and spun the metal wheel until it gave. The door creaked and Kurtis went in front of me, lighting up the way as we exited the bridge.

    We went down through the central stairs, as going through the windowed ones will certainly spell trouble for us. We quietly walked down, always keeping an eye out for anything that might be out of the ordinary, as I reminded my brother a few hours back. I was then hit with the reminder that only a few hours had passed since I last stepped foot on the island. I grimaced to myself as I followed Kurtis towards the bottom of the staircase, stopping in front of another door.

    I opened it, thankful that it was just a simple door and not a steel one. We entered the dark corridors, mindful of the wires and pipes that we are stepping on. Kurtis gestured towards the right, and we went onwards to the boiler rooms, if the blueprints I saw before the invasion was correct. I thought back to the siren that Kurtis found, the reason why I came running to the Dauntless in the first place. I placed it at the back of my mind, reminding myself to remember it once we got there.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    <hr>

    We went on to the back of the ship. I nearly tripped on a pipe that I thought was placed lower than it really was, and accidentally bumped my heel into it. Thankfully, I was able to grab onto Kurtis, and got the message and quickly helped me up. I dusted myself and we continued onwards.

    As we neared the end of the corridor, we were met with a small hindrance. There was a massive amount of rubble and steel laying down on the ground. Given my clumsiness, I tried to tread the floors carefully, but given my shoes, it was either I trip every passing instance, or have something stab my soles every second or so. I tried to go a few meters in, but after the third time I went off balance, Kurtis stopped and stared back at me.

    I at least had the decency to look ashamed, and held onto a pipe beside me. He looked at me for about 10 or so seconds, before walking over to me. I wondered what he was going to do when he gave his flashlight to me, but it certainly wasn''t HIM CARRYING ME OVER HIS SHOULDER. He at least made sure that my front was at his front, so we can actually see what we were doing.

    It wasˇ­ very awkward to say the least.

    We, well, He treaded the rubble as carefully and skillfully as possible, making sure that we didn''t trip and accidentally end our lives by a rebar to the brain. Although there was a man who survived that, I really don''t want to bank our chances on a YouTube theory video from 2014.

    <hr>

    After we passed that little obstacle, he carefully bent down and let my foot touch the ground. I immediately stood up the moment he let go of me, and tied my hair back as he dusted himself with one hand. I gave him the flashlight back, and we never spoke anything of that afterwards.

    We eventually found the end of the corridor, and sadly, it was yet another steel door. I stretched my lady muscles and cracked every joint in my arms before laying my hands on the wheel. I turned it with all of strength, and after a small creak left the wheel, it gave and spun around wildly. The door opened at that and we entered room. I saw Kurtis give me a stare, before walking down the stairs that lead to the bottom of the ship.

    We walked silently, making sure that the light coming from our flashlight did not hit any reflective surface. The brief walk down the stairs was tense. We honestly do not want to encounter anything right now. The emergency lights were illuminating the lower portions of the stairs, so we turned off the flashlight to save up on what little battery power we had. Thankfully, we were able to see in the dimly lit floors, so there was no need to be extremely cautious.

    <hr>

    Once we entered the boiler room, we we''re greeted to a bright, orange light coming from the many boilers. It was hot, and the enclosed space didn''t help either. I started to feel sweat the more I spent time inside it. Kurtis looked at me and motioned to the left. He started to walk to the right, so I went the opposite direction.

    I looked around the area to see what I could find. I walked around the dark colored burners and avoided the sparks coming from inside of them. I wiped the sweat on forehead and continued to search, till I found a big pile of coal.

    "KURT! I FOUND A PILE!" I shouted from my side of the room, staring back at the pile of coal and looked around for a shovel, or anything similar.

    "SAME HERE! I FOUND A SHOVEL, IF YOU NEED ONE!" My brother barked from the other side of the room, his voice being warped by the ambient sounds all over the air. I coughed a bit as a small amount of smoke entered my mouth. After a bit of looking around, I saw a drawer, and in it, a massive array of shovels, gloves and different kinds of heat-proof equipment.

    "THERE''S A DRAWER HERE WITH SOME UTILITIES! IM GOING TO CHECK ON THE BURNERS TO SEE IF THERE''S SOME FUEL LEFT!" I barked as I grabbed a thick coat, a pair of thick gloves and a welding helmet. I took a shovel from the drawer and began walking to the nearest burner. I opened the thick steel panel and a wave of hot air washed over me.

    There were some coal left inside of the burners, but it wasn''t enough. I walked away, leaving the the burner open as I got close to the pile of coal. I dug my shovel into the pile and grabbed a hefty amount, before haphazardly throwing it into the open burner. The fire roared as more coal filled up inside it. However, being a amateur at doing physical work, given my profession of being a simple white collar worker, a few pieces of the black material fell on the ground. I ignored it and continued filling up the burners.

    I saw my brother open up another burner. Given how his arm is still hurting, I went over to try and help, but I was proven wrong. Even with only one working arm, he managed to angle his body in a way that allowed him to shovel with one hand, and he began to do the job faster than I was. Feeling bad knowing that my injured brother was better at shovelling than I was, I returned to my pile and continued doing my job.

    After a very long time had passed, we somehow filled enough boilers to get most of the power working. The emergency lights were much brighter now, and we took the time to breathe. Kurtis actually did more than me, and still had some energy left to spare.

    I felt like dying. Maybe being hit by a torpedo to my face is ideal right now.

    <hr>

    After about 10 or so minutes to resting, we finally stood up and went over towards the engine room, where the siren was originally located. We didn''t really see much of it back then, and it would be best if we knew what that thing really was. We went out of the boiler room and walked over to the engine room at the very back of the ship. The emergency lights lining the walls of the corridors were noticeable now, and it was great to not trip every so often.

    We pushed the door of the engine room aside and looked at the massive dormant cranks laid down in groups of 5 everywhere. It was really big, and we made sure not to accidentally fall down from the railings. Kurtis had the bright idea of bringing out his flashlight beforehand, so there was no threat of becoming crushed paste.

    At the very back of the smoky room, was a small box. We recognized it immediately as the siren that screamed bloody murder from before. We cautiously approached the broken device, just in case it came alive again. I took a steel bar from the floor, holding over my head if it did come alive.

    We studied the siren closely to see what we could find. The speaker was broken, so that was good, but there were some blank screens and askew buttons and switches all around the box. We continued to analyzing it when I saw a familiar looking piece of equipment. I took my bar and smashed it onto the side of the box, breaking the side panel off of it. Kurtis was obviously surprised, but what I saw inside of the device made me think.

    It had a receiver. A short range one, capable of transmitting signals from over 7 or so miles away or closer, given the size and shape of it.

    Why would a siren sound off at such an event? And why wasn''t it active before? It''s not like it was a radio or something. And the range didn''t really make sense. It''s as if it was more of a proximity warning signal than a siren. Why would a Dutch tow ship have thisˇ­

    Wait.

    Oh. Well, fuck.

 Chapter 3- Sandy Seas

    I stared at the device with newfound knowledge of what it may be. I racked up my memories to see if the pieces match, and it did. It seems like there really was a reason for what this little siren was. It''s a not just any siren, or communication device. It''s a coordination com box. It''s main function was to coordinate every ship within a Navy of what was going to happen. A primitive idea, but an efficient one. It used specialized signals to send orders to every crew member inside a ship.

    That''s why there was one in the back of the engine room. Within vicinity of the invading fleet, it would''ve sent signals to every person inside and outside the vessel. No wonder Kurtis couldn''t handle it. He probably didn''t know the waves.

    I looked at the box and then back at my brother. It seems like he had come to the same conclusion as I did, given how wide his eyes had become. Immediately, he stood up and smashed the box to pieces. It''s for the best. We couldn''t let it make any more noise, or else we would be dead.

    "So, it''s a com box. But why here? This ship shouldn''t be getting signals from the invading fleet! This was from the Dutch, wasn''t it? Why would it sync up with the other ships?" My brother asked himself as he gasped heavily, throwing the metal bar that he had off to the side. He clutched his arm as he continued to massage it, and I decided to answer his question, placing my hands on his shoulders.

    "I saw from the small details about the ship when I rushed here. The ship was supposed to be made in Crete, but it was sent to the Dutch. Whatever this ship was, it has technologies from the enemy fleet that we encountered. We should look for anything that may help." I told him what little I knew when I busted through the development offices, since I didn''t really have time to look at everything when my brother was dying inside this ship.

    "I seeˇ­ So that means that the invading force probably came from somewhere deep in the Mediterranean. Probably Greece, if I were to take a wild guess." I heard my brother respond to my statement. I suppose such a proposition can hold some merit. They have been silent for over a year now.

    "Geez, this is like the Grand War all over again. Maybe this time we are actually ready for it." I quietly mused to myself as we continued to traverse other areas of the room.

    When we found nothing, we decided to go ahead and try to see if there were anything else hidden inside the ship. It was possible that this wasn''t the only place that had a com box, so it''s better to make sure that we were fully silent.

    We tried to see if there were anything else hidden within the different rooms of the ship. We kept silent throughout, making sure not to light up any area too brightly, just in case we manage to catch the attention of an enemy vessel. Getting shot down by torpedoes and depth charges was the last thing on our minds.

    As we searched the area thoroughly, we managed to find the storage bay. The room was deep within the ship, so there was no problem opening the lights inside. We scoured the room for any essentials and looked around to see if we could find some batteries for our flashlight. Lo and behold, we discovered a pair of walkie talkies. Very old, but working quite nicely. We replaced the batteries and decide to split up to cover more ground.

    Kurtis argued against it, as a) his arm is still out of commission, and b) I might get myself into trouble that we really didn''t need right now. I waved it off and promised that I''ll be more careful. Of course, I am still worried about the entire broken arm thing, but I''m sure that my brother can take care of himself.

    I went on outside and turned on the walkie talkie by my side and walked around to see if I can find a kitchen. It has been a few hours since we last ate and my stomach is crumbling inside of my body.

    I swear, I don''t care if it''s just Spam, I really want to eat something right now.

    After my sister decided to abandon poor old me for some snacks, I stuck around the room to see if there were more things that we could use. After about a brief moment of turning chairs over, flipping drawers off the wall and throwing around different boxes with a bit of force, I managed to find a cast! For my arm. Now I don''t need to feel my arm bursting with pain everytime it moves.

    I carefully wrapped the cast around myself, although the way I did it was a bit off. It could be forgiven due to the fact that the only healthy person here left me, but each to their own I suppose. I hope that Charlotte would be able to find some edible food around.

    I decided to leave the storage bay and continue onwards to our patrol around the ship. I heard static coming from the pocket on my shirt. I touched a button on it and began to listen as I climbed up the stairs.

    "Hey Kurt, I managed to find some condiments and cooking oil. Not that we''re really going to use it, just wanna let you know. Also, I found some really old sardines. Quick question, what date is it today?" The voice of my sister''s crackled through the walkie talkie as she reported her findings. Seems like she found the kitchen, judging by the amount of rustling and banging I heard over the line. I looked down at the floor in contemplation as Charlotte kept muttering. I quickly snapped my head, nearly making me fall off the top of the stairs.

    "It''s June 20 something. I forgot the date, all I know is that it''s definitely not June 20 anymore." I spoke up as I balanced myself. I quickly went over to the door just to be sure that another accident won''t happen. My arm is broken enough, I don''t want my legs to be broken too.

    "Aight. It''s gonna expire inˇ­ July 1. I think we should get to eating this thing. Just to make sure that it won''t die on us. Where are you anyway?" Charlotte asked as the cans of fish rustled in her arms. I can clearly hear the sounds of tin striking tin as I walked along theˇ­ Bridge? Huh. Looks like I''m at the top of the ship.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    "I''m at the uppermost section of the bridge. You should see a staircase leading up to it. I''m gonna look around to see if there is anything I can find. You should see me around the corridors." I spoke up as I treaded slowly. There were alot of windows in this hallway, and it''s making my skin crawl. I stared at the blue waters outside, making sure that there is not a single submarine out there. After a while, I let out a breath I had subconsciously held. Damn, this entire situation is getting to me.

    I found a door at the very end of the hallway, and I was greeted to a view of the ocean, as well as the back of the ship. At first I was nearly startled, closing the door as quickly as I could. I then calmed myself down and looked back inside the room. Thankfully, it wasn''t actually flooding. The room is probably a scouting area. I could see pretty far into the sea bed.

    As I looked around, I heard the door open behind me. I turned towards the sound and saw my sister, holding massive amounts of canned food, as well as a paper plate and two pairs of forks. She haphazardly dropped the cans on the ground, the ringing echoing inside the room. I quietly observed her as she sat the paper plate down, placed the forks on both sides and silently arranged the cans around her.

    "Do you want some?" She asked as she opened the can right in front of me. Part of me wanted to smack her head with my good arm. We can literally be seen by anything outside. But, I decided to shut my mouth and grabbed the can of sardines held out to me.

    We quietly ate, not making much noise aside from the very uncomfortable sounds coming from the slimy fish as it slid around the paper plate. I kept my guard up and stared behind me from time to time, just to make sure that nothing sees us peacefully eating at the bottom of the sea.

    After much time had passed, mostly from Charlotte childishly watching the fish slide around the plate. While it was stupid, it was definitely the most entertaining thing I''ve seen in a while. I quietly burped, making sure that my mouth was closed. I stared to the side, seeing about 13 or so cans of sardines laying about. It was stacked in a pyramid like formation, courtesy of Charlotte being bored out of her mind, while also not wanting to clean everything up. The paper plate was neatly placed on top of the pyramid, with the forks inside one of the cans.

    I stood up and took the garbage towards the bucket over in the far side of the room. It''s gonna fall over once we rose up anyway.

    We exited the viewing room, cleaning up what little mess we made and began walking towards the bridge. We were still cautious about the enemy, despite the fact that they had probably left. It''s been about 10 hours since we ended up here. They should be gone by now. And yet, we can''t dismiss the idea that they were not.

    We carefully made our way back, taking extra time to look out for windows. We didn''t need the flashlight as much since it''s nearing the end of the night. We have yet to sleep, and we are really tired out by now.

    We climbed down the staircase, and went back to the pipe filled corridors that lead to the bridge. I stared at the bulk door that''s keeping most of the water in. As for how, I still don''t know. Maybe it''s because it was planned to submerge? I have yet to understand the reason for this function.

    We made our way back to the bridge and took the time to lay down and rest. We left the food. near the doors, just in case we felt hungry. At least Charlotte didn''t need to hold as much cans on our way back, since I took more than half of the remaining sardines.

    Charlotte tapped my shoulders, keeping a yawn from exiting her mouth, judging by how it shook. She looked at me with tired eyes, and knowing what she wanted, I nodded briefly. She smiled and went over to the side of the room, the one covered by the wall, not occupied by a drawer. Smart move.

    I looked at the control panel and slowly closed all the power lines. I heard the lights outside go dark. Before really deactivating the power, I set the sonar on silent watch, with the minimum amount of electricity keeping it active. I watched the screen as it searched for any other possible vessels. After a moment of clarity, I turned on the ''allied vessels'' button to the side, and there it was. A single blip in the radar.

    I looked into the direction it was coming from, and when I saw nothing, I turned the power down, and the ship drifted into darkness. I took position next to my sister and quietly fell asleep.

    After an untold amount of time had passed, I woke up from my slumber. Immediately, I quietly looked around me to see if there was something out of place. It didn''t really look like it, so I slumped back down. I stared my side as I felt a form shifting it''s body on my shoulders.

    "Mmmˇ­." I heard the body squirm against me. As much as I wanted to stay and rest for a little while longer, I had to check if there were anymore vessels in the immediate vicinity.

    I carefully angled myself so that my working arm was free, and with that in mind, I very silently pushed my sister off of me. Carefully resting her body against the wall, I waited for a few seconds before standing up.

    I leaned my back against the wall, and slowly peeked at the window leading to the outside. I turned back, not really catching a view of what was there, but managed to get the courage to actually stare fully.

    I relax, seeing that there were no ships circling us like sharks. I rested my hand of the control panel and took a deep breath. "Not yet." I muttered to myself as I opened the deep sea sonar. As I watch the screen searching for anything with a silent ''ping'', I waited. And waited.

    After waiting for nearly 15 minutes, I concluded that maybe, just maybe, there were no enemy vessels anymore. I looked up at the surface of the sea, and saw light passing down from the sky. From the angle of the rays, it seemed like it was somewhere around noon. I stared back at the control panel and took a deep breath.

    I grabbed the lever over to my side and pushed it to the nearest level, at one fourth. I heard the ship churning and whirring beneath me. As I took yet another breath, I carefully lowered it further, till it reached full. I can feel the silent rumbling as I held onto the navigation wheel.

    I opened the drawer below the control panel, staring at the ocean before me with slight unease. With the drawer opened, I took one final glance at the unending blue, before opening the box that held our key to survival.

    I pushed down on the button inside and began to move the wheel upwards. As the vessel began to rock it''s way through the sea bed, massive amounts of sand covered the entire area. There were no visibility for a few seconds, and after a while,

    We pushed through the cloud of dust in our way, barreling across the waters at speeds that can challenge even the fastest ships today. I felt myself being thrown back by the force, and very briefly, I heard my sister screaming bloody murder as her body rolled against the ground.

    Smiling lightly, I turned the power at full, and suddenly, light enveloped my eyes. Everything was far brighter than the slightly less dark that we had to navigate before.

    I felt freedom for the first time in my life.

    The bubbles ripping through the waters probably helped.

 Chapter 4- Cyan Valleys

    As the Dauntless rocketed off into the deeper waters beyond the continental sea bed, I looked into both the fully active radar and sonar. Checking for any disturbances that might signify that we were being chased, I sat myself down on the Captain''s chair, slightly creaking due to how Charlotte tried to break it yesterday.

    I saw myself staring at the window, now filled with bubbles due to how fast the ship was when it moved through the waters. I took the time to plan out our course, after we have moved a good distance away from Meruem, of course. I sighed to myself as I waited, the doubts still fresh in my mind.

    I felt a hand on my shoulders, and turned to see my sister standing beside me. She stared at the waters as well, however, she had a very distant look in her eyes. As if she is remembering something. They felt bland.

    She shook her head and just like that, their colors came soon after. She looked thoughtful before staring at me with a questioning look. I stared back, my eyes scrunched up as I asked her what she wanted. "What is it? Do you need anything?" I said as I put a hand on hers

    "Not necessarily, I just wanted permission to take control of the navigation." She says while pointing at the control panel. She then scrunched her lips together and looked down on the floor with a slightly embarrassed face.

    I laughed a bit at how childishly she was acting, whilst partly understanding why she would want to do so. There hasn''t been alot that we were able to do after we got out of our position back then. And since we cannot really explore the ship again, given how the ship was rocking wildly as of now, we were stuck inside of the bridge.

    "Feel free to command the ship, Captain." I smiled at her, waving my arms towards the panel. She quickly heads over to the control panel, stopping to look at all the buttons. She stared at them for about 10 seconds, before slowly turning towards me with an exasperated look on her face.

    "Uhh, I''m not necessarily the best at thisˇ­ Can you help me?" She smiles with an embarrassed expression. Grinning, I stood up from my chair, arranging my cast for a bit whilst I walked over to the panels. I stood right next to her and pointed at the screens first before the actual controls.

    After a bit of explaining the different screens, what they show and what they can do, albeit with some difficulty due to how inexperienced my sister was when it came to actual ship controls. To be fair, i really only knew about these because I had a warship obsession phase back in my early days.

    "Hey Kurt, why is the speed control up here in the bridge? Didn''t the Titanic show it down at the engine room?" She asked while pointing at the obnoxious lever sticking out from the side of the panels. To be honest, even I wondered why it was like that at first, then I learnt that sometimes, electricity is just not available at certain days of sailing the seas.

    "The ship''s navigation and speed control tools are generally found over at the navigation screen. However, when power is down, the manual controls for such has to be implemented. Can''t really do much at the middle of the sea. As for your other question." I said while pointing my hand at the speed control, "This is not really as big of a ship as the most beautiful ship in the world, isn''t it?" I said, while showing off the interior of the vessel.

    "I suppose you''re right about that. So, what do these buttons do? Are they similar to the whole manual operations that you talked about?" She said whilst pointing at the one that releases the anchor. I grabbed her hands just in case, surprising her for a bit.

    "Yeah, just as you said. Also, please to drop the anchor right now. It would be terrible." I stated blandly as he brought her hands back, smiling sheepishly.

    I watched her look around the controls for a bit, staring at the screens both on panel and above the ceiling. The entire ship had both the new and old ways of controlling the vessel, quite a surprising change from all the modern gizmos on new vessels from the last decade. I looked back at the navigation screen and saw that we were about to exit the sea bed, so I took my attention to the windows.

    (Kurtis decides that they have gone far enough and stops at the edge of the continental plate)

    As I looked at the window, the waters began to change from a nice blue cyan, to a darker shade of navy. The one that the ocean is far more know for. I headed over to the lever and pulled it up, dropping the speed every second.

    "Why are you stopping now? Isn''t that a bad thing?" My sister asked as she fumbled around with the telephone that is supposed to connect to the engine room. I stared back at her, glancing at the speed of the ship from time to time.

    "Well, we are about to reach the continental drop off. I think its better for us to stop before we plunge into the deep, dark abyss, right?" I said, smiling as I looked at the navigation screen. As fast at the Dauntless was, it''s not the fastest thing in the world.

    My sister nodded as she continued to look around the bridge. I put my attention towards the ever encroaching ocean, carefully dropping the speed further. Once we got to the edge of the sea, I stopped, and dropped the ship back down onto the sands.

    As the ship sunk deep into the ground, I stopped to think of where we should go. The nearest country that we could possibly reach as of right now, was the Netherlands. I was thinking that we could''ve gone to England, but there was too much risk in the option, given how the basin between Iceland and the UK were far deeper. There is also the problem with food, and while we had food, the water supply is an entirely different story. There were some bottles, but aside from that, there wasn''t anything else.

    "I suppose the Netherlands is a good place to go. You know any Dutch?" I asked my sister as I headed over to the depth control. I lifted the ship off of the sea, bringing it over the deep abyss while waiting for my sister to answer.

    "Yeah. I know the basics. How about you? Do YOU know any Dutch? You''re just an ordinary marine." She tested back as she adjusted the navigation system, clumsily if I may add. Her inexperience is visible through her hand''s movements across the screen, seeming looking for something.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "Do you think? Like you said, I''m just an ''ordinary marine''. Also, far right side, the one that says adjust." I said as I stopped the vessel far beyond the drop off. Below us was thousands of psi, which I am really hoping the ship can hold. I mean, it should, but I''m still doubtful.

    "Thanks, asshat." She said while tapping even more buttons. Once she actually reached the navigation screen, I told her the necessary inputs that she needed to write into system. After an entire minute of failing to do basic writing, she finally succeeded in bringing the ship in the general direction of the Netherlands. "There! We are on course!" She beams happily.

    "Yeah, about three kilometers deep into the mainland." I snarked back as I saw the position of our destination on the map. She looked at me with annoyance and smacked my good arm. I laughed it off and apologized.

    "Alright, we are about to head down into the abyss. Can you turn on the front lights? Even if only a little bit. Try not to make it too bright." I said, angling the ship downwards, waving to the direction of the lighting. Charlotte went over to the controls and raised the brightness by a little bit.

    "Thanks. Now, hold on. This is gonna be a very bumpy trip down." I said, clutching a hand on the lever. Charlotte then ran over to the chair and put the seatbelts on, I glowered at her for taking my spot in the bridge, which she replied with a the biggest shit eating grin I''ve ever seen her do.

    I turned the dial for the depth control all the way down, and suddenly, we were beginning to drop. I turned the speed up little by little, and soon we we''re heading straight into the void. The lights from the surface began to fade every passing minute, and the only thing I was able to see clearly was the blackness that was being illuminated dimly by the front lights.

    As we were passing through multiple layers of horrible that no normal person should ever encounter, I grew increasingly anxious. I have watched a fair amount of YouTube videos and read a good number of encyclopedias, but none of them have really made an example of what you should do when dropping to the bottom of the ocean, so I was literally and figuratively, doing this blind.

    We continued to drop down, and after a good twenty minutes, the lights from the surface had fully dimmed down, and we we''re surrounded by the darkness. We continued to go down for another thirty or so minutes, waiting for the lights to hit something of note. We also have yet to see any of the scary fishes that were supposed to live at these depths.

    Once twenty one minutes had passed, we were frightened that we may have had entered some deep sea trench, but after passing by an undersea mountain, our thoughts were cleared. I slowed down our descent and we we''re able to find the very bottom of the ocean three minutes in.

    We went over to a nearby valley and began navigating our way far beneath the waves. The entire time we spent inside of the cold dark was incredibly silent, with nothing but the occasional lava vent making some noise underneath. However, I noticed something moving in the undersea sonar. All hell went loose.

    "Charlotte! Bring the lights down, quickly! There''s something on the radar!" I shouted over to my sister as she quickly got out of the chair and straight to the lighting system. She brought down both the front and inner lights down by a massive degree, and once more, we were subjected to a lot of darkness.

    "I''m gonna go and surveil the area! You take care of the navigation!" She stated as she ran over to the radar systems. She looked intently at the screen, which was showing a significantly large ping on the map. It was about 10 kilometer away from us, far too close for comfort. I just hope that we weren''t spotted.

    I went over to another screen and opened the undersea mapping. There wasn''t anything I can base my sailing on, so I have to rely on the latest mapping of the ocean floor. This was going to be a horribly frustrating ride.

    "The vessel seems to have yet to notice us. It''s not heading in our general direction, but I think that we should continue to lower the lights, just to make sure." My sister looked at me as I stared at the undersea map. Thank god this little ship had this in the system, but I kind of already knew that a few hours back. I turned towards her and nodded, following the safe path the we can take through the valley, in the lowest speed possible.

    She headed over to the lights again and slowly dimmed them down even further. Soon, the only thing we could see was specks of light flittering about the area. Fish, I presume. Sadly, we didn''t have time to look at them, and went back to navigating the ocean floor.

    About six or so hours had passed while we were continuously chased by the vessel, although it really hasn''t got a lead on us. There were a huge number of close calls with the walls of the valley, and it was very terrifying to have to squeeze through a narrowing gap in the walls of the canyon. The vessel has yet to give up chase, and we were forced to continue sailing like this.

    Charlotte was getting pretty tired having to watch the sonar continuously, and even I was getting sick of having to be responsible for our continued existence. We waited for a bit, with Charlotte needing to take a quick break, forcing me to both navigate the oceans and keep watch on the vessel, which was a horrible work to keep up.

    Thankfully, my sister was only away for about twenty minutes, taking the time to grab half of the remaining food stock and some water that was left over. I wanted to glower at her, but I was occupied with having to sail through the waters.

    She went back to her job of surveiling the thing chasing us, while I kept going through the pathways that were leading us in the general direction of our destination. The chase was kept up for far longer, and we were barely a mile of the way towards the Netherlands.

    (The vessel finally heads away, and after about 3 hours, they continue to navigate the rocky sea floor)

    After a while, the vessel stopped chasing after us, and began to head in the opposite direction. Not one to hope, we kept going forwards, just in case it was a mere decoy. We kept sailing for an untold amount of time, still keeping our eyes on our respective screens, before deciding that we are finally safe.

    Once an hour had passed, we finally let go of our suspicions and allowed the lights back on, if only a little bit. Finally, I didn''t have to rely on only the incredibly outdated information regarding the bottom of the ocean, and actually rely on both the map and my sights. I still kept us at under 3 knots, because sonar.

    We continued to go over the day and laugh about the chase, but we continued to keep our guards up when it came to outside dangers like the unknown vessel, now that we now knew that it was possible that we were being chased.

    After a while, we found a nearby sea mound that looked like it had a cavern cut into it. It was spewing out some gas, but otherwise, the cave was clear of debris. I looked at my sister if she wanted to continue or not. "Hey, want to stop for now?" I ask as I held my hands on the lever. She proceeded to yawn, before turning to me.

    "Yeah. I think I could use some rest." She said as smiled at me. I turned the dial of the depth control up by a bit, and the ship rocked for a second, before rising slowly. It took about 20 seconds for us to get out of the valley, before I set the dial to hover above the sandy floor.

    We made our way to the mouth of the cavern and turned around, so that the front of the ship was turned to the entrance way. We lowered the ship again, and found that the floor was quite soft. It wasn''t really hot as well, since there were no bubbles that would signify it, so it was safe to stay in for now.

    We settled the ship down on the sands and turned everything down to the lowest possible power, before we went ahead and got some rest.

    I hope that this luck keeps us alive for a little while longer.