The Lone Traveler's Diary and other Short Stories

Sky Log #32: The Waters of the Treasure Reef

Before the next mission rolled in, I took the gap in time to check out the submerged buildings under the waters. While my conclusion about the spirits' brilliance being their downfall made me sympathetic, I felt that my explorations were far from over.

Many questions still need to be answered.

Who occupied these buildings? What were these buildings made for? Were they taken over by water or built to last in water?

So, I continued the path where I last marked, which was right at the exit of the cave of the lone manta statue. As I followed the rolling green waves of grass to a flight of stairs that strangely cut off to nowhere, I found myself looking straight down into the depths of darkness. The stretch of buildings also extended down to where my eyes could see. It was probably my imagination, for I felt that the darkness was staring right back at me. At my right, there was a set of doors of unimaginable size. It was a testament of the might and intelligence of its builders. It made me wonder how such doors could be opened, and I figured there must be some mechanism.

Since I couldn't gather much from my surroundings, I felt that I had to go deeper until I found an entrance into the building.

Yet, right before entering, I spied a drawing on the wall next to the entrance. It depicted a tower with additional underground levels that were as low as 5 levels. The last one looked like an observational deck to observe the underwater creatures. The other levels were curiously divided into two, with an elevator in the middle. One side was drawn to look like the people stored the trinkets, while the other was drawn to look like the people were taking care of the mantas. Every descending level was a different stage of the manta's maturity. It could be possible that the people were taking care of or observing the life cycles of the mantas. But the most eye-catching of the drawing was the creature at the bottom, right outside the observation deck. It had many appendages, which curiously reminded me of krills. Still, this creature was drawn in a wounding circle, suggesting the flexibility that krills lack.

I took a picture of it for future reference and as a map of the place, but the suggestion of a new, unknown creature raised my senses for trouble. Given how humongous it was depicted in the drawing, I feared that the observational deck may not be intact. So, with my firework staff in hand, I carefully entered the building while looking out for underwater plants because I was running out of air.

I was fortunate that the route to the observational deck was unobstructed. Light plants were growing at the doorways that I had passed through. I could barely reach the deck, but the sight was something to behold. It was more significant than the place where the eight-person elevator was. In the middle was a giant elevator with air bubbles leaking from it. From the corner of my eye, where I could see the viewing glass, I saw what was swimming languidly and dangerously beyond those protective walls.

With a krill swimming closely to it, it was a creature that made my heart drop and my knees weak. It had numerous red eyes, and its size could rival the big mama in Sanctuary Islands. Had it not been for its eyes, it would have blended seamlessly with the darkness. Such a domineering presence stifled whatever noise I made.

The only thought in my mind was that if I were to ever meet such a thing outside the safety of these walls, I would not be able to escape alive.

That was how dangerous it felt to me. I didn't dare to light my staff up for fear the lights would attract it to attack the observational deck. Fortunately, the lack of light hid my presence, but it didn't alleviate much of my irrational fear. Hurrying my exploration, I realized that I had hit a dead end with the observation deck. There was no way to access the upper levels of the building, so I had to retrace my steps.

On the way out, I glanced back to see those looming doors that seemed to lock that dreadful thing behind.

I don't know what those future missions may include, but such a creature's presence did not spell well. However, the prospect of danger and adventure made my blood boil a little in excitement. No matter how peaceful Sky was, I always wanted to search for its hidden sides. When was there a reason not to? The secrets the abandoned places held, the lonely caves that had no one but the winds and crabs to live in, and the items left behind by its makers. I wanted to uncover them all.

However, I would have to equip myself better if I decided to explore the waters again. So that the next time I meet that colossal creature, I'm prepared.

After being harrowed by the sight of danger, I decided to call it a day and head up to land. My gut feeling told me that I may have missed out on some details regarding this land and its waters.

And I was right.

On the wall of a natural cave that was close to the shallow waters of the common play area was another drawing. It was a detailed plan of the mining route. I realized that the water levels in the past were far lower than now, only reaching the height of the stairs that curiously cut off to the abyss. It made sense that the tunnels were meant to be water-free because I would imagine requiring additional underwater gear would make mining harder. The drawing was a process of how they mined the trinkets, transport them across the waters before traveling to the top of the tower to offload them.

This drawing was a continuation of the earlier illustration. Or rather, it could be the first drawing of how the miners moved their resources around before the next drawing shows how they stored and used them.

Things started to make sense now.

The Treasure Reef wasn't a city or a lighthouse that I had thought of previously. It was something like a mining port? I wasn't quite sure what the term for this place could be, but I was pretty sure that people didn't live in the Treasure Reef. They mined for resources or the trinkets here. It is also possible that they abandoned this place because the water levels were rising and it was getting too dangerous for the workers.

Reaching such a conclusion, I felt relief knowing that people didn't die because of some disaster they created. It was because nature pushed them away to safety before attracting the seafarer spirits to this place. The trinkets or natural resources were essential pieces to power their machinery or inventions. Yet, somehow something must have happened to the creatures, specifically the colossal creature I had seen in the observation deck.

The drawings depicted a long, many appendages light creature. Still, the one I saw was clearly a creature of darkness. Was this creature born out of the darkness like the krills? Or was it born out of failed experiments?

There was no way to tell until I reached the end of the season.