Ethereal

09- The Scorpion of Not-So-Much Doom

A/N: Legacy's finally out! I can't wait to read it! So, here's an early chapter!

The second your feet left the edge of the rock island, Sophie started to scream. She screamed and screamed, flailing around.

(Y/N) dodged a flailing arm, sharing a look with Fitz, before letting go of Sophie.

(Y/N) watched her for a second, before shaking her head and looking around her.

The whirlpool formed a tunnel of air, weaving and dipping all over the place. Then beyond the tunnel, you could see the ocean.

Deep blue, schools of fish swam around, glimmering in the light filtered through the water. Small sharks and dolphin passed by, while bright reefs of coral stood near island.

By now Sophie had stopped screaming, a smile slapped onto her face. And not a second later, (Y/N) and Fitz were launched out of the swirling vortex, landing on a huge sponge.

Bouncing back, (Y/N) stood up, her knees slightly wobbly. Touching her dress gently, she was surprised to notice it was completely dry.
"Look out!" Fitz announced, before tugging (Y/N) off the sponge with him.

Unhooking arms with Fitz, (Y/N) stepped onto the packed wet sand that made the floor, making sure to not get any on her shoes. Sophie joined her, standing shoulder to shoulder with (Y/N) as they gazed at the gleaming metropolis ahead of them.

'Now this is Atlantis." Alden said, a smile growing on his face.

The city in question was huge, wrapped in what seemed to be a dome of air, separating them from the sea above. Crystal towers of every color soared upwards, their tips nearly grazing the air dome. The city was crisscrossed with canals, bridges of all sorts joining in. A soft blue hue glowed from the tips of buildings, and a muted hum filled the air. The air was crisp and fresh, way better than the polluted air of any human city.

"You guys build with crystal a lot," Sophie commented as (Y/N) looked around Atlantis.

Every elf present could be seen with long, flowing capes and young, elegant faces. Beautiful gowns of every color could be seen as well, and a child strolled past with a chicken mutant thing on a leash.

"What the heck..." (Y/N) muttered under her breath as she stared at the... thing.

Alden smiled, opening his mouth to answer Sophie. "Crystal stores the energy we use to power our cities. Of course, some changes had to be made to this city since it is underwater, and so now all the buildings are plated with silver to reflect light and illuminate the city."

"Why did you sink Atlantis, but not any of the other cities?"

"We built Atlantis for humans. That's why you know the real name of this city. Long ago, humans used to walk these streets."

Eventually, they reached the main canal, and Alden hailed one of the floating carriages drifting across the water. An elf in a green elbow-length cape came to a stop in front of Alden, in a silver boat. Something big and brown drifted just under the water in front of the carriage.

And just at that moment the big brown thing started to rise out of the water. Sophie shrieked and clutched onto ((Y/N)'s arm as a huge scorpion rose out of the clear water. A tail rose up behind it, stinger at the ready.

"What is that thing?" Sophie cried.

"A eurypterid," Alden explained. "Also known as the sea scorpion."

"You're not afraid of it, are you?" Fitz asked.

Sophie scooched a bit back, dragging (Y/N) with her, her answer clear. Fitz turned to (Y/N).

"Well, I mean, it's a huge scorpion. Sure, it's probably tame and stuff, but we have a right to be scared." She explained, trying to hint to Fitz about them being raised with humans and not being used to all their crazy shenanigans.

Fitz turned to the scorpion, stroking the shiny brown shell along it's back. The eurypterid emitted a low hissing sound, kind of like a cat purring. "See? Harmless." He hopped into the carriage.

(Y/N) shrugged, walking to the carriage. She took a lingering look at the scorpion before climbing in.

Sure it's not the most attractive, but it seems... nice. We're on okay terms, The (h/c) haired female thought. She looked at the scorpion, who stared right back. As if reading her earlier thoughts, it raised it's tail and made a waving motion.

Yeah, (Y/N) thought with a small smile, waving back. Good terms.