Vicious winds, flushing torrents.
The rush of the current rewashed them, dizzying them for a ride.
After meeting up with The Collector, Asahi and Brooke arrived at the passage from the current into the famed Vortex Valley.
From there, they would leave the current, plunging toward the downward slope to the cluster of vortices.
Notably, there were several ships strewn all over, just like Swallower's Reef. The only difference was that now they were floating, with several caught in between lines of several vortices, or whirlpools.
"It's taught that if one were to get caught in one of the vortices, they would plunge to the center of the world," Brooke mentioned as they stood at the nearest edge leading from the shallows into the mysterious depths. "A point of no return."
Asahi gulped down a breath of fear. Indeed, he had not a clue about these vortexes. And now, seeing trees submerged this far below the surface, one was left to wonder.
"What happened here?"
Although this was the first time Asahi had been here, he still felt a certain sense of composure run through his veins. He felt as if the pirate ships were right there, caught and frozen in space, doomed to be submerged beneath the waves. The very thought of the fate of their victims haunted Asahi. He wished not be part of it at all.
"These are the Sunken Isles, near the plain of vortex," Brooke said as her blonde hair whipped into the deeper waters. "It is rumored that once, there was a chain of isles emerging from the ocean. But unlucky for them, however, was that they were building their little society next to the Temple of the Ruler of Water."
Brooke turned back to the green vortex.
"You can probably guess what happened next." She whispered with a shrug.
"Yes, could guess. But, hey, shouldn't we look for the artifact— treasure, whatever it was?"
At that point, Asahi got caught in the urgency of finding the sacred treasure.
He knew he had to do it before The Collector got a hand of it first.
He did not want to surrender to a locked future where he was the one solely responsible for the death of thousands of merfolk.
The waters would not be pleased.
And he would carry the weight of phantoms haunting him over and over.
So he chose the former and decided to swim away from the vortex with Brooke.
"The treasure has to be here somewhere."
. . .
"Time is almost up." He whispered faintly as he fastened his devices and drones, thinking about Primrose.
"I shall rule the waters with my Queen!"
It had been approximately twenty minutes since The Collector released Asahi and Brooke to the waves.
Any longer, and he might have won. But, luckily, time was slowing down, and The Collector could sense whether they retrieved it or not.
"Almost time." The Collector stared at his advanced watch, counting the seconds left. "Then I can rule the waters."
. . .
Urgency broke loose.
Asahi and Brooke had searched everywhere for the treasure.
They hadn't even known where to begin.
Did they even know what they were looking for?
After careful consideration, Asahi swam down to the depths, seeing a sunken island deep beneath the waves.
"This looks freshly new," Asahi said as the pressure of the water got to him. "What happened?"
Unlike before, near the vortices, this place had a haunting atmosphere. But luckily enough, no phantoms emerged. Just leaving Asahi down to the waves. He took a look at his watch on his left wrist and shook his head, swimming the second sunken island.
(I have just three more hours.)
Arriving at the second submerged island, Asahi narrowly dodged a forming vortex.
Quickly, it plummeted down, consuming a boat unlucky to be caught in its current.
As soon as it reached the center, he saw an entire submarine plunge into the depths, unable to return from the blue abyss.
Asahi gasped in shock.
"Was that The Collector?" Asahi asked as Brooke swam near him, dodging the freshly born vortices. "How can a vortex consume such a grand thing in the first place?"
Once the submarine plunged from the enormous vortex, Asahi raced to Brooke and clutched her, trying to escape the ripping torrent that consumed any of its new victims.
"This place is too dangerous," Asahi said, nearly skimming through the whirlpools. "Vortexes are everywhere."
As if that wasn't enough, after swimming for several minutes, one more vortex caught the eye of Asahi and Brooke.
A gargantuan whirlpool, grabbing hold of a piece of ground with its arms, clutched onto one giant chunk of the chain of isles. There, a vortex swallowed several thousand boats, enough to intimidate the bravest of adventurers. Surrounding it was a massive ring of rock, formed by the shockwaves emanating from this anomaly.
This place was nothing more than a death trap.
They need to find the treasure and fast.
"Brooke, I only have three hours left. What does the treasure look like?"
"Uh.." She shrugged, unable to contemplate. "A crown, I'm sure."
After having said that, Asahi swam toward the island grasped by the giant whirlpool, then, after taking a deep breath, he plunged into the sunken temple and swam down toward the staircase. From there, there were writings and the sort downward, paintings, flower pots, the like. He turned left, then right, only finding empty rooms of stone or moon runes.
(Where would I place treasure?)
Asahi deeply imagined the scenario in his head. He envisioned a king ruling the surface, searching downward to hide all his treasures. There was a passageway built upon the giant whirlpool, rippling like the night sky. Furthermore, as he reached the second-to-last corridor, Asahi saw a skeleton sitting on the submerged throne.
"Unsettling..." Asahi mumbled as he reached over to the crown on its head.
"Just a few more centimeters..."
The sparkles drowned his bubbles.
After his hands just scraped the edge of the golden crown, all of a sudden, two more vortices formed, sending down two giant chariots to the waters.
"Intruder!"
The entire temple cracked and split open like an egg, unveling the submerged city in its entirety.
This event was, without a doubt, a trap made by the wisest—the king.
"I knew it," Brooke said with a visible look of frustration. "It was all a trap made by the king. Asahi, swim!"
"Okay."
Immediately, Asahi clutched his sword and turned over to the expanding monstrosity.
The entire valley split open, unleashing a deadly phantom that swallowed the chain of isles.
"This was a bad idea."
Suddenly, thunderstorms stirred outside and within, striking underwater with lightning, delivering several blows to Asahi. Brooke couldn't help but feel terrified at this.
"The whirlpool just keeps on growing, Asahi! GET out of there!"
As the valley split open and sucked in all the vortex, soon several more whirlpools emerged in its wake, swallowing entire ships and chunks of land. The islands sank even deeper, with a whole plate of rock shifting and causing a gargantuan earthquake. Magma spurted from the depths, reaching the surface and solidifying into rock. Asahi clenched hold of the golden crown and swam, trying to escape.
"I need to get out of here, and fast!"
Chuckles emerged from the depths. A purple luminance showered on them.
"Fascinating. Truly fascinating."
Followed with claps, a tall scuba diver, The Collector, emerged and shot missiles at Asahi.
"Haha, fools. Even with my mercy, you still went after that crown without knowing the consequences."
Asahi swung his fist straight at the Collector, but it deflected, hurting himself.
"That's not fair."
The Collector seemed as if he was squinting beneath the nautical helmet.
"Fairness? All is fair in war. I gave you twenty minutes..."
"Doesn't that mean we win?" Asahi pointed and snatched back the crown, "We found the crown before you. That means—
"You dare try to oppose me? The Collector?"
Asahi and Brooke slowly drifted back, seeing several whirlpools and vortices swallowing large chunks of land. Without effort, he destroyed the vortexes and reached over for the crown.
"Asahi, find the current, now!"
Hastily, they searched every corner, crevice for the current. But it still hadn't appeared. Did The Collector sever the streams out of his own benefit? Or was it just relatively hidden?
"You dare try to snatch me, The Collector? After all I have done." The Collector's tone in his voice sounded irritated. " I tried to avenge the submerged king; I gave you a chance. I even sank fifteen submarines that I owned. And this is how you betray me?"
"It wasn't betrayal," Asahi mumbled as the Collector's visor shone and radiated with purple. "We were never your friends to begin with. Why should I put all my trust into a stranger?"
The Collector clenched his fists and summoned a laser from his visor, shooting straight at Brookes' arm. Slowly, it fell into the watery abyss, unable to be restored. Brooke screamed in pain and hurt, slowly drifting away to a vortex.
"Don't you dare talk back to me, you stubborn child."
But as Asahi did with Aletha in the Sea of Beginnings, he carried Brooke's body, swimming with a heavy weight pressing his arm. The training from Linuxinia paid off.
Soon, before he knew it, his gray eyes saw a current appearing near the epicenter of the giant whirlpool.
If he could make it there, he could flee this place and sever the current just in case The Collector chooses to return.
So...
"I have to. For Primrose. For everybody."
At that fleeting moment, Asahi used all his strength to carry Brooke with one arm, swimming slowly with the current while holding onto the crown with his other. It felt as if several weights had been dropped on him, pressing him down.
. . .
The Collector was just mere footsteps away from reaching the current. Face burning in pure fury at his failure to cease the treasure.
After gritting his teeth, Asahi threw Brooke's body into the current and unsheathed his blade. He clenched hold of the crown, then sliced The Collector's arm. Screams of pain bounced and echoed over the watery depths, blood spurring and gushing.
After learning of his weakness, Asahi used his feet.
He forcefully kicked The Collector into the giant vortex, sending him straight to the center of the world.
A smile emerged on his face, thinking it was over.
But just as he thought he was safe.
"I'm... NOT DONE, yet. One final test."
Asahi's leg was grasped by The Collector, pulling him down with him.
"If I can't win, then NO ONE DOES!"
Although the petiness of this event was far surpassable, Asahi gripped his blade and severed the Collector's other arm, and pushed him straight at one of the vortices.
"And stay down!"
Asahi screamed as The Collector's armless self sank into the abyss.
And just like that, the bubbles took him back to the current, and the whirlpool that caught The Collector stayed there, forever, with no chances of getting out. The giant phantom closed itself and sealed the remnants of the temple, and the storms finally subsided. Asahi had won.
But at what cost? Brooke lost an arm, and he almost lost his. He almost lost the treasure. But he didn't. His emotions were rampant and exhilarating, and he was virtually losing another life. Luckily enough, it was The Collector's fate that got collected.
Even though more enemies were to come, Asahi and Brooke successfully handled The Collector. They pushed him into a Vortex, leading him straight to where he belongs.
Now all they need to do is find the last treasure, destroy all of The Collector's minions, and save Primrose. As he flew along with the current, Asahi took a deep breath and whispered, seeing Brooke swim the current without an arm.
"Primrose, I'm coming. Just almost there."