At last, they arrived.
"We made it," Brooke whispered as she flew with the current. "I'm home."
As the stream pushed and coiled away around the destination, Brooke and Asahi spotted several merfolk gathering at the destroyed plaza.
The submarines were nowhere to be seen, and the merfolk seemed relieved. But the aftermath and damage remained.
Craters got scattered across Coral City—several merfolk—injured beyond compare.
"What happened here?" Asahi asked as he rooted his boots onto the ground. The feeling he had at this moment was concern not just for Brooke, but for the poor souls caught in the crossfire of the battle.
Those submarines did more harm than good, and now that the threat had gone, they were safe, giving them time to restore and recover.
Although Brooke seemed pleased, Asahi checked his watch and found that an hour had passed.
"Three more hours." Asahi tilted his head to the watery ceiling. "Just three hours, then I have to return to the surface."
Thinking about the last 'trial' of the currents, Asahi shook his head and gave the golden crown and ring to Brooke. He clasped Brooke's hand and murmured to her, saying.
"Keep these relics safe. I'm going to Puddler's Pond on my own."
Although Brooke's arm was detached, she still shared equal concern.
"But what happens if you don't return?"
After holding and grasping his pride and ego, Asahi took a deep breath and turned away, hearing the treasure clasped in the hands of a man.
"Don't worry about that."
He squinted, but then allowed it, trusting him deep down. He grasped his heart, beamed upward, and strode to the last current blowing toward the far east. Sharing a rare smile, Asahi silently waved goodbye to everyone and Brooke before jumping into the stream, taking him to the last destination.
. . .
Puddler's Pond. A place writhing with steel entities, illuminated by the eternal moonlight shining on the surface.
This was, without doubt, the easiest area to traverse in comparison to Vortex Valley.
At least in Puddler's Pond, there were no vortices. The only real danger that loomed at that moment was the giant steel whales carrying a lantern to illuminate the darkest depths.
Matter in fact, this place was situated deeper in the darkest depths than he once realized.
The shallows of the pond were fairly notable, but in the deepest depths, one needs a lantern or a flashlight.
Without luminance, Puddler's Pond was more of a death trap than anything. Asahi swam near one of the ponds, gathered at the shallows.
(This place looks like it goes down for miles. Is it because this is a bottomless pond?) Asahi thought as his eyes scanned over.
As he swam, a giant metallic whale pushed through the coral, scraping and making the most noise possible.
Asahi hurriedly dodged the attack, grabbing hold of the lantern attached to its head.
Then, with all the strength and willpower he had, he swiftly detached the lantern and swam as fast as he could away from the screaming whale.
"The treasure has to be here somewhere."
For minutes at a time, Asahi checked every corner, every crevice for any treasure. All that was left was darkness for miles upon miles on end.
As he came to a clearing, he found a giant puddle with a scintillating treasure on top— a gauntlet. Its silver texture shimmered and sparkled, reflecting the watery shadows of the deep.
It became clear to Asahi that this was the last piece, the last chunk of the relics needed to open that door so that he could get his weapon back. But as he grew close to it, he felt that this was easy. Too... easy.
Just as he grasped and snatched the treasure, after ignoring the warning lights from the metallic whales swimming by, a current formed and plunged Asahi, the treasure, and the lantern into the darkest depths of Puddler's Pond.
. . .
The ride down became dizzying, with water pressure bursting in his body. As soon as he knew it, he had awakened in a pitch-black place. No light. No warmth. Just the cold, deep depths of Puddler's Pond.
Asahi showed visible frustration when he had plummeted into the depths. Never would he trust his instincts again after that rash encounter. Although he may have been in the dark, he had a lantern and the gauntlet shimmering and sparkling.
At first, there was nothing but darkness and dead coral.
But as he took a plunge, the lantern unveiled strange stone structures buried on the oceanic sea floor.
Asahi gulped, moving away and carrying the light further upward, the slope that leads back to the shallows.
Asahi hadn't spoken because he was not afraid, but so he wouldn't attract whatever was below these striking depths.
Followed by magma crevices, Asahi swam with the lantern and arrived at the second layer. Although visibility was still low, the lantern unraveled giant ancient structures entombed in the waters.
"Just... where am I? Why can I remember?"
Suddenly, a vision that hadn't belonged continued to torment Asahi.
A beautiful purple sky with cracking sunlight. It looked unlike anything Asahi had seen before.
The sanctuary was beautiful, covered with vegetation, and filled with people bouncing back and forth, with hope and optimism.
People played their instruments, danced, and laughed, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossom forest spreading for kilometers.
Then it fast-forwarded to a giant wave of water splashing and submerging the society, drowning everyone without reason.
Asahi's eyes bulged open in shock, looking back and forth and seeing the metal whales swim near the submerged buildings.
"I... have to get out of here, and fast."
A giant rumbling echoed from the vast depths, magma slowly swelling up and bleeding through the water like a towel. Asahi clutched hold of the lantern and began swimming with urgency.
He knew that if he were caught in the magma, he would most likely not return.
His arms flailed upward, pushing and kicking his feet up and up and up.
As light slowly came within reach, Asahi dropped the heavy lantern and swam through the hole.
Now he was at the second-to-last layer of Puddler's Pond.
Just a few more meters until he reached the eternal moonshine forest submerged under the waves.
But that wasn't the only threat. For some reason, the metallic whales became hostile, shining a crimson luminance instead of gold.
Asahi had to escape this snare; it was all too much for him to bear.
After reaching up into the shadows of the watery ceiling, he saw giant plates of earth shifting and moving, forming a tsunami.
This wasn't just a pond; it was the center of a giant dormant volcano!
If Asahi wanted to come back to Coral City alive, he had to find the current.
Soon, lava spurted and expanded, melting water to obsidian.
Asahi took a deep breath and turned over to the right.
There, he saw the sea floor collapse, getting swallowed up by erupting lava.
Orange and blue blended in their own pattern, getting swallowed up.
"Where is the current?" Asahi mumbled, face filled with a look of pure horror. Threats emerged, whales growing hostile, an active underwater volcano, and a new island was bound to form. Asahi turned over and saw the lava just barely skimming his feet. Asahi tried to look for a stream until finally,
(HISS)
The lava was just one meter away from swallowing Asahi. As the water rumbled, Asahi found the current and, using all his willpower, swam against the current with all his might. He pushed through the draft, until finally...
(WOOSH)
The jet current carried Asahi's body and the treasure into the stream.
As he witnessed the underwater volcano parting away from his grasp, he turned to his hand and saw that the silver gauntlet was equipped.
Asahi inwardly celebrated his success, knowing that a near-death experience might haunt him for days.
At last, Asahi made it through the treachery and false feelings of Puddler's Pond.
It was not a pond at all, just a giant volcano.
And the structures buried there were doomed to crumble anyway.
Asahi took the time to reflect on what had happened over the past few hours. These were indeed the most eventful hours of the underwater journey in his lifetime.
There was so much danger, so much anguish, friends and foes alike. It saddened him to know he had to say goodbye to this beautiful water world.
All he had to do now was find the current leading to Astait, saving Primrose, and returning 'home' to that mansion, and all problems would be celebrated.
"I did it! I actually did it!"
As Asahi rejoiced and celebrated at last, he checked his watch.
"Just two hours left." He said with a deep breath. "Then, I have to go back to the surface."
Finally arriving at Coral City, Asahi raced to Brooke's abode and swam over the bridges.
From there, just when his smile reached, Asahi placed the gauntlet down. However, the atmosphere wasn't welcoming at all. It's as if...
"BROOKE!"
The blonde-haired mermaid was injured. Injured too much, she couldn't move. The other three treasures were gathered, but...
"What happened?" Asahi asked with a look of worry washing over his face. The mermaid was armless.
Just when he thought this journey had ended, and he could celebrate his success, three terrifying words emerged from Coral's frozen mouth and changed the mood completely.
"Brooke... is dead."