Colors Bite Sized Adventures EP4 - A Beach Of A Time

Yet another day of peace in our town... boring, boring peace. While we haven’t heard a single thing from Salvador about a new lead, or even caught a glimpse of a news story about us, it seems as though everything has finally settled down after the whole Mandy thing. It’s strange, part of me is over the moon that it’s all over, but the other side of me actually misses the touch and go feeling of it, like the days I used to want to be a famous detective... only to end up one time becoming what they always hunt down. Why am I thinking about all this, I’m sure someone out there is wondering? Well, the other six are here too, and we are all bored as all hell. As we sit on Andy and Blanche’s living room floor, littered with the boxes from the pizza we just ordered... a tuna salad pot for a certain finicky pop princess, and empty bottles of cola and wine. I don’t know about everyone else, but I ate enough to successfully hibernate through the coming winter.

“Have you guys really been checking your phones?” Blanche asks, the only one on the sofa, relaxing in the lounge position.

“Twice.” Andy says, checking it out a third time right now, and still nothing.

“This is so boring. I thought this was going to be exciting as hell. Why don’t we just go to Salvador himself?” Nuko asks, sounding more eager than ever, as he starts to stand up before I pull him back down.

“You can’t do that, you numbskull. If we go barging down his door unannounced, someone is bound to stumble upon our secret. We just gotta trust that he’s going to call for us when the time comes.” I say, honestly feeling the same as him, though I’m less open about it.

“Well, most places are closed tonight, but if everyone’s free tomorrow, why don’t we actually make our own fun for once?” Lizzie asks, laying on the floor, sending a message on her phone.

“Yeah, sure. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I think most of us should be free. Well, where would everyone want to go?” I ask, racking my brain for ideas, turning like a rusty wheel.

Suddenly, Poppy’s eyes perk up as she sits up from the floor with the biggest smile on her face.

“Oooh, can we go to the beach tomorrow? I’ve never actually been to one before.” Poppy says, with her usual brand of excitement on her voice, though I would be too if I grew up on a snowy climate all my life and can fully enjoy the sun for the first time.

“Hmm. I’m not exactly beach-body material, but sure, why not? What about you guys?” I ask the others, feeling a little self-conscious, but hell if I’m going to let that drag me down.

“Fine then. Lyle can’t make it though.” Lizzie says, turning her head away from him as Lyle perches on her right shoulder.

“Oh come on, babe. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. Honest.” Lyle says, flying over to the other side, looking sheepish.

“You called me a devil. Obviously, you didn’t listen to a word I’ve told you.” Lizzie says, looking the opposite way to him.

“I was only having a laugh with you. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I may have hurt more than my share of people back in the day, but I wouldn’t hurt an amigo, a woman, and especially not a woman amigo.” Lyle says, as we all watch the drama unfold, not sure of how Lizzie will react to that almost heart-touching moment.

“...Fine. But please don’t use your flight to perv on girls, it’s just not right.” Lizzie says, sighing to herself, as if she never in her life, never thought she would have to say that sentence to a sentient toy bird.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, darling.” Lyle says, looking disappointed as he flies off her shoulder and hovers just above all of us.

“So we go tomorrow?” Andy asks, summing up the whole conversation in one question.

“Of course. I’ll check the weather for tomorrow tonight, you guys pack your swimsuits and we will hit the sands.” I say, once again taking pride in being the mother of this group, whether or not they want me to be. It feels tingly inside like a satisfying wind going through me.

“Oooh, the water is going to be feel soooo good tomorrow.” Blanche says, no doubt picturing it in her head, as she goes dreamy-eyed.

The next morning, after we finish preparing our bags, we all make our own way back over to Andy and Blanche’s place. As I predicted, the air is quite crisp and warm today, the perfect beach-time weather. Still, I bought a high-factor suncream and a warm jacket for if the weather tips in either scale. As we walk through the closest place to heaven, Nuko and I take in the early morning breeze under the golden sun.

After Nuko and I arrived at the place, I see that the car is all ready, and yet minus the siblings and owners of the house, no one else has turned up yet. What could be holding them all? Andy and Blanche are both standing beside their car, with a vest of their respective colours, and their shades on, looking all summer-ready and cool... oh crap, I left mine at home. Oh well, I can’t see much without my glasses anyway.

“Hey, someone decided to show up today.” Blanche says, sounding pleased with me, a smile on her face as the sun reflects off the sheen of her pink lipgloss.

“We’re here, and thanks to this guy, we have the alcohol. So where is everyone else?” I ask, pointing to Nuko before looking behind me to see if anyone is coming from behind me... no one is.

“Everyone got here a little earlier than expected, so they’re al inside.” Andy says, walking to the doorway. “Hey guys, everyone’s here.”

After he shouts to them, Lizzie, Poppy and Lyle walk out of the house, all in their summer gear. Poppy is wearing a yellow sundress and a straw hat with a little yellow ribbon tied around it. Lizzie seems to be inviting the sun as she chooses to wear a black vest with a big black parasol in her hand.

“You guys finally showed up. Maybe we were a little earlier than needed.” Poppy says, looking as happy as ever.

“You were here long before us, Poppy, and I thought we were early to get here.” Lizzie says, with sleep still in her eyes.

“Yeah, you actually woke us up by knocking on the door like two hours ago.” Andy says, looking tired as well.

“Sorry, I was just too excited to sleep last night. This is my first time after all.” Poppy says, excitedly bobbing up and down in glee, like a schoolchild.

“I’m driving today. No offence, but you look like you’re ready to collapse at any given moment.” Blanche says, taking the keys from his hand.

“Fine. Just try not to crash this time.” Andy says, as we all climb into our seats of the car, which is a lot warmer than on the outside.

“One time, Andy. Anyway, buckle up kids.” Blanche says, making me feel uneasy about the journey ahead.

As we start to drive towards the elevator, the heat starts to slowly dissipates through the open window.

“So, which one are we going to?” I ask, knowing that there are a couple of them in this area.

“We’ll go to the one at Crabwalk Quay. That one is my all time favourite one.” Blanche says, liking reliving times of her past in her head.

“Can’t wait to see what swimsuits you girls picked out.” Nuko says, as casually as he can make that perverted statement sound.

“Hah, I was thinking that, but didn’t want to say it out loud. This guy gets it.” Lyle says, looking impressed.

“Well, not to disappoint you guys, but I don’t actually have one.” Lizzie says, looking slightly annoyed, either at the boys, or for forgetting to get one.

“Don’t worry Liz, they are probably just excited for mine. I don’t want to brag or nothing, but I spent a bit more on this one, and it definitely shows.” Blanche says, as I see her confident smile in the rear view mirror.

Looking at my own, I feel silly putting it on. I don’t have the body like the others on the team, so where does that leave me? I just don’t want to be the laughing stock and make the others look back. A big sweat drop drips from the back of my neck to the middle of the back. Being in the middle of an already hot car feels like the inside of an oven.

After what felt like forever, we finally make it to Crabwalk Quay, and it is as beautiful as Blanche told us it would be. We park the car at the side of a path overlooking the main beach, where we can see its golden sand and pure blue sea, in all its majesty. As we all climb out of the car, we make our way down the stairs, getting closer and closer to the sand. Though the others rush ahead, I notice that Andy is getting all of the stuff from the back of the car, so I double back to him. This is the first time in a long time that we’ve been alone together. I’d better pick my first words carefully.

“Hey, you hand a need with that?” I ask, like a complete stuttering doofus.

“I’m sorry?” Andy asks, looking towards me, understandably confused.

“Come on, load me up, I’ve come to help.” I say, holding my arms open for him, hoping he didn’t think I was a complete idiot for that little display.

“Oh, thank you. I don’t mind taking it all, but if you insist.” Andy says, as he pulls some deckchairs from the back of the car and hands them all to me. “I’ll take the rest.”

We close the car and begin walking down the long staircase. It’s strange, as I feel my heart starting to pound and my hands starting to shake, it’s only just dawned on me that I’ve never really understood this feeling. Though I have felt it in the past, I have never truly knew what it meant. Taking my eyes off him and onto the stairs in front of me, I can see the beach growing closer and closer, though something starts to rub me the wrong way. I can’t help but notice-

“Hey, just out of curiosity, do you still have your whip on you?” Andy asks me, throwing me off my thought, though I suppose it would be awkward if I just spoke to myself the whole way through.

“Oh yeah. I keep it in my backpack for emergencies. Do you think I shouldn’t have?” I ask, feeling like a paranoid mess that arms herself when out and about, and I may have also smuggled Scout into my backpack.

“That’s okay, I left my sword back at home though. I thought it would be quite a detriment to carry such weapons here. Still, something doesn’t feel right here. For such a lovely day, it seems oddly... quiet.” Andy says, as we both look and notice that there aren’t a lot of people out there having fun today... in fact, I don’t see a single person down there.

“Wow, you noticed too? I wanted to bring it up, but I didn’t want to sound crazy.” I say, getting a little too excited over the fact that he too has observation skills and a little bit of my paranoia... I mean foresight.

“It’s probably nothing. I’m suppose it is lunchtime, so maybe everyone’s getting something to eat.” Andy says, replacing my once established thoughts with the sound of my rumbling stomach and the question of what there is to eat around here.

About an hour later, everyone gets changed into their swimsuits, each with their beautiful glistening beach bodies... and Lizzie sitting there in her black dress still, under the protection of her trusty sun parasol. Me however? I’m just in my vest and shorts, inside a little beach tent. After much work went into Scout’s water-proof modification, I decide to put it to the test, as I send it flying into the briny blue sea. It doesn’t seem to be losing interference, or showing signs of failure at all, so I can only deem it a success. I have always dreamt of becoming an underwater explorer and cartographer of the old worlds, so this baby might actually allow me to pursue that very dream.

“Hey, did we remember to pack that frisbee? Just sitting down is pretty boring.” Poppy says, as I see her shadow excitedly bouncing up and down from the corner of the unzipped tent doorway.

“Yeah, what she said.” Blanche says, out of view from the door, though her voice seems to be on the left of me, which explains the bum-shaped dent in the tent, before it returns to normal.

“Ehh, count me out. I’m sunbathing over here.” Lizzie says, dismissively to the others, sounding tired.

“Then lose the parasol.” Blanche says, as she runs past the door, carrying a closed black parasol, giggling to herself.

“Hey, I need that. The sun is my mortal enemy, you know? Blanche, get back here.” Lizzie shouts, running past after her.

I hear the rest of them walking away, but as I start to pack everything away and actually be social today, a huge noise comes through on my tablet. I quickly look down at it and see something huge zip past Scout. Before I can really react, I just hear splashing, screaming and then silence. I quickly set Scout back to the surface and set it by the shoreline before rushing out to the sand as fast as I can. The beach is completely empty. No sign of the others anywhere, or the thing that rose to the surface. There isn’t any signs of blood or even a struggle, so I can count that as a small blessing.

“Guys? If you can hear me, please let me know you’re alright. Please!” I shout in vain, hoping that someone, anyone hears me and responds.

Suddenly, a strange head pops out of the water, wearing a tiki mask with a strange metallic finish. It just stares at me for a few seconds before the mask’s eyebrows start to lower into an angry snarl.

“Um. Hi?” I say, waving at them with a lot of confusion on my face, my world literally opening up to the fact that this exists, and in the ocean of all things.

As the mask’s drawn-on mouth starts to speak in a strange language, many more of them emerge behind it, all with fish-like bodies and wearing slightly different masks. With no warning whatsoever, they all start to step out the water and run towards me.

“Are you the things that made my friends disappear? Step closer and I’ll make you cry home to your seabeds.” I say, pulling the whip out of the tent before lashing it in front of them, though this does not deter them from their bloodlust.

“No? Then your lesson will now begin.” I say, wrapping my whip around the leader, before I tug on it, making it spin into some of the others.

As more and more of them come out of the water, I find myself unable to fight them all off... but it only just occurs to me that they are only knee-high and weak, armed with only tiny sticks. To test my theory, I let them come to me and hit me, but they barely land a scratch on me, as the sticks just brush against my legs.

“Well, you can’t be the ones I’m after. You guys really couldn’t beat an egg.” I say to them, trying not to show my need to laugh.

“Silence. Our god has issued your destruction, and we will see that we do not fail.” The leader says in a deep mighty voice, continuing to swing at me to no avail.

“So you do speak English. Your god, huh? Well, I’m afraid you’re going back to a disappointed one.” I say, picking the leader up to get a closer look at it, as it flops around in my arms, trying to break free.

“Release me at once.” The leader says, eventually breaking free, dropping his stick when he falls to the floor.

All of them stop fighting me and help the leader to his feet, who picks his stick back up. They all just look at me, an armada of weird eyes on me, watching my every move like a recurring nightmare I have at night.

“Fine, you touchy little thing. Does your god make people disappear often?” I ask, wanting to confirm it as the reason this place is so quiet.

“Of course he-“ The leader says, before cutting himself off, going into deep thought, and so do the others.

“Leader, the great Tridente has never done anything of the sort before.” One of the other fishmen behind the leader says, all of them with pensive looks on their faces.

“Alright, fine. Praise be to Tridente for all eternity, and it is not our place to question his motives, but his current behaviour has been questionably sour as of late.” The leader says, looking disgusted with himself for questioning himself.

“This Tridente was a benevolent god?” I ask, sitting down on the sand around them, so we are on equal levels.

“As benevolent as they come. You see, I am Leader Bit, and we are the Tridents. Tridente is a giant beast with eight legs and many eyes of which can see the whole ocean. We were born from his back many moons again and have been forever indebted to him. Once every year, he rises from a deep slumber to address us all and give us a task which normally includes making people happy. But this year, he seems to have awoken with a temper. He rose to the surface and took the people’s sentimental worths, like their currencies and personal belongings, until no one returned. Just a moment ago, he rose up once more with fury in his eyes as he abducts five humans and a strange bird, and sent us to get the one he missed.” Bit explains, looking quite sad now, as they all drop their weapons to the ground. “We failed him. We couldn’t even capture one human.”

“So my friends are dead? Is that what you’re telling me right now?” I ask frantically, my heart sinking to my feet as I furiously shake him.

“Please stop. The people will be safe in the grotto, figuring you are the type of species to survive underwater.” Bit says, filling my heart with even more dread.

“Take me down with you. I have to talk to this Tridente.” I say, running towards the ocean, as they all cut a path for me before running with me.

I take off my vest and shorts as I run, having just my blue one piece on underneath. I know this is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but I have to do something, anything. The little Tridents manage to catch up to me, working together to pull me back.

“Human, though your sudden cooperation is admirable, it would be inadvisable to go off by yourself. Let us go together.” Bit says, reaching up to take my right hand as another takes my left.

“Fine. But I swear to Neptune that if you’re lying to me, I’ll be having fishmen for dinner, and don’t think I can’t stomach all of you.” I say, sighing to myself and thinking to myself what a better day it would have been to stay out on the Locksleys’ garden.

As they rev themselves up for some grand dive, my eyes can’t help but be drawn to something poking its head out of the water. Oh no, it’s Scout, caught by the tide, it seems to be floating on the water. I try to break free for it, but I am suddenly pulled into the water with a huge splash. As we go further down, travelling at unreal speeds, I can already feel my lungs starting to take in a lot of water. I can see a lot of different species of fish and even some interesting coral and rocks, but I can’t enjoy it to the fullest when I am just one wrong breath away from a watery death. Just when everything seems bleak, to my surprise, we come to what looks like a huge sunken ship, something like an ancient cruise liner, sent to the briny depths a long time ago, as the mushrooms and moss reflect off the sunlight above, making it appear like it’s glowing.

As we get inside the ship from the main cabin, I am finally pulled onto dry land. I could kiss the floor right now, I’m so happy, but lord knows what it’s been through over the years. The room itself is quite dark, with the only light coming from the dented windows. The cobwebs are everywhere, and I’d rather not think about the millions of spiders, or the one giant spider who lives in them. The Tridents all shake the water off and continue on.

“We have arrived, and we actually did what our god sent us to do.” Bit says, before shouting some garbled noises in his native tongue, almost like a celebratory war cry.

Before I can begin to question it, the others join him in their moment of joy. If this guys are planning on feeding me to that thing, then I’m having fresh fish as my last supper. The floor of the room appears to have taken at least two feet of water, which honestly doesn’t matter to me at the moment, since I am drenched from top to toe, my shoes are full of water and I can’t shake the taste of brine from my mouth.

“Yeah, we made it. Now let’s get going before this god of yours eats those friends of mine.” I say, more blunter than I originally intended it to be.

In unison, the cheering stopped as the room fell to silence, leaving us with just the sounds of the water we tread beneath our feet. The further in we go, the darker and tighter the corridors get, which fills me with nothing but dread and concern for my decreasing mortality rate.

“Hey guys, I know I said to be wary, you didn’t have to be silent. After all, you’re the ones who are-“ I say to the others behind me, as I turn to them... only to see that none of them are actually there anymore. “...welcome.”

This makes me panic even more, as my pace goes from a small walk, to a fearful jog, and finally a terrified sprint. My heart starts to race as I run from room to room, until I run through the next door and see something in the distance. Trying my best not to break into tears, I hide behind the door and see something with huge legs, slithering out of view. Behind it, Bit and the other Tridents are being marched, bound in metal chains around their wrists. The water that they tread starts to diminish, telling me that the coast is clear for now. Despite my brain telling me not to, I decide to follow slowly from behind and see where they all go.

After a few minutes of walking, trying to sync my splashes with the others so I don’t raise suspicions, something shiny catches my attention from under the shallow water. With shaky hands, I reach down and grab it from the floor, and find Lizzie’s ring. If this is here, it both means that the others are close, but they are most likely in danger. After putting it on, I continue walking after them, as we come to a room made of what looks like strong glass. Before I can get a close look at the beast, the next door closes behind it, closing with a tremendous thud. Before I open up the door, I can’t help but notice that a strange noise is growing louder and louder, coming from just above my head. Before my brain can even process to look up, a drop of water falls on my head. There must be a- no!

True to the sinking feeling in my gut, I slowly look up to the ceiling and see a huge crack forming down the middle. Before I can even think to scream, the glass floodgates open, a torrent of water streaming towards the floor, landing on me and flooding the room within seconds. As I lose my breath once more, I try to swim for the next door, but the current seems to be pulling me away from it like a vacuum outside the newly opened roof. I start to drift away from the ship, leaving me unsure of whether I swim back towards the ship, or swim up towards the surface... no, my friends need my help.

With no confidence in my swimming, I paddle as fast as I can towards the ship, just as a huge shark passes by, knocking me off course. With nothing left to lose, I decide to take a big risk, heart in my throat, as I take out my whip and wrap it around the shark’s back fin. Holding on as tight as my hands can allow, I am suddenly jolted and propelled forward through the water, shortening the distance between me and the ship. However, this comes at a steep price, as the shark now looks at me with a bloodthirsty gaze in its eye. Without a warning sign, the shark pulls a 180 degree spin and charges towards me. It gnashes its razor-sharp teeth, snapping with the power of many swords. I luckily narrowly dodge its frightening bite, wrapping the whip around its mouth. With shaky hands, I put the last of my energy and strength to pull the shark downwards.

Though the shark puts up a mean fight, I manage to guide it into the ship, breaking through a wooden area, near the helm. The shark and I go tumbling towards the floor, landing just feet away from each other. I weakly pick myself, coughing up water, as I gather all the air I can, wondering how I managed to survive for that long. The shark continues to lunge at me, but without water, I am slightly faster. As the water once again fills the room, I manage to get through the next door and close it on the other side. I can’t stop shaking. I don’t know if it’s because I’m frightened, cold, or because I almost died, but my entire body won’t stop shivering... note to self, bring a scuba suit next time something like this happens.

After I feel myself returning to normal, and my vision starts to come back, I wipe my glasses down to see that I am in a huge room with piles upon piles of gold, surrounded by nothing but candles. This looks as it is used as a shrine. Have I finally found Tridente’s waking place? Where is it? Have I beaten it-

Suddenly, I can feel a cold wet sensation tickling at my back, before it wraps itself around my waist, yanking me up into the air. The candles all burn brighter, showing me that the beast is really here. It looks like a pink octopus with the face of a men, safe for an uncomfortably large mouth with many rows of teeth, as it smiles at me, sending shivers down my spine.

“Another one for the collection? You have served me well, my loyal subjects.” Tridente says, in a weirdly deep and seemingly mechanical voice.

It turns towards the traitorous Bit and his cronies, though they all look quite regretful... good. A big stage light shines on the back wall to show my friends, all wrapped up in the other arms, unconscious.

“Guys! No. You’re all dead once I’m out of here.” I say as I angrily attempt to wriggle myself free, but find myself unable to.

“As you wished, my lord. But if I may, why did we need to collect these people?” Bit asks the beast, stepping forward.

“So you dare question my authority? Maybe you forget your place?” Tridente asks, looking at him dismissively.

“Ahh, I’m sorry, my lord. I was wrong to question your rule.” Bit says, as they all fall to the floor and beg for forgiveness like little cowards.

“I suppose I should offer a little explanation to you lower folk. These people, these six. I can recall their faces quite clearly. We have certainly met before, I can say that much. It sucks that their pockets were so empty.” Tridente explains, in a way so uncharacteristically common for a high-and-mighty sea god.

“Sorry to spoil the plan, but we’ve never met. I think I’d remember seeing a soggy 8 legged freak anywhere.” I say, still struggling to break free, as I think about what the hell this beast is talking about.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, something hits me. Something that didn’t add up before suddenly starts to make sense. Eight legs, the knowledge that we have crossed paths before, why he came to the sea. It all fits too perfectly to be coincidence.

“Now I finally get it. I must say you had me for a moment there, mister... damn, I don’t think we ever caught your name when we met.” I say, remembering only that he was in a giant spider.

“It’s Tridente, of course. Unfortunately, you are no longer useful to me, so it’s time to say goodbye.” Tridente says, before tightening his grip on us, until it starts to squeeze us like tubes of toothpaste.

The others all wake up with a start before screaming in pain. Everywhere looks terrified and confused, and I suppose I can’t blame them.

“Where the hell are we? How did we get here?” Andy asks, as he tries to scramble out with the most terrified look on his face, to no avail.

“Weren’t we just on the beach, having a good time? And now this?” Blanche asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, as if nothing else is happening right now.

“Hey guys, calm down. I can get us out of here. It’s a long shot, but I can use this. Lightning!” I shout to the ring, before punching my hand outwards...but nothing happens.

“Ohhh. So you do have some treasure after all. That’s all I really need. This must be worth a little fortune.” Tridente says, dropping the others to the wet floor, before reaching out with its other tentacle hands, coming closer to me.

“Roxy, you found my ring. If you want lightning, say Foudre!” Lizzie says, sounding relieved as everyone catches their breaths.

“Thank you. You ready for this? Taste some lightning. Foudre!” I say, as lightning starts to shoot out of my hand, hitting the beast in the face, loosening its grip on me as I join the others.

As Tridente doubles back in pain, he turns back to us, and shows us that his face is in fact, a cockpit for a machine, just as I thought. Inside, there is a middle aged man with short grey hair and a huge beard of the same colour. Bit and the others look so shocked, as they fall to their knees in despair.

“Damn it. Why can’t any of these machines just work as I built it? Fine, you kids got me this time. I wanted to test out the new waterproof machine, trick a gullible group into doing my bidding and coax people into giving me riches and treasure, or face eradication. Of course, the cowards all ran away before long.” The man says, feeling sorry for himself, as he tries to close the cockpit, but it is stuck.

“So that’s why it’s been so empty here. You are truly the worst, mister...” I say, trying to coax his name out of him, in case he pulls this stunt again.

“Smart. Call me Dr. Smart.” Dr. Smart says, laughing to himself, sounding proud of the name.

“Tridente. I can not believe we have been following a fake this whole time. He must be so ashamed of us.” Bit says, sounding devastated, as the others all hang their heads in shame.

“You bet. And now, you answer to me. So, get your asses in gear and help me defeat these guys.” Dr. Smart says, shouting at the little guys.

To our surprise, the Tridents all stay still in protest, no longer answering to him.

From behind us, some rumbling can be heard on the outside of the ship, getting louder and louder.

“What are you people doing? Your master has spoken. Unless you wish to face his wrath, I suggest you do as you are-“ Dr. Smart says, yelling at the Tridents, though he is cut off by a huge crash just behind him.

The wall explodes, immediately filling the room with water, submerging us all. From under the water, we can see the real Tridente, swimming up to the machine version, opening its mouth.

“Oh hi there, Tridente. Was just playing a little game of pretend, that got a little out of hand. So, no hard feelings, right?” Dr. Smart asks, sounding casual enough, but inside, I’m sure he is pooping himself.

Without a single word, the beast swallows the entire machine up, and swims away with the Tridents just behind him. Bit looks at me just seconds before he swims off to catch up with the others. Following their example, we all swim for the surface and thankfully, all of us make it there, even Lyle, who managed to sleep through the entire thing.

The sun is still as bright as ever, though it looks as if it is slowly starting to set. We all walk up the shore, making it back to our tent spot before we all fall into the sand together, groaning in exhaustion. At this point, Lyle finally wakes up.

“Hmm, I don’t remember napping. Must have been tired. Why are you all wet? I thought you were going to wake me up if we go for a swim.” Lyle says, in a completely normal tone, as if he doesn’t know about anything that has happened.

Next to me, I can see Lizzie reaching for her sock knife before I gently put her hand away from it.

“Oh, before I forget. Here’s the ring. Sorry for using it.” I say, taking the ring off and placing it into her open palm.

“Oh no, don’t worry about it. You did use it to save us, after all. I guess I’m not the only one who can use this ring.” Lizzie says, putting the ring back on, looking at it as the little light dies back down.

“I guess so.” I say to her, only just discovering that for myself.

“Anyway, we might never truly know what happened there, but who’s up for that game of frisbee?” Blanche says, picking up the frisbee and running in the sand.

“Oooh, me, me, me.” Poppy says, running after her, excitedly.

“Fine, just watch and learn.” Nuko says, joining the others, though he looks pretty tired already.

Everyone runs off into the horizon, as Lizzie continues laying down in the sand with her parasol that blocks the sun. As for myself, I return to the shoreline to pick Scout back up, after not being able to get it before. Before I can think of going back to the tent, I take one last look at the beautiful water. Though this wasn’t the best experience, I will soon take the diving expedition that can change history forever, as I will be the one to find the relics of the old worlds. I can dream, right?

As I turn around and walk away, I can hear something splashing in the water. I take out my whip and sharply turn around, just knowing that it is Dr. Smart... to my surprise, it is Bit, looking up at me with a smile on his mask.

“Oh it’s you. Come to say goodbye, did you?” I ask him, still a little peeved that he would sell me out like that on a whim.

“Human, I must apologise for our past judgements. We have thankfully been forgiven by the benevolent Tridente. His awakening came with impeccable timing, much like always. But for helping us all get back on the right path, we have prepared a small parting gift for your ownership alone.” Bit says, handing me a lovely necklace, made from ivory seashells and a thin rope... an acquired taste, but one that I have.

“Thank you. I wish you all the best too. Good luck down there, and don’t be afraid to question your heroes. Even the greatest of people will one day make mistakes, and it sometimes falls to you to help them as they have helped you.” I tell him, taking the necklace from him, and putting it around my neck. Though it is a little small, it fits nice enough.

“We shall. Thank you for everything.” Bit says, jumping back into the water, with a smile still on his face.

Before long, the sun starts to fade as I see everyone else starting to pack up the tent. Though it was a scary experience, I can safely say that I feel more like an actual hero now. As I return to the others, I can’t help but smile, eagerly awaiting the next big mission so I prove it to myself even further, and maybe get a ring of my own. By the time we come back here, I will be stronger, I will be braver.... hopefully skinnier too.