The nukes had nothing on this thing rising from the ocean. Massive crystalline pillars covered in algae and seaweed stretching up through the clouds and blocking out the sun. Strange, jagged pyramid Ziggurat shapes large enough to house entire cities in them with plenty of room to spare. Everything seemed to be made from some kind of crystal, but the color underneath the algae and other ocean debris was hard to pin down. When Michael could just about tell what the color was, it seemed to shift slightly and turn into something completely different. Like it was keeping the truth just outside of his vision. At one point he thought it was some shade of yellow, but other times it felt purple, blue, green, orange, and so on.

If he had to use two words to describe it, he would have to say alien and massive. It felt like an ancient civilization, but also so incredibly different. A shiver ran up Michael’s spine as he felt an instinctual urge to leave. It was almost as if this massive structure held the same fear as the dark. Almost as if it was the personification of the unknown. Like this was what was hiding in the dark at night. The thing that only sits in the corner of your eye but disappears when you turn to face it. The feeling of breath on the back of your neck and a hand hovering just above your shoulder. Never quite being there, but always looming as a threat where it can’t be directly seen.

Michael, Sharon, and Carolyn had all moved up to the bow of the Golden Fleece and were staring at this monstrosity as it felt like it took up the entirety of the ocean. Standing there, Michael’s body started to freeze up. Terror rose in his throat as he tried to bring himself back to reality. He took in a deep breath through his nose, and slowly let it out through his mouth. He looked over at Sharon who had a look of rapture on her face, and Carolyn who seemed to be pure shock.

“Hey, hey!” he said as he snapped his fingers in front of both of their faces. “Look, we lucked out with the waves from that thing not capsizing us, but we need to focus.”

“I made it…the book was telling the…truth. I can’t, I can’t…”

Michael grabbed Sharon by her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Look at me Sharon. You’ve got to come back to reality. Something crazy is obviously happening, but we need to focus on our survival.”

Sharon seemed to stare straight through Michael until she furrowed her brow. “No, you are…right Michael. I have…much to live for now…but the shambling crystal is…a sort of…solid ground. Would it…not be worth it to…at least check it out?”

“Wait wait wait,” Carolyn shook herself out of her stupor and cut in. “That sounds like a totally terrible idea. Look, I’m like all for some mystery, but even I can see that place is like totally nothing but a tomb.”

“No, the Ancients are…definitely still alive…and well…”

“Look, let’s all just step back, and take a deep breath.” He said as he stepped back and away from the crystalline structures. “There’s a lot of strange stuff going on, alright? Normally I’d agree with you Carrie, that nothing could be alive in that thing, but normally I’d also think this kind of thing just appearing would be impossible.”

“We’re in the bowl…Much of what…would be impossible is…simply normal here.”

Carolyn rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Michael spoke up. “Alright sure, but if it is a tomb, it still might be better to have a solid piece of land to go back to. If there’s a chance, we could set up some kind of place to rest that isn’t on the water. It’s worth at least trying, and who knows if there’s any kind of supplies, we could find there.”

Carolyn sighed and tilted her head back. “Alright, fine. I can already tell I like can’t convince you two otherwise. Let’s just get this totally suicide mission over with.”

Sharon smiled as she rushed past them towards the back of the boat. “I’ll grab what I…need! Be sure to…come prepared. Lights, chisels…brushes, bags, rope, and…anything else you think…you might need.”

“Like I think I preferred her all mopey.”

-

They didn’t have most of the supplies that Sharon wanted but made do with what they had. Michael did sacrifice some of the last remnants of their gasoline to make janky torches, but they didn’t really have much else. Sharon was clearly irritated but chose not to mention it. Michael also insisted they reschedule washing their clothes, and instead wear the pseudo rain jackets he had made from the tatters of Sharon’s life raft.

“Alright, give me a little more slack!” Michael had gone onto the crystal island first. He got them to agree so that the boats didn’t somehow leave without them. With a rope wrapped around his shoulder he tried to find a good place to tie up the boats. It was such and odd feeling stepping onto the crystals that made up the ground. It definitely wasn’t smooth, but wasn’t sharp enough to cut his feet, or stab into him. It was strange, like it was teetering between the feeling of standing on a heated vinyl floor and like stepping on gravel.

“Sharon! Anything else I should know about these crystals? Will they magically change shape and leave us stranded?”

“The crystals of the…abyss when formed do…not bow to any pressure…Their form is preserved…through all of time and…space.”

“Right, so safe to tie up to then?”

Michael wasn’t really waiting for an answer. He could hear her start to explain more, but she had already answered him as best as she could. All he needed was a decent sized chunk that wasn’t sharp enough to cut through the rope too quickly. Which luckily enough wasn’t too difficult to find as there were large chunks rising out of the ground like crystal spires or monoliths.

“So, like do you think that’s good enough to keep our little Golden Ducky fleet here?” Carolyn tugged on one of the ropes as if it was a guitar string.

“What? Don’t trust my crazy survival skills now Carrie?”

She smirked. “O M G, now you’re the one teasing me.”

“We need to focus…” Sharon cut in as she held the prophetic book under her arm. “The shambling crystal is here…to stay, but our time…on it is precarious.”

Michael looked back towards the two boats. They rocked gently in the waves and rain as if completely ignorant of the massive structure looming overhead. It felt like he had been at sea for years, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t hope that they found a way to stay on this mysterious island. Especially if they could find some new supply of food. He never cared for fish, and after it became the mainstay of his diet, he liked it even less by the day.

When he turned back to deeper parts of the crystal island, he still felt that instinctual urge of fear; but there was also a spark of something else. Some sort of pull that almost seemed to compel him to push further, to move into the depths of the island. To discover the secrets long lost in this ancient place. A mixture of intense curiosity and unimaginable fear.

“We have many…layers to uncover ahead…Be wary, as what…may have seemed innocuous…to the Ancients…could be quite deadly to us…”

“Ancient ruins, booby traps, and treasure galore? Like I totally feel like Laura Croft right now!” giggled Carolyn as a tinge of fear and apprehension undercut her usual confident tone.

“Just remember, we need to focus on our survival. Living to tomorrow is our first priority, alright?”

“There is no…reward without risk…”

“Like normally I’d agree but dying rich totally doesn’t like sound glamorous at all.”

The three of them grew silent as they stood in front of a massive archway at least ten stories high; and yet despite it’s height, the inside seemed to let in no light from outside, as it appeared pitch black ahead of them. Like the gaping maw of a basking shark held open, waiting for plankton to filter inside, unaware of how they were ushering their own doom.