Chapter Twenty-Five

Elysia’s eyes fluttered open, then squinted against the sunlight shining through the windows. She turned over only to smack into Sereia, who was sprawled out like a starfish, somehow taking up most of the bed.

While grumbling, Elysia sat up, then crawled off the bed. She sent a stink eye toward her snoozing twin before exiting her bedroom. Well, it used to be her bedroom. One item on the list if they found somewhere to fix Umbra was a bedroom for Sereia.

She put her twin issues out of her mind as she climbed the stairs and peered out the window. Nothing but open ocean appeared within sight, at least in three directions. To the east she spotted a distant dark line where land should be. A frown formed upon realizing they drifted deeper into the ocean, but fortunately, the water appeared calm.

Upon entering the control room, she found the humans seated at their usual perch on the couch, looking over maps. The tense atmosphere shot a spear of worry through her, prompting her to break the silence. “What’s wrong? Why did we change course?”

Eva jerked in surprise, contrasting Joe’s glance. “We woke up to rocks jutting out from the water. To be safe, we diverted deeper.”

“Rocks? From what I remember, this section of the coast should have cliffs dotted with beaches.”

Joe shrugged his shoulders, then pointed at a section of the map. “We should be a few kilometers out from the Bay Area, but we’ve yet to see any human activity.”

“Can we travel closer to shore? I didn’t run into humans until I was right on top of Port Alberni, either. Maybe they cut back on ocean travel.”

As Eva turned Umbra toward shore, Elysia received a flurry of images showing hundreds of ships at an expansive dock. Eyes wide, she prodded her bond to find Ione was almost fifty kilometers to the southeast.

An idea sparked. She asked Ione to return while relaying her idea. Excitement radiated through her bond as she felt Ione rocket back toward them far faster than any water dwelling creature should be capable of.

A little while later, Umbra drew parallel with the shore, revealing sheer cliffs. The rocks turned out to be chunks of land that sheared off the cliffs. Something brutal happened. It was like a massive earthquake hit the area. She supposed that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, especially since California wasn’t known as the most seismically stable area to begin with. Was that why the smaller cities ceased to exist? Up north, many of the small towns survived, at least partially as ghost towns, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.

Before she could dwell on the subject any further, she heard a splash and a thud announcing Ione’s arrival. She turned to the humans. “Ione found some activity south of us. We are going to check it out. Worst case, we can escape while Umbra couldn’t. If you need help, wake up Sereia.”

They nodded, though worry flashed through both of them. “Don’t worry, at the first sign of danger we will retreat. If they aren’t friendly, we will find another solution. If we arrive separately, they may repair Umbra for you two, even if they don’t welcome non-humans.”

Elysia trotted out of the control room and met Ione on the rear deck. Upon hopping on, Ione leaped into the water and dove several meters down before giving her mother a few moments to tuck herself in.

They rocketed southward, reaching an intersection in the ocean minutes later. She spotted chunks of buildings and wrecked cars on the ocean floor as they sped past.

Curious, she asked Ione to surface so she could check out the area. When they did, a gasp escaped her. To her left was a devastated city, or at least she thought it used to be a city. No building remained standing. Unlike up north, only a few trees sprouted from the ruins, though plenty of vegetation grew on the remains.

A glance to the right revealed the same devastation. It was like some giant cleaved the city into with a sword leaving behind a water-filled canyon.

She spent a few more seconds scanning the ruins, trying to find any identifying features, but found none, as there was simply not enough left. How could anyone survive destruction like this? A shiver ran through her, imagining what it would be like to stand in a city as everything crumbled around her.

Fortunately, she wasn’t human anymore. She may even survive a building collapsing on her as long as she had charge, not that she would want to test that theory.

Though she might never have to with her A Moment In Time skill. Of course, she couldn’t rely on the skill to save her. Just when she needed it, the skill may not activate.

Sensing her mother’s desire to leave, Ione dove back under the surface and swam deeper into the canyon, where she found the numerous snacks wandering about.

As they traversed the canyon, Elysia stared upward, spotting the hulls of several ships, but since it was a scouting mission, they didn’t immediately surface.

Instead, they continued on until they reached a stone wall blocking further travel. Ione slowed to a stop and waited. A few seconds later split at the center as several boats traveled through above. They took advantage of the opening and swam through.

On the other side it was like a switch flipped, the previously barren ocean floor was now teeming with life. A rainbow of fish swam about.

A glance up revealed Hundreds if not thousands of hulls moving about. There must be a massive harbor up there.

If she wanted to, she could probably reach out and grab a fish with how numerous they were.

Worried someone would spot them if they surfaced, Elysia asked Ione to continue deeper to find a less busy area. The further in they went, the wider the waterway became.

It was like a mini ocean, but unlike the ocean, the water remained perfectly calm, almost unnaturally so as all sorts of sea life swam about.

Suddenly, she froze as she spotted the underside of a massive turtle. Unable to resist, the duo swam upward and broke the surface right next to the turtle, only to find it wasn’t Urus.

The turtle lifted its massive head and glanced at the duo before losing interest moments later.

However, that wasn’t the case, as a booming masculine voice sounded in their minds as soon as the head return to its place resting atop the water. “Welcome young elemental’s my sister thought you would show up here, eventually.”

Elysia’s core jumped. “You’re the one who saved my twin?”

“Correct.”

If she could, she would have hugged the massive turtle, but as it was, she could only give her things. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if the elementals caught her.”

“I’m sure an elemental of your heritage would’ve found a way, but I’m glad I could be of help. Any day one of us hurts those stuck up water puddles is a good day.”

Elysia found herself nodding in agreement. Next to the massive turtle, she was practically invisible, allowing her to stare at the city straight out of fantasy.

Unlike Port Alberni, which tried to retain its pre system look, this city leaned into the new world. Carved out of the side of the canyon was a city reminiscent of Petra, except instead of looking dead, vibrant plants of all colors grew out of nearly every available space. It was so colorful it was almost blinding.

Added to the look were several fantastical ships docked with all sorts of beings wandering about. She spotted humans, but while they were in the majority, there were several other beings, like winged humanoids, who flew up to the highest spots in the city, some even flying straight over to whatever laid above.

They weren’t the only one’s trying to reach the upper parts. Levitating platforms ferried the less aerial inclined beings to higher sections.

From her vantage point, she couldn’t see what laid beyond the upper buildings, but she assumed another section of the city spread above the canyon.

If it weren’t for a handful of modern looking ships, she would have assumed she traveled to another world.

What was this place? It looked like it was centuries old, yet she knew it wasn’t. Magic did some truly wondrous things. She returned her attention to the turtle floating lazily in the water, but unlike Urus, this turtle didn’t read her mind. Instead, he just pointed his snout at the city as if to tell her to find out herself.

Still, despite seeing many races of beings, she didn’t see a single Changed or elemental among the thousands of people within sight. She had to find out before Umbra arrived. If things turned south, they should be able to escape, or maybe the turtle would back them up.

There was no way she could sneak into the city and she couldn’t fly, so she needed to use the platforms. That left simply walking in and hoping for the best.

Elysia eyed the people walking about doing their own tasks with likely system enhanced precision. Everyone seemed to work together like a well-oiled machine. There didn’t seem to be any violence, but that might be because whoever led the city had a firm control like Urus did on her shell. She wouldn’t find out until she explored first hand and to do that, she needed to reveal herself.

After taking several more minutes to investigate the city while hiding next to the massive turtle, she ushered Ione toward the dock while remaining visible as to not surprise anyone. The last thing she wanted was to cause an incident because she appeared out of nowhere.

With a splash alerting several nearby dock workers, Ione shot out of the water onto a dock. She landed with the silent grace of a feline, then lowered herself to allow Elysia an easy dismount.

As Elysia climbed off Ione, she kept her eyes on the surrounding people, most of which were humans looking for any signs of hostility. However, contrary to her expectations, they looked almost thankful for her presence. Not in a worshiping way, but like she was a returning soldier coming back from defending her country.

She tried to push the discomfort down, as it felt like she was taking credit for something she didn’t do. Some of it must have shown as the dockworkers quickly returned to their duties while giving Elysia some space to traverse the dock toward the stone city.

With Ione at her side, ready to protect her mother at a moment’s notice, Elysia wandered into the stone city. Every person she passed nodded their head in respect to her, only increasing her discomfort. Wanting to get her investigations over with as soon as she could, she speed walked to the nearest platform while trying to look as if she belonged in the city. Who knew what they would do if they found out she was an outsider?

When she reached the platform, she found there wasn’t enough room for her and Ione, so she stepped back to wait for the next one, only for several people to vacate the platform while bowing their heads.

A war raged in her mind, not wanting to take their spots, but if she refused, they might realize she was an outsider. An idea popped into her head, prompting her to hope into Ione’s back, creating enough room for everyone.

Despite her solution, those who gave up their spot appear hesitant to return to the platform, causing Elysia to break the silence. “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to get in your way, so please get on.”

Not needing any more prompting, the three humans and a dwarf like person took their spots on the platform just as it lifted off the ground. They sent thankful looks her way before averting their gaze, allowing Elysia to take in the awe-inspiring view without prying eyes.

A minute later, the platform stopped at the top of the stone city. Elysia turned on Ione’s back, then froze. The stone harbor was nothing compared to the city above.

For as far as the eye could see, majestic buildings carved out of all sorts of materials soared into the sky. Some could qualify as skyscrapers.

What was this place? It’s huge. At least as big, if not bigger, than the Bay Area cities combined. Apparently, she found where everyone went.