Sea-King Sea Monsters II

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t39447p525-job-sign-up-thread#391826 (TWC: 14000)

Continuation from Last Mission

The sea monster latched on to Arcadia as she, in her large dragon form began to pull to try and drag the sea monster outt of the water-- but to no avail as it was either very heavy or something else. Though the only boon to her tactic was while she distracted it, its tentacles left the shore-side cliff to give Zachary a chance to act. Tama kept guard, the elegant, regal fox swishing her tail back and forth in patience as she kept close to Zachary for his protection. She was surprisingly protective of him, seeing herself as a loyal guardian.

Aquila was safe as well, the eagle soaring just above reach and over Arcadia in a large dragon form. He was surprised how she just appeared like that. "Whooo-boy. Remind me not to piss off that lady," Aquila cawed teasingly.

"That be a first," Zachary wisecracked back as he held his keys firmly. With Arcadia now trying to restrain the creature, it was time for them to go on the offensive. A smile appeared on his face. Now was the time to show Arkadia his true talent as a Celestial Wizard. "Arcadia, check this out!" Zachary said as he held up his key of Aquila . He looked up to his eagle spirit. "You ready for a power-up, Aquila?"

An excited cry came from Aquila, knowing what the boy was referring to. Though at first, all his spirits were a bit reserved, but since Aquila was one of the originals to try it-- his opinion changed and he actually liked it."Yeah! Hit me, Z-boy!"

Zachary extended his key up high and aimed at Aquila. "O Gate of the Eagle, I call upon you. Open your threshold once more," Zachary called out, a magic circle of Celestial Magic appearing below him as he channeled his magic into the key and spoke the words. The light began to increase, growing stronger. Slowly, using the key, Zachary drew a patter in the air, specks of light trailing behind it to form a 'constellation'-- Aquila's own in fact. "Fill this champion with your light, shine and transcend the spirit within!"

Once the constellation was drawn-- Zachary slashed the key into it, casting the specks of light forward towards Aquila.

An excited cry of energy came from Aquila as the lights circled him, and began to draw closer to him, his whole form starting to shimmer with light. The lights alligned to where his own stars would be, and his form began to become translucent for a bit.

With the key aimed still to Aquila, Zachary spoke the final words to the spell. "Aquila-- STELLAR EVOLUTION!!"

Aquila let another cry as magical electricity sparked off him with the sudden surge of magic into him. His body became fully-starry as if he became a shadow, then flashed with a brilliant magic that would dazzle most. The light became a cackle of energy that went wild with his cry, and after a few seconds-- Aquila emerged from the lightning, his form transformed!

The eagle's feathers had changed, having gone from brown to a brilliant white with specks of 'stars' that dotted parts of his body. His form had become far more Celestial than before, armoring now over his wings, crown and talons. All the while, lightning crackled off his body with each beat of his wings. He was completely different from before, now supercharged with renewed magic power.

This was Zachary's unique talent. As most Celestial Wizard's strength was determined by the number of spirits they could summon at once, his was the special ability to use his magic to somehow transform and make his spirits stronger using his own magic to tap into their own gates-- acting like a floodgate to grant them more power from their own stars. It was an art that Zachary was proud to invent on his own, and made him stand out more than most Celestial Wizards.

"Aquila's back-- and fully charged, baby!!" he shouted, boasting his new form with pride. "The lady birds love da thunder!"

Tama who watched on, let her awe fade with the bird's same blow-heart personality. "Keep dreaming, bird-brain..." the fox signed.

Meanwhile, the Krakken's reach was starting to try and bind up more of Arcadia's dragon body, and reaching more for her wings which would have been bad.

WC: 726

Arcadia was prepared for the onslaught of additional tentacles focusing bringing her down. She unleashed her icy roar down over and bit down on one tentacle around her with the intention of severing it to free herself. She gave another hard push to gain more altitude, and only gained a couple inches that was lost as soon as she was no longer putting full exertion into beating her wings.

It was clear now, she would not be so easily fishing this oversized squid up onto the shore. Arcadia had more than enough fight left, but she also did not want to waste energy in a protracted struggle. In this tug of war, the krakken had the advantage of gravity on its side. The ice dragon had to expend vastly more energy to fight gravity and the krakken's pull than the krakken had to spend fighting just her pull.

The idea of being pulled down into the krakken's backyard was not appealing. Sadly, that was a possibility that would become all the mire likely the longer she kept her end of the fight up in the sky. Time to shift goals. Arcadia began beating her wings backward, aiming to land back on the clifftop.

She would now be aiming solely to keep as many of of the krakken's tentacles occupied as she could. The clifftop shook as the struggle between dragon and krakken did not allow her to soften her landing. Sonce she was now a safe distance from the edge, the tables were now turned on the krakken. Arcadia's great icy mass not going to budge. She was barely expending energy to stay in place. The krakken would have to be the one to spend all its energy, if it wanted to dine on a giant ice cube.

When the krakken did manage to drag her an inch or so toward the cliff's edge, she would just take a step back. It would have to let go to retreat back into the depths. Arcadia bit or clawed at tentacles wrapped around her, hoping to keep the krakken's ire and attention long enough for Zachary, Tama and Aquila to do their thing.

Now that her side of the battle did not require hyperfocus, she turned some of her attention to Zachary and his spirits. She also made sure Astral was still safe. The dazzling display made by Zachary's Stellar Evolution technique could not be ignored, and her faerie green haze was drawn to Aquila's transformation. She smiled, a subtle thing in her enormous dragon maw, but noticeable. "Woooah-ho-ho... Hey, Zachary!That's pretty sweet! Go get'em, Aquila!"

Arcadia also consciously noticed Tama for the first time. She had been peripherally aware of the fox-like spirit the whole time, but it was only now she had the time to actually observe between fending off the occasional swipe of a tentacle that came too close to her face. The great ice wyrm chomped one tentacle that dared smack into her head.

Once that tentacle was chased away from her maw's reach, Arcadia offered Tama a smile. "Heya! Always glad to meet more Zachery's friends!"

WC: 523
Arcadia WC: 523
Thread WC: 1249

Arcadia in dragon form struggled for a bit with her Krakken adversary, but it was just enough to keep the tentacles off of Zachary and his spirits-- and the time was perfect as it now allowed him to bring out his 'trump card'. He could have summoned Leo, his strongest spirit he had, but in a fight with a sea monster, a sun spirit probably wasn't the best choice. Aquila wasn't as strong as others, but that wasn't the point.

With Stellar Evolution, Zachary opened the gate of the effected Spirit, combining his own magic with the gate and the spirit it belonged to make them even stronger. The method was an original creation of Zachary and was one of the only Celestial Wizards known with that ability. The spell could allow a simple bronze or silver key spirit to become as strong or as powerful as a Zodiac spirit.

"Arcadia-- get clear!!" Zachary warned, hoping she would get out of the way in time for their next move.

Aquila now crackled with blue lightning bolts off his wings as he flew in the general area. Each movement left a starry trail of the magic behind him, as was the effect of Stellar Evolution. The moment that she would be out of range and the Krakken was open in the water, the eagle gave an energetic cry.

"SUSHI ANYONE!?" Aquila cawed, his wings alit with lightning. "HERE'S SOME FRIED CALAMARI!! KRAAAA!!" With his eagle's cry, he threw his wings with a powerful flap-- and a large bolt of lightning shot forward. It struck the Krakken with a powerful force, covering it instantly.

A shrill cry of pain came from the Krakken as it was electrocuted, twitching and seared by the lightning that struck it. After it convulsed and screamed, it slowed and the lightning died down off of it. Still, Aquila flew in the air. His body was still transformed and lightning still crackled with each flap of his wings.

"Had enough juice, or you thirsty for more?!" the eagle cawed, feeling super-charged with magic that it made him even more cocky.

Zachary held on to Aquila's key, his magic into the key keeping Stellar Evolution going. "One more blast should do it," he said as he raised his key up to direct Aquila. "And... fi--"

"STOP!!" A female voice cried out.

Zachary paused at the call-- the voice familiar and followed with a loud 'hoot'. He knew it. He turned and looked while the Krakken was recovering from the painful electric shock.

Up in the air nearby came flying down a snowy white owl with celestial ornaments on its head and wings, like ribbons. A respected, holy looking snowy white owl. Zachary recognized her immediately-- it was one of his own spirits. "P-Professor Nyx! What are you doing?! " he cried.

She had not only opened her own gate but came flying in like an emergency. "Zachary, stop what you are doing! You're making a mistake!" the owl hooted, no doubt not only appearing 'cute' to Arcadia, but that there was more to things that met the eye. Noctura, aka Professor Nyx as she liked to be called, was a knowledge spirit. She knew many things pertaining to Celestial Magics, creatures and magical places in Earthland. So if she was motivated to open her own gate to tell them something, it must of been very, very important. "That's not a sea monster! It's a CELESTIAL SPIRIT!!" she cried.

"W-What?!" Zachary cried.

It was in that instant, the Krakken thrashed once more, and this time its tentacle reached out and grabbed Zachary around the waist. A cry came out of fright as Zachary was lifted up and over the cliff ledge closer to the Krakken as he felt the grip not give him an inch.

"Zachary!" Tama the fox cried as her master was lifted away, but hesitated to know that it was a Celestial Spirit.

Zachary was pulled closer and closer to the Krakken. At first Zachary thought he was in real danager and almost gave the order for Aquila to attack and free him... but then something happened. The Krakken moved Zachary closer-- and soon was looking into its eye. A large, black and glossy eye that seemed to show something deep inside. It wasn't attacking in hunger or rage...

That was when it happened. It lowered Zachary down to the water. That was when he struggled, afraid to be pulled under where he couldn't breathe. He was soon before anyone could stop and Zachary was submerged with a splash.

He held his breath, feeling the tentacle keeping him under. At first he was afraid to drown, but he soon opened his eyes... and saw it.

The reason Arcadia couldn't lift it out wasn't to cause it was merely heavy... it was chained up. Under the water, its body was tied by a strange, metallic chain that was dug into the cliffside and underwater bedrock of the cliffs. It kept the creature in place, preventing it from leaving or swimming.

While under the water, Zachary felt it... the surge of magic and his consciousness fading. THe lack of air didn't help as he was soon pulled out, but not before his eyes snapped open and went 'black'. Should Arcadia see his eyes as he was removed from the water-- she would see his corneas now black with starry glimmers of light in there, his irises changed as he suffered another 'vision' with his unique magical eyes.

Zachary felt himself thrown through the 'aether' in his vision, oblivious to his body as everything spun. When he did finally find clarity, he was looking at the very sea-cliff he was before. The image was flurry, faded, but he saw two things. A 'sea-serpent' like creature, a shadow of it in the water, and a young woman at the sea side in a black dress and black, curly hair. She looked like a resort guest however...

"You dumb, worthless creature! Why I even bother keeping your key!" she screamed with scornful hate at the spirit, hidden from his mind's eye. "Everyone now thinks I am not beautiful anymore! You always make them look away from me. How dare you take their attention off me-- without me, your nothing!!"

Zachary felt as he floated over the scene. He couldn't really move closer, or fix anything... but he was looking at something that felt... 'rustic'. His visions, his eyes, were something he had no control over yet, and so he would suffer visions of not only different things-- but even the past. No way... this must be a vision of the past. But... how long ago? he thought. His attention came to the woman. She seemed around his age, but her entire image was that of a pampered, egocentric noble girl who always got her way.

The image shifted, as if watching through a bad lacryma screen of a video. However, the last thing he saw was the clear 'shame' or 'pain' the spirit had. Things moved further, a flash of magic, a blur of time-- and what he saw next shocked him...

The spirit had become a larger creature, the krakken likely, but it threw its tentacles and body in pain as the woman watched. A 'wicked' arrogant laugh came as she watched it contort and struggle. She was sadistic, or so Zachary figured with disguist as he was forced to watch the events of the past before his own eyes. "Ha! Now who is the ugly one? Suits you better, you dumb snake! " she boasted, "Enjoy the surf and sun while you can. I won't tolerate a spirit like you anymore. Good riddance!" With that, she tossed something away, out of sight of Zachary's vision.

The wails and cries of the spirit rang in Zachary's ears. The girl-- the witch-- words Zachary rarely spoke to people-- he wanted to strike her for what she did. She cursed the spirit, and forced it to be imprisoned by it. The cries of the spirit, brought tears to Zachary's eyes...

... the vision began to fade and Zachary felt himself torn once again from the bounds of time. He sped right backwards and through the 'field of stars' he looked through...

"*GASP* COugh-couch-cough... ugh..." When Zachary came to, he was back on the shore. The Krakken had let him go and he was now laying on his stomach on there. Tama and Aquila were making their way towards him, but what would end the conflict-- was the Krakken letting Zachary go...

... hopefully, Arcadia could put it together too. The Krakken wasn't attacking them... in the end it was trying to show them something.

It needed help.

For now, however, Zachary struggled as his visions not only were exhausting, but being under water while having them didn't help his breathing.


WC: 1475

Arcadia clenched her jaw as she fought to keep the tentacles off of Zachary. The dragon was not gong anywhere, but she was feeling the krakken's strength. Even through the extra layer of icy armor, her even more icy form were gaining stress fractures here and there. Sure to make some nasty bruises in her human form, at least before she got some healing in.

Hearing Zarchary's call to get get clear filled her with a certainty she would have to bear through whatever was about to hit. The dragon was not going to be dragged off the cliff any time son, but the tentacles did have a pretty good hold. It would take longer to fight free, than she had to avoid Aquila's awesome.

She would need to pull one of her own aces to get out of harm's way in time. She conjured the illusion of a second great ice wyrm standing well behind Zachary and away from the cliffside. A beat or two before Aquila fried the Karkken, she traded places with her illusion, leaving the illusion of herself in the krakken's grasp, and the real Arcadia was standing where the illusion had been. There was no visual clue to the trade until the illusion in the Krakken's grasp poofed from the crush and mighty strike of lightning.

The dragon was rather awed by the display, but she tensed, ready to re-enter the fray should the Kraken prove resilient to a second helping of Aquila's enhanced electric strike. Arcadia was a little surprised to see Zachary's owl friend flying in. It was always good to see old friends The revelation the krakken was a celestial spirit did not change Arcadia's readiness to fight. That did not excuse it from terrorizing the people of this island. Celestial spirit or not, the krakken would answer for its crimes.

If Zachary could not get it to talk, she remained ready to pounce once again, and to her eyes she was proven right when the krakken nabbed Zachary up. She roared and took the air to free her friend from the krakken's grip, even if she had to dive down into the water with it. She crated a crate splash that churned up the bay when she folded up her wings and did dive down into the waters after them. Seeing the change in Zarchary's eyes stayed her claws. She figured he must be talking with it ..somehow. The great ice dragon held off reentering combat to free her friend for the time being.


Arcadia beat her great wings and dragon paddled to hold her place under the water, and while she waited to see if Zacahary's talk with the spirit played out, she finally oticed the chains holding the krakken down. For the first time her heart went out to it. It certainly wouldn't have done that to itself. She felt a troublesome celestial spirit should be sent back home, not trapped in the mortal world. If it was only troublesome because it was trapped here, then the wizard responsible was the one that had crimes to answer for, not the krakken.

Change of heart, notwithstanding, the krakken did not seem to be letting Zachary go. Under the water was the place for a long conversation, not witout proper magical preparation. Whatever else the krakken had to say her friend, it was gong tohave to do it up at the surface. The great ice wyrm folded in her wings and tucked in her legs to swim in a serpentine manner down toward the bay floor. She grabbed the krakken's chain with her front limbs, and frosted the full length of chain over. The extreme chill of her magic left the chain brittle, and it shattered into sparkling bits in her jaws.

Arcadia then stopped fighting the natural buoyancy of her icy dragon body, using it to to lift the krakken and Zachary along with it back up tot he surface. Once they all broke the surface again, the dragon shattered chain from where itw as held around the krakken's body.

The krakken was fre and Zachary should have air as they float atop the great ice dragoness bobbing in the bay waters.

WC: 702
Arcadia WC: 1225
Thread WC: 3426

"Master!" Tama cried as she scaled down the sea cliff wall. She hopped down gracefully and reached Zachary, now with Aquila at his side his wings tucked in. Nyx also began her descent to her summoner and from the top of the sea cliff-- where Arcadia left him, Astral saw the Krakken lower Zachary to the rocky shore and place him down. Curious and concerned, the little star critter began to hover slowly towards where Zachary was. Finally by his side, Tama reached over and held on to his shoulders to keep him upright as he tried to breathe. ""Master Zachary, are you alright?"" the fox asked over formally.

"Cough-cough-- Ugh... Yeah, I'm fine, ugh..." he said, spatting out a bit of water from his throat as he regained his strength and sat upright on the ground. He looked up to the Krakken-- who now just waited there. It didn't attack, reach or flail around, but looked at them with its big watery eyes. "Oh my god... why-- the bitch..."

Sadly while Arkadia's jaws as a dragon were indeed strong-- the chains were not earthly chains as they looked. The moment they 'gave' under her fierce bite, they became like constellations. Starry energy that allowed her jaws to puncture through but reform like a ghost slipping through one's fingers. The chains immediately reformed, holding on tight to the Krakken. By the time that Arcadia would reemerge, it would be clear that the KRakken was no longer threatening and the spirits were around Zachary on the ground. She probably would hear the term 'bitch' which was not a good indication that Zachary was completely alright.

Nyx knew Zachary so it was rare that he used such language unless he was emotionally upset. "Zachary, just take a breath and calm down." the snowy white owl with starry specked wings cooed, "Now what did you see?"

Though his lungs were clear, his breath was sharp with sadness as he looked to the sea creature. "She did this... She did this to her. A woman Celestial Wizard, like me," he explained, remembering the image of her from the vision. "She was jealous of her spirit's beauty or something-- and, she cursed her. She turned her into a monstrous form and cursed her to stay like this and stuck in our world. " His breath calmed and eyes widened with realization. "It wasn't trying to attack people. It was trying to call for help to get someone to realize she was tied up and suffering!"

A soft groan came from the Krakken, hearing the words of the other spirits and humans near. Even as Arcadia had tried to help her, she was appreciated and no longer struggled. Whether or not it could communicate or even understand, the krakken saw the other celestial spirits and felt more assured her plea was heard.

Nyx flapped her wings in place as she looked up to the giant Krakken creature. "I was watching for a bit and soon recognized it. This spirit is Cetus, the Sea Monster as it is known. More importantly, this paticular one went missing over a month ago. Many feared its fate and now we know why..." she hooted, soon looking up to Arcadia as they joined them.

WC:544

Between her size and persistence, Arcadia kept fighting to help the krakken to the surface, and wound up wedged underneath the cursed links of chain herself. If not for one of her rainbow ring's abilities, to breathe even in oxygen-free environments, she would have swallowed so much water, even as a dragon she would have passed out. Her ring allowed her to keep fighting to burst the links in places a couple more times, only for it to reform every time.

She then finally went still, rather upset and frustrated to be defeated by something as simple as a chain. Closing her eyes, the great ice dragon remained down there, taking her time to compose herself. To come all this way, and be unable to lift a claw to help someone in need was not something she was used to these days.

When she finally resigned herself, she resumed her human form to disentangle herself from the krakken and chain links. By creating an illusion of herself falling down from a few feet above the surface and trading places with that image, she managed to come from above rather than below. Splashing down, the blonde slayer sighed and spat some excess water still in her mouth. ”No matter what I do, I can't break those chains.. I just can't do it. I'm... I'm sorry.”

WC: 224
Arcadia WC: 1449
Thread WC: 4194

Sensing the dread and worry radiating off the group, especially from Arcadia's dismay to try and break the chains, Astral returned to his new favorite spot to Arcadia's head and plopped down in her curls. Whether it was to comfort her or himself, he snuggled there and tried to ease their anxiety. Zachary looked up to the large Kraken, fear and distrust turning into concern and sympathy for it.

"It's the curse she is under. The curse keeps the chains bound so physical strength can not break it. Otherwise Cetus would have been freed long ago, considering its size." the wise snowy owl spirit answered Arcadia. "Curses are no easy trick to break, sweetie," she hooted.

Zachary recovered enough and knelt there as his spirits and Arcadia gathered. "Well, it must have been around the same time the reports of her came in because that vision didn't look like from a long time ago." he explained as he tried to think how to break the curse. "Curses are not my area of expertise but I cannot imagine someone using a curse to bind a spirit to earth like this. "

Tama's ears went up in concern, trying to understand the nature of their situation while Aquila wafted his wings a bit. "Well, so much for seafood."

"AQUILA!!" Zachary and the spirits shouted at the eagle.

"Ey! Easy-easy! I'm joking, sheesh!"

After glaring daggers at the eagle, the wise owl Nyx turned to Zachary with her head. "Zachary, think back. What exactly did you see in your vision? Try to recall as much as possible." she guided in a sultry voice.

Zachary closed his eyes and shook his head. "Um... I'ts a bit hazy. It was like trying to watch through a fog. There was the woman, the spirit, the sea creature, the cliffs.... she insulted it and threw something away. And the chain... " Zachary opened his eyes in thought and turned to Arcadia. Something clicked. He saw what she threw away but not where-- but curses usually had clues or conditions. "Hey, Arcadia, when you were down there, did you happen to see a lock or keyhole in the chain?" he asked.

Curses were usually bound by rules. They normally had parts and conditions that kept the curse in place, or remove them. Normal wizards wouldn't cast curses outside of their magic, let alone Celestial Wizards. For a long-lasting curse of this kind, there must be a trick to break it without its caster's intervention.

WC: 417

Arcadia bobbed in the water, rather dejected and frustrated both at once. ”What good is all this magic power, if I can't use it to help someone when they really need it?” She blinked with some mild surprise to feel Astral land back on her drenched blonde locks. It brought a smile and light back to her face and faerie green gaze. ”Hey thanks, Astral. Good to see you got through all that safely.”

The barefoot slayer reached up one hand to pat and pet Astral, showing her appreciation for his reassuring presence. She turned her gaze ahead to the super cute little owl, and Arcadia felt her spirits buoyed up just a little further. Arcadia nodded to the owl's news, ”A curse huh? That explains some things.”

She resumed absently petting Astral atop her head while she thought and listened in. This curse... she could not imagine what drove this woman Zachary was describing to bestow it on what sounded like her own spirit. Arcadia perks her gaze toward Zachary, ”Oh..uh..” She had to think back for second to what she saw down there in the heat of battle. She nodded, ”Now that I think about it, yeah, there was. Close to the base, but what good does that do us without a key? I can show you where it is. Did you see any other clues in that vision?”

WC: 231
Arcadia WC: 1680
Thread WC: 4842

Zachary had caught his breath and soon rose back up to his feet. The soft groans of the creature, Cetus was somewhat putting him at ease as Zachary felt assured they could help her. "In my vision-- the flashes, I saw her throw the key. The 'key', is CETUS' Key! The Spirit Key used to summon it. She cursed the spirit by using the key, I'm sure of it. The key and the spirit are already bound to one another so it would make sense she would use it to create the curse to begin with." Zachary said as he tried to explain, "That's also why she threw it away to keep it from reaching the lock. But if we find the key, I'm willing to bet it can unlock the chains and break the curse. "

Nyx gave a soft hoot. "He has a point. Curses are tricky but not foolproof. There are always loopholes that can undo them. Cursing the spirit with its own key would be similar to break it as well." the owl advised.

"And how are we gonna find the key after all this time?" Aquila asked, "Did you see where she threw the key?"

Zachary swallowed hard as he looked to his spirits and Arcadia nearby with Astral atop her head. "Well... a little hard to say. She just threw it in that general direction," Zachary said, pointing to the northern shore. "I know its a lot but we gotta find it somehow. And I may have a spirit who might be able to help. Unless of course, Arcadia, do you have anything that can help us find a metallic key?"

There had to be ways to find the key. A spell, charm or even by scent. Perhaps using scent could track the key. But since this took place weeks ago, who knows where it could of gone? And they didn't know how much time Cetus had left before her life force in the human realm would be depleted.

WC: 336

Arcadia was not so sure she had any way to offer to help at first thought. It took her a moment to come around to the possibility of scenting the key. Could her slayer senses even work underwater? Her wing let her remain indefinitely beneath the waves...so maybe. She would need to dive down again and go sniff the lock to have any idea of what scent she was trying to focus on.

She gently patted Astral atop her head and smiled over to Zahary, “One second... I might be able to see if I can sniffing it out. I'm gonna need to get close whiff of that chain and lock to get an idea of I'm looking for though.”

The barefoot slayer took an unnecessary deep breath and trusted Astral to know when to take off. She dipped back under the surface, and relied on her rainbow ring alleviate the need to breathe. Down, down she went back toward the lock she spotted on the bottom. She took in the rather subtle metallic aroma of the lock and chains, muted as they were by the water.

Arcadia rose from the bottom, carefully getting an idea of the subtle hints of metallic scent in the underwater currents. It took her a couple minutes to suss out a trail that did not lead back down to the chains. She swam a ways along the bottom before surfacing again. Then she dove done one more time just to be sure of her findings. It was not immediately apparent by eye. But definitely smelled a source of the metallic scent originating down there, and there was no bits of chain in the area. There was enough sand and sediment around to possibly hide it from view. Might need more eyes to pick it out.

She surfaced and waved, ”I think it should be down here somewhere. Just need some help poking around. There's definitely something that smells like those chains down over here.”

WC: 330
Arcadia WC: 2010
Thread WC: 5508

Zachary raised his hand to his chin, thinking hard on what Samira had in mind. "I suppose that is true. I did hear that magic has things like scent and qualities like that, but I didn't think you could track objects with it. But yeah, she probably used the key to make the curse so it would be similar..." Zachary surmised, followed by Astral giving a positive chuckle upon Arcadia's curls.

As Arcadia hopped into the water, Astral floated off into the air and now floated towards Zachary. Even with the Owl on his shoulder, he plopped right onto Zachary's head, adding to the funny totem-pole like situation Zachary had with his spirits. Either way, Astral loved Zachary as his closest friend and felt content on him as well.

It took a little more than a minute and Zachary would of worried, but knowing she could become a dragon, the thoughts of needing to breathe underwater probably wasn't a major concern for her, so he should be more at ease. She soon emerged and spoke to him, saying she could use some help with the search.

However, the only spirit he had that could help was Ruby Carbuncle, and sadly he couldn't swim. He had no aquatic spirits on hand at the moment. That meant only him. "Um, Arcadia... I don't have any swimming gear, at least anything that can help me breathe underwater!" he called out to where she was swimming. "Do you have anything that could help?"

The soft and curious cores of the Krakken creature, Cetus whistled in the air. It seemed confused, but also grateful the humans around her were more willing to help her. Though silent, and unable to communicate, its tone voiced its gratitude all the same. STill, there was no telling just how long it could stay like that.

WC: 307