Among the farthest ocean from land, the moonlit sky was illuminated by the brightness of various stars and constellations. A hand, well-worn and battle ragged from the hard life of its owner, hung gently in the salty water. The water splashed against the sides of a small rowboat, rocking the ship back and forth as gently as a baby in a manger. The hand continued brushing against the shimmering surface of the depths, waving back and forth as if looking for something or someone. The owner of the hand was shadowed by the darkness, wearing a thick blue cowl to cover their face. The hand stopped moving, and in the darkness the stranger smiled, the glowing white teeth in contrast to the rest of the shadowy figure. A small click was heard, and a glowing switch illuminated under the water as the hand pressed down once, then twice, then seven times. This led to a louder click emanating under the water’s surface, and the sound was as loud as a gunshot as the waves amplified the click even further. Underneath the water, a land mass started to take shape. Various fish ran away in surprise, and a shark was disappointedly chomping on air where his prey once was.
The sounds eventually scared the shark away as well, as long, white, ivory pillars started to rise to the ocean’s surface. Most of the pillars remained submerged, but the tops of them rose out as small schools of glowing fish formed a pattern of illumination, their light making visible a series of steps down into the depths of the water. The bottom of the ocean shook as the last series of steps clicked into place, and bubbles rose to the surface from air pockets that had formed over time through chipped ivory of the steps. The stranger put a set of weights and dropped an anchor to prevent the rowboat from flowing away, and his feet scattered several schools of the glowing fish illuminating the stairs, as if fate itself had put them there to light the way. Each step the stranger stepped on made the previous step submerge back into the watery darkness, a cerulean-colored amulet glowing brightly in their pocket. At the foot of the stairs stood a stone door deep beneath the shimmering surface of the ocean. This ancient portal, weathered by the relentless caress of the sea, guards an enigma buried by the universe. The door stands tall and proud and unlike conventional doors, this underwater portal lacks hinges or handles. The door was almost merging with the rocky reef as if it were an organic extension of the underwater landscape.
The stranger gently pressed their hand against an indentation in the stone, the door was silent in opening, the stone not making a single sound, even underwater. Smiling to themselves, the stranger walked the mystical path in, miraculously no water escaping through the opened door as it once again shut soundlessly in the eternal darkness, the last of the steps disappearing and fading from existence as the stranger started walking down the path, the amulet’s light guiding the stranger’s way through the aquatic tunnel. The only thing left outside was a stranger’s rowboat, once again cloaked in complete darkness as the glowing fish dispersed, leaving no evidence of anything unusual to the outside world…
The sounds of the shore surrounded everything in the small seaside town of Claudine. The sun rose on what was to be a beautiful July morning, with merchants slowly opening their blinds. Flowers lined the sides of the main road in town, and like in most small towns, people were keeping to themselves while silently observing their neighbors’ activities too much to do their own successfully. This often ended in a shocked yell from pain of a hammer from someone missing a nail or stumbling and tripping on the street by not paying attention to their own lives. The buildings were mostly made from bamboo, the jailhouse being the only brick and mortar building in town. Seagulls flocked and fluttered above the distant waves, their calls resonating upon the deep blue surface of the sapphire ocean. On top of the house closest to the shore, a boy slept lazily with his hands stretched out towards the sea, lost in a dream about him adventuring around the world. The boy’s snores were so loud they bothered the seagulls, who cawed noisily at the disturbance. His mother smiled to herself as she unwound the rope ladder to the roof and shook her head at the boy’s choosing of a roof to sleep on, instead of his bed. She climbed slowly to not wake her son, her feet gently pressing into each rung of the ladder.
“Zack! Time to wake up!” His mother said with a call, just loud enough but still gentle and filled with a mother’s warmth. Zack woke up from his mother’s voice, but like most times in his life, mischief ruled out as a look of smugness crept upon his young face. Knowing how every woman hates being ignored, he continued to fake snore, hearing his poor mother having to climb to the top of the rope ladder while Zack was giggling to himself that his plan worked. “Oh Zack, whatever am I going to do with you!?” His mother said with an exasperated sigh. She proceeded to step across the roof, moving more carefully across the bamboo than Zack had done the previous night. The love of a mother always prevailed though; and she shook him gently to wake him up. Zack waited a minute, testing his mother’s patience until he could feel her look of exasperation turn into “the look”. The look was enough to finally make Zack open his eyes, and to slowly look up while feigning sleepiness. “Morning mom,” he said in a sleepy tone, with his brown eyes fluttering from looking at her in the bright sunlight. Zack’s mother was named Lenna. She had brown hair and green eyes, and an athletic build from working all the time and a life of fishing and sea life. Lenna was only 35, having had Zack at an early age.
Despite her youth, she was well beyond her years in the compassion and morals she passed down to Zack. Her husband had disappeared when Zack was very young, and her trials as a single mother, while numerous, were provided for in great number by the friendly people of Claudine. Her mind would sometimes wonder what her husband had been up to during their marriage. She knew him well enough to know he would never be unfaithful to her, but so much of the man she loved was locked behind mystery, and he always walked around like a burden of the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Sometimes, she would see traces of Zack’s father in Zack, and her eyes would water slightly at the memories even after all this time. She looked out at the ocean with her son, watching the waves roll back and forth on the shore. Lenna affectionately wrapped her arms around Zack and whispered, “I’m so proud of the man you’ve become Zack, I know your father would be proud of you if he was here.” She finished, her eyes having a mix of motherly love; yet a subtle sadness lingered behind her bright green eyes.
Zack replied, “Thanks mom, will always love you. Hey, no matter what, never forget that you were the first girl in my life, and you’ll always matter to me and always have my love. I’ll always care about you mom.” Lenna looked down at Zack, the sadness behind her eyes being replaced by happy tears as she hugged him closer and whispered, “I know son, I know, you’ll always be my little man.” Interrupting their moment, a small rowboat pulled up to the dock, the sounds of the boat rocking back and forth filling the otherwise quiet morning air. The small rowboat contained the town’s seafood merchant, Aaron, who was currently getting out of the boat with a giant bag of fish in hand; and he waved at them with a smile on his face.
He held doors open, helped older ladies walk across the path, helped Aaron with his boat repairs, and was overall balanced as an individual. For being only fifteen years old, he was tall for his age, standing at 5’11”. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and during his more mischievous moments, his mother would swear he was not her child. Always in jest, Zack would reply she should only be so lucky. Lenna would just give him the patented “mom look” that every boy knew meant trouble was brewing, especially if followed by a full name call. The full name calls almost always lead to events potentially hazardous to one’s health. By the time they both got outside, Aaron was already loading the fish from the net into a burlap sack. He grinned at the two of them emerging from the house and shouted, “Glad to see you are teaching your son the same degree of punctuality as yourself!” Lenna scowled a little in response, and replied, “At least Zack knows how to shower; I mean just because you catch fish doesn’t mean you have to smell like them!” Lenna said as she stuck her nose up in mock disgust.
Aaron had a rip on his t-shirt and looked like a man who well deserved his repulsive odor from a morning full of hard work. He had long brown hair and what the women in town referred to as the “Devil’s smile.” Aaron had grey eyes, with a bit of an unkempt beard. He was strong and muscular, and life as a fisherman had kept him in amazing shape. He wore what most residents of Claudine did, leather sandals made from the hides of nearby wildlife, and a shirt from the local array of weavers. He looked at Lenna in her long blue sundress and smiled at her, thinking to himself, I know Zack’s father, I know he had his reasons, I just wish he had been able to tell Lenna them, and it is not my place to do so. Coming out of his thoughts, Aaron finally replied to Lenna’s snarky remark with, “Why shower when my natural scent gets so much attention?” Aaron replied with a wink. Lenna thought to herself, I wouldn’t consider the attention of flies and racoons something to brag about personally… but bit her tongue and shook her head disparagingly instead. Zack and Lenna both started to unpack the fish on the wooden table. Aaron gave them fresh filets for their help, and the choices of Halibut and Maiku fish that were native to the town’s waters always did well with a pinch of pepper and a side of lemon juice with melted butter over-top the succulent filets.
All three of them engaged in light conversation about how pleasant it had been outside, and how the new king from the big city of Symphonia had been more than fair to the humble residents of the town. The new king, named Reginald Harmonius, was fair to his citizens and generally well-liked by the people of the world. The Harmonius royal family was only established after the rampant tyranny of the old royal family had meant a change was essential. Any remnants of the old royal family had long since disappeared, any mention of them erased from the annals of history. If you take a bunch of citizens whose king had been personally responsible for so much devastation in their personal lives, and the whereabouts of any connected to the rampant tyranny would quickly be erased, like lemon juice’s effect on a stain. The three of them also talked about the trial of a man only known as “The Scrambler” that was going to happen soon in Symphonia. His crimes were somehow linked to the disappearance of the underwater city, Aquarion. Aquarion had suddenly disappeared from view, and it was rumored that the Scrambler was directly responsible for the disappearance, although the trial would surely bring new information to light. News from the outside world often traveled to Claudine, and if it was big enough, the residents would talk in hushed whispers, as if the criminal had somehow traveled a great distance and was going to take revenge on those talking about him, and all major breaking news was some well-kept secret only known to the residents of a small town.
The old residents of town would talk about how all these young people were bound to grow up to be troublemakers, and how back in their day things wouldn’t be this way. However, old people as long as time has progressed have complained about the behavior of the young, despite them voting very much for the policies and passing zoning laws that wound up in this continued behavior to flourish, and to preserve only their own wealth, heavily investing in expenditures that almost guaranteed their descendants would be worse off, not better. Somehow, civilization has survived regardless. Zack grew disinterested in the conversation as Aaron and Lenna were talking about tax reforms, and Zackary told his mother he was off to go find Sarah, his childhood best friend. Lenna said laughing, “Oh, are we boring you, Zack? I understand! Taxes are obviously a boring topic for everyone. Make sure you don’t miss the fireworks tonight sweetie.” With that, Zack was off in a flash before herself or Aaron had a chance to say another word. Aaron turned to Lenna and asked her with a somewhat sympathetic look, “Is everything alright Lenna”? Lenna replied, “Thanks for the concern, but Zack isn’t that much of a handful. He’s a total sweetheart that always helps around the house, I just hope I’m leading him in the right direction.” Lenna said with a long sigh.
Aaron looked at Lenna, compassion showing through his deep grey eyes as he said, “I am sure he’s in the most capable hands on this whole island.” Aaron replied with a gentle smile. Lenna blushed a little, her rosy cheeks turning a slight pinkish hue at his compliments. Lenna blushed to herself as she thought, if only I had the courage to just move on after my husband, I just wouldn’t have the guts to act on my feelings, it’s so hard, I wouldn’t want Zack to think I had just left behind his dad, Zack was so young when he left. Aaron looked at Lenna quizzically as she was lost in her thoughts, and she quickly scrambled to say, “Thanks for thinking so Aaron…” but before she could continue her words, Aaron’s first customer of the day approached, and Lenna mouthed “I’ll talk to you later” as she walked away.
With Zack occupied with Sarah, Lenna took the time to walk out to the sandy shore, her feet dipping through the hot sand and leaving small footprints throughout. Her short stature meant her feet were a small size as well, and she watched as the waves crashed upon the shore and lightly smiled. She thought about her life and the choices she made as the waves lapped upon her feet. Running her fingers through the sand, she carved her husband’s and her initials, RL as she smiled down at all the memories. She went back to the house sighing in contentment, but still feeling empty, like her partner in life was somewhere close, but just nowhere she could see him. However, for all the tranquility, trouble was still brewing within Claudine. If only Lenna knew that under a floorboard of a local village house, a slightly glowing device resided, which would change the lives of not only this village, but the world itself, forever.