Bubble Pop

“We’re nearing the bottom of the Deadline Trench,” said Oppo, popping up behind Saif. “The map says we’re almost at max depth. If there’s anything down here, we should be seeing it about- WOAH! What is that?”

“Opportunity, if your kin are alive, would it mean they’re somewhere in there?” Yabko asked. A wave of emotions washed over Oppo’s face. Yabko picked up on it. “Could you steer us closer? We’ll have to try looking for them inside.”

The submarine swam forward, Oppo steering it to the castle.

Up close, Saif could admire its beauty. The castle was integrated into the coral, peaking out of it in clusters. It was constructed of sea shells, or it looked like it at least. The castle had towers and spires going around and around. Saif knew that the Greater Being of Creatures was somewhere in there.

The submarine stopped advancing. It would start propelling forward, hit something, and float backwards before trying again.

“Is something the matter?” Yabko asked Oppo, whose face was scrunched in confusion.
“I- I don’t know. The engines are fine, everything’s running smoothly. Why isn’t the sub going anymore? Did it get damaged by that Great-forsaken monster back there?”
“Was it the whale, perhaps? From when we were tossed into the waters?”

Saif tapped the porthole, pointing directly ahead. A glimmer ran across it every time the sub bumped forward. A force-field. Yabko studied it while Oppo was too busy meddling with the controls to check.

“There’s a strange bubble ahead, Oppo. We’ll have to try a different way through.”

“Let’s see… ugh, it's too bad the map doesn’t have a close up of the castle. I’ll steer around the bubble or whatnot for now, let me know if you find anything.”

Oppo circled the bubble twice before it finally reached the Deadline Trench floor.

Saif’s eyes drifted to the map. He bought it at the harbor, and it was supposed to cover the entire waters of the capital, surely the trench was included, right?

Saif grabbed it and zoomed it out, watching for exactly where the obscurity began. He tried a few times, checking it against the areas of the water they hadn’t been through. Saif confirmed that the map considers the trench to be its own separate area. So this area needed its own map expansion. Okay…
If it was expandable, that meant someone had come down here and mapped it all out and configured it to be compatible with other traveler's maps. That meant those maps would be sold somewhere nearby…

Saif took control of the steering wheel and turned the submarine around, sending Yabko and Oppo flying in the back. They crashed into one another, tumbling to the ground.

“OI! TAKE YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF MY SHIP, BEETLE!”

Oppo scrambled to stand, ready to pull Saif away from the wheel by force. Saif leaped up to the porthole, pressing his face against it to get a better view.

“If you wanted to look around, you could've just said so.” Grumbled Oppo, showing him a section of the console. “This is the observation terminal. It’s connected to a periscope. It's supposed to help to look out of the water while in sub-mode, but should do fine here.”

Saif nodded his thanks and started to look at the area surrounding the bubble.
There should be something- there!
Saif grabbed Yabko, forcing it to look through.

“There’s a city down here,”
“Where?”
“Here.”
“Where?”
“Here, now.”
“YABKO ENOUGH GAMES! WHERE IS IT, IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!”

Yabko turned the wheel around, pointing the submarine in the direction of the city so Oppo could see it out the window.

“Oh. It's right here… well. Let’s go! This is so exciting!”

They approached the city with the submarine at first, but it proved to be too large to navigate the tight streets and go through the stone arches. Saif wondered what type of people he would meet here? More fish people, probably, maybe some crabs?

Saif and Yabko agreed to investigate the city. With him having gills and plants not having lungs, it made perfect sense.

“I’ll follow you from above, I guess.” Grumbled Oppo, who complained about not finding his diving gear. “Don’t do anything too cool without me!”
Saif didn’t tell him that the pressure outside would be enough to implode him.

Saif swam though the city with ease, following the paved paths to investigate the town. The buildings here were of the same sea shell material as the castle, though with none of the coral. He admired its unique design, clearly catered to fish and crustaceans. Some had doors where doors would usually be, at the bottom front face of the house, facing the street. Others had doors on top for fish swimming from above to enter, along with a long spiraling staircase to accommodate the crawlers. Some buildings had both, others had only one door tilted to accommodate a crawler or diver. It was all so fascinating!

Yabko wasn’t having a good time. It couldn’t swim at all, relying on pulling itself by its tendrils to move along. “Its not as salty as the harbor water,” it said, not struggling to speak, though Yabko’s voice was a little low, muffled by the water.

Saif found the compass he’d been looking for, swimming up a little to enter the store through its tilted door. The shop was completely enveloped with water, so Saif couldn’t sense what it smelled like this time. What a shame. He was looking forward to those moments.. There was no one inside to help him search. He opened and closed parchments at random, looking for a map of the trench.

He’d gone through half the shop before Yabko joined him, dangling in through the door. It grabbed the first map its tendrils could reach, unraveling it. “Would this one work?” It asked Saif, turning it so he could see.

Saif nodded, bubbles floating up as he did. Lucky.
He swam up to the shelf it was on, locating the price of the map, wincing at the cost as he took out the gems to pay for it.
Yabko very openly judged him for it. “Beetle, do you jest? Have you not noticed the emptiness of this city? There is no one around to collect your payment.”

Saif shrugged. Yea, but he wanted to. Just in case.

Map in hand, Saif and Yabko continued through the city. This time, Saif swam up to the castle, investigating the bubble around it. The map showed a gatehouse, meant to keep the citizens of the city away from the caste, though it was wide open.

Why would the gate be open if there was a bubble keeping them out? Did the bubble part come later? It looks like the bubble wasn’t a part of the castle’s original protection plan.

Saif inspected the unlocked gatehouse. Again, why was it so defenseless? He swam inside, finding a pouch on the ground. He picked it up, receiving a huff from Yabko.

“Is this any different from taking the map?”
Saif glared, partially teasing, but still proceeded to open the pouch and inspect what was inside.
Among the gems and trinkets, there was an old skeleton key with a bubble for a head. He grabbed it, feeling weighted and heavy in his grip.
This had to be a set up, right?

He showed the key to Yabko, setting the pouch down without taking any of the gems inside.

“What is that?”

Right. Yabko was still too new to understand much. He mimicked an unlocking motion with the key to try and explain, twisting it backwards with a flick of the pincers.

Pop!

A whooshing rumble rippled from outside the gatehouse.
Saif sped outside, Yabko close behind him.
The bubble was gone.

Oppo located them, floating the submarine low enough that they could see each other through the port hole. Saif flicked the key again, sending a current of water to push them all away as the bubble reappeared and expelled the water from inside it.

Saif rejoined Yabko and Oppo, looking between him and the bubble ahead.
Without the bubble, they were free to swim up to the castle as they pleased. They understood, heading within the bubble’s boundary. Oppo parked the submarine just shy of the stairs leading up to the coral castle.

“This was all too convenient. It has to be a set up,” Instinct yelled at him.

He flipped the key. The bubble reformed around them, and the water expelled out once more.

“I know,” Saif told it. “What other choice do we have?”

Yabko helped Oppo out of the submarine, glad they had some clean air to breath. Oppo shivered, the difference between the warmth of the stale submarine air and this cool bubble was startling. Oppo hoped back inside to grab a blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders. It was his mom’s.

Silently, they climbed the stairs and into the castle at the bottom of Deadline Trench.
So much was on the line.

They couldn’t go back now.