When Natsumi first received her wings, she had been combing the Nyella Ocean in search of the ancient city of Rystal. Once believed to be a bastion of magical research, this underwater construct was rumored to have existed between the continents for countless centuries. But, for better or worse, that legend was considered little more than a myth in the present day. The sailors of the current era thought little of the idea of an underwater civilization, and so the story of Rystal had faded into little more than a children's fable for them.
 
Yet, being a person who symbolized the impossible, Miss Yamauchi did not believe as these common seafarers did. She had dedicated an exhaustive search of the area to find that mythical city of Rystal, and, after months of field work, had located a promising lead: an obelisk of pure white stranded in the middle of the ocean. It stood like a beacon gazing out over the sea, as if to call out to weary sailors and say, "I'm here. I've always been here and you just missed me!"
 
Regrettably, this beacon would later prove to be far more deadly than welcoming. As is the case with most legends, some things remain secret for a reason, and that reason is often very bloody.
 

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On the day that Natsumi had managed to approach the obelisk, a congregation of ships happened upon the strange location at around the same time she landed. She was able to get a wide view of their approach from that base, somewhat annoyed that many others were coming to, possibly steal her discovery. Annoyance, however, quickly turned to terror when a bright light began shining down on her guests from the structure's apex.
 
"Warning," Kino had said during that foreboding sequence. "Massive concentrations of arcane energy detected. Extreme caution recommended." There was no time to run, though, least not for the ships. In a display that shattered the relative calm of the brine, the obelisk's luminous addition lashed out at the vessels over yonder. A single ray of energy leapt forth toward each ship in sequential fashion, detonating them in furious flame with barely a moment for their crews to react. Raging pyres billowed up from the sea afterward, forcing Natsumi to shield her eyes till they could adjust to the intensity of the light that had so suddenly and fatally manifested.
 
Such was the fate of those ship dwellers that had neared Rystal in the past, or so the Ice Queen surmised. The obelisk was clearly not a beacon, but, according to its relentless display, a guard. This monstrosity, this sentinel, was designed to ward off scouts of foreign nations. It would only trigger when objects of specific size came within a specified radius, and the unfortunate sailors who had just been decimated were merely the most recent party to discover the morbid truth.
 
But perhaps different than previous encounters, there was actually a survivor among the wreckage this time. Natsumi was not fully aware of his presence, at first, but did manage to find him before he drowned. She had waited for the obelisk's magical defenses to calm down before exploring the derelict ships, deciding it best to salvage anything she could from them before their remains sunk to the ocean floor. Only after arriving did she realize that most of the cargo had already been burnt to a crisp by the oversized energy bolt and that the only thing remaining intact was a single man who still had a living aura against all odds.
 

'He's either very resilient or has way more luck than he needs,' the Ice Queen thought while swimming toward this sole survivor. She couldn't tell from afar if he was still conscious or not, but she cast a Breath of Ki spell on him just to be on the safe side. If he started to sink, he, at the very least, wouldn't drown before Natsumi could bring his ass back to the obelisk. Very likely, she was going to need his help, so the last thing she wanted was for him to die or become a cripple from lack of oxygen. After all, she was beginning to have doubts that she alone could scratch the surface of a city that was blatantly not a myth or harmless in any sense of the word. This place was beginning to seem even more dangerous than Tinashe had ever been, and that was saying something.

Harrison had boarded another ship that promised him treasure if they were successful in their mission. It felt good to be at sea once more, to feel the deck beneath his feet and motion of the ocean that moved the boat. While he wasn't part of the crew it didn't stop him from helping out. He especially helped when the work would allow him to stay above deck and feel the warm salt air on his face and feel the sun shine brightly overhead. Some days he hung out in the crows nest, helping keep an eye out for any danger that would coming their way. It was a fun few days of journey, and him and the Captain had gotten quite close. Harrison regaled him with his stories of his own travels on the ocean and the Captain shared his. More often than not these stories took place in the evening after supper and usually over a glass of the Captain's best rum. The first mate didn't seemed thrilled the Captain was getting along so well with this man they had brought along.


Little did they know that it wouldn't matter much longer.


Harrison was spending a quiet afternoon in the crows nest when he spotted the obelisk. He took out his spy glass and examined it and saw a red beam coming out of it and it began destroying the ships. Before he could do anything the ship beneath him exploded and he was launched into the air and his body slammed into the surface of the water. Harrison had the breath knocked out of him and he surfaced and sucked in a deep breath of air. There was a piece of wreckage he managed to cling onto with his good hand, the hook seemed to really keep the better grip. Especially as his mind slipped into unconsciousness. The one thought that the rogue had was that this was certainly the end for him, he was in the middle of the ocean with the only thing being something that would destroy any ship that got too close. Harrison's mind slipped through his fingers and his hooked hand was the only thing that kept him on that small piece of debris in the water.


But that grip didn't hold forever and his hand began to slip and the man started to slip beneath the surface. That was when he breathed in, but didn't drown. This weird sensation of breathing water shocked him into waking up. The man surfaced sputtering, flailing until he found the one piece of wreckage that was going to keep him afloat. What had just happened? He knew he was practically one with the sea but this was ridiculous. It was then he spotted her, and his blue eyes tried to blink the salt of them. No she wasn't a hallucination.


“Were you on one of the other ships?” He asked her curiously, hoping that the explosion hadn't made him lose his mind. Though would it really be such a bad thing to hallucinate such a breath taking woman?

Not many could easily swim in the Nyella Ocean, especially in the wake of powerful explosions where turbulent waters were the norm. Yet Natsumi was among the few that could accomplish such a feat. Her wings were hydrophobic in nature, much like those of water fowl, so she was able to use them as oars to speed up travel. Her tail also performed as an additional means of propulsion, making her very stable and quick for someone that had been born human. Combining all that with her spell to allow breathing underwater, the druid was easily able to make her way to Harrison without much delay, just in time to keep him from drowning.
 
There, in front of her guest, she dog paddled, waiting to see if he was coherent enough for conversation. Thankfully, he was, but he was far from being in top form. He looked like he could pass out at any moment, and Natsumi realized how lucky this man was that she had arrived when she did. Her instinctual spell had saved his life, preserved it for another day and another story.
 
"No, I didn't come on one of the other ships," the Ice Queen said once Harrison was able to say something. "You just have the strongest luck in the world that you met one of the last people still looking for the legendary city of Rystal as if it actually exists, and that you just happened to find the entrance to said city after said seeker had just arrived. I flew here in search of the myth, and so here I am."
 
Swimming closer to the one handed man, Natsumi tried to make sure she was in position to drag him back to the obelisk in case he took a turn for the worse. His peaked appearance led her to believe he was lingering on the boundary of consciousness. In fact, it was a miracle he was still alive in the first place after that obelisk attack, let alone able to stay afloat. Given this, she decided to cover all her bases rather than take a chance on being too far away to assist in an unfortunate turn of events. Only once the winged fox was in position to grab Harrison did she bother to continue speaking to him.
 
 "You look like shit, good sir," she said while treading water in front of him. "We'd best get you to solid land so you can rest a bit, but the question is can you swim there alongside me or do you need assistance? I can keep my Breath of Ki spell on you to ease some of the burden if that helps, or even simply teleport us back to the obelisk's plateau. I leave the choice to you."

Harrison did his best to focus on the woman that was in front of him. His vision blurred and he hadn't really noticed his ears had been ringing until they stopped. The rogue sputtered and kicked his legs to keep himself on the piece of wood he was clinging to, really that was the only reason he hadn't actually drowned at this point. But it would seem this angel was intent on keeping him alive today as well. She had saved his life already. He tilted his head a little when she said she hadn't come on one of the ships. “Well it's a good thing I brought my lucky hook then.” He said weakly, a soft smile on his face. “You flew here, that's rather impressive. I'm surprised that red eye didn't get you too. Maybe we're both lucky then.”


The rogue considered his options, “Let's give swimming it a go and if I can't make it you can teleport us. I'm sure I can make it under my own power.” He placed his hand and hook firmly on the board he had and used it to make the swim a little easier on himself. Harrison kicked along, the water splashing up a little behind him. “You know, I may look like shit but I assure you I'm quite intact, especially considering the circumstances that brought me here.” The man said with a weakened smile, his blue eyes glanced over to her and that was when he really got a good look at his savior. She had wings and fox ears, that was certainly something he had never seen before. “Aren't you unique? I can't say I've seen anyone quite like you in all my time sailing.”


Harrison Jones was just a boring old human and anything outside that was always a surprise for him. “I'm Captain Harrison Jones, by the way.” He introduced himself as he swam steadily along. As they moved there was only one other time that he looked like he would slip under the water. But he found the resolve to keep himself going, good old machismo drove his legs to keep kicking and swimming. It felt like he had been swimming for days until he reached the plateau that was promised. The young pirate quickly scrambled out of the water and laid down on his back, grateful to finally be at a point he could rest without worrying about drowning. He coughed briefly and he just rested for a moment. “That swim was a little bit more than I had been expecting.”


He rested a moment longer before he clambered to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. Harrison's arms were aching a little, but that was mostly due to the explosion than the swim, he was definitely looking a little better than he had been initially. He still wasn't entirely back to what he had been prior to the ship blowing up. Harrison staggered a little as he felt a little light headed but he seemed to regain his balance and he did his best to make it seem as though he had intentionally done that. He looked at her and gave her a lopsided smile, “So where do we go from here?”

Harrison's comments on the "red eye" hadn't escaped Natsumi's notice, despite her intense focus on him. In fact, they had been her own, mental comments; in one form or another. Why, indeed, had the defense system not targeted her like it did her companion's ships? The only reason she could think of was that it had not been designed to target anything smaller than a certain size.
 
"Lucky indeed," the druid said while keeping this idea in mind. "It doesn't seem to target anything smaller than a caravel class. Smaller classes of vessels, like skiffs, wouldn't even survive this far away from shore in the first place, so the designers of the obelisk probably excluded them from the plans in order to save resources. As a result, it probably can't even see objects as small as humans."
 
Her companion gave his preference toward swimming at this point, choosing to make it to the obelisk of his own volition rather than depend on the easy route of magic. Natsumi didn't mind, of course, seeing as that had been the most advantageous route Harrison could take for her well-being. Not having to use mana now meant there would be more for later use, so the Ice Queen was definitely content to simply swim back to the obelisk alongside Harrison.
 
That journey, however, was not one of utter silence as Natsumi had been expecting. For someone who looked so shaken, Mr. Jones was rather talkative.  He commented on Natsumi's uniqueness - among other things - to which the druid could only respond, "There are some nasty curses out there." She didn't have the luxury of continuously stringing together long responses above the surf like sir pirate did on his little board. Even if she could breathe water, her voice would be distorted from the change in atmosphere between the sea and the air. Her sentences had to be quick, as a result; and, sometimes, even rude under normal circumstances."I'll tell you my name when we get to shore," as Natsumi said in response to her companion's introduction, was not exactly something you would hear in civilized conversation, after all.
 
Eventually, they did reach the plateau, though not before Harrison almost tumbled into the sea once more. The aforementioned pirate was, to Natsumi, clearly trying to save face. For one reason or another, he was pushing himself beyond his natural limits: an overall unhealthy mode of action. But, as far as she was concerned, the woman could hardly complain about the captain's pride so long as he survived. She decided, as a result, that it was best just to let the captain rest on the alabaster structure for a while after they arrived; at least until he regained his composure.
 
"But you handled it well, and that's what's important," the woman said while climbing up onto the plateau alongside her newest acquaintance who, sure enough, was instantly catching his breath. She moved off to the side afterwards, leaving Harrison to his own devices, as planned, while she shook like a dog to get the water off. Droplets sprayed off her body in mass until there were none left on her fair skin. It would be some time before she was completely dry, true; but this action would, at least, speed up the process. Her clothes remained soaked, for instance, but opaque enough to shield her undergarments from prying eyes until they were completely dry. In her current company, that was probably a good thing.  
 

"As promised," the damp Ice Queen continued in the aftermath of drying whilst turning back toward her assumedly playboy company. "Harrison Jones, my name is Natsumi and I am a freelance archaeologist working for the Wyllmochvar University. Most of the time, at least. Right now, I'm not actually on the clock." Mr. Jones asked about the next step shortly thereafter, just as Natsumi was about to answer him. "What do you say about joining my expedition," she asked without missing beat and while eyeing the obelisk next to them? "Could make for an interesting story to tell in taverns back on land, and maybe even a source of riches. Besides, I have every intention of finding a way to shut down that eye to prevent more shipwrecks.  If possible, I'd rather not see a repeat of what happened today; and, I'd bet, neither would you."

So she was someone who was cursed? While the ears, wings, and tail were certainly odd they didn't seem like that bad of a curse. Part of him was a little morbidly curious about what the downside of this curse was. But this was not the time or place for him to discuss the intricacies of her condition. Harrison shielded his face from her shaking her body off, a small bit of a smile crossed his face as she did that, it was a little cute when she did it, but it would seem that she would still be wet as far as her clothes went. She introduced herself and explained what she did for the Wyllmochvar University, well that was certainly a kind of person he hadn't met just yet. He had heard of people who were archaeologists, while some people greatly respected them there were those who saw them nothing more than grave robbers. It would seem that people looked for an excuse to make villains out of everyone, no matter how well educated they were.


Then she offered him the opportunity to join the expedition, he watched as her eyes drifted to the obelisk that had so easily destroyed the fleet of ships he was with. The rogue smiled a little when she mentioned him telling stories back at the tavern, certainly that would get a lady or two in bed with him from the tale he had already. She was hellbent on trying to stop the machine from doing this again and he was already on board, no need to have any more ship sunk in such a shameful matter. It was a waste of not only the ships but the brave men that crewed them as well. Harrison stood up straight and smiled at her. “Good to meet you Natsumi.  I would be more than happy to join you in your quest to shut this blasted devil of a machine down.” He gave her a grin before he took a few shaky steps forward but then seemed to find his feet a little better.


“Let us see if we can get in there and pull the lever to shut it down.” He stood up tall and walked forward with the swagger of a captain and confident man. His blue eyes searched the smooth surface and squinted a little. “Well this is odd, doesn't seem to be a door.” His hand scratched at his scruffy chin as he tried to puzzle out where to open the damn thing. His legs walked him around the thing and then he sighed as he gave up trying to find it at the moment. This was a puzzle indeed, there wasn't even a keyhole to indicate where there was a door.


He rested his hand on his chin as he looked at the building. He sighed briefly and put his back against it to relax and allow himself to think. “Have you ever seen any-” He suddenly stopped and jumped away from the wall. The wall slid open as he had somehow accidentally found the entrance. “Well that is certainly interesting.” It was then he noted the music that began to drift up the stairs and he narrowed his eyes a little. “Well, let's get going, shall we?” With that he placed his hand on the wall and began to walk down the stairs toward the music.

Harrison was certainly a cheery fellow for being half-drowned, but Natsumi paid him nor his attitude much attention. His cooperation was enough to please her, and the only thing she paid attention to. There needn't be anything else, especially since the afternoon sun felt so nice at the moment.
 
"Very well then, captain," the woman began whilst sitting down on the cool marble underfoot. "We are aligned for the moment, though I must inform you that the mechanism to shut down the tower may not be a lever. We can hope that it is, but we may have to do something more destructive than simply flipping a switch if we want to shut down the defense. Sad if that's the case. I'm not a fan of destroying ancient architecture even out of necessity."
 
Harrison moved to investigate the obelisk from that point going forward. He examined the outer border of the tower whilst Natsumi remained seated. She would have assisted him in that endeavor, but she was feeling fatigued from so much recent activity. Harrison had only swum a one way trip from his sunken ship, whereas Natsumi had just finished a one way flight from Parvpora along with a round trip swim from the same ship. This amount of exercise was enough that she needed to rest for a bit, so she didn't even move from her spot even while her companion was analyzing the oddity she had already noticed.
 
Creating a peach from the air, the drenched fox began munching during the captain's statement of the obvious. She had expected to be waiting for a bit longer than she actually did, but, even so, she managed to finish her meal by the time the door was accidentally activated. "That is interesting," she said while licking the peach juices from her fingers. "That kind of door mechanism is not easy to implement; certainly not without an indent in the stone. It must be magic; though, considering the power of the eye above, that's hardly a surprise." Rising from her seat, Natsumi walked toward the cavern of music. Her peach was down to a pit by the time she followed Harrison into the stairwell, and the door closed behind them just as Natsumi tossed the pit back out into the ocean.
 
The interior of the obelisk was significantly different from the outside. Brass pipes lined the walls, and a visible, runic button marked the side of the entrance. Clearly, the building was meant for easy exit, but difficult entrance. The most interesting part of the whole area, however, lay at the base of the two story staircase as opposed to the top. Down there in the depths, there was a small pool that played host to a spherical vehicle of some kind. The vehicle was composed of metal, and decorated in many, arcane runes. Magic was also keeping it from sinking, to the point where the entire room reeked of the stuff.
 

"Well, this place is certainly not a ruin," Natsumi commented whilst examining this peculiar find. She walked forward fearlessly, and examined the runes on either side of the object while paying close attention to all those that looked more recent than others. "You can tell because the freshly carved runes on this sphere couldn't have carved themselves." The fox turned around at that point, pointing at a rectangular prism of some kind on the wall behind the sailor and her. "Also, the type of sound magic that that box is enchanted with would not be working right now if the place was abandoned around the time that Rystal disappeared. It could last a hundred years, sure, but the city has been missing for far longer than that." Pausing once more, Natsumi finally faced Harrison directly and made her warning to the man clear. "We're not alone here, so I think it's best that I ask this question before we go further. How much do you know of Rystal and its fall? It's perfectly fine if you know nothing. I just need the truth so I know how much I need to inform you."