Following the emergence of dawn, the sun broke past the horizon, casting the cold clutches of night away to the other ends of the vast, unified ocean. The tranquil ocean began to stir to life from its prior stillness, revitalized and empowered by the sun's presence. But despite its efforts, the sea could only muster feeble splashes against the hull of Mino's galleon, not even coaxing a single creak from the ship.
With the weak and salty breeze blowing against the water, Zalroth slammed the base of his boot against the ship's side railing, sending shudders through its frame, and managing to rock it off balance for a moment. As he overlooked a spot of the ocean beside the boat, the guy jammed a palm into the side of his neck, resulting in a mild pop from the release of tension.
(Zalroth is wearing a black sleeveless shirt, baggy black and dark grey tartan trousers with grey buckles on the ends of the legs, muted dark blue steel toe boots, a muted cyan fur coat with eight muted dark blue buckle-like extensions from the back of its collar that reach down to Zalroth's knees, an azure palimpsest[an azure blue, three-by-three inch hollow square-shaped crystal cylinder with a width of one and a half centimetres] secured to the back of his coat's collar, and a pearl tag[a parchment-coloured, petal-shaped, and four-inch long metal brooch with a circular hole and small pearls embedded into it{ten azure blue pearls}] attached to the azure palimpsest)
"You're getting old~," Chronia remarked teasingly with the occasional snicker between her words. Zalroth scoffed in tempered amusement, tilting his head back to glance back at Chronia as she lay atop a foldable deck chair in a frilly bikini.
"You're one to talk," Zalroth remarked, his tone mostly playful before he retracted his kitsune features into his body. Unfazed by her cohort's retort, Chronia raised a hand to her brow and plucked at her sunglasses, knocking them slightly down her face before leering at Zalroth, respectfully.
"Hah! Unlike you, my body is at the mercy of my vices," Chronia stated smugly, seemingly proud of herself for her achievement. However, to Chronia's minor terror, Zalroth only chuckled in response. Curious, Chronia lowered her sunglasses even further, puffing up her cheeks in anticipation of Zalroth's impending retort.
"So, you like sleeping as a baby-," Zalroth stated teasingly before a speeding ceramic sink smashed into the back of his head from above. The ceramic appliance shattered on impact, and Zalroth remained unfazed whilst the ceramic shards fell to the deck. The duo slowly glanced down at the new mess before the guy's feet.
"Heh... must be a good sign," Chronia remarked chirpily, a faint snicker escaping her lips at watching Zalroth scouring the sky in utter confusion.
"She wasn't kidding about locking my luck. What a bra-.". Zalroth was halfway through his jab before a second sink struck him, the strength behind the comically large appliance sufficient enough to send him flying off the galleon and crashing into the ocean with a towering splash.
"At this rate, I'll be fighting a sink squid...," Zalroth murmured as he floated beside the ship, sprawled out like a starfish. With a reserved sigh and water streaming off his face, Zalroth conjured an atmosphere magic circle(pale teal mana[wavey energy] circle with a circle encased by a fainter ring). As he peered into the distance, Zalroth scoffed, mildly ticked off but still impressed at Zukia for locking away his Azures without him noticing until now.
"If you didn't want her to do it, you shouldn't have joked with her about it, dumb-dumb!" a feminine version of Zalroth's voice barked from behind one of the galleon's slightly ajar windows. Although direct, the girl's words were layered behind the drumming of her shower, making it a slight struggle for anyone other than Zalroth to hear.
"It sure sounds like someone's looking to join the ocean dive quest, Zalina!" Zalroth rebuked amusedly, getting an exacerbated eep from the girl.
"Are you crazy, I'm literally taking a shower!" Zalina snapped back in a frenzy, ushering frigid steam out of the window and coating it in frost. Zalroth rolled his eyes dismissively and clicked his tongue before his magic circle expanded, fading away as Zalroth began encased in a similarly coloured veil.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Heh, suppose I should hurry, those relics won't find themselves," Zalroth remarked mentally before a comically small sink bounced against his forehead, "Honestly, those beasts.". With that last sink, Zalroth dived into the dark ocean, allowing the spell he casted to aid his descent to the sea bed.
"That guy is way too lenient with those kaiso kids. I mean three. Three! Whole sinks, and he didn't even respond!" Xelphia complained, throwing her arms in Zalroth's last seen location for extra emphasis as she vented to Zallino. The metalic man simply mimed out a sign, disinterested in the smaller visage's grievances with the kaiser beasts residing in the crow's nest.
"Retaliations hardly an appropriate response for something so minor, Sweetie," Chronia remarked, lazing back and in full sunbathing mode. Xelphia pouted, ballooning her cheeks until they turned red from embarrassment at being called by such a name. Like clockwork, a storm of teasing giggles descended from the crow's nest, causing Xelphia to turn fully red from shame.
"Wish to depart for Bridgington, Lady Chronia?" Zallino inquired as a small shadow whipped over him, followed by a loud splash erupting beside and rocking the ship. Xelphia popped her head over the ship's railings and stuck her tongue out indignantly at the dive-bomber as their watery silhouette sunk into the water after Zalroth.
"If you would, but try not to ruin my sunb- I mean wake up Minia and Nola by sailing too quickly," Chronia stated, physically flinching as she barely caught herself from revealing her true intentions. Zallino, choosing to ignore Chronia's barely hidden desire to bask in the approaching sun, silently nodded as the galleon rumbled to life and slowly sailed onwards.
A few minutes later, the sun rays beamed through the ocean and illuminated Zalroth's surroundings, revealing the vibrant coral constructs carpeting the sandy seafloor. The kitsune peered around, taking in the sight of the slumbering aquatic cats and the sways of their tails that sent mini ocean currents through the encompassing kelp forest.
"Must be pretty far down if the sun's already lighting up the place," Zalroth said jokingly, his voice slightly distorted with a wavey modifier. As schools of sea life passed him by, he raised a hand above his eyes and peered around the lush coral reefs surrounding him, nice to look at but certainly not the sunken temple he was expecting.
"Why does it feel like I've been dropped off at the wrong location, thanks, Zukia," Zalroth uttered as he lowered his hands and placed them on his hips, "At least it's not a sink squid.". After a few seconds of nothing happening, Zalroth darted his head around before shuddering.
"Low blow, Zukia. Low blow," Zalroth uttered amusedly, exaggeratedly disheartened that Zukia's meddling would even mess with his summoning of outlandish monsters trick. As he continued playing up his fake annoyance, Mymbi gradually fluttered herself to the sea floor, falling behind Zalroth as her jacket covered Zalroth's face and breaking his act to an end.
(Mymbi is the Thalasso God Kaiser Beast with the appearance of a female, seven-year-old human child; she has four-foot-long pale metalic-looking bronze hair that coils together into the shape of octopus tentacles, vibrant sapphire eyes, tanned-like pale bronze skin, a seven-foot-long chonky metalic-looking pale bronze shark tail covered in sapphire-coloured urchin needles, three tongues, shark teeth, fin-shaped elf ears, coral-looking pale bronze scales on her body[on the back of her palms, back of arms, sides of thighs and legs, and soles of her feet], gills all over her body[six on her neck, three large ones on each side of her torso,] and a giant mouth filled with thousands of razor-sharp teeth where her belly button would be)
(Mymbi is wearing a slightly oversized vibrant sapphire hooded jacket that reaches her hips with obnoxiously long arms and spikey teeth-looking extensions in its hood, and a purple one-piece swimsuit with a large opening around its midsection)
"Fancied joining me, Kiddo?" Zalroth asked calmly as the kaiser god yawned with both of her mouths and overly stretched her limbs until they popped
"Can we get something with jalapeño after this, plez?" Mymbi asked cheerfully without any distortion in her voice. Zalroth hesitated, not from having to consider the girl's request but from needing to recall what she was even referring to.
"You mean the thing that went extinct a hundred years ago?" Zalroth asked as he pulled Mymbi's jacket off his head before tossing it onto its owner. The oceanic being cheerfully pushed her head through the neck of her jacket, blissfully ignoring Zalroth's question and imagining a spread of dishes using jalapeños.
However, Mymbi's spicey daydream was cut short as she snagged her knee on the hem of her jacket, snapping her back to reality and informing her of her impending greeting with the floor.
"Crud...," Mymbi uttered in utter despair, falling to her knees before smashing her face into the seafloor. For a second, she was physically still, only groaning in frustration as she slapped her tail against the seafloor.