In the morning Simon banged on Marcel's door. He got up, rubbed his eyes, and answered at the door. "I found it!" said Simon with a big smile on his face. "Found what?" asked Marcel while yawning. "I found the place where the artifact is" continued Simon. "What?" Marcel opened his mouth wide. "Yes, and it is not far from here," said Simon. "Have you even slept last night?" asked Marcel. "Not really, I found some hints and I could not let it slide," said Simon. "We will go as soon as you get some rest, I do not want to exploit you," said Marcel and turned around. "After all, the artifact is going nowhere," he said as Simon closed the door. A couple of hours later everyone woke up and ate breakfast together. Simon was still in bed. Marcel gave everyone the news and everyone was excited to hear it. Marcel went ahead with Greg and Fred to prepare the ship for the departure. As soon as Simon woke up they left Black Lagoon port. "You said it is not far from here?" asked Marcel. "Yes! It should be maybe one day or less away from Balck Lagoon," said Simon. "That is good. Have you had the opportunity to go after artifacts with Captain Frown?" asked Greg. "No, I have only seen maps that were already used," said Simon, looking at the map. "Then this will be a first for everyone," said Marcel while turning the helm. There were no clouds in the sky and the wind was pushing their ship at a steady pace. It took them one day and one night to arrive at the place Simon deciphered. "It should be here," said Simon. "But there is nothing here" Marcel looked around and all he could see was water. "The map says that there should be an island," continued Simon. "Could it be?" Greg looked at Marcel. "The same island we went to in our first adventure?" continued Marcel. "But we only found the treasure," said Greg. "What if what is causing the island to only emerge from the water during the night is the artifact?" said Marcel while looking at Simon. "There is a possibility," said Simon. They waited until the night and clouds started forming. The storm began but it was not as bad as the previous ones. It only shook their ship a couple of times and then the translucent trail appeared. Marcel followed it and arrived at the island. "Now... What should we look for?" said Marcel. "The artifacts that Captain Frown has have a distinct shape and they are colorful," said Simon. "We have time to find it until the morning" continued Marcel.

They split up and started searching the island. After a couple of hours, they returned to the ship. "Have you found anything?" asked Marcel. "No," said Greg. "Nothing here as well" answered Simon. "Where could it be? We searched the whole island," said Marcel. "Hmm... What if it is not on the island?" said Simon and scratched his head. "What do you mean?" Marcel looked at him curiously. "Maybe it is below the island," said Simon. "That will make a lot of sense. If the artifact is affecting the island in some way it has to be beneath it," said Marcel. "But how are we going to do that?" asked Greg. "They only have a couple of options, we dig, swim, or find some cave that is going deep in the island," said Marcel while reaching for the shovel. "How about the cave where we previously found the treasure?" said Hulio, "Maybe there is a way down somewhere in that cave," he continued. They grabbed some torches and they all went towards that cave. When they went in the cave started shaking. "Is this normal?" asked Anna. "Last time it did that the island started sinking, but it is still night outside so we should be fine," said Marcel. They went deeper and deeper into the cave and Simon saw some markings on the walls. "I think we are going in the right direction," he took out the map and pointed at the markings. After a couple of minutes, they reached a dead end. "Now what?" asked Greg. "We need to find a way to get lower," said Simon. They looked around and found a hole in the ground. Marcel threw a rock in the hole. It took the rock a few seconds to reach the end. "I think this is the way," said Marcel. "But we need rope," he continued. Rob and Tim hurried to the ship and grabbed the rope. When they returned they were a bit pale. "We have some bad news," said Rob. "What is it?" asked Marcel. "The sun is starting to rise," continued Tim. "We have to find this artifact. We can not turn back now," said Marcel while tying the rope. "If what we think is true, then after we find the artifact the island should return to normal," said Simon. Marcel asked Fred and Duke to return to the ship as well as Anna and Bia. The rest of them went down the hole with Marcel leading them. When they reached the floor they advanced through a narrow tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, it was a door with the same markings from the map. Marcel slowly opened the door and the room opened up. It was massive. "How can something like this be under an island?" he asked. "I have no idea," Greg said while admiring the big room. "There!" yelled Simon pointing at a pedestal in the middle of the room. On the marble pedestal was sitting a sphere that was changing colors. "That must be it!" said Marcel. "Wait!" Greg stopped Marcel from advancing. "Look at the ground," he continued. "What are those?" asked Marcel. "Pressure plates, once you touch them they will activate most likely a trap," said Simon. "See that each of them has a pattern? I think we have to figure out which pattern to follow," he continued. While Simon was looking at the map trying to figure out which pattern would allow them to pass the pressure plates, everyone else looked around and see if there was a clue. The walls had all the symbols in different orders. "I found something!" said Simon. "If we follow this pattern we should reach the pedestal," he continued and took the first step. "Follow me!" said Simon and advanced. Everyone was following him closely. The more they advanced the more intense it was, one miss-step and everything could have turned against them. When they reached the halfway point Simon stopped and looked around. "Something is not right!" he said. "No, no, no, no!" he started panicking. "What is it? What happened?" Marcel grabbed his shoulder. "We need to jump on the next one, everything around us is not right," said Simon. "Then we will jump!" said Marcel. "Ehm... Is it a bad moment to say I am not athletic?" said Simon while looking down. "Do not worry, just tell me where to jump next and I will help you," said Marcel. Simon pointed at the pressure plate where he needed to jump and Marcel went ahead. "Now is your turn!" said Marcel. "I... I can't!" said Simon. "Yes, you can!" Marcel tried to encourage him. "I... I don't want to risk it," said Simon while looking around. "Trust me!" said Marcel. Simon took a deep breath and prepared to jump. When his legs left the ground he closed his eyes. He successfully managed to jump on the pressure plate and Marcel caught him. "You can open your eyes now!" said Marcel while smiling. Simon opened his eyes and lost his balance. Marcel grabbed his hand and kept him on the pressure plate. "Thank you!" said Simon. "Where to next?" asked Marcel and Simon led the way to the pedestal.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

They reached the pedestal and everyone was admiring the glowing multi-colored sphere. "Come on captain, pick it up," said Greg. "May I?" Marcel said while smiling. "Aye!" they all said. Marcel picked up the sphere and the cave started shaking. "Ehm... Guys?" said Rob. "What?" they turned around and behind them, the room started to fill with water. "We need to get out of here!" he continued. "Over here!" said Simon while waving his hand. Behind him, there were some stairs carved out of stone. "Where does this go?" said Hulio. "No time to find out, let us get out of here," said Marcel while holding tight to the sphere. They went up the stairs and arrived back at the entrance of the cave. "This was not here before," said Simon. "Perhaps this was all the shaking from before," said Marcel. The sun was up and the island was not underwater. "We were right!" said Marcel while smiling. "The island was sinking because of the artifact," he continued. "Let us get back to the ship," said Greg. They hurried back to the ship where Fred and Duke were waiting. "What took you so long?" said Fred. Marcel showed them the multi-colored sphere. "Nice!" yelled Fred. They all boarded the ship and left the island. "What should we do with it?" asked Greg. "I would like to keep it until next time we meet with Captain Frown, maybe there is more to it that we do not know," said Marcel. "Fair point, it is our first artifact. I wonder how many are still out there and how many were already discovered," said Greg. Marcel was admiring the sphere. He accidentally raised the sphere up and the sun was reflecting on the floor something. "What is that?" asked Greg. "What?" Marcel looked at him. Greg pointed to the floor and Marcel was shocked to see. "Simon!" they both yelled and Simon rushed to the helm. "What?" said Simon. "Take a look at this!" said Marcel. "This... This is amazing!" said Simon while admiring the reflection. "Let me get some paper, I need to draw this!" said Simon and went and grabbed some paper. After he finished drawing what was in reflection they were shocked to see that it was indeed what they thought it was. It was the next location of an artifact. "This can not be..." said Simon. "What?" asked Marce. "This location is not in the Flakin Sea," said Simon while turning pale. "Then where is it?" asked Greg. With a single word, Simon managed to turn both Marcel and Greg pale. "Kronen!". "What should we do?" Greg looked at Marcel and asked. "For the time being let us wait until we meet with Captain Frown, then we will decide," said Marcel. "Do you know its exact location?" asked Marcel. "No, but I recognized the shapes of the islands," said Simon. "We are so lucky to have you with us," said Greg. They went back to Black Lagoon and hid the artifact in the tavern. They decided to rest for a couple of days until their next adventure. Simon was analyzing the maps they found previously and found a couple more that could potentially be related to artifacts. After sorting through the countless maps he went and asked Marcel about it. "Should we continue with the riddle ones?" asked Simon. "Yes!" answered Marcel. "As far as I saw, there are just a couple more and we will be done with them, " said Simon. "But there is something that worries me" he continued. "What is it?" asked Marcel. "See this?" Simon put the map with the islands marked with the riddles. "If I am not wrong we found those four," Simon was pointing at the map. "Yes, and what worries you exactly?" said Marcel. "It worries me that the others will not be in the Flakin Sea," said Simon. "We will find a way to get through it when it comes," said Marcel. "This one is a mystery to me as well," Simon pointed at the big island. "Why?" asked Marcel. "Because I have never seen an island so big, and neither heard of one," said Simon while scratching his head. "What if it is not on any of the seas we know?" Simon looked up at Marcel and said. "You mean...?" said Marcel. "Yes!" Simon confirmed without hearing the whole sentence. Marcel started laughing. "Well then... I only heard good news!" said Marcel and grabbed Simon's shoulder. "Let us find the next map and see which sea we will venture into next," he continued. "Aye captain!" said Simon and left the room.