A long night of anxious tossing and turning later, Raine eventually woke up at about midday. Naturally, Nikolay had already left long ago, leaving the room in a pristine state.
Raine loitered in their shared room for a little while longer, pacing back and forth in front of the bathroom mirror. The last thing he wanted to do was face Tabitha and the other customers after his horrible mess up.
But eventually, the growl of his empty stomach pushed him to leave the comfort of his room. He’d have to face her at some point, unless he wanted to starve.
Reluctantly, he dragged his feet down the stairs. The bar was open, though it only had a few loitering customers standing around, and Tabitha stood in her usual spot behind the bar.
Tabitha paused in her mixing to turn around and face Raine. He flinched, bracing himself for the belated scolding that was sure to come.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Tabitha cracked a smile. “Breakfast’s on the counter over there. Take your time. Nikolay’s just in the backyard, chopping some firewood.”
Huh? That wasn’t what he was expecting at all. If he hadn’t known any better, it would’ve seemed like nothing had happened.
Raine cautiously grabbed the plate of hot food and then sat down opposite Tabitha.
“Speaking of Nikolay,” Raine started. “I feel really bad. He’s already sick of having to deal with me all the time, and I just made it worse by messing up so badly in front of everyone.”
“You’re joking!” Tabitha exclaimed. “That man was defending you all of last night after you left. If anyone dared to speak ill of you, he would pour their drink down the drain right in front of them. Not to mention the glare that he would shoot.”
“Actually… did you see what exactly happened? Somebody tripped me over, which is why I spilt the drink.”
Tabitha raised her eyebrows. “I knew you wouldn’t have been that clumsy. Who was it? We can do something about them.”
“That wasn’t the main part, if I’m going to be honest,” Raine trailed off hesitantly. “He was trying to pressure me into ditching work to go to his house. When I refused, he started trying to coerce me. I’m guessing that tripping me over was his way of revenge. The only thing is, I don’t know if I should try to explain myself to Nikolay. Because knowing him, Gremory might not wake up tomorrow morning if I tell him everything.”
“Whatever you choose to do, I’m sure that Nikolay only wants to protect you. That’s all he’s done ever since you two first arrived here. And probably before, if I had to guess,” Tabitha grinned. “Earlier this morning, I found out that Nikolay took the top bunk bed because he was afraid that you would fall off. What a great guy, huh? He never stops worrying about you. I mean, it’d be better for his health if he didn’t constantly do it, but it’s a nice gesture.”
He had nothing to say to that. Sure, it sounded believable. He’d been stuck with the overprotective bastard for the past few months after all, but the thought of Nikolay particularly focusing on him was… Forget it. He didn’t want to even entertain the thought.
Raine put his cleared plate in the sink and looked at Tabitha. “You said Nikolay was outside, right?”
He hadn’t decided to tell Nikolay anything yet, but just seeing him would be enough to determine the general gist of things.
“Yep, ‘round the corner and in the back garden.”
Raine hurriedly rushed through the front door, avoiding eye contact with the customers in case they recognised him. He quickly made his way to the backyard, rounding the corner of the tavern.
His jaw dropped to the floor.
Tabitha wasn’t lying — Nikolay was indeed chopping wood. There was only one problem: his shirt was lying on top of a tree stump. Which meant that Nikolay was bare from the waist up. So when he moved to lift the axe, all of his well-defined back muscles shifted too.
Thank god he was facing away from Raine, because he might’ve died on the spot. But his view now was still more than enough to make Raine short-circuit temporarily.
Raine then realised that he was just standing there with his mouth open like an idiot. He quickly ducked back behind the corner of the building and covered his mouth.
There was no way that Nikolay was hiding all that underneath a thin shirt.
He slowly turned his head and peered into the backyard again.
Yep, his eyes weren’t deceiving him. That was definitely Nikolay. Oh god.
Before Nikolay could magically detect Raine staring directly at his bare skin like some deranged creep, he pulled himself back to safety.
This was quite possibly the single worst time to have stumbled upon Nikolay being shirtless. Raine didn’t even know if Nikolay still tolerated his presence after last night. And he was going to have to confront him about it, too.
He took a few deep breaths — but not too deep, otherwise Nikolay might hear him — to calm himself down.
It wasn’t even that attractive. Honestly, Nikolay was just taking advantage of his hard earned work. Raine had shed his blood, sweat, and tears to follow Nikolay’s training regime while they were still stuck in the same body. The damn freeloader could just waltz around with those muscles and reap the rewards.
So what if Nikolay still worked out in the mornings? He probably looked like an idiot, flexing those stupid muscles and… and…
Okay, things clearly weren’t getting any better if he stood here.
Raine put on his best poker face and walked into the backyard, acting as if nothing had happened. The gravel under his shoes crunched in the otherwise silent area.
Nikolay turned his head towards Raine. “You’re here.”
Such a simple statement. Raine had no idea what to glean from it. Did Nikolay hate him for being such a clumsy idiot? Tabitha’s words provided a small amount of comfort, but it was difficult to believe things at face-value.
Since he had no idea what Nikolay was thinking, Raine ended up coming blank for the appropriate answer. He just stood there, staring helplessly back at Nikolay.
“I found somebody who could lend us some scuba gear,” Nikolay said as he grabbed his shirt. “One of the customers was a family member of a retired diver. She wrote me a note to pass to them.”
Raine watched as Nikolay put the shirt back on, both disappointed and relieved that it went back to covering his top half.
Eventually, Raine found the most suitable response — one that he knew would work in all situations. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Nikolay cocked his head. “You just got here.”
Surely, Nikolay wasn’t playing dumb. He didn’t seem like the type to avoid talking about anything, whether it was sensitive or not.
“Last night,” Raine signalled. “You were there, weren’t you?”
“Ah. You’re referring to that. My point still stands, however. You have nothing to apologise for.”
“Be honest. Aren’t you even slightly pissed that I messed up our reputation? You’re getting affected by my mistakes, purely because we arrived here together.”
“There’s no need to worry about our reputation, or mistakes that couldn’t be helped,” Nikolay replied evenly. “Lingering troubles won’t do us any good, especially when we’re about to enter another Temple.”
Raine pulled a concentrated frown, finding it difficult to fully accept his words. The advice sounded good on paper, but how could he possibly just… forget about it? It felt like they were still staring at him, no matter how much he tried to distract himself.
Seeing that Raine was struggling with his words, Nikolay gave a light-hearted sigh. “There’s no need to act upon it immediately, in any case. Let’s go and find the ex-diver and ask about his gear.”
—
According to Nikolay’s informant, the diver lived on the outskirts of Aurelinne Village. His property, inherited from his grandfather, had access to a wide river that fed directly into Lake Litchmere. The entire family enjoyed diving, him included, and he’d only retired recently due to his old age.
Apart from this general information, however, they were fumbling around in the dark. Last night had been exceptionally busy after all, and Nikolay couldn’t stay still in one spot for too long. It was purely up to the letter to determine whether their trip had been worthwhile.
Following the relative’s directions led them to a derelict wooden house in the middle of a large field. They could still see Aurelinne Village in the distance, but it was far enough that it felt disconnected from the hustle and bustle of the markets.
An old man sat on the porch, nursing a steaming cup of coffee in between his wrinkled hands. He had a newspaper in hand, too engrossed in its contents to notice Raine and Nikolay until they’d stepped up onto the stairs.
Surprisingly unalarmed at their sudden appearance, the old man calmly set down his newspaper. “Eh? What brings you here to interrupt my morning coffee?”
Nikolay dipped his head in greeting. “A relative of yours asked me to deliver this letter to you. I believe it pertains to our current situation.”
“A letter?” the old man shuffled forward in his seat. “Give it here. I’ve got some strong words for somebody who can’t even face me in person.”
They handed the letter to the man, who tore open the envelope hastily. His eyes flicked back and forth, scanning the lines on the paper.
It was easy to tell when he had finished reading, because he threw the letter down on the table in indignation. “That young lady…”
Raine and Nikolay shot each other an uneasy glance. If he wasn’t happy with the letter, it seemed unlikely that they’d be able to ask for his diving gear.
“I-” Nikolay started.
“No need to look like you’re about to pass out from worry,” the old man interrupted. “You can rent out my diving gear. It’s not you who I’m mad at. What do you need the gear for?”
“We’re planning to dive into Lake Litchmere and explore a temple underwater.”
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“Both of you?”
Nikolay pursed his lips. “Preferably. I know you might only have one set for yourself, but I can take an older set if you have one.”
“Let’s see… you don’t want just one, but two whole sets. On top of that, this is professional gear. I’ve kept it in good condition all this time, and it’s only been sitting there for a year or two,” the old man pondered. “I’ll give you a discount because of my niece’s letter. Let’s say… about one million Kosryan should be enough to cover the cost.”
“We’re serious about needing it,” Nikolay deadpanned.
“And so am I, about the cost,” he replied. “I’ll be happy to hand over the gear once you hand over the money.”
“You know full well that we can’t pay up that much.”
“Then I’m afraid I can’t hand over the gear just yet.”
Nikolay gritted his teeth. “You-”
Raine quickly stepped in before the situation escalated any further. “That much money isn’t going to help you in the long run. When you suddenly become rich, people are going to notice. Between the scammers and the people trying to befriend you just for the money, you’ll be living a life that ends up being more miserable than it was before. It’ll be better for both parties involved if you ask for something more valuable to you personally, other than monetary gain.”
The old diver chuckled, seemingly impressed by Raine’s mini-tirade. “Neither of you have experience in haggling, but it seems like the brunette has a natural knack for persuasion. Alright, I was going to cut y’all a deal anyway, but now I know you really deserve it. I’m sure you two aren’t broke enough that you can’t repay me with a small favour, can you?”
Nikolay nodded hesitantly, clearly displeased that the diver had intended to lead them by the nose from the beginning.
“There are ruins near the temple that you’re planning to enter. Nobody has dared to go near them because of a local legend, which was practically proven when the whole thing started rumbling a few months back. You know what goes hand in hand with untouched ruins? A boatload of treasure. I want you to make a quick detour to these ruins and pick up anything valuable. All items go to me, of course. Unless you know how to pawn ancient artifacts?” the old man raised an eyebrow.
As much as Raine hated the idea of this guy profiting from their hard work, it didn’t seem like there was any other choice. He’d already misled them once; there was no telling how far his tricks could go.
After exchanging a mutual glance between them, Nikolay reached out to shake the man’s hand. “Deal accepted.”
“Right, then. The gear’s all in that shed over there,” the man pointed to a rusty, decrepit tin rectangle. “And you’ll need a vessel to get to the centre of Lake Litchmere, too. The keys to my boat are also in the shed. The door doesn’t have a lock, so you can go ahead and open it.”
An unlocked and unguarded shed? They could’ve just… gone and stolen it, without having to go through all this trouble.
Judging by the look on Nikolay’s face, he was thinking the same thing.
“We’ll be going, then,” Nikolay said. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll leave anything we find at your doorstep.”
“And if you don’t, I’ll assume that you ran off with my gear without upholding your end of the bargain.”
“Sounds fair.”
They left the old man to his cup of coffee and walked over to the shed. Sure enough, the door easily opened when Nikolay’s hand lightly brushed against it. Even if there had been a lock, Raine was doubtful of its ability to stop the door from breaking at its rusted hinges.
The interior of the shed looked about the same as its exterior: beaten down by the passage of time and the elements. Wooden shelves, corroded by rot and mildew, now threatened to collapse under the weight of the items. Thick cobwebs lay undisturbed in every corner of the shed, a mass of stringed architecture constructed by generations of spiders.
Thankfully, the scuba gear wasn’t too old, so it lay on the floor untouched by the spiders. Unlike the rest of the metal components in the shed, rust hadn’t consumed it beyond recognition.
It went unsaid that they still had to find the keys to the boat. Hopefully, it was in the same condition as the gear.
While they were rifling through the items, Nikolay spoke up. “Earlier. I wasn’t aware of your negotiation skills.”
“Ah, well,” Raine blushed under his praise. “I wasn’t really thinking that far. I was just… voicing my thoughts.”
He might’ve said too much, but at least it worked out in the end.
Raine suddenly stood up, a metal key in hand. “I found it! Looks like the key to a boat, anyway. Says ‘La dame moindre’.”
Nikolay stopped his search and looked over. “Hm. I didn’t know he spoke French.”
“You speak French?”
“I’ve lived quite a few lives. One of them happened to be born in France.”
So nonchalant. Raine would give almost anything to speak another language.
“One of these days, you have to tell me some interesting stories when we’re out camping.”
Nikolay turned away. “I’ll pass. We should bring out the diving gear so we can try it on.”
Awww, was he embarrassed? It was a shame, though, because Raine was genuinely interested in learning more about Nikolay’s past.
“Alright, whatever you say.”
Together, they lugged the equipment out of the mould-infested shed. The two sets looked equally new, so they randomly picked out the same pieces from the pile.
It wasn’t ideal to wear regular clothes underneath a wetsuit, but they didn’t have the luxury of any other options. The wetsuit was a little tight on Raine, but it still fit him enough that it wasn’t too much of a health hazard.
He looked over at Nikolay to check that he fit into his suit as well. The man in question had his arms twisted behind his back to zip up the last section.
Raine patiently waited for Nikolay to finish, before realising that he wasn’t succeeding any time soon.
“Do you want me to help?” Raine asked.
Without skipping a beat, Nikolay instantly shook his head. “No need.”
Despite his words, Nikolay continued to struggle with the zipper.
Raine watched with an unimpressed look on his face. “Turn around.”
“…Fine.”
With great reluctance, Nikolay turned his back on Raine. As he sensed Raine draw closer, he tensed up at the intense wave of alarm that crashed against his mind. It was just Raine; there was nothing to be afraid of. Even if his weak points were all completely exposed, and he couldn’t see anything that Raine was doing.
When Raine’s knuckles gently brushed up against the nape of his neck, he had to clench his jaw to stop himself from reacting. His lungs ached at the forced slow pace of his breathing, and his heart beat painfully against his chest. Every single cell in his body screamed at him to react to the imminent danger, and it took his entire willpower not to listen.
It felt like a miniaturised eternity before Raine pulled away.
“There,” Raine declared, seemingly unaware of Nikolay’s crisis. “It’s all done. Do you need help with the vest-looking thing as well?”
“I’ll be fine,” Nikolay curtly responded.
After a brief moment, he added, “Thank you.”
Raine grinned. “You’re welcome.”
No other problems presented themselves for the time being, and both Raine and Nikolay swiftly put on the rest of the gear.
It wasn’t a long walk to the boat — the shed had been purposefully placed in between the house and the riverside, which meant that all they had to do was waddle through a few metres of grass.
The walk wasn’t too bad, but the boat quickly made up for the lack of disappointment.
“Oh, you’re kidding me,” Raine groaned. “No wonder why the shed was unlocked.”
Yes, there was a boat in front of them. But the key, initially thought to be for the ignition, was actually the pair for a heavy metal padlock chaining the boat to a post.
The good news was that the boat didn’t require another key to start. The bad news was that it didn’t have an engine at all.
“Somehow, I doubt that the old man went all the way out to Lake Litchmere in a small plastic kayak,” Nikolay noted dryly.
They’d been scammed once again, to nobody’s surprise. It was still better than nothing — maybe not if the boat had a hole in it — so Raine went ahead and unchained the boat with the key.
“Let’s just hope it can hold the weight of our tanks,” Raine said. “Here, you get in the front. I can put the extra stuff at the back.”
Nikolay sized up the boat with a sceptical glance. “Can you even fit all of it in?”
“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”
A couple minutes after playing a dangerous game of balancing, they managed to both sit inside the single-person kayak with their gear on their laps. Nikolay stabilised the sides with his magic, making sure that the waves didn’t capsize the entire boat. The blue tendrils floated in the water, clinging to the bottom of the boat like stray seaweed.
There was only one paddle, so Raine was in charge of steering at the back. Nikolay protested initially, but it was illogical to think that Raine’s longer legs could fit in the front of the kayak.
“And off we go,” Raine announced. “In the world’s most precarious and dangerous position.”
And with that, they set off. It was lucky that the river pushed them into the lake without much guidance needed from Raine’s paddle. When it opened up into Lake Litchmere, though, they were on their own.
About a quarter of the way into the lake, Raine noticed that his paddle strokes were pushing the boat a little too efficiently. Not that he was weak or anything, but it was getting a bit ridiculous to assume that he could’ve pushed themselves and their heavy cargo all the way here without getting fatigued.
He peered over the side of the kayak and saw that the blue weed-like projections had morphed into tiny propellers. Typical Nikolay, always trying to help. Raine left it unmentioned though, lest Nikolay rescind his much needed support in embarrassment.
Shortly thereafter, Nikolay looked up from the blue water.
“Stop here. It looks like the temple is right beneath us,” he said.
Raine lifted the paddle out of the water and placed it back on the boat. “Do you think the boat’ll be fine like this? It’s pretty flimsy, and we don’t have an anchor.”
Nikolay grabbed the rest of his gear and put it on quickly. “I can make one.”
Damn, magic sure was handy. Though, he probably shouldn’t think like that anymore, knowing how much Nikolay despised the fact that he had too much magic.
With no other outstanding issues, they dove into the crystal clear water of Lake Litchmere.
As usual when it came to swimming, the water was frigid cold. The sun hadn’t reached its peak yet, so despite the warm weather on land, the water was still as cold as it would’ve been without the sun’s rays penetrating the surface.
Raine wasn’t any kind of Olympic diver, but he did his best to move around and warm himself up. The tank on his back weighed much less than it did in the boat, thankfully, which helped his awkward attempts at moving gracefully. In the midst of his flailing, he accidentally slapped Nikolay, who was too busy creating an anchor to notice the stray arm.
In the brief moment of physical contact, Nikolay sent a ping of annoyance.
Watch it, Nikolay said. I’m trying to concentrate.
Sorry.
Raine hastily withdrew his arm and manoeuvred his way out of Nikolay’s proximity. From a safe distance, he watched millions of blue threads line up end to end, forming a long rope that started at the kayak.
Nikolay held the other end in his hand, intending to tie it to wherever the Temple of Time’s entrance was. Once he was sure that the rope was tightly secured to the boat, he looked over at Raine and indicated for them to dive deeper.
As they descended, the light from the sun gradually weakened, leaving them to rely on the flashlights attached to their gear. The closer they got to the bottom, the more broken stone appeared in their view. At the centre of it all, a large temple rose up higher than the rest of the ruin.
Nikolay pointed to their far left. An expansive wreckage of ships and stone buildings littered the seafloor, overgrown with coral and seagrass. Schools of fish swam through the human structures, unaware of their origins. It looked as though they were the ruins that the diver had mentioned earlier.
Later, he signalled. After the Temple, if we still have time.
Raine nodded, and they continued to swim towards their current objective.
The Temple of Time looked like a weathered down, older version of its sibling in the mountains. While the Temple of Space stood unaffected by the test of time, ironically, the temple in front of them looked like it had been there for centuries.
The entrance wasn’t so much of an entrance, but rather a gaping hole in place of the double doors that should have been there.
Raine recognised the colourless crystal embedded in the piece of stone that was still standing. As much as he hated the invasive sensation that came with touching it, there wasn’t any other choice if they wanted to proceed.
He gritted his teeth and reached out to touch the stone.
As much as he could mentally prepare himself, it still wasn’t enough. The probing magic roughly forced its way into his mind, a sudden torrent that caused him to recoil mentally. It roughly rummaged through his thoughts and memories without a care for the articles themselves. The whirlwind blazed a path of destruction in his brain, leaving a trail of scattered and disorganised debris behind.
When he finally came to, Raine found himself supported by Nikolay’s arms. The doors in front of him — or what was left of them — were now wide open.
All Nikolay said was, Are you okay?
No. He wasn’t, but concentrating on it would make him worse.
I’m fine. We should enter the temple before our oxygen runs out.
He could tell that his words hadn’t convinced Nikolay, based on the pulse of reluctance that he sensed. Still, Nikolay complied with his suggestion and they dove through the opening.
Raine wasn’t sure exactly what he was expecting, but he didn’t expect the water to simply stop at the entrance. Unfortunately, that meant that both of them flopped ungracefully to the ground after exiting the water.
After struggling out of their gear like a dying fish on land, they slowly stood back up.
“That hurt more than it should’ve,” Raine protested. “Could’ve been less jarring, at least.”
Nikolay dusted himself off as well as he could while being soaked. “I’m glad it’s dry in here. Conserves oxygen in our tanks.”
They continued to walk down the corridor and into the larger body of the temple.
The interior looked as worn down as the outside, minus the… wetness. Where the cracks and missing pieces of wall were, they could see the lake surrounding the temple. Curious fish bumped up against the invisible wall, trying to see inside the strange building.
At the centre of the chamber, there was a strange statue eroded beyond recognition. If he had to guess, it used to be modelled after some type of mythical beast. Four stumps extended from a central mass, presumably wings, and there was only a single leg remaining to hold up the body.
Raine frowned at the sculpture. “Aw, it sucks that the statue’s so broken. It must’ve looked beautiful when it was first made.”
Instead of a response, he heard Nikolay collapse to the ground behind him with a groan.
Raine whipped his head around in concern. “Nikolay? Are you alright?”
His partner stayed hunched over on the ground, arms planted on the ground to stop his head from hitting the hard floor. After a long few seconds, he looked up at Raine with furrowed eyebrows.
“Who the fuck is Nikolay? My name’s Rui, you schizo. Where are we — and who the hell are you?”