As we came back up the stairs I was surprised to find the central atrium full of people milling around. Before I could ask anyone what was happening, Calliope came running up to Kass and I.

“Adriena and Bree didn’t show up to practice. I’ve been talking to the other sirens and the last time anyone saw them was when they left to visit their families two days ago,” Calliope said in a panic. “We’ve tried to contact their families, but they rarely come to shore…”

“It’s fine,” Kass assured her. “Go up to the control room, tell them to send out an alert to the other bosses. We have a code yellow.”

The siren nodded, before bolting up the stairs. “Code yellow… we have missing staff with no explanation… all leave is cancelled for the time being.” I said, trying my best to remember exactly what code yellow entailed. “Do you have the authority to declare code yellow?” I asked.

“ALL floor bosses have that ability, and responsibility. We’re responsible for the staff on our floors," she said, while giving me a disappointed look. “When you’re given a clean bill of health I’m going to make sure you sit down and review the dungeon rules before I allow you to go back to your research.”

Kass grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the stairs. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“To the harbor. That’s where Adriena and Bree’s families are, I have a responsibility to my staff to check if they just got held up, or if there’s an issue,” Kass replied without turning around.

“I thought no one was allowed out,” I mumbled.

She sighed, but didn’t slow her pace. “Bosses, and some select staff, are allowed to leave. How else would we investigate?” she replied.

I didn’t reply after that. She was right, I apparently desperately needed to review the dungeon manual. We moved through the upper hallways, and out the staff entrance, to the waiting carriage. “To deep water district Heinrich,” Kass yelled to the coachman as soon as we stepped in. “It’s an emergency.”

The carriage accelerated so quickly that I was pushed back against the seat. Outside the window the cityscape passed at an accelerated rate, apparently emergency meant using magic to get to our destination. “So, what’s the plan?” I asked, once I was able to lever myself away from the seat.

“My priority is making sure my staff is safe. Maybe they just got caught up at home, with their families, but they should have sent word if that was true,” Kass replied, looking out the window. “There’s a fairly large community of aquatic and semi-aquatic species in the city, we’re heading there now.”

Kass wasn’t panicking, but I could tell she was worried. I didn’t know exactly what to say to support her, so I just leaned over and rubbed her back instead. It only took us a couple minutes to go from the dungeon to the coast. There was a heavy bump, right before the carriage slowed to a stop.

The deep water district was a wondrous sight. The buildings here were typically made of polished white brick, and many of them had intricate artwork using pearlescent paint, and tiles. The roads not only ran along the shore, but went directly into the water and continued to the aquatic abodes uninterrupted. The houses in the shallows were mostly submerged, but with spires that extended above the waterline to create areas for rooftop gardens. It was very beautiful. While I was busy checking out the scenery, Kass swiftly exitted the carriage, and slid towards the nearest aquatic access road, leaving me to stumble out behind her.

“Are you heading down below? I can’t breathe underwater,” I reminded her as soon as I caught up.

“Don’t worry about that, we won’t be going down. At least, not today,” she replied, walking to the water’s edge. She crouched down, placed a single finger into the water, and released a wave of power. A few seconds later a dozen tiny elementals raised their heads above the water. They looked like baby versions of the elementals she normally used. “Find both the matriarchs of the Greentide, and Coralmane families, and bring them here,” she told the tiny elementals.

The little spouts looked at each other for a moment, then dove under, where I almost immediately lost them. “Wouldn’t it be faster for you to go directly to their homes?” I asked.

“I have their addresses, it’s in the employee files, but I haven’t visited this district in awhile,” she replied. “It’ll be faster to send my elementals to find them than it would for us to wander around down there.” Kass lowered herself to the ground, stuck her tail into the water, then stared into the deep.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“You think your staff are ok?” I asked, as I crouched down next to her, and dipped my fingers into the water.

“I certainly hope so,” she said, not taking her eyes off the water, “but I’ve learned it’s always important to take these things seriously.”

We waited a couple minutes watching the fish dart around the boulevard, and even right into people’s homes, before we started seeing some shadows make their way towards us. Kass rose up, just in time for two siren women to surface. The pair brought their hands together, in an upside down prayer gesture, before bowing. “Good afternoon lady Bloodtide. How may we help you today?” one asked.

Kass straightened up. “I’m here about your daughters,” she said. “I was told they visited recently."

“They did,” the other woman said. “Is there an issue?”

“Can you tell me when they left? They did not return yesterday, so I’m investigating,” Kass said softly.

The pair of women glanced at each other for a moment, then looked at Kass in concern. “My daughter, Adriena, left around the seventh bell. I wanted her to stay later, but she refused, saying she had to get back. I know she was supposed to meet up with Bree before heading back, that’s the only reason I let her go.”

“Bree left my house around the same time, lady,” the other clarified.

Kass frowned for a moment, then looked down at the water, thinking.

“Do you know which way they would have gone?” I asked the pair.

“Carriage services are typically slow around here during the night, they might have hiked towards the northern streets,” one of the women answered, pointing towards a slightly more industrial looking area. “Please… if you find out anything at all, let us know,” the woman pleaded.

“We will, don’t worry,” Kass replied, shaking herself off. “Please ask your neighbors to see if they saw anything, and send a message using a crystal kiosk if you find anything. We’ll do our best to keep you updated,” she told the pair. The women nodded, then quickly swam off, towards the neighbourhood below.

“You handled that well,” I told Kass, who was still staring at the retreating women. “How about the pair of us head towards the north streets to see what we can find.”

After a moment Kass looked towards me, straightened up, and nodded. She seemed to be taking the news that the girls were actually missing pretty hard, “Are you ok?” I asked her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I will be, once we find the girls,” she replied. “We don’t have the time to discuss it now.” Kass immediately set off towards the next district, with me only a step or two behind.

The area seemed to be a minor shipping hub, with several private docks and various sailors running about. I wouldn’t have called it a rough neighborhood, but it definitely had the vibes of a place I didn’t want to wander about after dark.

“I wish I’d brought George,” I mumbled, as we passed a particularly large group of sailors.

“Why didn’t you?” Kass asked, glancing back towards me.

“Because someone dragged me out of the dungeon before I could fetch him,” I huffed for a moment, before glancing around nervously. “Do you really think they might have come this way after dark?”

“It’s possible… we could ask around at the nearby inns and taverns to see if anyone saw them,” Kass suggested.

“If we have to,” I said, stepping around a particularly large cart full of various goods. As we approached the nearest inn, a decently clean establishment called ‘Neptune’s Rest’ I noticed a couple seagulls above the door, staring at me. I stopped for a minute, and looked back, which caused one to caw, a call which was echoed by multiple birds sitting around the area.

I grabbed at the back of Kass’s shirt, just as the birds flew down and landed in front of me, cawing again. The two of us stared at the bird, which turned, hopped a couple steps away, then turned back and cawed again. “Is that normal?” I whispered to her.

“Not really, gulls are usually obsessed with food, and will try and trick people to get it. They typically don’t bother people without it,” Kass replied.

The gull narrowed its eyes, and cawed like it was insulted. “Should we follow it?” I asked.

Kass hesitated. “If the girls were injured, or detained, it’s possible they could communicate with the local gulls to get help. Haven’t seen anyone actually do it before though.” Kass glanced towards the inn for a moment, then back towards the gull. “Fuck it, we can check the inns later if this is a dead end.”

The gull cawed in triumph, then started waddling down the road. It was slow, but it didn’t seem like it was going far either. It took two or three minutes for it to make its way to a dark alley further up the road, one filled with garbage and debris, before it disappeared around a dumpster.

The two of us hesitated, just for a moment, before Kass followed it in. She slithered in just far enough to see what was there before crying out. She leaned down, picked up something, and then came right back out.

When she emerged from the alley I could see she was holding another gull, this one heavily injured. Its wing was smashed, and it was covered in cuts and, most noticeably, there was a bright blue ribbon around its neck. “This is crackers. She’s Bree’s pet,” Kass said quietly.

“This is not a good sign,” I whispered, as the gulls around us began to caw.