“What led me to this moment of my life? How did you ever convince me to do this?” The dark-skinned mercenary woman spat out a few drops of lake water that the wind had carried into her mouth. A regretful grimace lay placidly on her face.

The Vroque trio, upon Tien’s insistence, had come to Larueszeradt for some fishing. With the Writer’s insistence as well, Ma’at had finally agreed. For a fleeting moment, she thought that it might have been fun. To see the famous Lake of Deceit. To dip her feet into the cold water. To stick her hands into the rushing waves and have a chance to find a shiny coin or two. But, no. Nothing was ever so glamorous for the Swordstress of Ironside.

They stood on the rocky beach, watching tiny ripples in the water. The Lake of Deceit was clouded by fog the further one traveled into its center, but around the smoke and mirrors it was tranquil and glossy just like any normal lake. A decrepit sloop marooned on the sand sat stiff. A rough-feathered bird pecked at its hull.

“Why did you even want to do this, Tien? You’re supposed to be the logical one. Didn’t take you for a fisherman.”

The petite brunette woman shrugged, her black suitcase making a rattling noise as she did so. The mist clutching them made her attire very slightly damp with moisture. “Logical? This is logical, Ma’at. Gargofin is delicious. It’s also a delicacy, so it’s insanely expensive. Thus…” She put a hand on her hip and glanced at Sato.

“...Oh, me? Umm… thus we catch one ourselves…?”

“Exactly!” Tien praised. “And it’s not because I was craving it or anything. Well, I was. But, coincidentally, we had someone come into the office the other day asking us to catch a fish or two from the lake. This could mean big money for the company. Big money means bigger contracts.” Dollar signs practically flashed bright green in her sky-blue eyes. She rubbed her fingers together as if a wad of cash was between them.

“How much are you talking?” Ma’at asked.

“For a gargofin? I’d wager he’d pay us… 500 Kin? And that’s just for one.”

“500!?” Ma’at and Sato exclaimed in surprise.

“Don’t get your hopes up, though. They’re pretty rare.” She’d done it. She’d got them interested in fishing. Deep in her mind, she snickered. The plan couldn’t be called cunning, as the contract had basically fallen into her lap, but she had gotten them to ask. “But I’m sure we could find a ton of cool stuff the further we go in,” she added.

Ma’at and Sato pondered, rubbing their chins, then turned and looked at the worn, beach-docked ship again. It would be barely any better than setting sail on a floating piece of driftwood.

“That thing’s a death trap.” Sato slung her umbrella over her shoulder and rested it there.

“It’s not that bad. It’s just… well-used.”

Ma’at walked over to the sloop and peered inside. There weren’t any holes, but the wood had seen much better days. Well-used was an understatement. “Yeah. No chance. A gargofin could flip this thing over in two seconds.”

Tien pouted, clearly unhappy with how the conversation had pivoted. “Okay, okay, fine. I get you guys. I hear ya. I’ll just fix her up, then. Good as new.” She walked over to the sloop beside Ma’at and crouched down to examine her case.

“You can do that?”

“I can do anything. I’m a mage too, y’know.” She then opened the case, plunging her hands deep within its cavernous depths. It was no ordinary suitcase, that’s all Ma’at could tell just from looking at it.

“Ooh, you’re really serious about this, eh Tien?” Sato turned to Ma’at, noticing the confusion plainly printed on her face. “Tien’s case is an Arcane Construct. She implanted the concept of infinity into it.”

Ma’at peered into the unfathomable abyss, still perturbed.

“Basically,” Sato continued, “it can hold an unlimited amount of things. Well, probably unlimited. There’s really no way of knowing if it’s truly infinite, but there’s a lot of crap in there.”

“You calling me a hoarder?” Tien snapped, still rummaging through the darkness. It seemed only she could tell what she was sifting through. No contents were visible to the others.

“Yes, I am.”

Tien ignored her friend. At last, she hoisted up the item she was looking for. It was a gilded hammer, less of a greathammer used for combat and more so a hammer used for construction, though it was still quite large in size. A gray skull was inlaid on both sides of it. Its empty eye sockets glowed a ghostly teal blue.

“What is it?” Ma’at stared deeply into the golden gleam of its surface. The flat end and the spike on the other side were gray like the skull.

“It’s called a Hammer of Reparation. It’s a timelost artifact. A relic from a distant age. And, if used properly…” With that, the meticulous woman reared back with the hammer, staring intently at the hull of the ship. In one swift motion, she swung the flat end straight into the side of the sloop.

“Wait!” Ma’at cried, fearful that her action would damage the vessel even further.

Thud!

The mercenary opened her eyes and relaxed her outstretched arms as she witnessed Tien’s handiwork.

The sound of creaking wood and buckling planks let out as the sloop crumpled and folded in on itself oddly. Malformed, it reconstructed in a shining golden light and reappeared where it was as if nothing had happened. On the contrary, a great change had occurred. The wood was now strong and appeared brand new. No straining could be seen in the hull nor any cracks in its frame. It was as if time had been reversed for the boat alone.

The others stared blankly, stricken with awe.

“There we go. Good as new, just like I said.” Tien threw the hammer back into her suitcase like it was nothing, closed it tight and locked it, then knocked on the ship for emphasis.

“Where did you find a relic like that?” Ma’at’s question wasn’t in earnest curiosity as it often was. Her voice was deadly serious.

“Trade secret. All I can say is that I’m quite familiar with the Technicist underground.”

It was clear as day that it wasn’t the answer the Sirithisian was looking for, but she shook off her mood and let it go for now. “Fine. What are we waiting for, then? Let’s push it into the water.”

Sato and Tien nodded in agreement, taking the sloop’s side and gripping it firmly. It was lighter than they thought it would be, and with minimal effort they picked it up and slid it through the fine rocks in the beach and into the lakewater with a rocking splash. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t exhausting to any degree, though in comparison with the work Ma’at had done again and again for measly wages in the past, the action had little effect on her. Her psyche was battered for another reason, one that still plunged her head into aching sludge. It was simply the sheer fact that they were here at all, fishing, when there had to be countless other jobs more worth the money and effort to do in the city.

As she pondered this and kept her thoughts to herself, the grand gleaming towers came into view over the shrouded misty water unraveling before the piercing arrow of the sloop. Reville stood over all of this part of the east. The Union, Ma’at had heard from Tien, came from the countless shattered islets and islands off the coast of the main continent. Only in the last couple decades had the Union traveled through the treacherous Tides of Terror, through the ineffable Void Sea, and made land on the very same coast they found themselves now. They had made huge strides, and it was then that they found a hole leading deep into hallowed ground. A section of the vast Technicist underground, hidden from sight and from mind, men and creatures that roamed the land for ages. It gave them the properties needed to leap from a primitive era to one filled with incredible technological advances, not only for modern life but for magical use as well.

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Larueszeradt, the Lake of Deceit, was but an inkblot on the side of the canvas. A canvas covered in sickly black ink, though not entirely. From the lake’s edge, water ran to Reth’s Arc, a split river. One arm of the river led to the Bloodspike Rapids and the eternal forest surrounding it, and the other led into the vicious sea.

“Headache?” Tien appeared in Ma’at’s view with a raised eyebrow. A tiny, kind smile manifested itself on her lips.

“No, I’m fine,” Ma’at grumbled, turning away. “How are we moving, anyway?” She looked over the gunwale, inspecting the rushing water beneath them. The sloop was moving fairly fast, and almost no wind was in the air to push them along.

“Sato,” Tien said simply. “She’s pushing us along with her magic ever so slightly. Guess we’ve gained a lotta speed pretty quick.” She joined Ma’at and crossed her arms along the wooden railing, gazing out. The water was a deep black, as if the seafloor was lost long ago. “Hey, you never told me what happened after you saved that girl.”

“Hm? What girl?”

“That woman’s sister, Rosaline. She was arrested by the Union, I’m guessing. But what about everything else?”

Ma’at gave her a half-hearted shrug. “Not much else to say. There was some damage to the tenements, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sato could be heard chuckling to herself from across the deck. “A little more than some damage. Raphael was furious with us. It was quite funny, honestly. It really wasn’t that bad, though. Some massive stalks and thorns grew through the building, but no one was hurt.”

“Thorns?” Tien repeated slowly, confused.

“The girl’s Ocularis reflected what she deeply cared about. Reina had been giving her these special roses every day while she was sick. Chances are… they were only making it worse.”

“What do you mean? She contracted something from the flowers?”

Ma’at shook her head lightly, the salty breeze hitting her face like microscopic needles. “The sickness wasn’t real. Or, at least, it was real, but it was caused by her Ocularis. The magic was too powerful, and it was trying to find a way out. If we hadn’t set it off and saved her… well, Reville might’ve been covered in thorns.”

“Damn,” Tien muttered. She rested her chin on one hand, then sprung up and dropped her case in the center of the boat. Looking across the proportional black water, she took a deep breath full of briny air and kicked it open.

“What’s up?” Sato questioned.

“We’re close now. To the center.” She rummaged through the attache case yet again and pulled out two old-fashioned fishing poles.

She was correct. The fog piling up at the center of the lake had gotten closer and closer, and now it started to collide with the ship. As if they were a plane penetrating a storm cloud, their tiny boat slipped into the veil of mist with ease. A serene silence muted the outside world. There was only the lake water, the fog, the three women, and the creaking sloop.

“H-Hold on,” Sato stammered. “The lake was formed from sea water, right?”

Tien nodded resolutely.

The Maiden of the Rain’s face turned pale. Even her violet, shimmering eyes seemed to dim in sudden fright. “That means… stuff from the Void Sea could be in here…” Shaking, she wearily grabbed a fishing pole Tien handed to her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Tien urged. “There’s nothing that bad in here. I’m like… seventy percent sure.”

Sato dropped the pole and ducked down, peering over the railing like a scared kid. “S-Seventy!? You said this would be a nice fishing trip! This isn’t nice! It’s scary!” Following her eruption of emotion, the ship came to a halt. Her concentration on pushing the ship along had been obliterated when faced with her fear of the ocean.

“Think about it. The river running from the sea to the lake isn’t big enough for-”

Boom! Creak!

In that moment, a massive object rammed the sloop, knocking Tien out of her train of thought. They rocked back and forth, then settled after a while. A bit of water had been launched onto the deck, and some drenched Ma’at and Sato. Despite her fear, Sato was completely invulnerable to anything the depths could throw at her.

“What the hell was that…?” Ma’at grumbled, unsheathing one of her noctite blades.

“Probably… just a rogue wave or something.”

“There are no waves!” Sato squealed, squeezing herself into the corner of the bow. “It’s a lake, dummy!”

“A fish?” Ma’at posited.

Tien’s face suddenly flashed from absent worry to excited gluttony. She grabbed the fishing pole Sato had dropped and ran to the side of the ship with bestial haste. “Could be! Please be a fish!” she cried, casting the line out into the unknown. It let out a satisfying plop, then faded into the ever-present ominous silence.

“Tien, can we go now?” Sato shuddered as she tried to parse the fog with her vision. The line extended outward for a few feet, then vanished in a pallid haze.

“No,” she whispered. Her attention was fully locked onto the pole in her hands and the thread piercing the ghostly veil.

“Do you think it’s the gargofin?” Ma’at asked, also in a hushed whisper. It seemed like she was interested in the art of fishing once more, pulled from her previous wistful fugue. The line quivered slightly.

“Could be, I don’t know. But any fish caught is a fish gained. I’ve gotta catch something today at least, or we’re all staying late.”

“No…” Sato eked out from the corner, pouting.

Tien shushed her and trained her eyes on the line. Further and further into the mist. Noises barely audible before met her ears, and she swore she heard water rushing beneath the surface. Something was coming. It had to be.

Whirr…

“Woah!” Tien was pulled forward suddenly, though she maintained a firm hold on the fishing pole. Their very livelihood depended on the catch, after all. “Got it! Urgh!” She wildly spun round the reel, wrangling the caught creature and yanking it up toward them.

Ma’at grabbed hold of the rod as well and the two women pulled with all of their might.

Finally, the thing broke the water’s surface in a watery hail of grime. The end of the fishing line and the hook that baited the beast led in circlets up in the air to its gaping, jagged mouth. It succumbed to gravity’s unceasing pull and slammed onto the deck of the ship, causing Sato to let out a scared yelp.

Ma’at and Tien, exhausted, slowly peered down to examine their catch.

At the end of the hook, gasping and squirming, was a fish that could only be visualized as prehistoric. It was a deathly white color with gills lined up in a row like sturdy-backed soldiers. Its teeth were gnarled and curved inward. The side of its head held a lifeless, black eye filled with ire. It would be over half as tall as Sato standing upright. A gargantuan catch.

“Is that…?”

“It is! It’s a gargofin!” Tien cheered, grasping at Ma’at as if in a dream. Excitement filled her smile and flushed her cheeks.

“No way…” Ma’at stood staring in amazement. It was utterly huge for a fish. A creature such as this could surely live in the Void Sea and survive the swim down to the Lake of Deceit.

“Ugh… throw it back in…! I changed my mind! We’re going home!” Sato cried. Trying her best to avoid looking at the abyssal gargofin, she visualized the water beneath the sloop and began jettisoning them slowly back toward the lakeside.

“Alright, alright. We can go back, scaredy cat. We got what we wanted, anyway! Hey, Ma’at! High-five!” She raised her hand instantly, readying herself for her coworker’s return of the graceful gesture.

With slight hesitation, the reserved mercenary slapped Tien’s hand with just the right amount of force. A satisfying clap rang throughout the mistful air. She was glad to return the celebratory high-five. It was a team effort, and though she didn’t show it plainly on her scarred visage, it had been a great deal of fun. Fishing, she thought, could never be an action of respite for her. At least, that’s what she used to think. Now, though, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps, just as Sato had given her a new goal to trek toward, Tien could help her enjoy things that she’d otherwise ignore. The world was incredibly vast, and so much laid in store for them all that they couldn’t even imagine. Though Ma’at knew of the world and had been to the grand cities that marked places of safety, the outer reaches were just as much unknown to her as the murky waters below. It gave her solace, then. That there truly was so much to look forward to on the road ahead. Upon the path to find Camilia. Her flaming footprints, she guessed, must be very far from here. For now, however, she was content with idle fun.

“Welp,” Tien snapped her out of her sinking thoughts. “Better store this guy before we get to shore. Don’t want any idiots trying to steal him from us.” With that, she got Ma’at’s help and threw the albino gargofin into her case. Ma’at marveled at its truly infinite storage capacity once more. It wasn’t something you get used to in a day’s time; a bottomless suitcase.

Not before long, they came to shore and stuck the sloop on land just as they’d found it. As the hammer in Tien’s case drew away from it, the ship returned to its former glory. That is, former hideousness. It was just another shipwreck now.

Walking back home, the trio chatted and ruminated about the excursion. Much of it involved teasing Sato, but some came from the Sirithisian merc herself. After the desperate dealings with Reina and Rosaline, such an enigmatic respite was just what they needed to recuperate. It helped, too, that the client paid them in full for the fish, though Tien found it difficult to part with the creature after it helped them create such a vivid, long-lasting memory. That, and she dearly wished that she could’ve eaten the poor animal.