The four descended via a steel ladder down from the top of the whale and into the body of the great beast. Only once they were inside did the awe of the size of the beast truly set in. It was nearly a fifty feet across on the inside, and a hundred feet long. Each wing was almost a fifty feet long itself, bringing the total wingspan of the whale to one hundred fifty feet.
The interior of the whale was cold, though it was unclear whether that was due to the cold environment of the cave or something else. At the heart of the whale, the four of them were left with three directions to travel: to the tail of the whale, the nose, or deeper into the belly. The tail was separated from the main body of the whale by what appeared to be a door made of solid steel, as was the nose of the whale. The belly was accessible by the same ladder down which they had descended onto the bridge of the whale, where they now stood.
“...Have any of you ever been to Velstadt?” Lawrence asked suddenly.
“No,” Simon and Dianna replied.
“Once,” Mina answered, “but only for a short time. Why the question?”
“I was just wondering if any of you had ever seen a Velstadt warship.”
“Can’t say so,” Simon said, “but I think I’ve heard of them. Giant boats made entirely out of steel, right?”
“That’s right,” Lawrence shuddered. “Had the honor of going toe-to-toe with one of those back during the war. Not a pleasant experience.”
“What happened?” Mina asked.
“Nothing crazy,” Lawrence continued, “but it’s pretty harrowing to see cannonballs bounce off the sides of a ship. Especially when that ship’s pointing cannons right back at you, and your ship’s still made of wood.”
“Wow…” Dianna said coldly, unimpressed.
“How did you survive?” Simon asked.
“We boarded them,” Lawrence laughed. “Simple as. The ship might be invincible, but the people running it ain’t.”
“What’s the point of the story?” Dianna asked, disinterested.
“My bad, am I boring our little princess?” Lawrence chuckled. “I would think you of all people would’ve put the pieces together by now.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Dianna asked indignantly.
“I mean,” Lawrence gestured to the inside of the whale. “Look around us. Steel body, shaped like a whale- I think this is some kind of Velstadt super-warship!”
“And how would it have gotten this far underground?” Dianna asked, putting her hands on her hips. “And I don’t think the timelines match up exactly- how would a ship made during the war end up here? And wouldn’t we have heard more about a ship like this? And-”
“Alright, alright, don’t get yer knickers in a knot, landlubber. Point is, I think we’re standing in a ship. That’s my guess.”
“Well, let’s check if you’re right,” Simon said, and began to walk towards the tail of the ship. “Let’s investigate.”
“We should stick together,” Mina said as she jogged up to catch up to Simon. “We don’t know what’s in here.”
“I agree,” Dianna said as she quickly strode to catch up to the two of them, with Lawrence quickly following suit.
Simon opened the door that separated the tail from the remainder of the whale, slowly and carefully. The room on the other side was dark, far too dark for any of them to see. Simon slowly extended the oil lantern he was carrying into the room… only to find nothing but empty shelves.
“...Storage,” Simon chuckled, his anxiety getting the better of him. “Wonderful.”
“The belly next?” Mina asked.
“Sure,” Simon chuckled, his nerves still rattled.
The four of them descended, one by one, down the ladder and into the belly of the whale. They found themselves in a short hallway, equipped with six doors on each side. Upon inspection into each of the doors, the four of them found what appeared to be a standing tube of glass, as well as a fold-down platform and what appeared to be a pull-out platform below it, which appeared to function together as a combination stool and desk. It seemed like these were living quarters.
“I wonder…” Dianna began, once they reconvened in the center of the hallway.
“What?” Simon asked.
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“Lawrence,” Dianna began, “How were the below-decks of those Velstadt ships lit?”
“Lanterns,” Lawrence answered. “Why?”
“Well, I’ve heard that in some places- like the colleges in Rydelsphere- that there are dorms illuminated by magic.”
“And?”
“Well, I was thinking- perhaps there is a similar system here?”
“You think this place is supposed to be lit with magic?” Simon asked.
“Well, I think this place has to be lit somehow- the fact that there are desks present means some kind of work was done here, and that work would no doubt need light.”
“What if whoever built this could see perfectly in the dark?” Mina asked. “You and I can see through the dark fairly well- it’s possible that there is even better night vision abilities out there, or at least were.”
“I… guess you might be right,” Dianna conceded. “My point was, though, that- well, remember what those two said? How a piece was missing from the artifact?”
“Yeah, I’ve been worried about that,” Simon confirmed.
“I’m worried that piece might have been some sort of magical source for this whale.”
A wave of realization hit the four of them at once.
“Oh shit…” Lawrence said.
“Let’s say,” Dianna continued, “that both Lawrence and I are right. Let’s say this ship is a ship, and that it has magical illumination. Would that not mean this is a ship that runs on magic?”
“I’ve heard of such a thing,” Lawrence nodded. “Well, not existing, but that students from Kagami, Rydelsphere and Cardige are all racing to create magic-powered vehicles. It could revolutionize travel.”
“And this ship here might be the first of its kind,” Dianna said. “Unfortunately, that means this ship might not run at all without whatever piece is missing that Novos and Remus are headed towards.”
“Then we should go catch up with them!” Mina exclaimed.
“Well, there’s a chance that everyone’s wrong,” Simon said. “And that would be a good thing, I think. There’s really only one way to know for sure.”
“The nose,” Lawrence nodded. “Or, if this is a ship after all, the prow. Actually, this would be the first ship I’ve seen that has its bridge at the prow.”
“Whatever works, works,” Simon chuckled. “Let’s go take a look.”
The four arrived in front of the door to the prow of the ship. Simon placed his hand on the handle of the door, and prepared to slide it open. A chill ran up his spine- something about this door, and this room, he did not like. He steeled himself, and pulled the door open.
The four of them slowly walked in, with Simon at the lead. He shone the lantern around the room, letting its light fall upon numerous contraptions that were, to him, utterly arcane and indecipherable. Perhaps with better lighting, the nature of these contraptions would be revealed to him, but for now-
A great tendril stabbed itself into Simon’s neck, and lifted him off of the ground. Mina screamed in fear.
“Not cautious enough,” Dianna shook her head.
Blue light trickled up the length of the tendril, and soaked into the nexus of tendrils above it. It would seem something had been nesting here. Unfortunately, the three of them had exhausted nearly all of their magical reserves, between the battle and the spell Remus had cast. If they were going to have a fight, it would be a long and brutal one.
Simon was released by the tendril. He dropped down onto the ground, and regained consciousness.
“Guh!” Simon screamed as he grabbed the back of his neck, where the tendril had stabbed him. “What the hell was that?!”
“Language download complete,” a voice echoed from the entirety of the whale. “Bloodline confirmed. Welcome, descendants.”
“The fuck?” Lawrence cocked his head.
“Warning:” the voice continued “Magical reserves extremely low. Please fuel the Pseudomagic Interface.”
“The fuck?” Lawrence cocked his head in the other direction.
Lights appeared around a small station near the back-center of the room. It was a large and bulky block of steel, composed of numerous tubes, sheets, and wires, far beyond even the most advanced of Velstadt machinery. At the very top of the block was a perfectly flat surface.
“The fuck?” Lawrence tilted his head forward.
“Warning: magical reserves extremely slow. I can only illuminate the Pseudomagic Interface for approximately thirteen more seconds. Please refuel.”
Mina and Dianna looked at Lawrence.
“How come I gotta touch the thing?”
“I need to keep some of my spells for healing,” Dianna explained, “and Mina can heal too. So you do it.”
Lawrence mumbled something about “kids these days” and walked over to the block. He placed his hand on the flat top, and immediately felt the magic beginning to leave his body. It was not sudden and it was not rapidly, but he could tell this artifact was draining magic right out of his body. Luckily, it seemed the rate of flow was slow enough to allow him to pull away his hand the moment it began to consume too much.
“Magic of exceptionally low quality detected,” the voice said.
“Wha- fuck you too!” Lawrence shouted.
The four were suddenly blinded by a great light. Once their eyes had adjusted, they realized what had happened: Dianna was right. The lights, powered by magic, were finally recharged, and my word were they brilliant. Simon smothered the lantern, and gazed upon the bridge of the ship. The room was plated in steel, except for a large window at the front of the bridge. Front and center of the bridge was what appeared to be a ring of machinery that was completely alien to not only Simon, but to everyone present. On one side of the ring was six buttons, arranged in two rows of three, and on the right side was three switches and a knob. At the center of the ring was two sticks, which appeared to be spaced about a person’s shoulder width apart.
“Simon,” the voice said, which gave Simon a start.
“How do you know my name?” Simon asked.
“I downloaded it alongside your language database. I also uploaded the directions to fly the Zailiens. Please enter the cockpit and begin takeoff procedure.”
The four went silent.
“Was that even Common?” Lawrence asked.
“Weird… but I know exactly what it means.” Simon said as he approached the ring. “This thing here… is the cockpit. And the thing we’re inside of is the Zailiens. It’s a… ship all right, but not a water ship.”
“What other kind of ship even is there?” Lawrence shouted.
Simon smiled. “A flying ship.”