And the Unpathed Waters - for Ezekiel Jones

[bookbrawler]

It really was supposed to be a routine artifact grab. They actually did get the Shell Crown, and it was actually a successful mission, all things considered.

It was just Stone and Jones on this one, since a more pressing matter had called the others away to Europe, but it's not like Jake was going to complain. The Library had record of an ancient shipwreck off the coast of an uncharted and deserted Caribbean island, and the duo had chartered a boat and gone out there. It was clearly a magic island, it was only accessible during certain times of the year, during certain tides, through a certain channel on a dangerous reef.

Once they passed the reef the island came into view, looking like something out of Jurassic Park. The shipwreck was in a shallow, rocky reef--shallow enough to simply need snorkeling gear instead of scuba diving year, and after a few hours of searching--and complaining--they'd found the crown amongst the wreckage.

It was going so well, until Jake cut his leg on a piece of coral swimming back to shore, in only one of the most magical waters on the planet.

"Damn it," he grumbles through his snorkel, and could only hope there weren't any sharks around, as he kicked towards the sandier part of the beach. At least, he would have if things weren't getting so...blurry? He feels sick, there's something wrong...

"Jones? Jones! Where--"

He spits out his snorkel to yell, but suddenly, everything goes dark. Jake slips back underwater silently.

Comments

[bookbrawler]

Seriously, Jones? Jake glares daggers, he's gonna get you back the next time they have to go through something like this and you end up in a hilarious predicament.

"Bleeding? Oh yeah, I just cut myself on some coral, but that was right before..." he manages to swim upright to inspect his fin, but there's no sign of any injury. Not that he can exactly pinpoint what part of his leg correlates with the part of the fin, it's much larger and longer than his legs would have been anyway.

"Weird. Must've healed up after this happened."

[luckythief]

Ezekiel frowns, the moments before he passed out slowly coming back to him. Sinking, and then a sharp pain and the need to breathe... "I cut myself, too, I think, when you dragged me down."

He glances down at his arm but there's no trace of any injury whatsoever. "Think that might have something to do with it?"

[bookbrawler]

"You did?" That gets a thoughtful look. "It could be. It happened to both of us within moments of this actually happening--wait, I dragged you down? You tried to save me?"

He glances around, the reef's not too far in the distance, sloping upwards back towards the island.

"We need to take a sample." A pause. "Damn it, my belt and bag are gone. Probably fell in the reef. Do you have the crown?"

[luckythief]

Ugh, don't mention it. They're not going to dive (heh) into his concern here, unacceptable. "Yeah well. Didn't want the others to mope because you managed to drown yourself while snorkeling. How would you even explain that one."

Ezekiel takes a look around, glad for the change of subject and dashes over the ocean floor in a quick sweep of the nearby area. "I had it with me when I sank, it's gotta be around here somewhere..."

[bookbrawler]

That gets a real big smile. "Oh man, yeah, can you imagine Eve's lecture? Pssh. Good luck with that one."

"Look out for my stuff, too." Jake swims on ahead--he's still nowhere as fast or graceful as Jones, which is still annoying, but at least he can swim, and he picks over the sand and rocks nearby, before spotting his bag hanging off of a rock.

"Hey, I'm gonna get a sample!" He calls out, swimming over to use a knife to cut a piece of a nearby coral. He mutters under his breath. "Jenkins is going to kill us, isn't he?"

[luckythief]

"I know, right?" Thank you for being a manly man dude friend, bro, and accept his glossing over unspoken care for your safety. He appreciates it.

Picking up their gear strewn across the ocean floor Ezekiel takes a moment to think through their situation. It's not looking too good, if he's being honest. How are they going to contact the Library? They can't make phone calls, they can't go on land; who knows if they can even talk when they're not underwater? It's a problem, because it means that whatever this is? They have to solve it themselves or they're gonna be stuck.

And no matter how hilarious Stone's outrage may be, Ezekiel really doesn't want to play Under the Sea with him forever. "Found the crown!"

[bookbrawler]

Don't mention it, bro. Seriously, never mention it.

Jake wraps the sample up in a handkerchief--not the most ideal situation, but better than nothing--and swims over to Jones, handing the bag over to him. "Here. I'll hang onto it."

Similar thoughts are going through his head--this thing could turn ugly, real quick. They could get chased by a shark, run into some other magical whatever and make things worse, not to mention simply contacting the Library was a giant, impossible challenge. Jake glanced up at the surface, a rippling, silver barrier that's never made him nervous before. And now, he's looking at it with apprehension.

"Okay, we need a plan of attack, here. We gotta figure this thing out. Or we're gonna end up having to swim to Portland and that'll take months!"

[luckythief]

"Why should you be the one to hang on to it? I'm clearly the better swimmer."

And to make a point, instead of handing over the crown, Ezekiel slips it on his head. "How do I look?"

Like an extra out of a Disney movie, but who's counting?

"Do you know anything about this mer-stuff? Maybe we can check out the wreck now that we don't need to breathe and can see weirdly clearly under water. Maybe you'll find some drawing symbol thingy that will tell us what we're up against."

[bookbrawler]

"Out of the both of us, who's more responsible?"

The heaviest of all underwater sighs. "Take it off! That's a priceless artifact and you're gonna break it!"

There's a nod, and suddenly Jacob gets excited, ready to show off endless historical knowledge. "Well, mermaids are from folklore all around the world, it's surprisingly fairly universal. You've got your Greek sirens which actually aren't like traditional mermaids as we think of them, then you've got Mesopotamian artwork, the first mermaid stories from ancient Assyria, sea people in One Thousand and One Nights, plus you've got your British folklore where merfolk are bad omens..." A pause. "Gonna have to agree with them there."

[luckythief]

"I'm not gonna break it! On my head is the safest place for this thing, really. What if you fall over and flop your fin on the bag?"

Leading the way back towards the wreck Ezekiel curls his nose. Stone is in his element; doubly so, with the element being all water-related, and the thief stifles a sigh (potentially a yawn) in return when the lecture starts. He's gonna have to listen to an entire lexicon of mermaid-related entries, isn't he.

"Bad omen, huh? Well, you can say that again. Any stories how you get turned into one?"

cw accounts of suicide

[bookbrawler]

"Please don't tell me you're going to wear a shell crown the entire time we're down here." This is just too much, Jones.

Yes. Yes you are. Jacob does his best to keep up as he goes over all the art and stories and legends he has at his disposal.

"There's a surprising amount, actually? It wasn't all 'the Little Mermaid.' The first mermaid story was from Assyria, where a goddess named Atargatis took the form of a mermaid after she accidentally killed the human, mortal shepherd she loved. Well, technically first she tried to be a fish, but her divine beauty couldn't be concealed by the water--oh, and then you've got Alexander the Great's sister, who turned into a mermaid because her brother bathed her hair in immortal waters, as he had a quest to find the Fountain of Immortality. When he died, his sister tried to jump in the ocean to die. Became a mermaid instead. And then she'd pass judgement on sailors who encountered her. If you answered her wrong, she'd turn into a gorgon and destroy you."

[luckythief]

"I will absolutely wear that shell crown and look amazing." And potentially pretend he is royalty, should they ever run into other merpeople.

But for now there are other things on his mind – or rather he's desperately seeking for something to keep it occupied because Stone is filling his head with old, boring stories, blah blah, goddess here, blah blah, sad love and vengeance there, blah blah nobody ever really talks to each other, everybody is really sad...

He sobers a bit at the last story because wow, that is actually kind of sad. And confusing.

"Why would she turn into cheese?"

[bookbrawler]

"You're going to break it! You're going to break a priceless artifact!"

Plus he really doesn't want to explain about potential royalty should they run into any other merpeople.

"--wait, what?"

It honestly takes him a second for it to sink in what Jones was asking, what he'd confused the words for. He floats, bobbing along in the current before exploding.

"Are you kidding me?! I said gorgon, not Gorgonzola! A gorgon is a mythological Greek monster! Not a cheese!"

[luckythief]

"I have never broken anything priceless in my life!" He sounds insulted at the mere suggestions. "What kind of thief would I be if I damaged the valuables?"

It's more a question of if this oyster tiara should be regarded as valuable or valuable.

"Huh." Ezekiel frowns. "So that's where the name comes from. They probably smell very similar."

Yes, that's what he's taking away from this.

[bookbrawler]

There's a pause and some bubbles float past.

"Okay, I'll give you some of that, but have you ever handled a delicate crown like that!? It's made of shells, man."

And there's an even longer pause, and he just stares.

"How are you even a Librarian?"

[luckythief]

"We're underwater. What am I gonna do, drop it? Oh no!"

To demonstrate, he shoves the crown off. It sinks comically slowly, only to land in Ezekiel's open palm before he slips it back on his head.

"I really don't see what that has to do with anything."

[bookbrawler]

Jacob sputters, throwing his hands out in exasperation as Jones catches the slowly floating crown and puts it back on his head.

"That's not the point! That's not the point at all!"

His fin lashes in agitation. "You should have at least like, a basic understanding of-of history, art, literature--what if something happens and I'm not there to explain something to you?"

[luckythief]

"Uh, I'd google it."

There. Problem solved.

[bookbrawler]

Just...the longest look. The longest, longsuffering look ever. And then--

"And look where we are right now! We're UNDERWATER!"

So many bubbles from throwing his arms out. "You're not always gonna be able to google stuff! You're not always gonna have your phone!"

[luckythief]

So very unconcerned.

"So what? We're underwater. We have fins. And you don't know any more than me what to do about it. Besides, if you didn't have me you'd still be flopping around like some reverse fish on dry land."

So there.

[bookbrawler]

How can you be so unconcerned, Jones?!

But there are more important things to focus on, like--

"I woulda figured it out eventually!" He doesn't need your help. Except when he does.

[luckythief]

"And how can you call yourself a Librarian if you can't even pick a single rusty triple-pin lock while snorkeling? Like, oh. The one of the chest where the crown was in?"

Breaking out the sass? Breaking out the sass.

[bookbrawler]

"That's not a required skill for a Librarian!" Except it probably was, but his salt levels are outpacing the ocean itself at the moment.

Please contain your sass, Ezekiel.

"Face it! You wouldn't get anywhere without me!"

[luckythief]

"Not for a regular Librarian, just an awesome one."

Can't stop, won't stop.

"And you got it backwards, mate. I'm the one who gets us places. You wanna know how many times I got you into a building or out of one?"

[bookbrawler]

"You can't define what an 'awesome' Librarian is!" Yes, he's doing air-quotes underwater. Or would those be water-quotes now? "And even if you could, knowing Greek history and legends would be first on the list of required knowledge!"

"But would you know about the things the places are booby-trapped with? Or what artifact we're gettin'? Or how not to die because you picked up somethin' that's cursed or got a spell on it?" Of course, this is moot considering his knowledge didn't exactly help them on this mission, considering they'd both gotten themselves trapped in the ocean, but still. It's the principle.