Elisabeth had never felt so light.

  The exo-suit was a marvel of impossible design, flowing over her form like a second skin, making her one with the water. She moved effortlessly through the currents, her body adapting to the natural rhythm of the Vey’narii city.

  But it was Kaelen who truly held her attention.

  He was everywhere at once—spinning, darting, dancing through the water with an effortless grace, his golden energy trailing behind him like the bioluminescent life that surrounded them. He swirled around her, his presence warm, inviting, his voice full of a joy that was rare in this world.

  "This is my home!" he declared, arms spread wide as they glided past crystalline structures of luminous coral and ancient spiraling towers.

  "It is beautiful," Elisabeth whispered, the sheer alien elegance of it all leaving her breathless.

  The city glowed, alive with soft pulses of energy. Schools of luminous creatures wove through the tall spires, weaving between walkways where Vey’narii glided effortlessly, their forms shifting with the water.

  Elisabeth felt watched—not with hostility, but curiosity.

  She was the first human to truly exist among them.

  And yet, when she looked at Kaelen, she didn’t feel like a stranger.

  She felt like she belonged.

  Kaelen turned to face her, swimming backward as he grinned.

  "And you," he said, his golden eyes locking onto hers, "are the first human to ever see it like this."

  She tilted her head. "And you’re happy about that?"

  He hesitated—just for a moment. Then his expression softened, his smile becoming something... different.

  "Yes," he admitted.

  It wasn’t just an answer.

  It was a realization.

  Something had changed inside him since the day they met. He felt things he had never known before—things that did not belong in the world of the Vey’narii.

  Joy. Fascination. Curiosity.

  About her.

  He couldn’t explain it. He only knew that when she was near, he felt more alive.

  And he did not want that feeling to end.

  The swim took them deeper into the city, past the towering structures and glowing corridors, into the ruins of something older.

  Elisabeth noticed the shift immediately.

  The colors dimmed. The life surrounding them thinned.

  "This place… it feels different," she murmured.

  Kaelen’s expression darkened. "This is the part of the city we no longer speak of."

  They slowed, their forms moving carefully through abandoned halls, covered in remnants of old glyphs, ancient carvings that no one had deciphered in generations.

  "What happened here?" Elisabeth asked, touching a stone surface, feeling the history buried beneath the silence.

  Kaelen hesitated before answering. "War. Loss. A tragedy that is spoken of in whispers and nothing more."

  "Why?"

  "Because the Continuum wills it."

  Elisabeth’s gaze snapped to him.

  "You just accept that?"

  Kaelen’s golden glow dimmed. "I have questioned it my whole life," he admitted. "And for that, I have been cast aside by many. My faction, the Unbound, was formed because of those questions."

  Elisabeth studied him. "But you've never tried to get real answers."

  He exhaled. "Until now."

  She watched him closely.

  For the first time, she saw not just the warrior, not just the being of light and grace—

  She saw the weight of his people’s history crushing him.

  He had lost friends. He had seen death.

  And yet, he still had hope.

  "We need to know the truth," Elisabeth whispered.

  Kaelen turned to her, searching her face for hesitation, for fear.

  He found none.

  "The only ones who have those answers," he said, voice steady, "are the Elders."

  And they both knew what that meant.

  The forbidden chambers.

  The heart of the Continuum’s power.

  A place where no Vey’narii had ever entered without permission.

  Kaelen’s jaw clenched. "If we go there and we are caught... I will be exiled."

  Elisabeth met his gaze, unwavering.

  "Then let’s not get caught."

  The decision hung between them.

  Kaelen knew what exile meant.

  To be alone. Forever.

  The Vey’narii did not survive alone. Their energy, their essence, was tied to the collective. To be severed from it was worse than death.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  And yet—

  He could feel it.

  Deep inside, something called to him.

  A truth buried in the abyss.

  And beside him stood the one person who believed in that truth as much as he did.

  His heart pulsed in his chest.

  "Come with me, then," he murmured.

  Elisabeth’s fingers brushed against his for the briefest moment—a silent pact.

  "Always."

  And together, they swam toward the forbidden depths.

  Elisabeth had never moved like this before.

  The exo-suit flowed over her skin like liquid metal, her movements no longer bound by human limitations. The suit adjusted, synchronized with her every impulse, adapting to the water as if it had always belonged there.

  Kaelen swam ahead, his form a golden blur against the deep blue of the forbidden corridors. He knew the pathways. He had spent his life studying them. But never like this.

  Never as an intruder.

  They moved as shadows through the glowing labyrinth of halls, weaving between enormous organic pillars that pulsed with faint bioluminescence. The architecture was ancient, shaped by time, water, and something far beyond human understanding.

  Elisabeth barely breathed as Kaelen held up a hand, signaling for them to stop.

  Ahead of them, two Vey’narii guards drifted silently, their forms pulsing with awareness, connected to the energy web of the city. Unlike human guards who relied on sight and sound, these beings felt disturbances in the current.

  Their very presence could expose them.

  Kaelen turned, speaking without words, his energy brushing against Elisabeth’s.

  "We have to move when the tide shifts."

  Elisabeth nodded, swallowing down the thrill of danger.

  The tide. The ocean’s natural breathing, a pulse that rippled through every structure of the Vey’narii world. It was as precise as time itself.

  And when the next shift came—

  They moved.

  A pulse of water pushed through the chamber, distorting their presence, just enough for them to slip past the guards unseen.

  Elisabeth felt it.

  The way the water seemed to carry them forward, whispering around them, almost as if something beyond them wanted them to succeed.

  The archive was alive.

  Not with machines, not with books, but with creatures—strange, fluid-bodied entities that moved through the glowing corridors, tending to the walls that held the knowledge of the Vey’narii.

  Kaelen led her through the maze of shifting halls, where walls of softly pulsating energy held the weight of millennia.

  And the creatures—tentacled, bioluminescent beings, no larger than a human hand—tended to these walls like librarians, carefully moving small orbs from one section to another.

  "What are they doing?" Elisabeth whispered through the link in her suit.

  "Sorting memories," Kaelen replied, his voice hushed with reverence.

  ?Elisabeth's fingers brushed against the wall, and instantly, a ripple of energy surged beneath her touch. Her vision blurred, and she was engulfed by a vivid tableau:?

  A world bathed in golden light, where Vey’narii and other beings coexisted in harmony. Laughter echoed through the air as they celebrated under twin suns, their cities towering marvels of organic architecture intertwined with nature. There was no division, no fear—only unity.?

  Elisabeth gasped, her connection severed as she stumbled back into the present. The vision dissipated like mist, leaving her yearning for more.?

  Kaelen's hand steadied her, his expression a mix of concern and admonition. "You touched a living memory," he whispered. "Be careful. Some things are not meant to be seen."?

  But Elisabeth's mind raced, piecing together fragments of the past. "This place holds everything," she murmured. "Everything we need to know. The truth is here."?

  Kaelen's eyes darkened, shadows of doubt flickering. "Yes. But not all truths are meant to be found."?

  A sudden shift in the current jolted them both, a subtle yet unmistakable disturbance. Kaelen's body tensed, his senses on high alert. "We need to go. Now."?

  They moved swiftly, weaving through the labyrinthine archives with practiced ease. The once serene environment now felt oppressive, as if the very walls conspired against them.?

  Then, a sound—a low, resonant pulse that reverberated through the water, stirring ancient energies from their slumber. The bioluminescent creatures tending the memory pearls scattered, their light dimming in fear.?

  A shadow loomed, vast and formidable—a sentinel of the archives, an entity of flowing energy and form, its tendrils weaving through the corridors like a living current. It did not see with eyes; it felt, it hunted.?

  Elisabeth's heart pounded as they dove into a narrow passage, the sentinel's awareness spreading like a net, corridors collapsing behind them, sealing their retreat. Trapped.?

  "We need to find another way out," Kaelen hissed, urgency lacing his words.?

  Elisabeth's breath quickened. "Where does this lead?"?

  Kaelen hesitated, the weight of forbidden knowledge heavy upon him. "To the oldest memories. The ones even the Continuum do not touch."?

  A choice lay before them: escape or delve deeper into truths long buried.?

  Elisabeth's resolve hardened. "Then let's go deeper."?

  Kaelen searched her eyes, finding unwavering determination. With a curt nod, they swam into the abyss of truth, leaving behind the known for the shadows of the past.?

  The descent felt interminable, the water growing colder, pressing upon them like the weight of forgotten eons. Around them, the remnants of a civilization lost to time loomed—massive towers encrusted with deep-sea growths, archways inscribed with unreadable glyphs, bridges fractured and leading into darkness.?

  Elisabeth's heart ached with the realization that this city was never meant to be submerged. It was a relic of a bygone era, a testament to a cataclysm that had reshaped their world.?

  Kaelen's golden glow flickered beside her, his unease palpable. "This place is not like ours," he murmured. "It feels... wrong."?

  "It's not wrong," Elisabeth whispered, her voice tinged with awe. "It's old. Older than the Vey’narii. Older than anything we've seen."?

  Kaelen's eyes widened, the foundations of his beliefs trembling. "That's impossible. The Continuum teaches that we were always here."?

  Elisabeth met his gaze, her expression resolute. "Then the Continuum is lying."?

  Above them, the Seekers swarmed, sentinels of the Continuum, their presence a reminder of the dangers that lurked.?

  Kaelen's mind raced. "We cannot go back."?

  "Then we go forward," Elisabeth declared, determination steeling her voice.?

  He hesitated, uncertainty gnawing at him. But Elisabeth had already turned, swimming deeper into the unknown. With a deep breath, Kaelen followed.?

  The temperature dropped further, an unnatural chill seeping into their bones. The ruins grew more chaotic—broken statues with elongated, almost Vey’narii-like features lay in the silt, some adorned with fins, others without. Murals, once vibrant, now faded, depicted a civilization bathed in light, now drowned in darkness.?

  Elisabeth's breath caught as she realized these weren't just ruins—they were remains. "Something happened here," she murmured.?

  Kaelen drifted beside her, his unease deepening. "This place is cursed."?

  Elisabeth's breath caught in her throat as she gazed upon the mural. The central figure, towering and radiant, seemed to command the very oceans. Below, the people—those who had lived here before the Vey’narii—stood in awe, their faces etched with reverence and fear. The figure's outstretched hand appeared to summon the waters, engulfing the land and its inhabitants.

  "They didn't live in the water," Elisabeth whispered, her voice trembling with the weight of revelation. "They were forced into it."

  Kaelen's expression hardened, a storm of emotions brewing in his golden eyes. "By whom?" he demanded, though deep down, he feared the answer.

  Before Elisabeth could respond, a subtle vibration rippled through the water, a silent alarm echoing through the ancient city's bones.

  "They're moving," Kaelen warned, his senses attuned to the approaching danger.

  Panic surged within Elisabeth, but she forced it down, focusing on the immediate threat. "We need to go," she urged, her voice steady despite the fear gnawing at her insides.

  Together, they dove deeper into the abyss, weaving through the remnants of a civilization long forgotten. The water grew colder, pressing in on them like the weight of centuries. Shadows danced along the periphery of their vision, remnants of the past whispering secrets they couldn't afford to hear.

  Suddenly, the ground beneath them vanished, revealing a yawning chasm that seemed to stretch into infinity. A faint, otherworldly glow emanated from its depths, pulsing like a heartbeat.

  Kaelen hesitated at the edge, uncertainty flickering across his features. "This goes further than the city," he murmured, the implication heavy in the water between them.

  Elisabeth peered into the abyss, the glow beckoning her with promises of answers and dangers alike. "Something's alive down there," she observed, her curiosity battling with caution.

  A choice lay before them: face the known threat of the Seekers above or plunge into the unknown depths below.

  Kaelen met Elisabeth's gaze, searching for doubt and finding none. Her determination steeled his resolve.

  Without another word, they clasped hands and dove into the abyss, surrendering themselves to the mysteries lurking in the darkness below.