𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, 𝗉𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽

14: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝

The group of five were all together on the HMS Pogue as JJ stood at the steering wheel, driving through the big, blue waters and towards their destination. Y/n sat beside her sister, the two Carrera girls chatting with John B and Pope.

"Alright, JJ. Pin it here." John B announces eventually.

"Roger that! X marks the spot." JJ replies as he parks the boat.

Leaning down, John B grabs the drone from the floor of the boat, picking it up before putting it over the edge of the boat, right above the water.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. To going full Kook." John B states.

With that, he gently drops the drone into the water. Kiara proceeds to hold the tether that was attached to the drone, measuring how far down it sinks while John B, Pope and Y/n watch through the camera of the drone.

"Alright, JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest." John B calls.

"Got it! Ten seconds northwest." JJ repeats.

"One hundred feet." Kie calls out.

A sudden gasp escapes both Pope and Y/n's mouths when they see a squid swimming in front of the screen, making them stagger back slightly. Both share a glance, then trying to shake it off like nothing happened. However, John B notices their actions and hurries over.

"What? What, what, what, what?" John B asks, chanting it over.

"It's nothing." Y/n replies softly.

The Routledge boy let's out a small groan, walking back over to the tablet as he listens to Pope stammer an apology. Giving up, Pope looks back at the screen, standing awfully close to Y/n. After a couple minutes, four hundred feet is announced from Kie as she tallies it on the side of the boat with a piece of chalk. A clap of thunder is soon heard as the clouds begin to darken in the distance.

"The tide's turning." Kie states.

"Hey, JJ?" John B begins, getting a hum in reply. "Ten seconds easy. Southeast."

JJ nods slightly. "Copy that!"

"JJ, twenty seconds mid-speed, alright? South." John B instructs.

"Copy that! Aye, aye." JJ replies, obeying. "Keep the tether out of the prop!"

"I'm trying!" Kie calls back.

"JJ, keep going!" John B demands.

"John B, is that good?" JJ questions.

"We're good!" John B replies.

"Okay, seven hundred feet!" Kie informs.

More thunder is suddenly heard, sounding even closer than it was before. The four teenagers outside glance at one another while they look to their right, the wind continuing to get more and more rough as the waves become more violent, causing the teenagers to stumble around. JJ looks out the window in front of him, seeing dark clouds full of lightning sitting in the sky in front of them.

"JJ, hold it steady!" John B orders.

"Okay, nine hundred!" Kie calls out.

"JJ, we're gonna turtle in this storm, man." Pope informs with worry.

"Nine-twenty!" Kie continues.

"Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds!" John B instructs. "Pope, Y/n, how are we doing?"

"Almost there." Pope replies.

"John B, there's too much current! We're gonna lose it!" Kie exclaims as she yanks at the tether.

"South, southwest, JJ! Hard!" John B instructs again, shouting over the rough wind.

The Maybank boy does as told, wanting anything more than him and his friends getting through this storm. A sudden wave hits the side of the HMS Pogue, making the boat shake slightly as the teenagers stumble. Both Pope and Y/n kept a tight grip on their hands as to make sure they wouldn't fall.

"Half speed. Steady at this bearing, JJ!" John B continues.

As he obeys again, the Routledge boy looks down at the tablet in his hands, a beeping sound coming through it as the red circle is shown it being directly under the figure of the boat on the screen.

"What do you got, guys? Come on, guys. What do you see?" John B asks, looking to Pope and Y/n.

"Nothing. A whole lot of nothing." Y/n replies, voice full of frustration.

"You should be right above it." John B states.

"Kiara!" Y/n calls to her sister.

"Nine-sixty." Kie calls back. "Nine-seventy! Nine-eighty!"

"We're at the bottom! We're at the bottom!" Pope announces, repeating it to make sure he's heard.

"Okay, steady here, JJ! Steady here. Quarter speed, alright?" John B orders.

Kiara then joins their side, standing on the other side of her little sister as they all look at the screen. For the first couple seconds, nothing is seen for the four teenagers before the drone continues going closer, a familiar figure appears on the screen. Glancing over his shoulder, JJ sees the smiles growing on their faces, making his brows furrow.

"See anything?" JJ questions.

"It's the Royal Merchant." John B mumbles.

***

"There's a moment in every kid's life when you feel like anything's possible. When you feel like you've got the total mojo. You could, I don't know, free-climb El Capitan, land on Mars, or, uh... get elected president."

Still standing in the HMS Pogue right above the Royal Merchant, the four teenagers continue staring at the screen, the drone moving around the shipwreck, in search of the five million gold.

"The whole world's there for the taking if you've got the sack to go for it. And then, when you least expect it, some Kook shows up and tells you there's no eternal mystery. And then all that talk about free-climbing and Mars and the president... bullshit. Magic get's cancer and dies."

The drones turns to the inside of the shipwreck, the teenagers smiles fading away when they only see the rest of the ship and fishes swimming around inside. No five million gold anywhere to be seen.

John B sighs sadly. "It's not there. Look, just pull the drone up. Shit."

"Look, we can do another pass. Recharge the battery." Pope suggests, trying to give him hope. "We can go back down."

"We've been through it three times." JJ recalls. "There's nothing there."

"Shut up!" Kie exclaims.

"What? It's true!" JJ fires back.

"The gold could be buried. We don't know." Y/n intervenes.

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B states. "Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there." JJ murmurs.

Kiara and Y/n exchange a glance, shaking their head as they sit down, side by side while JJ drives off, all of them sitting in silence on the ride back. Y/n leans down, resting her head on her older sister's shoulder, playing with the sleeve of her hoodie.