Poplar St. (OFFICIAL WATTPAD UPLOAD)

Into The Deep Dark Blue

The afternoon sunlight finally breaking through the clouds was warm on Philza's wings as he stood on the bow of the fishing boat, gazing up at the rocky peaks of the Benthic Spires.

He swallowed hard.

He hadn't been here in centuries. The last time he had, he'd taken an enchanted dagger in the gut and nearly died, watching a hurricane rip through his fleet with the ease of his crows tearing apart a carcass.

The trident felt heavier on his shoulder here, as if it remembered how blood stained the water red.

If his calculations were correct, not far below them were the ruins of the once-mighty Naiad capital, a little ways out of the recently abandoned Merlopian settlement. Under the rocky spires nearby was the fortress of the old city, and Phil remembered how much of a pain in the ass it'd been to infiltrate—

—SPLASH.

Phil screeched and lurched backwards to avoid the spray as Quackity shot up out of the water, beating his wings and cackling wildly.

"Eugh!" Phil hissed, shaking the water out of his feathers and forcing them to lay flat. "Goddamn it, I told you to go scout for Drowneds and Guardians, not give me a fuckin' heart attack!"

"I did," Quackity retorted, floating on his back with his wings spread wide. They looked cleaner than they had in weeks, and far less bedraggled. "And I got bored."

"We are literally in the ruins of the capital city of your ancestors," Phil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.

"Yeah yeah, you see one old pile of rubble, you've seen 'em all," Quackity huffed, cupping some water in his palms and freezing it into a snowball. Then he narrowed his eyes and threw it.

Phil jumped at the startled shriek that followed, and the loud splash.

Quackity burst out laughing.

On the other side of the prow, Velvet floundered to the surface with wild, glowing eyes and a look of unbridled rage on his face. "YOU CUMSOCK, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR GODDAMN ASS—"

Tubbo, who was sitting on the roof of the boat, cackled hysterically. Eret and Foolish, who seemed to be deep in conversation near the stern, whirled around with startled and mortified expressions, and Ranboo—who was sitting in the cabin, seemingly having a full conversation with thin air next to him—looked fascinated.

"Both of you chill out," Phil groaned.

His opinion of Velvet wasn't exactly... high, to be honest. Under any normal circumstances, he would have run away from that incredibly disconcerting man as fast as possible, but sadly, he didn't want to go into the ruins blind, especially with the news of the Merlopians vanishing.

Velvet, as weird and off-putting as he was, was currently their best option.

Weirdly enough, the further out they'd sailed, the more Quackity had seemed to perk up. It was like the ocean air had seeped into his blood and invigorated him, restoring some of that mischievous gleam in the kid's eyes that had long been stamped out. Ordinarily, Phil would be pleased, but it seemed that the happier Quackity was, the more he decided to act like a prick.

"Velvet, you don't happen to have scuba diving equipment, do you?" Phil grumbled.

"What kind of idiot do you think I am?" Velvet huffed, scrambling back onto the boat, water streaming off his clothes. He grimaced and shook his head, and red light rippled across his body, drying his clothes and hair in seconds. "Why would I have equipment? I don't need it."

Phil froze, his eyes widening in horror. "You what—"

"I have something I would consider better," Velvet cut him off, dramatically kicking open a bin and pulling out a duffel bag. "Potions!"