The Adventures of Rosabell Mason | Fantasmical 2023

Secrets Under The Ice

Grey waves crested across the surface of the north Wixan Sea, a frost-bitten wasteland dividing the Askijan and Otopai Region Empires. The latter was now merely a sunken catacomb of lost cultures and history on the sea floor, a treasure trove for those seeking secrets and ancient power.

An airship descended over a fractured iceberg as two bodies lept from the deck above into the frigid water below.

Splash.

The white and dismal sky turned to black as the divers descended into the dark void, a giant submerged chunk of ice glowing in front of them, about fifty meters from the surface.

Rosabell shifted the aqua goggles over her eyes, the yellow lenses illuminating the area as her pink hair, tied in a ponytail, trailed behind her.

She kicked her legs and launched towards the ice, adjusting the oxygen mask over her mouth.

"According to Vanessa's intel, the shipwreck should be just below the ice, slowly making its final voyage into the abyss. If we want to maximize our profits, we have to act fast before the wreck disappears forever."

"When I agreed to work for Vanessa Silver, I never expected to be diving for shipments under the sea."

Rosabell smiled and looked at her diving partner. "Work with her long enough, Caine, and you'll develop the ability to expect the unexpected."

"You've been with her for a year?"

"About."

"Big fan?"

"Let's just say she's only keeping me around this long because of my particular skillset."

"Curious. I can't wait to find out."

Rosabell laughed, then squinted her eyes. She identified the wooden hull of a merchant ship below the ice, its white sails tattered and mast shattered.

"There's the wreck," she said. "Come on. Let's move."

"What are we looking for exactly?"

"I don't know, but Vanessa seems obsessed."

Rosabell and Caine swam in silence until they reached the ship.

As they drifted over the main deck, Rosabell pulled herself through an opening leading into the lower quarters, spinning herself in a half circle until she swam downwards with the ship's vertical posture towards a cluster of five floating crates strung together with a black fishing net.

Caine chuckled as Rosabell inspected the supply.

"Is that it?"

"I think so," she replied, spotting an open crate floating outside the net. She kicked towards it. "Call it in. Tell them to send extra hands."

Caine nodded. "Okay."

Rosabell reached out and grabbed the open crate, cautiously spinning it around. When she looked inside, it was empty, the sides smeared with thick black sludge.

Creak.

Rosabell looked into the darkness that consumed the lower half of the ship, eyes alert and breath quick. She glimpsed back inside the crate at the sludge and felt an object brush against her shoulder.

Ignoring it, Rosabell prepared to touch the sludge but stopped when the object tapped her repeatedly.

"Caine, I appreciate you letting me know you're there, but can you stop touching me?"

Caine's voice filtered through the comm in her right ear.

"I'm not touching you."

Rosabell spun around, revealing the decaying face of a dead sailor floating in front of her, their skin pale and eyes an opaque white. Black sludge bubbled out of their open mouth.

Rosabell gasped and kicked the corpse away from her.

"Caine!"

Caine grabbed a crate from the pile. "What?"

"Don't touch anything!"

Caine glanced at her with initial confusion, then watched the sailor's body float past him, their crooked smile leaking black sludge. He screamed.

Rosabell glanced around the ship, suddenly seeing several dead bodies of the crew floating around her. She looked at a woman, black sludge dripping out of her eyes.

"Get rid of the crates," Rosabell said with haste, pushing the open one away from her. "Tell them we made a mistake and that there's nothing down here."

Caine steadied his breath. "Rosabell, what happened here?"

"The crates are filled with black sludge," she said. "One must have cracked open during the voyage." She sighed. "It's a disease."

"Disease?"

"Get rid of them!"

Caine ripped open the net and pushed the crates into the darkness.

"Why would Vanessa want a disease?"

"So she can control everything," Rosabell said, seizing another crate. "If Vanessa holds the power of life itself, she could turn the whole world into her hostage. It would start a war."

As Caine prepared to dispose of the last crate, three lights ignited behind him as another team of divers closed in on his position.