At 9:40 on Saturday night, the Trident dropped anchor in the shadow of a massive undersea rock and came to a stop.
Not far from the rock lay the ruins of a steel structure. It had completely collapsed and rusted away, but it was clear that it had once been vast. Little of it remained now.
Standing on the deck, Stewart, a Mysticism Mentor, gazed at the ruins, so corroded that he could no longer imagine their original shape. He suddenly felt an urge to sing a poem to suit the scene.
When the Trident sailed beneath the sea, a transparent curtain enveloped the entire ship, keeping water from flooding the deck.
Stewart was aboard the Trident because, besides his public identity as a High-ranking Deacon, he was also a member of the Deep Divers, another elite Church of Storms squad that operated in secret.
His claim that he was going on vacation to Desi Bay with Mrs. Filina had been only a cover. He had changed his appearance long ago and joined this secret mission.
A tall young man walked up beside Stewart. He wore a white shirt, a brown waistcoat, a black double-breasted tailcoat, and a tall black top hat. Even in the dark seawater, he seemed to radiate a dazzling light.
"What are you looking at?" the young man asked with a smile.
He was Stewart's friend, Javier Born, a Sequence 5 Light Priest.
Because the Deep Divers were a covert unit that carried out missions best kept out of sight, none of their members belonged to the Sailor Pathway.
"Nothing. Seeing the remains of an unfamiliar civilization made me want to sing a poem, but I couldn't think of a suitable one," Stewart told his friend frankly.
"I thought you were thinking about Mrs. Filina..." Welbourne