In Malum Trench, the sun and moon cannot be trusted. Even with how it lights up your path, it only reminds others to keep running and find their way to leave such a place. Errantes, as they called it, roam freely in broad daylight — mimicking human behavior to lure its prey.

Darius' crew returned back to the shore as soon as the light illuminated the island. Arsen and Elysaria searched deeper in its caves, bringing their weapons along with them.

The location was pretty small so their crew could easily leave after an hour. Though, the only thing that could hinder them from doing so would be those entities.

As Arsen's crew went inside the cave, all they could hear was water dripping from up above. They had enough light to see what was inside.

There was a huge marble statue long abandoned in the center. A huge man holding a pronged spear, having long hair, and elk-like horns in its head.

They never knew him. It was their first time seeing such a statue still preserved and still existing. But Arsen could tell it was linked to the waters of the Regimere.

She wasn't certain if somebody else had been living on the island to sculpt this. Or if it was just merely left there for centuries.

Searching the area, Elysaria took notice shards of glass on the statue's foot. It was almost covered by rocks, a torn letter that sunk down the rubble.

Judging the dried blood and clawmarks on the boulders, she was certain someone had tried sending the letter out but got dragged back inside the cave and had met a terrible fate right underneath the statue.

Kneeling down to observe it, her hands took the letter and tried putting each one together. It wasn't what the letter looked like that shocked her. It was how it was written.

A language that hadn't been spoken for years in Arkenheilm. She read each word slowly, taking steps back before joining the crew again.

"General." Her voice caught Arsen's attention, the woman turning around to face her.

Arsen narrowed and furrowed her eyebrows at the paper in her hands as Elysaria extended her hands to give it to her.

The general took it and eyed the letter at first, dried blood almost making the writing hard to read. But she managed and was able to read some parts of it.

She only nods at this, her eyes casted back at the statue before sighing. "Seems to be a record. This is one of ours but I'm not sure which crew they were in."

"Probably Captain Valka's." Arsen heard Elysaria answer and she shakes her head at this. No, their language wasn't frequently used in this year.

After her father ruled the nation, the people adapted Aetherial, a universal language mostly used by the other nations.

They barely spoke their own, even forgetting some of it except Arkenheilm researchers.

Luckily, Arsen kept her knowledge about the language intact.

"No, most of Captain Valka's crew never used this language. This was Epheimos and it goes way before them," Arsen spoke before reading some of the words.

Her father had taught Epheimos to her since she was a kid and as the general, she got more curious of such language as she grew up — studying alongside the other researchers.

Therefore, deciphering them was not merely a hassle to her. 

The marble statue that laid upon the cold cavern in this trench was the Duke of Stormy Seas himself, Seraphius. It was no accident that most ships that had were stranded here were pushed into such direction of the trench or had to wait until the entity himself was gone. 

Sadly, in our case, we were not alone in such island. Errantes, as they call it, were once servants or helpers of the ruler himself. Mimicking others' identities to fool and lure them back to the waters. During the day, they transform to natural-looking humans and at night, their real forms emerges and becomes quite violent. 

Our captain had long been gone, pushed into the abyss itself and we had to sail the ship to this nearby trench to survive such harsh conditions. 

If someone have found my records of this place, I suggest you leave immediately and return to your nation along with my findings. The other information are written in accordance with my fellow researchers' formats. 

The ocean rests uneasy. The entities are still lurking. That ruler among the waters of the Regimere waits patiently for its new victim. 

The Duke of the Stormy Seas never showed up before. I could assume something had changed that made the tides become so remorseful. Though, we could never figure out what.

We hope to find a solution to end all this. It hadn't been like this back then. 

We don't know what happened. The waters were full of life but in one sudden moment, it wasn't. Captain Eleanor would've known what to do but her soul rests peacefully in the heavens above now. We hope to survive this so her efforts were not in vain. 

Magnus Silas Leviathan

Crew Member of The Calypso

Arsen and Elysaria glanced at each other, almost as if they were reading each other's mind. It would be possible that the remaining records were here somewhere, scattered in the island. 

They then reunited back with Darius' crew, the letter in their hands. Though it seems to Arsen that the others had not returned empty-handed as well. In their hands, a bunch of crumpled papers were compiled as Darius walked back towards them.

"We found a few records about the errantes, a map, and a record of Seraphius," Darius spoke before his eyes turned to look at the letter in Arsen's hands. "How about you? It seems you've also found something."

"Letter from a researcher written in Ephemios. It was hardly recognizable due to the rubble and dirt but I managed to decipher it," Arsen replied.

Elysaria crossed her arms. "The only thing that bothered us was that Ephemios was used dated back in the 1600. We received the Obsidian's letter dated in 1682 and that was written in Aetherial. Then, we have the Valka Agro records and take note, Captain Krieger retired 38 years ago."

"Which means?" Aloysius included himself in the conversation with a raised eyebrow. He seems curious of what they were conversing about. 

Arsen hums in agreement with Elysaria as if she knew what she was going to say after. "This letter was probably dated back 1650's or probably older. Back when my grandfather was the king of our nation."

"Ephemios was used by the citizens of Arkenheilm long before we adapted the Aetherial. So, rediscovering it now was shocking to say at least," Arsen continued. "The only ones who use it up to this day would be me or my fellow researchers."

When a voice suddenly called out to them, sounding unfamiliar and seems like they weren't a part of any of the crew, the four turned around with a worried look. Arsen cocks the gun and narrowed her eyes, pointing the gun at the end of the cave. 

A woman came in the picture as Darius widened his eyes, his voice shaking in uncertainty. "C-Calista?" 

The four of them never made a move. Calista looked at Darius, almost crying. "Darius—" 

What shocked Darius wasn't the fact that she was back, alive. Her dress drenched after being thrown into the waters of the Regimere. Her hair still wet and how her face had a bleeding scar, possibly from the creature that she had tried to escape while she was trying to swim back to shore.

No,  it was how Arsen pointed her gun and never hesitated to shoot her.