The great buildings and canals of Venice shone in front of Comyn Bootes, modern explorer. She hadn't been on many explorations yet, but Venice was rumored to have an abundance of missing persons cases and Comyn was determined to  explore the mystery.

Comyn inspected the dark, mysterious buildings. They were the most likely to have missing persons, if horror movies had taught her anything. Comyn hoped it wouldn't come to violent terms.

The sky, unfortunately, was a bright, cloudless blue. There was not even any wind sweeping back her hair. Comyn wished for darkened skies streaked with clouds of stormy gray, the wind to rush through her hair and sweep it marvelously behind her, rain beating mercilessly on her... in other words, the perfect adventure weather.

Comyn straightened her brown jacket and adjusted the Indiana Jones hat she had bought from Disneyland. Then she ruffled her hair to make it look wind-tossed. If Venice wasn't the perfect adventure land, a good explorer must take matters into her own hands.

Finally, they rolled into the Grand Canal. From there, they would go straight ahead until they reached one of the local inns, Locandon Ca Zose.

Comyn had mapped out the entire route the day before. She was a little disappointed at how complete the maps of Venice were-she would have liked to contribute to them. At least she could map out her own route.

A thought of the gigantic Kraken entered Comyn's head as she noticed how dark the water was. Rather than scaring her, however, it filled her with excitement. Comyn rushed to the boat's edge. She searched the murky water for any huge tentacles that might have swept anybody away. But all that was lurking in the depths were tiny fish and algae.

Undeterred, Comyn straightened and shifted her gaze to the ship's bow, looking for another explorations opportunity. They were turning. That wasn't part of the route.

Comyn pursed her lips and went inside the control room, where the ship was steered, and well, controlled. There she discovered the first mate, who was looking very confused indeed.

"Sir? Why is the ship turning? That's not-" she started.

"Part of our route, I know," the first mate said, whose name was Noah, according to his name tag. "I can't figure this out. It's like some unseen force is pushing us into the canal."

Nodding, Comyn reached into her pocket for her notebook. This definitely sounded like the start of an adventure. "Has this happened before?"

Noah scratched his head. "I don't remember it being there before. Then again, I haven't gone down this canal in a while. The last boat to come here didn't come back and the company prevented any boats from leaving until now."

Comyn's eyes went wide with fear and realization. "They must have gone missing because of this canal! Do everything you can to turn this ship around!"

The first mate frowned, but quickly got to work. He pulled levers, turned a wheel, and altogether looked very busy. He glanced up at her. "Are you just going to stand there or...?"

"Oh, I just want to learn how to navigate a ship and I figured I'd start by watching," Comyn responded. Then she sat down so he wouldn't have to look up at her.

Noah's scowl grew even deeper. "Either way, I can't turn this ship around. I put the engines in reverse, but nothing's happening."

"At least we'll find out where the missing people are," Comyn offered.

"Yeah, we'll find some dead people. I wouldn't call that much of a silver lining."

This man is being remarkably disagreeable, Comyn thought. "Who says they're dead?" she said to Noah.

Noah glared at her. "I say they're dead. Either dead or close to death."

Comyn glanced at the arch up ahead. The sight was blinding, and her jaw dropped. Inside the arch was a shimmering mix of colors. It looked like the surface of a giant bubble, with bright colors swirling across. Light glinted off, making the colors even shinier. Comyn didn't read fantasy nearly as much as horror, but this sure looked like magic.

Noah was still talking. "And that's why-"

"Stop." Comyn cut him off. "Look at the arch."

He raised an eyebrow. "The arch...?" His voice trailed off as he saw the swirls of color and light. "What is that?" he asked quietly.

Comyn wrinkled her brow. "I don't know."

The boat rocked violently and the arch shone brighter as they drew closer. She got off her chair and sat on the floor, next to a wall. She shielded her eyes with her hands. The arch was getting brighter at an unreasonable rate. There was a brief floating sensation, followed by a thud.

Shakily, Comyn removed her hand from in front of her eyes and took a deep breath. "That was pretty good adventure material," she said to herself.

She spotted Noah gaping at the outside view. Comyn pushed herself up and scanned her surroundings too. Her jaw fell open for the second time.

They were in a beautiful moor, with multi-colored heather waving in the breeze and a few rabbits hopping about. There was also a second boat. And on it, people.

"They're the missing people," Comyn guessed.

"Yeah," Noah replied.

"Do you know where this place is? I think it could be Britain, they have a lot of moors."

He shook his head. "Too warm to be Britain. Seems like unmapped land."

Unmapped land! That was the best thing Comyn had heard in a long time. She couldn't stop a giant grin from appearing on her face.

Noah regarded her for a moment. "Why are you smiling so much?"

A wide smile spread across Comyn's face and her eyes lit up. She said with a longing and joyful sigh, "Exploration."