Eternal, Zenaida and Koge, followed by her trustworthy Celestial Feline, were wandering around the deepest depths of a volcano reef, quite far from the seaweed forest where they left the portal. The magic’s presence was almost impossible to ignore, as water let the dragon’s lung fill with oxygen without drowning, the pressure which would have definitely crushed them in different waters was nowhere to be found and their eyes were able to catch the distant light’s reflections from the surface, allowing them to admire the surroundings

No one would have expected to see such a thriving ecosystem in such a hostile-looking area: at first the base of the stalactites-looking volcanoes seemed lifeless, but after every gust of smoke from the craters life claimed back the sides of the rocky structures. Corals stretched out their branches, reaching for the water now rich in oxygen, and their colors changed from dull, muddy tones to the now vast assortment of shades and patterns.

Various creatures, which species couldn’t be identified, repopulated the now colorful surroundings. Tiny fishes once hidden inside the corals quickly swam outside looking for food. Sea slugs almost as big as a dragon foot now roamed the sea bed enriched by many species of algae. Colorful schools of fishes against each other, fighting over food, hunting each other. It was a colorful mayhem.

But such magic was doomed to end, as minutes later the volcanoes resumed to release toxic fumes as everything hurried to find shelter once again, stuck in a never ending cycle of life and death, hunt and hide. Corals quickly retracted their tentacles as fishes hurried to find shelter, slugs hid under special rocks, capable of filtering the now scarce oxygen. Seagrass retired under the ground, leaving those who weren’t fast enough to rot away.

The trio realized to not be affected by such chemicals, as they didn’t find any trouble breathing.

“What kind of sorcery may this be?” Asked Koge while she swam towards the mini volcanoes in order to take a closer look at the dead-looking corals.

“I have no idea, but we should at least thank this sort of magic for protecting us against these dangers. Without it we would have drowned hours ago, don’t forget.” Skeptical, Eternal spoke, joining the conversation.

As they were exploring, a sudden bright flash behind a cluster of mini-volcanoes caught Koge’s attention, who promptly alerted the others, signaling them with a moment of the head followed by a sign of invitation to follow her drawn in the water by her right wing. Curiosity won the group who decided to follow her deeper into the rocky forest, quietly, trying to not attract anyone or anything’s attention.

The more they advanced, the brighter the flashes got, until the dragons barely managed to keep their eyes open, sheltering them with their wings. A bright leviathan was swimming uncoordinated, occasionally hurting against the pillars which crumbled against such force.

“Guys I think that leviathan might need our help” Pointed Zenaida to the rest.

“I am NOT getting any closer to that thing! Look how easily it reduced those rocks to dust! I don’t know what’s going through your heads, but I don’t plan on being reduced to MASHED POTATOES! Nuh hu, not today.” Koge made sure to make clear her intention, crossing her wings and shaking her head in dissent. Even her companion did the same, taking cover behind her owner.

“Come on, don’t be silly.” Continued Zenaida, teasing the wyvern. 

“It’s not my problem if you guys don’t have a brim of survival instinct!?”

“Said the aberrant.” Replied Eternal.

As Koge kept complaining Zenaida successfully gained the leviathan’s attention by shouting and waving their wings in the water. The massive beast quickly stopped his panicked swim, and started heading in their direction.

Brilliant white fins trailed in the water as he drew closer, though his skin was marked with scrapes from where he had slammed into stone.  He only barely avoided another pillar, seeming to be dizzy, or perhaps have trouble seeing, as he swayed instead of moving in a straight line.

Koge ducked behind a rock, pulling her celestial feline with her, and hissed, “If he attacks us, it’s not my fault!”

Eternal rolled her eyes, squaring up with the leviathan, wings flared and mane drifting in the current.  Zenaida, by contrast, floated in the water, simply waiting for the giant eel-like dragon to arrive.  He tried to drift to a stop, but couldn’t quite manage it, forcing Zenaida and Eternal to dodge out of the way.  Koge, safe in her hiding place, looked vindicated.

“Oouuh, sorry,” the leviathan murmured, words half-slurred.  “I’m not feeling the best.”  He shook his head, as if trying to clear it, and continued, “You guys are the new dragons, right?  I- we need some help.  My friend ate some fish, and she’s in a bad way.  I….I think I might have as well.  Name’s Ikuchi.”  His head kept ticking to one side, as if watching an invisible carousel that spun around him.

Zenaida frowned, looking to her companions, worried.  Koge moved out from behind her rock, now that it was obvious that the leviathan was not aggressive and clearly in need.  Only Eternal stood her ground.  “Sure, we can help, but what’s in it for us?” she asked.

Zenaida smacked her with her tail.  “Don’t worry about payment, let’s see if we can help your friend.  What’s her name?”

“Glowstick,” Ikuchi supplied.

Koge hummed.  “Pretty name.  Do you know where she is?” she asked.  Ikuchi nodded, and the trio had to dodge backwards again as he clumsily turned around, his tail swiping the rock that Koge had previously hidden behind and obliterating it.  The three dragons exchanged glances, but followed the leviathan as he began to make his way back the way he had come.  Their progress was slow until Koge and Zenaida swam up to either side of Ikuchi, leaning on him to keep him steady.  Eternal stayed at the back, keeping well clear.

After a bit of swimming and dodging Ikuchi’s tail swings the four dragons arrived in a clear area amongst the volcano forest. The fauna seemed to be doing better in this clearing compared to what they’ve seen so far.

In the middle of said space another leviathan almost as big as Ikuchi was laying on the seafloor, bubbles coming out of her mouth as she was muttering something incomprehensible to the three smaller dragons.

Ikuchi moved towards his friend, occasionally wobbling from left to right.

As Koge promptly dodged one of his fins’ bands and complained “We better hurry up to cure y’all so you will fix once and for all your swimming style!”

Ikuchi ignored the screeches of the little wyvern as he got closer to the leviathan

“Look Glowie, I might have found help!” The pale leviathan shook his friend with a fin, who slowly lifted her head and squinted her eyes in confusion.

“Wha- NO?! I don’t need more fish! Come on!” Glowstick swung her tail in protest and blew bubbles towards the other who moved his head out of their way.

While Ikuchi was busy trying to explain the situation to the nervous leviathan, the group discussed what had to be done.

“In my opinion, the best thing to do would be giving an aberrant cleanser to both of them.”

“But we don’t know if they’re truly afflicted by the corruption! What if it’s just a normal fever? And most importantly, what could even be the consequences if we still gave them the potion?”

“They spoke about eating some fish before feeling that way. That’s most likely to be the cause of their troubles…let’s inspect the surroundings.”

After exchanging a nod of approval the group scattered around, looking for any clues hidden among the rocky forest’s fauna.

The first to find the source was Koge, thanks to her corruption she was able to locate several schools of infected fish swimming nearby, which refused to take shelter from the toxic fumes in the anemones. She quickly swam back to the others with her beloved companion holding for dear life on her tail, impatient to tell them about her discovery.

Meeting each other, once again, in the clearing they began debating on their next moves. They finally came to a conclusion: Now that they had identified the fish the leviathans had eaten, this was a clear case of corruption.  Aberrant cleansers should help their symptoms.  Ikuchi would be easy to cure, as he was dizzy but not terribly confused.  Glowstick, despite her friend’s explanations, remained somewhat suspicious.  She rested in her clearing, squinting at the trio of newcomers and mumbling.  Koge, Eternal, and Zenaida decided that it would be best to give Ikuchi the cleanser first, and hope this convinced Glowstick to take it as well.  

When they returned with the potions, Ikuchi took his share quickly.  Nothing happened for a few minutes, the only sound being the rumbling of the volcanoes.  Then he sighed in relief.  “The world’s not spinning anymore!” he announced, then looked more closely at the trio.  “There’s only three of you after all.  I couldn’t be sure, I swear some of you had twins for a bit!”  He laughed, then turned to Glowstick.  “Hey, you have to try this!  I feel great!” he called.

Glowstick glared suspiciously as she moved closer, but she took the potion that Zenaida offered to her.  After a few moments, her expression cleared.  “I do feel a lot better.  I was worried you were trying to poison me, but I guess that was probably the sickness talking,” she said sheepishly.

“Y’all had better stay away from those infected fish now, so you don’t end up like that again!” Koge advised them.  The two leviathans nodded, clearly eager to not repeat the experience they just had.  To show their thanks, Ikuchi and Glowstick led the trio up to a secret ledge, the best vantage point to watch the volcanoes and the ebb and flow of life around them, and they spent the rest of the day there, relaxing and enjoying the view.