The whales.

The whales had kept her company all these years. She had heard their songs since she was a baby, too little to know what they were, too little to understand their meaning.

They had watched her grow up and watch them with wide eyes as they passed by her sub. They were one and the same, she and the whales. They lived in the ocean, and so did she.

They had been there during her first night of life, singing a gentle lullaby passed down through thousands of generations to which only she knew the words. They had watched, with listening ears, as her mother taught her about them, what their singing meant, and in what waters they lived.

They had been there when she took her first steps, when she learned to swim for the first time, and when she was first allowed to go swimming by herself. They had been there when her brother was born, although they didn't sing for him. They passed by, silent as she had never heard them before.

The whales had been the ever-present factor of her life, amongst the changing underwater ecosystems and tides. Not even the moon stayed the same. The whales brought her comfort, gave her a base on which she could count on. They brought her closer to the sea, told her their names, and let her into their secret world.

Nobody knew the true meaning of whale songs unless it was for echolocation. But she did. She knew that they were sagas of ancient whales, names only mentioned in myth, stories only told through song. Beautiful stories of breaching in the pale moonlight when the sea was undisturbed. Of loss and love, of heartbreak and sadness and pain. Of triumphs and tragedies. Of whales and humans working together in a sea-based kingdom long forgotten.

She could hear all of their songs. Not just the higher parts, but the lower parts, parts that normal humans couldn't hear. She was the solitary exception to that code. The songs sung deep about the sea-based kingdom were inaudible to everyone but her, and she kept the legend a secret.

They understood her, and she understood them. From the leader of the pods to the newest calf, they all knew her and would get to know her better each time they passed by her submarine. Their calm whispers made her feel like she was a part of their pod, and she was, in a way. They breathed sea salt, and so did she.

Whales were the most powerful animals in the ocean. Their sheer bulk made even the megalodons she had seen look small. The biggest blue whales were almost thirty feet bigger than the megalodons, anyway.

The whales in their pods had kept her company when being the only sixteen-year-old on a submarine got tough. Even though she didn't see them as often as she would have liked to, she knew they were always there, somewhere, in the sea, waiting for their next interaction with her. And she waited for that day. She waited, and waited, and waited and listened for their songs.

And when she was back with them, it felt like she had infinite power to do everything.

Still, the whales couldn't take the place of a human, a real friend, who laughed and talked and agreed with her. They couldn't stand in for a real human relationship, one with feelings and thoughts, even though the whales had plenty of them. In a way, they lacked what it meant to be a companion.

Even the loneliest whale in the world had a friend.

***

"Do you think whales have names?" Ant asked no one in particular as he stared outside the Aronnax's windows at the pod of sperm whales.

It had only been a week since Ant had put the Kraken to sleep, and they had spent that week close by the gates, letting Ant regain his strength before they did anything else with Lemuria. Now, he was back to his old self and very impatient waiting around, ready to open the gates after having closed them after he rested for a short bit.

"I like to think so," said Kaiko, smiling while tilting her head on her hand and staring at the pod. "There are tiny variations in sperm whale calls. It could mean they have names, or it might not. In all honesty, I'm not sure."

Ant smiled in wonder and pressed his hands to the glass. "I wonder what these whales' names are."

Moon, Fontaine wanted to say. Moon That Shines On A Starlit Beach. Song That Is Sung In Silver Mist. Sea Salt Mingling With Plankton.

There were countless beautiful whale names, each with its own personal meaning. And somehow, she knew them. The whales seemed to call to her, guiding them to her in a friendly fashion. Daughter of the sea, they whispered to her, come with us.

One of the female whales, whose name was Rain That Shimmers At Dawnbreak, brought one of her large, kind eyes close to Fontaine's window panel. Her eye seemed to stare into Fontaine's very soul as she whispered a greeting lower than anyone else on the sub could hear.

"Hello," Fontaine whispered, pressing a hand to the glass.

Rain blinked in acknowledgment and turned back to the rest of her pod, staying by an older, wrinkled sperm whale. Her mother, Breach That Scatters Seagulls.

"Ah," said Nereus, coming up behind Fontaine. "Sperm whales. Doreus loved them." He opened the mechanical captain's log that Ant had found in the wreckage of the Kumari and stared at it absentmindedly.

The sudden voice behind her had made Fontaine's hand curl up on the glass. "Nereus!" she said, turning around. "You can't just sneak up on people like that. You have to give them a warning."

"My apologies," said Nereus, turning the copper-colored log over. He turned a curious eye to Fontaine as she turned back and listened to the whales' low-hertz songs. "They reminded me of Doreus. And something else . . ." He trailed off and looked back at the captain's log.

Fontaine placed her hand back on the glass and watched one of the whale calves spin around his mother. This little one didn't have a name yet, and she privately listened to the females discuss possible ocean-themed ones they could use.

"So, Dad," Ant said, looking at the Ephemychron. He swallowed and blinked, and Fontaine wondered what he was going to ask. She could already take a strong guess, though.

"Yes?"

"If you found that old communicator . . . does that mean that our grandparents are . . . you know . . ." He trailed off and looked down at the unmarked spot they were at on the Ephemychron's projection.

Will sighed. "Calcified statues? I hope not." On a more positive, I'm-trying-to-be-strong-for-the-kids note, he said, "Maybe they got out in time. I mean, surely, we would have seen them if they were there."

"I don't know," said Ant. "I think I would have noticed random statues there. Specifically, because there was only one statue of Nereus and Queen Doreus."

"That algae took you guys out pretty quickly," Fontaine mused worriedly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they're stuck in a building."

Silence. Fontaine turned her attention back to the whales as they cruised away from the Aronnax. In an attempt to draw them back, she pressed her hands up against the glass, her wild eyes widening in a plea for them to return. But the whales only bid her a farewell song and disappeared into the dark waters of the night. She waved sadly, watching them leave.

"One of our teachers used to track whales," said Nereus, suddenly. "Neso, I think."

"Teachers?" Kaiko asked, looking back at Nereus from the pilot's seat. "What teachers?"

Ever since they had left Lemuria, Nereus had been getting even stranger flashbacks than he did when he was in the city. From late-night royal parties in Lemuria's gardens to someone named "Tanais," his flashbacks were spouts of random and oftentimes slightly dangerous words.

"Oh," Nereus said. "Sorry. Another flashback, I suppose. Doreus and I had a teacher named Neso. She would travel out of Lemuria, often for months at a time, with the whale pods that lived off the coast. At least, I think she did. My memory is still a bit scattered."

"Ooh!" said Ant, turning back from watching the departing large-headed whales. "Kind of like Aunt Christine!"

Fontaine grinned and turned around to Nereus, thinking about one of Kaiko's sisters-in-law. Christine lived in Hawaii, where she was the lead whale researcher for the North Pacific Marine Reserve. She mainly worked out in the field, tracking whales and collecting samples of their snot for research.

"Perhaps," said Nereus. "Although, I don't know who Christine is."

"We're still going to explore Lemuria, right?" asked Ant, bouncing with excitement and totally ignoring Nereus.

Kaiko chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ant. We're not too far away from the gates, so we should be there tomorrow."

"Aw, yes!" Ant exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

"Wait," said Fontaine. "What about the Kraken? If Ant opens the gates, then won't it wake up? He'd have to put it to sleep all over again." She furrowed her brow in worry at the thought of facing the horrific beast again.

"The Kraken was never asleep," Nereus said. "Doreus hadn't put it to sleep before the gates were closed on it if you're worried that Alpheus woke it up. But rest assured, the Kraken will still be asleep even if Antaeus opens the gates. It's in a deep, deep slumber and won't wake up anytime soon, if hopefully ever. For it to wake up, the scepter would have to be used to do so, or something would have to touch it like the Electric Ray."

"See, Fontaine?" Ant said breezily. "There's nothing to worry about. And the giant Monumental Electric Ray is asleep too, so that's two things we don't have to worry about." He shrugged and walked over to where Queen Doreus' scepter was and picked it up, admiring the crystal on the very top.

"Hmm," Kaiko said. "The Monumental Ray has woken twice before. We'll have to ask Professor Fiction again if it's truly asleep, but other than that, I don't see why we can't go in.

"YES!" cried Ant, almost dropping the six-thousand-year-old artifact in a blur of happiness. Jeffery made a motion with his fins as if he was going to catch it if it fell, but once he remembered that he was very tiny and confined to water, he reluctantly put his fins down.

"Ant! Be careful with it!" Fontaine shouted. "You're going to break the only thing that can stop the Monumentals and save the world! Permanently this time!"

Ant brushed her off with a "Pfft" and a flap of his hand, although he gripped the scepter so tightly that his knuckles were white. Kaiko smiled at Will and turned back forward in the pilot's seat while tapping her chin absentmindedly.

"I'll start us along the route there. But if we're all going to explore tomorrow, you two need a reasonable amount of sleep. Bedtime, kids," she said as she pointed with two fingers at her children.

"But Mom!" protested Ant. "It's only ten o'clock! And you know very well that ten o'clock is too early to go to bed."

"Then watch your Kaiju movies until ten-thirty," came Kaiko's even response. "Fontaine, that goes for you too. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour."

"Okay," Fontaine promised. That was a lie. She had an art stream from eleven to one tonight, and she wasn't planning on canceling it. She could get at least eight hours of sleep if they left after breakfast. Or, if her dad cooked, nine hours after second breakfast.

Ant let his eyes roll back into his head as far as they could go. "Fine," he sighed. "Come on, Jeffrey."

***

Fontaine stretched as she folded in the pull-out table that had held her drawing tablet while she streamed. Clicking it back into the wall, she set her tablet down on the floor, marveled at the sketch work of her newest piece, and turned it off. The field of clams that her family had moved would make a beautiful print for anyone to buy after she was done with it, and she made sure to put her clam directly in the middle.

Laying down on her hot pink pillow, she stared up at the see-through ceiling above her and thought about what tomorrow would bring.

She was skeptical that they would find her grandparents or any other sign of them. How could they have gotten in if they didn't have the Ephemychron? They couldn't activate it either. Her father would have been the youngest descendant at the time of their disappearance, so even if they'd had it with them, they couldn't open it.

Fontaine had always heard stories of her grandparents from her father. From her grandmother's tinkling laugh to her grandfather's immense knowledge of all things regarding the ocean to their dedication to the Pacific Marine Reserve, every story was like a way for Fontaine to become closer to them despite that she had been born after they disappeared. She had been named after her grandmother, after all, and sometimes it felt weird not having met the woman whose name she had received.

All Fontaine had of her grandparents were pictures and the stories. Her favorite picture, by far, was the one her father kept on his study desk of her grandfather covered in squid ink while her grandmother cackled in the background.

Maybe she could ask Nereus about them. He'd remember them, and she would be one step closer to the answers that she wanted after tomorrow.

She closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her as the distant sounds of the supposed silent whales sang her a lullaby. 

***

Hey guys!! if you didn't understand the first part of the story, Fontaine can hear the lower and higher parts of the sounds that whales make, parts that normal humans can't hear. Why is that? Only Ashygurl and I know!!

I got inspired by what the whales said to Fontaine from the Waterfire Saga series, specifically the part in Rogue Wave when Sera shoals and the fish talk to her. Additionally, that's also where I got the idea that whales are the most powerful animals in the ocean. Fontaine's connection to the whales was from the book Song for a Whale, although I've only read a little bit. 

I just came up with the headcanon that Fontaine was named after her grandmother. Ant probably has a family name. Also, does anyone have any good ideas on what I can name Will's dad?? It's going to come up sooner or later.

How do you spell Hawaii?? I always grew up spelling it with the apostrophe, but apparently, that's how people from Hawaii spell it. I don't know.

Thanks for reading!! I hope you enjoyed!!