The crew stood at the large sign for a while before the captain gestured for them to start moving forward. Ash could see a sense of relief on the face of both Rowan and the Captain and he wondered why. They walked through the piece of land that formed a bridge between the two islands.
Ash glanced at the calm sea water that flowed on either side of the path they walked through and he could see schools of fishes just rippling through the waters and he smiled. He glanced at Glit who was beside him with a blank expression, her hand clutching her severed arm.
"You will be alright," he whispered to her and she turned to him with a smile.
"I know that, I just…" she paused. "I just don't know if I want to get used to this," she sighed.
"You might not need to," Ash said. "You are a Cryptid, there is probably an ability that can fix your arm and make it even better," he explained.
"I have thought about that too, but I don't want to give myself that hope… I am afraid that if I do, then it won't happen."
"It will." Ash said with a tone of finality. "And I will make sure it does!"
Glit raised her eyes a bit and then smiled. Ash didn't know why, something twisted in his stomach when she did. He found her features extremely pleasing to gaze at and soon enough he discovered they were staring at each other for longer than they wanted to.
He averted his gaze and then gazed forward as the island; Alkatraz came to view. The island was unlike the last two they came across that was just covered in forests with little to no human transformation. This island contained a series of buildings and towers. In fact the entire area, as far as Ash's eyes could see, seemed to have been built for a purpose.
The path they were walking through came to an end midway to reaching the island, and there was a small raft anchored at the edge of the place. They got on the boat and began to slowly row their way towards the island.
"Waoh," Kay exclaimed as they neared the island and even Ash couldn't close his mouth. The island was marvelous and it was the first time in a while since Ash has seen an island that was marked with such intense civilization. Several buildings span the large expanse and all of them contained a different design.
They stepped on to the island from the raft and began to walk forward, all of them lost in the marvelous designs that laid in front of them. "What is this place?" Glit asked.
"An abandoned maximum security prison that is now used for training and recruitment," Felis answered. "Come on," he gestured as he turned towards a building. "We have a lot to talk about before its time."
Ash and the others obeyed but a part of them just wanted to explore the island, however, after their last adventures they couldn't risk going anywhere without Rowan and Felis.
The two adults led them into a building and they walked into it to find multiple close lid crates in the building. "Sit down!" Felis commanded and they obliged. "Can you calculate the date and time, we need to know if we didn't miss them," he said to Rowan and the One Eyed pirate nodded, moving to a corner of the room and bringing out a map, a compass and a pocket watch.
Ash saw the pocket watch and remembered a little detail. He felt his pocket and pulled his own pocket watch out of it, he realized he'd totally forgotten its existence. He stared at it, realizing the hands no longer moved. The mechanism inside must've been broken for who knows how long. With a quiet sigh, he slid it back into his pocket just as a sharp grunt from Felis snapped him back to the moment.
"I don't really know where to start so I will just start simple. The four of you are going to be joining the marines," Felis said.
The kids raised their eyes simultaneously. "Yeah, the four of you being on that ship wasn't really a coincidence, as much as you might think it was. You remember the old man right,?" He nodded again, Ash could see his teeth gritting. For a man who could demolish a ship with his bare hands, the words seemed to weigh heavily on him. "You all were handpicked by Ages."
"You were all handpicked by Ages," he said.
"What do you mean handpicked?" Kay asked with furrowed brows.
"Okay, something is about to happen, something that would sink the entire world, and not just the land… the entire realm itself. The four of you will be at the center of it," he said again.
"Okay, first we are Cryptids, now we are going to be at the center of a world ending apocalypse… and are you saying all we went through was part of a grand plan? My arm, those people that had to die?" Glit asked, standing up. Unlike the boys who were still figuring out what the hell their captain was talking about, she'd figured out the gist of it.
She'd been thinking about the oddity of their situation for a long time. Ever since they jumped off that ship, she'd been wondering why the captains were so secretive. The boys of course didn't notice it, they barely noticed anything but she did. The way they pulled back when they spoke and how they enjoyed talking about something that wouldn't lead to them asking questions about where they were going. From the onset she knew something was off.
"No, there isn't a plan. If there was, this would have been a lot easier." Felis sighed. "But according to Ages, we are where we need to be. Now, we have to meet someone who will take it from here."
"Wait; you're handing us over to someone?" Glit snapped, disbelief flooding her voice.
"Yes," Felis said, his tone firm but regretful. "We have to. Our time's running out. I wish I could tell you more, but anything I say now could tip the balance of this already dying world. So, please… just bear with me."
"Just tell us something!" Ash nearly shouted, his voice laced with frustration. "I have no idea what you're even talking about. A week ago, I was stocking ice to preserve potions. Now, out of nowhere, I'm a cryptid and the world is ending? How do you know all this? What can you tell us that makes sense?"
Felis sighed, his expression blank. "I can tell you this world has already been destroyed once…"
"The Drowning?" Kay interjected.
"Oh, no. The Drowning wasn't the end, it's the reason there's a world left to save," Felis replied, his voice steady, almost ominous. "What I'm saying is that the world we live in now was wiped out once before, and the four of you were at the heart of it."
Ash blinked, trying to process the weight of Felis' words. "This is totally confusing."
"What he's saying is that in one possible future, this world is destroyed. Something out there, a force beyond comprehension, is hell-bent on consuming all life as we know it. I can't name it for you; that's something you'll have to discover yourselves. Ages brought you to us because he believes you should have a chance to save the world you might otherwise destroy," Rowan quipped.
The kids frowned. "Yeah, in a possible timeline, you four would be responsible for the world's end," Felis added, glancing at each of them. "But Ages didn't want you to see the world through anger and destruction. He wanted you to understand it from a place of happiness first. That's why you've been kept in the dark. We can't risk telling you too much—it would trigger the butterfly effect, and things could spiral faster than we can handle."
"So… we destroyed the world? In an alternate timeline?" Kay asked, his voice uncertain but mirroring Mute's silent signs.
Felis nodded gravely. "Yes. Ages is something called a Regressor. I don't know how he came by that power, but he's lived in a future that terrified him—one where everything fell apart. He believes you're the key to preventing that future."
The kids fell silent for a while. Before they could ask more, a deep rumbling filled the air, drowning out their thoughts. The ground trembled beneath their feet. They all turned towards the sky, where massive aircrafts appeared, their dark silhouettes cutting through the clouds like predators.
"It's started!" Rowan shouted over the noise, his eyes scanning the horizon. "We're right on time!"