Lushaka, the Sunken Seas

Among countless planets that lack liquid water, the pure blue of Lushaka stands out sharply within the Przesmir star system. Its seawater is like the cradle of a Mother Ocean, all things are born and multiply within the seawater, but at the same time they are imprisoned, controlled, and trapped by it... until there is no way out.

At dawn, the first mate of the "fleet" knocked softly upon the door of the captain's cabin. The island ecologies of the thirty-seven regions of the Old Age were pasted upon the walls all around the room, the longing of people for dry land... The meteorites that came from outside space seemed to obey some stubborn wish, and covered the whole planet of Lushaka with ocean. The endless violent waves buried every homeland beneath the deep water, leaving only a single blue... The first mate woke the sleeping captain, golden light glittered upon the surface of the sea, and the new day's voyage of the "fleet" began once more.

The survey ship went to the center of the plaza and fired its anchor at a huge structure underwater, a place that had once been a shopping center. The anchor bit into a window ledge and held fast, and before the Diving Bell arrived, countless schools of panicked fish poured out from the shelves of the shopping center.

By late afternoon, the scholars left the Diving Bell. They swam past the bookstore without stopping, because the strokes of ink there had long since blurred and could no longer be recognized. Their target was always records written upon insect glue or plastic, which after a simple cleaning can still yield information from ancient times. Underwater archaeology like this is not easy at all. The sweepers stood still and watched, waving their steel spears to make certain those fanged and clawed predators kept their distance. Now and then people also bumped into Water Spirits down in the deep water, but neither side had time to pay the other any attention, and simply bowed their heads and continued their own collecting... Compared with dry and shriveled tin cans, the sweepers would rather find seeds, spices, or wine.

As the reserve of oxygen dwindled, the concentrated underwater investigation was also coming to an end. Looking down into the water once more, the giant fish had already drawn close to the city district. The Water Spirits panicked, immediately held their breath and pressed against the walls, hiding in secret rooms, for they are used to making the most of the steel forests underwater.

When dusk fell and the drizzle stopped, the horns of the fleet sounded everywhere to drive off the pirate fishbirds nearby. They stacked the day's spoils upon the deck, so that everyone on board could come and take what they needed. In the night of rising water, the lamp towers shone as brilliantly as crystal. The Luvians gathered to dance around the bonfire, forgetting the tomorrow that was coming, singing songs of the sea to praise the glory of this day, and borrowing the ballads of the sea to lament the good things of the past. The captain took out his navigation compass and looked along the direction of the needle. He knew that was home, a place growing steadily more unfamiliar, and that there were still people there hoping their loved ones would return.

At midnight, the huge ship put out all its lights and drifted silently upon the sea. Will they truly find peace? Or do they only use smiles to hide the tears that have already dissolved into the sea?

After tonight, this deep blue will still be as it always is.

To the Water Spirits, the world above the water was always foreign and full of danger, but that is a distant memory now. After all, everything that was once above the water has now sunk into this deep blue.

The land creatures of Lushaka and the Water Spirits share a relationship that is both intimate and strange. During underwater investigations, they treat the Water Spirits they meet as a symbol of good fortune, and describe them as beautiful and mysterious creatures. The Water Spirits possess deep blue wing membranes and jet black eyes, and their special vocal cords can give out melodious sounds as though they came from paradise. According to the stories passed by word of mouth among the investigators who have dived below, these creatures often keep company with Sea Dragons and dwell within the Silver City in the deep sea... Existing between reality and legend, the Water Spirits are the embodiment of grace and vitality.

However, within the past that was drowned by the ocean, the words used to describe them were... "the Edars, fell beasts of the deep sea".

From very long ago, a fierce struggle for survival existed between the Edars and the land creatures, because no one could ignore the splendor of the Red Sea. At first, the young Edars were treated as catches to be fished. Later, the land creatures were lured down into the water by the singing of the Edars and drowned. In the vast waters, they had each been hunter, and each been prey to the other. After that came the clash of blade and anchor, the encounter of sea monsters and mast cannons. The war above and below the water dragged on and on, until the coral reefs shattered under the heat of the lava flows. Only much later did the scholars of the fleet come to understand that the Tumor of Myriad Worlds had long since promised Lushaka a future... Except that those promises came from an exiled Water Spirit, who cursed the culprit in her nightmares with a wordless howl.

The forgotten past is buried within reefs of steel and concrete deep upon the seabed, hazy as mist and smoke, known to no one.

Since then, the cities and the land have all sunk into the sea, the disputes and the bloodshed have all sunk into the sea, and history and civilization have sunk into the sea as well. To escape the pressure of the deep sea, the Water Spirits keep migrating to the upper waters, and are forced to live in cities that once belonged to the land creatures, gazing upon memories of smiles and tears... They know that very little of the sound above the sea remains, and the blue that once belonged to them all now holds only a silence too stifling to bear.

When the singer of the fleet catches a glimpse of thin water-colored wings along the route, they raise their voice in the beautiful ballad of the sea...

"They follow the route, chasing the lighthouse and the storm, only to find that pure blue once again."