Voyage Into the Maraquan Circle

     * The Northern Sea (surrounding the north pole continent which includes Terror Mountain & Tyrannia; Sometimes called the “Northern Ocean”)

     * The Southern Sea (surrounding most of the south pole & Lost Desert’s west side; Sometimes called the Southern Ocean”)

     * The Legendary Sea (the waters between Altador, Lutari Island, Moltara, & the islands around them)

     * The Sea of Mysteries (the waters spanning the main continent’s east side, Krawk Island, & Mystery Island)

     * The Maraquan Sea (the part of the ocean the Maraquan kingdom spans under)

     It’s on the borders of the Maraquan Sea and the Sea of Mysteries we’re focusing on, specifically a triangular patch between Maraqua, Mystery Island, and Krawk Island. In the center of this imaginary triangle is an area of rough waters known as “the Maraquan Circle”. Dozens of ships have crossed it but most have vanished; and those who have crossed it successfully have reported strange phenomena. Most ships avoid going near it anyway; powerful storms form there frequently making it unsafe to travel through. This has only made the Maraquan Circle more mysterious as it’s difficult to do any research, let alone reach. But a little danger hasn’t stopped me before, so join me as I:

     VOYAGE INTO THE MARAQUAN CIRCLE!

     (Risking scurvy, seasickness, and barnacles,

     The things I go through to do these articles!)

     JOURNAL ENTRY DAY 1: Setting Off

     So, as it turns out, not many ferries and ship rentals are willing to have their ships (and their crew) sail into certain doom. And as in “many”, I mean none. But after convincing my Neopets to be my crew and offering a “generous” collateral to acquire a ship (said collateral being the reward I promised my Neopets for helping; giving them that extra bit of motivation to be at their best), we’re off to the Maraquan Circle!

     Strong currents have formed around the Maraquan Circle; there are only three spots where you can sail directly into it. These spots are near the lands which form the triangle border the circle is in. Collectively known as “the Triangles of Doom”, the paths leading to the entry spots form a smaller triangle named after the land they border (so there’s the Maraqua Triangle, the Mystery Island Triangle, and the Krawk Island Triangle). Strange phenomena have also been reported within these triangle areas, nothing as severe as the Maraquan Circle, but there have also been a few ships that sunk. After comparing and contrasting the phenomena of each triangle, we decided to set off from Krawk Island’s. The Mystery Island Triangle was said to cause the development of scurvy, seasickness, and barnacles; meanwhile the Maraqua Triangle has a sudden fog roll in which, until it clears, makes everything damp and get you turned around. “what does the Krawk Island Triangle do?” I can hear you asking (or thinking, or thinking aloud).

     As Krawk Island shrank in the distance, a white mist suddenly engulfs our ship. On full alert, we monitor the ship, our equipment, and ourselves for anything strange. Out of the corner of my eye I see a dark silhouette coming up alongside us; another ship! I ran to the helm and spun it to to ignore a collision. I watched as the other ship sailed out of the mist, fading along with the rest of Krawk Island. After catching my breath, my Fire Lupe, Firo, came up to me... walking backwards, telling me something was wrong with the equipment. “The mist is clogging the gauges, we’re having a hard time reading them” Firo told me. “Why were you walking backwards?” I asked. Firo looked up from the gauge, looked behind him in confusion, and turned to face me. “Did you walk around me? I walked right up to you” he asked as if I was the one acting odd. “Something weird is going on with our NP, they turned into… I think flower petals?” my Cloud Wocky, Gala, said while looking into a bag of NP. I and Firo walked over to her but she vanished from sight! “Why did you walk backwards?” she asked confused, us turning around to see her. ”This is getting weird” Firo said as I inspected the NP. As Gala said, the NP had turned into flower petals! I reached in to grab a bunch and they felt soft. But when I tried to bend it, I couldn’t. Feeling around the edge, I discovered that, though it felt soft and looked like an oval, it was still sturdy and I traced a perfect circle, as if it was still a metal coin. I looked over to my last Neopet expecting him to be acting odd, yet he was walking forward as normal. I tried to ask if he was experiencing anything odd, but I suddenly couldn’t say his name. I didn’t forget it, I just couldn’t say it! I pointed at him to Firo and Gala who also tried saying his name but they couldn’t say it either! “Hey... Bori! I shouted out his species, realizing that I also couldn’t say what Colour he was either. Being the only Bori on board, he looked at us confused. “Is everything alright?” I asked as we walked up to him, and when he vanished from sight we turned around to see he was behind us. “Fine with me... but you’re acting weird” He said, his tone indicating he hasn’t experienced anything odd.

     We discussed what was going on and what could be causing it, and how to stop it. “Fr... Fre... UGH, Bori seems unaffected, why?” Firo said in frustration. “And why can’t we say his name or Colour?” Gala added. Looking at him closely, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about him; he was as clear as day. That’s when I realized that there WAS something missing, and got an idea. “Quick, downstairs to the galley, get as much of Bori’s Colour “element” as you can!” I said heading downstairs, my Neopets following. We got to work dumping the “element” overboard as well as crushing it up in a bucket and swabbing the decks with it. The mist began to pull back as our vision cleared to a starry night sky. “FREEZO! ICE!” I shouted, finally able to say my Ice Bori’s name and Colour. “Equipment is clear and our NP is back to normal” Gala said, walking toward me with a gauge in one hand and bag of NP in another. “And from the looks of it we’ve entered into the Maraquan Circle” Firo said using a compass and map while looking up at the stars. Strange, it felt like we weren’t in the mist for more than an hour, yet we’re now miles from Krawk Island and it’s nearing midnight. Swabbing the deck clear of the chunked ice, we decided to call it a day. All my Neopets went downstairs to their quarters as I stayed up for first watch and recorded today’s mystery:

     MYSTERY 1: Krawk Island Mist

     PROBLEM: The mist was messing with our perspective, making us see & feel things different from what they were. We walked backwards though it felt like going forward, coins looked and felt like flower petals, we had moved further along in distance and time than we thought, and we couldn’t even say certain words.

     SOLUTION: Those words we couldn’t say, along with Freezo being unaffected, were the key. The mist was repelled by freezing temperatures, and by making the ship and surrounding water colder it caused the mist to retreat.

     CONCLUSION: This was no mere phenomenon; I’d even bet it wasn’t natural. No way would something natural prevent you from saying the very thing that would get rid of it. That sounds like some kind of magic at work, perceptual illusions with a silencing geas. From where it came from I don’t know, and it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

     JOURNAL ENTRY NIGHT 1: Storming On Through

     I was by myself in pitch darkness. I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my face, I couldn’t speak, it was quiet, but that wouldn’t last for long. Laughter, first a soft chuckle but grew louder and louder to a sinister cackle, rang around me as if the laugher was right next to me. I covered my ears with no prevail, I must have had my eyes closed because when I opened them two giant, glowing red eyes were staring right at me!

     “WAKE UP”! SMACK! My eyes shot open for real as Firo was pulling me out of a burlap hammock. Odd, I didn’t remember going to bed, and it looked like I was in the supply shed instead of my quarters. SMACK! “OKAY, I’M AWAKE! STOP SMACKING ME” I yelled as I got to my feet, still wearing the clothes I had on last night. “I should smack you some more for abandoning your post! If you were that tired you should have asked one of us to take first watch” Firo shot back as he opened the door. BOOM! Thunder cracked, a lightning flash momentarily turned the outside white, and in came the sound of rain and high winds. How did I sleep through that, let alone not notice it until now? On deck Freezo and Gala were tying down the masts and setting up rope lines to pull ourselves around the deck. Firo and I took the helm to hold the ship steady. “How long was I out” I asked in the struggle? “It’s only been an hour” Firo shot back. AN HOUR?! BOOM! Another pair of thunder and lightning, with each one the storm feeling it was getting stronger and stronger. No way a storm of this magnitude could have formed within the hour, the skies were clear. CRACK! The sharp noise paired symmetrically with a lightning bolt that landed right next to our ship. “If one of those bolts hits the ship we’re going to go up in flames” Freezo nervously shouted! SWOOSH! A sudden gust than rocked the ship, causing me to trip and nearly slide off the edge as I grabbed onto one of the ropes and pulled myself up. “That is if the wind doesn’t capsize us first” Gala added in a more irritated voice.

     With a firm grip on the rope, I looked down to the waters below. Pitch black, just like in my dream; I shivered thinking a pair of red eyes would appear from the depths. BOOM! SWOOSH! I nearly lost my grip as another lightning bolt strikes the water, the thunder making me jump and the wind once again trying to toss me over. I was nearly half way there, and lucky I was, because I otherwise wouldn’t have seen that below the surface there were flashes of light connected by quick zigzags of electrical currents between them. “Say, there’s something below the water” I told my Neopets as they helped me back on board. “You wanna take a swim? Be my guest” Firo quipped pointing back to a hanging life preserver. ”Firo, hush, what exactly did you see down there?” Gala said giving me a chance to explain. I told them that when the lightning hit the water there were multiple of flashes seemingly being charged by it. “So there’s something down there feeding on the lighting? Do you think they could be the cause of the storm” Freezo inquired. “One way to find out” Firo said as he ran to the supply shed and dragged out a weighted net, “Let’s invite our enlightened gluttons aboard”. Firo threw the net over and moments later it reached the end of its rope. As it sank beneath the waves I saw a spectacle of flashes as whatever they were get tangled and caught. We pulled the net back up, and as soon as it hit the surface and I could see a mass of wriggly movement, another lightning bolt hit the net causing all of us to let go and fall back. The net fell back into the water and I saw the end of the rope begin to follow. I grabbed onto it, only to receive an electrical shock! I let out a shriek as my Neopets rushed over to check on me. As I got back onto my feet, I saw Firo holding a long handled aquatic net with something wriggling inside it. I took a closer look and realize where I got my electric shock from.

     “Ramosan” I exclaimed! “Gesundheit” Gala said handing me a (soaked) handkerchief. “No, Ramosan, it’s a Petpet!” I began to explain, “They’re eels which can give off an electric discharge when they’re upset or feel threatened. Otherwise they’re said to be friendly and live at the bottom of the sea”. “Well, this isn’t the bottom of the sea and they’re certainly not friendly” Firo continued the quips. “The lightning storm must have attracted them” Gala shrugged. “No, taking into account what just happened, I think they summoned the storm!” Freezo hypothesized, which I agreed with. We had no Petpet chow on board, but chopping up all our extra food provisions and tossed them overboard to chum the water around the ship. Either from eating the bait themselves or possibly scared off from any possible predators which may be drawn to the scent, the flashing lights faded and sank down into the depths. As they did, the storm began letting up, stopping fully not long after. Wrapping ourselves in dried towels and examining the aftermath, I got to explaining what I could remember before the storm, including the dream. My Neopets stopped what they were doing when I told them that: they TOO had the same dream!

     “That’s it, I’m turning this ship around!” Firo said as he took the helm. But just as he looked up a streak of light crossed his face causing him to wince. It was the sun, morning had arrived (and surprisingly fast too)! ”Meepits” Firo cussed under his breath, “I don’t know where we are without the stars”. “Can’t you use the sun?” Gala asked. “For knowing what the direction is, yes, but that won’t do us much good without knowing exactly where we’re positioned” Firo frustratingly explained. Firo took out his compass but the needle was spinning around like a freshly greased Wheel of Monotony. “... I’m going to bed, wake me at sunset” Firo said in a deadpan tone and headed downstairs. After cleaning as much as we could, I took a few seconds to write down the next mystery:

     MYSTERY 2: Sudden Storm

     PROBLEM: Within an hour of being in the Maraquan Circle, a powerful storm appeared from nowhere. Thunder deafened us, heavy rain made the deck slippery, strong winds knocked us over, and blinding lightning threatened to set the ship on fire.

     SOLUTION: A chance sighting saw activity going on below the surface. Pulling up a haul, it was struck by lightning but one of the things under the waves slipped onboard: a Ramosan! Its out-of-place presence made us think they were causing the storm. Chumming the waters forced them to leave and the storm calmed soon after.

     CONCLUSION: Our hypothesis seemed right, a swarm of Ramosan had summoned the storm! Is this the reason for ALL the sudden storms in the Maraquan Circle? I’ll admit I’m not that up-to-date on my Ramosan knowledge, but I’ve never heard of them doing this behavior before, let alone think they were capable of it! I suppose I could also chalk it up to coincidence that the storm stopped when the Ramosan left, as I have no doubt aquatic Petpet experts would bring up, but at this very moment I’m just glad both them and the storm are gone.

     JOURNAL ENTRY DAY 2: Better Start Believing In Ghost Stories

     I, Freezo, and Gala spent most of the midday cleaning up from the storm the night before. Now with the sun out we were able to see the full extent of the mess. Chunks of wood, rope, and other miscellaneous supplies have been blown about the deck. Parts of the sails have been tangled and twisted, but miraculously (and thankfully) no tears or holes. All around was nothing but ever expanding blue seas, which wouldn’t be a problem if we weren’t lost in potentially the most dangerous place in the ocean. By the time we were done the sun was starting to set painting the sky hues of red, orange, and yellows. A pretty uneventful day, which is what we needed after all the chaos yesterday.

     “Something spotted on the starboard side!” Gala shouted while looking through a telescope, “I... I think it’s another ship”! Freezo was the next to be there and Gala handed him the telescope. “Yeah, those are sails, it’s definitely another ship” Freezo confirmed, “Approximating its size and shape, I would say it’s nearly if not the same model ship of ours. Also, it’s heading right towards us”. Hearing that, I gave a chuckle and walked over. “This time I know what’s going on! It’s the same size and shape of our ship because IT IS our ship, or rather a reflection. It’s a phenomenon called “Fata Morgana”; light in the atmosphere is refracting in a way it’s creating a mirror effect”. I was feeling pretty proud myself, at least for a few seconds. “Um, not exactly”, Freezo said with a concerned tone, “First off, it wouldn’t be our ship we’d be seeing an illusion of, it would be a ship beneath the illusion. Also, usually said illusion is upside down, distorting the top of the ship. Finally, if it was an illusion of our ship, why is heading toward us when we’re sideways of it”? I, Freezo, and Gala watched as the mysterious ship sailed closer to us, and then suddenly turning so that its starboard side was facing us. Taking the telescope, I looked over to see if I could see anyone on board. And I did, and it was us! “HA! I knew it was an illusion! Take a look...”. CRACK!

     I didn’t have time to finish my thought when a cannonball hit the side of the ship! CRACK! CRACK! Two more cannonballs hit the ship, all coming from the direction of the other ship! “Last time I checked, illusions don’t fire real cannonballs of their own volition” Freezo said with a mixture of worry and sarcasm. As we ducked behind the banister, Firo came running up from below deck, “WHAT’S GOING ON?! A cannonball nearly took my head off”! “We’re under attack” I said! “By who”?! “By us” Gala answered Firo as quickly as he asked!

     As we were figuring a plan, the phantom ship sailed around us, much slower now and its starboard side facing our port side. As it got into position we got the two cannons on the port side ready to fire. “Something is off,” Freezo noted, “We only have two cannons on each side of the ship, but that phantom ship fired three shots”! “Well now with it closer I can make up the difference with a spear” Firo grunted, throwing a spear tied with a red ribbon at its end. I tried to watch where the spear went, but another loud CRACK informed me we were hit with another cannonball. We fired out two cannons in response, and in their response to our response they fired two more shots. Their second shot hit the ship below the water surface and we started to take on water. The third shot hit the mast and causing it to topple over toward us. We got out of the way as it landed directly on one of the cannons, causing both to fall overboard; I don’t think we’re getting our collateral back.

     The phantom ship began to move again while we were dead in the water and sinking. But as it moved past something red caught my eye: beside it was the tip of Firo’s spear with the red ribbon waving in the wind. However, it wasn’t attached to the ship. Actually, it wasn’t attached to anything; the spear looked to fade away before reaching the hull of the phantom ship, with only the red ribbon still barely visible. I pointed this out to my Neopets. “You know what else” Firo said while using the telescope, “When I threw that spear I saw the phantom me also throw one, but instead of being hit by a spear it was a cannonball that hit us in about the same spot”. “Hate to be a downer, but we’re going down!” Gala shouted as she hurriedly packed emergency supplies in a bag; “What are we going to do”? “If Firo’s spear is sticking out, that means there’s something physical its sticking too!” I reasoned as I, Firo, and Freezo got the rowboat on the starboard side ready to launch. “This ship is done for, we’ll set it on fire and under the smoke we’ll sail over to the phantom ship”.

     Firo began spreading around all the black powder we had as I, Freezo, and Gala lowered the rowboat into the water. Firo lit a flame and set the ship on fire (being a Fire-painted Neopet, he had a natural resistance to fire), making sure a heavy plume of black smoke was billowing before jumping overboard and swimming over to us. As our ship sank down in a show of hot flames and smoke, the phantom ship didn’t seem to notice us row up to it. As we got close to it, as if removing a lens, the ship no longer resembled our own but a black ship nearly double the size! Firo threw a grappling hook over the banister and we climbed aboard, Firo making sure to grab the spear just in case. On board the phantom ship was empty, covered in mold, algae, and a few batches of barnacles. The sails were worn and torn, yet looked to still be grabbing the wind. Upon careful inspection, the banister and side of the ship was engraved with runes all the way around; and above the door to the lower decks was an emblem with a stylized “S” in a triangle frame. BOOM! A loud explosion drew our attention as we saw what remained of our ship sink beneath the surface, stranding us on the “phantom” ship. The next couple of hours I and my Neopets explored the ship to figure out its secrets. Below deck was just as moldy as above but traded the algae and barnacles for dust. The beds weren’t in any condition to sleep in, but we did find some dry cloth to lay on the deck to setup a place to sleep; I wrote down today’s mystery as we somberly ate some emergency rations for supper:

     MYSTERY 3: Phantom Ship

     PROBLEM: Our ship was approached by a “phantom ship” resembling our own and had copies of ourselves on board. It began firing on us and quickly overwhelmed our ship, toppling the mast and causing it to sink.

     SOLUTION: Before the critical blows, Firo had thrown a spear with a red ribbon at the phantom ship. It pierced the illusion and got stuck, showing there was something physical there. With little options, we set our ship on fire to sneak over onto the other ship on a rowboat. We got onboard to find the ship not only abandoned but covered in mold, algae and dust.

     CONCLUSION: After exploring the ship for a bit, I believe I know what it is, though the truth may sound stranger than fiction. The “S” emblem likely meant the ship belongs, or belonged, to The Sway. The runes engraved into its banister and hull is a group of spells. The most recognizable ones are an illusion spell, navigation spell, and what used to be a self-defense spell. However over the years the runes had weathered causing the spell to malfunction, it now attacking anything it encounters. Altogether, this adds up to this ship likely being a spy ship used by The Sway, probably to keep an eye on the major islands in the Sea of Mystery before abandoned for some reason.

     JOURNAL ENTRY DAY 4: A (Random) Chance Encounter

     No, you didn’t skip a day, I did. We spent all of yesterday figuring out our next move. We needed to get control of the Sway ship which meant breaking the spells controlling it. Freezo suggested altering the runes around the ship and we spent the next two days experimenting. It was turning to the afternoon now and our efforts had proven some results: the navigation spell seemed to have been turned off. We’re no longer randomly sailing around, but we’re still unable to steer the ship where we want it to go. We scavenged the ship some for any supplies but any we found was ruined. Our stomachs rumbled as it’s about lunch time, unfortunately we’re at the last of the emergency rations. We figured it was best to save them until next morning to give us a last bit of energy boost for the next day.

     CREAK! I and my Neopets were knocked off our feet as the Sway ship suddenly turned and headed a new direction. I guess we didn’t disable the navigation spell fully, but where was it going now? As soon as it began it stopped. Confused, we looking around but saw nothing but open sea. After a few minutes the Sway ship than moved again, turning in a curve until we sailed a large circle to the opposite side of where we were. “Now that’s a familiar maneuver” Firo said taking out a telescope, “I have a hunch we’re circling something; luckily we must have disabled the self-defense spell”. After a few moments, Firo let out a confused “What?”. Firo handed me the telescope and I looked through it, and I must be seeing what he saw as it’s bewildering me too: An Alien Aisha Vending Machine.

     “Well, it’s not good food, but it’s barely edible” Gala said after all my other Neopets took a look through the telescope. “But we don’t have any Nerkmids” Freezo said, a quick silence fell as Firo smacked him on the back of the head. The Sway ship was refusing to budge so we got back onto the rowboat and sailed over to the Alien Aisha Vending Machine. Despite it bobbing freely in the ocean water, it looked just as good as the one in Neopia Central. Before we could discuss our next course of action, Firo took out the spear and began trying to pry off one of the buttons. And he was successful, sort of, the button came off but it opened horizontally as if it was on a hinge. And that’s when an Alien Aisha in a mechanics suit popped half his body through the hole.

     “HEY! What do you think you’re doing! Do you know how expensive these machines are” The Alien Aisha angrily yelled at us! I and my Neopets just stared at the Alien Aisha stunned for a few seconds, it impatiently waiting for a response. “I’m... I’m sorry,” I was able to get a few words out, “Do you live inside that machine”? “Live inside the machine?” The Alien Aisha repeated in confusion, “Of course not! I’m the Vending Machine Repair Agent! I was in the middle of fixing this machine when you tried pulling off the button”. “You’re fixing a vending machine in the middle of the ocean?” Gala asked as we all were coming over from the shock. “Middle of the ocean, what are you...” The Alien Aisha began but stopped as it looked around, “WHOA! What a view! So a vending machine is out here? Going to have to get someone to pick this up”. “Can they also pick us up? We’re kind of lost” Firo asked, still sounding like he’s questioning the whole situation. “Sorry folks, we only pick up vending machines” the Alien Aisha said as dread started overcoming us again, “But since you helped me locate this one, I’ll help you out”. The Alien Aisha pressed a few buttons, flipped a few switches, and then opened up the button next to it. “There, that should do it” the Alien Aisha said sliding back into the machine and closing the door-like button. “HEY! Wait!” Firo yelled as he dived through the new hole. Freezo tried grabbing onto him but he too was forced through the hole. I and Gala looked at each other and sighed, both of us also going through the hole to wherever it took us.

     Colours. Sounds. Smells? After falling through what felt like a kaleidoscope, I landed on a pile of warm fur and ice... also known as Firo and Freezo. Gala than landed on top of me, though she was heavier than the clouds she was painted with (Edit from Gala: Hey, RUDE!). We all got up onto a tiled floor, next to us a window looking out over the planet Neopia. Somehow, the vending machine in the middle of the Marquan Circle teleported us into space into an unknown space ship. Unknown, until we heard some laughter behind us as we turned to see our host. “My, my, wasn’t that just some RANDOM excitement! chuckled Dr. Landelbrot; we had been teleported aboard his ship hovering around Neopia that creates Random Events, The Coincidence! Landelbrot and his assistant robot Petpet, Scintilly, greeted us as they prepared us some sleeping space for the “night” and we explained our adventure over a nice big meal of whatever food the confusionator conjured up. The doctor even helped me with today’s mystery sum up:

     MYSTERY 4: Floating Alien Aisha Vending Machine

     PROBLEM: Upon getting some control over the Sway ship though noting out low amount of food, it locked onto a new object in the middle of the ocean and began circling it: an Alien Aisha Vending Machine. We’re not sure if the ship somehow detected our concerned or it was just a coincidence.

     SOLUTION: Unable to get the Sway ship to move closer, we took the rowboat out to the vending machine and Firo tried to pry off one of the buttons. To our surprise, an Alien Aisha came out of the button hole to chastise us. Revealing we were in the middle of the ocean and explaining our predicament, the Alien Aisha thanked us for locating this vending machine by opening another hole before vanishing back into the hole it came out of.

     CONCLUSION: HELLO! This is Dr. Landelbrot now guest writing! Yes, you see what likely happened was the Alien Aisha Vending Machine you found was itself lost; likely having fell down from an Alien Aisha delivery ship. As for the whole business with the Alien Aisha repair agent, the Maraquan Circle, or at least the part you were in, is above a vortex of space-time micro-bending particles with each particle having a parallel twin somewhere else in our universe. The vending machine must have utilized these particles to create a portal for the Alien Aisha repair agent to appear when your Lupe tried breaking into it. From there the Alien Aisha programmed the machine to use the particles to open a portal aboard The Coincidence. It’s all very simple once you have the facts.

     JOURNAL ENTRY DAY 5: A Journey Up Through Time

     It’s me again writing. Next morning we weighed our options: We either call this whole experience a wash and use The Coincidence teleporter to take us home, or have Dr. Landelbrot adjust the confusionator to teleport us back to the Sway ship. We decided to choose the latter, not only because we hope offering the Krawk Island captain the Sway ship would get our collateral back, but Dr. Landelbrot said we were still under the affects of the Maraquan Circle particles. If we don’t get rid of them, we could end up randomly being teleported anywhere in the universe one day. The only way to get rid of the particles is to teleport back to the Maraquan Circle and sail out of it. So, here I and my Neopets are now, sitting inside what I can only describe as a fully enclosed diving cage; Dr. Landelbrot excitedly adjusting the confusionator. He explained that since we fell “down” the vending machine hole to get onto The Coincidence, we’re going to need to be teleported “upwards” out of a portal at the bottom of the Maraquan Circle. As soon as the confusionator began humming, I gave him my thanks. “Oh don’t mention it my boy, I live for the sheer randomness of these things!” Dr. Landlbrot cheerfully said, “Now remember, as soon as you start floating upwards, whatever you do, do NOT...”. ZAP!

     Dr. Landelbrot’s words were cut off as we’re shaken around the enclosed diving cage. As we looked out the small viewing window, instead of what you would expect to see at the bottom of the ocean (far stretching bed of sand, seaweed, coral, deep ocean life, maybe a sunken ship), we laid eyes on what looked to be a completely submerged ancient city! There were marble buildings held up by large pillars, statues of what looked to be half Alien-half Maraquan Aisha, paved pathways, and even flourishing gardens of flowers and trees. And it all looked pristine! Yet, there was no one around. Our vision was hampered by a wave of bubbles. When we were able to see again we were up higher where unfamiliar creatures swam around us. “Odd, those are prehistoric creatures, ancient even by Tyrannian standards” Freezo pointed out.

     I looked back down at the city, shocked to now see it has been destroyed and taken over by sand, seaweed and coral. As I wondered what happened, Gala noticed something as we got a bit higher. “The edges of the city look like an outline of a giant space ship” Gala pointed out as she traced the shape on the window. She was right! The now destroyed city looked to have been built on top of a space ship. Before we could observe more, another wave of bubbles surrounded us. When they cleared, we were entering a depth where surface light was able to make it through. “These creatures, still ancient, but are more like ones you can still see in Tyrannia than the previous batch we saw” Freezo said at the new aquatic creatures. RUMBLE! WHOOSH! We looked back down at the city, now completely covered by a cloud of sand, as the space ship it was on began to lift itself off the sea floor! As it flew past us, debris of the city falling off its side, we hung onto what we could as the diving cage got caught in a whirlpool, spinning wildly as only sand and bubbles could be seen through the window. While trying not to be thrown around, I accidentally sat on a button and an alarm began to ring. “I told you not to touch that” A recording of Dr. Landelbrot’s voice played as we felt thrusters underneath us activate, rocketing us to the surface!

     Spinning. Tumbling. And, of course, yelling. Until suddenly stillness. Getting our own heads to stop spinning, we looked out the window to see a wide open ocean; we made it back to the surface! Opening the hatch, Firo was the first to jump out... and began falling. He was able to grab onto a rope and swing down to the wooden ship deck. We not only made it to the surface, but we ended up on top of a ship’s mast! The rest of us carefully got out, looked around, and an eeriness fell over us all. This wasn’t just any ship, this was OUR ship; the ship we came into the Maraquan Circle in, the ship we destroyed! CRACK! Loud thunder broke us out of our daze as it began to drizzle. A familiar white mist also began to roll in around us. Things began to look bad, when sudden movement in the distance drew our attention: it was the Sway ship! It was sailing away from us into the mist. Having a hunch, I told my Neopets to follow the Sway ship through the mist.

     The Sawy ship was moving fast, we were barely able to keep up, but as we kept following the sounds of thunder faded into the distance. Soon we lost sight of the Sway ship, sailing in the vague direction it was going. Then suddenly another ship appeared sailing toward us from the mist! Before we could react it made a sharp turn and missed us. And as it sailed pass us, the silhouette of it looking familiar, the mist parted and we were greeted with a wonderful sight: Krawk Island!

     We made it back! As we sailed into the harbor, we were surprised to see the ship’s captain waiting for us. “Ahoy! You weren’t out there for long, change yer mind?” The captain chuckled out loud. We docked the ship, tied her down, and followed the captain to the streets. “Thank you for lending us your ship,” I said while trying to think what to tell him, “We made sure to take good care of her, she took us on quite an adventure”. “Oh?” The captain said quizzically, “What adventures could you have had in a few minutes?”. “A few minutes? But we were gone for several days...” I had turned around to look back at the ocean, just in time to see the mist was still there. I could barely make out a shape of a ship sailing into it, it vanishing and the mist soon after. All that remained was ocean. “Captain, you saw us enter the mist; you should know we wouldn’t be able to turn the ship around that quick to...” I turn around to see the captain too had vanished, “... leave”. “Hey, I don’t see our ship anymore! Not in the harbor or out at sea”, Gala said looking out to the harbor!

     We ran back to where we left the ship and, as Gala said, it was gone. And at the end of the dock was our collateral! We just stood there for a few moments, not sure what to think. “All’s well that ends well” Firo broke the silence as he, followed by Freezo and Gala, went to claim their rewards for helping me.

     MYSTERY 5: ... And 6… And Maybe 7...

     PROBLEM: We had to go back to the Maraquan Circle in order to cleanse ourselves of the space-time particles.

     SOLUTION: Dr. Landelbrot used the confusionator to send us, inside a enclosed diving cage, to the bottom of the Maraquan Circle. There we saw a submerged city atop of a space ship and prehistoric creatures. We finally made it to the surface to find ourselves back on our boat somehow.

     PROBLEM: Another storm began to form and the white mist also returned.

     SOLUTION: We saw the Sway ship sailing through the white mist. Being it led us to the Alien Aisha Vending Machine when we needed it, I risked following the ship once again. Whether I was right or by luck, we were led out of the mist and right back to Krawk Island!

     PROBLEM: Meeting back up with the ship’s captain, he told us we were only gone for a few minutes. Then, when we were distracted by what looked like our ship sailing into the white mist, the captain vanished.

     SOLUTION: Going to where and left the ship, it was gone too and left on the dock was the collateral I offered him.

     CONCLUSION: It’s at this time I’m reminded of a famous quote: “There are more things in Neopia and the universe than are dreamt of in a Seeker’s philosophy”. And with that quote I leave you, to take a clean shower and a nice long rest in a dry, comfy bed.