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The Destiny City Reservoir opened about a year ago and is an easy escape from the big city. It’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but it’s been back in the news recently for mysterious reports of some strange, aquatic monster. Some accounts say they’ve spotted a twenty foot long, snake like creature capable of rearing a long neck high above the water. It’s hard to tell if the videos are doctored, but there are too many rumors to dismiss easily. Something strange might be lurking deep in the water. Are you the type to investigate this or is it enough to dampen your waterfront plans? While you may not ever actually interact with the supposed cryptid, you can spot a strange creature in the distance. And, who knows what youma are crawling in the area, anyway?
"Please do not get distracted, Ekanite," General Painite warned, sounding tired despite them only just arriving at the Resevoir, "we are here because I know there are a ton of dumb kids, just like you, wanting to get a picture or whatever of this monster. We'll get a lot of easy energy out of this, but don't go crazy."
"Right!" Ekanite chirped eagerly, grabbing her arm and tugging her toward the beaches. She planted her feet and he found himself nearly falling over at the abrupt stop. If she did not want to be moved, it was clear he was not going to move her. Sometimes he forgot about the rank thing, and how much stronger than him she was. He grinned at her nonetheless, just holding on to her arm and leaning back on his heels, balanced by her resistance. "But we can still check it out just in case, right?"
Painite sighed. It was going to be a very long evening.
"Just in case what? It turns out to be a youma, if it's not just a prank?"
"Or... it could be something ELSE. I mean, it could be anything! We know magic exists, and youma exist, and plenty of other things exist. Why can't a monster we've never seen before, and isn't related to the negaverse at all, exist too?"
Painite took a step and Ekanite remembered his balance had been precariously attached to her not moving. He fell, Painite tugging her hand back from him as he flopped onto his butt. She offered him her other hand, though, and helped him back to his feet. He took off toward the beach, Painite rolling her eyes and following after him until she heard the strange squeaking of the sand.
Very. Long. Evening.
To her continued dismay and growing irritation, this particular beach front was empty. The sand looked smoothed and pristine from the tides, no traces of footsteps left behind. So much for their hunting plans, with no targets in sight. Now how was she going to get him out of here without a fight? He seemed too excited to just listen to her orders, no matter how good a kid he was. And really, she was not exactly keen on ruining his night. She supposed it would not really hurt her to let him play for a bit, as long as he did not try to drag her into his cryptid hunting.
"Come over here, Boss!" He yelled, dragging her into it, "I think you can see it!!!"
Painite took a few squeaky steps toward him, standing a foot or two above the shoreline and folding her arms over her chest as she stared out across the smooth horizon of the reservoir. There was nothing to be seen, of course, and she did not need heightened senses to tell her that. It was impossibly dark, for starters, and the water was calm. There was no movement beyond the two of them, and maybe a water bird in the distance. She watched him for a moment, though, as he strained with his hands on his eyebrows, shielding a sun that had set a long time ago, trying to see further into the waters than was possible. Beyond the other edge of the lake.
"You think so?" She asked at length, with a soft smile. He looked at her in surprise, dropping his hands. A grin spread across his face, though, and he nodded eagerly, pointing out toward the horizon.
"Yeah! There's gotta be something out there! Come on, Boss, let's just look for a little longer!"
She was quiet for a long moment, then moved up to stand closer to him. The sand did the job of saying whatever it was that needed to be said, Ekanite laughing and turning to look out across the water again. Maybe there was nothing out there to be seen.
But maybe that didn't matter.
