Amphitrite.

The goddess-queen of the sea, wife of Poseidon, and eldest of the fifty Nereides, the female personification of the sea.

Poseidon, the god of the sea, fell in love with Amphitrite at first sight of her dancing on the Isle of Naxos and immediately sought for her hand in marriage. Amphitrite rejected his advances and fled and hid herself away near Atlas in the Ocean stream at the far ends of the earth. Not discouraged by Amphitrite's refusal, Poseidon sent one of his servants, the dolphin-god Delphin, to convince Amphitrite to return to him. Delphin eventually tracked Amphitrite down and persuaded her to return and to wed the sea king. As a reward for his help, Poseidon placed the image of the dolphin among the stars as the constellation Dolphinus, the Dolphin.

The love story of Amphitrite and Poseidon symbolises the resilience of a man when he pursues one with whom he determines is fated to be his for the rest of his life; however, it also symbolises the undermining of the desires of a woman. Poseidon believed that Amphitrite was destined to be his due to her outstanding beauty and his superior godhood. Poseidon believed that Amphitrite would fall into his arms, but she instead rejected him, not being in love with him in the first place. Poseidon resorted to trickery and pawn play to win the heart of his bride, not carrying out a sincere confession to the minor sea goddess as he believed he was entitled to have her as his wife due to his superior godhood.

Amphitrite’s connection to Poseidon, the Olympian god of the sea and brother of Zeus, initially made her a goddess to be revered. However, she gradually became less important to the ancient Greeks, to the point where many poets used her name as a mere representation of the sea. Despite being his wife, Amphitrite became subverted into the role of a mistress due to the polyamorous ways of the Greek gods and her gradual decline into insignificance.

While her life story has been set in stone, one cannot help but consider the possibilities that could have been provided to the sea queen if she was not pursued by the sea king. While Amphitrite had previously dedicated herself to remain a sea , she eventually was worn down by the advances, albeit trickery of Poseidon, but her heart always did remain in the sea, never venturing out onto the land of human mortals due to her dedication and responsibilities of being the queen of the sea.

The heart of a goddess could never be fully taken away, as a part of her does become fragmented when she is pulled into the social games of the Olympian gods. Her heart and dedication to the sea became a symbol to those who had a love for the ocean and mythology; however, her story most specifically became renown for the precious gem that was constructed in her honour.

The Heart of Amphitrite…a renowned jewelled necklace that had been the most prized possession of the Greek Royal family. The Heart of Amphitrite was a prized family heirloom that only the direct royal family members were allowed to gaze upon its perfectly crafted beauty, the jewel becoming so renowned throughout the land that many desired to have a peak of its beauty.

But then it became lost.

When the Greek royal family was deposed, no one could trace the whereabouts of the almost fabled crowned necklace. It was debated if it was stolen by one of the family members or shipped off to some foreign land for some kind of safekeeping as its worth was far more than what anybody could ever offer. There was no possible inkling around the word of mouth of the necklace’s whereabouts.

…

..

.

Until there was a murmur of its location being aboard the RMS Poseidon, the famous ‘unsinkable’ that never survived its maiden voyage.

///

The RMS Poseidon was an opulent passenger ship that served as a symbol of hope and freedom to everyone when it was constructed in 1912. In honour of the Greek god of the sea, the ship was constructed with the intention for it to be a universal cruise liner, a symbol of wealth to every country of the world. The owner and designer of the ship prided themselves greatly of its design, far superior to any other ships built during the time. Their pride was so large, that they even stated to the public that: “Not even the sea god himself could sink this ship.”

The term ‘unsinkable’ was attached to the RMS Poseidon, a great title to inherit since it seemed almost impossible. However, the arrogance of man proved itself to have no limits and most did not dare to contradict the belief that the ship would never sink. The belief was held by passengers and spectators alike, the setting off the ship being a great celebration and public spectacle to the extent that it was if the ship was leading its passengers to a utopia, leaving Korea and traveling across the Pacific Ocean to America, a promise of great fortune and freedom for all those aboard the ship.

However…contrary to its famed title as the ‘unsinkable’ ship, the RMS Poseidon did not survive its maiden voyage, striking an iceberg during its journey.

The sinking of the RMS Poseidon became worldwide news, disbelief and horror enveloping the whole world in its duel grip because the tragedy of the sinking hit even the most innocent of souls. However, the tragedy of the sinking didn’t hit anyone else harder than the survivors themselves. The people that survived the sinking of the RMS Poseidon were never the same again, they changed overnight because of the sinking, and were the only clues that could tell the world what had happened during the night the RMS Poseidon was ever seen by anyone again.

The RMS Poseidon had always been shrouded in mystery, especially after its sinking, but its mystery was slowly unveiled decades later as researchers began to travel to its last location to learn more about the ship, more and more information abouts the ship and its sinking being revealed to the public as years passed on. When the next century came to be, almost all that could be known about the ship was known and available to the public, but it was still a subject of great interest to many historians and researchers.

However, to Ryujin Shin and Yeji Hwang, the precious cargo that had been carried on the ship was the topic of interest that overwhelmed them completely.

Despite their young ages, the two women were renowned for their talents in the historical and researching field. The two women had a passion of searching for the unsearchable, of learning about the past which has already been deemed discovered. They are relentless in their academic searches, and with their shared interest of shipwrecks, the RMS Poseidon become a subject of obsession for the both of them, especially since it had been recently found out that it had carried possibly the most valuable jewelled necklace that would even outclass the British royal jewels.

The Heart of Amphitrite.

The necklace was almost as enigmatic of the ship itself, only its has not been seen ever since the deposition of the Greek royal family, and even then the only people who had ever seen the jewelled necklace was the direct royal bloodline themselves. It would be world-changing if the necklace was found, its significance being so great that the money would be invested in returning it to its home country would be phenomenal.

There was a great promise of wealth to the one who would ever be able to locate the lost jewel, and while it played a role in Ryujin’s and Yeji’s search for it, it was rather the act of actually discovering it that motivated the two women to search for it. They wanted to be the first ones aside from the Greek royal family to set eyes on it, to hold it in their hands, to simply be in their presence. They wanted to make history with their discovery, and to become attached to the jewel that nobody else could ever be for the first time in history.

///

Ever since Ryujin was a little girl, she has been in love with the ocean. It has always been an enigma to the world of the living because its sheer size was daunting, as well as that it was yet to be fully discovered. One does not truly know what lurks at the bottom of the ocean, but humanity has come close to discovering it all, albeit not completely.

One would usually be terrified to venture down into the ocean depths because of the sheer darkness and the possibility of never returning to air level, but Ryujin revelled in it because it was as if she was Christopher Columbus being sent on an adventure to discover new lands, only she was discovering more than that.

“Do you see it yet?” A voice crackled from a radio, making Ryujin smile as she reached for the small radio that was latched to her belt. She unhooked it and brought it to her lips.

“Not yet babe, I told you, it was going to be a while.” Ryujin said, smiling when she heard a frustrated sound leave her girlfriend’s lips along with a rustling sound before the radio clicked to life again.

“How much longer until you get there?”

“Hmmm, not sure. Afterall, its not like there are streetlights to guide us along the way.”

“Your sarcasm is not appreciated.” Her girlfriend quipped, making Ryujin laugh.

“I’m not being sarcastic babe; I’m simply being real here.”

“Real huh? So as real as you were last night when we-“

“Hey woah woah, I do not want to hear anything regarding you and Ryujin from last night! For hells sake, be considerate of everyone listening to you!” A male voice shouted from behind Ryujin, making the girl laugh as her radio was ripped from her hand and brought instead to the lips of a very handsome man with shoulder length black hair. “I don’t want to know the kind of things that you and Ryujin get up to in the bedroom!”

“Who says we limit it to the bedroom?” Ryujin gripped, flashing a cheeky grin at the handsome man, not at all phased when his feline shaped eyes flashed dangerously at Ryujin as he glared at her, disgust evident in his face.

“For the love of all things holy Ryujin, if we weren’t 12 000 feet underwater, I would take that big fat head of yours, and shove it right-“

“Hyunjin! Stop threatening my girlfriend!” The female voice cackled again, the use of their relationship title making Ryujin smile in response. Hyujin shifted his attention back to the radio and scowled.

“I will if she stops telling me how she defiles my sister.” A groan could be heard over the radio.

“Oh get over yourself, there are worst things that you can hear about me. If I recall correctly, what Ryujin and I do are tame compared to what I know about you and –“

“Yeji! I swear that if you don’t shut your mouth-“

“What? What are you going to do from down there?”

“I’ll throw Ryujin out the goddamn sub.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Ryujin quipped, crossing her arms over her chest while raising an eyebrow at Hyunjin. “You’ll be on your in three seconds.”

“Well I-“

“Guys…we’re here.” A voice called out from the front of the submarine, the owner of the voice not bothering to look back as they focused on guiding them towards the broken body of the RMS Poseidon.

All conversation ceased within the submarine as both Ryujin and Hyujin rushed to the closest window in the sub to peer out to the water depth, the submarine and its partner not to far away as they travelled towards the shipwreck at the bottom of the Pacific ocean. Ryujin couldn’t help but stare out in amazement at the ship body, so broken and yet so put together as it rested on the Ocean bed, its decades rest being forever eternal as it remained as a memory of the dangers of the sea.

The bow of the ship was the first thing that came to view to the lurking submarines, the deck seemingly so perfectly in place and condition despite being eaten away from the living organisations at the bottom of the ocean. The ship was coated in salted corrosion and bacteria, perfectly representing a ghost ship that has not seen the light of day for nearly a century. The hull of the ship was slowly corroding away, but it still perfectly intact to show off its impressive design and architecture, albeit its beauty being slowly consumed away.

“Ryujin?” Yeji’s voice called out to the dark-haired girl, pulling her out from her mesmerised trance. Ryujin reached for the radio that was still in Hyunjin’s hands and brought it back to her lips.

“It’s still so beautiful babe.” Ryujin said, her eyes not leaving the window as they began to travel past the bow and along the body of the ship.

“It’s your fourth trip down there. It hasn’t changed.”

“Doesn’t mean the effect fades away. To think that she is down here while we are all living up there.”

Ryujin was completely mesmerised by the ship, the tragedy still so evident in the water even though any sign of human life has been vacant for so long. Ryujin shared a look with Hyujin, the man looking just as mesmerised as her, and flashed a small smile at him that he returned. He then looked back out the window and frowned, an almost haunted look on his face.

“To think it only took ten minutes to reach the bottom of the ocean.”

A solemn silence took over the submarine as it continued to travel along the ship, nobody daring to break it until they reached their intended destination, at the main deck in the middle of ship, a large gaping chasm being in full view due to the split that the ship went through as it had started to sink. The submarine gently landed itself on the deck, its front facing the chasm, which finally prompted Ryujin to speak.

“Come on, let’s do what we came here to do.”

Immediately obeying Ryujin, everyone set to work as they began to bustle around Ryujin as she took a seat in the centre of the submarine, grabbing the control of the searching tool that they were going to use to venture further into the RMS Poseidon. The other submarine which had joined them for the fourth dive situated itself on the other side of the split ship, prepping itself like Ryujin’s submarine to become its venturing.

“Everything working up there Yeji?” Ryujin asked, swapping places with Hyunjin to allow him to take centre control of the venturing system, placing the controls on his lap before moving to slide the system goggles over his eyes. She heard some rustling over the radio before hearing Yeji’s voice again.

“Everything is all clear. Let me know when you are letting out the Dunkin so I can switch on the camera.”

“Okay, is everyone else ready? Yuna, do you copy? You ready to start?”

Another rustle could be heard in the submarine before the voice of their fellow ocean researcher from the other submarine came through the communication system.

“Yeah, I’m ready. You are set to launch in the officer’s quarters and then through the first-class ballroom towards the rooms. Can you confirm?”

“Yeah, I confirm. You are set to launch in the reception, dining room, and casino. Can you confirm?”

“Yes I confirm.”

“Alright. Launching the Dunkin in three, two, one…”

Ryujin nodded at the driver of their submarine, who nodded as they pressed the button to open the hatchet at the bottom of the sub to release the robot which Yeji had designed to help them venture through the ship where others could not. Hyujin immediately switched on the lights of the robot, shedding more light for himself to see before lowering the robot down into the body of the ship and into its design structure.

“Initiate camera visual Yeji.”

“Camera switching on in three, two, one…”

The screen at the front of the submarine lit up, displaying the front view of the Dunkin robot that Hyunjin was operating. While it was one thing seeing the outside of the decomposing ship, it was another thing entirely to look at it from a front view perspective. Ryujin took a deep breath before bringing the radio back to her lips.

“Thanks babe. Okay, Hyunjin, start heading down. Yuna, start the launch of Downer.”

“Will do.”

As Yuna began to launch the second robot from their submarine, Ryujin shifted her attention to the Dunkin as Hyunjin guided it through the body of the ship, making it travel through the doors that led to the ballroom, its design still obvious to the human eye despites its decomposition. Ryujin could tell that the doors would have been made from the finest of wood, its intricate wooden design in the middle of the doors definitely being gold in colour.

“Okay Hyunjin, take it easy. Move in slowly.”

Hyunjin nodded at Ryujin’s words and slowly travelled through the ballroom, following Ryujin’s directions as she helped guide him through her intended location. As they travelled through the ballroom, the debris was obvious to all of them. Broken chairs, tables, even the floor splintered and wrecked, and yet items like the chandeliers and even a piano was still in fair solid shape, albeit it was coated in debris sand and bacteria. It was haunting travelling through the ship, but Ryujin continued to guide Hyunjin through it as she navigated her way through it, having Hyunjin take the robot through extended rooms attached to the ballroom before going up a staircase to travel towards the first-class room corridors.

“Okay heading in a room, watch the doorframe watch the doorframe.” Ryujin warned, making Hyunjin huff slightly.

“I got it, I got it.” He quipped back, slowly guiding the Dunkin through the door, only for it to become stuck for a few second. Panic flashed in Ryujin’s chest and just as she was about to give an order for Hyunjin to reverse it out of the room, he applied more speed on the controls and managed to push it through the doorframe. Ryujin sighed in relief.

“You nearly got me.”

“I am a professional Ryujin, don’t underestimate my abilities.” He quipped back at her before slowly traveling the robot through the room, eyeing the broken debris of a bedroom that had once been occupied by a first-class passenger.

The furniture was beyond broken in the room, and yet they could make out some of the tables and chairs that were in the room, along with some items that had belonged to the previous passenger. A shoe, a mirror, a hairbrush…such basic things that went down with the ship. They continued to venture further into the room until Hyunjin moved the Dunkin through a second door, leading into a second room that was attached to the bedroom. The debris was worse in the second room than the first, looking like broken cabinets and some more tables, but as Hyunjin shifted the Dunkin around, they eventually were given sight to the bathroom which had been attached to the second room, a bath tub coming into view.

“Oops, someone left the water running.” Hyunjin suddenly quipped, chortling when everyone suddenly groaned at his joke.

“Seriously?” Yeji’s voice quipped from the radio, making Hyunjin increase with his laughter.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

“You most definitely could have. Have some damn respect.” Yeji scolded, making Hyunjin huff in annoyance. He opened his mouth to quip back at his sister, only to shut it when Ryujin sudden tapped his arm.

“Turn it right. More right, near that door frame.” She said, her eyes transfixed on something that was underneath it.

“…”

Hyunjin didn’t say anything, instead decided to simply obey Ryujin as he moved the Dunkin with accordance to Ryujin’s demands, making the camera look directly at the fallen debris. Ryujin stared at it for a long movement before pulling the radio to her lips again.

“Yeji, activate the Dunkin’s arms, I want to move that door.”

“What have you seen Ryujin?”

“Something but I don’t know what. Activate the arms.”

“Activating the arms in three, two, one…”

Hyujin moved the Dunkin towards the debris until he was close enough to the cabinet door before pulling his hands away from the controls on his lap to instead grab onto the makeshift arm controls they had set up around him for this kind of situation. He reached out towards the cabinet door with the Dunkin’s robot arms and grabbed it, lifting it up from the floor.

“Flip it over, flip it over.” Ryujin ordered her eyes fixed on the screen as Hyunjin eventually flipped the door over on its side, revealing the item that was underneath it.

…

..

.

A safe.

A smile slowly crawled along Ryujin’s face as she could make out the body of a metal safe on the bedroom floor. The radio in her hand crackled to life, Yeji’s voice sounding slightly pitched as she spoke.

“Ryujin…am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?”

She could hear the excitement in Yeji’s face, making her own increase the longer she looked at the safe. She brought the radio back to her lips.

“I think we are about to make some history babe.”

///

You could taste the celebration in the air when Ryujin and the rest of the submarine teams resurfaced from the ocean body, the first person waiting for Ryujin when she climbed back onto their research ship being her girlfriend Yeji, her one and only ever since their university days. The smile on her face was blinding as she sprinted toward Ryujin and all but leapt into her arms, wrapping her legs around her waist and arms around her neck. Ryujin immediately spun on the stop, laughing at Yeji’s obvious glee and accepting the kiss readily that her feline-eyed girlfriend was desperate to give her. Yeji pulled back and smiled at her widely.

“We found it?”

“I think we did.” Ryujin grinned, accepting the second kiss Yeji gave her, only to gasp when she was shoved from behind with Yeji still in her arms. Yeji unwrapped her legs from Ryujin’s waist to balance the two of them and to prevent a fall, turning to glare at her brother over Ryujin’s shoulder.

“Just what was that for?”

“For scarring me.”

“Well, you can just-“

“Hey, hey, not now you two, we have a safe to open! Come on!”

Ryujin grabbed Yeji’s hand and tugged her towards the bow of the ship, waiting excitedly as the engineers teams were busy with the underwater crane that they were using to pull the safe up to the surface. Ryujin felt Yeji wrap an arm around her waist and press a kiss to her jaw before nuzzling into her neck.

“I still can’t believe you found it.” Ryujin grinned and turned her head to press a kiss to Yeji’s forehead.

“Neither can I.”

Everyone on the ship crowded around the bow deck of the ship, waiting excitedly for the engineers to finally pull up the safe that they had founded. Yeji hugged Ryujin tightly with a bright smile on her face as the engineers used an electric saw to cut through the metal lock of the safe, eventually using a change to tug it open, filthy water pouring out of the safe and onto the deck.

Ryujin pulled away from Yeji and hurried to the safe, excitement filling her as she knelt in front of it and began to pull out the contents, most of it soaked and ruined pieces of paper. Ryujin was anticipating wrapping her fingers around the precious jewels they have been working so hard to find. The Heart of Amphitrite should be in this safe, it was the biggest break that they have had so far in their search for it. It will only be a matter of time before she will feel it’s chain necklace to be caught by her fingers, allowing her to pull it out and reveal it to everyone on deck, finally bringing an end to their endless efforts and research.

…

..

.

Only she found nothing of the kind.

Some stain old money was found in the same, along with some other papers, but Ryujin did not feel anything solid like a piece of jewellery. The largest thing object in the being a soaked leather object, almost like a thick book, but aside from that…nothing else.

A stone of dread had formed in Ryujin’s stomach, it only growing bigger in size the longer she continued to scratch through the safe for the hope that the jewelled necklace was wedged somewhere in a secret crevice, but that hope dwindled as there was nothing else to search through in the safe. The crew that had gathered around for the eventful moment eventually began to murmur, the celebratory air shifting into a downtrodden one, disappointment weighing down on everybody as the ‘big find’ was not the big find after all.

Ryujin stared blankly at the safe, her grip on the top of the safe slowly tightened as she stared intensely at the safe, almost mentally condemning it for not possessing the item that they have all been searching for. The murmurs of the crew did not reach her ears as they were buzzing, the blood in her veins slowly boiling as her frustration of the lack of discovery began to take effect. Probably sensing the researcher’s growing anger, Yeji walked towards her and placed a hesitant hand on Ryujin’s shoulder.

“Ryujin-“

Ryujin shot up from her spot and instead stormed off in the direction of her cabin, trying her best to ignore the intense gazes of her crew while her cheeks and eyes began to burn from her mixed emotions. She did not want them to see her cry, not now, and especially not Yeji when she was the one that was overjoyed with the possibility of finding the almost fabled necklace. Ryujin heard her girlfriend’s calls but she ignored them, instead continuing her way to her cabin and slamming it behind her, locking it to give her some sense of privacy after such a humiliating display of hope and celebration.

…..

….

…

..

.

Ryujin didn’t come out of the cabin until much later, probably a day later because the whole humiliation of it all forced Ryujin into a slumber she wished she would never wake up from. She knew that she eventually had to face the music, and so after having a shower and changing into some new clothes, she left her cabin in search of Yeji, her girlfriend being the only person to take control of the crew after Ryujin.

She tried her best to ignore the pitiful looks that her crew gave her, all of them knowing that Ryujin was taking the loss the hardest. She has dedicated herself to try find the almost fabled Greek family heirloom and to have it snatched from right under her nose, it was beyond upsetting.

Ryujin sighed as she walked along the ship until she finally reached her intended destination, it being the place that one would most likely find the head of engineering. Ryujin stepping into the Research and Engineering lab, her eyes looking around the room and immediately spotting her girlfriend sitting at her designated work desk, tinkering about with the Dunkin. The other lab member spotted Ryujin at the entrance and flashed her a pitying smile before returning to their work. Ryujin sighed and walked towards Yeji, the engineer not yet noticing her presence as she was focused on her robot. Ryujin wrapped her arms around her from behind, feeling the engineer tense for a few moments only to relax when she realised who it was. She then placed down her tools and turned around in her seat to hug Ryujin back, wrapping her arms around her waist.

Neither of them said anything at first, simply revelling in each other’s warmth and comforting touch, Yeji rubbing the base of Ryujin’s back as she hugged her while Ryujin threaded her fingers in Yeji’s hair, taking great comfort in the soft dark locks of her girlfriend.

“Are you okay?” Yeji murmured, looking up from her position at Ryujin’s chest, resting her chin on Ryujin’s sternum as she gazed at her with soft eyes. Ryujin sighed and shook her head.

“No.”

“We will find it Ryu, there are plenty of rooms on the ship. It has to be on one of them.”

“Mhmm.”

Yeji has always been the more optimistic between the two, despite Ryujin’s obvious passion for their prolonged goal and more direct leadership for their research. Ryujin knows that there is a possibility for the necklace to be in some of the other rooms, but still, she had hoped for it to be in this one because their other attempts of searching for it had led to failure. Yeji sighed and instead hugged Ryujin tightly again, nestling her head in Ryujin’s chest. Ryujin hugged her closely, resting her chin on top of Yeji’s head.

As the two of them continued to hug, Ryujin gazed around the lab, noticing the busy actions of Yeji’s assistants as they seemed rather focused on the cleansing of some items. Taking a closer look from her position in the room, she noticed that they were cleaning a rather large object in a water container, a miniature hose gently hosing water on the item. Ryujin pulled away slightly from Yeji to try get a closer look.

“What are they working on?” She asked, Yeji turning to look at Ryujin’s line of focus. She hummed and stood up from her seat, taking Ryujin’s hand and leading her to the cleansing station while her assistants continued to work.

“They are working on the documents that you pulled out from the safe. While they may not be what you had wanted…they are still relics from the ship. They could be worth something.”

Ryujin hummed in thought as she watched the cleansing process of the documents. She noticed that on the side was already some of the money which had been used during the historical period, as well as a few bank statements and what seemed to be business documents. She was not sure how much they would be worth but it was something. While the documents did not interest her much, Ryujin did become slightly interested in the larger document that they were currently cleaning. She noticed that it was rather thick, the pieces of paper wadded together from being in the ocean that she wasn’t even certain that it would be preservable.

But despite her reservations, Ryujin continued to watch, the ocean getting washed off from the document, revealing the colour of the faded paper, although as it continued to get cleaned, Ryujin began to notice shapes beginning to form on the paper. As it continued to be cleaned, Ryujin began to realise that it was in fact a drawing of something, or rather of someone as it started to become more clear to Ryujin that it was a drawing of a person.

Becoming somewhat mesmerised at the small unveiling of the painting, Ryujin watched as more details started to be revealed. It was a stencil drawing of a woman, a beautiful women from what Ryujin could see as she appeared to be rather young, about in her twenties. She appeared to be laying on a couch, her head placed on a cushion with her dark hair displayed out rather naturally, perfectly showing off her beautiful face. Her eyes was her most standout feature on her face, rather feline-shaped like Yeji’s, albeit her eyes were darker, much more seductive and intense. The woman was drawn like a marble statue, her features soft but sharp at the same time.

The woman was most definitely posing, her one arm resting above her head while the other rested on the pillow beside her head. It was a rather odd pose since it seemed rather seductive, but Ryujin realised that the painting was in fact supposed to seductive because with further cleansing, the drawn revealed to be . Perfectly shaped revealed themselves to Ryujin and the others in the room, along with a firm stomach and perfect smooth legs. It was obvious to Ryujin that the woman was beautiful, face and body, and could understand why one would want a picture of such a beautiful woman but then she noticed something on her body which she did not notice before.

“Wait a second, wait a second.” Ryujin suddenly said, pushing herself closer to the cleansing table to get a closer look at the drawing, her eyes particularly focusing on the woman’s neck.

While the woman was , she wore only one item of clothing and it was a necklace around her neck, a rather large looking one. Ryujin reached for the thick document and lifted it out the water, bringing the picture to full view for everyone in the room, their eyes also suddenly fixed on the picture of the necklace on the woman’s neck. Ryujin’s eyes widened, a sudden thought striking her as she took in the details of the necklace.

The necklace contained a large jewel, a darkly coloured one from the looks of it; however, there was an intricate rim shaping the jewel into a heart, the rim containing its own miniature jewels along it, lighter coloured jewels than the central one that laid against the centre of the woman’s collarbone. The jewel was supported by a chain, a rather thick one that needed to support the weight of the heavy-looking jewel.

…

..

.

“It’s the heart.” Ryujin suddenly announced, her eyes transfixed on the drawing of the necklace on the woman.

“What?” Yeji suddenly questioned, her eyes on Ryujin’s face but the dark-haired girl didn’t turn to look at her girlfriend, a spark of excitement in her body as hope began to fill up again.

“It’s the heart babe. The Heart of Amphitrite. This is it.”

Even though there have never been any sightings or pictures of the Heart of Amphitrite, there have been small words of rumour of what the necklace looked like, the only most stable descripting being that it was in the shape of a heart, essentially the same as the heart-shaped jewel in the drawing. It has been said that the Heart of Amphitrite even outshined the British royal jewels and heirlooms, and even though it was a simple drawing, the claim could easily be supported with how intricately drawn it was in the picture, its very precious and luxurious essence captured perfectly. Ryujin’s eyes glanced down at the bottom of the drawing, noticing a date and a pair of initials written in slight cursive on the page.

April 14 1912 LM

A smile immediately crawled along Ryujin’s face, excitement and hope mixing with one another in her body.

“She was on the Poseidon.” She murmured, mesmerised by the fact that the rumour of the Heart of Amphitrite being on the famous ship was true. Yeji grabbed Ryujin by the arm, forcing her to look at her. Excitement gleamed in Yeji’s feline shaped eyes, similar to the drawn woman.

“What do you want us to do first?” She asked, allowing Ryujin to take the lead on the follow out from this discovery, since she was the one that noticed it first. Ryujin smiled and brought her free hand to Yeji’s cheek, cupping and it gently.

“Call the media, we have an announcement to make.”

///

The search for the Heart of Amphitrite was something which very few decided to continued since its disappearance from the Greek royal family. It was deemed lost and forgotten, it being a remnant of the past that had been forgotten due to the still existing royal families.

When Ryujin and Yeji discovered the story about the famous royal necklace, they were immediately compelled to look for it despite the discouraging words of their family, friends, and colleagues. All of them told the couple that they were chasing a fabled legend with no grounds of truth, but the two women were resilient to find it. Even if it took their whole lifetime, they were determined to be the ones to prove the existence of the famed jewels.

And now they finally had a chance to prove that their work was not a dead-end.

It was difficult for them to conduct their research in the first place because they produced so little results that their research sponsors were ready to withdraw their support completely. But now they had a reason to continue supporting the couple and their research, They had discovered physical proof of the existence of the Heart of Amphitrite, a feat which had not been achieved by anybody else in the world.

Ryujin and Yeji stood as a united front when they were almost immediately given the opportunity to be given a broadcasted interview by the media, their discovery being the biggest of the century. The couple told the media about their research and their most recent discovery of the drawing that revealed the very first image of the famed jewel. They both emphasised on their belief that the necklace was in the ship and that they still striving to retrieve it from its grave.

Since it was their discovery, Ryujin and Yeji did not want to bring on more researchers in case they want to try cash in on the success of the discovery, but they did offer actions of aid from other historians and researchers that could possibly know more about the necklace and the people who could have owned it during their stay on the Poseidon.

The discovery of the drawing renewed the energy of the crew on their research ship, all of them wanting to get into the water as soon as possible to continue their search for the Heart of Amphitrite, Ryujin being the most eager to return to the water, but then they were stopped by Yeji as she had to finish repairing their search robots before they could return to the ocean, halting their plans for a few days.

Ryujin was a little put out, but she opted to instead help Yeji as much as she could to speed up the process, and so found herself in the engineer’s lab trying to be of use until they were suddenly being interrupted by Yuna, her eyes wide with excitement as she was suddenly urging Ryujin to follow her.

“Yuna, just what are you up to?” Ryujin asked, scowling at the youngest member of their team as she yanked her from her seat next to Yeji, her girlfriend frowning at Yuna as well.

“No time to explain, you need to come take this call we have just received.”

“Yuna I told you, we are not going to take on other researchers even if they offer us-“

“No Ryujin, its not a researcher, it is someone with information on the Heart.”

That caught Ryujin’s attention, along with Yeji’s, and so Yuna was leading both women into the communication centre of the ship, Yuna picking up the phone which was left on hold and handing it to Ryujin.

“She says her name is Jennie Kim.”

“Jennie Kim?” Ryujin repeated, taking the phone from Yuna with furrowed eyebrow. Yuna nodded excitedly and smiled at her, prompting Ryujin to glance at Yeji beside her before putting the phone to her ear. “Hello? Am I speaking to a Jennie Kim?”

“Yes.” A female, elderly voice called out to her. Ryujin sighed, glancing at Yuna with slight annoyance before continuing.

“Good afternoon Mrs Kim, how may I help you?”

“It is Miss Kim Miss Shin, and I believe it is rather how I can help you?” The voice said with a slightly scold, kind of reminding Ryujin of her grandmother when she used to misbehave in her room.

“My apologies ma’am. But if you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean by your statement?”

“I am just wondering on whether you have found the Heart of Amphitrite yet Miss Shin, the woman who wore the necklace was a person I was very close with.”

Ryujin froze, her eyes widening as she turned to stare at Yuna, the youngest smiling widely at Ryujin before nodding her head towards the phone. Yeji looked at Ryujin in confusion, prompting Ryujin to raise her finger at her to wait for a few moments before returning to the phone call.

“Alright, you have my attention Miss Kim, can you tell me who the woman in the picture is?”

A breathy laugh left the elderly voice over the phone, almost as if the woman had amused herself with a joke before humming.

“Oh yes, the woman in the picture is me.”