This part always made me nervous, it was the last gate into the fruitful halls beyond. Well, less like a gate and more akin to a narrow crack. It didn't help that barnacles coated its entire opening to make it razor sharp and razor thin. I let out a gasbubbled sigh before squeezing through.

I made it through unscathed this time, my carry sack wasn't as lucky, however. My bottles were spilling out of the cloth wound like lead droplets. I only retrieved half of them before they drained down the fissure. This soured my mood even more, but I shook it off before heading into the great hall.

It was a world apart from beyond its bastion reef walls, a pond of animation and vibrancy set within a sea of cold, crushing indifference. Here I would part ways with the remainder of my product and leave with a new necklace or bauble.

I wove my wave through the frantic turbulence of traffic, buyers and merchants alike choked the broad waterway. Mercantile stands and booths of all kinds were placed against the limestone pillars and coral outcrops. They wrapped around the enclosed dome, except for the air pockets of course, peddling wares of varying rarity and dubious quality. A beggar from Lai Gos could sell the shirt off their back as easily as a lords heirloom jewels.

It was a whirlpool of activity and sound, people haggling a league away could be seen by their breath trail bubbles rising to the capstone rock. I quickly pawned off my paltry haul to the usual bidders and raced to the Pearl District. Here an honest worker could buy their beloved's affection for a modest price.

I perused over the polished, gleaming orbs, their reflection glinting off the merchants scales. I emptied my pouch on the counter and begged for what little that could buy me. I was handed a simple box with a pale pearl sat within. It would have to do.

My excitement grew as I swam through the bustling marketplace, its din fading to a dull ache against my racing thoughts. My daydream state was broken when halted before the reefstone exit. I had been too preoccupied with the future that my mind had wandered from the present and so too had my pearl.

I frantically searched my bags for any sign of that priceless trinket, but it was lost. Either to the shifting currents or the nimble fingers of a rogue my pearl had been lifted and I intended to retrieve it. The halting bellows of a coral horn drew my attention to the square. A solitary figure wormed their way through a throng of enchanted onlookers making deft, almost imperceptible movements. Their hands were passing unseen through pockets and almost certainly had been through mine.

I brazenly approached the thief and my rapid approach was met by a hasty retreat. They caught wind of my ire filled gaze and attempted to lose me in the ocean of celebrants. I nearly had them when my bag caught on a passing fin and jerked me back.

They jolted through a tiny crack in the rock before I could recover and their tail disappeared into the undermarket hive. Even I wasn't foolish enough to tread there. I told myself that there are some cracks not worth squeezing through and floated back to the unforgiving open depths.

The shafts of light swayed through the rippling water, their tips straining to penetrating the darkness below. I stayed the course, not looking back on the haven of light and life. Best not to dwell on the past when the future can still be bargained for.