Amelie's Arcane Adventure

Amelie Dacné was a badass. At least that's what everyone kept telling her. She couldn't agree more.

The day started with a nice cup of coffee and the morning paper, then she decided to go for a run.

She ran along the Reunion Island beach, enjoying the fresh ocean air and thinking about the next big project at work. As she had done every morning for years, she skipped from one foot to another hopping over the rocks scattered along the shore.

She saw him in the distance. A man wearing an incredulous uniform too big for his body was making his way towards her, almost running down the beach. Amelie didn't care much about him and kept jogging.

"Ms Dacné!" the man shouted through cupped hands as he got closer, "it's me, your assistant!"

Amelie stopped and turned around impatiently. The man was still far away but he was waving his arms like a madman; as if he was trying to tell her something extremely important. She sighed and waited until he caught up with her to ask: "What is it now?"

"There's been an accident," he said between breathless gasps, "you're needed right away."

"Can't you see I'm jogging? I already told you I don't want to be disturbed while running." Amelie said with anger etched into her voice, "Why can't you just wait until I'm done?"

"I'm sorry Ms Dacné..." he said not looking at her face but rather at the ground, "...but it's really important..."

"Fine." She said with a sigh and a frown, "what's going on?" She then quickly added: "And who are you anyway?" as if she had suddenly realised that this man wasn't part of her usual staff.

"My name is William; I'm your new assistant." He answered without looking at her face either.

"You're my new assistant?" she asked staring at him in disbelief, for the first time taking note of his body that looked like a skeleton covered by skin. He must have been at least five feet tall but he weighed no more than forty pounds! And what was with those eyes? There was nothing but white where his irises should have been! He looked like an albino alligator!

* * * * *

Amelie rubbed her eyes hard as if wanting to wipe away the disturbing image of this strange creature standing in front of her. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on what he had said before she had rudely interrupted him. So they were going somewhere because there had been an accident...

"Where do we need to go?" Amelie asked curiously knowing full well that whatever it might be, there would be only one person involved: herself! William flinched when she spoke again but answered nonetheless: "To Jules Verne Station..."

* * * * *

Jules Verne Station was built above the sea to avoid getting flooded during climate changes since sea levels kept rising every year worsening natural disasters worldwide. The station itself was huge with multiple floors housing apartments for workers, labs for research projects and much more... The station even housed their own hospital so any medical emergency could be handled easily without needing to call an ambulance or use their flying cars which could get stuck in traffic jams quite often... It was not only beautiful but also very efficient!

* * * * *

As they approached Jules Verne Station William finally explained why they were needed there so urgently; apparently someone had cut off two major underwater cables linking Africa to Europe causing serious problems in communications between continents... Amelie didn't like this news at all because communications would soon stop flowing everywhere causing chaos worldwide! Her job depended on these cables working properly... But how could anyone have ruined them? They were supposed to withstand almost everything including nuclear bombs! A quick thought crossed her mind: someone must have sabotaged them on purpose! What else could have possibly destroyed them? Sea monsters perhaps? No... They wouldn't be able to reach them so deep under water... Who could have done it then? And why? No matter how many questions popped into her mind Amelie knew one thing: she had no time to waste! If she wanted answers then she would find them after fixing this mess! She opened her phone and called their station manager: "Bill!" she said loudly enough for him to hear even though he was standing right next to her," Get everyone in our team together; we're going underwater immediately!" Bill responded by saying something unintelligible into his own phone before handing it over to Amelie; on the other end stood their boss giving orders so fast that it sounded like an incoherent mumble... After receiving instructions from him Amelie hung up and gave Bill back his phone: "Let's go!" she shouted and rushed towards their flying car followed closely by Bill who seemed too afraid of being left behind alone... After some tense minutes they arrived at their destination: Jules Verne Station's diving point where a small submarine waited for them patiently... As soon as everyone was inside Bill pressed on some buttons displaying information about their mission onto a glass panel above their heads... It seemed that everything had been prepared beforehand because there were no problems whatsoever during takeoff, once they reached cruising altitude they all went into their diving suits while Bill prepared everything he needed inside the submarine... Once they reached the spot where one of the cables used to be they all prepared themselves mentally for what they were about to face... Everyone except Bill who looked slightly pale and nervous but still determined enough not to show any fear in front of others... They made sure that everything worked correctly before opening the hatch of their vessel allowing water inside slowly filling up the room completely leaving only little headspace above everybody's heads when it finally stopped steaming inside... Then Bill went outside closing the hatch behind him leaving everyone inside on their own; looking around frightened by what might happen next everyone stared at Amelie waiting for instructions... Even though she didn't know exactly what she should do yet either, seeing everybody else waiting for help made her feel responsible enough to act quickly just so everyone would have someone else on whom they could rely instead of just praying silently hoping that miracles would somehow occur out of nowhere saving them from this dreadful situation... Taking a deep breath Amel