My heart lifted. This was it. This was how I could finally get off my ass and start helping the team again.
“Bring me up to speed,” Danny said. “What do you guys know about the Astromancer key so far?”
Kallie scoffed. “Basically nothing. Our knowledge on the Divinity Keys is limited. All we know is when the Elves left their home realm of Edinmyre, their goddesses portaled them through the Elven Gate to Darke Island. The goddesses made them protectors of the Elven Gate, which has the power to commune with the gods through the use of seven keys. The Elves were the original owners of all the Divinity Keys, but as more supernatural races came to Earth or developed their magic, they split the keys among them to create an alliance between all supernatural races, while the Elves maintained control of the Gate— for a while, at least.”
Kallie went on. “Ava, Marcus, and I arrived at the Institute with the Elementai, witch, and fae keys, which were handed down to us by our ancestors. We found the angel key inside the Warden’s safe in the Infernal Underground, and we obtained the merfolk key within the lake at the Institute. You know how we got the vampire key in the Devil’s City. As for the Astromancer key, we haven’t been able to find any clues regarding its whereabouts. We aren’t even sure if the Astromancers ever received it from the Elves.”
“According to lost Astromancer mythology, which I’ve recently discovered, the Astromancers received their key and protected it for quite some time,” Takahashi said. “Then in the 1800s, the Astromancer key’s location became compromised when the fae monarch King Minos began sending assassins to eliminate other supernatural rulers.”
Marcus rapped his fingernails on the tabletop. “King Minos. We’ve heard that name before.”
“That was Duchess Amalie’s brother,” Kallie said.
“Ama-who?” Danny asked.
“Duchess Amalie was a fae assassin who obtained the merfolk key from Atlantis in 1867 and brought it to Darke Island aboard a ship called The Assassin’s Destiny,” Kallie told Danny. “Her boat wrecked off the coast of the island, but she portaled it to the nearest inland waters, where her ship and the merfolk key remained submerged for over one-hundred and fifty years until we found it in the lake at the Institute. Most of the crew died in the shipwreck, but Amalie and her crewmate Dante were arrested. He died on Institute grounds, but she was sent back to Malovia where King Minos executed her for treason.”
“That’s correct.” Takahashi rifled through his stack of papers. “But these records indicate that The Assassin’s Destiny did not sail alone. Amalie was accompanied by an entire fleet. One companion ship in particular is named in the records, a ship that translates to The Great Escape.”
“Why would this document be written in Elvish?” Danny wondered. “What do the Elves have to do with this voyage?”
“Amalie sailed to Darke Island before the Elven genocide, and we know The Assassin’s Destiny was an Elvish ship,” Ava recounted. “When we were researching her story, we learned that she sailed with merfolk and vampires, so the fact that these records exist indicates she was working with Elvish allies as well, who must’ve recorded details about their journey.”
“Yes,” Takahashi confirmed. “From what I can tell, these records were kept on The Assassin’s Destiny and were salvaged from the debris of Amalie’s shipwreck, which is how the Warden got his hands on them. He obviously knew these documents were important, though it appears he was never able to obtain a complete translation.”
“Ha!” Marcus laughed. “It was under his nose the whole time!”
Papers rustled as Ava shuffled through the translation. “What happened to the rest of the fleet? Tell us everything, Professor.”
“According to the translation, King Minos sent Duchess Amalie to various supernatural societies to assassinate political opponents he deemed a threat,” Takahashi began. “It was on her journey that she obtained information about the Divinity Keys and their whereabouts. When she reported her findings back to King Minos, he wanted her to collect the keys to elevate the fae’s power within the supernatural world. Amalie disagreed with the king and believed the keys should be protected from those who wished to use them against others. So Amalie began a double life, in which she continued pretending to work for the fae monarchy but was truly using her travels to negotiate alliances with others who wished to protect the keys. She used her skills as an assassin to gather information about which keys were vulnerable, so she and her allies could keep them out of the wrong hands.”
Takahashi tapped the table. “It was during this time that she formed an alliance with a group of Elves. They were the ones that supplied her with the Elven ship The Assassin’s Destiny, as well as The Great Escape mentioned in these records. Amalie and her fleet traveled to East Asia to meet with the Astromancers. There, she formed an alliance with a man named Takahashi Yuto, who wanted to work with her to protect the Astromancer key. He had it in his possession.”
“Takahashi?” Danny repeated. “Isn’t that your name?”
“In Astromancer culture, we speak our last names first, because we emphasize the family name over the individual,” Professor Takahashi explained. “I did some digging, and Yuto was one of my direct ancestors. Though I never found any mention of this story in any Astromancer documents I have access to. I believe Yuto kept this a secret so that the Astromancer key couldn’t be tracked by the wrong people.”
“What happened after Yuto and Amalie formed an alliance?” Kallie asked.
“They agreed that the keys should be hidden out of reach of King Minos. Amalie, however, had a meeting scheduled in Atlantis, and she believed she may be able to obtain information about the merfolk key there. Yuto and Amalie agreed to split up the fleet and sail separately, as it was too risky to sail the seas with two Divinity Keys together. Yuto went on ahead of her.”
“So Yuto set sail to hide the Astromancer key before Amalie’s shipwreck and arrest?” Kallie mused.
“That is what the records indicate,” Takahashi confirmed. “Amalie lost the rest of her fleet somewhere between Atlantis and Darke Island, shortly before The Assassin’s Destiny crashed near its shores. The Great Escape survived with the Astromancer key, as it was on a different voyage entirely.”
“Where did Yuto sail with the key?” I asked.
I could hear the smile in Takahashi’s voice. “These records don’t say where he went, but his notes indicate he was successful in concealing the Astromancer key. Yuto and Amalie agreed to meet in Kinpago after she sailed to Atlantis, where they would continue searching for the Elementai key together.”
Ava slammed her hand against the table. “That’s how the Elvish ships ended up in the cove in Kinpago!”
“The same ships Ava and I stole before being sentenced to the Institute,” I muttered as all the pieces came into place. “That was Yuto’s fleet.”
“Precisely,” Takahashi said. “He must’ve left the ships there because Amalie was caught. They were never reunited, so they were unable to go searching for the Elementai key together.”
“So what… Yuto died in Kinpago waiting for Amalie?” Danny asked.
“I wondered the same thing,” Takahashi said. “I did some more digging on Yuto’s history and learned that he returned to Astromancer society, lived out his life, and died in East Asia. That means he completed his initial voyage and successfully hid the Astromancer key somewhere along the way.”
