They did find out that the Voidstones were, in fact, the base of creating type-specific discs. After stocking up on a lot of Wave discs (which, by the way, looked really cool. It wasn't triangular, but it was blue and took the shape of ocean waves spiralling in opposite directions), Nadia was done with her processed discs. Felver watched on with mild interest.
Lucy looked satisfied with her discs, while Lucas was still choosing which type he wanted to prioritize. Mabel stocked up on three discs of each she could make, which satisfied her (and Starla, who perched on her shoulder for the time being).
As for Musa, she did the same thing Mabel did, stocking on six discs instead of three. Zinx decided to get Mind-type and then went ahead towards the gate to the beach. Mabel and Lucy protested and went after him, Angel and Lucas went after them, and so now it's just Jake, Nadia, and Musa.
"...I can't help but think about Atlanthian City," Jake quips on their slower journey towards Lotusun Beach, as Musa had told them, "the first time I heard it, it wrenched out memories of the place I came from."
Nadia turns to look at him curiously. "How come?" She asks him. "Is there a city like it where you come from?"
Jake shakes his head. "Not quite...but it bore a similar name." He explains to them, stopping in front of them, so they stop as well.
"I'm sure we'll find more about Atlanthian when we get there. So let's find a way there first before I tell you more, okay?" Jake, for the first time, looked tired. His smile is a little strained, Musa and Nadia notice. Nadia is the first to act though, bringing Jake into a hug after a moment of silence. Musa comes in after, wrapping her arms around the both of them. Both their Loomians who have been tailing behind them come up to give Jake a hug as well.
"...I understand. It's got to be a hard story to digest, right? Tell us when you're ready, Jake. There's no need to rush." Nadia smiles into Jake's shoulder.
Jake lets out a chuckle, bringing his arms around everyone. "You know, you really reminded me of my friend there."
"What was your friend like?" Nadia pulls away, breaking the hug. Musa nods in agreement, also curious about the nature of this friend.
"Ah...um. She, well, she is quite similar to Nadia here. Both parents are archaeologists and a series of events led to her and her friends taking down an evil organization, which was also the reason why I'm here." Jake nods to himself. "...Yeah. You're both quite valiant, and you both have loved to battle since young...I see a lot of her in you, Nadia, I really do. And...all that is making me reminisce the past."
Jake turns around and begins to walk again, looking up at the sky at the same time. Nadia and Musa follow him, listening to him talk.
"I kinda miss them." Jake says after a beat of silence. "Every day I'm here I'm wondering whether I saved them...how they're doing now...if I'll ever see them again....I may never see them again, I'm afraid of that. But please," He looks back at them, "Don't tell me 'we'll find a way to get you back', or 'there's gonna be a way.' There may not be, and I'm wholly accepting that fact."
Musa looks at Jake solemnly, nodding slowly as if she still wants to believe they could help Jake. Nadia too, she's gone full silent, Felver nudging her side to see if she is still okay.
"...Sorry, I didn't mean to bring down the mood. We need to get to the beach right? I think the gate's right over there." Jake points to a road diverging from the rest of the resort, heading off in a direction directly east of the laboratory. Musa perks up at this and speeds up her walking.
"Yeah, this is it! It's Lotusun Beach. This should be the way to get to Atlanthian City." She steps up to the gate, gesturing for the both of them to follow.
"Lotusun?" Nadia wonders. She also steps up to the gate, waving her hand in front of it to get it to open. Felver stays close behind as Jake walks over as well.
"It sounds like a combination of Lotus and Sun. Is there a reason?" Jake wonders as they pass through the gates.
"Maybe, but I don't go to this beach often, so I don't know..." Musa is the first to step onto the cobblestone on the other side. Mabel, Lucy, Lucas, Angel, and Zinx turn back upon hearing the gate open.
"Ah! You guys are finally here!" Lucy is the first to speak, a smile on her face, delighted to see her new friends come through the gate.
Angel goes and gives Nadia a hug, which Nadia responds by doing the same. She looks around the beach, which was bright and glistening under the sun.
"This is Lotusun, huh?" Nadia marvels at the shimmering sea before her.
"Yeah! Don't you think this could be a great vacation spot? The ocean's so sparkly and clear, we can play in it all day!" Lucy exclaims, pointing excitedly at the water. Lucas nods along to his sister.
"Yeah, this is the perfect place to hang out for a while. What do you guys think?" He looks at everyone when Jake clears his throat to grab their attention.
"Maybe we should hold that off for when we finish Nadia's mission, yeah? We don't have time to relax, not when the properties of the stone shards are drastic." Jake vetoes their idea, but it was understandable, because despite Lucy and Lucas looking solemn about the missed chance to play at the beach, they cannot debate the fact that the stone shards are dangerous. "Don't worry, after we help Nadia, we can relax all we want!" He reassures them, so they perk up again and decide to talk about how to get to the city.
"Me and Lucy have a good idea for how we get there," Lucas speaks up, which gets everyone's attention directed to him. "We've gone to Atlanthian City before to visit family, and we've told you this, I believe."
A few nods. Lucy continues.
"Right. So what me and Lucas want to say is, we can take the submarine to Atlanthian. You know, since the whole city is underwater!" She exclaims. "Pretty crazy, isn't it?"
Lucy goes on to explain how the city is a giant dome situated near the ocean floor and how people go their everyday lives there. Mabel feels uncomfortable the entire time listening.
"Mabel? What's up?" Jake asks, shaking the girl out of her stupor.
"Ah, it's nothing, don't worry. It's just that...I feel a bit unnerved thinking about living in a bubble my entire life. Don't you think so too, Starla?" Mabel peers down at her Loomian, who only gazes back with a bewildered stare.
"Well, the air supply in Atlanthian compared to Sepharite is a ton better." Musa quips. "After all, it's underwater, so we don't have natural oxygen coming in."
Nadia raises an eyebrow at Musa, who clarifies, "I live near the entrance to the city."
Ah.
"But, speaking of Starla," Lucy says, "it's odd seeing a Loomian this quiet all the time, don't you think?"
Zinx nods slowly. "It's pretty uncharacteristic, I have to admit. But, it's not unlikely."
Mabel kneels down and nudges Starla's ear. In return the Loomian nuzzles into Mabel's touch, completely ignoring the people crowding around it to look. "Maybe it's just shy?" Mabel comments, which she earns a light slap to the shoulder.
"This Loomian has favoritism, you know. It's been clinging onto you this entire time." An exasperated Lucy looks down at Starla, who saunters behind Mabel's legs, shying away completely. "Case in point." Lucy clicks her tongue, but feeling no offense.
"That's okay, it just means that Starla must really like me, right?" Mabel replies, to which Lucy surrenders the point. Everyone agrees as well, seeing the display in front of them.
Jake looks over the beach, a little lost in thought. "By the way, Nadia," He starts, "Has your father talked to you about any more potential stone locations?"
Nadia fiddles with her watch. "No, he hasn't, not yet." She answers.
"Ah. I see. Well, I guess we can ask around when we get to the city, and see if anyone has heard anything." Jake decides, and everyone agrees.
"We should check out the Battle Theatre there too. Doesn't hurt to train ourselves for the next attack." Zinx suggests as well.
Nadia nods. "Well, looks like we have our plan. Do you two know where to go to travel to the city?" She looks at Lucy and Lucas, who nod simultaneously.
"I believe there's a place to board a submarine at the docks on the beach. It's been a long time, though, so I'm not sure if the location's changed." Lucas answers. Jake glances off to the large pier to the right of them.
"That sounds simple enough. Come on!" He starts to walk towards the docks. Mabel follows him, along with Lucy and Lucas. Angel instead drags Nadia to the beach, deciding to meet up with everyone else later.
Nadia is surprised, Felver yelping as his trainer gets dragged away by her cousin. "Eh? What's up, Angel?" She asks, but then she sees the large volleyball net in front of them.
"Let's play some volleyball, Nadia!" Angel suggests. "Just one game, after these guys."
They wait until the previous group finish using the volleyball net, then situate themselves on opposite ends. The wind is blowing against Nadia; she's at a disadvantage.
"Felver, help me out here!" Nadia calls for the Loomian, who plants himself right next to Nadia.
"Torprey!" Angel calls as well, and the Loomian stands right across from Felver.
"Okay, serve's up!" Nadia holds up the ball in an underhand position. "First to five wins!"
She spikes the ball as hard as she could, watching as the ball barely served over the net and dropping to the ground. However, near the ground, Torprey uses her leg to kick it back across the net. Nadia runs towards where the ball would land, bumping it to Felver who stands in front of the net, ready to jump.
Using his tail, Felver hits the ball back across the net, and Angel dives to the front with her arm outstretched, kicking up sand as she does so. Torprey manages to avoid the sand, jumping up and spiking the ball down into the sand, before either of them could react.
This goes on for the next four rounds, with Angel winning 3-2.
"Haah, can't believe you beat me at volleyball of all things," Nadia comments in an exasperated manner, but there's no bite in her tone. Angel, however, laughs triumphantly.
Making their way to the dock, they spot their friends crowded around the entrance to the submarine and pick up their pace. They make their way to the rather long dock and get close enough to listen to the conversation.
"So you mean there's really no way to get the tickets now?" Jake sounds deflated. Mabel was about to speak up when the man guarding the entrance began to talk.
"I'm sorry, kids. Like I said, you need to buy the tickets online a few weeks in advance if you're not a citizen of Atlanthian City." He confirms.
"And I can't just buy for all of us?" Musa asks, going through her inventory, presumably to look for her ID, but the guard puts a hand in front of her, telling her to stop.
"Your ticket is for you only, meaning only you may enter the city." Musa sighs and exits her inventory grudgingly.
"That's so weird though...the last time we went to Atlanthian City, we didn't have to do all this." Lucas puts a hand to his chin, tapping a finger against his cheek in thought. Lucy on the other hand was frustrated, to say the least.
"Well, what are we supposed to do now?!" She cries, clapping her hands together and screaming into them. The dock worker looks incredibly stressed at the hand of about six kids who just wanted to get into the city.
"Eh? What do you mean, we can't buy tickets?" Angel asks. Zinx explains the situation and instantly Angel is about to roll up her sleeves. "Okay, you know what?!"
"No, Angel! Control yourself!" Nadia immediately grabs her by the arms to prevent her from escaping. As added measure, Torprey and Felver come in front of Angel to try and calm her down.
"We're being denied entry, Nadia!" Angel protests, trying to escape, but Nadia refuses to relent.
"That's not the man's fault, Angel!"
"I'm sorry, I really can't help you." But then the guard seemed to remember something. "Oh! I remember, there might be another way for you to get ahold of some tickets." Immediately the group's eyes turn on him like a group of wild and hungry Loomians that spotted some food.
"Ah...well, you see, there's a diner over there. The Dive n' Dine, see? The owner of the submarine company happens to be there right now. It's his favorite place to eat whenever he travels to the surface. If you're lucky, you might be able to convince him to give you some extra tickets for a ride today." He explains. And before anyone could react, Jake nods and bows as a thank you.
"Thank you for the tip, sir." Jake says.
"My pleasure. Let me know if you succeed in getting tickets." The guard nods back.
The group manages to drag themselves to the Dive n' Dine with the prospect of food (Led by Lucas).