The Elven Magicker's Resolve: Hidden in the Rainbow Depths (Trash Monster #2, prompt 2)

Fayen paced around the wooden walkway of the city, attempting to gather their thoughts.
Although they had a fairly clear idea of what had caused the monster to form, they were no closer to stopping its rampage. Nor could they be sure why this specific city had been attacked. The details were still so aggravatingly murky.
They frowned, glancing towards the battle in the distance. Had some progress been made? In truth, it didn’t seem like it. The guild’s relentless onslaught had yet to die down. 
Wasting time here with their thoughts would help no one, but what more could they do? They’d be useless in the fight.
“Um, hello?” A timid voice called out.
Fayen looked towards the sound and realized it had come from a red, octopus-like woman with a bright blue gem on her head, floating down in the rainbow waters of the swamp. Meeting her gaze, they asked, “Hello, ma’am. Do you need help?”
“No! I’m fine,” she quickly reassured them, in a sweet, bubbly voice. “But you don’t seem fine. Are you troubled?” 
“Is there anyone here who isn’t?” In the midst of this chaos, even the calmest personalities would surely have trouble.
“Then, maybe I can help you with something.” She paused to think. “Are you hurt? I could heal you if you need it.” Her eyes shone as bright as the gem on her head. “I’m very good at that!”
“As much as I appreciate your kind offer, I’m, thankfully, uninjured.” Compared to the others, risking their lives… Fayen confessed to themself, in this moment, they felt unbearably cowardly.
Despite everything, the woman didn’t give up. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?”
“Not in that regard,” Fayen replied. “But perhaps…”
If information was what they lacked, what else was there to do besides investigate? And she might be able to provide a unique perspective.
“Although I hate to take you away from those who could benefit from your aid, there might indeed be a matter you could assist me with,” they began. “I intend to uncover the mystery of that monster. Exploring a swamp is rather difficult for me, however, limited as I am to dry land. Would you be willing to search the waters?”
“Oh! Yes, I could try. Where do you want me to look?” the woman responded.
Fayen pointed towards the bank towards the left of the monster, where it had first appeared from. “Since our aim is to discover the origins of the creature, it would be best to start from the beginning,” they suggested.
She gave them a determined nod. “Okay, I’ll do my best.” She turned her body to leave, but before she did, she added over her shoulder, “Should I wait for you over there, or come back when I’m done?”
“I will meet you there as soon as I am able.”

 

-+-

 

Fayen trudged through the forest, scouring the land for anything of note. Occasionally, they stopped to examine suspicious markings, holes, and rock formations, but they were unable to sense anything unusual upon further inspection.
It was… frustrating. How could there be no signs at all? Something as dangerous as a rogue earth elemental would leave traces behind, some sort of magical object or aura. 
They approached the edge of the water where they had asked the woman from earlier to meet them.
Gods above, may she have found something.
While they were making a cursory examination of the area, a splashing sound from the water behind them grabbed their attention. 
There the octopus woman was, holding something—or was it several somethings?—in her hands. Fayen walked towards her as she piled her findings on the ground.
“It was hard to see underwater, but I came across these,” she said. “What do you think?”
Fayen plucked an object from the pile and scrutinized it. A broken section of a stone tablet, written in a language they did not know— likely runes. Unfortunately, with no way to decipher the writing, it wouldn’t be particularly helpful.
They picked another object to study. It was a round golden amulet of some kind, with a jewel inlaid in the center. There was some magic emanating from it, though it didn’t match what they’d felt from the monster earlier.
The final item was a water-worn clay totem, no bigger than the palm of their hand. It had an approximate representation of a head, torso, and legs, but no arms to speak of. Based purely on visuals, it was unassuming. Nevertheless, the power radiating off of it was too familiar to be a coincidence.
Fayen met the other’s eyes. “Thank you, ma’am. With this, I believe you’ve unearthed a vital clue.”
She smiled at them. “You think? I’m not sure exactly what it means, though.”
“If I speak honestly, neither do I,” they admitted. “Even so, we are not without options.”
Cupping the totem in their hands, they closed their eyes and whispered an incantation.
Reveal.
Blurry images flashed across their vision—of a human? Of Wouagi, many, many years ago—mixed with unfocused, ancient garbling and the feeling of darkness, absolute darkness, plunging deeper into the depths…
“That’s enough,” the octopus woman said, and they opened their eyes again, dragged out of the vision.
Lightheaded, Fayen was forced to sit down in the mud to recollect themself.
“Are you all right? That didn’t look good for you,” the woman asked.
They waved away her question. “I will be. But I would like to tell you what I have learned.”
She tilted her head in curiosity. “Hm? What did you see?”
Fayen cleared their throat. “First, this was not done by someone recently. Whoever made this is long dead. That much is apparent.” They took a breath. “And on that note… I doubt it was intentional. Do you not think it would be remarkably simple to lose something in these waters?”
“Ah… it’s quite sad, isn’t it?”
They stayed in silence, as the reality of the situation washed over them. All this, by sheer happenstance? As an accident? 
This couldn’t be the sole reason, could it?

Author's notes

Word count: 1015 words Prompt 2: Explore the Mystery Thank you to Bordayus for letting me use their character Joy in this one :)  Sorry that this is largely unedited, it's too late in the day for my brain to work properly. I hope my ideas get across in spite of that.