"Circe has horror stories from underground," Tana says quietly. "Once she started talking about it. Underwater is different for her. Quiet. Peaceful."

The ship tilts slightly, heading into the depths. Light streams down through the water surface, but below them is nothing but inky black.

The inky depths do not soothe Anders. There’s no peace for him in the dark. That year in solitary confinement made sure of that. 

“You don’t have any magic or strange creation to light up the sea?” Anders says, falling back on jokes to pull through his dark mood.

Tana laughs. "Give it a bit. Once we're down far enough I'll put the beams on. S'a whole other world down here."

"Beams? Like...sunbeams?" Anders asks, very curious about the contraption that could light up the bottom of the ocean.

"Kind of. We store some energy from the sunlight while we're on the surface, but that doesn't exactly translate into light down here. And it's not quite as bright."

"That's...incredible!" Anders says on a breath. "No-one, not even the dwarves, not even mages, know how to harness sunlight. That's amazing!"

"I'll show you the kit next time we surface," Tana promises. "It is pretty neat, but it's kinda old hat around here..."

"Maker, if that's old hat, what's new?" 

"I can show you some of that too! I mean. Shard isn't breaking any records for pioneering, but we've jerry rigged most of her, and she's pretty impressive."

"For someone who's never seen a creation like this, literally anything could be new," Anders chuckles.

He's not feeling any more at ease, and there's a proper breakdown on the way, but for now he can enjoy Tana's company.

She nudges their shoulders together companionably, and after a few moments, reaches over to one wall and flips a switch.

There's a quiet clicking and then two beams of light cut through the water. Something immediately flees from in front of them.

"Huh. That was close to the surface."

"What? What was it?" 

Maker, aquatic darkspawn would be his worst nightmare.

"Razor squid unless I'm wrong. Might be spawning season actually. They come to the surface for that..." Beat. "Nothing to worry about. They're maybe...three foot long? Problem if you're in the water without protection, their bills can sheer flesh. Haven't got through metal yet."

"Well, that's not unnerving at all." He finds himself searching the water for one, out of morbid curiosity. "Do they actively attack humans?"

"Sometimes," Tana says with a shrug. "We're a food source. And if we're in the water, we're fair game."

One flits across the window, a ghostly creature that's more tentacle than body, with a razor sharp bill at its front.

"Oh, Andraste's tits that's close." Anders flinches back from the window, his face contorted in disgust.

Tana grins. "The creatures down here dislike light and are drawn by it in equal measure. The fins help dissuade some of the bigger ones from getting too frisky."

"Oh, good, they come in bigger."

"Yup. Think the largest squid I saw was...twenty feet? Circe swears they come bigger. The largest shark was near thirty."

Anders sits where Tana had told him to earlier. "Maker. I'm suddenly reminded of why I don't like small spaces. Big creatures like to corner prey in them."

Tana seems to realise the effect her words are having at that. "-You'd be wrong to write us off as prey. Main gun on this thing can slice through solid steel. And it's not our only option for fighting off those things. On the whole: there are far easier meals than us. Ones not in tin cans."

"Ah, yes, logic. The enemy of irrational fears," Anders says with a weak, but sly, grin.

She grins. "I can keep logicking at you if you want?"

"You sound like Aveline," Anders laughs.

"She sounds like a smart woman."