From the POV of a spherical ship the size of a moon, we approach a seemingly dead planet with no atmosphere. But as we draw closer in, there’s a flash and instantly, the planet transforms into an ocean world the blue of sapphire.

Slowly the ship enters the atmosphere, passing through clouds. Its shadow looms over a vast ocean. The ship stops moving, but we carry on, hearing the squeak of something come out of it. On the water we see the shadow of a protruding object that looks like a city-sized vacuum.

Our journey takes us under the ocean, into a gated city of gold and silver. In the city we see merfolk make purchases with crystalized bubbles.

Centermost of the city sits a great palace of pure gold as tall as the city is wide. Guarded by merfolk armored in diamond and armed with swords of amethyst and emerald, it is clear to see that the palace is the city’s nucleus. We enter the palace, hearing the hurried splashing of water before we see the swimmer, a mermaid QUEEN.

The Queen bursts into the throne room. Alarmed, the mermaid KING rises from his throne. Behind him, sword in hand, is XAVIER PANTHER, his loyal guard. The queen says two words: “They’re here!” and the king’s eyes fill with dread.

“But...” is all the king gets out before the palace shakes. The walls start to crack. Xavier urges the king and queen to get to safety, but they ignore him. They stare at each other and say, “Azah.”

Joined by Xavier, the king and queen swim to the princess’s chambers and find it empty. They don’t have time to wonder where she could be when the palace shakes again. Pieces of it come down. They see the writing on the wall: they are going to die.

But there is one thing they can do, the queen says. The King and Queen can send Xavier to the Sacred Trench, an intermediate dimension connecting their world of Eden to its nearest ocean world, Gardenia, that only royals can access. They won’t have time to get to the teleporter in the palace’s basement and go together, the queen explains, but she and the king can use their power to send Xavier there.

Xavier refuses, saying he cannot abandon the royals, but as the palace breaks apart, the Queen stresses that he must. 2. Only he can find their daughter and warn the other kingdoms. His eyes water but the king wipes away his tears, tells him that they couldn’t be prouder of the man they raised. Finally, Xavier agrees, and they send him off.

As Xavier passes through the Sacred Trench, he sees glimpses of what happened outside. A massive ship the white of snow vacuumed the world’s entire ocean. The last thing he sees is the Imperial Palace he grew up in dry out and crumble. There’s a white flash and we see the title: Legend of Gardenia.