The Tower of Passion

Fiona stood staring at the steps. The morning had been good - Liddy had grabbed her first thing, 'helped' her as Fiona was pretending Qae was not watching from her sleeping bag five foot away. They'd eaten some quick breakfast, and then... Stood on the edge of a cliff. About to trust a staircase made of geysers to support their walk down into a tunnel made of fast-moving water. Each step was comfortably wide, 10 feet across, a foot and a half deep. But there were no guardrails. And it was water. And it was very high up.

And Fiona was scared of the ocean.

"What if I lose my balance" She started, looking at her two companions, exasperated already standing on the first step. Liddy had been down and back, reporting that the tunnel continued deep into the sea and seemingly had breathable air the whole way. Qae seemed bored, her armour now donned - Liddy and Fiona had both helped her with it. Her domineering personality was... Well, it was still there. But not as strong as during last nights activities.

"Do you want us to hold your hand" Qae said, snarkily. Fiona thought for a moment. She knew it had been an insult, a joke. She looked at Qae.
"That... That might help" She said meekly. Qae rolled her eyes, but reached out one hand. Liddy did the same. Finally, Fiona took one tentative step onto the aquatic staircase. The rushing of water beneath her feet tickled her slightly and she gave out a little giggle, but it seemed stable. The pressure was uniform, and her worries of falling were alleviated.

It still felt nice to hold her friends' hands though, so she clung onto them. Her lifeline. Which made no sense, cause they stood on the same staircase she did - but it made her feel better about it all.
"ok." She took deep rapid breaths,  hyping herself up."
"I'm ready. Let's see where we have to go next." She said, and the three descended the several hundred feet long staircase, down to the sea.  Once they reached the ocean surface, they kept going where an invisible barrier had carved out the sea for them, waves splashing against it. The sea spray not actually getting into the dry patch. The smell of salt was intense as they entered the tunnel proper, the swirling sea surrounding them on all sides, before Fiona stepped onto the sea floor.

Fiona felt her heart clench as she stepped into the dark tunnel, panicking about being swallowed by the sea. In the dark.

As she took a scared step into the dark tunnel, strange ethereal lights lit up in the waters surrounding it. Glowing jellyfish floating lit their way, while a shimmer of daylight shone through from the top of the tunnel, casting undulating shadows on the floor. It felt otherworldly, ethereal - the sheer beauty of the floor alleviating some of her fears. The tunnel took them through a colourful reef, little crabs scuttling about. Occasionally surprised sealife fell through the watery wall into the tunnel, Liddy quick to help the discombobulated creatures get back to their safety. Anemonies somehow stayed alive, tentacles of all colours waving in unseen currents, incredible formations of corals appearing as they went deeper and deeper - Daylight becoming a distant above them, but their glowing entourage, lighting their way through the landscape.

"It is... It is beautiful. Still scary, but beautiful." Fiona finally said after the three had walked in silence for a while, still holding her friend's hand - at least when Liddy wasn't rescuing creatures. "I can see why you miss it Liddy - is your home like this?"
The gnome nodded.
"Similar - slightly different, but... Reminds me of home." Excitement was clear in her voice. "I can't wait to see where it leads us!"
"It seems we will find out shortly." Qae spoke up, looking forward. 
As they rounded a corner the floor came to a sudden stop at a rocky cliff. The tunnel continued forward - pink corals grew outwards, creating a bridge for the trio to walk outwards into the open ocean. A few hundred feet forward into the open vastness there was a bubble of sort, similar to the tunnel but expanded. Surrounding a platform of coral, the middle of which had a fierce, turquoise glow.

As Fiona took a first nervous step onto the coral bridge, completely failing in not looking down she saw a sprawling city below her. Spires of coral created buildings, lit up by glowing fish. Large sea creatures swam peacefully through the buildings. It was beautiful... Or would have been.

The tell-tale signs of an attack were apparent. Multiple spires had been toppled over - crashing into smaller buildings. Several of the large creatures were dead, destroying more of the once beautiful city. Liddy gasped as the devastation was apparent. A large, whale-like creature swam past them, bleeding as a Monkey Eel was in full pursuit, hunting it down.

"I expect our task is to stop this invasion." Qae said calmly. "Let us hurry. There is no reason to let the devastation continue." 
Fiona didn't feel a need to respond, just shut away her fear of the depths and sped up. Still holding her friends' hands, they rushed over the bridge as another tower fell below them, the shockwave rippling through the ocean, causing the tunnel barrier to shimmer. 

Approaching the platform, Fiona could see figures, silouetted by the glow. A smaller one- central, almost at the sort of it, and three larger, imposing creatures surrounding them. Fiona started running. This seemed an important point in the dungeon - it had felt very different to the first, but she expected similar layout. A simple start, followed by a more difficult encounter and then a boss. Standard formula really. This definitely seemed like the second.

As the trio got within steps of the platform, Fiona could see the three larger creatures being some variation of Monkey Eel. Larger, bigger claws, and in one case - tentacles. The first seemed to be a hammerhead shark, muscles bulging. The second was an angler fish, its enormous maw open, vicious teeth on display, it's lantern casting a soft glow against the harsh blue. The third had the head of a squid - it's body was the same as the others, maybe a bit more slender. Two tentacles with triangle-shaped flaps at the end stuck out on either side of its neck, framing its long cone-shaped head..

All of them were seemingly stuck in near petrification. They were moving ever so slowly towards the fourth figure, standing in the middle of the platform. The source of the glow.

She was probably just shorter than Fiona. Light blue skin, white-blonde hair in thick locks draping over her shoulders. Her neck, like Liddy's, had what seemed like gills. What Fiona could only call a seashell bikini covering the woman's significant breasts, sitting between her voluptuous hips, held up with rope woven from seaweed, decorated with more shells. Her arms and legs were covered in various bangles, more woven seaweed, shells, rocks and pieces of coral. Her neck held multiple necklaces covered in the same, and all of her visible skin was covered in what looked like tattoos just a few shades lighter than her skin, waving around her body like an ocean current. Accentuating every part of her body. And they were glowing.

Her hands were raised in front of her face, grasping a gnarled driftwood staff - and this staff was the source of the intense light. Pulsing blue, beams of it pushing towards the tree creatures keeping them at bay. For now. It was clear she could not hold out forever.

"Adventurers-finally. You made it." Her face straining she seemed exhausted. "My spell will falter any moment" Sweat was pouring down her face. "Ready yourself."

The three women got their weapons ready, and as Fiona was about to step forward Liddy stopped her.

"Activate it."" the gnome said.

"What?"

"[Lost in Passion]. We have a tank" Her smaller friend looked up at her, her worry clear on her face. "I think we will need it"

Fiona nodded, gave the mental command and then all went pink.