Alright. This is fun.

I tilt my hand slightly to the left. I feel the sub shift under me. It’s a weird, new experience. The water roars around our sub.

The fish are glowing.

Amazing. Once we had gotten into the depths of the ocean, strange organisms are constantly seen around us. The most common being the glowing fish.

They come in a variety of colors. Violet being my favorite, of course. They also give me some visibility underwater.

Speaking of which, I need to talk to Lyvia about that. A sub that relies on plain visibility? That’s suicide. Though, I’m not sure if there’s any other sense.

For now, I can make do. The helmet shows me a full view of the world around me, that is, all six sides. Up, down, front, back, right and left. I need to turn my head to look in a particular direction.

I look down, and I see the ocean bed a few miles away. But, since the water isn’t clear, it isn’t clear. All I can see is a vague brown landscape. Wait, can it be called landscape if it’s underwater? Does it matter? Probably not.

There is also some fish swimming alongside our submarine. I don’t know what they’re up to. They just swim alongside, like the submarine is some sort of Mama fish. It’s eerie, and I don’t like it. I wish I could get rid of them.

I can’t, though, so I have to bear with it. I push down my annoyance and focus ahead.

A hundred meters away, or so I think, are large rock pillars. They twist and turn, and spread for miles together. Going around would take more time than going through. But is going through worth the risk?

Yes. It absolutely is.

I move my hand forward, and feel the submarine move forward as well. I lean back. A few minutes later, I am at the rock formations.

The rock is pale yellow. I can see grooves eroded into the pillars because of water currents. They are strips of orange and light pink spots dotting them too. They are tall enough to nearly reach the surface.

The gaps between them are sometimes small, sometimes large, sometimes mid size. This is in comparison to the sub however. I slowly move my hand backward, and the sub slows to a halt.

There are two moderately risky paths to take. One twists to the left, and the other just goes forward.

I choose to go forward.

I lean backward. Water roars around the sub. The roaring is slightly muffled through the walls. The floors creak.

I smile.

Then an impact sends a shock through my arm. I turn to see what hit us, and see a gigantic turtle on the left.

Indigo lines line it’s wrinkled blue head. Pale green orbs stare at me- no, the sub. The shell itself is indistinguishable from the rock around it.

The floor creaks. The room becomes slightly brighter as the algae on the roof glows.

My mouth gapes.

It’s beautiful… and, at the same time, absolutely terrifying.

It turns to the rock next to it, and bites it. The pillar snaps in two, and falls into the depths of the ocean. I watch as fish scatter, mesmerized.

It crunches the rock. Then, it swallows it and moves on. It swims away, and I keep my eyes on it, afraid that it would turn back to eat the little insignificant submarine.

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With me and Lyvia in it.

But it doesn’t. It goes on eating bits of rock now and then, and then continues to move further and further. Once it is a mile away, I bring myself to move the submarine.

I twist and turn with the rock, and wince everytime we graze a rock. Annoyingly, I hear creaking immediately after.

I know it is the damn submarine. The thing is upset with me? I’m it’s bloody captain! What the hell is it creaking on about?

Finally, the gaps begin to widen and widen until maneuvering the ship is a piece of cake. My arm aches. I massage my biceps, as I stare ahead.

There is a pink coral tree ahead. It glows.

Fish flitter between the branches. I watch as one of the fishes are eaten by a larger fish, then watch that fish get eaten by another fish, in a more gruesome way. The larger fish has some horrible teeth.

Then I watch it get swallowed whole by a squid.

I shudder.

Are there any weapons on this thing?

I thrust my hand forwards. The floor creaks, and I find myself nearly knocked over by the inertia. With some great difficulty, I manage to regain my balance, and continue moving forward.

I look down and still see fish swimming alongside the sub.

“Damn it.” I curse.

The floor creaks loudly.

“Shut up!” I yell.

It creaks.

I sigh, and shake my head. I turn my attention back to the ocean. Ocean floor, that is.

Cracks spiderweb through the surface. The rock is red hot. I watch as geysers of steam erupts occasionally. Past three hundred meters, there is no fish, or any living thing as far as I can see.

Except for seaweed. There is also the bits and pieces of gore that zip through the currents.

Ah. The FC.

A fish gets chased by a crab. I watch as the fish goes next to one of the geysers. The geyser erupts, and the fish… explodes into bits of meat. The meat then goes on to join the currents.

I shudder.

How are we supposed to get through this?

“Jett!” Lyvia yells.

I snap out of my stupor and look at her. She’s wearing a bright expression, and is holding two plates of steaming fish, with some boiled seaweed next to it.

She blinks.

“What are you standing there like that for?”

I shake my head.

“We can’t go through.”

She furrows her eyebrows.

“Go through what?”

“The FC. I’m not sure the sub can handle it.” I say.

The floor creaks.

Lyvia frowns.

“Then what do we do?”

“Go back, and brainstorm.” I say.

“Are you sure?” She asks.

I nod.

“We don’t want to rush this. Can you take over? My arm is hurts.” I say.

She smiles.

“My arm is hurting, darling.” She says.

I open my mouth to protest, but she raises a finger.

“I’ll take over if Aquaria allows it.”

The floor creaks. I shrug.

I pull off the helmet. The vines recede. I pull my arm out, and flap it. Lyvia walks up to me and kisses me. She hands me the plates, and puts on the helmet. She slides her hands into the hole, and I watch as the vines wrap around them.

I look at the fish, my mouth watering.

“Now, now. Let’s have the food together.”

“I don’t want it to go cold.”

“Then feed me.”

“Oh. Sure.”

I tear off a piece of fish, and walk over to Lyvia. I raise it to her face- and put it in my mouth, and resist chuckling as I see her annoyed expression.

She punches my shoulder. Hard.

“Sorry!” I yell.

“You better be.”

***

The sub slows to a stop. Lyvia retracts her hand, and takes off the helmet.

“So. What do we do now?”

She shrugs.

“We have enough supplies to last us for a lifetime. And we have a lifetime. Let’s not rush this.”

“Hmm. So, we go to the city, and research on how to make armor?”

She nods.

I grin.

“Honey, you’ve never seen me in action, but when you do, I bet I’m gonna blow your mind.”

“I’ve ‘blown’ your mind so many times. It’s about time you did it to me for once.”

I deadpan.

She laughs.