The underwater temple was pristine, the air itself sparkled but it was the sheer scale that impressed on Carissa the most. The size of the structure was large enough to be an arena, at least as far as she could see, the surrounding area glowed bright enough for her to be unable to make out surroundings clearly.

The walls of the diving bell had increased in transparency, enough for her to see visibly outside but the temple remained at a reasonable distance from their present location. From her perception of scale, the pillars alone reached several hundred meters up into the waters above. The water was present but also clear enough for her to see through.

If she had been told that she would be taken against her will to another world, thrown underwater and then physically and mentally shocked before being taken deep under the ocean to a massive underwater temple filled with bio-luminescent lights then Carissa would have assumed that the person talking to her was either suffering a severe delusion or a design for a new film trilogy.

‘It takes your breath away doesn’t it. The lights are actually tiny sea creatures, I’m guessing the gods don’t want us to see what lays beyond the reaches of one of their underwater temples. Well, I know what’s beyond it, I did a few guard quests during my middle-levels with my crew of four but nothing you want or care to hear about, I’m sure. No, you’re all about demanding the answers and trying to work your way out of this situation. The problem is that there isn’t one, from this point you leave this place as a newly fledged player dedicated to one of the Drowned Gods or as chum. Fish chum.’ came the voice of Mike from behind Carissa.

They had finished their journey and the diving bell had retracted inwards before an entrance doorway formed in a wall. The mess that had been made from their drinking and eating session was cleaned up in rapid order by Mike as Chas had woken by himself and given his own help with a twist of magic reducing the food, bottles, drinks and broken crates into water which washed across the base of the diving bell.

‘Leave her alone. You keep saying how you can’t help her with this and that but you talk and talk and talk. Besides, my head hurts from that crap you brought aboard. Cherry would have brought better quality stuff and even fresh water. Not the stuff that knocks you out. Knocked me out at least. Pretty Lady, please ignore the crazy old man. Time for the appearance of the helpers and I need to clean myself up a little better.’ said Chas as he stood by the doorway making a series of gestures before he bowed deeply.

Carissa held her tongue shut. She would listen to their bickering and try to gleam as much information as she could in this place. Despite her efforts though she still had further questions, one in particular had been stuck in her head during the entire trip beneath the water.

‘Where do the others go? Cherry and the others? Does the diving bell return back to your...sanctuary and they make another journey?’ queried Carissa.

She turned her gaze towards the lights but they were only accompanying the main site of the ocean temple. Try as she might she was unable to see anything past them, tiny glimmers of light magnified and increased when she focused her attention on them.

‘I need to clean up as well. They’re here Carissa. Or they will be soon. We were asked to watch you a little closer than normal, given...an incident that happened this early in your game. The gods have their own reasons for their actions but it doesn’t mean that they like to work together all the time. When the avatars make their appearance, you’ll see it. The conflict. Oh, and right, don’t let go of your personal storage bag. In fact, it would be best to wear the grey suit, store away your Ocean Gateway provided weapon and keep it shut the entire time. Food and drink will be provided as will clothes. Weapons and armour too if needed. And I’m done. Anything else to add Chas?’ said Mike.

Chas had completed his series of hand gestures and movements, ending with a deep bow towards the entrance as a light glow came over his robes causing them to shift into a series of rainbow scales.

Shaking his head he simply walked through the doorway and out of the diving bell not bothering to respond to Mike or Carissa. His entire form vanished as he entered the doorway as though he had never been there in the first place. Carissa couldn’t even hear the sound of his movements outside.

‘And here we go again. He never forgave me. But the place of a priest is with their chosen avatar so he’ll do his own thing. Come on girl, time for the gods to take their measure. I’ve helped more than enough. Ah, I forgot. Don’t fight it, it won’t hurt you. The gods like to take their measure. Did I say that already? I’m getting old. See you on the other side. You’ll find the Ocean Gateway System will become active. I’m sorry, I’m restricted from saying more.’ said Mike.

With his last conversation to Carissa, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder giving it the tiniest squeeze before a sad gaze passed his face.

He murmured words as he walked through the doorway of the diving bell but Carissa picked them up. Whether they were addressed to her or to himself she wasn’t certain as he vanished from her view.

‘Get stuffed for doing this to us…the fear of the gods made manifest.’ said Mike.

Turning her gaze around the diving bell, the transparency dropped away as her view of the outside world was blocked off. Left with only the open doorway and the promise of lights and the memory of the vastness of the temple she clutched tightly onto her bag, making sure its fastenings were attached to her covered body.

She took a hand and placed it on the shark tooth necklace but there was no need for her to clutch it tighter. Mike had mentioned to her about the alcohol that they had shared having an effect but her emotions were calm and still as a salted ocean without waves or wind.

Carissa took a single step towards the doorway when a memory came upon her. A beach with her parents when they had moved their houseboat to the coast for a week to make simple repairs and give her time to play with other children her age.

Shaking her head to dislodge the memory from her consciousness Carissa took the rest of the steps through the open doorway, fully expecting to see a mass of lights under the ocean surrounding her and a clear path towards the underwater temple.

Instead, her feet were bare and warm, a warm sun shone from above and clear skies above her as a voice called her to her. A voice she hadn’t heard in a decade, not since she lost contact with them and focused on her own studies.

Long before she met Liam but during a brief period of time when she was happy with herself before her parents rebuked her behaviour and her emotions began to run rampant again. Before she needed the shark tooth.

Fifteen.

She had turned fifteen earlier in the year.

A teenage girl, slimmer and shorter than Carissa with one side of her head shaved and the other at length and black wearing a pair of black shorts, a matching crop top and a pair of beach sandals stood before Carissa.

Her face smiled at the memory before the voice hit her.

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‘Rissa? When did you get here ahead of me? You promised you’d meet me by the shops at the top and we’d walk down together. You had better have found a good place for our stuff. Girl, we’re going to have so much fun!’ came the teenage girl’s voice.

No. Carissa recognised that voice but she had been about to step through...step through.

I was. I was…. Laci?

When did Laci get here?

I forgot to meet her.

The sun warmed her skin and the waves on the beach comforted her enough that she ignored the odd sensation of an itch deep inside her mind, a splinter trying and failing to grab her attention.

Instead, she smiled and called out the name of her best summer friend. The only one who had made her smile, who had never focused her on beauty or her background.

‘Laci! I found us a great place, not too far from the entrance but enough to give us a little privacy and store our stuff so we can go swimming.’ said Carissa.

As she walked along the beach towards her friend, there was a sensation of someone watching her. Turning around the beach was barely full at this early hour, they had both planned to arrive earlier to beat the crowds and make the most of the day.

Carissa had begged her parents for the spare cash to buy equipment, secure beach tent, fresh towels and swim gear and she had even been given the day off from her studies. Her parents were always in a better mood when they were at home together, their houseboat moored a little further along the coast.

‘Brilliant. I mean you’re brilliant as well ‘Rissa but mainly because you found a good spot. Otherwise, you’d be a dummy like me.’ said Rissa as she stepped forward with sandals on her feet and a sturdy backpack wrapped around her.

The two teenagers gave each other a sudden hug as Carissa held on to her summer friend a little tighter than normal, a little harder than she would usually hug. A tear rolled down one of her cheeks from her eye and wetted the face of Laci.

‘Rissa? Are you...crying? I’m here. I’m not going anywhere and I’m yours for the day. Come on, you can show me the great spot you found while I tell you about this guy who tried to hassle me when I was buying food. Such a jerk, accused me of being underage when I tried to buy a bottle of cider. I mean I am underage but he didn’t need to make a big deal out of it. I gave up on the cider and decided to get a bottle of shandy instead. Doesn’t have quite the same kick but we’re here to enjoy the beach, not get plastered. ‘Rissa, did someone talk to you again? Did a random sicko try to hit on you on the way here? You can tell me.’ said Laci as she held Carissa’s hand tightly.

The two girls walked further along the quiet beach in the early morning as Carissa experienced the same sensation again of being watched. She decided to ignore it, if there was a man with a telescopic lens high up on the cliffs watching her who lusted after a beautiful teenage girl like herself there was little to do about it.

Bringing up her free hand she swore in a random direction, hoping the man would get the hint and leave them alone. This was her time with Laci and the rest of the world could go and jump off the ocean depths until they drowned.

‘I’m fine. Thank you so much for bringing the food along, I managed to convince my parents to let me buy new equipment. I mean we have everything we need on the boat but I didn’t like to use our old and used stuff.’ said Carissa.

Laci brought one hand to her face in a laugh.

‘Rissa, you’re fifteen now. Soon to be sixteen. A beautiful proud young woman and you still need to talk to your parents about buying things? They have like, way too much control over your life. The result of being homeschooled, I guess. Have you ever been clubbing before?’ said Laci as she shook her backpack.

Shaking her head Carissa frowned. She didn’t want Laci to stop liking her but neither did she want to agree with everything she said. She had always found it difficult to make good friends, they always approached her first but when they rapidly lost contact afterwards.

None of them were genuine though, they assumed she was pretty and stupid or a show-off. And the boys just wanted her to laugh at their stupid jokes and attempts to show off. She needed to learn how to find a balance this time. Not enough to offend but enough to show that she wasn’t without her own opinion.

‘My parents care about me when they’re not busy working. And no, I haven’t been clubbing before. You know that. I mean, I’ve been to the theatre and toured a few of the coastal cities during the days but never been out at nights. Too much noise and...and…’ said Carissa before she began to stumble on her words.

‘...Too much physical attention.’ completed Laci. ‘The price of being beautiful, a shame though because you would easily make everyone offer you buy you a drink. Boys and girls alike. We almost there ‘Rissa?’

They had walked a relative distance from the coastal entrance to the beach. The walk down had been mildly steep with a popular and well-stocked shop at the main car park and bus entrance.

Laci grabbed hold of Carissa's hands and began dancing around her singing a song which Carissa wasn’t familiar but she felt the urge to join in. Both girls skipped around the beach, feet stepping closer to the edges of the shore, laughing together as they held hands once again and carried on walking.

‘Imagine if we could swim out in the ocean and stay there. Living out on the waters, exploring, surviving and lounging on the surface...forever. Oh right, we’re here. What do you think Laci?’ asked Carissa.

‘I think it needs to be fixed. The oceans I mean...who’d want to live out there on a boat all the time with all the damage and pollution we caused? But I don’t care about that ‘Rissa. I’m here. You’re here. We’re going to have the best day out on the beach today. Ugh, one of them. I don’t get why they do it. Old men with nothing to do all day. I mean it’s not as though he’s looking at us but why does he have to do it so close to our beach site? He’d got a whole coast to choose from. Whatever. I’ll just tell him to find somewhere else.’ said Laci.

The site Carissa had chosen had a beach style tent set up with a secure lock on the tent linked to her own genetic code, her few personal belongings were inside but she hadn’t felt confident leaving them outside even this early in the morning.

‘No. I’ll talk to him; you just unpack the food and I’ll unlock the tent first.’ said Carissa.

The smell of the salty water and the warmth of the sand and sun on her skin made her comfortable. More so than normal. Holding Laci’s hand and the hug they shared had also helped Carissa to be more settled than normal. Enough so she could talk to a random beach searcher with his detector to move on a little further down the beach and give her and Laci a little privacy.

As the waves splashed forward as the tide was slowly drawing back in, she took in the sight of the man, used to taking in appearances before making judgements. He was slightly blurry from this distance, likely due to the heat on the sand. For a moment his form was familiar to her before it shifted and her eyes unconsciously avoided him.

Besides, she needed to be careful. Her parents had always warned her of the risk of talking to strangers. At fifteen she was taller than both her mother and father and had physically developed earlier than most her age but her mind still needed to mature.

Mainly, she hated the attention she got from grown up men. It made her sick inside but she was able to escape it when on her houseboat. A good reason for her to avoid cities and inhabited areas.

Soon enough, she’d be old enough to focus on her own studies and academics with her own choice of universities. One benefit of being raised by ocean scientists and supported in education by their colleagues across the world. A few more years and she could begin to find the freedom she had always wanted, to find her own way.

‘Rissa! Stop day-dreaming and ask the old man to leave. He’s not looking at us but I don’t like how he’s hanging around. I’ve got some weird old man deterrent in my bag if we need it. I’m going to talk to him and ask him to leave if you don’t.’ huffed out Laci.

‘I’m fine. A quick talk and... let me unlock the tent first.’ said Carissa as she bent down and gave a drop of her own blood to the small security device unlocking it. She popped inside for a brief check of her belongings before a noise caused her to head straight outside.