“C’mon, breathe.” A distant voice spoke into my darkness. “I said breathe you bastard!” A squeezing force on my body forced my lungs to cough out all the water I had inhaled. “There you are, stay calm.” I gasped for breath in between my coughing fits trying to expel all the sea water. “Try not to move too much, or you’ll sink again.”

“I can’t swim!” I started to panic as I found myself on my back, floating on the water. My thrashing limbs caused me to slip back underwater.

“I said, STAY STILL!” The glider guy yanked me back up with a shout. “You move, you drown. You drown, I don’t save you again. Understand?” He grabs the back of my collar and starts to swim.

“Don’t move, I live. I panic, I die.” I repeat back to him, trying my best to keep my body still as he drags me through the water.

“You panic, you attract attention, and I will leave you as bait to escape.” He huffed while dragging me. “This is going to take awhile, so behave.”

“Yes sir.” I gulped at his warning. My mind started to overthink about what kind of attention we might attract in the middle of the water. “Is this shark infested waters?” I asked, trying to not think about the fact my life was in his hands.

“What’s a shark?” He shot back as he continued swimming.

“Giant 7+ meter fish with razor sharp teeth and a fast swimmer.” I did my best to keep my head still, while trying to scan the water for any signs of fins.

“They sound cute.” The guy laughed as he switched his position and grip on my shirt. “Maybe they can be a snack for the Pals lurking below us right now.” He started to laugh at what I could only hope was his own joke.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” I could feel the panic of some deep dark unknown terror watching me from below. “I have thalassophobia, so I’m freaky out here!” I struggle with my fears, making sure I stay perfectly still. “I’m floating on a waterbed, there is nothing below me, I am safe.” I close my eyes while trying to calm myself down.

“You’re afraid of lassos?” The guy paused for a moment.

“No! The ocean! Large bodies of water you can’t see the bottom of or the creatures below! That's why I never learned to swim!” My calming exercises weren’t working.

“Then how come you were on a boat?” His swimming pace was gradually slowing down.

“They never said it was on a boat! I was flown to it without warning!” I still remember how the crew had to pry me from the helicopter to board that research vessel. It took me a week until I felt comfortable enough to do my job, plus the positively large number in my bank account helped out. “Boats and the water just hate me. Please reassure me there is nothing lurking below us.”

“Just stay still, and it won’t hurt you.” He said with a more serious tone.

“But you’re moving.” I pointed out.

“Well, it has never bothered me, yet.” I could tell he was struggling. “Small break time, kick your feet a bit, quick and dainty motions. Yep, just like that.” He floated next to me while still making sure I wasn’t going to sink. “So, how did you end up running from those Syndicate thugs?”

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“Why are we stopping here?!” I can feel hundreds of imaginary eyes peering into my back, my mind working overtime to freak me out. “What is in this water?!” I start to shake, causing my kicking feet to splash out.

“Stop panicking or else it will come for you!” The guy slaps me across the face with a wet resounding smack. “Now, calm down and try not to splash around like a helpless tasty snack for the Deep Pals.” He lets out a long sigh.

“Who are you?” I try to focus on the fluffy looking clouds floating above. “What are deep Pals?” I start to breathe deeply, in hopes of calming my racing heart down.

“Names Woody, I was the one who pulled you out of your wreck. Why were you tied to a chair on a metal pole?” The missing member of the group who I lost track of introduces himself. “Deep Pals are some of the only remaining legacies from the Calamities, doubt you would understand it just yet.” He was massaging his sore limbs.

“Yavis told me a bit. The Calamities are Pals too?” More distracting thoughts are welcomed.

“I bet he even paid you in food.” I nodded my head at his guess. “Ha! Outside world information is worth lots of gold, but you traded it freely for a snack!” He burst out laughing for a while. “You should be careful around those Wandering Merchants, they will do anything to make a profit.”

“Wait, how do you know I traded knowledge, were you watching us?” Was this Woody guy actually a bad guy.

“Simple, you are saying a lot of weird stuff. Usually wreckers have no memory at all, so they are all questions with no answers.” He stretched out his limbs with a grunt. “Alright, enough rest. You better keep that kicking up, a little help is better than being deadweight.” He begins to swim to shore, while I softly kick my legs, trying not to drag him down.

“You still haven’t told me what a deep Pal is.” My fear of the unknown kept on surfacing in my head. “I need to know, or else I will lose it again.” I would rather him tell me we are alone out here.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know!” He called back as he picked up the pace. “We are about halfway there!”

“Why don’t we use that stingray Pal you have?” I wondered why he recalled it, wasn’t it a water creature, but he was using it as a hang glider.

“You mean my Celaray? They only like the shallow waters, where they can float freely without fear of predators. Like you, they can’t actually swim!” He informed me. “The Deep Pals would be attracted to it, since they are one of their favorite foods.”

“Is that a Deep Pal?” I raise my hand out of the water to point at something breaking through the surface.

“Where!?” Woody shouts and spins around in panic. “Damnit, don’t scare me like that. It’s only a Surfent.” He looks at my blank blinking stare. “They are fast water Pals that are sometimes used as water transportation.”

“Could we use it to get to shore? It’s heading this way.” I asked while watching a dinosaurs-like blue sea serpent move like a jet ski right for us.

“Not good!” Woody redoubles his effort to swim to shore.

“Does it eat humans?!” I would rather be chased by a shark, than this speedy beast.

“No! But what’s chasing it, does! Hold onto my shirt, we need to move!” He lets go of me, I can feel my body sinking. I reach out with my hand and grab hold of the back of his shirt. “Good?” He doesn’t wait for my reply, he starts to swim frantically to shore. It feels like I’m being pulled by a slow motorboat.

“What’s chasing it?!” I try to ask, but Woody can’t hear or respond due to his head going in and out of the water. I didn’t need him to answer either. The Surfent Pal cut a sharp angle behind us, like it tried to use us as bait for whatever was following it. I swore I could see a smug little grin on its face when it passed behind us. A moment later and it was a good distance from us. “That thing is fast.” I couldn’t help but be impressed at the speeds it was moving along the surface.

“Fu-!” A wave rolled over us from its surf. My eyes happened to be opened, which allowed me to witness the horrors of the Deep. A humongous shadowy figure silently swam past us, as we resurfaced. “Wha-” The area around the moving Pal erupted upwards, like a depth charge going off. A mountain lined with teeth appeared in its place, before sinking back into the depths from which it came. “I hate the water.”