Eli blinked. The fish blinked back.
"This is so fucked up," Autumn said.
"Keeping him in a fish tank under an ocean is diabolical," Cameron agreed.
Eli absently tapped the glass with a finger as he spoke, "any ideas how we should get him out?"
"I got it," Autumn morphed the stone bracer on her arm into a small hammer and reared back to strike.
Eli reached out an arm to block her, but it was too late. When the hammer struck, a web of previously invisible ritual markings across the glass flashed with light and Autumn was flung across the room by an unseen force. Jacquie ducked just in time to dodge as she slammed into the wardrobe, crunching through the wood to impact the bricks behind it. She bounced slightly off the wall and crashed to the floor atop a heap of clothes and splintered wood, groaning for a moment before raising a feeble thumb.
"I was going to say we should hear all the suggestions before we start smashing stuff," Eli said, "but okay."
Victoria, now in her physical form, stepped up to the glass and inspected it with auravision, "it's not a complicated ward, but it's a powerful one. Obviously protects against physical damage, but I'd guess it blocks intangibility and teleportation too."
She briefly shifted to her spectral form and tried to pass her hand through the glass. The invisible markings once again began to glow and her hand pressed against the glass as if her hand were flesh rather than spectral. Meanwhile, Milo was closely inspecting the edges of the glass where it met seamlessly with the bricks around it.
"I don't see any kind of mechanism," he said.
"Think you can blow it open, Cam?" Eli asked.
"Maybe," Cameron replied, "but probably not without enough force to bring the ceiling down."
Eli frowned and turned his attention back to the fish. It was still just floating there, staring back at the room with empty eyes. "Are we sure this is our fish? He looks kind of... dead inside."
"Wouldn't you?" Cameron asked, "poor guy's locked in a box in a pocket dimension."
"Yeah, but I think I'd be excited if a bunch of people showed up to free me."
Iris stepped up to the glass, and the fish immediately angled itself in her direction. It glared at her with a fury in its eyes that left little doubt in her mind that it blamed her for every moment it had spent in this prison.
"This is definitely our guy," Iris said, "he remembers me, and he's very unhappy to see me."
"What are you talking about?" Eli asked, "his expression hasn't changed.”
"Seriously?" She looked at Eli while motioning at the fish, "look at him, he's brimming with rage."
"Hmm," Cameron leaned closer to the glass, "I don't see it."
Iris rolled her eyes, "nevermind. Listen, I think I have a plan. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I read once that teleportation is actually more like traveling really, really fast."
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"That's about right," Titus said, "the body sort of disintegrates, kind of like Victoria's old mist ability but into even smaller parts -- so small that they can pass right through most other objects -- then those small parts travel really fast to their destination and reform into back into the person. We had to learn about it in the academy because the process can cause a serious mess if it happens during a reconstructive healing spell."
"So this ward works by blocking those tiny parts, then?" Iris asked.
"Basically, yeah," Victoria answered.
"Great," Iris smiled, "that's not how my teleport powers work at all, so I bet this'll work."
Iris moved over to the bed, faced the fish tank, and backed up until the backs of her legs touched the mattress. Then she removed her bottomless bag and tossed it to Eli.
"Autumn, wake up," she called over her shoulder, "I need you ready to wrestle a fish."
Autumn groaned, but climbed to her feet.
"What exactly are you about to do?" Eli asked.
"See, I don't think it's fair to call what I do teleporting at all, actually. It's more like I slip between the cracks of reality and pop out somewhere else -- or make something else do that. If we're lucky, that'll bypass the ward like it's not even there."
"You're going in there?" Milo asked with a hint of worry.
"No," Iris said, "he's coming to me. I'll probably get dizzy from using so much mana though, and I have a feeling he's gonna try to kill me. That's where you come in, Autumn, you gotta wrestle the fish into the bag. Eli, just hold the bag up towards the fish, Abby will open when it’s time.”
"Ready when you are," Autumn said.
"Maybe we should--" Eli began.
"Three, two, one," Iris counted down quickly, then blipped the fish out of the tank.
Iris knew immediately that she had, in fact, not bypassed the ward. The sensation she felt was like tendrils of magic erupting out of the all sides of the tank to reach out and grab the fish and hold it back from the void. Her eyes widened as her mana continued to drain, fueling her Send and Retrieve ability as it fought to suck the fish into the void. She tried to stop it, but it didn't listen to her commands. Pain shot through her veins and her head felt like it might split into fragments. The last thing she felt before passing out was a sudden weight against her chest.
"I got it!" Autumn shouted as she hoisted the fish off of Iris with a bear hug.
She had lifted it upside down, and it now flopped wildly and slapped her in the head with its tail hard enough to daze her after the third strike. She stumbled back, tripping over debris from the shattered wardrobe and losing her grip on the fish. It smacked wetly onto the ground, convulsing frantically as it pushed off the ground and launched itself towards the nearest person.
Jacquie screamed at the incoming fish and exploded into glitter. Milo dove onto the bed to shield Iris with his body. The fish landed against the wall and launched off of it with a well-timed flop, launching itself at Titus. The healer planted his feet and spread his arms, catching the fish as it slammed against his chest plate. The impact rocked him backwards but a quick step saved his balance. Eli moved in, holding Iris's bottomless bag out towards the still struggling fish with trepidation as Titus released his bear hug and shoved the fish forward. A tentacle erupted out of the bag, extending three times the length even Iris had seen before, and wrapped around the fish in the air before constricting and pulling the fish into the void.
----------------------------------------
Kieren sat patiently on a barstool beside the open hatch and the watery portal below. A lit candle he had placed on a shelf nearby indicated the time that had passed since the adventurers entered the portal -- roughly half an hour. He had paid in advance and didn't know any of them beside Victoria, who he only had a passing working relationship with, so he wasn’t particularly concerned with their success or survival on a personal level. He would, at least, prefer that a bunch of strangers weren't doomed to the unfortunate fate of drowning in a pocket dimension, but only enough to hope for their survival. He had no interest in heroics or sacrifice if they didn't return before their potions ran out.
His posture straightened when the floor creaked behind him.
"And just who the fuck are you?" a scratchy voice yelled.
Kieren twisted in his seat to see a frail looking old man in tattered grey robes and matching wizard hat wielding a crooked staff. Kieren shot to his feet in a panic, tumbling the barstool into the portal.
"I-- I'm--" he stammered.
The wizard growled and glanced down at the open hatch.