Ship: USS Resurgam SSN 420 

Location: Mariana Trench, Challenger's Deep 

Depth: Unknown 

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In the deepest depth of the ocean, a specially modified submarine with a hull bearing SSN 420 descends deeper into the unknown. Despite the Resurgam being modified to withstand highly dangerous pressure, inside the underwater ship, the sailors grew anxious as the hull begins to creak the further they descend deeper into the unknown.

While Lieutenant Albert Rook, the second in command looked through the periscope, he chuckles and makes a comment.

"This is incredible captain. We're several miles deep and the boat is enduring the pressure. Were nearing the newly discovered cavern."

"Very well Mr. Rook. But for now let's keep our cool. We will be in uncharted territory pretty soon."

The Captain casually responds to the Lieutenant as he tells the person in charge of communication system to turn on the 1MC. The Captain's voice echoed through the 1MC allowing everyone on the submarine to hear what his announcement.

"This is the captain speaking. As of this morning, we have received a confirmed encrypted instruction from command to venture into a large cavern that's been discovered deep in the Mariana Trench. This cavern, which command has sent multiple unmanned submerged vehicles in, discovered that it leads to another surface unknown to anyone's knowledge. Immediately after this announcement, our crew will execute this instruction. We will enter the cavern mentioned and breach this unknown surface so that we can gather our data and return home. That is all!"

The moment the announcement from the captain ended, the on-duty crew rushed to secure their assigned posts. Each sailor made sure that they commit by the captain's standing order which is 'to always have your headlamp'. Once on their post, each person confirms to the control room that they are in their assigned post. Once everyone is accounted for, The Captain waits for the second in command to confirm that it is safe to move forward.

 The submarine entered the cavern once Lieutenant Rook confirmed that the submarine would be able to fit through the passage ahead. The Captain ordered the aft section to run on quarter speed since they did not want to make any mistakes. The hull continued to creak while the whole ship rumbled as it ventured on deeper. An hour had passed and some of the crew took out rosary beads and began to pray. Others acted as if it was just another day. But in truth each and every one of the sailor that is on board, hopes that their submarine doesn't implode under the pressure as they continue to go deeper at such a slow speed.

Another hour passed and the passage in front of the Resurgam widens and soon the submarine finds itself in front of an opening.

"All Stop!" The captain shouted.

 The captain then turned to Lieutenant Rook who's still peering into the periscope.

"Mr. Rook, what do you see?"

"There's an opening up ahead sir. This must be the unknown location that command is telling us to survey."

"Does it look safe?"

The captain placed his hand on the Rook's shoulder and the Lieutenant move away from the periscope as he makes a comment.

"I don't see any monsters sir. Take a look for your self."

The captain peaked into the periscope and scanned the opening diligently. All the captain can observe is open ocean beyond the opening in front of them. The captain moved aside to allow Rook to take control of the periscope once again. The Captain then ordered the helmsman to go through the opening in front of them. Once the submarine reached the location where it was deemed safe to breach, the Resurgam began to ascend. But as it was ascending, it suddenly came to a immediate stop. The entire submarine shook hard and buckled harder than when they entered deeper depths.

Crew members are slammed against walls and other objects. Those who were sleeping in their bunks were thrown out onto the ground. Equipment from galley flew everywhere and those who were eating in the mess hall were slammed towards the aft of the galley. Almost immediately after the submarine came to an instant halt, the lights through out the submarine vanished and the sound of slowly rising and falling siren began to echo throughout the ship. It was then followed by an automated announcement that repeated three times.

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"Warning! Flooding in the the engine room lower level"

"Warning! Flooding in the the engine room lower level"

"Warning! Flooding in the the engine room lower level"

 Just like the people in the mess hall, the crew inside the control room who were standing up at that time were immediately thrown back into the aft section of the room the moment the Resurgam came to an immediate stop. Inside the control room, Rook groaned as he reaches for his head lamp and turns it on. A beam of red light illuminated the area of the room as Rook stands up.  Rook's eyes darted around the room to make sure that there aren't any leaks in the control room. This is because even a submarine with a thick hull is still prone to hull breaches when anything makes contact with it underwater. Specially under such critical pressure. A small bump from the outside could mean the end of everyone inside. And the shake down that they just received was something Rook and the other sailors are frightful about. 

Rooked turned his attention to the captain who is currently rising from where he fell. The Captain turned on his head lamp then immediately went to verify if the ship's communication system is working.

"Ships communication's down." The Captain irritably shouted out loud.

While the sound of the siren continuously blared, it was difficult to hear anyone speaking. In order to catch the captain's attention, Rook patted the captain's shoulder and spoke very loudly.

"Captain! I'll go see what's going on in the back!"

The Captain nodded and Rook hurriedly opened the door from the control room. Once he entered the navigation room, Rook shouted.

"Down ladder!"

As the Lieutenant stepped down the ladder from the navigation room and into the hall way that led to the galley, the Chief of the Boat appeared in front of him. The man was soaking wet and out of breath.

"COB! Why are you all wet?" Rook inquired immediately.

The COB suddenly looked dismayed and placed his hand on Rook's shoulder.

"Lieutenant Rook, The entire back aft. Its gone."

"What?"

Rook couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wanted to chuckle but the COB's face didn't look like he was in his usual humorous mood. So he inquired again to make sure.

"You're joking right? How is the back aft gone?" Rook stared into the COB's eyes.

"There's no time to tell you more Lieutenant. Head for the escape hatch. Every second count. You know this. I've already given the orders necessary for the procedure."

Rook nodded and the two moved on to their separate destination. Once Rook arrived at the escape hatch, he sees four sailors preparing the hatch. Two of the more senior sailor has just finished setting up the inside of the escape hatch for the next batch of people to enter as they were having a a care free conversation.The other two sailors who had just boarded the Resurgam and are new on the boat looked terrified as they assist the more senior sailors casually conversing while they worked.

"No way bro, there is no way a Polar bear can beat a Silver-back Gorilla." Second class Petty officer Rodriguez interjected.

"Pshhh man . . do you know how big Polar bears are compared to Gorillas?" First class Petty Officer Lee replied.

But just as Lee was about to continue to give information pertaining to the sizes between a Silver-back Gorilla and a Polar bear, Rook spoke very loudly to get the attention of the two sailors.

"Rodriguez, Lee, I'll be guiding these two to the surface. How many have we sent so far?"

"Alright Lieutenant, Lee and I was going to rock paper scissor for it but since you arrived, be my guess. Four people should be at the surface already. Also COB said to bring protection so here you go Lieutenant."

Rodriguez hands Rook three leather containers. Rook's brow furrowed. Then out of curiosity, Rook opens one of the leather containers and sees a pistol with three extra magazines. Rook nodded and observed the sailors in front of him.

"Everyone put on a flotation vest. We are all going to need it."

Rook turned to the two fresh sailors of the Resurgam.

"Bell, Kaur. Its going to be alright. Remember your under water escape training, scream. Don't hold your breath or else your lungs are going to burst. And here Stuff these inside your coverall."

Kaur and Bell nodded as they each stored a leather container inside their coverall. The two donned their flotation vest and climbed up the escape hatch. Rook followed after. 

Inside the escape hatch, Rook checked seal of the inside, While checking the seal, the hatch suddenly began flooding with water. Fortunately the hatch was sealed so the water inside the hatch was able to be completely filled. If the hatch hadn't been sealed properly they would have to restart the whole escape procedure all over again.

 Once the hatch was filled, Rook opened the outer hatch, propelling the three men towards the surface. Water pressed against Rook's face as he's propelled towards the surface. Near the surface, Rook struggled to get one last glance of the Resurgam as a stream of bubbles trail behind him. But as Rook was about to look up, the moment he nears the surface of the water, he catches a glimpse of something that frightened him. 

** 

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Above the sea, cloud formations tower into the sky and flying lizard the size of a small dog flock towards the nearby shore. As the flying lizards glide closer to shore, the clouds part and the sun's rays causes the colorful scales of the lizards to shimmer as they land close to where a dark haired man wearing a dark blue coveralls is embedded onto the beach. Nearby three children each carrying wooden poles rush towards the flying lizards that had just landed nearby where the dark hair man is located.

"Hya!!"

A red haired boy with pointy ears shouted as he swings his pole repeatedly and strikes multiple winged lizards.

"Haha! Just in time for breakfast!" 

A second boy who looks similar to the first boy but with blue hair laughed as he swings his pole in various direction and strikes several of the winged lizards. The third child following the two boys slows down and notices the dark haired man embedded on the sand. The girl walks towards the dark haired man and observes him. Then suddenly she turned to the other two children and calls out their names.

"Fink! Dink! Look at this!"

The the two boys collected the lizards that they stuck and placed them inside a sack that they had brought with them. Once they finished collecting the half dead lizards on the sand, they walked towards the girl who's staring at the dark haired man.

"What is it Rina?" The blue haired boy inquired. Rina turned to the Blue haired boy.

"Dink. This man looks like my uncle but he's human."

"Human? I thought humans aren't allowed in Master's island?" 

Fink responds as he picks his nose.

The children stare at man on the sand who is wearing a dark blue coverall with an orange vest. The children stare at man. Dink makes speaks as they continue to observe the man.

"They're not allowed here." 

Dink moves his arm in front of Rina and pushed her behind him. 

"Stand back Rina he might be dangerous. Fink look after Rina. I'll go get Master."

Dink ran off towards the trees. As he disappears, Rina and Fink began to closely observe the unconscious man. Rina placed her wooden pole down and picked up a stick from nearby. She begins to prod the man's face. The man does nothing. 

Fink grabs a stick from nearby and couched towards the dark haired man. Fink positions himself near the man then makes a comment as he observes that man's mouth.

"His mouth is really clean. Look! All of his teeth are really white."

Rina stares at the man that looks like his uncle. Rina remembered how she adored him and how every chance she had, she would appreciate his handsome face from a far. She also remembers how he died trying to help her escape the bandits that eradicated her village.

A frown appeared on Rina's face. Her eyes begins to water the more she stares at the man's face. The unfortunate memories from the pass were starting to surface in her mind. Rina sighed deeply and a determined look appeared on her face.

"Alright Fink! were going to save this man who looks like my uncle."

"We are?"

Fink leaves his stick inside the mouth of the dark haired man and stands up from where he was crouching. The moment Fink stood up, the man began to to mumble again.

  Rina and Fink immediately looked at each other.

"Did you hear that?" Rina whispered to Fink

"Sounds like he's saying something."

Fink pulls out the stick from his mouth. After a few seconds, the man spoke a word but still the two didn't understand what he was saying. Rina furrows her brow and began to think.

"Maybe he's speaking a language that we don't understand." Fink scratches his head as he makes the comment. 

Rina's eyes widened when she heard what Fink had just said.

"You might be on to something Fink"

Rina begins to stretch her body. First she stretches her neck side to side then she raised her hands. As she spread opens her fingers, they begin to glow. 

Rina begins to write something in the air. The letters that Rina wrote shined green in front of her. The moment Rina finished writing, the letters glowed and turned into wisps which then darted towards the dark hair man who's mumbling unconsciously on the sand.

The moment the wisps entered the man's body, his body began glow. As the man's body glowed brighter, it quickly turned into a pulse of light before it disappeared.

The man spoke again.

"What is that?"

**

Rook finds himself underwater looking down at the Resurgam. A horrified look appears on his face as he observes the terrifying sight of the gargantuan monster grabbing the submarine then pulling it down into the depths. Rooks screams and a stream of bubbles escapes from his mouth then abruptly after, an explosion occurred. Rook awakens from his nightmare.

Rook slowly opened his eyes.

 Immediately upon becoming conscience, Rook turns to his side and vomits sea water. Rook felt nauseated. His head is aching and all he could hear is a high pitched noise preventing him from hearing anything around him. 

While Rook continues to expel more sea water, he removes his flotation vest then one of the children with long wavy brown hair raised her hand then began writing words in the air. The letters glowed then after finishing writing the word that she wrote, a green glow surrounded Rook and suddenly he started to feel less nauseated. 

Rook could now hear the children talk to one another. As Rook continues to listen to the children, he begins to understand their language which Rook thought was extremely odd. Rook furrows his brow then wiped his mouth. He sat down on the sand down and continued to listen to the children. To his surprise, he now understands what the brown haired girl is saying.

"Heal!"

 The brown hair girl shouted and Rook began to glow green. Rook understood that the glowing was caused by the girl who wrote something in the air. He also understood that for some reason he felt better than when he awoke. Rook turned his head to look at an ocean view then looked at the children and smiled.

"Thanks."

The children looked at each other and began to laugh and jump.

"It worked!" The red haired boy shouted happily.

The brown haired girl acted calmly. She grinned and walked towards Rook. She locked eyes with Rook then asked a question. 

"What's your name?" 

Rook suddenly felt nauseated again the instant the green light disappeared from his body. He gags and points at his chess where written in English, Rook's name is embroiled on the chest area of his dark blue coverall. Rook vomits sea water. He then wipes his face and says his name.

"Rook."

Rook's eyes squinted and observed the children. The girl with the long wavy brown hair looked normal to him but kid with red hair was different. Rook noticed he has pointy ears. He realized this when the boy was picking  and scratching his ears. Rook inquired the children for their named.

"What are your names?"

The red haired boy giggled then jumped in front of brown haired girl.

"I'm Fink! This is RIna"

Fink points his thumb casually towards Rina then grins. The moment Fink answered Rook's question, a blue haired boy walked out from the trees. The blue haired boy is also being followed by a slender woman with long silver hair and pointy long ears. The woman following the blue haired boy is wearing a long coat composed of mixed fur sewn into one big piece. Rook noticed the new faces and Rina turned to look behind her to see what caught Rook's attention.

"Dink! Master!" Rina shouted as she ran towards them.

"I did it! I used two spells, one to heal the man over there and one to translate what he's saying!"

The silver haired lady smiled then bent forward to pat Rina's head. The woman's porcelain skin glistened when the sunlight touched her skin. Rook couldn't help but stare at the woman's regal face. 

The woman looked up and locked eyes with Rook then smiled. She walked towards him and began to speak.

"You're either a fool or you're not from around here."

The woman stood in front of Rook and stared down at him.

"I am Sybil the Sage. This is my island. You already know my apprentices." Sybil pointed at the children at the children with her thumb and named each of her apprentice. 

"Rina, Fink and Dink."

Rook looked at the children. He smiles at them then waves. The children waves back. Rook turned his attention towards Sybil. He struggles to stand up as he introduces himself.

"My name is Albert Rook."

Sybil kept her head up as she glares at Rook. She walks up to Rook and placed her index and middle fingers on his left temple. 

The moment Sybil's fingers made contact with Rook's temple, her right eye's Iris began to glow purple. Then immediately after, a small circle with lines forming into a star glowed red.

A surge of memories and events appeared inside Sybil's head. Sybil smiled then in an instant everything returned back to normal as if nothing happened.

Rook's brow furrowed. His eyes darts around as he looks confused at what had just happened.

"W-what was that?" 

Rook asked hesitantly. Sybil smirked then began to speak.

"I apologize. Even if you had told me how you ended up on my Island, I would not have believed it unless I tapped into your memory. Its been some time since humans from other worlds have wandered into our world. This must be Fate playing its hand again. Tell me human, now that you're stranded in this world, what will you do?"

Rooks brow raised when he heard what Sybil had asked. He begins to chuckle as he replies.

"Wait. What do you mean I'm stuck here? How?"

Rook crosses his arms and waits for an answer. Sybil sighed. Then placed her right hand above her eyes while she observes the sky.

"Hmm . . Let us sit and allow the children to have lunch while I continue to explain."

Rook turned his attention towards the children. To his surprise, the children are roasting the reptiles that they caught over an open fire.

Rina looked over Dink's shoulder as she eyes the lizards skewed on individual sticks that are being roasted over an open flame.

"Is it almost cooked yet?" Rina complained.

Fink's hands glowed as he seem to be controlling the flames on the fire pit with magik. Dink on the other hand is holding several sticks. Rina's face began to look irritated as she watches Dink struggle to hold the sticks in his hands.

Rina pinched Dink's shoulder.

"Don't be lazy Dink. Look you're struggling to hold on to those sticks. Use magik, you're a mage."

Dink winced as he shoot Rina an irritated stare.

"Fine!"

Dink's entire body glowed and suddenly he has three arms in each of his sides. Dink divided the seven sticks each in his newly acquired hands. Then after realizing that there is one extra for him to hold, he hands the extra stick to Rina.

"Here take this, you should help also."

Sybil waved her left hand. Purple mist lingered then suddenly a wooden table and chairs for each of the person nearby appeared near them on the sand. Sybil takes a chair and sits down as she waves her hands again, a straw basket filled with various vegetable dishes appeared on the table.

Sybil gives Rook a stare and gestures him to sit down. As he walks towards the table and chairs, Rook watched as the children cooked the flying lizards over an open fire fueled by Fink's fire magik. The moment Rook was close enough to a chair, he grabs one then sits down. Rook turns his attention towards Sybil as he makes a comment about the children. 

"They really like eating those lizards huh?"

Sybil spoke in a calm tone as she prepares the table.

"We Elves mainly eat vegetables. But at a young age, the children in our culture crave meat. So we allow them to feast on meat but without our help. You see Mister Rook, in our culture, we allow them to eat meat as long as they are not of other beings and as long as they acquire it themselves"

Rook's brow furrowed and one if his brow raised.

"But what if they eat something that would endanger their life?"

"The best way to learn is by experiencing right? Also our race has been proficient with Magik for over a millennia so even if they harm themselves in any way, we have ways to remedy almost anything."

Sybil shrugged then continued to speak as they both observe the children.

"The reason why I say you are 'stuck here' is because the technology in this world is not advanced enough to do what your 'specially modified submarine' has accomplished. Remember, I peered into your memory. Your world is far too advanced compared to this world. Its completely impossible for you to return to that tunnel, go through it and breech at such a dangerous depth. It impossible. Unless of course you can figure out how to do it with Magik."

"But I don't know how to use Magik."

Sybil smiled as she responded with a question.

"Then would you like to learn how?"

**