His skin was cold and he couldn’t breathe. He panicked and flailed his arms through cold water. He sucked in cold water instead of air into his lugs. He coughed and sputtered as he tried to reach the surface. He registered the fact that both his arms worked perfectly. He struggled to the surface. His face broke the plain and he threw his head back and inhaled sharply. His lungs inhaled clean oxygen and spat up water as he coughed and hacked. It took his mind a moment to recover from the shock. He shifted his gaze all around himself. It was dark here, wherever here was, but he could make out some details. He didn’t take the time to concentrate on anything though. He was too busy turning his head all around himself trying to figure out how he had gotten there in the first place.
He couldn’t see anybody, or anything for that matter, so he started swimming as best he could toward no place in particular. He was just trying to get out of the cold water. He didn’t swim very far before he realized that there wasn’t any pain coming from his arm or his foot. He stopped and tread water for a moment. His arm didn’t feel broken anymore and he could fully rotate it. He rotated his right ankle and his foot seemed to be perfectly normal as well. He was naked. That fact wasn’t so disturbing. He did a tumble face first in the water and brought his body all the way around in an underwater summersault.
He breached the surface of the water with a gasp and started swimming again. In the subdued lighting of this underground chamber, he was able to see a stone shoreline not too far from him. He swam for that. As he settled into his rhythm of swimming, he noticed a low roar that he had missed before. He stopped swimming and turned toward the sound. The low roar was caused by a waterfall emptying into this underground lake. William wondered where all the water was coming from. He would have time for that question when he got out of the water. His body was starting to get numb and he knew that if he didn’t get out of the water soon, he might suffer from hypothermia. He also had to figure out and confront whoever had dumped him into this lake in the first place. He suspected Ares had done it and he was going to have some words with his teacher.
William made his way to the rocky beachhead which was a lot farther off then he had originally anticipated. As he moved closer to the shore a voice echoed off the chamber ceiling all around him. The effect was that of an eerie reverb that reinforced and distorted the voice as it spoke to him. “Don’t even think about leaving that lake.”
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William looked all around him but couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from. “Ares. Where are you? Why did you…”
“Did you not learn your lesson properly, pup?” The voices echoed around him and it was as if the cavern itself was mocking him, pup, pup, pup. “You do not demand answers from me. You will stay in the lake till you understand what this lesson is supposed to teach you. I know you’re smart, but if you don’t figure it out the cold water will eventually kill you. If you try to exit the lake, I will be there to meet you and your head will not like the welcome it receives from me.”
So, if I stay in this lake, I’m dead and if I try to leave, I’m dead. William tread water for a time trying to get a better idea of what this underground lake was like. His eyes were adjusting well to the dim light, and he saw that there was in fact some light emanating from the ceiling. The same snowflake like imperfections that were the source of light in his room was here too. Except there were a lot less. The sound of the waterfall was a dull roar now that had been diminished by his ears to background white noise. If he hadn’t been looking around himself, he would have forgotten about it.
The water was cold but his body had become numb some time ago and he could feel some warmth from the water. He knew that that was just his body adapting to this new environment. He also knew that he couldn’t tread water forever.
He took a deep breath and submerged his body. He blew out air as he let his body sink deeper and deeper into the black water. He opened his eyes but couldn’t see anything. He moved his hands in front of his face and saw only black water. He blew out more air and swept his arms up trying to go deeper faster. His lungs were empty and he had no idea how much deeper he had to go. He decided that the experiment was over and thrust his arms down to his sides, stopping his downward momentum and beginning to rise once again towards the surface.
The black, cold water seemed to press in around him. His throat was working and wanted to breathe but he was still under water. His body was revolting against him, and he had to concentrate on not breathing just as much as he had to concentrate on keeping his upward momentum. Inky black water pressed closer all around him and his strength was beginning to ebb. He felt his arms lose power with every downward stroke.
Just when he thought he was going to drown his hand broke the surface and his head shot out of the water as he inhaled, allowing his lungs to work and giving in to the urgent demands of his throat to breathe. His head dipped down under water, and he allowed the motion to carry him down. His head popped out of the water once more and he lay on his back, keeping the water from his mouth so he could breathe deeply the delicious oxygen of air.