Depths

All was silent except for the tenacious gurgles of the fathomless water. The young boy’s body spun out of control, equilibrium stripped away with no mercy by the growing water pressure. The Blacktooth swam effortlessly as their meal flailed about. It was all too much; the force of the water made Agon close his eyes tightly. The bodies of the Blacktooth were exposed at the bottom, showing a cage of ribs that made a jarring buzz as the water slipped in between each bone. Though his vision was gone, he could hear them in the distance. Agon’s cheeks puffed out with all the air he could steal before he plummeted into the ocean's chasm. The pain in his chest grew as another minute passed.

“Help…somebody…help me…”

His pleas rang out through his mind. For a second, his lips pursed open to try and scream, but a gush of water filled his mouth in seconds. He yelped and sealed his lips back together. Further and further down he fell, his cries muffled and muddled, twisting into a cruel hum; a cadenza of dread.

“No…no…I'm scared…I’m so scared…”

The Blacktooth closed in; one swiftly glided through the water, aiming for Agon’s left leg. In one quick motion, the Blacktooth struck his ankle and phased right through the other side. Slowly, his ankle grew darker.

“Mmmmgh!” Agon screamed out, inviting a great deal of water into his system. He choked and quickly tucked in his lips and bit down on them, his eyes shut even tighter. He scrunched every facial muscle he could control and hummed in suffering as he felt his left leg slightly go limp.

“I…I can barely move it…! It feels like every muscle in my left leg is being melted down to nothing…!”

The marking upon his frame now read "7:00". The stinging pain caused him to involuntarily open his eyes, but as the pressure of the merciless sea grew, his eyes fell shut. His body started to feel as if it was becoming numb all over, but the sensation was nothing compared to what he felt in his left leg. Another Blacktooth struck at his body. This time, it phased through his right arm. He screamed to himself as he felt it fall to his side. The feeling of the Blacktooth passing through him, one by one; it felt as though every internal part of his body that was attacked was crushed under an insurmountable weight, rendered to a paste sloshing throughout his flesh.

“Can’t move…can’t breathe…somebody…! PLEASE…!” The Blacktooth took turns swimming right through him, numbing his body piece by piece. From his legs, to his arms, to the very center of his being. His vital organs slowly felt heavy in his own body, pulling him further down into the water. The building pressure was nothing for the Blacktooth, however. They continued to seamlessly phase through Agon. His body was blackened all over, marked by the vicious school of sea beasts.

“Dinorah…Dinorah…”

On the second floor of a small, yet lively inn, there was a burly man fitted with a worn black apron that appeared to have just fought a war in the kitchen. His hair was silver, and his hairline receded into a sort of horseshoe shape. An unkempt beard stretched across his face, like the smile he brandished in tandem. He was carrying a bowl of what some would argue is soup. He hummed to himself and walked down the hall until he found a partially open door. As he walked towards it, a young woman dressed in a contrasting clean white apron stepped out with her head hanging to the floor. He stopped and stared at the woman, who looked up to the man, as tears began to swell.

“T-to think…someone would do this to…” She wiped away at the fountains of her eyes, sniffles and hiccups triumphing over coherent words. The man took a hand from beneath the “soup” tray and placed it on the woman’s shoulder.

“Now, now…” The man’s voice was gruff, but fitted with compassion, “If there’s a pulse, then there’s hope, yes? You’re crying as if she’s your own daughter! I knew I picked the right person to take care of her.”

“...B-but why…w-why aren’t YOU crying…? She IS your daughter…! Mister Enson!”

He chuckled to himself and sighed. “My Dinorah knew what she was getting into, though I’m not quite sure just exactly WHAT IT IS she got into, she is fully aware that becoming one of the greatest warriors of history is no easy feat. I raised her on my own after her mother passed away, right after she gave birth to her, and I made sure she understood that this world is ruthless. People, creatures; why, the very wind on her back! Anything could turn against her at ANY moment, that’s why I trained her; instilled every ounce of knowledge at my disposal into her so that she could be prepared to face whatever comes her way.” He walked into the open room to find Dinorah, sleeping in a neatly tucked bed with fresh white linens, her bantu knots undone, and her armor hung to the side of the room in a corner. Enson walked to the side of her bed, watching as she slept soundly, her chest subtly rising and falling.

“My fearless warrior. Even when you’re all banged up, you still know how to get a good night’s rest, hm? Then again, you probably just picked up your sleeping habits from your old man! GYAHAHAHAHA!” Enson laughed, and his belly laughed right along with him.

“Please, Mister Enson! She’s trying to sleep!”

“Oop! You're right, my bad! Hehehe.” He walked to a nightstand beside her bed and placed the tray of “soup” carefully. He then turned back to his daughter, looking upon her sweetly. “Soup’s on, green bean.” He whispered while kneeling, running his palm over her forehead softly, and planting a kiss right in the center.

“Mister Enson…”

“She’s gonna be just fine. I know it. And when she wakes up, we’re gonna find who did this and knock their head off their neck!”

The woman stood behind Enson in awe. She then took a deep and shaky breath and spoke quietly.

“She is truly blessed…to have a father like you…” She walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind her, only to be met by a fearsome presence.

“O-oh! I apologize! I didn’t see you there, Lady-”

“Is this Dinorah’s room…?”

“W-why yes, ma’am. But she’s currently recovering-”

“I’m afraid this cannot wait. Excuse me.”

“H-Hold on!”

They wasted no time and walked through, swinging the door open. The caretaker followed behind, trying to stop them. The newcomer’s voice dropped harshly on Enson’s ears like a dart of rain.

“Enson Kuria, I have a matter that could be of great interest to you.”

“Please, Lady Louger! Mister Enson’s trying to take care of Lady Dinorah!

“OH! LOU-oop! Uh…Louger…!" Enson corrected himself to try and regulate his volume. He turned around to face the young warrior with that same bright smile as before. “What could the greatest warrior of Ruchs want from me? If only my green bean were awake to see you!”

Louger stared Enson right in his goofy face, immune to his compliments. “There’s not much time for niceties, I’m afraid. What if I told you…the Elbrus are still alive?”

A hush flooded through the room. Enson’s smile grew wider, but his hands tightened into a fist at his sides. His voice was shaky, but it did not carry an ounce of fear.

“Dear, could you give Louger and I a moment of privacy?”

“Yes, Mister, Enson.” The caretaker nodded and once again slowly left the room while closing the door behind her softly. The two of them stood in silence until her footsteps faded into the clamor of customers downstairs. Finally, Enson spoke; a somber texture coated his words.

“Now now, Louger…YOU of all people…should know how much I hate THAT WORD.”

Three minutes had passed as Agon floated towards the seemingly bottomless chasm of the ocean. The Blacktooth didn’t let up for a second, passing through his body in groups now. Several Blacktooth slipped through his face, and he could feel his eyes wanting to fall out of their sockets.

“H…Hel…p…muh…”

Even his own thoughts became numb under the Blacktooth’s swarm of attacks. Their chittering ribs sang in harmony as they circled his deforming body. Four minutes left to live. Agon felt his lungs folding over themselves with every meter he fell. The depths of the ocean grow deeper still; the slushed ligaments and tendons of Agon’s body curdled under the weight of the ocean, crumpling together like knots of lead. Everything felt heavy. There was not an inch on Agon’s body that didn’t feel like it was being ruthlessly compressed.

“Unghuhhhh…”

As his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his lips slowly loosened, a familiar voice rang through his ears.

“Agon…what’s the matter, sweetheart?”

A flash came to his mind, and there he saw his younger self again with his mother.

“M-mommy…it’s t-too much…I don’t like it…” The young child buried his blotchy face in his arm sleeve as he sobbed. He wore a small blue backpack fitted with multiple zippers and pouches.

“What was so bad about your first day at school?”

“T-the loud noises…k…k-kids yelling…”

“Oh dear…do you know what this sounds like to me?”

The child looked up with snot dangling from his nostrils like a pendulum.

“It sounds to me like you got overstimulated.”

“O-Over..?”

“Overstimulated, sweetie. It’s when your head gets busy with too many things at once, and you can’t make sense of it all. It happens to me all the time, you know.”

“W-what…what do you do about it?”

“Well, first I take a deep breath, and then when my lungs are nice and full, I gather all the thoughts in my head and…” She kneeled to her son and cupped his cheeks in her hands. “Turn 'em into HOT AIR!” She made her breath hot as she exhaled against Agon’s face.

“Ewwww! Mommy! Your breath stinks, hehehehe!” he giggled and tried to push his mother’s face away.

“Well, no one said hot air is supposed to smell good! I never got the memo!” She exhaled in his face again until the child was on the ground laughing and pinching his nose to escape the smell. His mother smiled.

“Agon, sweetheart…This world is a lot to take in, I know…but as long as you remember to breathe, you can make it through. I have faith in you. In this life, and whatever should come next.”

M-OVERRIDE ACTIVATED.

The Blacktooth slowed their parade around Agon’s drifting flesh and zeroed in on the final strike. Their meal was one hit away from being fully prepared. Just as they closed in, Agon heard two words in his mind.

“VALVE THREE.”

Agon’s heart began to beat profusely. His lungs, which once felt like they had completely collapsed, were suddenly revitalized; every other part of his body felt like dead weight, but his lungs…his heart…they felt brand new. The Blacktooth were only inches away from their target, but just before they could reach him, another word flashed in his thoughts.

“TRICUS.”

Agon’s eyes glowed pure white, and his jaw opened wide; wide enough to cover his entire torso. In an instant, he began to inhale all of the Blacktooth one by one. He took no time to swallow as he devoured each creature. The intensity of the vacuum in his lungs began to take in all of the water around him. Gallon after gallon, it all vanished into his body. It wasn’t long until he had gathered every ounce of water in the den; all collected within him. His numb body, now free from the oceanic prison, began to free-fall towards the jagged ocean floor. In that moment, Agon closed his jaw and concentrated with all of his remaining might. His eyes flashed once more, and he calmly uttered one final word:

“EXHALE.”

He opened his jaw again, and an abundance of steam propelled from within. He soared through the air until he flew right back to the very top of the water den, falling on his back upon the platform Louger once stood proudly on. His soaked body lay in a small puddle, hogging as much air as he could, and with every breath, the taste of Blacktooth traced around his taste buds; it was a bitter tang. A blue light ventured across his chest, along with a prompt box appearing before his face; he wanted to read it, but the pressure of the ocean, along with his tussle with the Blacktooth, damaged his sight beyond repair. All he could do right now was breathe. Agon’s body was nearly ripped in half by the wrath of the sea, but he emerged triumphant; he lived. Whether it would be enough to see another day was a question that the future had yet to answer, but the undeniable fact of the present…was that he lived.

ELIMINATE THE SCHOOL OF BLACKTOOTH: MISSION COMPLETE. 25:00 BT ADDED.

TOTAL TIME: 28:00.

“Mes…sa…ge…boa…rd…”