《The Deep Sea》


 Quick note + Prologue

    This story is a collaboration between crisp9965 and myself. This story is the continuation of his story on Wattpad titled: The Kingdom between Realms, starting at the chapter "The new residents and training dome" and ending at the beginning of the next chapter. You shouldn''t need to read that one to understand the story however if you wish to understand some of the characters better, I''d read his story.

    Prologue

    "This is a huge thing!" Nate shouts as he rushes inside the apartment his family lives in besides his mother and uncle who lived in a separate house.

    "What is?" Molly asks, confused, eyeing her technical son. Nate was created using his dad Crisp''s blood and a bit of his mother, the intellectual goddess Molly''s dna.

    "You got accepted didn''t you?" Micheal asks Molly''s crush and Crisp''s brother.

    "YES!" Nate shouts excited.

    "Accepted to what?" Alaric asks curious as to why his older adopted brother was so excited.

    "I got accepted to go on a deep sea exploration in that new realm that showed up! I sent my application out ages ago and wasn''t sure I''d get accepted but I did!" Nate says happily bouncing up and down.

    "New realm?" Crisp asks before thinking for a second and remembering it "Oh! That new one that someone almost drowned just entering it...you''re going on an exploration of that realm? How exactly?"

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Micheal laughs "Don''t worry brother. I''ll be going along with the exploration since I helped to create the submarine that will take us into the realm"

    "What?" Molly asks, looking down sadly.

    Micheal blushes "It''s only going to be for a few weeks at the most and we should be able to communicate just fine...of course we haven''t had a chance to test the systems yet which is why I''m going with them"

    Alaric looks toward his father "Are you going with them too?"

    Crisp shakes his head "No. I have to attend a meeting with the wanderers that day" he frowns in concern for Nate''s safety since the realm was completely unknown and unvisited but he believes Nate will be fine and can handle it.

    Nate meanwhile is completely excited, so much so that he looks like a kid in a candy store. Molly laughs "Nate calm down. Still neither Crisp nor myself will be able to come to help if things turn dark...or you sure it''s a good idea to go?" She looks worriedly at Micheal.

    Micheal gives her a reassuring smile and lightly squeezes her hand "There will always be a danger to anything anyone does but I promise you we both will make it back"

    "How can you be sure?" Redacted asks.

    "I designed the submarine with added things such as spells to prevent water from getting inside and other things to assist us in any possible situation. The only time any of the expedition team will be in danger is when we have to leave the submarine" Micheal answers smiling lightly "Molly actually helped me by finding the spells I asked her for" He smiles at Molly in an admiring way.

    Molly blushes and looks away "So that''s why you wanted me to find as many protective type spells that''d work underwater"

    Micheal blushes as well "You are the intellectual goddess...who better to find all spells like that then the one who has the connections to the ancient library" under his breath he adds "And is more beautiful than anyone else"

    "Hm?" Molly tilts her head and Micheal coughs.

    "Anyways, better make sure you''re ready cause in a week, we''re going to the Deep Sea realm" Micheal says before he and Molly head for their house.

 The Dream

    Nate finds himself staring at a gaping hole, an underwater cave possibly based on the stalagmite hanging from the ceiling resembling teeth and the fish swimming into the hole. He slowly approaches as a deep echoing voice is heard "I am ancient and yet barely born as well"

    "So you''re the most powerful thing ever?" Nate finds himself asking the mysterious voice which laughs at his question.

    "You mistake ancient for power but it is not. Ancient means one has lived a long time but that does not mean they are powerful" the voice replies.

    "I don''t get it...you say your ancient but also barely born?" he asks looking around trying to find the source of the voice.

    "We were the first to be born and we are represented in every living thing to this day...heed my words carefully young child of god and mortal. The wolf is always the most powerful, the snake the most agile, the eagle is wise..."

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "And the shark?" Nate finds himself asking not understanding why he''d ask about a shark.

    "The shark? It is the most deadly especially for you right now" the voice says before the cave collapses shut and plunges Nate into deep dark water that has him struggling for air while he flails around, trying to swim, to find his way out of the darkness. He jolts up, screaming and sits in his bed panting. His bedroom door flings open as Crisp enters, coming straight over to Nate''s bed.

    "Are you alright? I heard your scream...was it a bad vision?" Crisp asks carefully sitting onto the edge of the bed.

    Nate takes a few deep breaths "I...I don''t know...it was weird" he tells his father everything he saw in the dream "It was like I actually was drowning...I couldn''t find my way out no matter how hard I tried and I was running out of air...what do you think it means?" He''s looking at Crisp with worry and concern in his eyes.

    Crisp unsure of what it means but knows that whatever it could mean, Nate could handle it "Don''t worry...maybe your just overly worried about tomorrow''s exploration and it''s causing you to have stress dreams"

    "Yeah..." Nate says but they both know it was more than a stress dream.

 The Beginning

    "You didn''t have to come with me to the realm gate dad" Nate says looking at Crisp. Despite his words he''s actually extremely happy that his dad is making time to see him off before his meeting with the wanderers especially after his bad dream last night.

    "I know but I wanted to" he admits smiling at Nate "You''re my son and I just want to take a quick look at the sub my brother made and make sure he''s made it as safe as possible"

    Nate nods happily "Too bad Alaric and Redacted couldn''t come to see me off as well" Alaric and Redacted both had something they had to do but before leaving for his thing, Alaric had pulled Nate aside to tell him something.

    "Yeah but you know they wish they could have" he ruffles Nate''s hair causing him to smile and swat lightly at his hand.

    "I know but still...it''d be nice to see them for the...before the trip" he admits almost calling it the last time.

    Flashback moment

    "Listen Nate, remember what Sam told us about those vials...the ones that fell through the portal before it was fully stabilized?" Alaric asks after having pulled him out of earshot of the rest.

    "Yeah? What about them?" Nate asks, tilting his head a little confused on the reason his brother is bringing this up.

    "Just....keep an eye out for them while your in there" he adds.

    Nate smiles a little "Of course! Don''t worry...nothing bad is going to happen" He hugs him before he heads out following after his father who was going to see him off.

    End flashback moment

    The two lapse into silence until they get closer and could see Micheal messing around with the sub, doing final checks and stuff although when he sees Crisp he waves at him "Bro! Come here and help with this bit!"

    Crisp chuckles and goes over to see what his brother wanted help with. Nate meanwhile goes over to where his mother is standing, staring at the realm gate nervously. "Hey mom...what''s wrong?" Nate asks curiously.

    She looks at him "Just...I have a bad feeling about that realm...like something bad might be happening inside of it..."

    "Yeah...maybe or maybe we''ll find something completely new...something no one has ever seen before" Nate says smiling but it''s a little on the forced side.

    "Maybe...I just feel something...no it''s nothing! You''re right! You''ll find something amazing no doubt of that...just promise me you''ll be careful and use your brain" she looks at him pleadingly.

    "I will mom...you might want to tell uncle to be careful. He''s not as smart as we are so he might do something stupid or cowardly" Nate points out.

    "Your right...he is a bit of a coward more often than not but...he''s very brave when he needs to be" she says blushing bright red.

    "You know if something does go wrong, uncle might die...maybe you should give him a kiss goodbye for good luck~" he suggests.

    "N-No way" she says blushing but she heads over to where Micheal is talking to Crisp about something.

    Nate watches her go before looking around and seeing a group of people starting to arrive. He had heard that there would be someone from each of the known realms represented among the team. "I guess I''m the representation of the underneath kingdom" he muses to himself as he heads toward the group of people.

    "Sweetie, please calm down" a woman says watching her son running around.

    "How can I calm down mama when I get to go to a new place!" the boy says happily.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Mother, you don''t have to worry about me. I am far superior to any of these...peasants" another boy says to his mother giving the other kids a calculatingly cold gaze.

    "Good! Never forget that we come from a much better place than any of them" says the jerky boys mother while his father nods his head in agreement.

    "Mom...you''ll be alright without me right?" a girl asks quietly.

    "Yes sweetie. You go, make friends and experience new things" her mother says.

    Nate notices an older lady watching Micheal, Molly and Crisp.

    "Whatsup, my peeps!" a girl says holding her phone out as she streams "Today''s the day I go into the water of a new realm! Stay tuned for more of my latest adventure from your girl, Starshine!" She ended her stream for the time being and looks around as Micheal comes over with the other adults.

    Micheal has a clipboard with him as he is in the middle of saying "It''ll make the journey a lot easier with that upgrade especially since we don''t know what we might face..." he then pulls Crisp back a bit so the two woman are out of earshot as he whispers "To be honest, I''m terrified of doing this but...I agreed to it without actually thinking about it so I have to go through with it"

    Crisp places a comforting hand on his brother''s shoulder "Don''t worry brother. I believe that you''ll do everything in your power to bring everyone back safely" Micheal smiled gratefully at his brother''s words, feeling a little braver after the comforting words before he takes a deep breath and continues forward.

    "Alright everyone!" Micheal says, calling everyone to attention. The streamer girl, Starshine, started streaming again, holding her phone up so it captured Micheal. "My name is Micheal. I''ll be the one in charge of this expedition. We have a few minutes left before it''s time to get onto the sub so let''s do roll call and make sure we all are here. Mathew Hughes from VOTLS?"

    "HERE!" Mathew shouts jumping up and down while Starshine points her phone at him, doing the same for all the others when their names were called. Mathew was rather small sized but he seemed to be the most energetic of the group. He has dirty blonde hair and bright orange eyes.

    Micheal nods and calls out "Samantha Starshine from MA?"

    "Present, whatsup my peeps!" Samantha, the streamer says when she turns her phone to herself. She has pink hair and yellow eyes.

    "Scarlet Shineston from Rebellion?"

    "H-Here" the quiet girl whispers, raising her hand and blushing at the phone. She has bright red hair and dark green eyes.

    Micheal nods before continuing "Ken Octo from Mystical?"

    "Obviously the best of the best is present, peasant" the jerky boy says. He has light blue hair and dark blue eyes.

    "Right..." Micheal says before continuing "Lady Eva from Mythical?"

    "I''m here" Lady Eva says, blinking her eyes flirtatiously at him. She has pretty blonde hair and midnight blue eyes. Molly glares at her in a way that says this woman had better back off her man.

    Micheal continues as if nothing was happening behind him "And lastly Nate from underground kingdom?"

    "Here!" I call out before waving at Samantha''s phone.

    "Alright then, including me, that''s everyone whose going" Micheal puts the clipboard down before adding "Now let''s go over the rules. Listen to what either Lady Eva or myself tell you, never leave the sub without express permission to do so and the laws of this world still apply inside the sub. Now the sub will be protected by all sorts of magical protection but anything outside the sub isn''t going to be so safe. Don''t take any unnecessary risks. The sub is magically enchanted to be much larger on the inside and it won''t weigh anymore than it already does so we''re able to take a lot of provisions. It will also have the capabilities to contact any of the preapproved numbers being your parents, Molly and Crisp. This is also an added safety measure in case we need to get assistance for some reason. We will also be doing all this with the ability to be seen live at any given moment by any of your families however that won''t be available until three hours into the voyage...now we have two minutes left so say your goodbyes and start getting all your stuff into the sub, pick a room and then when your done with all that meet in the main deck" he says before he takes Molly back over to grill her about some more safety spells or defensive spells that could help out while they are under the water.

    Nate looks at his dad "Tell Alaric and Redacted I love them and I''ll see them soon...and dad! I love you"

    Crisp smiles and ruffles his hair "I love you too son" he hugs him tightly, worry inside his heart. After a few seconds they break away and Nate takes his luggage into the sub.

    Finally it was time for Micheal to board the sub as they only had a single minute left "Well...this is goodbye for now" he says to Molly and Crisp "Wish me luck"

    "You''ll do great," Crisp says encouragingly.

    Molly hesitates before giving him a quick kiss, their first kiss "Good luck...I''ll see you soon"

    Micheal blushing bright red, nods as he walks backwards and trips into the sub''s open hatch causing both Crisp and Molly to giggle.

    Crisp eyes her after the sub has disappeared into the realm gate "So how long until the wedding~?" he teases earning him a swat on the arm from a blushing Molly. He chuckles "I''d better get to the meeting...I''m already late by a minute" he quickly leaves and Molly after staring at the gate with that bad feeling again, turns and heads back to Micheal and hers home.

 The Dive

    For three hours everyone wanders around the sub, exploring it while Micheal stays in the main portion to check the systems, making sure everything is running correctly as they descend slowly into the darkness of the water. Amanda is pretending to be live streaming or at least Nate thinks she is, since she''s talking to her phone while walking around showing the place off to her currently unavailable chat. Mathew was running around while Ken watched looking disgusted. Scarlet is sitting in an alcove staring out at the blackness around the sub shaking in fear.

    Finally, the three hours were up and Micheal takes a deep steadying breath before flicking the outside lights on to see an amazing and breathtaking view. The view causes everyone to stare out the windows.

    "Wow..." Nate says breathlessly.

    Meanwhile with Crisp

    Crisp sighs in annoyance as the meeting to talk about some serious issues had turned into more of a complaining session. He gets home to find Molly is sleeping on his couch with the tv on a channel that''s just static.

    "Why are you in my house and not yours?" he asks the sleeping Molly who stirs at the sound of his voice. She sits up and rubs her eyes a little. Crisp is certain she hadn''t been planning on sleeping since as a goddess she doesn''t need to sleep but she has chosen to act more mortal so she sleeps sometimes.

    She looks at him "Crisp? W-When did you get home? Has it been three hours!?" She worries, looking at the static tv.

    "It''s almost...why are you in my house?" he asks although he''s sure he knows the answer already thanks to his sense.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    "To watch the live feed...I didn''t want to be by myself when I did in case...anything bad happens" she admits, hugging a pillow to her chest.

    He goes into the kitchen and makes some food, sensing that Alaric and Redacted will be home soon so he makes enough for everyone. Coming back, he hands her a plate "You used the key Nate gave you to get in right?"

    "Yeah" she answers, placing the plate on the table and watching the screen.

    "You know he''ll be alright" he says, taking a bite out of his dinner.

    "I believe he will be but that doesn''t stop me from worrying about him...about either of them" she admits. They both lapse into silence before Alaric and Redacted arrive and the tv suddenly blares to life. First they can hear the voices.

    "Wow" they hear Nate say and then the visuals arrive as the screen finally fully connects. The scene before them is gorgeous. Plants growing under water, some glowing others are just colorful. The once dark water seems to be so bright that it''s like they''re looking out over the sky instead of the deepness of the sea. There are tons of fishes that add to the beauty before them. Fishes that seem to glow, some that reflect the light, and even some that look very normal yet when surrounded by the others become gorgeous almost as if to show off the hidden qualities of the plain fish. There are even sharks that are glowing and other bioluminescent things.

    "Look!" Molly says after a few breathless moments of awed silence "There''s Nate and Micheal!"

    Redacted laughs "I should hope so since they''re part of the exploration team."

    "I know but anything could have happened in the first three hours...the sub could have broken down, some sort of monster could have eaten the sub, the protective spells could have failed" she starts fretting. Redacted and Alaric shrugs looking at each other, a little amused by this.

    Crisp speaks up "We both know Nate would think of something besides one of them is a water creature so they could help the others if need be." He doesn''t mention Micheal being of any help which shows that he''s sure Micheal would panic in an emergency. Molly smiles lightly and nods.

 The Problem Vision

    "This place is so gorgeous" Amanda says before looking at her live stream and seeing the comments about the beauty of the scenery she had just shared. She smiles happily at the comments.

    "It is..." Micheal agrees, staring out the glass screens before he clicks a bottom, causing the floor of the main area to become see-through and they all stare down into the vast darkness that''s still gaping below them.

    "It''s almost like...a monster''s mouth" whispers Scarlet looking even more scared than she had before the outer lights were turned on.

    "Tch...you can''t be that scared?" scoffs Ken "Then again, I guess it makes sense given that you''re a peasant" he laughs at his own joke.

    Lady Eva laughed a bit before whispering to Ken "Hmm, I like that attitude. The peasants should be put in their places" she then smiles sweetly at Micheal "So~ What do we do now~?" she asks in the most seductively sweet way ever.

    Micheal completely ignores the tone and says "We explore slowly, carefully and as safely as possible...no one knows what lies in these depths. If you want to explore the ocean outside the sub then stay close by and make sure to fully suit up. The suits have magic on them as well so you''ll never run out of air."

    Mathew immediately rushes toward the diving room along with Amanda. Scarlet heads over to her alcove in the corner to watch the outside world. Ken scoffs and heads for his room mumbling something about peasants. Lady Eva moves over to Micheal and starts obviously flirting on him although he doesn''t seem to realize that''s what she''s doing. Nate goes to step in, wanting to keep his mother from going dark from losing the man she loves so much when he feels his head start to pound.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "W-What''s happening?" he thinks as the pounding seems to increase "Is this a...vision? But it''s so...painful! They''re never this painful..." he holds onto his head as the world around him seems to blur together which only hurts his head more. His breathing becomes erratic as the vision takes full hold on him and he feels like he''s going insane from the pain.

    When his eyes open, the pain is still there but just a light buzz more than a full pain. He''s in a city but the details are all fuzzy. His feet are sluggish as he walks through the city, the pain in his head becoming stronger the closer to the heart of the city. Before he can make it to the center, he hears a voice in his head, which only increases the pain until it''s at a burning point "Spawn of gods, you will fail~ Come find me, release me or your world will drown in eternal madness~" the voice laughs cold and harsh as fire seems to spread through Nate''s mind. He screams out in pain, feeling close to madness himself when he hears a faint voice, growing louder until it yanks him out of the vision.

    "NATE!" Micheal shouts, his power working overtime to reach Nate through the mind.

    Nate sits upright and coughs, fear causing his body to shake like a leaf and he looks slowly around "W-What happened?"

    "I don''t know...you just suddenly froze up and then you fell and after a few minutes, you screamed as if you were in immense pain so I tried dragging you back from whatever had a hold of you" Micheal says but he''s shaking although it''s not noticeable unless you''re up close to him "What happened?"

    Nate tells him everything that happened in his vision. When he''s done, Micheal pulls Nate into a hug to calm himself down some before he pulls away and stares into Nate''s eyes, searching his eyes. "Anyways...you should get some sleep. Go back to your room. I''ll contact your parents and make sure they know that you had...some sort of vision."

 Micheal and Crisp

    Micheal sees to it that Nate has gone to bed, purposefully spiking his water with a sleeping pill to make sure that he sleeps before he goes to his own room. Once inside, he takes a deep breath and touches the desk panel meant for private calls. Every room has one such desk so they may speak to their families in private from the others although those watching from the outside of the realm can look into any room they wish at any time. "Call Crisp" he says to the screen as he paces the room.

    The call finally connects after what feels like a lifetime and Crisp answers "I know already Micheal"

    "You know about the vision he just had?" he presses and Crisp''s holographic self nods "And you never thought to warn me that his vision could cause him to fall like that or go to the verge of madness!?"

    "His visions have never done that before" Crisp says "I don''t think that was a vision he had but something else trying to commune with him for some reason" Crisp is looking through the application forms, checking on a hunch he has about why this thing was communing with Nate over the others.

    "Why Nate?" Micheal asks, sitting down. He''s still shaking and now that he''s somewhere away from the rest of the crew it becomes more visible.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    "Probably because Nate''s vision ability makes it easier to show him things...the other''s all have powers that wouldn''t be as easy to manipulate even by me" he answers. He says it like he wouldn''t be able to manipulate a person to have a waking dream or anything else but they both know Crisp could, it just wouldn''t be as easy as it''d sound.

    "So...what do you think his whatever it was means?" he asks scared and needing to hear his brother say that it means something good but they both know that''d be a lie.

    "....Time will tell for sure" he answers "Just...don''t worry about it too much alright brother? Keep an eye on Nate though in case he has more of these and do your best to bring everyone home safely. You know what they all can do, so use them all in the roles that will best fit their abilities."

    Micheal nods and sighs "How''s Molly doing?"

    "She''s fine. I checked on her earlier and she was sleeping peacefully cuddling your shirt. It was actually kind of adorable" he chuckles.

    Micheal smiles as a blush spreads across his face "She''s always adorable...hopefully having this time apart won''t make her seek another"

    "She won''t. She likes you too much to chase another while you''re away...you two really should just get married" Crisp says before adding "Be careful alright? I have to go" he ends the call leaving Micheal alone in his room.

    Micheal takes a deep breath and whispers "It should have been you here instead of me...you''re stronger and braver than I am" he stays quiet for a long time before sighing and standing up "It doesn''t matter who''s here and who isn''t! I''m here and this is my exploration! It''s up to me to make sure we all make it back as best as we can!"

 A Bloody Scare

    "Second day..." Nate says to himself in the mirror wanting to be normal but he can still see the hazy city and hear the voice speaking to him. Shaking his head, he leaves his room to see what his uncle and Lady Eva wish for them to do.

    Micheal was in the middle of telling the others what he wants done today "And see if you can get any samples of...pretty much everything" He sees Nate before anyone else "Good morning Nate! How''d you sleep?"

    "It was...fine" he answers "We''re taking samples of things?" Micheal nods.

    "Micheal and me will stay on the sub to keep an eye on you kids in a more...intimate location~" Lady Eva purrs seductively as she holds Micheal''s arm. Micheal gently removes himself from her.

    "Alright! Let''s go!!" Mathew says already heading for the diving room. Amanda laughs as she starts to prepare her stream as she follows, pulling out her water-proof phone. She has too many phones.

    Ken sighs "They are such peasants" he follows them slowly.

    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    Scarlet looks at Micheal and Lady Eva "C-Can I stay inside?"

    "No you can''t. Micheal and I wish to be alone~" Lady Eva says and Scarlet sighs in defeat before heading for the diving room. Nate follows after her and they both walk together to the room.

    A little bit later, the group is swimming around, taking samples from anything they run across. "Nate..." Amanda says but her voice sounds almost worried.

    Nate looks at her, turning around to see her "Wha..." he begins before something skims his back, sending him swirling in circles until he can right himself and stare horrified at the sight before him.

    "W-What is that!?" Scarlet nearly screams as they all stare at the giant mass of flesh rising upwards. Nate quickly swims backward to avoid a giant fin.

    "Hey is this red stuff floating in the water around us, blood?" Mathew asks, staring at the red surrounding them.

    "Shit..." Ken says before shouting "Get back to the sub now!"

    "W-Why?" Scarlet asks.

    "Where there''s blood in the water, there will also be sharks and with whatever that thing is...it''s best if we get out of here before the sharks come to bite" he answers swimming for the sub. After a few seconds, the others all swim after him. Before entering the diving room, Nate and Amanda look behind them, being the last two to make it to the sub. They see sharks converging yet the sharks do not come close to the mass of flesh until it''s tail disappears farther up. Nate and Amanda share a glance before they both go back into the sub.

 Pretend Bravery

    Micheal is beyond terrified by what they had witnessed from the sub. It was like a giant fish of some kind but it left blood in its wake. When he calms down, he''ll be thankful that Ken had sense enough to get everyone back to the sub when they realized there was blood in the water around them but for now, he was panicking hard inside his room, on a call with Molly.

    "It wasn''t supposed to be this dangerous! It was supposed to be a simple exploration that might be as dangerous as a normal shark encounter or something like that! Not a GIANT thing!" he panics, pacing back and forth.

    Molly watches him, slightly amused as she carefully eats some ice cream "Micheal...you need to calm down. It''s probably nothing that you and your team can''t handle."

    "No! This is so far beyond my ability to handle! This is Crisp level of handling...hell not even Nate would be able to fight that thing if it decides to attack us! Our sub will be eaten whole!"

    "It might be but the spells will still hold" she points out "Look if I had thought even for a second that you couldn''t handle that realm, I wouldn''t have let you go and we both know Crisp wouldn''t have let Nate go if it was beyond his capabilities." She rolls over onto her back, staring at him from upside down. From this angle, Micheal has a nice view down her shirt to the spot just above her breasts, not enough to see too much but enough to tease him.

    "Molly...you really think I can handle this?" he asks, blushing at the sight.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    "Of course I do! And so does Crisp or he would have fought to come instead of you or along with you guys" she says "Now stop fretting and get out there! They need you to calm them down and you need to watch Nate in case he has another waking dream" they end the call and she muses to herself "I feel like I''ve forgotten something important about that realm?"

    Meanwhile on the ship, Nate is listening to everyone panicking about the giant thing outside.

    "We can''t go out there when that thing might come after us!" Ken argues.

    "But...it''s our whole reason for being here and it didn''t try to hurt us!" Mathew argues back.

    "I-It almost did get Nate though" Scarlet points out.

    "We should turn the sub around, go home and send someone stronger to deal with this" Lady Eva says.

    "No!" Micheal says coming in and all eyes turn to him. He looks brave but Nate can tell he''s terrified inside. "We can''t turn tail and run every time something bad happens...We were all chosen for this expedition for a reason. Our skills and powers can help us survive this strange oceanic realm."

    Nate stands up "So...what do you want us to do?"

    Micheal nods gratefully at Nate "Alright...here''s what we''ll do. We can use the sonar system to keep an out for that giant creature. It''ll show up as a large blinking light. From now on, whenever any of us are outside the sub, we must have someone here at the main console to keep an eye out for that creature. We swim in pairs of two at the minimum...We can make it through this if we work together!" He sounds confident and Nate smiles approvingly at the brave face his uncle is putting on. Everyone else nods in agreement. "For tonight however...we all should get some sleep. We''ll continue this tomorrow" They all head to bed, saying goodnight to their families if they wish to or simply going to sleep.

 Dream turns Dangerous

    Nate walks silently through the sub except that to him, it''s not the sub but an ancient city. The buildings are amazing, the architecture is so great you''d think that a master artisan had designed it all. Nate runs his hands along a wall, not noticing the blood that seems to jump out of the wall at his touch. He continues to walk through the hallway, toward the diving room only seeing the city. The closer he gets to the diving room, the closer he gets to the center of the city.

    "This place is gorgeous" Nate says to no one, saying it outloud.

    "Yes~ It was before they destroyed it~" a voice speaks from somewhere near the center. Nate quickened his pace, waving at some of the people. He finally makes it to the edge of the city center, standing directly in front of the diving room door. "A little further and you''ll see the truth for yourself~" the voice whispers in his ears. Nate opens the door and walks in. The minute the water envelopes him, the city changes. The once beautiful walls turned covered in dripping blood, the walkways became cracked and covered in seaweed and green algae. The people turn to dark, twisted fish people. The entire scene looks dead and rotting.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Wha!?" Nate screams or tries to but he feels like he''s drowning as water rushes into his lungs. The water in his lungs jolts him from his dream-like vision. He tries to make it back onto the sub before he passes out but he is just a little short as his vision starts to go dark. He feels something underneath him, gently pushing him through the hole where the diving room''s exit was located. He lays there for a good few minutes before he struggles to his room and collapses into his bed.

    "What''s wrong with me?" He asks no one but he''s shivering and wishing for his father or mother to help calm him down after this harrowing experience.

 The Dreamscape and the Vision

    Nate shivers in his bed, too afraid to sleep again for fear of another whatever it was. "It was not a dream nor a vision" he says to himself as he wraps his arms around his stomach trying to calm himself. The images haunt him until he realizes he''s no longer in his room. Staring at the unfamiliar buildings from the city in his mind makes him more scared until he hears a familiar voice speaking from behind him.

    "This place looks nice" Crisp says smiling at his son "Is this what you''ve been seeing lately?"

    "DAD!?" Nate runs over to him and hugs him, his whole body shaking as tears start falling "What''s wrong with me? Why can''t I escape this...whatever it is?"

    Crisp gently pets his hair, staring down at his son as he comforts him "Shhh, nothing''s wrong with you." He lets Nate cry into his shirt as he looks around at the buildings around them. Everything is bright and untainted yet Crisp feels that this is all a farce to drag people into the city before ensnaring them in madness. As if to prove this thought, the city changes. Blood, seaweed and algae appear along with cracked walls and a sense of madness in the air.

    Nate finally backs away, sniffling a little as he wipes his eyes of the tears left "We''re in the dreamscape, aren''t we?"

    "Yeah. I stole you inside...it sounded like you needed me" he responds gently ruffling his hair before asking again "So this is what you''ve been seeing in your dreams?"

    Nate nods "Yeah...this city and a voice."

    "Was it the same voice from your vision before the exploration?" he asks and Nate shakes his head.

    "No...that one was deep and echoed while this one sounds crazed in a sense, like sane and insane at the same time."

    Crisp nods, not fully understanding but he can imagine how it sounds especially after he manipulates the dreamscape to cause the voice Nate heard in these weird moments to play out. "You''re right. It does sound crazed." He looks at his son and asks "It has a hold on you doesn''t it?"

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "I want to know what it is and why it''s calling out to me" Nate answers "But...this seems so dangerous now. I could have drowned just now." He shakes a little but when Crisp pulls him back against him for a hug, he doesn''t fight it and instead leans against him more.

    "Hey, you can handle anything inside this realm" Crisp says forcing Nate to look him in the eyes so he can see the truth of his words "Your much stronger than you give yourself credit for...just do me a favor and try not to drown yourself again" he chuckles a little and Nate does as well.

    "I''ll try dad" he promises before yawning.

    Crisp, unknowingly to his son, puts a strong spell on Nate so he can sleep peacefully without another one of those weird visions tonight.

    Nate looks at his dad "I think...I''m going to head to sleep. I feel a lot better now." He vanishes back to the waking world but Crisp remains in the dreamscape, knowing that his son would sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

    Crisp looks at Stacy "I can''t reach its dreams can I?" he asks.

    She shakes her head "There is no way to reach his dreams...but you probably could reach the other''s dream."

    He nods and reaches out. After a few seconds, the dream changes to water and directly in front of Crisp is a black shape. A deep echoey voice is heard "You....Who are you? You are not food..." It almost sounds disappointed that Crisp isn''t food.

    "I am Crisp, slayer of gods" he answers.

    The voice is not impressed "Slayer of gods? Are gods food? I do not understand you little fish but why do you speak to me?"

    Crisp had a feeling this creature wouldn''t know what gods were "I wish to verify something with you."

    "And that is?" the voice asks.

    "Is there a city down in your waters?" he asks though he knows the answer, he hopes he is wrong as well.

    "There are many drowned cities but only one should you not go near" the voice answers after a moment''s silence.

    Crisp sighs "I was afraid you''d say that..." In his mind, he thinks "I can always get here if this realm proves too much for them but I know Nate can handle it. He''ll fight like a storm until the very end."

    "Is that all?" the voice asks "I am hungry and was in the middle of fetching a nighttime snack...this red glowing little fish looks ever so tasty."

    "Yes" Crisp answers before ending the dream completely and looks at the tv screen, Molly has fallen asleep in front of. It''s showing a sleeping Nate, curled up in bed. Crisp smiles "You''ll be fine"

    He then looks down at Molly and thinks "Does she plan on coming over to watch the tv until they get back? Well at least she''s not causing any trouble and she doesn''t stay over everyday." He gently rubs her head before he puts a blanket over her and goes to his own room.

 Nate goes missing

    Two days after Nate''s near death experience, he''s gone. Micheal is panicking beyond compare and is ten seconds away from calling his brother and resigning but something keeps him from doing it. Maybe it was his pride or maybe a sense of duty but he doesn''t call his brother and he doesn''t try to resign no matter how much his panic causes him to pick up the phone. Instead he tries to find him using the radar and sending the others out to search but they are having no luck so far.

    "My brother is going to kill me...Molly is going to kill me!" he whispers to himself "Where did you go? Why did you leave? What has been happening to you lately?" he thinks as he stares at the radar trying to think of anywhere Nate would have disappeared to. He taps the control counter as he thinks.

    "Command room! This is Alpha team one! I repeat this is Alpha team one to the command room!" Mathew''s voice comes over the communication device.

    "Mathew now isn''t the time for jokes" Micheal says "What is it?"

    "We found a cute school of fishes!" Mathew says almost making Micheal want to hit himself against the command board.

    "Would you pay attention!?" Ken snaps at him.

    "S-Seriously, this is a terrible time to be caring about the fishes" Scarlet adds.

    "Well my peeps, this search is turning up nothing but hey, help us search by let...huh!?" Amanda says before turning as one of her chatters said they saw a small cave opening to her right. It really wasn''t anything special, just a normal, small-sized cave entrance but Amanda taps Scarlet and points to it. The two go to check it out.

    "Amanda? What did you find?" Micheal asks switching the screen footage to see Amanda and Scarlet.

    "It''s a cave...we''re going to check it," Amanda says.

    "No!" Micheal shouts, not having a good feeling about that cave "Wait for the others before you go in. Everyone, go to where Amanda and Scarlet are right now!" They all go to the two girls. Lady Eva is also with them, so only Micheal will be staying behind inside the safety of the sub but also in case Nate manages to find his way back.

    "Alright...everyone''s here so we''re going inside now" Amanda confirms before they swim inside the cave.

    "This place reeks of death," Ken says. He''s the only one who''s not wearing a diving suit since he''s an octopus person.

    "Does it?" Scarlet asks since the suits don''t allow them to smell anything.

    "Yes, peasant girl" Ken says but his voice is softer than when he said it on the first day. It almost sounds affectionate now.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    They continue to swim through the dark cave, glad for the light from their suits built in flashlight as they look around, trying to see everything.

    "I don''t like this cave..." Mathew admits feeling weird.

    "None of us do" Lady Eva says "But we have to do this or Crisp might kill us for losing his son!"

    Micheal back at the sub, watching them through the camera which he already tried to use to find Nate, to no success, gets a call from Molly that he ignores. He knows she''s calling because she is watching the tv and is worried to death about her son. "We don''t have time to be scared" he says over the communicator "Just be super careful out there."

    Eventually the group comes to a huge cavern with a gorgeous shimmering city in the middle. The buildings all looked Greek made and they slowly approached.

    Ken realizes the difference first before they all hit the floor "The water is goaaaaa!.....Ouch!" he grumbles as he sits up, rubbing his ass.

    "Well...at least we''re safe...maybe" Scarlet says fearfully.

    "This place looks gorgeous" Mathew whispers.

    "It does but we still need to search it for Nate!" Amanda points out as she leads the way through the streets. The ground is made of marble, the buildings out of drywall with inox beams for support. The banners waving show a symbol of a trident with a dolphin.

    "I think this is...Atlantis, the sunken city," Scarlet whispers in amazement "I read about it in a book in the underground kingdom''s library."

    "Wow...I wonder if it''s the real thing or just a replica" Amanda whispers before she sees Nate, his shoulder leaning against the wall, blood dripping down his shoulder and subsequently the wall "NATE!?"

    Nate looks at them, his eyes cloudy but unglazed "H-Hey guys" he manages to weakly say.

    "What happened?" Lady Eva asks well it was more of a demand than a question.

    "I...I don''t know" he answers looking down "I just...heard it calling me...telling me to take it...to bring it to it...I made it this far before my mind started screaming that something was wrong...that I had to wake up..."

    "Why are you bleeding?" Mathew asks worriedly.

    "I...I couldn''t think of another way to wake...my arm hurts..." he passes out from the pain or the blood loss. Ken grabs him, preventing him from hitting the floor.

    "We need to get him back to the sub...and fast" he says.

    "But if we take him out into the water..." Amanda says "The sharks will start coming."

    "I know..." Ken thinks for a bit before he sighs "We''ll go through the cave. It''s too small for any of the sharks to get to us. Micheal, can you bring the sub as close as possible to the cave entrance?"

    "Already moving" he answers, already setting about, getting the sub into position.

    "Once we''re back at the entrance, I''ll hang back a little bit while the rest of you go to the subs. The sharks shouldn''t be able to sniff us out while we''re in the cave. Once you guys have made it safely to the sub, I''ll go out with Nate...if all goes well, we should just make it to the sub so be ready to take him from me." Ken lays out the plan. They all nod, knowing it''s their best bet.

    Finally they make it to the cave entrance and after a nod to Ken, the others swim out to the sub. Once they have made it inside the sub, Ken takes a deep breath before he swims out as fast as he can, carrying the unconscious Nate. He only just makes it before a shark can bite his left leg. Micheal sighs in relief and takes Nate to his room. After a second''s hesitation, he locks Nate''s door from the outside.

    Outside the sub, as they move it away from the cave entrance and the shark frenzy going wild over the blood in the water, a giant dark shape starts to form, swimming lazily toward the blood location. It''s not interested in the sub other than to note there are warm bodies inside but it can sense the magic surrounding the sub so ignores it.

 The Corruption

    "There are food inside that thing...but that thing has magic surrounding it...I''ll leave it alone. Plenty of food around me already" the giant shark thinks to itself as it sees the warmth inside the sub. It''s name is Mega, the immortal giant shark. It swims lazily forward, not in any hurry as the water always provides what it needs, except for the deepest parts of its domain where it lies, calling out to the creatures to drive them mad and try to escape its watery prison.

    Mega thinks more as it lazily looks for food "So much is changing" He notices something shiny, sparkling in the water. He''s not sure what it is but it doesn''t look like it''d taste too bad so he moves into position, opens his mouth and eats it.

    "Hmmm....it tastes weird...I feel weird...so hungry" he thinks before he swims quickly toward a fellow shark, a great white shark of normal size, and eats it whole. The water is no longer safe from Mega as it becomes corrupted.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Meanwhile back in the underneath kingdom, in Crisp''s apartment, Molly watches the tv staring at her sleeping son. "Why do I feel like I''ve forgotten something really important?"

    "You made the realm right?" Tim asks "Maybe you forgot something about the reason for itss creation?" Tim is spending time with Alaric inside for a change.

    "How long are you planning on staying over?" Redacted asks, eyeing Molly.

    "Am I overstaying?" she asks looking sadly down "I''m sorry...I just don''t like watching by myself, alone in an empty home" she whispers and Redacted feels bad before feeling annoyed for feeling bad.

    "Alright...not like dad has said anything to you" he gives in.

    Molly smiles before looking thoughtful "The reason I created the realm...hmmm...I remember making it be a large ocean, deep water and we placed...we put something inside of it for some reason but I can''t remember...it was so long ago" she looks down sadly as several books float around her "Even my books have nothing on this..."

 The Narrow Escape

    It was the next day after the Atlantis trip and while the sub was diving deeper, the team was gathering samples of things once more as they followed it down into the dark deep. "What do you think is at the bottom of this realm?" Ken asks as he picks up some glowing algae growing on the side of a rocky wall.

    "Who knows! It could be anything! Maybe it''s SHARK!" Mathew says, shouting in fear at the end as he practically swims into Ken, two rolling out of the way as a giant wall of flesh swims quickly past them. Scarlet and Amanda quickly get out of its way as well. Nate gets tossed by a fin but he quickly rights himself.

    "WHAT IS THAT!?" Amanda shouts fearfully.

    The radar on the sub pings loudly as the giant shark finally appears on the radar "W-What the!?" Micheal says seeing it too close. He quickly gets the sub into a rock crevasse as it swims past. Lady Eva clings to his arm scared.

    "Oh my dragons!" she says "Micheal...save me~" she kisses him and he quickly backs away.

    "What the...not now! Wait no not ever!" he says to her before looking at the radar and his blood goes cold "It''s moving too fast for the radar to track....Shit shit shit!" he presses the button of the communication device "Everyone! Get back to the ship or find somewhere to hide where it can''t get at you! Just stay safe and be careful!" he shouts.

    Nate and the kids swim, dodging the giant shark. Nate sees for a split second a small entrance, barely big enough for them but he sees Mathew sliding into it. The small vision ends. Nate doesn''t know if he can trust his visions anymore but for all their sakes, he had to. "Mathew!" he shouts as Mathew was in front of them "Find a small entrance and go inside! Everyone follows him..."

    "Find one!" Mathew shouts diving and they all follow, just in time to avoid the giant shark''s attempt to eat them.

    "Seriously what is that thing!?" Amanda shouts.

    "Focus on getting to that entrance then we can focus on what to do next!" Nate shouts back as he sees Mathew make it to the entrance and slide inside. Amanda makes it next, then Scarlet. Nate makes it and stops to look back at Ken.

    "Just go!" Ken shouts at him and Nate does. A few seconds later, Ken rockets inside before the whole small cavern shakes as the giant shark slams into the rock outside. "See...I had a higher chance of making it than a peasant like you" he says panting a bit.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "What is that!?" Amanda asks again.

    "I-It was the creature we saw that other time...but we could actually see it..." Scarlet says shakingly.

    "A giant shark...giant shark..." Nate muses before remembering some piece of information about a giant shark. "It''s a megalodon..."

    "What''s a megalodon?" Mathew asks while Ken looks terrified.

    "It''s a legendary shark that has never been actually discovered, just the bones so it''s supposed to be extinct. The biggest shark to ever exist at around 60 to 70 feet long and weighs about 50 to 70 tons. Their teeth are seven inches long" Ken explains "If this realm has so much space...it makes sense that a Megalodon would be able to survive here...but it means we''re all in danger!"

    Amanda tries to communicate with Micheal or Lady Eva but nothing "The communication system is down or something is blocking it off!" They all look at each other worriedly.

    "T-Theirs a tunnel over there..." Scarlet points toward the only tunnel that they hope doesn''t lead out to the megalodon waiting.

    "It''s our only chance..." Nate whispers and they swim through it.

    Meanwhile on the sub, Micheal is trying to contact them but getting radio silence basically. He can tell that they are alive thanks to Amanda''s live stream. He''s never been more glad for that girls streaming before now since the video feed from the sub has also been cut off. He can''t move the sub due to the Megalodon being outside and he''s unsure what to do.

    Lady Eva, however, is not worried about it and is instead trying to get him to relax by spending time with her. "Come on Micheal, this is a good chance for us to get to know each other better~"

    "What!?" he asks shocked looking at her "What do you mean?"

    She pins him to the console which scares him as she whispers "You deserve a real woman~" she kisses him and there''s nothing he can do. His mind races with thoughts of Molly.

    Meanwhile watching this is Molly and Crisp''s family. Molly''s anger is so strong it''s visible and they all eye her a bit concerned, not scared just concerned about what she''ll do.

    "That disgusting little..." she growls, her body shaking as she tries to control her anger. It''s at this point that they see Micheal shove Lady Eva off of him, pushing her hard enough that she hits the floor.

    "Enough! I don''t like you...you''re a...nice lady but you''re not my type..." he looks out toward the water and then grabs his phone and shuts off the sub so it can''t be moved before he dashes into his room, locking the door behind him.

    Molly smiles at Micheal''s obvious loyalty to her.

    Redacted speaks casually "You do realize you two aren''t dating yet right?"

    Molly blushes "I-I know that! He just doesn''t know that he already belongs to me yet" she looks away from them.

    Redacted hearing this he laughs before he takes Alaric to bed. He leaves and texts his father to see how he is but leaves the apartment headed towards the wanders building. Once in his office, he sits in his chair and also makes himself a drink.

    He doesn''t like being there when Molly is there. He''s only there for his little sibling but when Alaric is asleep, Redacted sleeps at his cafe or office.

    Micheal posts a comment on Amanda''s stream "I''ll be watching from the stream...whatever happens be safe and as soon as it''s safe for us, I''ll get to you guys so stay together and be safe" he then sighs and leans against the door.

 The Place of Ancient Dreams

    The group of kids eventually see the entrance of what Ken guesses is a cavern as he says "It''s most likely an underwater cavern..."

    "Only one way to find out," Nate says, feeling another headache coming on. He hates the headache since they usually hint that another insanity moment is going to happen soon. They carefully peek through the entrance to find that it was a cavern but inside the cavern was a city. They all enter the cavern and Nate feels his headache lessen. Nate notices that the city doesn''t look like the city from his dreams and it doesn''t resemble Atlantis. It''s not dark but it''s not glimmering either. The buildings are old like both cities but this one doesn''t have any algae or cracked buildings. It has simple designs with symbols that Nate thinks are a type of language but they are none he has ever seen before.

    "Which city is this one supposed to resemble?" Mathew asks, having guessed that this was another city like Atlantis.

    "I don''t know..." Nate answers.

    "I''ve never seen any pictures of this city before so maybe it''s a new one?" Amanda suggests looking at her phone and seeing the comment from Micheal. She smiles knowing that he''s thinking of their safety but worries that he and Lady Eva won''t be any help. "I think we''re on our own..."

    They all stare down in silence before Nate shakes his head "Come on! All we can do is continue onward" he heads forward into the city streets and the others follow after him.

    "This place is...almost normal," Amanda points out.

    "Yeah...T-The only thing not normal is the language if that''s what those symbols represent" Scarlet adds.

    Ken looks closely at some symbols over a door "I think...there the ancient animal scripture? Or at least some of these symbols are, like this one" he points at a symbol that kind of resembles a shark colored blue "It means shark but it also means great hunger or danger"

    "What about this one! It looks like a dog?" Mathew asks, pointing at another one resembling a dog colored red.

    "Hmm...that''s not the dog...I think it''s the wolf...strength and bloodthirstiness...see if you can find two more images of animals!"

    "Could this S looking symbol be a snake?" Amanda asks, pointing to a weird green colored S.

    "H-Here''s a bird..." Scarlet calls out pointing to one that resembles a bird except it''s colored in gold.

    "Hmmm...snake, slippery and sneaky...that bird...it might be an eagle? Smart, cunning, proud...is there only four animals?" Ken asks.

    "It looks like it...huh wait there''s one here but I can''t make out what it is..." Nate says staring at a symbol that''s partially destroyed but it resembles an animal of some kind.

    "What color is it?" Ken asks.

    "It looks like it''s...all colors almost?"

    "I don''t know that one then...what could this place be?" he muses as they all look around.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "Hey...Micheal do you have any idea?" Amanda asks, looking at her phone and the chatters while they walk, hoping he''d answer.

    "Not a clue...my best guess would be some sort of ancient city, maybe a temple of some kind" Micheal sends via the chat.

    They continue walking checking the symbols on the walls but they don''t find any other animals besides the five they had already seen. Ken tries to translate the writing with Scarlet''s help around where the animal symbols were.

    "I t-think we figured it out!" Scarlet says.

    "Oh? What does it mean?" Nate asks coming over to the two as did the others.

    Ken looks at them "It''s a little weird and it doesn''t make much sense but it says...The five are sacred, representing everything in only five bodies. The wolf is strong and bloodthirsty while the eagle is smart and proud. Snake is sneaky, able to slip away while the shark is hungry and dangerous. The fifth rule over all yet is never seen. The star spawn is wicked and must remain sealed away for the insanity he brings will be the destruction of all. The five guards that which must remain sealed yet they guard nothing."

    After a few minutes of silence, Mathew asks "What does that mean?"

    "W-We have no idea" Scarlet admits.

    "Yeah...but it mentions five animals guarding something that can''t be unsealed...and something about a star spawn being sealed...none of it makes any sense or helps us at all!" Ken growls.

    "Hmm...if someone took the time to write all this down then it means that someone must have seen people being here one day" Amanda starts "so maybe...they left more helpful instructions inside one of the buildings...but which one?"

    Nate looks around before seeing in his mind an image of a destroyed multicolored animal symbol, almost completely covering a door. He jolts when it ends and looks toward the center of the city, straight at a door with the exact symbol on it further inside resembling a church building. "That one..." he says walking toward it before touching his forehead as pain shoots through his skull.

    "Nate!" the others call out, coming over to hover around him, concerned.

    "I-I''m fine" he says as the pain leaves him "Just another headache...Come on...let''s go see if we can find anything to help us."

    Once inside, they look around, looking for anything to help them. "Gah! Why can''t we find anything useful!" Ken finally snaps, his octopus tentacles coming out from under his shirt.

    "Have you always had those?" Amanda asks.

    "Huh?" he looks at the tentacles and then at her "Yes...I''m an octopus person...I just hid them because I was sure you peasants would freak out over them."

    "......Are you from some sort of animal person royalty or something?" she asks and he gives her a pointed look before Mathew shouts.

    "Look what I found! It''s some sort of crown thing!" Mathew shouts. They all eye the crown and can hear whispers coming from it, telling them to wear it, take its power, use it.

    "That''s not weird..." Nate says worriedly.

    "Maybe it''s cursed," Ken suggests, eyeing the crown.

    "It''s not cursed~ At least not for me~" says a woman''s voice from behind them. They all slowly look to see a woman, a little shorter than they are with long black hair and dazzling midnight blue eyes.

    "Uh...hello?" Nate says worriedly.

    "Hello little boy~ Aren''t we...interesting?" she says eyeing Nate "A son of a mortal and a goddess...how intriguing and possibly manipulatable...well either way, I''ll be taking this~" she suddenly has the crown.

    "H-Hey!" Scarlet shouts fearfully.

    She turns away to leave but stops before sighing and turns back around "I guess I do owe you something for finding the ancient item for me...or at least the one for this realm...hmmm...let''s see what to give you in return~" she watches the group as she thinks.

    "Who are you?" Nate demands before his head hurts again and he grabs his head.

    She watches him before she speaks while he''s still in pain "I am the ancient known as Mirabella..." she pulls out a small bottle with some green liquid inside "This should fix Mega but you have to get him to eat it...and make sure he doesn''t accidentally eat what made him so overly hungry again" she tosses it to Scarlet who catches it and then she turns around and snaps her fingers.

    The surrounding disappears and changes into the inside of the sub as Mirabella''s voice fills Nate''s head "You''ll suffer more before this adventure is over but for what it''s worth I hope you succeed because I have big plans for a little halfling like you~"

 The start of the breaking

    Micheal had insisted that they all get some sleep before they even attempted to get the Megalodon to eat the green bottle so he locked Nate inside his room once more. Nate understands the reasons for locking him in and he doesn''t mind it. Today however, the visions are so much worse than before. His head hurts like hell and he ends up looking at his reflection. Blood falls down from his eyes and mouth. He steps away and starts touching his face, feeling the stickiness of blood on his cheeks. His panicking and starting to pace while muttering "No...nonononono...I''m dying?"

    He hears that cold voice once again "Hahaha, your not dying~ That is how you have always looked~ You are returning to how you looked from the start~"

    Nate cowers as tears fall down his face, tears he sees as bloody "No! Please...d-dad...help" he whimpers, feeling his sanity starting to sleep even more until the voice suddenly fades to a barely audible sound before completely disappearing. Nate looks up to see his dad, standing there giving him a gentle smile. "I...I''m losing my mind...t-this bloody face isn''t mine...right?" he asks fear on his face.

    "That isn''t your face" he agrees, coming over to sit next to Nate who has fallen to a sitting position and brings his knees up to his chest.

    "Y-Yeah...I didn''t think so but...these visions...they''re really getting to me" he whispers, shaking lightly.

    Crisp gently hugs him and feels Nate start to cry into his shirt "It''s alright...you''re going to be alright...these nightmarish visions will end soon" he hates not being able to help him more but he knows that Nate can handle it.

    "I can''t sleep...I can barely be sane while awake...I...I fear I am losing this battle dad" he admits, tears streaming down his face.

    Crisp thinks "Ms. Artist, can I please just do one thing?" he doesn''t get a response but feels like it''ll be fine so he pulls some medicine bottle out of his pocket "Here" he says handing them to Nate.

    "What are these?" he asks, taking the bottle and turning it this way and that, eyeing the pills inside.

    "Nothing bad" he promises "Remember that thing I did to let you sleep without having any more of these walking visions?" Nate nods and Crisp continues "I made that into those pills. This way you can get some sleep even if I am unable to be here right when you need me" he gently touches his son''s cheek and Nate smiles, clutching the medicine bottle tightly.

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    "Thanks dad" he says "I know I can always count on you to help me when I need it."

    "Of course. I love you son" he kisses Nate''s forehead before adding "Go back and get some sleep."

    Nate nods "Good night dad." He disappears from the dreamscape to return to reality. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he takes one of the pills, just a single one and instantly passes out.

    Crisp appears inside the room and smirks at his son. "Couldn''t even get fully in bed before taking it." He moves Nate''s body so he''s fully in the bed and pulls the blankets over him. "Goodnight Nate" he whispers, kissing his forehead before he teleports outside the door, unlocking it since Nate won''t be waking dreaming tonight, then he goes to check on his brother.

    Micheal is in the main area, checking the radar and everything else "Ok...the Megalodon is still outside...the magic is still strong...what else could happen? My nephew is going crazy, a giant shark wants to eat us, and who knows what else is out there!"

    "Are...you ok?" Crisp asks eyeing his brother.

    "No! Maybe...I don''t know right now to be honest..." he sighs before asking "Why did you pick me to lead? We both know you should be the one leading this, not me..."

    Crisp leans against the command board and says "Because Nate keeps too much in when I''m involved. He needs to grow but it''s almost like he refuses to grow as long as I''m around him."

    "Makes sense...you''re so powerful there''d be no need to grow stronger yourself" Micheal says sliding under the machine to mess with some loose wirings, getting them back in place "But that doesn''t explain why you picked me?"

    "I choose you because I know you can grow as well from this...and it''s a little fun seeing you freaking out so much. Almost like payback for the past" he smiles amusedly.

    "I deserve that" he says.

    "You''re doing great...just keep on doing your best" Crisp says pushing off the command board.

    Micheal slips out from under the board to stare at him "Nate is awakening something new inside himself, isn''t he?"

    "....I hope so. The power is starting to awaken but it''s not awoken yet just...keep an eye on him especially with what''s going on with his vision ability...something is messing up his vision ability to replace it with false visions." Crisp looks at Micheal who nods.

    "I''ll do my best...thanks for visiting" he adds before Crisp vanishes, teleporting back home to find a sleeping Molly.

    "She really can''t seem to go home" Redacted says a little annoyed.

    Crisp sighs "I''ll take her home." He carefully picks her up and takes her home, laying her down in Micheal''s bed.

    She twists a little and burrows under the covers, mumbling "Micheal~"

    Crisp smiled a little and gently ruffled her hair "I''m glad you found my brother." He gently pulls a blanket over her and heads back to his home to find Redacted, relaxing inside their home for a change.

    "Thanks dad" he says smiling at Crisp who returns the smile and ruffles Redacted''s hair.

 Saving Megalodon

    Nate enters the main command room, yawning and stretching. He feels a lot better after having actually gotten some sleep. The medicine bottle is sitting on his bedside table for safety. "Morning," he says.

    Micheal smiles at him "Good morning. Today we try to wrestle the Megalodon back under control...Let''s hope that Mirabella lady was telling the truth instead of trying to trick us."

    "Mhm...she said to get him to eat this bottle but how do we get him to do that?" Amanda asks.

    Micheal takes a deep breath before he speaks "It''ll be risky but I think I have a plan that should in theory have the highest possibility of everyone making it."

    "And that is?" Mathew asks.

    "You all, including Lady Eva will go out there, stay grouped together until we know it''s seen you guys. Then scatter. Ken, I want you to be prepared though. The rest of you try to find crevasse or places to hide where it won''t be able to get you. Once it can''t get at any of the others it should turn its attention to you Ken. Stay still until the megalodon is close enough that you can still get away and drop the green bottle. That way it''ll eat it and since you''re fastest in water, you should, in theory, be able to get away safely."

    They all nod and head out. After a few minutes of just floating together, Micheal comes over the fixed communication device "Alright everyone. Be on the lookout! The radar just sensed it coming from behind you guys!" They all look behind them to see it way too close. In the panic, Ken accidentally drops the bottle and it starts sinking too fast. Nate dives while the others scatter out of it''s way. He can hear the others shouting something but his head is starting to hurt as he just manages to catch the green bottle.

    "I got i..." he begins looking up to see the Megalodon staring at him directly in front of. His head hurts but he can''t seem to focus on it, almost as if in a trance by the megalodon who seems to also be in a trance by him. Nate knows it''s only going to stay there for a few more seconds before it''ll try to attack but his body refuses to move.

    He hears Mirabella''s voice "Do it now while Mega is calm enough for it...he''s fighting the corruption for you little boy so safe him~" Her voice jolts him out of the trance and he throws the bottle into the opening mouth. Seconds before the megalodon can eat him whole, he feels the impact as Ken tackles him at full speed, knocking them both safely out of the megalodon''s barely closed mouth. The megalodon turns slowly toward them before it just stops. After a few more seconds, it starts throwing up everything in it''s stomach. The fishes and sharks that had yet to be digested, swim away from him while the dead one''s float upwards. Nate sees a red vial come out of it''s mouth and he dashes over to grab it.

    "It''s one of the missing vials!" he thinks slipping it into his pocket. He smiles at the others but sees the fear on their faces so he slowly turns around to see the megalodon staring right at him.

    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    "You''re very small" a deep echoey voice seems to speak inside all their heads.

    "A-Are you...the megalodon?" Amanda asks.

    "My name is Mega" the voice which is the megalodon''s voice says.

    "What are you? I mean how are you speaking to us?" Mathew asks.

    "I am a megalodon and ancient as well" Mega explains.

    Nate jolts as the vision from the day before he went on this exploration came back to him "You were in a vision I had...you were telling me about four animals"

    "The four of us are ancient and yet only just born as well" Mega says "We''ve been around before time itself and will always be around...we represent everything in all realms."

    "The four...as in four animals. Like shark, snake, wolf, and eagle?" Ken asks.

    "Yes" Mega confirms.

    "M-Maybe he''d know what that thing we translated would mean?" Scarlet suggests before asking him about it, repeating the words exactly as they had transcribed it.

    Mega speaks after a second of silence "Yes that talks about us...and the fifth. We were created or maybe we just came to exist one day long ago. Not even we are sure of how or why we came to exist. We are five and immortal, unable to create offspring yet never needing to either. We each represent something. Fenrir represents power, Python represents agileness, Hawthorn represents smarts, and I represent danger."

    "And the fifth?" Nate asks.

    "The fifth represents everything in one. They rarely show themselves to anyone." Mega says.

    "What about this star spawn and the five guarding something while also not guarding?" Ken asks.

    Mega looks at Nate, having swam a lazy circle around them all "We guard that which should not be unsealed but since they should not be unsealed we also do not guard them..."

    "What do you guard?" Nate asks.

    "I guard a very powerful relic that in the wrong hands could be very dangerous...and no I won''t tell you were it is hidden" he speaks.

    "And the star spawn?" Lady Eva asks watching Mega swim lazily around them.

    "The star spawn is even older than the ancients. He drives those who see him insane...one of you hears his voice trying to drive you to madness but you cannot let him or all will be lost" Mega warns looking at Nate again. Nate has a bad feeling and looks down at the darkness spawning for who knows how long below him.

    ".....Mega....by star spawn..." Nate starts as the name and insanity jogs an old story he''d once read "Are you saying that somewhere...down there" he points down "is...the deity known as Cthulhu?"

    "You are as smart as your mother...and yet I sense the strength of your father in you" Mega says "Yes little one...Cthulhu waits deeper inside, sealed inside the realm by your own mother and her siblings many many years ago."

    "Cthulhu?" Ken asks, confused.

    "Cthulhu is from a race of cosmic deities known as The Great Old Ones. Many years ago, when the ancients and gods were still young, they tried to take over, to destroy the gods because the people loved the gods and ancients more than the Great Old Ones. The gods and ancients banded together to seal them away, unable to kill them even with the ancients'' string ability. Molly the intellectual god and her siblings sealed Cthulhu inside the deep sea realm Molly created. I jumped in before they sealed the realm for a bigger space...I can only imagine that Cthulhu wishes to use you all for something and can only get to little one through your visions..."

    Nate feels unsteady at the realization that he really was going insane. His mind racing he realized that he couldn''t go insane. He has a feeling that this exploration would be a long one and that by the end of it, he''d either be completely insane or something good will happen.

 Carol Appears

    Micheal is on call with Molly who is actually inside their home for a change. "What do you know about Cthulhu, Molly? Mega says you and your siblings sealed him inside this realm..." he prompts.

    Molly stiffens "Oh shit...That''s what I forgot! Cthulhu!"

    "So you do know him?" he asks.

    "Unfortunately I do...He''s one of the Great Old Ones, deities that came from the cosmos. Honestly though I don''t know much about them. I do know a bit about Cthulhu though. He''s a mix between an octopus, dragon and human. He can communicate with people telepathically and can even influence people''s dreams. He''s been known as the Star Spawn or the Great Priest but his only followers now should be the Deep Ones. Fishlike people who lived in his city of R''lyeh. He''s good at making people go insane...in fact anyone who saw him, would more often than not go insane just from seeing him. He''s so huge, I had to push my creation power to the absolute limit to create a realm big enough to hold him...I think I overdid it based on how deep down you two have gone so far" she admits.

    Micheal smiles despite the terrifying information "You''re amazing." Molly blushes at the compliment. Micheal looks down "I...I should probably get back to work now. I''ll talk to you tonight if you''re awake."

    Molly giggles "Alright. See you then." The call ends as Molly ends it. Micheal smiles before he gets up from sitting on the edge of his bed and heads out to the main area. As usual the minute he leaves his room Lady Eva appears to attempt to obtain his heart. He sighs at her lack of realizing that his heart belonged only to his crush, Molly although he never has told Molly how he feels about her, too scared of her rejecting him to try becoming more.

    As they start to walk past the relaxing area, Micheal stops seeing a girl on a couch as she''s saying to herself since no one else is inside the room "Weird..how it felt like I was asleep and just awoke in another dream...weird..does this watch show another way of teleportation?" Micheal eyes her while Lady Eva pouts behind him.

    "Hello...who are you? Do you need some water?" Micheal asks, although he asks about the water more as a joke since their thousands of leagues underwater.

    The strange girl shakes her head as she claps her hands and a piece of paper floats around her. She writes on it before showing the paper to him where she had written "May I know where I am?"

    "So...she''s mute?" Micheal thinks before he says "Uh, yeah. This is the exploration team''s submarine in the Deep Sea realm."

    The strange girl smiles as she stands up and starts doing a little dance thinking "It worked!! The new device worked!!" Micheal and Lady Eva watch her slightly amused until she seems to remember they are there and blushing, covering her face with the couches blanket to hide her blush.

    Micheal smiles at her but his smile is strained as he says "You seem happy? Did you want to come down to a dark watery place full of unknown dangers?"

    She tilts her head, looking confused but shows him a piece of paper before writing on her magic paper, "Do you know this man!?"

    Micheal looks at the paper, a little surprised to see Crisp on it, "Yeah. That''s my brother, Crisp."

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    She puts her magic paper away before speaking "Do you mind telling me about him?" She puts the paper with Crisp on it away before he can see anything more.

    Micheal thinks "So she can talk...maybe she only talks when she feels comfortable enough to?" He nods "Tell you about my bro..." begins before Lady Eva jumps in.

    "Why are you so interested in him? Who are you? Micheal, dear, don''t just blindly trust some stranger!"

    Micheal gives her an annoyed look "Firstly, I''m not your dear. Secondly, don''t just blindly not trust people. And lastly, go get something to eat and check on the rest of the crew. Lady Eva pouts but storms off after flicking her hair behind her.

    Micheal shakes his head before looking apologetically at Carol "Sorry about that. Let''s see...my brother is a great person or at least to most people I know. He does everything he can to help everyone, sometimes he does too much but he cares about others well being especially about his own kids. That''s probably why Nate goes to his dad when he really needs help, especially during this entire exploration. He''s strong, cool, brave...everything I''m not. Does that answer your question?"

    She makes notes "You make it sound like everyone likes him...why do you doubt yourself?"

    Micheal looks away a bit "I''m too cowardly. I know that about myself already. And everyone does like him."

    The girl looks a little annoyed "I don''t know him, why do I need to like him? Better yet, do you think everyone likes him? What great did he do? I have a feeling he''s just a fake hero~"

    Micheal looks at her while before he says "Maybe but who can ever really tell who''s fake and whose real? When you think of it, even the most pure heroes can be fake as well. I don''t believe everyone likes him because not everyone has met him. Plus if someone managed to have no enemies that''d be amazing. Also I never said you had to like him. As for what great he did...does someone need to do something great to be liked or even be a hero. To a homeless person, someone who just reaches out and offers to help them, is a hero. When you think of it like that...what makes someone a hero?"

    The girl says "Nothing, because heroes could be anything. Some would get apprenticed, some in the shadow of others. So tell me this, you help me find this guy and you can teach me what you do."

    Micheal tilts his head "I don''t do anything really...I can design and make things like this sub but I''m not anything amazing like my brother. Besides, you''d have to go up to get back to the gateway back."

    The girl frowns but nods "Hm...guess I''ll look around." As she walks out the paper falls in front of Michael. He notices it and picks it up to read it. Seeing that his brother was wanted, he looks after where she had vanished down before he heads toward his own room, to call his brother and warn him. Carol heads to the rooms where she sees a familiar name on one of the doors "Nate''s room" so she knocks. He doesn''t answer but the door is unlocked. He''s trying to calm the headache he has growing.

    Carol shrugs and walks back to the main room and sees Amanda walking around with her phone out, livestreaming to her fans "Hey my peeps! Your girl Starshine back from eating! Now that the big ol softie, Mega is back under...normal conditions it''s safe for us to go solo outside again...except Nate. Micheal wants him to be supervised until the whole thing with this Cthulhu thing is dealt with but hey! Let''s go for a dive!"

    The girl smirks deciding to be a little mean as she sneaks up and scares Amanda who screams, jumping as she drops her phone but luckily her phone has a magic spell placed on it so it''ll float in the air/water around her.

    "What the heck!? Who are you?" Amanda asks after she calms down a bit.

    The girl smiles "No one important!"

    Amanda confusedly says "Well, you have to be someone. You don''t have to be someone important."

    The girl shrugs as she says "I will not say my name to any of you."

    Amanda shrugs "Alright. So long as Micheal and Lady Eva know you''re here. I''m Amanda by the way. Welp, my fans and I are going for a dive so see you later no one important!"

    The girl quickly adds "Uh...question, do you have a way to Nate''s room?"

    Amanda looks confusedly at her "Just go through his door? It''s not locked right now. Micheal only locks it at night since Nate keeps disappearing at night and winding up in dangerous areas." The strange girl nods and heads for Nate''s room once more.

 Nate and Carol

    The girl opens Nate''s door and once she sees Nate, standing staring out the window at the sea beyond, she says "Hey, it is you!!"

    Nate jumps a little and looks at her "Hey Carol..." She comes running over and hugs him.

    "You don''t look good..." she says as she lets him go. She sees the vial of blood that''s just like the one her boss has so she sneakily takes it while Nate is distracted but she puts it back since she feels bad for him.

    Nate looks away "I''m...alright. Just a little...losing my mind a bit."

    "Why do you say that?" she asks, tilting her head a little.

    Nate looks at her "Just...it''s nothing. Don''t worry about it." He gives her a strained smile.

    She looks at him curiously as she says "Cthulhu is trying to get into your head due to someone of his past affecting him and this is payback unless it could be he''s trying to attack you since he knows you''re stronger than him."

    Nate shakes his head "I''m not dad...he''s probably attacking me because he knows I''m weaker." Despite saying this, he smiles at the thought of being attacked for being stronger than an old deity.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Carol frowns and shakes her head "You think so little of yourself...but you are stronger than Cthulhu, stop comparing yourself to your father and believe in yourself!"

    Nate stares at her before shaking his head "Thanks but...how could I ever be stronger than a deity? I''m not my father or my mother...I''m just me although maybe that''s the important thing..." He lapses into silence before he stands up and looks at his reflection which is twisted by Cthulhu''s tricks showing blood dripping down from his eyes as if he''s crying tears of blood. He touches the mirror, right where his bloodied eyes are.

    After a few seconds he whispers "Hmmm....well...I haven''t run from a challenge often enough to start now. Let Cthulhu play his games and let me sink by those games...in the end I''ll win cause I''ll fight while sinking...that makes no sense but it''s true all the same." He laughs almost hysterically but he seems to have accepted that he needs to stop comparing himself to others, especially his dad and instead focus on getting stronger in his own way.

    Carol smiles encouragingly "You can do this! Also may I ask, do you need that vial?" she points at the vial on his desk.

    "Yes...it''s important to me" he says as he grabs the vial and slips it into his pocket.

    "Why is that? Why do you need it?" she asks curiously.

    "That''s...none of your business. It''s just important to me." he says, looking away a bit.

    Carol nods and looks down "I must get going...uh, be safe Natey." She uses her watch and teleports away, leaving Nate alone with the voice of Cthulhu in his head.

 Training in insanity

    The next morning, Nate is released by Lady Eva before his uncle can get out of bed or hang up on his mother, one of the two and heads to a room that none of them have used yet. The training room isn''t big or fancy. It has weights and a small half-track that spans around the room which is an oval shape. It has tons of magic on it to allow the users to go all out without destroying the place. The magic can also make targets or whatever the user needs to master a power or new power even.

    "Alright...train...but what do I train?" he asks himself as he stares at the equipment "Maybe I should have called dad or mom to ask for advice on what to start trying to master..."

    "You''ll never master anything~ You''ll become insane before you ever master anything but being insane~" Cthulhu''s cold voice echoes in his head causing a small headache.

    "Just ignore him..." he whispers to himself but a partial idea starts to form although he''s scared to try it and instead uses the phone system in the training room to try to call his dad but he gets no answer "Maybe interference?"

    Meanwhile with Molly inside her home with Micheal "Interference? There shouldn''t be any interference...and why does he look like he has a stupid idea in his head?" She''s worried about them all now and starts pacing, really wishing she wasn''t alone right now.

    The door opens as Crisp comes in to check on her for his brother and sees her pacing "Hello Molly...what''s wrong?" he asks although he has a feeling he knows already.

    "Oh...hello" she says looking back at the tv "You know you don''t have to check on me..."

    "Then why are you here and not at my apartment like usual?" he asks more worried for her mental health.

    She looks at him before laughing a little and looking away "I know when I make people uncomfortable...I could tell it by the fact that Redacted never slept at home"

    "You could take the guest room or the couch upstairs...you tend to fall asleep while hogging the tv" he points out.

    ".....I know...but the thought of our baby having to deal with Cthulhu on his own...and Micheal being involved...Cthulhu will do anything to hurt me...He''ll try to kill them both to punish me for helping to seal him away...and if I lose them..." she shakes her head and takes a deep breath "I don''t want to be alone if the worst is to come..."

    "You don''t believe that they can handle Cthulhu?" he asks, sitting on the edge of the couch.

    Molly looks at him before shaking her head "In my heart, I believe they can do anything but my mind runs through everything...there''s barely any chance that they will survive this and an even smaller chance that they will return the same way they left"

    "You listen to your mind a lot...but you want to listen to your heart once more don''t you?" he asks knowing that she has not trusted her heart since it led her down a darker path once before although he knows it wasn''t just her heart that led her astray.

    "....I want to but how can I ever truly trust myself ever again?" she asks, picking up a grape and just turning it between her fingers.

    Crisp touches her shoulder "You can trust it because you''re already learning to change. Now come on, let''s get you settled in the guest room since leaving you alone to watch this is a bad idea and I''m sure Redacted and Alaric would love to check in every now and again, although not all the time."

    "Which is why you''re putting me in the guest room?" she asks although she knows the answer "Fine but I''m bringing my own blankets and pillows..." she blushes as she adds "They smell like Micheal still" Crisp laughs and after she has her stuff, they get her set up in the guest room on the second floor.

    "What power do you think he''ll unlock through his training?" Crisp asks as Molly had turned on the tv in the guest room to listen to as she made the bed with her own blankets and pillows.

    "I could see him trying to do something in the least destructive area especially while he''s not fully mentally sane at the moment so maybe something within the healing genre" she suggests.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    He nods "Yeah...he''s smart enough even with Cthulhu whispering in his head to know better than to try to obtain a powerful attacking type of power until closer to the time for his final fight...it''d give Cthulhu too much time to figure out a way to counter it."

    She nods "Our son is an amazing boy...thank you for making him...thank you for letting me be a part of his creation" she looks away as she adds "I know we were never meant to be but I''m glad to co-parent Nate with you...even if your a bigger influence in his life than I am." She chuckles but smiles before sitting on the edge of the bed and smiles at him.

    Meanwhile back with Nate, he''s reading a book on different types of powers to try to get an idea of what to practice for. "Maybe blood magic? That sounds cool...but dad might kill me if I did....maybe creation magic like mom can do...no, I don''t really want to learn that while dealing with everything else going on...maybe control magic...but I don''t really like the idea of controlling others..." he turns a page and sees a power on healing "Healing magic! That''d be good! But how do I practice that?"

    "You could try on a living person" Ken says from the doorway where he was leaning against the doorframe.

    "A living person...you mean hurt someone and try healing it?" Nate asks, confused.

    "Well I was going to say I could cut my wrist and you could try healing it if you wanted to but ultimately yes that''s what I was saying" he admits.

    Nate stares at him in shock before finally asking "Are you suicidal?"

    He raises an eyebrow "Not that I know of...I just...sometimes need to cut and lately with everything going on..." he shrugs a little.

    "Have you been cutting this whole time?" Nate asks worriedly and when he nods "How have none of us noticed any cut marks on you!?"

    "My parents taught me how to make some healing potions that make the marks go away after I''m done...said it''d disgrace them if anyone saw my cut-up wrists now do you want to learn how to heal or not?" he asks as he pulls a small pocket-knife out of his pant pockets.

    Nate hesitates before finally nodding "Alright..."

    Several hours later and a lot of blood loss which suspiciously looks more like ink than blood, Nate is holding his head as pain races through it. He can hear Cthulhu laughing in his head at his failed attempts so far. "Nate...maybe we should take a break?" Ken suggests but his voice sounds very distant as the training room transforms to the nightmare city. Nate hesitates as he realizes he''s standing in the center of the city. He can tell Cthulhu is behind him and he''s scared to look.

    "T-This is the city of R''lyeh isn''t it?" he asks "This is your city which mother sealed along with you..."

    "So you have brains instead of brawns...too bad brains cannot defy insanity. Turn around little godling~" Cthulhu says and Nate hesitates. He knows he shouldn''t. He knows that if he does, there''s a high chance he''ll go insane just from seeing Cthulhu and yet he still slowly turns around. Cthulhu was terrifying and Nate understood why people went insane just from seeing him. He was gigantic, as big as a mountain, maybe larger with a humanoid figure, a mass of writhing tentacles around his head and scaly dragon-like wings. Sharp claws for fingernails and the power coming off him, the insanity rolling in waves off him caused Nate to grab his head as pain raced through it. He tries to hold onto his sanity but can feel it slipping between his grasp and he screams in hysterical pain.

    Meanwhile Ken is trying to shake Nate out of Cthulhu''s vision "NATE!!" when his shaking doesn''t seem to do anything he shouts "MICHEAL!!! MICHEAL!!!"

    Micheal bursts into the room "What''s wro...NATE!?" he immediately goes over to his nephew. "What happened?"

    "I don''t know...we were just trying to get him healing powers when he was suddenly pulled into another one of Cthulhu''s tricks" Ken answers worriedly.

    Micheal hesitates for only a second but when Nate starts screaming and thrashing, he decides to forgo caution and get Nate back "Ken, Amanda, hold him!" He orders and the two rush over to hold Nate down as best as they can. Micheal takes a deep breath "Sorry about this Nate...brother but we have to get him out of that vision and this has proven to work before..." he whispers before he takes Nate''s shoulder and quickly pops it painfully out of place just a little bit but the pain it causes is enough to jolt Nate out of the vision.

    Nate screams in pain and tries to thrash but can''t due to Amanda and Ken keeping him in place. "AAAAAAAA" he grits his teeth and looks at Micheal "U-Uncle?" he asks.

    "Shhh, sorry Nate but we had to get you back...just hold still for a few seconds" he whispers as he repops the shoulder back into his socket. Nate bites onto his bottom-lip to prevent himself from screaming. "Alright...you both can let him go" Micheal says motioning to them to release Nate.

    Once he could move freely again, Nate gently touches his aching shoulder and tried using healing magic which finally worked as the pain subsided a little before finally disappearing completely. Nate lays there panting feeling like the healing had also cleared his mind just a little "T-Thank you uncle...I...I need sleep" he admits feeling tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

    "Go sleep...and make sure to take your meds." Micheal orders worried for Nate''s sanity. Nate leaves back to his room, takes his medicine and passes out. Micheal comes in afterwards to pull his blanket over him. "You''re dad knows so much so I''m sure you''ll be alright but...that doesn''t mean you''re alright in the present...Just...Just stay sane long enough alright...for both your dad and mother''s sakes." he ruffles his hair before he gets up and walks out, shutting the door behind him.

 Another Sea Threat

    "What''s wrong Micheal?" Crisp asks having teleported to the sub''s main command area where his brother is staring confusedly at the radar system. Their sub is currently inside a crack in some rocks for safety while they let Nate rest some. The rest of the crew were out in the water, swimming around the cavern below the sub and a little outside of the crack in the bigger ocean.

    Micheal looks at him "Just...something big has shown up on the radar but it''s not Mega so I''m not sure what it is." He lightly taps the radar''s screen to highlight what he''s talking about. On the screen is a big creature but from the radar it''s just a tad smaller than Mega who can be seen swimming toward the north while this new big creature is swimming to the west.

    "They''re almost the same length..." Crisp muses not really worried since according to the radar it wasn''t near to the sub "Where''s Nate?"

    "He''s still sleeping...whatever that medicine you gave him really is helping with his sleeping issues. I...I don''t want to wake him. I want him to get as much sleep as that medicine and Cthulhu will let him" he admits "How''s Molly?" he adds while watching the radar.

    Crisp smirks at his brother "She''s missing you. We moved her into the guest room on the second floor for the time being and she refused to use the blanket and pillows already there. She''s mostly worried about Nate and you, especially with Cthulhu involved."

    "Yeah...I''m worried about Nate as well" he admits and after a few seconds he adds "You know, he might be alright after all this but right now, he''s not alright."

    "I know..." Crisp says looking out at the ocean. Somewhere in all that vast darkened water is the deity Cthulhu.

    "What do you think it is?" Micheal asks still unsettled by the giant radar creature.

    "Don''t you have some water drones you were working on?" Crisp reminds him causing Micheal to look at him.

    "Yeah but...I haven''t tested them yet" he admits before heading to his room,collecting one drone and returning "Come on, we can test this from the diving room" he''s messing with the machine as they walk until they finally get to the diving room, dropping it into the water. The two heads back to the command room to find Nate standing by the commands, controlling the drone to head toward Mega.

    "Nate!? You''re awake...are you alright?" Micheal asks, sharing a glance with Crisp.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "I feel...fine for the moment" he says "You haven''t tested this right so let''s test it on Mega first before the unknown shape...he''s less likely to eat it" Micheal nods and comes over to watch him. Crisp watches them glad that his plan seemed to be working and they both were slowly changing.

    "You got healing magic?" Crisp asks despite knowing he did.

    "Yeah...it''s actually helping my head clear up a bit" he admits "I guess it''s a good thing I decided to try learning healing instead of an attack type."

    "Anything you learn will be a good thing" Crisp says ruffling his hair "I''m proud of you for thinking of what you need to know instead of just going with the coolest sounding thing." Nate flushes and then on the screen they see the image of Mega, just lazily swimming around.

    "Well the drone works" Nate says as he lets Micheal take over to navigate it toward the unknown giant creature.

    "Nate, can you go grab the other drones and put them in the water? I''ll have them set to explore the deeper sections for us" Micheal asks.

    "Sure uncle" he answers as he starts heading toward Micheal''s room.

    "I''ll come with you" Crisp says, following Nate. They walk in silence until they make it to Micheal''s room. "Are you really alright?" he asks knowing the answer already.

    "I..." Nate hesitates before shaking his head "Honestly, no, I''m not alright, not fully anyways. Cthulhu''s tricks are really starting to get to me and I almost did go insane yesterday...what will happen when we actually meet him? When I actually see him face to face rather than through a vision?"

    "You''ll be fine...I know you''ll be able to withstand it and beat him" Crisp says encouragingly. Nate smiles lightly at the encouragement even if he doesn''t fully believe his father''s words either. "You don''t believe me do you?" Crisp asks, watching his son.

    "It''s not that I don''t believe you..." he starts "I just...don''t believe in myself as much as you believe in me." He looks down at his own admittance. "I..." he goes silent as he second guesses if he should say what is on his mind.

    "What''s wrong?" Crisp asks "You know you can tell me anything right?"

    Nate hesitates for a few seconds before he nods "I''ve always been holding back...I never tried to become better because I always had you and I''m not saying that''s a bad thing, having you...I just mean that...you''re so powerful and it never felt like I would ever need to become stronger than what I am because you''ll always be there to jump in and save me."

    "But?" Crisp says knowing there''s a but in his sentence.

    "But if I ever want to be capable of traveling to other places on my own, I need to learn how to survive without relying on you to protect me...you knew all this when you put uncle in charge instead of coming along...didn''t you?" he asks, suddenly realizing his dad''s plan involving him.

    Crisp smiles "I knew you were holding back because of me but I''m glad you''re finally going to start becoming stronger for yourself." he ruffles Nate''s hair earning him a smile.

    Nate shakes his head "You''re the best dad ever...come on we better get these drones into the water...maybe we''ll find Cthulhu with these." He picks up the drones and they head to drop them into the water through the diving room.

 The Ancient Death

    When the two return to the main room, Micheal is flipping through floating books, his whole body shaking. "When did you get permission to use the ancient library?" Nate asks, recognising the floating books.

    "Molly gave me permission two days before the expedition started in case I needed to research something..." he says but his voice shows signs of his fear.

    "What''s wrong?" Crisp asks, sensing what has his brother all out of sorts but wanting to hear it from him.

    "I..." he looks toward the monitor. Nate comes over to see what is on the screen as well and freezes. On the screen was a long creature with a streamlined body, an elongated tail ending with a downturn supporting a two-lobed fin and two pairs of flippers. Its back has ripples that resemble small spines following its backside almost all the way down to its tail and starting just before its snout.

    "I-Is that...?" he starts and Micheal nods.

    "I-I think so...I keep looking through every book the ancient library has on water creatures hoping I''m wrong but so far nothing else fits the description. The drones mark it at 15 tons and 58 ft long..." he says shaking.

    "B-But how!? They''re extinct aren''t they?" Nate asks, looking at his dad.

    "They should be but so are the Megalodon and Cthulhu yet here they are...maybe when Molly created this realm she accidentally created other sea creatures to go along with the realm." Crisp suggests feeling like this was the most likely.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    "Well...Molly did say she had pushed her creation ability to the limit so...that could be possible..." he admits before the books vanish, returning to the ancient library as he adds two more monitors. "Mega is being...well Mega" swimming lazily "but this one is also weird..." he points to the third monitor showing some sort of weird mix between fish and human.

    "Those must be the Deep Ones...servants of Cthulhu. I''ve read that the male ones will forcibly breed women they catch on the beaches to create hybrids...we should probably keep the girls close to the sub when we get close to those" Nate suggests.

    "Don''t worry. The others are also testing out some new weapons I just finished making earlier" he admits "Mega was kind enough to lend me some of his fallen teeth to create some daggers and swords that''ll still work inside the water."

    "So...there''s a ton of ancient sea creatures that may have gone extinct or may have never existed before out there?" Nate muses.

    "First the Megalodon, now a Mosasaurus...what next? The Loch Ness Monster!?" Micheal asks, whining a little.

    "Maybe but I have a feeling the Mosasaurus isn''t like Mega and will eat us if it wishes to" Nate says feeling like it wasn''t an immortal animal like the Megalodon since Mega had said its fellow immortal animals all lived in different realms.

    "At least...it can''t eat the sub in a single bite" Crisp unhelpfully adds in causing Micheal and Nate to look at him.

    "And that''s helpful how?" Micheal asks.

    "You don''t have to worry about being eaten whole while inside the sub" he answers before teleporting away.

    "I don''t dad realizes that it still scares us" Nate frowns but shakes his head as his headache returns.

    "Well...we can only deal with it if it comes at us" Micheal says after a deep breath "Come on...let''s go get something to eat." Nate nods and the two head toward the dining room, unaware of the insanity that Nate was about to experience as a girl carrying a woman appears in one of the lounge rooms.

 The Healing

    Carol appears inside the seemingly empty sub or at least a room inside the sub. This room resembles a lounge with comfy sofas, couches, a few tables, and even a monitor. Carol places Vaila gently down on the sofa before running to find Nate who she crashes into directly outside the door to the room. Micheal is with him along with Lady Eva.

    "NATE!" she shouts, staring at him with fear-stricken eyes.

    "Woo" Nate says grabbing her shoulders to steady them both "W-What happened? Why do you seem so scared? You didn''t go swimming did you!?"

    "P-Please help" she says, pulling on Nate''s sleeve, partially dragging him into the room.

    "Help with what?" he asks then his eyes land on Vaila''s unconscious form "Who is this?"

    "Please Nate...help mom...please" she begs, tears falling down her face as her worries outweigh anything else.

    Nate hesitates before he goes over to Vaila''s side to kneel beside the sofa. As he gently and carefully touches her hand, Micheal asks "What happened to her?"

    Carol stiffens "None of your..." she begins but Nate interrupts.

    "No Carol! You need to tell me what happened if you expect me to provide the best care for her...please Carol...for her sake tell me what happened to her."

    Carol hesitates and she almost tells him but at the last second simply says "Please...help her..."

    Nate hesitates looking at Vaila before finally saying "I-It''ll take me a while...I''m not very good at healing magic yet but I''ll try to help her...on the condition that you go get some sleep" he raises a hand cutting off her protests "She''ll be safe enough with me and you can sleep in my room...feel free to take one of my pills if you need to but go get some sleep"

    She hesitates for a second longer but nods "You''ll wake me if anything happens to her right?" she asks and Nate knows she won''t leave the room to sleep in his room.

    "I promise...now run along, grab my pills and you can take a nap on the couch over there" he waves her away. When she comes back, after getting his meds Lady Eva is arguing with Micheal while Nate is doing some pre checks on Vaila, trying to discern the best method to provide the best healing for her.

    "We shouldn''t trust them dear! We should throw them outside and let that monster have them for dinner!" Lady Eva reasons if anyone could call murder reasoning.

    Micheal shakes his head "We''re not sentencing two people to a death sentence simply because you don''t like the number of women near me! They need our help and we''re helping them...that''s final Lady Eva. If you don''t like it...I can always build a jail to put you in until we get out of here" he warns glaring her down before he sees Carol watching angrily from the doorway. "This topic is over, now leave the room" he growls at her.

    Lady Eva glares angrily at Carol as she passes her and whispers so quietly that only Carol could hear her "Don''t get uppity little girl...you and that woman will never take my darling away from me and soon that witch won''t have her claws in him either."

    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    "I''ll leave you three alone" Micheal says as he heads out the door.

    Carol walks over and sits down on the couch, too worried to try to sleep "Y-You can help her right Nate?"

    ".....I don''t know but I''ll try" he answers before he comes over to her and points at the medicine bottle in her hands "Take one and get some sleep...I''ll wake you when it''s over, hopefully with good news." She nods and takes one of the pills, instantly falling asleep. Nate pulls the couch blanket over her before going back to the sofa and Vaila.

    "Alright...Let''s see what I can do for you" he whispers mostly to himself as Cthulhu''s voice echoes in his head.

    "You''ll never be able to do anything for her~ You''re not strong enough to help her unlike your father~ Even your mother is stronger than you are~" Cthulhu taunts him but this time Nate ignores his words and starts trying to heal her. It''s slow going since he''s not sure what type of healing she''d need but eventually, after reading a book he had appeared to him from the ancient library, he figures out what is wrong with her.

    "All her symptoms point to the bonding of anti-magic to her...she''s still alive so the bonding was successful but she''s in pain...let''s see here...healing when the bonding causes the bonded pain..." he stares horrified at the words on the page "T-This is a really high leveled healing spell...there''s no way I can do this..." he looks toward the sleeping Carol and then back at the barely breathing Vaila. His eyes harden a little as he lightly growls "No! I will do this! I have to be strong enough to do this...for both of them..."

    Hearing Cthulhu''s voice once again say "You''re too weak~ You''re nothing like your parents and you never will be~"

    Nate opens his eyes "You''re right...I will never be like my parents but I don''t have to be like them..." He begins, focusing every bit of strength and concentration he has into the healing, letting the warmth and soothing feel of healing, the water around the sub feels calming, full of health so Nate draws from it, letting that bountiful health flow through his body to assist him with this healing. After several long hours of healing Vaila, he finally stops, falling slightly onto his hands panting in exhaustion, having pushed himself too far already but his efforts paid off.

    Vaila makes a small groaning noise as she barely whispers "Carol..."

    Nate smiles before he starts laughing hysterically. Micheal comes in, having been coming to give Nate something to eat. "Are you...alright?" he asks concerned but Nate just keeps laughing hysterically as he points at Carol.

    Micheal understands instantly what Nate wants and wakes her up "Nate wants you up..."

    Carol rushes over to the hysterically laughing Nate "Nate?" she asks, staring at him worriedly before a familiar voice barely whispers.

    "Carol..." Vaila whispers again, one eye is cracked open as her body is now healed up from the effects of the bonding.

    "Mom!!" Carol says immediately hugging her before looking at Nate who managed to stand but is still laughing hysterically.

    "Nate...I think you should get some rest" Micheal says a little fearfully but when Nate looks at him, his eyes have changed. They''re full of insanity and chill Micheal to the bone. Nate goes to attack him, Micheal can feel his insides starting to twist a little as if Nate was trying to use his own blood against him. Micheal is terrified and Nate seems to sense that as he lets him go and heads for the door as if to seek a better target. Carol looks at Vaila unwilling to leave her side to try to stop this insane Nate. Micheal takes a deep breath, his blood feels like ice inside his veins and he''s terrified beyond belief but he can''t leave Nate like this. His hand touches Nate''s medicine bottle and he stares at it.

    "Nate falls asleep the minute he takes these...if I put him to sleep then call my brother maybe he can help guide Nate back to sanity" Micheal thinks as he gets one of the pills out. He then runs at Nate despite his fears, he manages to push them aside to help his nephew. He grabs Nate from behind and shoves the pill into his mouth covering it so he''d have no choice but to swallow the pill although Nate struggled for a bit before he had to swallow it and instantly passed out. "I....I didn''t think that''d actually work" he admitted.

 Demanding Answers

    Micheal gently touches Nate''s head, after having put him in bed and sighs "You''ll be alright when you wake up..." He then heads to the dinning room to collect some food plus something to drink before he heads back to the lounge room to see Vaila has managed to sit up.

    "Where are we?" she asks, her voice barely audible.

    "Your on our sub in the Deep Sea realm" Micheal says handing her the drink "Here, drink something." As she carefully takes a tiny half-sip, he places the tray of food down beside the sofa on the desk sitting there. "So...I think we deserve to know what''s going on."

    "We have nothing to say" Carol says coldly.

    "Nothing to say...You do realize that this healing sent Nate over the edge! I don''t even know if sleeping will help him to regain his sanity or if it''s gone now so you''re not getting away from this with a simply, nothing to say!" he snaps, his concern for his nephew and brother overriding his own fears. He pulls the wanted poster from his pocket and shows it to both of them "Does what happened to you have anything to do with this poster, your daughter dropped the last time she showed up here?"

    Carol stares at the paper in shock before looking through her pockets as if it''d be in one of them and not in Michael''s hands right now. Vaila wonders how Carol lost it but looking at Micheal, she knows he won''t take anything they say unless it was the truth.

    She sighs in defeat "Alright. Just...don''t hurt Carol please" she''s worried for Carol''s safety since she doesn''t know what Micheal is capable of and knowing that they can''t teleport since Carol''s watch needs time to recharge.

    "I wouldn''t hurt someone...maybe lock her up but hurting isn''t my thing" Micheal says with a shrug.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    She nods before starting "We''re from the Shatter realm" Micheal sits down not fully sure what the shatter realm is but knowing enough to know it''s not good news. "Maya, the boss of the realm wanted to use the blood vials to give us all power but it went wrong...I''m not sure what happened after I started having trouble and passed out to now though...but she also wants Crisp dead" she doesn''t mention how Maya wants Crisp''s powers sealed "I tried to warn her this could happen but she assured me everything would be fine...I thought she wanted what was best for all of us but she doesn''t."

    Silence fills the area before Micheal whispers "What exactly happened?"

    "We used the vials to create a powder bomb and we blew it up...we thought everyone would gain powers...Maya assured us it''d be alright but it wasn''t. Everyone started exploding or melting...then I felt...sick and passed out" she explains.

    Carol looks at Micheal "I...We just wanted to help our people." She looks close to tears.

    Micheal nods and places his hand gently onto her head "It''s going to be alright. Your both safe now...or as safe as this voyage can be. Anyways we should get you two settled...can you walk?" He looks at Vaila who nods and carefully stands up leaning slightly on Carol who gets up to help her.

    "You''re going to help us?" Vaila asks, eyeing him a bit.

    He nods "I can''t turn my eye on two people in need and besides you''re in no condition to go traveling right now so best you stay in one of the spare rooms for the time being until you''re well enough to travel again." He leads the way and after a few seconds of contemplation the two women follow him. He leaves them inside the room and once the door shuts behind him, Carol goes to check the door but it''s unlocked meaning he trusts them enough to wander around freely.

    "Are you going to be alright mom?" Carol asks, looking at Vaila worriedly.

    Vaila nods "If I wasn''t I''d be dead right now...come here dear" she motions for her to join her on the bed. When Carol does she hugs her tightly and that''s all it takes for Carol to give in. She starts crying into Vaila''s chest at the horrible memory of everyone in their realm exploding or melting away and almost losing the one person she loved most.

 Crisp is summoned

    After having dropped off Vaila and Carol, Micheal heads straight for Nate''s room wanting to check on him but he is still sleeping peacefully. "H-He''s going to be o..." he can''t even finish the sentence which at this point has started to feel more like a chant to him "He''s not alright...Crisp where are you? We really need your advice right now" he whispers, sliding down the back of the door but Crisp does not appear so after a few seconds, he stands up and heads to his room.

    Opening the door, he sees Crisp sitting on the edge of his bed "Hey brother"

    "Don''t hey brother me!" Micheal snaps at the end of his wits "What the hell are we going to do about Nate? He''s gone insane and I don''t know if he''ll be normal when he wakes up! And don''t say he''ll be fine because we both know that he''s not going to be fine!"

    Crisp holds up his hands, only a little surprised that his brother is snapping at him "Don''t worry. He''ll be..." he wants to say that Nate will be back to normal when he wakes up but he seriously doubts it even though his sense is telling him that Nate wouldn''t ever be normal again yet he knows that Nate will be fine. His sense both says that Nate will be fine and that he won''t ever be the same again.

    "We both know that this...this will change him...and neither of us can choose how it changes him" Micheal points out and after a bit of silence he adds "Just...go check on his dreams, if he is even having any right now"

    Crisp decides not to argue with him since he is worried that Nate might be in a state of panic or in need of his help so he disappears into the dreamscape to check on his dreams. Nate''s dreams are dark right now. He''s standing trying desperately to get out of the darkness surrounding him, away from the voices screaming insanity at him. Crisp flicks his wrist and sends the darkness away, returning Nate to the lighter dreams.

    "D-Dad..." Nate says, his voice shaky. He looks down as he whispers "I...I pushed too hard and my mind...it just...went. I couldn''t stop it..."

    Crisp comes over and sits next to him "You did a very high level healing and were exhausted from that...it made it easier for Cthulhu to drive you over the edge but you did a great job with the healing and even lasted this long fighting the insanity..."

    Nate looks at him before laughing "You''re right...I did last pretty long didn''t I?" Crisp nods and the two lapse into silence for a while before Nate suddenly says "I...I''m going to master every type of magic there is or at least learn how to do a little bit of everything! I want to get stronger! Strong enough that I can protect anyone from anything! If I learn more about every type of magic and learn how to use at least the basics, I can protect a lot more people and when I do get that good...I want to become a wanderer."

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "You want to be a wanderer?" Crisp asks despite having sensed that it would be something Nate might want to do.

    Nate nods "I want to see the world, visit different realms, save people in those realms, maybe lead some people to the underneath kingdom so they can escape their bad living situations. I know I can never be like you or mom but I''m...alright with that. I can be me and still be good enough to help someone...in fact maybe it''s best that I stay as myself because someone might need a Nate in their life instead of a Crisp or Molly."

    Crisp ruffles his hair, earning him a small giggle from his son "I''m glad to hear that...and Nate, no matter what you choose to do or how you end up, I''ll always be proud of you" he kisses Nate''s forehead.

    Nate smiles "Thanks dad...I feel much better. I think I''ll wake up...semi-sane again."

    "I''m glad for that because my brother was ready to flay me for putting you in this situation" he laughs and Nate laughs as well.

    "Well for what it''s worth, I''m glad that you let me come on this trip...I think it would have taken me too long to realize that I had to stop focusing so much on what I''m not and start focusing on what I want and who I am" he says staring up at the bright blue sky of the current dream "I''m going to stay here...in this dream until I wake up...goodnight dad."

    "Goodnight son" he kisses his forehead once more before he leaves the dreamscape and reappears inside Micheal''s room. "He''ll be fine. He''s finally going to start focusing on himself rather than his mother and I" Crisp says feeling overjoyed that his son was finally starting to see himself.

    Micheal smiles and shakes his head in relief. "It''s about time...it might take him a bit longer to put that into practice but at least he''s decided to start."

    "He''ll be better than I am before long" Crisp half-jokes.

    "Oh no doubt...the next generation is usually better than the previous generation" Micheal agrees and the two smile at each other. "Hey...when you head back, can you check on Molly? I''m sure seeing her son go insane would have made her fly into a panic."

    "I''m heading there next" Crisp assures him before he teleports home and goes to see Molly who is indeed panicking in her temporary room on the second floor. "You know he''s going to be fine right?" he asks her.

    "I know that!" she snaps despite not showing that she knows that "He went insane Crisp! He actually was insane for a second and I...I felt it" she whispers, hugging herself a bit.

    "Felt it?" Crisp asks, eyeing her.

    "He...The insanity almost sent him into something more...it was like Cthulhu was trying to possess him and evolve him into a god" she whispers.

    Crisp stares even as his sense tells him that she was right before he shakes his head "He...He wouldn''t have lost. Our son is powerful and has broken out of Cthulhu''s grasp before." He''s trying to soothe her.

    "Yes, at the cost of a broken arm!" she points out, snapping at him before looking away sighing "I''m sorry...I''m just...worried for him. Even with your sense, you cannot see which way he will go in the end."

    "Molly, you know he''s stronger than we give him credit for" he whispers mostly meaning her and everyone else.

    Molly looks at him "But will he be stronger while being good or bad...we both know he could end up going either way and I fear what shall happen to our sweet baby boy if he goes down the dark side." They both lapse into silence at the worry of Nate going evil.

 The Mosasaurus

    "I hope Nate will be alright" Amanda says as she and Ken skirt some kelp.

    "I don''t know...it seems like Micheal thinks he will without believing that he will" Ken points out.

    "And what do you think?" she asks, eyeing her friend.

    He takes a few minutes before he answers "I think he can do anything once he puts his mind to it...that''s what makes him so amazing. His ability to do anything when he really chooses to...Honestly I wouldn''t be surprised if he turns out a thousand times stronger than his father one day."

    "Oooo! That sounds like a compliment~ And it almost sounds like you''re crushing~" she teases, joking.

    He blushes at her joking tease "W-Wha!? I am not crushing! I''m just saying I could see him becoming more powerful if he keeps training...sheesh, get your head out of wherever it is!" He swims away a bit while Amanda laughs. She has only moved a little before something brushes against her back, something hard. She turns around to see the Mosasaurus surging upwards right where she had been only seconds ago.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    "AHHHHH" she screams, swimming away as it twists to try to get at her.

    "AMANDA!!" Ken shouts and just manages to shove her, sending them both into a crack in the rock, pinning her to the rocky wall. Ink fills the crack and they both wait, hearts pounding but finally Ken sees the Mosasaurus swimming away quickly.

    "You''re safe now" says a deep echoey voice seconds before Mega shows up just outside the crack. Ken sighs in relief and looks back at Amanda to see her bright red.

    "Are you alright?" He asks letting her go so she can get away from the wall.

    "Y-Yes!" she practically shouts before quickly swimming away. Ken and Mega look at each other before Ken shrugs and follows after her. Mega swimming behind them lazily, making sure they make it safely to the sub.

 The Deep Ones

    It''s been a whole day since Nate had gone insane and he hadn''t woken up yet. Vaila and Carol were still around since Vaila was still recovering but she was well enough now to walk around without assistance. "We should leave...the watch is ready" Carol tells her as she''s getting dressed, the door locked to prevent an accidental walk in again. Micheal accidentally walked in on Vaila changing although after that he remembered to knock first.

    "We will leave but I want to make sure that the boy who healed me is alright first" Vaila says.

    "I''m worried about Nate as well...but I''m sure he''ll be fine." she admits.

    "Still, I''d like to thank him for healing me without any further information given to him" Vaila says as she finishes getting dressed "Come on dear, let''s get some breakfast."

    As they enter the dining room, the others minus Nate are all there. Vaila smiles "Good morning everyone" she says trying to be friendly.

    "Good morning" Micheal says friendly while Lady Eva glares at Vaila. Lady Eva dislikes Vaila, which she knows and doesn''t care. She enjoys Micheal''s company as a friend but nothing more than that. She sits on his other side while Carol sits on her other side.

    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    "Has anything changed with Nate yet?" she asks, ignoring Lady Eva''s hostility.

    Micheal shakes his head "No...nothing yet. He''s still sle..." he stops mid-sentence as he stares at the door. All conversations went dead silent as they all stares at the doorway where Nate now stands looking a little tired.

    "H-Hey" he says, his voice a little shaky and tired.

    "Nate!" Micheal says immediately standing up.

    "You''re awake!" Mathew says excitedly "Are you alright?"

    "We were getting worried about you" Amanda chimes in.

    "I-I was really concerned about you" Scarlet whispers.

    "Peasants always come back" Ken states although he''s smiling as well.

    "I''m...really hungry" Nate admits looking up and he freezes staring out the window behind his uncle. They all look to see a fish-man staring at them. It''s fishy face pressed against the window, openly staring lustily at the woman inside the sub. Amanda screams as she jolts right into Ken''s lap, hugging him tightly. Ken blushes at the sudden unexpected hug and the person being in his lap. Scarlet hides slightly under the table covers as Mathew runs over to the window.

    "COOL!!" Mathew excitedly says. The fishman glowers at Mathew who''s blocking its view of the woman. "What is it?"

    "A Deep One..." Nate whispers as Micheal clicks a button by the way, closing the shutters in the room so they can no longer see outside the windows same as it could no longer see inside the windows. "We must be getting closer to Cthulhu..."

    Micheal looks worriedly at Nate "Are you going to be alright if we run into Cthulhu?"

    Nate looks up at him "I''m going to be alright...I have to be." He smiles at them all but inside he''s scared of failing.

 Nates Choice

    "They keep staring at us like they''ve never seen a woman before..." Amanda whispers staying close to Ken.

    "Peasants always act that way toward females" he says but he watches the Deep Ones through the windows.

    "Aren''t there any female Deep Ones?" Scarlet asks.

    "Do you think their where the mermaid stories came from!?" Mathew asks.

    Nate stares at a Deep One, silently trying to mind control it to go and kill its own master for him. So far it''s not working one bit. He sighs and eyes the fishman he''s trying to control. "Think we''ll ever meet Cthulhu?"

    "I hope not...but I fear we will" Micheal says from the controls where Vaila is leaning against the window beside him, staring out at the quickly darkening ocean.

    "It is getting darker the further down we have gone" she points out.

    Carol sits next to Nate "Are you sure you''re alright?"

    "I...Honestly no but I must be...I will be strong enough to survive this and get us all out of this alive" he says, his eyes never leaving the water outside the window. After a few more seconds of silence he grabs her wrist and looks at the watch, the time limit long past and it is able to be used once more but Vaila has suggested they return with the sub since it''s safer than randomly teleporting places. "Carol...If something goes wrong...If I am unable to handle this fight...make sure everyone else makes it out safely...as a final favor to me."

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    She looks at him before bumping against his shoulder with hers "Oh come on. We both know that you''ll make it out alive as will everyone else. But if it''ll make you feel better I promise to get everyone out alive."

    He smiles at her before he looks out at the ocean once more, his smile vanishing to be replaced with a hard look "We''re here..." The sub hits the bottom and Micheal flicks the outside lights on, sending thousands of Deep Ones scurrying toward the nightmarish city. Nate moves first, approaching the controls while Micheal and the others stare out into the dark water toward the city of Cthulhu.

    "Wow...it''s both scary and amazing!" Mathew says.

    "Somewhere inside that city is Cthulhu..." Ken whispers feeling Amanda press against his side, the tentacles coming from his back lightly wrapping around her waist.

    "I-It''s really dark out there..." Scarlet points out fearfully.

    "It is but Micheal can protect us~" Lady Eva practically purrs. Before Micheal can say anything the sub starts going back up.

    "What the...?" Micheal says turning toward the controls only to see Nate standing by the doors to the diving room "Nate?" he asks worriedly.

    Nate looks at him as he opens the doors "I''m sorry uncle but...I can''t let you guys get involved...not with this." He steps through the door and falls into the water. Micheal rushes over to go after him but the door won''t open.

    "NATE!" he shouts "Shit! What did he do?" he rushes to the controls and curses in greek "He''s made sure we have no control over the sub anymore!"

    "What does that mean?" Vaila asks.

    Micheal sighs looking at everyone''s worried expressions "It means he''s given us no choice but to leave this realm...he''s locked it on autopilot right to the realm gate...we can''t stop it until we get back to the realm gate..." he manages to show them the drones footage which is watching Nate now. "He''s left us the controls to the drones at least..."

 The Final Stand

    Nate watches the sub as it ascends, knowing he''s being stupid, that he should have let them come along and assist but he thinks "This way only I''ll go insane"

    "Uncle will be mad at me for pulling this kind of stunt...mom will be panicking and dad...dad will know that I won''t be stopped" he whispers to himself or maybe it''s to the people watching the live feed.

    Meanwhile at Crisp''s home, Molly is in fact panicking and has decided to sit downstairs instead with Redacted and Alaric who decided to switch to the current channel just to see how their exploration was going.

    "What is he doing?" Redacted asks.

    "The foolish child is planning on confronting Cthulhu alone!" Molly groans "It''s a great tactic to keep others safe but a terrible tactic to win...Cthulhu is a million times stronger than Nate currently is!"

    "So you don''t believe in him?" Crisp asks, having appeared.

    Molly sighs "No...I do believe in him" she looks at Crisp suddenly much more calm "Nate is both smart and powerful...the problem with this fight...the deciding factor will be if he can use both at the same time and rise to be even more powerful than he has ever dreamed of being..." She looks down and smiles "You''re right. I shouldn''t worry when I know he can handle this...after all you''ve trained him well"

    Crisp smiles at her "You''ve changed. You would have claimed that you had trained him in the past but now, you don''t even take a little credit...I''m not the only one he''s learned from." He ruffles her hair as he went into the kitchen to eat something while they all watch Nate''s final stand.

    Meanwhile back with Nate, he''s swimming toward Cthulhu''s city while the Deep Ones watch him from the side, sneering at him a bit. He should be terrified after all of Cthulhu''s tricks but he''s oddly calm, still partially insane but calm. There''s a feeling of serenity inside of him, a feeling that he can handle this, that something new was just waiting under his fingertips for him to unlock, whatever it was. The city of R''lyeh was nightmarish, all broken, cracked and covered in algae. At one point it was probably a gorgeous city but after years of being underwater, it changed.

    The cold voice of Cthulhu is heard, this time not just inside his head but echoing all around the city "You think you stand a chance against me little boy~ No one can ever not become insane from just a single look~" he laughs coldly.

    "I''ve seen you once before and your games have never made me insane" Nate says calmly while thinking "That''s right...I only truly lost my sanity when I did that healing but Cthulhu''s tricks didn''t send me over the edge at all...Cthulhu is powerful and he probably can make me go insane but...I''m not going to make it easy for him! Even if I have to break every bone in my body to keep the insanity at bay!"

    "You are proud but you are nothing like either of your parents and you never will be~" Cthulhu snarls.

    "You''re right...I will never be either of them but I''m done trying to be!" Nate growls as he finally stops in the center of the city "I''m not going to try to be someone I''ll never be...I''m Nate son of Crisp and Molly, child of a god, child of a legend and when we''re done here, defeater of Cthulhu!"

    Cthulhu arrives, towering over Nate, tentacles spawning out like long hair in a swimming pool. His scaly dragon-like wings had holes in them which Nate is sure means he can''t fly with them and his claws are so sharp and long that they could probably slice a diamond in half with no effort. "Foolish child~ You dare to believe that you will defeat me~ When I am done with you, I''ll show your dear parents what has become of their precious child~ Oh how Molly will come undone when she sees what I do to you~"

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Nate''s hands ball into fists at his words but simply says "Then do it." After a few seconds, Nate speaks again "You can''t can you? You can''t actually hurt me...your biggest strength is driving people insane, nothing else..."

    Cthulhu growls and attacks, his claws barely hitting Nate as he jumps to the side, glad that the city seems to work more like a city without water than an underwater city. He rolls to get back onto his feet quickly and hides behind a building. "Haha, you run and hide instead of standing and fighting~ Your afraid of me~"

    Nate touches his head, feeling the beginning of the insanity starting to set in but he''s not going to let it take over, not yet anyways. "I''m not afraid...just playing this game smartly" he thinks to himself before he moves seconds before Cthulhu tears the building apart, ducking behind another building and carefully making his way around, until he was behind Cthulhu, stopping whenever he gets a feeling that he''s starting to look this way. Staring at Cthulhu''s back from behind a building, he doubts the dagger in his hands will do him any good but stealth attacks and keeping back will be his best shots at beating Cthulhu so he flings the dagger before ducking as the dagger hits it''s target and Cthulhu swirls, his claws slashing through the building behind Nate, right where he had been standing mere minutes before.

    Nate quickly scrambles behind another building a little further from Cthulhu and feels his head start to pound before cooling as a scene flashes before his eyes. Cthulhu beaten, lying in front of his feet with chains wrapped around his body and a woman smirking coldly beside Cthulhu. The image is gone as quickly as it had appeared and Nate is certain it''s what is to come but also knows better than to let himself be fooled into thinking that he had already won. "Chains..." he thinks to himself, still feeling that power bubbling inside of him.

    "Come out little boy~ You cannot hope to beat me with puny daggers and cleverly hiding~ You cannot beat what is immortal!" Cthulhu shouts, laughing maniacally.

    Nate takes a deep breath and comes out from hiding as he thinks "He''s right...I can''t beat something that''s immortal by hiding and throwing daggers...I need something that can stop him but what?"

    "Ah there you are little boy~ Come to accept your insanity~" he asks laughing maniacally at Nate.

    "Maybe I don''t need to hurt him...I just need to beat him!" Nate realizes and dodges another slash of Cthulhu''s claws and jumps over a tentacle. He can feel power surging, and he can tell it''s something immensely strong yet the image of the smirking woman makes him hesitant to reach out and use it.

    Dodging another tentacle, Cthulhu growls angrily "YOU WILL GO INSANE!!" Nate feels his head pound and can feel the edges of his sanity start shattering.

    "Whatever I do, I need to do it now!" He thinks and the image of Cthulhu bound and helpless in chains appears in his mind. "Chains...I can make him unable to attack back with his claws and tentacles meaning the only thing left to worry about is the insanity part." Nate twists and lets the overwhelming power sink as the feeling of a different power rises. Swirling golden portal-like things appear all around Cthulhu and golden chains lash out from the portals, wrapping around him, binding him to the floor. Nate can feel his sanity slipping more and more as he backs up until he''s hidden inside a building. He watches from the window, careful not to be seen. He doesn''t know why he hide but something inside him, screamed at him to hide.

    "YOU WILL PAY! COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME!" Cthulhu shouts, struggling against the chains. He cannot escape the chains yet his powers remain as if the chains are only able to contain him. As he struggles the woman from Nate''s mini-vision appears, smiling cruelly.

    "Hello Cthulhu~" she says, almost purring the name. Nate feels the chains lose their power as his sanity hits its limits and the chains uncoil, returning to nothingness. Cthulhu laughs as he stands up.

    "Whoever you are, you will die in place of the fleeing little boy~" Cthulhu laughs maniacally.

    "Oh~ I don''t think you understand your current predicament~ Great Cthulhu, your power is now mine~" she says before doing something and his power is stolen from him. Nate covers his mouth and hides. His heart is beating fast and his mind hurts but he makes no sound and the woman laughs before she says loudly "NOW I AM YOUR MISTRESS!"

    Nate can hear the Deep Ones celebrating the strength of their new leader and after a bit, he feels inside that she is gone along with the Deep Ones. Slumping inside the building he touches his head as his sanity slips more. This city, so caked in Cthulhu''s power, is causing his sanity to disappear. He stands on shaky legs and stares at the drones as the footage cuts out.

 The Child Returns

    Molly rushes to the Deep Sea realm gate, hoping that Micheal would have gotten the ship back under control and gone back for Nate. "Please Micheal...please say you have Nate!" she thinks as she runs to the gate. Being lifted out of the gate was the sub. Alaric and Redacted show up seconds later, worried for their brother as much as she is worried. The last time they saw him on the live feed was him passing out in the city of R''lyeh. Only Crisp wasn''t worried, or at least he didn''t show it outwardly but Molly doesn''t think he''s hiding his feelings. She can see Lady Eva climbing out of the sub, followed by Ken, Amanda, Scarlet, Mathew and the two stowaway''s Carol and Vaila.

    Finally Micheal appears and Molly shouts "MICHEAL!" He looks up at her and smiles for half a second before his smile fades. Molly runs to him and hugs him.

    "Please! Nate...tell me you have him...please Micheal" she starts crying and Micheal hugs her tightly.

    He looks at Crisp, Redacted, and Alaric as he responds "I...I don''t have him but I asked for help so hopefully he gets him soon..." he holds Molly tighter, letting her cry against his chest as they all wait, holding their breath. Carol is about ready to try to teleport to Nate when a deep echoey voice speaks out.

    "Special delivery" Mega says from inside the realm "The special gate is opened for you Crisp..." A glowing gate suddenly appears beside Crisp "I will meet you inside the realm with the delivery...do not be afraid of us."

    "I would never be afraid of you" Crisp says as he steps into the realm, appearing in the middle of four different types of scenes all coming to meet at where he is standing. A mountainous area to the north, grassy tree area to the south, water as far as the eye can see to the west and forest to the east. Mega appears from the water and opens his mouth, showing Nate''s body laying carefully on his tongue. Crisp comes forward and carefully climbs into Mega''s mouth to collect Nate and carefully climbs back out.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "He is very weak...it will take him a bit of time to mentally regain his strength but he will become stronger thanks to Cthulhu''s insanity attempts...He must overcome the insanity on his own now" Mega states and Crisp nods.

    "I know...Thank you for bringing him home" he says before he looks up as a giant eagle lands on the mountaintop to stare down. He hears a slithering as a giant snake, Python from the Mystical realm arrives and seconds later, he sees Fenrir arrive as well. Fenrir''s tail wags happily at the sight of Crisp.

    "Crisp!" he barks "What are you doing in our sacred meeting realm? How did you even get access?"

    "It seems Mega decided to allow a mortal into our place." Hawthorn scornfully says from his mountain.

    "He doess not sseem like an ordinary mortal..." Python states.

    "It was the only way to get his son to him...Nate will be the one we have all waited for...I have no doubt of that" Mega says "Go Crisp...Take Nate and leave this place...Take care of our little future." Crisp hesitates but nods before he leaves following the path between Mega and Python''s domains toward the slight glow he can see.

    Nate groans, opening one eye to look at Crisp "Dad...?" he asks, his voice hoarse.

    "It''s alright, my son. Sleep more...fight against the insanity and win" Crisp whispers "I''ll protect you while you do." Nate mumbles something inaudible before he drifts to sleep once more. As Crisp leaves the realm, he knows Nate has started to change for the better but his story is far from over. As he watches Molly worry over their son''s wellbeing, he can''t help but think about what Mega said, that Nate was the one they had been waiting for. "What did he mean?" he thinks sensing that Mega expected something great from Nate. "Oh well...for now Nate is safe and ready to take on any challenge" he thinks staring up at the promise of a dangerous threat starting to rise.