Long Island

Chapter 29: Sea God

Please Note: Statements between % something in italics % are game system messages. 

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The sea is a lonely place. The chances that you just jump in anywhere in the middle of it and expect to find a fish or any living thing for that matter is like one in billions, if not more. Most of it is just deep water.

Hanging a few feet below, wearing a constricting dive helmet which had a smallish roundish glass to look out of and a pipe with his supply of air, waiting for something to happen, was Raka. Beneath the waves, it was quiet. Silent except for the feeling of water which permeated through his skin. His hands and feet kept pushing him down as his natural buoyancy pushed him up.

It is a myth that people don't float. Rather it is more difficult to stay submerged. Without his heavy dive helmet, Raka wouldn't have managed to stay underwater for long before he got completely tired of moving his hands and feet. As such the weight helped him stay submerged, floating just a few feet below the surface.

And it was very lonely. Raka tried to move the helmet around so as to peer outside of the small window and look around. But everywhere was the same. Water. The sea floor was too deep to be visible. His surroundings had nothing, significant or otherwise. No creatures of the sea intervened. It was just him and the time which were moving.

Sunlight filtered in illuminating his surroundings. Sometimes, it would dampen as a cloud would pass overhead. Looking up, a wavy picture of the sky and the bottom of a boat were visible. Floating there, Raka had a lot of time to think.

'Hmm..this dive helmet is interesting.' He examined it feeling all around with his hands. 'From what I can feel, this is the type which keeps the water from flooding in by having a constant pressure of air on top. So if Guran ever stopped pumping in air, I would drown.' He was surprised by how he could simply analyse his deathly situation. Something thick, which felt like rubber, was pressing down on his neck, providing that constricting feeling. It was tight but not so much as to suffocate him. 'So this is what is stopping the water from simply rushing in but I don't think this is designed to operate in much depth. What do the fishermen use it for?'

Even that got boring after a while. 'How long do I have to wait?' Raka seriously considered heading up and talking to Guran. But he decided to wait a little more. Underwater, he could not really tell how much time had passed. He thought it was an hour but it may have been only minutes. There is this saying, time passes slow when you are bored. Atleast, there was still daylight. "Oh...come on...Mr. God...Miss Goddess, could you hurry up a little..."

Raka waited and waited. And then he felt it. It was a strange sensation. But he definitely felt water getting thicker. 'Am I losing my mind?' But if he could think then he can't be going crazy just yet.

He tried moving his hands and feet. 'Yep...it feels different. This feels like...jelly!' Water had thickened and it made moving difficult. Ideally, he should have sunk into whatever it was. But the solid feeling water was actually stopping him in place. And gradually the water kept getting thicker.

'Oh shit...' Realizing the danger, Raka struggled to get back up, but the thick water simply wrapped around him and he froze in place. No, not like chilled frozen. Rather like a statue, stuck in place. It kinda reminded him of that certain ill-natured magic, Bind. Except done with water. He was stuck making a weird pose.

Thankfully, his view had not been affected. 'This better not be a joke!'

And then he waited again. Hung there in a weird pose. Whoever was doing this, was certainly in no hurry. "Maybe the God has a sense of humour..." Atleast inside the helmet, he could move his head. And then things started happening.