You wanna know why no one ever ends up drowning in those underground lakes? It’s quite simple. They tend to get ripped apart before the water can claim them.

- Conversation overheard somewhere in Viper’s district.

No more than a minute could have passed, but it felt like an eternity. Every fiber of my being screaming in terror as I lost what little control I had left of my bowels. The eternal free-fall ended when my body plunged into something that felt like water, before slowly drifting further down. The world grew muted, safe for the occasional thump of other things impacting the surface. Why am I still alive? Why doesn’t it hurt? Those were the only things I could think of as my body began its slow descent downwards.

I floated down a good thirty seconds before my back rested on something solid. The trustworthy sensation of something beneath me finally helped calm me down. I controlled my breathing till the muffled sound of flowing water grew ever more faint, before disappearing entirely. The only thing that remained was the void, no sound, no heartbeat, no nothing. Just me and the starry darkness.

With a final exhale I opened my eyes, taking in the spectacle before me. Dozens of human-shaped lights stood in stark contrast to the blackness around me, some stationary, some sinking down, and some rapidly descending from above. Their familiar shape broken up by numerous clusters of crystal shaped mana, some shining with an almost blinding intensity. How old are these crystals? I looked up, seeing more clusters of brightly shining colors scattered above me. How deep did we go…?

My mind had barely enough time to mull on things before one of the sinking human lights began to get thrashed around by some unknown force. It was shaken about like doll, only to slowly be squeezed together and funneled through something before ending at a central point. A point where it rested while moving up, down, and sideways as more and more of the lights began to receive the same treatment. I need to get out of here. Fast.

Whatever thing, or Gods forbid force, was collecting these lights, surely it wouldn’t just stop with the the moving ones. Knowing my luck, it would probably eat me the moment I even entertained the thought of moving. Fuck it. Anywhere was better than here. Where ever here was, that is.

I waited till a light began to get trashed around before attempting to move my arm; happy to see results as the shining green limb obeyed my command. My legs seemed to be working fine too, green, sparkling toes wiggling at my behest. Now I just need a place to swim to.

Up was the most logical answer, but how far was up, and how close was land? I could only perceive mana in this state, and my normal vision didn’t mean shit in this weird contraption of Gob. Gob… I suppressed the resentment flaring up at mere thought of that name. Not now… later. First I needed to avoid getting grabbed by whatever was roaming these waters. Strangling that pointy-eared disaster could always come later. But not soon enough.

A quick glance revealed nothing of note, crystals were erratically placed all around me, and none of the lights seemed to have floated upwards. All of them were either resting on some unseen pieces of scenery, or sinking further into the star filled darkness below. At least something stopped my descent. The ground beneath me felt jagged and rough, probably some kind of rock. Let’s hope this suit thing lasts longer than a couple of minutes. The last thing I needed was to be near-blind, preyed upon, and drowning in the process.

I flipped on my stomach the moment another sinking light began to get trashed around, crawling forward and away from the tossed around human light. Carefully, I patted down the area in front of me as I progressed further and further. Soon I reached, at least it felt like, a wall. One that had enough protrusions for me to cling on. And so I made my way upwards, standing, and resting, on various protrusions until another light began to get swung around before peddling with all my might, always checking over my shoulder for the moment such a light stopped moving.

On the seventh peddle my efforts bore fruit. The constant pressure of water ceased as my head broke through the surface. Only the faint feeling of running water-drops remained, broken up by the gentle sloshing of water against my chest. Beyond that, the unknown reigned. An unknown that was quickly explored as my hands began to seek purchase on the wall in front of me. A search that ended with a couple of solid handholds.

With a tug I began hoisting myself up, feeling the liquid release its hold on me until only my legs were submerged; feet firmly rested on some rocks. With that taken care off, I began to pad down the wall. My chest feeling abuzz with excitement when I felt it curve away from me at the top. Please let it be land, please let it be land. My fingers scoured for a good grip, my left hand finding purchase quickly, but my right hand coming up empty. Should I risk it? The hold felt like a part of the wall, one which could possibly support my weight. But what if my initial guess was wrong? What if there was no land above me? Then I would be dangling above the water, praying to find a good foothold.

Looking down didn’t really help, most of the sinking lights were already piled up and moving in the same direction. And the constant tingling fear in my submerged legs didn’t help in that regard either. If I do something, it has to be now. Whatever was swimming down there, was bound to find me sooner than later. And I’d rather be out of the water before that happened. On three. One. I tensed my muscles. Two. Bent my knees Three. And jumped.

My right hand shot towards the rock gripped in my left, clamping down the moment it brushed my coated fingers. There was a strong tug on my shoulders before my body stabilized; arms hanging above my head as my feet scurried beneath, trying to find purchase. They came up unsuccessful, sliding off the wet, sleek wall for seconds on end. I quickly gave up when I felt myself kicking away bits and pieces of small rock in the process. Please don’t notice me.

The tingle in my legs became even worse after the ball of human lights briefly stopped moving. My heartbeat quickening now that I was in a position where I couldn’t evade even if I wanted. Need to move. Now. The desire of safety, and the fear of the unknown fueled my strength as I began pulling my arms back. With muscles trembling, my chin finally made it past my hands. The sensation of not needing to breath while exerting was strange, but welcome. I’ll take anything I’d get at this point. And that included land. Sweet, solid land.

With another lunge, my right hand flew forward, grasping for anything in reach. Yes! My efforts were not in vain as my limb clamped down on a solid piece rock. The promise of safety enough to tempt my other hand to find something else to grab hold off. Within seconds it found something rigid to latch onto. Something that wiggled from my grasp.

An instance later, that something rapidly crawled up my arm before latching onto my face. Both of my hands trying to pry loose the small tentacles laced around my head on instinct; mind registering the mistake the moment my right hand let go. Oh shit.

There was a brief moment of weightlessness, followed by a strong impact. Whatever had kept a hold of me quickly let go as the sinking sensation manifested itself on both the outside, and the inside. I didn’t need to turn around to know what was going to happen, though that didn’t stop me from sneaking a peak. The ball of human light had changed its course for me.

I began to swim with all my strength, crashing into an invisible wall. It didn’t hurt, and neither would I care if it did, for my hands were far too busy grabbing hold of something. Anything. Their frantic struggle rewarded with small pockets, pockets I pulled myself up with with all my might. Come on. Hands struggles as muscles strained. Come on. Feet almost embedded themselves into the walls. Come on. My heart-rate rose with every second. Come on! GIVE. ME. LAND.

My fingers flexed as a green tinged spike sprang into view, color rapidly fading as mana dispersed into the nearby area. Earth Magic… Gods I’m stupid. My left hand grabbed the saving grace as my right made rehearsed patterns before slamming itself into the wall. Each strike bringing forth another stepping stone to latch on. A quick glance revealed the thing to be almost upon me, though it seemed a lot less scary now that my body began hoisting itself upon genuine land. Tough luck. The moment I could stand, my legs began to sprint away from it. No dessert for y-

There was a tug, followed by my face smashing into the floor. Hands desperately trying to hold onto something as my body began getting pulled back. I kicked whatever was coiling around my leg before aiming another earth spike right at the darkness beneath my feet. The green spike sprang into existence as the tugging ceased. Move! My body sprang up before something else slammed it back down. The force strong enough to cause me to bounce across the floor. Still there was no pain, no notion of injury, only the feeling of dread as another thing began coiling itself around my abdomen. Whatever it was, it was several magnitudes larger than the thing grabbing my foot. And several times more pissed.

Before I knew it, my body was sailing through the air, slamming into invisible surfaces left and right. Each impact devoid of pain, but not of nausea as my world whizzed by left, down, right, and up. Light flashing by in all directions when it finally stopped, only to pull me back into the water’s embrace. I struggled against the thing coiled around me, trying to free my arms in vain.

Within seconds, something began to nibble on my feet, munching further up my body as my lower part seemed to get mushed together into some invisible tube. A tube with a ball of human lights at the end. This is it. I’m going to die in some freak’s stomach.

I slide in further and further until all I could feel were muscles contracting and expanding as they pushed me down, each second bringing me closer to my fellow snacks. Is Sly somewhere in there? What about the others? My whole being wanted to resist, wanted to fight back. But with no earth or wind in this environment, only light and darkness were left. With light probably be absent as well. That left only Darkness to work with, an affinity to weak to hurt anyone when fueled by only one Sin. So I struggled, even as I felt myself get pressed against the ball of human shaped lights, pushing and prodding the constantly squeezing walls of muscles, hoping to break through. Or at least make it barf me out.

Minutes passed before fatigue overcame my futile endeavor; the never-ending pressure of contracting walls a reminder of my pitiful attempts at resistance. The icy feeling of fear and dread slowly gave way to warmth. A warmth that came with surrender, with the knowledge that this “suit” of Gob’s making would block out any pain. A painless death, one without fear, without torment, and without screaming. There are worse ways to die. The constant silence of the void ended with the soft ticking of a clock, and the hum of a deep, trembling voice. “You pass… for now.”

No sooner had those words been spoken, then the darkness, far below, showed movement. It was almost as if it was blacker than black, blacker than darkness itself. Dark enough to be visible even in this star filled void as it blotted out whatever light was unlucky enough to come in contact with it. Lights that rapidly disappeared as it raced its way towards me.

Fear crept back into my bones, though I wasn’t alone this time. Before the blackness reached me, the creatures muscles had stopped contracting.

Instead, they shivered.

Seems like we’ll both end up as snacks.