Chapter 179: Abnormality in normality

It took about half an hour of searching before I found her. Idly sunbathing by the small fish pod I had been neglecting. Peering into the pool, I see a distinct lack of plant matter, debris, dirt, or anything of that matter.

“Oddly clean?” I hear in a bell-like voice.

Turning my head to the side, seeing Cassie with an eye cracked open.

“Cleaned it for you.” She states before lying back down.

I take a moment to appreciate the bikini-like clothing she is wearing before sitting beside her. Clasping my knees to my chest and enjoying the sunlight.

Typically avoided it in my previous life. Was blue-eyed and couldn’t look up without pain.

“Thank you.” Said in genuine appreciation. Completely forgot about the poor fishes. Haven’t had fish in a while, actually.

“Cassie?”

“Yes?” She asks in a firm tone.

“Fancy some fish and chips for dinner.” Mouth already watering

She tilts her head slightly, silent for a moment. “Sure.” Sitting up and looking at me expectantly.

“Alright, wait there a moment.” Grabbing 2 of the silver fish and teleporting to my kitchen. Letting them bleed out on a bed of ice while I cut the potatoes. Skinning them while some water boils. Part cooking them before finishing them in an air fryer.

I combine some flour and cornflour in a 1 to 1 ratio. Mixing it evenly, placing a small amount on the plate. The rest is then mixed with some bear until it’s a smooth sludge.

Got some oil out and heating for the fish. 180 celsius, the golden number for a golden crisp crust.

Taking the now bled fish, I slit its stomach and gut it. Once all the offal is removed, I clean the fish with icy water. Taking a knife, I scrap the scales of the fish. Next, I slide my knife along the spine, removing the fillet of fish. It was a little thick in the middle, so I divided it into 2 fillets horizontally.

They got dipped into flour before being immersed in the batter. Immediately put into the oil, being careful of overcrowding. Allowing them to fry until the juices run clear. Once done, they get placed on a towel to dry off excess oil. Building the dinner plates before teleporting back to Cassie. Presenting her the plate of fish and chips.

“Cutlery?” She asks with a smile, causing me to frown.

Disappearing for a moment before presenting her some cutlery.

“Vinegar?”

“Don’t have any, sorry.” Mentally adding it to my shopping list.

She looks at me for a moment before sighing and digging in. A sly smile creeping up her face as she ate it.

“Good?” I ask her.

“It’s okay.”

“Good,” I say with a smile, getting a strained cough from her. “Look, I’m sorry for neglecting you. The moment I realized I could do some real good and have fun, I was gone. Things have stabilized, so let take you out on a date and start to make things up to you.” This followed by me presenting her a bouquet of roses. Her cheeks took on a rosy tint.

She leans back in a huff, “fine! Not even allowed to be mad anymore.” She gives me a hug, “take me to the ocean; I want to see the water life. Then to space, and then I want to explore some more worlds. That’s how you can make it up to me.”

With her having said that, I smiled lovingly. “Okay.” I simply say, making mental plans for her desires.

“Let’s do one a day. One day for the date, a day for me to sort my stuff out, then a date. On and off. Once we finish your demands, let’s set a date rota.”

“Sounds good.” She says.

“Now, let’s explore the oceans,” I say commandingly. Grasping her in a princess carry and jumping off my island. Thanking my super strength once more. Setting her down by the beach, “wait here for a moment.”

Quickly flying back to my island and using the supplies to craft a submarine. One that requires mostly enameled glass and titanium. Once complete, I chuck it off the island. Causing it to land in the ocean with a dramatic splash. Following it with my own dramatic jump.

Taking Cassie by her hand and guiding her into the submarine. Placing her in the observatory while I turned the device on. Slowly starting up the gentle hum of the engine.

Soon after that, I plot a random cause and begin to drive too deep waters. I moved through schools of fish, coral reefs, seaweed forests, and any other ocean biome I could find. Before finally finding a deep ocean, to which I descended into. The fish turned to strange colors, mushrooms taking over the walls with sparkly gems. I heard a startled aww and wow from Cassie as she watched the spectacle.

Smiling to myself, I descend deeper and deeper into the never-ending appearing abyss. The fantastical creatures dissipating into the darkness, replaced by flickers of light from angler-type fish. I began to feel strange; I don’t recall oceans being this deep. We must have descended well over 200 blocks down.

Suddenly, I feel a solid downward force, the g-force causing me to fly a few centimeters up before falling back down. The ship is descending rapidly. Scrambling, I turn the sub to rise, but it just continues to sink. I even began to fly, pushing the submarine up with all my might, but to no avail. Turning the lights onto max, I see the walls rapidly closing in around us; we are moving very quickly down a narrowing tunnel.

Cassie stumbles over to me, the downward force causing her steps to be unsteady. “What is happening!?” She demands in confusion.

“I don’t know!” I shout back in panic. Scared at the unfamiliarity of all this. I’ve never heard of a mod doing this.

As the speed continues to increase, my heart sinks, cold pulses spreading through my chest. Grasping Cassie in my arms, I go to teleport away.

My dislocator lights up before flickering and failing. Panic has now firmly set roots in my mind, causing stress to build. Scrambling, I reach into my golden bag and hope for anything, but I have everyday supplies. Materials, lots of materials, a few useful tools, but nothing more.

Suddenly, I hear a loud “snap” as the descent stops with enough force to pin us both to the floor. Mind riddled with confusion at the lack of a bang, given the insane speed we were moving at. Peering out the window, I see an inky blackness swirling around, a steady flow pulling us along flickers of light.

With a momentary pause, I throw my spare draconic armor at Cassie. Unupgraded, but it will function to protect her. She puts it on hastily with my assistance. She seems tired, winded from the ordeal.

She coughs out, “that hurt.” Letting out a wry chuckle.

This prompted me to throw a health potion at her, making her moan slightly as the relief.

Looking through the windows of the submarine, I spot where we came from. Behind us, with a black backdrop and brilliant white star-like portal, is pumping out extreme amounts of water. Again I grasp Cassie’s arm and try and teleport to no avail. Sighing at the defeat.

Sitting back against the metallic wall, just thinking. Cassie sits by the side; she looks sad, with a long face and sunken eyes. “sorry,” she whispers out.

Lifting a brow in confusion, “why are you apologizing?”

“It was my idea to visit the ocean,” she says in a defeated tone.

I just grasp her, bringing her into an awkward, heavily armored hug. “And how exactly were you to know this would happen?”

She goes to respond, but I cut her off. “You didn’t. You are not responsible. It will be fine; we have just got to figure this out.”

She smiles, leaning into the hug.

Slightly miffed at the whole situation, I angrily shout, “Felix! Felix! Felix, get your ass here right now!” Before suddenly feeling a cold fear crawl over my back as he doesn’t respond.

Meanwhile, in Felix’s little plane of existence, he is pondering something.

“Now, where has my little toy ran off too. Might have to tell him to stop jumping dimensions so much; I’m losing track.” Slowly scrolling down an iPad. Clicking on each dimension and inspecting it for Aeternums tag.

“How odd, where the hell has he gone? I wasn’t done with him; how come I can’t find him? When I find him, he’s gonna have quite a bit of bad luck for this stunt.” Felix continues to search fruitlessly, while Aeternum continues to call for Felix.

“Where has that annoying God gone. When you don’t want him, he’s there, and he’s there too when you do want him. This is a first.”

Lost in my ramblings, I miss Cassie calling my name for a second.

“Aeternum, Aeternum?

“Yes, honey?”

“How screwed are we?”

“Well, depends on your definition of screwed,” I say with a smile.

The fear seems to dissolve away, replaced by annoyance at me as she massages her brows.

I stand up, turning to her. “Let me get my bearings first. See what’s going on.”

Leaning back, “okay.” She watches my back as I walk towards the exit valve. Using some basic materials, I make a chamber just in case there is no oxygen outside the ship.

The metallic circle door opens after I pump a great deal of force into it. A loud hiss before a whoosh occurs as all the oxygen inside the small bubble is sucked out. “No oxygen, hu?”

It doesn’t matter; my armor has life support systems in place. Stepping out while making sure I am tethered to the ship. Wouldn’t want to fly off after all. Cassie would be in big trouble.

Looking around without being obscured by the thick enamel glass, I see what we are dealing with. Behind us lies a white portal, which is pouring out water, as I’ve previously noted. Thanks to this water, I can see an almost river-like structure that the submarine is resting atop. Following the line drawn in the void, I spot somewhere down the line; the water is rapidly sucked away. Using a telescope and some robust sensors in my helmet, I spot a pitch-black swirling vortex.

Zooming into the other dots of light in the background, I see the exact same thing. Some ejecting stone and rubble, others noble gasses. Like a network of almost invisible veins transporting material from one place to another. Cycling through different spectrums of light, I get to see a colorful array of lines crisscrossing the sky in a beautiful rainbow.

I admired the view for a single moment before coming to some conclusions: One, we are going away from home. Two, all the white holes look identical, so we will lose it forever if we lose the one we are riding. Three, I have very little information.

With that in mind, I think of the first thing I can do. I add balloons like sails atop the submarine and turn it into an Archimedes ship. Attempting to turn around, only to be whisked away by the powerful current. Next plan, I add a bunch of boosters to the vessel. The added force was notable as we started to push against the stream. Eventually, like a rubber band snapping, we escaped whatever was pulling all that water. We were rocketed away with supernatural speed. Hastily, I halt the ship. Returning to the outskirts of the stream, we left. Prodding it and finding it like a resilient see-through bubble holding all the contents in place.

Using the ship, I travel up, returning to outside the white hole we were ejected from. Now, what? This shouldn’t have even happened. And I really don’t know what to do. Feeling a gentle shiver come over me as I sit down. Rubbing my arms and feeling like a child again.