Chapter Three: Where’s Flipper When You Need Him?747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1Jiw0e2Ky
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Don’t worry. This was a lightning quick black out. Not the type that has the fair maiden bedridden for a good couple of nights with her arm thrown over her face in blissful ignorance of events swirling around her. Mine was more due to the body of salty water forcefully invading my nasal cavities caused by the increasing velocity I was sprung into thanks to good ol’ Torpedo Man and his painful handling of my wrist. The inky black buds of deteriorated vision blossomed and then gingerly faded away revealing how serious my situation really was.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zNx6wnsVu
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I was in the ocean. We hadn’t moved too far from shore. I knew because during my frantic flailing, I glimpsed the dip of the dark blue sandbar behind me. Up above was just enough of water that if I could only thrust my arm up, my fingers would poke the cool air. The ocean was still hot from whatever phenomenon Flynn caused by touching the foamy depths, but the heat was not my biggest problem right then. Torpedo Man had used my temporary bewilderment and general sense of displacement to begin dragging me down deeper and deeper into the ocean until the faint watery light of the pale sun above started to stutter and dim foot by foot. Two very important thoughts crossed my mind as I was cast down like a fish with a hook in her mouth.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNlVkhayhY
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1. I needed to breathe. I didn’t know how long I was out cold before, but it was long enough to exhaust my frantic intake of air before Torpedo Man dunk me in the ocean. I only had a few precious seconds left.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1NdJZzOIr
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2. I was deadly sure that if Torpedo Man kept up his pace of going down, down, down into the dark ocean bed below, it didn’t matter whether I had air or not. Without scuba gear or being inside one of those deep water explorers, I was going to implode. Or was it explode? Well, let’s just say death was imminent with either option.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49kqRzhvMF
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“Blurghph!!!” I gurgled at the Torpedo Man, my last desperate plea for life. Just two seconds, maybe more. Torpedo Man did not respond, so I played dirty. I struggled to bring down my unclaimed arm, directing my fingernails at the webbed hand suction cupped to my wrist, and scratched him. A few bubbles escaped from the blurred man in front of me. I saw him stop and turn to face me, and I guessed that he was shocked that his captive actually had a brain and could make decisions without him. There were black, fuzzy patches returning to dance around my eyes, so I could barely make out what Torpedo Man actually looked like, nor did I very much care.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJMUHcCmki
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“Blurb blurb,” I felt the water’s vibrations from torpedo man’s mouth. He probably saw a struggling nineteen-year-old turn all kinds of blue and purple, and maybe even some red. My black tank top was floating around me, and my faded gray jeans were heavy and stuck to my legs. I think I may have resembled a dying monkey in clothes. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQdOzPPNJ2
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Something was then touching my neck with soft, reassuring strokes. Fingers, maybe? They were heated and comforting, making me feel like how I guessed a cat felt while being pet. I tried to battle away my eye spots doing the tango and blocking Torpedo Man so I could understand what he was doing. I’m sure I caught confusion followed shortly by realization somewhere on Torpedo Man’s blurry features. I couldn’t be certain, and I never would be. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9HcsirXBu
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I had to breathe.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGDVZqokYg
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Mournfully, I opened my mouth to suck in the briny ocean, my final act. Out of all the ways I could have died, drowning was my least favorite option. Sure, fire is terrifying with all that melted flesh and bone, although if your were lucky, inhaling the smoke from the fire would knock you out. You wouldn’t have to feel a thing. Freezing to death is another matter. That one takes a while until you just up and fall asleep, never to wake again. Falling from heights? The fear of the fall is enough to kill you. I could go on, but nah. Just know that drowning was not the way to go for me. You’re stuck in a body of water deprived of oxygen, and you fully understand that you are going to die. The death isn’t quick. You take in more water and more, not because you want to, but because your body is on autopilot, grasping for any scrap of hope to continue functioning. I did not want my last moments to be wild with panic and despair. My lungs had other plans. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTohs07aOG
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So did Torpedo Man. Before I had a chance to be welcomed to those pearly white gates, or non existence I wasn’t too sure, he pressed something warm and slick to my lips. A slight, kind of painful, thrumming exploded in my chest, pulsating in tune with my heartbeat. I was briefly reminded of Flynn’s light show before my treacherous body leaned forward and into whatever that soft pressure was on my lips. My nose didn’t burn anymore, and like a puzzle, my vision was returning in pieces. After some of my brown hair floated away from my head, I saw what exactly it was I was cozying up to via my lips. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThPd0gcysw
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I was kissing the Torpedo Man. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB87kZtOyp9
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Yeah, yeah. You probably saw it a mile away, but I was dying. Not much for details while clawing for life. So I tried kicking away from him in my shock. I mean, really, what’s with all this cozying up? Whatever, it wasn’t like I was saving my first kiss or anything so overdone. Right, that one didn’t count. I kicked away some more. He had his hand around my wrist again, and he hurriedly placed his other hand at the small of my back, pressing me to him. I tried to berate him, completely forgetting the tiny point that I had been at death’s door mere seconds earlier. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡox7rCX86F8
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Wait. I made a quick one eighty of where I was at. Yup. Still underwater. Then how in all the blazes was I able to breathe? Well, what I was doing really wasn’t like breathing. The sensation felt more like what a fish would do. When I took in the saltwater, an invisible force lodged somewhere in my throat kept the liquid from invading my chest cavity. The very same invisible force field took the oxygen and other nutrients I needed from the water. After a couple more goes at sucking the oxygen from the water and getting this odd, tickling sensation at the back of my tongue, I officially deemed myself alive, or alive until I could get out of this mess. Now that I was not in any danger of drowning, I could set out to fully asses the situation. That meant finally focusing on Torpedo Man.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqS91bFfqma
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Everything that made me a Helper told me that Torpedo Man had been gunning for Flynn because there was no way someone as attractive as the man whose hand was on my back would even remotely find me interesting in any way. That’s just how the cookie crumbled. How the ball rolled. Survival of the fittest. Early bird gets the worm. I’m just throwing stuff out there to illustrate how against the cliché Torpedo Man and myself would be even just as acquaintances. He really had to take his hands off. Right then. Right there. Or else he was going to get drop kicked underwater. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tKCXwwBb9
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This…this YA love interest, there was no other category to place him, was tall. If I had to guess, he was around six foot five. Torpedo Man was very, umm, fishy. But a nice looking fishy, more humanoid than anything. You know, the type of humanish being that was okay for a human to engage in a romantic relationship, but if you added some more scales or a tail or some fish head, then the line would be crossed over into bestiality alley. I had a feeling that any woman of her right mind would buy the engagement ring herself and crash dive onto one knee to capture Torpedo Man as a husband. Hook, line, an sinker. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrAOV6JhcT
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He had a long defined jawline, the type that would be sexy as a profile, that should have contrasted with his button nose, but only made his face youthful and charming. His large eyes, with slit pupils and bright green irises, were not framed by eyebrows. Instead, there were raised ridges in place of the usual tiny strands of hair I was used to seeing on out of water people. Torpedo Man’s hair put mine to shame. Actually, it put my hair into shame prison without parol. The water had the mass of thick, seaweed green locks floating behind him, and I could see that there was more tied into a high ponytail. All of it down must have reached to his butt. Speaking of which, the man wore only a tight wrap that covered his lower torso all the way down to his knees, leaving nothing to the imagination from belly button up. Except, he did not have a belly button. That’s where his other-ness began to slightly creep me out.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JLbIRnTZb
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There were gills lined with dark blue frills everywhere. Two on each side of his face near his cheekbones, three on either side of his neck, three along each side of his waist, and two on each shoulder. When I observed his hand on my wrist more closely, I took quick stock of the differences. His skin was waxy and bore the light blue pigmentation similar to that of a blue whale, and he only had four fingers. One was his thumb, the other his pointer finger, but the last two were kind of fused together. Each finger was tipped by three quarters of an inch long, black claw and were connected by a thin webbing. I checked his feet to see if they were similar to that of his hands. Yup. One big toe and two of the odd fusions like his hand bonded by webbing and tipped with those wicked claws. To top off just how odd Torpedo Man was, he also sported large fins, like a dolphin’s dorsal fins but smaller, along where his elbows began and at his calves. The fins were maybe a foot in length.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq9Cow6XDF
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The more I absorbed Torpedo Man’s pros and cons, the more aware I was of just how close he was. I thought he would be chilly and slimy, but he gave off heat like a crackling of an indoor fire. I guessed that he was a mammal, or what humans might have become if they evolved under tons of ocean water. Though, I could be wrong. I’ve seen tree spirits, vampires, selkies, fairies, werewolves, centaurs, one dragon, and even heard of the existence of demons, so I wouldn’t bet too much on my educated guess. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS85qtWjXZ0
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“Blubbb, blr, bub,” I growled at Torpedo Man.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OX6VbJcr2
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“Hmmmnn,” he mumbled. I think he mumbled. He cocked his head to the side, unblinking. Could he actually blink, or would he have those filmy eyelids like crocodiles have? He released my wrist and pointed at my throat, letting one of his black claws delicately brush my skin. Torpedo Man tried to tell me something, and I was obviously suppose to understand what this stilted speech meant. Should I pretend to understand just to get his guard down, or was it better to be forthcoming? Either option still meant I was stuck, and even if I tried to swim away from him, he still had his hand on my back and a life time’s worth of swimming to catch me. I sighed and went with my gut based on previous Helper circumstances.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSsQm5bLmw
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I pointed to my mouth and then his, shaking my head to indicate I couldn’t translate. He frowned momentarily, his eyes flicking to my neck, and then grinned. I saw very sharp teeth flash in that particular grin. As in, super sharp enough to pierce flesh with ease. I suppressed a terrified shudder. Torpedo man gestured with his free hand that he wanted us to progress further down into the ocean. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQpkysnJS0
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“Gurg!” I spluttered. Making what I assumed was a silly show, I pantomimed swimming down and then imploding by using my fingers, wiggling them down and crunching them together. As a second thought, I made an explosion by expanding my fingers. Then, I pointed to myself and drew water circles around me. I never was any good at charades.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vhBgRYgzf
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Torpedo Man chuckled. I knew that this was a chuckle instead of one of the gurgling noises I heard previously because he was smiling, sharp teeth on display, and his light green eyes glowed from pleasure. In that moment, with his dark green hair brushing against my cheeks, his deep blue lips set in a jovial angle, and his toned body gently keeping us upright by every now and then gently kicking his legs, I was struck with a truth. An absolute, one hundred percent solid proof theory proved by sixty thousand hypothesi.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQERQPhwpB
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Flynn and this man would be the perfect fit. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHC5utEfqo
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Torpedo Man attempted to reassure me through the same movements I had given him that I would be fine following this random stranger further and deeper into the abyss. No, I would not perish from the descent. He touched the base of his throat to indicate the barrier that let me breathe water and waved his fishy hand around his body. So the thing protecting my lungs was also cocooning my outsides. Nice? Well, yes, nice. Not imploding would be useful since I had no choice but to follow Torpedo Man. Our moment was through, and he returned his webbed hand around my wrist, turning to continue the path we had abandoned earlier. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHtKokgyPC
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While I watched as schools of fish native to the Northern Atlantic waters passed by; snook, large mouth bass, spotted sea trout: I let the current of warm water brush my face, planning my escape. Wherever Torpedo Man was hauling me off to, I was not staying. I had to make sure Flynn was alright. That her secret wasn’t out and reported to the world after her glowing incident. I needed, no, was compelled to support her. To do research for her. To be there to pat her back and give advice. This whole…thing, Torpedo Man and breathing underwater and my heart beating wildly, was not in my deck of playing cards. And when I escaped, I was going to take Flynn out of St. Augustine, out of Florida, out of the United States, out of this damn universe if I was capable. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVn7IeY3YSJ
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As some glass jelly fish bobbed around us, dancing in their stringy skirts, I noticed a huge crevice on the bottom of the ocean floor open up before Torpedo Man, dwarfing him There was a dark red octopus creeping at the edge, grasping at the sporadic coral next to it. I gulped. Were we suppose to swim inside of the ocean hole? This was asking far too much for someone who was afraid of drowning, granted I wouldn’t drown now, but throwing in dark holes was a bit overboard. Haha…overboard. Another tid bit about me, whenever I am nervous, I crack dumb jokes. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTBp7KomiR
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This was for Flynn, I reminded myself. I threw myself in front of her for a reason, and I was not going to back out now. I’d gather intelligence, then escape. I just had to focus on something other than the looming pit that sucked away all light. Not like there was much light leftover to begin with. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OciZCmKD2
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Torpedo Man seemed like a great start for my distraction plan. He had a thin, chain headdress. It was silver in color and segmented by white pearls. Those foot long dorsal fins jutting from his elbows and calves each had a piercing on their tips; ebony rings. There were a few other trinkets he wore that I could not get a good grasp on due to my angle, but I guessed he were a chest piece from the ties at his shoulders and back. What I could see, however, was the powerful muscles bulging and then relaxing in his legs and free arm. They were large, but not too large as to be unattractive. Hell, they were very, very attractive. And the urge to punch him in his abs tripled, although I think my fist would have broken off if I tried. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnBQ76brFt
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We reached the crevice, and with a tug, Torpedo Man guided us in. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9np5aGP23x
It served him right that I panicked. I mean, hello? The bottom of the ocean where all the creepy light up fish lived? Did he stop to ask if I wanted to go? Naturally, since I couldn’t see, I flung myself forward and grasped the closest thing to me. Unfortunately, the closest thing was Torpedo Man. I couldn’t care less. It was dark, cold, and I was blind. This was what I imagined death would be like. An oblivion where I was cut away from what I associated with life. The scent of the sweet country air mixed with pine needles and hay. The crisp texture of holding a heavy history novel knowing I would learn something new. The tumble of a waterfall against slippery rocks. Everything gone. Void. Empty. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BHuah5LVe
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There was a soft thumping on my shoulders. Desperately, I tried to break free of my terror. What was touching me? Better yet, what was I touching? Oh right. I was pressed against Torpedo Man, and he was the one awkwardly patting my shoulders. Not that he stopped or anything. I still felt the current move against us, but now I knew torpedo man was skilled enough to reposition me, comfort me, and swim down a dark hole all in one. I never would have escaped before. I was glad that I had chosen to go along with his plans, even if they meant certain darkness. He would trust me more if I didn’t struggle. Right?747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOzqOFuQtN
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Torpedo Man continued to swim with me plastered onto him for around half an hour. I timed this fun event by singing my favorite song (one that lasts three minutes and forty four seconds) eight times over in my head. “Clint Eastwood” by the Gorillaz never fails me. I became colder and colder, half believing that snow would suddenly float down from nowhere like a domed snow globe. Maybe I would freeze onto torpedo man? That wasn’t possible, he was too warm. His frills skimmed my nose and legs, and if I stopped my inane recollection of the Gorilllaz music video, his heartbeats were slow and steady. They were far slower than mine or any human above the ocean. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSGglmuR60
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Just when I was ready to abandon my machinations, poke my fingers into Torpedo Man’s eyes, and swim away whatever the outcome, a glimmer of something glassy drew my attention. The obscurity was nestled just below us, and man was it massive. It was large enough to fit a few metropolis cities in and then some. I pried myself off of Torpedo Man. There were lights glowing pleasantly within the structure, and distant shapes shuffling around on, what were they, pathways? Castle-like structures and dark stone work emerged from what seemed like a haze as we closed the distance. Heck, I was only kidding about being inside of a dome, and here one was. Torpedo Man oh so kindly led me to were his kin no doubt dwelled. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcnhGr02t0
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I desperately did a mental checklist of what Torpedo Man would have wanted from Flynn to have kidnapped her, dragged her for a good hour to his domain, and then what? 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2e6zNQeEdT
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1. Flynn was a lost princess. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajVxWajXKL
Somehow, her mom smuggled the little Flynn out of their hometown for reasons I can only conjure more details for with more information. They must have been good reasons to uproot and literally become fish out of water. I know Zeike’s dad had swept him away from small town to small town because some ancient foe of their kingdom of selkies vowed to kill the royal bloodline. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2cY9EeTQnc
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2. There was a prophecy and Flynn was somehow part of it. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMNjaM3FU7
You know it. I know it. Somewhere out there, there will always be some prophecy. Now what was fuzzy here were the specifics. I already thought that there was an evil entity behind a prophecy that must be stopped at all costs, but how? Did she have to be of certain age? Was there a group of other chosen ones that she had to join? Was there a mark on her forehead that pinpointed her? Wait, no. Her forehead is large, so I would have seen something by now. Man, Dandris had an arrow birthmark on her shoulder. She was part of a prophecy that would have doomed the entire vampire race if it weren’t for her special-ness. You may think I’m kidding, but Dandris really was special. I couldn’t have picked a better YA heroine. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmyb7d2Rur
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3. Flynn had a unique ability that only she could wield. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuY5ICSHfz
Seeing as this is a water based theme, I concluded that she could swim faster than Torpedo Man. Or withstand boiling temperatures, mostly due to the water bubbling when it touched her. Oh! She could manipulate the very molecules of water? You already know Adrienne’s ability. She could speak with trees. What I later found out was she could do much more thanks to Akram’s help. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSnAOlEGJM
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My list grew and grew, distracting me until we reached the base of the globe. This place was a freaking monolith. With our feet planted on the rocky earth, the globe was easily sixteen stories high. I wondered how in the world humans haven’t spotted this anomaly yet until I reminded myself that I couldn’t have either without the aid of Torpedo Man. Plus, this place smelled of nice, healthy magic. No matter how much our science has evolved to overcome the unknown, magic has always been two steps ahead. Maybe one day the two will collide. I would not like to be alive and kicking on that lovely day of days.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkA8BXc7Dg1
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“Blub,” Torpedo Man said. He inclined his head towards me, his dark hair swirling around his shoulders like a web. His bright green eyes were warm, and they were evil distractions when he maneuvered the hand on my wrist to my fingers, closing his around mine. I could feel the webbing between his fingers tightening to grasp my hand and the texture both comforted and frightened me. Ahead was an unknown world along with foreign peoples. How long would it take for me to escape? Were they even planning on keeping me alive? An image of Torpedo Man sticking me with a spear blinked in and then out of existence. Though he hadn’t been violent, I couldn’t dismiss the possibility. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7PQULlooU
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“Brrrrrrb,” I replied hesitantly. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN63myrykKX
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Torpedo Man nodded, satisfied with what he thought I said. He led me to a gate stationed inside of the globe. It was built from something that combined silver and turquoise with veins of faint gold, like some type of undiscovered marble. The gate was at least ten feet tall with high, pointed arches. The architecture reminded me of the neogothic era where everything was perfectly aligned, parallel, arched, detailed, and crisp. Have you ever seen the Capella Reale di Dreux? The gate and the guardhouse directly behind it,were as fantastic as the Capella, even more so if I could be so bold. And oh right, this was just the gate to enter the dome. I bet there were more like it surrounding the perimeter since there couldn’t just be one gate for this gargantuan civilization, never mind what the actual houses and palaces would look like. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvhLJufbDi
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We arrived at the spot where the dome covered the arched entrance, and I felt frigid all over again. Then Torpedo Man did something that stumped me more than this entire experience.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPoRTjDzv0
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He lifted his hand and knocked on the dome. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfY04nIaE56
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Of all the simple, mundane, down to earth gestures. I wanted to laugh, but kept my mouth shut until my stomach hurt from the contained giggles. Let's just say I was grounded by that simple action.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegWGzcYFok
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Two guards from the guard house sauntered out, saw Torpedo Man and subsequently myself, and beamed. Oh boy, they both possessed those terrifying, sharp teeth like sweet ol’ Torpedo Man here. I shuddered and could only watch as the two guards, one with red pigmentation and the other with black, galloped over to the dome’s edge. Now that they were closer, I noted that they weren’t as human as Torpedo Man. Mr. Ketchup was at least seven feet tall with overly large blue irises covering most of his cornea, two small slits for a nose, and the fins on his arms and legs were sharp like blades. The other had glowing yellow eyes, so I secretly called him Lightning Bug. He had more frills around his gills, was shorter than the other two, and was built to be sleek and streamlined. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjDPNtDPAn
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Lightning Bug held out a palm to the dome (oh! Five fingers for him) and Mr. Ketchup mimicked his friend (only four for the red guy.) They went through a series of motions too fast and complicated for me to catch, but it must have done something. The dome began to melt where the guards had made contact with it, and yet no water entered to their side. I watched, amazed, as they repeated their motions long enough to create a hole that would suffice in letting Torpedo Man and myself through. My guide gently pulled at my clammy hand when I did not cross with him. He smiled at me, acting as if I should be joining in on the party like the other three. His dark blue lips, lips of a dead man, framed his ghastly grin. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ094Dwxu4jp
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I have to play nice. Do what they ask, make them lower their guard, and then flee. For Flynn. For myself.747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5q8gvtwjhy
747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHUrcQNbaX
With a deep, calculated breath of oxygen filtered water, I followed Torpedo Man into the dome. 747Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYfDXgTM1K
...
Sup?
And the story progresses! Do you need more details? Is the world building enough? Too little? Too much? How about interactions between character? Thank you for any and all feedback!
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