God's Gone AWOL

[3] THERE!

Everything was once again dark.

Atticus floated soundlessly, unable to see or hear anything except for the occasional bubble, rising its way through the inky blackness. His clothes drifted around him, no longer bound to his body by gravity. Whenever he moved his head, he could feel his hair trailing behind him. It was as though he was submerged in the darkest depths of the ocean, miles below the surface. Everything was still. Everything was black.

With the snap of his fingers, a white ball of light formed in his palm. But the darkness around him couldn't be penetrated. The only thing he could see was his own body. No Leslie, no Bentley, and no end to this surrounding void. If he opened his mouth and let out a bubble of air, he could watch it rise up into the dark abyss until it had vanished completely. There was just... nothing.

Should he swim upward? Let himself sink until he could find a bottom? And would he ever? Was there anything here to be found? Or had the enchantment dropped him at the bottom of the ocean on a faraway planet where life could not grow? Atticus spun around, looking desperately for any possible sign of... well, anything.

And suddenly, there was something. A soft white hand gripped his wrist, refusing to let go.

Bentley was hovering a few feet above him, her arm stretching downwards to cling onto him, her hair floating around her face like a spiraling red cloud. The two were cast in the glow of the light Atticus had summoned. For a moment, they remained like that, suspended in the depths of emptiness, staring at each other. Both were unsure what to do next. After a few seconds, Bentley finally took the initiative to start pulling him upwards.

Once they were eye-level, Atticus reached out and pulled her against his chest. In a sort of mutual understanding, her arms wrapped themselves tightly around his waist. Normally, both of them would be rather opposed to this close-proximity situation. But if they held themselves together like this, it would be much easier to move. So Atticus held onto Bentley and Bentley held onto Atticus, and together, they started swimming up towards wherever a surface might be.

It wasn't the first time Atticus had held Bentley like this. But that didn't stop his face from growing a little warm. His skin tingled where her arms made contact with his body, and he was extremely aware of every single movement she made. It was for this reason that he kept his gaze locked firmly on the endless darkness above them, and never once allowed himself to make eye contact with her again.

After what felt like both an eternity and hardly any time at all, their heads finally broke through the surface. Even though both of them were perfectly capable of breathing underwater, Atticus couldn't help but take a sharp breath in the presence of fresh air. Bentley bobbed beside him like a little red buoy, droplets of water glistening on the tips of her eyelashes and dripping off the end of her nose. They had made it. And Atticus quickly let go.

They were still surrounded by darkness, but now there was some sort of light casting a dim golden reflection on the sides of their faces. Both made the mistake of turning to look at the source.

"AIYA, REALLY!?!" Bentley spat water everywhere.

In front of them, up on a black ledge, above the endless black abyss of water, were three golden doors marked "HERE!", "THERE!", and "BACK AGAIN!". Three mirror images danced in the water below, reflecting the obnoxious sight as though one set wasn't enough. Although Atticus didn't remember there being any water when they had encountered the doors the first time around, they were definitely the same doors. He certainly felt the same rush of annoyance upon seeing them.

Together, he and Bentley swam up to the ledge. Once they were on solid, dry ground again, both flopped down, breathing heavily. Even if they could still breathe underwater, the swim upwards still took energy, especially since they had to hold onto each other. Atticus even noticed that his hands were trembling ever so slightly for some reason. So as to ease up the tension, he shook out his hair, spraying water droplets everywhere around them.