The legend of Zaphratos

The Forgotten Celestial

A few minutes pass

As Henry lays upon the bed of moss deep in thought he comes to realize just how low his chance of success really is, there's no way he can hold his breath for long enough to make it not only to the tunnel but to wherever the exit of the tunnel may be if there's even one, to begin with.

He sits up and looks at the coat which is now eating some blue fungus then he turns towards the blocked cave entrance, he sighs then looks back towards the cave pool "I guess we only have one chance" he says as he stands up and steps over to the cave pool.

He lets out a breath looking down into the deep tunneling cave pool no longer able to appreciate the glow stars or the glowing coral and vibrant underwater plants.

He sighs sadly "Okay, it's now or never I guess," he says sitting down on the moist moss with his legs in the water feeling the somewhat cold feeling traveling through his legs. He continues to peer into the cave pool and decides it's finally time. He uses his arms to push off the cave floor sliding into the cool waters, his body falls deeper down the chimney-like entrance and into the cave pool below before he flips himself around and descends head first into the deep cave pool below.

As he descends deeper into the waters below filled with determination and hope he looks around seeing the same large underwater cave filled with glowing coral and glow stars with many variations of colorful aquatic plants. He turns left adjusting his stance underwater and sees the tunnel leading out of the cave pool, he mentally sighs as he braces for the immense danger ahead hoping, no, praying, there's some sort of exit ahead.

He braces himself before launching his body forward towards the tunnel, kicking his feet in slow bursts and pulling the water back with his arms and hands. He enters the tunnel seeing much fewer glowing coral and vegetation around him. His eyes widen as he sees a shimmer of light on the ground ahead of him, he stops and slows moving closer suddenly filled with a bit of excitement.

As he gets to the shimmering object he realizes it seems to be some kind of strange gold totem that has a faint glow, "what's this?" He thinks as he grabs it off the sandy ground. As he grips it he feels a weird pulse of energy move through his hands then through his body, causing him to suddenly stop. A feeling goes through his eyes and they begin to focus as energy from the totem pours through them, outside of his own will he suddenly launches his arms downward and faces up, his eyes focusing more and more as he loses consciousness.

......... hours later he awakens.........

Henry opens his eyes feeling completely out of it, he stretches and stands up and his eyes widen as he realizes he's now outside the cave very close to the caved-in entrance to his home. "What the hell is going on!" He says extremely surprised and confused, "Obviously all of that wasn't a dream but how the hell am I out here now?" He says before suddenly remembering the gold totem. He looks at his hands and can't find it "Where is it?" He says slightly frustrated and looks around unable to find it. He calms a bit taking a breath "Uh, whatever I guess, il just try to find a way to save the coat," he says looking around the cave entrance for any weak spot or hole.

He looks around the cave entrance for a couple of minutes before sitting down with a sigh feeling the heat beaming down on him, he looks up seeing it's mid-day and lets out a breath "I guess I should just rest and try to find a way in or somewhere to stay at the very least" he says feeling frustrated and unsure about his future. "Damn, all my food and water is in there too, I can't really go to the beach and drink the salt water." He says with a huff.

He begins to hear a light ringing-like noise in his ear then a voice "Hello there human" the voice says calmly with an adult male's voice that sounds like a smirk. Henry's breathing slows down and his heart beats a bit faster when he hears it "Uhh, hi" he says scared and contemplating if he's gone crazy but not caring about that as much as he is scared. "Thank you for freeing me Henry, I've been down there for a long time," the voice said calmly with a hint of gratitude. "Uh, you're welcome, I guess I should be thanking you too," Henry says feeling a little happier now. "It was more of a reflex if I'm being honest, but I do admit I'm very excited to be finally free from that cave," the voice says with a bit more excitement. Henry feels a warmth in his chest hearing all this "Either way thank you, I definitely would be dead without you, who are you anyway? I'm not going crazy I hope" Harry says with a laugh half of him hoping intently he's not crazy. "I'm very real Henry, don't worry," the voice says before continuing "I am Zaphratos, the god of balance," it says proudly, "wow, a God? Seriously?" Henry says unsure if the voice is real but mostly overwhelmed.

"Indeed, I am in fact a god, I do not know how much time has passed but I can only assume we lack time before things progress with my brother Ataran," Zaphratos says his voice dropping

Henry is filled with surprise and interest and is very overwhelmed, "That's kind of a lot, to be honest, but uh, I guess il ask anyway what's your brother doing?" He says hoping he can understand some of it.

"My brother Ataran has a very dangerous plan to grow in power immensely, before he destroyed my body in our fight I figured out some of his plans. Something about testing on crabs which is nonsense because crabs do not seem the type to cause much destruction" Zaphratos says thinking deeply

"Yeah, I don't really know what crabs have to do with some big evil plan but that sounds bad," Henry says a little confused but happy he gets most of it.

Zaphratos mentally shakes his head and retains his focus "Anyway, let's get you situated before we try to do anything about my brother" Zaphratos says taking control of Henry and raising his arms before aiming both of his hands towards each other as if grabbing something with both hands. He closes his eyes and imagines a sphere of energy between his hand and moves his hands around in a half-circle motion generating the energy before opening his eyes and feeling that same focusing feeling filled with energy and moving the invisible sphere to the right then moving his right hand back before launching his right hand forward in a strong pushing motion launching the energy forward causing a large blast launching Henry back falling onto his back as well as chunks of rocks to disperse around him.

Henry coughs and groans in pain as he slowly gets up seeing lots of smoke and chunks of rocks. Henry's eyes widen as he sees the caved-in entrance is now almost wide open although his heart drops as he sees lots of extra rocks fell into the cave causing it to fill with rubble and possibly kill anything inside. Henry sighs "I'm stunned, I don't even know what else to say but thank you, other than the debree I guess but still thank you," he says trying to stay respectful and optimistic. He waits for a moment then narrows his eyes "Zaphratos?" He says waiting for a response but none arrives. "Huh, I guess he's not answering... maybe he's tired from that if gods can even get tired."

Henry walks carefully through the rubble and sees near the cave pool at the back of the cave his coat awaits!

He smiles happily as he walks towards the dusty but undamaged coat, the coat runs towards him seemingly happy, and licks him. Henry laughs and pets the coat "I'm happy to see you too buddy" Henry says before turning back towards the entrance. "Looks like we made it out after all, let's go find a new home," Henry says happily not worrying about anything right now just savoring this moment.