FYSH: Diving Deeper.

Chapter Three: The Beginning.

"How are we, kids?" Mistress Ioa chattered. Grumbles sounded from the crowd, snapping at the screen. Beck galloped back to us from the door, and he looked furious. Ioa laughed, a pretty, innocent giggle bubbling up from her throat.

"Not like I can hear you, of course. But I can imagine you're very angry."

Her graceful smile dropped.

"And you're going to shut up and listen if you don't want more people getting hurt." She hissed. Oddly, as soon as silence had spread, she began speaking again.

"Well now, looks like you children aren't very good at listening, are you?" Ioa said, leaning on her palm. "I told you, kids have to go in order for this to work. Stage One was more of a pre-stage, kind of like weeding out the weak. We cannot waste our time, experimenting with those kind of negative outliers that will only slow down the process. But we're done with that, finished! Trust me, kiddos, your lives are only in your own hands now. But if you let yourself down, we'll be sure to clean up after you."

I felt like baring my own teeth and growling, but I could feel heat waves of ferocity rolling off Beck next to me and they almost made me feel afraid.

"Some of your friends will be plucked from this Earth and chucked into the other, trust me, and you're just going to have to live with that. But worse off, you could leave this world just as easily. And if you don't want to be, let's say, dealt with, you'll walk around where you just were and keep on going. Don't worry, it's only a short walk, nothing like before. You'll reach a long escalator, get on it and wait. When you arrive at the door, go right in. I'm sure you kids will adore what you see in there. Set your bags down and wait for the people to come and collect you. We'll run a few tests and things like that, and finally Stage Two will begin. Today's only a half-day so we'll only spend a few hours in the water, and off to the homes you go." Each child perked up at hearing the word, "water" and "homes" being spoken, each child except me, I was too exhausted. I was like a little balloon, deflating as I floated from place to place, and soon I had rolled onto the ground, out of air, drained.

"Good luck once more, and don't forget, swim your way to freedom. Goodbye."

The screen went black swiftly, as if it had died in that moment. Beck grunted.

"Well, the doors are locked." He said, his low voice echoing, bounding off the walls.

"We can't just obey." I surprised myself by saying.

"Have another idea?" Tyde asked sarcastically, from behind me. My body whipped around to face him. My tiredness and my anger fought from within me, and I wasn't sure which one to give in to. Anger finally flared up in victory and I snapped.

"You know what? Shut the fuck up. You haven't done anything to help this situation, you narcissistic asshole." Now this wasn't the type of anger that would burn out as I began to calm down. This was the type of anger that needed a fire extinguisher the size of a baby mammoth. So obviously, I began screaming.

"If it weren't for you, I could've saved that little girl! If you weren't in my damn way, one more person would be alive right now. It's all your fault." I hissed, accusingly. "I had her-"

"No, you didn't. You didn't even touch her. If I had thought there was even the slimmest chance that you could've saved her, I would have let you. If I had known what a bratty little girl you are, I would've just let you try. But you know, and I know, that you would've died trying. And no matter how much I don't already like you, there's not a reason to let you die."

He glared at me with his slippery, dark-blue eyes.

"If anything, you should be thanking me for saving your life, when I didn't have to. And anyways, we've wasted enough time as it is. I expect a heartfelt apology later, but now, we should get going." The fierceness in his eyes suddenly disappeared and he began walking through the tunnel on the male side. As he faded between the corner, he called out,