The Abyss

We are all of Water (Story)

"Shut up Daisy." A man spoke, his blue eyes staring daggers at the sleek blonde woman across from him, his pale lips transformed into a snarl as the woman reached across the table and made her move.
"Checkmate, Jack." Her black shaded lips curved into a smirk as her eyes burrowed into Jack's, his blue eyes practically mixing with her to create a yellow of joy and melting his glare as they stood up simultaneously. Without a word, their lips connected, blue mixed with green and black mixed with red. A knock interrupted them, making Daisy jump slightly as she hastily straightened her hair and Jack quickly wiped his lips of her black stains.
    "Jack, Daisy, dinner time!" The feminine voice called out through the metal door.
"Yeah! We will be right out, just finishing a game!" Jack put together a lie as Daisy approached the door. "What kinda food this time?"
"Salmon with a side of salad." The voice replied. Jack handed Daisy her blue top as she threw it on.
"Ah, not that healthy crap again." Jack rolled his eyes much to Daisy's amusement as she walked over to the floor by the table; in one graceful move she had picked up Jack's black shirt and thrown it to him.
"If you don't like it, don't eat it, but you better be at the table for the briefing." A southern drawl scratched its way over the intercom. Jack sighed softly and raised his eyebrows as Daisy and Jack headed out of the room.
"I wonder what we can use to pull the stick out of his ass?" Jack nudged Daisy as she let out a giggle at this joke.
"I don't know, but I think we will find out why it's there in the first place." She smiled softly at her lover's humor as the pair roamed the white hallways. The lovers approached the dining hall as the metal door slid open to greet them.
"So nice of you to join us, and a whole ten minutes late." The southern drawl came from the end of the table. The man who had spoken donned a head of brown hair and a brown leather vest to match. He, like Jack, had blue eyes which seemed to glare at the pair as they took their seats and began to dig into their meal.
"Jesus, it's not bad enough we are on a submarine heading to nowhere, but now we got you on our asses," Jack offhandedly muttered, his fork about to pierce the salmon when the table rattled from the southern man's fists, making Jack jump in his seat.
"Do you think I'm happy with this? I have been navigating for a month now, and we have found nothing!" His fist tightening as Jack glared at him.
"Oh, you know what John, you seem to have forgotten that I have also been onboard this hell ship for a month now!" Jack stood up to meet Jones's line of daggers.
"Both of you calm down now! Jack and Jones, I swear I will kick both of your asses if you don't behave." A voice came from behind them where a woman stood a tad taller than Jack who was 5'9. She had dyed purple hair and wore a scowl on her face as she looked at the table and her crew. She strolled up to the opposite side of the table, her shoes clicking against the metal floor. Jack and Jones both looked away from each other and lowered themselves back into their seats. Daisy was quiet as her black lips pursed and she beheaded the salmon with her knife, her fork cast to the side. The woman who commanded respect looked over her crew, her hazel eyes scanning them all. Daisy shivered slightly as she noticed this.
"So, umm any news?" Daisy's black lips parted to sound a cry that would break the ice of this dinner.
John spoke up, "Well, now that you ask, I have been getting some weird readings on the path we are heading so I have sent those up to command so we can get our orders on what to do next."
Jack sighed softly, "We know our orders, search and explore the deep sea to find any clues about the stupid rocks stupid scientists have found on their stupid whatever," Jack grumbled, finally digging into his salmon. The woman cleared her throat as the room went silent.
"For the record, as one of the so-called Stupid Scientists, we have all been assigned with exploring the deep sea for signs of life and resources. The 'Stupid Scientists' have put us together to work as a team and do this task. John is the navigator for the submarine, Jack is the yeoman, Daisy is, of course, the logistical specialist and I, Aryn, am the scientist of this watercraft," Aryn explained proudly; it sounded like she was reciting what had been told to her in the past but putting her own twist on it. 
Jack rolled his eyes, "Whatever Aryn, it's still been a month since I have been off this 'watercraft,' and I hate it; let me know if anything interesting happens." Jack got up, his plate still mostly full of food as he walked out, the metal doors closing behind him. John looked amused, but Daisy shot him a glare as his look quickly faded and transformed into an apologetic one.
"I am gonna go after him" Daisy quickly got up, her meal gone as she sped away after the disgruntled Jack. Daisy raced down the hall to only find a closed and locked door when she came upon Jack's room. "Jack?" Her voice softly echoed but was full of loud emotions.
"What?"
"Can I come in?"
"No"
"Why?"
"I don't wanna be with anyone right now."
"Not even me?"
"Not even you," a muffled reply got past the metal of the door that separated the pair. With a huff, the female lover returned to her room unable to help her love. Daisy slipped off her shoes and socks and her blue top with ease as she flopped in bed. "I hate not being able to help," she offhandedly remarked in a huff as her eyes closed for a restful sleep.
"Daisy, the control center ASAP." The voice of John scratched over the intercom, waking Daisy up as she hastily got ready. Throwing on a black top and changing into a black bottom she made her way down the hall.
"I need your help on this reading. I was hoping you could help tweak the controls a bit." John looked up from his seat at Daisy.
"Yeah sure, what do you need?" Daisy reapplied the black to her lips.
"There have been some strange readings on your sonar, and we are heading straight towards it, I need you to scan it and check for signs of life." John pointed at the scanner.
"Yeah give me a couple of hours and then I can scan it."
"In a couple of hours, we will be there."
"You got two and a half and at three we will be there." John started tinkering with the sonar.
"Don't touch that and move over so I can work." Daisy swatted his hand away as she took his place and began to work, gently removing the panel as she gracefully took hold of the toolkit as John did as she instructed.
"Finished." Daisy wiped the sweat from her brow as John came around the corner. "All done on my end." He looked at her. "You do fine work." His lips curved into a smirk as Daisy got up from under the control panel. Daisy rolled her eyes, "Just do your job." John took his seat and began to log in and check the scanners. "It says here we are approaching a huge landmass, and your tweaks tell us that it is..."
"What?" Daisy leaned in to see.
"Judging by the scanners, we wouldn't need to wear scuba suits so this place is livable for humans." Jones looked at Daisy. "I'm getting Aryn in here, and once we can confirm this, we are gonna send a party down there."
Daisy's eyes lit up. "I'm getting Jack, something exciting actually happened."
John called after Daisy. "I see his sunny disposition is rubbing off on you!"
"Alright we have confirmed the scanners and my tests results have been brought back to me," Aryn spoke to the crew. Jack stood ready, and everyone was in all black. "We have landed the submarine on the outskirts of this....land mass." Aryn hesitated to name the new found thing.
    "Let's go," Jack spoke, carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder. John nodded. "Let Aryn take the lead getting out and stick together and stay on comms." Daisy watched as Aryn exited the submarine, she wore a scuba suit that read "Science Officer" on the back as when she was out she radioed in. "I..I can't believe it, I don't understand this.." Aryns voice crackled in from the radio.
"What is it, Aryn?" Jones asked.
"I'm..there is...this place is fine to live in, there it's breathable and the pressure doesn't kill me, at least that's what my scanners are saying, I have taken off my scuba helmet and I am dfine, I can breathe and move normally...this shouldn't be possible..we are too far down..I don't understand this.." The science officer explained, sounding like a giddy kid who had just been told they were getting to go have an all you can eat ice cream party.
John's eyes went wide. "I'm calling this into command. Jack, Daisy, go meet Aryn outside to explore." Daisy nodded as Jack smiled as they exited the submarine.
They were greeted with a cloud of white dust and sand and ash as it caught in Daisy's hair. "I don't like this." Daisy squinted her eyes through her goggles.
"Wait, where is Aryn?" Jack looked around, white sand covered everywhere the eye could look.
"I don't know...I.." Daisy squinted as she looked into the endless sand. "I see something up ahead."
"Let's go, I just radioed that Aryn went MIA to John." Jack looked up ahead. "You're right. Let's go."
Daisy frowned. "You are too eager, let me radio into while we head to the thing."
Jack nodded and began to walk with Daisy to the vague large shapes. "So where do you think Aryn went?"
"I don't know, and honestly, I hate thinking about it." Daisy retorted, walking faster. "Is that..?" Daisy gasped as Jack's eyes widened.
"Buildings...a town..people.." Jack breathed as they approached a town, the site of buildings were not like any she had seen before, these buildings were fragile, the dust everywhere made it hard to see where the buildings ended, but it looked like a worn out city. Daisy gazed upon what was the most shocking, there where people in the town, well at least they seemed humanoid. The pair was stunned as from the nearest building as a creature exited the building which was closest to them and turned to face them. What they saw next was beyond belief; the middle figure was a woman. She wore a brown vest and was tying up her green pants which hung loosely from her waist, her skin was orange as her face was the thing that caught the most attention. Her face had green around the ears and a purple on the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were like teardrops in reverse as she had no pupils. Red streaks outlined her cheekbones as she looked at the pair.
"Akb-" She mouth parted but then stopped as she fell right forward, her body creating dust as it fell forward. Aryn stood behind the body, a smoking gun in her hand.
"Jesus Christ!!" Jack yelped, running over to the body and checking its pulse. "You killed the thing!" Jack looked up at Aryn with a glare.
"Why would you do that?" Daisy's fist trembled, Jack lifted the body over his shoulder as they made their way back to the submarine. Daisy looked at Aryn as she holstered her weapon at her hip. Daisy glared at Aryn and than at the stain of red that the science officer had left on the white sand.
"Let's just get that thing back to the submarine," Aryn spoke as her gaze was fixed on the thing that she had taken down. "Fine, I'm gonna clean up the mess you made" Daisy sighed. "Then get back to the submarine." Aryn walked towards Jack and the submarine.
Daisy crouched down and looked at the blood stain. "I..what was that?" She questioned out loud. "Jar Gac La?" A voice asked as Daisy stood up and felt cold metal against her neck. "Let me go!" Daisy struggled as the blade cut into her neck slowly. Daisy's body went limp as she stopped fighting. She felt breathing in her ear as she tensed up, the knife cutting into her neck. The blade withdrew from her skin as Daisy turned around to see a hideous creature, green eyes gouged into her green eyes. Their mouth was not like a human mouth, it grew tall and went up to the tip of his nose, the edge of it is lined with teeth. The creature stood at 6'1 and had grey skin dotted with black. Daisy looked at the beast, aside from his head, he was shirtless with three red scars on each side above his hips. He was coated in white ash and wore a bandolier with gold canisters on it. He wore chainmail around his neck and a belt with shells and shells in the shape of tridents.
"Tu joy Subdohdh." The creatures spoke. He took a step towards Daisy as she raised her fists. She threw a punch which made an impact, but it felt like she was punching a brick wall, "Ah!" She clutched her hand, cradling it. It was now the creatures turn as he pulled his knife back and threw it into her leg. Daisy let out a yell and turned the other way away from the submarine. She ran into the town and behind buildings, pushing past and weaving through creatures of all sorts and open buildings. Daisy looked back as she was running only to see the male creature advancing towards the submarine. Her radio clicked on but then clicked off as she looked down to find that it had been damaged in the fight. Daisy swung and unzipped her backpack from shoulders. "This is gonna hurt." She said taking out a rag of cloth and a piece of foam as she bit down on the foam and gritted her teeth, pulling the dagger out of her leg and gracefully wrapping the fabric on the wound. She also took out her pills from the bag and with a gulp she dry swallowed them, the pills going through her scarred throat. She rounded the corner into an alleyway to be met with a figure who wore all blue; the male figure wore netted pants and a vest covered in rags. His jaw was extended out from normal human proportions as he had three eyes instead of two. "Oh my-" Daisy gasped, taking a few steps back, the back of her pressing against the sandy wall of a house.
"Jar Gac La?" the creature asked to which Daisy did not reply as she stood stunned and shocked. "You do not umm you speak English?" The creature spoke to which Daisy nodded. "Jar Gac La means who are you in my language. So, who are you?"
"I-i'm Daisy...Lockton. W-who are you?"
"I am umm Anselm." The creature named Anselm replied. He was about her height as his size was big. "You are...human?" Anselm asked. Daisy nodded as she moved towards him, wincing as pain shot through her leg. "You are..kear.. H-hurt?" Daisy nodded again. "Ahja..C-come with me..." He motioned for her to come as she shook her head.
"N-no...I need to get back to the..." Her black lips parted into a whisper.
"-Ahja..come now."
"O-okay." She nodded and limped her way to follow the creature, receiving many strange looks from bystanders. Daisy followed Anselm through a building in which two guards stood at the door. She could tell there were guards as they gripped spears and wore face masks that reminded Daisy of the movie Silence of the Lambs. The two guards wore matching red coats as they nodded to Anselm as they let him pass.
"W-why you here? In..in the Abyss?" Anselm turned to ask Daisy.
"To umm explore the deep sea..sir." Daisy green eyes darted around the room, glancing at the rows and rows bookshelves that lined the room. Anselm looked at Daisy's leg, "How are...La-..you hurt?"
"I met a..a..grey figure..with a weird mouth and green eyes...he attacked me. He had a bandolier."
"That was..Subodh. He is a Frilled Shark..and a member of the Royal Guard." Anselm explained to her.
"He is going to kill my friends." Her lips pursed with concern.
"He has already killed your friends..." Anselm looked down as a knock rung out from the door. "Hide. You need to hide." Anselm spoke in a hushed and rushed whisper.
"Tu ula mata la'r o, yar bod hew wit ju de" The deep voice of Subodh rang out.
"He said; I have killed you're friends, their bodies lie with the dead" Anselm spoke as Daisy unslung her backpack from her shoulders.
"There's nowhere to hide...I am..dead." Daisy realized as she handed the backpack to Anselm. "I'm going to die Anselm. Everything in this bag is all I have left. It's just my journals and dictionaries, but basically, this is all I have left so save it...please Anselm sir."  
Anselm nodded as the door was broken open by Subodh. His gaze glared at Daisy. "Don't do this...please." Daisy fell to her knees, her green eyes looking up at the monster that was about to end her life.
"Ko." Subodh drew a knife from his belt and struck the female in the heart. "Lor Pa Ya."
"Lor...it...Pa...is...Ya...done." Anselm spoke as he stood over Daisy, watching the female bleed red, her black lips parting for a breath one last time.