Gods Aren't Perfect - OFFICIAL

Chapter Five: The (Side) Quest Begins, Really

"Holy McMuffin?" Rosaluma questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"I ordered something called a 'McMuffin' a couple days ago, since it said it had lettuce in it. But it still hasn't arrived yet," the Queen sighed. "I was hoping to try it out. So, as a test of your loyalty to the world you rule, Ocean Goddess, and a test of your abilities in general, I would like you and your fellow gods to fetch the McMuffin."

"And you can't get it by yourself because...?" Nyx asked.

"I said I want to test you. Also because I don't actually know where to get it and I shouldn't be gallivanting out of the realm I'm the sub-ruler of. The Neptus still need me around," Marua explained. "But anyway, I can tell that you are going to be running out of oxygen. You land-dwellers will need this to survive, but I will need to borrow some of your magic in order to let you survive your journey."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not okay with that," June replied. "But okay."

"As long as you don't try to kill us," Farrah warned.

The Neptus Queen gave them a nod. "Come forward. One at a time, please. I can't multitask that well."

Rosaluma was first to go after a cautious pause. A bubble of air formed before her, and she summoned one of her flame symbols for a moment. In a moment, the flame began to transform into a reddish bubble-like shape that surrounded her head, a pipe for air stretching all the way to the surface of the ocean. A bubble of yellow surrounded June, an extremely pale magenta for Farrah, a dark violet one held Nyx aloft, and Atticus had a pale cream one with swirls of rose. Each one of them had the same pipe leading upwards, and all the bubbles glowed a little - the Queen mentioned that it was dark down there, and the light god's abilities and light concentrations wouldn't last forever.

Eleanor swam forward. Marua gave her a once-over, then shook her head. "You can breathe underwater. Now, search for this Holy McMuffin, and please return to Siltanta with it when you find it. You have my thanks in advance. Now go."

One by one, the group swam off - or tried to their best ability. Ellie pushed the stragglers ahead with her waterbending abilities. As they swam off, they got a good look around. It was dark, but Atticus simply made a ball of light in their hands, making everything just a little bit easier to see. A school of lettuce swam by up above, a group of Neptus chasing after the leafy greens with giant knives in fins. Seaweed trailed all around them, from the harmless edible kind to something slightly more completely deadly. Farrah thrust her hand forward several times and froze the more dangerous ones, but she quickly tired and had to be pushed along - physically now, as Eleanor's waterbending abilities had to take a break from running out. Even the nonbinary teenager's light was fading, and they snapped their fingers and made it disappear.

"Maybe we should've been more careful about that," the girl in white said, pushing back her silvery hair. "We have to keep going. You guys just swim higher." But they were underwater, so nobody heard her. Frustrated, she just rapidly gestured upwards. With a nod, the others swam up with a burst of speed - or more like slowly ascended a little bit, moving at the speed of Big the Cat when he wasn't looking for Froggy.

In the distance, a small light flickered on and off. Rosa swam down, reaching for the source - a strange device. There was a flicker, and some static noise - and then it turned on, Inferno's voice ringing through. "Hello? Hello? Gods, are you there?"

"I'm here," the Goddess of Fire replied. "How's it down there?"

"Hot. But that's not why I called you. Where are you?"

Eleanor popped her head into Rosa's bubble. "UNDER THE SEA!"

"Ah, so you're in the Lost Ocean. I hope you're having fun down there, because water levels suck. Anyway, I'm assuming you've met the Neptus?"