RS 45: The Chasm

Chapter 45

The Chasm

Fred and company sank into the deep darkness, watching the walls of the chasm rise ominously on either side. Soon the sun was just a faint smudge above them, a mere memory of distant light. Then, that too was snuffed out by the gloom. Gradually the water changed colour from indigo to darkest blue, and then to pitch-back.

The silence was oppressive. The water, noticeably colder, was sparsely inhabited by pale, ghostly fish that flitted by, eyeing them before darting away, thin steaks of silver and white, gone in a flash. Maris’ light was a welcome beacon. Her jellyfish body gave off a glowing luminescence that bathed them all in soft blue. Her light intensified the darkness, and they huddled together instinctively as they descended. A short while later Epic’s sides flared into illumination and she gave a delighted cry. In the sunlight her tail had been a glittery, metallic thing of greens and silvers but now it was void black punctuated by patterned rows of incandescent light. The glimmering dots went all the way from tail to her waist, and up her sides, stopping at her hairline.

“It suits you,” said Hans, admiringly and Epic smiled, her blush lost in the darkness.

Down, down they went and down even deeper.

Fred startled a pair of colourless crabs on the rocky walls. They scuttled away and were soon swallowed by the blackness. The walls of the trench were generally bare here, there was no coral, and very little seaweed. As they sank the colour was leached from the sea’s palate until there was only white, black and silver.

A light came bobbing towards them, swinging to and fro.

“Hello?” shouted Alice.

“Is there someone there?” shouted Joan. “Someone with a lantern? Hello? Anyone?”

The light bobbed forwards, and suddenly there were rows and rows of teeth, widening in a demonic grin. The two women fell back with a gasp. Not a monster, Fred thought to himself. Fish. It was hideous. A fleshy tentacle-like thing stuck out of its head from which hung the single, luminous bulb. Fred stared at it, his eyes widening, hand tightening on his trident.

“Don’t look at it!” snapped Maris.

Fred tore his eyes away, and blinked furiously. He had drifted closer without realising.

“Damn!” he said, to no one in particular.

The creature rushed at him and Fred got a close up view of the gaping maw, each tooth as long as his elbow. The mouth stretched wider and wider before smashing together, trying to catch Fred. He dealt it a glancing blow with his tail and it staggered back.

From this distance he could see the creature was front heavy - all jaw with a silly little tail at the back. Despite that it moved quickly. It rushed towards him, teeth snapping and the lantern bobbing madly. Lightning crackled at the edge of Fred’s vision and he turned his head in alarm. A shoal of long thin knife fish were swarming the others.

“Ow!” said Alice, punching one in the middle. “That stings!”

The monster fish’s jaws snapped shut in front of Fred’s face, and he leapt back just in time. His friends could manage themselves. He struck the angler fish in the flat of its belly, doing his best not to look into the hypnotic light of its lure. It was a glancing blow, but it knocked back the fish enough that he could use his trident. With a savage thrust he impaled it, streaks of darkness blooming in the water, blood staining the water black before it was washed away in the current. Fred shook the body off his trident, and the fish sank, hollow eyed into the void. Its light blinked out.

[The Fredinator – 2HP; +25XP]

[Alice69 -2HP; +10XP +5XP]

[Joan of Snark +10XP +10XP]

[Epic Failure -2HP + 10XP +10XP + 10XP]

The others had taken care of the electric knife fish with nothing more serious than a few minor burns. Maris and Hans had taken out a few of the fish as well.

“If you fight with our party,” asked Fred, as they resumed their dive, “we don’t share XP?”

“Seems not,” said Hans. Maris shrugged.

“Whatever they kill stays dead,” said Joan, “but no we don’t get XP from their kills.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it till now,” said Fred, musingly.

“There are reasons,” said Joan mystically. Fred threw her a curious look but she shook her head.

Down they swam, and down some more, surrounded by velvet deep.

Fred could feel from the gentle movements of the water, that there was a current. After all the chasm was a trench, not a pit. He wondered how far it went in either direction, and what else was lurking down here. He had a feeling it was worse than the odd angler fish and flashing eels. Or whatever those things had been.

After what seemed like an age they reached the bottom.

Fred’s ears were popping and making him a little grumpy. As performances went this wasn’t the kind he enjoyed. He looked up at the way they had come. There was nothing to see. It was like staring into a starless sky. A starless sky that pressed down on them with a million tons of water. He rolled his shoulders. All that pressure. It was uncanny, and his mind sheared away from thinking about it. Granted, the dungeon had its own physics which clearly defied natural laws but Fred couldn’t shake the feeling of claustrophobia and wrongness. If this was real, no, he amended in his mind, it was real, he was just in an afterlife. If this was happening on earth he  would long since have been compressed into the shape of a squished paper bag by now.

Of course, being at the bottom of the Mariana Trench with a mermaid tail was an impossible scenario. A vision of James Cameron drifted through his head like a piece of stray seaweed. An interesting chap. Fred mentally amended impossible to improbable.

“Let’s get cracking then,” he said, looking around. “Hugo, lad,  where are you?”

The seabed was a ghostly, underwater desert. The luminesce provided by Epic, Maris and their meagre lanterns didn’t do much to pierce the gloom. What little light they had to see by revealed an uncanny world. Bare, grey seabed stretched away into nothing. A few tufts of sad algae clutched onto flat pebbles, a few bone-like corals clung on at sparse interludes. A scattering of glowing specs floated by - tiny sea creatures more skeletal than flesh. Fred could have sworn one of them gave him the finger, but then he blinked and they were gone.

“Hugo!” called Alice, her voice tiny in the void.

“If he’s in the sub,” said Joan, sensibly, “he won’t be able to hear us anyway.”

“Probably best if we keep it down,” said Maris, and they all nodded, glancing around at the eerie darkness.

They picked a direction at random and spread out across the trench floor, shining the lanterns forward. After a sombre twenty minute search they found the submarine, lying on its side like a discarded children’s toy at the bottom of god’s bathtub. It was badly dented at one end but to everyone’s relief Hugo and Michael were visible through the thick glass of the front window. When they saw the party they sprang up, waving eagerly.

“Might I suggest,” said Hans, peering at them through his goggles, “that we extract my brother and his companion and beat a hasty retreat?”

“No arguments there,” murmured Joan. “At least they seem to be alright.” She took out a potion and mimed drinking it, pointing first at the bottle and then to Hugo and Michael.

“Hang on,” she said, turning to Hans. “Does your brother even need a potion? Since he…er seems to have gills already?”

“He won’t need it,” said Hans, with a shrug. “As I said, he takes after father, at least physically. His temperament is one hundred percent mother though.”

“Why didn’t he leave the sub already then?” asked Joan.

“Probably wanted to stay with Hugo,” said Fred. “You callous lump.” Joan looked a little abashed. “Not everyone’s mind is constantly on the game.” He squeezed her hand to take the sting out of the words but forgot about his venomous bits.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, my love.”

Hugo and Michael pressed a button inside the sub and a hatch flew open, instantly filling with water. Fred nipped in and closed it behind him. They pressed another button and the water was sucked out of the airlock. Fred flopped forward on his tail as the lock filled with air.  Hugo opened the second hatch.

“Nice tail, Fred,” he said.

“Shut up,” said Fred from the floor. He held out the potion. “Drink this and get a move on.”

Hugo grabbed it and knocked it back, grimacing. “Err what about my clothes?”

“Leave them,” said Fred. “Unless you have a bag?” They shared an anxious glance. The transformation hadn’t taken long for Fred but standing in the sunshine onboard the gently bobbing Heart of the Ocean was one thing. Hugo had to wait at the bottom of a pitch-black chasm with the weight of an entire ocean poised to crush his fragile human body. Hugo had six respawns left but this was only level 2. He needed every single one if there was a chance they were all going to get to the end. Plus drowning didn’t seem like a fun way to go.

“Hello,” said Prince Michael, from behind Hugo.

“Hi,” said Fred.

Hugo made a small noise of surprise, and looked down as his tail sprouted. It was surprisingly curly at the end, and armoured in segments. It was hard to see colours clearly but it seemed to be yellow and speckled.

“Whoa,” said Hugo. He twisted, admitting the single feathered fin at his back. “This is neat!”

“Yes, yes,” said Fred. “Let’s go!”

They pressed another button and the compartment flooded instantly. The three of them swam out into the sea.

[Ding! Congratulations! You have saved Hugo and Prince Michael! All party members + 150 XP]

“Oh, thank goodness,” said Alice, pushing Fred aside. “Hugo!”

“Seahorse,” said Hans, with some satisfaction. “Nice to meet you Hugo.”

“Um, who the hell are you?” Hugo’s eyes grew wide as he took in Hans’ rather spectacular octopus tentacles.

“That’s my brother, Hans,” said Prince Michael, cheerfully.  “Hiya!” he said to everyone, waving a hand. “I’m Michael!”

Hugo’s jaw dropped open. Everyone else stared.

Michael was glowing.

His tail, like Hans, was tentacles. However, where Hans’ tentacles were purple and black, Michael’s were white and translucent. His body was completely see-through in some parts and the glowing translucence didn’t end at his waist. His skin gleamed pale, emitting a ghostly light and his ash-blonde hair was almost neon white. Most alarming was the hint of skeleton visible beneath the gently glowing flesh, and the traces of his heart.

“Ahhhh…” said Hugo. His eyes wide. “I know you said it would be tentacles but I didn’t expect…”

“Skeleton,” said Fred. “Hi, Michael, this is every-”

“I’m Alice!” announced Alice, elbowing Fred and Hugo out of the way. “I’m Hugo’s best friend. Nice bones.”

“Alice!” said Michael, his eyes brightening. He grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down. “Hugo’s told me so much about you!”

“What sort of things?” demanded Alice, suspiciously, not letting go of Michael’s hand.

“Mostly that you are a loser that refuses to wear clothes,” Michael said with an angelic grin. Alice’s smile froze. “I’m kidding!” Michael said, throwing his arms around her in a bear hug. He drew back. “I mean he did say that but I can tell he’s a liar cause that is a very nice bikini top.”

“Thank you,” said Alice, a little miffed. She glared at Hugo.

“Come on,” said Fred, “I don’t know about you lot but we should-”

“What was that?” said Joan, frowning.

“What was-”

A tentacle the size of a tree-trunk exploded out of the darkness, smashing down onto the ocean floor.

“Kraken!” screamed Michael.

Everyone scattered.

For a moment there was chaos – dark, dusty chaos as the water filled with debris. Glowing red eyes the size of two cars and as angry as two squashed raspberries appeared, looming out of the darkness. More enormous tentacles smashed down, some of them stumped and sore after the fight with the Heart of the Ocean’s cannons, but more than enough of them uninjured to be alarming. They didn’t have cannons now. They were in the sea. The kraken was in its element, and they were just little fish it wanted to wipe across the ocean floor.

The tornado of whirling tentacles slammed into the floor, again and again trying to crush them.

Fred slammed his triton into the nearest sucker and ripped it loose, the wound belching foul liquid into the water. Around him everyone was slashing and hacking, but they were so small and the kraken was enormous. It reared up, easily the size of a three-storey building, slamming the full weight of its body into the floor. Shock waves rippled out, sending them tumbling. The kraken batted Epic and Joan out of the way as easily as if they were minnows. Both women fell against the cliff wall with a crash, and slithered down, Joan dropping into darkness.

[Epic Failure -6 HP; Joan of Snark -16 HP]

Fred scrambled out of the way of a rushing tentacle, but it caught Maris, Hans and Hugo a glancing blow, tossing them like ragdolls. Fred’s stomach knotted into a braid as the tentacles whipped back, sending him and Alice spinning through the water.

[Hugo Balls -5 HP; The Fredinator -3 HP; Alice69 -5HP]

“Help me get to the sub!” shouted Hans.

“Do you have a pl-” Epic was cut off as a tentacle knocked her flying.

[Epic Failure -5 HP]

“I’ll distract it!” yelled Fred. He looked up at the malevolent eyes and decided not to think. He roared, propelling his way through the water as hard as he could, driving the prongs of his trident into the kraken’s left eye with all his might. The kraken thrashed. The whole body shuddering, and rolling. Fred ripped the trident free and lifted it to stab again but a tentacle arm reached for him. Joan pushed him out of the way and it grabbed her instead.

“Stab it,” she screamed, as she was whipped through the air. Fred did as she asked, trying not to look as the kraken flung her from side to side, her head bouncing off the rocks.

[Joan of Snark -16 HP; -15 HP; -15 HP; -16 HP; -15 HP; -15 HP; -16 HP; -15 HP; -16 HP]

He stabbed and he stabbed, thick viscous liquid pouring from the kraken’s eye but it only seemed to enrage the monster further, squeezing Joan like a pip.

[Joan of Snark -14 HP; -15 HP; -15 HP; -11 HP; -15 HP; -17 HP; -10 HP; -11 HP; -11 HP; -14 HP; -15 HP]

“Does she have a life left?” Fred heard Michael murmur, as he slashed and hacked. He renewed his attack with feverish intensity. Another tentacle crept towards him and he slashed it away.

“What are you doing?” he yelled at Hans. He could see the man swimming with an armful of something that looked like sticks. Another, more stealthy tentacle caught Fred a glancing blow before Hans could reply and it was Fred’s turn to be smashed against the rock. His  back crunched with the impact.  Alice and Maris were flung likewise.

[Alice69 -5 HP]

[The Fredinator -5 HP]

[Joan of Snark -15 Hp; - 15 HP; -10 HP; -10HP]

“Oof,” said Fred.

He breathed out, his ribs bruised and painful, but nothing seemed to be broken. The kraken, meanwhile, was bleeding from multiple wounds but fought on without any signs of slowing. It still had Joan clutched in its suckers.

Fred had dropped his trident when he hit the wall and he searched for it frantically in the silt. As his hand closed on the cold iron of the haft Alice screamed, whipped through the water by yet another thrashing tentacle.

Fred charged, propelling his aching tail as fast as he could. Before he could reach the kraken there was an explosion. His vision went white. For a second he wondered if he had died again. Or woken? In a hospital, his ex-girlfriend at his side, Fredrick, darling you were dreaming! But then he was hurtling through dark water. He slammed once more into hard rock, falling to the ocean floor where he lay panting,  to slam one more into his ears ringing, his vision blurry.

[Alice69 -15 HP]

[The Fredinator -15 HP]

[Epic Failure -15 HP]

[Hugo Balls -5 HP]

[Joan of Snark -25 HP]

Slowly, things came back into focus.

The kraken lay on the ocean floor, a massive, bloody hole was ripped through its centre. Its flesh was torn and ragged, the blood turning the water to soup. The light faded from its eyes, and it sagged. A battered body dropped from its limp tentacle and lay still.

“Joan!” shouted Fred, and he dashed across the water, catching her in his arms. “Are you alright?” he demanded. She smiled up at him and blinked. One side of her face was a mass of blood, but she was alive. Barely.

“Fred!” she said.

“Is she okay?” demanded Epic, rushing over. Epic was sporting a nasty gash on her forehead, and some of her tail lights were flickering painfully, as if they had been damaged.

“She’s alive,” said Fred, cradling her gently. “Can you heal yourself, darling?”

“My gad,” said Hans, wiping one hand across his forehead. “That was a close one, old beans.”

“It was,” said Fred. He looked over at the ragged hole in the kraken. “What did you do?”

“Explosives,” said Hans. “Had some fireworks in the submarine. Didn’t take much, really-”

“Hang on,” said Michael, swimming over, his already pale skin turning translucent. “Are you telling me Hugo and I were sitting on a pile of explosives this whole time? While the sea serpent was bashing us around? While we fell in the chasm? Just sitting on a massive pile of explosives that could have blown us up at any moment?”

“I didn’t tell you to steal my submarine,” said Hans, raising his eyebrows. “If you had asked first I would have told you.”

“How did it work underwater?” muttered Joan, glaring at Hans. He looked down at her fondly. If she was being suspicious she couldn’t be too close to death.

“Trinitrotoluene!” said Hans, happily.

“Gah,” said Joan.

“Nothing like a man who makes things go boom to make the wenches lusty,” said Maris, with a sigh.

“Sorry?” said Fred, raising an eyebrow..

“Nothing,” said Maris. She grinned and tapped an elegant finger on her cheek, a far away look in her eyes.

A pair of feminine fingers grabbed Fred by one ear and pulled him down. He found himself nose to nose with Joan.

“Um, yes, dear?”

“Did that not all seem a little… too convenient to you?” she whispered, her words tickling his nose as the water moved.

“I thought it was very inconvenient,” said Fred, hotly. He held up one torn up elbow accusingly, juggling her body awkwardly. “Bloody great kraken lurking in its bloody hole. What next!”

“Shhhh,” said Joan. “I mean-”

She looked over at the rest of the party who were all watching them with great interest. “Never mind we can talk at the inn. I need to heal up. Actually, we all do.”

“We have seen better days,” said Epic, rubbing at a bruise, “as a group.”

“The inn?” said Fred, brightening. “Is there an underwater inn?” His face fell. “Or did you mean back at Black Powder Bay?”

“Chasm City,” said Joan. “Remember? One of our quests. Maris says she knows where it is.”

“Excellent,” said Fred, his face brightening.  “Let’s go check it out, I’m starving.”

Alice69 Level 12

Class: Rogue ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥

XP: 2703

HP: 44/91 [ +20 Magical Mammary Containment Must-Have, Now in Sea-Shell With Glitter +2 Ordinary Belt +1 Leather Belt + 2 Fancy Belt +1 Boring Bra + 5 Belt of Holding +5 Iron Dagger  + 15 Alice Against the Patriarchy Blade + 20 Curvy Cutlass]

Bonus: Dual Wield; Identify; Iron Stomach; +20  HP Water Buff

+8 Sneaking

+ 8 Lockpicking

+11 Thieving

+4 Cooking

+6 Discipline

+5 Charisma

+6 Firemaking

+6 Swimming

The Fredinator Level 12

Class: Monk ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥

XP: 2733

HP: 37/66 [+5 Austere Rope Belt + 1 teaspoon + 15 Staff of Glorious Bonkery +25 Trident of the Tides]

Bonus: Dual Wield, Condensed Milk lv 2, Identify, +20  HP Water Buff

+13 Charisma

+11 Elevation

+ 5 Sneaking

+14 Discipline

+6 Cooking

+3 Herbalism

+5Firemaking

+7 Swimming

Epic Failure Level 12

Class: Barbarian  ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥

XP: 2904

HP: 31/69 [ +20 Bombastic Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder, Now With Additional Sparkle + 20 Victoria Sponge War Axe +24 Murderous Morning Star]

Bonus: Identify, Dual Wield, Berserker Rage, Summon Stinkums, +20  HP Water Buff

+4 Herbalism

+8 Cooking

+10 Thieving

+5 Sneaking

+8 Firemaking

+6 Swimming

Joan of Snark Level 13

Class: Druid ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥

XP: 3104

HP: 22/412   [ +20 Beach Bazooka Sequin Extravaganza +1 teaspoon + 5 Iron Dagger + 20 Ash Staff  + 3 Belt +]

Bonus: x8 HP Bonus, Identify (LVL 2), Plant Whisperer, +20  HP Water Buff

+5 Firemaking

+10 Cooking

+12 Herbalism

+ 7 Sneaking

+4 Lockpicking

+2 Charisma

+12 Potion Making

+6 Swimming

+2 Thievery

Hugo Balls Level 10

Class: Wizard ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥

XP: 1449

HP: 7/17 [+4 Bronze Triquetra Belt Buckle  +5 Iron Dagger +8 Merlin’s Hawthorn Staff (+ 20 Mana)]

Mana: 30/30

Bonus: Luck (LVL 2); Identify; Starfire

+ 3 Herbalism

+5 Firemaking

+3 Sneaking

+2 Thievery

+6 Cooking

+5 Discipline

+2 Brewery

+2 Swimming