Broken Chains: Chapter 6

VII

A Deep Sea Encouter

Joe regreted jumping through the portal the second he jumped through. He had never shadow traveled before but he was sure this was ten times worse. It was like being on the worlds fastest rollercoaster only he was moving so fast he felt his molecules begining to vibrate and break apart. His vision became blurry and he couldn't breath.

Finally just ahead, he saw a large dark opening. When he rocketed through the other end he was deep underwater. The pressure on his skull was like an elephant was trying to crush him underfoot. He looked around, the salt water stinging his eyes. He tried to figure out which way was up but he couldn't see sunlight. His lungs began to burn and panic began to set in. He needed to find a way back to the surface or a way to breath.

He closed his eyes and consentrated. He cupped his hands together and felt the microscopic amounts of oxygen around his. He consentrated harder and felt the hydrogen and oxygen begining to split apart. He slowly pulled his hands apart until a pocket of air began to form between them. The bubble grew larger, just big enough for one person to fit inside of. Joe continued to expand the buble until his lungs begged for air and his mind started to go fussy. At the last second Joe lunged into the bubble and began gasping for air.

He took great heaving breaths until he could breath normally again. Finally he was able to sit up.

"Hera!" He screamed into the darkness. "When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna..." He was cut of by a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. Panic once again started clawing it's way into his throat. Down here he was completely vulnerable to attack. Wether it was from a shark, a giant squid, or a massive sea serpent, he had no way to defend him self. He could morph his staff into a weapon but he doubted he could use it without popping his own air bubble. And the smell of blood would only attract more predators.

Joe quickly thought of moving his bubble back to the surface but he didn't want to make any sudden movements and he din't know how long it would take him. Fianlly he pulled out his staff and it morphed into a sword. The glowing blade gave off a little light and Joe could see dozens of figures circling him.

"Oh crap." He whispered to himself. "I should've taken my chances against Zeus."

Three of the figures stopped when they heard the name of Joe's father. They swam closer and, in the faint light, Joe could make out what they were.

"Mermaids!" Joe exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" The middle one answered in a low male voice. "Do I look like a girl to you?!"

"Oh... sorry," Joe apologized. "It's just, I can't see down here very well."

The guy moved even closer. He  looked like a body bulider from the waist up, from the wait down he had a large blue fish tail with horizontal black stripes.

WIP