HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

Salvage

    The moment I was submerged in the water, the shock of the cold water almost sent me into a panic as the warmth was sucked right out of my body. I shivered in the water, then looked around, and I saw both Jansen and Marine treading the water, maintaining their positions in the water. Jansen looked at me, and he held up a thumbs up, trying to make sure I was okay. When I gave him a nod, he returned a nod and pointed at me, then the stern section of the shattered ship, telling me to scout around the shipwreck. Marine took the midsection of the ship, and Jansen began to swim towards the bow, and since he was half Siren, he was having no troubles whatsoever. I paddled my way through the water, making sure to avoid any of the bigger fish, but as I swam, a school of hundreds of small fish swam alongside me, curling and swimming under and over my arms and between my legs, flashing me with a large palette of colors as they swam away.
    Whoa. I thought. Honestly, all of this was so cool, even as I swam through the water, heading to the stern section of the ship. Still, I felt no need to breath, and I finally got up to the stern section, and I grasped the rotten wood, trying to avoid getting a splinter as I looked over the surface, the wood having been rotted to the point of acting like soil, allowing plants like kelp, seaweed, seagrass, and coral to grow on the surface of the ship. I swam around the deck, keeping my hands on the wooden surface to keep myself balanced in the water. I finally got up to the broken door of the Captains cabin, and I entered the inside of the cabin. Immediately, off to my left, I saw that there was a large cluster of spiky red urchins, clinging to one of the support beams in the cabin, their blood colored spikes glistening in the light of the sun that as peeking through the waters. I stayed away from them as I swam through, and I began to look through the room, searching for anything that might be of use, but so far, there was nothing. Still, I didn't need to breathe, even as I looked through the floorboards and at the hold below, where there were a bunch of chests, barrels, and boxes all over the floor, strewn everywhere. I swam over to a large crack in the floor, then squeezed myself through, and I wiggled in between the floorboards, gaining access into the hold of the ship. I wasted no time, and I immediately began to search through the boxes, chests, and barrels, prying and ripping all of them open, exposing the contents held within. All of it was just old parchments of paper, tiny coins, or scraps of random trinkets, all of the actual cargo of the ship having long disappeared with the passage of time. As I continued to look through the barrels, I kept glancing around, wondering when I would have to get air, but for the time being, there wasn't any need for air, allowing me to continue my search.
     Finally, I got over to this big, wooden and metal chest, about two feet long and one wide, and the thing's lock had long since rotted off, allowing me to just grab it and pull it open, which is just what I did. I grabbed the rim of the chest, then forced it open, pushing with all of my strength, and with one creak of protest, the top of it opened up, revealing a completely empty interior.
    Oh perfect I thought. I wonder if Marine and Jansen are having any luck. Maybe I should go check on them.
    Right as I was thinking that, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up, and a chill of fear ran up and down my spine. I promptly turned around, and through one of the portholes on the side of the shipwreck, I saw this gigantic, glistening orange eye staring right at me, the black pupil contracting as it stared me down. I immediately froze up and grabbed the rim of the chest, staying absolutely still as the eye stared at me, but after just a moment of us making eye contact, the large fish swam away, so fast that the only thing I could make out was its color, which was dark grey. I stayed there for a moment, treading the water, and I climbed back up through the hole in the captain's cabin, looking around for the giant fish, but so far there was nothing. I swam upward, then got up to the rotted door, and I scanned, once again, for the massive fish, and still, nothing.
    I looked over at the midsection of the ship, and I didn't see Marine at all, but at the bow section, there was Jansen, opening up one of the barrels to look through it. I swam out of the stern section, then began to swim through the water, trying to get to the midsection of the ship, but in a small ravine, between two wedges of rock on the ocean floor, there was the glint of metal, the light of the sun reflecting off of a treasure chest, wedged between the base of a mast and a fraction of the deck of the ship. But, it was worth a try. I swam down to it, trying to keep from accidentally breathing in the water through my nose, and I finally got up to the crack, forcing myself to wedge in between the rocks, wriggling around the edges of the rocks to get down through the ravine. I placed my hands on one of the roots that was sticking out through the cracks in the rocks, then grabbed it and used it to propel myself through the water, until I finally got up to the chest, which was covered in seagrass and debris from the sunken ship. The lock on it was so rusted and brittle when I touched it, so I just ended up pulling it off of the chest, the broken metal snapping off of the lock, and the lock falling off of the chest. I creaked open the chest, and I saw that it was nearly empty, except for one thing. There was a piece of what looked like magic paper, and a pearl necklace, having one single red jewel that was hanging from the bottom of the chain. I pocketed it, then grabbed the note and pulled it out of the chest, and when I did, I realized that the paper was bone dry, and the magic was somehow protecting it. I unrolled the paper, then read it.
    I don't know if I'm going to survive this. We found the artifact, Duchess Yukihana. We found it right where you prophesied it would be. It is quite beautiful. Truthfully, I do not know the power that it holds, but I sense the power. Unfortunately, as I am writing this, there is a ship, a pirate ship, and it is following us, blazing the cannons. Three shots have landed, and one of them was below the waterline. As of writing this, we are sinking. We will not get the artifact to you. Forgive me in the AlterPlane, by the grace of the Storyteller, please forgive me and this crew. With all best wishes, your faithful servant, Shiranui Flare.
    So the ship was sunk by pirates. I thought. It explains why everything else is empty. They must've missed this.
    I slipped the note into my pocket, then swam upward, and for the first time since I was down here, I felt the need to breathe, just feeling the start of not having enough air. I paddled my way to the top of the small ravine, but just as I reached up, I failed to notice the cluster of sea urchins right next to my hand.
    Suddenly, a jolt of pain went through my wrist, and when I pulled back, the pain intensified as I saw a large, blood red spike protruding from my arm, with a pink, fleshy tube extending to the base of the sea urchins.
    "Blurb!!!" I said, the bubbles of air escaping from my mouth.
    I tried to grab the spike, but suddenly, from the tip of the spike, a lot of the pink flesh started to conglomerate, until it was beginning to wrap around my hand and wrist like a sick glove. I pulled away from it, but the farther I pulled, the more it hurt as the spike tried to drive itself further and further into my arm. Finally, after a lot of excruciating pain, I grabbed the spike and ripped it and the flesh right out of my arm.
    "AAAUUGHHH!!!!" I cried, more and more bubbles escaping from my mouth as I hated the amount of pain I was in.
    Unfortunately, now, as my lungs spasmed for the first time since being submerged, I realized that I was completely out of air.