The twelve Zodiacs all live together at a boarding school, but all that changes when Gemini claims she saw a magical airship hovering over the academy. The other eleven protested that there was nothing but despair and clouds in its place, but when t...
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Pisces POV
Fear pounded through my heart. I took in a gulp of air, still turning with water lapping at my legs.
"Where are you?" I cried.
A chuckle rang out. My heartbeat increased, and I caught my breath as I saw the water level rising.
A second later, I was engulfed. Bubbles flew around me and I felt water press against my skin, entangle my legs. With a desperate gasp, I choked as water rushed into my throat.
Thrashing around, I clapped a hand to both sides of my neck as they began to burn with a searing pain. Still gasping, I waited in disbelief as the water I'd inhaled turned to smooth oxygen, and the skin under my fingers separated into rough flaps.
I have gills . . .?
This wasn't reality, I had to remind myself. Archer was out there, and he was determined to bring me down.
Panic rose up my chest as I suddenly grasped for my pocket -- but it wasn't there. I cursed underwater, a few translucent bubbles rising up from my lips to the hazy surface above.
I furrowed my brow, slowly removing my hands. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins, oxygen being transferred to my brain, all through the smooth, cold water coming in from my gills.
Worry ran through me, and I looked up, my hair waving around my face. My heart began to pound as I kicked my legs, shooting up.
This reminds me of the First Lake, I thought with a frown as my head broke the surface. Instantly, my gills were seared with pain. I gasped and dove underwater, hovering just under the surface as I gazed up at the hazy sky above. I brushed my fingers across one of my gills, then decided to risk it and burst upwards.
Pain exploded through my neck, but I shut my eyes and ignored it as I kicked higher, sending out waves. Squeezing my eyelids apart, I darted a glance around and a pump of relief unclenched my stomach as I saw a staircase. It was flickering and white; it didn't look solid at all, dipping into the water to who knows what, but now wasn't the time to dwell on pros and cons.
I jumped up onto the first step, still with the sides of my neck burning, and continued the journey upwards, squeezing my arms around my middle to try and give some warmth to my soaked body with my eyes shut. It had barely been a few seconds of me climbing the dream-staircase when I noticed that the light glowing outside my eyelids had faded.
I opened my eyes and my heart clambered into my throat when I saw that I was in a dark hallway, with my skin completely dry.
A very familiar dark hallway, in fact.
I gulped and looked at the walls, with their peeling white paint. The lights were off, which explained the darkness. The doors were all shut.
A feeling of dread growing in my stomach, I thought begrudgingly, The only way to get out of this place is to find Archer. It's clear he can control the dream world, so I'll just have to play along in this horrible game for now.
