The Death's Game

26. Game of Water

The underwater world that Percy immersed herself in seemed like a place from another reality. Although she had been sitting on the edge of the pool a moment ago, the place she found herself in was certainly not a pool. It reminded her of a kingdom as if from the story of Atlantis. In front of her she saw an entire underwater city, with sunken bridges whose structures were of the highest level, beautifully carved statues resembling frozen giants, underwater roads along which unknown fishes moved, but most beautiful of all - huge buildings, or rather mansions made of shiny navy-blue material that stood out in these crystalline depths.

This view was breathtaking. Levels of buildings with circular roofs formed several levels, with staircases carved into the rock and even beautiful gardens created from underwater flora. Although it was all underwater, nothing here was destroyed. This underwater city lived its own life, blossoming into the most beautiful colors.

"Impressive." Percy heard Blake's voice. The masks were like their second face, making breathing and talking possible.

"I have never seen anything like that. It's like a fairy tale." Percy watched all kinds of underwater creatures shimmering with infinite colors that swam near them, along the marked routes.

"It's still Death's Game, so I wouldn't believe everything I see," replied Blake. "It's beautiful, until it tries to eat you alive."

"And it probably will."

They swam down deeper to catch up with Kyle, who was searching for the object they had on the list, but neither of them was in sight. They might have expected that those wouldn't be easy to find.

"It will take forever to get those things," said Kyle, checking his water watch. And so did Percy. It had about 6 more hours, but the time was counting down much faster than in a normal world. Just as in other games, when the time always ran completely differently.

"We don't have forever," replied Percy, trying to focus on details in this underwater landscape.

"No shit, Sherlock." Kyle rolled his eyes. "We should split."

"We should not," countered Percy.

"It's how we cover more ground."

"And if something attacks us, it's how we're gonna die." The main rule of the horror movie? Split and die. Splitting always equals dying. No one should go roaming those underwater buildings completely alone.

"Don't be so scared. You can always stay with your second boy," scoffed Kyle and swam further away.

When he was far away enough, Percy added, "I so fucking hate him." Yet, she did not wish him death. He might be of some use later in The Game.

"Welcome to the world of assholes," Blake laughed. "Come. If he wants to swim around on his own, let's not take this pleasure from him. Clearly, he thinks he's the alpha and omega of the world."

"Clearly," she agreed and looked at all the buildings that were within their reach. She had no idea where they should start looking. Then, a vague idea popped into her head. This could be a long shot, but it made sense. "Cemetery. We should look for a cemetery. That's where the bone should be."

Blake wasn't excited about the idea of exploring underwater cemeteries, but he had to admit that it might have been a hoot. Where else were they going to find a bone if not in a cemetery?

There was one problem with this, however.

"But do you see any cemetery nearby?"

All around them, they had only beautiful underwater nature and buildings that, with their richness and craftsmanship, could take part in a competition for one of the new seven wonders of the world.