80 Days: Under the Waves

by Sharp Spark

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The Hippocampus tilted downwards and we began to descend, entering the darkness of a jagged crevasse. Crankshaft reached up to flip a switch, and lights attached to the submersible flicked on, illuminating the water in front of us.

“Oh, gee, they always tell us not to go down here,” a voice chirped from behind me. With a clank, the door to a locker swung open, and Minnow fell out, tangled up in a pony-sized diving suit. She wiggled her way out and trotted forward, rearing back and craning her head to look out into the water.

“I thought I told you that you weren’t allowed to come,” Crankshaft growled.

“Too late now!” Minnow’s hoof jabbed at the glass. “Whoa, look at that!”

We all peered forward into the murky water. A strange, sinuous fish drew close to peer at us. Its body was eel-like, but covered in spiny protrusions. A glowing pink orb dangled from a tendril in front of a assymetrical fanged maw. It paused, considering us, but then turned in a flash and darted away.

“The creatures down here are affected by the magic leakage,” Crankshaft said. “There’s a lot of weird things out there, but most of them are just as scared as us as we would be of them.”

“I sure hope so,” I murmured.

Then I saw a light far below us, steadily growing closer...