Chapter 80

Chapter 80
Persephone’s POV

I kept on pausing at the tunnel mouth and Rudd said from beside me.
“That tunnel is not going to cross itself. You will have to find that on your own and you need to choose what you want,” Rudd said and I said in a small voice,” What happens if it kills me? Or I can’t come out of there ever? This seems like a point of no return.”
“Well girlie, with water and ocean be it hot or cold, you have to remember that with water, there is always a way to get out. These are not mountains that you might get locked in. Sure, you will get boxed in, you might even feel trapped for a while but then you will see that in water, there is always a way,” said the octopus on my back and I took in a deep breath and jumped.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA,” my scream kept on going and so did I and after a while I kept on falling but I stopped the screaming. The octopus, Belam said,” You understood that you have to fall quite a while, don’t you?”
“No my throat really hurts. And it is pointless screaming, isn’t it?” I asked as suddenly I dropped with an oomph but then I realised that I hadn’t fallen or my back or bottom had not connected with anything. I was literally suspended In the air, and then I was gently lowered on to the ground. It was like the cave bottom or well bottom, no idea what was this supposed to be called.
Rudd had already reached and then said,” Come on, though here,” and he swam in through a sizable crack and I followed with the octopus still attached to my back. And it was a short crack and what I saw blinded me. Everything was either in green, golden or silver or…I had no idea, it almost felt like I was in a fantasy world.
“Whoa!” I could not stop myself from uttering the word and soon I saw the largest shark that I had ever seen. It was a great white shark, the only different thing about it was it was wearing gold and diamonds around its body. It was extremely weird to look at and I was gaping in its direction when the shark moved with alarming speed and came and stopped just before my nose. I could see its huge teeth and she said,” ahhh…live humans…mostly I get the dead ones after they have wandered around for a long time but live ones are a rarity. It has been so long that I haven’t tasted the fresh blood of a live human being. Thank you Rudd for this unexpected gift. Take anything you wish for. I won’t mind.”
“Garcia, she is a guest on a quest and not your prey and neither have I brought her here as a gift,” Rudd said and the shark stopped sniffing me and moved slightly away.
“Oh!” she said with a voice as if she wasn’t expecting something like that. “Naked one too…how did she come here? And is that Belam attached to her back?”
“Yes,” Belam said as he detangled himself from my back and it hurt like a bitch when he pulled away his tentacles from my skin. But I did not dare make a sound. It was extremely disconcerting to be able to hear a great white shark see me naked and hear her talking.
“So, who are you and why are you here, human, speak!” said the shark named Garcia and I was so stunned at everything that was going on that I had forgotten to speak, not like that…I had literally forgotten how to speak.
“I think she is in shock,” said Belam as it hit my face with its tentacles and my head moved but I couldn’t even speak then. I was screaming in my mind but no words came out of my mouth like the frog which had swallowed my voice box.
“Yes, it seems that I do have that effect on people. So utterly pedestrian, my dear. You may move your mouth and speak, you are a guest here to my place and I don’t wish to harm you, provided you have brought something to offer for your demand in exchange of my riches? Or else I will have to treat you like a snack. I might not like that since you are a pretty with pink hair I haven’t seen before but I will definitely do so.”
“I am…I am…I don’t know what to say, I am so sorry,” I whispered and Garcia moved closer to hear me and then nodded and said,” Ahhhh I understand. You may start with your name, dear. That always helps I think. After all, what are we if not civilized?”
And these words were coming out of the mouth of a great white shark and my only thought was if I say anything about this to Nyra or Anora they won’t believe a word that I was saying.
“Persephone,” I said, slightly louder this time,” I am Persephone Musquiat. And I have come here with the assistance of Belam and Rudd who have showed me the way so that I can request you for the location of the blood pearl’s oyster so that I can retrieve it for controlling my powers.”
“Control your powers?” Garcia moved to my side and then she stared at my hands where the power dampening cuff was present and she brought her gills close to my hand and said,” You do have pretty damn powerful power dampening charms, after that you need to dampen them even more?”
I nodded,” yes. I am setting people on fire and causing earthquakes in sleep. I think I am a danger to everyone around me and I would need some help.”
“You know their names,” she said and I looked at her in question.
“Belam and Rudd, the names of the creatures who brought you here. That is strange. No one remembers our names.”
“I am sorry that you had to encounter such uncouth and utterly uncivilised people, my lady, but I can assure you not everyone of us is of such kind. I am so humbled by your abode and by your presence that I was unsure of what to say but you have been nothing but kind and hospitable to me,” I said. It almost felt like this was my alter ego which was speaking this. Because I don’t think that I had ever spoken to anyone before in this language without killing anyone who had threatened to literally eat me.
“I like this one. I almost want to keep this one as a pet,” commented Garcia and then smiled.
And I dug my nails in my palm to keep myself from fainting.