As the girl got closer to the sea, I found it weird that we were still walking towards the water. There were no boats or ships or anything in sight. But she kept walking confidently. As if she knew exactly where to go. I called out from behind her, “Where are you going? You’re just gunna end up walking into the water.”

“Right. You don’t have a suit,” she muttered. “I don’t know where you got those absolutely awful looking clothes from, but here.” She stopped to pull out what looked like a mask from somewhere within her wetsuit and threw it back to me. 

I stumbled to grab the object flying in the air. It successfully landed in between my hands. “Geez,” I replied, “could’ve just handed it to me.” 

She glared daggers before walking into the sea. “Just put the mask over your face and follow.”

Her dark silhouette was almost out of sight. I looked at the mask she gave me. So this is for breathing underwater? I quickly sprinted towards the edge of the water. Fumbling, I tried to put on the mask. What? How do I even wear this? The mask was thin. It didn’t look like any other scuba mask I’ve used before. It was half the size of a normal mask, so I couldn’t get it to cover my entire face. 

Nonetheless, I tried to slide the mask on. It only covered my mouth. I took it off to see if I missed anything. It didn’t seem like it. Damn, don’t tell me sakonians don’t use goggles. 

A small splash sounded a few feet away as a head poked out of the water. It was the girl. She had her mask on and it covered the entirety of her face. She yelled through her mask, “Just put it on already.”

I stared in confusion. “How…?”

“What?” She asked. “Oh, saka’s beard. How do you not—” She stopped herself. “Just press on the side twice.”

“Which side?”

“Just tap anywhere on the side. Please. I don’t have all day.”

“Alright, alright. Geez.” I put the mask on and tapped on the side of the mask with my fingers. Nothing happened. 

“Twice!” she yelled. 

Right. I tapped twice. The mask quickly swallowed my vision. Somewhat startled, I tried to look around. My vision was a little darker, but not much changed. I tried to breathe. Deeply. In and out. Okay. I could breathe. 

“Now get in.” Without another word, she disappeared from the surface. 

Okay, here goes. I dove head first into the lemonade ocean. And before I knew it, I was fully immersed under the water. The cold liquid caught my breath. It was absolutely freezing. My face was still warm, but my toes and fingers felt numb to the bone.  

I decided to keep moving. The only way out of this was to catch up and get to wherever the sakoar was. The girl didn’t seem to mind the cold though. Either it was the suit or just genetics. Please let it be the suit. I didn’t want to be constantly freezing just because the sakonians were adapted to the cold. That would be a nightmare. 

From my short range of vision, I could make out a figure swimming down into the depths. I hurriedly paddled forward with my flimsy legs, trying to catch up. She was clearly the better swimmer. I vaguely remembered taking swimming lessons before I died, so I wasn’t a beginner either, but all I managed was barely keeping her in my sights. 

As she swiftly moved farther down into the dark, I could feel the pressure of the water rising. My ears seemed fine though. Maybe something to do with this mask? I kept pushing forward. The pressure was manageable for now. 

The farther I went, the harder it was to move around. I was almost at my wit’s end when I thought I saw a dim light in the distance. There was a small entrance to an underwater cave a couple feet below me. 

I saw the girl enter, so I followed her in. I couldn’t really see clearly through the murky and dark water, but when I turned the corner, I saw some kind of man-made structure inside the cave. I couldn’t really tell the size or what it looked like. All I saw was another opening in the center of whatever this structure was with a very low lumen light shine from inside the opening.

The girl swam through and quickly gestured for me to come. I swam in. A glass panel slid down behind me, separating us from the sea and the small room we were in. I assumed it was most likely an airlock of sorts. Well, I only hoped. I didn’t want to be under this large and encumbering amount of water pressure for any longer. In a few seconds, lights in the airlock turned red and the water started to drain from the bottom. Thank god, I thought. These sakonians didn’t seem all that different from me. They looked human, they seemed to act human, and they needed oxygen like humans. I didn’t understand why Merlovak was struggling to make peace with these people when he could fluently speak their own language. 

The girl deactivated her mask once the water was down to her hips. She faced me with a look of skepticism. “I don’t know how you managed to get here without knowing how to use a mask.” She looked me in the eyes. “Your lack of common knowledge makes your statement of hitting your head extremely questionable. But who are you if not sakonian?” She crossed her arms again, one hand on her chin.

“Um, I don’t know. I just remember waking up on the beach.”

“Wow,” she said. “That’s not helpful at all.” She looked me up and down. “Maybe you’re just naturally stupid.”

Wow, rude, I thought. Wait, but actually, that probably just means my acting isn’t terrible. I figuratively patted myself on the back. I’m just a genius actor. 

“Okay,” she replied. “We’ll get you situated here before we set sail to Sakoria.”

“Set sail?”

“Yes, you know that phrase—setting sail? Like to leave for somewhere. You can understand that, yes?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know the definition. I’m just confused. Does the sakoar have sails?”

“Sails? What are you talking about?” She opened the door into the sakoar and gestured to me with her gloved hand. “Anyhow, follow.”

“Wait,” I said, “First off, who are you? You never told me.”

Before she could respond, a slightly older, well-built man walked up to welcome her. He also had black hair. “Captain Dans, welcome back. Successful in your reconnaissance?” 

She looked at me. “There’s your answer.” She turned back to face the man. “Yes, thank you for asking. Also found this straggler. Take this young man to the guest quarters closest to my office. I need to keep an eye on him.” 

“Understood.” He let Captain Dans pass. Then he turned to face me. “Follow me.” Without waiting for an answer, he headed off to the left.

Well, okay then. I deactivated my mask and followed the man down another corridor. Water dripped from my soggy clothes; every step I took felt heavy and sticky. I tapped the shoulders of the man. 

“Do you have some spare clothes… uh, sir?” I asked. 

“You can just call me Mark. And you are?”

“Uh…” What was my name again? Oh, right. “It’s Mel.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Mel. We do have spare suits in the guest room.” He stopped in front of a plain-looking metallic door to his left. “And here we are.” He opened the door for me. 

That was fast. A spacious, empty room greeted my sights. 

“Make yourself comfortable,” he smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I have work to do.” He then took off without another word. 

I closed the door behind me and looked around. The place was actually a lot cozier than I had first anticipated. The floor was odd though. It looked like carpet, but it didn’t leave any wet puddles. I crouched down to inspect it. The place that should’ve been wet because of my clothes was completely dry. Innovative, I thought.

The guy told me there were spare suits somewhere in this room. I didn’t really enjoy the idea of wearing wetsuits as casual wear, but the vibrant clothing that I had been wearing for several days was looking a lot less fashionable than before. 

I tried looking for some sort of closet. It took me a few minutes, but I eventually managed to find it. I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for the handles that were jutting out from the wall, but the entire wardrobe was built into the side of the room. Minimalist, I thought. It had some style; I’ll give it that. 

When I opened the doors, about two dozen wetsuits were lined up in an orderly fashion. But they all looked the same except for the color. It wasn’t like there were many variations in color either. These wetsuits were supposedly manufactured only using the achromatic scale. Just a bunch of boring black, gray, and white colored suits. They’re not colorblind, are they? I rummaged through them, wondering if there were any suits that weren’t just outright bland. At the very edge of the line, I thought I saw something different, so I pulled it out. Pastel orange, almost reminiscent of Dr. G’s pale skin. What’s this for? A dead person? Is this what they wear during a funeral? I put the suit back to find something a little more vibrant. I went to the other side of the wardrobe and pulled out the one at the very edge. Blood red. Eh, good enough. It looked about the right size. 

I took off my t-shirt and jeans to put on my new, red wetsuit. As I pulled it up and over my shoulders and chest, I could’ve sworn the suit tightened. It felt very snug. Not too tight or loose anywhere. I could also make out a very slight bulge around my belly area. Wow, I need to exercise more. I sucked my breath in a little. The suit tightened around my waist. After breathing out, the suit remained unchanged. Fascinating. So it does tighten. The only thing the wetsuit didn’t have was headgear. I was fine with that. I didn’t want to look like a bald octopus like those scuba divers on TV. 

I had no complaints. I wasn’t used to it, but there was nothing better to wear anyways. I decided to lay my old clothes up on the side of a bathtub and called it a day. 

I yawned loudly as I stood over the bed without a single thought rolling through my head. The soft bed looked all too comfy for me to ignore. Just a short nap. I immediately fell face first into the soft embrace of pillows.