“Coordinates are set for Earth,” Bria confirmed, tapping through her console.

“We are crazy. You both know that. What happens when we get there and it’s not true? What happens when we get there and it is? We go poke ancient planet eating bears?” Dash asked. His voice squeaked as he spoke, nerves getting the better of him.

He was the more nervous of the trio, but it never stopped him from tagging along. He liked being left out less than he liked going on their ridiculous adventures.

“Poke poke,” Bria said, turning her head to smile at him.

“It’s fine, Dash,” Talyn said steadily, “Whatever happens- They are imprisoned. As long as we don’t open the gate and let them start devouring us, it will all be fine.”

Dash pushed his shoulders against his seat and fidgeted with the straps across his chest. He grumbled but thought better of arguing any further. The other two would never understand where he was coming from. They had all been vague with their parental units so they all knew that no one knew where they were going. The way he figured, the best case scenario here was that they got themselves in serious trouble and no one would know where to come looking for them.

They would most likely end up stranded on earth or mauled by some local creature or better yet, ravaged by one of The Great Old Ones. Everyone left Earth alone for a reason, and here they were trying to go see them.

He closed his eyes as the ship jumped into drive, pushing his body harder against his seat. He wasn’t that big of a fan of inertia either if he was being honest.

The ship pushed onward, holding all three against their seats until they reached the Milky Way. Bria squealed when the ship's computer announced that they were almost there and that the ship would now be slowing down to a speed appropriate for atmospheric entry. Dash, in response, groaned. He looked through the front shield at the round blueish planet they were headed for.

“We could still turn around,” he said cheerfully.

Both of the girls laughed without turning around to look at him.

“You know that Earth’s rocket ships actually crash land every single time they come back into their own atmosphere?” Bria asked her companions.

“And these are the ones in charge of keeping the rest of us safe,” Talyn snorted at the end of her sentence.

Dash had always taken her for a bit snobby. It was never directed at him or Bria which made it tolerable, but it came out sometimes none the less. He stared straight ahead and took a breath through clenched teeth as they pushed right on through the atmosphere of Earth.

They went through ozone and a long layer of clouds before coming down to an expansive body of warm looking water. The ship slowed further as they went, and with the push of a button the console, A set of feet for water landing deployed from the bottom.

“This is always my favorite story,” Bria said as she turned the multiple keys that turned off the ship's engines. “All this water. Can you imagine if our planet had this much water? The creatures underneath must be huge! Oh, it’s gonna be so great. How far down do you think it is? What do you think it’s prison looks like? Where-”

“Bria!” Talyn exclaimed, interrupting her, “take a breath girl, please. We will find out soon enough.”

All three unbuckled themselves and walked over to the bay door as it opened. Looking out over the reflecting surface that stretched through the horizon, Dash felt dizzy.

“Lights on,” Talyn commanded, “Jump on three.”

Three small clicks followed the order as they turned on the lights attached to their helmets.

“One.

“Two.

“Three,” Talyn counted them down.

All three bodies hit the water, and the pod door whooshed closed behind them. They dove straight down, Bria at the lead and Dash taking up his normal place at the back of the line. It didn’t take long for the light from the sun to disappear and Dash felt himself shiver inside his suit.

He could feel the nozzles adjust for the decreasing temperatures and change in pressure. They wouldn’t be able to dive down without their suits, but they wouldn’t be able to explore the planet as a whole without them either. The suits were their entire life support off of their home planet.

Deeper down they went and Dash watched as the life that swam around them began to change. Their shapes got slimmer and eventually, the fish stopped looking at them at all. Every so often he got the sense that they were touching them or smelling for them, but he simply didn’t know enough about the life here to confirm any of it. He didn’t have the stomach to try and make small conversation with the other two, either.

Soon the fish and plants stopped appearing. Dash noticed and he wondered if the other two did as well. Not long after that, they reached a shelf of land deep within the earth ocean. They landed and bobbed up and down on the ground as best they could. Not too far from where they grouped, the shelf tore away once more. Dash could see the surface of the black abyss.

This was as far as their plan had been made. They would have to go back to their ship without having seen anything or commit and dive into the Abyss. According to Bria’s calculation- the prison was straight down over that ledge. As all three of them stood, speechless and staring into the darkness, a low hum began to travel through the waters.

The hum began to warble. Dash felt like it was bouncing between his ears-inside of his head. It sent another wave of shivers, and he clenched his jaw.

“It’s there,” Bria whispered into her helmet.

Dash felt his gut spin as he watched her swim right over the ledge without another word.