I am Kaël, the last of a team that no longer exists. The *Silver Star* submarine creaks around me, a rusted coffin carrying me back into the Abyss, to 2000 meters, where the Heart of the Abyss awaits. The whispers in my head are a roar now, a song promising answers but also my end. Taro, Soren, Lira, Vora, Joran, Dax, Kaelin, Mira… all gone, their faces etched in my soul like open wounds. I'm alone, or nearly so. The officers of the floating cities, those indifferent vultures, have assigned me a new team, three divers hastily recruited. They don't know what the Abyss truly is. And then there's him: Sylas, a man unlike the others, a charismatic genius whose smile hides something dangerous.
I'm in the cabin, checking my suit for the hundredth time. The seams are intact, but at 2000 meters, the pressure will turn the smallest scratch into a death sentence. The new team members bustle around me. There's Erynn, a young woman with short black hair, her green eyes sparkling with almost childlike curiosity. She's a marine biologist, specialized in Abyss creatures, and her enthusiasm reminds me of Soren, but without his fear. She adjusts her plasma lance with clumsy movements, as if she's never dived this deep. Ryn, a taciturn engineer with gray hair despite his youth, checks his sensors with obsessive precision. He speaks little, but his dark eyes scan everything, as if searching for an escape before we even dive. And then there's Sylas, our self-appointed leader.
Sylas is different. Tall, lean, with blond hair falling in perfect strands over his forehead, he exudes magnetic confidence. His piercing blue eyes seem to read souls, and his voice, soft yet commanding, inspires instant trust. He's a genius, the officers say, a strategist who's survived dives no one should have. But there's something in his smile, a calculating glint, that unsettles me. He approaches, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Kaël, the last of the eight," he says, his tone almost amused. "You've seen the Abyss and survived. That makes you a legend." I shake my head, thinking of Taro, of Lira. "I'm not a legend. I'm just alive." He laughs, a clear sound that contrasts with the Abyss's horror. "For now," he murmurs, and I shiver.
The airlock opens, and the water engulfs us. At 2000 meters, the Abyss is a waking nightmare. The water is pitch black, broken only by flickers of violet bioluminescence, like dying stars. The pressure makes our suits scream, sensors flashing a constant red. The walls of a massive crevice, which Sylas calls the Shadow Trench, shimmer with black crystals, reflecting our headlamps like shattered mirrors. Erynn whispers through the comms, awestruck: "These crystals… they're alive. They pulse like hearts." Ryn grunts, his tone sharp: "Focus, kid. The Abyss isn't a lab." Sylas, leading, swims with an almost supernatural grace, as if he was born in these depths.
We reach a cavern where the Heart of the Abyss rests on a black stone altar, a glowing red sphere pulsing like a miniature sun. But before we can approach, a rumble shakes the cavern. A creature emerges, a nightmarish monster: a giant jellyfish, its tentacles thick as tree trunks, bristling with venomous spines, its luminescent eyes fixing us with cold intelligence. Sylas doesn't flinch. "Fan formation!" he orders, his voice calm but commanding. We obey, but I sense Erynn's fear through the comms, her breathing uneven. Ryn, stoic, adjusts his weapon, though his hands tremble slightly.
The jellyfish attacks, its tentacles whipping through the water. Sylas dodges with inhuman agility, firing plasma bolts that hit an eye. The beast roars, a sound that vibrates our suits. Erynn fires, but her shot misses, grazing a tentacle that retaliates. I dive, pushing her out of harm's way, but the tentacle grazes my suit, leaving a scratch. My alarm flashes, but I hold steady. Ryn, methodical, plants an explosive charge on a tentacle, but the jellyfish knocks him back, a spine piercing his suit at the arm. He screams, the venom paralyzing him. "Ryn!" I shout, but Sylas stops me. "Leave him. We need the Heart."
I want to protest, but Sylas is already at the altar, his fingers brushing the glowing sphere. Erynn, panicked, fires blindly, drawing the jellyfish's attention. A tentacle coils around her, its spines piercing her suit. She screams, a heart-wrenching sound, and I dive toward her, my plasma lance spitting bolts. I sever the tentacle, but it's too late. The pressure and venom finish her, her body collapsing in a cloud of blood. Erynn, with her curiosity and light, is gone, a loss so tragic my heart clenches. I could have loved her for her enthusiasm, her humanity, and her death, so swift, is a crushing blow.
Sylas, unfazed, seizes the Heart of the Abyss. "Kaël, we're ascending!" he orders. But I see his gaze, calculating, almost satisfied. The jellyfish, wounded, turns toward Ryn, still paralyzed. Sylas doesn't move, as if abandoning him deliberately. "Help him!" I shout, but he shakes his head. "He's done. The mission comes first." The betrayal hits like a dagger. Sylas, this charismatic genius, is a monster, ready to sacrifice Ryn as Vora sacrificed Soren. I dive toward Ryn, but the jellyfish is faster. A tentacle crushes him, his suit imploding. Ryn, stoic but loyal, is gone, another loss that tears me apart.
Alone with Sylas, I swim toward the surface, the Heart of the Abyss in his hands. The whispers are deafening, promising truths I fear to uncover. Sylas smiles, but his charm hides cruelty. I know now he's my antagonist, a man who manipulates, sacrifices for his own ends. The Abyss chose him, and I was his pawn. But I'm not done. Not yet.