243Author's Note: I never imagined I'd add a third story, but here I go. I guess writing Infiltration made me develop a serious liking to a certain Abyssal (at least my rendition of her), and with a little thinking, ideas just flowed into my head. So here we go, Abyssal Diaries: Requiem.
Similar to the previous two stories, Requiem will be written in a mix of first-person diary entries (not necessarily always of the same person), and third person narrative. However, while it's titled Abyssal Diaries, this story has NO relation to the previous two stories. It is a different setting, different characters (or versions of them), etc. Also, I expect this story to be a lot longer, and a lot more serious down the line. Without further delay then, let's begin, and I hope you enjoy the read!
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Oh good, this pen still works. …Now what do I write? Ugh, this seemed easier in my head…Well if a little 7 year old girl can do it then so can I! Perhaps I'll just start from the beginning and work from there, seems like a plan!
Everything was kind of hazy. Bright flashes of light entered my peripheral vision, the only thing I could see besides the dark cloudy sky and the torrent of rain coming down. The sounds of explosions accompanied those flashes, all muffled from what I guess was water in my ears. Strangely enough despite the rain I could barely feel anything beyond this dull throbbing pain all over my body, particularly concentrated around my belly, but when I tried to see what was going on there my head wouldn't lift an inch, so all I could do was just lie there, semi-floating on some water. I say semi-floating because for some reason I could tell I was slowly sinking.
Suddenly a girl's face came into view. It seemed REALLY familiar but it was all blurry and I couldn't make out the details, other than green hair in twintails. The girl was crying, shouting something while trying to lift me up and keep me from sinking further. I guess she was shouting at me, but I couldn't tell what, and she was failing in the lifting department because I was still sinking and my eyesight was getting worse. Just as everything blacked out, a voice entered my mind, crystal clear this time. I couldn't really tell back then, but thinking about it now, it sounded like my own.
Get up. You have to protect her. You can't die here. She needs you. Get up. Get up. GET UP.
So I did! I opened my eyes and lo and behold, all I could see was pitch darkness. It was pretty scary at first, but soon I noticed I could actually move then and poked my hand around to get my bearings. From the endless darkness, freezing cold water and the sandy rocks beneath me, it wasn't long before I figured out I was lying on the ocean floor; what I COULDN'T figure out however was what the hell I was doing there in the first place? Why was I sleeping alone on the bottom of the ocean? Hell, WHO AM I? I still don't know neither, I can't remember a damn thing beyond bits of that weird dream! Part of the reason I'm writing this, I was hoping sorting out everything I know on paper and reading it again might trigger some lost memories. That and in case my amnesia gets worse I can come back to this. I already forgot who or what I am, I don't need to forget anything else…
Where was I? Oh god, the amnesia's already getting worse! …Just kidding. But seriously where was I? Ah right, waking up on the ocean floor. After awhile of trying to recover my identity and failing to do so, I noticed I was starting to see through the black veil a little better. My eyes could adapt to even where the sun can't shine, cool! Soon I could at least see myself in all my naked glory. I was ALMOST embarrassed, until I remembered the only things that might ogle at me here were blind fish. Plus, I wasn't COMPLETELY naked, I had a pair of oversized armored boots for one. They look heavy but they really aren't; they also look badass, and they totally ARE. After marveling at my footwear, gradually I could see what was around me as well, rocks, seaweed, weird fish, a giant maw, volcanic ven- wait what the fuck?! There it was, right in front of me, a massive toothy maw big enough to eat me whole! Of course the first thing I did was scream and back away awkwardly, but the…thing, showed no sign of moving, so after some time I managed to calm down enough to swim around and get a better look. Now, I'm not the best at describing things, I'm grateful I even remember vocabulary and basic lingual skills, so the best way I can say what that thing looked like was "a miniature ship made out of black metal with a toothy jaw and a bunch of cannons". I say miniature by ship standards, obviously. That thing was pretty big by me standards, I could lie down comfortably on top of it for sure! Hell, I think it was even BUILT for someone to sit on it, there's armrests and a short backrest in front of the cannons! Another thing about it that stood out were the flight decks on it. They didn't LOOK like conventional flight decks, two of them were completely VERTICAL, and another two on either side were all curvy, but something just told me "Yeah those are flight decks" when I saw them, so whatever goes I guess.
Anyway, after awhile of getting used to moving around in the water and watching the thing not move an inch, I finally decided to be brave and give the monster's "seating area" a try. Yeah, I know, great idea, sit on the mysterious monster that could eat me in one bite, I am a GENIUS. In my defense I was still kind of groggy after waking up but whatever, point is I made myself comfy on the monster and once I did it finally started moving, making this weird echoing growl as glowing red markings sparked to life on it. Oh good, the beast has been awoken to mealtime by the main course herself! There was no chance I'd outswim it, my only chance of survival would be to stay seated and cling on where its jaw can't get me…unless evolution was being a bitch and the seat was the real, disguised jaw, in which case I was fucked. Strangely enough it didn't try to buck me off or reveal its secret seat mouth. Instead it just turned its entire body upwards and started swimming with me still on it. I stayed silent and very still during it all, JUST in case it still hadn't noticed me yet, and tried my best to enjoy the ride. It WAS pretty enjoyable, we passed by a lot of cool deep sea fauna, like glowing jellyfish and stuff, then cool not-so-deep sea fauna, until eventually the darkness gave way to a nice ocean blue that got lighter and lighter until we hit surface.
AH, FRESH AIR! Underwater's fine and all, but clear air is just damn refreshing, you can't top that. I spent awhile with my eyes closed just taking in the nice ocean breeze. So good. The view was nice too when I finally opened my eyes again, a sunny blue sky, an endless blue ocean…absolutely beautiful, I could stare at it all day. Well maybe not ALL day all day, because eventually I got bored and wanted to stretch myself a little, so I jumped off the beast…and landed right in front of its mouth. The surface was so nice I completely forgot I was riding on a giant monster. It could've probably nommed me by the time I realized my mistake, but it didn't, so that was awfully nice of it. Maybe it was a herbivore? Its teeth weren't sharp afterall. Or maybe it's a plant that came up to the surface to photosynthe- okay that's retarded, I apologize. To myself, I guess. Back on track, after making sure I wasn't about to become a snack, I took a nice stroll around, stretched my arms and legs, get the blood flowing, until I was feeling nice and energized. Nice and energized enough to conceive the question, what the hell do I do now? I have no idea where, who or what I am, so now what? I mean, I know I'm a pretty girl with really long white hair, but that was about it. I can't even remember my age! I guess I look 20? Hmm, maybe a little younger, 18.
Back on track AGAIN, with no clear goal in my head, I supposed I may as well sail around until I find something. If I keep going in one direction for long enough I had to run into SOMETHING, right? Maybe I could even ride the monster, it was nice enough to take me to the surface, maybe…hey where'd it go? I looked around but it literally just ceased to exist! Did it go back under? I should've heard a splash or something in that case! I poked my head under the water again to look anyway, no luck. Things just kept getting weirder…Oh well, guess I'll ski. I balanced myself on tiptoes, gave myself a good spin and set off in the direction I stopped at.
After hours and hours of nothing but the endless blue that was the ocean and the sky, it took until sundown for me to find anything, but what I found was pretty cool. A chain of tropical islands emerged from the horizon, and when I got closer to shore, there was also a ship beached a short distance offshore. Poor thing ran aground on the surrounding reefs, its lower hull a shredded mess. There were also some big holes in its sides, as if something had shot at it with a cannon. I'm guessing the ship had been attacked by something and ran onto the reef while trying to escape. The carcass was probably left there for a long while by the time I found it with the state of disrepair and neglect, both inside and outside. Whatever occupants there were have long since evacuated…though not without leaving most of their belongings it seemed, and since it was a LUXURY CRUISE SHIP…well don't mind if I help myself!
After a good bit of rummaging I found myself some nice clothing, a comfy black ribbed sweater with some black-and-white stripes around the edges, ribbon and detached sleeves, along with a skirt, gloves and a pair of stockings that matched…got a suitcase to pack some extra clothes and a few sets of underwear for when I feel like wearing them, I'm nice and comfy now as is, don't need something so restrictive. Not like there's anyone here other than me, who cares! Checking myself in the mirror, I look kind of gothic, but not too much, just enough to make a good contrast with my skin and hair. Also found some fancy diamond-shaped hair accessories that just fit the look perfectly. Whoever the previous owner of these clothes was, she knew STYLE! There's plenty of other stuff to loot too despite some of the destroyed areas, such as this diary. I would've went and explored the island too, but by then it was nighttime and I didn't fancy getting lost, so I just stayed on the ship.
While still exploring the place, I felt my stomach gurgle and took notice of its distinct emptiness, so I took a flashlight and set about looking for the kitchen. While I DID find it, the food…well…it might have just been a trick of the light but I think I saw the fridge contents MOVING. The place's been out of power for who knows how long, pretty much everything's rotted through and through. There wasn't exactly much else to eat though…so I just chowed on some pots and pans. Stainless steel, flavorless and hard to chew, but it gets the job done, and no rust is always a plus.
With my hunger satisfied and feeling a bit tired, I went off to sleep…or tried to. The temperature's nice and cool, the bed's soft if a little bit moldy, but something just felt OFF. I don't know why but sleeping inside the dead carcass of a ship makes me feel uncomfortable…There's no problems walking around exploring or looting it, but once I stop and try to actually lie down and rest, I can't. It gets strangely cold even with a thick blanket on, my thoughts actually get messier the more I try to relax, and at its worst, I think I heard whispering voices…Maybe the place is haunted, but going out onto the island in the dead of night was still a horrible idea, so I spent the entire night tossing and turning, barely able to get any proper shut-eye…
Morning couldn't have come any sooner. When the first rays of sunlight came in through the window, despite how tired I still was I couldn't wait to get off and check out the island. Had half a wok for breakfast, then I went ashore. The island's pretty spectacular, really big, lots of greenery, palm and coconut trees on the beach, mountain deeper in. So far it looks completely uninhabited other than exotic birds and exotic insects, ick…I mean, some insects look pretty cool and pretty, like those electric blue dragonflies, but others are just GROSS, and I really don't appreciate even the cool ones landing on me. Another thing I learned as the sun climbed higher, this sunny climate here is too much of a good thing. So hot, so humid…I did manage to find a cave around the base of the mountain that was nice, cool and sheltered, and since the ship seems to be haunted or something this is where I set up shop. Spent the day moving furniture in from the ship after changing out all my clothes for a single t-shirt, far too hot and sweaty otherwise. It's been hard work, but at least it's not very far inland, and now here I am chilling on my bed in my girl cave, sipping fresh coconut milk while writing my diary.
That about sums up everything that's happened for as far as I can remember. I guess now I'll read through it all again and see if I'll notice something I missed.
GASP! How have I been so blind?! I SEE NOW! I SEE I still don't know jack shit. I guess my biggest clue is that dream I had at the start, but what does it mean? If I go at it face value, I'd say that scene was the last moments of some soldier who died in combat, with a friend trying to get her up. That voice in the end might have been her last thoughts, but considering whose voice it belonged to…And that's where I'm stuck. The logical deduction from that would be I was that dying person, but I'm NOT dead! I'm perfectly alive, writing my diary and sipping coconut milk. Unless this is purgatory, in which case the land of the dead is a LOT more pleasant than I imagined. Maybe I'm in heaven then? Nah, I'd be walking around on fluffy clouds if I were. Hell? It's hot enough in the afternoon, but not enough fire and brimstone. Zombie…? Now I'm just grasping at straws, and it's not like I'm craving brains. Maybe the dream was just entirely pointless and a figment of my imagination? It's not like I have any wounds on me that might signify a battle. I don't know…
With the past unanswered for there's also the future. I've managed to find a nice place to call home for now, but where do I go from here? It's a nice place as far as I've seen, but I don't exactly fancy stagnating here for all eternity. I COULD set sail again and travel in a random direction, but there's no guarantee I'd find anything for days if not weeks, MONTHS! What if I can't find my way back? It was a stroke of extreme dumb luck I came across this island in the first place and now I'm not too willing to let go…Ahh…Maybe I'll just explore the rest of this island for now. Who knows, might be something interesting. Might even be someONE! I'll have to prepare some kind of marker to help make my way back to the cave too, I just have to search the ship again and see what I can use.
Aww, the sun's setting, there won't be enough light to write soon. If only I could set up some working lights in here somehow. Ah well, not like there's much else I can think of to write off the top of my head, I'll just eat a frying pan and go to bed early. How I long for some flavor…Coconut milk's fine and all, but I want some FOOD that's rich and juicy! I should learn to hunt…