Phantom Pain (trilogy)

Worst Case Scenario

Chapter 31: Worst Case Scenario

The first thing I did was unsheathe my sword, swimming with it in my hand, drawing my light to the surface, holding onto it.

The second thing was to begin trying doors.

One after another they opened, and I began to panic. What if I died? The knowledge I held would die with me. And the others would be left to face the demons I now sensed were very close. I grabbed the next handle, and nothing happened.

The water was much greyer than I remembered it, and even my light seemed muted. I placed my sword loosely against the bottom of the door. The tiny bit of light I had left I sent to this one task. The door splintered backwards, out of its frame. I tried to ride the current this time, kicked desperately towards the top of the room. My head broke into the air. I'd never been so happy to breath. The room was filling quickly, but I stayed in the air as long as was possible before taking a large, final breath and plunging back below the surface.

The water was thick with shadows, but I gritted my teeth, holding my sword out in front of me as I swam. It was very hard to fight them, in their domain. I could stop swimming right now and sink to the floor. What if I was going in the wrong direction? What if there was no air left, even after all the doors we'd opened?

I just kept swimming, and I found air. This was the place were the tunnel slanted upwards slightly, but I was the only one in site. I swam in a circle, looking in all directions. I dove beneath the surface, looking at the lines of opened doors.

"Dominic," I yelled, "Fara?"

There was nothing, no response, just an endless sheet of dark water. It felt as if someone had tied weights to my legs, and I found myself struggling to stay afloat. Something must have happened. They must have encountered demons. But I had no time to look for them. It could not be coincidence, that the armies of hell were so close to where I knew the Ark was hidden. It was just one fork away, if I remembered correctly.

Here I was, alone, without oxygen or backup, but I had to get it. There was no choice. Even here, there was less space between the ceiling and the water than there had been before. I swam back the way we'd come. Just as I remembered, I soon reached a fork. Down one side: the way we'd come. Down the other: the Ark. The I had to go under water to get through the arch. I was kicking upwards on the other side when my head hit the ceiling.

There was a little air left, but I had to tilt my head back to access it. As I swam, I tried to occupy my mind by searching for the lights of the humans, but it was all but hopeless. All I could feel was the dread, everywhere, the water saturated with it. I sheathed my sword so that I could use both hands to swim, but I felt more anxious right away.

I couldn't remember exactly which door, I'd been scared and disoriented when I'd first been there, but I had a pretty go idea of the general area, and the side of the hall. It wasn't the first door, but opening them only helped lower the water level. When I blasted open the second door however, I knew. The forest of statues and sculptures looked haunting under water. Going up for another breath of air, I swam inside.

There it was. The Ark sat against the wall. The thing that astounded me about it was how unremarkable it felt. That was how it had managed to stay hidden for so long. I ran my hands over the smooth exterior finding no seam, not latch. Now came the hard part. I had to move it. It was about the size of my upper body, and I could have wrapped my arms around it, but I started by pushing it across the floor. I kicked frantically, but the thing slid so slowly. I'd just gotten it through the frame when I left it, struggling back to the surface.