Star Crossed In Time - Chapter 211

Hundun practically drags me to the dark water as I struggle not to dig a hole and hide in it. “No matter what, don’t drink the water,” Hundun says one last time as we step into the cold water. I shiver in the water as I continue to walk in, deeper and deeper.

Everything has been either warm or borderline hot since I’ve gotten here so feeling the cold water on my skin… let’s just say that it feels extremely out of place and unnerving. As we get closer to the center, the water gets so deep, I have no choice but to start swimming.

Hundun takes a few more steps before he too, is swimming. I try to control my racing heart as Hundun says “Okay, deep breath. On the count of three… we go down.” I grit my teeth and start taking deep breaths as Hundun starts counting “One… two… three!”

I take one last deep breath as we both dive down into the ice-cold water. We start diving deeper and deeper but as we get closer to the bottom, I see long pieces of seaweed slowly swaying in the water and quickly tug on the rope to stop Hundun from swimming straight into one.

I pull on the rope and start swimming again but as I’m looking for whatever I’m supposed to grab, Hundun and I accidentally touch the seaweed. I pull the rope again but it’s too late, we’ve already drifted into a piece.

Suddenly, a strange pulse of energy is released into the water, washing over us like a wave. My lungs burn with the lack of oxygen so I quickly look around us but I still don’t see anything! I go to start swimming up but Hundun quickly pulls me back down.

I push against him and try to swim but he’s fighting me and won’t let go! Panic starts to kick in until He grabs the back of my head and smashes his lips against mine. My eyes go wide and even though I want to kick him in the balls, the air he pushed to me was greatly needed.

Was this his plan all along!? I take as much air as my lungs can hold and push him away with a glare but he still can’t see anything with the blindfold on. I think about ripping the damn thing off until I hear something swim past us from behind.

I quickly turn around and look around the dark water but I can only see the tall seaweed swaying back and forth in a current that doesn’t exist. Hundun taps my shoulder, causing me to turn back to him. He points his two fingers at his blindfold and then points them to the ground around us, telling me to look.

I resist the urge to kick him and quickly start looking again. I don’t want to relive what just happened… I continue to try and avoid the seaweed but it’s everywhere! How does he expect me not to touch it when it’s literally EVERYWHERE!?

Suddenly, I hear something I shouldn’t. A beautiful woman’s voice is heard echoing around us in a haunting tune that has my eyes tearing. If I wasn’t underwater, I would probably be crying. It’s so beautiful but yet heartbreaking…

Suddenly, the rope around my waist starts dragging me back. When I turn around, I see Hundun trying to swim off to the left. I frown and look over there but I only see open water… I tug on the rope to get his attention but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Suddenly, it clicks. The voice… is this like a siren’s voice? I tug on the rope, harder this time but he still tries to swim away. My lungs are starting to burn again as my heart begins to race in fear. Hundun reaches up like he’s trying to take off the blindfold so I quickly swim to him and shove it against his face.

What the hell am I supposed to do now!? I hear something behind me again and when I turn to look this time, I faintly see a dark figure before it disappears again. Nope nope nope. I quickly look back to Hundun and stick my fingers in his ears, not caring if I hurt the retard.

He doesn’t seem to notice at first but after a few seconds, he jerks and grabs my hands. When he tries to remove my hands, I shove my fingers in more, causing him to flinch. He quickly starts patting my hands and tries to nod his head, letting me know that he’s back.

I quickly move my hands and watch as he quickly shoves something into his ears but that doesn’t stop the creepy singing. I want to swim to the surface and get more air but as I look up and see how far down we are, I realize I won’t make it.

I choke out bubbles as Hundun quickly pulls me back for more air. I grit my teeth and try not to think about his lips pressed against mine as he gives me more air. Survival… it’s to survive! As soon as I have as much air as I can possibly take, I shove him away again and quickly start looking.

I want to find this damn thing as quickly as possible! Since we’ve already touched the seaweed and activated the siren-like singing, I don’t bother avoiding it as I continue to quickly search. I really don’t see anything!

It’s just plants and rocks!? My lungs are burning again as the singing becomes louder. Hundun pulls me back by the rope and quickly gives me more air. How does he know I need more? Forget it… focus, Nova! Once I have enough air again, I quickly go back to searching.

I’m two seconds from losing my shit when I see something faintly glowing a few feet away. I quickly swim over but as I grow closer, the singing becomes louder and louder. As I finally come to the faint glow, I reach out and push the water around it to help uncover the thing.

It looks like a pearl… a glowing, pulsing pearl. The singing becomes faster and louder as I reach out to the pearl. This must be it… it has to be. As I touch the pearl, another pulse of energy is released and the singing comes to a sudden stop.

It’s heavy! And… warm. What the hell is this? Is it also pulsing in my hand? I stare at the thing like I’m being suċkėd into it until I feel the rope around me being pulled. I blink several times and realize I’m almost out of air again.

As we get closer to the surface, he releases me so that we can both swim up together but I was still struggling to swim as I hold onto the pearl. When we finally reach the surface, I release my breath and suck in with greed.

Hundun practically drags me back to the shore by the rope and honestly, I let him. I’m freaking exhausted… As the water becomes too shallow, I stumble to my feet and hold the pearl close as we both make our way out of the water. My teeth chatter with how cold I am but Hundun doesn’t even give me a second to catch my breath before he pulls me to his side again.

Everything disappears and when we reappear, Hundun releases me and I fall to my knees on a hot, black ground. We were out! It’s a miracle! I fall to my side and roll over onto my back as I soak up the heat coming off the ground.

Hundun rips the blindfold off and pulls out the stuff in his ears, quickly finding me on the ground, looking like roadkill. “Did you get it? Are you hurt?” I groan and lift it up to give it to him but when nothing but silence greets me, I lift my head up to look at him.

He looks at my hand then back to me, waiting. I frown at him and push it towards him. He gives me a strained smile as he says “You found it… You really did it. I need you to hold it close and protect it.”

I finally sit up and look at him with confusion before looking back to the pearl. “You can’t see it?” I ask looking back to him in surprise. He slowly shakes his head and says “No, but that’s why you’re here. Let’s go.”

I hold the pearl close as I struggle to my feet asking “Why could you just shift us out like that and not shift us in??” He gives me a pained look as he says “One, no one can shift into those tunnels. Two, if I used my powers down there, they’d come, remember?”

I sigh in defeat and take his hand as everything around us disappears again. When we reappear, we’re back at the palace with blue flames. Mogui suddenly appears before us and asks “Did you get it?” I slowly stretch out my hand and say “I think it’s time you tell me what this is all about and why you two needed me to retrieve it.”