Zain blearily opened his eyes as the ringing in his ears faded.

  Light was scarce wherever he found himself, and he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. The last thing he could remember was walking home and…

  … I died…didn’t I?

  The realization hit him as his senses slowly returned to him.

  He looked around and found himself floating somewhere strange.

  So… am I in hell or something?.... Purgatory?

  He could barely see his surroundings but, from what he could make out, it looked like that he was in a bubble of some sort, floating in a lukewarm substance which was strangely breathable; This bubble appeared to spawn from a coral-looking tree, located deep underwater.

  The only light which allowed him to see these things would emanate from small creatures which possessed a weak bioluminescence, pulsating in tandem with one another. They congregated mainly at the trunk of the tree, straying away only to explore the numerous branches which stemmed from it.

  Zain had to twist himself in order to witness the coral in its entirety; through his observations, he was able to see that he was located on some of the furthest branches of the coral tree and, in comparison, he would appear to be no bigger than an acorn on a normal tree.

  Outside of the tree, there was an all encompassing darkness that one would expect of the bottom of the sea; There was an eerie, low frequency rumbling all around him, filling him with a feeling of foreboding as time loomed on.

  Panic began to grip him as he wondered why or how he was in such a place. How was he to get out of this situation?

  Am I going to die, again? Does my mom know that I died? I didn’t even get to say goodbye…

  He didn’t know how deep underwater he was, but someone didn’t need a science degree to know that the pressure from that deep underwater would crush him if he exited his little bubble.

  After internally panicking for some time, he concluded that he was having an extremely vivid nightmare, right before he died; Though he realized, even if this was a dream, his dying would still be graphic and terrifying.

  Zain could only hold his face, curling in on himself as he tried to steady himself.

  Okay… panicking isn’t gonna get me anywhere. What can I do to get out of this?

  He looked at the ‘stem’ of his bubble and saw where it connected to the coral tree. Shakily, he pressed his finger to it and felt a gentle current of what was likely the substance sustaining him at the moment. Unless he had a surefire way to make it out, it would be best for him to stay attached to the tree.

  Feeling a bit curious, he lightly touched the membrane which surrounded him and he found that it felt rubbery like a water balloon but simultaneously slippery and gelatinous like an egg yolk. Putting a little more pressure on the membrane, he tried to see if he could get it to move somewhat but observed that it was thicker and sturdier than he originally thought. Not even scratching it with his nail would alter it in any manner. The conclusion of this experiment filled Zain with some relief as it would mean that sea creatures would have a hard time making it to him if they did glean his whereabouts.

  Now that he thought about it, his ‘bubble’ was more of a grape if anything.

  Checking his pockets, he realized that nothing that he usually had on his person was with him now: no phone, no wallet…nothing.

  If he was recalling correctly, he wasn’t even wearing the clothes he had on that day, instead, he wore a different outfit that he had in his closet. It was a mystery to him as to why this was the case, the best explanation he could come up with was ‘dream logic’.

  But this dream seems too detailed…if I was lucid dreaming then shouldn’t I be able to change things in my dreams like most people say they can….

  He inspected the tree for a few minutes before he tried to look at the surrounding area. Spinning around, he began to strain his eyes as he stared into the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything that would help him. As he continued to look around, he spotted something in the distance which looked to be making its way to him.

  Is that a fish?

  Zain squinted; from what he could make out, a silver looking fish started to make its way to him. It was not long until it became more visible.

  Upon closer inspection, the ‘fish’ was actually a small submarine-like drone which slowly bumbled along the seafloor, casting a small dust cloud upward as it meandered closer and closer.

  It did not look like a conventional fish, but small etchings in its metalwork indicated that it was decorated in a way to resemble them somewhat; Humorously, there were googly eyes added to it to cement this association. It came to a sudden stop as it floated a few feet away from his bubble.

  He would have said something, but anything that came out of his mouth only came out as incomprehensible echoes and gurgles. All he could do was stare at it, wondering if it stared back.

  Suddenly, a red light was emitted from a small antenna at its top; it streamed into a small band which started to scan him head to toe.

  Zain squeezed his eyes shut; his retinas had essentially been burned after having little to no light exposure since he awoke. After blinking rapidly to rid himself of the small green spot now occluding his vision, he could see that the small drone was now pinging as if signaling something.

  Is it calling someone to rescue me? THANK YOU LITTLE FISHY BUDDY!

  He silently thanked his little fish friend as it pinged whoever had sent it, though his fervor was short lived as he soon realized that the now stationary drone would take some time to summon anything.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I wonder how far out I am from wherever this little dude came from….

  Zain was startled awake as the bubble where he resided lurched forward; His eyes shot open as his face slammed into the outer layer of his dwelling, sliding all around it as the slippery surface offered no chance for him to find his footing. After he stopped spinning comically in the bubble, he could finally see what had lodged him out from where he once was.

  It would seem that his little buddy had finally been joined by its friends, as more drones than Zain could count interlocked into a net-like formation to drag his bubble away from the tree. Slight panic overtook his gratitude as he wondered what would happen if he was no longer supplied the substance sustaining him. It was not like he could do anything about it, but the thought made him shudder.

  His little buddy seemed to know what it was doing, but he couldn’t help but show the displeasure on his face for his buddy’s lack of explanation - though, he was not sure that it would even be capable of explaining.

  Zain tried to look for his buddy among the myriad mechanical fishes now dredging him through the waters like some prized snow crab, only to discover that now all of the fishes appeared to transform into some translucent variant of themselves. He could barely make them out as the faint light from the tree slowly faded in the distance; soon the blackness of the depths completely surrounded him.

  With a never ending darkness as far as his eyes could see, Zain could hardly tell when he blinked as there was absolutely no light to indicate the difference.

  Ah shit…this is terrifying…

  As he was blindly guided through the sea, he nervously watched the surroundings, wondering what dwelled deep within the depths; He tried not to focus on it, but every so often he would hear low octave calls of what were likely massive creatures in the distance. He hoped that they wouldn’t try to swallow him whole as he was essentially defenseless at that very moment.

  It felt like a few hours had passed before he finally saw something different; A glowing red light peaked over the sea floor, outlining the rocky landscape of the depths somewhat.

  As the light drew closer and closer, more creatures made their presence known.

  Along the seafloor, small critters scuttled around as the water was disturbed above them. Zain could make out familiar crustaceans swimming near him, whirling their back legs to gain slow momentum through the water.

  Zooming nearby, was a fantastical looking creature, resembling a strange feathered eel of sorts. The opulent white creature quickly scooped up a handful of crustaceans as it zipped away.

  A tall spider-like creature stepped forward with its long spindly legs, slowly ambulating along the ground, each step long and drawn out. It appeared to be a passive creature as it was unbothered by Zain’s presence.

  Tendrils stemming from the sea floor reached for the disruption of the surrounding waters, grasping for unseen meals that they may lay claim to.

  From a short distance away, he observed large bottom-feeding fish feasting on the dead carcass of a fallen behemoth, picking at what little flesh remained.

  Small blinking lights drew his attention away as he witnessed one make its way near him; A creature, which resembled an anglerfish, flapped its jagged teeth as smaller animals neared it.

  The floor was littered by delicate crystalline structures, with intricate designs that differentiated them from the rocky bed.

  Small chimney-like vents dotted the sea floor, with shimmering plumes of rippling water projecting from their tops. Small ecosystems surrounded these structures, adding some vibrancy to the otherwise desolate landscape.

  There was much more diversity likely to be seen, but this was the extent of which was illuminated before him.

  Zain could feel the temperature in his bubble start to become slightly warmer as they neared the ambient red light. They drew closer and closer, and once it came into view, it became obvious that this was an underwater volcano; a stream of gas bubbles rose from the crater, rising upward, towards the distant surface.

  U-umm? LIttle buddy?

  Was he going to be sacrificed or something? He hoped that this wasn’t the case, but why else was he brought here? He scrambled to the back of his bubble in a futile attempt to delay such a scenario. He still hoped that his little buddy was trying to help him somehow, but if they crested over the peak of the volcano then he would not be able to deny that his buddy wanted him dead.

  They inched forward, thankfully circling around the volcano, soon making their way to a mechanical tube, the likely origin of his little buddy. A steel hatch soon blocked his way as the school of mechanical fishes pushed the bubble towards it, with the mechanical creatures falling back once he was close enough. After a few minutes, Zain could hear the clicking of locks as the door’s mechanism slowly began to unlock itself; It was not long before the door began to creak open, startling all of the wildlife in the immediate vicinity.

  The door swung fully open, creating a current which sucked him towards its opening. Before he was totally sucked away, Zain spun around and waved goodbye to his buddy; it was probably not necessary, but he felt like he should still show some gratitude for his buddy, for helping him.

  The momentum of his bubble began to pick up and soon he was propelled upward, at a rather fast pace. He didn’t know much about deep diving or anything, but he at least knew that ascending too quickly was bad news. While he tumbled around in his bubble like a garment in a washing machine, he could only think of the possibility that he would have serious health issues in the future. He already felt sick, but whether this was from the spinning or from the sudden ascent upward, he could not tell.

  The metal tube was dark for the most part, until he suddenly stopped moving upward and began to move horizontally through a clearer tube. When he finally stopped spinning, he could see where he was heading.

  High above the volcano, beyond the plume of smoke and bubbles, were three massive spheres stacked on top of one another.

  Like spherical terrariums, whole cities were bottled within; An assortment of colors and artificial lights emanated from these cities, portraying something that one would only find in a fantasy.

  Zain looked on in awe. It was then that he realized that if he wasn’t having a dream before death, that maybe, he had been taken to another world. His mouth agape, he observed as he was carried towards the inner sanctum of this underwater city.

  The tube fed directly into the lowest hanging section, and as he passed through the barrier of the bubble, he could see that it was a mile or two thick; what looked to be a mix of water, algae, and other substances was wedged between the layers of the barrier, which then transitioned into underground tunnels.

  He began to slow as he traveled through these tunnels, until he came to a stop within a circular man-made cavern. His bubble began to float towards the top of the cave, with a bright light at its apex.

  Zain closed his eyes for a few moments, only opening them when he felt that he was finally no longer moving. Like some science experiment, his bubble now floated within a cylindrical glass tube which was placed in the middle of a room; in this room, was a middle aged woman sitting at a control panel, staring at him.

  She swayed to and fro on her swivel chair, lazily eating chips. After a light on her control panel flashed, she wiped her hand and pressed a button.

  A grate closed underneath him and the water level in the cylinder began to lower. His bubble lowered with the water, until it touched the grate. It was then that all of the water around him slowly drained away.

  Zain watched as his bubble appeared to slowly melt away once exposed to the air. Soon, after a few minutes, the outer layer weakened enough that it began to break form like a water balloon, bursting all at once, with only a few remains left under him.

  He tried to inhale, but immediately began to cough out all of the fluid that was in his lungs. Tears streamed down his eyes as he felt his chest burning, trying to expel whatever fluid was in them. A hand patted him on his back as he sputtered over the grate, then he felt that hand clasp something over his neck.

  After gaining his bearings, Zain looked down to see a necklace hanging from his neck; it was a simple necklace, with a crude metal cage holding an unrefined crystal in its center. He looked up in confusion, seeing the woman looking at him in slight amusement.

  She smirked, “Welcome to Merverre.”