After soaking himself in the shower, figuring out the chanism of water droplets pouring on his body, Cetas finally washed himself and cleaned the dirt on his body. The onyx scales seed to absorb the liquid but only in miniscule amounts.
However, even while drenched in hot water, Cetas didn't breathe once. That is because of his onyx-scales which allowed him to breathe underwater due to the sustainability of his race.
Depth-dwellers usually have a plethora of scales on their body, ranging from silver to onyx-black. Their bodies are hardened due to the pressure caused by being in the depths.
Moreover, their scales absorb water and regulate their bodies as if they were breathing air. By so unknown chemical process, the scales act to break apart the water like air.
Then, as it enters their body, it would be then sent to the lungs where it will chemically produce oxygen, yet never leaving carbon dioxide sohow.
So, Cetas was never used to the air on the surface, it was just that he was forced to adjust.
His body was..
After cleaning himself up, Cetas didn't even feel the need to dry his body as the onyx scales did it for him - absorbing the water all around his body.
Then, he wore a normal white blouse and brown oversized trousers, making him look like a normal surface dweller.
However, when one sees the onyx-scales on his face, they would know that there would be sothing peculiar.
Going out of the bathroom, Cetas quickly eyed the doctor nad Jones, and asked, "Where do I put these"?
He raised his hands and showed the sweaty and dirty clothes to Jones.
Jones, hastily glancing at him, pointed towards the inside of the bathroom.
"Inside, an empty basket is located within."
Cetas hurriedly entered the bathroom once more and saw the object that Jones was talking about. Then, he dumped his laundry inside of it.
Aiming to make his way back, he glanced upon a reflection of his in an unfamiliar object called the "mirror"
Seeing his appearance, Cetas could not help but feel at awe due to the technological differences between the depths and the surface.
He tilted his head to the right, seeing the reflection do the sa.
Then he waved his hands up, still seeing the sa.
He then paced his head back and forth.
Spun around in a clockwise manner.
Tilted his head up.
Then he procured a warm smile and the reflection did-
To Cetas' surprise, the reflection suddenly stopped. It stared at him, looking towards the pockets of his soul with an indifferent look.
Then, a second passed and he saw the reflection's neck suddenly move to the right. It tilted itself so much that it ford a 90 degree angle, breaking the neck and bone.
Cetas jumped back in fear, however, upon blinking once, he saw that the reflection was back to normal and mirrored his own fear-stricken face.
He hurriedly stepped out of the bathroom, his heart still touched by the sense of fear after seeing his own reflection break its own neck.
With widened eyes, he looked around and to his dismay..
The secluded hut seed truly secluded..
It was empty.
With no furniture, no ornants, no paintings, and most especially.. no people.
Only mirrors could be found.
Cetas entered the bathroom once again only to find an empty space with a mirror in the middle.
Then, he went out once more, not believing reality, and saw the secluded hut with a number of mirrors.
In the dining room, where the long-wooden table was located, an emptiness filled its stature. As if there were a void within, contained by a sole mirror hanging on the walls..
Cetas glanced at the living room, expecting to find the various antique ornants that gave the hut a vibe of ancient history. However, there was nothing.
The kitchen, the bedrooms upstairs, and almost everywhere had been lost to mirrors!
Then, he faced a door of ancient - the door belonging to the Historians room. He was reluctant to open it at first because once Cetas saw that there was nothing inside, he would lose hope.
However, he remained astute, slowly squeezing the handle and turning it in a clockwise manner.
An eerie creak echoed inside the hut, and when Cetas finally opened the door, he was filled with the feeling of Dread, seeing the room had been filled with nothingness - a re mirror hanging on the wall.
However, the mirror this ti was adorned with beautiful golden ornants. It was designed with intricate patterns that didn't look too familiar with Cetas.
Well, almost everything was unfamiliar to him.
However, this one in particular looked more.. mystic.
Seeming like it had Zeal covering its entire existence.
As if it had belonged to an age where it wasn't supposed to.
The Historian's words echoed back in Cetas' mind.
"The Eclipse Era, Age of Mystics!", Cetas loudly claid, his voice resounding around the empty hut.
Cetas did not know, but he pondered about its peculiarity. Carefully examining the mirror, Cetas accidentally glanced on the reflective surface in the middle - showing his entire figure.
However, contrary to the mirror of before, it did not show Cetas in an accurate manner. Instead, his head was tilted all the way to the right, forming a 90 degree angle.
Then, a few seconds ensued and the deford Cetas' lips grew into a wide smile, covering ear-to-ear.
Cetas then ran out of the Historian's room, out of the hallway, and made his way to the door leading outside.
He swiftly twisted the handle, feeling a heavy pressure push him down. Then, he ran outside to the fields, not knowing where he would go.
However, Cetas suddenly stopped, staring at the looming and everlasting field of corn and wheat in front of him.
Wouldn't it be better to stay where I'm familiar rather than get lost in a sea of grass and plants? If I were to get lost here, would I be stuck forever? He pondered.
Then, a deep longing for the oceans - the depths - carved into his heart.
My ho.. I do not have any mories yet I must return.. Do I have a family? Friends? Perhaps even acquaintances? This deep longing in my heart must be fulfilled... For only when I get ho will I learn the true secrets of myself from within.
The Depths.. What truly lies from beneath?
He glanced back at the hut.
And with sheer determination, tilted his head back, and slowly entered the maze of crops.
Searching back will not do any good, it is now where I will truly make a difference. However, when the day cos, I will surely look for the roots of my origin.
I have to live for the sake of my mories.
He kept a goal in mind.
Although his ultimate goal was to search for the Depths and go back ho, Cetas thought that he needed to stay in the present. His mories were important, of course, but he realized that his survival was more essential right now.
So, to do whatever it takes, Cetas will stride forward and leap to places unbound where he will traverse a path of determination.
He would live in the present and survive as much as possible.
*
In the middle of the fields, the crops beca more and more distorted. All facing east, they were tilted in a 90 degree angle, similar to the one that Cetas saw previously.
However, what made Cetas terrorized the most, is the unsightly maggots crawling inside the corn and wheat. Although unfamiliar, the maggot instantly made Cetas want to vomit whatever's left inside of his stomach.
It looked inky-black, with sludge of a similar color coming out from its ridges. On the maggot's head, a darker tone of sharp teeth is seen chewing on the distorted corn. With every digestion it made, the sludge seeped out and lted the leaves of the crop.
Cetas' skin crawled, he imagined the maggot inside his own body.
It was not a good thought.
As he passed through the various maggot-filled crops, he noticed the crops becoming more and more distorted. Facing east, almost every corn and wheat was now bent on a ninety degree angle.
Cetas frowned.
With every step he took, it seed that the ground below him was becoming muddier. He took a step and it seed that it was soft down below.
If this went on, Cetas would be entrapped by the very soil he was standing in.
In the ground below, he saw maggots of similarity to the one eating the crops. Cetas shuddered but continued to walk deeper into the fields.
With a calm but forced face he pondered whether him being in a weird scenario is a normal occasion on the surface.
After half an hour, the scenery began to change.
In the crops, seed-like black cocoons hang from a single piece of silky thread, whether it be from the leaves or the stem itself.
Many of these could be seen in the upper part of the crop, looking as if they were hanging bodies on a single organism.
Inside, Cetas could barely sense life, however, he saw the seed-like cocoons pulsating every once and then, emanating a black sludge from within.
The plants around him were tall but due to their 90 degree bend, it could almost make Cetas see beyond them.
What seed unnatural though, was the sun.
At first, it seed that the light shining from above was radiating a blistering heat. However, as he went deeper, Cetas could see it set eastward! He didn't know but the sun usually sets in the west!
It was like ti is going backwards!
Yet it didn't show any effects at all. In fact, the scenery seed unchanging. Well, except for the weird bended plants and the plethora of maggots and cocoons.
After reaching a point deeper inside, Cetas noticed that the ground had been suscepted to the black sludge that the maggots and words had procured.
Little droplets fell from the crop - which turned black due to the fluid - influencing the ground and softening it even further.
Now, it seed like a struggle to take 10 steps!
But Cetas strived further. He lightened his steps and continued on with his path.
Deeper in the parts where cocoons lay, he saw that their existence was becoming more nurous. Now, almost every plant had seed-like cocoons hanging from them, tied only by a single thread.
What's more weird now, is that they moved every second or so. As if they were waiting to escape their very shackles.
When Cetas made 27 steps further, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a seed-like cocoon plumting on the inky ground.
The cocoon was absorbed, sinking down slowly like quicksand. However, when Cetas began to take a step once more, he noticed that the ground that absorbed the seed suddenly shook.
A piece of inky soil was then elevated, moving space for an entity below. Then, in a split second, inky sludge and soil splattered across the surroundings.
A pure-black, light-absorbing, and miniature butterfly fluttered its wings and flew towards Cetas.
Unknowing of the situation, Cetas took a step back in order to not make contact with the weird being. In doing so, he avoided the butterfly.
However, it struck a chartreuse crop instead. Cetas zood his eyes and squinted, seeing that the crop suddenly started decaying.
As if it were being deprived of life!
Ashes fell from the crop and suddenly, the butterfly released a black sludge which replaced the shriveled part.
Cetas' skin crawled.
He almost fell to his knees but remained resilient.
Almost letting out a gasp, he suddenly felt a cold touch on his nape. Simultaneously, he sensed a cold goo seep down his upper back.
Then, a shimring warmth followed the coldness - similar to that of Jones' Ether Zeal.
Yet sohow, Cetas' instincts scread at him to do sothing! So, he reached his arms back and slapped his nape, which made him stop sensing the shimring warmth!
He grabbed whatever was on his back and placed it to where his eyes could see.
This!
Cetas' eyes widened, and he could feel vomit rising up in his throat.
The butterfly! It touched !
He crushed it with his 5 fingers, and sprinkled its remains on the inky soil. Then, he reached back once more and moved his hands left and right to eliminate the cold feeling of goo.
After a few seconds, fear struck his heart, his breathing beca unstable, and Cetas felt his knees weakened.
On his nape, replaced by black goo, was a centiter-wide gaping hole, almost piercing through his neck and on the insides of his throat!
Only when the black goo dissipated did he feel a heat pour out of the hole. A crimson-red liquid seeped out and flowed behind his back.
Then, the liquid reached his onyx-scale, getting absorbed in an instant. Suddenly, Cetas' throat swelled up.
He then coughed up the crimson-red liquid that was on his back, seeing it get absorbed by the inky soil and becoming a mixture of both.
Faintly, Cetas saw a small bud, resembling a crimson hue and a stem akin to that of the crops that he was familiar with.
He gazed deeper into the fields and felt.. afraid.
Was he going to die here?
He did not know.
Yet, his weak knees suddenly walked forward, as if blood was replaced by his determination to live - to go ho.
So, amongst the bent crops and inky-black soil, filled with butterflies devoid of life, and seed-like cocoons, Cetas walked.. and walked..
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