The Vasty Deep and a Golden Coin [Completed]

[Yukki Kazuto]

I walked on the beach and took in the smell of the salty sea air. I looked into the glimmering blue ocean, looking for any signs of life. A few fish and underwater plants were found but not too awful many. I felt part of me wanting to go for a swim. I put my jacket and shoes down in the sand, and began walking into the ocean.

After walking in a few feet, about four or five, The ground turned from a slight decline into a sharp downward slope. A dove under the water, and began swimming around the, following the slope down, looking for shells and other items. For some reason, I felt an overwhelming need to swim as far down as possible. I swam further down.

Ten feet. Twenty feet. Thirty feet. At this point, the rational part of my brain was telling me to swim up, go for air, get out of the water, anything to stop me from drowning. Yet another part of me was screaming at me to go down, to go further down and never go back. Forty feet. At fifty feet, the pressure became unbearable. My vision began going black around the edges. My pants got caught on some vines and I watched the pocket tear. I saw a glimmer of gold before passing out in the water.

I regained consciousness on the beach. I turned on my side and began coughing up seawater, trying to get the foul liquid out of my lungs. After a minute or so, I had gotten most of the water out of my system, and I turned to see the people standing over me. One man who was wearing a red shirt and shorts, both with a white cross on them, stood the closest. “Is it all out?” he asked me, but his deep voice echoed through my head, and I felt a sharp pain pass through my head, but it stopped immediately.

I nodded, and he breathed a sigh, presumably of relief. “I watched you go in, and was curious. Not many people stroll up, take off clothes, and immediately jump into the water. When you didn’t come up, I was worried. I’m honestly amazed that you’re alive. You were so deep, and you were dead on the beach for several minutes before you became responsive and started breathing again.” He said this all in a rush, as if the adrenaline from saving me from drowning was still going through his system and it was still affecting him.

I moved to sit up, and he grabbed under my arm and began to pull me up. A stormtrooper that had been helping keep the prying crowd away from my unconscious, and occasionally dead, body, grabbed under my other arm. Together they pulled me onto my feet. Once I was sturdy enough to stand by myself, they handed me my clothes and took me to a bathroom where I could change.

I summoned a new pair of black cargo shorts, and broke my jacket down into omnillium. I summoned a belt holster for my pistol, and placed my weapon in it. I summoned a new white t-shirt for myself, and broke my wet red one down to replace the omnilium used. When I emerged, the man who had saved me was gone, and the stormtrooper who had led me down to the room stopped me. “Have you ever considered joining the Imperial Navy? If you can go fifty or so feet under water, fall unconscious, die on a beach, and still be fine enough to walk, they could use you in dealing with the pirates that plague this verse.” I stated what my original intention for joining the verse had been, and he pointed me in the direction of where I could sign up. I thanked him and turned to walk away.

He stopped me as I turned. “Oh, I almost forgot. We found this with your belongings on the beach. Figured you might want it back.” In his hand he held the gold coin that I had seen fall out of a pocket that i didn’t place it in while underwater.

I carefully took it out of his hand. “You said you found this with my stuff on the beach? Not underwater or floating in the ocean?” He restated what he already said about where it was found. “Is there a library somewhere that I can use for research?”

“Yes, there’s one nearby, with several older documents for studying. I thought you wanted to join the navy though, not do research?” He told me.

“I do plan to join the Navy. But first I need to do something. Please, show me to this library.” We began walking down the street to a rather large building that was built using an archaic style, but not one that I recognized. The stormtrooper led me in, and brought me to the section of research tomes. I thanked him, and asked that he leave me alone. When he did, I pulled out the coin.

There was something wrong with this coin. First everyone ignores it, a man desperately gets rid of it for a measly burger well below it’s worth. Then, when I leave it on the beach in my jacket, it ends up in my jeans pocket underwater. I had a near death experience because of something taking over my mind and forcing me to swim to my death, and mere luck kept me from dying. Then it isn’t lost underwater and gets found on the beach where my stuff was.

I was beginning to think this coin was cursed. I had already seen proof that I was not going to be able to get rid of it. I began searching through the tomes around me, trying to see if I could find anything on the coin. I summoned a sandwich for myself and a bottle of cream soda.

I was in for a long night.

Word count / Total word count
1131 / 1863
Quest Stipulations
Come into possession of the coin. Yes
Be compelled to drown yourself. Yes
Try to remove yourself of it.  Fail.  Yes
Investigate.  Current
Figure out a way to rid yourself of the coin No