As we crossed the bridge, I could see 6 large rings all around the stalactite with buildings and houses built on each ring. The bridge we were walking on was connected to the third ring from the top.
"Hey, Lil guy. This is probably your first time here, so let me introduce you to the city of Byssal. It's the largest city in the Hanging Depths, isn't it something?"
"It definitely is something." Beau retorts halfheartedly.
"Don't listen to the mean sailor here. This city was built by some guy many years ago, or was it a girl? Anyways, they came here seeking riches and fortune from the lake, and we are their boredom babies." Oscar gives a mocking look to Beau.
"Wow, everything you said there was wrong."
"I was more of an arts and crafts guy in school."
Beau stops for a second with a shocked and horrified expression. He grabs Oscar's arm and turns to him.
"You went to school?"
"Piss off!"
…
As we approach the end of the bridge, I can see a gate with two guards wearing an identical set of clothes, a long-skirted teal coat, and large black boots. Both sported a long, cylindrical cap, the same color as their coats, and both of them carried a small pistol on their hips. We waited for our turn to pass through, and eventually it reached us after 10 minutes or so.
"What is that in your hands?" the guard to the left asks Beau.
"It's an octopus we found bottoming today," Oscar responds.
"I was asking the one holding the creature," Beau tries holding in a chuckle, still trying to keep a firm grip on my holding cell.
"What he said is true, it's a gift for our captain's daughter."
"Is it at all dangerous, toxic, or may it otherwise cause any problems?"
"No, sir."
"Then you may be on your way-"
As he is finished saying that, I see something up above us. A man is falling straight towards us.
BAM.
The body of a short man in a brown suit was right in front of us, his blood splattered on the ground, pooling together slowly. In that moment, I felt something I had never felt before; it was like fear, but also sadness. Not for myself but for this stranger in front of me, this person I have never met before. The guards came rushing to the body and just grabbed it and threw it over the edge of the bridge, into the lake below.
"What are you looking at? Continue through the gate." The guard, as if nothing had just transpired, lets us through the gate and goes straight back to standing there and letting people through.
…
The city inside was, to put it in a gently. It was crowded as hell. Everyone is moving in every which direction, to where they need to go, so many different noises and conversations just melting together. The main road circling the ring is a constant buzz of business and action. Some people wear vests, some in tight-fitting dresses of all lengths and sizes. People were like a rainbow of different shades of different colors, some black, some brown, some white. It was a very colorful crowd. And of course I got a lot of looks, tons of people were staring at me with wonder or curiosity, I heard even a few shouts about "whose is that" or "is that a new kind of lake creature"
'Jeez, guys, I'm not that pretty, am I? Aw, you flirts.'
As much as I loved the attention, I would prefer to do it in more ideal circumstances.
We continued on this path, and from small glances at the alleyways, I can see what I can only describe as sad, unhealthy people. For some strange reason, when I look at them, I feel that strange feeling again. I think I need to see the doctor. As we moved through, I can tell the houses here are getting better and there are less and less people as they walk. Eventually, we come up to the largest house so far with a gate in the front built entirely out of white stone, and it seems to have some sort of thin blue barrier around the whole building. The closer we got to the building, the clearer the barrier was, and right before we hit the barrier, I could hear a loud, slightly distorted feminine voice speak to the guys.
"What is your business here, Beau?"
"We are here to deliver this present for Meira's birthday."
After a short pause, the same voice relays "Come in," and the blue barrier creates a hole big enough to let us all inside the property. It was still a bit of a walk to get to the main property as they had a fairly sizable yard with little green spikes all over the ground, like seagrass, but on land? So, no-sea seagrass, that's weird. When we got to the door, a lady with long blonde hair wearing a vest and dress pants let us in. With an annoyed expression, she takes a look at me, then back at Beau.
"What did Dad bring this time, Beau?"
"It's a glowing octopus that changes color; we saw it while bottoming and he wanted to give it to Meira for her birthday."
"When is that old man going to stop going down there? He's going to make Mom die of a heart attack."
"That old lady is going to be fine; she's even stronger than him."
The blonde lady let us in and escorted us into what I can only assume is an office of some kind, with two chairs and a fancy desk with a window behind it showing the scenery of the nice and green backyard. Although I did not get to see much of it, as I was immediately put on the floor next to the desk
'Great guys, real kind to the octopus here.'
"Thank you for bringing this, Beau. I'm sure-."
Oscar interjects with a question.
"Uhm, I have a question. Beau, how do you know her so well?"
"Oh, you never told him, Beau? Beau is married to my sister, Titi."
Oscar's mouth immediately makes a pretty good impression of a circle.
"It never came up, Oscar. Let's hurry to meet up with Muk." Before Oscar can question what he just heard, he rushes both of them out of there and quickly makes their escape, lucky. As the door closes, the lady walks around to me and picks up my tank and places it on her desk, and begins to inspect me.
"Hm, it is definitely a very pretty creature, I see why Dad took it. Let's put it somewhere more private for now until the party." She then presses a button on her desk and speaks into it. A few minutes later, a short man with an even shorter mustache walks into the office.
"Wade, please take this octopus to the private tank until further notice."
The man bows and speaks. "Yes, lady Mirth." And just like that, I was handed to this new guy, Wade. He lifted my tank off the desk and carried me off to my new prison. As we passed down the halls, I could see servants and maids putting up posters and decorations of what looked like a party, 'I'm going to keep that in mind for later,' and as we kept going, I saw more and more of it, hanging fish. There were creatures of all kinds, stuffed and dead, on the walls, all attached to frames by pins and string. Some looked monstrous, some looked cute, all equally dead and stuffed. As we got to the end of this haunting hallway, we came upon a door, and Wade here, put me down for a second to open it. He pulls out a ring full of keys and keeps trying each one until finally he finds the right one.
"Ah, here it is."
He unlocks the door, and inside is a large tank, but I can't see what's inside from here.
"Here's your new home, little guy."
'Fat chance!'
"HUH, WHERE IS IT?"
Wade looks into the tank, and there is nothing in there, so he quickly takes off the lid to check and see. I immediately leaped out of the tank, away from the door, and started running by imitating the humans from before.
'Time to get the fuck out of here!'
As I kept running down the hallway, I could hear Wade chasing after me, and he was catching up. I kept trying but I couldn't be fast enough to outrun him, damn these fishy tentacles. That's it, I'm going on a diet, as I was about to get to the main hall, Wade finally grabs me.
"Ha, got ya, little octopus."
'Why did you think you could hold an octopus?'
I immediately sprayed him in the eyes with my ink and slipped through his grasp. Wade yells from the pain in his eyes and tries to wipe them.
"Where are you!" Wade looked around the hallway for me. He checked every corner of every room as well, but he just couldn't find me. Well, how could he possibly notice a funny new display of a yellow spotted fish on one of the empty frames?
'Practice makes perfect.'
"Aw, no, I have to get Lady Mirth."
Wade shouts while running out of the hallway, accidentally leaving the door open. '
Man, I love that guy.'
After he left, I walked along the wall, camouflaged as it, and out the door and into a large ballroom of some kind, with tables all across it and a large glass structure in the middle.
'That's the public tank.'
There was a banner strewn across it reading "Happy birthday Meira" I walked over to the tank and saw there was no fish except for a bunch of bottom-dwelling creatures like crabs and mollusks.
'Dinnertime.'
It has been days since I ate, and I could really use a bite before I leave. I scaled the side of the tank; it was about three humans tall but with these suckers I can do that easily. As soon as I got in the tank, I saw a small, helpless snail to my right. 'You're trying to make a great escape of your own, I see. Sadly, your journey will end in my stomach' I immediately began a festival of carnage the likes of which this tank has never seen. It was a one-sided massacre, and I stood on top of a mountain of empty shells and husks of shellfish. My head was visibly bloated from all the food I ate.
'Can life get any better than this. What was I doing before this? Ah yeah, escaping, right.'