My grip on First's neck tightened as we plunged into the water. I close my eyes because of the excessive force of the impact. I opened my eyes and saw the blue water. He lifted his head, spread both arms and legs to lift us above the water, and breathed. After a few seconds, I panicked.
I can no longer hold my breath!
"Second!" I opened my eyes and saw the wet and worried face of First. I coughed and blinked.
He patted my back. He sighed. I can't hold my breath underwater long enough. It took both of us more time to swim above the surface because First swims for two people weighed him down.
I smiled at him. "Let's go?" I first looked around and, "Ah!"
I-I'm floating. To my confusion, I grabbed by First's shoulders because I might drown. He laughed at me. "How?"
"It's okay. This water is not ordinary. It contains a high level and amount of salt, which means, you can float well even if you're not a swimmer."
Because of what he said, I felt a sense of relief. We swam towards our team. It feels strange but also good because I feel like I'm a swimmer.
Sixth began to ask, "What are we going to do?"
"Let's dive first. I saw something shiny underneath. If we find our base where our flags hide, that's what Author tells us to follow. Also, let's not disperse. Don't touch any sea creatures you'll encounter. We don't know if they're dangerous or not. Just focus on our goal. " Third instructed and reminded us.
We wasted no more time, and we submerged ourselves in water. How can we breathe this long?
My question was answered magically as a large glass bubble appeared on my face. There is a round transparent glass inserted into our whole head. I breathed freely, and I accidentally opened my mouth—I can speak! The voice is slightly weak because we are underwater. Everyone changed from wearing our dirty tracksuits we turned into wearing diving gear. We have a long black sleeve rash guard, gloves, and fins. We can speak underwater because of the glass bubble around our heads. We can hear each other like there's a gadget for communication inside this glass.
We dive down to where Third saw something shiny beneath. Soon, we saw a small silver flag, meaning this flag is for our team. Author said, we just follow the flags that are the colors of our team. There are fish that surround it. Not ordinary gray fish, but a Nemo! A school of clownfish is swimming. I remembered that my favorite movie character is Nemo when I was kid. M-My memories are coming back! This is good. Gradually, I'm getting a grip on my identity.
We saw a silver flag again, but it was not just one but two, and something was written on it. We went near the flag stuck in the sand. Seventh grabbed its end so we can read it properly. The flag has a left arrow sign while the other one has a right turn sign and both of them have printed words So, we need to choose between the two of these directions.
Left silver flag: sea urchin
Right silver flag: sea anemone
"Sea anemone is the answer. If the sea creatures we encounter have anything to do with it, we have encountered a school of clownfish. And in the 'Finding Nemo' cartoons, Nemo lives in a sea anemone!" Fourth replied cheerfully.
We nodded because we had no other conceivable answer, so we turned right. While swimming, we once again saw a group of gray fish swimming—it's a milkfish. We saw two more silver flags with inscriptions on them.
Left silver flag: Philippines
Right silver flag: United Kingdom
This must have to do with the school of fish we saw, just like what happened with clownfish and sea anemone. A milkfish? That's the fish we encountered earlier, so... we turned left. Milkfish is a native fish and the national fish of the Philippines. This feels like a quiz game. I seem to know the pattern of this. We will come across a sea creature and 2 flags that point in two opposite directions. Sea creatures are the answer, and flags are the directions.
"Whaaa!" Fourth shrieks. Even though there was a glass bubble, and we were underwater, I can still hear them talking.
There are three stingrays, two small and one large passing in front of us. Third almost bump into them. After they crossed, we also crossed and swam until we saw silver flags again, which are now three of them. This is not a written letter but a silhouette-type photograph.
Left silver flag: silhouette of a fish
Middle silver flag: silhouette of a bird
Right silver flag: silhouette of a dog
Everyone was a bit surprised at what the answer was, but everyone considered Seventh's suggestion.
"That's fish. String ray is a fish, isn't it?"
"String ray? You're inventing a word? Stingray!" Aeith corrected Seventh.
"Is there space?"
"None"
"You invented it, too. S-T-I-N-G space R-A-Y!"
Even though Seventh was pointing wrong, we swam to the left. We were shocked when we saw three stingrays swimming and approaching us. They swam fast and straightforwardly, coming to us. We dodged to avoid them, but they seem to be following us. They also look like the three stingrays that crossed us a while ago.
"Swim! Hurry!" Third charged.
I don't know if those stingrays have something on their minds and why they suddenly attacked.
I swam even faster because we'll never know what these stingrays will do to us. I was startled when someone took my left hand. It was Aeith. I saw First looking straight and serious. He also swims fast. I was relieved when the stingrays didn't follow us anymore, but my teammates and I spread out.
Fifth and Ninth are struggling against a stingray. They pulled its long tail to prevent the attack. Fifth hugged the stingray's back and held its wings while Ninth twisted its tail with his right hand and pulled it even harder. The stingray became more and more aggressive, and its tail separated from the body. In an instant, the stingray turned into sand that had melted in water. I saw blood floating upwards, dripping into the seawater on Ninth's right hand.
S