Citizen 368 Marvanic

“A crowbar, a skein of rope, and a knife,” muttered Marvanic, carefully placing each item into his bag and crossing them off his list. “Grapes, water skein, and flare rocks.” “You’re going to be late,” Marvanic’s roommate leant against the doorframe, watching him move this way and that around the room, carefully finding the next item on his list and placing it in his bag. “It isn’t like I am holding anyone up. It’s my trial, it’s my ceremony.” Marvanic did not speed up, methodically double checking his list one last time. When he got to the edge of the dome and was about to step out into the unknown, he stopped and looked back upon his friends, his family, and gave them a little smile, “see you on the other side.” The world he stepped into was silent, and calm, such a departure from the chaos of home. It felt refreshing to suddenly find himself in the quiet that Marvanic couldn’t help but sigh. The shore rex loved living at Canto’s, the energy, the liveliness, but Marvanic was ready for less, for his own place where he can relax and think. He glanced back, the world of the dome wavering behind him, he could see the bright colours of those who came to send him off slowly dispersing; off to do some other task while they waited for him to return. Green magic flared out around the rex as he cast about for a direction to go, carefully inspecting his options. There was a crack that clearly led to a deeper portion of the trench before him, probably the intended route to the depths for all those doing the coming of age dive from this point. There was no real reason to ignore it, but something felt off about just following the beaten path, he was well prepared, why not explore? After all, it is his ceremony, and it would feel cheaply won if he didn’t try and adventure into the unknown. After discarding the route ahead, Marvanic swam out to the left, following schools of silver fish and warm currents over plains at the bottom of the ocean. The world of the sea floor felt unimaginably vast to the soon to be adult, the weight of the water above him pressing him from every direction and when he looked up, all he could see was unending water. He was so distracted contemplating this vastness above him that he wasn’t anticipating the sea floor dropping out from below him. Spinning to see what he had missed, he gasped, little air bubbles streaming up from the rex into that infinite ocean, but Marvanic didn’t care, for below him was a ship. The ship was nestled deep in this crag of the trench, lit by strange glowing lifeforms, masts askew and fish swimming in and out of holes in its hull, making their home where rex’s had lived decades ago. It was on display, the world ensuring it was lit despite the depth of its final resting place. When Marvanic swam through those same holes, his magic cast the room in sharp relief, bathing it in green light and creating innumerable shadows. Cautiously, he continued into the wreck, twisting to fit his way through a collapsed doorway. The broken wood caught on his bag and tore it, spilling the contents into the sea around him. He grabbed everything he could and looked between the collection of items in his claws and the rip in his bag. If only he had brought a needle and thread. “Well, you can’t prepare for everything,” he mumbled to himself and cast about himself looking for anything that would spark a solution. The answer came from the items he had packed, quickly the shore rex used his knife to cut a piece of rope and pry apart the strands. The rope was wiry hemp on not anyone’s first choice for tread but it was strong and held itself stiffly enough that Marvanic didn’t a needle to thread it through the fabric, just a dainty claw to bore a hole, which was easier said than done, but no one has ever implied that Marvanic was not resourceful. With a newly patched bag clutched carefully to his chest, Marvanic continued into the wreckage. With a groan and a sudden bang, the whole ship shifted in the sea current and one of the masts leaning against the trench walls broke and crashed through the deck, trapping the young rex inside. The sun was setting in the dome and the welcoming party was starting to get antsy, where was Marvanic? The sudden shift in the environment around him caused Marvanic to lose his sense of place and it felt like the world was turning upside down. He hit the wall as it moved through the water and he did not. As the world settled around him, it felt like time was slipping through his fingers like sand. Moments passed in a breath, a blink, and an hour. He felt weary and the light of his halo was starting to dim and it was taking all of his concentration to keep breathing. “I need to get home,” he said to no one, as he fumbled at the walls, looking for where he came from, for the doorway. The flickering light of his magic created monsters as the shadows danced around him and Marvanic desperately reached into his pack. He pulled out a carefully sealed package, still keeping the water out of its precious contents. His claws puncture the waxed fabric and suddenly the flare rocks activate, drenched in sea water. The room was in sharp relief, and the rex could finally see his situation. The door he came in was blocked by the solid wood of the mast, there was no exit in that direction. Movement caught his eye, the bright light of the flare rocks had startled the deep sea dwellers of this room and one darted away through a small hole in what was the deck. Marvanic swam forward and peered through the hole. His light was blocked by his bulk but it wasn’t necessary, outside was the ethereal light of the deep trench life. On the other side of this wall was freedom. Pushing away from the wall, Marvanic lets the bag of flare stones fall; they would fizzle out with time allowing this place it’s dark peace again, but he needed both his hands. It took more time than the young rex wanted it to take but the crowbar eventually widened the hole enough for him to fit through. When he burst back into the air of the dome, Marvanic was greeted with a swarm of rexals. “You’re late, we thought you were lost.” Marvanic pulled out a piece of the sunken ship he had escaped, and presented it to the waiting group. “I am, but I was prepared and I have returned; an adult.”