"Go!"
Both Dion and I leapt off the cliff at almost the same time, plunging down below the fog and deep down into the water with heavy splashes.
Instantly, the water struck like a sledgehammer, driving the air from my lungs and plunging me into a dark, churning chaos. For agonizing seconds, I was utterly disoriented and tumbling, but the current, while powerful, was manageable enough that I wasn’t held under.
I forced my eyes open, and spotted Celeste not too far from me. Without wasting any time, I reached for her, securing her arm over my shoulder and locking my hand around her waist, and began dragging her, swimming up as fast as I could.
In a few long and tense seconds, our heads broke the surface and I was finally able to draw in a deep, hoarse breath.
’It’s so cold...’
That was the first fragile thought that popped into my head. The water was so chillingly cold that I could feel it biting against my skin.
After sucking in enough air, I quickly spun around in the water trying to find Dion, but the thick fog prevented me from seeing much of anything.
’Was he able to survive the jump?’
"Dion?" I called out in a strained voice. I was too frightened to shout, and all my instincts were screaming at me to just... go on and move to the shore without him.
I took a quick glance at my map, which had appeared beside me to get my bearings. Then I began swimming to the right toward the shore.
However, just a few seconds after I began swimming, I heard the water splash a fair distance behind me, and then a panicked female voice called out. "Cedric?!"
It was Ino! Because we were away from the ghouls’ immediate territory, she must have been able to re-materialize.
I immediately whipped my head around, but seeing only the thick fog, I called out, "Hey! I’m right here. Follow my voice."
Not long after I spoke, I began to hear the water moving in my direction, and in a few tense seconds, I finally saw Ino.
She was shivering violently while clutching Dion tightly, and he looked to be in a really dire condition.
I then quickly spoke through chattering teeth. "Stay close to me, the shore’s not far."
Still shivering, Ino nodded and we began swimming as fast as we could to the shore.
However, barely a minute after, something caught our attention.
It was a song.
...Someone, or rather something, was singing in the distance. The voice seemed to come from the fog and it sounded human, but it was so impossibly beautiful that it bordered on angelic.
But that was not all.
We could even understand some of the words of the eerily beautiful song.
"W-wh-what is that?" Ino stammered. "Is there someone else here?"
’Shit!’
I panicked as I immediately had a suspicion of what exactly was singing. It definitely wasn’t a woman, but if my hunch was right, then it was one of the most terrifying creatures of the seas called a Siren.
"Ignore it!" I urged as I looked away from the direction of the voice. "Just keep moving!"
Ino immediately looked away and quickly kept pace with me who had already continued swimming as fast as I could.
I took a quick glance at the map, and a sliver of hope fluttered in my mind as I could see that we were already really close to the shore.
’Just a bit more...’
I thrashed my legs harder as I tried to increase my speed, ignoring the burning ache in my shoulders from towing Celeste.
However, with every passing second, I noticed the singing voice was slowly growing louder, and more intensely beautiful. All of a sudden, I began to forget what exactly possessed that voice, and a wave of confusion washed over me.
Suddenly, an irresistible urge to turn and find the source of such exquisite beauty began to rise within me.
I slowed until I didn’t even realize I had come to a halt.
’Huh? Where am I going swimming so fast...?’
While I was still forming that thought, my confusion suddenly deepened:
’Wait... I’m in the water? Why am I in the water? When did I get in here?’
Just then, Ino’s voice sounded right beside me, causing me to whip my head toward her: "Should we go check what is singing? It’s... so beautiful."
My gaze shifted from her toward the direction of the beautiful song, and then I frowned.
"Weren’t we in a hurry to get somewhere?"
"Huh?" Ino looked at me with a profoundly confused expression.
Ino’s confusion made me frown deeper. I couldn’t gather my thoughts; I felt like we were in a hurry, but why?
’Am I forgetting something?’
I was about to call out to Aika when her voice suddenly echoed. ’Ced, do you mind if we go have a look? I’ve never heard something so beautiful before...’~~
Hearing that, my gaze shifted back to the direction of the voice, and at this point, even I couldn’t control the urge any longer.
It was indeed, irresistibly beautiful.
I looked to Ino and nodded toward the singing. "Alright, let’s go have a look."
She smiled, and we turned and began slowly swimming toward the direction of the voice. The closer we got, the louder and more beautiful it became.
I could feel my heart race in a dizzying anticipation, a mix of confusion and absolute, dangerous yearning.
As we kept getting closer, I began to think, ’What on earth could possess such a beautiful voice? Could a human being really sing like that?’
My confusion swiftly began to change into unsettling excitement.
But just then...
A series of notifications, violently popping up in red, caused me to flinch:
[The exclusive attribute Gamer Privileges has detected a distraction from immersion in the Gamer.]
[Cause of distraction: Compulsion.]
[Gamer Privileges has activated a Non-diegetic barrier.]
[Due to the effects of the Non-diegetic barrier, the Gamer has been granted brief partial willpower enhancement.]
Suddenly, even though I still couldn’t remember anything, like why I was in the water, or where I was going before I heard this voice, I began to have an instinctual, visceral feeling that the beautiful song I was swimming toward could actually be dangerous.
However, just as suddenly as that instinctual feeling came, it began to slowly disappear, replaced once again by the excitement I was feeling earlier.
When I noticed what was happening, I tried to hold onto the gut feeling. When it became too hard, and I felt myself about to lose it entirely, I stuck out my tongue and bit down as hard as I could.
Blood instantly filled my mouth, and the momentary shock caused me to flinch violently out of the compulsion.
Without wasting any time, I slapped my left ear three times, as hard as I could, until all I could hear in that ear was a high-pitched, deafening ringing.