Right before I uploaded the third chapter, I was hit by some motivation issues and some larger priorities. Up until this point, I was writing ahead a lot, so I could update every other day, but I've caught up now. So, after this, updates are probably going to be a bit farther apart.

From the moment it started, the adventure started to go wrong. First of all, Sky realized that he still didn't know how to swim as a squid. Every time he had tried, he thought that he had it, but then he reverted back to strokes that would have let a human travel just fine, but couldn't get him anywhere as a squid. Ross had already started swimming away, but Teuthida had hung back for a little while. "Teuthida? I have a bit of a stupid question to ask you," Sky said.

"It's probably not as stupid as you think." Teuthida said.

"How do I swim?"

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a moment until Teuthida answered. "Wow. That actually was a stupid question. That's absolutely ridiculous. Don't tell me you can't swim. Not knowing how to swim is like not knowing how to breathe. Besides, weren't you swimming just a few minutes ago? Ross burst through that wall, and you swam right up to him, perfectly naturally and easily." Sky blinked in surprise. He hadn't thought about that. Come to think of it, it hadn't been thinking about it when he was doing it either. He told Teuthida about this, and she nodded slowly. "That could be why you're having trouble swimming," She said. "The more you think about doing it, the more awkward and difficult it gets."

That sounded pretty accurate, but it wasn't helping Sky at all. As it turned out, trying not to think about swimming while Sky was swimming was pretty difficult. In the end, they decided it would be best if Sky just held on to Ross, so that they wouldn't have to slow down for him. Sky glared halfheartedly at Teuthida, who had swum up to Ross and was explaining the situation. As Sky watched, he saw that both of them were trying to keep from laughing. Whatever. Sky couldn't really blame them for finding this funny.

Ross swam back, and Sky grabbed hold of his hand. They swam on silently and awkwardly. The second problem came when they all realized they had no idea if they could find anyone from the Sky Army. The nearest base to the ocean that Sky knew of was the base that had just been taken over by the squids, and that was the last place he wanted to go. They ended up travelling along the coastline, searching for a river that led inland.

Sky stared absently at the sandy bed below them, the water so shallow that he could touch the sand and still hold on to Ross. Ross had turned out to have the most stamina of them all, and even Teuthida had grown exhausted, despite being the most experienced swimmer, and was now clinging to Ross's horn, nearly asleep. Ross found the mouth of a river and turned inland.

A few minutes into the river, the water started to get weird. It slid through Sky's gills oddly, lacking some distinctive feeling to it that he hadn't noticed until it was gone. It was enough to wake up Teuthida, who muttered "Fresh water." with obvious disdain in her voice. Then she promptly fell back asleep. Well. That would explain it. Ross started to rise towards the surface, taking Sky and Teuthida with him. When Ross's head poked up above the water, the sudden removal from water woke up Teuthida. However mockingly graceful she was in water, she was hardly impressive out of it. She briefly scrabbled for a better grip on Ross's horn before slipping back into the water. She bobbed to the surface a moment later, the dawn light illuminating the indignant expression on her face. Wait a second, Sky thought. Has this journey been entirely at night? Now that he thought about it, Sky remembered how Ross had been squinting while he swam, as if he was trying to make out something hard to see. But Sky had seen everything just fine, and Teuthida hadn't seemed to have any problems with the light level. Did this mean squids could see in the dark? Sky had to admit, that was a pretty useful ability.

Ross cried out in joy. "I see something!" He pointed towards the horizon, and Sky looked to where he was pointing. He could make out a building, located a safe distance away from the water. Ross hauled himself ashore, tail flopping uselessly for a second before it separated back into legs. Ross stood up, glancing back at Sky. "I'll be back in just a minute!" With that he set off running towards the base.

Sky and Teuthida were left floating awkwardly next to each other. "So… what's life like for you?" Sky asked, desperate to break the silence. "Anybody you left to come here? Friends, crushes, family?" Teuthida shrugged evasively.

"For the most part, I tried to avoid talking to anyone, and I never really knew my family all that well. So, really, nobody important to me back there. Although, there was this one squid I knew who I liked. Her name was Seafoam. She was really great. Whenever I got excited about something, she listened to what I was saying. Whenever I felt overwhelmed by crowded places, she would help me find somewhere quiet. Whenever I was sad, she knew how to cheer me up." Teuthida had started smiling while talking about Seafoam, but she now she frowned sadly. "She was the best squid I ever knew."

"Wait… what do mean was?" Sky asked.

"She… she died."

"How?" Sky asked. In response, Teuthida stared in the direction where Ross had gone. "Oh…" Sky said, trailing off. There were two things that Teuthida could mean by that, and neither of them were good. "I'm so sorry." He said, feeling like the words didn't properly express how he felt about this.

"Mhmm." Teuthida replied. They floated there silently for about a minute, the fresh water stinging their gills. "I'm going to find something to eat," Teuthida muttered, diving beneath the surface of the water. Sky was left alone, stuck floating in the same spot. Well, maybe he could use the time to practice swimming.

Swimming practice didn't go well. Sky still ended up flailing in place, struggling to find the right way to move his tentacles to propel himself forward. Sky frowned. Fine then. He didn't even really want to swim well. He felt awkward and out of place in his new body, but the last thing he wanted to do was get comfortable with it, because that was practically admitting he was in this for the long haul.

He paced in the water, frustrated with all that had been thrown at him in the last day. Wait, he thought. If I'm pacing, then I'm moving, then I'm swimming! Energized by this realization, he tried to keep doing what he was doing. Sure, he was a little less graceful then he would have liked to be, but he was moving, and that was certainly progress.

Ross appeared back into view, bringing with him a recruit. Sky recognized this recruit as the kid who had knocked him into the ocean with their shield/ giant magical hamster ball. "She can help!" Ross said. "Ophelia can see any enchantment or spell, and I bet she can find out exactly how this happened!" Ophelia smiled awkwardly, and Sky swam up so that Ophelia could see whatever spell he had been put under.

That was when the third problem happened. Ophelia inhaled sharply when she saw Sky, and turned to Ross. "Ross, are you certain that Sky never takes his amulet off?" Ross nodded. "Yeah. A hundred percent certain. Why do you ask?" Sky had heard some pretty terrifying things before. Those flying squids from that one mod, the roar of an enraged dragon, and, on one memorable occasion, the collective hiss of 24 charged creepers. But nothing had ever terrified him as much as what Ophelia said next.

"He's not under a spell. His amulet was the only thing keeping him human."