Emmet's Revelation

Discovering how much he loved diving had been a real boon to Emmet, enhancing the quality of his existence with the vibrant colors and unique life that was indigenous to the underside of the ocean's surface. He could not imagine why it took him so long to make this discovery, although having to avoid the sunlight might have had something to do with it.

He had done some night dives in recent weeks, but found that he preferred diving when the sun was out, the natural light it provided as far down as fifty feet was preferable, plus there was something to be said for stepping out of the water and into the warm sunlight. As a vampire, the cold did not bother him, although he could feel it-but the direct sunlight on his skin, even with the limited passage the meshed polymer coating permitted the solar rays, felt like heaven!

As with mortals, the direct sunlight really enhanced the mood-and lacking the ability to get a sunburn or skin cancer, with it's accompanying wrinkles and liver spots, only added to the pleasure.

Emmet's one complaint about his new hobby, had to do with the fragility of his dive gear. He had yet to find a set of fins that would permit him to swim at more than a fraction of the pace he was capable of. The second he would put any real power into his legs, his fins would shred!

The mask was another problem. Even when he could remember to curb his enthusiasm, while relegating himself to swimming at just slightly above mortal speed, his diving mask was unable to withstand the pressure of the depths he wanted to dive too. He'd had over a dozen masks implode on him, never making it deeper than two hundred feet.

Even when swimming within the limits his fins imposed on him, he would have to hold onto the mask with both hands, or else the friction of the water rushing past would tear it from his face. It just wasn't...uh, "aquadynamic" enough (Emmet didn't know if that was even a real word- but he thought it should be).

Faced with such limitations really chapped his hide. He was used running at speeds to fast for the human eye to accurately register on land, as well as being able to use his full strength (as long as there weren't any mortals present). Being unable to do so underwater ran the risk of causing Emmet to grow bored with his new passion- and given the absence of aging, he did not want to grow bored any sooner than he had too, darn it!

Emmet's frustration had given rise to an unusual amount of research and creativity on his part.

Although he had attended countless high schools and colleges, posing as a young mortal male, he had only done enough studying to pass the class. Even with the enhanced intellectual capacity being a vampire had graced him with, academia bored him, add to that the inability to go out for sports due to his natural competitive nature as well as the fragility of humans, and Emmet attended school purely so he could be with his wife, Rose.

Now, however, he found himself drudging his memory for ideas that could provide a way for him to circumvent the limitations his diving gear placed upon him.

It occurred to him that the limitations of his diving mask had to do with it's construction; both the material it was made of, as well as it's contours. This realization led him to spending an entire night searching the Internet. What he found was a company that specialized in making customized windshields for race cars out of a substance called LEXAN.

LEXAN was a material that had two hundred and fifty times the impact strength of the standard tempered glass his previous diving masks had been composed of. It also has superior clarity along with half the weight of standard glass.

Emmet designed a mask that wrapped around his face in a semi-U shape, with it ending at his temples on either side. This permitted exceptional peripheral vision. He also eliminated the space for his nose to fit in, that was standard on all diving masks, adopting instead, a ski-goggle shape. The mask had dramatically rounded curves as well, and the tip of his nose actually extended a good half inch beyond his mask.

It took the company a good six weeks to create a mask that matched his specs, and cost Emmet a great deal of money, but in the end- he had a mask made for every member of the family to have one with two replacements each.

For the fins, Emmet actually had had an epiphany while wrestling with Jasper, in order to establish the tensile strength of the latest batch of polymer spray Esme had developed. When an hour had passed, during which he and his brother had really cut loose on each other, grappling, and raining down blows that would have reduced a block of granite to fine powder, and there was still no wear on the ultra thin polymer blend, Emmet realized that if such a thin layer of the stuff could withstand so much punishment, what could a half inch layer, tapering down to a sixteenth of an inch handle?

Taking quarter inch graphite alloy rods, he built a framework based on the general shape of a diving fin, except shorter, and wider-similar to a fan he remembered his mother using to cool herself off during summer months a century earlier.

Between the rods he wove a lightweight nylon mesh, then, taking a large container of the latest batch of polymer, Emmet dipped the skeletal frame into the substance repeatedly, similar to the process he used as a child, in the Ozarks, to make candles out of twine and tallow wax.

The finished product resembled a set of frog flippers, with the exception being that Emmet had added some bright yellow coloring, and some last minute additional framework that ran up the back of the calves, providing greater stability to the fins. They looked pretty good actually, and his family was quite impressed/surprised at his ingenuity. He didn't know whether to feel flattered by their praise, or insulted by their surprise.

Emmet smiled at the memories of the last few months, while letting the oceanic currents carry him where they may.

The visual acuity granted by his newly designed mask was astounding. As it was fully transparent, the peripheral view the mask provided him with almost felt as if he weren't even wearing a mask!

Deciding it was time to try the other half of of his project, Emmet gave an experimental kick of his legs, and was delighted at the fluid ease with which he moved through the water.

Emboldened by this, he tried a series of short, powerful kicks, and was rewarded with rocketing gracefully through the ocean depths. Whats more, his mask was not the least bit fazed by the movement.

Emmet had seen enough.

Cutting loose with reckless abandoned, he kicked his legs at full power, tucking his arms to his side to reduce any drag. The power the fins provided him with was both enormous, and flexible. He shot through the water with what was surely record breaking speed. In fact, the purchase his fins gave him in the water enabled him to swim even faster than he could run. Hell! Even faster than Edward could run!!

Gracefully twisting his torso, Emmet turned back towards the yacht, and within moments could see the dark silhouette of the ship's underside. Directing himself towards the surface, he poured on the speed- launching himself out of the water and over the the flying bridge!

"Wahoo!!!" Emmet crowed at the top of his lungs, an exultant gleam in his eyes. The Cullens looked up in astonishment as he sailed up, up, up and over their heads, diving into the water on the other side of the ship.

It worked. He had had an idea that wasn't a prank, and it worked!

Thrilled beyond measure at his unexpected success, Emmet rolled onto his back-slowly kicking his feet, moving lazily through the water, as he admired the effect the sun had on the water as it danced on the surface, and wondering what his family's response would be when he resurfaced.

Lost in thought, he was surprised when the sunlight suddenly disappeared, and he felt a delicate pressure on the outside of his stomach as he was gently tossed first one way, and then another.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Emmet thought incredulously, "I'm being attacked by a shark!"

Looking around, he found himself immersed in a toothy snowstorm, teeth falling all about him, as they broke off the mouth of the shark that was frantically beginning to realize it had bitten off more than it could chew.

"Huh," he thought "so this is what a shiatsu massage feels like."

Emmet looked around the inside of the shark's mouth, idly noting that based upon the shape of the tooth, and if the Discovery channel was to be believed, he was being "savaged" by a great white shark. He also noticed an artery angling down the shark's throat.

"I have always wondered what seafood tastes like." And without even pausing to wonder if it was compatible with his vampire body, tore into the artery.

The blood roared out of the open wound with impressive force, as Emmet clamped his lips over the flow. It punched him in the back of the throat, causing his eyes to widen in surprise as he took in the flavor. It was rich, meaty, fulfilling. Compared to this, human blood was even more bland than herbivore blood!

But the biggest shock of all, was that the fire in the back of his throat suddenly became quenched! Emmet was left with a feeling he had never known. Satisfaction. He felt beyond satiated. It was like having a deep itch for so long you've become accustomed to it, only to be astounded by relief when it is finally scratched.

The shark suddenly spasmed as it's heart gave out, weakened with blood loss, and died. Emmet reached down and pried open the jaws, wriggling out of the now dead shark's grasp.

Watching as the carcass of the predator turned prey spiraled out of sight, disappearing into the depths, he made his way back to the boat, his mind racing, opening with limitless possibilities.

Without the distraction of the thirst, the clarity of his thought process was beyond description.

Coming up on the boat, he launched himself from the surface once again, only this time, landing gracefully on the deck.

With a grin, Emmet removed his diving mask, prepared to receive a fair amount of praise over the effectiveness of his new diving gear. What he got instead, was a collective gasp of shock from his family as he looked up.

"Emmet," Rose whispered "your eyes- they're green!"