Gemma stared through the window with wonder at the wildlife outside of our submersible. I also marveled at the amazing biodiversity of the fauna this deep in the ocean. Gemma pointed at something outside of the flexiglass cupola, which I strained over to see. "What kind of animal is that?" she asked, referring to a particularly strange looking and bright fish circling us. Suddenly, I heard a loud thud in front of me, and Gemma yelped. I grinned, saying, "Well, that's a female anglerfish! It was attracted to our sub as it has its crown lights on."

When I said that, Gemma looked flustered, and quickly turned off the exterior lights. "Can we go back now?"

Not until I show you these cool lava vents, I thought to myself as I put in the coordinates for my destination. Just as I was about to hit the gas pedal, (an anachronistic name, in my opinion) Gemma took control of the steering wheel and made us turn for home.

"What was that for?" I protested. She clearly doesn't like lava vents! Or those tube worms...

"Shhhh," Gemma whispered, with her pointer finger to her mouth. "I need silence!"

"Whatever you want, Your Majesty," I smirked smugly. "Aha! I was right!" Gemma said triumphantly, which confused me greatly. "Right about what?" I demanded, as the new Slicky cut through the water like a knife through butter. (I got it from my parents as a birthday gift, which was amazing! It felt right, after losing the original Slicky 2 months ago. Thanks Ma and Pa!)

"They were telling Zoe to get ready for 'a feast' about a minute ago—" WHAT?"—and I supposed that we should probably get back before the blueberry cream pie (Ma's specialty) was all gone," Gemma explained matter-of-factly. "I thought you could he—"

"You have a Dark Gift? Since when did you have such good hearing?" I interjected.

"Since Rip Tide."

"Wait... You could hear Ma and Pa, from 30 miles away, and over 2000 feet below their level?"

"Yes. If you'd stop flipping out about a simple Dark Gift, maybe we could actually get some pie!" Gemma exasperatedly replied, to which I shut up. However, I couldn't stop thinking about her Dark Gift. If she could fine-tune it, she would be a perfect spy on the Commonwealth, I thought. She'd know exactly what those greedy and corrupt politicians have planned for us. On another note, Shade would be so happy to find out about this. I suddenly remembered, with a tight stomach, that Shade was being held indefinitely in the Alfred P. Neuman Maximum Security Penitentiary for his many robberies of both private citizens and the Commonwealth.

I remained silent for the rest of the trip, looking around inside the brand-new, state-of-the-art submersible. We glided gracefully through the glowing water, at speeds that would be unheard of for the old Slicky. We also dove much deeper than what would be safe for my old vessel, but we were still well within the safe depth zone for this new vehicle. As it was, nothing else slowed our trip, and we made it back to the homestead in record time.

I climbed out of the Slicky for the first time in the sub's history, and emerged to see a rambunctious party which was also very orderly. After a quick hug with Ma and Pa, and quickly taking a slice of that famed pie, I darted to my room, closing the door as I entered.

Gemma soon knocked on the door, and I reluctantly let her in my room, replete with my treasured collection of valuable relics I had collected from my adventures subsea. However, we weren't the only ones in the room. When she was about to take hold of my hands, Zoe popped out of nowhere and emitted a guttural scream. I jumped, and my heart fluttered for a bit, before I realized what happened. By then, I was laughing at Zoe's face, which was very caricatured and contorted. On the other hand, Gemma didn't react as well to the scare as I had. She yelped and dove under my bedsheets, not willing to move one muscle in her body. Zoe was giggling quite loudly at Gemma's reaction, which cause Gemma to turn a shade more red than normal.

I shooed Zoe out of my room and shut the door, as I had something important to say to her. "Hey Gemma."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Uh, well... don't you think what happened 2 months ago was awfully fishy? I mean, I don't believe there were any extenuating circumstances which would have justified the Commonwealth's actions... unless..."

Gemma was in agreement. "Yeah, go on."

I continued, my breath now shaky, "Unless something very sinister has infiltrated and influenced the Commonwealth, causing it to be so harsh. Maybe—" I really hope what I'm about to say isn't true—"—Maybe whoever is behind all of this is..." I took a deep breath. "...is trying to target us. Specifically me. I don't know why, but I think that's what the shadowy puppet masters were trying to do."

After an agonizingly long pause, Gemma finally responded. "That actually makes sense. You probably got very lucky, because on most accounts, you'd most likely not still be here."

I nodded bitterly, prepared for the future. "This lucky streak is going to end soon. I don't know when, but I just know it will. However, contrary to my attackers' beliefs, I will not go down without a fight."

THE END.

Everything will die.

Nothing is safe.

Welcome to the Abyss.