Shina looked all around her, and she felt a chill down her spine. There were no fish around her. The plants were oddly shaped, some of them spiked, some were huge curved tubes that wound in circles, some were coral like colored an aqua blue and were unusually large, and some were like small circular compartments that looked like spores.

Just as shina was looking around she felt Ecco forcefully nudge her in the other direction.

"SHINA! GO!!! SWIM AWAY!!!!" Ecco yelled at her. Shina had no idea what was going on, but she shot off like a thunder bolt through the clear blue water, past many more strange plants. She didn't dare look back to see what she was swimming away from, but somehow she could feel that it was gaining on her. She swam as fast as she could, until she could feel the creature moving in the water behind her. Shina heard the creature shout in pain as Ecco rammed into it's chest, and Shina dove into one of the hollow spore like plants for protection. She could still hear Ecco charging at whatever it was, it sounded like Ecco was winning the battle. Panting, she looked out of the plant only to see what was chasing her.

Shina couldn't breathe. She backed even farther into the hole as she looked at the beast. She had never been so horrified in her entire life.

" What......is......that......" she gasped. What she saw was something hard to describe. It was as if the creature was an entirely new species. It looked as if the foe had tortured it, scraped it's skin with jagged plants, starved the color out of it's body, and let it decay until the creature was so vicious it would attack anything it saw. It must have used to have been a shark..... It had layers of skinny jagged teeth, hundreds more then what they normally have- almost like the plants that she saw........It had red eyes.....filled with blood, just as hungry for it..........

Shina was gasping with fear. She huddled as far back into the plant as she could, and curled into a ball. She didn't want to know what was happening. She didn't care. All she wanted was to go home. Home to security, to feeling safe, to normal waters, to her friends, even the regular sharks would be an improvement! Shina could feel her eyes stiffening and filling up with warm tears.

"I can't take any more of this...." she whispered, "I'm not strong enough......I never will be.......I don't want this! Why did you do this to me, guardian!?!"

Shina weeped in her arms. She was alone in this. Sure, Ecco was going to help her, but Shina didn't even know him that well, and she knew that she was incapable of being able to beat these creatures. As she was sobbing, she felt Ecco nudge her.

"Shina, Shina please don't cry..........please, what's wrong? It's alright..." he reassured her.

"Ecco, Ecco, I just.....I'm trying so hard and I........I just can't......I'm not doing this.....I can't do this......" Shina mumbled through her sobs.

"Shina, I can't force you to do this. You already know that fate depends upon us. But, I can't make you do this if you don't want to. I understand you're too scared of what's out there. That shark was vicious, and this whole world is so strange and foreign. You can never tell if something is going to attack you, or what's safe. But do you want to live in a place that will turn into this someday? A world destroyed into a twisted reality because we didn't stop the foe? How would you feel if your very home turned into this?" Ecco questioned.

Shina whimpered, "I don't know what I'd do........"

"Then help me stop it." Ecco said.

"But I can't! I can't face my fears!" Shina cried.

Ecco replied, " That's what you think, but I know, deep down, you're stronger then you think. If you face your fears, maybe it will help you to defeat them. Like I promised, I will protect you from any harm. After all, I did just save you from that shark, didn't I?"

Shina sighed, " Yeah.........but that's so much easier said than done......facing my fears.....how could I face my fears without getting killed?"

Ecco nodded, " I've cleared this area of all the sharks. The only thing that's around are clan members and some caves. If you talk to the clan members and gather information for me, I will know you have faced your fears."

" Alright........ but how will talking to clan members help me face my fears?" Shina questioned.

"You'll see. There's a main area in the middle of tis village. Go inside and follow the small rooms until you get to the main one. There, you will face one of your fears as well. I know you are ready for this Shina. We're starting small, so don't worry. Don't be afraid, the clan members may seem agressive but they won't hurt you. They are far too weak from hunger. I have to find them some food. Meet me her after you finish your tasks. I know you can do this." Ecco said.

" I'll try........I guess......I have no choice but to try......." Shina stated.

Ecco swam off into the distance as Shine watched him disappear into the aqua blue abyss.

"I have to do this. I have to." Shina closed her eyes and repeated the phrase in her head many times until she knew she could go on. She slowly swam toward a large set of gates covered in colorful designs. Suddenly she heard a ding of a bell echo in the water.

It was coming from one of the strange read and gold spiked plants near the gate. It must have been Ecco that sounded off the bell of the plants. Then Shina got her first glimpse of a clan member.

It was almost all crimson red- with red eyes, just like the shark. It had large spikes near it's fin, and it had strange markings on it's side. It looked very aggressive.

"Is it going to attack me..........." Shina whispered to herself.

But the clan member just gathered to the bell plant and danced around it, ignoring Shina.

"The plant must attract it." Shina felt safer, knowing she didn't have to worry about those clan members. The gates suddenly opened for her. She looked at the large structure in front of her. Off to the sides were more clan members prancing around the strange plants. The structure itself was very large, strange, and circular. It was very foreign to Shina.

"This must be what Ecco was talking about," She thought as she circled the structure looking for some sign of life," I just don't know what he wants me to do."

Just then Shina could hear the sound of a door opening behind her. Her head jerked backward as she looked inside of the giant building.

Inside everything was dark. It was a dreary, deep blue, with strange spheres of coral and jagged rocks. There was dead seaweed of a deep, deep green that Shina had never seen before. She could see a tiny bit of a small entrance to another part of the building on the other side of the room, but Shina hesitated.

"I don't know if I should do this. I mean, once I go in, I could be trapped. But Ecco said everything was safe, right. I have no choice. I'm sick of being afraid. I'm sick of this. I have to do this. Just go. Go."

Shina clenched her eyes tightly as she propelled herself into the dark room. She heard the door close behind her.

"Stop!!!" She charged back to the door but it was to late. It was closed, and it wasn't opening again. She had no choice but to go on. She cautiously looked around her as she swam to the next entrance. She peered into the next room. Same exact things. A dark, dreary room with dead seaweed and jagged rocks. It was eerie and cold. She continued swimming until she reached a door.

"There's a button right next to this door...... But it's what's behind the door that I'm worried about."

Shina's hand slowly over towards the button that opened the door. She knew that there was no turning back.

"I know that behind this door, is something that will terrify me. I know I we be afraid. I am now. But I can't do this anymore. I can't be afraid when I have so much responsibility. I have to face this, no matter how painful it is. Breathe Shina......Breathe......."

Shina hand gently presses the button as the door shrieks open.

"Oh my....."

"WHO'S THERE!?"

"I...... STOP!"

Shina screamed out at the clan leader. She looked ahead of her into a giant circular room, devoid of any life except for her, the clan member, and the dolphin being tortured.

The clan leader was huge, a deep black color with gigantic razor spikes lining his back. His eyes were a bloody red, and he looked angry. He was operating a strange machine at the end of the room.

Shina looked at the center of the room, to her horror, as a dolphin was strapped down by some sort of electric force field as the clan leader tortured him with lasers that circled the room and tore away at his porcelain flesh.

"Who are you!? This is a restricted area!?" The leader yelled.

"Stop it! What are you doing to him! Stop it, stop it!!!!!" Shina yelled.

The clan leader swam across the room towards Shina.

Shina froze in place as she watched the clan leader prepare to charge at her. She clenched her eyes shut and held her hands cowardly in front of her face.

The leader pulled back his tail and blew forward straight towards Shina in a single blow.....

Shina burst out her arms at the leader and grabbed a spike near his face and ripped it off.

The leader screamed in pain.

"Get out immediately! NOW! I WILL KILL YOU!" He shrieked.

Shina looked around for someone to help hr, but there was nothing there. She was alone.

The leader charged again, blood running out from where Shina had attacked him. Shina screamed and shoved him backward with all of her might, as she felt his horns dig into her arms and pierce her breast.

Shina swam backward as she watched the leader slam into the wall. She looked down and saw blood trailing from her arms and bosom. She could feel the stinging pain of the salt water burning the wounds, deep and searing.

She looked back at the prisoner. His eyes were nearly closed. He was near death from the leader's torturing. His skin had turned green from all of the chemicals and electrocution he had been trough. His fins were stretched and bound to the floor. Shina could see there was no hope in his eyes.

The clan member was ready to attack again, and Shina could feel the anger burn inside of her. What kind of creature could torture its own kind? For power, for greed, for ignorance. Shina was not going to die now. She was not going to let this evil win over her.

The leader prepared to charge again, screeching a loud wail near Shina.

"STOP!" Shina screamed, with a force guiding her, she swelled her tailfin upward with a bold whip of power. The clan leader crashed on the ceiling with a crackling thud, breaking the ceiling open and burst into pieces that quickly disappeared.

"What....What did I do......."

Shina looked around, still in disbelief.

"I... I killed him.... I killed him... I did it.." Shina said to herself, in shock.

"Oh my... the prisoner!"

Shina quickly went to the other end of the room and shut off the torture machine. She swam to the prisoner and un-strapped him from the machine.

"What have they done to you........."

She looked in his eyes. She felt a chill go down her spine. He was still alive, but Shina could see he had lost hope long ago. It was a familiar look in his eyes, she had seen it before. In the other world, with the mutated dolphins in the sickly green water, they had the same look in their eyes. Shine remembered those eyes, the eyes of lost hope, loneliness, nobody to save them.

"They need me......"

Shina gently picked up the dolphin and swam out of the ceiling with the prisoner nearly dead in her arms.

The clan members were still dancing around the plants as she made here way to the village to meet Ecco. Her own wounds were the last thing on her mind. She just wanted to save this dolphin.

She found Ecco in the center village.

"You faced him," Ecco said, "You faced your fear"

"I... I guess, please, we need to save this dolphin, he was being tortured and he's near death..... we have to save him!" Shina said.

"Put him inside of that plant, over there. There are dolphins there who can nurse him back to health. But What about you?" Ecco asked.

Shina didn't even have time to answer before she rocketed off to the nursing plant. She dropped off the prisoner and sadly said goodbye.

"Don't loose hope. Never lose hope." Shina said to the sickly dolphin as she swam off to Ecco.

"You're bleeding. You were hurt. Eat these fish, they'll regain your health." Ecco sid.

"I'm fine. I don't need help, they're just scrapes. Ecco, I don't understand." Shina asked

"Don't understand what, Shina?" Ecco asked.

"Why the foe did this. Why they turned dolphins against each other. Why they would go through all of this trouble, for what?" Shina asked.

"Because they want to dominate over the guardian. The guardian's power protects us, it offers us salvation and eternal happiness in Atlantis. The foe wants to destroy the guardian and all who follow it. The foe is jealous of it's power, perfection, and Godliness. The foe will do whatever it takes to gain that power, unless we stop it." Ecco replied.

"We have to......" Shina said. "I can't watch this happen to these creatures anymore. Let's go."

"To the next world? But you're inj-"

"I'm fine Ecco. We have to stop this, now. Let's go." Shina interrupted.

"Just be careful," Ecco replied.

Shina held out her arm and closed her eyes and she and Ecco felt a cold chill of darkness surround them.....