Summary: Tohru receives tickets for the luxury cruise upon the Poseidon for her birthday, along with 9 other people from the Sohma family. Midway through the cruise, the ship is fatally struck by a rogue wave, and is capsized. Now Tohru must find out where everyone else is and escape the bowels of the ship before it slips under the ocean's waves. But not everyone can survive fate. . .

Poseidon
Chapter Fifteen
Storage Deck Two

The stairway to Storage Deck Two was very basic. The walls were grey and high, and a few lamps lit the dank space. The staircase itself was a black, steel one, which swayed slightly as the group ascended the stairs. They had to be careful not to go too close to the edges, as they were not protected by a barrier.

They climbed the four flights of stairs and came up to a door similar to that of the door for Storage Deck One. Since the main power had been knocked out now, the door opened.

"We have to hurry now," said Matake, in almost a whisper "the main power generators have been shut down, these lights and basic electronics are running on battery power, which lasts only hours."

They stepped over the threshold of Storage Deck Two, to a see a scene similar to that of Storage Deck One; a mess. Again, there was the library-like wall-to-ceiling shelves, all packed with boxes in them, protected by a cloth-mesh fence. And again, in places some of the cloth-mesh fencing had snapped under the weight of the boxes during the capsizing and had spilled the contents to the floor.
They walked cautiously to the other side of the room, without much trouble, especially compared to that of Storage Deck One.
They did come to some dead ends, however, as this room was just as big as the previous one.
All was calm in this room, which was very unnerving as they clambered over the collapsed boxes to reach the door to supposed safety.

They eventually came to the door. It looked as though it had been blasted open by something. It was severely disfigured, and wouldn't even fit into its frame properly; not a good sign.

"Okay, we have to keep going, come on," said Kyo, leading the group out of Storage Deck Two and into a dank, dirty corridor.

Lights were again on the floor, and ran the length of the corridor. They periodically sparked and fluttered on and off again. Trace amounts of water were also evident below them, as they proceeded down the corridor, sometimes their feet made a soft splashing sound.
Doors were on each side, and were a few feet apart.

"Where are we? Which way do we go now?" asked Kyo, looking at Matake; the rest of the group doing the same.

"We're in the crew quarters. Anyway, the engine rooms are just above us," replied Matake "if we can somehow get up there, there are propeller tubes known as bow thrusters which could lead to helping us get out of here."

"Wait, a sec," said Haru, looking at Matake "what do you mean 'could'?"

"Well," replied Matake, a sweat drop running the length of his face "There's always a chance there's no chance of escaping that way."

"What?" breathed Tohru, holding a hand to her chest.

"Look," said Matake, holding out his hands "I've never said I could guarantee we could get out of here. I've never once said 'There is definitely a way out', have I?"

"So, you've been leading us on?" said Yuki, disgust plastered on his face.

"No," replied Matake "I merely came with you, to help you with the ship's anatomy, and to a possible escape. No one here has been guaranteed to get out, not even me."

"He's got a point," said Ren "we need to keep our hopes up that hopefully there'll be someone, or something to help us get out."

The ship rocked slightly, and the group began to slip down the corridor. Items began to shift down the corridor as well.

"What's happening?!" shouted Tohru, clinging to a fire hose to stop herself falling.

"The ships beginning to sink!" shouted Matake "the stern has sunk under the water! We gotta get going, now!"

And they began to run, against the rising bow of the ship. They began to slip and slide as the trickles of water began to splash down the corridor.
And suddenly, ahead of them, a wall of water was making its way down the corridor.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" shouted Matake, throwing himself into a nook in the corridor.

The group ran into doors and opened them and into the rooms to avoid the oncoming wave of water.
They heard the water slam past them and crash into the other side of the corridor, further down. As quickly as it had happened, it was over.
They slowly crept out of their hiding places, to see the bow had been drained of water completely.

"Okay," said Matake, taking in a deep breath "we can get moving, and quickly!"

"Wait!" said Tohru, looking around the six of them "w-where's Shigure?"

Indeed it seemed Shigure was nowhere to be seen. Ren looked down the corridor, and began to walk forwards.

"Shigure!" shouted Tohru, hands to her mouth, which made no difference to the loudness of her voice "Shigure, come out now! It's safe!"

"Tohru!" shouted Ren, from further down the corridor, waving frantically to get their attention.

The five of them ran over to Ren's side, to see Shigure's lifeless body, at the edge of the water, face up, his eyes closed, not breathing.

Tohru dropped to her knees next to Shigure. "Shigure?" she asked, wiping the hair out of his face "Shigure!" She began to shake him. "Shigure, wake up!" she shouted, shaking him more violently.

Ren gently nudged Tohru aside, and began administering CPR onto Shigure; beating down on Shigure's chest with his hands, and blowing air into his open mouth.
After a couple of minutes, still nothing had happened, Shigure remained as lifeless as he had done when they found him.

"Tohru..." Ren began, finally stopping the administration of CPR "I'm afraid-"

"No!" shouted Tohru, clinging around Shigure's neck "I won't believe it! Shigure wake up!" She cried the last part, trailing off and sobbing.

Kyo, Yuki and Haru all fell to their knees. Another one of their party taken by the Poseidon's unending and mighty wrath.

Ren and Matake looked sombre. They sat there in quiet appreciation, as the ship groaned and creaked around them, still continuing its journey to the bottom of the ocean.
Finally, it was Matake who spoke.

"You do know we need to move on," he said solemnly, putting a hand on Tohru's shoulders "this ship isn't gonna stop sinking until it's hit the ocean floor."

Tohru nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. She kissed Shigure's cold forehead "G'night," she whispered softly to him. Kyo, Yuki and Haru all said their goodbyes, and slowly, but surely, the group began to once again make their way across the corridor.

"There should be a hatch of some sort to get into the engine room above us," said Matake, looking above him, everyone else doing the same "Just look for a hatch."

"There was a hatch in the floor of the crew quarters to the engine rooms?" asked Tohru, looking slightly disgusted "surely the noise is unbearable?"

"Nah, it's not that bad," replied Matake, still eyes upon the ceiling "it's only there to make it more convenient for the crew who work down there." he added "Oh, here we go!"

They all looked up at the same spot; where a hatch was wedged in a tiny gap in the wall, to stop people accidentally tripping over it. It was shut tight, and there was no ladder to help them up.

"What're we gonna do?" asked Ren, looking around the group.

"I tell you what," said Kyo, standing directly underneath the hatch "we'll just-"

He was cut off as the wheel on the hatch began to twist, with an all-mighty squeak. It fell open and a body dropped to the floor. Everyone screamed as Tohru ran to Kyo's aid.

"Oops, sorry about that..." said an all too familiar voice.

It wasn't until they looked long enough to see that Ayame was there. Stood right there. Like a knight in shining armour.
The group was dumbfounded.

"A-Aya!" shouted Tohru, suddenly feeling as though she'd been hit in the face "Ayame! You're alive!"

And Yuki, Haru, and even Kyo hugged him. There were tears in their eyes.

"We didn't think you'd made it," said Yuki, pulling away and wiping the tears out of his eyes "that's why we left."

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Ayame, his tone of superiority suddenly taking over "it is I who should apologise to you. You see, after the Poseidon capsized, I was thrown away from both Haru and Yuki. I got trapped under a table, which was on the ceiling, and called for help from a group of survivors, who were making their way out. They happily obliged, and we've been searching for a way out since."

"You never bothered to come back for us?" asked Yuki, looking at Aya.

"I did look for you," began Ayame "but the group urged me onwards, and plus I couldn't find you anywhere from where I was."

"Well, we were unconscious," said Haru, folding his arms "and Yuki was under a pile of people, whilst I was under a a metal rigging."

"See?" replied Aya "I never would've found you."

"Can we continue this conversation after we've left the ship?" asked Tohru, the others nodded in agreement. "Anyway, Aya. How many people are in your group?"

"Well," said Aya "There's only four of us now. Many of our party..."

"It's okay," said Tohru, putting a hand on Aya's shoulder "People from our party have died as well." With that, she slowly nodded down the corridor, to Shigure's lifeless body. Aya shuddered with shock.

"Shigure?" he asked, running over to Shigure's body "Shigure! No, this can't be!" And he stopped, looking over at Tohru "And... Ha'ri... And... Ritsu...?"

"Both of them died during the ship's capsizing," replied Tohru, tears welling up in her eyes.

Aya sobbed, hitting a fist on Shigure's body. "No!" he screamed "This isn't happening!"

Tohru walked over to him and gently held his hand "There's nothing we can do," she said sympathetically "we have to keep going on. After all, it's what the others would want."

"Yes," replied Aya, standing up, still looking at Shigure "You're quite right." his tone changed to one of authority "Right! Come along gang, we must get out of this God-forsaking ship!"

With that, three people descended from the hatch, two girls, and a boy. All roughly about seventeen to twenty five in age.
The all looked extremely panic-stricken. The slightest noise would make them all jump, and their heads would immediately scan the room quickly to check where it had come from.

Whilst Tohru began to walk over to the hatch, Aya walked over to the door of Storage Deck Two. Tohru stopped, so did Aya as they looked quizzically at one another.

"Aya," asked Tohru "where are you going? The exit is the way you just came."

"That way is a dead end," replied Aya, beginning to open the deformed door "We need to go back and take the alternate route."

"Aya, wait!" said Kyo, running over and shutting the door again "That way is-"

Suddenly, the ship vibrated violently, the lights flashing on and off again. They all screamed as the people in Aya's party ran to the door, screaming "This is the way!"

They forced open the door, and ran through Storage Deck Two, as the lights flickered into life and out. Tohru and her group ran after them, screaming "NO! WAIT! IT'S FLOODED!". But the group carried on relentless, as the sound of metallic groaning and creaking roared around them.
They ran down the stairs past Storage Deck Two, and came to a just-over-waist-high waterline. They began to turn the wheel of the room, as Tohru shot through, screaming.

"WAIT!" she screamed with all her might "THAT ROOM IS FLOODED! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!!!"

But it was too late, the door swung open, knocking the three people into the wall, crushing them. Water poured into the room, literally up the first two flights of stairs in seconds, and continued to climb up at an alarming rate.

Tohru ran through Storage Deck Two, slamming the door to the staircase behind her, screaming.

"THEY OPENED THE DOOR!!" she screamed, running to meet the others "They opened the door we have to move NOW!!!"

They heard a loud bang behind them, and the sound of rushing water.

"CLOSE THIS DOOR!" shouted Kyo, slamming it shut, as water poured through the gaps.

"It'll never hold!" shouted Ren, turning the wheel on the door.

"Quick, into the hatch!" shouted Kyo. Pushing everyone along.

The water began to pour through more violently now. Hitting the other side of the corridor with extreme force.

"That way is a dead end!" shouted Aya to Kyo.

"What other choice do we have?!" shouted Kyo, ushering everyone over to the hatch "You stay here, you die! We'll find a way!"

Matake had hoisted Tohru, Ren, Yuki, Haru, Aya then Kyo, before everyone reached down to grab him. Suddenly, the door burst open. Matake screamed as a colossal wall of water headed directly for him.
He gave one final scream as the water pounded him in his side, sweeping him away instantly, as the barrage of water ran past them.
Tohru screamed as they slammed the hatch shut; the water pouring into the room below still vividly heard.
The group were shaking. What had just happened? The ship was in its final moments of being above sea level, and they still had the engine rooms to navigate. Without the help of Matake, they would have to rely on maps to aid them out of the bowels of the ship.

"The only way is on," said Kyo, as they entered a door, into the vast engine rooms.

(A/N: Okay, action-packed chapter there! Hope you all enjoyed it! I know I'm mean for killing the cast off, I'm sorry! Okay, we're into the final run of Poseidon now. I think after about four more chapters (ish) that will be it! Phew, it's been a ride like no other! Anyway, check back for more!)