Deep dive

Berlin

"Control over water. Very useful, then." Berlin made her assessment of the girl curtly, feeling only a vague sliver of satisfaction. "As for myself, it would be pointless to worry about it. If, however, I tell you to close your eyes, it would be in your best interest to obey." How annoying would it be if her own allies forgot her in the middle of an altercation?

She nodded curtly after hearing 'A'amakualenalena's explanation. Though her eyes were fixed on the teacher, her focus was on the other creature beside him. Even though this one was much smaller than 'A'amakualenalena, the air of hostility had caught Berlin's attention. Instantly, she was wary of the piece of gelatin resting in her palm. Who knew what kind of chemicals could be floating around in it? She dearly wanted to sent it off to a lab for testing but she was not willing to take the risk of having it work ineffectively -if it worked at all- just because her curiosity prevented her from taking the full dose.

But she refused to take it yet, before every reasonable question had been answered. The student who had asked the latest one, Berlin recognized as a girl from her journalism class. Morgan has always been a diligent student. Good manners, strong powers. Berlin had no complaints about Morgan Ferris at all.

The other three, however, were a different story. Two of them were unknowns, much like the water adept over there. One of them, she believed had recently come onto her class roster. Eznier Veralius, compeller, no criminal history, no known ties to factions, syndicates, or cooperations. Like with all of her students, Berlin had run a basic background check on him. And by basic, she really did mean bare-bones. Uninterested in family life and other such details -it hard to mentally keep track of so many people, especially students who were lower down on the threat scale- she had concentrated only on powers and connections.

This is, by far, the most chaotic group I have ever seen.

Even though his stomach was still knotted up with worry, Krys' resolve managed to beat back his nervousness to ingest the small gelatinous mass in his hand. Grabbing on to one of the strands connected to Lelei's harness, the boy managed to get to the water just in time. Gasping as his lungs felt they were burning, the shock made him take a few moments to remember that he needed to be breathing water. He thrust his head below the water, taking a deep breath as if he had always done it this way.

It felt so different to breath water, a heaviness in his lungs that he'd never felt before. Still, probably thanks to what he had been given, it felt so natural that he wondered why he'd never tried to do it before. The thoughts began to confuse him so he shook his head, concentrating on Lelei instead. Blushing at how shapely and nude the shark man's body was, he was trying to mimic the placement of the older man's fins for Krys' own crystal ones. He'd watch how Lelei swam, trying to copy him best so he wouldn't have to worry about another human keeping hold of him.

~~~~~

Eznier almost missed the explanation, unable to tear his eyes away from Lelei and his friend. The more he watched them move, especially in the water, the more he was appreciating the movement of their muscles and how the water glistened off of their skin. The thought of how that rough texture would feel against his own sent a shiver down the boy's spine. While still working on his mental control, he had enough command over his physical body to prevent his own fin from growing suddenly.

Popping his own amphibelly as he grabbed one of the strands, he thrust his head underwater to prepare for the sudden need for its oxygen. Spluttering a bit before it took effect, he found breathing underwater to be far easier than he thought. Deciding that the magic inside what he'd just eaten was making him feel this way, he took a few practice strokes while still holding the strand. He'd be keeping an eye on the two shark men, both to try to learn how they swam and just because he liked watching them in general.

She smiled a bit as the older girl told her that her powers would be useful. She sure hoped so. Considering that what was about to happen would involve a lot of water. She knew that a lot of other powers would be pretty much useless for the adventure that she and the others that had arrived would be going on. As she looked around, it seemed that two other people had join in on their secretive adventure. Great. As she listened to the fishy thing that was in a way their guide to the underwater world they would soon experience. As she stepped closer to the older girl, she tried not to make much of a scene, as she stayed quiet and didn't talk. As he wanted everyone to strap onto him, so that they could all go down into the water safely, she got closer to the shark.

Strapping herself in firmly, she nodded to him to say that she was ready. She could have easily just made an air bubble around her head, but she decided that she may as well follow the shark's introductions. Eating the thing that they had given her, it tasted funny, but she swallowed it anyways. Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the water with everyone else. She didn't need to worry about them having to pull her down, she could swim very well. Touching her legs, she made an air bubble around them, making her able to kick her feet and legs much faster, as if she was running on land. Using her hand s as jets, she speeded herself up closer to her guides, it was still rather hard for her to see underwater, but she manage. Looking back at the people that didn't have such well fit powers, she wondered how they were coping with the change. She loved water, so this adventure was a treat for her.

"Oh were leaving now? I figured id have more time to prepare..." Morgan said as the two shark people started moving into the water, she quickly began taking off her clothes, storing them in the duffle bag she had brought. Underneath her casual outfit she wore a dark blue full body swimsuit, the type that deep sea divers would wear. She started doing some warm up stretches but quickly realized she was being left behind, she made her way into the water following the shark men, grabbing one of the straps attached to the larger one. Before her head went under Morgan ingested the amphibellie, and threw her head underwater, it felt completely natural to be breathing water as if she had been able to do it her entire life. Morgan began the process of choosing which spirit to use, obviously Magmos would be useless underwater, and for a dangerous task like this would be made even more dangerous by adding Fuhbars unreliability, she made the decision that when the time came for combat she would bond with Glaceau, her ice abilities could be useful underwater.

Berlin

She pursed her lips together in a thin line as the rope was handed to her. Well, at least she had no issue with the plan itself. That was a start, although the woman still had strong doubts about the abilities of this group as a whole. There only a little comfort in the fact that A'amakualenalena seemed to be -based on the data currently available to her- unusually large for his species and thus was probably most capable of assisting them.

The gelatin tasted light, with the pungent flavor of seawater as an aftertaste. Stepping into the water, she waited for a few moments. It was not until that breathing air became taxing on her lungs that she ventured deeper, until the waves came over her head. The sensation of breathing water felt surprisingly pure. The air on the mountains of Switzerland where she had trained came to mind. She would have to remember not be lulled by the false sense of security.

Most of her supplies had been specially prepared for underwater usage, so she could count on them functioning well enough. There would always be problems, however, and of course explosives underwater would be far less effective than explosives on the land. That said, Miss Pham's more unstable pieces of magic seemed just enough to accomplish small scale destruction.

Although, I suppose I could have done without the suit. But it was perfectly good for most types of environments -underwater or otherwise- barring extreme cold or heat. The problem that Berlin had with it was where it had come from -that abominable network of mind controlled puppets. Despite her prejudices, though, she had to concede that the network's work was good and a waste to not take advantage of.

She frowned a bit as the water resisted her movements, despite her readiness. This was why she had never been found of deep sea work. She had gone to the bottom of the Red Sea once, and then after that, had refused anymore work in that field. In a little while, she would get used to it. For now, she simply twisted the rope into a handhold and held on.