lotusfish

[lotusfish]

the swamp monster |pt.1| r.itoshi

a/n : hello everynyan! ive been so deep in blk brainrot lately and ive been reading so many ffs on here and drafted one up myself... ive been bored so thought why not post my own. please excuse the bad grammar as english isnt my first language and i dont think my writing is that great. however if you do decide to read this, thank you!

ALL CHARACTERS ARE AGED UP! READER USES FEMININE PRONOUNS!

3K WORDS!

NOT PROOFREAD... ;(

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Congratulations! You’ve been accepted as our newest team member of Blue Lock, the leading team of Science and Technology. Please confirm your details below… 

“Huh…?” 

Squinting your eyes as you leaned closer to the bright computer screen, it didn’t help that you were also sitting in complete darkness. “-I was, uh, accepted?” Your voice came out more as confusion than disbelief. “What? Did you even get a job interview with them?” Your friend’s muffled voice spoke through the phone speaker, her tone rather skeptical. 

“No,” You huffed under your breath as you repeatedly pressed the ‘refresh’ button on the keyboard. ‘Maybe it was some sort of accident? But why would they use my name?’ The thoughts swirled in your mind as the blank page loaded back up the unmistakably addressed “in your full government name” email. 

“I guess I’m now, uh, employed?”

-

You, a once brilliant student that had excelled in every task you did. The pride and joy of your parents, you worked so hard for their attention since birth. Every positive report card, a smile and hug.

 “Honey, we're so proud of you!” 

Every gold medal and award, more praises and head ruffles. 

“You are our pride and joy.”

Toothy grins, loving friends, scraped knees, ambition, sunshine, fresh grass, rain, thunderstorms, heavy, tired, tired, tired. 

A young star who shone too brightly had burnt out, crashing hard and fast into reality. 

Everything began to feel meaningless as you moved slowly through the thick of it all, your youth was supposed to be the best part of your life yet all you felt like a puppet lead on strings. Dancing till your feet bled, entertaining the masses.

By the time you finished high school, you had remembered the looks your parents had given you as they circled around you like a pack of hungry hyenas. Starved for more, when did it stop being your life and became theirs? You had told them that you wanted to take on some part-time work rather than head straight into university when reality was that you wanted to slowly disappear between the slips of time, becoming nothing. Maybe then people won’t have such high expectations of you or maybe you were just a waste of space like what your parents had said.

“Miss, we’re here.” The voice of the taxi driver had snapped you back into reality, losing your train of thoughts. You thanked him as you handed over the cash, unbuckling the overly-tight seatbelt and stepping out of the vehicle. The salty air of the ocean hit you almost instantly as you looked up at the large building standing tall in front of you. Using one arm to shield your eyes from the bright sun rays as you read the large letters across the building. ‘The State of Science: BLUE LOCK’.

God knows how you landed this job, without any experience nor interview. But the strange man on the phone assured you that you would be the perfect fit for this job as he had looked into your background (creep?!) and gathered some personal data of yours (is this a crime?).

After much persuasion from your friend, jokingly calling you a NEET and saying you spend way too much time inside and that you have nothing to lose if you went. If you didn’t like the job then you could always quit, right?

“Right.” You mutter softly as you nervously fiddled with the strap of your bag, heavy from all your personal belongings. The man on the phone had requested you to bring some with you as a part of the job required you to stay over in the facilities for a couple of nights. Whatever it was.

Stepping through the automatic glass doors, you are immediately greeted by security guards. Handing over your bag as you stiffly hold out your arms, letting the guard give you a thural pat down. It wasn’t too surprising that they had such tight security measures as Blue Lock has become one of the leading science research departments across the world. 

What had caught you off guard was the over fifty page NDA booklet placed in front of you as you were led into the next room. The woman, Anri, she introduced herself as, guided you through the process. ‘Anri is so lovely’, you thought as she showed you to your room in the facility after all the paperwork. By the looks of it, you two seemed around similar ages too. Maybe this whole thing isn’t so bad.

“Once you’re done unpacking, I’ll take you to Ego. He will show you what you will be doing.” Anri cheerfully explained as she flickered through the papers in her clipboard. You smiled reluctantly as the name Ego reached your ears. 

 The man, though you hadn’t even met him in person, already left a sour impression after the hour long phone calls and exchanged emails with him. He’s thoroughly convinced that you would be the perfect candidate for this ‘role’, whatever it is and he certainly made it very clear with the bombardment of texts when you accidentally missed another call.

“I think I’m ready.” You said as you placed your bag down by the foot of the bed, un-packing can come later, you thought. The nerves of this unknown job was killing you, maybe mixed in with a bit of excitement too. It had been awhile since you properly interacted with people other than your close friends.

 “Follow me.” Anri’s voice was already fading down the hall, you had to jog a little to catch up with the quick-paced woman. 

-

It seemed to take forever before the both of you reached a pristine white metal door. You felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of your face. Before this, you were led by Anri through one elevator going down by almost 50 levels? You had lost count when you were then taken through a long hallway, followed by twists and turns before landing in front of another elevator; going down again. 

It almost felt illegal for you to even breathe in this building, what kind of sci-fi movie did you just land in? You casted a quick nervous glance at Anri beside you, who looked as relaxed as ever. A small smile resting on her lips as she pressed a thumb onto the keypad beside the large door.

The loud ‘DING’ that followed almost made you jump out of your skin as the door slid open smoothly. “C’mon, you��re gonna love this!’’ Anri assured as she walked in, casting you an expecting look.

If your jaw could hit the floor, it would have. As you stepped into the large room you were met with large monitors, tables scattered with papers, tubes and beakers. There were a few small tanks and cages filled with strange critters that you couldn’t name even if a gun was held to your head. What really caught your attention was behind all the scientific madness, leading up a small step of stairs to a viewing platform. The whole back wall was replaced by thick glass. The water behind the glass was murky, it wasn’t blue like the tanks of water you saw at the aquariums when you were little. The lights beneath the tank casted the whole room a deep forest shade of green, just like the water. You could see shadows of fishes swimming around in there yet through the algae floating around and tall plants threading through the waters peacefully, it was hard to tell what they were. The scene in front of you unknowingly filled you with tranquility, the jumping nerves you felt just mere seconds ago lost among the slow moving waters.

“Pretty neat, isn’t it?” The sudden booming voice definitely made you jump (and yelp, a little) as a shadow casted over your face, looking up you see a tall slender silhouette of a man as he stood proudly in front of the tank. “Ah, Ego this is-” Anri was abruptly cut off by a slim finger pushed to her face as the tall man took mere seconds to get down the steps, with long strides. Stopping right in front of you. “Shut up Anri, I know who she is.” The man spat, now that he was closer you could actually make out his facial features in the dark room. His large beady black eyes hid behind a pair of thick black framed glasses, yet they couldn’t hide his lack of sleep with the heavy eyebags beneath his stare. His face was pulled into a large almost comical frown as he stared down at you. “Welcome fresh meat.” He finally said after seemingly analysing you on the spot. 

“Um, thank you?” You raised a brow at the strange nickname but still responded. Without wasting a second, the man turned on his heels. “Follow.” He ordered as he made his way through the tables to the side of the room, with a sweep of a card, a small side door that you would’ve never noticed opened. You quickly followed after him, looking back at Anri to see if she was following but she was already head deep in reading something on her Ipad. You felt your heart speeding up a little again because of the jumping nerves as you followed Ego up a narrow set of stairs. 

Through pushing open the metal slab at the very top of stairs, almost like opening the small space leading to a dusty attic. You were met with an open room, roof and walls lined with heavy set silver bars. You stepped out on the platform, behind the tall man. 

“Woah.” A small gasp left your lips as you set your eyes on the scene in front of you. The stairs led the both of you to the very top of the large tank. Growths of lily pads and other types of aquatic plants scattered across the surface of the waters. A large tree stretched out from within the bog, you definitely wouldn't have noticed it from looking below the murky waters. If it weren’t for the strange metal cage bars this tank was encased in, you would have thought this place was painted straight from a medieval fairy tail.

“Well this place is still a bit of a work in progress, we’re trying to make it more homely.” Ego started, turning to look at you. “From today, you will be taking care of this place and the owner of this home.” He stated simply, gesturing to the swamp of water.

You furrowed your browns in confusion, “The owner? Of which home?” You asked, only to receive a large grin in response from Ego. “You will meet Rin soon enough, he’s a bit shy. He only really comes out at night but you don’t need to worry too much. As long as you do your job, everything will be fine.”

“Is Rin one of those creatures? Like from below in those tanks?” You ask, more confused at the explanation. Ego casted you a strange look before smirking again, “Yep. Something like that.”

-

You tugged at your new uniform, checking your reflection in the mirror. A plain set of white overalls, the BlueLock logo etched into the right breast pocket. You wore your striped long sleeve shirt underneath as well as your slightly worn down DocMartins. It didn’t look half bad! It was simple but you felt comfortable enough. 

The door to the locker room pushed open behind you causing you to turn, a freckled face peaked in. “Ah hello you must be new as well!” The young man spoke politely with a smile, he was wearing the same uniform as you. Ginger hair peaked out from beneath the matching white cap he was wearing. “Yes I am.” You introduced yourself, extending a hand to shake. 

“I’m Regan. Just started today as well. Anri told me to meet you here.” He said, grabbing your hand. “We should head there soon, ya nervous?” Regan grinned as he fixed his cap in the mirror. “A little, not gonna lie. The whole thing has been a little bit of a mystery to me.” You responded and Regan chuckled as he nodded. “Right? I still don’t really know what we have to do exactly but I’m glad I have you so we can figure this out together.” He gave your shoulder a little playful nudge and you laughed a little. This guy might be a little overly-friendly but you were also glad you have someone else to work with during this night shift. 

- 

 “Ugh this stuff stinks.” Regan muffled through his palm pressed to his face as he picked up the bucket filled with slush. “I know, let’s hurry.” You huffed back, covering your own nose as you picked up a bucket. Looking down, the content of the bucket looked to be a mixture of dead fish and other sorts of mystery meats? You gagged internally. The instruction left by Ego was to take the feed to this RIN creature. Simple enough, right?

The two of you made your way through the maze of a building (might have gotten lost a few times), finally found your way back to the big tank. 

“This place is so dope, man.” Regan said as he picked up a test tube from one of the desks, bringing it up to his face. You casted him a quick glance before scanning the keycard like the way you saw Ego did. The small door unlocked and slid open. Bless Regan, he seemed like a great guy, but from the past half an hour of knowing him. He’s almost talked your ears off. You suppose knowing about Regan’s whole bloodline and his family drama instead of your own inner monologue filling the silence was better in the seemingly empty building. 

“C’mon Regan.” You called out as you began climbing up the staircase with the bucket, careful not to disturb it too much with your movements. You’d rather not deal with that stench clinging to you for the rest of the evening. “Coming!” Regan’s loud voice echoed behind you, followed by his footsteps clanking against the metal staircase.

Finding your way back to the top of the tank, you set the bucket down. Despite the smelly bucket next to you, the large room smelt of fresh grassy woodland. It was hard to describe, slightly earthy? Was there also a hint of floral from the blooming lilies? The plants of the man-made swamp really made up for the dull exterior. 

‘ Flomp! ’ 

You watched as Regan poured the slimy content of his bucket into the water, the wet sounds reaching your ears making you scowl in disgust. Regan caught your gaze and frowned, “What? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Feed this Ren thing?” He huffed, taking a step closer to the edge of the platform before getting on his knees and peering into the dark water. “What is this thing anyways, have you even seen it yet?” Regan’s contorted face asked from the reflection of the rippling waters.

You frowned, taking a step towards the ginger. “No I have not and I wouldn’t get so close. Ego said not to-” You were cut off by the man sticking his whole arm into the water, swishing it around. “Do that…” You deadpanned. 

“It’s fine.” Regan rolled his eyes, “It’s probably a small sort of small extinct fish that they are trying to keep-” It happened so fast, a long muscular pair of arms reached out from beneath Regan and dragged the man by the collar of his shirt and into the murky water. It took you a few seconds to process what you had just witnessed before you screeched out Regan’s name, rushing to the edge of the platform. The waters were still for a moment before Regan’s pale arms splashed about the surface, his freckled face emerging for a moment as he spat out a mouthful of water. His panicked eyes met yours, “Can’t- SWIM!” He gasped, before disappearing below again.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

The alarms in your head were going haywire, should you call Ego? Anri? What should you do?

Stupid fucking Regan.

You took in a deep breath before leaping off the edge, the cold water hit your warm skin like a slap. You dove deeper beneath the waters, looking for the familiar head of red. Yet it was so hard to see through the swirls of green, everything was dark and shadowy. You fought hard to keep your eyes open as you pushed yourself further into the tank with your arms, looking around frantically.

From the corner of your eye you finally caught a glimpse of pale skin through the shadowy water, without hesitation you reached out and grabbed the arm. Pulling hard as you kicked your legs, turning to pull the both of you to the surface.

Yet as much as you kicked, you felt like you were going nowhere. 

‘Why is this bastard so damn heavy? ’ The thought crossed your mind as you turned your body to face him, hoping that using both of your arms might help a little more. 

You felt your whole body freeze as you finally met eyes with a pair of sharp emerald eyes. 

Those are not Regan’s eyes!

Though the water was murky, those cat-like eyes were clear as day. They almost seemed to glow against the dark as they stared deeply into your own wide terrified ones. Your grip on the creature’s arm never loosened, you couldn’t even answer yourself why. 

Maybe it was the shock? The creature, no, man? His face was the most ethereal thing you’ve ever laid eyes on, his pale lips were pressed in a thin line. His face was small, almost feminine like with the especially long eye-lashes that framed those beautiful emeralds that sat perfectly between his slim nose, his pupils were animalistic, sharp black slits watching your every move carfully. His inky hair blended into the waters, flowing gracefully around him.

Without thinking, your free hand slowly reached out towards the creature. Ever so carefully cupping his cheek. He had watched you the whole time, sharp eyes drifting from your face to your hand before looking back at you again. He didn’t respond in any way as he felt your warm touch, face remained blank as he observed your curious gaze.

Time seemed to stand still as the two of you shared this strangely intimate moment. All of your worries and thoughts disappeared at this moment, just nothing. Like what you had always hoped for, to just exist so simply. How could someone look like this? So hauntingly beautiful, you couldn’t breathe. What was this darkness? You had always had a fear of the dark, the unknown yet how could this feel so comforting? You couldn’t breathe. Everything was so quiet, you couldn’t feel the cold water nipping at your skin anymore.

Blackspots began appearing around your vision, you hadn’t even realised that you were running dangerously low on oxygen before you let out a gasp. Air bubbles clouded your vision, that gorgeous face disappearing among them.

No, I want to see you again!

Everything fades to black.