Chapter 1 – Drowning

For eighteen years, it was Jacob Williams’ ironclad principle to stay out of trouble. That principle died with him on a rainy April afternoon beneath the surface of cold-ass Lake Whothefuckcares. But of course, Jacob Williams didn’t know that when he got up that morning.

Strictly speaking, he didn’t have any thoughts in his head, which was still foggy from sleep, but only felt a general disgust at the early ringing of the alarm clock as he pulled on his gray T-shirt. The shirt was the product of careful calculation. Not new enough to stand out, not worn enough to be marked as “the guy in the baggy shirt”.

The art of social invisibility had its own laws. Rule number one of the Invisibility Protocol: Be living proof that “beige” can be a personality.

“Don’t forget the umbrella, darling!” his mother called from downstairs. “It’s supposed to rain when you get to the lake at noon today!”

Right. The damn annual educational trip to the lake, where they were allowed to listen to two hours of how important the lake was for the local ecosystem.

Blah blah, cold air reservoir, blah blah, climate change, blah blah biodiversity.

The main thing for the teachers was that they could tick off “practical experience” and “extracurricular learning” in their lesson plans.

Jacob reached for his umbrella and put it in his bag. At least the weather forecast was bad, which meant they would probably only do the obligatory boat trip, not the endless hike around the lake as well. With any luck, the rain would even keep the usual suspects occupied. Nothing dampens excess testosterone better than wet socks and soggy sneakers.

Jacob looked at his reflection in the mirror. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height, average weight. The perfect chameleon. If being average was an Olympic sport, he wouldn’t even get a bronze medal. The whole man riding the bell curve. Well, almost. Maybe it’s still growing, okay?

When they arrived at school, the drizzle had already started and Jacob stood under an eave while they waited for the bus. Of course, he didn’t open his umbrella. He wasn’t stupid. It was for emergencies. If he opened it now, someone else might want to get under it as well. Instead, he mapped the social structure of his classmates from his position.

That could get quite complicated at times.

One hub was around Chris Carter. CC, he liked to be called.

Of course he was a quarterback and of course he was an asshole, they were at an American high school after all. Unfortunately, he wasn’t just a stupid, bullying jock. He was a bright enough guy who just preferred to use what intelligence he had to make other people’s lives a living hell. And he always talked his way out of it.

Not just an asshole, no, a Napoleon among assholes.

His clique consisted not only of football players, but of everyone who shared his particular brand of social Darwinism.

The other big hub, the supposedly superficial cheerleaders and it-girls, were in fact a byzantine web of alliances and rivalries, with Ally Wang sitting in the middle like a spider. Even though she was far from the prettiest girl at school and, according to all the internalized social rules from 1001 high school tv series, should actually be one of the nerds.  Absolutely clean GPA, Valedictorian already lined up and the law degree at Harvard virtually already completed. She ruled her social empire with an iron hand, calculated cruelty and astonishing social intelligence.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she ruins other people’s lives from her bench in the Supreme Court in a few decades.

And outside of this web there were guys like Ben Blomquist, who was walking past him, reading something on his ipad.

Big Ben Blumpkin, they called him. If this was one of those RPGs Ben was so into, his class would be “victim”. Overweight, wearing a faded black Lord of the Rings t-shirt full of sweat stains that practically screamed “Please make my life a living hell!”

Jacob felt sorry for him. Ben didn’t even really understand why he was bullied so mercilessly and fell for it every time someone from CC’s group played the good old “I’ll pretend I’m his friend now” trick on him.

As he walked past, one of CC’s lickspittles gave Ben a light kick to the feet and Ben faceplanted. “Ouch! Hey!” The ipad landed dangerously close to a puddle as CC and his entourage walked past him cackling.

Jacob’s hand twitched for a moment. Help him up, whispered a treacherous voice in his head. Don’t be a coward for once. But no. Interference meant attention and attention meant always trouble. And trouble was the last thing Jacob needed in his last semester of high school.

The Invisibility Protocol was clear: head down, mouth shut, move on.

I can become a hero in another life. Preferably one with better health insurance.

They were still waiting for the bus, and the rain was getting heavier, now coming from the side. Jacob sighed softly as his gray T-shirt turned a darker shade of gray from the moisture. A gray shirt, for a gray day for a gray trip to a gray lake.

If he had known that this would be the last day of his life, he might have put on a more colorful T-shirt. Maybe he would even have helped Ben up. But that’s how it is with last times, you usually only recognize them as such when it’s too late.

~

The coach that the teachers had hired chugged leisurely through the rain. A two-hour drive. Jacob had positioned himself carefully at the center and of course at the window side. Not at the front with the nerds, not too far back near the jocks who, as always, had occupied the last row for themselves and were hanging over their seats like wet towels, legs apart, munching snacks and cracking jokes.

In front of him, Ally Wang and her ladies-in-waiting were chatting about some party at the weekend. Two rows behind him, Ben was scrolling through his iPad. He was probably reading some fantasy subreddit. Well, at least he hoped that even Ben wasn’t stupid enough to read one of his isekai harem manga on the school bus.

“Hahaha, Blumpkin!” Chris Carter’s voice echoed through the bus as he stood leaning over Ben’s shoulder. “What are you reading, there? ‘I’m a Level 1 Virgin and get Isekai’d into the Sex Dungeon of a Level 69 Demoness’. Hahaha, what the fuck dude?”

Okay. Maybe he was that stupid after all.

Ben tried to close the app in a panic, which only resulted in the iPad falling out of his hands again and into the middle of the bus aisle, so that everyone could see the cover with the seductive, big breasted, red-skinned and horned Demoness.

Amateur, Jacob thought, pushing himself a little deeper into his seat. You have to look bored, not scared.

“Leave him alone,” Maddie suddenly shouted through the roaring laughter, while Ben, his head almost as red as the Demoness’s, laboriously picked up his iPad again. “He’s not hurting anyone!”

“Aww, do you have a crush on Big Ben, Maddie? Do you want to help him go from Level 1 Virgin to Level 2 Premature Ejaculator?” CC was merciless.

As half the bus burst into even more hysterical laughter at this, Maddie turned back to the front, clearly embarrassed by her failed attempt at intervention.

Jacob was uncomfortable with the commotion. It was unfortunate that Ben was sitting two seats behind him. He hadn’t considered that when he chose his seat. He could have changed seats, of course. Further forward, away from the show. But that would have attracted attention. Besides, what business was it of his? Not his circus, not his monkeys.

Fucking hell, hopefully this bus ride will be over soon.

~

The rain had stopped, but the sky over the huge gray lake was still cloudy and the water looked damn cold.

They were waiting at the pier for their tour on the “Pride of the Lake”, an old excursion boat that had probably already taken the founding fathers across the lake during their school days. Mrs. Anderson handed out worksheets with questions about the local ecosystem.

How many pounds of fish roe do I have to eat so that my stomach has to be pumped out in hospital and I can skip this boat trip?

If he had been in Ben’s place, he would have tried to stay close to Mrs. Anderson so that his tormentors would leave him alone for a while. But since Ben wanted to browse through his ipad in secret, he tried to stay out of her line of sight.

Big mistake.

“Hey Blumpkin, make sure you don’t go too far to the edge! Otherwise the boat will list!”

“Shit, I hadn’t even thought about that, if he falls into the water, we’ll have an instant tsunami!”

“Nah man, he’ll swim. Whales have buoyancy!” And they promptly began to push him around in circles, imitating whale songs.

Jacob watched as Ben tried to make himself smaller and push past them, which was of course impossible given his stature. His knuckles were white with tension as he clutched the book.

This is not going to end well.

Mrs. Anderson was completely clueless, too busy explaining something about amphibians up front. The other teachers stood at the bow and discussed the route. No one paid any attention to the impending disaster at the stern.

Jacob had a bad feeling about this. He should go away. Find a place somewhere else. And what could he do anyway? Go all superhero on CC and his crew?

Yeah, sure. Great plan. Why not hang a sign around my neck: ‘Please make my last semester hell as well’?

Nevertheless. For the first time in years, Jacob felt his ironclad principle to always stay out of trouble begin to waver. Something about the situation felt different. More dangerous. As if an invisible noose was tightening.

Shit. This is really not going to end well.

CC and two of his buddies had now pushed Ben completely into the corner at the stern, right next to the railing. He pressed his ipad against his chest like a protective shield.

“If the phosphorus content of the lake is too low, it can lead to oligotrophication, which…” Mrs. Anderson’s distant voice bubbled over to them from the bow.

Great. Let’s talk about algae while one of the students is about to get a thrashing. That’s what I call priorities! Teacher of the year!

“Hey Blumpkin, do you want to know how deep the lake is?” CC asked with that very special grin. The shark grin. Jacob knew it. It meant that the situation was about to get completely out of control.

“Leave me alone,” Ben stammered, still trying in vain to push past the three strong guys. His voice was shaking. “I… I can’t swim.”

“What, really?” CC’s grin widened even more. “A whale that can’t swim? Oh, come on. Well, that would be the perfect opportunity for a practical swimming lesson, wouldn’t it, bro?”

Ben’s eyes widened in panic. “No, please don’t…”

This wasn’t normal schoolyard bullshit anymore. It was about to get dangerous and none of the teachers was paying attention.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” CC grabbed Ben by one arm. The other two grabbed his other arm and his legs.

“One…”

Go away. It’s not your problem.

“Two…”

Ben put up a fight, but he had no chance against three football players. The ipad fell to the ground.

“Mrs. Anderson!” Maddie called forward in alarm.

“THREE!”

A scream, a splash, and then Ben was gone. Only waves rippled where he had hit the surface.

There was absolute silence for a moment.

Then a gurgling sound broke the surface. Ben came up for a moment, waved his arms wildly and went under again.

CC and his buddies were laughing their heads off. “Hahaha, did you hear that? Glug, glug, glug, hahaha!”

Not your problem. Not your-

Ben reappeared. His eyes were wide with panic. He gasped desperately for air.

“HELP!” he just managed to get out before he went under again.

And at that moment, Jacob’s ironclad principle went overboard as well.

Fuck it.

The first step was the hardest. After that, it was almost easy. A jump, a short flight, then Jacob broke through the surface of the water.

The cold hit him like a sledgehammer. His body wanted to gasp reflexively, but he pressed his lips together. Fuck, it was cold.

The water was dark and murky. Jacob’s T-shirt and jeans pulled him down as if he had weights in his pockets.

Great. Hypothermia AND sore muscles. Maybe this will at least get me excused from gym class next week.

He saw Ben below him, a blurred dark outline that sank deeper and deeper. His movements were already weakening. Jacob pushed himself down, fighting against his natural buoyancy.

Come on. Come on.

His lungs began to burn. Somewhere above him, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something hit the surface of the water, but he paid it no mind. Down here there was only the dark water, the cold, and the desperate fight against the reflex to breathe.

He finally reached Ben. He grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. But Ben was heavy, his soaked clothes an extra weight. Jacob kicked his legs frantically, but they sank anyway.

Ben’s eyes were wide with panic. He clung to Jacob, pulling him closer. His arms wrapped around Jacob’s torso like a vice.

Shit. Shit. SHIT.

Jacob tried to pull away, but the more he struggled, the tighter Ben clung to him. They spun around each other as if in a grotesque underwater pirouette. The surface was now far above them, only a blur of gray.

His lungs felt like they were going to explode. Black dots danced in front of his eyes.

So this is what death looks like. I can’t die like this. Not like this.

The breathing reflex was now overpowering. Jacob opened his mouth. Ice-cold water poured into his lungs. The pain was unimaginable.

Ben’s grip weakened. They sank further, two shadows in the murky water.

I’m sorry, Mom.

The darkness swallowed him up. But just before everything blurred, he saw… something. Glowing writing floated before his eyes.

[SCANNING]

[…]

[SOUL FOUND]

[SOUL CAPTURE INITIALIZED]

[…]

[UNEXPECTED ERROR OCCURED]

[SCANNING]

[…]

[SOUL-B FOUND]

[CALCULATING NP]

[Ô̡̨͉̳̰͖̋̏͛͜R̷̛̦̼̗͕̃͊̂̈́̔A̷͓͕̠̤͙̮̝͓͇̯͍͔͍̩͕̫̍͋͌̎͑͐̏̿̊͆͒͌́̽C̷̯̮̪̣̹͔̯͒̈́̏̈̎̍͋͂̊͜L̵̡̢̧̜̗̟̺̞̜̭̳̱͈͙̪̟̅͂͐̿̋̃̔̀̈͗͐ͅÈ͉͚̲̺͕̯̙͛̽̊͂͑́̀̀͜ EXPLOIT ACTIVATED]

[NP SUFFICIENT]

[OVERRIDE ACCEPTED]

[DUAL SOUL CAPTURE INITIALIZED]

[…]

Another flicker, then Jacob felt a warmth take hold of him.

[CAPTURING]

Then there was only blackness.

~

Consciousness crashed like lightning into a tiny body that was already in motion. Small hands and knees pushed forward, purposefully towards something that was definitely not meant to be a destination.

What the…

It took Jacob several disoriented seconds to understand what he was seeing. He was obviously in a… a child’s body? Who was moving on all fours towards the ornate railing of a balcony, behind which he could see the floor. A very, very distant floor, judging by the faint purple glow that shone up from below.

Wait a minute. Purple glow? Where am I?

The adult survival instinct immediately took over. Jacob forced the unruly toddler’s body to a halt, just inches from the edge. This was more difficult than expected, like trying to direct a drunken duckling.

The world around him was… strange. Everything shimmered in a diffuse, violet light that seemed to come from gigantic mushrooms. Mushrooms? Yes, definitely mushrooms. Huge, glowing mushrooms that stretched into the depths like the mushroomy skyscrapers of an alien city.

“Shaelith!”

A melodic voice called out something in an incomprehensible language. Jacob turned his stubborn toddler head and froze. Several tall figures stood in the room behind him, all with purple skin and long hair in complicated braids. One of them, the source of the voice that had called out to him, breathed a sigh of relief.

What. The. Hell.