Rune Hunting

People scrambled, shouting their numbers to find their partners. Felicity looked around, but she couldn't remember anyone who had the same number as her nor could hear anyone call for her number amidst the frantically scrambling of humans congested in the small area they were in.

She was about to yell when a soft hand touched her shoulder, and Felicity whipped around, clutching a hand to her chest. The girl behind her didn't seem much older than her, but she had a calming aura with a mature face.

Obrien amplified his voice putting his hands around his mouth, trying to talk over people. "Find the rune…"

"Come on," the girl said. "We have to hurry."

Felicity nodded. "Is your number..."

"Yes. We need to hurry. You're the last one in our group."

Felicity took off after her. "Where are the others?"

"Three of them already ran down to the beach shore. I'm Noel by the way," she yelled, trying to scoot her body between the groups of people.

"Felicity. Six people in a group?"

"Yes, we have to move. We cannot waste time."

"What's the hurry for?" Felicity asked, dodging people who were standing still. Noel reached for her hand when Felicity was getting caught in the crowd and was gripping her hand too hard.

"Mina, one of my close friends, is pregnant."

Felicity's eyes widened in alarm. "What? Is it safe for her to do this?"

"No. Of course not. The government should have taken those measures into account if they were planning on doing rigorous tasks like this that some people can't do. For her to get the advantage if our group wins is needed. It would at least guarantee her baby more safety since she would be exempted from some tests."

Felicity tightened her hand on her sword. "Let's go, and do our best then."

Noel softly smiled. "Yes."

They took off towards the shore with many people still confused and scrambling to figure out their task. At the shore, there were wooden boats that were stationed there that weren't there before.

There were numbers painted on each boat, however, most of the boats were gone already, people clearly breaking the rules by stealing other groups' boats. A figure standing next to the boat that marked twenty-seven waved his hands at them.

"There's Ben," Noel called.

They both rushed to the boat, and Ben started to cut the rope connected to the stern. Their boat had a cyan-blue line around the edge, and Felicity got into the water to climb into the boat that was taking off. Ben lifted Noel out of the ocean while Felicity collapsed on one of the wooden benches.

The guys started to frantically paddle, but it was hard to maneuver since they were still in shallow water with the coarse sand and rocks scratching against the bottom. After a couple of strokes, the boat finally went freely into the ocean.

Felicity sat up and ran her hand through her hair. She looked around at the people in the boat and awkwardly smiled. "Hi, I'm Felicity."

The girl sitting timidly in the back of the small boat waved. "I'm Mina."

Felicity didn't mean to blatantly look at her stomach. Mina had to be eighteen at most if the people around her were around the same age as her. Mina had a tiny bump that was barely distinguishable underneath the baggy sweat suit. Maybe a couple of months along, but considering her slim frame, Felicity couldn't tell. Mina laughed lightly. "I see that my secret was already spoiled."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," Felicity said. "Noel explained the situation earlier."

"It's okay," Mina patted her stomach and pointed to the guy paddling the boat. "This is Jesse."

Jesse nodded his head in acknowledgment, making some hair fall into his eyes. Ben in the back was steering the little motor that was attached. "I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you, Felicity."

"Likewise. I hope you know what the mission is?"

"I do. We are to go on the water to find a missing piece to a rune."

"Is it at the bottom of the ocean? Island?" Noel asked.

"Nope," Ben replied. "In there." He pointed straight ahead, and everyone followed his hand. There was a black hole in the middle of the ocean, which looked like a bottomless whirlpool. The water around was moving in a circular motion, and every boat was racing towards it.

"Inside the engyure?" Felicity asked in shock. "What do they want us to do? Jump in it?"

"Inside the what?" Jesse echoed.

Felicity raggedly took in a breath. They still didn't know what the holes were, and she didn't have to explain it.

"I don't know. We'll figure it out."

Felicity sighed. Obrien clearly knew what he was doing. It was not like he was going to lead them all to death. There was something to reap from doing this mission. And Felicity was going to figure out what. She stood up and pointed to the rope next to Mina. "Can you pass me the rope?"

Mina reached to her side to grab the rope. "Here."

"Thanks." Felicity felt the coarse rope and paused before tying it tightly to her waist. She glanced around before wounding it around the empty bench in the front. Standing straight, Felicity crossed her arms. "I'm going to jump in. Can someone hold onto the excess rope in case?"

"Hand it over," Ben said. Felicity placed the rope in his hands and turned to the front.

"Jesse, can you steer the boat to the right more? I want to go in at the edge."

Jesse nodded, but a worried expression was etched on Mina's face. "Are you sure this is safe?"

Felicity wryly smiled. "Is anything ever?"

Tugging on the rope once more, she glanced behind her to look at her group. She was scared, but she didn't want to voice it. It would only make her more anxious. "Pull me up when I tug on the rope three times."

They nodded, and with that, Felicity looked up at the setting sky before stepping off the edge. Her stomach dropped with the loss of gravity, and Felicity tightly hung to the rope. Everything around her was black, and then it was a weird toss of color in a split second. Her skin felt like it was stretching, and Felicity screamed when the force became too much for her bear.