Day 18: Thalassophobia

Genre: Urban Fantasy 
Universe: QuickSilver (ReCLAIM)  
Rating: ?? / TW: None 
 

[ I suggest you read Day 2: Abyss before reading this. ]

[ For Context: ReCLAIM is a series of short stories that takes place in the QuickSilver universe, following the misadventures of a group of Velanthropoi as they search the world for missing, usually magical, objects. They often call upon Goose (who has appeared in Promptober here and here) for help identifying and cataloging specimens. This snippet takes place while the ReCLAIM team is waiting for her help figuring out the location of an object’s twin. ]

     “And what if your hunch is right?” Havyn asked, their brow furrowing. “Captain, you can’t expect one of us to go in there.”

     Spectre crossed his arms. “We do what we have to.”

     “That place is a literal nightmare,” Havyn implored. “You wouldn’t risk--”

     “We do what we have to do.”

     Havyn felt their patience growing dangerously thin and decided that a walk was exactly what they needed to not assault the team’s leader. “I need some air,” they explained, pushing past the rest of the team and heading towards the door. Spectre made no move to stop them.

     Havyn let the path guide them, their mind racing too far ahead to care where they were going. It wasn’t until they came across a somewhat large rock that they paused. It looked like a suitable enough place to sit and let their frustration simmer, so Havyn climbed up and made themselves as comfortable as possible - which was to say not much.

     The shadows drifted slowly to the right as time passed, leaving Havyn to their thoughts. How could Captain Spectre even consider sending someone to one of the most dangerous parts of the Veil after some stupid trinket? It was better just to tell the client it was as good as lost. But, noooo, he had to be stubborn about it. It didn’t matter if the Abyss could literally scare someone to death. Havyn grit their teeth together, thinking about how people talked about those depths that were so deep they no longer had meaning, lungs filled with water making it impossible to scream but somehow still allowed you to breathe, your worst fears overtaking your vision…

     Havyn shook their head, trying to clear the images from their mind. Their shoulders started to ache from built up tension. This wasn't the first time they had questioned if taking this job had been the right career move, but this felt... different. More serious. The trust they had begun to build with the Captain was seriously undermined by his refusal to listen to reason. 

     “Havyn?”

     Havyn tried to pull their shoulders in to conceal the way the sudden intrusion of their thoughts had caused them to nearly jump out of their skin. “Oh, hey, Goose.”

     “I brought you tea.” Goose, as good a host as ever, held a steaming mug towards Havyn.

     “Thanks.” Havyn took the tea and stared into its brown depths. “Any luck with the object?”

     “Yeah, I just finished telling the rest of the team.” Goose leaned her hip against the rock Havyn had perched themself on. “You’re not going to like it.”

     “It’s twin is in the Abyss, isn’t it?” The look of confirmation that Goose gave them caused Havyn to groan and shove their face in their hands. “Of freak’n course it is, and Spectre is going to want to go after it, and I have to figure out a way to convince him not to.”

     "Are you sure you want to? Because people do missions into the Abyss, and they come back.” “And Hawke’s an ex-Warden, they do training and stuff like that.”

     “Exactly, they have training and Hawke already said he doesn’t want to go anywhere near the water.

     “Are you afraid Spectre is going to ask you to do it?”  

     Havyn tried to contain a shudder. “I’d never. Ever. I hate deep water. Add nightmares becoming real to that? No way. No. Way.

     “Thalassophobia.” Goose stated.

     “Thassawha?”

     “Thalassophobia.” She repeated. “That’s the name of your fear.”

     “There’s a word for everything, isn’t there?”

     “Usually!” Goose grinned.