Fantastic Ferry, Frightful Fiasco
"I am boooooored!" Dawn complains as she dangles her feet off the edge of a weathered wooden dock, further irritated by the persistent tickle of the cool water splashing against her ankles, but too bored to move her feet away.
A fishing rod is stuck between 2 planks next to her and a bobber floats gently ahead of her, on top of the calm waves.
"It is not so bad. I am having quite some fun. Fishing is a very relaxing pastime." Akari responds before checking the time on her phone.
She holds the fishing rod in her hands in order to feel when a pokemon or a fish takes the bait.
The air is heavy with the briny scent of the sea, while Wingulls swoop and cry above the rugged shoreline and the rhythmic lapping of the waves against the rocks creates a soothing melody.
The friendly pokemon of route 218 are hoping for a snack to be fished up for them.
Swole eyes the screen of his poketch phone.
A messenger app is open, showing a picture of Zoey as the chat partner but not a single message beneath.
"Hey, Dawn. Do you know if Zoey is still pissed?"
Today is Thursday.
Jubilife City is around 60km to the east, Canalave City is across a gulf and then another 60km to the west.
On Monday morning, the group split up.
Dawn and Zoey have decided to journey separately. Dawn went with her childhood friend Swole and Zoey went to travel with Barry.
Lucas reiterated that he wants to go back to Sandgem Town to apprentice under professor Rowan, before leaving the group after breakfast.
Akari told the group that she wants to stay behind in Jubilife City. She has no goal and she has no desire to travel. But Swole adamantly insisted that she accompany him on his grand adventure.
He even went so far as to threaten to stay behind himself to ensure she does not make any drastic decisions.
In the world of pokemon, a good portion of all trainers can be succinctly described with just 1 word: Selfless.
It is innate for them to prioritize the well-being of their pokemon and the dear people around them, often at their own expense.
Despite seemingly losing everything. Despite her whole world having crumbled to dust and decay. Despite everything, Akari has not even considered killing herself.
She has not given up.
Even in her darkest moments, she continues to find the strength to persist for the sake of her pokemon. After all, who would care for Quilava if she was not around?
And for the sake of her friend, Swole, she refused to deepen the isolation that threatened to be her grave of solitary. And thus she agreed to travel with Swole.
While Akari wrestled with her determination to keep going, Dawn has completely abandoned her own will to win her first contest in Jubilife City.
Dawn has realized that she stood no chance to win the contest. Her opposition is simply too strong for her.
Zoey on the other hand, believed she could get into the semi-finals at least.
... At least she managed to clear the presentation stage of the contest.
The judges saw her little performance of Misdreavus' shadow-play and immediately recognized it as an attempt to copy Fantina's newest signature move.
While they appreciated the display, she lost points in originality and execution; The original was simply a lot more impressive.
Zoey then won a battle round but lost in the quarter finals to Jessilina's Dustox. Jessilina, being Jessie's stage-name.
Swole, Dawn and Akari have not watched her performance live.
They wanted to, but Zoey insisted that they leave. She claimed that she did not want to be the cause of any delay in their adventure.
On that Monday, the group did some last minute shopping and headed out to leave Jubilife City behind.
For the past 72 hours, they hiked through the routes. They battled the occasional wild pokemon who wanted to impress a trainer. They fought against the occasional trainer, who were mostly just regular people who happen to have a pokemon with them. And they ate and slept.
They have quickly found out that the pokemon journey... is mostly hiking.
The world is a large place and grand adventures are not behind every single corner.
Today, they have reached the gulf that separates Jubilife City's half of route 218 from Canalave City's half.
"Urgh! Come on, Zoey! Respond already!" Dawn shouts at her phone, scaring away the last remaining fish in the area in the process.
The pokemon, Piplup, Quilava and Buneary, are all training in their own way while the humans are spending their time with their new fishing rods.
"Why the hell are we even fishing? It's literally just sitting around and doing nothing." Dawn continues to complain.
"What are you? A plot device to set up exposition?" Swole responds.
"Haha! I'm kidding, I'm just soooo booooored! We literally caught nothing for what? The last 3 hours? I don't need a recap of the past few days. Just give me something-- anything to do!"
Nobody has a response to that.
...
And since none of them deem it necessary to explain why they are fishing right now:
The league has restricted travel between Canalave City and Jubilife City ever since the sighting of the Red Gyarados.
There is currently just a single, heavily-guarded passenger ferry traveling across the gulf. One trip in the morning to Jubilife City, and one trip back in the evening.
An entrepreneurial fisherman, who lives in the tiny town of dockworkers, which is nestled around the ferry-port, is making some extra money by selling fishing rods to waiting trainers and travelers alike.
Dawn and Swole bought fishing rods for themselves and for Akari, but they have not been blessed by the sea with fortune and bounty.
Akari fished up a red Herring earlier, which is not a pokemon and therefore figuratively nothing. Swole and Dawn have fished up literally nothing at all.
"This is so depressing. Literally sitting around would have been better." Dawn continues her complaints.
Ding
"Finally!" Dawn's phone got a message.
Zoey: "He tried it again. Gross."
Zoey is not amused.
She has not been very amused since she met up with her new traveling companions.
Shortly after breakfast, Barry surprised her with 2 additional travelers. Ash and Brock.
Brock then tried his moves on her and ruined his image in Zoey's eyes.
She is thoroughly creeped out by him. First impressions are everything, after all.
And seeing Brock try the same with other women every other day, is not improving her opinion on him either.
As for Barry and Ash: They have quickly become great friends but they are feeding into each other's childishness.
Zoey is annoyed.
Zoey: "And TR attacked us again. =U "
Zoey: "This suuuucks."
When she told Swole's group to go ahead and not wait for her sake, it was out of fear.
She feared she would lose her determination and subsequently cause trouble for Dawn's or her own career.
But now she regrets that decision.
Zoey: "Misdreavus says hi."
She really wishes to be traveling with Dawn, Akari and Swole instead.
"Hey Swole!" Dawn shouts out while typing her response. Below the water's surface, a fish who thought about biting some yummy bait, flees in panic. "You should just write her... Instead of asking me every day."
"I can't." Swole stopped looking at his fishing rod and phone some time ago and now makes sure Buneary's training is going well. "She's still complaining about a creep. What would she think of me then? I don't want to be like that guy."
Swole, like any teenager without any real dating experience, is worried over nothing.
"Uh huh. Alright." Dawn replies without looking away from her phone.
...
Ding This time the message appears on Swole's phone.
---
Swole-POV:
Zoey: "Dawn wrote you keep thinking of me? Let me give you a real reason to do it."
Huh?
Zoey sent me an image but the internet out here is too slow. The nearest phone tower is a bit outside of Jubilife City and the packet-loss ratio out here is insane.
I take another look around. The fishing rod is still as immobile as always. And the pokemon are still training.
Buneary is currently dodging and deflecting Quilava's Ember at a 5 meter range.
Piplup is standing at 10 meters and dodges the same Ember attack. Kinda cute how he waddles back and forth. Occasionally he rolls instead of waddling because the shot is too close.
Akari still has her egg but she somehow managed to manifest some fabric out of nowhere and crafted a holder for it.
I never saw her shopping for crafting supplies, but somehow, she just has everything inside her bag for her crafts.
She's sitting a little bit away from the group and holds the fishing rod, in order to 'feel when the fish bites'.
I don't bother with that. The tips of the rods have these little bells on top and they aren't decoration. If the bell jingles, I can just get to the rod and catch the fish.
Dawn is sitting close to my left, both our rods are stuck between the planks of the wooden dock.
But the bell didn't make a single sound since we set up those shitty things.
Ding
Finally!
The image finished transferring--
...
Nice.
...
Holy moly! Really nice!
It's a pic of Zoey in her tent. She is sitting cross-legged on the ground and in nothing but her underwear!
Sweet!
Her feet are just barely hiding her panties but I can see the little, red bow from her black, lace panties.
Her arms are relaxed at her sides and her chest is pushed out, presenting her modest breasts in a lace bra. Another little red bow placed on the connector of the cups.
Her bright red hair is as wild as always and her ruby red eyes look at the camera with a confident look. Except her blush shows how nervous she is about the situation.
Glameow is lazing around in the background and Misdreavus probably took the picture.
Damn, that's nice.
"Zoey wrote me that you have to reply now and asked what's taking you so long... Swole. Why are you blushing?"
"... No reason."
"No way." She stands up and gets closer. "Show me what she sent you."
"No?" I quickly fumble to turn off the screen but all of a sudden...
"Buneary? Hey, give that back!"
"Bunnie!"
"Holy shit. She really did it."
She stole the phone and handed it over to Dawn!
"The betrayal! I can't believe it! Shuh. Go back to training."
Buneary hops back to the other pokemon, laughing brightly all the way.
Dawn is stuck with a heavy blush, her eyes are fixed on the screen and it's easy enough to get my phone back from her dainty, womanly grip.
Swole: "Sorry!!!"
I type out my response as quickly as I can.
I read on the internet that it's really rude to keep someone waiting when they send you a... 'nude'.
Swole: "For the late reply. I love that pic. You look amazing. °p° *drooling"
Swole: "Internet suxx here..."
But holy shit. I can't believe Zoey just sent me a nude pic... Well, underwear pic but it's basically the same...
Are we dating now?
That's the kind of stuff you're only supposed to send to your boyfriend, right?
Should... Should I send something back?
... I-- Maybe after my next workout?
Zoey: "Did you show Dawn? ;) "
Fuck...
Swole: "No! Buneary stole my phone and showed it to her. I am soos srry!"
Swole: "*Soooo sorry!"
She's writing something longer now... Fuck!
Did I seriously mess up instantly?
Fuck!
"What's she writing?" Dawn asks.
"Fuck meeee. I think she's pissed that you saw it. Arceus, damn. I can't believe I messed up in the first fucking minute."
I hang my head in shame.
Now she deleted the message and writes something else.
Oh no.
Zoey: "Did she blush?"
Huh?
Swole: "Yea? Hard."
Nothing for like a minute.
Dawn is shooting me sorry looks now. I don't think she wanted me to mess it up.
Should I have lied about it?
Zoey: "... Good. *blushes"
Zoey: "When can you send something back? ;) "
Swole: "I can't work out today. Gonna be on the ferry later. Tomorrow?"
Zoey: "Looking forward to it. Don't disappoint and don't forget make it shirtless! :D "
Ding. Ding.
Dawn and Akari got a message each.
Dawn unlocks her screen and gets a blush. Akari was already on her phone and drops her fishing rod in surprise.
"Zoey, you harlot! I hope you are not showing that to any men. Only your husband should see you like that!" She... talks to the phone.
"Akari... You don't know how phones work?" Dawn quickly locks her phone-screen and distracts herself. "That's so sad. I'm sorry."
"What? No. I know how to use a telephone. Up there is the time and this here is the application which allows me to communicate with Zoey."
She points out, on her phone and shows the picture Zoey sent us all in the process.
"You need to press that button first." I tell her.
"What button?"
"The green one. The one that looks like a telephone handle."
"This green one? The one that looks like a Weedle with 2 heads?"
"Right." I guess telephones are too modern too.
"Right. I pressed it. Now what?"
"Now you need to hold it to your ear."
"Like this?" She holds the center of the phone against her ear.
I get closer and readjust her hand for her. "There is a microphone to talk into at the bottom and speakers to hear are at the top."
I'm looking her deep in her dark blue eyes and lose myself in them for a second.
Her eyes seem lost.
"And what happens next?" She asks and I pull my hand away again.
"Ahem, next Zoey is going to accept the call and greet you. Or decline the call and you get... a sound. The sound... uhhh, it does not sound like a greeting. So you should be able to tell if she declines."
"Huh! Oh! She greeted me! What now? Do I greet her back?"
I can hear laughter coming from the other side of the phone. "Haha, no. She can already hear you."
"Thanks... Zoey? ... Good evening. You cannot show that to people." Akari starts her lecture and I start sneaking away.
"What do you mean this is normal? ... No. Only your husband should see that. ... I guess a wife would be alright too. ... No, first you need to marry, then comes the other stuff. ... I guess, but surely you can find a partner without resorting to that.-- Multiple?! ... You feel like you are behind and need to get ahead of your competition?-- Ah, sorry. I will not talk as loudly anymore. ..."
The rest is just whispers.
"So..." Dawn approaches me.
Her right hand brushes some strands of hair out of her face.
Her other is balled in a fist and clenches the hem of her pink skirt. Her thumb is tapping nervously against her fist.
"So?"
"Soooo..." She starts blushing a lot. "Never mind! I think I saw the fishing rod move!"
And she runs away.
...
OMA.
I can only think of a single topic she would want to talk about with me after that situation!
Am... Am I popular with women?
Hehe. Haha... Hahahaha! "Sweet!"
Wait! Doesn't that mean I have to choose now?!
But how!?
Zoey is so open-minded, I basically have a long-distance relationship with her already... I will need to clarify that. Can't forget it.
But we have also been smooching a lot when we were drunk... I still have the taste of her cherry lipstick and the cider she drank in my mind... And the feeling of her tongue pressed against mine...
Ding
Zoey: "You can share with Dawn and Akari... But no one else! ;) "
Is she writing about any future pictures she plans to send me?
Zoey: "Make sure Buneary doesn't steal your phone again."
Swole: "Got it. Promise."
Swole: "Gotta go for a sec. Ferry here. C U"
Zoey: "Later."
The massive ferry is approaching the main dock of the little harbor and the line of cars, waiting to board, start their engines.
The ship is really massive. There is an internal hold for the cars and the rest looks almost like a little cruise ship.
Designed to make the rough passage of 100km even in bad weather.
Akari has already fished her fishing rod back out of the water and packed up and helps Dawn with the old fishing rod design.
That cheapskate sold us some ancient, possibly handmade fishing rods and they suck. That's why we didn't catch anything.
I head back to the dock and pull my rod out of the water.
"Man." I say. "These things suck. And I really thought I would catch a new pokemon like this. How am I going to defeat the gym with only Buneary?"
"Bun!" The bunny in question reassures me as she hops on my shoulder.
"It's going to be really difficult though. You're going to have to fight it perfectly."
~"I am perfect!"
"Haha! Sure you are. Come on. Help me a little out here with the cleanup if you're so perfect."
Ding
Zoey: "Btw."
Zoey: "Akari said we have to marry since you saw me like that ;p "
Swole: "lol. Sure, next weekend?"
Zoey: "Haha :D "
---
After packing up the fishing equipment, picking up our pokemon and generally cleaning up after ourselves, we head to the main dock, where the ferry had just finished unloading the passengers.
To get in, we didn't have to wait in any lines because most people come with their cars.
After finding nice spots to chill out on the deck, we just had to wait a couple of minutes while all the cars maneuver into the inside of the massive ferry.
Traffic is so busy at the start of the year, that a couple of unlucky drivers have to wait for tomorrow's ferry.
The front of the deck has a wooden floor and a sturdy metal railing. Other than us, not many people are up here.
Most must be below deck and don't want to leave their cars.
"Excuse me?" A voice stops me from catching up with Dawn and Akari.
The voice comes from a blonde man, who is giving his daughter a piggy-back ride. Her young face peeks shyly past her father. And an excited Lillipup is running around his legs, until he spots Buneary on my shoulder and starts hiding behind the man's legs.
"Yes? What can I do for you?"
"Would you be so kind and take a photo of us? It's my little sunshine's first time on a ship." He emphasizes by petting the sunshine's head.
Actually, this gives me a good idea.
"Sure. But can you take one of me and Buneary afterwards?"
"Deal." He crams out his phone with one hand. "Here you go."
He picks up Lillipup, shuffles him and his daughter into a good position and I snap a couple of nice pictures of them.
He, in turn, takes a couple of pictures of me and Buneary and hands me the phone back.
"Bye." - "Have a nice day."
We tell each other goodbye and I go to the gallery, quickly skipping past Zoey's picture and instead look for the best of Buneary and me.
The best turns out to be the one where I'm holding Buneary in the crook of my left arm, while we are looking at each other. My right hand is in my pants pocket and I'm posing with the contrapposto for increased aesthetic.
Buneary looks more mellow than usual in the picture. Her ears, relaxed and her face turned up to look me deep in my eyes.
The background is a perfectly blue sky with the ocean as far as the eyes can see.
Perfection.
I set it as my new lock screen pic.
I take a look around for Akari and Dawn and see them doing their own things near the bow (front) of the ship.
"Good evening everybody." The captain's voice rings out from the speakers as I think who to talk to first.
"It's a summery 17°C today, the sea is calm and there will be a light north-east breeze to cool you down from our unusually hot Sinnoh weather."
Ha! I knew it felt too warm.
Feels nice to get professional validation.
"Our little voyage across the gulf of Canalave will take a little under 4 hours and our top speed is going to be 20 knots. Hold on to your sea-belts, because this ship is about to set sail on a wild wave of adventure!" He then proceeds to honk the ship-horn twice.
While the captain said that, some laughter could be heard in the background-noise.
The ship doesn't even have sails...
Anyway, I decided to talk to Akari first. She is just looking at her phone with her egg held in a sling around her. Quilava is standing watch, next to her.
She hasn't shown any signs of depression in the past days, but her nervousness is making me nervous. And I know she is usually stoic as fuck.
I wouldn't be surprised if she's just hiding it all away.
"Hey there, Akari."
She startles up. She was totally engrossed with her phone... With the clock app?
... Right. Time traveler. All tech must be impressive.
"What's up?"
"Oh. I am fine. What is up yourself?"
... Gross. "Don't say it like that. That's gross. Anyway, are you really fine? You can talk to us, you know? Or me at least, I promised already that I won't tell anyone about your stuff."
She looks around carefully. "Sigh. I am sorry. I can not risk telling you more. Not yet, at least. I should not have told you about it in the first place."
She nervously kneads the hem of her kimono-skirt.
"And... I am not fine." She continues with a whisper, while avoiding eye contact. "I want to go home. I feel so lost... And... and I feel so guilty. I am so sorry."
Survivors' guilt? Anyway, I hold my arms out and she immediately enters my hug.
She sniffles a little but holds her tears back.
"It's alright. You don't need to feel guilty... I-- I know nothing can replace what you lost... But Dawn and I... You are our friend. We will be there for you. I promise you."
"I do not deserve you." She mutters into my chest.
My arms are wrapped around her. Despite her muscles, she feels frail.
"I'm sorry."
... "You finally said 'I'm' like a normal person."
Her sniffling immediately stops.
"Never mind. I do deserve this after all. Haha. My very own, personal hell." And then she punches me before retreating out of my hug.
A tiny smile visible beneath her deep sadness.
But both are quickly hidden by a mask of stoicism.
"Thank you for talking to me... And again, I am-- I'm sorry about everything." Another tiny smile but then she turns away, to look out at the sea.
I stay for a bit longer and then look around for Dawn.
She's busy doing selfies with Piplup.
... Instead of bothering her, I make my way over to the very tip of the bow of the ship, before taking another look around.
There are a couple of pokemon trainers on the deck. Either travelers or hired security.
Otherwise, there is only the father with his daughter out here. The rest of the civilians must be too scared of the Red Gyarados.
"You know." I address the bunny on my shoulders. "This kinda reminds me of the movie Tirtouganic. Mom loves that movie."
The movie was kinda cringe though. And the title-- No, the original name of the ship. So cringe.
Who builds an expensive cruiser only to name it with a pun on 'Tirtouga'?
...
"Buneary. I need you to hop on the railing."
"Bune?"
"No particular reason... And now spread out your arms... Cute-- Hey, keep them spread out."
But am I really going to do this?
It's cringe...
"Ahem... I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" I shout out as I hold Buneary by her torso.
Hahaha! Oh man! Haha!
I feel powerful! Like the whole world lies ahead of me!
The adventures! The pokemon I will meet! I can feel it all at the tips of my fingers!
"Cringe." Dawn pulls me back into reality.
She's hovering close to my right, right now, with her own enthusiastic smile bright on her face.
I look around once more. At the sky, the ocean and the distant coast.
Everywhere I look, pokemon are soaring through the air, gliding through the water, riding on the land and sharing the land with all sorts of people; working and playing together.
They are training. They are battling. They are going on adventures every day!
And our very own adventure begins today, with two beautiful girls at my sides.
Dawn to my right, her radiant smile brightening my day. Her sapphire eyes, filling me with glee. Her whole face is a thing of beauty and practically shines with mirth today.
Akari has decided to join us at some point.
She is close to my left. Her deep blue eyes, mysterious and drawing me in like the ocean. A tiny hint of a smile on her perfect, doll-like face.
And Buneary in front. The cutest pokemon around. My own guardian angel. Her fur is fluffy and well groomed; A testament to the care and effort of her trainer, haha.
I'm surrounded by beauties.
This is how an adventure should start.
"Snort." Dawn holds a hand in front of her face.
Her previous glee and mirth, replaced with an increasingly bad attempt at hiding her laughter.
"What's up?"
"Haha, you know... Ever since you came back with Buneary, you started mumbling to yourself."
... No. "What?"
Akari has a bright blush on her face now. "You have been monologuing for quite a while now."
... No, no, no, no.
"By the way," Dawn lets out a few more laughs and places her hand on my shoulder before continuing. "It was a very nice description of the scenery. And, haha, I will take the rest as a compliment."
Nooooooo!
FUCK! That's even more cringe than the movie scene thing!
Even Buneary is laughing at me.
I raise my hands to hide my face in shame.
This is so embarrassing.
"I will also choose to take it as a compliment. However, perhaps you should keep that level of admiration for Zoey?" Akari follows suit with consolation.
Arceus, just bury me in the ground already.
I'm sorry.
Did I hear something?
"What the hell is that?" Dawn sounds confused.
"Almighty Sinnoh... It is happening."
A young girl screams in fright nearby.
Alright. What the hell is going on?
I open my eyes...
---
I can't see. Pitch-black darkness is everywhere!
Blind?!
The little girl's screams are gone too.
And something just pulled the floor away from under my feet.
I can't see shit but I feel myself being harshly pressed into the railing until it breaks under the pressure and I fall.
The young girl's screams have been replaced by Dawn and Akari shouting in pain.
All I hear are their screams, the tearing of metal and loud crashes.
All I see is darkness.
What the hell is going on!
"Buneary!" I shout out, where did she go? She was directly in front of me just a moment ago!
"Bun!" Her panicked shouts come back to me from the darkness below me.
She is somewhere... And I'm still falling.
How long have I been falling for already? It feels forever. I keep my arms and legs braced for another impact.
Some metal is clanking on stone near me, cluing me in to the fact that I'm about to meet the ground--
Oof!
"Argh!" Fuck! That hurt. Damn.
I landed on my feet but my legs just crumpled and the rest of the impact went right into my forearms that I held out to protect my head.
Damn, that really fucking hurt! I can already feel bruises forming across my body in the pitch-black abyss.
A sharp crunch to my right, followed by a pained scream from Dawn. And another impact to my left; Akari must be nearby.
My palms press against the cold, unyielding, jagged, stone surface. Panic claws its way up my throat--
Where is Buneary!? "Buneary?"
Silence.
My breath hitches, heart pounding in my ears. My chest feels tight. I can't lose her!
Why is it so dark!? Where are you? "Buneary!?"
I need to find her.
Fumbling through the void, my hands meet nothing but rough stone and cold, unforgiving metal.
"Where are you?"
I can only hear the sounds of pain around me.
A wave of nausea rises within me, bitter bile rises up my throat.
I swallow hard, my shaky breaths echoing in the cavernous blackness and completing the cacophony of noise. None of the noises are from Buneary, returning my calls.
Why can't I hear her anymore!?
The tight grip of fear wraps around my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs.
"Cough Buneary!?" I call again, desperation making my voice crack.
My hands explore the abyss, reaching out for any sign of her reassuring, soft fur.
But there's nothing. Only the cold, unyielding stone of this unknown place. There is so much darkness...
Images start flashing through my mind.
Pukes
They are coming for me.
I can hear their feet splashing in the blood.
They will rip out my eyes!
Why can't I move!? I need to run!
I gasp down air. I can't breathe; I can't think.
"Buneary!" I shout out once more, but the sound is swallowed by the cavernous expanse.
My eyes are bleeding... Arceus, please...
You are safe.
...
...
Suddenly, bright, orange light blinds me.
An angel appears before me. Barely visible past the glare of the light.
Did I die?
She places something heavy and furry on my stomach-- Buneary!
My arms wrap around her and I feel-- I am safe.
My tense muscles relax and I feel the back of my head hitting the hard ground a little too hard. "Oof... Buneary, are you alright?"
No response.
I can feel a massive bump on her head. But she's still breathing and her pulse is stable.
Must have fallen unlucky and was knocked out by the fall.
I pull out the potion from my pocket and treat her obvious wound before scanning her over for more hidden wounds.
I don't see any, so I pull out my berry case and eat half a Sitrus Berry for the pain and the bruises.
I can still hear Dawn groaning in pain and I can hear Akari breathing heavily.
Then, finally, I take a look around. The glare of the light is not so bad anymore and I can see what's around me...
... What the hell happened?
This doesn't make any fucking sense at all!