Chapter Text
By some miracle, Simon found himself waking up.
He hadn’t expected to wake up again, when blood had filled the sub so completely and he was forced to rip his own arm off, he thought that had been it. He hadn’t wanted to go, of course, he had wanted to live. But by the end, he had more or less accepted his fate. Accepted the fact that the blood ocean was going to take him.
So waking up almost felt more like a dream than real life.
He felt himself breathing. He could feel his heart beat in his chest. He didn’t want to open his eyes though. It could be another trick. He didn’t want to open his eyes and see red. Or…or nothing at all.
But eventually, Simon’s need to know for sure won and slowly, he peeled his eyes open.
He was on the sub.
Simon blinked, swallowing thickly as his eyes scanned the small space. It wasn’t filled with blood and those weird…growths? Tendrils? Whatever they had been, those were gone too. But the damage to the sub was still very much there. The radio was busted and dripped with leftover blood, the window was still cracked, the chair was basically folded in half…
But it was all still there.
Simon used the wall behind him and stood on shaky legs. He groaned as his head throbbed and lifted a hand to rub at it. He glanced over at the wall and, somehow, the last light for his oxygen was still on.
Nothing was making sense.
Was everything that had happened to him some hallucination? Had any of that been real? Was this real? Simon groaned again as another throb of pain flared up, but this time it came from his left shoulder. He looked down at it.
His left arm was gone.
Simon’s breathing became erratic as he clutched at where his arm used to be. It throbbed but it wasn’t bleeding. It seemed closed up but Simon was more worried about the fact that his arm was gone in the first place. What was going on? If his arm was gone then everything that Simon remembered had actually happened. But if that was the case, how was he still alive?
Simon didn’t have much time to think about that though as the ship suddenly lurched. Simon stumbled, clinging to one of the pipes so he didn’t fall over. He just barely managed to keep himself up right but now his thoughts were on what that was.
Was he still in the blood ocean? Was that…creature back? Simon ran over to the camera button and pressed it.
Nothing happened.
Simon blinked and pressed it again. And again. And again and again and again-
He hit the button hard when he came to the realization that it was broken, slamming his fist into it several times. His breathing was still coming out heavier than normal and in the back of his mind he knew he should be trying to be breathing less, to save his oxygen, but he couldn’t stop. How was he supposed to navigate if he didn’t have his f****** camera?
He turned back around and went over to his controls. The entire console was dead, not a single green number or red light turned on. No matter how many times he thrusted the handle forward or turned the dial. He really was completely screwed.
The ship lurched again and Simon hung on tight with his one remaining hand on the console in order to keep himself steady. The movement almost had him slamming his head right into it but he just managed to stop himself from furthering the concussion he was sure he already had. His eyes darted around the dark sub, wondering what he could do, wondering if there was even anything left he could try.
He had somehow gotten another chance. And he desperately wanted to live.
Simon turned around and once again looked over the entirety of the sub. He tried to think but his head was still throbbing, making it a difficult thing to do. The only sound he could hear was the beating of his own heart, his quick breathing, and…
And…
Music?
Simon blinked, straining his ears. He had to be hearing things, there was no way he was hearing music of all things. That was impossible, that was crazy-
He heard it again, a string of notes, a melody, distant but there.
Simon glanced over at his radio but it wasn’t coming from there, the thing was still busted and the light remained firmly off. But if it wasn’t coming from his radio, then where was it coming from?
Was it…coming from outside?
Simon carefully walked over to one of the walls and shakily placed his ear to it, listening. It was hard to make out from the thick layers of the sub but the music was a bit more clear like this. And it definitely was music. Not any kind that Simon was used to, it seemed to flow and stop in strange ways but it was, undoubtedly, music.
Simon stayed like that for a moment, just listening to the tune. His eyes welled with tears as he just took a moment to be.
How long had it been since he had simply rested?
The music turned a bit sharper, a bit faster and there were other noises that followed. It sounded like strange thuds, a lot of them in quick succession. It almost sounded familiar and Simon racked his brain for what it reminded him of. Footsteps? But of someone with more than two legs, like some sort of animal. Or maybe a group of people? But it was also too heavy to be footsteps. They fell hard against the earth and, with him up against the ship like he was, Simon could feel the slight shake of the sub in tune to each thud.
But if they weren’t footsteps, then what were they?
Simon didn’t have the chance to think more on that as another sound cut through the music and thuds. Something that caused him to jump up, his eyes snapping open.
A voice.
“Hello, tiny human alright, question?” The voice said in a strange tone. Simon’s breathing once again became erratic and he snapped his head over to the radio. But the voice hadn’t come from there, it had come from outside the sub.
“H-Hello?” Simon croaked out, his voice barely above a whisper. His throat hurt, probably from him coughing up blood earlier. He was worried the voice wouldn’t be able to hear him but he was proven wrong.
“Yes, yes, yes! Hello! Tiny human alright, question?” The voice repeated and Simon blinked, finally processing exactly what the voice was saying. Tiny human? What? He shook his head, now was not the time to be focused on the voice’s choice of words.
“Is…Is this real?” Simon asked instead of answering. He needed to know, he desperately needed the voice to be real and not a hallucination or-or a trick from that creature.
The voice was silent for a moment and Simon pushed his ear back against the wall in order to hear better. “...Yes. Is real.” The voice was slower now.
Simon’s cheeks felt wet. “Promise?” Simon’s voice broke on the word. He needed this, he needed the confirmation.
“Adrian promise. Adrian is real. Tiny human safe. Promise.” The voice, Adrian, said and Simon finally broke down, silent sobs making his shoulders shake. He was still leaning against the side of the sub as he curled in on himself and cried.
Some part of him told him this could still be a trick. That Simon was dead or close to it. That he was still in that blood ocean and the creature had him in its grasp and was toying with him.
But Simon wanted this to be real so bad. He held onto the voice, to the promise it made, and felt his chest fill up with hope once again.
Safe. Safe. Safe.
He chose to believe it.