When I was young, I became aware of a peculiar talent of mine. When in the sea, I can dive as deep as I want without ever having to come up for air. The pressure seems to have no effect on me, either. The ocean turned into my playground.

I was born and bred in a small coastal town. Growing up, I came to know by heart the sound of the waves crashing against the rugged shore and the smell of salt carried across the land by every breeze, hanging in the air with every breath. My parents were never reluctant to let me go swimming by myself. Whether that was out of faith and trust in nature or simple negligence I'll never know, but I was grateful for it nonetheless. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

When I went down to the beach, I would always go alone. I'd always return to the same desolate little spot that was all my own. Nobody ever found me there. Nobody ever wandered by.

I started, quite literally, testing the waters.

I'd stay under for longer each time, exploring new depths at every opportunity. The further I swam, the more I saw of the world below. The masses of water didn't crush me as they would have a similarly unprotected body. The volume of air in my lungs never seemed to decrease with my descension, and I never felt so much as a hint of pain when surfacing. I could open my eyes and my vision would be just as good as on land. Furthermore, I could swim faster than what should have been possible. Occasionally, I'd get so lost in the motion that I'd swim for a couple minutes only to then come up, turn and find that I couldn't see the shore anymore. I did encounter a bunch of creatures that had intentions of eating me, but I was able to escape every last one of them, always getting away without so much as a scratch. Sometimes, I actually found it exhilarating. I know just how dumb I was being, willfully putting myself into danger, but at the time, I felt invincible.

There I was, a tiny human exploring the dark, vast expanses others were so intimidated by—all on my own. It was a deeply spiritual experience. I was by myself, sometimes so deep underwater that I could hardly see the light from above at all anymore. It was these pitch-black spaces that truly intrigued me. While I could see much better in the darkness than most people, it was still kind of… off-limit. These areas somehow struck me as distinctly more threatening, more dangerous and unnerving than just the wide, open sea. They were yawning, abysmal maws, practically brimming with mystery.

Then one day, I just… did it.

I swam further and dove deeper than ever before. I plunged into the darkness, into the murky cold. I had never minded the freezing temperatures, and I didn't now. I was solely focused on what was below, without a clue on what I expected to find. I figured there had to be something amazing. Or perhaps there was nothing there for me to see. Maybe I was simply doing it to prove to myself that I could go the distance. Perhaps I really didn't think I would discover much. Which made it all the more surprising when I spotted a greenish-blue glow in the distance. It immediately drew my attention and I started moving towards it, slower than before but just as deliberate.

While a primal sense of dread began to creep further up in my chest with every stroke that carried me closer to the unearthly light, my curiosity far outweighed my apprehension. The colder and deeper it got, the brighter it became. Where in the world was it coming from?

I kept steadfastly heading towards it, until I could finally make out the source.

When I realized it, I stopped, freezing mid-movement. Floating in the dark masses of water, seemingly endless widths and depths both above and below me, I was hovering motionlessly in the void of space. And staring at me from within the blackness beneath was an enormous glowing eye. It sat within a horrid face, above a mouth so big it could have easily swallowed me whole, and a dozen people more. It opened its maw a mere slither, revealing rows upon rows of needle teeth, each one longer than I was tall. The body this head was attached to was so gargantuan that the better part of it remained invisible to me, hidden in the nebulous spheres of the bottom.

I cannot describe to you the fear that I felt in that moment. It wasn't just the terrifying sight in front of me, not just the teeth and glowing eyes; it was the sheer size of this monstrosity. I suddenly felt like I was merely a grain of sand on a big, long beach—a tiny speck among billions so easily carried away with each lap of the tide. If I was the grain, then this was the wave. Hulking, mighty, boundless; unaware of such a minute little being as myself, unaware and uncaring. If this creature were to swallow me, I would forever be forgotten, and it would live on none the wiser of my panic in the face of its vastness.

I stayed perfectly still, floating in place despite the icy currents pushing and pulling at my body. Stayed perfectly still, my blood frozen, my heart in my stomach as the snake's giant eyes bored into me. I knew then and there that I had been wrong. This being was aware of me. And when I heard the voice in my head, the tiniest of whispers, I realized that it was even more than that.

You are very small for a thing with purpose.

I don't know how I responded. I suppose I simply thought the words, but somehow, the Ancient did hear my question. What are you? I asked the thing in the dark.

I am.

Are you going to kill me?

Not if I can help it.

Despite the relatively soothing nature of these words, there was an undertone to the murmur they were spoken in. There was calculation there, raw and vicious.

Will you let me go?

Afterwards.

I kept staring, my thoughts racing as I feverishly contemplated whether to flee or to linger. Something told me that if I moved a single muscle, I would be sucked into the space behind those needle teeth within a heartbeat.

I have a need for you.

My throat constricted when a strange fog seemed to ooze from the creature's body; swirling, misty tendrils mixing with the water and enveloping me in their strange pale haze.

What is this? my mind cried out in terror.

I struggled, kicking and flailing to maneuver my rigid form out of this strangely contaminated zone. For the first time in my life, swimming did not come effortlessly. Through my clouded vision, I could see the unearthly green light slowly fading as the Ancient shut his eyes, masses of water shifting as it sank down to the very bottom once more.

I was then hurled up to the surface by a current that dragged me almost the entire way back to shore. I was swept onto dry land by the waves, and on the beach I laid, trembling in the summer sun as my eyes gazed into the far too bright sky. When I was found, I was burnt and blistered and covered in my own vomit. A group of surfers happened upon me by chance and took me to a nearby hospital. It took three of them to carry me. My stomach had swollen to the size of a beach ball.

The doctors couldn't explain it. Neither to myself nor my parents. Without ever having known intimate human contact, I was pregnant. The unborn baby was growing rapidly. I was rendered immobile by its weight and size merely three days after the conception. A week later, I gave birth. I don't remember any of it, having been sedated during the process. But I can still see the faces of the medical staff looming over me, the last image from before I fell asleep etched into the folds of my brain. Their eyes wide open, features contorted in shock and disbelief.

My daughter was released into the sea a couple weeks after her birth. I hadn't yet regained my ability to walk, so my father carried me down to the shore to watch as my baby slithered into the shallows and disappeared in the waves. During her brief time on land, her weight had already doubled and tripled. Nobody had any idea what to do with her besides letting her go.

It's been two years since then. I haven't set foot into the water since I met the Ancient, and I avoid the beach however I can. But yesterday was different. Yesterday, something enormous washed ashore.

I recognized the Ancient by the form of his severed head and his lifeless round eyes. I recognized the father of my child. There was no trace of the rest of his body, except the red that tainted the shallows. I don't know if the Ancient had envisioned this end for himself, but whatever the case, I felt light as a feather gazing upon his mangled remains.

Thank you, baby girl.

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