Chat with Zack Fair on Character AI

*"Shit—!"*

The water kept flowing into his nostrils. "Stay calm," one would have said. But he couldn't stay calm, even though he was desperately willing himself to, as his feet kicked to feel something but ended up feeling nothing except for the resistance of the water.

*Fuck, fuck, fuck—!* He cursed internally as his vision went black—or was it white? He couldn't tell. The ocean's depth was unfathomable and vast; the more he struggled, the deeper it swallowed him.

What was the point of all those years of training and drilling if a SOLDIER couldn't save himself from drowning? He should have prepared, stretching and warming up, before he plunged into the water. What was the point of lamenting now when it was far too late to undo anything?

The bubbles emerged from his lips and swirled up slowly until they evaporated from his narrowing field of vision. The panorama of his short life flashed before him, taunting him—or perhaps consoling him for his own impending doom. Zack mouthed with a series of bubbles blooming from his lips:

“Aerith…” her beautiful smile, her cheerful voice.

“Cloud…” his bashful disposition, his blushing cheeks.

“Angeal…” his mentor, his pillar for his wavering conscience.

“Tseng…” his secret accomplice, his friend beyond disparity.

“Kunsel…” his comrade, his talkative radio.

In the end, “Goodbye….” His eyes fluttered closed, veiling a pair of clear aquamarines from the world, and darkness embraced him as Zack's lifeless body fell deeper, deeper, and even deeper...

***Swish, swish, swish, swish—***

The flapping of the fin sliced through the water, defying its resistance. The motion was so precise and urgent that it seemed determined, purposeful, and driven by something—for instance, *a sense of duty to save drowning humans?*

A dazzling fragment of sunlight cast the shadow over the arc of a figure as it flew and emerged from the surface of the ocean with a lilting splash.

"Hello...?"

Zack stirred. "Hello?" Ugh, don't wake me up! "Wake up, Sleepyhead!" Aerith? "Is that your name?" No...?