Being swallowed between its neck inside the surface, he floated down in the water. On any side of the neck, tons of skeletons tried to reach him. Slowly turning his body, he floated down facing the surface. Gravity pushed him strangely. His empty eyes almost closed. Feeling dug into a grave, he thought…
"... Am I dead?…"
He pushed his hand through the earth, trying to exit.
His hand broke through a grave, tearing open a vast terrain in the underground waters. The grave stood on a sidewall of a ceiling filled with tombs.
On the gravestone was written "Suiydu Inezeya, 1990–1997."
Falling through the grave, he drifted together with parts of earth down in the water.
The curved ceiling of the enormous terrain was a graveyard, continuing downward as huge pillars. Its surface was covered with beautiful corals, sea flowers, and plants clinging to the rocks. Wide paths of sand stretched through the valley. On both sides of the paths, thick strands of kelp rose, forming arched gates along the way. Beautiful and colorful fish swam around, like angelfish, butterflyfish and moon jellyfish.
At the center of the huge terrain stood a huge pearl castle. All its long towers twisted upward thinly. Some of its towers surged from the ceiling. The center stood high.
From his mouth streamed bubbles. His hair waved in the water. Blood of his chin mixed in the water. His body twisted with the water's flow. Landing on the sand on his back, he watched the landscape.
"How can I breathe underwater?..."
His breath grew heavier. The water flowed toward him. Inezeya tried to stand up. Fish swam away far from the castle. As he rose, some of them surged toward him. His light blue and white furry scarf floated in the water. His empty eyes gazed at the castle.
At the outside of the higher floors of the castle, lay a black-blue haired young man. While his left leg hung down, he rested his right arm on his bent right knee. Three fingers of his left hand pressed resting on the left side of his head. A skull, clasped from above and below between two hands, marked the center of his forehead. His voice surged randomly from any direction around Inezeya.
"Welcome, kid…"
With confusion, Inezeya stared at the man. He took the finger from his mouth and held it between the fingers of his left hand. Bubbles slightly drifted from his lips as he spoke.
"And… You're?"
The man gazed back at him with a small smile. His voice surged from everywhere around him.
"I'm a Surreror, King of the Deathrow. I am Elezia."
Seriousness began to harden Inezeya's face.
"What's with all those graves in the sky?"
He lay calmly with a small smile.
"My prey."
Closing his ears, Inezeya put his hands on the sides of his head. His eyes widened. Red veins emerged from the edges of his eyes. He trembled in pain.
"W-what's those screams coming from their souls?"
Elezia sat up, his fingers of his right hand rested on the right side of his head. His wide smile revealed his teeth.
"Torture."
"Well lucky for them, it's until Armageddon."
Rotten heads surged from between the corals. Violently biting his arms and legs, they pin him. Decayed hands gripped his torso. From the fingernails of these hands, tangled wires with sharp ends extended. These wires wrapped tightly around Inezeya's body. He slightly leaned into the hands in agony.
Fingers forced his eyelids open. When he opened his mouth in pain, more fingers jammed deep into his throat, silencing him.
Bubbles streamed from his mouth.
"Lay back and watch the show."
From the ceilings covered with graves, three columns of bone violently slammed into the surface. A figure began to emerge from the central pillar. Its arms and legs were nailed to the side columns. Corals and sea plants covered its upper and lower body, transforming it into the silhouette of a small girl. She was fair-skinned with beautiful, brown hair. The iris of her emotionless, vacant eyes was a color between blue and purple.
Struggling in pain, Inezeya was astonished.
"S-Se-... But it can't be her…"
Screams of torment coming from every gravesite continued. Elezia laughed in amusement.
"Then let's begin... First, all the nails shall be removed."
From the corals and seaflowers tiny leeches dragged themselves toward the fingertips. Their mouths bore sharp, predatory teeth. Biting into the nail beds, their bodies latched on and pulled back. Blood flowed from the tips. Slowly, every fingernail and toenail was ripped away. After spitting the nails, they retreated to the flowers and corals.
The girl struggled violently in immense pain. Inezeya clenched his fists.
"The second step... is to pluck all the hair from the corpse."
Tiny ants emerged from the corals and beautiful flowers. They marched onto eyebrows, eyelashes, nose hairs, and scalps. Each carried a minuscule, sharp-edged shovel. Upon reaching a hair, they dug until the roots snapped. The scalp, brows, and lids became riddled with holes. Blood trickled down. Strands of hair fell slowly from the head, one by one.
The girl screamed in agony.
Inezeya moved his arms, legs, and bitten hands, struggling to loosen the wires. With every shift, the metal sliced deeper into his flesh. At the same time, he violently bit down on the fingers in his mouth. The fingers shifted inside, attempting to strangle him. He ignored the agony and bit harder.
"Next, the skin shall be sliced gently…"
Thorny roots emerged from the flowers. Like saws, they ground against the skin of the girl's face, arms, hands, feet, and entire body. Blood poured from the lacerations. The flowers and corals wrapping her became drenched in crimson. She cried out in pain. Her tears turned to blood. The roots burned into ashes.
After pausing to think, Inezeya realized he had to escape the mouths gnawing on his body. His eyes rolled back in anguish. His vision faded.
"I cannot faint! Grit your teeth!"
In the consuming darkness, he visualized the mouths biting his limbs. Using imagined hands, he attempted to pry them off. He exerted immense will.
"...and removed…"
From the corals crept tiny hands toward the girl's wounds like spiders. Fingers slipped inside the incisions, gripped the dermis, and slowly peeled the skin entirely from her body. Blood gushed from beneath as it separated. The severed skin was torn away. The hands fell off.
The girl's eyes rolled back, and she fainted from the pain.
Her head, arms, and feet were left skinless, revealing the muscles, nerves, and veins. She was completely covered in blood.
Using all his strength, he ripped the mouths off his arms and legs. At the same time, he bit through the fingers in his mouth, shattering them, and spat them onto the floor.
"Enough! Enough!"
Amidst the wires, he forced his hands toward his eyes. The wires sliced his arms. He snapped the fingers in his eyes and yanked them out. Grabbing the wires with both hands, he sawed through the hands gripping his torso. The severed limbs fell from his body. He stepped out of the wires, covered in cuts and wounds.
"..and the nerves and veins severed…"
He pointed his finger at Elezeya.
"Stop this right now, you bag of shit!"
Elezia sighed in disappointment. His soul became serious and heavy.
"Put away that finger, if you want to keep it."
Inezeya retracted his finger. He put his hands in his trouser pockets.
Elezia's gaze softened.
"Well anyway… My fun is already spoiled…"
The scribbled black tendrils in Inezeya's eyes continued to writhe chaotically. His heart seethed with rage as he stared into Elezia's dark blue eyes.
"Why the hell are you killing, torturing?!
He began to laugh gently.
"Because I want."
Full of hatred, Inezeya grabbed his scarf and tore it from his neck. Clenching it in his fist, he thrust it toward Elezia. Blood streamed from his chin, bruised knuckles and elbows, and bitten arms and legs. It dissolved into the water. Rage and seriousness hardened his face.
"I swear!!... When I grow strong enough, I will chop your shit-head, and burn it together with your fricking vermin!! YOU HEAR ME?!..."
Pain froze Inezeya…
From the ceiling… Five gigantic, decayed and bony hands loomed and swallowed him…
Elezia smiled and lay down.
"Well… First become a butcher, Inezeya…"
Crushed in their grip, blood from his body and all the oxygen in his lungs fled out. Together with his own red saliva, he drowned in the water, trembling in pain. His memory faded.