Searching for a cave found 280 to 300 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the archeologist who viewed himself an adventurer, enlisted sailors from Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier to deliver him to where he will need to begin his dive. The archeologist had been training with the Aqua Lung diving gear he purchased for this adventure. With a full air tank and all other gear double checked to had been sealed properly, the archeologist began his dive to search for a cave that had been mentioned on hieroglyphs he found on other adventures. Seeing mounds of sharp rock formations under the water, the archeologist swam for the center. Hoping to find the cave, the archeologist came face to face with a swordfish. As the swordfish charged for the archeologist, he reached out for the sharp rock nearest to him, cutting himself on the edge and pulled himself around the corner. Barely evading the swordfish hitting his body, he was unable to get away fast enough and the swordfish had punctured a hole in the air tank. With what air was left in the air at the moment of the puncture was just enough to send the swordfish against wall of opposite rock, impaling the fish from the sharp edges. At the same time, the archeologist was shot in the opposite direction due to the pressure, launching him into a current between the rocks leading to the only opening, the entrance to the cave. Inside the cave, the archeologist discovered ancient
ruins with architecture that had been there before the cave walls themselves. As he set foot in the center of the ruins, a bright purple light flashes throughout the cave, glowing bright enough for the sailors who guided the archeologist to his destination to be blinded by the light. As for the archeologist, when the light disappeared so did, he.


No time had passed at all, the archeologist awoke to find himself surrounded by warriors of a tribe of people with caramel skin and tattoo-like markings the same purple as the light that filled the cave. The luminescent purple tattoo-like markings ran along the path of the human body’s natural flow of energy. Where the markings met between the eyes it bled into what should be white in their eyes was instead the same purple. Each of the warriors wielded a spear in their hands, short swords on one hip, and on the other hip a quiver for the bows on their backs. The warriors body language showed they were weary of the white male stranger who appeared before them in a flash, now covered in the same markings as them. They prepared themselves, ready to defend their people.
“Um, hello there, everyone, my name is Adam. I am an archeologist from the Smithsonian. I was searching for an underwater cave when…” As Adam was franticly trying to explain why he suddenly landed himself in the position he was in, one of the warriors from the unknown tribe lunged his spear towards Adam, stopping right before contact.
Speaking in ancient Egyptian with a malicious yet also calm tone, the warrior said, “I do not understand your language, if you cannot communicate with our people, we cannot trust you do not have any harmful intent.”
Years of fascination for the ancient Egyptian civilization had finally paid off for Adam, speaking near clearly but missing the right accent the archeologist plead, “I am an archeologist, I thirst for adventure and knowledge of ancient ways.”

With the look of shock and respect on the warriors faces they all backed away yet keeping up their guard and creating a wall of defense between this stranger and their citizens. The warrior who had lunged the spear and first spoke to Adam addressed himself in an honorable tone, “I am the commander of our people’s armies, my name is Osiris. How is it that you are here?” Looking around and recognizing not just similar but the same architecture he had seen earlier, “I was searching for a deep ocean cave when I happened upon the ruins of what looked exactly like where we are now, but with a cave formed around all but the center. When I went to take a closer look suddenly there was a bright flash, the same purple as the markings on you and your people, and then I was just here, in front of all of you.” For the first time since waking up, Adam looked down at his hands and noticed that he was now covered in the same markings as them. “Ahh! Did this happen from the flash?” Adam shouted in a panic, now wondering what exactly happened to not just him but this entire hidden civilization. As the warriors were beginning to panic in response to Adams reaction, a strong but delicate voice came from behind the crowd, “Stand down warriors, if you remember correctly, we panicked the same way when this happened to all of us. It has been a long time since our people have seen anyone new. I am Eternal Queen Nefertiti; I am not sure how much time has passed since the day our kingdom was disconnected from the rest of the world, but we are now frozen in time. No one has aged, been born, and none of us can die. We no longer feel hunger or seem to require the need for water, but we can still feel pain and we can still bleed, but these markings that glow on us all heal us. Do you understand what I am saying? The markings now cover your body as well, you are now the same as us, there is no escape, this is your new life forever. You are lucky you can speak our language, are you willing to learn all our ways?” With a look of gleaming determination, Adam answered, “This is all I have ever wanted.”

Leslie Smith, is a stay at home mother working towards a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. Her preferred genre to write in is Si-Fi Fantasy and Adventure.