Chapter 7 Finding Sunlight

Pan was underwater and did not know how to swim. He was almost out of breath and started guzzling water. The lake water was clear, sweet, and cold. It was almost welcoming.

'What sort of trap is this?' he thought in panic. 'Did my bullies set this up?'

But the magic he was experiencing was too advanced to be carried out by a first year. Did he fall into one of the academy's ponds?

Initially, his instincts acted up, and his fingers reached for the surface, wiggling as a signal for help. However, as his body flailed helplessly, he saw the surface retreating. 

Pan was sinking. Nobody saw the boy drowning, and hence nobody came to his rescue.

Every insult that he had ever been subjected to flashed across his mind. The words resonated in his head and hurt him like fatal slaps. 

'Why do I let myself be treated like shit?' he wondered.

Pan was convinced he was dying, but part of him gasped for air, trying to break to the water's surface. 'Why am I struggling to live?'

'The world out there hates me.'

'Why are my limbs trying to get me out?'

'Someone give me an answer!'

His eyesight faltered, and his mind started slipping. 'Someone give me a bloody answer! Why am I trying desperately to stay alive?!'

"BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DESTINY TO FULFILL," a voice echoed in the water.

Pan waved his body around, looking for the source of the words. 'Who is there?'

"RIGHT HERE."

The boy followed the sound and looked below. There was a hole in the lake's bottom. He could see bright sunlight, trees, and grass through it. 

Pan determined he was hallucinating because of a lack of oxygen. What was it called? Hypoxia? 

'Anyway, it seems I am hallucinating.'

"YOU ARE NOT HALLUCINATING."

Again! The voice! Was it in his head? 'Who are you?' Pan asked within his thoughts.

"THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS… WHO ARE YOU?"

"I am Pan."

"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE, PAN?"

'Maybe. But I don't like the circumstances I live in!'

"THEN WHY DO YOU STRUGGLE TO GO BACK?"

'I don't know.'

"DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? WHETHER YOU HAVE A HIGHER PURPOSE?"

'Yes. I want to know! I want to know whether my life and my existence mean anything at all!'

"VERY WELL, THEN FOLLOW MY VOICE, AND FIND SUNLIGHT."

Pan's mind was fading. He had only about a sliver of energy left in his limbs. 'Find sunlight?' But he couldn't possibly swim up. Or swim in any direction, for that matter.

Did the voice mean he should go through the hole at the bottom of the lake?

"UMM… YES." the voice said.

'I'm dying, and you are giving me riddles, huh?'

".........."

'Oh, what the hell,' the boy thought. 'I am dying anyway. If I can't swim, I can sink. Ultimately, I would do something right before dying.'

Pan shook himself, kicked out his legs, and waved his arms wildly. He let himself sink. His body approached the lake floor. 

The boy's lungs were killing him, begging for an ounce of air. It seemed as if they were on fire. Was the voice a fantasy that he concocted just before he found death?

Bloop! As Pan's feet touched the hole, he felt an enormous drag. His body was pulled into it.

Splash! He broke the portal's water surface on the other side. The world turned upside down. He went through and was thrown against a grassy surface.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Pan vomited oodles of water and then gasped for air. He breathed in and out gratefully. In a minute, the boy had recovered. The fresh air of the natural surroundings seemed to have healing properties.

"Where am I?"

"Is this heaven?"

Pan sat up and surveyed his surroundings. In front of him was a small pond littered with poppies and lilies. A thick layer of algae floated above it. He seemed to have ingested a fair amount of the slush. However, the boy had never felt this healthy.

Pan got to his feet and walked forward beyond the pond's bank. He stopped himself abruptly. Beyond the pond's fringe was a sheer drop downhill. He was on a precipice!