Prompt 4: The Reservoir
The Destiny City Reservoir opened about two years ago and is an easy escape from the big city. It’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but it’s been in the news for mysterious reports of some strange, aquatic monster. Some accounts say they’ve spotted a twenty foot long, snake like creature capable of rearing a long neck high above the water. It’s hard to tell if the videos are doctored, but there are too many rumors to dismiss easily. Something strange might be lurking deep in the water. Or it’s just a hoax to get people out to the Reservoir!

But…Sometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually.

While you may find yourself harassed by the supposed cryptid, or see something visibly odd in the distance, you cannot take any pictures of the creature. Who knows if you’re even being attacked by the cryptid–or just another youma?


Vaylin's friends from her college classes had been begging and pestering her for weeks now to come with them to the Reservoir, which as the young Velencian understood was a manufactured beach and lake. She had been to this lake once before, a year ago when she had encountered some monster. She was pretty sure having not heard any about any incidents here in a year that whatever had attacked her was long gone but still it made her reluctant to go back there. She finally agreed to their demands when she felt like she had hit a roadblock in her research. She wanted to examine some of the senshi worlds and knights wonders to get samples for her research but she didn't know any of them very well to ask for them to take her there. She wasn't sure if the members of Order were particular about who they showed their worlds too, additionally even though she had aided them in several battles she wasn't sure how many of them would even trust her enough to take her to their home worlds after what the bulk of the Vanguard had done. So to take her mind off of that dilemma at least for a day, she agreed to this trip.

She was currently lounging on the beach in her human glamour wearing a tie-dye bikini that her friends had helped her buy. She personally felt a little embarrassed wearing such revealing clothing but her friends assured her that she looked good and she didn't want to go against Earth customs. She would have been content to lay there soaking up the light from this system's star however the other girls were calling for her to join them in the water for some game involve a lightly colored ball filled with air. So with a bit of reluctance on her part she got up from her lounging chair and headed towards the water. The chill of the water made her jump slightly, as her body became adjusted to its temperature she waded deeper into the man made lake to join her friends. The human game proved fun and she began to really enjoy herself.

However as she playing in the water she suddenly felt the dreadfully familiar feeling of something wrapping around her ankle and yanking her beneath the surface of the water. She heard her friends scream her fake human name in panic as she was dragged down quickly into the deep. She squinted eyes against the stinging water to try to see the monster that was attacking her this time but all she could see was the long tendril dragging. Her lungs burned as she swallowed water but thankfully her physiology was much stronger than human's and she was able to remain conscious. She reached desperately into subspace and pulled out her sword. Igniting the energy blade in a crackle of steam and light she slashed deeply into the flesh of the creature that had grabbed her. It let go of her in shudder of what Vaylin could only assume was pain swimming deeper as she tried to swim back to the surface sending her weapon back to subspace in the process. Her vision grew darker as she saw a figure swimming her before she passed out briefly. When she came to she was laying on the beach with her friends standing around her with worried looks on their faces. There was also a young human man with an athletics build wearing red trunks kneeling next to her. She coughed up some more water before wearily trying to get onto her feet again. "Easy there. You must have accidently stepped onto one of the drop off points for the Reservoir, you got to be careful it can get pretty deep." The man who Vaylin assumed was one of the lifeguards she had read about advised. Vaylin knew normal humans knew little to nothing about magic so to avoid a panic or worse make them all believe she was crazy she kept quiet about the reality of what had happened and just nodded along to his warnings. "You should probably rest after that Crystal, come on I'll drive you home." One of her friends offered putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Vaylin just agreed absently. She wasn't sure if she had mortally wounded the creature in that lake or if it was just injured but one think the alien girl was certain of was that she would never come back to this lake again.
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