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It's not a good thing when you wake up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people. For our protagonist though, that's exactly what happened.

Where the fuck- 

Always a good start. As soon as she opened her eyes and blinked, trying to get rid of the haze in her mind, she looks around.

Someone speaks in a language foreign to her and she turns to the side before her eyes widen-

She stares. She sees the mouth of the person- person? Is it a person? Why were they colored blue? Who are they even? Where was she? Is she dreaming? Is she dead?

The person in front of her keeps talking but she can't understand a single thing. Besides, her brain cells weren't working at the moment. Everything seemed different, she can't seem to focus.

Finally, whoever it was that was failing miserably to get through to her stopped talking and left the room. That's when she noticed that she was sitting on a small cot, inside a tent? Maybe. She doesn't know. She's not sure.

She tries to remember the last thing her brain could before she woke up in this strange place.

She was on a vacation trip for the summer. She went to visit her late grandmother's hometown in the province of Siquijor. 

On the second day, she decided to take a boat and go over to Apo Island. It was a strangely cloudy day; a perfect time to go for a swim. She had snorkeling gear with her but no life vest. She didn't bother since she promised herself she wouldn't go that far. Besides, she's never drowned before. She can float if anything were to happen.

She was joyfully admiring the corals, the starfish, and the sea urchins. Fish of different kinds started to swim around and she followed them. Saying hi and hello, waving to the fishes as if they could understand her dumbass.

She kept following the school of fishes, unaware that she was getting farther and farther from the shore- that is until she sees a deep fucking abyss. 

"Ay puta!" Fuck! A garbled curse escapes from her lips as she raises her head from the water due to panic. The chasm was deep as all hell. It was dark and wide as if it would swallow her whole if she didn't swim away.

She tried to swim away. Emphasis on tried.

She lifted her body in an attempt to float and she would've. She would've been safe if not for the sudden cramp on her leg- the muscle twisted and it sent her body to a standstill.

Then darkness.

A voice spoke and cut her off her thoughts. She looked up in alarm and her eyes widened once again at the tall, handsome, yet weirdly looking guy in front of her.

He spoke again in a language she doesn't know. His brown eyes locked onto hers and it didn't seem like he was threatening her by the tone of his voice but his brows were furrowed and his lips were in a deep scowl. 

When she didn't answer, he called for someone outside of the tent. A woman and another man; taller and broader, entered. But again, for some unknown reason; they were both blue-skinned.

However, that aside, this is when the genius(?) protagonist noticed that one doesn't look like the others. His skin was tanned as opposed to the other two. He had pointy ears and a huge piercing on his nose. He was adorned in jewels and the other two were fully clothed while he was only in- 

Ay jusko lord. (Oh my god)

She averted her eyes and looked down at his feet only to notice the wings. She blinked once, twice, thrice- 

What the- 

She stared, again, her brain trying to process things but can't. Someone send help.

Teka. Nasan ba ko? The fuck. Sino tong mga to? Bat may pakpak ung paa niya, ano to cosplay? (Wait. Where am I? The fuck. Who are these people? Why does he have wings on his feet, is this cosplay?) 

"Ah- Ano-" Uhm- she starts to speak and the others turn to her. The woman then talks to her in a slightly commanding tone but it's still in a different language so she can't understand jack shit. 

When she still didn't answer, it was obvious that her host, or whoever they were, was starting to get a little frustrated with her uncooperative state. 

She could hear them talking to each other in the foreign language again and when she finally had her wits about her, she raised her hand.

"Uhm- Excuse me-" 

The three strangers stopped and turned. The man with pointy ears walked over to her in wide strides that she unconsciously leaned on the wall as a defense mechanism.

"You speak English?" He then asks in a low, deep grumble.

She raised her brow at him, "Yes? Of course, I speak English, I've been colonized." Weird that she answered that way but it was already done, so whatever.

Her snap seemed to surprise those in the room but at this point, she was too confused to care.

She looked around once more, "Wait, so where the hell am I? And who are you?" She asked him. 

It took a few moments before she was answered by the pointy-eared man, "I have many names-" he started, "My people call me K'uk'ulkan."

Clearly, the name didn't register in her brain because she tilted her head in confusion. He moves closer, right in front of her face in an attempt to intimidate her but she could only register the handsomeness of his features which confused her a little. Here she was, in an unknown place, with unknown people and that's what she notices. 

"But my enemies call me Namor." He finishes and waits for her to react.

She scrunched up her nose, "Can I just call you Namor because that first name is so hard for me to say." 

This amused him, she thinks, since his lips curved upward a little. 

"Where am I?" She finally asks and Namor leans back slightly, 

"You are in my kingdom." He answers and it again prompts her to raise a brow,

"Apo Island has a kingdom?" She asked and this time it was him who looks at her incredulously. He wonders for a bit before leaning down again near her face and she backs away.

"Child, where do you think you are right now?"

Di ba kasasabi niya lang na nasa lugar niya daw kami, labo naman neto. (Didn't he just say we were in his kingdom? He's confusing.)

"You said we were in your kingdom. I'm pretty sure-" 

"The location, child." He insists and she thinks for a bit, wondering what he could gain from knowing the answer.

"Apo Island, Philippines." 

There was silence. The man and woman behind Namor looked at each other and this didn't go amiss by her. They looked more puzzled than she was.

"What?" She asked, a sudden panic started to rise in her chest for some reason.

"You're in my kingdom. In the Atlantic Ocean." 

"Ha?" She gave him a look that says 'are you fucking kidding me?' but then her expression changed.

From giving them an incredulous look to showing them a tired one, she sighs.

"What?" Namor questions and takes a step back when she suddenly stands up.

"Ha? Hatdog." 

The three strangers looked at each other and she rolled her eyes, "I get it. This is a prank, right? Who are you really? Ano to, skit?" (Is this a skit?) 

"Kala niyo ba maiisahan niyo ko? Asa ka boy. Kaya pala naka-cosplay ka ee." She adds and raises a brow.

(You think you can trick me? You wish, boy. No wonder you're in some kind of cosplay.)

"What are you talking about?" The other woman asked with a disapproving look, "And how dare you call him a boy-" 

"English, child." Namor cuts the other off and commands the stranger but she scoffs, rolling her eyes in the process. 

"English mo mukha mo. And anong child? Gago twenty-something na ko." (English your face. And what child? Asshole, I'm twenty-something already.)

Her voice was defiant as she suddenly glared at Namor. This surprised him a little so he wasn't able to answer her. Obviously, no one has ever addressed him in such a manner before.

She thought she had him, "So ano ka? Crossover ni King Triton at Legolas? Sali sana ako kung parang tourism eme to kaso lokal lang ako mamsir." (So what are you? A crossover of King Triton and Legolas? I would've joined if this was something for tourism but I'm local.)

She started walking towards the closed drapes of the tent and she saw out of the corner of her eye that the taller man and the woman were about to stop her but Namor raised his hand to stop them instead.

"Let her go. Let her see." 

As soon as she stepped foot out of the tent, her eyes went wide, "What. The. F-"

The place was unlike anything she's ever seen. It was beautiful but that was the least of her problems right now. Suddenly, an uncomfortable feeling set itself in her stomach. 

Shit nasan ba talaga ako? What if di to prank? Tangina, ano ko na-kidnap? Gago aanuhin nila ko, wala naman ako pera. Shit uso pa ba ung human trafficking- (Shit where am I, really? What if it's not a prank? Motherfucker, was I kidnapped? Fuck what are they gonna do, I don't have any money. Shit, is human trafficking still a thing?)

"You are not where you thought you are." Namor cut off her rambling in her head and she whirled around in alarm, looking at him with fear in her eyes.

Now it has registered in her brain that she's in so much deeper shit than she thought. She backed away from him instinctively- before she ran.

"Hey!" The taller man had yelled after her but before he could chase her down, the woman said with a smirk, "Let her. She has nowhere to go." 

Meanwhile, the lost and confused protagonist of this story, well- maybe, no one knows yet if she is a protagonist. But for now, let's say she is-

Anyway, she ran. To where? She has no clue. She just had to get away from the strangers. She looked around and realized she was in a cave.

"San na ung exit?!" (Where's the exit?!) She yelled and it echoed against the walls. She covers her mouth and crouches on instinct before peeking to the side, checking if she was being followed. When there were no signs of an attack, she breathed out in relief. She thinks she's safe- she's not.

"Okay. Okay." She breathed in, trying to calm herself down, "Kung nasa kweba ako, malamang sa bandang dulo dito ung exit."  (If I was in a cave, then the exit should be at the far end.) She said to herself as if she actually knew what she was doing. She doesn't.

She started to crabwalk to wherever the hell she thinks the exit should be. She thinks she's being quiet and clever. Again, she's not.

"Where the fuck is the exit?!" She whispers, annoyed. She got to the end of the cave but all she saw was a body of water, like a small pond. There was no exit.

What if?

Nasa loob ba ko ng secret beach? De, di secret beach, parang secret beach, ung kelangan mo lumusot para makadating sa kabilang side. (Am I inside a secret beach? No, not a secret beach, but like a secret beach, where you gotta swim under to get to the other side.) 

Her conclusion seemed to make sense to her but there was one problem: she's not a good swimmer. She's never drowned before, granted, but still, she's not a good swimmer.

"Okay." She said to herself, "Options-"

Counting down with her fingers, she started to think, "Option One: Lalangoy ako pailalim to escape." (Option One: I swim under to escape.) She looks at the 'pond', it looks deep as shit.

"Option Two: Pakamatay na lang tayo dito agad bes, kesa kung ano pa gawin nila sayo. Jusko lord I'd rather die talaga." (Option Two: Let me just kill myself here, rather than finding out what they'd do to me. Jesus Christ I'd literally rather die.)

She continues to talk with herself, "Baka naman di ganon kalalim? Mukha lang? Siguro? Pucha naman talaga, oo."  (Maybe it's not that deep. Only looks like it? Maybe? Fucking really.) She's panicking. And when she panics, bad things happen.

"Okay, try natin, baka naman-" (Okay, let's try, maybe-) She walked towards the pond, dipping her feet into the water to test the temperature. There was a voice in her head saying "Hoe don't do it." but she ignored it. She was panicking, her brain cells were gone.

She sinks into the pond quickly and opens her eyes. It was harder to see without the goggles but the water was surprisingly clear as soon as she dove in. She looks around and sees a light and this brings a bit of hope to her heart.

But, as mentioned, she's not a good swimmer. She's not good at holding her breath either. She was halfway through the cave, the light still a few ways away from her when she felt herself start to lose air.

Panic. Panic. Panic.

She tried to swim up but she hadn't realized that the deeper she went into the body of water, the cave closed in on her.

Panic. More panic. She's going to die.

Option Two then. She thinks to herself before she takes a huge gulp of water. She has accepted her fate. Death to the stranger. The end. Her eyes closed and she fell deeper into the water-

Until she wasn't.

She coughed out the water on solid ground. She was on all fours, trying to catch her breath when she felt a firm grip on her arm. She turned to see Namor, looking at her disapprovingly.

"You are foolish." He starts with a frown, "There is no escape from here for a surface-dweller like you without our help."

"What-" She coughs roughly, she still can't breathe properly. Her eyes widened when she realized what was happening- she was having an asthma attack.

She wheezed and clutched her chest before falling to her side. She could hear Namor talking- or yelling- she's not sure. Her eyes started to water. She's trying to catch her breath so desperately when she feels something cover her mouth.

Suddenly she can breathe a little easier.

"Breathe," She could finally register what Namor was saying. Her vision started to focus and when she calmed, she looked down at the device on her face.

She started to inspect it, turning it here and there suspiciously.

"An inhaler?" She asked, "Looks like one of those things you use with a nebulizer." 

Her asthmatic ass aside, her situation still hasn't improved. This reality settled again in her thoughts and she looked abruptly at Namor who was just watching- observing.

"Okay. Uh-" She started, standing up rather slowly. She was looking at him like he was some wild animal she had to be careful around.

Well, she's not wrong.

"Uhm okay, Namor," She swallows her fear, 

"SIR-" She continued with her hands raised in front of her chest, palm outward as if to calm him, to surrender to him.

"I don't know what you want from me. I'm nobody. If this is a kidnapping then I can assure you-" 

Namor raises a brow but before he could interrupt her, she continued on her tangent, "I have no money. I'm alone. I don't have anything and if you're planning on selling my body parts then-" 

"What-"

"I'm asthmatic. I have GERD- well, maybe, I don't know, I haven't had that checked yet." She stops to think, "I also have PCOS, I swear no one will buy me from you so-" 

"I have nothing to give you." She stops and it took a few minutes before-

"Follow me," Namor instructs and she tenses, backing away from him a little.

"Come here." He repeated, more commanding. But when he saw the panic in her eyes and the way she closed her hand in a tight fist, he changed his tone, "I will take you to where I found you, so follow me." 

"What do you mean: found me?" She asked, slowly and carefully walking closer to him. She was still wary of him but for now, she has no choice but to trust him.

Namor turned to her a little, "I found you in the water close to our border. I sensed a disturbance in the waves and when I went to look, you were there." He knew she didn't believe him since she again had that look on her face.

Of course, she replied, "That makes no sense." 

"Believe what you will. I'm taking you back." He continued to walk ahead and she followed timidly. They arrived in front of the tent once again. The two other strangers were still there, waiting for them. The woman was smirking while the taller man only looked at her suspiciously.

Namor then steps into the water, he was waist-deep before he turned to her, "Come." 

She hesitated, still. 

"I thought you wanted to go home?" He asked her, a playful grin on his lips.

"Yeah but- how do I know you're not gonna drown me once I get in there?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest and Namor laughing dryly caught her by surprise.

Teka. Ang cute nun ah. Hala. (Wait. That was cute. Oh no.)

"Trust me," His grin grows wider, "If I were to kill you, I wouldn't need the water." 

 She swallows and bites her lip at his words, her heart pounding for some strange reason. Maybe because he was cute when he smiled- oR MAYBE BECAUSE HE JUST FUCKING THREATENED TO KILL HER. 

She starts to weigh her options again but then, of course, not one of those was a perfect solution for an escape. And Namor said it himself, there was no way out of the cave without their help. So she sighs, might as well go with it. If she does die there- well- she hopes she doesn't but if she does- then she's dead. What else is there?

She walked over to the water and as soon as she was at the same water level as him, he pulled her closer to his chest, her face flushed when she braced herself against him, hands on his biceps.

Namor gives her the mouthpiece and she starts to feel her breathing slow down a little, her mind getting a bit fogged up with an unknown haze.

"Breathe." He commands and she follows. As soon as her breathing was steady, he drags her underwater.

"Eyes open, child." Was the next thing she heard him say. As soon as she did, she shielded them from the sun before looking around.

"Where-" She noticed they weren't near a beachfront like she expected. Instead, they were in the middle of fucking nowhere.

"Where I found you," Namor explains and she turns to him with another one of those disbelieving looks.

"What? No. That's-" She looks around again, "That's impossible. There's nothing here." She gestured to the open sea.

"Do you think I am lying?" Namor asks and she looks him in the eye. It unsettled her, even more, when she could see that he wasn't. He was telling the truth.

Pero what the fuck? (But what the fuck?)

"Where-" She swallows the lump in her throat, "Where are we?" 

Namor could tell that she was finally starting to believe him, "Near the borders of my kingdom." 

"And that would be where again?" 

"You surface-dwellers call this place the Atlantic Ocean." Surprisingly, he was patient with her despite her doubt and her use of foul language every now and then. 

"Why do you say that?" She suddenly asked and when he raised a brow, she clarified, "Why do you call me a surface-dweller?" 

Ah. Apparently, it still wasn't obvious to her that Namor and his people were different from her. Don't blame her though, some parts of her brain are working and some are not. Seriously though, whose brain would work properly after finding out you may or may not have been kidnapped by some weird-looking dudes?

"You don't live in the ocean, no?" Namor asked back, "How do you think I was able to carry you from the cave into the open sea without trouble? Without that mask?" 

She thought for a while. Namor could tell she was really racking up an idea in her brain with the way her brows furrowed and the way she scrunched up her nose. She was thinking- or at least she was trying to.

Finally, she gave up and shrugged, "I dunno. I just thought you were a good swimmer." 

Surprisingly, he chuckled. He was obviously amused. She was obviously stupid. 

"I am not like you." He then said, earning another raised brow from her, "What are you then?" 

"Think." He pointed at his forehead, in hopes that she would understand what he meant for her to do.

Thankfully, she did. She looked at him- really looked at him. She took note of his tanned skin, his deep brown eyes, his dark hair, and his jewelry. If that was all there is to him then she may have stuck with her first conclusion. Btu there were still the pointed ears- and she remembered seeing his winged feet. She also recalls the other two who had blue-colored skin. 

A dawning realization creeps up on her and as Namor watched her think, he could tell that she was starting to understand. She didn't. Not really. 

"So-" She starts, "You're- what?" She tried to think of a term but couldn't. Again, the brain was gone. There is one possibility she could think of but she thinks that the idea was too out there. There's a one-in-a-million chance that she'd be able to meet anyone from there.

So, no- it wasn't an option. It was too- unrealistic. 

But then another idea popoped in her head- not a good one though-

"Ah! Shokoy!" 

"Excuse me?" 

"Teka. Masyado kang gwapo para maging shokoy. But-" (Wait. You're too good-looking to be a shokoy. But-) She goes on a tangent once again, not bothering with Namor who was looking at her incredulously,

"You have the qualities, I mean- no, you don't- maybe?" She gestures to nothing, "Look, I don't know. You don't have fins and your ears are just pointy. You have winged feet instead of fins but then again, may paa nga ba pag shokoy?" (-but then again, do shokoy even have feet?)

"What did you call me?" Namor cuts her off her thinking, swimming closer to her a little and she finally looks up.

"A shokoy?" She asked back, "It's like a- hmmm- mer...man? Loosely." Unsure and a little confused, she wonders at the look he was giving her. 

"I am not a merman. I am a mutant." Namor was about to tell her the story of how he was born and how he became the ruler of the kingdom of Talokan. 

"Teka. Teka. Teka. Wait." She stopped him, waving her hands in front of his face, "You said, mutant. So- like- the X-Men?" 

"Who?" 

"X-Men. You know?" She asked and shrugged her shoulders. Not getting the reaction that she thought she would get from him, she continues, "Everybody knows the X-Men. They're new but apparently, they've been living among us for quite a while now. They're a new addition to the Avengers... kinda like a sub-group." She explained and when Namor still didn't show any sign of recognition, she tilted her head.

"You really have no idea who the X-Men are? They might be like you guys." 

Bat di niya alam? Eh kaka-join nga lang nung mga un sa Avengers. Na news pa nga un. Pero baka kase walang tv sa tubig. (Why doesn't he know? They just joined the Avengers. It was in the news. Maybe because there's no television underwater.)

"I do not care for the affairs of the surface-dwellers." Namor finally answered.

"Aray naman." (Ouch.) She replied and held her chest dramatically while she raised her other hand, "Surface-dweller here, sir." 

Namor grins unconsciously, "You are amusing."

Before she could say another word, Namor turned around and she sees that the woman from before was right behind him except she was wearing a different set of clothes and she had a huge headgear on.

They talk with each other in the language our protagonist can't understand. The words exchanged were said with a sense of urgency. She noticed the way Namor suddenly tensed- his back straightened and his biceps clenched. When he turned around to look at her, his brows were furrowed, his jaw set, and his nostrils were flared.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Come, we must return to the cave." Namor grabs her by the arm without a second thought or any warning before they dove deep into the water.

She had no idea what was going on. The blue people, more of them, not just the first two who were with Namor, were scrambling around and they were carrying- 

"Are those spears?" She asked under her breath. She was just standing in the corner awkwardly. Looking here and there. 

As soon as they got back to the cave, Namor dove back into a much deeper pond. He was gone for minutes and she waited by the edge, not knowing what to do. The question of what the fuck is happening and how the fuck did she get there was still on her mind but when about a dozen of the foreign people emerged from the depths of the pond, she stepped to the side politely to make way for them- to whatever the hell they were going.

She looked at them and they stared back. They were probably wondering why someone like her was in there with them. It was obvious that she was a visitor. Well, maybe visitor is a loose term. 

Staring contest ito. Ang awkward. Ano ba gagawin ko dito? Pasok na lang kaya ako sa tent? (This is a staring contest. How awkward. What am I even doing here? Should I go back to the tent?) She thought to herself and started to crabwalk. 

Again, no idea why the crabwalk. That's just her weird ass choice.

"Stop." She heard someone say and she turned. One tall guy was approaching her in quick, long strides. It was a different one, someone she doesn't know by face.

"What?" She asked and took a step back since she was intimidated by the way this man was looking and walking toward her.

He speaks quickly- too quickly that it doesn't register in her brain. Not that it could, he was speaking in another language. He sounded commanding- he looked commanding. And when she didn't respond to him since she can't understand jack shit, he suddenly grabbed her by the arm-

"Oy! Tangina- get off!" (Fucker- get off!0 She yelled, surprised and frankly, a bit offended at how she was grabbed without warning. She tried to yank herself away from him, only to have the stranger laugh in a mocking tone.

Aba gago to a. (This asshole.)

"I said-" She gritted her teeth- FIGHT MODE ON.

"-GET. OFF!" She stomped her foot on his, making him let go of his iron grip, she doubled back and braced herself before kicking him in the nuts. He bent over in pain and shock. 

Never mess with a Filipina. 

She removed one of her aqua shoes and raised it over her head, "Nyeta ka. Makahablot, kala mo walang bukas. Who the hell are you?" (You fucker. Grabbing me like there's no tomorrow.)

The man glared at her and stood up, a threatening and dangerous look in his eyes, "Who do you think you are?!" He yelled angrily and was about to raise his hand but a firm grip on his shoulder stopped him.

They both turned and she sighed in relief when she saw Namor. They talked with each other, Namor sounding gentle yet with authority towards the other man. The stranger seemed to settle down before his eyes widened, making her wonder what else Namor had told him. 

The stranger looked at her and what he did next surprised and confused her even more. The man knelt on one knee right in front of her before muttering something in the other language, 

"Forgive me." 

She raised a brow but before she could even ask what the hell he was doing and why he was doing it and what he meant, Namor had taken her by the arm. He then spoke in a commanding tone over the people gathered by the cave.

She wondered what he was saying. It must've been important and it must be about her because they all looked at her with- she doesn't know what look they were giving her- maybe- acknowledgment? Could be.

Namor then turned to her, "There is something I have to attend to. You must stay here." He ordered,

"What? Where are you-"

"Stay. My people will look after you as I have instructed. I will return-" He calls her by a name in the language she's not familiar with and she tilts her head, not understanding shit. But again, before she could ask, he had turned on his heel and left with most of the people carrying spears out of the cave. 

Once they were all gone, she sighed, looking around at the remaining strangers with her. There were two men- who she assumed were left to guard her, and there were three younger women. 

Oh tapos. Ano na bes? Nga-nga. (So now what?)

One of the younger women then approached her and handed her some new clothes before gesturing for her to follow. She looked down at the garments and then back up at the stranger. With another heavy sigh, she thinks to herself-

May choice pa ba ko? (Do I have a choice?)