Oceania: The Underwater City by Eliza Taye (novels for teenagers .TXT) 📕

red stripes around it, beginning the game. All twelve players swam for it. A team member of the Barracudas grasped it and swam for their team’s goal.

“Allie,” Dylan nudged me with his elbow.

“Yes?” I glanced over at him, my eyes continually flickering back to view the action in the arena.

Dylan pointed to a small button at the back of the seat in front of me. He pushed his and a holoscreen projected a magnified image of the action in front of him.

I did the same and it was like my own personal channel for watching the game. I could swipe it left or right to see whichever portion of the arena I wished.

Grinning excitedly, I paid attention to the game once more. As the Barracuda team member who’d first gotten the ball had it passed to him, he whipped his arm forward to make a goal. Just when I thought it was going to make it in, the goalie for the Narwhals used a powerful squirt gun to push the ball out of the way of the net. A Narwhals player snatched up the ball and immediately swam for the opposite end.

Before the player could even make it to the center of the arena, someone from the opposing team swam in to intercept the ball. Twisting his body and almost corkscrewing through the water, he evaded the player, eliciting cries of adoration from the fans. Evading additional attempts at an interception, he passed the ball to another player just outside the net and they shot it into the goal before the goalie even raised the water gun. The lights of the arena flashed yellow and gray, making it clear which team had scored.

Every player returned to the center of the field, treading water in parallel lines with their teammates. The water cannon situated almost directly in front of where Dylan and I sat blast another ball into the water and another play began.

All the players swam for the ball, the Barracudas once again gaining first control. However, this time, the Narwhals intercepted the ball. Back and forth down the arena, the teams continually stole the ball from each other. Whoever had the ball did their best to twist out of the grasp of their attackers, completing underwater flips, twists, and turns. Sometimes, the evasive maneuvers worked, but sometimes they didn’t.

Time flew by so fast that the call for half time caught me unaware. Right away, robots filled the stands offering snacks and refreshments stored in warming and cooling containers inside their body cavities.

“Are you enjoying the game?” asked Dylan, giving me a white-toothed grin as he hailed over one of the robots.

“Yeah! It’s a lot of fun and very different than I had expected. It’s very exciting too. You were right when you said it’s a mixture of many other sports, though.”

“Yes, it’s pretty unique too.” Dylan ordered two fizz pops and a snack of tasty food called green ooze made of sea kelp, fish, and something else I hadn’t dared to ask about yet.

“How long do these games usually last?”

“Until one of the teams reaches ten points. Each goal is worth a point, but as you can see, it’s not that easy to make a goal.”

I agreed heartily, sipping my orange-flavored fizz pop as I nodded. “I’m going to go to the bathroom before it starts again.” The robots crowding the aisles moved aside to allow me passage.

A bathroom break and ten minutes later, the game resumed. Much like the first half, each team struggled to gain a goal, and keeping the score, Narwhals one and Barracudas zilch.

Transfixed on the game, I was baffled when a whistle sounded and everyone returned to the center of the arena. “What’s going on, Dylan?”

Leaning over, pausing from popping a green ooze ball into his mouth, he explained, “If one of the teams hasn’t scored at all after twenty minutes past half-time, the stakes are increased.”

“Stakes?”

“Watch and see.”

Returning my gaze to the arena, I watched as two balls were catapulted into the center to be grabbed by the players. Two members of the Narwhals team became the holders of the ball and fought to get their goals. One succeeded while the other got the ball stolen by a Barracuda player, who in turn scored for his team.

Regardless, the next play introduced yet another ball. Each time a team scored, another ball was added until there were five balls in the arena all at once, ensuing chaos for the players and confusion for me. The intense action made it difficult to tell who was scoring and who was stealing from an opponent. The stadium flashed one of the team colors every five minutes or so.

All too soon, the game was over—the Barracudas had come back from a terrible start to win the game. Since Dylan was from the east side of the city, he and I both cheered loudly in elation at their win.

Thick crowds ensued as everyone tried to leave the stadium at once, making it slow going for everyone. When Dylan and I finally made it out, a thought occurred to me, prompting me to ask a question. “Hey, Dylan? In the past several weeks, you’ve shown me a lot and explained everything to me on how Oceania works. But one thing I’ve never found out is how you get your oxygen down here.” I gestured out with wild arms, nearly smacking the person to my right. I muttered a sorry to them and refocused on Dylan.

“I think, in order to answer your question, I need to take you somewhere.” Dylan nodded once subtly with the corner of his lips stretched up into a smile.

Shining triangular shards of glass were curved into a dome-shaped roof encompassing an invisible building sitting just at the edge of the Central District. Narrow steel gray columns surrounding the perimeter of