Tev woke up and opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and she rubbed her eyes. She remembered everything that happened as she sat up. Everything but laying down. Tev looked around, Ms. Arcelia’s eyes were open, and she was sitting still. Zeru was still sleeping, his head against the back of the seat, but was leaning to Tev’s side.
He was a little farther than when she fell asleep, and Tev had a feeling he moved whenever she laid down. They both had two gray blankets on them, and Tev guessed it came from their bags. Tev yawned and stretched.
She looked out the window, her internal clock got her up a little after sunrise, so although it was low, it was still morning.
“Good morning.” Ms. Arcelia said. Tev mumbled back the same. She slept well, but her back hurt a little from the seats. They weren’t exactly made for sleeping.
Tev pulled her bag out from under the seat. It was gray with yellow swirls. It was like a backpack. But instead of having two straps for your shoulders, you held it with a handle on the top. But it had two attachable straps to put on so it could be carried like a backpack.
It had the main pocket and some other smaller bags. Tev kept the straps on most times, they were still on right now. Tev traced the white stitching of her name on the bottom of the bag. It reminded her of home, and her heart ached a little more now.
The trees had thinned a little, and there were a couple of rivers in Tev’s sight. They were getting close to the Water City, which meant they were getting farther and farther from home.
“We got the water clothes out for the two of you. It’ll be a little hard to hide his hair since Water people tend to like freer clothing, but no one should question if he wears a simple hat. If someone does for some reason, question him, just say he is more of an Ice person.” Ms. Arcelia explained as Tev pulled out a brush, mirror, and toothbrush.
“What is an Ice person?” Tev asked when she set her items down. She started to brush her hair as Ms. Arcelia explained. “Water people also have the ability to make and control ice. There aren’t very many people who use ice, as it can be hard to master. But those people can tend to be more closed off because learning Ice takes a profound sense of control over your emotions and focus.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.” Tev said as she looked in the mirror. “The textbooks never mentioned anything about Water people also using ice. Does that count as another element?” Tev started braiding her hair once it was brushed. Zeru continued to sleep happily.
“No. That would be like saying Fire people who can control light, or Earth’s that had a connection to plants was another element. Ice is based solely on water, and because no one can be an Ice without being a Water, it is still intertwined with the Water element.” Tev processed this for a moment, it really was interesting.
“You think I would be able to learn Ice? Like if the person we chose knew it?” Tev looked through her bag to see what else was packed. Some snacks, clothes, then she looked in one of the pockets to find the stash of gifts.
But before she pulled any out, Ms. Arcelia continued talking. “Yes, it is possible. Wake him up, will you?” Tev set her bag down on the vibrating floor. She nudged Zeru’s shoulder a little, and he groaned lightly but opened his eyes.
“Good morning. Ms. Arcelia?” Tev asked, ignoring Zeru as he mumbled about not wanting to wake up. “I need to use the bathroom.” Soon the carriage stopped after turning into a more wooded area. And, after deciding if going to the bathroom was truly worth it, Tev was spitting on the grass as she brushed her teeth.
“I don’t think I’ll ever need to go to the bathroom again.” Tev said and sat on the patch of grass she found. Ms. Arcelia said they could have a stretch break for a few minutes before finishing their journey to the Water City.
Zeru laughed, and Tev told him to be quiet. She had taken her bag out with her, and after putting her stuff back in, she looked at the presents. “What’s that?” Zeru asked, sitting next to her. She felt goosebumps crawl up her, it was still odd being close and nice to Zeru.
“My family gave me presents,” Tev explained. “Open one then.” Zeru said, and Tev thought about if she wanted to or not. What if it just made her miss them more? “Alright, I’ll open one.” Tev said. She reached in and pulled out a random one.
“It’s from Fei.” Tev said, reading the name tag. It was a little white box with Tev’s name written on it in gray. She opened the box and saw a hairpin in it. It was a white swirl with tiny yellow jewels. It was one of Fei’s favorite hairpins, and it was beautiful.
There was a small paper that had Fei’s handwriting on it. Good luck, Tev. I hope you like it. Love you! -Fei. Tev smiled and took the hairpin out. She pulled her mirror back out and put the pin in. “How does it look? Good or bad?” Tev asked Zeru when she finished. He smiled and said, “It looks good.” Tev smiled back.
As Tev put her stuff back, Zeru asked, “Hey, Tev? Can I tell you something?” Tev glanced at him and hummed before closing her bag. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” Zeru added. “Who am I going to tell? Ms. Arcelia?” But Zeru looked a little nervous, so Tev assured him she wouldn’t.
“My dad told me to be careful around you.” Zeru said softly. Tev tensed and looked away. She forgot for a little that she was different and potentially dangerous. But it made sense that Moe would tell Zeru that, it must have been what he said to him before they left.
“He’s not wrong.” Tev said, still not looking at him. She couldn’t help the anger that boiled in her. “What?” Tev saw Zeru’s head dip to the side a little. “I could set you on fire. Or drown you. Or make the ground open and swallow you. All if you make me mad enough.” Even though she knew it was true, no matter how many times someone would say she was dangerous, it still made her mad.
“No, you wouldn’t. And I never said I believed him.” Zeru said, and Tev looked back at him. Somehow, knowing that Zeru didn’t think she was dangerous gave her the same feeling she felt when her family hugged her. “Really?” She asked, just to make sure.
“Of course, the worst you could do is squirt me in the face or something.” Zeru said with a smug face. Tev laughed and squirted some water at his face. For a second, she thought she crossed a line he wasn’t ready for yet when Zeru’s eyes widened.
But then he laughed, and she smiled, laughing a little too. “Your hair looks cool blue.” Zeru said after a moment. Ms. Arcelia called them back. “Thanks.” Tev said, but still blew some air at a fallen leaf as they walked back.
They climbed back into the carriage, and when they started moving again, Ms. Arcelia told Zeru everything she had told Tev when he was asleep. After, Zeru and Tev pulled snacks from their bags, and Ms. Arcelia declined their offers of food.
“Woah! Zeru-I mean Ze, look!” Tev got close to the window to see out of it. She could see the tall blue towers of the wall that surrounded the Water City. She moved over for Zeru to look, and he had the same reaction.
“This is our last stop before the city. Stay in here for a minute.” Ms. Arcelia climbed out of the carriage as it stopped. She went around the carriage, and when she came back, she had clothes in her hands. They were mainly blue, and Tev saw some silver and aqua-colored parts.
“Zeru, get out. Tev will change first.” Tev laughed at Zeru’s face. “Why? She’ll take forever!” Tev was about to disagree with him when Ms. Arcelia said, “You can wait or change outside. As you can see, the trees are more spaced out.” Tev snickered even more as Zeru grumbled and climbed out.
“Here. If you need to know where something goes, let me know.” Tev nodded and thanked her. She wondered if Ms. Arcelia was becoming nicer, or if she just wanted to tell Zeru off. Either way, it was funny.
The windows were soon covered up from the outside, and Tev started to change. The shirt was blue and faded into aqua. The pants faded from aqua to blue and had silver waves at the bottom. She thought it was cute that the outfit matched.
There was also a necklace that had a pearl as the charm. Tev switched her boots out for the silver sandals. She figured she couldn’t wear an Air pin into a Water City, so she put that back in the box in her bag.
“Done!” Tev hopped out of the carriage, and Zeru hurried in. “Good. You should take your braids out; it will help you fit in better.” Tev obeyed and undid her braids. Zeru came out of the carriage, and Tev threw her hair ties in.
“These shoes are uncomfortable.” Zeru said, trying to adjust the sandals. “Hey, look! We’re matching!” Tev said, Zeru’s outfit was made the same way as Tev’s was. He smiled, forgetting about the shoes, and agreed.
“When you are in the city, make sure to stay together. You don’t know the area, and there are still some shady people there.” They nodded their heads, and when they got back in the carriage, Ms. Arcelia told them a few things that they might need to know about Water and the city.
Water’s currency was called Waves, the city was also sometimes referred to as The Underwater City because they were right on a beach, and some houses were underwater. Water people were obviously amazing swimmers and could breathe underwater. They still had to come up though, there wasn’t as much oxygen in the water as there was on land.
“Don’t tell anyone your names for as long as possible, and if you have to, go with something basic and water-related.” Ms. Arcelia told them. The wall was so close now that Tev could see the water that somehow stayed in place, shining from the sun.
“I will talk to the guards, then you will get out. Walk around a little, if you see a clock, remember to be back after about an hour to come check in with me.” Ms. Arcelia said, and Tev felt weird going into a new place by herself.
How would they find the right person? It’s not like they would walk up to them and say, “Hey, I want to join you on your potentially deadly mission, stranger.”
“You should probably put your hat on.” Tev said to Zeru, he put his hat on and the contacts in. “You should probably change your hair.” Zeru told her. Tev put a little water in her hand and rubbed it in her hair.
She saw Zeru trying not to watch her hair as it turned blue. Tev felt the burn on her neck, she flinched a little. Zeru gave her a questioning look, but she said, “Nothing. It’s not important.”
Ms. Arcelia opened the door, and they got out. They couldn’t take their bags. Tev leaned her head back to look up at the tall water wall. “Wow.” Tev breathed. The guards were wearing deep blue armor with silver lining and the Water symbol in the middle of the chest plate.
They watched as one of the guards got one of those gloves and opened the gate. “I’ll see you two soon.” Ms. Arcelia said and nudged Zeru and Tev through the gate, which was immediately shut behind them.
The sun was high in the sky now, and Tev felt it shine down on her as she and Zeru walked slowly down a cobbled path. Instead of dirt, there was sand, and over the sound of people and carts being pushed, Tev could hear the ocean nearby.
The houses here were a mix of glass filled with water and regular stone. The houses that were made of glass were filled with water, but you couldn’t see through it, like something invisible was blocking your view.
Tev liked how you could tell they were Water people just by their houses. Air people used to live in the sky, and sometimes in could houses, but during the war, it became too dangerous, and with everyone being suspicious, they never went back.
Walking down the path and deeper into the city, it got louder and more crowded. People were shouting things they were selling, parents called to their kids, kids ran around playing, and people pushed carts around with more things for sale.
Tev wondered why kids weren’t in school, but maybe it was different for them. “It’s very… blue and loud.” Zeru said to Tev, staying close to her. “Let’s find a more secluded place to figure this out.” Tev told him, and he nodded, following her.
Once they found an empty alley between a couple of houses, they stopped to talk. “This is so weird. It’s so different here.” Tev said, looking at the crowd and two stone houses they were between. One had a small window, and Tev backed up to make sure no one was there.
“Why would Ms. Arcelia send us in here alone? How are we supposed to find someone who will come with us in this chaos? This will take forever!” Zeru said. Tev shrugged, trying to stay optimistic, “Maybe we’ll get lucky. But we need some sort of plan.” Zeru looked straight at her, and his face relaxed into curiosity.
“Your eyes are blue,” Zeru said, squinting at her. “No, really? Of course they’re blue!” Tev couldn’t tell if he was purposely being ridiculous. “I didn’t know your eyes changed too, I thought they stayed white.” Zeru said with a shrug. “Keep it down!” Tev said, reaching out to hush him and looking around nervously.
“Okay, okay. So, what should we do?” Tev put her arms down and thought. “Well, Ms. Arcelia said to try and find someone around our age, so maybe try and find a place with more people our age? I’d say a school, but I don’t think they’re at school right now.” Tev said, looking at two kids who ran by the alley.
“That seems like a good start. But how will we find a place like that? We have no idea where we are, and the city is huge.” Zeru was right. “Let’s just walk around for a little, but let’s try to make mental marks so we don’t get lost. And remember to stay close.” Zeru nodded.
They started walking out of the alley when Tev heard a clatter. Tev looked around; it sounded closer than the city noise. She looked at the small window but couldn’t see anything. “Everything good?” Zeru asked, turning to look at her. Tev gave one more look at the window before shrugging it off. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
The pair walked deeper and deeper into the depths of the city. It got more crowded, and it was getting harder to push past the people. Tev’s feet were starting to hurt, and with the amount of sand she had gotten in her shoes, she was missing her closed-toe boots desperately.
Tev had been looking back to make sure Zeru was still there continuously, but after a particularly hard knot of people to get through, when she looked back, Zeru wasn’t there. And she couldn’t stop or go in the opposite direction; she was on the wrong side of the street, and there were too many people.
Nervous thoughts filled Tev’s brain as she searched for a place to stop. What if his hat comes off? What if someone realizes he’s an Air? What if someone got him? So many things could go wrong. She finally saw a mainly empty space around a fountain.
It was silver with blue and aqua designs, but Tev didn’t have time to pay attention to the details of the fountain. She stood on the edge and tried to look over the people. Normally she could just fly over them, but she couldn’t do that in a Water city.
Tev sat down after not spotting him and tried to think. Should she wait here and hope Zeru sees her? But something bad could happen to one of them, and they still had to check in with Ms. Arcelia. But what if she goes back into the crowd and passes him?
Tev was about to get up and try to look for him, when an older man pushing an old wooden cart came up to her. He was wearing blue robes, which she thought was a little weird for a Water. It had aqua waves on it.
When he smiled after she gave him an uncertain look, Tev saw a couple of teeth missing, and most were crooked. He had dulled aqua eyes. “Hello, miss. Care to buy one of my many snacks or trinkets?” He said, his voice creaky like an old tree blowing in the wind.
“N-no thank you, sir.” The man gave her a weird feeling. Tev didn’t look at his cart much, she didn’t want distractions. “Are you sure? They don’t cost much. Just a few Waves.” He said, stepping closer. Tev took a few steps back too.
“Really, you won’t regret it. I’ll even give you a free sample.” The man said, reaching into his cart. “I’m sure, uh, thank you though.” Tev took multiple steps backwards every time he took a step forward. No one noticed them, and if they did, it happened too often enough for someone to care.
As much as it would be nice for someone to stop the old man, she didn’t want attention brought to her. Which was why she didn’t run away the second he came up to her. Not to mention that there was a chance he was a normal guy and just didn’t realize he was being creepy.
It also put off her having to look for Zeru, increasing the chances of him finding her first. The old man reached a little cup with an eerily dark red liquid in it out to Tev. She noticed how wrinkly his hand and wrists were. His nails were yellow, which grossed her out.
“Just a little taste, you’ll love it.” Tev was starting to wonder if bringing a little attention would be better or just taking the cup and drinking it. “I believe she said she didn’t want any.” A voice came from behind Tev. It was a guy, it wasn’t Zeru’s though, which disappointed her.
“We’ll be on our way now.” Hands gripped her shoulders gently but tight enough to turn her around and steer her into the crowd. Tev didn’t know where she was going, but she was still trying to get her brain to catch up with everything else.
Why didn’t she just walk away? Tev didn’t know. Why wasn’t she turning around to see who was behind her and where they were taking her? She didn’t know that either.
The crowd started to lessen, and Tev could see the tall water wall in the distance. “Where are we going?” Tev finally asked. “I’m taking you back to your friend.” The gears in Tev’s brain had been set back on track, so she responded faster.
“Er, what do you mean,'my friend’?” Tev asked, not wanting to say Zeru’s name. “We’re almost there.” Tev glanced at the hands on her shoulders, they still weren’t holding her tightly, so she could run away if she wanted to. But what if the person was really taking her back to Zeru?
There were fewer stores and fewer people where they were now, but Tev saw a little store they were heading in the direction of. It was made from stone and wood and had a little overhang on one side of the roof with a large cloth attached to the overhang and to two shorter stone pillars, creating what reminded Tev of a tent.
Under the cloth was Zeru, his hat still on and one of his sides facing Tev and the stranger. Tev’s face lit up. They hadn’t been separated for a long time, but in a new and a tad scary place like this, she was relieved he was okay.
“Ze!” Tev called and ran the rest of the way. And when he turned to face her and said her name, running to meet her, it was hard for her to believe that she had hated him just hours ago. And even with a year of rude remarks and dirty looks, they behaved as if none of that had happened.
They stopped when they reached each other and started talking. “Where did you go!?” Tev asked. “I got mixed up! Then he found me and brought me here. He said he would find you but told me to stay here so I didn’t get lost again. I was about to leave when you came back!” Zeru said quickly.
“I was about to go looking for you!” Tev quickly caught him up on the creepy old man. “Why didn’t you walk away?” Zeru asked, giving her an ‘Isn’t That Obvious?’ look. “I guess I froze. I’m not exactly used to people doing that!” Tev had forgotten about the guy watching them talk.
“At least we’re both okay.” Zeru said, and Tev agreed. She then turned around to look at the person. He looked about Tev and Zeru’s age, but a little taller, and he had deep blue hair and eyes. He had an aqua shirt on and shorts with silver sandals over his dark olive skin. His hands were in his pockets, and Tev noticed he was taking her in the same way she was doing to him.
“Um, thanks for bringing me to… my friend.” Had Tev yelled Zeru’s name? Would he realize that it wasn’t a Water name? “I already know you two are Air’s.” He said, his voice cool. “Oh. You think Ms. Arcelia will be mad?” Tev asked, looking at Zeru.
He shrugged. “I’m Cain.” The boy said, followed by, “And you’re Ev?” Tev snorted and said, “It’s Tev.” He held out his hand, and she shook it. “Please don’t tell anyone we were here. We’re not spies or anything, I swear.” Tev said a little worried guards might pop out and try to arrest them.
“I won’t, promise. I don’t care if you’re here, and I don’t feel like putting my family under interrogation for reporting you two.” Cain said, looking at them. Tev noticed Cain sounded a little different than the Air’s she knew; a little accent tinted his voice.
“But why are you here?” Cain didn’t seem suspicious of them, more like… curious. Tev and Zeru shared a nervous glance. “It’s a little hard to explain. And would take a while. We should probably go back and check in with Ms. Arcelia.” Tev answered, looking at Zeru for the last part.
“Can I come with you?” he asked, his eyes shining a little. “Erm. Well, okay. Wait, how old are you?” Tev asked, an idea coming to her mind. “Fourteen-and-a-half, why?” Tev grinned, “I just need to talk to Ze really quick.”
Tev pulled Zeru out of earshot. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tev asked Zeru, her smile big. “Him? Are you sure?” Zeru asked, glancing at Cain, who was walking around in circles, both hands back in his pockets.
“Why not? It’s perfect. He’s fourteen. He doesn’t care that we’re Air. Or why we’re here. And he practically walked right up to us. It’s all that we asked for!” Tev said, listing off her fingers. “Alright. Did Ms. Arcelia say to tell him before we bring him or after?” Zeru asked, and it was an important question.
“Hmm,” Tev tried to remember. Ms. Arcelia had told them so much information in the last few hours it was hard to remember. “I don’t know. Just in case, though, let’s not tell him yet, let Ms. Arcelia do it. He already said he wanted to walk with us, so it’ll be fine.” Tev said, and Zeru nodded.
They walked back over there, and to Tev’s relief, Cain didn’t ask any questions about their conversation, he just walked with Tev and Zeru to the water wall.
Tev hoped he would agree once they told him why they were in the Water City in the first place. It would be perfect.
53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVvA1cWypd
---(AUTHORS NOTE)---
Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It is longer than the other ones and that was my goal! Let me know if you prefer longer or shorter chapters!
That is all! Have an absolutely amazing day/night/endless abyss!
---(AUTHORS NOTE)---
ns 15.158.61.54da2
