Destiny's Waves

By Evelyn A. Martínez Burgos

They're a step behind from their enemy. Could it mean the end of their world?
It's been nearly a year since the start for the search of the Key, finding the real Chosen of Power, and the announcement for a new Prime Minister, but it was barely a start. The Chosen are in for a fight against the past, especially Linka, who seems the most traumatized. However, after a mission in which she's injured, the Chosen go their separate ways in an attempt to understand what's going on. But they have to hurry. If they don't save each other, Rasna might obtain the second of the Key and Selud could really be doomed.
Go with the flow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evelyn A. Martínez Burgos
• Release date: Mar 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370407934

Evelyn A. Martínez Burgos

Evelyn was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. When she was five years old, her family moved to Florida and since then has been living there. Her love for art, reading, and writing was born there and endlessly spends her days daydreaming of everything. Her middle name is Alondra, and so, her nickname is Eve Alo, with an endless list of others. A bookworm, that's what you might call her, and she is. Alongside with this, Evelyn is an artist, writer, a serious video game player, and takes studying pretty seriously. You never know what you get with her when you know her for real. She prefers to listen to 80's music and spends most of her time daydreaming of different world, although it makes sense with an artist and writer.

Book preview

There’d be no waiting on her friends. Even at the request of her beloved Chas, she just couldn’t wait. Haley, the hem of her armor tattered and streaks of blood on her white metal, felt heavy on her in the illusionary winter of the woods. It’d only been a few months since Rissa had left them, yet, forever loyal to their cause to the Goddess, Rissa’s message through Wendy, her Guide Spirit, had been loud and clear: The Droplets were going to die.

Haley ran in between the trees, not caring for the branches that smacked at her face. Even at the speed that she was going, she could’ve avoided them, but she could care less. Her feeling to protect the Droplet dimension increased with each step that she took, but her Sinera powers felt useless against time. She needed to be faster than she already was, after all, her Sinera abilities gave her the ability to be faster than any other being in the world, but to her, they were nothing now.

Finally, she reached the edge of the forest and saw the real spring of the world, the snow capped mountains far in the distance, and though not visible at eye level, in between the forest and mountains, there was a river. The Queen of Wisdom pushed further, running faster as her abilities and strength would have allowed and ultimately, stopped right at the edge of the frosty woods. She gasped, her sight as keen as her speed was fast by her Sinera powers. What she saw was beyond any words she could possibly use to describe what she was seeing. There was a mound of something, now in fire, just at the edge of the river, like a bonfire of those crazy beings who believed she and her friends were gods, but this was different. While the fire was normal, it felt dark, as if what emanated from it was evil with a physical form. Evil, she realized now, was the darkest things that could ever have reached the world that was only meant for peace.

She managed, somehow, to run again, and in the next instance, she reached the mound, which even from afar, she knew what it had been. They were bodies, no, corpses, of Sineras, each and everyone of them. This were Sineras of the river, at least of this one, but somehow, she could feel that all other Sineras were dead too, from the river on the northwest to the ones in the oceans further north and southwest, the ocean that stood by her former home. All of them, each and every Sinera, killed and now burned as a sign of victory, according to Gavin’s brother. Never so badly did she wish her friend Rissa was there to console her, or her husband to assure her this was all a Mirage she’d done on her own by stress, or even Gavin, to go back in time, somehow, and tell him not to give half of his essence to his brother, but of course, none of that could be done.

The queen fell to the ground, on her knees, and cried, the southerly wind blowing behind her but doing nothing to turn off the fire that now consumed the bodies and her, the internal fire of will that now only increased to do anything, anything to revert all that had happened. Seeing the past did nothing, she only wanted justice, something that no longer existed the moment Gavin’s brother had started this war. She wanted for this to be over, and for the first time, she began to question the Goddess, the one who, with the wave of one finger, could change everything as it should be, but hadn’t.

Queen Haley looked up at the skies, Lady, please. I will do anything, but please, let not be so, not this. You, who created them with the grace that You live, please, let this not be their end, they have yet much to offer to the other beings.

The Lady answered, the dark clouds that had been covering the nebulae drifting away, but the wind only picked up in strength as the nebulae and stars shined. It was a planetary week, a planet blocking off both moons that night, but it was still bright as ever.

My child, the childish voice of a girl, the Goddess, breathed.

Please, Haley sobbed.

She continued to sob, and it went on like that for a few more moments, before she felt the magic of the Goddess. She was a puppet now, and from the heavens, the Lady pulled at the strings. Haley stood up and went along with the magic that was coursing through her, but for a moment, she feared it. She was back a human, but she was walking towards the water, and she couldn’t stop herself, but she could only gasp. She started to walk right above the water, as if it were solid ground itself. The river was rather wide, and she could hear the echoing sound of the waterfall to the east, to her right, the wind stronger and rather cool against the raging fire on the dead Sineras. Finally, she stopped walking, right at the middle of the river, and she turned back to see the corpses, but standing beside them was a figure, a small girl, but it wasn’t just any girl, it was Naria.

The girl lifted a hand, Rise from the ashes, and consume with the fire. You shall wash it all away with the waters of the earth.

A ball of fire flew from the mound and hit Haley, surrounding her and consuming her, but she didn’t care. Her faith was renewed and she felt the power giving her a strength unlike any other. She watched the Goddess disappear with the wind as it changed direction and became an easterly wind. For a long time, the fire just burned, but then she realized, it had forced her to become a Sirena once again, but there was something changing, the glass was melting, and was growing, she could feel bones fuse where they shouldn’t be, and things growing on her legs, right underneath all her clothing. The fire becoming too bright, blinding her, but before it could forbid her from seeing anything else in her changing body, she saw it, briefly, and it was more than enough. The Sineras were stirring, they were alive again, ready to fight for the justice they so deserved.

PART I

THE BIRTH

1

Temporary Home

"‘This is our temporary home/It’s not where we belong/Windows in rooms that we’re passin’ through/This is just a stop, on the way to where we’re going/I’m not afraid because I know this our/Temporary home’"

-Carrie Underwood

L

I

N

K

A

I heard laughter as I stepped into the room. My own smile formed as I listened to it and closed the door behind, rejoicing in the happiness and music that filled the house that once I called home. It’d been at least two months since I’d come over to visit, but with missions, and Benjie’s birth a little close to three weeks ago, it hadn’t been too easy. My family would be surprised I was spending both the Eclipse Week and Kokotachio with them. Already the entrance had shining lights in the shape of stars hanging over the door and along the corners of the ceiling, illuminating the entrance and surely the living room as well, and as tradition in the Allen went, it was all being decorated by my grandfather.

The sky was dark, covering the sun itself with the gray clouds, but that didn’t stop me from wearing the sunglasses I had on. This was a risk, being in this funeral, considering that I was still being searched for as a hostage and victim to Zam, both my friend from childhood and long lost twin. The truth was that we were both the Chosen, a Prince and Princess of the world, along with Jav and Kayta, the other Chosen, and we were all wanted for different reasons and the truth was hidden among many layers of lies across the world. It was hard to tell fact from fiction, but now, I could care less as I watched on the events unfolding before me. The Eclipse Week between December and January was over, but the new year had started off badly for me as I now watched, along with my adoptive brother, Logan, in one arm, as the body of our grandfather was carried in a cot, sealed in with glass. The vase in which his ashes would be in was already molded into place, but the vase itself was still open to place them. The event itself was as surreal as the moment he had died, three days ago.

I walked on into the living room, seeing Dad hold the ladder with a hand and with the lights in the other, watching over Grandpa as he hung the lights on the ceiling. Logan was in a corner, taking out more lights from a box as the music played from a boom-box in the counter, Memwa, our grandmother, dancing to the rhythm as she prepared lunch for everyone. I took out a small bell from my purse, but it was loud enough as I rung it and called everyone’s attention. Everyone turned and shouted in glee at my appearance, Memwa, Logan, and Dad letting everything go to hug me as Grandpa, slowly but surely, climbing down to join the hug fest. A quick explanation about my current presence was enough to satisfy them and for Memwa to get started on my lunch, considering I hadn’t warned any of them. I was about to put away the bell, but Logan had forgotten to bring in one for Kokotachio, and though it was small, it was more than enough. As Grandpa kept hanging up the lights and reached right over the largest window in the house that was in the living room, he took my bell and hung it over, right at the center to make it look nice. The stars symbolized the guide of our ancestors, of the Seludian ancestors from their southern migration to the north, the bell a call to anyone who might want to join, a symbol of peace and joy. Grandpa sighed as Dad walked away to help Logan bring out more star lights, but he turned to me with a small smile that clenched my heart as he told me that this would be the last time he’d hang up the stars and bell. I refused to believe him and told him about Mellak, my boyfriend. My family had yet to meet him.

I didn’t know how to celebrate New Year, and I didn’t want to think how bitter sweet the last Eclipse Week with Grandpa had been. He’d been right, of course, it had been the last Kokotachio for him, the last time he’d hung up the star lights and bell. Dad walked up behind us and put a hand on Logan and my shoulders, gripping them softly. Grandpa was Dad’s father-in-law, but they had gotten along well, and Mom’s death had united them further, but now, I wasn’t so sure how he’s death would affect us. From under my sunglasses, tears fell down, and I watched Memwa stand beside the vase, watching the body of Grandpa being brought over as the men who held the cot stopped before the vase and pedestal that held it. We watched the body as unseen whirlwinds took form inside, and the next instance, Grandpa’s body disappeared, turning into dust and ashes and blew lost within the glass cot. I took a deep breath, and Logan and Dad hold me as I tried to not lose my composure.

Kokotachio is held at December thirty, somewhere around the Earthly celebrations, so it was hectic, but it only worsened as Grandpa was stuck to a bed, too ill to even get up. What I had missed in nearly two years, I made up in a month of visiting to be sure of his health, but deep inside, I knew the truth, of what was happening. He was already too old for anything else, and he had a long life, but if anything, I could care less. January first, after the end of the Eclipse Week, I was visiting again, and I took over for Logan, Grandpa asleep. As he slept, I crawled into his bed, separate from Memwa’s, for they never shared a bed despite over fifty years of marriage and much love. I crawled in and took his head and laid it on my lap as I looked at him, the wrinkled face that I was so used to, and that I adored for the wonderful man he was, the one I hoped to find for myself one day. Softly, and I smooth down the white hairs he had left on his head as I hummed softly the lullaby he’d sung for me when I was younger, but deep inside, I was praying. I was praying to the Goddess, if She could still hear me in Her prison, praying that my Grandpa and I change places, that I was the one deathly sick and he was okay, because, what kind of life would make sense without him? None, of course, but then again, my prayer was another ignored by the Goddess, and my anger rose to fury against Her.

More tears fell down across my cheeks as the cot was moved in such a way that an edge touched the vase and the wind died down and the dust settled. A part of the glass was pulled up, like a small door, and the cot then inclined upwards, the ashes sliding down into the vase. The glass door was then shut once all the bits of the dust were inside the vase, the cot taken away. A templar stood off to a side and held a metal lid with both hands as he walked to Memwa’s side. She picked up an edge with both hands, and together, both she and the templar place it, covering the top of the vase as someone else, a Merry, came by, and with his magic, molded the top to the vase, protecting Grandpa’s ashes from being taken away and ruined by outside forces, eternally protected. I was angry too that Mom’s funeral hadn’t been like this, but Mom had always preferred the Earthly funeral’s, and as such, her very body was buried in the Grim Hotel, but we were on the other side of Alzar, away from the hubbub to the peace of the outskirts, as it was believed that after a long life, the dead deserved peace from our noises, the living.

I kept praying and humming the lullaby, but completely stopped to look at Grandpa as he blinked his eyes open. He didn’t even have much strength to open them completely, but it was enough for me as I watched him with a small smile and began the lullaby again. He smiled a little, and even with his depleted strength, he raised a hand and patted my face, which for once, carried no make-up, something I didn’t want my Grandpa to see with in this moments. He managed to talk, his voice hoarse, as he lamented one thing, and that was to see me married and happy. I risked a tear and shook my head, saying that despite it all, he’d been the man of my life. He chuckled and watched me sing to him softly the lullaby, but it hadn’t been long. Soon after, he closed his eyes tightly, as if someone had pricked him with something painful, and then, nothing, just peace. My cry couldn’t have been louder.

The templar said a few words, and after whispering something else to Memwa, he walked away to the building that watched over the cemetery. We gave a few minutes to Memwa, but I couldn’t help walk over to her after a few minutes. It was too much for me to bear on my own, and even with Dad and Logan, Memwa had been his wife, there was no better person to turn to now. She didn’t even budge, she just slipped an arm with mine and with both held on to each other. Again, it was a risk for me to be here, but I had to, my Grandpa would’ve wanted for me to be with Memwa at this moment. That’s when I noticed it though, the plaque before the pedestal in the ground. It read Grandpa’s name, but underneath it, the family was wrong: The Jones Family. I only knew of one Jones family, and I didn’t get along really well with them.

You have some nerve to show up here, a female voice growled. After all your problems, you risk destroying this moment with the possibility of the APK showing up here.

I turned to glare and saw Balina Allen-Jones. Balina took more of Dad in looks and personality from her mother. Her mother, too, had died, and she spent her last years as a teen with us when I was halfway through elementary, which personally, was great with me, considering that as she neared her legal age of adult, the worse our relationship of sisters got until there was practically nothing. I missed our time when she wanted to be my big sister, even if I’d been adopted independently by Mom and later on by Dad as soon as they both got married. Balina hadn’t taken long to go to college and then drop out because she got pregnant, which led to a wedding that I hadn’t been happy to attend. She and her then husband had long since divorced and had two kids from that marriage, but her current husband wasn’t any better either, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her kids for the kind of mother they had, and it gave me lots to think as to why she didn’t bring them here today. Even so, her current husband was with her, and both dressed in black as the rest of us. Balina had dark blonde hair, it might as well be brunette, her eyes a dark gray, almost black thanks to the cloudy day, but they fitted her personality of snappy and cruel.

Balina, I say through clenched teeth.

Sorry that I couldn’t come sooner Dad. There was traffic, she turned to him.

At least you got here. Merry, he nodded at her husband.

Yup, Balina’s husband was a Merry. Life was ironic, but this helped make it even more so.

Where’s Sheka? Dad wondered.

Lil sis couldn’t come Dad. She’s got mid-final exams today, Balina sighs.

And you, as her current guardian, couldn’t pick her up? I roll my eyes.

Linka, Logan hisses.

Don’t you think they’re priority? Balina scoffs.

And family isn’t? I snap.

I don’t remember you being present when Grandpa fell from that boat a few months ago, she crosses her arms.

And I don’t remember you being there when Dad got Brown Lungs, I argue.

That’s enough, both of you, Dad scolds.

Balina’s husband whispers the same and she nods, sighing. But I don’t say anything else either, as if there was. But as I watched her lay an Earthly rose upon the plaque, I remembered.

I can’t believe you made Grandpa’s dust be brought here instead of dropping them with the Allen’s, I growl.

Linka, Memwa shakes her head.

He was your husband, you should’ve had the authority to choose where his dust goes, I point out.

He’s part of the family. He deserves to be with the Jones, Balina points to her husband, despite the fact that as Merry, he technically had no last name.

He’s not even your real maternal grandfather to start off, I argue.

No, but neither is he yours, she glares.

Knock it off, Dad and Memwa shouted.

Balina, her husband took her hand.

You know what, your right, but at least I was present for the funeral. What’s your excuse for being late? I sneer, swallowing in down the bile building up.

Balina gapes at me, nothing to say back, because it was true, she couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse, even if the truth, to make up for her absence as the funeral had taken place. The reminder, though, that my grandfather wasn’t really mine and that I actually had a living family that was actually in Dulcis, living a life at this moment, just made it worse.

I sigh and turn, I’ve got to go.

Linka, Logan stops me.

I’ll see you soon, I pat his hand and slip out from his grip.

I walk away before even Dad and Memwa can stop me, walking into the building, but leaving through its main door quickly. I was about to turn and make a Door, a magical gateway that Zam, Kayta, and I had made to travel, when I notice someone waiting outside. It was Mellak, one of Kayta’s best friends and my boyfriend. His short brunette hair was in short bangs that barely blew in the cold winter wind, his black coat down to his legs, but everything else was obviously black, even the leather shoes he wore. Suddenly, I felt cold as I felt my long sweater-like dress barely blow on my knees, a thick pantyhose the only thing keeping out the worse of the chill with a long black coat over it, but nothing else. The black veil I was wearing didn’t do much and neither did the gloves. I walked up to Mellak when he noticed me and he stood there as he waited there for me.

I’m sorry, he laments.

I break down and lean towards him. He was taller than me, but I lay my head on his chest in a sort of bend, considering the heels of my boots, and I start crying, a sob taking over me, but I swallow over the rest of the other sobs I knew would attack if I didn’t control myself. He embraces me in a hug, pulling me tight in to hold me together if I lost myself. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t manage to say something, if anything.

The others have been trying to reach out, he whispers.

I look up at him as I think about it. The others, our large group of friends, but in this case, he was talking about Jav, Zam, Davecon, Kayta, and Lafa. Those had been my closest friends this last couple of months due to both circumstances and the experiences we’ve shared. No doubt, with them mourning Grandpa, the others would be too, and especially trying to reach out to talk to me about the whole ordeal. They were the only ones, asides from my adoptive family, who knew that Grandpa had died in my arms, that I’d seen what it was like to die after one long life. I shook my head at Mellak. I didn’t even feel like saying anything, much less talk about this particular thing, and with Balina pressing the right buttons and having Grandpa been put at Jones site, it didn’t make things any better.

He nods and puts an arm over my shoulders, Alright. Let’s get you home at least.

I don’t argue and I let him guide me back to the main doors and only watch him make a Door to Pillowstone. Pillowstone had yet to decide to make a cemetery of its own, so ironically, we appeared at the main hub of the city, which was a large square like plaza, the very center like a park with a large fountain at its center and a narrow car road surrounding it. There were shopping buildings around it, but only two were actually opened, everything else closed since they weren’t actually business to be claimed by. They were reserved to my friends, but they had yet to make a choice about what their shops would be about. Beck and Sherry had opened up what seemed like a large supermarket, a weird one, considering that it actually held Merry items. The other business was mine, a spa that obviously was closed up for the day, and who knew for how much longer it would be as I tried to make life again without Grandpa.

There were people at the plaza, everyone dressed in black, as they milled around and walked up to the fountain that might as well be one fourth the size of the lobby in Merry Tower. They walked up to it and laid flowers at the edge where people usually sat to admire Pillowstone’s uniqueness or for couples to seat and talk to each other, but now for respect. Mellak pulled me back and turned us to a small alley. Pillowstone was awfully quite, considering it had grown in many ways since discovering that Jav was the real Chosen of Power, and with the change that Zam had single-handedly manage to do, with our unanimous agreement, it had turned for the better, but the silence was deafening, and I guess even with a death that affected me the most, the city had decided to pay respect that made me feel, for once, happy. Grandpa deserved that kind of respect, and more, for who he was -had- been. The thought pushed all thanks away and slumped all the more, but Mellak held me. We heard the soft ring of a bell and we stopped to see on a street. It was Trolley, pretty much the only thing that moved around the city streets, we rarely saw cars here except up in Waho River as people crossed the bridge, but Trolley had been Created by me, an object that managed to have a mind of its own but had the task to dutifully and in time take people around. The Muq and Nixies had helped me give it its mind and somehow, we all managed to understand what it wanted to say with the bell. There were no passengers today, but it was offering itself to take Mellak and me to my house here in Pillowstone. I’d long abandoned my apartment in Main Building after a long argument with Beck, Sherry, and Rogers, the three most trusted Merry and Loyals of Pillowstone.

Mellak and I walked up inside Trolley and took a seat as it began to move forward, the large two wheels barely audible with the metal that held up the car and moved it against the ground. Trolley didn’t make any further sound about having anyone inside it, a discrete trait I appreciated of it as I caressed the wall to my left and ignored the open window. I felt my phone vibrate, but Mellak catches up.

Maybe you should answer them, Mellak sighs.

I take out the phone as I sniffle, Maybe.

Our friends aren’t Earthly Linka, we should be glad about that, he points out.

Yeah. How do Earthly even get over this sort of things? I scoff.

Beats me, but saying that the dead will be in their hearts isn’t one of them, Mellak nods.

It might be, but repeating it over and over just kills it, I roll my eyes.

I unlock my phone and see the missed calls. There were over fifty missed calls if I combined all of my friends as I rolled down the screens. Their happy faces didn’t manage to lift my mood at all.

I wouldn’t be able to say who’d help the most, Mellak chuckles.

Zam and Kayta are at the top of who I should call, I agree.

They would all help. It’s been three days already, Mellak sours up.

I don’t know. Three days already? I look up at him.

It never seems that real, he nods. But wallowing alone, and with the family that connects you with him won’t help as much if you keep up with the rest of us.

It’s not so much that as the fact that doing my job as the Chosen was what kept me apart for so long. What if something like that happened again with Memwa, or Goddess forbid, Dad or Logan by some accident? With Mom, at least I’d been there all my life, fresh tears pour out.

He wipes one off, Which is why, you won’t always have to be a Chosen. You’ve told me so yourself, it won’t always be this way.

But will it be over soon? I complain with a sigh.

That I can’t tell you. You might want to talk to Jav about that one, he shrugs.

True, I say, laying my head on his shoulder.

Mellak wasn’t exactly kidding about that. Jav was the current King of the Nixies, the first one since King Gavin, and while he didn’t exactly Foresaw the future or even Traveled into it, or even do a bit of Foreshadowing as the Nixies did, Jav had coughed up the truth not long afterwards about his encounter with the ancient king of the Nixies and one of the four of Selud. I wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t been for the Nixies witnessing the ordeal and Kayta’s curious ability to tell whether anyone was lying or saying the truth, which in this case, Jav had been. There was only one time after he’d been crowned King of Nixies that Jav saw him again, which he told us, but there was nothing else. The Guide Spirits that had managed to appear, our supposed assistants, had said that Jav still needed to travel to the Fourth Temple to unlock something, but what it was, I wasn’t sure, and Zam, Kayta, and I weren’t willing to let him. It was a long argument we decided to put aside until our mission for the search of the second Key shard was officially given to us. The search for the Key, however, had been put on hold, and in March, it’d officially be an entire year. Even so, King Gavin’s visits and the Guide Spirit’s advice hadn’t done much to help us, so we remained with seeking Loyals and keeping Rasna off our tracks, which didn’t work, for the most time.

Trolley didn’t take long, or at least, Mellak and I were so consumed in our silence that it didn’t seem like long. Neighborhoods blended together here in Pillowstone, there wasn’t any good or bad, they were all equally amazing, but my house edged at the end of a dead-end street, the back of the houses facing Irom Waterfall off to the far east of Eveanga Valley. My house was right at the end of the street, the left part of the house only a few yards away from Waho River that flowed east to west and became Sweet River at the border of the valley and Sweet Swamp. It was ironic that we were hidden here when there was a hidden APK fortress at the swamp, but at least we weren’t endangered to the point of sleeping with an eye open.

The façade of the house, much to Kayta’s distaste and at least the approval of the rest of our friends, was Created of cream concrete, the right side of the house longer than the rest of the front, and anyone would’ve thought it was the garage if it weren’t for the large glass window at its front, which was weirdly covered from the inside with dark curtains. There was a simple wooden door at the main front with glass panels on either side and another large window off to its left, also covered by the curtain. The second floor was a large glass panel for a wall, covered as well, the elongated right lacking the same panel but in concrete, and only my friends knew the back so well, with a large stone stairway starting at the second floor that led straight to a backyard yet to be decorated but at least with a clean pool and small fountain that filtered it.

Trolley curved around the street and came to a full and soft stop in front of the house. I caressed the wall again as thanks and Mellak pulled me up, walking us down Trolley, and as it left, Mellak walked up the main way to the door and opened it up with ease, and with Pillowstone being so safe, none of us bothered for a lock. That is, everyone but Kayta, but even so, we entered to a small entryway of light orange tiled floor, two large arcs, one to our right that led to the large living room and made the façade so weird outside, and the other right in front of us that led to a view of the dining room that, even though not visible at that angle, merged with the kitchen, the wall behind the dining with another large glass panel that made a wall and gave a part of the view of the backyard. A small arch to our left led straight into the kitchen, one I barely used, and considering that the lights were off and the glass panel was entirely covered curtains, it was very much dark and unusually quiet. Despite the dark curtains, we couldn’t go to the patio through here, asides from the stairwell from the second floor or the door in the living room, a door that led to the garage and from there to the backyard. Two chair sat on either side of the entrance door, the stairs to the second floor just off to the left from the arch that led into the dining room.

Mellak-

I mind, it’s just right, he shakes his head.

He moves on as he pulls me with him, up the stairs into a large hall with the same tiles from the entrance and brown and white stripes that plastered the wall, dark by the curtain that covered the glass wall. We turned around the stairs and passed by another large arch, one that led into practically a white room for practicing my combat skills and dancing ones -which helped to try and act normal, for once- and a door inside that led to the stone stairwell that led down into the backyard. We entered a door that was ajar, into a large bedroom, carpeted with a light brown carpet. The walls were a cream color, and in the wall that faced us were two large windows closed up by the dark golden curtains that hung over them, the door to the walk-in closet to my right and the door to the bathroom just a little further off both closed. To our left was a small couch with a stand and TV on it, and facing it between the two windows was a small desk with a computer and a simple fold-in chair facing it, but further on to our left was my queen-sized bed with white silk sheets and a light yellow ottoman at the foot of the bed. Another large covered window over-looked the bed as we walked closer to it, and to the right of the bed was a simple brown wooden nightstand.

I sat at a corner of the bed, the quilt folded at its end making me look smaller than I already was shifting under me as I sat down with a sigh. Mellak didn’t waste any time, he bent down and took off my boots, unlacing it and pulling them off softly. I couldn’t help loving him for that, the fact that he was just a gentleman, and the way he never pushed off anything. I really couldn’t forget thanking Kayta for being friends with him, we might’ve never met, despite the fact that while we hadn’t realized it, we had met years ago in completely ordinary circumstances that I wished had brought us here, taking away the fact he was the son of a counsel and I was a Chosen.

I took off my coat, Sorry that I seem so self-centered, I haven’t asked if you’ve been alright today.

Linka, you’re not self-centered, and they’re alright, thanks for asking. My dad, surprisingly though, sends his condolences, he smiles as he takes a seat by me.

Hmm. When will I meet him? I raise an eyebrow.

I’m working on that. But as for Mom, don’t be surprised if she appears sometime today, he replies. It’s custom for Horizontals to bring respect to those in mourning.

How does that work? I wonder. I was still having trouble understanding Horizontal tradition, even with the fact that Kayta was friends with four Horizontals, three being the kids of counsels and the other the prince of Forever Horizon.

According to tradition, the woman is in charge of doing so. She brings edible flowers as initially a symbol of respect, but they’re edible due to the well-known fact that people who mourn rarely eat. The flowers’ smell should activate appetite, so it’s both respect and help, he said.

Remind me to ask Zam about which flowers are edible or not, I raise an eyebrow.

He laughs, It’s not like I made up the custom.

Spare me the flowers at least. I’ve got enough of those, I remember the fountain earlier we passed by.

It won’t take long before that stops, really. They’ll be other things to make the pain more bearable, Mellak assures me.

I shrug, knowing it was true, but not really making me feel any better, Balina was there.

For the ceremony itself? he cocks his head.

No, she was late, but she put Grandpa’s remains at his husband’s family site, I tell him.

Linka-

The thing is that asides that she did something like that, she wasn’t in time to see his body turn, and I argued with her. That’s the worst part, I sigh.

He deserves respect, he sides with me.

Yeah, but I went low enough as to remind her that they weren’t really related, which she turned back to say the same, and she’s right, I say.

Adopted or not-

Adopted or not, she’s closer to him considering that Dad had married Grandpa’s daughter. I don’t have the right to point out something that applies with me too, I lament.

It’s over, okay? Even if you’re not their kid by blood, you had as much right to call him Grandpa, because he was, Mellak argues.

Only through papers, I mutter.

And by heart, Mellak tells me. It’s what counts the most, doesn’t it?

I look up at him, I guess.

It is, he whispers.

There was a moment of silence as he slowly drew his face closer towards mine. I’m only waiting, tempted to close the distance between the two of us, but something interrupts us. I turn towards the direction of the door to the closet, and I roll my eyes when the noise repeats itself, a snore.

Eil, I mutter, turning back to Mellak. Sorry about that.

He didn’t answer and instead pressed his lips to mine. I answer back, kissing him as well. It’s not long, but it’s enough to make a permanent impression. He pulls away softly and wipes away another threatening tear.

I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back when I can, he assures me.

It’s not like I’ll do much around here, I say.

He smiles and stands, leaving the room, but a hiss interrupts his stride, and in comes a cat from the hall, hissing at Mellak as she passed by.

Chip, I sigh, standing and picking her up. Chip had been here for a while after I took her up and saved her from one of those experiments of Anna and Denaline, who could have disasters instead of experiments. Chip had been one, a Seludian-Dulcian, on the verge of being a disaster like many others. She had six legs, each foot white while most of her fur was a metallic gray that sometimes shone gray, depending on the light. She had darker blue spots around her body, her short rounded ears in the inside were white, and the snout and bridge of her nose were white too, the nose white. Her two large tails were insanely bushy and the tips of them were white. Chip was one of the proudest beings I’d ever come across, and hissed to nearly every other being, but I was one of the few she didn’t do so to. At least Kayta’s dislike for Chip was reciprocal, they both hated each other.

Only you when I come back, right? Mellak raises an eyebrow.

I chuckle, I’ll see what I can do.

A quick kiss on the lips and he was walking down the hall. Once he’s out of sight, I sigh, back to my wallowing in sadness.

I turn to Chip, Get ahold of yourself girl. Today’s not a good day to be annoying anyone.

She meowed and purred as she tried to find a comfortable spot in my arms, but I shake my head as I walk over towards the closet and open the door. The Efac had grown considerably over the time they had been with us, so even their animal transformations had grown up along with them. To mere babies in animals and toddlers in their true forms, they were practically teens, but they were still small. In their true forms, the reached up to only a third of the leg, but Eil was in her cat form, so she looked about as young as Chip. Eil snored on without a care, a habit I had yet to get used to. I crouched down and let go of Chip, much to her annoyance as she searched for a corner away from Eil, only emphasizing the fact that she was really particular about the company she liked to keep. She didn’t take long and curled up for her own nap.

I head over to my bed and toss myself to it, and instead of just slipping in under the bed sheet and quilt, I grab an edge and bring the quilt over myself. As I turned, my sight lands on my nightstand, three picture frames in front of the lamp. The first one was the picture of my friends and I in Jav’s birthday, which Kayta had organized for him after he decided he’d be a Loyal, which tactically speaking, it was a great idea, considering he’s position outside of Pillowstone. The other picture was our entire group of friends, I’d need a book to name them all: Jav, Zam, Davecon, Shaun, Malkin, Paqwa, Mellak, Xyro, Urlo, Doc, Cheez, Tib, Indyka, Toke, Toho, Nathe, Kayta, Lafa, Byhi, Voyae, Grettia, Mella, Ulyn, Anna, Denaline, and Larura. I was there, of course, but Oal had died by then and Kayta’s adoptive siblings were in deep, even now, on personal issues that they wouldn’t divulge, and while I was sure Kayta knew what it was, she wouldn’t say either. The third picture frame was my adoptive family, a picture so old, it had Mom in it. The picture was all of us in front of Sky Lake, a trip that held for the most part good memories but had one that traumatized me. The picture had been taken before the incident, but even so, both Mom and Grandpa had been alive then, and like the rest of us, we were all so happy, I couldn’t help but sob and start crying right there and then, letting go all of the pain that I’d been holding on to the last three days.

I fell asleep at some point of all the crying, when I heard a steady loud beep. It didn’t last long though, but it was enough to pique my curiosity. I open my eyes, and pull myself up, and pull aside a corner of the curtain, only to find that it was nighttime. I shake my head and turn back to the computer. Off to the side was a rack, and on it was my laptop. The power button of the computer was glowing white and even the laptop had a corner glowing the same way. I consider it for a moment and shake my head. Might as well.

I take the blanket over the ottoman and lay it over me as I walk over and take a seat in front of the screen, moving the mouse so that the monitor screen comes up. I blink a couple of times as the screen comes up, an exclamation mark over envelope symbol over it. I purse my lips as my pulse begins to race, thinking that just maybe… I click at the icon and a window opens up. I sign in with my email. The inbox comes up soon afterwards, and there it was, the most recent email was his, I think. I only knew the username, 3BAim, but after nearly a month writing to each other when we met on an open chat room of a three-match game, the way that person wrote only made me assume the person was a guy. The last time I’d written to him was on Kokotachio, wishing him the best but at the same time with a sad remark about my Grandpa, without too many details, of course, we had the deal of keeping as anonymous to each other as possible. I hadn’t heard of him since, until today.

I clicked on the email and opened it up, and sat back to read it:

72free,

I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather, and sorry for taking too long, but happy belated Kokotachio, and now a happy New Year. I’ve had a lot on my own plate as well, with my job. No details on that, but I know of a way to keep your mind off.

Have you ever stopped at the middle of the rail in which Trolley passes? Pick any street, whichever you want, and just stand on the rail. On this first days of new year, it was unlike anything I’d experienced. You could feel the vibrations of Trolley moving, even maybe feel its bell ringing as it ‘sung’ to the people on New Year Day. The fact that it wasn’t even specifying the songs to the people, it’s what made it beautiful. The rumbling of the rail made it feel as everyone could hear, even in the Ever Sea, and if there’s any land out there with more beings, they could feel it. It was that powerful, and for once, there was no fear. If Rasna had heard it, well, that music could’ve been the cure for evil. As I write this and think about it, just maybe, even if not being these days so special, it would still vibrate with such power.

But what about you? Do you have a better way to get by the days of shadows? Even now, I’ve been reading through some Earthly books about getting over things, and if I thought loss was bad enough, the Earthly only make it worse. They lack imagination as to what to say to make each other feel better and get over their problems. Nonetheless, we can’t say they don’t try, because like us, they do. Like everyone else in the universe, do the same and try.

I sat back against the chair and thought about it. 3BAim hadn’t failed, he’d done as much as I expected, maybe even more. I guess this is what made me keep him as a friend through the computer, because I didn’t exactly know everything about him but yet was able to trust him enough that a chat and emails made a poor comparison to the connection our words had, especially his on me. He’s been right again, though, about thinking of the rumbling in streets of Pillowstone, especially back in Kokotachio. It’s been a complaint by a few, but once I thought about it, I agreed with him, it was actually peaceful. Even now, I could hear Trolley’s bell not from so far a distance, and while the notes weren’t exactly happy ones, the fact that I could hear it itself brought a peace on me, as Trolley played a lullaby I hadn’t realized I’d made. I chuckled, also realizing that neither my pen pal didn’t know I was a Chosen. It was ironic that I could trust a complete stranger and be able, after three days, to feel better than now when I could be with my friends.

Chip purred and I looked down to find her nuzzling up against my legs. I sighed and picked her up as I looked back up to the email and stroked the back of Chip, who almost immediately curled up in my lap and went to sleep again. I thought of what I would answer, and after a while, finally did and positioned my hand over the keyboard:

3BAim,

I’m glad to see that you’ve been well this last few days, I hope you’ve enjoyed them as I did, despite the dark shadows at their corners on them. More than anyone, I’m sorry to say that he- Sorry, I don’t even have the strength to erase that. What I mean to say is that, you’re very right, and I guess in this sadness that I’m drowning in as of now, while justifiable, can’t be eternal either.

Earthly accounts say that the best way to get over it is to spend time with friends and family. Our society claims that spending time with them but for them to remind the lost ones to you is the best option. What if neither option works? When you say get over, people think that the pain will go away, so what if neither option works? What if the pain only becomes bearable and the only way to truly reach that point is not just spending time with friends and family, but with yourself? I suppose that when they die, a part of them remains within us, we have a bit of their habits or ways that make them live on. Maybe I should’ve known better, but the love of a mother and grandfather are so different and yet so equal, where does one begin to draw the line? I suppose, without saying this straight to me, this is what you meant, and for that, I more grateful than from the moment we encountered each other in that game.

I can hear Trolley now, you know. Just now, as I seat here and write this to you, I can hear and feel the rails rumbling and its bell play a tune that’s in sync with my sadness, yet lifts my mood because at least I’m here with that fragment that he left behind. I thank you and Trolley for being there for me.

Will I read of you soon?

I skimmed through my email for a moment. I grab the mouse and without a second thought after circling around the link, I click Send. I power down the monitor and sit back with a sigh as I felt more relieved than I did for the past three days, and for once, I couldn’t help but smile. I heard my phone vibrating, and I pick up Chip and walk towards it. When I take it and see the picture and name flashing on the screen, I can’t help, finally, but answer.

Allo? I wonder.

I can’t believe it, you answered, Kayta gasped exaggeratedly.

Uh-huh, I sat on my bed, Chip curling up again on my lap.

How bad are you? she asks. I can hear a few other people complaining at her side, but she, like always, ignores them.

To actually been three days, I’m fine, I sigh. Sorry I didn’t pick up on any of you. With the funeral, I-

At least you did. We’re sorry that we’ve kept insisting. We thought it’d help, the voices in the background scream something. Okay, the others are saying that I should speak for myself, that I’m the only one sorry for insisting.

Sounds like them, I chuckle.

Kayta stops for a moment, You actually do sound pretty good.

I told you, I nod, even though she can’t see me.

Mellak? Kayta wonders.

Not as you would think, it’s true.

Good enough, I suppose, she says, and I realize that the background just became very silent.

I’m saying the truth. Is everything alright? I ask.

Yeah, I just need you to do me a favor, Kayta tells me.

Yeah? I raise an eyebrow.

Could you please come down here? I hear a shout.

I turn to the door out of my room, just staring at the fact that Kayta’s voice had come from down there. Eil groans and shifts in her place, not taking too long to get back to her snores. I put Chip on the ground, much to her distaste, but she follows as I walk out of the room, phone still in my hand. I walk on the hall to the stairs and start walking down cautiously, watching for signs for her or any of the people she might be with.

Surprise! they suddenly appear within sight in the arch that led into the living room.

I stop as I see Kayta hang up and put her phone in her famous leather jacket, which she’d asked me to turn from its original black to a toffee brown a couple of months ago. She was smiling and trying to control our laughing friends, Byhi, Grettia, Lafa, Anna, Denaline, Mella, and Larura.

Glad to see you, and for being three days, you look great, Byhi walks up to me and pulls me down the stairs, giving me a hug once we’re on flat ground.

Yeah, um, what are you all doing here? I look at all of them.

We’ve been having this idea since we heard about him, but we didn’t want to do it until you felt up to finally talking to us again, Byhi squeezes my hand. We’ve been friends since I could remember, she’d know me better, only rivaled by Voyae and even Zam. Since you answered Kayta’s call, we thought you’d finally be ready for a little girls’ night.

I smile at them.

And trust me, it wasn’t easy, Lafa shares a look with Kayta, her sisters doing the same, even Mella.

It’s not exactly my forte, Kayta defends, crossing her arms.

I laugh, So what does this girls’ night include?

My nightmare, Kayta sighs as everyone else laughs. Come on.

They lead me to the living room, a room nearly as large as the hall from upstairs. The lamp near the window at the right end of the room was lit, I noticed now, two dark brown armchairs and one couch of the same color, the pillows that decorated them each unique. The floor was tiled with orange and brown diamond designs and mint green plaster walls with leaf designs, a set of lamps that hung from the ceiling as we entered, two cabinet racks to our left, one for the DVD’s and the other for CD’s, the radio and speaker just to our front. Another floor lamp was beside the large couch, an ottoman in front of it, but right at the center in front of all the available sitting places was a coffee stand, and right in front of it facing all the couches was a TV stand, a flat TV right on top of it. The large couch was the only thing that was different in the room, as Kayta turned the lamp beside it on, its pillows now on the armchairs while large shopping bags littered it, at least three while four more laid at the ground before it and at least one bag filled with four boxes on the ottoman.

I stared at my friends, Is it what I think it is?

You bet it is, they all laughed.

Very much like in our sleepovers. Kayta wasn’t hard to convince, just to drag her over to the shops in Forever Horizon and Dulcis, Byhi smiled.

It’s not like I spent most of the time there anyways, Kayta points out, to which we all laugh.

True, you spent a good time sewing up a good lot of her new wardrobe, Larura taps at least two bags on the sofa.

You’re kidding? I exclaim.

It’s not like I was going to spend twelve hours of my time inside a store, even if for my best friend, Kayta shrugs, and again, we laugh.

Let’s go, we need to show the islanders what it’s like, Larura teases.

Thanks? the other Evans complained.

Seriously though, best now before the boys complain that we’re not spending time with them, Grettia takes a seat in one of the armchairs.

Is that in the current news with you and Xyro? Lafa tries not to smile, as do the rest of us.

No, worse, Kayta rolls her eyes.

Then make your own house, I point out.

I’m fine, thanks. It’s most likely I’ll become Lafa’s neighbor anyways, and it wouldn’t be any better than now, Kayta point out.

I heard Davecon’s been screaming nonstop, I nod.

Without an end, everyone but Lafa sighs.

It’s not my fault that my boyfriend was raised as a soldier rather than a true kid, Lafa shrugs.

I scoff, Did you just say-

Boyfriend? we all finish.

Yeah, so? Lafa blushes.

Hey, it was about time, Mella exclaims.

I agree; how long have you been dating? Grettia points out.

Months, okay? We made it official, we’ve just been waiting for the right moment, Lafa replies.

You’re well past that, but no one’s happier than me, Kayta takes the other armchair and lays on it, legs hanging around one of the arms. Your secret meetings were slowly killing; don’t you have any dignity?

We laugh, enjoying Kayta’s rare moments of actually acting her age like the rest of us. But that’s when I notice something’s different.

Where’s Voyae? I ask.

They all sour up for a moment, Kayta leaning up with her elbows now on the other arm of the chair.

She’s working, Byhi answers.

What, now? I scoff.

It might be only eleven thirty pm, but she is, Byhi whispers.

Why?

He’s got her tight in his hands, Lafa says.

Who? I wonder. I knew Voyae had work, supposedly part time, but for two months already, things with her had gotten complicated, working all the time, if not, at school. Her family had decided to move in into Pillowstone, but unlike Byhi and most of our friends, not yet, and they all seemed to know why.

Linka, Kayta sighs. Voyae’s working now directly with Rasna.

2

Shark

"Only the shark stays awake/Only the shark keeps looking/Only the shark remains nervous/Only the shark keeps stalking"

-Ruben Blades

J

A

V

Are you going to finally tell me why we’re in between two walls? Ulyn smiles.

I smiled back, not answering immediately. I’ll admit, it wasn’t the most romantic site to bring your girlfriend in, but my options were limited right now. I was in a break off from my main job, being Chris’ bodyguard since he was the Prime Minister, but I had to find a way to truly enjoy my break. Being off for an hour meant for Chris to give me classes on how best to be a Prime Minister, and it wasn’t easy avoiding him when it came to that. But today wasn’t evading class, today was evading his creation of my own body of guards. As if Dylan’s retirement wasn’t bad enough for me, I would be left without my mentor and friend, and definitely my first choice of a guard, but Chris went ahead, and I just couldn’t take that.

So? Ulyn insists.

Would you rather be hearing Chris rolling on about his grandfather’s time-post or this? I raise an eyebrow, gesturing