Moonhaven

Chapter 5: A Place of Teenage Angst

"Alright..." Alex braced himself, his eyes locking on to Faerie bridge, as he turned and set off.

"Do you seriously think he can pull it off?" Tate whispered.

Jeremi joined in. "Yeah man. I mean he looks like he could take a few punches, but not much else."

"It's risky to instill so much confidence in foreign locals, especially so quickly," Nyne added.

Carsyn went back to staring at Ziro, her gaze cold and warning.

Ziro finally met her eyes, though was unfazed. "We'll see what happens."

Fifthteen minutes had come and gone by the time Alex arrived at the stone steps of Riviam Point. The steps didn't seem steep or hazardous, and in fact they looked quite smooth. They were situated between a rugged wall, and an expansive body of water — an ocean, Alex thought. A small waterfall ran overhead of the grotto, the sound of it was an endless loop of crashing water. Alex stuffed his hands inside his pockets as he descended the steps.

He peeked through the grotto's entrance, and instantly noticed the shallow hollowness of its cave-like structure. Several miniature glittering stones projected all over the walls and ceiling. Its floor was an even concrete with small heaps of actual sand established here and there against the walls. On one side, was a sizeable hollowed beech wood log. On the other, three massive irregular-shaped sandstone rocks rested. Planted at the head of it all, was a giant obsidian boulder.

Atop the boulder, a boy sat — lofty and light skinned, alone and brooding. His hair was black, lowly faded, and wavy. From where Alex stood, he could still mange to see a black screw earring on his right ear, a silver lip ring on his lower left lip; and two tiny round silver piercings on his right eyebrow. He slouched as he sat, staring sullenly at the floor.

Alex came out from hiding and stood front and center where his silhouette illuminated.

The boy straightened as he noticed. "Who the hell are you?"

Alex couldn't help but gaze at him; the boy's piercings glinted a bit in the meager light making it through downstairs. He inadvertently began walking up to the boy, step after step over the sandy concrete. The boy stood with all possible haste, readying himself into an attack stance.

Alex noticed and stopped midway to him. "My name... is-it's Alex. I just moved here last night with my dad. I was told to come here, to get you to leave this place."

At full tilt, the boy closed the distance between them, now just a few inches from Alex. "You were told? Fucking Ziro..." he realized Alex had been staring at him oddly. As he spoke to him, Alex noticed another tiny round piercing on the boy's tongue. "What?"

Alex flinched. "Sorry, but all your piercings-"

The boy grabbed Alex by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him closer. "What of it!"

"It looks cool..." Alex breathed. "I've never seen anyone with so much metal on their face. It's cool. Seriously. Nearly everyone looked the same where I came from. I could never pull it off — not even one piercing. Needles freak me out, yet every flu season my dad still forces me to get a shot. Ah...sorry 'bout that. I got all Grand Canyon deep on you out of nowhere."

The boy stared at Alex for an eon, before finally releasing him. He looked at him again like he wasn't even human. "What'd you say your name was?"

"Alex — Alex Prior. Oh, I almost forgot, what's yours? My dad says it's ridiculously easy to talked for ages without asking someone's name."

"Lev...Novas."

"Mysterious," Alex smiled. "Is Lev short for anything?"

Lev seemed to almost chuckle, but he held it back. "Leven. My turn for questions, Prior. How do you know Ziro?"

"Oh, well I just met him. Scary looking guy. I was introduced by someone else named Carsyn-"

"Mitchell?"

"Yeah. You know her too?"

Lev sighed. "You met Acera, you met Mitchell, your on a mission. You obviously must've met the whole fucking gang by now."

Alex had noticed a hint of distress cross Lev's face, but didn't comment. "Yeah. Colorful bunch."

Lev stared at him again, for another infinite moment, and Alex did the same.

"You're not gonna ask?" Lev spoke at last.

"Ask what?"

"What the freaking deal is between me and them?"

"We just met. It's not really my business. Not very polite either."

This time Lev didn't hold back, and actually laughed. "Polite? Did the magical place you came from where nearly everyone looked the same teach you that?"

Alex grinned at spectacle that was witnessing Lev's hearty laugh. "Actually, my dad did."

Lev's laugh got louder; it echoed of the bedazzled walls. He spun on his heels and went back to his position on the rock. "I know you said it's not your business to know what's up between me and them, so I won't tell you. And you can go tell Ziro that I'm not leaving."

Alex panicked. "O-okay, I know I also said that we just met, but I need you to do this, please. I...don't wanna face that guy's wrath. I didn't really believe that stuff he said about doing 'my best' all that much."

Lev eyeballed him for the umpteenth time. "You...you're more scared of him than me?"

"Huh? Oh, well...yeah, I guess."

Lev kept staring him down, leaving the grotto scathingly quiet. "Let's make a deal. I'll leave, and never come back to this place, if you come to my house tomorrow and spend the day and night there."

Alex's eyes lit up as bright as the stones in the ceiling. "Like a...sleepover?"

Lev snickered. "Sure."

Alex held out his hand. "It's a deal. I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning. Say...ten?" Lev smirked and hopped off the boulder again to take Alex's hand, his grip unbreakable and warm. "Where is 'there', by the way?"

"Know what?" Lev said. "Meet me back here tomorrow at 10 a.m., and we'll walk to my place together." He pulled away and nudged past Alex to leave the grotto, leaving Alex to stare at his now empty hand.

"See ya then," Lev said without turning around.

"Yeah..." Alex whispered to himself.