Out, and free, we went, chasing the winds that ignited on our faces.
Oh wait.
We were in the ocean.
"HELPPPP!!" Ozanen shrieked as we tripped, stumbling as we climbed the ceiling of the wall. However, her cry was muffled by the howling shrieks of the dragging ocean currents.
I grabbed Ozanne's hands with mine, squeezing my eyes into slits and forcing us forwards, as I tried to kick with my swimming power.
No such luck; swimming was for one person, not two.
We seemed to be traveling in a horrifying, agonizing slow-motion as suddenly the ocean rippled and out from the hole I'd blasted with my arrow in the roof came swerving out at least ten guards. Their rich golden tridents glittered and gleamed wickedly, their narrowed eyes fixated on our small shapes.
Ozanne mumbled something that sounded somewhat like, "Spaghetti Sauce," which I decided to ignore.
"Ozanne, hurry up! Just...kick or something!" I muttered, and my words were carried away into the whipping ocean currents, as we traveled snail-slow along the roof of the castle.
And then another shape rose, bobbing, from the hole. A shape with pastel pink hair, smooth, pearly skin, and a necklace lined with jewels that glowered like mini-moons, emerald green eyes, and flecks of gold and teal along her tail. I gritted my teeth, my eyes flashing with all the hate in the world.
"Kisha," I spat, the venom in my mouth dissipating into the watery landscapes around us.
"I wouldn't try to escape if I were you," she gloated, calling from behind us as the guards closed in-fifty feet, forty feet, thirty, twenty. It was all Ozanne and I could do to panic. She pumped her gold-scaled, teal-speckled tail. "The punishment will only result in worse ways. Though, to be honest, I have to say I'm impressed with all you've done so far. Too bad it's the end now-and too bad you're not on our side." She flicked her pastel hair with the back of one slender hand. "Guards, get them!"
"KISHAA!" I screamed, trying with all my might to kick her, or punch her, or do something that would hurt her...
Before the stroke of a tail whisked me and Ozanne away.
"Jamaica!" Ozanne gaped as familiarly yellow and slightly rough skin brushed my fingers. Under my hand something soft suddenly brushed-Jamaica's ringlet of flowers.
Her large eyes blinked at me innocently, and if we weren't in such distress, I would have raved about how adorable she was.
"Are you here to help us?" Ozanne whispered, obviously finding her words and piercing everything together before I could manage.
Jamaica tilted her head to the side cutely, blinking large, coal-black eyes at us.
I felt a slow smile tugging at my lips, just as Kisha screeched to a halt in shock at seeing her "personal ride" (I couldn't help the tiniest smirk on my lips as I thought this) help us.
However, the guards powered ahead like geysers: unstoppable.
Ozanne clambered quickly onto her back and patted her chain of flowers, bobbing softly in the water, gently. "Come on, Jamaica," she whispered into her ear. "Let's ride!"
For a split second, I thought we may be too heavy for her, but then the slender seahorse easily picked us up, and swam up to the opening of the palace.
"Go Jamaica!" I cheered as she rose up, up, into the surface of the air. Once we got out, Ozanne and I both took deep, long breaths until our compress regained.
In one swift stroke I had ripped the mask from my bright red and sore ears, flipping myself off Jamaica's back and tumbling back onto the shore.
"Thank you so much," Ozanne said as she gasped for breath, joining me on shore and plucking her own mask off her ears. "I didn't expect that."
The seahorse whinnied a bit, a little gurgle combined with a laugh. I took it as a "no problem".
"You should go, before Kisha and the mermen catch up to you," I reasoned truthfully as I gestured to the little bubble calls in the water. "Do you have anywhere to go?"
The seahorse grunted with the slightest nod, which I took as a "yes."
"Alright, good luck...," I smiled brightly to Jamaica.
"Bye," Ozanne grinned, gesturing a little wave.
I waved along with her and murmured my own goodbye.
Jamaica neighed, and with a sudden splash of the breeze, dove into the water swiftly, and with one more fleeting glimpse of her silhouette, disappeared into the crystal clear sea.
A silent minute followed.
"I told you!" Ozanne accused loudly, dropping a hard look behind her at me. Her sudden outburst slashed through the air, breaking the awkward silence.
"Now isn't the time, Ozanne," I said, grimacing. "We need to figure out where we're going to go next."
"Ugh, fine," she said pessimistically, crossing her arms. "Fine...but where are we going?"
"That's what I was going to ask you," I jabbed back.
"I don't care, where are we going next?" Ozanne wanted to know.
"We need directions," I told her as the soft rustle of the bushes near us hummed in the wind. That gave me an idea.
"Hey, Ozanne," I said, so loudly, Ozanne almost toppled over in her startlement. "We could go back to Darwyn!"
"Oh- wait a moment, wasn't that the original plan?" she queried as she adjusted herself rightly, and wrung out the water from her skirt.
"Maybe...but we just got almost-sold-off by a weird creepy mermaid, so I kinda forgot," I admitted hastily. "But I do remember the things that Darwyn told me-and, we're back at the edge of the Veannekha and Thinnia empire, where he lives. Now, we'll just have to find him."
"That sounds like finding a needle in a haystack," Ozanne muttered. "How are we going to find his house?"
I stopped for a second, before I straightened up bravely. "Ah, remember the creek by your father's house?" I asked Ozanne curiously as she slumped, giving way.
"Of course I remember it, do you think I have short-term-memory-loss?" she snapped.
"No Ozanne, I actually don't, but the point is, we're at sea, right?" I beckoned to the rushing waters. Just give her some time and she'll stop being so...angry, I mused to myself hopefully.
"Yes, of course, do you think I have blindness too?"
"No Ozanne!" I yelled. "Stop being so-ugh whatever! But do you see that little crack in the sea, where the ripples separate and turn into a little stream?"
She caught on, her tension relaxing a little bit. "Oh, yeah! So we'll-"
"Follow the water until it leads us to his house!" I finished gratefully, happy she wasn't getting as annoying as I'd feared.
"Yeah, that's what I was going to say," she remarked.
"Yeah, yeah, but what time are we wasting? We need to get there as soon as possible, so we can ask him for directions to the Thinia empire!"
I paused dramatically with a flourish of my hands.
"You're right," Ozanne said finally, cracking the soundlessness. "We should get going. Follow the little river, I mean. The sooner we get there, the better."
I nodded brusquely, and my mind rushed a river of thoughts, memories; times with Darwyn, times with Ozanne in our journey, and times much before. I grimaced at the way the memories struck me, like a physical blow; a strike when I remembered mother's curved eyelashes, batting innocently as she barked the order for the guards to grab me; a strike when I renovated Nydia's sharp smirk; another hit when I remembered Darwyn's reply to how Klide would definitely be executed by now.
Klide. Darwyn. Everyone...
And then suddenly, my feet were walking, and the blurry shape of Ozanne was in front of me, and I was following her as she wound downriver. But I felt nothing as I trekked further and further; I felt nothing as Ozanne turned around and plucked a map out of her pocket, doing something like pointing at a destination. I felt nothing as cool river water lapped at my toes, drenching my sharp wooden shoes, and warm wool socks, and I felt nothing as we trekked for hours in silence-
"Hey." Ozanne's voice blinked in my ears, and a second later, her hand grabbed my shoulder. In another world, it was so hard it may have hurt, but right now...it was all I had left.
Two hands grabbed each of my shoulders, squarely, and shook, hard. Trembles ricocheted through my body and I felt a small spark in my brain waking up from what seemed like a dream; a dream shaken with nightmares.
"You okay?" Two seconds later, Ozanne's blurry eyes blinked into mine, and finally the staticky image was clearing. "You've been...quiet, for most of the time." Light and images of reality flooded back into my gaze, swallowing up those biting memories leaping through my mind and washing them away.
"Adelphia, say something-here, take this." There was a rummaging noise, and as I resurfaced back into the world, I saw silently as Ozanne grabbed out my water bottle and handed it to me. Numbly, I popped off the lid and pressed the bottle onto my lips, sipping softly, sucking in the imbibing stream.
Cold water lapped at my tongue, and I blinked again, my senses flooding back into me. Swiftly, I lowered the bottle and closed it with a satisfying click. "Thanks, Ozanne," I muttered, and mustered up a small smile. "I really needed that. I was just..."
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," she said, as if sensing my hesitation. As I stuffed the water bottle back away, she added, changing the subject: "We're almost there."
"Huh?"
"At Darwyn's. We're almost there. Turns out, it's never hard navigating your way back home." Ozanne cracked a friendly smile and flicked her brick-brunette hair casually over her shoulder.
Somehow, the home stung a little. I forced myself to hide it.
We trekked through the little forest of brambles and vines, keeping our concentrated eyes focused on the little creek ahead. Damp and water, rain and shadows echoed through the wood, but I ignored them nonetheless and kept going.
The bushes, I noticed, started parting out in a little sunny clearing up ahead. I squinted- a cottage!?
Ozanne screamed and lunged for my elbow.
"WE'RE HERE!" she yelled, whole body trembling from the excitement. "And I thought I was never going to see this place again..."
"Let's go," I suggested excitedly. Even though our memories were pretty cross, I realized I couldn't wait to see Darwyn.
"I can't wait either," Ozanned grinned, reading my mind. "Father! After all this time." She smiled enthusiastically, showing all her teeth. However, as she was saying this, my eyebrows were slowly knitting together. You see, I'd dashed ahead to see Darwyn, but something was...wrong.
The cottage was dusty and covered in shadows, not bright and cheery like I'd remembered it. I'd knocked on the door three times, and then five, and then ten, but there was no answer.
I felt a chill sweeping over me, as Ozanne caught up, and glimpsed my expression. "What's wrong?" she queried, the excitement fading a little out of her voice.
"Shhh," I shushed her, just in case...something had happened here. Because there was definitely something wrong. It scared me a bit.
"What, Adelphia?" she demanded to know, crossing her arms. "Don't be-"
"No, really," I hissed under my breath. "Something's...wrong." I shivered to myself.
"Wha-" Ozanne began, but all this time, I'd been fumbling around with the lock of the hut with the hairpin I'd removed from my wavy, midnight-black hair. And now, finally, it had opened with a satisfying, and homey click!
"Ah," Ozanne sighed, feeling the air of the cottage on her thin arms. "It feels so good..."
I didn't hear the rest of her words. I was too relieved-but then also worried.
Maybe nothing was wrong after all, I thought convincingly as I heard the familiar sound ring in my ears.
However, when we edged into the house, it was still quiet. The well-known scent was blanketed in a thick layer of shadows; dust stuck to everything, and everything was...rusty, and stiff.
Ozanne seemed to sense this too, and she cowered behind me, as if afraid to see the truth of what had happened. Maybe nothing happened, nothing at all, maybe nothing happened, I forced myself to chant inwardly.
But no, all these thoughts were cut short and forced away as proof of something had happened glittered into view. A shattered mirror, millions of tiny shards reflecting the ceiling evilly. A knocked-over armor, the wooden edges splintering a bit.
Ozanne gasped, her voice hollow and stricken, and grabbed my wrist.
I couldn't bring myself to believe it.
My heart was smashing in my chest and the blood was pounding at my ears, deafening out Ozanne's pitiful whimper. And then I lifted my gaze, and spotted Darwyn.