"Ashley!" Camille shoved her way out of the train, elbowing others out of the way, and immediately found her brother amongst the crowd. She rushed into his open arms and they spun around a few times together before slowing to a stop, laughing.
All sorts of people filled the station, talking as they walked back and forth, dragging luggage and meeting up with friends. The chatter was almost deafening. I looked out of the compartment window, one of my hands pressed up against the window, amazed at the diversity of people that walked around. Kaviel truly was the centre of communication.
I struggled out of the train, trying to force my way through the crowd and meet them. There were many people at Lyne's train station today... it was hard to find Ashley and Camille. I kept losing them in the crowd, despite all my efforts.
I spotted a bright flash of gold. They were around the second exit of the train...
I hurried towards the second exit, trying to get there before they moved again. However, in my haste, I ended up bumping into another person. I caught sight of dark hair and dark, nearly black eyes before I shut my own eyes and nudged past them, cutting through the crowd. I kept moving, hoping that they didn't get a good look at my face.
My heart drummed loudly in my chest and I pushed down the rising waves of fear. I was suddenly aware of how many people were around. Kaviel was the centre of communication. What if news had gotten out? Didn't that guard say anything?
"Azure!" I heard Camille's voice, high and clear, over the other sounds of the crowd. She was jumping up and down, waving. I froze. My heart literally stopped. I couldn't even move. My mind was screaming and that panic gripped me again.
I couldn't breathe. I was gasping. Tears slid down my face and I shook my head. There was too much. There were too many things coming at me at once. I needed to get out. I needed to escape, I needed-
The man with the black eyes passed me again. "Are you okay there?" He asked.
I shook my head as I tried to fight through the crowd. I wanted to throw up. I had to get away. I couldn't breathe I couldn't breathe why couldn't I breathe-
He handed me a tissue and laid a hand on my shoulder. I spotted white gloves. "It's going to be okay," He murmured. "You'll be fine. You're alright. You're safe. Take a deep breath."
I did so. "T-T-Thanks," I mumbled into the tissue. No reply. I looked up in surprise. He was already gone. "O-Oh."
Slowly, I used the tissue to dry my tears. The worst of it had passed. The feeling had faded and melted away. I was going to be okay. I was going to be okay. I was fine. I was fine.
I let out a breath and took in a deep one before I started my way back towards where I'd seen Camille. She was still there, hugging Ashley. The crowd had parted a little for them. Ashley let go of his sister when he spotted me. He smiled brightly. "Glad you're okay, Azure."
"Thank you." I replied awkwardly, unsure of how familiar I should act with him. We technically had only met once, briefly, even though I was friends(?) with his sister. I hoped he didn't see that I'd been crying. I was still gasping a little, but I tried to cover it up by holding my breath.
Thank you, to whoever the man was. I owed him one.
He turned to face the both of us. "I'd like the both of you to hurry up and come with me." He beckoned to both of us, his smile turning secretive. He glanced around, then beckoned us closer again.
"Hey, Ashley. Why aren't you wearing the brown colored contacts?" Camille whispered, her own pale eyes darting back and forth as she scanned the crowd for their facial expressions. I could barely hear her.
"Ugh, I was gonna tell you guys a secret! Ah, whatever. Later-ish I guess. Anyway, Milly- We don't need them here. We're in Lyne. Kaviel's made of all sorts of people! Everyone lives here and gets along! There're Mavians everywhere, Milly! In fact, we're gonna meet one of them today!"
"Who're we meetin'? Thought she was Aseanian."
"Sonnet Amelin. She's half-Mavian, half-Aseanian. We can trust her," He replied, "I've been livin' with her for quite a while. She doesn't seem the type. Actually, she was the one who rescued me, in a way. We can talk later. You guys can tell me what happened on your side of the story. Now hurry in! We have so much to talk about!"
Camille looked at me. "There's a thing with Mavians. We stick together. There's not many of us in the big cities, so sometimes we get in trouble. This Sonnet person should be just fine, especially if Ashley the coward thinks so!"
Ashely pushed his sister lightly. "How dare you! You're the one who was afraid to touch that Asterian State creeper. You wouldn't even go near it, scaredy-W."
"That's because it was poison ivy, you idiot! Makin' fun of me? Ha! I'll show you, Ashley! You're the one who can't even tell the difference between plants!" She shoved him back roughly and laughed as her brother almost toppled over.
"Before we get there, I ought to kill you. Sonnet and I heard 'bout the trouble you guys caused over in Kaiton. What were you guys thinkin'? If I had known that Azure would be such a point of contention- I woulda never let her in the house in the first place! Dammit, Camille, now we're in trouble with the gov! That's not a joke, Camille!"
"So they did tell," I murmured. They didn't seem to hear me. They were too busy squabbling.
"On the bright side- It's all cleared up. There was something with a government official who cleared it all up, sayin' that the guard was just lookin' for attention. A report came in just this mornin'. Said that they traced you to this alley, then you just disappeared. How'd you guys manage that one?"
"It's not a big deal, Ashley! I'm not just gonna ditch Azure! That wouldn't be fair at all. That's not fair to her or to me! We've come all this way, okay? And, like you've said, it's all been cleared up in Kaiton. I'll tell you 'bout what happened later, if you tell us what happened to you," Camille replied. "Anyway, what do we do with Azure now? We can't hide her."
"I'm sure Sonnet has something. Geez, Milly, you-" Ashley ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well, we're stuck with it. You guys can't be so careless! That's no joke! Hurry up, before someone really does see Azure. There's been a lot of talk. Even though they dismissed the guard's report, people still think gossip about the real girl."
"Just look down, Azure. We'll just give you sunglasses. That should be enough. Did the guard release a description of her?"
"No description was released. That government official stopped it. You guys got real lucky, but still, you have to be careful. Sonnet can help with that. She's... uh, used to hidin' out."
"Let's just dye her hair blue or something," Camille piped up.
"Blue? I don't want blue." I refused. Blue hair immediately made me think of Locke. I didn't want to remember Locke. I especially didn't want to be like Locke. "Not blue, Camille, blue's like-"
She waved at me dismissively. "I was jus' kiddin', Azure. W. Let's talk about it later. Head down."
Ashley rolled his eyes, grinning, then led us down paved streets to a rather quiet neighborhood. There were few buildings on the street itself. Most of them were actually stores. All of the buildings were made from bricks, with large glass windows. They weren't the best kept, but they still looked pretty new. He pointed to a cozy-looking, large windowed café with a small porch. Fancy lettering on the middle window read 'Skylight Café'.
Ashley immediately opened the door and walked in. A small bell rung and a woman, around her mid-thirties, came down the stairs. She was clearly expecting us. She gave us a small, sweet smile and stopped in front of us, tipping her head to the side as she studied us.
She was pretty. I'd like her a lot, if I'd just met her walking down the street. She had brown hair curled tightly into ringlets and pale eyes. There was a hint of blue in them, but otherwise, they were almost identical to Camille's. She had a high-cheekboned, regal looking face.
Mavian, she's Mavian for sure. There was something to their faces or their eyes that set them apart from all the other people I've seen so far.
"Hello, my name is Sonnet Amelin. I'm sure Ashley's already told you. It's nice to meet you. Ashley's been talking nonstop about you, Camille, ever since he stepped foot into this place." She smiled sweetly, but she both acted and spoke a little awkwardly. It seemed that she was taking an effort to be more casual. Her words were slightly accented, too. "And you're Camille's friend, Azure, right?"
"Yeah. M-My name is Azure. N-Nice to meet you, Ms. Amelin." She wasn't near enough for me to shake her hand. I fumbled around for a second before bowing, then immediately cringed. What was this, a piano recital? Good going, loser. At least I didn't curtsy. So, hey, at least it wasn't that bad.
"Maybe more..." Ashley whispered. He winked. My face burned with a blush, and I started to stutter.
Camille turned red and kicked her brother in the shin roughly. She yelled, "Shut up, Ashley!"
"Ow!" He yelled back. "That's it, you little brat!" He started tickling her.
Sonnet laughed at them, watching them yell at each other with a slight fondness. She looked a little wistful, too. Maybe she had kids. Maybe she liked kids. Hopefully she did. Camille and Ashley were being a little... I winced.
"Well, both of you should go take a shower and rest. Ashley, will you help me with dinner?" She asked gently.
"Sure!" Ashley jumped up. He cooked, I remembered. He must like that, too.
"I hope you burn your face," Camille hissed, grinning as she bunched her hands into claws. "Die in a fire..."
"That's mean, Milly!" Ashley tossed his head, ending his words in a high-pitched squeak as he pretended to be offended. He put his hands on his hips.
"No, it's not! It'll make your ugly face look better anyways!" Camille laughed as she ran up the stairs. I found myself smiling as I followed her up. The stair-rails were wooden, worn to the point where the wood was completely smooth. It even shone a little, which made it seem fake. I held onto the rail as I faced by two doors. One was tilted slightly to the left and the other to the right.
"Milly, I can't believe you're still wearing that ratty- wait, that's my sweater! Ugh, it's totally ruined. Nevermind, then. It's okay, but change. Now. If you're gonna just borrow my things without askin', you might as well take more. I bought some stuff in Lyne recently. You can get it! Door on the right!" Ashley's voice floated up from below.
"And Azure, we're about the same height. You may borrow some of my things. It's the door to the left." Sonnet's sweet voice followed shortly after Ashley's. She seemed like the kind of person to call others 'dear' and 'sweetheart'. I wonder why she didn't. Anyway, her room? She probably kept like stuffed heart-shaped pillows in her room. Her room would probably be all pastel colors and stuff, too.
"Alright!" I called down to her. I walked into room of the left, Sonnet's room. Immediately, I was greeted by the incredible darkness in the room. I couldn't see a thing. I fumbled for some sort of switch or chain. My hand hit something else and I grabbed onto it, feeling around until I felt a panel. I flicked the little switch. A tiny light flickered on, somewhere in the middle of the room.
The room was very quiet. Heavy curtains were drawn closed over the windows, dark colored. They seemed to threaten the very space around them. It gave me an uneasy feeling. I didn't like it at all. I shook myself in the sudden cold and turned to examining the other things in the room. Nothing much was there, besides a dresser, nightstand and bed, all made of the same, dark wood. There were some dusty frames on the dresser. I walked over to them slowly.
Oh. Nothing like what I'd imagined for her.
The frames were ornate, but I could barely see their designs under the rust. Some pieces of the frame crumbled away at my touch. They looked old. Perhaps Sonnet had brought them a long way. She must have run into rain. Didn't iron oxidize only in rain? Or after it was wet? Slowly, I rubbed away the dust gathering on the glass to see the pictures.
One was of a young boy, only about three or four, with curly pale brown hair and the clearest blue eyes I'd ever seen. He was with a handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes, who seemed a little familiar. Something about the eyes, I supposed. The boy seemed to be smiling, perfectly happy to be in the photo. The man was a little unsettling. It seemed like he was smirking rather than smiling, but together, they looked like they were having a fun time.
I slowly set that picture back on the dresser, then picked up the other. It looked even older than the first, judging by the look of the picture itself.
It was of Sonnet by herself. I barely recognized her, but it was her. It couldn't have been anyone else. She was younger in the picture, maybe eight years my elder at the time. There was a different look to her expression in that photo. She looked so much more carefree, like Camille did. Her eyes were wide open and her face was flushed slightly. I frowned. All three were wearing rich clothes, all dark colored and decorated with tiny details. They looked like nobility-
The door flew open. I jumped in shock, whirling around to see Sonnet. I had barely enough time to register what had happened before she spoke up.
"Azure, oh, Azure! What- What-" Sonnet stood behind me, her pale eyes wide. She rushed forward and snatched the photographs from my hands, holding them against her chest. She looked like she was trying to protect them against me. "Azure... What did you see? What did you see?"
"Nothing... I-I didn't see much- I-I'm sorry..." I hastily stood up and started to back away.
"No, no, it's fine... just... put them back, please, it's my fault for leaving them out." Sonnet came towards me. I continued to back away. She knelt on the ground and grasped the handle of one of the drawers, pulling it open. She took out what seemed to be a dark-colored dress from a drawer and shoved the pictures into it, slamming it shut with a loud and final bang.
She walked back over to me and handed me the dress, basically shoving it into my arms. "Here, you can wear this. If you'd like, you can go into town tomorrow morning and get some of your own."
"Who are they of?" I asked, having somewhat regaining my composure. The feeling of shock was fleeting.
Sonnet opened her mouth and shook her head.
Wrong. Wrong thing to say. Oh my God, Azure, what have you done!
"Is it your family?" I tried again.
"Yes," She said thickly. "I have to go now." She quickly left the room, shutting the door behind her quietly.
I stared after Sonnet, still unable to get a full grasp on what had just happened. My gaze drifted back over to the dresser where the photographs lay. I looked over at the closed door. I could get them. I could easily walk over and take them out.
What was so special about them? Was it more than just the people? No, the frames were pretty, but they didn't have anything important on them. Of course it was the people. It always was the people.
A million possibilities bubbled up inside me and my curiosity simmered. I hesitated, then shook my head. No, I couldn't do that. Sonnet didn't want me to. I got up and walked to the bathroom, then quickly showered.
It felt amazing to shower after so long. All the hardships and grime that I had collected over the two months spent traveling all over the countries seemed to just wash away with the water. Gone. Down the drain. I could forget it all. I could pretend like none of this had ever happened. I could go back to living a life in which my worst fear was someone else. It was like I was still back home, in the real world, and if I just stepped out, it'd all be okay...
I slowly stepped out. Nothing happened, of course.
I let out a breath that I hadn't even known I was holding. Quickly, I raked a comb through my hair and changed, putting on the dress that Sonnet had left me. It didn't really fit, since she was taller and thinner than me, but it was close enough.
I left the bathroom and started down the stairs, greeted by the sound of raucous laughter.
Sonnet, Ashley, and Camille were all sitting at the table. Camille was asking them what happened and how they met. Ashley joked back while Sonnet laughed and listened intently.
She was strangely sort of distant. There was like a barrier between her real feelings and what she showed us, I noticed. It seemed that way, at least. It was because of her family...
I reached the bottom of the stairs. My shoes made small clacking noises on the wood of the floor. Something shifted and a chair was pushed back in the next room.
"It's Azure!" Camille yelled gleefully. "I got it, I got it!" She ran up to me, a huge smile on her face. "Azure, Azure! Sit down! Come on! We've been waiting for you, what took so long?"
"Sorry, I was just relaxing. We haven't had a shower in such a long time. It feels really nice to be clean after all this time..." I let my words fade away.
"Well, yeah, 'cuz it's a luxury we both didn't get for a while. Tell us now, Ashley! You promised that, as soon as Azure got down here, you'd say."
"Okay, okay, Milly, calm yourself. W, Milly. You're even more hyper than usual. Sit down and stop squirmin' 'bout! Just concentrate! Well, when the Maras came, they dragged me outside. One of them knocked me out or something. All I remember is that I woke up at this dark place. It was huge, y'know. And there was a ton of shouting-"
Sonnet tensed. Her lips tightened into a straight, white line. Her gaze visibly hardened and she picked at the food on her plate. Her gaze never met anyone's. I stared at her, but she didn't seem to notice at all.
"And then Sonnet came out of the door. She saw me and helped me back, all the way to Lyne. I still dunno where I ended up. Some kind of estate, I guess. Maybe one of the Maras was a noble or something? I was so dizzy and upset that I can barely remember what the place looked like. Anyway, why didn't you guys contact me? Did you think I was dead?"
I froze up. Sonnet had come out of the estate? That's where they met? That means that Sonnet could be a link to the Maras! If we stuck with her... we could find out more about them. I met Ashley's eyes from across the table and he gave me the tiniest of nods.
Camille interrupted his silent affirmation. "No, we knew that you weren't dead. Geez, Ashley, give me some credit! The corpse we found didn't have your half of the heart tattoo. I was afraid that they took you instead, so I didn't contact you immediately 'cuz I thought it would make a buncha problems for you."
"No, it wouldn't have, 'cuz I was here, with Sonnet!" Ashley protested. "Milly, really? I mean, c'mon! Those weeks were my up up weeks anyway. I would've gotten back to you right away!"
"Oh, well, I don't really keep track of your weird week mood things. And I did, later, at Aseania. Why didn't you reply?" Camille stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth.
"I didn't get the message, Milly. Slow down, by the way, you'll choke yourself. By then I probably had already got here. I came to Kaviel 'cuz it's the easiest place to stay. It's pretty much in the middle of all the other countries, too, so I thought you would get the message that I sent out."
"Is there a range for this band?" Camille stopped eating to look down at it. She frowned, tapping its surface.
Ashley yelped. "Ow! Milly, that thing's still connected to me, y'know!"
"W, Ashley, sorry 'bout that! Maybe Dad had it for a certain distance and I was too far. Or it malfunctioned. I got your message when I was in... y'know, Kaiton, but not in Infernale or in Aseania."
"Of course not! Those two countries are far from Kaviel! So there is a limit, then. I wonder why Dad never asked us 'bout that. We need to be more careful 'bout that in the future, don't we, Milly?" Ashley leaned forward.
"Well, how did you two meet, by the way?" Camille turned to look at Sonnet. Sonnet looked up and swallowed before she started to speak, her eyes still focused on something else. She was a tad absentminded.
"After I found Ashley, I let him stay here for a while. He didn't look well enough to leave, so I let him stay here awhile."
"Yup! I kinda just stuck around and I started helping out in the café, kinda as a way to sorta pay off the cost of all my essentials and everything! I've been here ever since. That's pretty much it," Ashley said cheerfully. "What happened to you guys? You looked like a wreck when you came here. No offense to you, Azure."
"None taken," I answered automatically. No apology for his sister. She wouldn't have taken any, either. They got each other. Wouldn't that be nice to say about a person? Any person? To just... understand each other. Know each other so well that they could step into the other's shoes at any given time.
What if I had a sibling? Would it be like that, too? Would I be less of a mess. Having someone to share experiences with... I smiled to myself. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?
"We went to Aseania, to try and get Azure home." Camille sat up, resting her elbows on the table. She looked at me and grinned. "That was pretty fun, right? Campin' out in that storage thing? Yeah? Remember SC Im?"
I saw Sonnet stiffen slightly.
"Yeah."
"Well, we were originally going to the Labs, to see if they had a way of gettin' her back, but we ended up not going. We actually found one of SC Im's storagehouses. There's a way of getting Azure back. As long as she gains enough energy, or magic, since magic is energy, she can cross the parallel universe. There was a method called 'Magic Absorption', but we couldn't find the method. We went to Kaiton, y'know, 'cuz of the Kaitonese Magic Training Program, but it fell flat. We met a guy who told us the method. We decided not to do it-" Camille looked at me.
I didn't immediately catch on, since I was too busy studying Sonnet. She had gotten progressively more and more uneasy as Camille talked. "Because it involved the absorption of magic from another person, thereby killing them."
"And then we got your signal," Camille finished, throwing her arms out. "Aaaand that's the story of our great adventure, darlin'!"
Suddenly, Sonnet stood up, her voice pressured as she said, "What was that man... what was his name? The one who told you about the method?" Her voice rose in volume. By the end of her question, she was shouting.
"His name was Locke."