Tam's POV
I slept well into the afternoon, exhausted from the strenuous work of dealing with the adults the day prior.
Barely even acknowledge the death of such a long period of time, I pushed my languid body out of bed. Not bothering to change out of my all black sleepwear, I simply opened the door to my bedroom and stepped out into the quiet hall.
It was alarmingly silent in the hideout, but I wasn't complaining.
I trudged all the way to the common area, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
The big round table of the commons had an empty plate in each seating place except for three, Sophie's, Dex's, and my places. The plates were empty save for a few crumbs and scraps, just sitting there and begging for the gnomes to come clean up.
My friends really were disgusting, uncultured swines. They could've at least taken their dirty dishes to the kitchen!
Shaking my head disapprovingly to myself, I crossed the room and settled back into the armchair. As I sunk into the comfort, I felt myself relaxing once again. There were no jobs, missions, or favors for me today. Besides, everyone had . . . left.
All too suddenly, the comforting silence was broken as the front door slammed open and an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice squealed, "Silveny's here!"
I sighed to myself, knowing that I was the only one in the whole complex that would have to deal with this.
Getting up, I walked over to an eager Sophie who already had her sights set on me. And, I almost did a double take when I saw her exceedingly vibrant outfit choice.
No.
"Too bright," I groaned out loud, stomping over to an excited Sophie.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I continued with my words, an evil smile threatening to show up on my face, but I kept my straight composure.
"Too loud," I snapped, shoving her back outside and slamming the door in her gaping face.
Chuckling evilly to myself, I locked and bolted the door, using the extra precautionary safety measures in case we were under attack.
I yawned as I turned back around, walking back to my armchair even as banging and yelling could be heard outside.
Ha.
Dex's POV
I had no idea how the mission to save Jolie was going, but all I knew was that Edaline asked me to wait near Brant's old house again.
Thankfully, I was still pacing around in the area when she hailed me, so I didn't have to return to the treehouse. But, if I didn't do something that involved visiting my family soon, I would look way too suspicious.
I sat leaned against the post of an old, abandoned house and gnawed on my bottom lip anxiously.
All of the houses in the cozy, little neighborhood had been abandoned long ago when Jolie "died."
The Council was set to start rebuilding and hopefully make the place more comfortable and less haunting for its residents, but their plans were overlooked by other, more concerning problems.
So, the people had to look for or build other places to live. None of them stayed in the houses, as far as I remember.
I had been waiting here since I gave Brant the invention, which was quite a while ago. Edaline didn't tell me what I was supposed to do or what part I had in the actual plan, but I waited here obediently and patiently because I'd rather not mess up a plan that involves Brant.
And, you know, my family.
After a few more minutes, a bright light flashing in front of me caused me to whip my head up. Obviously, the figures in front of me were Edaline and Brant, but what made me shoot up to my feet was the condition they were both in.
And the person they were missing.
"Whoa, what happened?!" I exclaimed as I rushed over to them, helping Edaline haul an unconscious Brant over to the pole I was sitting against by wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders. "Where's Jolie?"
Edaline choked back an obvious sob, my grip on Brant tightening at the sound. Jolie . . .
"S-She wasn't th-there," Edaline sobbed quietly, continuing to drag Brant across the way to the front of the house with my help.
I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I forced them back with all of my strength. Which was next to none.
But, I had told myself not to get my hopes up. Sometimes we create our own heartbreak through expectations.
As soon as we dropped Brant on the floor, sprawled out with his head lolled over to his right shoulder, I began fiddling with some inventions in my pocket.
Of course, I hadn't been able to sit still for the past few hours or so. That would have been out of character.
No, I scrounged around the rubble of Brant's old house and searched the abandoned houses as much as I could. I actually found some useful pieces for new tools, even if I had to destroy some of the houses' exterior to get the material.
"Dex, what are you doing?!" Edaline asked frantically from where she was trying to rip portions of Brant's clothes to inspect and put pressure on his gaping wound.
I knew what I looked like, madly fiddling with a few pieces of crystal, panels, and some sticks, but I was actually trying to make something that could possibly help the situation. So, I didn't reply to her, thinking I would lose my Technopathic train of thought.
I had tuned out all other sounds and began pacing as I finished up the invention, my heart racing all the time. Brant's pulse had been way too weak when I checked it earlier and I couldn't imagine what it had been reduced to now.
Edaline's sobbing and the sound of the wind hitting the desolate block of abandoned houses snapped me out of my daze. I looked down and knew that my invention had been completed.
Still slightly unsure of how it worked myself, I quickly speed walked over to where the two were on the ground and kneeled next to Brant.
I placed the invention at the tip of what looked like a stab wound, lining Brant's stomach. Blood was flowing out of the wound at a steady pace and I knew that if it wasn't tended to in the next five minutes, Brant would die of blood loss.
After switching a few pieces of the tool around, it started to move down the cut, wiping up blood and releasing a soapy substance that was quickly swept away by the stream of water that shot out of a small nozzle.
Both liquids I'd found in an old house and brought out for just this purpose. They were stored in crystals, a wise move for whoever did this, so that they would be purely contained. All I had to do was drill a small hole into each crystal and insert them in the right pattern in my the panels with the sticks to make the tool.
I also found some old silk line or fishing line hanging from the post that I was sat against, so I could accomplish the next part of the invention.
I reset the tool and placed it back at the tip of the wound. Immediately after pressing a few switches, the machine began to travel down the line of the cut, stitching the wound together. It looked sloppy, but effective, and was definitely a human approach to medical procedures but there were no healing elixirs in the houses I visited to help me.
Even if I was looking for them, I'm sure I wouldn't have found any.
I was cut out of my thoughts when the machine finished, looped around the stitch prior and tied a knot. I quickly cut off the remaining string and placed the bloody invention to the side.
There was no bandage to place on the stitches or antiseptic, but I knew I needed to cover it. So, I raced back into one of the old houses and found something that resembled gauze.
The only thing I knew for sure was bat the bandage couldn't stick to the stitches or they it would probably pull them out. So, I opted for the gauze-like material and found some sticky substance in the food cupboard.
I wasn't going to even ask myself if I knew what that substance was.
As I sprinted back out of the house and over to the two on the floor, I realized that Edaline had been sitting and staring at Brant like she was conflicted about something.
Maybe she was wondering how much Jolie's failed recovery would affect him if he woke up from this unconscious state. I couldn't help but wonder what went wrong as I placed the gauze-like material over to the wound, then rubbed the sticky substance on the outside corners, making sure none of the sticky substance could make it to the part where the stitches were hidden by the bandage.
I breathed out a breath of relief as I finally finished and took a step back, my hands over my head.
Edaline let out a shaky breath from where she was sitting and made a move to stand up from what it sounded like.
Even in my returned awkward state, I knew I needed answers, so I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my neck nervously. "Aunt Edaline?"
"It wasn't her," her hoarse, distant voice replied. "They tricked us into thinking she was in that capsule."
I felt all of the rush and adrenaline inside of me dismantling as I accepted the cold hard truth of her words.
"She's either not even alive or back with the Neverseen," Edaline said with little emotion. The cracks in her voice were the only glimpses into her real feelings about this whole situation.
I turned to face her, standing there with her unruly hair blowing slightly with the wind and the dry tear stains on her cheeks. She looked absolutely crushed, but her eyes were determined and full of purpose.
"Are you sure?" I asked, analyzing her reaction to the question.
"Yes," she mumbled, looking away.
It was then that I knew: she was lying.
Jolie was definitely alive and I was going to find her, whether Edaline wanted me to, or not.
Sophie's POV
As soon as Tam pushed me outside and slammed the door in my face, I was stunned.
I knew he was an overall grumpy person and didn't necessarily like physical interaction - at least, not that he would admit to liking it -, but I never thought he would be so evil as to use all of the safety precautions of the hideout against me and lock me outside.
The nerve of that Shade.
I immediately turned to look behind me, but was pleasantly surprised when the alicorn was no longer in the place I left her. No, instead there was a huge kelp monster that looked like it had dragged itself from the depths of the water in front of the treehouse.
So, my immediate reaction was to run back to the door and pound on it for Tam to let me in. The evil munchkin that he was, he didn't let me in. I'm pretty sure I could hear him cackling from his place in the common room.
I turned around and plastered a sweet smile on my face, "Hello, fellow child of the sea. I hope your travels were well and the current wasn't too bad for your journey, but there really is no need for your visit. So, I would suggest you turn around and head back home. Bye bye!"
The thing was obviously angered because one of its slimy kelp tentacles shot out at me and gripped onto my ankle, knocking me off my feet and onto my back.
I extended my arms out to summon water to fight the beast, as it dragged me across the hard, rocky earth.
The water obeyed my command and hit the monster square in its distorted face. It let out a cry and released its grip on my ankle. I stumbled to my feet and prepared for another attack.
Instead of playing defense, I inflicted pain on the creature, patting myself on the back as it cried out again. While it was distracted, my shaky hands extended toward the water again and a huge wave crashed on top of the creature, dragging it back into the water.
I watched the wave carry the monster out to sea and exhaled a deep breath of relief.
"You sent away my pet," a deep voice sounded from somewhere to my left.
I whipped around to face the source of the voice, but found no one.
It was obviously male by the baritone, husky voice, but I couldn't tell the age or what he could possibly look like. He most likely wasn't human, as much as I knew stranger things have happened.
A cold finger dragged along the back of my neck and I cursed myself for tying up my hair to fly with Silveny earlier.
"So pretty," the stranger mused.
I didn't answer and instead attempted to turn around and slam a gust of water into the guy's chest.
Unfortunately, the water didn't seem to affect him. He just stood there with his unnatural deep blue skin, the pointed ears, and bared teeth.
He was handsome, a handsome guy covered from head to toe in what looked like blue paint. Even his hair was blue, lighter than his skin, but still the same color family.
Blue Dude tilted his head to the side, ocean eyes piercing into my own as he licked his lips.
"How about, if you solve my riddle, I'll leave you in peace?" the man suggested, taking a step closer.
I took a step back, "What if I answer wrong?"
"You have to spend the rest of your life in the ocean with me," he smiled, his sharp teeth poking his bottom lip as he did so.
"I'm okay," I shrugged. "I'd rather just fight you."
With that, I attempted to inflict a wave of pain on him, but he seemed unaffected as he merely continued to move like a predator toward me. His mind was already blocking my Telepathy and my Enhancing wouldn't do anything.
With those revelations, I resorted to my fists.
The second he was the right distance away from me, I swung my fist out to deck him in the jaw. My hand stung slightly, but I let go of the pain as I grabbed onto his exposed neck and knees him in the stomach.
He crumpled to the floor and bared his teeth up at me. With inhuman speed, he shot off the floor at me, gripping my forearms with jaggedly cut nails.
Blood poured from the nail marks, but I distracted myself by kneeing him again. Unfortunately, he moved his lower body away from me and shoved me to the ground.
My back hit the ground hard, my head being the last thing to slam against a small cluster of rocks. As my vision swam, I could barely make out him hovering over me.
In a feeble last attempt, I kicked my legs out at him at the same time as I sent water blasting at his face. He merely held my legs down and let the stream of water hit him square in the face, virtually unaffected by such a force of water.
"Èist, nighean bheag. An cothrom mu dheireadh: an dara cuid freagair mo tòimhseachan no bàsaich," he spoke in a foreign language, though my Polygot side instantly translated his words as, "Listen, little girl. Last chance: either answer my riddle or die."
"Fine, freagraidh mi e," I huffed out as soon as his free hand latched around my neck.
("Fine, I'll answer it.")
"A bheil thu a 'bruidhinn Gàidhlig na h-Alba?" he asked, absolutely puzzled, as he released the hand from around my neck.
("You speak Scottish Gaelic?")
I simply nodded, pushing him off of me and standing up. Looking down, I realized there was not a scratch or stain on my all white outfit. Go figure.
"Alright," he suddenly exclaimed gleefully, rubbing his hands together as he stared at me with gleaming light blue eyes. "Riddle me this: My first, though water, cures no thirst, my next alone has soul, and when he lived upon my first, he then is called my whole."
I bit my lip and turned my head away from his eager expression. If I didn't get this right, he'd drag me into the ocean with him.
Admittedly, as soon as I heard him speak Scottish Gaelic, I recalled the Blue Men of the Minch. They used to aid sailors that had crashed their ships, by letting them answer a riddle for their survival. Of course, many were incorrect answers, and they were lured into the water only to become the Blue Man's next meal.
I had no idea what a Blue Man was doing around here, with a kelp monster as a pet, but I could only assume one of the giants or titans sent him here to capture one of my friends or me.
It is actually funny that the Blue Men are as cruel as they were believed to be, as many told that they were Fallen Angels. I guess they might be the worst kind, on the other hand, because of their sense of hurt, betrayal, and anger. They lost everything when they fell to the planet, reducing them to blue-colored men with little to no powers.
"Tick tock, sea princess," he whispered hauntingly. I flashed him a glare and switched my track of thinking to the actual riddle.
It obviously had something to do with the sea, given what he is and the use of the word water. Living upon the first, which is water, made me automatically think of someone whose soul belongs at sea. The riddle also included "he," so it obviously revolved around a dude.
I knew what my answer was.
"Finished yet?" he questioned amusedly from his seated position where he was sharpening his claws on a sharp stone.
I looked down at him determinedly, "The answer is: seaman."
His whole casual demeanor stiffened slightly, but then he slouched back down. "Wrong."
"That was right, you evil sea creature," I snarled. "You said if I answer correctly, you'll leave me in peace. Blue Men always keep their promises."
His eyes flashed with anger as he stood up and began backing away. "Just because you got it right doesn't mean I won't be back later for your friends."
After he hissed out those words and disappeared into the shallow water on the shore, I started to trudge my way back to the hideout.
A certain Shade boy was about to get a taste of my fist.
A/N: hehe i'd try to remember the Blue Man if i were you ; )