The Six Sectors

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Nori

Nori skipped happily along the beach. She felt right at home, the warm sand beneath her feet and the ocean water right next to her. Not only that, but Helo was with her. She smiled wider, unaware of the pink spreading across her cheeks as her thoughts focused in on him. Helo.

He was the only one who knew of Nori's true emotion. Her sadness and pain, which she always tried her best to hide and ignore. Yet, that night on the roof, she let herself be vulnerable in front of him. Perhaps because he let himself be vulnerable, too. A mutual trust seemed to be required for her to even consider letting her facade slip.

"We're close to the northern half of the beach," Nori declared, shaking away her thoughts. She mustn't think of such sad things, not then.

"So. Much. Water." Wheatley's eyes were darting around. "I hate this sector." Helo laughed a bit.

"Then how do ya clean yourself?"

"Like a cat." Helo was repulsed at that.

"Gross, dude!!" Wheatley shrugged.

"I would have never expected that," Nori adds in her own comment. It was odd to her, how someone could hate water, but then she remembered something. Her smile was now a half-frown. Helo saw and gave her a worried look.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yep!" The lie slipped out of her mouth effortlessly, and she was as much lying to herself as she was to Helo. Helo raised an eyebrow.

"Nori, we've talked about this." He deadpanned.

"Actually, we talked about self depreciation, we never said anything about trying to ignore sad things," Nori corrects.

"No, but we talked about lying to ourselves." He countered. Worry laced his voice.

"Fine..." She paused and was about to say something, but she saw something in the corner of her eye. She turned. "DOLPHINS!!!" Everyone turned. Dolphins leapt from the water. Helo awed.

"Wow... who's with them?" He asked.

"That would be the president." Wheatley said.

A mermaid with shimmering green scales covering his tail and lower half of his torso was swimming with the dolphins. Yes, that was president Herizo alright. Nori grinned widely- she always thought mermaids were absolutely beautiful.

"President Herizo!" Ben called over. "It's us! My grandmother and the leader of Cogswatch wrote to you about us!" Helo waved.

"Wow, mermaids are gorgeous." He murmured to Nori.

"You haven't even seen anything yet," Nori said, "I once saw one with a tail that looked like an aurora borealis."

President Herizo looked at them and swimmed over. "They did, didn't they? Greetings to you all."

"I am Benjamin Forge, and my second in command Wheatley Hanity-Spydos would come up if he wasn't aquaphobic. This is Heliosray Wheeldon, Nassa Meridian-Fritkos, Nori Crateus, Saturn Liffel, Aeris Spydos, Kaithenne Woodsley, Cicada Greenleaf, and Zion." He introduced.

"A Zion was never mentioned in the letter, if I recall correctly?" Herizo asks.

"He just recently joined our group," Nori clarifies.

"Sir, we are seeking rest and assistance before we move on to Oncewynn tomorrow, as then we will be closer to the capital at least a little." Helo asked. "Especially for our nearly-drowned friend here." He motions to Wheatley."