Celestia Academy

35. Geo Graced

"Are you ready?" I stood at the edge of the lake, hands on my hips and raring to go.

Aether was still stripping down to his swimwear. "Hang on! Hang on! I still have to put my notebook away."

"Come on, Aether." I rolled my eyes. "Why would you take that with you here?"

He neatly tucked his items next to a boulder. "I like to take notes and keep myself informed on new things I see. There's tons of stuff to learn in a forest, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved a hand. "Get over here so I can win already!"

"In your dreams." He marched over to me, and we both eyed the far edge of the lake. "Ready?"

"I was born ready."

"Ready to lose?"

I laughed. "Oh, you're on. Go!"

At my signal, we both launched ourselves into the lake. The chilly water was welcome when partnered with the summer heat. The orphanage didn't give us as many lessons at this time of the year, so we had much more free time to test who was the better twin. Obviously, it was me, but I didn't mind proving myself. It was fun.

The goal was simple: swim to the other edge of the lake first. I was naturally a good swimmer, and I flutter-kicked with a passion. I couldn't see anything beyond the sparkling water nor hear anything besides my gasping breaths and splashing. Though I couldn't see where Aether was, there was no way he would be able to get ahead of me. Not by a long shot.

By this point, I had to have gotten at least halfway across. Ignoring all stamina-saving measures, I decided to go all out. Or at least, I tried to. Something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me backward. Surprised, I flailed my arms, fighting to keep my head above water. I caught the sound of maniacal laughter as the hold on my leg released, and I gasped at the sight of Aether's golden head of hair going right past me. Two can cheat at this game.

Quickly, I sprung back into action and swam so hard, I felt a burn in my arms. Aether's feet were kicking waves of water into my face, but I managed to snatch his leg once I got close enough. Using all of my might, I tightened my grip and pulled him downwards. I heard him yelp in surprise and choke on some water.

"Ha!" I managed to shout at him before focusing on getting ahead again.

There was no way I could let him win. My pride depended on it. No other thought came to my mind as I swam the last of the way. The water began to get murkier, meaning that land was close. At last, my feet skimmed the mud resting at the bottom of the lake, and I stumbled onto solid ground with a whoop.

I breathed heavily. "Lumine does it again!"

"Not so fast." Aether flopped out of the water onto his back. "We made it at the same time."

"We did not!"

"Did too," he snickered. "You may have walked on land, but I still got to touching it. I just had to swim a little deeper."

"I didn't see that."

"That's not my problem."

"You!" I splashed water at him. "You tried to drown me!"

He laughed. "Stop being dramatic. We both know you wouldn't have drowned by a little tug. Besides, you did the same to me!"

"Cheater."

"Takes one to know one."

Blub blub.

A gurgling sound interrupted the next complaint I was about to throw at him. It was coming from the water. Aether and I both looked at each other with wide eyes before walking close to the lake's edge.