Flame Touch

Chapter 18-Melody

“Please wake up lordess! We await your story!”

I turned over in my bed and felt warm water all over me. For a moment I thought I was in one of my dreams where I could breathe under water and not have to come up for air. I sighed underwater. Then realized that I wasn’t in a dream. This was real. Yesterday we had come to New York City. I was on a bed underwater inside a store on some random street in the city. Oh yeah, and the other people in the Aquatic groups are treating me like royalty, so all in all I wasn’t in very bad shape.

“Lordess?”

I slipped off my bed, still in the clothes I had worn the day before, and went in front of the girl who was calling me. Her name was Lunar, very shy and quiet. She was the one who stopped me from entering the water dome I was in now until I had focused on my feet so that the dome recognized me. Otherwise I would have felt like I was being frozen from the inside out.

“How many times do I have to tell you Lunar? Don’t call me lordess.” I said with a tinge of amusement in my voice, “It makes me sound like a diva or a Janet.” Lunar gave me a confused look when I said that, but I didn’t really feel like pursuing the topic. I swam/ walked into the main hall full of a bunch or girls and boys who were lined up in rows of ten. They all looked up when I walked in. Oh, the everlasting awkwardness. They all just stared at me and I was about to find myself a line that I could sink into until Lunar started talking.

“Everyone! I present to you Melody of the Pisces! She brings a tale of adventure and wonder!” then Lunar stared at me expectantly. Adventure and wonder? As far as I’m concerned all we did was gore a couple inviso-bugs and catch a ride to New York City. But, like I said, they were all looking at me with wonder. Almost like when you show a kid the finger separating trick for the first time. So I retold my story from my swim meet and made sure to add a lot of exciting details. I left out the part with Taris though. Somehow, I don’t think they would appreciate that. When I finished telling my story, two of the people at the front of one of the lines stepped up, one women and one man. They had a bluish tinge to their skin and wore silver wreathes on their heads. They nodded at me and beckoned me to breakfast (don’t ask me how the bagels lasted underwater, I don’t know). Lunar stared back at me, “Those two are Lord Pisces and Aquarius. Pisces came to indirectly during your swim meet right? Why don’t you go talk him?” I nodded and walked up to him. He looked really regal with black hair flowing in the water and my voice came out as a squeak. Good start melody. Just keep doing what you’re doing. His eyes swiveled to mine and a smile broke out, “Ah! Melody! I’ve been wanting to talk to you!” he exclaimed, “I heard the story you told just now, is it really true that you’ve been travelling with Luminists?”

He paused to let me answer, “Melody?” he prodded, I shook my head a bit and replied, “Lumin- oh! You mean Knox, Semba and the hothead right?” I asked clearing my thoughts.

“Hothead?”

Again Melody, good first impressions. Great. Job. “Uh, I meant Taris.” And he laughed at this with the same laugh I had. Loud and filling, but it didn’t sound that annoying on him. He could have been my dad for all I knew, “And you were also travelling with a Libra right?” he must have meant Sunny, I nodded my head. His smile dwindled, “Ah yes. I feel badly for her colony. Their head figure has been captured by the Vent and Terra. Right now your friend has probably been whisked away to her dorm. The Libra numbers are few, but extremely strong since no one really knows their true powers. Not even them.” I gulped. The only thing Sunny was strong at, to my knowledge, was foosball and finding really good sales on body lotion at Bath and Body Works, but I nodded along with him anyway. He must have noticed my expression because he nodded over to the breakfast table, “Go eat! You must be hungry!” and with that he left me to go sit next to Lunar and eat waffles underwater.