Beneath the Waves

Goodbye

It was at least a week later that the four of them came together again. They had needed the rest, time to process and recover from what they had been through. When they came together again it was like a reunion, it felt like much more time had passed than had actually. Now they needed a plan of action, a way to know that they are always safe. They couldn't just rely on hiding anymore, even though that was definitely one of their options. They all threw out equally unappealing sounding ideas that would probably end in bloodshed, maybe even death. After a long silence Ria was the one who spoke.

" I think I want to go find my people " she said "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I want to know more about where I came from. And Armin you said you had family in your homeland, that made me think that maybe I have family in Brazil that would know something about me"

"How would you even go about finding them? Brazil is a huge country" asked Chris

"I don't know, maybe there's a map in the basement at my mom's house, or in one of the books that I haven't opened yet. To be fair there might even be a map in the book that I read, but I could have just skipped over it thinking it wasn't important" she answered. "I just have this feeling that I need to do this"

Chris reached over and took her hand "I'm in, I'll go wherever you go" she said, then "maybe let's just hold off on telling them all that I'm Chayal"

This made everyone laugh.

"Yeah I think i'll hold off on that part" said Ria with a smile

"We'll also contact our family and hear if they have been having any Chayal problems. As you know, when we exist freely and transform the Chayal appear, so most of us have found ways to hide from them. We use black obsidian, but others might have different ways of protection." said Armin

"We'll hold down the fort here and make sure everyone is safe. We'll keep an eye on your families too. But for now these two old dragons need to stay home. I think we've adventured enough for a while" added Appo

"Of course we will always be here for you, and ready to help when you need us, but traveling all the way to Brazil is probably not the best idea for us" Armin finished.

"Yeah... I mean... I didn't expect you to come, you've already done so much for us and you barely really even know us. Thank you for everything again... for risking your lives... all of this is my fault and you just jumped in and helped me... a complete stranger" Ria felt tears sting the corners of her eyes because she knew that this was some kind of goodbye. That it would be a while until they saw each other again.

"We love you like our own children. We have gone through so much together, don't underestimate your importance and how far we would go to save you" Armin reassured her.

Ria and Chris looked at each other, then at Armin and Appo. Everyone's eyes shone with tears, because they all knew what Ria knew. That it would be a while. And that it could be dangerous for them. They sat and talked about their plans, and the possibilities of the future for a while before Ria and Chris excused themselves. They said their goodbyes and headed out the door.

"Until we meet again" said Appo

"Until then" said Chris and Ria simultaneously

And with that, they were gone. Leaving Armin and Appo standing in their doorway waving. The two old dragons that had come to mean so much to both of them. They coudln't believe that they didn't know when they would see each other again. The drive home was silent, emotions hanging heavy in the air.

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It was three weeks later, after Ria and Chris had told their parents that they were quitting their jobs and using what savings they had left to 'travel the world' that they were 'too young to be tied down' and that they had to 'find themselves'. All the excuses people usually use when they go eat pray love in some random country abroad. Ria had found a map in her book (of course she just glanced over it when reading the book the first time) and they had a vague idea of where they were going. The closest city it seemed was Sao Vicente in Brazil. This was the last or the first place her ancestors landed and seemed to be their best best to find any sort of remaining Glitha tribe.

So here they were, stood at the airport, luggage in one hand, each other's hand in the other looking at the departures board. They didn't know what they were about to find, who they were about to meet or really how it was going to go, all they knew was that they had each other and one hell of an adventure ahead of them.