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CHAPTER 14: A BELL KIDNAPS ME... IN MY SLEEP

When Steven fell asleep, he was greeted by a light, but slightly snarky voice.

"Well, look who's here. Welcome back, Master."

His eyes slowly focused on his surroundings. Wisps swirled around his feet. He noticed that he was standing on clouds: ones that stuck to his shoes like cotton candy and allowed him to stand there without slipping through.

The voice came from a girl with dark olive hair tied in a braid. She was sitting on a small fluffy cloud above him, letting her legs dangle. Beyond her was the indigo night sky, filled with innumerable stars.

"Stop," Steven said, annoyed. It was like everything she uttered could turn out annoying. He glared at her and then sniffed. "Don't call me master, 'stoop-id coz'."

"Fine. How was your first day of school, mister?" She smirked. "I'm sure it was great."

Steven groaned, smacking his face. "When I open my eyes, why is the first thing I see your ug... yes, it was... okay."

"Don't tease him, Olive." An orange-haired, slightly older teen with dark purple eyes calmly admonished her.

"Don't call me Olive," Olive responded indignantly. "It's Olivia."

"Olive," Steven smiled, "Don't tease me."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Olive shot back.

The older boy brought up that they had work to do today, and that they had to get a move on.

"Alright, Mr. Lucky, whatever you say. You're the 'boss'!" Oliva teased in a patronizing manner.

"Sis, don't call me that, please." Mr. Lucky sighed. He brought up that there was no need to "bicker every day", which Olive mischievously took as a sign to reply that it was "every night". The orange-haired boy stared at her, and then addressed them as a group:

"Today, we're transporting important personnel to somewhere she needs to go. She's already waiting for us."

"Already at the border?" Steven asked.

"Yeah." Mr. Lucky answered.

Olivia sniffed in disdain.

"An escort mission? What a low-level job..."

"Rank corresponds to how fast the vessel can travel," Mr. Lucky shrugged. "And this mission is urgent."

"You know they're only doing this to us, right?" Olivia complained. "Don't you remember what they did last time? Damn it, we're not servants! That girl at reception always goes out of her way to find a way... UGH! That conniving little b-"

There wasn't much they could do about it now. Mr. Lucky told them that they had to get a move on, to which Steven agreed while Olivia grumbled more. Masks suddenly materialized, hiding their faces, while cloaks fluttered onto them. When they left, the tumbling clouds were overtaken by the sound of wind.

The ocean seemed to cry here, where the mist crept everywhere. It was the edge of a place, but the beginning of another, and not many ventured here.

"She's there," Olive whispered.

Across the ocean, a gigantic landmass that seemed to stretch out across the horizon was revealed. The only sound that could be heard was the black water crashing onto the shore where more mist loomed. The skies were gray and dreary, filled with dark, black clouds while the sea seemed to pull away more land with every touch. A figure stood there, waiting patiently by the sandy shore.

"We've arrived," Mr. Lucky declared to the woman. "We will ferry you across."

His voice was slightly obscured by the mask and sounded eerie, like it had been replaced with something much more ancient. The woman looked at him, nodded, and agreed to be ferried by them.