A Case of Catastrophes

IX. Find a box for a tsunami

At last, the day of the exams came. I was half-excited and half-nervous and scared. I was excited because the two-month long water course would finally be over after today. I was nervous and scared because I hadn't learned anything and simply couldn't do anything with water. I was so dead.

"Okay... Instructions! Listen up." Torrent announced.

He and the six of us were on his yacht. It was nearing noon already so the sun was scorching hot. I liked it.

"When we get to where we're going, there will be three boats waiting for you. One for each rep and a companion. Get to them as fast as you can. The one who gets the highest score on this exam will be given certain privileges but I won't tell you what they are. He or she will also have a certain advantage as to who will become the head rep, so please do your best, the three of you. I'll give you the rest of the time to think about the clues. Do your best. I wish you good luck."

We had completely no idea of what our exam would be. We just knew that we needed a boat to go there. I didn't know why we needed a boat when most of us were Nimbuses and could fly.

This morning, Torrent woke us up in a hurry. Only this morning had he told us that today we were gonna take our exams already.

It was a shock for us obviously.

"Do you guys know where we're going?" I asked the twins. Both of them shook their head.

Cane looked nervous, which was weird because he seldom looked nervous.

"Hey Torrent, are we going to an island?" Ty asked.

Torrent scrunched his nose, "It's somehow... like an island." He shrugged.

I looked out to the vast sea and started feeling nauseous.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." I said as I slumped on one of the chairs.

I could feel the heat on my face and the build up in my stomach. The rhythmic rocking of the boat made my head spin.

"It's because you seldom ride boats. You're not used to them yet." Ty told me.

I groaned. Cypress and Ty just laughed at me.

It took another hour before we were almost at our destination. And when we were near enough, the waters got rough. The waves were huge and the skies looked angrily dark.

"Get ready reps!!" Torrent shouted.

He was looking out to the horizon as if he saw something big. But all I could see were just some wooden boats.

The twins were looking out as well, but as soon as they had enough of looking, "ooooohhhhhh..." they said simultaneously.

"We've never been there before..." Ty told me and Cypress.

"Where?" Cypress asked.

"There." Ty pointed to where Torrent was looking.

"It's Celeste, the floating city." Cane explained.

"It's literally a floating city. People there live on the boats. We've never really seen it before." Ty added.

"What happens if there's a storm and the waves get big?" I wondered.

"There's known to be a protective force-field around the city that keeps it safe from harsh waters." Cane said. "But it seems that..." He squinted. "the force-field isn't working anymore?"

He was right. From where we were, I could see that the boats were being thrashed around by the waves. The waves looked like monsters trying to swallow up the boats. It was terrifying.