Stolen Scales

Chapter 26

Despite not taking long at all, the enshrouding darkness and the unfamiliarity of the area gives Kyma a little trouble finding her way back. The only thing that made it even possible was the proximity of Alai's house to her own. Finally, she steps through the doorway of the cream-colored house into the living room and shuts the wooden door behind her. Her mother steps through the kitchen doorway after setting a rag on the stone counter behind her. In the time that Kyma was gone, her mother had pulled her hair into a braided bun.

"You took longer than expected, Alai's house is only a few down from this one."

Kyma smiles sheepishly. "It's a bit harder to find your way in the dark, especially when you aren't entirely familiar with the area."

Her mother nods. "Ah. I presume you made it back alright?"

"Yes, I just stumbled around a bit."

"Well, you're back now. What do you want to do?" At those words, Kyma yawns widely, and her mother laughs. "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"

Kyma nods, yawning again. "Yes."

"Then let's get you settled in before you pass out and hit your head on the stone. That would be quite unpleasant."

Kyma nods again and follows her mother into the sleeping chambers, still yawning. Inside of the sleeping chamber is actually a small washroom chamber as you walk in with several doorways across from it. Like in the underwater houses, there is a roll of green across the doorway of each chamber, even the semi-open washroom. They stand facing the doors to the small sleeping chambers, and Kyma looks up at her mother in confusion.

Her mother smiles. "You have several options to choose from. I sleep in this chamber," she points to the one closest to the door, tucked beside it. "There are three others that you can choose from. If you like, you can go in and look at all of them and make your choice after you see them, but they all have the same basic layout. The rooms are decorated by their inhabitants, mainly."

Kyma nods, but doesn't go inside any of the rooms. Instead, she points at the room closest to her mother's. "I don't need to see them. Could I use that one?"

Her mother smiles softly, barely suppressing a true grin of delight. "Of course. Now really, you should get settled before you pass out from exhaustion. I can see you yawning, and I can definitely hear it. So go on, get settled, and sleep."

Kyma smiles back tiredly and steps into the room. There is a large window beside the bed at an incline up to the roof, causing it to be the perfect vantage point to stargaze. She sits on the bed and takes off her bag for the first time in the entire day, and almost jumps in surprise from the weightlessness of being without it. She hadn't even realized how heavy it was getting. Then she does jump in surprise as her mother pops into the room.

"We can get you some more clothing tomorrow, if you want. Also, if you would like some light in here, just uncover the algae lantern." She points at the groove running the length of the room, with is covered by a thin strip of green curtain.
"Thank you, I probably do need some more clothes."

Her mother smiles gently before reaching her hand up to unhook the curtain over Kyma's door and withdrawing back out of the room as the curtain falls, plunging Kyma into darkness. Kyma feels her way over to the wall, aided by the small bit of light emanating from the night sky, and pulls up the bit of curtain over the groove and placing it in the thin groove above the one it was covering, clearly made for the storage of the curtain. Instantaneously, the room is filled with a soft, blue light. It is identical to the light from the underwater city, and Kyma smiles at the familiarity.

She returns to the bed and her bag, and carefully reaches her hand inside. She pulls out her pendant from Nami first and places it on the small shelf beside her bed. Next, she pulls out a small handful of the tiny pearls that she had collected while in the Facility and places them in the middle of the shelf, hoping that they won't roll away. They don't move at all, and Kyma looks at the shelf, curious. In the center of it is a small indent, just enough to keep the pearls from rolling out of it. Kyma grins and reaches back into her bag to grab the few that escaped her the first time around, letting them join their brethren. She looks at the pile and promises herself that she will examine them later, when she has a bit more time and isn't about to fall asleep.

Kyma looks down at the bag in her hands, feeling the weight of the remaining contents both physically and mentally. She knows that Alai told her not to let anyone see the dagger, but no one will see it in the privacy of her own room, will they? Then she looks at the window behind her and decides to leave the dagger in the bag, stowing the bag beneath the bed instead of in the wooden chest by the algae lantern. She steps over to the lantern and looks into the groove, watching the water running through it to sustain the bioluminescent algae contained within. With a sigh, she releases the curtain, plunging the room into darkness once more. Kyma step back over to the bed and lays on the the cushion of handmade blankets, pulling one over her as she stares up at the stars above. 

They wink back at her as Kyma thinks, knowing that Dr. James will try to come after her at some point. She feels her arms and legs for a tracker device hidden beneath the skin, knowing that it is always there in movies and books. She fails to find anything and relaxes, reassured. She continues staring at the stars as her eyes grow increasingly heavy, until she finally reaches up to release the curtain above the window. It swings down, brushing her in the face, and she grabs the end of it to hook it to the bottom of the window, sealing out the sky above. With a sigh, she rolls onto her side and falls asleep.
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I'm back! Did you miss me? Or miss Kyma?

I was yawning while writing this, oops! What did you guys think of the algae lantern? Also, I chose to give her actual blankets, because they could technically have cotton or wool on the island to hand make it.

Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.