The Girl of Many Floods- Linh Song

VIII

Linh had manifested. And she didn't know whether to be glad about it or not. Sure she was happy that she had at least manifested. But manifesting as a hydrokinetic? The ability to manipulate water sounded cool- once you have learnt to control it. But Linh had no idea how to control it. For starters, she could not go near water, if she did, things got....messy.

Also, Linh was having trouble sleeping. Nightmares kept her awake and the fact that she she ended up flooding the bedroom every night made it hard for her to sleep in peace.

Her parents were furious, considering that they had to clear the flooded bedroom almost everyday and that the house was almost always flooded. Tam was...concerned. And Linh appreciated it though she wished that she didn't have a reason to be concerned over.

It didn't help her parents' mood that the house wasn't the only place she had flooded. She had flooded the Elvin cities of both Mysterium and Enternalia as well. Both had earned her warnings from the Council–a group of twelve individuals who ruled the Lost Cities. They had even suggested that her family move to a drier place. However, her parents had refused as her mother would be lost without the 'sounds of the sea' created by the hundreds of wind chimes in the courtyard.

Tam was exceptionally unhappy with this. When he heard Mai's answer, he had screamed at her, "how is this more important than your daughter?" Unfortunately none of their parents were having any of it and both twins were sent back to their room.

It was now, upon reaching their room, that Linh grabbed hold of Tam's hand. "You know, it's perfectly fine, I just need to try harder to control my ability."

"But it isn't fair that you have to deal with all this" Tam waved his hands around. "I mean it's not your fault that you flood the house. The Council suggested that our parents move to a drier place and they wouldn't even listen. It's their fault, no matter how much they blame you. I mean a newly manifested Hydrokinetic staying at a beachfront house? How do they even expect you to control your ability?"

Linh sighed, "I know, but we can't do anything about it now, can we? All we can do now is to make the best of the situation. Anyway, we're starting Foxfire in three months so hopefully things will get better then."

Tam gave her a small, wistful smile, "yeah, hopefully."

*

The next day, after clearing all the water out from the bedroom (which to Linh's surprise was much lesser than usual), Linh got a bottle of Youth and sat down on her bed, placing the bottle on her bedside table.

Linh did not have a Hydrokinesis mentor yet, seeing as none were available at that period. Hence she had to wait for Foxfire to start before she could get Hydrokinesis mentoring sessions.

Linh stared at the bottle of Youth and held her hand over it, willing the water to come to her. It did. However, it came out all at once splashing her face and wetting her clothes. Not ideal at all.

She tried gathering the water from her wet clothes but only a few droplets came out. Linh sighed and went to change.

Tam had never made such a big mess when he manifested. Only she had. And it felt horrible. Linh thought back to the day she manifested. When she had went to the ocean and everything became a lot clearer in her head when she thought of being underwater. That had been amazing and Linh wondered if she could bring that feeling back, now that she had manifested. Should she go back to the beach to try? Tam was off to his Shade lessons anyway....No. She couldn't risk making another big mess. She would have to make do in her bedroom.

Linh sat cross-legged on her bed and started thinking of being underwater, the creatures, the plants and that 'hum', that level of clarity in her mind. It took a while but she managed to achieve something somewhat close to that feeling. It wasn't the same, but Linh figured she had to be near a water source to be able to get a stronger 'feeling'. She did feel re-energised though, so she grabbed a bottle of Youth and decided to try again.

Before she could open the bottle, the room door was flung open by a heavy panting Tam.

"Linh," he panted, "Dad wants... the whole family.... downstairs... now. He's in...a furious temper....so you'd better....come. Quickly."

"What happened?" Linh asked, abandoning her bottle of Youth and running to the door.

"Well... I don't know...When dad came...to fetch me....from Shade lessons....he was already...mad. And....obviously I didn't...ask." Tam replied, tugging on his bangs.

By the time the twins had reached the front door, their parents were already there, conversing in hushed, angry tones.

"How could he? He promised." Mai hissed.

"I don't know", Quan said, running a hand through his hair, "but we need to go make sure of this ourselves–now."

It was then the two of them realised Tam and Linh standing there.

"Children–come we must leave now," Quan said firmly.

Tam opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Mai spoke first.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

Quan took a deep breath. "We have no choice, she's just going to have to control her ability," he replied, glancing at Linh.

"Wh... where exactly are we going?" Linh gulped, although she could already guess.

Mai eyes were full of worry. "Atlantis," she sighed.