Hi guys! This update is a little earlier (what an understatement, it's only been a day) because 1. I felt like writing a lot today! and 2. I'll be going on holiday on the 12th, if anything with my grandmother doesn't go wrong. So yeah, this might very well be the last update in a while, before I return on the 21st. I'm so excited for it, I'm going to Japan! I haven't went there since I was 6, and I've been missing it a lot.
This is probably my favourite chapter, but the chapter name doesn't really make sense. But I like how it sounded, and because I am total Moana trash, I decided to put in a Moana reference in this chapter. There are also two references to memes (don't ask me why) and I officially love you if you catch all of the references.
Now, on to the reviews!
animaljam: So...your wish for this story to be updated faster has been granted. Maybe sooner than you thought. But you probably thought I was just going to update late again, haha. Sorry! And thank you so much! It warms me to know that there are people out there who do appreciate this story! Anyway, thank you again, and hope you like this chapter! :))
PokeMANS: Oh my gosh, what a long review we have over here! XD And yeah, I agree with everything you say. I really do hope that Lady Gisela turns out to be good and that Shannon doesn't disappoint me again! I thought I had an unpopular opinion when I said I was disappointed with Lodestar, haha. It's so hard to admit that, when you're such a dedicated fan! Anyway, thank you for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter! :)
Word Count: 3,293 words.
CHAPTER FOUR: AGE OF THE OCEAN
"The Neutral Territories?" repeated Linh, not sure how to reply to Tam's confession. She thought she'd prepared herself for any truth that might have come, but this was a totally new otherworld.
She didn't know much about the Neutral Territories, as it wasn't inhabited by elves. However, she was a huge advocate of the geographical studies of Earth, so naturally Linh felt a little guilty not reading more into the territories where other intelligent species, mainly gnomes, thrived. So why would Tam and his father—who, clearly, weren't gnomes, stay there?
Linh made a mental note to gather some books concerning the Neutral Territories from the library.
Tam nodded. "Specifically, we were staying in the Wildwood Colony."
"The Wildwood Colony," she echoed, not missing the way she sounded like a dumb person who only knew how to repeat what other people said. And she felt like one right now.
She didn't think the elves focused much of their attention onto the other intelligent species' lives. The gnomes were just servants to them, and some elves like Lord Cassius probably looked down on them. And she was ashamed to admit that she hadn't thought much about their wellbeing, either.
"Where is the Wildwood Colony?" she asked, hating how unknowledgeable she sounded. Linh prided herself for her wide collection of information, and her insatiable thirst for further knowledge. But she was just another normal elf now, learning something new and foreign to her.
How could she top the Foxfire entrance examinations like that? Even if Foxfire didn't focus on the Wildwood Colony in multispeciesial studies, it was still important, and indirectly connected to her—Tam had lived there for a solid two years. His life must have been vastly different from what they were experiencing now in Choralmere.
There was another important question deep inside her mind, but she pushed it aside for the meantime. She needed to know all the background information first, before she could make further inferences or conclusions.
Tam stared at the ivy vines crawling against the stone walls, running his fingers across the shining gold seams. They glimmered as bright as Choralmere in the stark artificial light, reflecting against his pale, cream-coloured complexion. Linh got the feeling he was avoiding her eyes, but she didn't make any move to object as she listened to him. "The Wildwood Colony is like the main residential area for the gnomes. The colony houses the biggest population of gnomes, and it's kind of close to Serenvale—before you ask me what Serenvale is, it's the former homeland to all gnomes, before it got taken over by the ogres and became Ravagog, the ogre capital."
"The ogre ca—" Before Linh could finish her sentence, she stopped herself. She didn't need to repeat everything that Tam was saying. Instead, she swallowed the lump in her throat and twisted her shaky fingers together, hoping it would help herself calm down. "So how did you and Father end up there? Are you…banished, or something?"
When a young elf committed an unforgivable crime, they were usually banished to the Neutral Territories. If that was the case, that could only apply to Tam. She wondered what Quan had done. This didn't clear up everything, like Linh thought it would. Instead, it just left all her questions unanswered and made more questions surface.
When Tam remained stubbornly silent, Linh prodded, "Please—I need to know. You haven't actually answered anything!"
The helplessness in her voice showed through, and her voice hitched on the last word. Tam finally turned and looked at her, his expression completely unreadable. As endless seconds passed, the two twins just stared into each other's identical eyes, not sure what to say to break the silence that had settled into the atmosphere.
Surprisingly, Tam was the first one to shatter the silence, and he opened his mouth to speak. When the words fell out his lips, Linh had to strain her ears to catch the softer-than-a-whisper words.
"I was an unruly boy at birth."
No kidding, Linh felt like saying, but she knew Tam was dead serious this time. So she kept quiet, focusing her eyes on Tam's hair and resisting the strange urge to sweep his bangs out of his eyes. She wondered if that made him uncomfortable at all. She knew it would, if she was him.
"I was disorderly, rowdy, wild, and unmanageable—for some reason. I didn't really think much at all. It was kind of my second nature to act that way, and I kept wandering around in the house and breaking fragile things, tearing off the curtains, and more. If I'm not wrong, the house I was in last time is none other than Choralmere." He nodded at their surroundings, and Linh felt a chill run down her spine.
So this wasn't Tam's first time in Choralmere.
Then something hit her like a bullet train. "Wait. Was I there with you, too?" she asked, her voice hoarse as her mind tried to strangle out the truth from the wild flurry of new information. But thankfully Tam saved her from her headache by explaining further.
"Yes, I remember you completely," he said, and Linh gasped at the new revelation. "We were together when we were born, and I think we stayed that way for a few weeks, before…I did this."
He stared at her for a long second, before Linh grew confused and asked, "What did you do?"
"Your scar healed completely," said Tam, in a sad voice Linh had never heard him use before. Then it became clear to her that Tam wasn't staring at her, but rather, he was staring at her forehead, where there must have been a wound when he had injured her. "I was really sorry—and I still am, remember that. But one of the Councillors—I can't remember which one it was—was seriously freaked out, and he sentenced me to a Tribunal. And apparently, my mother had had enough of it as well. It probably was because she loves you a lot—"
"Not anymore," said Linh coolly. But inside, she was conflicted. She felt happy that her mother had stood up to her—but…she also felt really, really angry that her mother had been the one to seal the deal, and banish Tam from the Lost Cities—Tam, only a mere few-weeks-old elf at that time.
He wouldn't have survived at all.
What in the world was wrong with Mai Song?
"It doesn't really matter now," said Tam. "Anyway, since our mum was kind enough to demand that I be kicked out of the world of elfkind, I was forcibly removed from the Lost Cities. But…before that, my father…he actually stood up, against the whole Council, and his wife, to declare that he will be going with me. To the Neutral Territories."
"He…did?" asked Linh in disbelief. She tried to picture haughty, stately Quan Song, standing up for his son and demanding he be banished with him as well. Nope, she couldn't see it.
So that was why Quan and Tam were in the Neutral Territories, before her mother found them.
Linh was starting to see a different side of her father, and she wondered where that side had disappeared to, when he had returned to the Lost Cities.
"Yes, he did," said Tam. "Hardly the person we're envisioning right now, am I right? I don't know where that brave, heroic father figure went, but…yeah."
That's another thing we have in common. We're both wondering where that person we used to know went.
"But…I thought banishment was mostly permanent—unless you earn your way back?" asked Linh. "So how did you come back? Just…an honest question I'm asking here."
Tam pointed at himself. "I promised to change for the better, right in front of the Council, before we were banished away. And our mum apparently took that as a sign to try and take us back. She's tried for two years and a little more than that. And she's finally succeeded. The Council gave in, because I was probably the youngest person to ever be banished. I'm such a bad role model to you, by the way."
"You're good enough," said Linh, finally letting out a smile. It eased her nerves a whole lot.
Tam—for some reason—wouldn't meet her eyes, and when Linh nudged his shoulder gently, he whispered, "Are…you mad at me?"
Linh blinked at him. "Why would I be mad?"
"I hurt you."
She blinked again, this time in understanding. "Oh, that. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I just—I don't even remember anything about you. But why—"
Yeah, why? Why didn't I remember Tam at all? Why was I surprised when Aunt Cadence told me that I had a twin brother? Even if it was for a mere few weeks, shouldn't I have remembered something? Especially when he had injured me, and when I was the reason he got banished?
"My…memory," she croaked out, suddenly feeling uneasy. "They erased my memory…didn't they?"
Washers. The Washers erased my memories of Tam.
To confirm the horrifying theory, Tam nodded sadly. "Everyone thought that all that happened would cause you emotional trauma, and they predicted it wouldn't bode well as you grew up, to remember a long-lost sibling that had done nothing but hurt you, and disappeared, never to be seen again. So they proposed your memory be erased.
"So when we met again—for the first time in forever—two months before, I wasn't surprised you didn't remember me. And it seemed well enough to make you think we were separated at birth. Anyway, if you remembered me, I was completely sure that you would hate me. It was better to start afresh, work for redemption with a blank slate. I promised myself, that for you, I would try to turn over a new leaf."
Linh was speechless—she didn't know what to say to the information overload that was threatening to combust in her mind. So when her words and her mind failed her, her first instinct was to bound forward and wrap her twin brother in a big, tight hug.
Tam was surprised at first, his arms falling limp at his sides and whole body stiffening, but after a while, he relaxed and returned the embrace. In Tam's arms, Linh felt the safest and happiest she had ever felt in the span of two months.
That made her feel guilty that all she'd been thinking of was beating Tam in their studies. So she decided to treat him better, and actually treat him like a real person as they pulled away from each other's arms.
"Thank you, Tam," she said. "I forgive you. And…I'm sorry too."
Tam frowned in confusion, not comprehending why she felt the need to apologise to him. "Why are you sorry?"
Linh turned away from him for a few long seconds, collecting herself before turning back again and flashing a smile at him.
The gold streaks in the stone wall reflected into her eyes and turned the silver flecks in her eyes golden.
A beautiful, broken thing.
Fixed with gold and turned a doll.
"Just…felt like saying it. Come on, our parents must be searching for us by now."
"They were already, like, half an hour ago," muttered Tam, but he said nothing else as he followed his twin sister out of the indoor garden. Linh snapped her fingers before Tam closed the door, and the garden instantly blinked out of existence, fading into the darkness.
The gold in Tam and Linh's eyes reverted back to its silvery state, turning them back into two lost, helpless little children, trying to find their way back to their parents.
And two lost, helpless little children they would continue to be for many years to come.
"Where were you?" Mai practically screeched, when she caught sight of the two Song children, stumbling down the steps of the grand staircase. Her face was livid-looking, and Tam slightly nudged Linh to show his discreet amusement. Linh didn't nudge back. She was kind of scared to see her mother so…angry.
Before Tam could reply, Linh stretched her hand out, silencing him. She turned back to look at him, before mouthing the four words leave this to me. She whirled back and locked eyes with Mai. Mai blinked at her outright intrusion, but didn't say anything to interrupt as Tam said, "Linh, tell her where we were."
Good that he was playing along.
Linh tried to hide her smile—a nearly impossible feat, as she said with a straight face, "We were hiding behind the bedroom door. I taught Tam to do it."
"Never thought she would use the same trick two times, did you?" Tam asked. He didn't say it in a cheeky way, but it was clear that the insult in the words was directed at their mother.
If it was possible, Mai's face turned even redder, and there was a slight murderous look on her face as she called, "Quan, if you please!"
"Great," muttered Tam under his breath.
In a few seconds, the spiral staircase behind them whirred to life and revealed their father. His clothes were slightly bedraggled as he widened his eyes at Tam and Linh. He looked like he had been tearing down the whole place to find them. Remembering what Tam had told her about their father, Linh watched him carefully as he rushed forward to pull the two of them in a warm embrace. But it didn't feel warm. It felt cold, somehow.
But…that proved that Quan did actually care about Tam. And…maybe her, as well.
She dared not hope.
"I was so worried about you," Quan said. "We were so worried about you."
It was the most vulnerable version of Quan that Linh had seen. She blinked as he released the two of them from his grip, and smoothed down her cape, where Quan had messed it up during the hug. She turned back abruptly to face Mai, remembering that she hadn't joined in the family embrace.
She looked oddly out of place and a little flustered as she said, "It's late—but you must be hungry after you two—ran—away. I'll go and ask the gnomes to prepare something for late night supper." With that, she spun on her heel and vanished out of sight.
Linh let out a small gasp when she noticed how dark it was outside. The midnight blue sky seemed to stretch on forever and forever, but a crescent-shaped moon hung big and tall over the mansion. The soft moonlight and starlight hit the reflective surfaces of Choralmere, further illuminating the dark. But even with that, the night seemed terrifyingly suffocating. The formerly bright blue ocean was now a dark cyan blue, almost unseen to Linh's eyes.
"Where were you two?" asked their father, severing Linh's string of attention to the scenery and forcing her to look back at his pale face. Suddenly, she could see the striking resemblance among the three of them, and a chill ran down her spine, almost causing her to shudder.
"We were hiding behind the bedroom door," said Tam. "To be more specific, Linh's bedroom door."
"Please don't do that," snapped Quan, causing Linh to jump. Tam remained stoic, like he was already used to his sudden outbursts. "You two caused us so much worry. And…Tam and Linh, if you two continue to deny our declarations of your respective ages, you will face the consequences."
His voice turned slightly cold, and Linh shivered.
"Understood and reciprocated," she said. To her surprise, Tam remained silent, and even when she nudged him, he refused to budge.
Quan sighed. "Tam, we have spoken about this before."
Linh turned her back on Quan, so he couldn't see her mouth to Tam, do it for me—please.
A few seconds slipped by before Tam finally opened his mouth to speak. "Fine, Father. But let this be known to you—we are not doing this for you."
"Even Linh?" he asked.
"Even me," Linh agreed.
Quan's mouth formed a word, but he stopped when Mai returned, with a round plate in hand. Linh tried to peer at the things on the plate, but she was too short to see.
Mai closed her slender fingers onto something on the plate, and offered it to Quan. Linh stared at the small puff, watching as Quan murmured a word of thanks to Mai and popped it into his mouth.
He smiled—the first time Linh had ever seen him smile. "You actually remember that my favourite kind of custard bursts is the ones with chocolate inside."
"Of course I did," said Mai, a smile gracing her lips as well. Linh stared at her. "I didn't forget you, did I?"
"You didn't," he agreed.
Without context, Linh would have been confused. But now, thanks to Tam, she knew that they were talking about the past, when Quan had followed Tam into banishment.
Mai obviously didn't forget Quan—or Tam, in that case. She had begged the Council so many times to allow her to go to the Neutral Territories to bring them back. And now, they were back. She didn't forget them at all.
But Linh felt that while Mai had gotten back her husband and her son, she had forgotten all about her daughter.
She was the last to be passed the plate of custard bursts—unsurprisingly—and when Linh bit into the papery skin, chocolaty cream exploded in her mouth, filling her mouth with thick sweetness. But soon it turned sour with her emotions, and Linh tried to hold her tears in as she watched Mai bend down to offer Tam a second custard burst.
Their synchronized laughter felt like little needles pressing down into her heart, and a tear streaked down Linh's cheek.
I thought Tam hated her.
She brushed the wetness away from her cheek quickly before anyone saw. And she didn't dare to speak. She didn't dare to ask for a second custard burst. She just turned away to gaze at the view outside for the second time, and her eyes fell upon the sea again.
In a way, she was like the ocean surrounding Choralmere at night. Dark and silent, almost unseen, and already forgotten.
She thought she could control herself to become another person, but the pull to become who she was before was staggering. Maybe that was how a Hydrokinetic felt like when they were trying to control the ocean. They wanted to have full control of the water, but the pull of the water was stronger than they were and it refused to abide by the Hydrokinetic.
You asked for this, the ocean seemed to whisper. You asked for this.
Why do I feel so lonely? Why must it be this way?
You are destined to be different, the ocean whispered again. You are destined to be special.
Linh didn't feel as special as the ocean thought her out to be. She turned away from the window, tears in her eyes, then paused abruptly when she realised everyone had stopped to stare at her. Quan and Mai looked especially afraid, their faces pale and their eyes unfocused.
"What were you doing?" asked Tam.
She knew it would sound strange to say that the ocean seemed to be speaking to her, but nevertheless, she blinked her eyes and turned back for a while to stare at the ocean again. Then she faced her family again, not sure what to say. But her mind—her oh-so-clever mind, formed the words she felt she needed to say out loud. And they were simple.
She knew what this could mean, but somehow, she wasn't afraid at all.
"The ocean," she said. "It's calling me."
A/N: If you didn't understand why Quan and Mai were so surprised, recall what was said in Chapter Two: In each generation, there will always be a Hydrokinetic who is destined to be passed over Choralmere. So the Song family realises that this could mean that Linh is destined to be a Hydrokinetic, and destined to be the special one. I mean, of course we know she's really going to become a Hydrokinetic, but they don't know. Hehe. Just to clear that up, if anyone was confused :)
