As the chapters go on, we get closer and closer to the chapter... :)))

Chapter 10

Oceanside

"Luna."

My eyes opened slowly, still heavy from sleep. Then, they closed again.

"Luna, wake up." A hand grabbed my arm and shook me harshly.

I opened my eyes and Zephys was kneeling in front of me. He had a stern look on his face, and his eyes were narrowed somewhat irritably. I smiled weakly at him. "Let me sleep a little longer…" I murmured drowsily before starting to close my eyes again.

"No," Zephys said a little louder than before. "We have to get going. If we leave now, we'll make it there before sunset."

At his words, I sat up quickly, suddenly feeling wide-awake. I was excited to see Kayif and the others again. It had only been two months since we had fled from Camp Jade, but it seemed like an eternity ago. I was looking forward to seeing how they were and what information they had found out. I immediately stepped off the bed and helped to clean up the campsite. I must have been rushing because Zephys spoke up.

"Are you anxious to see them?" He said stiffly.

I stared at him, suddenly remembering everything that happened last night. If he hasn't said anything, did that mean he didn't want to talk about it? He hasn't acted any differently, so it clearly must have not meant anything to him. I felt an odd tug at my heart. Why does this bother me? I lowered my eyes sadly. I couldn't muscle up the courage to say anything, especially because Zephys was so difficult to have an emotional conversation with. In the end, I said, "I just… miss them."

"Well." He shrugged. "I'm glad you're making yourself useful."

Within a half hour, the camp was cleaned up and we had begun walking again. Zephys's pace was fast, as usual. I kept falling behind, still not completely used to traveling quickly in a crowded forest. The roots still provided easy ways for me to stumble. I had to stare at my feet while I walked, watching out for various pieces of nature that could cause me trouble.

"Hurry up." Zephys called back to me, irritated.

I frowned. His distance from me made my chest hurt. The side of him that I had seen yesterday was gone. It seemed like a dream at this point. When I looked at Zephys, I couldn't picture the innocent eyes I had seen last night. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes. Why am I upset? I clenched my fists in anger. I should have expected this reaction. It's stupid for thinking anything else of it.

We walked for almost half the day, quiet as usual. Finally, Zephys broke the silence.

"Are you okay?" He stopped and waited for me to catch up to him.

His question caught me by surprise, so I didn't have an answer in mind. "I… I'm fine." I tried not to sound angry, but that's how it came out.

Zephys grabbed onto my arm and tried to look at me, but I avoided his gaze and shook off his hand. I quickened my pace and walked in front of him, not looking back at him to see his reaction.

"Luna…" I heard him whispered sadly behind me. "What's wrong?" His footsteps grew louder as the approached me.

What's wrong? I thought angrily in my head. What's wrong is that every time I think we're getting close, you just sink back to the way things were before. I couldn't manage to get those words out. I knew he didn't want to hear them, so I ignored his question and kept looking at the ground in front of me.

"Luna." Zephys's voice had a touch of petulance that only fueled my anger more. I felt his fingers begin to touch my arm again, so I wrenched it away.

"Can we just get there as quickly as possible?" I snapped back, surprised by the force of my words. I moved my arm away from him, holding my hands in front of me as I walked. I wasn't going to tell him any lies about how I was feeling, and I knew that he wouldn't like the truth, so it was just best to say nothing.

Zephys sighed and didn't say another word. It remained this way for the rest of our trek to the sea.

Finally, we reached the top of a hill and a vast ocean spread out in front of me. The sun reflected off of the waves, causing them to sparkle. I couldn't help but stare in awe as I looked at the beach for the first time. If I had been there during my past, I definitely didn't remember it.

Near the beach lay a small town. The smell of the sea filled my nose and I felt happy. I had maintained my bad mood for most of the day, but it was hard to stay upset now. The breeze whipped my hair back into the air and my mouth opened in a wide smile across my face. Not waiting for Zephys, I ran down the hill, kicking off my sandals as I reached the sand. I was so soft against my bare feet. I kept jogging until I neared the water's edge, and then I paused, staring at the waves as they approached the shore and retreated back into the ocean.

"Luna?!" I heard a voice call me, and I turned and saw Areck running towards me. He had taken off his shirt and I couldn't help but goggle at his amazing physique. The closer he came, the more scars I noticed along his body. The sea water glistened and dripped off his body as he bounced in a run.

"Areck!" I cried out happily, thrilled to see him again.

Areck finally reached me and grabbed me around the waist, hoisting me into the air. I screamed gleefully as he spun me around. He brought me down and drew me to him in an embrace. His bare skin pressed against me and I pushed him away, slightly embarrassed. My dress became slightly damp from the transfer of water from his chest.

"Control yourself." I teased him. Suddenly, a wave hit my ankles, causing me to jump.

Areck laughed and looked at me, "You scared of the water?" He said playfully.

"I've never seen the ocean before," I looked out at its vast expansion.

"What?!" Areck gasped behind me.

"Yeah." I brought a hand to my cheek, trying to hide the fact it was turning red.

"Let's go swimming!" He shouted happily. Suddenly, he ran from behind me and I looked away immediately, my face turning bright red. He had stripped off his pants and then dove into the water. His head popped up farther out into the ocean and looked over at me, "Come on, Luna!"

I hesitated. Even though it was beautiful, I was scared of the ominous water that spanned in front of me. I heard the sound of splashing and, soon, Areck was crawling towards me in the water, only his head poking above the surface.

"P-Please put some clothes on!" I stammered, still trying to avoid looking at him.

"It's so refreshing," he said, trying to get me to come in.

"I should probably go see Kayif," I said, beginning to turn away. "It's not fair to keep him waiting for me."

"Okay…" Areck sighed sadly.

I took one step and then hands grabbed my hips again. I was lifted into the air and brought back towards the water. "Areck!" I shrieked and, instantly, my head fell below the surface. Running out of air, I returned to the top and stared at Areck with feigned anger. "How rude."

"Take off your dress," Areck said casually. "It's just gonna make it harder to stay afloat."

My face turned bright red and I punched Areck playfully on the shoulder.

"You look so adorable when you're embarrassed." Areck murmured, reaching out to push back some of my wet hair. He smiled warmly and added, "I want to kiss you."

My eyes widened at his words and I was at a loss of words. I averted my eyes, trying to think of what to say. Luckily, I was saved by a familiar, crabby voice.

"Luna!" It was Zephys calling angrily from the beach. "What are you doing?!"

"Well, I—"

"Oh, come off it," Areck yelled back at him, waving his hand dismissively. "We're just having some fun."

"I should go," I said, hastily making my way back to the beach.

Areck sighed and remained in the water behind me.

When I reached the shoreline, Zephys stormed towards me and grabbed my arm angrily.

"Ow!" I frowned, glaring at Zephys. "Stop it!"

His eyes widened and he let go of my arm. His cheeks turned a little pink and he looked away. "Let's go find Kayif."

As we walked, I tried to squeeze out the water from my dress.

Zephys noticed and growled, "Areck is such an immature little—"

"He was just having fun," I cut in crossly. "It was nice having someone try to make me happy." I didn't look at Zephys, secretly hoping that the words would hurt him. I knew I was being rude, but I wasn't planning on apologizing any time soon.

We reached town and Zephys led me into the largest building at the center. I shook up my hair, trying to make it more presentable, and I walked in. A great hall showed in front of me, with many doors on both sides of the room. In the middle was a grand staircase. I walked up them, hoping this was the right way. I drew back the double door entrance and entered.

"Luna?" I heard I voice say. When I looked up, it was Kayif. He smiled brilliantly and strolled towards me. He pulled me into an embrace, and then pushed away and said, "Why are you wet?"

I gasped, embarrassed. I put my hands over my face to hide my shame and said, "Areck pushed me into the ocean when he saw me."

Kayif let out a loud laugh and hugged me again. His warmth flooded over me and he murmured in my ear, "I have to admit, I missed having you around."

I smiled, so happy to be back.

"Hello, Kayif." Zephys's voice called from behind me.

Kayif looked behind me and yelled, "Zephys! I'm glad you made it safely." He let me go after that and went over to give Zephys a handshake. They came over to me together and Kayif said happily, "Let's celebrate your arrival with a great dinner!" Before I had the chance to answer, he added, "Don't worry about doing any cooking, Luna. We have a lot of maids here that take care of all those things now. Just worry about getting comfortable and accustomed to your new home. We can talk more later. I'm sure Heroth will show you to your room. He'll be happy to see you, too… Although I would love to be able to keep you here for myself, I, unfortunately, have some business to attend to."

With that, I walked out of the room with Zephys. My mood had lifted noticeably since before and I wore a smile on my face as we moved through the halls again. As I stepped down the stairs, I noticed a familiar head of white hair at the bottom of the set of steps.

"Heroth!" I called out.

He looked over at me and grinned, "Well, look who's finally here!" He waved and met Zephys and me at the middle of the staircase, squeezing both of us in a hug. He stepped back and looked both of us over, "It's great to have you both back. Luna." He gazed at me. "Why are you soaked?"

"Areck—"

"Ah, makes sense." Heroth laughed loudly and continued, "Let me show you your new room!" He turned to walk away and I followed after him.

Zephys took a step in our direction and I turned and looked him in the eyes.

"You don't need to come with us," I said coolly. "I'm sure you've seen enough of me." I tried to say it teasingly so Heroth wouldn't get suspicious.

Zephys nodded slowly and walked to a room on the opposite side of the hall.

Heroth unlocked the door in front of me and opened it wide. I tried to control my amazement when I looked at the size of my room. A queen size bed was at the center of my room, with a private restroom off to the side as well. There was a large dresser to the left of the bed and the colors around the room were beautiful.

"Wow…" I sighed.

"A lot different from the tents at Camp Jade, hm?" Heroth laughed softly, noticing my reaction. He looked at the windows, predicting the time. "You have about an hour until dinner is ready. You're probably tired from your journey with cranky."

I nodded, suddenly realizing how exhausted I actually was. I smiled sweetly at Heroth and bowed, walking into the room and closing the door behind me. Sighing tiredly, I slipped out of my dress and stripped to my underwear. I flopped down onto the bed and was impressed by how soft the mattress was. It had been a while since I had slept in a place so comfortable. I turned over in my bed and looked at the other side, half expecting to see Zephys lying there, but the bed was empty. I sighed, feeling lonely. Soon enough, the work from the day caught up to me and I fell asleep, clutching the spare pillow in my arms.