Disclaimer - Saver and all of the characters belong to Eun-Young Lee
Note - All bold text is spoken in Korean.
The current was stronger than Lena had thought it would be, and she was swiftly pushed downstream with the others. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. With the clear water and morning sunlight shining down on the river, she could see for quite a ways in every direction though she was so far under. Rounded rocks and aquatic plants coated the riverbed, and silvery fish darted out of the way as she and the others floated past. It was a very pretty scene, but not one Lena could spend much time admiring as her lungs were quickly beginning to burn for air. She looked around worriedly, wondering if she should start swimming to the surface. With a glance back at the others, it looked like they were thinking the same thing. Lucien extended his hand to her, and she hesitantly took it, feeling slightly reassured as he gripped her hand in his.
Lena looked upward at the steadily weakening sun rays. A pale light suddenly appeared nearby and she turned toward it, feeling extremely relieved. It was floating through the water, keeping pace with them, but somehow looking more like it was flying very slowly. It was swiftly joined in by countless others, and they gathered about, their translucent clothing and bodies glimmering in the dimness. Lena smiled as one detached from the others and approached her with wide-spread arms and a warm expression. Her pale fingers brushed against Lena's face before she wrapped her in an embrace.
My baby... a voice echoed in Lena's head, blocking out the noise of rushing water.
Ariana? Lena looked into her eyes.
She smiled happily and put a hand on Lena's cheek. Are you ready to return home?
Yes. A few bubbles escaped Lena's mouth as she smiled back, the anticipation growing in her chest.
Ariana nodded once and took her hand off Lena's cheek leaving slight warmth where her fingers had been resting. Slowly she and the others started to glow brighter, filling the river with a blazing white light. When Lena could barely stand to look at her anymore, Ariana smiled once more, a tear running down her face. Goodbye, my daughter, my Lena... I love you. The others echoed her farewells in a ringing chorus. She faded into brilliant light before Lena's eyes, and she felt a sharp tug on the rope. Lena reflexively gripped Lucien's hand tighter and closed her eyes as they swirled through the water. Lena felt him pull her against his chest and wrap his arms around her protectively.
The pull on the rope stopped as abruptly as it had started, and they came to a halt in the lightly swirling water. Lena opened her eyes again, but was met with a greenish haze instead of the clear water of the Yume River. A faint light from the sun shone above them. Lucien let go of Lena and she kicked her legs and felt the disturbances in the water as everyone did the same, rising upward in unison. Breaking through the surface, Lena gasped for air and coughed, feeling as though she had inhaled a gallon of river water somewhere along the way and hadn't noticed until just then. The others noisily breathed in air beside her.
"Thank... Thank goodness," Lena managed to wheeze. She blinked slightly in the bright morning sunlight, slowly treading water to get some energy back. Lena turned around in the water to take in her surroundings. The riverbank had scattered wooden docks across it, with a large number of small fishing boats securely attached with ropes at the ends of each platform. Fishermen and sailors were out on the boats and walking on the docks, going about their daily tasks. Further inland were buildings, small warehouses to store fish and equipment, areas for vehicle parking. Behind them in the distance could be seen tall office buildings and stores with the sun glinting off their shiny surfaces as they stretched into the sky. The sun was shining through gaps in the scraggly clouds above the pale horizon. A warm wind that smelled strongly of water and fish was blowing across the surface of the river, causing small waves to break out along the shoreline.
"What," said Nox in amazement. "Where are we?"
Lena slowly looked up, and saw the familiar sights that she had left behind so long ago. She could see the spot where she'd had been stabbed, and fell into the river. It seemed like decades ago that she'd left here against her will, but she'd finally returned. "We're here," Lena slowly replied, smiling at their astonished faces.
One of the smaller boats suddenly roared to life and shot off from the dock it had been floating beside. It was a considerable distance away, but that didn't stop several of the others behind Lena from yelling in fright as it cut through the water. Lena sent a glare over her shoulder. "Be quiet. It's just a boat, it's not going to hurt you. It's not even coming this way." Her words didn't stop them from sending cautious looks toward there the boat was disappearing, as if they thought it might attack them at any moment.
"Hey, you!" a man yelled in Korean from the dock behind them. "What do you think you're doing?" Lena turned to face him and was somewhat surprised to see that many people had stopped in their tracks to see what was happening.
"What did he say?" Sean asked, staring in confusion at Lena. She knew it wouldn't be the first time she would be asked that. She began to mentally prepare herself for a day full of interrogations.
"None of your business," Lena snapped at the man, and tugged on the rope. Switching back to English, Lena called back, "Come on, everyone." They nodded and started to follow her to the dock, still gawking at the unfamiliar sight before their eyes, and looking much calmer now that the boat was no longer in sight. Taking hold of the edge of the dock, Lena pulled herself out of the water and sat down on the edge of the wooden planks. Pulling themselves up, everyone dropped down beside her in exhaustion. River water dripped off the tips of their hair and clothing, and pooled around them.
"T-that was the most horrib-ble experience of-of my life," Sharis declared, shivering from fear and the chill air. "I thought we were going t-to drown!"
Sean nodded in agreement and pointlessly used his sopping wet sleeve to try to wipe the water off his face. He frowned down at the dripping fabric in annoyance as if it was at fault for his sogginess. "What were those things that surrounded us in the river?"
Lena paused a moment before answering. "Those were the people Eleanor killed and threw in the river."
Sean's eyes widened in horror and he gave a searching glance back at the water as if they'd still be there. "O-oh..."
Lena looked up at the sailor who still stood nearby, looking extremely confused. A large crowd was already starting to gather behind him, humming with conversation. "I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. This is a work area," the sailor said to them huffily, crossing his arms to hide his surprise at seeing people suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"Fine," Lena replied with irritation, and stood up shakily, slowly untying the rope from around her middle.
"What did he say?" asked Sean.
"He wants us to leave," Lena said, pulling Sharis to her feet and retrieving the rope. "They're trying to work here, we're in the way."
"Eh?" the sailor muttered, looking even more confused than before. "American?"
"No," Lena replied, coiling up the wet rope and throwing it on top of the dock, not needing it anymore. She gave the man a cold look. "We're leaving, sorry for intruding." Striding across the dock as quickly as she could, she parted the crowd that had gathered, and left the area. A low buzz of conversation followed in her wake.
"Ley, what did you say to him?" Sean asked curiously.
"Nothing important. I warned you that you wouldn't understand," Lena said, glancing at him as they got to a main street. "Come on, people are staring at us."
"Can you teach me to speak Korean?" he asked eagerly.
Lena nodded, running her eyes over the nearby street signs, trying to refresh her mental map of the city. "I was going to whether you asked me or not. It's essential that you learn it, since you'll be living here."
"The houses are so tall! And everyone is dressed so strangely," Sharis said, looking this way and that at all the people around her, most of which were returning her look of amazement.
"No. We're the ones dressed strangely. Come on, walk faster," Lena said, trying to ignore all the stares. Tugging at the ends of her coat, she began to wring the river water out of the thick fabric. She winced as she wiggled her toes around and felt her boots slosh unpleasantly from the water trapped inside. She hoped her swords hadn't gotten too much water inside the sheaths, but she wasn't about to pull them out in public to check. People were already going out of their way to give them a wide sphere of avoidant space for their appearance, and pulling out swords would only make people think they were maniacs.
"Where are we going?" Cid asked, speeding up his walking to keep up with Lena as he also fruitlessly tried to get his clothing drier.
"Myung-Sung High. A place called a school, teenagers are educated there. I went there as well, before everything happened," Lena replied quickly, turning down a less populated street. Quickly winding her way through the scattered crowds of people, she listened to the group's chatter behind her as they marveled over how strange everything looked. Smiling to herself, she turned onto another street.
Suddenly Sean let out a loud scream, which was followed by several frightened yells from the rest of the group. Lena jumped in surprise and turned around. "Sean! What the hell are you doing back there?" she asked, glaring at him. They were looking terrified as though the boat from the river had somehow chased them down.
"Ley! What is that thing?" Sean yelled and ran over to Lena, spraying water all over the place as he grabbed her upper arm to turn her in the direction of whatever had frightened him. "That! That huge beast!" he said, pointing wildly at a car which had passed them by moments before, and was disappearing around the corner of a building.
"Let me go," she said, trying to take back her arm from his vice-like grip. "That's one of the things I told you about. It's called a car."
"A car?" repeated Lucien, looking in the direction of where it had gone. Nox was hiding behind him, clutching at the back of Lucien's coat.
"Don't walk in front of one, and you'll be fine," Lena said, crossing the street with a still-terrified Sean in tow. "See those?" Lena pointed at the traffic lights dangling over the intersections. "When the one facing us is green, we can cross. If it's red or yellow, stay put. It changes colors to let people take turns crossing the road."
"What happens if it changes while we are crossing?" Sharis asked.
"Just walk faster. The people in the cars won't hit you intentionally, but you still shouldn't get in their way if you can help it."
She nodded and determinedly grabbed Lena's other arm that Sean wasn't holding on to. It was going to take Lena a very long time to get her patience in order for introducing them to all the new technology.
After fifteen minutes of walking and trying to get Sean to stop jumping in surprise every time a new vehicle came into his field of vision, Lena slowed down to a halt next to an imposing-looking stone wall, feeling extremely relieved that they'd finally arrived. "We're here."
