Chapter 12
Air Heads
My eyes flickered open when I felt the pod jerk slightly, as if it were tipping upwards. Damon's grip was loose around me, so I assumed he was asleep. I took a moment to just stare at his face, he looked so young in his slumber. Leaning back into the warmth of his chest, I ignored the subtle bumps from the pod. The shaking only became more frequent, as did my anxiety.
Before I knew it, two railings jutted out on either side of our container, poking me uncomfortably in the ribs.
"Hello, please hang on tightly to the safety bars with both hands as we move up the mountain," A automated female voice said pleasantly, "Hola, por favor cuelgue firmemente a las barras de seguridad con las dos manos a medida que avanzamos en la montaña."
Damon stirred at this, taking a hand off my waist to run it though his white hair. I was struck dumb at how he could make a simple gesture like that swoon worthy.
"What did I miss?" He asked trying to shake the tiredness from him, "Why is there a lady speaking Spanish?"
I pointed to the railings, "We're supposed to hang on."
"You speak Spanish?"
I giggled, something I hardly ever do, "Of course don't you?"
"I do not. Is that a bad thing?"
After considering my response, I answered, "Tu eres muy guapo."
"You knucklehead, I told you I don't speak Spanish." Damon genuinely smiled and played with my hair.
"Ah, yet you knew it was Spanish." I countered, grinning like an idiot.
"What did you say about me?"
"You'll never know."
"Oh come on, what did you say?" Damon pouted, and his hands snaked around my stomach again. His face was so irresistibly adorable that I caved.
I sighed, "You are very handsome."
Damon smirked, "Why are you so flirty all of a sudden?" He tickled my sides, causing me to twist and flop onto him. This probably isn't something you need to know, but Damon smells nice. I hadn't realized that amongst protecting me and dealing with everyone he had time to attend to his personal hygiene.
In between laughs and trying to swat his hands away, I managed to choke out, "Why are you asking all of these questions all of a sudden?"
"Because I-" He was cut off when our pod was jolted into a practically vertical position.
The quick movement made me to slide back and ram Damon in an unfortunate spot.
"I'm so sorry!" I yelped, clutching on to the railings.
"It's okay," Damon wheezed, but his voice was an octave higher than normal.
After a few moments of sheer terror for me and agonizing pain for Damon, the pod came to a stop and spit us out upwards so we popped out of the ground. It must have been a weird sight to anyone that was watching for two teenagers to fly out of the ground, and have a less-then-graceful landing. I yelped as we both hit the ground with a muted thud. My dress was ruffled from being stuck in such a small container. Damon's casual (and somewhat ratty) button-up white shirt wasn't much better.
I brushed myself off as I sized him up. "You need a new shirt." I commented.
He examined his attire with a question in his eyes, "I only got this a few days ago."
Hmm… so it appeared I was a hazard to both teenage boys (Jem burned at the stake, Damon's accident in the pod…ect.) and their shirts.
Looking up I realized it was almost dawn. The first rays of the sun were just starting to peek out over the clouds.
"The sunrise is pretty here isn't it." Damon helped me up off the ground. I nodded as the sky turned into a painting of soft orange and pink.
I looked around, and there wasn't much to see. We weren't in the city yet. I suppose you can't have an illegal operation tunnel right in view of the public, so we were stuck on top of a barren mountain. When you're on a mountain like this everything is white. The fog and clouds surrounding you are white, the rocks you stand on, are white, the boy next to you has white hair and so on. It was also cold, not chilling enough to make you curl up into a ball and shake like Kenzie does when she's scared, but just cool enough to cause mild discomfort.
The thought of Kenzie made homesickness creep up onto me. She was one of my best friends for years, despite that we hated each other for no reason when we first met. I now wondered if I would ever see her again. The need to get home and the need to help the boys were both so great. Up until now the plan was to marry Ethan and as soon as this war is over, however I am supposed to do that. And go back home as soon as I am not needed, things were getting more complicated than that now. What if they didn't let me go? What if I couldn't stop the war? What if I couldn't find the strength to leave the boys?
Without speaking, Damon put his arm around my shoulders. Although I was a little surprised, I didn't complain about the extra warmth he was giving me. I sighed contently and waited for our other crazy friends to arrive.
Considering I had nothing better to do, I tried to figure out how long I'd been in this world. Let's see here, day 1: Damon interrupted my math class and took me into a black hole, day 2: I went to the town, met Pip (and Ethan), and found out I was marrying the prince. Day 3: Walked to City of Flames, Jem was kidnapped, I spit on some rude guy, was burned at the stake, saved by Chris's monkeys, Jem got his teddy bear, Dustin danced with the Prince, and we left for the Air province. Wow, it doesn't seem like I've only been here 4 days, considering day 4 has just started.
"A lot has happened since that math quiz," I mumbled.
Damon looked surprised, "Oh did I not tell you? One day here is forty eight hours. You've been here for about a week. That's why you're so tired every night, you're not used to being awake for so long."
One week. I've been missing at home for one week, "It seems you guys always forget to tell me important stuff. I've got questions that need answering! And another thing," I had a sudden realization… I hadn't showered since the morning before I went to school.
"Eww!" I shrieked, jumping away from Damon.
He looked confused, "What?"
"God, I haven't showered in a week!" I desperately tried to fix my hair, which was getting greasy now that I noticed it.
"Don't worry, they have baths in the City," Damon pulled me into a gentle hug and buried his face in my neck, "Besides, I don't think you smell bad." He was being really sweet; I could hardly believe this was the same guy who kidnapped me.
He pulled back and looked me in the eyes, "So, you had some questions that needed answering?"
I blinked a few times before asking, "Oh yes, first why do we need to travel to all the Provinces?"
"Hmm… that would be because the people need to show us kindness and give us a gift before we can enter the castle. Usually only one person at a time could do this, but if we have one gift for each of us we can all come into the royal household."
"What kind of gifts?"
"Well you can buy them to as long as they're from the city, like anything from the Elf Underground wouldn't work. You're dress was what we got from the Earth Province, and Jem's teddy bear is from the Fire Province."
That I could understand. "Next question, why are you guys helping me?" I asked.
Damon shrugged, "It's our foretelling."
"I demand a better explanation then that! You get one wish, right, if you bring me. What are you going to wish for?"
"Fine," Damon sighed, "We're here to protect you because everybody wants to bring you to the King, to get the wish. Jem wants to wish for his health, so he won't become the demon that's eating him from the inside out. Christopher's family died in a fire when he was young, he wants them back."
"And Dustin wants to be human instead of half-demon?" I guessed.
He shook his head, "That's what I thought too at first, but no. In fact he didn't want to help you in the first place."
"Why not?"
"He had nothing to wish for. Dustin had everything, Alex, his mother, a nice house (it was his house in the City of Roses that we used), but it was his foretelling. He had to help you, or else."
I gulped, "Or else what?"
"You have to keep in mind, that if it's something as important as getting the person who will stop this war to the castle safely, the royal family will do anything to enforce foretellings. The guard took Alex and Dustin's mother prisoner. Dustin is only helping us to get them back."
"T-that's terrible!" I shouted.
Damon walked me over and we sat on a rock nearby, "That may not be the only reason now. We all care about you, and we want you to be happy. Dustin used to be a lot more bitter, but ever since you showed up he seems a bit more willing to work."
I smiled at that thought. The guys were good friends now, and I'm glad Dustin doesn't hate me.
"And you?" I asked.
"Hmm?" Damon pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"What are you going to wish for?"
"…That's a complicated question."
"How about this one then, Are you and Ethan twins?"
I felt his body go ridged as the words escaped my lips. For a second I regretted asking him that, but this wasn't a situation you could just say 'oh never mind' and move on without the conversation being awkward.
"Yes," He answered softly, "I assumed you would know."
"Then why aren't you…"
"Dead? Because the Oracle, the person who sees all of the foretellings, gave a prophecy for each of us, my mother sent me into hiding. She knew I was too important to kill because I had to find you."
Even as he said that last sentence in a fond way, I noticed how he clearly avoided adding 'and bring you to Ethan' to the end. My head rested on his shoulder in a comforting sort of manor, "Then what happened?'
"I grew up. There are many rooms in the castle that my father doesn't know of, so I grew up in those not being able to see anyone. The only reason I have this tattoo is because Mother used them to tell Ethan and I apart. The guys, my brother, and Mother are the only ones that know I'm the prince. And now you know. I'm going to wish for my freedom. I'm sick of hiding."
Suddenly the ground shook and a hole appeared right where Damon and I had come from. With a whoosh three boys literally flew five feet in the air before crashing down. Jem, who must have been sitting in front, popped out first and made a cute little 'oomph' noise as he landed on his butt. Dustin landed on his back with his feet in the air, and Chris fell flat on his face with his bottom upturned to the sky.
"Wow," I snidely remarked, a little annoyed that they interrupted Damon's story, "Nice landing guys."
Damon released me to help up his friends, and I followed suit. As I pulled Dustin to his feet he grumbled, "Hey be thankful you didn't have to get stuck in the same pod as Chris."
Just as Jem and Damon were helping him up, the curly haired boy sprang to his feet and sprinted towards the city screaming, "I GOTTA PEE! I GOTTA PEE!" over and over again. Suddenly I felt extremely appreciative that Damon and I had been put in the same pod.
Long story short, it didn't take too much time for all of us to get into the city. We were also greeted by a very lively welcoming committee.
"Why hello there young critters!" A skinny man with olive skin, a scraggly gray beard and a shiny bald head popped out from behind a nearby rock and scared the holy living crap out of all of us. No, seriously Jem was on the verge of impaling one of his knives into the man's head.
Noticing Jem's stance the man spit onto the ground, "Is that how you greet people where you're from?"
Jed blushed a deep red and lowered his weapons.
Damon loosened up a little bit and politely turned to the weirdo, "Hello, sir, my name is Damon. These are my friends Dustin," The dark boy snorted as confirmation, "James-"
"The weirdie that tried to kill me?" The man demanded, hopping creepily close to Jem's face. He was really getting all up in his grill. Jem did not appear to like being referred to as a 'weirdie' but made no attempt to redeem his pride for fear of angering the strange figure more.
Damon tried to regain control of the situation, "Er-yes sir, but he is very sorry for doing that. And this is my… other friend Scarlet." He made a few gestures towards me as if I were some grand display of a model human being. Considering I hadn't showered in about a week, I figured I looked anything but. Hmm… I guess love really is blind, or at least has no sense of smell.
The old man cackled loudly, "Well welcome to the City o' Gales. My name's Huey and I'm the mayor of this here town. Nothing happens around here without me knowing it."
"Wait a minute," Dustin looked quite puzzled, "You're the mayor?"
"True 'nough, emo boy, I ain't just some greasy hermit," Huey, to our horror ripped off the rags he was wearing to reveal a well pressed suit, and Damon, who had assumed there would not be a tuxedo underneath that cloth had slapped his hands over my eyes.
Peering through the gaps between his pale fingers, I was able to make out the terrified face of Dustin, who looked as though he had just seen Chris naked. And Huey himself was laughing at the sky. Eventually Damon let down his hands and we all skirted around Huey to get whatever gift I needed from this nut house and GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE! With the Mission Impossible theme racing though my head we disparately tried to avoid detection of the mayor, who was currently telling a chipmunk to get a job.
"Hey wait a minute whippersnappers!" Uh-Oh we've been spotted team, abort mission! I repeat abort mission!
Reluctantly we turned to the crazy old man, "You see here werdies, we've got a little something that we do to newcomers around here." I don't like where this is going. "At sunset we will have a marvelous feast in your honor and you will revive your Air Province names!"
Damon cleared his throat, "And what would we be eating?" He asked nervously.
Huey smiled wickedly, "I'll show you..." He reached behind his back and into the butt pocket of his tux.
As his hand reached back around Dustin yelled, "Every man for themselves!" And sprinted off in the direction that Chris took off in.
"Dirty traitor," the three of us muttered under our breath.
To my surprise the crazy old man only pulled out a tuff of yellowish-orangeish... fur? It looked fluffy, if somewhat matted and I wondered vaguely if we were going to be dining on fuzz balls, god what terrible indigestion that would give you.
Jem spoke, "What exactly is that?"
Huey shrugged, "I don know, but I've been trackin it for a while and when I catch it were gonna have some good eatings!"
"Okay..." I said backing up slowly with Jem and Damon as Huey continued searching for whatever made that clump of fur.
After catching up with Dustin, we had to wait outside of the john for Chis, who for some reason was taking forever in there.
I sighed inwardly and tilted my view to the rest of the city. It wasn't much to look at, just some stone huts and strange people talking to inanimate objects. Everything was scattered and a few dead shrubs were the only thing keeping my interest All in all it looked like the ruins of an Asian village with the sliding doors and low tables.
Damon knocked loudly on the bathroom door, "Christopher, we haven't got all day! How long does it take to pee?"
At that moment Chris barged out of the bathroom with red puffy eyes and a hand behind his curly head.
"Dude... were you crying?" Dustin mocked.
Chris looked at Dustin for a moment and then slapped him across the face, "Damon, Dustin you're so cruel! You could never understand the fragility of a woman's heart!"
Damon looked shocked, and Dustin's cheek was beginning to swell.
"But Chris... you're a guy..." I pointed out.
Now he looked hurt, "Jem you're the only one who cares about me!" Chris continued to wail and flung himself at Jem and pulling him into a tight hug.
"Anyone got a video camera?" I asked as Jem began trying to comfort the distressed boy.
"Come on Chris," Jem said softly, "They didn't mean anything by it. What's wrong?"
In between sobs he managed to say, "I'm going bald!"
Dustin chuckled. Chris whirled around and threw a brick at his head. It hit Dustin in the forehead and he KO-ed.
Wide-eyed I asked, "Where'd you get that brick?"
"I have an infinite amount of building materials in my trousers," Chris explained still holding tightly onto Jem's waist.
Damon face-palmed, "And why have you never used this to aid us in battle?"
Christopher let go of Jem to pat Damon on the head, "Poor Damon, poor naive Damon. One does not simply pull out bricks whenever one pleases, one must become the brick and visualize its purpose, to help the world."
"And how does giving me a concussion help the world?" Dustin sat up and rubbed his head.
"You alright?" Jem asked examining the red lump on the side of Dustin's dark, shaggy head.
"Other than being concussed, I feel just dandy." He stormed towards me and took a big sniff right next to my neck, "You smell funny."
(A/N: I am seriously considering making a T-shirt with quotes from the story on them. I mean I would totally buy a shirt that said "I have and infinite amount of building materials in my trousers" lol imagine how many weird looks I would get... Ah well till next time.
-Breezyboo)
