Being sick makes it so hard to write. Bleh. It took me a while to finish this, but I'm all better now! :D You'll also notice a reference to one of my roleplaying friends in here!
Also I'm holding a contest! Keefe needs to give Izzy, full name Isabella Esposito, some awesome nicknames! And Keefe needs some awesome nicknames from her! In the review section post your ideas, and I might pick some to be in the story! No limit on entries either!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and are prepared for the next chapter's surprising twist! ;)
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Izzy groaned and blinked her eyes open against the dim light. Her head hurt, and worse yet she had such a freaky dream. Maria controlled ice, and her family was evil, and there was a hot, brooding guy named Fitz, and a dangerous, blonde smirky guy named-
"Izzy!" Keefe yelled, obviously very relieved as his head came into focus above her. "Oh good, I was just about to call Elwin, which would have blown our whole adventure! Thank gods you're alright!"
Flinching at the sound of his voice, her eyes flew wide open as she shot up. Her heart sank into the ground as the blood rushed to her head and made the world spin. She shoved a hand against the cool, cave floor and another against her throbbing forehead. He stared back at her with even wider eyes, though his face quickly scrunched up in confusion.
"Hey… um, are you-"
"You jerk! I almost died!" She cried before shoving him hard in the chest. He had been kneeling over her, but the force of the impact sent him flying square on his butt.
He groaned. "Geez FossIzzy, Izzy. You're a lot stronger than you look! Ow, by the way! Geez. That hurt!" He rubbed his chest and gave her an injured puppy dog look.
"I ALMOST DIED!" Izzy shrilly screamed, the sound echoing off the tall, rocky walls over and over until a hundred Izzy's wailed at him from all directions.
He covered his ears but still rolled his eyes. "I knew exactly what I was doing. Plus, you didn't almost die, you just forgot to breath." He tried to hide a smile, but it only twisted his lips further into a smirk.
She blinked a few times, incredulous. "What, but… we were, under water? I thought-"
Keefe gave a snort while trying to hold in his laughter. "You have a lot to learn Miss E."
Izzy jumped up, though immediately regretted it as she almost toppled over.
"I've got you, relax!" Keefe winked after grabbing her arm and leading her away from wherever they were. "Aaand, I guess I should have warned you, but I didn't think you would forget to breath!" He burst out laughing, wiping a tear from his eye as Izzy frowned, blushing in embarrassment.
"But hey, I guess I succeeded in taking your breath away." He added with a wink. Izzy blushed harder and ripped her arm away.
"Don't worry, it'll be worth it! Promise." he put a hand to his chest, like a pledge, but she just walked by him, unconvinced and unwilling to let him see how red her face was, for various reasons.
"Hey, hey, I'll buy you whatever you want in return." He easily caught up to her, facing her as he walked sideways and then cut her off. "My treat to make up for it. I should have warned you before throwing you into the whirlpool. I messed up. But you have to admit, it was way more fun that way! I didn't think you would pass out though! Ah, but" He quickly added, cutting off his growing smirk as she glowered at him, arms crossed. "It was wrong, and I won't do it in the future. And you can consider me your walking bank for the day. Deal?"
"I don't need your money." She snapped. "You can't buy trust or forgiveness. And, anyway, I have my own blue cube thing right-" She shoved her hand into her pocket, only to come to the sudden realization that it was empty.
"I-…" She frantically searched the last pockets decorating her skirt and cape. He just smirked, knowing he had her trapped. "Fine!" She snapped, an image of Fitz's cloak draped across the corner of her bed, birth fund in pocket, flashing through her mind. "But that doesn't mean I forgive you! And I'm paying you back. Like I said, I don't want your money."
"Deal." Keefe said a bit too happily. He reached his hand out to shake hers. Begrudgingly she returned the gesture.
The rest of the walk to the city was in silence, though mostly because Izzy was so awestruck. It was hard to stay mad when she was quickly surrounded by such beauty.
As Keefe tried to decided where to bring her first, they stood on the edge of a busy sidewalk. She stared at the massive, blue, spiraling crystal towers that rose over city, emitting a soft, aqua blue glow. The light bounced against the large, much-too-fragile looking bubble that shielded them from the ocean above. The city streets shone with the water's reflection, like ocean was flowing through the air all around them. No one else seemed to stop and stare like she did. Somehow the magnificence must have been lost to them over the years. Occasionally a child would join her in gaping at this strange world, but they would be quickly pulled away by their much-too-busy parents. It didn't escape her notice either how much it looked like Venice, just a million times better and shoved a thousand years into the future. Everything sparkled and gleamed like a diamond in the sun despite the dim light, and something about being underwater give it a mystical feeling unlike anything in the human world. She found herself peering through the far away dome, wondering if a mermaid could be passing by them at that very second.
But the canals, they brought her back to Venice like a ghost of her past life. Crisscrossing around the city, and only separated from sight by large, intricate bridges that belonged in Paris, she had a hard time taking her eyes off of them as she walked by. Part of her still thought that this was all just a dream, that if she stared into the water's depth, she would find herself back home, waiting for the vaporetti to go to Uni. Occasionally, when Keefe wasn't paying attention, she would inch towards the edge, tempted to test the theory, but something always stopped her. She didn't want this dream to end. The adventure, the new friends, the magic. That realization was almost harder to cope with than the giant blue scorpions that pulled along the gondolas. Their deadly sharp tails stuck straight out of the water, curled just slightly and posed for action. Looking up at the barbed edge made a shiver run down her spine, and something about it brought her back to Uncle Gethen's eyes… She had even more reason now to stay as far away from the edge as possible.
Keefe was always smiling, always laughing and joking and just full of light. She wanted to be more like him, and even if that wasn't possible, she decided she would try. Instead of focusing on the past, she forced herself to be aware, to notice every detail she could of this insanely gorgeous city, and after that decision every turn of a corner took her breath away. It was like her current life had been wrapped up in a collection of buildings. Too much to take in, too much she didn't understand, and not enough time in the world to ask everything she wanted to know. And somehow a glimmer of her old life still laid buried under the brilliance. But maybe that was a good thing. Atlantis reminded her of where she had been, and hopefully the life she would live would be just as beautiful.
They walked for a while longer, going from shop to shop before stopping again, Keefe stared at a holographic map radiating out from a contraption in his palm. He spun the air city this way and that, determined to show her another "awesome" place. Every time the city or stores stole her breath, he beamed in pride, almost as if he had built it all himself. As he stared intently, Izzy let her eyes wonder out to large canal in front of them. How could anything possible top what she had seen? They went to candy store where candy bubbles filled with flavored air floated around the room, cotton candy was actually an edible, delicious, melt in your mouth form of cloud, and all kinds of weird sounding yet absolutely incredible things sat in shelves. They even had miniature cities made out of crystal looking treats. Keefe had pointed out the names of each one, places she had never heard of, but he insisted she would see them eventually. Best of all had to be the life-sized chocolate unicorn statues on either side of the entrance, an archway forming from the rainbow fountain that came from each horn. And the toy store was even better.
Shifting as a slight breeze fluttered through the alleyway, she couldn't help but glance at the slightly heavy bag hanging from her arm. Keefe had taken her to a lot of stores, but nothing drew her quite as much as the one… what was it called? Something she didn't remember, but it didn't really matter the name. Tucked away in a corner of the city, far enough on the edge that Izzy could put her hands on the bubble's wall and peer out into the inky depths, was what seemed like an antique shop, but so much better. Everything was a treasure, like someone had dug up a mermaid bank full of chests, thrown in a dragon's lair, and added candle light so that it all shone like something out of Aladdin. The room was far from darkly lit though, in fact some areas were a bit too bright to look at, the gold making the light bounce back and forth like a trampoline.
"So," Keefe smiled. "Your obviously impressed. My awesomeness succeeds again."
Izzy wanted to roll her eyes, but she was very impressed. Instead she continued to gawk at everything, attempting to take all of the jewels and crowns and necklaces and toys and books and everything in, but it was impossible.
Keefe smirked before picking up a chocolate brown diamond tiara and holding it out. "How about this? It matches your eyes."
She flinched slightly, not really meaning to but still subconscious about the stupid color she was stuck with.
"Thanks, but no. Plus I don't really do crowns."
"It's not a crown, it's a tiaaara."
"Same thing." Izzy shrugged and rolled her eyes before choosing an aisle slightly less, out there.
"Oh come on, all girls love jewelry, right? Just give into it Foster. You can't ignore the calling."
"Yeah, well not me. At least not so gaudy as that. What am I going to wear something that, crazy to anyway? My coronation?"
Keefe just laughed. "You really are different Fos- Izzy" He quickly caught himself as she gave him a look. "Biana is always going on and on about dresses and gemstones and earrings and shoes. Gods is she obsessed with shoes!"
Izzy smiled as she flipped through a few books. "Maria always was too. Shoes were her weakness, and a great apology gift for when I made her mad…" Trailing off she sighed, shoved a book back in place, and stared at a table of music boxes, trying to pretend that it didn't hurt, that she didn't feel like her whole world was crumbling to the ground. Keefe put his hand on her shoulder a little bit too hard, making her jump.
"Hey, what about this?" He picked up a music box that fit almost perfectly in his hand. It shone slightly in the light, but not like the others. It's silver, elegantly carved surface was beyond anything she had seen, even in Venice, but it wasn't so gaudy or standoutish.
Izzy shrugged. It was incredibly beautiful, more so than anything she could have ever hoped to own, and that scared her. What if she hurt it, or didn't know how to treat it and didn't something stupid, or… what if it made this all real…
Keefe just smiled, unaffected by her change of demeanor. Carefully unlatching it, he pulled back the top and revealed a tiny, magical, perfect miniature Atlantis. It floated like a hologram, but when Izzy reached forward, her finger gently grazing the form, it was cold to the touch like stone. Tiny dolphins swam around it, a soft lullaby emitting from the city. Something about the music made her heart swell in a way it hadn't since before she met Fitz. The song made her feel calm, and safe, and like she was home, but so much better. She tried to hide her blush as it brought her thoughts back to the night before, when Fitz and she had stayed up talking, and how he had held her hand until she fell asleep.
"So, I'd take it that's a yes." Keefe gently smiled and Izzy wiped away a rouge tear. "Don't worry, the music is created specifically to affect your emotions, though I don't know why your face is so red." Izzy fought the urge to hide her face with her hands. "Anyway," he continued, "I figured this one would be best. Plus, it's can sorta be like my welcome home gift. And apology gift. How about we just say this is an "I'm the best friend ever and you couldn't live without me" gift."
Izzy laughed, shaking her head and carefully taking the music box from his hand.
"Apology and welcome home gift accepted. It's, amazing." She breathed, watching as the city slowly turned, tiny gondolas floating down small canals.
"Fine, then I'll just have to find something super awesome next time."
"This isn't super awesome?" Her eyebrows flew up.
"Nah, this is just awesome." He leaned in "Just wait, when I do super awesome, you'll know it." His smirk was so large Izzy was surprised it didn't slide off his face.
Cradling the music box, she walked away, letting him chase after her for once. As great of a friend as he was, somehow he brought cheesy and flirty to a whole new level, though she knew it was only him joking. She didn't totally hate it though. Being around him was so much fun, and so different from her past life. It would be hard not to be happy with his stupid jokes and constant smirks. "I'll be waiting 'insert cool nickname here'."
"That's the spirit!" He all but yelled. "Nicknames! Yes! You'd better come up with an awesome one! I'm counting on you Iz!"
Rolling her eyes, she kept walking, partly wondering what she had gotten herself into.
"Alright," present day Keefe said, resting his arm on her shoulder and knocking Izzy out of her thoughts. "I've got the perfect place. I think you're going to love it! Hopefully."
Izzy looked up, tucking her bag slightly under her arm so as to protect her music box. Keefe held out the map, and even though all but the center of the view was hazy, she could make out a few of the shops on the map scattered around them. He pointed to one in particular, not far from the You Are Here sign. It was hard to tell exactly where it would be though, since shops cluttered the streets. They were crammed in along the sidewalk, yet somehow looking like they had all the space in the world. Balconies lined a select few, something like ivy draping down from them like Georgia moss.
"It's this way." Keefe said before taking off, catching her off guard and forcing her to run after him.
"Hey, wait up!" Izzy yelled back.
His maniacal laughter followed him down the street, making her worry about what he actually had planned.
"This is going to be great!" He yelled, "just wait!"
"Last time you said that I almost died!" Izzy loudly replied.
Laughing louder, Keefe just looked back, smirking from ear to ear.
He was up to something.