Ch.14 Aquica Atlias's King

Ananon's Life Part 1

A large village thrived with networks of cobblestone walk ways that suspended above the blue ocean. One road held enough room for horses and carts, the other allowed walkers to walk freely without the fear of being run over. Sandstone, cobblestone, solid stone, and gravel were all uniquely collaborated and placed around the village. Wood was hardly used because it could be set on fire. There was to be no outside fire's allowed here.

Children were led by teachers, teaching them the ways of the village. A solid stone road with a intricate design of added sandstone here and there paved the way to the biggest part of the area; the city. It had multiple boat docks for many different types of boats to do trade. The channel was busy from day to night as ships and boats moved in and out constantly.

The city was built by a royal family. The Ravendon lineage. The King and Queen had a daughter , Ananon, and a son, Nain, whom they doted upon. The daughter was a smart and clever girl that could do no wrong. The boy was like his father, smart in the areas of business and trade with an eye for construction.

The city was called Aquica Atlias. It's main business was trade but it also farming and trading of thoroughbred horses for racing. Each couple of months horse racers from all around would sail there to race their prized horses. The grand prize if someone were to win thirty thousand diamonds in diamond blocks. Plenty of wealth to make a simple Minecraftian go into debt quickly.

Day in and day out it was all the same. With the King and Queen busy with their duties the daughter, Ananon, decided to walk in the park that over looked the ocean. Ananon stared out at the vast sea with the ocean breeze ruffling her short white hair. She sighed into the breeze bored of the life here. It was all too peaceful, too friendly, too happy. Where was the evil? The darkness?

Where was all of that? The people that came here by boat daily spoke of robberies and slayings from other Minecraftians. None of that happened here though. Thunder in the distance made her look off in the direction the sun would set to see dark clouds beginning to form. It takes seconds out here for a storm to form up and blow in. I guess I'll head to the stables to see the horses while the storm blows in.

Ananon pushed off from the fence line and headed off at a jog to the stables that were at the edge of the village across the bridge. A hay cart began to rumble by her allowing her to jump on the back and get a free ride across the bridge, swinging her legs on the back freely. Inside the glass tunnel she could watch the storm rolling in with huge dark clouds. This was a bigger storm than she anticipated. The sun was covered by the dark clouds in a matter of a few minutes.

The winds were blowing much stronger. The hay cart rumbled on at a tad bit of a faster pace than it had been going. New horses that weren't used to the thunder began to whinny inside the tunnel tossing their heads and rolling their eyes. The riders and farmers tried as best as they could to handle their work beasts and try to not clog the tunnel. Ananon's ride got through the cart with no hardships, the horse was well trained and had been accustomed to storms.

Entering the village she saw all windows were shut and locked, all doors were shutting and businesses were getting out their torches. City workers went about removing the glow stone lamps so that they wouldn't lose the precious material. The hay cart stopped at one of the main farms that shipped out vegetables and other things for trade. Ananon slid off and jogged over to the stables as they were just shutting. Slipping inside before the workers shut them fully she ran face first into a black mare.

The mare whinnied shaking her head and nosing Ananon. Ananon apologized to the mare petting her nose gently. The farmer wandered over from a stall wondering what was going on and saw Ananon. "Princess!"

She smiled at him. "How are you today, Hinn?"

The two sat on hay bales talking about their day like old friends. They had only just recently met one another. Ananon looked to Hinn as a grandfather while Hinn saw her as a granddaughter. His family had left him to live elsewhere since they didn't appreciate the kind of money he was making as a farmer. Hinn had bumped into Ananon by chance one day at the market when he had been accused of robbery by someone else that looked similar to him.

Ananon had dealt with that fiasco quite well, telling the guards to look elsewhere, that she could see the truth in his eyes and look straight into his soul. He was an innocent being accused of someone else's robbery. The guards couldn't go against a royal and backed off. Hinn was in her debt but Ananon said it was only a good deed to be done for a hard worker such as him. She walked him home and stayed for mushroom stew and left to head home.

Each other week Ananon would take a trip through the tunnel to go visit Hinn and see how he was doing. The horses were doing exceptionally well and the chickens were healthy, producing two times as much eggs as were needed in shipment each day. Farming was a seasonal change and very regularly the crops would be good or be poor, depending on the weather. Ananon kicked her legs against the haystack looking up at the sunroofs for the upper part of the barn.

"Have you heard from your family?"

Hinn shook his head. "It's been three years, Ana. They aren't going to talk to me anymore."

"I wouldn't give up hope, Hinn. It's possible the mailman can't find them. You might have the wrong address." Ana smiled and patted his knee. "I told you I've been trying to find them for you. It's gotten quite tedious."

He nodded sadly. "She was always the running type. Everyone told me she would but I didn't listen. I only believed what I saw before me."

I looked out at the stables at the resting horses. Some grazed on the hay and oats while others settled down in their stalls snorting quietly. There was a high pitched whinny from the back stalls as the barn door was shut. A white foal galloped around the corner bucking and carrying on, its hooves slipping on the hay that was on the floor and crashed into the stall door of a brown mare that got to her feet with a start. I leapt up and knelt down in front of the white horse noticing its horn that was protruding from its little forehead.

"Be careful, Ana. That little foal is a hand full. It'll bite too." Hinn warned walking over to her.

Ananon stared into the foal's eyes and offered her hand to his nose slowly. He snorted and whinnied getting to his hooves. Ananon got to her own feet rubbing the little nose of the foal. The farm hands stared in surprise that the foal was allowing her to touch it.

"You'll be quite the stud out there in the field when you grow up." Ananon said letting her hand fall to her side.

Thunder and lightning cracked and boomed above the stable making the foal whinny and sprint away around the stables. The farmhands trying to tackle the little foal before it hurt its self. The foal eluded them heading straight for Ananon.

Ananon took the rope off Hinn's belt and lopped it around the little foal's neck as it passed by. Ananon did a quick knot and looped it on a wrangling post. The foal was yanked back off its hooves and onto the wood floor where it whinnied and scrambled back onto its hooves. Hinn clapped her on the shoulder proudly. "Nicely done!"

Hinn and Ananon moved into his small farm house and sat in the kitchen drinking tea as the storm raged outside.

"Seems like the beer and the winery isn't going to be doing too good this season." Hinn said after sipping his tea. "The grain was infiltrated by a swarm of bugs. Worst it's ever been."

"Oh dear. Dad was hoping to have more of the spiced ale this year," Ananon replied frowning. "I guess he'll have to wait next year."

"Your dad and I both. I was wanting some of the ale myself. Beer sales will be down this year from it. Including wine."

Lightning illuminated the room and thunder boomed so loud it made the farm house shake slightly. Ananon and Hinn held their cups so they wouldn't rattle. Hinn's pet crow cawed in the corner of his perch cocking his head at the weather. Ananon looked out the window at the treacherous water that was giving the breakers a beating with every wave.

"It's going to be tough for ships to dock with the sea this bad."

Hinn nodded in agreement. "How are the water reserves coming along? You said the tanks were almost complete?"

She beamed at him setting her cup down. "They completed the work yesterday afternoon! They also tested them and they are all in working order! The control room is near the water works building in the city."

"They can reroute water when it gets flooded then?" Hinn set his cup down folding his arms on the table.

Ananon nodded. Her milky blue eyes lighting up. "Each farm as an underground water canal. It won't affect the crops or the soil at all because its covered. Each canal connects to a water chamber that flows directly to one of the nine water pumps. This storm won't make a dent in the pumps. It'll probably fill one pump up but the water in that one pump is treated for salt and other things before being redistributed to residents and farmland."

Hinn smiled at her. She knew what was going on, right down to the machinery that was being installed. "Such a bright girl."

She smiled at the compliment. "Dad says nothing can get past me."

"He's right. Nothing can." Hinn smiled with her picking up his cup.

The front door banged open as a frantic farm hand stepped in panting. "Sir! Lightening has struck the back barn door! It's on fire!"

Hinn leapt to his feet and sprinted out barking orders. All the farmhands were running about with buckets of water and axes trying to put out the fire before it consumed the rest of the barn. The horses were crying out afraid of the flickering flames that leapt up the wall higher and higher. Ananon sat in the kitchen watching and decided that it was time to leave. Placing their cups in the sink she went out the front door and stopped.

The foal that she had tied up was going nuts and tying himself up against the post. Soon he would be choking himself. She pushed open the barn door and began to undo his rope. With the rope in her hand she lead the little foal to a gate where she let him go. The farmhands were also letting the other horses into the same pen from a different gate. Ananon closed the other gate she had opened so the horses couldn't get out. Smoke and fire billowed up from the barn as the fire raged on without stopping.

"Oh no. Hinn!" Ananon rushed into the barn out of the thrashing rain and saw the farm hands working hard to stop it. A beam cracked and fell from above to the stalls below. The farmhands were blocked from the back entrance. In the smoke and flames on the other side was Hinn, who was trapped under a fallen beam.

"Hinn!" Ananon cried out. The farmhands looked closer and saw him. Ananon whirled around looking at the horses she could pick from. Jumping on the back of a black Pegasus she took its mane and urged it to fly.

In this weather someone wouldn't dare fly in such winds but right now it was a dire emergency! She had the black Pegasus take off low to the ground where the wind wouldn't hit its wings so hard. She circled around to the back of the barn and landed the horses in the grass where it raked its hoof over the grass, not liking the fire and the storm together. Ananon rushed in from the back picking up a shovel and using it to pry the beam off Hinn so that he could slide out. Once he was safely out I let the shovel go and let the beam crash back onto the wood floor, breaking in half.

We escaped out the back into the lashing rain that was being whipped around by the wind. Hinn pulled himself onto the back of the Pegasus and helped me up in front of him. The Pegasus leapt the fence that had kept the horses in and raced down the gravel drive that separated one field from another. The farmhands rushed to meet the Pegasus and help Hinn down. Ananon slid off herself and looked back towards the city where the worst of the storm was.

Lightening was striking windows and blowing holes in buildings. This was the worst storm she had seen. She turned to Hinn and shouted over the storm to him.

"I need to borrow this horse! I'll return it when I come back!"

Hinn nodded at her and watched her turn the black Pegasus around and race out of the village and into the glass tunnel. The hooves making sparks as it struck the solid stone road. The horse flew across the bridge in a flat speed of mere seconds. Much faster than a hay cart or any other horse that she knew of. The black Pegasus snorted smoke as it leapt over a market stand that had blown over in the storm.

Ananon looked up through the thrashing waves of rain that hit her face at the sandstone tower that stood high above the rest of the city. She could see holes on the front and sides where the lightning had struck it relentlessly. She urged it up the stairs in a few quick leaps and had it inside the building before she knew it. The Pegasus reared pawing the air before trotting in circles not sure where to go. She grabbed its halter and pulled it off towards the stairs where it began its leaps up the winding staircase.

The horse came to a stop in the doorway of the office allowing Ananon to slip off its back. Her parents and brother were cowering in the closet when they heard the sounds of hooves. "Ananon!"

She embraced them each and sighed with relief. "Thank Notch! I thought you all were hurt or worse!"

Her brother teared up and began crying. "The cat got fried."

She hugged her brother with a slight chuckle. "We'll get a new one."

Her father and mother looked around through the gaping hole that the lightning had done in the office wall behind the desk. "Good lord, this is going to be expensive to repair."

"Nah, it'll be good for an addition."

"An addition? What are we going to be placing there?"

Ananon smiled at her parents as they discussed things over on the hole. Her brother gasped as he looked past her to the Pegasus. "Whoa!"

She turned to see him go up to the horse and pet it on its muzzle. "I see you like him. He belongs to one of my friends in the village. He helped me with a few things today."

"Why are you associating with the poor?" Her dad asked overhearing the conversation. "They will steal you away and try to get money out of you."

"They wouldn't dare touch me, dad." She said walking over to the gaping wall. "I've friended them all mostly. I help them with their problems. Do you realize that they are affected by things that happen in the city? I bet you didn't know that the new changes have made them happier. The water they were getting was backwash from the previous water tank!"

Her father looked away and snorted. "So? Nothing wrong with that."

"Backwash is disgusting!" Ananon snapped whirling around on him. "How could you let them drink that? Use it? It went on our crops! Our food!"

"Dad," Ananon's brother Nain butted in. "You should be ashamed of yourself! That's no way to treat the villagers! Just because they are poor doesn't make them any different than the city folk!"

"Thank you, Nain!" Ananon said clapping him on the shoulder. "Someone see's what I'm trying to say!"

"I knew nothing of this," gasped Lyrena staring at her husband. "Hatos! How could you?"

"You didn't tell her of this?" Ananon narrowed her eyes. "Dad, you're going to be in the dog house tonight and don't you dare come crying to us. You put yourself in this situation, you get yourself out."

Ananon turned away and began walking towards the horse that was sniffing the couch on the side wall. She stopped and turned back to him. "Another thing. The villagers are my responsibility from now on. What you want to build and such for the city goes through me also. Not just you. It seems you can't handle two types of living."

She took the halter and led the horse to the hole in the wall. Pulling herself up onto its back she had it take off into the pouring rain once more. She returned to the village with the horse and placed it in the pasture with the others. Leaning on the gate looking at the partially burned down barn her friend wandered over to her with crutches under his arms.

"Hey. Your folks ok?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her then at the barn. "Oh, don't worry. We'll rebuild it in the next couple of days. No worries."

"No. "She looked up at him with sadness and guilt. "I'm sorry my dad has been hurting you all like he has. Backwash from the tanks? How is that good for you all?" If I had known sooner I could've stopped all of this dirty laundry he's got going on."

Hinn looked at the barn frowning. "You don't have to do such things for us. We're fine with boiling the water."

She grabbed him by the collar and spun him to her eye level. "Don't you dare settle for anything less! Why do you do that?"

Hinn could not speak to her. His throat created such a lump it was hard for him to even breathe. She let him go and pressed the button that opened the sliding glass doors to the pasture entrance. Hinn watched her leave on foot this time as she returned home. He sighed and turned his head to stare into the eyes of the black Pegasus.

"Whoa, buddy!" He patted the muzzle of the horse and smiled. "You scared me."

The horse snorted flicking its ears and looked off towards Ananon was walking across the bridge. It gave a slight whinny and whipped its tail behind him.

"She'll be alright. Things are sort of in the dark right now and she doesn't like that." Hinn said quietly and pressed the button to leave.

The horse snorted walking away back to the herd that was grazing in the damp grass. Hinn stared at the herd that he had been raising for quite some time now. These were all of the King's horses that he had obtained in bets and trading. Hinn then stared out at the distant island that contained the nine glass water holders that towered fifty to sixty blocks high with solid stone at the corners to support the weight. We've been getting backwash for quite some time. I don't remember when we've tasted fresh water. Ananon, what are you planning to do?

Ananon stood on the docks staring at the waves of the ocean watching swell and drop one after another. Her fathers' wrong doings weren't going to be going on any longer! She had to stop all of it and make it right. The people were being hurt in some way or another by it all. She hated to see them suffer when things could be better!

Out in the distance a light bobbed up and down from the movements of the waves. It was a ship coming in. A mermaid was on the front of the boat reaching out to the heavens above. The sails were black with a purple and green crest could be seen from where she was. The ship was going at least ten miles an hour, good enough to enter the channel but it would have to bring down two of its four sails to be going the right speed.

It was a tad bit late to be trading but the city did trading twenty-four hours a day. Profit was everyone's will to keep going around here. Ananon turned away and strode out towards the park yawning. She was tired from the days events but she wasn't quite ready to turn in just yet. She still had to figure out a way to make sure her father didn't rip anymore people off.

I still can't believe he'd resort to something like that. Ugh! Makes my stomach knot up just thinking about it! The jerk! I'm sure he'll be happy sleeping on the couch for his bad deeds. She sat on a bench in the park as a glowstone lit up the area around her, the light fading fast in the horizon. She was fifteen years old and she already knew how to run her dads job just by making simple changes to some ideas here and there to make the people happy and the work progress in a way that wouldn't cost much. Her mother didn't stand for bullshit. You either did it right the first time or don't do it at all. She rubbed her eyes as her head inclined to the sky above with a sigh. Damn. It's going to come down to that. I hate that.

Early next morning the tower was empty when Ananon awoke. She went over to the bulletin board to see if there was any news and found out that a big race was to be held before the opening ceremony of the new pumps. What the fuck is he expecting out of this? She narrowed her eyes and got dressed. I wonder what mom said to him last night after I left?

Leaving the office building she hitched a ride on a passing green Jeep that was driving towards the stadium in the center of the city. It's driver was a seventeen year old boy that had huge pants and a shirt on. "Well, well. Not every day does the Princess jump in my Jeep."

"Not every day does she hitch a ride with a total stranger," she replied with a smile. "How are you, Dric?"

"Gloom and doom, my fair maiden." He replied putting on his sunglasses from the console between them. "You're up a bit early to be out. A special occasion? This race perhaps?"

"Father is up to something. I need to overlook every document he gets. Did you know he's giving the villagers backwash?"

"For one, ew. Two, ew. Three, what the fuck is he thinking?" Dric laid down on the horn as a dog wandered out into the road. It stopped at the horn and cocked its head at them. "You dumb ass wolf! Get a fucking brain!"

The Jeep swerved around the wolf and sped on down the street. The dog watched them and barked before going on its merrily way. Ananon put her face in her hand and laughed. Dric raised a brow in her direction before shrugging and stomping the gas pedal down further. "We're going to be a tad late. You don't mind?"

"I do."

"Damn. Ok. Hang on!" he said yanking the wheel right sharply and making the jeep come up on two wheels as they went into a tight ally. Ananon heard clicks as the jeep activated pressure plates and was suddenly seeing a road that hadn't been there before. She gasped as the Jeep hit the ramp and drove up steps that wrapped around and around sharply before being shot across ice and flying off the road into mid air.

"We're falling!" she exclaimed gripping the seat with eyes the size of dinner plates. "Dric! Dric! Dric!"

"Calm down woman," he replied calmly and pushed a lever that opened a parachute above the jeep. Their decent was much slower. "That better?"

She slowly turned her head towards him and ground her teeth that made him lean back slightly. "Umm, yeah. I'll take that as a 'Yes, that's better' face."

There was a sudden sound of crunch and glass breaking along with iron and metal scraping one another as the Jeep touched down on top of something. Ananon turned to him as he looked over the side of the Jeep to see a smart car being squished into the cement by the Jeep. "Whoops! Oh well. We're here, Princess!"

She face palmed herself before getting out, being careful to not get hurt on the glass and iron poking out below the Jeep. "Your driving is impeccable as always."

"Thank you, My lady. Your facial expressions are quite a laugh." He replied winking at her. His hair flopping into his face on the right.

The two entered the stadium to see one hell of a crowd had filled up the stadium enough to make people stand. She took Dric by the wrist and led him into the door that she and her family take to go to their stands up in the sky boxes. Dric looked at the walls as paintings of all sorts passed by them. "Whoa. These are nice!"

"Yeah and very expensive. Don't touch," she warned as they jogged up stairs and took an elevator to the top. The elevator light flipped on in the sky box as the doors opened for them to leave the platform. Her mother turned around and smiled. "Hello, Dric! How are you?"

He nodded his head. "Quite well, Ma'am. You are looking well today."

She stood from her chair and walked over to them. "Thank you. You still haven't found a belt for those pants yet, hm?"

He blushed and held them with a free hand. "My apologies! I brought your daughter to see the race. She doesn't seem the type to run places by herself." He grinned at her and received a punch to the shoulder that made him flinch. "I think I was wrong."

"Ananon, be polite," her mother warned and looked towards her brother. "Nain, Dric is here. You want to go hang with him while me and Ananon talk for a bit?"

Ananon looked to Dric and nodded her head. Dric understood that this was important and pressed the button for the elevator to return. "Come on, buddy. We'll go get a hamburger or something!"

Nain looked at Ananon with uncertainty as he passed and loaded up in the elevator with Dric. "See you later."

Ananon waved goodbye as the doors closed and took them down. She let her arm fall by her side as uncomfortable silence came between them. "You know what I've come to propose."

Her mother turned and went to her seat. Her black cat mewing as it leapt into her lap to be petted. "I don't know if you should just yet, Ananon. Your father isn't happy with you."

"I could hardly care right now, mom! If I don't step in and stop what he's doing then he's going to keep doing it and make things far worse than it already is!" she exclaimed jumping over the couch and sitting in it. "I mean, I already spoke to Hinn and promised him I'd give the village pure water! I can't go back on my word."

Her mother looked at her as Ananon looked back. "Please? You don't know if dad has done more dirty deeds to the city that grandpa worked hard to create all those years. He's taking it all for granted."

Her mother looked out the glass window and sighed. To Ananon that meant that things were possibly going in her direction or it meant that her mother was having a hard time deciding what was right. Either way, something had to be done and her mother's consent was all she needed.

Hey guys! Thank you all for continuously reading this! I'm so happy that you all have been returning to read each chapter that I put out. That really keeps me motivated to keep going with this. In my profile I keep the story uploading process updated to tell you all when you can read the next chapter before it's been put out or how the chapter's progress is going.

Check it daily to see if I changed it. I really appreciate you all for keeping an interest in my very first fan fiction. I can't believe that I've gotten so many views and watchers in just 13 chapters! Thank you all so much! I would like to have more reviews on the story and tell me how it's going so far if you all would? Tell me how you like it so far and what not. I would love to hear ya'lls thoughts!

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~Yunalia