EIGHT |
ONCE THE WATER disappeared, Astrid immediately ran from the area where her bubble had been located until she came across Sapphire and Scarlett.
"Do you know where Sam is?" she inquired anxiously.
To her immense relief, Sapphire nodded. "Angelina rescued him and Rose. She blasted a hole in the roof and used the water to levitate them on top of the building, apparently. He's safe."
Astrid nearly broke down into tears. Instead, she settled for hugging Sapphire quickly before dashing off to find Sam. Despite Sapphire's assurances, a little worm of doubt nagged at her and would most likely continue to until she saw Sam was okay with her own eyes. The water had broken most of the lightbulbs, so it was simple for her to head towards the one place in the dimness that was lit up with the rays of the sun.
Reaching the hole, she debated on how she was going to get up for a moment before deciding to banish her worries first by calling out to Sam.
"Sam!" Astrid called through the improvised skylight, "Are you up there?"
The response came almost instantly. "Astrid!" A gleeful and relieved voice shouted back at her before Sam appeared over her, sticking his head over the edge of the gap.
He looked like he was about to jump over the edge and join her, but Astrid gave him a stern look and told him not to. Instead she looked around for anything she could use to get up there herself. Sam disappeared for a moment, returning a second later with a thick but short rope.
"Here," he offered, throwing one end of the rope down to her.
"Where did you get a rope?" Astrid asked, puzzled. It didn't seem like a rope would be a very commonplace item to find atop the roof of a building. Sam only shrugged and disappeared from view again, presumably to go tie the other end down to something so she could climb up. By the time he finished, the rope dangled with the end reaching just below her shoulders.
She grabbed hold and tried to pull herself up, only managing to take her feet off the ground and swing back and forth as she tried unsuccessfully to move her hands up farther on the rope before she gave up and dropped her feet back down onto solid ground. She shook her hands out, studying the rope. After a moment of assessing it and recovering from her last attempt, Astrid deftly tied a knot into the rope a few inches away from the end, which shortened it further until it was approximately level with her chin.
Pulling it tight, she took a deep breath and pulled herself up again. this time, her feet came up onto the rope to find purchase on the knot, permitting her to move her hands up dramatically. Then, she pulled her feet up farther and managed to pinch the rope between her shoes and move her hands up again.
Astrid's arms were beginning to tremble. She wasn't sure she would be able to inch herself up any farther. Thankfully, Sam reached down the small gap remaining between her and the remains of the ceiling to pull her up. She gratefully latched onto his arm with one hand and lifted herself up with his help until she was through the gap and they both tumbled onto the roof.
They both hurried over to where Rose was actually sitting up, looking still in pain but much less so. Astrid added her ministrations to Rose's wounds, and by the end of that Rose was able to stand and walk about, though she was still weak. Astrid judged that some food and water would be the best treatment for the moment. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure how to provide those at the current moment, so she decided to wait for Angelina or one of the others to return so she could send them off in search of food for Rose.
Meanwhile, Sapphire, Scarlett, and Sophia had just crossed paths. "Do you know where Angelina and Rose are?" Sophia asked them anxiously, after embracing them both and ascertaining that they weren't fatally wounded.
"Rose is up on the roof with Sam," Scarlett answered. Then she looked sideways at her twin. "but I'm not entirely sure where Angelina is by now. She could either be with them or with Diana and Edilio on another section of the roof."
"We could show you where Rose and Sam are, if you want," Sapphire added.
Sophia's perked up instantly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed gratefully, which was a mark of how worried she had been.
Once they reached the opening onto the roof, they faced the same problem Astrid had.
"Sam!" Sophia yelled through the hole.
Sam's head appeared over them. "Sophia!" He sounded relieved. He spotted Sapphire and Scarlett as well, and his relief deepened. "Do any of you know where some food is?" he asked them.
They all shook their heads. Sapphire looked at Scarlett, then back up at Sam. "Scarlett and I can go look for food if you want. Are Rose and Angelina up there?"
"Rose is, but I think Angelina's with Diana and Edilio," he replied.
Just then, Astrid appeared next to Sam. "Rose is feeling much better. She's awake and is able to get up and walk around a bit. She just needs some food to replenish her energy," Astrid relayed to Sapphire, Scarlett, and Sophia.
"Okay. Sapphire and I will go look for some food, and Sophia can come up there," Scarlett decided.
Astrid glanced at Sam. "We have a rope we can lower down to you, Sophia, but it's kinda hard to climb," Astrid said. But then she looked at Sapphire. "Could you use your power to get Sophie up here somehow, Sapphire?"
Sophia glanced at Sapphire. "Think you can levitate me onto the roof?"
"I don't know. I'd have to see if the wind is strong enough to lift a human body." She tilted her head, as if listening to something no one else could hear. The wind picked up around them, swirling upwards with Sophia in its grip.
Sophia was carried up through the hole, over Sam's and Astrid's heads, until she floated gracefully down to the roof and landed gently. Then, for good measure, Sapphire picked her up again with the wind, twirled her around three times, and then let her float down again. Sam and Astrid stared at her with amazement, then down at Sapphire, who curtsied and walked off.
Scarlett followed after her twin with an angelic smile and an aura of crimson flames outlining her body.
Grinning at each other after their little performance, Scarlett and Sapphire went off in search of Angelina, Diana, and Edilio. Despite their carefree, happy exterior, they both were silently praying the others were still safe.
A/N
Oh my gosh I'm a horrible person I know and I offer you Kayla as a sacrifice. *Shoves her forward* But yea this is a really short chapter and all and I don't have a good explination. Summer has been here for weeks but Kayla has been volunteering at the library and I've been helping another friend when I can (I have a really messed up schedule). I also had to take a week off with no electronics and stuff at camp... Anyways I'm really sorry and at the moment I really can't guarantee another update soon and I have another week away from my computer coming up. I'll try to update when I can but yeah... CYA!
-Kari