THE CITY OF SHIMMERING POOLS

It took them three days to exit the forest. They could finally see Pistris City off in the distance, maybe another two hours walk away. The buildings rose up into the sky, their windows glistening in the late morning sun. Even from here, they could see the criss-crossing network of rivers and pools.

"That's Pistris City over there," Shelly said. "We'll be there soon, and then I can show you guys the gym."

"How about some food first?" Hugo suggested. "I could go for some pizza right about now."

"That makes two of us," Yuka added as they started walking in the direction of the city. "With mushrooms and pepperoni and extra cheese...Haven't had that in a good while."

"Yuka, stop, you're making me hungry," Hugo jokingly pleaded.

A couple of hours later, they reached the edge of the city. They could now smell the crisp clean water. There was only one road going through the city, that being the road they were walking on, which crossed the city as one large bridge. The rest of the city was crossed with several rivers, each one starting from one of the various pools. Boats cruised and sped through the water. People could be heard talking at the various storefronts and sidewalk cafes. Even from here, on the sidewallk of the roadbridge, they could smell the food from the restaurants.

"Oh my gosh, that smells so good," Yuka said.

"Welcome to Pistris City, home to the waterway transports and the best restaurants in the region," Shelly said. "You want pizza? I know the best place. Follow me."

Less than an hour later, they were sitting at a sidewalk table at a pizzareia, a large pie on the table between them, consisting of fresh hot pepperoni and gooey hot cheese.

"You weren't kidding when you said this was the best, Shelly," Hugo said after washing his slice down with a drink of soda. "This really is the best pizza."

"Told you," Shelly said smugly.

Yuka finished off a slice and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Now if only we could get this to go. Speaking of going, isn't it about time we paid and went looking for the duel gym?"

"Good idea," Hugo said. "I'll take care of the bill." He stood up from the table and walked inside.

"He does know that one of us could have done that, right?" Shelly asked.

"It is a little odd that he seems to have more money than he should for doing 'odd jobs'," Yuka agreed. "Then again, he said it's been about three years, so he's probably got a lot saved up."

Hugo came out of the restaurant a few moments later. "Okay, we're all good. Off to the duel gym?"

"Yeah, but that one's on the other side of town," Shelly said. "We'll have to take a boat. I'll handle that one. Come on." She led them to a small dock. "We cal them taxi boats. They can take you anywhere in town, for a fee, of course. Unless it's changed since I was last here, I think the fee's one dollar per person with an extra fifty cents per mile."

"That's not too bad," Yuka said.

A couple of minutes later, a boat came up to the dock, its motor humming softly. "Hey there. Where are we headed today?" the driver asked.

"The duel gym, please," Yuka said.

"Can do, kids. Climb aboard." The three of them climbed into the boat, took their seats, and the boat was off.

Boat traffic was a bit different than Yuka and Hugo were expecting. Maybe it was because they were on water instead of asphalt; the current of the water made the boat slightly rock. Even bringing the boat to a stop was different than a car, because the current continued to carry the boat forward. The currents merged in the intersections, causing not only their boat but the other boats to be pulled in various directions; it was a good thing that their driver was able to keep the boat under control.

Ten minutes and three miles later, they were docking near a tall building; the outside of the building was bright blue and had a design of an ocean wave above the door. Shelly paid the boat fee as they climbed onto the dock.

"So, this is it, huh?" Yuka asked. "Kind of on the nose about the water theme."

"Well, this is also a training gym for Olympic swimmers," Shelly explained.

The smell of chlorine met them as they walked through the glass doors. Two pools could be seen - one was the size of a football field, with four lines of boueys separating the pool into five lanes; the other was slightly smaller and not separated, with a trio of diving boards perched above it. The only other people in the building were at this second pool - one standing on the concrete edge with a stopwatch and a tablet, the other standing on the highest diving board, about thirty feet above the pool.

"When you're ready," the woman with the stopwatch said.

They watched as the person on the diving board jumped; spun and twisted in midair, before plummeting towards the water; hit with a loud splash.

"Nice dive," Hugo complimented.

The woman turned to face them. "Oh. I didn't hear anyone come in. Let me guess; you're looking for Alice."

"How did you know?" Yuka asked.

"Because the only people who come in here that aren't doing swim training are looking for Alice, either as talent scouts or duelists. So which one are you?"

"Uh, duelist," Yuka said.

"Give her a minute."

The diver climbed out of the pool using the pool ladder, letting them see who they presumed was Alice Perkins. She was a tall, lithe, beautiful woman. Water dripped off of her body as she finished climbing out of the pool, cascading off her bare arms and legs and black one piece diving suit. She removed the diving goggles from her face and the swim cap from her head, letting her long black hair fall down to the small of her back. She took a few seconds to shake her hair loose before turning to the other woman.

"How was that, Dana?"

"Well, you had ten seconds of hang time this time," Dana said, looking at the stopwatch. "New personal best. Oh, and you've got visitors."

"Who? Talent scouts?"

"No, these three kids."

"Hi," Yuka said, waving.

Alice turned to them. "Oh, hello. I'm Alice Perkins, leader of the Pistris City Duel Gym. Who are you?"

"I'm Yuka Rumiko. I'm here for a duel, if that's okay."

"I see. So you're trying to qualify for the League," Alice mused. "And your little friends?"

"I'm Hugo Akiba, and this is Shelly Cavanaugh. We're not here to duel, we're just traveling with Yuka."

"Well, first off, let me get this out of my system and say that you three are adorable," Alice said. "Now that I got that out of my system - sorry, honey, but I can't duel today. You see, I'm training to compete in the Olympics, so I've got a full day of training ahead of me."

"Oh. We didn't mean to interrupt you; sorry," Yuka said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, Yuka," Alice said with a friendly chuckle. "Just because I can't duel you today doesn't mean I can't duel you tomorrow. So tell you what: You kids stop by tomorrow at around eleven; lunch'll be on me, and then we can duel. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Yuka said.

"Two for one deal," Hugo said. "You get a duel and a badge when you win, and we get a free lunch."

"And I know a place where we can stay for tonight," Shelly said. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow then, Alice."

"See you then, kids," Alice said, waving after the three of them as they headed for the door. "Okay, Dana, let's get back to it. I think I can make the actual dive a lot better than it was."