Chapter 5: Slightly Unexpected Training

In each room the four friends found a bed (the girls got queens and the boys got kings), a tall wardrobe, a bedside table, and a window that was the eastern wall, facing the sea. Occasionally a particularly large wave would splash upon the house, making them feel even closer to the sea. The walls were each quite plain, except for a single picture in each room, all of which were different. In Jenna’s room there was Monet’s Impression Sunrise, Ethan’s was Seurat’s Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Lance’s was Van Gogh’s A Wind-Beaten Tree, and Kimmy’s was Van Gogh’s Olivenbäume mit gelbem Himmel und Sonne. As it transpired, the paintings were a kindly thought from Solitude, who wanted to make them feel more at home in the new world. They went to bed early, and they were awakened by the rising sun, in which they all had a beautiful view from their rooms. 
Like Solitude had said, the four teenagers had a lot of time to themselves, in which they spent relaxing and exploring their surroundings. Kimmy looked comfortable, but her eyes were narrowed. Ethan was excited, but made sure that he could contain it. Lance and Jenna were totally indifferent to their surroundings, but for different reasons: Jenna honestly didn’t care that much, and Lance was just naturally oblivious to his surroundings.
On the morning of the first day, they went out and got themselves clothes.
“How do we pay for this?” asked Ethan anxiously.
“I read a book explaining some customs of this world. There is no money in this world. Everyone can just have whatever they want. There’s no need for money,” said Kimmy. “It’s very interesting.”
“That’s smart,” said Ethan thoughtfully.
“Yes, that’s what I thought, at first, too. But then I really thought about it, and the control that money creates on society is massive. Money in a human world would lead to corruption, and we would still separate into classes.”
Ethan and Kimmy walked along for a while, but then Ethan said, “What do you think about the clothes here?”
Kimmy glared at Ethan, but nevertheless said, “An odd texture. Like water made cloth. And an interesting style too. A lot of high boots and dresses. Happy, a little formal at times, but mostly exuberant.”
“And for guys?”
“The same texture. Different style. Slacks and polo’s seem to be popular here,” Kimmy said airily, “I’m no fashion designer, Ethan.”
“But your mom…”
“I’m also not my mom.”
In the afternoon, Jenna and Lance went to Whiteshore, in which Lance would swim in the warm saltwater and Jenna would lie on the beach for hours, maintaining her movie-star tan. Ethan and Kimmy continued to explore the vast and complex city and its marketplaces, looking for interesting things. Once they found a vendor who gave silver instruments that puffed smoke and rotated to those who needed them. Ethan took a small, circular object that twirled in intricate patterns, hoping to ask Solitude to elaborate on it.
Also as Solitude had said, there was little supervision. This did not suit Ethan or Kimmy, who preferred the close watch of an adult. However, Jenna and Lance seemed perfectly content with no one watching them. Though Solitude said in the few moments she was home one of the first evenings when Kimmy and Ethan asked her about it, “You can look after yourselves. I have great faith in you, and remember that you can control the elements if you do actually get into trouble.”
“Cool.” Ethan said shortly.
“By the way,” She leaned toward Ethan, and muttered, “I take abstinence very seriously.”
“Oh, good, I do too,” Ethan said promptly.
“Don’t provoke me. Keep an eye on Jenna and Lance.”
“It’s not Lance as much as it is Jenna.” Ethan said.
“I’m aware, but I left him something just in case.”
Ethan nodded.
“Oh, and one more thing,” She reached into her bag and pulled out a razor, “You need to shave.”
Ethan took the razor sheepishly.
“You’ll find some cream in your bathroom.”
Ethan nodded curtly.
“Jollies.” Solitude said busily.
After Solitude had left, the four teenagers walked out on a terrace that they discovered which was surrounded by smooth stones. Lance cooked dinner silently, one of those hidden talents of Lance’s, which was a recipe for linguini he had found in a cookbook in one of the glossy cupboards of the kitchen. The kitchen was crammed with food, but it was neat and organized. When Lance took the box of linguini out of the cupboard, there was instantly another box of it. The linguini reared up like miniature snakes when Lance attempted to put the Alfredo sauce on it.
They ate the linguini outside on the terrace, once it had calmed down. The sun was setting over the distant peaks.
“Whiteshore was interesting, sure, but it’s not that fun. I mean, there’s no real meaning to this place.”
“I don’t think there’s supposed to be, Jenna,” said Ethan. “Was there any meaning to Phoenix besides the weather?”
“No, but still,” said Kimmy impatiently, “I wonder why we’re here.”
Ethan gave her a look of obvious exasperation, “Solitude explained that to us.”
“Don’t give me that look, Ethan. You know that I need more. You know that I will always need more. More information will tell me what I need to do in that situation. You know me well enough to say that I would want to help these people, we’re here for a reason, and we need to be responsible about it. And you, alone possibly, know what my hunger for knowledge is like when it’s starving.”
“You’re right, of course. I would very foolish to try and stop you.”
“We should go to the library. After all, the best place to start is within books. Visiting a library is often the best way to collect knowledge of varying kinds.”
“Hey guys, Kimmy’s right. That’s what we’ll do tomorrow. Go to that really big library that we saw on the first day here.”
“All of us?” whined Jenna. “Reading isn’t fun.”
“You can rub sunscreen all over your body at some other point. All of us.”


They went to the library with Julian, considering it was so far away. When they got there, they walked up the steps, and everyone except Kimmy marveled at the place, basking in the glory and grandeur of every leaf golden detail.
They obliged, and as soon as they approached the huge double doors they swung open, revealing a high ceilinged threshold, and beyond that a just as tall lobby with glowing crystal chandeliers hanging from it. They crossed the marble floor, their footsteps echoing loudly because of the acoustics. A long desk was at the end of lobby they were headed to, and at the desk sat a tall man.
“May I help you?”
“We need to look at the grand collection,” Kimmy said with an air of not wanting to be embarrassed or disappointed. “May we see it?
“Certainly, you may. I will send someone in the Great Reading Rotunda. Go through the doors on either side of the lobby and you will arrive in the Rotunda. The person you meet will help find exactly what you are looking for.”
“Thank you.”
They followed the instructions through the grand hallways to yet another huge door, which, just as the first, opened as they neared it. They entered the Great Reading Rotunda.
More incredible than anything they had seen so far, the Rotunda extended deep into the ground. It was as though they were standing on the edge of a great gorge, except that the walls and floors of the canyon were made of glass, and bookshelves lined the walls of it. A great crinkled glass ceiling was draped across the deep sparkling abyss. Fascinating mobiles of glass hung from the glass canopy, twisting and turning without wind or motor. The furnishings were also made of clear glass. The room gave off the image of being underneath a vast, glittering ocean, since the reflection of the daytime sky casted a bluish hue over the entire place. Kimmy walked closer to the edge, and when she looked over it, all the lower levels of thousands upon thousands of musty volumes describing the intense history of the new world could be seen.
Books were flying around, drifting up different levels, streaking across brightly lit desks, never once colliding in midair, landing neatly at the appropriate readers. All of the people scattered in the building were too busy to even notice they had come in.
“Are you the four from the front desk?”
They spun around, wide-eyed at their guide, who was no shorter than twenty-five feet tall. He was bending down to stare at them, and, when they had nodded, “How are you enjoying your visit?”
They began to walk. The reached a large floating piece of glass, around which was four chairs. It was emitting light although there was no source. When they had sat on the chairs, which were perfectly comfortable, he asked, “Can I interest you in something to drink?”
Kimmy spoke before anyone else could say anything. “What would you suggest?”
“I’ll surprise you. What do you want for reading?”
“Everything you have on the elements, referring to fire, water, earth, and air.”
“That’s very extensive, but certainly. Allow a few minutes for everything to, well, for lack of a better word, pile.”
He went to the desk and frantically started pushing buttons on a dashboard. Kimmy leaned forward, “Get ready.”
It was an intense sight. Books sped towards them from out of the canyon and circled around their table, sorting themselves into categories. Shelves upon shelves of books emptied themselves, and the books fluttered to their sides in precarious stacks that very nearly looked ready to topple.
“Let’s see,” said Kimmy calmly, obviously in her element, “where to start?” She was already rifling through the stacks of books, even though more were settling every moment.
“Kimmy, look at these titles! There’s so much to look through.”
Kimmy, stopping her quick movements with the books while she incredulously looked up at Lance, “It’s a library, Lance. That’s why we came here.”
Lance slowly and awkwardly returned to his stack of books. Kimmy pulled out Fire’s Smoldering Pathway and began to read. Ethan quietly began sorting the books according to element, and Jenna reluctantly pulled out An Encyclopedia of Elemental Eloquence. Eventually, their plum purple drinks came, but they were too involved with their reading to notice.
Minutes that passed turned into hours, and those hours seemed to turn into days. Several meals had been brought to them by the library staff, and twilight seeped into night, and the glass mobiles lit up, casting shadows on the ceiling as most people left the library. Jenna and Ethan were slumped against each other, deeply sleeping, though Lance and Kimmy sat reading. Lance leaned over to Kimmy and said, “It’s kind of relaxing, with Jenna asleep.”
“Oh, you have no idea. Why doesn’t she get that I don’t want to fight?”
“She’s just like that, Kimmy. She doesn’t get it with me either; I don’t like kissing all the time.”
“I know, and that’s what troubles me,” She said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. He leaned against her and they both continued to read.
After a while Lance said, “Um, Kimmy, what time is it?”
“Who cares?” Kimmy said softly, looking at him for a moment, and then returning to her thick volume. They had not noticed that Solitude drifted in, even though her clattering footsteps dramatically broke the silence.
“I care,” Solitude said, loudly enough so as to not wake Jenna and Ethan.
Kimmy whipped around, retracting her arm quickly, while Lance turned slowly around. Solitude had blotches in her cheeks, which only made them look more opaque, but otherwise looked relieved to see them. “I went to the house, but when you weren’t there, I panicked. This is a huge city. You could have been anywhere. I looked everywhere you could possibly be, but forgot about the library until now.”
Kimmy said, “We’re very sorry. What time is it?”
“It is only one in the morning. It’s not that bad, I mean, if you were gone all night I would be much more worried, but that is not the case.”
“What’s the time conversion here?”
“Exact same. Much larger world; just rotates faster.”
Lance stretched his arms. He moved around the table, and nudged Jenna. She did nothing. He prodded her again, and she moved her arm involuntarily in an embracing position with Ethan. Kimmy and Solitude lapsed into silent giggles while Lance looked confused, and Solitude said, almost silently, “Priceless.”
Kimmy moved around the table, and prodded Ethan gently, and his eyes fluttered open. “It’s time to go, Ethan.” She whispered.
Ethan turned to Jenna, “What are you doing, Jenna?”
“Sleeping,” murmured Jenna in the bass of her voice, yawning softly and giving Ethan a bone crushing hug. Ethan looked up at Lance and Kimmy with complete hopelessness in his expression. Jenna turned her head to Ethan, eyes barely open, arms still around him, and she said with a look of utmost disorientation, “Why the hell am I hugging you?”
“You’re not hugging him,” Solitude said, “You two are cuddling!”
Lance gave a soft ‘oh’ of understanding.
At the sound of Solitude’s voice, Jenna started so wildly that not only did Ethan fall out of his chair, but vibrations sent the books, already in unstable stacks, toppling. The sound was deafening. As to not make any further clanking noise, they attempted to pick up the books, but they just began flying away rather haughtily. After that, they all tumbled out of the library in a fashion in which anyone who saw them would have thought that they were hopelessly drunk.
Though the teens had expected that they would have broken the silence, but the atmosphere was far from calm, let alone quiet. There were colorful lights everywhere, and people flooded the street in droves.
“In case you’re wondering, it’s Saturday night!” Solitude yelled over the noise of the crowd. “Be weary, though! It’s easy to get in trouble.”
They were already gone, swept up by the oncoming crowd. Solitude said, “Damn. Always gone.”
Ethan and Kimmy stayed together, and had no intention to float away from Solitude, which motivated them to find her. However, Jenna and Lance disappeared in the horde of nightlife. Solitude, Ethan, and Kimmy found them without trouble, though Lance was hanging upside down, his tattered shirt fluttering to the ground, displaying his thin torso, and Jenna, holding a perfect wavecrashing stance to Lance’s aid. Solitude looked at the situation once, pulled out a badge, and flashed it at Lance’s mugger.
“How on earth did you get into that situation, Lance?”
“Do you know what one snide comment gets you into?” Jenna said.
“Did he get into that situation on his own?”
“Absolutely not, Kimmy,” Jenna said.
“I have personal experience with this sort of thing. It is not uncommon to find someone drunk, crazy, and not all there to begin with on a Saturday night here. We need to find you a shirt,” added Solitude in the direction of Lance.
Jenna cackled loudly, and hugged Lance on his bare shoulders. “The last thing we need to do is find him a shirt,” she said seductively.
Solitude looked affronted, blinking rapidly, shot a glare at Ethan, who pursed his lips, and a huge disgusted smile stretched across her face. “We are definitely going to find him a shirt. And you are going to stay away from him.”
Kimmy stepped forward. “Jenna, drop the act. You and I both know you’re not ready for whatever you want to do with him. And, guess what? He’s not ready either. Neither of you have enough emotion, sense, morality, nor maturity to get truly physical with your relationship. Jenna, drop the stupid, wild act for attention.”
“Shut the hell up, Kimmy. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
They all fell silent.
Lance said, “Kimmy, I don’t think that’s true.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Lance,” Kimmy said, walking over to him, “I did mean to offend you,” she said, hugging him gently.
Jenna’s mouth popped open and her eyes bulged, “Get off, Kimmy. He’s mine.”
Ethan pulled Kimmy back from Jenna, looked at a clear loss of word, so, after taking a deep breath, he said carefully, “Why don’t we just go home?”
“Best idea all night!” Solitude crossed her arms, and looked irritable. They didn’t talk much on the way home, because there was no reason to do anything more to the already livid Solitude. She was very quick with them and almost threatened to thrash Jenna when she refused to go to bed, stating promptly that it was too early.


They all woke up late the next day, and ate breakfast quietly and quickly. Ethan thought the situation was too sticky for words. Jenna was gouging at a strip of bacon with her fork,  Kimmy was stirring a soggy bowl of what Jenna called ‘health nut cereal’, and they were sitting right next to each other. Lance, being Lance, was staring into the distance.
They were going have another relaxing day. Kimmy and Ethan were going to go into town again, and Jenna and Lance were going to Whiteshore, with Lance wearing a shirt, because Solitude was indeed an adamant believer in abstinence, and, even though Lance and Jenna were not sexually active, Solitude had to be sure nothing ‘accidental’ could happen.
Things seemed to be fairly normal around the small house. However, when Jenna walked to the door and tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.
“What the hell?”
The handle of the door melted away, leaving a wide expanse of blank wood. “I want to go!” Jenna screamed.
Solitude’s voice reverberated from the door, and giggled loudly, “You can’t get through! I sealed the door shut!” It sang wildly.
“Open this door!” Jenna yelped. “Open it right now!”
“You can’t get through! I sealed the door shut!”
The others came it the room, looked at the door, and listened to the message. Lance was staring into the distance again. Ethan burst out laughing. In response, Jenna punched Ethan in the gut. Kimmy watched all of this, and laughed louder than Ethan. She regretted it the instant she did as two fairly abashed teenagers turned on her, and she said, “Oh dear. I wonder.”
She ran towards the door without thinking and she passed through it easily. When she was on the other side she screamed with laughter. It all finally made sense.
“How on earth did you get through?”
She was too busy laughing. Ethan was doubled over, but groaning loudly, he reached towards the door and slipped his fingers through it. He growled, “Come on, Lance.”
“Come back!” said Jenna desperately, as she grabbed on to Lance’s arm, but the moment he went through the door, she was stranded on the other side.
“It won’t let you through!” Ethan yelled at Jenna through the door, “You’ve got to stay there!”
They left her expressing her feelings in screams of fury and annoyance in very colorful language. Ethan and Kimmy agreed to let Lance join them in town, where they discussed the present situation without the influence of Jenna.
“Why do you date her anyways, Lance?”
Lance thought for a moment. “I date her because it makes her happy. I hate to see Jenna sad. I hate to see anyone sad.”
“Come to think of it,” Ethan said thoughtfully, “I’ve never seen Jenna sad.”
“No one knows why. I guess it’s a good thing,” said Lance.
“Are you happy with her?”
“What?” Lance said, obviously surprised. “That’s an interesting question.”
“But you didn’t answer it.” Kimmy said, smiling shrewdly.
“Yes, I am very happy with her,” said Lance, too shortly and too stiffly.
Kimmy opened her mouth, but Ethan whispered in her ear, “Touchy subject.”
“By the way, do you know why Solitude left a box of condoms in my room?”
“She thinks you and Jenna are sexually inclined,” Kimmy said dismissively. “She’s just watching out for you. I mean, obviously, Jenna’s sexually inclined, but I think you have a fairly clean slate.”
“Thanks, Kimmy.”
Ethan raised his eyebrows to Lance behind Kimmy’s back, and Lance shook his head wildly and mouthed ‘don’t want to’.
They went to one of the street markets, but they were deserted. No one was there, and they three friends saw, with a certain sense of being cliché, that tumbleweed rolled with the wind.
“Yes, that makes sense!” Kimmy said quickly, as though she had been pondering something, “Ethan, did you read anything about religion here?”
“Kimmy, they’re clearly very religious,” said Lance, cutting across Ethan, “You can tell without books. They don’t curse often, and they are very opposed to the elemental balance, which leads me to believe that the elements are against their religious beliefs.”
“I never thought of that.”
“Coming from you, Kimmy, that means a lot,” Lance complimented graciously, “I think we should go somewhere secluded. Travel a bit.”
They looked at each other. Ethan said, “Let’s go down to the waterfalls.” They climbed down a staircase to the waterfall’s base. They all swam in the water, and climbed onto the slippery yet satisfying rocks lining the edge of the great river. The constant crash of the surrounding waterfall soothed them and made them happy. They started to practice their according elements.
Kimmy flourished greatly, and allowed all of her laughter and happiness to fill her, and the fire she created was not red, but blue. She directed the fire towards the sky, and it blossomed up into the air.
“That was amazing, Kimmy!” Ethan yelled, quaking with delight.
For a moment, just one moment, and the air seemed to suspend as Ethan, Lance, and Kimmy finally felt normal and, more importantly, happy to be together. Then, the air collapsed and the water turned dark against the sun. The water seemed to rise and fall and the land seemed to darken with it. Ominously, and powerfully, the waterfall slowed to a trickle. Kimmy felt a sudden jolt of pain and humility.
The water rose out of the great lake, and made a tidal wave. Ethan moved his fists sharply, and a diagonal wall of earth stopped the water.
Whispers filled the darkness, “Leave. You have polluted. Go away.”
The whisper repeated over and over again, but they were as though a friend was speaking, and the voices were warm. The friends looked at each other unable to say a word, unable to read each other’s body language, unable to communicate. Kimmy and Ethan looked simply flustered, but Lance looked around, rather interested by the voices.
They rose from the rocks, breaking their eyes from each other. Time seemed to slow as they returned to their home. Solitude was waiting. She started towards them, and stretched out to hug them, her arms folded around all of them, and they could speak. She said quietly, “I should have told you about the waterfall, and why this city was built.
“This city was built on sacred ground. As soon as any” she sighed, “human touches the water that goes over the waterfall they have polluted and sinned. Let me show you something.”
They went to the city square, which was made of obsidian. There was a large obelisk in the center of it, covered in strange symbols that were completely unrecognizable, but Solitude seemed to recognize the symbols at once as she said, “‘Speak words that show truth’. That was the premise in which this city was built. If anything happened that jeopardized this, terrible things would happen to that person. You couldn’t speak, because you were untruthful.
“It is my fault: I should have told you about the religion as well. We live in harmony. But we only speak the truth, afraid that we will be punished. That waterfall is considered, the judge of truth, and it filters and destroys lies and punishes those who have lied.”
“What of that do you believe, Solitude?”
She turned and looked at Kimmy, and said with blazing eyes, “I believe that the waterfall is not meant to judge, but simply to articulate instead. I believe that it is wrong to judge people by the lies or the truths one has given. I believe that it takes true courage to stand up to that waterfall.”
Kimmy looked down at her feet. Solitude said, “I think I know something that will help you, somewhere you can practice without having to worry. There is a place called the Marsh Gardens, and they can be use for practicing or just relaxing.
“Another word of warning: don’t control the elements at Whiteshore; because the Senate gives very heavy consequences for doing so, I have personal experience with this matter.”
They went to the Marsh Gardens, and like everything else they had been to, it was amazing. The three teenagers suddenly realized that there was an incredible amount of wildlife in the gardens. For instance, a butterfly that had wings the size of large blanket soared over them, and fish the size of cars looked up at the curiously from the gently flowing river system.
They suddenly heard a creaking sound and turned to find that a tree was moving its roots out of the ground and crossing the mud behind them to place it next to them, where its leaves could provide shade. Part of the tree seemed to look at Solitude and nod vigorously.
“Even the trees seem to like you,” said Solitude, “thank you very much.”
The tree shook its leaves so it sounded as though the tree was laughing, and then it put its roots back into the ground, and stayed still.
“Let me get this straight: trees can move, water can be clean, and air can be, um, clear?” Kimmy said.
“Yeah, pretty much. Come this way.”
She led them toward a place where the grass was light and fluffy and the way the light came through the canopy made the white bark of the trees seem to shine. With every step, insects of every color flew around them, gliding gently through the wind. The trees shook their branches and laughed. Solitude closed her eyes, and to the others it seemed like she was glowing. Ethan, Kimmy, and Lance looked slightly overwhelmed at the synchronization of Solitude and nature, and, only for a moment, that tiny instant, they also felt like they were a part of it. That moment felt long and drawn-out, but eventually the trees slowed, the last few insects flew away, and the air seem to suspend.
Solitude continued to glow, dimly now, but glow nonetheless, “This is a dream, and you’ve been living in a nightmare your whole lives.”

None of them slept well that night. Jenna was so infuriated at them when they came home, that she ranted to them for about twenty minutes before Lance started making out with her, signaling behind his back for the others to go ahead. For once, Solitude accepted the absence of being subtle.
Even though Solitude had offered enchanted sleep, all of the humans declined for philosophical, skeptical, moral, and emotional reasons. Sometime after midnight, however, Lance came out of his room, fully clothed. Solitude, clad in silky white pajamas, was sitting with a thick orange book with a boy reaching to the sky on the front of it in her lap in an armchair, cross-legged and, as always, barefoot, looking across the room at him, and said, “Let me guess: you’re going to take me up on that offer of enchanted sleep?”
“Yeah, I think so. I really need it.”
Solitude got up, and walked with him to his room. When Lance had clambered into bed, and he had pulled the covers up to his chin, he said, “Solitude?”
“Hmm?”
“I feel overwhelmed by all of this. I don’t really know what to do with myself, and I feel even more disconnected from the world.”
Solitude’s eyes drooped, and her face softened, and for the first time, Solitude seemed saddened. She looked as though she really didn’t know what to say, but tried her best, “Sleep is the one natural escape from outer reality. When you sleep, you let your mind rest, and your body float, and when you wake up, you know that you’ll be ready for the next day.”
“I’m scared.”
“Fear is again, natural. Those who fight fear itself and among the most foolish.”
“I, I, I…”
“You need to sleep. You need to let yourself go, and you need to be freed. I’m here, child, when you need me.”
Lance closed his eyes, “I need a hug.”
Solitude crossed the room, drifting to his bedside, and embraced him gently, “I know what’s bothering you, and I hope it’s okay.”


They woke up the next morning to a most eerie sound, which was the light tapping of rain on the roof of the house. As they crawled into the kitchen, still very sleepy, and looked out the window, there was curtain of water pouring gently over the landscape and seascape. Kimmy snatched up the note Solitude had left them on the counter and read aloud, “It rains every Monday and Wednesday and every other Thursday here. You have your lunch with Martha O’Mahony today, so I left out some formal robes in colors according to your element, and I told Julian will pick you up at 12:30 sharp in front of the house. Be careful to keep your robes dry. I don’t expect you home until 6 o’clock, after that time I will come and look for you. I have a few words for each of you. Lance, today is a new day. Kimmy, curiosity killed the cat. Jenna, anger is a double-edged sword. Ethan, patience is a virtue. A final word on leprechaun culture: they over-exaggerate. They always over-exaggerate. Be cautious, as always, and best wishes with love, Solitude. 
“So that’s that,” Kimmy said, “Let’s get ready.”
“It’s in four hours.” Jenna said rudely and sounding very cruel.
“It’s in three and a half hours, Jenna,” Kimmy said, standing her ground with an air of false sweetness, “and you, my friend, will certainly look, ahem, presentable.”
Jenna bit her lip. Kimmy pointed down the hall and looked up at her, and Jenna glared down the hall. Jenna’s eyelids fluttered, and she rolled her eyes. Snatching up and dragging the long blue dress carefully set aside by Solitude uncaringly, she marched down the hall and turned into her room, slamming the door shut. Kimmy smirked, whipped her hair around, and began moving towards the room.
“Oh, that was so hot,” Lance whispered in Ethan’s ear.
Kimmy stopped, looked like she was going to say something but did not turn around, did the smallest of double takes, then closed her mouth, smiling to herself, and kept walking. As soon as she opened Jenna’s door, a high-heeled stiletto shoe came flying over her right shoulder. She walked into the room without a word, and the door slammed behind her too.
“Very subtle, Lance.” Ethan smacked him in the back of the head, laughing to himself, “Your girlfriend isn’t in control anymore.”
“She was never in control, Ethan,” Lance said as though he was putting the icing on a cake, “because I was never letting her be in control. I would never let her be in control of my life.”
Ethan’s smile grew wide behind Lance’s back, but when Lance turned around, the smile was gone. Lance looked humbled, and he had a slight smile when he turned around to the taller boy.
“Come on, we better get ready too.”
“We’ve got three and a half hours. I certainly don’t need that long.”

Kimmy was struggling with Jenna.
Jenna was highly irritated, and she kept telling Kimmy things like “Oh, that hurts!” and “Ugh, that’s not how I look!” and “I don’t want you to!”. She kept fixing things that Kimmy had taken precarious detail doing, but Kimmy continued to stand over Jenna in front of the mirror, staring maliciously with comb in hand.
She took a violently pink lipstick and handed it to Jenna, “Here; you do it.”
Jenna slapped the lipstick on precariously, and then blotched on the blush, raked her eyelashes with mascara, and shrouded her eyes in purple eyeliner.
Kimmy raised one eyebrow, “You look like a badly bloodied panda, Jenna, so I’ll do your makeup.”
Kimmy scrubbed Jenna’s face ten times to rid Jenna’s crazy new look. She carefully took every piece of makeup accessory to Jenna’s face, careful not to mess up.
Jenna looked in the mirror when they were done. She said frigidly, “At least you’re good at something.”
Kimmy’s slim smile slid off her face, but she said nothing. She only then climbed into her dress and did her makeup.

Ethan and Lance were standing underneath the leaves of two willows that were nice enough to protect them from the rain, waiting for Jenna and Kimmy. It was the nice kind of rain outside, and the sky was a constant grey.
The door opened and Kimmy appeared, looking breathless and very pretty in her bloody scarlet dress, which was long-sleeved, skintight and very festive; she walked over to Ethan and Lance.
“She looks great,” Kimmy said to them through crimson lipstick lips, and she yelled back, “Come on, stubborn!”
Jenna walked out of the door, sulking. She looked beautiful in her long-sleeved gown, which was grey and deep blue, but she looked frustrated.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lance said in a pleasant voice, before anyone could stop him.
“Why are you talking to me like that?” Jenna shot back furiously.
“I’ll talk to you in whatever way I want,” Lance said, surprised, but trying to stand his ground, and failing miserably.
Jenna spat at Lance’s feet. Kimmy and Ethan watched in horror as Jenna confronted Lance. Ethan had to hold Kimmy back by her wrists and whisper in her ear, “Let him fight his own battles.”
“Jenna, stop!” Kimmy said, breathing hard.”Stop right now!”
“No, Kimmy,” Jenna said, matching her tone from earlier.
“Jenna!”
“No, Kimmy!”
Ethan said, “Ouch!”, and Kimmy held fire to Jenna’s throat and said “One false move, Jenna. This is my last warning, and you’re on my last nerve.”
The trees around them seemed to cower at the flame but went unnoticed by Kimmy and Jenna. Jenna moved slightly, and the flame intensified. Kimmy said, “Do you want to try me?”
Jenna backed down. Kimmy took one step back and said, “You’re out of line, Jenna. You need to be put back into your place.”
Ethan looked over at Lance, who looked down. Kimmy stood strong next to Ethan and Lance, and Jenna stood a few feet away from them. Kimmy whispered to Ethan, “Sorry for burning you.”
Ethan said, “It’s okay. Thanks for voicing my thoughts.”
Julian pulled up at precisely 12:30, and the ride to Martha O’Mahony’s home (on the other side of the city), was long and awkward. To make matters worse, Jenna and Lance sat on one side and Kimmy and Ethan sat on the other, so Jenna knowingly made all of them feel more awkward by kissing Lance on the cheek intermittently. Lance’s posture was unnaturally straight and he did not acknowledge Jenna. When they got to the house, Kimmy signaled to Julian to wait one moment and softly said, “Can we try to put this behind us, maybe, and have some manners while we’re here?” 
Jenna got out without saying a word.
Kimmy said, “I take that as a ‘yes’.”
Ethan and Lance both nodded, Ethan very curtly and Lance with a shrug. The door of the house was flung open and a very exuberant Martha greeted them. She was wearing, instead of Senate robes, a country-style dress and an apron, and she spoke in the most pleasant voice she could, and like Solitude’s, it rang. She almost sang, “Welcome to my home, dear friends! Please make yourselves comfortable!”
They walked through the threshold, and were completely dazzled by the amount of plant life in the polished wood home. It had a very smart-looking effect, which was, once they got over the greenness of it all, quite calm and soothing. Martha skipped forward, beckoning for them to follow her into the dining room.
The dining room was a long, tall room that looked sort of like a cathedral. At one end of the long rectangular table, there were five plates, one at the head and two each one either side. The table was set with many very exotic looking dishes. On the far side of the room, there was a Celtic harp set up, with the tuning peg on its highest note.
“Do you want me to play something for you?” She said, acknowledging the harp.
“No, but I was wondering if I could play?” Kimmy said hopefully.
“Um,” Martha paused, quite obviously worried about the expensive instrument, “sure.”
Kimmy crossed the room swiftly, and sat down at the harp. She played a short, playful solo, and then she got up, and walked back over. Martha looked completely dumbfounded, and she shook he head and sat down at the head of the table. She said, “You were amazing. Join me.”
They all took their seats, Kimmy and Lance on one side and Jenna and Ethan on the other. Martha began explaining what some of the dishes were. She was saying to them while pointing at the various dishes, “…Oh, and that’s root of mallow, you can find that on Earth, it’s a delicacy there. And that’s haggis, I don’t like it, but maybe you will. Those are chocolate gourds; they’re only called chocolate because of the texture, and those are creamsticks, which are so good, they copy what your taste buds most crave and melt in your mouth. And then I got some fish, salmon and shark, the rarest here, mostly, and some caviar and calamari and octopus and crab and lobster. Oh, don’t forget the butter sauce. And over there, those are Redlilies, eatable flowers, you know, and some salad, with various dressings.  Oh, and some cheese, of course, and bread: rye, sourdough, white, French, Italian. Don’t forget to try the pies; blueberry, apple, pumpkin, cantaloupe, peach, crème, celery, and orange. There’s some chicken, some turkey, some ham, roast beef, elk meat, snake meat, and dog meat. There’s also some, um, pizza, I think it’s called, I don’t know, I’ve never had it, I just read about it in a book that Solitude gave me….”
She spoke very fast, barely stopping to breathe. Ethan pulled the shark meat towards him, Jenna took the ham, Lance took a Redlily, and Kimmy helped herself to haggis.
The lunch was long and tiring, and Martha, obviously, expected them to eat until they couldn’t eat anymore, and as the plates refilled themselves, there was no excuse. The conversation was fairly pleasant. Martha explained to them about the history of the Senate, and the history of the city, and the way that the world was split up. She conjured a map out of thin air, and showed them each of the regions.
“You see, Thellasorr is split into regions. You have the region that we’re in at the moment, which is known as Kamcan, and it is home to the more civilized races: the elves, the leprechauns, the gnomes, and the Senatorial representatives from all the regions worldwide. To the north of Kamcan is Mutarr, a region of great mountains and valleys, home to the griffins and the great birds and those daring enough to train them. To the west of Mutarr is Trindaw, a vast region of great fields, the natural home of the giants, who are in charge of the history and agriculture. North of Trindaw is the region known as the Northern Isles, a chain of islands that are home to many creatures including the manatus and the moordag. South of Kamcan is the region known as The Great Sea, which holds the great underwater cities of Octopolis, Eastgrot and Westcove, all of which are home to the merpeople. Beyond the Great Sea are the uninhabited Southern Isles (also home to the manatus and the moordag), and the icy region of Tundro, home of the Icians. West of Kamcan is Undurr, the volcanic home of the flamethrowers, and the home of the great reptiles, where you will find Peakburn, the great fire mountain. Beyond Undurr is the region of Gonth, the land of the Earthshifters, and the location of the great city of Gonthrium. West of Gonth is the Western Sea, and beyond that the continent known as Fa’oon, the land of the ancient pillars and arches, the realm of the winged steeds, and the location of the Castle Çorveum. To the East of Kamcan is Thiakoll, the region of the great forest, home of the centaurs and location of Castle Equugaurd, the meeting place of the High Council of the Protectors of Peace. Southeast of Thiakoll you will find the region known as Ominion, the quagmire abode, and east of Thiakoll is Lake Motraw, and beyond that Pandorus, the great plains, where a great multitude of creatures roam freely. At the eastern edge of Pandorus is the Crackshed Canyon, which separates Pandorus from the eastern region of Edymin, the vast desert region where hopelessly lost travelers find themselves at Castle Judant. Beyond Edymin is the farthest reach of Duskfar, location of the Shadowforest, the Crystal Vaste, and the Glass Fortress…”
When they were finished, Martha stood up, and said, “Could I offer you some wine to toast your success in the new world?”
Ethan said quickly, “We don’t drink, we’re underage. Even if I wasn’t underage, I can’t drink anyways; my beliefs prohibit me from it.”
Martha suddenly looked devastated.
“Maybe just one wouldn’t hurt.” Ethan said carefully, “But not anything too strong.”
She brought out a bottle from a door on one side of the hall, and she blew the dust off the bottle and pulled the cork away.  She measured a little bit into five glasses, and held the glasses out to each of them. Kimmy threw a look at Martha, and asked, “What wine is that? Who’s the maker?”
“My own, actually. Well, not mine, mine’s awful, but this particular bottle was made by my great-great-great-grandmother, who was particularly good with the art.”
“Your family owns vineyards?”
“Yes, we, as leprechauns, come from the wine country, for, you see, everyone feels a bit luckier after they’ve had a good glass of wine.”
Jenna cracked a smile, and Kimmy silently giggled. They turned to each other with a look of foremost shock on their faces, and then stood rigidly still. Meanwhile, Martha raised her glass high, “To a long and happy future, and with luck, for darkness to cease, and for a great void of happiness to spread into your hearts. Cheers.”
They all took a swig of the wine, and it was very sweet and bitter at the same time. Kimmy sloshed it around gently before taking a drink, and then took a careful sip. She smacked her lips delightfully, “It takes like merlot, maybe a little pinot noir, and a little, oh, what is that, mint? I haven’t tried Thellasorrian wine yet.”
Ethan said, “I really don’t know my wines, Kimmy.”
Martha looked quite impressed, however. She was becoming more and more warm to them the more she was with them. She even gave Kimmy not one, not two, but six bottles of her great-great-great-grandmother’s wine.
Shortly afterwards, Solitude and Julian arrived. Solitude asked sweetly and with a wide smile, “How was your day today?”
Jenna said in voice matching the same false sweetness, “Perfectly fine.”
Solitude pursed her lips and gazed intently at her as the coach began to move. The awkward silence seemed to become more and more prominent every moment that Solitude and Jenna stared at each other.
Kimmy broke the silence, whispering in Solitude’s ear, “Just in case you don’t know, Solitude, Jenna’s a bitch.”
“Well, yes, I’m aware,” She whispered in Kimmy’s ear back, “Why do you have all that wine?”
“As a purveyor of fine wines, I deemed it prudent to bring some back with me. I hope you don’t mind. I may need it, if that Jenna keeps bothering me as she is now.”