Sweet Foam

Chapter two: Recognition

In the palace dining hall

As Morgan slipped inside the room, he noticed one thing right away; the whole family was gathered. Not just his father, mother, four brothers and little sister, but EVERYONE. All his relatives from all over the kingdom, even the ones he rarely saw. Momentarily set back, Morgan just waited by the door, hoping not to be seen. It was times like these that he hated being part of the royal family. If something big came up, a total family meeting took place.

‘Why can’t we have some peace and quiet around here?’ he grumbled silently.

He lingered at the door, then seeing no escape, slowly floated towards the table, taking his seat on his eldest brother’s right. His father gave him a look as if to say ‘Where have you been’ and his mother gently smiled as he reached for his glass of seaweed wine. Nerina made a face at him and he glared back at her, obviously still not over her interruption of his sleep. His father cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Well, now that my second son has decided to join us,” At this, Morgan gave a slight smile. “It is my duty to inform everyone of a momentous discovery that has taken place.”

The family members who had been arguing grumbled under their breaths, grabbing Morgan’s attention. If the family was this upset about something, it had to be big.

“It has come to my attention that new spells from the Harmonious Period, have recently been discovered, archived in a cave hidden by a sand fall.” Morgan leaned forward. “The spells, while old and almost unreadable, are in fairly good condition and are being translated as I speak. The historians say that they should be ready for examination in about one week.”

Morgan couldn’t believe his ears. New spells? From the Harmonious Period? Some of the best and most powerful spells came from that period of history. If he was able to learn at least one, his dream would come true. Morgan was very diligent in his spell work. Out of all of his siblings, he had taken to it the fastest. He was an accomplished magician, and loved learning new spells. He would lock himself in his room for days, trying to get a spell just right before trying it out. Maybe he could get his father to let him be one of the first to read the new translations. He would be able to be busy for days, weeks, maybe months! Anything to be able to work the spells of old. Morgan’s attention was brought back to the present as his Aunt Mariel spoke up.
“I don’t believe that the translations should continue. Those sorcerers of old were not known for their light, fluffy spells. There could be dark magic, capable of destroying the kingdom, in those scrolls.”

Morgan was taken aback, his face set as if in stone. How could his aunt be against this? This was one of the greatest treasures of all times! And she was worried about dark magic? The stupidity of people surprised him, yet he knew it shouldn’t. They never seemed to realize what precious treasures were under their noses until it was too late.

Morgan was too caught up in his own thoughts to hear the next announcement by his father. All he got was the tail end.

“..and I say that Morgan should join the efforts in reading these new spells. This will prove they have no evil.”

“Huh?” Morgan shot his head up. “What did you say? Weren’t you just fighting if they should be allowed?” Nerina gave him an exasperated look.

“That was fifteen minutes ago, Morgan. Do you ever pay attention?”

Morgan glared at her, then broke the look as his father cleared his throat.

“Morgan,” his father stated. Morgan watched him. “I am sending you to join the scientists in reading these spells as they archive them in our library. It is your job, as one the highly accomplished magicians, to test the ones that you are given and classify them as you discover what they are. It is doubtful that they are dangerous, but to relieve your aunt’s mind..” King Merlin glanced at his sister. “I ask that you do this in the effort to spare the weak-minded..” Aunt Mariel snorted. “from themselves. Do you accept this task?”

Morgan almost jumped from his seat. This was his wish! Did he want it? Of course! He remembered to keep his face impassive as he raised himself from the chair and bowed his head respectfully before answering.

“My king, Father, if it is your wish, I accept the task given to me.” With the speech out of the way, he sat back down as the dinner commenced around him and the relatives murmured among themselves. He ate his dinner, not paying attention to anyone or their conversations. When his mother rang for the dishes to be carried out, and the guests to retire to the large sitting room for talking and music, Morgan swam back to his room and flopped on his bed.

His brain was overwhelmed with the news of his responsibility. To be asked to do this was a huge honor, one he would not take lightly. If it was possible, maybe he could bring the spells to the cave. There he would have peace and quiet and the seclusion would keep all those who wished to destroy them safe. He made up his mind. His workshop would be the cave and then he would get that mortal out of his mind for good.

As if his thoughts summoned her, the image of her standing on the sandbar came to his mind. He tried to see her eyes, just knowing they were piercing and likely to look on him with scorn. He sneered. Like he cared what a mortal thought of him. They judged and never bothered to understand what was different from them. He closed his eyes, the sleep coming back and he settled into bed, dreaming of the brand new secrets he was to discover.


On the beach

Ally woke to the sounds of the seagulls and people stirring in their sleeping bags. The air was crisp, uncommon for California. She peeked out at the group of guys her brother hung out with. They were all lying about, too tired to move. She glanced towards the ocean. The tide was up; hopefully not too cold for a morning swim. Ally threw off the top of the sleeping bag and shucked her clothes off. She dashed across the sand and dove back in the waves.

The initial reaction was shock, but after she immersed herself, the water warmed up. She headed for the sandbar, anxious to see if the ‘thing’ came back.

The sandbar was empty of any life, so Ally just waded around, the water at her hips, due to high tide. She dug her toes into the sand, feeling for any sand crabs or sand shrimp. Her toe hit something and she yelped, the pain quick and sharp. She bent over and carefully began digging with her fingers in the area. Her fingers grazed against the edge of an object, almost twice the size of a quarter.

She picked it up, shaking it in the water to remove the remaining sand particles. It was an amulet, shaped like a jewel, encrusted in gold and rusted from the sea water. Ally studied it closely. On the back, engraved in the metal were phrases she had never seen before. They seemed to be in a different language.

Ally turned it over and studied the front. She looked at the engraved surface and thought she saw pictures of the sea. It was too covered by barnacles to truly see what was there. She rubbed at them, hoping to uncover at least some of the artwork.

A wave knocked her off balance from behind and she slipped, losing her footing and falling into the water as it’s force pounded into her. She shut her eyes, hoping to protect them from the stinging sea water. She floated for what seemed hours, though it was only a minute or two. The wave kept coming in and whenever she tried to pop back up, it would push her down again. An eerie feeling caused her to turn towards the open ocean and when she barely opened her eyes, she thought she saw a flash of gold. It vanished before flashing again and this time, Ally saw a long golden tail. She regained her balance and stood up, peering over the water to find that long tail. But it was gone.

Ally wiped the water from her eyes before it stung them and headed back to shore, the necklace clutched in her hand. Luckily it had not dropped when she went underwater. She swam with a vengeance, anxious to get back and go home before exploring the cave again. She had a feeling that what she had seen today would be explained down there.

A few of the guys were up and dragging their sleeping bags up to the pavement where they could shake them out and fold them. They peered through sleep-laden eyes at Ally as she cheerfully dragged on her clothes and began to break up camp. The noises of ten teenagers packing up soon filled the air and within two hours, they were ready to head back home.

Derrick drove his three friends that were riding with them home before questioning her.

“So, where’d you go last night, Allyson?” Derrick only used her full name when he had been worried and mad with her. Ally shook her head, refusing to answer. This made Derrick only more upset.

“C’mon, Allyson! You disappeared for more then three hours, I stopped counting after that because I was too busy looking for you and trying to stop myself from calling the police! Why didn’t you let someone know where you were? I mean, I know you have better sense then to just run off somewhere. At least you could’ve told me where you were planning to go even if you didn’t stay there. Jeez, I mean, damn it! Don’t do that! I can’t put up with that again, I think I’ll go nuts!”

Ally remained silent all through Derrick’s ranting and even after. As they pulled up to their house, Ally unbuckled, grabbed her stuff and darted out of the car before it was even turned off. Derrick sighed, still upset from his rant. Ally hadn’t paid any attention to him at all, he could tell.

Ally ran into the small kitchen that was warm from the baking her Nana was taking out of the oven. Cordelia O’Doole, known as Nana to her grandchildren and their friends, was a gentle lady, full of kisses and hugs. She was about 5 feet and 5 inches and plump around the waist, but in a fit, elderly fashion. Her light blue eyes sparkled as her only granddaughter rushed through the kitchen, quickly placing a peck on her cheek. Cordelia smiled warmly and nodded toward the pumpkin bread she had just pulled out of the oven as she spoke.

“Hello my darling. Did you enjoy the beach? Fancy some pumpkin bread, my punkin?”

Ally shook her head.

“Sorry Nana. I have to get ready to explore the cave some more.”

“Some more?”

“Yes. I snuck off last night and went further back. I found some cool paintings and tunnels. I’m going to try and see if I can unblock some of those passages.”

With that, Ally took off, never seeing her nana’s face grow pale.

Cordelia had been waiting for this day, but she had not expected it to come so soon. She set the bread down before she dropped it and wearily made her way to the table where she sat, contemplating what to do.

If Ally was going to uncover the passages Cordelia was worried about, she could bring back the war that had almost destroyed Cordelia’s people. But wait, how did she know if the caves were the same? Ally could be talking about another cave grouping. There were many along the coastline. This was not the time to overanalyze or jump to assumptions. Cordelia blew out a shaky breath and hummed an old healing song. A soft glow hovered around her and soaked into her skin. She closed her eyes, reveling in the smell of the sea breeze, and the old lilt of the words of her birth home. As the breeze died down and the glow vanished, she opened her eyes. She rubbed her hands, silently mourning the age that left them aching. She slowly stood up, the magic of her blood taking more out of her then it used to. She stood there for a few minutes before heading back to the stove. The rejoining would happen, but until it did, she could only wait and watch.


In the cave

Morgan shuddered and woke up to find himself in a sweat. The dream he had had was one of the more disturbing dreams he’d had in the past few months. This time, it involved that girl. And an old woman, singing the songs of the old to herself. How did a human know those songs? He wondered. The old woman’s face kept haunting him. Her eyes were sad and tortured, with a weary look that made him think of the Lost Ones. How difficult must it have been, to lose your home just to stay with a spouse or because it was too dangerous for the Mixed to enter safely without being harmed by the Pure as they called themselves. He sat up and wearily rubbed his face, anxious now. The dream had rubbed him the wrong way and he was feeling irritated. This was not the time to dreaming about silly stupid things when he had more important work to do.

He turned to the ledge where he had placed the first scrolls. He had come to the cave for the peace to study and had drifted off. Stupid of him to do such a thing when the whole population was relying on him helping translate the Ancients’ magic. He continued berating himself as he picked up the first scroll. The title read “Kashikoi Jujutsu”*. Roughly translated, it meant “Wise Magic”. He frowned. Okay, no big problem there. He glanced at the rest as his eyes traveled down. In fact, most of this was easily translated. A first year research student could do this. He was even more puzzled now. Why give him this ridiculously easy work, when he could possibly be more challenged and give better results with something harder. He was about to pick up the conch of ika chi when a sound of a hollow knocking came from the other side of the cave. He dropped the shell. The green liquid splashed in the water, making a sour smell arise. Morgan ignored it and quickly gathered all the scrolls, stuffing them into the bag. If someone or something was coming, it would not be a good idea to be found. It was quite possibly nothing. Many sounds from above ground reached the water, but this was too close to come from above. It had to be mortal and human. Then he saw it. A tiny hole was enlarging from the wall directly across from him. He grabbed the light ball, shrinking deeper into the water, just keeping his eyes above to see what progress was made. He muttered a few words and the light dimmed. There, that should keep him from being discovered. The hole got bigger and the distinct sound of metal on rock was heard. Were humans trying to build a transportation system here? That didn’t make sense. By rights, humans shouldn’t even be down this far.

Morgan narrowed his eyes as the light from the other side revealed a human figure against the hole’s opening. The human was tall and looked rather thin. It was difficult to tell due to the loose clothes it was wearing. It wiped its forehead and bent down. Morgan decided to make his escape then, but the figure rose and Morgan had to duck to the side to keep the light from hitting him. He swam to the wall, careful not to splash and slowly lifted his head, which was partially hidden by the overhang.

A metal canister held two twin bulbs of light and made a faint hissing noise. Morgan wondered if the light came from fire snakes. There seemed to be space at the bottom where one could curl up and easily blow fire to the holding chamber.

Morgan tore his gaze from the light and noticed the arm holding it forth. It was strong and slender, not a boy’s arm. A girl’s? He followed the arm to the shoulder which was covered in a sleeve to the elbow. Not very useful. Then the light began to drift downward and the face was uncovered.

It was a girl. She had pale white skin and long black hair that flowed with a gentle sheen. Her eyes were turned up, but she dropped them, revealing the most startling color of light green he had ever seen. They reminded him of the foam churned up in spell cauldrons. Her eyes were intense, looking around and taking everything in. He saw her step through the opening, into the room and that’s when he remembered. It was her. His dream-girl. The one from the sand bar. Oh baito fuka! Now how was he supposed to get out of this?

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Finally! An update! I greatly apologize for the long time in between chapters. I actually had this finished about last year. But then I left for home and dealt with unreliable internet and the wrong computer hooked to the internet. So, here it is. Another chapter. I hope you enjoy it because I did enjoy writing it..even though it took me forever.
Please review!

*-Almost forgot. This story will have a combination of Japanese and Latin thrown in. So far, all the words you've see are Japanese and no, i dont' speak it. I get help from an onlie translator, so some might not be the exact wording that would be spoken, but is as close as i can get it. Thanks.

Kashikoi-wise
Jujutsu- majic
ika-shark
chi-blood
fuka-shark
baito-bite