Chapter 6: Breathing in the Salty Air

The dark water parted to reveal a glowing city bright as a gold plated emerald. It held high pillars of elegance to display its wealth. The quiet happy streets proved the peace of ocean life. The people there resembled glorified beings, bright and beautiful with flowing clothessurrounding them. They floated with ease on their limbs exactly as a normal human being. Down the sparkling streets swam a crowd bowing to a throne carried by dolphins. Upon the golden throne sat four seats, three being occupied by humans. Dyazinah sat upon the highest, surrounded in emerald and gold. On the two lower seats of the throne sat Pasko and Rougiz both extravagantly dressed and royal looking. Trumpets signaled a glorious arrival of the three humans as they approached the palace of the city. Through the door came a...

Dyazinah woke with a startle. She had had the same dream when she was unconscious earlier. Sitting up from her bed roll, the girl rubbed her eyes. It was near dawn so she decided to get up and go to the sea. Walking quietly through her sleeping friends, Dyazinah made her way in the trees. Nature was her comfort especially the ocean. When she finally reached the water, she gently placed her feet into the calming currents. Something distant came to her ears... almost a soft singing coming from the ocean.

Somehow she knew the calming song. It wasn't the language she spoke, but somehow she still understood. It was almost like a lullaby. She walked ankle deep in the water and sang along. The tempo was medium slow. Dyazinah spun in large, gentle circles as she sang with the ocean. The sky was pink and orange from the rising sun. The water was a mixture a purple, green, and blue. Why is this song so familiar? Where have I heard it before?

"Dyazinah," said a tired voice from behind her. She turned to find Rougiz rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Dyazinah looked back at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, do you want some breakfast? Pasko is making it."

"Are you gonna let a girl be better than you again? What's wrong, can't make yourself breakfast?" Dyazinah said teasingly as she hugged Rougiz good morning.

"Yeah, yeah," he said mumbling in his tiredness.

Dyazinah walked through the trees and saw Pasko cooking over a small fire in the center of their camp site.

"My, look at you. Just got out of bed and you are still gorgeous as ever," said Pasko with a loving smile.

"Oh, but never as beautiful as you," responded Dyazinah in a sisterly way.

"Yes, you two look lovely, but I am much more attractive than either of you. My intense beauty is indescribable," Rougiz said in a high voice, twirling around the girls.

Pasko shook her head and turned back to breakfast. "I know where we have to go," said Pasko.

"How?" asked Dyazinah curiously.

"Last night, I had a vision."

"You."

"Yes."

"When do we leave?" asked Rougiz.

"As soon as we are done eating," responded Pasko.

"Where are we going?" asked Dyazinah.

"You wouldn't know even if I told you," answered Pasko.

"What?"

"Just wait and see."

Dyazinah sat down on her sleeping pad. She had a feeling in her heart to trust Pasko, but her head was thinking otherwise. Oh shut up. She thought to herself, more towards her brain. I'll trust my heart. Most things haven't been very logical lately.

"You two may want to pack up. We'd best be leaving as soon as we finish eating," said Pasko.

"Then we will be waiting on you to pack when we are done," said Rougiz smartly.

"No, I'm already packed."

The three friends stood at the shore in the early morning. They wore dark under clothing, nothing too frilly or flowy. Their packs were bound tightly on their backs. The two girls wore their hair tied into a secure bun.

"You are insane!" Rougiz said, looking into the water. He turned to Pasko on the opposite side of his sister. She stood rigid as stone, eyes entranced on the beckoning sea.

"No...,"Dyazinah whispered. "We have to do this."

"What? Just step into the water and breathe beneath it?" Rougiz asked with force. He waited for an answer and when he didn't get it, he stalked off. Dyazinah grabbed his hand and held onto it, just as he had before.

"Trust me...," she said. Pasko clasped the other. Together, they entered into the warm water slowly as Pasko instructed. She had had the vision to enter into the water and search for the Lost City. Crazy but possible.

Somehow... it was possible. They continued to walk into the water as it slowly rose. It was up to Pasko's chin when Rougiz stopped. He faced the two, eyes searching and fearful.

"Remember I will always be there with you," Dyazinah whispered. Pasko grinned at Rougiz's silly fear though within herself, she couldn't help questioning the possibilities.

She looked up to his face to see him staring at her intently. When their eyes met, they both flicked them quickly and faced forward.

"C'mon...," Pasko said, heart pounding. "We must arrive as soon as we can." Stepping forward, the water immediately covered Pasko's nose. Another step covering Dyazinah's and yet another... Rougiz's. Rougiz and Pasko panicked at the sense of not breathing. They started to float upward with each attempted step they took, all except Dyazinah. Her hair loosed itself, feet always on sand, holding her friends down. Pasko started to faintly loose her grip on Dyazinah's hand. Looking up, the girl saw her friend turn slightly purple from no oxygen. On her other hand, Rougiz was experiencing the same feeling.

"Feel the ocean call to your soul!" Dyazinah shouted through the water, "breath through its offering of air!"

Rougiz and Pasko were intimidated by the ocean and struggled to get back to the surface. Rougiz finally yanked out of Dyazinah's grip and swam as quickly as possible to the air. He took long exhausted breaths. He had difficulty treading water while trying to catch his breath. Pasko then yanked free and tried to maintain a place above the water next to Rougiz.

Dyazinah calmly floated upward. "Sissies..."

"You're crazy! The only reason you can do it is because you are-," started Rougiz.

Pasko violent struck him at the mouth to hush him. She whispered in his ear, "This is not the right time to discuss the prophesy."

"Anyway," Rougiz continued, "I can't." He turned to Pasko and asked, "Are you sure this is what we are supposed to do?"

"Yes. But maybe not yet."

"See Dyazinah," Rougiz said, "We don't have to do this now."

Dyazinah's eyes glazed and she saw in her head pieces of their journey. "We're not meant to find the city yet, but we are meant to be in the water."

"What?" asked Pasko.

"We need to find the map."

"Rougiz turned quickly to Pasko and whispered, "The 'map' from the prophesy?"

Pasko whispered in response, "It must be." Turning back to Dyazinah she said, "Alright lead the way."

"Try breathing underwater again."

"NO!" Rougiz answered defensively. "You almost killed me last time. I can't do it."

If you thought that was bad... just wait, thought Dyazinah.

"Okay..." she said, "let's head back to shore." The three swam calmly. When they were in about 3 foot deep water Dyazinah tackled Rougiz and pushed him into the sand. His head was underwater and it was impossible for him to reach air. He moved violently, struggling to find a way to breathe, but Dyazinah held her grip steady.

"Dyazinah!" Pasko screamed. "Let go of him NOW!" Rougiz's face was turning purple.

"No. He has to learn." Dyazinah stuck her head under and said, "Breathe!"

Rougiz shook his head continuing to hold his breath. Dyazinah punched him in the stomach and he released his air. Now Rougiz panicked more than ever.

"Breathe," Dyazinah repeated.

When his body could handle it no more, it automatically inhaled. It rejected the bitter salt water at first, but he slowly began to accept it.

"Not so bad?" Dyazinah said underwater as she let go of her brother.

Rougiz swam into deeper water, never coming up for air.

Dyazinah turned to Pasko, "Your turn."

Pasko shuttered, slowly stepping into the water and back out again. Her eyes were wide with fear at the thought of such a violent outcome from her friend. Dyazinah held out her hand, trust on her face.

"I will never harm you the way I did my brother," she said warmly. "We will do it together... I have faith in you." Accepting the hand, Pasko walked shakily in the clear water, kicking up dirt as she walked, "Alright, now on the count of 3. One... two... thr-"

A sudden splash sucked Pasko into the water beneath her, a firm grip around her waist. The shock had not allowed enough breath for the girl to fight whatever was holding her back. Twisting her head around, Pasko saw the ever stupid Rougiz holding her in the water. It was his turn to make her adapt to the ability to convert the water into oxygen. He spun her around so she could face him with immense electricity emitting from her eyes.

"Do not fight the water," Rougiz said, in an oddly serious voice. He wrapped his left arm tightly around her waist and drew her near. With his free hand, he lifted and pushed Pasko's head up towards him. Bending forward to the suffocating girl, he leaned into her lips, his only centimeters away her own.

"OWAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Pasko screamed, exerting all of her air within her. She violently shoved and punched Rougiz away from her as she panicked when sucking in the ocean water. (At this point, Rougiz was slowly floating to the surface of the water, obviously in too much pain to swim.) Within seconds, Dyazinah was by her side, holding her hand.

"Continue breathing!" she ordered the girl. Closing her eyes, Pasko inhaled the salty water, somehow able to extract the oxygen from within. From behind her, Rougiz's hand gave her a pat on the back.

"Good job!" he exclaimed, bubbles exerting from his mouth. Pasko's deadly glare was once again shot at him. He continued, laughing, "I couldn’t think of any other way to force to do it until I realized the attraction I have would take away your breath."

"Yeah? And I can bet that that attraction would be compared to the fish poo floating in this water," she said, a bite to her tone. "I must say that is truly was rather frightful to be so dangerously close to that poo!" Pasko slammed another large punch upon his stomach before turning to Dyazinah to express glee for breathing under water.

"Now that our fun is over," Dyazinah said, smiling at her friends, "we must now look for the map."

"But how?" Pasko asked.

"Yeah, we don't even know what it looks like," Rougiz added in. A mysterious gleam lit up the girl's face.

"We will just have to find out now won't we?" Dyazinah said, turning into the endless ocean ahead of them.

Dyazinah swam into deeper water, not really knowing where she was going. She let the ocean lead the way. Rougiz swam up next to Pasko who was about a foot and a half behind Dyazinah.

"You know you enjoyed being so close to me," he said.

Pasko faked a laugh and gave him a deadly stare. "No, trust me, I really didn't. To tell you the truth, it was one of the most frightening experiences of my entire life!"

"Oh now, don't get full of yourself. The only reason you didn't kiss me is because my little sister was right beside us."

"Don't get full of myself? Why, you're one to talk!"

Rougiz stared intently at her with his shinning aqua eyes, "You know I'm right. You'll warm up to me eventually." Rougiz swam up next to Dyazinah, leaving Pasko alone.

How immature! She thought.

"So sis, where are we headed?" Rougiz asked.

Dyazinah turned right once they were in deep enough water to sea the wonders of the ocean but still close enough to land to follow the shore line in an eastern direction. Rougiz and Pasko followed. "Well, I'm not exactly sure," answered Dyazinah.

"So we are basically just swimming around?" responded Rougiz.

"No. Trust me. We're going in the right direction. I just don't know where we are going."

"Uh-huh... you want to explain that to me?"

Dyazinah rolled her eyes and gave him a slightly annoyed look, "Haven't you been listening to the ocean?" She swam ahead of him.

Listen to the ocean? Rougiz thought. "Well, there’s one problem." He yelled to Dyazinah, "The ocean doesn't talk, sweetheart."

Pasko swam up next to him, "Hey, maybe you should listen to your sister. Take the advice. Shut up, and listen."

"Don't act like you know more than I do. In case you have forgotten, I am 19 years old thank you very much. And you my dear, are 18. I am older making me better and wiser. So don't go acting like you have the authority over me."

Pasko had a look of disgust on her face, "Excuse me? You may be older, but you are immature and stupid."

Rougiz was taken aback at Pasko's remark.

"Myself and your little sister are both stronger, smarter, braver, kinder, and more mature than you are. So don't go acting like your all that. I have a news flash for you... You're not!"

Rougiz was stunned as he uttered his one word comeback, "...what?"

"Oh don't give me that pathetic attitude. I could have listed more qualities, but out of courtesy, I stopped there."

Rougiz had a look of shock on his face as Pasko smiled and swam up to mingle with Dyazinah. Her multiple personalities towards sexes absolutely boggled his mind.

The small group swam consistently on the shore line looking for the map Dyazinah had told them to find. After several hours, they decided to rest and find something to eat. In a small water cave, they swam to a corner to lay their tired bodies down, eating some sea weed.

"This is absolutely disgusting!" Pasko said as she ripped the slimy weeds into her mouth. She squinted her face in disgust at the different texture and taste of the food. Dyazinah laughed and laid down on the rock closing her eyes. The wound in her side started to burn immensely out of no where. She shot up and almost hit her head on the rocks around her. Her two friends rushed to her side, fear in their eyes.

"Oh its nothi--," a sharp wave of fire shot through her body, cutting off the sentence. Dyazinah held onto her side, her hands warming to the touch of her skin. Pasko pushed the dumb struck Rougiz away and ripped the clothing on Dyazinah's side away. The large puncture wound that had healed pulsed. Thin spider web veins of bright green started spreading from the fist sized scar to the rest of her body. With each pulse of the scar, a violent reaction spread roughly through the rest of Dyazinah's body. Her eyes rolled to the look at the cave ceiling in pain, glazed with pain. "What's...where's... the... em...er...ald?!" Dyazinah said, body convulsing with more rapid effects. A gigantic convulsion shot through her body.

Her sharp scream echoed deafeningly through the cave. Pasko tore the pack from her back and dug as fast as she could while Rougiz held Dyazinah to comfort her with little effect. Right as Pasko pulled out the large tainted emerald, the electric green scar gave one last extensive pulse before it exploded. Blood shot from the wound once more, only this time, it had electric green streams within it. Dyazinah weakly grabbed the huge emerald and started covering it with her blood. The blood clung thickly to the emerald, despite the ocean water surrounding them. Soon all of the green veins in the girl's body were gone, as the ocean worked to seal the wound once more.

Lifting the jewel in her hands, Dyazinah clasped the emerald, fire burning in her eyes. Bright light expelled from the girl's finger tips, blinding all three of friends as the ocean became still.

When Pasko opened her eyes, she saw Dyazinah limply laying on Rougiz's chest, his eyes full of worry. Pasko's own bright blue eyes fell looking for the jewel that had been in her friend's hand. She struggled to look for the item because the cave had the thick taste, smell, and presence of Dyazinah's blood. Everything was hard to see. Finally, a hint of green light caught Pasko's eyes in the corner of the cave. An almost clear, emerald shell, the size of her hand, sat... waiting to picked up. Pasko swam to the shell and looked intently at it. Upon the shell, were deep red inscriptions on it. A gasp escaped the girl’s lips. It was the map...