The Story of Aquabluu: Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Border Between Sea and Sky

“Helloooooooooo! Anybody hoooooome?”

“…”

“Psh. Don’t tell me they’ve already left without waiting for me? Those two…”

It was bright and early the next morning, and Hailey had come down underwater to Aqua and Marin’s house, waiting anxiously at their front door. He had been calling out and knocking for about five minutes; responded only by silence.

“Aqua! Marin! You in theeere?”

“Hey! Keep it down, will ya? We’re still sleepin’ here!” An angry neighbor pops out of his window, glaring at Hailey.

“Ah! S-sorry!”

Hailey looks once again at the house. It was obvious that making a racket at the front door was not going to work out. The two fairies might have already left the house; but Hailey’s strong sense of intuition tells him they were still inside.

“Maybe they’re still asleep…I’m sure they won’t mind if I took a liiiiitle peep through their windows…”

Hailey floats over to the top window of Aqua’s room and looks down. He sees a few scattered toys on the floor, and an unmade bed, but no Aqua. Maybe she and her brother really have left the house? Not giving up yet, Hailey goes over to the other side and peers this time into Marin’s room window through the glass. What he saw through that window made him smile.

The two of them were indeed still sound asleep; huddled up to each other too. Aqua’s head was snugly under her brother’s chin, holding onto him with her tail, just like how a precious little sister would act.

He rapped the window gently, watching them as they finally stirred from their slumber and uncurled themselves.

“Mmmm…mumble mumble…what’s making that noise…?” Marin looked towards the window.

“Oh, it’s just Hailey…haha…”

“Wait…WHAT?”

Shocked, Marin woke up immediately, hurried over to the window and opened it. His face went scarlet.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“We’re going to my place today aren’t we?”

“I know that, but why did you come all the way down here? You could have just waited at home or something…”

“Well hey, I thought I might keep you guys company for the trip! Your sis could certainly use some energy!” Hailey pointed to Aqua who was hurriedly getting off her big bro’s bed, squeaking in embarrassment. “As far as I know, she’s never been up to any of the surface cities, right? I could always help out to guide her and all.”

“That much is true, yes. I guess since you’re already down here there’s no reason for me to not get ready right away…Give us five minutes, Hailey.”

“Sure. Oh and by the way…” Hailey came closer to Marin’s ear and whispered. “You two look positively adorable together.”

“S-stop it…” Main blushed and was slightly annoyed. He started to clean up his room and get his things ready.

Aqua darted left and right around her room, picking up things and putting them into her ribbon pouch, which included some money, some pieces of candy and a small notebook. Aqua was really excited as she mounted the ribbon on her forehead and adjusted it. Marin and Hailey were waiting for her outside in the living room. As soon as all of them were ready, they headed out from the house.

“Right, so we have to exit through the main gate and head south from there to reach the surface path…” Marin recounted the way to Winvale.

“Wait um….big bro? If Winvale is above the ocean, why can’t we just swim up from here?”

“Hoh, that’s a good question Aqua.” Hailey chipped in. “But rather than telling you, why don’t you try it yourself? The surface isn’t very far up from here after all.”

“Hailey…”

“Don’t worry buddy, it’s completely fine! Give her some space to discover stuff for herself for once.”

Aqua’s eyes turned towards the surface, and then started swimming straight up. The bright sun rays gleaming down made her squint. As she ascended, she found it harder and harder to maintain a good pace. Was it her stamina? She wasn’t feeling breathless, but with each stroke of her tail she was propelling upwards less and less. There was quite a lot of water pushing her around too, left and right, making her wobbly and unbalanced.

Finally her head poked above the ocean surface, and Aqua looked around. She saw the blue sky, the sun, the sea…but nothing else. It was vast ocean as far as her eyes could see. Which direction was towards Winvale? What did it even look like? She didn’t know. The slightly choppy waves above the surface smacked her face as she tried paddling on the surface, making swimming on it a chore. If it was a pond or a lake, where the waters were calmer, she could have swam on the surface easily, but not here.

Letting out a sigh, Aqua dived back down. The water currents on the surface made it hard for her to go all the way down to home as she would have liked. Aqua had to make many adjustments to her swim, hovering around Lumii, before finally landing next to her big bro and Hailey. Marin heaved a sigh of relief while all Hailey did was chuckle.

“The look on your face tells me you already know why we don’t usually just go up, heh. Since our world is almost all ocean, it gets a little hard to navigate above the sea without some signs or paths to guide us.” Hailey patted Aqua on the back. “And buddy, see? Told you it was okay. Hailey never puts other people in danger needlessly.” he proclaimed.

“Alright already.” Marin replied, a little annoyed at the poke. “Well then, shall we head out?”

Arriving at the town square, Hailey stopped and looked around a bit, pondering something.

“Something the matter, Hailey?” Marin walked towards him.

“Well, there’s two ways we can get to my home, right? There’s the main gate and there’s…”

“Ah right, the south gate leading out of the market. Wait, isn’t that a longer way?”

“Yeah but if you’re not in an awful hurry we could use that road. After all, there’s waaaay more stuff to see if we head there.” Hailey nudges Marin, turning his eyes to Aqua, who was drifting left and right, a little away from them.

“But it’s almost another hour’s trip! Pretty much the only reason I ever take the south road is when we agree to meet up at-” Marin paused for a moment, realizing something. “Ah, yes, Aqua’s never been there before.”

“See? See? What’d I say, eh? I know we’re going to my place to attend to serious business, but no harm putting a little fun in the trip. Especially for your sister.”

“You seem awfully concerned about Aqua for someone who’s only just met her for the first time yesterday…Hey Aqua! We’re going this way!” Marin smiled and waved at the wandering Aqua, who came to join them right away. The three of them moved down into Lumii’s morning market towards the south entrance. Just like every other day, it was positively bustling; to the point where swimming through was a little difficult due to the large crowds.

“Excuse me, coming through, pardon…Hey, watch it!” Hailey moved and squeezed through the massive deluge of fairies, penguins and bubblies moving in all directions towards the stalls, bumping into one or two along the way.

In her efforts to keep up with Marin and Hailey, Aqua found herself drifting further and further behind as her path was constantly blocked by market-goers, struggling to see the two of them as they moved in front, until they were almost out of sight. Aqua panicked a little.

“Big bro! Big brooo! Wait for me!”

Aqua hopped a bit, tip-toeing on her feet, hoping to catch Marin’s attention. Marin and Hailey vanished into the sea of fairies, out of her sight. She was a bit scared now. “Big broooo!” she yelled. It drew the attention of some of the crowd around her. Marin turned around and quickly went to her side.

“Here…hold on to my hand, okay? Don’t get lost now; stay close to big bro...” Aqua wrapped her tail around Marin’s arm firmly, and the two of them made their way slowly across the market. Hailey, who was leading the way, looked at them, smiling. As Aqua calmed down she was able to take a better look at the market’s surroundings, turning to stare at the stalls selling food and knick-knacks along a narrow, straight path paved in pebbles. Tall rocks lined both sides of the market street, with little spaces dug into them and used as storerooms or rest spots.

Eventually, the road widened and the south gate came into sight. Carriages holding goods and produce were moving through the gate, coming in from the surface or other fairy towns.

“Phew! Glad we got outta there; that was one of the busier markets I’ve been to. Why does everyone have to come to your town market, Marin?” Hailey asked. All Marin could do was shrug. Another long path was ahead of them, but the open road was a nice change of pace from the busy marketplace.

“Pyu…there were so many people it was getting hard to breathe. I was getting a little dizzy too!” Aqua chimed in. “Big bro, you come here every day, right?”

“Well, every off day I get, but you get the idea, little sis. But it’s okay, I’m used to it.”

“Maybe I should follow big bro down to the market more often instead of staying at home…”

“But you’re never really at home most of the time either, are you? Always wandering around town by yourself, right?” Marin gave a nudge.

“Eheheh…” Aqua turned away sheepishly.

As they walked down, Aqua remained keen about her surroundings, looking all around her at the barren, open surroundings. It reminded her of the path that led to Luna; most open-sea paths were like this, Marin had told her. There would be a few landmarks or signs here and there, maybe a small forest of corals or plants, and occasionally a little rest hut, but that was it. She gazed behind her as Lumii became smaller and smaller in the distance while they journeyed forward.

About fifteen minutes later, Marin and Hailey were still chipper, while Aqua seemed to be a little worn out.

“Are we there yettttt? My feet are getting tired, big bro…”

“Haha, come on Aqua, where’s that adventurous spirit of yours? You gotta get used to that if you wanna travel far and wide. Ol’ Hailey knows that feeling quite well!” The proud little bubble crossed his arms, as Aqua, still not used to walking long distances without a break, sighed. Marin, ignoring his friend’s little display, inspected the path ahead
.
“There should be a path to the left, right about….here. Yeah, this is the way. Guys, over here.”

“Oh hey isn’t this the spot where all the…” Hailey paused as he saw a knowing look on Marin’s face. “Ahh, I see you’re trying to get in on the fun too eh?”

Aqua toddled over. “What is it big bro? What’s so special about this road here?”

“Oho, you’ll see, little sis. Hailey also wants to show you something, but that’s after I show you mine. Then we can compare to see which one’s cooler!”

“I never agreed to thaaaat!” Hailey playfully punches Marin on his shoulder, eliciting a giggle from Aqua. A little down the path, the well-trodden road faded and disappeared, replaced with a soft, sandy plain. In front of the trio were numerous dunes of the soft sand, both large and small. It was a really, really bumpy-looking road.

“It looks nice…but how are we going to know where we’re going when there’s no path?” Aqua turned to her brother.

“Ah, don’t worry, the actual path is over there." Marin pointed to a well-trodden path next to the sand dunes. We can always swim over these dunes and walk the path, but I have something better in mind.” Marin said, sitting on the top of a particularly large hill of sand. “Hailey and I play on these dunes sometimes, in fact!”

“Your big bro may not seem the type, but he actually has some serious fun every now and then!” Hailey explains to Aqua, before sitting right next to Marin. They look at each other and nod. Before Aqua could utter another word, the two pushed themselves, sliding down the sand dune at a high speed.

“Wheeeeee!”

“Pyu~?!” Aqua swam over the top, looking at the two of them careening into the valley below. They got up and waved at Aqua.

“Come on down! It’s funnnn!”

Aqua just stood there in place, not knowing what to do. Marin swam back up, positioning himself behind Aqua. He placed his hands on Aqua and gently coaxed her into a sitting position.

“Relax, little sis~ Big bro’s going to be here to guide ya. Ready?”

Without any further warning, Marin pushed himself and Aqua down the sand.

“H-h-hey I wasn’t readyyyyyyy!” Aqua squealed, sliding down at full speed, her eyes closed and heart thumping. Right behind her was Marin, who followed her down the sand, laughing heartily. The two siblings gradually came to a stop at the bottom, where Hailey was waiting.

“You okay there Aqua?” Hailey asked, while Aqua got back on her feet, dusting herself off. There was a smile on her face which needed no further explanation.

“Enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Marin walked up to her with a smirk on his face.

“Let’s do that againnnn! I wanna slide faster this time!” Aqua was positively beaming with excitement.

And so they had fun, climbing and sliding forward along the sandy plain. Aqua noticed many traders and travelers along the way, moving in the opposite direction towards the fairy settlements, or moving in the same direction towards…well, Aqua had no idea what was ahead yet!

With each descent Aqua’s nervousness faded away and her playful self returned, laughing and squeaking in delight with her company. This was definitely one of the best playtimes she’s had in a while; more so that this was her first time experiencing the sand slides. She noticed the surface of the water grow closer and closer as they moved forwards.

Eventually, the path became less bumpy, and Aqua stared upwards to see a gentle slope of sand going all the way up towards the ocean surface. Marin and Hailey stood behind her, taking a short pause from walking and all looking up towards the end of the path on top.

“Well little sis…” Marin turned towards Aqua. “Shall we?”

Aqua nodded with confidence and smiled. She was ready. It was a grand milestone for Aqua, to finally see the world above the border of the sea. The excitement felt like travel to a different country, far away from home, even though Lumii was but a short hour’s swim away. This path was walked on by many people; even her brother and friends, but that didn’t dampen the significance of it to Aqua. This was her moment. She marched forward towards the top.

Splash!

Aqua emerged from the water, taking her first breath of fresh air above the sea. Marin and Hailey followed shortly after. Aqua took her first good look at the clear, blue sky, dotted with clouds and of course, the shimmering midday sun. The sky was wider than she had ever imagined; there was no end to how far it stretched, towards the horizon, and upwards into space. Aqua smiled to herself.

Turning her gaze forward, Aqua saw a lively, bustling island of sand with many pearly white buildings made of coral and stone, arranged neatly in rows along the coast. There were signs on them, and colorful displays showing many different knick-knacks, toys and food; they were all stores. Wide paths of either wood or pebbles lined the storefronts, going in a loop around the island. Most of this path was shaded from the sun by giant umbrellas. The whole island looked like a tropical resort by the sea, or a small port town, or both. It was very crowded, with water fairies, bubblies and penguins moving around. Some were carrying boxes and wares, others looking at the store displays, and some were resting on the sand, chatting away happily. “What is this place?” Aqua wondered, as her eyes lit up and mouth gaped open taking in the sights.

“Wooooooow! This is so much bigger than the market back home!” Aqua exclaimed. “Where are we? Is this where you live, Hailey? I thought you said you lived in the sky, but we’re not yet in the sky? And it’s still pretty small for a town, where are all the gardens and meadows and stuff you mentioned yesterday?” Aqua asked question after question with an innocent smile on her face. There was suppressed laughter from Marin, and Hailey looked slightly unamused. So much for his tour guide impression!

“For starters, no, this is not where I live.” Getting that out of the way, Hailey quickly regained composure. “Ahem…aaaand…this was what I wanted to show you, little Aqua. It’s a port town where allllll the nearby fairies, bubblies and penguins come to set up shop because of how close it is to everywhere! It’s my favorite hangout; I’d invite your big bro here all the time just to have fun!”

Aqua turned to Marin, who nodded in confirmation.

“Welcome to Arberth, little sis! Let’s take a break and have some fun here before heading up to Hailey’s home!”