Thousands of years ago a war broke out on a distant island, splitting its occupants into factions. Alifero, Cornucopia, Querencia and Aranea. The tension between them that has been unyielding for centuries only grows when their precious water starts...
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I frown at my sketch of a willow tree. It was a simple drawing, and one I could certainly do, but I had no reference other than my mind. None of it looked right, the proportions were off and something about the water I had drawn was just wrong.
The drawing was a way for me to take a break after hours of study. I trained in the morning, as usual, then had breakfast, and sat down to work on the water issue. A lot of that time was wasted worrying about a potential war and I got nowhere so I moved on. Studying was fine until Sneeg came in to distract me with tales of his latest venture to a jungle temple to find some treasure for Father. He had returned with literal bars of gold, some lapis lazuli as well as a couple of other jewels. After his stories, I couldn't focus and turned my attention to drawing instead of working.
I hadn't been to the Pube since the party. Wilbur had told me that the boys filled in Beau and they were trying to find a way to talk Querencian officials down from the idea of battling a military superpower.
With a sigh, I stare up at my much more successful drawings, smiling when my eyes brush over the portraits of Sneeg, Niki and Wilbur. I remember how I used to think they were silly until Sneeg had put his up on the wall for me with a wicked grin.
"You should be admiring me all the time," he had joked, or something along those lines. His cockiness never ceased to make me smile.
"Aster," my smile quickly slid off my face as Amélie calls me from the door. I turn on my stool to look at her. Confusion fills my thoughts when I see her too-smiley face.
"It's dinner time," she sounds like a little girl at her first sleepover.
"What's the occasion?" I grunt knowing full well we hadn't had a proper dinner together for quite some time. Probably since Phil yelled at me and banned me from the kitchen; a rule I had promptly ignored.
"Joshua is here for dinner," my shrug takes more out of me than it should. I feel anger simmer under my confusion. What's that prick doing here?
I can hardly stand to look at him anymore. My teeth grit together as I remember how he treated me. He pretended to be my friend, pretended to like me, pretended to stand being next to me. The second he was able to, he swept Amélie off her feet and they've been an item since. He didn't lead me on since we were never together, but I liked him, I really liked him and he pretended to care about me. That's far worse than just hating me from the beginning.
I sigh. "What do I have to do?"
"Don't lose your temper," Amélie instructs before disappearing back down the hall.
