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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Whilst the rest of the house slept, I lay awake, bathed in my thoughts, staring at Beau's bedroom ceiling. Tubbo and Ranboo were sleeping on the bunk beds in Tubbo's room whilst I took the second single bed in Beau's room. When they built the house, Tubbo made sure that there were four beds, one for each of them. I opted for the couch but Tommy insisted that it was better to sleep in a room with Beau that had proper heating. Another pro to add to Tubbo's house, he had a heating system. Downstairs was a bit chilly, but Tommy was thick-skinned enough to take it for a night.
My only issue was that it was going to be harder to sneak out.
Beau keeps snoring as I slip on a new set of old clothes since my caving clothes from today were still damp. Though, I wear my training shirt and wrap my fists instead of wearing a loose muslin shirt. Carefully, I open my bag and pull out the invisibility potion I knocked from Tubbo's workroom earlier. It is the only one we have, and I will need all of it to get through those tunnels again.
I refuse to fail again. When we were children, Amélie teased me about being a sore loser. That was the case when I would compete with her in training, but now losing carried more weight than the approval of my parents. Whatever comes next could determine the fates of all of our lives.
My hand touches the bedroom doorknob and I freeze. Beau sleeps soundly, curls in a tangled mess and wings sticking out at odd angles. She is oblivious to the fact that I'm leaving. All of them are. A twinge of guilt pricks at my conscience, but I shake it away.
It's fine, a voice says in my mind. They'll thank me when I come back and none of them had to get hurt. I only plan to investigate the caves some more until I get answers to my questions. Once that's finished, I'll come back and we'll have everything we need for a flawless plan. I set my jaw and push the door open.
I tiptoe down the stairs, refusing to so much as glance in Tommy's direction. One look at him and I know I'll be forced to stay. Like Beau, his deep breathing indicates that he's long gone and won't wake when I open the front door.
"Just promise me that you won't do anything stupid."
The front door closes softly behind me and I turn to the caving equipment that we had left out on the porch.
"Only if you promise to let me protect you if I need to"
The metal buckles of the harness clink together as I trudge through the gate to Tubbo's farm. I head for Alifero.
"You can't just-"
"The three of you mean the world to me. I couldn't live with myself if something went wrong, and I wasn't able to protect all of you."
