Fractured Soul

Chapter 14: Fire and Water

Mella found the bathroom, and was shocked to see her face in the mirror. She was lucky she hadn't been hit that night. Her face was dirty and she was dusted in soot and ash from the fires. I'm a wreck…

Mella washed everything away and looked at the clothes left to her. Kev had left her leggings, a skirt, and a long sleeved sweater. They were all blue or grey, but what did she expect? It was a water city, just like Berna was a fire village. She didn't see any shoes anywhere. Weird…

Thankfully, the clothes fit her and Mella headed out of the room to the landing. More stairs led up, while other led down. Just how big is this place? Mella wondered, as she started walking downstairs. It was cold in the house, and she was glad the sweater was warm, but her practically bare feet were freezing. Mella didn't want to use her fire magic. It was bad enough someone already knew about it, she wasn't going to flaunt it to the world.

Four flights of stairs later, she finally reached the ground floor. Alex was sitting on the bottom step.

"Alex, I have a couple of questions: where can I get a pair of shoes and why are the stairs so cold?"

Alex jumped up and turned around when he heard her. He was holding something in his hands.

"Wow, you look almost completely different!"

"Gee, thanks. Anyways, shoes?"

"Oh yeah. Kev ran back and gave me these. He said he'd accidently dropped them. And you'll understand why the stairs are so cold in a minute. Come on." Alex handed her a pair of navy blue flats and walked to the door. Mella pulled them on and walked over next to Alex. Alex yanked the door opened and they stepped out into the sunlight.

Ryn was beautiful. Everything was bright, and the buildings sparkled in the light, as if they were made of crystal or glass. There was a lot of people walking around, all around Mella's age and wearing water colors. Some passing by just kept walking, others looked up and started whispering. Mella couldn't help but hear them.

"Hey, who's that?"

"Who?"

"That girl with Alex. She's never been here before has she?"

"I don't think so…but there was a rumor that a new girl had washed up on the other side of the river. Maybe that's her."

"Mella? Can you hear me?" Alex waved a hand in front of her face.

"What? Sorry, I heard the other people talking." Mella said.

"Ignore them. They would do anything for a piece of 'news.' But this is pretty cool, huh? The buildings are made of ice, so you can be infinitely creative." Alex said.

"Yeah, that's amazing. Wait, so how does the furniture get up there? It's not made of ice too is it?"

"Nah, there's the odd air elemental here and there in Ryn. They're always glad to help out. You should see the buildings around festival time. We make them glow different colors. It's amazing to see."

Alex and Mella joined the crowd and started walking towards the edge of the buildings. Mella wanted to look at everything, while Alex went on about a festival. Mella wasn't really paying attention.

"Nadai's festival every year around the solstice. Everyone dresses up and it's a huge party. You can ask anyone to go with you, and there's dancing, and Kai wanted to know if you would go out with him. By the way, my hair is turning blue and are you even listening, Mella?"

"Sort of. Why would your hair be blue?" Mella said, looking at a building that didn't seem to have any straight edges.

Alex grabbed her wrist to get her attention. Mella jerked away and glared at him. She still wasn't that comfortable around other people, especially guys. Wait that makes no sense…what's wrong with me. Maybe it's left over from Berna, no one really trusted me there, except Myra and Rei…