Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

50. Karou

I was in a haze through pretty much all of finals. I was consumed with worry about Farid, even though it had been months. As I left the last final of the year, I spotted Aaron leaning against the wall. I made my way over to him, mustering a smile. "Hey."

"Heya," he smiled back. "Avila is waiting for us down by the lake."

I blinked, frowning in thought as I adjusted my book bag. "I thought Avila escorted me from the last class of the day?"

We started walking down the hall. "Yes, well, um," he said, rubbing the back of his head. I noticed he was growing his hair out; it was a bit shaggy. "Avila wanted me to talk to you."

"Oh?" I was trying my hardest to stay focused, but my thoughts kept circling around to Farid and her mystery disease.

"You can't keep doing this," Aaron said. We walked out into the sunshine and made our way down to the lake. "You never eat, you're barely sleeping, and Avila and I have to keep walking with you everywhere to make sure you don't wander off." He tugged on my sleeve to recapture my attention, a habit he had picked up from Avila. "Farid wouldn't want this. You gotta pull yourself together." We walked in silence until we reached where Avila sat, under a willow tree on the edge of the lake. "You know what, let's do something impulsive," he said.

"Impulsive?" Avila asked.

"Yeah," Aaron replied. "To put Karou in the proper mindset."

The puckish part of my brain started to whir to life, dust falling off my mental gears. A small grin started to form on my face. As Avila and Aaron continued to discuss what we could do that would raise my spirits, I looked at the sunny sky and the glassy surface of the lake. I dropped my bag and started to pull off my robe.

The breeze was warm and playful on my shins, and I dropped to the ground, unlacing my Doc Martens as quickly as I could.

"What are you doing?" Avila asked. My head snapped up, and I gave them my signature grin, the one that made Farid pale with dread and Avila tense with anticipation.

Aaron smiled quizzically. "What's that look mean?"

"Nothing good," Avila muttered. "Hey, 'Rou, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna tickle the giant squid," I said calmly, performing a scuba spell under my breath so that the others couldn't hear me.

Aaron laughed, plopping on the ground next to me. "Looks like you're feeling better. I'd almost forgotten what you sound like when you're joking."

Avila narrowed her eyes at me. "I don't think she is, Aaron."

Just as she said that, I dropped my wand and threw myself to my feet, making a mad dash for the water. They called out, and I saw Avila running after me as my feet splashed in the water. I took a breath and dove in.

The water was cold and shocked my system, but I took in a breath of water and started to stroke out. In retrospect, I thought, this wasn't the best idea. I was not going to back out just because of a little cold, though. I didn't know how much time I had on this scuba spell, so I just assumed an hour would probably do it.

A stunning spell barrelled past me in the water, and I whirled around to look up through the water. I swam up, the distorted shadow slowly becoming recognizable as Avila riding a broomstick. I breached the surface of the water and took a breath.

"What are you doing?" Avila yelled. "Do you have any idea what's in that water?"

"Oh, grindylows, mermaids, and a giant squid. Where do you think it'll be?"