Elemental Academy: Rushing Waves (Silver Year)

Chapter 9: Affection

It was easier to find Flow than Splash. I guess I can just locate him faster, as his partner.

Actually, River found Splash. Like I said, partners find partners.

After finding Flow, I decided to bring River along to help me track Splash. And it was probably the reason why we found him so easily.

Strong, he may be, but clever is he too. Who knew he'd pick one of the trees closest to the entrance of the Forest? Yes, we searched the far trees first.

But of course, as we came back, River would just notice the little speck of blue clothing that belonged to Splash.

It's never occured to me before, because I never really talked to Flow. I guess partners have a stronger connection than with other Elementals.

💧 Cliff 💧

It doesn't seem like I'll be able to be here as often as last year, so I guess I should cherish all the moments I have at the Cliff.

It will never fail to comfort me. The peaceful waves always sends a cool feeling through my body, and it's pleasant.

Even if I was in a battle on the Cliff, I'd still be calmer. Heck, I should fight all my battles at the Cliff.

As I was watching the waves, I heard Angel's voice again.

"Hi there. Can we have a talk?"

I refused; I told her that I was busy. She only smiled and said to come to her when I was free.

I'm free now. Though, I want to spend my time at the Cliff.

"That's okay. I can just come to the Cliff and talk to you, otherwise."

Did I say my thoughts aloud? "Um..."

"Oh, distracted in your thoughts? Yeah, I heard you." Angel took a seat beside me. "Can we talk now?"

"Sure," I muttered. Forget being calm at the Cliff, for some reason Angel is making me nervous right now.

"Don't get so worried," Angel said. "I just wanted to talk to you about one of your friends. RiverRapids, was it?"

Huh?

"Surprised?" Angel smiled. "Don't worry about a thing. I just wanted to ask about her occasional visits to the Dark Zone."

So the girl Zap and Angel were talking about was River? "Um... I didn't know anything about that."

"You didn't?"

"W-well," I stammered, "River and I aren't that much of friends."

Angel placed a hand on my shoulder. "Stop worrying. Relax! If you didn't know anything, that's fine. I just thought you were closer to her and knew more about her."

As much as I was trying to, I couldn't calm down. It was hard to focus.

Angel sensed this and frowned. "Pacifia? You okay?"

I couldn't respond. Why can't the Cliff help me calm down?

I passed out.

💧 Dark Zone 💧

"Awake, are we now?"

"Huh?" I sat up and blinked. Angel was on the edge of the bed, looking at me with concern. "You acted weird back there. What's going on?"

"I-I'm not s-sure," I stammered. It was difficult to focus, even now.

"Woah there, girl. Calm, even breaths. That's weird. I'd expect you to have been as calm as ever. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't say anything to trigger anything, right?"

I waited. "No," I said, clearly. "It just started happening, and it just took control. I didn't know what was going on, either."

"That's weird, Pacifia."

"I know it is, Angel. And it's really dark in here. I can barely even see you."

"Well, I can see you as clear as day. Er, metaphorically. Um, anyway, I need to talk to you for a little bit longer. If you'd like, we can speak in your Zone."

"That would be great," I admitted.

💧Water Zone 💧

As soon as I entered, I saw Quake's face light up. He said, "Pacifia! Thank goodness you're okay. I couldn't find you anywhere! I was searching for the last hour!"

"The last hour? That's comforting."

"Well, now that I know you're safe, I need to go. Bye!"

"Bye."

Angel laughed. "Well, there's a guy for you."

"No," I quickly said. "He's just like my brother."

"Yeah, yeah. So, I wanted to talk to you about Zap this time..."

"Zap? Why?"

"You were in that... room with him, right? What happened in there?"

"Please, never mention this again. Um, it was dark, we were bound, I was hit, etc."

"Okay, sorry... oh! Here's an easy question. What do you think of him?"

"What do I think? Well, he's really brave. And he really seems to care about those he loves."

"Oh, really?"

"Definitely. He might even go to the trouble of saving them."

"Is that so?"

"I'd believe so."

"Well then, good opinions, huh? Well then, last question: how do you feel about him?"

"How do I... what?"

Angel's innocent smile threw me off. "Go on, answer the question. How do you feel whenever you see him?"

"Umm..."