The Lake

Alecis walked, staring straight ahead but seeing nothing. The secluded little lake was the perfect place for thinking. Not many people came up to the ruins nowadays, and that meant even less people at the lake. Often she came up here with only Rheis, to lounge around on the soft grassy banks under the willow trees and to watch the birds and things that lived around here.

Peaceful. That was the one word Leci would use to describe this place. And peace was exactly what she needed right now. For the past few days Alecis hadn't even been out of her clouds. Problem after problem kept arising, and Alecis didn't even want to think about the bigger problem on her hands.

She still hadn't found anything new about the star pieces, or the mysterious letter she had found. This was troubling, much more than the problems she had been having at home. But she was fried, this Overloridian job didn't exactly get easier with time, and she had been pushing herself into everything else that had been happening, procrastinating her real trouble.

She shook her head. She still didn't want to think about it. She had come here to get away from her problems, not to worry about them.

When she finally made it to her usual spot underneath the willow by the far end of the lake she laid down, letting the shade cool her. Rheis walked over and laid his head on her stomach and spoke in much less than a whisper to her.

"Just relax, Leci. We'll work again tomorrow, for now, it's just time to rest."

Alecis smiled, she agreed with her dæmon. Silently she laid, paying attention only to the small family of squirrels playing in the tree above her head. They were so cute, and they looked like they were playing... tag!

She smiled again, as she remembered the last time she had played tag. That was fun...

Rheis rolled his eyes, he was embarrassed at her thoughts. He had been slightly out of control that day. But oh well, Alecis was his clio, and he had to stick up for her, even if he didn't think she was right. He liked her happy, and she was right now. For once in a long while she was worry-free.

This meant he could finally relax as well, so he pushed thoughts of worse times away and blended his mind with Alecis's, wanting no more than what she did, a peaceful afternoon away from the world.

I was walking through the ruins, Hazel flying above me in a small raptor form, looking for anyone else that could be around.

Today, I wanted alone time. I had been too people oriented these past few days and it was kinda catching up with me.

Ew, clio.

I shook my head as Hazel soared down, changed into a fox and trotted beside me. She was feeling the same way I was.

Mentally she told me that there was a girl on the far side of the lake that I had planned on going to.

"Wonderful..." I muttered.

And yet, I kept walking. I guess I could just sit on the opposite side of her. Haze said she looked like she wanted to be alone, too.

We could be alone together.

"Alright, one," Wesley said, standing behind Charlie, knees bent and fist raised, just as she seemed to be standing. "Two, and get ready for the big one, three!" Each time he counted, the two of them moved their fist and legs into a certain position, the stones reacting differently with each different movement. Charlie was getting a bit worn out now, as they had been training in different parts of the ruins for quite a while now. This was Charlie's workout, moving rocks and things. Sort of like weightlifting, the more she did it, the stronger and better she became.

"Okay, I think that's enough," she said. She wore a red half-shirt, which only reached her abs, along with matching red fingerless gloves and black sweatpants. Her hair was up in a ponytail, as always, and she looked really worn out, but tough. "Let's go swimming or something to cool off."

"I'm actually gonna stay back here and work out some more. Holler if you need me," Wesley said, punching the air and kicking the ground some more.

"Alright," Charlie said, turning to walk to the lake. "Oh, look! Alecis and Shi are here," Charlie said to Mae, attempting to wipe the sweat from her forehead off with her arm, but she only spread it around more. "I didn't even see either of them walking around."

"Hey guys," she said to each of them as she passed. She didn't go swimming just yet, she just sat under a tree in the shade to cool off for a second. Mae jumped to the grass, preferring to rest there instead of on Charlie's sweaty shoulder.

Rowan wandered around the ancient ruins whose secrets had intrigued the minds of clio for generations. If there was anywhere to go where he might find a clue to the mysterious letters, it was here. The letters were so old, they could even have been written back when the ruins had still been standing.

He became lost in thought as he walked, eventually to the point of not paying attention to where he was going.

'Watch out!' Nym warned, just as Rowan was about to trip over something.

Rowan blinked and stopped. He had just zoned out for who-knows-how-long and hadn't even been looking for anything he was supposed to.

Just then Nym perked up. Rowan knew why, too, as he heard voices coming from the other side of a large piece of ruin. He stealthily peered around it and saw Charlie (yay), Alecis (damn), and that one clio whose name escaped him. They were all sitting under a tree and probably wouldn't notice if he just went the other direction, but Charlie was there so he wanted to say something.

"Oh...um, hi everyone," he greeted a little awkwardly, walking out into view.

The wind whipped around Gemma as her and Sen, who was in the form of a beautiful black horse, rode throughout the ruins along the edge of the lake. It was the ideal place for horseback riding. Spacious, beautiful...uncrowded.

Except for today, it seemed. She happened to come upon a cornucopia of clio. She was extremely happy to see that two of them were her new friends, Shi and Charlie!

"Shiiiii! Charlieeee!" she practically screamed, riding up to them, waving like crazy. "Hiiiii!"

Cautiously, Lior stepped out of the trees and into the area that...now seemed to be the life of whole place. All the other times he'd come here, no one else had been there. Now it appeared as though someone was giving away free money.

Lior laughed at himself, looking over everyone, who he didn't personally recognize that well.

Slowly he stepped forward, not overly anticipating intruding on them, since they probably were unaware of who he was. "Sorry," he said, just barely audible over their chatter. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, I just thought no one would be here," he grinned slightly, apologetically.

Crashing into the forest ahead of him, Aven made his way past sticks, trees, leaves, and fallen logs. Small forest creatures darted from his path, and Ra fought to keep ahold on Aven's collar to stay put on his shoulder.

Unaware that many other clio were congregating in the exact spot he was barreling headfirst into, he laughed loudly as Ra cursed in his head. 'Ra, you really need to learn to loosen up! Seriously, you're gonna die of stress.'

Aven saw the clearing ahead and picked up the pace a little. Suddenly, however, without warning, Aven's foot got caught in a tangle of weeds, and he came tumbling down into the clearing, in the midst of several other clio.

He was only slightly surprised, and even more slightly embarased. However, he was ashamed enough to mumble intense apologies and stand, brushing himself off, looking around at all the clio he'd just rudely interrupted. "Sorry, guys," he blushed, "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going."

Alecis looked around.

At. All. The. Clio.

She blinked. Then she frowned. She was angry, but more than that, she was sad. All she wanted was to be alone, but for some reason, that never seemed like it was possible.

Rheis mentally told her to calm down, it really wasn't that big a deal.

Alecis couldn't agree. There came a point where things were that big a deal, and this was definitely one of them.

The anger was emanating from her, she was almost shaking as she looked around the lake. In the last five minutes six different clio had strolled into her happy place. And that kicked her right out of it.

Her eyes stopped on Rowan, and she quickly breathed out.

Yeah, this wasn't going to be a very good day.

At least not anymore.

I whipped around and looked behind me as someone called my name, called it rather obnoxiously I might add.

As I turned I saw that it was no longer just me and the girl, there were now several other clio in the lake area, one of them being the girl I had met in the valley a few days ago, Gemma.

I pulled on a fake smile and waved at her. It seems her daemon was a horse at the moment. That actually looked like fun.

At the thought of that Hazel turned into a small giraffe and slid me onto her head. In a matter of seconds I was on her back and she was racing towards Gemma and her daemon.

I supposed I was now in the mood for fun.

Well, I guess it was better than being grumpy.

Charlie watched in surprise as all of the clio, all of whom she'd previously met stumbled in at once: Rowan, Gemma, Lior, and Aven.

"Wow," Charlie muttered to Mae, watching as everyone greeted...well, everyone. "Hey," Charlie said, putting her hand up as she waved to anyone approaching.

'Great,' she said to Mae, 'I see all these clio at once, and I'm sweat and disgusting. I mean, all the clio I've met since becoming Overloridian! Come on, Rowan is here!'

'I'm sure he won't mind seeing you, Charlie. No worries,' Mae said reassuringly.

'Yeah...I should probably just avoid him with all those clio around. Clio might get even more suspicious,' Charlie said.

'Good idea.'

"Gemma, Lior, Aven," she said with a nod. She looked to Rowan and nodded softly, "...Rowan..." she muttered.

'Good job, huh?' Charlie said, trying not to look too proud of herself.

'Yup,' Mae responded.

Rowan looked around as about a million clio came out of nowhere at the same time he did. He didn't know the two annoying-looking ones, and was kind of hoping he wouldn't need to get to know them.

Charlie greeted just about everyone, but barely said anything to him as if he was an afterthought. That was irritating, so he just ignored her. Alecis looked beyond angry, but that was normal. At least, it was normal whenever he was around.

He took another look at everyone. "I didn't realize this place was so popular," he commented dryly.

Gemma grinned at Shi as it came riding up to her on its giraffe-daemon. She had never thought of giraffe-riding before...it looked like fun.

'Don't get any ideas,' Sen warned.

"It's good to see you Shi!" Gem exclaimed. She looked passed it at everyone else. "And it's nice to meet everyone who I don't know yet! I'm Gemma, by the way!"

Surprised at the loud entrance another made, Lior looked quickly to notice his little brother, Aven. He was immensly stunned to find him there.

He sat and crossed his legs, Indian-style and Myrrh, his daemon settled next to him, resting his head on his thin legs. Lior clicked his tongue at his silly little brother.

Lior was interested in the others' relationships with each other, but he made no effort as to eavesdrop, because that was rude. He did, however, cautiously introduce himself to the others conversation, "Hi," he said, offering a smile, and a nod at Aven.

Aven brushed himself off, and frowned upon noticing a small scratch on his cheek that he must've gotten from running through the forest. He looked at everyone, not particularly close to anyone, except Charlie, whom he'd met at the beach just recently, and Lior.

Goodness, Lior was there. He smiled and got ready to happily greet his kin but he noticed the nod he got and accepted that as his conservative older brother's greeting to him.

"Hi, Charlie," he said, greeting her cheerfully in stead. "Long time, no see."

Ignoring everyone, Alecis got up and walked towards the ruins. She was not going to let these people ruin this for her. Nope.

As she walked up the hill, a clio with a giraffe dæmon bounded past her.

Alecis shook her head and Rheis jumped onto her shoulder. Neither of them really wanted to deal with this.

When they finally made it to the ruins, Alecis was almost hit by a flying boulder. A quick blast of air saved her, and she spun to look at her attacker.

As she locked eyes with a man she had seen before with Charlie she realized it probably wasn't an attack. But hey, she was in a bad mood.

"Watch where you're throwing those things, you," She muttered to him as she walked by.

Ugh, clio these days.

She continued to walk through the ruins, and when she got to a patch that was free to the sky she took off, she would go somewhere else to relax.

Now that I was in a good mood, I started laughing.

"It's nice to see you too, Gemma! Hey, do you mind if I call you Gem?"

I was still sort of laughing, being happy did that to me.

"I'm really bored today, you wanna do something?" Hazel rolled her eyes. She thought if I was with her I could never be bored. Silly thing.

Charlie blinked at Rowan. He was completely ignoring her. Was he mad at her? D:

She was about to go over and talk to him, since everyone was splitting off and talking to different clio, but she noticed that Aven was talking to her. She liked Aven a lot, and was glad he'd stumbled in like everyone else.

"Hi Aven!" she said, probably a little too enthusiastically. He was just so nice and goofy, Charlie loved it. She didn't even realize that Rowan might get ticked off at the fact that she and Aven got along so well, since she was so used to hanging out with guys. The thought of jealousy didn't even cross her mind. "I know, you're right! How've you and Ra been?"

-Meanwhile-

Wesley hadn't even noticed that Alecis was heading his way when he'd thrown the rock, and was glad that she was able to move it away before it hit her in the face.

"Sorry!" he said, but he said nothing more, as he had noticed that she was in a very bad mood. He shrugged to Milo, who was sitting on a large rock, and turned to continue working out.

Why did every single friend Charlie had have to be male? It wasn't that Rowan didn't trust her or anything, so it was pretty irrational to get annoyed when she got all friendly with other guys, but still. She wasn't even acknowledging him. But then, he wasn't acknowledging her either, so maybe it was his fault?

He decided he should go over and talk to them, even though the guy she was talking to was the annoying-looking one from before. It looked like they had just barely started talking, so it didn't feel too rude to go and interrupt them.

"Um...hey?" he said quietly, trying to sound conversational. "Sorry I didn't say hi to you before, Charlie. So, um, hi. And..." he looked at her friend. "I don't think I've met you before, have I? I'm Rowan."

"It's nice to see you too, Gemma! Hey, do you mind if I call you Gem?"

Gem giggled. "Oh yeah, that's fine!" she replied happily. "Everyone calls me that!" She paused. That wasn't entirely true. "Well, not everyone, actually, just Sen, but if I had a bunch of friends they would totally all call me that!"

"I'm really bored today, you wanna do something?"

Gem's smile got even bigger. "Definitely! I was actually just horseback riding! It's like, really fun." Thinking about it, Gem realized that even though it was her favorite thing to do, maybe Shi wanted to do something else. She wanted Shi to have fun with her, so she should let him choose what to do. "But we can do whatever you want! What do you like to do?"

Lior noticed Alecis was gone, and he silently wondered to himself if he sould follow her. He knew that she probably mad that so many clio had barged in on her happy place...He knew he could pass himself off as lost if he went to find her.

'I think we should, Li.' Myrrh whispered. 'I mean, even if she is mad, you can just flash her that winning smile of yours and...KAPOOF!'
'I don't know, Myrrh. What if she gets really mad?'
'What an awful argument, Lior!' Myrrh clucked, amused, 'You are definitely not cut out to be a lawyer.'

Lior thought it over in his head and decided that Myrrh was right, so he got up and slowly followed where she had just gone, Myrrh stepping lightly behind him.

"Ra and I are absoultely lovely! What about you and Mae?" Aven chirped, happy to be talking to her again. He'd really never met anyone who shared his nonviolence beliefs as closely as he did.

'Avennnn,' Ra said in his ear, 'your brother just followed that Alecis girl.'
'Oh, let him go. It's been forever since he's had someone to talk to.'
'Whatever,'
Aven looked for Lior and saw that Ra wasn't kidding. But he just shrugged it off.

Aven noticed Rowan come up to them. He smiled happily at him and shook his head energetically. "No, no, we've never met, but, I've seen you before."

Ra snickered from under Aven's hair. He'd be a rich squirrel if Aven wasn't about to hit on this boy.

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember a face like that." Aven smiled thoughtfully, tapping Rowan's arm with a closed fist.

As I floated through the sky, using the breathing exercises I had been trying for the past few minutes, I looked down at the ruins below. Besides the rude clio that had thrown the boulder at me, there was another, this one had a deer dæmon.

I instantly recognized the clio as Lior, the Solas Overloridian. My anger evaporated, strangely, as I watched him looking around. It seemed as if he were searching for something.

Rheis snickered and I tuned my thoughts with his, 'What's so funny?'

With another snicker he replied just as silently, 'You liiike him. Lec, he's a different Eilemaiden.'

I rolled my eyes. 'I don't like him, solasians are disgusting.'

But I had trouble pulling my eyes away from him to the clouds in front of me. He was gorgeous. Oops, I knew that thought would get me even more ridicule from the fox on my shoulder. I sighed.

"Seriously Rheis," I spoke aloud as I turned, "I don't like him. Buuut, I do think I should go help him find whatever he's looking for."

I dropped in elevation and then landed on the grassy hill that led up to the ruins.

Rheis snickered again.

"What a coinkidink! I looove riding horses, too!" As I spoke, Hazel transformed into a gray dappled mare underneath me.

"Race you to the ruins!" I screamed as Hazel took off, letting my loose clothes billow in the wind.

It was always fun with Gemma around.

"Mae and I are doing well," she said, noticing that Rowan was coming over and talking to them. She smiled at him...you know, in a friendly way, which seemed to be less than Aven was doing. "Hey," she said simply, listening to Aven speak and watching his movements.

'Is he...hitting on him?' Charlie asked, not changing her expression one bit. She was just a little confused.

'Nah,' Mae said, looking at Rowan, and then at Aven. '...is he?'

'No, no. You were right, he isn't. He couldn't be...could he?'

Awwwkkkwwwaaarrrdddd.

Rowan stared at Aven for a second, slightly taken aback. He never knew what to say when girls were flirting with him, so he was even more at a loss when guys did it.

"Um...thank you?" Rowan said with uncertainty after some hesitation.

'When did you get so bad at talking?' Nym asked, and would have done a facepalm if she could.

'Well some guy I just met hit on me in front of my secret-girlfriend,' Rowan replied. 'What would YOU have me say?'

Nym couldn't think of an answer for that one.

Yeah. Awkward.