The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

05

SHOULD SHE, OR SHOULD SHE NOT, is the thought currently burning Aspyn's mind. It's been at least a week since she began coming back to the same spot regularly to check for her mother's lavine's. But now that she's seen the girl in real life, she's much too scared to approach her.

Although she didn't know why.

Could she believe herself at the moment? Complaining like there was tomorrow when the lavine's took their time to arrive, then when they actually came, she would just chicken through the very ingenious idea of crouching behind a bush and peeking through the crack between two leaves, for a nonexistent (or as per Aspyn's mental debate, present but insufficient) reason.

In fact, Aspyn was uncomfortable. Although she was perfectly hidden, she didn't appreciate the particular thorn piercing her skin this very moment, or the itching sensation pulsating her back that was making her shiver. But she didn't want to alert the girl with her presence, so she stayed still.

She was humming a certain song that Aspyn had heard of once before, but couldn't pinpoint it to save her life. In fact, she seemed to be hallucinating - moving in a square like dance as if there was a ghost which had its arm draped around her waist, pulling her into a perfect pivot.

Aspyn could not believe her eyes.

This was the person destined to save hers, and millions of other lives, and she was partly delusional!? Aspyn was explosive, planting a literal atomic bomb at the center of her mind. What was the world thinking? Maybe it was karma. Aspyn found herself reviewing various superstitions in hope to find an answer to the universe's way of assigning relationships.

So she found her mind saying. If it WAS karma, what did I do to deserve a delusional human to take a role as someone I trust my life with? Was my mother's sickness karma, maybe she angered the universe with a rule she instructed. Followed by, Oh god, what am I doing with my life.

Stop overreacting, her mind instructed.

Sighing, she put all conversations in her mind to a pause and brought her attention back to the fragile, brown-haired girl who had just appeared. Said girl was now looking at the landscape, admiring the ethereal, extra-terrestrial beauty that shone before her.

The girl didn't have a single feature that stood out in Aspyn's perspective, but if she was just one of the crowd, the bystander, why would she be here? The girl looked upwards, noticing the shuffle within the bushes, observing every tiny detail. Aspyn sucked in her breath, oh no.

And that's when Aspyn caught it. A simple glimpse, like a fracture of a photograph, but she caught it with her razor-sharp vision. Her eyes. The metallic, cold appearance. No, she thought. It was no coincidence. This girl had silver eyes. Royal, in her civilization, but regular in the human outer world.

Aspyn was so taken aback, she nearly toppled over her perfectly balanced yoga position that repelled any thorns from piercing her any more than it already has. The girls' eyes snapped back from wondering when she heard the small whistle from the bushes.

Dammit, Aspyn thought.

Fortunately, for both Aspyn, her mental stability and welfare, the girl ignored the tingling sensation that was probably tugging at the back of her mind and observed the newest addition to her attire since spotting the pearl. The necklace. She was probably marveling at the fact that she could actually breathe, and, well, move to notice a slight shuffle in the leaves.

"What are you doing." Mason's voice suddenly appeared next to her, practically startling Aspyn, who jumped, but remained zipped her mouth shut for fear of startling the poor, delusional (Aspyn can't exclude this piece of newly acquired information) girl, and widened her eyes to tell Mason to shut up.

"What," She snarled, "Are you doing here."

"Actually, I think the better question is what are you doing." He muttered. "Weren't you supposed to bring the lavines to mother?"

"Lavines." Aspyn's mind quickly came up with an excuse to justify her unexplainable actions. "Plural. If we don't scare her away, there will be more."

"Alright then, sister. I hope your prediction deems correct." He smiles, straightening out his suit, and combing the dirt out of hers. "In the meantime, I have a meeting to get to, mother says that your regular packed schedule will resume once the lavine's have arrived."

"Wrong." Aspyn sighed. "Though I would much rather have my surprisingly full routine, showing around visitors is now mandatory. Now, now. Move along."

Mason nodded, stalking away quietly. One would even dare say that he blended in the background, resembling a chameleon, one who mastered the art of camouflage.

Just like she had predicted, Aspyn soon spotted that the girl, who was inspecting the new necklace would soon find the button hidden from plain sight to bring her back, and eventually whisked herself away.

Although, Aspyn stayed still as if hoping that the girl who somehow come back, too look for more clues. She knew that she would be back, though. It was a shared characteristic. Curiosity. Just not as soon as Covia would've hoped. Unfortunately.

"Aspyn." A calm, monotonic voice struck her out of her thoughts. It was none other than her mother's most trusted advisor, someone beyond loyal. With him, stood Mason who was warning her with his eyes. "Have you found anything today. Lavine's in particular?" The man asked, raising his eyebrow.

"No." She lies, imitating an annoyed, and exasperated expression, which she chooses to straighten out immediately, as a sign of courtesy. "But I do have a feeling we should be expecting something very, very soon."

The man wastes no time in beating around the bush, one of his main assets. "Nice try Aspyn. I saw the girl, I didn't even bother asking Mason, over here." Mason shrugged, sending her a sympathetic look.

Shit, she thought.

"While I would alert your mother of the lavine's presence immediately. She's been rushed into immediate care as she was diagnosed to be in critical condition. So, I took matters into my own hands." He says, pausing to register her response. Which, she presents to him a neutral response, an art that she has mastered over the years.

"Jett, are you in charge now, who asked of this?" Aspyn asks in a respectful manner.

"Your mother did." Jett sighs, bowing. "Although once you act mature enough, the throne is yours."

"Alright, and your plan?"

"The girl, Jess, is your silver eye, and you will be looking into for a more effective study course program. She is our hero, after all." He says, handing Aspyn a large stack of papers that she can barely manage to hold.

He paused, "Cheers, Your Majesty."