The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

13

IT'S TOO EARLY FOR LEO TO SWITCH ON HIS MIND, which is why he finds himself, and the rest of the group surfing, carefreely into the dawn, the morning wind blowing against their faces, the sun shining against their now - tinted skin.

At five in the morning.

He almost doesn't believe it, himself. A not-so-far-fetched dream turned reality once the cold gush of water is splashed upon him. I would really like that cereal bar right now.

Leo hates Scar right now. In fact, he really, really hates him. Aspyn demanded that they return to Covia for the extensive program at nine promptly, and instead of allowing everyone a break, to rest after several non-stop exercise regimes, Scar demands they all start their workout warmup at five.

Talking about inconsiderate, there was the fabulous Louis, who had actually suggested it, as a damn joke, but no, Scar, who was as determined as a predator pouncing on prey simply had no heart, just the desperation. And that was certainly good until it stripped not just Leo, but Louis, Jess, and Ellie of their precious sleep, and food.

"Have any of you checked Covia?" Jess asked the group when her body was halfway in the water, and droplets were falling from the tip of her hair.

Yesterday was the day Leo had learned about the Avinian way of life, or more specifically, how it was managed. Sitting with Avine, himself, was his council of three (the trio council), and fortunately, Aspyn's most active spy happens to be one of the three, however, since it would be too suspicious for her to venture out whenever she needed to inform Aspyn of such things, they have a simple format where she passes the information to another spy who would then visit Covia.

Then they had made a breakthrough. Avine had spilled the mass chunk of his plans to his council, which resulted in today. Nothing to do, nowhere to be, and nothing to be late for. Imagine your most boring Saturday.

They had told us to specifically relax but be mentally prepared for what was to come, as it's going to be harder than you have ever imagined. Those were Aspyn's last words before she shooed us off the coast of Covia, her eyes droopier than ever.

"I did." Scar says pushing his chest away from the board and naturally moving his legs into a standing position in a swift motion as the wave came close to pushing his board. "It seems as if Avine's plan is pretty elaborate, and it has the entire castle shaken."

"Loopholes." Leo knits his brows together from his board.

"From what I see, we would've lost if Aspyn hadn't gotten her hands on that vital piece of information." Scar mutters quietly, from next to Leo.

"Ugh." Ellie yells, her hands flailing in exasperation and seemingly biting her lips once more, "Why won't the stupid board balance, like, stay still you damn object."

Leo laughs while Jess rolls her eyes playfully, "Just put all your weight on the center of your foot."

"As I was saying before Ellie's incompetence distracted everyone," Scar coughed loudly cutting us. Ellie lightly splashed him with water, shaking her head. "The point is, we should be worried."

Silence.

One like a plague spread rapidly. Leo noticed that Jess was contemplating on whether she should speak. "What's on your mind?" He asks her.

"We should go to Covia. To practice. I mean, it's pretty clear that we happen to be on the losing end at the moment. We should try to turn the game around." She utters, "Or at least try to put up a fight."

"Aspyn would kick us out. They're discussing more controversial things at the palace and won't have time to train us." Scar points out.

"B-but what if we practice outside the palace?" Ellie says.

"That might actually work." Leo grins.

"A new environment," Jess says, "I think they were planning on putting us in a simulation eventually. It would be good practice."

"But Aspyn would realize that we're in Covia." Scar testifies.

"She wouldn't care." Louis proclaims, lying face flat on his board. "As long as we don't cause any more trouble."

"Let's take the day off, I'll meet you right here at 10 am sharp." Scar sighs, allowing his shoulders to sag carelessly. Leo nods. "Don't be late."

The group disperses faster than they would've expected because, while having the presence of one another seems to be getting more comforting by the day, and the topics they converse about are just about endless, it's been a relentless month, and they all refuse to admit that it's starting to take its' toll.

Leo's engine roars to life as he prepares himself for what's to come. Sitting on his right, Jess slams the car door shut and gives him a cheeky smile in an attempt to cover up her clumsiness. He averts his gaze to the rain slowly clattering against his windshield. It's not beautiful, but it's reality.

And he finds a small smile forming onto his face.

"Avine." Jess says, slowly while Leo backs up the car and maneuvers himself against the middle lane of one of the main roads. "What do you think."

Leo thinks quietly to himself for a moment before realizing that he already seems to have a clear idea of what Avine will look like. He finds himself slowly painting a picture of Avine in his mind, a man made of true evil. He imagines Avine to have skin the color of flame and is proudly carrying King Triton's Trident, stolen, of course. He uses it to cast spells in every direction, because that, in all fairytales is what 'evil' is defined as. He imagines that Avine has no weaknesses, a shirt draped around him, white preferably, half-ripped, two gold flat-cuffed bracelets wrapped tightly around his wrists like unbreakable bangles. Finally, a crown sits atop his head, one spawn from all the evil inside him coalesced together.

Then he wonders if any part of which is real.

Maybe.

By the time Leo parallel parks his car against the pavement directly across his house, he's finished his daily regime of exercise, completed all his errands, and bought himself a tub of antidepressant ice cream as an emergency survival kit, and it still happens to be a solid four hours before his family considers it to be midday. So, as quietly as possible, he tiptoes against the clattering wooden steps and slips back under his covers as soon as possible and lies awake trying to reach a peace of mind.

All in his vision is the plain beige wall, although, Leo could see half-translucent figures moving in a direction that saw Covians versus Avinians in war. There was no particular side winning, but that was simply at the moment. And suddenly, he felt a swift stab at his heart, the guilt climbed it's way up against him, constricting his throat. He was at a loss for words.

What was he thinking attempting to be arrogant? He tried to blame everyone for forcing him into what, a simple act of kindness to help Covia? In all honesty, it was simply to hide the fact that the guilt had already been eating him up alive, it was pretty to guilt him, after all. Better leave the arrogance to Scar, who probably already knew what he was doing until the very last detail. Not a rookie like him, only apart because he was an outcast.

This was his designated rest day, but yet, it didn't feel as relaxing as it was meant to be. Instead, it felt like procrastinating, avoiding, dodging, but not resting. He wanted nothing more than to rest, only three hours ago, and now, it seemed like he was committing a crime.