10: the fish

Jarex swept the dark, wet hair out of his eyes and surveyed the scenery around him. They were bobbing up and down in the lake, which he knew to be the great Lake Asara. The party of three was lucky enough to have surfaced near the shore, as the body of water extended for many miles to the north and to the east, and there would be a lot of swimming involved if they had turned up anywhere else. Tossed generously around the nearby coast were forest evergreen trees, with a large clump of the familiar men in white robes congregating along the waters. On a hill above them sat the Academy of Doom. It was sprawling and massive, from his position in the water, Jarex could barely see the tips of the towers adorning the roof.

He knew all too well who had led them here. Their escape, their victory over the robed villains, it was all due to his own pursuits. Him, Jarex, was solely responsible for saving Leffa's neck. Edward had just dragged behind the whole time, although, admittedly, his swimming skills had come in useful just a couple moments ago.

Jarex suddenly realized that he would most likely never see Kalie again. Thank god for that. She was getting old, boring, and far too clingy. Now, on the other hand, Leffa... Surely she would be grateful for the rescue. If it weren't for Jarex, she'd be locked up in some dungeon somewhere. He considered this day an enormous success.

Of course, there was also Edward...

Jarex laughed to himself. For an instant, he had actually considered Edward as an opponent! The boy was nerdy, unathletic, talked funny, and was just... well... not the type of person any sane girl would want to date.

Jarex's mind was set like a predator, and Leffa was his prey.

"Where... ow... are we?" came Edward's voice from several meters away in the water. "And it's December, isn't it? Why is it so warm?"

Leffa answered for Jarex. "We learned about it once... let me see... this is Lake Asara, it's one of the four or five major lakes... and there aren't any seasons here in the Kingdom of Doom...."

"No seasons?" gaped Edward. "But... oooh.... how is that possible?" He added, "Ow... my leg is killing me..."

"A wizard did it," muttered Jarex.

"There are wizards here...? Wait, there are... huh, I'm confused. Did a wizard change this planet's gravitational tilt pr something?"

"He's joking," explained Leffa. "Anyway, we learned something like... there are different seasons, but in different places. Like, here, where the Academy of Doom is, it's always summer. But near the Northern Kingdom, it's always winter. And like... if we went west of here, it would be fall. I think that's how it works."

"That... ow... doesn't make any sense," complained Edward.

Leffa shrugged. "So, uh..." she said, as she shifted her weight and floated on her back, head looking up at the clouds. "What do we do now?"

"We're still not done," commented Jarex. "We're out of the school, but those dudes in the fucking dresses are still over there on the shore. We've got to get as far away from here as we can."

"Alright..." agreed Leffa cautiously. "Uh... should we leave right now?"

"Not right now," replied Jarex, "First, you tell me what the hell is going on."

"We have no idea," explained Edward. "All that we know is that Leffa is somehow the 'chosen one' and that she was chosen by the Old Gods to do some sort of mission. We're trying to find out more, but it's hard."

"Right," said Jarex sarcastically. "Right, you were chosen by the gods. Okay then. Right."

There were a couple moments of awkward silence.

Jarex gazed out toward the men amassed on the shore. "You two, go head over across this part of the lake, and get in the forest," he told them. "I'll fight the fuckers. It'll be a good diversion, you should have time to get away."

Edward looked like he was about to protest, but Jarex gave him a glare. "Go, or you're all going to get torn to pieces," he demanded. "Oh, and try to stay under the water most of the time. It makes you harder to spot."

Jarex's body was submerged up to his shoulders in the dark water of the lake. Algae and seaweed lazily floated around on the surface, and pieces of lake plants brushed his legs as he waited, treading water. In the distance, Leffa and Edward slowly swam away.

Better get this over with, thought Jarex. So he snaked through the water to the coast, where the foes were gathered. Soon, he felt the soft mud of the ground beneath his feet, and he trudged out of the water, his clothes clinging to his body as he emerged.

For good measures, he grabbed an abandoned plank of driftwood from the sandy shore. It felt somewhat sharp when he prodded the tip with his finger. A decent blade it could make. Alright, he thought. Let's get this over with.

He scurried up the beach to where one the men were standing, and slammed the side his makeshift weapon into the back of a guard's neck. "AAAH!" the man roared, turning around to reveal who had hit him. Jarex gave a sly grin, and darted off, leaving the bewildered robed figure behind.

It was an effective enough diversion. At the man's roar, the rest of the villainous party was instantly alerted to the boy's presence. Jarex suddenly began to wish he had thought this through better.

But it was no problem. Jarex just gripped the driftwood tightly in his hand, held it threateningly, and flung himself into the crowd of antagonists. He swung the flotsam wildly around, hitting anything he could see.

Man, I'm so awesome, was his sole thought.

He'd been this awesome ever since he could remember. He was fast. He was strong. He was handsome. Seriously, what was he, like a flawless human being? Jarex was stunned the first time he had been able to pull off these amazing moves, but it never failed to impress. And he was eternally grateful for it.

He was fully self absorbed as he took out attacker after attacker, laughing his head off, not even thinking about Leffa and Edward, until suddenly the world cried out in pain. He toppled over in a graceful arc, his vision swimming, a sharp pain in his ribs, like something inside was bursting out, overwhelming him, and then he hit the ground.

Is that a fucking arrow in my chest? were his last thoughts before consciousness faded away.

* * * * *

White.

That was all he could see, just a vast plain of whiteness stretching beyond him.

He blinked, but found that he had no eyelids.

He looked down, and saw that he had no body.

He tried to call out in panic, but he had no voice to shout with.

Oh my god... am I dead?

But his fears were quelled, with a soft, soothing feeling, a feeling that enveloped his whole body. He had no idea what was going on, but it felt nice. He felt as light as a feather, as if he could drift peacefully in this blank canvas of a dimension for all eternity.

The white was interrupted by something in the distance, and as it came Jarex felt the positive feeling grow . And whatever it was came closer and closer, twisting its body back and forth, and Jarex saw what it was in a moment of utter confusion.

It was a fish. Yes, a fish, with dull blue scales coating its wriggling body, a beady eye on each side of his head, a nondescript dorsal fin sticking straight up out of its back, and a tail fin swishing back and forth behind it. It was nothing to speak of. It was the type of fish that the cafeteria would chop up and turn into fishsticks. Yet, when Jarex saw it, he felt that in the entire world, there was nobody, nothing that could harm him. He wanted it to come closer, so he could touch it, because he was sure than touching it would be the best feeling ever.

It came forward, sure enough, but it still eluded his touch. Although it couldn't have been more than a few feet in front of him when it stopped swimming through the air, the space between them felt infinitely vast when the boy reached out with his hand. As desperately as he wanted to touch this... this thing, he knew that it would be futile to try.

~Hello Jarex~

The fuck...? He had heard a voice, only he had not quite heard it. It didn't come to him as a sound. It came to him as a rush of emotion, of pictures and memories and thoughts. This "hello" came to him in a strange emotion, that felt like he was being greeted, like a door was opening. Like he was being accepted.

"Who are you?" he tried to shout, but he realized once again that he had no voice. Instead, his question was projected into a thought, a thought that almost had a sound, but not quite.

~I am the fish~ was the response that Jarex got.

How helpful, he dryly thought.

~I do not have to be helpful Jarex you have to be helpful You have a big responsibility~

What responsibility? asked a confused Jarex. He wasn't fond of responsibility, and he wasn't aware that he had any, now that he had escaped from that infernal school.

~The one that Leffa gave you~

Leffa didn't give me any responsibility, you... uh, marine invertebrate, Jarex retorted.

~Leffa did give you a big responsibility and fishes aren't invertebrates Check your facts next time Jarex~

Then what? What responsibility?

~You helped her escape She trusts you now And those who have earned her trust are destined to follow her forever~

Um, elaborate, please? Jarex sarcastically thought. This fish was starting to annoy him.

~She is the Chosen One and she has chosen you to help her on her mission~

Oh, right, her mission. That your silly little Four Gods told her to do, he cruelly shot out. Well, I really don't care about that stupid mission, just so you know. I'm not going to be some slave to some god. I'm going to do what I want.

~You really have no idea what you're talking about~ the fish communicated, and there was a hint of laughter mixed in with the message. ~Leffa's mission is to kill the four gods~

If Jarex had a mouth, it would surely be hanging open now. This wasn't making the least bit of sense. But... what? That's not what they said...

~Nobody really knows what is going on That's why I brought you here~

Okay, then, groaned a fed up Jarex. Please tell me what's going on.

~You will know~

But... what? Jarex pleaded exasperatedly.

~I am with you all the way~

* * * * *

His vision slowly returned, to reveal the interior of a dark, dank cave. He looked down, and realized that he had a body once more. Hardly believing it, he raised his hand to his face, and then touched the bridge of his nose with the tip of his finger. Yes, he was most certainly tangible again.

He was lying down, on a mat that had been inexplicably laid out across the floor of the cave. Slowly, he lifted his body up off of the floor. His head felt dizzy. What the hell was that?

Okay, so there was a fish... who had magical powers, that had talked to me in a vision...? What? Am I high? It must have just been a dream. But... then... how did I even get here? What is this place?

Searching for some answers, he glanced around the rocky walls of the cave. It seemed to just be a small cave, like any other one he had ever seen. Except for the mat that had been strewn across the floor, the cave was nothing impressive to see at all.

Except... there was something in the corner, that Jarex only noticed just then. It was a manila envelope, lying on the ground as if it had been left there by some careless passerby. Jarex walked across the cave floor and picked it up.

ONLY TO BE READ BY CZR, it said in ludicrously big and red letters stamped onto the front of the envelope. Jarex laughed to himself quietly. Everything was more fun when you knew you weren't supposed to do it. He tore open the seal on the envelope and scanned over the inside material.

Jarex sighed. More "chosen one" bullshit. He was fed up with all this crap about destiny and saving the world, and it had only been, what, a couple hours?

He dropped the envelope, and something fell out. It was the picture that "P", whoever he was, had mentioned. He snatched it up off of the cold, rocky, cave floor. It was nothing remotely interesting. There were three men, all wearing formal suits for some reason, sitting around and laughing at one of the men, who had a bucket on his head. One of the men had long, shaggy brown hair, another had short, cropped blue hair, and the other one's hair was obscured by the bucket. It was slightly humorous, but nothing more.

Jarex calmly folded the letter, and stuck it inside the pocket of his jeans. For good measure, he stuck the photo in too. He strode out of the entrance of the cave ahead of him, setting his mind on the next task: finding out where he was, how he got here, and what the hell was going on.

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