What Lies Deep Below [CLOSED] (2,000 views)

[Maddie]

"Why yes, that is a form of farming," the biscuit kacheek informed Azelf eagerly. "Certain plants thrive better under subaquatic conditions, which include sandy soil and limited sunlight." She watched attentively as Azelf placed the ingredients onto the counter, trailing after him. "And yes, it certainly must be nice," she replied contentedly, scanning what he had set out.

When the shoyru returned from picking up the petpet's bowls and expressed his gratitude for her helping out, Star playfully nudged him on the shoulder, but physics sent her spiraling backwards as a result. She kicked around to regain her balance, laughing all the while. "Ok, I know I just said it must be nice living here, but it must have been some wild ride adjusting to the gravity here, huh? What was it like?" she inquired with deep interest. "We can prep the dish while you tell the tale."

[Blue]

Azelf stared blankly at the ingredients, as he was entirely unprepared of what type of dish he was about to make. He's just going to have to follow the one recipe he knows by heart, the easiest one which he only made up: Kelp Salad. Well... hopefully I don't mess up...

"Huh? O-oh sure!" The shoyru took out a big bowl, a mixing spoon, a chopping board and a knife. "Hmm... w-well... It wasn't easy." He started chopping the kelp. "A-at first, I didn't really know how to control my movements around here. We all didn't, except my brother Pawkeyt, who's in fact a Kiko, so he's pretty much a natural underwater. The rest of us, especially me, d-didn't do so well... since of course I-I didn't know how to swim with wings yet, though I don't often fly anywhere, even for a shoyru. P-pretty weird, huh?" He placed the chopped kelp onto the bowl. "But for the past years, we were able to get the hang of it. Just think of it like you're still above surface, with your feet planted firmly on the ground."

He demonstrated walking as if he was on land. "I have to admit though, this wouldn't be that possible without magic--Oh wait! Uh, sorry, did you want to mince the vegetables? And I'll do the mixing? O-or the other way around? Ugh, I almost forgot to tell you... We're making Kelp Salad... is that alright?"

[Maddie]

"That sounds wonderful. I'm fine with mincing, thank you," Star replied kindly, reaching for the knife and cutting board. Scanning the ingredients and recognizing which herbs are typically minced for salads, she immediately set to work. "I think I see what you mean about walking on the surface," she chatted over the chopping of the knife. "It's like mind over matter, right? If you don't think about how you're underwater, you'll handle the situation as if you're on land. Maybe." She shrugged with a small chuckle.

"You know, though," she continued, brushing aside the freshly minced herbs and grabbing another bale. "I bet the move here was even harder than adjusting to the gravity. Am I right? I mean, from Meridell to Maraqua? What a transition! I don't know how I would have handled it."

[Blue]

"Heh. Y-yeah..." Azelf watched Star mince as he returned to the table. "But knowing my sister, Sweet, who's been around Neopia longer than anyone else I know... She... she was only 3 years old since the sea folk colonized in New Maraqua. She used to be just one of the tourists and witnessed Maraquans swimming by while the rest of the tourists from the surface were 'walking' around, like blending in. Well, that's what Sweet told me... Some are probably used to it, I guess..." He placed the minced herbs into the bowl, took out another chopping board and began cutting some meat.

"Guess it wasn't that long since we moved here..." The faerie kacheek nodded. "Swimming... the gravity... yeah... it took kinda long for me to get used to those--" He suddenly froze to what the biscuit kacheek had said about where he came from. "U-uh... a-about that... I-I got a confession to make about that actually..." He continued working while trying to explain himself heavily. "Honestly, t-there was more than that. I... never really... uh... well... It's a long story..." He took a deep breath, though it seemed like he inhaled and exhaled water. "Would you like to know anyway? Or..." Azelf gave Star a bit of a puppy-like stare and then turned his attention back to chopping the meat. He felt guilty, about to share another sad backstory to her but stopped himself. He didn't want to dampen the mood again like before. "...o-or we could just talk about what... w-what brings you to the city of Maraqua today?" He giggled nervously.

[Maddie]

Star frowned. She set the knife down and worriedly pressed her folded hands against her cheek. She recognized Azelf was trying to brighten the mood by changing the subject, but honestly her reason for being here wasn't much brighter. She didn't want to bum him out, but she was itching to vent out her frustrations.

"It's not actually a happy reason," she mumbled quietly, as if she were warning him. "But I was trying to convince my brother to come here with me - to overcome his fear of the water. It's something he's suffered from for the longest time! I try to be patient but..." Her voice rose. "It's ridiculous! I mean, he's literally made of-!" She stopped suddenly with a guilty look. "Oh, I shouldn't insult him, that's not right..." she sighed with remorse, fingering her necklace. "Anyway, he's obviously not here! That means I failed," she finished quickly with resignation.

She tried to smile despite the weight of her situation. "There's always next time, though! I understand it takes time and hard effort to change, especially when you're afraid of changing." There was a moment of silence. Searching for something, she glanced at Azelf's cutting board and noticed he had stopped chopping to listen to her. "Ah, I can help with that," she laughed awkwardly in an attempt to redirect his attention, and reached for the knife again. "Wh-What's the meat for? You said you were a vegetarian?"

[Blue]

"Uhh..." Azelf's eyes widened, as he did recall himself saying that. He stared at the raw meat for a brief moment, realizing the action of taking the meat out proves him wrong. Pretty sure he wouldn't just lie about it. "My... M-my siblings also eat with me when I make salad, s-so yeah... I'm just concerned s-since I'm with company, I-I'm used to adding the meat... " Embarrassed, he kept further explaining himself while almost keeping his head down. "I-I don't want to be all s-selfish and put only t-the ingredients I want... T-though I..." He takes out another but smaller and purple-colored bowl. "...I separate part of the salad without meat here... Sounds silly, huh?"

Ending his awkward explanation, Azelf went back to what Star had last said... Something about change that really got to him. And she has a companion? Someone who she once mentioned before who reminds him of himself. "A-and sure..." Azelf told the kacheek, in respond to her offer to help him with the chopping. The shoyru looked out of the window, curious if Star's brother was still out there. Apparently Azelf, too, was afraid to face his own fear.

He sighed. "I understand... It is not all that easy to change... I-I have been going t-through something too..." There was this need in him to finally open up about his past. He couldn't bare to keep his friend out of the light anymore. He just couldn't find the right words to begin. "That's why we moved to this place. I like it here. After the Maraquan war, things have gone a lot peaceful here... unless you count the predators but--" He pouted, bring that part up. "D-don't take it the wrong way... i-it's just... safe and secure h-here..." He paused, took a glance at Star, then back to the utensils.

[Maddie]

Star half-smiled. "Yes, I would imagine it's quite safe here. The aquatic environment certainly narrows down the number of visitors." She paused to assess the unattended ingredients and decided to start slicing a tomato. "And about what you said," she continued, handling the fruit gently. "Its not... well, it's not bad to run away if it's for your own safety," she laughed quietly. It seemed like such a boring, obvious thing to say. "It's also not bad to put your guests first! I respect your concern for me by adding meat to my salad," she decided to add light-heartedly.

For a while afterwards she said nothing else, simply focusing on the tomato, before it dawned on her to ask, "did you want to tell me more about your story? About your mom and Meridell? You don't have to if you're not comfortable..."

[Blue]

Azelf slowly chopped the meat. He was silent for a brief moment. Was he really going to mention what really happened? Does he have the guts to? It's been years, Azelf... he thought. It's been years. He felt like he really needed to remove that weight from his shoulders, and that maybe letting out what was going on in his mind would help. "N-no, no, it's okay... Well... I-I never really get to share this story to anyone else other than my siblings... though I did wanted to tell you... since you are my friend." He took a deep breath and began to tell his story.

"I never really came from Meridell... I was born in Darigan Citadel." The shoyru placed one of the bowls next to him. "Believe it or not, my dad is a Darigan..." He began placing meat on the bowl along with the other ingredients in it. "Though he was one of those Darigans... who were... uh... bad guys..." He blushed shamefully. "While my mom is a Royal Girl. I don't remember how they ended up together but one day when I was younger she told me that we were running off to Meridell, just the two of us."

"We lived peacefully in Meridell, and that's where I found my love for farming. Though mom and I always had to keep a low profile and wear cloaks every time we leave the house..." He froze for a moment, in a cold sweat. "But one night, she just... went m-missing. T-then I found my dad in front of me... asking me to join him and his sinister deeds." He continued working on the salad, though it seems he's been getting frustrated because of his memories. "I-I just couldn't... as my mom told me not to trust him no matter what..." He sniffed. "That's why I ran away... and then... and then a yellow kacheek found me, and took me in..." The kitchen utensils and a few furniture around them began to shake slowly. "That kacheek... he's who I refer to now as my brother..." Suddenly, his eyes were glowing yellow. The furniture began to shake even more while the petpets began looking around in shock. "I never knew what happened to her... He never said a word--!"

The awareness in his surroundings made the shoyru snap out of it and the furniture stopped moving. There was not a single damage that happened and the ingredients seem to be okay. The glow in Azelf's eyes have faded. He turned to his guest and the petpets. "H-huh? I-I'm sorry! I-I'm so sorry!" He teared up a bit, hiding his face and backing away from the table. "I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean--I got carried away--"

[Maddie]

Initially, all Star could do was stare at the shoyru wide-eyed, confused and bewildered by this strange magical occurrence. Azelf's tale was heartrendingly tragic; so much that it was difficult for her to imagine it had actually happened to him. Distracted and somewhat in a daze, Star did not notice her necklace had momentarily floated off her neck, and the short, sudden gasp for breath and grab for it returned her to reality. She exhaled shakily and held the seaweed close to her bosom, pondering what Azelf must have been feeling right now.

Cautiously, Star approached the faerie shoyru. "Hey," she muttered quietly, placing a gentle paw on his shoulder. "It's fine. Sometimes, we can lose control of ourselves." She stopped uncertainly and studied Azelf, who had yet to fully show his face. "I... I've lost my control before," she admit sadly, trying to empathize. "Sometimes... sometimes the world just cheats you. You want answers, but there are none. And when you feel like that... i-it makes sense to lose a hold of yourself. So I'm not upset. I'm very sorry... I'm very sorry that that has happened to you, Azelf." Her eyes were shimmering with sympathy, waiting for Azelf to meet their gaze.

[Blue]

The faerie shoyru slowly uncovered his face and looked at the biscuit kacheek's blue eyes with wonder. She felt that before too? He became a little curious and stunned of what Star was talking about, about herself, but came back to his senses. Embarrassed by what he had accidentally shown everyone with his power, Azelf's face flushed red... "Uhm... r-really?" ...as well as not knowing how exactly to respond. He cleared his throat, feeling anxious about his surroundings. "I mean... uhm... t-thanks for understanding... a-and for the concern, Star. I really appreciate it." He tried to smile but sighed. "I'm just sorry you had to see that... And now you know about my powers..." He began fidgeting with his paws. "I was going to tell you about this soon... but I got scared--"

Azelf took a glance at the unfinished salad they were preparing. The ingredients have been left unattended for some time. "Uhm... E-enough about that first..." He forced a soft giggle. "We still have that dish to finish." The shoyru toughened himself a little bit to show he's now okay and was ready to continue finishing the salad. "We can talk a-about the rest later... Does that sound alright to you?"

[Maddie]

"Yes, that is perfectly fine. You don't have to be scared, Azelf," Star assured her friend with a small smile, returning to the ingredients as well. "Now lets get some food in our stomachs! I'm mega curious to experience what eating underwater feels like!"

~***~

Star waited patiently in her seat at the kitchen table while Azelf retrieved serving plates and eating utensils from the cupboard. Winter was curled up in her lap, providing enough weight so that her body was actually planted in the chair rather than floating a few inches above it. Star was silent for the most part while Azelf searched; she recognized that their conversation would be pretty serious once the food was served, and she didn't want to make light of it. She smiled encouragingly when the shoyru handed her her plate and sat down. Grabbing the salad tongs and serving herself some kelp salad from the bowl positioned in the middle of table, she asked, "so... what else did you want to talk about?"

[Blue]

Azelf sat down at the table next to Star. "W-well..." The shoyru was about to try out the meatless kelp salad from his purple bowl. "I-it's about my powers..." He nervously began cutting the salad into bits. "I actually don't know my own strength to be honest... I'm scared I might hurt people when I use them... O-or what if I lose control again... and end up turning to the dark side... something like that... M-my brother Pawkeyt once told me he became afraid of me when I went out of control last time... I'm not ashamed of my powers, but I'm just trying to protect t-those I care a-about--"

He paused, noticing where Winter was at and smiled shyly. "Aww, it looks like Winter really likes you, Star... b-b-but anyway... I actually thought last time while we were at your farm I was going to mess up... I'm just thankful I-I didn't this time..." Azelf placed a bit of salad in his mouth to taste it. Huh, not bad, it tastes fine... Hope Star's is also. He thought to himself, curious about how the salad tastes with meat. "O-oh by the way, how's the salad?"

[Maddie]

Star brought a forkful of the kelp to her lips and hesitantly took a bite. She chewed with a thoughtful look before replying. "It's delicious, but I can't stop thinking about how much seawater I'm ingesting every time I open my mouth," she laughed quietly. She wiped her mouth clean with a napkin and folded her paws in a patient, listening gesture.

"And well, I don't know much about magic," Star said. "But you? Turning to the dark side? I could never see it, untapped power or not." She rested a paw on top his hand and met his eyes directly. "I just want you to know that, even if you do hurt people, you're not a bad person. If you were bad, you wouldn't be so worried about everyone else's well being. Right?" She looked down at Winter and exhaled quietly. "I'm glad you didn't lose control when we first met. And I'm glad you've told me about it now. If it happens again, I can be better prepared."

[Blue]

Despite what Star had said and her concern, the faerie Shoyru still felt worried, knowing how capable his powers are to do a lot of damage even if he doesn't want any of those to happen. A few memories of his past plays in his mind; how he only woke up in the arms of his Kiko brother and seeing the damage he caused unconsciously. Azelf was lucky to have met his brothers and sister who had been patient with him and a friend who understands... and who also seemed to enjoy the dish he prepared.

"Yeah... you're actually the first of my friends to have visited here really... They haven't tried going underwater before either..." Azelf shrugged. "Can't say we're hard to find since... well, you found our home here." He chuckled nervously, then taking another bite of his salad. "Speaking of magic, m-my brother, B, always teaches me how to control my powers. He's an expert." The shoyru smiled shyly. "Thanks to him, I learned to handled it a bit..." He stares blankly at their surroundings, remembering his sudden use of his powers on the kitchen. "Uh... that still needs work."

Azelf giggled silently and paused; his smile slowly fades, looking curiously at Star for a brief moment. "Though..." He hesitated, trying to speak what was on his mind. "Uh, if you mind me asking... Was this the first time you've seen magic?"

[Maddie]

Star looked a tad surprised, then shook her head. "No no, that wasn't the first time," she explained, leafing through her salad bowl. "Though I've never seen magic like that before."

Star leaned forward and rest a paw on her cheek. "Similar to B, my brother Cici knows a bit of magic. He and his girlfriend use it when they fight in the Battledome, much to Dude's disapproval." She tapped her fork against the table in thought before returning her attention to Azelf. "I'm sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. What I meant to say is that Cici only uses water based magic, so that's all I've seen. I think it comes with his color." She took a mouthful of the kelp, making sure there was a nice chunk of meat with it. She narrowed her eyes and stared off as she chewed, thinking about her brother.