drunkenpandaren (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
drunkenpandaren) wrote2008-07-29 12:18 am
drunkenpandaren) wrote2008-07-29 12:18 am
More Water
It's not like I keep these things mostly secret anymore.
Irma couldn’t breathe, the man having cut off her air, leaving her in the middle of the water, face down.
‘Got to break free!’ Irma tried to struggle as the man yawned.
“Oh give it a rest,” he sighed. “There’s nothing you can really do against this.”
“SING MOLJINR!”
The concentration of the apparition before them shattered, the black barrier breaking as Irma coughed and hacked, hands groping for the water bottle that she had collected the silvery liquid within. Facing off against the man was Thorleif, looking exhausted. “You foul creature, you dare show your face around here?”
“My my, Thorleif of the Five Regents,” drawled the man. “I must admit that you’ve been a pain in my side for quite some time, hmm?”
Thorleif shifted into a combat stance as the man chuckled. “Oh no, I’m not going to fight you right now. Not here. This is Holy Land. It would be a shame if the Great Lion’s water was damaged. No, we’ll fight again.”
Vanishing from sight, Thorleif helped Irma to her feet as she took long gasps of air. “Thanks,” managed Irma. “Who was that guy?”
“The Black Man,” said Thorleif. “We don’t know where he came from, but one day just showed up. Sometimes he fights us, sometimes not. All we know is that he’s a pain in the ass – and hates Phobos. That’s good enough for me. Although, this is the first time he’s attacked us. What’d he want?”
“This,” said Irma, holding up the water bottle, the silver liquid within it. “Water drawn from this lake. He doesn’t want me to have it.”
Thorleif shrugged. “I have no idea what this water is, or where this place is anyhow. C’mon, lets get out of here.”
“Do we have to go through the water again?” inquired Irma, a sheepish expression on her face. Thorleif gave her a look and she sighed before plunging deep into the cool water.
For a long moment, it seemed that no sunlight would ever break through the gloom, but then the water abruptly lightened and Irma kicked off, surfacing with a loud gasp for air. Thorleif followed, looking like a wet, bedraggled Viking in fur. The sight of his handsome frame soaked with water made Irma blush and she got out of the water before anything else could go wrong.
“Where to now?” inquired Thorleif curiously as he wrung out his fur lined shirt.
“Somewhere,” replied Irma absently, gazing around. There had to be something out of place – something that would tell her where to go next.
Then it struck her, quite literally.
Irma clutched her forehead as the brick had come out of nowhere, and she pinwheeled backwards before landing on her backside. “HEY!” roared Thorleif at the pair of kids from Meridian who ran off giggling. “Man, kids these days. Can’t we at least keep them from throwing bricks at people randomly?”
Irma looked up, rubbing her forehead. “Man, that’s some impact,” she grumbled. “Good thing I have a hard head. Oh look: a summons.”
Thorleif looked down at the object on the ground. While it was brick-shaped, it was a stone of a pale blue color with a symbol on it. “Huh, weird that,” he remarked, picking it up and hefting it. “Here.”
Holding it out for Irma, Irma sighed, placed her hand on the brick –
And two seconds later, Thorleif looked down at the ground that was quickly racing up to meet them. “I take it this isn’t normal?” he replied calmly, unhooking his hammer from his back.
“…” proclaimed Irma, more out of shock that Thorleif had come along for the ride.
FOOM!
In an explosion of lightning meeting ice, the pair plummeted into frigid water for the briefest moments before the water itself bubbled upwards, heating quickly and moved by someone standing there.
“About time you two showed up,” said Katara as Aang waterbent the liquid under them to deposit them safely.
“Wait, what’s going on here?” inquired Irma curiously, gazing at the pair who had greeted them. “And who’s the bald guy?”
Aang chuckled. “Avatar Aang, nice to meet you Irma Lair. And your companion?”
“Thorleif of the Regents of Earth,” replied Thorleif. “What is this place?”
“Echo,” answered the voice of Omi who had somehow snuck up on everyone else. Beside him was a girl, taller than he was but wore her hair in a neat style, red in color. “Everyone, this is Gwen Tennyson.”
“Hey all,” said Gwen, waving a little.
“Okay, this is odd, even by our standards,” stated Irma. “WHY did we get tag-alongs?”
“I’m guessing we can’t do this alone,” said Katara. “You all got attacked by him, didn’t you? Kunel Sanders?”
“If you mean the black robed freak that just tried to pulp us back on the farm, yeah, we saw him,” said Gwen.
“He was most ruthless. Harnessed powers, neither chi nor element. I fear the worst is yet to come,” intoned Omi.
“Oh you’ve got that right,” said the familiar voice. People whirled on the Black Man, Kunel Sanders who floated there, hands in his pockets. “And here I was wondering why you didn’t show up on time. But now I know: those sisters decided to pull protectors for you. Guardians to Guard the Guardian.”
Aang stepped forward, holding a hand to the side. “Everyone stay back,” he ordered.
Sanders looked amused as Aang focused his chi, and then, whipped his hands forward. Twinned blades of ice launched out at Sanders – and split him in half.
Katara let out a sharp shriek and Irma gaped. Omi’s eyes were wide and Gwen’s expression was nothing short of horrified. Thorleif seemed to be unbothered by the quick brutal attack, but his eyes told something else.
“Interesting,” said the damningly amused voice behind them. “I was wondering if you could even go through with it, Avatar Aang. Then I realized you’re different from the RealVerse You.”
Aang scowled. “What do you mean, RealVerse Me? Talk!”
Sanders laughed. “Oh but what a shame. This is all but an illusion, thrown together by Chaos itself. The powers that you see before you are done and undone in an instant. This world, this Reverse Rebirth, is what happened from it. Everything you know is wrong, but the people are the same. Given a choice, would you rather stay here, comfortable? There’s no war. The Fire Lord was defeated years ago. Ozai never existed. The Dragon of the West is but your most loyal friend.”
Aang hesitated for a moment and Sanders was there, in his face, smiling. But instead of striking, he moved on.
“Gwen Tennyson. Such a powerful destiny lay before you. But what about now? Why do you have the Omnitrix, the most powerful Alien Device in the cosmos? Even after it managed to find its way onto your Grandpa Max’s wrist, you managed to take it back.” Sanders made a clucking noise. “You were scared. Scared that the power within you will forever sleep.”
Gwen scowled as she hovered a wrist over her arm protectively. “Leave me and my family out of this.”
Sanders straightened up, smiling. “And at last we come to Thorleif. Powerful. Respected. You and your four Regent friends managed to create a world that two can co-exist together. But for how long? How long will it be until the Heart of Earth must be returned to its rightful owner? You and your friends are powered on the will of but a child! The Hale girl, the younger one. Without it, what would you be?” Sanders leered. “Just. Martin. Tubbs.”
Irma stared at Thorleif. “Martin?”
Thorleif nodded. “Yeah, its me. I thought you’d be mad if you found out this way but…”
“But?”
“I knew you’d be all right with it, in the end,” finished Thorleif as he unslung his weapon. “YOU! Sanders or whatever the hell your name is. Stop with the mind games. Come, face the Master of Lightning, the Lord of Thunder.”
Sanders laughed. “Oh but not today!” Without warning he vanished and reappeared. “Come Gravity,” he intoned, and six giant balls of energy erupted around the six people.
“Hey, what the?!” proclaimed Irma. “Let us out of here!”
“No can do sweetie. The Regeneration is a big no-no. I’m afraid you’ll have to be scattered. HOI!”
In six different directions, the balls scattered.
“Katara? Wake up!”
Katara sat up, holding her head. “Wha? Who’s there?”
“Hey, lay still. You had a nasty blow to the head,” said Thorleif, or rather Martin Tubbs. He had depowered himself and had set up a campfire. “We got separated by that whack-job Sanders. I think Omi and Aang were hurled to the north and Irma and Gwen to the east. We wound up here, in the west.”
Katara examined Martin in the firelight. It had already gotten dark, but she could make out his features. Glasses, a sort of pointed profile with short brown hair. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, and next to him was a small camping bag. “Where’d that come from?” inquired Katara curiously.
“Oh, it was on me when I turned into Thorleif,” replied Martin, handing her a small tin of food. “Sorry it’s not much, but I had to warm beans over the fire. The guys and I were going to go on a hike when this all started…”
Katara spooned up the baked beans and found it to be edible. Martin dug into his own beans and the pair ate in silence.
Finding the silence uncomfortable, Martin cleared his throat. “So um, Katara right? What’s with the really intense guy that you were with?”
“Oh,” said Katara. “That’s Aang. Avatar Aang.”
“You don’t sound pleased to talk about him,” mused Martin quietly. “What’s up?”
Katara let out a sigh. “Back in my or OUR world, I don’t know. In any case, Aang’s been injured. Azula hit him with a lightning bolt and he hasn’t gained consciousness since. And ever since we escaped from Ba Sing Se, it’s been two weeks out from the harbour.”
Martin nodded slowly. “Sounds to me though that you’ve got more issues.”
“I do. I just don’t know what to think about Aang right now. There’s only ONE way that Aang could have ended the war so effectively, and that was to KILL Fire Lord Souzen. Wipe out the line completely.” Katara let the fork rest on the tin and she folded her hands around it, as if trying to absorb the heat from it even though the metal had cooled since. “Aang NEVER kills. He believes life is precious and yet…”
“He did,” summed up Martin. “Katara, I know it’s not my place to say what he should or can’t do, but in this world, this is all we know. When me, and the four other Regents were chosen to become what we are today, we too were in a state of crisis. Oh sure it seemed peaceful enough, but Phobos had gathered so much more power. And what’s worse, he shattered the Heart of Kandrakar, scattering it across the universe. When Lillian Hale gave us our powers, we learned we had to adapt.” Martin shrugged. “It wasn’t easy at first, but we managed.”
“So you’ve killed,” said Katara.
Martin nodded. “Yeah, Phobos forced us into an ugly position, targeted our families, the people who we cared for. We killed his most loyal subject, Cedric. And you know what’s funny? Cedric THANKED us. Said that it was better to die free than be lead by a fool like Phobos. Make no mistake, Phobos is dangerous, but he’s also egocentric. The whole ego issue has thrown a lot of deadly situations up against us.”
Looking up at the stars, Martin added, “We’ll have to head out in the morning, so we need some sleep. This place is going to get nasty-cold in the daytime.”
Katara blinked. “Shouldn’t it be really cold right now?”
Martin chuckled. “Are you kidding? This place is all topsy turvy: we’re sitting on an ice flow that feels like a warm soft bed.”
Katara blinked, poked the ground and found it yielding. “That IS weird.”
“I hope Grandpa and Ben don’t get upset when I never get home,” grumbled Gwen as she and Irma hiked through the chilly tundra that seemed to go on for eternity. Mountains and other frozen flora and fauna dotted the way, but the pair were shivering, dressed for the summer.
“You and me both,” grumbled Irma. “Can’t you use that Omnitrix to find us something to use for heat?”
Gwen blew into her hands, rubbing the fingers. “No I can’t,” she sighed. “What happens if we get attacked by some kind of creature? I wouldn’t be able to use the watch since it would be on cooldown.”
“Oh joy,” chattered Irma. “When we get to the next island thingy, we’ll be frozen girlsicles. I hope someone likes their food cold.”
“Just calm down and focus,” shivered Gwen. “And is it me, or is it getting COLDER as the day goes on?”
“Colder,” affirmed Irma as the pair rounded a large cropping of ice. “Hey, a village!”
“Great, we can just ask the penguins for directions.”
Upon closer inspection, the island seemed deserted. Despite the tropical appearance to it, it was sheeted with ice and snow. A long loading dock stretched out past the pair as they trudged up to land. “Where’s the inn?” coughed Gwen.
Irma cupped her hands to her mouth. “HEY! ANYONE HERE?! HELLO!”
Finally, a door creaked open and a blue hand waved them inside. The girls, without options, scampered to the door and slid inside before the door was bolted. Inside the room, it felt like a sauna, something they were appreciative for as thick blankets came down around their shoulders. “You kids are lucky to be alive,” said a matronly voice that belonged to a tall woman. No, not a woman, some kind of mermaid who floated in place. “Come along kids, you need something hot in you.”
“Where is this place?” shivered Gwen as she was plopped down in front of a roaring fire that sat in the middle of the room. A literal bonfire, the pair felt their hands and faces heating up rapidly as the woman forced two mugs of cocoa into their hands.
“This is the Pearl of the Sea, the nicest place in Water Country. Or at least it USED to be,” sighed the mermaid. “I’m the owner of this establishment. Just call me Min.”
“What happened here anyhow?” inquired Irma, downing half her cocoa in one gulp, feeling the heat sear her tongue and lips.
“The Reversal happened,” sighed Min as she returned to her duties behind the bar. “The chosen ones weren’t fast enough, and due to some chaos magic, we’re knee-deep in snow and ice. Everything’s wrong right now. Up is down, the sun doesn’t warm but chills…”
“So we have to walk at night?” gaped Gwen. “Oh man…”
“About the size of it,” nodded Min. “Look kids, I don’t want you going out there at least without something. C’mon, I can get some jackets made up at least.”
Poke and prod for errors as usual.
Irma couldn’t breathe, the man having cut off her air, leaving her in the middle of the water, face down.
‘Got to break free!’ Irma tried to struggle as the man yawned.
“Oh give it a rest,” he sighed. “There’s nothing you can really do against this.”
“SING MOLJINR!”
The concentration of the apparition before them shattered, the black barrier breaking as Irma coughed and hacked, hands groping for the water bottle that she had collected the silvery liquid within. Facing off against the man was Thorleif, looking exhausted. “You foul creature, you dare show your face around here?”
“My my, Thorleif of the Five Regents,” drawled the man. “I must admit that you’ve been a pain in my side for quite some time, hmm?”
Thorleif shifted into a combat stance as the man chuckled. “Oh no, I’m not going to fight you right now. Not here. This is Holy Land. It would be a shame if the Great Lion’s water was damaged. No, we’ll fight again.”
Vanishing from sight, Thorleif helped Irma to her feet as she took long gasps of air. “Thanks,” managed Irma. “Who was that guy?”
“The Black Man,” said Thorleif. “We don’t know where he came from, but one day just showed up. Sometimes he fights us, sometimes not. All we know is that he’s a pain in the ass – and hates Phobos. That’s good enough for me. Although, this is the first time he’s attacked us. What’d he want?”
“This,” said Irma, holding up the water bottle, the silver liquid within it. “Water drawn from this lake. He doesn’t want me to have it.”
Thorleif shrugged. “I have no idea what this water is, or where this place is anyhow. C’mon, lets get out of here.”
“Do we have to go through the water again?” inquired Irma, a sheepish expression on her face. Thorleif gave her a look and she sighed before plunging deep into the cool water.
For a long moment, it seemed that no sunlight would ever break through the gloom, but then the water abruptly lightened and Irma kicked off, surfacing with a loud gasp for air. Thorleif followed, looking like a wet, bedraggled Viking in fur. The sight of his handsome frame soaked with water made Irma blush and she got out of the water before anything else could go wrong.
“Where to now?” inquired Thorleif curiously as he wrung out his fur lined shirt.
“Somewhere,” replied Irma absently, gazing around. There had to be something out of place – something that would tell her where to go next.
Then it struck her, quite literally.
Irma clutched her forehead as the brick had come out of nowhere, and she pinwheeled backwards before landing on her backside. “HEY!” roared Thorleif at the pair of kids from Meridian who ran off giggling. “Man, kids these days. Can’t we at least keep them from throwing bricks at people randomly?”
Irma looked up, rubbing her forehead. “Man, that’s some impact,” she grumbled. “Good thing I have a hard head. Oh look: a summons.”
Thorleif looked down at the object on the ground. While it was brick-shaped, it was a stone of a pale blue color with a symbol on it. “Huh, weird that,” he remarked, picking it up and hefting it. “Here.”
Holding it out for Irma, Irma sighed, placed her hand on the brick –
And two seconds later, Thorleif looked down at the ground that was quickly racing up to meet them. “I take it this isn’t normal?” he replied calmly, unhooking his hammer from his back.
“…” proclaimed Irma, more out of shock that Thorleif had come along for the ride.
FOOM!
In an explosion of lightning meeting ice, the pair plummeted into frigid water for the briefest moments before the water itself bubbled upwards, heating quickly and moved by someone standing there.
“About time you two showed up,” said Katara as Aang waterbent the liquid under them to deposit them safely.
“Wait, what’s going on here?” inquired Irma curiously, gazing at the pair who had greeted them. “And who’s the bald guy?”
Aang chuckled. “Avatar Aang, nice to meet you Irma Lair. And your companion?”
“Thorleif of the Regents of Earth,” replied Thorleif. “What is this place?”
“Echo,” answered the voice of Omi who had somehow snuck up on everyone else. Beside him was a girl, taller than he was but wore her hair in a neat style, red in color. “Everyone, this is Gwen Tennyson.”
“Hey all,” said Gwen, waving a little.
“Okay, this is odd, even by our standards,” stated Irma. “WHY did we get tag-alongs?”
“I’m guessing we can’t do this alone,” said Katara. “You all got attacked by him, didn’t you? Kunel Sanders?”
“If you mean the black robed freak that just tried to pulp us back on the farm, yeah, we saw him,” said Gwen.
“He was most ruthless. Harnessed powers, neither chi nor element. I fear the worst is yet to come,” intoned Omi.
“Oh you’ve got that right,” said the familiar voice. People whirled on the Black Man, Kunel Sanders who floated there, hands in his pockets. “And here I was wondering why you didn’t show up on time. But now I know: those sisters decided to pull protectors for you. Guardians to Guard the Guardian.”
Aang stepped forward, holding a hand to the side. “Everyone stay back,” he ordered.
Sanders looked amused as Aang focused his chi, and then, whipped his hands forward. Twinned blades of ice launched out at Sanders – and split him in half.
Katara let out a sharp shriek and Irma gaped. Omi’s eyes were wide and Gwen’s expression was nothing short of horrified. Thorleif seemed to be unbothered by the quick brutal attack, but his eyes told something else.
“Interesting,” said the damningly amused voice behind them. “I was wondering if you could even go through with it, Avatar Aang. Then I realized you’re different from the RealVerse You.”
Aang scowled. “What do you mean, RealVerse Me? Talk!”
Sanders laughed. “Oh but what a shame. This is all but an illusion, thrown together by Chaos itself. The powers that you see before you are done and undone in an instant. This world, this Reverse Rebirth, is what happened from it. Everything you know is wrong, but the people are the same. Given a choice, would you rather stay here, comfortable? There’s no war. The Fire Lord was defeated years ago. Ozai never existed. The Dragon of the West is but your most loyal friend.”
Aang hesitated for a moment and Sanders was there, in his face, smiling. But instead of striking, he moved on.
“Gwen Tennyson. Such a powerful destiny lay before you. But what about now? Why do you have the Omnitrix, the most powerful Alien Device in the cosmos? Even after it managed to find its way onto your Grandpa Max’s wrist, you managed to take it back.” Sanders made a clucking noise. “You were scared. Scared that the power within you will forever sleep.”
Gwen scowled as she hovered a wrist over her arm protectively. “Leave me and my family out of this.”
Sanders straightened up, smiling. “And at last we come to Thorleif. Powerful. Respected. You and your four Regent friends managed to create a world that two can co-exist together. But for how long? How long will it be until the Heart of Earth must be returned to its rightful owner? You and your friends are powered on the will of but a child! The Hale girl, the younger one. Without it, what would you be?” Sanders leered. “Just. Martin. Tubbs.”
Irma stared at Thorleif. “Martin?”
Thorleif nodded. “Yeah, its me. I thought you’d be mad if you found out this way but…”
“But?”
“I knew you’d be all right with it, in the end,” finished Thorleif as he unslung his weapon. “YOU! Sanders or whatever the hell your name is. Stop with the mind games. Come, face the Master of Lightning, the Lord of Thunder.”
Sanders laughed. “Oh but not today!” Without warning he vanished and reappeared. “Come Gravity,” he intoned, and six giant balls of energy erupted around the six people.
“Hey, what the?!” proclaimed Irma. “Let us out of here!”
“No can do sweetie. The Regeneration is a big no-no. I’m afraid you’ll have to be scattered. HOI!”
In six different directions, the balls scattered.
“Katara? Wake up!”
Katara sat up, holding her head. “Wha? Who’s there?”
“Hey, lay still. You had a nasty blow to the head,” said Thorleif, or rather Martin Tubbs. He had depowered himself and had set up a campfire. “We got separated by that whack-job Sanders. I think Omi and Aang were hurled to the north and Irma and Gwen to the east. We wound up here, in the west.”
Katara examined Martin in the firelight. It had already gotten dark, but she could make out his features. Glasses, a sort of pointed profile with short brown hair. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, and next to him was a small camping bag. “Where’d that come from?” inquired Katara curiously.
“Oh, it was on me when I turned into Thorleif,” replied Martin, handing her a small tin of food. “Sorry it’s not much, but I had to warm beans over the fire. The guys and I were going to go on a hike when this all started…”
Katara spooned up the baked beans and found it to be edible. Martin dug into his own beans and the pair ate in silence.
Finding the silence uncomfortable, Martin cleared his throat. “So um, Katara right? What’s with the really intense guy that you were with?”
“Oh,” said Katara. “That’s Aang. Avatar Aang.”
“You don’t sound pleased to talk about him,” mused Martin quietly. “What’s up?”
Katara let out a sigh. “Back in my or OUR world, I don’t know. In any case, Aang’s been injured. Azula hit him with a lightning bolt and he hasn’t gained consciousness since. And ever since we escaped from Ba Sing Se, it’s been two weeks out from the harbour.”
Martin nodded slowly. “Sounds to me though that you’ve got more issues.”
“I do. I just don’t know what to think about Aang right now. There’s only ONE way that Aang could have ended the war so effectively, and that was to KILL Fire Lord Souzen. Wipe out the line completely.” Katara let the fork rest on the tin and she folded her hands around it, as if trying to absorb the heat from it even though the metal had cooled since. “Aang NEVER kills. He believes life is precious and yet…”
“He did,” summed up Martin. “Katara, I know it’s not my place to say what he should or can’t do, but in this world, this is all we know. When me, and the four other Regents were chosen to become what we are today, we too were in a state of crisis. Oh sure it seemed peaceful enough, but Phobos had gathered so much more power. And what’s worse, he shattered the Heart of Kandrakar, scattering it across the universe. When Lillian Hale gave us our powers, we learned we had to adapt.” Martin shrugged. “It wasn’t easy at first, but we managed.”
“So you’ve killed,” said Katara.
Martin nodded. “Yeah, Phobos forced us into an ugly position, targeted our families, the people who we cared for. We killed his most loyal subject, Cedric. And you know what’s funny? Cedric THANKED us. Said that it was better to die free than be lead by a fool like Phobos. Make no mistake, Phobos is dangerous, but he’s also egocentric. The whole ego issue has thrown a lot of deadly situations up against us.”
Looking up at the stars, Martin added, “We’ll have to head out in the morning, so we need some sleep. This place is going to get nasty-cold in the daytime.”
Katara blinked. “Shouldn’t it be really cold right now?”
Martin chuckled. “Are you kidding? This place is all topsy turvy: we’re sitting on an ice flow that feels like a warm soft bed.”
Katara blinked, poked the ground and found it yielding. “That IS weird.”
“I hope Grandpa and Ben don’t get upset when I never get home,” grumbled Gwen as she and Irma hiked through the chilly tundra that seemed to go on for eternity. Mountains and other frozen flora and fauna dotted the way, but the pair were shivering, dressed for the summer.
“You and me both,” grumbled Irma. “Can’t you use that Omnitrix to find us something to use for heat?”
Gwen blew into her hands, rubbing the fingers. “No I can’t,” she sighed. “What happens if we get attacked by some kind of creature? I wouldn’t be able to use the watch since it would be on cooldown.”
“Oh joy,” chattered Irma. “When we get to the next island thingy, we’ll be frozen girlsicles. I hope someone likes their food cold.”
“Just calm down and focus,” shivered Gwen. “And is it me, or is it getting COLDER as the day goes on?”
“Colder,” affirmed Irma as the pair rounded a large cropping of ice. “Hey, a village!”
“Great, we can just ask the penguins for directions.”
Upon closer inspection, the island seemed deserted. Despite the tropical appearance to it, it was sheeted with ice and snow. A long loading dock stretched out past the pair as they trudged up to land. “Where’s the inn?” coughed Gwen.
Irma cupped her hands to her mouth. “HEY! ANYONE HERE?! HELLO!”
Finally, a door creaked open and a blue hand waved them inside. The girls, without options, scampered to the door and slid inside before the door was bolted. Inside the room, it felt like a sauna, something they were appreciative for as thick blankets came down around their shoulders. “You kids are lucky to be alive,” said a matronly voice that belonged to a tall woman. No, not a woman, some kind of mermaid who floated in place. “Come along kids, you need something hot in you.”
“Where is this place?” shivered Gwen as she was plopped down in front of a roaring fire that sat in the middle of the room. A literal bonfire, the pair felt their hands and faces heating up rapidly as the woman forced two mugs of cocoa into their hands.
“This is the Pearl of the Sea, the nicest place in Water Country. Or at least it USED to be,” sighed the mermaid. “I’m the owner of this establishment. Just call me Min.”
“What happened here anyhow?” inquired Irma, downing half her cocoa in one gulp, feeling the heat sear her tongue and lips.
“The Reversal happened,” sighed Min as she returned to her duties behind the bar. “The chosen ones weren’t fast enough, and due to some chaos magic, we’re knee-deep in snow and ice. Everything’s wrong right now. Up is down, the sun doesn’t warm but chills…”
“So we have to walk at night?” gaped Gwen. “Oh man…”
“About the size of it,” nodded Min. “Look kids, I don’t want you going out there at least without something. C’mon, I can get some jackets made up at least.”
Poke and prod for errors as usual.