Xena woke up to a warm and wet feeling on her face. When she slowly opened her eyes, she felt Aqua's two adorable dogs with their rough tongues on her cheeks. Although, it turns out they're not so cute with their tongues scratching her skin. She laughed at the ticklish feeling and sat up. Xena looked around, confused at the change of her surroundings. But then she remembered what had happened.
An unfamiliar face walked towards her. Her smile was captivating, and so were her deep blue eyes. She had thick and curly brown hair that exuded enthusiasm. She wasn't as tanned as Aqua's, nor was she as pale as Xena. Her skin had a balanced glow.
"Hello…" said the lady and sat on the other couch with her elbows on her knees. She looked at Xena curiously.
"Hello," Xena greeted back, smiling gently, and looking away. The lady must be the friend that Aqua spoke of yesterday.
"You must be Xena, right? Are you feeling well?" The two dogs, who were just on top of Xena's space, jumped towards the lady with excitement.
Xena nodded her head, shyly. "Yeah. I'm feeling okay. Thanks to Aqua." The lady smiled brightly and ran her fingers through her curly hair.
"Good. Aqua explained to me what happened. I'm glad you're fine. Oh, and I'm Astrid," she introduced.
"Thank you for letting me stay here…" Xena lowered her head politely with gratitude. A chuckle left Astrid's mouth as she smiled. She said there was no need to thank her as it was Aqua who was kind enough to let her stay in.
After the minor exchange, an awkward silence lingered for a while, mostly because starting a small talk wasn't Xena's strong suit. Astrid tapped her finger on the white leather couches as she looked around—both didn't utter a word for half a minute.
Finally, Astrid cleared her throat, put on a gentle smile, and said, "We should eat breakfast while waiting for Aqua. She'll be back in a while," she suggested.
They both walked toward the dining area and sat on the table. There were already three delicious-looking dishes on top of it: mainly eggs and sausages. The dishes were reminiscent of the food Xena usually ate with her family. It put a smile on her face—a saddened smile.
Xena and Astrid began eating in silence. The two ate peacefully, not conversing but enjoying each other's company.
"So, how did you meet Aqua?" asked Astrid, breaking the silence in the air. Xena swallowed her food before answering. How she met Aqua was a weird circumstance, but a circumstance that changed her life.
Xena picked up the glass of water and drank. "Um, it sounds weird, but we met each other in a forest," replied Xena as she placed her glass of water down. Mera grinned while she shook her head.
"Forest, huh?"
"That's a bit surprising. I also met her in the same way." Astrid crossed her arms as she tried to recall when she first encountered Aqua.
"She was small and scared. Aqua was trembling with fear when I first saw her. I can't believe that was three years ago," Xena's interest piqued. Did Astrid take Aqua in like how Aqua did to me? Xena wondered. It was likely, and that made Xena admire Aqua.
"What happened to her? Why was she scared?" Xena asked bluntly. Her question made Astrid turn her head toward her.
Her lips curved up, showing a gentle smile. "It's a long story, and it's not my place to tell. All I can say is, she suffered a lot. She's a brave girl, a lot braver than she thinks."
They both smiled at each other, sharing a mutual agreement. Just after Astrid finished speaking, the person who they discussed finally arrived. There was a frown on her face as she entered. Aqua and Mera greeted each other with a lack of enthusiasm, just a simple greeting and nothing else.
"What's with the look on your face? Did something happen?" asked Astrid. Xena noticed the change in her expression. Astrid's gentle smile faded away, and a concerned look replaced it. An exhausted sigh escaped Aqua's mouth while she brought both of her hands on her waist.
"Just tired," replied Aqua. She walked towards the two near the dining table and sat down. Stress overtook Aqua's face, and the two looked at her in curiosity and concern.
Astrid shot a look and asked, "Did you run into those men again?" Aqua shook her head no and let out another deep-rooted sigh.
"No. Thank God. And I told you, sis, I'm just tired." Her stare shifted to Xena. "We might have to go to that science center Xena told me about," Aqua declared as her body shot up. Xena and Astrid's eyes followed Aqua's path as she paced back and forth.
Astrid furrowed her brows and moved toward her. "There is no way you're going to 'any' science center," she huffed, "it's dangerous. And you'd endanger Xena's life as well."
"Relax Astrid. I'm not planning to go inside the science center, we just want to gather as much information as we can." Aqua slightly rolled her eyes, but her explanation didn't convince Astrid even by a little.
"Okay, but what if something happens--"
"Nothing is gonna happen." Aqua stood tall; her aura and confidence forced Astrid to give up. "Come on, Xena," ordered Aqua. She strolled toward the door while Xena trailed behind her.
She then looked back and saw Astrid's slightly disappointed frown.
"Just… stay safe, the both of you!" Astrid yelled as the two walked out of the warehouse.
They travelled for half an hour toward the tall gates, back to where they came from. Xena took that time to enjoy the view of the large town one more time. At this hour, ten in the morning, many people loitered the streets. It was busier than when she saw it last time.
Finally, they both arrived at the large entrance and just like last time, a small part of the wall opened into a small window. This time the person inside was different, yet they still wore the same uniform. It was still a mystery to Xena how one could fit inside the wall and still look comfortable. The advancement in technology made Grand Valley different from the rest.
"Leaving?" the man asked, and both nodded their heads yes. Aqua raised her hand to show the same fake ID. The man pressed something on his computer, which resulted in the gate opening a small portion of it. With no expression or reaction, Aqua walked pass the gates with the expectation of Xena following her.
"So, we're heading to the science center?" Xena asked, wanting to clarify their plan once more.
Aqua silently nodded her head and continued to walk forward. Their feet dug against the dry and lifeless grass. Xena looked down and noticed the grass field beneath them. It was brown and looked lifeless. Was it a result of Aqua's ball of water? If Xena remembered correctly, the wall she made also sucked out the vibrance of the plants she took them from. Maybe it was her doing. If so, Aqua's 'power' amused Xena. She was the first Arken that she met and now, she was curious about what the rest of them could do. Everything about Arkens remained a question to Xena, which reminded her of one thing.
Looking at her palm, Xena wondered if the incident that occurred in that warehouse was just a strong hallucination. But it was not. She felt pain when she accidentally cut her palm, which made her conclude it wasn't just a hallucination. Was she wrong about it? Having her wound heal and disappear in thin air felt unbelievable to her. If Xena had told a normal person about it, they'd think she's a freak. 'Weird,' she thought.
A sigh escaped Xena's mouth. Her thoughts sent her into a chain of uncertainty. If Xena could control blood, she wanted to see it with her eyes opened this time.
She transferred her attention to the tall cliff that towered over the two of them.
"Coming down wasn't a big problem. But going back up is," Aqua complained. A groan of exhaustion left her mouth.
"How are we going to climb back up?" asked Xena. She stared long and hard at the cliff above. The woman she questioned scanned the area and noticed the odd colour of the surrounding grass.
"Crap. It's all dead." Xena looked at where Aqua's eyes were. She was right. The grass that was once a bright colour of green turned into a lifeless brown was dead grass.
"What will you do?" They both shared panicked eye contact. Aqua pursed her lips as she tried to think of a solution.
"I'd have to take water from the grass from all the way there and there." She pointed at both left and right, telling Xena that she would have to take out every droplet of hydration from the grass meters away.
"Can't you just form water out of thin air?" asked Xena, but Aqua immediately shook her head.
"Trust me, I've tried doing that, and it didn't work. I have to take water out of something living."
"Like humans?" Aqua gave Xena's question a thought, but then immediately denied it.
"No, like plants. Plants have a lot of water in them," she chuckled.
"But won't the officers see what we're doing?" Xena looked around. She worried that the gates might have some gadgets that could detect strange activities happening outside.
"Don't worry, they won't."
Xena gave up and let out a sigh. After all, Aqua is the one who had lived here long enough, so she must be right.
"All right," she mumbled.
They both nodded their head before starting. "Just monitor the gates. If it opens, we run as fast as we can in separate directions," commanded Aqua.
Xena did just what Aqua said and kept a close eye on the tall gates. Behind her was Aqua, breathing in and out as if she was preparing herself to go beyond her limits. It was her first time doing this: using her power on a large scale. As bizarre as it sounds, Aqua still hasn't mastered her abilities yet. In fact, most of the Arkens haven't.
She let out her last exhale before lowering her arms near her waist. "This is gonna take a while," Aqua said. She felt the usual burst of energy at first, but then it grew larger and larger in her body.
It was like Aqua couldn't breathe the more she forced the liquid out of the grass field. It was one jarring task. She closed her eyes and imagined the droplets coming out of the green stems. And as if on cue, those droplets she imagined then came out one after another. They floated in the air for a while and then flew beneath her and Xena—eventually forming a flat, glass-like surface made of water.
Xena trembled when she felt herself being lifted in the air. She looked left and right to see the vibrant green of the grass field shift to a brownish hue in a domino effect.
The surface was thin, she even saw ripples of water beneath her. Aqua remained quiet; a shock of energy filled her up as she imagined her flat surface of water lifting both of them up in the air.
It amazed Xena; it amazed her that Arkens like Aqua could do these things—things that a normal human couldn't do. No wonder the Arkenian Government tried their best to shut them down. They could overpower an entire city if they wanted to. And it's because Arkens have something they don't. Developed DNA.
Most Arkens don't know the basis of their existence or have any idea why they have abilities. Just like Aqua said, rumours upon rumours spread amongst them. Yet none of them know the truth—none except one person.
And it was up to Xena to uncover everything—the truth that would then lead to her demise in the future.