The car was as silent as a graveyard,no one talked so I decided to break the silence but Olly beat me to it."You're from the ruby tribe?"."Yeah",Cora replied."Hmm...why are you here?",Olly said."None of your business...I'm here for Emma",she said and cleared her throat.A frown was etched on my face,I was so confused.So,they didn't know each other and they were acting as if they did a while ago..."You guys don't know each other?",Emma asked."Uhm...Technically,I do 'cos Wanda told me about him but she didn't mention that he would be this cold",she said and shrugged."I'm not cold!,I just want to know about you,the person who sent you and whether you'll be staying or not!",Olly said,slightly raising his voice.Cora was visibly angry now."Oh,really?.Listen Olly,you don't get to decide whether I stay or not,okay?,I stay where I want to and leave when I want to!",she said fuming."I'm the one leading the journey here so you follow my rules or leave!",Olly said,raising his voice even higher.I facepalmed and sighed."It's okay guys,you don't need to fight over it...co-operation is the most important thing about teamwork.So,let's try to co-operate.",I said."Besides,Cora seems nice and she'll be super helpful too,although I don't know what this journey is about...",I added immediately.Olly sighed and mumbled 'Okay'.He parked across the street and I got down from the car.I walked towards my house and stopped at the entrance,I was about to knock when I remembered.It was way past 17:00p.m now and I was meant to be back before that time.I was scared but I took a deep breath and knocked.I waited for a reply but no one answered,I knocked again and someone said,"coming".I smiled and recognized the voice to be Jack's.
He was Nina's son but he was her opposite,he never treated me badly and was always nice so to me,he was my real younger brother.He opened the door and I hugged him tightly."Jack!,how are you now?,is your leg okay?",I asked examining him."Haha,it was so weird being at the hospital for a week,but I survived it and here I am...it hurts a little but it's better now",he said smiling."Okay",I said and ruffled his hair. I looked around and he noticed that I was searching for Nina so he told me she went out.We sat on the couch and I summarized everything happening to him and told him not to tell Nina all of it and he agreed to make up an excuse for me.I packed a few things and hugged him again before I left."I'm back",I announced.I looked at Jack at the entrance and waved to him sadly before the car zoomed off."Storytime Emma",Cora said.
There was a barrier between the first two seats and the remaining four at the back so Cora activated it because it was soundproof.I told her that Olly was my best friend and there was no need to prevent him from listening but she did anyway and he didn't complain.
"About 50 years ago,the people in the ocean were one,there were no tribes or differences despite their different characteristics,they got along pretty well and it went on till Gilliam the First separated himself and the other keepers of the animals of the sea,also called the Emerald tribe now,from the other people and got hungry for power.He continued searching for power and succeeded in getting it from all the other tribes,he enslaved them and unleashed terror on the ocean and it's inhabitants,he still continued searching for more power until the defenders of the ocean,the Amethyst tribe rose against him,fought back and won.They were free but things didn't go back to the way they were.Everyone took up their responsibilities and used their powers for it's purpose.The people of the ocean continued to advance technologically and gradually stopped growing tails and fins and were able to float and still breathe underwater but along with the tail and and other wild characteristics,they lost the ability to communicate with sea animals except if the sea animals are jewel shadows or keepers of each tribe.After all the changes,Gilliam the first had died but unknown to everyone, he left behind a heir who became known six years ago;Gilliam the Second...",Cora had been talking and suddenly stopped,she looked at me with concern and wanted to speak."Wint-",she said and covered her mouth as if she just said something very bad."What?",I asked."Uhm..sorry,it's nothing".I pouted and held her hand,"Tell me...please".She smiled and said,"I'll tell you but not yet...you have to remember before I can tell you"."Oh...okay",I said,readjusting back on the seat."So,where was I?...Okay.Gilliam the Second wanted to avenge his father's death so he decided to kill a member of the royal family(of the Amethyst tribe),he had the king in mind but he discovered that the princess was more precious to the Amethyst tribe than anyone else and she had a special ability that only the royal family knew about so he decided to take her but he would not kill her.Due to the advanced technology,he would find a way to transfer all her powers to him and become even more powerful than his father and that was how his evil plan grew and on a day to her birthday,he attacked.Everyone protected the young princess with their lives and thankfully only few lost theirs but after the attack,the princess was nowhere to be found and since then the sea relied on technology for their safety as the Amethyst tribe isolated themselves and no one has ever seen any of them since the incident happened.",Cora concluded and heaved a sigh."Oh...that's sad",I said and also heaved a sigh."See Cora,I'm not sure about this but Olly seems to be acting strange...when he travelled,we used to chat and call almost everyday but about five months ago,he told me some of the things you said,that he was from the Emerald tribe and that he was actually meant to protect me and he had information about my family but he never told me which tribe I belonged to but he told me he was coming soon with a gift from my family.He told me to make sure he sees me the day he arrives and even told me to prepare for the journey,he didn't tell me where we were going though and sometimes...I see myself in the water,I have visions and I saw someone earlier today ,she was about to say something but I woke up and I haven't gone back there since we started this journey",I explained."So,isn't it strange that he hasn't mentioned it since he came...",I asked and took a glance at him through the barrier."Hmm...it is kinda strange but I guess it's 'cos of what happened",Cora said and also looked at him."What?",I asked."He was on his way to your family but they caught him"."Who?"."Fishermen"."Uh?",I asked with a frown."Yeah,people from the Emerald tribe can shapeshift into sea animals and plants because their powers are related to them,they can control them,befriend them but they can't talk to them except the royal family so he turned into a fish and he was caught and after that I didn't see him till now"."You knew him before now...",I asked,confused."No,the Ruby tribe can see everything going on in the ocean so I saw a green fish being caught and Wanda told me about him before so I figured he was the one and when I told Wanda,she confirmed it.By the way,Wanda is your elder sister",she said."I have a sister!",I said joyfully."I've always wanted a sister!",I said smiling.Cora laughed and said,"Well,you always did"."I can't wait to meet her",I said again grinning."You'll meet her pretty soon",she said.
We talked about other things related to the journey for some minutes and I learnt that I was either the missing princess or just Wanda's sister because Wanda's real identity was unknown to Cora,she was just Wanda's friend and she had never seen her without a cloak since they had been meeting."Apart from the vision,have you had any strange experiences or developed defensive skills,naturally?",Cora asked."Nope,except my karate skills...that I learned",I answered."Okay...",she said.We stopped talking for a while and Cora deactivated the barrier.Olly didn't look away from the steering wheel and talked,"I've decided,Cora will be excused from the journey as soon as we get to the ocean"."What??",I asked and sat up immediately."Yes",he said still not looking away from the steering wheel."She has an ulterior motive",he said and glared at her."Hm hmn...",Cora said and rolled her eyes.Olly raised up a necklace just like the one I saw in the painting(in my vision) and said, "Weren't you meant to give this to her?",Olly said,with a smirk.Cora looked shock but she changed her expression almost immediately,"So?","I wanted to make sure she was the right person",she said."Oh really?...",Olly said,"...but you were told to give her immediately you saw her so how come you wanted to confirm yourself?",Olly asked again with a serious tone."Uhm...I wasn't sure of what to do,I couldn't risk giving it to the wrong person",she answered,trying to hide the shakiness in her voice."We're here",Olly announced,ignoring her.