Rose stood next to Jia on the Pier of the Fourth Station. Today, they were going on a river tour by paddling down before going through a bush track to reach a hidden waterfall. Everyone was so excited that morning that none of them took long at breakfast. It took another one-hour bus ride to get to the Fourth Station where their tour guide was there waiting for them. While everyone put on their life jackets and prepared, Rose cornered Jia and began to question her.
"Why`d you dance with him last night?" Rose asked her.
Jia clipped the final clip of her life jacket on before benching down to rumple through her bag pack, seemingly looking for something.
"You know he was on the phone with another girl before he came back and stole you form Dylan," Rose continued with her hands fisted on her hips.
Jia chuckled, "No one stole me; I was happy to dance with him."
She then stood up with a black cap and put it on her head. Rose moved forward to adjust it on her head, "Whatever, I`m just glad Chase was able to cut the dance short before he did something to you."
"What makes you think he didn`t already?" Jia asked with an arched brow.
Rose stepped back and resumed her original pose, "I don`t like him, why do you like him? He`s a playboy."
"He`s a Knight and a good person. He`s just figuring out his feelings for now," Jia reasoned out as she recalled their late night conversation before she left for Christmas. It seemed like a life time ago when they had that conversation of theirs. She turned to watched the Knight in question share a private joke with Chase and Dylan before all the boys burst out laughing. Rose followed her gaze and huffed, "No, Chase is a good person."
Jia turned back to her friend with a grin, "You know, I`m seeing a lot of Chase`s in this conversation."
Rose turned bright red, "I…"
The lightning sorceress burst out laughing before moving forward to hug her friend, "Rose, I promise, Tristan and I will be fine. I plan to talk to him about what I feel so don`t worry."
Rose mumbled into her shoulder, "I`m your friend, I just can`t stop worrying."
"I know so thank you."
"Hey, what's with all the girl hugs, and can I get in on it?" Clary asked as she approached her friends, already in her jacket.
"Sure, the more the merrier," Jia announced happily as the other girls came over and joined in the hugging. After they released each other, the tour guide instructed them to get into the canoes in pairs again and paddle downstream before they reach the Fifth Station where the next tour guide will be waiting for them. Kyra and Mike went first, followed by Cole and Zoey with the poor girl nearly falling into the river. Next was Fiona and Clary, Jia watched with a smile as the petrifying sorceress assuring the lava sorceress that she won`t fall into the water. Apparently it was her first time to go canoeing. Then Dylan and Tristan got in their canoe before Chase and Rose boarded theirs.
Finally, Jia got into a boat with Roy but before they did, her cousin jokingly warned her not to repeat her performance from when they were twelve during her papa`s boating exercise.
"I promise, I`m seventeen now, which means I am fully mature," Jia said as she got into her canoe and tried to sit while balancing the canoe.
"Do you actually believe that?" Roy asked her as he got on as well and took his seat. The tour guide then pushed their boat away from the pier as they began to paddle over to the others.
"Heck to the yeah!" Jia declared.
"That`s our girl, rebel all the way," Kyra cheered from behind Mike.
"I like to think she`s a Royal Rebel," Zoey added on the other side of Kyra`s canoe.
"No, a Noble Rebel," Fiona corrected.
"Oh yeah, because she`s a Lady, a rank of Nobility."
"A Noble Rebel, "Jia tested it before nodding in agreement," I like it."
"By the way, how come you're the Lady of House Norvel and not Roy`s mother?" Rose asked from up head. Somehow she and Chase had maneuvered their canoe to lead the group.
"It`s different in our family. For as long as we can remember, we`ve only had one child and no more, and our family tradition states that one child will be Lord and the other will be Lady, and not our spouse, they can only be Lady Consort or Lord Consort," Roy answered her.
Jia broke in, "My mama and Roy`s papa and aunt Camila were the first children to be born to our family in centuries and so Uncle Elias has received the title of Lord and my mama the title of Lady."
"And when we were born, their titles were pasted unto us."
"And your aunt Camila?" Zoey asked.
"I think she had a title but I`m not sure," Jia answered truthfully before she scratched her head. She never really asked her grandparents what her aunt`s title was.
"However, the title is only given to the first girl and first boy," Roy added.
"Your family is weird," Tristan spoke up.
"Tell me about it," Both cousins said in unison.
Everyone laughed before Chase started chanting a Knights Academy song that had all the boys joining soon after he paused. Jia exchanged amused glances with Clary before they joined in with the boys. The other girls soon joined as the group paddled down the river. Once in a while, a phrase would be too funny or embarrassing for the girls to sing and they would stop to giggle or laugh. This continued on until the song ended and Zoey asked Clary to film them.
Cole then began to tell everyone a story of how he and the boys were sent on a mission and discovered a haunted castle.
Jia smile before she stopped paddling and leaned forward as her friend recounted his story. He was getting to an interesting part where Dylan was able to lead them through a maze based on what he read from a book.
"It was like magic," Cole surmised.
"It wasn`t magic, it was logic," Dylan corrected his friend," Stop fooling the girls."
"I am not, that maze was an illusion and we would have been stuck there if you hadn`t stepped up," Cole insisted.
"No, we wouldn`t," Chase denied.
Jia titled her hand and her eyes narrowed slightly. She watched how Dylan was hunching his shoulders and trying to get Cole to get a move on with his story before a thought struck her. He had come into the Nightmare realm to save her but he was a Knight. He didn`t have the magic necessary for it. He couldn`t have.
She then lifted her paddle and tapped Roy`s shoulder which caused him to curse out loud. He turned around to glower at his cousin who made a motion for him to turn in his seat. It took some maneuvering and balancing but he still managed to turn and face her.
"What do you know about Nightmare realms and escaping their magic?" Jia asked.
Roy arched a brow at his cousin, "That depends, what created it? A spell or a crystal or a tablet or-"
"A Baitaki."
Roy`s face instantly darkened," That`s a Dark creature Jia, how do you know about it?'
Jia shrugged," I heard it in class or something."
Roy eyed her suspiciously before sighing, "Baitaki are creatures of Nightmare that feed on the bad memories a person has but they make it ten times worse. Once the victim is trapped in their own personal Nightmare realm, it starts feeding on their life force until it kills them and then it eats their body."
Jia grimaced and clutched her paddle tightly as Roy continued," You can kill it and the victim can wake up but there are some instances when the nightmare is too real and the victim is trapped in there."
"Then what?"
"Then, the victim would need a sorceress or witch Healer that specialize in mind magic," Roy answered," The Healer would have to go in and get the victim to realize that it`s just a trance."
"Can a Knight do it?"
Roy shook his head, "No, we don`t have those kind of magical abilities. We can sometime use Soul magic to increase our strength, heighten our senses and reflexes but never to that extent."
"What if…," Jia hesitated as she gathered her next words, "What if a Knight…could do it?"
"Then it would a phenomenon. A rare birth. That Knight would have to come from a really magically powerful family. Now what's this really about?"
Jia looked away and ran a hand over her mouth," Just curious."
"Hey, we`re here!" Rose yelled.
Roy turned in his seat to see another pier where a tour guide stood waiting for them. They docked their canoes before setting off into the jungle again. This time, Jia was placed in the middle of the group and was distracted by Zoey`s exciting tale of levitating a drop of water before it landed over Cole who took it in stride.
The walk took another hour or so but they all enjoyed it. When they reached the waterfall, it was totally worth is. A clear wide crystal pool that somehow poured out to the river. The tour guide left them to enjoy themselves as she would go to prepare their transport back to the resort for lunch. They had two hours to themselves.
The boys whooped with joy as they quickly stripped down to their shorts. They girls however, took their time undressing. Jia left everyone and moved to a quiet spot to sit and eat. Luckily, she remembered to pack her leftovers from breakfast which were hash browns, sausages and a waffle. Roy and the others began jumping down and swimming around with the girls. She was even surprised to see Mike and Kyra share a kiss in front of everyone which had the entire group cheering.
Definitely something to gossip about when she got back to school. Jia leaned back and closed her eyes so she could soak in the feeling of peace before stripping down when she heard someone call her name.
She was surprised to see Cole standing over with a frown," Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jia assured him with a smile," I just wanted a snack break before swimming."
"Okay," Cole said as he turned to leave but he paused and turned back to the sorceress," You would tell me of something was wrong with you, right?"
Jia gave him an affectionate smile," I would now. Don`t worry, Cole. I was just on my way over. Go and enjoy your day with Zoey."
The Knight nodded," I will. Thanks. For everything Jia."
Jia got the sense that he was talking about more than just the trip and she chuckled," Your more than welcome."
Once he was back in the pool with his girlfriend, Jia stripped down to her silver bra but left her shorts on. She didn`t feel like stripping down completely. She slowly made her way into the pool and swam till she reached the falls where a cluster of rocks was. She pulled herself up and stood under the thundering falls.
Letting the water soak her completely as she ran a hand through her hair letting the water flow through it. She rubbed her face a little before she stepped back and cupped the water in her hands. Suddenly, she heard someone call out," Robin, watch out!"
She turned and looked around. It sounded like a boy calling out in terror, like he was trying to warn someone and it sounded so loud and close. She scanned the pool and saw that all the boys were busy swimming around and laughing while slapping Mike`s back. The only one missing was Tristan and he was trying to climb up the side. No one looked like they had just heard something terrifying.
He stopped when he noticed the sorceress alarmed expression. He then made his way over and yelled at her," Jia! Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah!" she yelled back at him but continued to scan the jungle. Tristan pursed his lips before stumbling over to stand next to her under the falls. He put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention," What is it? You look like you`ve seen a ghost or something."
Jia turned to him, "I-I thought I heard…"
"What?"
Jia blinked and licked her lips before shaking her head," Must have been my imagination."