Alodia Darreth:
"There, there," Sulien says, patting my head. Seeing his disgusting hand patting my head, I roar like a predalioin and slap Sulien's disgusting hand away.
"Ouch!"
Sulien quickly pulls his hand back to blow and shake it. Despite the "pain", I can still see Sulien smiling as he stops blowing on his hand to take a drink.
"Oh man, this is amazing. What is this again?"
"It's called Amara Nectar," Eimear answers.
"Amara Nectar," Sulien repeats, looking at his thick, golden-colored drink. "Wow. Sounds fancy."
"It is," I say. "A single cup of Amara Nectar costs one hundred credits."
Hearing the price, Sulien stops sipping the Amara Nectar. He holds his throat as he almost chokes on it.
"A hundred credits! Are you kidding me? Jump, this is way too fancy for me. Take it back!"
Sulien hands his drink back to Eimear, but Eimear pushes it back.
"It's fine, Hothead. Enjoy it. Besides, my drink is more expensive."
"More expensive?"
Eimear smiles and raises her cup. Filled with a spiral of violet and silver and sparkling with specks of crystal, Eimear takes another drink through her straw.
"Yeah," Eimear says. "It's called Velissaire. Costs a hundred and fifty credits."
"A hun---hun--hundred and fifty! Just for a drink?"
"A hundred and fifty," Reese repeats. He raises the silver-white drink still in his hand. "Do I ever want to know how much this costs?"
"It's called Celestine Bloom," I moan, "That's actually the cheapest drink Eimear brought. It costs only seventy-five credits."
"We really do not belong here," Reese says, hitting Sulien on his arm.
"Yeah," Sulien says, nodding. "This city is insane! I mean, come on. That dumb shop didn't even offer a bottle of water. Do I even want to know how much a bottle of water is here?"
"Roughly thirty credits," I answer, "But that's because it's not just water. It's refined and crystalline, hand-harvested from the source. It's as cold as freshly fallen snow, and when you drink it, you can taste all the years."
Sulien looks at me before turning to Reese.
"Did you understand a single word she just said?"
"Uuhhh, I'm trying not to be mad, but not really."
I slap myself on the face before throwing my hands into the air.
"That's it! I'm leaving. So much for this being a team day off. I am going somewhere to be by myself, and I do not want anyone to follow me."
I point a finger at Sulien.
"Especially you!"
"What did I do?"
I slam my hands down, turn around, and start walking away.
Hothead:
Looking at Alodia as she stomps away, steam shooting out of her ears, I look at Reese and Jump.
"I should probably do something, right?"
"No," Jump yells. "You heard Alodia. She wants to be by herself, and she doesn't want anyone following her. Especially you!"
As Jump repeats Alodai's last word, she points a stern finger at me.
"Okay, okay. Please don't do that."
I slap Jump's finger away before turning around. By now, Alodia is nothing more than a tiny white dot. I take a deep breath, sigh so much I can smell my own breath, and turn back to Jump and Reese.
"I know I'm going to regret this, but I'm going to follow her. I'll see you two later."
I shoot a wave at Jump and Reese before turning to chase Alodia.
Pushing my way through the crowd, I fight to keep that bratty little white dot from disappearing from my sight.
"Here, princess," I shout," Here, princess. Come on, don't throw a tantrum. You're the daughter of some fancy, dancy family. Right?"
Apparently, Alodia heard me. With a head redder than my jacket and steam shooting out of her ears, Alodia turns back toward me. As she stomps toward me, her footsteps cause the whole city to shake.
"I am from the Darreth Family," Alodia whispers. Even though she's whispering, I can tell she is on the verge of literally exploding. The steam jets shooting out of her ears are louder than her whisper.
Looking around us, I notice a few heads turning toward us.
"Okay, okay," I say, grabbing Alodia's shoulders and pushing her into the nearest store. "Nothing to see here, people. Nothing to see at all. Go back to your shopping. Enjoy your fancy, expensive things. Awesome, uhhh....whatever that is."
Opening the door and pushing Alodia inside, I slam the door shut.
"Okay, listen, you," Alodia says while grinding her teeth and pointing her finger at me again.
"No, you listen to me," I say, slapping her finger away from me. "I am trying to help you. I know you rich people hate making a scene, so I just saved you. You're welcome."
Alodia still looks at me with red eyes, but at least the steam jets calm down a little. When Alodia is scolding me, I can actually hear her.
"Thank you," Alodia says, crossing her arms.
"Wait, what?"
"You're right. As one of the daughters of the Darreth Family, I shouldn't be making too much of a scene--"
"Yeah, yeah, blab, blab, blab."
I wave my hand and roll my eyes.
"You know, Jump is just as rich as you. Maybe slightly richer, or your family is richer than hers, I really don't know, and I really don't care. What I do care about is how she is when we're together. She is friendly. She is fun to be around. She doesn't go on about her family name every five minutes. You know, you really should give it a try. Stop being Alodia Darreth and just be Alodia. Whoever that is."
As I finish speaking, I notice something behind Alodia. It was a giant cube with different colored squares on it, sitting on a small stand. Confused, I look around and see a bunch of other weird things: a board with colorful rectangles on it, a wooden cup with a string and a ball at the end, and a bunch of tiny green men.
"Where the heck are we?"
"Hello," an elderly woman with glasses and a pink jacket says. "Are you two here for the museum tour?"
"Museum tour? Wait, we're in a museum?"
"Yes. Today is one of our special exhibits. We are showcasing toys from the past. What child played with during the era of the Yellow Sun."
"Uhh, thank you, but no thank you. I think we're leaving---Ahhh!"
Before I can finish, Alodia grabs my arm and pulls me in close.
"Two tickets, please."
"Wait?"
"Come on," Alodia says, nudging her head. "Let's go on the tour."
I tried to leave, but somehow, Alodia suddenly became stronger. She drags me away from the front door and further inside.
"Is this a punishment for something?"
"No, you idiot. I really do want to see this. Not as Alodia Darreth, but just as Alodia."
"Okay," I say, nodding, "But why with me?"
"Because you're an idiot, and need to learn something new today."
"But I did learn something new! I did! I learned that the drinks here are expensive. Nooo!"
Alice Astrid:
"Wow," I say when I see the dozens of shelves with freshly made chocolates, cookies, cakes, and so many other desserts. As Shocker and I walk into Jones's Treat Shop, the first thing I see are many customers in the tiny shop.
"This place has gotten bigger since I was last here. They added a lot more shelves."
I bump one of Shocker's arms with my elbow. He looks at me.
"What would you like?"
Shocker rubs his chin and looks around the store. He starts walking around, and I follow him. Together, we look at a bunch of plastic bags with pink ribbons tied on them and chocolate cookies with candies inside. We next move to a display showing countless varieties of milkshakes sitting in tall glass cups. One of the employees, a man with a paper hat and an apron, smiles at us.
"That's new," I say, pointing at what I think is a milkshake machine. We watch as the employee pulls a lever, and bright-pink ice cream quickly pours out. Before filling the glass cup, the employee stops. He then adds whipped cream, red stars, and two straws. Finally, we stare at a three-layer cake. On the middle layer, there is a little hover traincraft, going around in circles. Looking at the traincraft, Shocker reaches down and pulls out his holo-display.
While Shocker types a message, I sneak a glance at him. Seeing him smile, I feel something beating in my chest. When he's done, Shocker flips his holo-display over and shows me the message.
"Remind me of the first time we met," he wrote.
"Yeah," I say with a chuckle. "It does."
We take another lap around the shop before stopping to buy two milkshakes. While I get a red milkshake with whipped cream and red hearts sprinkled on top, Shocker buys a green one, but instead of whipped cream, he has two brownies sticking out the top.
Walking out of the treat shop together, Shocker grabs my shoulder and stops me. He nudges toward a nearby bench. Smiling and nodding, we sit together and peacefully enjoy our day off.
Jump:
"Sooo," Renee says, clicking his tongue. "What do you want to do?"
"Nothing," I reply, "I just want to walk around and enjoy the peace."
I stop, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
"Ahh," I exhale.
"You just...want to walk around? Are you sure? You don't want to check something out? Buy some fancy food? Or check out that weapon shop over there?"
"No. Why would you ask if I want to buy some fancy food?"
"I don't know. You're rich."
I stop and look at Renee.
"You know, that's just mean. Just because I come from a rich family doesn't mean I like to go around and buy expensive things. I like my basic jackets and long pants. I like my simple crossbows, and I especially like my two best friends, Hothead and Shocker."
"Oh, uhhh, okay. I'm...I'm sorry."
I shake my head and sigh. Turning away, I start walking again.
"Hey, hey, hey, hold on," Renee says. Running for a bit, Renee stops and begins walking beside me. He clears his throat and scratches the back of his head before finally talking.
"Listen. I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't mean to, you know, assume. I just..."
"Assume?"
"No, no, no! I just thought that---"
"Again, you assume."
"No," Renee says, slapping his forehead. "I just--Ahhh!"
Looking at Renee as he rubs the sides of his head and screams with his mouth closed, I roll my eyes.
"Stop that," I say. Renee stops screaming and lowers his hands.
"It's fine. Just remember. I'm more than the daughter of the Avita family. My name is Eimear, but my friends call me Jump."
Renee smiles at me. He scratches the back of his head and clears his throat again.
"Well, Jump. How about we walk together and enjoy the peace?"
"I would like that."