Keelia was sitting in Language Class. So far, it was her favorite class, other than that Isaac and Jonathon were in it. It had been three weeks since they had found out about Creep. Eliza and Helbry, as well as Brinely hadn’t spoken to Keelia that much, and Keelia missed Cligan. Jonathan and Isaac would bump her every time they passed, just to spite her. Isaac and Jonathon were part of Brinely’s band, and no doubt loved it. They lived four blocks away from Keelia, and she supposed they didn’t mind living so far away from the President of ‘Brinely’s Bad Band of Bully Boy Brats’ (that’s what Keelia called them).  She listened to Mr. Thisgy and tried to keep her mind and eyes away from what the two bullies were doing. The boy called Jonathan raised his hand, and Mr. Thisgy called upon him. They communicated and Keelia didn’t take the time to listen. Isaac and Jonathan left the room, Keelia followed. With stealth, she padded along behind her two enemies. They were talking and a door opened near Keelia, and Jezebel stepped out. Keelia hadn’t gotten to see the interactions with Jezebel in a while. She flailed silently and slammed her back behind a wall. Jezebel turned, but thankfully didn’t see Keelia. She continued behind Jezebel. Unexpectedly, Jonathan and Isaac began to run away from Jezebel. Jezebel leapt after them and Keelia sprinted with all her might, just to keep up. She slowly rounded a corner and looked around. She stifled a gasp when she saw Isaac being punched in the stomach and then in the mouth. Oof! I’m not sure if they deserved all of that! She thought, but then recanted the thought. She watched Jezebel pick a beautiful gem out of each of the boys’ pockets and then began to walk back toward Keelia. Keelia began to panic, she didn’t have anywhere to hide. If she began to run, Jezebel would see her and definitely catch her. Keelia sat down and didn’t move. Jezebel came around the corner and spotted Keelia. Keelia looked up and met Jezebel’s eyes. Keelia looked deep into her eyes. They weren’t eyes of evil, like the others, they looked trapped and sad. Jezebel then did something extraordinary. She offered a hand to Keelia to help her up. Keelia took it hesitantly and she got gently pulled up. She looked at Jezebel with wonder, Brinely’s comrade had just helped her up. “I don’t understand,” Keelia said to Jezebel.

                “I- um- it’s just that- I don’t want to,” Jezebel never finished, instead, she buried herself into Keelia in a hug. Keelia didn’t hug her back at first, but when she heard Jezebel’s sobs, she wrapped her arms around the weeping girl. Keelia was in shock at the interaction. She wasn’t sure if it was a trick, and that Isaac or Jonathan  would leap up any second and pummel her

                “At vitildun,” Keelia whispered. It’s alright.  “I don’t understand,” she repeated.

                “My mother, she works in this job, and once my dad died, she started to control my every move, and I hate it! My father named me Rachel, but after, you know, he died, my mother began to call me by my middle name, Jezebel. Because it’s kind of an evil name…” she stopped and shuddered, then continued, “She made me join Brinely’s gang. Up until now, she has forced me to help them in everything that I can. But when I saw what Brinely did yesterday, I ran away from my mother, and she’s going to kill me now,”

                “Jezebel-Rachel, your mother would never kill you!” Keelia said soothingly.

                “No, Keelia, she will. She’ll turn me into Creep, like all the others,” Jezebel said.

                “Wait, all the others?” Keelia asked, Jezebel nodded “how many?”

                “Hundreds, and they’re about to turn Jonathan and Isaac into them. I stole the keys for their globes, they won’t be able to open them,” Jezebel (who I’ll now call Rachel) said.

                “Why do you care so much about what happens to them, Rachel?” Keelia asked, she would rather them be banished forever.

                “Because… they’re my brothers,” Rachel whispered, and she looked like she wished that the two boys lying unconscious were vile enemies.

                “What? You guys don’t even look remotely similar! You have red hair! They have brown and blond hair!” Keelia said, very confused.

                “That’s because they have my mom’s genes. I have my dad’s. My father had deep red hair and green eyes like I do. My mom has tried to make me look like Jonathan and Isaac ever since my dad died,” Rachel murmured, almost to herself and not to Keelia. Keelia thought about how she had lost her family.

                “I’m sorry that your dad died,” she said, hoping to comfort her new friend however she could. She looked up with serious eyes.

                “Thanks, Keelia. Nobody ever talks to me. It’s been nice to talk with you. I wonder if our families were ever friends before he died,” Rachel smiled.

                “What was his name? Maybe I could ask Helbry and Eliza if they ever knew him,” Keelia asked, assuming that Helbry would know them because he often went around the town making sure people were following the rules. Rachel thought for a moment, like she couldn’t even remember her own father’s name. A worried look came over Rachel once she saw her two brothers stirring.

                “We should go, I’ll tell you in a minute,” Rachel motioned to Keelia, “Follow me, I want to show you something!” The two of them ran out from the halls. What is it with me and never finishing a single class? Asked Keelia to herself, but what did it matter? Keelia expected that she had just found a new ally who literally used to work for her enemy! Well, she was pretty sure that she had.

                Rachel led Keelia out of Brinald’s school. They passed the four statues of guardians in the courtyard and continued their sprint to wherever Rachel was leading them to. They passed a field of flowers close to Apilile. Rachel allowed Keelia a few moment of rest before urging her on. “We’re going to be in so much trouble, you know,” panted Keelia. Rachel shrugged and cut to the right toward the mountains of Nivara. They squeezed through a skinny opening in the mountain, following a small trickle of water. The water was crystal clear, and extremely cold. Keelia and Rachel kept having to leap from stone to stone so that they wouldn’t plummet into the deep cold trickle of water.  The mountains rose thousands of feet above as Rachel and Keelia ran. Suddenly, they came to a perfect open circle. The mountains were parted in a way that caused the sun the gleam down into the opening.  “It’s beautiful!” Keelia gasped.  The trickle of water ran into a pool of water directly in the middle of opening.  Some small crystals reflected the sun’s glare and caused a symbol to be inscribed in the pool. Pebbles shimmered like pieces of glass around the pool.

                “Berebandue,” Rachel breathed. Berebandue means Beautiful Mercy or Beautiful Grace in Nivaran. Keelia was still confused.

                “What is this place?” she asked.

                “You don’t know?” Rachel retorted questioningly. Keelia shook her head. Should I know? She thought. “This is where the first Sustainers got their powers. They were shipwrecked on this island together, and the island gave them the perfect place to practice music and gardening, great mountains which fire could not burn. Great rivers and lakes wove throughout this sloped island, making it perfect for Sustainers like me,” Rachel said.

                “Sustainers like you?” Keelia asked.

                “Watch!” Rachel said as she held out her hands. The pool in the center of Barebandue began to bubble and droplets rose into the air. The water began to swirl gently, and when Rachel made a circle with one of her hands, the water rose and arched above the water.

                “You can control water?” Keelia gasped. Nobody in Nivara had ever done that before. Rachel nodded, but she didn’t look proud.

                “They used me, the Shen Drar (that means Ashen Clad in Nivaran). They found out about the water in me, and created an ice cavern below this pool, stretching all throughout the mountains. Some of the caves reach into the mountains themselves, and right now, there’s one right under our feet. Do you want to see it?” Rachel asked. Keelia nodded excitedly.

                “Is it safe? Are there people inside?”

                “Of course there are people inside, silly. But don’t worry, we’ll be fine. I know this cave like the back of my hand!” Rachel said. Rachel gently took one of Keelia’s hands while her other hand held the water up. “Get ready for a water slide, I’m afraid that you’ll get wet. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

                “I don’t mind at all!” Keelia grinned. 

                “It’s really cold!” Rachel warned, and then pulled them both into a tunnel. There was swift moving water surrounding them inside, and it glowed a faint light blue. As the ride continued, the water increased in its glow. Quickly, Keelia was soaking wet.

                “We’re coming up in the underwater cave, but it’s like a swimming pool down here! It’s still going to be freezing cold!” Rachel announced as they plunged into breath- freezing liquid. Keelia’s eyes opened under the glassy water; it was crystal clear and didn’t sting her eyes. Keelia’s body was ice cold and she quickly lifted herself off the bottom of the frozen cave. When she surfaced, Rachel was still underwater, swimming further into the cave. Rachel surfaced also and handed Keelia a small pipe. “We’ll need to swim under the bridges, so this will help your breath down there. I don’t need one because I can control the water,” Rachel clarified. Keelia dove under the water after Rachel and began swimming. She would have a lot of explaining to do when Master Brinald found out where they were, and why they had missed classes. Keelia felt a bit guilty, she had only been to school for under a month. The ice cavern was like a long passage with many bridges going from side to side. The two companions went up under a bridge in order to not be seen. Keelia heard Brinely above them. Brinely’s here? Are you kidding me? Keelia’s mind thundered. They both listened to the voices above.

                “They’re not here yet, sir,” Brinely’s voice sounded.

                “Well, then go and get them, you worthless boy!” the second voice said. 

                “Go easy on him Golsvon! He’s just a kid!” a third voice said. Golsvon? He was the one in Fern’s memory. Wait… how could she have had a memory when she was dead?  The thought stuck Keelia, but she stayed focused.

                “Hey,” Brinely said, “I’m not going anywhere till I get permission to speak with Straten privately.

                “Fine, I’ll go and get them!” Golsvon, the second voice, announced. 

                “That’s not very smart,” Creep’s voice entered the bridge. Rachel and Keelia looked at each other. They had to get out of there before Creep could see them. The voices stopped for a moment, and they heard Creep’s voice again. “I must go visit another. Lock this girl up!” Keelia and Rachel quickly hid inside a crevice in the side of the ice wall and watched two divers jump into the water with Creep in between them. Her eye was flickering from red to blue. When the men left, a red shadow flew out of the caves, whispering in an ancient language. All was still. Keelia swam with all her might. Fern! She’s free for a moment! I need to see her! Rachel tried to call to her, but only bubbles emerged. Keelia entered the side cave which  had a pocket of air by it. She entered. Fern looked up.

                “Keelia?! What are you doing here? You need to get out! She’ll be back any moment!” Fern gasped, her voice was a normal girl’s tone, thankfully.

                “Fern! I messed up so badly! I told Cligan that you were still alive! And now he hates me! He won’t even talk to me! And then Dedrick told Helbry, Eliza and Brinely! What do I do?” Keelia said, tears flowing from her eyes. Fern looked strange.

                “Brinely knows?” Fern asked. Keelia nodded.

                “Can you get me out?” Fern asked.

                “I think so, give me a second. How long do you think that we have?” Keelia said when she tried to unlock Fern.

                “Given the fact that she is still not back, I’d say around thirty minutes,” Fern replied.

                “I’ll be right back!” Keelia said. Keelia swam rapidly back to Rachel and pulled her out of the crack in the ice. They surfaced and made sure that they didn’t hear any voices before they spoke. “Rachel! I need you to get Brinely into the cave over there! Alright?”

                “Alright… wait… right now?!” Rachel asked. “Fine.” Keelia watched as Rachel went up behind Brinely. He was waiting next to a door. She put her hand over his mouth and his sound muffled. She dove into the water, pulling him in after her. She made sure that he had air, and pulled him over to Keelia. When Brinely saw Rachel and Keelia he attempted to swim back to the surface. But before he could, Keelia dragged him over to the air bubble and forced him in.

                “What are you doing here! How did you find this place?” he shouted harshly, and a faint voice said behind him. It was Fern, and she couldn’t believe how mean Brinely was to her friend.

                “Brinely, stop, please!” Brinely stood stock still.