Azure Water

Chapter One

Prasa Resort is a land of eternal winter. This means that it is winter all year round. The snow is pure white and the center of town has a frozen azure lake.

The time is about noon. Stella and Jasper are shivering. Renee has Fire Midrash, so she can heat herself up to stay warm. Florian has Poison Midrash, so he could warm himself up to stay warm.

"When I heard the word resort," Stella said. "I assumed it was a summer resort and not a winter resort."

"The word resort is misleading," Renee said. "I don't see anything nice about this place."

"I know!" Jasper said. "Let's go eat a hot meal, so we can warm up."

"I need to change into clothing for the cold, but a hot meal." Stella said.

"How about Jasper and I go eat while you two can go shopping?" Florian asked.

Renee quickly looks at Jasper. "The last time we left you guys alone, one of you guys ended up getting kidnapped!"

"You know what?" Stella said. "Let's try it one more time. If you get kidnapped again, then we'll change our strategy." She turns to Renee. "Let's go find a clothing store and the boys can go eat."

And with that said, Stella and Renee went off on their own to find a clothing store. Florian and Jasper went on their own to find a restaurant.

Stella continues to shiver as she looks around for a clothing store. "All these buildings look the same to me. We probably have to ask someone for a clothing store."

Renee nods. "Alright, we'll ask the next girl who walks past us. I'm not asking any guys. They'll probably get the wrong idea and try to flirt with us."

The girls continue to look around until a girl with dark blonde hair walks by.

Stella approaches. "Hi! Excuse me, do you know where I can buy some clothes?"

The girl is wearing a brown winter jacket, black boots, and a blue shirt under the jacket. She's slightly taller than Stella and has dark blue eyes.

"Oh, you must be cold in those clothes," said the girl. "You know, my dad owns a crab restaurant where you can get crab soup. I'll show you!" She leads Stella and Renee to the nearest clothing store.

"Here we are!" said the girl as she opened the door to the clothing store for Stella and Renee.

Stella looks around the store. "Thank you for your help."

The girl shakes her head. "No worries! Just supporting my dad. Anyways, I'm Cora. What are your names?"

The girls introduced themselves as Stella and Renee.

"Oh, those are cool names!" Cora said. "They don't sound like they're from around here. I gotta go now. Nice meeting you two!" She leaves the store.

Stella bought a black jacket and black jeans while Renee bought herself a red jacket and blue jeans.

After paying for the winter clothes, the girls leave to find the boys.

Florian and Jasper looked around for the nearest restaurant. Snow covers the entire area except for the streets. The boys walked along western side of the resort.

The boys go into a building with a smoking chimney. It looks to be a restaurant with about ten tables.

After a few minutes of waiting, a waiter arrives. "Here's the menu! Let me know if you need anything." He walks away.

Florian has a confused look on his face. "That was weird. He just walked away."

"Right? He must be busy or something." Jasper said. "Anyways, it looks like they have crab soup here. That will warm me up."

Jasper waves to the waiter. It took about a minute for the waiter to return. After another five minutes, the food finally came.

"Here! The best crabs! Courtesy of our chief Damianos!" said the waiter and left.

"Wow!" Florian said. "Looks like we have an idea about this Damianos guy."

"Right! Hopefully, this will make the girls forget I was kidnapped!" Jasper laughed.

Florian and Jasper both finished their crab soup. As always, Florian ate his food so loud, the locals stopped and stared. Jasper didn't care that they were being watched.

"Let's go find the girls now!" Jasper said.

"Yeah, imagine the look on their faces when we tell them about Damianos."

A chef steps up to the table. "Why do you care about Damianos?!"

Both Florian and Jasper were surprised and looked at the chef. He was wearing a short sleeved blue shirt and black boots. His hair is brown and eyes are light blue. It looks like he was irritated.

"We were just leaving!" Jasper said as he and Florian stood up.

"Oh, no! You're not leaving after making so much noise in my restaurant." said the chef. "And I want to know why you're interested in Damianos!"

"I was being loud?" Florian laughed. "Haha! My sister always says that."

Jasper and Florian turn to the entrance and begin to walk out.

The chef scoffs, crosses his arms, and looks to the kitchen. "Come out, guys!"

Immediately, three chefs come out. "Huh? Something wrong, Linos?"

"Grab these guys!" Linos said to the chefs.

The three chefs run after Florian and Jasper who are already half-way to the front door. Two chefs grab Florian and one chef and the waiter grab Jasper.

Linos walks up to the boys. "Let's go outside!"

Everyone is outside now. Linos transforms his head into a Lion's head and attacks Florian with Ember Fang. Before he was able to counter, the waiter punches Florian in the face. Jasper tried to use his Dagger, but was punched and kicked by the three chefs. Since the ambush was only Florian and Jasper against five opponents, the battle was over before it even started.

After buying winter clothing, Stella felt warmer and more comfortable. She stopped shivering. Renee, on the other hand, was glad to not rely on her Fire Midrash to keep herself warm.

The girls had walked around the frozen lake and into the western side of the resort. They saw a crowd of people in front of a building that had a chimney.

"What's that about?" Renee asked.

"Let's hope it's not related to the boys." Stella said.

The girls walk closer to the building. It's the same building as the crab restaurant that the boys had eaten at.

Stella looks around and sees blood on the snow. "Renee, look."

"I wonder what happened here." Renee said.

One of the passersby hears Renee and answers. "Linos and the chefs beat up some foreigners that were causing trouble. You didn't see?"

Stella and Renee look at each other and sigh.