Camellia, This Idea is Insane, You Cannot Be Serious

“Awesome, Lynn! That was wicked!” Damos ran over to her, laughing. “Biggest I’ve seen from you yet!”

The glow faded from Lynn’s arm as she relaxed her muscles, releasing the tension. “Thanks, Damos. I’ve been practicing.”

Turning back around, Phoebe retracted her tentacles, the barracuda prisons slithering back into her shoulders as if retractable cords. “Yeah, that was impressive. You tryin’ to show off to someone there, Lynn?”

Lynn’s face immediately turned scarlet red. “Stop that, Phoebe!”

It took a few moments for Camellia to snap out of the daze before finally getting up off the ground. That. Was. Incredible.

The blast was inhuman. Which made sense, given that there was literal godly magic behind it. Yet still, Camellia felt shaken by the pure power. A kernel of an idea popped into her head. She swore she had seen something like that before, that bubble after a huge strike — maybe in some paper she read? But that was a question for later.

Instead, she asked, “Are we safe?”

“Yup. That blast’ll scare away every puny deific crony in the ocean.” Phoebe put her hands on her hips, whining, “I wanted to fight some more. And Camellia needs the practice!”

As she took her gauntlets off, Lynn chided, “We can come back tomorrow. We should head back.” She held them up, nodding to Damos. “These are wonderful, by the way. I’ll really need to give your mom my thanks.”

The smile on Damos’ face could only be described as beaming. “Awesome! I’m glad they rock so hard! I did the accents myself,” he proudly proclaimed.

Goodness, I’m surprised. I had no idea the man was so talented. And careful, too — the detail on those gauntlets is quite nice, don’t you think, Obbie?

Lynn gave Camellia an apologetic smile as she rejoined the group. “I hope I didn’t scare you. I know you hadn’t seen me like that yet.”

“Are you kidding? That was amazing!” Camellia cried. “Seriously, I’m impressed.”

Lynn clasped her hands together in front of her mouth, flushed.

Camellia addressed the group, “Um, I have a question before we head back.”

Hearing Phoebe’s voice in her mind, Camellia thought back to what she had said last week to convince her to give… well, everything a shot. It might not always be what you expect, but there’s always a way forward. “We’re sure there’s not any possible way to like, get up really high up somewhere using a big hill or rock or building or something? To be able to get above the surface, I mean.”

“Nah, not a single spot that would work,” Phoebe shot her down, shaking her head. “Trust me, if there was an alternative way to get Dryside, someone would’ve found it.”

Camellia’s voice was shaky, unstable. “Well, that’s the thing,” she confided. “I think I might’ve found it myself. But I need all three of you to make it work.

Now, I could tell you what Camellia proposed to them, but wouldn’t it be more fun if I didn’t?

Yes, I think so, too.

~~~~~~

“No. Absolutely not.” Lynn stomped her foot. “That is insane. And ridiculously dangerous.”

Phoebe, on the other hand, gazed at Camellia in wonder. “When did you come up with that?” She shook her head in disbelief, “That’s crazy, and I mean that as a compliment.”

“What about you, Damos?” Camellia looked to her third co-conspirator.

“I’m kind of with both of them,” he admitted. “It sounds incredibly unsafe, but at the same time,” he grinned, “so, so cool.”

“You two have gone just as mad as she has.” Lynn folded her arms. “This would have a high chance of killing not just Camellia, but all three of us as well.”

“That’s what makes it so awesome,” Phoebe retorted. “Isn’t that just the kind of crabshit insane plan Tethys might want someone to hatch to get around a seemingly impossible task?”

Is that really what Tethys would want? Then all the better.

Lynn scowled. “You think she’d want Camellia to get herself and her friends all killed? I thought you had a little more respect for our goddess,” she huffed.

“She always does things for a reason,” Phoebe shot back.

“Yeah, and I thought you of all people would know that best, Phoebe.”

“Oh, and you wo—”

“Lynn, Pheebs, cut it out,” Damos stepped in between them, holding his arms out to separate them. “There’s no reason to fight. We never said we were doing it.”

Phoebe stepped back. “Look. I do think there’s always some way forward, and I get that Camellia doesn’t have to have an aspect to join us for the trials.”

“Exactly,” Lynn said.

“But,” she continued, “this could actually be the way forward. How will we know until we try?”

The group fell silent.

“Well,” Camellia cleared her throat, “either way, we’ve got to head back to The Bed, right? Either to get what we need, or to go home.”

“True.” Phoebe’s curt tone cut through the water like a knife. She spun around and set off back to the city, Damos quickly jogging up to join her after a sympathetic glance at Camellia.

As Phoebe and Damos grew smaller, Lynn and Camellia stood in still silence. Before Lynn joined them in returning home, Camellia called out to her, “Lynn, wait.”

She paused. “What, Camellia?” Lynn’s voice, harsh and solemn, made Camellia flinch.

“I just—” Camellia paused. How could she convey it all? “I really want to be able to do this. I feel more confident now than ever.” She stepped to Lynn and furrowed her eyebrows in a pleading look. “Could you please at least consider it? For me?”

Lynn’s face softened, her shoulders easing down from their tense state. She took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll think about it.” Her head fell, eyes trained on the sand beneath her feet. “I’d like to apologize, too, for all of that.”

With a hesitant hand on Lynn’s shoulder, which sent a jolt through Camellia’s body the moment they made contact, Camellia said, “It’s alright, it happens. I understand. Shall we head back?”

With a nod, Lynn and Camellia started towards The Bed as well, quickening their pace to catch up to the other two.

The walk back was quiet, Lynn and Camellia barely sharing a word as they followed a few steps behind Phoebe and Damos. Phoebe shouted and joked with Damos as if nothing had happened at all.

Upon finally reaching the walls beside the training grounds once more, the four of them stopped. Damos was the first to speak. “So, what’s the plan? Are we gonna do this, or…?”

Expecting Lynn’s refusal, Camellia winced and held her breath.

Lynn sighed deeply. “We can try it.”

Relief flooded Camellia’s system. We can do it. I might be able to get an aspect after all.

“Hell yes! That’s right, Lynn,” Phoebe cheered, pumping her fist.

Lynn held out her hand, tone stern and face dour. “On these conditions. One, the surface needs to be metal. My fists will shatter wood and stone.”

“I can ask Mom if she’s got anything huge we can use,” Damos chimed in.

“Two, we need something soft at the ready for the fall.”

Phoebe leaned up against the city wall and folded her arms. “I can get an old sponge bed or two from my dad’s place, and use my tentacles to hold it up when needed.”

“Finally, three,” Lynn turned to Camellia, “You need to be absolutely sure that this is something you want to do.”

“It is,” Camellia replied resolutely.

“And you’re aware of the danger?”

“I am.”

Lynn drew a slow breath. “Alright. Then, I will lend my aid, if it’s truly what you want.”

Heart soaring, Camellia grabbed Lynn’s hand in both of her own. “Thank you, Lynn. More than what I want, it’s what I think I need to do.”

Lynn smiled — and was that a blush? — before addressing the group. “Alright. Get that stuff ready, and we’ll do this.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it, but we might just be sending Camellia up to the surface.”