Trembling, Gelland walked up to a row of apartments. Her neck throbbed and burned as she kept her head up. It was late at night, and the ring remained shining off the ocean. A small ladder came out of the window of the top floor, as she approached. The ladder stuck fast to the side of the building, as Cross threw a leg over and stepped onto it. He hung for a moment, then dropped from the third floor. Cross lurched suddenly, falling more lightly. A large balloon was tied to his waist, apparently having been pulled out right as he fell. He landed, dismissing both.

"Show off." Gelland said, shaking her head. She allowed herself a hint of a smile. 

"Thanks for meeting me here. I wanted to go someplace private. Would you lead me to the beach?"

Gelland grunted affirmation. Her sight gave her an easy time going through the streets at that hour. Cross took her good arm. She led them down alleys, towards the docks. People still milled about, selling things by torchlight. Because of the heat of the day, it wasn't strange to find others still up. But to see a Hal out at night was bad news to people. They remained in the dark alleys.

Walking along the nearly empty docks, they headed west towards the beach. Cross broke the long silence. "What's the biggest thing you think you'll miss about this place?"

"Am I leaving?" she asked. She looked at him.

"Why wouldn't you?"

She thought for a moment. "I grew up here. I go to school here. I am hated here..." she looked off into the distance. They stepped into warm sand, and he let go of her arm. The beach was well lit by ring. "Where would I go?"

"I think there's an obvious answer." Cross said, gulping.

"The Hals at Al Magza barely come out. I hear they leave to forage and trade, but their life is in that fort."

"And things are better here- for you?"

Cross was being especially bold. She stiffened a bit. "I know you're the one who saved my life, Cross. I appreciate what you're trying to do for me. But how can I trust that I can make it on my own out there? I mean, this is all I know. Sure, I scrape by, but the warehouse felt indebted to my father. Who's going to hire me?"

Cross put off his shoes. He walked into the ocean, calf deep. He stared out at the light. "I think he trained us to be better than our circumstances. And I think I've lived beneath them for far too long. He taught me how to form things to be as I willed them. I'm on the precipice of finding the right gloss for a new life. A free life."

This was different. In all the time they'd grown up together, he'd never spoken like he had now. Especially not after Kolen's passing. After he found a new job.

"Cross," she probed, "what does your father do for a living?"

"This and that." he said.

"Why did it look like Lixo had it out for him just before the ritual? He looked at him, and he didn't join the circle."

Cross sighed. "Like I said, I'm not free. I was bought after Kolen died. He had no use for my help at the warehouse anymore. And so I started doing work elsewhere."

"With Lixo?"

Cross nodded. "He bought me by promising my parents that he'd fund my schooling for several years. After that time, I'd become a full house servant and Augmentor. Which isn't a bad life for one such as myself, but..."

"But he's a bad man." Gelland finished. Cross twitched, and held his temples. Gelland saw his temperature rising, the orange growing brighter from his body. He took off his shirt and splashed water onto himself.

"Did you know- I've been working on something. I'm very proud of it. It's taken me two and a half years to complete. Your dad showed me how."

"What is it?" she asked, allowing him to change the subject.

"You have to promise to try it with me." he said.

"Just show me, Cross. I'm not in the mood for games."

He shrugged. "I hope you'll change your mind." He made a sign. What plopped in the water was both mundane and amazing. A short, white surfboard gleamed in the light. It had handles halfway back that came up waist high. The water underneath it foamed and rippled. Cross lifted it out and onto the sand, leaving it upside down. The underside made ripples in the air, that flung themselves towards a propeller attached to the backside. The propeller spun on its own.

"The glossing is incredible, Cross. All the wind has to move at the same speed in order to not turn either direction. I don't know how frustrating that must've been. I'm guessing that Lixo gets his money's worth out of you?"

"Not that the fat man would be able to enjoy the things I've made himself." Cross chuckled. He flipped it onto its side, holding out his hand. "Would you like to ride with me?"

"Cross, it seems nice. I think you'll have more fun without me." She nodded towards her limp arm.

Cross gulped. "I'm sorry, Gel. I wasn't thinking about it."

"Pay no mind about it. I have a fishing pole, and I can get a fire going."

Cross gave her his sideways smile. Then he hopped onto the board, making a splash. He grabbed the handles, and made a lunging position on the board. It started picking up speed immediately. He rocked from side to side, perfectly stable against waves. 

Gelland got out half of her quarterstaff, and sat on the ground. She held it in her feet while tying twine into one of the notches. She made lightning appear in her hand and in an instant made it into a solid block of jagged edges. She resisted the urge to tense. She was in friendly company. She tied the twine around that as well, and got up, throwing her line in. She waded in where the water met just past her ankles.

The bobber plopped in and rested on the surface. Shifting her eyesight, she saw neither the light of the ring off the waves nor the rippling of the water. Only the heat of the bobber, and the dark shapes of the cold blooded moving underneath. A spectacle that animals nipped at. Gelland released the lightning's shape. It unfurled, strands of heat striking those animals. 

As they rose, she gathered them up and threw them ashore. She put spikes of flame through them to cook, sticking them into the sand. She watched as Cross was on his way back. Cross swiveled back and forth, spraying foam in his wake. He was thin, and not very toned.

She was glad to see him being active again. But as she watched, he jerked to one side. A wave came up against the board, and Cross' leg buckled. She jumped up from the sand. Too suddenly. Blackness went across her eyes, and she fell back to the sand. She kept conscious, and soon crawled to her feet. 

He was limp on the board, and the water washed over him. The current was pulling him up the shore. Gelland trudged into the water, hand hanging at her side. If she went in after him, they'd both drown. Cross' board might remain upright, but he'd be left weak, and might drown eventually. 

She got out her rod and line, and started twining another lure. This one in the shape of a hook. She, running up the coastline, cast her line. Over and over. Again and again, it came up short. Her lip began to quiver, and she bit it for it to stop. She spit the blood out after her fang pierced it. He was washing away.

A stone skipped across the water. It passed just in front of Cross. Gelland turned. In the tree line, an old man sat. Little birds chirped and perched in his braided, gray beard. He had strong features, He saluted.

"Can you swim?" he asked.

"I can't, not like this. Can you?"

"I can. But I won't. I don't think he should live." He said it in a resigned sigh.

"He's my friend- you don't get to decide who lives and who dies. Help him!"

"Remember that you've said this. There will come a time where you will wish him dead. But you have swayed me."

She shook her head. "Then save him!"

He grunted. "Cast your line again." She looked back at Cross. He was further out than her line could go. It was futile. "You do not yet know the glory that is to be revealed in you. Not of you, but to you." She turned to face the old man again, but he was gone, and there was no trace of his heat.

He used her father's words. She cast in the hook. The board stood still, and the hook fell short. "Old hack!" she spat.  

A bird flew over her shoulder and over the water. A locust joined it. The board shifted back towards the shore with a wave. They picked up the hook, and placed it on the rail. Gelland nearly forgot to pull. When she did, she noticed Cross looking up at her. He gripped the line with a hand and they both pulled towards each other. He made it to shore, and hadn't seen the bird nor the locust.

She helped him off. He stumbled to his feet, woozy. She had a day with a disability. He had this his whole life. The man said she would end up hating him? He had said her father's words. But one wild man's words didn't mean she was going to be as he said. But still, the man had been with them when Gelland needed someone.

"You're okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." he said, looking down. He had always been ashamed after being seen having his seizures.

"Come, sit." She led him to where the fish had been cooking. One of them was gone, presumably taken by the old man. Cross took, and ate. She gave him a few minutes of silence to relax, and made a fire from sticks nearby.

"Gelland?"

"Yeah?" 

"You can't stay here. It was Lixo who killed your father." Gelland blinked. "He has something. There's something you deserve."

"Cross... how long have you known?" 

"It's made me sick, knowing. Too long."

"I want his life, Cross. That's what I deserve."

Cross gulped. "You don't have a chance the way you are. I'm sorry." She stared him down. "What could you do? Even if I were to help you..." He paused. "There is a way. Will you wait for my timing?" She pursed her lips. "I'll be quick about it, and I will go before you."

"I trust you, Cross. Let's give it another moment, and we'll head back. Did you see us pass an old man while we walked?"

"Seeing in the dark was your job, remember? Why do you ask?"

"Aye. It's nothing." Lixo killed my father. He distorted my friend. They all nip at me. It's not my fault if I bite back. "Cross, thank you. Maybe I will go to Al Magza. Once I kill Lixo."

Cross gave a half smile, then looked down. "Make it happen, then. Take your future back. And so will I."