Chapter 1

The City of Windilia

“Wake up!” Maxtolin shouted from his tank. “You said you wanted an early start didn’t you?!” he shouted plus I’m starving he added in his mind.

The lump under the blankets began to move and groan “What do you want” Sinistris whined in a yawn. From the lump emerged a girl who could not be older than 14 years old.

She looked out the window and saw the city stretch out in front of her. It seemed to be just before dawn. Then she spotted the glass walls that were spun out of crystal. They were hundreds, if not thousands, of feet high, and they all met at a top slope to create an oddly shaped bubble. The walls were three yards thick, twenty feet deep, and other measurements as well.

Incased inside the crystal were hundred of seashells and mounds of sand that had been trapped during construction. On the other side of the wall something was gleaming brightly.

Sinistris shrieked in confusion after seeing this. Her yelp was so loud and sudden that Maxtolin jumped straight out of the water, splashed back in, and buried himself inside a decorative castle sitting in his tank.

It took about a minute for Sinistris to remember where she was. Now with her nerves beginning to calm Sinistris looked around. The walls of her room were made of sand mixed with plaster and cement. The floor was neither made of tile nor carpet, but instead a soft moss that was thick and heavy. It was so soft to the touch that Sinistris remembered wanting to sleep on the floor last night.

The empty wardrobe sat on one lonely side of the room next to a lonely bookcase. All around her she saw cardboard boxes filled with all her worldly possessions that her father had helped her stack there last night.

Sinistris remembered her apartment back on land, and she began to wonder how long it would take until it was bombed. The war would soon spread into Oregon and her old home would become smithereens.

She had been planning her first day in the city for weeks. They were one of the first families to come to Windilia the underwater city. That meant the city would be nice and empty for her to wander around at her own will.

Sinistris began looking wildly around her bed with her head swinging madly. Then she found it, and Sinistris grabbed at her starfish that was made out of metal. It was used as a message sender to people on land or anywhere in the world. The Starfish was made from the same stuff that the secret technology was made. Sinistris put her clothing on very and got out of her room which was a rather difficult feat, because of all the moss on the door knob that made her hand keep slipping. Carrying Max in a small bowl she tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen “Food!” Max demanded.

“Shut up!” Sinistris said back, and she placed the bowl on the table and threw a small cube of cheese into the bowl.

“Food” Max yelled again, as the cube broke the surface, and he quickly attacked it. “More, more, more” he asked licking his lips. Sinistris threw a handful in and served herself breakfast then after about ten minutes of eating as quietly as possible.

Sinistris and Max left the house as quietly as possible. The city was beautiful. Sinistris had not gotten a chance to see the city very well in the dead of night, but now she gasped in wonder.

Small lights twinkled around the floor like underwater stars. Sinistris placed Max in the basket of her bicycle. Riding she gawked in amazement. The homes were made of the same plaster and concrete as her own which was mixed with sand.

Other buildings were made of either stone or a sort of glass. The roads were covered in sand, but if you dug into the floor by about seven feet you would find the same stone that made some of the buildings (of course Sinistris wouldn’t know that for a few years).

“So how long are we going to explore?” Max asked, as he bounced up and down in his bowl.

“Until we’re both good and tired” Sinistris replied. Then Sinistris felt as if she had been punched in the stomach as her black hair flew across her face her tanned skin became a slight green at the sensation that she was now feeling.

Sinistris looked down at the floor in alarm. She saw a purple thing that had caught her bike wheel. “Let’s go” Sinistris said, as she got off her bicycle she grabbed Max’s bowl, and grabbed at her Starfish that was hiding in her dress pocket. She walked up to the purple stuff that looked to her like sea urchins and stood in front of it. How was she to get through? As if reading her thoughts the purple stuff separated and lifted.

There in front of her was a long purple tunnel. She quickly walked through the tunnel; she would have run through the tunnel if she weren’t carrying Maxtolin. She came to the end soon came to the end of the tunnel as soon as she stepped out of the purple tunnel it collapsed and went back to its rows.

In front of her Sinistris saw the large travel agency to which her family had arrived just last night, but Sinistris didn’t remember any tunnels last night. She walked into the travel agency to find it empty (just the way it was last night). Then from the shadows emerged a tall man in his mid 20’s.

“Hello Madam Sinistris how are you this morning?” his name was Tidias and he was looking over the protection of their house under the hire of Sinistris’ parents Alex and Martha Torturies.

“Upset!” replied Sinistris taking out her Starfish from her pocket and opening it to see a new message from her mother: HAVE FUN!!! ;)

“Busted” Maxtolin chanted from his bowl “and I was looking forward to a good long swim”.

Sinistris really was upset at the sight of Tidias. It meant that she would have to go back home. Other than a body guard Tidias was also a henchman for cash on the side. It looked more like an entire paycheck on the side. Sinistris had come to that conclusion when seeing him buy a brand new Armani suit over the internet.

“Nothing ever does escape your mother” he grinned.

“Fine let’s go already” Sinistris sighed turning around to leave.

“Oh, but you misunderstand; your mother completely” he said turning to a small door next to him and pressed a few buttons. “I am to protect you during the trip” he said pressing a few more buttons. The door popped open with a hiss sound.

“But aren’t you going to drag me to school?” she asked confused.

“Madam Sinistris there is a war going on, and the economy is falling, so there will not be a fully operating school in this city for at least a month” he told her seriously.

“Oh”.

“Let’s roll” he said. Sinistris stepped forward and saw what was behind the door. There was a bubble of crystal big enough for four grownups. A small hatch on the end opened. They all climbed in except for Maxtolin who was in his bowl cradled in Sinistris’ arms.

Tidias sat in front of a small control panel pressing a few buttons. Sinistris heard a loud buzzing come from the crystal bubble itself. There was a loud popping sound and the bubble gave a lurch. Water engulfed the crystal bubble.

“Madam Sinistris Torturies welcome to the thick of my home the Pacific Ocean” Maxtolin said. The ocean came into view.

“It’s… it’s… oh” Sinistris gasped in wonder. The amazing landscape rolling before her was too beautiful for words to describe.

She quickly took out her small metal Starfish I Love The Ocean!!! She sent to everyone on her contacts.