Everything. . . Everything is WONDERFUL. COLOURS are BRIGHTER, and Sammi looks kinda pretty – why is she running around – and Rai is on the floor – why is he on the floor?

'What's going on?'

Sammi struggles to prop Rai up, weird Rai, crazy Rai. 'Kass, oh my god will you please shut up and help me!' She smooths Rai's sweaty hair back from his face, with that bright-eyed look of someone about to cry. No, you can't be sad right now, not when everything's so great, so frikkin' great –

So, I do as I'm told and crouch down beside her. An alarm starts going off, it hurts my head – Sammi begins rubbing Rai's back, but his mouth is still opening and closing, no breaths coming out. Hehe. He looks like a fish. Something occurs to me.

'WHY IS YOUR HAIR BLUE?'

'Kass!'

'But, Sammi, can't you see? His hair is so blue –,'

'Aaargh! Rai, come on, breathe dammit! Come on!' She bangs his chest hard, blows on his face, but nothing makes a difference. Rai just continues to gape at us, his hands scrabbling at his throat, his chest – jeez, is he panicking or what.

'ARE YOU OKAY?' I take Rai's face in my hands and peer deep into his eyes – ha, the tips of our noses touch. 'Hey, are you crying?'

Rai squirms, trying to wriggle free. 'It – it hurts, oh god, please, give it back, give it back –,'

'Guys?'

André appears in the doorway. His eyes bulge.

'What the hell is going on?'

He dives to the floor beside Rai, shoving me and Sammi out the way, and takes over rubbing Rai's back, his voice shaking as he hisses:

'You guys were supposed to be ready. We need to go!'

'I – I'm okay,' Rai gasps, a deep, shuddering breath – and inspiration hits me in a wave of genius. I ram my inhaler into his mouth.

'Use this, Rai! It won't hurt you, it just helps you breathe –,'

'He shouldn't use your medication, Kass,' Sammi moans, but she helps Rai press the puffer down all the same.

'We haven't got time for this.' André leaps to his feet; he seems to have surpassed fury, his face turning blotchy; you can practically see steam coming out of his ears. 'Didn't you hear the curfew alarm? We have exactly twenty minutes to get to the back door before it automatically locks and we get stuck here. If we miss this chance, we've had it.'

Throwing my inhaler back at me, Sammi helps Rai up; he sways, grey and gaunt, a hand still scrabbling at the back of his neck where the pads had been.

'Please.' He grabs me by the wrist, and I pause, finally meeting his eyes. Woah, they're so blue. So blue. And I thought Sammi was pretty. But Rai – I could swim in his eyes. Deep blue, velvet blue, sapphires, ancient skies and rivers-of-old blue –

Hang on. Is he sad right now?

What's 'sad' like again?

'Please give them back,' Rai whispers. His voice cracks, full of ghosts none of us can see. 'I – I didn't know it would be like this. I need them, it hurts so much –,'

'Come on,' André barks and I jump. Oh yeah. The mission. Right.

Didn't the mission scare me? Before? I'm too useless.

Hell. I'm not useless. I CAN DO ANYTHING.

'Lead the way, André. Let's do this,' I grin, yanking my cloak around my shoulders. 'I'm ready.'

'Will you stop shouting?' André shoots me a funny look, then puts his steadying hands on Rai's shoulders. 'Rai, whatever's going on with you – are you okay? Should we – goddammit– should we leave you behind? No.' He curses, nursing his forehead in his fingers. 'We can't even do that. Of all the times –,'

'I'm okay.' Rai's face, though pale, is set. 'Sorry, I just. . . No. Let's go.'

'Well come on then.' Grabbing Sammi by the wrist, André races to the door. I'm left alone for a moment with Rai – a silent moment, that makes me feel all mixed-up inside – but then, I hurry after them. It's time to take the bastards down.

*

Getting out of the barracks is a blur. I don't know how long it takes, or remember exactly where we're going. I'm just running in a haze of noises, loud and intense. André's voice booming at his comrades, the laughter and hidden notes of hysteria: 'good evening!', 'see you in five for dinner, Mal', echoing around my brain. Too sharp. Rai's footsteps pound alongside mine, his drone flying above us, but his colours, Rai's I mean, and Henry's too I guess, are giving me a headache. They are so vivid, it's hard to concentrate.

I don't even remember how we get out the building; suddenly we're just running down a hill towards the coast. The smell of salt in the air reminds me vividly of fish and chips, and the sand underfoot is starting to shudder, like it's scared. I don't want it to be scared.

'Not so perfect now, are you?' I say instead to Rai, patting him on the back as he puffs along beside me, sweat dripping down the side of his face. But, woah, out of nowhere, his drone takes a goddamn lunge at me. I whip my hand back, as a something starts to creep into my belly.

Remembering what Rai said, I shake my head – whoosh. A glow spreads through me all the way to my fingertips, and a fog descends. It's such a relief to not have to feel.

'Easy, Henry,' Rai mutters. 'He's not worth it.'

'Hey, you mean me? WHAT'VE I DONE?'

'Kass, if you don't stop shouting I'm going to skin you alive.' André beckons for us to follow him over the cliff side and down the rocky ledge, which disintegrates underfoot as we stumble. From there, I look up – and finally see it.

'Woah.'

The sea. The coastline, the hotspot. It's - it's something else. Something I don't have words for. My brain overflows with clashes of colour and sounds and smells, my brain full to bursting – but I want to see this.

I want to watch the sea forever.

Riddled along the coastline are cracked, crumbling walls that look so ancient, a vestige of a time so long forgotten, they could be a skeleton. The very bones of Tellus. Nestled between grooves of stone are enormous cannons, coated in a rust-coloured crust and tentacles of mist that slide between them. Beneath the cannons, the coastline drops in a sharp slope downwards towards the shore – into the heaving, glittering sea.

Waves crash against the rocks, throwing scatters of rubies up, up, up – for the sea is not blue.

It's red, just like the sky.

Scarlet, as blood.

As fire.

As lava.

'I never knew the sea looked like this. . .' My voice echoes in the wind. Another wave sweeps across the beach, licking the sand towards our feet and we jump back, shielding our faces from the putrid spray.

'I don't think all seas do. Just this one,' André yells, his steadying hand on my shoulder. 'This place used to be a fort of Amariland's famous Major Briggs, back during the Nuclear wars; he installed them all over Coral Bay and somehow, they've survived. They make a pretty dramatic spot for a capsule, don't you think?' He ducks out of the way as a burst of water hurls itself over the wall right where he was standing. 'You know the Futurists. They love a bit of drama.'

'So, where is it?' Sammi shouts, her voice lost amongst the tumbling winds and spray. The tremors in the ground are getting worse; a great judder throws me to my knees. I stroke the earth under my fingertips.

'Easy,' I murmur. 'Easy.'

'This is nothing.' André swings his rucksack off his back and rummages through it, his movements urgent. 'Right, we need to move quickly now. You see that flag, in the water over there?' He points to a spot in the sea in the distance: a blue flag perched on what looks like a weathered rock. 'Beneath that flag is the capsule.' He wrenches three clear nozzles out of the bag and throws one to each of us; I turn the odd, plastic device over in my hand. It looks like a small bowl. 'Put those over your mouth and nose, hurry.'

I shove mine on, feeling it sucker neatly into place. Air floods my sinuses, and I inhale sharply, surprised. It's like having my inhaler stuck to my face.

'What are these for?' Sammi asks, pulling hers down.

'To allow you to breathe underwater.'

'Underwater?!'

A jolt, the biggest so far, rips through the earth. The ground beneath my feet buckles, then gives a violent shudder, launching us all into the air and crashing back down.

'The hotspot's been fully triggered; we're out of time!' André shouts as he scrambled to his feet. 'Go, go, go!'

'What about the backup team?' Sammi screams, as the ground shudders again, the sea writhing and thrashing up the shore with increasing earnest.

'I am your backup team. Now go!'

It's impossible to stand, impossible to see – one minute, André's next to us, and the next, he's stumbling back towards the ancient forts.

I stagger along the shore, my feet sinking into wet sand that clings to my ankles, a shackling grip, and the scalding sting of spray splatters my cheeks. Sammi is behind me, dragging Rai along on his knees. But the ground is too broken; within seconds, we collapse again.

'Kass, please!' Sammi yell. 'Deal with the ground, we can barely move!' She crawls towards me; the tide is rising, submerging us up to our elbows. Through the haze, I can feel a burning. Almost like pain. 'And Rai, you need to calm the waves! C'mon, you can do this! Please, hurry!'

Then she cries out; I look up, and see.

The wave, riding towards us, a knight on a chariot. Growing bigger and bigger with every passing breath.

The wave rears its legs and gallops over my head, crashing down on top of me – everything grows silent. And blood-red. I thrash, engulfed in this bubble, my lungs screaming – but then as quickly as it arrived, the wave shrinks back. It drags me with it, rolling me across the beach until finally leaving me behind in favour of the body of the sea and I emerge, spluttering and coughing, the skin of my arms and legs prickling.

Shivering, I dig my hands and knees deep into the sand. It's like Sammi said, I tell myself. I can do this. The corners of my mouth curl into a grin; warmth spreads to my fingertips as they bury themselves further, grains scratching beneath my fingernails. I can tame you. I can beat you!

'I can't!'

Jerked out of my reverie, I turn to see Rai several metres back up the beach, weeping, weeping into the crook of his arm. His sodden hair black as night. 'N-n-not like this, I-I-I c-c-can't do it.'

'Get over yourself,' I yell. 'You've got no choice!'

The ground mirrors my frustration. As soon as the words leave my lips, the earth gives an almighty heave, launching us into the air like balls from a canon. I'm the furthest forwards, and the force sends me flying headfirst back into the sea –

There's a splash, a thousand times louder than it should be, as I plunge into the water, like someone's socked me in the head with a hammer. I see stars, then darkness. Everything suddenly mutes, leaving behind a suffocating, rushing pulse.

I don't know how long I black out for. But, when I came to, I wish that I hadn't. My body is no longer mine – the sea, that dark abyss, flings and tosses me around, just a toy for it to torture. I never learnt how to swim.

I close my eyes. Why do I feel so calm? Suddenly, my flailing hand connects with something; I cling to it, for dear life.

My eyes open.

Rai's face swims before me. His eyes find mine and god, they carve a hole right into my soul. I hold onto him, as my feet touch with the sea-bed, scrabbling, kicking up dust, desperate to push us back up to the surface.

'GIVE THEM BACK.'

His shrieks are faint through his nozzle, but still, they tear my insides. The warmth from the filters is starting to fade. . . I dig my nails deeper into his flesh. If Rai is here, I have to hold on. Where is Sammi?

Sharp, desperate fingers fumble at my neck –

Something. . . is ripped off me. I can't see, I can't breathe –

The warmth disappears. In its place, a deep, chilling agony, a dagger of ice in my heart. Things, names, feelings I'd forgotten – Kitty, Mum, Dad, Niven – all come flooding back – they're dead, they're all dead –

Rai's arms wrap around me – the water is moving –

Our heads break the surface, and I choke, my chest on fire, my nozzle dangling pointlessly around my ears. I ram it back over my mouth, gasping for breath. Panic is all consuming, as the sea buffets us from side to side; I twist wildly, struggling to keep my head above water. My throat crackles, blisters, and I shake my hair out of my eyes, looking up as Rai's arm tightens around my waist.

Holy crap.

Another wave, even larger than before – enormous, town-engulfing – thunders towards us.

Rai throws out his arm with a yell –

It stops. Curved in an arch over our heads. Frozen in time.

We sink, disappearing once more beneath the surface of the water. Bubbles of panic are still popping inside me, but Rai's grip around my waist never falters. Neither does his arm outstretched towards the wave – and somehow, the sea starts flowing upwards into the arch. It swells, growing taller with every passing breath. As the tips of my feet brush the sand below, the last drops of water retreat into the arch, delivering us safely, gently, onto the ocean floor.

I pant, staring at Rai, lost for words. His face, streaked with tears only moments before, now fiercer than I've ever seen it. He releases me, using both hands now to fend off the wave, his shoulders scrunched in ferocious effort.

'Kass, move.' Water sprays from his lips as he steps towards the flag, inching the wave backwards with every step. 'Find Sammi, I don't know how long I can hold this. Henry?' he cries. 'I need you!'

Henry bursts through the wave like an arrow; Rai leaps onto his back and soars into the air, lifting the wave up with him with a sweep of his hand, circling higher and higher. Without him, I sink to my knees. Every inch of me numb.

'Kass!'

Sammi sprints down from the beach towards me; then, I'm in her arms and pain and panic floods through me, almost too much to bear.

Did I really think I could do this?

'Are you okay?'

Her face is peppered in scratches and scrapes; instead of answering, she collapses against my shoulder. Holding her at arm's length, I shake her, unable to speak for fear – her eyes flicker.

'Kass –,'

But the ground gives another almighty lurch and we're thrown apart, her head snapping backwards as she's flung away from me. I roll across the seabed, my arms burrowing into trembling sand, shells and dirt.

The quake rocks the earth.

And I can feel it screaming.

The torture – every rip, tear, and jolt – sends the earth howling, writhing in turmoil, a blind rage. I don't blame it. Instead, I close my eyes and let its pain engulf me. Desperation swelled, it's choking claw around my throat – I don't want to die here – almost burying me completely in the sand.

'I WILL CALM YOU.'

A splash of water escapes Rai's arch, plummeting down on top of me; I scream until I taste blood. Rocks, debris, water; everything slams into me from all directions but I remain rooted in the earth. For we were one, she and I, and hell – for once – I won't let go.

Please, I beg, clenching my fists in the dirt as I fight with everything I have to spread my power down to my fingers. I know you're nothing compared to Rai's and Sammi's. But please, if you're there. . . Just do something. Please.

The earth battles against me, pummelling me, sobbing beneath my touch.

I'm broken. . . Let me be. . . You cannot fix me. . .

A hot, white streak of energy bursts through me, rippling into the dirt. I gasp as I feel it spread like fire, the earth cringing away –

HELP ME –

And with a roar of exertion, I shackle the ground to my chest. It's as though an invisible chain is tethering the both of us together.

The ground inhales, swelling, ready to explode – but then –

It pauses. Totally still.

Holding its breath.

The – the effort. It's unimaginable. The ground quivers slightly, scared and fragile – I'm buried elbows and knees deep, too terrified to move, to even open my eyes.

But I finally do. And what I see takes my breath away.

The arch above me is gone. Instead, the sea has split and risen into two towering scarlet walls, leaving a path cleaved between them. In the sharp, dazzling glow of moonlight, they blaze. At the end of the path is the flag, towards which Sammi now runs, sand clouds billowing behind her.

I try to stand, but the force of the chains binding me to the ground is. . . tremendous. I don't know if I can stretch them. The earth twitches, longing to be free. I clench tighter together, trapped beneath the weight baring down on my shoulders.

'Hey!'

I look up, and cry out in relief. Above me, hovers Rai. He jumps from Henry's back landing in a crouch beside me, one arm still aloft, holding the sea apart. His face bathed in sweat.

'Come on,' he yells. Every part of his skin is red-raw, hissing as steam rises from his back. 'We need to get to the capsule.'

'I c-can't. If I let go –,'

'It's okay, you can let go now. Sammi's nearly at the flag, but she can't do this on her own. She needs us by her side.'

Part of the wall breaks free and Rai's knees buckle; with another sweep of his arm he tosses the torrent of water aside, his arm trembling as much as my own.

'Rai –!'

'I'm okay, I'm okay. Come on, come with me. I'll fly us there, but we have to hurry. I don't know how much longer I can hold the sea apart.'

'I can't!'

'You can! Trust me.'

'But if I let go, the quake will start again –,'

'Trust yourself. You're strong enough, I know you are.'

'I'm – I'm not strong.' The pain, the blazing whip of pain, streaks through me once again and I realise I'm crying too, just like the earth. Its pain, my pain. . .

'You are strong.' Rai's words are soft; I glance up to see him beside me, his free hand on my shoulder. 'Strength isn't just being good at everything first try. Or about winning, or being tough.' A chink in my control sends a jolt through the earth, and Rai grips my shoulder tighter than ever.

'Sometimes being strong is just being able to get up in the morning and weather the pain. I've watched you do that every day. Kass – you're the strongest person I've ever known.'

'What?'

A hand clenches my heart. . . My chest so tight. . .

He thinks I'm strong?

'But you have to hurry now, Kass. You can hold it together, I know you can, but we have to go.'

He offers me his hand. My shoulders shake, the weight too much. I look up with every ounce of strength I can muster –

His eyes are so blue. . .

With one final roar, I rip my arms from the earth and seize Rai's hand.

*

Clinging on to Rai's back, we fly through the crimson walls of water towards Sammi, as she staggers towards the flag.

Holding the quakes at bay. . . Rai's right, it is possible, even from afar. But my shoulders. . . I cry out, burying my head in the back of Rai's neck. It's like my whole body is tangled in the chains that tether me to the ground, as I tug them, wrench them together.

But how long can one boy hold the earth together?

'Rai – I – I can't hold on much longer –,'

'HOLD ON!'

Rai kicks Henry's lower handles and Henry nose-dived towards Sammi. She raises her head, blood-smeared and bruised, and gasps as she sees us plummet towards her. She rips the nozzle from her mouth, letting it hang by her chin.

'You're here!'

'Look out!'

She screams as Henry makes no effort to slow down –

'Rai –!'

'Grab my hand!'

Rai reaches towards Sammi – her eyes widening as we career towards her – at the last second, Rai grabs her wrist and we zoom past, wrenching Sammi along by our side, lifting her clean off the ground.

'Rai?!'

'Aaaargh!'

I can't take it any longer. The weight on my back breaks – the chains inside me finally snap.

A huge crack spreads through the ground and tears apart, sending Sammi flying.

'Catch her, Kass!' Rai screams, as their hands are ripped apart.

But I'm ready. And we're so close. There, in front of us, is the little blue flag, and beneath it, something immense, dark and grey.

I catch Sammi round the waist but it's too much for Henry – he drops, smacking into the sea bed and we're thrown from his back, Henry zigzagging away into one of the walls of water.

Together, we land in a huddle at the base of the flag. We cling to each other as it flickers, mocking us, mocking the whole world around it.

And as we stare up at it, my mouth drops in horror.

For the flag is mounted on top of a giant rock, taller than I.

And trapped inside the rock –

Is a person.

Its mouth open in a scream.