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-< ♦ >-
The letter had come late one evening; Jay and her mother, Melania, working on clearing up the bar for the night when a soft knock resounded.
“We’re closed,” Melania had called as she wiped down a table covered in one sticky liquid or another - the smell of alcohol in the air.
And yet the knock came again.
With a sigh, Melania threw the rag over her shoulder and Jay made to follow at her heel.
The door opened. On the other side was not someone you’d expect to wander into a tavern past closing time but a stringy sort of young man with a messenger's uniform and one letter clutched in pale hands. He cleared his throat.
“A letter for you Mrs Ferin - from your husband.”
Melania had thanked the messenger, sending him on his way with a gold coin for the trouble of working such late hours. Jay watched with wide eyes as the envelope was pried open. Her mother had the same curious spark in her eyes; although tainted with the suspicion of receiving a letter from someone you don’t usually get letters from.
Jay tugged impatiently on her mother’s arm as Melania scanned the contents. She missed the fall of her mother’s face, the grief that filled her eyes all too quickly.
“What does it say? Can I see?”
Melania had said nothing at first. She tucked the letter into one pocket then pulled Jay closer to her in a sort of half-hug. The excitement in Jay’s stomach flickered out and died, replaced by a cold apprehension. “Mother?”
“Oh- Jay… It’s about your sister- I don’t-”
“What about Ava?”
Melania's eyes brimmed with tears.
“Honey… she’s gone.”
-< ♦ >-
Jay’s sister was not dead.
Ava was a Ferin - and one of the best at that. She was powerful, indestructible, and someone Jay knew she could always count on.
So she could not be dead.
And definitely not by some ‘freak accident’ because her father would never let that happen.
Jay’s breath hitched and she curled her fists tighter into the duvet. Her vision was blurred; warm tears slipped down her face despite Jay desperately scrubbing at her cheeks to be rid of them.
There had to be another explanation- something her father had missed or gotten wrong.
Yes, that had to be it.
Perhaps Ava was just missing? Stuck somewhere and waiting for someone to find her. But Jay realised with sinking despair that no one would be going to look for Ava if they all thought she was dead, and her hopelessness only increased tenfold when she realised that no matter what she said, as long as her father believed Ava was gone then everyone else would too.
So she would have to prove it to them.
To do that, she would need to find Ava or at least somehow prove that she was alive.
And to do that, she would need a plan.
Jay scrambled off the bed, careful not to wake her mother who was asleep on the other side (neither of them had wanted to be alone tonight), and tried to wrack her brain for anything she might have heard relating to where Ava could be.
One memory swam forward; of when Jay had been visiting Ava and her father not even three weeks ago.
She had overheard her sister practically beg their father to be allowed on a mission in the Undersea, something about a trench and a quarry (the hunting kind- not the mining one). Father had sighed and acquiesced on the grounds that fieldwork was an important part of training.
As soon as Ava had left their father's office Jay ran headlong into her, tugging on her big sister's arm.
"Jay! What are you doing here? Weren't you playing outside?"
"Ava! You can't go away I'll miss you too much! I only get to see you a little bit already!"
Ava had sighed, "You heard all that? Oh- well Jay I have to go; I've got to show father I'm cut out for the top ranks in the Navy remember? And besides, it’s not like I’m leaving forever."
Jay frowned, but an idea came to her. "Then I can come with you! I'm strong!"
"I know you are Jay Jay," Ava laughed, "that's why you gotta stay here and protect the family while I'm gone, alright?"
Jay had agreed then; full of enthusiasm and courage. But now she saw it was her sister who was in danger, and Jay herself was the only one who could save her.
To protect the family she’d need to leave it for a little while, and now she had a clue of where to start.
Mother kept lots of maps all around the tavern, but the best ones were neatly rolled away and tucked into a chest. Jay may have been small but she was strong - at least she felt strong when she shimmied the large chest out from under the bed and sat back with a huff.
She wasted little time in clicking the lid open, pausing to hold her breath in case the noise woke her mother up, but was safely able to find the map she was looking for:
Not 'a trench', but 'The Trench'. Deep in the middle of the Eastern sea.
Concealing a squeal of excitement Jay rolled up the map once again, tucked it under her arm, and carefully snuck out of her mother’s room back down the hall to her own.
She had a bag to pack and a sister to find.
-< ♦ >-
The day opened with the bright sun beaming down on a very tired young girl.
It had been close to sunrise when Jay, bag packed and a note written for her mother’s sake, had climbed out of her bedroom window in pursuit of the eastern docks.
These, Jay had reasoned, were the closest ones to where she was headed, and from there she would have to find a way to get out onto the water. Thoughts of theft had crossed her mind- but such were the thoughts of lowlife pirates and not self-respecting citizens.
It was a two-day's journey to the other side of the island if Jay stopped for rest anyway, so there was plenty of time for her to come up with a plan. But Jay had to move quickly; she was smart enough to know that she’d be sent back home if anyone found her and then Ava really was as good as dead.
As such Jay planned to move through the markets first; they were a busy hubbub of light and colours and noises and smells even at such an early time. Various stalls with different displays of shells and fruits and other potpourris were tantalising to the eye. Spices of all kinds filled the air, and Jay’s mind was flooded with the times when she would enjoy running through the market in her sister’s shadow; the two of them thick as thieves despite their different ages and despite Ava’s schedule growing busier and busier with Navy training each passing month.
Tears threatened to spill again, but Jay steeled her sadness into determination. Once she found Ava, they could do things like that again. Maybe Ava would even want to spend more time with her if Jay proved that she was brave, too (and then maybe she’d be worth her father and sister’s time).
Lost in her thoughts, Jay almost missed the commotion bubbling around her. A few people gave her looks, some even whispered, and before long a guard came and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, miss? Am I right in thinking you’re Jay Ferin.” It was a stupid question; anyone who could recognise one Ferin could spot all of them. It was a freakish family trait.
“Your mother’s worried sick y’know? She read your letter and called right away.”
By the gods, how could Jay have been caught this quickly? She looked back at the market crowd, then at the guard. And she made a plan.
“Really?”
The guard brightened, apparently expecting Jay to cooperate. Perhaps her mother had shared a little bit of the situation about Ava, and this guard had been expecting to find a distraught 10-year-old running away from home in that way that some kids do when they get upset.
People had always said Jay was quite mature for her age.
“Yes, she’s terribly upset. Come on and I'll take you back home alright? You and your mother can talk this out together…”
Jay hung her head and made the impression of beginning to follow this guard along. However, as soon as they turned around, Jay did the same and sprinted in the opposite direction through the busy market, weaving in and out of people so as to get lost in the crowd.
Shouts of “Hey! Get back here!” rang out behind her, but Jay could tell she was getting further and further away. At first, people were parting like waves as Jay ran through them, but the more distance she put between herself and the situation she had caused, the more people were inclined to pass her off as a random child running through the stalls and paid her little mind (apart from a disgruntled glare once in a while).
Jay slowed to a walk, looking over her shoulder and satisfied that she had lost her pursuer.
Then she heard the guards' whistle ring out. Panic seized her chest, but that feeling was quickly dismissed as someone collided into her with force and the both of them tumbled to the ground in a heap.
This, officially, had to be the worst luck Jay had ever had. The buffoon who had knocked into her was thankfully small enough so Jay wasn’t completely crushed, but it took longer than Jay would have liked to get up and she could hear quickened footsteps approaching.
The other child dusted themself down, not that it did much to smooth their, frankly, quite dirty appearance.
“Sorry about that-”
And the first guard stepped into view.
-< ♦ >-