CHAPTER FOURTEEN – IN OBSCURITY.

Uloma let out an exasperated, frustrated noise. It was not just the stares that were getting to her; it was the incessant expectation that she had to do more. What was with everyone now treating her like she was expected to be better? She was the mediocre daughter of Death; did they all of a sudden forget? Her thing was doing the barest she could get away with; now, everyone watched her as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head. The annoying thing was that Cosmics and creatures with more than one head were walking around without anyone bothering them with even a glance. Okay, she was being mean, but she was this close to losing it. 

“Channel that anger into the task.” 

Ekama hissed, looking dangerously close to exasperation. She was floating around Uloma leisurely. Uloma wanted to shake that almost tranquil look off her face. 

“I can’t do this.” 

Uloma complained, attempting to waddle out of the water. Around her, the students appeared to be having the time of their lives when they were not stealing expectant glances at her. Where were the days gone when everyone expected her to fail? When everyone expected her to attempt every class half-heartedly? She squinted at the smoky fog covering the body of water and wished with all her heart that creatures from the Realm of Death were not so comfortable in bodies of water and Obscurity. 

“You are one with the elements, remember that.” 

Emenike’s voice boomed over the crowd of students, penetrating the thick fog to reach Uloma. The silvery light of the moon bathed his skin in a glow that emphasized his point about being one with everything. What type of being glows through a fog? Uloma thought, eying him. And easy for him to say, Uloma eyed him again, he was the fabric of reality, of course, he could be one with everything. 

“Ulo, you are not even trying.” 

Ekama chided, still floating in a circle around Uloma, ripples formed where she went. She was making shapes and images in the water from water droplets. She called those images water memories. Uloma reached out to the nearest body of droplets and waved her hand through them, dissolving and scattering them. 

“Oh, you killed them.” 

Ekama giggled; she did not even open her eyes, the infuriating show-off. 

“Why is Emenike being such a hard head about this?” 

Uloma whined, Ekama shrugged, floating to a stop in front of Uloma, her beautiful red skirt dancing in the barely visible surface of black water.  

“Would it be fair if I asked you or anyone here to do something only Deaths can do?” 

She asked Ekama, her eyebrows furrowed, her hand wadding back and forth in the water to keep her afloat. Ekama peered at Ulo, sighed, and shook her head. 

“Okay, tell me one thing Deaths can do that you can do?” 

Ekama had her hand over her chest; around them, the hubbub of students roared. The chill on nights like this always added to the excitement. It was a perfect night for the students, with chilly air and a dark body of water on a misty night; they could not have been happier or more content. This Emenike was the only one of the Emenikes who bothered with the perfect setting for his classes. Uloma was unimpressed; as far as she was concerned, in her bed, in her room, was a better place to be. 

“Is it not you I just asked a question?” 

Ekama said, slapping Uloma’s bare arm lightly. Uloma swatted her friend back, splashing water in her wake. 

“Leave me alone.” 

Uloma frowned. 

“Oh, dear Mother Death, you are impossible to teach.” 

Ekama blurted, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. She was not wearing any beads in the water, but her perfect hair and clothes were still impressive, even though they were still wet from being submerged. 

“Well, nobody asked for your help.” 

Uloma retorted, rolling her eyes petulantly. 

“I know, I should have just let Abali handle you as usual. I don’t know why I bothered.” 

Uloma could see that the small body of water in the tiny space in front of them was reacting turbulently to Ekama, but she did not care. She narrowed her eyes at Ekama, her glare radiating murder. 

“How am I expected to manifest into the body of water? Why has Manifestation class got to be a lot, every time?” 

Uloma spat, raising her voice, not caring whether or not Emenike could hear her. 

“Echi and all the fire creatures are doing it and have been doing it forever, and they have a genuine excuse.” 

Ekama yelled back, waving her hand in the general direction of the black water, where it glowed red. The students there were giggling and splashing about, as fire walked on water. Uloma watched them with misplaced annoyance. A student flared and spun, making a ring of fire on the river, and Uloma turned away, angry. 

“There, there. Let's keep the water free from carnage.” 

Abali said, walking towards them, feet balanced on the surface of the river, not even making a ripple. Uloma glared at him. The silly fog was dispersing around them, which annoyed Uloma even more. To be fair, the mist was clearing because Emenike was floating beside Abali, his robe billowing in the chilly night air, wafting the fog away. 

“I told you they would not last that long.” 

Abali smirked, Emenike shook his head beside him in disapproval; his disappointed frown was a far cry from Abali’s amused look. 

“Are you trying to go extinct?” 

Ekama looked like she would make good on her question, but Abali just shook his head with an ‘I was right’ look in his grey, blind eyes. 

“Whatever, you were right.” 

Ekama conceded, her hands crossed over her chest again. Her wet hair now drooping down her face made her look like one of the night creatures. She never got soaked unless she was furious, which she was, but Uloma did not care. She was more bothered about the looks passing between her friends. 

“What is going on here?” 

Uloma demanded, narrowing her eyes again. 

“I told her you were a challenging student; I mean, come on, there is a reason all the Emenikes complain about you. No one is thrilled with you as a student in their class.” 

Abali said. The amusement on his face was getting to Uloma; she had to admit that she was a nightmare for Emenikes. There was a reason only one Emenike loved her, and he ran the school; therefore, he did not have to teach her. 

“She does need the training now, though. Seriously.” 

Ekama said, looking Uloma up and down in irritation. The fog had almost completely dissipated now, and the noise of happy children grated harshly against Uloma's already irritated ears. Ulo shook the water off her hair, hoping it would get in one of their eyes, but they were Cosmics for a reason; the water droplets just stopped in midair and fell, dropping one after the other, failing their purpose. Ulo’s frown deepened. She did not need any stupid training; what she needed was her room. Emenike was talking, and she caught the tail end of what he had been saying. 

“That is what Death was here to do. To make arrangements for her, luckily for us, we don’t have to deal with her all on our own.” 

Emenike was saying, and Uloma scrunched up her nose at him. He raised his eyebrow and turned away from her. 

“Class over.” 

He said, clapping his hands, a loud groan went around the large body of water. The fog started to clear up even faster, exposing how crowded the long river was. White clouds crawled slowly across the bare silver sky as well, covering up most of the moon. 

“I will, unfortunately, have to see you in my next lesson.” 

Emenike said over his shoulder as he vanished, leaving a faint sparkly vapor in his wake. 

“Show-off.” 

Uloma called. 

“He cannot hear you.”  

Someone said behind her, was everyone trying to make her lose her temper? Was this their mission? Uloma wondered, turning around, ready to cause the speaker significant pain. 

“Hey.” 

Echi said he was beaming at her. He illuminated the dark water where he stood, his friendly face a delight that always settled Ulo. His friends surrounded him as if to protect him from someone. Ulo’s eyes immediately shot towards Abali, but he was too preoccupied with squabbling with Kama. Ulo felt her anger momentarily give way to pleasure, Echi, she thought, smiling. Tekena broke away from her friends. She came towards Ulo, waving shyly as she gracefully moved through the dark water. It was nearly impossible to tell where the water ended and her body began. She turned the water glassy where she floated through. She resembled stained glass, Uloma noted, like when light is reflecting over the surface of water. 

“How have you been?” 

Her voice was even more watery, Uloma thought, smiling back at the shy girl. They all looked, well, particularly shy under the cloudy night in the presence of Kama and Abali without the benefit of alcohol, Ulo realized, watching them as they watched her back. Ekama and Abali were now fully attentive to the small group, and those two could be intense, Uloma thought. It was easy to feel intimidated in their presence. Kama and Abali had that effect on people, Uloma decided, eying her friends. 

“Hey, you all. You have tentacles.” 

Uloma chirped first to the group and then to Shani, feeling the uncomfortable silence of the small group in the wake of the noise surrounding them. Shani smiled shily at her, as his dark purple tentacles waved around, almost like they had a mind of their own. Kama whispered something to Abali, who shushed her none too quietly while they watched the tentacles in midair. Shani lowered his eyes, embarrassed to be observed by Abali and Ekama. 

“They only appear when I am in water.”  

He said bashfully in response to Ekama’s whisper, Ulo shot Kama a look, wondering what she had said. 

“I think they look beautiful. They can at least manifest in water; it's better than anything I can do.” 

Uloma told Shani, thinking back to the near fight between her and Kama, not that their fighting would have been anything new. Shani nodded, smiling at her, his shaggy hair waving in unison with his tentacles. Ulo thought about how sweet he and his friends were. She had expected that after the whole thing on the night of the party, they would treat her differently, but here they were, looking at her like nothing had changed. 

“Do you want to come away from the water?” 

Echi asked her, taking her hand in his. Uloma looked over at Abali instinctively, but he did not seem to have noticed. When had he returned to his preoccupation with teasing Kama? Echi guarded her carefully out of the water into the grassy riverbank. She felt his warmth spreading through her even before her bare feet were planted firmly on the grass. 

“Echi, you talked.” 

Uloma said, suddenly realizing he had spoken to her in words that were in her language. 

“He can talk inside of water.” 

Tekena volunteered. 

“Ahh, you all keep coming up with talents that refuse to come to me when you are inside that cursed river.” 

“And you stopped time, twice.” 

Ekama pointed out, floating to a stop in front of her friend. 

“Which is twice as much as any one of us here can. So, you are good, kiddo.” 

Kama continued nudging her, the earlier animosity apparently forgiven. 

“I guess I am the one destroying the realms and reality, something you ordinary beings cannot even do.” 

Uloma said, smiling, there were concurring and supportive murmurs going around the small group, which made Uloma even warmer than Echi's warmth was making her. 

“That’s my girl.” 

Ekama said, pulling her away from Echi and enveloping her in a hug. 

“I am sorry, I am such a rotten student.” 

Uloma said into Ekama’s shoulder. 

“Mhm, you know me and thinking that there is no rotten monster I cannot slay.” 

They both chuckled. More students were beginning to leave the river, the cloudy sky above them obscuring the moon, still reflected off enough light to bathe the scene in shadows. In this realm, it just meant creatures of gossip sculking about. 

“Ooh, look at Abali being wooed by the blue and green glass water girl. He looks absolutely like he is loving her attention.” 

Ekama said, nodding towards where Uloma’s new friends were sitting with Abali. Ekama sounded suspiciously happy about this, Uloma thought. Abali had an eel around his neck; it was warmly nestled there, its slippery black skin a compliment to Abali’s. Wasn’t he always a picture? Uloma thought wistfully. Tekena sat too close to him, chattering incessantly to him. 

“Eh.” 

Uloma said out loud, turning away. 

“You are not jealous?” 

Kama sounded surprised about this. She looked like she wanted Ulo to be jealous so that she could get back at Abali. Uloma shook her head. Kama did not understand the concept of defeat, and Abali had rubbed it in her face how much she had failed with Uloma’s Manifestation training. Kama will have her victory one way or the other. Uloma hid a smile. 

“Mhmhm. She is sweet, and her crush is harmless.” 

Ulo replied testily; she was overdoing the nonchalance, even she could see that, but it flew over Kama’s head. 

“You are not being serious!” 

Ekama insisted, pulling away to look at Ulo. 

“You goat, you are messing with me.” 

Kama shouted, and Ulo laughed in response. 

“You started it first. Trying to get me to do your dirty work.” 

Ulo managed between laughs. 

“Fair, but is her crush as harmless as you think? Look at them.” 

Ulo looked. The girl glowed every time a creature of fire came near her; she glowed in colors that caught the eyes. 

“Harmless.” 

Uloma insisted. 

“You mean as harmless as the one Echi has on you? Because he is the only being that Abali doesn't want to annihilate, with an interest in you. Abali should be threatened, and I think he knows that, but everyone loves Echi, so Abali tries not to show that he is uncomfortable when that beautiful hunk of light warms you up.” 

Kama said, Ulo looked over at Echi. He was perfect, but did she feel anything other than friendship for him? Abali must think of Tekena as something, but would that mean anything? Ekama, as always, looked like she could read Ulo’s mind. She gave her friend a big squeeze, returning to hugging her. Ulo giggled. She knew something that Kama didn’t, though she thought back to the night of the party, and how uncomfortable Abali must have felt watching her with Echi. Usually, Echi was the one giving all the attention, but on the night of the party, she had returned some of that attention. She looked over at Abali, who was guiding the eel back into the river. Ulo shook her head at Kama. 

“You are silly! Putting ideas in my head like this! Just bad!” 

Uloma laughed. 

“Coy fish. You would have arrived there on your own eventually.” 

Kama accused. 

“Uloma.” 

Tekena called, interrupting the two friends. She bounded over to them, and in the silvery light of the night, she looked like rays of dark colors. Ekama gave Uloma a look that read, ‘You can see what I see, right?’ 

“You might have a point; she is taking even my breath away.” 

Ulo whispered to her friend, who responded with a look that said, ‘I told you.’ 

“We are having a small hangout in the forest of the Lost. Would you like to come?” 

Tekena said when she reached them, Uloma had never noticed the sultry hollow in the shy girl’s voice until now. Her friends were forming their usual circle around her; they were always like that, appearing where one of them was, like a pack that existed for the members. They were inviting her now into their group. Uloma smiled and nodded, wiggling out of Ekama’s embrace. 

“Sure.” 

She said, but Kama pulled her to her side in annoyance. 

“I am not being invited?” 

Ekama asked. 

“That seems rude to me.” 

She said, looking at them like she would only wait a second for them to make the right choice before she showed them her displeasure. 

“You are scaring them, even now? Kama chill. And anyway, people don’t invite people they are generally scared of to a place where they want to relax.” 

Abali said, smiling sweetly at Kama, she shot him a look that seemed to have daggers in it. 

“They did not invite you either.” 

She snapped at him. 

“You can come if you want.” 

Tekena offered, her beady eyes shaded by her luscious lashes. Uloma raised her eyebrows at Abali, who did not seem even to notice; he was thoroughly soaking in the shy admiration wafting off Tekena. Oh, she would make him pay for it later, she thought, eyeballing him.  

“I would be honored.” 

Abali said, looking over at Ulo, he winked. She bristled, the effrontery, he knew! The rat knew what he was doing. ‘You are dead.’ She mouthed at him; he smiled even more sweetly than he had with Kama. Beside her, Ekama looked like she was about to cut them all down. Echi roared and crackled his invitation before she had the chance to make them regret their rudeness. 

“I was going to come anyway.” 

Ekama muttered angrily. Uloma pinched her friend. 

“This is why they did not want to invite you in the first place.” 

Uloma scolded. 

“Besides, we did not think you would want to hang out with us.” 

Shani said to Ekama, who nodded her understanding. Ulo looked dubious at this; she knew there was nothing good about Kama agreeing with anyone at the moment. 

“I normally wouldn’t. But I would rather that were my choice.” 

She answered him back, sweetly, too sweetly. Ulo could feel herself holding her metaphoric breath. 

“Play nice.” 

Abali warned, and Echi shimmered, engulfing Ekama. 

“Don’t preach to me, Chi, your friends started it.” 

Echi crackled and roared blue and orange. 

“Alright, alright, I will be civil.” 

Ekama said, eying the small group with a look that said they should be grateful she was even there with them, just before she and Echi vanished together, holding hands. What a great start to a friendship, Ulo thought, looking over at Abali, who was hiding a smile. She chuckled. Ulo could tell they were both thinking the same thing; they had all unwittingly made a dangerous enemy, one with a long memory who kept scores. 

“She is going to harm us, isn’t she?” 

Shani asked. His tentacles were already shrinking, and Abali and Uloma nodded in unison. 

“She is quite good with a weapon, too, I have heard.” 

Someone in the group said. Abali came over to Ulo and took her hands. They were going to be laughing about this whole thing later, not just at the moment, though; they were at the moment trying hard to hide that laugh. 

“Why does Kams make it a habit to make enemies?” 

Abali whispered to Uloma. 

“People never learn to fear her enough until it is too late.” 

Uloma sniggered, hiding her face in Abali's bicep, and she had her hand wrapped around his arm. 

The group was dispersing quickly to the hangout. Abali nodded at her as they vanished together. Vanishing with him is something they had done so many times that neither of them could do it without the aid or assistance of the other person.