Aviva flopped down on her comfortable yet old, green couch. She was chewing on the end of a Bic pen while flipping through the papers of a water stained, bent up notebook. She sat there sprawled out as much as possible while gnawing away at the pen cap, apparently puzzled.

"Question," she spoke up to her guests. Zelda, who had situated herself in a bean-bag chair, and Leslie, who was cramming her nose into a history book on the opposite end of the couch, both looked up unanimously at her. Aviva threw them a puzzled gaze before going on. "if two primary colors become secondary, could two secondary colors become primary?" As usual, she was having troubles with her new art elective. Leslie raised an eyebrow at her over the edge of her text book and shifted uneasily.

"...No clue," she answered plainly. "As for me, history is going to eat me whole by Monday's test if I don't understand the reason for the 'Brain Tree'." She huffed madly pulling a blanket over her shoulders. Zelda rolled her eyes at the obviously mad Leslie and came over to help Aviva.

"Here you go," she took her sharpened pencil and made a rough sketch of a color wheel, labeling different slits as 'red, blue, yellow, purple, etc.'

"Oh..." was all Aviva could say, disappointed at her lack of artistic skill. Zelda went back to her Math book, shuffling onto the beanbag. Leslie on the other hand, was mumbling angrily about her courses.

"Saving the world does NOT pay off," she unhappily said as she flipped aimlessly through her books. Her fingers twitched resulting in her slamming the book closed, jerking Aviva and Zelda out of their studying daze. "Twice as much work, and they have no clue that we’re the real ones saving their rears from total annihilation."

"Here she goes again," Zelda whispered slinking her face under the shelter of her book. Aviva sighed.

"I’m going to go get some cookies, maybe lemonade. You girls want any?" Leslie fervently shook her head, Zelda just asked for a cookie or two. For even the little time Aviva had known her, never had she seen Leslie in such a mood.

She sluggishly walked into the kitchen and retracted a glass and filled it with cooled homemade lemonade. It was set down on the counter with a dull clink as she slid over to the cookie jar. She picked a few that were still slightly warm after she had baked them earlier before Zelda and Leslie came to study at her house. Laying four on a paper towel next to her, she closed the lid to the jar and placed it back at the corner of the cabinet top. She smiled, thinking of all her pets, asleep upstairs. Little Rebel had recently insisted on being painted Christmas. The little guy reminded Aviva of a candy cane hood ornament but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed his happiness.

She blinked.

The reminiscing seemed to have caught her off guard, leaving the fresh cookies waiting next to her hand. She picked up the glass and scooped up the pile of cookies and paper towel with her other hand and turned to leave the kitchen. Again she blinked, but this time, her eyes did not open.

A ruin. Tall, dark, and desolate. A high thick column shadowed by an unseen object towered above all before it. Weeds and vines curled up its mass of chipped concrete and quartz. Something swirled around its midlands: it was a ripple. The vision was underwater and surrounded by older ruins. All the broken buildings and stadiums were metallic besides this one odd column. Bubbles of air traveled to the surface, signing that something was there-and breathing. A shadow passed and left while on its departure was a figure. A smiling face with jeweled eyes pierced the darkness before it. It had a long, slender, graceful tail with shining fin. Its body was that of an aisha. She danced about until she saw the column, then panicked. In a flash she was gone giving only one final smile to whoever spied. A wave of ripples surrounded the misty water and she had disappeared.

Aviva, yet again, had been held back in a daydream. This one was not the realistic images of her Neopets she had thought about before. Her eyes fluttered open only to reveal a new and shocking site. She dropped the glass and handful of cookies. As the cup hit the floor it shattered into uncountable pieces and a pool of lemonade stained the linoleum floor. The cookies turned to chunks of crumbs that littered the ground. Aviva held her mouth in pure amazement. A legendary Mist of Evian that even Zelda had barely talked about lay on the counter, right next to the cookie jar.

-

Zelda and Leslie rushed in and looked at the sudden mess. Aviva was leaning on the counter holding the corked bottle as close to her nose as possible. The girls dropped their mouths open and tiptoed over the glass to her side and examined it. "You JUST found this?" Leslie urged. She was too excited to be in her mood anymore.

Aviva smiled. "A daydream," she said watching the blackish swirls dance within. "So odd and peculiar, how would I explain opening my eyes only to find this." She set it into Zelda’s hands to peer at.

"Funny, I had a dream too, I wake up, and POW! There it is sitting like duck on my nightstand," She laughed.

"Hey Kaen, take a look at this!" Leslie called to her faerie friend. Kaen yawned and appeared on her shoulder, stretching like a cat. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the bottle.

"Another one?!" she nearly screamed accidentally tugging at Leslie’s ear...

"OUCH!"

"Gosh you girls are finding these like common pebbles!"

"Kaen my ear!" "Where in Neopia did you FIND it?!"

"KAEN!!!"

"What Leslie? Can't you see I'm trying to talk?"

"You're tugging at my ears!!" Kaen gave her an oddball look at her squinted pain, then suddenly realized she had been too enthusiastic to notice she was yanking excitedly on Leslie's ear.

"Well geez, so-O-rry." She let go and looked hopefully at Aviva who was again clutching the bottle.

"The Maraqua Ruins...."Aviva whispered. Her throat cracked, dry as sand. "...and an aisha - like a mermaid." She held a half-smile as she said this. Kaen fluttered and sat on the cork of the bottle peering its contents.

"Black swirls? Hmm, I'd have to think about their powers. I think that a black Mist of Evian would obtain the power of night...I think...or was it water? Or was it a mix of both?" Kaen was apparently confused at the dilemma. She tapped the bottle with the bottoms of her palms and held her ear to the cork.

Leslie looked at her oddly. "Dare I ask what you're doing?" Kaen shook her head and did not answer but instead listened intensively.

"This is," she introduced sitting up on the top, "the Khalida (Arabic for Everlasting) Mist; it contains the power of history, past, present, and future."

"History?" Zelda said intriguingly. "I’ve never heard of an Evian Mist with the power of time."

"That’s because the only Evian Mist you know of is the Sakasa Mist, your own," Kaen answered flatly.

Aviva was smiling wearily. "Whatever its power," she mumbled, "I sure can't wait to try it out." The petite earth faerie sighed and disappeared. Leslie felt her land on her shoulder and slip behind her somewhere. She looked at her watch.

"Looks like we better get back to studying, something tells me we’ll need it," she sighed trudging back into the living room followed by Zelda. Aviva looked at the Khalida Mist one more time before shoving it into her dimensional locker and bouncing onto the couch. The gnawed pen in the corner of her mouth, she flipped open her binder and dove into her Math notes.

-

A thundering “boom” echoed from down the hall, awakening an adolescent girl from her sleep. She sat up in her bed and blinked in the darkness, waiting for another sound. Soon there were the terrified screams of more citizens all the way from other parts of the underwater complex. She didn’t have to wait for anymore reassurance to tumble out of bed, pull her white robe over her pearly pick gown, and scramble for the door that led to one of the main foyers.

Thoughts raced through her head as she stopped in the center of one of the top bubbled in corridors. Through the glass to the south she could see what could only be described as a great, whirling thing tearing apart the lower reaches of Maraqua. Her bare feet shuffled slightly over the cold floor, her breath caught in her throat. All sorts of Neopians, from users to pets, hurried past her in panic and disarray with no clue as to where to go. She too was just as confused but remained motionless from the shock.

The water currents picked up the Utility Fish store and effortlessly tossed it into the Northeast side of the main building. Moments later, the roar of water could be heard as it poured into the fortress. Her eyes widened in fear as she witnessed the huge wave fill the other dome. Her feet stepped back of their own accord before she completely turned and ran for the entrance to a tube that led to lower grounds. At the opening she hesitated and looked longingly over her shoulder, muttering something under her breath.

"Miss Aviva, please come Miss Aviva!" A tall and lanky woman with smooth blonde tresses sprinted up through the tube and clutched the arm of the younger girl.

"Colomba!” Aviva cried over the growing roar.

"Miss Aviva, your mother is already in the Sanctuary. We have to get there NOW!" The nanny forced her charge to follow her down tube until they entered a second glass foyer. Twisted metal could be seen distorted before their very eyes. Aquatic Neopets were trying to swim away from the mounting whirlpool while others were helping users an air breathing pets to the surface. The two witnessed the scene helplessly before picking up their pace and breaking into a run for the next tube.A tower of metal crashed onto the hall right as they sprinted out. Bits of glass and chunks broke and flew every which way; they sliced through whatever was weak enough and in its path. Seawater gushed into the vestibule and chased after them with formidable speed.

Colomba, still pulling on the girls arm, ran faster as the wave of water began to fill up the proceeding corridors and rooms. Aviva felt the bottom edges of her robe turn heavy as it soaked in the mist from a fast approaching surge. A seal able door lay ahead of them waiting to close. And it was. Its mighty frame was sealing slowly and the two were still running towards it. Colomba and Aviva felt the pressure of the chasing water from behind, motivating them to gain running speed. In a whir of color and panic, the two thrust themselves into the elevator chamber mere moments before the doors shut and water met steel. And inch or so of the water pooled around their ankles.

The teen looked up at her gasping nanny who was leaning against the confinements of the small room, choking in air. Colomba weekly pressed a few small blue buttons on a silver panel near the frame. The elevator’s mechanisms whirred, clicked, and rumbled before sending them down into the lower rooms.

"Miss Aviva," she gasped as she turned to her, "are you all right?"

"Well enough," she grunted clasping her hands.

"Good," Colomba chimed wearily. "What you have just witnessed today is-"

"Nanny," the girl interrupted. "What is happening to Maraqua?" The blonde woman looked taken aback. The girl had a hand pressed to the glass window of the chamber watching the city crumble to bits while the whirlpool began to form further away. She sighed.

"I don’t know Miss Aviva, but your mother isn't pleased. She was outraged when she got to the Sanctuary. The King is with her as well, safe and out of harms way."

"Are we going to be all right? What will happen to us?"

"Miss Aviva, to be honest with you at all, I don't know the answer to any of your questions. Those are things you will have to ask Paloma." The was a slight ring and the frames opened letting both step out. Colomba pulled on the girl and they raced down the hall. They stopped at the appearance of a gargantuan set of doors decorated with ornate crystals, gems, and jewels. "Hurry now, into the Sanctuary," she gave her a slight push towards the doors that opened even without a set of guards pulling at the wrought iron handles. The woman followed Aviva into a chapel like room, the doors easing closed behind them.

A distraught woman decked out in a silk gown, robe, and fine jewelry paced back and forth in front of plain oak chair. "How could this have happened!!!” She bellowed to no one in particular, though she was making the Koi king a bit unnerved with her temper. “I had the papers all in order and the operation was supposed to be success! Why on Neopia did it not work?” “Well you see, Ms. Paloma,” the king muttered, “we just didn’t have enough to give to the…err…‘financers’ and keep the economy afloat.”

The woman stared at him, mouth agape, eyes wide, and usually well kept hair tousled and swept around her face. “Your Highness!” She shrieked, “I am you financial adviser! Yes, we would’ve had a bit of trouble and some fiscal depression, but it would’ve been made up for! Taxes, inflation, and we had the crustacean harvest to look forward to!! If only you had followed my advice we would’ve -”

"Ms. Paloma, please!" Colomba rushed to her side massaging her shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself. You still have..." she whispered something hurriedly into the noblewoman’s ear. Paloma hissed back a remark and Colomba simply shrugged. Aviva looked oddly at her governess and mother. The elder Koi idly looked at his fin with a flustered gaze.

"Aviva," Paloma paced to her daughter’s side. "I’m so glad your nanny could take such good care of you. But there is something wrong…"

"Mother…" the girl whined pushing her away. “Let me stay here with you. Please.”

"Aviva…sweetie. I can’t let you stay here. It’s too dangerous. I’m not sure what will become of Maraqua now. But I do know that I can spare you. You can be safe and we won’t need to worry about you,” Paloma cooed to her daughter as she brushed back her fine hair.

"I don’t want to,” Aviva whispered, “I’ve never done this before. You know I haven’t. And I haven’t been to the mainland in…forever, really.”

"You won’t have to stay for long," Paloma reassured her, “Colomba or I will find you. Or Maraqua may recover.”

"That won't happen," Aviva scowled at her mother. "Maraqua can’t recuperate. Have you seen the whirlpool? Soon the Sanctuary will be underwater! How are you going to get out?"

"After the current calms (which won’t take long), His Highness will go a fetch us a sub. And if we can’t wait for that, we’ll hold out until we can swim to the surface,” Colomba spoke up as she laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

"And how will I return, or how will you find me?" Aviva hesitantly reached into the pocket of her robe and withdrew a corked bottle that held a swimming black mist within its glass.

"We’ll find you, or you’ll find us. Though nothing can be sure." Her mother stood back smiling at her growing daughter. “I do know that you’ll be ok, and that is what would concern me most. Let me explain what all this entails, since I've only briefed you in the past: this potion you've always carried originally belonged to your grandmother, which descended to me and then to you. After you've taken some of this...mist...and I've teleported you to the surface, you'll only relive a year or so of your life in what you might call a living paradox. That is, your image will be in two places at once so the entire experience may feel like it is out-of-body, even a colorful dream. When the time you relive in another place as passed, you will think clearly as a normal user and only remember the time you lived on the surface."

"That's it?" Aviva asked simply.

"That's all I can let you know."

"What do you mean by paradox?"

"It's not so much of a pardox per se as it is your image in two places at once, which would be a contradiction. I can't erase you from this place, so the paradox will appear to be a blur," explained Paloma, "the dream like state will pass after the Maraquan incident."

Colomba looked at them in her foresight and produced a pale blue orb, handing it to her mistress. "Aviva, you will know when the time is right to reunite with us. And you will return." Paloma held the orb out to her daughter. She uncorked the bottle, took a tentative sip, and then regretfully lay her had down on its surface, pressing gently. Within a blink she had disappeared to the surface.

-

"Aviva~!" Zelda was flicking the sleeping girl with her fingers. She poked her forehead and pinched her arms but nothing would stir her.

"Here let me try." A red Acara formally known as Fire stared hard at her owner's face. "AVIVA!" she screamed right in front of her.

"That HAD to work," Leslie sighed as Aviva stirred to life.

She blinked a few times before looking around at her friends and pet. "Ommagosh!" she spat out racing to the table. She jolted into a wooden chair and unfolded the latest issue of the Neopian Times, Neopia’s raving newspaper. The front headline ranted about the newest Mystery Island attractions, focusing mainly on the Haiku Generator. The News-a-Roo Blumaroo was of course just the Neopet to be interviewing the island Kougra of his business. Aviva’s eyes scanned the front page until she focused on a small column in the bottom right corner that hosted the index.

"Other worlds…" she informed herself turning to the page C1 of the ‘Other Worlds’ section of the paper. Once again she skimmed a few pages before befalling onto a Maraquan article focusing on the aftermath of the disaster.

"Are you just now realizing Maraqua was destroyed? That was months ago. It's old news," said Zelda.

"I know, I know," Aviva replied quietly. "I just want to check and be sure..." Her eyes traveled through the lines hastily as if she were running out of time.

"The attack on Maraqua certainly did shock the world of Neopia," she read aloud trailing the words with her index finger. "Historians have sent explorers to survey the abandoned area and collect any of the expensive belongings of the prosperous kingdom.

"This recent expedition involved some complications with new crevices and bubbling pits, along with remains from the royal family and advisors that interest historians and artifact inspectors alike. Catalogers of these artifacts have indeed identified them to be articles of the royal family that include expensive jewels plated in coral, ancient documents, clothing, and medals of hierarchy..." Aviva’s voice silenced as she thought about what she had just read. The article went on, but she disregarded reading anymore. She had read enough.

"Girls," she whispered hoarsely, "I think I might have something to confess..."