Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,14

I didn’t want to compromise the seal.”

Hoku took the box, reveling in the complexity of the design. A thin coating of transparent material kept the silver from eroding in the salty ocean water. He found a small flap on the front, hiding six glowing numbers and a button. A combination lock!

“No, I don’t know the combination. That’s another mystery for you to solve,” Grandma Nani said. “It needs to be opened in air. I have no need of Above World artifacts, but you, however . . .”

Hoku’s mouth slid open.

“You heard me,” Grandma Nani said quietly. “Don’t be as blind as the Elders, boy. Your friend is showing you the way.”

“But Mom and Dad —”

“Will survive,” she said briskly. “Only the young can save us, boy. Only those without tails can walk between worlds.” She rested her old hand on the top of his head. The weight steadied him in the current.

Hoku looked at the silvery water safe. A great whirlpool was forming inside his belly. Not just of fear, although there was certainly some of that, but of excitement. It swirled inside him, faster and faster, until it was all he could feel.

Grandma Nani nodded and smiled. “Hoku, my boy, it’s time you had an adventure.”

HOKU PACKED QUICKLY, his mind filled with thoughts of artifacts. He wanted to bring everything: his bubble jars, his sticky plate, his collection of tools, a few spools of wire, and maybe some food. But he wasn’t exactly a strong swimmer, and he had a long way to travel. In the end, only the mermaid box and some of his essential tools made it into his satchel. He slipped a few smaller items into the pockets of his clothes. Just in case.

To the Above World!

Aluna would make fun of him for choosing gadgets over food, but what did they really know about the Above World? Maybe food was plentiful. Maybe there were magic seeds in the water safe that would keep them fed for the rest of their lives. Maybe Aluna could easily hunt for their dinner every night. Or maybe they’d both be dead before their stomachs even started to grumble.

Even that last thought didn’t deflate his enthusiasm.

Hoku kissed his grandma good-bye, but she hardly seemed to notice. She was back at her window, staring. He gave her a message for his parents, a simple “I have to do this, don’t worry, I love you,” and repeated it until she nodded and promised to deliver it.

Leaving the city was easy. His parents were still at work, and no one ever paid much attention to him. A nobody kid, off to do something unimportant.

This time, they were wrong.

Hoku swam toward the surface slowly, pausing every few meters to recite the ritual of ascent. One did not leave the depths of the ocean lightly. If you rose too quickly through the water, the ocean spirits exacted a price. They might decide to give you a rash, or take your sight, or even kill you. Aluna usually spoke the ritual quickly, impatient to keep swimming. He hoped, wherever she was, that she’d been more careful this time.

And that he’d be able to find her. The Above World was big. Not ocean big, but far larger than the coral reef that hid the City of Shifting Tides. They might never be reunited.

While it was true that the ancients had been obsessed with learning, building, and experimenting, just like him, they’d also destroyed themselves with wars and sickness. What part of their legacy remained? Would he and Aluna stumble on an ancient disease or kill themselves with a weapon disguised as something else?

Why were wonder and danger always so tightly interwoven?

He swam a meter under the ocean’s surface and used the shimmery streaks of sunlight and the currents to maintain his trajectory. He was getting closer and closer to the shore. He’d passed the first two of three resting rocks the Kampii used when they journeyed to trade with the Human village. The Trade Rock itself was next. He surfaced and saw it in the distance — the big, flat rock where the Kampii’s Voice bargained with the Humans.

And there she was now! Daphine’s silhouette was unmistakable. Aluna’s sister sat on the rock in a classic Kampii pose, her tail displayed to its full glittering splendor. She had undone her braids, and her hair fell in a great mass around her head. She’d made herself look like the mermaid on his water safe.

Her guards — two of Aluna’s