Hello, friends! I'm sorry I haven't been posting. I've been on a roll with fixing the adaptation version. I just finished the chapter where the Imeldi attack the base/helicarrier- geez, that was such a long time ago!

As of today, I became a senior! YAAAY!

363 days until graduation :)

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Music: Lithium (Evanescence) (There may come a day where I don't use Evanescence songs. But today is not this day.)

Chapter Thirty-Eight 

~Thea's POV~

I get up in the evening, after I've left enough time for avoiding Videl, and after my headache goes away, at least a tiny bit. I sit up on the comfortable bed, and inspect the damage. The blood has been wiped from my face, but my hands are still cracked from where the dagger had sliced it. The side of my face is also bruised and cut. I slouch slightly, dejectedly. 

Reluctantly, I get off the couch and walk to the door, which is shut. I open it slowly. It creaks. 

In front of me is a kitchen and small living area. The kitchen is very basic, with slab-like counters, with tendrils of some sort of vines going up and around the dark cabinets. There's a tiny refrigerator, but no oven and one oval stove burner. The living room is small too, with white plaster walls. It's made up only of an overstuffed arm chair and a pull-out mattress. The most defining feature of the place, though, is the heat. The intense, sticky heat that seems ridiculous to me in November. 

Angelique is lounging on the mattress. She has changed into clothes, clothes I have absolutely no idea where she got them: a loose white dress. Videl, in the meanwhile, is wearing the same clothes, and is leaning against the kitchen counter. They both look up immediately when I walk in the room.

"Where are we?" I ask bluntly, to steer any conversation away from myself. 

"We're in Costa Rica," says Angelique, her dark eyes wide, "Are you all right?" 

Well, I tried. 

"Yep," I say, walking into the living room and slouching down on the chair. 

"That's my chair," says Videl stonily. 

"Now it's not," I say, weirdly appreciating Videl's treatment of me more than Angelique's. 

"Does anything hurt?" asks Angelique, worry lines etched over her forehead. 

"No," I say. 

Videl gives me a look through tightly pressed lips. 

"Fine. My hands and wrist do, and I have a hell of a migraine," I retort. I cross my arms, "Are you satisfied?" 

"Perfectly," says Videl contritely. 

"Annoying dick," I spit out.

Angelique's mouth drops open in shock. 

"Dear God," says Videl, "What's wrong with you?" 

"Did you really just ask that question, Videl?" I demand. 

"Yes, and I want it answered." 

"Go screw yourself." 

"Thea!" says Angelique, looking extremely concerned, "What's wrong?" 

"I thought you were smarter than Videl," I snap, "But apparently, you're just as idiotic as he is." 

"Thea!" This time, it's Videl who speaks, and his tone has turned accusatory. 

"I told you to go screw yourself." 

Videl and Angelique exchange glances, Videl looks annoyed and Angelique looking worried. Both of them look confused. I look away, turning my back to them and staring at the wall instead. 

"Well," says Angelique, trying to keep her tone casual, "It's getting late, and we're probably all hungry. How about we try to go find something to eat? Maybe walk on the beach?" 

"I'm not hungry."

"Well we don't care if you're hungry," retorts Videl. I hear him walking over to me, but I ignore him until he throws some fabric at me, "Both of us are hungry, and we're getting food, and you're coming with us. And I don't want to hear you complain, either." 

I point my finger in Videl's direction, and he scarcely moves away in time to avoid the flame. "Don't tell me what to do." 

Videl stares at me. "Hell, I don't know what's wrong with you, considering Angelique and I are bending over backwards for your unappreciative"

"Angelique just jumped onboard," I spit back, mostly because I know going against her will make Videl more annoyed, "She hasn't done anything." 

Angelique's shoulders fall slightly, and then so do mine. Insulting Videl feels much better than insulting Angelique. 

I try to make up for this, "Well, she has, and she's done more than you. You-"

Videl isn't interested, "Get your ass out of here, change, and then come back. You have two minutes." 

I look down at the clothes. It's a white dress, like Angelique, but also a two-piece swimsuit, also white.

"You had to get me a bikini?" I sneer, "Of course you did." 

"For your information, smart ass," Videl sneers right back, "Angelique got that for you, because she wanted me to stay with you, in case your father came back. Now, I'm beginning to wish that I had gone with her, and Loki had taken care of you." 

Angelique gives Videl a terrible look. He pretends not to see it. 

Fury is still humming through me, but I don't want to continue with this conversation. Instead, I snatch the clothes and march out of the room, careful to slam the door behind me. 

I know there's no point in trying to listen through the door at Angelique and Videl, because Videl will know I'm trying to listen, and will just shut up talking with Angelique, which will also get me nowhere. So instead, I close the window, which shuts off the ocean breeze and makes the room even more stuffy, and change in the room. 

The swimsuit actually fits me, but I want to groan when I look at myself in the mirror. White has a tendency to make my skin look like the underbelly of a fish. The back of the swimsuit is open, with a halter back, which would make me nervous if it weren't for the fact that I don't have anything in the front to worry about making it fall down. The dress is silky smooth, and light, going down to slightly below my knees. Trying not to look at the mirror, I walk out of the room, back into the kitchen-slash-living-area. 

Videl is standing next to Angelique's mattress, and turns around when I walk in. They've been talking about me. 

"Are you going to apologize to Angelique?" 

"Videl, that's not-"

"Sorry, Angelique," I mutter, looking down at the hardwood briefly, feeling a flush spread across my cheeks. 

"It's fine, Thea, really it is," replies Angelique, putting on a black sunhat. She is looking at me with an annoyingly compassionate expression. 

"Now are you going to apologize to me?" asks Videl, likewise settling his fedora on his head, which has miraculously survived roller coasters and Jaunts. The three of us walk towards the exit of the room, which is right beside the kitchen. 

"Hell no." 

Videl snorts, then opens the door. "Of course not." 

"Where are we going?" I ask. 

"Out," says Videl, pushing me out of the room, "And put your sunglasses on." 

The hotel is really a little boutique place, situated in a crowded corner. The heat slams me again, and I open my mouth to try to breathe in this stickiness. 

"It's humidity," explains Angelique as we walk down a staircase that wraps around the building and dumps us out into the street. A few bicyclists zoom by us, nearly running over me in the process. 

There's only a little bit of wind, which is coming from my left, where the ocean is shimmering in the dying light of the sun. I smell salt, woodsmoke, and probably about ten other scents that I can't recognize. The street is made out of gravel, and the buildings primarily wooden and backed by more wood, some raised slightly on stilts. There are a lot of bicycles and precisely three cars as far as I can see. A few shirtless guys walk by holding surfboards, and a few girls in bikinis do likewise. A stray dog, scruffy, and carrying a slab of meat, runs in front of us. He reminds me of Klaka, and I slump, missing my dog as much as I miss everyone else. 

Videl and Angelique talk in low voices, over the hubbub of the town. I follow them silently, not even curious in hearing what they're discussing. 

"There's this yummy looking place near the beach, right next to the place I got our clothes," says Angelique, looking back at me. "It has a lot of Costa Rican food, but I'm pretty sure there's also some stuff that anyone would like too." 

"Sounds great," I say dully, looking around. Angelique looks up at Videl, who raises his eyebrows over his sunglasses. 

"Right," says Angelique awkwardly. Now, all three of us aren't talking. 

The restaurant, which is named some Spanish name, is enclosed in a little deck overlooking the beach, and has bright lights strung through and around the outside. It smells like all sorts of spicy foods, mixed with fruit. I walk up the wooden stairs after Angelique and Videl, and palm tree leaves brush my face. 

We are shown to a table right on the edge of the deck, giving us a great view of the beach. I sit down next to the railing, and jump back slightly. There's a lizard, or a gecko or something, skittering on the wood. A flash of green, and it's vanished over the edge. Grinning at the tiny dragon thing, Angelique sits next to me, with Videl across from her. 

"Wow, this is gorgeous," says Angelique, smiling, leaning over me to see over the deck. The sun is already starting to set, throwing shades of pink and red over the beach, which is still crowded, and over the buildings scattered around its edge. 

Videl, taking off his sunglasses, raises another eyebrow at her. She makes a face at him in return. I roll my eyes at the both of them. 

I get some sort of corn soup, with avocados. I've never had avocados, and they actually taste pretty good. At least good enough for me to focus on eating them instead of talking. 

I look out towards the water. I haven't been on the beach in what seems like forever- the only certain memory I have is when I was eight. My family had gone down to Massachusetts Bay for a weekend in the summer, with some friends of my parents'. I don't remember much about it, but I remember there not being any palm trees. 

Videl eats too, human food. I can tell he doesn't want to, but I know why he does. He doesn't want to leave Angelique or me anymore, and risk us by going off to hunt. He makes a face at his own soup, though, throwing his face into a surly light. 

After dinner, Angelique suggests that we go down to the beach. 

"Do we have to?" I ask, trying to vent my emotions through being as nasty sounding as possible. 

"Yes," Videl answers, and strides towards the beach, walking down the stairs at the back of the restaurant. Reluctantly, I walk after him, crossing my arms. 

I kick off my shoes, which are the same ones from Canada, and put them in my backpack, which Videl had insisted I drag along. Eventually, I just drop my backpack near the edge of the beach, where the rocky area begins, and Videl does the same, although his eyes look wary at the idea. 

"Are we going into the water?" asks Angelique as the three of us walk along the sand, which is warm and gravelly between my toes. It feels good. 

"Well I don't know about you," says Videl, promptly peeling off his shirt, revealing his extremely toned chest, "But I am." 

Angelique blinks. I swear, if her mouth drops open, I might break her jaw. 

"All right then," she says, as Videl folds his arms across his chest imperiously, "I guess we're going in the water." 

With that, she pulls off her sundress, revealing her swimsuit-clad self, which is curvaceous and beautiful. She's not exactly a skinny model, and her stomach isn't completely flat, but her bust is full in her bikini, and her body is shaped in all the right places. Videl has his sunglasses on again, but he is looking very directly at Angelique. 

I'm going to break both of their jaws. 

"Fine, you two go have at it in the water," I say, "I'm going over somewhere else." 

"As long as I can see you, you do that, cranky cat," replies Videl. He's not exactly looking at me. 

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" 

Now, he does look away from Angelique (reluctantly) and back at me, "Oh really? Why's that?" 

"Just don't!" I turn and storm away, my fists clutch. I can feel the heat on my fingers, and I'm tempted to light up the palm tree next to me, but I don't. 

I sit down against the rough, scratchy trunk of the tree and lean against it, my back to the direction that Videl and Angelique are standing. I'm near enough to the water so that my toes get a little damp, but not enough to get wet. That's enough for me. 

I slide out of my dress and lie down on top of it, determined to take a nap and to try and forget about what's currently going on. Closing my eyes, the crash of the waves around me soothes me a little bit, as does the heat of the setting sun. I curl up. 

I fall asleep, but before that, my mind wanders a lot, although it mostly wanders in the same direction: Loki. Or Jack. I clench my fists again, against the sand, trying to get the image of both of them out of my anger-driven mind. 

Sometime later, after a dreamless, but still troubling sleep, I feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently. I groan sleepily, and look up through my sunglasses. It's Angelique, her hair blowing in the breeze, crouching down next to me. Water drips from her body. The sun hasn't set that much more, so I couldn't have been asleep for long.

"Do you feel a little better?" she asks. 

I grunt, "I was fine before."

"Okay," says Angelique patiently, "How about you get up and come into the water for a little bit?" 

I sit up, slouching against the palm tree, "Please don't tell me you and Videl were-"

"Videl and I didn't do anything," she smiles, "We just sort of kicked the water around for a little." 

"Am I supposed to believe that?" I ask, although I do. Angelique isn't blushing. 

She offers me a hand, and pulls me to my feet- my body is covered in sand, even though I've been on my dress, "Well it would be nice if you would." 

I follow her to where Videl is standing in ankle-deep water. He glances up at me. 

"Well, I do hope her majesty enjoyed her catnap," he says, although his tone isn't one of severity anymore. 

"It wasn't a catnap," I snap. "It was just a nap." 

He rolls his eyes, which I can see, because his sunglasses are on top of his wet blond hair. 

The water is warm, and soothing around me. I splash around a little bit, letting the ocean drift me back and forth a little; even though the water isn't deep, I can feel me being pulled a bit by the current. 

I yawn, still slightly foggy from the sleep, which proves to me a huge mistake, because at that moment, Videl splashes up some water at me, much of which lands in my mouth. I gag, spitting out the salty water. "VIDEL!" 

He laughs, slapping his hands against his thighs, "In my great defense, I wasn't trying to give you a drink of water."

"I am going to kill you!" I exclaim, running towards him, the salt still tasting terrible in my mouth. He runs away from me, splashing up more water as he does so, and we go no more than ten feet before I know I'll never catch up with a very athletic Velah. 

Pouting, I turn away from him and splash back over to Angelique, who is serenely moving her ankle around the water, smiling a little. 

Videl comes loping back, a grin on his face. "Give up?" he taunts me. 

"Oh, shut up," I reply, "Pick on Angelique for once." 

He shrugs. "All right." He lunges forward, and grabs Angelique, swinging her up. She shouts with surprise as he spins both of them around, before letting her fall in the water, which is now up to my waist. She surfaces, gasping and slashing, but also laughing, shaking her hair. 

Videl grins in my direction, his fangs glittering slightly in the setting sun. 

"Oh no," I say, backing up, "Oh, no, no, no, no." 

He begins to walk towards me, water dripping off of his abs, his eyes narrowing, as if I were his prey. Which apparently, I am. 

I turn and begin to run backwards, which is hard because the water is deeper. So instead, I begin to flee for the shore. 

I make it to the edge of the water before Videl grabs me around the waist, leaning down so that his wet curls tickle my cheek. I shriek as he throws me over his shoulder, kicking, and walks back into the water. "STOP!" 

He laughs, and Angelique does too, as he walks into deeper water. 

I cling to him, "Don't you dare drop me into the NO, NO, N-" 

He throws me, and I land in the water. I kick back up to the surface and gasp, shaking the water from my hair. "VIDEL!" 

Videl is cracking up, bending over with laughter. Next to him, Angelique is grinning from ear-to-ear. 

After that, trying to be mad sort of fails. It's hard to be completely angry when I'm sitting in tropical water on the shores of Costa Rica, even if my father is under a murderous spell. 

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