Chapter IV

David

DAVID PUSHED HIMSELF UP to his knees slowly, raising his hands in surrender. "Uh ..." He fumbled for his words. "We come in peace?" He chuckled uneasily, and when she didn't say anything he immediately felt stupid.

"Alright," the mysterious girl chimed cheerfully. She shoved the dagger aimed at his throat back into its scabbard on her hip, and extended her hand.

He cautiously grasped her hand, and rode her unexpectedly strong yank to his feet. Gazing up and down at this young girl, who was his shorter height and appeared to be either his age or close to it, he skeptically asked, "So ... that's it? You're just going to trust us?"

She shrugged, and pulled out what appeared to be a bobby-pin from her hair before retightening the blonde bun at the bottom of the back of her head and replacing the pin. "Most people in the Domes aren't usually of any threat. They just want to survive and get out of here like the rest of us." She smiled, and he was surprised at how white and straight her teeth were. "You all running from something?"

He gave her a leery nod. "Scorpions," he said plainly, and the corner of her lips dipped.

"Nasty creatures they can be. Especially their sting."

He blushed with embarrassment and looked away, his eyes reluctantly venturing towards his leg. He felt the wound pulse and heat radiated through his ankle. He knew he need to tell someone what had happened, but he didn't want to take the attention off of Joey. She was really the one who needed help. He looked back up at the girl and opened his mouth to speak, when Thomas's voice pierced the air, "Help!"

Twirling around, David and the girl jogged to Thomas's side where he sat on his knees while Joey panted heavily in his arms. David fell to Joey's side and stared at her with deep concern. Her eyes slowly met his before closing. "We're losing them both."

"Can't he just come out?" David asked, confused, but Thomas shook his head.

"He's too drained. Unless Joey can expel him then he's going to die along with her. I can't—" He cut himself off as his voice squeaked. "I can't lose them both all at once." David's heart unexpectedly skipped a beat, realizing what Thomas had said. The way his voice softened and eyes glistened made it look like he was speaking from a meaning that went deeper than just a friendship.

"Him?"

Hesitantly, David twisted his neck and met the girls green eyes. "It's a ..." He cleared his tightened throat. "Long story." Composing himself, he went on, "but the short version is we have a friend with an ability to heal, but he has to be on the inside of that persons body." He paused when he saw her confusion. "He got inside before she got shot with a poisonous arrow."

"And now he's trapped," the girl said, nodding as she began to understand.

"He takes on the pain of the person he's trying to heal when he entered their body," Thomas explained further. "So everything Joey's experiencing, so is he." He looked back down at Joey. "I think he could've healed the wound if it wasn't for the poison."

"She's lost a lot of blood," David finished and his voice softened as he silently pleaded for help.

The girl grinned and gripped David's shoulder. "I have just the thing," she said eagerly.

"What is it?" David questioned, twisting his body around to face her, as his heart leaped with hop.

"At the center of Paradise there is a Palace that contains a pool of magical waters."

David made a 'pfft' sound along with an eye roll. "Magic waters?"

"I'll try anything!" Thomas shouted, his voice heightening.

Gesturing to the left with her head, she said, "Come on!" Turning in that direction, she took off.

Thomas quickly lifted Joey into his arms and he and David sprinted after the girl through rows and rows of trees that David noticed were bearing thick, luscious fruit. Unexpectedly, the girl hopped over a small stream, but without the proper time to react, David felt the fast drop, his injured ankle pounding the water. Feeling the jolt shoot through his leg, he winced and stumbled but pressed on. He craned his neck and watched as Thomas half-leapt-half-stepped widely to avoid the stream and continued his run.

It was shortly after that that David recognized the familiar sound of rushing water. Furrowing his brow, something caught his attention over the treetops, but with the speed they ran he couldn't make out what it was as the trees passed quickly above them. Emerging from the tree-line, David stopped abruptly as his jaw dropped, but Thomas zipped around him continuing his chase after the young girl.

David stared up at the sky in amazement at the huge majestic palace. It was so tall that its top couldn't even be seen through the clouds, and flowing from somewhere above them was a waterfall that gushed into a large pool off to the left of what looked to be the palace entry as Thomas disappeared inside after the girl. Some of the pictures he'd seen in history books from Mr. Magnus's class came to mind of the old Indian Palace's long ago.

A pang hit his heart at the thought of his teacher and he felt the blood drain from his face as an image of him running the man through entered his thoughts. Placing a hand over his heart, he calmed himself down, narrowed his eyes in determination to fix Joey and Bellamy, and sprinted for the cave-like-door.

It was dark. So dark that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face, and eventually he slowed his run to a brisk walk just to be sure he wouldn't trip over an unforeseen object. Tracing his hand along the wall, he kept moving forward, listening to the hard breaths from up ahead. After a few more steps, a dim light become visible at the end of the long hallway, and as he neared the light, his eyes widened.

Several pools of water, each confined in their own concrete bowls of various sizes, scattered the first floor of the palace. Some pools sat up higher with a set of stairs leading to each of them, and some were lower ranging in height. From the left side of the room, a small stream flowed through the center of two narrow walkways of a circular tunnel about halfway up the wall. The stream poured over into the higher pools and flowed down into the lower ones connecting them all, and David couldn't take his eyes off the majestic sight.

"The pool! Quickly!" David's head jerked towards the girl, who took a step down onto a ledge in the water that was just deep enough to get the sole of her shoe wet.

Thomas didn't hesitate. He hurriedly took the four steps down into the waist-high water, and gently lowered Joey's body down into the water. Cautiously, he released his vice-like-grip, but kept his hands under her back and legs to help her floating.

David glanced back and forth between Joey and Thomas, his heart beating wildly against his ribcage, as he waited for something to happen, but after several long seconds ... nothing did. He wanted to blurt out something about this stranger being a liar, and he and Thomas were foolish to believe that there was such a thing as magical healing water, but he held his tongue. For another few seconds anyway. "Why isn't anything happening?"

"Give it time," the girl called, gesturing with her hand for him to be patient. "Depending on the severity of the wound, it can sometimes take the waters a little more time."

David huffed and crossed his arms. A sudden wave of nausea overpowered him and he hunched over feeling the need to hurl, but he held down his bile. Swallowing, he stood up straight and wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. Furrowing his brow, he stared at the droplets of water on the back of his hand. He couldn't remember the last time he sweat, not even in the heat of the desert. His knees began to wobble, and he cleared his throat as he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Thomas yelped and hissed.

David's heart jumped into his throat as he jerked his head in Thomas's direction. Thomas released Joey, though she stayed afloat, and balled his hands into fists, staring at his arms. Under his arms where his elbows touched the water, unexpectedly began to glow; the water mixing in a bright white and yellow. The glow latched on to his elbows and raced up his arms, covering his entire arm from wrist to elbow. He cringed and gritted his teeth, but seconds later, the water dripped back to the pool and the glow died away. Thomas, his mouth opened in awe, turned and eyed David, who gave him a puzzled look.

"The pain ..." Thomas began, his eyes shifting to the girl. "It's gone."

The girl gave a giddy clap of her hands. "Told ya!"

Thomas swiftly unwrapped the black material from around his arms, and yanked off the soaked gauze. His glee was quickly replaced with disappointment. "But his arms look no different," David commented, staring at Thomas's malformed skin.

"The pool can heal you inwardly," the girl explained, giving a gentle frown, "but it can't..." She paused as if to figure out exactly what to say, and glanced at Thomas's arms. Softly, she said, "Change you."

A bright burst of white light suddenly lit up the dim room, and David shielded his eyes as a spark of excitement and hope filled his chest. When the light vanished, he blinked rapidly to get his eyes to adjust and found that there wasn't one body, but two that now lie floating in the pool.

David took a stumbling step forward toward the edge of the pool as Thomas trudged through the water towards his friends. Thomas stepped in-between Joey and Bellamy, and Bellamy suddenly sunk under the water. Without thinking, David reached his hand into the water, but Bellamy didn't need any assistance as he popped back up on his feet seconds later.

Bellamy slicked back some curly brown hair before glancing around with his wide and confused blue eyes. When his gaze rested on Thomas, he furrowed his brow. "Thomas, wha—" He glanced around the chamber and down at the water. "What happened?" He unexpectedly punched Thomas in the shoulder. "You know I can't swim!"

Thomas didn't say a word as he reached out and embrace Bellamy around the neck. Through teary eyes, he whispered, "Thank you for not giving up on her," but with the vastness of the room, his echo could easily be heard.

David's eyes darted to Joey as her eyes fluttered open and his heart felt like it would stop beating. He took another step forward, winced, and would've crumbled if the blonde stranger had not caught him. "You okay?" she asked, but his attention was drawn back to Joey as Thomas helped her to her feet.

Each of them exchanged an embrace before Joey pulled away, and directed her gaze and words toward the older boy behind Thomas. "Bellamy? What—? How did—?"

"He came through earlier. Shortly after you passed out," Thomas replied with a smile before trading glances with Bellamy.

"Oh," she said softly. Narrowing her eyes, she stared intently at Bellamy for a few seconds before her face relaxed and her voice remained weak, "Did Michelle get you too?"

"Uhh," Bellamy looked down as Thomas turned to fully face him. David squinted to find part of Bellamy's black sleeve around his shoulder, the very same spot as Joey's, had been torn though that was all he could see in this lighting. Again, Bellamy looked at Thomas as if trying to telepathically ask him what to say. "Th-th-that's right," he continued. "I was trying to escape and she caught me."

"What about the others?" Her voice heightened with deep concernment. "Are they safe? Did they escape with you?"

"Umm ..." Bellamy cleared his throat. "We, uh, got separated on the chase," he lied. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know."

"There's no point in thinking about it now," Thomas quickly intervened. "There's nothing we can do for them."

"Nothing we can do?" Joey asked, offended by his statement. "Thomas, they're here because of me." She threw a hand towards the entryway. "We can't just leave them out there."

"But where's 'out there', huh?" David asked, feeling an unexpected pain pull at his heart. "The first Dome? Because we can't go back."

Joey took a step forward slowly making her way through the rippling waves. David's lips dipped into a frown because all he wanted to do was reach out and throw his arms around her, but he refrained remembered that she needed her space. "But, David, we can't just move on without them."

"Do you think I want to?" he asked, tears pricking the corner of his eyes. His throat tightened and his voice weakened to a whisper, "My sister's with them."

Joey's anger dipped to a frown and she lowered her hands down to the water. "I'm sorry, David. I didn't even think of Ella."

Ignoring her comment, he looked down at his boots, and the room fell silent for a few seconds before the blonde's voice bounced softly off the walls. "Well then! You three going to swim all day?" She crouched at the edge of the pool and made eye contact with the three still in the water. With a wide grin, she asked, "You guys want to meet my sister?"