“Here,” he says handing her an orange flavored soda. “Drink it; it will make you feel better.”
She takes the cold can into her hands and taps the top. “How do you open it?”
He gives her a look, but takes the can and opens it for her. She takes a sip as he sits down beside her just a little ways away from the pond where he had found her drowning. She makes a face as she gulps down the gas and gives a small cough.
“This is disgusting!” she squeaks from the gas still being lumped in her throat. “Can’t I have something else? A cup of Lily tea maybe?”
He stares at her as if not really grasping what she had just said and shakes his head, “No, sorry, I don’t think they sell Lily tea at the Smosh.” He sticks out his hand to take the can and says, “Here, if you won’t have it, I’ll drink it. I don’t very much like soda, but I don’t like wasting either.”
She hands it to him and he gulps it down without much thought of germs or indirect kissing. She pulls the jacket he let her borrow over her small shoulders and stares out into the setting sun. This place was nothing like her people back home had claimed it would be like. It wasn't just darkness like the stories said; the big ball of fire in the sky proved it. Plus, the people living here weren't as bad as she was told they would be, after all, if it hadn't been for this boy with the funny blue hair and long pointy nose, she would have probably drowned.
“So what’s your name Pond Girl?” the blue haired boy asks finishing his drink.
“Well it’s not Pond Girl I can assure you of that. My name is Deneb.”
“Hm,” he grunts, “I like Pond Girl better.”
“That is not my name. And anyway, what’s yours? Mushroom Head?” she giggles staring at his blue hair.
“Mushroom Head? How does that relate to me at all?” he scowls.
“Your hair, it’s blue, just like a glowing mushroom.”
“Mushrooms aren't blue, and they don’t glow either.”
“They don’t? Not here? That’s weird,” she says tapping her chin lightly as if thoughtfully. “What about the flowers? Do they glow a glittery gold here or not?”
“No, sorry, last time I checked the only thing that glows in nature are fireflies and those fish with the glow-ey antenna things on their foreheads.”
“Glowing bugs! That’s just silly! And fish with glowing antennas!” she says bewildered.
“No, glowing mushrooms and flowers is silly; glowing bugs and fish with glowing antennas is normal,” says he as he juggles the empty can in his hands.
“Okay, this place is a little too weird,” she murmurs to herself.
“Huh?” he asks neither catching a word she had just said nor the can which falls into the water with a splash.
He’s about to bend over to retrieve it, but she beats him to it and hands it back with a frown on her face. “You shouldn't litter Mushroom Head, it can harm the pond.”
He raises a brow and takes the can. “Ponds can’t feel, so I wouldn't be harming it. And my names isn't Mushroom Head, Pond Girl, it’s Sebastian.”
“Deneb,” she snaps, “My names is Deneb.”
“Okay, fine, Deneb.” He says starting to juggle the can again. “Where do you live anyway? It’s getting late and you should probably be heading home.”
She looks up at the fiery ball in the sky that is now almost completely gone behind the mountains and points at the water where the light makes it glisten like a thousand diamonds.
“You live in the pond?” he laughs, “So you really are Pond Girl.”
“No, I don’t live in a pond, that’s just silly, I live there in that city!” she points again to her city that can only be seen where the water glistens. Sebastian follows her finger to the spot on the pond where her city is, but the sun has set and the darkness made the city fade.
“Did you hit yourself with a rock or something while you were drowning? There can’t possibly be a city in a pond that’s only six feet deep and about thirty feet wide.”
“Ah!” she cries in disbelief, “My city, it’s gone, it was there just now, and now it’s gone! Where’s it gone?” she asks Sebastian desperately.
“Um,” he says backing away—she’s too close. “Maybe you should come back with me to the Smosh, I’m sure they’ll let you stay there for the night, or until you stop hallucinating about a city in the pond.”
“I am not hallucinating!” she cries defensively, “And what’s a smosh?”
He stands and offers her his hand, “Come, I’ll show you.”
She looks from him to his hand to the pond then sighs and places her cold hand into his warm one. He gives her a smile and the two start for the road just up the hill from the pond.

Meanwhile back in Deneb's city…

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!” the girl with long gold hair exclaims as she runs from one part of the Wall to another. “She’s gone! She’s gone!” She places her hands on the warm stone and starts banging on it as if it will open up. “She’s gone!” she cries with a mixture of sadness and pain in her voice.
“Emery, what are you doing to the Wall?” a voice calls from behind her. Emery turns around, tears stream down her cheeks and she runs into the arms of the tall boy who had just spoken.
“Oh, Airlon, she’s gone! She was here just a second ago talking to me about the Outside when suddenly she disappeared!”
Her arms are wrapped a little too tight around his thin body so he pulls her off of him. “Sorry,” he says when she looks at him sadly. “You were holding me too tight. Now tell me, who’s gone?”
Emery’s lower lip begins to quiver and she starts to sob uncontrollably.
Airlon rolls his eyes and takes her into his arms, “Sorry, it’s okay, don’t cry, I’ll help you get her back, but I need you to tell me who is gone.” Emery is still sobbing—and probably staining my good shirt with her snot, he thinks—and he has no idea how to get her to stop. Emery wasn’t the type to just start bawling like a hopeless D.I.D.—damsel in distress—so Airlon had no idea what to do, but wait it out.
It isn't for another five minutes before Airlon can get anything sensible out of Emery who is still streaming tears.
“So, what you’re saying is…” Airlon says after hearing the story, “Deneb just disappeared? Through the Wall?” The two are sitting on a bench just a block away from the Wall; this was as far as Airlon could get Emery from the Wall. She wanted to stay close in case Deneb reappeared.
“Yes,” she says finally calming herself.
“But that’s not possible,” he says standing and starting to pace back and forth in front of the bench. “Nothing can just go through the Wall, and what were you two doing near it anyway? It’s forbidden by the High Council. No one is supposed to get close enough to touch it, especially you and Deneb. You’re princesses remember? How did you even leave the palace without a chaperon?”
“Does it really matter? We’re supposed to try and help Deneb, not sit here discussing chaperons!” she says trying to draw the conversation away from the sneaking off Deneb and she had done early that morning.
Airlon stopped his pacing and looked at her coldly staring until she admitted to him what happened.
“Okay, just stop looking at me like that,” she says looking away and feeling guilty. “We got out without permission, but we weren't going to do anything bad or anything! We were just going to…” she stops.
“To what? Emery, do you realize you and Deneb just broke half a dozen Royal Security codes? You’re royalty for crying out loud! If anything, you two should be the ones most attentive to following the rules!”
“I know,” she pouts, “It’s just that, well, Deneb really wanted to see the Wall. She kept talking about how she wanted to see it up close at least once before the Coronation. I told her it was wrong, but she wouldn't listen. She was going to come out here on her own and who knows what would have happened to her if I hadn't come along!”
“Well now we know don’t we?” he snaps annoyed.
“Why are you so mad at me? I know I made a mistake, but so did you! What were you doing so close to the Wall?” she says demanding to know.
He looks at her and thinks for a moment. He has nothing to explain to her. His business for hanging around here was his business, not hers. Plus, she wouldn't understand even if he did try to explain.
“Well?” she asks interrupting his thoughts.
“That doesn't matter, Emery, and anyway, isn't it a good thing I was around instead of someone else? If I hadn't found you first, you would have been dragged back to the palace and scolded for your misbehavior. You’re lucky I was around.”
Emery looks down at her hands and agrees. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Just, let’s just get you away from here, or else we might still get into trouble.” He takes her by the wrist and the two start down the narrow alleyway that leads them back to the central road. They stop just before the end of the alley when Airlon tells Emery to wait there a while.
“Why?” she asks confused.
“Why do you think? We have to find a way to keep your identity a secret until we get a carriage back to the palace,” he says sticking his head out of the alley to see if anyone is looking. People are too busy with the endless shops of the main road to pay him any attention. He turns back toward Emery who is braiding bits of her hair nervously.
“All right, wait here I’ll—what are you doing?” he asks looking down at her.
She lets go of her hair saying, “Nothing, I’m just…braiding.”
“Why?”
“I always do that when I’m nervous. Sorry.”
“Okay, whatever, just wait here,” he says before dashing out into the street.
Emery sighs picking up her hair again and fiddling with it. What is she going to do when she gets back home? How is she going to explain it to her parents that Deneb would not join them for dinner that evening or possibly ever now that she had vanished somewhere near the Wall. The Wall! How is she going to tell her parents that she and Deneb had gone to the Wall? She digs her face into her hands again and starts to sob when Airlon calls her name.
“Emery,” he says taking her hands away from her face, “You okay? Come one, stop crying. When we get you back safely into the palace, we’ll figure something out. Now put this on,” he hands her a big white cloak.
“What’s this for?” she asks taking it and slipping into it. “It’s long and heavy,” she says picking it up slightly so that she could see where she was stepping.
“Never mind that, now put the hood on,” he looks out into the alley once more, “Okay; I don’t think anyone will notice you too much. Come on, there’s a carriage waiting for us.”