A Tale of Two Cities

There once were two cities located quite close to one another, a coastal city named Eris and a mountain city named Trops. The fair citizens of the cities could not catch a break, regularly suffering through floods, earthquakes and more. This had to do with the animosity that existed between the cities, who each hated the other. 

“Whatcha doing there Reed? That doesn’t look like engineering, which I thought was what you were supposed to be studying.” Ink and parchment went tumbling to the floor as Reed jumped up and fell across the table. He quickly recovered himself and turned to face the voice that had interrupted him. 

“Nothing, Dream” he said indignantly. “I’m working on a manuscript. And anyways, how did you know I was studying engineering?” The petite girl raised her eyebrow. 

“I know everything, duh.” She peered over his shoulder and Reed got a face of her curly brown hair. 

“What are you doing here, Dream?” 

She crossed her arms and said shortly, “I’ve got a plan and I need your help.” Reed felt a tingling in his stomach when she said that, but then he shook himself. 

“This isn’t the same as a couple years ago. Dream, I’m a scholar trainee now, I’ve got important things to do…” This was all bullcrap of course. He was deathly bored. But Reed wanted her to convince him. 

“Fine.” Dream shrugged and headed for the doors. Her feet bound in cloth made no noise against the marble floor. Reed's mouth hung open. 

“Wait-” He took a couple steps after her. 

She paused and turned back to him, putting her hands on her hips “What? I already said I needed your help. Either agree or don’t.” Reed paused, and considered. 

“Alright,” he said reluctantly. “I’m in. What are we doing?” 

“We’re going to make the two cities make up.” She smiled cutely. “What do you think of that?” 

Reed stopped walking. He still had plenty of time to turn back. “That's impossible, the priests have been trying for years.” 

She waved her hand dismissively. “The priests know nothing about the city, how could they try and help it? And while maybe now you’ve decided to hide yourself in the library away from the world,” her tone turned crispy, “You still spent sixteen years on the streets with me.” 

Nothing she said was technically wrong. “Okay, why now? And why do you need me at all?”

She started smiling again. “I think I found the perfect spot to speak to the city. And we’re going to need your official scholarly access.”

“You just said!-” Reed gave up. He had forgotten what talking to Dream was like. 

The minute they left the library's boundaries, Dream led him to an alley and bounded up a corner to get on the roof. Then she shouted, “Come on!” down at him. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten weak.” 

Reed cursed under his breath. He had gotten weaker, but he wouldn’t admit that to her. “It's hard to find time to run around the city when you actually have things to do,” he muttered. The alley corner loomed in front of him. He felt a pang of nostalgia, a couple years ago these walls would feel like nothing to him, simply steps. 

He sighed, grabbed a brick, and shimmied up the wall. Once on top he put his hands on his hips and bounced on the balls of his feet. It hadn’t been as hard as he’d thought it would.

“Hey, idiot! Focus.” He startled and looked around, Dream was already on the next roof. Before he could think too much about it, he ran and leaped. “Nice jump,” she said once he was over.

“Thanks. Sorry about getting distracted.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to that from you.” She turned and started to slip silently across the roof. He bit his cheek, and winced. 

“You didn’t use to be this mean.” He wasn’t sure if she heard him. If she did, she didn’t respond. 

Dream led him on a meandering route that he thought was heading towards the Grand Avenue and the harbor. As he jumped and ran, memories came back to him of other trips across similar roofs with the same girl.  

“Ok, let's stop here. We’ll go the rest of the way on the Ave.”  Dream started to head towards the edge.

“Wait, Dream I don’t even know where we’re- and she jumped.” He looked over the edge and saw her rolling out of a wagon of hay. She waved at him from the street tauntingly. 

“Ha!” He stepped off the side and fell right into the wagon. 

“I’m glad you’re still willing to jump.”

“‘Course I am. Just because I’m a scholar now it doesn't mean I’m not competitive anymore.” 

She shrugged. “You never know.” Her tone was teasing, but with something else underneath. Reed ignored it.

“So, really. What’s our destination?” 

Dream deliberated for a moment. “Fine. We’re going into the Well.” She crossed her arms as if preparing for his objections, but he couldn’t help saying something. 

“You really want us going down there? And people will see us-”

“Yah, yah, I’ve got plans for that.”

Reed decided to just go along with it. “Fine, then.”

They walked side by side down the street, before reaching the corner to merge onto the Ave, which was filled with people. Everyone in the city seemed to be out, enjoying the evening. Dream was focused on the street, likely planning their route through the crowd. He waited, and sure enough, she grabbed his hand. They took a step and merged into the river of people.

Eventually, the river ended in a beautiful main plaza, right on the harbor. Now, in addition to sounds of laughter and chatter, Reed heard calls between fishermen and boatmen. 

The pair walked briskly around the edge of the plaza towards where the Well would be. It supplied much of the water in Eris.

Beneath them the ground began to shake. The pair ignored it and continued walking. Reed automatically started to walk quaking style, Dream had made the switch as well. A couple of shouts came from people Reed assumed were tourists, but generally business continued. 

The shaking continued for another minute, then began to grow stronger. Dream started to pick up the pace, while city people started to head towards the safe buildings lining the plaza. 

“Um, Dream, maybe we do this another day…? It seems like this one might be bad.” 

Some people started stumbling. Suddenly, a bunch of children swarmed out of the alleys, heading towards buildings and carts and anything that needed securing. 

“They're sending out the kids!” Reed called to Dream. She was starting to pull ahead. He pulled his hand free and tugged on her forcing them to stop. 

She turned on him. “They’re going to shut the Well!” Her eyes were wild. 

“What do you mean? They only do that when…” His eyes shot to the beach, where the water was slowly pulling back, revealing the sand beneath. “Shit.” 

Dream grabbed him again and they tore towards the Well. Reed started to yell, the wind was picking up. “The last tsunami was a week ago!”

“I know,” Dream said back without turning.

“Didn’t the Well mechanism break? It won’t shut now!”

“I know!”

Just then they arrived in front of the giant well, a beautiful sight.

It would still be a beautiful sight when in an hour it was completely filled with salty, undrinkable water, and it would still be a beautiful sight when the entire city died of thirst a couple days later.

He stared motionless at the Well as the wind continued to pick up. “Everyone will die…” he thought. 

“Come on!” Dream screamed.

He screamed back, “Why do you care? I have a family that’s going to die!” She gestured around and he turned to look, recognizing the small forms of the earthquake kids. No one was going to make sure they had enough water to drink. 

“I have a family, you little shit, and they’ll be the first to go. Come on.” She dragged him towards the side of the Well where the stone cover was supposed to slide out and cover the hole, and the staircase down. 

The first thing he noticed was the giant lever that must turn the entire mechanism on. There was an abandoned box of tools sitting nearby, with a coil of rope next to it.

“Okay, you’re the scholar here, what do we do?” Dream asked impatiently. He looked at her uncomprehendingly.

“What do you mean?” he responded, almost hysterical. 

“You were always the engineer between us!”

That was true, he was always the builder.

“Whatever, I’ll look at it,” he said helplessly. What else could he do? He stepped closer to the Well, and started to fiddle with the pulley. It was still working. 

“The lever's working right? Do you know anything more than that?” Dream pursed her lips. 

“Oh! There's a problem with the clips! The one on the bottom!”

Reed jumped on top of the ledge around the Well, and searched for something like a clip. “There.” He leaned down, part of it was cracked, “nothing we can do about that,” but the magnet still worked. “It's a magnet, the clip is a magnet.”

“Oh shit!” Dream shouted. “I heard they can’t put back the magnet under the cover!”

“Well, we can. We’re going under anyways, aren’t we? Come on,” he continued. “Get those ropes, make a loop…” 

They worked diligently. In the distance Reed could see the wave forming. The docks were now completely out of the water.

A tsunami was coming. 

The earthquake continued. 

“Okay I’m ready,” Dream called to him.

“One sec…” he gritted his teeth and fitted the last bolt on. “Okay let's do this.” He ran, or more accurately stumbled over to the rope. “Please don’t miss, It wouldn’t be fun to fall straight down.” 

She flashed a smile in response and turned to the lever. She pulled. A rumbling started. He jumped off into the Well.

The rope, pulled by his body weight and attached to the top, started to drag it out and across, but it couldn’t close without the magnet. Suddenly the rope tightened and he shrieked as it started to spin towards the wall. He saw it. 

The magnet dangling from the clip that was supposed to hold it. He reached out and grabbed the clip. He used the claw he had created to pull the magnet back into the clip. His hand was slipping, but it wasn’t done, he flattened his handmade claw, and used it to secure the magnet. 

All around him the rumbling got louder and the sun began to disappear as the cover started to move. It worked. Then he realized it wasn’t just the top blocking out the sun, it was water. A huge wave, a tsunami. 

“Yes!” he shouted. “I’m coming back!” No response. He would just have to trust Dream. Taking a deep breath, he pushed off the wall, and over the edge came Dream. She managed to grab on to the rope next to him as the top slammed shut, leaving them in the dark. 

Everything was silent as the rope slowly swung to a stop. Reed found his fingers wrapped so tightly that they immediately cramped when he tried to pull them off the rope.

Dream did not have the same problem. She swiftly jumped off the rope and landed softly on the ground. 

“Dream,” he croaked, “I don’t think I can get off. I’m stuck.”

She rolled her eyes, and reached up to pull him off. He lay on the ground not moving. 

“Don’t be such a baby, we’ve got a long way down to go.”

“That was insane. I’m allowed to recover.” 

She was silent and Reed started to fear she had left him alone in this dark place. Then he felt her sit down beside him. “Fine. But only a minute.”

Reed smiled, and breathed a couple deep breaths.

“35.”

“Oh damn, that was quick.”

“30.”

“You can’t be counting full seconds, you know, one missi-”

“20.” 

Silence.

Then Dream spoke again. “3… 2… 1…” They pulled themselves up simultaneously. 

Reed peered around the dark. He walked to the edge of the stairs and looked down. Huge barrels carried the water, surrounded by so many stairs. 

He took the first step. 

Following that, it was simple. They walked single file, Reed in front. 

“Well, this is a first isn't it?” 

“What?” responded Dream.

“Me walking in front.”

“Yah I guess.” She sounded like her thoughts were elsewhere. 

Reed hesitated, but he couldn’t keep avoiding really talking to her, not after everything. “I was wondering something, Dream.”

“What?” 

“Why’d you bring me at all?”

There was a quick silence before Dream responded. “You know the answer to that. I just didn't expect a tsunami.”

“No. No one would have even noticed you sneaking down here.”

“Maybe, but I couldn’t be sure. Plus it worked out didn’t it? Without you, I would be…” She trailed off.

“You couldn’t be sure?” He stopped and turned to face her. “You can never be sure. You’ve been dragging me into your risky shit since you were seven, you’ve never worried about being sure.” 

She clenched her fists and her voice sped up. “Maybe you’re right, I didn’t need you I wanted you there but you’re not right… I never dragged you anywhere” She looked away.

“You… wanted me there?” Reed stood in shock. She shoved past him and continued walking down. They walked in subdued silence for a couple minutes before Dream started to speak again. 

“Yah, I wanted you there. I missed you, idiot. Of course I missed you,” she gave a choked laugh, “After all the years we were together, you just left. And now you’re going to be an important researcher, and I’m still just some street rat.” 

There was silence before Reed spoke again, tentatively this time. “Dream I’m sorry-”

“The bottom!” Dream interrupted him, “It's right there.” She started to pick up her pace. 

“Dream wait!” She paused. “I’m sorry for not realizing what you felt, I was so caught up in my own problems. I put off thinking about a goodbye to you until it was too late, and I had nothing to say. So I said nothing. 

“I missed you so much too, seriously. I was so happy when you showed up to drag me away on another adventure.” He gave her a wide smile. 

“Everything today, it was just so perfect. I mean, not the tsunami but the adventure, saving the entire fucking city! And you’re not just a street rat, you’ll be someone important too someday.” 

Dream was smirking when he finished. “That was beautiful. But don’t worry, I could tell how happy you were all day. I just didn’t want to admit I missed you. Now, can we please finish this?”

Reed smiled sheepishly, he had forgotten there was a goal here. They finished the climb down, and crawled through a small door. 

“Woah” they both said as they stood up in a giant cavern. 

“Did you know this was down here?” Reed said to Dream as he turned in a circle to look at the ceiling. Light poured in front of various holes that must lead somewhere in the mountains, or else water would have been pouring out of them. 

“No, I had no idea what was down here. I just thought it would be a good spot.”

“Should I try and start?” He asked nervously.

“Be my guest, try not to anger it.”

“Wonderful advice, thanks.” He took a deep breath before walking to the center of the cavern and speaking. “Um, Eris? Are you there? We’re two of your, uh, citizens.” He looked at Dream, she gave him a thumbs up. 

WHO ARE YOU? They both stumbled as a sound like the sea echoed through the cavern. 

“Oh, holy shit. This is happening,” Reed whispered under his breath. “Okay, my name is Reed, I’m an apprentice scholar, I would like to ask-”

“Hey! Eris! What the fuck have you been doing?” To Reed's horror, Dream had come up next to him and was shouting at the ceiling. 

“What are you doing?” He hissed, grabbing her wrist. 

She shook him off. “That's what I’m trying to ask our city. I have spent my entire life in Eris, so I ask you, what the fuck have you been doing?”

I HAVE BEEN TAKING CARE OF YOU YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.

“What about the tsunami that almost just killed me and my friend? Was that your idea of taking care of us?”

THE TSUNAMI? ME AND TROPS WERE FIGHTING AGAIN, IT MUST HAVE CAUSED A DISTURBANCE.

“A disturbance?” Reed joined in disbelievingly. “If we hadn’t acted in time, that disturbance would have killed your ENTIRE POPULATION,” he screamed the last words, rage in his voice.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THE ENTIRE POPULATION?”

“It’s only been a week since your last shitshow, we didn’t have time to fix the Well. All of the water would have become contaminated. No one would have anything to drink for weeks,” Dream explained. 

There was silence. 

Reed spoke up, “Are your fights with Trops really worth everyone dying? We can’t take it anymore, Eris.”

There was silence again, but this silence was broken by the voice.

I AM SORRY, I DIDN’T NOTICE. I HAVE SEEN THAT YOU ARE RIGHT. I WILL HAVE TO THINK ON THIS, BUT FOR NOW, THE TSUNAMIS WILL STOP. 

Dream turned to Reed, wearing an expression of disbelief that mirrored his own. “That's it?” 

Reed turned to the ceiling again. “The priests have been trying to tell you that for years!”

THE PRIESTS? OH, THEY SAY MOSTLY NONSENSE. I DON’T LISTEN.

Reed put his head in his hands. Suddenly, Dream broke out into hysterical laughter. “Nonsense! Oh it is nonsense, all of it.”