Pursuing The Summit - Chapter 8 Shea

Shea woke up and nearly hit her head when she did so. She had forgotten she now slept on the top bunk and the ceiling was much lower than she had anticipated. The bunk bed idea, after all, had been more of a joke that her maid, Rachel, had said offhandedly, but her sister, Carla, took to heart. Of course, Carla took the bottom bunk and Shea – the adult in the situation – had to let her younger sister take what she wanted. Shea could afford that much, plus Imaru had always stressed kindness over conflicts and treat one’s neighbor as one would treat oneself.

Still, that didn’t mean Shea would allow the top bunk to be so close to the ceiling. Bumping her head every morning sounded by no means comfortable. She could lower the top bunk, and, if need be, also lower the bottom bunk so it was closer to the floor, so Carla would not also bump her head.

Rachel was standing on the ladder to the upper bunk and was the main reason Shea had even woke up this early in the morning – though she did tell Rachel to wake up so she had more time to prepare for her graduation test.

Rachel Aqualis was a girl from one of the minor branches of the Allyn family. She had dark blue hair, but almost emerald pupils and an overall gentle and caring person. Shea had never seen Rachel treat anyone poorly nor become flustered herself and always listened to others. She was the ideal role model and a close friend that Shea would not trade for anything else in the world. Most of all, although their ages were far apart, since Rachel was seventeen while Shea was eleven, Rachel always treated her as a friend, not a master. Shea was forever thankful for that.

Originally she was Elaine’s – Shea’s mother – maid, but Elaine felt that Shea required it much more than she did, so before Shea arrived on to campus, Elaine transferred the ownership from Elaine to Shea. Shea felt a bit uncomfortable about the idea of transferring ownership, if only since Shea felt Rachel was her older sister rather than her maid. Rachel guided her in many ways: from helping her get to places properly, teaching her about things only girls knew that Louis could not help – though Louis was almost essential in helping her learn the school material and cultivate, so she could graduate so early – and become a confidant and a role model she could always talk to, when she had no one else. Some things, after all, Shea felt too uncomfortable talking with her mother, however bad she felt about it and although the frequency of these type of topics had been increasing of late, and too uncomfortable to talk with a boy four years her junior.

“Did you sleep well?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah,” Shea said, rubbing her head. “Can you lower the bunk beds so I don’t hit my head tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Rachel said, as she stepped down off the ladder. She grabbed a towel from a table nearby and handed it to Shea after she climbed off. “About Louis, he came back a few hours ago and now is sleeping.”

“So late? What was he doing?” Shea asked.

“No idea. He went straight to bed after coming home. He told Silva to keep it a secret.”

“Evidently, she didn’t, if you knew.” Shea said, jokingly.

Rachel giggled. “Well, we maids must communicate, otherwise how will we ever take care of you?”

Carla, a deep sleeper, who despite the lights being on and their talking, slept soundly.

Although the house had a three story building, only the top two floors were really for the Allyn Family. The second floor had all the bedrooms, a couple of restrooms, and a small library, with empty bookshelves while the third floor had a luxurious bathroom where the bathtub was no longer a tub but more like one of those hotsprings she had heard so often in stories. The bath could hold the entire family without an issue and she planned just that. The part of the third floor had a balcony, a room that had a glass window ceiling, where the stars could be seen at night, and a personal soundproof room, which Shea could not understand could be used for as of yet.

Shea used her own water elemental qi to was herself. It was much easier to use qi than the cold water in the vat. The water slowly crawled on her body, collecting the dust and dirt her body collected throughout the day. Her sky blue hair was perhaps the hardest thing to wash, for it stretched down her back all the down to her hips, and it dirtied easily. Once she finished washing herself, she walked into the bath, filled with hot water, and soaked within it, feeling the water element around her warm her body and soul.

Rachel, on the other hand, preferred using the cold water from the vat, pouring it on herself as she used soap to wash herself. Her biggest difficulty was lathering her hair, so Shea always helped her with this part. Today was no exception. Then the two sunk their shoulders into the hot bathtub full of water. Rachel had prepared it before she woke Shea up.

“You seem awfully calm about the graduation test. Ready to put it all behind you already?” Rachel asked.

Shea shook her head. “Well, I’m not really worried about the graduation test, but what I will do after. Even if it’s just a couple days at a time, I never really left my family behind. You are unable to follow me into the shrine as well, right?” Shea said.

“No, but I can escort you there.” Rachel said. “I think it will be a good experience for you. You can finally become independent and, at first, that will be scary, since you never done it before, but it will feel empowering. No one whispering behind your back to do this, do that, only you choosing for yourself. And, always remember that everyone supports your choices 100%.”

“Have you had to do the same thing?”

“A bit, when I became seven and started training to become a maid. Then at twelve, I officially became your mother’s maid and I had to live my family behind to move into the Allyn mansion. I was so nervous the first couple of days that I cried a lot, but my roommate and teacher would always sneak in a treat or two for me and talk with me. She made my days so much better and, once I got comfortable, being a maid truly wasn’t bad. The pay is great as well, helping my brothers and sisters attend this school when they grow up. In fact, they will join this year too, so I can see them occasionally.”

“I see. I hope it goes that well for me too.” Shea said, dipping her head a bit deeper into the water, until it covered her nose.

The two soaked until their hands and feet grew wrinkly. Shea dried herself by gathering all the moisture on her skin with her qi and pushing it to the ground while Rachel used her towel. It felt much better to be wrapped in a towel, according to her anyway, and she showed how to wrap her hair with a towel.

Wearing her graduation outfit was the most annoying part of her day, at least for now. Shea was only eleven and girls usually graduated when they were fifteen. Despite her young age, the graduation outfit for the noble ladies was a tradition that would never change or adjust, however much of a genius she was. She had both ears pierced recently to wear earrings and her mother got a very special pair: a two star sapphire angel earrings, one on each ear. Not only the earrings looked beautiful, with angels carved out of sapphire, but they were engraved with runes deep within to improve her qi restoration rate. Her dark blue dress was far too loose at the top, so Rachel had to put quite a bit of padding, and the slit on the right side allowed the wind to freeze her. Worst of all, the heels she had to wore were a few inches tall and no amount of practice over the past week prepared her adequately for those monstrosities. Her feet hurt just looking at them and she tripped quite a few times, only to be caught by Rachel, while walking down the stairs. Thankfully, no one was around to laugh at her.

After breakfast, Rachel walked with her to one of the smaller gyms in the central area of the campus. All the other students attempting to the graduate test at this point of time would also gather here, though her family members would come only in the afternoon to watch the graduation ceremony. Shea and Rachel were one of the last ones to arrive. The testing had already begun and some of the students had already entered the gym while the rest of them sat on benches outside the double doors.

Shea seemed to be the only one who brought her maid. All the other students had come by themselves. As she was deciding whether to send Rachel back or not, Rachel grabbed her hand.

“Relax, Shea.” Rachel said. “Don’t worry about the little things. Everyone is just looking at how beautiful you are. That’s all.”

Shea nodded and sat down on the bench, while Rachel sat right next to her. Shea began her breathing exercises that she always done before she began cultivating, so her qi moved properly through her body, warming her up and becoming more flexible and easier to use, for they often grew stiff and rigid when she didn’t use it much.

Rachel tapped her shoulder when it was her turn. Only six other students sat on the benches now and they were getting up to walk into the double doors. Shea gave Rachel a quick hug before she moved as fast as she could in her heels without stumbling. All the other female students made it look so much easier, though they probably did not have to stuff padding into their dresses either and looked much more comfortable with their dresses. Oh, how she envied them.