“Wake up Jae. We’re almost at the border.”

Jae woke up with a jerk. He couldn’t believe he fell asleep! When he looked up, his father smiled and pointed at the window.

“Look. There it is. The Great Divide.”

Instantly Jae’s eyes went round at what he saw. In front of them was a massive wall of Ice. It was magnificent. Jae turned left and right and as far as he could see the Ice wall stood proudly with no end in sight. “How tall is it?” Jae asked in wonder. He couldn’t even see the top of the thing!

“It’s 10 miles high, 6 miles deep and the wall surround all of Thalassa.” His dad informed him. “This was one of the biggest obstacles during the great war. And only when Gaia and Ouranos allied together were they able to breach this.” He paused for a moment. “Thalassa. What a beauty she is.” He whispered. Jae couldn’t agree more.

As their ship came closer to the border, the Great Divide became even more massive. Every Gaian gathered at the windows appreciating its magnificence. Even the stoic guards and magicians couldn’t stop the wonders from showing on their faces.

“From this point on please put on your protective glasses please!” People took out the glasses they had been provided at the beginning of the trip as the intercom announced.

“Why do we need these?” Jae quietly asked.

“Oh you’ll see soon enough.” Was his father’s reply.

And soon enough he did see! The lights. It was so bright! The wall reflected lights of every color and the closer the ship got the brighter it shone. Soon, even with the protective glasses most people had to avert their eyes. Jae tried his best to keep staring but he too turned away when it became too much.

“Just a little more and the lights should die down.” The ship’s intercom announced once more. Moans of relief were heard throughout the ship when it indeed died down. “Ladies and Gentlemen of Gaia, let me, as your Captain, be the first to welcome you to Thalassa!”

At first Jae couldn’t see anything, but besides him he heard his dad gasp out loud. Impatiently Jae rubbed eyes so that he could see what his dad saw. Little by little his eyes adjusted and he too gasped.

There were so many activities all around them! Sailors were on ships and boats yelling across each other. The flurries of marine activity were overwhelming on their own but something else really caught Jae’s eyes. People walking on water!

“Dad look!” Jae pointed at the ocean and just behind the water he saw people going about their ways as if they were on land. As Thalassians saw their ship approach some of the people who were underneath the water jumped out and stood on top of the sea as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“Imbedders” Jae heard the near by magicians whisper. As their ship made their way to the dock, more and more Thalassians came out from under the water and stood to watch them curiously. The Gaians on the ship gawked at the sight.

Then one of the onlookers from the sea raised her hands and shouted.

“Welcome Gaians to our kingdom!” And from within her hands bubbles came out and floated gently in the sky. More people followed after her and yelled out their greetings while making their own bubbles. The people on the ship with Jae started to laugh in wonder and waved and shouted back in greetings.

Jae watched as his dad stand up and make his way to the outside deck.

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“Look! It’s the President of Gaia!” and more hollers of greeting were heard.

Jae’s dad waved his hands and spoke.

“Thalassa! Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful kingdom. We Gaians heard many things from diplomats and tales from sailors of Thalassa. But I think I can speak for all of us when I say I never could have phantom how beautiful this place is!” he paused when he heard shouts of agreement. “And we are honored to be in this place now.” And he bowed.

The Thalassians on the sea yelled and more and more bubbles flew into the sky in celebration of this historic moment. Inside the ship, Melinda came to stand next to Jae.

“Look that’s Emperor Sho.” She whispered in his ears. And Jae saw him. Standing on top of the deck stood a gigantic man with long white beard. He held his trident of legend and even this far away Jae could see his warm smile. It was obvious his dad saw him too when he took another bow in Emperor Sho’s direction.

Jae watched as the Emperor held his trident out and in an instant the bubbles that were flying in the sky turned to little ice crystals. They were suspended in the air as if they were attached to a string in the sky. The Gaian magicians gasped in shock at the show of Emperor Sho’s magic.

As their ship made dock, everyone was eager to finally take their first step in Thalassa. The excitement filled the air when Emperor Sho with his royal guard made their way towards them. Jae’s dad once again smiled and held out his hand. The Emperor took it and they shook hands.

“President Saw! I welcome you to my Kingdom. And as always you have your way with words! Come let us celebrate!” The Emperor’s voice boomed. Up close the emperor was much bigger than Jae’s father. His figure loomed and his dad had to crane his neck to see him eye to eye.

“Emperor Sho, I can’t wait to see and learn more of your Kingdom. And I want to thank you again for inviting us to the Challengers Competition! To think we will be able to witness such thing was unimaginable!” Everyone nearby could hear the excitement in the Gaian President’s voice.

Emperor Sho laughter boomed once more. “Oh you are going to have a great time here! Let go now! I’m sure you are starving.”

Quickly everyone began following after their leaders. Jae walked with the procession and he looked left and right to take in the sights. More people gathered now and Jae could see stalls similar to what he would see in the Cosmos Market with variety of things.

“Look Melinda piolab!” Jae stated as he poked her in the shoulder.

“Jae.” Melinda’s warning was simple but effective. Jae sheepishly looked at her and made motions with his hands in surrender. “Don’t cause any trouble.” She warned once more.

“I won’t! But there’s so much to see!” he whined just a bit. “Can’t I just take a quick look at the stalls? In and out. I’ll be right beside you again within 15 minuets. No 10 minutes! Please Melinda?” The moment she sighed Jae knew he won her over.

“Back next to me in 10 minute. Got it?” She waved her hand at one of the guards. When Jae opened his mouth to complain she glared once more “Take the guard or you’re sticking right next to me.” Jae sighed while she smiled “Please look after Jae.” She told the guard. The guard nodded.

“Let’s go!’ the young boy stated eagerly pushing at his new personal guard. The guard followed along quietly. There was so much to see! Jae rushed from stall to stall. New fruits!

“Gaian boy, do you want to try this?” An old shop owner held out an orange colored fruit. “I bet you never tried this before!” Jae eagerly nodded and tried to take a bite of the new fruit. But before he could the guard next to him stopped him.

“No” was all he said.

“But! Please?”

“No”

Jae sighed and gave the fruit back to the shop owner. “Thank you.” He told him

“Hey Gaian boy! Come look at these!” Other shop owners shouted towards him holding out a trinket. “Look these are precious pearls from deep under Thalassa! They are good luck.” Jae bounced his way to the next stall. The necklace was pretty.

“Is that water inside the pearl?” Jae asked the stall owner in wonder. Jae watched a little drop of water swirling inside the tiny trinket.

“Sure it is! That tiny drop of water was purified from the depth of Thalassa.” The stall owner proudly stated holding out the necklace so that Jae can inspect it closer.

Jae looked over at his guard and even before he could ask, he answered.

“No”

“Ugh!” Jae groaned. What was the point if he couldn’t do anything?

“5 more minuets.” The guard stated sternly.

“Already?” Jae exclaimed in horror. There was so much he wanted to see. “Ok, ok one more stall!” Jae stated and pushed his guard faster to the next stall. But before he could someone bumped into him. Jae groaned quietly before apologizing to the person he bumped into. “I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

The man he bumped into growled. “Gaian.” The man spat out. Hostility dripped from his voice. Soon Jae felt hands on his shoulder as the Guard pulled him behind.

“We are guests of Emperor Sho. If you have any complaints with us here, does that mean you have complaint against your Emperor?” The guard growled.

The Thalassian growled again and Jae saw his guard going for his gun. Jae grimaced. ‘Oh no this is my fault…’

“Whoa, Whoa! Old man! Emperor Sho said to treat our esteem guests from Gaia with respect!” Suddenly a boy stepped between the men.

“Get out of the way Hwa!” The man growled loudly. The boy who the man called Hwa raised his hands. Suddenly water surrounded his whole arms. The growling man visibly flinched.

“Are you going against our Emperor?” Hwa asked sternly. The Thalassians around them began whispering. Jae took a step back when his guard kept him closed behind him.

“Of course I’m not.” The man growled and he backed down. Jae felt relief course through him.

“Good. Then on your way you go.” Hwa stated and the water magic he casted disappeared. The Thalassian boy turned to the two of them when the man was no longer in sight. “Welcome Thalassa. Don't mind guys like him! Most of us are excited you are here! But I think you should make your way back to the procession. They are pretty far ahead of you now.” Hwa stated with a smile.

The guard nodded his agreement and thanked him. Jae stared at the boy. He couldn’t have been that much older than Jae himself. But he was able to cast magic without a vial! Jae startled himself when he felt hands on his shoulder.

“It’s time to go Jae.” And he followed his guard back into the procession.