Step. Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack.

Step. Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack.

Step. Crack-cra-

"What the Hell!?" Screamed the girl, her voice going above the cracking of the ice. She seemed pretty irritated.

I, of course, was shocked out of my mind. "What!? What!? What's wrong!? What happened!?"

She whipped her head back to see my face. "Why do we have to walk so carefully!? It's just ice!"

"Yes! And we don't want to fall into the icy depths below! That will kill us if we fall in! The ice is already cracking!"

"Yes, teeny cracks! This is embarrassing!" Sis shouted.

"Teeny cracks that get bigger!"

Her eyes narrowed and one hand moved to her chin as she pretended to stroke a beard. Her eyes looked up, as she thought about what I said. "Hmmm…" If this were a normal person, I'd be offended they were mocking me, but with her, it's her way of saying, "Don't bug me. I'm even acting like a freak to scare you off. I'm thinking that hard."

She threw her hands to the sky. "Exactly, Bro!"

"Exactly. So let's be careful, 'kay?" I said. And she just smiled.

"Okay," she nodded.

I was half-way through a breath of relief, when she bent her knees like she was going to jump.

"Wha-?" I half-say, almost dreading her next move.

And she did jump.

"Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack," the ice said as it shattered.

"Hey!" I shouted. What the frick was she thinking?

And again. But this time, instead of a concentrated expression, she laughed. Haha happy even. She thought it was funny. Funny.

"Take that, ice! I shall no longer tread you so carefully! You broke! Hah! How tough are you now!? Not very!"

And she laughed happily along.

One more thump and she broke through. She just went straight into the water. The ice kept cracking, and as the cracks spread I knew I was falling in too.

I did fall in. And the water was cold. But not like I thought it would be. It wasn't stabbity. It didn't pierce me, with its bitter frostbite.

I just fell down to the bottom, more awake than ever. Like a cool pool in the middle of summer. It woke you up. I was aware of things. My eyes were open. Literally, even.

I looked to my sister. She was smiling in victory. She even gave me the 'V'-sign.

As we floated down to nothingness…

The water was warmer now. Or maybe I just got used to it. I was sitting on a rock at the bottom of the lake. The bottom was all rock with boulders spaced around. Sis was floating around the bottom. Her eyes showed her awe of the scenery. She was playful- this was kind of neat when not totally weird- but oddly respectful.

I didn't think we were dead. This wasn't Heaven. That much I knew. Or Hell. Well. It could've been purgatory. But Sis was with me, and if she didn't get into heaven right away when she died… I don't know. I don't think about it much.

And that's about when the water started glowing. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Magical lights are a little bizarre. But, if I hadn't freaked out yet, and since I still wasn't dead, I saw no reason to panic.

"It seems I have visitors," a small, young voice rang out, as the lights faded. I looked left to see a little girl in short, sleeveless white sundress walk toward us. The girl sounded more intelligent than the first-grader she looked like. She seemed pleased.

Bemused, too, if you looked closely. Sis was in awe. "You're so cute!" I suppose she was- gray eyes with wavy brown hair that touched the lake floor. She was a pretty little kid.

"Thank you. I know I am."

Sis thought that was funny and started giggling. I chuckled a little too, because we were in such a ridiculous situation.

"Well, to business," the little girl said, matter-of-factly, "Which one of you broke the ice?"

"Me!" Sis jumped, hand raised. "It was me!"

"Why would you tell her that?" I didn't think Sis would just answer, without knowing what the heck was going on, but maybe I should have.

"She asked," she shrugged, "Besides. I won! I beat the ice! I didn't let it think it was so cool! It's so not!"

I decide not to point out ice is cool by definition. I turn to the little girl.

She's sitting on a rock, typing on what looks like an opal laptop.

"Watcha doin'?" Sis asks.

"Sending an email, dear warrior."

"To who?" Sis asked.

"No one too special."

"Why did you call Sis a warrior?"

"The ice she broke is a challenge set by my people. She won the challenge." She stands up. "I have a choice for the two of you."

"Shoot," Sis says.

"You can go home. Or you can become my warriors, my fighters, my family," she's speaking softly. She sets the laptop down.

I already know Sis's answer. She knows mine. We look at each other. And she nods. Don't worry, she says with it. I give her a half smile. Stay safe.

"Question. Do we have to decide together?" Sis asks because I didn't think to.

The little girl knows our answers as well. "No. No, you don't." I know she doesn't expect us to. Sis was the one who broke the ice. Not me.

The girl stands up. "Then you know our answers," I say sincerely with a half smile.

She nods. "Yes. We have much to discuss. You as well," she looks at me.

Sis follows her with no doubt. "Yes, my princess."

"You have all the instincts. You will be a great fighter," the princess smiles warmly.

Sis smiles back, excited that she was complimented.

The girl tells us to close our eyes.

When we open them, I see a small, underwater town. "Did you expect a kingdom?" the girl asks.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," Sis comments.

"What's your name? You didn't tell us, yet," I say, just realizing I didn't know.

"You didn't tell me yours," she remarks with a smile, "You might find it ironic, but my name is Atlanta."

Sis nods. "Yup. Mine's Hero. Bro, over there, is Ben, short for Benvolio."

I shrug. "Mom liked Shakespeare."

The girl had a knowing smile. Like she didn't need to be told.

"And Hero is the oldest?" she smirked.

"Yup!"

"Come, we have work to do."

By work, she meant get Sis suited for armor. And by armor, she meant a ridiculous battle armor fit for a comic book. Not that it was whorish or anything. Just extremely whimsical. It was something close to greek goddess' dress. Floaty, floor-length material, but with some actual metal protecting her vital organs. I snicker to myself quietly. For some reason her outfit amuses me, even if it's not specifically funny. The most amazing thing was the color. It was a like liquid pearl, but it looked completely breathable, and soft like cotton. The armor looked as if it was made of platinum. Stunning.

She was grinning ear to ear. "Now, this is bad ass."

We got to the tailor, I guess, a little earlier. We walked through the amazing under water town to get here. It was amazing. They lived in small homes and had small shops. Some shops were actually modern, like a Hot Topic while other shops looked a bit "ye old England." The homes also varied from classic Victorian to condos. It was definitely patched together, but it didn't feel that way. The villagers looked like normal people. I was surprised by this, because I honestly expected fish people. My mistake. On average, as a people, they didn't have any distinguishing qualities to them. They weren't all extremely beautiful (though some of them were extraordinarily pretty), or ugly, or deformed (by human standards, I suppose). The only distinctive thing I could tell about them was their skin. It was faded. Not white like one would think for living under a lake.

As we waited and worked, we talked. All kinds of things. How Sis would make a great warrior, what Sis would do as a warrior, would I see Sis again, how we lived with our Dad and have never seen our Mom. The last one was suspiciously no shock to Atlanta. We even talked about Shakespeare.

Apparently, life wouldn't change that much. For me that is. I highly doubt it. Sis got in on the conversation at this point.

"So I get to fight people? Like fist-fight 'em? And with permission!?" Sis was extremely excited. She had a fire in her eyes that I've only seen once from her.

"And with weapons."

I snickered as Atlanta said this. I looked at Sis. Yup. Evil smile. Just like I thought.

It faltered. "Will, um, anyone get too hurt? Will I have to k…kill anyone?"

"I'll be honest with you. There aren't any bad guys. We aren't evil, your opponents aren't evil. We aren't killing each other off. It's tradition."

Sis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Countries of Alternate Earth solve their problems this way. Through one on one fights of the nations members."

I nodded. Sounds stable. Hitting someone is sometimes the only way to clear the air.

Atlanta continued. "It is a lot more efficient than war." She stood up suddenly and walked to a vanity mirror built into the wall. She opened a drawer, and pulled back a piece of hair in a pink, plastic clip. She firmly stared into the mirror and turned back at us.

Atlanta grinned. "You in?"

Sis jumped off the couch she was sharing with me. "You bet."

That was the most serious thing I've ever heard her say. I smiled softly as I leaned back. That's Sis for you.

"Now let's go find you a nice weapon to match your battle gear."