The great revenge of an untouched princess

"Oh, Did I forget to tell you that I am immortal?" Maya laughs. She snaps her fingers and the ground trembles. The ground cracks open beneath her.   Ava stares at the ground and rushes to find shelter. She bursts into a house and scrams to find shelter. The house shudders violently. All the utensils fall violently on the ground. Broken glass, Mud pots bricks and the tiles cover up the ground.  The ground inside the house also starts cracking. She sees an opening, a ray of light through the rubble and smoke. This was her only chance to escape, she runs towards the light. As she runs the ceiling caves in behind her, barely missing her. The house collapses. She feels her back with her left hand to make sure her sack is still intact. 'Thank God.' she sighs. Unfortunate for her,  she was unaware that the same sack would bring her death. She turns back to see the impact. The whole neighborhood collapses. Trees cave into a sinkhole and all that is left is rubble. As she runs she feels a strong wave behind her. The ground lifts up in a wave. She stops for a split second and turns.  A house in front of her rises and crumbles into pieces. She looks on in horror. Several yards away the ground drops away. She veers to her left almost reaches the edge of the cliff. She stops abruptly. Looking down at the rock cliff, she belches and faint and but gets thrown off by the wave. Ava wakes up a week later. Her head is heavy. She opens her eyes to a semi lit room. The aroma is very soothing. A lamp is placed on the ground, the light is flickering almost as they it had wings. Her bag is placed next to the lamp. Her clothes folded and stacked over her bag pack.   She gasps and looks around. Covered in something that she doesn't recognize. A  blanket? Its tightly wrapped. The blanket is actually made of soil but  she doesn't realize the difference. Five to six layers stacked over each other.  She almost looks like a cocoon.   She struggles to get out of the wrap but it is very tight. Not able to get out, she breathes heavily. She looks at the ceiling. 'Are they stars? But I can see the ceiling.' More confusion sets in. She looks around frantically. A creaking sound grabs her attention. The door opens. She desperately tries to free herself again but gives up. 'Its too tight.' She mumbles. She looks at some people come in with a big bowl. When they realize that Ava is awake they start murmuring. Buzzing sound overpowers the room. 'Nanus?' She gasps. Ava's eyes widen. "Can you blink please? You look creepy." Coty scoffs. Ava looks on quietly. She is awestruck to see the Nanus. 'They exists? I thought they were just made up in  stories.'  "Can you please stop staring? Have you not seen a Nanus before?" She asks cleaning her hands with the soil on the ground. "Oh, I am sorry. I am just surprised to see you guys. I never in a million years would have thought that you were real." She explains. "Of course when we are killed like insects. You can expect us to be extinct."  Coty mocks tying her hair in a bun. "Coty!!" Shouts Toty. "She is our guest. Cut it out."  Coty marches out of  the room.  "I am sorry about her." Toty walks up to Ava picks up the soil and rubs it on Ava's forehead. It warms up, "Hey!" She shakes her head to remove the soil off her head. "Relax, Its the most pure form of soil. We made it ourselves." She claims proudly. " If you have heard about Nanus, You must have heard about Our soil. Have you not?" Toty asks with a gentle touch on the cheeks. "Oh, Yes. I have. I am sorry. Its just that I have been wrapped in such a way that I am finding it difficult to breathe. I am not able to....." Coty barges in, "Are we not done yet?" "No, She is feeling fine Coty, Its time to unwrap her."  Coty claps and in a bitter tone, "Well then hurry up. We can send the fifthly animal on its way."  "Filthy animal? I will show you Filthy...." She gets interrupted by Toty, who rubs the soil on Ava's forehead sending her into a deep sleep. Toty stares at Coty clenching her jaw and shaking her head. "Come on, don't be mean. Look at her she looks harmless. Definitely not like the others. She definitely looks royal or a warrior, I am not able to tell the difference. But she is important don't you think?" She asks placing her hand under her chin and looking at Ava. "Also, we all saw how she survived the fall from the waterfall. We cant just ignore it. She could be helpful. So be good."  Said Toty. Coty throws her hands in the air and walks out of the room dragging her feet. When Ava regains her consciousness after a week. She  definitely  needed the rest to recover. Her broken bones had to be fixed and the healing soil sped up the process.  Ava looks around. The room is empty. She sits up stretching her upper body, she notices her skin. 'It is glowing! It feels moist and soft.' She smiles.  Her hair falls over her shoulder, It feels like its not even here's. Its bouncy, smooth, extremely soft and voluminous. She sniffs around, then smells her hands they smells heavenly. "Wow, What kind of magic is this?" "Its the soil dear" Answers a Nanus, from the corner of the room. Covered in the soil up until the neck.  "I am two hundred and ninety years old but I look younger than you." She smirks raising her eyebrows. Ava emerges from the soil revealing her bare body. She jumps back in covering herself back, struggling to make the soil stay on her. "What is this? Why does it slide off?" She groans pulling the soil to layer it on her body . The old lady laughs covering her mouth. "Relax, It will not help. Only a Nanus can do it. No matter how much you try it will not hold on your body." She shakes her body and the soil slides off. She didn't look that old at all. Nanus have a hard shell of a body. Most were purple blue in color. They had markings on their bodies that looked like  prick marks.  The patterns were unique. That's how you could tell the difference between each Nanus.  They had a small face like a cat. The most attractive feature of a Nanus was their eyes. They were long fish eyes with a black tint around that made them look extremely beautiful.  Oh, and their hair fluffy and long. At first Ava thought that was a tail as the hair grew below the waist and almost looked like a bushy tail.  If a Nanus stood in direct sunlight you could see through their shell. They were strange creatures. The old Nanus walks towards  Ava digs up her clothes and points at it while walking out. Ava smiles. After dressing up she waits in the room for a while. Bored she opens the door to see if anyone can help her with some food. She opens the door which directly gave her the view of a dimly lit city. The city was odd. Boxes over boxes over boxes. The rooms were narrow but built systematically up to four stories high.  All made out of the same soil of course. The two facing houses were leaning into each other, they touch each other on the top from across the street and this continued throughout the street. The ceiling was filled with dancing lights that illuminated the place to a certain extent. Her eyebrows raise and eyes widen. 'Its an actual city. Who would have thought that a whole new world existed underground." "It turns into gold if exposed to sun for a long time. A certain degree of heat, 'Sun's heat' changes it to gold. That's why we keep the celling closed and only use lightning bugs on the ceiling." Coty says tossing an apple in the air leaning on the wall. "Is that why you don't dwell in the world on top and choose to live underground?" She asks Ava. Coty bounces away without an answer.  Ava walks behind Coty crouching struggling to walk as the city is built for Nanus not humans. "Wait. Please. I am hungry. Is there anything that I can eat? What do you guys eat anyway?" She inquires.  Coty replies in a mischievous tone, "We eat incest's." She tilts her head and smiles. Two Nanus approach Ava and Coty. Coty grabs Ava's arm and runs through a narrow corridor. Coty runs ahead of Ava but gets kicked by her by mistake. In an attempt to save Coty, Ava leaps from the edge hitting a column. It sets off a domino effect along the other columns holding the boxed houses. The pillar tumbles into another pillar which hits another and they all fall like dominos. As all of the columns on the underground city falls a disheveled Ava and Coty stand in the middle looking around with their mouth open.  "Wow." exclaims Coty trying to control her laughter. Ava stares at her, "Stop it. Don't you dare laugh." They had damaged most of the rooms, the corridors were destroyed. The Nanus catch up to them and are summoned by the head of the city.  Coty is taken to Toty. She looks at Ava, sighs and looks away. Ava is lead through hostile Nanus. They snarl and growl at her. They enter a room draped in gold. In a reflection on a golden wall across the room stands Drak. This room is nothing like the city. The sun is the source of light and quite bright. Ava bows and looks down on the ground. One of the Nanus gestures her to kneel. Drak sits on a throne on the  rectangular platform, surrounded by a pool of water. He turns to Ava. "So? How did you like your stay in our city? "Yes, Thank you very much but I am sorry....."  Drak interrupts her. "I see that you have destroyed most of it, so I should probably ask how do you like half of my city, huh?" He smiles. "I am...." Dark interrupts her again. "Did you not like our home?" "I am sorry your Majesty." She pleads. "I was just searching for food and I didn't even realize. " Drak raises his hand gesturing Ava to stop. "I never liked your kind. Its my God mother that I can not say no to or else you would never step foot in my world. Nevertheless. We took care of you, brought you back from the dead. This is how you repay us? You will build everything back.  After you are done, I will hand you your bag and be on your way." He points to the bag placed in front of him. "Until you fix everything,  its my possession. Agreed?" Even before Ava gets a chance to reply. He claps and the drapes close over the throne and the platform floats away.  Ava does the heavy lifting throughout  the week . The Nanus seem to be more friendly than before. They start to warm up to Ava. Its a good distraction. The Nanus have been sad for months that they don't get to feel the sun and they feel trapped in the underground city.  Coty joins her. "Psst. Missed me?"  "Missed you? You coward. Where were you?" She snapped at Coty. "Look, I am an orphan. okay! I don't get to have a life here like others. The only reason I am alive is because of Toty. She is the kings mom and she is my mom because I don't have a real mom. She took me in. So, I do as much as I can to keep myself entertained and not get into trouble" She clicks and winks. "Everything is a joke to you isn't it?" "Is it not?" She asks genuinely. "I am on a mission. I don't have time to just entertain myself. There are lives at stake." Shaking her head, "You will never understand. You selfish little thing." said Ava Coty stands firm without any emotions. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to ….." "Hurt me? Its ok." said Coty waving her hand. "No. Noo. I am sorry. It was very rude of me." Ava apologies.  "Ok,  Ok. I am a little hurt. There is one thing you can do to cheer me up." Her eyes widen with a smile. "What?" asks Ava folding her hands over her chest.  After a while.. "Ahh, Air …. sun... freedom." Coty spreads her hands out breathing in the air to its full glory. Ava walks towards a stream Coty on her shoulder. "I am sorry. I destroyed most of the homes down there. I am. You guys saved me. I am extremely sorry"  "Oh, Calm down drama. Its OK." She pats on Ava's face. "This is what Nanus do.    They like to build stuff, Its like party time for them. Don't worry. Its so boring to stay underground, what more can one do? Build."  She points at the tree. "Get me a fruit from that tree." She demands. Ava plucks an avocado  and gives it to Coty. Coty jumps down and lands on the ground slowly. She almost weighed like a feather.  She digs her entire face into the fruit. Delighted Ava watches her smiling from ear to ear. After about a minute," I am full." She falls on the ground licking her lips satisfied. "I am full? For a small girl you sure can eat a lot."  "We are blessed like that. I can eat an elephant and not gain weight. Jealous? I know you are." She laughs. Ava smiles and nods her head. She plucks an avocado for herself. "Don't be selfish, give me some." Shouts Coty. Ava picks another fruit from her right hand for Coty while eating hers with the left hand. "Should we go back in now?" Ava enquires, while Coty sits on Ava's shoulder enjoying the view. "Inside? Ahh, what's there inside? Its so boring. All we do is build rooms and sit in the soil. Oh, I forgot. We make soil. A lot of it." She yells. "Wow, You sure are very loud. Why don't you guys come out. Its beautify out here?" She enquires. After dinner they retire to Ava's room. Here Coty explains "We had a very beautiful life. We were not like this before. We didn't live underground either.  Our life was different . We ate what ever we wanted. We lived a free. It was fun. One day a few of your kind came to out city. They destroyed everything. We didn't know why? Why would someone kill children? Then we realized they didn't care about us, they wanted the gold that's it. A lot of Nanus were killed that day. A lot." Her voice crumbles. But she continues, "They kept everything we had and still killed most of us. They kept coming back for more. All that gold was not enough. We had to flee. We walked for months and months. It was a very dark time in our life.  After that we never went back. We just kept building our city underground. We couldn't have risked being there. I hate being down here. So many restrictions. Its so dull. You know, I don't even use the soil. who wants to live five to six hundred years in this 'Hell Hole'." She whispers. Ava smiles and replies, " I am sorry about us. Not all humans are like that you know. There are some good people" Coty smiles, " We know. Why do you think we helped you?  Let me tell you a story . There was one man. He roared like thunder. He was a warrior. He was everything that we were scared off.  However he helped us get away from the other monsters who came for our gold. He fought for a long time that's how we got a chance to escape. That's how we survived." "You are ok. You don't give me a bad vibe. I actually like you." She continues, "Do you mind if I sleep here?" She says cheerfully. "Yeah, absolutely. I would like it very much." She pulls Coty close and sleeps next to her. In the middle of the night, the lights flicker. 'Ava, don't forget about me. I am stuck. Please help me.' A voice echo's through the room and Ava wakes up in a panic attack.  Sweating, breathing heavily. She shakes her head. Wiping off her tears. The same night she makes her way to Drak's corridor. Near Drak's chamber she crouches down to search for her sack  and proceed with her quest. She hears footsteps and hides behind a wall. Toty instruct one of the Nanus to arrange a spread of fruits for Ava in her room.  "But Toty, This was our recreation room. All we do is work all day. We never get the time to relax in the soil. The giant is taking up all the space.  I don't understand why are you being so nice to her?" Toty tries to calm the Nanus "Look, when we met her. Her whole body was broken. How could we leave a child to die?   More over, After Foty's death I felt like I met my daughter again in the form of Ava. I cant let somebody's daughter die, just because mine is no more. We are peaceful beings don't forget that. She didn't come to destroy our place, although she did a little bit." She smiles. "I feel she has a good AURA. She has a good heart." Toty hugs the Nanus and asks her to pick fruits for Ava. Ava feels terrible for only thinking about herself and crawls back to the corridor. Coty "Where were you?" "No where, I just was roaming around." She replies. Walking off in a hurry to avoid Coty's enquiries. Ava cuts trees and builds the underground pillars. The roof of the city is also covered with wood boards. It takes over three months to get the work completed. Pretty exhausted Ava starts to understand how the Nanus feel. It was quite depressing to stay underground in the dim lights. As they had covered the ceiling in wood there was no way they could let in sunlight and this made the place even more depressing. After finishing work Ava rests her eyes in her room. A loud sound wakes her. She opens the door to her room and looks down. Laying on the edge of the door she watches the Nanus downstairs in the courtyard dancing around in circles, holding hand. Ava watches the dance mesmerized. It was so hypnotic. Ava smiles looking at the families enjoying . The city had been almost renovated. Her smile fades away thinking that it was time to leave. She notices the circle that the Nanus were dancing in gets disrupted. She squints her eyes to get a closer look. Its Coty.  She had been asked to leave the circle as the circle was for family members only and she didn't have any immediate family members. Ava immediately rushes into her room and closes the door. She knew Coty would come to her.  After a few minutes. She did. Coty opens the door, "Are you sleeping?" "No" replies Ava. "Can we go out Ava? I feel a little suffocated. Maybe its because of all the work you make us do?" "Really? Work... Do you even know what that is? I have not seen you lift a finger." She smiles. "Hey! Are we going out or not?" She asks in a irritated tone. "Ok. Ok. Lets go." Ava puts her hand forward bending down towards the ground. Coty hops in and the two leave. Coty sits on Ava's shoulder. "I am tired. Tired of being alone. Aren't you? When we found you. You were by yourself.  We have had Nanus wait near the cliff to see if anyone will come to look for you. No one did." Coty enquires. "I have a family. A loving family for that . However, I am on a mission. I have to find my sister. I have to get her back. That's why I wanted to leave your city soon. But I couldn't just leave selfishly." She replies looking at the moon. "What happened to you sister?" asks Coty curiously . "Do you smell something?" Both sniff. "Yeah, Its like a rich mellow smell." Replies Coty, not thinking much about it. They turn back, Flames burst out of the one opening of the underground city. Nanus flooded the pathway, trying to get away from the scalding  fire.  "You stay here. I will go and help as many as I can. Promise me you will stay here." Ava screams. Coty nods. Her eyes are wide open. Tearing up she sits numb. The fire tares through the forest, burning everything in its path, leaving a desolate trail of ash and rubble behind. Ava saves many Nanus from Drak's chamber. As it was located in the corridor leading to the ground. It was easy to pull up as many as possible. She runs to the waterfall holding many many Nanus in her arms. Many hanging off her clothes and hair. The rest just surrender to their fate. When Ava returns to pick up the rest of the Nanus, she notices a bunch of men standing on the other end, laughing and holding sticks with fire on the end . They were looking through the rubble to see if they could find  any Gold. It strikes her that the place burned down so fast was because of the wood that she had installed in the city. Disheartened she returns empty handed.  She doesn't speak about the men nor the wood. Silently she sits on a log and looks at the Nanus in a distance helping each other. Desperately trying to revive as many as possible.  The flames burn out .With the dawn came a sky of fire. She rests her eyes for a bit. Coty jumps upon her lap and sleeps on her arm. When she wakes up. The Nanus are busy digging up to start building again. She looks at them disappointed. All they want to do is live. They don't want anyone's land. They are not greedy. Its so unfair. She washes up near the waterfall.  She looks up to see the place where she fell from. Ava's eyes widening in terror,  her pounding heart could be heard in midst of the murmuring Nanus. Her palms start to sweat... 'I hate heights'  Ava felt nauseous. She turns to find Toty to ask her if she really fell from the cliff. How was it possible that she survived? She spots Drak with her Sack. "You can leave. Thank you for helping us. But a deal is a deal. You are free now." He shrugs his shoulder. He walks off to help the Nanus. Ava looks around to thank Coty and Toty.  "Looking for me?" Coty asks holding a pebble in her hand. Ava smiles and turns to face Coty. Her smile fades, "Where did you get that from?" She screams frantically looking into her bag. "Its just a rock, Crazy." She throws the pebble at Ava. Ava jumps to catch the pebble.  "I am not crazy and this is not a normal pebble. Has no one thought you not to look into others belongings?" "Oh, I am sorry. I don't have parents to teach me. remember?" "Oh, give it a rest. You cannot play the orphan card in every situation." Ava grins looking into her bag to make sure she have everything she needs. "Alright! did I use it already today? " Coty smirks and skips away. Shaking her head Ava smiles. Coty was annoying for sure but Ava adored her. She was like a puppy. If a puppy could speak and make clever jokes. Leaving her behind was going to be very difficult but Ava had to leave. She spent an awful lot of time recovering. She was in great health. Even better than before.  She grabbed a few fruits and started her journey towards the mountains. Ava turns back to see the Nanus. Struggling to make through the stream. See their tiny stature made it difficult for them to move through places. 'Ahh, I can't believe I am helping them again.' She walks back and offers to help them. "Look, There was an old training ground that was used by the Flamma. They left the place because the forest started disappearing. The place started filling up with sand. No one knew why. It is a place that no one wants and no one will come there. " She blurts in excitement. " We can go there and you can start your colony. No one will disturb you there. You can live in the sun."  Before she could end her sentence she notices all the Nanus were looking at her with excitement and hope in their eyes. "How will we reach there?" Asks Drak. "Hmmm, we can take them in a boat. All the Nanus stand next to each other to make space in the boat" They reach a dead end. "Did we take a wrong turn?" Asks Drak confused looking around. Black  Sand domes appear in front of them. They get off the boat and start walking. "No, We came to the right place. Its just that, It looks different now." She squints and looks closely. Ava carries Coty and walks ahead looking through a glass stone.   "Look. look." She points forward " Its there." she screams in excitement.  The place that once was a forest had become an island. "How are we suppose to get there? Its surrounded by water." said Drak. "Do you not know to swim?" "We do." Responds Coty. "So lets go." Ava said enthusiastically. Everyone starts swimming. The Nanus swim ahead Ava. Their hands transform into fin and their bodies glow making the sea glow. Mesmerized Ava looks at the Nanus with a smile on her face. Just as they were about to reach the island the water rises forming a curtain towards the entrance of the island. The whole island gets covered in the water curtain. The Nanus frantically swim back.  Ava and Drak look at each other. " What to do now?" He asks helplessly. "I don't know what that is." She frowns confused looking at the water. She jumps into the water to check the source of the wave. She swims and swims for a long time but comes back for air. "Its too deep. Almost the dark end of the ocean." She screams swimming back towards them. "I think, we should leave. It's useless staying here." Drak said worriedly. "No, we came too far to go back wait I have something that can help." She look into her sack and takes out a pebble. Turns towards Coty winks at her and throws the pebble in the water. A huge stone creature is formed. He was as big as a mountain. He was built like a human, though he was so big and powerful. He seemed to be obeying Ava without hesitation.  Ava explains the problem to the creature and he jumps into the water without saying a word.  After about an hour the water curtain dies down from the right side of the island. They frantically  swim towards the island and make it. As they walk through the island they were greeted with a fresh fragrance. There were no flowers around but it smelled fantastic. As they walk on the island small patches of  grass grew under their feet.  The Nanus start building immediately. They sing merrily, they couldn't be more pleased with the place. As they build they realize the vegetation spills in abundance over their creation.  This meant they could build as much as they could and no one would find the gold. They didn't have to hid underground. The green grass grew super fast on the houses that Nanus were building. Rejoicing they start to chant,  'Ava, Ava.' Drak raises his hand gesturing to stop. He walks towards Ava and hands her a necklace. A long gold chain with a pendant at the end. The pendant was shimmering. It was an enormous and brilliantly sparkling looking object. "These 3 stones will give you an opportunity to hide..." He gets interrupted  A flock of birds chirping loudly fly away from the north end of the island. They look at each other and stand guard for what is coming. Their hearts start pounding when they feel something running towards them. The vibration on the sand and the water. The sound of rumbling becomes louder and louder by the second. Then it stops. They wait for a while. "Could have been the earth?" Asks Drak. "Could be but it felt like …. It could have been something. Do you want to check?" She asks encouragingly. "Hello, Who are you guys?" asks a man walking though the forest.  He looks at Ava, "Did you open the gates? How did you do that? Oh, I cant believe it." He cheers clapping his hands. "Thanks, I have to get out of here. I was trapped in this island for months." He added. He sprints towards the opening of the island. Ava blocks his way, "Did you say you were stuck? Why were you stuck here and what was that sound that we heard before you came this way?" She enquired.