LSS: Voyage of the Starry Seas

Breton yawned, and went back to his room to take a small nap. They dreamt of their father... and rolled in their sleep tirelessly. He woke up, hyperventilating, and exited the room.

Darvi walks through the city, looking around. Destruction was everywhere, tripping hazards of large blocks of grey stone congesting the path. They sighed. Nicky walked alongside, a little slower due to the weight she was lugging about.

Darvi hung back with her, letting Rune and Grey walk ahead. They were clearly in sight, but their talking was a little hard to hear from all the crunching debris underfoot. “You okay?” They glanced at Nicky.

Nicky nodded. "Not thrilled at the vibes of this place but I'm holding on. You?"

“Neither am I. I’ve never seen a city… feel so dead.”

"Yeahh. Exactly. Just death everywhere you turn. It feels cursed. Like something wrong happened here."

Darvi nodded. “Based on the storms, whatever happened was… brutal.” The buildings said the same things, some of them entirely crumbled and most were missing noticeable chunks from the surface.

Nicky nodded. "Exactly. Something felt wronged here. Either Mother Nature herself or... worse."

“I hope it’s Mother Nature and that Sefarina calmed her.”

"That would be amazing," Nicky nodded. "One can certainly hope."

"The ships are screaming," Will muttered. His eyes darted back and forth, looking haunted.

Darvi nodded. “That’s why we need to stay together. Right, Bel-“ They turned around. “Belinda?”

Nicky paused. "Okay for one... that's terrifying Will. On another note. Where is Belinda?" She looked around. "Or June for that matter?"

Will shuddered. "They... they remember better days. But that only makes the pain worse. They hate being trapped in the depths, unable to move, only sitting and rotting."

“Oh, stars above! They did not wander off! Absolutely not. They wouldn’t be that stupid!” Darvi pulled on their hair.

Nicky patted Will on the back. "I can imagine." She nudged Darvi. "Okay I'm not saying that wasn't a stupid move, but we'll be okay. They're big girls."

Darvi just kept looking around. “This city is a maze! Neither of them can fight! If anything happens they could die!”

"Umm...they can't? June looks quite tough and Belinda grew up with you. She never picked up a single fighting skill?"

“Belinda is a librarian! No, she doesn’t have a fighting skill.” Darvi groaned. “Who knows what’s lurking in this city?

"Death. Destruction. Bad things," Will offered. "The ships have settled down slightly to a moan, but they're still wary of outsiders and change, I think. There's also one that's rambling about eating seagulls, but I think that one's gone mad."

“Have any of them seen my sister?” Darvi stepped towards them.

Will listened for a moment, then shook his head. "They're too stuck in their self-pity to pay attention to things on the shore, other than having a general sense of discontent about newcomers."

Darvi groaned. “We have to find her. We can’t just let them get lost and die.”

Nicky nodded. "Okay, how about we try and track them down? Let Rune and Gray know too?" She frowned."Wait where's Rune and Gray?"

She looked back ahead. “They went ahead. They didn’t…” Darvi growled. “This is a shipwreck.”

"Yeah," Will agreed. "I doubt any humans could survive here. We should probably find the others and get out of here as soon as possible." He winced. "The ships' thoughts are depressing."

Nicky nodded. "As a human, I can confirm I do not want to be here." She blanched all of a sudden. "G..guys.."

"What's wrong?" Will glanced around.

Darvi turned to see a horrific, oozing creature. They took a step back, covering their mouth as bile threatened to rise in their throat. They had heard so many horror stories of mutant sea creatures, but it had been decades since one had appeared. So nothing could have prepared them for that.

It was massive, a long slithering creature with broken and mutilated wings. It was the length of a carriage, mouth long enough to eat a horse. And it crept towards them with the power of a bull.

"Is that lipstick or did this creature drink blood because those lips are much too red," Nicky sounded a little panicked.

"I did not want to run into a monster with a creepy fashion sense today," Will added. His eyes were wide. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a wrench. Compared to the creature, it was about as impressive as a thumbtack trying to take down an entire ship.

Darvi took another step back. “We… that’s a mutant.”

Nicky nodded. "No shit Sherlock. If that thing was a real creature on Earth, then my grandma was Rapunzel."

"So," Will asked hesitantly. "Run? Fight? Option C? I have zero clue what option C is, by the way."

Darvi pulled out a pistol and shot it right between the eyes. Nothing happened.

"I guess we're going fight then!" She let loose on her machine gun, Darvi praying the higher caliber would have more of an impact.

Will chucked the wrench at the mutant.

The creature seemed to just be aggravated by all the projectiles and thrashed, more ooze dripping out of this mouth. It smelled like acid, making Darvi's eyes water. "Its skin is too thick. We need to figure something else out." He plugged his nose. "Until that scent makes us faint."

"Does it have any weak points? Its lips or mouth, maybe? Does it have eyes?" Will pulled out some clothespins and handed them out.

Nicky groaned as she set the bulky machine gun down. "Okay. I have a plan. It doesn't like bullets...but how about some dirt?" She closed her eyes. The ground around her began to collapse into itself like quicksand, pulling down to her feet before slowly shaping up. It rose right up, in a wave of dirt right up to her palms. She gestured outward.

Brilliant green light shot from her hands for a moment, shining on the creature like a laser pointer. Predictably that did nothing.

Then a mass of dirt whacked it in the face.

It gurgled unhappily, but its wings managed to shake off most of the dirt.

"I don't know if blunt force trauma does much for impenetrable skin." Darvi groaned. "I can get closer and see. Let's hope it doesn't eat flies."

Will raised an eyebrow. "That sounds dangerous. While humans don't eat flies, many of us do swat them... And I wouldn't put anything past this mutant..."

"You're not getting eaten on my watch! We can throw more things! Fire? Ice? Oooh, I can try to make something go boom? Or glass. Glass is also an option. Or disorient it." Nicky grinned. "I have lots of options now we know the constellation works!"

"I'll be fine." Darvi shifted into a fly.

Will looked on nervously. "Give us a signal if you need me to chuck another wrench at it, or create a distraction of some sort. I don't know. Buzz in a loop-de-loop or something?"

Darvi buzzed in a loop-de-loop.

Will tossed another wrench. And then a screwdriver. And then some kind of mangled mini helicopter craft.

Darvi wanted to say that was them testing out the signal and not wanting Will to throw more stuff, but they couldn't speak.

Nicky focused and shot out another beam of light, this time blue. It shimmered on impact with the creature because a bucket's worth of water, misty with how cold it was, shattered down on the creature's head.

The creature was startled, letting out a pained grunt with the force of it, before it noticed that I was indeed water. It bent down and slurped loudly.

Good! Nicky had distracted it. They slowly buzzed closer to the drinking creature, wincing at the wet noises emerging from it. If Darvi failed here, Nicky and Will might die.

Come on, Esther. This is your only shot.

Nicky groaned loudly to herself as Darvi the fly proceeded to fly closer and closer to the probably hungry beast. The way it was lapping at that water made it look like maybe it hadn't eaten in some time. She had to get in there too.

She focused, opening her palms out again. Violet light shot out, the familiar little tingle in her palms soothing her nerves as she prepared herself. She charged, putting all her experience and dexterity into action. A thing pane of glass formed in the air at around waist height and she vaulted onto it, taking a stop before diving right for the beasts head.

in collaboration with @WeepingWisteria and @Spearmint

Nicky landed on the beast's head with a satisfying crunch, grabbing onto something, anything as she desperately attempted to stay on top of the slippery skin.

"You got this, Nicky!" Will shouted, throwing various nuts and bolts at the beast.

Nicky smiled slightly to herself as she managed to get a relatively firm hold up there on the beast's head.

Darvi buzzed around her, getting closer to the beast's face. The beast lurched forwards, throwing up a spray of rusted bits of metal. Darvi darted away and popped back into human form next to Will. "We need to hold its mouth open."

Will pulled out two metal pipes from the side of his boot. "Are these too short?" They were about the length of a forearm.

"We might as well try them!" Darvi hummed. "If I can get it to open its mouth for long enough, can you put those in there?"

Will stared at the beast for a moment. "...Sure? I'll just think of it as a very slippery, very angry, very scary ship..." He shuddered, then nodded. "Yep. Got it."

"Good. I hope you're not afraid of great apes." That was the only warning Darvi gave before turning into a gorilla, roaring before rushing at the beast prying its jaw open. It thrashed, but it couldn't escape Darvi's grasp.

Nicky nodded. "I can attempt to blow them up as they go in ut for good measure."

Will blinked, then ran forwards, clutching one bar in each hand. He quickly shoved one into the beast's mouth vertically to keep its jaws propped open. The beast moved. Will narrowly snatched his arm away, then darted in again to put the other bar in, just in case.

Darvi moved their grip to the beast's neck so it couldn't get away. Will sprinted back to watch from a distance.

Nicky concentrated as hard a she could on the two bars, specifically the one that was holding the beast's mouth open at the moment. This was her chance. One well directed explosion and the beast was going to be history.

Orange light shot out this time as she focused harder, holding one hand open while the other hung onto dear life on top of the creature just trying desperately to not tip over and fall off. The light struck the pipe in the beasts' mouth and glowed brightly.

The pipe began to flicker orange and glow.

"Every back upp! Its going to blow!"

Will ran further back, taking shelter behind a twisted piece of metal jutting from one of the ruined buildings. Darvi turned into a squirrel and skittered away, chirping incessantly. The pipe glowed almost red hot as Nicky slipped down on the beasts slipper hide to be closer to the tail.

"KA-BOOM"

There was suddenly an increase in slimy fleshy, Nicky really didn't want to think about it too much goop raining down on them, as the big moving weight under her began to go limp and teeter a little bit.

She'd closed her eyes in the explosion but opened them now to take a look at the carnage that had erupted. The beast's head had been blown clean off, reducing most of its horrifying face to nothing but...the stuff raining down on them. The neck was lying exposed and horrific rotten juices were flowing out the gaping wound. She tried not to gag as the now big corpse began to fall to the ground.

Darvi shook themself off before going back to human, only blood in their hair. "Well. It's over."

"That," Will pronounced, "was thoroughly disgusting. Good job, everyone." He tossed handkerchiefs to Darvi and Nicky, then started to hunt around the ground, recovering some nuts and bolts.

Nicky stepped as far away from the corpse as she could manage in the moment, her legs a little bit shaky from that experience.

"Yup. That was. Yeah let's not repeat that if we can help it." She gagged again and turned away. "And I vote we umm. Get away from this. As quickly as we can. And like as far as we can."

"I second that," Will said. He finished wiping off his wrench and stuffed it into a pocket again. Will glanced at the other items around the bits of the beast and evidently decided it wasn't worth it.

Darvi hummed. "Not as hard as the history books made it sound. Good thinking, Nicky." He joined them again. "Shall we try to find Rune?"

"Fine by me." Will shrugged. "Where would Rune be? Closer to the coast with the sad ships, or near the center of the spooky monster-infested island?"

"Thank you Darvi. Uhhh we really ought to find Rune. And the others. Just the rest of the team but Rune's a good place to start. He is in charge at the moment." Nicky scratched her head. "I want to say the sad ships but giving the direction we were headed in my gut says spooky monster infested island."

"Monster-infested island most likely." Darvi hummed. "I could fly ahead and try to spot him. Maybe even tell him to stop."

Will grimaced. "Sure. Into the center of horrors it is. Want us to start walking towards the center or stay here?"

"Hmm I'm not thrilled at the idea of separating more to be honest. Maybe you can fly ahead but we can follow, keep you in our sights?"

Darvi nodded. "Makes sense" They transformed into an eagle and shook out their wings. Nicky nodded, gingerly flicking off the worst of the offending material from her clothes and picking up her machine gun from where she'd abandoned it earlier.

"Caw, or... make an eagle sound... if you need help," Will offered. "Though as Nicky said, we'll try to keep an eye on you." He smiled encouragingly.

Darvi bowed his head and took off to the sky.

"Amazing!" She glanced at Will. "Into the spooky forest then. You ready?" She shouldered her machine gun, patting her pocket to make sure that pistol was still there. Hopefully the next thing they had to fight actually did get hurt by either one.

Will looked at the forest. "I feel like it's going to eat us, but sure, as ready as I can be considering the circumstances." His smile wobbled a tad, but he made up for it by striding forwards boldly in the direction Darvi had flown.

Nicky nodded. "That's about as good as it can be in a situation like this." She patted his shoulder as she caught up with him, keeping a watchful eye on Darvi the eagle. "We got this. We got this."

Idris didn't have to sweep. She already mopped. There was nothing to do except to wait for something else to do. She sat on the floor and looked at the sky. She wasn't allowed by the railing anymore, even though Sefarina and Gray were both gone. If anyone saw her by it, they'd probably panic.

Did she regret it? It was hard to say. No one liked that it happened.Sefarina was so upset. It even made Gray kinder to her. But, when she lay awake at night when there wasn't the light of day to put her at ease, she wondered if that made anything better. She was a problem now. A risk. It made her stomach hurt when she thought about it. Did anyone actually like her or were they scared she would snap again?

Sometimes she just wished she suceeded. It would be so much easier.

She laid down on the floor. It smelled like salt and polish. As she was drifting off, a sharp feeling filled her chest. Something like fear. A burning. Her right arm was burning. Then a hint of something like disappointment or anger.

Sefarina. She needed Idris. She needed to find her. She ran downstairs, knocking on all of the doors to find someone who was still on this ship.

Aquarius and Sidney popped out from one of the door. Sidney was holding a bag of chips, and both their faces were stained with bright orange crumbs.

"Idris?" began Sidney. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Idris shook her head. She pointed at Sefarina's door.

"Sefarina?" Aquarius questioned. "She asked us to come? Is there a meeting? Is it about ice cream because let me tell you Sidney has been a wonder and I'm appointing her as my chief ice cream advisor."

Sidney nodded proudly. "It was a great honor."

Idris shook her head. She checked her pockets for a notepad and found a small one. Thankfully Sefarina had given her a pen. Where is Sefarina?

They exchanged a look.

"Did you?"

"Lunch-"

"Lunch-"

"I mean we never-"

"-left the room since yeah."

Sidney turned back to Idris. "We haven't seen her since lunch Idris."

Idris shook her head. She's in trouble. We need to find her.

"Ohh? Who told you?" began Aquarius even as Sidney ran into her cabin, emerging in about five seconds flat with boots instead of the flimsy flip flops she'd been lounging in.

I She froze. How did she know? It doesn't matter. We have to go find her. She's hurt.

Aquarius nodded. "Of course. Of course. Captain in trouble. No time to waste. If you would give me thirty seconds as well to put on something a bit more appropriate to go searching in."

Idris nodded.

Aquarius vanished into her room as well and soon she was also back in some boots. "We got this! Idris do you know where to go?"

Idris blinked. I think so, actually.

"Amazing! Lead the way then!" Sidney hopped on the balls of her feet. "Let's go save our captain!"

Aquarius looked a lot more serious, nodding. "Nothing will happen to her. You have us with you Idris. We'll be like the three ice cream musketeers which is a reference to a really old book I shouldn't try to explain right now. Let's go!"

Idris nodded and headed back up. They had to go to land. That's where Sefarina was.

Quietly, Naim appeared next to them, large eyes blinking curiously. They didn't say anything, but they kept pace with Idris, Aquarius, and Sidney.

Sefarina stumbled backward clutching her arm. It burned so much. She would need to get that checked. If she could make it back that way. The sand on her feet was sticky and craggy with rocks. She'd lost her boot trying to run backwards. She risked a glance at her hand again. The innocent looking cut on her arm was hissing angrily. There was definitely some kind of poison involved. The creature certainly looked the part. She looked up to see if there was still a safe ish distance between her and the creaturee. She screamed.

Idris cried out, covering her ears. Sefarina needed them now before she died. Sefarina was going to die.

Sidney was by her side in a flash. "Idris? What's wrong?"

She couldn't breathe. This was horrible. Awful. Sefarina injured.

Sidney and Aquarius gasped in unison. "Oh no. Sefarina." Naim's eyes widened and they stared at Idris.

Aquarius steeled herself. "Come on then. We absolutely have to help her!"

Idris nodded and started running, heading off the ship. A shore with rocks. Sidney and Aquarius were close behind.

"This shore is rocky, oh my goodness. Good thing we all brought boots."

Naim hovered nearby, their pet crow on their shoulder, scanning the beach around them.

Idris looked around, trying to spot blood or any sign of life. There wasn't a lot to see at fist. Just rocks and wreckage that looked dangerous.

Then she saw it. Footprints. Leading a little ways off. She had no way of knowing if they were Sefarina's but they were the only ones going in that direction. The big disturbance of sand from the whole party setting off earlier went in another direction.

Idris chased after the footprints, gasping for breath. She wanted to scream for Sefarina, to find her. She needed Sefarina to know she was there.

A small splatter of blood came into view, smudged into a footprint. There was also something slimy on the ground, neon green and oozing. It was hissing wildly like it was somehow boiling.

Idris let out a scream, covering her mouth. Sefarina. No. She couldn't be where this thing was.

Aquarius and Sidney screamed louder than her. Sidney on her knees while Aquarius patted Idris on the shoulder. "I'm sure she's okay Idris. I'm sure she's okay. Its just where she got injured. Just the injury." It sounded more like Aqua was trying to convince herself than Idris.

Naim looked vaguely queasy as they floated closer, examining the slime.

Idris scrambled forward, searching for Sefarina. She had to be here. She had to be okay.

Aquarius followed close behind, holding up Sidney who looked a little bit green at the sight that she'd just witnessed.

They heard a loud grunt. "Go back to wherever you spawned from glowing maggot. I'm leaving okay. Just let me leave."

Sefarina.

Idris ran into the scene. Sefarina was stumbling backward, her uninjured arm held out in defence. then she saw what Rina was backing up from.

It was neon green--a green so bright it was a wonder they hadn't all gone blind--and long. So long. A big worm as wide the broom closet that Idris kept her supplies in. It had two menacing red eyes, staring them all down from two antennae while it screeched loudly, its mouth opening to eveal a circular jaw with rows upon rows of teeth. The entire creature oozed that hissing slimy liquid as if it wanted to devour all matter and replace it with only green, neon green...

They had to save her.

Will couldn't shake the feeling that this entire island was some kind of twisted trap, but... they got this, right? They had to. He seriously doubted humans lived here now, but they had to get their crew to safety. And, despite his terror and overwhelming worry, curiosity pricked at his consciousness. This island seemed like it had once been inhabited. Could there possibly be traces of the civilization that had used to occupy this place? Maybe a few fragments of artifacts that had survived?

With those thoughts in mind, Will faced the forest.

Juniper had never seen a ghost before. Her face dropped, and her eyebrows raised. For a second, she contemplated reaching out to touch him, but she knew better than that. It wasn't as if he could be touched, anyway.

The man now standing infront of her had shoulder length brown hair and sunglasses on, wearing what looked like to be an old rockers jacket that had the words "Samurai" engraved onto it. He looked as if he was 'too cool for school', and his playful smirk said it all. June knew he was trouble.

"Did you just kill my girlfriend, asshole?" Juniper asked, voice shaking. She was on the verge of tears.

"Did you just kill my vibes, asshole?" the man shot back, not missing a beat.

Juniper straightened and narrowed her eyes. What the hell was this guys problem? She hesitated, but dropped down to check Belinda's pulse again. If the man wanted to kill her, he would've already done it. She scoffed, "Yes, actually, I did, sockface. What did you do to her? Oh-- when I go get my expedition leader, you're finished. Like... finished, finished. He has a temper."

The man scoffed, making a face. "Itty baby's going to threaten to tell daddy about the nasty rocker man? Is that really your comeback?"

Juniper's jaw tightened, "Yep. I think the fact I'm not a washed up ghost in a tacky jacket makes up for it. One of us is still breathing, here. What do you want?"

The man took a step back, sizing her up a bit more. "I'm gonna not comment on the rags you call clothes, you can keep my jacket out of this. Name's Silverhand. Johnny Silverhand."

"Like, silverfish? Sounds like silverfish. You know, the little insects people find in drains and showers. Nice to meet you Johnny Silverfish. I'm Juniper, " Juniper stood, attempting to carry Belinda, "Now, again. What do you want?"

Johnny whistled. "That's rich coming from berries people love grounding up but maybe you're the gal I'm looking for Juniepoo."

Juniper made a funny face, "Juniepoo is an interesting rendition. Respect. How would I be the girl you're looking for?"

"Look! There's no easy way to slice is Juniepoo. I'm dead. Deadass too chill to be doing grunt work. Grunt work I'd like to get done."

"What are you talking about?" Juniper sighed, "Grunt work?"

"Alright. Let's call it a favor shall we?"

"Depends," Juniper studied him, "Will you reverse... whatever you did to my girlfriend?"

Johnny grunted. "'Suppose I can do that. If you behave."

Juniper scoffed, "Behave. Strange choice of words. But fine, I'll behave. What's the favor?"

"Now if you're a woman of taste, you'd know I'm a rockerboy. In fact the best. My guitar is one of my most prized possessions but its locked away in some rich creepos house. I need you to go get it."

"Why can't you just go get it if you're a literal ghost? Can't you just... phase through the walls and like... I don't know. Do ghosty things?"

"That's not how ghosting works young lady."

"Okay so... How do I get to this house? Will you lead my crew and I there?" Juniper asked.

He took out a cigarette, flicking it open through some imaginary lighter. He took a long drag, breathing out...nothing.

"Now we're takling business Juniepoo. I would happily."

"Okay," Juniper thought about it for a second, "Okay. Okay, you got a deal, Silverfish."

"Heard. Deal's a deal." Johnny smirked and took another non existent drag of his non existent cigarette.

Gray groaned. He'd been walking for what felt like an eternity. Desolate building after desolate bulding. Almost like a leftover warzone crossed with post-dystopian civilization. Eerie.

He looked over at Rune, who was walking in front of him. To say that Gray was thrilled to walk around a wasteland of buildings with his... close friend (Although Rune would make a very very good boyfriend) was maybe a bit of an overstatement. Sure, Gray liked Rune, but also nobody wants to spend peactically forever on a random ass island filled with broken buildings.

Another thought crossed his mind. Splitting up. See, Gray was very... mixed on that. Sure, everyone could cover more ground on the island, but... everyone also puts that risk of death on themselves. What if there were some sort of mutant bunnies that tried biting them all?

Gray shook his head as he saw 3 people running towards him and Rune, covered in blood and pieces of flesh, He immeduately molded some of his metal into a long sword pointing it at the 3 who were running towards him.

It was Nicky, looking the most drenched out of the three, hands holding her massive machine gun as non threateningly as possible (the muzzle was pointed straight into the ground and her feet).

"Not a threat! Not a threat! Its Nicky! I've got Darvi and Will with me!"

“Don’t throw the sword, Gray!” Darvi seemed more annoyed than anything.

Gray sighed and lowered his sword, remolding it into the shape of a frying pan. "Mhm. Why are you covered in blood and guts? Also is that meat edible?"

Nicky rolled her eyes. "What do ou think? Its rotting and smells horrifying."

Gray scoffed. "If I served you a dead rat, you would probably eat it anyway if I cooked it right." He looked at the states of the other 2. "I'm assuming you fought... something?"

“That suggests you’d serve us a live rat. Most meat you eat is dead.” Darvi rolled their eyes. “And it was rancid. And leaking some sort of pus.”

"That's...probably true, but that's beside the point right now," Nicky nodded. "Yeah. Big ugly lizard. Very rotten. Somehow bulletproof? It was ridiculous."

"How did you kill it then?" He raised an eyebrow.

"BOOM." Nicky said, like that somehow explained everything.

"Yep. That follows. Also makes sense why you smell burnt."

Nicky nodded. "That about sums it up. Had to blast the thing right open to get anything to happen."

"Okay, now that we've found you 3, lets go and try to find Juniper and Belinda." Gray said, reforming the pan back into a cube. "Any ideas on where to go?"

"Good call. We do need to try and track those two down. Glad we at least found each other now. That's some comfort. If that big lizard was anything to judge by, the stuff that's running around here all of us need to stick together to stand a chance." Nicky took a long deep breath. "Uhhd if i recall they were heading towards the more overgrown parts of the island where its the spookies. Maybe we head into that?"

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go." He nodded and started walking to the Very Spooky Vibes Overgrowth Area™.

The walk was, thankfully, mostly uneventful. The place naturally got more and more overgrown and depressing. The depressing part was increasing the fastest..They'd just entered a little forgotten road of sorts, overgrown and torn apart by time and what looked like many, many storms.

That's when Gray spotted it.

A ghostly figure. A man smoking a cigarette. He was talking to...was that Juniper? And there was someone else lying on the floor beside the two of them. Gray squinted to try and make that person out.

"Is that Juniper?" Nicky asked, concerning lacing her voice. "Who is she talking to there? And is that Belinda on the floor?"

"I hope not. Also, I think that is some random ass ghost right there talking with Juniper."

Nicky frowned. "Oh boy that doesn't look good."

They got closer, walking a little faster now.

"Junip-" began Nicky but was cut off by Darvi.

“Belinda!” Darvi ran to her sister, shaking her. “Belinda don’t you dare die on me. You can’t do that!”

Their worst fears were confirmed. Lying there motionless, barely responding from the looks of it, with a worried Juniper and a smirking, unknown ghost was Belinda

Nicky gasped, putting a hand up to her mouth to contain it.

Gray just sighed and shook his head. Of course Belinda had to die. This day was about to get so much longer.

Will stared at the translucent man, who was smoking a cigarette and breathing out nothing. He took in the rest of the scene: Belinda, Darvi, and Juniper with the guy, Gray and Nicky next to Will. "Sooo. Who's the ghosty guy destroying his nonexistent lungs?"

"Some random ass ghost. I have no idea who it is though." Gray said.

"Think he lived on this island? Or is it a traveling ghost type situation?" Will squinted at the ghost's attire.

Gray walked up to the spirit next to Juniper. "Who are you, raggedy wannab band member ghost?"

"You could only dream of being as famous as I am boy." The ghost spat back.

"How come we've never heard of you, then?" Will asked, joining the group clustered around the ghost.

"Cause you've got no taste that's what jackass." He took a long drag of his cigarette.

"Oh, well fuck you too, Mr. Super Popular Band Wannabe." Gray was very blatantly teasing the man. As he should. Apparently death didn't improve that guy's personality one bit. To be fair, Will hadn't known him when he was alive, but he pitied anyone who had.

Nicky who was kneeling beside the worried Darvi let out a half concealed snort.

"How about we starting talking first? What happened here?"

“What the fuck did you do to my sister?” Darvi stood up. “I don’t care if you’re dead, I will drag you back into life just kill you again if you don’t fix this!”

The man took a step back. "Now now. Look I ain't trying to fuck with nobody. I just want my favor. Done deal's a done deal. You can ask your friend Juniepoo over here."

Will nearly choked. "What a nickname..."

"Suits 'er well wouldn't you say. The name's Silverhand by the way. Johnny Silverhand. We had a deal. You all gonna help honor it?"

"What's the deal?"

“Does that deal involve me tearing your head off? Because I can help with that.” Darvi cracks her knuckles.

"Slow down horsey! Now I'm a rockerboy see. And we all know a good guitar is the heart of all of that. My guitar's being held in this fancy creepos old house. Collapsed right good it did. Wasn't able to get it back. I was told y'alls could break in and get it back for me."

Nicky frowned. "Will Belinda be okay if we do that?"

"I give my word. Well gave it already to Juniepoo over here." He took another drag of his cigarette.

Will glanced around. "Where's the house?" He had no doubt their crew was capable of breaking into a house. He was reluctant to trust the ghost, but he trusted Juniper's good sense, and if it would lead to Belinda being alright...

Belinda stirred from her place on the floor, groaning.

“Belinda!” Darvi was distracted from threatening the already dead Johnny and rushed back to Belinda.

Gray turned around and kneeled. "Oh, look. Belinda finally decided to join the land of the living."

Nicky knelt down beside her again. "Oh thank goodness you're okay. I was starting to get worried."

Johnny spat out his cigarette, it somehow flying off into the great unknown. "Well I kept my end of the bargain.There's your Bellypoo all good to go. How about we stand handing out guitar's now before she goes back to that nap."

Belinda blinked her eyes open. “Hey guysss~” She giggled. “The sky’s such pretty colors.” Her head lulled to the side. Will looked at the sky, then blinked at her worriedly. The sky was a distinctly unflattering shade of gray.

Darvi looked up. “You call that good to go jackass?”

Nicky looked worried too. "Yeah that's. That is not normal."

"She's practically high right now." Gray stared at Johnny. "You call that perfectly fine?"

"Bellypoo's tiny mind is just trying to digest the Nirvana that is mine. She'll be fine big boy. Give it time."

Gray rolled his eyes. "How about you shove some of those cigarettes down your throat and stop talking for a bit? Or forever. Forever would be perfect "

"Now lookie here guy. Y'all be the ones who struck that deal. Not my fault your Bellypoo's takin her sweet time recovering."

"But whose fault is it that she was in that state in the first place, hmm?" Will raised an eyebrow.

"Hey a guy's gotta do what a rocker's gotta do." Johnny lit up a fresh cigarette.

Gray tried shoving the cigarette down Johnny's throat. However, as most humans do with ghosts, he phased right through, and ended up trippinf and hitting his head on the ground.

Belinda giggled louder. “Ooh the walls are spinning. It’s a dance party.” She tried to roll over, getting stuck and rocking back and forth.

Nicky patted her head. "I don't even know if she's going to be able to walk at this point."

Will squatted down next to Gray. "Are you in need of medical attention?"

"What are you, Life Alert? I'm fine." Gray pushed himself up, flipping off Johnny.

"Okay, good. Because I'm much better at fixing toasters than humans." Will looked at Belinda again. "I think we might have to go get that guitar."

Nicky looked between then, worry increasing on her face at Gray on the floor and Belinda being Belinda. "Yeah I think that guitar just became our top priority. Then we get the hell out of here. Nothing here is alive or friendly enough to count as civilization."

Johnny cackled. "Well if you chums are done tryna hit a dead guy, you'd do well to listen to that girl's advice and get my guitar."

Will stood up. "Are you going to lead us to that house, then?"

Johnny nodded. "If y'all get walking, I'll start pointing."

Belinda hummed. “Key tar. That sounds like a good idea… never lose your door again.”

Darvi nodded. “Guitar. Now.”

Nicky nodded. "Shall we carry Belinda? Can she walk?"

Johnny grinned. "Now that's more my speed. How bout we all start walking then?"

Will shrugged and followed the ghost.



The house looked like a modern mansion that had had a very bad hair day. That is to say, it looked like it'd been stomped on by a giant robot child, aged like good cheese, torn apart by a reckless hurricane, then, as the icing on top, taken over by enterprising vines. The windows were either entirely missing glass or had a few sad shards stuck to the frames. The entryway was warped and nearly covered with foliage.

"Wow. Is this your house, Mr. I'm-So-Famous?"

Johnny scoffed. "Nah this the house of Sigma Rizz-Ohio. Creepo stole my guitar after i die."

Nicky was sizing it up. Darvi, Juniper and Rune were tending to Belinda, a little ways back, NIcky and Gray being the ones probably best at doing this, volunteering to do the actula guitar nabbing. Will watched, ready to offer support if needed, though he suspected the poor house stood no chance against them.

"Well then. Let's start trying to get in." Gray clapped.

NIcky nodded. She marched up to the house, setting down her machine gun. The gate was mostly intact although bent at an atrocious angle. There were spikes that were sticking up on top of it, preventing anyone from easily hopping over.

Nicky tapped the gate, running a finger down it, muttering quietly to herself. She did a full round of the gate like this, tapping occassional and murmuring before she finally stepped away.

"Yeah the system on the gate's already triggered, you can't do anything new. Just rip it apart Gray so we can enter."

Gray grunted and focused for a moment, before moving his hands apart to rip a decent sized-hole in the tin can of a gate.

Nicky grinned. "That'll do." She quickly made for it, hopping neatly through the hole in the fence. "Into the rich person's house we go. Looks like the door's open. I thnk Mx. Rizz-Ohio was expecting us."

Johnny cackled. "Oh that's how I like it. Y'all not half bad."

Will grimaced and followed Nicky, Gray, and Johnny onto the premises.

The overgrown traces of a path could be seen. Plants reached out over weathered stones, making tripping hazards all the way up to the open door. The door yawned open, revealing a dimly lit entryway.

Johnny seemed to know where he was going. They followed the hallway until it branched, took the left fork, turned right, then entered a series of doors that ended in an iron door. Nick grimaced at the sight of the door.

"Well that's a heavy duty locking bolt. You could probably rip it but that might have all sorts of bad side effects if any fail safe triggers. So let me try and disarm whatever's system's active here first."

Nicky got to work once again, muttering and inspecting, only this time after a little bit, she reached into her pocked, pulling out something like a chisel and popping off a panel in the door. She fiddled about with something, the thing hissing and sparking a couple of times. That didn't really seem to bother Nicky, who kept at it until there was a loud beep and a garbled voice came over some ancient intercom system.

"Rity... Tem... Sabled."

Nicky turned around and flashed a thumbs up. "All ready to be ripped up Gray. Stage's all yours now. Security system should be fully down."

Gray grumbled to himself and ripped that one open too.

"Sweet baby corn fields. Now that's what I call rockin'" Johnny grinned wide floating throw. Inside on a velvet cushion sat a guitar that looked very much like an antique.

Nicky grinned and waltzed right through the door. "Well there's ya prize Johnny boi."

Will peered into the room. A few other items sat on shelves on the walls, but the guitar was clearly the centerpiece. "Happy now, Johnny?" he asked.

Johnny nodded, somehow by some miracle picking the guitar up and strumming a cord. "Ahhhh. Horrifyingly out of tune but my baby's back with me. I must thank you all kindly. I hope Bellypoo makes a recovery. Y'all are not bad not gonna lie."

NIcky grinned. "Why thank you." Gray just grunted, looking mildly peeved.

"Well then. We're done here, yeah?"

Johnny nodded. "Deal's done. And a done deal's a done deal."

Will smiled. "Then goodbye and see you never." He turned to leave.

"Hey!" Darvi ran near the door. "Belinda's awake. Lucid awake!"

Nicky jumped. "Well Cheerio to you then. I think that's our cue to leave this place!"

Will's smile widened, and without further ado, they ran out of the mansion and back to Belinda.

Belinda's head hurt worse than anything had ever hurt before as her eyes opened. Her stomach felt signifcantly more queasy than it had any right to be. She groaned softly. "Who hit me with a sailboat?"

Nicky was by her side, gently helping her to her feet along with Juniper and Darvi. "Johnny Silverhand. Part Time Rockerboy. Full Time Asshole."

"Don't worry, he's hanging out with his guitar now. Shouldn't bother us anymore, hopefully," Will said.

"Who?" Belinda rubbed her eyes.

Before anyone answered her, a familar sibling crushed her with a hug. "Don't you ever fucking do that to me again or I will find a new necromancer to drag you back into the world just to yell at you."

Belinda patted Darvi's head. "I'm fine, Darvi."

"Don't 'I'm fine, Darvi' me! You've been unconcious for Gemini knows how long and then you wake babbling about tar and ceiling discos! Do you have any idea how hurt you were?" Darvi sighed, rubbing their forehead.

Belinda sighed. "I will be fine, then. I'm not dead."

Nicky patted Belinda on the back. "Glad you're not dead. I think we should all get back to the ship as soon as we possibly can. I don't think any more time on this island is going to do any of us any good. Its pretty clear everything here is dead and we get enough evidence on that."

"But the ghosts. They're trapped here. We need to set them go." Belinda pulled away from the ones supporting her.

Nicky nodded. "Very well. Let's get moving. You can try to free them as we go. As soon as that's done we're running full tilt back to the ship. Right Darvi?"

"Right. Even if I have to kidnap all of you." Darvi crossed their arms.

"Good enough for me. Let's go." Belinda dusted off her dress and started heading for the ghost hub, the rest of the gang trailing behind.



Belinda knew they were arriving at the place by the feeling in the air. People would say that a ghost's presence was cold: a chill down your spine, an unexplained breeze. But that was a simplification by those who never understood the weight a human soul had outside of its shell. Most people see themselves as their fleshy bits. A human was a face connected to a torso usually connected to a number of limbs. That's what they saw in the mirror. That's what they could run a hand against.

That's what ghosts missed when they were gone.

But Belinda never felt that coldness, no. It was more of a buzzing. Like the moment before lighnting strikes at her feet and her hair stands on end. It wasn't as much of a presence as much as a feeling. The entire building felt like that except it wasn't just one lightning strike. She was tied to a lighnting rod in the biggest electrial strom since The Great Ending.

She opened the doors, not bothering to make sure everyone came inside. This could be an intimate moment. The dead deserved that.

Beyond the electrcity was a conflicting sea of needs. Cries for mother or father or husband or child, cries to be released, to stay, to cease existence altogether. None of them answered, all of them whispered or screamed into the uncaring storm.

Belinda walked into the epicenter, becoming her own eye of the hurricane. Some ghosts rushed to her, desperate to wear her skin or feel her power grow them flesh again. Others cowered in their corners, not ready to leave this world behind, terrified of what was coming. Belinda was used to this, to the constant contradictions that threatened to tear her in half. That was how the world worked. No one agreed on anything, not even death.

Belinda raised her hands to the sky, opening her hands. Her recently restored power rushed through her sore muscles, emitting a soft lavender glow from the heartlines across her palms. "Spirits, souls, beloved, detested." Her eyes closed on the words flowed from her mouth like a practiced script. The words meant nothing. There were no rules to this, just the way the power curled around Belinda's vocal cords and helped her weild it in a way that she could rationalize. "I release you from the world. To wander the Earth is weariness. I offer you peace in the form of endless rest. You shall find your own way and lay your heads to sleep in a soft unknown."

The soft blow brightened into an almost harsh shine, bright enough to pierce through Belinda's eyelids. "I release you so that you may find the strength to release yourselves and find your unknown like the river finds the ocean. May you change for the better from it and lose yourself to the vastness of its comforts."

The electricty started dying now, the wind blowing the storm away. Far, far away from Belinda and her outstretched arms and her lavender light.

"I release you. So go."

Belinda's professors always asked her why she never ended with a shout, a climax of magic and well-wishing. She just never felt the need to. She wasn't sending them away as much as lending them strength to leave. She was unlocking the door, not creating it. A warm farewell, a peck on the cheek, the teasing placement of a hat was enough.

As Belinda sank to her knees, the glow and the storm died down. She opened her eyes to an empty warehouse. She panted into the cold air. It was done. They were free. She gathered herself and walked into the land of the living, licking her dry lips.

The door shut behind her. It was gentle, not like the wind slamming it shut, like someone was carefully closing it. She might have imagined it, but a smiling man, in a colorful shirt and shirts gave her a little thumbs up and a wink.

"Belinda? Are you okay? Was that too much after whatever happened with Captan Asshole?" Darvi rushed to her, her fussing hands already out.

Belinda dodged her hands. "You worry to much, Darvs. I'm in perfect health! The ghosts did most of the work."

NIcky walked up and patted her on the shoulder. "Amazing work! If you're not too tired though, I vote we start running about now. We've spent too long on this island already."

Belinda nodded. "Running sounds good. Come on! I'll race you all to the ship!" She took off before someone could protest or someone, likely Darvi, could call her childish.



As they were running up along the boarding stairway, Belinda was shocked to see Captain Sefarina, dressed like she was about to head out, one arm bandaged haphazardly, Idris practically glued other side, Sidney and Aquarius looking more somber than ever before and Naim, looking grim bringing up the rear.

Nicky didn't even seem to notice. "Leave. We need to leave now. Or like a few hours ago really."

Darvi ran up the ship. "Sefarina! What happened? You weren't supposed to leave!"

"Uhhh. Acid. Beetle. Bad. Was coming to look for y'all so we could leave. Probably need Juniper but you're right we should set sail first." Rina supplied.

Darvi groaned loudly. "I love you, Sefarina. But you have to stop scaring me like this."

Rina giggled, clearly a tiny bit out of it, probably from the pain. "Aww glad you love me Darvi. I love you too."

"We need to go, Captain." Rune gestured for everyone to get going. "On your order, Rina."

That seemed to sober Rina up some. "Alright, we can share stories later. For now Will, get the engines to full throttle, Nicky, Rune, Darvi man the guns in case something gives chase. I'm staying by the wheel in case the storm kicks up again. Everyone else inside! Juniper start working on injuries! Chop Chop! Let's get the heck out of here!"

Belinda sighed softly, glad to get off the island. She felt tried. She was going to take a nap.

Sefarina let out a loud sigh as she collapsed against the wheel of the ship. That had been an island and a half and it was taking its toll on Sefarina. Setting out with the promise of finding land and all of their maybe a little bit optimistic ideals of what they might found was all good until the point at which it was real.

No matter how paranoid Darvi's briefing had been. No matter how many tales were referred to in the pursuit of trying to find things. No matter what they did to prepare the real thing was somehow worse. Worse than any of the nightmares they'd had on the way to this horrifying hellhole called an island.

Sefarina was genuinely counting her lucky stars that she'd survived that to begin with. Dealing with one stupid acid thing had put her in a bandage that wasn't going to be able to come off for a week.

She was lucky at just how good of a doctor Juniper happened to be. She really was the best of the best. She had a sinking feeling that if it had been just any run of the mill doc that was reasonably qualified to be on a normal navy ship, she probably would've ended up losing an arm to an injury on that magnitude. That was not an experience she wanted to relive, but at the same time, this voyage was just beginning. They'd only found land once. There was definitely not enough evidence there to stop. What lay ahead of them, Sefarina could only assume would be more of the same.

Or worse.

Will walked up. "Ship's doing well. Engines are running smoothly, no places are showing extreme wear... All in all, it's holding up nicely. Unlike us people." He grimaced, likely remembering what had happened on the island as well.

Sefarina nodded, doing her best to keep up a smile, but at the same time having to acknowledge the gravity of what they'd all gone through back on that island there. "We're going to have to get used to it unfortunately. We'll do our best. We've got a resilient bunch. Glad to hear the ship's at least doing well. Now that would've been a disaster we don't need."

She sighed heavily again.

"I had Darvi make the rounds of everyone. She'll be back with some news on what morale is like. Then we'll think about talking it over, once the ship's lost sight of that island and we're on calm waters for a bit."

"Sounds good. I'll say, this will all make for a good story someday... We just gotta survive until then." Will grinned. Rina nodded..

"That we do. That we do."

Darvi walked up to Sefarina. "Here for the report, Captain."

Rina nodded. "Oh good. How's everyone holding up so far? Is the morale okay? Any injuries that are going to prevent people from being able to actually go out and explore?"

"We had minimal injuries except for Belinda who got all of her energy stolen by a ghost. She's sleeping it off. Nicky and Will received a metaphorical eye injury after watching a mutant explode." Darvi sighed. "Not sure about overall morale."

Rina nodded. "Okay that sounds great. Perfect Perfect. The way that works out then, the only thing that's kind of going to affect a person's ability to perform is me for a couple more days, and Belinda until she's fully rested."

She hummed quietly and leaned back against the deck. "Yeah that could've gone a lot worse. A mutant lizard thing. A mutant bug. A horrible ghost that held us ransom. Yeah I think having only two people be sort of unable to do their work is a bonus."

Darvi nodded. "We were quite lucky. Hopefully that luck continues."

Sefarina nodded, letting out a sigh as she adjusted the wheel just a tiny bit. They would sail on for now. Out into the vast unknown. Well it wasn't entirely unknown anymore. Dangerous mutants would lurk on these islands. Products of the Great Ending and whatever had come after. After all, right on this deck was a man who could talk to ships, a shapeshifter, and a woman who could bend nature to her will. What horrors would await them in the times to come they could only imagine. They would simply have to be strong.

"Well now this ship is mighty fine." An annoying sounding male voice commented from the side.

Naim listened, yes. But sometimes the world was painful to listen to, and to see. The sight of Sefarina burned by acid lingered behind their eyelids when they tried to sleep, and they heard the ominous creaking and crackling of the island they'd now left behind, somehow present even beyond the ever-crashing waves.

They tried to ignore it. Eavesdropping on the other members of the crew helped. So did hanging out in the kitchen with Gray.

Eventually, they were better able to tune out the remnants of their experiences on the island, except for the ghost, who insisted on lurking around the ship. Naim regarded him warily. He would've been better than them at being sneaky, if not for his penchant to throw out insults and sarcastic comments.

Still, the spirits of the crew had mostly lifted by the time Naim spotted another island from the crow's nest. They clambered down the rigging, their crow companion, Crown, on their shoulder for once. He'd stayed behind when they'd gone to explore the previous island; a wise choice, in hindsight.

"Island spotted," Naim reported to Sefarina. "Seems dark." It had been nothing more than a black lump on the horizon, a sharp contrast from the waves that sparkled under the morning sunlight.

Sefarina looked up. "Dark? As in the land or just..the weather?"

Naim shrugged. "Everything. I can't make out more details-- it's like a patch of nothing floating on the water."

Sefarina frowned. "First storms. Now a wreath of darkness. Sounds like we're in for another terrifying experience."

Naim sincerely hoped not, but... "Probably." They looked forwards towards where the island was now a small black smudge on the horizon, gradually increasing in size. "Do we still need to explore it?" They knew the answer would probably be yes, but didn't hurt to ask.

Sefarina sighed. "You know. I wish I could say no, but unfortunately we did sign up to explore. Although I think this time we're turning back at the first sign that things are dead. Not leaving it open long enough to expose people to acidic creatures and ghostly possessions. If its dead, we move on."

"Good plan." Naim nodded grimly.

Rina nodded. "Yup. We're lucky that everyone's pretty much back to full health now. Given everything that went down there, I'm suprised that we've recovered this much."

"I am too." Naim walked to the railing and squinted towards the island. Would it be too much to hope for that they survived this encounter unscathed?

Rina nodded. "Setting sail then. Could you please notify Rune and Darvi? We need to prepare another landing party!"

"Gotcha." Naim saluted, then headed off in search of Rune and Darvi.



Fog wrapped around the molding masts of shipwrecks as they approached shore. It floated towards their ship and twined around the railings almost like a cat winding through someone's legs.

Next to Naim, Will shuddered. "This is like the stormy ghost island, but worse, somehow. At least the ships aren't screaming in my head? They're very quiet, actually."

The afternoon sun seemed to dim as they grew closer, despite them not being in the shadow of the island yet. The shore of the island was forbiddingly craggy to their left and right, a small strip of rocky beach straight ahead of them the only feasible landing spot. Rocks jutted out of the dark waters around them.

The temperature dropped. Naim shivered, suddenly feeling like they needed another layer over their tank top, which had been sufficient thus far. They listened carefully. No sound of birdcalls from the island. Just waves throwing themselves onto the shore and splashing over crags of rock yet not seeming to wear them away at all.

They were a few minutes away from shore when Crown flapped over and landed on the railing next to Naim. Gratefully, Naim activated one of their abilities-- the one that was linked to semiplume and allowed them to control their body temperature. Now, they didn't feel the chill, though they did observe frost spiderwebbing across the metal railing.

Landing was a quiet, somewhat unceremonious affair. They stopped a short distance from the shore, just before the ship would have scraped ground. Now, one could hardly tell it was afternoon. The sun seemed to be a dim pinprick of light far off in the distance, and it felt like twilight.

Naim shuddered as they watched the members of the scouting party line up. Reluctantly, they stepped forwards, Crown on their arm. They had a feeling their abilities would be useful here.