Young Writers Society

Lisa, Rodrin, and Meridian all froze and blinked at her, and even the bird seemed to pause in its attacking, hovering above them. Their gazes burned into her, Rodrin and Meridian's utterly confused and Lisa's vaguely amused. The seagull, of course, was glaring at her, and to hide the fact that her face was growing hot, she waved her sword at the seagull again. "Yeah, you heard me, get out of here!" she spat at it.

The seagull screeched again, and - looking entirely too smug for Callista's liking - flew away.

"Are we going to talk about that?" Rodrin asked, apparently no longer staying out of this.

Callista avoided eye contact with everyone as she brushed a feather off her shoulder. "Uh..."

"I don't think there's anything to talk about," Lisa said lightly. Before Callista could do anything, Lisa rose up on her toes and planted a light kiss on Callista's cheek. "Thanks, love. I'm going back below decks before another psycho bird attacks me." With that, she promptly disappeared, leaving Callista alone with Rodrin's judgement and Meridian's confusion.

Callista's mind couldn't recalibrate. That was the least-expected outcome of all.

"The bird means land is near," Meridian said, clearing his throat awkwardly to break the silence. To her, the island couldn't possibly be close enough.

"Is this your honeymoon?" Rodrin asked, looking like he was about to laugh.

"Obviously not," she grumbled as she went to sulk by the railing. "I wouldn't have you on it."



In the end, Meridian's prediction of fifteen minutes had been rather close. It still felt far too long for Callista. She'd rushed their illusion of disguise, only changing the color of the wood and the name of the boat, with all of her focus being on her impatience to leave the moment behind her. When Lisa had come back up-- hair fixed and neat again-- she'd shaken her head at her and made the blue sails red. Yet another embarrassing mistake.

They made it into the harbor safely, with no one giving them a second look. Rodrin tied up their ship at the dock. There was a man standing there to greet them when they descended. "Welcome to Redmarn Isle," he said cheerfully. "How long will you be here?"

"Just long enough to get it repaired," Rodrin said, gesturing towards one of the damaged parts of the side. "We ran into a sea serpent."

The man clicked his tongue. "We hear there's been one of those out there in these waters, terrorizing pirates lately. No one's been able to stop it."

"William Snakespeare," Lisa corrected him, and when the pirate's face turned confused, the other three gave her looks that said to pick a different hill to die on. "Er, never mind. Anyway, we actually cut one of his fangs off."

The man looked delighted now. "Wonderful! You'll be the talk of the town. They'll all want to hear of the brave crew of four that fought off the beast--"

"Hold on," Meridian interrupted. "We're just passing through, and while that really is quite kind, we won't be staying here long enough for that kind of attention."

But the man had already turned around and taken a few steps away, calling out to anyone who would listen. "Hey! These newcomers fought and won against the giant snake!"

"This is just great," Callista growled under her breath. "We'll be celebrities and revered as gods before we're recognized as traitors and thrown in an oubliette."

Lisa shoved them all away. "Remember the plan. I'll stay here and keep the illusion up, they shouldn't recognize me alone without the rest of you," she whispered, and Callista couldn't help but feel disappointed that she wasn't coming along. "You go do your thing and be back in a few hours."

"Yep, let's get out of here," Meridian agreed, grabbing her and Rodrin by the sleeves.

"Good luck, darling," Lisa called after her. Callista could only ask her question-- what in the seven seas are you doing?-- as a silent glance over her shoulder. But the gambler was already being swarmed by an enthusiastic crowd and wasn't able to answer it with a look of her own. Maybe she hadn't even seen it.

They managed to escape the scene without getting noticed, and as they headed for the market, the clamoring of the crowd behind them faded away. Callista didn't realize she'd had her fists clenched until Rodrin pointed it out.

"Are you going to punch someone?"

"How kind of you to volunteer your face," she growled at him, startling several nearby people with the threat and causing them to give them some space.

"Why can't we just calmly buy ourselves a snack," Meridian grumbled under his breath.

"Because sandboy's irritating and he activates my instinct to fight," Callista snapped, at the time time that Rodrin stated, "Because she's arrogant and has been a thorn in my side for a day now."

"Fine. I'm going to get in line for a pastry." Meridian huffed and left.

Callista was hungry herself, but she ignored the urge to follow as she glared at him. "I'm arrogant? You made yourself captain, if I recall."

Rodrin folded his arms over his chest. "Actually, I did give you a promotion so that your arrogance wouldn't be the end of us all."

"Really? You think that's what would bring us down?" His frown deepened, and she went on. "Nothing at all to do with that you're so gloomy and grumpy and unfriendly, a prophecy had to tell us to 'steer clear' of you?"

"It gave us some warnings about you too," Rodrin spat. "Murderer."

Callista stood straighter and taller at the accusation. At least he seemed to buy the lie. "If I'm a murderer, what does that make you? A hypocrite? Just because you killed a friend doesn't mean I would."

Rodrin wasn't answering. It took her a moment to realize why. He was shaking with barely-suppressed rage, teeth gritted together to prevent something from slipping out, fists clenched at his sides. Callista dimly registered that everything else around them had gone nearly completely quiet too, and a quick glance told her why. The pirates around them had gone wide-eyed and stopped whatever they had been doing to watch and listen. This wasn't a good conversation to be having in front of so many people.

"Cut it out!" Meridian shouted, waving some golden-brown pastry at them. "You're attracting attention."

She'd gone too far. She knew she had.

Rodrin finally unlocked his jaw. "Shame on you."

Callista turned away before he saw her face. "Yes," she managed, before a sentence she actually wanted to say came to mind-- "I've got an errand to run."

"We should--" Meridian started.

She hurried off in large strides, fingers reaching for the bottle at her side and gripping it hard enough the glass was close to breaking. She'd finished most of it after the stress of the night before, and it felt lighter in her hand. She'd just have to hope the place to refill it was in this direction, because there was no way she'd be turning back around.

Lisa had indeed noticed Callista's glance of confusion and mild concern, but she hadn't been able to return it before her companions disappeared from sight. She really didn't know how to condense "don't worry, darling, I'm going to distract these pirates by telling them the story of our fight with the sea serpent (with some heavy embellishments) and lie through my teeth so that instead of remembering the actual people in the fight, they remember the dramatic details of the characters I made up (that happen to be based on us) and we don't get recognized as those people being accused of lots of murder" into a single glance, anyway.

"You fought the sea serpent?" someone asked.

"Just the four of you?" someone else shouted. "I don't believe it!"

"How'd you manage it?" a third person demanded.

"That thing's been terrorizing us for months!"

"No one can beat it!"

"Darlings, darlings!" Lisa called above the noise of the crowd. "If you'll be quiet for a moment, I'll tell you!"

She paused for a moment, taking note of exactly how large the crowd was becoming. Not everyone would be able to hear her - or see her, which was arguably just as important - if she stayed down here.

Conveniently for her, there was a small stack of crates nearby that she was able to climb onto and sit where she'd be easily visible. As she took a minute to settle herself comfortably on the crates, the crowd's questions quieted. Once all eyes were focused on her, she began.

"How many of you have actually seen the serpent?"

A few hands raised; about as many - or rather, as few - as she expected. In situations like this, 'terrorizing us for months' often meant 'I heard about the snake from a friend of a friend who swears they saw it and it wasn't just that they were drunk'.

"Ahhh, you're missing a real treat for the eyes, darlings."

As she spoke, her hair colour slowly shifted from a deep, royal blue, to the turquoise of the snake's scales, the purple streaks framing her face changing to the gold of its eyes. She tilted her head just a little, her own gold-hazel eyes catching the sun in just the right way to make them sparkle like a newly minted coin.

"Long enough to wrap itself around the ship at least five times," she said, her voice loud enough to carry to the back of the crowd, yet with a note of softness that felt as though she were speaking intimately to each pirate; a technique she'd honed over several years of storytelling. "Teeth taller than I am, each one white as bone and glittering as cold as frost. Scales the colour of clear lake water on a sunny day, and almost as reflective. And its eyes- ohh, its eyes."

She paused, just for a half-second, and the crowd collectively held their breath.

"Blindingly gold as the sun, and as paralyzing as any venom out there. One look at its slitted gaze, and you know your life is over."

She held out one hand and blew gently across her palm, and a slight mist collected there, swirling and condensing into a tiny form of the snake. The people at the front tried to lean forward and get a better view; the people at the back simply looked confused as to what she'd done.

With a smirk, she tossed the snake into the air, sending the tiny illusion soaring above the crowd- and then all of a sudden it wasn't tiny anymore, and the massive fake serpent slithered to the ground, wrapping its long, lithe body around the crowd and rearing up to tower over them, mouth opened wide and fangs dripping with saliva.

Immediately, every pirate drew at least one weapon, but when one brave pirate poked the snake with his sword and the serpent's scales dissolved briefly into mist before shifting back into place, they all relaxed marginally and turned back to Lisa to hear what she had to say next- although a few pirate still kept a wary eye on the giant reptile.

"This," Lisa declared, waving a hand at the snake, "is the view that greeted myself and my crewmates once we'd stumbled onto the deck. It had cowardly attacked us from beneath first, rocking the ship again and again, but we made it above deck anyway, and we faced the monster head-on.

"At first, we were heavily outmatched by the beast. My companions and I haven't been working together long- we ended up getting in the way of each other more than anything. The snake dived at us over and over, snapping - barely - on nothing but air, but recoiling before we could do any real damage to it. Bullets and swords bounced uselessly off its diamond-hard scales, wasting our strength and our precious ammunition. It hadn't injured any of us - yet - but already, we knew we were in trouble.

"Then, it got me."

The crowd inhaled sharply, equal parts concern and admiration mixed into their expressions. They were hooked on her every word, whatever task they'd been doing before she showed up completely forgotten now. They believed her, too- she could tell them that the serpent had suddenly grown arms and climbed onto the ship to try and rip it apart with a hundred sharp claws, and they'd accept it without a second thought.

Slowly, as she'd continued to talk, her hair had begun shifting through all the colours of the rainbow; slowly enough that if you weren't paying attention, it wasn't noticeable when it changed. Her eyes had begun to change as well, cycling through the colours until it wasn't clear what colour they'd begun as. It was a trick she'd quickly learned would make her unrecognizable - people would argue endlessly about what she actually looked like - and would give her plausible deniability if she was recognized.

"It dived toward me, and I could count every single sharp tooth as it opened to swallow me whole."

The illusory snake slithered around, still keeping coils of its body looped around the crowd, until its head was hovering right next to Lisa. She reached up and lightly patted the misty snake's nose.

"I kept my cool and fired a few shots into its mouth, but that wasn't enough to stop it from tossing me in the air and snapping me up. Before it had a chance to end me, though, one of my crewmates dived forward and attacked with his Affinity, forcing the snake to drop me.

"I was injured and out of commission. The two crewmates still attacking physically couldn't get close enough to stab it, and the fourth crewmate had been knocked over the railing, too stunned from using his Affinity to get out of the way in time. If we didn't think of something - quickly - we were all going to be snake food.

"So, using my illusion Affinity, we set a trap. The snake attacked an empty spot of deck that looked absolutely delectable to it, and my crewmates lunged in, breaking off one of its fangs and sliding a sword under the scales and into the soft flesh beneath. With a screech, the beast backed off, sinking back beneath the surface to slither back to its lair and lick its wounds. We had won- for now."

With a click of her fingers, the fake serpent screeched, a wounded cry that had some of the pirates covering their ears, and dissolved back into mist.

"Our ship was heavily damaged, though, and we needed repairs as quickly as possible," she finished. "And we ended up here."

"You called the snake William Snakespeare?" the pirate who'd first greeted them at the docks called.

"Yes!" Lisa replied with a grin. "My crew decided that if it had gone down so easily - we'd just knocked out a tooth and it immediately left - we should give it a properly ridiculous name. So- William Snakespeare."

The crowd muttered, and she heard a few repeated questions of "William Snakespeare?" scattered throughout the people, but for the most part, they seemed to accept it.

Inwardly, she smirked. Listen to these people, Callista, and then tell me again that William Snakespeare is a stupid name.

As she leaned back to simply watch the crowd discuss her story for a minute, someone on the very edge of the crowd caught her eye. An older woman, probably about fifty, with short grey hair and piercing hazel eyes, stood just outside the crowd of excited pirates, glaring directly at Lisa.

Lisa levelly met her gaze for a moment, then returned to watching the crowd. Some of the pirates crowded around her were finishing up their conversations and looking back up at her with eyes hungry for more stories.

Well, if that's what they wanted, she was happy to oblige.

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"Rodrin, we should go," Meridian said, nudging Rodrin. He said the next sentence in a low voice so the crowd wouldn't hear. "We've gotten too much attention."

It was clear that he was right. The people around them were exchanging whispers between glances at them. He noticed at least one person split off from the growing crowd outside of their ship, purposefully following Callista as she left for whatever it was she needed to do. They'd need to get out of here before they got tracked as well.

"Right," he muttered. "It's a bit late to fix that." But he pushed through the crowd with Meridian and made it to a calmer part of the market.

This was a poor start to going undercover. First, Lisa had gotten swallowed up by a crowd, and now they'd alarmed everyone nearby with their arguing. Pirates fought often, but for that reason, disturbing the peace was considered a problem. Rodrin didn't want anyone thinking they were up to no good, or else they might get reported to Guild Enforcer-- and that would be a serious issue.

As he and Meridian weaved through the bustling marketplace as people finally finished their tasks for the day and everyone wanted to be the evening crowd, thereby making a crowd of their. His eyes scanned the people he passed, and he could make out several Guild Enforcer thugs roaming the streets and peering into shops. The stubborn spy in him cringed at how obvious they were being, but sneaky masterminds Guild Enforcer were not. All of them except the Guild Leader...

Rodrin walked past a bulletin board, then stopped --almost making Meridian run into him. Rodrin scooted by him, and scanned the board, trying to confirm what he thought he saw was real.

Sure enough, there were two wanted posters littered amongst the many different scrolls and wooden tablets, one for Rodrin, who was wanted for "Guild Betrayal" and one for Meridian for "Treasonous Thievery".

Fake wanted reasons, but the bounties were good enough that it would sway enough pirates to warrant them staying away from ports until they needed to. Like no pirate in their life had left their guild or stolen from a royal before.

Meridian peered over his shoulder. "Why would they hide the real reasons they're hunting us down?" He whispered, speaking Rodrin's own thoughts out loud. And Rodrin didn't have an answer.

They had his nose a bit wrong, and he looked much younger than he actually was. Good, they didn't know how he looked so it would be all the harder for them to find him. Meridian's was actually a good depiction of him, but he was absolutely offended by the "horrendous disservice" they did to him, which Rodrin was quick to point out that that was a good thing, but all that did was made him huff.

"All the more reason for us to get out of here as soon as possible. We need to make sure Callista isn't in trouble or causing trouble." In his head though, Rodrin was sure he had said or thought something incredibly similar to that at least once with Callista. In this short amount of time they had been around each other, Callista had managed to make Rodrin's life a living hell. It was like she was his own personal bad luck charm.

He suddenly got very tired and stopped in his tracks, once again almost making Meridian run into him. He also got some disgruntled noises from those by him as they had to navigate around him. An overwhelming urge to just drop all of this washed over him, weighing him down like an anchor on the shore. The prospect of doing this over and over, the same old loop, wore him out. Callista seemed more than fine with playing this game still, but Rodrin realized, then and there, that his mind and body were utterly over it.

He could really use a drink.

Rodrin turned to Meridian. "Listen, go after Callista and make sure she doesn't get in trouble. No making a scene." After he said it, Rodrin realized he was asking the absolute worst combination of people not to make a scene. Even Lisa would be better than Meridian in this.

"And where might you be going?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll meet you all back at port." At Meridian's eye raise, Rodrin added, "I'm not Callista." That seemed to make him a bit more at ease, and he scurried off in the direction of Callista.

Rodrin allowed himself to merge back into the sea of merchants, walking nowhere in particular. As usual, he kept his senses aware of the usual suspects and if anything particularly unusual was happening around him, but his thoughts were compeletely wrapped around himself.

For the longest time, all Rodrin had asked for in life was for it to stop bullying him. All he really wanted was just to have a normal, unbothered, life. He had way too many "once-in-a-lifetime" things to happen to him for a thousands times. For a moment, Guilless had given him that. And then she was murdered, and his life had gone spiralling downhill ever since. He hadn't had a semblence of normalcy since seeing her lifeless eyes, let alone having a time to fully process his grief, and now he was on an impossible mission to do something impossible with an unlikely group of people who either wanted him dead or didn't really care about him, and he was supposed to be leading them. Leading them to where? Their deaths?

Did any of them actually believe in what they were looking for? Did any of them believe in each other --besides Callista and Lisa and their... thing--? Did any of them believe in Rodrin?

He was tasked with an impossible responsibility. Well, multiple responsibilities. He didn't know what was more difficult: making this team work or fulfilling the prophecy.

He had never felt so alone. Even when his parents were brutally murdered, his childish charm on how life operated allowed him to ignore a lot of brutality he experienced. Now, though, there was no one on his side.

He stopped at an inn, one further away from the port center.

He really could use a drink.

Callista knew two people were following her. Somehow, neither of them had gotten the hint that it was better for both her and them to have her be alone for a bit. Not only that, but she was surprised that Rodrin would try to follow after that. Maybe he wanted the last word.

She wasn't sure if she would have to take it back or not. Her little war with Rodrin was causing all sorts of problems and didn't need to exist in the first place, but they were both too petty to call it off. Callista had learned the hard way she couldn't afford to pull her punches, even if the bruises she made looked sore. Rodrin would retaliate in a few hours and this would be just another incident between them.

Footsteps behind her to her left sped up, and she grimaced, guessing what it meant. Sure enough, Meridian popped up by her side.

"You've got to stop that," he hissed. "People are watching and you look like you're on your way to murder someone."

"Bold of you to assume I'm not."

Meridian paused. "...Are you? Is that your errand--"

"No." Callista gritted her teeth together and the sound came out like a hiss.

"Okay. Well, I don't know what that was or what you're up to, but you need to look less angry."

Callista could have laughed. "That's not so much my thing. You-- and Rodrin, I know he's around here somewhere-- should know that by now."

Meridian's brow furrowed. "Rodrin's not here. He sent me after you to make sure you calmed down. He went the other way, further into the town."

That gave her pause. "But there's someone else following me."

"Not Rodrin. I saw someone break away from the crowd and go in the same direction as you, but I couldn't tell what kind of pirate."

Callista cursed under her breath but kept walking. She knew she was been watching, but it was better not to look for who. That way, the person following wouldn't know she was aware of them. Unfortunately, since her guess had been wrong, it meant they were in trouble. "Fine. I'll loosen up a little."

Meridian let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"You can stay for the walk, but when I get there, I don't want you entering the store with me, so you'll have to wait outside. Deal?"

He looked confused, and she thought he might object, but he nodded. "I'll stand guard and keep an eye out for that other person."

"Alright." It was good he'd agreed. He'd seen too much already.

Callista was glad that Rodrin and Lisa hadn't been there for-- whatever he'd done with her memories the evening before, but it still made her uncomfortable that Meridian knew. She wasn't sure he had any idea what that memory in particular meant, but she felt vulnerable. She didn't have mental armor to defend herself against whatever it was he could do.

She scanned the road of stalls and shops, looking for the kind she needed. Every pirate harbor worth its salt would have one, but it wasn't always on the main street. Callista suddenly ducked into a narrower side road, surprising Meridian, but he quickly understood why. He did the same and caught up to her again. Hopefully their pursuer would get confused and lose them for a few minutes.

They walked for a little longer before she spotted what she was looking for. She tugged his sleeve very slightly to pull him in that direction instead of speaking out loud. Meridian's eyes went to the sign: Magical Wares and Items. A questioning look fell over his face, but he shrugged and nodded.

When they reached the shop's door, Callista paused with a hand on the doorknob. "Watch your back. Yell 'locust swarm' loudly if you need help."

Meridian chuckled. "Will do," he said.

Callista smirked, but she sobered up quickly before she opened the door and entered.

The store had the exact same ambience as all the others like it across the islands. Dim candlelight illuminated shelves stocked full of items with tags describing their use. Some of them seemed to glow; others seemed to swallow up the shadows they were in. The store was empty except for her and the merchant behind a counter that cut through the room from wall to wall. Callista knew the shelves behind the counter were always the ones with the more dangerous products. The ones on her side could be browsed, but if someone was in search of something unusual, they'd have to ask.

The seller shot her a smile, her eyes bright as she leaned forward on the counter. "What can I help you with today?"

Callista took out her flask and reached into the pocket behind its usual position on her belt. She pulled out a small slip of paper that had been folded and unfolded many times over and set it on the counter. The word written on the paper in refined, elegant lettering, was not in her own handwriting. "I need this."

The merchant frowned in a thoughtful way as she held it up to the light of a candle to better read it. Callista clenched her jaw as she saw how close the paper was getting to the flame. "I haven't had someone ask for this in a while."

"Do you have it?" She would be in a tight situation if she didn't. It had been such a dangerous time that she'd almost finished drinking what she had already-- and to think she'd filled up just yesterday morning.

Thankfulily, the merchant nodded in response. "Just a minute." She disappeared into a back room, and while she was gone, Callista was able to breathe out a sigh of relief.

When she came out, she was holding a small leather pouch. She held it open for Callista to see that it was indeed what she'd asked for-- a fine gray-blue powder. She reached in and pinched it between her fingers. It felt soft, a bit like loose soil. She nodded to confirm it was the right thing.

"Mix it with water, but don't boil the water beforehand," the merchant said. "Then shake and--"

"I know what to do," Callista said, cutting her off as gently as she could.

The shop owner's expression got solemn all of a sudden and she nodded. "Right. Of course you do." She cleared her throat. "Five gold pieces, then."

Callista set the money-- all of which were from her recent gambling-- on the table. "Can I have that paper back?"

She shrugged and handed it over.

"Thanks." Callista folded the paper again and set it, along with the pouch, back in the pocket behind her bottle.

The merchant nodded, then tilted her head to the side as she frowned. "Who is yelling about a locust swarm?"

Her head snapped up as she put a hand on the hilt of her sword. "That's my cue to leave, actually." She didn't explain things any further to the bewildered merchant as she rushed outside.

Three pirates had forced Meridian to back up against the shop wall. His hands were up, not in surrender, but to show he meant no harm. One of them was leaning in rather close, with a sneer on his face.

"I told you, we weren't up to anything," Meridian protested, as his eyes went to Callista. She immediately understood that the pirate who had been following them had gotten a couple friends to help him out.

A second pirate, who Callista was going to call Bad Hat (because frankly, whatever he had on his head looked awful), raised his eyebrows at her. "I've heard several reports that she started an argument that very nearly escalated to violence. We take that seriously."

Oh. She realized with some fear that these weren't just any pirates. They were from Guild Enforcer.

"No, I know that guy," she said smoothly. "He can take it. We get into arguments all the time and it never results in a physical fight with each other."

Thankfully, the Enforcers had all their attention on her, because Meridian was rolling his eyes at the lie.

"Whether you make a habit of it or not doesn't matter," the pirate she'd seen first said, and the one who hadn't spoken yet nodded. She quickly scanned them for a distinctive feature and settled on the names of Skull Earrings and Freckles, respectively. "We're going to need you-- and him, if we can find him-- to come with us for disturbing the peace."

"I'm going to need you to--"

Meridian cleared his throat loudly before she could say anything vulgar. "She's in a hurry and has a short temper, sorry," he said with an uneasy laugh, which quickly died when the Enforcers glared at him. "I'm sure it won't happen again."

"We still have to take both of them in," Freckles said.

"In fact, you should probably come along too," Bad Hat snickered. "For getting in the way."

Callista exchanged a glance with Meridian. Not good.

"So, he's from Guild Prometheus, but he hasn't shared anything else with us," Skull Earrings said with a growing smirk. "Are you going to share, or will we have to get it out of you the hard way?"

She huffed scornfully. "Oh, no need to do anything. Your personality is torture enough."

Skull Earrings took a threatening step forward, but Freckles held up a hand. "No, we're not going to fight. We'll just take them in."

"We're always left with the boring stuff," Bad Hat grumbled. "Nothing bad ever happens here. Someone stole a banana two days ago and it was the only thing to respond to, so our entire force on this island went to deal with it. Is that what we've come to? Banana crime watch?"

"Would you rather be assigned to the wild goose chase for those four who blew up Virakis?" Skull Earrings demanded, as Callista and Meridian tensed a little. "No? Then shut up."

"Speaking of," Freckles said, gesturing to Meridian, "wasn't one of them wearing black leather gloves like that?"

Meridian widened his eyes. "Plenty of people wear gloves."

"That's true," Bad Hat said to Freckles. "But not in this warm weather. Honestly, the only other detail I remember about our suspects was that one of them had blue hair, so that's not a lot to go on."

"There was a girl out on the docks like that," Skull Earrings grumbled. "Didn't these three just get here?"

As the three Enforcers huddled together to discuss, Callista put a hand on her sword while Meridian slowly reached for his pistols.

"They did, yes," Freckles said. "Maybe they came together."

"Maybe it's worth investigating then," Skull Earrings concluded.

"Finally, something more interesting than banana duty," Bad Hat said excitedly. The Enforcers turned back around. "You're under arrest for--"

The tip of Callista's sword was at his throat, while Meridian had his guns raised at the other two.

Freckles took a step back, cursed, and held up one hand. A orange light shot up from his palm like a flare and burst in the air above-- using his Affinity as a signal. "We need backup over here!"

"Run!" Meridian hissed, shoving her as he dashed off. And rather than standing her ground like she normally would have, Callista was inclined to follow.

They sprinted off in the same direction they had came in, shouting for people to move out of the way. Sometimes the crowd would move aside, but other times they'd run into someone and have to keep going without apologizing. Callista looked over her shoulder and saw the unwelcome sight of a dozen additional pirates from Guild Enforcer, as well as the original three, in hot pursuit.

"Don't stop!" she shouted to Meridian.

They saw Rodrin in the same market square that they'd split up in, and she noticed he looked... different. Not half as mad as she thought he would be. He waved something he was holding at them as they got closer. "I found these letters," he hollered. "They say--"

"No time!" Callista screeched. "Just run!"

Rodrin's eyes widened as they passed him and he was able to see who was following them. He quickly ran along with them. "Could you not get us in trouble for thirty minutes?"

"We tried!" Meridian yelled between gasps. "Next time, don't start fights in marketplaces!"

Callista saw with surprise that Rodrin was running faster than he had been in Virakis, and the wound on his back was looking much better. No doubt that made it easier. "Did-- did you heal?"

"No time," he snapped, quoting her words back at her as they approached the dock. She had to agree. Hopefully she'd be able to ask later, without their next conversation being in a jail cell.

The Coiling Serpent. A fitting name, Rodrin thought as he pushed the doors open. The inn was bustling, which wasn't a surprise. If there was one place that would be busy in a pirate town (besides the jail) it was going to be a tavern. He did a quick scan of the atmosphere.

A few Guild Enforcer thugs, but they were keeping to themselves in a dark corner of the room. Whether that corner was dark before they arrived or because they arrived, it didn't change the observation that they were definitely sticking out from the rest of the crowd. At least they weren't causing a scene. Yet. It was good to see the other pirates had the same attitude that he had towards those thugs. While order was important to the pirate code to keep everything from falling apart, brutality like Enforcer dictates was disgusting. Furia had done a much better job using a more graceful hand compared to the Enforcer's fist. If it's one thing that pirates don't take kindly to, it's rules being shoved in their faces. Rodrin didn't mind order, but he grew to know that most pirates didn't agree with him.

Rodrin knew that the most shady looking people were people who attempted to hide, so he sat himself on a barstool with just enough distance between him and the next person that he didn't have to actually hide his face. He winced at the sudden hard surface on his rear, and it shocked his muscles and sent his wounds roaring back to life. Some alcohol sounded like a good remedy at the moment. He ordered a Smoking Barrel, a common drink around the islands, although he knew some guilds offered less actual alcohol than others. He knew not what guild claimed this island, but after a sip he could declare this Smoking Barrel was adequate. He's had better, but he's definitely had worse. He thanked the bartender with a flip of a coin and she grabbed it wordlessly from the air while cleaning out a glass. While sipping, he glanced around over his glass. Besides the sulking Enforcers, a group of Guild Mystics were loudly clamoring around a table in the middle, arguing over who was the most drunk. He felt some Affinities being tossed around in that drunken debacle. There were a few Guild Rogues in another corner, also sulking, but that was to be expected.

Callista would have smacked him for that thought. I wonder if she knew some of her clan were here by now. Wouldn't be good news, that was for sure. Rodrin pondered if some of his guildmates were on this island. Doubtful. They were so far away from Isle Forsaken, it was pointless and frankly dangerous for them to be so far out from Guilless' wings.

Not that that mattered anymore.

Rodrin gulped down the rest of his drink, signalling for another.

Some thugs from Guild Berserk were comparing blades, their thickness, their length, their sharpness, the amount of nicks on them, and more. Rodrin inwardly suggested that they go upstairs if they were going to compare blades, and that made him smile, a slight smile that barely curled the edges of his lips, but the warmth he felt from it was something he hadn't felt in what could have been centuries. He realized he hadn't smiled since Guilless made him smile, and that made his heart hurt all the more. He hadn't truly been happy for a bit now. His smile vanished just like that. Perhaps it was just the warmth of the alcohol in his gut that offered him some kind of joy.

The bartender slid a glass to him and he flipped another coin in the air to her, which she accepted before returning to her work. Since he made cooking his profession, he had gained a particular sense to make sure he gave appreciation for the workers that made things run smoothly. Bartenders, just like cooks, were the backbone of anything good. You could always judge a place on how they treated their cooks and how their cooks treated you.

He flashed another glance at the burly Berserk brutes before downing his in one gulp. He could feel his wounds sighing in submission to the alcohol and his muscles loosened. He realized there was a ton of tension he had been unknowingly keeping in his neck, jaw, and shoulders, and the liquor had not just revealed to him the knots, but let them relax without him paying attention. He rolled his neck, cracking it multiple times, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Those brutes are a sight to see, huh." Rodrin peered over his now empty glass as a pirate sat down on the barstool to his left. He didn't respond and instead waved the bartender for another. "Yeah, they're annoying, but nowhere near as annoying when their guts are splitting open on a table. They get really grumpy at that."

Rodrin raised a brow at that. Was that this guy's way of introducing himself to someone? Rodrin wasn't one to talk since he wasn't an outspoken guy himself, but if he was cringing on the inside, then he knew it was bad. And the other guy knew it was too, as he noticed him visibly recoil at his own horrible opener.

"Sorry, that was a joke among us in Guild Mercy. Those in Berserk are slash first, think last." He chuckled at that awkwardly, and Rodrin just sipped his drink in response, staring forward. "Getting off on the wrong foot again. My name's Kuskyn. Guild Mercy." He held out a hand. Rodrin glanced at him, not offering one in return, instead diverting his attention back to his drink. In that glance, he couldn't make out any weapons on his person from what he could see. Kuskyn, if that was his name, was only wearing the open vest native to this island and flowy pants. Revealing, which meant not many places to hide a weapon. That was, unless Kuskyn was an assassin like Rodrin.

"I noticed the wounds." Rodrin tensed, prepping himself to grab his blade. "Were you one of the pirates who fought the sea serpent?" Rodrin smiled into his glass as he took a drink. Why didn't he think of that, that was the perfect cover for his Virakis wounds.

"Yes." He finally relented.

"I'm amazed that you survived and encounter with that thing, let alone with that little injuries." Kuskyn lifted a hand near Rodrin's shoulder, tracing a cut of his in the air. Rodrin instinctively pushed away a few inches. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm from Guild Mercy."

"I got that."

"Yeah, I just, well, wounds are kind of our thing."

"I gathered that, too."

Kuskyn chuckled nervously, and Rodrin felt himself smiling as well at the stupidity of the situation.

"Well, I'd love to hear about how you fought that sea serpent. Over some drinks?" He gestured to Rodrin's drink.

He glanced at it. "Smoking Barrel," he let out.

"Nice, nice, a classic. But not the best this island has to offer." Kuskyn waved the bartender over. "Two Serpent's Fangs, please."

Ironic name. Fitting.

As Kuskyn got his glass, he leaned over to Rodrin. "Anyway, I got your drink's name but not yours?"

Rodrin flashed a sly smile. Although he sounded innocent, Kuskyn was sneaky. But... something in him relented and allowed it. "Ren." Rodrin said. "The name's Ren."

"Well Ren," Kuskyn said, raising his glass, "how about that serpent fight?"

They clinked glasses.



"--So you mean to tell me that your crew named the serpent while you were in the middle of defeating it?" Kuskyn clamored, laughing in between sipping his Serpent's Fang.

"Well, it clearly wasn't my idea, but yes, if you see an injured serpent near the docks, it is at least somewhat unironically named William Snakespeare."

"And who was the wonderful person who came up with that name?"

"Definitely not me, you'd have to thank--" Rodrin almost slipped up and said Lisa's name. He cleared his throat and covered it with a drink. "You'll have to thank my ship's doc, Lauren."

"Lauren, eh? She did quite a job on you." Kuskyn said, eyeing Rodrin's wounds. "I'm surprised you're walking and laughing like you are."

"It looks worse than it feels," Rodrin said with a small awkward chuckle.

"Oh, handsome and humble."

Rodrin waved off the compliment. "You must be blind."

Kuskyn scoffed under his drink, and they glanced at each other. Suddenly, Rodrin had the unfathomable urge to belt out a laugh. It started small, but Kuskyn caught on and joined in the laughter.

Rodrin's laughter cut short, as his back spasmed. It felt like someone was stabbing him in his wound while simultaneously a hive of angry bees swarmed under skin that wasn't there. It felt like his wound was trying to heal but not without complaining the entire time. He struggled to reach the small of his back. He found the extra bandage Lisa put on his gaping wound. It was wet, and his fingers were painted maroon. He chuckled emptily. "I think a drank a bit too much."

"You know, I could clean up those wounds properly." Kuskyn said. "No offense to your medic. Just... can I?" He hovered a hand over the slash on Rodrin's shoulder. Rodrin glanced at Kuskyn's hand, then his face. Reluctantly, he nodded.

Kuskyn tugged at the loose knot on his bandaged shoulder and let it fall. He laid his hand on the cut gently, and closed his eyes. His hands glowed, showing the bones and nerves in his hand and arm, up to his elbow. Rodrin saw the same glow on his shoulder in the corner of his vision.

He felt warmth, the tingling sensation of healing, but the sensation soured, burning. Healing sped up. Rodrin had never felt this sensation before. It was strange, but also nice. Tension around his shoulders lessened and aches he must've had for ages vanished. He groaned in relief, and Kuskyn chuckled at that response. "I think-- I think you got rid of some issues from decades ago."

"I am glad to help." Kuskyn said, rubbing his shoulder. "I could.. heal the rest of those injuries, if you'd like."

Rodrin glanced back at him, an echo of a warm smile painted on his worn face. "I would quite like that."

Kuskyn smiled wryly. "I have a room upstairs if you want."

Rodrin gulped down his drink, his stomach jumping in knots, presumably in retaliation to the multiple drinks he's had. Although, he has had drinks as strong as these before, and he's had his stomach revolt in protest to how he was treating it, but it never felt like this. He felt... nervous as he tossed a couple of coins on the bar and followed Kuskyn upstairs. Of course, the assassin in him knew that this could be a trap, and leading someone to a more private area to off them is a reliable tool of the trade. However, he didn't feel like this was the case. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he felt comfortable, and that wasn't something that happened often.

No, it wasn't the alcohol. He's been inebriated before during missions of his past, and that feeling never left. Even drunk, he was always aware of dangers.

He was... nervous. When was the last time he got nervous? He felt like a kid again, unsure of what he was about to get himself into, but not in the danger way, the innocent way. Has it been that long since his innocence was forcefully removed from him? The nerves performing aggressive twists in his gut let him know, in no uncertain terms, that this was the first time he felt this way in such a long time that he had forgotten how it felt.

The only question was: what was this feeling about?

Kuskyn stopped at a door about halfway down the hall and stuck a key in. He hesitated, and then glanced back at Rodrin with a guilty smile plastered on his face. In the dim light of the hallway, the smile gave him a sense of boyish innocence and playfullness. His smile instantly made Rodrin smile in return; it was too contagious not to.

Rodrin realized he wasn't paying attention to what Kuskyn had said whatsoever. "What?" he asked.

"I was saying to ignore the mess in my room. I genuinely wasn't expecting to have someone over." He laughed nervously. Rodrin was about to say that he was sure it wouldn't be that bad, but before he could open his mouth, Kuskyn opened his door.

Inside was a small room with a single bed, a desk, and other small pieces of furniture. In one corner of the room, there was a massive pile of medical equipment. But, otherwise, it didn't look messy. Rodrin said this aloud. "It doesn't look bad in here, truly, it just looks---"

"Lived in?" Kuskyn asked with a bit of hope in his tone.

"Yes, lived in." Rodrin reassured him. In reality, that was actually similar to what he was thinking: it was cluttered for the most part. It was clear Kuskyn had been in this room for a long while. And, through a quick inspection, Rodrin couldn't see any weapons. Kuskyn truly was an innocent medic; someone who wasn't involved with the brutality of war in the way Rodrin used to be. Sourly, he realized that he had been dragged back into it. Oh, to be a medic living in a port town with no worries besides the task at hand. What Rodrin would give to be in this life, rather than the one he was avoiding at the moment.

Kuskyn plopped down on the bed. "Come, sit."

Rodrin obliged with a cheeky smile. He sat with his hands in his lap as Kuskyn moved around his room, busying himself with collecting bandages, hot water, and some thin metal instruments. "I have to clean the larger wounds before I can, y'know, heal heal them. Don't wanna heal a wound with an infection in them, 'cause then I'd trap the infection inside. Would cause more harm than good in the long run. Definitely haven't had that happen before." He chuckled at his own poor attempt at humor, which ended with him glancing over at Rodrin, who was smiling and following him as he went through his motions. "...What?" Kuskyn asked, laughing through the questioning word.

"Nothing," Rodrin said. He didn't know what to add to that. He hoped that one word expressed what he was feeling at the moment, because he never was amazing at exploring them, let alone describing them. He was just enjoying being a part of what Kuskyn was doing. Words couldn't really explain what was going through his mind, and partly it was because he didn't have much going through his mind. His focus was openly on Kuskyn, absorbing his every move and just living in the moment.

"Mhmm." Kuskyn hummed, setting the bowl of water on the nightstand. "Okay, I think I'm ready. Are you ready?" Rodrin nodded. "Good. Okay, take off your top, lay on your stomach." Rodrin obliged, wincing as his not-healed shoulder resisted against the motion. He realized it had been awhile since he had tried taking off his lame excuse of a shirt. For some reason, even though it did not cover much, he felt heat rise to his cheeks. He hoped Kuskyn didn't see it, because that would arouse questions that Rodrin didn't really have an answer to.

Slowly, carefully, Rodrin lowered himself onto the bed. It was soft, and gave way to his form easily. Definitely wasn't straw. Perhaps it was a down bed? The softness didn't disturb the minor wounds on his chest and abs too much, which was a grateful change from the sleeping arrangements on board the ship.

He turned his head to be able to view Kuskyn barely. Kuskyn offered a small smile. "This is not going to be pleasant, just so you know. The shoulder was a minor injury, so it probably felt more like tingling than pain. But, judging from the amount of blood on this wrapping, this is a deep wound. It's going to be painful, healing so fast. I would not be okay with myself if I didn't warn you."

Rodrin managed something like a nod. "I've been through worse. I won't hold it against you."

"Oh I hope not. I don't know what I would do if you did that."

Rodrin felt the heat come back to his cheeks. He covered it with a cough. "Keep me distracted then."

"I feel like I can do that, at the very least. What do you wanna know about me?"

Everything. Every little thing. "How did you manage to arrive on an island like this one?"

"Oh, that's easy." Kuskyn said as he cut through the bandages surrounding Rodrin's wood wound. "I was actually stationed here."

"Stationed here?" Rodrin hissed through the extreme protests of his wound retaliating to the open air.

"Yeah, so Guild Mercy asked me to come here ever since the aftermath of the incident at Virakis Hall. Guild Mercy has been trying to assist in the problems that have arisen since so many Guild Leaders were killed in the explosions, and, well, we're spread thin. Riots have been rampant, people are confused, frightened, fearful, and they get dangerous because of that. While Guild Enforcer have been trying to keep the peace in their own way, us Mercies have been helping out any way we can. In the past day, there have been better times and... not so better times. Some times it has felt like a battleground in the streets." He soaked a cloth in the hot water and worked it around the wound. Rodrin could feel the heat from the cloth, but also he felt the warmth from Kuskyn's hands as he lay one between his shoulderblades. "How you holding up?"

"Dont... worry about me." Rodrin said, hoping it instilled more confidence in Kuskyn than it did for him. "Were you there... at Virakis Hall?"

"No, not when it happened, but I got there right after, as did most of Guild Mercy. It was horrible. The Guild Leaders had most of the casualties, but there were so many people who got trapped underneath the mountain that the first few hours felt like gut punch after gut punch. I'm actually happy I got stationed at some place like here. Much quieter compared to Virakis."

Kuskyn began cleaning the wound. "Wow, this is deep. How'd this happen?"

Rodrin shrugged. "I don't really remember. In the midst of battle, injuries happen so fast." Unlike down at the bar, he felt a twinge of remorse for, well, not lying to Kuskyn, but not telling him the full story either. "So this day has been busy for you, then?"

"That's an understatement, but yes. This has actually been the first time I've been able to rest since I got here. Hence the chaos in this room."

"You-- you consider this rest?"

"Well, you're not cursing me out or trying to kill me, so, yeah, this is pretty relaxing. You're nice to be around." Before Rodrin could respond, Kuskyn cut away some skin that had started scabbing over. Rodrin grunted in pain, but he refused to scream out, especially with what Kuskyn just said. "You seem to be of a steady mind, which is a first for me since Virakis. It's a nice break from what's become the norm for me."

"Who are-- are left, the Guild Leaders?" Rodrin felt himself struggling to find the right words. They seemed to get stuck on his tongue, which was becoming dry.

"Not many." He could hear the pain in Kuskyn's voice. "It's crazy. Almost overnight, the Pirate Alliance crumbling. I mean, we all knew it was a fragile alliance, but I didn't expect it to happen like this. I'm super thankful that Miranda, Guild Mercy's leader, is still alive. But, Furia is missing, and Aloysius has all but taken over in the meantime--"

"Who?"

"Oh, the Guild Enforcer leader. Mercy and Enforcer have been working together for a long time; I forget sometimes that not everyone knows his name." Rodrin's mind warped back to when Guilless died. Someone ordered his death. Someone who ordered around Enforcers. That must have been Aloysius. So he had a name to the face now. He would never forget now.

He was tugged out of his mind's thoughts as Kuskyn placed a hand on his healed shoulder. "Ren?"

"Yeah?"

"You ready? I'm about to start the healing process." Rodrin nodded apprehensively. "Good." Kuskyn handed him a piece of leather. "Bite on this." Oh boy. That was never a good sign. Rodrin was about to continue his questioning about Virakis when he felt Kuskyn cover his wood wound with both his hands, and suddenly the whole world shifted. He must have passed out for a moment from the pain, because he was back and the leather piece had fallen out of his mouth, and everything was screaming, his back, his shoulders, his arm, his legs, his mind, his memories. Maybe he was screaming as well, he wasn't sure. He couldn't really see anything; he didn't even know if his eyes were open at the moment, so his other senses took their opportunity to let him know just how horrible this pain was.

He could feel, at least, sweat. Lots of sweat, or maybe it was blood, but all in all he was feeling very wet, except around the wound which he could feel his skin and muscle and whatever else regrowing against its will. It felt like something was being shoved into him, but that thing was also him, but not him at the same time. His body was protesting, screaming INTRUDER at the healing, but something was stopping it from taking action. In fact, he couldn't move whatsoever. This was it, he thought. This was how he died. Kuskyn paralyzed him to kill him, or take him to Guild Enforcer. He knew Ren was actually Rodrin all along and this was his plan, and Rodrin had fallen into it like the lost puppy he was being, looking for affection where there was only suffering.

The sensation of touch bowed out after sight, and smell and hearing took their places to protest this mistreatment of the natural order of healing. He smelt iron, so there was blood. Was it his? Was he bleeding out right now and didn't know it? His nose informed him of more, though. The sensation of burning flesh attacked his sense of smell. Was that healing? Was he like a plant that could only grow anew when his old form has been cleansed with fire? He could hear nothing but his own heartbeat in his ears, and some incredibly intense ringing. At least he was alive. Were those ringing the bells of an armada, here for him and the others? Or were they the sirens of the Great Sea, here to take him away forever more?

And just like that, the pain vanished. Rodrin didn't even understand what happened for a moment. His senses, being so horrible over-used just seconds before, had all but abandoned him, and it felt like he was there and not there at the same time. Slowly, his senses came crawling back to him. First, the feeling of the tingling sensation from before, just like on his shoulder, spread its way to his entire body, invading every other possible pain or feeling at the moment. But the pain, the pain of his wound in the middle of his back? That was gone, completely and utterly. He also felt so wiped out, he could barely move his fingers. He didn't even know when his vision and hearing came back, but he found himself staring into Kuskyn's eyes and hearing him say... something. His mind refused to process anything at the moment. Rodrin did feel like Kuskyn was... worried? Confused? No, that was Rodrin.

"--Ren! Ren, please, talk to me!"

Rodrin mumbled something he didn't understand as he was slowly coming back to his senses.

"Hey, you're okay. Come on, up with me. Here, drink this." Rodrin didn't know if he was obliging Kuskyn's commands or not until he felt bitter liquid sloshing down his throat. He coughed, and the numbing cloud over his senses dissipated.

"What was that?" Rodrin asked.

"Something to wake you up. You scared me for a bit there."

"Mmm, sorry about that."

"Nono, I'm sorry. I took much more than I should have."

"I'm all right now." Rodrin insisted.

"Yeah, but you weren't for a bit there. Let's just.. rest for a bit before I get to the other wounds. Those will be much easier, less strain on you. Here, eat this." Kuskyn held out a large piece of bread. Rodrin couldn't really do much than accept it, so he did so.

As he chewed on the tough bread, he managed out, "Distwact me."

"With what?" Kuskyn asked.

"Mirakis."

"Ah... well. Guild Enforcer has taken over the Alliance right now. A lot of the smaller guilds have either supported Aloysius' move to power or straight up merged with him, as their guild leaders were... gone. There's been a ton of infighting, hence why people like me are here. Enforcer has taken up stations across the string of islands. News came out quick about what happened at Virakis, even to Skirys. From what I've been told, they've offered help, and Aloysius has accepted it."

Things must be really bad if they were accepting help from the mainland.

"What did he offer in return for their help?" Rodrin asked in between bites.

"More access to the trade routes. Possibly more. I've only just gotten the information about that." Kuskyn pointed to a stash of opened letters on the desk. "They're still looking for the people who caused the explosion."

Rodrin gulped. "Who do you think did it?"

Kuskyn chuckled dryly. "At first, I thought it was Skirys. I mean, they've been wanting something like this since I've been alive, and longer, but if they're helping out... I don't know. It's not my place to figure out or worry about."

Rodrin nodded. If Kuskyn knew anything, that was his way of saying he wouldn't do anything about it. He had proven himself multiple times by not straight up killing Rodrin when given the chance, but hearing it spoken like this calmed a bit of Rodrin's nerves. He was still a bit nervous, but not about that anymore. About what, though, well, he couldn't answer that at the moment. Either couldn't or wouldn't, he thought, but shoved that down.

"You ready to continue?" Kuskyn asked. "You can rest here after here." Rodrin nodded and laid on his back. He stared up at Kuskyn as he sat next to him and moved around until he had a good vantage point of all the various cuts, scrapes, and bruises dotting Rodrin's chest. He was all but on top of Rodrin at that point, and Rodrin felt heat rush to his face, and his body shivered and stirred under Kuskyn's gentle hands. The tingling was intermingled with something else, an excitement. Rodrin could barely stop himself from fidgeting or moving under the healing hands of Kuskyn. His body was telling him to move, and he had the nearly irresistable urge to lean up and embrace Kuskyn, just to feel him. To hold him. To... kiss him.

Kuskyn held his hand over Rodrin's right breast, healing the last cut, and sighed, leaning back on his ankles. He was basically fully on top of Rodrin at that point. He smiled softly. "I think that's it. How do you feel?"

Rodrin stared into his eyes, and all he could do was smile. Words weren't coming to his mind anymore, just an intensity that overtook anything and everything sensible that was popping up in his thoughts before. Kuskyn scanned his chest and abs. "Do you have any more injuries?"

Rodrin shook his head, still looking into his eyes.

"All right. I guess my work is done here." Kuskyn glanced over at the bloodied bandages littered across the bed and the floor. "I'll clean up, you can rest here for as long as you need--" he started getting up, when Rodrin grabbed his arm. That got his attention, and he stared back at Rodrin. Something fluttered within Rodrin, like it was trapped in his stomach, begging to be released and to grab Kuskyn and never let go. No thoughts were in Rodrin's mind, but his mouth began to speak on its own.

"You could. Or you couldn't."

For the first time, Kuskyn's mouth just opened and nothing came out. He was at a loss for words. Rodrin surged forward, pulling Kuskyn to him and their lips locked. The tingling in his stomach burst into explosions of feelings and emotion, arcing through his entire body. He couldn't feel his toes, but it didn't matter. All he felt was Kuskyn, and that was all he needed, all he wanted, in that moment.

Kuskyn was the first to back off. He huffed, his brilliant chest rising and falling. He glanced at the other side of the bed and shoved the bandages off to the floor. He rushed back into their embrace, and they tumbled on the bed, locked in each other's embrace. Never before had Rodrin felt so connected to someone, physically, emotionally, mentally.



Rodrin awoke some time later. He stretched and felt his muscles tighten against the blanket, but with no complaints. He sighed, a good sigh. He felt so much better, he was more relieved now than he had been in, well, however long his memory could retain. In some ways, he felt like a whole new man. He couldn't stop smiling, and it took him more than a moment to gently float back down to reality. He glanced down. He was covered up with a blanket, and to his left was Kuskyn, snoring soundly. He lifted up the cover a bit. Yep. No clothes on. His vision landed back on Kuskyn. Even now, when he was sleeping, he was beautiful. Rodrin could finally land what kind of feelings were happening to him. Ones of lust. Romance. How he didn't realize earlier, he had no clue. But, a part of him knew what it was this entire time, he just didn't want to admit it. It had been a long time since he felt anything similar.

He looked around the room for his clothes. Amongst the clutter, he found his pants easily enough. His vest was a bit more difficult to find. At last, he found it on Kuskyn's desk. While he pulled it on, his eyes wandered to the letters from Guild Enforcer. Sifting through them, he found some information about potential whereabouts of missing Guild Leaders, including Furia. Apparently quite a few of them were missing from the explosion. Huh, news went around fast, apparently. Taking a glance at Kuskyn, Rodrin collected the letters, stuffing them in his pocket.

He sat on the desk chair facing Kuskyn, biting the skin on his lip. It still had the hints of Kuskyn on it.

He was facing a decision. Stay there or leave to go find Callista. His heart dearly wanted to go back to sleep and wake up to Kuskyn's kind eyes. If he chose that, he would give up his entire life again, and risk Kuskyn to the Enforcer's wrath because of him. Then again, he had just left his entire life behind when it faded out of Guilless' eyes. Were Callista, Lisa, and Meridian even friends of his? Let alone family. He barely knew Meridian, and Lisa was fine, but Callista was a thorn in his side without even trying. Those other two, sure, one day they would become friends, maybe even family. But Callista? She was destined to kill on of the four, and it only took a simple guess to figure out who it would be.

But if he stayed, the prophecy would still be a thing. Even then, as he was just deciding to leave the prophecy behind, it nagged at the corner of his mind like a fly on a rotting peach. It would not just disappear if he decided to ignore it, and the burden would not leave. It would just go onto the others, leaving them without a fourth member. Or a captain. He wondered if they would make it to... whatever their destination was, without him.

Then again, was he even captain? Callista openly defied him every turn she could get, and Lisa seemed more like the voice of reason than Rodrin felt he was. Meridian, well, he felt like a ghost aboard the ship. Rodrin couldn't remember a single conversation he had had with the boy alone since they left Virakis. After all, they had only known about each other for a day. Maybe two, at most. Would it really pain them if he left? Would they even notice?

Kuskyn roused slightly, and Rodrin froze. But he settled back into sleep, and the sounds of his small snores filled the room once again. Rodrin wondered if that was the first time he slept since Virakis.

A sour thought floated its way into his head. He had said something right after he passed out, and before now he didn't really remember, or care, what he said. But, like a strong current, the memory flooded into his mind. Kuskyn was calling him Ren to try and wake him up. But Rodrin told him... told him his name wasn't Ren. It was Rodrin. He willingly told the medic his actual name after he rose from passing out. And Kuskyn would have known his name. Of course he would have known; he was working with Guild Enforcer. He might have been part of the people who put up those wanted signs.

But, apparently Kuskyn didn't care who he was. Like he had said earlier, it wasn't his problem. It would become his problem, though, if Rodrin stayed.

Rodrin fished around the desk for a quill and a clean piece of parchment. Glancing back at Kuskyn and the comfortable spot next to him longingly, Rodrin turned his attention back to the paper, scribbled something down, and folded it in on itself. On the outside, he signed Kuskyn. He laid the letter where he had laid not long before. He walked over to the other side of the bed and took one last look at Kuskyn. Oh, how he wished he could stay there. He leaned down and combed Kuskyn's hair back, out of his closed eyes, and softly kissed his forehead. With a sigh, he left, closing the door behind him without another look back.

"... trapped beneath the layers of shifting stone, they realized there was no way out," Lisa told the crowd, pausing long enough for the listening pirates to respond with shock and horror. Vague shades of grey swirled around them, transparent enough to see reality but dark enough to convey the claustrophobic feeling of hopelessness that Lisa's characters were experiencing. "Elise and Olivier knew that trying to find this treasure had been a mistake, one that they would pay for with their lives-"

She paused, and the crowd paused with her. The illusory rocks faded with Lisa's concentration, and some of the pirates blinked in the sudden light.

Was that vague screaming and running she heard in the distance? Perhaps with some angry shouts of "stop!" mixed in there?

From her perch on top of the crates, she had a perfect view of when Callista, Rodrin, and Meridian came scrambling into sight, followed by at least- gods above, fifteen Enforcers? What had they done?

She couldn't leave her companions alone for five minutes, could she?

"Time to go, Lisa!" Callista shouted as she and the other two skirted the crowd and dashed up the gangplank, the piece of wood creaking under their heavy footsteps. Rodrin and Meridian continued forward, no doubt going to prepare the ship for sailing off, but Callista paused at the top of the plank, drawing her sword and turning to face the Enforcers behind her. Her pursuers came to a halt as they first noted her sword, then her expression, which looked arguably more dangerous than the weapon.

In case that wasn't enough, the pirate flicked her hand that wasn't holding a sword, and the Enforcer in front let out a piercing screech, stumbling backwards into the people behind him. The others shouted in terror as well, pushing and shoving each other to be the first to get off the ramp. One Enforcer fell off into the water by the side of the boat, while the rest stood shaking on the dock, looking up at something terrifying that their eyes could see, but Lisa's could not. Callista smirked, and the Enforcers all lowered their heads and covered their ears to block out a sound that couldn't be coming from the outside.

For a second, their enemies looked at a loss on what to do.

The moment of hesitation ended when one of the Enforcers - wearing a terrible hat, Lisa observed - glanced at his companions and waved one hand at Lisa, silently instructing them to go for the easy target- not the one threatening to kill them in an unnecessarily violent manner.

The crowd around Lisa glanced from her to the Enforcers and back again, unsure if they wanted to get in the middle of whatever was going on. A few of them began backing away, clearing a path for the Enforcers to get to Lisa.

She raised her chin slightly and smiled at the Enforcers, using one finger to beckon them forward. "Come on, then, darlings." Her nails glittered in the sunlight, matching the harbour water behind her, and the Enforcers' gazes followed the sparkle down as she dropped her hand to rest beside her.

"What are you doing?" Callista screeched as the Enforcers - after another moment of hesitation - accepted Lisa's invitation. "Lisa, we need to go!" The other pirate looked fully ready to charge back down to the dock and take on all the Enforcers by herself, but Lisa met her gaze and flicked her a reassuring smile that she hoped conveyed the proper message of stay there, I know what I'm doing. Evidently, it did, because Callista didn't move, although that could change in an instant.

Lisa lightly tapped her fingers against the side of the crate, unconcernedly watching the Enforcers approach, the crowd backing away with every step. Finally, when the Enforcers were only about six feet from her stack of crates, Lisa held up one hand. "That's far enough."

The entire world seemed to pause for a minute as her words, dripping with honey yet hard and commanding with the expectation of being obeyed layered underneath, swept through the suddenly heavy air. Her Affinity-enhanced voice carried clearly, even better than it had while she was merely telling stories, drowning out - or maybe suffocating - every other sound.

Though her world didn't change, she knew that for the people who could hear her, the world had just dulled, the colours draining from the sky and the sea until she was the most vibrant thing they could see. The only thing worth looking at.

"Don't let them get any further, darlings," she ordered, and several pirates practically sprang forward to stand in the Enforcers' way. "And don't let them get away, either."

The Enforcers turned to find that the crowd - previously so eager to get out of their way - had closed in around them, a sea of determined pirates who would drown the villains without hesitation if Lisa told them to.

"It's so much easier to have a civil conversation like this, don't you think?" Lisa said lightly, watching the Enforcers grow increasingly nervous. "No, don't reach for your weapons."

The few hands that had reached for weapons to try and fight their way out of the situation dropped.

"Now, darlings," Lisa said, leaning forward on her perch above the Enforcers. "Why are you chasing my friends?"

"You-" Bad Hat started, then glanced around at the decidedly unfriendly-looking crowd. "You're criminals," he finished weakly. "You blew up Virakis!"

If he expected that to change the crowd's mind at all, he was sorely mistaken.

"I'm flattered that you think the four of us could pull something like that off, although that's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard," she replied. The crowd nodded along with her, muttering agreement and levelling angry looks at the Enforcers. Every once in a while, their eyes would flick back to Lisa, but with complete certainty that she was right and utter devotion to Lisa- and the addictive feeling of pleasure they'd receive from surrendering to her voice. "I'm surprised you recognized us so quickly. I wouldn't have assumed that you'd be able to just pick them out of a crowd... unless they drew attention to themselves?"

One of the Enforcers glanced in Callista's direction- and immediately flinched away and returned to looking at the ground.

"Ahhhh," Lisa sighed. "Of course it was her."

The mood of the crowd shifted, picking up on the note of exasperation in Lisa's voice and switching their attention to Callista, sending angry stares her way. Callista glanced at Lisa, a little uncertainly and trying to hide it, and Lisa winked at her.

"Don't be angry with her," she soothed the crowd. "The Enforcers here are the ones that noticed her- how dare they?"

The Enforcers shuffled nervously as the pirates' attention flipped back to them. Out of the corner of her eye, Lisa noticed Callista relax the tiniest bit, and mentally cursed herself for letting her voice slip. The pirate crowd would do anything she even hinted at, they were so eager to gain her favour. She was usually better than this.

She didn't let her thoughts show on her face, keeping a slightly smug smile firmly in place. "Well, you've chased them all the way here, darlings," she started. "Am I right in assuming that you want to arrest us all for a crime we didn't commit?"

"... yes?" Bad Hat asked. One of his friends elbowed him, and he cleared his throat. "I mean- Yes. Yes, we're going to arrest you. For a crime you did commit."

Lisa nodded thoughtfully. "Do you hear that?" she said, turning her attention to the crowd. "He wants to arrest me. I don't think I like the idea of that at all, darlings. Are you going to let that happen?"

"No!" someone shouted, and soon enough the entire crowd had picked up the chant and pressed in closer to the Enforcers. Bad Hat's hat was knocked off and presumably stepped on a few times as the Enforcers were forced closer to each other. Lisa sure hoped so. She could not have described the hat if she'd tried, but she knew it was a disgrace to both hats everywhere and the eyes.

"Stop!" No More Bad Hat protested, shoving back against the crowd - weakly, it must be noted - in an attempt to reassert his authority. "Get back! You'll all be under arrest for aiding a known criminal and impeding arrest if you don't get out of our way!"

Lisa laughed, and No More Bad Hat glared up at her. She leaned forward, giving him an infuriatingly amused smirk as she did. "Darling, don't waste your breath. No one here is going to help you. If I was so inclined, not even your friends there would lift a finger to stop the crowd from tearing you apart. You wouldn't lift a finger to fight your own destruction."

One of the Enforcers hissed something in No More Bad Hat's ear, his eyes flicking up to Lisa as he spoke, and Lisa tilted her head interestedly.

"Care to speak up, darling?" she called out to him, and he froze, obviously trying to fight the compulsion her words had created. "Go on, tell me what you just said."

No More Bad Hat spat something at the other Enforcer - Lisa would simply call him Two for now, since he was the second Enforcer to have caught her attention - no doubt telling him to stay quiet, but Two didn't listen. He didn't have a choice, really.

"We were told your Affinity was just illusions," he said miserably. "How- how are you doing all this?"

Lisa could feel eyes on her from behind; no doubt her companions wondering the exact same thing. She smiled and relaxed back, leaning on her hands as she surveyed the crowd. "There's a thin line between illusion and delusion, darling. If you're good enough at what you do, the line disappears. And I am very good at what I do."

She gestured with one hand at the crowd.

"These people already like me. Even without my Affinity, some of them might defend me anyway. I'm simply... encouraging them. Giving them some incentive to help me out. It feels good to follow my instructions, doesn't it?"

Two nodded, just a little bit, and No More Bad Hat elbowed him in the ribs.

"That's what all of these people are feeling. I've simply tipped them over the edge, from simply liking me to- well, to put it simply..."

She paused, letting the silence ring with the absence of her voice for a moment.

"All of these people are under the illusion that I am to be obeyed at all costs. Deluded into believing that there's nothing more important than doing what I say, that I am more important than anything, that no consequence is too much if I remain protected."

She sighed softly.

"It's certainly not my favourite way of making things go my way, but you forced my hand. I do apologize, darlings," she added to the crowd. "You'll forgive me for doing this, won't you?"

The Enforcers flinched as the crowd loudly and whole-heartedly shouted their forgiveness for her, and Lisa couldn't help but feel the tiniest flash of cruel enjoyment at the sound.

No More Bad Hat cursed loudly at her, and she let her expression slip into a frown.

"Language, darling," she warned, and the crowd nearly boiled over right then and there at the displeasure dripping from the words. One Enforcer let out a terrified squeak as he was shoved off his feet and fell into the seething sea of angry pirates.

"Darlings, darlings!" Lisa called. "Careful! It would be such a shame if we had a riot on our hands, wouldn't it?" Sarcasm curled around the words, a snake strangling the meaning of what she'd said and replacing it with her true order: Fight.

All fourteen Enforcers remaining on land - the one Enforcer that had fallen into the bay, when Callista had done... whatever she'd done, hadn't managed to make it out yet - whipped around to look at her with horror, a split second before chaos erupted. Affinities and weapons alike were pulled out and used however the owner pleased, swords glinting and Affinities sparkling as the crowd surged at the Enforcers.

"Don't kill them," Lisa instructed pleasantly. "Just keep them busy for a while. And-" She focused her Affinity on the Enforcers. "-don't fight back, darlings. No Affinities, no weapons."

She sat back and watched the riot progress for a moment with a smile on her face, then glanced up at her companions on the ship. Callista was watching the chaos as well, her expression flickering somewhere between admiration and utter confusion. Meridian had joined her, standing at the railing and staring into the riot, although his expression was more fear and confusion.

Lisa waved at them. "Come help me down, darlings?" she asked, raising her voice over the noise of the riot. Callista immediately sheathed her sword and strode over; Meridian stood still for a moment, caught somewhere between disgust and, again, that oh so familiar fear. Urgency seemed to win out as he made his way reluctantly to her. Lisa tossed her cane down to Meridian and accepted Callista's hand to help her jump down from the stack of crates.

"Thank you," she said sweetly, taking her cane back from Meridian. "Sorry about the delay- shall we be off now?"

She walked away without giving either of them a chance to answer.

Rodrin jumped up the stairs to the wheel, and he said, "Remind me to never get on your bad side." with a hum.

As she was about to step onto the plank, the woman who'd been glaring at her earlier stepped forward. She'd made her way up to near the ship, avoiding the riot, somehow unaffected by Lisa's Affinity charms, and had been silently disapproving of the riot. Now, she grabbed Lisa's shoulder, pulling the younger woman close to her wrinkled face.

"I see your deal with the devil is still making you a monster, Elise," she spat. Before Lisa could respond in any way, the woman shoved her away and stormed off. Forced off balance by the old woman's surprising strength, she very nearly stumbled backwards into the harbour next to the poor Enforcer resignedly treading water. Meridian lunged forward and grabbed her wrist, but the leather of his gloves made his hand slippery, and Lisa wrapped her own fingers around his wrist to try and stabilize herself. Too late, she realized that her fingers had accidentally slid a little ways up his sleeve, enough that she could feel his bare skin where the gloves didn't cover. His eyes widened in surprise. She barely had enough time to worriedly remember his insistence that she didn't touch him without his gloves on before something happened.



The corner of the table dug painfully into the base of her spine as Lisa backed away from Keziah.

"Kez, please-"

"Shut it," Keziah snarled. Her knuckles were white against the hilt of her sword, although she hadn't drawn it yet. "You lied to me, Marionette. You led me on this entire time- you promised me a future!"

"We could still have one!" Lisa pleaded. "Keziah, darling, please, I'm sorry! I meant to tell you sooner- it just didn't come up!"

"We can't have anything," Keziah spat. "Although I suppose you have all the time in the world, don't you?" She hadn't stopped advancing on Lisa since she'd kicked down the door and stormed in cursing Lisa's name; now she had Lisa practically pinned to the wall. Keziah's pale green eyes held nothing but contempt, an expression that had never been aimed at Lisa before, and Lisa could do nothing but stare into them, hypnotized by what she found there.

"Kez-"

"Get my name out of your fucking mouth," Keziah spat. With one swift movement, she grabbed Lisa's wrists and swept them above her head, slamming them into the wall. Something cracked, and Lisa bit her lip at the sudden flare of pain. Keziah's eyes flashed over her expression of pain, but it didn't stop her from drawing a knife and placing it to Lisa's throat. "I should kill you," she whispered. "You goddamn monster. Even thinking about all the times I touched an abomination like you makes me shudder." Keziah's dark blonde hair hung in loose curls around her face, messy strands falling out of line and lightly brushing Lisa's face as the taller woman loomed over her.

"Kez," Lisa pleaded, making no attempt to break free from the other woman. Keziah's grip tightened, and Lisa felt something else in her wrist snap.

She would not cry out in pain. She would not give Keziah that moment of weakness to wield against her.

"Darling, please listen to me-"

"And let you mess with my mind with your Affinity?" Keziah cut her off. "I think my brain's been scrambled enough, darling."

For a moment, the only sound in the room was Keziah's ragged, enraged breathing. Her breath smelled of the fresh mint leaves she had an odd habit of chewing; it seemed oddly fitting for the situation. A familiar scent, but biting and cold.

Keziah snorted in freezing, broken amusement, glancing up to Lisa's wrists and her own slender fingers digging into Lisa's fragile skin, pressing painfully against the blue veins snaking just below the translucent surface. "I should've known," she muttered. "Everything adds up finally. I should've seen the signs long before this."

She let go of Lisa and stepped back, brushing her hair out of her face with one hand. Lisa didn't move, afraid to do anything to make Keziah angrier.

"Get out of here," Keziah ordered. "Next time I see you, I will kill you."

Still, Lisa hesitated, and Keziah's gaze hardened again. She reached out and grabbed Lisa's shoulder, yanking her away from the wall and shoving her toward the door. "Get out!"

Lisa barely managed to keep her balance as she finally ran for the door, almost forgetting to grab her cane as she went. She paused in the doorway, turning one last time to look at Keziah.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Keziah met her gaze, and for a moment, what looked like regret flickered across her face.

Then, it was gone.

"Marionette, you have until I count to five."

Lisa didn't wait for her to get to one.



Meridian flinched away from her, cringing, and with a shriek, she toppled backwards. Callista wasn't fast enough to stop her from falling into the water, but she yanked Lisa out a moment later, giving Meridian a dirty look. He didn't seem to notice, his horrified expression focused on Lisa.

The shock of the cold water, whatever Meridian's Affinity had done to her, and the strain of influencing so many people at the same time was too much, and she half-collapsed into Callista's arms. The other pirate grunted with the impact, but easily supported her. Callista hesitated for only a moment, watching the chaos Lisa had caused, then huffed with irritation.

"Get on the ship," she snapped at Meridian. "Lisa, support your own damn weight."

"Sorry, darling," Lisa said weakly, attempting to push herself upright. "And I was making such an elegant getaway, too."

Callista waited until Lisa was stable again before walking away, Lisa noted. She'd have expected the pirate to just push her away with impatience, but Callista took the extra second before storming back up the gangplank. Lisa followed as quickly as she could, and finally, they made their escape.

"Good job, everyone!" Lisa said brightly, forcing herself to return to the state of calm she'd been in before Meridian had used his Affinity on her. "Everyone did a lovely job of escaping- although I did most of the work, and it's your fault we had to run in the first place, so mostly just good job to me. I need to go change into something dry, since someone dropped me in the harbour." She gave Meridian a wink to soften her words, but he still glanced away, guilt plain on his face.

"Sorry," he muttered gently, and somehow, Lisa got the feeling that he wasn't just apologizing for dropping her.

"We can talk about that in a minute," she continued. "For now, keep watch and make sure no Enforcers come after us immediately. They shouldn't, but we've had an extraordinary run of bad luck recently, so be prepared."

~~~

She returned above decks more slowly than she'd departed; she'd been forced to take off her braces so they'd dry properly and wouldn't rust. Still, she didn't let that inconvenience her too much, and gave her companions a smile as she approached. They had left the port during that time. "Much better-"

"What was that?" Callista asked bluntly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Hmm?"

"Back there. At the docks. You had a cult of people who looked like they would die for you if you asked them to. That's not illusions," Callista said, her voice a little bit condescending, as if explaining something simple to a child. "What was that?"

"Ahh." Lisa leaned on her cane and laughed softly under her breath. "Did I ever tell you my Affinity was for illusions, darling?"

Callista opened her mouth, then shut it again, looking a little bit embarrassed.

"No, my Affinity is more complicated than that," Lisa continued. "I'm a mimic. Able to copy other's Affinities perfectly- well, what I understand of them, anyway." She gestured to Meridian. "For example, I can't currently copy his Affinity, because I don't know what it is, although I'm starting to have suspicions. Rodrin's or Callista's, though? Easy as breathing. All I have to do is touch you and I'll have your Affinity."

"But you keep using illusions," Callista pointed out. "And as far as I know, you haven't touched anyone with that Affinity recently."

"There's no time limit to how long I can copy an Affinity," Lisa explained. "And I can copy up to three Affinities at a time, although that's hard and gives me the worst headache if I do it too long. Besides, I only need to touch the person until I learn their Affinity, in which case I can simply mimic it whenever I need to. I've picked up four or five Affinities that I can mimic at will."

She paused.

"The illusions, however, aren't an Affinity that I'm copying. If the target of my Affinity is willing, I can simply... take their Affinity and use it as my own. They lose it and I get to use it permanently."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Meridian give her a sharp look, although she couldn't read exactly what emotion was suddenly reflected in his face.

"That's also fairly hard, though," she continued. "And I've only ever tried to hold two Affinities - besides my mimicry - at a time. Somehow, I get the sense that more than that would be... unfortunate for me. I currently only have the illusions."

"Beware one who is not what she seems," Rodrin muttered.

"We've already established that that's my line, so don't bother theorizing with that," Callista snapped at him- a little too quickly. Lisa sighed internally.

"I get that it seems that way, darling, but Callista is right. That's her line, not mine."

Rodrin huffed, but didn't push any further.

"So back there," Meridian asked, bringing the conversation back on track, "that was a mimicked Affinity?"

"Charisma Affinity," Lisa confirmed. "Makes people more open to my suggestions. The more they like me, the stronger my hold on them is- although, if I use it long enough, everyone likes me, so..." She shrugged.

"That makes what you did make a lot more sense," Callista mused. "It was really creepy, watching everyone fawn over you and not knowing why."

"I think that's just jealousy, darling," Lisa teased, lightly poking her leg with her cane. Callista widened her eyes.

"No," she insisted. "Creepy."

Lisa winked at her. "Sure, darling. Sure."

"Have you used that on us?" Rodrin piped up, his face gaunt. Before Lisa could answer, he added, "I don't like being deceived, and you have always seemed to be the voice of reason on this ship. Perhaps that was fabricated?"

"Well, thank you, darling," she replied lightly. "And I promise I haven't, for what that's worth. You'd certainly know if I had."

"Know how? Please, explain in full detail so I'll know when you betray us." Rodrin leaned against the steering wheel.

"Again, it's me that's doing the betraying, not her," Callista said with a roll of her eyes.

"I suppose a demonstration would make you trust me less, wouldn't it," Lisa mused. She sighed softly. "You saw all those people on the docks, yes? You'd be acting like that if I were using that particular ability on you. I would be the absolute center of your world, and you wouldn't have the ability to question me about my loyalties, so the fact that you're currently doing that should be a comfort to you."

"That makes me feel better not at all," Rodrin insisted. "For all I, or any of us, know, you could be using a fraction of your Affinity. The fact that you rely on your Affinity so much concerns me, and I'm a trained assassin. Anyone else should be, would be, terrified of you."

"I'd really like to see you try to kill me, actually," she said thoughtfully. "If the line didn't specify a she, I'd suspect we had it all wrong." She gave him a small smile. "If you tried to kill me, then I certainly would use my Affinity on you. Then you'd see the difference between when your mind is your own and when I'm influencing you."

"If I were a betting man, I would take those odds. You seem to rely on that Affinity of yours a lot when making threats. You hide behind those powers. I'm not terrified of you, I'm terrified for you. One day, and most likely one day soon, you're going to need to rely on something other than your Affinity. Especially since you use it so flippantly."

"Is no one going to mention the assassin part?" Meridian mumbled. "Okay. Okay then."

Lisa ignored him, leaning on her cane as she met Rodrin's gaze steadily. "How I use my power is my own business, darling," she replied. "If you're so concerned for me, why don't you stick around and make sure you're what I can rely on when that day rolls around?"

"If you want to work as a team, you can start by not using that Affinity of yours. I will never be able to trust you when I know that, not only can you do that, but you use it quite often." Rodrin's voice turned even more serious. "And, if we want to survive this shit. We will have to work as a team. If not, we may as well turn back and go turn ourselves in to face the wrath of Guild Enforcer."

"My Affinity just saved your ass from fifteen Enforcers, if you'll recall, darling. Fifteen Enforcers that were chasing you because you don't want to work as a team." She was still smiling, but it was turning colder with every word. "What would you have had me do in that situation? I wouldn't have been able to get away without my Affinity. The rest of you might not have gotten away without my Affinity. Hell, you wouldn't have made it two steps off the dock in the first place without my Affinity, Rodrin! You wouldn't have survived that damn sea serpent without my Affinity! You might not have made it out of Virakis without my Affinity! I'm sorry that the fact that people like me scares you, but telling me to stop using my Affinity is only going to get us all hurt."

She exhaled slowly. "So by all means, darling. Go turn yourself in to the Enforcers, if my Affinity scares you that much. I'm going to continue protecting Meridian and Callista with or without you. I promise on my life that I will not use that particular ability - any form of my Affinity - on any of you unless you give me permission, and you're going to have to trust me, just like we're going to have to trust you to not stab us all in our sleep."

Rodrin stepped down to the main deck, getting close to them. His face was dark. "That's the thing. I. Don't. Trust. You." His voice was dead serious. Without another word, he stepped back to the wheel, gripping it tightly as he stared blankly ahead.

Then I suppose I'll be seeing you and your knife in my room tonight.

She didn't speak the thought aloud, but it was tempting. Rodrin's words - you hide behind those powers - had cut deeper than she'd like to admit, and she wanted to use her Affinity on him, now. Make him take it all back. A few sugar-laced words, and he'd be kneeling to her and begging forgiveness.

That would only be proving his point, though. And she'd promised herself - and the person she mimicked that particular Affinity from - that she wouldn't do anything like that. That being petty with this Affinity was unacceptable.

She had to be better than Rodrin thought she was, even if she'd never convince him of it.

Her head was growing fuzzy, the familiar shshsh whispering through her ears. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, desperately begging the sound to go away, and after a few seconds, it did.

"I don't find sand to be nice and I've never asked Rodrin to cut the hell out with his Affinity," Callista muttered, but even she seemed to realize the argument was over-- and entirely futile.

Lisa forced herself to laugh softly at the remark, brushing off Rodrin's remarks like they were fallen leaves rather than arrows buried in her heart.

With another deep breath, she turned to Meridian. "You know about my Affinity now, but I'm quite interested to hear about yours." She leaned on her cane again, looking at him expectantly.

"It's nothing much," Meridian mumbled, looking away.

"Outside effects, physical connection, mental, debilitating - for both the user and the target - minimal control," Lisa listed. "It's got something to do with memories, and I assume either ones that the target is thinking about or simply ones that are important in some way to the target, considering what I saw when you touched me and how horrified Callista looked last night when she touched you. Since you reacted as well, I assume it's both you and the target that sees the memory. Am I close?"

Meridian blinked. "What? I mean, yes, that's- that's some of it, but... how did you...?"

"I'm from Guild Arcane, darling. Categorizing and understanding Affinities is our whole thing. I would be a disgrace to my guild if I didn't pay attention to and begin analyzing your Affinity when I saw it."

"And what have you figured out about my Affinity, oh wise one?" Callista asked. Her voice was neutral, a little curious, but there was a tinge of insincerity to it.

Lisa looked at her thoughtfully. "Outside effects, distanced connection, mental, controlled," she categorized. "You mess with people's senses. Fairly common."

Callista paused, thinking for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "To be fair, that one was pretty obvious. I just wanted to see if there were any special categories I got."

"You're special in other ways, darling," Lisa assured her. "Rodrin, yours is also fairly obvious, I think- self-affecting only, physical, controlled? You simply teleport and leave behind some sand."

Rodrin said nothing.

"Uh, I think we may have some more pressing issues," Meridian said slowly, his head turned to the side. "We weren't fast enough."

Callista could guess what he was seeing even before she looked. A large ship was looming on the horizon, too far out to see the number of people on board. There were two behind it, smaller in size-- or maybe just as large and further out. She wasn't sure which was preferable, but she didn't have a doubt that those were Enforcer ships on their way.

"We didn't get the boat fully fixed," she groaned. "We aren't at full speed."

"Maybe you shouldn't get us into trouble thirty minutes after we arrive for repairs then," Rodrin said, but there was no bitterness in his voice, just something that sounded far too close to flat acceptance and indifference.

That scared her more than his anger ever could.

"We aren't doomed," Lisa said, giving him a look. "Fate is on our side, right? We at least make it to that island, according to that prophecy. Probably. Okay, maybe it never said we get there for sure, but I'm assuming, alright?"

"If we don't, it was nice knowing you all," Meridian said glumly.

Callista's fingers were itching to grab the bottle by her side and drink it all up, but in case things went wrong, she couldn't finish it. There wouldn't be a way to use what she'd bought to make a refill if she was sitting in a jail cell.

She clenched them into a fist instead.

"We have cannons for when they get near," she managed around a jaw that wanted to stay shut tight. "I can make them think we're in a different position, and they'll miss." Could she? This wasn't a good time for her to be asking herself that question.

"And when they inevitably get on board?" Lisa asked.

Callista couldn't help but glance uncertainly at Rodrin as she shook her head.

"We'll put up a fight," he answered, to her relief. "Be an unfair fighter, use your Affinity, do whatever you have to do to gain an advantage." He glanced at Lisa, but Callista didn't think he was fully overturning what he'd said just a few minutes ago. "I don't know what else we can do against them, but maybe we'll get lucky with our destiny."

"Fingers crossed," Meridian said, fidgeting with his gloves. Despite the fact that everybody pretty much knew what he could do, and that they were no doubt difficult to shoot with, he kept them on.

But anyhow, knowing what he could do in full helped to take the edge off her worry. She just had to make sure it wouldn't happen again. It was a shame that she couldn't be just as honest about her Affinity as the rest of them had been.

"I'm getting the cannonballs. Stand by," she told them, before she made her way belowdecks.

At least there was one type of order she could be counted on to give in this situation.

It took several trips, carrying the heavy weight of cannonballs up the stairs, but she eventually accumulated a good supply of them on deck. Callista set a pile by four of the cannons, taking note to not use the one she'd identified yesterday as being non-functional. Then she went back for the gunpowder, which she also divided up. The others were looked between her and the sea as she worked, and when she couldn't help it anymore, she glanced out at the approaching ships with them. They were closer now than before, cutting the distance between them and going well faster than they were. Outrunning them wasn't even a remotely possible option.

"Can we illusion ourselves in a different position yet?" Rodrin asked.

"We can if Callista and I work together," Lisa said.

But Callista shook her head. "I can't yet. We're still too far out."

Rodrin frowned. "How close do we need to be, then?"

She paused and bit her lip before answering. "I need to be able to tell roughly how many people are on board at the cannons. It's a big illusion and I need to know how many are watching."

Rodrin looked like he had a follow-up question, but Lisa shrugged and spoke first. "If that's what we need, then we'll wait for that."

"I'll go to the outlook with a telescope and tell you when I can see people," Meridian said, making his way to the ship's mast, as if he was in a hurry to get away from them.

"Okay," Callista muttered, taking a deep breath. She addressed Lisa and Rodrin next. "How much experience do you both have with cannons?"

"A fair amount," Rodrin said. "It's just been a short while."

"I have used them before," Lisa said. "You checked them out right away once we settled here, so I assume you know what you're doing with them, darling?"

"They've been my proficiency for fourteen years."

"I thought you were new to the pirate life?"

A small laugh escaped her. "Pirate ships aren't the only things with cannons." She gestured at the four with nearby cannonballs. "Pick any of those. Hopefully we'll spot the people on board before we're in range, but we should get to loading those anyway."

They each took a cannon. Callista's hands instinctively went through the motions: picking up a cannonball like it was nothing, loading it into the cannon, adding the gunpowder. The cannons on ships were slightly different than the stronghold ones she'd known before, but the warfare held even bigger differences. Still, there was a similarity between even that: cannons were one of the most crucial weapons before the two forces came directly face to face.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched how the others worked. Rodrin had needed a moment to get back into it, but now he was acting with familiarity towards the task. Lisa wobbled a little as she lifted up her first cannonball. Callista noticed the strain and the shake of her fingers, and worried briefly about the toll that would take on her joints.

Just when they all had three loaded, Meridian shouted from the crow's nest, "Roughly two dozen on each ship!"

Callista inhaled sharply. That was nearly twenty Enforcers to each of them.

"I'm ready to hide our boat from them," she told Lisa. "Can you make it look like we're drifting off to one side?"

"Of course, darling," Lisa said with a wink.

Usually, it was easier for her to make things seem like they were there rather than not, but if Lisa illusioned away the real ship, they wouldn't be able to see it either. At least Callista could leave them out of it so they wouldn't see themselves standing over the waves with the feeling of wood under their feet but nothing below them except empty air.

When was the last time she'd done it for this many?

She took a deep breath, then focused on the minds of the people across the water. Now you see it, now you don't. It was almost a magician's trick, catching the eye's blind spot and making them miss the obvious. Almost. It wasn't actually about invisibility.

Lisa, meanwhile, was creating an illusion that slowly moved away from their ship, and Callista tried to time the disappearance that the Enforcers would see so that they never noticed more or less than one ship. She watched the false Calypso's Revenge sail further out, and for good measure, turn slightly in a different direction.

Meridian had climbed down from the lookout and was trying to load a cannon on his own. She had to interfere before the cartographer added too much gunpowder and caused an explosion, but soon she had all four of them set up.

"They're getting close to the decoy, and us too," Rodrin said, peering over the side. "When do we fire?"

"Wait a few minutes," Callista said. "They're going to open fire, and we need them to spend as much of their ammunition as possible before we can strike. Once they notice cannonballs hitting them from a different angle-- those go too fast to hide-- the trick's out."

As she spoke, several distant booming sounds came from the Enforcer ships. She saw small specks fly through the air, some landing in the water, some colliding with the illusion. Lisa made the cannonballs disappear on impact-- and although Callista couldn't be sure, she thought she made the ship waver, with a few holes torn in its sails.

"It looks like they're buying it," Meridian said hopefully. "Uh. Wait." He practically threw himself to the deck to knock on wood.

"Good save, Meridian," Lisa said approvingly.

"I'm not actually superstitious, but in a situation where literally everything can go wrong, I'd hate to doom us for that reason."

Another shower of cannonballs was fired from the three enemy ships. The illusion wavered a little more. Callista bit her lip when she saw the mist where there was an impact that Lisa was doing her best to hide. Her illusions didn't have that problem.

"How much longer do we have until they notice that we've been suspiciously willing to do nothing while we get bombarded?" Meridian asked.

"Not long," Callista murmured. "Not nearly long enough."

"I'll get us closer so we can deal the most damage," Rodrin said, leaving his spot at the cannon to head towards the steering wheel.

Callista's hands wrapped around the railing as they approached the still oblivious ships. She could now see that they were all roughly the same in size, and she could even glimpse the people on board. She was relieved to see that none of them seemed to be looking their way.

"We're close enough," she told Rodrin, who moved back to his position.

One ship was right ahead. Impossible to miss. But she counted the cannons she could see and thought about how they'd be in pieces if it weren't for their trick.

"Ready?" she asked the others, and she got four nods in response. "Then... fire!"

Callista lit her cannon's fuse, and she heard the sound of four rapid combustions followed by four deafening booms.

The nearest Enforcer ship broke out into panic as it rocked from the impact of unexpected cannonballs. The crew scattered, shouting in confusion and alarm, pointing around in various directions to suggest where they might have come from. The other boats, unaware of what had happened, were raising their voices into questions.

"Again!" Callista shouted.

They scrambled to reload their cannons. The four of them managed to get in two, almost three, more volleys of cannonballs in before the ship in front figured out where they were. One of the other two rammed into the decoy, which dissipated into mist instead of tipping over. So the trick was definitely figured out now.

"They're reloading at us," Meridian shouted.

"Then brace yourself!" Lisa yelled back.

When the first shots came, Callista felt it in her bones. She stumbled back and had to put a hand on her cannon to steady herself. The sound and the impact had felt like thunder, and she had to clear her head. When cannonballs hit stone walls, it left a dent. It didn't shake the world around her like it did on a boat.

"That wasn't good," Rodrin growled as he pulled himself up by the railing.

Callista's ears were ringing, but she clearly heard her voice saying of its own will, "You think?"

Before he could glare at her, the boat rocked again, harder than before. One of the two other ships had lined up and fired a round at them. The last was stuck behind them, but the moment they had three large ships able to aim at them... It would be a disaster.

"Load them up again!" she shouted.

If they had been relatively relaxed the first time they loaded the cannons, they were in a desperate scramble now. Lisa's hands shook as she struggled to carry a cannonball and nearly dropped it off the side of the boat. At Callista's signal, they fired again and immediately worked on another, but she knew they couldn't keep this up much longer.

The next time the Enforcers fired, things really went wrong.

Callista fell backwards as the ship tilted dangerously far one way, and she landed hard on the deck. She felt a sharp ache in her skull, and a small cry of pain escaped her lips. She could barely hear anything other than a high-pitched ringing in her head, but she caught something else behind it: a loud cheer of triumph from the Enforcers.

Her fall had distracted her from keeping the ship hidden. They were visible to every single one of the Enforcers now.

She rolled over and pushed herself up with her arms, her nails digging briefly into the wooden boards. The boat rocked again with another impact, but this time it was different. It wasn't several small things hitting them, it was something large.

Callista turned around to see that one of the boats was now touching theirs, and the Enforcers on board were preparing to storm them, swords raised, shouting as they jumped the gap between the ships.

Oh, what I would do for battle armor right now.

"Get up," Rodrin snapped as he charged forward, shifting into sand the moment before he would have collided into an Enforcer. She didn't see where he appeared. Gritting her teeth, she took out her sword and approached the enemy.

Callista knew how to fight several people at once. She was glad she'd swapped out her rapier for her old broadsword this day, because while a one-handed fencing sword was perfect for one person fights, such as that fateful duel between her and Rodrin that she totally should've won, she needed something a little larger for this. Even with that, it was difficult to keep up with the swarm. She kept a clear circle around herself, turning and swinging and blocking, moving in a sort of violent, destructive dance, but there were always more Enforcers coming.

She was moving too fast to fully watch what her crewmates were doing, but she still caught glimpses of them all. Meridian was standing further back so that he could be firing his pistols left and right, face clenched in a snarl. Lisa's part of the deck was bright with light, color and motion from the illusions she was creating to distract the pirates fighting her. She even checked on Rodrin, who was exchanging sword blows with a few Enforcers by the bow of the ship.

They were all doing their best-- and she felt some pride, for a moment. But it washed away as dread took over, with the knowledge that they wouldn't be able to fight them all. There were still pirates trying to get on board.

Callista wasn't aware if she'd gotten hurt so far or not. She probably had. But she fought harder, leaving defense behind almost entirely as she focused on her attacks. The space around her was getting wider as she drove them back. A small laugh escaped her-- sounding perhaps a little crazed and twisted, but it was really much closer to nervous relief.

But then the air left her lungs, and it turned into a cough, then a choke.

She couldn't breathe.

Her lungs had clenched up, and it felt like someone had a fist around her throat. She couldn't get any air. She gasped, and her motions became more sporadic and useless, like a fish flapping around on dry rock. The blurred forms of the Enforcers were closing in on her as the world went out of focus.

Callista was pushed from behind, or she fell. She wasn't sure which, but either way she ended up on her knees, clutching her chest. A pair of boots standing before her came into view, and although it might have been a hallucination caused by the suffocation, she was hit with a very strong sensation of deja vu.

"Seize them," a voice ordered, and Callista's arms were grabbed and pulled behind her. She struggled, thrashing wildly and even managing to stomp on someone's hand with her foot, but her movements were too wild and panicked to get herself free.

She finally gave in and raised her head. The rest of her crew had suffered the same fate, unable to breathe for some reason and dragged over so that the four of them were in a line. She examined the owner of the boots. He was tall, with a fancy coat and a scruffy beard, his face contorted in some combination of smugness and disgust as he looked down at them. He flicked his hand, and suddenly the air returned to Callista's lungs. She doubled over, gasping, and she heard her crewmates doing the same.

"Not very fun, is it?" the man asked, tipping his head thoughtfully to one side as he watched in amusement. "I hope that's incentive to cooperate."

"Cooperate, or have my breath taken away?" Lisa mused. "It almost sounds like you're threatening me with a good time, darling." Callista and the man both turned to look at her, both with warning in their eyes, and Lisa had the audacity to wink at the man. "All I'm saying is that my cooperation could be guaranteed-"

She cut off with a choking noise as the man swept his hand dismissively at her.

"No!" Callista shrieked, struggling against her captors again. The man glanced at her, but didn't use his Affinity on her, letting her remain clearheaded to watch Lisa suffocate.

"I didn't expect you'd provide me without another chance to make an example of it so soon," the man tutted, and the other Enforcers laughed. He had to be the Guild Leader, the way all the others listened to him. "Care to apologize?" He swept his hand at her again, releasing her from it.

"Don't," Meridian whispered, but either Lisa didn't hear him or decided to just ignore him.

"Apologize for being absolutely swept off my feet by you?" she asked innocently. "I don't see why I'd need to do that-"

Again, he cut her off with a sweep of his hand. "Maybe it'd be better for you to keep your mouth shut... permanently," he mused. "You already seem like you'll be troublesome."

"You can't do that!" Rodrin shouted. "We are innocent until proven guilty, the pirate code says, and you're using force on her." He struggled against the restraint of two pirates until a sword flashed by his throat.

"But you are guilty," the Guild Leader said, his voice sounding like a purr. "Or... good as guilty." He shrugged, throwing his hands up as he watched Lisa struggle to breathe with an amused expression. "That's the best part about this. Everyone knows you were there when it happened, where you weren't supposed to be. Why, you've practically handed us a confession statement."

"Just let her go," Callista hissed.

The man raised an eyebrow. "The ground is a funny spot to be giving orders from."

She leaned forward, dragging the Enforcers holding her forward a few inches before they yanked her back. "Speaking of the ground, that high throne of yours won't be going with you in the grave I dig for you."

He laughed, clearly in too much of a good mood to target her. "If you're planning burials, you should think about hers first." He gave Lisa a harsh nudge with his foot, but she didn't seem to notice it at all, her attention completely focused on trying to bring air into her lungs. She struggled violently against her captors, no doubt instinctively trying to reach for her chest, but the lack of oxygen was already making her weak.

"What do you want with us?" Meridian snapped. "We'll give you what you want if you stop."

"Hmm." The leader pondered it for a bit, stroking his beard. "No promises about ever letting her breathe again, but I certainly can tell you what I'll be getting from you, one way or another."

"Aloysius," one of the pirates holding Lisa interrupted. "She's about to pass out."

"Do I care?" he barked at her, and the Enforcer shook her head and looked down.

Callista's blood was boiling. It felt like something burning hot inside her was about to overflow, directed at the Guild Leader. She didn't try to supress it.

She just needed to... think.

"It really is a shame you had to resort to thievery as well as murder," Aloysius continued, putting his hands behind his back as he leisurely paced around, his cold gaze directed at each of them in turn. "Plotting to kill a half-dozen Guild Leaders, that's bad... But stealing the precious items they were gathered to discuss?" He leaned down towards Meridian, getting their faces very close together. "Shame on you in particular for turning on them when they asked for your help."

"None of us conspired to start an explosion," he argued. "We'd just met that day at the meeting."

"Are you sure? It seems like you were just there to steal the map and the sphere. You did pay rather close attention to them. Perhaps... you wanted them for yourself?"

"It was my job to examine them!"

Aloysius ignored him and turned to face the crowd of Enforcers. "Sounds like somebody got gold coin signs in their eyes and committed treason," he said tauntingly, and his followers laughed and nodded in agreement.

"You're lying," Rodrin said in a low snarl. "I think you did this. You've been quick to seize power in the aftermath. Sounds like you plotted this out so that you'd be the Guild everyone turned to after a disaster. And with Skirys lining your coinpurse? You're only chasing us because we're your scapegoats."

The man's eyes widened in surprise-- no, mock surprise-- as his mouth fell open. "Me?" he said lightly. "My career is all about protecting the guilds. It would be silly to throw it away over a ridiculous dream of higher power."

"No, you definitely did all that," Callista grumbled.

"And why would I?"

"I think you're dying to tell us," Meridian said with a roll of his eyes. "You know, hypothetically, since this is something that you would never dream of doing."

It was a dare, and she caught an interested spark in Aloysius' eyes. He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Well, hypothetically speaking... Let's say there's an ancient magic, held in the laws we treasure and stand by, that could change the world, depending on whose hands it lays in. It could bring everlasting stability to the pirate world, or bring us to war with Skirys." He shrugged. "Luckily, there's nothing to be concerned about for that."

"Really?" Callista asked, unconvinced. "You didn't have any doubts at all about how the leaders were handling that, and felt no need to step in and do things your way?"

He pressed a hand to his heart, as if pretending to be hurt. "Furia is a dear friend of mine. I would never try to overthrow her."

Callista blinked, thoughts and ideas starting to spin around in her mind. "Furia is? Not was?"

Aloysius' playful expression darkened immediately as he realized he'd made a mistake. "I think you should stop talking." He clenched a fist.

A long, painful wheeze escaped Lisa as if he'd wrapped it around her neck. She'd turned even paler somehow, and there was real panic in her eyes. It had been too long, Callista realized with dread.

"Stop!" The three of them shouted it together.

Aloysius didn't stop.

Lisa's head fell back with the rest of her body onto the pirates who had grabbed her. The one who had interrupted the guild leader put a hand on her neck, then her wrist. She looked up at Aloysius in confusion. "I can't find a pulse."

A small cry got lodged in Callista's throat.

"Really?" Aloysius looked surprised. "Well, that happens sometimes when a suspect has asthma and I don't know it. At least she's quiet."

There was a compass in her mind, the needle spinning in circles and switching directions rapidly. And suddenly, it settled and stood still on one decision.

And that decision was doing something she hadn't done in years.

"You're really confused," she muttered.

The Guild Enforcer leaned down, curious despite himself. "Beg your pardon?"

"You're really confused," she repeated, and then she punctuated it with a dry, humorless laugh. "You don't have the slightest idea what you're doing."

His brow furrowed and he scowled, but he seemed more confused than angry. Good. That was what she needed.

"Maybe it's all a bit out of hand," Callista continued. "How do you know this isn't all a big mistake? There's been so much going on, after all. It'd be so easy for one of the details to be wrong."

He didn't answer, but his jaw clenched a little tighter and his face went almost completely blank.

"You've been fooling yourself," Callista said quietly. "What do you think?"

She could've sworn she saw his lips move and form a single word before the look in his eyes changed and he pulled back. Callista's hopes fell. She was out of practice.

"That's quite enough," he said sharply, and she gasped as her lungs were emptied of air again. "Clearly, you didn't learn enough from your friend there."

"You're... mistaken," she choked out, and was rewarded with what felt like her chest compressing on itself.

"Do these two ever shut up?" Aloysius asked Rodrin and Meridian. It was a question that Rodrin likely would have normally answered with a shake of his head, but he looked too horrified to do so. "They don't seem like the criminal masterminds I'd like to work with."

"I could say the same of your thugs. I doubt they could pour water out of a boot with instructions written on the heel," Meridian snapped.

Aloysius rolled his eyes. "You can say whatever you'd like-- little ghost, isn't it? I think it isn't looking so good for you, though, so I'd be careful if I were you."

Callista closed her eyes and tried to speak-- she wasn't even sure what she was trying to say-- but it only came out as a weak rasp.

She heard their captor say something both smug and triumphant that she could no longer make out. Had Lisa felt this way too? She wanted to fall on the deck and wait for the inevitable end, when she wouldn't be able to last any longer.

It seemed like it was over for her.

Then, she heard a clamoring of voices.

"Do you see that? Over by the sunset--"

"It looks like it's standing on the water--"

"Holy shit it's moving towards us!"

The force in her lungs went away, and through gasps, Callista saw that all the Enforcers except for the ones holding them had moved to one side of the boat. They were pointing out at the sea towards something she couldn't glimpse through the crowd. Even the people holding them were straining their heads to unsuccessfully get a look.

"What is it?" one Enforcer asked worriedly, as another pulled out a looking glass.

There was a long silence as the pirate examined whatever they were seeing. Then he said, very quietly, "It's a person."

The Enforcers immediately began to back away, and Callista could see it now. Out on the water where the sun was sinking into the sea, there was a small approaching shape. Its outline seemed to glow, but with bright white instead of the sunset's deep orange. As they watched with baited breath, she saw the Enforcer with the telescope was right. It was a person.

And it was walking on the water.

The air filled with uneasy murmurs, and one Enforcer tugged on Aloysius' coat. He was clearly someone with at least a decently high rank, Callista determined, or he would not be safe doing that. "Sir," he said urgently, "I'd say whatever that thing is, it seems intent on reaching us, and I have my doubts about that being a good thing."

"It might just be another of their illusions," Aloysius muttered, but he seemed uncertain.

"With all respect, sir, you were actively strangling one of them when it appeared, and the other is... possibly dead."

Another Enforcer cleared her throat. "No, definitely dead. Very much dead."

"Very dead," the first one agreed. "It's not a reasonable explanation."

Callista couldn't look to her right, in between her other crewmates, where Lisa was lying. Not yet. Instead, she put all of her seething hatred into a single murderous glare, directed at the Guild Leader.

Aloysius frowned. "What are you suggesting I do about it?"

Before either of the people he was talking to could say anything, the crowd's whispers rose in volume and got more frantic. One of the Enforcers shouted, "It's speeding up, and it's glowing brighter now!"

Aloysius looked around, clearly getting worried about his crew's apprehension. He wasn't going to be able to control them very well if he didn't do something. "We don't know if it's anything to worry about," he started, but his words went unnoticed.

"It's mad at us! It wants to get us!"

"If we get back on our ship right now and sail away, will it leave us alone?"

"I hate this. I wish I was back on banana crime watch."

"Sir, about my suggestion," the Enforcer with the presumably high rank said quietly. "That suggestion is to get the hell out of here and leave the suspects."

Aloysius scoffed. "That's out of the question."

"Do you think it's a coincidence that it showed up while this was happening?" the other one asked. Her voice was shaky, but she seemed to believe in what she was saying. "No one's ever been seen walking on water before. We shouldn't mess with anyone who can."

Aloysius cursed. He looked between his crew with annoyance, the four of them with frustration, and then the approaching figure-- which really was getting closer-- with something that Callista thought might have been a hint of fear. Finally he shouted, "Leave them! We're getting back on our ships."

The relieved Enforcers, wounded or not, scrambled back to their boat and hurriedly prepared to set sail again. Aloysius was the last one to set foot on his ship, glaring at them all of the way. Callista returned the look with one that had even more loathing.

Meridian spat at the three ships as they left.



Soon, the sun had set, and the distant figure's glow was just as bright as the half moon's. It kept walking over the waves in the same direction, undeterred. Even though it would take a few minutes, it was now certain they'd be meeting it.

Callista no longer cared.

Her fingers were intertwined tightly with Lisa's, her blood pulsing weakly through her hand against the other woman's cold skin, and she'd moved Lisa's body so her her head rested delicately against one of Callista's crossed legs. Lisa's deep blue hair pooled around her like a halo, and Callista was tempted to reach out and stroke it, almost as if she were comforting Lisa, not herself. Meridian and Rodrin stood at the railing, glancing between them and the figure. Not one of them had said a word since the attack. It was a strange kind of wake.

Just as the Enforcer woman had said, there was no pulse. Callista had spent too long with her fingers wrapped around Lisa's wrists and pressed to her neck, one last bit of hope pushing her to search for a spark of life the Enforcers had missed, a spark of life that she eventually had to admit wasn't there. And yet, something still felt off to Callista. She wasn't sure if it was merely denial.

But Lisa's body didn't feel like a dead one.

Her skin still felt too soft against Callista's fingers, her cheeks still held a touch of pink, and her expression was gentle, too peaceful for the horrible death she'd suffered.

Meridian let out a quiet sigh that was barely more than a breath. "It's almost here."

Callista gave Lisa's hand a slight squeeze before she let go and stood up. Lisa's hand dropped to the deck beside her; her limbs hadn't stiffened yet, and Callista would not think about the horrible future where they would. She went to join the others at the railing, feeling a chill go down her spine as she watched the person's progress. Not only did it have a glowing white silhouette, but it seemed remarkably pale.

"Am I the only one who can see the waves through it?" Rodrin asked.

She leaned forward. Sure enough, the person was slightly transparent, and the deep blue of the night sea was visible behind its shape. "I see it too," she said, and Meridian nodded.

"Great," Rodrin muttered. "Assuming we can hold a civil conversation with it, I'll have a couple extra questions."

They waited a little longer before Callista was actually able to make out details. It looked like a man, but he definitely wasn't a normal person if he could do this. He looked about Lisa's height, and although she couldn't see any color on him, she could tell he was wearing an outfit rather like Meridian's. So he was a pirate, whatever he was.

When he arrived at the base of the ship, they all tensed, looking directly downwards. The man looked back up, the waves splashing over his feet. The following silence was unexpectedly awkward.

Finally, the man cleared his throat. "Come on, really? I can't climb up the side of a boat. I walked all this way, you gotta help me out here."

Callista couldn't help but be surprised. "So you can walk on water, but not a vertical surface?"

"Yes! I don't have spider legs!"

"Forgive me for assuming a climbing job was harder than defying gravity."

"Meridian, get him a rope," Rodrin said with a shake of his head, sounding just as stunned as her.

Meridian obeyed, grabbing a spare one from the mast area and throwing it down the side. The man grabbed it with one hand uncertainly, then the other, and slowly started using it to climb up. The rope was visible through his hands. He struggled many times, sometimes uncertainly glancing down at the waves below as if considering walking back the way he'd come, but he would go on. When he got to the top, the man turned down Meridian's gloved hand-- and tripped and flopped face-first onto the deck instead.

"Who are you?" Rodrin demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," the man said smoothly as he stood up, trying to sound cool even though it was far too late to make that impression.

"Yeah, we would like to know actually."

The man raised his arms. "I'll tell you," he said in a bad dramatic voice. "I haunt the ocean. I am the perfect ghost story. I am... The Wanderer of Deep Waters."

He was met with three blank faces.

"Uh, you know, because I walk around on the surface? The 'deep' part isn't always true because I actually like the beach best, but--"

"That's just dumb," Callista said flatly. Whatever this was, it was already getting on what was left of her nerves.

"I only had a hundred and twenty years to think of it," the man protested.

...That's a statement I'll unpack later. "It's still dumb. It's also a mouthful. How can you be intimidating if people are bored of listening by the time you get to the end of your name?"

"Right," Meridian agreed. "Let's get you a new name."

"Please, no."

"How about Watt?" Meridian continued excitedly without listening. "It's just one syllable, and it sounds vaguely like 'waters'. Doesn't get any more down to earth than that."

"Watt." Rodrin pondered it. "That's much easier."

"Perfect," Callista said, ready to get to the point. "So, Watt, why are you here?"

Watt let out an unhappy whine. "I want my old name back."

"Well, I didn't ask about that, Watt, I asked you a different question."

Watt pouted. "I was here to help, actually. I'm supposed to scare off the big bad guys and make sure you got away."

Callista had no doubt that if the Enforcers had seen him up close, they would not have fled. Despite such an intimidating act of walking on water, Watt was about as threatening as a duckling. But even ducks had rage, so maybe a sheep. "You got here too late," she said sharply, pointing at Lisa as she watched him accusingly. "She's-"

She couldn't make herself say it just yet.

"Gone," she finished, a little quieter.

"Oh, she's no ghost!" Watt said. "She's totally fine. Just seems that way from, well, appearances."

Her heart leapt, and although Rodrin's voice was confused, he sounded hopeful too. "How do you know?"

"Because I'm a ghost," Watt said, doing the worst jazz hands that Callista had ever seen. "I can tell those sorts of things."

"Ohhhh," Meridian said. "Well. That explains the transparency, but not how you still failed to choose a good name for yourself when you've had over a century to think of one."

The ghost huffed. "You have no idea how busy the afterlife is."

Callista didn't hear any more of their conversation as she dashed back across the deck, sliding to her knees at Lisa's side. She took the other woman's hand and gently propped her upright against her shoulder, wrapping one arm around her to hold her up and take her wrist, pressing her fingers over the vein there.

"Come on, Lisa," she whispered. "He says you're alive, please be alive, come on."

She still didn't feel a pulse, and the flash of hope that Watt's words had sparked in her was slowly fading - and being rapidly replaced by pure rage at the mysterious supposed-ghost - when Lisa's fingers moved against hers. At first, Callista wasn't sure that she hadn't imagined it, but then Lisa's grip tightened on Callista's hand and her eyes fluttered open.

A surprised, joyful sound escaped her, and she tightened her own grip-- still, still not feeling a pulse, but it didn't matter now-- and pushed the hair away from her face. "You're okay!"

Lisa blinked up at her slowly for a moment, then closed her eyes and relaxed against Callista's shoulder. "It takes more than a lack of oxygen to kill me," she murmured, her voice quiet and scratchy and yet the most beautiful sound Callista had heard in a while. "Besides, I've been surviving without air ever since you took my breath away when we first met."

Callista blinked in confusion and shock, at a complete loss of words.

Oh. Wait, she said that to Aloysius too, so it's not anything meaningful or serious.

"Well... I'm glad you can hold your breath for that long!" She gave her a smile, wondering why it felt like she'd gotten kicked in the chest. Lisa was pretty flirty, but she'd been flirty with everyone and since it had always been as a joke with them, there was no reason it would be any different with her. Why was that so hurtful to her?

Lisa laughed quietly, but it quickly turned into a cough. "Ow," she said weakly. "That hurts. Not breathing hurts. And my chest really hurts."

Callista's smile fell a bit and she wasn't quite sure what to answer. As she knelt there, watching Lisa - who was alive, thank all the gods, she was alive - she realized she had her arms wrapped around the other woman in some weird sort of hug, and even worse, that Rodrin was looking at her while she was doing that. Quickly, she helped Lisa to her feet. "That guy will be hurting a lot more if he does that again."

Lisa very nearly collapsed again; as it was, she leaned heavily on Callista to keep her balance. Her gaze was quickly sharpening again, losing the glazed, dizzy glint she'd had when she first woke up, and she scanned the deck, her expression growing confused when she didn't see any Enforcers and even more confused when she caught sight of Watt.

"There's- there's a ghost over there," she said uncertainly.

"Yes!" Watt said, waving enthusiastically. "I am the Wanderer of--"

"This is Watt," Meridian said, to the ghost's clear dismay. He was giving Lisa a we're glad you're okay smile. "What do you think of the name?"

Lisa nodded thoughtfully. "He looks like a Watt."

"Great! Satisfaction with a name is important." Watt's unsatisfaction was clear, but Meridian went on. "Anyway, Watt, what took you so long to get here?"

"Well, I had to cross the ocean, for starters," Watt grumbled. "Do you know where I started about yesterday morning? It was on her island." He pointed to Callista. "I was happily haunting the place when the Hands of Fate told me to get over here and save some people who'd gotten in way too deep. I walked for almost two full days! Where's my gratitude?"

Callista put two and two together. "People said they saw a ghost by the old cliff lighthouse that day. Was that you?"

Watt brightened. "It was! It's one of my favorite spots to haunt--"

"I can't wait to tell all of Guild Rogue that you're so overrated and not even half as spooky as they all think."

The ghost sighed. "You're great at giving thanks."

"You don't know the half of it," Rodrin muttered, but he didn't thank Watt either.

Watt sighed and closed his eyes. "So, I have something else I'm required to share, otherwise Fate will get mad. Problem is, I can't remember."

"What do you mean, you can't remember?" Lisa asked. She seemed a lot more stable already, and Callista gingerly let her go, watching to make sure Lisa didn't collapse again.

"Well, I do, just not the fine details." The ghost paused. "Oh! Be careful of those backwards tides. That was it."

"Any chance you could tell us what that means?" Rodrin folded his arms over his chest.

"No can do."

Callista growled and drew her sword. She had no idea if it would do anything to the mysterious being, but he flinched satisfyingly anyway. "Tell us what you mean, or I'm going to kill you again."

"Woah, woah!" Watt said, apparently believing that could happen. "I'm being honest-- a human brain with finite memory storage and a lot of extra afterlife memories doesn't do so well!"

"Callista, don't shoot-- I mean, stab-- the messenger. Put the sword away," Rodrin ordered, and she shot him a look but did it anyway. Their captain let out a sigh. "I guess we'll just have to figure out what that means then," he said grumpily.

"That's right," Watt said in a cheerful tone. "It leaves some mystery, doesn't it?"

From the looks they gave him, Callista could tell she was not the only one tired of the mystery.

"Well, I can't change how you see it. Suit yourselves." Watt shrugged. "I'll be off to find some other sea to haunt then." He turned around and walked back to the rope, then paused. "Um, I don't know how to climb down--"

Callista shoved him off the boat. She wasn't sure if she was expecting her hands to go right through his back or not, but they didn't. Instead, she did touch something, and it felt like she was sliding her hands into ice water so cold it chilled her entire body. She shuddered when she was no longer in contact. Otherwise, it went exactly as it had every other time she'd pushed someone, which wasn't a rare event, and Watt fell over with a piercing yelp.

When they didn't hear a splash, they all leaned over the side. Watt was floating on top of the water in a sitting position, completely dry. "Rude!" he shouted up at her.

"That's what you get for putting my wife through all that trouble of nearly dying with your tardiness!" she hollered back.

Watt huffed and shook his head, but he got back on his feet and walked back the way he came, still steadily treading over the shifting water like it was flat land. They watched him go, until his glow was just a star-like pinprick of light on the dark horizon, and then nothing at all.

Once Watt had faded from view, Rodrin muttered something about checking the damage the Enforcers had done to the ship and left. Meridian climbed back up to the crow's nest. Lisa expected Callista to follow Rodrin, but instead, the other woman moved to lean on the railing next to her. She didn't turn to look at her, still staring at the horizon where Watt disappeared, but her bright amber eyes kept flicking to the side to look at Lisa with deep concern.

Finally, Lisa nudged her shoulder. "I'm alright now, darling." Her own voice made her wince, her usually silver tones and lilting accent roughened and pulled out of tune by the burning pain in her chest. Whatever that Enforcer had done to her, she wasn't going to get over it in a few minutes.

Callista bit her lip, making real eye contact. "None of that made sense. I don't know how you're just fine. They said- and you weren't breathing."

She shrugged. "The Enforcers are bad at finding pulses, apparently."

She got a slow blink in response. "Well, so was I."

The thought of Callista searching for a pulse while Lisa was unconscious sent a shiver down her spine, and she wasn't entirely sure if it was a good shiver or a bad shiver.

"It takes a bit of effort," she explained. She took Callista's hand and pressed two of the other woman's fingers to her neck, the warmth of Callista's fingers pleasant against her own cold skin. Smoothly mimicking Callista's Affinity, she let Callista feel the smallest pulse beneath her skin. "I have... extraordinarily bad circulation."

Callista closed her eyes to focus on it. When she opened them, she still looked doubtful, but slightly less confused. "...Huh. Well, that's unlucky then."

"I think it's lucky, actually," Lisa corrected. "If they had realized I was still alive... he might not have stopped." Callista's hand, still lightly pressed to Lisa's skin and resting under her hand, tensed.

"Right." Callista drew her hand back suddenly. "I... I didn't think you would make it." There was a slight tremor in her voice, but maybe it was just a trick of the imagination.

"Like I said, it takes more than a lack of oxygen to kill me." Lisa flicked Callista a slight smile. "I'm not that fragile, darling."

She poked her-- very lightly-- in the forearm, away from her joints. "You literally just told me about another health problem you have."

Lisa poked her back, definitely not as lightly. "Maybe I'm not as strong as you are, but I'm not about to fall apart in a stiff breeze."

Callista let out a huffy laugh and blew fiercely on the side of her head, sweeping her hair into her face, which caused Lisa to make a sound of protest and reach up to comb it back into place with her fingers. "Oh?"

"I stand corrected! I surrender, you are truly a might breeze!" She ran her hand through the blue mess her hair had become during the fight and her unconsciousness, then gave Callista a coy look- sideways, through her hair, so her expression could be mistaken for simple mischeviousness. "If I were to fall apart, though, darling, I hope you'd gather all the pieces."

She tilted her head to the side, looking slightly unsure. "You hope? You're not certain I would?"

"Well, you did just try to blow me apart," Lisa pointed out. "In that situation, I'm not sure you would." She hesitated, not quite sure if she'd made sense to Callista or not, and added, "but I think in any other situation, I'd trust you with all my broken pieces, darling."

A smile that looked different from Callista's usual ones in a way she couldn't name spread across her face, like she was almost hesitant to show it. "I'll be careful not to drop them."

Lisa studied her face for a minute, then returned the smile and looked back out at the horizon.

I'd trust you with all my broken pieces...

The memory Meridian had forced to the front of her mind wouldn't leave. She'd trusted Keziah, too, and look how that had ended. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't let Keziah shadow her life any longer - she'd made her peace with the woman long ago - but with that wound freshly torn open, she couldn't help but wonder if Callista would do the same thing if she knew.

She only realized her smile had dropped when Callista asked, "are you alright?"

Lisa nodded. "It's cold up here," she murmured, wrapping her arms around herself.

The other woman looked confused, maybe by a double meaning, then she nodded understandingly. "Meridian did drop you in the harbor."

She glanced up to the crow's nest where Meridian sat, a dark silhouette against an even darker sky. "I can't blame him," she said with a rusty laugh. "His Affinity... well, I probably would've dropped myself in the harbour too."

"That's right." Callista widened her eyes like that had just occurred to her. "It happened to me too."

"Do you think his Affinity specifically picks out bad memories to bring up, or are we just unlucky?" Lisa wondered.

Callista shrugged. "No idea, but I don't want to do it again to find out more." Her grip on the railing tightened, and then she ended up letting go entirely to take a sip from her bottle. "I'm sure he'd prefer it that way too."

Lisa's gaze followed the bottle as Callista returned it to her belt. "Does it help?" she asked, gesturing to the bottle. "You reach for that whenever you get upset."

She pursed her lips, clearly being careful with her answer. "I suppose it does. I guess I can't really help it."

Lisa gave her a slight mischevious smile to soften the seriousness of her next question. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what 'it' is, are you?" For good measure - and to keep Callista from getting too defensive over it - she batted her eyelashes teasingly at her.

"I'm afraid I can't." Callista squinted a little at her.

While Lisa's smile remained on her face, internally, she wanted nothing more than to walk away.

That had been too much. That had definitely been too much.

"If you're not going to tell me - which is rude, darling, how dare you - can I speculate?" she asked, carefully searching Callista's face for any indication that she was pushing too hard.

She thought about it and shrugged. "Fine, but I'm not promising you any honest answers."

Lisa leaned back against the railing as she examined Callista. "Hmm. My first theory would be that it's just alcohol and you're embarrassed about it, but considering how much you've drunk and you aren't- drunk, that is, I don't think that's it."

Callista chuckled, like it was a joke. "A lot of people assume that I have a drinking problem. I don't, but I see why they would think that."

"Well, you did just tell me that you can't help it," Lisa teased. "So you do have a drinking problem, it's just not with alcohol."

"Fair enough." Callista nodded. "But it's not alcohol."

"Water, and you're just really committed to the mysterious aesthetic?"

"I'm mysterious, but not impractical. No."

She glanced up at Meridian again, then lowered her voice dramatically. "Was Meridian right in guessing that there's a vampire on board?"

"Says the girl who came back from the dead." Callista laughed. "It would not be me if there is, but you know what I think of that theory anyway."

Callista's laugh sent a tiny thrill through Lisa, and she suddenly felt the urge to suggest the most ridiculous things she could think of just to make her laugh again.

"Vinegar," she suggested.

Callista didn't even have to answer, she just pretended to gag over the side of the ship.

Lisa laughed. "One of my brothers did that once, actually. Filled a bottle with vinegar and drank from it to try and intimidate people."

"I should try that. I bet I could do that."

"I would love to see you and Evaine attempt to intimidate each other by drinking vinegar."

"I could win," Callista declared confidently. "At the cost of my taste buds forever, but I could win."

"Evaine would probably give in," Lisa agreed. "Orion or Olivier might be harder to beat, but I'm sure you'd win against Evaine."

"I'd try against them anyway." She smirked, picking up the glass bottle and sloshing around the contents a little. "But if this was vinegar, no one would know, so I wouldn't even be able to intimidate them. It'd be for nothing."

"You're plenty intimidating even without drinking vinegar," Lisa assured her.

"Good, because I won't be drinking vinegar without a very good reason."

Lisa returned her attention to Callista's bottle. "Hmm... some kind of fruit juice."

"Tasty, but honestly not my kind of drink." Callista waved a hand. "Too... overwhelmingly sweet."

Lisa nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not guessing exotic enough, am I?"

"Well, if you were guessing exotic enough, you wouldn't be able to tell anyway," Callista pointed out.

She sighed softly. "That's right, you could just be lying through your teeth right now," she agreed. "And unfortunately, mind-reading is not an Affinity I've learned to mimic." She gave Callista a sideways look. "And after I declared my trust for you, too," she complained.

"Oh, I do trust you," Callista assured her. "This isn't that important, though, and you seem to have more fun guessing than you would knowing."

"It's important because you're being so secretive about it!" Lisa protested. "And the not-knowing is going to drive me crazy!"

Callista sighed, her expression shifting suddenly. "Does it help if I say there's probably only one person out of everyone I've met who knows?"

Lisa let her teasing smile drop.

Now she'd pushed too far.

Of course Callista didn't trust her with this, despite her assurance that she did trust Lisa. Rodrin's words earlier hit harder when she associated them with Callista. Of course, they'd only met a couple days ago, no matter how comfortable they acted with each other, and Callista didn't have to talk about anything she didn't want to with a complete stranger. It was certainly none of Lisa's business, anyway.

She didn't know if it made her feel any better that only one other person knew. On the one hand, it made her even more curious as to what was so secret that Callista had only ever told one person. Maybe even a little bit... jealous, that someone else had been that close to Callista, close in a way that Lisa hadn't even known she wanted to be until the feeling rushed in to drown her in longing.

On the other hand, it did make Callista's not telling her hurt a little less.

And it didn't really matter, did it? Lisa had her own secrets that only a few people knew. Callista could have as many secrets as she wanted to and Lisa was entitled to know none of them. Especially since they were practically strangers still.

"Stay away from my wife!" "That's what you get for putting my wife through all that trouble of nearly dying!"

Empty words, Lisa was now realizing. Callista had messed up for whatever reason and decided to roll with it to try and make it seem like she'd intended to all along, and Lisa had misread her signals.

Just because she wanted those signals to mean what she'd thought they meant didn't mean they would.

She blinked, realizing that Callista was giving her a little bit of an odd look and that she'd been standing silent for several seconds.

"That does make me feel a little better," she answered, carefully keeping any note of anything other than light, teasing, this-doesn't-really-matter-to-me out of her voice.

Callista nodded slowly, her expression turning a little solemn. "Okay. That's good, then." She rolled her shoulders back, letting out a tired sigh, and Lisa saw her relax a little so that she wasn't standing so stiffly anymore. "Sorry. I suppose it's not the best guessing game to play."

If what Rodrin had said this morning was true-- was it just twelve hours ago that they had been sitting around and bickering in the kitchen?-- that made it the second time Callista had apologized on this voyage.

Despite the supposed rarity of Callista's apologies, Lisa dismissed it with a wave. "The fault is mine, darling. I didn't mean to be invasive. I'd offer to let you ask some personal questions that I don't want to answer to make things fair, but I don't think I have anything that you'd be interested in hearing."

"No?" Callista raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure I could come up with a question."

Lisa smiled. "Well then, ask away, but I'm not promising any honest answers."

Callista chuckled, and looked up at the sky thoughtfully before she asked. "Is the illusion Affinity your favorite?"

"Depends on how you define favourite, but by most definitions, yes. It's the easiest to use - since I don't have to mimic it, of course, it's just there all the time - has the most uses in my life, and is just generally fun. I can mimic a few other good ones, though, so I don't know if it would be fair to call the illusions my favourite. Just the most convenient."

"I just wondered, since it was the only one I'd seen you use before..." Callista waved her hand. "That."

Lisa nodded. "I try not to use more than one at a time around other people. It's simpler to let people believe I only have one Affinity - which I technically do, since the illusions are still part of my original Affinity - than to explain what I actually do. Besides, people tend to get nervous when I explain what I do. Something about being 'unpredictable' and 'untrustworthy'." Lisa added, "Even people aboard this ship, apparently." She laughed with a hint of bitterness.

"Has anyone ever been worried that you'll take theirs? I know you said you couldn't, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone believed it anyway."

Lisa laughed, a little ruefully. "Yeah. The few times I've explained my Affinity, at least one person has 'mysteriously' found reasons to never be in the same room as me."

Callista glanced around. "I don't think any of us have?"

Lisa stared at her with incredulous eyes. "Really, darling? I was just presumed dead and even I know that's wrong."

"What-- oh, right. Rodrin." Callista muttered. She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped herself. Lisa could have guessed what she was trying to say, and applauded her for having the wherewithal to stop herself there, for Lisa.

"Also," she pointed up at Meridian, a vague blob of shadow up in the crow's nest who was deliberately not looking at any of them.

"Ah. I thought he just liked it up there, but..." She shrugged. "If he is upset, it's probably not over that specifically."

"It's only a small part of it, of course. Secondary to the frightening way I manipulated an entire crowd into fighting Enforcers for me - he gave me quite the look over that - and the memory he accidentally saw - he gave me an even worse look over that - and then..." She waved her hand vaguely. "Enforcers and ghost and all that fun stuff."

She glanced up at him. "... I kind of meant that sarcastically, but he really does have good reason to go sit alone for a while, doesn't he."

"I'd be doing that normally," Callista agreed. "But it's nice to be here with you instead."

Lisa looked at her sideways. "... you're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you? Because if you really want to be alone for a while, I won't be offended."

"No," she insisted. "Believe me, if I wanted to be alone after all this, I would have stormed off right away. I don't need that though."

"Alright." She glanced out at the sea, watching the moon glitter off the dark water. "I certainly don't mind having you here."

Callista followed her gaze. Suddenly, the moon's reflection shifted, and the light separated and moved around over the waves like there were glowing fish swimming just under the surface. Her hand was waving around to match the dance-like movement as a satisfied smile spread across her face. "And I don't mind either."

Lisa leaned out a little further over the railing to watch the illusory fish, her smile turning to one of delight. "Oh!" she breathed. For a moment, she was half tempted to add her own sparkle of illusion to the lights, but somehow, that seemed like it would make the moment less special.

Callista laughed, then closed her eyes as if visualizing something, and the silvery lights moved to spell out a word: Lisa.

"Ohh!" Lisa breathed again. She didn't know how else to react. "That's-"

That's what? That's so sweet? That's lovely? That's the most romantic thing anyone's done for me in a long time?

"Wow," she finished.

"What is it?" Callista asked nervously. "Did-- did I spell it wrong?"

Callista's question was so unexpected that Lisa couldn't help but laugh.

"No!" she finally got out in between laughter. "No, that's- that's how you spell it. I meant- it's really pretty, and no one's ever done anything like that for me."

Callista let out a sigh of relief, then laughed too. "Well, someone should do that for you," she said teasingly. "I'm surprised I got there first."

"I suppose I've never met anyone with an Affinity that would let them do that, and that wanted to do that."

"Didn't you get your illusions from someone?"

"Well... yes, but... she didn't like using her Affinity for 'frivolous' things."

Callista looked away from the water to face her. "That's a shame, because you deserve something like this," she mused.

... what did she mean by that? What did she mean by any of this? How was she supposed to interpret glowing illusion fish spelling out her name?

"It's-- fun, you know?" Callista continued, catching her look. "And I don't think it's 'frivolous' at all, because, well-- it's you."

Lisa hesitated for another moment, then turned to face Callista as well, leaning casually on the railing with one arm. "Because I'm your wife?" she suggested lightly.

Another laugh came from her. "Are we going to keep running with that? It confuses Rodrin, so I'm down for it."

"I assumed we were since you called me your wife while yelling at Watt earlier. And I suppose confusing Rodrin is a good reason to continue- he actually asked me about your - my - prophecy line earlier, assuming that I'd know you better than anyone else, and his face when I told him we'd only met yesterday was priceless."

"I wish I'd seen it." Callista sighed wistfully. "I guess we'll have to keep it then."

Hearing Callista confirm that it was all right relieved a fear that had been at the back of her mind ever since this morning, that it hadn't been alright when Lisa kissed her cheek after the seagull incident. It had been an impulsive decision, made up in the moment to try and roll with it and make Callista feel less awkward about her slip of the tongue, but immediately after going below decks, she'd regretted it. Maybe it had made Callista feel more awkward. Maybe it had been entirely inappropriate.

Maybe she should still apologize for it.

Looking at Callista now, though, she didn't want to bring that that moment back up. Apologizing would only ruin this moment.

The glowing illusions beneath the waves were reflected in Callista's eyes, tiny flickers of light that she was positioned perfectly to catch and that made her amber irises sparkle prettier than any of Lisa's jewelry ever could.

She'd seen Callista's eyes this close before, during the explosion on Virakis when Callista had fallen - thrown herself? - on top of her, protecting her from any debris. There had been that brief moment when their eyes met, charged with concern for each other, and then Callista had been gone. Lisa hadn't had time to really process what was going on, then.

Now she had all the time in the world to watch and take in the rich colour of Callista's eyes.

Callista only seemed to notice after what felt like an eternity of being distracted by it had gone by. "What is it?" she asked with a laugh. "Is there something on my face?"

Lisa blinked, then laughed softly as well. "Even if there was, darling, I wouldn't notice," she replied with a wink. "I'm too busy looking at your eyes." She gestured to the glowing illusion fish. "They're reflecting off your eyes," she explained, as if that would make it better and less awkward that she'd just been staring at Callista. "It's... an interesting effect."

Callista was no blusher, but Lisa could still read the pleasant surprise on her face. "Oh." She chuckled, looking a little lost for words. "I wasn't expecting something like that."

"And I wasn't expecting something like this-" She gestured to the fish again. "-so now we've both been surprised tonight."

"There's been a lot of surprises for us lately," Callista said thoughtfully. "Most of them were pretty bad. But this has been a good one for me at least."

"This is the best surprise I've had in the last couple of days," Lisa agreed. "And- much needed, too. Things have been..." She paused, searching for the right word. "... very stressful," she finally settled on. She was too tired to come up with someone more eloquent. "This is nice."

Callista glanced up at the moon-- the real one, not the reflection she'd rearranged into Lisa's name. "I don't know what to make of it all," she said. "This time two days ago, I was trying to join a crew. I was really mad at the first mate who wanted to take his time thinking about it, and I was only thinking about the meeting because he claimed he'd decide after it." She gestured around her. "Now I have his ship, a criminal record and a bounty on my head to go with it, and three people that I'd never have seen myself joining on an unlikely quest."

"That is the pettiest thing I've ever heard and I love it." Lisa sighed softly and looked up at the moon as well. "This time two days ago, I was rolling weighted dice and worrying about nothing, and now I'm... here."

Callista nodded. "Now you've got a real prophecy to worry about."

"I'm trying to look on the bright side of the prophecy. Maybe the 'only three beating hearts shall be discovered' line refers to the fact that no one can find my pulse and so it seems like my heart doesn't beat. That would be nice, if that's what that means. Means I'm not going to kill anyone or die."

"Your terrible circulation was foreseen by some pretentious prophecy written in code so weird they had to get a cartographer to crack it, and it's not even the weirdest thing about it," Callista said with a shake of her head.

"I'm wondering if I should be offended that Fate thinks the most important thing to mention about me is my circulation," Lisa mused. "I mean, I have other great qualities! Like... I'm great at gambling games, even when I'm not cheating at them! I'm incredibly beautiful! I'm good at doing a lot of other things! Fate doesn't need to point out all my medical problems."

"Actually, the prophecy was pretty intent on calling all of us out on at least one thing. It's not great that I'm such a shameful mess that something foretold probably centuries ago knew all about it."

"The prophecy just decided to spill everyone's secrets, but in the vaguest way possible. You're a disgraced disaster, Meridian's looking for someone and liable to accidentally find out your secrets, Rodrin's mildly boring and incredibly annoying to be around, and I'm easily taken out of commission and untrustworthy."

"It's no secret that Rodrin's annoying," Callista said, a little louder than needed.

"He's not that bad when you're not around insulting him," Lisa defended.

"...Has there been a time when I'm not?" Callista appeared to be giving it some thought. "Huh. Maybe only just for the last fight."

"Rodrin and I were having a very nice conversation this morning, actually, before you stumbled in and started insulting him. Well- it wasn't so much a conversation as I was talking at him and he was giving me short replies and probably wishing I'd leave, but I think that's a step in the right direction, at least."

"As you said, I do some very petty things, and I'm unlikely to stop."

"Hopefully fulfilling the prophecy doesn't take too much teamwork, then."

"Hopefully." Callista sobered up. "The only person I can really see myself working with here with you, honestly."

"Well, that makes me feel special." Lisa smiled at her, but let it drop quickly to match Callista's seriousness. "I can see Meridian working in our team, but Rodrin... well. 'Lone rock' and all that. I could make it work, but I don't think you could."

"I don't really work with people. I figured the gambling in a duo arrangement it looked like we were going to have would be fine, but more than that? I'm out of my depth with more than one person."

"The pirate life might not be for you then, darling. A full crew is at minimum about fifteen people large, and it's not unheard of to have many more than that. Pirates don't have as large crews as legitimate ones, because we need smaller ships, but still. Working with people is a necessary skill for any type of seafarer."

Callista shrugged. "I know. I'm still working on it, since I'm relatively new, but I wouldn't say this isn't for me."

"You'll get it eventually, I'm sure."

She hesitated a moment, then asked, "what did you do before becoming a pirate?"

Callista bit her lip, then shook her head and chuckled. "Ah, what the hell." She took out her sword, letting Lisa examine it. "I served as a knight for a noble family in Skirys. There wasn't a whole lot of teamwork involved-- it was a rather independent role most of the time, besides the undying loyalty and servitude part."

Lisa inspected the sword interestedly. "A knight. That makes pirate an even more interesting career choice for you."

Take care of the one walking away in disgrace...

Suddenly, Lisa had a sneaking suspicion of what Callista's "disgrace" was. Knights - anyone, really, but especially those serving in noble houses - didn't generally turn pirate until that was their only option, and Callista didn't seem the type to just get bored and get on a ship like a few people Lisa had met.

Besides, undying loyalty didn't sound like a thing you just walked away from. Not unless you were forced. Most likely, Callista had done something - or the noble house she'd served had; Nobles disgracing themselves and dragging everyone else down with them wasn't uncommon - and been forced to find herself the only career that she could.

Lisa knew that feeling well.

"I suppose it wasn't a perfectly logical jump to make, but it was something to do with my fighting skill, at least," Callista said. "Guild Rogue was in need of master gunners, and I had experience with the cannons at the castle, so I just went for it, I guess."

"Fair enough, darling. I went for Guild Arcane simply because I didn't feel like I really fit into any other Guild. Not sneaky enough for Rogue, not interested enough in maps for Prometheus, not strong enough for Enforcer, it's near impossible to get into Forsaken if you don't have connections, and- well, I was trying to get out of Mercy, so that certainly wasn't an option. Besides, I have a strong, unique Affinity, so Arcane seemed the best place to be."

Callista nodded. "Arcane did seem rather interesting, but it would be a bad place for me to make enemies."

Lisa appreciated that she didn't ask why Lisa had been trying to get out of Guild Mercy, despite the fact that Lisa had been unable to keep the barest of tremors out of her voice as she said the name. Maybe Callista hadn't even noticed. Hopefully, she hadn't.

She laughed. "Well, that's true - powerful Affinity users are bad people to make enemies out of - but there are no enemies within Arcane."

"There aren't?"

"Nope. It's an odd concept to the rest of the guilds, but our motto is 'Arcane goes beyond'. Beyond 'mortal limitations' is how it was explained to me when I joined. Arcane members protect each other, no matter what we've done- honestly, I could head back to our headquarters right now and be entirely safe from the Enforcers. They'd turn the rest of you in without hesitation, but I'd be protected."

"The knights I worked with had a pact of sorts like that," Callista said. "It didn't always work, though, so it's fascinating that you have such a functional one."

"It works because everyone involved wants it to," Lisa replied with a shrug. "Some of the newer members struggle with the idea - and I understand, sometimes it feels wrong not to hand someone over to the Enforcers for what they've done - but anyone who's been Arcane for a while believes that our Guild members are truly 'beyond' and so we protect each other." She paused, then laughed softly. "We protect each other's Affinities, rather. In Arcane, the person doesn't matter, just the Affinity they hold."

Callista winced. "Oof. That was sounding rather nice before that."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, I swear. It's not that the person doesn't matter at all, it's more that- hmm." She paused, trying to think. "Arcane's theory is that all Affinities come from the same source, and harming an Affinity harms that source, weakening everyone else. Our other - less provable but no less valid - theory is that Affinities are the person. We've only recently started studying that more in-depth, but from just casual observations, Arcane theorizes that the Affinity often matches the personality of the person using it. I easily shift personality or appearance to match what I need to do, and my Affinity lets me do that better. Rodrin's closed off, dry, a little bit grating- his Affinity is sand. Meridian's main interest is cartography - discovering and categorizing new things and places and exploring - and his Affinity lets him get into people's minds. People are an extension of their Affinity, and so it's not really that we don't care about the person, it's just that there's no distinction in our minds between the Affinity and the person, which is an uncommon idea among the guilds and often leads to people believing that we couldn't care less about our members when in fact, it's the opposite."

Callista was nodding slowly. "What do you think mine says about me?" She sounded like she was a little worried about the answer.

Lisa paused before answering, examining Callista closely. The woman was secretive about her Affinity in a way that made Lisa a little bit suspicious. Most people were secretive about the exact details of their Affinities, but Callista was almost defensive in the way she asked exactly what Lisa knew about her. She'd seemed a little bit nervous when she asked what Lisa had figured out about her Affinity earlier, and now she was worried about what Lisa thought her Affinity meant for her personality. She supposed it could just be that Callista was worried about what Lisa thought of her - although that was a stupid idea, Callista seemed much too confident to care much, and hadn't Lisa made it clear enough that she liked Callista? - but there was something that made Lisa worry she'd misread Callista's Affinity- and worse, that Callista wanted her to misread her Affinity.

"You pick and choose who gets to see what about you," she said slowly. "Just like you can control who sees or feels what you create with your Affinity, only certain people get to know certain sides of you. Since it's an illusion Affinity - by Arcane's definition, anything that makes people see, hear, or feel things that aren't there is an illusion Affinity - that makes me think that perhaps, the sides we do get to see aren't entirely real most of the time. Or- real, but slightly off from the truth."

Callista's eyes widened in surprise. She sheathed her sword again and turned back to the water, where the writing still lay just beneath the surface. Her hands went to the railing and her fingers tightened around it. Finally she said, "That was worryingly accurate."

"I'm- sorry," Lisa apologized tentatively. "I'll keep my observations to myself from now on if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Oh, no, I did ask, it's just--" Callista paused. "Leaving me feeling weirdly vulnerable."

"Well, I suppose that means that Arcane's theory is still to be disproven, and I'm a good member of my guild?" Lisa suggested, trying to relieve the sudden tension. "Thank you for helping me perform Arcane science."

Callista's laugh was a little uneasy. "No problem."

She'd gone too far again. Talking to Callista was like an odd game of tug-of-war, except you didn't want to pull the other person over the line. She needed to keep a delicate balance of asking questions and learning about her new friend - could she call Callista a friend? Was that alright? Maybe it was too soon - and letting Callista keep her secrets, and she was doing a terrible job of that.

"I'm sorry, darling," she offered again, not sure what to say now. "I usually analyze... more willing participants. People who are expecting it and offered themselves to be studied like that. I should've just kept my mouth shut."

"I did offer it, it was on me to be more prepared." Callista hesitated before adding, "I don't think you're the wrong person to be seeing a couple other sides of me."

What. Did. She. MEAN.

This entire conversation had been equally enjoyable and confusing and she still didn't know what Callista had meant by anything she'd said or done and despite the fact that apparently Lisa had read her almost perfectly, she didn't know.

To her horror, as she paused to think about how she could respond to that - should she flirt with Callista again? Should she just laugh and say thank you? - she realized she was staring again and quickly turned her head to pretend to cough into her sleeve.

To even more horror, she realized that after a few moments, she wasn't pretending anymore and her chest was burning. The memory of struggling to breathe against Aloysius's Affinity and failing to find any air forced itself to the front of her mind and the same panic flashed through her as she leaned heavily on the railing and coughed painfully.

Callista put a hand on her back and watched worriedly until the coughs subsided. "Are you okay?"

"Ow," she breathed. Her voice had been returning to some semblance of normal, but she'd rapidly undone that, maybe even made it worse. "Yes, I'm- I'm fine, I think."

"It's been a long day," Callista said with concern. "You should probably get some rest."

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed. "Where- do you see my cane anywhere? I dropped it when the Enforcers first grabbed me and I have no idea where it ended up."

Callista turned around, searching the deck, then walked off in one direction. She bent down and picked up her cane that had blended in with the dark wood of the deck. "There you go," she said, returning to her and handing it over.

Lisa checked it over carefully, making sure it was still solid, the gold detailing hadn't been dented, and none of the jewels had been knocked out of alignment so the hidden sword compartment still functioned properly before putting her weight on it. "Thank you."

Callista nodded, and turned her head to watch the sea again. Lisa blinked, and suddenly she could no longer see her name on the water. "Take care, alright?" she said with unusual softness. "I'll stay out here for a bit longer."

Lisa nodded. "I'll see you in the morning, then."

She hesitated for another moment before going belowdecks, physically returning to her room to collapse onto the bed but leaving her mind up on deck, watching the moon with Callista, until she sunk into a restless half-sleep.

Aloysius stood at the back of his ship, watching his target get farther and farther away. Their ship-- the Calypso's Revenge, as the previous owners had called it-- was looking much worse than before the clash, with dents in its side and one damaged sail. It was rocking in the dusk wind, and he wondered if it would be sunk by the next storm.

But if it was, then he'd never get the chance to take care of them himself.

The glowing figure didn't seem interesting in chasing them, to his crew's relief-- and his own, if he was to be completely honest. Instead, it kept making its way to the outlaws' boat, never slowing or speeding up. Aloysius kept watching, but eventually they were too far out, and he couldn't tell if the two ever met.

He turned around to see that many of his Enforcers were also looking, searching for the now out-of-sight being with anxiousness.

"Get those fearful looks off your faces," Aloysius ordered. "Go back to work and keep sailing. We have a meeting to attend tomorrow."

The gathered crewmates obeyed, scattering off to complete their tasks before they would stop for the night.

"Sir?" Morren, his second mate and the pirate who had persuaded him to abandon their targets, spoke up hesitantly. "What happens now?"

Aloysius sighed deeply and glanced behind him where the ship and the figure had been one last time before he answered. "We'll keep looking for them, but going back to Virakis happens first. Perhaps we'll even get the help of the other Guilds in the search and get them to search their personal islands."

"The four-- er, three of them-- are all from different Guilds," Morren said. Aloysius didn't like it when his crew expressed doubt, which was why he could hear him keeping all trace of it out of his voice. "If even one of those Guilds refuses to turn them in, what then?"

Aloysius threw up one of his hands. "I accuse them of working against justice and aiding known criminals. They'll come around."

"They might not even go back home," Morren suggested. "They would have to split up to all go their own ways--"

He was silenced by a glare from his captain.

"I think that'll work."

"Glad you came around," Aloysius drawled sarcastically, waving him off with a gesture that meant get away from me. Morren dashed off to the mast and pretended that he'd been working on the sails this entire time.

With that done, he turned around and left the crew at work. He had a special task to fulfill himself, but it was less work than cleaning out the cannons.

Aloysius took the stairs leading belowdecks, which led him to the hallway filled with the cabins for some of the higher members of the crew. His own cabin was at the front, just to his left. But he kept going, leaving the hallway behind entirely and reaching a ladder that went downwards. He clambered down, then got off one floor down, where they kept their supplies. It was mostly quite boring, filled with barrels and shelves, and he never had to spend much time here. But there was one interesting thing they kept down here.

He walked thirty steps down a cleared out path, smirked, and poked his head around a crate to his right that was holding wine bottles. Nothing there. His smirk fell as he looked at the empty space with confusion.

No, wait. It was only twenty paces.

Aloysius let out a sigh of relief. He turned around and walked ten steps back the way he'd came, then pushed aside a barrel that certainly contained more wine. "Hello!" he said brightly, his smirk returning. "I almost missed you. It had me worried you'd made a sneaky escape."

The person sitting in a chair that she was both tied and shackled to was no one other than Furia herself. Her head had fallen back in an awkward position that couldn't be good on her neck, perhaps from all the rocking of the cannon fight, and her eyes were closed. Her only movement was the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

"Oh, of course. You can't hear me yet. How rude of me not to wake you up." He snapped his fingers.

Furia's head shot up, her body snapping into motion as she strained against the rope binding her to the chair. Her fists clenched as she shot Aloysius a murderous glare, teeth gritted together with hatred.

"Rise and shine," Aloysius said mockingly, leaning against the barrel. "Although it happens to be nearly nighttime, so it's more like moonrise and moonshine." Furia's expression soured even more. "As I was saying, I couldn't find you and I thought you had made a run for it somehow. Good thing there's nowhere to go." He raised an eyebrow. "Unless you can walk on water, like that person we saw earlier?"

Furia didn't answer, just kept glaring.

"That's a serious question, actually."

"I have no reason to inform you of that," she hissed.

"Very true, you wouldn't want me knowing. What an exciting thing that would be, if you could! Yet another great power of being a Sea's Carrier." Aloysius laughed. "It seems there are a lot. I'm truly jealous. I'm looking forward to learning what it is you can do."

Furia smiled darkly. "You won't be controlling me, Aloysius. I can't be controlled."

"Not yet. But it's only a matter of time before I can."

"You won't have that kind of time," she snapped, fists clenching again as she did her best to lean forward. "I have many, many, allies. Sooner or later, they will realize I'm not dead, and they will search the land and sea of the entire world until they find me."

"Are those allies our colleagues and fellow Guild Leaders?" Aloysius asked smugly. "I'm going to be meeting them, well, what's left of them, tomorrow, actually, and discuss the emergency power I've received further. I predict they'll grant me even more. We had a drink in your memory yesterday." He frowned. "We had a drink for quite a lot of important people, actually, who really are truly dead. It was getting a bit tipsy."

"They'll give you nothing," Furia snarled. "They'll figure out you're a lying bastard, or that there's someone being held in your ship, whichever happens first. Someone on your very own crew might rat you out."

"They won't," Aloysius said, tapping the wall of wine barrels. "This is the captain's special wine, not to be touched or messed with in any way until I say to open it. And you can't be controlled, but you can still be put to sleep at a moment's notice. I expect you'll be very quiet."

Furia's face contorted into a sneer. "You must be very proud of yourself."

"Oh, I really am," he said with a laugh. "It's been so long that I've been at work for this, Furia, and it's all starting to work out now. There was something small and unexpected--" He pinched his fingers together, leaving just a little gap between them to indicate the size. "--but I expect we'll have our scapegoats sorted out before you can say saltwater bay."

The Guild Leader's eyes narrowed. "Scapegoats?" A hint of venomous curiosity had slipped into her voice.

Aloysius chuckled. "Well. I guess there's plenty of time, and who are you going to tell anyway?"

He took a seat on a wooden box, taking care to stay at a safe distance from Furia. Even bound up and captured, he knew how dangerous she could be. It had been nothing short of a miracle that everything had worked so far with her kidnapping, though he wasn't about to share how risky the situation really was with her. If she found a weakness, she would find an opportunity. If she found an opportunity, he could be done for.

"I planned the explosion with a couple others in my high circle," Aloysius said, leaning back against the barrels behind him. "It was meant to be a mystery who caused it, with no culprits noticed. It would be easy for us to pretend to investigate as we seized and held on to our power that we could catch during the fallout. But instead, there were people there who weren't supposed to be. It was amazingly simple to blame it on them and then convince everyone they were responsible for the explosion."

"Who were they?"

"Two of them aren't especially well known figures, both illusionists-- with some other strange abilities as well, perhaps. One is a cook from Guild Forsaken by the name of Rodrin Delevos. They were eavesdropping on your meeting's conversation, for whatever unknown reason. The fourth was actually supposed to be there, but he ran off with the rest of them. You know him-- Meridian Barrowstone, the Ghost of Elbrus."

Furia pursed her lips. "We never found out the meaning of the map or its code."

"We don't know either, if that helps any," Aloysius said with an indifferent shrug. "But I hardly care. The subject of your meeting wasn't half as important as the gathering of the people there."

"You would say that, wouldn't you," she snapped, holding her head high. "But I've got news for you. The Pirate Code is at risk, and if you want the ancient magic it holds, then you have to protect it. You got in the way of our attempt at saving it."

Aloysius frowned. "Saving the Pirate Code isn't of any concern to me."

"Then say goodbye to your master plan of ruling the pirates with the sea's magic," Furia said, curling her lip. "There are no pirates without the Pirate Code, and there is no magic of the sea without the Pirate Code. It's all about to fall apart on you."

He chuckled, the sound soft and dark. "You must be lying, dear Furia. But nice attempt on it anyway."

She smiled. "Or don't listen to me, that's fine too. What do I care? I'm no longer in charge, and I've been saved from the responsiblity of having it all collapse on my watch, since that will be on you now. But I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about, with all my experience."

Aloysius swallowed, but he would not let himself get tense or show unease. "Luckily, I happen not to care either."

Furia's smile turned into a grin. "You will. You will care soon enough, Aloysius."

Aloysius snapped his fingers, and his Affinity put Furia back to sleep as her eyes shut and her head fell back again. There was still a hint of her triumph left on her face. He felt a tinge of regret that he hadn't responded with something before he'd acted, and that she'd gotten the last word, but there was no reason for doing that now.

Pushing the barrel back in place and checking to make sure that she was invisible from here, Aloysius left the Guild Leader in her prison and returned to his quarters.

~~~

The notes Aloysius had been taking were starting to create more questions for him, instead of making him feel like he knew the answer.

Four runaways from the Virakis explosion made their escape from the harbor same day. Little was needed to convince other Guilds of their guilt. What is known of their identities follows:

1: A cartographer and code breaker by the name of Meridian Barrowstone, comparatively young in age. Guild Prometheus. Sometimes called the Ghost of Elbrus. Affinity is not known to me.

Aloysius added a comment to his earlier notes in the margins of his paper for this person, remembering a detail from the fight.

He refused to use his Affinity in a fight, preferring instead to use pistols. He has good aim.

2: A woman allegedly from Guild Arcane with colored hair that should have made her identifiable, but accounts have described her in many different ways (talk to witnesses???). Affinity is to create illusions. Managed to convince a crowd through unknown magical means to stop the Es. Easily taken out of commission. Seen gambling with 4.

Aloysius added another margin note: Confirmed dead after suffocation.

He could've written about her asthma, he supposed, but there wasn't any point now that she was no longer a problem. At least that was one thing solved. He smiled as he put a small check mark to the right of her section. One down, three pirates left to go before he was the hero who had brought them to face justice.

3: Rodrin Delevos, cook at Virakis, of Guild Forsaken. Semi-retired from the other aspects of pirate life. Sand??? Now known to disappear and leave behind sand clones, then reappear elsewhere. Stabbed Guilless before we could.

That had been an interesting choice. Aloysius set down his writing quill as he thought of the scene where he'd seen the four standing in the ruins of the meeting room. Hadn't the man known as Rodrin been talking to Guilless before he'd acted? Perhaps he'd simply wanted to give her a more merciful end.

4: A woman from Guild Rogue, yet another illusionist, but with a different style. Some can see them, others don't. Strong fighter. Witnesses who gambled with her claimed she was "ready to bite someone's head off". Not able to be identified due to no close contacts found.

Aloysius started to add another thought to her section, but changed his mind before he'd finished writing-- how sure was he really?-- and crossed it out.

Tried to influence me using

He wasn't sure why, but he had a strange feeling that he couldn't shake, and it was telling him to overlook that occurrence.

There were older ideas he'd written down about them, some of which he began to cross out and edit.

-Stole ship from Virakis-- return to owner if captured as a grand gesture of standing with the common pirate
-Will likely be avoiding harbors for their safety Stopped at Redmarn Isle for repairs
-Could pretend to search for people on their side to eliminate resistance should it arise?
-Loyalties to each other will likely be new and weak
-Should be easy to defeat if found against our larger numbers? So much for that.

He wrote a few more thoughts below the existing list:

-Somehow managed to fight off a giant snake on their own (concerning)
-2 and 4 seemed to work together differently than the rest of the crew
-Glowing figure on their side?? A terrifying creature that I hope never to cross paths with again
-Going to make their escape to somewhere deserted where we can't track them down? In possession of special map

The last bullet point made Aloysius cut off his list with a long, frustrated scribble.

He didn't have to hunt these pirates down himself. It would be far easier to just assign more ships to their search, and he needed to be doing other things anyway now that he was supposed to be in charge. He hadn't even been on Redmarn Isle for them, just to visit and get a island in chaos more settled, and he'd just happened to go after them when they were spotted. But now, it was more personal. They had made it out when he'd felt undefeatable, and he had to prove that he wasn't weaker than four, now three, pirates on a damaged ship with a team work ethic of the complete strangers that they were.

It was agonizing to admit to himself that he'd come so close to doing this in one day and had failed so miserably.

With a sigh, Aloysius turned back through the pages of his notebook until he'd reached some much older notes. These were the earlier ones from when he was still planning this entire scheme, ideas about who to get help from and what he'd have to do to hold on to his power. Slowly, he flipped through the pages, first quickly scanning them, then doing it again and reading them more closely.

It took a while, but when he was done, he was sure of something that had not even occurred to him before. He had planned around getting its magic, but he hadn't written a word about how to save the Pirate Code.

Aloysius had learned of it years ago when he'd first become the Leader of his Guild. Most pirates assumed the Pirate Code was a set of commandments, laws that they abided by across all the Guikds. They didn't know that it was actually an ancient magic of the sea, one of the great three, that determined everything they did and had great control over their environment. The Pirate Code wasn't just the foundation all pirates were built upon, it was the very glue holding them all together.

If Furia was telling the truth about it being at risk, then he was about to watch the Guilds slip through his fingers.

Aloysius let out a growl of frustration and set his notebook down.

Skirys didn't have this problem, did it? It had two of the ancient magics-- Land and Sky-- and as much as they were trying, they couldn't get the third, but they appeared to have no issues with the ones they already had. Their Carriers were strong and stable. Their kingdom wasn't about to have the rug pulled from underneath it, to his knowledge.

Opening his notebook to a brand new page, Aloysius wrote and underlined a new question at the top: Why is the Pirate Code about to fail?

Before he could write anything, there was a knock on his door. He shoved the notebook into a drawer in his writing desk and froze. "Yes?"

"Keva here. Just letting you know the crew has finished their duties for the evening and is now getting some rest."

Aloysius relaxed slightly. Keva was his first mate and the other person, alongside Morren, who had convinced him to listen to his crew about the mysterious glowing figure. Unlike Morren, however, she was actually aware of his real plan. "Excellent. Thank you, Keva."

There was a pause where he could imagine her nodding on the other side of the closed door, then she spoke again. "Are you alright, Aloysius?"

"I'm fine," he said, taking out the notebook again and opening it to where he'd left off, now that he was safe from discovery by another crewmate. "Just planning a little bit more. I won't be up much longer."

"Alright." Another pause, then Keva added, "Take it easy, sir."

"I will," Aloysius said, practically lying through his teeth as he pressed the tip of the quill to the page so hard he was risking breaking it. He didn't even pay attention to her receding footsteps as she left. And although he stayed up for an unknown amount of time longer, staring at the page until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he could not think of a single thing to add to his list.



Aloysius watched Virakis approach from the side of the boat. The volcanic island was still smoldering from the damage it had taken two days earlier, and his gaze followed the rising smoke as it curled up in thin wisps up into the sky. The air still smelled like ash, dust and molten rock. He'd placed the order that no one could leave Virakis for 36 hours without being approved, and it was only this morning that the first regular ships were able to leave. Everywhere he looked, the pirates formed a crowd, but it was not the same panicked mosh pit that he'd seen before the last time he'd been here. After being stuck there for one full day plus another half, they were significantly subdued, tiredly wandering around or sitting on the floor. Even the departing ships didn't seem to get their attention.

He was actually rather partial to Virakis. The Guildhall's design was a masterpiece, and even though he was just as unsure as the next person whether it had been impossible to build without Affinities or not, it truly was one of the best examples of perfect architecture across both Skirys and the pirate world. He'd known the lava and glass ceiling would shatter, and it had been a part of the plan, but he truly regretted its destruction. It was a terrible shame such art had to be lost. On the other hand, such a ceiling obviously was not very practical, and it was already a bit of a miracle that nothing before this had happened to it.

Keva and Morren came up behind him, hands clasped dutifully behind their back. "We're preparing to dock," Keva said. "There are Enforcers waiting at the pier for you."

Aloysius nodded. "Excellent. Morren, get me my coat." His second mate dashed off to find it for him.

It really was a shame, he thought as he examined the holes in the side of the volcano. It was one thing to plan this all out, but something else entirely to see what he'd done for himself and wonder if he felt like this was glorious success or not worth it at all.

He'd planned it out here with two other people, right under the same ceiling that would be falling as a result of their deeds.



Aloysius sat in his cushy corner office within the mountain walls of Virakis, tapping his nails on the Moray wood desk rythmically. Tap tap-tap-tap. The color of the tinted volcanic glass above his head shone sparkling maroon onto the walls, which meant it was almost time for their meeting. He wondered who would be late. The meeting was only extremely vital to the future of the Pirate Guild Alliance, no biggie. He knew that, just like him, the other Guild Leaders work on their own time, and expect everyone else to abide by that time. That was why these Guild meetings were so chaotic, because no one knew what time anything was happening. It was like wrangling toddlers with weapons. Another thing to fix when he became Guild Alliance Leader.

Tap tap-tap-tap.

Time for the meeting.

Right on time, Guild Arcane's leader, Briqirith, rapped on the door three quick times. Precise and on time, as always. "Come in." Aloysius said in a raised voice. The door opened, and Briqirith entered. The room lightened slightly as the elegant, dark-skinned woman stepped in, a soft glow coming from the tiny beads of what looked like pure light she was wearing as jewelry.

"A pleasure meeting you here, Briqirith." Aloysius greeted her. "Please, sit."

She acknowledged him with a nod and sat down, sweeping her long braid out of the way as she did. The deep green-ish black plait - Aloysius never could tell exactly what colour it was - trailed along the floor. "Aloysius."

"You're the first to arrive. I'm not surprised, but that means we'll only have each other to keep company for now."

Briqirith eyed him coolly. "I hope you don't expect too much company out of me. This isn't a social gathering."

Aloysius could appreciate someone who didn't bother with niceties. He nodded. "Fair enough. We can sit in awkward silence while we wait, if that's what you prefer." He flashed Briqirith a shiny smile.

"The only thing that would make it awkward is if we expect each other to speak. I do not expect conversation out of you, so my silence will not be awkward."

The door slammed open and Miranda stumbled into the office. She always had a look of surprise on her face, so Aloysius had trouble actually seeing if she was actually shocked about barging into his office. He raised a brow at her. She had several scrolls in her arms, and glanced around them to see who was there. "Good, I'm not late." She huffed and scooted past Briqirith to plop down in the seat next to her, slamming the scrolls onto Aloysius' desk. "Why does your office have to be up so many flights of stairs?"

"A little bit of exercise never hurt anyone." Aloysius said with a smirk.

"Oh, you're funny, you are."

Aloysius stood up and embraced Miranda like the old friends they were. After they both sat back down, she glanced at the empty seat. "Bernard's late again. What a surprise."

"He acts like he has somewhere to be at all times," Aloysius added.

"Yes, like Guild Berserk is the busiest of all the guilds," Miranda agreed. They shared a laugh, which Briqirith didn't join in on. The Guild Arcane leader kept herself decidedly distant from other Guild leaders - from everything and everyone, really - unless it involved magic or any sort of business for her Guild, and making or laughing at jokes was clearly beneath her. Despite her coldness, she had a good reputation among the Guilds for being trustworthy and reliable, and she would make Aloysius's plans a good deal easier to pull off, which is why he'd invited her.

Aloyius sighed. "So, Miranda, what's in those scrolls?"

Miranda scoffed. "I will let you know when everyone's here. I'd rather not have to explain myself twice."

Aloysius nodded. "Understandable." Just then, a hard knock sounded at the door. "Enter." Aloysius ordered.

Bernard swung the door open and sighed at the sight of the other Guild Leaders. He held up a hand when Aloysius started to speak. "I have had a day already, so do not start. I know I'm late."

As he sat down, Miranda piped up, "Yes, we know you're a very busy man, Bernard."

"Shove it, Miranda. Briqirith." Bernard nodded to the Arcane leader in respect as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"Well, good. We're all here. I don't want to waste your time as much as you don't want it to be wasted, so I'll skip the pleasantries."

"Please, Aloysius, flowery language is in your blood." Miranda said.

"True, but we have a lot to cover, so I'll attempt to be as brief as possible." Aloysius pulled out a thick piece of parchment.

"Briqirith, are you familiar with the Pirate Code?" Aloysius began.

The woman's face lit up and she leaned forward. "Ancient magic, yes. Sea, sky, and earth, the foundations of our world."

"I thought the Pirate Code was just unwritten rules of the sea." Bernard said.

Aloysius rolled his eyes. "Keep up, will ya. Some of us more important Guild Leaders know of its true purpose, but otherwise, our dear leader, Furia, has kept information about it locked up tight. How much do you know about it, Briqirith? Or, more appropriately, how much has Furia revealed to you, that you can reveal to us?"

"The Pirate Code is a law to the ancient magic of the sea. It's far older than Furia, far older than the land we live on. Furia herself doesn't know much except what has been passed down to her from previous Alliance Leaders, but she has found a potential source to the Pirate Code. It still requires much study. But, as to the Pirate Code itself, it allows those who knows the original code a fraction of the Sea's power." Briqirith's eyes sparkled at that, dark and hungry for the power - and the knowledge of the power - of which she spoke. "We call them Carriers of the Sea. There have not been one for a long time, and that power was thought lost to all but the Alliance Leaders. I'm afraid I can't say anymore about it without delving into speculation, theories, or worse, rumors."

Aloysius nodded his confirmation. "Your hypothesis supports what I've heard. Furia hoards the information to control the wrath of the seas for herself. While I don't know everything, which seems like a constant among the Guild Leaders, I do know that a portion of this Guild Alliance meeting will be behind closed doors. There's talks amongst the elder Leaders that Furia is finally going to choose the first Carrier of the Sea in over a century. Which means..?" He glanced at the other leaders expectedly.

"We're going to force her to give the power to you?" Bernard guessed.

"You know, that's actually a good idea, but no. It mean that Furia has made some kind of breakthrough in the Pirate Code. I know if I was in her position, I would damn well have as many Carriers of the Sea as I could to make sure my position as Alliance Leader was comfy and secure."

"So since she's waited until now, you think she just recently found out how to do so?" Miranda said, rubbing her temple in concentration.

"Yes, and if she's found out in such secrecy, there's bound to be more information that we can get her to show us. Briqirith, you'll have scholars at the ready, yes? We might not have much time secure any information or relics she might have hiding under her belt."

Briqirith nodded. "I'll have no shortage of people willing to help us."

"And their loyalty?"

"Unquestionable. Arcane scholars wouldn't dream of betraying me." There was something in her voice that made Aloysius want to ask why she was so certain of that, and a little afraid of the answer.

Instead, he smiled wickedly. "If only more guilds had the same discipline as yours. It's remarkable."

"It's terrifying if you ask me." Bernard protested.

"Which is why we didn't. You're only here for the dirty work." Miranda scolded him. "We're not paying you to think."

"Good, good. Anyway." Tap tap-tap-tap. Aloysius busied himself with opening the scroll, hoping he didn't seem too nervous. What they were about to do would change everything, and Aloysius was still unsure whether it was for better or for worse. No. This power was meant to be the pirates'. That's why there was the Pirate Code. Keeping the power for the leader's choosing was elitist, especially when they have been bullied and tossed around like a plaything by Skirys for generations. This power would have evened those odds, and maybe even shifted them in their favor a bit. Now he was being used by Skirys once again... at least until he got his hands on this power. Furia knew nothing of his daily battles with Skirys, and that was a decision she had made long ago. Back then, Aloysius took it apon himself with pride, thinking it would give him favor amongst the other guilds. But, instead, it made him look like a bully whenever he asked for, and later demanded, help. So, he had to take matters into his own hands. He had to. No one else would.

Aloysius spread the scroll open. In it lay a layout of Virakis Hall, with sketches layered on top by Aloysius and some of those loyal to him in Guild Prometheus. "So, here's the plan. After the preamble of the meeting, Furia will have a break where she is all but alone. Her guards have already been replaced by those in my guild. She wouldn't suspect anything, as guard rotations are normal procedure." He pointed to five spots around the large meeting hall. "Berserk has laid out minor explosives in these areas. Set off at the right time, they'll cause a minor explosion through the entire volcano. It's minimal damage, but will be more than enough to cause a panic. During that panic, my Enforcers will get Furia to a designated safe place, where we will be waiting to force her to explain everything she knows. Mercy, Enforcers, and Berserk will do damage control. Arcane will search her office."

Aloysius rolled the scroll back up. "That's just immediately. There's going to be chaos, so the immediate aftermath will be unpredictable. We will have to warn our officers to prepare for the worst. After this clears, Furia will be removed from her position of power. We'll cover it up as her going 'missing,' in the debris. Only Mercy will be allowed anywhere near the impact sites, and Virakis will shut down all ports for at least twenty four hours. No one enters, no one leaves. This will keep information spreading to a minimum. Expect panic, chaos, in all of the port towns. We'll have to split duties over peacekeeping the islands between us three," Aloysius points to himself, Miranda, and Bernard, "because people are not going to like our next phase.

"In the upcoming days, I'll consolidate power behind me, transitioning the Guild Alliance out of Furia's grasp. You three will back up my claim to the chair, which will force the other, more minor guilds to kneel or... be persuaded."

Bernard chuckled. "That's my specialty."

"Funny, I didn't know you had a specialty," Miranda jested.

Briqirith rolled her eyes. "Continue," she ordered. Aloysius obliged.

"The next part of this plan is subject to change on what information we extract from Furia. However, we will need to prepare for war against Skirys. They've been biting at our heels for decades, but something's changed. They want the power of the Sea, and they don't care how bloody the water will be when they get it." Aloysius' natural smile fell. "The Guilds will not want a war. There will be protests, revolts, and straight up uprising. But, this is our only choice. Either we utilize this power of the Sea, or we crumple under Skirys' ambition."

Aloysius leaned back. Tap tap-tap-tap. "Any questions?"

As Keva had told him, there were indeed Enforcers standing at the dock as their ship pulled in and ropes were thrown overboard to secure it. Morren had gotten the coat he wore as Guild Leader, which was mostly green with gold scale trimming that looked like snakeskin, meant to represent their Guild symbol of a gilded snake. He also had his sword on him, just in case. The outlaws would not be returning here, but there could always be someone unhappy with him here.

Aloysius descended from the boat, standing in front of his followers. "What news is there from here?"

One Enforcer pushed forward to speak, and he wanted to groan when he saw who it was.

"Everything's under control here, sir!" Bad Hat said cheerfully. "We got into Virakis just this morning and there has been no more trouble with riots or traitors."

As they'd been leaving to pursue the pirates yesterday from Redmarn Isle, Keva had told him, with a sigh of relief that wasn't exaggerated at all, that Bat Hat's infamously awful hat that was horrible for reasons that no one could dare describe had fallen off and gotten lost in the riot on the dock. Aloysius had briefly rejoiced the small victory, and he had looked forward to an era of No More Bad Hat. Perhaps with the loss of his signature hat, he would have realized it was never any good at all, and moved on to find a different style. But now... What was this?

No More Bad Hat, formerly just Bad Hat, was back with a brand new hat.

And it was somehow worse.

Aloysius was in profound distress as he tried to listen to whatever Bad Hat-- no, Worse Hat-- was saying about how Guild Mercy had been searching for survivors non-stop now, but it was too difficult not to be distracted and appalled by the monstrous sight he saw right before him. Keva was pursing her lips, nodding along and pretending to hear as she politely and carefully examined a seagull sitting on a lamppost, evidently refusing to look at the hat. Morren kept eye contact with Worse Hat, but his face was all scrunched up, and he looked like he was about to break down sobbing, throw up, or have explosive diarrhea.

"That's wonderful news. There was also terrible news in there," Aloysius said, having no idea what Worse Hat had said after a certain point, and he hoped his answer made any sense at all. It didn't to Worse Hat, who gave him a look that could have been puzzled-- he couldn't pay attention to it, because his face was under that horrible hat-- but the other Enforcers, who were also apparently just as unable to listen to words from someone who was wearing such a thing, nodded frantically in agreement.

"You're very right, sir," Worse Hat said, deciding to take the answer as it was, and he tilted his head in agreement, putting a hand on his hat so it wouldn't fall off again.

Aloysius could not help himself from turning his head away from the terrible hat in disgust when he saw the head it was on getting closer to him, and the others around him all reacted similarly, covering their eyes and letting out tormented groans. He could clearly imagine No More Bad Hat stopping at a hat vendor at Redmarn Isle last minute before leaving for Virakis, telling them to design him a new awful hat so he could transition into being Worse Hat, with specifications that made the merchant scream and howl and cry and a final creation that made them beg for mercy from a higher power. He pitied the hat vendor who was forced to bring such an awful thing into this world. He pitied himself and everyone else who would ever have to lay eyes on it. He pitied the future, with its events to come and the loss of all hope that this man would ever stop wearing atrocious hats.

Worse Hat stood in confusion, surrounded by people who looked like they'd been blinded (or were wishing they were). "It's bright out, isn't it?"

"Yes," Aloysius managed to say, still unable to turn fully around. "Why don't you go ahead of us and let them know we're almost there."

Worse Hat nodded, making the dreadful thing bob up and down, and went ahead. When they could no longer see him through the crowd, every single one of them breathed out a sigh of relief and started following, but slower than they normally would so as not to catch up to him on accident.

"Has anyone told him that his hat-- this one or the first-- is a war crime against the eyes?" Aloysius whispered to Morren.

"I know someone who knows someone that tried to once," Morren whispered back. "He couldn't get the words out and he broke down in tears trying to say it, it was so awful to stand in front of him and try to refer to the terrible thing in conversation. I believe he was barely convinced not to quit the Guild after the devastating experience."

"I should give him a medal of brave sacrifice just for trying," Aloysius muttered.

They kept going, following Worse Hat without trying to look at him too much. He had to admit that he didn't actually know for sure where they were going. Virakis Hall had a large number of meeting rooms, some of them public and some of them secret, like where everything had happened, but a lot of them must have been destroyed or damaged. He hoped no one he'd been working with would point that out to him.

The last meeting had been rather fateful.



"Sir!" A small boy rushed up to Aloysius, cheeks red from how much he was running. He puffed out a couple of breaths, hands on his knees, before he managed to hand Aloysius a scroll. "Urgent message from the Jagged Front!"

"Another one. Oh, joy." Aloysius snatched up the scroll. "Someone get this lad some water." This was the fourth scroll from the Jagged front within the past two hours. Aloysius was pissed, but he couldn't take it out on the boy, even though each messenger boy was delivering him worse and worse news. He pulled loose the small knot and hastily unraveled the scroll.

Fleet Commander:

Skirys fleet number: 16
Enforcer Front Fleet: in combat, numbers reduced to 7. Numbers reducing drastically. Requesting immediate reinforcements.

Potential Affinity users aboard Skirys fleet. Requesting Affinity reinforcements.

Skirys fleet headed through Jagged Pass to Zenith Reach. Recommended Action--

Aloysius growled and tore the scroll apart. Great. More information he didn't need. He had already sent reinforcements to the Jagged Front. They were the reinforcements. His fleet numbers were already spread thin, protecting the numerous trade routes that pirates frequented.

Crumpled scroll within his fingers, he stomped upstairs to the second floor of his office. This was void of the natural light his first floor had, and for good reason. In a position close to the middle of the room was an orb on a pedestal. He stepped up to it and impatiently rubbed it. The orb roared to life, shining a blueish light flooding across the dimly lit room. Smoke pilfered through the orb and onto its pedestal. Once the smoke cleared, Furia's figure appeared in the orb. She was busy with someone else in the room that Aloysius couldn't see. He sighed and tapped the orb. She might have been busy, but he was even busier. He couldn't waste energy and time on the orb draining his Affinity like this, just to have Furia not even notice him. Furia glanced in his direction, and then back to whoever was in the room. Aloysius groaned and knocked on the orb again. "Furia!" He shouted, knowing full well she wouldn't hear it until she touched the orb herself, but his frustration was through the roof. Furia glanced back at him. She waved the audience in the background away and tapped on the orb. "Finally!" Aloysius shouted.

"Aloysius, my friend. Is everything all right?"

"Furia, skip the small talk bullshit." Aloysius demanded.

"Excuse me?"

"Skirys is attacking the Jagged Front."

Furia took out a quill and was writing. "Okay?" She said. "This isn't new information, Aloysius."

"Of course it isn't new information, I'm the one who deals with this on a daily basis, Furia!"

"So, please tell me why you are using up our limited amount of Farsight Affinity stored in these orbs? And also wasting my time." Furia shifted some parchments over on her desk, below where Aloysius could see. "I know you know how busy leadership can be, so I thought you would be respectful of another leader's time." She tapped the orb and said something that she didn't want Aloysius to hear to someone else in the room. So she didn't get rid of the others in the room, she just acted like she did.

"Furia, don't bullshit me--" Furia couldn't hear him. He seethed while she purposely made him wait. She visibily sighed and tapped the orb again. "Furia." Aloysius started.

"What do you want from me, Aloysius." Furia deadpanned.

"Skirys is going to get through my defenses on the Jagged Front." Aloysius breathed out slowly and tried to calm himself. "Listen. They're crushing through my fleet like it was made out of parchment and not wood. I have sent half my southern fleet to the Pass and it has barely. Made. A. Dent. They are going to get through the Pass."

"Okay?" Furia scribbled something down absentmindedly. "You still have not answered my question."

"I thought it would be obvious by this point, Furia. I need support. I need help, I need some goddamned assistance from the Guild Alliance Leader!"

"What assistance? Aloysius, you have commandeered our entire fleet for over a year now. What, do you want trade ships to come die for you? Zenith Reach is isolated from the chain of islands for a reason. You wanted that, Mr. Enforcer."

"If they get to Zenith Reach and kill me, you bet your ass I'm going to rat out the easiest way to reach your doorstep. I'll pull all my Enforcers out of Virakis and watch you choke on your pride from the Eternal Sea."

Furia sighed. "Okay, Aloysius. Be realistic with me here. What do you want from me? I have resources and in two months perhaps I could send a fleet to support you, but I'm assuming you want something a bit sooner. Am I right in that assumption?"

Aloysius leaned on a nearby chair. "Yes, Furia." He would give her what she wanted. If she wanted to treat him like a child to get a message across, she could do that. As long as he was able to survive through the night. He would deal with her insolence at a later date.

"How good are your fortress' defenses?" Furia asked, dotting something with her quill before setting it down.

"It's never had to stand up against battleships like Skirys' before. They're adequate, but more than likely prone to fall." Aloysius said systematically.

"Can you hold before Guild Arcane comes to assist? I can have Berserk's battleships about an hour after that. Other than that, Aloysius, I'm sorry to say but you're on your own."

It's always been like that. "I can hold out until Arcane gets here. Who are they sending?"

Furia tapped the orb and vanished. Aloysius crossed his arms, tapping his fingers on his tricep nervously. Furia popped back in a minute later. "Briqirith has informed me that she is sending two ships full of Arcanic Warriors. They're the best of the best. Hopefully they will get there before Skirys' battleships do."

Guild Arcane is close enough to Zenith Reach, but not nearly close enough for him to feel safe. Aloysius' blood rose to his ears as he got more and more irritated. Furia could have made more ships, but her priorities were in creating tourism spots around Virakis, pouring more gold into theme parks instead of security and defense. Aloysius gritted his teeth. "That will have to do, Alliance Leader Furia."

Furia nodded grimly. "I wish I could do more, truly. Skirys entering so far into our territory is a concern for all of us, not just you. I will be contacting some other Guild Leaders to see what else can be done right away."

Aloysius felt his face go blank as he shoved his emotional turmoil deep inside. "Thank you Furia, you have done all that you can. May we both see the other side of this so we can properly address my concerns at a later darte." Aloysius reached to end their contact, but Furia cleared her throat.

"Oh, and Aloysius?"

"Yes, Furia?"

"Do not reinforce Jagged Front with any more ships. We cannot afford to send our entire fleet to be destroyed and leave the rest of the Pirate islands vulnerable. Do you understand, Aloysius?"

"I... do understand."

"Good. I am glad you can appreciate the stakes at hand here. Sometimes we must do things that put ourselves in danger for the good of those we lead." Furia flicked her side of the orb and vanished, the light in the room going with it. Aloysius stood there in the dark, breathing hard. He unclenched his fists and saw drops of blood from where his nails were just a moment ago.

"Bitch."

Aloysius thrrew a cover on the orb to let it rest and stormed downstairs. Another messenger boy was waiting outside of his office as he stepped onto the pavillion facing the port. Aloysius jumped as the boy, maybe barely into his teenage years, stepped out in front of his burning rampage. "Sir."

Aloysius sighed. "Hand it over."

The boy obliged his command, and slid a silver lined envelope before bowing and running off. Aloysius looked after him, shaking his head. The energy that a teenaged boy has is insane. He turned his attention to the letter. This was... different. His anger all but dissipated at this point, Aloysius sauntered over to an outside battle encampment by his office. Stepping into the camp, he turned on a nearby lamp. A soldier jerked awake at the rustling and the light. Commander Lyoko, Aloysius recognized him immediately. For a second, the young commander did not grasp what was happening around him. Then he saw Aloysius, and Aloysius could see the gears trying to clank together as he was struggling to wake. He muttered out a "sir," or at least that's what Aloysius assumed he said, it was really just mumbling, and grabbed his uniformed clothing from a chair next to his cot.

"Relax, Commander. Nothing I haven't seen before. Get dressed and come look at this with me." Lyoko quickly got dressed and stumbled over to the war table where Aloysius was already using a small dagger to cut the envelope open. It did not have a symbol in the wax, but the silver detailing had Aloysius guessing where this had come from. Not many pirates had silver to spare, especially to decorate a random letter like this. So, it must have come from somewhere in Skirys. Aloysius said this much to Lyoko, who glanced at the envelope as he stifled a yawn. Poor man had been awake for almost two days straight. All of his officers had been working to the point of collapsing due to the situation at Jagged Front. He could not ask for better officers, honestly.

Lyoko finally spoke up. "Do you think it's poisoned?"

Aloysius didn't think about that. He had heard about airborne poisons that can last a few hours, but with Skirys knocking at his doorstep already with a batallion of battleships, he could not imagine them trying to poison him as well. Spy stuff was not his strong suit; that was more Guild Rogue, but he knew that Skirys was not a big player in the spy game. Talia had complained more than once in local meetings to stop spending spies their way; if they had something they wanted to know, they could ask Talia to their face.

Aloysius opened the seal. "Guess we'll find out soon." He said to Lyoko, who's face paled. "Relax, Commander. If I thought it was poisoned, I would not have you in the room with me." He opened up a letter with immaculate writing in silver ink.

Admiral Aloysius of the Guild Enforcer,

By now, you have realized your forces are no match for our ships. I wish I could say it was because of our master shipcraft or our superior crew training, but I would be lying if I said that. However, please feel free to send more ships my way, you will see the same results. I do not mind thinning your ranks out a bit more before we talk.

And we will talk.

I am heading your way right now. Please do not spare your highest pleasantries when I arrive. I do rather enjoy the recipes of your ways.

See you soon,
C., Commander of the High Skirys Fleet

Lyoko glanced up at Aloysius as the both finished reading. "Looks like we're expecting company. Prepare the defenses."

Over the next thirty minutes, Aloysius had received two more messages from his fleet, confirming what Skirys sent him. The last message was a simple "NO SHIPS LEFT." with blood and water coating the scroll and the shaky hadnwriting. Aloysius' throat turned drier than a desert with that final message. He could only imagine how that pirate was feeling when they wrote that message. Actually, he didn't want to imagine it, because that could very well be his fate incredibly soon. Lyoko prepared the defenses while Aloysius prepared wooden spikes at the shore.

After that, Aloysius saw one ship arriving on the horizion. Just one ship? Are they actually that stupid and brazen that they thought his fortress island couldn't take on one single, simple, stupid ship.

"Prepare the cannons!" He heard a soldier shout on the wall above the shoreline. Aloysius and several dozen Enforcers stood at the edge of the water, with the ocean sloshing past his boots. He tightened one of the straps on his leather armguards. Would he have time to put on better armor, he would have. But, this simple, light, and easy to put on armor would have to do. He had a pistol on his hip, and a shortsword on his other hip, but he didn't really plan on using them. If it got down to hand to hand combat, it was already doomed. That ship should be blown to smithereens before it ever touched the pristine white rocks of Zenith Reach's shores.

It was a brutal game of hurry up and wait as the ship sailing closer and closer to them, blotting out more and more of the horizion.

Aloysius glanced back at the tall, imposing wall that greeted the waters surrounding Zenith Reach. He raised his arm and brought it back down. Immediately after, the cries of "Fire!" echoed down each side of the wall. Dozens of cannons fired almost simultaneously, cracking open the sky with its triumphant roar. A crowd of black dots rained over the blue air, blotting out even the sun before it reached the ship. Aloysius turned around, preparing to walk back up to his office, ready to sit down, grab himself a nice cup of coffee, and write a smug letter back to Skirys about their absolutely decimated ship when a soldier shouted to Aloysius, "Sir! Look!"

Aloysius thought he was going to see a smoldering mess floating up to their shore, but instead he saw a perfectly pristine ship as it inched ever closer to the shoreline. Aloysius grunted. Did they have a strong Affinity user aboard? It didn't matter. No one can last much longer against a cannon barrage, no matter how strong their Affinity was. "Fire! Fire again!" Aloysius shouted at the top of his lungs to the line of cannons atop the stone brick wall. He heard the second huge CRACK of the cannons firing, but this time, he was staring right at the ship. They might have some kind of Glamourist aboard, or a Metalmancer. He would not look away a second time. The cannons soared across the sky, past the blazing sun, and poured down onto the ship... or so they should have. Right before any single one of the cannons were going to hit any part of the ship, they veered off course and plopped harmlessly into the water.

Aloysius growled. "Damn Affinities." He marched up the shoreline and back onto the wall. Grabbing a telescope from a random archer, he peered down it to the ship. A woman was standing at the bow of the ship, waving her arms wildly like she was dancing. But, clearly she was not dancing, as the sheer concentration on her face and the frenziness of her dance screamed magic to Aloysius. He was no Arcane pirate, but he knew his magic. He rushed up to Commander Lyoko, who was busy giving out orders. "Commander!"

"Admiral!"

"Get everything and everyone you can aimed at that ship. I want as many things fired at that ship as possible in the same moment."

"Sir?"

"They have a mage aboard. We're going to test how much she can handle at once."

"Sir!" Lyoko rushed back to giving orders. Aloysius grabbed a random archer, this one a spritely young woman who looked like a strong breeze would knock her over, although her expression said anything but.

"Soldier! What's your name?"

"Sir Admiral Sir! Leona, Sir!"

"Leona, are you a good archer?"

"Aye, sir, I can hit a target 200 feet away while moving."

"Good, come with me." Aloysius didn't stop to see if she was following as he marched along the wall, always keeping the ship in the corner of his eye. After what seemed like forever, he finally jumped off the wall onto a part of the shore away from many of the battlements. The coast here was sandy, glistening white and green sand instead of the pearly rocks to the west. Aloysius stomped to a point on the coast far enough away from the wall where he couldn't hear the bustling of troops anymore. He knelt down, and Leona knelt beside him. "Can you see the person on the bow of that ship?" He asked her.

"Yes, sir. The one who is wildly waving her arms?"

"Yes, that one. I want you to fire at her when everything else is fired." Leona nodded, and got into a more comfortable position for her to prime her bow.

Aloysius glanced up to the walls, and took out his spyglass. He saw Lyoko staring back at him. Good. He raised his arm, and brought it down fiercely. The absolute visual and audible chaos that was unleashed in that moment was something that would bring any sensible man to his knees in tears. The sky above the wall blacked out completely with arrows, cannons, fireballs, catapulted stones. It was as if night itself lashed out at this ship. Leona let loose an arrow at the same time, and Aloysius could distinctly make out its whistle as it arched much lower than the rest of the projectiles.

Like before, all of them veered away from the ship and into the water. Aloysius stared in disbelief, in shock, as the ship turned and stopped right before the coast. He watched in horror as the batallion of soldiers he was just with roared faintly in the distance and charged at the ship. The woman jumped off the bow and decimated the entire squadron in one swoop of her Affinity. They were knocked over like ragdolls and sent spiralling into the shore and the stone wall. He didn't need to be by them to know they were dead.

Steeling himself, he took his long, fateful walk to the ship. He motioned wordlessly to his commander to stand down. As he got close to the ship, the woman turned to him and winked. Someone walked off the ramp of the ship with a silver cane in hand. It was an old man, but he walked with the swaggor of someone who knew he controllled everything around him.

"Ahh, the very person I wanted to see! Admiral Aloysius!" He said with a joyful smile.



Worse Hat led them to the east side of the island, which was generally less affected by the explosion. Aloysius was not late, but he was not especially punctual this time either, which meant several Guild Leaders (but not all) were already present. Of course, many were simply acting as subsitutes: Guilless of Guild Forsaken and Devlin of Guild Ally had passed away in the attack, while Jela of Guild Nomad had suffered severe injuries and needed time to recover. He didn't know who their replacements were, but he recognized the non-Leader attendees from the rest and could tell which Guild they each belonged to.

Aloysius searched for the other Leaders in on his plan. Briqirith of Guild Arcane and Miranda of Guild Mercy were already present, but on opposite sides of the meeting table. They were staying apart to avoid suspicions of any ties between them. Bernard of Guild Berserk had not yet arrived-- he seemed to have a habit of being slightly late.

He took a spot between Helena of Guild Prometheus and Talia of Guild Rogue. They weren't his favorite people: Helena was refined and composed, but seemed deadly deep down, and Talia made no attempt to hide how much of a threat they were. But Aloysius wouldn't be intimidated by either of them much longer. Soon, they would both bow to him.

Or the Pirate Code would break apart.

"Looks like enough of us are here that we may begin," Lillianna of Guild Occulo said, blowing out a plume of pipe smoke. "When the rest trickle in, be sure to give them your best disapproving look for being late."

A few chuckles came from those around the table, but mostly from the three who were not used to Guild Leader meetings, Aloysius noted.

"Today, we have Amara and Xerxes sitting in place of the late Guilless and Devlin, respectively, and Theron is taking over for Jela until she recovers." Helena spoke up, a smile so thin it was almost unnoticeable on her face. "We have a number of issues to cover today, such as how far the two Guilds without leaders can rush the process of new ones, eventual election of a new Guild Alliance Leader for all of us--" Aloysius caught a couple of them sitting straighter in their seats at these words. "--and the extent of Guild Enforcer's emergency power."

"We should start with the second talking point," Talia said, their voice low and deep. "Then we won't need emergency power."

"There's no sense rushing it," Miranda said calmly. "It took us a month to ultimately decide last time around."

"And it's disrespectful to Furia's memory to act so soon," Adelaide, the Leader of Guild Intrigue, said.

Kylar of Guild Mystic cleared xer throat. "We don't need to worry about Furia anymore. We have more important things to do than concern ourselves about what a dead person thinks."

Adelaide's eyes flashed. "Don't speak ill of the dead like that."

Ah, Furia. If only you could see this, them squabbling over your question and using your name to get what they want. Aloysius raised his wine glass, letting a server fill it for him. What a shame you're taking a nap in the hull of a ship instead.

"I don't expect we'll be able to go home today and have made much progress on the matter," Lillianna said, waving her hand dismissively. Bernard had just snuck in, taking the spot next to her, and coughed on the smoke that had been pushed into his face (perhaps intentionally, as he was late). "The only thing decided would be that Briqirith would not be able to step in, as Furia came from Guild Arcane, and we can't have two Guild Alliance Leaders coming from the same Guild in a row."

"Understandable," Briqirith agreed. "I will not object." Aloysius was unsure if she meant it or not.

"But we need solid change today," Lillianna continued. "Which means we have to pick a topic that we can reach an agreement on by the end of this meeting."

"Then we should talk about that emergency power," Talia said, their gaze shifting to Aloysius. "Such as, why do we even need it at all?"

He resisted the urge to grit his teeth or spit harsh words at them. He'd always known Talia opposed him, and they had often constantly stood in their way during countless other meetings between the guilds like this. Aloysius blamed it on Guild Rogue's tendency to toe the line of the rules the Pirate Code imposed on them. It was his job to catch the pirates who broke the law, and more and more often, those pirates were from Guild Rogue. Talia most likely thought of it as whenever he charged their pirates with some crime or another, he was getting in their way.

"I'd be happy to provide the reasons," Aloysius said, keeping his voice on the friendlier side for this first part. He'd get more aggressive about his points later, but it wouldn't help to drive everyone off this early on.

"Perfect." Miranda leaned forward, clasping her hands in front of her on the table. "And we'd be delighted to hear him."

They'd discussed this part too. She, Briqirith and Bernard would back him up and give him their support. If they'd done the other part of the plan, they would have talked to a couple other Leaders already and mellowed them up. Thank goodness Bernard had showed up, or their vote would be at risk.

"Here's why," Aloysius said, swirling around the contents of his wine glass. "I don't need to explain to you that the loss of our dear Furia has affected us, our leadership, and our guilds deeply. What I fear is not being understood is that we are retreating back into our shells after this attack, and instead of looking outward at the fragile and breaking bonds that are holding us together, we are focusing too much on our individual guilds' problems. We are not watching the spreading cracks like we should be."

He took their rapt attention as a reason to stand up, walking causally around the meeting table until he was standing at the head. Aloysius enjoyed the way their heads turned as he moved, their curious gazes watching him and nothing else. It was the start of power.

"My Guild has always had a different and unique role," he continued, taking a sip of his wine. "All Guilds have their specialities, their chosen pursuit, a cause and mission that they have decided to reach perfection on. But Guild Enforcer's pursuit has always been to protect our alliance. We have stood against wickedness from both within and outside from the start. Our reach is extensive, and there is not an island we have not kept safe."

Talia's look had darkened. He was sure that as soon as he finished, they would have a few words to say on behalf of their trickster Guild. Let them try.

"We have the ability to keep our guilds from falling apart further in the wake of this awful event," Aloysius said, resting his gaze on different Guild Leaders in turn. "This is why I believe my Guild is deserving of emergency powers to make executive decisions and respond faster to further problems. I also believe that we need them, as the seas ahead grow more uncertain than ever, and that if my Guild is to take the stand against the rising wave, we will need all the advantages we can get. I ask for this not for myself, but for my followers, so that they will not be held back by their old limits in a new time that is perhaps one of the most difficult times we've faced in centuries."

He remained standing where he was, watching those gathered at the table with a expression that he hoped contained both sincerity and a challenge. An expression that said both I believe this is the wisest decision we can make, and I'd like to see you try to get in my way.

To his surprise, Talia wasn't the first person to speak up, but Helena was. "I can't say why, but this feels like a grab at power," she said, lips forming a sly smile. "Perhaps it's the part about how you believe you're the only thing standing in the way of our destruction."

"For the moment, we are, Helena," Aloysius replied with false sweetness. "Since your codebreaker never got to tell us about that map, your Guild in particular hasn't been very helpful lately."

Kylar snickered a little. Helena's smug expression rapidly soured.

Across the table, Miranda was giving him a barely noticeable warning look. Don't cause too much offense to the people who could be persuaded, or you'll make sure they keep their hands down when we vote to support you. He understood. Maybe he needed to ease up a little.

He took a deep breath.

"We will not be the strong protecters we need to be on our own, without support, however," Aloysius said. "I have owed several of my successes to many of you here. It's why I do not want us to be the only thing between us and our own. It's why I would like the ability to perform my role to an larger extent, to strength all our guilds so that no one is left behind, and that we are all able to make it through this."

"What would you do with this emergency power?"

Aloysius helped himself to another sip. "I would be able to dispatch more of my Enforcers to your islands to help keep the peace there. There's been some disorder lately, hasn't there?" He got a few reluctant but certain nods in response. "I would also be able to work out of there to find our culprits better." This received more affirmative nods.

"This seems acceptable," Lillianna mused. "As long as you don't... get ahead of yourself too much."

Aloysius smiled. "I'm sure that I won't."

"I think this is preposterous," Talia scoffed.

Here it comes.

"Guild Enforcer is just the brute force that keeps people in line," they said, with a cunning look in their eyes. "I've noticed they have no notable skill for wise leadership, or decision making on important matters. They do the little thing well, but the larger things are.." Talia paused, then finished with a smirk. "They are often messy if successful, and greatly disastrous if not."

It was requiring a lot of restraint on Aloysius' part not to snap at them. I'll be coming for your Guild first, he vowed instead.

"That is a concern of mine for a Guild with little experience in the leadership field, given that they have not had put forth a Guild Allegiance Leader in ages," Kylar said. Aloysius' hopes were sinking, thinking he would not have a majority vote, but xe surprised him as xe continued. "But there will be no one with experience situable for a situation like this. What we need now is sheer strength, and then leadership can come afterwards. I think this is the best choice we can make now."

Waves of relief washed over Aloysius. He nodded, trying not to show that his heart had been pounding.

"Shall we put it to a vote?" Adelaide asked, and the people around the table nodded. "Eleven voters, six or more votes wins. Who votes to allow it?"

Naturally, Miranda, Briqirith and Bernard all raised their hands. Lillianna, Adelaide, Theron and Kylar did the same. Helena and Talia kept their hands down, unsurprisingly, and Amara and Xerxes were either against him or abstaining, but it didn't matter what they did. The vote had passed.

"We'll be hopeful for positive results in your efforts," Bernard said, and something told Aloysius he was holding himself back from blatantly winking across the table.

"You've got the all clear," Kylar said. "It's in your hands now."

Aloysius give xem the smallest of smiles and a grateful nod. "I'll do my best with it." He made a mental note to be a little easier on Guild Mystic, once it was time to seize power further.

As the meeting room cleared out, he got different types of goodbyes as people passed by him. Talia made no effort to conceal their murderous glare. Helena was less direct in her dislike, but he was feeling a little threatened by the way she stormed out. Miranda gave him a casual thumbs-up. Lillianna did almost nothing, just waved at him as her and her smoky pipe went by.

It was time for Aloysius to move on with his plan and hope it wouldn't all fall apart.

Meridian stepped away from Callista and Lisa, sensing there was some tension there that desperately needed to be resolved.

Besides, he had things to think about. He leapt onto the ladder leading up to the crow's nest, falling into a familiar climbing rhythm. The rough wood beneath his gloved hands, the wind ruffling his hair, the comforting roll of waves beneath him... all the things he had once despised now made up the only things that could calm his mind. Meri pulled himself up through the ladder hole onto the crow's nest. He unbuttoned his vest, and let out a long breath.

I'm so tired. Meridian closed his eyes, squeezing them tight. He thought in his mind, but not to himself.

Three times.Three times. In less than three days. That wasn't good. And only one of them was controlled. Callista, and now Lisa? How much longer before the two of them decide they couldn't risk him figuring out all their secrets?

How much longer til he couldn't control it at all?

How much longer until the gloves stopped working?

How much longer until it became too hard to resist and he plunged back into that sea of secrets?

Meridian sighed, opening his eyes and looking out over the expanse of dark water. His mind drifted away from his guilt, indulging curiosity for a little.

Callista was such a conundrum. Pirate, but with the sword skills of a soldier. He shifted, thinking intently. Or a knight? Based on the nobility he saw in her memory that was a reasonable assumption. But the vision had been so corrupted. It was one of the most warped he'd ever witnessed.

Callista had evidently tried to burn the words said to her out of her mind completely. What could have possibly caused Callista of all people to feel such potent shame and fear? Public humiliation? Imprisonment? Exile? And what the hell was up with the dress changing color?

It was perplexing. He disliked getting so little information out of a vision. Then again, the more he learned, the guiltier he felt afterwards.

Even Lisa, with her well-tailored expressions hadn't been able to mask the tiny hint of revulsion that always followed a vision. Callista hadn't even tried to hide her disgust. She'd practically throw his gloves back at him. Meridian didn't blame her. The shame ate at him, just like it always did.

Worse though, was the curiosity.

And the desire to do it again.

That rush of protective anger when Lisa had spelled out his Affinity had shocked him. But in that moment, it was his and his alone to wield. Not meant for anyone else to steal from him, not when it had taken so much already. It wasn't for anybody to use like a gift, not when it had cursed his life so utterly.

And the way she had so casually mentioned how she could take an Affinity- just like that- gnawed at his mind.

Lisa's whole Affinity gnawed at his mind, frankly. A mimcry Affinity? It seemed incredibly powerful for one person to wield. And difficult to deal with, especially around other Affinity users. Often, Affinity users were incredibly secretive with the intricacies of their powers, a critical advantage in any battle.

Meridian was no different, but for different reasons; anybody who didn't have good control of their Affinity was likely to get killed and Meri's was especially volatile. Generally people didn't like their minds being pried into. Hell, Meri didn't even like being the one prying.

He could only imagine how much trouble Lisa got into in her early Affinity days. It was likely that people appreciated their signature Affinities being copied even less than they appreciated a mind spy.

And that memory... it stood in stark contrast to the warped twisting mass of Callista's. Lisa's memory was crystal clear, vibrant, perfectly preserved. Like Lisa revisited that memory in her mind often, hoping to keep it bright and clean. That was what was so strange; it wasn't a good memory. And something kept sticking in his mind...

"I suppose you have all the time in the world, don't you?" Words spoken in bitter anger, the sound of betrayal... What had Lisa done? How could she have all the time in the world?

Meridian's breath caught in his throat for a moment. Vampires...

Of course, not actual vampires. But the immortality of vampires was one of their defining traits. There was no way Lisa was immortal was there? That would be impossible. No one had ever had that Affinity.

Hell, Meridian had never even heard of someone with two Affinities, let alone two such blatantly powerful like Lisa might have.

Or maybe she was already dead. A ghost, like Watt, but corporeal, sent to guide the three of them to the island.

But no, she's in the prophecy too../

In any case, Lisa was not in the normal living state that, say, Meridian or Callista were. Althought it wasn't really fair to call Callista's way of life normal, in any way shape or form.

And then there was all this 'Marionette' business. Keziah had called Lisa 'Marionette'. So the question remained, was Lisa's name Lisa? Or Marionette? Or neither?

Or, most intriguingly, was it Elise? That woman on the docks back on Redmarn had called Lisa 'Elise' and accused her of making a deal with the devil. At this point he was considering any and all theories.

Meridian groaned, putting his head in his hands. The plot did not need to get any thicker right now.

He lingered again on Lisa's Affinity. It was so powerful, and so unique, despite the fact that it was literally copying. And to think she could just take an Affinity away. It was a strange thought. Never in a million years would he wish this hell on someone else. Watching people's darkest memories play in their minds, laid bare for an unwilling audience, was a terrible burden. What horrors it could be put to use doing, if given into the wrong hands? But, then again, what would his life be like without it?

Freedom to run his bare hands along a ship's bow, feeling the rough wood and seeing none of the ship's memories.

Freedom to hold someone in his arms, without putting them through the hardest moments of their life over and over.

Freedom to feel the world again.

Meridian glanced down at Lisa and Callista. It was so natural to them. Lisa brushing aside Callista's hair, Callista inching closer to her... So quiet, so close. That was what he missed the most. The warmth.

He sighed. Having people again was so unfamiliar, but welcome nonetheless. Josette wandered across his mind, but Meri knew she of all people could take care of herself. Back on Elbrus, he had carefully curated a group of friends; people he genuinely enjoyed being around, but who could also efficiently maneuver a ship together if a quick escape was needed. Back on Elbrus, Meridian had always had a plan. Not always a good one, but a plan.

Now, he didn't know what to do.

He closed his eyes, letting himself be swept away in memories. They were his greatest treasure and his most painful curse.

Meridian scowled, recalling how that curse had turned his life on the mainland upsidedown. He was sure at this point that life as a pirate was better than constantly being afraid that someone would discover that he was an Affinity user on the mainland. Although, the fact that he was currently being chased down for different reasons didn't really hold up that argument.

He glanced down at the sea, suddenly very aware of the ache in his bones and the heaviness of his eyes. He climbed down from the crow's nest and made his way back to his cabin. Callista stood quietly on deck, staring up at the moon. Meri decided not to interrupt her thinking.

As he pulled the quilt around himself, Meridian wondered whether or not they'd all make it out of this adventure. He grimaced. Sleep would not come easily tonight, he knew, but the days ahead looked to be long ones, so he had to try.

He flitted in and out of sleep for hours, waking up drenched in sweat, but unable to recall the dreams that tossed him to and fro.

"Enough!" Meridian snarled, launching himself upright. "Enough." Trying to escape the lingering feeling that he was forgetting something, he pulled on his boots and made for the open air.

Pushing open the door that seperated below and above deck, he stepped into the starlight and walked to the side of the ship. Meri looked down at the stars reflected in the sea. He preferred their reflections, in all honesty. The sea was a perfect mirror. Looking into it, Meri felt like he could reach through and end up in some other world where Misty waited, safe and happy.

He hesitated, feeling foolish. Meridian pulled off his gloves slowly, removing his armor and leaving him feeling like a child again, alone and afraid and so very lost. He reached for the glassy surface of the water, breath suspended like a feather in a breeze.

"Don't fall in the water, now, darling. I don't have a free hand to catch you with."

Meridian spun around, snatching his hand back from the sea. He exhaled, relieved.

"Lisa. It's just you."

"Just me," she agreed pleasantly, strolling up beside him to lean on the railling. What she'd said was true; she didn't have a free hand between her cane and a small mug full of a vivid purple liquid that Meridian couldn't identify.

Meridian smiled apologetically, and silence hung in the air for a second too long. He cleared his throat. "Couldn't sleep." He gestured at the mug. "Nightcap?"

She laughed softly. "Tea with a heavy dose of painkillers. I was hoping to get through the night without it, but my body had other ideas."

He grimaced sympathetically. Another moment of silence.

"I, uh. I wanted to apologize to you. About the..." Meridian cleared his throat again, looking down at his feet. That familiar feeling of shame rose in his chest, strangling the words before they took shape. To his absolute horror, he felt the faint prickle of a tear in his eyes.

"I never mean to... It just sort of happens. I know that's not an excuse or anything, but I just... I want you to know I would never... I'd never do that on purpose." He turned back to the sea, squeezing the railing of the ship til his knuckles turned white.

Meridian looked away from Lisa, blinking away the guilt as quickly as he could. Now is not the time, nor the place, nor the person! What was this? He'd never felt so weak, or let himself feel so weak since he'd made that fateful choice to board Captain Cannon's ship six years ago. It was childish, and he wasn't a child. The Ghost of Elbrus didn't cry. Meridian Barrowstone didn't cry.

"Meridian, darling," Lisa said soothingly. She rested her cane against the railing and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's all right."

Instinctively, he took a step back, moving out of her reach. "It's not. It's not all right. That was your memory. Yours. Something nobody else should ever see. It was a violation of your mind, of your privacy. It's not right, and I'm sorry."

He looked at her, hand stretched towards him, forehead wrinkled with concern. It was so much easier when they were angry with him.

"I should have it under control by now. I should have a long time ago." He felt the words coming, wanting to explain it away, to make it alright.

"I never mean to pry into anyone's memories. It's just one moment I'm here and the next I'm watching someone go through the worst moments of their life."

He turned again to the sea, not wanting to see the forgiveness in her eyes. How could she forgive him so easily when he couldn't even forgive himself?

"I never wanted this." He spoke quietly. "I never wanted to watch Callista's spirit break, to watch you thrown away from Keziah so violently. Everywhere I go, paperthin fabric is my only defense against watching houses burn, and children die, and dreams get crushed like ants." His voice constricted to a whisper. "And that's still not even the worst bit of it."

He looked at her, forcing himself to stare right into Lisa's eyes and say something he had never said to anyone before.

"I'm not just watching, when I go into someone's memories. I can feel it all. Every emotion held in the memory I feel as though it was happening to me." Meridian's voice broke and he turned away again.

"That's why I'm sorry. And why it's not alright. Because I know how much Keziah meant to you. And I felt how much it ripped you apart inside to leave her there, for the last picture of her face to be hatred. I knew you completely in those moments. That is something nobody should be able to do." He squeezed his eyes shut, tears cutting silent trails down his face.

Lisa's silence was almost crushing as he waited for a reply.

A light touch on his shoulder made him open his eyes. Lisa had stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder again, tightening her grip just a little so he couldn't pull away as easily again. It was strange, to feel contact, and not cringe away.

"It's alright," she repeated softly. "Meridian- I understand what it's like to have an invasive Affinity, especially one you cannot control. Yes, that memory is my own, and you're right, no one should be able to do that, but should doesn't matter. What matters is that it happened, and that is all right.

"Thank you for apologizing, though, darling," she continued, giving him a slight smile. "Though- it was my fault you saw one of my memories in the first place. You'd been so careful to warn me against touching you, and I messed up."

Meridian returned her a tentative, tear-streaked smile. "I couldn't just let you fall in the harbor. Although, that did end up happening anyway, so..."

"I appreciate the effort, no matter how it turned out," she assured him. "And all things considered, that wasn't a horrible memory for you to see. One of the better ones, really." She paused to take a sip of her painkiller-tea, then asked, "I've been meaning to ask- is it always bad memories you see? Or can you see any memory?"

He paused, thinking. "Well, I've never tried to see any certain memory before. And they've all been bad." They weren't always. Meridian hesitated, before adding, "When I was younger, really no more than a baby, I could see good ones."

"So what was that, a couple months ago?" she teased lightly.

He scoffed amiably, rolling his eyes and wiping away the few tears that remained. "Please. I'm only a few years younger than you."

For a moment, there was a touch of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Meridian thought he must have imagined it. "Whatever makes you feel better, darling."

She seemed like she was about to say something else, but at that moment, the ship rocked particularly hard as an unusually large wave hit it and she was thrown off balance, reaching to try and brace herself against the railing and keep her cup from spilling at the same time. Meridian reached to brace himself at the railing as well, but the way the ship had rocked tipped him a little too close to Lisa, and he grabbed the railing right next to her hand, lightly brushing the side of her thumb.

Once again, it was too late before he realized he hadn't put his gloves back on. Meridian's heart jumped in his chest and that paralyzing feeling of apprehension seized him just as another of Lisa's memories did...

The first thing he noticed, even before the memory began playing, was the overwhelming lack of emotion he felt. Every memory had an emotion attached to it, whether good or bad, but the way his heart felt dead was frightening. Lisa felt nothing about this memory, and she'd felt nothing during the memory.

The room he found himself in was white and clean, sterile to the point of feeling frozen in time. There were no windows; the only light in the room came from white globes set in the walls. There didn't appear to be any fire or anything inside the globes; they must be powered by an Affinity of some sort. The only door Meridian could see was directly across from Lisa, a sheet of solid metal with a round, black handle.

Diagrams and pages of notes written in a tiny, neat hand were pasted to the wall, but they were blurry, obviously dismissed as unimportant to remember the details of.

There was an odd framework of metal rods around the room: four thick poles set at each corner and one right in front of the door, with thinner metal rods welded in place, curving down to connect with each pole before soaring up to run just below the ceiling in a square shape and extending out toward the door, where the rod ran smoothly through a gap between the top of the door and the doorframe. Each metal rod had a thick band of something colourful wrapped around each end, serving no apparent purpose.

The room wasn't entirely clear. Lisa had forgotten some of the details, but it didn't seem like she'd forced herself to forget anything as Callista had. This was simply an older, indistinct memory.

After taking note of the room, Meridian focused on the memory itself.

He - Lisa - looked down, focused on what she was doing, which was-

Through the blankness of Lisa's memory, Meridian felt his stomach turn.

Lying on a polished, white metal table in front of him was a corpse; Meridian thought it looked long-dead, but he didn't generally look at corpses, so he couldn't be sure. Scars criss-crossed the pale body, some faded and some fresh. A long, surgical cut ran down the body's chest, from the base of the throat to the stomach, neat stitches keeping the edges together.

Lisa was in the process of tying off the thread, her gloved hands handling the thread quickly, as if she'd done this a thousand times before. She didn't seem affected by the body at all - she didn't seem affected by anything at all - and Meridian gratefully sunk into the void where her emotions should've been, avoiding his own feelings about what was happening.

There was complete silence for a while as Lisa finished her work and pulled a white sheet over the body. As she stripped off her gloves, the door across from her opened, and someone stepped through: a man wearing a long white coat with Guild Mercy's emblem on the left side. His dark hair was neatly trimmed, kept carefully out of his even darker eyes. He smiled when he saw Lisa, but she didn't respond to his entrance in any way.

"All done, then?" the man asked. He had a pleasant voice, deep and smooth.

"Yes, sir," Lisa replied flatly, and Meridian mentally jumped at the sound. It was so different from the light, friendly, melodic tones he was used to hearing from her. What was going on?

The man nodded. "Good, good." He came around the table to stand beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. Even through whatever Lisa was wearing, she could feel the heat of his palm. "And?"

"Everything proceeded according to plan until the end. As with previous attempts, it failed to take."

The man sighed softly, looking down at the covered body with a frown. "Shame. I had high hopes." He shook his head, then looked back up at Lisa. "Did you write up your notes already, or do you still need to do that?"

"I need to finish them," she replied emotionlessly, and the man nodded again.

"Alright. Finish them, add them to his file, and then..." He smiled again. "We'll go out. I promised you we'd do that if you finished in time, didn't I?"

"You did."

He laughed. "Don't sound so excited. Come on, give me a smile?"

She obliged, but Meridian didn't feel even a slight change in her emotions.

"That's my girl. Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes, then."

"Yes, sir."

The man started to walk away, but Lisa stopped him, taking a step after the man. Something cold tugged at her neck, but Meridian had no idea what or why. "Sir?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Mm?"

"I've been having an odd dream lately."

He stopped and turned to fully face her. "You have?"

Meridian didn't know why that would be such a problem, but the man suddenly looked highly concerned.

"Yes," Lisa continued. "I don't remember any of the details. All I remember is..."

For the first time, a bubble of emotion broke through the unfeeling surface. Curiosity.

"Fear," she finished. "There's darkness, and then I'm afraid, and then there's nothing."

"... huh," the man mused, his expression growing darker. "That's... certainly odd. Maybe we shouldn't go out after all."

The bubble of curiosity popped.

"Whatever you think is best, sir."

And then he was back, in the darkness, on this ship. All the conflicting emotions crowding his mind flooded back, in stark contrast to the cold indifference he had just been feeling. Or, that Lisa had been feeling? Or not feeling. They rolled over him, shame and fear settling back into that familiar place over his heart.

Meridian ripped his hand away from the railing, stumbling backwards. He realized his heart was beating quickly, and his breath came in short, desperate bursts. Had Lisa's heart beat at all in that memory? Had she taken a single breath? Meridian honestly didn't know.

A heavy darkness pressed on his vision, and his legs crumpled underneath him. Head pounding, he struggled to maintain consciousness.

This was new.

How many times had his Affinity been used in the last twenty four hours again? He'd never used it this much. Well, used was a loose term. He'd never fought it this hard this much before.

He looked up at Lisa, who was still standing at the railing. He was expecting anger, maybe resignation, maybe fear, but she just looked... tired, as she looked down and met his gaze.

He swallowed the customary apology, realizing she genuinely had no anger towards him for the mistake. He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't move for a second. "Lisa... I don't understand."

"Don't understand what, darling?" she asked softly.

"Why... why can't you feel anything?" He spoke, looking up at her. At this point, he was too exhausted and confused and concerned to bother with formality or subtlety.

She smiled faintly and looked back up and out over the water. Her gaze stretched farther than the horizon. Suddenly, Meridian was struck by the sense that this person was old. Much, much older than he had originally thought.

"I do feel things, darling. You felt how much I cared for Keziah, didn't you? I feel things just as much as you do."

She took a long sip of her painkiller-tea.

"That memory, however, is from... a darker time."

He tried to discern what she was thinking. Now that most of the emotion and pain from his response to that last memory was fading a little, he found that he had questions. Who was this person whose eyes he had seen through? How old was she? What was her name, really?

Surprisingly, Meridian found that those things didn't matter to him very much. She was the only person who he'd ever told about the depth of his Affinity, and the only person who hadn't been repulsed by it. He felt the storm of questions in his mind slowing.

"Lisa?"

"How did you learn to control your Affinity?"

She hesitated for a moment, then gently lowered herself to sit next to him on the deck, settling herself close enough to him that their arms were almost touching. She had his gloves, somehow - he'd probably dropped them when he nearly blacked out - and now handed them to him.

"So I don't hurt you again," she said softly as he put them on.

The words nearly made him tear up again.

So I don't hurt you.

She wasn't worried about him seeing any more of her memories. She was worried that he would be hurt by what he saw.

Her worries weren't unfounded, though. He didn't know if he could take it again. A tiny voice of paranoia was creeping into the back of his mind, worrying that if he used his Affinity again anytime soon, he might not survive.

"For the longest time, I couldn't control my mimicry," Lisa began quietly. "I would simply take people's Affinities, without warning, and begin using it like my own. It made me more than a few enemies.

"My mother had an Affinity like yours. A little less powerful - she read current emotions and intentions, not memories - but no less invasive. As a child, I couldn't help but mimic that Affinity almost constantly. I accidentally read everyone that I touched, and for a child- well, you can imagine how traumatizing that was.

"What helped me learn to control that was experiencing it for myself. That's how I've learned to control my Affinity and that's how I learn to control the Affinities I mimic."

She held out her hand to him.

"Would you like to try, darling?" she asked seriously. "Let me use your Affinity on you, and focus on how you feel while you're experiencing one of your memories. Maybe seeing your Affinity from the other side will give you an idea of how to control it."

He hesitated. It was a strange concept, to have your own Affinity used on you. What kind of memory would he see? At this point, what do you have to lose? Meridian couldn't allow his Affinity to rule his every choice, sealing him off from almost any sort of human connection. He looked at her, and laughed, suddenly bewildered by the fact that he was trusting someone he'd just met so implicitly.

"Why not? It might even work." He paused. "Just one thing. I trust you. So I'm going to trust you not to use my Affinity after this." Meridian looked at the deck again. "It's my challenge to overcome."

She smiled softly. "Of course, darling. As soon as we're done here, I'll drop your Affinity so I can't use it anymore, I promise."

Her smile faded back into seriousness. "If you're ready, I already have your Affinity. All you need to do is take my hand."

Meridian steeled his nerves, and took her hand.

Instantly, Meridian felt himself being pulled into a memory. It was different than when he used it- quicker and more jarring.

Lemongrass. The scent cut through his senses, sharp and sweet. The afternoon sun shone through his father's storefront windows, casting warm shadows on rows and rows of finely-made garments. His mother washed them all with lemongrass soap, in the big silver tub every Friday morning.

"What about that one?" Misty grabbed his hand from behind, pointing to a rich blue tailcoat hanging on the rack next to them. Meridian scrunched his nose at it.

"Too boring."

Misty rolled her eyes and tugged him farther along the row. "This one?" She stopped in front of a deep yellow ballgown, embroidered with gold thread. Meridian squinted at the hem, looking for signs of damage. The interesting ones always seemed more messed up. He spotted a tiny burn mark only the son of a tailor would notice under a ruffle on the back.

"Okay, this one's good!" Misty's eyes sparkled and she leaned in close as he touched the silky fabric. He got flashes of a beautiful house near the sea, engulfed in flames, and a young woman standing in front of it with a torch.

She had a long scar over her face, and wore the dress he was touching back at home in the shop. She was smiling.

And then he was back, Misty next to him.

"What was it, what's the story?" She bounced up and down, excitement spilling over.

Meridian smiled maliciously. "I'm not gonna tell you."

She scowled, "Meri, that's not fair!"

"Yes, it is! You got the last pastry yesterday, even after I specifically said Ihad claimed it!"

"Yeah, well, you promised you'd tell me what stories this dress knew! Remember, when Pa got it in last week." She put her nose up at him, knowing she'd won.

It was Meridian's turn to scowl. "Fine. But I'm not looking at any more of your ugly dresses after this." She shrugged, satisfied with only the here and now.

"There's a big, beautiful house right near the ocean, but it's on fire! And there's a lady with a torch standing in front of it, and she's wearing that dress. She has a long scar across her face and she's smiling really bi-"

A loud crash echoed through the shop and Pa appeared between the rows, his face scrunched up in anger or fear, Meri couldn't tell. He walked quickly to the two of them, pushing them roughly into the back of the store.

"How do you know that? How do you know that, Meridian? Look at me!" Pa was kneeling down in front of him, holding both his shoulders a bit too tight. Meri tried to squirm away.

"I don't know, I just see the stories!" Meri didn't understand why Pa looked so scared, or why he was squeezing Meri's arms so tightly.

"See them? What do you mean, see them?"

"I just touch the objects and they show me what they've seen!"

Pa stood up, rubbing his chin, brow furrowed. He shifted, turning away from Misty and Meri for a moment. Silence.

Meridian and Misty watched him, tearful. Pa never got angry. What had they done, to make him so scared? Later in his life, Meridian would look back and realize that his father was afraid of him.

"Meridian." Pa still didn't turn around. "You must never, ever do it again."

"Why? Why, Pa?"

Now, he turned back. And it was worse, much worse than silence. Pa was crying. His eyes were bright with fear.

"It is a thing of evil. Of great evil. It will bring this home down around us, Meri. Promise me, you will hide it." Pa knelt again.

Meridian looked down at his feet. He should never have looked at the stories. He didn't want to scare Pa.

He looked up again. "I promise."

Meridian's return to reality was gentler than usual. It was a slow fade in, soft and slow. When his vision was clear enough to see Lisa, he found that his face was streaked with warm tears.

She blinked slowly, readjusting to reality, then delicately withdrew her hand from him. "Your sister," she said softly. "That was your sister, wasn't it? I... I think I know her."

"My...sister?" Meridian's eyes widened, suddenly not caring how strange that memory had left him feeling. "You know her? Where did you see her? Was she alive?"

Lisa frowned, "It was a long time ago..."

"Anything you remember might help me find her."

"Find her?"

Meridian paused, unsure of how to proceed. "She was taken, in a raid off the coast of Takar. I have reason to believe it was one of Finnigan's raids, a Berserker, I think. She was held captive, for a time."

She shifted, uncertain. "I saw her on a merchant island, far to the south. She was alive then, on a small crew-"

"A pirate? Misty's a pirate?"

"It looked that way. We even exchanged a few words. From what I gathered, she was new to the business, looking to fall in with a non-Affinity guild. But that's all I know." Lisa smiled apologetically.

"No, no, this is fine! More than fine, wonderful in fact. She's alive." Meridian felt like his face might split from the stupid grin that graced it then. Soon enough, it faded.

"If we make it out of this, I'll go find her." He spoke, with quiet determination. Misty's alive! I'm not alone, not anymore. Meridian looked at Lisa, eye-level with him on the deck.

He paused, mulling over his words for a moment. "Thank you. I'm not sure what else to say, in all honesty. Just, thank you." Meridian thought she understood.

Lisa smiled another sad smile, and Meridian found himself wishing he could give her the same sense of hope she'd offered him.

A tiny voice whispered in the back of his mind. The coming days will no doubt provide many an opportunity for that.

Meridian shifted, uncomfortable with the truth in those words.

Lisa got to her feet. "You and I both need to get back to bed, darling," she said quietly. "Somehow, I think the both of us will sleep better now." She gave him a small smile before turning and disappearing below the decks once more.



The next few days of calm travel were a breath of needed fresh air. The sky remained clear for the most part, no Enforcer ships could be seen, and none of the local wildlife attempted to atack them.

The gods must have been watching out for them during the Enforcer fight, because their ship was still sailing, albeit slowly and with much protest. The dock worker at Redmarn had generously provided them with enough supplies to repair their ship enough to keep it going, and the Enforcers hadn't damaged anything vital.

In fact, the Enforcers might have even done some good for them. The heavy feeling of mistrust that had seeped into every crack of the ship was lightening, slowly but surely. The crew had finally been forced to work together in something, and even Callista and Rodrin couldn't ignore the necessity of getting along.

Callista still bullied Rodrin relentlessly. That hadn't changed. It seemed a tiny bit more affectionate, now, but maybe that was blind optimism and flat-out denial.

Either way, Rodrin ignored her, for the most part. He did his best to ignore everyone, spending most of his time steering the ship or obsessively rechecking the repairs they'd made, activities that let him spend as much time alone as he wanted.

He still made meals for everyone and sat with them to eat, though.

He was particularly careful to avoid Lisa, and she didn't seem to mind in the slightest. They paced around each other like wary cats, watching each other's every move while trying to seem disinterested, no doubt reliving their fight after they'd left Redmarn with every glance. It wasn't an unfriendly avoidance, thought, which was the most confusing part to Meridian. They didn't seem to dislike each other, not in the same way, but they still walked on eggshells around each other.

On Meridian's part, he found he was fitting into the group much better now. Being closer to Lisa after the night she'd used his Affinity on him meant that he now had a connection to Callista, as much as the Rogue pirate didn't seem to want one at first. Spending time with Lisa, however, meant spending time with Callista, and she seemed to be slowly warming to him. Maybe it was just for Lisa's sake, but he was hopeful Callista would like him for him eventually.

On their fourth morning since leaving Redmarn, they were brought to attention by Meridian's shout from up in the crow's nest.

"I think I see it!"

Far below him, he heard his crewmates scramble to be the first to the railing and see the mystery island as he unfolded his world map. Just as he'd thought - if his calculations were correct and they were where he thought they were - there was no island marked here, but it matched the position of the paint-chip-island on the globe. This had to be it.

From his position high above, he could see that the colour of the water changed dramatically near the island. Instead of the midnight blue of the sea, the water surrounding the island was a vibrant cerulean, with a sharp line dividing the two colours in a perfect circle around the island. The island itself was a lush shade of light green, brighter than anything Meridian had ever seen before. Even the sky around the island was a more vivid shade of blue, making the whole area seem to glow.

It looked like a secret island that would be in a prophecy, and Meridian felt a tingle of excitement as they drew closer.

A warning voice in the back of his mind whispered that this was too easy. That they'd found the place too quickly, that for a magic prophecy island, there seemed to be no guard, no barrier keeping this place from being discovered.

That something was very, very wrong.

And his suspicions were only confirmed when the beautiful cerulean water suddenly began to rise as they got closer, the glassy surface reaching up to become a tidal wave falling down to crush them.

The midnight blue of the regular ocean rose too, matching the height of the angry cerulean, seeming to press against it as the waters struggled for dominance and wrestle each other down while only succeeding in getting higher and higher.

This shouldn't be happening! the logical part of his mind screeched. Water doesn't do that for no reason! Water usually doesn't do that at all!

I told you, the cautionary part snapped back.

Frozen in confusion and horror, Meridian could only watch as the cerulean water pushed the midnight blue ocean down, sweeping over it and toward the ship with a roar.

"Brace yourselves!" Rodrin shouted, and Meridian scrambled to keep his map, the globe, and himself safe, bracing himself against the crow's nest railing.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable stomach-dropping force of the wave to hit their boat.

Instead, all he felt was a light swell and a dizzying turn as the boat was swept around and pushed the other way.

Confused, he opened his eyes. The cerulean wave had apparently dove under their ship and carried them away, turning them to face away from the island and giving them a push to start them sailing off.

What kind of cursed water is this?

Below him, he could hear Callista repeating that sentiment, albeit with a few more shocked curse words.

Still slightly off balance from the turn of the ship, Meridian rolled up his map, clutching it and the globe to the chest as he climbed down as fast as he could manage, joining Lisa and Callista at the railing to stare, wide-eyed, at the ocean.

"Apparently, this will not be as easy as we thought," Lisa said softly, and Meridian and Callista made vague noises of agreement.

The three of them, after watching the water for another moment, joined Rodrin up at the wheel.

"How are we supposed to get through that?" Meridian worried. "I mean- it just- it just got up and shoved us away! Water's not supposed to do that!"

"It's supposed to be high tide, too," Rodrin said, staring behind them at the island. His voice carried a note of the same worried that coloured Meridian's. "That should make the water carry us toward the island, not away from it."

"Beware those backwards tides," Lisa quoted. "Watt warned us."

"I am going to rip that guy limb from ghostly limb next time I see him," Callista growled. "He didn't warn us about anything, he just repeated a line from the prophecy and left. He couldn't have just told us that the water was literally backwards?"

"For a ghost that's supposed to be helping us out, he is seriously unhelpful," Meridian agreed.

"Forget Watt," Rodrin grumbled. "He told us to be careful of the backwards tides, now we need to figure out how to do that by ourselves."

"What, are you going to pull a water Affinity out of thin air and control the waves, Sand Boy?" Callista asked. "Because if you can't, then I don't see how we're going to sail over water that can just push us back."

"Well-" Lisa started softly, but Meridian cut her off.

"If the tides are 'backwards', then why don't we wait until high tide and see if the water lets us in then?" Meridian suggested.

"You want to wait around for hours just to see if something works?" she asked. "I don't think whoever enchanted this island was stupid enough to make it obvious how to break through."

"Or maybe they're counting on the fact that it's obvious and no one would try it," Rodrin countered. "What better things do we have to do with our time than wait? It can't hurt."

"Darlings-"

"That's dumb," Callista said flatly.

"Okay, well, what about the 'desire' line from the prophecy? What if we can only get to the island if we don't want to?" Meridian asked.

"What kind of logic is that?" Rodrin asked dubiously.

"Stupid prophecy logic," Callista replied. "That sounds more likely than just wait for the tides to change."

"How does not wanting to get to the island make more sense than the tides?" Rodrin shot back.

"Just because you're unimaginative and would do that-"

She cut off with a shriek as a bubble of water suddenly popped itself over her head. Spluttering, she turned to see where it had come from and found herself faced with Lisa, casually playing with another bubble while glaring at the other three.

"I was going to say," she said pointedly, "that I can mimic a water Affinity."

"... Oh," Callista said, brushing her dripping hair away from her face. "That's useful."

"Thank you, darling." Lisa glared at her for a moment more, then took pity on her and waved her hand. The water ran smoothly off Callista and onto the deck, neatly slithering off the side of the boat and back into the ocean. "Do we want to try that plan, then? I can try to hold the water back long enough for us to sail through."

Meridian, out of the corner of his eye, saw Rodrin's expression darken as he watched Lisa.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Callista asked.

"Are you sure you should do it?" Rodrin muttered.

"I'm fairly certain, yes," Lisa replied lightly, ignoring Rodrin's comment. "Unless someone has a better idea?"

"I say we wait to see if the tides change," Rodrin said stubbornly.

"And I say you should get your head out of your-" Callista started.

"I think we should try using Lisa's Affinity!" Meridian shouted, cutting her off. All three of the others looked at him, startled. "I mean- what is there to lose? We have to get to that island."

Rodrin glanced around and sighed softly when he saw the determination on his crewmates' faces. "Fine. We'll use Lisa's Affinity," he relented. Without another word, he grabbed the wheel and turned it, bringing the ship about. Callista and Meridian returned to the railing to watch the island approach once more, while Lisa moved to the bow of the ship to prepare for her task.

Once more, the ocean reared up against them, bright and terrible and - even though water couldn't have emotions - angry. Meridian felt a flutter of fear in his stomach as he watched the water approach, and glanced up to where Lisa was standing, a dark figure against the backdrop of water. She raised her arms, and the water, after a slight delay, parted in front of them.

"It worked," Meridian breathed.

"Of course it did," Callista replied sharply, as if reprimanding him for doubting Lisa in the first place.

Meridian looked up to where Rodrin was steering the ship, trying to see the man's expression. From what he could tell, Rodrin was still steering in angry silence; their success hadn't changed his opinion on this at all.

But it was working, wasn't it? They'd make it to the island.

The water around them, mountains of mixed blues, seemed to be vibrating with rage at the ship, but seemed to be flattening out at the same time. Lisa was forcing the water back into place, keeping them safe from the fury of the waves.

And then it came back. With a fury.

The ship tipped violently, throwing Meridian and Callista backwards and crashing to the deck. Vaguely, over the crash of the water, he heard Lisa scream, but he wasn't sure if that was actually her or just an echo of the furious water. His head cracked against the planks of the deck, and his vision went fuzzy for a few moments. He blinked dizzily, trying to hold onto conciousness while his mind fought him, trying to dive into the void threatening to consume his sight.

The water wrapped around the ship, still screaming, cerulean waves folding over them until Meridian couldn't see the sky. Midnight blue swirled through the enchanted water, bursting through the surface and pouring streams of freezing salt down onto the deck, splashing across his face and making him choke.

So much screaming. The water was screaming. He thought maybe Lisa was still screaming. Maybe he was screaming.

Even the ship was screaming.

Despite all the noise, he could still hear the exact, horrible moment when the ship began falling apart underneath them. Wood snapped, splinters sprayed into the air and were absorbed by the water only to be spat back out at them a moment later. Tiny bits of wood slashed through the air like a thousand tiny daggers, piercing his skin and drawing a thousand tiny drops of blood. The mast had been carried away long ago, but Meridian could see it swinging through the water like a club, passing far too close to the edge of the water dome for his comfort. If the giant piece of wood were to fall through the water, it would crush them all- not that it really mattered, now.

We made a mistake. We made a horrible, horrible mistake.

He didn't know why the thought was so calm. It shouldn't have been that calm. Why was his head the only spot of calm in the tempest? His mind was still trying to drag him down into the void, but it was also being completely calm and rational, and he couldn't get the two ideas to line up. He couldn't get anything to line up.

The water was swirling closer and closer, wrapping long tentacles of deadly liquid around the ship, crushing what was left of it and crushing them. Meridian's eyes and lungs filled with water, cold and bitter and deadly.

And then there was nothing.