To all who read the prologue, welcome back. To all newbies, welcome in general. I hope you enjoy this story, let me know what you think of the new chapter.

Nina Doe was freaky about time. That is, she always liked to know exactly when she was.

Nina woke up at precisely 7:08 every morning, even on weekends. Every morning, without fail, she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and combed her curly, chin length hair. This morning was no different, she completed her ritual just like always, but Nina had more of a bad feeling than usual. She stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall, returning to her room to get dressed for school.

At precisely 7:21 she would leave her room and go eat breakfast, which would take her exactly thirteen minutes. At 7:34, she would leave the house and go catch the F train to head to school. On most days, she'd arrive at 7:57, leaving her eight minutes to go to her locker and then get to class. She would slide into her desk at 8:04, with just a minute to spare before the start of class. Or at least, that's how her morning was supposed to go.

But when Nina returned to her room that morning, something was off. In the middle of her floor was an envelope. And on the front was just one word,

"Nova"

Nina walked slowly towards the envelope, her pulse pounding in her ears. Whatever was inside it was calling to her, compelling her to step closer and closer to the small package.

Nina bent down and picked it up, turning it over in her hands before opening it. Expecting a letter, she was shocked to find a golden pocket watch. With trembling hands, Nina pulled it out, drawing the strange, yet familiar, object towards her. Just as she was about to open it, she saw the clock on her wall. 7:18! That left her with just three minutes to get dressed! Throwing the watch down on her bed, she rushed to her dresser and threw on the first shirt and pair of jeans she could find, not caring whether it matched or not. She then tugged on her ratty converse as she ran down stairs. She was a minute late, she would have to cut a minute from her breakfast time if she didn't want to miss her train.

Nina rushed into the kitchen and started to approach the coffee pot before she realized that she just wasn't hungry anymore. She wasn't stressed anymore either. There was nothing on her mind except one thing: the watch.

Deciding to skip breakfast, Nina returned to her room to use her remaining eleven minutes to examine the watch. Nina checked twice at the hall before locking her door behind her. She didn't know why, but this felt like something that she shouldn't let anyone else see.

Despite her room being about the size of a closet, the distance between her and the watch seemed insurmountable. The closer she got, the farther away it seemed. Finally, she reached her hand down to grab the golden object. And when he fingers brushed it, she felt a warmth unlike any other.

Nina gasped and picked up the watch completely. Suddenly, she didn't care that it was already 7:31, she just needed to open the thing. School be damned, she just needed to see inside this watch.

She opened it carefully, expecting to see an ornate clock face. Instead, all that she found was a note. A note with just two words.

"Not yet."

Nina missed her train that morning and was late to school for the first time since fourth grade. To say she was frustrated was an understatement.

She went to the office to check in and was faced with the overly peppy secretary, Mrs. Smith. Nina hated Mrs. Smith, as the woman always treated her like a little lost puppy that needed her help. It was impossible for her to get anything from the woman without feeling patronized. She groaned as she realized she'd have to talk to the woman, which would make her shitty day even worse.

Plastering on a fake smile, Nina cleared her throat. "Um excuse me, I need a tardy slip."

Smith looked at her with the most sickeningly sweet smile Nina had ever seen in her entire seventeen years.

"Oh don't worry about it, baby, for you I won't even mark you late. Just don't let it happen again, you poor dear," Smith cooed at her as if she were three years old.

Hiding her grimace, Nina muttered a simple "thank you" before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Trudging down the empty hallway to her first class, Nina was fuming. She considered just taking the day off, but she wasn't going to let the universe win. She was going to stay the full day whether it liked it or not.

Reaching her classroom, she slid into her desk as nonchalantly as possible, trying not to interrupt the lecture. She whipped out her notebook and was about to start taking notes when she started a little bit at the subject. Pirates? This was Civics, why were they learning about pirates?

She turned to the person next to her and whispered, "Pssst Tom. Did I miss something? Why is Ms. Jones talking about pirates?"

Tom looked at her completely bewildered. "What are you talking about, Nina? She's lecturing on the Bill of Rights."

Nina looked back at the board. Right there in plain text was the title of the powerpoint, "Pirates of the Caribbean." With a huff Nina turned back to Tom, but he was focused on the board again. She then turned to her other side.

"Lexi! Psst, Lexi. Why are we learning about pirates? What did I miss?"

Lexi looked at her confused too.

"Nina, what are you talking about? That slide is about the Fourth Amendment."

Nina turned back to the board. Now the slide showed a ship with black sails rocking back and forth on the open sea. The Jolly Rodger hung from its mast, waving in the breeze.

"Ok that's it universe, you win," she sighed to herself.

Nina was just frustrated before, but now she was furious. Just because she was late didn't mean the rest of the class could tease her. She stood up from her desk, grabbed her things, shot a quick "girl problems" at her teacher, and rushed from the room. She was about to run out the door when she heard it.

"Nova"

A voice as light as the wind brushed her ears. It was that word again, the same as on the envelope. But what did it mean? She looked all around her, but saw no one.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"Nova"

"Hello? Who is that? This isn't funny!" Nova was truly pissed now. She absolutely did not deserve this. All she wanted to do was have a nice, peaceful day at school, but the universe was not having it. With a huff Nina stomped down the hallway and out the door.

Rather than take the train home, Nina suddenly had the urge to duck into the bookstore down the street. At least there she wouldn't have to deal with any other people; she could just read her books in peace.

Entering the store though, she almost screamed again. Every single book had just one title, "Pirates of the Caribbean."

"Is this a joke?" She asked herself. Her anger was starting to turn into hysteria, she had no idea what was happening.

"I never joke."

Nina jumped, not realizing she had said that outloud. Turning slowly, she was met with a very tall, skinny man, probably around fifty years old. He held a golden pocketwatch, not unlike the one she'd found that morning. Maybe he had the answers.

"Who are you? What's happening to me? Am I going crazy?"

The man simply smiled. "No, my dear, you're not going crazy. Why don't you read one of these books here, free of charge. It will explain everything." He held out one of the books to her. On the cover was the same ship from the powerpoint, sailing the seas majestically. With a shaking hand, Nina reached out and took the book from the man, her bright green eyes narrowing in distrust.

"Thanks," She said shakily, suddenly feeling very tired. "I should go home now."

"Yes, yes you should. Take care, my dear."

As Nina walked out of the store, the man's face took on a haunted expression. His appearance changed until he was much younger and glowing gold. Watch in hand, he checked the time before looking out at the girl's retreating form one last time.

"Good Luck, Nova."

Nina returned to the girls' home on autopilot, too dazed to do anything but walk. As soon as she got home, she placed her book on her nightstand next to the watch and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

Nina awoke at exactly 2:17 am. She shot up in bed, angry at herself for missing the entire day, but then she remembered why, and her anger was redirected at the rest of the world. With an angry huff, she turned on her lamp and froze when she saw the book and watch.

"So it was real," She whispered to herself in shock. Suddenly, all anger was gone, replaced with an eagerness to read. She devoured the book in just three hours, finally looking up at 5:23 am, with an awed expression on her face. The seas were alive with curses and treasure and magic and gods and monsters. And she was able to read about all of it. It was a fantastic work of fiction, Nina was absolutely going to write to the author congratulating them on their amazing piece. Flipping through the pages again, Nina realized that there was writing on the title page that was definitely not there before.

Dearest Nova,

If you are reading this book, it means that I am dead. Do not fret my child, for I have lived a good life, and it was my time. In fact, it was past my time, as I was forced to cheat death to bring you to this world.

This, my darling, is where things get complicated. You are destined for greatness, Nova. You alone are able to save the seas and their freedom. It's been written by the stars, and therefore must be so. But to ensure that you can do this, you had to be sent away. I don't know when Chronos sent you to, but when you receive your watch, you must open it to return home.

When you get here, find your father. I cannot write his name in here, it's too dangerous for his identity to be shared here if this letter falls into the wrong hands. But you will know him when you see him. Use the necklace to find him, my dear, that's all I can say.

Now, my beautiful Nova, I'm afraid I must ask you to accept your terrible, dangerous fate and open the watch.

Love Always,

Your mother, Clara Hawkins

"What the fuck," Nina whispered to herself, unable to contain the swear. That letter was absolutely not there before, and she felt as though she'd violated some sort of privacy. Nina felt as though she'd just watched a very intimate family affair between strangers. Whoever this Nova was should be reading the book, not her. However, she couldn't help her curiosity.

Slowly, she reached her hand towards the pocketwatch. Shakily she drew it closer to her, and carefully unclasped the lock.

She was immediately surrounded by a shimmering golden light. The world began to spin beneath her feet, faster and faster and faster. Nina felt as though she was going to vomit. The spinning just kept going and going until finally, after what seemed like a decade, it stopped.

Nina instantly vomited onto the wooden floor. Wait. Wood? Her bedroom was carpeted! Looking up, Nina realized that she was absolutely not in her bedroom, she was on a dock. Ahead of her was a fort that looked absolutely ancient, and around her were ships. And not modern ships, or yachts, or sailboats. Actual, real life, eighteenth century ships!

Nina looked out at sea, then back to the boats, then to the fort, then to sea, and then the boats.

"It's real," were her last words before she promptly blacked out.