CHAPTER 3
Isaac awoke to the rays of the morning sun cutting through the thick fog and lighting up the water droplets in the air. Blinking to clear his vision, he looked around at the deck of the ship. What am I doing out here? He wondered to himself. Feeling a slight weight on his chest, he looked down to see the still sleeping form of Mia curled up next to him and memories from the night before came back to him, bringing a smile to his face. How did we both fall asleep on watch…Isaac wondered, shifting Mia's jacket off of himself and onto her shoulders. I don't want to wake her up, but should I leave her here and let her sleep or carry her back to our room?
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a smug voice called out to him, "Morning sleepyhead." Isaac turned to the owner of the voice and saw Ivan sitting on a barrel to his left with a light sword across his lap. "Have a nice nap last night?" Ivan continued with a grin and a nod in Isaac's direction.
Isaac stood up slowly, making sure Mia was laying against the ship's mast before responding to the younger boy. "I must have fallen asleep on watch…" he muttered in a low voice as he walked over to where Ivan was sitting.
"You must understand my surprise when I came out for my shift and saw two people who were supposed to be guarding the ship asleep in each other's arms, sharing Mia's jacket. So what exactly happened with you two?" Ivan asked, causing Isaac to blush slightly as he understood Ivan's meaning.
"It wasn't anything like that Ivan," He said in a calm voice.
Ivan looked at him for a second before replying, "I believe you. I didn't think it was, but I had to ask anyway. My question as to how this happened still stands though," he reminded Isaac while gesturing over to where Mia lay still asleep.
Isaac shortly summarized events about how Mia was having trouble sleeping so they sat and talked during watch. He told Ivan about how Mia finally fell asleep partway through her watch and how he was going to take the rest of it for her. "I guess I must have just dozed off at some point…" he finished.
Ivan was lost in thought for a moment, then turned back to Isaac. "You know, you're lucky I was the one who found you two and not Garet. He surely would have come up with some way to get back at both of you for that jellyfish joke you played on him the other day."
Isaac visibly paled. "Thank sol," he muttered softly, causing Ivan to laugh at his reaction.
Ivan directed his attention back to Mia. "I have to say it was amusing to see you both just lying there during my whole shift. I considered trying to wake you both or move you, but I had to let you sit there after I saw just how…peaceful…you both looked."
Silence descended between the two of them as Isaac watched Mia sleep and Ivan cast his vision out across the waves. I can't I let myself fall asleep during watch like that. I'm glad I managed to wake up this early though; I'd never hear the end of it if Garet has seen us like that.
His thoughts were interrupted when a yawn was heard across the deck. Mia had finally opened her eyes and stretched out before looking around at the deck of the ship and seeing Isaac and Ivan. "Good morning!" Ivan said her with a cheerful wave.
"Good morning," she called back to the pair with a slightly confused look.
"It seems you and Isaac both decided to take a nap on the job last night," Ivan informed her.
"Oh no! We both fell asleep on watch?" she realized, moving her eyes between the pair as she recalled the events of the previous night. Isaac nodded in confirmation.
"So it would seem," Ivan replied.
"I'm so sorry!" Mia told them. "I should have been able to stay awake for my watch. It's my fault."
"It's all right Mia," Ivan told her. "I was amused to see you two sleeping there when I came out for my shift." Mia's face flushed pink and she refused to make eye contact with Isaac for a few seconds.
Attempting to end the awkwardness, Isaac addressed them both: "Well since we're all awake now we might as well get started for the day right?" Both Mia and Ivan nodded in agreement with his words and Mia stood up, glad to put the conversation behind her.
"I'll go make some breakfast for everyone," Mia offered as Ivan turned to get the navigational maps from the other end of the deck. Walking directly past Isaac, she stopped and whispered to him, "Thank you."
"For what?" came Isaac's quizzical response.
"For staying with me," she said with a smile. Turning her back on Isaac she called out to both of them, "I'll you know when breakfast is done."
Isaac watched her as she disappeared into the ship's interior with a smile on his face. I wasn't going to just leave you Mia. I can still picture how adorable you looked while sleeping last night. His face flushed again as he shook his head to clear his thoughts.
Distracting himself with the maps Ivan procured, the two boys theorized about their location in the ocean until Mia came through the doorway again. "Breakfast is ready guys," Mia called out to them. "And can someone go force Garet to wake up?" she added with a huff before turning and disappearing back inside. Smiling to himself, Isaac headed below decks to get Garet before joining Mia and Ivan at breakfast.
In the afternoon all four adepts were out on deck, the calm waves of the morning forgotten as the water eddied and swirled around their ship. The fog was lighter here, but Isaac and Ivan were at the helm of the ship trying frantically to retain control by fighting the strong water currents.
Mia and Garet served as lookouts, attempting to steer the boys past jagged, rocky outcroppings without getting caught in the various channels of water flowing in every which way. "Large one on the left!" Mia yelled out to alert Isaac and Ivan to change course.
As the boys made the necessary course corrections while fighting a particularly strong current, Garet also yelled out. "Large wave from the right side; Hold on!"
Everyone grabbed a railing as the wave hit the ship and pushed it back into a current Isaac and Ivan had just left. The spray form the sea covered the adepts as the fought for control of the ship once again. "Everyone all right?" Isaac called out, receiving an affirmative response from everyone else.
The ship narrowly missed a spike of rock as the currents pulled it off course and into one of the larger waterways it was impossible to escape from. The water pushed the Lumerian ship back into the ocean where the waves were once again calm and collected. Isaac breathed a sigh of relief and exasperation as he realized they were all safe, but had once again failed to get through the currents.
"I give up!" came Garet's voice, booming loudly across the deck. "We've been at this all day. At this point it's more likely that we'll destroy the ship than get through all those currents."
Mia looked thoughtful, but it was Ivan who gave a response. "Garet is right. We don't have any way to successfully navigate these currents and our best efforts have just caused us to end up back here."
But what if Lemuria is really right here beyond the current? Isaac couldn't help wondering. I don't want to fail after coming this close…I guess it can't really be helped though. We haven't made any headway in those currents and I'm not sure it's possible for us to navigate those water channels.
"What if we reported back to Babi that the most likely location for Lemuria is through those waterways that are impossible to navigate until the sea around it calms down?" Isaac asked everyone.
Everyone agreed it would be foolhardy to continue trying to get past the currents and that they should report back to Babi before continuing the search for Jenna, Felix, and Sheba. After setting a course that would take them back to Lalivero, the exhausted adepts decided to call it a day early and get some extra rest.
On the way back to his room, Isaac was thinking about the next step in their journey. Some of the towns we've visited recently reported a group of travelers that matches the description of Felix, Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden. If Felix is with them that must mean they're still headed to the next lighthouse… He sighed as he opened the door to his room and set his things down against the wall near his bed.
Mia was sitting on her bed across from him and looked over as he entered. "Hey Isaac," she said with a soft smile. For some reason Isaac couldn't explain, those simple words caught his attention and he turned to look at her.
Mia was wearing her favorite sea green nightgown she got while in Xian and Isaac had to admit that it looked quite beautiful on her. I've seen her in it plenty of times before, but I never noticed just how much the dress brings out the color of her eyes.
Mia shifted nervously and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. "Isaac?" she asked.
Isaac shifted out of his thoughts suddenly and sheepishly replied, "Oh! Sorry. Was I staring?" He blushed as Mia nodded in the affirmative. "Sorry Mia, I was just admiring how pretty your nightgown is. It looks good on you…" he added tentatively.
His words caused Mia's face to turn a distinct shade of pink as she managed to stammer out, "You really think so?"
This is so embarrassing...Isaac thought as he managed to nod back to her.
"Thank you," Mia said, blushing deeper and holding her hands together in front of her. Feeling Isaac's gaze still on her, she stood up and walked over to sit down next to him on his bed. Mia leaned forward and fidgeted with Isaac's scarf a bit before leaning back and admiring her handiwork. Her cheeks were still noticeably pink but she said what she wanted to say. "You look pretty handsome in that scarf you know…"
She broke eye contact with him, but it wasn't enough for Isaac to stop his complexion from darkening. "Thanks Mia," he told her.
Both adepts sat there next to each other in silence for a few moments, too embarrassed to say or do anything else. After about half a minute, Mia stood up and walked back over to her bed, obviously still embarrassed by what had just happened.
"Good night Isaac," she said to him with a serene smile.
"Good night Mia," came his response.
