Hey y'all! Well, I'm out on Thanksgiving break and loving every worry-free second of it! I want to thank each and every person who reviewed, alerted, or favorited my story. Just seeing how many people love my writing *eyes start tearing up*…it's just so beautiful. *Takes a deep breath* Okay, I'm all good now.
WritersWayOfLife: thanks and I'll definitely keep you in mind next time I need help with a story.
Superfan44: thanks and here comes your answer.
Bubble-Gum1lol: aw thank you, I always love an enthusiastic reader, and thanks for the review/alert/favorite.
LuluCalliope: thank you so much and kudos for picking up on the mythological significance behind Helios's name. I was wondering if anyone would catch that hint.
For any of you who don't know, Helios is the mythological Greek God of the Sun (until the position was given to Apollo) whose son, Phaeton, tried to drive his sun chariot and ended up being killed because he could not handle the fire horses. Just like my character Helios, the fire horses in the story were very temperamental and they would only obey their strong and true master.
GoogleFart***: fyi, I aced honors biology last year so I do know how genes work. But in this fictional story with fictional characters, genetics work differently. On Elementia, if you are not a full Elemental with parents of the same powers, you are a mixed Elemental with parents of different powers and receive both of their powers and an exact mix of their traits.
Disclaimer- I don't own Treasure Planet or the craziness that occurs in this chapter…well maybe a little bit of it.
Silver, Siria, and Jim flew the boat back up into the bottom of the ship. Jim and Silver laughed as they tried to pull the boat up unevenly and fasten it. Siria kept quiet. She hadn't said a word since her almost-kiss with Jim.
Silver tied up his end and smiled as he said, "Jimbo! If I could maneuver a skit like that when I was your age, they'd be bowin' in the streets as I walked by today!" He flopped down in the boat in exhaustion.
"Bowin' in the streets," Morph imitated as he shifted into Silver and flopped down in the air like Silver had just done, except it looked like Morph was sitting in a tiny invisible boat.
"I don't know," Jim replied energetically yet breathily. "They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home." He grunted as he sat down next to Siria.
Silver chuckled before he wiped his face with a cloth. Silver and Morph sighed heavily and Morph almost melted into Silver's shoulder.
Jim gave a lopsided grin to the others as he added, "But I'm gonna change all that."
"Are ya now?" Silver asked as he affectionately rubbed Morph. "How so?" Silver, Morph, and Siria all looked at Jim expectantly, waiting for his explanation.
"Uh, I got some plans," Jim answered smugly as he cocked his eyebrows and leaned back into the boat. "Gonna make people see me a little different." Jim put his arms behind his head, closed his eyes, and smiled, acting like he was a celebrity on a beach rather than a poor cabinboy in a small boat.
Siria bit her lip nervously as she glanced over at Silver, whose face had fallen as he realized what the boy meant. "Oh... Sometimes...plans go astray," Silver responded solemnly.
"Well not this time," Jim said cockily, still in his beach position.
Siria looked down, hoping Jim wouldn't notice the concern and guilt in her uneven eyes. Silver simply looked grim before his expression changed to one of pain. He pulled his metal leg up on to the bench and tried to adjust the bolt where his knee would be. Morph blubbered in concern and morphed into a wrench.
"Oh, thank you Morph," Silver replied as he took the wrench and loosened the bolt. Siria felt bad. She knew Silver was starting to get old and so were some of his mechanical parts, mostly his leg. Silver was hoping to use some of the treasure to fix his cyborg leg.
Siria looked over toward Jim and saw that he had noticed Silver's wincing too. His brow had furrowed and he had replaced his smug smirk with a sympathetic frown. "So, uh, how'd that happen anyway?"
Silver glared at Jim for a moment before he looked at his metal arm in honest regret. "You give up a few tings, chasin' a dream," he answered sadly. Siria started to tear up because she knew the story, as she had asked the same question when she was younger, about a year after Silver had taken her in.
"Was it worth it?" Jim asked. His eyes seemed to be a mix of curiosity, sympathy, and sadness.
Silver scoffed weakly before he stood up, took a step over to Jim and Siria, sat down between the two of them, put his arm around Jim, and smiled as he said, "I'm hopin' it is, Jimbo. I most surely am." He pushed his hat down over his eyes and smiled as the three of them leaned back and closed their eyes in relaxation.
Suddenly, the sound of a loud blast rang through the ship as the boat shook. A bright yellow flash knocked Morph into bits before he reformed and whimpered.
Silver stomped up to the deck of the ship. "What the?" Silver exclaimed.
Siria jumped out of the stairway and landed on the deck in a crouched position with her right knee bent forward, left leg straight out to the side, and both hands at her side reaching for her slingshot or her special knives that Silver had given her on her thirteenth birthday when he had decided she was old enough to start using serious weapons other than her slingshot. He had found them on Elementia when he and his crew were looking for anything valuable left behind. One of the knives was silver with sapphires in the handle and the other was gold with rubies in the handle. Siria always kept them with her but she barely used them. Siria whipped her head around to assess the threat.
"Good heavens!" the doctor cried worriedly, pulling out and adjusting his telescope. "The Star of Bermusa- -it's gone supernova!"
Siria ran over to the railing and her eyes widened in panic at what she saw. Sure enough, a nearby star was exploding into a dangerous wave of color. "Emergency Number 0267!" Siria yelled at the crew without turning around. She knew what she had to do.
"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" the captain ordered as she raced up the steps to the upper deck.
"Aye, Captain," the tentacled crew member cried out as he rapidly turned the wheel. The ship sped off in the opposite direction of the explosion.
"All hands fasten your lifelines!" Mr. Arrow shouted. Crew members from all over the ship rushed to tie the safety ropes around their waists. Jim gritted his teeth in anger and true determination as he knotted his lifeline and tightened it on the knob. Siria's face was one that could only be described as pure focus. She had trained for almost ten years in preparation for this journey and she was not going to give it all up now.
The waves of the blast were ten times faster and a hundred times larger than the ship, so it gained on the ship in a matter of seconds. The flaming projectiles tore through the sails and the sudden powerful energy shattered the windows.
"Mr. Arrow, secure those sails," the captain commanded.
"Secure all sails," the first mate repeated to the crew. "Bring them down, men."
The crew climbed up the shrouds to the mast and the boons. Silver and Jim inched out onto the bowsprit, shielding themselves from the strong wind as they watched their steps.
The ship's gunman tried firing shots out at the meteors to destroy them, which actually proved to be a success. "Yeah baby! Ba boom!" he cheered.
The crew tugged on the ropes as hard and as fast as they could to secure the sails. Jim pulled on the ropes while Silver cranked on the pulley block. Suddenly, one of the fireballs hit the block Silver was turning, blasting him back. He flailed around for a minute before he lost his balance, grabbing on to any nearby rope he could reach before he fell.
Siria was on a nearby boon, just tying down her end of the sail when she saw Silver get hit.
"SILVER!" Siria and Jim screamed at the same time.
Siria grabbed on to a rope hanging next to her and swung down to the bowsprit right next to Jim. The two teenagers reached out and got hold of Silver's lifeline. They pulled as hard as they could until Silver could pull himself up on to the bowsprit.
"Thanks lads," Silver said breathlessly, putting his hands on their shoulders in gratitude. Siria hugged him as she and Jim helped him stand up. Below them, the three could hear shouts of panic. They turned to the side and their answer was a few meters away. A giant planetoid that was ten times the size of the ship sped toward them.
Siria, Jim, and Silver held on to each other, ready for impact. But all of a sudden, the planetoid stopped within inches of the ship and raced away in the opposite direction, toward what used to be the star.
"Captain...the star!" the lookout cried.
The doctor rushed up next to the captain, who was staring at the star with a calm intensity.
"It's devolving into," the doctor gasped, "a black hole!"
"We're being pulled in!" Mr. Turnbuckle groaned as he struggled to turn the wheel. But the gravity was too strong for him and he got knocked away.
"Oh no you don't," the captain grunted as she ran up to take the wheel. The captain managed to turn the ship just before the first wave came out of the black hole. "Siria, do something useful," the captain ordered.
"Aye Captain," Siria responded obediently from her position on the bowsprit. She stood up and walked as quickly as she could to the pile of ropes at the start of the bowsprit. She tossed the end of the rope to the captain. The captain looked in disbelief at the girl, thinking the rope was a joke. However, once Siria gave the captain a quick salute, the captain understood what the girl meant. Siria swung to one of the side posts as the captain rapidly tied the rope to the bottom of the wheel and Siria yanked on the rope, effectively helping to turn the wheel with the captain.
The first wave came, knocking Jim and Silver over on the deck.
"Blast these waves! They're seclusively erratic!" (AN- I'm not fully sure if she said seclusively, but it's close enough) the captain cried out.
"No Captain. They're not erratic at all. There'll be one more in precisely 47.2 seconds, followed by the biggest mageller of them all!" the doctor yelled from his position at the computerized radars.
"Of course! Brilliant Doctor!" the captain said happily, her eyes lit up with an idea. "We'll ride that last one to get us out of here."
"All sails secure, Captain," Mr. Arrow relayed somewhat nervously.
"Good man. Now, release them immediately!" the captain called down with a sly grin.
Mr. Arrow saluted slowly as he slowly responded, "Aye... Captain." He quickly recovered from his shock and turned around. "You heard her men! Unfurl those sails," he barked at the recently descended crew.
"What?!"
"But we just finished..."
"...tyin' 'em down?!"
"Why can't you make up your mind?!"
The crew grudgingly climbed back up the shrouds as they complained. Mr. Arrow went up with them to help speed up the process.
Jim was about to ascend when the captain yelled out, "Mr. Hawkins, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!"
"Aye aye Captain," the boy replied sharply.
Up on the boons, the crew loosened the sails as carefully and quickly as they could. Siria noticed that Scroop and Mr. Arrow were working on the same side of the mast. She knew that their cooperative attitude with each other would not last long.
Jim ran around the bottom of the mast, tightening each and every lifeline, not missing even a single one. "Lifelines secured, Captain," Jim reported loudly.
"Very good," the captain remarked, surprised by the teenage boy's good performance in an emergency.
However, an unexpected force knocked the captain back away from the wheel. Siria had been trying her end of the rope to one of the railings to hold the wheel in place, but the wheel started turning too fast and too abruptly for Siria to hold it back. She was flung across the ship and pulled dangerously close to the endless abyss of the galaxy, the force of the impact ripping her lifeline.
"JIM!" Siria shrieked, fear spreading throughout her mind and body. She had been trained to know what to do in dangerous situations, but she had never learned what to do if she was about to fall into a bottomless vortex with a torn rope and seconds until a wave of pure energy shot out of that vortex.
"SIRIA!" Jim screamed, unsure of what to do as he saw the girl dangling over the black hole with a fraying rope. He wracked his brain, trying to think of how to pull Siria in without snapping her lifeline. He knew he had a matter of seconds until the next wave came from the black hole.
Jim was so busy concentrating on how to save Siria, that neither he nor anybody else noticed that Mr. Arrow had been thrown off of the boon by the shake of the wheel, and he too was dangling above the vortex.
But Siria saw Mr. Arrow, and she also saw as Scroop cut his lifeline. "No!" Siria cried, her arm reaching out to where Mr. Arrow had fallen. She whipped her head around and glared at Scroop, her eyes like poisonous daggers, deadly and full of venom. But she could only focus on her hatred for a second before she heard the snapping of her rope.
At the speed of light, Jim held on to one the the ropes Siria had swung on earlier and jumped off the railing. The pull of the black hole tore the girl's lifeline, but Jim caught her right before she could be forced in.
Siria opened her eyes, expecting to see her life flashing in front of them, but instead saw herself in Jim's arms. They landed on the deck and Jim picked up the ends of Siria's torn rope and tied them together, fixing her lifeline.
"Captain, the last wave! Here it comes!" the doctor bellowed.
At some point while Siria was just "hanging around", the captain had found her way back to the wheel. "Hold on to your lifelines, gents! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"
Morph blubbered frightfully as he morphed into a short rope and tied himself around one of the riggings. Siria and Jim each had one arm around the other and one arm around the mast while Silver shielded both teenagers and gripped the mast as the ship plunged into darkness.
When all hope seemed lost, the black hole threw used its final energy to throw out one last wave, throwing and powering the ship enough for them to escape the abyss. Around them, Siria heard laughter and cheering. The three loosened their death-grip on the mast and turned around to see that they had all survived.
Morph let go of the rope and sighed, melting to the floor in relief.
"Captain! That- -oh my goodness- -that was- -that was absolutely- -that was the most- -" the doctor stuttered excitedly.
"Oh tish tosh," the captain interrupted in a bored tone as she looked through her telescope. "Actually, Doctor, your astronomical advice was most helpful."
"Huh? Thank you. Thank you very much," the surprised doctor replied breathily to the captain's unexpected compliment. "Well I have a lot to offer anatomically... amananomically... astronomically," he stammered before he gave it a rest and put his face in his hand in embarassment.
The captain descended the stairs and continued her compliments with Silver and the two teens. "Well I must, uh, congratulate you Mr. Silver. It seems your cabinboy did a bang-up job with those lifelines. And it was your daughter's quick thinking with that rope that steered us out of that mess."
Silver affectionately tossled the hair of both kids in pride. Siria beamed, ecstatic that Silver was proud to have her again. And Jim's joyful grin was unmistakable. Siria was happy for him. She knew how much he missed his dad and for the first time in years, Jim felt like he had one.
"All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" the captain asked expectantly. "Mr. Arrow?"
The crew looked around, not seeing the first mate anywhere. Siria's body tensed as she heard the hissing and scuttling...tell-tale sounds of Scroop.
"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost," Scroop said in fake sadness, handing the captain Mr. Arrow's hat. The captain gently took the hat, unable to mask her disbelief and pain. "His lifeline was not secured," Scroop said to answer the unspoken question.
Everybody looked to Jim, whose previous pride shattered. "No! I checked 'em all!" Jim insisted, pushing aside aliens as he ran over to the mast. When he got there, he saw that one rope was missing. "I did... I checked them all. I swear," he pleaded, turning around to face the captain.
The captain's eyes narrowed and Jim looked down in shame. Silver looked toward Scroop, who was smirking evilly.
Siria walked over to Jim and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault Jim. It's Scroop's," she said softly, glaring at the smug spider/crab thing.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Scroop defended, continuing his grim act.
"LIAR!" Siria shouted, ready to claw his eyes out. "You murdered him! You could have saved him, but you sliced his rope! You murdering scum!" Siria screeched, about to attack before Silver grabbed her shoulders and held her back.
The captain sighed, clearly conflicted on who to believe, but she decided to leave it be and gave a speech about how great of a man Mr. Arrow was. When she finished, she gave the order to carry on.
Jim's face could only be described as broken-hearted. He had finally proven himself and then he gets accused of a crime he didn't commit. Siria knew the boy needed some cheering up. "Hey, thanks for saving me. I guess I owe you one now since you've saved me twice and I've only saved you once."
"Well, thanks for sticking up for me. You probably saved me from punishment by saying Scroop did it."
"I wasn't lying, you know," Siria replied honestly. "It was Scroop, I just didn't have any evidence to prove it."
"Well either way, you still owe me one," Jim responded, clearly feeling better.
Siria scoffed. "I'll think of a way. 'Night." Siria gave Jim a quick peck on the cheek, sweet but not enough to count as a real kiss.
Siria walked away to her room as she left Jim standing on the deck, gingerly touching the spot on his cheek where she kissed him, the skin tingling where Siria's lips had touched.
"Wow," Jim whispered, completely in a daze.
Over in the shadows, Silver smirked to himself. "Looks like the girl's finally followed through on the plan. The time is almost here."
Ooh, a cliffhanger! This was not Jim and Siria's moment and those who thought it was are wrong. The big kiss, the big moment, is not until a way later chapter. Review and I love you all!