A/N: It's surprising; I actually have less school work in Grade 8 (this year) than in Grade 7, so I can update more often. Anyways, have fun reading, though this one is a bit shorter than the others. I'm currently working on finishing this story and Chronowing, so I can figure out what to do with my newer stories. Wish me luck!

Chapter Ten: Annie: On the Ship Once More

I slowly open my eyes, blinking several times before I get used to the flickering lights around me. They seemed to twinkle, like the stars in the sky, but they were much larger, and now that I noticed it, they weren't twinkling, but lurching dangerously from side to side, like a stray boat prone to capsizing. They were lanterns; the twinkling I'd seen was probably the flames twitching and quivering behind the thin glass.

I was inside the Hiberna Somnium once more, and nostalgia came over me like a thick, sweltering fog, reminding me again what business I had to do here. I was in what you could call a ship's "basement", the lower deck, of which you'd enter from a trap door.

It was rather frightening here, the muted, saturated gold light of the oil lamps casting deep shadows in odd areas in the room, that looked disturbing like figures, until I realized the light was only casting my own shadows. I had such an infuriating imagination; sometimes it was rather irritating.

I walked, my steps uneven and staggering, as the ship swayed from left to right, while my arm reached for the wooden wall, as I steadied myself and climbed quietly up the stairs to find the cabins the sailors slept in.

The corridor was even darker and more contrast between the light and blackness, which made my lips tremble uncontrollably, because the dark still frightened me at times. I felt I could see a woman's face hiding in the shadows, and I willed myself to believe I was probably hallucinating and seeing myself, for she did look a lot like me. I walked on, still feeling the walls, breathing silently as I could, peering into the dark rooms and seeing if any men caught my fancy. Sadly, they were all quite unsightly and dirty, and I felt a disappointment growing inside of me as I realized this may just end up like old times, where I find out once again that no one could ever truly love me.

Then my eyebrows perked up, eyes brightening when I saw a young man in the farthest cabin, sleeping soundly, but from his breathing and constant tossing and turning, he seemed to be unhappy and rather frustrated. He was very dirty; the palms of his hands and his hair were black and grimy and a tad bit smelly. But other than that he appeared healthy; strong muscular arms and chest, a handsome face and legs which were probably built from several years of swimming in the sea.

My fingers lightly grazed his face; his skin was strangely soft, though his hands might have been a bit rough. He had a thick layer of brown lashes, high cheekbones and full lips. The young man reminded me of those supermodels that were shown on large screens when my mother and I would occasionally travel to the city, where people would dress in unusual and absurdly bright colors and were a ship load of makeup. Except, this man didn't need makeup or surgery, he was one of the rare natural beauties.

Now, my arms weren't too bad either, sure they were maybe a bit thin from lack of food, but from some years of having to carry full grown men from the ship, and then taking them all the way to, yes, you guessed it, Hiberna Somnium, so they weren't completely useless.

I took the man in my arms, eyes widening at his surprisingly light weight and hulled him downstairs, trying my best to ignore the little noises as his feet dragged against the floor, and then tossed him roughly out the broken window, as I bit my lip at my unintended harshness and quickly dived to follow.

He was still asleep, which was hard to believe; they'd usually wake up, screaming and shouting which would result in me having to knock them out, much to my regret. I sighed and shook my head. Grown men could be such babies.

I put one arm around his waist; for grip and I used the other to navigate, and though it was dark in the sea at night, it was the best time to take them there, because then no one would notice. I dived deeper, finding the cave and swam right into it, feeling uncomfortable at the temporary darkness, but of which slowly disappeared, revealing a growing light as the water evaporated, giving way to a deep hole, and I did my best to stay quiet, shutting my eyes as my hair billowed from above me, as we fell, faster and faster, my hand squeezing his, so tightly my knuckles grew white.

Then suddenly we stopped falling, and simply floated, as we softly reached the ground of one of Hiberna Somnium's old caves. I placed him gently on the cold, hard ground, on his back, and I lay beside him, looking up at the gaping hole at the arced ceiling of the cave, that revealed a clear sky with an abundance of beautiful stars.

I fell asleep to the soft sound of his breathing, as I tried to match it, so we could breathe in unison.

I never did let go of his hand.

Fin's point of view in the next chapter isn't going to be immediately in the present; it's going to go a bit into before Annie "took" him, because I forgot to add some things in the chapter before, of which I am now too lazy to change, so I will just make it work for the next chapter. See you guys soon!