Arthur wasn't exactly sure what had brought on his unusually good mood from three days earlier. He had been contemplating it as the Queen Lady sailed closer and closer to Berd, but the Captain was no closer to an answer than he was in Zenos. The only thing he could possibly think of that perhaps had the slightest bit to do with it was the conversation he had had with Kiku. For whatever reason, it had made him feel good about his situation. Lucky almost. The way the dark haired man had picked up on the relationship between Arthur and the mermaid made the whole thing seem just a little more real to Arthur.

It's not that he doubted its legitimacy per se, but it was nice to know he wasn't the only one who saw it. Well, he and his crew. The Captain still couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that made him so happy, but there was no doubt it had something to do with the mermaid.

"Hey, how much further?" The mermaid seemed to appear beside the Captain by magic. He had been too preoccupied to notice her walk up the stairs to join him at the helm.

"If my calculations are correct, we should be there soon," he replied.

"Oh good." She smiled brightly.

Yes, his happiness was definitely her doing. Part of the reason Arthur had become a pirate was to escape his horrible father, but also because he loved the sea. It was everything he wished he could be. Strong. Free. Untamable. Wild. He saw a lot of those traits in the mermaid too. That's probably why he was so inexplicably drawn to her. On the other hand, she was almost the exact opposite of those things as well. She could be gentle, caring, and so very fragile. The Captain almost liked those things about her more than the others.

"It's getting cold out here, isn't it." She shivered and began to briskly rub her arms.

Arthur inwardly kicked himself. Her borrowed outfit was not very warm, and he hadn't bought her anything warmer in Xerux or Zenos. She was wearing her usual white button down shirt with brown trousers. The whole outfit was actually very masculine with its long white stockings and thick leather belt, but somehow she made it look very appealing. Almost too appealing in Arthur's opinion. He remembered running his fingers over her flat stomach when they kissed in the ruins, and he wondered how she'd react if he did that now.

"Here." He let to of the wheel long enough to shrug off his coat and hand it to her.

"Won't you get cold?" she asked as she accepted the heavy garment.

"No. Besides, I have more coats than that one."

"Okay, then I guess it's alright." Arthur watched her slip her arms through the coat, which was rather big on her, before she snuggled up beside him. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, princess. Just don't lose what I've got in the pockets," he answered with a hint of a smirk. "Now, if only this blasted fog would disappear. I can't see a bloody thing."

"Maybe I can help with that."

The mermaid took a few steps away from Arthur and raised her arms. It wasn't particularly cold, but he already missed her presence beside him. However, his thoughts were momentarily forgotten as he tried to figure out what she was up to. Her face shifted into one of concentration, and the very air seemed to go still in anticipation. That's when Arthur realized the air had gone still. The fog had stopped swirling around like it usually did as if frozen, suspended in place.

It was a very surreal experience, and the Captain almost wondered if he was dreaming. Murmurs of surprise could be heard from the deck below as the men posted around the ship to watch for hidden obstacles in the mist noticed its sudden lack of movement. The mermaid slowly lowered her arms and exhaled, and at the same time the fog began to fall toward the ocean. It was as if the ocean were drawing all of the moisture back into itself. Within a matter of seconds, the entire area was completely free of fog.

"How...did you...?"

The mermaid shrugged. "Ocean magic. I figured that fog is water, so I made the ocean suck up all the water."

Arthur's stomach clenched upon hearing the words ocean magic. "Are you sure you can do that? Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a smile, although there was a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead that wasn't there before. "According to Vladimir, this Leviathan charm acts like a kind of catalyst." She touched her fingertips to the silver fish hung around her neck. "I think as long as I don't overdo it, I shouldn't have to worry about running out of ocean magic. This charm absorbs it for me."

"I hope you're right, love."

She smiled at him, and through the smile he could tell she thought he was worrying too much. He raised one eyebrow challengingly, to which she laughed softly.

"Ehem." They both turned to see Christov standing at a distance. "Now that the fog's gone, Squeaker says 'e can see land up a'ead."

The Captain reached into his breast pocket for his compass to check their heading. The ship was still on track for Berd, so he nodded to his first mate. "We'll need a landing party," he instructed. "I want you and Cutter to come with me and (y/n). Everyone else is to stay aboard the ship."

Christov's lips twitched downward for a brief moment. "They ain't gonna be 'appy t' 'ear that, Cap'n."

"Well, tell the gits that if they have a problem they can come talk to me directly." Captain Kirkland's tone made it clear that there should be no one approaching him over this matter. "I don't want to stay here longer than I have to."

"Aye, Cap'n," the burly man said with a nod before leaving to convey the Captain's orders to the crew.

Arthur looked out to sea and could just make out the Northern Continent on the horizon. It would be about an hour or so before he could drop anchor. There was a rather long gap since his last time arriving in Berd. He didn't make it a habit to travel this far north, especially since the business was poor and the people just as lacking in hospitality. That was the whole reason he wanted Cutter and Christov with him. The more muscle he had, the safer he felt.

About an hour and a half later, the Captain, Christov, Cutter, the mermaid, and much to Arthur's annoyance, Alfred, we're walking through Berd looking for the man Kiku spoke of. Unfortunately, they weren't having much luck. None of the locals were very friendly, if they stopped to talk at all. The ones that did had no interest in talking about the man they were looking for. They all seemed scared.

"Wot now?" Cutter growled as another person scampered away from the group in terror. His low, gravelly voice echoed through the empty street.

"Should we find someone else?" the mermaid wondered out loud.

"Why bother?" Captain Kirkland muttered darkly. "None of these blokes seem all that talkative."

"There's gotta be somethin' we can do." Christov folded his thick arms in thought.

"Hey, I'll go ask in that bar over there!" Alfred said.

He didn't wait for anyone's opinion and hurried away, albeit with a slight limp. The boy had assured the mermaid he was healed enough for walking around, but he couldn't hide the slight hitch in his gait. He had only been off his crutches for a few days, and the Captain suspected he was in a lot more pain than he let on.

"Fool," Cutter spat. He pulled out a knife and began cleaning under his nails with it. There wasn't a hint of concern in his voice or actions.

"Should someone go after him?" the mermaid asked.

"If he doesn't come out soon, he never will," Arthur replied.

It was true that the pubs and taverns in Berd were not friendly places unless one had gold to spend on drinks, and friends to swill drinks with. The air around this bar smelled strongly of stale beer and vodka, and the Captain didn't doubt that all the bars in this town smelled the same way. When it was cold out like it was that day, the taverns usually filled up with people trying to drink away their troubles. This place was no exception.

After what seemed like forever, Alfred finally emerged from the pub with a triumphant smile on his face. He practically ran to where the other four were nervously waiting for him. The scent of alcohol clung to the boy and stung Arthur's nose as the young man approached.

"I know where we need to go to find this guy!"

The Captain raised a questioning brow. "And how did you come across this information?"

"That's not important right now," Alfred replied. His confident demeanor slipped for just a moment, but Arthur didn't fail to notice. "We need to get to the house at the top of this hill." He pointed to a lone house perched at the peak of a rather tall hill. The road they stood on led straight to it. "That's where the guy we're looking for is."

Arthur closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath, which swirled in a white vapor around his head. He didn't like being told what to do by an upstart whelp like Alfred, but he didn't have much of a choice. "Alright. Let's get moving."

"Aww yeah!" Alfred cheered. "Let's do this thing, Big Bro."

The Captain immediately regretted going along with the brat.

It took a while to get to the house Alfred pointed out due to the steep incline of the hill. Arthur came to the conclusion that whoever decided it was a good idea to put a house on top of a huge hill deserved the most painful of deaths. He had to take a break before knocking on the heavy wooden door to catch his breath. Alfred looked especially tuckered out by the hike, and Arthur almost felt concerned for the boy. Almost. The Captain knocked three times, and then waited.

"Coming!" shouted a female voice from inside. The door swung open, and a rather buxom young woman with short blonde hair stepped out to greet the tired group. "Oh, we weren't expecting guests."

"We're looking for the man who crossed through the mists around the Lunar Islands," Arthur explained without prelude.

The woman's eyes darkened for a second. "I-I think you have the wrong house."

"No, I don't think we do."

"Katyusha, who's at the door?" A very tall man appeared in the doorway behind the woman and smiled at the Captain and his group. "Guests! How fun, da?" His smile was innocent, yet there was something almost sinister about the man.

"I take it then that you're the one who traveled through the mists?" Arthur asked. "We've been looking for you."

"Looking...for me?" The man's purple eyes went wide. "Did you hear that, sister? They were looking for me!"

"Yes! That's wonderful, Ivan!" The two in the doorway beamed at each other.

Arthur cleared his throat to get their attention. "There's important business we have to discuss with you, if you really are who everyone says you are."

"Da! Come inside! We can talk more where it is warm, da?"

The man stepped back to allow the group outside to enter. Every warning bell inside the Captain's head was going off, but he had to go inside if he wanted to persuade the strange man to help him. Reluctantly, he stepped through the threshold and followed the man further into the house.

I was so glad to be out of the cold that I could have cried. Even with Arthur's coat on, I had bumps all over my arms. It took all of my willpower to keep my teeth from chattering. The moment we stepped into the house I could feel waves of heat coming from some huge opening in the wall of the front room. Inside of the hole was the largest fire I had ever seen.

"Wow, it's so big and warm," I sighed. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"It's what you'd call a fireplace," the woman the huge man had called Katyusha said. "It's really nice when it snows."

"Snow?"

"Da, snow." The tall man, Ivan, smiled down at me. "It only ever seems to snow here, except now in the summer. Do you like snow?"

"I'm not sure what that is," I admitted.

"No way!" Alfred shouted. He looked at me like I was insane. "You have to know what snow is!"

"I'm sorry?"

"It's not nice to interrupt other people's conversations, little man." Ivan glared at Alfred, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop. I began to understand what Arthur had meant when he told me what Kiku said about this man. Even death would shiver at the ice in his eyes.

"I-I'm sure he didn't mean any harm," Katyusha said in an attempt to smooth things over.

"What's going on?" A petite girl with long platinum blonde hair and a bow on top of her head walked into the room. "Who are these people, Big Brother?"

Ivan's expression completely changed from loathing to something that seemed akin to caution. Maybe fear even. "Oh, Natalya. We have some guests," he said in a well controlled voice.

The girl, Natalya, narrowed her eyes when she saw me. I squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. "Why is there a girl here? Is she here for you, Big Brother? Did you tell her she can't have you? Big brother is mine! Mine!"

"I think I left some piroshki in the oven!" Katyusha burst out before Natalya became more hysterical. "Let's go get them for our guests, Natalya!" She quickly dragged the smaller girl out of the room.

I heard several sighs in the room other than my own. "This place's a whackhouse," I heard Cutter mumble under his breath.

"Sometimes I dream about running away," Ivan added as he pulled out a bottle of clear liquid from somewhere. "Vodka?" he offered me after taking a big swig.

"Um, no thank you."

"It really is good for when it's cold." He put the bottle back up to his lips and emptied it without taking a breath. I didn't think it was quite that cold outside.

"Can we get back to business?" Arthur asked from the other side of the room. He had been quiet since we entered the strange house, but I could tell he was growing impatient.

"Yes, of course!" Ivan answered with a smile.

"We need you to tell us how to get through the fog surrounding the Lunar Islands."

"That's impossible."

"What?!" I shouted at the same time as Arthur and Alfred.

"I thought you said you made it through!" Arthur exclaimed.

"I did."

"Then tell us how!"

"I can't."

The pirate muttered some colorful words. "We're wasting our bloody time..." He took a few steps toward the door, but Ivan moved to block his way.

"I can't tell you because I don't know how I did it," the tall man explained. "I can help you, but only on one condition."

"What?" Arthur practically spat with narrowed eyes.

"I have to go with you."

"What's in it for you?"

Ivan smiled wistfully. "The most beautiful fields of sunflowers grow on the islands. I want to see them. So you will take me, da?"

Arthur studied the other man's face intently. I could tell he sensed something very odd about Ivan, but we didn't have a choice at this point. No matter what kind of unknown dangers he presented, Ivan was our best chance. The pirate took one fleeting look at me before giving his answer.

"We leave in ten minutes. Once you're out that door, there's no changing your mind."