Hey! So I'm back after half a year, I've finally got a new story to post here. As usual, thank you to my wonderful beta reader who helped plot out the story and write a considerable part of it. This would not exist without her, I can tell you that much!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this story!

Alec woke up to people yelling. He was at the very edge of his small bed, the floor unsteady under his feet as he stood up. There was an alarm somewhere, blaring through every room so loud Alec could barely hear his own thoughts. He had to get up, had to find out what was going on.

"In there, we need to stabilize the ship!"

"I need help here, at least two!"

"Wake up everyone, we need all!"

The voices were everywhere and Alec looked around, the ship was waving from one side to the other, people were running around. Alec didn't know what to do, people were running in all directions and nobody stopped to tell him what was happening. Alec stood as frozen for a minute before, finally, a man came to him and patted his shoulder. "Over there, get to the ropes"

Alec immediately started moving, and he took in everything around him as he got to work. The people running around, the water on the boat, inside the boat. Something was wrong, very wrong. Alec didn't know much about boats, he knew nothing about boats. But he knew how to follow orders, so he did just that. Alec had just reached the rope he should when another wave hit them. Alec was soaking wet immediately but he gripped the rope and held it tightly just like the man next to him. Alec closed his eyes and held on tight to the rope. For a moment, he thought of praying, but he never got around to it when they were hit yet another time, this time all Alec could hear were screams. The next thing he knew was that there was water everywhere. All around him. He tried to swim, tried to find a light to aim towards, anything. But there was nothing, no one. Alec was all alone in a big, dark ocean and in his panic, he took a deep breath and he could feel his lungs fill up. He tried to hold his breath, he tried to swim but he started coughing and water filled his mouth and nose, and it was all around him and Alec was suffocating. He'd always thought he'd think of his siblings, in his last moments, but the only thing he could think of as his eyes slipped shut, was the fear and the water, surrounding him on all sides and slowly pulling him further and further down.

Alec was warm and wet. Breathing hurt, burned like fire. He could feel his clothes stick to his skin like he'd just run a mile, he could feel every individual bead of sweat — or was it water? — run down his skin. Where was he? He could feel the ground under him, but… it didn't feel quite like a solid floor. It was more like gravel, like… sand.

Where was he? Alec forced his eyes open, but had to close them again immediately. It was too bright. He raised his hand to his face, and it felt heavy, his fingers dorment. He slowly tried to open his eyes again, this time more careful. The sun was shining brightly, based on its position in the sky, it was probably late morning or early afternoon. The sky was blue, not a single cloud in sight. Alec looked around, and saw only sand and sea forever. At the sight of the water Alec suddenly remembered and he quickly sat up, he reached for his throat and then patted down over his chest. He was still alive, how was he still alive? Alec could remember that he was drowning and yet he was here, on this beach. Alive. How had he gotten here?

Alec looked around, trying to figure out where exactly he had ended up. If he had washed up here, surely other people had that luck as well. And if he could find a city or town nearby, he could get on another boat, or a plane if he could find the money to afford that. He wondered what had happened to the boat he was on. He remembered being under the water, he remembered gripping the rope, but… he didn't remember how he'd fallen into the water. Did the boat turn over, or was it just a wave that threw him off? Was the boat still out there? How many people had fallen into the water? Alec remembered he'd seen people, but maybe they had been saved. Maybe they had been pulled back into the boat.

It took Alec a little but eventually, he got onto his knees and then stood up before he took a few wobbly steps, he felt light headed and walking in sand wasn't as easy as walking on a flat surface. He needed water, and he needed other people, someone he would ask about where he was.

"Hello! Is anyone out there?" Alec called, his voice rough and throat itching. He wondered how long he'd been out. It had to be twelve hours at least, since it was in the middle of the day. But what if it had been days? What if he'd landed on some tiny little island where no one lived? Alec felt himself start to panic, but pushed the feelings away. He had no reason to believe that. At least not yet. He looked down at his clock. 02.13 AM, it showed. It had to be stuck. Alec looked around and kept moving forward, there was so much water around, Alec feared that there wasn't a way to get off this place. His only hope was to find someone who could help him, but after almost half an hour without a sign of human life, Alec was starting to lose his hopes.

"Hello?" he tried again before he coughed a few times and eventually sank down onto his knees. And then he heard it. A beautiful, soft voice from behind him.

"Hello, darling. Are you lost?" It sounded like the man was laughing at him. Alec turned around to look at him and almost lost his breath. The man was beautiful, only wearing a sort of cloth around his hips and nothing else. Alec nodded at the man's question.

"My boat… my colleagues… Where am I?"

"You're at my island," the man replied. "There's no name for it, before you ask," he added.

"Your island? What do you mean? Are you… one of those rich people who buy personal islands?" Alec asked, frowning.

"No, I didn't buy a personal island. I grew up here," the man said. "Now, come on. Let's get you to my home and get you some water." He grabbed Alec's arm to pull him up and put it around his shoulder. He half helped, half dragged Alec along.

"Who are you? Where are we?"

"I told you, darling. My island. And my name is Magnus Bane. At your service." Alec looked at him curiously.

"You grew up here? Then surely other people live here too. You can't live here all alone."

"Don't think too much about it. I'll explain more later, for now, just come."

"You want me to just trust a strange man? You could be a serial killer for all I know."

"I can leave you here to starve if you want," Magnus said, raising an eyebrow at Alec. Alec realized he was right. He didn't have much of a choice. Magnus was the only person he'd met, and Alec... Alec needed food and water.

It didn't take them very long before they arrived at a small cabin. It looked nice, actually, but rustic and old, like something out of a shipwrecked movie.

"You live here?" Alec questioned.

"Yes, this is my place. Come on in."

A moment later Alec found himself inside the cabin. It looked wonderful. It had a rustic style, plants everywhere, a soft-looking bed in a corner, it was like a small studio.

"It is… quite nice," Alec agreed once he had looked around. "And you live here all by yourself?"

Magnus nodded. "Now I do, yeah. I lived with my mother, until she died. Now it's just me." Magnus pointed towards a bucket. "Fresh water there. There's a cup in the cupboard, feel free to have as much as you'd like. There's no food yet, but I'm going fishing later. You can come with me, or you can stay here and rest up."

Alec had been glancing at the bed, which looked like heaven to his sore muscles and tired body. "I… yes, I definitely think I should stay here. I'm so exhausted, I probably wouldn't be able to even get to the fishing spot," he said.

"Okay. Get some water and go to sleep. I can get you some clothes, but I don't know if they'll fit you. I can also wash yours for you. Either way, there's a lot that needs to be done so I have to get going. Just get settled down," Magnus said. "Also, if you're thinking of running once I'm gone, I think you should reconsider. The island is about a square mile, you can walk it all and see there's no one else here, but if you get lost… I might not stumble upon you again."

Alec nodded. He wasn't sure what to do yet. Of course he'd thought about it… run away once Magnus left. But Magnus was right. Alec didn't know the island, he couldn't risk getting lost. What was the worst thing that could happen? If Magnus decided to kill him, at least it would be quicker than starving to death.

"Good. I'll see you soon," Magnus said, waving before he quickly turned around and left. Alec saw him disappear into the jungle and turned back into the cabin. He grabbed a cup and filled it with water from the bucket. The water was warm, but it felt perfect as it ran down Alec's sore throat.. Alec felt much better immediately, and eyed the bed for only a moment before he got in on top of the covers and quickly drifted off.

Magnus was rather happy with Alec, he looked good, was healthy and he seemed to be strong. He was sure the committee would choose Magnus' option. He was on his way to show them right now, before the man could get suspicious. Not that it mattered much, he couldn't go anywhere where Magnus wouldn't find him. But of course, keeping him there willingly would be easier than having to trap him.

Magnus quickly made his way to the ocean, and once he was in till his neck, he started transforming, legs getting glued together before a blue coat of scales covered them, he liked that part because it always made him feel whole, like he was supposed to. It only took a minute for his tail to finish, and Magnus quickly set on his way to the deep. Under the water was where he belonged, and the few hours he'd just spent on land had convinced him of that. He hated the feeling of having legs and the sand was horrible, the sun was kind of nice but only for a short amount of time before it started to burn his skin. No, deep down in the water, where his people were, that was where he belonged.

Magnus soon spotted the corals, the colors of his home, and as he got closer he started seeing all the others, tails of all colors gleaming in the water.

Magnus soon arrived at the castle and quickly found the committee gathered in the main hall, waiting for everyone to report back on the human they'd found. The season had started two days ago and Magnus didn't expect to be the first one who presented a human.

"Magnus Bane. What do you have to show us?" Was how he was greeted, all eyes turning to him. They didn't have pictures, but they had shapes. The water memorized it and could replay it, acting like a hologram. In the middle of the room appeared an illusion of Alec, right after he'd been thrown off the boat. He was struggling, trying to find the right direction to swim in. The image stopped and another one appeared, Magnus holding Alec under his arms, swimming with him to the closest island. Alec's body was in a clear view, his strong muscles, wide shoulders, long, strong legs.

"His name is Alec," Magnus said. Not that it ever mattered to the committee."He is strong and healthy, and I think he could make a good sacrifice. Please consider him" One of the men, one with a dark purple tail, nodded.

"Come back on the 10th day and we'll see who gets chosen. Until then, we'd like to see some more pictures where he is awake." Magnus nodded.

"I'll take him swimming. Come down here and show you while he's sleeping."

"Good. Return to your position, Magnus Bane," the man said. Magnus nodded and then went back to the island to keep an eye on Alec.

Alec didn't know how long he'd slept, but judging by the sun it must have been a few hours. When he woke up, Magnus was still nowhere to be seen, so he decided to wait for him. He drank some more water and then sat down in front of the cabin. He somehow liked it there. It was lonely but apart from that it was a beautiful place. But soon he started getting hungry, and even though Magnus had said there was no food there, he started looking. The cupboard was empty save for a few cups and bowls. There was a drawer filled with knives, and if this hadn't been a deserted island, Alec might have been worried. But it made sense. There were probably wild animals here, and Magnus probably went hunting, and he needed to clean the fish.

Other than that there was the bucket with water, and there was the bed and the plants. Some of the plants had fruits, but with Alec's little knowledge on plants, he figured he'd rather wait around for Magnus to come back than risk getting poisoned.

It took longer than he had expected but finally Magnus showed up. Alec was starving and he hoped Magnus would have something to eat with him.

"Hello, Alec! Or Alexander?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. But no one calls me that. Do you have any food?" Magnus chuckled, but nodded.

"I do. Hungry?"

"Starving, I thought you would never come back."

"I said I would. I wouldn't leave you here." Magnus flashed him a smile. "Come on, I was planning to roast the fish on the beach. There's a beautiful view of the sunset, and we could go swimming to freshen up."

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds great," Alec said, not caring about swimming as long as he got the fish.

They set on their way, Magnus carrying wood for the fire as well as a leather bag full with fish, and Alec was carrying blankets. Magnus said they were staying out till late and it got cold. The walk to the beach seemed much longer than it had been earlier, and Alec wondered if they were taking another way because he didn't recognize anything. Magnus wasn't even following a path, he just seemed to know exactly where to go.

Finally Alec spotted the sea in the distance, and they quickly arrived at the beach. Magnus sat down a bit away from the jungle and started making a fire. Alec was actually impressed with how quickly Magnus had the fire started and a minute after that the first fish were roasting. Alecs stomach grumbled at the smell, he was close to eating them raw. Magnus glanced over at him.

"Why don't you go see if you can find anything interesting by the shore while you wait?" he suggested.

"Interesting? What kind of interesting?"

"Could be anything. Seashells, plants, fish, crabs… anything that catches your attention. You're going to be here for a while, so you could bring it back to the cabin to make it more… home. For you."

"I'll be staying here for a while? What is that supposed to mean? Can't you call someone so they can send a boat to take me back to land?"

"Call someone? With what phone?"

"Surely you have some contact with the outer world. You must have a passport, an identity. You must have a boat here somewhere, something…" Magnus shook his head.

"It's just me, Alexander. And it's been like that for decades. I don't think that'll change any time soon."

"Then we'll build a raft. We've got plenty of wood, right? There has to be a way out of here."

"That storm that brought you here isn't an unusual thing in this place. If it brought down your ship, how much hope do you have on a raft? Give it a try if you want, but I'm not going with you. The fish is done." That ended the conversation as Alec quickly grabbed it, digging in with his bare hands and not even caring that it was scolding his fingers and mouth. He just needed food.

Alec ate three fish before he leaned back and looked at the stars. "So.. I am supposed to spend the rest of my life here… alone with you?"

"You'll get used to it," was all Magnus said. Alec wondered how he was doing this, more than 10 years alone on the island.

"Hey," Magnus called for his attention. "It'll get easier, I promise. And if there ever is a way of getting off the island, I'll make sure you're the first to know," Magnus said. Alec sighed but nodded.

"Are you still thinking of taking a swim? It's pretty dark…" he said after a moment.

"The water is still warm. There's nothing better than a midnight swim after a delicious meal."

"What about that waiting 20 minute rule?"

Magnus chuckled. "Right. I forgot the people on land have that rule. Feel free to wait if you want."

Magnus stood up. "While you wait, make sure to throw a log in the fire if it starts to disappear. If anything happens, just call for me."

Alec nodded and then watched Magnus get into the water. Alec had a clock on him, but it had frozen at 02.13, probably when he'd gone under. The sun was gone too, but the moon was high in the sky. But that didn't help Alec in telling time, so he went with his gut and what he thought was 20 minutes later, he threw a log into the fire and got up. Magnus was still in the water, Alec could see his head pop out from time to time. He spent a long time underwater, long enough for Alec to worry multiple times until suddenly he spotted him back up.

Alec crouched down by the shore and felt at the water with his hand. Magnus was right, it was pretty warm. Warmer than the air, which was getting chilly. Alec started taking off his shoes to join Magnus.

"Don't leave your clothes there!" He heard Magnus call suddenly. "You'll never find them again in the dark and they'll be taken away by the water through the night. Leave them by the fire," he said. Alec thought about that and then did as Magnus had told him, he undressed by the fire and then went to go into the water. It felt good. He stepped in into his knees, and the water was warm and Alec wanted to dive into it. Except it was dark, and he could barely see Magnus and he most certainly couldn't see the ground under the water. The memories from the day earlier came back, of the water pressing against him all around, filling his lungs, his mouth, his ears, burning his eyes and his chest… Alec pulled away from the water.

"What? It's not cold, why did you leave?" Magnus asked, getting out as well a few minutes later. Alec shrugged.

"Brought back memories," was his only reply.

"Oh. From the… accident?" Alec nodded, grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around himself. "There's a little lake in the middle of the island. Maybe we could start there," Magnus suggested. Alec nodded.

"Sure. Yeah. But not tonight."

"Okay. What do you say we head back? I only have one bed, so we'll have to sleep together for now. But tomorrow we can start making you your own cabin, so you have your own little space."

Alec nodded slowly. "Erm...yeah sure sound...sounds good," he mumbled. Magnus smiled.

"Good." He grabbed a log, one a little longer than the other ones, and put the tip in the fire, waiting for the flame to catch. Then he handed it to Alec. "Hold that for a moment, will you?" he didn't wait for an answer and quickly turned back to the fire. He kicked some sand over it, and the fire quickly died away. Magnus put the remaining wood and fish into each of their bags and then took the log - torch, from Alec. "Grab the blankets, let's go," he said and started walking. Alec, in fear of losing sight of him, quickly gathered the blankets and followed. It was a weird situation, especially when he thought that he would share the bed with this man later.

Alec could swear the way to the cabin kept changing. He considered that maybe they went to different parts of the beach, but even now as he was returning he couldn't recognize anything. Maybe that was because it was dark, and the only thing he could actually see, was the flame, which lighted up Magnus's head and back, and little more. Alec stumbled more times than he would like to admit, and he was glad he wasn't the one carrying the torch or he would probably have set the whole jungle on fire already.

Magnus put out the torch once they reached the cabin, and Alec squinted as he tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness.

"Do you expect me to see anything in here?" he asked as he blindly reached out for something that would help him. Alec heard Magnus chuckle and felt him grab his arm.

"Do you expect me to light a fire inside a cabin made of wood? Come on, you get used to it after a few nights." Magnus pulled him with him to the bed. "Take of your shoes, lay down."

"Lay down where?" he asked once he had taken off his shoes.

"Just anywhere on the bed. As long as you leave some space for me, it should be fine." Alec nodded, even though he doubted Magnus could see him in the dark. He probably just knew the cabin inside out. Alec felt with his hands and located the bed, then slowly got into it and made sure to curl up on one side of it, leaving plenty of space for Magnus. The bed wasn't big and so it didn't matter how far on the edge Alec was. When Magnus laid down too, their backs touched.

"Try to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Alec closed his eyes and took a deep breath, hoping he would just fall asleep. It didn't take long before he heard Magnus's breath even out and he knew he had drifted off. Alec stayed awake, memories of going under, of the entire day… he thought of his siblings, wondered if they had heard the news yet. He wondered if the ship was okay or if it had all gone under. What would his family think? He would never come back. Alec was glad that Magnus was there, at least he wasn't alone. But he felt alone. He was supposed to be on the ship for two months, and now… now he was stuck here for the rest of his life.

He wondered if his parents would feel guilty when they heard the news. He wondered if they would even care. Alec didn't want to, but he cried at the thought of never seeing his siblings again. Eventually, through his silent tears and despair, exhaustion took over and he fell asleep.

When Magnus woke him up, the sun was shining through a hole in the roof. Alec hadn't noticed it earlier, but he wondered what Magnus would do if it rained.

"Come on. I'm gonna show you the lake so you can clean yourself off, and then we're gonna go hunting," Magnus said as he shook him awake. Alec slowly sat up, looking around in the small cabin again. It wasn't a dream. It couldn't be, or Alec would have woken up a long time ago.

"What time is it?" Alec asked, looking down at his clock and seeing it was still stuck on 02.13.

"Six," Magnus said. "Come on, hurry up. The meat doesn't wait for you to wake up properly." Alec shook his head and stood up, head almost hitting the roof.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me just find my shoes…" He found them and quickly tied up the shoelaces before following Magnus out. Magnus handed him a knife, and Alec noticed he had a bow and arrow slung over his back. "I… do you have more of that?" he asked. "I'm better with that than with knives," he explained. Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"You know archery?"

Alec shrugged. "It was a hobby when I was a kid. I haven't done it in a while, but… I think I could get the hang of it pretty quickly again." Magnus hummed and nodded before sliding the bow and quiver off his shoulders. "I only have this one, but you take it. Let's see how good you are." Magnus started walking, again not following any path but not hesitating once. "We only hunt small animals, we don't have any way of storing the meat for a long time and we don't want to waste anything. If you see any big animals, don't move, don't breathe. Don't anything. They'll go away eventually. If you run, they'll hunt you down and you'll be dead in minutes," Magnus warned.

"Is it ever winter here?" asked Alec, thinking about the need to hunt big animals for the fur. It would also be possible to store the meat in the winter, when it was cold. But Magnus shook his head.

"It does, but we barely notice it. It gets a bit colder, but not much. The days are a bit shorter, the water doesn't stay warm all night. But otherwise, no."

"Where exactly are we? I mean, in what part of the world? The ship went don't in the North Atlantic, surely I can't have drifted that far away to be on a tropical island."

"Who knows, Alexander? Maybe you did. I can tell you one thing, and that is that this is the furthest you'll get from any civilization. No one has been here for centuries, other than me, of course. And my parents."

"Where are your parents now?" Alec asked, wanting to figure out more about this strange man.

"My mother is dead. My father… left. Probably drowned," Magnus said with a shrug.

"Left how? How do you know he drowned? Did he have a boat?" Alec questioned. If Magnus's father could leave, surely Alec could too, right?

"Well, you remember how I told you that you could try to build a raft and leave the island, but there's a big chance you'll be caught up in a storm. My father took the chance. He got caught up in a storm and died."

"How far is it exactly to the closest island with people in it? Like, with a city. With a harbor."

"I've never tried to leave, so I wouldn't know. But from the top of the mountain you can see about 20 kilometers in every direction, and no land in sight. I can take you to the top tomorrow, if you want. So you can see for yourself."

"Yes please, I want to see it for myself. So far I am not willing to just accept my fate of being here forever." Alec had to get back. He had a family, a life. He had to take care of his siblings, had to protect them from their parents. He wondered what they were doing now. They were both busy studying, but who was paying for their courses now? He knew Izzy had considered getting a part time job, and Jace had already been working at the bar on the weekends, but they didn't make nearly enough to keep each other going. Had they gone back to their parents? Had their parents accepted them back? What if they hadn't? What if, because of this, they had given up on their courses and started working full time. What if, because of this, they were struggling to get by? That would all be Alec's fault. He had to get back to them, he had to. No matter what it took. He would swim all the way back if he had to.

They spent all day hunting. Alec caught two rabbits with the bow, and Magnus said that was enough and would last them two days if they could get something to eat along with it. So the rest of the evening was spent looking for berries and fruits.

Magnus taught Alec about the different kinds, which ones were poisonous and which ones were not. How to recognize them, how to pick them. Magnus didn't really like that part, but it was necessary, mostly to distract him of course and to keep him calm so he wouldn't try to get away. Not that he could get far, no matter how good they were at swimming, they would drown before they reached any other island. Magnus had lied, saying there was no way off the island. He hadn't lied about the fact that the closests civilization was far away, but people had gotten off the island with rafts before. But Magnus couldn't give him hope, or he'd never stop looking for a way to get off. It was just a few more days until the competition started, and then Alec wouldn't have time to even think about getting off, he'd be too focused on surviving.

They always had a few days in the beginning. 3 to find candidates, they were brought to the islands and the merpeople immediately began to train and prepare them for the weeks ahead, the trials. On the 4th day of the competition no more candidates could be presented and everyone had to focus on the training. On the 10th day of the competition the council decided on the 10 sacrifices, the others were left in the ocean again to die. Two days after that, the first challenge took park, the candidats had already spent some time working for it, but the main attraction of the first trial happened on the 12th day.

First round was to see just how they would do in the water, and also a way to kill their last hope. It wasn't unusual for the people to talk about rafts and boats, and so the first week, they would make one. The raft would be set out, and a storm would come quickly afterwards. The first 3 to drown were out, the rest would be rescued and put back on the island. In the end, the person that survived the longest would be the final sacrifice, the main attraction of the ritual to keep them hidden. Safe. It was always a huge spectacle and everyone loved it, but they were also glad that it happened only every decade, it was a lot to organise and a lot of stress.

But in the end, the whole season was a lot of fun. Bets were placed by the people who didn't participate, favorites were made, people had even gotten into fights because of disagreements.

They didn't consider it murder, it wasn't. It was a sacrifice, it was an honor. The only reason they did it in the first place was to keep themselves safely hidden away, because of them, it was their fault that they had to do it. How much was 10 people every decade when they had killed thousands of them every year for centuries? If anything, it was revenge.

"Wait, so, what exactly is the difference between these two?" Alec's voice brought him out of his thoughts, and Magnus plastered a smile on his face and looked at the berries in Alec's hands. "They look exactly the same."

"No, this one has a slightly different shape. Don't you see? This one is more like a pear shape, and this one is more of an apple shape. If you eat that one, you die. So learn the difference."

"What if I just don't eat any purple berries? Then I won't risk dying. I think that's the better solution." Magnus sighed.

"If that's what you want to do. But almost every fruit has one similar one that'll make you sick, so you won't be eating many berries."

"Isn't there any normal fruit here? I don't want apple shaped berries, I want an actual apple," Alec said.

"If you find an appletree, please let me know. I know this island inside out and I haven't found any yet. There are bananas and mangos, here. You can have that. Bananas you can find all year around, Mangos will be ending in August, so you only have a few months with that."

Of course, Alec wasn't actually going to see a season without mangos, he'd stay for another 4 weeks at most, if he was lucky.

"For a guy who's lived all his life here, you seem to talk very much like someone from New York," Alec pointed out after a moment. "I mean, do you even count the months here? Do you know what month it is right now? Do you celebrate christmas here?"

"Just because I live on an island doesn't mean I'm an animal. I know how to speak like you people. New York people. Maybe my mother was from New York, who knows? It's a small world." New York was probably Alec's home city, so Magnus would speak with a New York accent. It was weird with the english, there were so many of them. It was different for almost every person Magnus had talked with before. But as long as he could keep Alec's suspicion at bay, it didn't matter what he sounded like to Alec.

"You said no one had ever gotten off the island. How did your mother get from New York to here if it's so far away? Did she have a boat?"

"My mother was in your situation. Washed up here."

"What about your father? You said he left?"

"Listen, I was a kid when he left. I don't remember how, I just know I never heard from him again, and there was a storm. He's probably at the bottom of the ocean."

"But how did he get here?"

"I don't know, Alexander. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't born at the time," Magnus snapped.

"Fine, fine. I'm just trying to find a way out of here."

"There is no way, okay? I'll let you know if there is, but there isn't."

"I have to get back to my siblings," Alec said. "They need me, they need money for their studies so they won't have to work somewhere just for the sake of earning money."

"Is that why you were on the boat? To earn money?"

"Yeah. I don't have any studies, people won't hire, so… it was the only job I got. It was supposed to be two months, not… not forever." Magnus wanted to say it would only be two months anyway, but held back the remark.

"Hey, the storms usually have a season. I think… in a few days I think there'll be a clear season. Once you get settled in, we can try to build a raft, okay? I can't promise it'll work, but we can try."

"Really? You… you're going to help me? Thank you!"

"You're welcome. But not yet, okay? In a week or so." Alec nodded excitedly.

"Okay. Yeah. Thank you."

"Now, come on. You need to learn these berries." Alec sighed but nodded, and they continued their lesson.

Only a week till the trials started, and Magnus already had Alec willing and excited. This could not have had a better start.