Sorry guys, I was almost taken out by my gallbladder this week, and it had me fucking down for the count...

But it's still Friday so, yay.

Much love

-Twisted

She was going to kill them.

T-

T she could at least understand.

He was always impulsive. It was still something they were working on.

But Yensid?

For Yensid to up and pull a stunt like this-

A hand presses to the knot in her stomach.

She knew it was bad. Witches sweeping the town, sniffing out every dark hole for younglings.

But this-

Yensid always sought her and gave her council.

Time to consider her options.

For him to take that away-

What could scare Yensid enough to take off with T after telling her he needed to do this alone.

That bothered her more than she wanted to think about.

He said it would be more dangerous for him to focus on protecting one of them if they went with him.

If it wasn't for the accounts from the rescued girls, she would have assumed T had ignored Yensid and shadowed him.

But Yensid was the one who called the shot.

So, what changed?

Her stomach twists tighter as her gaze shifts to their bed, where Harry was sleeping.

The last person she expected to be watching over Harry and the rescued kids was Harriett.

She rests against the table as her frown deepens.

Fucking Harriett.

She knew in her heart that there was no way for T have known the history between the siblings.

Harry never spoke of his life before he joined her.

Or how he got there.

Even with the ring taken down by the two, she doubted it was because Harry suddenly spilled his closely held secret or the things he didn't remember.

But if ever there was a reason to talk about it, it would have been with T.

Or Faustina.

She couldn't help but wonder what her take on this situation would have been.

Would be.

Because like hell, she wasn't pressing for more details when they returned-

When.

Because so help them if they-

She slams her eyes shut.

No.

When.

She refused to give in to her darker thoughts. Not right now.

Not when their worst fears were already manifesting around them.

She shakes her head. She needed to focus on something else-

Anything else-

Her eyes narrow.

Like how the hell T knew Harriett.

It wasn't like the older girl was known for running in anyone's circuit, let alone T's.

She rolls her eyes.

Though it was becoming apparent that T was nearly as well known as her Baby Girl.

She never would have guessed it.

Then again, with the number of fucking names he went by, she doubted anyone would have known how popular he seemed to be.

She was going to strangle him for leaving her with such a predicament.

It had been a shock arriving at the beach to find Harriet standing sentinel.

A deadlocked dance as they squared each other up before Harriett put her hands up and stepped away from her Pretty Boy-

The whole exchange had been-

Strange.

Unexpected.

Unsettling.

Since when did Harriett give a shit about them?

It didn't make sense.

Then again-

Neither did T's trusting Harriett.

But why else would he have left her to watch over everyone at the beach?

Watch over an unconscious Harry?

What relationship could the two possibly possess that he would trust her with Harry?

And why did it hurt?

She shakes her head, frustrated with herself.

It didn't matter-

She didn't have time for these kinds of doubts.

They were childish.

Childish insecurities.

And she didn't have time for them.

Something was off.

Something was happening.

T wouldn't drug Harry for no reason-

Well, on the Isle at least.

Yensid would never abandon her like this-

Unless it was something dire.

But if it was so dire-

Why the fuck was he taking her Problem Child with him?

Her knuckles whiten around the back of a chair.

And she couldn't even send anyone to help them because the assholes-

Because in this instance, Yensid was every bit the asshole as T-

Hadn't given her anything to work with.

She pries her hands from the chair, absently rubbing circulation back into them as she turns to her desk.

She had other matters to look after.

Matters she could actually control.

Her eyes jump to the door.

Other things to abate her worry.

Things that required her to move instead of staying pent-up in her quarters.

Like checking on the boys she'd left with the new group she and the others had taken in. At least those women seemed to know what the hell they were doing as far as little kids were concerned-

Which, thank the fucking sea gods. Sam, bless the bastard, was good with kids but-

Her heart constricts and her chest tightens.

-the boys Harry and T rescued were gonna need more than a part-time babysitter.

She still had to see how the sails fared in the storm, now that it seemed to be coming to an end.

The water in the air was more mist than rain at this point.

The strong gales had died down to mere gusts.

Two things that should have made her happy yet only served to put her farther on edge.

She was the Captain.

There were things she did have control over.

She needed to stop worrying about the stuff she didn't.

Easier said than done.

But staying in here to worry-

Over Harry.

Over the notebook.

It wasn't doing her any favors.

She turns back to the table and writes a quick note informing him of her intentions and places it by the bed before she heads out.

Not two steps from the door, someone crashes into her.

At least she wasn't the only one caught up in the weird energy.

"Look where yer-" Celia closes her eyes as she huffs, "I mean, sorry Captain. Didn't expect you to come barreling outta yer room," the younger girl's cheeks puff as she pulls away and stands, "my bad."

She lifts her brow, "what are you doing on deck?" She demands firmly.

She'd explicitly told everyone who couldn't swim to stay below.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Celia pulls a card from her pocket, turning it so she could see the ocean waves, "I got the warning you'd be upset about me an' the water, but this seemed more important."

She places a hand on her hip as she studies the girl.

She wasn't all that familiar with her, but she hadn't been high on her list of potential problems. "Come on then," she places her hand on the younger girl's shoulder before she guides her into her cabin.

"Nice digs Captain." Celia smiles as she looks around the room.

She grins despite herself. "Aye, it took a couple of years, but yeah, we've made it our own."

"Well, I'm sure Herbie had fun outfittin' ya too."

She raises her brow, "Herbie?"

Celia's brow furrows as she taps the edge of the card to her lips, "Shadow? Ghost? T?"

For fucks sake.

"Of course it is." She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, I hate his secret too. I always pull the same card for him." She fans her cards between her hands and, seemingly random, pulls a card before she turns it to face her.

She had no idea how to read all the symbols and numbers, but what immediately caught her attention was a person staring into a mirror.

The weird thing about the illustration was that the reflection and the person were not looking in the same direction.

She lifts her brow.

"Right?" Celia rolls her eyes as she shuffles it back into her deck, "What a confusing card to identify with Herbie."

"Why?"

"I mean, I thought for sure Judgment would claim him, maybe the moon?" She chuckles, "But I guess we all have an air of mystery here. Hell, the Hermit would have worked. But that one? I don't know, I always feel, like, sad-" she grimaces in what looks like disgust, "when I see it and think of him, like Herbie ain't whole or something."

A silent shiver sends goosebumps down her arms at the accuracy of the statement. "Huh-" she frowns as she crosses her arms, "that's-"

Eerie.

"Right, sorry, yer busy an' all." Celia sighs as she fidgets with her deck, "But, I was reading my cards because things just feel hinky in the air an' on my skin. And um, well, the last time I got a reading anything like this, the Isle started shaking and Freddie started screaming."

Great.

That wasn't foreboding or ominous or anything.

"What are they saying?"

"Something real dark and bad is about to happen…" her voice tails off.

Another shiver chills her spine.

"And-" she prompts.

Celia bites her lip before she takes another step towards her and leans in close, "I got ah bad feelin' a lot of people are about ta die, again."

Her stomach sinks.

Celia's voice was haunting; her eyes hard and not at all childlike.

Nothing about her was childish in this moment, until her lips quiver.

"And not like before," the girl continues, voice was barely more than a whisper, "not from the shaking or the water. Something unnatural."

Her back stiffens, "have you told anyone else?"

"No. I, well I thought I should tell you, and if ya don't believe me, fair." She shrugs before taking a deep breath, "Daddy always says not to read for free, so why start now? Ain't like they can do anything with it anyways."

"I appreciate you coming to me with this," she eyes her over, "An' not tryin' to hold it over me for your benefit."

"You didn't have to help my sister. Or give us a place to stay." She shrugs as she tucks her deck away, "Way I sees it, I can give yer way a try."

A ghost of a smile tugs at her lips, "Thank you. That-" Her brow furrows as she searches for the right words, "That's part of what makes it worth it."

Celia's head tilts to the side, her frown thoughtful before she nods and smiles, "I still like money, but yeah. Having more than money's kind of nice too."

She nods, before she gestures to the table. "Make yourself comfortable-"

"Nah, I need to go keep Freddie in line. We're trying to remember where all of Daddy's secret gardens are so we can go raid them for ya'll. Herbie mentioned wanting to start a garden."

"I guess I owe her a thanks too then," She nods, "But you're staying, I don't want you on the deck." She shakes her head. "The others need to know."

"Storm's settled, I promise I can walk across a steady floor."

"It wasn't a request." She states firmly as she grabs the notebook, "you can spare two minutes."

Celia pouts, but throws herself into a seat at the table and shuffles her deck.

Good.

She hovers over the notebook as she writes, feeling too urgent to sit still.

She'd already been feeling the unexplainable weirdness-

Had been trying to stave off the nerves she was feeling from her family once more being separated.

But, Celia's vague warning settled it.

She didn't care if it was just paranoia.

She was calling the others back.

The pool and supplies would have to wait.

Neither were more important than the safety of those out on the Isle, and like hell was she going to go through another world ending event without as many of her people here as possible.

Once this passed, they could go back on the Isle to recruit.

Her jaw tenses as her eyes linger on T's last message.

She doubted he and Yensid would heed her summons, but she had to try.

"There," She states a moment later. "Now, let's get you-" she pauses as she watches the young fortune teller twirl a card between her fingers, curious as to what had the girl grinning after dropping such a grave fortune, "below."

"Whatever ya say," Celia smiles as she slides off her chair and holds the card up for her to see, "Empress."

He frowns as he rereads Uma's message.

The urgency in her words.

Something was wrong.

As if Harry being attacked wasn't bad enough.

A shiver runs down his spine as he glances towards the calming sky.

In any other situation he would have taken it as a good omen.

He doubted things would ever return to the way it'd been but- He'd been hoping they'd at least quiet.

Yet…

Something felt off.

He hadn't missed the way the wind all but came to a halt.

Or how the waves raging against the cliffs were becoming increasingly silent.

There was just something sinister about it.

As if the Isle itself was about to hold its breath.

Waiting.

And it was starting to wear on him.

It was rare he felt it, but he could feel the paranoia creeping up on him.

He shakes his head as he turns back to the book and shuts it, as he carefully puts up the charms and packs their belongings.

"Treasure!" He calls out as he reaches the edge of the precipice.

One heartbeat.

Two.

The blazing light spilling out from the cavern she was in dims to an orange and red glow.

"Yeah?" Deez calls out before she appears on the ledge jutting out over the water.

"Uma's on her way," He frowns. "so finish up what you're doin' an' come up here."

It was almost strange to be able to see her worry her bottom lip between her teeth. Watch her eyes dart between him and the project she was working on.

"I'm almost done," she finally calls up as she tugs on the few loose strands of hair spilling from the messy knot on her head, "just a few more minutes and I'll climb up."

He could live with that.

He nods, "sounds good."

Deez turns away before she looks up again, her lips parted as if she wanted to say something else.

They lock eyes for several seconds before she nods, "I'll hurry."

Great. He sighs.

At least it wasn't in his head.

"I'd appreciate it."

Well this one was short.

Not very sweet though.

Talk about an ominous reading?

Remember how well her last one went?

How on point she was-

Magic is simmering in the air.

Something's about to happen.

Can you feel it?

The ensuing danger?

The promise of death.

The charge making everyone's hair stand on end?

It's coming.

This is only the beginning.

Much love

-Twisted