All of the events that occur on the 2nd of Pluitanis were written by Lost Lantean, except the few paragraphs at the very end between Sam and Patrick.
Episode 11: Secrets and Regrets
30th of Verimensis
"So… Aelita and Jeremie, huh?" Christophe M'Bala gossiped with Emily, pouring rum into two tankards. They toasted before taking long swigs, Emily shaking her head afterwards, as if to get rid of the taste.
Smiling, Emily cooed, "I think they're darling together!"
Christophe smiled as well, and he laughed a bit. "They are kind of cute together." They both looked up as the door opened, reveling Odd behind it. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to my duties. Thanks for the drink, captain."
Emily waved him off, and then motioned for Odd to enter. "What's up, Odd?" She asked.
"Emily, I need… a favor that I can only ask of you." He said, leaning against the door frame, as if he were unwilling to draw closer to her.
"That's… suspicious. Can I get the details before I agree?" She said, standing.
Odd sighed. "I need you to dock the ship, preferably until tomorrow morning. I can't say much else, but know that it is really important. Like, life or death."
"You're scaring me. What's going on?"
"I cannot tell you. Please, just do this for me. I'll do whatever you want in return." Odd begged.
Emily looked at him in concern, but eventually spoke. "If you say that it's important… then I believe you. But… the only place to dock safely by tonight is Marsy."
Odd seemed confused. "You don't mean the slave port Marsy, do you?"
"That's exactly what I mean." Marsy was different than most slave ports, mostly because it included several islands and had scouts constantly patrolling both the islands and the docks. They usually dealt in mage flesh, and prepared heavily for it, though few slaves made it out without mutilation in some form or another. Emily admitted she had the flag that would signal the slavers not to raid the ship, but expressed concern for the elven members of her crew. "I fear that the slavers may think that they're… new blood."
After considering it, he said, "They're in more danger if you don't dock."
Emily seemed hesitant, but eventually she nodded. "Very well. I'll go tell the helmsman to change our course."
Aelita, who had been relaxing with Mr. Pück, the doll Jeremie had bought for her, smelled the familiar aroma of a forest, and she sat up. She moved to the porthole in her cabin, and she could see that the Skidbladnir had docked on an island that, presumably, was covered in dense pine. There was also a very beautiful beach, and the Outcast swooned at the idea of collecting beautiful shells and stones.
She grabbed her bag and clumsily tossed Mr. Pück onto the bed. She stopped, turned and placed him more cautiously against the pillows, smiling as she rushed out. Aelita poked her head in Jeremie's cabin before heading to the deck. "Jeremie, I'm…" She paused when she saw him, nose buried in the elvhen book from the grotto. "Are you still translating? You were working all day yesterday on it."
"It isn't easy, but I enjoy a challenge," The Wise Man said, referring to the notes that both Laura and Ulrich called a mess. "Anyway, did you need something?"
"No, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out for a bit." She said.
"Oh, right, the boat's docked. I guess you would want to put your feet on solid ground." He smiled. "Be careful, okay?"
"Okay. See you soon, ma vhenan!" She waved, rushing out to the top deck. Aelita smiled at Christophe and Heïdi as she ran down to the beach. Aelita had only ever touched sand once in her life, and it wasn't a pleasant memory. She'd been sent down to the docks at Arak-Muna once, and one of the slavers pushed her into the sand. She'd skinned her knees, though luckily she escaped any other injuries.
This beach seemed far more inviting and she drank in the experience of being free on the shore. The cold, wet sand felt amazing on her bare feet and the smell of the pines was so much richer than the heavy smell of the sea. She walked along happily, stopping frequently to examine and collect shells. After deciding to keep a shell, she would summon a bit of water to clean it before storing it in her bag, so she didn't bring back sand. Aelita looked up and spotted a path into the forest, and smiling, she decided to explore further. She tossed her bag towards the ship and ran towards the pine forest.
It was beautiful, the pale grey sky creating beautiful shadows on the sparkling blue and silver stones. And yet, as she walked on the path past the trees, she felt something was wrong. She saw a spring and walked closer to it, looking at her reflection in the water. Something grabbed her ankle and pulled her, and when she tried to scream, a rock struck the back of her head. Slowly, she lost consciousness.
Jeremie looked up as his door opened after what only felt like a few minutes. "Oh. I thought Aelita was in here with you." Ulrich said. "Do you know where she went? The sun is about to set, and it's a full moon tonight."
"Yeah, she said she was going out for a bit, but I guess that was hours ago. Is she really not back?" Jeremie said.
"No, she's not in her room or—wait, you let her leave the ship alone?" He demanded.
The Wise Man blinked. "Yes. Why?"
"Jeremie, didn't you know? We're docked at Marsy!" Ulrich shouted.
His eyes widened. "What!? Why didn't anyone tell me?! I would've tried to stop her!" Jeremie closed his eyes and pictured Aelita's green eyes. The connection lasted only momentarily before something cut it off—he didn't know if Aelita severed the connection or if someone else did, but he knew one thing for sure—she was in the hands of slavers. "Gods, we have to find her! You go get Laura and Yumi. I'll find Odd, and we'll start trying to track her."
Ulrich nodded, and he ran out of the room. Jeremie grabbed his gauntlet and rushed out of the room finding and dragging Odd away from his preparations. When questioned, Jeremie gave a basic rundown of the situation, to which Christophe heard the back end of. "Wait, the little elf was kidnapped? Let me get my club—I'll go with you to rescue her." The quartermaster volunteered, sprinting below deck. Ulrich, Yumi and Laura joined Jeremie and Odd, and moments after, Christophe appeared with a club made of bone and stone.
The teenagers ran onto the beach, and Odd pointed to Aelita's bag. The wind had covered it and her footprints in sand, though Jeremie pointed to the path. Odd volunteered to remain back in case Aelita escaped and returned to the ship, though the Heroes knew that he was likely in pain as moonrise drew closer. Yumi shot him a worried glance, and he handed her his bow and quiver before she followed the others.
Aelita awoke in chains, and when she tried to freeze them, she realized that she was surrounded by runes used to negate magic. They were carved into the chains and drawn on the floor. She looked up and around, and she tried to call out for her friends. Her voice was weak, and if she tried to wiggle out of her chains, they grew hot. For a moment, it would be pleasant compared to the winter air that nipped at her bare skin, but soon it started to burn and it would no longer be pleasant.
Slowly, she began having flashbacks to her life as a slave. She began hyperventilating, struggling hopelessly against the binds, screaming despite the scratchiness of her throat. The Outcast started to cry, and when she saw three slavers enter the room, she begged them to let her go. They ignored her, and the tallest one grabbed a leather whip. "Now lovely, we've seen yer scars. I dun't know where ya ran from, but 'ere at Marsy we dun't take kindly ta runaways." He said, and Aelita could see the sick enjoyment in his eyes. "I think ya know what ta do, lass."
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to convince herself to wake up, but when it didn't work, she held back a sob that would've otherwise been audible. "Count the lashes," She whispered.
"That's a good girl," The slaver cooed, bringing back his arm.
The gates to the actual headquarters of Marsy were tall and built of lumber, with a watchtower on both sides of the intimidating doors. Jeremie whispered for Yumi to take out the sentries and then telekinetically pull one close so the Heroes could obtain the key to open the gates. Laura offered to diplomatically solve this, using her title to get in. She admitted that she had quite a bit of gold on her, and she could likely purchase Aelita off of her captors. Jeremie almost shouted that she would most certainly not purchase Aelita, and Laura pulled her hood over her head.
Yumi drew the arrow in the bow, and though she didn't have formal archery training, she was able to use her supernatural strength and senses to strike her target. Jeremie loaned her some of his mental strength via telepathy, and she pulled the sentry closer. Christophe grabbed the key, and the teenagers rushed towards the door. Jeremie ordered Laura to follow him in the event Aelita had been physically injured, and the others were to keep the slave guard from killing them.
Ulrich and Christophe pushed open the gates, and an alarm sounded from the horn at a watchtower. "Looks like someone found the body," Laura said, aggravated.
The other teenagers drew their weapons and rushed through the gates just as soon as the opening was large enough to accommodate them. Beyond the gate was a broad street that went forward several hundred yards then ended in a T shaped intersection. Along the sides were any number of wooden buildings and between them a number of smaller roads and alleys branched off the main road. Over the other sounds of the city like complex shouts from guard captains marshalling their men could be heard. Jeremie urged them forward, hoping to make it to the center before the incoming guards.
Guards ran to block their way with a sizeable force coming down from the two branches of the main road. More began to appear at the side streets and before they could reach the center intersection they were pretty well surrounded. Jeremie looked to Laura, who nodded and summoned a fiery whip. Ulrich and Christophe prepared their weapons while Laura used her fire to cut a hole through the line of guards in front of them. Yumi threw her Tessen fans, using a bit of telekinesis to prevent the guards from blocking the blades. The remaining slavers charged them and in the chaos of the melee, Jeremie grabbed Laura before running from the brutal fight. She looked nervously at the three remaining teens, but as he dragged her, she was in no position to help. In the meantime, she melted the chains holding back the slaves she ran past. Many fled, but some grabbed weapons and helped the teenagers fight the guards.
With his friends acting as a diversion, Jeremie ran through the city like a man possessed, throwing open every door he came across and forcing the pair to kill a slaver or two almost every time. Laura started to pant, though she was smart enough not to suggest to the Wise Man that they rest. She heard a whip crack, and a familiar voice. "This way!" The Fair called, pointing at a wooden building. Jeremie turned and stood still for half a heartbeat before he charged towards it.
Overtaking her he smashed through the door with a surprising amount of force. Inside, the three slavers turned, and as they moved, the two blonds caught a glimpse of Aelita's coat. Jeremie furrowed his brows, recovered from the daze of hitting the door, and entered an offensive position. The tallest slaver ordered the other two to kill them. Jeremie ran forward while and the slaver closest to him drew his blade. Laura grabbed her wand and began to cast a flame spell. Jeremie kicked the short sword from the slaver's hand then jabbed the retractable blade on his gauntlet under the man's chin. Laura created a cone of flames, burning the slaver who stalked closer to her.
Jeremie pushed the dead slaver away from him, and he glared at the remaining slaver. The man cracked his neck and he drew twin blades. "Ya gonna die 'ere and now, lad. Say your prayers."
"We've faced worse than you, you bastard." Jeremie hissed, and he looked at Laura. The princess conjured a fireball, and she launched it. The slaver jumped out of the way, surprisingly nimble for how tall he was. Jeremie dove forward, slashing at his knees and knocking him to the ground. Laura scrambled out of the way of the falling slaver while the Wise Man grabbed the iron poker heating on the fire and jammed it into the slaver's neck. Ignoring the slaver's dying scream Jeremie got up and looked caringly at Aelita. While Laura pressed her hands together, he struggled to open her chains. "Are you okay? I mean, of course you aren't, but…" He whispered, holding her chin.
She pulled her chin away, and Jeremie finished opening the binds. Laura offered Aelita her coat, and when the Outcast grabbed it, she began to summon her healing magic. "Don't you dare touch me, Imperialist!" Aelita hissed, pulling her clothes over her head.
"Don't be stubborn. You're bleeding, Aelita. It would be stupid of you not to let me heal your wounds." Laura protested.
"I said don't touch me!" She shouted, limping away from the runes. Jeremie followed her, and he tried to get her to stop. Aelita kept shrugging him away until she could feel her magic flow enough so she could transform. She took the form of an owl and flew away.
Jeremie watched her fly, and he covered his face with his hands. Laura started to reach out to him, but she pulled her hand back. "It sounds like the fighting is just about over. I'll go tend to the others." She said. "You should head back to the Skidbladnir. Aelita needs you now."
He glared at her, but his expression softened, and he nodded. Laura ran back to where the others had been fighting, and watched as Yumi snapped the neck of the last slave guard. Laura nearly tripped over Christophe, who had collapsed. She gasped and immediately began to tend to his wounds, and he opened his eyes. "Hello, nurse," He greeted seductively, and blushing, the Fair laughed, pushing her hair away from her face.
"T-that's a new one," She whispered. She stood and pulled Christophe to his feet, though admittedly he nearly pulled her down on top of him accidentally. Laura then looked to Ulrich, who only had a gash on his back but otherwise, only a few cuts. She started to heal Yumi, though the Colonist stopped her and drank from a vial prepared for her. "Jeremie is headed back towards the ship. If we're done here, I think it would be best if we followed him."
Patrick was reading a book that Jeremie had loaned him when he heard a howl come from outside the ship. Recognizing it as the howl of a werewolf, he grabbed his rapier and quickly strapped his armor on. He charged off of the boat, pulling his helmet over his head, tracking the beast as it fled.
He caught sight of it slightly, and he threw a silver dagger he kept in his belt at it. The monster ducked behind a tree, and Patrick cursed.
After an hour of tracking, an owl swooped and knocked off his helmet. The magistrate rolled his eyes and picked it up; noticing specks of blood had collected on it. More than that, the specks reeked of blood magic. Had the owl been a witch? He shook his head and concluded it was likely an escaped test subject or a familiar, and he returned to tracking the werewolf.
Patrick finally cornered the beast, and while he prepared to fight, the werewolf would not fight him. In fact, it sat and looked at him respectfully, bowing his head after a few moments. Did the monster want him to kill it? That seemed unlikely, and yet something about the werewolf seemed so familiar.
Against his better judgment, Patrick sheathed his rapier and held out his hand. The werewolf slowly approached him, pushing its skull against his hand. The magistrate seemed confused, but he broke into a smile and rubbed the beast behind his ears. If this was a beast, he thought, surely this was a tame one.
Jeremie found Aelita's cabin door to be locked when he finally returned. He knocked on the door. "Aelita? Aelita, I know you're in there. I know that this was hard for you, and you should know that I'm here for you." He said. After a moment, he pressed his body against the door. "Please, let me in."
"You shouldn't have seen that!" Aelita shouted through her tears, "You shouldn't have seen me like that!"
"That wasn't your fault!" He argued, "I don't know all of what they did to you, but I want to help! Please, open the door!"
"Leave me alone! I just want to be alone!" She answered, and no matter what Jeremie said, she refused to say anything else.
Ulrich was the first one to return to the deck with the cabins after the dinner that two specific teens had missed, and it was fairly late when he did so. He found Jeremie curled up at Aelita's door, half-asleep. He shook his friend gently, and he whispered, "Come on, Belpois. You need to go to bed."
"But Aelita…" He murmured. Ulrich could tell that he was at sleep's doorway, though likely it would not be restful. Knowing Jeremie, he'd probably thrash about in his sleep, nightmares plaguing him. Nevertheless, the Mercenary helped the Wise Man up, and together they walked back to Jeremie's cabin. Ulrich pushed the books and notes from Jeremie's bed and removed the spectacles from his face as he lay down.
Then he went back to his room, took his lock picks from his bag and deftly opened Aelita's door. She had fallen asleep, though judging by the stains on her face and pillow, she had done so crying. When he lifted her up to put her under the covers, he saw her flinch as he touched her back. The Mercenary was more careful as he held her.
He flipped the soaked pillow over so the wet side faced the frame, and he cautiously tucked her under the covers. He noticed a doll lying near the Eluvian, and he picked it up. Ulrich remembered Aelita showing it off to him after Jeremie gave it to her. She'd been so happy to have received a gift. At this moment in time, he could only assume that she'd thrown it at the wall, not wanting to lose it but at the same time not thinking she deserved the happiness that it had brought her. Ulrich folded it between her hands, and he closed the door behind him as he left, wishing his sister to have a good night's sleep.
2nd of Pluitanis
It was three days later when Emily had had enough. She was pressing for answers about why she had to cut the mooring lines and race away from the port under threat of hostile boarding. This, honestly, was the least of her concerns. The catapults throwing boulders at her ship while she sailed away was more alarming. But the cutter that sailed in pursuit was terror. She was looking at a raid, at the possibility that her ship would be forcibly taken from her with her crew coerced into serving another captain or sold into slavery at the port they were running from. She wouldn't be able to go there ever again and passing through these waters would now be a serious threat. So livid didn't begin to cover her emotion.
Neither did scared. And she did not scare easily. But watching as Aelita glared at the chasing boat, with blood dripping from under her coat and body quaking, whether from rage or fear wasn't relevant, as she slowly smiled a sinister smile was scary. Almost as much as the way she muttered the words "not again". Had what happened next not happened, she could have moved past that. Aelita however, Aelita stuck her hands out, every muscle in her body straining with the concentration she needed to part the ocean. A wave formed under the enemy ship lifting it up from the water in the very center. The deafening creak of the wood somehow didn't drown out the scream of the crew until the thunderous crack of the spine occurred. The bow and stern plunged into the sea while cracks tore up the side of the boat until it was split roughly in half. Then the wave was gone and the middle crashed into the water sinking rapidly and taking the crew under with it.
Aelita nearly collapsed, her hands catching on the deck railing just in time to prevent her from falling. She looked out at the water where the other vessel had been only moments ago with such a sickeningly satisfied look on her face then turned in the direction of another ship that had started to give chase. That ship dropped its sails in record time, giving up before it could even begin to catch up. Aelita had strode off the deck, past the amazed and frightened crew and down to the cabin where she locked herself inside. Her friends made themselves as scarce as possible after that and even though there was no place to hide on the ship, no one was willing to immediately raise questions when the answers might be so potentially dangerous.
She was the captain though and that position was not earned by avoiding unpleasant things, hard decisions and intimidating people. So with the skeleton key in hand, she knocked on Aelita's door then proceeded to let herself in. She found Aelita sitting almost catatonic, slowly rocking herself back and forth with her legs pressed against her chest and bound by her hands, and staring at the blank glass that made up the Eluvian. The demanding shout died in Emily's throat and instead she called her gently.
Aelita turned to glare. "Go away."
"I can't… Aelita you put my crew-"
"YOU!" She pointed an accusing finger and watched as the older elf slowly moved off center as though that would avoid her wrath. "You brought me to a slave port," she growled.
"Odd-"
"What? Made you stop there knowing I was an escaped slave and wanted in Replika for that creep's death?" She demanded.
"Actually? Yes." Emily replied with steel in her voice. "I warned him it was a slave port. He said everyone would be safer there than if we stayed out at sea."
"And you couldn't warn us. Warn me?"
Emily looked down at her boots. "I didn't think you'd run off." She looked back up at Aelita, her face looking more severe, "What were you thinking taking off without telling anyone?"
"I trusted you won't put us anywhere dangerous," Aelita retorted sharply. "I. Trusted. You."
"Dangerous!?" Emily yelled incredulously. "You are in Replika! Slavery is legal here and you're wanted and you know that so excuse me if I expected a bit of sense from you."
Now it was Aelita's turn to look away sheepishly. Her anger was spent and the rollercoaster of emotions she had been experiencing careened back to shame and guilt. Looking back up she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "Have you wondered why I go barefoot as much as I can?"
"No." Emily answered firmly.
"Oh… Well, elves can sense the earth with their feet and once you get used to it, it's hard not having it. We, I, got land sick I guess you could say. The beach was good but being in the forest again was marvelous." She smiled very slightly here. "The smell of the trees and the connection to the earth was something I missed so much," she shook her head then continued, "I couldn't resist."
"You should have." Emily answered harshly before turning towards the door. "You've really got no idea just how much risk and hardship you've inflected on my crew. And on me." Her hand on the door she turned back to look at Aelita who was now barely suppressing sobs and took pity on the girl. "But I'm glad you're safe and my crew and I, we can deal with the trouble. It isn't like this is the first time we've run afoul of slavers. As for you personally," Emily's voice took on a commanding tone. "Your friends risked everything, even a fate you know is worse than death, to run headlong into danger and get you the moment they figured you were missing. Don't lose them because you're still back there."
There was no verbal response, but it looked like Aelita nodded. She slowly closed the door then locked it before heading back topside. The bright, bubbly girl she had seen board the ship was gone and Gods only knew if she'd return. Next to that, the deaths of hundreds of slavers seemed inconsequential.
Sheltered from the midday sun in her cabin, Yumi received a knock on the door and admitted Jeremie and Laura into her quarters. Jeremie was shaky, as he always was when offering his blood as her food, and Laura was off. Angry and perhaps disappointed over Aelita's reaction to being rescued and possibly jealous of Jeremie's devotion to said girl. It was a problem no one had the energy to deal with right now so she gently steadied Jeremie's hand as he cut into his wrist before bringing the limb up to her mouth and engulfing the new wound with her lips.
Jeremie shivered while she drank, as much from the coolness of her lips as from the irrational fear that said she'd turn him again. He banished the thought and instead concentrated on what was going to happen after Laura had healed the fresh cut. "Yumi?" He asked after Laura had left the room and shut doe door. "Can we talk? About Aelita?"
She answered with a very human nod, and Jeremie scolded himself for framing the thought that way. He sat down on the bed and watched her do the same. Then, before he could say anything further she started the conversation with "You're worried about her."
His turn to nod yes. "All I can get from her is that I wasn't supposed to see her like that and I can't see her like this." He looked right into the older girl's disturbingly orange eyes, "I can't help her if she won't talk."
The ship rocked gently while Yumi thought over her answer and Jeremie turned his eyes to one of the candles that lit Yumi's room. The outer holder moved, the concentric globes casting odd shadows through the room, while the flame in the center stayed near perfectly centered. Yumi followed his gaze. "Neat little invention."
"It's a gimbaled candle holder. The rings are at right angles and move freely so that the candle can't be tipped over and fall due to the motion of the deck."
"Without it, it wouldn't be safe to have candles on a wooden ship." Yumi replied as she turned back to face Jeremie. "Running into that slave port should have been suicide. But I'm not human anymore and Emily's quartermaster is one heck of a fighter and Ulrich's even better so we made it. But I wonder if Aelita sees only the danger she puts us in. Or perhaps she sees her inability to escape on her own as inexcusable. A weakness that renders her unworthy of our company. Even if she wanted to talk about one, perhaps the other cancels that movement like the rings of your gimbaled candle."
"Then how do I get through to her?"
"Yumi shrugged. You're supposed to be the Wise Man," she teased lightly, "so how would you get the candle out of the holder?"
He turned a quizzical look on her then answered, "I'm sure if it is jarred hard enough the fire can be spilled."
"So then, what might jar Aelita into talking to you? I'm pretty sure that, even though she won't talk, she'll listen to the right words."
"Words and I don't exactly have a great history."
She chuckled just a little, "maybe so. But of all of our little group, only Ulrich may know her as well as you do. She will listen to you, even if it doesn't seem like she does."
He frowned, "if I can find the right words."
"Or perhaps just the right idea."
"Yeah."
Smiling slightly Yumi stood from the bed and lightly touched his arm. He didn't flinch away this time and she gave him a supportive squeeze along with a brighter smile. "And Jeremie? Thank you for forgetting what I am for a little while."
"Who you are is a good friend. What you are physically…" He looked down in shame and felt his chin lifted up by a cold finger.
"What I am physically probably gives you nightmares, yet here you are."
He smiled brightly and got up, quickly pecking her forehead before announcing "you're a genius!" and running from the room.
Evening brought another knock on her door, this one from the increasingly despondent Jeremie Belpois. He probably had, as always, brought her a plate of whatever was for the corresponding meal, which would be dinner at this point. Then would come his plea for her to let him enter, or to just talk to him through the door. Next he would beg her to talk to Yumi or Ulrich or even Odd. Then he'd slide down to the floor and sit until Ulrich came by to take him to his room. Finally Ulrich would pick the lock, tuck her in and leave quietly, always making sure the door was locked again. Three days and they hadn't varied from the routine. Only Emily's visit had changed the order of things.
So when she noticed that it was not the usual dinner time, she was shocked enough to actually listen as he mentioned having nightmares about Yumi. She bolted for the door, not wanting his sudden change in policy on talking about Yumi's vampirism to get her thrown off the ship with murderous intent. Once he was inside though, she was going to wipe the smug look she was certain he'd have at finally gaining entry off his face. Except that the teenager standing expectantly at her door wore nothing like the smug expression she expected. Instead of triumph there was depression and shame, emotions all too familiar to her. Silently she stepped aside and let him enter.
She closed her door and walked to her bed, nervously sitting down a safe distance away and listened while he described the nightmares he had about the vampire that had kidnapped, tortured and then turned him becoming Yumi. "But those aren't the nightmares I've been having lately."
She studied his face, finding the bloodshot eyes and dark bags beneath that signaled fatigue. Even the lines on his handsome face seemed worse and so, since last she saw him, he seemed to have gained several decades. Worse still, tears prickled at the edges of his vision and he couldn't sustain eye contact, looking away and always down like he didn't deserve it. She could relate to that too. Haltingly she asked what she really didn't want to know because she was afraid she already knew the answer. "What… are they about?"
"Losing you." Jeremie answered succinctly. "We, Laura actually, found you because she heard you call out the number." His voice quivered, "Since we got back to the ship, all I could do was sit outside your door, worrying. And when Ulrich finally gets me to back to my room I…" He blinked the tears out of his eyes. "I can't close my eyes because I can see you chained and being lashed. That pain in your eyes is so clear and then I-"
"OUT!" Aelita roared.
He went rigid "Aelita, please…" He begged her.
"I said get out!"
"But I-"
He didn't get to finish because she moved quickly and hit him, using a bit hint of lightening to boost her strength. Jeremie slammed into the wall beside the door and slumped down to the floor, his glasses askew. The wooden walls seemed to reverberate with the sound and terror seized her as she realized what she'd just done. Lightening still crackled around her outstretched fist and Jeremie was eying that hand warily. There was resignation in his face, not anger but resignation, hurt and sadness. A lump formed in her throat and though she couldn't hear it yet, she could guess people were on their way to investigate.
Jeremie coughed painfully and forced himself to stand, ignoring the singed clothing and painful burning feeling that emanated from his chest. Closing his eyes he spoke with a low voice. "Go ahead."
"What?"
"Do whatever you want to me but I'm staying here. I… We can help each other heal or you can do the merciful thing and kill me here. But whatever it is, I'm not leaving you behind."
The lightening that crackled violently around her fist lessened in intensity though her hard stare didn't. Jeremie shifted his gaze from her arcing fist to her face. Outside footsteps in the corridor were audible. She continued to stare him down. "You shouldn't have seen me like that. No one should have. Not like that."
He nodded. "Weak? Afraid? What did you do when I was recovering from being turned into a vampire? How do you think I felt?"
A strong knock on the door grabbed both teens attention. "Aelita!" Ulrich's muffled voice came through the door. "Aelita are you ok?"
Jeremie turned his attention back to her. "You earned your vallaslin by enduring your slavery on your own. Now you don't have to so please don't try to go through this on your own."
A low metallic clicking sound came through door and Aelita realized how it was that Ulrich was getting in to tuck her in every night. Other muffled shouts came through the door and she recognized the rest of the supposed heroes. She let her fist uncurl, dispelling the remaining electric charge with a low fizzle and the sharp smell of ozone just as Ulrich succeeded in opening the lock. Her friends poured into the room only to have Ulrich freeze at the sight of the standoff between the Wise and the Outcast. His pause went unheeded and he was pushed to the floor then quickly buried by Odd, Yumi, Laura, and Patrick.
Neither the Wise nor the Outcast moved a muscle in response. They simply continued to stare each other down while the rest began collecting themselves and getting out of the pileup, their light groans breaking the thick silence that hung in the room. One by one each teenager managed to return to a standing position, with Yumi finally helping to pull Ulrich up after Odd got off of him.
Aelita finally tore her gaze away from Jeremie to regard each of the new intruders. Odd smiled sheepishly as her gaze settled on him and quipped "You should have joined in the pile. Nothing like a group activity to make a person feel better." When her frown became even more severe he muttered "yeash, tough crowd." Yumi and Ulrich both slapped him and Aelita almost smiled.
"Ma Vamhan?" Jeremie asked tentatively, mispronouncing the word.
Aelita's focus returned to him with enough intensity to bore a hole through him.
"What I saw in that building was the strongest woman I know, stronger than I can even imagine, doing what she had to in order to survive. There was nothing humiliating about that. It doesn't diminish you, your strength, your character, your soul. All the things I fell in love with about you, they're still there, I can still see them in you. Maybe, if you'll let me, I can help you see them in yourself again."
She nodded, her expression having softened considerably from what it looked like when Jeremie had started his plea. Sighing, she turned away and walked to her bed. Sitting down she looked back at the gathered group. "I'd like to be alone, if you don't mind."
All of them began to file through the door, shuffling slowly out to avoid making another scene.
"Jeremie?" He stopped and turned around, as did Yumi. "You can stay."
Yumi smiled encouragingly at Jeremie and lightly squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
"This isn't going to be easy." She said after a few minutes of mostly comfortable silence.
"But we can recover." Jeremie replied with renewed confidence.
Patrick had often complained of the bureaucratic red tape that surrounded his paperwork, but he'd become so used to filling it out that he wasn't quite sure what to do in his spare time. He closed his eyes and remembered hearing the horn being blown from the Skidbladnir, and his hesitation to leave a tame werewolf to fend for itself in slaver territory. But the sun was beginning to rise, and he'd seen Odd in the beast's place.
It came as a shock in more than one way. Patrick's mouth had dried up considerably upon the revelations that came with the morning sun. But they'd sprinted back to the Skid together, with the magistrate providing modesty. However, after returning to the ship, the boys hadn't spoken but perhaps five words to one another.
Sam entered the room, leaning against the frame. "I guess you know, huh? How much did he tell you?" She asked.
"Nothing. Not even, 'I can explain'." Patrick said, sitting up on his bed.
"Well, maybe I can drag dark into light." The elven girl said. She spoke plainly about her time as a vampire's slave, and how one day they'd brought her Odd and demanded that she turn him. She skipped over their relationship, focused more on their escape and explained that when the two parted, they both believed that the wolf was bound to them and they could control it. "But I was a werewolf for a long time before Odd came to me. Perhaps this made me too confident. I, like Odd, remained blind to the reality that we are bound to the wolf."
"So, what are you saying? Odd isn't in control?" The magistrate asked.
"I don't know. Seeing him with you… he managed to fight the urges given to him by the wolf. I… have never heard of someone fighting back the wolf."
"Does he even want to be cured?"
"Probably not. He doesn't need to sleep as much, he can eat as much as he wants, he's faster, stronger and more agile and in his beast form he can kill a group of six men single-handedly. Odd's stupid, but he isn't a fool." Sam looked to the side. "Anyone who has been connected to the wolf would never give up that kind of power. Every single one of them thinks that they can conquer it." She simply shrugged. "Maybe with you, he could. I understand that dominating the inner wolf comes with perks."
Patrick half-laughed. "What kind of perks are we talking about here?"
Sam shrugged again. "What do I know? I lost control, remember? I lost myself." She closed the door behind her, and Patrick looked at it for a while. He didn't know what he expected; that Odd would walk in or that he would gather the courage to walk out. He took his silver rapier from the ornate sheathe and held it in his hands. Everything that he'd been taught said that werewolves were monsters and could not be trusted. But he knew Odd, and he liked Odd.
And Yumi. Something was off about Yumi as well, but he couldn't place it. She had a serious, cold aura about her and it rose the hairs on the back of his neck. But she was a kind person who cared about her friends. If she was involved in something sinisterly regarded, was it right to judge them for it? Could he be the police of the mortals if his heart was plagued by such doubt? Patrick stood shakily and locked his door. He could not emerge and risk facing the others without major introspection.