The Living Dead

Chapter 19

The shiner's name was Flux. His light was multicolored, just like Photos Glow-Glow.

He was also just as annoying as him.

Perhaps he and Zap combined.

He whined constantly. The cake they fed him was too dry. The chicken was cold. Did he have to travel with a child? And why was the child so loud? What sort of name was Kent anyhow? And why would they ever let an Overlander lead their nation? It made no sense. And a woman as the head of their military? Disgusting. Humans were just completely disgusting.

Perdita was actively ignoring the shiner, though he was bothering everyone else. Only Dorian refrained from letting it show. He would constantly speak to Flux, though that only led to taunts and insinuations. Kent was the most vocal with his hatred of the shiner, though Gregor reprimanded him for it many times. Sure, Flux was annoying, but without him, they were all dead.

Having already planned it out, Perdita immediately put them into rotations for who was on watch and when the time to eat would occur. Kent was most dismayed to find that most of the sweets were meant for the shiner, who only acted upon them with disdain. Still, he knew to follow Perdita's directions and did not argue…much.

Most of the first day Gregor spent talking to Nike. She was quickly brought back to her playful mood and they spoke on many things. She wanted to know how his coronation had gone, as well as the reception. Then she told him of the things she had been doing since they last saw each other, which included a visit to see her mother. Queen Athena was getting up there in her years and had informed Nike that she planed to abdicate the her position before long, leaving it to her. Essentially, they were both suddenly in the same boat, figuratively and literally.

Dorian kept himself busy by organizing and reorganizing his pack of medical supplies. He seemed to be very…obsessive. He mostly just ignored the others except for when Perdita would speak to him. Gregor tried to start a few dialogues with him, but he did not seem interested. Other than his bond, he mostly ignored everyone that first day, which was great. The less contact they all had with one another, the less chance of a problem arising.

During Gregor's watch some odd hours later, they let Flux rest, knowing that Gregor's echolocation could keep them mostly safe. Kent was tired and fell asleep almost immediately. They had been in the boat for about ten or so hours then and he was bored. No one would talk to him really other than the fliers and he was dying of inactivity.

Dorian was sleeping as well then, knowing that his watch was right after Gregor's. The King had a bad feeling, however, that sleep would be hard for him to find and he would be awake for most all the hours on the boat. After how the ship portion of the Prophecy of Bane ended, Gregor was taking no chances.

It was pitch black in the darkness without Flux's help. Gregor just sat with his back against one of the sides, clicking randomly, keeping his eyes shut. Nike and Andromeda were flying around, fishing, but no one else seemed to be up.

Click.

He wondered what Luxa was doing at that moment. Probably thinking about him. Maybe. Or fretting over Barrett…sigh. He hoped not. He hoped that she was fine and just taking care of Zander or something. He knew though that she was probably just as stressed as she always was.

Click.

York probably wasn't helping the situation either. He always tried his hardest to protect his family, but he usually ended up flopping. The drinking was a huge factor in everything York did.

Click.

And with Susannah sick, York was probably drinking even more, which would only annoy his wife more. And then Luxa would become annoyed that they were fighting and would just want them both gone.

Click.

Then there was the whole Stellovet situation.

Click.

That was probably always going to stress her out. Stellovet was a horrible, horrible person to Luxa, just like she was back. There was no love lost between them and it was probably going to stay that way forever.

Click.

And at least his family would get back home. Their visit had actually been pretty good. Except for the whole Lizzie versus Hero showdown, which pretty much sucked. From that point forth, Gregor was going to have to keep his sister away from Matthias. Shouldn't be that hard. Hopefully.

Click.

Maybe Luxa might even find out something about Ripred while he was gone. Get some sort of message from the old gnawer. It would be nice to at least get that off their minds. They had so much going on as it was.

Click.

What was up with Barrett suddenly jumping on his side about Henry anyhow? Could he have really heard those gnawers say something about it? If so, then what did it all mean?

Click.

Or was he just trying to mess with Gregor's head? That seemed just as likely. He knew that Gregor had been worried about the Henry situation for awhile and probably thought he could psych him out some before his wedding.

Click.

Why had he thought that it was a good idea to leave Barrett alone with his-

Click.

Gregor opened his eyes even though it was useless, though the sound had surprised him. It only took a moment to place it though. Not far from him, sitting with her back against the other wall, was Perdita.

"I do not understand," she told him in the darkness then. "I did what you do and I still cannot see a thing."

That made Gregor smile before shifting slightly. "It takes practice. It is not just clicking. It is-"

"I believe at times that you are merely good at hearing sounds."

"What do you mean?"

"You hear the movements. You are good a predicting the way something in the darkens will go. Echolocation is impossible to learn. Think of all those who have lost their sight; yet they do not pick up your ability. Do they?"

"It was just a lot of practice, Perdita."

"Hn."

"Just because you don't understand it or are not able to do it does not mean that it is not real." He shook his head slightly. "You sound like Solovet."

He knew that would make her happy, though he had no proof of the fact, as it was too dark to tell. Still, being tied to Solovet was always something that she enjoyed.

"You think that we're going to find anything out?" Gregor asked Perdita after a few moments. "Anything you don't already know?"

"I am not sure," she told him softly then. "I mostly just hope that if something is wrong, that we do not run into any true trouble. You are still recovering, my dominate hand is broken. Our hope lies in our fliers, who we are not even bonded to. It is quite the situation."

"We chose it."

"Mostly you."

He made a face. "What did you want, Perdita? The last time you went out with soldiers, you came back with a broken arm. Who else were you going to take? Barrett's out and Luxa's pregnant. Not to mention you and Mareth can't go two minutes without fighting. I was the last one you had."

That got her quiet for a moment or two. The only sound was the Waterway, lapping against the boat. Slowly, Perdita spoke.

"It is odd to think about."

"What is?"

"That this is where Mareth lost his leg. How Mareth lost his leg."

Gregor let out a slow breath. "Yeah, it is."

"He used to tell me about it a lot, when he first lost it," Perdita said softly then. "He was very depressed and all he could talk about was the journey. And Luxa did not come back, nor Aurora, he blamed himself. He was supposed to protect all of you."

"Luxa went on her own. She wasn't supposed to be there."

"What difference did it make then? He was alive and, as far as anyone knew, our queen wasn't. Then when Nerissa deemed that you were right in not killing the Bane, he thought that..."

"Thought what?"

She sighed. "That it was a wasted trip. What was the point of it then? For you to take the Bane to Ripred? Then, not soon after, you had to fight him again in the Prophecy of Time. He still became evil. Just as evil as he would have been otherwise. There was no hope."

Gregor snorted. "What hope is there in anything in the Underland?"

Suddenly, there was light and they both shut their eyes in shock. Flux was awake, his butt lighting up as he made his way over to the some of his pile of food. When they stopped squinting, Gregor and Perdita found themselves sitting across from one another, just staring. Then she looked off.

"Hope is a foolish word anyhow," Perdita told him softly then. "Most words are meaningless."

Rolling his eyes, he looked around them, taking in the dark water on all sides of the boat. Not a moment later, Nike landed next to him, apparently done with fishing for the day.

"It should be another's watch now," Nike told him as she perched above him on the side of the boat. "You are no doubt tired, Gregor. After yesterday."

"I'm fine," he told her as he glanced up. The day before felt like a long time passed. "Sleep is for the weak."

When Andromeda landed on the opposite side of the boat, it shook slightly, but did not flip. Gregor figured that the bats were kind of like birds on a telephone wire, virtually weightless.

"Remember that gnawer that accompanied us, Gregor?" Andromeda spoke up then. "During the Prophecy of Bane?"

"Twitchtip. She died."

Andromeda bowed her head slightly. "It is hard to find someone we knew in that time that is not."

She had a point. Sighing slightly, Gregor stood up, stretching slightly. His muscles were becoming tight.

"Awaken Dorian, Overlander," Perdita said then. "It is his turn."

"Why mess with him or Kent if both you and I are up? Besides, do you really trust them to keep watch?"

"Dorian is your elder, really," Perdita sighed. "And I never planned on giving Kent any sort of responsibility."

"I've never heard of him," Gregor said softly then. "Dorian. Is he-"

"I thought that perhaps if I took him on this trip, perhaps he could replace you or Mareth when we return. That Luxa would see him as worthy. She stressed to me that she wishes for…young generals."

Great. That's all Gregor needed. More guys like Barrett for Luxa to toy with. Perfect.

"She does not wish for anyone older. She says that she does not like the way that Mareth and I…judge her."

Gregor only glanced over at Dorian, who was still curled up in a ball, sleeping, some odd feet away from him.

"He doesn't talk much."

"I think that is what Luxa is looking for."

Gregor only shook his head slightly. "That's exactly what she's looking for."

Kent had to honestly be one of the most annoying teenagers ever in existence. He complained incessantly. About everything. Dorian ignored him completely and Perdita would randomly tell him to stop talking, but it was most Gregor that had to speak with him. Mainly because he kept starting conversations with him.

"You think that it is idiotic as well, huh, Gregor? Don't you?"

Gregor only sighed. "I guess, Kent. I-"

"Why should I have to constantly have my sister around? It is not fair. Father says-"

"Kent, just chill out some, alright?" Gregor had heard at least a thousand times how annoyed Kent was about Hero hanging off him whenever they were together. Gregor could tell though, even through his tense voice, that Kent missed his twin. He had to have. That was all he had talked about for hours.

So they sat in silence again. Perdita, who was sitting over near Flux, listening to him complain, glanced over at them before shaking her head. Dorian was busy reorganizing his things again which, honestly was beginning to get on Gregor's nerves.

"I am bored," Kent said some time later for the hundredth time.

"Kent," Gregor groaned. "You knew this was how it would be."

"I did not. I thought it would be fun. It sounded fun, riding on a boat, being with you. But it is not."

"You have to figured out mind games to play with yourself."

"Such as?"

"I don't know, Kent. I-"

"What do you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think about? While we are here?"

Gregor was sharpening his sword against a stone Perdita had given him at that moment and had to look up at that. Then, after a moment, he said simply, "I've been thinking about lot about my family."

He made a noise at that. "That is what you are thinking of? All the great things you have done and you are thinking of, what? Your sisters? My cousin?"

"Family is very important, Kent," he told him with a frown. "I know you think that it's embarrassing, but they're all that you've got. Luxa, my sister, Zander, my mother. That's the only reason I do all this. To keep them safe."

Kent snorted. "If I were you, I would use this all to my advantage. All the good things I have done. Everyone would love me. They would-"

"No, Kent," Gregor sighed. "They don't."

"Yes, they would. They-"

"People are very simple. We venerate the people that do good. Then we sit around and wait for them to fail so that we can incinerate them."

The hours were long. Flux was rather inconsiderate and would not keep to Perdita's schedule. They were in darkness a lot. And even though it could have been cured with a simple second shiner, Gregor was glad there was not one. Kent was bad enough. Listening to two shiners arguing would have killed Gregor.

"We hit a whirlpool at one point," Andromeda said randomly. "And serpents. Gregor got some wounds from a horrible, tentacle monster. And those mites…do you think we will pass that island, Perdita?"

She was looking over a map then, a small one that she had take along with them. Glancing up, she said, "No. At least it is not the plan."

Dorian nodded at them. "I am well-versed in water travel. We are on course. That is not to say that we shall not encounter those other things. Water creatures and such."

"I hope we run into some of those," Kent said then, jumping up at the thought. Drawing his blade, he slashed at the air making Gregor frown. "It shall make a great tale."

Rhea laughed in that creepy flier way. "You are your father, Kent. He and I used to volunteer for the most tedious of things, just in the hope that we would run into trouble. It was a most excitable time…of course, then he married Susannah. And she became pregnant. And then we could not do as much…"

Gregor rolled his eyes. "It isn't all about glory, Kent. And you shouldn't wish for something like that. If we were to encounter something before we got to our destination and our vessel capsized, then what?"

"I have planned for this," Perdita assured them all then. "I have mapped out all of the known, safe landing sights for the fliers to head should something happen. I have gone over it with them all. And on my map, I have-"

"Alright, Perdita," Gregor sighed. "We know that you have this planned out. We're not doubting you. I'm just telling Kent that it's not something to be happy about. At all."

He just slashed his sword again. "Right. Okay, Gregor."

"I'm serious, Kent. Have you ever even killed something before?"

That made him pause before shaking his head. "No."

"Then you have no idea what you'll feel about it. Now sit down and behave. God, you're like taking care of a child."

That pissed Kent off, obviously, as the last thing any childish person wants is for another to point that quality out. He headed off to the far side of the boat, over by Aether, who only ignored the teen. Gregor rolled his eyes while Perdita sighed. Dorian was the one that spoke though.

"I have only killed a few," he mentioned then. "Men. The banished. And it was not enjoyable."

"It never should be," Gregor said, though the words sounded hallow coming from him. Fake. Had he not enjoyed Vlad's death? Shaking his head then, he said, "And the point of this trip isn't to kill anything. It's to make sure that all the scouts are okay and have not been compromised. Anything else is out of the question."

"Less we find Henry," Perdita said, almost offhandedly. She had an innocent tone though and Gregor wondered if she was really mocking him or was being literal.

"Or the Reclaimer," he responded evenly. If she had been taunting him, it would almost be like he was back. If not, then he was only furthering the conversation. "Right?"

She nodded at that. So she wasn't mocking. Huh. "Yes. Or whatever other force we shall find here. If Luxa was not so insistent that my scouts are corrupt, I would not even be wasting light on this. Yet she has decided it is so and it is my job to seek them out. Solovet would have never had such a thing happen to her."

"Solovet's dead," Gregor told her then, almost dryly. "You are not. Never forget it."

"Perhaps not," Nike spoke up then. "If Henry can be brought back, why not Solovet? Overlander?"

Rolling his eyes, Gregor said, "If Solovet was not dead, she would have shown up at the palace by now, demanding her job back, part of the Living Dead or not. And there's no way she'd ever be working with the gnawers."

"I would give it to her," Perdita said softly then. "Her job. If she came back."

"And there in lies the problem," Gregor mumbled. "You know, Solovet wasn't that great of a person. She did kind of end up poisoning the entire Underland."

"She did not know about-"

"She most certainly ordered that, Perdita, and you know it."

She sat there for a moment before shaking her head. "Even if she did order it to be made, it was not her intentions to spread it in such a way. That woman, Dr. Neveeve, is the one that-"

"You can not be serious."

"She is the one that made the mistake. Solovet only wished to protect us. In case the gnawers got too powerful. It was merely a precaution. It-"

"Neveeve was a scared, frail woman. Solovet used her and then threw her to the wolves when-"

"Enough, Overlander. I am tired of you all saying these things. You constantly say horrid things about Solovet that you all know you were too cowardly to say while she lived."

"Yeah, Perdita, 'cause she would have killed us all for it!"

He was getting under her skin at that point, he could tell, but he didn't care. He was tired of all the Solovet love. She was a horrible woman. Just because someone does some good, it does not exonerate them from the evil they do. And Solovet was evil. Very, very evil.

"You say these things, but you know as well as I that she is the only salvation that Regalia had, time and time again. She-"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes!"

"Was she salvation to Luxa? She screwed her up. Badly. And none of her other grandchildren even like her-"

"That is a lie. Kent told me-"

"Kent will tell you anything to have sex with you!"

"Hey!" Kent called from where he was sitting while Dorian only stood and walked away from them slightly.

"I have had enough of you, Overlander," Perdita said, blushing deeply then. Flux had even stopped his complaining to listen, interested in someone else's arguing. "I do not care if you are my king now or not. You are not going to-"

"What about the fact that none of her own kids like her, Perdita?" Gregor was trying to separate himself from his last comment. It had been out of line, he would admit that, and also derailed the conversation to something he wanted to know absolutely nothing about. Seriously. Nothing. Ever. "She ostracized them all. Hamnet would not even return home after the last thing she did to him. She-"

"Hamnet made his own choices. Solovet merely-"

"Solovet was the one that told him to break the dyke if anything happened. She was the one that sent him out to take back a gift, Perdita. It was her fault. All her fault. She was bloodthirsty and-"

"Stop it! You have no idea what you are-"

"What I'm talking about? Seriously? Ripred told me all about it. He-"

"A gnawer? You believe a gnawer?" She snorted, looking off. "Then you are the foolish one. Solovet-"

"You're going to just glance over the fact that she made her son kill innocent-"

"Gnawers? There is no innocent gnawer. They-"

"People too, Perdita! It's her fault that Hamnet killed all those people. That fliers and humans died. That that place is now underwater. Not Hamnet's. Hers. And she knew it. You know it as well."

"I-"

"Her fault. No one else's."

Perdita got up then and walked away from him as well, going over to where Kent was sitting. That was more because the other options were Dorian or Flux. Andromeda flew off as well, though she only went to land near Perdita and Kent, saying nothing to him.

Great. So Gregor was the bad guy again. Awesome. And just for telling the truth. Amazing. What else was new?

No one ever wanted to hear the truth. Ever. They always wanted to live in fake, little worlds where only good things about them and their loved ones were mentioned. Well, not everyone was a good person. And Gregor never made it a habit of speaking ill of the dead, but sometimes it just couldn't be helped.

Solovet was not someone to revere. She was not even someone he liked to think about. Ever. And he hoped he never had to again any time soon.

Gregor was laying on his belly, dosed in blue light from Flux's butt, trying to fall asleep. It was proving difficult, like he knew it would, as he couldn't quit worrying. The Waterway was a dangerous place. Especially where they were. Perdita could plan as much as she wished, but it would never save them from all the troubles they might encounter on the waters.

No one was talking much. Even Nike was keeping to herself. She did try and get Aether to speak with her a few times, no doubt wanting to get to know him. He kept to himself as much as his bond though and only acted humbled to be able to accompany his future queen on a journey.

Kent, Perdita, and even Andromeda kept their distance from Gregor then. Only Rhea and Nike spoke to him, and really, only Nike. Rhea was just like York and needed everyone to like her. She was only trying to keep Gregor from being upset with her too.

No, not too. Because he wasn't upset with Perdita. Not really. Maybe a little at Kent for being so annoying, but not even really him. And definitely not Andromeda. They were just the ones that were miffed at him. Over nothing. So what? A dead woman wasn't his idol. They could get over it.

So, as he laid there, to lull himself to sleep he thought some on the prophecies that might or not be befalling them at that moment. One line in particular stuck with him.

Lies form greed leading to duplicity

It is only once it is over that we can see

Greed could be talking about anyone, really, about anything. And duplicity? He wasn't even one hundred percent certain what that meant. Greed though was probably the driving factor of everyone in the Underland.

Still, it was kind of catchy. And the way Nerissa said it was almost sing-songy.

Nerissa. He hadn't even told Nerissa goodbye. Or even seen her on his wedding day. It would have been too much for her to be at his coronation or anything like that, so she hadn't come.

Sigh. He'd have to spend some time with her when he got back, he figured. He was just busy constantly all the time. It was hard to remember to spend time with her.

But had that not been their mistake with Vikus?

The Reclaimer prophecy was too hard for Gregor to remember then, as he drifted off. The only reason Nerissa's one did was because it had that repeating line.

Duplicity.

Duplicity.

He missed Luxa. Missions weren't the same without her. It was how they got together, anyhow, going out on quests together and such. And now that he was the King and she was the Queen, they could more or less kiss that part of their lives goodbye. There was no way they could both be away from Regalia for very long.

Not to mention the fact that they had kids. Zander had never interfered with anything, but that was more or less because nothing had come up in the past few months. Still, with him in the mix, they had no chance of doing anything that involved leaving him behind. And when the new baby came, it would be even worse.

"Reminds me of the first trip."

Gregor didn't open his eyes as Andromeda landed on the side of the boat near him. "What do you mean?"

"Open your eyes, Overlander. There is an island."

That made him sit up slightly. "What?"

"Calm yourself, then, I said I had this entire thing planned in full, did I not?" Perdita wasn't looking at him, only sitting next to Kent while staring down at her map. "We have explored this tiny island before. It is nothing more than a small land mass. Nothing much lives there at all."

"It is too bad," Dorian remarked. "It would have been nice to hunt something. The shiner is eating all of our food, after all."

"All of your food?" Flux raved. "I was promised-"

"Yeah, yeah, and you're getting what you were promised, so shut up." Gregor shut his eyes again. "All of you just shut up. No one's going to the stupid island and we're going to just pass by it."

"I am so glad that you are able to help us through this time, Overlander."

"King. I am your king now, Perdita. Do not forget it."

She must still have been mad at him. Oh well. Life would go on. He knew the second she ran into any trouble, it would be him that she fell back on and everything would be fixed. Not to mention, by the time they got to Regalia, she'd be so focused on the problems between her and Mareth that Gregor would fade into oblivion in her mind.

He fell asleep after that for some time. When he awoke, he was on his back, staring up at darkness above him. Flux was casting a red light at that point and it wasn't really helping see anything at all.

Pushing into a sitting position, Gregor looked around, his eyes falling first to Kent, who was hanging over the side of the boat, vomiting, then to Dorian who was caring for him. Perdita was nowhere to be found.

"What's going on?" Gregor asked, glancing at the bats. Andromeda was missing. "Guys?"

"Kent is seasick," Dorian explained as he crouched over next to the teen, patting him on the back while he was at it. "Which is quite funny. I would think that all from the Fount were good at boating and such, but apparently not. He-"

"With Perdita," Gregor clarified. "What is going on with Perdita? Where is she?"

"Oh." Dorian looked up at that. "Andromeda took her inland. We passed another part of land that she claimed there was a scout in. We have not gone far from where-"

"What?" Gregor groaned, jumping up then. "Why did no one wake me?"

"With the way that you snore? I tried, but they would not let me," Flux commented as Kent slowly backed away from the side of the boat, falling down on his butt with a groan.

"I want to go home."

Ignoring him, Gregor looked to Nike. "You should have woken me. The whole point of me going on this trip was to protect her."

"The point of you going on this trip was to escape your responsibilities," Rhea corrected. "But that is beside the point."

"I thought to wake you, but Perdita insisted that you must sleep. That this stop was not the reason that you have come. That either of us have come," Nike told him.

"Perdita is our commanding officer," Dorian explained as he went over to his bag, digging through it before revealing some sort of a bottle. Handing it off to Kent, he had him take a sip before saying, "She is the top general of the military. The head of the military. If she tells us not to do something, we do not do it."

Kent only moaned, curling up into a ball then. "This was a horrible trip."

"And now you remind me of your mother," Rhea remarked with disdain. "What would your father say, Kent, if he-"

"My father is a drunk and is probably just as miserable on outings because he cannot drink. You will not convince me otherwise."

"Do you know where Perdita headed off to?" Gregor asked Nike. "Do you think-"

"They left some time ago, with instructions to come after her if she did not return within two hours. I think that if you and I went after them, it would only lead to something bad happening." Nike shook her head. "I promised Luxa that-"

"Ugh." Gregor looked around then before his eyes fell on Aether. "Do you know which way they went?"

The male flier paused before saying slowly, "If my princess says that we are not to leave the boat, then we are not to-"

"Great. Just great." Gregor let out a loud huff then. "Why did we not go inland then, and moor the boat or whatever? I mean-"

"This is how Perdita planned it," Nike told him. "I thought that you went over the plans with her?"

"Well…" He had listened when Luxa explained the path, but the actual planning had kinda been something he just tuned out on. It wasn't on purpose. It just bored him. To tears. "I just think this was a bad plan from the start."

"You signed off on it," Rhea reasoned. "You are the King and decided to go along with it. Do not get upset now."

At that moment, he was finally, finally, annoyed with them all and went to go sit back down and stew. He had been nice, coming on the stupid adventure, and now he was getting treated like crap.

"Rest now then, Kent," Dorian was telling the younger man softly. "You shall feel better soon enough. We are too far back for your bond to take you back to the capital."

"Father's bond."

Dorian ignored that. "By the time General Perdita gets back, you shall be better. Just take deep breaths, slow breaths."

Groaning, Gregor looked over at the boy. "Are you just seasick or are you truly ill, Kent?"

"I do not know," he grumbled. "I just feel horrible."

"Well, I know it sucks, but you're going to have to man up for a while, buddy," Gregor told him with a shake of his head. "Sometimes life is just that way. You wanted to be a solider and play hero; now you're going to have to."

It felt like forever and a day, the seconds passing slower and slower as they went along. Dorian tended to the boat as well as Kent while Flux spent his time stuffing his face and complaining that some of the food was starting to go bad.

Hell. Gregor was in Hell.

At least it explained the red light.

Needless to say, when Perdita and Andromeda showed up, Gregor had more than a few words for them. Unfortunately, neither seemed to concerned with him.

"What were you thinking? I mean, seriously? I should have gone with you. I get that you're mad at me because I said that stuff about stupid Solovet, but-"

Perdita did not even look at him as she landed in the boat. She only went to stand behind Dorian, who was bent over Kent, checking him for a fever.

"What is this then?"

"Nothing contagious, I hope," Andromeda murmured as settled on the side of the vessel. "Else we will have to throw him overboard."

"What?"

"She is make a joke, merely," Dorian assured the teen. "And no, it is not contagious. He is only seasick, it appears."

"Seasick?" Perdita snorted. "That is not something that he should fear. We have no sea. That is an Overland thing."

"Yes, well, he is Waterway sick. Do you prefer that better?" When Dorian glanced up at her, he bit his tongue. Then he bowed his head. "Forgive me. I am merely-"

"At ease." Perdita sighed then before walking away from Kent. "I should have expected nothing less than for him to get sick. It is never advisable to travel with a child."

"I am not a child," Kent growled, though he did not move from his hunched over spot on the ground. "I am an adult."

"Are we just going to ignore, then, the fact that you took off?" Gregor asked then. He wanted Kent to feel better, fine, but he did not find it as the most important topic of the moment. "You-"

"There is nothing to discuss, Overlander," Perdita told him as she went over to the pile of food. Flux was making his way through it quite nicely. He was suspicious of her as she took some rolls out before going to distribute them among the other passengers. Gregor only glared as she gave him his, but she moved right along to Kent and Dorian.

"There is much to discuss, Perdita. You have a broken arm. You have no business-"

"And I was atop a flier. There was no way that-"

"Do you not get how that was dangerous? I mean, God, you're getting angry with me when I am only trying to protect-"

"There is nothing to protect! I am the head of the military. I can protect myself. I am tired of you and Mareth trying to control my life. I am not a child. In fact, not a week ago I was in control of your life, so perhaps-"

"There is nothing worse than humans fighting," Flux remarked to no one, flashing a bright white light then. Kent squinted his eyes before just shutting them and rolling over to face the wall of the boat nearest to him. "Such a vicious species."

"You're serious," Gregor said slowly, turning his glare onto the shiner. "Aren't you? You seriously think that-"

"Do not fight with our friend, Overlander," Perdita told him then. Though her tone was still pinched, she was speaking softer. Clearly she was wanting to placate the shiner.

"Such a rude man to be a king," Flux remarked with a shake of his head. "There is no consideration these days, to who one puts into power. No consideration at all. Just because you choose them as a mate does not mean they should be able to control an entire city. Disgusting practices. All humans have are disgusting practices."

"You know what? I-"

"Gregor." Nike was speaking softly, gently to him then. Almost unheard. Like a conscious or something. He was breathing heavily, ready to rip the stupid shiner to threads. He felt... full of rage. Bloodlust, maybe. It had been months, after all. "Take a breath. It is not that important. None of it is. Perdita got back alright and the next stop, we shall accompany her. I promise."

Then, just like that, everything went black. Everyone panicked for half a moment before Flux spoke.

"Welp," he announced loudly through the darkness. "It is time for my nap."

"But the schedule-" Perdita tried to argue, though Flux just ignored her.

"Be safe in the darkness, children, until I decide to share my light once more," he told them all, almost in a dark manner. "I know I shall be."

If there was anything worse than being stuck on a boat with a shiner, it was relying on one.