Meru huffed and crossed her arms.

"Why can't I leave?" she asked as furiously as possible.

"You know why," replied her father somberly.

"Ugh!" said Meru, stomping her foot. "I'm tired of being cooped up in here! I'm going to go crazy, and so are all of you, but you won't listen to me!" She pointed at them angrily.

"Meru, you have so much here," inserted her mother, reaching out to place her hand on Meru's face. "Your family is here. Your future is here."

Meru slapped the hand away. "I don't want to get married if it means I'm stuck here forever!"

"Don't you love him?" asked her father.

"Of course I do!" exclaimed Meru even as her voice began to choke in her throat. Tears poked at her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. "Don't you see my problem? I'm tormented because I don't belong here, but I don't want to leave you! So much of me needs to see what's outside this village, and I'm suffocating. But everyone I love is here. How do I choose which part of me I want more?" The tears fell, and she bit her lip to keep it from quivering.

"Think of what could happen if you left," reasoned her father, always the irritatingly reasonable one. "You could die out there. Here, you will survive with us."

"I don't want to survive!" she yelled. "I want to live!"

He stood, trying to be as menacing as possible.

"Meru, if you leave this village, you will never be able to come back. All that you love, you will abandon. You will cease to exist in our world, and you can never return to it. You will no longer be my daughter."

Meru blinked, sure her eyes were already red and puffy; that happened so quickly whenever she cried. It used to affect her father like nothing else could. When she was a child, he would cave to her every desire if only she could muster up a few tears. Now, his heart was hard as stone. There would be no moving it.

Meru's mind was in a thousand places at once. On the one hand, she wanted to jump in the water and swim a few laps around the ship, so excited she was to be here. On the other hand, she wanted to stay put in their tiny cabin downstairs for the entire duration of the trip. She had just spent an entire week on the road with these crazy dragoons, and she wanted some space. But who was she kidding? She loved them. She couldn't stay away long.

Although they had already had a grand tour, she made it her mission to see every last nook and cranny of the Queen Fury before the day was over, and she got right to work.

To her delight, Nova had taken a liking to her and followed her everywhere she went. She scoured the decks, crept into the engine room and even found her way into the giant coal storage containers. Then going below deck, she peeked into the kitchen where four people were standing and talking before poking her head into the library where Albert was reading. The sleeping quarters were no mystery to her, and so she abandoned that pursuit early and made her way back up to the deck, where she found Shana watching the ocean.

But then she saw Haschel, and she quickly ran over to him to convince him to hang out with her.

"What do you have planned for this 'adventure'?" he asked.

"You like boats, right?"

"Yes, I do. I come from a town that—"

"So tell me about this one!" she insisted.

"What do you want to know? Also, it's a ship."

"What's this?" she pointed to a coiled rope that lay next to them.

He grinned. "It's a rope, genius."

Rolling her eyes, she turned and pointed instead to a rope that dangled from a part of the mast, and Haschel explained that pulling it would unfurl the sails.

"Why have sails if you have an engine?" she asked.

"What if the engine breaks?" Haschel pointed out.

She laughed. "The engine won't break. Have you seen that thing?"

"Yeah, we were all there on the tour."

"No, come with me, I'll show you! The special Meru inside look."

She urged him down into the engine room, where she invented her own explanations for what was going on.

"This is where they add the coal, as you can see," she said. "You have to be careful that it doesn't get above a certain temperature, or else the engine could explode. And if it gets too cold, it'll freeze over and we'll all die."

"That so?"

"And over here is where the hot part of the fire goes through to make that gear move around, and then it makes that thing spin. It's kind of like a giant hamster wheel, and then that hamster wheel makes that hamster wheel move the big spinny things outside that make us go forward."

"You do know that I was literally standing right there—" he pointed about ten feet away "—when Commodore Puler told us exactly how steam engines work?"

"Shh," said Meru, placing her finger over Haschel's mouth. His moustache was itchy. "That doesn't matter right now."

"So, is this your whole adventure? Running around the ship and making stuff up as you go?"

"And what's wrong with that?"

Haschel shrugged. "Nothing, I suppose."

"Want me to ask you more questions?"

"If… you want?"

"Yay!" She jumped twice. "Let's go back outside."

She rushed off toward the door and began climbing the stairs. Once they were back on the deck, she began asking him more questions, though she made sure to make them more in depth than before. While he was happy to answer at first, it became clear that his interest in teaching her was waning.

"How about we go play cards downstairs?" she offered.

"I'm decent at cards," agreed Haschel.

As it turned out, he was more than decent. Three straight games, Meru lost with utmost embarrassment. After her second loss, even Nova had decided that she had better things to do and trotted over toward the break room off to their left. Once she had been firmly decimated for a third time, Meru's irritation forced her to spring up and rush back outside, dragging Haschel with her.

Upon reaching the deck, Haschel's entertainment factor had waned so much that Meru wasn't sure that she could stand being around him anymore. If he couldn't think of fun things to do, she would find someone who would.

Opportunity itself graced her with its presence as a crash sounded out across the deck. Meru whipped her head around to see a frustrated crewmember gawking at about fifteen leveled crates. Kongol appeared just beyond them and spoke softly to the woman, who nodded in turn, and then he began lifting the crates and stacking them. The intrigue of watching Kongol do hard labor was too much for Meru, and she abandoned Haschel in favor of the earth dragoon.

Without any resistance, it seemed, Kongol lifted the heavy crates and placed them wherever the woman pointed. Some of them hit the deck with such a heavy thud that Meru raised an eyebrow, and after a moment she stepped up to try to lift one. She struggled for a moment before deciding that it was useless, and then gawked once more at Kongol lifting it as if it weighed as little as she did.

"Gee, big guy," she commented. "You're somehow even stronger than you look."

"Thank you," he replied simply before lifting the last crate.

He placed it on top of another, making sure to keep the stacks only two crates high at the orders of the woman beside them.

"Thank you so much," gushed the woman. "Lifting even one of these crates can get too difficult for me sometimes. Most of us can only move them with the dolly."

"It's no problem," he replied.

"I can see that," she muttered.

"He once lifted me straight up into a ceiling like it was nothing!" said Meru proudly.

"Impressive!" she agreed. Then her eyes flitted over to where Haschel had been standing, and leaned in to say, "That guy you were hanging out with… what's his deal?"

"Haschel?"

The woman nodded.

"What do you mean?" asked Meru.

"Is he married?"

"Uh, I don't think so. He told me his wife died, I think."

"I see," the woman replied, her eyes glazed and afar off for a moment. And was that a hint of intrigue?

Grinning, Meru patted the woman on the shoulder. "He's a great guy, even if he's weird," she assured. "Isn't that right, Kongol?"

Kongol hesitated and then nodded slowly.

"Well, we're off! See you later!" urged Meru, grabbing Kongol's hand and pulling him away.

"What is this?" he asked, stopping in place about twenty feet away from the crates. Despite her efforts, Meru could not budge him any farther.

"I wanna hang out!" she said, grinning and swinging her arms back and forth.

"What do you want to do?" asked Kongol, head cocked slightly to the side.

"Umm…" Meru put a finger on her mouth as she considered. "I know! You're really strong, so let's go over there and then see how far you can throw me across the ship!" She pointed to the stern and moved her finger in an arc over to the bow.

"I do not believe that would be a good idea," remarked Kongol, folding his arms.

"Aw, come on!" protested Meru, bouncing up and down on her toes. "It wouldn't hurt!"

"I really believe that it would."

Meru sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to do?"

Kongol paused and then headed toward the stern deck. "Follow me," he said.

She followed him up the short set of stairs until he came to a standstill by the railing. Glancing to her left, Meru saw Shana where she had been standing before, though she appeared to be paying little attention to anything around her.

"So… what do we do here?" asked Meru.

"Sit with me," commanded Kongol, and he sat, legs crossed, eyes watching the ocean.

Pursing her lips in frustration, Meru obliged and mimicked him, sitting down and looking out at the vast expanse of blue before her.

"Now what?"

"You are always moving," explained Kongol. "It's as if your life is in a constant battle. Sometimes, I wonder if it really is. But something you have forgotten to do is taking time to sit. Just listen. Just exist. Hear what nature is speaking to you."

"Nature doesn't talk," derided Meru. "And I listen plenty!"

"You listen to people. There are other things to listen to."

"Like what?"

Reaching over, Kongol placed a gentle hand under Meru's chin and turned her face toward the ocean.

"Listen," he commanded once more before removing his hand.

She rolled her eyes, but she settled into her spot and paid attention. Or at least, she tried. As she fought to shut off the sounds of her own mind, all the noises around her caught her off guard. Shouts and other conversations could be heard across the deck as the crew worked. The low rumble of the engine sounded beneath them. If she strained a little bit, she could hear the scraping rhythm of the workers shoveling coal. The ocean, too, beat against the ship, letting her know that it was there in the mix.

"That's a lot of sounds," she mumbled, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Then tune some out," instructed Kongol. "Focus on one. Listen to the ocean."

She sighed.

Closing her eyes, she tried again to do what he asked. Tuning her ears to the water, she fought to ignore everything else, though it was much more difficult than she had anticipated. While the water sloughed against the side of the boat, a random flock of seagulls chittered over the water. Without thinking, she opened her eyes and strained to see them, white and flying high in search of their prey. Suddenly and with great sadness, she yearned to be out there with them. The freedom of flight called to her, and without warning, she felt trapped and stifled by her surroundings.

"It's not working!" she sighed dramatically. Then she fell over onto her side, letting her body flop and spread out onto the deck.

Kongol chuckled. "Very well," he said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.

"So I can go?"

He nodded.

"Yay!" she shouted as she leapt to her feet and ran off to the main deck.

She paused there, glancing around to find her next target. The only people around her were sailors, some tending to the cargo and some attending to the deck. One on the upper deck had a brush and was scrubbing particularly hard at something Meru could not see.

Turning her eyes toward the sky, she glanced around at what Haschel had pointed out were unfurled sails, saved for use except for when the engines failed or they ran out of fuel. Her eyes settled, however, on the towering crow's nest. Hanging high over her head, it was the closest thing to the sky. And there, just beyond… was that black hair?

"Hey!" she called. "Rose!"

The hair turned, but only slightly. Rose was ignoring her again.

Huffing and with a determined step, Meru marched up the stairs to the upper deck, nodded jerkily to the scrubbing sailor, and climbed the ladder. After setting foot on what was also the roof of the bridge, she turned left and started up the ladder that ran the height of the foremast, following it up past a little seating area to the crow's nest.

Tiny as it was, Meru found plenty of footing, and as she had suspected, Rose. She was staring off at the ocean, appearing completely ignorant of Meru's presence, though it would have been impossible not to hear her ascend.

"It's really high up here," said Meru, watching closely for the kind of response she would get.

"Yes, it is," replied Rose, but she did not turn her head.

Meru sighed. She understood that Rose was always like this – aloof, sad, irritable – but it always seemed to be more pronounced whenever Meru was involved in the conversation. From the very beginning, Rose had seemed to hate her, and Meru had no explanation for it. Sure, their personalities clashed a bit, but there must be more to it. And Meru was determined to find out what it was.

Stepping up to the railing, she looked down at the deck far below.

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you jumped off?" prodded Meru.

"Mm-hm," nodded Rose.

Was she serious? Or was she not paying attention?

"Would you stop me if I tried?" asked Meru.

Rose suddenly turned to look at her, and Meru smirked to appear merely mischievous. But Rose's eye was reprimanding rather than humoring. She almost seemed hesitant to answer for a moment.

Great, thought Meru. She hates me so much that she would let me plummet to my death.

"I wouldn't consider that a wise thing to try," said Rose finally.

"So you'd just let me leap off?"

"I didn't say that."

Meru sighed again and crossed her arms.

"Why do you hate me?" she demanded, unable to hold it in any longer.

"I don't hate you."

"You sure act like it all the time."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"Meru, if I really hated you, you would know it."

"Oh, so you've been being nice to me this whole time." Meru tried to imply as much sarcasm as possible.

"Stop taking everything so personally," spat Rose. "I've never been quick to trust. That part of me was broken long ago."

Meru paused, an eerie compassion creeping over her. But her question hadn't been answered.

"You still treat me differently than everybody else."

"You're an unknown."

"Unknown? You don't know me by now?"

Now it was Rose's turn to sigh, and she closed her eyes for a moment. A breeze picked up and ruffled her hair, tugging at the hem of her tunic. In that instant, Rose looked youthful, almost innocent, like a young girl waiting for her love to come whisk her away.

"When you decided to come with us in Donau," began Rose, "I was not a part of the decision. In fact, Shana and I were both completely left out of it. You were an unknown, something that could cause us many problems. For one, your hair color matches that of the two people we now pursue." Rose shot her a glance, and Meru fought to keep her face impassive. "Say what you will about that, but it was off-putting, to say the least. Had you been in league with them and merely mentioned our location to Lloyd or Lenus, everything could have fallen apart. So, yes, I was slow to trust you. Perhaps more so than the others."

"And now?"

"Now…" Rose paused and turned to face Meru. "I believe your intentions are genuine."

"That's… it?"

"What?"

"You went from, 'Gee, I hope she doesn't kill us in our sleep,' to, 'At least she isn't trying to kill us in our sleep.' How is that better?"

Rose furrowed her brow in confusion, crossing her arms and leaning against the railing.

"Meru, the people I've been traveling with for months have barely earned more than that."

"Earned?"

Meru scoffed and turned on her heel.

"I see," she said. "It's because I'm not a dragoon. I can't do fancy magic thingies and that means I'm not of any use."

"No—"

"Well, I'll show you!" exclaimed Meru, turning back around to point furiously at Rose. "I'll show you! I'll be useful even without magic!"

"Meru!"

Rose's voice adopted a dark tone, something Meru couldn't quite define, even as she stood straight and balled her fists. Whatever she had done, Meru froze in place, afraid of what might come next.

"You've already been useful," she continued, her voice back to normal, her body relaxing. "I see more than you know. Proving yourself is a useless venture."

"Does that mean you like me now?" asked Meru in a small voice.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," mumbled Rose, turning back to the ocean.

Even so, Meru grinned. She might not be able to fly, but Rose didn't think she was useless.

Meru spent the rest of that day running around and trying to get to know the crew. During lunch, she sat at a table with a bunch of people who had been working in the cargo hold, learning about their histories and homes. She was impressed to learn that one of them had been a farmer far southeast of Fletz before joining Tiberoa's military and ascending the ranks until she had earned a place on the best ship in the Tiberoan fleet. Another hailed from Donau, and yet another had emigrated from Mille Seseau just to become a sailor serving King Zior.

That evening, Meru found herself in the engine room again, fascinated by the workings of the furnaces and watching the gears turn. Such an invention must be the pinnacle of human technology, and she wondered if Tiberoa hoarded the secrets of such a device from other countries like Serdio and Mille Seseau. As far as she knew, she had never heard of engines powered by coal until reaching the Queen Fury. She found it a little odd that Albert had not spent an excessive amount of time in the engine room trying to decipher the secrets for himself.

Of course, the king was a little preoccupied with his feelings for Emille. Being distant from her was taking up a lot of his mental faculties, and she didn't blame him for spending time alone in the library.

Still, that was boring. With all the prospective things to do on a ship, he had decided to hide in a corner.

To her great surprise, Meru beat Shana to bed that night. She had expected Rose to stay up late, but Shana usually wound up in bed before the rest of them. Shrugging, she leapt into her top bunk and settled in, feeling at peace with the creaking of the ship around her.

The next morning, she awakened to an empty room. Deducing that Shana and Rose were simply not going to sleep well on a ship, she sprang up and raced to the mess hall for some breakfast. The meal was simple, and only a few short minutes later, Meru found herself, once again, with nothing to do.

She mulled over ideas of where she could go, but she had already felt as if everything had been done. What was left?

Wandering onto the deck, she found Haschel meditating on a barrel. The sight was quite comical, and she approached him as sneakily as she could before announcing her presence in his ear. When he didn't respond more than once, she grew angry and separated from him, waiting to see if he would break his focus for anything. To Meru's irritation, he responded quickly when Shana approached from the other side, and soon enough, the two were sparring in fisticuffs. With surprise, Meru settled in to watch from a distance and was amazed to see the skill that Shana had. She was no Haschel, for sure, but for the frail little thing she appeared to be, she held her own decently well. Haschel, however, was massively distracted. To Meru's irritation, he called the session short, long before any real damage had been dealt.

As Meru turned away from the fight, disappointed that it was over, she noticed movement in the far distance. Leaping to her feet, she ran to the railing of the ship and saw a pod of whales maybe a hundred feet away. She pointed them out, which drew a crowd, and she watched her influence with pleasure as the crew, Haschel, Shana, and Kongol all drew near to the rail to watch the flipping tails and spraying blowholes.

The rest of the second day on the ship, Meru spent time with Nova, teaching her as many tricks as she could get the dog to focus for. The slightest movement had her distracted and running off to chase sailors and travelers alike, and eventually, Meru gave up on that, too.

Upon encountering Kongol at lunch, she sat with him and talked about whatever came to her mind until she decided to switch over to Haschel, who seemed incredibly distracted. Rather than his usual bubbly self, he was withdrawn and unwilling to engage in any pranking with her.

With a heavy sigh, she dragged her feet to the bow of the ship, where she stayed for a long time until a muffled explosion made her jump with fright. Rushing toward the stern, she saw a woman ushering Dart into the engine room, and a few minutes later a huge spout of fire ran out of the exhaust on the stern deck. Then, Shana appeared, too and ran below. For the next twenty minutes, Meru darted around, trying to find someone who would explain what had happened, but nobody knew, and nobody would let her into the engine room to find out.

By day three of their journey across Illisa Bay, Meru felt that she would go crazy with cabin fever before their week-long trip was up. In addition, she woke with a pressing realization that they were approaching her home country. She spent much of the morning wondering whether she wanted to visit while she was there, and whether she would somehow be forced to show her home to the others.

This thought ran through her accompanied with a jolt of terror, and she spent as much time as possible distracting herself from the eventual possibility.

When Nova approached her once again right after lunch, begging her to play, Meru decided that she would figure out just how far this little dog could go. And so she ran around with her, chasing her, stalking her, running with her, until she thought she might pass out if she continued. As she ran out onto the deck, Meru found Haschel, Albert, and Dart all congregated there, and she took the opportunity to force Dart into hanging out with her.

Pleased at her victory over his willful resistance, she invented a scenario and dragged him around the ship, pretending that she was a captain and Dart was a high-profile guest aboard the magical ship that sailed to a new continent.

That night, storms rolled in. Forced now to stay below deck, Meru eagerly approached Haschel, who stood expectantly as crewmembers doled out multiple decks of cards across the tables in the dining hall. Upon learning that the crew was trying to stall their boredom with a game night, Meru was determined to not only have a great time, but also destroy Haschel in at least one game.

Kongol, Albert, and Dart all joined in on the festivities, and Meru tried everything to defeat Haschel, even cheating in several different rounds. But try as she might, she was beaten soundly every single time.

Still, she ended up in bed that night happy and content that she had gotten to spend some time with her friends. As she lay in bed, she fell asleep with pleasant memories of their smiling faces.

Then, after she had been sound asleep for several hours, she was forced awake by a tremendous crash.