***

November 8, 1800

Erel, Aeryn Branche

"Why are you here again? To taunt me?" Erel asked, gritting her teeth. "Have you learned nothing in these last few days, Kronos?" 

Kronos heaved a laugh, a rumbling sound that made Erel want to cease his existence.

The giant hadn't done any physical damage to her other than having her hung upside down for hours a day in intervals, but the things he said, the threats he uttered made her mind spiral. Every day, he would come and torture her into thinking Aeryn was dead, that the Black Egret had sunk, that her sisters had died, that Eric had died, that it had been seven years since the day the White Crow had sunk. 

And every time, Erel would remind herself that it's been days, not years. Her hair hadn't grown an inch, there weren't any serious scars on her ankles from hanging upside down. She simply refused to believe a word coming out of his mouth, but sometimes she wanted to believe the lies for an excuse to give up. 

"I've come here not to taunt, but to educate. You see, I've come to the knowledge that Han has brought it upon himself to protect the Tiger's Ruby by keeping it on his person." Kronos dragged a heavy piece of metal against the floor. "That's going to be an issue, because not only has he removed the Ruby from Querilke, my son, I, has also gone mad in the process."

"Mad? As in insane?" Erel asked to rub it in, yet afraid that the piece of metal was a hammer of some sort. She'd been blindfolded today, something that she couldn't recall being done before. Something that could only mean danger was mere inches away from colliding with her fate.

"Sehyun Han of the Black Egret led him to the Lumen Grimoire, a book that has everything to do with death. A belonging of Hades that ended up on Querilke. Not only that, but it drives people to the edge of insanity if not death when handled by someone other than the Emperor of the Dead."

Aeryn had spoken of such a book before, saying that the hole in her ear was because of it. (She actually ranted about how Sehyun had shot her, failing to recognize because it was to save her.) How the book had enclosed her within itself, slowly influencing her into the edge of madness. Aeryn could hardly recall what it felt like. Every time she forced those memories forth, the ringing explosion of Han's gun took over.

Erel summoned some courage. It would be better to get him to talk rather than wait to find the meaning behind the blindfold. "What of the book, Kronos?" she asked with a voice shakier than the ocean's tides. She needed to waste time, so it seemed taking advantage of Kronos' tendency to overshare became appropriate. Erel wanted to know why share at all if he was going to wipe her memories. But alas, she would never know. Kronos didn't seem to be sane, so why would his intentions be?

Moreover, Erel was curious about Cronas. The supposed evil brother that Erel was yet to meet. Erel didn't even know if Cronas was a man. Many rumours had twisted Suzy into a man, so it could be the same situation if not similar. She could never truly know until she saw it with her own eyes or heard the truth rather than the rumours.

Most of everything she knew about Kronos and Cronas came from rumours and whatever Han had shared.

"My son has retrieved it from Querilke at the cost of his sanity." Kronos released a dark chuckle, a sound that made Erel crumble. "He's tamed the book, and now we will raise an army."

"Army?" That single word gave away how terrified the siren was. The harsh whisper gave it all away.

Kronos scoffed. "You sure are curious, Ariel. Aren't you afraid I'll hit you?"

Of course, you whack. "Of course not." Erel shivered. "I just want to satisfy the emptiness that a lack of knowledge tends to leave behind."

Kronos let out a breath. "The Lumen Grimoire is not just a book, but a monster, a beast within itself, full of personality and greed," Kronos said. "All it wants is souls. Human souls, animal souls, to suck the soul out of literature. And in return for a hundred souls, it will animate an army tenfold."

"How do you know all this?"

Kronos dragged the metal across the floor once again, this time away from Erel. "Knowledge tends to taint those who want to know the least, those who've been hiding behind a wall of disinterest, and those who've been alive for too long."

Kronos raised his piece of metal and provided Erel with a blow she would remember for the rest of her life.

And indeed... The piece of metal was a hammer.

***

"Why'd you come back without the Sovereign?" asked Aeryn as Han returned to the Black Egret. She did not allow him a chance to get off the ladder before pestering him. "Weren't you supposed to pick her up?"

"She was taking a while, and it was chilly on the port. I think it'll snow soon. And on top of that, Asra Devorinak is late," he replied as he threw his leg over the fence. "Why should I wait for her?"

Ignoring his question because Aeryn fully agreed, she crossed her arms. "I'm surprised you managed to row yourself back, considering standing up to get a glass of water is something you call a chore."

"I rowed myself there too. Don't ever forget to mention the full extent of my achievements." After a pause, Han said, "What are you going to do about Poseidon's task?"

Aeryn rubbed her shoulders to bring some warmth to them. "I was thinking of heading to Auber and deal with Jules first. But, I wouldn't want to go alone, so I might take someone with me."

On cue, Sehyun's ear ringed. It was Marty. His strides hadn't changed at all in the last eight months.

"Might I suggest you take Suzy with you?"

Suddenly angry for even suggesting Suzy be removed from his side, Sehyun frowned. "Why don't you help her?"

Aeryn giggled, not expecting yet welcoming his reaction. "I think Suzy is a great fit. I've gotten to know her for the last few days. I infer we'll work well together. After all, when we go to remove Juele from the Arce Ace, we'll be sneaking around, no doubt. And I reckon Suzy's great at that sort of thing."

Not caring whether his emotions showed on his face, Sehyun crossed his arms and made the expression he always had when reading a book for knowledge rather than entertainment. "Suzy stays with me. You can take someone else. Not Maya, though. That would create some issues since you're going to the Arce Ace, but Suzy is my quartermaster and I will not have you take her. To think you could even suggest something like that..."

To this, Marty laughed, throwing his head back. The type of break he'd been needing after being pestered by his family—especially his cousins for the last eight months. 

As stressful as the pirate life was, he couldn't live without it.

Or without Han.

"If it bothers you that much, I'll go with her."

Marty stared into Han's eyes with a piercing gaze, demanding some form of telepathic communication that the captain seemed oblivious to. The captain had always been like that, only able to understand the true meaning behind words rather than the implied.

Instead of searching for deeper meaning in his first mate's gaze, Han only appreciated the endless black pool of gold specks, the way his nose-ring was on today—even his earrings. The way the wind pushed Marty's black hair from his face, allowing the sun to give him a golden glow.

Sehyun found beauty in a face many found intimidating just as someone may perceive a fox, a raven.

"You just came back though..." Sehyun shuffled his now too long hair, smiled and said, "I even bought Efnia for us from Waihg," as a way to try and tempt Marty into staying. 

Marty brightened up. "You did?"

Aeryn cleared her throat. "What is Efnia?"

Under his breath, Sehyun muttered, "Just stick to English."

"I heard that," she snapped.

He rolled his eyes. "Efnia is a rare type of mango if you must know. And maybe before attempting another language, forget that English is the only one in existence."

She smirks, ready to counter the taunt she'd expected from him. "That's brave coming from someone who has an accent of their own."

Sehyun scoffed. "You're only allowed to say that once you've learned seven languages. It's a little hard to keep track of all the..." Sehyun jerked his hands, letting them spasm to make up for his lack of vocabulary despite having just bragged of his multilingualism, "stuff. Not having an accent would be more out of place."

Aeryn shook her head, recentering their conversation to Poseidon's mission. How Han always managed to end up at a topic irrelevant to the original evaded her. "So, here's my plan. When Asra Devorinak comes, or maybe before, I'll take Marty with me to Auber. I'll then retrieve Juele from there and send a letter when we're ready to be picked up."

Silence fell as Sehyun tried locating flaws in her plan. He found none so he made a suggestion instead. "Aren't Illorin and your two crewmates on Auber as well? Try and find them too."

Marty patted his shoulder. "Alright, Hannie."

"It's settled, then."

Aeryn grinned, finally managing to tame her hair in the wind. "It's settled."

***
WORD COUNT: 1500