Kai gaped at the figure with tears brimming in his eyes. He stared at the wound his father now possessed, uncomprehending and afraid. "Father?" he questioned, partly wheezing.

The man turned to his son, and his eyes brightened with joy. "Kaito," he sighed in relief. "You're alive."

Kai couldn't understand what was happening to him. But everyone around him did. Crescent gave Kai an expression of pity, while Thorne was discouraged and held back words he could have said.

Scarlet couldn't look. Wolf gave her some comfort, lending her his arm to latch onto. Cinder suspected it was the loss of her own loved one that made her sympathize with Kai's situation.

Cinder knew that's what she was currently feeling.

Linh Gareth and Peony were her family, and losing them took a piece of her heart and tossed it into their graves. To her, Gareth had been her father, and Peony her sister. Her family.

Losing a father, it was an unimaginable pain. Well, until one experienced it first hand.

And that was what Kai was experiencing at this very moment. The loss of a father. A mentor, a loved one. His heart was fracturing into dozens of pieces, giving him a pain in his chest that would never truly leave.

"But-" Kai stammered. "You can't - Y-you can't be ... dead. You were there. You were there, at home when I left!"

"One of Levana's henchmen killed me. Stabbed me with my own letter opener," Rikan explained.

"Why?" he asked, his voice cracking with tears in his eyes. "You- you did nothing wrong!"

"Yes I did," his father countered. "After you left, I began drafting a letter to the King. Telling him we needed military aid to stop Levana. And ... to keep her from marrying you."

Rikan reached out to his son, bit his hand simply went through his son's flesh. The sensation Kai received from it made him shutter and his teeth chatter. The ghost silently repented for causing his son harm.

Rather than reach for him again, he placed his hand over his heart. "I'm glad you're safe now, Kaito. I could never forgive myself if any harm came to you."

Kai was sobbing, his face a canvas of despair. Yet, Cinder couldn't help but thing that Kai going back to Port Royal and finding his father dead there would have been different. In the presence of Levana and her goons, he would show nothing but strength. Not a sliver shy of courageous.

He would have masked everything he felt for the sake of the people of Port Royal, and to hide any weakness from Levana. Giving her nothing to exploit. All while he was dying inside.

Turning from his son, Rikan addressed Cinder, the only other person in the room he knew personally. "Please, keep him safe."

Gravely, Cinder responded, "You have my word."

Satisfied, Rikan took on last look at his son. "I'll give your love to your mother." And in a puff of green smoke, Rikan dissolved, and became a ghost. To the world, and to Kai, his only child.

The ritual continued, and Cinder was revolted at the lack of sympathy. "This is enough!" she shouted, slamming her hands down on the table. "He is loyal to your cause, and through your misplaced mistrust, Kai's now been traumatized!Doesn't that prove his resolve to help us!"

"We must continue," Winter said in her deep toned voice. Her eyes were still glossy green. "Calypso commands it."

"Well if Calypso is such an all seeing goddess like everyone claims, maybe she should get it through her thick skull that Kai is-"

The breath in her lungs was ripped out of her as she was sent flying backward into the far wall of the Map Room. A tight grip dug nails into her skin, though no hand resided there. Now, the rest of the crew was finally as alarmed as Cinder was.

"DO NOT INSULT THE GODDESS OF THE SEAS!" chatsized Winter. Her tone darker and more ominous that ever before. Mist curled out of her ears, her face scrunched in fury.

Cinder was unable to breathe, and everyone was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Jacin kept glancing from Cinder to Winter, uncertain of who to aid. Thorne held Crescent tight, as if Winter would harm her. Wolf and Scarlet had hands hovering over their weapons, as usual.

Kai was still brimming with tears. He couldn't stop them. And neither could Cinder.

Winter continued to be the mouth for Calypso, and went on with the ritual. Though now, the questions were darker, and far more insinuating.

"Have you ever harmed for Levana?"

"No," he barely said. He was choking on his own tears.

"Have you ever made a bargain with Levana?"

"Yes."

The crew cast accusing looks to Kai, as if he'd already betrayed them to her.

"Why?"

"To save the people of Port Royal," he answered. "She wanted me to marry her to make an alliance. She said if I didn't marry her, she'd kill everyone. I couldn't let them all die."

Satisfied, Winter moved on. "Are you here on orders from Levana?"

"No."

"Why are you here?"

Kai paused for a moment, then saw no point in resisting. "To help Cinder overthrow Levana."

The answer made Winter cringe, but nothing shifted and no ghosts were summoned, so Cinder guessed he wasn't lying. Well, either that, or she was getting confused due to a lack of oxygen.

"Is that all?" Winter seemed befuddled, and unsure of what to think.

Kai glared up at the priests and grumbled. "I'm here to help Cinder-" he repeated. Then, he added, "Because I- ... I love her."

The magical force holding Cinder to the well evaporated and Cinder was freed. She collapsed on the floor and took in air greedily, coughing as she did. The green mist sank through the ship and fell away from the eyes of the crew. Winter was released from the grip of her own powers, and fell to the floor as well.

Kai was pale, and eyes his gleamed with water and puffy red eyelids. He maneuvered around the table to get to Cinder, and helped her to here feet.

It was funny to Cinder. The lack of oxygen, and the nearly dying. It made her think she heard Kai say that he loved her. Obviously, that was just a hallucination from the cut off of blood flow.

He helped her to sit in one of the chairs, and Jacin did the same for Winter. Stars, Cinder hated people with mystical powers that pretended to be better than everyone else. They were starting to get on her nerves. Well, more like her last nerve.

Kai asked her questions and cupped her cheeks with his hands. What startled Cinder was that she couldn't feel how cold he was. He was sick from swimming , and had been cold as ice minutes ago. Now, he felt slightly warm.

It made Cinder wonder just how long she'd been held against that wall by a force.

As Cinder regained the ability to function like a normal human being, here first words were, "We are never doing that again."

"Agreed," said Jacin. One of the hardest of the crew to come to an understanding with.

The other four in the room looked remorseful. Cinder didn't blame them for what happened, but she wasn't thrilled that none of them decided to listen to her. Maybe now, after seeing she could be right, they would take her opinions seriously.

"What I'd like to know," Jacin started, angered. "Is if we can trust her." He pointed at Crescent, a snarl on his face.

Thorne instantly became defensive. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he spat. "We interrogated Kaito and traumatized him, and he just came along for this insane joy ride of yours. You little mermaid attacked us, and she gets off scott free? That doesn't exactly seem fair."

Cinder had only seen Thorne true anger once before, and it had been caused by the same events. Someone questioning Crescent's belonging on the Rampion. In fact, wasn't it Jacin who'd done the same thing last time?

Thorne ground his teeth and placed himself between everyone and Crescent. "She sailed on this ship long before any of you did. She earned her place here before you found out Levana couldn't be trusted and because a turncoat!"

"I never trusted that witch," retorted Jacin. "I only worked for her to protect Winter and my family. I know where my loyalties lie. Where do yours?"

At that, Kai and Cinder were a tad stunned. Wolf and Scarlet were undecided, but kept a watch on the others with wide eyes. "What are you saying?"

Jacin scoffed. "Since you have your little mermaid back now, are you going to leave the rest of us to fight Levana ourselves? Because I think the only people you're loyal to are your girlfriend and yourself."

No one spoke, and Thorne fumed. Cinder guessed that weapons would start being used at any second.