"Does the boat run out of food?" Isaac asked.

I looked up to see him rummaging around in the compartment below the deck. "I haven't really thought about it. Why?"

"I think it might keep replenishing food," he said, pulling out an oddly fresh apple.

"So what you're saying is we have an unlimited supply of food?" Deynan asked sleepily, stretching.

"I think so."

"Epic."

"Let's not test that theory," I said.

"You know what I miss?" Sierra declared, yawning and stretching her back. "Beds. Real, actual beds. With mattresses." She winced and rubbed her shoulder.

"I hear that," Isaac agreed.

"I find mattresses somewhat uncomfortable," Amarie mused. "They're too soft. I feel like I'm sinking."

"My brother used to say that when he came home on breaks," Deynan remarked. "He was in the military."

"Really?" Sophie said softly.

He turned to her with a weird look. "Yeah? I mean, he still is, I guess."

"That's really cool." Sophie smiled.

"I would be so scared if either of my brothers were in the military," Sierra said.

"I'd say there's not too much danger in that happening," I chuckled. "Patrick isn't the most adrenaline driven guy and Wyatt's too much of a sweetheart."

She laughed. "You're right." Then she frowned. "You know...Wyatt used to tell me that he was scared I was going to get hurt while I was away at school. Or that our dad would get in a car crash on the way home. His family getting hurt was his greatest fear."

"That's disturbing, coming from such a little kid," Audrey commented.

"I wonder what he would say if he knew what I was doing now," she said wistfully.

The boat was silent for a moment.

"It's probably better he doesn't know," Sierra whispered. "I don't want him worrying." She hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't want his worst fear coming true."

"It won't," I said gently. She looked up at me doubtfully, so I continued. "We aren't going to let you die, Sierra. You'll make it out of this alive."

Silence fell over the boat again, and I realized those words were likely as empty as they sounded. Would any of us make it out alive?

"If worrying about Wyatt will keep you alive, then worry about Wyatt," Isaac said firmly. "Find whatever reasons you can to fight, win, and live to fight again. Whether that's for love of your friends, fear for your brother, or both." He smiled sadly. 

Sierra smiled back. "Thanks." She sighed. "I guess we don't really think about how much fear motivates us."

"Really?" Deynan said. "Because I think about that a lot."

It was surprisingly genuine coming from him. We turned to him in surprise.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I mean, a lot of what I do is because I'm scared of what people will think of me if I don't I guess. They'll think I'm weak or something."

"We don't think you're weak, Deynan," Sophie said quietly.

He shrugged. "Well, it's a hard habit to break anyway."

"Why would you care if people thought you were weak?" I asked.

He hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. "I don't know. I guess, my whole life, I've been taking care of myself, you know? And if you're weak, you're admitting you can't. Take care of yourself, that is. And I guess I'm just scared that it's true. I can't handle everything on my own." He sighed, his head dropping. "And if I can't take care of myself, I can't take care of anyone else. So I push everyone away."

We fell into silence.

"That was deep," Audrey commented.

Deynan shrugged again. "Just random thoughts I have sometimes."

"Don't devalue your own self-reflection," Amarie said quietly. "Admitting fault is admirable. Especially when it can lead to self-improvement."

Deynan looked down. "Thanks," he muttered.

"We all have fears that cause us to be...well, not quite as good as we want to be," Isaac said. "And that's okay."

I thought about what I was afraid of. There were so many things. Failure, embarrassment, stupidity...but somehow, none of them felt strong enough, real enough, to be my worst fear.

"I wonder what Damius is afraid of," Sierra mused.

"Uh, he's afraid of us, duh," Audrey said, raising an eyebrow and grinning.

Amarie giggled.

"No, I'm serious," Sierra said, sitting up straighter. "Giselle was afraid of losing Juan, probably the only person who had ever truly cared for her. So she might have been afraid no one else ever would."

"That's depressing," Isaac said.

"The Destroyer lost his brother," she continued. "He was probably scared that he had failed to keep someone he cared about safe. So he became bitter, frustrated, and angry." She shrugged. "I wonder what Damius is afraid of."

There was a pause.

Deynan sighed in frustration. "You can't drop all that psychology on us at once, Sierra. That's too much to handle."

"I guess if we knew what Damius was afraid of, we could use that against him," Audrey mused.

"Or," Sierra said lightly, "try and convince him to stop."

Audrey snorted. "By asking him nicely? Oh yeah, that'll work."

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying maybe we don't necessarily have to defeat him if we find out his motivation. I'm sure he's a good person somewhere in there."

Amarie shifted uncomfortably.

"Sierra, what the heck?" Audrey said, her voice betraying a hint of anger. "You're saying the psychopath who enslaved an entire race and is trying to kill us is a good person?"

"Technically, the Boss Guy enslaved them, and yes, that is what I'm saying," Sierra said, her voice rising a bit. "No one is born evil. There must be a reason he's acting this way!"

"Hey, hey, guys," Isaac interjected. "Let's calm down a bit, yeah?"

Audrey ignored him. "What if there's not?" she hissed. "What if he's just a mean guy? And even if he is misunderstood, there's no guarantee that he'll listen to whatever the heck it is you're planning on doing!"

"Making that kind of assumption—"

"GUYS!" Sophie shouted.

Everyone stopped. We had never heard Sophie be that loud before.

"There's something going on over there," she said shakily, pointing to the starboard side of the ship.

We all turned to look.

On a small rock of an island, there was a flock of bird-like creatures dive bombing something on the ground. I squinted my eyes walking forward. The birds were strange. I could see wings, but no beaks. In fact, they didn't have bird heads at all. Human heads.

They were harpies.

"I remember this island," Sierra whispered, the argument from a moment ago forgotten. "This is where we fell asleep and Abigail woke us up."

"Don't fall asleep on this island," Audrey said grimly. "You'll sleep forever until someone else wakes you up."

"Noted," Deynan muttered.

"What are they attacking?" I breathed.

"Harpies prey on small creatures," Amarie said quietly. "Look for something weak and relatively helpless."

Then Isaac gasped. "Ravi! Deynan! It's Meri!"

My blood ran cold. I remembered Meri. His smiling face and pointed ears, skin as dark as potting soil.

"Who is Meri?" Sophie whispered.

"An elf we've met before," I said grimly. "Young, innocent."

I could see him now as the boat got closer. He was curled up into a ball on the ground shielding his face. My heart twisted. This was so unfair.

"Okay, everyone, shift into a battle form," I commanded. "Sophie, I want you on Mermaid as a sort of lifeguard if Meri falls in. Everyone else, do whatever you want, but remember, our priority is keeping Meri safe."

Everyone nodded and began to close their eyes. I plunged my hand into my pocket and pulled out Tinder. I felt something else in my pocket, hard and rough. I pulled it out, confused.

The rock slowly shifted, then unfolded arms, legs, and a little square head.

I laughed. Ore! I had forgotten he was with us.

Flashes of light from the transformations started going off. Ore looked at me, confused. "What going on?"

"We're trying to save an elf named Meri from a flock of harpies," I explained. I rolled Tinder out and began to write. Ore tilted his head and watched my hand.

How do you defeat harpies?

I could hear strangled shrieks from off in the distance. I sincerely hoped they were from the harpies and not my friends.

Tinder had replied.

Ooooh yikes, harpies are no fun. Ugly and obnoxious. Worst combination ever.

I sighed.

Thank you for your input. How do you defeat them?

Fire works pretty well. Can't fly without feathers.

Ore nodded. "Yes yes, Fire is good."

I raised my head and shouted towards my teammates. "Guys! Use fire! Fire works!"

Deynan heard me and cackled with glee, which I decided to take as a good sign.

"But what about gas?" Ore asked stepping forward.

I froze. "What?"

"Fly monsters fly away. But still hurt. Use gas."

My eyes widened. "Uh, what? Whatever that was, it did not sound good."

Ore tapped Tinder. I looked down to see that the scroll had written more.

Oh, you should know, the majority of flying monsters like to leave behind little presents once they know they've been defeated. Usually gas of some sort. Pretty sure the tactic started around World War I. Anyway, DON'T BREATHE IT IN.

I heard a hissing noise and looked up. Sierra had carried Meri back on deck, and the remaining harpies were singed and nearly gone. One of them had opened a container.

Of gray, thick, gas.

"Cover mouth! Shirt!" Ore urged.

I took a deep breath and shouted, "don't breathe in the gas!" Then I covered my mouth and nose with my T-shirt.

I bent down over Tinder frantically.

There's gray gas everywhere. What do we do???

Tinder rippled a bit, as if laughing. NICE. Well try not to breathe it in. But I suppose it's too late for most of them.

My hands started shaking. My heart was pounding wildly.

Are they going to die?

What? No? Oh, I can see how that would look like that. But no. Nah, it just causes a severe decrease in cognitive functioning. Removes inhibitions. Brings up veiled feelings. They'll probably say some stupid stuff. They shouldn't remember anything tomorrow, just have a KILLER headache and their lungs might also feel like raw. I wouldn't know for sure. I don't have lungs.

Everyone returned to the boat. The gray gas was filling the air. The harpies were gone.

The transformations slowly dropped.

"I feel weird," Isaac mumbled. Then he laughed.

Amarie put her hand on his arm. "You don't feel weird to me. You feel normal. Yay!" She patted his arm a few times.

"Hey," Deynan said slowly, "in the Pixar Cars universe, why do they have a Car Pope? Was there a Car Jesus? Or was he like, a Chariot Jesus?"

"But how do the cars repopulate?" Sophie whispered.

Audrey gasped. "If tomato is a fruit, does that mean pizza, since it has tomato sauce on it, is a fruit salad?"

I sighed beneath my shirt. Were they going to be like this the entire time?

Of course they were. They were my friends and they were utterly bizarre.

Everyone collapsed on the deck of the boat, giggling drowsily. I waited until the last of the smoke had cleared before removing my shirt from over my face.

I felt a little lightheaded, and sat down on the bench behind me. The last thing I needed was to pass out. Clearly, none of the others were in any position to fight.

Meri was completely out, sprawled across the stern. I wondered if the smoke had affected him more because of his small size.

I turned to Ore, breathing out slowly. "So...what does the smoke do again?"

"Speak all. Speak mind things."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He waved his stubby arms in distress, trying to find the words in his limited vocabulary. "Think something. Must say it. Or do."

I tilted my head. "So they basically have no filter? They just say or do anything that comes to mind?"

Ore nodded, relieved. "Also, no remembering."

"They won't remember this later," I clarified.

He nodded.

I sighed, throwing my hands in the air. "Great! My friends are drunk. Or high."

A few feet from me, Sophie giggled before pointing at the sky and whispering, "blue!" before promptly passing out.

Unfortunately, I didn't get as much entertainment as I had hoped. Isaac and Audrey fell asleep quickly, and Deynan mumbled too quietly for me to hear. Amarie was sitting propped against the mast, pointing to random people in her vicinity and whispering, "good. She is good. He is good. So good." I smiled a bit.

Then Sierra climbed up on the bench next to me.

My heart involuntarily started beating faster and I silently cursed it for its refusal to listen to me.

"Hi," she said quietly, drawing out the 'i'.

"Hello to you as well," I replied, trying to keep an easy smile on my face.

She pulled her feet up to cross them beneath her and hummed happily. "I like sitting here with you. You make me happy."

Oh.

I was stunned. The two little sentences had sent a flush of heat through my body.

"I-I'm glad you're happy," I managed to stammer out.

She leaned against my shoulder, and I subconsciously tensed. What was she doing?

"I wish I knew you better," she mused. "I already know you're smart, and kind, and funny..."

"Oh," I squeaked. My stomach was doing weird flips.

"...but I want to know more. I want to know what makes you happy and what makes you sad and what makes you laugh and your pet peeves and your favorite song...." She trailed off dreamily.

My heart was pounding too fast to be healthy. Here she was, leaning against my shoulder, telling me she wanted to know more things about me. Which meant she wanted to spend time with me. I was INTERESTING.

It couldn't be real.

It wasn't real. She was basically under the influence of drugs.

"Maybe you should get some sleep," I finally said, sounding a bit like a half strangled bird.

She pouted and lifted her head. I immediately missed its weight.

"Do you not like talking to me?" she said softly. She looked down. "I knew it. I know I'm boring, I do, but I try to be interesting! I try to be funny but I'm not very good at it. I'm sorry." She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"No no no!" I said hurriedly. "It isn't that! It isn't that at all!" She looked up curiously. I gulped. "I, ah, well, I'm not sure how to tell you this but...Sierra, you're basically high. On magic smoke." I smiled sadly. "I'm sure you don't actually want to tell me these things."

"But I do!" she insisted. "I'm just scared is all. Because you're probably weirded out because I'm just this lame girl stuck on a boat with you and besides I'm kind of boring as it is." She shrugged.

I was stunned. How was I supposed to respond to something so utterly untrue? And she believed what she was saying?

"No," I finally stammered. "How can you think that?"

She shrugged again. "It's true, I guess."

I was silent. I couldn't think of words to say. I could hardly think at all. I just felt this over-wash of sadness. Sierra was, by far, the most incredible person I had ever met. How could someone this amazing think so little of herself?

She yawned and casually stretched herself out on the bench, her head placed in my lap. I froze. "Uh...what are you doing?"

"I'm sleepy," she giggled. The smoke was clearly beginning to make her tired.

"Oh," I said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Why are you on...me?"

Not that I minded. But I worried what she would think when she woke up from her drug-addled state.

"You're comfy," she replied simply. She looked up at me. "And your eyes are pretty."

My heart stopped. "What?"

She giggled again and booped me on the nose. "And your nose is cute too. Especially when you scrunch it up when something doesn't make sense. And your hair is so silky..."

I was pretty sure at this point my lungs had forgotten how to function.

"But your eyes are my favorite. They're like shiny copper pennies, so glittery. But there are little rivers in them! Teeny tiny rivers of gold." She smiled dreamily and sighed. "So pretty."

Before I had the chance to respond, her own eyes fluttered shut and she fell asleep, her golden hair sprawled across my lap, a small smile on her face. She looked at peace.

I tried to breathe slowly, but suddenly I felt like hyperventilating. It was like a computer short circuiting. My mind just kept repeating the words, "Cute. Comfy. Pretty eyes."

I closed my eyes for a moment, then looked up towards the sky. This was, quite possibly, the biggest emotional reaction I had ever had to a few words from someone. I was normally so calm and collected. How could she turn me into a hyperventilating mess in two minutes?

And as I stared at the blue sky above, I finally faced the truth I had been denying for weeks: I had a crush on Sierra Claget.

And it was bad.

~~~

Long (long) chapter, I know, but quite possibly one of my favorite scenes I've ever written... ;) OUR BOY ISN'T CLUELESS ANYMORE YOU GUYS

Also! More absolutely incredible fanart from stoatofshadows !!!!

Ghost Amarie! *screams*

Much love,
Margot