Amarie was a curiosity. We hadn't expected to meet her, obviously, and now that the first stage of whatever mission she was on was complete, she seemed to be at a bit of a loss.

We were sitting on the benches surrounding the deck of the Queen Titania (I was still quite pleased with the Shakespeare theme of the boats). Well, most of us were sitting down. Audrey and Sophie seemed to be playing keep-the-bouncy-ball-away-from-Deynan. Sophie wasn't the best thrower, but Audrey's incredible catching skills made up for it. I was mostly amused with Deynan's frustration.

I turned my attention back to Amarie. She was on the other side of the boat talking to Sierra. Or really, Sierra was talking to her. She didn't really respond much other than the occasional nod or short response.

"She's pretty."

I turned my head to Isaac next to me. "Yeah?" I looked back at Amarie. "I guess."

Amarie was striking in her own way. She was almost as tall Audrey, with a slender body and long fingers. Her dark skin was smooth and her long braided hair reached halfway down her back. The little clay beads at the end of each braid made a slight clacking noise when she moved suddenly. But it was hard to tell anything about her face, as she sat with her shoulders hunched and her head down, her hair sweeping over her shoulders and covering her face. So I agreed with Isaac in a way, but not so much that I thought it warranted a comment.

And besides, I thought the girl sitting next to her was much prettier.

Isaac shrugged. "I wonder what color her eyes are."

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "And here I was thinking you had a thing for Abigail."

Isaac blushed furiously. "I do not! You guys are just...I don't know, paranoid."

I snorted. "I don't think paranoid is the word you're looking for. And your red face is currently betraying you."

Isaac blushed even harder.

The accusation didn't come without backup proof. Ever since the war had "started" with the note from Lee one month ago, Abigail had officially moved into the Myths' castle. The Legends' school had also joined up, so the island was busier than ever. The six of us, along with some of the adults, had been spending a lot of time planning and defending the island. The things that had been attacking us...

Anyways. About halfway through the month, we began to notice that Isaac was spending a suspiciously large amount of time with Abigail. Sitting by her at dinner, talking to her in the courtyard, seeing her sitting somewhere and going to ask her a question...it was constant. Audrey had pointed out this fixation as a joke once, but when he blushed and denied it far too intensely, we latched onto the idea like barnacles to a bridge.

Hey. We're his friends. It's what friends do.

"Come on, man," I said to Isaac, "just admit it. You like Abigail."

"No, I don't," he insisted. "Not like that. I mean, she's a great friend, but that's it. Friend. She just happens to be a very smart, talented, and irrationally kind and generous friend."

I raised my eyebrow again. "Okay, whatever you say. But I'm not giving up, just temporarily dropping it."

He gave me a side eye. "Maybe I should ask how you feel about a certain blonde haired girl sitting over there." He jerked his head to indicate Sierra.

I could feel my face growing hot. "Isaac, I swear, if you become like Deynan..."

He grinned good naturedly. "Nah. But now I know how to blackmail you."

"I never said I liked her," I protested. But even as I said it, it sounded weak.

Isaac laughed. "Okay, whatever you say," he said, mocking the tone I had used earlier.

I slumped lower on the bench. "And her hair isn't blonde," I muttered.

He gave me a look. "What? Well then, what color is it?"

My face felt like it was burning. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. "It's golden," I mumbled.

Isaac registered the response with surprise, then laughed. "Wow," he said slowly. "I didn't realize you were this bad."

I glared at him. "Shut up."

He laughed again. "Don't worry," he said, patting me on the head. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Alright, I'm tired of this game," Audrey declared, pocketing Deynan's bouncy ball.

Deynan glared at her. "Does that mean I can have it back?"

"No."

"Why not?!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "It's been, like, two months!"

"At this point, it's a matter of pride."

"Okay, you know what, let's gather over here," Sierra said quickly.

We gathered around Sierra and Amarie, Sophie sitting on the bench next to Sierra, and Audrey, Deynan, Isaac, and I sitting on the deck.

Sierra clapped her hands together in the way that she does when she's about to start something to raise group morale or make a plan. I had begun to think of it as her "cheerleader" clap.

"Okay, guys," she said brightly. "I think we should all tell Amarie a little more about ourselves because she doesn't know us, really at all. So we can go in a circle. Hello. I'm Sierra Claget, I really like muffins, and my favorite form is fairy because I believe that happiness is the meaning of life."

"That got deep really fast," Deynan whispered loudly.

Sierra flashed him a double thumbs up.

She nudged Sophie, who jumped a little. "Oh, right...me. Well, I'm Sophie Kirkelie, I really like books and reading and stuff like that, and my favorite form is...probably unicorn, because I feel good about myself when I'm in it." She smiled meekly. "It's not quite as deep as the meaning of life, sorry."

She nudged Deynan with her foot. He stuck his tongue out at her. She stuck hers out back.

Audrey sighed. "Deynan, go."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm Deynan, I like sports, my favorite form is warrior because I look wicked cool." He shot Amarie the finger guns.

She looked alarmed.

Sierra looked at him reproachfully. "Come on, that's not a real answer."

"Yes it is!" he exclaimed.

She raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "Fine. Okay, don't judge me, but I actually like dwarf." He looked down. "Loyalty is super important to me. And I like it when people share," he said a bit louder, looking at Audrey.

Audrey grinned. "Aw, thanks for telling me you enjoy sharing your ball with me. I enjoy having it!"

He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Just go."

Audrey sat up, still grinning. "I'm Audrey Simone, I like the color orange, and my favorite form is warrior because honesty is the best policy!"

"You like the color orange?" I asked, feigning surprise. "I would've never guessed! Your shoes threw me off."

Audrey glared at me, petting her knee high orange converse like how an evil duchess pets a cat.

Isaac laughed. "Okay, well, I'm Isaac Tretter, I love music, and my favorite form is dragon, because I believe kindness is one of the most valuable traits a person can have."

My thoughts leapt back to what he had said about Abigail just moments ago, and her "irrational kindness". Something clicked.

I also nudged his shoulder with mine, remembering the struggles he had undergone with his dragon transformation the month before.

Then I realized it was my turn.

"Oh," I said suddenly. "I'm Ravi Jindal, I'm awkward, I like...um... Shakespeare? Yeah, so the boat names around here are pretty cool. And my favorite form is griffin. Because it changed my way of thinking." I glanced at Sierra. "Now I believe there's no problem that can't be solved if you try hard enough."

Sierra smiled and my heart flipped.

Ugh. Pesky heart. You're not supposed to do that.

Audrey nudged Amarie with her foot. Amarie jumped, her eyes wide.

Audrey looked at her expectantly. "Well, go on. Introduce yourself to the rest of us."

Amarie's mouth fell open. "Oh. Um." She bit her lip nervously and looked down. "Well, I'm Amarie...I'm not sure what I like. I like being alone." She looked up, panicked, realizing what she had said. "I-I don't mean to say I don't enjoy your company, I do! I just, well, it's that--"

"So you're an introvert," Isaac said soothingly. "Nothing wrong with that."

She looked at him blankly. "What's that?"

We looked around in surprise. I knew she had worked as a slave at Lilituana, but clearly she had knowledge of at least some things. It made me wonder where the line was drawn.

"It just means you draw energy from being alone as opposed to be with other people," Sierra explained.

"Oh." Amarie nodded. "Cool." She looked down again. "Um, okay, so yeah, I'm an introvert I guess. And my favorite form is..."

She suddenly looked up, her eyes wild. Her mouth clamped shut.

"What do you mean, form?" I asked, sitting forwards. "Are you a Myth?"

She stared at me, her breathing speeding up.

"If you aren't a Myth, what are you?" I pressed. "What other creatures have different forms other than Myths and Legends? Are there any more of you?" This opened up a whole new side to the magical world for us.

Amarie didn't respond, but slowly pulled her legs up on the bench with her, beginning to hyperventilate.

"Great job, Ravioli," Deynan muttered. "You scared the deer."

"She's not a deer," Sophie said, glaring at Deynan.

He looked surprised by her fierce tone. I didn't blame him. Although to be fair, I had noticed Sophie being a little more outspoken when it came to Deynan lately.

"Amarie," Sierra said softly, "are you okay?"

Amarie didn't respond, but began trembling.

"Oh my gosh," Isaac said suddenly. "I think she's having a panic attack. My sister Cadence used to have those."

Sierra nodded seriously. "Right. Okay, everyone to the other side of the boat except me, Sophie, and Isaac."

Audrey, Deynan, and I stood up and quickly walked over to the other side of the boat.

"This is your fault," Deynan hissed at me.

"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling a twist of guilt in my stomach. "But aren't you curious? To know the forms she mentioned? What kind of creature she is?"

"Maybe we should let someone from the nice people squad handle that," Audrey said, jerking her head over to the people on the other side of the boat.

I sighed. "Fair enough."

"Hey!" Deynan said, offended. "I'm nice!"

We both simultaneously gave him a look that clearly said, "are you serious?"

He grinned. "Ha. I'm so funny."

I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a long boat ride.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This chapter is dedicated to ReadingobsessedSteph and her story, Tales of Enigma. ;-)