‘Oi, Asbel,’ Jay said, his voice wobbling. ‘Won’t we all fly back when it tilts up for takeoff?’

Asbel flicked a switch on the dashboard. ‘Not anymore. Thanks for reminding me.’

Jay gulped. ‘Not a very prepared captain.’

We all watched, mesmerised, as Asbel effortlessly manoeuvred his hands around the levers and dashboard. He made it look natural.

Then, with only a slight jolt, Rex Aquarum began moving. A few of my friends applauded, and Natasha cheered.

Asbel worked his hands around the steering wheel and levers amazingly, guiding us out of the hangar as though it were second nature.

Below the ship, I could hear the water sloshing against the hull of Rex Aquarum. The salty smell of the sea filled my nostrils. It was a strange smell. It kinda felt taboo to like it. The smell of the sea had always been something I liked, but it sounded weird to say it.

The cold night air slammed against my face and I beamed. This was it. Stars shone brightly on the sea’s surface, making it glimmer. It was almost like a dream setting.

After leading us quite a far bit away from the shore, Asbel gently guided the levers on the left. The bow of Rex Aquarum gently lifted into the air. All of us braced to fly backwards and collide with the stern of the ship, but Asbel was right. Whatever it was that that small switch did, it was keeping us rooted to the deck.

Asbel pumped his fist in the air slightly. Nobody else seemed to notice, but I definitely did. I sure hoped that it wasn’t a surprise to him that the ship worked as intended. I didn’t want to be flying on a ship that astonished its creator.

To test it, Jay tried to walk around while the ship ascended. And, to everyone’s shock, he did so with ease. Immediately, my friends and I all began running around the deck wildly. It truly was a bizarre feeling. It felt as though we should’ve flown so far back that we went back into the water, but we didn’t.

Peter and I took Jay’s idea a step further. The two of us ran to the platform at the stern of the ship. We didn’t fall off. We watched the water below slowly get further and further away, and we didn’t even tumble over the railing. It took no effort either, the floor was literally keeping us attached to the ship.

After a while, we must have reached our cruising altitude, as Rex Aquarum levelled out. This caused everyone to head inside to bed, but I walked over to Asbel.

‘You’re fine flying for a while, yeah?’ I checked.

‘One hundred per cent,’ he replied, grinning. He didn’t look at me; clearly, he was focused on piloting. ‘It’s quite fun, actually. I kinda want to do the full thirteen hours.’

‘Don’t. But if you’re sure, then goodnight. Come wake me when you’re done.’

I patted his shoulder and headed back down the deck towards the stairs down. The lanterns situated around the stairs and corridor gave the ship a perfect homey feeling, causing me to feel completely at ease as I headed to my room.

Once inside, I changed into my pyjamas and fell onto my bed, falling asleep insanely quickly. The bed was comfortable, what can I say?

I dreamt of meeting Harvey at Apercaput. In my dreams, he looked very similar to me; with dirty blond hair and light blue eyes. The two of us embraced like brothers when we met, and I felt truly happy in the dream world.

The hug felt real. I don’t know how a fabricated image could feel so realistic, but it did. I could’ve sworn that I could actually feel his arms wrap around my back tightly as mine did the same to him. Just a few hours. That’s all I had to get through and then there was a chance that that dream hug became a reality.

At some point, I started to get uncomfortable. I don’t know what caused this, but I had a horrible feeling for the entire latter half of my dream. It was an ominous, foreboding feeling, almost as though there were some demon watching me.

My eyes snapped open, and Asbel’s face was looming over me. He’d saved me from whatever was waiting for me in there.

‘Gods, I didn’t even have to touch you,’ Asbel said, straightening his back. ‘How light were you sleeping?’

‘I thought I was sleeping pretty well,’ I replied, rubbing my eyes. ‘How long did you fly for?’

‘It’s four o’clock now,’ he said nonchalantly, causing my eyebrows to fly up. ‘The ship’s stationary at the moment, so feel free to get changed before you head up. I’m gonna go to bed, though. Night.’

He flew out of my room before I even had a chance to respond.

That absolute madman had flown for five hours straight. How he did so without succumbing to the dark depths of his mind was beyond me.

Nevertheless, I quickly got changed out of my pyjamas. I’d been waiting to actually pilot Rex Aquarum, and my time had finally come.

It was quite beautiful on the deck. This high up, there were no buildings to obstruct the view of the night sky. For a brief moment, I stood still and gazed up at the twinkling stars, trying not to let my mouth hang open.

The night sky had always been a typically beautiful sight, but something about this one was special. Just gazing up at the scene rendered me completely speechless. Maybe it was influenced by my emotions, but I didn’t care. It was simply astonishing.

I then noted how strange it was that the ship was able to just float. Like, we were still definitely in the air, but we weren’t moving at all. Now it was my time to change that.

I walked over to the dashboard. Taking a deep breath, I then gently placed my hand on the giant red knob at the top of the lever on the right. I didn’t want the ship to jolt, so I eased it forward gently, my other hand on the wheel.

Rex Aquarum slowly began to move. It glided through the air gently, making no noise at all. The best bit? There was no noticeable jolt.

Once I had eased the ship to its top speed of around twenty-five miles per hour, I placed my right hand on the steering wheel to accompany my left. Asbel, being the complete and utter genius he was, had left something nice for me on the dashboard.

A part of the dashboard appeared to have opened up, similar to how the floor did when the cannons were brought out. No cannons had risen from the hole, however. Instead, a screen the size of a tablet had. On this screen was the route to Apercaput. How in Titan’s name he’d managed to get a tablet under the dashboard was simply beyond me, but I was thankful. It wasn’t completely necessary, as I had a flawless sense of direction, but it would most definitely be useful to anyone else that found themselves at the wheel.

Being in such an isolated spot allowed me to once again set my mind free.

I tried my absolute hardest to keep my thoughts away from Quinn and Emma, as I knew that that would be a mistake. This first led me to remembering my dream.

It really had been a nice one. Of course, I had no way of knowing if that’s what Harvey actually looked like, but it’d be cool if the two of us looked like brothers.

We’d also hugged like brothers in the dream, which felt kinda strange. I doubted we’d hug when we actually met. Did cousins hug? I didn’t even know if brothers would hug each other, much less if cousins would.

It would probably be one of those ‘hugs’ my friends and I sometimes did. The ones where you grasped each other's hands and then thumped each other's backs a few times.

Or we’d bear hug. Like some of the guys in films. Where it looked like they were about to break each other’s spines.

Or, you know, we wouldn’t even do anything. I hadn’t done any of that when I first met any of my friends. Hell, the first thing Peter had done when we met was show me how to spell ‘porn’ using the Periodic Table. Wild times.

It's not like he was any different a person just because he was my cousin. We’d still probably greet each other as any other pair would. We’d never seen each other before, obviously, we wouldn’t dive straight into hugs and special handshakes.

I realised with a cold stabbing feeling that I was the only family he had left just as he was that to me. He’d lost his mom, too. Sure, he still had that dick dad that had abandoned his wife and eldest son, but he had lost as much as I had.

Maybe that could be a topic of conversation, even though it was a sick thought. I didn’t know what the two of us would talk about, or even if we would, and I hadn’t given it much thought either.

Hell, he might not even have been one of the students that offered to help. When we took the names of the kids getting on the ship, there was no telling whether or not Harvey would be one of them.

I stared for a moment at the headlights shining out into the night. Smirking, I realised that they weren’t even really doing much. There was nothing to see up here other than the sky itself, which you couldn’t really miss.

The night felt strangely eerie. Usually, things only felt eerie when I was in a bad mood. Something about the silence and the darkness was twisted by my mind into something much more sinister than it actually was.

My body began to twitch ever so slightly. Something was extraordinarily off. I couldn’t have put my finger on it if I tried, which annoyed me to no end.

Nothing was glaringly wrong. The sky was beautiful. The stars were sparkling. Everything just felt strange.

I reassured myself by saying that it was just nerves. Who wouldn’t be a bit worried about going to see the only relative they had left?

Maltor entered my mind as a result of me trying to ignore the eeriness.

He’d gotten away. Just barely. I had let yet another monster slip away from me by the skin of their teeth.

It’s not even like I didn’t have ample time. I had tried to kill him twice, but things had gotten in the way. I had been ready to kill him. I’d taken the shot twice.

Next time I saw him would have to be it. I couldn’t let him have any more chances. He would have to be killed.

It was around then that I noticed the sun was beginning to rise. It was only around the beginning of January, so it must have been pretty late in the morning. I judged that it was at least a little bit past eight o’clock, meaning we had about five hours left.

Apercaput had of course been told that we would arrive at around one. I smirked at the thought of a hundred or so students hurrying about to grab all their things ready for our arrival.

‘How long have you been flying?’ came Natasha’s voice from behind me.

I flinched slightly but made sure to keep my hands on the wheel.

‘Dunno, what time is it?’

‘Like twenty past eight; everyone else is eating breakfast.’

‘Then a little over four hours,’ I replied plainly. ‘How come you’re not eating?’

‘Already have, I just thought I’d check on you,’ she said quietly. ‘We haven’t really spoken since…you know.’

‘I know,’ I said, my voice tight. ‘I haven’t spoken to anyone about it. Dunno what I’d say.’

‘Just…’ Natasha sighed. ‘You okay?’

‘As okay as I can be, I guess,’ I shrugged. ‘But I’m gonna hopefully meet my cousin in a few hours, so I’ve got that to look forward to.’

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

‘That’s good,’ I heard Natasha murmur. ‘If you need to talk about her, you know where to find me, yeah?’

‘Thanks?’ I replied, my brow furrowed. ‘But, as I said, I dunno what I’d say.’

‘You don’t even have to say anything. If you just need someone to supervise you as you batter a wall or something, I can do it.’

‘‘As I batter a wall’?’ I scoffed.

‘We never know what you’re gonna do when you’re angry,’ Natasha replied, and I could hear the smirk on her face. ‘And we wouldn’t want you punching a hole through the ship.’

The two of us laughed together.

‘Thanks, Natasha.’

‘You’re flying the ship!’ Ethan roared from behind me. Evidently, he had finished eating.

‘No, you’re not having a turn,’ I replied sternly, tossing him a glance over my shoulder. ‘Asbel would kill me.’

‘He’s asleep.’

‘Of course he is,’ I said, trying to sound bored. ‘He flew for five hours.’

‘I could fly for that,’ Ethan replied desperately. ‘Please?’

‘No.’

I could hear him grumbling under his breath as he walked off, and Natasha started howling with laughter.

It was around nine o’clock when Asbel re-emerged, which was my five-hour mark.

‘How did you find it?’ he asked as he tied his hair into a bun.

‘Weirdly fun,’ was all I could say in response.

‘There was no trouble, right?’

‘None at all. None that I’d notice, anyway.’

‘Alright,’ he said, finishing his bun, ‘I’ll go and check the boilers and other systems, then I’ll take over again.’

I nodded slightly. ‘Whatever you want, man.’

Whilst I waited for Asbel to complete his checks, I struck up a conversation with Kelly, who had also come up to the deck after eating.

The two of us had never really had a casual chat, so it was definitely strange at first, but after a while, it felt kinda nice. I took two of the fifteen grapes she offered me, while Peter took all of the five that got offered to him.

He, too, had come to the deck to see me pilot the ship. I usually didn’t do well under pressure, but I was strangely calm as they were watching me. Rex Aquarum sailed through the air gently, even as I was engaged in conversation with the two of them.

‘Alright, everything’s fine,’ Asbel said as he returned, patting my shoulder. ‘I’ll take over now.’

I stepped backwards away from the wheel and Asbel immediately stepped into my place.

‘Call me on the speakers if you wanna swap again,’ I said, buzzing from the excitement of flying the ship.

‘Oh, nah, I should be fine flying it for the rest of the way now, don’t worry. Go enjoy yourself.’

‘Thanks, man. But use the speakers if you need to.’

I already knew where I was heading. The games room. I wanted to play pool, air hockey, and the other variety of arcade games that Asbel had somehow managed to get on the ship.

Isaac was already in the games room, playing air hockey with Ethan. He was winning by a landslide, too. I couldn’t understand how on Earth Ethan had spent six months training his speed and reflexes only to lose seven-two.

Peter and I fired up the pool table and began playing. I was good at pool, and Peter had repeatedly bragged that he was, too. We even began to attract a crowd. Jay, Natasha, Charlotte, and Ali all watched in rapt anticipation as I potted a ball right from the break.

It really was a good game. There were multiple times when Peter and I had to spend a few minutes calculating how to play our next move.

It got to a point where we were both trying to pot the black. And who should win but me? I called my pocket and potted the black effortlessly.

So, we shook hands and had a rematch, which was just as close, but he won.

‘Go on, have a tie-breaker,’ Stephen hollered from one of the sofas. I hadn’t even known that he had been watching. I’d just assumed that he was too absorbed in his crisps.

As Peter had broken in the last game, I did it in our final one. This time, however, I didn’t pot immediately.

It wasn’t nearly as close of a match as our previous two. By the time I was down to just the black, Peter still had three balls left. I won, tying off the score at two-one.

All that time down in the interior of the ship was making my body jittery. It became clear to me during the third pool game that I had to fly.

I awkwardly asked everyone if they didn’t mind me leaving to go and stretch my wings. Nobody even gave me an actual answer, they all just mocked me for even asking.

Stephen and Ali excitedly followed me to the deck. Neither of them had seen me fly before, and they very clearly wanted to.

‘Asbel!’ I called once reaching the deck. ‘Is it okay if I fly around for a bit? I’ll stay near the ship!’

‘Go ahead!’ he called back. ‘Just don’t lose us!’

Instantly, I snapped my wings out. As I jumped into the air, I flapped them down, hard.

I shot up and away from the deck with insane speed, savouring the feeling of the cold air against my wings.

My cruising speed was seventy-five miles per hour, three times that of the fastest possible speed of Rex Aquarum. This meant that I’d have to watch my speed and choose my path carefully.

I dived back down towards the ship, where Ali and Stephen were gawking up at me.

‘Watch this,’ I said, smirking. ‘I’m gonna give you a show.’

I beat my wings powerfully, darting up into the sky. I only stopped once I had reached a height that would’ve made me look like a spec to those on the deck.

Taking a deep breath in, I tucked my wings in tight against my back. My body rocketed down towards Rex Aquarum, my hair flying backwards off my forehead.

As I dived, I spun my body rapidly, almost like I were performing upside-down pirouettes. The world around me spun horrifically fast, but I didn’t feel dizzy in the slightest.

Rex Aquarum got bigger and bigger, and right before I slammed face-first into its deck, I contorted my body, making it parallel to the ship. As I did this, I extended my wings sharply. All of this combined caused my flight to level out and me to soar inches above Ali and Stephen with tremendous speed.

I probably looked and sounded like a bullet to them as I passed. My body was carving through the air as though it were butter, and Rex Aquarum only got further and further away.

But, as with most good moments in my life, it crumbled right before my eyes as quickly as it had begun.

As I was flying, I noticed something strange.

I was now quite far away from the ship, but so was somebody else. They were far enough away that I could not make out anything about their appearance. They looked like just a small silhouette.

Now, this would’ve been scary enough on its own. The true cherry on top came from the fact that, you know, I was flying.

The figure was just hovering in the air, and they appeared to be slowly following the ship. They were far enough away so that they could not be seen from the ship itself, but close enough so that they could monitor its activity.

I may not have been able to make out their appearance, but I definitely noticed when their head slowly turned left and looked up at me.

It was quite strange, really. I had not felt an ounce of fear when fighting Maltor. But this figure turning their head? Terror shot through my veins, and I had to even hold back a scream.

It may have been my imagination, and I’m praying it was, but I am certain that the figure began to slowly glide towards me. That was all it took.

I immediately stretched out my wings to their fullest extent. Following this, I gave a great flap and surged back towards Rex Aquarum as fast as I could.

My speed shot well past seventy-five miles per hour, meaning I was back at the ship in no time flat. Ali and Stephen stared up at me, their mouths hanging open. A few other people were out on the deck, and I wasn’t sure if they’d seen my little spectacle.

‘That was so badass!’ Stephen shouted up at me.

‘Asbel!’ I screamed. ‘There’s someone following the ship!’

His head snapped around. ‘What?’

‘They’re hovering a bit behind us, following us slowly!’ I continued. ‘I couldn’t make out anything about their appearance, but there was definitely someone there!’

‘Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?’ Asbel continued as Ethan ran over to the side of the deck.

‘Absolutely certain!’ I called back, watching as Ethan leapt from the side of the ship.

He caught himself on the wind again and brought himself up to me.

‘That’s actually so cool,’ I said quietly. ‘How exactly do you even do it?’

‘I make the air under my feet heavier. To move, I push myself by changing the density of the air,’ he explained, as though this were simple.

Wordlessly, he glided to the stern of the ship as I watched him, gobsmacked. I could obviously do the exact same thing with the air, but it sounded, and looked, so damn cool.

As Ethan flew towards the stern, I could see him scouting the surrounding area.

‘There’s nobody out there!’ Ethan shouted back to me.

I drifted over to him. ‘There sure as hell was.’

‘If you’re not lying, and I believe you, by the way, then they’ve done something to hide.’

I pointed over to near where I had flown off to just a few moments before. ‘That place wasn’t as foggy before.’

Ethan squinted over at where I was pointing to. ‘Yeah, that is unusual. It’s like a cloud of smoke is just…there.’

The two of us flew back up towards the deck.

‘I don’t think he’s lying,’ Ethan said sternly to Asbel. ‘We can see where this prick might be.’

‘We don’t have time for this,’ Asbel called back. ‘We don’t have long til we’re supposed to be there. Come back down, I’ll bring the cannons out just in case.’

Although we weren’t too happy about it, Ethan and I respected the captain’s decision. The two of us landed gently on the deck.

‘Your hair’s a mess,’ Jay said, smirking at me.

‘I can use that brush you got m- Oh.’

‘Did you forget to bring that as well?’ Isaac said, also smirking.

‘Listen,’ I countered, ‘it’s not that it’s not important, but I was in a rush.’

As I finished speaking, the cannons rose out of the floor yet again.

‘Now if anyone tries anything we’ll blow them to bits,’ Asbel said confidently. ‘And you all brought weapons, yes?’

There was a unanimous response of various forms of ‘yes’.

‘Good. Go back to whatever you were doing and I’ll call you all on the speakers when we get there.’

I, once again, knew exactly where I was going. My stomach was growling at me. I needed food.

Stephen said he was hungry, too, so we both headed down to the dining area together.

Nerves had diminished my appetite, so I only grabbed a few slices of bread to make into toast. Whilst Stephen was making his sandwich, he started a conversation with me, which cemented him as one of my friends.

‘Aren’t you at least a little bit nervous?’

‘What?’ I spat. ‘Obviously I am. Why, do I not look it?’

‘Well, for someone that’s about to meet their long lost cousin and has just found a flying man, you look a lot calmer than you’d expect.’

I scoffed. ‘I do try.’

‘What’s keeping you so calm, then?’

‘I’m not calm. I suppose I look it cuz I’m trying to. Either that or it’s because of how high up we are.’

‘The view is good,’ he replied, his voice coated in sarcasm.

I chuckled softly. ‘Simply marvellous.’

By that point, my toast was ready. I hurriedly layered it with butter before taking a few bites.

‘Are you nervous about that flying geezer?’ I asked after swallowing.

‘Haven’t seen him, so I can’t say,’ he replied plainly. ‘I do believe you, but I don’t know if he looks scary.’

‘I was shitting bricks.’

‘Then yes.’

I grinned at him. ‘It should be fine. I’ll kick his ass if he tries anything.’

Now that I had been given a chance to think about him, I did. He most likely was not just an ordinary man. Firstly, if he was flying, then he had to have been a demigod of Zeus or Titan. I was praying to the Gods that it was not the latter.

Well, he was either a demigod of one of them or had some other supernatural gift. I wouldn’t even have been surprised if some creature from a different universe had given him the power to fly. Anything could pass in this damned world.

One thing was definitely for certain, and that was that he was on Maltor’s side. Unless, by some astronomical chance, I had some gang wanting my head as well.

My mind began reeling. Did Maltor know that we were going to Apercaput? If he didn’t, it was likely that the flying man would’ve told him, if he were on Maltor’s side, of course.

If he were on Maltor’s side, what was he doing just flying over Scotland? The only plausible reason was that he was watching us. But then that raised the question of how he knew where we were.

It all boiled down to one conclusion: Maltor knew that I was going to Apercaput.

‘Oh, thank Titan there are other people here,’ came Ali’s voice from over by the entrance to the dining area. ‘I didn’t wanna eat on my-’

‘Attention, all passengers. We are now making our descent towards Apercaput. To clarify: we are now making our descent towards Apercaput.’

Simultaneously, my heart began to race and my body temperature seemed to halve.

I threw my leftover toast in the nearest bin, ignoring Stephen’s gasp of complaint. My plate quickly found itself in the sink, and then I was off.

I zoomed past Ali, who was watching me in amazement, and began to race up towards the deck. As unnecessary as it was, I wanted to see this.

My stomach grew more and more uneasy with every step up. It was hard to think of a moment when I’d been more nervous, but I had good reason this time. For all I knew, I could’ve been talking to my cousin in as little as ten minutes.

The sound of my feet hitting the steps seemed to grow more distant with each one. And, although I’d experienced the feeling countless times before, it seemed strange as it felt like time was slowing down.

As it turns out, I was not the only one that wanted to watch the landing. My entire Aid apart from Kelly was there, as were Charlotte, Peter, Natasha, Isaac, and Ethan. Only the Gods knew where Jay and Kelly were.

‘Holy Mother of Titan,’ Peter breathed, and I could understand why.

We were gliding through a mountain range. Huge, towering peaks encased us from every direction. Sunlight poured over both us and the landscape, making it look as though we were in a film.

‘I’m gonna try and land on the lake in front of the school itself!’ Asbel called back to everyone on the deck. ‘Apologies if there’s a bit of a jolt when I do so!’

‘Holy shit,’ Isaac breathed as Apercaput itself came into view.

It looked like something straight from a fantasy book. The first thing I noticed was the huge castle. Perched atop the landscape and bordering the huge lake in front of us, the windows of its several turrets and towers seemed to glow in the sunlight.

It appeared to be made purely from huge stone bricks, which complimented its fanciful appearance. It looked nothing like a school. Apercaput looked like a terrifying jumble of massive stone towers and battlements.

The more I stared at it, the more of a striking impression it posed. There was simply no way that humans built that. I had thought that The Tower was an impressive architectural feat, but Apercaput nearly put it to shame.

Without even thinking, I hurried over to the side of the deck and leapt off to get a better view. My wings automatically unfolded and began flapping. I stayed with Rex Aquarum for the rest of its descent, but I had a much better view now that I was flying.

The lake in front of the castle looked like glass. I desperately wanted to dive down and simply just poke it, but I held back the almost irresistible urge. Even in the glistening rays of the sun, it looked as black as oil. It reminded me of Hades’s eyes; both looked like frozen tar.

Looking back at the castle itself, I noticed something which I had not before. The grounds around it were littered with multiple other small things. I could see greenhouses, a football pitch, vegetable patches, and a huge forest from where I was. It looked, to put it simply, magical.

As we descended, something else also became a lot clearer to me. Near the side of the lake closest to the castle, a huge mass of people stood, presumably watching us. They had to have been the students.

One of them. Somewhere in that huge throng of people. That’s where we had our best chance of finding him.

We must have been going down faster than I realised, as the boat collided with the water not a moment later. A huge wave erupted upward, and I rolled midair to dodge it.

Asbel naturally worked the steering wheel, levers, switches, and buttons, lining Rex Aquarum up with the side of the lake with the students. We were here.

I swooped over, hovering above the ship for a moment as I stared down at the crowd of students as they stared back at me. Secretly, I was scanning the crowd for anyone that could possibly be Harvey, but nobody struck me as such.

Before the stairs had even projected from the ship, I glided down gently towards the students. I thought for a moment about landing, but a large margin of them were taller than me, and it wouldn’t have been the best impression for me to have everyone looking down at me. So I settled for hovering so that their heads were around level with my knees.

I took a deep breath. Somewhere in this crowd could be my cousin. My last living relative. The thought alone made my stomach flip.

I just had to find him.