Diana left Jonah off in his room and surprised him by returning with her luggage. He came to the door, eyeing the bags, one of them in Aiko’s mouth. When she asked to come in, he moved aside silently. It was like a dream, but the world was crisp and clear. The portholes shone brightly across the room as Diana and the tiger set their things down on the couch.

“I hope you don’t object to my moving in,” she said, smirking

“No, I don’t. Why?” he said. His jacket was off, and he was about to take a shower.

“Well, for one because it annoys Angelina,” Diana said with a chuckle. “Another being that I haven't felt well on my own…” The mirth left her as she turned to him with a somber expression. “The dishonesty of the captain has only added to it, but since my sister, it’s been difficult to sleep. You know that, you’ve seen my hair trigger, and felt its wrath.” She paused for a moment, letting the past harm sit in the air.

“You didn’t mean to, I know that,” he said plainly. “When I was younger, I was half asleep and a friend tried to wake me up, I punched at his face. I didn’t hit him, but if I had magic, I would have got him. It was nothing but a reaction.” He gave her a leading laugh, and she smiled briefly.

“You make me feel better Jonah, and I am not one to play games. Though, normally, I would wait a few more months before sleeping beside someone else. I swear,” she said, her eyes light. “I came aboard this ship to feel better, but I was quickly met with a different type of hostility. Were you not here, I would only have Kalyah. I’ve rested beside women before, however, I fear the Priestess is far too open for my tastes.”

Jonah blinked, confused.

Diana shook her head, waving her hands. “I fancy you and the way I feel around you. Is it too much to share a room and a bed?”

He swallowed. “I um, fancy you too, and everything. I’m glad I can be of help, and no, it’s not too much,” he said, trying to contain his nervous excitement. The tiger walked straight to him and jumped on the bed, laying at the foot of it, then glancing over its shoulder at him. A clear reminder that he was being watched.

“My current bed fellow isn’t as talkative as you,” Diana laughed, petting the tiger’s back. “I am grateful for her, but I should have known I would end up here. She liked you from the very start, even when I was hesitant of a stranger.”

He was silent, unsure what to say.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” she continued. “A familiar is incredibly picky with their affection. She has not liked a few men that I fancied. You’re one of the few she has liked this strongly.”

“I see,” he said, heart quickening. “I, uh, I was about to take a shower.” He could smell the long night on himself.

“Ah, are we?” she asked with a sultry smile.

He was saved from a reply as the ship lurched forward and he was flung to the bed. Diana fell to her knees, holding onto the tiger that raised its head looking around. The intercom came on with a buzz.

“Sorry if anyone had any discomfort, we’re setting sail. The Paladins are done and unless you want another day swarmed by people, we have to leave,” came Angelina’s sarcastic voice. “Oh, Diana, meet me on the top deck in ten minutes, your training will start after a light meal. You don’t want to eat too heavy before exercising, especially against me.” The voice cut out after a satisfied chuckle.

Diana took a deep breath, face resolute. “My hangover is almost gone, but she gives me a headache.”

The Pirate walked about in a circle the whole time they ate their meal, slashing her saber through the air. The sunlight reflected off it with twinkling sparkles, and the swishing sounds were distracting. Diana watched her through Aiko as she paced herself through the food. Their table was rather empty without the Guardian, and the delirious Witch sat, still in her black nightie. The woman actually ate, slopping porridge into her mouth. Globs of it fell and hit her chest, quickly smeared off and returned to her cracked lips. Her Mimic took the form of a Malikon dancer, rubbing her shoulders. The false woman of sandy skin and an extreme amount of jangling jewelry, that added to the list of annoying noises on the sailing ship. The familiar shook its hips and rubbed as the Witch commanded. When Jonah examined it, the creature smiled behind its veil, watching him back with demented eyes. He turned away, shading his eyes until it stopped.

Diana took some satisfaction in seeing the defeated Hero, too damaged to mock or harass her. What spell she had used, Diana wasn’t exactly sure, but a miserable person made feeble, made her feel better. That was her mother in her, she figured, who always loved vengeance. Usually it was small things, such as swiping a piece of food from a child that had been misbehaving all day. Luann commonly had the cherry of her sundae plucked by the queen’s hawk. The youngest princess once promised to get a falcon as a familiar so that it could chase the raptor and annoy it back.

The Pirate called to Diana the moment she finished her last bite, beckoning with her saber. The Druid left Kalyah and Jonah alone at the table with the Witch. The rest of the crew had been giving them a wide berth, even the automatons were nowhere to be found.

“There, keep away from the trapdoor,” Angelina directed. The sails flapped overhead, taut when they caught the wind. The Witch was too exhausted to maintain her scrying, there was no reason for them to fly. They could have just stayed in port, Diana had suggested, but the captain only huffed at that. She thought that maybe the Hero didn’t want the princess to contact her mother.

“Put your Crown on,” Angelina said, tapping the brim of her hat with her sword. “You’re gonna try and read my mind to predict the next attack. Then we can do a little normal sparring, if you’re still able.”

Diana gripped her staff with both hands, recalling the last time she had used her Crown for such a reason. If it wasn’t for the intensity of the memory, then she would have been ready without a problem. If it wasn’t for that, then she would be much closer to mastering the damn school by now. A few more “If”s around that time, then she would be married and no longer living in the castle.

“Oh, is that not enough of a challenge?” Angelina teased with a laugh. “ I’m pretty good at deflecting psychic attacks. That’s exactly what a mermaid song is, princess.”

The Druid realized the anger on her face, and evened out her emotions. She stamped her staff on the deck, keeping her other hand in the air. She reached into the ether, the source of all thinking and praying, where the gods resided. They fed off of it, grew stronger off of the mass of clouds, invisible in the material realm. Countless people made them, the dust from everyone both living and dead. A Druid took a tiny bit of it, adorned their head in it. That sample let them access it freely, create at the speed of thought, and soar in their corpus form, among other such benefits. It was a difficult bit of concentration to hold it in place. Her teacher and the texts described it as holding onto a dream when you are aware of it.

The Crown of Clouds stayed on her head, affixed to her quartz tiara, shifting as she focused. The curved branch and polished stone was of a fine make, better than her training gear. This was a true Druid headpiece, meant for a Hero. An eventual Archdruid, she told herself.

“You don’t need the tiger,” the Pirate said, pointing away. “You aren’t going to bite me with it…” There was a challenge within her cold blue eyes, as if gauging how angry Diana was with her.

Aiko padded off to Jonah, keeping a watch on the Hero.

The scratching that Aiko received from Jonah sent positivity her way, and it helped calm her. The Traveler seemed apprehensive as he watched the two square off some hundred feet away from the other. He was more nervous than her. “You wish for me to deflect them back or away?” Diana asked, her cloak whipping in the wind.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Angelina considered for a moment. “It doesn’t matter,” she said with a shrug. “Just try to get in, focus on that first.”

“Fine, I shall,” Diana said.

“Ready?” the Pirate asked with a grin.

The Druid nodded.

With a flick of her wrist water erupted up through the rails of the deck and encircled the woman’s feet. The coursing torrent swirled neatly in a perfect circle, growing with each passing moment. Hundreds of gallons of water rose up around her, taking the shape of branching coral, holding firmly in place with little visible effort as Angelina’s fingers danced. The movement was more like a bored drumming than magical conducting. The liquid forest spun slowly around her as it grew, sprouting more short buds with every moment. They caught the sunlight and writhing jewels of light danced in their shadows across the deck. In total the display must have reached a few stories high, growing more complex as the water kept flowing. Finally its source stopped as the angular branches and its offshoots split to either side of the Hero, her free hand holding the structure up as a steady mental focus.

“What are you sitting there for? I gave you all the time in the world,” Angelina said with a devious laugh.

Diana couldn’t help but stare at the creation, her Crown flickering. She had only seen such displays from Archdruids, and never had to be on the other side of it. There was a lot of needless extravagance to the technique. Her teacher and others taught efficiency in defensive stances, which in a way this magnificent show was. A showy gesture made for her to seem small. She recalled her pitiful circle of rocks in the Toothy Pit, if there was a water source, the Pirate could slay the earthen vipers on her own. This was the might of a several hundred year old mermaid.

Her thinking was interrupted by a hard hitting bullet of water to her breastplate. It sent her back a few steps and broke her Crown.

“Aren’t you supposed to be well trained, princess?” Angelina mocked. The water branch of coral regrew from one at the top.

Diana steeled herself and put her Crown back on. This time she put all her focus on Pirate’s mind. Reaching out through the ether, she felt her mental tendrils hit and bounce off stone. Mentally it felt her fingers had been jammed against granite. She had not felt such a rebuff from her teacher. He cared to train her, to actually help her. It was clear from the first offer that Angelina was interested in revenge, and more importantly belittling the princess.

Shaking off the mental pain, Diana tried again. Dull darts of water hit her armored chest and stomach, breaking her concentration and breathing. They continued to hit just as she had reformed the Crown, the creation of which caused her heart to race a few beats. The Heroine was smiling as she assaulted her, which she saw through the eyes of her furious tiger, her own were closed. She was constantly grabbing hold of that bit of ether, maintaining a dream only to be slapped violently awake.

“Give her a minute!” cried Jonah, rising to his feet.

The water stopped, Angelina glaring at the man.

Crown firmly in place, Diana conducted the water off herself. “Jonah, I am fine, don’t worry!” she called back. Her heart thudded and she wheezed harshly, the pain across her chest off the attacks adding to it. There was a pulsing in her temples, she wanted to sit down, to give up. She wasn’t going to give the woman the satisfaction.

She adored his courage, it gave her so much. It couldn’t be easy for him to yell at the woman who had helped save his life. Aiko heard his heart racing as he sat down, holding the tiger’s head close to him.

“Come on princess, you’ve had your minute,” Angelina said coldly. “Try again…” She stood deadly still, the coral branches rotating around her.

Diana reached out her mental fingers. She hit the same granite wall, but not as hard as before. She couldn’t expect any help, any ease. This wasn’t training, it was a battle. She tried to split her focus, not a strong suit of hers. Not many could do it at her age, true dual casting was usually left up to masters. She could do some with the Elemental school, but Cloud was one she barely knew.

Keeping the Crown on with her free hand, she kept focused on the Pirate’s eyes, which stared ice back at her. The Druid maneuvered from foot to foot, trying to keep her mental points on the woman’s mind and avoid the water. Many whizzed past her now, a moving target was much harder to hit. When a volley came, Diana waved it away with her staff and her own magic.

“I can’t feel you in there, that doesn’t count!” Angelina called.

The water that she had just sent away came racing back. Diana was too late and caught the concentrated ball in the right bicep. She fell to the ground, Crown breaking, clutching her arm. Her staff rattled to the deck, the agony shot through her chest and straight through her forearm, a numbing blade up her muscle and bone. Her hand shook, tingling and hard to close. There could be a crack in the bone, she was surely in enough pain for one. There were tears in her eyes, her knees aching as well from where they had slammed to the wood. She couldn’t look up as she heard footsteps, Aiko showed her that both Jonah and Kalyah were racing to her aid.

“Stop!” Angelina shouted. A couple darts of water thudded on the deck before their feet and they stopped. “Are you done, princess?” She pointed her saber at Diana. The Hero shook with fury, a vein coursing up the length of her forehead. The skin of her face was blushed in the sunlight. “You don’t know anything, little girl! Just your fucking training, that’s it!. You wouldn’t last a second on the battlefield! An army Druid, a fucking Corporal could kick your ass!”

“Angelina, you’re just being cruel!” Kalyah cried.

“Stop it, she’s trying!” Jonah said with a scowl.

Diana grit her teeth, clenching her fist, sending the pain fresh up her arm. She took the water pooled around her and circled her arm with it. She froze it to ice, numbing the swelling that was there. Gripping her staff with her other hand, she pushed herself up to her feet. Aiko helped her as she struggled, stumbling. The tiger sent her waves of assurance as its powerful muscles lifted her up, extending its neck and its giant head into her chest.

“Yeah, you got this…” Jonah said softly, his fists raised.

“I never claimed to be your equal!” Diana shouted, pointing the end of her staff at the Hero. She took a long breath, shaking from her nerves and injury. The tiger helped to level her out, roaring to punctate her sentences, dropping to a low growl in-between. “I never said that I knew it all! If this is some kind of message to me, then I understand. I cannot best you in a fight. But I want to learn. I want to train and grow. I fail to see how harming me benefits that goal.” She glared at the Pirate, joined by Aiko and her friends. Jonah made his way to her as Kalyah raced around to her arm. Without any hesitation the Priestess prayed to ease her suffering, patting her armored shoulder.

Angelina took a moment to regain her composure. She eyed the united front against her. Her crew had stuck their heads out of their various bits of cover on the gigantic ship. They had been watching the display since the coral forest of water had grown, but they stuck their necks out farther. The captain took them in too, softening more as she saw their concern and frankly, judgment. If she had them charmed, then they wouldn’t care one way or the other, Diana figured. That was a worry for another time, she thought.

The Pirate raised her saber to the heavens and flicked it towards the ocean. The branches of coral went shooting over the side in a flurry until there was hardly any left at all. The pruned trees were only four in number, their tallest points reached barely above her head.

“Any training is good for your leylines,” Angelina said, the structures rotating around her lazily. “If you’re still willing, after that unfortunate mishap, then I wouldn’t mind throwing around some water between us. Don’t damage my deck is all I ask, Fia isn’t up to repairing it.”

Diana took a deep breath, her heart finally at normal pace. She popped the ice from her arm and let it fall as water at her feet. “I could repair the wood,” she said with a slight smile.

The Pirate chuckled, a measured anger still maintained behind her eyes. “Just keep your eye on my attacks and parry them. A bit of sparing, that’s all,” she said evenly.

The Druid swapped her staff to her dominant hand. “No Crown then?” she asked.

“You weren’t going to get in anyway,” Angelina said, tapping her head with the sword. “Not like I need you knowing what I’m thinking…”

Ignoring that remark, Diana raised the water around her into a round shield. A pitiful little buckler sized mass. It would do for now.

“Get away, unless you want to get wet,” Angelina said, pointing at the two.

Jonah stared long at Diana, a clear question in his eyes.

The worry warmed her heart. The worst of the injury had faded to a dull discomfort. The prayed wound wouldn’t totally heal until she rested. “I’ll be fine, go on. Watch over Aiko,” she said with a smile.

He looked to the Hero and back. “Be careful,” he said, reaching out and patting her arm.

If the two were equal, if Diana had not felt the wrath, then she might have been insulted. Now she nodded, accepting the man’s wish as he walked off with her familiar.

Kalyah reached up to her ear from behind, whispering. “I’ll heal whatever you have at the end of this, even though I recommend that you stop. Angelina isn’t done with you yet and she’s sneakier than she looks.”

“I’ll be fine,” Diana repeated, warily watching the Hero now.

The Priestess sighed, walking off.

“Ready?” Angelina wondered, a broad smile on her face.

“Yes, I am,” Diana said.

Angelina smiled, pointing her sword, with it came a volley of water darts, speeding at Diana.