Dmitri woke up lying down in his bed. He was also in different clothes. I hope it was Dorvyn who changed me... although I don’t like that thought either. He was in some extremely soft pants and shirt. The clothes felt nice to wear, but still, the thought of Shara changing his clothes while he was passed out was troubling him. Was it a new day already? The lights were dimmed in the room, so Dmitri could hardly see anything. His head was pounding too. Dmitri felt the same as the time when some of the village boys had rolled him down a hill in a barrel.

Dmitri groaned from the pounding in his head, and Shara jumped up from a large, stuffed chair across the room, gasping in surprise. Dmitri in turn also gasped out loud. “You startled me,” Dmitri said, while also feeling very embarrassed.

“I, um, was here to watch over you. The master said that you needed to be checked every two hours to make sure you were still breathing until you woke up,” Shara said. She was rubbing the back of her head, and got up. “Here, take this medicine, it’s bitter, but you’ll feel better. And when you’re up for it, there’s a bag of experimental spheres next to the well.” Shara handed Dmitri a small bag full of powder and a glass of water.

“This will make the pain go away?” Dmitri asked, sounding unsure of it.

“The master assured me this is what you would need, and that you would feel better almost instantly,” Shara said. Well, at least she sounds like she believes it, Dmitri thought. Dmitri took a deep breath, held it for a second and released it. If the pain would go right away, then a bitter taste would definitely be worth it. Also, Shara was watching him very closely. Sometimes, Dmitri felt the way Shara watched him wasn’t normal, like she was observing a person for the first time in her life. Dmitri dumped the powder into the water, shook the cup around a bit, and drank deeply from the cup.

“Ugh, that was awful,” Dmitri said, sticking out his tongue.

“But how do you feel now?” Shara asked. Dmitri found himself wishing again that he could see her face. It would make it easier to read what was going on with her. Shara was much more of a mystery than she needed to be.

“Actually, the pain just melted away. I feel like I just woke up from a god night’s sleep,” The energy in Dmitri’s body felt good. His body felt light and ready to move. “I think I’m ready to do that fishing now.” Dmitri looked over at the sack with the spheres in it. There was a chair by the well now too. A quick look around the room revealed the Coppers missing, and the Blue floating in a much smaller section, pushed to the well side of the room. It was just absently picking at some plants at the bottom of the aquarium. Maybe it wanted to be free from the sea, Dmitri thought. All those large beasts out there probably made the Ethereal Sea a scary place to live.

“That’s great news, I was worried about you,” Shara said, and Dmitri could feel the heat in his cheeks. It felt nice having someone happy for him.

“So, Sherran just wants me to try these out to see how they fish?” Dmitri asked. Dmitri sat down on the chair and looked into the bag. He noticed Shara sit back down in her chair too.

“Yes, keep any creatures you catch in the aquarium and dump anything that is not alive,” Shara said, “no matter what it looks like.”

“OK, sounds basically like a normal day of fishing,” Dmitri reached in to pull out a sphere. It was like any sphere Dmitri had seen before, except it had a faint green tint to it. At the end of the rope was a piece of metal shaped to hang onto the well. These spheres would probably sink farther into the water than he had yesterday. The hooked metal also had what looked like tiny balls of metal that softly chimed when he moved them.

“Did you get enough sleep?” Dmitri asked Shara while he gently lowered the sphere into the open well, only briefly picturing fish in it. Even the rope felt so soft and strong, probably something else expensive, Dmitri thought.

“I was able to rest in-between checks. I’ll be OK for today, but I’ll really be tired later,” Shara said. She had pulled out a quill and paper and was already writing some notes down.

Dmitri looked around the bag, which was full or artificed fishing tools of many sizes and shapes. Dmitri picked up a cube and hefted it in his hands. It was clear like glass, and felt like any fishing sphere he had used before, so Dmitri lowered it into the well too, attaching it to the side as well. He ran through the routine of picturing fish as he did this, imagining Silvers in it.

There was probably room for one more. Dmitri caught sight of one that was a barely transparent purple with more sides than he could count and lowered it into the water. The purple tinted polyhedron made an audible hissing noise when it hit the water, but nothing splashed and the water remained calm, so Dmitri just lowered it in. “Did you hear that hissing?” Dmitri asked.

“Yes, I already noted it down,” Shara said. Dmitri could only see the non-slotted side of the mask from his angle. She was focused on her notes, quickly filling up pages. Dmitri had barely done anything, it seemed like a lot to be writing. Dmitri stretched his arms over his head and kicked his feet out in front of the chair.

“Now it’s time to get comfortable and wait,” Dmitri said. “Wait long enough and you’ll get something. At least with a normal fishing sphere, that’s how it works.” And before he even finished the last word, a chiming sounded out. Dmitri checked the hooks, finding the purple one’s jingling.

“So fast, is that a good sign?” Shara asked.

“We’ll see in a moment. It could be a good sign,” Dmitri said. He took a quick look back at Shara, and she was leaning forward in her seat with a quill and paper ready in her hands. Dmitri started pulling on the rope, seeing the purple shape rise up to meet him.

Inside the polyhedron Dmitri could only make out an eye. In every facet of the shape was an eye staring back at him. Dmitri. At first Dmitri thought it was his own eye, but after blinking each eye in turn he saw the eyes looking at him didn’t blink. Dmitri? All of the eyes seemed to be staring at him, from each and every facet.

Suddenly, Dmitri noticed Shara was shaking his shoulders, standing in front of him. “Dmitri, can you hear me?” She was shaking him hard. Dmitri dropped the polyhedron onto the edge of the well, the broken pieces dropping into the waters.

“I can, I was just looking at those eyes,” Dmitri said. His brain was starting to feel like it was clearing up from something. It was similar to the sensation of going from a very dark room out into the noon sun.

“Eyes? I didn’t see anything,” Shara said. She took a step back, studying Dmitri. “What we want to see is fish. So, in the future, please don’t look too closely at anything that isn’t a fish. The master did warn me that this could be dangerous.”

Dangerous? No one had told him anything about testing spheres being more dangerous than normal sphere fishing. “Should I be worried about what just happened?” Dmitri asked

“Your aura seems normal again. You should be fine now,” Shara said.

“My aura?” Dmitri asked.

“Yes, I can see auras. It’s kind of a part of the mask thing. So, for now, just trust me on this,” Shara said.

“OK, I’ll accept that,” but Dmitri wanted to know what was going on with Sherran and his research. He couldn’t just be developing fishing spheres. This island was teaming with luxuries he hadn’t even known about. Fishing had to just be a means to some other end for Sherran. Although, it didn’t feel right to think that way about Sherran since he was Dmitri’s benefactor. Dmitri stood up, with Shara taking hold of his arm. “I do feel fine now, you were right,” Dmitri said.

“Remember, if you don’t see fish swimming in it, just dump it and let me know what you saw. The information is valuable, but losing you is not acceptable to this project,” Shara said. She walked back to her chair, picked up her quill and paper, and sat down.

After stretching for a moment because he felt he needed something to do, Dmitri sat back down. That kind of sounds like a poor choice of words, but sometimes Shara just strikes me as awkward with her actions, Dmitri thought. Shara was scribbling down notes on her papers, she didn’t notice Dmitri looking at her carefully. She was still wearing the same dress from last night, and her hair wasn’t as neat as it was, with loose strands of it falling over her mask. Shara looked very studious, and Dmitri found himself wondering if he would have enjoyed learning academic subjects more if he had learned with her.

Then there was another chiming in the air. Dmitri looked at the well, and it looked like the tinted sphere was the one with something in it. Dmitri began to pull it up slowly, trying to see what was in it. As the sphere came up, Dmitri could see the sphere was completely clouded. He could feel some movement in the sphere, and it seemed like the water inside the sphere was swirling around. Dmitri waited, keeping the sphere close to the water in case he needed to drop it fast. The water in the sphere began to settle down, and Dmitri felt some familiar taps on the glass. “This one has some shell pinchers in it. They’re small sea beasts.”

“Oh, I’ve never seen one of those,” Shara said, her interest piqued, “what does it look like?”

“Come on over and take a look. We would usually just dump them when I fished at the village since they don’t provide much meat,” Dmitri said. Shara got up from her chair, carrying the quill and paper with her. Shara got up quickly, started walking to Dmitri, and then tripped on the corner of the room’s carpet as she approached the well. Dmitri just had enough time to drop the sphere on the floor and catch Shara in his arms. Shara’s papers were strewn across the room and Dmitri didn’t see where her quill went.

Shara looked up at Dmitri, that deep blue eye of hers searching Dmitri’s. “Are you ok, Shara?” Dmitri asked while still supporting Shara. Dmitri felt like that eye was pulling him in, it's so deep and blue.

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

“I guess I’m a little sleepier than I thought,” Shara said.

“Maybe you’ll feel better after a nap,” Dmitri said, “feel free to use my bed. I’ll tell you everything that happened when you wake up.”

“Well, maybe a little nap couldn’t hurt,” Shara said and let go, taking a step back from Dmitri.

Dmitri looked at his feet, trying to cool down and noticed the sphere. He took the sphere and just emptied the Pinchers into the aquarium, watching them float to the bottom. Every time Shara got that close to Dmitri, he could feel energy surge inside of his chest. The feeling was exciting, but a little scary too. Ever since Dmitri’s father died, he had been basically on his own, using what his father had taught him to get by. But Dmitri’s father had only taught him some academics and fishing.

Shara had walked over to the bed and sat down. Shara looked at Dmitri, noticing him watching her. “Wake me if anything happens,” Shara said.

“Ok, I will,” Dmitri said, looking away. There was still the cube in the water. Dmitri had noticed a large oval sphere in the sack, which would fit in the well with the cube in there too. “Sleep well,” Dmitri said. Dmitri glanced back at Shara, and she was already asleep, curled up on her side and under his blanket.

Dmitri had to use two hands to lift the large sphere from the sack. It was definitely much heavier than an average sphere. Dmitri braced his knee on the well, took the chain secured to the oval in both hands, and lowered the sphere as slowly as he could manage. Dmitri pictured the energy inside himself and how he felt excited and afraid of it. At the end of the rope were double clasps that Dmitri secured before the slack in the chain was gone. That sphere could hold a lot of fish or a really big fish Dmitri thought. Thinking of fish, I forgot to do the little fishing exercise in my mind, Dmitri thought. It probably wouldn’t make a difference since that exercise is just an old tradition anyways.

After what seemed like a couple of hours had passed without any more fish being caught, Dmitri heard a sharp knocking on the door. Slightly panicked, Dmitri looked at Shara, but she was fast asleep in the bed. She must be really tired. Dmitri tip-toed to the door as quickly as he could and opened the door.

Dmitri had expected to see Dorvyn or another masked servant, but what Dmitri was a large, muscled bulk of a man. He was wearing black sailing pants and a coat stripped in red, gray, and white. His skin was tan, he had a bushy black beard, a scar across the bridge of his nose, and a red eye patch with gray trim. Dmitri hadn’t expected to see someone walking around dressed like this, let alone such a fierce looking person. “No mask?” Dmitri blurted out in surprise.

“Aye, I’m not of those mask people walking around, my name’s Sieg, short for Siegfried. I’m one of the Commander's top captains. Are you Dmitri, the research assistant?” Sieg asked, taking a step closer to Dmitri.

“Yes, sir,” Dmitri said, barely managing to answer while nodding. Sieg was clearly not someone to take lightly and he seemed a bit unhappy.

“Good, now follow me, boy,” Sieg said. “The commander wants to see you.” From his tone of voice, it didn’t sound like a good thing. But Dmitri couldn’t imagine Sieg using any other tone of voice, not with his size and presence. The man was easily wider and even taller than what Dmitri remembered of his father. Sieg was more a mountain than a man. “Since I don’t want to be walking around the whole island with a boy in tow, we’ll take one of them shortcuts that researcher put in. Handy thing, I just don’t want to be using one when it stops working right.”

Dmitri had no idea what Sieg was talking about, but decided it would be a good idea to just follow him. “Yes, sir,” Dmitri said, trying to be heard but not noticed. Dmitri decided to lag behind a few more steps, just to be safe and noticed that Sieg was walking straight to a corner. The big man walked straight up to the corner, put his hands flat to the opposing sides and pushed. Much to Dmitri’s amazement, the walls groaned open, much like a pocket of air in water connecting to the surface.

“Stop slacking boy, haven’t you seen this before. Get moving before the walls slam onto you, leaving a bloody mess,” Sieg said, “I’ve seen it before.” Sieg walked through the path he opened, which lead into another hallway with solid gray carpeting and walls with red trimmings. Dmitri hurried after Sieg, not wanting to be left behind. Dmitri didn’t want to know how Sieg would react if he attempted to refuse going through, so instead of finding out, Dmitri ran through the portal.

Running through the portal had an odd sensation. Dmitri felt a sucking sensation like when you pull an upside down bowl out of water. This could be how a fish feels when it passes into a sphere, Dmitri thought. It looked like a short distance, but as Dmitri passed through, it felt like he walked much farther. Then, when he finally got to the end, afraid of being squashed by closing walls, Dmitri felt the sucking sensation again and stepped out onto the gray carpet.

“The Commander’s office is just ahead, look sharp and remember to have respect. I won’t take responsibility for what happens if you mess up,” Sieg said. Seig stopped a couple feet from the door, sighed, and said, “look boy, it’s nothing personal, you’ll be fine if you keep your wits about you. Answer his questions and be helpful.”

“Thank you, Captain Sieg,” Dmitri said, walking forward towards the doors. Dmitri looked back at Sieg and the big man was already walking off down the hallway in another direction. I guess I should knock, Dmitri thought.

Dmitri approached the wide double doors and looked closely at them. They were ornately carved with scenes of sea battles involving ships, fortresses, and sea beasts. The large metal handles were carved in the shape of beast bones. Dmitri placed his hand on one of the handles and a loud chiming rang through the hallway. Dmitri jumped back from the door, alarmed by the sound. The chiming subsided and the doors swung open, revealing teeth-like shapes in-between the doors.

Inside the room Dmitri could see a spacious office, dominated by a large desk facing the entrance. It was made from a dark, marbled wood Dmitri had never seen before, carved with arches and pillars. Dmitri could see high backed wooden chairs lined up on the sides of the office and a table in the corner piled with maps. There was also a large window facing the sea, with a full size empire flag, a red field with a golden scroll-work border and a white griffin in the center, hanging from the ceiling. A man was standing behind the desk, and Dmitri immediately noticed his eyes, hard and unforgiving. Binsho was about average height, build, and appeared middle-aged. Binsho was bald and clean shaven. He had a darker complexion and had the bearing of a person used to being in command. Binsho wore a fine looking coat and trousers in red, gray, and white with high cuffed sea beast leather boots.

“Come forward Dmitri, the research assistant,” Binsho said. Dmitri walked forward. Where Sieg was intimidating physically, Binsho had a voice that expected obedience. Dmitri found that voice unnerving. “Come forward to the desk, I want a good look at you.”

“Yes sir,” Dmitri said. Dmitri had no idea what to expect. This was a pirate lord, and he was a former Empire national. Dmitri found pirate lords scary and the empire was also something scary, so this guy was someone he should really be careful around. In his remote village, there really wasn't much news of the Empire.

Binsho studied him for a moment, and then laughed for a bit. “Sit down, Dmitri. Make yourself a little more comfortable.” Dmitri did as he was told and sat down quickly in the nearest seat in front of the desk. Binsho took his time sitting down in his large high backed wooden chair, made of a similar marbled wood with red upholstery and golden trimming. “You look like a scared Union boy, but I heard you survived death already. Maybe your village threw you out, but you survived and joined up with a largely notorious wizard who works for me, the strongest island leader in the Ethereal Seas. You are a pirate now.”

“Thank you, sir,” Dmitri said, feeling a bit sheepish. Binsho was complimenting him, and Dmitri had expected something scarier.

“You can just call me commander,” Binsho said, the authority back in his voice.

“Yes, Commander,” Dmitri said quickly.

“I was very interested in what kind of person the infamous Sherran had picked up. Yes, fishing is a unique skill to have out here, but I had expected something more grand,” Binsho said while sweeping his right hand in the air. Binsho looked straight at Dmitri, “I expected a talented and capable spy from the Union or Empire.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Commander. I was just a simple fisherman in a recently converted sea hunter village, which is part of the reason I ended up leaving,” Dmitri said, trying to sound confident.

“So times changed, leaving you behind.” Binsho said more than asked. He was nodding, deep in thought over something. Binsho seemed to be a very calculating man. He had expected something more from Dmitri, but Dmitri felt like it was probably better he didn’t live up to those expectations. “Maybe that is part of the reason you can still fish too,” Binsho said. Binsho turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk.

Dmitri waited for a few moments. Binsho didn't turn his attention back to Dmitri. The sweat started to bead on his back, making Dmitri itch. Dmitri took a step back to see if Binsho would notice, but Binsho's focus didn't change. Dmitri slowly backed his way towards the doorway and slipped out. The doors closed as he left, making a clasping sound as they shut. Dmitri hurried back to the hallway corner he had exited the passage from.

Dmitri hadn't passed many corners on the way to Binsho's office, so it was a short distance. The walls were joined at the corner, appearing to be normal gray stone. Dmitri put his palms on each side of the corner and pushed. Slowly, the walls gave way, recreating the opening Dmitri had come through. On the other side of the hallway he opened, Dmitri could see the usual red carpets and decorations he had seen most often before. It felt more comfortable than the cold grays of Binsho's areas.

Dmitri stepped into the corridor, the sucking feeling lightly pulling at him as he entered through where walls should be. Now that Dmitri had a second to look around without someone waiting on him he wanted to look around. The walls, floor and ceiling were solid gray and completely smooth. It was like a bubble in water, except the corridor was perfectly straight. Then Dmitri noticed the walls tremble.

“Heh,” Dmitri heard the sound of disgust behind him, “we don't need more of that magician's kind around here.” Dmitri turned to see a stocky looking pirate in dirty sailing clothes and a brown bandana behind him. The man had his hands on the wall and was pushing to close the gap. Dmitri could feel his stomach fall and began to run, feeling the fear push him forward.

As Dmitri ran a man appeared on the other side. Dmitri could see the shine off a silver mask and a white uniform. Could it be Dorvyn, Dmitri hoped, as he ran in the man's direction. “Help me,” Dmitri yelled. The man stuck his arms out and caught hold of the closing walls, forcing them open. Dmitri could feel his heart lifting.

As Dmitri got close to the silver masked man, he heard a “you're not getting away that easy.” The pirate at the other end redoubled his effort, Dmitri could see the walls slowly closing in on him again.

“Trust me, you're safe,” the masked man said. Dmitri could see it wasn't Dorvyn from here. The confidence and calm in his voice made Dmitri feel better. He could trust this man.

When Dmitri was close to the man he thrust out with his arms, forcing the groaning hallway open wide. Dmitri heard a curse and something hit the ground with a loud thud. Dmitri slipped through the large gap under the man's arm and turned around. He could see the man adjust his stance forward, the muscles on his back straining through the coat. The man’s arms swung forward, reminiscent of a man chopping lumber, bringing his hands together, slamming the hallway shut. Blood burst from the crack as it sealed back into a hallway corner, splattering the white uniform. Dmitri could feel his eyes go wide. The blood was so red on the pristine white of the man’s uniform.

“You’re safe now,” the man softly while patting Dmitri on the shoulder. “If you think this is a mess, you don’t want to see the other side.”

That was almost me…

“Come now, I need to get cleaned up and we should get you back to the main area. Dmitri, right?” Dmitri nodded, feeling numb, letting the stranger turn him around with a large hand on his shoulder and a gentle pressure down the hall.

“I heard about you in a letter from my little sis,” Dmitri looked up towards the man that was walking him down the hall.

“I’m sorry. Yes, I am Dmitri, may I ask who you are?” The man met his eyes and smiled.

“Of course, my name’s Castel,” Castel laughed.