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Chapter 12: Departure

Mugs clanked over crackling fires. The smell of cooked fish spread from the campfires, and different herbs and ales mixed in the air. It was like sitting in a lousy bar. Laughter and joy echoed in the cave. At dawn, we would leave, but until then, we celebrated.

“Thanks. The two of them would have been lost without you.” Hale shook Finn’s and Brenda’s hands.

“Yeah, we had to carry Selina through the whole palm tree. We didn't trip just once in that darkness.” Finn glanced over to the sleeping Selina. “Hopefully, she wakes up soon.”

“You should have seen her!” I gestured with my arms. “She took out half a dozen guards with one attack!”

“So you just stood by and watched?” Nita asked as she tended my wounds.

“Hah! I took care of some as well. I found this weird Jade Mint Crystal.” I held my melted prosthetic hand up. “It ate through metal like it was nothing.”

I bragged about my grappling hook and how it was me who had found the mint map—the part where I refused orders, I slightly understated.

Nita seemed to notice my little fib, but she didn't give me away. “It's good to have you back, sorry I caught you off guard in Bay Coast, but it all worked out in the end.” She finished the bandage around my shoulder.

“Oi, rookie, Heru!” Lush came over. “I bet you brought me some of the good stuff.” He rubbed his hands together and laughed.

“Gale’s currently sorting what we managed to bring.” I nodded toward him.

Gale had been frowning at me since we had returned. I responded with an exaggerated grin.

“I see.” Lush walked over to Gale. “By the way, thank you, rookie,” he muttered as he left.

“Alright, all done. I’ll get us a round!” Nita went off.

I went and got dressed appropriately again. It felt great to have my long black coat back.

[Item Record]

-Reinforced Coat, Broken Percussion Cap Pistol

“Come here.” Nita bellowed me over. She, Finn, Brenda, Lush, and Hale sat in a semicircle next to Selina.

I joined them, and Nita handed me a mug.

“To Selina and Hercu.” We toasted and slammed our mugs together, spilling some ale.

I gulped down the liquor, the cool tingle flowing down my throat.

“Wait, how can it be cool?” I asked, confused.

“Oh, over there.” Nita pointed behind me. The smarties sat around a box. Cold steam escaped when it was opened.

“What?! How does that work?” I wanted to get up and walk over, but Nita held me back.

“You'll spend enough time with them. Now it's time to drink!”

Her demeanor in her crew differed from when I had first met her. She was much more open and laughed a lot more.

“Hey, Elrad! Come sit with us.” Nita waved her mug in his direction.

“I still have work to do,” he grumbled. “We should leave as early as possible.”

“Fine, fine.” Nita slung an arm around my shoulder, oblivious that it still hurt.

“How much did she drink already? Wait, this is my opportunity!”

I ignored the pain. “Hey, Nita, how about you tell me a little about what you know about Jade Mint?” I slung my arm around her waist. “I've read some interesting things at the factory, for example—”

A deep tremor went through the whole cave. The cooking pots hanging over the campfires fell over, the soups spilling out and extinguishing the flames.

Nita picked up one of the torches that had fallen to the ground.

Everything except my loud heart remained silent.

A second great shock rocked through the walls. Something exploded outside.

“At arms!” Captain Reysan's voice called out. “We’re under attack!”

A sudden commotion broke out. Lights flickered, and people stumbled left and right.

“Selina!”

“Finn! Help me—”

“Already on it.”

With Selina on his back, Finn jogged past me.

“Nita! Where—”

“Right here.” Her voice, way calmer, came directly behind me. “We have to get out. Follow me!”

We rushed through the cave. I didn't care about the scrapes I would get and stayed close behind Nita and Finn as I squeezed through the aisles.

Glaring green light flickered at the end of the passage. We gathered outside of the exit and observed the area behind the bushes. Nita stood motionless, her eyes flaring green.

Without thinking about it, I walked up to the green reflecting beach.

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A giant ship, partly obliterated, stood in green flames. The whole stern had shattered, and the main mast had crashed. From the inside out, the fire cracked from green to yellow and red.

Figures moved in the distance. I pulled my Jade Mask from my coat and put it on. The guards’ armor reflected the flames, t burned in my eyes, but I didn’t look away.

Lush, beside me, sank to his knees. “Not Dawn Breaker . . . ” He sniffled. “You bastards!” Lush screamed. He shot up and sprinted along the shoreline.

A battle cry from Captain Reysan boomed across the beach, and more followed. Behind Lush sprinted Elrad and then Captain Reysan. And suddenly, the entire crew ran ahead.

Only Nita, Finn, Brenda, and I stood rooted to the spot. What I had thought about Selina’s outburst of bloodlust was a complete joke compared to the murderous intent that overflowed out of Nita. My hair stood on end like it tried to escape from my body. A constant shift between warm and cold made the air heavy to breathe.

The air vibrated.

I could look no further than Nita's shoulders.

The green of her hair began to glow, drawing long shadows of us.

I forced myself to look at her face and reached her mouth. Her lips contorted into something that couldn't be called a smile. It was simply atrocious.

As if with a mighty flap of wings that catapulted one into the air, she was gone. The sudden wind knocked me and the others over. And with her gone, the air was breathable again. On all fours, I coughed desperately for air. The others fared even worse as they vomited up their stress. Nausea came on, and with it, fear and paralysis.

—

Dozens of different sounds disoriented me. Swords clanged against each other, breaking. Shields blocked to save lives, breaking. Spears stabbed to maintain reach, breaking. Armor dampened, breaking. People fought and bled, breaking all at once.

Flames tore wildly. Footsteps muffled in the sand. Screams. So many screams.

And me? Hercu? Who claimed to be good at survival. I was a thief who wanted to explore and elaborate on the ideas in her head. I was up for brawls. But if I had to take someone out, I used surprise attacks. But for sure, I avoided the big battles.

But does that mean anything at all? People who are stronger than others simply choose what they and others become. I liked to tinker, but my technical skills waned because I had to follow orders instead. I knew a little about picking locks—so they just thrusted me to steal.

Like my name, simply false. A lie. A lie to protect the little girl inside me, the little girl that would cry every night since her parents abandoned her.

The children and nuns couldn't fill the hole inside me! And I knew what men did to girls. And I knew what men did to girls . . . so when someone accidentally thought of me as a boy, I just didn’t correct them.

My childhood dream. Exploration. Was it really my own, as I had always thought? Or was I just running after my parents, hoping to find them against all odds?

I held my hands to the moons as if to cling to them. Mother's bracelet slipped down my forearm.

“Why did you leave me?”

The salty taste of my tears seemed so unfamiliar. Despite all the salty water I had swallowed . . .

Heat came from the battlefield. Brenda and Finn were no longer near me.

The stars didn’t like the flames.

I started into the night sky, imagining how rain would sprinkle me—touching me—gently massaging and drenching me—the tiny splashes of thousands of raindrops. I imagined the white noise sounding around me. It soothed my frightened and confused heart.

I stood up. Only a minute had passed since the battle began.

I took a deep breath. All alone. I screamed at the top of my lungs, blasting my battle cry across the shoreline and speeding over the sand.

Cutlass-drawn, I found my first target. A group fight had broken out in front. Occupied, they noticed my coming blade too late.

It flew straight into the guard's face, sending him tumbling. I ignored the protest of my arm. Even if it broke, so did everything else too. I picked up a lost sword in the sand and lunged at my next victim. Our blades crossed, but while I held the sword with my left, I pushed against it with all the strength my prosthesis allowed. It screeched in agony as it sliced through and severed the guard's arm.

Blood splattered on me like raindrops. I didn't stop swinging until the group of guards lay hacked to pieces in the sand.

Blood covered me. The Jade Mask seemed to protect my eyes from any splashes.

While I retrieved my cutlass, I scanned the battlefield for my next victims. Over the shouts, screams, and metal clanking, I heard a single thing like a whisper in my ear.

“Yes, Finn, it was me. I followed you and reported the hideout's location to Captain Samuel. It was a trap all along.”

My rain poured down, drowning every other noise but Wyatt’s voice. Like a huge wave, his words crashed into me.

Amidst sand, red, and silver, he stood there, Wyatt, holding the Jade Mint Crystal. Probably oblivious that it slowly eats his gauntlets away.

Someone tackled me, and I landed on the sand.

“Focus, Hercu!” Nita yelled at me. Then she was gone again, rejoining the battle of blurs.

The noise returned. Someone had shot at me. I searched for the sniper with enhanced vision and found him already focused on someone else.

My gaze darted back to Finn and Wyatt, who had begun a close battle. I shot up and rushed to Finn’s side. Wyatt intentionally took a hit on his armor and destroyed Finn’s sword with the crystal.

I ran with all I had. Wyatt swung the crystal at Finn, who barely dodged the first blow but lost his balance to evade the second. He protectively held his arms in front of him.

I pushed off the ground, jumping the last meters, and struck Wyatt’s wrist, causing him to drop the crystal. I followed with my cutlass. Thanks to the mask, I saw the blink of the sniper aiming at me. I leaned to the side, but he didn't shoot.

A loud bang buzzed in my ear, and I was thrown back, taking a mouthful of sand. Wyatt grabbed the crystal again and ran straight to Finn.

I reached for my cutlass to throw it, but a sharp pain stopped me. My arm was broken. I grabbed it with my other—there was no arm. From the elbow, my prosthesis was missing.

Desperate, I got up and ran to Finn, who had just dodged Wyatt's attacks.

I wished the rain would return to drown out all the noise. But none came.

Against the pain, I pulled the cartridge from my remaining prosthetic, but I just couldn't find the strength to throw it at Wyatt.

Finn stumbled. Out of breath, the next attack would hit. Again I leaped to Finn without even an idea of how to stop Wyatt.

Just two steps. Two steps away from them. The crystal dug into Finn’s stomach and sealed his fate. His skin immediately rolled itself up. His screams were in my ears.

Filled with rage, I slapped Wyatt with the cartridge. But my strength wasn’t nearly enough to shatter it. It just hurt.

Wyatt groaned in pain as he looked at his hand holding the crystal. It almost ate into his skin.

With a kick that I couldn't react to, he sent me to the ground. I fell next to the convulsing Finn.

A sharp, biting pain invaded my hand like dozens of ants tearing and digging at my skin.

The crystal stuck in my hand, the cartridge and mother’s bracelet destroyed, pierced.

A grinning Wyatt stood over me as I tensed in pain.

“I give you this as a parting gift.” He glanced at the crystal. “Have fun in hell.”

My blood turned to acid, melting me from the inside.

Finn had already stopped moving. He stared at me with his eyes wide open, green tears in his eyes.

“I'm sorry I got you into this.

“I’m sorry.”

—

Water. Suddenly there was only water. Salty stingy water in my eyes. In my wounds. Light rippled above me. I couldn’t breathe.

Someone tugged at me. I recognized Nita’s red and green hair. The water drowned out the battle noises, but they couldn't drown out Finn's screams in my head.

I barely knew him, but he had potential—the potential to become a good friend. I was sad, yes, but more, I was frustrated. Angry with myself.

The light faded.

“I don’t want to lose my dream. Not because of a little girl’s doubts, no. No. I’m Hercu. Lie or not. I will explore it. Under The Dawn Sea.”