Alex stepped onto the deck and looked at the massive water serpent frozen to the ship. It was mostly intact and reminded him of an ice sculpture. Sayed already stood next to it, peering up with one hand over his eyes. Erin kneeled next to Li Wen on the deck, her hands glowing green as she whispered to the woman. Alex walked over to the serpent as Artur followed him onto the deck. He reached to touch the skin but stopped before getting within a meter.

Even at this distance, the cold ate into him with sharp claws. It was like he was standing next to the open door of an industrial freezer. He stepped back from the ice and headed closer to Sayed. As he expected, Sayed was radiating heat that evened out the temperature. It was enough that the two atmospheres canceled each other out and left a temperature similar to a moderately air-conditioned room. Alex sighed but then noticed the problem.

"Where's Jean?"

Boom. Boom.

Several loud hits rocked against the sculpture from above and within it. Lines formed from a central area above the deck, raining down shards of ice on them all. Alex threw his arms over his head, but Artur ran forward before the shards could fall on them all. He threw out his shield above his head and called out his technique.

"Know you are not alone," he said. "Shield Dome!"

Light shot out of his shield, forming a spider web-like blue dome above them. The shards of ice fell into it but shattered and crashed against the blue light. Alex put his arms down and watched the ice fall. He couldn't deny that kind of curse brought a lot to the table. Having Artur along seemed like the best idea more and more.

Crack.

A long line formed in the serpent's frozen body, and a figure burst out and dropped toward the ground. The figure landed against Artur's shield on one knee, bending forward with his head bowed. Alex smiled as he recognized Jean's skeletal form. Artur, however, looked up at the skeleton man on his shield as his hand went for his sword. Alex quickly ran forward, putting a staying hand on his arm before he could draw it.

"He's a friend," Alex said, locking eyes with him.

"Is he a man, or is he a monster?" Artur asked, still holding his shield and protective bubble toward the sky. "Once you answer, I will defer."

"Aren't we all monsters?" Alex asked, shaking his head. "He just wears his curse on the outside."

Artur smirked and released his barrier, allowing Jean to fall through and land on the deck in a squat. Jean stood up and brushed himself off before smiling wide and beaming at the rest of them. A spirit flew through the sky in a long arc before coming to rest around Jean's shoulders. Eliza's long white hair flowed like water behind her as she looked over the group with empty black eyes.

"I thank you for catching my fall." Jean tucked his long bone-white arm underneath his chest as he bowed. "I was worried I would be far higher in the air when I broke out."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Alex asked, waving over the remains of the thing behind him. "This isn't what I expected to come back to."

"Hah." Jean snorted. "I don't think I expected this either, but first, we need to check on Wen. I'm certain she's beat the woman, but I don't know much more than that."

"She'll be alright." Erin walked over, supporting Li Wen on her shoulders. "She just pushed her curse really hard, from what I can tell. She couldn't stop producing the cold from her hands."

Alex raised his eyebrow. That was curious. Most of the time, curses protected the user's body from being harmed by their curse. However, like Sayed's curse, he wondered if it needed a medium. He never saw Sayed use his heat beyond what would keep his body warm on anything but his swords and his old gauntlet. If Sayed made his nails or fingers exceedingly hot, would it burn through his skin? Would he lose a limb?

"Ah, yes." Sayed came over, carrying his heat with him and laying a hand on Li Wen's arm. "You are deathly cold, brother! You should be more careful with your blessing."

"I didn't have much of a choice," Li Wen said, raising her head weakly from Erin's shoulder. "We barely beat her."

"It looks beat to me," Alex said, looking up at the serpent.

"I don't think I killed her. She probably escaped."

"Was she wearing a black dress?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Jean said.

"I hit someone with a coin that was limping away from all of this; I assumed she was related. She just burst into a puddle on the ground."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"That was her." Jean nodded. "She's probably gone by now. Just breaking her form wasn't enough to put her down."

"A black dress, you say?" Artur cut in. "Do you know the name of this dame?"

"Miss Brooke," Li Wen said, narrowing her eyes. "Who's this?"

"He's our ticket into the Twelve Kingdoms," Alex said before Artur could respond. "I heard her say she was a Finger before I hit her. Like Mister Deadman."

"Five Fingers to a Hand, more Knuckles below," Artur said. "These are the people who serve Miss Malone."

"We have got to get you writing stuff down," Alex said.

"Why's he doing that?" Li Wen asked, blinking. "It's creepy."

"Oh, I don't know," Jean said, looking Artur up and down. "I've heard of worse gimmicks for someone to show some personality. It may be charming, and I think we should just leave it be."

"Don't start. We already had Sayed doing it earlier." Alex shook his head at Jean before turning to Li Wen. "Something about an oath. We can talk about it in a minute. First, where's Mari?"

"I sent her away with Gel," Jean said. "We had to evacuate them both at the start of the fight."

"Good thinking." Alex nodded. "Can you go get her and get Gel on the repairs? We may not be in trouble, but if the Port Authority finds out what we did in Dry Turtle, they will come after us. I want to be able to run if we need it."

Jean nodded and headed to the ship's ladder, quickly climbing down and leaving them behind.

"While they're doing that, let's get everyone caught up." Alex waved everyone inside. "We'll need to make sure we get some supplies first thing in the morning and be ready to move out."

"I have a person for supplies," Erin said as she and Li Wen staggered toward the door. "I just need someone to come with me. We're not going to do that entire rescue operation again."

"We'll send two," Alex said, cracking a smile.

With that, they went inside to figure out everything.

----------------------------------------

Kye looked out over the melting 'thing' wrapped around a ship in the repair docks. He scratched his pencil at the back of his head as he looked over his notepad. A short, dark-skinned man looked at him with a smile as he checked his notes. The story sounded too fantastical to be believed. The man, Alex, however, had several witnesses, including a member of one of the repair crews, to corroborate the story.

"So you're saying your ship was attacked by an unknown curse user who was trying to kill one of your crew members?" Kye asked. "They changed into the serpent, and one of your crew members was able to fight it off."

"Yeah," Alex said. "My crew member has the power to freeze things solid, so she was a bad matchup for the intruder."

"Why would she want to attack your ship?" Benji asked, pulling up his mask long enough to scratch at the fuzz on his face.

"A good number of us have bounties." Alex shrugged. "I know that doesn't matter to you all, but some people will break the peace to make some cash. I'm surprised she wasn't after my head."

"You're 'Tin Man' Ortega, right?" Kye asked. "One million doler bounty? Not the most expensive bounty ever, but still a pretty doler."

"I am." Alex nodded.

Kye sighed. One problem with a place like Dry Turtle was that it attracted many people with bounties. While most bounty hunters knew not to operate in the city and keep the peace, occasional upstarts decided to try their luck. Alex and his crew were lucky they had been able to fight her off. From what he could tell, the woman they described had an exceptionally powerful curse. He wasn't sure even he and Benji could contain a person like that.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about a stolen shuttle we found near the docks?" Benji asked, nodding back toward the way they had come. "We think it might be related to the breakout of some slaves in the West District."

"No idea." Alex shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "We were too busy dealing with repairs to be out and about last night. I can't say I'm hurt over the idea, though. Slavers are scum."

Kye raised an eyebrow but said nothing. This wasn't proof that Alex was involved in last night's events. However, if he was, it was a cheeky jab at both of them. Kye was more annoyed with the chaos than he was with the lost slaves. While their supervisor would yell at them later, it was one of the things that just happened sometimes. He did put a little mark next to Alex's name. He'd look into it if they stayed for long, and he found some evidence to connect them.

"How long is that thing going to stay frozen?" Kye asked.

"It's mostly gone now," Alex said. "Apparently, our crew member had to freeze it so cold that it's taking a while to thaw. We figure it'll be off the ship in a few more hours. Then we'll head out."

"Where you headed to?" Benji asked.

"The Twelve Kingdoms."

"You're going to the Core?" Kye asked, his jaw dropping. "That's running straight into the fire for an outlaw like you."

"What can I say." Alex shrugged. "I saw the message, and the Dark Meridian sounds a lot more fun than Erth. There are too many restrictions here. If we can make it through to Magnus Hortus, it's worth the shot for the freedom."

"The Erth is a cage," Benji repeated the words from the message.

"I'm surprised I don't see more people going for it," Alex said.

"Oh, they are," Kye said, closing his little notebook. "We've seen plenty of new traffic gearing up with the new ships and getting modified, and we're not the only free port on Erth. I imagine other major ports are seeing even more traffic. Plenty of people are salivating at the idea of a new world."

"What about you two?"

"We've got a job." Benji laughed, and Kye nodded.

While it seemed like a grand adventure, he was getting too old to go on those. He had a stable life and a good income. While the world might be a cage, he had carved out his happy life. But if he had been just a few years younger, that might change his mind.

"Well," Kye said. "We'll look for a woman matching the description then. Thank you for your report. Good luck in your sailing!"

"I appreciate it." Alex smiled, reaching out a hand to each of them in turn.

His grip was strong and confident. Once done, he started back up the ladder to his ship, leaving Kye and Benji on the ground. Kye took one last look over the ship as Benji walked away. Maybe if he had been born in a different time or place, he'd be one of those outlaws sailing for Magnus Hortus and the Dark Meridian. Then, some grumbling old Cleaner like him would have to come along and put a stop to his dreams. Maybe he wouldn't be looking too hard into the disappearance of the slaves.

"Come on, let's go get a drink before we go off shift!" Benji yelled. "I heard they've got some premium Black Turtle vodka at Cat's Cradle!"

"Alright, alright," Kye said, turning around and following after Benji.