The sound of knocking on Delia’s bedroom door jolted her awake. Slowly rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked over to the alarm clock by her bedside table; it was just past six, so it seemed she had slept past dinner.

Knock. Knock. Knock knock.

"Who is it?" she called out, sitting herself up on the bed. The knocking persisted without an answer, and as her mind slowly woke up, she recognized the familiar rhythm.

"Jonah?" she called out. ''You can come in,'' she said, her voice groggy with fatigue.

Knock. Knock. Knock knock.

"Right, of course," she muttered to herself, chiding her morning brain.

Delia began making her way over to the door but paused by the mirror to take in her dishevelled appearance. Her hair was a mess, with unruly strands of hair that somehow didn't obscure her vision. With a sigh, she smothered them back, then, using an elastic band that she kept around her wrist, quickly tied her hair into a messy bun. Finally satisfied with her new look, she resumed her walk towards the door.

As expected, Jonah's face greeted her with a warm smile when she opened it, holding a tray of green curry and rice.

"Hey Del," he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Can I come in?"

She nodded, stepping aside to let him enter. "Sure thing," she said, before closing the door behind him.

She smiled to herself as he set out the tray on her bedside table; it only felt like yesterday when she was doing the very same thing for him.

“Had a good nap?” he asked, taking a seat on her bed.

“Yeaaa-aaah,” she said, voice breaking into a yawn. She stretched her arms, banishing the last vestiges of sleep that clung to her. “It was fine. I was out for what, six hours? Caught up the sleep I lost out staying awake all night," she said. "Did anything interesting happen whilst I was out?”

He looked at her for a moment, his brows furrowing, before breaking into a sheepish grin. “Sorry," he said. "Can you repeat that?”

She smiled. “Did anything interesting happen?” she repeated slowly.

“Jeremy’s spotted the land from the birds' nest," he said. "The small ship of house El is just ahead of us, leading the way. I think we should arrive in an hour or so.”

“New land, huh? Do you think it will be anything like the books?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Do you think we will see a land of soft white or a place with massive rocks and caves? Or maybe even a sea of sand?”

He made a face of disgust. “If it’s a sea of sand, I'm returning back to the ship.”

She laughed, taking the warm bowl of rice onto her lap. “How long do you think we are going to be here for?” she asked.

“If it’s a sea of sand, less than a week,” he said jokingly, before pausing to give it some genuine thought. “I don’t know," he finally said. "You'll have to ask the cap. We’ve been away from home for some time. So my guess is, we’ll resupply, find some information, maybe a map, and then head back.”

Delia nodded silently, the clinking of her spoon against the bowl the only sound in the room, her eyes cast onto the thousands of white grains within her palms. Her thoughts drifted aimlessly as she absently mixed the curry and rice together, lost in contemplation.

“Del?” Jonah called out.

Still lost in her thoughts, she hummed absentmindedly.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked gently.

His question brought her back to the present, and she looked up at him, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, her voice unsure. “How much of that earlier conversation did you follow?” she asked.

“Not much. But Greg spoke to me about it afterwards,” he said quietly.

Delia nodded, unsure of what to say next. She desperately wanted to ask him what his next move would be, and whether he planned to explore Inia Telle, or join the guild, though she didn’t know how to ask, or whether it was even appropriate to ask now.

To do either would mean leaving the crew, even temporarily, and Jonah's self-appointed responsibility towards the crew wouldn’t allow him to.

She wanted to go. Not because she craved adventure, though she would have been lying if she denied that, but because she was acutely aware that attempting to awaken at Askern would be a political minefield, potentially forcing her to join the royal guard against her will. And despite her lack of knowledge about the group, she had an inherent dislike for them that she couldn't shake. It was prejudicial, she was well aware, but her Pa seemed to dislike them too for whatever reason, and he seemed to know more about them.

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Now that she was aware the guild and the royal guards operated as separate entities, and that the people at Inia Telle weren’t censored when it came to learning about mana, she yearned to stay there for a while, to hone her skills and to become stronger. There, she would be able to join the guild without worrying about the royal cult; she would be finally able to fulfil the promise she made to herself after seeing Jonah return from the battle with the Kraken.

But her desire to stay in the foreign land was complicated by the fact that she didn't want to leave Jonah or Greg. And she wouldn't be able to stay there if the ship left — not unless she had a way to get back home.

She needed to convince her Pa to stay at Inia Telle for at least a month. She supposed that would be enough time to gather books or resources to learn about mana. And to do that, she needed to enlist the help of Jonah.

Delia took in a deep breath, steeling herself for what she needed to do before locking her eyes with Jonah's. His eyes seemingly transformed, mirroring hers — the playful light in his eyes from moments ago vanishing.

"We need to talk," they both said in unison, voices blending together in a strange harmony.

Her heart fluttered in her chest as she looked at him in confusion.

“You first,” they both said in sync again.

Delia smiled at the coincidence, ignoring the thumping of her heartbeat. Why was she so nervous?

“You go first,” she said, breaking the stalemate. “You came in here because you wanted to say something, right?”

He nodded slowly. His eyes flitted around the room and took in the colours of the drab brown cabin as if stalling for time, and after hesitating for a brief moment, he let out a quiet sigh.

“I'm... I think I'm going to be leaving the crew,” he said in a hushed tone.

Delia could feel her heart rate accelerate, anxiety, and perhaps hope, churning in her stomach, causing it to constrict into a tight knot. She waited for him to continue, but he simply stared back at her, seemingly anticipating her to object.

She didn’t know if her face was one of surprise or horror, but Jonah's eyes displayed a mix of sadness and determination.

Delia took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, and she gave him a small smile.

“For how long?” she asked.

He gave a small shrug. “I don’t know,” he said with a pensive expression on his face.

“Are you planning on joining the guild?” she asked, voice hopeful.

If he wanted to join the guild, then that would be her chance too. It didn’t sound like he was permanently leaving, and if he weren’t, then her Pa wouldn’t leave without them. Not before they were done.

“I don’t know about that either,” he said.

Delia looked at him confused. “Then… why are you leaving Jonah?”

Finally, he looked her in the eyes. “Me and Greg spoke about the ranks. About me, and my training. About the shipwright…” he trailed off, sifting through his thoughts for the right words. “The shipwright wasn’t from Askern. Greg didn’t tell me where, but he’s from somewhere over here. From this side of the world, whatever that means. And I guess… I guess I want to learn more about him.”

As she waited for him to continue, her mind raced with a million questions, and her emotions whirled like a storm inside her. The pit in her stomach grew deeper, and her heart felt like the waves pounding against the hull.

This wasn’t a short goodbye, was it?

When he didn't speak, she asked the loudest question thundering in her mind.

“Why?” she said, her voice cracking. “Why are you telling me this?”

It was a silly question to ask; it wasn’t as though Jonah was going to disappear without saying goodbye, but her mind was reeling and that was the only thing she could manage to say.

It felt like her world was collapsing around her, consumed by the storm that started off so small from within her.

“Greg said It was up to me to tell you, if I wanted to tell you at all.” He looked away from her, finding interest in the wood grains of her bedside table. “And I guess I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me,” he added quietly.

Delia's mind froze leaving her lost for words. She stared at him, watching him awkwardly twitch under her gaze as she tried to take in the full weight of Jonah's admission.

“Of course, you don’t,” Jonah said quickly, awkwardly laughing. “We’re going into strange lands filled with monsters. I don’t even know where I’m going, or what I want to do, and here I am asking you to leave your Pa and the crew.”

Without thinking, Delia placed a reassuring hand on Jonah's knee, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"I want to go with you," she said firmly,

Now it was Jonah who looked at her in confusion. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” he said in disbelief.

Delia doubted he misunderstood her so she smiled softly and nodded, her resolve firm. "Yes, I'll go with you," she repeated, enunciating each word.

“But… what about Greg?” he asked. “What about Jeremy, and Karl and Cassie and—”

As she tried coming up with the right words, another thought crossed her mind, and a broad smile spread across Delia's face.

"Pa told you about the shipwright, right?" she asked.

He nodded in response, confused as to where she was going.

“Pa did,” she repeated, emphasising the words. “Gregory, the captain of the Flightless Owl told you about him. And he told you that you can tell me if you want, right?” she said, more confident in her speculation.

He nodded again.

“Then it’s fine. He wants us to go. He wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise. This is him making decisions for us whilst letting us think we’re in control,” Delia said confidently. “It’s why he told us about the rankings. It’s why he told us the truth. I think he wants us to learn about it all, now that his oath isn’t in effect for whatever reason.”

He inclined his head in a slow and deliberate nod as if trying to piece the puzzle together in his head, carefully considering her words.

“I see,” he finally said, his lips twisting in an ever so slight smile.

Delia felt the tension melt away from her shoulders, replaced by a sense of relief and contentment. She returned his smile with one of her own, her hands giving a reassuring squeeze on his knee, before returning to the warm bowl of her dinner.

“Del,” Jonah said. “What did you want to say?”

“Oh…” she said, before laughing awkwardly. "I was actually going to say the same thing."