“Jeremy!” a voice suddenly yelled.

The shout caused him to flinch though he managed to hide it, composing himself, casually concealing his reaction by smoothly moving the binoculars away from his eyes.

“Jonah,” he said, turning to the familiar voice.

Jonah was peering up at him from the base of the crows nest, his head just above the floor, and his body still suspended on the rope ladder leading to it.

“Are you going to come up here?” Jeremy asked.

“The captains calling for you,” Jonah said, ignoring his question.

“What for?” he asked.

Jonah's head disappeared from view, leaving the cool wind to answer in his stead.

“Well, that was a great conversation,” Jeremy mumbled to himself. "Cassie said it was temporary hearing loss. It's been months, and he's still no better."

"What are you on about?" the barrelman said, his eyes not leaving his binoculars. "He can hear just fine. He talks with everyone else ok."

"No he doesn't," Jeremy said.

"Yes he does. Have you not seen him talk with the captain or his daughter? He is playing you a fool, you know that?"

"And why in Athena's name would he do that?"

The barrelman took his eyes away from the instrument and stared at Jeremy with a serious expression on his face. "Because it's funny?"

"If it were Delia, I could possibly believe you. But Jonah? Never. He wouldn't have the patience," Jeremy said. "The most he's ever done to me for calling him pirate punisher is give me a thumbs down. And he hates that name."

The barrelman shrugged. "If that makes you feel better," he said, returning to look back at the strange cliff face.

Jeremy knew that it was likely Jonah hadn’t been able to see him talk from the angle he looked from, but the remarks by the barrelman did make his mind wonder about his and Jonahs interactions over the past months.

Jeremy realised that ever since the Kraken incident, there were very few interactions between the two of them. Jonah couldn't be blamed, he was practically bed bound for the first month or two, and it was only in the last two weeks that he had been walking around with any success.

No, Jeremy realised that it was his fault. Jonah's relations with the others hadn't changed, it had only changed with him.

Jeremy climbed down the rope ladder, his mind weighed by the thought.

Why hadn't he gone and spoken with Jonah? Sure he was deaf, but he could still maintain conversations just fine. And time was a poor excuse, it's not like the flow of time changed since meeting the Kraken.

There was more work to do for sure, and he spent more time staring out towards the ocean for a threat or reading Delia’s bestiary, but it wasn’t as though he couldn’t spare half an hour for a conversation.

The likeliest reason, Jeremy realised, was guilt. He felt guilty for letting Jonah go and fight the Kraken by himself, enough that he didn't know how to face him.

The revelation Jonah was a red changed little. Jeremy already knew Jonah was different. And him being a little stronger than the ordinary man meant nothing compared to the behemoth he fought. If Khaleel was right, then Krakens were supposedly green, which meant Jonah was still way out of his league.

As he murmured to himself in frustration, Jeremy jumped down the last few steps of the rope ladder. Then he paused, turning left and right, unsure if where to go. It suddenly dawned on him that Jonah hadn't told him where to find the captain.

He was probably by the bow of the ship, watching them approach the land much like Jeremy was doing up in the crow's nest. But if he wanted a private word, he could have been at his quarters too.

He debated with himself which way to turn until he was interrupted by the voice of the ship guard.

"Jeremy," Jonah called, getting his attention. "The captains towards the prow. I'll be right there, I just need to grab Shelby."

"Thanks," Jeremy shouted back, before turning to make his way to the captain.

“Why did I even say that if he’s deaf, he didn’t even hear me…”

As Jeremy made his way towards the bow of the ship, he spotted Delia, Gavin, and Karl standing in a line. Greg was further ahead, leaning against the ship's figurehead. They all acknowledged his presence with a nod.

"I'll begin as soon as Shelby and Jonah arrive," Greg announced, turning away from the group to gaze at the shrinking shoreline.

Jeremy glanced at the assembled crew and felt his heart beating a little faster. Greg had gathered the senior staff, and they all masked a serious expression.

His mind began to race with the possibilities of Greg's intentions. Was he about to reveal that he was leaving? Or that Jeremy would become the new captain? The thought made his stomach churn. Surely, there would have been a better time and place to make such an announcement.

Jeremy didn't have to think for long as the ship guard and the third mate appeared promptly, joining the line.

"That's everyone then," Greg began, turning to face them. "You'll all know that I've been havin' conversations with you all, either in groups, or individually. And I trust you to all keep the words I told you amongst yourselves. But we can't really function if my senior shipmates can't speak to one another, so I'll lay down the crux of the information I told you all."

Jeremy's breath caught in his lips. Did they all already know then? His mine raced back to his earlier conversations; Delia seemed to have implied it when she exploded with emotions the day before.

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"The bottom line is, Inia Telle isn't like Askern. Kraken's and Sirens are a few of many monsters. And monsters are dangerous, which makes Inia Telle dangerous," he continued.

"The number of monsters, and the different types of monsters are like that of wild animals. I don't know how many there are, nor can I list them all. But there's a fundamental truth that applies to all of them, and to all the lands," he said, trailing off to invite them to guess.

"No one likes to eat Kraken meat," Jeremy said, trying to lighten the mood. It only elicited a smirk from Karl.

"Survival of the fittest," Delia said more seriously.

The captain nodded, ignoring his attempt at a joke. "Only the strongest survive. So in a land as dangerous as this, I can assure you, everythin’ you meet, every creature you come across will have its danger."

"Are there no herbivores or omnivores?" Delia asked.

He gave a light shrug. "I'd imagine so. But if there are any, then they will be few in number. You'll see why when we set upon the land, but just because they eat plants doesn't mean they won't be dangerous," Greg said.

The group nodded in understanding.

"So as I was saying.” He gave a pointed look to Delia for interrupting his flow. “Every creature poses its own threat. And as the men of house El said, monsters have ranks. They start red and they go up to violet. Men also have ranks. Our very own Jonah is a red for example," Greg said. "The higher your rank, the higher up you are in the peckin' order. But unlike regular animals, what do we know about these monsters?"

The eyes of the group turned to Delia for an answer, and her own gaze went distant as her mind processed the question.

"It's something Khaleel told you," Greg provided.

“Does it have to do something with ranks?” she asked.

Greg nodded, encouraging her to continue

"Animals have their traits standardised. Bunnie's can only hop so high. Horses can only run so fast," Delia said.

“Go on.”

"But these monsters, their rank varies. Sirens start red, but you can find them at all levels," she said. "Which means that their traits aren't standardised. Just because you can kill a siren doesn't mean you can kill any siren."

"Exactly. Which is why I need you to treat everything you see with caution," Greg said. "And because you’re the only lot who know about ranks, I'll need you to shepherd the rest of the crew too."

"Shouldn't we just tell them?" Shelby asked.

"If we want to live in Askern, no," Greg answered. "The moment the royal guard suspects somethings, the daily lives you all enjoy will be taken from you."

"But why?" Jeremy said. He understood Delia's point about super soldiers as civilians, but it wasn't like anyone would awaken with the mere knowledge of ranks or monsters.

"It's not like we're threatening their positions," Jeremy said.

"But we are," Greg said. "If the civilian population knew about monsters, about ranks or about secrets, there'd be anarchy. There's already unrest over the lack of knowledge about mana. Plenty of conspiracy theories too."

"Won't the crew already know about monsters?" Delia asked. "We've all seen the Kraken."

"We didn't all see," Greg replied. "You forget that we didn't even notice it until it attacked us. There was a heavy storm assaultin' us, makin' visibility piss poor. I also sent the crew below deck, so they wouldn't have seen enough to remember."

"But everyone knows about the Kraken," Karl said. "I mean, I didn't see it, but I know Jonah fought it."

"And how do you know what a Kraken is in the first place?" Greg asked.

"I… don't know,” he said. “From stories I guess."

"Exactly. Stories. The tale of the crew will just be another story," Greg said. "The official account will be that Jonah fought a giant octopus."

"And the Sirens?" Jeremy asked.

"No one was awake," Delia answered quietly. "Only me, Cassie and Jonah saw them."

"Ok fine," Karl conceded. "So far we haven't seen a thing. But when we get to wherever we're going, if there's going to be Monsters like Pokémon, how are we supposed to hide that?"

"We won't need to hide it," Greg said. "We shouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. And anything we do see will resemble regular animals or insects."

"So a dog will still look like a dog?" Jeremy asked. "Not some child girl Chimera of a creature?"

"Yes. An odd breed perhaps, but it will still resemble a dog."

"Ok, this might be a stupid question," Karl said. "But what exactly is a monster then?"

The eyes of the group shifted to Delia once again who had a troubled expression on her face. After a few seconds, she noticed the glances in her direction.

"What? Don't look at me," she said.

"A monster is a creature that's awakened," Greg answered. "It means it has a rank."

"So Jonah is a monster then?" Jeremy asked jokingly.

Delia stepped on his foot, silencing him with the stern look she tried to copy from her Pa. It only encouraged him.

"Half the creatures in this place are Monsters, and most of these monsters will look normal too. They won’t be mistaken for anything else other than exotic creatures," Greg said, continuing his explanation. "Not all of them will have two heads, or be straight out of fantasy. So we don't have to worry about what they will see, only what they know, or what they will know."

"They all know about the sirens," Gavin said. "I shoved their ears with wax."

"They were all drunk and were choking on the smell of sewer," Delia said. "I'm sure Khaleel's men distracted them enough anyway. Not everyday you hear someone shout in your ears."

"Not unless you're Jonah," Jeremy said quietly, receiving another sharp blow to his feet. He was just grateful she wasn't wearing heels.

“She’s right. I doubt any of them know. Still, better safe than sorry. Karl, go aroun’ and ask the crew members one by one what the craziest thin’ that happened this trip. They should say Kraken attack, storms and stink bomb prank.”

“Yes sir,” Karl said.

"Right, back to what I wanted to say," Greg said. "I need you all to keep the others in line. No one is to travel on their own, or without one of you in the group. I spoke at length with Khaleel, and the House of El will generously accommodate us for our short stay, until I figure out how to get us back."

"How long will this short stay be?" Delia asked quickly, her fingers fidgeting nervously by her side.

"I don't know, is the honest answer," Greg said almost consolingly. "Shortest we'll stay is a month."

"And the longest?" Karl asked. "I'd rather not be looking over my back for too long."

"We're approaching land soon," Greg said, ignoring the question. "Karl, Gavin, fill as many bags as you can with fresh water. Shelby, go and find Lenton. Then gather all the stock that won't stay fresh, and stuff them in a portable cooler. Pantry items like bread should go in the cooler."

"But it'll get stale," Shelby complained. "And that'll take up unnecessary space in the coolers,"

"Do you prefer stale bread or mouldy bread?" Greg asked. "Anything that'll get ruined quickly in the heat should go in the cooler."

"But it's cold."

"Right now, yes. You won't be saying that in the morning," Greg said. "Right, off you go."

Jeremy watched as the trio scurried off to do their respective tasks. Then he turned to Greg, waiting for his own orders.

"Right,” Greg said. “Now that they’re gone, I think it's time we have a quick discussion."