Nautilus’s torture lasted well passed the sunset, but at no point did the ship slow down. No matter how good the healer, pain still lingered. It was agonizing to even walk at the moment. My entire body hurt; each step sent pulses up my body that made me want to whimper. Even breathing hurt a bit from all the exertion. You never appreciated the ability to breathe in peace until even agony accompanied every breath. Kicking Nautilus’s attacks away felt like kicking metal. The weird part was it wasn't ; it likely was something similar to Ekard. Regardless, Luna and I currently were in the same berth. How do I bring it up? Now that we were able to talk in private, I wanted to discuss it. Luna was looking at me, with a raised eyebrow. What do I ask? How do I phrase it? I didn’t know. How do people know what to say in scenarios like these? Did I just go for it?

“What is it Nil?” Luna inquired, seeming curious. How did she make it look so easy?

“Um. I don’t know how to phrase this.” I confessed. Why is it so uncomfortable in here?

“Nil, tact has never been a strong suit of yours. Just say or ask what you’re thinking.” Luna teased, smirking at me.

“I didn’t like it when you called me a friend.” I told her point blank. Luna made a face I didn’t recognize after a moment.

“Huh.” Luna quipped as she turned quite red as she realized something.

“What does huh mean?!” I snapped. That is not a helpful answer. What did she realize?

“It. It. It. It m-m-means. Give me a minute!” Luna spat back, turning even redder.

“I don’t know. Lilas asked that question and I didn’t get why. Then you said we were friends, and I didn’t like it. You’re nice to talk to. I don’t like it when you’re in danger. It doesn’t feel like friends, but I don’t know what to call it.” I explained, wondering why she got so crimson. It’s odd, even though her skin is slate, it can become so noticeably red.

“How are you so forling dense?!” Luna squeaked, red all the way through her ears now.

“What are you talking about?!” I inquired, not understanding. Luna took a few deep breaths to compose herself.

“What is someone, who is more than a friend?” Luna checked, looking like I was an idiot.

“Best friend.” I answered with confidence. Was it being best friends? Luna reached out in frustration, curling her hand into a fist, before rubbing her temples a little. What? I had the feeling I was wrong based upon her reaction. Luna was still quite red.

“Nil, what is someone more than a best friend? And I swear to the Lords if you say mega best friend, I’m going to slap you.” Luna pressed, looking like the answer was obvious.

More than a best friend? I thought of different relationships. It was interesting. I mean. you have people you know, acquaintances, friends, and then best friends. What is more than a friend? That implies the relationship is more than friends. Well, more than friends would be -. OH! I instantly felt flush. OH! How? HOW?! SINCE WHEN?! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE! I was taking several rapid breaths, trying to compose myself. Am I misreading this? From how red Luna was, I doubted it.

“Put it together?!” Luna growled at me, still an impressive shade of crimson.

“Since when?” I checked, as I began arranging some objects into a timeline.

“What are you doing?” Luna inquired, seeing me work.

“Making a timeline! I don’t know what else to do!” I shot back at her. Establishing the order of events should help. This is when I met her.

“Do you think a timeline is going to help?!” Luna pressed, looking a bit annoyed at me.

“It couldn’t hurt! So, first you demanded we meet. Then, we had teatime an average of one point nine three times a week.” I replied, putting some representative objects for each event.

“Nil, you are not solving this with logic. Somewhere we shifted from friends.” Luna snapped at me. That’s what I’m trying to figure out! The when we stopped being friends and became more than friends.

“The timeline can solve it.” I deflected. Yes. It will work. I heard Luna sigh.

“Nil; it’s fine. Clearly, we care about each other. I think being stranded on the other side of the world definitely pushed things. Being able to talk to another person who can understand a second life is something I think we both enjoy. It’s fine Nil. We’re physically kids which makes it a bit weird, but mentally we’re both young adults.” Luna explained, sitting next to me.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I don’t know what to do.” I confessed while looking at a still crimson Luna.

“Really? I think the timeline is a great idea.” Luna taunted as she began helping me straighten the line.

“It’s helpful.” I insisted, adding some wood splinters to the timeline.

“What are the wood splinters?” Luna checked before leaning against me a bit.

“The times I annoyed you.” I answered, making sure I had them spaced correctly. Luna drew a line near the end.

“So that’s when we talked about both being mentally older.” Luna told me with a smile.

“I think that was when.” I stated, just reviewing the moments I drew.

“Probably. Do you feel better now?” Luna agreed as she began leaning on me more.

“I think so. It’s just odd. We’re physically kids. It bugs me a bit. Up until a few weeks ago I knew you were different, but not mentally similar to me. I don’t know why I felt like making this.” I explained, leaning against her.

“You were giving yourself a minute to process; trying to channel it into something you could understand. It’s okay Nil, I’ve long realized you are not the best at processing your emotions. It’s fine. No one’s good at everything and I didn’t mind helping you make it.” Luna comforted me. I felt warm at her words.

“My brains struggling to think a bit at the moment.” I confessed, enjoying her next to me.

“I think you took a few too many hits from Nautilus. Come on Nil, let’s go to bed. And I definitely keeping my eyes closed because while mentally I know you’re an adult, the fact we’re physically children is hard to get over.” Luna told me. Fair, I’m feeling a similar way. It definitely makes it a bit weird.

“What are we? Are we dating? I don’t think the royal family dates.” I checked, looking into her eyes. They are a nice shade of green.

“We’ll say dating for now, and since we’re dating, we’re definitely doing the foxtrot when we get back.” Luna answered with a smirk. That stupid dance.

“Why when we get back? We can dance here.” I pointed out as I stood up. She must like it.

“To what music?” Luna inquired, also standing up. I could still remember the practice song. I only heard it over a hundred or so times.

“We can hum something.” I suggested as Luna smiled.

“Okay.” Luna agreed, looking happy. She looks quite happy actually.

“Would you like to dance, my Lady?” I requested, taking the proper stance Duthane showed me. One arm behind the back, bow politely, extend my leading hand, and the spacing of my feet. Okay, her lessons aren’t completely useless.

“Yes.” Luna said excitedly, quickly accepting my hand.

The small little berth was purely lit by the moon at the moon at the moment, as silver light cascaded in from the window. Luna and I both did a series of quick checks to make sure we were in the right starting position as I began humming the song Duthane made me practice to. Okay, you've got this Nil. We quickly discovered that berths were a lot smaller than dance floors, and that I was still a terrible dancer. I’m sorry Luna; I’ll take my dance lessons more seriously. We did a single dance before conceding this was not the greatest location. This berth is way too small to actually dance.

“I didn’t realize you hated my feet so much.” Luna teased me.

“I’ll take my dance lessons more seriously.” I promised, trying not to feel more crimson.

“I’d appreciate it.” Luna chuckled as I tried not to feel too embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about your feet.” I apologized to Luna.

“It’s fine Nil. I knew my feet were in danger.” Luna laughed, smirking at me.

“I have a different question.” I informed her trying to deflect from how red I was feeling.

“What is it?” Luna checked, smiling next to me.

“Did I ever have a relationship? Don’t you have someone you loved you are looking to reuniting with?” I inquired, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“You never had a romantic partner to my knowledge, and neither did I. It was something that never really interested me. Things just went to shiza, and I never put any effort out.” Luna told me with a bit of a shrug.

“I see.” I stated, feeling relieved.

“Come on Nil, we need sleep. I imagine Nautilus is going to resume our lessons tomorrow.” Luna prodded, dragging me towards one of the beds.

“Why is she helping us? I mean, we paid her to bring us back to Speranza, but why is she giving us fighting lessons?” I asked Luna as she pulled on my arm.

“I’ll tell you after we’re on the bed. It is time to sleep.” Luna snapped at me, glaring about the fact I wasn’t moving.

“Fine.” I conceded as I began walking behind her.

I hopped onto the bed before Luna curled into me. We both adjusted quickly; it was definitely warmer with her. I do like having Luna around. It was definitely a bit weird we both were mentally older. I hope when we get back our families don’t make it weird. Even now, she had an oddly pleasant scent. I kind of wondered what it was.

“So why is she helping us?” I asked Luna again as I set my head between her horns. I do like whatever that smell is.

“Nautilus has a soft spot for kids. She’s also quite charitable.” Luna informed me. She’s definitely seemed nice so far, if you look passed her harsh lessons.

“Is that why she’s the ?” I inquired. I’m curious to know more about that.

“She’s a . When referring to her, it’s the Nautilus.” Luna explained. So, there’s more than one. Are there seven?

“How many are there?” I probed as I adjusted the blankets.

“I don’t know. It’s a title that’s earned to my knowledge, there’s no set number.” Luna answered. Huh. Interesting.

“How do you earn the title?” I checked, trying hard not to yawn. I could rapidly feel my exhaustion catching up to me.

“No idea.” Luna yawned, settling in.

I wanted to ask a few more questions, but with my eyes closed I was struggling to stay awake. Luna was fully settled into me at the moment. It’s so warm with her. The scent of the sea was pleasantly drifting into the berth. The faint moonlight trickling in was pleasant. I could hear the sound of the ship moving across the waves, with sounds of them breaking gently filling the night. This moment was so peaceful. I think this is one of my favorite nights despite everything going on. My face hurt a bit from how much I was smiling as I held Luna a little closer. It took only a few moments to fall asleep after that.