'Sometimes, I feel like I'm not even there. Like I'm just a lost breeze.

Do I even exist on my own, or am I a mere part of someone else?

How can I be myself if no one sees or hears me but one?

Then I'd be no different than being nothing.

Maybe that's all that I was meant to be.

Maybe that's all I ever will be....'

I open my eyes slowly, tears filling the sides of my eyes. It's dark around, but the loud snoring of Barin and the gentle babbling of the water outside give me a good reminder of who and where I am again. I'm myself, Zarys Istannyn, and I'm safe in my own hammock. The dream is still fresh on my mind, and I have no doubt of it's source. I feel around for Zeph, but don't find her. So with a worrisome heart I wipe my eyes, jump from my hammock and search around for a lantern, which is found soon enough. I turn it on and leave the cabin, heading straight for the deck.

When I open the door to it a bright and clear night sky greets me with all its glory. The massive disc in the sky has been steadily growing smaller since we departed from Neurin, inching closer and closer to being a mere line in the sky. It's an astounding sight, seeing that disc with a large part of it darkened in the worlds shadow, and behind that a stretched canvas of stars. I make my way to the very front of the ship, passing only two sailors who are on nigh watch, and lay down on a crate standing there. You couldn't see a sight like this in Neurin. There's just too much light pollution in the city. I guess that's the drawback of technological advantage, even though the spread of light-artifacts is just beginning. I try to imagine what would happen if light-artifacts become widespread. Sights like these would be reserved for the truly isolated.

I stare up at the sky, tail gently swaying left and right while my eyes are mesmerized by what they see. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" I say it to no one in particular but to my surprise I do get an answer. /Uhuh, it really is./ As Zeph says that I can feel a gentle wind settle on my stomach, I don't feel any weight, but I can feel her presence. It almost feels like she's laying down on it and staring up with me. We keep our silence, simply enjoying the moment. One of the sailors walked past me once to check on me, but left me alone after that.

Like that a long while passes. Only when the eastern sky starts to light up do I say something. "You're not nothing, you know. Not to me." I can feel Zeph shift a little, as if to sit up and look at me. /What brought that up?/ She says with wariness in her voice. I don't answer immediately, letting myself stew a little over how to answer that. "Let's just say we're much closer connected than you might think, than I thought." She doesn't respond, so I take that as a sign to continue. "Look at all those stars. Would you say they're nothing?" I can feel her lay down again and after a moment she answers. /No, I guess they're not./ I nod at that. "They might be out of reach to most, giving the illusion that they're nothing at all. But there are always exceptions." I point up at the sky with one hand. "Only the Phoenix is said to be able to reach among the stars. A privilege only extend to Them. And sometimes when It comes back, It brings parts of the stars back down with Them to share with the world." As if on que the long tail of a shooting star streaks across the sky before bursting apart into several smaller lines.

"In a perfect world we could be like that Zeph. You the star, and me the Phoenix. But this is not a perfect world and I'm not strong like the Phoenix. I can't possibly protect you from every person who wishes to keep you for themselves." I can feel Zeph lift from my stomach and move closer to my head. "But. I've never stopped to think what that cautious mindset would do to you, until yesterday when I realized that I was doing exactly that which I tried to protect you from. And I'm sorry." I sigh in deeply feeling tears well in the corners of my eyes again. "I'm sorry for not considering how it would make you feel. I've been a shitty friend..." I try to wipe away the tears, but many others quickly replace them. "I'm so, so sorry."

She settles on the crate above my head, letting a few of my hairs blow in her breeze. She gently starts petting my hair between my ears while speaking. /It's alright. Well, it isn't really. But I do understand where you're coming from. It's just, it makes me feel so alone being like this./ She softly strokes my ear as I lay there listening to her. /Just know that I'm not blaming you for this. How can I? You've been there for me ever since I awoke. If anything I'm glad it was you that found me. And I'm thankful that you try to protect me as much as you are./ She let's out a sigh, but doesn't stop her petting. /But yesterday was a straight punch to the gut, you know? I'm already a questionable existence without you. But you finally decided to tell someone, even against your own better judgement. And they didn't believe you. They didn't believe I existed. They thought I was an Artifact, a mere inanimate construct. That's what hurts. It was nothing that you did. If anything I thank you for trying./ She gives me two quick pats on the head, making me smile a little. "You're wrong about something there, though. She did believe me, eventually, but you had already left." /I, really?/ She seems genuinely surprised. "Yes, really. She even offered to try again today, with me repeating what you say so you two can have something like a conversation. I wanted to tell you way earlier, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

She stops petting my hair and makes her way to my chest. /I have a feeling that won't be a problem for that much longer. Especially since you can now feel what I feel when you sleep./ My eyes widen at her revelation. "Wait, you knew?" She answers me with a smug tone. /Yup, I've been having flashes of your emotions as well, though I don't think they are nearly as powerful as what you felt tonight. But lets leave that topic there for now, cause it seems we have company./ That makes me quickly sit up and look around into the darkness, but I don't see anything. I do hear a steady breathing through the sound of the waves, confirming that there's someone there. "Come on out, I know you're there."

Out in the darkness a large silhouette becomes visible. As it steps into the dim light of my lantern I immediately recognize it. "It seems ah've been found out." The crooked smile of Barin greets me while he scratches his head with one hand. I look him straight in the eyes unblinking, though I'm sure they're still red and watery. "How much did you hear?" Barin stops scratching his head and start stroking his beard. "Oh, enough to know ya needed to be 'alone', though ya were never alone, were ya li'l fen?" He stops scratching his beard and reaches his hand over like he's trying to shake someone's hand. "The name's Barin, though ya probably already knew that." I immediately know he's not talking to me and I turn my head to where Zeph is floating. /I, uh, I./ She seems astounded, not knowing what to do in the situation, so I decide to intervene. "He's talking to you Zeph. Go, introduce yourself."

/It's nice to meet you Barin. My-my name is Zephyr, though all my friends call me Ze-Zeph./ I see Barin jump a little in surprise as he probably feels Zeph touch his hand. That makes me smile as I relay what Zeph has said. "She says; 'it's nice to meet you Barin. My name is Zephyr, though all my friends call me Zeph.'" The surprise is quickly cleared from Barin face as he changes it to an amicable smile and he starts shaking his hand up and down. "Well then, Zeph, it's nice to meet ya as well."

They stand a moment in silence before both of them speak up at the exact same time. /Zarys, what do I do now?/ "So, what exactly are ya, Zeph?" I shake my head while smiling. "What you do now, Zeph, is answer is question." She takes a moment to think it over, but then starts talking. /I don't know what I am. Maybe some kind of spirit, but I don't know for sure since I'm the only one of my kind./ I relay her answer to Barin, who listens attentively while stroking his beard again. "Right, that would make it difficult..." He turns his attention to me. "What do ya think she is?" "Me? Well, my best guess is she's a bundle of wind-Essence that has somehow gained consciousness. I have no clue as to how that possibly happened, though." He nods sagely, though the image of Barin standing there isn't exactly the image I'd have when thinking of a sage. "What makes ya think she is wind-Essence?" I turn to Zeph. "You can show him why." The corners of my mouth pull up into a grin. "No need to hold back."

/Hihihi, alright. I'll show him!/ "Uhm, li'l fen? What are ya two planni... Oh Bloody Bogs!!" His sentence is cut short as he is launched into the air by a blast of Zeph's wind. The wind is a bit to strong though, and Barin's pants are unceremoniously ripped from his middle leaving his sizable business flying bare for everyone to see. I quickly turn away, a hefty blush burning on my cheeks. Barin doesn't care, though. He seems to be having fun. "Harharhar!! Oh that's chilly li'l spirit! Ya can put me down, ah get it now." I can hear Barin landing on the deck again with a loud oomph. I don't dare look in his direction, though. My frail heart can't handle that. "Ah bogs! That's gonna need stitching." It seems he has found his pants again. "If you don't mind, could you put them on again?" I ask, still not looking at him. /Hihihi, did you see how high he went?/ "Yes, unfortunately I saw a lot more." A shudder passes over my back, puffing up my tail. "That's going to stay with me for a while."

A yawn slips from me as the lack of sleep is finally catching up to me. Barin walks up to me and puts one hand on my head while keeping his pants up with the other. "Maybe it's wise ya go back to bed until breakfast. Meeting the Admiral while walking around like a hungover Baeron is not the best idea. Ah should know, ah've done it before harharhar!" I nod at him, rapidly becoming more drowsy. "Yes, sleep would be nice." I turn my attention to the sky. "You can bother him some more Zeph. Just, be careful to not get caught by anyone else. We'll go see the Admiral after breakfast then alright?" A happy voice answers me. "Then I'll see you both in the morning. Good night." And with that I turn back to the cabin to get some more sleep before the day starts. It takes me quickly now that some of my worries have been quelled somewhat.

====

Morning arrives quickly and violently as Barin shoves me out of my hammock to wake me up and Zeph blasts some air into my face. "Rise and shine, li'l fen!" /Yeah, rise and shine, li'l fen!/ Well, these two are getting along great. "Was that really necessary? A little nudge would've sufficed." I say while gentle massaging my shoulder. "Aah, but where's the fun in that?" /Yeah, where's the fun in that?/

I look pointedly at Barin, because he's the only one I can see. If I could see Zeph I'd be staring the shit out of her by now. "I don't think introducing the two of you was a good idea."

Barin doesn't care for my staring and laughs out loud like he always does. "Harharhar! Yer overthinking it, li'l fen. Being around me never hurt anybody. It's perfectly fine!" /Yeah, perfectly fine./ I don't let up the stare for a moment, but eventually relent and shake my head. "And to think that I thought you actually matured a little." /Pffft, maturing is for old people. And I'm not old, just to be clear./ I ignore her and walk up to the door closely followed by Barin. "Are ya ready to cook then, li'l fen?" I sigh, preparing mentally for the possible antics these two are going to have during the cooking. "Ready as I'll ever be, sir Cookin." Barin starts laughing even harder. "Harharhar!! That's what ah like to hear!"

Breakfast comes and goes with only minor pestering from the other two. Now it's finally time to try the introduction with Jenora again, but a little spirit is trying to be difficult. /I wanna stay with Barin./ I cross my arms, trying to come over as stern. "Oh no. You're not backpedaling now. You are going to introduce yourself again, she's going to listen and hopefully start some kind of conversation and then we can all forgot the awkwardness that was yesterday." This did not convince her though. /But she insulted me!!/ But she is going, whether she wants to or not. "Then we'll make her apologize! Now come." Someone seems to have a sixth sense, or maybe my shouting was just to good, because even though he can't hear her, Barin seems to have picked up that Zeph is reluctant to leave. "If ya want, ah come with ya. Ah think it would make it easier on the li'l spirit." Unfortunately for him, Zeph doesn't take it as a sign of help. /Betrayal!!/ I grin in her general direction, though. "Well, isn't that nice. Now we can just go meet the Admiral, without anymore delays." She agrees reluctantly. /Hmmm, fine./ But that's agreement nonetheless, so a victory for me.

The three of us make our way across the deck towards the Admiral's quarters. When we arrive I knock at the door. A beat later Jenora calls us in. I open the door to see Jenora sit behind the desk. At first she looks at me with a gentle smile, but that is quickly replaced with a stoic face when Barin steps in behind me. "Good morning Admiral." "Mornin' Admiral." I greet her somewhat casually, but Barin greets her with a military salute. I guess he can keep up appearances when it counts. "Good morning as well. I must say, I did not expect this addition to this little meeting."

I step forward to explain the situation to Jenora. "Well, you see, Zeph didn't exactly want to meet you again." The Admirals look sours at that so I quickly continue. "But she agreed to come when Barin offered to come with us." She looks a little conflicted as we walk towards her and take our seats on the other side of the desk. "I take it then that Barin has met Zeph?" Barin nods at that. "Aye, we introduced this mornin', officially that is. Ah of course knew something was up, though it is nice to now know the li'l spirit." Zeph giggles at Barin. /And it's nice knowing you, you big boar./ With a straight face I relay only part of her sentence. "She just called you a big boar, Barin." Leaving Zeph not too happy. /Hey, tell him all I said!/ My straight face cracks, leaving me smiling at Zeph's antics. "And she says it's nice knowing you, too." We all start laughing out loud. Jenora stays silent, though she does has a slight smile on her.

When our laughing dies down somewhat, Jenora grabs our attention by speaking up. "If it isn't too much to ask, I'd like to introduce myself as well. But before I do that I'd like to apologize. I know we didn't start on the right foot, and I may have hurt you with my words and actions. But please know that that was never my intention, and I'm sorry." Jenora stands up and bows forward, leaving me and Barin speechless. Zeph leaves Jenora standing for a moment before answering, which I pass on. /I accept you're apology./ Jenora looks up and is visibly relieved. "Then I'd like to formally introduce myself." She reaches her right hand over, as if to shake someone's hand. "Admiral Jenora Searl, head of the Western Fleet and commander of the Southern Expedition. It's nice to make your acquaintance." A gust of air moves the Admiral's sleeve, revealing the presence of Zeph. /It's nice to meet you as well, Admiral. My name is Zephyr, leader of the wind spirits. But my friends just call me Zeph./ I relay Zeph's answer word for word while rolling my eyes and they shake on it while they both giggle. I have a feeling Barin has never seen the Admiral being casual before, since he's staring at her with his mouth slightly agape. "Ah didn't know ya could giggle, Admiral." He actually let's his thoughts slip, snapping Jenora back to reality.

The four of us talk for a while longer, with me passing on anything Zeph says. Most of it is a repeat of Barin's questions last night, but some are new. "I have to ask. Why haven't you taught her writing?" "We've tried, but it's not that easy. Zeph can't pick thinks up, or interact with things physically. She can only direct the wind. Grabbing something with the wind is impossible for her as of now and writing with the wind itself only works on larger scales, which is just inconvenient for everyone." "Hmmm, what about a pan flute? We could couple different meanings to different tones, so she can somewhat communicated. It won't be as useful as writing, but it'll give Zeph more options than just making her presence known." I tap my chin while thinking it over. "That, actually seems like it could work." I turn my attention to Zeph, who's been suspiciously quiet through this whole conversation. "What do you think Zeph?" But she still doesn't answer. "Zeph?" Only now she cryptically say something. /The air is acting strange./

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I'm about to ask what she means, but am interrupted by the door slamming open and two people bursting into the office, one a sailor, the other a woman in a labrobe. They both storm right up to the desk, much to the chagrin of Jenora. Though she tries to keep a straight face, it's clear she's displeased with the sudden barging in. "This breach of conduct better have a good reason." Both intruders pale at the Admiral's words, but that doesn't deter them from continuing on. The woman decides to speak first, but not before she salutes her superior. "Ma'am, we are gathering extremely abnormal readings from the Essence-detector since this morning, but just now we registered a massive spike in multiple Essences and we are as of now unable to determine its source." The sailor scoffs at her, even forgetting to salute the Admiral. "Oh I can tell you fancy pants scientist what the cause is. A massive pillar of light is lighting up the sky in the south-southeast."

Everyone in the room stares at the sailor for a single beat. Than as if a shot went off everyone bolts for the door except the sailor, who is left in the dust. We quickly make our way towards the deck and as soon as we reach the outside we see that the deck is lit up with a green/blueish tint. We turn around and climb up the front of the ship to join the rest of the gawking sailors. There we're greeted with a spectacular, once in a lifetime sight. There in the distance, across the horizon stands a beam of green/blueish light so high it reaches far into the sky, maybe even to the heavens themselves. It's so far away, yet so bright I can barely look at it. The sheer violence that is happening over there is in complete contrast to the total absence of any of the sound. I don't hear anything except the waves of the ocean and the breathing of the people around.

After a long moment the beam shrinks in on itself and with a few sputters it is gone, leaving no sign that it was ever there. The scientist is the first to come to her senses. "I need to report this to chief Hennan." Before she can leave though, Jenora grabs her by the shoulder. "I'll come with you. I'm very interested in what he has to say." First she turns to Barin. "Keep an eye on this lot for me. I'm not sure how they're going to respond." After Barin gives her a salute in acceptance she turns to me. "You come with me, Zarys." I can only nod and follow her silently. I still can't wrap my head around what we all just saw.

We enter the hallway to Jenora's office, but take a left down the hallway to the stairs. They lead straight to a large room full of artifacts where a few people in labrobes walk between them. When we arrive at the floor a tall man with slick, black hair dressed in a similarly black labrobe walks up to salute Jenora. "Ma'am, I take it Jirri made it to you just fine. I'd hoped you would come to me immediately, though, since this is quite important." He turns a scornful eye to his assistant scientist, but she remains unfazed. She doesn't get the chance to speak up, as the Admiral does it before she can. "I would have, Hennan, but something came up. Literally. Tell me, were the readings perhaps a massive spike in both water-Essence and morph-Essence followed by a sharp decline?"

Hennan perks one eyebrow at the Admiral's statement. "You're right, but how did you know?" Jenora shakes her head while laughing him off. "You just missed the spectacle of the century Hennan, maybe even the millennium." She turns to the scientist called Jirri. "You can confirm right? Those were definitely the colors of water-Essence and bio-morph-Essence." She nods at the Admiral's querry. "Yes ma'am, they definitely were." Hennan is standing there like he doesn't know what they are talking about. That's when I realize he actually doesn't. I'll help him out with that then. "Mr. Hennan. There was a massive beam of green/blueish light to the south just now. That's what got them this excited."

He looks at me in surprise, as if only now realizing that I'm also there, before rubbing his chin with his hand. "Interesting. Then we've just bore witness to a significant, maybe even world changing event." "Karr, bring a print of the current graph to the table. Jirri, get the compiled data of the last half year. Admiral, if you'll follow me." In the back of the lab a male fenerin scurries toward one of the artifacts lining the wall and pulling a long sheet of paper out of it, then rolling it up while Jirri darts of to a large shelf full with scrolls. Me, Zeph, and Jenora follow Hennan to a large table in the back of the room. A moment later the two scientists arrive with their respective scrolls. They hand them over to Hennan, who carefully rolls them out over the table. They reveal two sets of graphs. One dating this day, the other having dates going back to half a year.

The one going back half a year show a graph with a steady decline. The one from today, though, shows a totally different picture. It show a steep decline, followed by a massive spike which can't even fit on the paper, after which it just goes all over the place. When we've head a moment to inspect the charts Hennan starts to talk. "Close to half a year ago the decline of Essences, specifically the water-Essence and the Bio-morph-Essence, within the ocean has been accelerating. Until this morning that decline happened steadily, but almost immediately after breakfast it went into a freefall." He points at the part of the graph where the lines go down rapidly. "When the decline became too rapid I send Jirri to fetch you, but then the second significant event happened, the spike." He points at the spike in the graph. "Apparently this corresponds with the timing of the beam you witnessed, so clearly these events are related." He now points at the scribbles at the end of the graph of today. "Apparently the amount of Essence ejected during the event was enough to destabilize the sensor to the point of malfunction."

Hennan folds his hands in front of him while he takes a seat on the chair behind him. "The funny thing is, only the underwater sensor picked all this up. Our sensor above water hasn't noticed a single disturbance." That confuses me, since Zeph clearly felt something was wrong before it happened. I keep it to myself though. "Given the sheer scale of the event and the southern position of the beam I can only think of one source. Her." Everyone around the table keeps their silence, fully expecting Hennan to go on. "Now, I know this Expedition secondary goal was to confirm the death of Her, but due to this event I'm not so sure She's actually deceased. But this event has revealed that something is happening down there." He turns his attention fully on Jenora. "That's why I would like to ask you to be extra cautious with the furthering of this Expedition." "Also, now that our underwater sensor is out of order, we'll have to decide between keeping the above water sensor where it is, or repurposing it as our underwater sensor. Know that that'll leave us blind to any disturbances within the air, but it is my personal opinion that detection underwater takes precedence."

Jenora takes a while to think over the options, the rest of us keep our silence. Eventually Jenora stands up and start pacing. "I agree with you're opinion that underwater takes precedence. Make preparations to retrofit the above water sensor. As for it's replacement, I think I have an idea." At that she looks at me, giving me an uncomfortable premonition of what she means.

====

I hate it when my hunches prove correct. For a week now me and Zeph, but mostly Zeph, have been working as a passive detector. The scientist don't know about Zeph and we'd like to keep it that way, so me and Jenora made them think that I have some secret Artifact. At first they were skeptical, but when they heard my family name all that skepticism disappeared. The benefits of having a well known uncle I guess. Being a detector doesn't entail much from me, so when I'm down in the lab anyway I'm allowed to help with some calculations. I would help with maintenance on the Artifacts, I am qualified to do that due to my University course. But ever since me and Zeph bonded it's become impossible for me to operate Artifacts, since I can't control them anymore. Despite that though I have been allowed to study some of the records kept down here, though there isn't much I didn't already know. Still, it's nice to be able to confirm some of my theories on Essence behavior.

So my days are now filled with helping Barin cook the meals, sitting around in the lab being too smart, as Zeph put it, and occasionally functioning as a relay for a conversation between Zeph and either Barin or Jenora. Like that a week passes. I nice peaceful week. Sadly, all peacefulness comes to an end.

'Wake up, Zarys. Plea- se wake up! Zarys!!/ I rub my eyes, still drowsy from my nights sleep. /ZARYS!!/ A blast of air knocks me out of my hammock, throwing me on the hard floor. "Auw!! Why is this now the standard way of waking me up?!" Zeph ignores that statement though. Going on with a panicked voice. /There's no time, there's something wrong with Barin!!/ With a sigh I reach for the oil lantern and turn it on, only to see Barin's empty hammock and an open door. "Speaking of Barin, where is he?" The exasperated voice of Zeph answers my question. /That's what I'm trying to tell you! He just suddenly woke up and started walking out. And he's not the only one!/ Just as she says that a group of four sailors pass by the open door. They don't say anything as they pass, they're not even having a quiet conversation amongst themselves.

With my interest peaked I decide to follow them, stealthily. Maybe this'll clue me in on what Zeph is going on about. I follow them at a distance, keeping just out of their hearing range. "What did you mean, not the only one? They seem to just be on patrol. Though a group of four is a little large." I whisper to Zeph. /This isn't the only group. Before Barin stood up another group passed by. They didn't say anything either. It's almost like they're entranced./ Just then I hear a gentle melody flowing on the air through the halls. Like an all female choir quietly singing a beautiful, enchanting song. "Shit, they ARE entranced! It's fucking Sirens!!" I practically scream out. Not that the sailors care, they are just walking on, completely ignoring me.

But if it's really Sirens, then I can't do anything on my own. "Shit. What do I do?" I start to panic a little. This is way beyond my abilities to handle, and I know it. Zeph doesn't realize how difficult the situation has just become, so she can still make a sound decision, sound enough at least. /Uhm, we follow them? I think we have more reason to now than before, right?/ That pulls me back to my senses a little. Just do what you can do and see from there. "Right, you're right." I forgo being stealthy, it won't help my now anyway, and quickly catch up to the four sailors, but I stop again when I realize something. "Why am I not affected?" /Should you be?/ "Yeah, I haven't heard of anyone being immune to a Sirens call, not even with the help of Artifacts." Zeph becomes restless while I'm pausing here. /Can't this wait for later? We have more pressing matters at the moment./ I can see the group of sailors I was following just round a corner, so I make haste to catch up to them. They're still in sight when I round that corner so I make to follow them again, leaving my musings for later.

After a moment more of stalking it becomes apparent the group is heading straight for the deck. When they reaches they door the don't take a moment hesitation before immediately stepping through. Unlike them though, I do hesitate. Who knows what the situation is like behind the door. Zeph has picked up on my apprehension and tries to soothe it. /I think it's safe enough. There are only crewmembers behind the door./ I take her word for it and without further hesitation slam the door right open.

What greets me on the deck is the whole crew standing before me, only lit up by the few lanterns and all standing unnaturally still. To the left there's the lab crew, Hennan, Jirri and Karr. They stand there with sleepy eyes, swaying only a little with the waves, just like everyone else here. To my right, among the sailors, I spot the tall figure of Barin. I worm my way through the crowd towards him, because if my own ability is not enough, it would be nice to have someone to brute force the problem. But when I reach him I realize that he too has the sleepy eyes. "Hey, Barin!" I try to get his attention, but it doesn't work. Even a blast of wind from Zeph right up his nose only makes his eyes tear up. /I don't think we're getting through to him. Maybe we should try Jenora./ I give her a nod. "Good idea." I look up at Barin "Let's take a vantagepoint."

I nimbly climb on his shoulders to have a better look around. Everyone surrounding us seems to be standing in line to get to the lifeboats on both sides of the ship. I can see them being lowered one by one, fully loaded with people. It looks like they're all abandoning ship, leaving all their equipment except their clothes in a pile next to the boats. All the while the gentle singing of the Sirens is livening up the night's calm. I can't spot Jenora anywhere from here though, and the lines are steadily advancing, giving me almost no time to think of something. "Zeph, do you see Jenora anywhere?" /Give me a moment./ But she's already back after a few beats. /I found her! She's already in a boat drifting away./ "Well, shit." There goes that plan.

The next boats are being lowered and the line moves on to the next boats. Barin is now in front, giving me no more time. "We have to wake him up. Or else drag him away." I jump down from his shoulders, looking around the immediate vicinity for anything to help me. I see a rope long enough to wind around the Baeron and immediately sprint for it. When I grab it and turn around to run back to Barin, I see him getting one foot in the boat. So with a blast of wind I shoot towards him, throwing the rope around his neck midflight. When I land I immediately start pulling, and I can see and feel that Zeph is blasting him with wind from the front.

With our combined effort we manage to pull Barin back somewhat. At least he has both feet back on the deck, making me sigh in relief. But that takes my attention away from Barin himself, who has turned around. Before I can make sense of it his fist flies to my face. When it connects, everything turns black as I hit the deck. Hard. Before I completely black out I can barely make out Zeph settling on my chest and shouting my name...

====

I wake up from the sun burning on my face. A violent headache is throbbing in my head and on my face. Specifically my right eye and nose. I try to gently touch it, but it smarts immensely. I did feel that my nose is now a bit crooked. That definitely needs to be set, and I'd rather get that over with quickly. So, as gently as I can without making myself vomit I sit up. Am I glad I took the first-aid course last year. I grab my nose with both hands and with a quick yank pull it back into place. A sharp sting spreads through my face making me shout out in pain. "AUW!!!!" Fuck that hurts. My eyes tear up violently and my nose throbs hard, but it only last for a moment. It clears up just in time for a certain spirit to make her entrance.

/Zarys!!!!/ A blast of wind hits me right in the face. It's not hard enough to hurt me, though it was definitely violent in Zeph terms. She seems to be very worried though, as she keeps calling my name. /Zarys!! Zarys! I was so scared. You wouldn't wake up, no matter how hard I tried. Why did Barin do that?/ Her question brings me back to what happened last night. The last thing I remember before everything went black is Barin's fist heading for my face. The ship is totally abandoned now though. Only the piles of discarded equipment and the absence of the lifeboats give me a hint where everyone went. " I'm alright Zeph. Can you tell me what happened?" She keeps her quiet for a moment, and I let her. Me going down seems to have been quite the shock to her.

She does eventually answer my question. /I don't really know what happened, but everyone went away on those boats. They just ignored you while they climbed on the boats until no one was left./ I'm going to need a little more to go off of. "You didn't see anything strange after I blacked out? Maybe you saw some of the Sirens?" She takes a moment to think before answering me. /No, I didn't see those. I did see something else though. Just after sunrise I saw a ship on the horizon behind our ship, but it was too far away to make anything out./ She holds her tongue for a moment before continuing. /Do you think they had something to do with this?/ That's exactly what I'm thinking, but I have no idea how they did it. "They might have, they might not have. Who knows. Though I have a hunch they did." We both keep our silence for a while when Zeph speaks up. /So, what do we do now?/

I think over the possibilities. A large vessel with no means to control. Neither through Artifact due to my inability to operate them, nor sails, thanks to their complete absence. We're now just hopelessly adrift on a large vessel, thousands of leagues away from any land, as far as we know. Well, not exactly adrift. The ship is still moving forward, though neither I nor Zeph can alter it's course or make it stop. The only upside I can see at the moment is that there is enough food to last me a good, long while. Since the food meant for a few hundred people is now all for me. Yay....

"I think, we can do nothing but wait and see where we end up." I say eventually, failing to hide the pessimism in my voice. /At least we still have each other./ She says, trying to cheer me up. "That's true." I can feel her 'hug' my head, which makes me smile a little as I stare over the empty ocean. Shouldn't have done that, because my face is starting to sting again.

"This is turning out to be one hell of an Expedition."