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JULES
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Hours passed. Coralhaven blended into all the other coastline along the western horizon. The sun began its final descent against clear skies.
“Whatever Jones wanted, he must have gotten," Cyrus said.
“Yeah. Clouds and mist are gone.” Jules collapsed on a wooden seat built into the sailboat. Rukia remained at the tiny helm. “So what really happened back there—at the Shrine?”
“Like I said, the Warg attacked us, then the wolves. They, uh, ate your face. Yeah. And then something else, off in the distance, and men were flying overheard, Jules. I bet it killed more men than—Well, I’m guessing that was the Leshen you fought.”
The boat smashed into a wave, and Jules felt sick to his stomach.
“You saved my life,” Cyrus added.
“At least something good came of it.”
“The military rushed in, and Rukia and I dragged you to safety, but they saw you healing and—”
“That’s when the carnage began.”
“Yeah. Pretty much. Do you remember anything?”
“Vaguely. It was like I was dreaming, and even then I was looking through a dirty window to fog outside.”
“Well, I fought 'Stacks to get back to you, after we split up. The military was focused solely on you. I whooped his ass, by the way.”
Jules was silent. I wonder if Cyrus killed him. Another thought struck him. “I remember the Druid Hydromage. Seeing him, anyway.”
“Yeah, that was a scene,” shouted Rukia. “He had every animal in the forest on you! Well, except me and the Warg. Come to think of it, that Warg fled when you ignited and exploded into flames.”
“I what now?”
“You were fueled with frenzy, and power,” Cyrus said.
Jules laughed cynically. “I always wondered which one I am. But I’ve always known. Deep down. The rumors about Charity discouraged me, but I always hoped I was a Virtue, and that Evelyn was just repulsed that I wasn’t human, but the Regeneration. Charity couldn’t do it, and I’ve been able to as long as I remember.”
Jules sat still. Cyrus gazed up at the few early stars. Rukia pretended to fiddle around with some ropes. A distraction would be great, guys.
“Why’d you help Isolda back there and claim I was a hostage?”
“Good touch, wasn’t it? The second question’s obvious. Maybe I could keep you out of the limelight. Or at least prison chains. My Persuasion Skill isn’t high, but I might have convinced them. Fear's a powerful motivator.”
“Slim chance, but thanks anyway. Lot of people saw me protecting you at the Shrine. The orphan-killing threat was a nice flare, though.” Cyrus laughed alone.
“Those people… Is there any chance that they can, you know, still tell anyone?” Or did I kill them all?
Your hesitation says it all. “Yeah, definitely. We’ll both have wanted posters all the way to Lustris Haven by sunrise.”
Jules tried to smile, to laugh it off, but couldn’t shake away the massacre.
That wasn’t really me, right?
Can't dwell on it right now.
“Anyway, back to your first question. Isolda helped us out, and then I stole from her. Leaving that chest behind seems like the right call, too. I'd say the two of them are connected. Plus what my dad said back there…”
“Where'd that leap of judgment come from?”
“The Dutchman drew Ryoku from these Crystals when we got close. They had to be Jones'. Also, I figured my Bounty won’t improve any, so I might as well keep her off the radar, free to move about and help us again some day.”
“You're damn right about the Bounty.” Cyrus laughed.
“That’s my Jules, a wanted man!” Rukia said.
Cyrus scowled at the fox. “You speak as if you were always friends.”
“Oh, of course. I was there for your birth, Jules. Me and Kaizen. Oh man, wait ‘til you meet him, he’s—”
“Kaizen, who is he? I’ve heard his name several times today, but never before.”
Rukia quit fiddling with the ropes.
“He was the last you.”
Those are some mopey eyes.
“What do you mean, the last me?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Yes, dummy. What did your parents tell you?”
“Uh, not much, actually. They agreed not to tell me anything. I just really found out I’m a Sin.”
Rukia’s eyes popped out of her skull. “You don’t know who you are!?”
“Fire and brimstone? Pretty obvious. Gotta be—"
Rukia leapt between them. “Well, allow me to formally introduce you to—uh, yourself—and who Kaizen was before. Or is? I’m not sure yet…Ahem.” Rukia ripped off a piece of splintered wood from the hull that was snagged during the collision. With a bow and dramatic flair of the stick to Cyrus, she bellowed, “Allow me to introduce to you, oh Friends of Sinners, the one—the only—Wrath: Reincarnated!”
The two boys let the moment sink in.
They just stared at her and blinked.
Jules’ Seal burned and lit up crimson.
Waves lapped against the woods.
More silence.
Rukia shrank back into obscurity, in embarrassment. She patted Jules’ head in her small form of apology.
“Well," Jules said finally. "That is what I was going to guess.”
"Well, if you ever decide to write an autobiography, you know what to call it now." Cyrus changed the topic again. "So, what’ll happen to Liam and Evelyn?”
Rukia stepped farther back into the growing shadows of the sails.
“I don’t know. Dad said he promised her they wouldn’t run again, wouldn’t start over. See if he holds to that. If she holds to that., if I can ever visit them again, anyway.”
Rukia's white fur faded to black as she disappeared into the ether of public shame.
"Parents—am I right?” Cyrus asked. Jules laughed at the attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, we have plenty of time to wonder, but limited time to plan. We need to slip into Aquilantis unnoticed. We should avoid the docks and marina.”
> [Hot for Teacher — Quest Objective ADDED: Sneak into Aquilantis undetected.]
“What, beach the boat somewhere? And not be seen? That’s unlikely.”
“Plus, we have a talking fox, which is sure to turn heads.” Cyrus gave Rukia a wry smile.
Jules patted the empty seat next to him for her to join him, to rejoin the world of the living. “Yeah, Rukia. No speaking in public—”
"But my illustrious voice has just returned, and—”
“No, we can’t risk anything right now.”
Rukia groaned. “This world is so different from the last few,” she complained. The last few?
“We go straight in, unload, and run to town," Cyrus said. "Maybe news hasn’t reached them yet, with everyone frozen and then Davy Jones hitting them."
"But maybe it has,” Jules said.
“I think things will work out if we just trust our guts,” Rukia piped up.
“Not good enough,” Cyrus said. “There could be Bounties waiting for us. Big ones.”
“We need to hit land during the night. We’d be pressed to arrive tonight, but it’s dangerous to drift around until tomorrow night.”
“We have plenty of food and visibility. We’d get sunburnt, but we’d live. You’d heal anyway. And I don’t think we can make it until mid-morning.”
“It’d be busy and crowded, which could either help us or hurt us. We could go straight in and get lost in the crowd. Should be easier to spot a trap in daylight. We could just float past Aquilantis for a day or two and circle around from the other side.”
“That’s it,” Cyrus said. “We come in from the east. They’d expect us from the west.”
“OK, we can go down past Lighthouse Point and circle back up, but stay out of sight.”
"Uh, do either of you have a map?" Rukia asked. "Sounds like a lot of work for me…"
“And what do we do when we dock?” Cyrus asked.
“Probably get haircuts, dye our hair, change our voices and names…then grab a pint. See who knows where this publishing house is.”
"Uh, kinda need that map over here…"
“Starting a book club in a pub. Brilliant, Jules.”
“You two should get some rest—after you gimme that map. We can figure out the rest of this in the morning. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
Jules took a deep breath. “I’ve only had a few hours of sleep in the last few days, and today alone could put me to bed for a week.” The adrenaline hangover set in long ago, and Jules' eyes drooped low.
“I’m full of energy now that I’m back to myself. I’ll take the night shift,” Rukia said. Jules scratched her behind the ears and she cooed a raspy purr.
Cyrus snored away, almost immediately. Jules wasn't far behind. For the first time in years, he didn’t dream while he slept.
"…Seriously guys, where's that map?" Both boys were dead asleep.
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Ice cold water wrenched Jules from deep sleep. Fragments of ice cubes streamed down his face with the water. His vision was fuzzy from slumber and shock.
“Where the hell am I?” He shook Cyrus' shoulder. “Hey, Cy, wake up. Ru—”
Jules paused. Someone else is here. A dry and dreaming Cyrus mumbled beside him.
A younger girl, around Jules' age, stood outside the boat. She wore lightly mended plain clothes, held an empty metal bucket, and glared at him with half-open eyes and perfectly flat brows. Empty bucket—wait, is she standing on water? Oh shit.
We beached.
“You’ve been caught red-handed, trespassers,” the red-haired girl said. “Hands up where I can see 'em—You’re going to jail!” Her emerald eyes flickered with a mix of malice and glee.
Jules kicked his friend. "Cy!"
Slowly and clumsily through his half-sleep, Jules got to his feet, ready to fight if negotiations failed—at least, so he thought. Small waves crashed around him. We must have beached some time ago. Their boat ran aground somewhere in a horseshoe cove. Sand dune rolled into each other about a hundred feet inland. At least it’s private here. Now where’s that damned fox?
"Zzzzzz…" Hope I'm the only one who can hear that. Rukia snoozed away, wrapped in a blanket. Of course she fell asleep! At least she’s hidden. For now.
"Hey! I'm talking to you." The girl pulled a strain of hair, which blew in the wind, behind an ear.
“And where exactly are we trespassing?” Jules gestured to her clothing—tight black pants, a form-fitting white shirt, and some basic black boots. Somehow I doubt you own this little slice of paradise.
“My family’s private beach,” she boasted. Jules raised his eyebrows. Now awake, Cyrus choked on a suppressed laugh.
“Uh huh. Sure,” Jules said. “So did we make it to—”
“Lighthouse Cove?” Cyrus interrupted. Quick thinking.
A sly grin crept across the girl’s face. Like she’s caught some prey in a trap. “Not good navigators, I take it. Just some damn landlubbers lost at sea. You’ve landed in Aquilantis.” Good.
> [Hot For Teacher — Quest Objective FAILED: Sneak into Aquilantis Undetected.]
"Ah, shoot. Whelp, guess we better get back to sea, then." Jules approached the beach, and her, so he could push their boat out.
“Oh, no, no, no,” she said. “You’re not getting off that easy. Can’t let you walk away—or sail away, if that’s what you call what you’re doing there—without some form of punishment. It’d send the wrong message to the riffraff.”
Jules' and Cyrus' eyes both lit up. The showdown began. She crossed her arms and slammed one boot on the boat's bow and pushed it down. She’s more intrigue than threat, but she could become a serious problem.
“Come now, are you boys or are you barbarians? You don’t want to play it that way because—” She puffed her flat chest out and jammed her thumb to her heart. “I take bribes!”
They both burst out laughing. Jules’ eyes dimmed out, but not Cyrus’.
“Well, you see, the thing is, little girl—” She winced at Jules' comment. He turned up empty palms. “We’re broke!”
Her face dropped, and the joy of the hustle fled her face. Only contempt remained. “OK, that’s fine,” she said innocently enough. “Jail it is.”
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BONUS CONTENT BELOW
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