Chapter 7

The Decisive Meeting

 

Had it barely been a year since that fateful day on the Division? She knew it was only two to three months after her last letter was sent to Olivia, but there had not been any letters sent to her. Charlotte had found it strange that not one person, not even Damien, had replied to her letter. When she thought about why something like that would have happened, she began to realize something could have taken their attention away.

Sighing, Charlotte was standing on the starboard side of the Lodger, watching the waves lightly plow into the well-maintained vessel that Elliot had owned. The wind picked up the trails of her white dress that she received from two of the nicest people she could hardly remember now. The man known as Luke Wallace and the woman, who did not even have a face or name, had given her clothing and a place to hide away until she was strong enough to move. It was thanks to them that she was even still alive to this day.

“Charlotte, try not to lean over the rail like that!”

Charlotte looked over her shoulder to the male with his slightly fringed blond hair and hazel eyes, flamboyant frilly clothing, and rings decorated on his digits. He was exuberant in everything that he did, especially in his lessons teaching Charlotte about the English language.

“You don’t need to be so alarmed, Mr. Nielsen. I’ve been through worse than falling off a ship before.” She gave him a vibrant smile that was contagious for all those around.

“Normally, you wouldn’t be smiling when you’re saying something so dismal, Charlotte.” He gave the girl a pat on the head before he turned his back to the rail. Leaning back on it, he peered around the girl to see what she was looking at. All they could see was the bright-orange sun setting in the distance. “What’s caught your eye, Charlotte?” he asked, wondering what the girl was transfixed by.

“I was looking at the sunset. It reminded me of my short time on the Division.” Charlotte looked up at the sky before pouting. “I really wish I got to know everyone, Aden and Damien more so than everyone else. I think they all saw me as an enemy or something.”

Mr. Nielsen just laughed at her pout. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Charlotte. According to Admiral Chief Julian, the crew of the Division combined forces with Elliot’s little sister. I think they named their new ship the Phoenix. I’m sure we’ll cross paths when we arrive at the Cheric estate.” The man hummed a soft tune as Charlotte nodded.

“I hope so! I have so much to say to that captain anyway.” Charlotte also hummed lightly to Nielsen’s tune.

“And what’s that, Charlotte?”

The girl smiled. “I wanted to tell him thanks for saving me and sorry for assuming he was a pirate. I learned through reading Simone’s report that the Division was actually on an inventory trip, bringing supplies back and forth between the continents. It should have been a week voyage, but the Division wanted to make a couple of more stops before docking back in Liliec.” She continued to laugh while the wind danced with her hair. The weather was getting chillier as the sun was still setting.

Mr. Nielsen sighed. “Why don’t you head on inside, Charlotte? The night will be upon us, and you’ll catch a cold. Off you go.” He gently grabbed the girl by her shoulders and pushed her to the cabins.

Reluctantly, she walked over to the door, heading below and waved goodbye to Mr. Nielsen.

When she was out of sight, Andrew Nielsen looked up at the wheelhouse where Simone and Elliot were overlooking the deck. They had given a glance down to the teacher before returning to their duties. Curious, the instructor walked over to the stairs leading up into where they were at inside.

“How are things going in here, gentlemen?” He was joyous as always despite the obvious decline of happiness in the room.

Elliot clicked his tongue before rolling up his map.

Simone merely smiled at Mr. Nielsen and began to explain, “We noticed two pirate battleships heading northbound toward our current location.”

Mr. Nielsen nodded before looking out the windows.

“Anything we need to be concerned about?” he asked cheerfully, and Elliot shook his head.

“I am concerned over the recent pirate attacks on vessels. With each passing day, those scurvy pirates attack anything they come across.”

Simone nodded with Elliot before continuing for him, “This area is mostly dominated with pirates, I’m afraid. All the pirates seemed to have joined with Zaine’s ensemble of men to domineer over the states. The promise of Relic stones is everywhere these days.” Simone shook his head while Mr. Nielsen listened silently. It was perturbing to know how troublesome these times have truly become.

“How long until those ships are upon us?”

The elder Cheric looked down at his charts before peering at his compass. “They’ll be upon us in less than an hour. We should remain under the radar as long as we do not look too conspicuous to them.”

Andrew Nielsen and Simone agreed. “Indeed. Let’s proceed cautiously.”

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Charlotte flopped herself on top of the bed that was in her room. She wasn’t allowed to do anything on the ship nor was she really allowed outside in the sun. While she understood that she couldn’t be seen by those who were her family’s enemy, she was still a growing adult. She just wanted to spread her wings a bit and fly. After all, she just hit her eighteenth birthday.

Rolling onto her stomach, she played with some of her hairs that had fallen over her shoulder between her fingers. She was trying to remember how it felt for someone to do that, only she knew no one had actually done it. The only time it had happened was in a dream one year prior. And at that, it was only a dream. Surely, the man who was gentle to her was a completely different man in reality.

“Hmm, he is a mystery though.” She giggled and rolled onto her back. Raising her hands above her, she started to peer at her hands with an interest she never had before. Boredom was probably the cause of that.

It was at this moment that she peered out the window to see another vessel pass by. She was shocked by the sheer vast size of the hull, but that did not deter her from running over to the pane to stare openly. She wondered if it might have been Olivia and the Division’s crew. She wondered if it might have been someone Admiral Chief Julian sent. She wondered.

Her thoughts were immediately interrupted as a canon over top exploded, shaking the vessel. Charlotte screamed, falling onto the floor and covering her head. They were under attack already.

“Charlotte!” Mr. Nielsen slammed open the door with a ferocity that she had not seen since the first time she met him. Half a year prior, he had once been the upper-rank admiral on his own vessel, but his reign ended in a decisive battle between the infamous Nico Guarnera. It was after this that he gave up that part of his life to begin anew as something more beneficial, like him becoming Charlotte’s instructor.

“Mr. Nielsen, is everything going to be all right? What’s going on?”

The man shook his head while bolting closed the door and sticking a chair between the connecting knob. It was a futile effort, but it would buy them some time.

“I will not lie to you, sweetie. We’re under attack by one of Zaine’s underlings. I don’t know what they may want, but I’ve been instructed to stay with you.” He rushed over to the closet, pulling out a tan paperboy hat and some boy’s clothes. Handing them over to Charlotte, he instructed her to change. “You are to pretend to be my son. Do you understand, Charlotte?”

The girl nodded quickly before Nielsen forced a smile.

“Good. Change quickly. Tuck your hair under your hat too.”

The man turned around to give the girl some privacy to change. In less than a second, Charlotte had fully clothed as a cabin boy. Nielsen turned around to give the girl a look over before smirking.

“Well, we’ll just say you are about to hit puberty. Your face is a bit too girlish to hide. Now throw your clothes and provisions that you’d like to keep in that satchel.” She rolled her eyes, but Charlotte did as she was told. She was anxious, but there was not much she could do.

“What do we do, Mr. Nielsen?” she whispered, her voice shaking as she clutched her satchel in her hands. The auburn was trying to keep her hands from shaking in fear.

The door that was their only blockade was being banged upon repeatedly. Nielsen merely grabbed hold of her and pulled her close.

“We hope we aren’t killed,” he muttered and closed his eyes.

The oak of the door broke in upon itself as bullets riddled the wood.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

It was fierce. The battle between Elliot’s crew and Rieker Hobbs lasted an hour before the order for surrendering was made. While the instruction was to gather everyone on board to the main deck, many of those who refused had been immediately shot.

It was shortly after them surrendering that the pirates went down into the companionway to where Charlotte’s stateroom was located and forced the two occupants to come up. When they were tied at the wrists did the pirates shove both of them together with the remaining crew and captains.

“Mind I ask what an auxiliary boat is doing out in the middle of pirate territory?” the man with greasy black hair and pointed black eyes sneered at Elliot’s group. No one said a word as the man walked down the main deck with an authoritative aura.

“Who is the captain of this vessel?” he smirked as he walked down the line of men tied. He was about to reach the end of the men before Elliot, the third one in the row of twenty, stated that he was the captain. Simone, next to him, stated that he was the commander in charge of helping his captain.

Some of the pirates sniggered at how young these two men were, but Rieker was not deterred. Walking back, he knelt to their level before decking Elliot in the cheek. Simone grimaced, and Charlotte gave a soft gasp when Elliot fell back. Nielsen gritted his teeth, but no one could attempt to do anything.

“I asked you who the captain was before I reached you, and you tell me when I reached the end of your line. You test your luck, sailor.”

Elliot spit out blood from his mouth as two pirates roughly handled him up into the kneeling position.

“My apologies, pirate. I normally don’t cater to scum.” Simone winced once again when Rieker threw another punch, except this one went into Elliot’s solar plexus. Elliot doubled over only for a second, but the two pirates forced him back up.

“I would hold your tongue if I were you.” He raised his fist to hit Elliot once more, but someone shrieked for the man to stop. Elliot, Simone, and Nielsen gave shocked looks at Charlotte who was on the verge of tears, pleading with the pirate.

“Sir, you’ll kill him. Please stop it, I beg of you!”

Rieker slowly turned his head over to where the apparent boy was pleading from. Some pirates who looked at Charlotte’s plea only chuckled; some even boisterously laughed.

“Why should I do that? Hmm?” Rieker walked over to where Charlotte was kneeling before deftly grabbing hold of the boy’s collar. Hefting him off the ground, Rieker gleamed as he saw the frightened expression on the youth’s face.

“This is my son’s first voyage, sir. He didn’t mean any harm!” Nielsen quickly jumped up onto his left foot for leverage but was forced down by some pirates.

“Surely, you wouldn’t hurt a child!” another deckhand who knew the identity of Charlotte had spoken up but was also silenced by being slammed down.

Charlotte struggled to maintain a footing, but with the man’s sheer strength holding her over a couple of inches off the ground did she truly understand she was out of her league. The man holding her seemed to know that she knew that and only smirked.

“My fellow pirates, this gentle fellow suggests I not kill his captain. Shall I honor his request?” Some of the pirates guffawed while others whispered of Rieker being a sadist to youths.

Rieker smirked at his crew before turning back to the boy. “I shall spare your captain’s life, boy, but I can’t say the same for you. I love to watch youngsters writhe in agony myself. I wonder what wonderful expressions you’ll give me.” He laughed at the boy’s attempt to get out of his hold, but with the boy’s hands tied behind his back, he couldn’t offer much resistance.

“Fillet the boy, Captain!”

“Skewer him with your sword!”

“Show him the plank!”

“Stone him, Captain!”

Charlotte trembled as the pirates shouted back things worse and worse it seemed. Rieker seemed to contemplate on all the ideas given to him before laughing himself. Dropping the lad onto her feet, the captain gave her an evil smile. Two men appeared with knives and ripped off her ropes that tied her hands behind her back but held her securely between them.

“Your father said it was your first voyage, right, boy?”

Charlotte could barely even register what was being said as they were ushering her forward to the bulwark. She didn’t want to go into the ocean again, not after that incident one year ago.

She was shaking as the men pushed her into the railing while Mr. Nielsen was shouting for them to spare her life and take his own. She heard the crew fighting their adversaries but ending futilely. The only ones who remained stationary were Simone and Elliot who looked back with a grimace. She saw the look they gave her, and she knew that they couldn’t help her even if she begged them.

“The boy’s quaking in his boots, Captain.”

“Stone him, Captain!”

“Shove ’im off the plank!”

The crew was getting restless, but Rieker swiped his gloved hand to the side, silencing everyone.

As she felt the last rays of sunlight upon her face, she closed her eyes and imagined a place where there was no fighting and no more bloodshed. She imagined her baby brother laughing and her father’s soft touch upon her visage. She remembered smoky emerald eyes boring into her in the dead of night as she lied through her teeth about who she really was.

Annoyed at the peaceful expression on Charlotte’s face, Rieker ordered the man beside her to punch her in the cheek. When it connected, she felt stars disconnecting in her mind and her balance shifting to absolute nothing. Collapsing was the only thing she could do to make the hit hurt less than it did.

“I hate that look already, boy. You want to die that quickly?”

The crew raved while Elliot’s team squirmed under them. Charlotte merely spit out the blood of her mouth just like Elliot had done.

“Hold him still, men. I’ve decided his fate.”

Charlotte felt herself being pulled up from the ground, and while she was supported by the pirates, Rieker smirked, “Zaine granted me many things in my day, but when he granted me this power from a Relic stone, I made it a day to remember. I love toying with my victims, especially ones as stupid as you. Curse me and that man as you cry out in a slow, agonizing death.” He narrowed his eyes, focusing his power to the boy, but after a few seconds, nothing occurred. Some of the pirates became restless, asking what was wrong and why wasn’t he performing his power.

One pirate, who had been next to him, had been dumb enough to say, “Are you sure it’s working today, Captain?”

The instant he said it, Rieker reached out to the man and glared menacingly. The pirate widened his eyes in shock, and then he screamed in the most agonizing way possible. Everyone on deck watched as the pirate’s legs had been turned to stone, and it wasn’t stopping. Only when the man was encased in complete stone did Rieker seem satisfied.

“Pirate or not, if you doubt my skill, I will kill you myself.” Rieker drew his sword and instantly broke down what remained of his crew member. Everyone in Elliot’s crew gasped in shock as how brittle the man had become.

Rieker played no more games as he strutted over to where Charlotte was standing. Grabbing her face within his hand and squeezing it, he concentrated all his strength into turning the girl to stone. Nothing happened. Charlotte stood paralyzed, afraid of what would happen to her, but there she stood unharmed while a disgruntled and violently tempered Rieker stood raging.

As a few minutes passed, Rieker gave a hiss and shoved the boy back. The inertia took its course as Charlotte felt her head snapping back over the rail. Her hat went flying, allowing her long auburn locks to escape the thresholds of her hat. She swung around in a desperate act to catch the hat but failed.

The wind blew it off, fore to sea, where she would not be able to hide who she truly was. Many gasped at her sudden transformation. The only one who appeared affected by the sudden change was Rieker. His expression went from confusion to pure putrid anger.

“Lionsheart, run! Get out of here!” Mr. Nielsen shouted. He knew Rieker would recognize her as the wanted girl the pirates wanted to hang.

Elliot yelled at her to jump off the ship. Simone gave him a shocked expression but noticed what no one else did.

The dirty blond male turned back to Charlotte and shouted for the girl to jump. “Why do you look like her? Why?”

Charlotte trembled in her spot, her feet unable to obey her. She tried to comprehend all the loud noises around her and couldn’t. What kept her frozen in fear though was that man’s darkened glare.

“I don’t understand what you mean!” she retorted, afraid of his response. Spitting in anger, the man raged at his men. Even if her body was frozen, her voice operated enough to talk.

“If she won’t turn to stone, tie that vixen’s hands and feet so that she can’t swim!” Rieker ordered his crew as a vein popped in his temple and throat. “I’ll have the bitch die once and for all and be done with it!”

“Wait! No, let me go!” Charlotte screamed, finally realizing what just happened. The men grasped her two hands painfully behind her back while another had grabbed her flailing feet together binding them. “No! I don’t want to be thrown in. Not again!” She was on the verge of another panic attack, but the men manhandling her paid her no mind.

The rope bit into her skin as they finished tying her.

“Lionsheart!”

“Stop. She’s only a child!”

“Take my life instead!” Nielsen and the other men beside Elliot and Simone pleaded, not wanting the poor girl to be abandoned into the dark sea at night. Any chances of survival were slim to none at nighttime.

Rieker walked with a fury as he gripped Charlotte’s face in his hand once more, only this time he thrust her forward and hung her where she was dangling off. She was struggling with him as tears poured down her cheeks.

 “Now if only Shannon gave me that look many years ago, it might have saved you some torment in the long run.” And with a flick of his wrist, he thrust the girl into the dark depths.

Charlotte was screaming as she crashed into the ocean below.

 

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Under the water, she flung her body back and forth, attempting to loosen the binds on her hands and feet, but as time continued, she began panicking. Charlotte couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t swim up to the surface. While the ocean was calm, it still frightened the girl as she thought for a third time in her life that she was going to die.

As she flung herself back, she collided into something solid and lost some of her breath. She began to panic even more as the feeling of death’s door to Davy Jones began to open for her, and all she could do was fling herself like a fish out of water. Losing a majority of her strength at her futility, she went limp and welcomed the sinking. If she was going to die, she might as well die a dignified death.

Only a pair of strong arms had wrapped themselves around her waist and tugged her away from where she was. As she was being pulled away, she wondered who it could have been, but as her body was floating with her new guest, she felt herself losing consciousness.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Rieker and some of his pirate crew glanced over the side port to be sure the bubbles had ceased to come up from the girl, and when they had, all of them erupted in laughter. Nielsen was kneeling with his head in his legs, praying that it was a swift death for the girl. Elliot and Simone remained silent as they stared ahead where the stars had begun to rise.

“I will not be tormented anymore by those past shadows. Men, prepare your swords. While Zaine has told us to take our captives alive to the facilities, I’m done toying around. Kill them.”

The men all roared in agreement as they withdrew their swords from their scabbards. The full moon was bright as the men watched their shadows danced together in one fluid motion. When all the shadows matched up on the westward hull of their ship did something interesting happen. All men who were about to swing their blades down had frozen. They were shaking, trying to get their bodies to move, but no one could move.

“What . . . is . . . going . . . on?” grunted the men, and Rieker stared in surprise. There was a squall from a hawk in the crow’s nest that diverted Rieker’s attention long enough to see what had temporarily halted his men’s movements.

“That was a melodramatic way of throwing a tiny girl off the ship, wouldn’t you say, Damien?” a man with the beanie and star tattoo smirked with his fist clenching tightly around something in his hand while the one presumed as Damien held a ring the hawk was holding in its claw.

“Xavier, the pirate’s a sadist, it appears. I feel kind of bad for Lionsheart.” The blond stared down before jumping out of the nest.

Xavier merely shrugged as he interlaced his fingers together.

“I think she’ll be fine. She’s strong enough.” He concentrated on pulling all the men’s shadows to one central point before tying them all together around the mast. Rieker’s men all panicked as they all snapped from their current spots and up against the mast, yanking and pulling to no avail.

“I can’t move!”

“Your foot is in my face!”

“Ahhhh, my arm is gonna snap in half!”

The pirate fleet started their fits of complaints while Xavier just smirked in the distance.

Rieker slid his rapier out angrily from his sheath, spitting out his next words in rage, “Who are you? How dare you defy Zaine’s star crew!”

Damien landed stealthily on the deck beside Elliot’s crew and worked on cutting the ropes off their hands.

“Like we give two shits about Zaine’s star crew,” Xavier darkly replied before flashing his own blade. When Damien came by to cut Elliot’s and Simone’s ropes, the two merely nodded their appreciation to the blond before helping to cut the rest of their crew out.

“Warning, Drummond, he has a petrifying Relic.”

A floating scooter appeared in the air with an extremely irritated Olivia, holding what seemed to be a bazooka.“His petrifying Relic can eat my bazooka’s dust,” she icily replied before firing it down toward the deck. Rieker had to jump out of the way and into the rail as the floor where he was standing collapsed.

“Olivia,” Elliot replied in a dull voice. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t destroy my ship in your thirst for revenge.”

The girl of eighteen merely smiled as she aimed her bazooka again. “I’m only thinking of your good health, brother dear.” She fired once again, and Elliot sighed. He knew his sister was saying it just to annoy him as well as paying Rieker back for all he had done to Charlotte.

“You’ll repay me for the damages, won’t you, sweet sister?”

Olivia merely tutted her tongue as she pulled back her bazooka from firing upon his ship. “You still owe me a keg of root beer. I say we’re even.”

Rieker got sick of the jump-and-dodge routines and focused all his energy on the first person he could see. The blond boy, who had appeared with the hawk, was first on his agenda to assault. Only, before he could charge the male, he didn’t have a chance to use his power.

“What the—” he muttered before collapsing on the deck. Blood oozed from an open wound on his back where his main internal organs were located. Behind him stood a menacing-looking Nielsen. The civility that he had displayed earlier that day was long gone and was accompanied by the stern, cold, dark glare he gave.

“That’s for Lessye and Charlotte, you son of a bitch.” And for good measure, he spat on him.

Rieker was having difficulty breathing and clenching to anything that could support him up, but Nielsen watched with cold eyes as he finally bled out.

“You okay, Andy?” Xavier slid down his sword back into its sheath and grabbed Nielsen’s shaking shoulder. The male teacher merely nodded and stared over the rail.

“Yeah, I’m okay. What about Charlotte?”

When Olivia landed her scooter on the Lodger, she walked over to the corpse of Rieker and uncharacteristically kicked it. Normally, she wasn’t a vengeful person herself, but the man had provoked her. No one made her best friend cry—ever.

“Aden has her,” Damien stated as he rubbed the hawk’s feathers in its sweet spot. “He jumped in as soon as Lionsheart was shoved off.”

Nielsen nodded before falling to his knees himself. “I totally thought I was going to lose her for a second.”

Simone nodded in agreement. “She was lucky the Phoenix was even here. How did you find us?”

Olivia pulled out a compass that looked similar to that of an azimuth compass, only this particular compass could find Relic stones.

“I invented the Relic location compass—or the RLC for short—to pick up strong signals of the Relic stones. If Petrifying Man here didn’t have such a dangerous and powerful Relic like he had, we may have not noticed him.”

“It appears you’ve also found your share of Relic stones as well, sister,” Elliot commented on the abundance of new functional devices around them as well as Drummond’s strange new powers.

“As if you can talk, dear brother.” She smiled, and Elliot merely shrugged.

“I was hoping it would have stayed a secret for longer, but I can’t appear to hide anything from my little sister.”

Simone also shrugged before looking at their disheveled sailors. “Men, gather the squawkers and take them to the brig of the Phoenix. We will bring them port side to Admiral Chief Julian when we arrive at the Cheric estate.”

The command made everyone besides Elliot’s crew squirm with the mentioning of the Cheric estate. It didn’t take a genius to figure something had gone terribly wrong since their last transmission. “What happened?” Elliot gravely asked while Olivia sighed.

“Zaine attacked the estate two months ago after the rats revealed we had Relic stones. We barely had enough time to leave port with our supplies. Admiral Chief Julian covered our flank as we went out on stormy waters.”

Simone clucked his tongue. “Well, what shall we do with these men?”

Elliot looked at his ship and then at the pirate’s vessel before clicking his tongue himself. There was a chance to just leave them on their ship and sail away with the Lodger and the Phoenix, but then they would run into the chance of being chased after again. If these men were found by Zaine, then he would have two targets to chase rather than just one.

He turned to his sister with a disdainful expression. It looked like he was clearly not happy with the way things had played out in the last five minutes of their conversation. He plotted out all the possible solutions before heaving a long sigh. His expressions changed from critical to plain discontentment as only one option was available to survive longer. If he kept his state-ordained vessel, there might be a chance of them being found and assaulted once again. While he was all right with combat at sea, he did not want to chance running into Zaine. Pain from that man was far more fearful that death itself.

“I expect a detailed report on the schematics of the Phoenix.” Elliot turned to his men at last to give his final order on his vessel. With a long sigh, he rounded up the squads remaining. “Take the Lodger alongside their pirate ship and prepare an axial fire on both vessels. Let them sink with pride of pirates.”

Olivia had nothing more to say while Damien grimaced. The blond Demeuillieun understood the gravity of the situation when someone had to set their ships asunder with flames.

“We leave. All men abandon ship to the Phoenix.”

 

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

 Aden broke through the surface when he was far away from the starboard side. If he had not had known any better, he would have said that the unconscious and tied girl had an affinity for the ocean. And it was not in a good way.

As he swam over to the hull of the Phoenix, he found the rope that Leo had prepared for them when they went with a single drifter to rescue the Lodger. When he grasped the rope in his hand and supported the girl in his right side, he realized how difficult it would be to climb up without the use of both hands. Slipping down the rope, he sighed before letting go of the girl and swimming underneath her. He waited for her figure to float over him, and he maneuvered so that she was on top of his shoulder.

He swam back to the surface and attempted the rope again, and with better luck, he climbed farther and farther up. It was when he reached the rail that hands came to pull him up and over.

“Lay her out on her back and I will check her breathing and heart rate,” Marklin instructed Aden as the male ripped the breathing supplement he had on his nostrils off his face.

Laying the girl down, he looked at her features before checking the rhythmic beatings of her heart. One of the first things they learned with drowning cases was that there is a higher likelihood of adults to suffer bradycardia like symptoms such as slowing of the heart rate under fifty beats per minute. Marklin immediately stood up and rushed downstairs into the cabins to get his medical kit, telling Aden, “Open her airway and check to be sure there is nothing constricting her throat.”

Doing as he was instructed, he reached for her neck and craned it delicately back. He was plagued with flashbacks of Charie unmoving on the deck, and like before, the girl was triggering the memory to arise.

It had only been two months since their departure from Chiariotti, but everyone was unnerved by the murder of the android. Checking for a pulse, he slightly maneuvered her head to open her airflow. The male had hoped that she would start breathing on her own, but like the first time he rescued her, she was not breathing. Panic coursed through his veins once again as he saw the bloody Charie appear before his eyes.

Shaking his head of the vision, he suddenly realized why the vision appeared. Her chest wasn’t moving nor was she gaining any of her color back. Leaning his ear down over where her heart was, he listened for any possible heartbeat.

“She’s not breathing,” Aden stated aloud, and Marklin burst through the cabin doors with an alerted face.

Quickly, the male with glasses scrambled over to Charlotte’s side and checked for a pulse in her wrist. Marklin counted the heart rate in his head and was about to instruct Aden to start CPR; Only he hadn’t even needed to say so. Aden had positioned both his hands in the interlaced position above her sternum.

Aden performed three to five consecutive compressions over her chest before leaning over to breathe air into her parted lips. After the third time of giving her air, he leaned his head over her chest to listen for anything. When nothing happened, he pulled back and began pumping her chest right above her heart once more.

“I’m not having you die again, you stupid girl. Not again.”

He repeated the cycle for another two to three times before there was finally a response. The girl jerked up slightly, finally breathing air on her own as water gurgled past her lips. Tyler Marklin turned her head to the side so that she didn’t choke on the water she brought back up. “You never told me you knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” he said in amazement while Aden leaned back into the bulwark.

“You learn lots of things when you become a captain of a ship.” He reached a hand forward to grab a strand of her wet auburn hair. He played with it between his fingertips before immediately dropping it to the deck’s board, feeling a slight chill run through his body.

Tyler nodded at Aden before getting up. “I guess we didn’t need the first-aid kit!” he replied with relief and got up. He began thinking that he would retrieve a couple of blankets. “I’m going to retrieve some blankets downstairs for you and her. It would be terrible if you two got sick!”

Aden stared at the haunting image of the girl lying on the deck; it was just like Charie two months prior. Memories of her hazel eyes haunted his dreams at night, screaming at him to protect her this time. He was lucky that it was an android, but this girl before him was the real thing. He needed to protect her, which was a strange obsession he took up only after he started to remember his past involvement with her family.

Charlotte opened her eyes slowly, looking through the haze to see the familiar emerald eyes that haunted her in her memory and dreams. Thinking that this too must have been a dream, Charlotte rose her hand up to reach for his cheek, only he was too far away for her to touch.

Aden was bemused by her action and merely stared at her, past his dripping bangs.

“I’ll keep them safe . . .” she murmured softly, remembering his vulnerability in her first dream a year ago. “I’ll protect you.” Then Charlotte gave her brightest smile despite her aching lungs and bruised face.

Aden quirked his eyebrow before shaking his head; her face looked like it had seen better days with a boorish purple and blue mark forming at the corner of her lip. “Dummy, you couldn’t protect anything even if you tried.”

And she just smiled, a pitiful smile from a waterlogged girl, but it was the same smile from Charie. Or was it her actual smile that Charie imitated.

“Then I’ll keep trying until I can. You can rely on me too, you know.”

She fell asleep with the drop of her hand, and without thinking, he reached out to catch it. He could feel the life in her wrist compared to his own and closed his eyes to reflect back. It was a small gesture in itself to offer protection to someone else despite their own problems. Shaking the water droplets from his hair, he looked up at the sky where the stars and moon beamed brightly.

“Don’t say stupid stuff if you can’t stay awake to hear a reply back, dumb girl.” He moved himself away from the bulwark to go beside her.

While he could wait for Marklin to come with blankets, he figured it would be smarter to take her into the cabins downstairs himself. Lifting the girl in his arms, he dripped water all the way down the companionway.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

A week passed since the incident with Rieker Hobbs and Elliot’s men, but when everything was settled, the crews created a temporary membership with one another. The specific leaders that they followed were Aden, Olivia, Xavier, and Elliot. But overall, it was a relaxed ruling. Each captain had their own way of settling things, but with a reuniting cause, they put aside their differences.

“Are you sure you should be up and about?” Mr. Nielsen questioned the bubbly Charlotte Lionsheart while they walked. They were heading to the caboose where Anna had promised her a yummy breakfast when she had regained her strength.

“Mr. Nielsen, you worry too much!” She was given her satchel of personal belongings before they had set fire to both the vessels a week ago, and she wore her treasured white dress and brown belt proudly. Also, she would be damned if she wore another cabin boy’s outfit again.

“You died, Charlotte. How could I not worry about you, sweetie?”

“Almost died,” Charlotte added with a smile. “I learned in this past year that we should treasure each and every moment in our lives, so why ponder the past when we have so much to do in the present?” She smiled at her wisdom before skipping down the hall, leaving Nielsen in history long since passed.

He remembered when Lessye had skipped down the street, telling him that the past was in the past, just like Charlotte stated previously. Full of nostalgia, he thought of the first day he met Charlotte and found out from just her appearance that she was the living daughter of his childhood crush.

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

“Who are you?” a timid lady replied as he entered her room.

Hoping not to scare her, he bowed his head. “I’m Andrew Nielsen, and I will be your English tutor and supervisor.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Nielsen! My name is Charlotte-—I mean, Lottie Lionsheart . . . I mean, I’m an idiot. I hope to learn a great deal from you though!” She smiled that familiar smile that once belonged to a girl he adored in his childhood but suppressed the emotions welling in his gut.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded his head. “I look forward to teaching you, Miss Lionsheart, though I’m sure we have plenty to talk about! What is your education standing?”

“Well, my father taught as a professor over at the academy, so he was always on top of our schoolwork when we were growing up.” Charlotte smiled, glad to know that Mr. Nielsen had not questioned her change in name.

The teacher merely nodded his head as he inquired more about her father. “What did you father teach? I may have worked with him!” Andrew charismatically asked his question so much so that Charlotte forgot about her current situation.

“You probably did if you worked at the academy! His name was Bryan Rothschild and one of the greatest professors that cared for his students!” Charlotte beamed, but under Andrew’s questioning glance and gaping mouth did she realize what she just revealed. “I mean—I wish I had a father like him—”

Andrew would have inquired more about this, but Simone and Elliot walked in with some workbooks for the girl to focus on. The older Cheric just sighed as he dropped the books heavily upon the oak wood.

“This is why she needs a guardian, Simone. No wonder, Olivia had to childproof her workstation.”

Simone chuckled. “She’s clumsy—especially when she’s not paying attention.”

The girl merely gaped in horror, her face brightening a crimson red. She covered her face seconds after and dropped her head to the desk.

Andrew Nielsen looked to the girl, hoping to bring her out from her withdrawn state. “I had a feeling—no worries, Elliot and Simone—your secret is safe with me, Charlotte.” The girl lifted her head upon his request and blinked her hazel eyes. “I hope you’re ready to appreciate our reading list!” He was struck with the feeling that she would not like reading exactly like that one woman, and like he thought, Nielsen witnessed the young girl pout her lips.

“I was hoping for writing than reading.”

The instructor laughed at their similarities. This girl and Lessye, the woman he adored, definitely were identical in looks and behaviorisms. The flush that rushed the girl’s cheeks made him wave his hand in apology. “Sorry, sorry, you reminded me of a girl who didn’t like reading as much as she should have.”

Charlotte perked her head. “A girl? Did you like her, Mr. Nielsen?” Charlotte liked gossip, especially trying to figure out the love lives of those around her. Simone and Elliot were tight like clams, so it was hard to find anything interesting to talk about with them.

“Try not to reveal too much, Nielsen. She may look at you weirdly,” Elliot calmly retorted before shaking his head. He did not have the time for useless chatter. Simone went to follow his friend with a bemused smirk. “Enjoy your tutoring Charlotte.”

Andrew Nielsen smiled, pulling out his stationary. He directed the girl to pick up her ink quill and her stationery.

She did as he asked but knew that he didn’t answer her last question. Coyly, she opted for a different one. “Was she beautiful like an empress?” she questioned with eyes bright like diamonds.

Nielsen couldn’t help but chuckle at her. “Something like that and more.” The girl who was hoping for more information pouted when Nielsen closed the topic. “Now we’ll start with reading Emily Bronte’s poetry. I think you’ll enjoy these as much as I have.”

 

 

 

 

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞

 

Nielsen snapped out of his stupor when someone bumped into him. Glancing at his side, he realized that he was staring into emerald eyes that seemed to know a little too much than needed. Smiling to the male, he pointed to the caboose where Charlotte was sitting peacefully with a plate of steaming pancakes. “If you’re looking for her, she’s eating breakfast.”

Aden looked where he was pointing then back to him. “Who said I was looking for her?”

Nielsen smiled and turned his finger into the man’s chest cavity where his heart resided. “I would assume this had.”

Aden swatted his hand away from his chest and abruptly walked around. “Shut it, Andy. No one asked you.”

Watching as the young male walked away, he could see how much of a heartbreaker his little Charlotte was becoming. She was bewitching in herself, and surely, she would be forced to pick one of those many suitors that followed her. Of course, that was if she wasn’t oblivious to all the males around her.