The crew of the Polaia had turned their swords on Valenvara, who now had her hands bound. She was glaring at Theonis, who was trying hard not to look at her. The pirates had returned to their own ship and the two vessels had separated a little bit. The archers on the Mariki were still watching the Polaia with their bows drawn, but Myrova was returning their gaze with lightning at her fingers just in case they tried something.
The crew of the Polaia was waiting for the captain to arrive. Theoni, Kateni, and Myrova were waiting for the rest of their team. Kateni was hovering around Theonis, but nobody had figured out what to say to each other just yet.
Finally, Kateni patted Theonis hard on the back and said heartily, “I’m glad you’re back.”
Theonis grinned. He was glad to be back. Myrova walked a little closer, then punched Theonis hard on the arm.
“Idiot!” she cried. “Only you could make coming back to us this fucking reckless and foolhardy.”
“Hey!” Theonis snapped, flaring his nostrils. “They were coming after you no matter what I did. I fucking saved you.”
Her expression softened and she replied, “I know. Thank you.”
Theonis cocked his head in confusion, but before he could dwell on it someone grabbed him from behind. He cried out and struggled, but whoever was doing it was just too strong. After a moment, they let go and Theonis spun around to face a smiling Satiria. Behind her was Dimileos, Kosgoris, and Lias.
“You came back!” Satiria cried. “I really didn’t think this was going to happen. I thought you were gone forever.”
“I’m back, don’t worry. But I thought that you didn’t want me here.”
It was Kosgoris who answered, “That’s nonsense. Of course we wanted you here.”
Theonis turned to Satiria and explained, “You always seemed so… aggressive.”
“Yes, I guess so,” Satiria said, averting her eyes. “I didn’t trust you because you were a pirate. It’s just so… inherently immoral. I thought you were like—” She glanced over at the pirate ship. “—them. It took a while for me to get over that belief. But then you left with the pirates. Even if it was to help us, I didn’t like the idea of you going back there. But somehow you were able to do it: you were able to leave behind that toxic environment and return to us. And I’m really glad to count you among my friends.”
“Welcome back, kid,” Kosgoris said, folding his arms and smirking. “It’ll be good to have an extra pair of hands on our expeditions, now that we’ve got yet another mouth to feed. I hope that you’ll make yourself useful.”
“I’ll try,” Theonis promised, grinning.
Kateni dropped her hand on Theonis’ head and started tousling his hair.
“You did really good, Theonis: taking a prisoner, getting out of a difficult situation. We’ll make a real warrior out of you before you realize it.”
Theonis chuckled. His gaze fell on Myrova and Lias, who were both being quiet. Myrova still had one eye on the archers from the other ship. Her hands were glowing with a red aura. Lias, though, was just standing a little ways away and not saying anything. He was smiling, so he seemed to be glad that Theonis was here, at least.
Turning to Dimileios, Theonis said, “I’m ready to get back to work. That is, if I’m allowed to stay. I am allowed to stay, right?”
Dimileios smiled and nodded.
“Of course you’re allowed to be here, Theonis. We’re lucky to have you. We were actually already on our way to a new expedition, so we won’t have time to get you the proper equipment. Supplies will be a little scarce, but I think we’ll be able to manage it if we’re careful.”
“I hate to be a bother,” Theonis said, frowning, “but I’d also hate to be left on the ship.”
“We’ll make it work,” Kosgoris insisted.
“We’ve had difficult journeys before,” Kateni assured Theonis. “We’ll be fine and you’re more than worth the trouble.”
Satiria nodded, adding, “And it will give us time to figure out what to do with you.”
“Just, this time, don’t go wandering off after dark,” Myrova said, eliciting a chuckle from everyone but Theonis, who blushed.
Someone cleared their throat and everyone turned. Valenvara had walked up, her hands still bound. Theonis tried not to look at her, but her piercing gaze bore right through him.
“May I be released so I can go?” she asked.
Kateni drew her sword and stepped forward. Valenvara held up her hands and the two exchanged a glare. Then Kateni swiftly cut the rope bindings and Valenvara started rubbing her wrists.
“Thank you. Now a few words before I depart.” She turned to Theonis, who steeled himself and looked her in the eye. “You won’t be able to escape your past forever, Theonis. This betrayal won’t be forgotten. One day, there will be retribution for what you’ve done.”
“We’ll see,” Theonis replied.
“We will.”
Valenvara turned around and started walking toward the railing. The other crew members still had their swords trained on her, but Valenvara ignored them. She heaved herself up onto the railing and glanced over her shoulder back at Theonis.
“Farewell for now.”
She stepped off the railing and fell. After a moment, there was a splash. Several crew members gathered around to look over the railing. Theonis walked over to look as well and saw Valenvara swimming over to her own ship.
“Alright!” Captain Markis cried, “everyone back to work! Let’s get out of here! We have a deadline to meet!”
The crew set about getting to work. Myrova sent one last bolt of lightning at the pirate ship, seemingly just to show her frustration. The rest of the team started returning below deck themselves, but made sure to welcome Theonis back before leaving.
“There is some paperwork that we need to fill out before you’re a proper part of the team,” Dimileios said. “Let’s take care of that now.”
Theonis followed Dimileios below deck and to his office. A large table sat in the middle of the small room. A bookshelf was overflowing with books. A couple of chests sat against a wall. It was a cramped space to work in. Dimileios got to sit and draw up some paperwork while Theonis had to stand.
“Sign here,” Dimileios finally said. “And here. And… right here. You’ll get the same standard payment for each expedition that everyone else on the team gets, so you won’t be underpaid even though you don’t have a specialty.”
“Thank you for this,” Theonis said, scribbling his name where he was told. “This opportunity means a lot to me. I promise that I’ll do better than I did before.”
“I believe that you’ll do fine,” Dimileios insisted.
A knock on the door got their attention. Dimileios stood up to open it while Theonis glanced through the papers he had just signed.
“Hello,” Myrova said. “Are you two almost done in here? I need Theonis.”
“I believe we are,” Dimileios replied. “Theonis, if you need anything, come find me.”
“Will do.” Turning to Myrova, he asked, “You need me? What for?”
She gestured for him to follow and left the room. Dimileios closed the door behind them. As they walked down the hall, Myrova reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold necklace with a small but elaborate gold pendant wrapped around a large emerald.
“This belongs to you,” she said, placing it in Theonis’ hand.
“Thank you,” Theonis replied softly. “You could have just kept this. You didn’t have to give it back to me.”
“Call it a welcoming gift. Despite everything I said before, you clearly belong here after going that far to protect us like you did. So… you’re really determined to stay on, then?”
“I am. I like being here.”
“You could go anywhere, you know. There’s a big world out there.”
“Yeah, I know.” Theonis shrugged. “I hope I get to see more of it, but right now I want to stay with all of you.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
They had reached the door to the canteen. It wasn’t quite lunch time, but Myrova led Theonis in anyway. The canteen was nearly empty except for one table where Kosgoris, Lias, Kateni, and Satiria were sitting around a large plate of dakos. When Theonis entered, they turned to look at him.
Theonis was smiling as he sat down at the table.
“What were we talking about?” he asked.
“First off,” Kosgoris said, “what’s going on with your hair?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Theonis replied, running his hand through the short haircut. “I’ll let it grow out again. Don’t worry.”
Lias said, “Anyway, what do you all think we’re going to see on this next expedition?”
“I hope we find some ancient scrolls,” Satiria said. “I got so much good information that one time.”
The conversation continued and Theonis settled in to listen. Eventually, he rested his head on the table, using his arms as a pillow, and got comfortable. In some ways, it was like he’d never left.
After lunch, Theonis moved back into his old room. It felt different now that he knew that he was going to be staying here for good. With nothing much to do, he curled up on the bed and closed his eyes. It had been a long day and he needed rest. Theonis was just starting to wonder if it was time for dinner when there came a knock on the door.
It was Kosgoris, who said, “We’re all meeting in the captain’s quarters. Come on.”
Stifling a yawn, Theonis followed Kosgoris above deck and into the captain’s quarters. The rest of the team was there, along with Captain Markis. The table was piled high with food and several bottles of liquor. Dimileios poured Theonis a drink of ouzo and passed him the cup.
“Thank you,” Theonis said, taking a sip. It was strong and his mouth puckered. But he was grateful to have a drink that wasn’t beer.
“Is all this for me?” he asked, gesturing around.
“Of course,” Dimileios replied. “This is a cause for celebration.”
There was a murmur of agreement from around the room. Theonis felt his heart flutter a little bit. These people actually really cared about him.
He was so happy to be able to see them all again. The only person he wasn’t ecstatic to see was Lias, who was just standing off to the side and swirling his drink. Theonis turned his back to Lias and focused on the table full of food. He was a little peckish.
“Hey.”
Theonis sighed and turned to face Lias again.
“I wanted to apologize,” Lias continued, not looking directly at Theonis. “I shouldn’t have betrayed your trust like that. I talked with Satiria and she made it clear that my behavior was unacceptable. So I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
Theonis nodded slowly.
“Alright. I forgive you.”
To be honest, Lias’ apology felt a little forced. But Theonis was willing to ignore that if it meant putting this behind them. They were going to have to work together, after all.
“Theonis,” Myrova said suddenly, holding up a plate. “Try Cook’s moussaka. It’s some of the best I’ve ever had.”
“Thank you,” Theonis replied, picking up a fork.
“Be honest,” Satiria said. “You came back for the food, didn’t you?”
Theonis chuckled, admitting, “It doesn’t hurt.”
“Maybe we should have you study under Cook,” Myrova suggested. “We could have some good food on our expeditions.”
Kosgoris scoffed, “I’m offended.”
“Oh, don’t be. You can be Theonis’ assistant.”
There was a small laugh from the group.
Kateni said, “He won’t have time to learn how to cook. I’m going to be training him every day from here on out.”
“Oh, please no. I’m already sore just thinking about it.”
Kateni gave Theonis a small, sadistic grin.
This was so weird. Theonis was surrounded by people who were celebrating him. Even though he wasn’t special and never had been, these people treated him as if he was. And they had never mistreated him for just trying to be himself; they accepted him for who he was in a way that the people of Angalis never did.
A warm feeling ran its way through Theonis’ chest. He’d never imagined this was possible. How could he have ever walked away from this?
As night fell and everyone had finished filling up on food, the party moved outside. The stars were coming out. A few crew members milled about, finishing up their work for the day. Theonis leaned up against the wall and took another drink of ouzo. He was feeling a little light and very relaxed.
One crew member wasn’t doing anything. A brown-skinned woman was standing nearby, tuning a laouto. Theonis saw her lock eyes with Myrova briefly before beginning to pluck her instrument. Captain Markis must have asked her to perform for them.
“How are you feeling?” Dimileios asked.
“Really glad to be here,” Theonis replied dreamily, listening to the calm strumming of the laouto.
“We’re glad to have you.”
Theonis nodded. His attention was focused on a bird flying nearby; he could barely make it out in the dimming light of sunset. The bird flew down to the ship and began clinging to a wall where a small nest of twigs was glued perilously.
“Is that a swift?” Theonis asked, stepping forward to get a closer look.
“It is,” Captain Markis replied. “It wasn’t hurting anybody, so we decided to let it be. Their nests are stuck to walls by a sticky saliva; it’s really interesting. It’s a homecoming swift, actually. They have this uncanny—some say supernatural—ability to always find their way to their nests. Even if the Polaia is moving, it will always know its way back home.”
“But I thought…”
Theonis racked his brain. Where had he heard that they only lived on Stemini? He must have heard that somewhere, right? He’d believed it his entire life. Was that simply not true? Had he just assumed, based on stories about them always finding their way home, that they had to be endemic to his little island?
“That’s really cool,” he decided. “They get to choose where they belong, and they can always find their way back.”
His heart felt a little lighter. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one whose life was taking him away from where he’d started. Maybe he could choose where he belonged, after all. And he wanted to belong with the people who accepted him for who he is. Theonis grinned.
“So,” he began, “what do we know about the place we’re going?”
Well it's nice to see Theo finding a home. I suspect his mom will be both glad(she does seem to care about him even if she's misguided) and terribly disappointed that he wants nothing to do with her way of life.
Gotta respect somebody completely disabling a ship and capturing a captain.
But yes, pirates seem likely to hold a grudge, although I bet they won't recognize him when they next meet.
Were I captain of a chip with a recently gained grudge from Pirates, I very well might *rename and sell said ship*
But what do I know :p
The updates to this story have been the absolute highlight of my week for the past few months, and the end of this arc was just a delight. Thank you for sharing it with us! 🥰
That really means a lot to me, thanks!
Awww cute.