Astrea's Ghosts (Ash Princess fanfiction)

Chapter eight: Theodosia

A/N- This is a bit of a filler chapter, I wanted to show each of the Gods/Goddess being killed but I find fight scenes kind of boring to write. I hope this is okay :)

"Theo to your left!" Erik cried and Theodosia swung her sword, slamming it into Artemisia's and knocking away her blows. Unlike when Art was teaching her in Sta'Crivero, she could actually sword fight now and was managing to get a few hits of her own in. Emphasis on a few. Artemisia was still ridiculously good. "That's cheating and you know it, Erik!" Art shouted, dodging to the right as Thedosia's sword shot towards her. Spray splashed the two women's faces as the Wåskin rocked gently in the waves. The ship had been brought by Søren a long time ago, and named Wåskin meaning 'child of Wås' which was Søren's old boat from a lifetime ago. The name was ironic given the Wåskin was much bigger than its predecessor. But still, it was Søren's ship and it was just them. That was all Theodosia needed. "Right, that's enough swordplay," Heron called, "dinner is served."

I smile, "What's for dinner? Hardtack with a side of hardtack?"

Søren chuckled, "Well, since you are a Queen, and we can afford it, Heron has cooked a pretty impressive meal for us, given that we are at sea." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She pressed a kiss to his cheek then whispered, "You mean we have forks this time?" she teased, remembering back to a time long ago. Back when it was just the two of them. Søren smiled, "Of course," he murmured, "I'm not a complete barbarian."

"Hey lovebirds, dinner's getting cold!" Erik called and gestured to the cabin, "this isn't even your wedding!" Theo laughed, but before she could take a step further, The Wåskin lurched to the side. Theo was knocked off her feet and thrown against the side of the ship. The deck tilted again and she was thrown back into Søren's arms and he tried to stay upright. He tilted his head up towards the clear blue sky. "Odd, there doesn't seem to be a storm-" but he was cut off by the ship getting thrown violently in the air then slammed down into the wave. "Art!" Heron called, now back out on deck, "Can you keep us steady?" but Artemisa was nowhere to be seen. Then, Maile appeared out of the cabin, "She fainted! Just when we need her," she cursed, muttering something along the lines of, "Bloody typical," under her breath. The boat lurched again and there was a crash from the cabin. Heron darted towards it, making sure that Art was okay. Meanwhile, Theodisa looked over the side of the boat. Far below her she saw the waves black and churning, the crests of waves jaggard like knives. And they were moving. "I don't want to worry anyone but the sea is moving." Maile was back outside again and rolled her eyes,

"Oh come on Theodosia, it's the sea, of course it's- Oh..." She looked over the side and the waves which now seemed to be racing in a spiral around the boat. "Okay that really is bad. We're in a whirlpool." The was a split second dedicated to nearly every member of the Wåskin muttering a curse in quite a few languages, before they returned to the problem at hand. "Okay we need to get away from here, very quickly." Søren said, running to the wheel.

"But how?" Theo asked, "Our water guardian is currently unconscious and these waves don't seem to want to let you out. I mean were in the middle of it!" Søren threw his weight against the wheel, trying to get it to more at least an inch, but to no avail. The sea had started to rise up, black waves licking hungrily at the sides of the boat. "Are we? Are we sinking?" Maile shouted, gripping the hand rail as the boat began to lurch and tip again. "I don't think so," Theo cried, "I think the waves are rising up." Maile ran back towards the cabin, shouting something about trying to wake Artemisa up. Theodosia's eyes scanned the deck for Søren, afraid that he had been thrown over the deck, and found him clinging onto the mast and trying to undo the sails at the same time. She ran to help him but the deck tipped and she was picked up and thrown against the cabin doors. Theo groaned in pain, but picked herself up off the ground and tried again. This time being thrown into Søren, who caught in his arms. "Are you alright?" he asked, tone serious. Theo nodded and set to work. The roped holding the sails were wet and rough against her fingers, but she clawed away with desperation. The part of her that still believed in the gods and goddesses of Astrea, murmured a silent prayer to them, but the rest had given up long ago. They were not there for her when the war came, and they would not be there now.

***

Far below the surface, deep under the waves, Alex shot through the water like a torpedo. He had been searching for her through the ocean for days but had not been able to find her. Until now. First, he saw the whirlpool. A huge rope of swirling, thrashing water that seemed tethered to rock. Then he saw Suta. She hung, suspended in the deep blue water, skin blue grey, eyes glowing electric blue, like bioluminescence. She had one hand thrust upwards, the tip of the whirlpool was gripped in her hand and she was whipping it around above her head like a lasso.

But none of that was what scared Alex the most. What really made him shiver, was the malicious grin that was cut through her mouth, twisted with violent glee. This can't be the woman that Glaidi fell in love with? The thought, the power must have corrupted her. Her swam so that he was behind her, out of sight. He didn't want to hurt Suta, not really, but what else could he do? Summoning all his strength, he gripped his blade, and shot towards her.

***

All was quiet. The storm had passed. It was odd, Theo thought, the way it had just ended. They had just managed to free the sails, then the swirling began to slow. A few minutes later, the sea was still, there wasn't even a wind. No sign was felt of what had happened.

So they carried on with their journey home.

Artemisa had woken moments later to be greeted with a very frustrated Maile. "What the hell was that? How could you do that to me- I mean to everyone? We could have been killed," she shouted. Eventually, Art had managed to calm he down, and Heron had walked in on them kissing, which both denied afterwards. "I just don't get it," Theodosia said as they sat down to eat, "Why did you collapse?" She had expected the other girl to shrug it off or snap something like 'how should I know?', but instead, Art was just quiet. "I'm not sure but, the whirlpool felt... different. It didn't feel natural. It felt as if it was controlled but something more than a guardian... and for some reason that made my power useless and knocked me out." she shrugged, but Theo could tell that it had unnerved her. So Theodosia changed the subject, "How long till we arrive back home," she asked and then smiled, "Amiliy's baby is due soon..."