Follow The Current

Chapter 38

Kin woke up to someone shaking him. "Yo, Kin, come on man," Jesse called out.
Kin groaned softly, his brain feeling fuzzy. "Kin, do you know what happened to Tanya," Lance asked him.

Kin remembered what happened and sat up suddenly. A wave of dizziness slammed into him and Jesse steadied him. "She said she heard music then it was like something took over her," Kin said as Jesse helped him to his feet.

"Pince said Muris heard music as well before he left the ship with Scarlet, Lux, Igiel, and Tanya," Lance shared with him.

"They took our heaviest of hitters," Kin realized.

"But Tanya isn't as heavy a hitter as Trish, Dio, or Lance," Jesse said confused.

"That brain of hers is the deadliest thing on this ship," Lance told him. "She's called The Inventor for a reason. Kin, did she have any of her inventions on her?"

Kin shook his head, "They're all here." He then remembered her trackers they all had to wear while docked at the island. He went to her work table grabbed the locator device. 

"It seems they're all spread out on the island," Kin said once he got it to turn on. They took it to the main deck where the rest of the crew was standing. 

"They still have their trackers on them," Kin said while showing them the screens. Blinking red dots showed them the various locations. "Our biggest threats will be Lux and Scarlet," Dio stated. "Did you see Scarlet's swords when she left?"

Pince shook his head, "She looked unarmed when she left."

"Don't forget Igiel's ability. One touch from him and we're done for," Pyra said, her hands trying to rub away the goose bumps on her arms. Her eyes went to the island, fear at the sight of it gripping her, but her worry for Igiel out weighed it. "She's right," Dio said with a nod. "Igiel could cause us to become decayed in seconds with a single touch."

"When Tanya's eyes began to glow, she didn't sound like herself when she spoke," Kin shared with them. "The voice was entirely different. What if it's possible they're possessed and who, or whatever, is possessing them doesn't know of their abilities?"

Brian ran a hand through his hair, "Then we run into the risk of them finding the abilities by accident and it could result in them getting severely hurt." "So what do we do," Layla asked them feeling at a loss. Jesse looked to Locke and Cajiro who were looking over the island. 

"What do you see," he asked them. "A cursed relic shirne," Cajiro answered. "I thought those had all been destroyed a hundred years ago," Lance asked him. 

"It appears not," Cajiro said. 

"What are cursed relic shrines," Kin asked them. "They're places that house ancient cursed items. These items usually possess souls of the damned who seek freedom. These souls usually belong to magical beings. The souls usually search for those who have similarities to their past selves," Cajiro explained. "It's not the shrine itself that's our problem, it's the person residing here that keeping it active. Eventually shrines are supposed to die off on their own because the trapped souls expire. Unless they have someone actively trying to free the trapped souls." 

"Can it be done," Pince asked them. Locke shrugged, "Hard to say really. Each shrine is different, as well as each method of creating the shrines." "How do we free our crew mates from their possession," Dio asked next. "Knocking them out should work. They can't take control of a unconscious mind," Cajiro explained. 

"If that's the case, since we were all asleep when this took place, then is it possible that more of us could get taken over," Sunny asked them. Cajiro sighed softly, "It's hard to say. Since Kin and Pince had been awake and weren't taken over, then it's safe to assume they won't get taken over. Jesse is safe too since Kronos already possesses his body."