Eden's Gate

EPILOGUE

Dabney always liked to double check things. Of course before you left port you made damn sure you had everything on your manifest in the cargo hold, and you triple checked that, because once you were out to sea, there was no going back to fix mistakes. But even after that, Dabney liked the security of knowing that everything was where it should be once they were out. Something about the finality of leaving port made it that much more comforting: they had shipped out, and they had everything they needed, and at least that would be okay the whole time now because those massive shipping containers had nowhere else to go now.

Dabney didn't believe in the supernatural, per say. But he did believe that shipping containers were little bastards fully capable of sprouting legs and running around in a feverish attempt to hide from the eyes of their broker.

There were just some things that a life at sea made fact that a landlubber might think was superstition and silliness. But everyone Dabney had ever met who had spent as much time out there as him knew - there were some things humans were just not meant to know.

So when his usual post sail check led him to find a small child hiding in his cargohold, he was less surprised at the child's random appearance and more terrified what manner of insanity he happened to draw the attention of.

The child was androgynous, their hair a rats nest that he couldn't tell if it was dirty blond or just dirty. They were covered in scrapes, scars and cuts, even a few bruises. They were dressed in torn clothes they had obviously harvested from trash cans, a pair of ripped jeans and a graphic tee two sizes too big that barely fit. Most curiously though was the blue string she had tied around her neck into a loose bow.

All of this was of course secondary to the fact that the child was holding a knife at him.

What a curious knife, too. A blade back as night, a hilt that was shaped like a willow tree, and green enameled markings on the blade. He hadn't ever seen anything quite like it.

The child was trembling, he couldn't tell more out of fear or of cold.

"Well now, little one," he said holding his hands up, "I don't mean you any harm. Put the knife down."

The child looked at him intensely, their iridescent blue eyes piercing through him. This stowaway had seen some shit.

Dabney reached for his own knife, a long Bowie knife that he kept on him more for its use as a tool then a weapon. He sat it down in front of the child.

"See? I just wanna know why a little kid is on my ship is all."

The child tilted their head at him, like they were trying to look at something from a different angle, before lowering the knife.

"My family's...dead," the child spoke flatly. They had a posh British accent, which made sense, their ship had just departed from England. The voice didn't help gendering the child either, it was vague enough that they could still be either.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Why'd you get on the ship?"

The child looked around at the shipping containers and pointed to one marked with the flag of the United States.

"I need to get away. They're chasing me."

Dabney bent down on one knee to get to the child's level. The more this child spoke the more ominous the situation the whole ship was in.

"Who?" He asked.

They pointed to their head, where Dabney could see a deep cut that had only just finished healing into a scar. He was sure it would stay that for a long time.

"The people that did this. They want me to do something terrible. Please, please don't let them find me."

Dabney nodded, "Don't worry. We can't take you back to shore if we wanted to. We got a schedule to make. We'll be stopping at Ireland to finish up our loading and then we'll be heading to New York City. If you want, you can get off there."

He looked over the child again, and sighed, "Do you have somewhere to go when you get there?"

The child shook their head. Dabney frowned. If he left the child off they'd probably get killed. And that was if they were lucky.

"What about this ship?" He asked, realizing that the danger to the child was going to be great either way. "Would staying here be okay?"

The child looked down at the knife for a moment, then at the walls again. They gave a nod.

"Good. I wouldn't feel right sending you off all alone like that. Just one thing," he grinned as he got up.

"If you want to be in this crew, you gotta work. No one's lunch is free. Can you do that?" Dabney made his voice come off as stern but ever so slightly playful. He wanted the kid to know that while he was serious, he wasn't expecting this child to do anything besides clean the kitchen or serve dinners.

The child nodded.

"Alright, kid. What can you do?" That said, maybe the kid had some skill or talent that could help.

The child stood up, and pointed their hand at the crate. Their eyes glowed purple, and so did the container. With a simple gesture, the container levitated in the air. He looked at the child and while they were obviously focusing it didn't seem to be taking them all that much effort.

His jaw dropped. That was a three ton container, all on its own, not to mention the weight of the potentially thousands of items inside it. And this weird kid was lifting it with their mind like it was nothing.

They heaved it over the stack next to them and put it on top. Their face went red from the effort, but once it was in place they let out a breath and turned to him, genuine concern in their eyes.

"I can do that. Is that good enough?"

Dabney took a step back, stammering as he tried to find an appropriate way to respond to the impossible thing he has just witnessed.

"That is...that is more than enough...but who are you?" He asked, trying to remain playful but battling the overwhelmed feeling of amazement.

The child didn't answer. After a full minute of pure silence, Dabney finally got enough of a grip to realize that.

"Okay, let's try this then. What's your name?"

"Ka-" the child paused for a minute to hiccup. "Kyle. My name is Kyle."

Dabney smirked, "Kyle eh?" He moved to the container stack Kyle had just lifted and put his hand on it.

"Welcome aboard the Pearl Arrow. I'm the stocker and first mate, Dabney."

He held out his hand for him to shake, and the child stared at it for a moment before taking it, not bothering to shimmy the sleeve out of the way.

How was he going to have to explain this to the crew?