Drake's Misguided Adventure

Chapter 23 - Fire Burns Bright Before it Engulfs

She should count her blessings, but honestly, she's too tired to give a damn. Powering a boat, no matter the size, alone is hard enough she could do without the dead weight. Zapped of her energy she tumbles over and falls onto the sandy beach. Huffing and puffing, she makes all attempts to control her breathing. Beat by beat, slowly, her heart calms. Gazing out to the sky, she turns her head to her left to see the misty voyage they've come from.

Most of them at least.

Out, floating over the open sea, hovers their friendly intangible ghost, Jackson. Try as she might, Ronnie had no way of getting him to come along. A true friend would tell Jen, right? At the end of the day, Ronnie can only interact with the chaotic energy swirling around them by physically placing her hands on them.

...

Maybe she should go back? She hops back on the boat and immediately remembers how she ended on the ground a moment before.

Gripping the railing to steady the shaking world, she glances over to Jen. Her eyes dart around trying to justify the uneasiness in her gut, but she can't. Ronnie clasps her wrist and places her clenched fist to her shut eyes.

Breathing is proving to be hard when consciously being proactive about it.

"Is it too late to get back my admittance?" She speaks softly. Then she looks back at Jen and says, "I'm sorry, Jen."

Ronnie looks off to the distance and sees two more bodies washing up ashore just a bit away from her. It wasn't a coincidence. She could feel the magic of the sour-puss grapple through the waves. Though she didn't know how to start the reunion she did her best to arrive within spitting distance from them. Probably too much with how little energy she has left.

The sound of the sea comes and goes. A lullaby that soothes Ronnie's mind and clears the clouds of her desire. One more look at her slumbering crewmates. One more look at the friend who kept bugging her to no end.

"Well," Ronnie speaks. "Lo, I'm off to make some friends... great now I gotta hear that idiot gloat about how I followed his advice."

Veronica hops out of the boat and walks to meet the two people who she feels a connection to the most. Not that she'll tell them that to their face, but its an understanding she feels in her heart and that's good enough for her.

*

*

*

"Fuck me, and roll over and die!" A loud boisterous voice screams in agony as she hulls over the tub she used to escape the demented brother of the body she currently inhabits. An onus that would've been much easier had it not been for the sleeping beauty she had to save as well. "I'm tapped out. Fuck, I still gotta see if I can wake him up... meh, a small break for me shouldn't be too problematic."

Wait, she thought, what even was it that trapped us?

It's a question she put off as the first thing on her mind was to get off that ship. She does believe that to be a valid reason for backpedaling this important bit of information but perhaps it's best to save him from whatever torture chamber he's succumbed to. Looking at how pale and soaked in sweat he's in, she can only imagine he's back to his father's domain. It's the only place she's seen him even remotely panicked in.

She climbs over, locking his body under her to control any resistance or thrust he may attempt, and places her hands over his temple. Gently she flutters her fingers one at a time and reaches deep into his mind. The magic that's trapping him prevents her from seeing what's happening, most likely a bounded spell to only the intended subject, but she can feel out where his mind is and try to guide it back to reality.