The Zodiac Cycle

2.9 Chaos

"Are they still up there?" Jest covered her eyes so she could look up and Alex circling the ship from overhead. We had set out yesterday and Jest had told us it would be another day or two before we reached Abbadon. She was annoyed about Alex's behavior, but other than that, she seemed pretty nice. She was pretty flirty, mainly with Rebecca, so I could somewhat see why she didnt get along with Alex.

"Yeah." Rebecca seemed worried about Alex.

"All they're goin ta do is make themselves more seasick." Jest rolled her eyes and walked up deck.

Everytime Alex had stopped circling, they would land on the boat and almost immediately start vomiting. Wasting their energy on flying probably didn't help much either. But they were stubborn and refused to listen to anyone when they were told to stay on the ship.

"So... want to play another round of cards?" Rebecca looked at me.

"Not really." I crossed my arms, looking around deck. Everyone was either flopped around in weird sleeping positions (including Carson who was sleeping standing up) or talking to each other quietly. I pulled Rebecca over to where Keith was sitting alone and we sat down.

"You're just tired of losing." Rebecca chuckled.

"As if." I rolled my eyes.

"Is there something you needed?" Keith raised his eyebrows.

"I was checking to see if you two noticed anything with Iris?" I asked. I was trying my hardest to stay on top of it.

"Well, I think we owe appreciation to Brianna. She never leaves Iris' side. I'd say Iris has less communication opprotunities because of her." Keith smiled a bit, hoping to reassure me.

"She does leave her sometimes." I argued more realistically.

"Brianna literally clings to Iris when they sleep." Rebecca didn't seem to want to be part of this conversation.

"Amber!" Jest kicked open the door of the cabin, throwing someone out. "We go' ourselves a stowaway!"

"Someone else is on the ship?" Keith stood up quickly, as did Rebecca and I.

The rest of the group stood up from the commotion, and Alex noticed and flapped back down, remaining hovering over the deck.

The man looked to be no older than 16. He had curved horns and brown hair. He was pale and had red eyes and was wearing a scruffy maroon shirt and black pants. He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw a flash of fear before he hardened his gaze and glared at me with gritted teeth. He had fallen when Jest had thrown him and he was sitting on his knees.

"Who're ya?" Clementine was the first to speak.

He kept his mouth shut, resorting to glaring at the deck rather than at people.

"Why are ya here?" Clementine tried again.

He only huffed in annoyance.

"How old are ya?"

"I dont think he's going to tell us anything. He seems angry." Nolan observed.

"Maybe he needs help? He seems rather young." Carson rubbed his eyes.

The boy glared at Carson. "I'm almost 136."

"That's a lot of years." Elizabeth noted.

"Hes a vampire. 136 for them is about 17 for us." Keith scratched his neck. "Vampires usually live to be about 700."

"Ah, so still a child." Ash pointed at the boy. "Are we keeping him or throwing him overboard."

"We are not throwing him overboard." I denied his motion.

"Amber. Zveck is the kind of the Vampires. He is most likely a spy." Keith informed me.

What kind of king sends 17 year olds to do his spying.

"How dare you." The boy trembled a bit, standing up. "You soil his name."

"Oh, are our mouths that dirty?" Ash scowled.

"Lord Zach cannot purify you if you do not submit to him." The boys words sent a shiver down my back.

"We are not submitting to anybody." Ash pressed.

"Zach?" That was what caught me. We had been told our Enemys name was Zveck. Was that why the boy got offended? I looked at Keith who looked perplexed.

"I might not have remembered his name properly." Keith pointed out.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Oh my gods."

"What? I come from just as secluded of a community as you. Forgive me for not being good with names." Keith fussed.

"You've been fine with our names."

"I've heard all of your names more than once."

"Could we please focus on the boy rather than one wrong name." Ash interrupted. "What exactly are we planning on doing with him?"

The boy watched us throughout this, seeming to get more confused as we went back and forth.

Brianna and Iris finally showed up at the scene. Iris had been staying below deck with her motion sickness and, as always, Brianna stayed with her.

"What's happening?" Iris looked at the boy, a bit of pity in her eyes. She took a moment to observe him before speaking again. "Who's he?"

"Stowaway." Clementine informed her.

Iris nodded, not asking anything further.

The boy looked annoyed at that point. "You all are no threat."

"Excuse me?" Ash and I said at the same time.

He then jumped to the side, the back of his shirt tearing to reveal two dragon-like wings that lifted him into the air.

"You little-" Ash grabbed one of his wings before he got out of reach, pulling him down. The boy cried out.

Alex landed on deck angrily. "Dont grab him like that! Wings are sensitive."

"Sensitive my a-" Ash recoiled as the boy elbowed him in the stomach and shot into the air.

Jest proceeded to spread her wings and launch into the air after him angrily. Her wings were much larger than his, and propelled her upward with force enough to shake the boat, making most of us fall to the side.

Alex prepared themself to fly as well, but their face shifted and instead, they puked on the deck.

I turned to Keith. "You can fly, help Jest catch him."

Keith shook his head. "I can't interfere."

"This again?" Iris yelled, spreading her arms and feathers out. I hoped she was attempting to help.

Another unfortunate gust from Jests' wings sent her flipping off the boat and into the water.

"Iris!" Brianna ran to the edge of the boat.

All in all, we lost the kid, Jest got upset that he tore some of her clothes, Iris got a terrible cold, and the rest of us had to clean up puke from the deck.

What fun.

(Well that went well)