Poisoned Lips

37 (part 1): beginning of the end

Recap; they found where the cure is. Freyja stole a boat and theyre on their way to epelland.
(Ignore errors pls)

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The cold ocean air enveloped Freyja, giving her goosebumps. She swallowed her saliva numerous times. She didn't want to vomit. Not again. The boat rocked on the open sea. She took in deep breaths. Her nails dug into her palms. She gagged. She couldn't hold it in. Freyja bent over. However, she only gagged on air. Splashes of cold water got in her mouth.

She groaned as she leaned back. Freyja curled herself into a ball and laid between the two wooden benches of the boat.

"Are you alright, Frey?" Azalea shouted from the steering wheel.

Freyja ignored her.

Devland wasn't doing well either. He was hunched over on the last bench, his head in his hands. Freyja's head laid beside his boots.

"Are you both doing good?" Azalea called out again. "Oh, these children," she said. "I'm never hearing anyone call me weak. Look, they can't even survive a simple boat trip!"

"You drive terribly." Devland groaned.

Freyja shut her eyes tighter, hoping for the sky to stop spinning.

Finally, after what felt like years of torture, the boat stopped swaying and hit something hard. Freyja dared to open her eyes and saw that they were on land. She clumsily fell out of the boat into knee-deep water and crawled to the sand.

She kneeled down while Devland laid with his back to the ground. Azalea, on the other hand, was sprawled like a starfish.

"Captain Azalea, reporting to her travelers. We have sailed safely to Epelland; I repeat, we have sailed safely to Epelland."

Freyja let her body feel stabilized by the earth. She listened to the constant talk of the ocean. The way the cold sand felt on her palms. The way it slipped through her fingers.

Suddenly, Freyja was transported back to her childhood.

It was times like this that the memories of Fox snuck up on her. Whenever she least expected it. Fox had always loved the ocean. He loved the sand. Even though he was a bit older than her—two, maybe three years—he built sand castles with her.

They'd both imagined what the King's castle looked like, and they'd try to recreate it. It was a disaster, of course, but they never stopped trying. It was odd the way he motivated her. He made her love the stars. But not nearly as much as he did.

Fox adored the stars. It was his passion. At such a young age, he was driven. I cannot wait for Uncle to come back and teach me more about them, he'd say. To me, you are the brightest star amongst them all, Ray, he'd say.

Fox wanted to be plenty of things because he loved many things. He loved the stars—he wanted to study them. But he also loved the earth, the sand—he wanted to dig deep and find its hidden secrets. He loved the wind, the sun, and flowers.

If he were alive, what would he be—who would he be? Would he be like he was before? Well, no. Everyone changes as they grow, but would he still love the stars? Would he still love the sound of the ocean? Would he still want to study the stars and the earth like he'd once dreamed of? Or would he be somebody completely different, powerless to the hand of destiny?

His wide smile and crooked front teeth always seemed to put her in a better mood. No matter how hard she tried, Freyja could never forget him—not his tawny colored hair nor his piercing green eyes. Freyja believed that in her life, she'd had only two friends: Zarra, who abandoned her (and most likely died in a collapsed sanctuary), and Fox, who made her laugh after she'd cried herself to sleep the night before.