Kingdom of Runes

Chapter 9

It was late at night by the time they had returned to the inn and made it to their rooms. With the last bit of energy she had, Margot quickly pulled out her pen and journal. The moment she sat down on her bed, she began to write.

"So apparently in Seaside Port, a family of musicians will gather around in the center of town and perform for everyone. The whole square was filled with all the townsfolk dancing. The music, people, just the overall joy surrounding that area, I couldn't help but join in on the dancing. It's such a shame that the only reason we got to enjoy a night such as this because of the captain's ship being damaged. I can't help but wonder if there's some way to make the repairs go faster... if only so the captain can continue on with traveling through the ocean. He seemed so distraught about the current condition of his ship."

Margot soon heard the door open, which caused her to pause in her writing. As she looked up, Princess Zelda walked in.

"Hello princess." she greeted. "How was your dance?"

Zelda smiled as the recent memory replayed in her mind. "It was nice. It's not often we get to have an opportunity like that to just have a bit of fun."

"To run an entire kingdom on your own... I'm surprised you're not burnt out as anyone would expect a teenager would be with that much responsibility."

"I won't be alone when it comes to ruling soon." Zelda assured her. "But for now, I can hold until that time comes."

The princess then lets out a yawn before heading to her own bed, wishing her roommate a goodnight. Margot glanced down at her journal, rereading the last few sentences that she wrote.

I can't help but wonder if there's some way to make the repairs go faster... if only so the captain can continue on with traveling through the ocean. He seemed so distraught about the current condition of his ship.

Margot closed her journal and placed it in her bag. But in there she saw the rune spellbook that she had packed with her. Perhaps the answer to her question was somewhere in there? She stayed up a little bit longer to study the spellbook.

The next morning arrives and everyone starts getting ready for the day. They all began to gather downstairs to get breakfast. Blue pushed two of the tables together in order for everyone to sit together.

"Do you think that we should check on the captain?" Red asked.

Vio shook his head. "Even if there was progress made, I doubt it would be much. That hole was pretty big."

At the mention of the captain, Margot couldn't help but think back to what she had read last night. She spoke up before she had fully realized it. "Actually I have an idea that I'm hoping will help with repairs." when all eyes were on her, she pulled out the spellbook. "My grandfather gave me this a while ago. There's a rune in here that's meant for healing. I'm wondering if it could reverse the damage done to the ship."

"Well it wouldn't hurt to try." Green said. "As long as the captain is okay with this."

"If it gets the boat fixed then we might as well." Blue added. "The sooner it's fixed, the sooner he can get back to business and we faster we get to the castle."

"Unless he did that damage himself, I don't see how he wouldn't be willing to let us try." Shadow said with a shrug.

Ghost looked over at Zelda. "Well, you're the one in charge here. What's your call?"

Zelda thought for a moment. Everyone seemed to be on board with the idea. Plus like Blue mentioned, this would be helping out the captain as well as them. The only thing that would hold them back is if the captain wasn't willing to have strangers tampering with his ship. "Well I see nothing but benefits. We should at least go to him and ask if he's willing to let us experiment."

With the final decision made, the group went to the docks right after they had finished breakfast. As they had hoped, the captain was there, once again staring up at the damage. He saw them coming and sighed.

"Sorry folks but I can't help you. Repairs haven't even started."

It was then that Margot stepped forward, holding her spellbook close to her. "We know. We were actually hoping that we could help you perhaps. I have an idea that might repair your ship. Would you be willing to let me try?"

The captain stared at the young noble. Was it really a good idea to let a group of strangers help out with something like this? He'd consider himself lucky if any of them knew about ships but there was just no telling just with a few conversations.

Still, they seemed earnest. And should whatever idea they have in mind did put him on the right track, the faster he could get back to work. In all honesty, it couldn't get worse than this.

With a hesitant nod, the captain stepped aside. Margot thanked him before walking over to the damaged hull. She placed the spellbook down on the wooden floor, the page containing the healing rune opened. She then took out her pen and walked to the edge of the hole.

'I hope this works.'

Margot took a breath and began drawing the symbol on the page right next to the hole. When she finished, the rune gave off a soft green light before fizzling out, the symbol disappearing as the light died.

'As I feared... it only works on living things.'

She knelt down and flipped through the book. There had to be something else that could be useful.

Seeing that nothing happened, the captain sighed and walked over to her. "I appreciate you trying lassie but this may be too much for you and your friends to handle."

It was then that Margot found another rune. One for connecting two things together.

"May I give it one more try?" she asked.

The captain sighed and nodded, backing away once more. Margot stood up, pen and spellbook in hand, studying the new page. On one side of the hole, she drew the new rune, the symbol giving off an orange light. She then walked over to the opposite side and drew the same rune. It also glowing orange.

Once the two runes were in place, they glowed brighter and the ship began to shake and creak. As Margot backed away, the two broken ends began stretching towards the middle, slowly but surely closing the giant hole.

The captain almost couldn't believe what he was seeing while everyone else watched in awe.

Once the two sides were connected, the runes disappeared and the ship stilled.

"By the gods above..." the captain gaped. "You actually managed to fix it!"

Margot let out a sigh of relief before turning to the captain. "I'm just glad something worked."

"The only way I could ever repay you is to let you and your friends there have a free ride. So... whenever you're ready, climb aboard."

They watched as the captain hopped onto his ship, the bright smile forming on his face getting bigger each passing moment. Even though he disappeared from their sight, everyone could hear his excited hollering as he celebrated the full recovery of his ship.

"That was amazing Margot!" Wolf praised as she ran up to hug her. "Who knew runes could do something like that!"

Margot soon began to blush. "Oh uh, it was nothing much. I'm just glad that everything worked out... even if my first prediction wasn't true."

"Either way, we would've been stuck here longer if it weren't for you." Ghost noted. "So thanks."

As they went to grab their things from the inn, Margot began to wonder if there was actually a way to have the means to travel on her own with the help of runes. If she could think of creative ways to use them, then just maybe, her chances were better than she thought.

A sparkle of hope began to grow as another new idea began to form.