Dangers of the Sea || Byler Story ||

16 - The Cruise

Third Person POV:

Mike was curled around himself, settled down on the sand next to his treasure chest sleeping. His tail was curled around his body like a snake would, and a permanent frown was on his face.

Lucas, Erica, and Max were watching him with worry. It's been two days since he came back from the shore, and he hasn't done anything except sleep, eat little amounts of food, and look through his treasure chests. He did have a huge argument with Nancy and his mom, but other than that..

Has he moved at all since last time? Max questions her friends.

Erica shakes her head as Lucas sighs. No, just some sleeping restlessness. He says glumly, brushing the sand with his tail.

When will he wake up back to normal? Erica questions.

The three didn't have an answer for that. This is all that human's fault. Max says, crossing her arms. If he and Mike didn't meet, Mike wouldn't be all sorrowful now.

I don't think we should blame either of them, Max. Lucas says.

Max scoffs. Lucas starts collecting shells in a bag, nudging Erica to do the same. Max watches them collect the shells in two separate bags. Once they were both filled up the bags, they swam over to Mike's sleeping form and set them down next to his treasure chests.

You think that'll cheer him up? Max asks the two siblings as they swim to her again.

Lucas shrugs. It's worth a shot. He says.

They wait for a long while for the boy to wake up at the scheduled lunch time. They had a few snacks before the boy woke up, his eyes opening gradually. He floats upright, before swimming off to find food.

After a moment, he comes back with a bag full of oysters, shrimp, and seaweed. He paused when he saw the two bags, grabbing them and looking through to see what was inside.

He smiled softly, before sitting down and began eating.

Lucas and Erica high fived. They made Mike smile for the first time in days, an accomplishment on its own. Max scoffed at them, but was internally gratefully Mike smiled as well.

Then a large shadow loomed over the coral reef, and all four of them looked up.

It looked like the bottom of a boat. A very large boat, in fact. It looked like it was about four hundred feet long and maybe two hundred feet wide(idk anything about boats, it's big). Max looked back down at Mike as his eyes widened in hope.

No, Mike! Max yells, swimming toward him, but the boy is already off, swimming up.

.{A Few Hours Earlier}.

Will walked down the dock with Jane, with their maids behind them carrying their luggage. Jonathan and Joyce were catching up in front of them.

"How long do you think this boat ride will be?" Will questions.

Jane sighs, fanning her face with her special decorative fan. It was dark purple at the base and lighter above with flowers. She was wearing neutral makeup today and a huge white hat with a white rose. Her dress was also a base of white, with a fake outer corset and a silky white skirt. Her sleeves were puffy and white as well.

"It is a vacation," Jane says. "Tis long enough for you to relax your stiff shoulders."

Will bit his lip in thought. He was also wearing a white outfit, which is like his normal comfortable outfit but with a corset underneath and a few more formal designs. His makeup was neutral today, and he was holding a soft yellow fan.

"I'm just confused, why are we suddenly going on a cruise with barely any preparation?" Will says as the guards help them onto the boat.

Jane shrugs. "I'm not sure, but I'm not complaining," She says.

"Please make your way to the front of the boat, You're Majesties," A butler says, gesturing to a pathway. Will and Jane nod in unison.

As they begin walking, Will looks to the side where he could watch the waves hit against the beach. Maybe..

"Oh goodness!" Jane squeals in excitement. "Brother, look!"

Will looks at where she was pointing and he eyebrows went up. It was a beautiful deck area, with plenty of tanning chairs and seating, but also enough space to walk, and a pool. There was railing all around, and it was quite nice.

There were also guards by the railing with ten feet in between each of them. Will frowns.

Jane directs her maids to go put her luggage in her rooms, and Will does the same after a moment. But then he walked over to the railing and looked over, staring at the water.

"Brother!" Jane exclaims, grabbing the railing excitedly. "Look! Dolphins!"

Sure enough, there was a pod of dolphins jumping up out of the water next to the boat, doing tricks in the air. The two siblings wowed in awe.

"Will, Jane," Jonathan says behind them, making them both turn and face him.

"Jonathan!" They both exclaim. "How have you been?" Will asks.

Their brother smiles. "I've been great, I hear that the kingdom was quite boring while I was gone, huh?" He teases. Will bites his lip as a small blush appears, barely visible, and Jane smirks. "Oh? Did something happen?"

"No!" Will says, laughing nervously. "No, nothing important happened."

"Will, you laugh awkwardly when you're lying," Jonathan says, an easy smile on his face. "What happened? Jane?"

Jane grins. "Will has a secret lover," She whispers mysteriously.

Thankfully, Joyce wasn't in hearing distance from them, already enjoying the sun. Jonathan's eyes went wide as Will blushed angrily. "Jane!" Will hisses.

"Who's the lucky boy, Will?" Jonathan questions.

"It's no one," Will says, turning back to the water to stare. His blush was clear proof that it was indeed someone. "It's not important anyway."

Jane gives Jonathan a look. "Why isn't it important?" Jonathan asks curiously.

Will sighs. "We're not able to see each other anymore," He mumbles. Jane pursed her lips in thought while Jonathan glanced at the two guards closest to them, waving them away.

"Why can't you see each other anymore?" Jane questions. "I just say you guys."

Will chews on the inside of his cheek. "It's not so simple," He says. "He and his family need to move around and I'm stuck here."

Jonathan and Jane exchanged a glance, before deciding to leave and let Will be alone.

Then a dark head popped out of the water.

<^> To Be Continued

(1k words)

God, Will and Mike, stop being so depresso D: