oh noes

Chapter 4

I woke up in a cold sweat. And also a thump as I fell out of the hammock. A dull pain shot up my back and faded just as quickly. Ouch…
I couldn’t remember what I had been dreaming about, but it was probably a nightmare - my entire body felt like ice and tears were rolling down my face. Rubbing my hands together in an attempt to warm them up, I sat on the floor for a while.
Sadly, my hands were still freezing after a few minutes of rubbing, so I got up and surveyed the room. A curtain on the far side of the room was slightly open, letting a beam of sunlight shine through. All of the other hammocks were empty, which made me feel sheepish for sleeping longer than the rest of the crew did.
I could see a few extra accessories piled up on or near some of the hammocks - the one opposite mine had a book lying on it, the third hammock to my right had a pair of goggles and an apron with splatters of paint on it, and the farthest hammock on the opposite side had some papers skewed about.
I wasn’t in the mood for snooping, so I stood up and brushed myself off as I walked to the door. Just as I turned the knob, the door slammed open. I barely had enough time to jump out of the way.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, YOU LITTLE- oh, you’re awake. Cool.”
Oh, crap. It was that girl. The one that wanted to eat me.
I stared at her for a second and then casually replied, “Good morning, Miss Cannibal. Nice to see that you exist on this ship now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I was just politely asking you to join my group. Nothing cannibalistic there.” She swished her red-colored braids.
“Well, if I recall correctly, you were looking at me like I was a chunk of cooked meat.”
“I’m vegetarian!” she protested.
“Yeah, yeah. By the way, what are you doing on the ship? Don’t tell me you were always a crew member, right?”
“I’ve just been a member for a couple of months. Anyway, I was infiltrating Drutchel when they started to comb through the citizens to find the useless ones, and since no one said anything good about meeeeee…”
“You got the boot. Ha.”
“Hey, don’t laugh! Everyone else already did!”
“That just gives me more of a reason to laugh in your face.”
“Stoppit! Shtawpit! RAAAAAAAAGH!”
I chuckled as she yelled. Ahhh, I’d forgotten how fun it was to laugh at people and annoy them to death.
“So, anyway, were the two other people in your so-called group made up?” I asked
“Hmmm? Oh, no. I went to Drutchel with Bibby and Lolo.”
“Who the hell-”
“So let’s get going!” she chirped. All of a sudden, she grabbed my arm and dragged me through the open door. I stumbled, just barely keeping up with her pace.
“W-wait, where are we going? I haven’t eaten breakfast yet!”
“Oh, right. Breakfast.” Slowing down, she pulled a piece of bread out of her pocket and shoved it in my mouth.
I swallowed the bread, coughed several times, and then said, “Are you trying to kill me? I could’ve choked on that!”
“But you didn’t.”
“That’s not the point!”
“On the bright side, you won’t need to eat breakfast anymore! Anyway, we’re gonna be late!”
“What’s so important that you have to risk choking me for-”
“We’re gonna miss the fusionnnn!”
“The what? Oh, wait, the fusion. I thought Alicia did it already.” I had completely forgotten about the fusion of the crystal and the propeller.
We reached the stairs. “What time do you think it is, silly? The sun’s just beginning to rise!”
Oh. I thought it was probably midday by now. I probably woke up just as the others left.
“Anyway, we’ve got to go now or else she’ll do it without uuuuus!”
“Okay, but why do I have to be there? I’m not exactly interested in-”
“Well, too bad. I’m taking you anyway. You’re the only person she’ll wait for on this ship. I told her you would probably want to see it but you might wake up late - you know, just some last-minute insurance - and she said she’d wait. But only for a few more minutes, of course.”
“...really?”
Missing the annoyance in my voice, she exclaimed, “Yeah!”
I just sighed. I really hate cheerful chatterboxes. The girl dragged me to another staircase leading above the captain’s cabin. “Oh, and,” she said, “your name’s Taylor, right?”
“Yeeees,” I said. Then, realizing that she knew about me but I knew nothing about her, I asked, “And what’s yours?”
“Noooooova!” she declared.
“...Hi, Noooooova. You have such a long name. How do you spell it?” I said sarcastically. We reached the top of the steps.
I could see Alicia talking to the Captain. She was holding the crystal I’d gotten yesterday and the propeller. There was a box off to the side where they were standing. Looking around, I saw the man that I’d seen in the dining room yesterday.
Noticing our arrival, Alicia turned to face us as Nova dragged me towards her. “You’re late!” Alicia scolded.
“Well, it’s not like I wanted to go. Nova lied to you about everything.”
“You’re still late anyway. You know what, forget it - it’s not like you ever moved faster than a turtle in the first place.” Turning to Nova, she said, “By the way, Nova, lie to me again and I’ll drop some spiders in your belongings.”
Nova hid behind me, grabbing my shoulders. “Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, not the spideys! I’m sowwyyyy…”
That girl was really getting on my nerves. I brushed her off and walked toward Alicia. Gesturing to the box, I asked, “So what’s that?”
Ignoring Nova’s annoying wails, she said, “That’s the fusion machine. People have improved upon its design over the years, amounting to a total of - what? Over seventy changes? I hear people are working on a non-magic version of it now. Apparently, they’re trying to fuse non-magic materials. Anyway, this’ll be the last job it does before it busts. The experts have confirmed that everything’s going back to normal in…” She looked back at the Captain.
“Two hours,” he said.
“Yep, two hours. So about…seven thirty, maybe? Around that time. And, uh…NOVA, SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I’LL SEW IT SHUT.”
The girl straightened and saluted her. “Yes ma’am I’ll stop crying,” she mumbled. I knew I could count on Alicia! Well, for some things. Not always.
I walked over to the Captain and stood next to him. “Say, Captain, how exactly do the experts…confirm these sorts of things?” I whispered.
“Well, remember how I said Oblivians had a greater connection to nature? These experts are all Oblivians who’ve regained their memories. They use their special sense to detect changes in the environment. You know how you said you saw a forest? Well, those experts probably see them too - using what they see, they form conclusions about the world. What helps is that all of those experts are respected scientists.”
Alicia was chewing Nova out while Nova was holding her ears and crouching. Probably crying too, from the looks of it. “So how come I don’t see the ghosts of the magical creatures?” I asked.
“Probably because the magical creatures are all going to go extinct when everything goes back to normal. The experts said that Oblivians can only see things that will come back, not things that will disappear. Come to think of it, you might lose that vision of yours once everything goes back. After all, it technically counts as magic…”
I pondered for a moment, and then asked, “So why doesn’t your crew like Oblivians?”
“It’s…” I looked at the Captain’s face. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “It’s a complicated story. One that I’m not sure I want to tell you just yet…”
I shifted my gaze to the ground. I guess there were just some topics that were too sensitive to be mentioned. “So…um…when is Alicia going to start the fusion?”
“Oh, she’s starting soon. She’s just inspecting it now, making sure it’s still usable. See?” The Captain gestured at her. Alicia had stopped yelling at Nova and was now checking the machine. As for Nova, she was sitting on the other side of the boat, swinging her legs and humming a quiet tune.
I studied the machine. It looked like a black-colored box about the size of a coffin, but a lot bigger and with…runes on the inside. Magic letters. Whatever they’re called. The lid was transparent and it had a latch. There was some sort of button on the side and a lever right next to it.
“So…how exactly does this fusion work?” I asked. “And why is Alicia the only person who gets to operate it?”
“Alicia is supposed to put the crystal into the box, close and lock the lid, and then pull the lever. After that, the runes inside the box will decompose the crystal, convert it into gas and liquified magic, and then Alicia is going to put the propeller in. The machine will remove the air pockets from the wood and liquefy it, at which point Alicia will mix the two substances together. Because it’s magic, the mixture will take the shape of the propeller as it solidifies. By the way, the gas escapes from the vents on the other side of the box.”
“So why can’t anyone do it?”
“The magic responds negatively to the rest of the crew. You could try, but I don’t think the results will be any different.”
“How so?”
“Well, it exploded on one occasion and turned into a goop monster on another. Come to think of it, both of those crew members happened to be people Alicia disliked…”
Yeeeeeeeah, I’d be fine with…not trying the machine out.
“There was one crew member that succeeded in doing it, though…but…nevermind. Forget I said anything.”
That was weird. “So…does getting too close ruin the process?” I asked, changing the topic.
“Not really. Although, it’s better to be safe than sorry. We usually stay a few meters away, which is where we’re standing right now.”
“Mmm.” I stayed silent for a moment, and then asked, “So, who’s that guy over there?”
“Who?”
“You know, the one standing by the staircase?”
“Oh, Birch? He’s a mercenary that we hired. Specializes in combat, espionage, and cooking.”
No wonder he looked so intimidating. I watched him stand there for a moment as I judged his appearance. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked straight at me. Embarrassed, I averted my eyes.
“How long will he be on the ship?”
“He’ll be with us for the whole trip. Let’s see, our final stop is…Niara? We might head to Durmy, though. Huklos is a bit too far.”
The “Bibby” Nova had mentioned earlier was probably Birch. So then…“Is Nova also a mercenary?”
The Captain looked at me. “No, what gave you that idea?” he asked with a curious look.
“So..um…I already saw her when I got kicked out of Drutchel, and she’d invited me to join some small group. So I asked her about that earlier and she said that people named Bibby and Lulu went with her. And, well…I’m pretty sure that Birch is the Bibby that Nova mentioned.”
“Fair enough, I guess. Nova has a habit of calling people weird names. I wonder what she’ll call you.”
“She calls me anything weird and I’ll sock her good.”
The Captain laughed. “Aww, Taylor, try your hardest to not shatter her nose, alright?” he joked.
Having finished her inspection of the machine, Alicia stood up from her crouch and gave the machine a final look before she picked up the crystal and placed it in the box. I stood on my toes to try and see better, but I could still just barely see what was happening.
“Captain, do you have any…uh…”
“Glasses?”
“No, I’m just too…vertically challenged to see over there.”
The Captain laughed. I blushed, feeling embarrassed.
“Well, it’s not my fault!” I protested.
“Fine, fine. There’s a stool over there by the helm. You can stand on that, but just make sure to dust the dirt from your shoes off the seat when everything’s done.”
By the helm? But the mercenary was standing right there…Oh, well. I’d just have to avoid eye contact.
“Uh…be right back, I guess.” I flashed the Captain a smile and then stuffed my hands into my pockets and casually walked over to the stool. Alicia picked up something that seemed to be a metal oar and wiped it with a white towel.
I sped up a bit, not wanting to stay there too long. I picked the stool up and was about to return to where the Captain was standing when the mercenary said, “Oi.”
I froze and slowly looked at the mercenary. I gripped the stool harder.
“Y-yeah?” I stammered. His dark eyes stared at me, making me feel uncomfortable.
“Little bird,” he said, “why did you leave your nest?”
“W-what? What are you talking about?” He wasn’t making sense. A shiver ran down my spine and I shuddered.
Birch tilted his head slightly to his left. “You were safe there,” he said. “There was no reason for you to leave, but you did. Why?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “You must be confusing me with someone else.” I shifted my hold on the stool a bit.
“Have I?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he asked, “What is your name, little bird?”
“T-Taylor.”
“Hmph.” He tilted his head back upright. “I see. Well, then, little bird - it would be best for you to return to O’Haurel. After all, he’ll keep you safe…right?”
He said that last sentence like he was questioning whether the Captain would keep me safe or not. I gave him another glance and then walked away at a brisk pace. I could feel his eyes on my back as I plopped the stool down next to the Captain and climbed on top of it.
Having finished wiping the oar down, Alicia gave the oar a final inspection and then latched the lid and pulled the lever. I heard the machine whirr to life and the runes inside started to give off a white glow.
I watched as the crystal slowly melted and turned into a sparkly, light blue liquid. A hiss emanated from the machine as the runes stopped glowing. Alicia picked up the oar, opened the lid, and then stirred the goop for a bit.
Then, she grabbed the propeller and dropped it into the liquid. Quickly, she closed the lid as the runes glowed a bright yellow instead of the white from before. The propeller melted faster than the crystal and the machine hissed again, the runes becoming dark once more.
Opening the lid, Alicia dipped the oar into the liquid and continued to stir the mixture as it turned brown. Right after she took the oar out, the mixture flashed, blinding me. “You know, Captain, maybe you could give me a flashbang alert before it happens?” I asked, annoyed.
“Oooooooops,” he replied. I rubbed my eyes and looked to the side so that the spot in my vision wouldn’t stop me from seeing what was happening.
Slowly, the goop came together in the shape of the propeller Alicia had dropped in. A few globs dripped off the side but were reabsorbed into the mass after they touched the floor. Soon enough, it looked just like the propeller, except with what looked like a layer of glass on top of the wood.
Alicia took it out of the machine, and then called, “Captain, I’ll be installing it now! It’ll probably take a few minutes’ time, so lower the sails and fire up the engine.” I jumped off the stool.
“Will do!” he replied. The Captain started to walk toward the steps, so I dusted off the stool, grabbed it, and then ran to catch up with him. “So…um…what’s next?” I asked.
“After Alicia gets that propeller on properly, we’ll start sailing to Falt. You won’t believe how fast the ship goes - I bet your mouth’ll be hanging open.”
“Is it…as fast as a train?”
“Somewhat slower, I suppose.”
I dropped the stool back where I got it, and then went back to the Captain. “What time is it?” I asked.
“About…seven twenty. Why?”
“Aren’t you excited?”
The Captain looked somewhat confused. “Everything’s going back to normal at seven thirty,” I explained. “Oh, right,” he said, “I forgot about that. It’ll be hard to adjust since we’ve lived like this for so long. By the way, how’s your special sight doing?”
I took a look at the forest and what I saw raised goosebumps along my arms. The forest barely looked like a forest anymore - there were light gray spikes with streaks of black running through them where the trees used to be, and I could just barely see the nearly transparent ghost of the forest.
“What…”
“Is there something wrong?” We’d stopped where we were.
“Y-yeah…the trees aren’t…trees anymore.”
“You can see the spikes now?”
I nodded. “Grisly sight, isn’t it?” the Captain said. “I can’t wait to see a normal tree again.”
I rubbed my forearms. The sight of the spikes was…disturbing, to say the least.
Overhead, a few seagulls looped around. “Well, lingering on the topic won’t do us any good,” the Captain remarked. “Say, Taylor, you’re rather short.”
“What are you talking about? No, I’m not!” I protested.
“Bet you’re too short to reach that lever on that mast over there.”
“I’ll prove you wrong!” I snapped. I ran towards the mast and took a leap, my fingers managing to catch the lever. My weight pulled the lever downwards and I let go. Triumphant, I turned to the Captain and gave him a smug look…and then the sail came down.
…Dammit. I’d been had.
The Captain chuckled. “Good going, Taylor! I knew I could count on you to lower that sail. Why don’t you do the rest of them for me, hmmm?” he teased.
I gave him an unhappy look and then begrudgingly walked over to the next mast. “Call for me when you’re done!” the Captain hollered. “I’ll be in the engine room.”
I pulled the other two levers with ease. Taking in a deep breath, I yelled, “CAPTAAAAAAAIN! I’M DOOOOOONE!” No one responded.
Sighing, I hopped onto a nearby barrel overlooking the ocean. As my eyes drifted across the blue, I noticed several orange strands in the water. Those were probably just another effect of the Great Calamity…
“Little bird.”
I nearly fell off the barrel. I turned to my right and saw Birch standing there, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed and eyes closed. A pair of cuffs were attached to his wrists, both of which had a broken chain dangling from them.
“Uh…hi.”
“What do you remember of your past life?”
I coughed, caught by surprise. “I…um…don’t know what you’re talking about?” Did he know?
“So. You remember nothing, it would seem. Strange. The others all had some sort of memory related to their lives…” The orange strands in the water started to fade, bit by bit.
“Do I…know you?”
“Perhaps.” He stepped forward, relieving the railing of his weight, and walked away.
I stared at him as he went. Did he know I was an Oblivian? Would I get exposed? I clutched the hem of my shirt. Suddenly, a loud screech came from the general area of the helm.
“Attention, crew peopleeeeeee. The propeller has been fiiiiiiiixed and everything’s going back to normaaaaaaaaal. Please proceed to the deck if you have tiiiiiime, thank youuuuuuu,” the speaker drawled. They sounded like…a bored kid? It was probably the five-year-old that I saw last night.
Right on cue, I heard some doors swing open. As Nova hopped down the steps leading to the stern, two people emerged from below - the blonde from yesterday and a black-haired man wearing square-rimmed glasses.
“...and then we should be able to determine the true nature of the Oblivion. It is not as simple as some would think, with it being a fever and all,” the glasses man was saying. He adjusted his glasses and then returned his hand to the pocket of his lab coat.
“But you need some sort of coloring thing, right?” the blonde asked.
“Indeed. And that is why I have come to you - I desire a tube of paint.” he said.
“How much of it are you going to use?”
“It is not a matter of how much of the tube I will be using. Rather, it is a question of how many tubes will remain. I cannot guarantee that you will have at least one left-”
“LIKE HELL!” I flinched. What was wrong with the women on this crew? All of them were stingy and rude!
“If you need that much paint, then forget it! I’m not giving you a single drop to work with,” the blonde hissed.
The man adjusted his glasses again. “I will recompense you accordingly, dear Marie. You will be able to buy more-”
“I SAID FORGET IT!” They stopped at the top of the steps. “Why don’t you just wait until we get to Falt, huh? Your damn research isn’t that bloody important! It’s got just as much use as medicine does when given to a corpse, for Ghertt’s sake!”
“Marie, please-”
“NO,” she roared. “I’M GETTING BLOODY TIRED OF LISTENING TO YOU YAP YOUR MOUTH-”
“‘Scuuuuuse me. Can I get through?”
“Apologies.” The black-haired man stepped aside and adjusted his glasses again. The blonde - no, Marie - did the same.
A teenager appeared, scratching the back of his head. He sighed and shoved his other hand into the pocket of his jeans. His red, long-sleeved shirt was wrinkled in most places.
“Y’know, Marie, I don’t want to hear someone screaming their head off in the morning, ‘kay?” He stretched. “Makes me unable to concentrate on work.”
The black-haired man pushed his glasses up again. “Daniel, I do believe the only thing you happen to do in the morning is sleep-”
“Aw, come on, Lowell! It was just once! Anyway, Lily made an announcement…right?”
“Yes, we are about to set sail. I suppose the Captain wanted us to assemble here.”
Hmmm…Lowell. I guess he was the “Lolo” that Nova mentioned. I wondered why the Captain summoned us here.
“Are you worried?” Dammit, Birch, stop sneaking up on people!
I turned and gave him an annoyed look. Not that he saw it, of course - his eyes were closed. “You think you’re cool, don’t ya?” I said sarcastically. Birch opened his mouth to say something, but someone interrupted him.
“‘Ey, who’s that? Looks like we’ve added a new pipsqueak to the crew,” said a cocky voice. It seemed to originate from above, on the opposite side of the ship.
All of a sudden, a figure jumped over the railing and landed with a thump. They marched right over to me and grabbed the collar of my shirt.
“Hey!” I protested. The man just laughed and taunted, “Awww, what’re you gonna do? Ya look like you’d get blown away by the wind!” He laughed, a rough and loud noise that sliced through the air.
“Release him, Turner. O’Haurel will not be pleased.” The man swiveled his head to face him.
“Eh? What’s a little shaking” - he pushed and pulled at my collar - “gonna do, huh? ‘Less yer saying he’s so fragile that he’d break, hmmm?” He laughed again.
“You may be important to O’Haurel, but not to me. I will use force if necessary.” Birch pulled his sword from its sheath and brandished it. Go, Birch! Wooooo!
“Looking for a fight, are we? Well, I’ll gladly give ya one,” Turner snarled. Releasing me, Turner grabbed a jagged knife and spun it a few times, and then straightened up and pointed the knife at Birch.
I hopped off the barrel and gave myself some distance from the two. Neither of them seemed to notice me walk away. Then, someone put a hand on my shoulder.
“Sorry about that,” a feminine voice said. I looked over my shoulder, seeing Marie standing there. “Turner’s really aggressive. He grew up in the slums bordering the Kovair desert. You wouldn’t believe what the people over there are like.”
“Oh. Cool. Uh…hi. Nice to meet you…Your name’s…Marie, right?” I asked. I heard some clangs behind me. Birch and Turner were probably battling now…
“Yep!” She smiled at me, and then asked, “So what’s yours? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
“Yeah, the Captain invited me on yesterday. Even had an initiation ceremony sort of thing. My name’s Taylor.”
“Taylor…” She paused, as if she was waiting for me to say something. All of a sudden, I realized that I didn’t have a family name. Errrrm…
“Colbine!” I hadn’t noticed the Captain standing next to me. Taking advantage of my surprise, he put me in another headlock.
“Awww, Captain, can we stop it with the headlocks?” I complained. The Captain just ruffled my hair and I sighed.
“Taylor Colbine,” the Captain said to Marie, “and he’s from Drutchel. Good at hunting, I hear. Maybe he’ll be able to help us in case we’re stranded on an island?”
I laughed nervously. The Captain looked down at me and said, “By the way, Taylor, this is Marie Sendel - you know, the painter who decided to paint everything so that it’d look like wood? Anyway, she’s usually the person up in the crow’s nest, scanning everything with that telescope of hers.”
Lowell approached the three of us, stopping in front of me. Adjusting his glasses again, he stared down at me with a threatening expression. “You’re rather young, hmmm?” he asked. Why was everyone on the ship either weird or scary?!
“Y-yeah. What about it?” I asked, trying to sound slightly more confident. “Yeah, what about it?” Marie chimed in. “Lily’s five and we took Turner on when he was seven. What’s your problem with him?”
“I suppose you have a point there.” Turning back to me, he asked, “Say, young man, how old are you?” He adjusted his glasses again.
“I’m eleven.”
“Oh, damn. I thought you were twelve. Shucks,” the Captain said, disappointed. Brightening up, he said, “Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway. I should introduce you to the rest of the crew…Or at least, I should tell you about them. Lily’s not exactly a social type, anyway.” Then, turning to Marie, he asked, “Where’s Daniel?”
“Oh. That’s a good question. Where is Daniel?” Marie looked around the deck.
Lowell adjusted his glasses again. “He made his way back to his records while you two were talking to this…child.”
I felt like protesting against Lowell’s labeling me as a child, but he probably would’ve called me that again just to spite me. Inwardly, I groaned.
Lowell crouched down, looking at my face. “No reaction? My, he might just be more mature than expected.” Standing up again, he said, “Taylor, was it? I look forward to using you as a lab assistant.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled. He walked away, adjusting his glasses again.
“So,” the Captain said, “I figure you’ve met most of the crew now. Probably. There’s me, Nova, Alicia, Marie, Birch, Lily, Lowell, Daniel, Turner, me, and now you!”
“Mmmm. What do they do, anyway?”
“So, Marie’s the barrelman - which is another word for ‘person who’s on the crow’s nest’” - Marie waved - “and Alicia’s the engineer…or carpenter. Whatever. Birch is the mercenary, remember? Lily steers the ship and Lowell conducts research, which he then uses to improve our quality of life. Or at least, that’s what he says. Daniel keeps some records and Turner manages the ship, for the most part - usually lowering the sails and stuff like that is his job. He’s energetic, so the job fits.”
“What about Bonnie?”
“He’s just the local fisherman. We befriended him after we first landed here.”
“Oh.” I fiddled with my thumbs. “So when are we setting sail?”
“Now!” the Captain declared. Right on cue, the ship shifted…
…and everything went black.