Beyond the Endless Sky

Chapter 14

Clarissa went to sleep happier than she could remember being in a long time. She had spent hours on the deck with Yannick, spying wonder after wonder on a dozen different islands, all of which she wished desperately to see. Yannick had given her a small notebook, already half-filled with drawing and notes they had taken about the islands they saw through the telescopes, a notebook now tucked into her bag so it could keep travelling with her.

She awoke feeling light and airy, as if she had been resting on a cloud. Her back barely felt like she was touching the bed, and she idly wondered if she could just float away if she pushed off the mattress.

It took a moment for Clarissa to wake up, and she realized her formerly drowsy mind hadn't been thinking in metaphor. Her back and her legs weren't even touching her bunk, her chest was being pulled at by her sleeping bag, and her arms hung limply in the air in front of her. She flailed in a spastic scare, thankfully still trapped in her sleeping bag that was tied at the corners to her bunk.

Clarissa took a deep breath to calm herself, and realized she was weightless. She laughed, surprised and pleased, and pushed at the hair now drifting in front of her face. Her hands gripped the front of the sleeping bag, and she pulled herself upright.

And realized doing so was a terrible mistake.

She began to drift out of her bed in a slow spiral, up into the air. Clarissa clung to her sleeping bag, her hair whipping about from the motion to wallop her in the face. She looked around and realized that the walls were covered in small handholds and bars to grip. She pulled herself out and reached for the nearest one.

She smiled and sighed in relief once her hand held onto the wall, despite now having her feet dangling up near the ceiling. She reached for the next handle, pulling herself along with absurd ease, as she climbed over to where her bag of clothes had been clipped to the wall.

Clarissa realized she wasn't the one who had done that.

She opened her bag, and carefully pulled out what she planned on wearing, fighting to keep everything else inside. She was halfway through getting her shirt off when she realized she had let go of the wall. And was now exactly three inches from any surface she could touch.

"Oh no," Clarissa said to herself. "Oh no."

"Clarissa?" Mercy called out from the other side of the door. Clarissa squeaked and flailed about, trying to reach either her nightshirt or the one she was planning on putting on, but both of them were out of reach. And to Clarissa's horror, the latch on the door began to move.

"Time to get you fitted for a pair of clingy boyfriends," Mercy said as the door swung open, and a thick black boot stepped over the short lip of the doorframe. Mercy stepped inside, somehow with her hat still set comfortably on her head, and several pairs of boots in her hands. She only saw Clarissa once she was inside, and immediately turned to the door, saying, "Best you stay outside, Captain."

Clarissa squealed, and reached again for a shirt, but failed to grab it. She cursed, and scowled at Mercy, who had a fist resting on her hip and a very amused smirk on her face. "Just hanging out, Clarissa?"

"Help? Please?" Clarissa asked.

"She tried for get changed without anchoring herself?" The captain asked loudly from outside in the hall.

"She did, cap," Mercy called back, unnecessarily loudly. "Looks like she's about half a foot away from being able to touch a wall. Likely will stay that way past breakfast."

"I'm a bit hazy about disreputable sailor code for someone stuck in free-float. Do we help them?" The captain asked. Clarissa suspected the question was redundant.