Aka was so disoriented they could only say two things for certain; they were alive, and they were very cold. They blinked their eyes painfully, trying to bring the world back into focus. Unfortunately their ears were still ringing from the shattering spell the unity officer had cast, making it impossible to focus on anything else.

  They fell off the boat. Aka had no idea how it happened, one second they were on the deck and the next the wind was rushing past them. Thinking about what happened next hurt, but they pushed through. While they were falling they realized Sola had jumped after them.

  Sola! Thinking about him brought the world back into focus. Well, not completely in focus but they at least started to make sense of their surroundings. They were laying in a snowbank, and their first mate had his arms wrapped protectively around them. Aka’s ear twitched.

  When he felt them stir Sola loosened a little, trying to give Aka some space. They could tell from how sluggish he was moving that Sola must have been just as hurt as they were. What happened? How did the two of them survive the fall? They were already injured in the fight, and must have fallen over two hundred feet into the frozen forest. Aka wasn’t even sure they were conscious the whole way down.

  Finally they noticed that Sola was saying something. Or at least, he was trying to. His lips were moving but they couldn’t hear him over the ringing in their ears. I can’t hear you. They tried to inform him, but they weren’t sure anything came out.

  “You’re holding me too tightly,” Sola wheezed. “I can’t b-b-breath.”

  With a start Aka discovered they had their arms wrapped around his torso. They could already feel an ache in their chest as they pushed themselves up and off of their first mate. They were going to be sore tomorrow, but they couldn’t worry about that now. Aka tried to give him some space, but just slipped in the snow and decided that being off of him would have to suffice. Sola gasped, taking a deep breath and rolled to his side away from them. It got colder, and Aka realized they must have dropped their knife. Great.

  After waiting another couple of moments Aka’s vision finally cleared and they were able to sit up without feeling dizzy. They took a second to assess what happened to them. Aside from their popped ear drum and a slight nosebleed they weren’t badly hurt. And even that was settling thanks to the power of the rod hidden away in their bag. The bag was tucked securely under their coat, so it had stayed with them when they got knocked off the boat. The same couldn't be said for their gun, which had been dropped when they were injured and they must have lost the knife in the blast as well. They could only hope the enchanted knife had dropped on the deck, and not while they were plummeting out of the sky, they’d never find it in this wilderness.

  Either way there wasn’t anything they could do about it right now, so they took a moment to survey their surroundings. It was getting to be late in the afternoon, but sunset wouldn’t be for another two hours. The Fortune’s Favor was no longer in view, but Aka was sure their crew would come back and find them before it got even colder. They hoped. Without their knife Aka would be in danger being exposed to the elements like this, even if they could heal.

  At least it seemed like the two of them were safe for the moment. The woods were quite around them, and the trees offered decent cover from the wind. Aka stretched out, making sure they didn’t have any other injuries to be concerned about before leaning over to check on Sola. Their first mate was breathing deeply in a focused way, but wasn’t trying to get up. He had a deep cut on his forehead that was lazily dripping blood, and his left ankle was swollen. It wasn’t much of a stretch to assume he was badly bruised under his jacket either. The rod would help, but he needed Willow badly.

  Aka frowned, and began digging through their bag to see if they had a potion strong enough to heal his ankle at the very least. They didn’t find a potion of any sort, but they did find a roll of bandages which they pulled out with a triumphant bleat. As they started to unravel some they saw Sola react to the sound.

  He coughed violently, rolling back onto his back. “Are you alright?” He asked, glancing over to Aka.

  “I’ll be fine, what about you? Not to sound ungrateful but how did we not die?” Aka asked. He winced, and shifted his gaze. Sola went very quite as they waited, and Aka was suddenly worried that he had a concussion. They leaned over him, checking the cut on his face only to pull back when he flinched. “Sorry! Did that hurt?”

  “No, it’s,” He sighed. “I just-” Sola groaned as it became apparent he couldn’t form the thoughts he wanted to.

  “Do you want me to help?” Aka asked nervously. They probably should have started with that instead of just touching his face while he was hurt.

  “Yes.” Sola said simply.

  They nodded, reaching over and using the sleeve of their jacket to wipe off the excess blood on his face. Just being closer to him they felt warmer, his heat touched equipment was the belt that was safely tucked under his sash. Once they got the area as clean as they could Aka pressed down the bandage. It wouldn’t hold forever, but their crew had to be looking for them at this point.

  “How did we get here?” Aka repeated. Sola held their gaze this time, but still provided no answer. Aka tried to remember what happened after they got hit by the spell. Their head was hurting so bad, then there was some sort of explosion and they were off the ship. Sola jumped after them, why would he do that? He grabbed their jacket, pulled them close and then-

  “You have magic,” Aka gasped suddenly. They remembered, he slowed them down. “You have wings?”

  Sola looked away from them, his expression devoid of emotion. Now that was a strange reaction. Normally when it was clear he didn’t want to talk about something Aka would drop it, but this was a huge thing to keep from the crew and Aka couldn’t see an obvious reason for it. They weren’t exactly the best of friends, but Aka thought he trusted them.

  That, and if he actually was concussed they needed to keep him alert and focused until Willow could heal him. Head injuries were tricky, even with magical healing. “I don’t understand Sola, how did you do that? How long have you had magic?”

  Sola still refused to meet their gaze, but it at least looked like he was deciding whether he wanted to tell them or not. Reluctantly Aka sat back in the snow to give him some breathing room. They wrapped their arms around themselves, and watched as their breath came out in small puffs. Sola muttered something, too low for Aka to hear properly with their ear injury, but it sounded almost like ‘Why you?’

  But they didn’t have time to wonder what that could have meant because of what he said next. “I’ve always had powers because I was born to become a god.”

  ((“Yeah ok, that is NOT what I was expecting him to say,” Winter said blankly.

  “Alright so I may have been lying to everyone a little bit,” Zenith laughed in response. “Sola is in fact not an Entalitian fighter. He’s a celestial paladin.”

  "I knew you weren't using some of your abilities right!" Lucky slammed a fist onto the table and pointed accusingly at Zenith. He just laughed.

  “Hey DM you said we could pick some cool features when we were setting up because we weren’t starting at level one, I did not realize being a god was an option. I would have picked that over being a robot,” Blair held up both their hands in mock fury.

  “He’s not a god,” Zenith said, suddenly defensive. Just like the rest of them he had spent a long time with Caine before the game to design his character. Sola Rea had strengths and weakness that were decided on a while ago, and everything about the first mate had been approved by the DM before they started playing. He didn’t want the rest of the group, and by extension the listeners, to think he was getting any sort of special treatment since he and Caine were dating. “Here, let me explain,”))

  Sola tried to sit up, his chest aching. Aka went to stop him, seeing his obvious distress but he just waved them off. It wasn’t something he couldn’t handle, especially since the rod was dulling his pain significantly. From what he could tell he had broken his ankle, pulled his shoulder, and probably bruised a rib. Maybe more than one. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  “A god?” Aka asked hesitantly. He found he couldn’t meet their gaze. It wasn’t exactly a fond memory, but he had been holding this in for too long. He needed to tell someone, and he wanted Aka out of all of them to understand him. “I don’t understand Sola, what do you mean? What happened to you?”

  Sola would have to tell them, and could only hope Aka wouldn’t feel differently about him once they knew. “My parents ran a cult to the storm god Eureas. He was a wildly reviled god, as he had dominion over sudden and violent storms that caused a lot of destruction.. Eureas was deemed too dangerous by the coalition and the cult was supposedly wiped out. But they failed. They killed enough of them to Eureas lost power, but not enough for him to be forgotten. And the people who were left were willing to do anything to bring him back and to have the power he gave them again.

  The grand plan they ended up with was me. The two most powerful members of the cult had a kid, and when I turned 18 they were going to sacrifice me to Eureas. I’m not exactly sure what was supposed to happen when they did that? I think I was going to be a host or something, but I didn't stick around long enough to know exactly what was supposed to happen. I didn't know the whole plan, but I knew enough that I hated it at the compound and several times in my childhood I tried to run away.

  I never got very far, there’s nowhere to hide in the bad lands of Amon, and every time they brought me back they let me keep my scars to remind me I’d never get out. I started to believe it for a little while, but when I was 17 I learned what their real plans for me were and I knew that my next try would be my last chance to escape.

  So that time when my dad caught me I didn’t just accept my fate, I fought back with everything they had taught me. I don’t think he was expecting that, and when I managed to hurt him for the first time he was enraged and tried to kill me. But he missed. It was close enough that I lost my eye, and the mess he created made him think that he had actually done it. I played dead and he left, don’t know if he was trying to get help or cover for his mistake, but it gave me enough time to leave. I got to a nearby port town and hid on a boat. I’m still not sure how I made it so far with how badly I was injured, but I remember stowing away on the boat and then the next thing I was waking up in their infirmary. They healed me, took me in, and I left Amon with them.

  I didn’t use my magic again after that unless I needed to. It just reminded me of where it came from, and I never properly learned how to control it. I don't even know how it works, will they know if I use it? Would I become more like Eureas wanted? I never wanted the magic in the first place and since I don’t know what’ll happen to me if I use Eureas’s powers too much I just avoided it. I don’t even know if my family is still looking for me, or if they think I died and some creature of the wastes ate me. Honestly I’d prefer that.”

  Aka was completely quite while he spoke, not wanting to interrupt him when he so obviously needed to get this out of his system. As well as the fact they could not believe they had ever complained about their childhood to him. Aka knew his scars had come from a magical source, they were different from weapon scars. Magic could burn the pigments in your skin, and its affects were far more shallow which is how Sola could lose his vision without completely losing his eye. However now that they knew where the scars came from Aka felt sick. It was one thing to think he had gotten injured over a lifetime of sailing dangerous lands. It was another thing entirely to know they were done intentionally to him when he was just a child.

  They wanted to say something to him, but Aka had no idea where to even start. “I’m sorry Sola,” they said quietly. Aka reached an unsure hand out, but had no idea how to comfort him and withdrew it instead.

  Sola watched them, and gave small joyless laugh. “You know, you're the first person I’ve ever told this. Even my crew mates on my first ship didn’t know exactly what happened to me or how I ended up with them.”

  “How long has it been since you left Amon?”

  “I escaped just under ten years ago now.”

  Ten years and Aka was the first person he’s told? How could someone just keep that much hidden away and still be, well functional? In fact, compared to them Sola seemed downright cheerful. “Why tell me then?” Aka asked. It didn’t serve much of a purpose other than to satisfy their own curiosity, but Aka had to know.

  Sola looked at them and let out a heavy sigh. It had started to snow again, light flurries dusting the trees around them, and settling in Aka’s pale hair. “Because I trust you, I guess. I thought you’d take it better than some of our other crew mates.”

  Aka tugged their jacket closer, flicking some snow off their ear. “I’m flattered really, but I don’t think anyone on the crew would judge you for what your parents did. And I would, respectfully, have words with any of them if they did.”

  Sola laughed, for real this time, only for it to turn into a painful wince as he jostled his leg. “All the same, I don’t want to tell them. I don’t want to have to use my magic at all, so if you could avoid falling off the boat again.”

  “That was hardly my fault,” Aka replied. They sneezed suddenly, shaking their head and sniffling. It was starting to get quite cold out and their fur could only protect them so much. “Besides, you jumped off after me, I find that quite reckless even if- what?” They stopped when they realized Sola was staring at them strangely.

  “Are you cold?” Sola asked with concern.

  “I dropped my knife when we fell,” Aka admitted with a shrug. “I’ll be fine, I’m sure the captain is looking for us by now.”

  “Here, do you want my belt?” Sola immediately reached down to undo his jacket.

  “What? No, you’re hurt you should try to stay comfortable.” Aka grabbed his wrist to stop him. He was so warm, and in turn, he was probably thinking how cold they felt.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sola said, pulling his hand back.

  “Of course it matters, you could have died trying to save me I’m not going to let you freeze!” Aka realized he wasn’t looking at them again. “Sola, are you, trying to get hurt?”

  He stared at them but didn’t say anything. Sola just looked so exhausted.

  “Why?” Aka asked furiously.

  “I’m not doing it on purpose.” He said firmly. “but if I die doing something good then I’ve beaten my parents and the destiny they planned for me.”

  "I disagree." Sola jerked his head around at Aka’s angry tone. “You dying won’t be good for anybody. That's what they wanted for you, you deserve better than that. I want you to live, and if you can't find a good enough reason to do that I'll help you."

  Aka flicked their ears back after their outburst, suddenly feeling how tired they were. It was starting to get cold now, and they brushed some snow out of their fur. Sola was staring at them, looking distressed. Had they said too much? They knew he was a superior officer, though their ship didn’t really follow traditional structures at this point, they were just so angry about the way he didn’t seem to value his own life.

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  “Sola I-” Aka started, before they heard the sound of a twig breaking above them. Sola tried to get to his feet, only to gasp and fall back down, clutching his injured ribs. Aka placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and raised a finger to their lips to indicate he should stay quite.

  They reached for their belt, only to remember they didn’t have their gun on them. They didn’t even have a knife, just their artificer tools they kept in their pouch. They’d need to make a holder for a weapon that always stayed on them, this was embarrassing. “Do you have a blade I can use?” They whispered.

  Sola shook his head. “Just Tempest, but you can’t take it from me,” He whispered back, indicating the tattoo on his wrist.

  Aka stood up, slowly walking forward to get a better view of what was approaching them. They heard another rustling noise, closer this time, and caught a glimpse of something bright blue in the tree above them. A moment later a startled owl crashed through the foliage and rolled in the snow in front of them.

  “Wait a second,” Aka raised an eyebrow. “Mittens?”

  The strange blue owl looked up at them and hooted happily. Aka thought that Mea’s familiar could only turn into aquatic shapes? The owl looked vaguely wrong, as if someone had tried to draw the bird from memory and hadn’t gotten it quite right. Aka let out a sigh of relief and picked up the familiar, turning back to Sola. Mittens gladly accepted being scooped up, and tried to use his wing to give Aka a hug. They suddenly felt the curious sensation of Mittens trying to poke at their consciousness. Aka tilted their head and thought, hello?

  ((“Incoming call from Mea, do you accept?”

  “Perfect timing, that was getting pretty intense for a game about flying pirates.”))

  Aka! The faun heard a high pitched voice in their head. Aka had never connected to a magic creature like this before, it was strange.

  “Yes?” Aka asked aloud, coming to sit back down with Sola.

  Oh thank goodness! Mittens trilled. As he spoke he turned his head all the way around, taking in their surroundings. We’ve been looking everywhere for you two! Oh it’s pretty dense here, no wonder we couldn’t see you from above. I’ll get Mea to bring the ship down as close as she can so we can get you back on board!

  “Mea?” Aka repeated in alarm. “Why is Mea flying the ship? Where are Keizeron and Zero?”

  Sola looked surprised at that. “Annie Mea is steering the ship? Now that I gotta see.”

  Aka shushed him as Mittens continued. Zero is unconscious and the captain is sick so Mea is flying, I am so proud of her! She’s really come a long way thanks to you guys-

  “What do you mean Keizeron is sick?” Aka was having a hard time getting the familiar to slow down so they could speak to him, Mittens seemed very excited to talk to someone new. “What happened after we left?”

  But Mittens wasn’t even listening to them anymore, and instead was reporting real time as Mea got closer and how long it would be until the ship touched down. With a few unnecessary interjections about how happy he was to be there. Finally he said something about swapping connections and went silent, closing his eyes and burrowing into Aka’s arms. Aka sighed.

  “I didn’t know he could talk,” they said to Sola.

  “According to Mea he never stops talking,” He responded. He tried to shrug, only to let out a whimper of pain. It was a good thing Willow would be there soon.

  I am right here, I can still hear you, Mittens nipped at Aka’s fingers in annoyance, and Aka simply dropped him in the snow.

  “What was Mittens saying about the captain being sick? You’re sure he’s not hurt? Can you ask him?” Sola asked tensely.

  Aka just shrugged in reply, Mittens had already started chattering away again and there was no way to get a word in edgewise. And suddenly Aka understood their aquan crew mate just a little bit better. They severed the mental connection and Mittens took back to the air with a huff.

  Once they were alone again Aka turned to their first mate. “We’re not done talking, but it can wait until later. But Sola I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt. I'll protect you myself if I have to, just don't put yourself in harms way anymore alright? ” they asked him in what they hoped was an intimidating way. Or should they have tried to be encouraging? This was such a tricky subject they didn't have a lot of experience with. How do you comfort someone with an upbringing like that?

  Sola didn’t respond, which only made Aka feel worse. They waited in awkward silence for a few minutes before they saw the Fortune’s Favor sail overhead, settling a little further into the woods then they were. Presumably somewhere with less foliage, but Aka had no idea how well Mea could do the finer points of sailing so they may have just ended up where she could put them.

  The uncomfortable silence stretched even further until after about twenty minutes they heard the sound of footsteps approaching in the snow. Shortly after Mittens came back into view, hooting happily with Willow and Mea in tow.

  immediately Willow made a bee line for the pair, pulling out a potion from the bag on her hip. “Who’s hurt worse?” She asked.

  “Sola is,” Aka said quickly before he had a chance to deflect. To their surprise he didn’t protest, and simply accepted it when Willow moved over to him. It only took a moment for the cleric to look him over and decide a potion wouldn't suffice. She traced a rune over him and prepped a healing spell. Sola closed his eyes as he waited to be healed, as if he didn't have any fight left in him. Somehow this scared Aka just as much as anything else he said.

  “I’m a bit low on magic now, how are you doing Aka?” Willow asked without looking up. They had both hands outstretched over Sola’s injured side, glowing green with her healing magic.

  “I’m fine, other than a bit of a headache.” Aka replied. The ringing in their ears had stopped a while ago, and they had other things to worry about now that they could talk to someone other than Mittens. “What happened to the unity ship? Where’s Keizeron?”

  “What happened to the other ship?” To Aka’s surprise it was Mea who answered, and she sounded annoyed? “Keizeron sank it.”

  “He sank it?” Sola looked up. Willow had finished with her spell, and he was stretching his chest and leg out to make sure everything was in working order. “How in Entilita did he sink the ship that fast?”

  “Oh, he owes all of us an explanation for that,” Mea replied. Her tone still sounded aggressive, which wasn’t her usual demeanor at all. Something must have really spooked her.

  After he finished stretching Sola got to his feet, only to lean against the tree when he got dizzy from the effort. He looked at the rest of his crew, realizing that no one had escaped the fight unscathed. Mea’s neck and hair were still burnt, Willow hadn’t had a chance to heal the cut on her shoulder yet, and Aka still had some blood smeared on their face from their earlier nosebleed. It quickly became obvious he was going to have to walk back on his own.

  Willow noticed his hesitation and sighed. “I can’t exactly carry you, but I can help,” she offered. Sola simply accepted it as she moved to his side, putting his arm over her shoulder. The exhausted crew of the Fortune’s Favor limped back to their ship.

  Once they returned Aka spotted Keizeron waiting for them, leaning against the railing. They could tell instantly that something was off just by looking at him. His normally violet eyes were a startling golden color, vibrant even at this distance. And the way he was holding himself conveyed injury, but in a way that he couldn’t rest. They had seen that posture before, hell they had done it before themselves. They had done it often in their childhood, back when their parents thought they were weak and they had to do everything they could to not prove them right.

  But strangely enough, despite how winded he looked Keizeron was clearly pulsing with energy. Even the not so magically inclined Aka could feel it. It was almost as if he ended the fight with more magic than he started.

  However, before Aka could comment on it he seemed to notice them and perked up. Keiz took an unsteady step forward, leaning heavily on the railing. “Sola! Aka! Oh thank Aria you’re both alright!” He took another step forward, only to lose his footing and trip. Keiz fell heavily into the railing and pushed himself back up as they approached the ship. His faintness did nothing to diminish the obvious relief on his face upon seeing his lost crew mates return. “You two have got to stop getting into mortal peril, I cannot handle this stress.”

  “Sorry about that captain!” Sola called back. Willow slowly helped him up the ramp, but almost as soon as they were on board he slumped against the railing, sitting down and taking a deep breath. It would have been nicer to lay down in his bed, but it looked like they weren’t done talking yet. Mea and Willow made their way back to the center of the deck, and for a moment Aka stood next to Sola. They looked like they wanted to sit down with their first mate, but as soon as they made eye contact Aka looked away.

  “Did someone pick up my gun and knife?” Aka asked, glancing around the deck. “I lost both when I fell.” Before anyone could answer the navigator noticed Zero was laying below the mast, and they started towards him.

  “I have your gun,” Willow responded. She had also moved to Zero’s side, but it was clear she was waiting for Aka to help. Her magic could only do so much for the inorganic crew mate. “I got his parts repaired, but I couldn’t get him back online.”

  Aka asked a few quick questions about the repairs Willow finished already while Mea scoured the deck for the missing knife. Eventually she found it wedged into the splintered wood of the railing where Aka had fallen off in the first place. The aquan brought it over to Aka while they pulled out the supplies they needed to start working on Zero.

  Working together the three of them got Zero propped up against the mast so Aka could work on him better. Mea gave them space, but Willow sat next to Aka to provide assistance if she needed to. Aka’s head was still throbbing with a dull ache, and they leaned against Zero, feeling his cold metal on their forehead. They were still getting used to physical contact with the rest of the crew, but the chilled metal brought them a comfort they couldn’t explain.

  “What happened?” Aka asked quietly, as they sat back up and mulled over the tools. They pulled on their goggles to help them concentrate, only to find with dismay that one of the lenses had cracked. Just another thing to be fixed.

  “We’ve been waiting for the captain to explain what happened himself.” Mea said shortly.

  Keizeron winced at her tone, but sat down against the railing with Sola. He folded his hands in his lap and stared down at the deck. It was getting to be quite late now, and the sun was making its way down the horizon. Clouds still filled the sky, making it seem even darker. It wasn’t snowing anymore, but a cold breeze was blowing across the deck. Mea pulled her dress closer around herself as the rest of the crew settled in to listen to their captain.

  “My magic seems weird to you because it comes from two different sources.” Keizeron explained at last. “I started my training at the academy with your standard wizarding classes, and when I was eighteen I made a pact to become a warlock.”

  “How?” Aka looked up from their work. “I didn’t think you could just change the source of your magic like that.”

  “You can’t, I didn’t change my original source I added to it.” Keizeron said slowly. He coughed for a moment, and when he pulled his hand away he noticed more golden flecks.

  “It’s certainly not common, but I’ve heard of it before,” Willow added. She was fiddling nervously with one of Aka’s tools, before the faun held their hand out for it back. Willow reluctantly handed it over and looked up at Keiz. “Okay, so I guess that can explain why your magic can change from gold to purple, it’s drawing from different sources. That still doesn’t explain how you can do runeless magic.”

  “Runeless magic?” Sola repeated. “When did he do that?”

  “When he sank the other ship and yeeted it’s crew off our boat,” Mea replied.

  “What does ‘yeet’ mean?” Willow asked quietly, and was promptly ignored.

  “No, it doesn’t really explain it. That’s because the runeless magic is a gift from my specific patron; Aria.”

  The crew fell silent at his words, the quite only punctured by the soft click of Aka opening the access panel on the back of Zero’s head. Willow slowly set down the other tools she had been holding.

  “That’s not possible,” She said softly after a moment. “Gods can’t have warlocks. If your powers come from a celestial source you’re either a cleric or a paladin, that’s how prayers work.”

  “My powers don’t come from prayer. Besides, it’s not like Aria is exactly a god right now is she?” Keizeron shrugged.

  “That’s even worse! How can you get such powerful magic from a fallen god?” Willow was flabbergasted. Both by what he was saying and how nonchalant he was about it. She wasn’t exactly the most devout cleric, but she thought she at least knew the basics of how celestial magic worked. Willow looked at the rest of the crew. Mea seemed as confused as she was, but Aka was too focused on helping Zero to react. When she looked over at Sola she noticed he looked stressed, but he was still pretty hurt that could have meant anything.

  “It’s hard to explain, but I don’t think Aria really fell. We know that when a god falls they don’t just disappear forever, they leave behind echos of themselves and their powers. But Aria wasn’t just any goddess, she was a major arcana god. There’s simply no way she would have fallen without a replacement being made immediately. I believe that she really did split all those years ago like the legends say. Not really dying, but retaining enough of herself to still become a patron and make a pact with me.” Keizeron continued. Many people didn’t believe in the mythos surrounding Aria, that reassembling the rod would bring her back, but it was the only thing that made sense to Keiz.

  He looked around at his crew, but none of them seemed to know how to react. It was a lot to hear, and even harder to accept, but he couldn’t lose them now. Not when they were so close to the next piece of the rod. Willow and Mea were looking at him with apprehension, and Aka still hadn’t looked up from their work.

  After a few moments of a tense silence, Aka reached over and tugged on the hem of Willow’s dress to get her attention. “Do you have any magic left? I think I can fix the problem, I just need this wire restored.” They said, pointing to a burnt wire sticking out of the panel.

  “I can still cast a basic mending spell, that doesn’t really take much energy,” Willow confirmed. She drew a small rune with a single finger, and with a pale green glow the wire repaired itself.

  Aka pulled out a pair of tweezers and started to reconnect a few things that had come loose while they worked. As they plugged the last one in Zero rebooted with a loud whirring noise and sat up suddenly.

  “Zero, you have to sit up slowly when these sort of things happen. Your head is still open.” Aka chided. “I'm usually holding sharp objects when this happens. Please be more careful.”

  “What happened?” Zero asked as he lowered himself back down to the deck. Aka closed the panel and screwed it back into place.

  ((“Go on,” Blair insisted, grinning wildly and leaning forward on their elbows. “Stop the podcast so you guys can tell Zero everything I already know.”

  “Willow tells Zero everything they just went over, and we move on with our lives,” Lucky quickly came to the rescue. She looked over to Caine, who nodded in approval. They were doing a lot of things to stretch the time out, but repeating themselves would get annoying fast.))

  “How does your pact work?” Mea asked as Willow and Aka filled Zero in with hushed tones on what it missed. Aquans typically got their magic from the plane of water and the spirits that went between dimensions. It was a pretty rare occurrence for someone of her race to become a warlock or get their magic from a godly source so Mea didn’t actually have much experience with either of them.

  “It’s a pretty simple contract. Aria gave me some of her power, and in return I would assemble the rod as soon as I could find a crew she deemed worthy.” Keiz’s head was finally starting to clear. The last time he had been over saturated it took over a day to recover, yet here he was feeling better within an hour. It made sense, he just had never realized before the first piece of the rod could heal sickness and not just physical injuries.

  “Oh good, so we’re not just along for the ride,” Mea huffed. “But wait, you left the first temple of Aria before you knew you had the rod.”

  “I didn’t think letting half of my crew die in a fire would be a great start to our adventure. I knew we could try for the rod again, it wasn’t worth risking anyone’s life.” Keizeron replied. He leaned forward, only to feel his head spin again. Alright, maybe he wasn’t completely healed, but he wasn’t going to be able to just sit around all night.

  He pulled himself to his feet, trying not to worry about his crews eyes on him. Instead he looked around the deck of the Fortune’s Favor. A significant portion of the wood was burned, and there were various divets and scratches along with the drops of blood scattered across it. Seeing the blood send a flash of guilt through him, and he turned to face his crew.

  They all looked so worn out. Sola was still sitting by the railing, despite being healed his leg was at an awkward angle and a bruise was still blooming from under his jacket. Aka was cleaning blood off their fur and jacket now that Zero was awake, Mea was fiddling with the burnt tip of her hair, and Willow’s eyes were closed. She was leaning against the mast, almost asleep on her feet. Ironically Zero was looking the best, since the most damage done to him had been repaired, other than the scorch mark on his poncho.

  Keizeron himself wasn’t going to be able to be up for much longer. He had drained his own magic during the fight, and was still trying to work out the excess that he stole from the lev stone. Yet that pain didn’t come close to the mental exhaustion he felt after this conversation. Keiz wasn’t sure if he ever intended to tell the crew about his pact with Aria. In hindsight, he had no idea how he thought he could keep it a secret, given it was the entire reason he was there. And seeing how some of his crew mates still looked betrayed by him was devastating.

  Despite that, he still held back. The moments leading up to the deal he made had been some of the worst in his life, and he was not keen to relive them or share them with his crew mates. Keizeron had the feeling they would figure it out eventually, but for now this would have to suffice. He knew he was making the wrong decision, that he would pay for his lie, but he couldn’t handle anything else tonight.

  ((“Do any of you have more questions for your captain?” Caine asked, leaning back in his chair. It had been a long session, battles always were, and they were trying to hide how keen they were to wrap the session up.

  The players were still talking to each other in whispered tones like it was some sort of secret. Lucky and Winter were comparing notes while Ren was tapping his pencil impatiently. He had wanted to get to this conversation for so long, but now he couldn’t really think of anything Mea wanted to say. All he had really planned for was bringing it to attention, but Keiz himself had done it in a way none of them could ignore. Finally Winter frowned.))

  “Is there anything else you need to tell us?” Aka asked with a sniffle. They were starting to warm back up now that they had their knife, but they still felt the chill from being stranded with Sola for so long.

  Keizeron winced. “What do you mean?”

  “Seemed like a straightforward question to me,” Mea mumbled, but Aka just lifted a hand to quiet her.

  “I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about magic and how warlock pacts work. Much less about how you can have some sort of impossible contract with a god. So is there anything else about your powers that we should know now that could be dangerous or helpful in the future?” Aka said.

  Keizeron couldn’t explain why the clarification put him so much more at ease. Was he really so afraid of his crew leaving him that he felt relief that they were planning for the future? He knew it wasn’t Aka’s intention, but he felt grateful for them none the less. And at least he could answer this honestly.

  “Using Aria’s powers is incredibly taxing on me, so I try to avoid it unless I have to. That, and given it’s unique source it can be quite unpredictable at times. That’s why Aria gave me Duchess, to help me control it and keep it in check.”

  “Have you ever lost control before?” Zero asked, tilting his head. He knew a thing or two about not being in complete control of yourself.

  “I-” Keiz frowned. “That is what I have Duchess for.”

  ((“He’s dodging the question!” Lucky shouted.))

  “Oh, and I do have the ability to heal myself. It’s not very powerful and it only works for me,” he looked directly at Willow before he continued. “So If I and someone else are injured, please tend to them first.”

  Willow nodded in understanding, but Mea shook her hands in annoyance. “Can we circle back to the possibility of our captain losing control of his powers? That seems like it a could be a big problem to me!”

  “You’re right. And I won’t stand here and lie to you and say that it’ll never happen again. All I can do is assure you I’ve taken every precaution to prevent it.”

  The crew looked at each other wearily. It was clear that this conversation was something their captain found uncomfortable, but that couldn’t be helped. At this point they had been together for a few weeks, and had fought against the coalition. As far as a few of them were concerned, there was no going back. Besides, they were deep in the wilderness of Flolon. What were they going to do about this revelation? Leave? To go where?

  Mea shifted uncomfortably as it dawned on her that this was just something she was going to have to live with now. It scared her, but she couldn’t think of any time Keizeron had been unkind to her. Or even any time he had made her feel unsafe. She was just so unsure, the first time she felt like she belonged to a crew and the captain turned out to be hiding such an important secret. It was a lot, but she was too tired to deal with it tonight.

  “I guess that will have to suffice for now. We should get out of the area before that unity ship calls for back up, if it hasn’t already.” Willow said, standing up. She stretched sore limbs and held a hand out for Aka. “Can anyone still fly?”

  “I can watch the helm, so that you all can get some sleep,” Zero volunteered. With his wires fixed by his crew mates he was feeling uncharacteristically well. He also didn’t sleep as much as they did, it only made sense for him to take first shift.

  “I can stay with him,” Aka added, seeing how nervous the crew looked to leave Zero on his own. This seemed to be the last thing the rest of the crew was waiting for, and they slowly got up to get ready to rest. It was tense, but no one wanted to be up anymore.

  Having lost track of time Sola wasn't sure how long it would be until sundown, but he was sure he could sleep through the night, and maybe even the next day. Between Willow and the rod’s healing magic he didn’t have anymore broken bones or open wounds, but the memory of the pain lingered. He spent a moment to glance at Aka. The sheep faun was talking to Zero, getting ready for their shift together. Because of him they hadn’t been hurt too badly from the fall, but sitting together and talking, he had gained something far more valuable from them. A new reason to live.

  The first mate was actually grateful to Keizeron for spending so long explaining how his powers worked. Everyone was so preoccupied with their captain that they didn’t think too hard about how he survived falling off the ship. He knew he would have to talk to them about it eventually, but now he needed some rest.

  Once Sola broke the seal of going below deck, the rest of them followed suit. Keizeron quietly made his way to his quarters, while Willow and Mea went to their own rooms. As they settled in to sleep off the last of their injuries and regain their magic, Aka and Zero lifted them gently back into the sky so they could continue their journey north.

  ((“And that’s where we’re going to end tonight's session.” Caine said taking off their headphones and stretching their arms out. This one had gone much later than they usually did, given how long the battle took and then all that drama afterwards. Caine didn’t want to interrupt them from grilling Keizeron, this had been a long time coming, but there was only so much he would tell them at this point in the adventure. And god, Caine was tired.

  “Oh, babe, should we tell the listeners about the hiatus?” Zenith asked, pointing to their headphones. He and Ren had gotten up to start clearing the table, but he hadn’t turned off the microphones yet. The rest of the table was doing their own cleaning, finishing the last of written notes and putting dice sets into satin bags and small wooden boxes.

  “Right, right,” Caine snapped his fingers and put the headphones back over his ears. The spot where his piercings were mushed under the headphones screamed in protest, but it would only be for a second. “We’ll be taking a three week hiatus for Blair’s wedding!”

  “Whooo!!” Blair gave a loud whoop from where they were stuffing a character sheet into a folder. A few pages slipped out at their distraction.

  “We have a couple of episodes queued up so we shouldn’t have to miss any postings, but we won’t be responding to any social media during this busy time. Once Blair and Matthew have tied the knot and are back from their honeymoon we will likely begin recording again. Be sure to join our patreon for some behind the scenes secrets I’ll be posting in our down time. Anything else for announcements?” They asked, looking around the table. They were met with a few head shakes and some scattered ‘nope’s.

  “How will people know about this if we’re still posting old episodes?” Lucky asked curiously.

  “I’ll edit it into the next episode we post. That’s how we’ve been doing most of our announcements,” Zenith shrugged. He hadn’t gone back to edit posted episodes yet, but if he needed to splice something into an episode in the queue it wasn’t that hard of a task.

  “Well, if that’s going to be it for tonight, I want to thank everyone for listening and we’ll see you in a bit!”))