Waves of Crimson

It hadn’t been long before Tobias seemed to shake off the ‘no drink’ decree of Jax’s, and Adeline was rather glad of it. It had been too long since she’d had a night of drunken rambling and fun with him, that much was for sure. At this point it was becoming clearer that she was more wobbly on her feet than she had been even half an hour prior. Leaning over, she stumbled a bit while trying to reach for the flask peeking out of Tobias’ pocket, barely catching herself on his shoulder. “Why does it have to be so hard to stand?”

His blood ran cold when she told him what she had done in her dream. He could hardly imagine what she was going through, how terrified she must be, but he couldn’t help but wonder whether these dreams were something more than just dreams. “ you haven’t done anything wrong, Adeline. You didn’t burn their home down, and you didn’t hurt them. I know you, and I know you would never hurt anyone like that. Especially not children. ”

“I may not have... but it’s in my memories now. I’ve committed the crime in that sense and I’m living with the guilt like it was my hands that set the fire to begin with,” Adeline reasoned, head bowed in a clear show of how much she was in her thoughts. It didn’t do to dwell, and yet she seemed destined for that sort of thing for her whole life. “I’m not saying it makes the most sense, but it’s how I feel.”

“Knowing the luck this crew seems to have? It very well might.” But it was said with a laugh, every new danger held the potential for new adventure. And this crew seemed to attract danger of all sorts. “’Sides, I’d rather have the experience now.” She believed she conducted herself well enough during the storm, but even she noted how she could improve. “So much excitement in this short time? It’s certainly makes for an exciting time.”

"You may have a point about that,” Adeline noted, a genuine, full laugh escaping her then. It was freeing to be able to laugh even about the simplest things lately, so she was grateful for Jaina’s small joke. “That’s admirable, and fair. You’re likely in for more excitement... and experience like this, if I’m being perfectly honest with you.”

Seeing people you’d come to care for hurt was never easy. Adeline had long since been a bright spark in even some of the bleakest moments  on this ship, and it was a long time ago that Billie had decided part of her job- part of her personal duty, even- as the master of their team was to make sure that spark didn’t die out. Yet here, in the wake of her struggles, she had no idea how to help. At least her frankness didn’t seem to be the cause of any further sadness or irritation, so she wasn’t doing harm. “Have you ever heard me say anything if I don’t believe it with absolute certainty?” Billie asked, frowning. “If I say it’s so, then it is.” There was some positives to only speaking when you thought your words could not be denied. “You have nothing to be sorry for, you haven’t done anything wrong. Following your gut isn’t a mistake, Adeline. Even if things don’t turn out how you hoped. You thought you were making the right call. I can’t fault you for that.”

The prior hesitation Adeline had was tossed aside now as she moved to hug Billie. She felt anchored there, both in the literal sense and a more emotional one. Adeline didn’t enjoy feeling coddled or pitied, and Billie never treated her in either of those ways. “No, I haven’t,” she finally replied, lingering in the embrace for another moment before pulling away. “Thank you, in that case. I think we can all see the... faults of my stubbornness when it comes to this instance, but it was a judgement call. I don’t regret it, even if I probably should. I’m not sure everyone else even tries to understand that.”

they had set sail mere hours ago, with the high noon sun painting metal bits of the ship bright like diamonds. Bloom found themselves hung upside-down from the interlocking mesh that scaled the main mast, weaving together a complicated knot to salvage a broken rope.finishing their task, keen eyes swiveled away from the rigging and down towards the deck. with calves and feet tangled up purposefully in the net to stop them from falling, they reached for the deck of the ship, planning to use their grip on the wood to pull themselves free. they immediately discovered that they had miscalculated, their fingers only had the ability to reach inches above floor, leaving them unable to pull themselves free. still hanging there, blood rushing to their head, they scowled and folded their arms petulantly. they looked remarkably like a grumpy bat.  what a truly embarrassing mistake to make mere weeks into a new job. humbling themselves, they looked around for another crew member to give them a hand. “hey, uh,” they swallowed their pride once more, “mind lending a hand?”

Adeline had been walking about above decks with Athena for a time. In truth, she felt better about not being alone for fear of another ‘sleepwalking’ type of incident coming about while she was unattended. The navigator took to visiting with Kalix, though, so Adeline decided to wait about in the fresh air. There were other people around and that set her mind at ease, if only slightly. She wasn’t even sure that she heard someone speak to her until she turned over her shoulder to find Bloom tangled up in the rigging. Biting her lip to hold back a bit of laughter, Adeline nodded and made her way over. “I’ve done that before, believe it or not. Does tend to give you a wretched headache until someone helps you down, though,” she offered, a small smile accompanying her words. She had to climb up the rigging slightly to reach where their feet had become entangled, but it took only a moment to set about freeing them. Her movements were slow, though, in hopes of not giving them a rope burn or two. “There’s one... Brace yourself.” Bloom’s other ankle had practically become knotted in the ropes, but with a swift tug to one of the lines, the rigger was free and Adeline hopped back down from her spot.

“Oh, you mean the way you kept me when I wasn’t even a danger to the crew?” she snapped back, more afraid for Adeline than actually angry. She wanted to slap some sense into her friend, but she wasn’t sure it would do any good. “I just want you to be safe. Once the storm is over, I can help you figure this out.” 

“Maeve...” Adeline hadn’t meant to bring up that memory. It was shameful and it made her feel even more ill with guilt than the vision had left her. “I’m sorry. I’ll just go tuck up in the bunks and try to lie low for the rest of this.” She brought her hand up to meet one of Maeve’s on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “And thank you.”

Alistair had been close by, doing the same thing; that was, cutting down more trees to put to use in his work. He knew Adeline was working nearby, and when he heard the noise coming from her stop, he instinctively looked up, like he was checking that she was in one piece, and hadn’t stopped because she’d done something stupid, like chop off a finger. As soon as he’d realized she was okay, he’d dropped her gaze, about to go back to his own conquest, but she addressed him, and he glanced up again. “I’m… not going to tell you off.” He paused for a moment, processing the latter part of her sentence, and shook his head slightly. “Unless the stroll involves searching for more supplies, I doubt that’s the most useful thing I could be doing right now.” Deeming that enough of an answer, he turned back to his tree and yanked his axe out from where he’d left it embedded in the bark.

Adeline stood up, dusting off the sand from her trousers even though she was barefoot and contently so. It wasn’t that she expected a different response from Alistair, no, just that she might have held out a slight hope for it. “We could call it a supply stroll... but we could also call it you taking a break before your arms get so numb that you can’t very well chop down trees at all?” She raised a brow in sync with the suggestion. Maybe he’d humor the idea given that it actually had some merit, but she still stayed put until she knew one way or the other. “Will 10 minutes of resting hurt the project so desperately?”

The pain in Adeline’s voice made Athena’s heart hurt. She noticed Adeline’s hands, curled up like she was in pain and grabbing for something. Athena shifted, moving now so she could look Adeline in the eyes. Her hands reached for her friends’. Athena forced her fingers between Adeline’s so she could hold onto her instead of clawing at her palms. “You haven’t hurt anyone. I know the visions can make it feel like you have but I assure you, the only person in danger right now is yourself. At least– that’s what happened today. If you do start to become violent in the visions we’ll deal with it.”

Adeline’s question made Athena bite her lip. “Well… you could always tie yourself to something. Prevent yourself from wandering off…” It felt a bit archaic but Athena doubted Adeline would be so conginsant during a vision she would be able to undo a rope knot. Then again, Adeline’s condition was already different from her own. “We’ll work through this Adeline. Not just you and me, but the whole crew. You sacrificed this for us, all of us, so we could find the jewels. We won’t forget that.”

Adeline’s grip lessened only slightly after Athena took her hands, but it was nearly impossible to lighten up beyond that point. But I could... I could... The thought ran rampant through her mind, and she was half convinced it would stay that way for the foreseeable future. “It’s not something that anyone should have to deal with apart from me. Athena, don’t you get that? I don’t want to bring down problems on you all for something I chose to do.”

“I’ll just rigger knot myself to a post or something, I suppose. Like cattle,” Adeline half-joked, a very dry laugh passing through her lips just then. She stood up, almost tripping over the skirts that Athena had given her. “It wasn’t a sacrifice, and I’m no lamb. I’m not going to let this dominate my life if I have any say in it.” She turned back to Athena and mustered a small smile. “Grin and bare it, hmm?”

“You should lay down.” It was phrased as a suggestion, but Jax wasn’t going to take no for an answer. If Adeline couldn’t control these memories, then she was more of a liability than an asset during this storm. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. “I’ll walk you to the crew’s quarters. You stay there until someone comes to get you.”

“Or just make Thadd put me into some sort of deep sleep... stay out of everyone’s hair. I get it,” Adeline half grumbled before sighing and following his lead. “Alright, alright.”

Despite the storm still raging and the very likely possibility of the ship sinking, Magni’s only worry in that moment was Adeline. As soon as he wrapped the blanket around her, he led her deeper into the ship, only stopping when they entered the storeroom where they could hide from the storm, even if it would only be for a moment. “ Did you know the family or the children? “ He was unsure of what he was supposed to say in this situation. The only thing Magni knew for sure was that he had to, at least, try to make her feel better. “ What happened to the family? “ 

Adeline’s body felt so numb at this point that it was as though her feet were barely carrying her down towards the stores to being with. Magni was her grounding force both physically and emotionally, and it wasn’t a new or surprising circumstance. “No... I’ve never seen them before the memory, but I couldn’t fathom not knowing them in it,” she tried to explain. “Sorry, I know that that probably doesn’t make sense.” She closed her eyes just then even though it brought back the images in her thoughts. “I burned down their home while they were all inside.”

“Have you ever been in a storm like that before?” Jaina asked, having yet to turn around to see who had approached, standing on the deck, staring at the open sea. She had always looked upon the sea and seen its beauty, but rarely did she ever experience its fury. The booming thunder, the colossal waves…she had never felt so small. Not that she was about to admit any of that. “I haven’t.”

Adeline shook her head initially before realizing that Jaina hadn’t turned to look at her just yet. “Not quite that bad, no. I’m surprised we made it out.” Not to mention surprised I didn’t walk right into the waves. “Well, at least you have some experience under your belt where that’s concerned now. Hopefully it won’t come into any sort of immediate relevance anytime soon.”

Arroyo smiled down at the girl who stood about a foot shorter and had nearly mindlessly run right into him. He let out a slight laugh and reached down to grab a piece of food off of the plate she brought him, “Aye, much appreciated,” he took a bite and was taken aback by how good it was, perhaps he was just particularly hungry, but it was some of the more delicious than anything he’d eaten in a long while, “Hmmm I’m impressed! I had no idea human cuisine had so much to offer.” He took the plate from her and began to devour its contents. He stopped mid-chew and eyed her, “I’m sorry, where are my manners, what did you say your name was?”

Adeline found herself a bit awestruck as she looked up at him, noting the similarities to Lyra in his features. Blimey, are all merpeople this attractive or is it just this family? “You have Lance to thank for that. I’m not much of a cook... but I can bake. Although, I suppose you wouldn’t be familiar with baking and sweets either. I know Lyra...” She trailed off, hoping that she wouldn’t pain him by speaking about her. “Well, she adores sweets.” She took the seat beside his cot now, fiddling with a fraying hem on one of her sleeves before he spoke again. “Oh, um... I didn’t say actually. I’m Adeline,” she replied with a warm smile. “Is it... Ayden or is that one of your brothers? I’m afraid I wasn’t kept informed about your name amongst everyone’s chatter.”

“Ignorance is bliss Adeline but–” he stopped as she continued, going on and on about the rest of the crew and hardly about herself. Though Tobias understood. When was the last time he ever talked about his problems? Adeline pulled him into a hung as if he were the one who needed it. Perhaps he did, just a tad. Tobias rubbed her upper back, “we’re here… below deck… waiting out this storm. It’s boring and stuffy but I’ve got you to keep me company.” He wasn’t sure if this was of much help to Adeline. Then again, even if they were to talk about the issue at hand, Tobias wasn’t sure he could be of much help. Adeline needed support. “Why don’t we play cards or… talk about swords? Something to pass the time, please. Jax had forbade me from drink.”

Adeline felt like a small child, clinging to their parent desperately. A flash of a memory came before her mind: her as a child clutching onto her father’s side during a particulalrly violent storm. At least Tobias was actually returning her embrace... “Pity. I would have drunk myself into a stupor if I’m meant to keep myself sane down here.” She flinched a bit at a particularly large clap of thunder, feeling the ship shake around them. Pulling back from the hug finally she shook her head. “Bloody well hate thunder. I suppose playing cards would be somewhat of a better alternative to wearing out the floorboards with my pacing.”

“ Adeline, you know I would never think any less of you, no matter what you’ve done in these memories, or visions, or whatever they are. “ Magni offered her a gentle smile, hoping it would be able to reassure her. The smile may be gentle, but it almost seemed forced. How could he smile when she was struggling? “ Is there anything I can do to help you? “

“Maybe you won’t, but I can’t ask or expect that of anyone else onboard. I’m already enough of a burden to everyone now even without me burdening them with the hauntings of my mind,” Adeline replied with an almost pleading expression towards Magni. “Treat me normally? As foolish as it sounds, I’m merely wanting to avoid feeling as though I’m being tiptoed around.”

Maeve had no blankets to offer Adeline. All she could do was stand there, holding her friend steady. “Why in the world,” she muttered, her mind racing. What had Adeline asked the jewel to guide her with? What path it tried to take her mind down? “You need to be careful,” Maeve said, her voice shaking. “Tie your ankle to the door in the crew’s quarters when you sleep. You can’t do this again. You could get killed.”

Adeline tried to search Maeve’s expression for some sort of sign of recognition, maybe even comfort, but to no avail. Instead she felt far colder now under the gaze of her friend. “Right. Why pull any stops? I’ll just sleep in the stores, chained up like some sort of prisoner then,” she replied, brow furrowed in frustration. “I get it. I just need to keep my head down and stay out of everyone’s way.”

All Jax could do was nod. So, so much violence. That was what Athena had mostly described as well. “I wonder if that Memory Jewel has any pleasant memories in it,” he sighed, combing a hand through his hair. “Or if all it has to offer is guidance on shedding blood. Not that I’m complaining - who couldn’t use help with strategizing, but…that’s not what I imagined using them for.” Or was it?

“The one with Alice wasn’t unpleasant, at least not that I remember. But that’s a bit of a stand alone situation at present,” Adeline pointed out, shrugging her shoulders slightly. “Perhaps the Jewel just likes to have a sense of humor about the people who want to control it... reminding us of the atrocities in its past or something of the sort. Bit haunting, but maybe that’s the point.”

Billie quirked an eyebrow and shook her head, “if it’s Thaddeus’ job to mend my hands after I’ve fried them repeatedly on hot cannon barrels despite knowing exactly what would happen when I put my hands on those barrells, then it’s their job to deal with the fallout related to a crew member trying to command a jewel.” She took a sip of her drink and pointed towards Adeline’s own, “it’ll warm you up.” Forever? That was a daunting prospect. Admittedly it would be less than ideal to have to supervise Adeline forever. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. “You came back as soon as I spoke to you.” Billie pointed out, “if you should happen to try and attack someone, I imagine they could bring you back just as easily by simply asking what the fuck you thought you were doing.” She ran her tongue across her teeth, searching for anything comforting she could say. It was absolutely not the time to point out that this was the sort of situation Billie had been trying to prevent by trying to convince her not to go through with this. “I don’t know. You could be, but Athena doesn’t seem as effected now as she was when she first touched the jewel. It’s not unlikely your issues will wane in time, too.”

In any other instance Adeline might have leapt forward to wrap her arms around Billie in a hug, but she was almost certain that would make her appear like more of a helpless child than anything. In truth, she just wanted to thank Billie, but she wasn’t sure how to do so in this moment. “If you say so.” Was that the most she could manage? Sounding so defeated? This situation was only illuminating frustrations she had towards herself it seemed. She finally brought the drink to her lips, downing a couple of generous swigs. It stung considerably, as if she’d inhaled some of the smoke in her vision after all. “I can hope that that persists to be the case. Doesn’t make me feel like any less of a nuisance though.” She took another sip of her drink, grimacing a bit. “In time. Time’s a right bastard where I’m concerned, but I guess I’ll have to trust in that.” Turning to look at Billie once more, Adeline offered her an attempt at a smile. “I’m sorry.”