#rarepairproject

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They got to Greece, Athens to be more exact. They were going to spend three days there before heading to Italy to go to Rome. Annabeth has planned out every place that they were going to go to.

Hazel hung back a bit and saw Leo going to the control room. He was going to work on Festus again. She followed him, knowing that he was going to work himself to death and miss on this opportunity.

“Leo, let’s go explore.” Hazel said, scaring him a bit. “You need to see the world and not the inside of Festus.”

He looked at her with a slight smile. “I’ll be there. I just need to fix one minor thing…” He went back to working on his dragon.

Hazel sat down. She wasn’t planning to leave. If she did, she knew he wouldn’t come along with them. He would miss out on seeing the amazing greek culture.

“You can go. You don’t have to wait for me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Leo told her. “I promise I won’t miss out on this trip.”

“Then work o Festus tonight. We have the whole day to explore and you’re spending most of it working on a dragon. Let’s go have some fun.” Hazel got up and walked over to him. “Come on Leo.”

He got up and looked at her. His smile reminded her of Sammy. Her nice Sammy.

Stop it. He is not Sammy! He is only related to Sammy. They aren’t the same person! She reminded herself.

“Lead the way.” Leo told her.

Hazel started walking towards the ramp that was leading to the ground. Every step she took, she could hear Leo’s echo hers. They were alone before, but their friends were usually around to come in and distract them. But their friends were gone when they finally got off of the boat.

“Oh...I didn’t know they would disappear so fast.” Leo’s eyes brows scrunched up together. “Did they say where they were going?”

Hazel tried to rack her brain to think where Annabeth would go. Or say where they were planning to go. But her mind was blank.

“I don’t remember. But if we start walking around, maybe we’ll bump into them or something.” She replied.

Leo nodded in agreement and they started walking. The town was busy with people, tourist, people selling food on the street, residents walking through the crowds like they were headed off in a hurry, and the two of them, lost in Greek city.

Hazel looked around, trying to see a familiar face but she saw nothing. Their friends weren’t around unless they went inside a building. They looked through the windows of shops and restaurants to see if they were inside. But nothing.

“So, what do you want to see?” Leo asked her.

“Huh?”

“Well, we lost them and we will probably end up meeting up with them later on the boat. So, what do you want to do since we don’t have to follow Annabeth’s crazy planned out schedule.” Leo told her.

“Annabeth said something about there being a Temple of Hephaestus.” Hazel told him. “We can go check it out if you like.”

“You mean go visit my dad? I don’t know if he wants to see me.” Leo replied.

“I bet he does. All of our parents like to check in on us. Maybe your dad will be happy to see that you’re okay.”

“Alright.” He sighed.

The walk to the temple was pretty quiet, besides Leo pointing out which way to go. He could read the street signs better than she could. She guessed that the greek in him was able to read the language.

But she wanted to talk. She wanted to know more about Leo. They didn’t really click the last time they were on the Argo. She spent most of her time with the girls or Frank. The other guys...well, she knew Percy alright. Her whole quest with him and Frank was a great learning experience. Jason, she knew him from camp. He use to hang out with her and Frank a bit before he disappeared. But she wanted to know Leo. This guy that was in her life that was related to Sammy.

Sammy...she missed him. She missed the possible future that they could have had. Leo could have been her grandson.

Stop thinking like that! That future couldn’t happen. If I did marry Sammy, Leo wouldn’t have been born. I wouldn’t be in Greece.

As they got closer, they saw small shops for blacksmiths and potters. They were all there to probably honor the god. People were walking up to the temple and around to the different shops.

“Wow, I didn’t think people still honored my dad.” Leo told her, amazed by the different shops. “This is amazing!”

Hazel watched as the spark in his eyes came to life as he went to look at a blacksmith shop. He went to look at a blacksmith work on their most recent project. She smiled at his excitement. She followed him and watched the blacksmith work.

“I can’t believe people still do this as a living.” Leo smiled. “Working over a fire, bending metal into a new shape to make something new. It’s amazing.”

“You never tried being a blacksmith before?” Hazel asked. “With your fire, you should be able to bend metal into anything.”

Leo looked at her with a slight smile. His eyes sparkling, like he has tried it before. “I’ve tried. Keys are hard to make, but I can make good weaponry like my other siblings. But it takes years to master something like this.”

She nodded, looking as the craftsman worked. She wasn’t particularly into this like he was but it was something interesting to learn.

They took a walk around to the different shops. Leo was tempted to buy some of the tools he didn’t have in his magic belt, but Hazel reminded him that they had no money and they couldn’t waste their drachmas.

When they finally took their walk to the temple, Leo could feel the presence of his father. He felt stronger just being in the temple and around the shops that were yards away from it.

“I can’t believe people came here to worship my dad. To get a blessing to make weapons and tools and fire for warmth.”

“They did that?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a history guy. But he’s the god of that stuff, so that’s what I’m guessing they came here for.” Leo replied.

She nodded and looked at him with a smile. “That would make a lot of sense. And this temple is huge.”

Leo nodded and started walking around the inside. He was silently praying to his dad for help on everything; fixing Festus, Calypso, and Hazel. Ever since Calypso left, Hazel has been around and making him feel, better about himself. She’s supportive, a good listener, and a friend he wanted but didn’t have. Which made Calypso uneasy when she found them hanging out all the time and left him.

But Hazel made him happy. A bit happier than Calypso did. And that scared him. Normally he wouldn’t mind flirting with girls and making a fool of himself, but he didn’t want to do that around her. He wanted to be the exact opposite, be a gentleman.

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That night, Leo found himself tinkering. Nothing in particular. Maybe when he was done, it would be something to help Festus. That was the thought as his hands moved. Leo could swear that his hands have a mind of their own when his mind wanders to something else.

His mind was thinking about his day with Hazel. How his first day in Greece couldn’t be more amazing. He didn’t have to hear about the history about old temples or monuments. They spent as much or as little time as they wanted. Taking silly pictures was his favorite part. He never knew how much fun Hazel could be.

He looked down at his hands when they stopped moving. In his hands was a bronze flower bud. Looking at it, he had no idea why he made it or what it will do. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge.

Looking at it, maybe it was the first piece of junk he created. He wasn’t going to give Hazel a piece of junk. Putting it in his pocket, his hands started to focus on making something else for her. Something she would actually like. Maybe a horse that could run on it’s own would be better, since it would remind her or Arion.

His hands got to work. It was a much bigger project that he imagined. He was up all night to make sure it worked properly. He didn’t even notice that the sun was already up. Only when he walked out to the deck for fresh air is when he realized that the sun was blinding him.

“Hey.” Leo heard from behind him. When he turned around, he smiled. Hazel was walking over. Her skin seemed to sparkle in the dawn light, like there were miniature gems in her skin.

“Morning.” Leo yawned.

“Let me guess, you didn’t sleep again. What were you working on this time?” She asked, standing next to him on the handrail.

“Just a tinkering project.” He replied. “Nothing big.”

“Then why stay up all night?”

He shrugged. “I got really into it and forgot to sleep.”

She just smiled and didn’t say anything as the sun started to rise higher into the sky. Leo could feel his pocket getting heavier. His hand snaked in there to find the bronze piece of junk he made earlier.

He took it out and looked at it, shining in the sunlight. The metal pieces inside started to turn and the bud slowly opened up into a beautiful bronze lily. Leo was amazed that the piece of junk was actually something beautiful and he didn’t even have to think about it.

Hazel’s eye caught the shiny object and looked at him. Her mouth slightly opened at the beauty of the flower in Leo’s hand. The way that the light shone on it, made it seem like it was real.

“Leo, is that-?”

“It’s for you.” He told her. “A...A thank you for spending a great day with me.”

Hazel took the flower and looked it over. “It’s so beautiful.”

An idea popped into Leo’s head. He gently took the flower back from her and pushed her curly hair back so he could place it behind her ear. When her hair fell back around it, Leo couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful girl before him.

“Perfect.” Leo smiled.

Hazel’s cheeks turned lighter as she smiled at him. This reminded her of Sammy. The time they were hanging out by the river and he found a flower. He gently pushed her hair out of the way and put it behind her ear before giving her cheek a kiss. The first kiss she received from him.

           Leo stared at her for a moment, realizing what he did. He was in shock from his own actions along with her. Hazel's face was mirroring his.

           “I'm sorry.” He told her. “It just happened and I wasn't thinking.”

           “It's okay.” Hazel blushed, secretly liking the kiss and this side of Leo. “I liked it.”

            Leo smiled a tiny bit. Maybe this would be the start of something better than a friendship.

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            Hazel could feel her cheek rushing with blood as she thought about and touched where Leo kissed her cheek. His lips were so soft against her skin. It left a warm tingling sensation where his lips made contact with her skin.

            She didn't even notice Annabeth walking over and sitting next to her in the make shift dining room.

            “Hey. Sneaking out for midnight snack too?” Annabeth asked her as she sat down with some chocolate chip cookies. No doubt she pulled those out from Piper’s cornucopia.

            “Oh, no. Just thinking.” Hazel replied.

            “Sorry to interrupt then.” Annabeth said as she started to get up.

            “No, stay. I just want to talk to someone about this.” Hazel told her. Being the youngest, she was always asking the others for advice.

             “What’s going on?” Annabeth sat back down and dunked one of her cookies into the cup of milk she had.

           “I have feelings for Leo.” She told her, telling the secret was like ripping off a band aid. “And I'm pretty sure he has feelings for me too. He kissed my cheek. But, he reminds me of his grandfather and I don't want to confuse the two of them.”

            Annabeth was silent for a bit. Hazel looked at her and noticed that Annabeth was thinking of possible things to say. Something to help and not hurt her.

            “I can see how you can mix the two of them up.” Annabeth started. “But you need to organize your feelings to make sure that you're not falling for Leo just because he's related to your old crush.”

            “I know.” Hazel sighed. “But also, Frank is here. I know we talked things through and restarting our friendship, but it seems awkward that all of this is happening when he's here.”

            Annabeth looked at her friend with an encouraging smile. “Figure out your feelings for Leo of this trip. Then when we get back, tell Frank so he's not surprised.”

            Hazel nodded as she tried to think. Annabeth handed her a cookie to help her out.

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            A couple of days have passed and Hazel has been spending a lot of time with Leo. It was the best couple of days of her life as they traveled, alone, to explore Greece. Annabeth had the idea of traveling in smaller groups so they wouldn't attract monsters.

          Hazel took the end of each day to decide whether or not she was developing feelings for Leo. And so far, she was. The feeling she had for Frank and Sammy were much stronger with Leo. And that terrified her a bit.

            Falling in love was a strange thing. First you could fall in love with your best friend. Then with the person who helped you out the most when you needed it. And finally, the person who you think you should spend forever with. Why go through so much pain? But then again, that pain helped Hazel possibly find the right one.

            Leo was in the maintenance room, as usual, making sure Festus could get them to their second destination, Rome. Hazel decided to keep him company. She was always worried that the Latino would tire himself out to exhaustion.

           “How long until we get to Rome?” Hazel asked.

            “It shouldn't be that long. Definitely less than twenty minutes.” Leo replied as he worked. He was always working on something.

             Hazel watched him. His hands were going anywhere near Festus’ controls. Instead, they were playing with something else.  She couldn’t tell what he was working on except that there was scrap metal, a rubber band, and something she couldn’t determine.

“What are you making?” Hazel asked.

Leo looked down at his hands and shrugged. He was never sure what he was making subconsciously. The surprise was always the best part of his tinkering.

“I never know.” He replied.

Hazel nodded and looked at him. She wanted to tell him about her feelings for him. Just come out at say them once and for all. She could do. She would do it. Right now.

“Leo, about that kiss the other day, I really liked it. And I really want to spend more time with you.”

Leo stopped tinkering and looked at her. His heart pounding a bit faster as he heard the news. He has thought about it a lot too, and he did want to be with her. But he wasn’t sure how she felt towards him. Of course the past few days were great, but he wanted more out of this relationship. He didn’t even have to put on his goofball persona to get her to like him.

“I do too.” He replied with a slight smile.

There was a slight pink tint on Hazel’s cheeks along with a smile.

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Once they landed in Rome, everyone started to split up into groups and headed off to see different parts of the city. Hazel and Leo were on their own as everyone else split up to boys and girls.

Hazel was rubbing her arm a bit as they headed in a random direction. She didn’t know what to say to Leo. It wasn’t helpful that she wasn’t a history buff like Annabeth, otherwise she would know some of the spots that tourists were taking pictures of. She was curious herself, but mostly ruined temples didn’t seem like much history to her.

“Whoa, look at this.” Leo pointed to a statue of a man, lifting up a woman who was struggling to get out of his grip.

They got closer to the statue and Hazel was able to recognize what the statue was depicting.

“That’s my dad and him kidnapping Kore, or Persephone.” Hazel told him. “Same story as in Greece, I think.”

“So Romans just stole a lot of the Greek’s history and made it their own.” Leo noted. “Seems like Romans are lazy.”

“They are not lazy.” Hazel replied. “And we have more important gods than you do. Greeks value Poseidon, while we do not.”

“Alright, alright.” Leo backed off.

            Hazel looked at the statue of her father. She wished that he got to know him better as a person and not through stories. But she smiled a tiny bit, glad that people kept the statue around and that they still remember him.

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As the day went on, Hazel was itching to hold Leo’s hand. She could tell that he was constantly brushing his hand against her. So did he want to hold her hand as much as she wanted him to?

They were sitting on a hill, near one of the statues, and looking across the valley. The sun was starting to set and the air was starting to get cooler. Leo looked at Hazel as she looked across the valley. Sunset made her skin glow a nice color.

He wanted to hold her hand, but was too afraid to do so. He didn’t want rush anything. But he was dying to.

“I think we should head back to Festus.” Leo told her. He got up and offered her his hand.

She took it and got up, holding his hand longer than normal. Leo didn’t protest, so they walked together, hand in hand.

They walked for a while, soaking in that they were holding hands. Untalked feelings were finally being shown.

As they walked, getting closer to the town, they felt the ground shake. Their heads shot to the right and saw a statue, that came to life, destroying parts of the town.

“That’s Vulcan.” Hazel whispered. “Well a statue of him.”

“So my dad is destroying a town. Great.” He dropped her hand.

They rushed over to the statue, Leo with his hammer ready to go and Hazel with her sword. The two of them fighting side by side together for the first time in a while. And they were out of practice. Leo tried to cover Hazel as much as he could without getting himself hurt.

Leo was starting to get annoyed with this statue. It wasn’t tall, his body proportion was all out of whack. His legs were short, as tall as Leo, but his upper chest area was about three feet longer and wider than his legs. How it stayed balanced, Leo had no clue.

He blasted fire at the statue, hoping that it would stop or at least slow it down. But it did little effect on it. He wished that his statue was made of metal, then at least he could melt the joints.

With slight frustration he let out another fireball, not knowing that Hazel was close to it until he heard her scream.

He stood there in shock before he noticed that Vulcan was about to step on her. With a shout, he ran towards the statue, not thinking just rage. He didn’t want Vulcan to hurt Hazel, he just wanted him destroyed.

When Leo came to, he was surrounded by pebbles and dust. He looked around and saw Hazel lying on the ground, unconscious. He ran over to her, almost tripping multiple times in the process.

He knelt over Hazel’s body, making sure that she was breathing and not badly injured. There were burn marks on her arm that were second degree, almost third degree burns. Her face was cut up, probably from the rubble that fell as Leo destroyed the statue.

“Hazel...Hazel can you hear me?” Leo asked, as she fiddled through his tool belt to find nectar or ambrosia to help her wounds.  

She didn’t move and that worried him. He found nectar and carefully dripped a few drops into her mouth. Cuts on her face were starting to heal. But the burns were still there and pretty bad. She still wasn’t up but she was still breathing.

Carefully, he picked her up and walked her back to Festus, hoping someone could help him. Walking there wasn’t the problem, it was his arms. They were getting tired from the fighting and carrying her. But he was able to make it there, with the hope that she was going to be okay.

No one seemed to be back yet, so he carefully placed her on her bed. She looked a bit better, minor cuts were healed and there was color in her cheeks.

He went through this tool belt and pulled out an ace bandage with burn cream. Ever so carefully, he spread some burn cream on her arm and wrapped the ace bandage around it. He hoped that this would suffice.

She let out a small groan and Leo’s heart lept. Hazel was okay.

“Hazel, it’s me. Can you hear me?” He asked, wanting to make sure that he didn’t damage anything else.

“Leo?” She groaned. “What happened?”

He took her good hand. “I shot fire and accidentally burned you. The Vulcan was destroyed and the rocks might have fell on you.”

“And I’m not dead.” She stated.

“No. You’re okay.” Leo slightly smiled. “You’re alive and safe. I’ve given you nectar to help you heal better.”

“Thanks Leo.” She smiled weakly at him.

Leo smiled and kissed her cheek. As he backed away, something inside of him made him want to go back for more. It was a feeling of “now or never”. So he leaned in and gently placed a kiss on her lips.

He thought he was flying. Her lips were so soft and tasted like cherry, probably from her lip gloss. But he really enjoyed the two seconds that his lips were on hers. He wanted to keep them there forever.

Hazel was blushing furiously as she looked at him. Her hero, her friend, her Leo, kissed her. All those feelings that were thick in the air were finally addressed.

Leo was smiling as he saw her blush. He was happy that she liked the kiss as much as he did.

“Um, so, how are you feeling?” Leo asked.

Indeed, for the Bay was made of lore. Locals spoke of legends residing the waters, believed to be both spiritual and dangerous. Misfortune is said to befall those who violate the laws empowered by ancient kings hundreds of years ago. A set of rules to please the sea deities and appease their anger.

No one was supposed to sail during the night, hence the absence of fishermen boats and the darkened lines of the beach farther west. Yet the Invidia’s Judgement did, her captain unbothered and determined to reach their destination tomorrow’s noon. They had escaped the pursuit of a royal brigantine just two days ago, a result of careless judgement (despite the ship’s name) and the crews’ failure of communication that they were targeted by a legion of armed forces. Piracy seemed to be the only justifiable reason for the pursuit, they could figure that much. They were pirates, after all.

Piracy. It was a word that left a bitter taste in Ethan’s mouth. It brought back an ugly part of Ethan’s history.

xxx

He was supposed to be a child born of nobility, the only son of a well-known Japanese merchant who travelled the world selling oriental goods and serving a recognized trading company. His father was well-off and rich, and Ethan vaguely remembered the rumour of how his family was then very respected and powerful back in his hometown.

That was until his father met a mysterious woman during one of his many voyages in Greece. It was a tale recounted many times, of how his father’s life, a life of practically bathing in gold and silver, was changed when he fell in love with this Greek woman.

Ethan detested her the more his father talked about her.

Yet his father would recall with a fond voice, of how the woman, with her dark hair and alluring eyes, charmed him with a charisma like no other. A realistic woman with the practicality of a goddess. A woman with a heart so expensive that it costed his father almost all of his fortune just to win it over. A treasure, as he would call her, that would never come again even in his next lifetime, to the point that most of his life’s savings were laid to waste.

Ethan thought she was an animal.

Because it was misfortunate of him to know that with her, his father had begotten Ethan. He was born in the small hut his father had managed to buy after salvaging over what had been left of his riches. Born as a small little thing covered in a swath of dirty cloth, left on the dusty mattress that served as his parents’ bed. A small little pathetic thing, crying helplessly alone while mysteriously, his mother was nowhere to be seen. The midwife was strangely subdued, blabbering nonsense as she cowered in a corner, unable to provide any explanation.

His father had really thought that she was a goddess, back then. Still did even through the last of his days. Ethan disagreed with a vengeance, though he never said it out loud. Goddesses would never abandon their children. Goddesses would never strip their loved ones of their lives. And certainly goddesses would not be as cruel as taking their sons’ eye. Or at least from what he had assumed of said deities, being the personifications of divinity themselves.

And yet his mother did.

He was born without an eye. Ethan was thoroughly convinced that she was the culprit, because it was certainly not enough for her to take away his father’s riches, she had to take half of his sight too.

So it was impossible that she could be a goddess, when she was even less of a human. How Ethan would love to remain in disbelief and denial, but even he, son of a so-called deity, could not change what fate desired. He learnt the truth when he was at the mere age of fourteen, growing up as a servant of a wealthy family after his father’s untimely death. As Ethan was sleeping on the skimpy blanket he called his own, he dreamt of someone he would never imagined meeting.

A woman, dressed in a white chiton, stood before him. Behind her was a passively folded pair of wings. She wielded a sword in her right hand, a broken wheel with the other. Her face was timeless, but just as stern and austere. Cruel, even. An indisputable aura radiated from her seemingly divine figure, causing Ethan to blink once or twice before his eyesight would focus.

‘Who are you?’ he asked.

‘I am your mother,’ she replied.

A poisonous bubble of rage seethed and churned in his stomach. He looked away and grunted, ‘My mother is gone.’

‘Your mother is an immortal, and she stands before you now.’ Undeterred, the woman spoke. ‘She comes with a blessing, Ethan Nakamura, appearing before you in her merciful form, not as an enemy for your vengeance. She comes with a gift, a compensation for you to have as her rightful child.’

There was a ghost of a smile on her lips, though Ethan doubted with all his heart.

‘She comes to see you as your mother.’

‘Well, that’s a bunch of utter codswallop, I could figure that much. Mothers don’t abandon their children and leave them defenceless against this kind of life, do they?’ He sighed. ‘Might as well leave me to die instead of having me slave around like a dog.’

Her gaze hardened, and she replied, ‘As a son of balance and retribution, you may as well know why the Fates have decided so. I am Nemesis, and my duty in this mortal world is to maintain balance, for as long as humanity remains. I have done this for a millennia, and it so remains that I will do so for the next, too.

‘Meeting your father was merely my duty, to place something as where it should be placed. To maintain balance is to have something remain perfectly on its axis, never too much yet never too few. A sphere on a needle. A perfect scale. And your father, he has too much than what he should be asking for. How the gods of fortune favour him so much, so much over others, that misfortune befell upon them. And that, I cannot allow.

‘Say it be fate or Aphrodite with her dominion over such fickle things like love and emotions, that the arrow of her son struck me just as I was stripping your father over his undeserved riches.’ Her voice softened, or so Ethan had imagined. ‘I fell in love, and then I had you.

‘Regardless of all the happy things granted for us, I could not be with him much longer. My recklessness has rendered the world into all sorts of imbalance. I had to leave the two of you, for my duty as a goddess remains superior over my selfish desires. I had to leave you. But, not without giving you a parting gift.’

‘What was it, by taking my eye?’ Ethan spat, his boiling rage returned with a vengeance. He couldn’t exactly digest these unsightly revelations. How could someone not allowed to have so much that they needed to be punished for what they have? What a ridiculous ideal.

Gods be with him when his sarcasm backfired by a single, ‘Yes.’

‘W – What?’

‘I meant not for a new-born to suffer the loss of his eye, but in order to be fortunate and successful, you have to sacrifice. I meant for you to have a chance in making a difference to your ill-fated world. But in order to do so, you will have to pay a price.

‘The sight is one of men’s few greatest treasures. To take half of your sight as a sacrifice is to give you an ultimate chance in changing your fate, and so I did. Very few men lived to be blessed with my merciful side. Yet for you I did not hesitate.’

Ethan could remain as stubborn as he wanted, but he began to see the reason behind everything. Having a deity as one half of your ancestry, a member of the immortal beings who control the forces of the universe, you wouldn’t exactly expect an attentive parent, much less a loving one.

‘Life is not supposed to be a pleasant journey, Ethan Nakamura, and my duty is to ensure just that. I struck those undeserved with my whip, I am feared more than I am worshipped, but for you, my only child, I give you a prospect to have your tilted scale balanced.’

Her left hand glowed for a moment, and when she opened her palm towards Ethan, a compass appeared.

‘Life is all about balance, my child. Find yours,’ she said. ‘Go.’

Ethan woke up with a compass clutched in his bony hands. The needle turned around for a few times before pointing to a fixed direction, and with that, he knew where he had to go. With an empty stomach and a burlap sack filled with his meagre possessions, he sneaked out of his master’s home and ran into the unknown.

xxx

It had been days since Luke Castellan last saw the strange ship cruising across the Bay. He wouldn’t be the least surprised if they had already set off towards the open sea, to the horizon beyond. Human vessels rarely sail here, they were constantly on the go after all, and rarer it was to see even the smallest of boats afloat during the night.

Yet the ship was there, moving forward in adequate speed. Luke could recognise the silhouette of the ship from down under, the familiar wooden hull littered with barnacles. He wondered about its occupants above, and though he knew the risk of being caught, curiosity won over.

He slowly swam upwards, hands gripping his ornate spear and surfaced into the chilly night air. The deck of the ship was lowly illuminated by a number of lanterns, eerily vacant except for a few crew members silently moving about as they man the ship. Luke swam around the body of the massive vessel, his tail swishing lazily until he saw a familiar sight that made him stop.

It was the human captain, strangely still as he leaned against the railing of the ship, face in a sullen expression as he observed something in his hand. From Luke’s vantage point, he could have guessed that it could a small compass. He swam closer, aware of the risks if he was ever seen.

It was oddly fascinating, this one pirate captain. For instance, it was how he looked a little too young to have such a position at his disposal. Yet an eye-patch covered his left eye, and his ears were pierced with studs of matching earrings. Though his skin, too light to be considered a native from around here, was unmarred and… young. Usually humans of his age would be apprentices of trading ships or servants of the royal army, but Luke wouldn’t have bet even a few drachmas on how this odd boy became a leader of sea robbers.

It was oddly fascinating too, for Luke to be charmed by such a human. He remembered vaguely of the first time he encountered the boy, who was struggling to release a seal from a fisherman’s net he must have found on a boat. It was a simple move, saving a small animal from being notoriously caught for its rare meat. But it was a move done with a big heart.

The seal was unfairly young, so its tender meat would be a prized catch. Life at sea was a constant process of injustice, and fishermen were amongst its many perpetrators. They wouldn’t care whether the seal was young or not, when in fact it was unlawful even for the merpeople to hunt for baby animals. Yet that human captain did the complete opposite, and Luke had a newfound respect for the young man.

He could only watch him from afar, but Luke was contented as long as he could follow the frigate to wherever it goes. He was a nomad after all, a soul free from any social attachment. It might sound a bit lonely, but an outcast like Luke would be treated the same anywhere; that strange merman with a crippled fin and a scar across his face.

Luke swam closer, snapping out of his reverie as a voice shouted from the ship. It was possibly another crew giving orders about. The captain was standing as still as a statue, and worryingly so. His gaze was zeroed onto the compass in his hand, eyebrows furrowed into concentration. Sometimes Luke could see how his eye would flit to the side, occasionally gazing to the sea and the horizon. Sometimes he would glance over his shoulder, probably checking how his crew is faring.

One time, he paused looking at the compass before turning his head towards Luke.

Luke dove quickly under, heart beating fast, praying that the dark waters would conceal him. He swam deeper, hoping that the human captain saw nothing but another creature of the sea. After a few moments of swimming a few metres from his previous position, Luke dared himself to surface again.

The captain was still staring at the spot where Luke had carelessly revealed himself. He was still rooted on the spot until another crew, a girl with brown braided hair approached him, hands moving in an anxious gesture. The captain started, his posture straightened in alarm before running to follow her, disappearing into the deck of the ship.

Luke finally knew what was happening when the first sound of cannon teared through the night.

xxx

Ethan had sensed that something felt off when they sailed passed the same coral reef for the third time. The compass in his hand was a bit off putting too; the needle kept rotating without a fixed direction. The crew was bustling about the frigate, manning the sails as the wind picked up in several notches. While it certainly helped in perfect timing with their schedule, it was a bit too odd for a supposedly cloudless night.

There were no signs of a storm but the wind was almost as if it was brewing one.

Eye flitting over the waves, Ethan couldn’t help but feel restless. His position as the captain however, compelled him to stay calm and collected. He needed to be a source of high spirits for the crew, and it wouldn’t help to agitate them more. He wondered if it was a good decision to sail through the Bay instead of the set route the map had provided for them. The original route would have brought them to a sea supposedly riddled with sea monsters, if the illustrations of the maps explained any better. Compared to that, this Bay provided a safer shortcut to their destination. Worse comes to worst, they would reach it by tomorrow’s sunset.

This was it, though. A closure for the years of his journey across the seven seas.

He looked down to the compass in his hand, and for a tad moment, it stopped spinning. Alarmed, Ethan followed the direction of the needle.

And much to his surprise, he saw… a person.

Or was it? He blinked, and the silhouette was gone. His heart beat a tad faster. It could be the waves playing with his limited vision. While it was strange enough to sail through these waters, it was stranger to see shadows amidst the waves. His mind carried off away to the thoughts of sirens and sea-witches, and he shuddered at the thought. He encountered them once and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

‘Captain.’ It was Piper McLean, his boatswain, and Ethan turned around to see her uneasy look. Her palm was enclosed tight around her dagger. ‘They caught up with us.’

‘What?’

‘Leo was keeping a lookout up in the crow’s nest. Don’t you think it’s strange to pass the same reef over and over again? Captain,’ she took a deep breath. ‘The legion is here.’

They were moving in circles for hours, Ethan realised. That was ample time for the legion to catch up. Ethan cursed and followed Piper across the deck.

As if on cue, a brigantine came into view, its sails bearing the royal colours of purple and gold. Ethan’s sailing master, Percy Jackson, was rooted to the port side of the frigate, hands tight on the railing. He was one of the many children of gods aboard the ship, and the sea was his father’s domain. However, Ethan could see how white his knuckles were from gripping the railing. It was not a good sign.

‘It’s not working,’ Percy let out a shuddered breath. Ethan could see how it did not. Usually Percy would drive the enemies away with waves of seawater obstructing their approach, but right then the sea seemed difficult to be tamed. There was only splashes of water, and that was just about it. Ethan could tell that Percy couldn’t harness his abilities much further.

There was only one way. ‘Then, we fight.’

A cannon blew up and the frigate creaked and trembled.

‘Cap’n, I got this!’ Percy shouted. He seemed to be regaining his control as a wave started to build up towards the enemy ship. It was a hopeful move, if not for the burst of lightning obliterating the tower of water and striking the deck. Hooked chains from the brigantine attached themselves onto the railing of the frigate, and the legion began their descent on board the smaller ship.

The lightning died down to reveal a young man with a golden armour and a gladius, electricity crackling from its tip. Ethan’s lips pulled down in a scowl. Another girl with similar apparel landed beside him, purple cape fluttering and her hand gripping a sword made of Imperial gold.

‘Welcome on board my humble boat, praetors. Considering your grandeur entrance, I wouldn’t expect just a friendly visit, would I?’ Taunting has been in Ethan’s arsenal for the longest time.

‘Halt in the name of the senate, son of Invidia. Your crime of piracy ends here.’ The man ran a hand over his golden hair, his icy blue eyes trained upon Ethan. The girl spoke up, her fierceness not quite reflected in her calm demeanour. ‘Surrender and return the stolen artefact back to our city. If you show cooperation, the senate will consider mitigating your punishments.’

As if. They must have been very desperate, resorting to even risk sailing when they have always neglected their prayers to the sea gods. Percy must have been fuming by now.

Ethan felt the eager atmosphere of his crew, their bloodlust radiated in heated waves from behind him. A few guns cocked. Blades were withdrawn, waiting for their captain’s instruction. Ethan withdrew his own Celestial bronze sword, stance still relaxed, face trained to mirror the notorious pirate that he was known as. The son of Nemesis he was feared as.

‘Dogs yipping at my feet are nothing new to me. I refuse.’

Percy brought in another wave towards the legion, and the battle began.

xxx

Luke could only watch from afar when the two ships collided. These humans were intriguingly foolish, to even dare initiating a fight in the middle of the Bay. He couldn’t even bother counting how many rules the humans had broken on these waters. So he waited in silence, lightly anticipating what would blow over and stop the mess.

It took a few minutes. One moment, there were lightning and giant waves enveloping the battling ships, the next was of both ships crashing on the coral reef. Even with all the tragedies Luke had seen or heard as an aftermath of violating the rules of the ocean, this was by far one of the worst. Without wasting another breath, Luke swam over as fast as he could.

The damage on both ships was severe, but not enough to actually sink them. A few bodies were overthrown off board, as the shouts and lightning and waves died down from above. Luke avoided a few chunks of wood falling from the ship, swimming as fast as he could past the lifeless bodies floating all around him. Some bore the symbol of a great empire Luke had only heard about, but he couldn’t care less. There was none he could recognise, anyway.

Boats were lowered to the sea for emergency transportation, both pirates and legion alike. Both sides must have withdrawn themselves from the battle to tend for their own safety and the conditions of their respective ships. Luke submerged himself low enough for only his eyes to observe the occurrences all around him. He could see the legion on massive boats with giant oars paddling farther away to inspect the damage. The pirates were much or less the same on their smaller boats, except for one obvious difference.

Their captain was not with them.

Luke’s stomach felt heavy. He could see the panicking crews disoriented without their captain, necks stretched and faces weighted down by worry to see if their captain had survived the ordeal at all. Luke dove down under, his mood a bit affected. He kind of liked the captain, even when he usually couldn’t give a walrus’ crap over what happens to humans.

There was a sudden explosion on board the pirate ship.

The sound was loud enough to alarm Luke to a halt. He immediately surfaced and saw that the deck was smouldered with smoke, probably fire. There was a huge splash nearby, and Luke saw another body floating a few metres away, its attire terrifyingly familiar.

The humans’ boats were not nearby either; they were on the other side of the wreckage after all. Cautious, Luke propelled himself slowly with the help of his powerful tail before swimming a good few metres to a halt. The body did not seem to move, the face obscured by teared up clothing. Luke approached him slowly before carefully lifting over the obnoxious amount of fabric, which swirled around the half-submerged body in the water.

It really was the captain. He was breathing, thank the gods. Luke could see how his pale lips fluttered as they took in weak breaths. He supported the boy with his free arm, noticing how easy it was to manhandle the human body in the water, before swimming away to find land.

 The sun was about to rise, Luke noted as the horizon burst into golden light. He had managed to swim to an island that had been his unlikely home, the pirate firmly in tow. The boy hadn’t regained any consciousness since Luke saved him, and the fact that his skin was worryingly cold gave the clear warning to Luke that they needed to get on shore.

It was a chore, dragging the heavy mass of body onto land and away from the waves lapping at the sand. In fact, it was so much harder than carrying the body through the water that Luke was panting and sweating by the time he managed to drag the boy, and his own heavy tail, to a considerable distance away from seawater. Mind you, he couldn’t remember the last time he sweat, having years living underwater. When he was settled, he slumped over face first onto the ground next to the boy, mindful not to get sand into his eyes. Resting his cheek on the ground Luke faced the boy, taking the time to study the features of his face.

The boy, strangely yet obviously, was not anywhere from around here. At least not from the countries lining along the shores of this part of the ocean. His skin was pale, black hair plastered in contrast against his delicate forehead. For a pirate captain, supposedly to be as far notorious as being targeted by governments, he looked exceptionally youthful and… fragile. Luke could imagine his enemies’ disbelief when they find out how a captain of an infamous pirate crew would be this young.

He was by far one of the few humans Luke took notice about, so gods help him that this boy looked a bit too attractive for even his own liking. Despite the strap of eye-patch covering his left eyes and those supposedly unfriendly-looking earrings, there was nothing intimidating about him. Probably because he was still unconscious, but Luke wouldn’t take any blame if he was entranced by the person beside him.

Pink lips fluttered feebly as the boy gave out shallow breaths, his chest a slow motion of rise and fall. Luke carefully traced over the coarse lining of the boy’s eye-patch with his index finger, before his eyes trailed down his slim figure, damp clothes sticking to his skin. Only then did he noticed that the boy was holding something firmly in his clutched palm, a silver piece of sorts. He sat up and leaned over, curiosity burning through his fingers as they carefully touched the boy’s tightly wound ones.

There was a gasp and with a violent jerk, the boy was awake.

Pirates were very protective of their treasures, Luke observed. They probably guard them with their instincts, he mused in silence. The effect was immediate after all. Luke could not so much as pry even a single finger off the gold when the boy woke up in alarming speed, clutching the item close to his chest. He coughed out seawater for half a minute, drawing ragged breaths as his single eye flitted wildly at the surroundings.

Luke touched his forearm carefully, and the boy was able to focus on his eyes, looking understandably troubled. From up close, his single eye was prettily shaped like an almond, hazelnut iris encircling a widened pupil. Luke thought he might have seen golden flecks in them. Leaning closer, he shushed the boy with care, their foreheads almost touching in a move he could only hope as a gesture of comfort.

‘W – Who are you?’ The boy’s voice was hoarse. The human throat was probably not built for seawater.

‘Shush, you’re safe now. Do you need anything?’ Luke said in a voice he could hope to be reassuring.

‘I – I need…’ the boy’s voice trailed off as his eye moved around again before settling onto the shape of Luke’s tail. Silence befell upon them. Luke could see how painful it was for the boy to speak, stumbling through his words with his eye so wide his eyeball was about to pop out of his socket. Trying to start over, Luke softly touched his forearm again when the boy squealed, paddling backwards a few feet away from him.

The merman sighed, tilting his head to the side. They needed a lot of work.

xxx

Of all things that Ethan could imagine waking up to, having a merman lying next to him was not in his list.

It went down vaguely like this; blisters from the fire when he was salvaging the treasure they stole from the city, the heatwave blasting him off board the ship, the sudden darkness as he hit the sea surface.

It ended with the weird sensation of someone trying to pry his fingers off the treasure in his hand, him waking up immediately because it was his damn treasure, clutching the thing close to his chest as his throat burned from thirst and salt, his eyes burning from the bright light of the rising sun.

Someone touched his arm, a feeble sensation of warm fingers against his skin. He slowly opened his eye to find himself staring into the depths of blue ones, pale eyebrows raised in concern. Their proximity was so close, their foreheads were practically touching each other. Ethan shuddered from cold sweat running down his back. ‘W – Who are you?’

His throat felt gravelly. He was not sure if his voice came out at all.

The person shushed him, gently so. His (Ethan guessed they were a he, then) voice was soothing, words rolling out of a strange tongue, forming themselves in even stranger vowels and sounds, ‘You’re safe now. Do you need anything?’

Need. What did he need? Thoughts began to swirl themselves into existence, memories of the eventful battle prior flashed through his mind into muddled and strange conceptions. Recollections of his frigate, the legion, his crew –

He remembered. He needed to move quickly. ‘I – I need…’

Thoughts and memories faded away into a new sensation bubbling through his chest as his eyes trailed down the strange man’s bare torso, down to his waist where skin seamlessly transitioned into shining blue scales and –

Oh, gods.

He couldn’t move, his mind a useless blank. Where was his gun? Did he even have anything useful on him right now?

There was that touch again, so gentle it felt like a caress. Ethan’s reflexes went overdrive, and he did the least pirate thing he could ever do; squealed like a little imp and scooted backwards as far as he could away from the creature. Oh gods, oh gods, oh sweet Nemesis –

The creature then did a peculiar gesture. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, almost as if he was contemplating on Ethan’s ridiculous reaction. It was a gesture so human-like that Ethan stopped his frantic attempt to get as far away as he could. He needed to calm himself down, being unreasonable would not help any buccaneer in a dire situation. Not that the situation was dire itself, as the creature five feet away from him seemed to be pretty harmless.

‘What in the name of Poseidon are you?’

The creature mirrored his gaping mouth before closing it shut and shaking his head in… light irritation? Mild amusement? Ethan had always been bad at reading expressions but he hoped he hadn’t misjudged the creature in a negative way. Especially when he would never know what to expect. He could have been eaten, for all the gods care.

‘Hey. I’m not going to hurt you.’ There was that voice again, a pleasant timbre in Ethan’s ears. He kept his guard up; his experiences with sirens taught him that magical creatures always have a trick up their sleeves. The creature dragged his (serpentine? Amphibious?) tail along as he slowly approached Ethan, lifting a hand in placation as if Ethan was the wild creature. He felt himself leaning away.

Warily observing the creature, who sullenly settled to sit nearby less than a metre from him, Ethan could finally see fins at the end of his scaly tail. That was when realisation dawned upon him, mouth parted slightly in awe as the creature waited out in apprehension, teeth biting the inside of his cheek. ‘You’re a merman?’

‘Took you long enough, Captain.’

Ethan started, before glowering at the merman. Well, this one has an attitude. And to smoothly pointing out his position as well, you couldn’t just blame Ethan for being downright suspicious. He huffed, before asking, ‘How did you know that?’

‘You always wear that big hat over your head back in your ship. I guess that differentiate your position amongst your followers, does it?’ the merman noted, his eyes (one has a nasty scar slashed down to his cheek) glancing to the waves lapping at the shore. If it did not sound much like a cult, Ethan would have agreed. ‘They are my crew. Rather than that, how long have you been watching our ship?’

‘For the past few days. Ever since your ship set sail from the port at the other side of the Bay.’

‘You followed us?’ Ethan just couldn’t believe this. A mythical creature was following them for more than few days, and Percy had failed to even report this at his quarters. The son of Poseidon must have noticed this, at least.

‘I am very good at concealing myself,’ the merman said as if he was reading his thoughts. Ethan wondered if he really could, and distanced himself from the merman some more. He had never met one anyway, so being careful was a wise choice. For his benefit, the merman had not commented anything, though Ethan had to ignore his incredulous expression.

‘Where am I?’

‘On the beach?’

‘For the love of – I mean, what is the name of this place?’

He must have sounded a bit harsh. The merman slightly bristled, before replying, ‘The Fortunate Isle.’

‘What?’ Gods.

He must have looked so surprised that the merman nodded again in confirmation. This is the place. The destination of their long voyage across the seas. He sailed for years, from a lowly cabin boy to a full-fledged pirate captain, just for this moment. The Fortunate Isle. A secret island that no one could ever reach without its map. A paradise named after the Isles of Blest, which could only be found during the high tide of the absent moon, and only for those whose souls were bound to the seas. A place where his treasure was kept hidden for hundreds of years. Gods.

Finally.

But it was without his crew.

His heart deflated a bit. They were the only people who supported him until almost the end of his journey, they were his unlikely family, and a pang of sadness resonated through his chest. He hadn’t known if they even survived the wreck or not. Of course, it would have been more than meaningful if they were here by his side. Which was painfully obvious; they were not.

‘They are safe, you know. At least most of them. I saw them on the boats.’

Ethan could not even reprimand the merman intruding his thoughts right then; he just let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank the gods. Fumbling all over his now ruined clothes, Ethan managed to retrieve his compass from the front pocket of his shirt, hastily clicking it open and see where the needle pointed.

East. He followed the direction with his eye and was met with a questioning gaze by the merman. He groaned, shaking the compass a tad too violently before clicking it open again. The same result was obtained, and he sighed in defeat. Some days he would wonder if his mother was even serious in helping him. Over the years Ethan had learnt that the gods were not as holy and divine as they were told in the legends. They were not trustworthy, they were terrible parents, and their wraths were irrational.

Were they even worthy of their titles? Ethan thought the answer was clear.

After deeming that the compass was useless beyond this point, Ethan clicked it shut and turned to the merman, who was playing with the cluster of seashells dotting the beach, darkened eyes staring at him. ‘Do you know where the Lovers’ Cove is?’

‘I’ve been around the island a few times, there is a cove at the eastern side.’

‘Can you take me there?’

‘Sorry to disappoint you, Cap’n, but I can’t walk.’ Ethan threw a conch at him, and the merman laughed at his own deadpan. It was a sweet sound, deep and clear and oddly comforting, but Ethan tried not to dwell too much on that. Perhaps merpeople were generally a playful kind.

‘Please. This will be the only day a pirate say “please” to you and you probably won’t hear it again.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Please take me to the Lovers’ Cove. I’ll make sure you have your own share.’

The merman hesitated for a moment, lips drawn in playful thoughtfulness, and Ethan could see that the creature was mocking him. After a few moments of Ethan gripping his compass and refraining himself from bashing his head with it, the merman nodded before smiling in a way Ethan could only describe as mischievous.

‘Carry me back into the water. It was literal hell dragging you up the shore, might as well return the favour now.’ Ethan made a face at the demand, but he nodded tersely, much to what he believed was the merman’s utter delight.

‘Besides, I don’t bite.’ At Ethan’s apprehensive silence, he continued reassuringly, ‘Not often, anyways.’

xxx

The captain was indeed an interesting man. He sure had some issues with his temper, and while Luke felt like getting on his nerves even more, he looked better in other circumstances.

Like when he was frightened.

Luke could not believe himself, but the surprised squeal that the captain gave out destroyed every presumption Luke had had in mind of him. And his terrified face, oh praise the gods, it almost had Luke snorting, if not for the awkward situation they were in.

Not to mention how adorable he looked then.

Luke found no fault in doing anything to see that face again. The captain grumbled muffled profanities as he hoisted the merman up in his arms, and Luke smirked as he felt the young man tremble under his weight. He settled with his forehead leaning against the jugular of the boy, tracing his collarbones and feeling the smoothness of his skin under his finger. More shudders. The boy was now ankle-deep in the water, adjusting the merman in his arms. His neck was tensed.

Luke mouthed the boy’s collarbone, making a playful biting sound.

The effect was immediate. The boy practically threw him in the water, backing away with a squeak before falling on his buttocks on the wet sand. While Luke was not lucky enough to have a graceful landing, the boy was not any better, groaning in pain as he struggle to hoist himself upright.

The boy glared at Luke, who laughed shrilly as he lazily let himself drifting in the water. The merman was positive that tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes from laughing too much (though no one could tell from his wet face). Noticing the glare directed to him, Luke grinned and waved apologetically. ‘Sorry!’

The boy flipped him off with the finger. Was he supposed to be offended? Luke sneered in return before diving underwater for a minute, relishing the embrace of the warm seawater. As much as he liked sun-bathing, he should not have been in the sun for more than half an hour. His skin was definitely not made for living on land. When he surfaced, the boy was much more nearer, arms crossed while waiting for Luke. His eye was averted to the side, and was that a pout on his lips? It changed his demeanour completely, and Luke swore to the gods. He was certain that his interest for the boy has developed into something else entirely.

‘When the hell are we going?’

Just for the fun of it, Luke splashed some seawater to the boy’s face. Yes, his face was much better like that.

xxx

If Ethan had never associated playfulness with being annoying before, he now did. Who knew magical beings would be so infuriating.

In fact, it defeated the purpose of extraordinary creatures being… well, extraordinary. He knew they were supposed to, because Ethan had seen a variation of sea-witches being sinisterly magical, sirens being deathly alluring, sea serpents being viciously nasty, as to how people would generally associate them. Now, he guessed that all those mermaids depicted being elegant, with sea-shells in their braids and tails of gleaming scales, were just a bunch of artistes’ codswallop. Might be fair, as well.

Because the merman, who swimming in the water near him, was rude as hell. Definitely not what he expected.

Ethan might’ve not been able to refute the point that merpeople were indeed beautiful creatures, but vulgar attitudes annoyed him to a fault. And indeed that merman was a feisty one too, with that stupid smirk permanently stuck on his face. And that cocky eyebrow thing, gods. And a wild thing he seemed to be, judging from the scar on the side of his face, and his crippled fin. And more so the spear he held tightly in his hand, a lethal weapon for an equally feral creature.

But after a while, though Ethan hated to admit, he could somehow see the acclaimed beauty underneath the rough appearance of the merman. How his tail would swish in an enticingly graceful manner, his body as fluid as the water he was swimming in. And of course as time passed by, Ethan would sooner learn that he hated it even more when he was caught staring for a good many times too.

They were heading upriver, moving up a path the merman was claiming to be a shortcut to the Lovers’ Cove. Ethan walked near the shore of the river the merman was swimming in, which directly connected the sea to the body of water that was their destination. It was said to be located near a vast saltwater lake bordering a small cliff, where an underwater cave was formed within the vicinity of the Cove. The map claimed it to be where the treasure was located, the endpoint to the last piece of the map Ethan had been consulting for his hunt. It made his heart beat a tad faster just by thinking about it.

Ethan reached for the compass neatly kept in his pocket and clicked it open. Even though he would question its reliability several times on a daily basis, Ethan knew that the compass had contributed to most of his journey as a sailor. It’s as if the compass was an instrument leading him along his path of survival, and Ethan would know better than objecting. Its needle has offered him the right directions and wisdom more than the treasure maps he possessed.

Except for the current moment. The needle of the compass was pointing to another direction than the one they were heading, and he wouldn’t so much as even glance at the direction it pointed. He had enough of being caught staring, not without the merman being cheeky about it. So it was only safe for Ethan to conclude that the compass was indeed broken.

‘This is it.’

'It' referred to a dead end. They had reached a small hill, its foot a place where an abundant number of cypresses grew in clusters. The river continued flowing from what Ethan assumed to be an underwater pathway, disappearing into a small cavern. Which would definitely not be leading to a cove. Ethan bristled internally. The merman must have thought he could fool him, pirate captain of the infamous Invidia’s Judgement –

‘The route is now submerged down under, so you might as well get into the water now,’ said the merman as he emerged from the water, wet hair as if spun from gold. Ethan wondered if the merman’s monotonous voice was prompted to irritate him, or if he was just imagining it. Rude. Warily studying the water flowing downriver, he narrowed his eye at the merman and approached the edges of the riverbank.

He paused for a moment. This couldn’t be a ploy to whatever the merman was planning on doing to him, could it?

All thoughts in his head did not last for long when he fell into the river.

One of his legs was grabbed under him in a strong pull, and before Ethan knew it, he was spluttering and spitting water, his wet bangs getting into his eye and obscuring his sight. Panic began to bloom in his chest as he felt himself dragged underwater.

There was water everywhere as he struggled to breath, only to inhale more water, hands blindly grabbing for purchase of anything, anything at all, while his feet kicked on to maintain his body upright, not exactly registering the depth of the river, more thoughts rushing in, I’m drowning, I’m drowning, I’m –

‘Hey, you’re alright, I got you.’

He felt arms holding his body tight, and it was moments of being disoriented before he realised that he was once again afloat. The merman was there right in front of him, their proximity so close that Ethan could feel puffs of his breath fanning over his face, could see his blond eyebrows furrowing in concern. Ethan coughed, his lungs hurting from being forced to breathe in anything other than air. Rubbing his face roughly, he looked at his surrounding and found his breath taken away.

The river and the cypresses were gone, replaced by tall hills and lowly shrubs surrounding what seemed to be a vast lake. They were right in the water, floating inconspicuously near the bank. A waterfall crashed down near them, the small cavern they had swam through hidden behind it.

‘You’re holding me a bit too tight there,’ the merman said in mild amusement, and Ethan realised that he was indeed holding both of his biceps like a lifeline, nails digging hard onto his skin. They were firm and nicely shaped. Surprised at his own thoughts, he could feel blood rushing to his face as he immediately loosened his grip, averting his eye away from the merman. If anything, their proximity grew closer, a smirk forming on the merman’s lips as he silently laughed. Irritation returned to Ethan with a vengeance.

‘You’re enjoying this too much, you wanker.’

‘I saved your pirate bottom back there, so be nice.’

‘From what, exactly?’

The merman scoffed. ‘From being devoured alive. You’re weaponless, and having only a compass won’t actually do much to fight off those empousai, will it?’

‘There were empousai here?’

‘Yes. I sensed their presence, they were getting closer. And it’s only a matter of time until they locate you by your scent.’

They were being followed. Ethan grimaced, the thought of narrowly evading men-eating monsters sent a shudder down his spine. He hadn’t noticed anything at all. Give him a sword and he would be fine, but without? He wouldn’t even think about it. The Fortunate Isle seemed to be holding more secrets than those it was known for.

He felt goosebumps on his neck. The merman was blowing at his ear to get his attention.

'Oh for gods' sakes –'

'You seemed so out of it,' the merman chuckled. The nice timbre in his deep voice returned. Ethan felt a different kind of chill down his spine. 'We're here.'

And they were. Now that he could focus less on his well-being and more to his surroundings, beautiful was an understatement. The place was impressive beyond words.

It was described to the last detail in the map, but even words and illustrations paled in comparison to the real place. The lake was an amazing vista, its water a deep shade of sapphire blue. The scenery was beyond Ethan's coherence, the surrounding as if it was painted by the Muses themselves. The sun was low, casting its rays in pillars of light, illuminating the crystalline water and tinting the whole place in a warm glow. And then there were the distant sounds of waves crashing down the shore, presumably located beyond the cliff, soothing his heartbeat to a steady pace.

And just at the other end of the lake was the Cove.

xxx

‘This place is protected by an enchantment. No monsters can ever reach here,’ Luke explained. The boy nodded vaguely, allowing himself to be supported by Luke’s strong arms as they swam towards the bank. ‘It’s a safe haven for us companions of the gods.’

The boy pulled himself out of the water and up to the ground, Luke steadying him up with a hand on his lower back. He was still shivering, Luke noted silently, when he asked, ‘You’re a companion of the gods?’

‘Along with the creatures living on this island. The Fortunate Isle was favoured by the gods enough that they often came here to rest and hold parties, accompanied and attended by the nymphs and satyrs. Lately they were not here much, so the outer part of the island became infested by monsters and occasionally, humans,’ the last sentence was an indirect accusation, although Luke meant it to be a tease.

The boy glared at Luke, before abruptly facing the other way.

Strange.

They began to move towards the cove, the boy walking along the bank as Luke swam to catch up. The lake was eerily silent. After all, this was the first time a human set foot here in hundreds of years, so it would be quite a shock to the islanders. Understandably, there were no nymphs in sight.

‘Y’know, I never asked why you’re looking for the Cove.’

‘I’m looking for the treasure. Obviously.’

Brat. ‘Obviously there are other treasures that won’t cost you your ship and your crew.’

‘Would it be so hard for you to not get on my nerves, just for once?’  

‘That’s an actual reasoning, Cap'n. I see no point in taking great risks of sailing through cursed waters and struggling in a mythical, dangerous island only to have it end like… this.' He gestured in emphasis of the boy's condition.

That touched a nerve.

He could see how the boy struggled to refrain himself from punching him right there and then. But all he received was not a fist to his face, but a compass on his hand, roughly shoved onto his palm. It was a small pathetic thing, the metal dented on the side, the chain rusted beyond compare. Looking at the boy, whose arms were crossed with a scowl on his face, Luke found the knob and clicked it open.

The face of the compass was an empty expanse of faded white, its needle a kind of metal Luke suspected to be bronze, the framework intricate and complicated. There was no direction written or drawn. He wondered if it could even work with such bizarre machineries.

Though there was one thing that sparked his interest. 'It's pointing to me.'

'It's broken. It was a gift from my mother. I've been surviving all these while following wherever it pointed to,' The boy seemed to noticed Luke's grin and snapped, 'when it's working anyway.'

'What a thoughtful lady, giving such a… charming gift.'

'She's a goddess, what do you expect.'

'Oh, I can tell you what I exactly expected, because my father's a god, too.'

Silence descended upon them, as the boy gave him a funny look, his eye narrowing at him in an adorable glare. 'You're a merman.'

'Okay, I believe we had a very rocky start. We should probably start over again.' Their beginning felt like a joke when Luke thought about it. He held his arm up and offered his hand to the boy. As the handshake was received with reluctance, Luke nodded at the boy. 'You start.'

The boy sighed. He sat down on the edge of the bank, and Luke found himself swimming closer. 'Ethan Nakamura. Son of Nemesis,' he paused for a heartbeat. 'Pirate captain, treasure hunter. Survivor.'

Ethan. Luke tried out the name. It sounded nice on his tongue.

'I'm Luke Castellan. My dad's Hermes. He once got himself hitched with a sea nymph, which happened to be my mother. She's kind of mad now, and my dad is up on Olympus minding his own business and forgetting that he has a son.' Well, the look on the boy was unexpected. Luke guessed his bitter sarcasm surprised him. 'I was born on this island by the way, the nymphs being kind enough to raise me. But now I travel the seven seas, I occasionally steal from sailors, and I survive.'

Ethan scoffed. 'Guess we're not so different, after all.'

'Oh, and lately I also happen to be interested in pirate captains, too. Especially the ones who fell into the water a lot and needed saving every time. That’s the difference.'

You could say anything you want about Luke being a terrible flirt, but the look on Ethan's face was gold. Blushing a pretty shade of pink, he splashed the water on Luke's face before stalking off grumbling.

xxx

The sun was sinking further down the horizon, the intensity of its rays casting glimmers of light to dance on the water's surface. The nymphs, no longer wary of Ethan because of his association with Luke, appeared out of their hiding places to enjoy the afternoon glow. The dryads danced around in their pretty autumn dresses, while the naiads lazed around in the water, occasionally greeting Luke and playfully teasing Ethan, cooing and giggling over how “cute” he was.

Excuse him. Ethan Nakamura was never cute. It defied the foundation of his life principles.

And that rascal Luke. He could not believe someone had the audacity to say that to him, to flirt with him, especially for someone who had just known him for a few hours. Ethan felt his cheeks warming again, and he dug his nails deeper into his palm.

Cute. What a pile of codswallop. Percy called him that once and Ethan extended his night duties for two additional nights. Alabaster chuckled at him after hearing that and Ethan had told him to shut up. When he said that it was true, Ethan had told him to join Percy.

Sadly enough, these creatures were not a part of his crew. They should thank the gods.

They reached to the edge of the lake that was connected to the Cove. The water there was a deeper shade of blue, clustering moss of every colour decorated the walls that served as the gateway to the Cove. There was no more space for foothold, much to Ethan's dismay. He wondered how the lovers managed to meet each other at the cove hundreds of years ago.

'In case you're wondering, the lovers used to bathe together here every night they met.'

'Stop reading my mind.'

Luke looked at him as if he was crazy, before laughing his damn laugh.

 The Lovers' Cove, as insinuated by its name, was a place of lore, of a tale of two lovers. One was a man whose ship was stranded on the island, the other was a naiad whose spirit was bound to the waters of the Cove. The man, a merchant on his way to trade in faraway countries, had to wait for his ship to be repaired, a process that took ten days of their voyage.

The young man had been venturing further into the island, solely out of curiosity, when he discovered the lake. It was a beautiful place, and he saw the gods holding a grand feast by the bank, their celebration tended by magical creatures, nymphs and satyrs alike. It was an impressive sight, but what impressed him the most was the beautiful young naiad accompanying the goddesses, attending after them as they swam in the lake.

Even the goddesses paled in comparison to her astounding beauty.

They fell in love when the man helped her retrieve her stolen precious jewel. They sought for one another secretly at the Cove, meeting up for ten continuous nights, confessing their love and living in their desires. However, the man failed to show up on the eleventh night, having to continue his duties as a merchant and resuming his journey. The naiad was devastated. She wept for months until the water of the Cove turned murky and shallowed, left carelessly unattended.

The gods, having realised what had happened, were not pleased. Not only did the naiad associate herself with a human, such was a forbidden act, she also failed to carry out her duty as well. They transformed her into a spring of water in order to restore the Cove. Not entirely cruel, her spirit was kept in her jewel, hidden together within mounds of gold and silver in a protective enchantment, locked away from eyes of the unworthy, concealed away from men.

Ethan was about to change that. The gods were not exactly unified, and someone had carelessly (or purposely) dropped a map offering an impressive detail of information on how to retrieve the jewel, its value so great that it was beyond the prices of diamonds worn by Victorian queens.

The compass had led him, from years of being a servant boy, a sailor, up until he resorted to a life of piracy, to the map, and to this very moment.

 Luke had resurfaced from the water again, his arms spread, beckoning Ethan to get into the water. Again and almost immediately, he felt the urge to make a face. Most probably a glare. He couldn’t explain which part of Luke, from that almost-permanent smirk on his lips, or to the cocky eyebrows he’s sporting, or his brassy confidence, annoyed Ethan the most. He only knew that he had to resist, he had to show disinterest, because there was something inside him that was flaring, rapidly growing, something that he hadn’t felt for years.

And he could not let that happen.

Why? He would deny it with all his heart, but unfortunately, he was afraid.

But Luke’s arms, his sculpted strong arms, looked so welcoming. It seemed to be promising something, though Ethan couldn’t find the exact reason why. Even the Cove itself was not as such. Beyond it was a cavern half-submerged underwater, the exact location as to where the treasure was kept. Its darkened mouth was sealed shut, and Ethan found himself faltering.

‘The naiads wouldn’t let you pass this easily if it wasn’t for me, y’know.’

He just can’t shut up, can he?

Ethan jumped, trying to avoid Luke’s hold, trying to prove that no thanks, I can handle this on my own, when he lost his footing and found himself struggling to stay afloat again. Luke was there in less than a second, steadying him up, his arms finding their way around Ethan’s waist.

Not again. He managed to embarrass himself for the umpteenth time, and it was with that same creature over and over again.

For the better part, Luke did not comment. He looked at Ethan strangely, tilting his head yet again before looking like he decided against it. ‘It’ being something Ethan would never know, but he suspected something unpleasant. Probably some bunkums about how he, a pirate captain, was being foolish jumping around in waters he never knew about, or his considerately large ego. He felt his cheeks warming again; they often did lately, and it was not making things easier.

The waters surrounding the Cove were deathly silent. Not a nymph nor any creature was within its vicinity. It was probably a taboo for them; the naiad responsible was ultimately punished after all. In the middle of the cavern’s mouth was a single darkened spot, where drops of water drip down in regular intervals. As they approached, Ethan could make out a platform raised underwater, its top a rough version of a bowl, where the water, in a deep pearlescent shade, rippled in different colours.

This was described in the map down to the last detail. Ethan knew what he had to do.

Hand not quite letting go of Luke’s arms, he fumbled over the pocket of his pants and retrieved the treasure they had stolen from the city where the brigantine hailed from. The merchant was said to have died from a surviving Roman city, and his few last possessions were kept there over years. Until Ethan’s crew came.

‘You have it?’ Luke’s voice was one of wonder.

‘Yes, the reason why we were chased by the legion,’ he felt his throat tighten, ‘and why our ship crashed on the reef.’

The treasure was really not a treasure at all. It was just what Ethan liked to call it. It came with a fancy wooden box ornamented with gemstones, its bolt a fancy and utterly infuriating thing to be unlocked. When the crew discovered it, they had expected gold, or at least some precious stones, but none had expected a cooking utensil.

Well, not really. A silver knife with a piece of paper, its faded surface written in Latin words of, ‘to be paid with blood.’

The knife, now clutched tight in Ethan’s hand, was slowly unsheathed. For the littlest moment, he looked at Luke from the corner of his eye, his heartbeat pacing up as hesitance slowly returned. To his surprise and relief, Luke nodded. His arms around Ethan’s waist tightened. Hope seeped through him just from that little gesture.

He cut his finger. The blood traced a path of crimson as it trickled down Ethan’s palm and into the unlikely bowl below, casting another cloud of crimson slowly dissolving into the water. They both held their breath.

The world became red for a second. And then the cavern opened.

Luke met his eyes, and he nodded. Taking a deep breath, they began to dive. Though Luke had let Ethan go, there was always that hand on his lower back, comforting and reassuring. It was a bit anticlimactic when he thought about it. One moment they were bickering, and the next, Ethan could feel how Luke became a source of assurance.

Underneath the water was an impressive sight. Impossible spirals of sea corals grew in kaleidoscopic hues, tall kelps swayed in shades of green, while sea urchins and seashells scattered the bottom of the cove. The sunlight casted a multicolour glow, illuminating the cove in a brilliant radiance, the water soft and welcoming to their touch.

Ethan glanced to his side, and was greeted by a much brilliant sight.

Luke, as he had noticed, was in his element when he swam. His tail swished with considerable power against the current, blue scales gleaming under the filtered light of the sun. His hair was a halo of gold around his head, his eyebrows furrowed in focus as they dove under the mouth of the cavern, looking thoroughly rough yet magical all the same.

Looking thoroughly beautiful too. Something flipped in Ethan’s stomach.

They reached the surface and into the cave. As Ethan coughed out water, clean air blissfully filling his lungs in ragged breath, he took a look at the surroundings. The legend revealed itself before him. Under the soft glow of a mysterious light, mounds of silver and gold scattered from the walls of the cave up to the banks of the water. Precious gemstones, swords and spears made from valuable metals, chests upon chests of treasure, everything was a pirate’s dream.

In the middle of the cave flowed a spring of clear water, streaming down a path into the water of the lake down below. It was the naiad, or what was left of her. According to the map, the jewel would be placed in an array of small stones, in perpendicular to the spring. Residing in a small throne of its own.

Ethan saw no jewel.

‘Wait a minute.’

He climbed onto the bank into the mounds of gold. This was wrong. The treasure was there, the spring was there, even the array of stones was there, but he couldn’t see any signs of the jewel. The symbol of the naiad’s love, in which her spirit was embodied in its depths to lay in rest. The jewel, that was more valuable than any amount of gold or silver there.

The map couldn’t be lying, would it? Or could it be that someone had arrived before and claimed it?

Ethan was frustrated. Luke swam closer to the edge, a concerned look etched on his face. Ethan went over the whole cavern, kicking away emeralds and rubies, turning over bronze chests filled with precious silk, and found nothing. He remembered his crew, his crashed ship, everything that was in vain from his foolish treasure hunt, and he then remembered his mother, and her stupid compass, and everything that he sacrificed for.

His life was still not in balance. And when would it be? He was a pirate, a robber and a criminal wanted by countless organizations and entities. His ship was gone. Even this countless amount of gold, he couldn’t possibly carry it out all at once without his crew. His crew, now lost in the sea without their captain. Unknowingly trapped into this problem and laid to waste because of this fruitless mission. While he, forever trapped on this island, would also suffer the same fate.

The accursed compass felt heavy in his pocket. Could it be that this wasn’t the place that it had pointed all along? Or could it be that he was the one foolish enough to follow its rusted needle, and not creating a path of his own? Ethan felt like he was being weighed down by all the gold there, his chest heavy, his infuriation thickening. He sat down by the bank, and retrieved it from his pocket.

He clicked the compass open. It was still broken, its needle idle in a fixed direction.

He threw it into the water and cried.

‘Hey, Ethan, what’s wrong?’

‘It’s over. We’re getting out of here.’

‘But the jewel?’

‘It’s not here, Luke. Everything that I did, that I pursued for years, ends here,’ he let out a heavy sigh. ‘I give up.’

Luke put a hand on his lap, and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘There must have been another way –’

‘No. Luke, listen.’ He slapped the hand away. ‘There’s none, and I’ve been fooling myself into thinking that there is one all along. I swear to the gods that when I saw that map, I thought the jewel would change my life and give it balance. And this compass pointed into everything that coincided with the map and I was so sure that the jewel would be the answer I needed. And now it’s over. The gods must be laughing at me now.’

Luke was scowling. Ethan was a little surprised but he scowled back. Not that merman trying to prove that it wasn’t all for naught. Ethan had enough.

The merman, rudely enough, dove back into the water and splashed Ethan in the face. Great. Now that he was left alone, Ethan could wait until he die here. His bones would be a warning to other questers that this, all this, would be the end of their foolishness too.

That would be nice, if he thought about it.

Surprisingly enough, Luke emerged again from the water, and shoved his compass roughly into his lap. ‘You need to listen to me.’

Ethan stared at him.

‘You know what, damn the gods,’ Luke said. ‘You are your own person, and you are the one who will find yourself balance. Listen. If you think about the one who will change you, the answer would be yourself. Why would you trust the gods? They can’t even win any war without heroes helping them.

‘You don’t owe your mother anything. You’re capable of surviving just by yourself all these while and this compass was not even the one who decided for you. It was you who decided to follow it. It’s entirely your choice. Look at this, it’s not even –’ Luke abruptly stopped as he clicked the compass open. The upcoming words would be a mystery to Ethan and Luke would never talk about it afterwards.

Because both of them saw it.

‘… It’s pointing at me.’

‘It’s broken.’ Ethan was about to dismiss it when Luke shifted slightly to the left. The needle followed. He swam farther away to the right. The needle shifted all the same, exactly at the direction of Luke. The merman swam close to Ethan again, his lips parted in wonder. Ethan felt a flash of irritation. ‘It’s impossible.’

‘What are you afraid of?’

‘Gods. I am not afraid.’

Luke somehow was closer than before, his blue eyes unblinking and sure. Ethan found himself unmoving, enraptured by the merman’s physique, his chiselled face. His eyes found Luke’s lips yet again, and was dumbfounded of how enticing they were, wet and chapped from seawater. They moved as Luke said, ‘Don’t be.’

Their lips met in a soft kiss.

Ethan couldn’t find himself resisting, because suddenly, everything just clicked right. He desperately wanted to move away, but Luke’s hands, gently resting on his thighs, were like anchors, mooring him firmly to the ground.

It tilted his scale just right. It balanced.

When they broke apart, he found himself still breathless. Luke was still close, his eyes unblinking, staring into Ethan’s with an intensity like no other. Not even his enemies had the courage to hold his gaze this long. He felt his cheeks warming up again, his hands crawling up to cover his face.

‘No,’ Luke said in a daze and blinked owlishly, his hands holding off Ethan’s. ‘You look pretty when you blush.’

There was a sudden clink, and Ethan pushed Luke away, blushing madly and looking for the source of the noise. There was, thankfully, no one. Glancing at Luke, who was grinning brightly, he mumbled, ‘This is impossible.’

It was so half-hearted that the merman laughed. Ethan was about to shush him off and get up when Luke was right in front of him, his lips gracing a smile as he whispered, ‘It’s not. We have all the time in this world to know each other. And we have the time to fall in love too.’

Love was a strong word, but Ethan couldn’t find another one as a substitute.

‘But only if you wanted to, of course,’ Luke whispered again. He nudged Ethan’s nose with his own. The boy felt his stomach clench, his heart on the verge of bursting into a multitude of emotions. Every little gesture Luke did resulted in those series of reactions and Ethan couldn’t find himself to fathom it, nor to resist it.

There was a glimmer of light, momentarily disorienting them both. When he searched for the source of it, seemingly to be behind him, Ethan saw it.

The jewel, in the most beautiful shade of blue, was there. When it was not supposed to.

xxx

Luke had never felt this happy for such a long time.

His father abandoned him, his mother went thoroughly insane, and he was left to grow up parentless. The nymphs were good companies, but they were not really good mothers. He felt the thirst to have someone with him, and him alone, for a long time. Someone who would be the source of his happiness, like a mother does, someone who would share his laughter, like a father does. Someone he would do anything for, like a lover does. Someone he could wake up next to every day, someone for him to protect and cherish for the rest of his life.

Of course it was impossible for Ethan to even sleep with him underwater, but to protect and cherish him? Luke would gladly volunteer.

And there he was then, shivering in front of him, clothes half damp and half ruined, looking utterly beautiful. When Luke kissed him, he expected him to resist, to push him away. Not for him to be so docile and willing, with which Luke would be happy to comply. His lips were as soft as they looked, pleasant to the touch. Very cooperative too, in an almost eager way. Poor boy had probably never kissed anyone in his life.

Luke was about to kiss him again, kiss him senseless and breathless, when the jewel appeared.

What a rude show-stopper.

Ethan stood up, much to his dismay. He walked over to the spring, almost running until he stopped near the jewel. There was hesitance in his steps as he approached it, and for a second, he glanced at Luke. Luke waved his hand to continue, too tired to even argue. The pirate captain picked the jewel up, and it came off the array of stones with a clink.

The effect was immediate.

The spring stopped flowing. The lake darkened, its once clear water murky and clouded with filth. He could sense that the naiad’s rejuvenating life force slipping away as it was separated from the spring, now a pathetic trickle of water. The Cove was now reliving its legend; it slowly died again.

For a second, Luke was rendered motionless. He waited for what Ethan would do next, because the boy was a pirate after all. He could leave for all he care, the jewel was in his possession now, after all. What value would a tiny cove hold, against a jewel with the rejuvenating life force of a naiad? A gemstone more precious than gold? And what value do even Luke, a mere merman, hold against its powers?

The pirate was always one with hesitance. It drove Luke insane. But Ethan, to his relief, returned the jewel back on its place. The place returned to its normal state.

He returned to Luke, sighing heavily as if the presence of Luke enough was wearisome as it was. Luke found himself smirking as he tilted his eyebrows teasingly. His heart though, was thundering madly, so relieved that Ethan had chosen him over the jewel. Releasing his breath, Luke chuckled at Ethan’s scowling face as the pirate clicked the compass open again.

The needle still pointed at Luke. Unsurprisingly, this time. ‘I knew it. I’m stuck with you, that’s how terrible my luck is.’

‘Cut me some slack, will you?’ He closed the distance between them, and plant a kiss on the corner of Ethan’s lips.

‘If you’re going to be with me for the rest of our pathetic lives, at least kiss me properly.’ Gods bless him, this boy still had the nerve. Though Luke couldn’t really complain, could he? He stuck his tongue at Ethan before drawing the boy close with a pull of his waist, and kissed the pirate senseless.

As Ethan unravelled himself before him, Luke’s heart was a garden of contentment. He was happy that Ethan had found the balance to his life, and Luke was even happier that it was he himself too.

x Epilogue x

His crew, miraculously, stranded on the same island.

They had eyed him suspiciously when they found their captain with a merman, lazing around under the warmth of the sun. Ethan tried to remove Luke’s head lying on his lap, desperately trying to remove himself off this embarrassing situation, and failing tragically. Because naturally, Luke wound his arms around Ethan’s waist and wouldn’t let go.

Percy was the one to burst out laughing. ‘Our captain is so…’

‘So what, Jackson?’

Percy hid behind Piper, whose kaleidoscopic eyes were still wide with wonder.

‘Adorable.’ Luke’s voice was muffled. Ethan hit his head, smirking as he heard another muffled ‘Ow!’ He could see his crew bonding with Luke already. Another addition to his crew of misfits. So much for being the balance of his life.

The compass, its needle a permanent direction, was still in his pocket. Ethan couldn’t say it was broken, after all.

Because his heart was the compass, and it would always point to him.