Sleep won't stay with me. My chest keeps tightening with what I saw earlier. The feeling hasn't left since. I rise from the ship's sway, stepping past the others sleeping in hammocks and on the wooden floor.
Outside, I walk to the rail. My hand brushes the wet wood as I look out at the sea glowing under the moon.
For some reason, this sight calms me.
Is this one of them, Mom? One of the things you meant?
But my thoughts circle back to the three answers I'm supposed to find in the place my father wanted me to go — Lumineth. He never told me to go. But I want to. More than ever.
A drop hits my hand. I look up. Rain—
DRUAK.
The ship lurches hard. I'm thrown sideways, slamming into the wall. I push myself up, look at the sea, then the moon. Rain. High tide. Storm?
I head for Captain Oliver. His hands grip the wheel tight, forcing the ship straight.
Should I wake him?
DRAM.
The ship shudders, knocked by another wave. I fall again.
Of course.
"Sir," I call, trying to stand.
DRAK.
Crates behind me crash over.
"SIR, WAKE UP!"
Oliver finally snaps awake. He seizes the wheel again and glances at the moon.
"High tide, huh?!"
He pulls a wrapped packet from his belt, opens a map, scans it quickly.
"Wake everyone!"
—
Storm. Lightning.
"EVERYONE! LOWER THE SAILS!"
We work under the rain. Lightning cracks the sky, sometimes just thunder without light. Rose and I haul crates inside, pull ropes, while Oliver, Santiago, Grizz, and Gruzz climb the masts and run the lines. The captain shouts orders, Bartra watches the dark horizon.
"FASTER! MOVE!"
"Damn it, why a storm now? This zone should be safe!"
Rose struggles beside me, pushing crates as the ship tosses us around. She falls once, hard. So do I.
Only a few crates remain. I set one down, pause to catch my breath.
"Exhausting, right? I heard the captain didn't even know this storm was coming."
I stay silent for a moment.
"My gut feels wrong. Something's off," I say.
"So do I. We don't have time. Come on."
—
Bartra stands high on the mast, scanning the dark with his scope. Nothing strange at first.
But something moves outside his line of sight. Then again. Closer.
Closer.
Until it hits the ship.
He can only see flashes of it when lightning splits the sky. A shape. A shadow. Too big.
Another hit throws Bartra and the others off balance. Oliver slips from the mast and crashes down.
Moments later he forces himself up.
"BARTRA! DO YOU SEE ANYTHING?!" he shouts.
"Grizz, Gruzz — tie the lines tight! Hiro, Rose — move!" Oliver commands.
"Oliver?!" Bartra lowers the scope. His face twists — fear and disbelief knotting together.
Oliver turns.
"WHAT—"
He freezes.
Rose turns too.
"WHAT IS THAT—"
She freezes.
Everyone freezes.
Oliver collapses to his knees, shaking.
The captain near us trembles as well.
"OCTOPUS."