“Where could he have gone?” I ask.

Rin throws up her hands, clearly irate that Felix has disappeared. “I don’t know! Help me find him, the stupid jerk. I swear if we wipe because of him I will lose my mind. He will see a side of me that makes the dark side of the moon seem bright!”

Tiptoeing away as gently as possible, Rubble and I disperse around this level of the ship to search. Felix couldn’t have gotten too far. A collection of barrels near the stairs to the top deck catches my eye. Weaving my way between the chained-down walls of gunpowder storage, I check even the smallest nooks and crannies for our missing bishop, but find myself staring bewildered at something that doesn’t seem like it belongs.

A small chest sits on the floor. Its wood is dark and appears unaffected by the water it’s been soaking in, with silver frames on its corners and an unlocked latch that don’t show a hint of rust. Thinking to myself that this looks like some good loot, I tip the lid up only to be berated by flurry of colors flowing out from inside the chest. I jump back, swinging my sword wildly as hundreds of tiny fairy-like creatures swarm me. I swear I hear the giggles of children, almost sounding creepy and insidious, as my blade passes through the swarm harmlessly. In moments, they're gone, disappearing between the barrels and through the cracks in the ceiling above as I stand there, dumbfounded and surprised that I didn’t hit a single one.

“What the heck was that?” Rubble yells from across the deck. Even though I can’t see him from behind the barrels, I can hear the heavy clomps of his boots as he runs towards me.

I step out, confused and in a daze. “I have no idea.”

“They just took off up the stairs! Never seen that before.”

“Me neither,” Rin says as she approaches us. “But it doesn’t look like they hurt you, did they?”

I shake my head. “Just scared me. Any luck finding Felix?”

Rin folds her arms across her chest as signs of frustration return to her expression. “Nope. He’s not on this level, that’s for sure. We should just go on without him. Screw it.”

“You think we’ll be able to handle the boss without him?”

“Just don’t get hit, greeny. We’ll alternate between you and my minions tanking to help elongate the fight. We should be able to work around my recast timers.”

A thought occurs to me. I pull up my HUD, thinking that Felix’s sudden disappearance might be explained by my friends list, but when I find his status is still online my theory is proven false. He hasn’t logged off.

“Have you tried sending him a message?” I ask.

Rin nods. “No answer yet. Let’s just go.”

I shrug. “You’re the boss.”

She laughs. “If I’m the boss, you’re the fool who follows me.”

At the base of the stairs, Rin re-summons a fresh Hellhound so we’re ready for anything that’s waiting above. The wood underneath my feet feels a little mushy and unsafe as I follow the creature up to the top level. As my head clears the deck, I’m on the swivel, checking every angle for signs of danger. Two of the three masts of the ship are busted to splinters only a few feet up, but the one that’s still standing has a ladder leading to a crow’s nest. Watching where we step to avoid rotten holes in the floor, we make our way towards the helm and what must be the door to the captain’s quarters. For miles and miles around us, all I can see is shipwrecks piled on top of one another, sprinkled with the colorful glitter of coral formations.

The door to the captain’s quarters is locked, as I should have guessed. Up above, the ship’s wheel is slowly turning on its rusted axis from the oceanic breeze. I make my way up to it and just as I reach out a hand to grab hold of it, there’s a screech that comes from behind me. From over the edge of the handrail, comes the biggest, creepiest floating creature I have ever seen.

A collection of half-dissolved human limbs float around in the main body of a massive blue jellyfish, while what must be over 100 tendrils sway and drift around like weeping willow leaves in the wind. But what matters most about this creature is the rusty iron cage its carries in its mess of tentacles that holds our missing bishop.

“We’re in trouble, guys,” Felix says nonchalantly from behind the iron bars.

“How did you end up in there?” Rin asks, astonished.

Felix shrugs, then staggers and grabs the cage for support as the monster lurches forward. “I went up here to wait for you guys, and it swooped down and picked me up. It’s crazy. I tried using spells and shooting my way out, but I can’t do anything in here. It’s like my magic is nullified.”

“Well, we’re going to get you out,” I promise as I bear the Rose Sabre before me.

(LV. 20) First Mate Jelly-Joel

HP: 890/890

After his bitter death at sea, Joel’s soul succumbed to the magic of the Dead Bay, meshing his conflicted essence with that of a giant jellyfish. In his new home, he has adapted the jellyfish to store extra body parts. Perhaps he’s building a new vessel out of them…

Joel flops on the deck, thunking the iron cage against the wood, then shudders like a jello-o cube in an earthquake before taking flight once again. Oozing tendrils whip out at me. I leap and roll, barely avoiding it. Knowing that jellyfish sting and poison in real life, I have to stay out of the way of its sweeping attacks and wait for my moment to close in.

The chance comes quickly, Rin’s Hellhound bounding up the steps and leaping into the fray with snapping jaws. I move, rushing in and popping one of my newest abilities as I slash at the rear of the creature.

You use Plunging Strike and hit First Mate Jelly-Joel for 115 damage!

You hit the Iron Cage for 38 damage!

Big numbers! My first strike leaves blue glowing tentacles falling to the deck, exposing the iron cage for my second blow. We can break Felix out of there! But not before my high-damage attack pulls Joel’s attention from the hound and to me.

First Mate Jelly-Joel uses Whirlpool!

Aiden takes 104 damage! 246/350 HP remaining!

Hellhound takes 146 damage! 229/375 HP remaining!

Oof! The blow sends me across the deck, knocking me over. With a groan, I get back up and watch as the creature hauntingly floats towards me. I guess I’m the tank now!

“Rubble, its back is to you. Hit that cage with all you’ve got!”

On the main deck below, the big man winks. “You got it!”

Rubble uses Deep Sight!

Rubble uses Flurry of Arrows!

Rubble uses Twin Shots!

Critical hit! Rubble hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 89 damage!

Critical hit! Rubble hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 91 damage!

Rubble hits the Iron Cage for 23 damage!

Something changes in the battle, the creature shudders again as a pulsating green light shines from inside its purplish blue body. Suddenly, one of the limbs that was just floating inside the gelatinous blob dissolves, and to my horror, I watch its HP bar go from 2/3rds to completely full.

“This thing uses those body parts to regenerate health!” I shout. Two big tendrils slam down at me at the same time, one of them catching me in the shoulder as I try to move out of the way.

First Mate Jelly-Joel hits you for 99 damage! 147/350 HP remaining!

I curse, then spin around and take off down the deck. Even with the dog chomping on it’s rear, the jellyfish still has its sights set on me! Leaping from one leg to the other like an NFL player through a rubber tire obstacle course, I narrowly avoid all of the damage in the floor until I reach the bow of the ship, which is something that Joel doesn’t have to deal with. He floats after me without a care in the world beyond eating me outright and making my limbs a fine addition to his collection.

“We can’t do this forever!” I shout.

Rubble looses another arrow, sinking the iron-tipped shafts into the creature with a disgusting wet sound, then grumbles and says, “I can’t keep the right angle on the cage. Every time it turns I’m just hitting it’s tentacles, and I don’t think it’s enough damage to really do much to the cage when I do manage to hit it.”

As I round the front of the ship and start heading back towards the wheel, I see the open hatch that we climbed up out of to get here and an idea comes to me. A smirk stretches across my face as I consider how reckless such an idea might be. Good or bad, I guess all of us are going to find out together.

“Get below deck!” I yell. “Rin, have your hound go down and wait by the steps just after you go down!”

“What are you thinking?” Felix asks from behind me. As Joel lurches forward in a burst of speed, a musical dong fills the air as he hits his head against the bars of his cage. Felix curses immediately afterwards.

“An explosive ending for our friend Joel here,” I say with a grin.

Rin’s eyes go wide as she realizes what I’m suggesting. Then, she gives a quick nod before sprinting off towards the steps leading down below. Rubble and the Hellhound are quick to take off after her. I try to keep the proper distance to the jelly-mate, not too close that he can hit me, but not too far away that he loses interest in me. By the time I make one lap around the entire ship, I’m feeling exhausted. I can already tell my movement speed is slowing down, so I veer for the stairs and jump.

As I hit the floor running as fast as I can past the barrels, I can only hope that Joel will be able to fit down here and that this plan will work. Taking my place next to Rubble and Rin twenty feet away from the steps, I have a brief second to catch my breath as I watch a mess of tendrils, followed by Felix in his cage, just barely squeeze through the opening and descend the stairs.

“Now, Rin!” I shout.

Hellhound uses Fire Blast!

A flash of light from behind the barrels causes a chain reaction; a bright, fiery blast, that spreads from barrel to barrel. The explosions send ripples through the water, pounding against my eardrums as the entire ship shakes.

First Mate Jelly-Joel takes 245 damage and is stunned!

The Iron Cage takes 289 damage!

Hellhound takes 166 damage! Hellhound is defeated!

A thick cloud of dust fills the water and I’m left exasperated from the rush as a chill runs down my spine.

Rin covers her mouth as she coughs. “How did you know the gunpowder would still light?”

“I didn’t. I just hoped they weren’t there for no reason but decoration.”

A clanging noise from the grey waters ahead of us makes all three of us jump in place and grab onto one another in fear, but the feeling quickly fades when Felix comes staggering out of the obscuring cloud. With a flick of his wrist, he wipes the dirt off his shoulder and says, “Not a scratch on me, too.”

His smile quickly fades when Rin stomps forward and punches him in the shoulder. “You jerk. You should have known better than to run off on your own.”

“Uh…” Felix says as he runs his hands over his black hair, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry.”

She shakes her head and turns away from him, but we aren’t out of the water just yet! A screeching Jelly-Joel writhes and throws wooden debris across the deck as the water begins to clear. His body is so large he has to use his tendrils to pull himself towards us like an octopus. The faint glow of his restorative ability shimmers from inside his gelatinous body, getting him back up to 2/3rds health, and two more limbs are still floating around inside him. We have to take him out before he uses that again!

“Uh, Rin. How much longer until you can re-summon your hound?”

Rin checks with a frown. “Forty-five seconds.”

A groan escapes me as I take my first steps towards what will probably be another death. “Felix and Rubble, see if these cannons work, will ya?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Rubble exclaims. “Fiyaa-powaa!”

As Joel crawls his way into my striking range, I realize just how splayed out he is. His tentacles easily reach ten feet in every direction, giving me no easy opening to his center mass. I have to deal enough damage to keep his attention yet far enough to avoid his blows, unless…

First Mate Jelly-Joel uses Barbed Slam!

A tendril of oozing poison comes down at me from above. I twist sideways, jaunt a step back. The attack slams into the deck just a few feet in front of me.

You use Imbue Weapon! Sway added to damage for 20 seconds!

You use the Rose Sabre’s special ability, Extend!

A beam of divine light comes out of nowhere, illuminating the Rose Sabre and turning it red-hot in my hand. With a roar, I slash horizontally, throwing as much weight as I can behind it as I will it to magically extend in length. The ten-foot blade cuts a wide arc through the water, severing tendril after tendril and making a big cut in his jelly body. Each separate slice delivers a minimum of 83 damage that totals 261 damage. And all in one swing that drops it down to 1/3rd HP! The creature’s screech seems to shudder the water around it as it unleashes a flurry of writhing attacks!

First Mate Jelly-Joel hits you for 97 damage! 47/350 HP remaining!

Oh no!

“Feliiiiix!!” I cry as I begin sprinting another lap around the deck. As I leap over a massive hole in the deck from the explosion, I really hope that kiting doesn’t become the usual thing!

Felix casts Milk of the Poppy! Aiden gains 88 HP! 135/350 remaining!

Well, that’s one more blow I can withstand, but with the way Joel is whipping his tentacles around, with no regard for anything his path, there’s no way I’m going to take that chance. As I run, I take a quick glance back at the others and see that Felix, Rubble, and Rin just about have the cannon into position.

“How much time left, Rin?” I shout. “We need your hound!”

She looks up, the light of her HUD shining in her violet eyes as she grins impishly. “None.” The red portal rips open next to her, the Hellhound growling as its paws hit the ground. I veer to the side, trying to lead Joel straight towards the cannon. He follows like a good mob, but staring down the massive open barren fills me with just as much fear as facing Jelly-Joel.

“Now!” Rin shouts.

Hellhound uses Fire Blast!

I launch myself to the side.

Two small cannonballs attached by a chain whiz and twirl through the water, slicing through the jelly-dome and dealing a massive 307 damage. The thing shutters and screeches. I check it’s HP and see that it’s below 50, but that familiar green glow returns to it that spurs us all into one final push.

“Get it!” I cry, racing to my feet and popping every ability I can.

First Mate Jelly-Joel uses Absorb and gains 294 HP!

You use Unrelenting Strikes! Damage increased by 25%!

You use Plunging Strike and hit First Mate Jelly-Joel for 144 damage!

Felix hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 49 damage!

Rubble hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 74 damage!

Rin hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 56 damage!

Rin’s Hellhound hits First Mate Jelly-Joel for 36 damage!

Rin’s Hellhound has defeated the First Mate Jelly-Joel!

You gain 45,000 experience points!

Congratulations! You have reached level 17! 1 attribute point has been added!

Please choose an ability from the following:

Shield Bash: You make a wide swipe with your shield, knocking back enemies and disrupting their action.

Or

Bleeding Slashes: Several fast slashes nick your opponent’s exposed weak spots, giving them a bleeding effect equal to your STR for 20 seconds.

It doesn’t take me very long to decide what ability I want, and I focus on Bleeding Slashes. I reminisce on hitting that jelly-man for one hell of a wallop, and I can’t help but feel like I’m actually contributing to the party now. I know, I know. Tanking is important, but dealing damages feels so much more satisfying. Something about pushing those numbers bigger and bigger is addictive and satisfying. Not to mention, the added speed the Rose Sabre gives me allows me to kite and tank in emergencies just like today. Just like Rin said last week, half of this game is manipulating the numbers, and increasing my damage is becoming my favorite part.

To my surprise, a timer with the number 47 has appeared on my HUD. It counts down the seconds, and I realize that’s how much time we have until we’re taken out of this dungeon. I’m not ready to go! We still have to get our 100% completion award!

“Quick! Search around for the ‘source of evil’ for Wilford!” I say.

“Check the body,” Rin suggests, suddenly more eager than I’ve ever seen her before. “You go check the Captain’s Quarters, see if it’s unlocked.”

With a nod, I make a run for it, dashing up the steps to the top deck and throwing my shoulder into the door with a groan. To my surprise, the door door bursts inward without the need of a key, and I’m greeted by flurries of purples and blues again—the same little humanoid water fairies that came from the chest a deck lower. They just disperse out into the ocean, fading away into the coral and the shipwrecks, except for one. Atop a massive desk of hewn oak, a water fairy, glowing and twinkling in yellow, stomps her tiny foot against the desk and motions to her feet.

Moving to the captain’s side of the desk, there’s a drawer. I pull it open, and find an orb of swirling black and yellow resting on a red cushion. With a smile, I pick it up and behold glorious text boxes.

Optional Quest Item Added:

(LV. 20) ??? Seeing Orb (Class C)

A malevolent presence lurks inside this summoner’s orb.

Optional: Converge with the weapon as it is, or deliver it to Wilford to lessen its power and make it easier to control.

Convergence criteria not met: Summoner class required.

I think it’s pretty cool this quest lets you have some say in how powerful you want the Artifact weapon to be, and consequently how challenging it will be to converge with it. Regardless, an Artifact weapon is just what Rin needs. I hope it helps give us the damage dealing edge we need.

The fairy on the desk throws a salute across her chest, then bows gracefully. Grateful for her help, I hold out a closed fist that’s nearly as large as her entire body, without a single thought in my brain, and she actually gives me a fist bump. My jaw drops and I laugh as the timer on my HUD hits zero. Who would have thought even the smallest details of this game were so complexly coded to respond to a fist bump?!

Happy that we survived yet another nearly disastrous dungeon run, we all re-appear on the sandy beach outside of Gormsay. It’s a cool night with a full array of stars above us, now. With sighs of relief, all of us take seats on random pieces driftwood to relax and dry off.

“Here,” I say, tossing the seeing orb to Rin.

Even in the dark, she catches it without a hitch and beams. “You found it!”

I shrug. “I had help.”

As she rolls the swirling orb in her palms, her eyes narrow. I assume she’s looking at the text I saw earlier and debating on whither or not to turn it into Wilford. That’s a decision I’ll let her make on her own. For now, she shrugs and the seeing orb de-materializes into her inventory. She says, “Well, we should make a fire, and rest here for the night. That is, if you guys don’t mind. I’m too pooped to go back to Gormsay right now. Even with the prospect of a new Artifact.”

Rubble spreads himself out over the sand with a groan. “I could use a break, and a fire sounds nice.”

“I think I’m gonna log off,” Felix says. “I’ll be back in the morning to run it a few more times, then we should be good to prepare for our raid of Starlight.”

“You still modeling that castle?” I ask, curious.

“Y-Yeah.” For some reason, it seems like I’ve taken him off guard.

“I thought you finished it?” Rin asks, her arms crossed and brows furrowed. For some reason, she seems upset that he spends so much time on his projects and not helping the party.

“I got a message asking for a few adjustments. Shouldn’t be too long. I’ll see ya.” Without giving any of us a chance to inquire further, Felix disappears silently.

With a shrug of confusion, I just stand and begin searching for firewood that’s dry enough to burn, figuring that if others wanted a fire I’ll help out. I can’t help but feel dejected as I wonder if Felix just doesn’t like me or something. I don’t understand. Walking down to the ocean, I walk slow and meticulously in the dark while I scan the beach. Thoughts about the Shield force me to do some rough math and figure out just how much time I have left. I come up with four days. Only four days to find the source of the mutiny. I’m running out of time.

I hear soft footsteps coming up behind me. It’s Rin. She pushes her black hair behind her ears and steps up beside me. “What’s wrong?” She asks, stooping to pick up a stick.

I shrug. “It’s nothing.”

She puts a hand on my arm and stops me. “It might not be nothing, so tell me. It will make you feel better.”

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why haven’t you named your Hellhound yet?”

Rin lets loose a deep, belly-fueled laugh. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought of anything good enough yet.”

“Well Lenard named his falcon Perry, so the bar is set pretty low.”

“Yeah. Couldn’t do any worse than that.”

“How about Zuul, or Vinz, or Cerberus?”

Rin presses her red lips together and nods. “Cerberus is good. But I don’t think you’re being honest with me. What’s bothering you, really?”

Another sigh. As much as I hate it, I also really like that Rin can easily see how I’m feeling. The level of transparency I feel I can have with her is almost more than anyone else ever. I trust her not to hurt me, misplaced or not. And even if she does, I doubt it would be intentional. “I guess, I’m just wondering if all this is going to be worth it. You guys are going to such extreme lengths for me. A stranger. What if it all turns out to be pointless? That there is no mutiny? Half of me feels like I should just throw in the towel now so I’m not disappointed if I’m wrong.”

Rin gives me a harumph, drops her driftwood, then pulls me to a big log and forces me to sit next to her. It’s hard to look into her eyes, as I know she going to say something that will emotionally affect me. We haven’t been alone like this since the night in Birch Castle when we watched the ships in the harbor. Just thinking about it gets my skin all tingly with a nervous buzz.

“You know,” Rin begins, “there’s one thing I didn’t expect to see out of you: contemplating giving up. You have been more dedicated to finding the mutineers than anything I’ve ever tried to do in my whole life. If you really believe that someone is trying to take over the Shield, then I believe you. While I can’t be there, physically on your ship to help you, I’ll do everything I can to help you here in Libertas, Aiden.”

“Thank you,” I say, looking away. “That means a lot to me… And, can I be honest with you?”

Rin nods.

“I lost my dad and sister when the Culicidae attacked, and ever since I feel like I haven’t had a lot of faith in myself. As time has passed, I’ve gotten used to feeling weak and useless, enough to seriously put a damper on my ambition to do anything. And I mean anything. I just slept for years. But then I came to Libertas… and you. Even if the Shield wasn’t in jeopardy, when you’re around, I feel like I have something to fight for. I feel some of that strength I used to have.”

She smiles that dazzling smile as her cheeks blush. Any worry I had before of stepping too far and getting too close to her has dashed away in the wind. How can seeing her smile like that be wrong?

When Rin recovers, she says, “We want to form a Guild anyways, so it’s not like you’re wasting our time. We’re friends with goals that can work together.”

I swallow, hard. A ball of gut-wrenching nervousness forms in stomach as a part of me knows she doesn’t quite understand what I’m getting at, and the other part is going to tell her plainly. My heart is pounding in my chest as I say, “I… I’m sorry if this makes things uncomfortable between us, but I think I might be falling for you, Rin. You’re an amazing, passionate, caring girl, and I want to be more than friends.”

Her eyes grow wider, and I’m not sure if she didn’t expect for me to say that. She just sits there, shocked. I know that, to her, it’s off the top, and probably unwarranted, but I don’t want to hide how I feel any more. Rin’s silence finally gets to me and I say, “I’m sorry. I hope this doesn’t make things awkward. I know you and Felix have a thing, and it’s not my place.” I stand, scoop the wood I’ve collected into my arms, and begin to walk away to hide my shame. But when Rin speaks again, I pause and turn to face her once more.

“We-We did have a thing, Felix and I, but not so much anymore.” Every trace of her smile has faded. Her gaze is locked onto to her feet as she kicking at the sand with the toe of her boots. She’s trying to hide discomfort, or even pain, I realize.

With a sigh, Rin says, “Kisses in Libertas don’t compare to kisses in real life.”

“So you guys know each other from Earth? I thought you guys were from separate countries?” I ask. “You’re on the Chinese ship, the Dream, right? And Felix is clearly from Britain or the New England part of the U.S.A.”

She nods. “I was an exchange student in Maine a few years before the attack. I met Felix at school, and we fell in love. When the time came that I had to return home, we kept in touch and decided to save enough money that I could move there, or him to me.” She looks away, and I see the glimmer of a tear shine in the moonlight. “We never made it that far because the Culicidae attacked. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly grateful that we both were lucky enough to get on a ship, but ever since we left Earth, there’s been a terrible distance between us, and it’s a distance that’s growing in more than one way. Not just physically.”

I try to think of something to say to make her feel better, but take too long. She looks up at me and says, “I’m glad that things are better for you now, Aiden. But I’m also sorry this is so hard.” She flicks her wrist and with a few pokes of the air disappears. I check my friends list and see that she’s logged off. Guilt ripples through me, and I begin to worry if I have just put a riff in our party. Pushed too far and spilled too much. Man, my big brain is really pulling through for me.