He didn’t know when. He didn’t know how. But at some point, Jack found a place of refuge on top of the ship’s mast. Not only could he be alone but he had an excuse for being there under the guise of being productive as the lookout. The view wasn’t half bad either. He could look down at the swaying waves or the usual ongoings of the crew below.

In his observations, he found out everyone’s place in the crew in great detail. Like an ecosystem that would die upon the loss of a species, the importance of each member of the ship couldn’t be understated. Even Skilshar (though Jack didn’t want to admit it) had a role to play as the captain who couldn’t convey his feelings well enough yet everyone could understand his instructions. The odd one out was Jack himself.

‘Boo,’ A light tap on Jack’s shoulder startled him.

He turned around to find Elivia grinning at him. ‘Why are you so immature without the king around?’

‘Well, excuse me. I’ll have you know I’m plenty mature,’ Elivia put on a fake pout.

‘Eh?’

‘As Bastion puts it, “Maturity is not how old or experienced you are. It’s the ability to act and think the right way at the right time. Even being childish at the correct times is a sign of maturity.”’

‘Ok, sure,’ Jack turned his head to avoid further conversation.

‘And you, Mr Serious-All-The-Time, are not mature at all under that definition,’ Elivia made sure to stop that from happening.

‘Elivia, did you come here to attack me personally?’

‘Oh, no no no,’ the woman waved away the thought. ‘You just looked gloomy sitting all the way up here every day. Not only do I need to look out for Skilshar’s and your physical health but you’re your mental one. Lighten up from time to time.’

‘Easier said than done,’ he sulked and went back to watching the seas. He contemplated on how little he belonged anywhere. Not in Eurasia after he caused the death of his siblings nor really in AAA where he was just a test subject for the king. Lighten up from time to time? Maybe he should start from now. ‘Hey –’

‘What’s that?’ Jack got interrupted.

He looked up and saw, in the distance, a vessel floating without aim or purpose. It resembled no African ship he had ever witnessed. However, that may be because the hull began to rot and sparkled under the sun’s rays in places.

‘Is that ours?’ he turned to Elivia.

‘No…’ she uttered back.

‘Hey!’ Jack then leant over the mast and bellowed to the crew below. ‘We got an unidentified ship starboard!’

The people on deck stopped what they were doing and rushed over to the side of the ship. They assessed the situation for a second before getting into their positions. Some raced down into the lower layers to get Skilshar, a few stood in a square formation awaiting him, while others dived into the ocean and began swimming towards the suspicious vessel. What are they doing? Jack wondered as he watched the whole spectacle.

A few moments later, Skilshar emerged from his lair into the open and began talking with his team. Though it was a more one-sided conversation, with how the other people did most of the explaining while their captain just nodded, Jack could see the high level of trust everyone shared. No one panicked. Everyone knew what they needed to do. Well, everyone except for Jack as the lone outsider.

‘I’ll be right back,’ he told Elivia.

‘Oi, wait. I forgot to give you-’ Eliva called back to no avail.

‘Skilshar!’ Jack yelled as he slid down the mast.

‘Hm?’ the man turned around. He still wore that ridiculous veil which he called a “hoodee.” What purpose did that garment have? Who knew? Jack didn’t that’s for sure.

‘What’s going on?’ Jack stood straight, putting on an intimidating aura.

‘Well, that ship’s not ours. Like, it could be American or Eurasian.’

‘I know that already.’

‘Ugh. I’m doing it again,’ Skilshar shrank back into his hoodee.

Jack rolled his eyes. How in Eurasia did everyone have so much faith in someone so incompetent? ‘So, what are our plans?’

‘Um, my team knows what they’re doing though. We’ll make sure it’s safe then intercept it,’ the captain stopped there. However, when he saw the look on Jack’s face, he added, ‘You can come help if you’d like. I don’t really have any idea what you should do, so I’ll let you decide for yourself if that’s ok.’

Jack opened his mouth to protest but stopped himself. He wanted to complain about the complacency of such a vague order yet the idea of having free reign over his decisions meant he didn’t need to blame another for future failure - an idea he enjoyed very much. ‘Fine by me.’

A few people changed the position of the mast so that the wind got caught in it. All of a sudden, the ship then veered towards the unknown one slowly but surely. It wasn’t long until the enemy vessel came into better detail. The glistening Jack saw earlier could now be explained by a strange, clear substance that lined the planks of wood and the rotten wood showed how little maintenance it received. The whole boat itself shared the same size as Skilshar’s though.

As they got into the boardable distance, a couple of the four-armed mages brought out planks. They made a bridge between the two ships before taking out their nails and hammering the wood into place so that not even the smallest of movements could separate the vessels. However, what irked Jack the most was that not a single being could be heard or seen.

‘Good grief, it’s very silent,’ Skilshar commented with a forced smile. ‘Ok everyone, take your drugs if you haven’t and let’s start. Um, we’ll just do what we normally do.’

Drugs?

More crew members joined on deck. They all varied in physique and abilities but one trait ran consistent: they could all fight. That fact alone brought a sense of urgency as everyone else began climbing onto the planks in a uniform order with Jack last to do so.

‘Jack, wait wait wait!’ Jack turned around to find Elivia clinging onto the mast as if her life depended on it. She took her time sliding down before she rushed over to him. After taking a deep breath, she then outstretched her arm, revealing a tiny capsule.

‘What is it?’ Jack asked.

‘You know how hard it is for me to climb that thing? And you just leave me up there like that before hearing me out?! I wanted to give you this so just eat it,’ she instructed, still struggling for breath.

‘Again, what is it?’ Jack took the capsule, inspected it and still had no clue.

‘Or don’t,’ Elivia looked more and more unimpressed before breaking into a cheeky grin. ‘Just kidding. But trust me. You definitely don’t want to get affected by Skilshar’s abilities. I’ve witnessed it first hand and it is terrrry-fying.’

Jack’s eyebrows crumpled further. ‘His…abilities?’

‘Yeah. He’s a gorgon type.’

‘I don’t know what a gorgon is though.’

‘It’s a mythical creature that can,’ Elivia stopped right there. Her already large grin grew larger. ‘On second thought, why not see it for yourself? I know Skilshar will save you if anything happens.’

At that, Jack swallowed the pill without hesitation. It tasted horrible but the thought of needing Skilshar to save him in any shape or form made him forget the taste soon enough.

‘I’ll be off,’ Jack announced.

‘Take care. Don’t let the statues bite,’ Elivia waved back.

Statues? the word stuck to Jack as he jumped over to the other ship. With every step the goop, that gave the boat its shimmer, squelched under his boots and the boards creaked underneath. Is anyone even alive? Though with two or three floors worth of boat to search, that sounded more and more unlikely.

The others already started looking around, taking samples and applying their own chemicals in hopes of a reaction. Skilshar did nothing though. He just stood there awaiting any news with his garms covering him like a menacing figure waiting to unleash all his might when the time calls for it. Was he really that strong? he wondered since every shred of evidence suggested otherwise.

‘What are we doing?’ Jack asked the captain.

‘It’s all according to plan,’ Skilshar perked up.

Jack frowned, ‘Which is?’

‘Oh, um,’ the captain pulled on strings that made the veil collapse in on itself. He released it again before continuing, ‘We’re just searching for survivors. I’ll do the cleaning up if we do find anyone.’

Again with the vague answers, Jack grew frustrated. He wanted to ask what powers he possessed to be able to “clean up” but he already asked that before only to get yet another vague answer. He knew trying any further won’t help. He needed another approach. ‘So then, are we –’

‘We found a group of them on the bottom floor!’ a shout came from below.

‘Looks like I’m up,’ Skilshar put down his veil. ‘Do you want to cover for me up here? Make sure no one escapes or anything?’

Jack just nodded. For the second time that day, he got interrupted and he didn’t like it one bit. Though granted he couldn’t do anything about it, he still felt ticked off as if he used up all his luck to survive up till now.

‘Guess I’ll just carry out my orders,’ he thought out loud.

He first helped out the other mages go through the muck, crates and empty barrels that covered the upper deck. He kept an ear and eye out for suspicious objects of course, but he didn’t expect much. Another opened barrel, another empty crate. The more they went through, the more Jack concluded that the ship got abandoned long ago, leaving a few to die a horrible death.

All of a sudden, he heard an unusual squelch. Almost as if it wasn’t deliberate. He turned around but found no one. His suspicions rose and he searched his immediate area, searching for abnormal shadows. Stealth bestial ambush? he questioned himself, knowing full well how his type thought and acted. However, with the sun at its zenith, no one could hide in the shadows, including himself. Even after talking with the crew members, all of whom said they saw or hear nothing, he still couldn’t shake off his bad feeling. If I were an enemy, where would I go?

Jack calmed himself down, lowered his heartbeat and went into stealth. Then he got his answer. He rushed over to the planks connecting the two ships. He inspected the wood and, not to his surprise, he found more of the clear goop on it.

‘Elivia!’ he called out, getting out of stealth.

‘Yeah?’ the woman peered over.

‘Did you guys notice anything strange? Stray shadows or this sticky stuff moving somehow?’

Elivia looked perplexed at the question. She thought about it then replied, ‘Errr, no? We had guards this entire time on our side and they saw nothing. I do know someone spilt that substance earlier on though.’

Jack tutted. ‘Thanks, I’ll go report it to Skilshar then.’

‘Suit yourself,’ Elivia went back to her duties.

The feeling wouldn’t go away. In fact, as he climbed the steps down to the lower levels, it only intensified. He went into stealth as a safety measure. He made sure to search each floor to perfection, unwilling to leave the minutest details out.

Still nothing. However, he did notice fewer and fewer allies the further down he went. Then on the penultimate floor, he saw the remaining mages huddled to one side, away from the staircases to the very bottom. Maybe something did go wrong. He didn’t see Skilshar anywhere either. Coincidence? Jack hoped that was the case.

‘Is Skilshar down there?’ he asked, revealing just his head this time.

‘Yeah. But sir, I don’t suggest going down there yet. His poison might still affect you which is why we’re all up here for the time being,’ one of the four-arms responded.

Poison?

‘So, is it too dangerous for me to go down? I had that capsule earlier on,’ Jack clarified his statement.

‘Oh, nope. Go ahead if you’ve taken the drug,’ the man bowed with the others following the movement.

Jack resumed full stealth and headed down the final set of stairs. They creaked under the smallest bits of pressure but that didn’t faze him. Rather, it was the grotesque smell that grew in intensity with each step until he reached the bottom where it forced him to pinch his nose. Yet, he could still smell the stench; his head feeling a little light as a result.

‘Skilshar? You there?’ he called out.

‘Help…me…’ a man’s voice groaned back.

Without hesitation, Jack hid under the stairs’ shadow. That sound belonged to no human let alone Skilshar. His heart wanted to race and his lungs wanted to burst but he didn’t allow them to. Instead, he dropped his body temperature to match his surroundings. What was that? he surveyed the floor, his view limited by the steps on his right.

The floors creaked. Something scratched and groaned. Then, from the corner of his eyes, a figure appeared. His face distorted in a mixture of fear, agony and the sheer desire for rescue. But none would come. Not from his allies. Definitely not from Jack. Yet, the man continued crawling inch by inch. Bit by bit. Little by little…until he stopped. No more sound. No more words. Just death.

What in Eurasia happened? Jack peered at the full corpse but regretted it in an instant.

Starting from his feet, stone grew on him. It grew and grew and grew, enveloping the body and clothes. Every single piece of flesh became cold, hard rock. Every piece of fabric broke apart. The man no longer was a man. Instead, it was a statue. And Jack saw the process develop in front of his eyes. This was what Elivia meant, he realised.

‘Jack?’ a sudden hand made his heart lurch.

He forced his head to turn around. But instead of a monster, all he saw was the concerned look of Skilshar, his headdress taken off. Except, the captain looked injured. No, he was missing an eye altogether.

‘What happened to your eye?’ Jack murmured.

‘Oh, it’s right here,’ he held out a glass ball with an iris and pupil painted on it.

‘It was fake all along?’

‘Yeah. Um, before I ask what you were doing here, what do you see?’ Skilshar pointed to the dead man.

‘A statue… But it was a man before,’ Jack started to doubt himself. How could a man turn to stone? Not even the MBP could breed such an ability.

‘Ok, and what do I look like?’

‘Eh?’ Jack looked at himself first. He found he wasn’t in stealth at all. What happened? Does Skilshar want a specific answer? Am I delirious? But, when he looked at the mage, apart from the fake eye, he saw nothing wrong. ‘You’re you?’

That brought a smile to Skilshar’s face. ‘Looks like you’re not completely resistant to the drug then. Thank goodness. Didn’t want you to hate me like they all do.’

It was then that Jack saw the other bodies. All of them with deformed faces like the man prior and all of them made out of stone now.

‘Well, you should see Elivia. I can’t have you in this state,’ Skilshar ordered. ‘Like, it’ll be really inconvenient if you start seeing or hearing stuff.’

Oh, right. He did say “seeing stuff” was his power. Then I was hallucinating the sound earlier too. Ugh. This isn’t like me at all, Jack went into an inner monologue. He felt too dizzy to speak out loud otherwise. Skilshar recognised this and helped him up. He really is strong after all, huh?

When they reached the open air, Jack saw Elivia standing on the other boat, waiting. She had a smirk on her face. One that told him “See?” to which he mouthed “Thank goodness I’m no longer a Eurasian enemy,” almost collapsing at the arduous task. At least I know no one will drag me down anymore, a final train of thought lingered as he went into her care. Maybe I should try to belong here a bit more.