“Come here, Diana, I need to speak with you,” the Pirate beckoned. The Druid approached with Jonah beside her as Kalyah went running past them, carefree and healed of the vicious slap she had received earlier. Angelina reached out for Jonah, frowning. “Come here lad. I’m so sorry,” she said, taking his hands in hers. She snagged one from out of Diana's.

“Terribly sorry, terribly sorry!” Gray the parrot squawked from her shoulder.

“What?” Jonah asked, tugged closer.

“I said a lot of hurtful things to you,” she said, holding his wrists to her chest. “You’re a member of my crew too, I can’t believe I got so pissed. None of you deserved it, not at all. I was so furious at the thought of Blodwyn showing up here, I started lashing out at everyone. I owe Diana, my fellow Hero, a much longer apology, so do you mind if I talk with her privately?”

Jonah looked back at Diana, who was stunned by the storm breaking and the sudden shift in behavior. Eventually she mumbled that she was fine with it. She figured nothing bad could happen in such a large crowd.

“Um, yea,” he said, nodding, clearly panicked. The tops of his hands were not too slyly pressed to Angelina's breasts.

“Why don’t you join the celebration?” Angelina offered, releasing him. “We brought nets full of fish and we're gonna crack open the ship's store of wine.” She leaned in towards him.

“Eh, uh, no, I uh, don’t like,” he stammered, looking to Diana for answers.

She kept her face stoney, trying to see the angle Angelina was going for. "I'll be fine, be safe, Jonah," she said evenly.

“I’m going,” Jonah said. He turned and walked straight back to the trio of Paladins.

Angelina sighed, turning to the Druid.

Diana stared at her. “Where are Gregore and Ozwalt?” she asked.

The Heroine glanced around at the masses of people starting their celebrations. Her expression was a placid pool, her scaled freckles shining in the sunlight. “They’re gone, you don’t need to worry about them anymore,” she said quietly. “The next time you see them they will have died in battle. They should have gone out in a blaze of glory hundreds of years ago. They were determined to never stop fighting… I know it was wrong to keep them in their state, I’m glad I had an excuse to send them away, finally.” This sigh was one of relief.

A pin had jabbed into Diana’s plans, her confidence, the air hissing out of it rapidly. She didn’t know how to recover. She gripped her staff, needing time to think. “Good…” she said weakly.

“Exactly,” Angelina said, grinning at her, tapping her breastplate with a fast finger. “Like I said, I got too mad and I’ve been treating you so horribly. Do you forgive me?”

How could she do this? How could she climb back up to the power she had before? It was there, the Hero's defeat, a moment ago, now it slipped from Diana's fingers. She shook out the fog, the surrounding noise. “No, you lied to me and Jonah. I know what the Wild Hunt smells like, you are hiding something,” she said firmly, finger pointed at her.

Angelina took her arm, guiding her towards the shadows of the buildings. “I was, and I’m sorry for that too,” she said with a frown. “Like Gregore and Ozzy, I’ve sunk pretty low to try and find Blodwyn. I…” She paused with a long breath. “I hired a Vampire to try and find her, they’ve got keen noses, you know that. It wasn’t right, and I’ve stopped. That’s what you smelled. I don’t think you’ve ever dealt with one, the Heroes ran into so many creatures during the war, so many deals happened that shouldn’t have.”

Disgust filled her, but another pin had jabbed another hole. She was ready to fight verbally, to pick out lies and to be insulted. This was too much openness. She had to push, for the final nail she knew. “Bed thumping, was that one of those deals?” she whispered.

The mermaid’s face tightened in sorrow, her arm going around Diana’s shoulders, her hand wiping across it. “There were millions of people in the war, Diana. I never partook in anything so horrible, so fucking vile. I swear I never harmed anyone that wasn’t trying to harm me.” Aiko could only hear heartbeats, and no liar's rise was in hers. There was passion in her declaration, tears in her eyes. “I would never hurt the innocent, you know my story, my origin. That…” She gestured to the clear walls of the town. “…shit claiming that Fia scryed on children. That’s all it is, absolute shit. She’s Moon Blessed, do you think the moon would ever show her the location of an innocent child.”

“You mentioned the Ash Makers all being accursed,” she said, thankful for her fast thinking.

“Is an actual child an Ash Maker?” Angelina replied. “No, no, I was angry, needlessly furious, that Kalyah wanted to heal one of Blodwyn’s soldiers. It was so fucking stupid of me, to harm my precious stray like that. I can’t tell you how bad I feel about it.”

Diana wanted to lay on the ground, that’s where she felt she belonged. What more did she have? How could this woman have an answer for everything? Did she still doubt her? “Will you cease your interaction with that Vampire, truly?” she asked, feebly.

“Of course! Of course, I told you I would and I’m a woman of my word,” Angelina stated, patting her back. “I’ll do you one better, we have had reports from the Cleric to rejoin the Heroes. He’ll be ready in a few days, and when he comes aboard he’ll ward the whole ship ten times over, I swear.”

“The Cleric? I thought he had no interest in rejoining?” Diana wondered. She felt lost, as if she were transported to another world like Jonah. One where all she had seen and suspected amounted to nothing.

“Oh, he’s a Grand Elf, they take forever to decide anything, you’ve heard that,” Angelina said, scoffing. “Didn’t your dad ever tell you about being stuck in one of their cities for three days trying to get a single book?”

“Yes, I suppose…” Diana didn’t know what she knew anymore. She checked behind her, making sure that Jonah was still real. He looked on, hopeful that something was being settled.

“Listen, is everything okay between us?” Angelina pressed.

“Yes, I suppose,” Diana repeated. Nothing was sure.

“I want you to deliver your first radio address from Graycliff,” she went on. “I know Blodwyn mocked our other celebration, but she had to get us back with a childish prank. If she had anything on us, any actual force, then she would have really attacked here. If she cries Watchdog again, then we’ll show up, I swear. But this time I’ll be expecting a joke, not the woman herself. How pathetic was that? A bunch of crude drawings in the rain? She looks like a child, and even acts like it too. I don’t know how anyone listens to her.” She gripped Diana's shoulder with a friendly shake. “What do you say, huh? Ready for your first address?”

“I…” All the air had hissed out and even though she was being treated as an equal, she might as well be a mouse to a lion. What choice did she have? “I will do it…” she said, her voice as hollow as she felt.

Jonah covered his ears as the people crowded around them. The mermaids approached him and the Paladins en masse. They were so similar in their ageless appearance, only their colors really changing, that they were disturbing to him. He couldn’t stand the models of Earth, the supposedly sexy women that filled magazines and advertisements. All their bodies were the same, trimmed and cut like they were poured into a mold. Those women didn’t look human to him and these mermaids definitely weren’t. Even worse they had highlights and shining lips on them, but it didn't appear to be powder or gloss, it was ingrained into their skin. He longed for Diana to return, he wanted her grounded appearance, her clever thoughts and wonderful laugh. She meant something to him, and these creatures were nothing but monsters.

Warren had to steer his face away from them, their laughter mocking and synced with each other. He kept his hands out as a shield, shrugging them off his shoulders as well. His cousin Sammy pushed them away with her arms crossed, a sneer on her face. She spat curses back at them, twisting as they tried to grab her hair. Old Bill glared at the women, keeping them away from him. He took Jonah close to his chest, running a finger along his forehead. A slight pressure encircled his head and the volume reduced with the pain and anxiety. As some kind of focus the older man held his fist closed, golden spines wrapping around it.

“A calming crown,” Old Bill said, patting Jonah’s shoulder. “Hope you feel better, son.”

“Yes, thank you,” he replied.

The Paladin’s eyes were set on Angelina, pointing a free finger at her. Along his hand spun more magical cords of thorns. “You two, make an exclusive Sanctuary, I ain’t got any focus left,” he ordered the others.

The two younger Paladins clapped their hands together as if in prayer. A bubble of translucent light grew out from them, encasing Old Bill and Jonah inside it. As the mermaids came closer they were rebuffed by the translucent walls. Their circlets stayed glowing with their hands, but they were able to talk and move their heads.

“What’s she saying?” Sammy asked.

“Hush, little one,” Old Bill whispered. He listened for several more minutes to Angelina and Diana talking in the shade. The Druid looked shattered and Jonah felt the urge to rush to her. The Corporal was grumbling under his breath the whole time and finally, the two women walked off towards the diner. Aiko was dragging its paws with every step, head hanging low.

Old Bill’s pointing finger broke the spell and he scratched at his face. “Woman moves an army of sea maidens to help divert a hurricane and still lies through her teeth,” he said, scowling.

“About what? What’s she lying about?” Jonah asked eagerly.

“Only one thing I know for sure,” the old Paladin said. “I was on her ship, I sniffed out the undead.” He stopped Jonah before he could interrupt. “She’s trying to say she had one visit, but that ain’t true. It was scrubbed clean, the deck and all. A few things were good and repaired, lots of Witch magic filling in pieces of wood. I know undead though, I slayed many a one in my time. Any Paladin old enough can sense them straight through the wood. There’s undead living on that ship. As I went lower, closer to the bottom, they vanished, they could scent me too. There are old creatures living on that ship.”

“Angelina’s pets and her hounds were two seperate mentions on that tape, uncle,” Warren added.

“Yes indeed, yes indeed,” the old man nodded. “Calm down there, son, no reason to fear. If Angelina wanted ya gone, she’d have done it. She’s mighty interested in keeping Diana’s favor, at least for now. Spinning all kinds of fancy tales to her. Play along when you get back, don’t do anything that could upset the balance, ya hear?”

“Yes, I do,” Jonah said, his trembling stopping as the crown on his head fed him a gentle warmth. He took in the crowd, a nightmare at this size.

“Warren, hun, you and Sammy take the boy somewhere to rest,” the man said, jerking his head to them.

“I need to go to Diana, she needs me,” he pleaded.

“No, not right now, see they’re bringing a radio in for her,” the old Paladin sighed. “How convenient to bring all that equipment with her as she starts apologizing to the princess. Ain’t nobody better to sing her praises than the princess of this kingdom.”

“Please, tell me what she said, all you heard, I need to know,” Jonah begged.

“I’ll send it to Warren, you need to get out of here, they’re bringing the town folk back now. Ten thousand more people are gonna line these streets soon.” He pointed to the north where massive crowds were entering from the surrounding forest. “I’ll keep an eye on the princess, don’t you worry, son.” He gently pushed him towards Warren.

As the Paladins broke their spell and the crown vanished, Jonah was drowned in an ocean of sounds.