“Light it up, light it up my bredda,

You stalling with d blunt yah know?”

“Relax yuhself,” Jabari puffs away before passing it to his comrade

“I ain lying to tell yuh,” Jabari turns to us

“Alyuh did a madness ova here

Neptune gon bless alyuh up for sure for helping we, take back d factory”

“This was actually all Kage’s doing,” Lyra slaps me hard on the back

(……)

Resisting the urge to retaliate, I draw my knees close huddling near the campfire set up

A day has passed since we took the factory, the rest of the remnants and Posesidan and Neptune has moved in that time clearing the Island of it’s former Mv occupants

“So what exactly is your plan after this Lyra?” Himari speaks up

“We followed you along and helped these people retake this island, but our orders are still otherwise…”

…..

Toot-toot-toot!

The rare occurrence of an owl sounds within the night,

Lyra doesn’t answer the woman right away instead opting to lean back and stare at the clear sky

The moon in full view tonight makes for a bright night already coupled with the multiple campfires lightning up the Merde plains,

………

“So wait nah,

Lemme get this straight,

You, d snow fairy, was working with d UCA d whole time?” Zanzibar questions the girl

“No, I never have been working with them, I just cooperate sometimes so they don’t see me as a threat or something, once I’m done here, I am going home”

(If there is still a home to return to)

“Shut up Kage”

“What?”

“I know you are thinking something negative,

Zinnia and everyone else is still alive,”

“It feel like yesterday when it was us three Karina and Pinoki, trying to find the path to Furlheim city,” Apollo reminisces

(Many nights we would camp in fields similar to this)

…..

“Maybe it’s my fault things ended up this way,

If not for my curiosity we would never have climbed that mountain,

We wouldn’t even be here without Karina right now,”

“It is and isn’t” shrugs Apollo

“It is true if not for you none of this would have happened,

But then what?

We would still be Soterra, probably under Murdoc’s control right now,

And by proxy we would never have found out of Ginobelucci’s plan in Sweepstake,

So yeah, if you hadn’t showed up when you did Kage, Lyra, Zinnia, the twins, I and everyone else in Soterra right now, would probably be dead”

…..

“Hhhhh” Zanzibar breathes out smoke

“This is riveting yah know?

A couple months ago we was struggling to find food on these islands, desperate for survival,

Now we here fighting with super powered people trying tah take back what we loss,”

“How did you lose it in the first place?” I ask

“Satan, that man pull up on Fuscina one day–and lemme tell u bout Fuscina for a lil,

Thy basically d main hub on the islands everybody and they mother use to move to Fuscina, these Islands was already starting to get abandoned even before Satan come, Fuscina really big u see, and it have all d best tech, so it makes sense,

But nevertheless, that man Satan pull up on Fuscina, he say he was the new deity around these parts,

Obviously, we call him out on he bullshit,

Then boom

Bredda man kill bout half d people on Fuscina,

D prime ministers of the two biggest Cities Atlan and Pulgin surrender one time everybody else who wasn’t a coward either die trying to fight back, or become like us who leave Fuscina, to build up strength on the islands,

But like d man had done already take over all d supply islands so wah become a plan to fight back became an survival game,”

“How come the UCA didn’t step in back then?” Apollo questions Himari

“This might sound harsh but the UCA does not care what happens to the Caribbean,

You aren’t apart of the alliance so there really is no benefit in helping,

We have only just now decided to act here, because the crime boss known as Satan has been affecting the governments business”

“Affecting them how?” I quiz her

“I wish I knew all I was told is that it is top priority to deal with Madvillainy,”

(I wonder what changed)

“Well, they didn’t need your government back then, and they don’t now,

I can take care of this” Lyra proclaims

“I don’t think you should be underestimating Brandon,” Apollo warns

“How well do you two know this Satan?” presses Himari

“Between Lyra’s insane determination to be the one to kill him and you calling him by name,

Is there more to this?”

(Spot on)

“Well, errm, as the technical king of Soterra, I see no reason why I shouldn’t know the names of my past subjects” fibs Apollo

Himari folds her arms disapprovingly not buying that excuse in the slightest

“You a King forreal?” the Neptune leader asks intrigued

“On a technicality,” Apollo mutters shamefully

“Ite, ite, ite people, d perimeter secure, it hah no Madvillainy men nearby so we safe for tonight,” Jabari the delegate of the Neptune side of the remnants arrives sitting near the fire

“Dawg you could interrupt in d most outta timing moments” Zanzibar barks

“Ok and you issa a Poseidon, talk done”

“What is the difference between the two?” I butt in before the two could begin to argue

“Well, we know that the sea is in fact alive and has a will of it’s own” Jabari starts

(Started speaking proper all of a sudden)

“That will is known as Neptune, and is revered as a god,

Neptune says doing anything to harm the sea is forbidden, do not pollute her, do not abuse her, treat her like you would treat your own flesh and bones,

And we know this through as anyone who harms the sea is ultimately killed by it.”

“And that is bullshit hoarse,” Zanzibar counters

“The will of the sea is Poseidon, it says the sea is to be conquered, the sea is a raging beast that must be tamed, use it as you like, live for the sea, live yourself to the fullest in the sea,

But when it is all over, everything that you have taken from the sea,

You must pay it back by returning to the sea in death.”

“This is what I dealt with regularly” groans Lyra

“I was told that Poseidon and Neptune were just larger pirate organizations,” Himari mumbles under her breath,

(Live in harmony with the sea, or to live as a conqueror of the sea)

“Fuscina is the home island to both of your faiths,

How do you two who oppose each other live together?”

“We don’t, simple,” Zanzibar shrugs puffing away,

“Fuscina is dived into two, Atlan and Pulgin, the holy cities are separated by Hades the volcano, it is impossible for the two sides to interact without making the way around by sea,”

“That seems needlessly tedious” Apollo comments

“I%%%®@#*#*!”*©” Lyra says

..?

(What’s going on?)

—[email protected]#$%^&*&^%$#@@#$%^& [email protected]#$%^&*&^%$#@@#$%^&

(Aghh!

What is that loud buzzing al of sudden!)

[email protected]#$%^&*&^%$#@@#$%^&

(“he……….”)

(…....!!??

What is wrong with you–me?)

(“H%#E I!*S [email protected]#L%R^[email protected]#A!&D^$Y H#$E%&R*^E!”)

“And a one-two-three-four Start!”