The sun began to set once again, the day seemingly stretching on for only a few hours.

"It's this place." Ibryn said, watching as I gazed out one of the circular windows that lined Captain Talaedra's office walls. I turned to him in question. "Ecethis, I mean." He clarified. "The sun only remains up three hours a day; sunrise, midday, and sunset before night comes in for the remaining 21 hours." I nodded, more willing to believe this revelation than believe it had been 12 hours since I woke up this morning.

I had been summoned to the captain's office not long after we made our escape from the black ship. When I arrived, I found the captain behind her desk, Axe on her left, Nexus travelling over whatever maps and writing they were discussing. My eyes caught a sketch of a black ship with a plain black sail that looked like the one that had just attacked us. The two were whispering something as they looked at it. The captain rested her head in the palm of her hand, and Axe bit the inside of his cheek. Then there was Ibryn, who had apparently also been summoned, standing on the other end of the desk. The way he stood, straight-backed, attentive, and confident yet relaxed, it reminded me of the types of people I'd see Kael hanging out with. After a few moments of waiting, the captain sighed and leaned back in her chair, hers and Axe's gazes landing on Ibryn and I.

"So," Captain Talaedra started. "Axe and I were discussing how to speed up our progress." I nodded, although I was cautious as to why I was being summoned for this conversation. "Although we have the Crytal Key, we're still at a currentblock, and as you saw, it isn't safe to keep sailing aimlessly until we find out." The captain sighed, tapping her finger on her desk. "It seems that somehow, the information has gotten out that we have it. If we don't stay moving, we are leaving ourselves exposed for every pirate in the 8 dimensions to come steal it from us. So," she stopped tapping her finger, looking into my eyes with determination and conviction. "Our best chance is to get a clue from your echo-walking journeys." I held back a sigh; they had higher hopes than me that my memories would even be of any use. It was highly possible that Gran Shelly never shared any useful information to me about the Leviathan's Hoard. After all, she wanted a better life for me than theft and danger.

"There is only so long before you start to remember the information we need, but to guide your subconscious into the right direction, we plan to influence your conscious mind." At this, I shook my head.

"Don't tell me you plan to probe my brain with some other kind of torture device-" I started, my voice reflecting my irritation.

"No, no," Captain Talaedra cut me off, waving her hand as if to expel the idea. "Ibryn, this is where you come in." She glanced at Ibryn, then back at me. "I want you to teach Kota everything he needs to know about our worlds, geography, history, practical skills, and so on. The more you teach him, the more likely it is for us to trigger a memory that might surface while he is echo-walking." My brows raised slightly. I hadn't expected their approach to be so... easy? Civilised?

"Captain," Ibryn started, his tone level and respectful, "won't we be risking muddling his memories of what the Sea Dragon had told him, and what I have?"

Captain Talaedra nodded slowly, a small smile appearing on her face, before responding, "That was our thoughts too, Ibryn. However, Axe and I came to a decision. Its likelihood of benefiting us is higher than its risk of harm. Besides, we will be travelling to Anarath to pick up supplies and hopefully clear our trail; we don't it to be too obvious that we're smuggling an Eastilian across dimensions." She smiled in what appeared to be genuine amusement, likely imagining me not knowing the basics of the other dimensions. With that image in my mind now, I decided I was completely on board with their decision. After expressing this, the captains smile widened further, and Axe gave me an appreciative nod. We were then dismissed, and the two went back to stressing over the sketch of the black ship.

"Do they get like that every time someone attacks?" I whispered to Ibryn as we made our way to the exit. While I understood being concerned that a ship of pirates snuck up on you and began showering you with cannonballs, I also expected this wasn't a rare occurrence for people whose occupation is defined by angering others. Ibryn shook his head, however, his voice oddly serious.

"That wasn't just any pirate ship. That was the Void Omen. It never ends well for those who get Captain Einar Yarrow on their tails." Ibryn stated, his voice low and eery. "They say his crew act like they have nothing to lose by fighting, but everything to lose by being defeated."

~

"Hey, Kota! Watch this!" Pricillia called out to me. Her long pale yellow-ish blonde hair reached the back of her knees as she ran, each straight strand tossing side to side, flicking away the sprinkles of rain that tried to land on them. Her brown eyes were locked in front of her in concentration, a small frown pressing her pale freckled face. Her short legs moved with speed through soggy grass and mud, before she jumped into the air, throwing the ball into the rusty hoop that I'd tied to the tree in our backyard for her to play with. The ball soured through the air for a moment before falling cleanly through the hoop and landing on the floor. Just as I was about to cheer, Pricillia landed back on the ground, her feet slipping out from under her. She fell forward on her hands and knees, splashing mud from the wet ground all over her face, hair, and clothes. Tears began to well up in her big brown eyes before she started to cry, shifted into a sitting position, and began rubbing her knees with her hands.

I ran over to her side, panic rising inside my chest like a violently spreading flame. I could feel my heart begin to race, my hands began to shake, and my eyes grew wide as I stared at her. By the time I reached her and knelt in front of her, like I had just placed a mask of my own face on top of mine, I smiled widely at her, my voice even and my hands steady as they pat twigs off her shoulder. "You done it, Pricillia! That was your furthest toss ever!" I yelled, my teeth and my eyes crinkling. I began to shake her shoulders back and forth with both hands as I continued, "You're going to be the youngest basketball star ever!" Pricillia's crying paused as she looked at me for a long moment before she began to laugh loudly, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Your smile is so goofy!" She giggled, and I started giggling with her. "I'm such a mess." She mumbled with a small smile after the giggling had died down. She used her muddied hands to flick off mud from her pants, with little success. With a sly grin, I grabbed a hand full of mud from the ground, then splat it onto her pants where she had just wiped.

"Real sports girls wear mud with pride!" I exclaimed in mock exaggeration. Pricillia's mouth and eyes opened with shock before she grabbed a heap of mud in both her hands.

"You asked for this one!" She called out, her toothy grin exposing her missing front tooth.

"Maybe so, but you deserve all that's coming for you!" I exclaimed, mimicking her action. Just as we were about to throw our handfuls of mud at each other, and voice boomed from the doorway. My head snapped just as our mother strode toward us.

"You snake!" She called out, her feet crossing over each other as she stumbled toward us. The violent fire that I had been holding at bay engulfed my insides in its blazing heat. I sunk my hands into the mud to hide the way they shook. "I take my eyes off my baby for one moment and look what you've done to her!" She scooped Pricillia from under her arms, lifting her onto her feet. "Did you think it was smart to bring her out in this kind of weather! She'll be sick, poor baby!" She screamed, pat down Pricillia's face and hair to no avail, then tossed me a glare that made me flinch away. Although we were outside, the world seemed to be getting smaller, closing in on me like a guillotine ready to end it all. To suffocate the oxygen from my lungs and leave me gasping breathlessly like a fish out of water.

Pricillia, head down, went inside to shower at our mother's command. "You!" she snapped, whirling clumsily toward me. 'You're supposed to be the older one! You're supposed to protect her! How did I raise a bully!" Her hand made contact with the side of my cheek. It stung like a million needles. Everywhere. Everywhere hurt. The needles were under my skin, in my hands, in my blood and running straight to my heart, tingling painfully behind my eyes and jabbing into my ears.

"I-I was just playing." I managed to choke.

"Playing?!" She exclaimed, her voice thick with mockery, before she began to cackle loudly. Her voice was everywhere, making the world close in even faster. " 'You deserve what's coming for you'. Those words came out of your mouth! You think you're sly? Do you blame her just for being born, you selfish boy?" She hissed, the venom in her voice palpable. Selfish? It was ironic to hear it from her mouth. For the last three years, ever since Pricillia was born, I have taken care of her. I had put her to sleep when she cried or fed her whatever I could until she stopped crying. I had been three when she blessed me with her life. Every day was a new torture, but when I was with her, I could pretend everything was okay. The world was silent when I was with her until their voices tormented me once again. It pained me. Like needles, jabbing harder into my ears until I felt they would bleed. I closed my eyes shut and shoved the palms of my hands into my ears. "No excuses now that I've found you out, boy!" Her voice rang through my skull as her hand made contact with it. "Answer me!" Again. And again. And again. I counted every blow to calm myself. I told myself it would all stop when I reached five, then ten, then twenty. The counting soothed me, the rocking of my skull lulled me until I couldn't hear, couldn't feel. The world was dark, and all that existed in it was me, my counting, and the rocking of the world around me.

~

"This is very important information, Kota, I hope you're listening." Ibryn's voice snapped me back into reality. I was sitting at a table in his workspace that was covered in maps and pushed to its side were compasses and other devices I didn't recognise. I rubbed my temples, trying to rid last night's echo-walking vision from my head. Or could I even call it last night if it was always night here? It had been 12 years since I had seen my little sister; there was something otherworldly about seeing her, even in a dream. Like I was being transported to another life, where I was a smaller boy, with scarier problems.

I sighed, "I'm paying attention."

"Oh yeah?" Ibryn raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Repeat everything I said about the history and geography of the 8 dimensions." Leaning back in my seat with another sigh, I mustered my memory and began summarising his lecture.

"There are 8 dimensions, each once being isolated from others until the... third dimension, Kinagarth, used its advancing technology to discover the fifth dimension, Anarath. After that, dimensions began making connections, and cultures began bridging -"

"Do you remember why the dimensions are numbered?" Ibryn cut in quizzically.

"They're numbered in order of which is believed to be the oldest dimension to exist." I responded briefly.

"List them."

I narrowed my eyes at Ibryn's forwardness before speaking, "The first is Viashadell, a dimension where there is no natural ground, so its inhabitants live in citities in the sky. The second is Ishinon, which is entirely underwater -"

"Wrong." Ibryn cut in. My brows furrowed as I tried to recall his words.

"There is no ground above water." I corrected, to which Ibyrn nodded. I continued, "Since there is no land above water, its inhabitants are entirely sea dwellers. There is a sky above its sea, but everyone remains below it.

The third dimension is Kinagrath, which is the most technologically advanced dimension and their environment reflects that.

The fourth dimension is Repilar, a primarily jungle land.

The fifth dimension is Anarath, a primarily desert land-"

"And what's unique about Anarath?" Ibryn interrupted. I thought for a moment before answering.

"It's the hottest dimension?"

"Yes, but that's not the answer I was looking for."

"It is the most populated dimension?"

"Yes, but try again." Ibryn responded flatly.

"It's..." I started, my mind grasping for facts Ibryn had mentioned about this dimension, Anarath. "It's the most accepting dimension of outsiders! This leads to it being extremely popular for trade!" I responded with confidence this time.

The corner of Ibryn's lip twitched up slightly before he responded, "Is that it?". My shoulders fell in a defeat, and I nodded for him to give me the answer.

"Every dimension has one single livable planet, which we call a 'primary planet'. All except for Anarath, which has?"

"Three," I answered, deflated that I had forgotten this important fact.

"Their names in order of popularity, population, and size are Azodu, Sappathra, and Urither."

I nodded before he added, "continue".

"The sixth dimension is Laestrithan, a primarily mountainous dimension," I continued reciting. "The seventh is the one we are currently in, E...."

"Ecethis"

"The seventh is Ecethis, which is half ocean half city, and the most similar dimension to Earth, which is the eighth and final dimension." I finished. Ibryn raised an eyebrow in response.

"Earth is the planet, what's the dimension and what's its geography?"

I sighed, "Eastilas. And it is the most geographically diverse dimension, and the only one unaware of the other seven."

"Good." Ibryn nodded, leaning back in his chair, his fancy black and white attire clearly what he deemed as casual wear. His bold yellow jacket hung on the backrest of his chair, touching the floor. "Now I hope you will continue to remember this, because later tonight you will get to experience a practical lesson on the ground of Anarath."

-Interdimensional Pirates
-April Bluebird/@BlueWhiskers1
-29/Oct/2025
-Chapter 15: Lessons
-2510 words
-650 👁‍🗨, 75 🌟, 68 💭.