Year E3029

Ocea

Chilled water soaked my face as I choked on the air, a blurry vision of deep cannons touching the sky. The ship swayed between the rock walls while we floated down the narrow river. Water sickness built inside my stomach, swaying back and forth on the golden ship. The moons shined onto the liquid, mirroring them perfectly in the ripples.

"Wake up, purple beauty," the captain said from his chair of gold.

He hopped off the seat, kicked at a bucket, and sent it flying into one of his minion's heads. I shook my body, trying to loosen the golden ropes around my torso, and looked up at the tall pole. Thomas had his back to mine, tipped over with his head limp.

"Thomas," I whispered through my teeth.

Captain Ardit grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. He smiled while a golden insect crawled on his shoulder, chirping with its back legs. He picked up the bug and tossed it in his mouth, crunching down on the hard outer shell.

"Welcome to my ship. I named my grace Charidotella," he said with his mouth full.

I raised a brow, licking my dry lips. "It's lovely. Now, can we leave?"

He laughed, pointing at me while standing straight. "Oh, I like this one."

"She's not that great," the same girl who hung the enchanter said while standing next to his thrown.

She rolled her eyes, playing with a wooden knife. The gold scarf around her head helped tuck back her black hair. The blade tip picked at her teeth while she hummed in annoyance.

Ardit glanced at her with a smirk before slowly turning in a circle to look back at me. "Lady drama," he said with a high-pitched voice. "Untie the two prisoners!" he yelled, snapping his fingers.

Two enormous men cut the surrounding ropes while Thomas fell forward. He coughed until water poured from his mouth before glancing at me and changing his gaze to shock at the sparkling ship. A minion grabbed his arm, forcing him up while the other gripped me.

They forced us to Captain Ardit while he sat on his chair with his boots over the arm in a lazy position. He pointed at the man holding Thomas.

"Do the belch," he said, sitting up straight in amusement.

The man jumped with his hands in the air before he lowered himself to the ground and performed a push-up before jumping up again.

"Okay, you." He gestured to Thomas. "Repeat that until I say stop."

Thomas looked at me in disbelief before Ardit's side woman threw a knife at him and it stuck to the ground before Thomas's feet. He jumped in the air and made the motion, stumbling on the movements.

"Okay, cut the shit," I said with my hand on my hip. "What do you want from us?" I pointed at the ship and eyed down a few of his minions. "I know you are the bastard runaway of Queen Oryx and her forbidden lover, Jag."

Ardit jumped from the chair, smiling from ear to ear. "Brave of you to say their names."

I shook my head. "Brave of you to think I care."

He laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I glanced at Thomas, watching him plop to the ground, trying to do a push-up. His curls fell into his eyes while he panted out with exhaustion already. Ardit walked me to the ship's edge while we floated through the narrow canyon.

"I want to be part of helping the Saviors," he said, leaning against his hip.

"I don't have authority for that one," I replied, peeking at Thomas and back at him. "You will need to ask our head."

Ardit snickered, crossing his arms. "No," he picked at the bug pieces between his teeth. "I don't want to talk to the old man behind the desk who says he is the head of this group when a mole is walking around."

I glared at him. "How would you know?"

"You have people in wide places, while I have people in narrow places," he replied. "I know the MOS is getting information about your group when they shouldn't be."

"What information?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "Don't worry, the cerulean mole is keeping their mouth shut about your hidden base. Only missions and places of where one might be." Ardit wrapped his arm around mine, guiding me toward the ship's highest point. "For some reason, a girl with bright purple hair keeps coming up."

He let me go, waving for me to walk up the steps. I glared before strolling by him and taking every step until the wind caught my hair on the top. Ahead, there were people on the hillsides with golden butterflies hooked to their backs. Like statues, paint covered their skin while they kept still.

"Why are they after you?" he asked.

"I don't know." I glanced at him, seeing the black dust mites float around him, unable to run from his past of the Arid tribe. "Maybe I pissed someone off."

He smirked, shaking his head. "Maybe, maybe not, but I want to be part of helping you take down the Men of Suits."

I rolled my eyes. "And why? Your mother didn't care when they took over the City of Cerise."

"My mother was a coward!" he yelled.

Thomas paused and stepped toward the stairs with sweat running down his face. One pirate stopped him before the stairs while he made eye contact with me. I smiled, showing him everything had been okay.

Ardit exhaled. "My mother only did what she did so the MOS wouldn't come after the tribe. If she kept away from the city, the Men of Suits told her the Arid tribe would be safe."

"She picked her people over the others." I gazed at the lost prince, seeing the sadness in his eyes, but quickly faded to anger. "If she didn't, your tribe would have been like the Colossus tribe. Once the MOS found out the chips had not worked on them, they killed so many. There are small groups, but most roam the forbidden forest alone."

"Would you let a full city burn for the ones you rule over?" he asked, tilting his head and smiling at my lips. "Do you want to join my ship and become my queen?"

I laughed, stepping away from him. "Fuck off," I said, only making him gaze at me with desire.

"There are tons of perks to being with the lost prince."

He snapped his fingers, and his minions ran up to us with golden butterfly wings. One man grabbed the collar of my overcoat and stuck a knife into the material, ripping it down the back before I could protest. Dylan's jacket fell to the ship floor while I covered my breast with my palms, feeling the star insects still over my nipples with the sparkly see-through dress.

The prince whistled, biting his bottom lip, but bounced his eyes to his minions, noticing them watching me. "Cover her now," he said, and his men put the golden insect over my shoulder.

The gold wings of the butterfly lay over my torso, draping down to my upper thighs. I spun, glancing over my shoulder at the long wings brushing down my back with the black, smooth pattern from the flying bug. Dust flew around my face from the material, a sparkling glitter, while the moons tinted it blue.

His right-hand woman walked before him, tapping his shoulder. "Captain, our entrance is soon." Her eyes glared at me with a pout on her lips. "Do we ditch the skunks?"

Ardit snickered before placing his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "You need to get laid before this anger gets the best of you."

I laughed out of my nose, smiling while shaking my head.

"Shut up, bitch!" she yelled at me, stepping closer with her hands reaching.

I moved to the side, jabbing one hit into her throat. She coughed with wide eyes, her breath uneasy, a wheezy feeling in the air. Ardit held his stomach, laughing while she gripped her neck.

"Chief Marbal, please step aside and take a break in the cabin." He snapped his fingers, and a few men dragged her away. Ardit spun around, glancing at the night sky before clapping his hands. "Let's show our guests the edge of Safforia!" he yelled, causing the rest of the ship to howl like a flock of buzzing grass jumpers.

Thomas stopped as sweat dripping down his face. His eyes met mine for a moment before Ardit pointed at him.

"Hey, I didn't say stop!" he yelled while Thomas rolled his eyes and continued the exercise movement. "Yes, move, my tiny circus bug." He smiled at me and gestured to his chair. "Sit, my queen."

"I'd rather drown," I replied, watching the ship sway to the side, nearly missing the cliff.

Ardit smirked, raising a brow before bowing. The ship brushed long gold vines before dipping down and drifting through the cliffside into a hidden hole, a dark maroon cave, opening up to a waterfall of gold.

Enormous butterflies flew over us, landing on the ship while the gold jungle trees dripped gold water with gold dirt. My jaw dropped while Thomas spun, amazed by everything around us.

Ardit grabbed a wooden cup from the ground and walked to the ship's edge. He leaned over, filling the mug with gold water falling from the rocks before facing me. Downing the liquid, it ran down his chest, painting him gold. His laugh echoed as he slammed the jug to the ground. Gold dripped into his shirt and bare arms while he massaged it over his body.

His boots clicked on the wood floor as he stomped to me, grabbing my upper arm and pulling me back down the stairs toward Thomas. He threw me at him while Thomas caught my hips with his torso soaked from sweat. Ardit pointed at the sky, circling his fingers. His whistle pierced my ears while the butterflies covered the cave. The holes from the surface sprayed pale blue light, painting shadows of the insects.

A hot liquid poured on the top of my head, down my face, feeling like my soul lifted from my heart and bathed me with a miracle from above. My hands cupped my face with my fingers, smoothly removing the gold water from my eyes. Thomas placed his palms on my cheeks while his round browns gazed at me. The gold dripped down his head like molasses, covering his body in the miracle water.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, kissing my forehead.

I giggled, seeing the empty buckets in the pirate's hands. They dropped them, whistling in a low tone.

"Captain, looks like the gold had spoken."

"Shut up!" he yelled, crossing his arms. "Tie them up on the pole!"

"But, Captain," the pirate responded with concern.

"I said, tie them up!" Ardit yelled, stomping away and slumping into his chair. "The gold has spoken," he mocked childishly, crossing his arms. "Stupid gold."

A rough grip dragged me away from Ardit off the ship. The pirate stood a head taller than me, while a female pulled Thomas behind us. As we climbed the hillside, the golden boat sat in the shadows while the rest sang songs, drinking the water.

"Go," the male pirate shoved me toward a boulder, pointing at a hole with moonlight shining in. "Welcome to the worst death possible."

"What?" Thomas asked, dropping his jaw open and eyes to something in the distance.

While the two moons lit up our way out of the hole, a wooden pole on the cliff's edge shadowed the maroon blood and bones on the ground. A ticking echoed in the dark forest while the silhouette of long legs jumped.

"Orb-Weavers," Thomas whispered before three golden spiders leaped out of the darkness with silk dripping from their fangs.

I pulled my arm, trying to escape the pirate's grip. "Please," I begged. "I'll marry him." The spiders giggled, shivering with fear down my spine. "Don't do this."

"Sorry." He didn't glance at me while he dragged me to the pole and wrapped the rope around my wrists. "The gold water spoke, and zero match for you and Captain Ardit. You and this slump over here." His eyes looked at Thomas with a smirk. "Have a long-lasting love."

The female pirate laughed, tightening her rope around Thomas. "More like short-lasting love."

I pulled at the ropes, lifted my arms over my head, and wrapped them around the female. The gold tightened around her throat while the male pirate pulled out his knife, pointing it at me.

"Let us go!" I yelled, making sure the girl couldn't breathe. "Or she becomes the snack for the spiders."

The Orb-Weavers laughed, mocking the situation. All the spider's long legs stomped on the ground, drumming with excitement. They edged closer out of the forest, waiting.

"Let her go, you—" he yelled, but a spaceship rising from below the cliff side cut him off, hovering right above us.

The spiders ran off while the man dropped his knife in shock at the human spaceship. A yell howled as Stopper jumped from the open door onto the male pirate. I let the girl go, dropping her to the ground. Thomas grabbed the knife from the bloody dirt and cut the ropes smoothly.

Stopper stood with his foot on the man's head. "You ready for a grand exit?"

Wyatt hung from the door with his hand reaching to help. I grabbed onto his palm, pulling myself into the spaceship. Becca sat with Dylan up front, buckled in while she waved at me with a smile from under a helmet. Thomas and Stop jumped in behind me, and Wyatt shut the door.

Dylan's laugh echoed around as Stopper placed a helmet over my head and his. Everyone's voices sounded at once within the space cap.

"Welcome back," Stopper said, smiling at me before patting Thomas. "Almost spider dinner. Bet you love us now."

I maneuvered to position behind Dylan, and his eyes met mine as I pointed out the front window. "Next stop, the Nus." 

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