"Vaknaou!"

Joshua woke up to the slamming of a mug on the table right in front of the cockpit of the ship. The boy opened his eyes, did a quick stretch, and looked to see that it was the captain who woke him.

"Enginn svefn á akkerisvalt!"

Joshua was heavily confused and dazed.

"What?"

Before the captain could open his mouth and yell again, the chief engineer arrived and quickly translated.

"Herra Dun, falling asleep during anchor watch is not permitted."

"Yeah, I fucking knew that!"

The captain slapped Joshua across the face; leaving a clean red mark. His chance of gaining respect was slowly withering away, and he knew there was no chance to impress the captain.

Taking the mug that was in front of his face, Joshua quickly realized that it was black coffee. The chief engineer knew this, as he was the one who sent the captain to wake him up.

"Svart kaffi." The chief engineer said; scooting the mug close to Josh. "Drink it."

Josh did as commanded and drank the black coffee, which tasted bitter and disgusting. He tried not to drink the rest, but the chief engineer threatened to shove the rest of the coffee down his throat.

So, he complied.

Joshua knew he deserved it.

After finishing the coffee, Joshua switched shifts with the next crew inmate, then skipped breakfast to go back to his cell. He didn't feel he deserved to eat that day.

~

On the way back to his cell, Joshua ran into one of the prison officers, which happened to be the same officer that Eloise attacked with his whip.

Joshua tried to avoid confrontation with the man, but there was no way around it.

"Hvao ert pú ao gera hérna?" The officer asked.

Joshua knew what the officer asked him: why was he here and not in the chow hall. This time, he did not back down, and used his best Icelandic skills to respond.

"Í klefann minn, sir."

He told the officer he was going to his cell.

The officer eyed the inmate for a short instant before backing up and signaling to him that he could pass.

"Haltu áfram, fangi."

Joshua obeyed and walked down the long hall to get to his cell.

When he arrived, Eloise was already there on his top bunk. He looked as if he was waiting for Joshua to return.

"Joshua, you're back!"

The boy helplessly nodded; sitting down at his bottom bunk.

"Hey, El."

Eloise came down and sat next to his friend.

"Pú ert í blús." He said. "Why the long face?"

Joshua buried his head in his hands. He did not want to speak.

"I can't talk about it."

Eloise patted Joshua on the back.

"Let me guess, the skipstjóri isn't impressed with you anymore."

Joshua lifted his head back to Eloise.

"How did you know?"

Eloise smiled.

"Spies know everything."

"I don't believe you."

"Pao er sannleikurinn! We have more power than anyone on this ship, even higher than Kemp."

Joshua knew of the superior power that Eloise and the other spies possessed, but to be higher than Marshall Aron Kemp? That could not comprehended.

"So, you see?" Eloise said. "You are safe with me."

When Joshua heard his friend say this, his thoughts immediately drifted back to the young boy that he saw on the bridge deck. He was so curious about him that he needed to know who he was.

Since Eloise had many secrets as a spy and had been at least around everyone on the ship, he thought maybe he would know something.

"El, there's something I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

Joshua took a deep breath.

"There is... this boy."

"A boy?" Eloise asked.

"Yes." Joshua replied. "A boy."

"What about this boy?"

"I saw him the bridge deck right before I went to do my shift. He looked very mysterious, and had the most beautiful face I'd ever seen, but with pink hair."

Eloise thought for a moment. Where had he seen a young boy with pink hair? But then, he remembered seeing a boy on the same bridge deck Joshua had mentioned while he was translating for a crew inmate.

He knew who Joshua was talking about.

"I know who you're referring to, Joshua. However, I must warn you that the boy must not be trusted."

Joshua was confused.

"Why do you say that?"

"Young inmates on this ship are deyfa."

"Deyfa?" Joshua asked.

"Mute." Eloise replied. "The young inmates on the Fangelisi ship are mute. So, in the case of the young boy you speak of, he is deyfa."

"Why is that? I've never heard of that concept before."

Eloise pulled his friend close to him, right to the point of eye contact. He raised his finger in the air; demonstrating his warning.

"Deyfa cannot speak unless told to speak."

Eloise pointed out the barred window of their cell, as if he was pointing at the young boy.

"Your little friend who sits alone on the bridge deck, he is not allowed to speak, so don't get any ideas."

With those words spoken, Eloise let go of Joshua and jumped back up to the top bunk, where he quietly slipped into a morning slumber.

Joshua remained awake; repeating the warning in his head.

"Deyfa cannot speak unless told to speak."

The warning was so ominous and frightening, it haunted poor Joshua to the point of having his mind completely destroyed, but only through his dark and twisted mind.

How could Eloise know that that mysterious boy was deyfa, or mute?

Why did it happen?

What caused the young boy to fall victim to the dominion of being deyfa?

Why was he on this Fangelisi ship going to the unknown regions of Husavik, a ship that no longer feels waves, but only the tide.

If Joshua wanted answers, he had to meet the mysterious young boy himself.

~

A/N: hey everyone! it's Hannah! i don't normally give a message at the end of a chapter, but since it's new year's eve, i might as well!

first of all, happy new year! im so thankful for all of you and for the support on my fics. they mean a lot to me and im very blessed that i get to do them for you! im so excited for the new year 2025! there will be new and exciting fics coming soon!

for an extra bonus, i want to do a face reveal. the last time i did one was when i was 16 year old, and when i wrote a story called, "i fell in love with a merman". now that its almost been 8 years, and since im about to turn 23 in 3 months, i might as well go ahead and show myself so you'll know who i look like

here i am!

i dont consider myself to be very pretty, but let me know what you think!

i hope y'all have an amazing new year! i love you guys so much! and as always, thank you for supporting me! i do this all for you!