The next morning Truly wakes up with a hell of a hangover after her and Kade's night of partying with his frat brothers and guests. She reaches over Kade to check the time, only to find a text from her mother asking her to call her as soon as possible with a list of questions about Christmas and Kade's mom.

With a grunt, knowing it's probably to reconfirm their winter solstice plans, Tru wiggles herself out from between Kade and the wall to get dressed and head outside to talk to her. No point in wakin' him up over her obsessiveness.

Instead of pulling on her clothes from the night before, she grabs his shirt and puts it on. It's quicker and easier.

Before she leaves, she gives him a light peck on the cheek and slips out from the room. As she quietly closes the door, a creak across the hall catches her attention. To her surprise, a worse for wear pirate is backing out of Killy's room.

Truly stares in shock as Heather turns around to sneak down the hall. When the girls' eyes meet, Heather freezes in her tracks. "What are you doing here?!" Heather hisses out.

Truly raises a brow at her and points over her shoulder. "T'is is me husband's frat house. I'm comin' out of me husband's room with me husband in it. What are ye doin' here?"

Heather straightens up. "I was too drunk last night to walk home."

"Oh, aye?" Truly chuckles as her gaze drifts behind Heather, knowing full well whose room she just walked out of, and judging by her well-fucked hair, she wasn't just sleeping in there.

"It's not what it looks like." Heather grows frustrated with Truly's accusing looks.

"Noh? Cause it looks like ye got yerself well fec-"

"Nothing happened." Heather quickly cuts her off and hurries down the hall.

To Truly's amusement, she doesn't make it far before Killian sticks his head out in only a pair of boxers and sporting several new hickies. "Uni you forgot these." A thong suddenly dangles in his hand.

A look of horror briefly crosses Heather's face. "Those aren't mine."

Killian rests his forearm against his door frame. "Oh, are we going with the storks thing cause of Sparkles?" He dips his head towards Truly.

"Oh, my god." Heather turns back and jerks the panties out of his hand. "Of all the fucking mornings this one you had to wake up early."

Killy raises a brow as a grin crosses his lips. "Now Uni, you know very well you didn't give me a chance to actually fall asleep." His eyes shift to Truly. "She's very competitive."

An amused smirk spreads on Truly's face.

"Last night didn't happen." Heather tells him, not wanting her drunken mistake spreading through Psi and Theta like wildfire. She pauses for a moment. "Or this morning."

Behind her, Truly snorts. "Not sure why ye got yer knickers in a twist. Everyone t'inks ye two are togetha, anyway." Toying with Heather, Truly gestures to herself. "I mean, I didn't just appear outta t'in air."

Heather casts a glare towards Truly over her shoulder. "You're not helping."

"Oh, I donno about t'at. Ye two sexual tension is so t'ick ye could cut it wth a knife. 'Bout time ye finally did somet'in' about it."

Behind Truly, the door to Kade's room opens, and the man leans against it wearing only a pair of night shorts low on his hips. "What's going on?" He mutters, his eyes squinted against the light of the hall. "What time is it?" He blinks a few times, clearly not fully awake.

"Seven, luv, I jist got up ta call me mum."

Registering Heather in the hall along with Killy, a smirk pulls up at the corner of Kade's lip. "Morning, Heather."

Heather grunts in defeat. "Morning, Kade. I'm going home." With that, she turns and hurries down the hall before anyone else walks out of their damn room to find her there.

A yawn escapes Kade's lip as he stretches. "If ye want to head to the Black Raven, we need to get moving. I have to do it during their closed hours, when only the staff is here."

"Aye, I guess I'll call me mum on ta road." Truly glances down at her phone. "She wants ta know what kind of tree ye mum wants at ta house, and somet'in' about hang sock ova our fire pit." Truly's nose wrinkles up in confusion. "Ye put trees in ye house and burn ye socks?"

"Yes, and nooo?" Kade shakes his head. The tree we decorate with ornaments is an evergreen, a pine tree. You put lights on it and a star on top." Going back into his room, he waits for her to close the door before he changes. "Ye put stockings." His eyes flick over to her. "Not those kind ye lasses wear, on the mantle so Saint Nick can place presents in it, but that's for kids who've been good. The bad ones, the Krampus, comes and scares into line. The rest of us exchange gifts in the mornin', but I told ye she doesn't have ta do that."

"Wait," Truly stills as she pulls her clothes out of her overnight bag. "T'at red fat man is gonna break inta our house?"

Kade snorts. "Aye, comes right down ye chimney and steals the cookies ye dared ta leave him only ta give ye gifts in return. Right bastard. He's quick too. No one's caught him yet. They say his ship's fast enough ta loot the entire world in a single night."

Truly's eyes narrow. "We don't have a chimney."

Grabbing a shirt from his closet, Kade pulls it over his head. "Doesn't stop the man. There's no fort secure enough, no ship fast enough ta out run his rig."

"I don't like t'is man. Me dah and brotha's aren't gonna appreciate him showin' up. He can fix his own damn cookies." Truly slips on her olive-colored jersey knit top and jean shorts.

Kade laughs. "He leaves kids loot. He touches nothing besides the cookies and a glass of whatever ye left for him ta drink."

"Well, t'en let him break in ta ye house, but he ain't welcome in mine. Creepy old man walkin' around me house eatin' me sweets, jist ta get a poor tree sacrificed ta him." Truly shakes out her cream-colored kimono with like pink flowers on it before slipping it on.

"Yer just mad he's eatin' your cookies." Kade grins as he slips on his flip-flops and grabs his keys and wallet off the desk. His eyes run over her. "You ready? We can still grab breakfast before we head out or get something along the way."

"Along ta way." Truly snatches up her knitted purse. "Gettin' whateva is in t'ere has been grating at me all night. Like t'ere somet'in important in t'ere."

As he moves to the door and opens it, Kade turns to face her. "You realize that ship's been stripped for centuries, right? They took the original furniture out long ago to use in houses and such. Even the real guns got repurposed. Everything aboard now is only of the time."

"It's still t'ere. I'm sure of it." Truly walks out, going over the images in her head that she was the night before.

When they get to the museum commemorating the original founding family, he leads her to the Black Raven is dry-docked. Sliding his passcode, he opens the security gate and holds it open for her.

"We need ta go ta t'e cappy's quarter."

"Alright, but mine's a near replica of this. There's nothing here."

Truly gives him an unamused look before walking up the gangplank and heads to the Captain's quarter. Kade pulls out a set of keys that lets them past the thick plexiglass that protects the room from visitors.

"Okay," Truly says, more to herself than Kade, as her gaze zones in on the bed off to the left of the room. "There's a pressure lock behind ta mattress t'at opens a compartment below."

Aware his current one has nothing of the sort, Kade gestures for her to go ahead.

"Come on, e omen, don't let me down." She takes a breath in and holds it as she climbs up on the bed and feels for the spot Drake showed her. Time has made the trigger stiff but Truly pushes hard enough that the spot gives, and a pop sounds out from below her. Jerking back, she looks down to see the hidden drawer edged out.

"Fuck me sideways." A look of sheer disbelief crosses Kade's face as he strides over to the bed. "How the bloody hell did you know to do that?"

"Drake showed me. I told ye. Really? Who did ye t'ink I was talkin' ta last night?" Truly's eyes narrow on him. "Ye t'ink I'm crazy, don't ye."

"No, yer cute and quirky," Kade counters as he kneels beside the bed, knowing better than to walk into that loaded musket. He carefully riffles through the drawer. "I should have them special gloves on for this," he mutters under his breath as he carefully lifts several parchment drawings of what looks like the Black Raven and her crew.

Truly's eyes wide from above when she notices a white box. She can feel herself being pulled to it. "T'at." She points down. "I need t'at box."

Kade shifts a few more pieces out and places them on the bed in order to safely free the box before he gently sets it beside her on the bed. "Careful with it, any of this could fall apart in yer hands. I should be callin' in the head of archeology for this." Remembering he should be taking pictures of his findings first in case anything's damaged in the process, Kade pulls out his phone and starts snapping shots of the drawer and its contents.

"I realize, Kade, t'ough," she points to a silver piece in the drawer's corner. "T'ere was a preservation spell put on it." Truly carefully lifts the top of the box to reveal a rough hemp rope tri-cord, painstakingly knotted with intricate designs, pieces of silk ribbon, doubloons, and shells tied within and to the ends of it. Her heart swells at the sight of the tied cord as a smile spreads across her face.

"What's in it?" Kade's eyes flick to her as he pulls out a large journal with a black raven engraved in the corner of the leather.

Truly picks the box up and lowers it over the edge for him to see.

You're kidding me... A look of disbelief crosses Kade's face. "Is that what I think it is? On me great great... whatever the feck he is ta me's ship? He was married?!"

"Aye." Truly's smile softens. "T'ey got married."

"When?" Kade rises to his feet, the journal still in hand. "Where?! Why in bloody hell was there never mention of this?!"

Truly points to the leather book, somehow knowing exactly what it is. "T'at's a journal, me luv. It's all in t'ere, and in t'e others still in ta drawer."

His eyes drop to the journal, and against his better judgment, he flips it open, his eyes dropping to near pristine pages. Sharp, elegantly done lines and dots fill the pages, but it's not in anything he can read. It should have been in old English. Drake was English. "I can't bloody read this."

Truly leans over the side, recognizing the Atlantean. "Oh, well, t'at's too bad."

A look of irritation briefly crosses his face as he realizes she seems to recognize it. "Ye know how to, don't cha."

"Aye, but I'm not doin' it for ye again." She leans back and looks at the sketches next to her. "Ye got mad at me ta last time I tried ta help ye. Right t'ank ye for it." She gives him a quick glare before snapping her eyes back to the papers.

Kade's lips thin. "I didn't realize it was an actual language. I thought maybe one of his crew who came from Africa did it as a way ta pay tribute to him."

"E, eh sekaah rroh esssallawa oo rroh yeh sas makaah." Well, good luck on reading it on your own then. Truly mutters to herself. "None of Drake's crew knew where ta trove was. He didn't trust t'em."

"How do you know that?" Kade throws an arm out. The lack of logic to support this contradicts everything he bases things on, and it's driving him mad.

"Seriously?" Truly throws her hands out. "What ta hell did ye t'ink I was doin' last night? Talkin' ta te voices in me head?! I should've showed ye what tarot cards to. T'at would have really tripped ye little mind up."

"Ghosts aren't scientifically logical! One can't separate one's consciousness from one's body." Dropping the journal on the bed, Kade paces, running his hands through his hair. "This doesn't make sense. There has ta be a rational reason for this."

Truly sighs and gets up from the bed after placing the lid back on the tri-cord box. "It's gonna be a long day."

A deep chuckle softly fills the air from the stern of the cabin.

Truly's gaze snaps over to the desk by the large pane windows. "T'is isn't funny, ye know. Ye've ruined me whole day, and broke me luva."

"Oh, but it is, lass," Drake's voice mirthfully retorts as the man phases into view in only his breeches as he leans against his desk. "The boy needs a good dash of reality if he's ta handle what's to come. Better ta knock him to his proper senses with things he can't explain. Besides, if he can't handle it, ye got me." He grins, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "He's already got a good part of me in him. Doubt it'd be too hard ta slip in."

"Don't ye dare, ye keep yerself in ta netherworld, and let him alone." Truly crosses her arms. "I'll cast yer arse out, dont t'ink I can't."

Stilling, Kade's attention snaps to her. "He's here?" The look on his face and the way his body tenses reminds her of a child, unsure if they should bolt or not from the monsters that may or may not be under their bed.

"Aye." Truly reluctantly tell him.

As his stance turns to one who intends to stand his ground, Kade's eyes harden and instinctively turn towards the door. "Yer a bloody git. You hid ye were married and made everyone think we were bastards. The whole bloody line!"

Truly sighs and grabs Kade's arm before gently turning him toward the desk where Drake is.

A brief look of surprise fills Kade's eyes as he tries to process how someone could come in from over there when the windows are closed.

"T'ey don't use door and window, luv." Truly answers the unasked question that's written all over his face.

"Then why the hell do we bloody salt them?"

Truly gives him an unamused look. "Cause t'ey are still portals and it closes off ta entire dwelling. It represents entry, t'at why."

Drake smirks, knowing the poor kid's about at his limit. "He's gonna need this." For a moment, the energy around him builds as he puts effort into coming across the physical plain. The temperature in the cabin drops a few degrees as the bottle of rum on the desk suddenly slides several inches towards them.

At the sight, Kade stiffens and jerks Truly firmly behind him. "I'm dreamin'... it's the only thing that makes sense."

Just to help him out, and for her sadistic pleasure, Truly pinches his ass hard.

Kade jerks forward, "Fuck, woman!" His eyes snap back at her.

She shrugs her shoulders. "Jist showin' ye t'at ye ain't dreamin'." Truly struggles to hold back a smirk.

"Yer enjoyin' this, aren't ye?" His eyes narrow.

"Oh, aye." She laughs. "Ye've been given' me humoring looks for months t'inkin' I'm jist quirky. What do ye t'ink about me mirror and t'unda now?"

As he watches and leans against his desk, Drake attempts not to laugh, knowing neither's wrong. She is a tad quirky.

Truly leans around Kade, glaring at Drake. "I heard t'at. Don't ye start."

"I can't help it, lass," he casually throws a hand to the side. "It reminds me of going ta the West Indies when I dove in after me son and found he suddenly had a bloody tail. Me own wife thought I'd briefly lost me mind, but it isn't every day yer son turns mer on ye. I had ta repeatedly demand Amph get in the fecking sea too, without sayin' why. Woman made a right scene herself when she finally did."

Truly rolls her eyes before turning her attention to Kade. "Do ye want ta see him for yeself?"

"Yes," Kade retorts almost instantly, needing to know he's not going mad.

"I can't hold it for too long, it takes a lot of energy." She warns before taking Kade's hand and pulling him over to the desk. She glances over at Drake and says in her native language since he knows it. "Keep me family secrets jist t'at, secret. Don't go droppin' t'at bomb on him."

"Aye lass, ye have me word."

Truly nods and plants herself on the desk. "Be civil, both ye." Truly interlaces her fingers with Kade's before looking over at Drake. "I'll need ye hand too, do worry, ye won't go t'rough t'is time." She holds her hand up to him.

Shifting his weight, Drake drops his hand, only to raise a brow when he finds himself holding her hand. "Nifty trick, lass. Why the bloody hell did ye not do it, Amph. Sorry, habit."

"Ye'll see." Truly closes her eyes as she concentrates hard and closes her eyes. Around them, the world shifts, phasing in and out, before they suddenly find themselves standing in the Captain's cabin just like it was in the fifteen hundreds when Drake piloted it himself.

As the boy's eyes focus on him and shock fills them, Drake can't help himself and leans forward. "Boo."

To his amusement, Kade jerks slightly back and glares as his free arm instinctively comes up to deck the man.

"For bein' me, ye sure lost me ability at quickly adapt, boy. Must've kept that for meself," he taunts.

Kade's expression hardens. "I'm not you."

"Clearly, I'm standing here. Now make this quick, yer hurting me Amph," he nods to Truly, who's suddenly looking worse for wear.

A frown crosses Kade's face as concern fills his eyes. "She's not yers, yours is long dead."

"Technically true, but she still holds me Amph just as ye got a but if me in ye. The world's not as black and white as ye hoped, and the truth's often jaded. As for yer little rant before, those who needed ta know knew, and those who didn't, didn't, it's as simple as that. My fleet knew the score. They also knew ta keep their traps shut. Amph saved them enough times ta prove her loyalty to them. They weren't about ta turn on her. That archipelago though..."

A stern look crosses his face. "That was only ever meant ta be a base of operations. That's what Davelvon, and I agreed ta, not settling down, and after that stunt of Brigit's." A scowl crosses his face, showing his opinion on trapping sirens and using them like that. "I couldn't trust the lot of them ta not kill me sons and wife. But nor could I afford to have the land and sea both against me. So we hid it and I took her ta the West Indies with the intent never ta return, but fate had other plans."

"Kade." Truly softly says, reaching her limit.

Both their eyes snap to her with their looks of concern.

"She's spent. If ye want to read those, ask yer wife nicely, and use the first one Amph made me that's in there. I didn't know how to bloody read either, boy. Also, this won't make much sense now, but when the time comes, I need ye ta swallow that pearl she gives ye. If ye want her forever ye'll do it."

His eyes shift to Truly. "Do it soon, lass, or ye could end up forever regretin' ye hadn't. Now apologies, but..." Drake nimbly angles his body and kisses Truly on the lips. "I love ye, me siren. Come back ta me and the boys when yer done." He mutters swiftly in old Atlantean as he releases his grasp upon her and vanishes from sight. The words, "Catch her, lad," a mere whisper in the air.

Suddenly finding themselves back on the dry-docked ship, Truly tumbles forward off the desk, making Kade catch her before she hits the floor. Blood trickles out of her nose, and she feels as if she's run a marathon for three days straight. She's only tried this spell one other time, and the results after were too unbearable to ever attempt again. For Kade, though, it was worth it this one time if it meant helping him believe in something bigger.

Scooping her up into his arms, Kade carries her to the bed and, careful not to damage what's on it, lays her down. "Are ye alright? Do I need to call a medic? How'd ye even do that?"

"Noh," Truly weakly replies. "I jist need ta rest."

"Ye can do that here. I'll tell them the Raven's closed taday. They might give me a bit of hell over it but it's in me rights."

"I need ye ta try to do somet'in' for me, Kade." Truly reaches up and touches just under her nose, feeling a sticky, wet, warm liquid. When she pulls it back, bright red blood coats her fingers. "Do ye know how ta summon spirits?"

"In theory." Grabbing the back of his shirt, he pulls it off and hands it to her to use for her nose. "Mama Adébáyọ̀s' shown me a few times, but I admit was half paying attention. Why? What do ye need me to do?"

"I need ye ta try, lv, try ta bring Orison here." Truly's gaze drifts over his shoulder. "What I did isn't safe for me soul, and I need someone on ta other side lookin out for me."

Doing his best to remember the words Mama taught him, Kade closes his eyes and envisions the man he's seen and read about. The image tweaks a bit as the part of him that's Drake corrects it to what it recalls. Keeping the man in mind, he repeats the words Mama taught him. "Orison Davelvon, reveal thyself to me. By the right of me blood, by Drake Brovern's command, I summon ye to me side ye damn Irishman."

It isn't long before Orison phases in next to him, frustrated that someone other than his own would summon him until he sees Truly weak not only physically but spiritually too. As dark shadows creep in near her, he soon realizes he's not the only one that's noticed her vulnerability. 'Feck me sideways, lass, tell me ye didn't try a connection again."

"He's here," Truly sighs out in relief before letting herself slip into unconsciousness.

"I know." Kade's eyes flick to the man who appears oddly see-through. "Is there something else I need ta do besides close off access ta this ship? Protection wards? I might be able ta get salt from within or ask someone to fetch it for me." He brushes a strand of hair lovingly from her face.

"Noh, t'ere ain't nothin' else ye can do for her. It's too late. Except maybe get her a drink when she walks up. Ta girl's head is gonna feel like it split wide open." Orison walks over to her. "Can't believe ye make her do somethin' like this, ye little shite. Never mind ta fact that it take a lot outta her, and is bloody painful, but ye got all sorts of demons and nasties seein' a nice opportunity take take her meat suit." Orison glares at the boy. "Hope whoever ye were talkin' ta was worth it."

Kade stiffens. "She didn't mention the risks, or I'd have told her where ta shove the idea, and it was Drake if it matters. He told her something last night that had her asking ta come here. Then she triggered that." He nods to the drawer. "If you being here keeps things away, he wouldn't have allowed it either since he says she's Amphitrite, his wife, too apparently." He eyes the man, trying to gauge if he knew or not. "

"That gobshite fecker, definitely wasn't worth it!" Orison glares around the room. "Yelly-livered blaggard cut and ran, I see." His attention turns back to Kade. "And aye, she not only looks just like her, but is her, in a sort. Amphitrite's souls in t'at body of hers."

"Ye knew? That they were married."

"Aye, I knew. Amphitrite was me motherin-law after all. She and Pasha were close, too. Plus, I raised t'ere bloody kids as me own."

"Yet ye let Dour think he was a bastard all his life while ye claimed his brother as yer own? Half of me line is likely hidden thanks to that while the rest of us have to suffer the curse alone." A look of disbelief crosses his face. "And why was both the land and sea against him? What happened to the covenant? Why was he left ta fight alone?"

"Dour knew who his parents were and t'at t'ey were married, lad. Don't go assumin' shite t'at ye don't even understand. Pasha and I couldn't claim Dour as our own since we didn't have any ourselves." Orison grows frustrated, and the air turns cold around him. "If ye haven't noticed, women have a tendency ta change as babes grow in t'ere womb. When Merrik was born we had just had one ourselves, and could play ta kid off as our son's twin. As far as not lettin' others know about t'em bein' married, it wasn't our call, t'ough I agree t'ey made the right choice. As far as ta whys go, and ta land and sea bein' on Drake's tail, ye'll have ta find out from ye wife. It ain't me place ta step in."

"You were there, not her, and ye could have told Merrik later in his life, but I suspect ye didn't. " Kade grumbles as he jerks his phone out and calls the museum to tell them his ship ain't open today. Not giving them a chance to argue with him on the matter, he hangs up. With nothing better to do, he rifles through the drawer, pulling out the rest of the papers and journals.

"Ye are just as delightful as yer predecessor." Orison fluffs his overcoat before sitting next to Truly, though the bed doesn't dip under his weight. "Me poor girl ended up tied ta ye... again."

Kade cuts him a look. "I've heard the tales of you. Including the shite you blamed on him by using his name and not your own while at port. You were far from a delight yerself. Bet there's even more in these." He gestures to the journals before him. "If I can just figure out how ta bloody read them." He grumbles to himself as he flips open each one, hoping to find something he can read.

A smug smirk spreads across Orison's face. "Can't read Atlantean? T'at's a shame."

"I'm fluent in five languages. Forgive me for not knowing one, only the three of ye seem to know. I tried looking it up when I found him looking like he was just asleep in the bloody vault surrounded by this." He jabs a finger at the page, mindful not to touch it. "Even brought a piece of the trove in that had it so the archeologist who specializes in languages could." An annoyed look crosses his face as he flips through pages only to place it aside.

Remembering something Drake said, his eyes flick up to Orsion. "Why do I need to swallow a pearl of hers soon? He warned her it had to be soon or she could end up forever regretting it. Made it sound like something would befall me otherwise."

Orison picks at seemingly nothing on his trouser. "Ye are just goin' ta keep t'ese question comin' aren't ye? Ye want ta know, ask ye wife, and listen ta her."

"Is anything of my, our history right?" Kade raises a brow. "Drake said Atlantis was only meant as a base operation. That neither of ye agreed to settling it. He said he and his fleet had no real ties to it. He sure all hell didn't seem to like Brigit. Did he even die the way they said?!"

Transporting him back from dying abroad had never sat right with Kade. Crews gave burials at seas. They didn't have the means to transport a fallen sailor. Not without the fear of sickness from decomposing bodies.

"I reckon he didn't like that lass. I sure as hell didn't. Not sure what ye know of Drake's death t'ough. He died at sea. A sudden storm picked up. He set his helmsmen and climbed ta riggin' himself. From what I understand, an enormous wave hit ta side of the ship and knock him inta the sea."

Kade's lips thin. How the hell did they retrieve his body, then? They'd have lost it to the deep, not in the vault. "Legend goes he died in Madagascar and they brought him home. It makes it sound as if Davy Jones can never claim a Brovern. That we cannot die at sea, but that's impossible. Plenty of us have. I've read the records, even dove what wrecks I could and explored nearly every isle." Flipping open the last of the journals, Kade grins. Finally! It's in a different handwriting, but it's a cipher meant to teach another how to identify and pronounce the strange symbols. Settling in beside her, he reads, content to stay beside her till she awakens.

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