"So lemme get this straight." Venom said. "If you went to Japan for four months, do you speak Japanese?"
    "We'll not fluently. I'm not a bloody exchange student." Jack said. "But yeah, I know enough to get by. And I learned a little more too."
    "Really? Say something." Kevin said.
    "Senotakai."
    "What's that mean?"
    Jack smiled a little. "Funny story, actually, people would sorta look me up and down and say it to themselves. I never actually found out that it meant, 'tall' for like a whole month."
    "People just called you that tall guy?" Wolf raised an eyebrow.
    "For the most part, yeah."
    Kevin snorted. "Wow."
    The ships had lifted an hour ago, and were sitting in the air, waiting silently. It was taking longer than Thalia had expected for the fighting to begin. The sky was already starting to grow dark; how neat it'd be to have a battle at sunset.
    Thalia was sitting on the railing with her back to the air. Kevin was hanging upside down from the mast, Venom leaning against it beside him. Wolf and Jack decided to spar on the deck which was interesting considering both had otherworldly properties. Wolf kept turning invisible and Jack used his teleportation to his advantage.
    Jack had clearly been practicing; it was difficult to use two swords, and a lot of balance. One of the swords was the same as he always had. The blade was stained a light shade of purple; from what, Thalia was wary to know. It hilt was wooden and had several carvings in it Thalia assumed Jack had put in it out of boredom. The second sword was smaller and thinner. It looked quite ordinary; a silver blade with an oaken handle. And that was all. There was nothing that really stood out about it, which was unusual for Jack.
    Thalia blinked as she noticed something in the distance and straightened up. At least a dozen airships approaching. It could have been far worse, Thalia had to admit. Luckily, the squids' sky warfare wasn't the best.
    Thalia turned and looked at her father. "Skylord Kal."
    He shot her a look, and she nodded to where the ships were approaching. He followed her gaze and sighed. "Here we go." He turned and barked orders to his crew.
    "Why are you calling him by his formal name?" Kevin asked. "I mean, he's still your dad, Skylord or no."
    "She's pissed at him." Wolf said.
    "I have every right to be - look, this doesn't matter." She walked to the front of the ship.
    "How does Skylordship even work?" Kevin asked. "Like how do they operate?"
    "Well... Skylords technically have to go through the three trials in order to get their license. But there is one exception; they can be given the title like a knighthood by royalty if they do something good enough. After being given their title, they have to choose a place to watch over. They become the patron Skylord of that place. Lysander was the Patron Skylord of Mistral City. My dad is the Patron Skylord of San Grandsi."
    "Who's the Patron of Farpoint?"
    "Farpoint is the village surrounding the base right?"
    "Yeah, it was named after the founder of the base. James Farpoint."
    "I don't think it has one, actually."
    "So does the Skylord's ship usually just hang out around it or something?"
    "No, actually, a lot of Skylords don't own a ship. All own some sort of flying vehicle. Biplane, glider, you know. But the Patron's job is really just to watch over it. They're bound to it, meaning they can't move away until they resign Skylordship. That's why my dad was away so much. We should have just moved there, but... We just never got around to it."
   "So what about you, 'Skylord'." Jack said. "What's your flying device?"
   "Jack, you do realize that I'm not actually a Skylord. That was a cover." Thalia rolled her eyes at his confused expression. "Actually, I do have one though." She showed them the long rectangular object she was holding. "I 'borrowed' it from Clancy. He didn't like it, anyway, he said he didn't like it."
    Venom raised an eyebrow. "How's a wooden rectangle gonna help you fly?"
    "I'll show you." Thalia took it in both hands and pulled the two wooden halves apart. Between the wood was a light but tough fabric that spread out into the shape of a massive fan with a tail. It was like a small hang glider, almost five feet long.
    "Clancy called it Caerulem." Thalia said. "It means like 'sky' or something in Latin.
    "You can fly with it?"
    "Nah, just glide. It's kinda inconvenient right now since I have to carry it around with me. But I figured I should bring it with me." She hesitated. "I think I'll leave it on the Omega, actually... I can come back and get it after we get Logan."
    The conversation stopped as the deck of the ship shuddered lightly. The Omega started forwards into battle ahead of the other ships.
    Thalia took a deep breath. "Alright, this is simple. Even we can't screw this up. You fight on the ship. You fall off and you're dead. Use this to your advantage. With any luck, we'll all survive this one in one piece."
     "That's not very encouraging." Kevin said.
     "We both know that the one who's good with words happens to be the one whose ass we have to save." Thalia said. She looked ahead as she heard canon fire. The squid ship had fired first. Thalia could hear the creatures cheering from the other ships as they started to board. She could see fighting coming from the front ships as the squids slowly made their way back.
     She knew it would sail past them, but she sighed still. "We should hop over to the Marauder as soon as we can reach. Kevin, you go first." She said, pointing to the ship the were approaching.
    "What, why me?"
    "You're the best jumper."
    "Fair enough." Kevin pulled out his axe; it was definitely an axe, but he called it a tomahawk.
    "You realize I could get shot doing this, right?"
    "I'll cover you." Venom said, and nocked an arrow to the string of her bow.
    Kevin nodded once. A lot of the Skylords were roaring back at the squids, despite the fact they had nearly been destroyed in the last battle. Skylords loved a good challenge, she knew. It took a lot to get their spirits down. This would most likely be fun for them, especially with the extra help.
    Thalia pulled her sword out of her sheath, as did Wolf, but she kept it collapsed.
    "Now?" Kevin asked.
    "What?" Thalia looked at the gap. "Can you make that?"
    Kevin shrugged. "Probably."
    Thalia gestured for him to jump. "Go ahead."
    Kevin didn't hesitate as he hopped up onto the railing and ran up, then leapt to the next ship just as squids started to board from the other side.
    He fell just a little short, and managed to grab on by his elbows. The squids noticed him and shouted out. Kevin's eyes widened. "Okay, I was wrong!"
    Venom rolled her eyes and shot one, then two. Jack teleported over and helped him up with one arm, using the other to pull out one of his swords.
    Thalia watched him, and figured out quickly that if Kevin couldn't make a jump, there was no way she could. "Are you good at jumping?" She asked Wolf.
    "I'm alright." Wolf replied.
    "I'm terrible." Venom said.
    "Yeah, same." Thalia agreed. She look at Wolf. "Think you can make it?"
    It was like Wolf didn't hear her as she watched the other ship. A squid attacked Jack, kicking him back so he fell against the railing. Kevin flopped ungracefully over the edge next to him. Ironic how he had been training to be agile and was a master parkourist, but still seemed to have two left feet when it came to everything involving movement. Wolf ran up and jumped up onto the railing, using it to leap to the other ship, which was closer now.
    Thalia watched her roll to break her fall on the Marauder and looked around for an idea to get she and Venom over. Then she noticed the Omega was approaching another ship directly ahead. The Endurance, which had several ropes hanging down. They could use it to swing over another ship... But the ships were fanning out. They wouldn't have much time to recollect with the team.
    "Venom, go that way. " Venom looked where she pointed. "Use the ropes to get from the Endurance to the Marauder-"
    "Got it." Venom took off without letting her finish.
    Thalia followed after her, gripping her sword tightly. A squid ran at her as she leapt onto the Endurance and she slid under a blow, kicking it in the shin before cutting him through his stomach. She kept going and grabbed the rope Venom had used. She turned and shot a squid behind Thalia as she took a deep breath and swung across, landing rather clumsily on the deck of the Marauder.
    Venom ran over to Kevin, who was already up and fighting.
    Wolf and Jack weren't doing a bad job fighting together either. The Marauder moved forwards in to the actual squid legions, firing from canons on both sides of the ship.
    "Okay, this is it!" Thalia said, once they'd managed to clear the deck for the most part. "Kevin, Venom, you stay here and defend the Skylord ships. Wolf, Jack, with me."
    "Actually, it might be better if I stayed here." Jack said. Thalia raised an eyebrow, prompting an explanation. "Our job is to stop the squids from sinking the ships. Most of them are over here, so I should stay to teleport us between the ships."
    Thalia hesitated, then nodded. "Good luck." She said and leapt back over to the Endurance, Wolf just behind her.
    "Well now what?" Thalia asked. "We have no way of finding the ship that Logan's on."
    "The prison ship would be the smallest. They'll be defending it, they think they have you." Wolf said. She leapt up onto the rail and looked around the squid ships, Thalia watching her back.
    Wolf finally pointed to one across the way. "There. The Aloysius."
   "Aloysius?" Thalia asked. "Doesn't sound like a squid ship, does it?"
   "Maybe there's a historical reason."
   "Yeah, I'll ask Charlie later."
   "Who's Charlie?"
   "Charlie Spring, night shift librarian. He's a friend of sorts."
   "Ah, he'd probably know then." Wolf looked around. "So how can we possibly make it there?"
   Thalia looked to the side, and noticed a biplane on the deck of the ship. She smiled a little. "We're going to die." She said confidently.
  
"This is no way to treat a lady, you know."
    "You're not a lady, you're a prisoner."
    "I am too a lady! How dare you insult me that way!"
    The squid guarding Logan groaned. "Would you please shut up for five minutes!"
    "I have rights!"
    "You are so lucky I've been ordered to keep you alive."
    Logan sighed and sat down in his cell. He leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He'd been bored out of his mind the past four days in his ruddy cell. He wanted to go home to his Shakespeare book and training and all that. But he knew he chose to make this sacrifice and he knew he wouldn't have it any other way.
    He hummed quietly, and fell silent. Then, suddenly, he heard a voice next to him.
    "Don't say anything."
    Logan gasped and stood quickly, and suddenly noticed a girl standing in the shady corner. He looked her up and down in shock. "How did you-?"
   "Shh!" She hissed.
    The guard hit the bars with his dagger. "Hey! Quiet!" He looked in and Logan's eyes widened. He expected the guard to say something about his new roommate, but he didn't seem phased at all. He shot a glare at Logan before walking away again. Logan turned to look at the girl again, but she had disappeared.
    He blinked, and after looking closer, realized the clothes she had been wearing were now floating in the same position she had been; only they were difficult to see in the dark corner. Suddenly, there was a quiet gasp and the girl appeared again in the same place she had been, falling down to one knee on the floor.
    Logan was uncertain of whether or not he should help the stranger, but he did anyway.
   She nodded thanks to him as he helped her up, then she changed so her skin was transparent, but not invisible.
   She ran past Logan and through the bars as though they were made of fog. Logan watched in amazement as her skin once again grew solid and she quickly round-house kicked the squid in the back of the head. He shouted out in alarm before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
    She turned to look at him immediately after doing so. "I assume you're Logan Keyes."
   He blinked. "That's the first time I've heard that name in like a week." He watched as she grabbed the keys off the table and unlocked the cell door. "Who are you?"
   "I'm a friend of a friend." She said. "Veronica Wolfiven."
   "...How did you do this invisible man thing?
   "Ask Stillman later."
   "Jack? Wait, Jack's with you?" Logan asked. "Where has he been?!"
   "He said something about Japan - okay, look, we don't have time for this." She turned and headed towards the stairs leading up to topside. "Clear down here!" She called.
    There was a moment of hesitation as Logan watched quietly, and then there was a blur of black and he was suddenly driven almost off his feet by the force of the punch to his jaw.
    His eyes widened and he grabbed his face in pain, looking at his attacker in shock. Said attacker grabbed him by his collar and glared up at him with fury.
    "You IDIOT!" She shouted. "Why did you do that, if they weren't so dumb, you would be dead!"
    Logan blinked, then smiled a bit nervously. "Good to see you too, TK."
    Thalia's gaze softened as she stared at him. Then she looked him up and down and snorted as she saw the dress again. She rested her forehead against his chest as she burst out laughing. Logan rolled his eyes and hugged her gently. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Kal..."
    She eventually calmed herself and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! You are going to love me." She reached into her satchel and sorted through for a moment before she pulled out a few pieces of clothing. She smiled a little apologetically. "They're Skylord clothes, so they're prolly not your style, but... It's really hard to fight in a dress. Trust me. Commander Sky made me do it once."
    Logan smiled. "Thanks." He said. Before Thalia could react, he suddenly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Her eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. Leaning against the wall behind her, Wolf raised an eyebrow. Thalia's face reddened and she punched him again, this time harder.
    Meanwhile, Venom had moved up to the crow's nest of the Marauder, shooting squids from above. Jack teleported from ship to ship, sometimes taking Kevin with him, the two working quite well as a team.
    Then they teleported back to the Omega, and just manages to clear the deck when a biplane landed a bit roughly on the deck. Kevin jumped and stared at it warily. Then it opened and the other half of the team climbed out.
    He groaned loudly as he saw Logan. "Damn it, what about the dress?!"
    Logan sighed and tossed it to him. "You wanna wear it, go for it. I don't judge, dude."
    "Wait no, that's not what I meant."
    Wolf hopped out next, smirking at the two, and was followed by Thalia. Venom, however, was still on a different ship.
    "Now what?" Logan asked.
    "Now we recollect and come up with a plan together." Thalia said. She turned to look around and froze.
    Of course the same assassin would be there. Of course he would be pointing a pistol at her face the second things were starting to look up.
    "Thalia!" Logan ran forward, and suddenly, she felt someone shove her roughly to the side as a gunshot filled the air.
    But it wasn't Logan.