The Island of Many Fates

Impulsively, Artemis ran after her. He rushed on to the deck and followed her to her box. "Wait!" he said. Then he froze, realizing that, after all, there were more people on deck. Oh, son of a-

"The royal galleon will be here in a minute," Geneva said quietly to the lady Conjuress. She was standing at the edge of the harbor with a spyglass, looking out intently over the sea. She stowed the spyglass away, then called for Worell.

"Have you captained a large ship before?" She asked, her voice somewhat distracted. Worell looked at her, slightly confused. "It depends," he said hesitantly, "on what you mean by a 'large ship'." In a stroke of luck, the large galleon pulled into the port. The lady smiled, "That is what I mean." And she left Worell obviously awe-struck.

They were finally all on the ship, with a large crew of men to do the work while Worell captained, Geneva navigated, and Boyd steered. Worell was amazed by the size of the vessel, and wondered how this lady had come by it. She had told him that she was borrowing it, and he seemed to get the notion that she wasn't planning on returning it.

Eventually, they rested, as a storm was coming, letting the professionals take over. The four retired to the elegant ballroom inside the ship. Geneva sat in a seat lazily, slowly moving the needle of a record player into position. "Do you dance, Mr. Worell?" She asked slyly. Worell, slightly taken aback, said that he did. Yet after a little while, it became rather boring, and the two sat once more. Finally, another woman burst into the room. "Well," she said, obviously flustered, "I've just finished unpacking."

The Conjuress turned to Worell, saying, "This is Madame Lafonte. She's a..diviner, if you will." Madame LaFonte bowed, saying, "Oh, well, it's my pleasure." (Madame LaFonte isn't one of my characters, and she's not really all that important. NPC, if you will.) She was wearing a slinky black dress that covered her feet, with a matching hat with a lace veil. She also held a black lace fan in her hand. Geneva looked annoyed. Worell could tell it would be quite an evening.

Kasam watched the storm-clouds gather from his cabin, hands clasped behind his back in an intimidatingly formal pose. The ship was already swaying roughly from side to side in the choppy water. Behind him, the door opened. Cora slipped in.

"Kasam, the storm will hit in a few minutes."

He nodded. "I know. Get Tason and Anris on-deck. Tell them and Kryoni to fasten the ropes, double-check their knots, and furl the sails. Be sure that the cargo-hold is securely fastened, as well. Once that's done, get the 'guests' up here in the cabin. I don't really need any of them slipping out and overboard."

Cora nodded, and did as she was told. Kryoni, Anris and Tason clambered about the riggings like monkeys, deftly untying and re-tying knots, checking hatches, and rolling up the sails. Kasam stared out at the ocean for several minutes, then went down to the deck.

The waves were already lapping at the edges of the railing. Kasam grasped Artemis and Axelle by the shoulders and suggested mildly that "now would be an excellent time to get indoors." He gave them a gentle push towards the cabin and headed for the third sleeping room. He pulled the door open, and tried not to grin as the three occupants all scrambled to their feet. He held up a hand to cut short any explanations.

"Yes, I already know about your friend. Anris has ears like a fox; he heard your friend constructing his sleeping quarters when he went down. Right now, though, you all need to be in the cabin. There's a storm about to strike."

Cora rapped on the second door and opened it. She beckoned to David and Richard. "Come on, you need to be in the cabin. The storm's on us."

Artemis allowed himself to be steered inside. He looked at Axelle, and mouthed "Now the fun starts" at her. Then he turned and sardonically asked if he could be allowed to stay outside during the storm. "If you tied me to the mast, I'm sure I wouldn't blow away..." he told Kasam, smirking.

Axelle stared at Artemis. Freaking idiot, she thought. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the cabin. "You're an idiot."

Artemis muttered something about embarrassing situations that silly girls forced him to endure and the way that they spoiled his fun, but allowed himself to be pulled in. "My, my, I didn't know you cared," he nearly grinned.

"Oh shut up." Axelle muttered, stepping into the cabin. "Sit down, now, like a good little boy." She stuck out her lower lip, mocking him.

Kasam stepped into the cabin, shaking rainwater from his clothes. He didn't exactly glare at Artemis, but his glance communicated extreme disapproval.

"Disobeying me or dragging your feet when I tell you to do something is an extremely good way to die, Artemis. If you try to pull a stunt like that on the island, you WILL die, and it will probably take you several days to do it. We are on an extremely important journey, and we will be in danger the likes of which neither you nor I has ever encountered. If you don't want to play for keeps, I suggest you swim back the way we came. Now."

He gritted his teeth and stared out the window, hands clasped behind his back once again.

Artemis shrugged Kasam's warning off. "Whatever you say, Leader of the Wretched, Master of the Dungeons, O Most Exalted Captain! I'm not afraid of dying, however painfully it may be. But since I believe that if I manage to make someone die, I won't be payed, I'll be more careful. It's not my fault I enjoy storms. You're another one who might as well learn relax, right, Axelle?" Saying this, he turned to her.

He stuck his lip out as well, mocking her mockery of him. He was much more relaxed now. "Oh, please, I am most definitely not a good little boy. And that's a metaphor, all right." He squeezed her arm lightly. "You going to let me go, or are you afraid I might run out into that storm and rid the world of my strangeness?"

Axelle dug her nails into Artemis' arm. "Don't. Go. There." She said through clenched teeth, digging into his arm even harder.

The storm was heavy now, as the huge ship swayed to the tempo of crashing waves. The ballroom was stable enough that the five could speak freely. On the deck, it was a different story; the sailors tried their best to keep on course, despiet the rockings of the storm that wanted them to stray from there path so badly.

"Oh, Valencia," Madame LaFonte said, "We could have avoided this storm if you had lsitened to me." She giggled a little, as though she knew this was going to happen, and knew what would happen next. Strangely, it was the first time Worell had heard the Conjuress's name. Geneva looked very tense as Madame LaFonte talked on and on. Finally, she snapped. "Don't expect us to treat you so kindly just because you can see the future." The air was tense, and Boyd, who was sleeping on a french couch, now awoke, and was already nervous. Worell broke the tension, saying, "Stop fighting. We have a long journey ahead of us." And the tension was gone.

Worell was walking to his room, when he was cut off by Valencia. "Shall we walk?" The two of them walked together down the hallways of the inner chambers of the grand ship. "I'm sure you're curious as to how I came upon this ship," she said finally. Unconsciously, Worell nodded his head. Valencia chuckled. "Well, I suppose I might as well tell you." They turned the corner towards one of the largest rooms, hidden behind two enormous double doors. They swung open, revealing her room. It was splendid. "I'm the queen of Venierre." She said, pulling two chairs towards the fire for them to sit in.

Artemis felt nothing except a slight increase of pressure in his arm; a benefit of him wearing a mail-coat at all times. He looked at her, surprised. "Why not? I wasn't aware of any deep significance I held for you, of all people."

Axelle rolled her eyes and let go of his arm. "You don't." She crossed her arms over her chest and blew a stray strand of hair from her face. "I just don't want anyone to die on this trip. That would be most depressing."

"I came for that reason, personally. I want someone to die, anyone. Even myself, if necessary. That way, things are still fun." Artemis focused on the strand of hair that seemed to dance in the wind from her breath. "Although...maybe there's a person or two who shouldn't die." He shrugged, confused. "Whatever."

Seeing that the captain obviously wasn't on deck, Alistar returned to their room and got his things packed, helping the other two with their goods as well. A minute later, he heard footsteps approaching.

"I hope you got your story ready, Indigo," he said dangerously. Then the captain stepped in.

"Yes, I already know about your friend. Anris
has ears like a fox; he heard your friend constructing his sleeping
quarters when he went down. Right now, though, you all need to be in
the cabin. There's a storm about to strike."

"Erm... all right then," Alistar replied, beckoning to the other two. As the captain left, they followed him to the main cabin, bringing their packs with them.

Axelle cocked an eyebrow at Artemis. "Yeah, whatever." She huffed, and sat down. She rubbed her temples. All the rocking was giving her nausea.

Artemis glanced concernedly at Axelle. "Hey, you don't look so hot." He rummaged around in his coat's pockets for something, then withdrew an orange vial with several pills in it. "Here, take one of these. They helped me with any nausea I used to feel when I had just started...living. They're like magic. Take one, and you'll feel better immediately."

Axelle looked up at Artemis. "Why do you ca--" She started, but clutched her stomach. "Er, thanks." She took the vial, removing a pill and popping it into her mouth.

"Why do I care?" Artemis grew silent, thinking. "I...I don't know." Like heck you don't. "Maximum time for effect, 15 minutes." He took the vial back and placed it back into his pocket. As he did so, a great deal of pill vials seemed to bump together. "Tch." Hope she didn't hear. Ah well, it's not that important...right?

Axelle was starting to feel better already, if not a little tipsy. She heard a faint clink of vial-on-vial, and looked up at Artemis. "Did you just give me drugs?"

Artemis looked shocked. "What?! Drugs! Of course not. Don't be foolish, girl. Drugs to cure mere nausea? I'd feel ashamed if I was so wasteful." He touched the pocket. "In this pocket I have: aspirin, acetaminophen, dopamine restricters, a combination of uppers and downers that would never be taken by a sane, rational person; a vial of relaxants, some hallucinogens, several shots of morphine and my personal favorite: a vial of Vicodine. I'm not addicted to any of it, except maybe the Vicodin, and I make sure they don't affect my judgement. How else would I survive? I'm always covered in painful injuries, or in some disease-ridden kennel." He shrugged. "You're looking better already. Or, should I say, hotter. Hmm. Maybe they do affect my judgement, but I'm just too stoned to care. Now, who wants me? And who wants to wait for one of the other doctors to arrive? Maybe they do affect my judgement...why else would I be so attracted to...nevermind."

Axelle stared as Artemis spouted off all the pills he had. "Geez, boy." She breathed. "And hotter? Look who got up the nerve to say something like that. Very nice." She laughed, winking at him. As soon as he said the last part she smirked. "I see. And I guess what you gave me affects mine as well. I was about to say you were nice."

((Awwwww...how sweet.))

Artemis blushed, feeling childishly pleased with himself. "Yeah...uh...thanks?" Artemis turned away, slightly embarrassed, and feeling quite foolish.

"So technically, they are drugs, just the 'take two and call me in the morning' kind and not the 'let's listen to Pink Floyd' kind," Alistar said from across the cabin. He chuckled slightly at the antics of the two. "I don't believe we've been introduced yet. Alistar Engle, and these are my companions: my brother Indigo, and Elsa."