Emerald Fallen

I tightened another screw before sitting back on my heels. I was covered in grease and grime and sweat but I could not have been more relaxed. The Emerald Fallen was my baby, I loved working on her adding in my own touches, like reinforcing areas that had been destroyed with Blight stone, a very rare and very expensive indestructible metal. I would seal it between the outer and inner layers of wood so it was invisible until that area was hit when the stone would consume anything that touched it that it saw as a threat. I studied Blight stone almost religiously when I first came up with the idea, I didn’t want it to end up backfiring. I learned alot about the strange substance, including the fact that the stone was alive. It would meld with other pieces of Blight stone and would never harm anything that didn’t cause it harm. It was one of the things that made the Emerald Fallen feel so alive. I reached out to stroke at the walls of the ship, smiling to myself.
“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
I turned around to smile at Sexton, “If you had come in a minute later you would have been scared by our passionate love making.”
Sexton huffed in amusement before leaning on one of the boilers. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “God what are we doing?”
I raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know what you’re doing but I’m fixin’ meh ship.” I gestured behind me with my wrench.
Sexton smiled, “I meant with Joiner. What’s the plan there?”
I shrugged, “Idunknow.” The words tumbled out as one causing Sexton to smirk.
“You know sometimes the way you talk makes you sound drunk.” I giggled at the comment.
“I try.”
We sat in silence for a moment. I stood up dropping my wrench so I could put my hands on his shoulders, leaning forward until our faces were inches apart, “I don’t have a clue what we are going to do with your sister.” Sexton huffed with laughter, “But, I promise you that the moment we can get rid of her safely, for both us and her, I will.”
“Why does it have to be safe for her, can’t we just dump her in the ocean.”
“We could but I know you too well, and I know that would haunt you forever…” Sexton gave me a helpless shrug, “Plus she can just swim.” Laughter.
“Fair enough. So now what?”
“I got to get more Blight stone, we’re basically out after that last attack.”
“Okay then.” Sexton clapped his hands. “You can let go of me now.”
I shook my head and tightened my hold on his shoulders, “But if I do you’ll be mad at me.”
Sexton gave me a look of pure soullessness, “You got oil on my shirt didn’t you?”
“Yes I did.”
“Tesla!”
~~~~

Sexton and I marched up onto the deck where the rest of the crew as well as Joiner were waiting. We had changed out of our clothes but did not wash off so while our garments were clean our hands and faces were still covered in grime.
Joiner had stopped screeching but looked like she would start again at the drop of a hat. Sexton had moved to stand behind Clarity, trying to hide despite being a head taller than her. I strolled over to Artemis and Apollo.
“So,” I said quietly, “It was pretty bad but not horrible. We are out of Blight stone, so we need to get more of that. Um… yeah. It could have been worse.”
Apollo smirked at me, “You are a mess,” Arte snorted.
“Thank you.” I said in a haughty tone, “I do try.”
“Okay,” I spun around to face my crew, “Okay y’all we are heading to Valhalla!”
There was a cheer and I could vaguely hear Joiner saying, “The fuck is that?” I hid a smile turning back to the twins.
“I know you guys are going to go crazy when we get there but to show some restraint.”
Apollo waved her hand dismissively while Arte bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. I rolled my eyes. I didn’t expect anything different, those two never listen. Moving past them I grabbed Sexton on my way up to the wheel, staining a new hand print on his shirt in the process. Reaching the wheel I changed course to head in the direction of Valhalla.
Once I was sure we were on the right course I turned back to Sexton, who was violently scrubbing at his shirt in an attempt to get my hand print off. He was making it so much worse.
“It’s a fashion statement,” I piped up.
“Is your stupidity a fashion statement too.” Sexton’s tone was halfway between sarcastic and teasing.
I shrugged, playing along, “Sometimes.”
We fell into a silence, Sexton had given up on his shirt and was now staring out at the open sea.
“It’s amazing how big it is,” He murmured. I nodded watching him, “So vast and yet we still ran into her.” His voice turned cold.
“You must have pissed off some god of karma,” I teased.
“Or maybe that was just you and I have to suffer for it,” Sexton glanced at me.
“Possibly. I piss off a lot of people. It’s a hobby.” I moved to stand next to him.
“Habit.”
“What?”
“It’s a habit,” He corrected.
I snorted, “Nope, I meant hobby.”
Sexton dropped his chin to his chest grinning.
“I mean seriously,” I continued, “To annoy people this effortlessly takes practice.”
Sexton just shook his head, still smiling, and looked up to the horizon again. “I just never thought I would have to come face to face with my family ever again.” He sighed, “And now that I have, I don’t know what to do, to feel, to say. I just feel… lost.”
I rubbed his back comfortingly. I know how hard this is for him.
When Sexton and I first met it was soon after my father offered to take me and my siblings away from my mother and the life we had to live with her. It was a week before we planned to leave, when my mother had invited Lord Corville Piers MkCenzy and his two children for lunch. While the adults had their tea, us children had gone into the yard to play. Joiner wouldn’t stop talking about how she was going to grow up and hunt pirates just like her father. I was quick to notice how uncomfortable Sexton looked.
At the time he was a short, scraggly kid with a chubby baby face, still taller than I was of course, acne, voice cracks, the whole mid-puberty bundle. Next to him was his twin sister, with her perfect skin, curvy yet lithe body, enchanting voice and enough confidence to drown a small country.
The difference between now and then was incredible. Joiner was still the same girl, perfect and ethereal with her dark skin, white freckles and blue eyes. However the changes in Sexton were incredible. Gone was the chubby and youthful face, replaced by sharp cheekbones and a firm jaw. His short skinny body had not only grown taller but had developed an impressive set of muscles. His blue eyes shone with humor and mischief, and his deep warm chocolaty voice was hypnotizing. It was hard to see them as the same person. But they were.
Seeing Joiner again had brought that side back out, even though it was in small spells. I find myself reminded of that day. The day two days after we first met the MkCenzy family. The day when Joiner had dragged us off to show us some fighting moves her father had taught her. While she was wrestling with Ceasar I had sidled up to Sexton.
“Hi,” I said cheerfully, moving so I was in his line of sight. The poor boy jumped so high he hit his head on the branch just above us.
I stared at him as he sat on the ground rubbing his head, “You gotta be careful with those.” I pointed at the tree branch. I held out my hand to help him up, “I’m Tesla”
He ignored my hand and gave me a funny look, “But I thought your name was—”
“Nope,” I cut him off, “It’s Tesla.”
“Oh.”
“Your sister sure is something,” I looked over at the girl in question who had pinned Caesar in a chokehold, poor kid.
Sexton just shrugged. I sat down next to him.
“Her opinions sure are bold though, don’t you think?”
Sexton drew his knees up to his chest and stared at his feet, “My dad wants me to be more like her…” He sniffed, “But I don’t want to kill pirates, they aren’t all bad. My mama said that everyone has a special skill which goes with their special job. It’s not fair that pirates get killed just because their special skill is something that people don’t like. Why do other people get to decide what’s right and wrong? My mama was always fair. She’s dead now.”
Sexton’s voice was thick and I realized that he had started crying. I patted his back comfortingly.
“Do you think you could ever be a pirate?” I asked.
Sexton’s head had snapped up to stare at me.
“Because I’m going to be one,” I continued, “My daddy’s going to come pick me and my siblings up and we are going to become pirates.”
“But what about your mom?” Sexton was watching me with awe in his eyes.
“What about your dad?” I responded knowing the other boy had already made up his mind. Sexton just shrugged and started wiping away his tears.
Joiner came over having exhausted my siblings. She stared at Sexton’s teary face before whirling on me. “What the fuck did you do?” It was then that I realized that Joiner did love Sexton. I felt some of my dislike for her dissipate.
“Nothing,” I responded in a cheeky voice, “Did you get bored with my siblings?”
She glared at me, “They weren’t worthy opponents.” Her voice was snarky and full of arrogance.
“How about we have a go then?” I asked with my sweetest smile.
“I doubt a little doll like you could beat me.” That just riled me up more. I was the shortest out of my siblings, heck I was shorter than my cousin who was two years younger than me, but I don’t take shit about it from people.
“Let’s see then.” I stood up and stripped off my dress and petticoat, casting them off so I was just standing there in my combination and corset. I heard Sexton yelp behind me. I turned around and threw him a wink. My triplets just shook their heads at me grinning.
I turned back to Joiner who was blushing. “What?” I said, “You get to wear pants.” I gestured to her outfit, which was typically reserved for boys her age. I was jealous, as time went on fashion for the upper class had reverted back to the Victorian era, imitating the elegant dresses and handsome waistcoats. My mother would always dress Mozart and I up like dolls and no matter how many times I asked she refused to allow me to wear pants.
“Come on,” I fussed. Ushering her over to the clearing she had been wrestling in before. Joiner might have been taught hand to hand combat by her father, the most awarded and revered fighter in the Royal Navy, but I have two siblings who are both taller than me and like to play dirty and a father who is the best pirate the seas has ever seen.
Five minutes later my mother, her husband, and Lord MkCenzy found us covered in dirt with me in nothing but my underwear, sitting on Joiner’s back, pinning her head in the dirt.
A week later Sexton, Caesar, Mozart and I were sitting in my room on the Emerald Fallen reading the newspaper. The front page article declared Sexton dead having been killed by raiders as revenge on Lord MkCenzy for arresting their leader.
There was only one time I hated Lord MkCenzy more than when he decided that he would rather declare his son dead than risk the shame in the world finding out that his son was a pirate. I never knew why Sexton kept his last name. I never asked.
Now here we were, years later, Sexton trying to run away from his past and every memory that came with it.
I smiled at him, “Three years ago I was rubbing your back just like this while your sibling tried to kill mine.”
Sexton snorted.
“If you could go back and choose again would you still come with me?” I was almost scared to hear his answer. From the moment we first stepped onto the Emerald Fallen’s shiny new deck, Sexton was my anchor. He was there for me when I felt lost, when I was lost, reminding me I wasn’t alone and I never would be. He stayed by my side through every stupid adventure even when our crew changed and people came and went, lived and died, loved and lost, he was there. He put up with all my bullshit with endless patience that few other people could muster. I didn’t want to learn that he wouldn’t be there if he could choose again.
Sexton was silent and I swallowed back tears. “If I could go back…” Sexton paused thinking, “I would do something different.”
“Oh,” I hated how small my voice sounded. I stared down at the waves slapping against the hull of the ship
“I’d tell the papers what I was doing so my father couldn’t claim me dead.”
My head shot up and Sexton laughed, “See, that’s the face I made three years ago. Are we doing a reenactment?”
“So you’d stay?” I gasped.
“No, I want to miss out on all this and be stuck with a job I don’t want to do. Fuck, I’d probably be dead if I didn’t go with you.”
“Ooooh,” I grinned, “So you’d only come to save your own ass?”
“Duh, who would ever want to be around you willingly?”
I cackled, “Why do you think your sister is tied up? We gots to make an example.”
Sexton ruffled my hair laughing, “You know I can never take you seriously right?”
“Why not?”
“I watched you rip off your clothes and judo flip my sister five minutes later. I don’t care what you do, that memory is always there.”
“What was I supposed to do, suffocate her with my sixty pound dress? Smack her upside the head with my petticoat? I think Mozart proved that those dresses are way too restricting to fight in them.”
Sexton and I smiled at the memory of Mozart trying to fight in her heavy, lacy, light purple dress.
“God,” I sighed, “We have changed so much.”
Sexton nodded, “It’s not a bad thing but it’s weird to think about how different we were when we were thirteen.”
“We thought that nothing could hurt us and there were no consequences to our actions.”
“We still think that somewhat.”
“That’s being a teenager.”
“Yeah.”
We slipped back into silence, staring out at the horizon. Thinking about what our lives used to be like. It really was a big difference in just three years. Sexton, Clarity and I are the only ones left on the Emerald Fallen from three years ago. It’s not that everyone died, some did, most people simply retired. Mozart and Caesar are captains of their own ships so of course they left, but looking back on it, I almost feel lonely.
I rested my head on Sexton’s arm, unable to reach his shoulder. “Do you ever feel like too many people are leaving us?”
“Sometimes.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t think anyone does.”
I looked up at him, “Hey Sexton,”
Sexton hummed his acknowledgement.
“Never leave me.”
“Never.” He agreed.
I learned a long time ago that nothing in life will come easy. People would come, then leave. Sometimes they go willingly, other times they are taken. I had too many people taken from me. That’s why I try not to let go. Sexton gets that, and I get him. It’s why we work.
I sighed, “Well that was fucking depressing.”
“I know. It’s only Monday.”
“Oh my god, we aren’t going to make it.”
Sexton laughed, “Do we ever?”
“Do we ever what?”
Sexton and I turned to look at Clarity who had made her way up to us. On the deck I could see Apollo and Artemis talking excitedly, making up a list of things they would get once we got to Valhalla. Their cheerful faces and Clarity’s warm eyes remind me that even though some people are gone, I am still not alone.
“Make it. Like through the week.” Sexton answered Clarity’s earlier question.
Clarity snorted, which is rare for her, “Oh fuck no.”
“Exactly,” I said in a mockingly exasperated voice.
Clarity and Sexton smiled at my childishness.
“You can stop rubbing my back now,” Sexton told me.
I glanced at my arm which I had yet to remove from Sexton’s back, it was getting numb. I looked back at Sexton. Silent.
“What?” He asked, “I’m fine you don’t have to comfort me anymore.”
I remained silent.
“Seriously Tesla, what…” His eyes widened in realization.
“OH MY GOD!”

~~~~

The sun was starting to set. I would estimate that we’d reach Valhalla by midday tomorrow. Sexton had changed his shirt for the second time today after I rubbed oil and grime all over the back of his shirt. He had yelled he was going to get me back before disappearing into his room.
I was eating a plate of mashed potatoes on the gun deck. I had dragged a chair up there and after taking off my boots I propped my legs up on the bow. Arte-Pollo, our nickname for the twins, were sitting next to me. They had rattled off their wishlist to me earlier and now I was explaining why we did not need more guns, a high dive or a sixth waffle iron.
“But it would make breakfast so much easier.” Artemis tried to reason.
“No.” I said laughing slightly, “We have five already, we don’t need six.”
“But—”
“No.”
“This is unfair,” Apollo muttered as she dragged a still talking Artemis away.
I looked back at them. There were not many people on deck right now. They were probably off eating. My eyes caught on Joiner who was sitting alone tied to the mast.
“You should probably go check on her.” While the voice surprised me, I didn’t jump. I turned around to see a beautiful girl with long curly red hair. It shone in the golden light of the sunset, dancing like the fires we used to make when we camped out on beaches. Her soft grey eyes were full of love and joy. Her pale skin was decorated in freckles. She was the kind of girl who would be the subject of a painting. The kind that is left at a museum by an anonymous talent and people would come far and wide to revel in it’s mystery.
I looked back at Joiner, “Probably.”
The red head shook her head, laughing at the reluctance in my tone, “Honestly Tesla, grow a pair.”
“What makes you think I haven’t?”
“Did you?”
“Want to check,” I wriggled my eyebrows seductively, something I practiced in front of my mirror for hours.
The girl laughed, “Later.”
“You really want me to go check on her?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.” I stood up, kissing the girl’s cheek before making my way down to Joiner, taking my potatoes with me. I didn’t look back.
I moved so I was standing right in front of Joiner and took a bite of mashed potatoes.
“I hope you get a splinter.” Joiner’s voice was cold.
“What?”
She nodded down to my feet, I looked down and realized I left my books on the gun deck.
“Oh.” I said laughing a little, “I mean I might but,” I shrugged, “Whatevs.”
“You shrug a lot.”
I shrugged again, just to annoy her, “You’ve been watching me?”
“I have to. You have me captured and tied up,” Joiner wriggled around in her bonds to prove her point, “I can’t run so I might as well study you.”
“You have always struck me as the kind of person who would never stop fighting.” I thought back to our meeting three years ago.
“You talk like you know me.”
I smiled at her. Of course she wouldn’t recognize me. I leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
“Maybe I do.”
Joiner shivered before regaining her wits making an attempt to headbutt me. I pulled away.
“Anyway,” I continued like nothing happened, “You need to eat.” I offered her the potatoes.
She looked at them suspiciously, “Did you poison them?”
“Dude, I’ve been eating them, why would I do that if they were poisoned.”
She smirked, “Still don’t want ‘em. Eating after you might give me mono.”
I widened my eyes in mock hurt, clutching at my chest, “Woah. Woah woah woah, it is an unspoken rule on this ship that we do not talk about my toxic kisses. It makes me self conscious.”
She glared at me in silence.
I held up my hands in surrender, “Okay, but I’m taking the potatoes.”
I turned around and made my way to my quarters. I opened the door to find Sexton pouring a can of oil all over my bed sheets.
“Classy,” I said, putting down the potatoes on my desk, “Not a fan of the color though.”
“Deal with it.”
Sexton stood up wiping off his hands on a rag before tossing it on the pile that was my ruined bedding.
“I offered your sister some potatoes.” I said, “It was Avery’s idea.”
Sexton gave me a sad smile, “Those potatoes,” he questioned nodding to the plate I had put down.
“She said she didn’t want them. Then she said I had mono.”
Sexton laughed, “Of course she did.”
“You know your family is quite rude.”
“Yeah.” He was quiet, “Does she recognize you?”
I scoffed, “No. Why would she?”
“I mean you are still short, you never know.”
I shoved his chest, “Shut up you whore.”
Sexton just laughed and nudged me off with little effort, “You’re the one with mono.”
“Keep this up I’ll give you a sample.”
“Oh no! Not a sample!”
I stopped pushing at Sexton, “You know I love you right?”
“It’s a little hazy.” I smirked.
“Come on.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of my room.
“Wait where are we going?”
“You ruined my sheets, now you have to share.”
“You didn’t share your clothes!”
“You can’t fit in my clothes.”
Sexton rolled his eyes, “Just give me space okay? I don’t need to wake up with you pushing me off the bed so you can lay in starfish pose.”
“Well see.”
Sexton sighed, but he wrapped his arm around me anyway and we found ourselves staring off at the unreachable horizon once again.