Amor held her close to his chest, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, comforting her. Oren was trying to help, getting her fruit to eat but every time she refused, everytime she chose to be picky, he would across the deck and to the fruit baskets that sat in Theyo’s captain’s chambers, but not before heaving over the side. Cora sat and stared, her hands beneath her legs, sitting next to, but at a distance, Amor and the girl. Her face had paled in the beaming sun, unable to see straight. It could have been the unforgiving heat of the sea or the mystery that sat not even three feet away from her. Cora wanted to say something but it was near impossible, her tongue was stuck between her teeth. She was biting on the muscle to prevent herself from bursting out and screaming. She needed to contain her distress. A feeling of anger without the rage.

“How about some grapes?” Oren returned, dried bile on his cheek. The girl grimaced at the purple orbs. Oren sighed and walked away to search for another fruit.

“You should really just try something,” Amor rubbed her arm. “You need to eat.” His efforts were in vain as she shrugged. Cora’s patience, the swelling inside her was becoming unbearable. She couldn’t hold it in, she needs an answer. None of the men aboard had anything to say.

“What’s your name?” The words slipped out. Both Amor and the girl turned to the irritable princess. Their eyes connecting at that very moment, both girls still and daring the other.

"What's yours?" She fired back at Cora. 

"Cora." The girl looked away and scoffed. Amor sat between them, the tension growing. 

"Aeonia." Cora's chest tightened within a second. She knew it but she wanted to hear her say it, but the shock was too much. She didn't want to believe it was true. 

"Well, it's nice to meet you Aeonia." Amor used his other hand to shake Aeonia's. His gaze turned to Cora, disappointed in her rudeness but Cora could care less. She wanted to know more, ask so many burning questions that she didn't get to that night.

"Are you her?" As the question fell passed her lips, the words shook on her tongue. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't nervous. She was unsure, torn apart by ignorance she possessed in this very moment, foreign to not knowing.

Amor's gaze fell into confusion. Aeonia's eyes met with the shaking girl's. She pulled herself from Amor's arm and took a seat next to Cora. The heir jolted as clammy hands wrapped around hers, wet and warm in the sun but also soft, caring. Reassuring. 

"I am." Cora's chest heaved and her stomach flipped. She either caught Oren's sickness or her own was building inside. Aeonia's thumbs rubbed over the back of Cora's in the same way they did that night, it sent shivers and made the hairs on Cora's arms stand. 

"Ladies, what's happening?" Amor's voice drifted through the air for a moment but failed to catch the girls' attention. He stood behind Aeonia, his hands crossed below his chest. Not only was he confused, but he was now intrigued. 

"Cora, I want to help you." Aeonia ran a hand up the heir's arm, her finger drawing a line up to her ear, slipping her fingers to her lips, smoothing them over with a light layer of water. 

"It's happening again..." Cora's breath came out in a whisper. Once again, dazed by the gentle and conflicting touch of the god in this mundane form. Cora swallowed the lump in her throat. 

"Do you want it to?" Aeonia drew her face closer to Cora's, their noses less than an inch apart. 

Cora hesitated, "I...I don't know." She shut her eyes and rested her forehead on Aeonia's. 

"Look at me," Aeonia commanded, Cora felt a wave of obedience rush through her but she resisted, not wanting to look into those eyes again. She didn't understand what she was feeling, it wasn't making sense to her, but it was a familiar feeling to those around her, one she was now learning. She swallowed once more and lifted her head. Cora stared into the other woman's eyes with a small spark of hubris.

"I can't believe this," Cora spoke gently. 

"You better beca-" Aeonia's sentence was cut short by the crashing of Cora's lips, a kiss that pulled her in and seemingly pulled the divinity from her and replaced it with something, something she too had never felt. Both women fell deeper into their kiss, their hearts fluttering, the stomach spinning.

"Oh, shit!" A curse flew through the air and drew the two women apart. Oren stood behind Amor, both heir jaws gaping. Cora looked at the boys then back at Aeonia whose eyes never left her, a glowing blue, brighter than her own.

"I can't-" Amor began to say something but 

"I don't know how to explain this but," Cora let out a small laugh and looked out to the sea. She had done something new, something she shouldn't have, but it felt right to her, it was impossible for her to explain but it felt so familiar as if bottled away for years. 

"I have been looking for you, reading about you for so long and I just-" Cora tried to finish her proclamation but Theyo's voice split through the air.

"Land Ho!" The ship's captain pointed towards them. All four of them looked ahead of the ship to see a faint green in the distance. A mountainous green scraping the clouds, faint reds, yellow, purples streaked across the base, decorating the mountain's foot. Cora smiled as she rose to her feet, her hair blowing in the gale. Her heart began to pound against her chest.

"Land Ho!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She had finally made it.