"To what do I owe this honor?" Captain Swift asks with the box behind his back.

The air in the clearing chills. 

Time slows to a crawl as everyone waits for the admiral’s answer with bated breath.

Admiral Motin's hazy eyes sweep across every member of the crew before stopping on the captain. "I think you have a pretty good idea, but since I'm in such a good mood, I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with black locks."

Captain Swift breathes a sigh of relief. "These are my only pair of black socks, but if it's you that's asking, I can bear to part with them."

The admiral shakes his head and chuckles. "I walked right into that one. Should've been more specific." He steps forward and the ground shakes. "I'm here for that box."

Captain Swift and the pirates around me draw their swords and knives.

"Don't even think about it," a voice shouts from the grass behind the admiral. The boy with spiky hair from earlier bursts out with a dumb grin on his face. "We have you surrounded."

At his words, uniformed men and women appear from the tall grass at every angle, surrounding us. With one hand on their aether belts, they glare at us threateningly.

Seeing the number of trained aethers, I quietly resign myself to my fate. They will capture us, I'll be taken back to the Krehn Manor, and I'll be severely punished for doing something that could tarnish the family name.

"That was easy. What were you even worried about, sir?" the spiky-haired boy asks as his eyes lock onto me. "What? Why is the younger Krehn over there?"

"Krehn?" Admiral Motin looks me dead in the eye and sends a shiver down my spine.

"We kidnapped her from Reimel's to help us," Captain Swift says. "The scrawny boy with glasses too."

My eyes widen. I want to deny his statement, to say I joined them willingly, but my body fails me. No words come to mind.

Admiral Motin shakes his head and sighs. "Never thought you would stoop so low. Now—"

“Kidnapping is low, even for a pirate!” the loud boy says, clenching his fists.

“Shut up Zenron.”

“Yes sir.”

Admiral Motin glares at the captain and the earth beneath us rumbles. "Now, drop your weapons. You and I both know how a fight would play out between us."

Captain Swift glances around at the rest of the crew and throws his dagger onto the ground. “You heard him, boys. Don’t throw your lives away for no reason.”

Some pirates hesitate, but they all drop their weapons.

At the admiral’s signal, the members of the navy move in and tie up the captain, Vio, and the rest of the crew. The navy lines them up and marches them out of the clearing, in the opposite direction that we came from.

My heart aches at the sight of Vio being led away with rope around her wrists, but deep down, I know that as a Goddess, the rope won’t hold her for long.

I quietly reach down and connect my mind to Winry’s. “Wh-what do I do, Winry? I don’t want to go back to the manor.”

“Youuuuuuuuuuu fight! But don’t fight the big guy or the one with the red hair. Those two are waaaaaaaaay too scary.”

“The rest of the soldiers are elite aethers too. I don’t think I can fight my way out of this one.”

“They’re aethers? But their crystals are empty.”

“What? But that—”

The spiky-haired boy the admiral called Zenron taps me on the shoulder. “I can’t believe you got kidnapped. And I even saw you earlier and didn’t do anything about it. I’m so sorry.”

Scared he might notice my connection to an aer, and think I’m looking to fight back, I break my connection to Winry and turn to him. “No, I wasn’t kidnapped. I joined them of my own free will.”

His eyes widen. “They kidnapped and brainwashed you? Jeez, no wonder the admiral was so worried about some measly pirates.”

“No, I—”

“Zenron!” the admiral shouts from across the clearing. “Quit messing around and help us finish investigating.”

“Ah, wait here, little Krehn.” He dashes over to Admiral Motin and frantically “assists” his investigation. 

“Hey.” Joshua tugs on my arm and whispers to me. “The captain gave us a way to get out of this. Don’t ruin it.”

I nod and he releases me. 

A few minutes pass and Zenron rushes back. “I’m back. You still brainwashed?”

I pause for a moment to consider my answer. “No?”

“Nice. Good job breaking free.”

“Zenron, you’re going to get left behind,” a uniformed woman shouts before disappearing into the tall grass.

“Oh Goddesses, let’s go.” Zenron grabs my hand and tugs me towards where the woman disappeared. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me, little Krehn.”

I can hardly keep up with his pace since his legs are much longer. He nearly drags me through the waves of tall grass as they tickle my arms and legs. Unable to see anything but the back of his uniform and walls of grass, I have no choice but to follow him, as uncomfortable as it is.

“So, little Krehn, what’s it like being brainwashed?” Zenron asks.

“My name’s Aliyah,” I say, tired of being called little. “And what are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember?” he asks. “Brainwashing that wipes the person’s memory when it wears off? Jeez, that’s unfair. I really have to learn how to do that.” He peers over his shoulder at me. “You think that captain will teach me if I ask?”

I glance away. “What captain?”

“Oh, right. You don’t remember anything.” He shakes his head. “That sucks. What are we supposed to talk about now?”

“How about nothing?” I ask.

“No, that would be boring.”

“Would you just shut up,” Joshua says from behind us. “Can’t you see you’re making her uncomfortable?”

Zenron stops and turns around to properly look at me. “Is she? She seems fine to me.”

Joshua shakes his head. “And you wonder why no girls want to talk to you.”

“Wha—” Zenron winces. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m not wrong, am I?”

“No…” Zenron finally lets go of my hand and turns around. “But who cares? Who needs girls anyway? Certainly not me!” He dashes off into the grass ahead and vanishes in an instant. His forced laughter slowly fades away as Joshua and I stare at each other.

“Thank you, Joshua,” I say, breaking the silence.

He slicks his hair back. “For what? I just wanted him to shut up.” He walks away and peers over his shoulder. “Come on, don’t get left behind.”

We follow the trampled grass left by what can only be Zenron. As the sun reaches the crest of its arc, we break free from the endless walls of tall grass and into an open area that must be the navy’s encampment. Soldiers stand on guard with swords around the perimeter. They protect a series of gray tents and a square, stone building, likely built by an aether. The ship we spotted earlier rocks with the waves at the back of the camp, so close to the cliffside that one could jump from the land onto the ship with enough effort.

The guards eye us as we approach them but do nothing to stop us from entering the camp. My eyes scan the area, but there’s no sign of Vio or the other pirates. 

 “Alrighty then.” Admiral Motin leaps off a dark ship that looks strangely similar to the pirate ship. The earth rumbles and one of the tents collapses. “I’ve still got some business I need to take care of, so I’ll be off. Don’t burn anything down while I’m gone this time.” He glances back at the ship for a moment. “I’m talking to you, Zenron.”

“Yes sir, I’ll try my best,” he says, crawling out from the collapsed tent.

The admiral sighs and stomps out of the camp, disappearing back into the tall grass.

Zenron jumps up and rushes over to me and Joshua. “Now that you’re here, you’re the safest you’ve ever been. Once we’re done here, we’ll take you back to Reimel’s, so in the meantime, enjoy yourself.” He spins around. “Anyway, I have to go check on the prisoners.”

“Can I come?” I ask without thinking.

“Sure,” he says, probably also without thinking.

Joshua groans but walks with us to the stone building. Zenron nods to the guard at the door and they unlock it for him. Small deliberate holes allow sunlight to shine in and show us the path forward. The color and consistency of the walls is like the ground beneath us, likely because the building was made with that ground. 

We walk through a short hallway and reach another door guarded by a man with a sword. Zenron nods to him and he begins unlocking the door.

“Cool building, huh?” Zenron asks. “I made it.”

Joshua glances around and clicks his tongue. “I hate to admit it, but I am impressed.”

“He just copied what the admiral told him to,” the guard says as he opens the door for us.

“I’m less impressed now,” Joshua says.

Zenron winces. “Why did you have to say that?”

He leads us past a few empty cells and into a narrowly lit room. “Here they are,” he says, motioning to the group of pirates behind a wall of thick bars made of stone. “I guess you guys can have fun looking at them or something.”

I walk up and peer through the bars, looking for Vio. Julius and Ian do their best to play cards with their hands tied and most of the other pirates watch them. My eyes scan the crowd for Vio’s gleaming orange hair, but I don’t spot her. As I squint, hoping to find something that I missed, light reflects off a single eye in the back corner. I move along the bars to get as close as I can.

“Vio,” I say excitedly.

She lifts her head, and my heart nearly stops. The strong, defiant woman I know isn’t there. She’s been replaced by a sad, defeated-looking replica. Her usually beautiful blue eye is murky, and stares straight through me. Her normal graceful aura is gone. 

For the first time, I think to myself, “Maybe Vio isn’t a Goddess.”

I stare at her, hoping she’ll return to her former glory. Words and noises echo in my ears around me, but I can’t focus enough to make them out. Someone grabs my hand, but I can’t see who it is. My vision blurs and the noises around me fade away.

Someone snaps in front of my face. 

I shake my head and glance at my surroundings. Somehow, I’m outside the building, standing at the edge of the camp with Joshua and Zenron. My mind races to figure out how I got outside.

“Are you there?” Zenron asks.

I look at him, still dazed. “I think so.”

He scratches his head. “That was weird. Anyway, I have to go fill out some boring report, so if you need me, I’ll be over in the tent there.” He points to the tent that had collapsed earlier. “If you need me for anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” He walks away and peers over his shoulder. “Please, need me. I don’t want to finish this report.”

Joshua shoos him away, leaving us alone by the edge of the camp. 

The image of Vio sitting alone in the dark reappears in my mind and my body grows heavy. 

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Joshua says.

“I… don’t want to see Vio look like that again.”

“That’s easy, then. Don’t go to the prison building anymore.”

“That won’t work. Now that I’ve seen it, the image is burned into my mind. It won’t go away. I—” I look Joshua deep in the eyes. “—I have to help her. I have to get her out of there.”

He furrows his brow. “Why? They may be nice, but they’re still pirates we hardly know, and they’re being held captive by an elite group of aethers. Not to mention that they did basically kidnap us. So why in the Goddesses’ names should we help them?”

He’s right. Every rational part of me knows he’s right. There’s no good reason for us to help them. But, despite knowing that, I can’t agree with him.

“Because… they asked me to help them find the treasure and I can’t do that if they’re locked up.”

Joshua shakes his head. “You could just say you want to, you know? And if that’s what you want to do, that’s good enough for me. What’s the plan?”

I open my mouth, but the shock of him agreeing to help me so easily stops any words from coming out.

“What’s with that look?” he asks with a smirk. “Don’t tell me you expect to rescue them without a plan.”

“No, I… have a plan, but it’s stupid, so it’s not worth taking seriously.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

For a moment, I still hesitate, as the details of my plan come together like a puzzle missing some pieces. Those pieces are confidence; irreplaceable, and something I can’t make myself. Without the confidence, without those pieces, there’s no point in even putting the plan into words.

No, that’s not true. The missing pieces are just the edges, irritating to be missing, but not essential. Even without them, the picture is clear. And looking at that picture now, my plan... I know it can work.

“We’re going to take advantage of Zenron. He seems to think I’m his rival, and he likes to challenge me to duels. So, if I ask him to duel me far away from the camp, with you as the judge, he’ll probably accept. When we’re out there, I’ll distract him, and you knock him out. If the guards ask where he went when we come back, we can just say he ran off somewhere to avoid finishing his report.”

Joshua strokes his chin and says nothing.

My heart sinks and I hang my head. “S-see. I told you it was stupid.”

“No, it’s a good idea. I just want to know, what’s the point of taking out just Zenron? And once we do that, then what?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Zenron is the only major threat left at the camp since the admiral left. The aether crystals on the soldiers' belts are empty, which is why they have swords.” 

He stares at me in disbelief. “I can’t say I noticed that. You have much sharper eyes than I do.”

“As for what we do after that… I don’t know. If we can just get into the building, we can use our earth aer to break down the bars and let them out, but I doubt the guards will even let us get close.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” he asks. “They think we were kidnapped, so why don’t we use that? We can tell the guards that we want to pay them back a little for what they did to us.”

“That’s kind of risky.”

He laughs. “The whole plan is kind of risky, isn’t it?”

I nod and smile. “But it’s our only shot.”

Joshua slicks back his hair and one long strand springs back in rebellion. “So then, why don’t we get this party started?”