Between the Waves and the Gulls

Prelude

May Seventh, 2014
Hello. This is the first day aboard the Questant.
The purpose of our voyage is to locate something. What, we do not know. We do know that my grandmother, the Purist of Power, is in hiding somewhere on earth, basking in a source of energy so powerful it can reverse death. Has she found the Fountain of Youth? The city of Gold? Atlantis? We do not know. But all of us have a reason to seek it.
Speaking of us, I believe we should have a record of our crew. There is me, of course. Everybody calls me L, and I have arranged for all of us to meet at this port and set sail today. With me is my soon-to-be husband, Lamount Cranston. Together we are the Purists of Curses and Death. It is because I am Curses that I lead our expedition. My fiancé and I have our reason to seek the power. Perhaps a year ago maybe, I was sentenced to death for crimes too numerous to list. I escaped from the underworld with help from Lamount, but on the surface I was plagued with a curse of my own. I could not even set foot outside of the tall, grey Purist building without demons from the Nether-World coming to try to snatch me back. And eventually I gave in, but only to make a deal with the Devil. I now get May though the end of September with my loved ones, and the rest of the year… Well, I spend that time in the fiery realm itself. We seek the power to free me from my bind, once and for all.
Also on our crew are two young children, by the names of Hattie and Nickolas. They’re both only eight years old, but they’ve both been through so much pain in their short lives. Hattie, the poor girl, has a link with the dead called the Ethereal. She can speak with the spirits of the deceased. But she’s had such a hard life already. As the Purist of Fortune, she has the power to influence someone’s life permanently. For better or worse. She’s been the cause of three deaths, on accident. With her is her lover, Nickolas. They’re like a package deal, the two of them. Never one without the other. He says he’s here to stay with her, but deep down I’m sure he’s coming because when we find the power, he wants to bring his mother back. His mother already fell victim to Hattie’s curse. And I’m sure Hattie wants her mother back too. Those are their reasons. To rid the poor thing of her curse and undo the damage it has done.
We also have with us another small family. We have Solaris Delphine, the technopath, with her lover Aaron and her sisters Torren, Char, and Calamity. Solaris, or Sol as we call her for short, has a mental and physical illness which weakens her very much. Aaron and Torren were the ones who contacted me when I was looking for a crew. They want the power to cure Sol. And, I personally think Char, who shares her soul with Torren, just wants to find a way to shut Calamity up.
So, that is us. Nine passengers. Six girls and three boys. One Quest.

Chapter One
"Nickolas Inkwell-Lament?"
"Here."
"Hattie Lester?"
"Present."
"Solaris Delphine?"
"H-Here..."
"Aaron Delphine?"
"Right here."
"Torren Rose?"
"I'm here..."
"Calamity Aurium?"
"HERE!"
"Charlotte Black?"
"'Ere."
I look up from the list of names I have written out. "Good, everyone's here." I said, scanning the small crowd. This was my crew... oh well, I get what I get.
Party number one. I was here; wasn't I? And at my side was my fiancé. Good.
Party number two. A young, radiant girl with shimmering white hair and sparkling navy blue eyes. At first sight Hattie Lester looked too pretty and nice and optimistic to be cursed, but I remember one thing that as the personification of Curses I should know. There was a balance to our universe. The more talented, good-looking, or blessed there must be more regrets and curses trapped under fair skin. Standiing right next to her was a young boy, her age, with black hair and the same pinkish orange eyes as my friend Blot Inkwell-Lament had. This was her brother, Nickolas Inkwell-Lament. The lovers were accounted for. Good.
Number three? A girl, maybe twelve, who was sitting on a suitcase, looking a bit too weak to stand. She bent over and coughed onto her wrist, dirty golden curls falling over her shoulders. She looks up, her golden eyes meet my grey ones, she smiles apologetically and sniffles. Solaris Delphine. Sitting next to her, a boy her age with choppy ginger hair. He has an arm around her, and when they look at each other they smile. Aaron Delphine. Her boyfriend, who went by her last name. Standing next to them was a pair of girls, same height, same posture, same skin tone, same hair colour, both dressed in black. They were almost completely identical. Except one girl had longer hair, hers fell down to her knees while the other kept theirs short. The long haired girl had pale blue eyes. Charlotte Black. That meant the short haired girl was Torren Rose. Ah, Torren. I remember her. And the girl who was practically rolling around the deck? Calamity Aurium. There was a reason for her first name, and everyone knew it. A spunky, miniature version of Sol, Calamity was a ball of energy, a disaster waiting to happen. Everyone was here, then.
Come on, L. You’ve ought to make a speech or something. But when it comes to words, sometimes I just lose it. I look over the small crowd, all of them staring back at me, waiting for something to happen. “Hello-“
“HELLO!” Calamity bursts out in excitement. She seems very… literal. Oh, great.
“-and welcome aboard our ship, YOUR SHIP, the Questant.” I say, wincing at Calamity’s volume level. “My name is L, and this is my fiancé, Lamount. Some of you know us already, most of you actually. We’re the Purists of Death and Curses. And we’ve organized for all of us, the Questant’s new crew, to meet here, right now. Everyone is present, so I assume we may begin introductions. I believe I’ve introduced us well, now your turn?” I half-say, half-ask while pointing towards Hattie and Nickolas.
“Alright. My name is Hattie Lester, but you can call me Pandora. I’m the Purist of Fortune… but… it’s a curse instead of a blessing. I… I kill people’s loved ones if I touch them outside of my house…” She says, but she looks away, ashamed, when she mentions her power. “So please don’t touch me until I’ve spent a week on the boat, then my powers will adjust to this being my home.” She says, looking up. Then she looks to Nickolas and smiles at him. “This is my boyfriend, Nickolas. Lots of you know Blot Inkwell-Lament? Well she’s-”
“My sister,” Nickolas interrupts. “And to back up Hattie’s statement, I will warn you. I have seen Hattie’s power… it’s very real… I lost my mom to it…” He says, looking away briefly then turning his attention back to the rest of us. “We look forward to spending time with other people and getting to see the world. As you’ve probably inferred, we don’t get out much…” He says and laughs a bit, then we look at the others.
“Your turn now,” I say.
“OK.” Aaron simply says, then starts actually talking. “My name is Aaron Delphine, and this is my girlfriend. Solaris Delphine.” He says and smiles warmly, looking at her. “And we’re the Purists of Hope and Light.” He says, and then addresses the group louder. “Solaris… she’s very… ill. She can’t even walk sometimes, so I’m sorry to say that she won’t be able to pull her weight with a position on the crew...”
“It’s okay,” Lamount says and smiles. The twins take their turn to speak, now.
“Hello…” Torren says, somewhat reclusively. “I think most of you know me… and if you don’t…” She then mumbles something like “I dunno why I should tell you” but goes back to speaking to all of us “I’m Torren Rose, and this is my twin sister, Char Black.” Charlotte nods and speaks.
“As Torren said, I’m Charlotte, you can call me either Char or Lettie… I don’t care. And combined, Torren and I are the Purist of Darkness.” She says quickly. Then everyone’s attention turns to the little girl dressed in brown running around the deck. Oh boy, here we go. The words start pouring out of her mouth before any of us are ready to listen, and we can’t.
“HELLOMYNAMEISCALAMITYIAMFIVEYEARSOLDMYFAVORITEFOODISCHOCOLATEILIKETHECOLOURBRONZEMYFAVORITEMOVIEIS9….”
“I think she’s trying to talk to us, I know it…” I hear someone whisper. After about five long, LONG minutes she stops talking and grins- just grins- at all of us. Her mouth is so WIDE, is it even possible for someone’s face to stretch like that? I shudder.
“Well, that’s everyone. I guess it’s time to poke around the ship, find out where everything is, and move your things into your rooms.” I say, and at once everyone starts moving, Aaron helps Sol up from her suitcase and walks with her down to their room, Torren and Char haul their bags down to the cabin they had to share, Hattie looks around the deck, Nick begins to take their things down, until Lamount and I are the only ones standing still.
“Well, you heard yourself.” He says and smirks. “It’s moving time.”

I stand out on the deck, looking around after L’s speech. I’m practically gawking at the open sea and open sky. The world really was so vast... I brush a piece of hair off my shoulder and sigh. I find myself humming chi mi na morbhenna as I watch the clouds float by effortlessly. Oh, Hattie. Everything’s so different now. Well what did you expect, leaving behind your bedroom and closet and going out in the open? Nick’s taking our things down already. I blink and break out of the trance-like state I’m in and grab my suitcase. I look at Nick and smile. I ask quietly, “Which room is ours?” and he smiles back. He reaches over to touch my shoulder but I flinch and back away a little.
“Oh... right...” He says and puts his hand down. “Second on the right.” I nod and walk down. I look around our room and set my suitcase down on one of the two twin size beds it had. The room was about the same size as the one I lived in all of my life in France. It was nice, to be able to see the world and still have the comfort of the confined spaces I was used to. I smile and look at Nick.
“Baby? Thank you for talking me into this.” I say, sitting down on my bed.
“No problem, Lovely. I had a feeling you would like it here.” He says, grinning. I laugh and grin as well. I want to run over there and hug him, but I can’t.
“Not touching you or anyone really for the next week’s gonna be hard...” I say, the smile wiped off my face.
“Aww, Hattie, don’t stress it. Tomorrow it’ll be six days, and the day after that it’ll be five. The adjustment time will be over before you know it.” He says, and I smile again.
“OK. Well, we should get the rest of our things down here...” I say, standing up again. “Even though it’ warm here I’m going to have to keep my skin completely covered for the next seven days.” I walk back up the stairs and grab the last few bags I had up there, then hauled them downstairs.
“Yeah... how are you going to manage the heat?” he asks as we start unpacking our things.
“I’m probably going to spend most of my time inside. And anyways, we’re going to be heading north. That’ll help.” I say, making my first priority finding a place to put my violin and sheet music in. I spot what appeared to be a closet. Perfect! When I open the door, I see that the little girl that didn’t stop talking had shoved all her things into it and had made a nest of some sort. “Oh!” I exclaim, fairly surprised by this. She looks at me from the center of her weird cocoon made of blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and clothes. She spots my violin and yelps.
“CAN I PLAY IT?” She squeals.
“Well, I don’t see who not... do you know how?” I ask as I open the case. She nods enthusiastically and I hand her the violin and the bow. She holds them correctly and plays a couple squeaky notes on it. I laugh and take it back. “I’ll teach you, if you want.” She nods to that as well. I smile. “You’re Sol’s little sister, right?”
“Yeah-huh!!! But she’s a dreadful bore and so are our older sisters!!! Will you be my sister instead?!?! Because I like to have FUN!!!” She says and I laugh. “Are YOU fun?” she asks, and I can’t stop laughing.
“I guess I’ll be your sister... if that is possible, to just BE someone’s sister...” I say, and she shrieks with happiness. “But what are you doing in there, you closet monster?” She laughs.
“This is my room!!!” She says and I laugh again.
“Well, see you later, Closet Monster.” I say and look elsewhere for a place for my violin.

A girl stepped off of a large, solid and strong ship. She stepped onto an island, hidden away, just an uncharted island in Svalbard. The Norwegian isle of her ancestors welcomed the girl into itself, beckoning her in deeper and deeper. A young man followed after her. The girl look at him, and then back to the surroundings. She gaped at the wild ocean and the wind blowing through the tall, tall trees.
“You’re sure this is the right island, my darling?” He asked, looking at her. The girl turned around to face him, her loose dark brown hair flying in the wind, flying off her shoulder and into her face. She sputtered and moved it behind her ear, her serious grey eyes meeting his cold black ones.
“Yes, positively.” She replied, holding a hand in front of her as she turned back around and began walking into the forest.
~~~
“How much longer do you think we’ll be walking?” The boy asked the girl.
“Not sure.” The girl said, still walking. They came to a rock wall, a dark and narrow opening in it. The girl smiled. “We’re here.” She said.
“About time!” He said and hugged the girl close to him. The girl hugged back tightly and kissed his cheek. “Liza, you know I love you, but why do we have to be here?” He asked.
“I have a feeling, Lamount, and I can’t explain it; we need to be here now, it’s important!” She said letting go of him and turning to the opening. It was just big enough for a human to fit though...
The girl, Liza, pulled a flashlight out of her backpack. She pulled out another one and tossed it to the boy, Lamount. She turned flashlight on and entered the inky black darkness of the opening just as the sun set.
Stairs. Stairs built into the cave, allowing people to enter only in single file. People would be able to enter, if people knew where the island actually was. Liza and Lamount ran down the stone stairs waiting for an opening in the walls. The first opening appeared in a matter of minutes. They ducked inside the room. It was not dark inside though; there were candles, chandeliers, and lamps on the walls in all colours. There were ancient items and stones in the cave room; graves. Stone markers with names of long-dead people. The couple had found themselves in a cemetery.
“Well, this is obviously our environment, my dearest...” Lamount said, then trailed off as glowing, translucent figures rose up from the graves. The spirits, no doubt. The ghosts caught sight of Liza and Lamount, and watched them carefully. The two of them watched as well. A girl, who appeared to be about 14, picked up an old brush and began running it through her hair. Liza turned to her fiancé and whispered “The older, the closer to the surface they are...”
Lamount nodded and they left the room quietly, running down the stairs, tomb after tomb and room after room. They passed spirits traveling from room to room. It seemed that nighttime underground in the catacombs was socialization time.
“Where is this anyways? WHY are we here, Liza, at this moment in time? You aren’t telling me these things, and it’s making me nervous.” Lamount yelled as they scaled down more stairs. Liza turned around, a sly sort of grin on her face.
“These, my dear, are my family’s ancient catacombs. Ever since the beginning of my family our dead has been buried here, in the stone walls, deeper and deeper underground. Latitude longitude coordinates are passed down generation so the next group can continue the tradition.” She said, with a smart matter-of-fact tone in her voice. She then added, “My parents are here...”. Her eyes turned misty as she slowed down and looked at him. She shook off the memories of her childhood and ran down faster, knowing each step was taking her closer to it.
Liza stood just outside of a doorway, one of the ones leading into the rooms. Lamount held her close to him and whispered in her ear.
“And you’re sure you want to do this? I could go in there for you, and you wouldn’t have to face them...” He said.
“No, I have to do this. Anyways, what would you even say? ‘Hey, my name is Lamount, I’m your daughter’s fiancé, we kinda want to know about her grandma but she didn’t want to come in...’” She mocked laughing.
“Alright, I’m right behind you.” He said, and she took a deep breath in before entering the room.
The spirits hooked at the girl quizzically, like ‘who is she, and how is she here? who’s the boy following her?’ Liza’s mouth went dry at the sight of her old family and she didn’t know what to say.
“Uhm... hey... it’ me... y’know... Emma?” She said, feeling embarrassed and shy. The spirits swarmed her, all speaking at once.
“Emma!”
“Where have you been??”
“You’re so different!”
“Who’s he?”
“Have you been taking care of your cousins?”
“Hush, hush! Not all at once! First of all, I’ve been in England. And New York. Second, yes, I am. This is Lamount, my fiancé, and we haven’t come to visit. We’ve come on business.” She said, ignoring the last question. She didn’t have the heart to answer it.
“WHAT? YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED? HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?” One of them frantically screamed.
“Two years. And I know I’m too young... just... we don’t care, okay!!! Like I said, we came here on BUSINESS!!!!!”
“Well, fine. Excuse us for wanting to check up on you. What the f*** do you want with us?”
“Well, we want to know if grandma’s still alive... she wasn’t here” Liza said, ignoring the vulgar language. Growing up with a family like hers you learn to ignore it anyways.
“Yes, she’s still out there somewhere. She’s basking in Atlantis or Elvarado somewhere.”
“What?!?! How-“ Liza exclaimed, but was cut off.
“We don’t know how. But we do know it’s strong enough to reverse Death.”
Liza and Lamount looked at each other.
“Say, we were going to go look for it... any advice?” Liza said, quieter.
“Well, if you really love your grandma that much...” A spirit started, not knowing their true reasons for seeking power. “You’d need a crew of about eight or nine people...”
“Anything else?” She said, wanting to get out.
“Stay safe. We don’t want your grave joining ours down here.”
“OK! Love-you-bye!” She said and quickly left. As they walked out, Liza caught sight of one more room a short distance down. She wandered into it, and Lamount had no choice but to follow her. The room was empty.
“Wonder what this is for...” He said.
“I know…” Liza said, then trailed off.
“What?”
“Us. It’s for when my cousins and I die. I’m supposed to be in here... but we’re all very much alive right now, I bet we could stay here.”
“Why not just head back to the boat? It’s certainly more comfortable.”
“It’s dark out, and when we came down it looked like a storm was brewing up. Come on, we’ll go back tomorrow.”
“Alright.” He said, and they rummaged through their backpacks for blankets and such. Once they had made a temporary camp out of the future tomb, the couple curled up together.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Goodnight.”
“Night.”