REND

“Have they already left?” I asked, peering down over the railings. Only darkness. The possibility of drowning loomed once again. I shook my head and then answered my question. “Nah. If they have, you’d already be chewing me out for being late.”

Deen frowned, illuminated by the lights behind me. “You’re not taking this seriously.”

“I am. Thank you for being here. I’m glad I’m not doing this alone.” That deflated Deen quickly. And I meant that last line.

Recklessness was my middle name by now, but I kind of wanted to erase it from my birth certificate. I may not be normal compared to other people, but my brain did work normally plenty of times. A normal brain would say this was fucking insanity. Deen’s power was a reliable failsafe.

More like a stupidity-safe.  

“You’re hopeless without me,” she said, patting my head.

I leaned away from her hand. “Nuh-uh. I’ve done pretty well on my own. I’m going to show you just how responsible I am.”

“Well then, Ms. Responsible, what’s the plan? I don’t know how long it’ll take Yara and the other clients of the 2Ms to board those boats, but we have to be prepared when they leave. It’s a long way from here—” Deen pointed at our feet “—to the bulbous bow where they’ll exit.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder.

I shrugged. “The plan is we make our way down the outside of the ship. Simple enough. Unless you’re going to tell me that you’ve been hiding teleportation powers.”

“Unfortunately, no. My real power is telling me we shouldn’t do this.” Deen melodramatically sighed. “But I must accompany my best friend and watch her back.”

“You’ll have plenty of back-watching to do.” We exchanged grins.

“You’re more… outgoing now,” Deen said. “Assertive? Confident? There’s just something different. You’re really coming out of your shell.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t have a shell. Anyone would change if they were in my shoes. Proverbial shoes because I’m barefoot right now.”

Her observation ticked me. Not sure if in a good way or bad. My timid Erind face needed to change with everything going on. It couldn’t be stagnant for it was alive, its life being presented to Deen. Character development as I adjusted to my Adumbrae superpowers. Very cool story arc.

However, my updated face was inadvertently nearing my true self. I wasn’t sure what my ‘true self’ really was.

“You’re changing too,” I added.

“I am,” Deen somberly said, staring at the darkness to her side. “Anyway, how do we know when the ships are leaving so we can start our descent?” She was back with her business-like tone as she turned around and leaned over the railings. “The bulbous bow is so far out there. I can’t even see it. The waves must be covering it.”

“We won’t know the exact time they’ll leave. I only got information on the departure date—tomorrow, supposedly—and that turned out wrong. Weird that they changed the schedule, especially with these awful sea conditions. Heh, I sound like a veteran sailor.”

“If they have an Adumbrae that can hide an entire island,” said Deen, “an Adumbrae with water powers to ensure the safety of the trip isn’t too farfetched of a possibility. If those transport ships have lights, we can watch out for that.”

“Doubt that. They’re trying to be sneaky about it.”

“Maybe we can hear them leave?” Deen cupped a hand next to her ear. “Too noisy. Even if the sea was calm, the bulbous bow is too far.”

“Ocean,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“I was agreeing with you that we’re way up here to hear them leave.”

“That’s not what you—”  

“I doubt our flashlights can reach that far down too. And we’d just alert them of our presence if we did that. I think our main problem is even if we do spot them, it’ll take time for us to reach the bulbous bow. We should go down now and wait for those fake fishing ships to come out.”

“Do you mean to say that we’ll hang onto the side of the ship till then?” Deen’s expression couldn’t be explained. I agreed with whatever she thought of my plan.

“Do you have any alternative? I doubt your Guardian Angel is particularly cooperative.”

Deen massaged her temple. “Gabe’s constant warnings are giving me a headache.”

“That’s an issue,” I said. “You may miss the helpful messages. I mean, telling us not to continue this is very helpful for our safety. But we’re going to do this. Your Guardian Angel has no choice but to aid our mission. Think of your power like a traffic navigation app.”

“What are you talking about?” Deen asked as she took off her outer clothes.

“You know? Those apps that tell you the way to your destination? If you accidentally take the wrong turn, it’ll tell you to U-turn or something. But if you continue with that path, it’ll eventually map out a new route for you. When there’s absolutely no going back, your Guardian Angel will help us. Mostly you.”

I grasped the topmost rail and placed my right foot on the bar below it. Domino would get her wish of jumping off the ship after all. Technically, I was going to climb down. I was still going overboard.  

“Wait, Erind!” Deen delved around her bag after stuffing her clothes and slippers inside. “I don’t think the rope I have is long enough. If we tie together our ropes, it—”

“Still won’t be enough. Save the rope. Not like you know rappelling, or whatever it’s called. Just climb down.”

She raised a brow as she zipped her bag. “You say it so simply as if it’s easy to do. What will we use? Like, how are we going to hang on?”

“Superstrength.” I swung over the rails. Then I lowered myself until a dangled from the lip of the deck with my fingers.

“Careful!” Deen leaned over the railing above me.

“And we make our handholds,” I said, looking up at her. I kicked the hull of the ship, burying the front half of my foot into the metal. I wasn’t wearing any sandals to ruin; I was a true genius after all. “Or footholds, since we’ll make them with our feet. You get the idea. Oh, and point your toes down. One of my toenails almost got removed.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. This is nothing compared to what I’ve experienced before.”

“I can’t help but worry about you though you’re stronger than me,” said Deen as she climbed over the rails.

I steadily went down the ship, puncturing its metal skin along the way. Deen followed me without any complaints. She made her own handholds instead of using mine because it was hard to see shit. She had to feel around the dark. That, and she was taller than me and found the spacing of my handholds awkward to use.

“I can have leg extension surgery and immediately heal it,” I mumbled.

“Did you say anything?” Deen called from above.

“Let’s quicken the pace!”

Only now did it occur to me that we were several stories above the water—a super long way to go.

Superstrength made it quite easy to climb down, but it wasn’t a pleasant journey. The rocking of the ship messed with my balance. The massive vibration as it plowed through the waters shot up my arms; our fingers and feet were deep inside the metal, so we could feel it. We were also constantly sprayed with water and buffeted by strong gusts.

Good thing I had tied my hair. It was going to be sticky later from the salt. I should’ve brought shampoo.

Another thing annoyed me. As I quickly climbed down, I made rapid thuds continuously kicking the ship’s hull. Since Deen made separate holes, her sounds weren’t in sync with mine! She tried to match my pace, but because she was taller than me, she descended faster and needed to stop now and then, or else she’d hit me. She settled with climbing down a bit slower. The disjointed pair of thudding made me want to rip my hair out.

I’m just looking for anything to complain about, I grumpily thought. 

“Go right!” Deen shouted over the howling winds and crashing waves, barely audible. “To the center!”

“I know!” I yelled back.

I looked down to see where we were headed. Darkness except for some crests of huge waves that caught whatever light came from the cruise ship. I moved diagonally to the right as I continued my descent. I reached the wedge-shaped middle of the hull and used it as a guide to go straight down. Lower and lower we went until sea foam reached us. Ocean foam?

Soon, waves would slap us. If slaps were like getting hit by a wall of bricks. The roar of the wind and waves was overwhelmingly loud. I went on despite beginning to question the life choices that led me here.

I had a creeping suspicion that Big Marcy never considered the possibility I was going to do this. I, myself, didn’t think it’d be like this. And this was my plan! Big Marcy probably thought I had devised a big-brained way to get past the bioscanners. Jokes on him, he was overestimating me.

Jokes on me, I was gargling saltwater.

“It’s starting to slope—bleargh!” Water got into my mouth as a wave engulfed Deen and me. The force was stupidly strong that I had to grip the metal hard, crumpling it in my fists. My joints and muscles strained to keep my limbs attached to my torso. “Slope forward. Careful!”

My feet found a surface to step on. The weird bulbous bow of this ship had a large section above the water level. This wasn’t supposed to be on a normal ship if my understanding was correct.

“This is it,” I said, letting go of the side of the ship. “Crouch down and—” Before I could follow my own instructions, another wave rammed me. I had nothing to hold on to. I flapped around wildly, unable to breathe. I was getting washed away by the current!

Something wrapped around my neck. I felt it with my hands while holding my breath. Some stray rope from the ship? A bit squishy. The shape was like a leg. Deen managed to hook me with her leg.

“Thanks for the save, Deen,” I said begrudgingly as the wave subsided. I saw that she barely hung on to the ship with one hand.

If she hadn’t quickly reacted, I would’ve gotten swept miles elsewhere and probably find myself swimming to Australia or somewhere because I wouldn’t know which way to go. I wasn’t sure if starvation or thirst could kill an Adumbrae. If I’d survive without sustenance, there was a real possibility that I’d swim in circles forever in the vast Pacific Ocean. I didn’t know how to use the sun or stars as a compass.

I don’t even know where’s the North Star!

Deen pulled me low on top of the bulbous bow. “Hang on,” she said. “We need to endure the waves.”

I punched my hands into the ship and grabbed some bars inside. I also buried my feet into the steel. The holes were small. The cruise ship wasn’t going to sink because of this. Maybe.

Deen positioned herself in front of me, our ears almost touching so we could somewhat hear each other. She linked her right arm around mine before finding something to grab on. She must be really worried I’d get lost. Annoying that she thought me irresponsible.

“I feel like a sacrifice to the gods,” I said.

“What are you talking about?” she yelled into my ear.

“Not so loud. I can hear you. There was this movie where the girl was going to be offered to—”

We were underwater for several seconds. After we came up, I shook my head to fling away my wet hair. The ties had come undone.

“Anyway, the girl was offered to a sea monster,” I continued. “She was tied to a pole by the sea, and waves hit her as the monster appeared. But I’m the monster here, so… you’re the offering? I’m not sure where I was going with this. Just saying stuff floating around my mind.”

Deen gently bopped my head with hers. “You must be nervous. We’ll talk about random things if it’ll distract you.”

“I’m not nervous. I was just making conversation to pass the time.”

“What happened to the girl in that movie?”

Another wave came over us.

Surfacing, I had my face covered with my salted hair and seaweed. Deen yanked out a candy wrapper stuck in my hair with her teeth. How in this goddamn wide ocean did garbage manage to find me? In comparison, Deen had an immaculate wet look, her hair still tightly woven in a bun. That was some insane superpower.

“I can’t remember what happened in the movie,” I grumbled.

“Don’t sulk, Erind. I know you want to continue your story.”

“How long will we have to wait?” I wondered, ignoring her. “The ship’s still moving. It should stop to disgorge the fake fishing boats or it’ll ram them as they come out. I hope it won’t take too—”

“Did you hear that?” Deen interrupted me.

“Hear what? I can barely hear anything else other than the waves.”

Sure enough, we were once again submerged.

“I’m sure I heard something odd,” said Deen after we surfaced. She craned her neck, pushing herself up as high as she could while maintaining her hold on the ship, and surveyed our surroundings.

“Ha and ha. I know you’re making fun of me. Suddenly, there’s a sea monster that’s going to—”

“Shush! I’m serious. Listen.” She closed her eyes and cocked her head. “It’s there again.”

I turned left, trying to peer into the starless night to find anything. Those could be waves or sea monsters. Most probably just waves. I also peeled my ears.

It was faint, but there was… something—an echoing hum.

“Sounds like… a whale singing,” I said.

“You heard it too? Haunting. I can’t quite place if it’s near or far.”

“I know humpback whales pass through these waters. They’re the ones who can sing. I’m not sure what months they migrate, but they’d naturally avoid ships this big.”

“You’re a whale girl now?” Deen tapped our heads again. “It’s cute when you randomly spout animal facts.”

“Just stuff I saw on TV…” I said, trailing the end of my sentence as I spotted glowing red orbs peeking through the blanket of darkness. “What is that?”

“Did you see something?” Deen asked.

“It’s right there! Over there!”

The orbs appeared to be attached to something because they maintained their position in relation to each other even as their whole group bobbed on the waters. A wave hit “it”, hinting at its large size. It swam parallel to the ship. Some of the light from above washed over it, giving hints of a slimy surface with veins. And then it dove into the water.

No more singing.