‘No dreams or heartaches today too, huh? That Artemis person sure is amazing,’ Gin mumbled to himself as he leaned against the ship’s railings and stared at the ocean.

He could see land looming in the distance and knew their weeks-long journey had almost come to a close. Next stop? Pakistan according to squadron O’s crew. Yet, the country seemed different from what Gin understood. It looked concave in shape compared to the atlases he analysed back in his village. Then again, that figure matched with the “modern” iteration of the map he saw the colonel use.

Regardless, Gin looked forward to it. He saw a glimpse of O’s mages and the way they ran the ships felt like a well-oiled machine with mages instead of cogs. Their coordination astounded him. Compared to his own battalion, these people overshadowed them a hundredfold. And this scratched just the surface as many more members awaited ahead.

However, without warning, an almighty thump shattered Gin’s train of thought. I guess I should go check on them, he instructed himself. He greeted the workers on the deck as he headed towards the stairs, trying to see if he can get any positive response but received none besides the odd nod. Everyone’s so focused on their work to care about me or my squadron… Oh well, I’ll get to them eventually.

Gin went down the stairs to the next level of the ship. He saw a small crowd gathered around the end of the steps with all of their attention pointing towards one direction: a pair of familiar mages having a sparring match.

Syndra ducked a flaming fist before going for an uppercut herself. However, Jake expected the counterattack and stepped backwards and went into a stance. She panted the entire time, unable to keep her arms in position, while he didn’t break a figurative sweat (of course he sweated the hardest to maintain his flames).

The chance showed itself and Jake took it. He feinted a left jab right at Syndra’s face then went for a right hook. She flinched and raised her arms to block the first attack. However, the second hit her clean in the chest plate, sending her tumbling back.

‘Let me have five minutes to recuperate. We’ll go again,’ she ordered while on the floor.

‘Are you sure?’ Jake asked, more sympathetic than scared of the woman.

‘Affirmative,’ she glared back.

‘Ok then,’ Jake looked disgruntled before walking to an empty corner. He still didn’t put out his flames and instead went into a meditative trance.

Gin on the other hand carried down the steps, past the crowd and headed towards Brim who leaned against a wall, observing everyone from a distance. Beside him was a tap. Gin twisted it and water (apparently from the sea and distilled by the ship) poured down which he collected in a stone container.

Once filled, Gin slumped down and asked, ‘What does that make it now?’

‘Four and O,’ the fire elemental answered.

‘I’m surprised she still wants to continue. It was so painful watching the first two defeats, I had to go for some fresh air,’ Gin sighed. ‘To be honest, I thought she’d do a bit better.’

‘What did you expect?’ Brim chuckled at the remark. ‘Jake may be an idiot at times but at least he’s trained at the MBP. To win against an opponent like him, you either need the experience to give yourself a tactical edge, talent to outfight your opponent, or overwhelming strength to just bulldoze him. Syndra has none of them. Or did you think your couple of months together would give you all that?’

‘No. You’re right,’ Gin rolled his eyes and slammed the floor. ‘Ugh. I knew sparring with you guys was a bad idea. She’s not ready but she insisted saying that “it wouldn’t bother her if the personal training was more well known to set a good example.” Of course, I knew she said all that because she’s being impatient and couldn’t wait till we hit land to start again! We haven’t done anything since boarding after all.’

‘Still, it’s nice to see her like this.’

Gin raised an eyebrow and looked up. Brim had an expression that looked as if he was both said and happy at the same time. ‘What do you mean?’ he delved deeper.

He didn’t get an immediate response. The fire elemental just stared at the combatants as they made their way back to the makeshift arena. Then, as time went on, boredom settled in and Gin began sipping on his water.

‘Well, Syndra wasn’t always like this,’ Brim started at last. ‘She was actually quite lively, less serious and actually childish in nature.’

‘You’re kidding me?’ Gin choked a little and thumped his chest several times.

‘No, no, I’m serious,’ Brim laughed at the mishap, causing him to open up more. ‘We all came from the same squadron, right? Squadron L. I’ve known her since she joined. Familiar types are one of the few types of mage that leave the MBP earlier, so she was only sixty at the time. Practically a kid!’

Only? That’s still double my age, Gin thought to himself as Brim continued.

‘She barely listened to others. Instead of doing the daily chores, she would try and ditch her duties and play games. And although she has, and still does have, a natural talent to learn and speak the language of most birds, she barely honed her skills. Some of the veteran familiar types even thought she was illiterate at some point.’

‘That’s hard to believe. What made her change?’ Gin hesitated. He wondered if he went too far but felt relieved when Brim smiled in return.

‘Did you know how easily Syndra seems to get attached?’ he posed a question.

‘Heh. Yeah… she was awfully close to her bird and now it seems she’s getting close to me,’ Gin admitted. He looked ahead to find the next sparring match had started.

‘And before that, there was someone else. My sister, Brim Granite, to be exact.’

What’s with the deal with having siblings but no parents? And what’s with that naming system? The questions popped up in Gin’s head but he didn’t want to say them out loud. He just listened.

‘To describe her, I would say she’s a mixture of the current me and Syndra. She was silly most of the time but serious when she needed to be. A perfect role model,’ Brim’s face began to droop. Gin could tell something must have happened.

‘What do you mean by “current” you?’ he noted.

‘I guess I’ve changed too. Let’s just say I was more on the serious side, scolding both of them whenever they bunked meetings and stuff,’ Brim’s solemn face brightened up again. ‘But anyway, Granite was dependable. A real role model for everyone and especially for Syndra. Jake always looked up to me though. So, when it comes to time spent together, it was usually us four.’

‘I see. You lot were close, huh?’

‘Yeah. We were. But then a certain mission happened,’ Brim stopped talking and waited for the spar to commence. Upon closer inspection, his body language told Gin that he didn’t want the two fighters to overhear their conversation. ‘The battle of Lisbon was probably squadron L’s greatest defence against TA but there was a certain blip in our records that we don’t really talk about nor was it reported correctly. You see, Jake and I were allocated on one ship while Syndra and Granite were on another. At one point a message came to all ships that the enemy was coming from the west and preparing a surprise attack. Luckily, we as a squadron found out on time and manoeuvred to counter the oncoming barrage of fireballs and enemy ships. However, one particular ship moved the wrong direction and pretty much got bombarded head-on and raided with ease.’

‘Your sister’s?’ Gin guessed, realising what happened.

‘Mm,’ Brim nodded. ‘The rest of us went to their rescue when we found out but there were casualties, Granite included. And as the commanding officer at the time, it was my duty to find out why they made such an error. It was then that I found a crying Syndra curled up on the deck below and lifeless eyes full of regret. It was really obvious that she knew what happened so I interrogated her. So, remember when I told you she seemed a bit illiterate? Apparently, when she received the message that the enemies were coming from the west, she translated it as they were coming from the east.’

‘Miscommunication and misinformation can lead to death,’ Gin recalled something Syndra said often.

‘Precisely. It comes from this moment. She became more hardy, serious and whatever to become what she is now,’ Brim concluded. He stopped for a moment before adding, ‘Though I changed because of it too and she probably hates me for doing so. After all, I was in super serious mode and focusing on winning the defence. I didn’t think about what the others were doing. Had I been more mindful of my surroundings, we could have saved them. But in the end, I ended up reporting that we suffered just the one ship’s worth of casualties and put it down to us not having enough time to get everyone into formation due to the suddenness of the attack. Of course, we could have easily won with zero casualties but I didn’t want to pin down the blame on Syndra, so I did what I had to do. I sincerely regret not realising earlier, however.’

‘Just like me,’ Gin snorted at some irony.

‘Hm?’ Brim raised an eyebrow.

‘Oh, um,’ Gin’s eyes widened. He didn’t mean to say that. His words came out without warning. But now that he thought about it, an opportunity showed itself. His heart didn’t ache nor did his chest become tight. The mood and situation were perfect too. He could talk about what plagued him for years.

‘Gin, are you ok?’ his friend knelt down and patted a shoulder.

‘I was just thinking,’ Gin decided to start. He knew he had to or else he would cower again. And yet, his lips still quivered in fear. ‘You lot are really human. I used to think that all of you mages were some separate entity and I wanted to copy that but the more I learn, the more I realise how wrong I was.’

Brim didn’t say anything. Instead, he collapsed to the floor and sat right next to Gin, letting him continue in his own time.

‘The emotions you guys display…I understand. I truly do. I know how it feels to lose the most important person in the world to you. I had three, in fact: my parents and my brother. I had it good, but I still decided to leave them for my own selfish reasons. And when I came back, I found out they were taken over like some mindless…zombies; beings that had no human thoughts,’ Gin looked up and watched the battle, wondering if he was doing the right thing. ‘Then I did something unspeakable. I killed them. I killed them all. Even the ones I loved. I tried to convince myself that they weren’t themselves; that they were monsters trying to eat me. I tried to forget for years, I tried to put on a bland persona and I tried to come to the world of mages to become a mage-like being myself. Or at least meet a swift end. However, none of that happened. Instead, the more time I spend with everyone, the more I feel like I’m the monster who doesn’t show the humanity all of you do. I feel sorry that you guys put so much faith in me and maybe that I shouldn’t have come here in the first place.’

‘Gin…’

All of a sudden someone hit the floor and, to everyone’s surprise, it was Jake of all people with a victorious Syndra standing in the middle.

Brim and Gin looked at each other then back ahead of them, “How on earth did that happen?” displayed on both of their faces. It ruined the mood but they telepathed that one of them should check on the defeated man.

‘We can talk about this later,’ Gin shooed Brim away.

‘Alright,’ the fire elemental agreed with disappointment in his voice as he headed over to the sparrers.

Then, without warning, a knock came from behind Gin. He jumped and stared at the wall for a few seconds. I’m on the edge of the ship, right? he analysed, feeling the wood and getting more confused. Did an animal smash into it?

‘Gin, are you there?’ a voice shattered that theory.

‘Uh, yes,’ Gin talked back. Can mages fly now?

The wall collapsed in an instant, the wood that made it now in a black, rotten sludge. Instead of the open sea you would expect, a tunnel showed itself and inside it waited for the ever-petite Sam. How did he get there? Who knew but the passageway astounded Gin nonetheless.

‘Maria is calling you,’ he informed.

‘I see,’ Gin looked back. Brim noticed and nodded in approval to leave, Syndra remained calm (though Gin could tell she could barely hold her excitement), and Jake appeared to look at him with sympathetic eyes. Granted, maybe the injury from his loss made it seem that way, but it did leave something to be confused about.

‘I wanted to call sooner,’ Sam continued, pausing to catch a breath, ‘but she stopped me to listen to you.’

He pointed behind him where, near the middle of the tunnel, the back of a woman showed walking away. Upon closer inspection, in particular the long nails, Gin could tell who it was. Really? Of all the people, she’s the one that overheard everything? I’m such an idiot, he rolled his eyes as he went into a jog to catch up.

‘Joan, wait,’ Gin called out but got no response in return. ‘Look, I know you wanted me to talk to you directly about myself and I apologise that I didn’t keep my promise and I hope you understand why I didn’t. So, how about I make another one and say, for example, if I ever go back to my village, I’ll take you. And then I can show you some of the stuff there and talk about what happened in greater detail. That sounds good?’

At last, she stopped. She stood there for a few seconds, not saying a single word. However, when she turned around, she had a bright smile unlike the look of disappointment Gin expected. Then she burst into laughter.

‘Eh?’ Gin grew confused.

‘I’m sorry,’ she calmed herself down. ‘I’ll be honest with you and say that I was the one who wanted to apologise for eavesdropping. I tried to run away and tell you later before you found out but your little messenger over there didn’t give me a chance.’

‘Oh.’

‘Althoooough, I’m still taking your offer. When are we going?’ her smile grew wider.

‘I – I don’t know,’ Gin found himself dumbfounded by the cheek of the woman in front of him.

‘No worries. Take your time,’ Joan reassured. ‘But, Gin, I want to say that you’re neither fake nor a monster. Even if you were someone else decades ago, I’m sure you wouldn’t be that different from the you that you are now. Even if you did become the monster you claimed to be, I will do my best to stop that from happening. That’s my promise to you.’

‘Hurry. Maria waiting,’ Sam came in, tugging Gin’s clothes to get him to start walking.

‘Right,’ Gin agreed before turning back to Joan, mouthing “thanks.”

‘It’s what I’m here for,’ she responded, following behind them.

The trio carried on and ended up inside another ship. The moment they did so, Joan placed her hand next to the entrance which caused the tunnel to collapse, creating massive splashes in the ocean below. Afterwards, the two holes created on each (previously connected) ship began to seal up, or rather the wood grew to cover them up. With that done, they all headed to a room closest to their location where the colonel awaited them.

‘Ah, child, there you are! Take a seat.’ she greeted. ‘Sam, you are dismissed. Joan, you can stay.’

They all followed the order. The room itself looked similar to the meeting room back in the Rezah tree with a circular table surrounded by chairs. Too similar in fact. Though that didn’t affect Gin as he sat opposite the colonel while Joan decided to stay standing.

‘I’ll make this quick. As you know, we’re arriving at squadron O’s base at last,’ the colonel began. ‘I’ve talked with Diana recently and we decided on a few things. First of all, everyone is lacking in naval training and we’ll spend the next couple of months getting everyone up to scratch. This leads to the second point: To do said training, all our leaders’ battalions will be put under new supervision. Each with their own higher-up.’

‘Does that mean my role as a leader is not needed anymore?’ Gin asked.

‘Not quite. You’re still in charge of conveying orders but you will need to understand that I am no longer the one directly above you in the hierarchy. There will be someone else. His name is Gargarensis and he will formerly meet you when we reach land. I’ll warn you that your initial impressions of the man will betray you and so I demand that you have an open mind. Our relations with O will hinge on how you act and, for the sake of squadron W’s future prospects, I don’t want to hear any trouble, got it?’

Gargarensis? Didn’t those Xernim users mention his name before? Wonder what he’s like, Gin recognised the name while saying, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Good,’ the colonel broke a smile. ‘Third and finally, I’ve told her already but decided that Joan will now officially be a part of your battalion instead of just your personal medic.’

Eh? Gin looked over to Joan who grinned back. ‘Is there a reason for this?’

‘It’s safe to assume that there will be a lot of injuries when working with Gargarensis,’ she smirked, sending a shiver down Gin’s spine. ‘This change in position is merely precautionary. Nothing more.’

‘I understand.’

‘Then we’re sorted!’ the colonel gave a slam on the table to finish the brief meeting off. ‘You are dismissed, child. Joan, please stay a while longer.’

‘Yes, colonel,’ Gin nodded as he got up. Wonder what those two need to talk about.

However, he made sure not to eavesdrop unlike a certain medic and got as far away from them as possible. He went so far that he somehow ended up outside, not realising that he wasn’t on the same boat he started off as. Though he didn’t mind. He felt relieved in fact. He got a bit of his past off his chest, with the right people hearing it, learnt about what was going to happen soon and he could look forward to learning about naval training. And so, as he watched the ebb and flow of the waves, he couldn’t wait to land in squadron O’s base.