STAGE SIX: Seeing What Doesn't Exist

"We have to remove the three sails here, and leave this one hanging!" She barged into the captain's room and pointed at the ship's blueprint hanging on the wall. As expected, she was completely ignored. Freyja grabbed a pen and a paper on the captain's desk and started drawing a diagram, indicating the direction of the air and the waves. "There's a force under the ship that makes the waves move in this direction. It's also the same suction force that keeps us in a certain radius of position! It means that this is no ordinary storm and you can't stick to your protocols!"

Her eyes met the buff, bearded captain's. "Please believe me! That violet island I saw this morning is still there! We didn't change location! Something is sucking this ship from under! Something like a whirlpool, but different! Come on! You should realize that!"

The captain's crew started dragging her away, until the captain of the ship started reading the diagrams she drew. Then, an idea came to him. "Little girl, have you heard of Veejus?" Freyja shook her head. The captain's face lit up. "I hereby appoint this girl as my assistant effective now!" He commanded, much to the crew's surprise. "I want you to back me up."

Freyja nodded. "Alright."

"Lower these sails first. And keep this one on. Then, we have to keep this ship buoyant. The platforms you used when we boarded the ship, we can lower all of them to increase surface area." Freyja suggested, which the captain immediately had them do. "LOWER THE SAILS!"

"Yes captain!" The crew mobilized faster than before.

"There are reserves of aura crystals under the sea. We call them Veejus. These crystals, when accumulated, emit strong aura that materializes in a force similar to that of water pillars." Freyja could somehow make sense of the Captain's words, though some of them are unfamiliar. "Something like a reverse-whirlpool?" She tried imagining what they actually are, based on the description.

The sailors shouted reports from time to time, which the captain verified with his newly appointed vice-captain. Though still very unstable, the ship has somehow regained balance, thanks to the platforms. Hearing the reports, Freyja grew more and more confident that they can save the ship. However, knowing that Kirin is out there swimming, she still can't set her mind at ease. "Captain, how about humans?" She asked out of the blue, "How about really strong humans swimming away from Veejus?"

"Is it even possible to do that!?" The captain's response sure worried her... a lot. For a moment, she started regretting her decision. Kirin is very strong, but is he strong enough? "I'm sorry! I resign!" She stood up and dashed out of the control room.

"Kirin! Kirin!" She headed straight up to the deck. It's still raining hard, but she headed to the ship's beak, holding onto the tiny hope that Kirin did not jump after all. But as soon as she got there, there's no trace of him. "KIRIN!" She called.

"HELP!" A strong, strong sound of wood crashing caught her attention. One of the ship's main poles just collapsed. The ship, which they worked so hard on to keep stable, is starting to lose its balance again. Worse, the crash may have caused damage that the ship's engines completely lost power. The crew desperately holding the remaining poles up with giant ropes while the others, rushing to the engine room and making emergency fixes. They're obviously undermanned.

Freyja ran to the crew holding the poles up. It's the least she can do. By helping them, they can deploy more staff to fix the engines and other damages. But she can't obviously do it alone. Though, she remembered a very important detail.... The ship is currently holding over 2000 passengers.

"EVERYONE!" Freyja called out to the people while grabbing one end of the giant rope. "Don't just stand there! HELP US!!!" She ordered them.

"But they are passengers! We can't let them do this!" One of the crew shouted.

"SO WHAT!? Their lives are at stake too! So they have to help!! They SHOULD!" She exclaimed. "Or would you rather die doing nothing!?"

No one dared to follow Freyja at first, until the boy, whom she earlier saved came to her side. With his tiny hands, he held the rope tight. "I will help!" He exclaimed, giving his all. Although it's not much, Freyja is happy. "Thanks!"

The people saw the two of them, drenched in rain, desperately trying to save the ship, and all of them. The boy's mother rushed to help his son. And the stronger male passengers, started helping as well. Every single one of them, children included, helped.

"It's alright! Go fix the damages!" The passengers urged the crew, which they immediately did so.

The waves continued to rock the ship. The lightning continued to strike and for almost an hour, they endured the pain and stress of holding the ropes to stabilize the poles and the platforms.

Freyja is starting to reach her limit. One big wave and her hands let go of the rope. She was violently thrown to one side. Fortunately, a pair of arms caught her.

"How reckless can you be!?" The voice made her heart skip a beat. Looking up, it is the one face she's wanted to see the most. It was Kirin.

"Kirin, why did you..."

"Go to the control room. Hurry!"

Kirin rushed to the unstable poles and grabbed the ropes of the largest one. With inhuman strength, he held the ropes effortlessly. Everyone didn't have enough time to be amazed. Once they saw Kirin's power, they rushed to the other unstable poles and platforms. Seeing this, Freyja rushed back to the captain.

Another hour passed, and the waves started getting smaller. The clouds too, cleared up little by little and finally, the rain stopped. Kirin sighed and headed straight up to the higher platforms. The crowd were restless with joy, he felt uncomfortable being with them. From up there, he saw all passengers hugging each other in joy. Though he didn't want to be near them, he sure found it fascinating. Just a couple of hours ago, if one thing... just one thing went wrong, they would all have been dead.

"Hey, Kirin!" Freyja too, got up and stood beside him, looking down at all the happy people. "They're so happy, aren't they?"

"Why don't you join them?"

"Nah, I like it better up here."

Freyja noticed Kirin looking at her intensely, making her blush. "Yeah?" Kirin on the other hand, kept his usual straight face. "You really have no talent for aura manipulation, do you?" She heard him murmur. He was still trying to read her aura all along. Freyja sighed, in disappointment.

"Anyway Kirin," She asked, "If you had swam back there, against the Veejus thing, would you have survived? Tell me honestly, please."

"Is that an insult?" His brows furrowed. "Such weak aura can't possibly stop me." His answer relieved her. "How about you? Why did you stay?"

"I'd like to know that as well." Another one joined them on the upper platform. It was the big, buff, long-bearded captain of the ship. Freyja made a salute out of instinct. "Captain!"

"But I am curious. How did you know about the Veejus?"

"It's the first time I heard of Veejus, but observing the pattern of things around this ship made me realize that there has to be another source of force that I haven't accounted for. Come to think of it, I could have been totally wrong." She sheepishly explained.

"Good thing you realize your own recklessness." Kirin scolded.

"But we sure are glad you were reckless." The captain laughed. "I'm surprised you managed to believe in something that you haven't seen—or encountered before. I myself have only experienced Veejus once before, but we weren't directly above it that time." He said. "Oh look, it's sunrise!" The captain merrily pointed to the rising sun.

"I'll sure miss my loud assistant." He continued. "You haven't answered this gentleman's question yet. Why did you stay?"

"Well," Freyja paused, asking herself the same thing. She thought really hard, but can't really give an explanation she's satisfied with. "I guess I just did?"

Kirin, Freyja, and the captain, along with every single crew and passenger that lived through the storm, altogether, watched the sun rise. Not for long, the ship started moving again. Freyja's favorite violet island, is starting to get smaller, and smaller and smaller until she can't see it anymore.

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