Card Twenty Three: Six of Pentacles

It was a short yet silent ride to the lonely island where all the shipwrecks had gathered, Cirrus not able to stop himself from staring at the back of Feather’s head atop the serpent’s neck. They treaded just above the water, the ocean calm and serene, and the often chaotic man seemed so relaxed, like he was really in his element doing all of this. Was Feather really the type of person to go out of his way to do these things? And wasn’t there somebody else he was looking for who possessed these same qualities? Wasn’t he on a mission looking for a man with near identical behavior? The miracle worker… just who was he in relation to the man in front of him?

“Hey, ah… Feather,” Cirrus quietly called out after watching the serpent dive back into the sea once it dropped them off on solid land, the prince closely following the man who had just declared himself leader of their team while he tried to get a reign on his thoughts. “So… I thought you said you only had one concept.”

“I do only have one concept,” Feather agreed without looking back at him, and Cirrus couldn’t help but furrow his brows. That didn’t sound believable anymore.

He carefully slid his eyepatch off his face, moving his long black bangs out of the way so that he could see the blond fully with his all-knowing eye. “Please say that again,” he prompted, Jayce and Achitha intuitively realizing where he was going with this while Eve watched them curiously, Kya and Leocadies not saying a word.

Cirrus felt almost ashamed, because he’d already used the power of the all-knowing eye to check the number of Feather’s concepts when they had first met and it had faithfully told him back then that Feather only had one, and Cirrus didn’t want to question his power like that. It made him feel less competent, like maybe the eye had made a mistake because of him somehow. But he couldn’t deny everything else he’d seen with his other. When he and Feather had first met, he’d managed to dismiss it as possibly one of Kya or Leocadies’ concepts or a special artifact, but someone had definitely been blurring Feather’s presence to where he could not be seen or detected without the use of a specialized concept. And now Feather was showing more capabilities of things such as healing, goodness, and telekinesis, all things he appeared to do unconsciously and on instinct. How could he only have one concept at this point? It no longer felt like a real possibility.

And yet, Cirrus only felt himself intimidated when Feather’s movements abruptly halted, the blond spinning on his heel to meet the prince’s amber gaze. His vibrant, sky blue eyes were as clear as a cloudless day on a sunny afternoon while the shorter man approached him, before Feather reached out and grabbed a hold of his tight collar with fingers that wrinkled the pristine cloth, dragging Cirrus downwards so that their faces could be right next to each other, so close that their noses were nearly touching. And he felt embarrassed by the strike of exhilaration that shot its way through his gut, his cheeks involuntarily flushing before Feather hissed out, face contorted into a snarl, “I only have one concept. I’m telling you the truth. Got it?”

“Ah… um, yes,” Cirrus stumbled out, allowing himself to be pushed away a few steps before Feather gave him one last heated glare, his heart thundering inside him and loud in his ears while he tried to calm himself, Jayce only giving him an incredulous frown, one that he probably deserved. 

“Seriously, Cirrus? Him? You’re going to let him of all people do that to you?” came the condescending growl from his childhood friend who knew him all too well, and Cirrus had to quickly avert his eyes while making a quick mental note that Feather didn’t like it when he acted suspicious of him. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he chose to say instead, feigning ignorance, Jayce’s nose only scrunching up in more disgust, though he had no choice but to follow his leader deeper into the gloomy terrain. He never would understand his leader’s type in men. 

But enough of that, Cirrus needed to focus on the task at hand, there was no time for him to be feeling flustered right now. He needed to stay diligent, as they were exploring this desolate island that may hold the enemy. As of now, they were only walking through small slivers of sand surrounded by crushed ships on all sides, the reek of death and blood filling the entire scene, only growing stronger the deeper they went. Feather seemed to be focusing on something, and it definitely looked like he had a destination in mind with how fast and deliberate he was walking. He kept scanning the ships with his wide blue eyes, and sometimes, it almost felt like they were glowing. 

“Where are you leading us, Feather? It’s irrational to move this fast on unknown enemy territory without knowing where you’re going,” Achitha finally spoke her mind, though Feather didn’t seem to hear her as he kept looking around, like he was looking for something in particular.

Cirrus wasn’t sure what he was searching for at all, as he personally didn’t sense anything off, but he felt like Kya was right when she answered the other woman with a stern tone of voice. “It’s best we not speak for now. He’s trying to focus, so please let him.”

When she received a small nod from Cirrus, Achitha begrudgingly fell silent, and he decided to keep his eyepatch off as well to give his own scan of their surroundings. Though he nearly froze when Feather suddenly jumped into the water for seemingly no reason at all, wading over towards a broken ship while the prince's eyes narrowed in on what the blond had spotted. And what he saw was... truly a miracle. There was no other way to word it. He quickly made a path of ice for Feather to use so that he could get onto the ship with ease, cold solid steps being built for him to get all the way up and over the cracked railing and into the broken deck that had its middle completely crushed through.

“There you go, use that,” he offered seriously, Feather not sparing him a glance as he immediately dashed up the stairs of ice and jumped his way over the railing of the broken mass, landing gracefully before he suddenly disappeared from view.

Everyone seemed to be confused on why exactly he’d done that, or what was in that ship in the first place. But Cirrus saw it. The heat signatures coming from that ship that he could see with his all-knowing eye couldn’t be mistaken. Out of all the death that surrounded them, there was someone alive on this ship. He wasn’t sure how Feather had seen it or been able to tell, but all Cirrus knew was that he was amazing.

Feather, on the other hand, was just glad Cirrus was making himself of use. He quickly tracked the only body of life he’d been sensing was left on this forsaken island, a body of life that wasn’t doing well. He could tell it was a young child, and that it was hungry and starving. He flung himself around the ship as fast as he could, allowing himself to phase through the floors to reach straight down to the belly of the hull, rummaging down to a small compartment tucked away in a corner that looked like it’d been formerly used to store bedding and laundry. But when he opened it, all he saw now was a small, shriveled boy wrapped in thin white sheets with ghastly pale skin that was clammy and flushed, his black hair sopping wet within the water that reached him from the gaps of broken wood. The boy barely had the energy to open his deep, dark blue eyes, but when he did, the first thing Feather saw in them was fear.

“It’s alright,” Feather spoke on impulse, reaching forward to press a hand against the top of the boy’s head, his soggy black hair dripping as he flinched away from the touch. But the man of miracles quickly reassured him, slowly and softly, “I’m here to rescue you, and I have food you can eat.”

The words seemed to catch the boy’s attention, and miserable blue eyes turned to face him before the small, frail child reached out a thin, malnourished hand. Judging by his frame, it looked like he’d gone several weeks without food already, and had been surviving off drinking water alone. But this was salt water that reeked of dead bodies and rotting goods, so Feather slowly caressed the boy’s face as he let the small thing reach a tiny hand out to touch his cheek in return, pressing the concept of healing into the boy’s bones as he substituted food for mana, which wouldn’t be a permanent fix, but it would at least put some energy back into his system enough for him to function.

“I… I’m hungry,” the boy croaked out, slowly staggering himself out of the small compartment as Feather reached under his arms to lift him out. He was tall for a young kid, probably around nine or ten, but he weighed barely anything. He should be using whatever little strength Feather had given him to get some proper rest, so the blond hoisted him up onto his hip while drying the boy’s sodden clothes by using the concept of anything to suck the water out and discard it elsewhere, drying the boy off completely so that he may be more comfortable.

“I understand, we’ll go get you some food. We have jerky and some fruit, the jerky should be good for you,” Feather consoled, scratching through the boy’s soft black hair as he walked them out of the hull, phasing them both through the top of the floor once again. Luckily, the boy didn’t seem quite awake enough to realize all the miracles happening around him, and Feather fully used that to his advantage to get out quicker before he reappeared in front of Cirrus’ group, the boy’s arms clinging to his neck as small legs hung on either side of him.

“A child,” the words slipped out of Achitha’s mouth, Feather slowly stepping down on the ice as he walked towards the shore, Kya reading his mind in an instant and digging out the foods she had with her gear. She was the first to offer her jerky to the child, which Feather took with one hand as he and Kya ripped it into smaller pieces, before offering one of the small shreds to the child on his hip.

“Here you go, eat this, okay?” he offered gently, the boy hesitantly taking it from his hands before he gave the meat a sniff. Though, for better or worse, it seemed to pass his smell check, so he quickly stuffed it in his mouth and began nibbling on it, tentatively chewing further before he suddenly seemed to grow hungrier and stuffed the entire thing into his mouth, aggressively munching on it before he turned to look back at Feather with begging eyes. Yet the man only gave a soft laugh, kindly offering more ripped jerky to the boy with a smile. “Here you go, here’s some more. Eat slowly, okay? We don’t want you to choke.”

“I won’t choke,” the boy retorted stubbornly, immediately snatching the jerky from Feather’s hand before stuffing it into his mouth once more, ravenously chewing on it as he kept licking the crumbs off his fingers. And when he’d visibly finished eating what was in his mouth, he extended his hand to Feather all over again, clearly expecting more as the blond gave an easy laugh, handing over just what the hungry, starving boy wanted.

“You should eat some fruit, too. We have a lot of apples! Do you like apples?”

“...I want grapes.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, but we don’t have any grapes,” Feather cooed, brushing at the boy’s black hair with care as Cirrus' group stared at him, absolutely stunned, having never seen such a doting side to him before… it almost felt disgusting, if you were to ask Jayce, but Eve thought it was cute. And Feather seemed entirely in his element, his hip still jutted out to the side to properly balance the boy’s weight while he gave another gentle laugh. “Wow, I can’t believe you’ve been starving for who knows how long and you still want to be a picky eater! All we have are apples and pears I’m afraid, so you need to eat some!”

“Apple, then,” the boy extended his hand out again with the same kind of expectance, Feather snickering while Kya placed a golden apple into the boy’s outstretched palm.

And he took a large bite, immediately going to town as he took his arm that was wrapped around Feather’s neck to hook it even further so that he had the blond man in a small headlock while being able to hold the apple with both hands, gnawing on it hungrily while making a mess, juice dripping down his chin and sticking to his hands as Feather laughed at the spectacle.

“See, isn’t the apple good? Anything is tasty if you’re hungry enough.”

“...how do you know?” the boy asked him in between bites, staring at Feather with wide, dark eyes and cheeks puffed full of apple.

“Haha, I know because I’ve been starving before, too! You wanna know what I had to eat?”

“What?”

“Uncooked potatoes and carrots right from the ground. I raided somebody’s garden.”

And Feather laughed again when the boy’s nose visibly scrunched up, and he seemed to better accept his fate as he took another bite into the apple, clearly admitting along with everyone else that eating potatoes that hadn’t been cooked and carrots right from the ground didn’t sound good in the slightest.

“So what’s your name?” Feather then asked, carefully lifting him higher onto his hip while the boy stubbornly kept gnawing at his apple, his head getting knocked to the side because of how tightly he was clinging.

But when he managed to swallow the large bite he’d chosen for himself, he wiped his mouth with his free hand and muttered out, “I’m Kylan. Do you know where my mom is?”

Though the group paused at that horridly innocent question, no one quite able to hide the dread it produced in them. Feather was the only one who still kept on his kind, cheerful smile, further consoling the child by moving to brush tangled black hair out of his face while giving a gentle response that hid all the negativity he must be feeling. “I’m not sure, you’re the only one I’ve seen out here so far. Do you know her name?”

“...her name is Hera,” Kylan’s eyes drooped, his head moving to lay on Feather’s chest right under his neck, nibbling at the core of the apple before Kya moved to replace it with a new one so that he didn’t eat the seeds, but the boy didn’t respond to this and merely blankly stared at the new fruit that had been placed in his hand. “She looks just like me, everyone says. Except she’s a girl. And she has really long hair. Like really, really long. But other than that, she looks just like me,” he explained helpfully, before lifting himself up to stare at Feather, the first bits of distress starting to show on his features before he pleaded desperately, “Have you seen her?”

Though Feather handled this absolutely flawlessly, to the point Cirrus and his group found themselves truly impressed watching him, and he only continued to carry the boy with that kind smile of his while he answered casually, “Hmm, no, I don’t believe I’ve seen her around. Not here, anyways! When was the last time you saw her?”

“...about two months ago,” Kylan responded, taking another half-hearted gnaw at his new apple before he swallowed the bite all in go, eyes tearing up at the fact he hadn’t taken the time to chew it, although the boy didn’t acknowledge that fact and merely forced himself to keep talking. “My mom is a pirate. But she’s not a bad person… she just steals from other pirates sometimes. That’s all,” he assured them, Feather giving a gentle laugh as he patted the boy’s back.

“I’m sure, I’m sure. I bet she’s amazing.”

“She is,” Kylan nodded, very self assured with that statement as he rested his head back on Feather’s shoulder. “But then she disappeared. Her whole ship did. And no one could figure out where she went. And more and more ships kept disappearing, so… I figured if I snuck on one, I would end up at the same place as her, and then I’d find her again,” he explained miserably, Feather brushing a hand through his hair with another soft smile.

“And then you got stuck in that cupboard?”

“...yes.”

“I see. You must have forced yourself to learn the concept of water-breathing to survive,” he remarked, Kylan’s tiny face jerking up to stare at him with ocean eyes that sparkled.

“How did you know?!”

“Ahah, just a lucky guess, ‘cause I’m super smart,” Feather grinned, Kylan’s face turning absolutely awe-struck.

“Wow! You’re almost as amazing as my mom!” he exclaimed loudly, clinging to Feather’s shoulders with a gaping mouth. “Are you a worldhopper, sir?! My mom is a worldhopper too! She’s a worldhopping pirate, and she’s super awesome and super tough! Are you really strong too, sir?! Can you create a hurricane?!” the questions came pouring in, Feather laughing at him all while as he lifted the boy higher onto his hip, resituating the weight with a delighted laugh.

“Haha, maybe I can! You’ll have to find out for yourself, I don’t show my hand so easily.”

“Ahhh, really?! That’s so cool! You’re amazing, mister!!”

“Why, thank you! I like to think I am too.”

“Mister, mister, what’s your name?!” Kylan’s blue eyes glimmered, the half-eaten apple long forgotten in his hand as he dropped it, Leocadies quickly maneuvering to catch the fruit so that no food was wasted.

“Hehe, my name is Feather. It's nice to meet you, Kylan,” the man responded gleefully, his eyes softening when they stared at the boy, a certain type of softness that only showed itself when you knew something needed to be treated softly in turn, because you could tell it was bound to break sooner than it deserved. “But you know what, I think I’ll help you look for your mom. Why don’t you stay with me until then?”

“Oh, okay! We’ll find her together, I’ll be lots of help!” Kylan exclaimed eagerly, Feather laughing at him again before he moved more of the child’s long black bangs out of his face, the boy’s eyes closing as he instinctively leaned into the warm hand.

“I’m sure you will be,” Feather assured, smiling when the boy leaned forward again to rest himself over his shoulders, hands draping over the tall man’s neck, before Feather’s expression turned almost bleak the moment the boy couldn’t see it, and he made eye contact with everyone there.

They all knew his mother was most likely dead. There was very little chance she’d survived the serpent’s attack, and even if she had, there was no saying what the enemy had done to her in that time frame. They were dealing with people who experimented on humans, killed them, and turned them into monsters… there was no way she was still okay, even if she was alive. But as of the current moment, they were on an important mission on this planet, so they needed Kylan to be okay while they were here. They would get to the bottom of this conspiracy one way or another, and it would be easier to do that if they kept the child calm and at least somewhat happy, as happy as he could possibly be separated from the mother he adored. Though Feather had truly meant it when he’d said he would help the boy find her… it was just that, starting now and the further they went… the further they dug into this twisted web of lies and corruption… he couldn’t guarantee they would find her alive.