Arietta woke, and they ate a small breakfast wordlessly. Elisha picked at the rations, not caring to eat. Emotions were swirling around in her gut. Beside her sat Arietta, the woman she had yearned for, the woman she had left Sanctuary for, but she felt no joy in Arietta’s presence. Thea had been right when she had spoken to Elisha in her mind; she felt second-best. Arietta had married, loved, lived, and only when it had all come tumbling down had she come back to Elisha.
“What now?” Elisha asked, as much to herself as to Arietta.
“We need to find Pandora,” Arietta said, “I think we need to check the northern continent; she could easily have gone there. I mean, most of it is uncharted but--”
“I mean, with us,” Elisha said, “What did last night mean to you?”
“I don’t know,” Arietta said, “A lot has happened. Ariel’s death, my ship’s sinking, the failure of the Resistance, the destruction of Sanctuary and the White Ship... I can’t even begin to process all of that. So don’t ask... I don’t know. All I know is we have to find a way forward.”
“We have to find Lady Thea,” Elisha said, “We have no clue where Pandora is, and we could spend months searching the northern continent for nothing. Meanwhile, I know where Lady Thea is. She came to me in a dream.” It was been a waking vision, not a dream, but dreams had been seen as a sign of things to come for thousands of years, and she had to make Arietta buy it. Even though she hated lying to a woman she loved. “She’s on Manheim Island, in the Arian Empire.”
“That’s impossible!” Arietta said, “That’s weeks away from here! There’s no way she could have gone so far so quickly! You just had an ordinary dream, Elisha; Thea’s probably dead. It’s insanity to even suggest going to the Arian Empire. We’d be killed!”
“I know it sounds ridiculous,” Elisha said, “Lady Thea told me that the world has changed, though, with the Gate’s opening. Anything is possible now. We have to reach her, Arietta. I think everything will fall into place then.”
“Fall into place? You think that Pandora is just going to fall out of the sky? Elisha, you’re going off the deep end! Let me decide where we’re going.”
Elisha stood up and threw her bowl of rations aside, “Don’t talk to me like I’m one of your soldiers,” she said, “I don’t care if you commanded a vessel of your own; I’m not yours to order about!”
“Then don’t talk nonsense!” Arietta said, “Like we’re going to go to the Arian Empire because you had a dream! Like we could just pick up where we left off like nothing happened in two years!”
“That was your choice, not mine,” Elisha said, “I wanted to build a life with you, but Sanctuary wasn’t good enough for you! You didn’t want to be safe, to be happy. You had to have it all - Garania, Arian, San Ria. Are you happy now? You have nothing!” Elisha stalked off down the beach, kicking sand as she went. Arietta stood silently.
Luna and Tami were waiting by the boat. They pretended not to have seen the angry exchange, and Elisha was grateful. Arietta soon followed and they boarded the boat in silence.
“Where are we going?” Tami asked, “We need to plan what we’re going to do next.”
“We’re going to the Northern Continent,” Arietta said, “There’s a good chance that Pandora may have gone there; there are many Ancient ruins that have never really been explored.”
“That’s quite a long shot,” Luna said, “But I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“There’s another option,” Elisha said. Arietta tried to glare her down but Elisha ignored her, “I had a dream. Lady Thea was calling me to her. She’s trapped in some kind of coma, a dream state between worlds. Her body is on Manheim Island, in the Arian Empire. She doesn’t know how she got there but she needs us to come to her.”
“Sounds a lot more solid than searching the Northern Continent,” Tami said, “I mean, I know a dream can just be a dream but it sounds far too specific for that. The legends of the Ancients I read at the temple speak of people who can send their consciousness to somebody who is close to them. Thea’s an Ancient, right? So it’s possible...”
“The Arian Empire is dangerous,” Luna said, “If we go there, we might not come back alive. Pandora needs us, wherever she is. We need to keep searching for her!”
“Then perhaps we should split up,” Elisha said, “I’ll sail to the Arian Empire with Tami and rescue Lady Thea. Luna and Arietta can keep searching for Pandora here, and head for the Northern Continent if they don’t find her. There’s a land bridge shown on the sea charts that should see you across safely on foot.”
“I won’t let you take my boat,” Arietta said, “We’ll be stranded here, miles from any inhabited places! If you don’t come back, what will we do then?”
“Lady Thea’s going to die if we don’t help her, I can feel it!” Elisha said, “We don’t have any idea where Pandora is! Don’t any of you care about Thea?”
There was silence. Elisha shook her head, “I can’t believe you, Arietta. If it wasn’t for Lady Thea, you’d have died in Garania. You stood there and you helped her overcome when she was weak, saying she was your friend. We all did.” She looked at Luna, “You too, Luna. I know Pandora’s your wife, but without Lady Thea you never would have met her!”
“I care about her,” Luna said, “I honestly do. I’m just worried about the woman I love, that’s all! My priorities are always going to be with her!”
“Understandable,” Elisha said, “It’s Arietta I don’t understand.”
“You ran away from us, led by her!” Arietta yelled, “Together, we could have had the strength to destroy the Moral Revolution but you isolated yourselves on that floating island and ignored the world! Every day, people are being murdered for who they love. Tortured because they care about somebody else, and all you ever cared about was hiding away!”
“Stop it,” Tami said, “Arietta, I know you’ve been through a lot, but you need to calm down. You can’t blame those who went to Sanctuary for what has happened. Don’t you think they’ve all paid enough? Plenty of us stayed on the ground and fought back, Arietta. It just takes time to fight back something as huge as the Moral Revolution. You’re so impatient sometimes...”
“We’re going to the Northern Continent,” Arietta said, “It’s my boat, and if you don’t like it, you can get off.” Elisha thought she could see tears in Arietta’s eyes as she turned and walked to the helm, but she felt no desire to stop her in her tracks, to argue further. It was all pointless, just hot air. Arietta wasn’t listening to anybody but herself.
Elisha lay on the bunk she’d chosen for herself and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. It was the only way to get any solitude.
I’m sorry, Lady Thea, she thought, I tried, I really did... but Arietta’s always been stronger than me, and I can’t win this battle. Nor any other, I fear. I can’t penetrate Arietta’s black rage at all that’s happened. It scares me to see her like this, lashing out, hurting me, hurting others... She doesn’t care what she says, like she’s intentionally trying to push everybody away...
“She probably is,” Thea said, appearing in her mind, “Perhaps the best thing is to give her some space. She’s been through a lot, I’m sure...”
I’d like to, Elisha thought, but I wanted to rescue you...
“There’s still a way,” Lady Thea said, “don’t give u--”
“Wake up!” Arietta was shaking the bunk. Elisha opened her eyes, “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“You can’t just lie here all day. You have to do your share,” Arietta said, “I know you didn’t agree to this, but you came along, so you need to help.”
“I wasn’t trying to get out of it,” Elisha said, “Arietta, please, stop this. I don’t want to fight with you. I’m just trying to understand what’s going on with you. You’ve changed so much...”
“I haven’t changed,” Arietta said, “Perhaps you never really knew me.”
Elisha shook her head, “I’ll take the helm,” she said, “I need the fresh air.”
The day went on, Arietta stalking the deck, barking orders. Tami and Luna took it in their stride but Elisha hated it, and she was glad when Arietta and Luna retired to the cabin.
“I can’t take much more of this,” Elisha complained to Tami, “I thought I loved Arietta more than anything. I left Sanctuary to find her, abandoning everybody else in the process. Now, I find her, and she’s... like this. One moment she’s tender and kind, the next, she snaps and starts demanding things of people. Are you really just going to take it?”
“Can you blame her for being bitter?” Tami said, “She’s been through a lot.”
“We’ve all been though a lot!” Elisha exclaimed, “What’s so special that she’s endured? We’ve all lost people we cared about. We’re all homeless and afraid!”
“She was captured by Garania, Elisha,” Tami said, “They... they...”
“Oh Gods, they raped her...” Elisha said, “Why didn’t I see it...” She felt pale and sick to her stomach, “Tami, take the wheel,” she said. She rushed below decks.
Arietta was asleep. The moon’s light illuminated a calm, peaceful face. Elisha felt tears sting her eyes but pushed them away as she gently shook Arietta awake.
“What is it?” Arietta complained, “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Please, come and talk to me for a few minutes outside,” Elisha said, “It’s important.”
“All right,” Arietta said, getting up. They walked out onto the deck. Tami looked nervous, but Arietta dismissed her calmly. “Get some sleep,” she said, and Tami went into the cabin. Elisha took the wheel, gripping it tightly.
“You didn’t have to push me away,” Elisha said, “Arietta, I want to help you, to be there for you I didn’t know... that Garania captured you.”
“Yeah,” Arietta said, her voice tight. She stood looking out at the ocean, her back turned to Elisha, “So you know, huh. I guess Tami couldn’t keep it to herself.”
“Don’t be like that,” Elisha said, “She was concerned for you. We all are. The strange mood swings, the commanding tone... We all know it’s not like you. Arietta, you used to shine so brightly. Even when you lost faith, you always found it again. When you left Sanctuary, I believed it was to pursue a dream, so I let you go...”
“There are no dreams in this world,” Arietta said, “Everything I had, the Moral Revolution has crushed it. I’m not even motivated by the hope of a better world any more. I just want revenge, plain and simple. It’s the only thing that keeps me going, the thought of it ending.”
“Arietta...” Elisha was lost for words, “There will be better days, I promise you. If we can just get through this, close the Gate... We can start again.”
“There’s nothing to start,” Arietta said, “I’m done. Elisha, you have no idea what I’ve seen. I don’t even care to tell you, or anybody. I feel like it’s a cancer, that if I tell you, your light will be extinguished also. I don’t care if I live or die, to be honest with you. I just want to make sure that what they do to people ends. Then I can rest in peace. Not until then.”
“Arietta, talk to me,” Elisha said, “Please...”
Arietta shook her head, “No, Elisha. You’re warm, kind, a good person. A person I loved, when I could still feel love. I won’t let them sully you with this... I won’t let them make you hurt too.”
“If you ever want to talk about it, Arietta... I’m always here for you.” Elisha said.
“I know,” Arietta said, clutching at a necklace around her throat, “Thank you, Elisha. You’ve always been a good friend to me. I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you. That I’ve been acting strange and I’ve been picking fights with you... I thought it would be easier if you just grew to hate me... If you moved on with your life, found somebody else...”
“Lady Thea wanted to marry me,” Elisha confessed, “Before I left Sanctuary, looking for you, she told me to forget about the world below, to marry her. I’ve been wondering ever since how everything would be different if I’d just accepted her offer...”
“Is that why you want to find her so badly?” Arietta said.
“I don’t know,” Elisha said, “I’m honestly confused. I thought she was just a friend. My mind was focused on seeing you again someday. But ever since Sanctuary fell, she’s been appearing to me, and I realize... I miss her. I’m frightened for her safety. I want to see her again...”
Arietta stood quietly for a moment, looking out at the waves all around them. The wind caught her hair and Elisha thought she detected an expression of sadness on Arietta’s face for just a second. Then it was gone and Arietta looked steadfast and determined.
“Change course,” she said at last, “We’re going to find Lady Thea.”
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