The Panagea Tales Box Set

by McKenzie Austin

  The warmth of Umbriel’s hand on her caused the quartermaster visible discomfort. Across from her, Umbriel closed her eyes. “Are we done yet?” Bermuda murmured.

  Umbriel laughed, her eyes still closed. “I’m afraid not. My apologies.”

  The heat from Umbriel’s palms radiated outward. It began like a fire, sweltering and unbearable, but shifted to a comforting temperature that penetrated a shiver in her chest she didn’t know existed. The feeling was subtle, but she felt the warmth spread through her torso, into her shoulders and hips, down through her arms and legs. It traveled through her bones and veins until the heat stopped in the tips of her fingers and toes. It was the strangest feeling she ever came to know. The two women sat in silence, Bermuda too tense to move.

  After a while, Umbriel’s shoulders slumped forward, and she sighed. The Earth Mother removed her hands from Bermuda’s chest and wiped the hair out of her face. Beads of sweat collected around her forehead, and her eyes, which moments ago appeared alive and youthful, now looked drained. “There we are,” Umbriel whispered, breathless. She tried to banish her fatigue, but it remained clear. “How do you feel?”

  Bermuda frowned and touched the spot on her chest where Umbriel’s hands rested moments before. “The same,” she admitted, but paused. “Warmer, I guess?”

  “Well,” Umbriel sat back on the bed, her hands in her lap as she tried to relax. “It’s a start.”

  “I suppose it is,” Bermuda replied, though uncertain what it was a start to. She stood to her feet and buttoned her shirt. “And we’re to do this every day?”

  “If it pleases you,” Umbriel answered. “I know you’re a busy woman, but the more we do it, the faster you’ll see results.”

  Bermuda frowned again but hitched a shoulder in a casual shrug. “If Kazuaki says it’ll help ...” she trailed off, still unsure of what it was she needed help with. But she trusted the captain. He wouldn’t steer her wrong.

  “He cares about you a lot,” Umbriel noted. She remained on the bed, unable to summon the strength to pull herself off. She poured much of her energy into Bermuda but still hadn’t broken through the pool of toxins Mimir injected into her heart. It would take time before the quartermaster returned to her true self.

  “Yes,” Bermuda’s words were absent as she crossed her arms. “He’s a good captain.”

  Umbriel slid farther up the bed. The look of intrigue on her face outshined the look of struggle as she pulled her tired body forward. “Tell me how you met.”

  Bermuda hesitated. It had been so long ago, remembering the details proved difficult. “We met at a pub,” she said as the memories returned in bits and pieces. “He rarely set foot on land. It was a chance occurrence. He shrouded himself well; nobody recognized him, at least not to my knowledge.” A microscopic smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. It was the first time Umbriel witnessed Bermuda attempt a smile since they met. “We got drunk together. Absolutely shit-faced,” she added, her smile growing more recognizable with each second that passed. “We both lamented our situations and eased them with liquor. He balked about having to find new crew members ... I deplored that Ty joined the—"

  She paused. Her halt was sudden. Umbriel tilted her head, concerned. Her distress grew when Bermuda’s eyes collected more alarm. “Bermuda?” she summoned fragments of energy to scoot closer to the bed’s edge.

  Bermuda’s eyes darted around the room with wildness as the emptiness in her brain washed over her. She remembered the name, but not the person it belonged to. Like an apparition that haunted her mind, she tried to place the title to a face, but struggled to connect the two. “—joined the ... I ...” She looked to Umbriel, embarrassed and scared. “I don’t remember.”

  “It’s okay,” Umbriel said in a soothing tone as she tried to decrease the woman’s growing panic. She redirected to positive things to bring Bermuda down from her state of mind. “You two are lucky to have the company of one another. I can tell you and Kazuaki share a deep connection.”

  Bermuda’s heart still thudded inside her. It felt different. It felt alive, as if shocked by lightning. She laid a gentle hand on her chest to steady the beating organ. “Yes,” she said, focusing on the calm of Umbriel’s words to help bring her back to a controlled state. “Yes, Kazuaki is a dear friend.”

  There were hints of sincerity to her once bland, neutral words. Umbriel could tell she ignited a change. It was slight, but given more time, she was certain she could restore Bermuda to her true self.

  A knock at the door caused both women to shift their attention elsewhere. It was for the best, Umbriel surmised. Bermuda teetered on the edge of a meltdown. They needed a distraction. “Come in,” Umbriel called out from her place on the bed.

  The door crept open several inches and Nicholai peered into the opening. “Am I interrupting anything?” he asked as he looked back and forth between the two women.

  “No,” Bermuda shot back and cleared her throat. “I’m due back on deck.” She gathered her things with haste and pushed passed Nicholai as he stood in the doorway. The quartermaster hoped if she exited fast enough, she could run away from the uncomfortable feelings she experienced by replacing them with dutiful tasks.

  Nicholai stood back as she left. He forced an awkward smile as he turned to Umbriel. “She’s never taken a shine to me,” he admitted. “I hope I didn’t intrude.”

  “Not at all, we finished her session,” Umbriel informed the Time Father. “And don’t be so hard on yourself, I’m sure she doesn’t dislike you all that much. She’s a good person, just struggling to find her way.” The Earth Mother sighed and smiled. She patted the bed, a silent offer for him to sit. “Did you have something you wished to ask of me, Nico? Please forgive me, I’m afraid I must take comfort in the bed a little longer.”

  Nicholai noticed a look of fatigue about the Earth Mother as he sat beside her. “Is everything all right?” he asked. “Do you want me to fetch you something from the galley?”

  “No, no,” she shook her head and turned to face him with a tired smile. “I’ll be all right.”

  Nicholai nodded. He stared at the door Bermuda exited. “Are you helping her? To find her way, I mean?”

  Umbriel sighed as she followed Nicholai’s gaze to the door. “I hope so. Matters of the heart are always the most challenging.”

  “The heart, you say?” Nicholai couldn’t help but chuckle. “Forgive me, but she’s always come across so ... unemotional. I surmised she was incapable of feeling matters of the heart.”

  Though she knew Nicholai chose his words in jest, dark humor existed in the truth they contained. “Love is a powerful thing,” she said. “It can turn even the best of us into monsters. I have experienced its power; that’s one of the many reasons I understand Bermuda. She’s not a terrible person, just a person who has encountered terrible things.”

  Nicholai’s face softened. He never considered why Bermuda behaved the way she did. He hadn’t thought of why any of these individuals behaved the way they did. Love drove sensible people to the brink of insanity. That much he knew. Rodgie’s love for his daughter made him pull the trigger. Nicholai’s love for Lilac made him freeze Southeastern’s time. He frowned. Though he knew nothing more about Bermuda than he had a moment ago, he felt sheepish for judging her.

  “Never mind all that,” Umbriel replied when she saw his look of shame. “What can I help you with, Nico?”

  The Time Father let his other concerns fall to the back of his mind when she spoke. He returned to his original quest though he wasn’t sure how to approach it. He placed his fingertips on his chin and contemplated the right delivery, but there was no way to discuss it without avoiding embarrassment. The Time Father blurted out, “Can you help me learn how to expedite time?”

  Umbriel’s exhausted eyes lit up. “I can try my best. I learned from a Time Father a long, long time ago. Though I’m unsure if I remember exactly how to go about it, I’m eager to help however I can.”

  “Did
you know him intimately?” Nicholai asked, curious about the relationships she shared with the men who doomed her.

  Umbriel blushed. “One far more intimately than the others,” she admitted as she tucked hair behind her ear. She recalled the fondness of those memories and smiled to herself.

  “I see.” Nervousness tainted Nicholai’s faint laughter. “He ... he wasn’t one of those who betrayed you, was he?”

  “Oh, no,” Umbriel replied, wistful as her eyes faded further into the recollections of her past. “He was my knight in shining armor, ruler of the Northern Division.” Her blissful smile faded away. “He suffered a fate very similar to my companions. When he did not comply with the other divisions’ wishes, they ... well ...”

  Nicholai lowered his fingers to the mattress. They dug into the soft material, driven by his rising anger to such a degree that his skin turned white. “I’m so sorry, Umbriel.” His apology was rough. A rage tainted it that was unfamiliar to the otherwise peaceful man. “You have suffered many atrocities.”

  “None more than any other,” she admitted without malice. She laid a hand on top of Nicholai’s, easing his anger. “We all have demons, Nicholai. Some of us vanquish them with bloodshed and sword, others remain in denial and ignore them altogether. Some even turn into demons themselves, and the rest of us ... we coexist with them. Acknowledge their presence, learn why they’re there, and hope to avoid inviting any more into our circle. Have you decided yet how you will handle yours?”

  Nicholai lifted his head. “Excuse me?”

  “Your demons,” she reiterated. “The ones you thought you left behind in Southeastern, but still cling to you like hungry wolves on a wild deer.”

  The Time Father clenched his jaw, unsure of how to react. His first instinct was to portray his shame for his actions, but the more time separated him from his wrongdoing in Southeastern, the more he came to terms with the consequences of his actions. “I don’t know. I’ll take them as they come, I suppose.”

  “I see. Just be sure you’re cognizant of which ones you starve and which ones you feed,” she said while she laid down on the mattress to look up at the ceiling. “I do not wish to pressure you, Nico, but you realize you must restart Southeastern at some point. The world operates as a whole design. I’m afraid it cannot function long term if an eighth of it is unmoving. The definition of life is to breathe, to move, to be. You are suffocating an entire portion of the planet.”

  Umbriel’s words were firm, but her delivery was gentle. Nicholai still didn’t know what to do with Southeastern. The fate of his division consumed him daily. He collapsed back on the mattress himself, staring at the ceiling in silence with Umbriel. After many moments of collected quiet, he said, “You know, they gave you a much better room than they gave me.”

  The Earth Mother let out an exhausted laugh. “You don’t say?”

  “I mean it,” Nicholai replied as he tried to lighten the mood. “This place is a mansion compared to my little supply closet. I think the captain likes you.”

  “He’s a good man,” Umbriel said through tiny giggles. “They all are.”

  Nicholai’s light laughter died down as he listened to Umbriel speak. “Can I ask how you concluded that? These people baffle me,” he admitted. “They project humanity for one another but killed so many footmen in Southern. How one can take another’s life like that, without a shred of remorse, I’m sure I’ll never know.”

  “Death comes easily to those who grew up with it,” Umbriel said, falling deeper into the comfort of the mattress. “If you witness it every day, it feels commonplace. I, too, find it unnecessary. They’re just doing what they think is right.”

  “That’s what everyone keeps saying,” Nicholai retorted. “I can't help but feel my way is the right way, though I know there are different solutions to the same problem.”

  “And there are,” Umbriel agreed. “They harbor different values on various scales. They have a code of ethics, just as we do. It is not our job to dictate their lives, only to live ours how we see fit. Imposing our values on others does not differ from what the past Time Fathers did to my companions and me. You need to separate yourself from the accountability you feel to change them. A man must wash the blood of his actions from his own hands,” she said. “You can hand others the soap, but if they refuse to use it, there’s little else you can do.”

  Her words about death and slaughter were so nonchalant. Nicholai laid there for a moment before he turned on the bed to face the Earth Mother. “I mean no disrespect, Umbriel, but isn’t you traversing the seas to restore Panagea an imposition, when you know the Time Fathers do not want such action?”

  Umbriel smiled to herself. “My intention isn't to impose. It’s restoring Panagea. That is my purpose.”

  Nicholai propped himself up on his elbow as he looked over toward her. His face took on a more serious tone. “They will try to kill you,” he said. “Especially if you’re in my company.”

  “I suppose they will.” Her eyes were somewhere far away. “But it is much easier to die if you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

  It took a moment before Nicholai absorbed her words and accepted them. He settled back down onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling again. Despite the questionable ethics of his newfound company, he felt relieved they were on his side. They made an incredible team and showed him the fierceness of their camaraderie. It felt good to be a part of something like that. His thoughts drifted back to Southeastern, how he abandoned it and left those who dwelled within its borders to a cruel fate. He wondered how Kazuaki would have handled it ... despite their differences, he recognized the captain as a capable leader.

  Panagea needed the revolution. When he figured out what to do in Southeastern, his people could wake up to a better place, a less hostile world. Not just those in Southeastern, but all of Panagea. It could change everyone’s lives, so long as they were open to the transformation. He suspected the people would be; though some divisions boasted higher morale than others, optimism suffered in every division as the world deteriorated further, and the efforts the Time Fathers implemented to improve things were not making it better. In fact, it seemed to worsen. Nicholai closed his eyes. Umbriel was right, he decided, as he felt the boat sway on a large wave. Some things were worth fighting for. Some things were worth dying for.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Rennington leaned his crutch against the wall. He remained cautious in his optimism, hoping to abandon the tool there and never look back. With care, the man applied weight to his injured side and smiled with relief when he did not feel much pain. Elowyn took great care to make sure it healed well. With a content sigh, he turned to Iani. “She’s been a steady companion, but I think I’m ready to break up with her.”

  “Just as well,” Iani replied as he stared at the crutch. “She was too good for you, anyway.”

  Rennington smirked and punched the younger Platts brother in the shoulder before he walked passed him. His gait was stiff but otherwise normal. “What do you think the captain wants to see us about?” he asked as they climbed the short steps to the main deck.

  “Not sure, but I hope—” Iani stopped short, almost running into Rennington when he came to a sudden halt. “Hey, what’s the holdup?”

  “I don’t know,” Rennington stared at the back of Brack. The man blocked the entrance to the main deck, oblivious to their presence. “Hey, Rabbit, the feck are you doing?” he asked as he poked him hard in the side.

  Brack jumped and faced Iani and Rennington with a look of surprise. His cheeks flushed red, but he recovered well, returning to normalcy in moments. “Thank the gods, it’s just you two,” he announced with an exasperated laugh, “I was afraid you were Bermuda.”

  Rennington’s brow rose. “I know the quartermaster is rough around the edges since the whole Mimir thing, but we’ve had years to get used to it. What’re you hiding from her for?”

  Brack’s mouth broke out into a slow, devious grin. “Umbriel is su
nbathing.”

  Iani and Rennington tilted their heads and exchanged glances with one another before both brothers struggled to push past the other. They squeezed their bodies through the narrow space of the staircase that connected the main deck to the ship’s belly. Limbs flailed as the three men tried to find a good position. Once they settled into a suitable location, they spied on Umbriel, topless as she laid in peace on the deck. The sun melted upon her flawless skin, her long, silver-white hair pooled around her in silk strands. She was free in her state, uninhibited by her brazen nudity.

  “She’s been like that for a solid ten minutes at least,” Brack said without taking his eyes off her.

  “Gods-damn,” Rennington muttered. He felt perverted for staring, but the sentiment didn’t stop himself from gawking. He paused, directing his words to Iani, though he could not break his eyes away from Umbriel. “Iani ... we should ... uh ... we should ... the captain wanted to see us,” he finished after much-concentrated effort.

  “Shush your face,” Iani quipped and swatted his brother. “I didn’t get a good enough look the last time—”

  “A good enough look at what?” Elowyn’s voice sounded from behind the three men, who turned around in a panic. The look of guilt on their faces was enough for Elowyn Saveign to know she interrupted something.

  “Sorry, gotta go see the captain, E.P., no time for chats,” Rennington stuttered as he shoved passed Brack and Iani to make a mad dash for the captain’s quarters.

  “Yeah, yeah, me too,” Iani tried to charm his way out of any ill-mannered actions from Elowyn. He stumbled over Brack and ran as fast as his feet carried him toward his older brother.

  Elowyn frowned and placed a hand on her hip. “I don’t know what you three were doing,” she said as she climbed passed Brack and rose to the main deck, “but if you’re infected with this much shame, I don’t think I want to know.” As she reached the top of the stairs, her eyes fell on the naked Umbriel. She blinked, wondering if she was seeing things, before she spun on her heels and glowered at Brack. “Gods, Rabbit, show some chivalry for a damn change!”