“Actually, I was starting a bucket list,” he said as one of the baristas brought them their drinks and food. “Thanks,” he said before continuing. “I realized I didn’t have one, and I figured now was a good time to start. Since I’m doing all of these things I’ve never done before and all.”
Aurora reached forward and pulled a gooey, icing covered piece of dough off her cinnamon roll and popped the carb bomb in her mouth. “Let’s hear your list, then. What do you want to do? Put your toes in the ocean? Meet Taylor Swift?”
Gray snorted and handed the notebook over, surprising Aurora, yet again, with his unguarded openness. She took the spiral with her non-sticky hand and scanned the list.
-Visit Alaska
-Hold hands with a perfect stranger on a plane
-Go on a ship
-Go to Europe
-Skydive
-Fall in love
-Become a dad
-Fly
-Save 1,000,000 people
-Get a tattoo
-Die in a completely selfless way
Aurora finished reading the list and looked up at him in surprise. “Big ticket items on this list. Die in a selfless way, save a million people, become a dad?”
“That’s the point of a bucket list, isn’t it?” he said through a mouthful of sandwich. “I have a lifetime to complete it.”
“Guess so.” Aurora wasn’t sure what she was feeling right now, but it was slightly disconcerting. Maybe she was just hungry. She picked up her Caprese Sandwich and sunk her teeth into the bread.
“What would you put on your bucket list?” he asked her.
She took a while to chew and swallow before she answered him. “I’d prefer not to limit myself to a life I can cross off a list.”
“I don’t see it like that,” he said. “The life is in between the items on the list.”
“Well, I can say that my list looks nothing like your list. I don’t want to skydive—ever in my life. I don’t even know how you’re going to fly, other than getting on another airplane. And I definitely don’t want to be a mom.”
“You don’t?”
“No. I don’t. Not all women are made to be mothers, shockingly enough.” She took another bite of her sandwich, not wanting to explore this topic further.
“I know. I just figured you’d want to, judging by how fond you are of your younger brother. Not many sisters would take the time to read Grimm’s Fairy Tales to their siblings like you do.”
“Yeah, well. Let’s stop talking about this.”
Gray looked slightly taken aback but respected Aurora’s wishes, and they finished their mound of food in contemplative silence.
They spent the remainder of their time in the coffee shop with Aurora reading and Gray adding to his bucket list—at least that was what she’d assumed he was doing. The sight of the notebook actually made her want to sketch—something she’d taken up in high school. She wasn’t da Vinci or anything, but she could draw more than stick figures.
Gray closed his notebook and glanced at his watch. “We should probably head over to the ship now.”
The port wasn’t far from town, so they traveled on foot. Aurora was careful to keep space between them so Gray didn’t get any ideas. His earlier comment about her being beautiful would have usually been enough to scare her off. But, for some stupid reason, she couldn’t seem to tell him what she generally told guys, which was something along the lines of: “Leave me the hell alone.”
“I wonder if those shadow guys managed to pickpocket any more people with Etheria tickets,” Gray said.
“How could they know who has tickets and who doesn’t?” Aurora said doubtfully.
“Maybe they are the ones who invited us…” Gray trailed off, appearing to be deep in thought.
“You’re coming up with more outlandish theories, aren’t you?” Aurora said, wearily.
“It’s not outlandish to think there’s something suspicious going on here. Look at everything that’s happened in the past week, let alone, the past few hours. Why aren’t you more concerned? I wouldn’t expect you, of all people, to be so trusting.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aurora asked defensively.
“Well…I’m sure you think I’m just another unintelligent man, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you have some ironclad walls built up.”
This surprised Aurora. He was right, of course. But she hadn’t expected anyone to catch onto that fact about her so quickly. Looking over at him, she felt the need to run—fast—in the opposite direction. She was weighing her options as they rounded the corner to the ship port.
Then all of her options disappeared.
Aurora and Gray slammed to an abrupt stop at the same time, gawking up at the sight before them.
There were three ships in the harbor at the moment. But the other two were nearly invisible beside Etheria—a ship at least three times the size of the two cruise ships it was sandwiched between. While iron and steel made up the other two cruise ships, the exterior of Etheria had a marble-like quality and the shimmering characteristic of a pearl. At the front of the ship was the same symbol stamped on Aurora’s ticket: an anchor, tipped on its side, with a dove resting atop the point.
Above all this, what captured Aurora’s interest most was the structure of the ship itself. It was clearly not a conventional cruise ship or steamboat of any sort. Etheria was elegant, with the essence of a carousel or a spiral staircase set in a Victorian Manor. The front of the vessel came up into a curving point, like the tip of an elf’s shoe. There were no balconies, but many oval windows dotted the side. Simply put, it was the grandest, most breathtaking vision Aurora had ever laid eyes on.
“Holy…ship.”
“How did that get into the port?” Gray added, awestruck.
Scanning the docking area, Aurora realized there was no station set up for the passengers of their ship to go through. The other two ships had buildings to enter for people to check their bags, show their passports, and all that legal stuff, but Etheria had just one elegant ramp leading up to the middle of the ship. From afar, it looked as if someone waited at the top.
“Where do we check our bags and show our tickets?” Aurora asked uncertainly.
“I’ll ask,” said Gray, approaching an old man who was leaning against a wooden post, reading a newspaper. “Excuse me, sir? Do you know where we can check our bags to board Etheria?”
The man gave Gray a funny look. “The what?”
“Etheria. That ship right there.” Gray, pointing to the massive, pearlescent vessel.
The man looked in the direction Gray was pointing and laughed humorlessly. “Think you’re funny, do you?” He then proceeded to walk away muttering, “Damned kids.”
Aurora and Gray exchanged a mystified look.
“Well, that was rude,” Aurora said. “I’m asking someone else.” She looked for somebody who appeared to know where they were, and her eyes landed on a gray-haired woman selling postcards at a little stand. “Excuse me, ma’am?”
The woman looked up at Aurora and Gray with protuberant eyes. “Would you like to buy a postcard?”
One of her bulging eyes was lazy, and Aurora was unsure at which one she should look. “Oh, uh, no thanks. I was just wondering if you knew where we should go to board that ship right there.” Aurora pointed, though this was hardly necessary, because the ship took up half of the port.
The woman squinted towards Etheria and looked back at them with a commiserating expression. “Honey, there ain’t no ship there—just a bunch a’ water and a teeny tugboat.”
Aurora and Gray stared at the woman with bemused expressions.
“Now, if yer lookin’ fer a cruise ship, there's a liner down that way and one over there,” the woman continued, nodding to the two ships on either side of Etheria.
Aurora opened her mouth to protest, but Gray interrupted. “Thank you very much, ma’am. You have a nice day.” He then proceeded to pull Aurora b
y the hand away from the crazy-eyed woman.
“Okay, she was clearly insane,” Aurora muttered, taking her arm back.
Gray, however, looked skeptical. “That man I talked to said he didn’t see the ship either. He thought we were joking.”
“That’s ridiculous. It takes up half of the pier. How could he not see it?”
“Exactly.” Gray shook his head. “Something strange is going on here. Or, should I say, something strange is still going on here.”
Aurora rolled her eyes up at the Alaskan sky. “You think this has something to do with the luggage thief, don’t you?”
“Coincidences can only go so far, Aurora.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, Grayson, but I didn’t come all this way just to go back home because someone tried to steal my luggage and a few crazy people can’t see the ship I am supposed to get on.”
“I never said I was going back,” he said. “I just hope you know this may not be your average cruise.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Our ship looks like it belongs on a carnival ride made for dinosaurs.”
“Then let’s go.” Gray secured his yellow duffel bag onto his shoulder, walking on.
Aurora sighed, grasped a hold of her red and white striped bag, and accompanied Gray toward the ethereal ship.
Seven
???
A man in a claret cloak sat in a winged armchair, facing a stone fireplace where a nest of soundless crimson flames resided. They put off little warmth, but that was not their purpose. The man sitting before the flames steepled his pasty white hands before him. His black eyes moved towards the ancient clock on the wall. He was waiting for something, or perhaps, someone.
The second hand on the clock moved to the twelve, and a resounding clang reverberated around the small room, just as a knock sounded on the arched wooden door.
“Enter,” the man said in a language unknown to any presently living soul.
The door creaked open, and a voice familiar to the man spoke. “Master.”
“Bane, how many did you manage to track?” the claret cloaked man said in a low voice.
“T—two hundred, Master.”
“Two hundred?” the man in the claret cloak sneered, though he still faced the crimson flames. “There will be sixteen thousand Halos on Etheria, Bane. Not to mention, a fleet of Powers. You expect a mere two hundred mulciber stones to do the job?”
“The Power Halos proved to be quite evasive, and the Beasts aren't entirely—”
“Silence,” said the man in the claret cloak, “Caducus will not be pleased by this. You will have to answer to him yourself when he descends.”
“M-me? But I wasn’t the only—”
“The others will pay too. But you were their leader. It was your duty to see the order through.”
“But—”
“You may go, Bane. Leave the mulciber stones by my chair and exit from whence you came.”
Bane approached the man, shakily bending down and settling a heavy moleskin bag beside the winged chair. A white hand flashed out, wrapping around the back of his neck, squeezing tightly.
“You are a disappointment, Bane. I will see to it that Caducus is aware of your shortcomings.”
With that, the man in the claret cloak released the quivering man who scampered out of the door like a rat running from a butcher’s knife. The man in the winged armchair grasped the handles of the moleskin bag, pulled it into his lap, and emptied the contents into the fireplace. Crimson flames flared up like a thousand snake tongues tasting the air.
Eight
GRAY
Sun shattered through the clouds, and the rain ebbed away as Gray and Aurora approached Etheria. With each step forward, their eyes widened, jaws slackened and heads craned back. The ship seemed even larger when standing directly in front of it, and Gray couldn’t help but wonder how it managed to fit into the average sized port.
Aurora abandoned her suitcase, approaching the edge of the dock, and peered down into the ocean below.
“Weird,” she muttered.
“What?” Gray moved to stand beside her, pulling her suitcase with him so as not to invite another hooded man with beetle black eyes to steal it away.
“There isn’t a watermark,” she answered, pointing towards the base of the ship. “My friend, Shawn, and I used to go to Pike Place Market and, whenever there was a cruise liner docked at the port, we would see how close we could get to touching the ship before someone told us off. I always noticed how ugly the bottom of the ships were compared to the top.”
Gray reached her side, his eyebrows meeting as he realized that she was right. Where most ships would show rusted wear from being submerged in saltwater, Etheria gleamed as if it were brand new.
“Maybe this is the inaugural cruise…” Aurora said, sounding doubtful.
“Even if it is, there should be some signs of erosion. Salt water is extremely corrosive.”
“Well, marble probably doesn’t erode as easily as steel.”
“This ship isn’t made of marble,” Gray said. “That’s impossible.”
Aurora leaned closer, examining the iridescent surface of the ship with a tilted head. "Maybe it's made of pearl, then."
“Again, that’s im—”
“Well, the steel could have a pearl coat or something,” Aurora interrupted, impatiently. “Why are you wasting time? Let’s go.”
“I’m wasting time?” Gray said as Aurora took her suitcase from him and ventured in the direction of the curved ramp.
Gray chose not to argue any further with her in regard to the physical qualities of the ship, though, he was still rather confused. He had seen quite enough steel in his lifetime to know it was nearly impossible to achieve this particular look without any sign of bolts or creases where the two sheets of metal should meet. The curved base of Etheria was impeccably smooth—as smooth as marble.
Aurora shot Gray a wry smile over her shoulder. “Coming, Grayson?”
“Be right there, Rora,” Gray shouted back, knowing this would bother her.
As he predicted, Aurora’s smirk twisted into a grimace. “Rora? That’s not even kind of a name.”
“Sure it is.” Gray quickened his pace until he was beside her. “I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you? Much easier to say than Aurora.”
She was silent for a moment before she shrugged. “Call me what you want. I only have to be around you for another minute, or so.”
“Ah, right, because I’ve been forcing you to stay with me this whole time.”
Aurora said nothing, examining the steep ramp with rails of swirling silver before them. Gray followed her gaze. At the top, standing behind a silver and gold podium, waited a black-haired man dressed in all white. His eyes fixed on Gray and Aurora, but he didn’t motion them aboard, nor did he indicate they were doing anything wrong by approaching the ramp.
For once, Aurora looked to Gray to take the lead. So, he did. When they reached the man in the white suit, he smiled warmly at them, as if he were greeting old friends. His tanned skin and dark hair put off a golden aura, as if the sun filled him from the inside-out. Gray noticed a thin, silver nameplate pinned to the man’s white suit with the name Michael written in looping letters.
“Welcome, Gray. Aurora," Michael said. "May I have your tickets, please?”
“How’d you know our—?” Aurora began.
“Your questions shall be soon answered,” Michael said with a mysterious smile.
Gray glanced at Aurora. Judging by her cagey gaze and the downturned corners of her mouth, this answer was less than satisfactory. Still, she remained silent, pulling the silver ticket from her book, handing it over. Gray did the same, offering his ID as well, but Michael seemed content with just the slip of silver. From beneath the podium, he retrieved a small wooden chest, reminiscent of an aged jewelry box. Opening the chest with extreme care, Michael placed the silver tickets inside before closing the lid, waiting a moment, and opening it again. Gray pee
red into the box. The tickets were gone, and two antique skeleton keys lay in their place.
“The keys to your rooms.” Michael handed both Aurora and Gray a heavy key. After a closer look, Gray noticed the anchor and dove symbol shaped at the top, right where a person’s thumb was meant to rest.
Aurora squinted at hers with mystified eyes. “This is our room key?”
“Yes.”
“And our room numbers?” Gray inquired.
Michael pointed to a five digit number engraved onto the stem of the key.
“30578…” Aurora said. “What floor is that?”
“That would be level thirty.”
Gray read his number: 51369.
Floor fifty-one. This may have been Gray’s first maritime jaunt, but fifty levels seemed like a lot for a cruise ship.
“If you will leave your luggage here,” Michael waved a hand over a silver sun made of jagged shards of glass inlaid in the floor, “We will assure they reach your rooms.”
Gratefully, Gray dropped his duffel bag onto the sun. Aurora, on the other hand, still seemed wary of the man in the white suit. She shot a glance at her key before pulling her red and white striped bag to rest beside Gray’s.
“An itinerary awaits you in your stateroom, along with your dinner times and table assignments," Michael said. "Etheria shall depart at 7 o’ clock pm. A celebration will occur on the top deck, if you care to attend.”
Gray could do little more than nod his head in thanks. Aurora moved to leave before pausing and turning back to Michael. “Um, where are the—?”
Michael pointed towards the silver archway behind him. “Elevators are straight through there.”
Gray and Aurora left the man in white and walked under the silver archway.
The next room was a cavernous rotunda nearly twice the size of the one in the U.S. Capitol Building. A mural of a pearlescent ship riding sapphire waves adorned the domed ceiling. Evenly spaced around the walls stood arched elevators, the same height and shape as the silver threshold they'd just crossed. Gray felt as if he had stepped into a museum in Rome, or Paris; somewhere faraway and ancient.
Etheria (The Halo Series Book 1) Page 5