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Family Reunion

Hei talked to her quietly for a little while after Jongdae left—they had been going through the second sector for a little over forty-five minutes, and in another thirty, they should’ve been nearing the edge of the sector, then into the fourth. None of them had any idea what to expect there, nor did they have a clue for the second. With Baekhyun’s father gone, everyone was tense. Jinqiong was filled in enough so that she half-expected him to jump out as a ghost and give them all heart attacks, but she had a bad feeling that if he showed up, she wasn’t the one who had to worry about it the most.

With her sister sitting there still and Jongdae returned to his own room, Jinqiong could begin to see just how nervous Hei was. It was the energy that she didn’t usually possess—otherwise calm, Hei wasn’t the type to be unable to stay still. That seemed to be more her husband than her, but she tapped her fingers, got up then sat down, and didn’t seem able to concentrate on what Jinqiong was staying.

Jinqiong figured that it would make her more nervous to bring it up, so she kept shut despite the fact that she wanted to tell Hei to go somewhere else to calm herself down. Repeating herself twice on multiple occasions wasn’t doing wonders for her temper.

At some point, she asked for Jinqiong’s scales. They shone prettily in the lamp of the light, albeit dim, and Jinqiong couldn’t imagine what they’d look like in the sun. If they saw the sun again, that was.

“Jongdae’s right, you know,” Hei said as she turned them over. She was tapping her foot on the ground, and Jinqiong wanted to say that she was so jittery she probably scared whatever ghosts there were away already. “I didn’t see you when you did it, but it was probably as insane as it sounded.”

Jinqiong shrugged. “It was either that, or let the thing take a bite out of the ship,” she replied. “Figured one of the water-benders would come save me. Though I have to admit I expected Junmyeon.”

“Baekhyun’s faster,” Hei replied absentmindedly, then winced as her eyes shifted to Jinqiong’s leg. Yuxuan had healed it as best she could, but there were still areas that were still tender, wrapped with white bandage. The sea serpent, they told her, had bitten all the way through, tearing muscle and sinew and barely missing bone—she was insanely lucky—but either way, it still burned. They had to remove poison, too, and it had been a relief that the serpent hadn’t bitten higher and her blood was sluggish from the coldness of the water. A huge of luck. And while Jinqiong had never been superstitious, she was afraid that somehow, she had used up all their luck, and they definitely needed more to get through the gates.

Hei handed her the scales. “Rest,” she told Jinqiong. “There’s another nine hours until your next shift, and we’ll probably take you off for that one. Yuxuan made you a tonic to help you sleep better too.”

This meant that Hei, with all her incessant nervous energy, would be gone. Jinqiong wasn’t sure what she felt about that. But she also felt exhausted, so she took the glass from Hei. “Alright,” she said.

Hei gave her one last smile. If she noticed Jinqiong was still clutching the serpent’s scales, she didn’t comment on it. “Thank you,” Hei said, and Jinqiong blinked. “You saved us all today. That was really brave.”

She vanished out the door before Jinqiong could put in a protest. Perhaps that was a good thing, because she wouldn’t have found something to protest about.

So, with no other option, she raised the cup to her lips, swallowed the bitter liquid and lay down in the dark. And pretended she didn’t wish she were back in Kim Jongdae’s cabin, watching the golden light flicker over his form.

***

Hei was so on edge that she noticed that Jinqiong was put off, so she left her half-sister to herself and wandered up the helm, where she knew Baekhyun was. Another dose of Yuxuan’s medicine kept the seasickness at bay, but she still felt tired. She had a feeling Baekhyun was going to tell her to rest, but she had done nothing the whole time and it didn’t seem fair. Compared to everyone who had shifts, to Jongdae who was relentlessly watching the map, Yuxuan who was near depleted from healing Jinqiong, to Jinqiong herself who had nearly died saving them all—Hei felt utterly useless. So she headed up to the helm, where Baekhyun had his shift, and tried to ignore the feeling of fear that whispered through the entire second sector. Just like before.

Baekhyun was steering alone. An idiot, Hei thought, because he had told everyone to always have two people on the helm, but he was alone. Of course he’d made himself an exception to his own rules.

“Noble idiot,” Hei told him as she joined him.

Baekhyun glanced at her, a grin playing on his lips, eyes flickering over her. “All for you, sweetheart.”

She slapped his arm. “You said you didn’t want people on the helm by themselves. But you’re standing here by yourself. Are you cocky or are you just plain stupid?”

“Have you considered that I’m just that good?”

She pursed her lips, and Baekhyun, no doubt sensing the lecture, pointed at the stairs of the helm. “Jongdae was here five minutes ago,” he said. “We’re studying Hell’s Gate and going through past powers of the family leaders to see if we can figure out what to expect in the fourth sector. We’ll be out of here soon.”

He didn’t say anything about the sector itself, but Hei could tell that Baekhyun was on high alert, too. Perhaps that was the reason he had sent the rest of the crew below-deck—because he knew if something bad happened, it wasn’t anything they would be able to fight. The sea serpent, as bad as it was, had been tangible. They could drive it back with their powers, and Jinqiong had also come back with hints of blue blood on her. If Baekhyun’s father was trapped in the second sector, then he’d most likely be a ghost like those in the first sector, and they wouldn’t be able to harm him. Their only chance would be running. Or stopping time.

Hei supposed she should've been relieved by the fact that they were almost out without encountering anything, but the fifth sector had seemed peaceful until it threw the sea serpent at them. It had disappeared into the grey sea, with nothing but Jinqiong’s scales serving as a reminder it even existed in the first place, so she wasn’t sure what to expect now.

“How much longer?” she murmured to Baekhyun.

“Ten minutes?” She knew the tenseness wouldn’t disappear from his shoulders until they weren’t in the sector. Really, it probably wouldn’t disappear until they were out of Hell’s Gate entirely, but this—his father’s sector—had been hard to face to begin with. Now, the emptiness, the fog (regular mist, though it was still disconcerting being unable to see anything in front of them as the ship sailed through, something bordering on malicious lingering in the air), all served to put him on high alert.

Almost out. Ten more minutes, and they’d been inside for a bit over an hour. Ten minutes was doable.

Hei leaned into Baekhyun. He could tell her to go rest all he wanted, but she wasn’t going to leave until they were certain that they were out of the sector. It didn’t matter if they didn’t know what danger the fourth sector would bring; anything was better than the fear shifting across the ocean, as if blown by the wind, drawn to the fact that the ship, tiny in such an endless sea, would be a perfect target.

Baekhyun didn’t say anything, but perhaps, was thankful for the silent support. A hand found her back, thumb moving idly, and Hei tried to relax. “Jinqiong woke up, you know,” she told him.

He raised an eyebrow at her, a hint of his usual self. “Did anyone give her an earful for what she did back in the last sector?”

“Jongdae did,” Hei grinned, “he looked pissed. And lectures from Jongdae are the absolute worst because he’s always right. He looked like he wanted to throw her overboard for what she did.”

“The water’s disgusting,” was Baekhyun’s reply. “When I jumped in to save her, it felt wrong. I can still control it, but since Song Jinqiong remotely listens to only you, you should tell her to think of a less creative solution next time we come around to something like that.”

Hei was pretty sure she knew what he meant. She’d fallen in the water the last time, knocked through the broken railing by the kraken, and she had the same feeling that it wasn’t quite right. She supposed it wasn’t surprising. They were in Hell’s Gate, after all. Nothing was right about Hell’s Gate.

“I don’t think Jinqiong will be attempting something like that anytime soon,” she replied, then leaned over slightly so she could see Baekhyun’s face. “Thanks for saving her.”

His fingers tightened slightly on the wheel, gaze fixed in the distance. Hei wasn’t sure if he was trying to see through the fog and mist to keep them going for the next sector or if the topic of Jinqiong just made him uncomfortable. Perhaps it was a little bit of both. “I didn’t do it for her,” he replied.

She expected as much. At least he was honest about it, but there was still something to be done about Baekhyun and Jinqiong. They couldn’t keep on eyeing each other’s throats forever, never quite going for it but obviously wanting to. Hei didn’t want to know what would happen if no one restrained Baekhyun and Jinqiong.

“Well,” she finally said, “I somehow managed to warm up to you. Maybe you’ll warm up to Jinqiong soon.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Please,” he replied. “I’m the most charming person you’ll ever get to meet, sweetheart.”

“Junmyeon’s more charming than you.”

“Junmyeon barely speaks!”

“Which is why he’s more charming than you,” she replied. The wind behind them seemed to pick up slightly, pushing at the sails, hopefully guiding them away from the godforsaken sector. Five minutes more?

The arm around her tightened. “Take that back,” Baekhyun threatened, grinning as well. “Or I’ll—”

Both of them must’ve felt it at the same time. The chill in the air, the sudden leeching of the little Hell’s Gate could offer: the brush of the waves against the hull, faint but there, the sound of the wind whistling by, replaced by the emotion that had whispered over and over. It had turned full blown now, a demand instead of an offer, coming to claim its prize.

“By all means,” someone drawled behind them, “continue, Baekhyun. I’m enjoying this little display of romance.”

Baekhyun whirled around, but she remained frozen. That voice—that awful voice—that had mocked and taunted when she had remained under his control, laughing when he drove the cutlass into Baekhyun’s chest and continued on and on even in her nightmares for the longest of times. Smooth, clear-cut, infuriatingly eloquent.

No, no, no, no, no.

It took all her willpower to turn around, fear already leeching at her energy. Baekhyun’s face was pale in shock and fright, but hadn’t they been expecting this? Prepared for this outcome? Readied to face this? He had warned her beforehand—if they were ever to have to go into the second sector and his father appeared, she shouldn’t use her power when he expected it in fear that it would be extinguished like the last time. They needed a moment in between, but as Hei stood there, she wondered if she would still be capable of doing so when that moment came.

Baekhyun’s father watched them a couple of paces away. He was dressed in the robes he had worn nearly half a year ago in Regiis, but the last Hei had seen of him was dust, crumbling away when she broke the spell that froze him in time and allowed him to live for eternity. Now, he was standing in front of them, edges translucent as if he were fading in and out of existence, but still there. A ghost. Vengeance spirits, Jongdae had called them back in the first sector. Except this time, Hei had a bad feeling that Baekhyun’s father was a lot more than those spirits, more clear minded, more vicious. And he knew very well who his targets were, and just what they had done to him.

In a blink of an eye, Baekhyun was standing in front of her, cutlass drawn even though both of them knew it was useless. Hei reached for the alarm and sounded it. Twice.

Stay down. Hopefully, no one would be stupid enough to come charging up to the helm. They’d be facing an enemy that couldn’t be finished with force alone.

The Byun family leader watched, amusement glinting in his eyes. Behind it, though, was a layer of malice, barely concealed. It was barely dark in Hell’s Gate—at least, it wasn’t dark by the standards here—which meant he technically shouldn’t have shown. The dangers were always milder in all the gates could offer as day, so why—why was he here already?

“You know, Baekhyun,” he started. “I didn’t think you’d be so foolish as to come here.”

Baekhyun’s knuckles turned white around his blade. “At least I know you’ve been damned to hell forever,” he spat.

“But you’ve come to find me.” He spread his arms wide, the edges of his sleeves flickering in and out of existence. “An obedient son to the end. How I’ve missed you.”

Baekhyun stiffened, but didn't move or speak.

Those eyes—cold, angry, burning at the same time—shifted to her. The man (or the ghost; Hei didn’t know) tilted his head. “No father’s blessing when you got married?” he cooed. “Though I suppose that at least my son didn’t take that blade for nothing.”

Baekhyun, still in front of her, was watching the horizon, she knew. Knew that they could cross into the next sector at any moment—that they’d never return to the second sector ever again, knew that it was a matter of minutes they needed to escape this.

“Song Hei,” he said again, and she tried to breathe and hoped he couldn’t see right through her, see that his voice still haunted her and know that what he did still gave her nightmares even months and months later.

He drifted closer to them, a ghostly step, feet barely touching the ground. Baekhyun gave her a slight push back, and his father laughed.

Laughed like he had when he had stabbed his own son, laughed like he had when she wanted to scream hoarse at the sight but could barely manage a whimper. “You’re still trying to protect her?”

The waves were pushing the ship faster, Hei knew. Forcing them towards the edge of the sector. She prayed Baekhyun was quick enough.

Baekhyun’s father watched with that same glimmer of cold amusement, and it struck her too late that something was wrong.

She hadn’t been able to move when the ghosts from the first sector had attacked. She’d been fully within their power, as had the whole ship, and if they hadn’t passed into the central island, she would’ve been dead. She and Baekhyun were here too, in the center where the Byun family leader’s power ran the strongest, where it controlled everything in the sector.

There was a too-loud clang when Baekhyun dropped his cutlass and staggered.

One moment he was standing in front of her, and the next moment he had kneeled over on the ground, clasping his chest, crouched a couple paces from his father’s feet. Her blood went cold.

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