After weeks of working with Beatrice to practice her anti-ghoul skills, occasionally interspersed with light rescue missions, Malia was surprisingly comfortable with her newfound abilities. She was still far from confident, but she at least felt she wouldn't be completely useless if they ever encountered the rogue souls again.
All that was left was putting herself to the test.
Okeanos heard about the next ghoul resurgence by the time it was already in progress. At that point, the spirits could only rush to the scenes and aim to save as many lives as possible. Malia just hoped they wouldn't be too late.
As always, Malia heard the screams echoing through the water before she saw the chaos, the sound muffled as it traveled from the air into the sea. But unlike the previous instances, she was mentally prepared for the chaos that awaited them.
The target was a small yacht, but it sat much too low in the water. About six ghouls were swarming the hull, either clinging to the sides or circling the waters beneath them like sharks waiting for chum. The former were taking turns pulling and pushing the ship, viciously rocking the boat with wicked grins on their faces.
"Unstick those barnacles!" Beatrice ordered. "I'll keep them away."
While Malia's nerves churned with the sudden responsibility, she couldn't let that stop her. Beatrice entrusted her with a job, and she couldn't let her down.
So as Beatrice swam ahead, Malia stopped, calmed her mind, and extended her energy through a small section of the water between her and one of the ghouls hanging onto the hull. It was like she was looking at them through the lens of a microscope, and the ghoul was on her stage. All she had to do was bring them into focus.
The first time she pushed them through the water, the ghoul merely glanced down at their shoulder—right where Malia had been aiming—before shooting her a snide smirk. Malia faltered immediately, and she scanned the area for anything at all that could possibly help her.
In retrospect, she wasn't sure what she expected to find—something physical she could throw in defense, perhaps, or maybe even a textbook on how to get rid of a ghoul problem. What she didn't expect was for her gaze to land on Beatrice as she held off the swarming souls, nor for the woman to briefly turn to her with calm composure.
"Trust your instincts."
Beatrice's voice echoed in Malia's mind, and a sudden calm washed over her. For weeks, Beatrice had repeated those same words, reminding Malia every time she forgot, and every time she didn't want to believe it.
Even if Malia wasn't confident in her own abilities, Beatrice was. And even if Malia couldn't trust her own judgment, she could trust Beatrice's.
With that in mind, she refocused on the water and steadied her nerves.
She didn't want to leave Beatrice to fend off the ghouls by herself. She wanted to help her; she wanted Beatrice to rely on her. She wanted to prove that Beatrice didn't make a mistake in placing her faith in Malia.
She thought of the humans that must be piled on the boat, their screams stills echoing around her. She focused on her rage at the ghouls, and how they could be so pathetic as to attack defenseless humans who were just trying to survive. She thought about the fear she felt when she was trapped and drowning, and how she wouldn't wish such a painful end on anybody else.
She took aim at the ghoul as they completely ignored her, more focused on terrorizing the helpless humans, and fired.
The ghoul instantly disappeared into the sea; after briefly panicking that they dodged her attack, she finally saw them drifting aimlessly in the current, wide-eyed and dazed. Seconds later, Beatrice pushed back the ghouls she had been fighting, and she spared a moment to give Malia a small, proud smile.
That was enough encouragement to spur Malia to keep going.
For the next few minutes, they continued to keep the ghouls occupied and away from the overweight boat. If any of them neared the hull, Malia would fire at them from afar, then gear up for her next shot. Any that tried to approach her were stopped by Beatrice, and she deftly sent them flying into the sand, rocks, or simply into the distance, forcing them to bitterly swim back if they wanted to go for another round. It was exhausting work, but Malia found it oddly invigorating; plus, even if she was a little tired, the ghouls' weary scowls showed they were worse off.
Even when the ghouls changed their tactics, Malia and Beatrice adapted. Sure, Malia initially panicked when the ghouls ignored them both in favor of charging at the boat as one, but one glance at Beatrice's firm gaze assured her there was nothing to worry about.
"Focus on getting the boat out," she said. "I'll handle the ghouls."
As Beatrice dove into the fray, Malia tried to push the ship from a distance, not wanting to get in Beatrice's way. But when a ghoul split from the group to challenge her, their scarlet eyes locking onto her own, Malia shoved them away before sprinting towards the boat herself. While Malia didn't want to give Beatrice another body to protect, Beatrice trusted her to move the boat, and it was only fair if Malia trusted her in return.
Just before Malia could put her hands on the hull, some kind of stick jabbed her head from above.
"What the hell?" Malia exclaimed, glaring upwards as if she expected the guilty offenders to hear her.
Instead, all she saw was a blurry face through the water, along with a long rod approaching her for another attack.
Malia jumped to the side just as a metal rod—no, a selfie stick—stabbed the water, and with a sigh that sounded strangely like one of Beatrice's, she swam to the surface.
Immediately, Malia understood why the small boat sat as low in the water as it did. The vessel appeared to comfortably fit maybe a couple dozen people; instead, it held at least three times that many, and that was only the people packed like sardines on the topside deck.
The crowd reminded her of the pledges she caught messing with her oscilloscope, and while she still held a minor grudge over the incident that got her into this mess, that was the least of her current worries.
"Hi, excuse me?" Malia said, raising her voice over the frantic cries of the dozens of young adults.
She was willing to try the calm approach one more time, but when someone lobbed a can of beer at her head, her remaining patience went with it.
"Alright, all of you! Shut the hell up and listen to me!" When she heard one of them murmur in disgust, she shot a glare in the general direction it came from. "Yes, I know I'm green, thank you for reminding me. And no one would believe your drunk asses if you told them about me. So just shut up, keep your selfie sticks to yourselves, and let me get you out of here, okay?"
Once she observed most of them frantically nodding, she dove back into the water and got to work.
After weeks of training, pushing the inanimate yacht was much easier than Malia thought it would be. Still, she held off any self-congratulatory thoughts in favor of swimming the ship to safety, trusting that Beatrice could hold her own until she returned.
Even after the sounds of the ghouls shrieking and cursing, along with Beatrice's sharp tuts and irate murmurs, faded off into the distance, Malia kept going. She didn't slow until a few minutes later, and she took a chance to surface once more.
"Everyone okay?" she asked, not bothering to interpret the meaning of the dozens of agape stares in her direction.
"Yeah..." one of the passengers said, before clearing their throat. "Thanks, um... Who are you?"
"Not important," Malia said. "But what is important is ocean safety, and what I want to know is why—?"
Before Malia could delve into her lecture, her eyes passed over the dozens of young adults. She could see the horror and exhaustion in each of their faces; any reminders of their mistakes would only make them feel worse about themselves, and that wouldn't do any good. If anything, it would only fill them with regret, guilt, and self-hatred.
Malia knew that first hand.
Instead, Malia released her frustrations with a long sigh.
"I'm glad you're all alright," she said. "Just please be more careful next time, okay? It's dangerous out here, and I'm sure there are people back on land that would be devastated if anything happened to any of you."
And after she received a few nods and murmured thanks, Malia dove back into the water to find Beatrice.
Beatrice was alone by the time Malia found her, staring off in the distance where the ghouls likely retreated to. At Malia's approach, she glanced briefly at her before returning her focus towards the empty ocean.
"How are those naive mortals?" she asked. "Did you lecture them on the definition of 'maximum capacity'?"
"No," Malia said simply, only expanding her answer when Beatrice turned to her with mild surprise. "They're just kids, basically. And people of all ages make mistakes. I figured reminding them of their stupidity was going overboard. Metaphorically."
After a pause, Beatrice turned back to the distance with a simple "hm."
"And what about yourself?" Beatrice asked eventually. "How do you feel about the choices you made today?"
Immediately, Malia tensed. She made several mistakes during their rescue, from messing up her first attack to almost getting ambushed by a ghoul. Those memories, coupled with Beatrice's impassive tone, sent Malia's mind into overdrive about all the ways she could've done better and how stupid she was to have done those things.
When Malia turned to Beatrice to report her findings, the woman was staring at her, waiting. But one look at her blank expression made Malia pause. Beatrice wasn't looking for Malia's self-audit; she was testing her.
"Honestly, I wish I did better," Malia said, and she couldn't help but avert her eyes to the sand. "But... I suppose if I can forgive the stupidity of those kids, I guess I should forgive myself for my own mistakes."
When Beatrice didn't reply after several long seconds, Malia's curiosity got the best of her. And when she met the woman's gaze, she didn't expect the warm pride that she saw.
"I'm glad," Beatrice said, her soft smile filling Malia with a wave of relief. "You did very well, Malia. And you should be proud of that; I know I am."
Malia still wasn't sure if she could cry underwater, but she blinked away the warmth in her eyes just in case. "Thank you. I... I guess I am."
---