"He's a strange little boy, isn't he?" He asked as I craned my head back to see the top of the mountain. "What do we do now?"
"We go to the top of that." I stated, pointing at the top that was cutting through clouds.
"That's insane! It's way too tall." Christian shot down the idea, but I already started walking towards the mountain. "Please don't."
"I'm going." I stated, turning back around. "Whether you are or not is completely up to you."
He looked back up at the mountain, and shook his head as he ran over to me, and a smile plastered onto my face. "You're crazy."
"I know." I assured him as I took his hand, and we started our journey to the top of the mountain.
"How long do you think this will take?" He asked as I pulled out my scroll, unrolling it, still seeing the simple word in the middle of the page.
"I don't know, but we have to find whatever this 'childhood' item is. You know how Val gets." I stated, rolling it back up.
"Why are we always the ones to find it? Why can't one of them risk their lives to find the damn item?" He whined, but honestly, I didn't trust any of them enough yet to do anything. It's what David always said to me as a kid; if you want it done right, do it yourself.
"Because we know what we're doing and kinda what we're looking for." I answered, but as the higher we climbed, the colder and more steep it got. "Is it supposed to be getting colder?"
"I thought temperature rose." He admitted, but apparently not. We weren't at the snow yet, but we were getting close. "Is it also getting harder to breathe?"
"I think so." I said as I felt my foot slip, and I fell to the ground and started sliding before Christian caught my wrist, and I was looking down the mountain, terrified of falling. "Help me up! Help me up!"
"Hold on!" He ordered and pulled me up, helping me stand and brushing myself off. "Be more careful. The ground is slippery and I don't think falling would be good."
"No, it wouldn’t." I agreed as we continued, and the snow flurried had begun to blow in our face. "I can't believe it's snowing up here!"
"We're getting close." Christian stated as I looked down, and the only thing I wanted to do then was be on the ground with my feet firmly planted.
"How are we going to get down?" I asked seriously, and we both looked at each other with blank expressions. Nobody thought this through.
"We'll figure it out." He assured me as he grabbed my hand firmly, pulling me to the top. The snow wasn't too deep, but it was freezing and I already had enough snow back at the last place.
"Something out of place…" I thought out loud as we were only feet away from the tip, and I saw a glimmering thing up there. "There it is!"
"Where?" He asked as I let go and took off at a dead sprint, so eager to get down. "Wait!"
I only smiled and ran as I found it in the snow, picking the thing up… but I was confused when I did. It was only an empty glass jar, but it was making some sort of noise on the inside.
"What, a jar?" Christian asked, his arms wrapped around himself and shivering. "That makes no sense."
"It's not supposed to make sense." I replied, placing my hand firmly on the lid and unscrewing it.
"Don’t do that!" I jumped as I heard Adam's voice, and he took the jar from me and screwed it back. "Do you know how precious this is?"
"What… is it?" Christian asked, and I held out my hand for Adam to give it back, be he shook his head, clutching it at his side.
"This is a jar of pure children laughter." He explained, but I shook my head in disbelief. "I know, you don't believe in anything."
"Hey!" I whined, but he continued before I could.
"You have a hard time believing things you've never seen before." Adam stated, but I held back my comment and crossed my arms. "Fairies, mermaids, magic, the other creatures that keep trying to kill you, your own twelve year old self standing right in front of you- I mean, I thought you'd be more of a believer by now."
"Can you just tell us what we can do with it?" Christian demanded, looking down the mountain. "It's cold and I can't breathe."
"This is the most truthful thing you will ever hear a child do." Adam held the jar in front of him in awe. "It proves the child's innocence. Be careful with it. A lot of people would love to cherish the childhood's moments again."
"I know that feeling." I muttered as he handed the tightened jar back to me. "Thanks again, Adam."
"You wouldn't happen to know of a way down, would you?" Christian jumped in, and Adam just smiled.
"You proved how adult you were when you climbed this mountain. Record time, too. I don't think anyone's ever tried to climb it in the time you did." Adam admitted, peering down the mountain. "You're adults. I think you can find your own way down."
The time flew by; I wasn't sure how long we took, but I didn't care to ask. But getting down!? I had no desire to. "There has to be another way. To climb down would be impossible."
"Really?" Adam approached me slowly, his face right next to mine. "Your twelve-year-old self just told you. Nothing's impossible."
"She didn't have to climb up here and retrieve a jar of air."
"Children's laughter." Adam shot at me, holding out his hands. "If you don't want it, give it back."
"No." I clutched the jar, hugging it. "My jar."
"Well then, stop complaining." He ordered as he flew out over the mountain, fading away slower than he did the other times. "See you at the bottom!" He laughed like a child and disappeared.
"Great." Christian and I sad in unison, and I sat down and started inching my way down.
"You're going to get killed." Christian stated, dropping too and grabbing my wrist. "How long do you think it'll take?"
"Well, considering it's almost night." I started, looking up at the sky, and the sun that was currently shorter than us. "I'm guessing tomorrow."
"How do you think the rest of the crew did?" Christian asked once we were past the snow, and breathing was getting easier.
"I don't think too well." I replied as the ground slanted slightly, and I started shuffling down the mountain. The ground under me was rough, but the pieces of dirt slid easily. My balance wasn't too great and my nervousness didn't help.
"Watch your step-" Christian told me as, with another step, slipped and started rolling down the mountain. The jar took off in front of me, but I was stopped as Christian caught me again. I looked up and saw the jar leave my sight.
"Let go." I ordered, shaking my arm.
"Are you crazy!?"
"Drop me!" I screamed as I ripped his arm from mine, and I took off down the mountain and towards the jar. I anticipate the rolling that followed; but screamed when I saw the cliff. The drop wasn't too high, but something cracked in my arm, maybe even my leg, but I kept going towards the jar. I was almost to the bottom now, reaching for the jar that was barely out of reach. When I finally caught up to it, I clutched it close to me and stuck out my foot and dug it into the soil, eventually slowing me to a stop. I breathed slowly as I saw the blood trickling down my legs and my arms, but I didn't care. Was I crazy? Well I sure wasn't sane.
It took a while before I felt somebody next to me, but it wasn't who I was expecting. "Elisa, is that you?" Colin asked, and I looked up at him, he helped me sit up. "You look like you got hit… by anything."
"Actually, I rolled down the mountain." I corrected, and then he craned his neck back to gaze up at it.
"Why?" He asked me like I was stupid, and right now, I believed it. I held out the jar that now had dirt all on the sides.
"What we came here looking for." I stated, dropping to my back again. My head was aching and the rest of my body was stinging or burning. "Where's everyone else?"
"Most of them retreated back to the ship." He told me, and his head started jerking around, and he shielded his eyes from the moon. "Is that Christian?"
"Probably. Why did they go back to the ship?"
"They… couldn't handle their childhood." His voice lowered as Christian got down to where we were and dropped to his knees next to me.
"You're going to get killed one day because of this." He stated, picking me up in his arms, but I would not let go of the jar. "Come on, we can't spend any more time here."
"You're leaving so soon?" I heard Adam's voice, but I didn't know where it was coming from. "I feel like you guys just got here!"
"We were never thinking about staying." Christian stated, and Colin drew his sword.
"You're an evil, evil little boy." Colin hissed, and Adam appeared in front of him, tilting his head slightly, simply and innocently.
"Oh now, why would you say that?" He asked as Colin's sword got right up in his face.
"I never want to see you again." His voice whimpered slightly, and it made me perk up a little to see what he was going to do. What did he do?
"Come on, Colin. We're going back to the ship." Christian stated as we started heading there, me in his arms and Colin sliding his sword back into his belt, ignoring Adam.
"See you soon." Adam stated, and Colin stopped for a moment, his fists clenching.
"Colin! We're going!" Christian almost shouted, and Colin continued, brows furrowed and eyes that were fiery.
"What's their deal?" I asked seriously as soon as Colin was far enough in front of us.
"Adam showed Colin a part of his life he never, ever wanted to see again." Christian explained, and I stayed silent so he'd continue. "I was there."
"What happened to him?"
His voice lowered to a whisper. "Colin's entire family was brutally murdered by Arthur's group of pirates. Captain was with them, and Colin swore he would kill Arthur when he saw him again. Val took him aboard the ship then, and he's been here ever since."
I looked over at Colin, now a decent distance ahead of us, and we finally made it to the bottom of the mountain, and only the moon lit our way. "How long has it been? He doesn't look that old."
"It was seven years ago. He was fourteen." Christian replied, gesturing to Colin. "You can't help but feel bad for the guy."
"Yeah, no kidding." I whispered, and after that, we were silent. I felt so warm and comfortable as he was carrying me in his arms, not like the last time when I was injured on Crystal Marsh. He didn't like me that much then, but now that we had something- it was different. If I wasn't so focused on getting off this place and if my whole body didn't hurt, I'd be asleep.
"Captain!" I heard Coiln exclaim, and I didn't realize I was dozing off. "We got it!"
"Aye!?" Val approached the railing of the ship, but I swore quietly as I realized I had to get down and swim toward the damn boat. "Toss it up here, then!"
"Not this one." Christian called, and he started making his way through the water, but he didn't let me fall into it. "Get this one up there, first."
Colin climbed first and Christian passed me up to Aras and Johan, who seemed to magically show up whenever something happened. They set me down gently, but I lied down on the cold planks to any position that was comfortable. Christian somehow got the jar and handed it to Val, who was examining it closely.
"What is it?" He asked, started to unscrew the top.
"Don't do that!" Christian and I both ordered in unison, and he stopped suddenly. "It's pure children laughter. We can't open the damn thing."
"Then what are we supposed to do about it?" Val asked stupidly, holding the jar out and twirling it around, but Christian screwed the top back on tight. "How is Viora supposed to use it? And how'd you get it?"
"It was up there. Suicidal girl here decided to go get it, and then roll down half the mountain to make sure she saved it." Christian looked disappointed, but honestly, what choice did I have? What if there was nothing else like it?
"Smart girl." Val complimented, but I was hurting too much to care. "But did you find it or did someone give it to you?"
"Adam showed us the way." I replied softly as Colin stormed away, and I heard his door slam. "And Colin apparently really doesn't like him."
"Neither of us really do." Val stated, and as I looked around the ship, I saw no other bodies on deck. "Everyone else has been in their rooms hiding, trying to not show their true feelings from what they saw today…"
"Oh." I sat up slowly, looking around at each room. "Even Dinah?"
"She wasn't too bad, but she wasn't staying on deck with all the other furious pirates. Now get some rest, or medical attention, or do something. We're setting sail for our next course." He ordered, and Christian helped me stand as he led me to my room.
"I think you'll be fine." Christian told me as I lied down on the bed, and it was the greatest feeling the world right now. "I mean, you weren't shot.
"I rolled down a freaking mountain." I shot at him as he leaned in and pressed his lips on mine.
"And I'm sorry I dropped you." He whispered, leaning on my bed with me and taking me in his arms.
"It's okay. I would've donr the same." I admitted, trying to be funny, but he didn't take it that way.
"You would've done the same? Thanks." He muttered, getting up. "Goodnight then."
"Wait, I didn't mean it like-" The door slamming cut me off, and I sighed, staring at the ceiling. Why do I always have to screw things up? Maybe my twelve-year-old self was right. Everything was always my fault.
I unrolled the scroll I had and held it up to the window, the moon being my only light to read the word that appeared. "'Wealth'." I whispered, reading the black cursive. "Okay, that shouldn't be too bad."
I wondered about where we were going, but more about how I can apologize to Christian. I don't know why he got so offended; he was the one who dropped me. Why couldn't he just drop this?
My body still hurt the next morning, but when Dinah came in almost right after I woke up, it made everything better.
"Hey, I didn't see you last night." Dinah stated, but gasped as soon as she closed the door and saw me. "What'd you do!?"
I kinda rolled down the mountain on the island." I said quickly, but continued so she couldn't tell me how stupid it was. "How was facing your childhood?"
"I thought it was fine, but apparently I did it wrong." She sighed, but perked up again. "You were the one who did it right, huh? That's good. It seems like you're the only one who's finding the stuff the pirates need."
"I know. Why can't they find their own stuff?" I laughed, but then she leaned in, getting serious.
"I heard there was a fight between you and Christian last night. Is everything okay?" She asked, but I got so confused. Did things really get around the ship that fast?
"I don't think it was a fight. Christian dropped me down the mountain and I joked that I would've done the same to him. He took it seriously and I haven't seen him since. I feel really bad about it."
"He dropped you?" She asked, her voice lowering and she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm gonna have to go knock something into that guy-"
"No, trust me, he can beat you." I told her, and she slumped back down. "If you see him, can you tell him how bad I really feel?"
"Yeah, I'll go now. They're serving breakfast, but it looks like you can't move; want me to bring you something?" She asked, and I nodded. "Do you look this way because you fell?"
"Maybe…" I trailed off as her hands clenched into fists, and when she left, the door slammed. I sat up and stared out the window, the bright sun making me happy that it was getting a little warmer and we didn't have to be all hiding in the rooms that were only a little warmer then the deck.
I heard the door open again, and as I turned back, I wasn't expecting who I saw. "Good morning."
"Morning." Christian greeted, giving me a plate of bread and berries as he kissed my forehead. "I feel really bad about last night…"
"I do too." I sighed, rubbing my thumb over the plate. "I shouldn't have said anything. I wouldn't have dropped you. I would never drop you."
"I only dropped you because you told me to." He stated, and it made me laugh. "But I won't drop you if you tell me to again, that's for sure."
"Thanks." I picked up a grape and plopped it in my mouth, but he didn't touch his food, only staring at my eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just can't believe…" He trailed off, shaking his head, chuckling. "I just can't believe."
"Can't believe what?" I asked, covering my mouth with my hand to not show him the food I was chewing.
"I can't believe I fell in love with a woman like you." He breathed, and it almost made me choke. He said… yeah, he said it. He said he loved me, and I didn't know how to respond. Did I love him? I wanted to come back with it, but I didn't know how I was feeling. How did I feel!? Oh my God, say something!
"I…" I stammered, putting the plate down. "I…"
"Oh." He muttered, standing up. "I get it. You don't feel the same way." He started towards the door slumped over, but I stood up quickly and ran across the wooden floor, stopping him, whipping him around and slamming my lips onto his. He dropped his plate and he deepened the kiss, running his hands up my back as my hands ruffled though his hair, and I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop.
"Christian." I breathed as he kissed down my neck, each spot tingling as he kissed me. "I love you, too."
His kisses became softer as he placed one last, short one on my lips. "Great. I wanted to hear you say that."
"I did too." I smiled weakly as he slid his arms around my waist, and I only hugged him. It's the only thing that was needed. "So, we're here on this boat for a while, right?"
"Yep." He said as I remembered my scroll, and I backed away to show him.
"Look, it says 'Wealth'." I told him, pointing at the paper. "Did Val say where we were going yet?"
"Yeah, he did this morning. Said it would only be a couple weeks. We're only going northeast." He told me, and it saddened me a little. We were coming to the end of the paper. There couldn't be that many left. But then we had to give these things to Viora and then find the stupid treasure. How long would that take?
"Do you think we'll be done soon?" I asked him seriously, and he shrugged.
"Let's not even think about that now. We still have a while to go." He assured me, and it only made me feel slightly better.
"Let's just go find the rest and we'll go from there." I told him, and he nodded in agreement.
"Who knows? Maybe the treasure is our 'Wealth'." He smiled at the thought, but that meant it would end sooner than I thought.
"Yeah…" I looked up at him before kissing his lips softly once more, but he looked relieved that it was almost over. "Maybe."