"What I really want to tell him is to pick up that baby of his and hold her tight, to set the moon on the edge of her crib and to hang her name up in the stars."
~ Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The kids, frozen in shock, just gawked as the zombies launched themselves on the King. However, one thing the zombies forgot to take into consideration–probably because of the lack of important organs such as the brain–was that the King was standing at the edge of the gap. So, down they all went, in an awful waterfall of bones and rotting flesh, their screams fading as the darkness swallowed them up.
The queen, who had not charged along with her army, remained where she was. But the shock and outrage that flashed in her face showed that she wasn't expecting her plan to backfire the way it did. She turned to regard the kids, her expression icy and her mouth set in a snarl.
"This does not end here," she hissed, trembling with rage. But she backed away when Warren threateningly approached her. "You might have defeated us but you cannot defeat our Master! He'll destroy you! He'll destroy each and every one of you! Heed my words---!"
Her words segued into a scream as Warren snapped his fingers and lifted her up into the air, his eyebrows drawn together in annoyance. Her cries echoed through the chambers as she hurtled down the gap to...hell, probably.
A pregnant silence ensued, before Warren said, sighing tiredly, "Well...that was fun. Can we please go back now?"
Blue wanted to nod but she abruptly became aware of an ugly cut in her arms. She winced as the wound burned into her skin. Suddenly, black spots danced in her vision and she found herself swaying in her feet. She was about to collapse when familiar hands slipped through her waist, taking hold of her firmly. And she finally slipped into the void of unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~
Blue's eyes fluttered open to find a concerned face hovering above her. As her vision cleared, Miracle's face swam into view.
"Hey," he said, helping her up into a sitting position. "Blue, my Blue, are you okay? You had me worried."
Grunting in reply, Blue looked around at their surroundings. Confused and curious, she realised they were in a small room of sorts. Decadently furnished with twin beds, a wardrobe, a vanity and even a small bookshelf, the room didn't at all seem familiar to Blue.
Suddenly, Blue's nose caught a familiar smell. The smell of the sea.
For a second, Blue was almost sure they were back at her town but then she registered the slight, almost unnoticeable, swaying of the floor. Realisation dawning, Blue gaped at Miracle who smiled sheepishly, shrugging.
Blue jumped out of her bed, nearly tripping on her haste, and rushed towards the small window set on the wall. Safe to say, her jaw practically came unhinged as she drank in the sight of a cerulean, possibly boundless, stretch of water extending all around them.
~~~~~~~~
"But I don't understand!" Blue argued. "Why didn't we just teleport back to our home?"
"Because," was all Warren answered, as he put on some sunglasses and stretched back lazily in the recliner, sighing as the breeze blew calmly from the sea.
Blue, Miracle, Warren and Sherry were currently on the upper deck of the enormous cruiser which had departed from the West Indian coast hours ago and was lazily sailing through the Arabian Sea and towards America. Tourists, in various stages of dressing, or rather un-dressing, were lounging all around, sipping on martinis or drinking lemonades or just trying to tan. Stewards, carrying pewter trays, weaved through the crowd, offering mouth-watering snacks. Somewhere, an orchestra was playing. But their music was drowned out by the squawking of gulls.
It didn't surprise Blue that no one noticed them. Besides, she had other worries.
Miracle, who was leaning against the railing, his brown hair ruffled from the wind, sighed. "Blue, my Blue, I didn't have the strength to teleport us. Warren and Sherry might have managed. But I already did two jumps, all the way from Finland to India. With you. And then, in the Taj Mahal, I summoned a zombie king. Oh, don't look so surprised. I am Miracle, after all. Now, I must restore my strength to teleport us again."
Blue's frown dissolved. Oh, she hadn't even thought how teleportation might affect his health! But, now that he said it, Blue could see the paleness in his face and the tiredness etched in his brows. She bit her lips, thinking how much of a terrible friend she was.
"I'm sorry, Miracle," Blue said. "But how could you summon a zombie? If you could do that, couldn't you have summoned the others--?"
Blue paused mid-sentence, realising her words sounded accusatory. She didn't mean for it to sound like that!
Warren's eyebrows picked up as he looked at Miracle with renewed interest.
He gasped dramatically, although his eyes were glimmering peculiarly. "Looks like we have a mole within us! Oh, how outrageous! And you, Miracle? Of all people--?"
Miracle's glare silenced Warren who resorted to chuckling silently. "Oh, shut it! And, no, Blue, I couldn't have summoned the zombies. It doesn't work like that. I was able to summon the King because, at that moment, we were on the brink of losing. Something miraculous needed to happen. So, ta-da! It did! Summoning an undead army purposefully wouldn't have been, in any way, miraculous. It would be totally against my nature to put us in danger."
"Oh." Blue nodded seriously, as if she actually understood his words. "But it would take ages to travel in a ship. Couldn't we have, I don't know, booked plane tickets?"
"No!" Sherry said, jumping up from her recliner, horrified. "I absolutely forbid it!"
Seeing the grimace in her face, Blue presumed that Sherry must have had a terrible experience with planes. Miracle looked over at Blue, his eyes saying, See?
Huffing, Blue plopped down in another recliner beside Sherry, frustration building inside of her. What would her Ma think? What would Blue tell her when she reached home? That she just decided to take a world tour? Her Ma was probably worried sick and here she was, cruising—
"Blue, my Blue," Miracle said, sitting down beside her and gently taking her hand, "if you're worried about your Ma, don't be. I assure you, she hadn't even realised you're gone."
Blue started to ask how that could be possible but stopped short when she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. He must be doing one of his tricks.
"Besides," he added, "we don't have to be in this ship for long. Just give me some time to restore my strength and then we can teleport again."
"Okay. But, what do we do now?" Blue asked, crossing her hands.
Miracle grinned. "Why, relax and have some fun, of course!"
~~~~~~~~~
Blue didn't find herself having fun. Probably because of her newly discovered bane–sea sickness. Or at least, that's what she told the others. It wasn't exactly nausea building inside of her. It was an...ache, for the lack of a better word.
After the initial confusion and shock had melted away, a sort of realisation had hit her.
Blue was familiar with seas. She loved everything about it, in fact – the breeze, the saltiness, the feeling that she got every time she looked out at its vast and infinite horizon. It was a weird feeling, not really describable. It was something similar to what she felt when she looked at the moon.
Suddenly, Blue remembered Miracle's words, "A happiness so profound, so large that it sometimes feels like...sadness."
Blue smiled. She hadn't understood his words then but now she did. It strangely made sense.
But she wasn't feeling that now. Standing on the upper deck of the ship and looking out at the endless monotony of water all around, she found herself thinking of her father. Someone she hadn't thought about in a long, long time.
Despite growing up beside the sea, Blue hadn't ever actually ventured into it. Well, splashing around in the shallows and lazing around in beaches didn't count.
The thing was...she feared the sea as much as she loved it. It had, after all, taken her father from her. She thought of how proud he must have been, sailing for his nation. But where did it get him? Towards death. Ma didn't like to talk about it. She still liked to pretend that he'd just gone out to get some milk and that he'd be back soon.
Blue was a kid, not a dumbo. She knew he wasn't coming back.
She didn't have much to hold on to him. He was almost always gone. Apart from a few gifts and some letters and the cypress-y scent of his cologne, he wasn't much more than a blurry figure. When she thought of him, she didn't really think of a father, just an officer. But, now, as she leaned against the railing and inhaled the smell of the sea, she found herself yearning for him. For a warm hug, perhaps. Or him teaching her to ride a bicycle. Or to push her in a swing set. Or whatever fathers were supposed to do.
Yet, she couldn't even properly picture it. She could only see him standing at the mast of a ship, with perhaps a telescope in his hand, looking out with a stern face and straight-backed posture. She thought about how the ship would be like a large, intimidating vessel with officers swarming all around, barking orders and saluting each other.
So, imagine her surprise, when her eyes caught sight of a half-submerged, abandoned-looking ship just floating in the middle of the ocean with the official seal of the Navy in it.