The Next Day

Jason, Eddie, Rebecca, Melody, and Tempest stepped into Ponpei just as the sun hit it's highest point in the sky, and the distinct smell of salt filled the air. All throughout town, ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and even a few abyssinians paused their daily tasks to observe the humans and ponies as they came into town, exhaustion clear on all of their faces. Eddie led the way, giving nothing more than a short nod of acknowledgement to the growing crowd of interested onlookers.

Soon enough, they arrived at the smallish hospital, and stepped inside. Warm, refreshing air cordially greeted the group as Jason, Tempest, Eddie, and Rebecca took advantage of the soft seats available near the entrance. While they sat down and rested, Melody walked over to the front desk and addressed the snow white nurse sitting there.

"Excuse me?" Melody said.

"Hmm?" The nurse responded, looking curiously up at Melody.

"Hi, we dropped off a couple of our friends here last night. Their names are Crimson Sky and Midnight Shadow. Could we please see them?" Melody replied.

"Oh! Yes, certainly. They're in room one-eleven. Just down the hall and to the right." The nurse cheerily responded.

"Thank you."

With that, Melody stepped away from the front desk and made her way over to the rest of the group.

"They're in room one-eleven. Just that way." Melody announced, pointing down the indicated hallway with a hoof.

"Alright. Let's go see them." Jason acknowledged as he got out of his seat.

The group quickly walked down the hall and past the empty patient rooms until they arrived at the last room in the hallway. Just beside the door, a large window allowed for light to spill into the hallway, illuminating the floor and walls in a gentle yellow hue.

After taking a moment to confirm the room number, Jason politely knocked on the door and patiently waited for a response. It took only a few moments for Midnight's voice to come through the door.

"Come in." She called.

Jason opened the door and stepped into the room, followed by the rest of the group in quick succession. The first thing to greet their eyes, was the graphite unicorn sitting in a chair beside the bed. Lying on the bed, with bandages around all four of his legs, was Sky. His eyes blearily opened to greet the rest of the group while Midnight jumped off her chair and rushed to see them.

"Jason! Tempest!" Midnight cheered, quickly wrapping them both in a large hug.

"Midnight, it's great to see you. I'm glad you're okay." Jason replied with a smile.

"We were worried about you all making it." Tempest added as she returned the hug.

"Us? We were fine. We were so worried about you guys! When you fell, and the volcano erupted..." Midnight trailed off upon noticing the distinct lack of one of the humans. "Wh-where's Mike?" Her voice quickly dropped in volume, almost to a whisper.

Jason's smile faltered, and a sad frown quickly adorned his face before he glanced up at Sky. The stallion fixed him with a worried look, that turned to a dejected sigh upon noticing Jason's look.

"He, uh... He didn't make it." Jason said, his voice barely a whisper, yet deafening in the nearly silent room.

"What?" Midnight asked, stepping back as if she had been physically struck.

"Mike, uh... He's gone, guys." Jason admitted.

With just a few words, all the cheer and excitement of the room died, and left behind only a sad undertone that kept anyone from speaking for several minutes. Eventually, it became too much to bear for the graphite mare.

"But... but how?" She asked.

"He fell." Eddie answered, before taking a seat on the floor with his back against the wall.

Midnight's eyes fell to the floor, and she slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"No... no..." She whispered.

"Midnight..." Tempest said, stepping over to her and wrapping a hoof around her wither, "Don't beat yourself up about it... There was nothing you could have done." She said.

"Jason... Eddie... I'm so sorry..." Midnight whispered as she looked over at the two men.

When the only reply she received was sad silence, Midnight simply shook her head and fell to her haunches while Tempest continued to attempt to soothe her aching heart. Beside them, Rebecca and Melody followed Eddie's lead by taking their seats on the floor against the wall opposite of him, and shared their own sad sighs from the news.

Jason gave Midnight and Tempest some space as he stepped around them and made his way over to Sky's bed. Upon arriving, he noticed the tears forming in the crimson pegasus's eyes, and he took a tentative seat on the bed, next to him.

"Hey..." Jason said, directing Sky's eyes over to him.

"You did everything you could to save us and then some... If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead. Every single one of us... I'm glad you made it out alright." Jason said, gently placing a hand on the un-bandaged part of Sky's foreleg.

"Just... wish I'd done more..." Sky whispered, his eyes falling to the bed sheets.

"You did great. Don't think about it like that... How are your legs? You gonna be in a wheelchair or something?" Jason asked, giving the tiniest hint of a grin.

"Doc said my legs will be fine... Just need a couple days to heal the burnt skin and let everything grow back... He just said I need to stay in bed and rest until then." Sky replied, just as dejected as before.

Jason let out a small sigh.

"Well... That's good at least. I'm glad you're not seriously hurt," Jason said, before standing back up and acknowledging the group as a whole, "We're all lucky to be here right now."

"Amen to that." Rebecca chuckled softly.

The room descended into painful silence. For quite some time, no one knew what to say, or if they should say anything at all. Eventually, Midnight pulled out of Tempest's embrace and gave her a thankful nod, before making her way back over to the bed to be with Sky.

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Jason stood outside on the balcony as the sun crested on the end of the horizon, and a warm hue of reddish light filtered over him as he watched the ocean. With one hand in his pocket keeping warm, and the other gently stroking his now long stubble, he chewed his cheek in thought. His gaze lingered on the crescent waves as they kissed the shoreline, barely a trace of ice to be seen in the shallows of the bay.

For quite some time, he focused only on the waves, and the slowly disappearing sunlight instead of the biting cold stinging against his face and gloved hand. Even with the material thoroughly dried out, the cold still sunk through, and sapped at whatever warmth was trapped in his fingers. Even so, he kept his gaze neutral, and continued to stare out at the horizon until the door behind him opened up. Tempest stepped out to the cold balcony and fixed him with a curious look, before following his eyes to the ocean.

"I was wondering where you went off to..." Tempest said, her eyes flicking back to him, "They have food for us down in the cafeteria. Melody even pulled some strings to get a few brownies from one of her friends here..." She trailed off, finding that none of her words even seemed to reach the stoic man.

"Um.. Jason?" She asked, stepping closer.

Finally, her words seemed to break him of his trance, and he looked down at her, surprise clear on his face.

"Oh, Tempest? Jesus... my hand is cold," He replied, shaking the offending appendage in an attempt to get some blood-flow back into it.

"Y-yeah... Did you hear any of what I just said?" She asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

"Uh... No... Not really. I just came out here to think... Guess I got a little too lost in my thoughts." Jason said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, how's the shoulder? You still haven't gotten it checked out by the doctor..." Tempest lamented.

"It's fine. I don't need to waste their time with it." Jason replied, rolling the shoulder in question as if to prove his point.

"That's... not a very good idea. You should at least get it checked while we can." She replied.

Jason sighed, "Alright. I'll get it checked out before we leave." He relented.

"Good." Tempest smiled at her little victory.

"Is there anything else you wanted?" Jason teased, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

"Well... are you sure you're alright? You've been out here for over an hour." She offered.

"An hour?" Jason's brow furrowed in disbelief, "I thought I just came out here a few minutes ago..." He said, his voice trailing off to nearly a whisper.

Tempest cocked her head to the side, "It's... almost six. You've been gone since five-ish... Maybe even four-thirty." Tempest rebutted.

Jason shook his head and glanced down at his wristband. The inner portion shown a bright green, with only a trace amount of blue to be seen anywhere inside. He sighed heavily before fixing Tempest with an apologetic look.

"Must be the magic messing with my memory... Kinda like Mike back on the mountain." Jason admitted, his eyes falling to the floor.

Tempest took a few tentative steps toward Jason before she arrived at his leg and gently wrapped a hoof around his thigh. Almost instantly, he dropped down to one knee and pulled her into a desperate hug, one which she was glad to reciprocate.

A few shaky breaths left Jason as he held onto her, before she placed her free hoof on his shoulder and softly stroked his back. For a few minutes, they simply held onto each other as if there was nothing else in the world to stop them, but after a while, Jason finally pulled away. He kept his face just a few inches away from hers, and his emerald green eyes gazed in to her cyan ones with a strangely sad look that felt incomparable with his soft features.

"Jason..." Tempest whispered.

"I just... I want you to know that I care about you, Tempest... More than I ever thought I could..." He replied, his voice just as quiet as hers.

"I... I care about you too... More than I ever thought possible... especially after how short you've actually been here..." She trailed off, her eyes betraying her confusion at his admission.

"I just... I just want to make sure that you knew that. Where we're going now... I'm not sure if we're going to make it there in one piece or if what we need is even there to begin with... For all I know, this could just be a suicide mission from beginning to end." Jason admitted, casting his eyes to the ground while his shoulders slumped some.

"Hey, don't think like that. It's going to be okay. We'll get to the island, get the crystals, and use whatever magic we have to to save you. I promise." Tempest replied, nudging his chin up with her muzzle.

"Heh... I hope you're right. I haven't had much to hold onto for the better part of my life. Right now... Holding you like this... feels better than anything else I've ever done..." Jason responded, his tone gentle, and kind.

Warmth blossomed in her chest, and Tempest squeezed him closer, if only to plant a loving kiss on his lips. The contact was short, but their closeness remained, and they lovingly looked into each other's eyes as if they held all the world's secrets.

Eventually, the sound of the door opening pulled them from each other's gaze, and they turned to see Midnight as she stepped out.

"Hey, um... Are you guys okay?" She asked, some trepidation clear in her voice.

Jason pulled away from the hug just enough to respond, "Y-yeah... We're alright. Just... figuring out some things..."

"A-alright... Well... I don't want to interrupt, but Eddie said he needed you both inside. It was something about the ship." Midnight replied.

"Okay... We'll be there in a few minutes." Jason said, before returning to the mulberry unicorn in his arms.

Jason, Midnight, and Tempest walked into the plain looking cafeteria to find Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody sitting together at one of the many tables at the far side of the room. They quickly made their way over to the table, and sat down across from the rest of the group.

"What held you guys up for so long?" Rebecca asked, curiously.

"Just... figuring some stuff out. What's the situation?" Jason calmly responded.

"We've got a problem with the ship." Eddie replied.

"What kind of a 'problem'?" Tempest asked.

"A crew problem." Eddie answered.

"What's the issue?" Jason pressed.

"We don't have a crew." Eddie shook his head and sighed.

"What?" Jason and Tempest questioned in unison.

"The crew Celestia hired to be here and sail us out, aren't here. Either they got paid early and took off, or something happened to them." Rebecca explained.

"What about the ship?" Jason asked, his brow furrowing in disbelief.

"Ship's here. She's been tied off at port for a month now. Crew's just... gone. No one knows where any of them are." Rebecca replied.

"What could have happened to them?" Midnight pondered aloud.

"It's anyone's guess. Hell, maybe they just thought long and hard about where we're going and decided it wasn't worth it." Rebecca shrugged.

"What the fuck?" Jason exasperated, leaning back in his seat and letting out a long, drawn out sigh.

"Well... are there any other ponies or creatures we could hire to do it? We still have access to one of the royal accounts, right, Midnight?" Tempest rebutted, turning to the graphite mare for answers.

Before Midnight could answer, Melody spoke up, driving Tempest and Jason's attention to her.

"That won't work. The creatures Princess Celestia hired were paid almost a million bits a piece. Even if you have access to one of the royal accounts, you won't be able to fund an entire crew." Melody explained.

"What, is there just not enough bits in there to satisfy them?" Tempest questioned, more than a bit of resentment dripping off her voice.

"Not even close. You'd need at least four million bits to get a decent crew, and even the royals have a spending limit on those private accounts. I should know, my mom was an accountant for Princess Cadence... I hate to say it makes sense... but you're asking the crew to take the ship to literally the most dangerous place in the world. Any sailor worth their salt is going to charge a foreleg and a hind-leg for that kind of trip." Melody elaborated.

"So... we're sunk," Jason sighed and his shoulders slumped some, "We can't send them a letter and wait for a response in god knows how long... and we can't afford a crew..."

"But... we've come so far! We can't just give up now!" Midnight exclaimed.

"Well, we just might have a way to deal with our current problem." Rebecca flashed a knowing smile.

At Jason, Tempest, and Midnight's quizzical looks, she nudged Melody with her elbow. The chocolate mare, taking the hint, cleared her throat and spoke.

"Well... If you would be okay with it... I think I can get you to the island." She said, a slight tremor in her voice, as if just speaking of the location itself was terrifying.

"You can?" Jason tilted his head to the side in disbelief.

"Yes... My special talent is in navigating and exploring... and I know how to sail a ship... You guys would just have to take care of a few other things that I can't do all by myself, but... it could work." She explained.

"Melody...are you sure? You've already paid us back more than enough for saving you. You don't have to go risking your life like this." Jason compassionately rebutted.

"I know... but I want to help you all," She replied, before her eyes fell to the table between them, "Besides... it'd be... kinda cool to say I was one of the only ponies to sail to the island." She shrugged.

Jason kept his gaze level on her, before glancing over to Eddie and Tempest to gauge their reactions. Eddie simply gave him a noncommittal nod in response, while Tempest chewed on her cheek in thought. After a few seconds, she turned to face him and gave a small nod. With that, Jason looked back at the chocolate mare in front of him and sighed.

"Well... I think we'd be damn near suicidal to pass up that offer. If you're willing to take us there, then we're more than happy to have you on board, Melody." He said, giving her a soft smile.

Melody gave a shaky nod in return before a small smile formed on her muzzle.

"Thank you... I'm still not one hundred percent sure what we'll find out there, but I hope that it works out for all of you." She replied.

Jason gave a small nod before glancing down at his bracelet once more. The color was the same as before, but a slight frown found its way on his face, before he looked over at Eddie.

"Have you guys not told her yet?" Jason asked.

"Told me what?" Melody questioned, glancing between the two men curiously.

"No... We've, uh... we've been a little too busy up until now." Eddie quietly replied.

"Melody..." Jason said, earning her attention, "We're going to the island because we're dying. Eddie, Rebecca, and I... We've only got a few months before we die."

"What? How?" Melody questioned, looking back and forth between Eddie and Jason.

"It's a long story, but the short of it, is that this planet's magic is killing us. At least, on this side of the planet... Not sure about our boys back in the landing zone. Anyways, we were told that there might be some crystals on that island that can save us. That's why we're going there." Jason elaborated.

"Oh my gosh..." She trailed off.

"Yeah... Just thought you should know all of the details before you agree fully." Jason said, giving a sympathetic smile.

"I... I understand," Melody said, pensively looking at the table between them, "And... I know that I want to help you. I'm in. One hundred percent." She declared, finding strength in her voice as she went along.

"Are you sure? It could be a suicide mission through and through." Jason countered.

"Well... I'm not backing out now... Have to make his sacrifice worth something..." Melody replied, feeling her heart ache as she said the words.

A sad silence quickly wafted over the table as everyone thought over exactly who she was referring to, and a few sad sighs escaped the group as they paused.

"Melody..." Jason started.

"I'm not doing this because I owe you anything... I'm doing this because if you all die... then he only died for me... and I can't live with that... not when I can help save the rest of you." She firmly interjected, her tone full of uncharacteristic strength for the chocolate unicorn.

"Alright. Well, looks like we have our crew then, huh?" Jason replied, giving a half smirk to the rest of the table.

"Sure does." Rebecca chuckled.

"So when do we leave?" Midnight asked.

"If you and Sky are still coming with us, we'll leave as soon as he's all healed up." Jason replied.

"What do you mean 'if'? Of course we're still coming with you." Midnight defensively countered.

"Alright, alright. I just wasn't sure... with the pregnancy and whatnot." Jason shrugged.

"Pregnancy? Wait, you're pregnant?" Melody exclaimed, looking back at Midnight.

An embarrassed blush quickly formed on Midnight's face as she looked down at the table.

"Yes... I'm only a few weeks along though - It won't be a problem until after we're back." She replied.

"I - but... you... you can't go to the island if you're pregnant!" Melody nearly shouted, "You could kill yourself and your foal!"

"I-" Midnight began to reply, before Jason spoke up.

"Melody, we've already had this talk with Midnight. She's aware of the risks and both her and Sky have accepted them. I was only asking to make sure her feelings on it hadn't changed over the last week."

Melody moved to respond, but was again cut off as Tempest jumped in.

"Besides, we're going to make sure nothing bad happens to her. We've been taking care of each other so far. What's another few months together on a boat?" She added.

Melody gave a defeated sigh before slumping back down in her chair.

"Fine... but you're not doing anything physical the whole trip... You can be the cook." Melody begrudgingly acquiesced.

"That works." Rebecca shrugged.

"How's your cooking?" Jason asked, cocking an eyebrow back as he glanced over at Midnight.

"It's... pretty good. At least, Sky never complains." Midnight responded with a small shrug.

"Well, there we go. We got a cook... what else do we need for this trip?" Rebecca asked.

"Well... If the ship has a magic powered motor, we won't have any trouble with sails and all that... I'd need to see the ship for myself to be sure." Melody replied.

"It better not have any sails, otherwise we're all gonna need to learn a whole lot about sailing real fuckin' quick." Rebecca added.

"How big is it?" Jason asked.

"Maybe... a hundred feet long. Forty feet wide?" Rebecca answered, chewing her cheek as she thought.

"Well, how's about we go and check it out. We can see from there." Jason suggested.

"Alright. It shouldn't be too hard to find." Melody agreed.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna go check on Sky." Midnight said, slipping off her chair and heading back toward the room.

"Alright, if we don't see you over there, we'll see you in about an hour or so." Jason replied as the rest of the group made their way to the front door of the hospital.

As they headed outside, Midnight quickly made her way to Sky's room and gave a hesitant knock on the door. A few moments of silence passed before a muffled 'come in' reached her ears, and she opened the door.

Sky was still laid out on the bed, his hooves and parts of his barrel all wrapped in bandages. He had an apathetic look on his face as his eyes stayed trained on the outside world through the window. He didn't turn to acknowledge Midnight as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, nor when she took a seat right next to him, almost in his line of sight.

"Sky..." She began, "I know you're upset about Mike... we all are... but there was nothing any of us could do."

Her words came softly, and slowly, but even then they made Sky visibly wince.

"I just..." Sky sighed, "The whole point of us coming was to get them to the island safely... and we failed." He replied, his eyes falling to the floor between them.

"We did everything we could. You did everything you could. I wish Mike were still here... we all do... but... sometimes, there's just nothing we can do. We just have to accept the little victories while we can." Midnight responded, her hoof quickly finding it's way to Sky's cheek.

"I know... I just wish we could have saved them all..." He whispered.

"Me too... Me too." She replied.

"Could you... stay here with me? For a bit?" Sky asked, his sad eyes looking up to her as his muzzle pointed at the ground.

"Of course, big guy." Midnight softly replied with a smile.

The graphite mare laid down on the bed with her stallion and wrapped her hooves around him. She was careful not to touch his bandaged hooves, and soon found a comfortable position laying beside him. For the first time in a long time, Sky nestled his muzzle in the crook of her neck, and she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead as she held him tightly.

Jason, Tempest, Eddie, Rebecca, and Melody walked along the dock to find only one ship tied off at the end of the platform. It was a large, white ship that closely resembled a fishing vessel with two large wings that could be extended outward or retracted for storage. At the moment, the wings were retracted, and the ship calmly rose and fell with the swell of the incoming waves as they hit the shoreline.

"Well... she doesn't have any sails." Jason remarked.

"He." Melody corrected.

Jason, Eddie, and Rebecca all simultaneously raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are ships referred to as female where you come from?" Melody asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Uh... yeah. You guys refer to them as male?" Jason asked, curiously glancing at Tempest.

"Yes. That's interesting." Tempest noted, tapping her chin in thought.

"Maybe that's just a... different culture kind of thing... Anyways, let's go check this ship out." Jason shook his head as he stepped on the boat, Tempest following quickly behind.

"He got a name?" Eddie gruffly asked, motioning to the docked ship.

"Sure does. Lemme just see real quick..." Melody replied, breaking into a quick trot toward the front of the boat,.

"Weird how all the genders roles are kinda reversed here, huh?" Rebecca mentioned as she watched Melody.

"I think it's because there's just so many more mares than stallions. Who knows?" Eddie shrugged.

"It's called the Stellar Flare." Melody called from the front of the ship.

"Huh? That's actually a pretty cool name for a boat." Rebecca shrugged.

With that, they all stepped onto the boat and looked around the quite open stern. The main cabin was closed off from the outside world, and there was a second floor that could only hold the bridge of the ship, judging by its location. As the three continued to glance around, the door in front of them abruptly opened, allowing Jason and Tempest to step out onto the deck.

"Welp, it's nothing special. Tight, dark, magically powered engine. As long as it can survive any rough weather, we'll be fine." Tempest remarked, shrugging slightly as she glanced back behind her.

"That's all it needs to do." Jason replied, before seeing the rest of the group, "What took you guys so long? We already checked out the rest of the ship."

"Nothing. We were just taking a look at something." Eddie flatly replied, before stepping between Jason and Tempest to head inside the ship.

Melody and Rebecca shared a quick glance before looking over at Jason.

"He's been kinda like that all day... He's really beat up about Mike." Rebecca frowned.

Jason merely sighed and looked over to the open ocean.

"I don't know if he blames me or himself over it... I haven't really had the chance to talk to him." He half-heartedly shook his head.

"Well, now's as good a time as any. You should go talk to him." Tempest said, giving Jason an implicative nod toward the door.

"I don't know... It's only been a day since we told him." Jason replied.

"I'm with Tempest. You're his best friend. If nothing else, you can at least get an answer." Rebecca added.

Jason sighed.

"Alright. I'll go talk to him. You guys just... do whatever up here." He replied, before heading through the door into the ship.

Jason walked down a few steps and arrived at the crews quarters. It was easy to spot Eddie. He was standing next to one of the bunks at the end of the room and staring out a small porthole. For a few moments, neither of them did anything except stand there in silence. Jason awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and glanced around the fairly spartan room before clearing his throat and gaining Eddie's attention.

"Hey."

Eddie did not turn to acknowledge him, but his response came all the same.

"Hey."

"You, uh... you alright, Ed?" Jason asked, the beginnings of a frown forming on his face.

"Yeah... yeah I'm alright. Just been thinking a lot." Eddie replied.

"You? Thinking? Now I know the world's going to shit." Jason chuckled, although it was short lived, as Eddie stayed silent.

Jason bit his lip and tried again.

"Um... Look, I know we haven't had much time to just stop and talk since this whole thing began, but I need to talk to you, man. You're not acting like yourself." He said.

Eddie let out a sigh.

"What do you want from me, Jason? We lost our best friend and you're over there taking it like you barely knew the guy." He replied, barely sparing a glance back at him.

"Eddie... Come on, man. You know that I loved Mike. He was my brother, and so are you... I mean... You said it yourself, we can mourn him once we're safe." Jason countered.

"Easier said than done..." Eddie bitterly whispered, "You and Tempest sure have gotten close." He added, finally turning to face Jason fully.

"We have... That has nothing to do with what we're talking about right now though... Dude, I get it... We went though this when we lost Johnny too... but please, for the love of God, don't accuse me of what I think you're about to accuse me of." Jason replied, shaking his head.

"What? Fucking the locals? 'Cause I don't need to accuse you of anything, you and her made more than enough noise last night." Eddie spat, his words suddenly laced with venom.

"What Tempest and I do in our spare time is none of your god damn business." Jason replied, his tone quickly filling with resentment.

"So, what? You couldn't wait more than a couple hours after telling us that Mike's dead to fuck your new girlfriend?" Eddie countered, taking a step toward Jason.

"Eddie." Jason said, clenching his jaw.

"You just wanted to get a good lay in so fucking bad that you couldn't wait until a little later after you'd given us the news about Mike?" Eddie continued, taking another step.

"Ed, I'm warning you..." Jason started.

"I bet you left him to die just so you could get some alien pussy, you-" Eddie fumed, before Jason punched him in the face.

His arm moved faster than Eddie could react, and the fist soundly connected with his cheekbone, knocking him off balance and down to the floor. For a few seconds, his vision spun, before he shook his head clear, and looked up at Jason as he now towered over him.

"If I could trade myself for Mike, I would. I wish so fucking bad that I had died and not him, and you know what? I wish that sniper had taken me instead of Johnny too. Don't you ever, ever accuse me of leaving my friends to die. As for me and Tempest... I'm sorry. What happened last night... I was weak... I needed someone to be with, to give me comfort in one of my darkest moments... and she gave herself to me, fully. What I feel for her... I don't know if I can call it 'love' just yet, but it's pretty damn close. You ever compare her to a cheap lay to scratch an itch again, and I'll break your fucking jaw." Jason seethed, his fists clenched, and his muscles rigid.

Eddie looked down to the floor and spat out a bit of blood.

"Are we clear?" Jason asked, his tone still drenched in anger.

"Yeah." Eddie bitterly replied.

"Good. We set sail as soon as Sky is healed up."

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBRbzQ3cqvo

Hey all. This chapter was super hard to get out, but I hope you all enjoyed it regardless. We're almost at the end of this story now, and while it hasn't been nearly as successful as I hoped, I'm still thankful for every one of you that has stuck with me thus far. As for Jason and Eddie, I hope that was handled well in your eyes. I did my best to convey those feelings of resentment as best as I could from personal experience, so I hope it came across as genuine.

Anyways, thanks for reading this guys. The next chapter will be something of a doozy, but I hope you enjoy that one all the same.