Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Journey Through Aeliz

Their time in Aeliz had been a whirlwind. It had been like a rocky night at sea, terrifying yet thrilling. Sobering but at the same time, not at all. Ava was constantly stuck between worrying about the future and living in the moment. What had started as an exciting journey as the ship's second in command quickly turned into a living nightmare. Xyra knew her secret. She was going to be stripped of her command, ignored, tossed aside until it was time to tell Theo. And then after that, she would be humiliated at a trial and thrown in the brig until they found a suitable island to leave her to die on.

Of course, like most times, life was not as dramatic as she often built it up to be and none of that happened. Xyra granted her more responsibilities than she had ever had before and promised to be a witness at her trial. Between her, Cooker, and the relationships she had formed with the crew she would probably stay on the ship. Theo would understand too, Ava told herself that all would be forgiven in time; it was all that she could hope for. What she had convinced herself would be her downfall seemed to be just rough seas that would pass in time.

During their journey through Aeliz, Ava saw growth in herself she didn't think possible in such a short amount of time. Not only was she growing stronger and faster in combat, but she was also stronger and more firm when it came to handling conflicts amongst the crew. Endless suns at sea was a recipe for angry pirates and Ava had to put out a lot of fires. During the trip, she also learned how to keep her worrying at bay, at least slightly. Emotionally, she was stronger in her resolve to not let her thoughts take control of her. There were times when it was inevitable but she had impressed herself with how well she was handling the journey.

Something inside of Ava had snapped after that night she had cried in Xyra's arms. It had been two suns of misery for her, endless sobbing into her pillows categorized that period of the journey. She soon realized that she could not control the future. She could not control what was to come. Ava was better off living in the moment, learning from her newfound position on the ship, and have a fucking great time in case these were, indeed, the last good cycles of her life. Obviously, that was easier in thought than it was in action. Sometimes the pit of despair and hopelessness would claw its way back to the surface and Ava would have to spend a while dealing with it but when that happened, she threw herself into her work. Most other times, though, she allowed herself to live in the moment; to think of herself as the pirate she was, not who she used to be.

Their journey through Aeliz also led to blossoming new friendships, with unexpected people. Xyra, who had been her enemy at the start of the trip had become like a growth on her hip, always there right alongside her. Pearl was another, her gentle energy and general lack of conflict surrounding her made her a magnet for both Xyra and Ava. Rooming with Pearl proved to only strengthen a quickening friendship. She was a stark opposite to Oceane yet the same light energy surrounded them. They talked about Oceane a lot, she and Pearl had come onto the ship at the same time and figured out pirate life together. Pearl was missing her just as much, or even more than Ava was. Morgana and Navi, while she wanted to get closer to them, seemed to be in their own world. Making adventures for themselves where there were none. Which was understandable given that they both had boring jobs compared to Ava and Xyra.

The jobs and roles that she and Xyra had to take on were not what Ava had imagined. What she had experienced on the ship prior to their trip through Aeliz seemed like child's play compared to what they had started to do. It finally felt like real pirating, she felt like a real pirate. It was not even two nights since they had picked up information from their first lead that she realized just how much she had to learn. She would say she was out of her depth but that would suggest she hadn't immediately adapted to the situation at hand.

They had just arrived in Hovertae, a small island in the waters of southwest Aeliz, and were not even stopping for the night. Xyra had not allowed anyone off the boat for that very reason, it would be a short mission and they would be gone before dawn. Only Ava, Morgana, and Palomy came with Xyra. While Palomy was one of the new girls, Morgana had quite quickly promoted her to second on the vanguard which meant she accompanied them as a guard. Xyra had kept the information of who they were meeting and what they were doing close to her chest. It wasn't until they had hidden their dinghy between some brush and were on their way into the small city on the island that Xyra filled them in.