𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𑁍 𝙟𝙟 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘

"𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣"

𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨...

♪ 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 - 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 ♪

"ROUTLEDGES ARE NATURALLY CURIOUS BEINGS."

That was what Blue's father had told her when she asked him why he was researching old shipwrecks. While he had been conducting such research for as long as she could remember, she only truly noticed how serious it was just a few years before his disappearance, around the time she was twelve years old. That was when he began missing dinners, leaving the island at random times for long hours, and becoming overly secretive about his whereabouts.

She noticed her father's increasing absence and how although she was beginning to spend all hours of the day with the Pogues, she was missing someone who was right there. Or, rather, someone who was supposed to be right there.

So, she asked him. She asked him what he was researching, why he was researching, what he was hoping to find. She asked him why it was more important than being home with her and her brother. And while Blue was expecting some kind of apology as an answer, or maybe even a promise to be as present in their lives as he once was, she got something she was not quite expecting. Something she would remember for the rest of her life. Something that was still as painfully accurate now as it was back then.

"Routledges are naturally curious beings." Big John had said. "We need to know every little thing about every little thing. And once we hold on, we can't let go."

And he never did let go. He grasped so tightly onto his dangerous endeavors that he let his children suffer at the hands of his curiosity. Because although Blue did not know the complete truth about her father's disappearance, she always had a slight gut feeling that it had something to do with that goddamn research, and the compass in the wrecked Grady White only added to that inkling.