Fog of Shadows

Part 7

After rows and rows and hours and hours of looking through copious amounts of old, dust and sometimes outdated books; Jacklyn had to call in clear defeat. There were a few slivers of light that could have solved the mystery of the strange girl, but after a deeper review of the implied symptoms, the light got extinguished and she was back into the darkness that was the mystery of the strange girl's sickness. The doctor sighed and rubbed her eyes, letting her glasses fall onto the halfway open medical book in front of her. "I don't believe in such things." She mumbled to herself before shutting the book violently in frustration; leaning back in the chair and looked out the window at the bright and cheerful day outside and wished she could be there.

Having had enough of the smell of old books, the young doctor left the library and filled her lungs with the sweet, warm outside air; looking around she noticed some of the crew members of the Eldorado leaving the supply store and waved at them despite knowing that they hadn't seen her. With a sigh, she decided to fill her lungs one more time, stretched her arms and then made her way to her brother, knowing that what she was going to tell him was not something he would want to hear.

XXXXX

Alisea tried to smile warmly at Willow, "Sorry, but I don't think I know about that island." Willow chuckled and smiled at Alisea, knowing that she was probably not the only one who didn't know the island existed. "Oh I am sure you haven't, we keep to ourselves. In fact, I think I am the only one to ever leave that place."

"Why did you leave?"

"It was for the best of all and that is all you need to know."

"You seem to enjoy being cryptic."

"Trust me; my cryptic messages are the only think keeping your mind innocent around me."

With the information given to her, Alisea felt the growing feeling of what could only be described as; fear for survival. "Willow, I just need to know, are you dangerous?"

Willow smiled and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes seemingly growing distant, as if trying to reach a far off place with her spirit, leaving her body behind. "That all depends on your definition of dangerous; I haven't hurt anyone directly, if that is what you are asking, but I have been the cause of a lot of sadness and pain; I can't say I am proud of what I have done, but I can't undo my past. I hope you won't judge me too harsh for what I have done."

"Of course I won't judge you."

This caught willow by surprise and her attention turned back to the young captain, "you won't?"

Alisea only smiled, "You regret what you have done,"

"That won't change anything about me; about me being dangerous; about me potentially hurting you or your friends." Replied Willow while trying to smile, hopping to look as non-threatening as she could; the only problem was, it didn't seem to work on her new friend. "I got you didn't I?" Willow giggled and turned onto her side to fully face the young captain. "I am too tired to hurt anyone and only wish to move on."

Alisea let out a silent sigh of relief and relaxed back in her chair. "I have one more question, why were you so terrified of my friend Flinn?"

"You mean the guy with the funny blue hair? I have my reasons, but I think you should stay far away from that guy or men in general; none of them are any good." To this Alisea felt utter surprise; sure she knew that some men could be a big pain, her father was a good example of that, but she knew that this was only a small percentage and that most were alright; a good example was Flinn. "Why would you think something like that?"

Willow smiled at the young captain's naiveté. "You are still unexperienced, one day you will learn the truth about them and side with me."

XXXXX

When arriving at her brother's office, Jacklyn found him the way she was used to; him sitting at his desk, sifting through piles and piles of tests, reports, letters and other important documents. "Have I come at a bad time?" catching her brother off guard, he practically jumped out of his chair. "Jacklyn, do you have to sneak up on me? Have you found any information on our guest's condition?"

"Sadly no, none of our books or mine have anything that would fit our friend's condition. How successful have you been?"

"I have received some bad news. You know about the three former students that have rebelled against their captain?"

"You mean the ones that were imprisoned by the Bula Bula? Yeah I remember you telling me about them, what's important about them?"

"Well, the Bula Bula seems to have released them. The princess, in fact, has gone out of her way to send them back to the academy. From the letter send to me, all I could find out was that they weren't sufficient enough as "slaves" and the princess seemed too tired of their existence to keep them as "pets". I have hoped they wouldn't return for their own safety." He sight and gave his sister a warm smile. "After all, Alisea seems to be able to hold a grudge quite well."

"Well, I am sure she could forgive the two monsters, but that second mate Thomas? From what you have told me, I think she would kill him long before even considering forgiveness. If not her then her close friend would." Jacklyn couldn't help but giggle to herself.

"So, do you have any plans for them when they arrive? I mean, you told me that they failed at kitchen duty."

"Most likely I will be forced to send them back home; these guys can't be trusted with anything. So, you are here to request a trip to the main land, right?"

"Well, I did say I would if I couldn't find anything; besides, I think out local library needs to be updated, most of the books here are older than the sand on our beach."

"Will you take our guest with you?"

"No, I am afraid of what will happen. Though I am scared of a possible outbreak, this island can be evacuated much faster than even the smallest city on the main land. Also, if the girl were to die on the trip, then we might never find out what she was afflicted with. I will leave strict instruction on how to handle her and will hopefully keep her as isolated as possible." at this her brother took a seat and closed his eyes trying to collect himself.

"Everything seems to be going wrong lately. Fist the storm and its damages, then the stranger and her sickness, then three traitors being returned to me and now you, me dearest sister, is leaving me."

"Stop being so dramatic, I am not leaving you I am looking for the answer to a question, the storm was bound to happen; it was overdue for years. The stranger was just an accident and the traitors have nowhere else to go. Besides, I won't be gone for long, a week tops and then I will be back. Nothing big should happen in that one week, the worst is over and all the sailors here have had some experience." She gave her brother a warm hug; feeling how much bigger he was compared to her, it reminded her of how he took after their father, "Besides, I gave you a promise of never leaving." To this her brother smiled and hugged her thin frame.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."