Ultimate Fairy: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: Ben 10 was created by Man of Action and is owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery). Fairy Tail was created by Hiro Mashima and is published by Kodansha. I do not own any characters, settings, or other copyrighted material from either series. This is a nonprofit fan work created for entertainment purposes only.

…

Ultimate Fairy

Chapter 8: Testing the Waters

…

The southern coast of Fiore came into view beneath a bright blue sky, its jagged shoreline dividing the sea from long stretches of woodland. A medium-sized port town sprawled around a natural harbor below. It had weathered buildings packed between rocky hills and crowded docks. Fishing boats dotted the dark water, their sails patched in a dozen colors, while larger vessels rested farther out.

Terraspin descended toward the town with Wendy laying on the top of his shell with both hands gripping the edge while Carla kept one arm firmly wrapped around the girl’s waist.

“There it is!” Wendy called over the rushing wind. Her blue hair whipped behind her as she leaned forward for a better view. “Is that Brineport?”

“Unless Fiore has another town that smells this much like fish,” Terraspin replied, “I’m gonna say yes.”

Even from high above, the scent of salt, smoke, and the morning’s catch drifted from the harbor. Carla’s nose wrinkled as several fishing boats passed below them, their decks crowded with nets and silver-scaled fish.

“It is certainly appropriately named,” she observed. “Although I question why anyone would build an entire town around such an odor.”

“Food usually smells better after somebody cooks it,” Terraspin said, angling toward an open patch near the outskirts. “At least, that’s what Grandpa Max always claimed.”

Carla’s ears flattened. “Given what you have told us about his cooking, that is not reassuring.”

Wendy giggled, though the sound became a startled squeak when Terraspin dipped sharply beneath a passing flock of seagulls. Carla tightened her grip at once, earning a small protest from the girl.

“I’m not going to fall, Carla.”

“You left without telling us to investigate an ancient magical ruin yesterday,” the feline reminded her. “You will forgive me if my confidence in your judgment requires time to recover.”

Wendy’s expression fell slightly. “Right. Sorry.”

Terraspin’s spinning appendages slowed as he approached the ground. “Hey, no guilt spirals before lunch.”

He landed on a patch of packed earth beyond the final row of buildings, the force of his descent sending a circular gust through the grass.

Once Wendy and Carla climbed down, Wendy brushed the grass from her brown travel boots and straightened the short yellow hooded capelet resting across her shoulders. Beneath it, she wore a sleeveless white dress edged in blue along its neckline and hem, the light fabric falling over dark-blue leggings suited for the rough roads they had traveled.

Green light then enveloped Terraspin, restoring Ben to his human form. The teen stood up and rolled one shoulder, glancing toward the lively waterfront. “All right. Ocean? Check. Sunshine? Check. No ancient prisons? Check.” He pointed toward the town with an approving nod. “Already an improvement.”

Summoning her wings, Carla floated beside Wendy as the girl adjusted the bandage covering her right palm. “Do not tempt fate.”

“I wasn’t tempting it. I was politely asking it to leave us alone for just one day.”

“That could still be considered tempting it.”

“Fair.”

They followed the road into Brineport, passing warehouses, net-makers, and open stalls displaying the morning’s catch. The town lacked the polished charm of Gardenia or the industrial character of Marigold Hollow. Most of its buildings were low and practical, constructed from pale stone and salt-stained timber, with broad awnings stretched over doors and windows to provide shade from the sun. Nearly every street seemed to slope toward the harbor. Fishermen carried baskets between the docks and market stalls, merchants shouted over one another about the quality of their wares, and cats prowled beneath tables.

Wendy stared with open curiosity. “I’ve never seen so many fishing boats before.”

Ben looked toward the harbor. “I’ve seen bigger ports, but this place definitely committed to the theme.”

A fisherman passed them with an enormous striped fish creature slung over one shoulder. The fish’s teeth were long enough to belong to something Ben would ordinarily have transformed to fight.

Wendy slowed. “Um, sir. Is that thing really safe to eat?”

The fisherman overheard her and laughed. “Course miss. It’s safer once it stops biting.”

Ben watched the man continue toward the market. “Grandpa Max would approve.”

They had chosen Brineport because the map that they had acquired marked it as the nearest coastal settlement. After several days spent in deserts and mountains, the prospect of swimming somewhere peaceful had sounded almost unrealistically pleasant.

Unfortunately, the shoreline surrounding Brineport didn’t appear interested in cooperating. Instead of soft sand, dark rocks crowded the coast in uneven shelves. Waves crashed between sharp stone ridges, sending white spray high into the air, while warning signs had been posted near several paths leading down from the town.

Wendy stood before the signs and read them aloud. “‘Danger. Strong riptides. Sea serpents. Razor crabs. Mega Jellyfish. Do not enter the water without a licensed hunting party.’”

Ben stared at the sign. “Licensed hunting party?”

A broad-shouldered woman repairing nets outside a nearby shop glanced up. “That’s for the western shores. Eastern side has Megalodon younglings. Very ferocious.”

Wendy turned toward her. “Ma’am, are there any safe beaches nearby?”

“Hmm…” The woman considered the question before shaking her head. “No.”

She went on. “Water’s only good for fishing around here. And even that is dangerous.”

Ben looked back toward the hostile stretch of rocks. A long, many-legged shape crawled out of a tide pool, snapped its claws, and disappeared beneath the foam.

“You don’t say…”

“Aw,” Wendy’s shoulders lowered in disappointment. “I was looking forward to it.”

“So was I.” Ben shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and looked along the harbor. “Guess we’ll have to find something else to—”

A deep whistle rolled across the waterfront.

Steam billowed above the far docks, drawing their attention toward the largest vessel in the harbor. The passenger liner possessed a long, dark-blue hull trimmed with crisp bands of white and gold, its high bow tapering into a narrow iron prow. Three steel masts rose above its broad, tiered decks, their auxiliary sails furled neatly along the spars, while two polished brass smokestacks with blackened tops released rolling plumes into the clear sky.

Unlike the weathered fishing boats surrounding it, the liner had clearly been built for comfort as much as travel. Rows of rectangular windows lined its white upper structure, sheltered promenades ran along the passenger decks, and polished brass railings gleamed beneath the morning sun. Colorful pennants fluttered between the masts while uniformed crew members carried trunks, travel cases, and wrapped parcels up a wide boarding gangway.

Wendy’s disappointment vanished. “Is that a ship?”

“That’s the Sea Lily,” the net maker explained, nodding toward the distant vessel. “Stops to deliver and pickup cargo every now and then.”

Ben studied the ship, his attention lingering on its unusual combination of broad sails and steam-powered machinery. Guess this world is at least a hundred years behind mine.

The thought faltered. Or my old one…

He pushed it aside and looked back toward the woman. “I saw a few people carrying luggage aboard. I’m guessing they take passengers?”

“If you have the money, sure,” she replied. “Believe they’re sailing for Seablossom soon.”

“Seablossom?” Wendy repeated.

“City in north Fiore. Very nice from what I’ve heard.”

Ben glanced toward the rocky shoreline. “Any chance the beaches there are safer to swim in?”

The net maker smiled. “Much safer.”

Wendy’s eyes widened with delight and turned toward Ben. “Ben… I’ve never traveled on a ship before.”

“You’ve rode on Terraspin.”

“That isn’t the same,” she protested.

Carla crossed her arms as she hovered beside them. “She does have a point.”

Ben stared at her. “You’re taking her side already?”

“I am acknowledging reality. An alien turtle shell is not a ship.”

Ben looked back toward the Sea Lily. “Yeah, all right. A cruise could be fun,” he conceded. “We get to see the coast, Wendy gets her boat ride, and Seablossom apparently has beaches that don’t require combat training.”

Wendy clasped her hands together. “So can we go?”

The net-maker woman chimed in. “If you three have enough money, they’ll gladly take you aboard.”

Ben’s enthusiasm weakened. “Oh. That… may be a problem.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and removed the few coins they had left after buying food and supplies. “I mean, we’re not completely broke, but we’re definitely not ‘cruise with a nice cabin and meals included’ rich.”

Wendy’s smile faded. “Oh.”

Ben counted the coins against his palm, then winced. “We might be able to afford one ticket if Carla hides inside a bag and I swim behind the ship.”

“I refuse to participate in that plan.”

“Good, because I wasn’t serious.” He pocketed the money again. “Mostly.”

They moved away from the busiest part of the dock and found an empty bench beneath a striped awning. Ben set his pack down between his feet while Wendy carefully lowered hers beside him.

“All right. Let’s figure out exactly how poor we are.”

Carla landed on the bench, opening the smaller supply pouch she managed. “Most of our money went toward provisions.”

Wendy opened her pack. “I still have some coins Master gave me before we left Cait Shelter.”

She began removing the contents one by one: folded clothing, a small book, travel food, and the outfit Flare had given her. When Wendy lifted the folded fabric, something heavy shifted beneath it and struck the bottom of the pack with a metallic clink.

The bluenette reached inside and pulled out a small pouch tied shut with a braided cord. It was quite heavy and several golden coins became visible when the top loosened.

Carla’s eyes widened. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know.” Wendy stared at the pouch in confusion. “I’ve never seen it before.”

A folded piece of paper had been tucked beneath the cord. Wendy carefully removed it and unfolded the note, recognizing the uneven handwriting almost immediately.

“It’s from Flare.”

Ben and Carla drew closer as Wendy began to read.

“Wendy, Ben, and Carla,

I wanted to give you something for helping Sun Village and saving everyone. I knew you would say we didn’t owe you anything, so I didn’t ask. I hid this in Wendy’s pack while you were preparing to leave.

Please use it for food, rooms, or anything else you need on your journey. The village gave some of it, and I added the money I had saved. Do not return it. If you try, Sola said she will hide it in your belongings again.

Thank you for all of your help. I pray to see you again someday!

—      Flare”

For several moments, none of them spoke.

Wendy’s eyes grew wet as she stared at the letter. “She added her own savings.”

Carla’s expression softened, resting one paw against Wendy’s arm. “It was a generous gift.”

“She didn’t have to do this.”

“No,” Ben agreed, looking at the pouch. “But she wanted to. The whole village wanted to.”

Wendy carefully smoothed the paper with her thumb. Flare’s decision to hide the money rather than risk being refused felt so completely like her that a small, emotional laugh slipped out.

“She was right though,” Ben admitted. “We would’ve refused.”

Wendy looked back at the note. “Do you think it’s all right to use it for something like a cruise?”

“Flare said food, rooms, or anything we need. Transportation counts.”

“And Wendy has never traveled by ship,” Carla added. “Experiences may possess value beyond necessity.”

Ben stared at her in exaggerated surprise. “Was that Carla approving something fun?”

Her ears angled back. “Don’t make me reconsider.”

Wendy smiled warmly, folding the letter carefully and placing it inside her bag.

Ben picked up the pouch, testing its weight. “Well, Flare’s gift came in handy faster than expected.”

He slung his pack over one shoulder and offered Wendy his free hand as she rose from the bench. Carla reclaimed her place in the air beside them. Wendy looked toward the Sea Lily and excitement brightened her face as another whistle rolled across town.

“Does this mean we’re really going?”

“Yep.” Ben smiled and started toward the ticket booth. “Looks like we’re taking a cruise after all.”

…

Two days after leaving Brineport, the Sea Lily sailed steadily northward along Fiore’s western coast.

Flare’s gift had covered far more than Ben expected. Instead of squeezing into a cramped lower-deck berth, the three travelers had secured a first-class cabin with two proper beds, a wardrobe built into the wall, a washstand and a broad window overlooking the sea.

By mid-morning, the cabin stood empty.

Sunlight spilled across the Sea Lily’s promenade deck. The promenade curved around the ship’s broad upper structure, giving passengers an uninterrupted view of the sea. Beyond the railing, the water stretched beneath a clear sky, dark blue near the vessel and lighter toward the horizon where it met the morning haze. Passengers strolled beneath the sheltered walkway while stewards carried trays between the lounges and rooms.

Wendy stood near the outer brass railing, watching the coastline drift past in the distance. She wore a sleeveless sea-blue sundress with a modest white sailor collar, its fitted waist gathered by a thin yellow sash before the fabric spread into a softly flared skirt. White embroidery curled around the lower hem in delicate waves, while white strapped sandals replaced the sturdier boots she had worn the other day.

Most of her blue hair hung loose down her back while two small side braids were tied away from her face.

“This is amazing,” Wendy said, gazing down at the foaming wake. “It feels completely different from flying.”

Carla sat on the railing to her left. “It is nice to simply relax.”

From a nearby lounging chair, Ben lowered the guidebook resting against one knee. His attention lasted less than a minute. He read the same paragraph twice, shifted in the chair, then looked over the railing at the endless water.

The sea remained blue. A few seconds later, it was still blue.

Ben sighed heavily, letting the guidebook fall against his chest. “Okay, sorry to say this Wendy, but sailing is boring.”

Wendy blinked, glancing back at him. “But you liked the ship yesterday.”

“The ship’s nice and all. For this world, anyway.” He gestured toward the horizon. “But once you’ve seen the decks and explored the ship, what’s left? Water. Nothing but water. Everywhere.”

Wendy glanced out at the sea. “It’s beautiful though.”

“At first. Then it becomes blue in front of you, blue behind you, and slightly darker blue underneath you.”

He exhaled, falling back into his seat. “Sailing is definitely not for me. I could never live on a ship.”

Wendy smiled faintly. “You don’t like staying in one place for very long. Huh, Ben?”

“Nope. And a ship is basically one place pretending it’s traveling because the scenery moves.” Ben paused, considering his own statement. “Actually, that sounded smarter in my head.”

“It was not entirely inaccurate,” Carla conceded.

He pointed toward her. “I’m counting that as agreement.”

The Sea Lily’s promenade remained lively around them. An elderly couple played cards at a small table, several children watched dolphins break the surface near the bow, and a uniformed steward passed carrying a silver tray crowded with glasses of chilled fruity drinks.

Ben watched the tray go by. “Although unlimited drinks almost balance out the boredom.”

“You’ve had four,” Carla reminded him.

“Small glasses.”

“They were not.”

Ben then turned another page in the guidebook, pausing when a brightly illustrated entry caught his attention. “On another note, looks like Seablossom is having a festival soon.”

Wendy looked away from the water. “Really?”

“Yeah, according to this anyway.” He held the guidebook higher and read aloud. “‘The Seablossom Tide Festival celebrates the city’s founding and the safe return of its earliest fishing fleets. Festivities include food stalls, sailing contests, street performances, and an evening exhibition presented by the local wizard guild, Mermaid Heel.’”

Wendy’s face brightened. “A wizard guild?”

“Looks like. Have you heard of them?”

“No. But I’d love to meet them. I wonder what kind of wizards they are.”

“Many guilds perform during local festivals,” Carla explained. “Some organize games or magical exhibitions, while others have the entire guild participate in a parade.”

Ben turned another page. “Sounds like a lot of effort just to walk down a street while strangers stare at you.”

“It’s supposed to be fun,” Wendy replied with a small laugh. “I heard Fairy Tail’s Harvest Festival is one of the best in Fiore. Their entire guild takes part in a parade called Fantasia.”

“Fairy Tail,” Ben repeated, recognizing the name. “That’s one of Fiore’s biggest guilds, right? The one that She-Devil woman belongs to?”

“Mhmm,” Wendy nodded. “I’d like to see their Harvest Festival someday,” she admitted softly. “I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

Ben’s expression softened. “Then we’ll go.”

Wendy looked up at him hopefully. “You really mean that?”

“Sure.” He reopened the guidebook and flipped toward the map section. “We’re already wandering around Fiore without anything resembling a schedule. Adding ‘visit a famous wizard festival’ isn’t exactly going to ruin the plan.”

A warm smile spread across Wendy’s face. “Thanks, Ben.”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied.

Before Wendy could respond, her attention drifted toward the open sea. At first, she appeared to be watching another distant seabird, but her smile slowly faded as her vision focused.

“Ben.”

He recognized the change in her voice and sat upright. “What is it?”

“There’s another ship.”

Carla turned in the direction Wendy indicated. Far behind the Sea Lily, a dark silhouette cut across the water, riding noticeably lower than the passenger vessel.

Ben rose from his chair and joined them at the railing. “Probably just another passenger ship.”

Wendy narrowed her eyes. “It’s getting closer.”

Carla studied the horizon. “Much closer.”

The approaching vessel was smaller than the Sea Lily, but considerably less welcoming. Its dark hull had been patched with mismatched boards and crude iron plates, while three uneven sails pulled tight beneath the coastal wind. A single smoking funnel protruded from the center deck, its engine apparently working alongside the sails to close the distance.

Everything about the ship suggested its owners valued intimidation considerably more than maintenance. Hooks, ropes, and weapon racks crowded the rails, several cannons protruded from hastily reinforced gun ports, and an unnecessary number of painted skulls decorated the hull.

A black flag climbed the mainmast. When the wind caught it, the cloth snapped open to reveal a grinning skull with three tongues hanging from its mouth above a pair of crossed pistols.

On the quarterdeck, Captain Demalo Black was already imagining his victory.

(A/N: Yes, I’m using the fake Straw Hats from One Piece)

Demalo was an enormous, heavyset man whose thick torso looked almost comically mismatched with his thin legs. His broad face was dominated by a jutting forehead, a wide nose, and dark facial hair running from the corners of his mouth down toward his chin. An old X-shaped scar crossed his exposed stomach, while another marked his left shoulder. A weathered pirate coat hung open around him, and a pair of flintlock pistols shared his belt with an oversized knife.

He stood with one boot planted atop a barrel and his chest thrust outward, lifting a spyglass toward the Sea Lily. “Ha! Just look at it. Big ship, wealthy passengers, practically no weapons worth mentioning.” His grin widened. “This is why they call me Three-Tongued Demalo Black.”

A woman nearly as difficult to overlook as her captain leaned against the railing glanced toward him. “Nobody called you that today.”

She was a broad, potbellied woman with a wide face, short dark hair gathered into a small bun atop her head, and a sported an exhausted expression. She wore a polka-dotted top and lavender skirt and black heels.

Demalo lowered the telescope and glared. “Well, they were thinking it then, Chocolat.”

Chocolat rolled her eyes.

Near the mainmast, a man adjusted the three swords strapped around his waist and stared toward the passenger liner with considerably more interest than caution. He was a large man himself, standing taller than most of the surrounding crew despite the beer gut stretching his plain shirt. Thick eyebrows and equally thick lips dominated his round face, while short, styled hair framed a pair of earrings. A metal-studded belt circled his waist above loose shorts and three ordinary sabers.

“Think anybody over there can fight?” he asked.

“You ask that about every ship, Manjaro,” Chocolat muttered.

“That’s because eventually somebody interesting has to show up.”

Several yards away, another man crouched beside one of the cannons while checking its sights. Calling him large was an understatement. The towering pirate stood close to three meters tall and was almost as broad as he was imposing, with enormous curls of dark hair and a thick beard surrounding a wide face. A dark-red cape hung over his shoulders above a plain shirt, striped trousers, heavy brown boots, and a yellow sash around his waist. To complete the look, a long rifle rested against his shoulder.

“Wind’s good,” he called. “We can put a warning shot within ten meters.”

Demalo’s face twisted. “Ten meters? I said frighten them, Mounblutain, not politely announce ourselves!”

Mounblutain looked offended. “Accuracy takes restraint, captain.”

“Then restrain it less!”

At the opposite rail, another man leaned over the side and squinted toward the Sea Lily. He was the opposite of Mounblutain in nearly every respect, exceptionally tall but almost painfully thin, with pale skin, noticeable bags beneath his eyes, and a long-pointed chin. Messy dark hair fell unevenly across part of his face, while a loose-fitting black suit hung from his narrow frame as though it had been tailored for someone twice his weight.

“Think they have a bar?” he asked.

The crew’s shipwright looked up from the engine hatch. He was another unusually tall man, though his build was more skeletal than imposing. His long neck rose from the collar of a brightly flowered shirt, while a shock of blue hair and dark sunglasses contrasted sharply with his thick lips and almost nonexistent chin. His attire consisted of ordinary trousers and brown shoes.

“You asked if they had women five minutes ago, Drip.”

Drip glanced back. “I can have multiple interests, Turco.”

“You have two interests.”

“Exactly.”

Back aboard the Sea Lily, more passengers began noticing the approaching vessel. Conversations died along the promenade as people crowded toward the railings, straining to see what Wendy had already spotted.

Then the pirate flag became visible.

“Pirates!” someone screamed.

Panic spread with startling speed.

Parents pulled children away from the railing, card tables overturned, and passengers rushed toward the nearest doors. Several stewards began shouting instructions while crew members ran toward emergency stations.

Amid the disorder, Ben noticed one passenger moving in the opposite direction.

She appeared to be only a few years older than Wendy, with pale skin, dark-purple hair secured in a ponytail, and sharp hazel eyes fixed calmly upon the approaching pirate ship. Her purple kimono carried white patterns resembling sweeping wind blades, while a pink sash cinched it above a violet skirt ending just above her knees. At her side rested a traditional katana within a dark sheath, its hilt wrapped in a red-and-black diamond pattern beneath a gold-toned guard. Although her expression remained composed, one hand had already settled near the weapon.

(A/N: Originally drawn by Insanity Enforcer234)Definitely not an ordinary passenger, Ben thought.

A bell began clanging somewhere above them.

“All passengers inside!” a deck officer shouted. “Clear the promenade immediately!”

Wendy stepped closer to Ben. “What do we do?”

Carla summoned her wings and rose into the air. “We should determine whether the crew can defend the vessel before interfering.”

“Considering they’re already aiming cannons at us,” Ben said, “I think we have our answer.”

Back aboard Demalco’s ship, he shouted. “Cocoa, report!”

At the bow, another pirate woman ignored them all while studying the passenger vessel through a smaller telescope. She was easily the shortest adult aboard, standing barely taller than some children despite being fully grown. Straight black hair framed a plain, broad-featured face with a long, flat nose, while a simple dark-purple dress fell around her compact frame. A small purse hung from one shoulder, looking strangely domestic.

“There are stewards clearing the outer decks,” Cocoa reported. “Several guards, though not many.”

Her telescope shifted. “Wait… I see a blue-haired girl… and white cat flying beside her.”

Drip blinked. “Flying cat?”

“Yes.”

“Did you drink something?”

“No.”

A sharp bark sounded beside Cocoa.

Sitting near her boots was a small light-brown fox whose lower legs were covered in black fur. A curled mustache gave his little muzzle an oddly distinguished appearance, while a chain hung loosely around his neck and a rounded cap sat between his pointed ears.

Demalo pointed toward him. “See? Nora believes her.”

Nora barked again.

Manjaro frowned. “How do you know what the fox believes?”

“I’m the captain. I understand my crew.”

Chocolat snorted. “You barely understand sentences.”

Nora gave another bark that sounded suspiciously supportive of her assessment.

Cocoa continued looking through the telescope. “There’s also a dark-haired girl with a sword.”

That got Manjaro’s attention immediately. “A swordswoman, huh?”

“Yes.”

“How many swords?”

“I see just one.”

Manjaro grinned, resting his palms against the hilts at his waist. “Then this trip might be worth something after all.”

Chocolat glanced at his three sabers. “You realize carrying more swords doesn’t automatically make you better than someone with one, right?”

“That sounds like something a person with no swords would say.”

“I have a gun.”

Manjaro looked away. “Different discipline.”

Cocoa’s telescope shifted again. “There’s a boy with them too.”

Demalo straightened. “Armed?”

“I can’t tell.”

Demalo waved dismissively. “Eh, he’s probably harmless.”

Nora gave a low, skeptical growl.

The heavyset captain slowly turned toward the fox. “I don’t need that attitude from you.”

Nora stared back without the slightest concern for his authority.

The pirate captain then snatched the telescope from Cocoa and looked toward the Sea Lily himself. Fine clothing, polished luggage, jewelry, decorative brasswork, and dozens of passengers crowded the outer promenades.

His eyes widened and, for a moment, his pupils might as well have transformed into Jewels symbols. “Oh, we are absolutely robbing them.”

Chocolat folded her arms. “That was already the plan.”

“Well, I’m just reaffirming it.”

Demalo climbed onto the quarterdeck rail and drew one pistol. “Listen up! We take valuables first, supplies second, and anything expensive enough to look important third!”

Turco stuck his blue head out of the engine compartment. “Isn’t that all the same category?”

“Do not question the hierarchy of theft!”

Manjaro drew one sword halfway from its sheath and smiled. “And if they fight?”

Demalo’s grin spread across his broad face. “Then remind them why someday every port in Ishgar is going to know the name Demalo Black!”

A beat of silence followed.

Chocolat stared at him. “Was that supposed to inspire us?”

“It inspired me.”

“That explains a lot.”

Back on the Sea Lily, Ben watched several square gunports open along the pirate ship’s hull and black cannon barrels rolled into view.

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Ben…”

“I see them.”

Across the water, Mounblutain leaned over the nearest cannon and sighted along the barrel. “Ready!”

Demalo balanced atop the quarterdeck rail, raising his pistol toward the Sea Lily. “Warning shots! Make them understand that Three-Tongued Demalo Black has arrived!”

Manjaro cupped one hand around his mouth. “Can we board after?”

“Yes!”

Drip leaned over the rail. “Can we rob the restaurant?”

“Yes!”

Chocolat pointed toward him. “We are not stopping mid-raid so you can eat.”

“I meant the alcohol.”

Demalo growled in annoyance, swinging his pistol forward. “Just fire already!”

The cannons thundered and smoke erupted from the pirate vessel as several iron cannonballs tore across the water. They crashed into the sea beside the Sea Lily, throwing towering columns of spray across its lower decks.

A familiar grin tugged at Ben’s mouth. “Well,” he said, pulling back his left sleeve, “on the bright side, my boredom’s cured.”

“Ben, try not to damage the ship.” Carla warned.

“No promises.”

He tapped the Omnitrix faceplate and the green holographic ring appeared above the watch, alien head icons rotating as he scrolled through the playlist. When he found the transformation he wanted, he selected it and the black faceplate slid back with the Omnitrix core popping up from its housing. Ben slammed his palm down and emerald light flooded the promenade.

When it faded, Ben had been replaced by a humanoid creature with striking yellow-and-black skin and broad, arching shoulders. His skull-shaped head levitated between them without any visible neck, a sharp yellow crest forming a heavy brow above glowing green eyes. Both long arms ended in powerful crab-like claws, while the Omnitrix dial rested prominently at the center of his chest.

“Lodestar!” He announced in a metallic, raspy voice.

Several passengers who had not yet fled stopped dead.

On the pirate vessel, Cocoa slowly lowered her telescope. “Uh, captain, the boy just became something else.”

Demalo stared at her. “What?”

“He transformed.”

Drip leaned toward her. “Into what?”

Cocoa raised the telescope again. “I have no idea.”

Nora barked loudly.

“Yeah,” Turco muttered. “I don’t like it either.”

Mounblutain ignored them and fired again. Six more cannonballs tore through the smoke toward the Sea Lily.

Lodestar lifted one claw… and the cannonballs stopped in midair.

For several seconds, the entire promenade seemed to forget how noise worked.

The iron spheres hung several yards beyond the railing as though they had struck an invisible wall. Lodestar twisted his claw slightly, making the cannonballs begin circling one another above the water.

“Sorry, guys. Looks like your ammo’s feeling a little attraction.”

He thrust his arm toward the pirate vessel and every cannonball suddenly reversed direction.

Captain Demalo’s eyes bulged. “MOVE!”

The cannonballs screamed back across the gap and tore straight through the very cannons that had fired them. Metal buckled inward, explosions erupted beneath the deck, and several steam pipes running from the engine ruptured with violent hisses.

“AAGH!” Turco’s scream rose from below as scalding steam blasted through the engine compartment. “Ow! Ow! OWWW!!”

Pressure dropped almost instantly. The engine coughed, sputtered, and began winding down as clouds of white steam poured from the damaged vents and smoke funnel.

“Oh c’mon!” Turco yelled. “I just fixed it yesterday!”

Another cannonball smashed through the frame surrounding a gun port and ripped away a broad section of iron plating, while two more slammed into the deck near Mounblutain, sending the gunner diving behind a crate as splintered wood and debris scattered around him.

Demalo slowly lowered his pistol.

Manjaro stared at Lodestar across the water, grinning. “Okay. That’s interesting.”

Chocolat smacked him in the back of the head. “Our cannonballs just got thrown back at us!”

“Exactly.”

“That isn’t a good thing, you idiot!”

“It is if you like fighting strong people.”

“I like avoiding strong people!”

Back aboard the Sea Lily, the dark-purple-haired girl Ben had noticed earlier stopped several steps from Lodestar.

“Excuse me.”

Lodestar turned toward her. “Uh, this probably isn’t the best time to ask for directions.”

“I am Kagura Mikazuchi, a wizard of Mermaid Heel.”

Lodestar blinked. Mikazuchi.

The name sounded Japanese, and the girl’s katana and traditional attire would not have looked out of place there either. For a moment, Ben wondered whether Earthland had independently developed a culture similar to Japan or whether reality had simply decided to be weird again.

His thoughts almost drifted toward Julie, but he pushed the memory aside.

Kagura’s hazel eyes traveled briefly over Lodestar’s unusual form. “I assume you are a Take Over wizard hired to protect this vessel.”

Lodestar blinked again. “That’s actually a pretty reasonable guess. But no, I’m just a passenger.”

A slight crease appeared between her brows. “Then you intervened voluntarily.”

“Pirates were firing cannons at us. Felt rude not to.”

Kagura accepted the explanation with a small nod. “Then I offer my assistance, provided it does not interfere with your strategy.”

Her calmness caught the Biotsavartian’s attention. Most people meeting one of his stranger transformations for the first time stared, screamed, or immediately asked why his head was floating.

Kagura had simply evaluated him and moved on.

It was quite refreshing.

“Works for me.”

The deck officer was still trying to direct the last passengers inside. Several remained clustered near the doors, too frightened or curious to move while others watched through the promenade windows.

Kagura turned toward them. “Everyone must leave the outer decks immediately!” she called. “The enemy’s cannons are disabled, but they may still attempt to board!”

A few passengers hesitated.

Kagura rested one hand against the sheath at her hip. “I am a wizard of Mermaid Heel,” she continued. “We will protect the ship. Please allow us the space to do so.”

The certainty in her voice cut through the panic.

Parents hurried their children through the doors. Stewards helped elderly passengers inside, and sailors cleared the railing except for those required to maneuver the vessel.

Wendy watched Kagura with immediate admiration. “You handled that really well.”

“It was necessary.” Kagura’s gaze softened slightly as it reached Wendy, then shifted toward the pale-blue mark on the younger girl’s right arm. “Are you also a wizard?”

Wendy nodded. “I’m a Sky Dragon Slayer.”

Kagura’s brows lifted by a fraction. “A Dragon Slayer?”

Lodestar stepped between them. “We can compare resumes after the pirates stop trying to rob us.”

Across the narrowing gap, Demalo had recovered enough of his courage to start shouting again.

“Hooks!” he roared. “Prepare the grappling hooks!”

“But half of them are iron.” Turco pointed out.

Demalo stared at him, confused.

Turco then pointed toward Lodestar.

The pirate captain looked back at the alien. “Just use them anyway.”

Chocolat slapped one hand over her eyes. “Bold strategy, captain.”

Drip chuckled. “Let’s see if it pays off.”

Several pirates spun grappling hooks overhead and hurled them toward the Sea Lily.

Lodestar lifted both claws and every hook stopped before reaching the railing.

Demalo’s shoulders sagged. “Oh, come on!”

The hooks hung suspended between the ships.

“Sorry,” Lodestar called. “Looks like I’ve got more pull around here.”

He flicked both wrists and the hooks shot backward.

Pirates who had wrapped ropes around their arms were yanked off their feet and dragged across the deck. Several crashed into barrels, coils of rope, and one another before the hooks tangled themselves around the pirate ship’s own rigging.

A heavy snap echoed across the water as one of the sails collapsed.

Manjaro ducked beneath the falling canvas. “All right! Boarding the normal way!”

“What normal way?!” Chocolat shouted.

“Planks!”

Soon, several long boarding planks bridged the narrowing distance between the two vessels. Other pirates grabbed ropes hanging from the masts while several particularly reckless men simply prepared to jump.

The first pirate landed with a curved sword raised over his head. However, the weapon was immediately ripped from his grip and flew into Lodestar’s magnetic field.

The pirate stared at his empty hands. “Huh?”

Lodestar then sent the sword spinning harmlessly into the ocean. “Next.”

Three more crossed the planks carrying axes and iron clubs. Their weapons jerked sideways the moment they reached the Sea Lily, colliding in midair before Lodestar flung the entire bundle into the sea.

One pirate stubbornly refused to release his axe.

Lodestar quirked a brow. “Uh, you can let go whenever.”

“No! It’s my favorite!”

The alien did his best impersonation of a shrug. “Suit yourself.”

The axe shot over the railing and the pirate followed it. His scream ended in a tremendous splash.

Wendy winced. “Ben!”

“What? He’ll float.” Lodestar paused. “Uh, probably.”

More pirates poured across the boarding planks.

Wendy stepped forward and swept both arms outward. “Sky Dragon’s Wing Attack!”

Two twisting streams of wind tore across the promenade. They caught several boarders around their waists and hurled them backward, sending them crashing into their companions on the planks.

Kagura moved at the same moment. Never drawing her sword.

One pirate rushed her with a fist raised. Kagura stepped inside the punch, drove the end of her sheath sharply into the side of his knee, and struck beneath his chin before he could recover. He collapsed unconscious.

Another charged from behind.

The purple-haired maiden pivoted, caught his wrist, and sent him over her hip with effortless precision.

Wendy stared. “Oh, wow!”

“Watch your left,” Kagura replied.

The bluenette turned as a pirate lunged toward her with an iron dagger. The weapon ripped itself free before he came close, but Wendy did not wait for Lodestar to finish helping her. She stepped aside and released a short burst of wind against the attacker’s shoulder.

His own momentum carried him face-first into a deck chair, which folded around him.

Wendy straightened proudly. “I saw him.”

Hovering overhead, Carla crossed her arms. “Then kindly continue seeing the others.”

A sudden shout came from the pirate ship. “Move!”

Manjaro charged across one of the boarding planks with all three swords drawn.

Kagura’s eyes narrowed.

One blade sat in each hand while the third had been clenched awkwardly between his teeth. His posture certainly looked dramatic, but the closer he came, the more obvious the problems became.

His footing was too wide and his wrists were stiff. The sword in his mouth was forcing his shoulders out of alignment.

Manjaro landed several feet away and pointed one sword toward her. “You! Swordswoman!”

“Yes?”

“I’m Manjaro!” He shifted all three weapons into what he evidently considered an intimidating stance. “Best swordsman in Captain Demalo Black’s crew!”

Kagura’s gaze moved from one sword to the next, and then back to his face. “You are holding the third incorrectly.”

Manjaro froze. “What?”

“The angle is compromising your neck and shoulders.”

His eye twitched. “That’s your response?”

“Yes.”

“I challenged you!”

“I noticed.”

Growling, Manjaro charged forward.

Kagura moved once. Her sheath struck the flat of his first blade and knocked it aside. She stepped inside the second, twisted her wrist, and hit his forearm hard enough that his fingers opened involuntarily. The sword clattered away.

Manjaro’s eyes widened.

She then struck the third weapon near its guard, and the blade flew from his mouth.

His jaw snapped shut. “OW!”

Before he could recover, Kagura drove the end of her sheathed katana into his stomach.

Manjaro folded around it. A second strike to the shoulder sent him sprawling onto his back.

Kagura looked down at him. “You rely too heavily upon the number of weapons.”

He wheezed. “I hate constructive criticism…”

Drip vaulted over the rail next. Unlike most of the others, he landed cleanly and swiftly spun into a sweeping kick toward Wendy.

She ducked in time. “Hey!”

Drip pivoted smoothly into another kick. Wendy then jumped backward and brought both hands together and a sharp gust blasted against his supporting leg.

Drip’s eyes widened as his balance vanished. He spun sideways and struck the railing with his hip, toppling over it.

One hand caught the edge and he dangled above the water. “Uh, little help?!”

Carla hovered over him, looking down. “No.”

Drip stared up at her. “You’re a talking, flying cat.”

“And you are hanging from a ship.”

“Fair point.”

A rifle shot suddenly cracked.

Mounblutain had climbed onto the pirate vessel’s railing and taken aim toward the Sea Lily. However, the bullet never arrived. Lodestar raised one claw and the small metal projectile stopped inches from his head.

Mounblutain stared through the smoke, eyes widening in shock.

The magnetic alien looked at the bullet floating in front of his face and back at the rifle. “Oh, buddy. That wasn’t smart.”

The rifleman’s expression fell as the rifle was suddenly torn from his hands, flying across the gap. “Hey! That’s not fair!”

“A pirate complaining about fairness? That’s a new one.” Lodestar immediately bent the barrel into a knot and dropped it into the sea.

“No!” Mounblutain clutched his chest. “That was custom!”

Chocolat came across next with a sack slung over one shoulder and a knife in her hand. She made it only three steps onto the promenade before Lodestar plucked the knife from her fingers.

She stopped, looked at her empty hand, and then at Lodestar. “You’re annoying.”

“I get that a lot.”

Chocolat threw the sack at him instead. Lodestar caught it against his chest as she jumped up to punch him in the face. His floating head spun almost completely around.

She recoiled. “What the hell?!”

Lodestar rotated his head back into position. “Yeah. That usually freaks people out.”

Kagura then swept Chocolat’s legs from beneath her before she could respond.

Elsewhere, Cocoa had chosen a quieter approach. While everyone concentrated on the open boarding planks, she slipped across a lower rope and climbed onto the opposite side of the promenade. She crouched behind an overturned table and began moving toward the passenger entrances.

Carla’s ears twitched and she looked down from above. “Behind you.”

Kagura reacted immediately. Cocoa barely had time to rise before the swordswoman appeared in front of her.

The pirate stopped and Kagura regarded her calmly. “You are attempting to enter the passenger areas.”

Cocoa glanced toward the doorway, and then back toward Kagura. “N-No?”

Kagura struck her once with the sheath and Cocoa immediately dropped like a sack of potatoes, unconscious.

Carla nodded approvingly. “Efficient.”

A metallic crash sounded near Lodestar.

Turco had apparently abandoned any attempt at subtlety and crossed over carrying a heavy length of chain wrapped around both arms. “You’re gonna pay for breaking my engines, freak!”

Lodestar simply stared at him.

Turco stopped and looked down at the chain, then back at Lodestar in realization. “… Oh.”

The Biotsavartian grinned as the entire chain snapped forward and wrapped itself tightly around its holder. The mechanic screamed as the chain dragged him face-first across the deck and deposited him beside Manjaro.

The swordsman weakly lifted his head. “Hey.”

“I hate that guy.”

“Get in line.”

A flash of russet fur shot between them. Nora bounded onto the promenade, teeth bared as the little fox raced directly toward Carla.

Carla stared. “You cannot be serious.” Nora barked. “I am not fighting a fox.”

The fox leapt and Carla flew several feet higher.

Nora sailed harmlessly beneath her and landed in an open basket that had been abandoned near the railing.

Carla looked down. “That settles that.”

Nora’s head emerged from the basket and barked furiously.

“I said no.”

By now, the pirate crew’s momentum had completely collapsed.

Weapons littered the water. Pirates lay unconscious across the promenade. Several others clung desperately to the boarding planks while deciding whether continuing the fight was worth the inevitable humiliation.

Demalo Black stared from the quarterdeck as his crew was dismantled by Lodestar, Wendy, and Kagura with humiliating ease.

“Captain!” one of his men shouted, stumbling backward from the railing. “We have to retreat!”

“What...?” Demalo growled. “Y-You cowards! This pirate crew doesn’t retreat! Ever!”

Mounblutain jabbed a finger toward Lodestar. “But sir! That thing bends guns!”

From where he lay sprawled across the deck, Turco weakly raised his head. “And chains.”

Manjaro groaned nearby. “And apparently the girl actually knows swordsmanship.”

Kagura’s eye twitched faintly at the wording.

Demalo swallowed. For a moment, uncertainty crossed his face before stubborn pride crushed it beneath a scowl. “No.” He ripped both pistols from his belt. “Three-Tongued Demalo Black does not retreat!”

He stormed across the boarding plank.

Lodestar simply waited.

The moment Demalo stepped onto the Sea Lily, he spread his arms dramatically and leveled both pistols. “Listen carefully, ya freak! I’ve terrorized ports across Ishgar! I’ve defeated dozens of crews! My bounty is higher than half the pathetic pirates you’ve probably ever heard of!”

Lodestar glanced toward Kagura. “Ever heard of him?”

“No.”

Demalo stopped dead. His bravado cracked so quickly that even Lodestar almost felt bad for him. “You’ve... never heard of me?”

Kagura shook her head once. “No.”

The captain looked genuinely wounded. “But... I have bounty posters.”

Lodestar winced. “Ouch. Even I felt that one.”

Demalo’s eyes snapped toward him. “Shut up!”

He pulled both triggers…but nothing happened.

Demalo blinked as both pistols tore themselves from his hands and hovered above Lodestar’s claws. “Oh.”

Once again, the Biotsavartian casually tossed the weapons into the ocean.

Demalo watched them disappear beneath the waves. “My guns…”

“Probably should’ve seen that coming, dude.”

The large man wasn’t ready to give up though as he drew his oversized knife, which immediately followed the pistols in the water.

“My knife!”

The Biotsavartian’s green eyes dropped toward the pirate captain’s belt buckle, chains, rings, and several pieces of metal decorating his coat.

Demalo noticed and his face went pale. “W-Wait…”

Lodestar lifted one claw and Demalo shot six feet into the air.

“AAAAAH!”

The pirate captain kicked wildly as the metal accessories attached to his clothing held him suspended.

Manjaro rolled onto one elbow. “Oh, that’s embarrassing.”

Kagura glanced at him. “You lost in eleven seconds.”

Manjaro’s face fell.

Lodestar floated the portly captain toward the railing until he hung above open water.

Demalo looked down and his struggling stopped.

“Here’s how this works,” Lodestar said. “You call off your crew, everybody drops whatever weapons they still have, and nobody gets hurt.”

Demalo swallowed. “And if I refuse?”

Lodestar lowered him several inches.

“All right! All right!” The captain screamed. He twisted toward his battered crew. “Everybody surrender!”

Several pirates immediately threw their hands into the air. Drip finally climbed back over the railing, looked around at the surrendered crew, and slowly raised both hands. Mounblutain sighed and set down the backup pistol he had only just drawn. Cocoa and Chocolat both remained unconscious. Nora sat inside the abandoned basket and barked once.

Lodestar brought Demalo back over the promenade and lowered him onto the deck.

The instant his boots touched wood, the pirate captain straightened his coat and attempted to recover what remained of his dignity. “This changes nothing.” His shoulders slumped. “Someday, everybody is going to know my name.”

The Biotsavartian’s floating head tilted. “Maybe. Just probably not for the reason you want.”

…

Later, once the threat had passed, the Sea Lily’s crew cautiously returned to the promenade.

Thick ropes and several lengths of chain were brought from below deck. Lodestar used the metal restraints to bind the captured pirates quickly, including those who had fallen into the sea and been hauled back aboard.

By early afternoon, Demalo’s damaged vessel had been secured behind the Sea Lily with towing lines.

The captured crew sat together beneath armed guard.

Demalo Black occupied the center, arms folded and expression thunderous as he repeatedly insisted his defeat had been “strategic.” Manjaro sat beside him with his jaw still throbbing painfully while staring resentfully toward Kagura. Chocolat had already started criticizing every decision Demalo had made.

“You ordered us to use iron hooks against somebody who controls metal.”

“I did not know the extent of his powers!”

“He threw cannonballs at us!”

“That… could have been a coincidence.”

Turco slowly turned toward him. “A coincidence?”

Demalo looked away.

Mounblutain mourned his lost, ruined rifle in silence. Drip sat nearby with wet hair plastered against his face, muttering that nobody had needed to leave him hanging over the water for that long. Cocoa had regained consciousness and appeared to have decided silence was safer.

Nora curled comfortably atop a confiscated coil of rope, apparently the only member of the pirate crew completely unbothered by their capture.

Meanwhile, on the Sea Lily’s promenade, Lodestar surveyed the secured vessel. “Not bad for a vacation day.”

He turned toward Wendy, Carla, and Kagura.

Wendy smiled brightly. “We stopped them.”

“We did,” Kagura agreed. “May I ask your names and guild affiliation?”

Wendy straightened. “I’m Wendy Marvell, and this is Carla. We’re both wizards of Cait Shelter.”

She gestured toward the pale-blue guild mark on her right shoulder. Carla turned and pulled down the back of her clothing just enough to reveal the matching mark beneath her fur.

“Cait Shelter,” Kagura repeated thoughtfully. “I’m afraid I have never heard of that guild.”

“It’s very small and remote,” the bluenette explained without taking offense. “Our village is hidden deep within the Worth Woodsea, so most people haven’t heard of us.”

“A guild’s lack of fame does not lessen its legitimacy,” Carla added.

Kagura gave them a respectful nod. “Agreed.”

Her attention then shifted toward Lodestar. “Am I correct in assuming your name is Lodestar?”

“When I’m this guy, yeah.” Lodestar tapped the Omnitrix emblem on his chest. Green light flooded the promenade, forcing those nearby to shield their eyes. When the glow faded, Ben stood in his human form once more. “But my real name is Ben.” He gave her a small grin. “Ben Tennyson.”

Kagura blinked twice. For the first time since meeting him, her composure showed the faintest crack.

Behind them, Demalo Black stared through the railing. “Hold on! That thing was a wizard?!”

Chocolat immediately elbowed him.

Kagura ignored the interruption and regarded the three travelers with quiet curiosity.

“If you are not in a hurry, would you be open to speaking for a while?” she asked. “I admit, I am curious about your magic and your travels.”

A smile tugged at Ben’s mouth. “Yeah,” he replied. “I’d say we’ve got time.”

…

Later that afternoon after the chaos from the pirate attack had calmed down, the four travelers settled around a table in one of the Sea Lily’s first-class lounges. Tea had been brought for Wendy, Carla, and Kagura, while Ben had claimed a chilled citrus drink and a plate of pastries. It wasn’t chili fries, but it was better than nothing.

Carla had objected when he took three, only for Ben to argue that fighting pirates before lunch had increased his caloric needs.

“What?” Ben bit into one of the pastries. “My appetite is just part of my heroic metabolism.”

Kagura’s posture remained perfectly straight. Both hands rested neatly around her teacup, though a faint glimmer of amusement had entered her hazel eyes.

“You argue often,” she observed.

“Constantly,” Carla replied.

Ben pointed toward the white feline. “She started it though.”

“I began speaking after you made an incorrect statement.”

“That’s Carla-speak for starting it.”

Wendy laughed softly.

Kagura’s gaze shifted toward her, noticing the bandage wrapped around her right hand. “Was that injury caused by the pirates?”

Wendy glanced down at her hand. “No. It happened a few days ago.” After a brief hesitation, she admitted, “I… touched a magical seal that I shouldn’t have.”

Ben leaned back in his chair. “Very condensed version.”

“It released part of what had been imprisoned behind it,” Carla explained. “The resulting creature then attempted to kill us.”

Kagura’s fingers tightened slightly around her cup. “And that happened before you boarded the ship?”

“The day before,” Wendy nodded sheepishly.

Ben glanced toward her bandaged palm. “We should check it again after this. It’s been three days, so the burn might be healed enough to leave uncovered, or at least ready for a less bulky bandage.”

Wendy flexed her fingers carefully beneath the wrapping. “It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

Kagura looked from Wendy to Ben and then to Carla. “Then I understand why Carla watches you so closely.”

Wendy’s cheeks puffed. “Everyone understands Carla’s side.”

Ben took another pastry from the plate. “Careful, Kagura. Agreeing with her only makes her stronger.”

“Because my side is reasonable,” Carla said. “I provide guidance and prevent these two from getting themselves killed.”

Ben turned his head toward her. “That is a very generous description of your job.”

“It’s the correct one.”

The corner of Kagura’s mouth lifted.

Wendy noticed the small change and smiled. Kagura had been polite since introducing herself, but her seriousness made her difficult to read. Even so, the Sky Dragon Slayer sensed no coldness in her, only discipline so deeply practiced that it shaped nearly every movement she made.

“How long have you been with Mermaid Heel?” Wendy asked.

“Several years,” Kagura answered. “I joined when I was around your age. The guild gave me a home and taught me how to use my magic properly.”

“Do all the members use swords?”

“Not all. We have many kinds of magic. Swordsmanship is simply the path I chose.”

Wendy’s eyes dropped toward the weapon with open interest. “You were amazing earlier. You didn’t even have to draw it.”

“The pirates were unarmed by then. Drawing a blade would have been unnecessary.”

Ben gestured toward her with his drink. “That’s what impressed me. Most people carrying a sword that fancy would’ve pulled it out just to look cool.”

Kagura glanced toward him. “Do you frequently meet people like that?”

“All the time,” he smirked.

Carla gave him a pointed look. “You announce the names of your forms every time you use them.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“It strikes fear into my enemies.”

Kagura studied Ben for a moment. “I don’t believe the pirates were close enough to hear you shout your name earlier.”

Ben lowered his glass. “Okay, but that one was informational. You needed to know who had arrived.”

“You were already standing in front of us.”

“Physically, sure. Thematically, Lodestar had just arrived.”

Wendy covered her mouth to hide another giggle.

Kagura remained controlled for several seconds before a quiet laugh finally escaped her. That seemed to surprise the swordswoman more than anyone else. She lowered her gaze toward her tea, though the smile remained.

Ben pointed at her. “There it is. I knew you had one.”

Kagura’s eyes narrowed slightly. “One what?”

“A sense of humor.”

“I did not realize it was in question.”

“With the serious face? Definitely in question.”

Wendy watched with growing amusement. Kagura treated Ben’s teasing with considerably more patience than Carla did, though she was beginning to understand that ignoring him only encouraged him.

Kagura turned back to Ben. “Are you also a wizard of Cait Shelter?”

Ben shook his head. “Nope. I’m not part of any guild.”

Her brows drew together slightly. “Then you are an independent wizard?”

“Yep. Though ‘freelancer’ sounds better.” Ben lifted his drink and took another sip. “I travel wherever I want, help when something happens, and try not to destroy too much property along the way.”

“That final objective has met with inconsistent success,” Carla remarked.

“Hey, most of the property damage wasn’t mine.”

“‘Most’ is not the defense you believe it to be.”

A faint smile touched Kagura’s mouth. “If you are not a member of Cait Shelter, how did you come to travel with Wendy and Carla?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” he began. “I ended up lost in the Worth Woodsea without supplies, a map, or any clue where the nearest town was.”

That much was true, even if he omitted the parts involving Vilgax, a malfunctioning Hyperspace Jumpgate, and an entirely different universe. More importantly, he left out the fact that he was not the original Ben Tennyson, but one of three Sonorasian clones that had somehow become their own people. He tried not to dwell on that last part more than necessary.

From there, Ben spent the next fifteen minutes giving Kagura the abbreviated version of what happened after waking up alone in the Worth Woodsea with his magic temporarily unusable. He had encountered a Vulcan, provoked it, and been hurled into a river. Wendy, Carla, and another Cait Shelter wizard had found him drifting downstream, barely alive, and Wendy’s Healing Magic had stabilized him long enough to return him to the village. Cait Shelter then provided Ben with food, shelter, and work while he recovered. He made a point of crediting Wendy with saving his life despite her shy insistence that the others had helped, and Kagura quietly noted how naturally he acknowledged the young Dragon Slayer’s strength without treating his rescue as something embarrassing.

Kagura concealed another small smile behind her cup; her attention focused on Ben. “How long did you remain there?”

“About two weeks.” The teen hero’s humor softened as he glanced toward Wendy and Carla. “Long enough to get back on my feet… and for the village to start feeling like somewhere I could’ve stayed.”

“But you chose to leave,” she observed.

He nodded. “Cait Shelter was peaceful, but I barely knew anything about Fiore. I wanted to see the country, learn how things worked and figure out what I was going to do here.”

The explanation remained carefully phrased. He was new to this world, unfamiliar with its magic and laws, and attempting to build a life for himself. Kagura did not need to know that the life he had lost existed in another universe.

Kagura looked toward Wendy. “And you decided to accompany him?”

Wendy nodded. “Ben invited us.”

“Why?”

Ben leaned back in his chair. “Because Wendy and Carla hadn’t traveled much beyond Cait Shelter. They’d visited a nearby town for supplies, but that was about it.”

Carla’s tail flicked. “Our guild is isolated.”

“And Wendy wasn’t very confident about taking jobs away from the village,” Ben continued. “Carla and I both thought seeing more of Fiore would help her grow as a wizard and as a person.”

Wendy curled her fingers lightly around her cup. “I wanted to travel. I was just afraid to leave.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid,” Ben said. “You just can’t let fear make every decision for you.”

Kagura studied him quietly. “So you invited them because you believed the journey would help Wendy.”

“That was part of it.” He glanced between Wendy and Carla. “I also didn’t really want to leave them yet.”

Wendy’s eyes softened at the admission.

Ben shrugged as though the thought were simpler than it felt. “They saved me, gave me a home when I didn’t have one, and became my friends. Traveling together made sense.”

Carla lifted her chin. “It was also decided that allowing Ben to wander Fiore without supervision presented an unacceptable risk.”

Ben turned toward her. “You came because Wendy wanted to.”

“That was the primary reason.”

“So I wasn’t a reason?”

“You were a concern.”

Kagura’s smile appeared again. “And has the journey helped?”

Ben looked toward Wendy before answering. “Yeah, I think it has. She’s seen more in the last two weeks than she ever had. She’s fought beside some strong wizards, helped rescue Princess Hisui, saved a village of Giants, and started learning how to control her magic better.”

Wendy shifted shyly. “I’m still working on that last one.”

“That’s the point. You’re working on it.”

Carla nodded. “Wendy has improved. Though the journey has also exposed her to an alarming number of life-threatening situations.”

“Experience comes in different flavors.” Ben pointed toward her with his glass. “Carla’s changed too.”

The cat’s ears angled back. “I have done no such thing.”

“You trust me now.”

“I tolerate you with increasing efficiency.”

Kagura watched Wendy laugh between them, and something in her gaze softened. The younger girl’s openness was disarming, especially after the rigid loneliness Kagura had grown accustomed to carrying.

“You have already accomplished a great deal,” she told Wendy. “Especially for someone who was afraid to leave home.”

Wendy shyly smiled. “Thank you.”

“You should not be ashamed of having felt afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is choosing to move despite it.”

Ben nodded approvingly. “See? That’s exactly what I’ve been saying.”

Kagura’s eyes shifted back toward Ben. “You appear to care deeply about Wendy’s progress.”

“Of course I do.” The answer came without hesitation or embellishment. That simplicity told Kagura more than a longer explanation would have.

…

Their conversation continued until the coastline began drawing closer beyond the lounge windows. What had first been little more than a green line against the horizon gradually resolved into rolling hills, pale beaches, and clusters of colorful buildings gathered around a broad turquoise bay.

A bell rang through the Sea Lily, followed by an officer announcing their approach to Seablossom.

Wendy immediately jumped from her seat and hurried toward the nearest window. “Is that it?”

Kagura joined her at a much calmer pace. “Yes.”

Seablossom spread around the curve of its sheltered harbor, far brighter and more elegant than Brineport. Pale stone buildings climbed the gentle hills overlooking the water, their colorful walls softened by flowering vines and balconies crowded with potted plants. Beyond the docks, long beaches stretched along the coast, their sand almost white beneath the midday sun while the protected bay glittered in shades of blue and green.

Wendy pressed both hands against the glass. “The beaches really are beautiful.”

Ben stopped beside her and looked toward the shoreline. “And nothing down there appears to have giant claws, teeth, or an unhealthy interest in eating tourists. So we’re already off to a good start.”

Carla gave him a sidelong look. “Your standards for travel destinations have become remarkably low.”

“You travel with me. There’s a reason for that.”

The Sea Lily entered the harbor beneath another deep whistle. Sailors hurried across the decks preparing ropes and gangways while people along the waterfront stopped to watch the passenger ship glide toward the quay.

The battered pirate vessel being towed behind it attracted considerably more attention.

By the time the Sea Lily settled alongside the dock, port workers and curious townspeople had formed a loose crowd behind the harbor barriers. Several pointed toward the damaged ship, particularly the crushed cannon barrels and torn rigging, while others stared openly at the pirates chained together across its deck.

Demalo Black noticed every one of them. Despite sitting in chains between Manjaro and Chocolat, the heavyset captain puffed out his chest and lifted his chin as though the gathering crowd had assembled specifically to admire him.

“You see that?” Demalo said. “Recognition.”

“Some of them are laughing.” Chocolat pointed out.

Demalo’s expression tightened. “… Nervous laughter.”

Nearby, Manjaro sat with his jaw swelling. “Think anybody here has heard of us?” He mumbled out.

Kagura happened to glance toward him and Manjaro immediately looked away.

The swordswoman then turned toward Ben. “I will inform the Rune Knights.”

“Okay.” He glanced back toward their prisoners. “We’ll make sure Captain Triple-Tongue doesn’t stage an escape or something.”

Demalo’s head snapped around. “Three-Tongued!”

“That’s what I said!”

“No, it wasn’t!”

“It was close enough.”

“It’s a moniker! Monikers require precision!”

Chocolat leaned her head back against the mast. “Please stop encouraging him.”

A faint trace of amusement entered Kagura’s eyes despite the slight disapproval in her expression. “I will return shortly.”

“We’ll be here.”

Kagura crossed the gangway and disappeared into the waterfront crowd with her usual purposeful stride.

Ben, Wendy, and Carla remained near the railing while the Sea Lily’s crew began unloading passengers, luggage, and the confiscated cargo taken from Demalo’s ship. The pirates watched sailors carry crates onto the dock beneath armed supervision.

“Think they’ll give those back eventually?” Drip asked.

Turco stared at him. “We used them to attack a passenger ship.”

“So... no?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Manjaro leaned toward Demalo. “Captain, what happens to the ship?”

“They can’t take her,” Demalo declared. “She is the proud flagship of Three-Tongued Demalo Black!”

From his spot, Turco slowly surveyed the damage he could see. “She’s barely still a ship, captain.”

Nora sat calmly atop a coil of rope nearby and began scratching behind one ear.

Demalo stared at the fox. “At least somebody on this crew still respects me.”

Nora stopped scratching, looked at him, and sneezed.

Wendy covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

Carla made no such effort to hide her disdain. “Your prisoners are remarkably unimpressive.”

Ben watched Demalo begin arguing with Chocolat over whether their defeat technically counted because nobody had signed a surrender document. “Honestly, I’ve fought alien hillbillies with better teamwork.”

Wendy blinked. “Alien what?”

“Long story.”

It was not long before Kagura returned with a company of Rune Knights marching behind her in crisp blue-and-gold uniforms. Their arrival drew immediate attention from the dockworkers and lingering townspeople along the quay, especially once the Knights turned toward the battered pirate vessel being towed behind the Sea Lily.

Their commanding officer, a stern black-haired woman wearing a crested helmet, stopped at the foot of the gangway. Her eyes moved methodically across the crushed cannon barrels, torn rigging, damaged hull, and finally the pirate crew chained together across the deck.

“Who is responsible for their capture?”

Ben raised one hand. “Group project.”

The officer looked from him to Wendy and Carla before settling briefly on Kagura. “Ms. Mikazuchi has already provided an initial account. I will still require statements from each of you before you leave.”

“Sure.” Ben shrugged. “Short version? They shot first.”

Demalo surged upright as far as his restraints permitted. “Those were warning shots!”

One of the mangled cannons chose that exact moment to tear loose from its damaged mounting.

CLANG!

The entire weapon crashed sideways onto the deck with enough force to make several pirates flinch.

Brief silence followed as everyone looked at the cannon.

The Rune Knight officer slowly returned her gaze to Demalo. “You discharged ship-mounted artillery at a civilian passenger vessel.”

Demalo straightened indignantly. “Warning artillery.”

Chocolat closed her eyes, groaning.

Beside her, Manjaro sighed. “Captain, maybe stop helping.”

“I am defending our legal position!”

Cocoa looked toward him with exhausted resignation. “We don’t have one.”

Demalo’s mouth opened and she quickly added, “You announced that you intended to rob everyone before firing.”

“T-That was intimidation!”

“That was a confession, sir.”

The Rune Knight officer lifted one hand toward her subordinates. “Take them into custody.”

Several Rune Knights crossed the gangway onto the captured vessel.

Demalo immediately recoiled as one reached for him. “Careful with the coat! Do you know how expensive this stitching is?” The Knight took him firmly by the arm.

Nearby, another Rune Knight crouched to unlock Manjaro’s chain from the deck. The swordsman watched him work for several seconds before tilting his head.

“Hey, you know any good sword schools around here?”

The Knight stopped and stared at him. “Why?”

Manjaro brightened slightly. “Figured I could work on a few things while we’re in town.”

“You’re going to prison.”

Manjaro’s enthusiasm disappeared. “…Oh.”

A few steps away, Chocolat rose without protest when her restraints were removed from the deck. Judging by her expression, she had accepted hours ago that resistance would only prolong the amount of time she was required to remain near Demalo.

Cocoa followed with much the same resignation.

Drip, predictably, had other priorities. As a female Rune Knight approached him, he straightened as much as his restraints allowed and flashed what he clearly considered his most charming smile. “So, once all this misunderstanding gets cleared up, you doing anything tonight?”

The Knight wordlessly tightened the restraint around his wrists.

Drip winced. “Ow.”

She gave him a flat stare.

“Okay.” His smile weakened. “Reading the room.”

Turco and Mounblutain exchanged tired looks before getting to their feet without argument.

“Think they’ll let me get a new rifle in prison?” Mounblutain asked.

Turco glanced at him. “You’re worried about a rifle?”

“It was custom.”

“It’s at the bottom of the sea.”

“Please don’t remind me!”

The only member of the crew creating genuine difficulty was Nora. The little fox sat firmly atop a coil of rope and refused to move.

A Rune Knight crouched several feet away and cautiously extended one gloved hand. “Come along.”

Nora stared at him as the knight moved his hand closer.

Snap!

Nora’s teeth closed inches from his fingers.

The knight jerked backward. “Right. Not friendly.”

Carla folded her arms. “At least one member of that crew possesses dignity.”

Nora’s ears perked. She looked toward Carla and sat a little straighter.

Demalo twisted around while two knights escorted him toward the gangway. “Nora! Defend your captain!”

The fox looked at him, and then calmly curled into a ball to tuck her nose beneath her tail.

Demalo stared in horror. “Traitor!”

Several dockworkers burst into laughter.

That only made the portly pirate captain struggle harder against the knights guiding him down the gangway. “Laugh while you can! Someday the entire continent will know the name Three-Tongued Demalo Black!”

Ben leaned casually against the railing. “They might after today.”

Demalo stopped struggling, his expression brightening. “Exactly! Finally, someone understands the significance of—”

“For getting beaten by two teenagers, a twelve-year-old, and a talking cat.”

Demalo’s face collapsed. “I hate you.”

Ben grinned. “Get in line, dude.”

The Rune Knights took possession of Demalo’s vessel shortly afterward. Officials boarded to catalogue its weapons, stolen cargo, navigation records, and an astonishing assortment of items that appeared to have been stolen simply because someone aboard thought they might eventually be useful.

Once the statements had been taken, the commanding officer returned carrying three leather pouches and a document bearing the Rune Knights’ seal.

“Demalo Black and his crew carried active bounties for piracy, armed robbery, attacks upon commercial vessels, and theft throughout Ishgar’s coastal routes,” she explained. “As the principal parties responsible for their capture, you are entitled to the posted rewards.”

She handed one pouch each to Kagura, Wendy, and Ben.

Wendy stared at the weight resting in her palms. “This is the first bounty I’ve ever earned.”

“You assisted in protecting the passengers and subduing an armed pirate crew,” Kagura told her. “You earned it.”

Wendy’s smile brightened. She carefully placed the pouch inside her bag. “I’m going to save most of it.”

Carla gave an approving nod. “Sensible.”

Ben weighed his own pouch in one hand. “Not bad.”

The Rune Knight officer gave him a flat look. “You describe defeating an armed pirate crew with remarkable casualness.”

“Well, most pirates don’t have a contingency plan for the guy who can throw their cannonballs back.” Ben shrugged “Besides, I’ve faced off against far worse things than pirates on a weekly basis. Compared to that this wasn’t much of a challenge.”  

The officer stared at him for a moment, apparently deciding that further questions would require considerably more paperwork than she wanted.

Ben slipped the pouch into his jacket. “Still, nice to know I’ve got another career option. If traveling hero doesn’t work out, maybe I could become a bounty hunter.”

Kagura lifted one eyebrow. “You make that sound remarkably simple.”

“Step one, find bad guys. Step two, make bad guys regret step one.”

Carla looked toward the prisoners being escorted along the waterfront. Demalo was still loudly informing anyone within hearing distance that his capture had been a temporary strategic inconvenience. “I suspect Demalo Black’s crew may not represent the highest standard of criminal.”

Ben watched Manjaro trip over his own chain and accidentally drag Drip into Turco. Chocolat began shouting at all three of them. Cocoa continued walking as though she had never met any of these people. Nora Gitsune trotted several yards behind the procession under the supervision of an increasingly nervous Rune Knight.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “That... might be true.” His mouth curved into a smirk. “Still doesn’t change the fact that pirates are cannon fodder.”

Kagura regarded him quietly.

She had seen only one of his forms, yet he had dismantled the pirates’ artillery, prevented their boarding weapons from reaching the ship, and neutralized Demalo himself with almost insulting ease. Even more notable was how carefully he had done it. For all his jokes and casual confidence, none of the cannonballs he redirected had struck the pirates themselves, and he had consistently prioritized the passengers over defeating his opponents.

Ben’s confidence was irritatingly effortless, but it also did not appear undeserved.

“Ben.”

He looked toward her. “Yeah?”

“I would like to test your abilities for myself.”

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Wait! Like a fight?”

“A spar,” Kagura clarified. Her gaze remained fixed on Ben. “I have never faced someone with your variety of abilities. Your Magnetic Take Over was powerful, but I doubt it represents the full extent of what you can do.”

Ben gave a short laugh. “Not even close.”

Her expression sharpened with interest. “Then I would value the opportunity.”

Carla released a long sigh. “We have been in Seablossom for less than an hour.”

“And already found something to do,” Ben replied.

“Fighting is not sightseeing.”

“Depends who you ask.”

Ben studied Kagura for another moment. There was no wounded pride behind her challenge. She was not trying to compensate for having needed his help aboard the Sea Lily, nor was she looking for an opportunity to prove herself superior. No, this was curiosity and perhaps her warrior spirit at it’s simplicity. A desire to test herself against what she likely saw as a worthy opponent. A chance to both use her skills to develop them further and to see the extent of his own.

A grin slowly spread across Ben’s face. “All right.”

Wendy brightened. “Really?”

Ben rolled one shoulder and looked toward Kagura. “You helped stop the pirates, kept your cool while everybody else was panicking, and made that three-sword guy look like he learned swordsmanship from the back of a cereal box.”

A laugh escaped Wendy before she could stop it.

Kagura’s lips threatened to move as well.

“I’d say you’ve earned a match,” he finished.

Kagura gave him a small, respectful nod. “There is an isolated stretch of beach beyond the eastern harbor. Few people visit it during this part of the day. We will not endanger anyone there.”

Ben shoved both hands into his jacket pockets. “Lead the way.”

…

The sun had begun its slow descent by the time Kagura led Ben, Wendy, and Carla beyond Seablossom’s eastern harbor. The noise of the town faded behind a line of sand dunes, leaving only the steady crash of waves and the cries of seabirds. Evening light stretched across the water in bands of orange and gold.

Hard-packed sand covered most of the shoreline, broken by shallow tide pools, pieces of bleached driftwood, and dark stone ridges worn smooth by years of surf. Thin black streaks wound between the rocks and the occasional rusted nail or broken fishing hook glinted among debris.

Kagura stopped near the center of the beach and turned toward Ben. “This should provide sufficient space,” she said.

Ben swept his gaze across the shoreline. There were no buildings to damage, no crowds to endanger, and no property owners waiting to present him with an expensive repair bill. “Yeah, this will do.”

Wendy and Carla moved toward the dunes overlooking the beach and sat on the top.

“You will both remember that this is a spar,” Carla called. “Not an excuse to destroy the coastline.”

Ben placed one hand against his chest. “You say that like I’ve ever destroyed a coastline.”

Carla’s eyes narrowed. “Have you?”

He lowered his hand. “… Not intentionally.”

The corner of Kagura’s mouth threatened to lift as she turned back toward Ben, one hand resting lightly over the hilt of her katana.

“If it is not too much trouble, Ben, I would like to face Lodestar,” she said. “His Magnetic Magic rendered the pirates’ weapons useless. I want to see how effectively my own magic can oppose it.”

“Sure. I don’t mind.” Ben paused, curiosity replacing his grin. “Actually, what kind of magic do you use?”

“Gravity Magic.”

His eyebrows rose. “Seriously? That sounds awesome.”

“It is effective when properly controlled,” she replied, though the faint satisfaction in her voice suggested she appreciated the reaction. She stepped back and adjusted her footing. “We should establish the rules before we begin.”

“No lethal attacks.”

“Naturally. The match ends through surrender or clear incapacitation.”

Ben nodded approvingly as his hand moved toward the Omnitrix. “Sounds fair.”

Kagura drew the sheathed katana from her sash but left the blade enclosed. She held it with both hands, her posture lowering into a balanced stance.

Wonder why she’s not taking her blade out, Ben thought.

He reached for the Omnitrix, then paused. “Actually, wait.” He lowered his arm and stepped farther into the open sand. “Go ahead. Let me feel what I’m dealing with before I transform.”

The swordswoman’s brows drew together. “That would expose you unnecessarily.”

“It’s a controlled match.” The teen hero rolled one shoulder and planted his feet. “Besides, I’m curious.”

Wendy leaned forward. “Are you sure, Ben?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Carla looked entirely unconvinced. “Those words have preceded several regrettable decisions.”

Kagura studied Ben’s stance for another moment. “Do not underestimate the spell simply because I am warning you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She released one hand from her sheath and raised it toward him. The air around her fingers warped almost imperceptibly as the loose sand beneath Ben’s shoes compressed into a shallow ring.

“Gravity Increase: Twofold!”

The pressure struck him all at once as his knees buckled and both sneakers sank into the packed sand. He dropped onto one knee with a hand bracing against the beach. His clothes felt as though weights had been sewn into every seam.

Ben grunted, forcing his head up. “Okay. That is way heavier than it sounds.”

Kagura maintained the spell without visible strain. “It is not intended to immobilize an experienced wizard. It creates an opening.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely feeling it.”

The Omnitrix suddenly emitted a sharp sequence of beeps. Ben glanced down as the holographic ring activated without a command from him, settling upon an unfamiliar head icon.

His eyebrows climbed. “A new guy?”

Wendy leaned forward from farther up the beach. “What’s the Omnitrix doing?”

“It may be reacting to Kagura’s magic,” Carla answered, her eyes narrowing. “Whether that should reassure us is another matter.”

Ben’s finger hovered over the new silhouette. Trying an unknown transformation during a friendly match was tempting, especially when the Omnitrix appeared to have unlocked it in response to Gravity Magic.

Kagura, however, had asked to face Lodestar specifically.

“I’ll meet you later.” He scrolled back to the Biotsavartian icon and tapped it. “Right now, somebody ordered the magnet special.”

He slammed down the core.

Emerald light consumed him before fading to reveal Lodestar kneeling in Ben’s place. The magnetic alien straightened beneath the increased gravity, his broad shoulder arches rising around his floating head.

Kagura’s eyes sharpened. “Gravity Decrease: Half!” While the pressure surrounding Lodestar remained, the weight acting upon her own body abruptly diminished.

She crossed the distance between them in a burst of speed. Her normal weight returned just before the sheathed katana drove toward Lodestar’s chest. He pivoted aside, allowing the sheath to scrape across his torso, but Kagura converted the missed thrust into an upward strike beneath his right claw.

Lodestar raised his arm to block. The impact rang through the metal limb and drove it several inches backward as Kagura increased the weight behind the blow.

She followed with a horizontal swing toward his floating head.

The Biotsavartian leaned away, his metal head drifting beyond the sheath’s path. A magnetic pulse caught the steel hidden within the wooden casing and dragged Kagura’s weapon off course. Rather than resist, the purple-haired wizard turned with the pull and redirected the momentum into a lower strike toward his side.

The Biotsavartian immediately reversed the polarity.

The sheath veered outward, but Kagura planted her rear foot. “Gravity Increase: Threefold!”

The weight concentrated around her katana increased by three. The weapon steadied against the repelling force, and the tip of its sheath clipped Lodestar’s side hard enough to slide him through the sand.

“You weigh me down, lighten yourself to close the distance, then put the weight back behind the strike,” Lodestar observed as they separated. “Pretty solid system.”

Kagura adjusted her stance, the sheathed katana raised beside her shoulder. “A strategy remains useful only until the opponent understands it.”

Lodestar’s eyes narrowed with approval. “Good answer.”

She advanced again, this time darting diagonally across the beach in short bursts. Each shift forced Lodestar to continually adjust the magnetic field surrounding her weapon.

Then the gravitational pressure across the rest of his body weakened.

Kagura’s gaze flicked toward his arms. Throughout the exchange, Lodestar had used his claws to direct his magnetic pull and repulsion with greater precision. They were not the source of his power, but his movements revealed how he controlled it.

Instead of increasing the gravity across his entire body, Kagura compressed the spell into a smaller target.

“Gravity Change: Fivefold, Arms!”

Both of Lodestar’s limbs slammed against his sides. His shoulder arches dipped beneath the sudden weight, disrupting the field he had maintained around her katana.

“Oh, that’s new.”

Kagura had already lightened herself. She crossed the remaining distance in a blur, restored her weight, and swung the sheath toward the side of Lodestar’s head.

The strike was controlled, intended only to stagger him. However, the wooden sheath connected with a hard crack… and Lodestar’s head shot out from between his shoulder arches.

The metal head spun through the air, tumbled across the sand several yards away, and rolled until stopped beside a tide pool.

Wendy’s scream echoed across the beach.

For the first time since meeting Ben, Carla appeared to have nothing to say.

Kagura released her spell immediately. Her sheathed katana lowered as the discipline in her expression shattered beneath sudden horror.

“Ben?!”

Lodestar’s headless body remained standing for a moment. It lurched sideways, corrected too sharply, and began staggering across the beach.

Neither Kagura nor Wendy noticed. They were already rushing toward the severed head.

Wendy reached it first and dropped to her knees, carefully lifting Lodestar from the sand. “Ben! Are you all right?”

“Ugh…” Lodestar blinked up at her. “Okay. New rule. Nobody panics until I do.”

“But your head is off!”

“Yeah. That happens.”

Carla finally recovered her voice. “It happens?”

“Well, not often.” Lodestar admitted. “Besides, you saw I don’t have a neck in this form, right? My head was already detached and hovering over my body.”

Kagura dropped her weapon and knelt beside Wendy. “I’m sorry. I believed your head was secured by magic. I only meant to disorient you.”

Behind them, Lodestar’s body turned in Wendy’s direction and trudged forward with both claws extended for balance. “I’d say you succeeded,” he replied.

Carla hovered closer, staring between the head and body. “How is the rest of you still moving?”

“My body is magnetically bonded to my head. Wherever one goes, the other tries to follow.”

The body walked directly into a piece of driftwood and toppled face-first into the sand.

“The farther apart we get, the worse the coordination becomes,” he added. “As you can see.”

A small, nervous laugh escaped Wendy despite herself. She still held his head as though the slightest movement might harm him.

Kagura bowed her head. “I misjudged your anatomy.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assured her. “You saw an opening and took it.”

“I struck your head from your body.”

“Neither of us knew that could happen that easily.”

Carla gave him a pointed look. “You neglected to mention that your head could be removed.”

“It didn’t come up.”

“There are very few conversations in which that information would arise naturally.”

“I wasn’t hiding it. I just didn’t expect Kagura to literally knock my block off.”

Wendy looked down at him. “Um, can your head be put back?”

“Yeah. Just give me a second.” Lodestar focused on his fallen body. His yellow crest began to glow, and a low magnetic hum rolled across the beach. Near the driftwood, his body twitched and pushed itself upright. The broad shoulder arches turned toward Wendy, aligning themselves with the head in her hands.

“Don’t let go too suddenly,” he warned.

Wendy loosened her grip carefully. Lodestar’s head lifted from her palms and flew across the beach, accelerating toward his waiting body. It passed cleanly between the shoulder arches and stopped above his chest.

The head bobbed once before settling back into its familiar magnetic suspension.

“There.” Lodestar straightened. “Much better.”

Wendy hurried after him. “Are you sure nothing hurts?”

“No neck means no whiplash.”

Kagura retrieved her weapon but did not return to her stance. “Are you certain you wish to continue?”

Lodestar looked at her. The concern in her expression was genuine, and the hand holding her sheath had not yet steadied completely.

His eyes brightened. “Trust me, this match is finally getting interesting.”

Kagura searched his face for hidden anger or bravado. Finding neither, she slowly tightened her grip.

“Then we will continue.”

“Good.”

Lodestar raised one claw and extended his senses through the shoreline. During the earlier exchange, he had felt traces of magnetic material beneath the beach, first as scattered grains and then as thin streams between the rocks.

Dark streaks in the sand began to tremble.

Wendy stepped back as ribbons of black grains rose from the ground. Rust flakes shook loose from an old fishing hook, while broken nails and tiny iron fragments emerged from beneath weathered planks.

All of the material gathered above Lodestar’s open claw. He compressed it between overlapping magnetic fields until the grains formed the rough outline of a blade. Rusted fragments settled into its core, while iron sand flowed continuously over its surface like black smoke trapped in the shape of a sword.

Lodestar examined the weapon before lifting it toward the evening light. “Ladies, I call this move, Iron Sand Sword!”

Wendy’s worry briefly gave way to excitement. “You made a sword out of the beach!”

“Technically, I made it out of the metal in the beach.”

Carla’s expression flattened. “You named it after the two things from which it is made.”

“Gimme a break. I invented it like five seconds ago.”

Kagura studied the shifting weapon with open interest. It possessed no true edge or fixed shape. It existed only because Lodestar’s magnetic fields forced thousands of grains to move together.

“That is quite impressive,” she admitted.

“Thanks. Figured I should try fighting on your turf.”

Kagura pushed her katana partly free with her thumb. The polished steel caught the orange light of the sinking sun.

“My blade will remain controlled,” she warned, “but a sharpened weapon cannot be made harmless.”

Lodestar gave the iron-sand blade a loose twirl, its shape rippling with the motion. “Wouldn’t be much of a sword fight if I asked you to use the safety scissors. I know the risks.”

Kagura drew the sword completely and set the empty sheath aside. Her stance immediately became lower and more exact.

Wendy and Carla immediately retreated toward the dunes.

Kagura moved first, lightening herself and skimming across the sand. Lodestar brought the Iron Sand Sword across his body just as she restored her weight and swung.

Steel struck compressed iron sand with a ringing impact.

Kagura increased the gravity acting upon her katana. The added force bent Lodestar’s weapon nearly in half and drove his feet backward.

Instead of breaking, the Iron Sand Sword flowed apart. Its center scattered around her blade in a cloud of black particles before Lodestar pulled it back together.

Kagura’s eyes widened by a fraction.

Lodestar pushed upward, forcing her katana away. She turned with the motion and cut diagonally toward his shoulder. His magnetic pull caught the steel and dragged the blade several inches off line. Kagura anchored herself and increased the katana’s weight, but the correction still slowed her long enough for the Biotsavartian to avoid the strike.

He shortened his weapon and swept it beneath her guard.

The gravity-user sprang backward. The shifting blade passed beneath her before lengthening after her in the middle of its swing.

She twisted aside by inches and, for several seconds, steel and black sand flashed across the beach.

Kagura’s technique was cleaner. She wasted no movement and struck only when a path appeared. Lodestar lacked her training, but his weapon refused to follow conventional rules. It shortened before she could trap it, lengthened during counterattacks, and dissolved around her katana whenever she committed too heavily to a block.

He also continued interfering with her sword directly.

Kagura corrected each magnetic pull by altering the gravity around her katana, but every adjustment demanded concentration. She was forced to manage her own weight, Lodestar’s restraint, the pressure on her blade, and the timing of every attack.

Her breathing gradually became more audible.

The Mermaid Heel wizard thrust her free hand toward the ground beneath him. “Gravity Change: Threefold!” The sand around Lodestar’s feet compressed, trapping both legs nearly to the ankles.

Kagura lightened herself and rushed toward his exposed side. Instead of meeting her blade directly, Lodestar released the rigid shape of his weapon. Iron sand flowed around his body and formed a broad shield moments before her katana struck.

She increased the weapon’s weight and the dark barrier bent against Lodestar’s shoulder, but he allowed the particles to flex rather than break. Her katana slid along the curved surface and struck the sand beside him. Kagura retreated before he could counter, though the effort left her breathing harder as a faint sheen of sweat had formed across her forehead.

Lodestar reformed his sword and advanced with a direct overhead strike.

Kagura caught the Iron Sand Sword near its center. Their weapons locked between them as Lodestar pressed downward.

“Gravity Increase: Twofold!” Her katana became heavier.

Lodestar’s iron blade bent beneath the pressure, and the field pinning his legs strengthened as Kagura committed more magic to controlling him. She believed she had trapped the unstable weapon.

Lodestar grinned.

The Iron Sand Sword collapsed.

Instead of resisting her katana, it separated into dozens of dark ribbons. Black grains streamed around the steel from both sides, coiling over the blade and guard like living bands. She pulled backward, but the particles followed.

“Gravity Increase… Threefold!” Kagura increased the katana’s gravity, anchoring it against Lodestar’s magnetic pull.

As a result, the pressure around his legs weakened and he tore one foot free, then the other.

Kagura’s eyes widened as she realized the exchange had been deliberate.

Lodestar rotated his claw and the katana ripped free from Kagura’s hands. It stopped midair beside her right shoulder, suspended within his magnetic field. At the same moment, the iron ribbons released her blade and rushed back toward his opposite claw.

They reformed into a shorter sword, and its dark point stopped several inches from Kagura’s left shoulder. She stood between the two weapons, breathing heavily but steadily. Her katana hovered on one side, while Lodestar’s improvised blade waited on the other.

For a quiet moment, only the waves moved.

Kagura looked from one weapon to the other before lowering her head.

“I yield.”

Lodestar lowered the Iron Sand Sword immediately. Kagura’s katana rotated in the air and drifted toward her hilt-first. She accepted it with both hands.

Meanwhile, the dark blade in Lodestar’s claw lost its shape as the iron particles fell harmlessly back onto the beach, carrying the rusted fragments and broken hooks with them.

Wendy hurried down from the dunes before the grains had settled. “That was incredible!”

Carla followed. “It was also unnecessarily alarming.”

Lodestar glanced toward her. “You’re still stuck on the head thing, aren’t you?”

“Your head rolled across the beach.”

“It came back.”

Kagura wiped the katana carefully before sliding it into its sheath. Her breathing was beginning to settle, though a thoughtful intensity remained in her eyes.

Lodestar tapped the Omnitrix dial and green light filled the beach as Ben instantaneously returned to his human form.

Ben looked toward Kagura, grinning. “I’d say that was a good match.”

Kagura regarded him silently for a moment. “Your swordsmanship was unrefined.”

His grin faltered. “You could’ve started with the good stuff.”

“But your weapon was impossible to predict,” she continued. “You entered the match without a blade and created one from the beach. Then you changed its form whenever conventional techniques would have defeated you.”

Wendy nodded eagerly. “The way it kept bending and coming back together was amazing.”

Kagura’s gaze remained on Ben. “Your ability to adapt is quite dangerous.”

Ben’s confidence returned. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

Carla floated beside him. “Usually from people attempting to explain why your reckless improvisation happened to succeed.”

“It’s only reckless if it doesn’t work.”

Kagura’s mouth softened into the faintest smile as Ben and Carla resumed their familiar banter.

Wendy moved closer to Kagura, excitement in her eyes. “Your Gravity Magic was amazing, Miss Kagura!”

“P-Please. Kagura is fine. As for my magic, I am still developing it,” Kagura admitted. “Maintaining several changes at once requires more concentration than it should.”

“Hey, you still knocked Lodestar’s head off,” Ben pointed out.

Wendy turned toward him with a horrified frown. “Stop saying that like it was a good thing!”

“What? It was a good hit.”

“Please, stop!”

Ben raised both hands. “Fine. It was a great hit that nobody should ever try again without warning.”

Carla’s ears flattened. “An improvement, though only barely.”

…

Night began settling over Seablossom by the time the quartet left the beach. The last orange light had faded from the water, leaving the sheltered bay dark blue beneath a rising scatter of stars, while lacrima-lamps flickered to life along the waterfront streets.

Wendy walked between Ben and Kagura, still excited from the sparring match. “When the iron sand wrapped around Kagura’s sword, I thought she was going to make it too heavy for you to move.”

“That was the idea,” Kagura replied. “I failed to realize Ben was encouraging me to divide my concentration.”

Ben shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “The best tricks are the ones your opponent helps set up.”

Carla hovered near Wendy’s shoulder. “You were nearly pinned beneath three separate gravitational spells.”

“Nearly,” the teen hero emphasized. “That’s the important part.”

The Mermaid Heel wizard’s mouth curved by the smallest degree. “Your confidence recovered quickly after your head rolled into a tide pool.”

Ben’s expression flattened. Wendy covered a laugh with one hand, while Carla looked toward Kagura with newfound approval.

“Okay,” he muttered. “I liked it better when you were too serious to make jokes.”

They followed Kagura away from the quieter eastern district and into the heart of Seablossom. The waterfront remained lively despite the late hour, with restaurants spilling warm light across the streets and musicians playing near flower-covered terraces. Preparations for the Tide Festival had already begun. Blue-and-white ribbons hung between buildings, wooden frames for food stalls lined the central avenue, and workers raised lanterns shaped like seashells and curling waves above the streets.

Wendy turned in a circle as she walked, eyes shining. “It’s already beautiful, and the festival hasn’t even started.”

“The city takes the celebration seriously,” Kagura explained. “By tomorrow evening, most of the waterfront will be decorated. The festival brings visitors from throughout Fiore. And Mermaid Heel’s performance is traditionally one of the final events.”

Wendy brightened. “Will you be performing too?”

Kagura’s step faltered by a fraction. “That has not been decided.”

Ben noticed the careful answer but chose not to press. Kagura continued along the waterfront until she stopped before an elegant five-story hotel built from pale stone and dark-blue timber.

A gold sign above the entrance read, The Mother Pearl Inn. Broad balconies overlooked the bay from every floor, while flowering vines curled around white columns supporting the covered entrance.

“This place looks nice…and expensive,” Ben observed.

“It is well regarded,” Kagura said. “Mermaid Heel maintains an arrangement with the owners. Guild members and their guests are offered reduced rates.”

The lobby carried the faint scents of polished wood, sea air, and fresh flowers. A crystal chandelier hung above a tiled floor patterned like curling waves, while cushioned chairs and low tables occupied a sitting area beside tall windows facing the harbor. The woman behind the front desk greeted Kagura by name. After a brief conversation, she produced a room key and explained that a large room with two beds and a balcony was available on the third floor.

Kagura removed the pouch containing her share of the pirate bounty.

Ben caught her wrist. “Hold up. You don’t have to pay for us.” Kagura looked down at his hand and then back at him. Ben released her, raising both palms to show that he meant no offense. “You already helped us fight the pirates,” he continued. “And sparring was fun. You don’t owe us a hotel room for it.”

“I requested the match,” she replied. “You gave me valuable experience and revealed weaknesses in my concentration that I need to correct. Consider the room my thanks for the lesson.”

“It wasn’t exactly a lesson. You knocked my head off and tried to flatten me.”

“That made it especially valuable.”

Ben opened his mouth, but Carla cut in. “Refusing sincere hospitality after it has been freely offered would be discourteous.”

He stared at her. “You usually tell me not to let people spend money on unnecessary things.”

“This is comfortable lodging in an unfamiliar city, not another plate of pastries or some fruit drink.”

“Again, I fought pirates. That takes up calories.”

She sighed. “And you continue to use that excuse.”

Wendy touched Ben lightly on the sleeve. “Kagura really wants to do this. We can thank her properly.”

Ben looked between the three girls and recognized that the argument had already been decided without him. He released a long breath and stepped away from the counter. “Fine,” he conceded. “But breakfast is on us.”

Kagura handed the money to the receptionist. “That is acceptable.”

Once the room had been secured, the four of them moved into the sitting area while a porter carried Ben and Wendy’s packs upstairs. Beyond the wide windows, moonlight shimmered across the sheltered bay, turning the distant beaches pale silver. Small campfires dotted the shoreline here and there, their orange glow flickering against the dark water.

Wendy paused beside the glass. “Do people usually swim this late?”

“Not usually,” Kagura replied. “Sharks become more active after dark.” Her gaze shifted toward the scattered lights along the beach. “People still gather there, though. Depending on the evening, they build fires, eat, or remain by the shore after sunset.”

“Speaking of beaches,” Ben said, dropping into one of the chairs, “we should go tomorrow. That was half the reason we came to Seablossom in the first place.”

Wendy turned from the window with excitement. “Can we?”

“Sure. We stopped a pirate attack, got paid, and nobody opened an ancient prison today. I’d say we earned a beach day.”

Carla’s ears twitched. “Please do not establish that as the standard for an uneventful day.”

Ben looked toward Kagura. “You could come with us. Since you know the city, you can make sure we don’t accidentally pick the beach with hidden sea monsters.”

The purple-haired girl blinked. “You would like me to accompany you?”

“Yeah. You can be our guide.” He shrugged casually. “Unless you’ve got guild business.”

Kagura hesitated. Fighting beside strangers and testing herself in a spar were familiar territory. Spending an entire morning at the beach simply because she had been invited was considerably less so.

Wendy stepped closer, clasping her hands together hopefully. “It would be more fun if you came too.”

Kagura met the younger girl’s warm brown eyes, which held pure innocence and a clear hopefulness that she would agree to join them. Her reserve held for only another moment before her expression softened.

“I would be pleased to show you the bay,” she agreed.

Wendy’s smile brightened. “Really?”

Kagura nodded. “The western beach has the calmest water, and there are several places nearby where we can eat.”

“Perfect.” Ben leaned back. “We’ll just need to stop at a clothing store first.”

Kagura tilted her head slightly. “Why?”

“I don’t have any swim trunks.” He gestured down at himself. “Unless everyone wants me showing up in my underwear.”

Silence fell over the sitting area.

Wendy’s face turned bright red, Kagura stiffened as her face turned slightly pink, while Carla’s ears flattened sharply.

“You will purchase proper swimwear,” Carla said.

“That’s what I just suggested.”

“You could have suggested it without forcing that image into everyone’s mind.”

Ben frowned. “They’re just briefs.”

“Ben!” Wendy squeaked.

He raised both hands. “Okay, fine.”

Wendy then looked down at her own dress, her embarrassment gradually giving way to realization. “Actually, I don’t have a swimsuit either. I didn’t think we’d be traveling anywhere near the ocean when we left Cait Shelter.”

Carla glanced down at her small dress and pink bow. “Neither do I.”

Ben looked toward her. “Do they even make cat swimsuits?”

“Not likely. So it would need to be custom tailored.”

“Or you could just buy one made for little kids.”

Carla’s eyes narrowed. “Suggest that again, and I will demonstrate how effectively these paws can rearrange a human face.”

Ben grinned while leaning away. “Custom tailored it is.”

Their attention shifted toward Kagura who remained turned slightly away from Ben, though a faint shade of pink still colored her cheeks.

“I also lack suitable swimwear,” she admitted.

Ben blinked. “Really? Don’t you live here though? Haven’t you ever gone swimming?”

Kagura hesitated, her fingers tightening around the sheath at her hip. “I…I have been occupied with training and guild responsibilities. Swimming at the beach simply never seemed important.”

The answer was delivered evenly enough, but Ben caught the brief pause before it. There was probably more behind her avoidance than a busy schedule, though the guarded look in her eyes made it clear she did not want to explain.

He decided to leave it alone.

“Then it’s settled.” He nodded toward the street beyond the hotel entrance. “Tomorrow morning, we find a swimsuit shop and then hit the beach.”

Kagura regained most of her composure and considered the plan. “There are several clothing stores in town. I can meet you here after breakfast and take you to one.”

Wendy glowed with anticipation. “I can’t wait.”

“You should sleep before deciding that,” Carla said. “Today has already included a pirate attack and Ben’s temporary decapitation.”

Ben groaned. “Maybe we should move past that now.”

“You were the one who kept bringing it up.”

Kagura inclined her head toward them. “Then I will return in the morning.”

Wendy stepped forward, smiling warmly. “Good night, Kagura. Thank you for the room, and for agreeing to come with us tomorrow.”

“Of course.” Kagura’s expression softened slightly. “Good night, Wendy.”

Her gaze shifted toward the others. “Good night, Carla. Ben.” When her eyes settled on Ben, a faint trace of amusement returned. “And try to keep your head attached until morning.”

Wendy burst into laughter. Even Carla failed to hide the satisfaction in her expression.

Ben recovered and gave her a crooked grin. “No promises.”

As Kagura turned and crossed the lobby toward the entrance, Ben pointed at her. “See, you two are a terrible influence.”

Carla lifted her chin. “On the contrary, I believe she is learning remarkably quickly.”

…

The Mermaid Heel guild hall occupied a broad section of land beside one of Seablossom’s central avenues. Its brick headquarters stood within a moat of dark water, reached by a lowered drawbridge leading directly to the entrance. Narrow streams poured from stone drains in the outer walls, feeding the moat with a steady murmur. A tall banner bearing Mermaid Heel’s emblem stirred beside the building. Above the roof towered an enormous stone mermaid, her raised body supported by both arms while her long tail curved overhead.

Music, laughter, and raised voices spilled through the doors before Kagura reached them. Inside, shell-shaped lamps cast warm light across the broad common room, blue banners hung between pale columns, and Mermaid Heel’s pink emblem dominated the wall above the request board.

Tide Festival preparations had spread across nearly every table. Members painted shells, cut ribbons, argued over parade costumes, and wagered on a paper-fish-folding competition that had already produced several accusations of sabotage.

Near the entrance, a tall young woman with a lean, athletic build sat sideways on a bench with an odachi laid across her knees. Its long black sheath was decorated with angular gold bands and a dark tassel, and she polished its lacquered surface with a folded cloth rather than drawing the blade. Black hair fell past her waist from a high ponytail, with several long strands framing her face. A sleeveless white coat edged in gold hung nearly to her ankles over a layered black wrap top and loose hakama-style trousers. Black-and-gold guards covered her forearms and the backs of her hands, while Mermaid Heel’s black guild mark stood out on her right upper arm.

This was Maren Kurogane, Mermaid Heel’s only S-Class Wizard.

(A/N: Provided by BàlintM)

A ceramic sake flask rested unopened beside her as two younger guild members lay sprawled across the floor at her feet. One stared blankly at the ceiling from within a shallow depression in the floorboards. The other clung to a wooden practice sword whose tip remained pinned beneath an invisible weight.

“Mikazuchi-san,” the woman called without looking up. “Your left foot isn’t trying to murder the floor.”

Kagura stopped. “Sensei?”

“You usually walk as though the ground has personally insulted you.” Maren drew the cloth down the sheath. “Tonight, you’re barely punishing it.”

“Nothing about my stride has changed, Sensei.”

One of the exhausted trainees lifted her head. “It does look a little less—”

Kagura’s hazel eyes shifted toward her.

The trainee sank back into the dent. “I have lost the strength to complete that sentence.”

“Wise,” Maren said approvingly.

Her gaze finally lifted and swept across Kagura with the sharpness she usually reserved for correcting a stance. Sand clung to the hem of her violet skirt, fresh abrasions marked her sheath, and her hand rested beside the katana rather than gripping it.

“You fought someone.”

Kagura touched the damaged sheath. “I sparred with another wizard.”

“And enjoyed yourself, clearly.”

“It… was a productive exchange.”

Maren’s mouth curved. “That means yes.”

The second trainee opened her mouth, met Kagura’s gaze, and promptly pretended to lose consciousness.

Maren set the cloth across one knee. “Did you win?”

“No. I yielded after he disarmed me.”

Several nearby conversations faltered.

Maren’s eyebrows rose. Few wizards Kagura’s age could match her directly, and fewer still could make her concede without rendering her unable to continue.

“What kind of magic?”

“Take Over. The form he assumed could manipulate metal through magnetism. I used Gravity Magic to resist him, but I divided my concentration between anchoring myself, securing my katana, and restraining his movement.” Kagura’s expression tightened. “He adapted before I could redistribute my magic.”

Maren tapped one finger against the sheath. “Too many points of control. He only needed one of them to fail.”

The purple-haired girl lowered her gaze briefly toward her weapon. “I understand.”

“I know.” Maren resumed polishing. “You’ll still spend half the night inventing seven counters when two would be enough.”

Kagura did not deny it. Praise from her teacher rarely arrived directly, but she had trained beneath her long enough to recognize it.

Maren gave the sheath one final pass. “So, who was he?”

Kagura’s eyes narrowed. “Is that relevant?”

One trainee cracked open an eye while the other slowly turned her head.

Maren’s smile widened. “You fought a boy on the beach and returned in the best mood I’ve seen you in for months.”

“I am not in an unusual mood.”

“Of course not.”

“I need to speak with Risley.”

“About him?”

“No.”

“That sounded rehearsed.”

“It was not.”

“Even better.”

“Sensei.”

Maren leaned forward over the odachi with exaggerated innocence. “What? It’s healthy for you to meet new people. Especially people who can keep up with you.”

“There is nothing unusual about our acquaintance.”

“Then you won’t mind telling me his name.”

“… Ben.”

“Ben,” Maren repeated thoughtfully.

“Do not start.”

“Oh, I haven’t started anything.” Maren’s teasing expression softened. “I’m teasing you because you came home happy, little sister. It has been a while since anything outside training managed that.”

That observation unsettled Kagura far more than the teasing. “The spar was instructive.”

Maren’s knowing smile returned. “I’m sure it was.”

Kagura turned around. “I’m going to speak with Risley now.”

“Try not to frighten her,” Maren called after her. “You’re already walking strangely.”

Kagura continued without responding.

Maren watched her go, one eyebrow lifting when that same uncharacteristic ease returned to her stride. Once Kagura had moved beyond comfortable hearing distance, she looked down at the trainees.

“Hey! Which one of you knows whether Risley has heard about this Ben yet?”

Both girls sat upright with miraculous speed.

At a table near the request board, was a teenage girl with thick black curls that fell to her shoulder blades beneath a broad cream-colored headband. She wore flowing blue dance attire edged with white geometric trim, short amber sleeves, and a necklace of pale fang-shaped charms. She was sorting through festival schedules and performance assignments into neat stacks between bites of fruit cake. Three empty dessert plates had been pushed aside, while a fourth held a slice large enough to suggest the seventeen-year-old had no intention of stopping soon.

Lounging across from her was another teenage girl, younger by a few years, with one long leg draped over the armrest. Thick light-green curls framed her youthful face and naturally mischievous expression. Fitted brown shorts beneath a layered green skirt, a sleeveless tan top patterned with pale strands, silver forearm guards, and round blue earrings completed her web-themed outfit.

A fine strand of magic shimmered between her fingers. She shaped it into a palm-sized web, tugged the outer threads into place, then frowned when the center sagged crookedly.

“Risley, it keeps leaning.”

Risley studied it over the edge of her fork. “Your left anchor is lower than the right.”

“I did that deliberately. It gives it character.”

“It looks tired.”

“Maybe it just reflects my relaxed and carefree spirit.”

“Your carefree spirit still needs proper support, Araña.” Risley reached across the table and adjusted one strand. The web immediately drew taut, its center settling into neat symmetry.

Araña puffed out one cheek. “You could at least pretend my version was daring.”

Risley opened her mouth to retort, but the words died as Kagura stopped beside their table.

“Risley, I require your advice.”

The ravenette’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. Across from her, Araña’s magical thread snapped with a faint twang.

After a brief silence, Risley carefully lowered the fork. “Of course, Kagura. What do you need?”

“Which shop in Seablossom sells suitable swimwear?”

Risley stared at her. Araña slowly removed her leg from the armrest and sat upright.

“For you?” Risley asked.

Kagura’s expression tightened slightly. “That… was implied.”

Araña leaned across the table. “Are you going swimming, chica?”

Kagura’s answer came after the slightest pause. “I agreed to visit the bay tomorrow.”

Risley and Araña exchanged a look. It lasted less than a second, but Kagura recognized it immediately as an entire conversation conducted without her participation.

“Coral Stitch would be your best option,” Risley said, recovering first. “It’s near the central market, across from the fountain with the stone mermaid.”

“Do they carry practical swimsuits?” Kagura asked. “Something that permits unrestricted movement, even if one loses their footing?”

“Most swimsuits are unrestrictive, chica.” Araña deadpanned.

Risley added. “They carry all sorts of clothing. Adult and children’s sizes, and custom tailoring. I’m sure you can find something there you like.”

Kagura nodded. “Thank you.” She turned to leave.

“Are you going alone?” Risley asked with feigned casualness.

Kagura stopped. “No.”

“With guild members?” Araña pressed.

“No.”

The conversation at the nearest table abruptly quieted. A woman painting seashells continued moving her brush despite no longer watching what she was doing.

Risley folded her hands beside her cake. “Who are you meeting?”

“Three people I met aboard the Sea Lily. I agreed to show them around.”

Araña counted the details on her fingers. “You returned unusually relaxed, asked where to purchase a swimsuit, and are meeting mysterious travelers at the beach.”

“Those facts are unrelated, Araña.”

“They appear magnificently related, chica.”

Several more conversations faded around them. Risley sent the listening guild members a warning look, but that only caused them to pretend to be occupied more enthusiastically. One wizard shuffled an empty deck of cards, while another raised an upside-down mug to her lips.

“Are these the travelers who helped capture that pirate crew today?” Risley asked.

“Yes.”

Araña’s eyes gleamed. “Who are they?”

Kagura considered refusing, but withholding their names would only encourage Araña to keep asking.

“Wendy and Carla. Two wizards from the Cait Shelter guild.”

“Never heard of that guild.”

“It is a small and remote,” Kagura replied.

“And the third?”

“Ben. An independent wizard.”

Araña’s attention sharpened immediately. “Ben?”

Kagura realized too late that she had supplied the only information Araña truly wanted.

The younger girl leaned back, looking deeply satisfied. “Interesting. Kagura is spending the day at the beach with a boy.”

“A boy, a girl, and a cat,” Kagura firmly corrected.

“Very interesting.”

“There is nothing interesting about it.”

Risley reclaimed her fork with a quiet sigh. “Kagura, telling Araña something is not interesting only convinces her that it is.”

Before Kagura could respond, the laughter nearest the staircase died.

Silence traveled outward table by table. Arguments ceased, festival preparations slowed, and even the guild members pretending not to listen straightened in their seats.

A lovely woman in her early thirties stood upon the upper gallery overlooking the common room. Her pearl-white hair, touched by the faintest hint of blue, fell over the shoulders of a long white guild coat. Beneath it, she wore a fitted dark-teal battle dress with silver bracers and delicate pearl ornaments that caught the warm lamplight.

This was Marielle Azure, the guildmaster of Mermaid Heel.

(A/N: Provided by Masamune X23)

Her aquamarine eyes settled upon Kagura. “Kagura. My office, please.”

Araña leaned closer to Risley. “She has been caught.”

“Stop being dramatic,” Risley whispered.

Near the entrance, Maren continued polishing her odachi’s sheath without looking up. “Azure doesn’t summon people for purchasing swimsuits.”

Kagura ignored them and crossed toward the staircase.

…

Marielle’s office overlooked Seablossom through a set of tall windows. Beyond the glass, moonlight shimmered across the water while ships moved slowly between the docks, their lights appearing one by one.

Maps of Fiore and the Ishgar peninsula covered one wall, marked with shipping routes, hazard zones, and pins denoting recent guild activity. Orderly cabinets held completed contracts, guild records, and training evaluations, each labeled in Marielle’s precise hand. Pearl decorations and carved ocean motifs softened the room’s military neatness.

Marielle stood behind a broad desk, where a sealed folder rested beside an official message bearing the crest of the Rune Knights.

“The Knights informed me of the incident aboard the Sea Lily. Captain Black and his crew have troubled the sea for several years.”

Kagura stood straight. “Their ship has been seized, and the crew is in custody.”

“So I was told. Well done.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Marielle’s calm gaze moved briefly over Kagura’s clothing, taking in the sand clinging to her sandals and the fresh marks along her sheath.

“Your scabbard took quite the punishment. Did those pirates give you trouble?”

Kagura glanced down at the scuffs as though noticing them for the first time. “No. This occurred afterward.”

“Oh?” Marielle folded her hands. “What happened?”

“I sparred with one of the wizards who assisted me against the pirate crew.”

One of Marielle’s brows lifted slightly. “Which one?”

“The Take-Over wizard. Ben Tennyson.”

“I believe I recall him in the report. The one who wasn’t affiliated with any guild?”

“Yes.”

“And the condition of your scabbard suggests it was not a casual exchange.”

“He possessed a transformation capable of manipulating metal,” Kagura explained. “He adapted to my technique and eventually disarmed me.”

Marielle studied her for a moment. Kagura offered the admission without embarrassment or excuse, but there was none of the frustration that usually accompanied a defeat either.

“You yielded?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

Kagura’s expression remained composed. “It was an instructive spar.”

“So I can see.”

There was something faintly knowing in Marielle’s tone, though she did not pursue the subject. Instead, she moved around the desk and stopped before the coastal map covering the wall.

“And your original purpose for traveling south?” she asked. “Were you able to learn anything concerning your older brother?”

Kagura lowered her head, her brows creasing. “No. The information I received led to another dead end.”

The guildmaster’s expression softened. “I’m sorry.”

Kagura lowered her gaze briefly. “There is no need to apologize, Master. I will continue searching.”

“I know you will.” Marielle returned to the desk. “But I also know how easily determination can become obsession when someone has lived with unanswered questions for too long.”

Kagura’s fingers tightened at her side. “I have not allowed it to interfere with my duties.”

“No, you haven’t. That does not mean it has not taken something from you.”

Kagura said nothing.

The white-haired woman then rested one hand upon the sealed folder lying near the Rune Knight message. “In any case, I was not planning to send you away again immediately. You have only just returned, and the Tide Festival will require several of our members to remain within Seablossom.”

Kagura looked toward the folder. “Is there another assignment?”

“A request arrived shortly before sunset.” Marielle drew it closer but kept the seal turned away from Kagura. “It will not require you to leave the city.”

“That is unusually convenient.”

“Convenient is not the word I would use.”

Kagura’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is this request dangerous?”

“Possibly.” Marielle’s fingers rested atop the folder. “Though the greater concern may be what they claim to have seen along the town’s coast.”

…

While Kagura remained upstairs, Araña had already reconstructed the entire evening from several confirmed facts, twice as many assumptions, and absolutely no sense of restraint.

“So,” she began, “Kagura met mysterious travelers. One of them is a guy.”

Risley continued sorting festival schedules into neat stacks. “His name is Ben.”

“She challenged him to a dramatic sword duel on the beach.”

“It was a spar.”

“He transformed into a metal monster and tore her sword from her hands. And then he invited her to the beach.”

Other Mermaid Heel members gathered around the table had begun contributing. What started as discreet eavesdropping rapidly became an unofficial guild meeting.

“She should wear purple,” one woman suggested. “It matches her hair.”

“Too predictable,” another argued. “Red would be daring.”

A third wizard leaned over the back of Risley’s chair with a thoughtful frown. “Does this Ben like ruffles?”

Risley looked up from the schedules. “No one knows what Ben likes.”

“Then we need more research.” Araña flicked her wrist, sending a web strand across the table to snag a blank sheet of paper. She pulled it toward herself and reached for a pen. “Let’s make a list.”

“Before any of you write something that gets you buried beneath the guild hall, move over.”

The gathered women parted as Maren stepped into the circle with her sheathed odachi resting across one shoulder. Her earlier sake flask was now open in her free hand and faint warmth colored her cheeks.

Araña looked up at her. “Do you know something, Maren?”

“I know more than you do,” Maren replied before taking an unhurried drink. “I also know Kagura will hear all of you from upstairs if you keep shouting about ruffles.”

Several women lowered their voices at once.

Maren rested the end of her odachi against the floor. “She lost a fight, understood why she lost, and came home happier than I’ve seen her in months. That is good for her.”

She then pointed the mouth of the flask around the circle. “So none of you are going to surround her, interrogate this Ben guy, choose her clothing without permission, or transform one visit to the bay into a wedding procession.”

Araña held the pen above the blank page. “Those restrictions are remarkably specific.”

“I know this guild.”

One of the nearby women slowly lowered a string of decorative pearls she had been arranging like a bridal veil.

Araña leaned over the page again. “Are we still permitted to offer suggestions at least?”

Maren took another drink. “Only practical ones.”

Araña’s smile brightened. “So the list is approved.”

“The list is tolerated. Kagura chooses her own swimsuit.”

“That’s fair.”

“And no hearts around Ben’s name.”

Araña placed one hand over her chest. “You wound me.”

Risley concealed a smile behind her fork.

Maren began to turn away, only to pause and look back at the page. “Add a reminder that Kagura is not allowed to turn the outing into sword practice either.”

Araña wrote it down. “Good contribution, Maren.”

“And she must remain there for at least two hours before inventing an excuse to return to the guild.”

Risley raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like interference.”

Maren’s mouth curved into an unapologetic grin. “I’m her teacher. Interference is part of the job.”

“You’re really enjoying this, Maren,” Risley observed.

“My little sister voluntarily agreed to spend a day at the beach instead of training until her hands bleed.” Maren raised the flask in a small toast toward the staircase. “I’m celebrating her personal growth.”

Araña tapped the end of the pen against her chin. “What if she becomes nervous and leaves early?”

“She won’t.”

“What if the boy is suspicious?”

“Kagura wouldn’t have agreed to spend a day with him if he was.”

“What if he breaks her sword?”

“He already took it from her once and survived.” Maren’s grin widened slightly. “I’m beginning to like him.”

Araña’s eyes gleamed. “Then perhaps someone should observe the outing to ensure everything proceeds properly.”

Maren’s expression flattened. “No.”

“Discreetly.”

“No.”

“From a respectful distance.”

Maren took another drink.

Araña leaned closer. “Without interfering.”

Maren lowered the flask and regarded her in silence. “You have no idea how to observe anything discreetly.”

“Hey! I can be stealthy!”

“You announced the entire theory loud enough for the kitchen staff to hear.”

From across the hall, someone called, “We agree about the purple swimsuit!”

Maren stared at her.

Risley quietly returned to organizing her papers. “She is going to follow them regardless of what you say.”

“I know,” Maren muttered.

Araña’s smile became radiant.

Maren pointed the sake flask directly at her. “If any of you happen to find yourselves visiting the same beach tomorrow, stay out of Kagura’s way. Got it?”

Several members nodded in acknowledgement. 

By the time the door to Azure’s office opened, the handwritten sheet resting before Araña bore the title:

Kagura’s Beach Outing Requirements

Suggested swimsuits occupied the first several lines, though Maren’s warning had resulted in each option being followed by the words Kagura decides. Sunscreen, towels, food, spare clothing, and “casual conversational topics that do not involve swords, Gravity Magic, revenge, or criminal activity” followed beneath them.

Ben’s name had been circled near the top with three question marks. A small heart sat beside it.

Kagura descended the stairs carrying the sealed quest file beneath one arm.

The guild hall fell unnaturally silent.

Every member turned away too quickly and began pretending to be occupied. One woman raised an upside-down book and studied it with great concentration, while another polished the same spotless section of table in increasingly frantic circles. The wizard who had been holding the decorative pearls hastily stuffed them beneath her chair.

Kagura stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Her gaze traveled slowly across the common room. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Risley answered, her smile far too innocent to be credible.

Araña’s magical thread remained attached to the list. Without moving anything except two fingers, she began drawing the paper toward herself.

The page slid perhaps three inches before Kagura noticed it.

Her eyes settled on the title first and then traveled through the suggestions. They lingered briefly on the rule forbidding sword-related conversation before finally stopping on Ben’s circled name and the small heart beside it.

Kagura’s expression remained calm. “Araña.”

The young girl froze. Her thread retracted another cautious inch. “Sí?”

“Run.”

Araña launched herself out of the chair with a startled yelp. Her web caught one of the ceiling beams and pulled her into a swift arc over the nearest table just as Kagura reached for her. Festival papers scattered in her wake, guild members dove aside, and three women hurriedly threw themselves over the desserts to protect them from the pursuit.

“Chica, we were only trying to help!” Araña cried as she swung toward the opposite side of the hall.

“You drew a heart beside his name!”

“It was an accident!”

“I doubt that!”

Araña released the strand, landed on the back of a bench, and immediately sprang away as Kagura vaulted after her. The guild erupted into cheers, laughter, and unsolicited advice concerning possible escape routes.

Risley folded forward over the table, laughing too hard to intervene.

Near the entrance, Maren watched Kagura clear a bench without breaking stride. She took another drink from her sake flask, her dark eyes bright with amusement.

“There she is,” Maren murmured proudly. “Normal walk’s back.”

…

Morning light poured through the front windows of the Mother Pearl Inn, warming the polished floorboards as the breakfast crowd gradually thinned around them. By the time Ben, Wendy, and Carla finished eating, only a handful of guests remained scattered among the tables.

Ben pushed his empty plate away, leaning back with a satisfied sigh. “Okay, I officially take back at least half the bad things I’ve ever said about hotel breakfasts.”

Carla delicately dabbed the corner of her mouth. “You complimented the smell before you even sat down.”

“Yeah, because it smelled good. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t expecting three berries, a decorative leaf, and something called an ‘artisan portion.’” He gestured toward the plates that had once held eggs, warm bread, fruit, and strips of seasoned fish. “That was a real breakfast.”

Wendy giggled as she adjusted the small traveling bag beside her chair. She had dressed for the warm weather in a light-blue sleeveless top and a knee-length white skirt, her long blue hair tied loosely back with a pale green ribbon. “Kagura said she would meet us outside after breakfast. Maybe we should go down.”

“We still have several minutes, child,” Carla reminded her.

“I know.” Wendy smiled a little sheepishly. “I just don’t want Kagura waiting on us.”

Ben pushed back his chair and stood. “After yesterday? I’m betting Kagura’s the kind of person who shows up ten minutes early and still considers that exactly on time.”

Carla summoned her white wings and shot him a skeptical look. “You have known her for less than a day. That is hardly enough time to make reliable judgments about her habits.”

He glanced toward her. “And?”

“And you are guessing.”

“Educated guessing.” He pointed at Carla as they started toward the door. “See? You said that way too seriously, which means you know I’m probably right.”

“I know no such thing,” Carla huffed.

The three stepped through the hotel’s front doors and into a Seablossom already alive beneath a flawless blue sky. Festival ribbons fluttered between the buildings, shopkeepers rolled open colorful awnings, and workers continued assembling stages along the waterfront while the scents of salt, fresh bread, cut lumber, and flowering vines mingled in the warm breeze rolling off the bay.

Sure enough, Kagura was already waiting for them.

Ben slowed just enough to shoot Carla a smug sideways glance. “See? Told you.”

Her ears twitched. “Do not become insufferable about this.”

“Too late,” Wendy said with a giggle.

Kagura stood near the edge of the hotel’s shaded veranda with her long purple hair still in a ponytail. She wore a short-sleeved lavender wrap blouse crossed neatly over her torso and was secured beneath a dark violet sash, while a charcoal skirt fell to just below her knees, flat black sandals on her feet, and her katana at her left hip. A modest dark bag hung from one shoulder.

Wendy’s face lit up. “Good morning, Kagura!”

Kagura turned toward them. “Good morning, Wendy.”

“Were you waiting long?” Wendy asked as she hurried down the final step.

“No. I was worried I may have arrived too late.”

Ben knew that she was roughly ten minutes early, but wisely kept that observation to himself.

Wendy clasped her hands. “Thank you again for agreeing to come with us.”

“You do not need to thank me again. I agreed voluntarily.”

“Hey, that almost sounded enthusiastic,” Ben observed.

Kagura’s eyes moved toward him. “It was a statement of fact.”

“Sure.”

Carla hovered beside Wendy and offered Kagura a polite nod. “We appreciate you guiding us. Seablossom is larger than the towns we usually visit.”

“It is easy to lose your way,” Kagura acknowledged. She adjusted the strap of the bag resting against her side. “Before we visit the bay, however, we should stop at Coral Stitch.”

Wendy tilted her head. “That’s the swimsuit shop, right?”

“Yes.” The answer came quickly, but a faint stiffness entered Kagura’s shoulders.

Ben noticed the subtle change, but chose not to comment.

Kagura turned toward the street and resumed walking. “A guildmate recommended it. The shop carries clothing designed for all water-based activities.

“You somehow make buying swimsuits sound like we’re gearing up for a mission,” Ben remarked.

“Clothing worn in moving water should be secure, durable, and allow unrestricted movement,” Kagura replied without hesitation.

A knowing smirk tugging at Ben’s mouth. “Yep. There it is.”

Wendy covered a giggle as she fell into step beside Kagura and Ben.

…

The four of them appeared to not notice the wide-brimmed hat slowly rising above a row of flower boxes across the street. Beneath it, a pair of oversized dark glasses concealed very little of Araña’s eyes or the thick light-green curls spilling around her face. She crouched behind a cart with one hand braced against its side and the other holding a taut strand of magical webbing connected to an awning farther ahead.

“They came out together,” she whispered. “And Kagura came early.”

Risley stood behind her with a woven shopping basket tucked beneath one arm and a light scarf wrapped over her hair. Her disguise would have been reasonably effective had she not been wearing the same dance attire she wore inside the guild almost every day.

“Kagura arrives early for everything.”

Araña lowered her glasses enough to peer over the lenses. “She arrived early to meet a boy.”

“And a girl and her cat,” Risley countered dryly.

Several other Mermaid Heel members clustered behind them in various attempts at concealment. One had hidden most of her face behind an open festival map while holding it upside down. Another wore a hooded cloak despite the growing heat. A third had chosen to disguise herself as a flower merchant… without bringing any flowers.

Maren stood in the middle of them wearing a plain dark traveling cloak over her usual black clothing. The cloak might have helped if the massive black-and-gold odachi strapped across her back did not rise nearly a foot above her head.

She folded her arms. “All of you are terrible at this.”

Araña glanced up at the odachi. “Um, Maren, your sword can be seen from across the street.”

“Maybe. But at least my sword isn’t pretending to be subtle.”

“That rather defeats the purpose of following them secretly,” Risley pointed out.

“I’m not following them.” Maren watched Kagura’s group turn down the next street. “I’m supervising the people who are following them.”

Araña smiled sheepishly. Isn’t that the same thing though?

…

By midmorning, Seablossom Bay was bright with sunlight and the steady rhythm of waves washing over the pale sand. Colorful parasols dotted the busier stretches of shoreline, while farther out, fishing boats and bright-sailed pleasure craft drifted lazily across the water.

After stopping at Coral Stitch and purchasing their swimsuits, Ben, Wendy, Carla, and Kagura had claimed a quieter section of beach. A row of wooden changing booths stood beneath nearby palms.

When Ben finished changing, Carla had ordered Ben to remain with their belongings—Kagura’s katana included—and guard them while the girls changed. He accepted the responsibility with only a minimal amount of sarcasm.

Ben stood barefoot in a simple pair of green swim trunks, a black stripe running down either side. A straw hat with a green band rested comfortably on his head.

He adjusted it, then glanced toward the nearby dunes.

The tip of Maren’s enormous odachi protruded from behind one of them.

A wide sunhat slowly rose beside it, followed by a curtain of green curls and a pair of oversized dark glasses that did absolutely nothing to conceal Araña’s identity. Risley crouched beside her beneath the edge of a beach umbrella, clutching a covered picnic basket, while several other Mermaid Heel members attempted to squeeze behind a rock far too narrow to hide even half of them.

Ben stared at the group for several long seconds.

Araña lifted a small pair of binoculars… and their eyes met across the beach. She gasped and quickly vanished behind the dune.

Ben’s mouth twitched as he tipped the brim of his hat back into place. “Subtle,” he muttered.

He had considered exposing them, but none of the women felt threatening. He had noticed the group following them since meeting up with Kagura. Ben had assumed they were either concerned guildmates or very bad spies. He was leaning heavily toward the second possibility.

A changing-booth door opening interrupted his musings. 

Wendy stepped out first wearing a light green swimsuit with teal panels running along both sides and white stripes crossing the upper section. Secure shoulder straps held everything comfortably in place, while a small, ruffled layer circled her waist over swim shorts.

She took two steps across the sand, then turned back toward the booths. “Carla, are you ready?”

“I have been ready,” Carla’s voice answered, pushing the door open.

Her custom black swim tunic fit neatly around her small body, with white trim following the collar, arm openings, and lower edge. Openings allowed her wings to emerge if needed, while her tail curved comfortably through a small opening at the back. A small red bow rested beneath the collar.

The final changing-booth door opened, and Kagura stepped out with one hand resting lightly against the frame.

She wore a black athletic swimsuit edged in gold piping, with narrow pale-gold bands crossing diagonally beneath a high wrap-style neckline. The shoulders were left open for ease of movement, while fitted black swim shorts formed the lower half beneath a short dark wrap panel that shifted lightly around her upper legs in the sea breeze. Her long purple hair had been gathered into a high ponytail, leaving her shoulders and upper back clear.

For perhaps the first time since they had met her, Kagura looked genuinely uncertain. Her fingers tightened slightly against the doorframe as her gaze moved between Wendy and Carla.

“Do… do I look acceptable?”

Wendy’s face brightened. “It looks really good, Kagura! It suits you perfectly.”

Her shoulders eased by a fraction. “Thank you.”

Carla gave the outfit a measured look before nodding approvingly. “It is practical without sacrificing appearance. A sensible choice.”

Kagura inclined her head in appreciation.

Then, almost simultaneously, all three turned toward Ben expectantly.

For one dangerously long moment, his thoughts deserted him. Years earlier, Ben might have blurted out that they looked nice and assumed the job was finished. Fortunately, Gwen had spent enough time correcting his social disasters that one particular lecture returned with perfect clarity.

“Do not stare, say “you look nice,” and then act as though you deserve an award, doofus. Notice what they chose and tell them why it suits them.”

He looked toward Wendy first. “The green and teal look great with your hair, Wendy,” he said, gesturing toward her. “It’s bright and cheerful just like you, it’s also practical.”

Wendy’s face brightened. “Really?”

“Definitely.” He smiled as she glanced down at the ruffled waist. “Honestly, it fits you perfectly.”

“I thought the colors were pretty too,” she admitted, lightly brushing her fingers across one of the white stripes.

“They are,” he assured her. “You picked well.”

Wendy’s pleased smile grew wider.

Carla cleared her throat with deliberate dignity.

Ben turned toward her before she could accuse him of forgetting. “Yours looks really classy, Carla. The black and white are simple, but the red bow keeps it from looking plain. It’s refined, neat, and just a little intimidating.”

Carla’s ears lifted. “A surprisingly thoughtful assessment,” she said, clearly satisfied.

“It’s basically exactly what I’d expect you to choose.”

She raised her chin another fraction. “Then at least you possess some awareness of proper presentation.”

Wendy giggled. “That means she likes the compliment.”

Carla’s tail flicked, but she did not argue.

Finally, Ben turned toward Kagura. She straightened almost imperceptibly beneath his attention, hazel eyes meeting his even as her fingers brushed once against the edge of the wrap panel at her hip.

“I gotta say, Kagura, black and gold really suit you,” he said, giving her outfit an appreciative look without lingering. “It’s elegant without being flashy, and practical without sacrificing the style. Honestly, it looks exactly like something you’d pick.”

Kagura blinked. She had expected a broad compliment, perhaps one of Ben’s jokes, or even an awkward remark about how she looked. Instead, he had somehow noticed the exact qualities that had guided her decision in the first place.

A faint warmth touched her cheeks before she could suppress it. “T-Thank you,” she replied after the smallest pause, managing to keep her voice composed even as her expression softened by a fraction. “That was precisely my intention.”

Ben silently offered Gwen a long-overdue apology for every time he had rolled his eyes while she explained that “You look nice” was not always enough. Apparently, there really was an art to complimenting a girl’s clothes without sounding clueless.

His grin widened as he gave Kagura a thumbs-up. “Then you nailed it.”

Kagura’s gaze lingered on him for a heartbeat longer than necessary before slipping toward his own beach attire. Without his jacket and shirt, his athletic and muscular figure was on full display.

He was... rather attractive.

The thought arrived with enough clarity that Kagura shoved it aside with the same discipline she used to silence distractions during training. “Y-You appear appropriately dressed as well,” she said, settling on the safest response she could manage.

Ben glanced down at his green swim trunks. “Green trunks and a straw hat. Very complicated selection process.”

“The hat is sensible,” Carla observed. “At least one of you considered protection from the sun.”

Wendy smiled brightly. “It looks good on you.”

“Thanks.” Ben tipped the brim with a small, playful flourish. “I was going for mysterious beach hero.”

Carla looked him over with deliberate scrutiny. “You missed.”

Kagura’s lips shifted into a small smile. She kept her attention fixed firmly on the sea after that, though the faint warmth still lingering in her cheeks made it clear she was giving herself a moment before risking another glance in Ben’s direction.

…

Behind the nearest dune, Araña slowly lowered a pair of binoculars. A nearly invisible strand of magical thread extended from the fingers of her other hand, disappeared beneath the sand, and continued toward a piece of driftwood positioned close to Ben’s group. Every voice carried faint vibrations back along the thread into the tiny listening web stretched between her fingertips.

“Oh, wow,” she whispered, eyes widening. “He complimented all three of them, and every compliment was different. He actually paid attention.”

Risley sat beside her beneath a broad beach umbrella, a light cover garment thrown over her own swimsuit while the food basket remained safely elevated on a folded blanket. She watched the distant group for another moment before nodding.

“Yeah, that was smooth,” she admitted. “Most boys would repeat the same compliment three times, stare somewhere they shouldn’t, or say something ridiculous while thinking they were charming. He actually noticed why each swimsuit suited them.”

Several paces farther back, Maren lounged in a chair under an umbrella. She had traded her long white coat and layered training clothes for a loose dark cover-up worn over her swimsuit, though her odachi remained propped within easy reach beside her. Her flask rested comfortably in one hand as she watched the group beyond the dunes.

“At least the boy has manners,” Maren remarked.

Araña twisted around immediately. “You approve, Maren?”

She took an unhurried drink. “I said he has manners.”

Maren lowered the flask. “He complimented Kagura without embarrassing her, staring where he shouldn’t, or making me want to introduce his skull to a rock.”

Risley’s mouth curved. “That is practically a blessing coming from you, Maren.”

Maren took another drink. “It’s a passing grade.”

…

On the shoreline, Wendy wasted little time admiring the sparkling blue-green water.

“Come on!” she called, hurrying across the warm sand before the next wave could fully retreat. Foam washed around her ankles, and she laughed as the cooler water rushed over her feet. “It feels really nice!”

Ben followed at an easier pace, adjusting the brim of his straw hat as he entered the shallows beside her. “Give it another minute. Once your legs get used to the temperature, you won’t want to get out.”

Carla remained beside their towels and bags with both paws planted firmly on her hips. “Someone must supervise our belongings while the rest of you swim.”

Wendy turned back toward her. “You could bring them closer.”

“That would expose them to the water.”

“Then put them farther up the beach.”

“That would expose them to thieves.”

Ben looked over his shoulder. “You know, most people solve this problem by relaxing.”

“I am perfectly relaxed.”

As if to demonstrate that claim, Carla began pushing sand into a low ridge around their belongings. What started as a shallow defensive wall soon acquired a second layer, carefully packed corners, and a narrow entrance positioned away from the tide.

Ben watched her work for a moment. “Is that a sandcastle?”

“A sand barrier.”

“Right.”

Kagura entered the water more slowly than either Ben or Wendy. The first wave passed around her sandals before she removed them and carried them back to the edge of the dry sand. Once she returned, she proceeded with the same measured control she brought to almost everything else.

The water reached her ankles, then her calves. When it rose above her knees, she stopped.

Wendy continued several steps before noticing Kagura was no longer beside her and turned around. “Kagura?”

“Y-Yes. I’m here.” Her voice remained calm, but the rest of her had changed. Her shoulders had drawn tight, her feet were planted too firmly beneath the moving water, and one hand hovered several inches from Wendy’s arm without Kagura appearing aware of it.

A small wave struck her thighs. She shifted her weight at once, reacting to the water as though it had attempted to sweep her legs from beneath her.

Wendy waded back toward her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately. “I am… just being cautious.”

Ben stopped on Kagura’s other side. The water rested slightly above his knees, though he stood easily against its movement. “Cautious about what?”

“The current is inconsistent.”

“It’s the ocean. Inconsistent is kind of its thing.”

Kagura watched another wave form several yards away. Her posture tightened before it even reached them.

Wendy followed her gaze, then softened her voice. “We don’t have to go any farther. But if you want, the water is still shallow for a while.”

“I am aware.”

“Then come with us. It’s easier once you stop noticing every wave.”

Kagura did not move. The next wave broke against them, splashing around her waist. Her hand caught Ben’s forearm before she could stop herself.

Ben blinked but did not pull away.

Kagura blushed and immediately released him. “M-My apologies.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

A short silence followed as she looked beyond them toward the deeper blue of the bay.

“I… I have never received instruction,” she admitted at last.

Wendy tilted her head. “Instruction?”

“In swimming. I never learned to swim.”

The admission came quietly, almost as though Kagura had presented a weakness to an opponent and was waiting to see how they would use it.

However, neither Wendy nor Ben laughed at her.

Wendy’s surprise lasted only a moment before her expression brightened. “That’s okay. We can show you.”

Kagura looked at her, surprised.

“It’s not embarrassing,” Wendy continued. “I only know because Grandeeney taught me when I was little.”

Ben nodded. “And we’re not exactly standing over a bottomless trench. We can stay right here until you’re comfortable.”

Kagura studied both of them, searching for some trace of mockery. There was none.

“You wouldn’t find that inconvenient?” she asked.

Wendy shook her head quickly. “Not at all.”

“Besides,” Ben added with a grin, “I’m already wet.”

Kagura glanced back toward the open water, then gave a small nod. “Very well.”

Wendy stepped closer. “First, try not to hold your breath too long. Breathe normally until you’re ready to put your face near the water.”

“I understand how breathing functions.”

“I know,” the bluenette said, laughing softly. “But people forget when they get nervous.”

“I-I am not nervous.”

A wave struck Kagura’s legs, and her hands moved toward Ben again.

Ben raised one eyebrow.

Her eyes narrowed. “S-Say nothing.”

“Wasn’t planning to.”

He removed his straw hat and tossed it back toward the towels. Carla caught it with one paw without looking up from her construction. He then moved behind Kagura, leaving enough space that she did not feel crowded. The water here reached a little above his waist, shallow enough for all three of them to stand comfortably while remaining beyond most of the breaking surf.

“Is it alright if I support your back?”

Kagura hesitated before nodding. “Yes.”

“Okay. Wendy will steady your hand. I’ll support your shoulders and hips while you lean back.”

“I would prefer not to sink.”

“That is generally the goal.”

Wendy offered her hand and Kagura accepted it, though her grip was considerably firmer than necessary.

“Bend your knees a little,” Ben instructed. “Then lean back slowly. Don’t try to sit down. Just let your shoulders come toward the water.”

Kagura attempted to follow his direction while maintaining enough rigidity to make herself resemble a board. Ben slipped one hand beneath her shoulder blades and the other beneath her lower back before she could instinctively jerk upright.

“Easy,” he said gently.

“I moved slowly.”

“You moved like you were preparing to fall onto a sword.”

“That would require different positioning.”

“Good to know.”

Wendy stepped alongside her until the water reached her waist. “Try loosening your shoulders. The water can hold you if you let it.”

Kagura looked deeply unconvinced by that assertion.

“Look straight up,” Ben continued. “Let your ears go into the water and keep your head relaxed. Don’t lift it to check where your feet are.”

Kagura’s eyes narrowed. “How am I supposed to know where they are?”

Ben grinned. “Attached to your legs, hopefully.”

Wendy suppressed a giggle.

The teen hero kept one hand beneath the swordswoman’s shoulder blades and the other beneath her lower back and hips. “Swimming gets harder when you tense every muscle and try to fight the water. You don’t need to control every part of yourself at once.”

Maren’s voice returned unexpectedly to Kagura’s thoughts.

Choose the point that matters most, then make everything else answer to it.

Kagura exhaled slowly through her nose.

“For now, just breathe normally and look at the sky,” Ben said. “Wendy and I have everything else.”

The request went against every instinct she possessed. Kagura was accustomed to controlling her footing, her weapon, her magic, and the distance between herself and anyone who might become a threat. Allowing the water to carry her while two other people supported her felt far more vulnerable than facing an armed opponent.

Nevertheless, she gradually allowed her legs to straighten. Her hips rose as some of the tension left her body, bringing her closer to the surface.

“There,” Wendy said softly. “You’re floating.”

“Partially.”

“That still counts.”

Kagura’s fingers tightened around Wendy’s hand when a gentle swell passed beneath them. Ben adjusted his support at her hips and shoulders, keeping her level until the water settled again.

“You’re fine,” he assured her. “You don’t have to fight every little movement.”

“I dislike allowing the ocean to decide where I move.”

Ben snorted. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Once the purple-haired girl could remain on her back without immediately trying to plant her feet on the bottom, Wendy released her hand and moved alongside her.

“For kicking, you want small movements like this.”

Holding one hand lightly against Ben’s shoulder for balance, Wendy lifted one leg beneath the surface and demonstrated a short, relaxed fluttering motion from the hip rather than bending sharply at the knee.

“See? You don’t have to kick very hard.”

Kagura nodded.

Ben maintained his support. “Give it a try. Small kicks.”

Kagura kicked and a sheet of water erupted behind her and struck Ben squarely in the face.

He recoiled, sputtering. “Maybe a little less force.”

Wendy covered her mouth, but a laugh escaped anyway.

Kagura stopped moving her legs. “You told me to kick.”

“He meant kick the water,” Wendy giggled. “Not try to beat it.”

“The distinction was unclear.”          

Ben wiped the saltwater from his eyes. “Kagura, you’re trying to intimidate the ocean.”

Her expression remained perfectly serious. “The ocean has yet to demonstrate that it deserves my trust.”

Wendy laughed harder, nearly losing her own footing. “Kagura!”

Even Ben had to grin. “Honestly, fair.”

They tried again.

This time Kagura shortened each movement, kicking from her hips instead of snapping her knees. Her first few attempts remained too forceful, but Wendy corrected her rhythm while Ben reminded her to keep looking upward whenever a swell passed instead of lifting her head.

Gradually, the tension left Kagura’s shoulders.

Ben eased the hand supporting her lower back away, keeping only light support beneath her shoulder blades.

Kagura immediately noticed. “You moved your hand.”

“Only one.”

“You didn’t warn me.”

“And look, you’re still floating.”

Her eyes narrowed at him, but she resisted the urge to stand.

After another few seconds, Ben reduced the pressure beneath her shoulders until his fingertips were barely touching her.

Wendy moved closer and offered two fingers rather than her whole hand. Kagura held them, lightly this time.

“You’re doing it,” Wendy said.

The Mermaid Heel wizard looked up to see the sky stretched above her in a clean, uninterrupted blue, framed at the edges by Wendy’s smiling face and Ben’s wind-mussed brown hair.

The ocean shifted beneath her and, for once, Kagura allowed it to.

…

Araña leaned closer to her listening web. “… She admitted that she can’t swim,” she whispered in surprise.

Risley’s expression lost its earlier amusement, turning to the several nearby guild members. “Hey! Don’t repeat that to anyone. Got it?”

Those girls nodded, recognizing the warning in her voice.

Maren said nothing as her gaze remained fixed upon Kagura, who floated awkwardly between Ben and Wendy.

Risley glanced toward her. “Maren?”

The older swordswoman lifted the flask, taking a longer drink than necessary. “What?”

“You became quiet.”

“Did I?”

Kagura was allowing someone else to teach her. More importantly, she was allowing herself to be bad at something without becoming angry, withdrawing, or turning the lesson into another merciless test of discipline.

Maren took another drink.

…

After several more attempts, Kagura managed to move a short distance through the shallows without Ben holding her. Wendy remained beside her, close enough to catch her if necessary, while Ben walked backward several paces ahead.

“Keep your kicks even,” he instructed. “And don’t try to stand every time your feet stop touching the bottom.”

“That is easier to advise than perform.”

“True, but hey, you’re doing better.”

Kagura reached him, planted both feet in the sand, and straightened. Water streamed from her swimsuit while her breathing had grown slightly heavier from the effort.

Wendy clapped her hands. “You did it!”

“But I moved less than four meters.”

“Four more than before,” Ben said.

Kagura looked toward the deeper water where several curved dorsal fins briefly broke the surface. A few dolphins traveled together farther out in the bay, rising and disappearing in a smooth rhythm.

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Wait… are those dolphins?”

“Looks like,” Ben answered.

Wendy hurried several steps through the shallows, her attention fixed on the dark fins cutting across the distant water. “I’ve never seen real dolphins before!”

Another curved back broke the surface. Wendy clasped her hands beneath her chin, practically bouncing where she stood. “Do you think they’ll come closer?”

Ben momentarily stared at the dorsal fins, and an idea brightened his expression. “Okay,” he said, stepping further into the water. “Swimming lesson intermission.”

He raised his wrist and tapped the Omnitrix faceplate. “Omnitrix, unlock the Earth playlist. Command code: one-zero-one-zero, Tennyson Benjamin, zero.”

The device chimed as the faceplate flashed green as its synthesized feminine voice responded. “COMMAND ACCEPTED. EARTH PLAYLIST UNLOCKED.”

A couple of unfamiliar head icons appeared within the holographic ring.

“What did you do?” Wendy asked.

“Reactivated a couple of transformations I unlocked by accident a while back,” he explained. “I took them out of my active playlist because they weren’t exactly useful for fighting bad guys. But it turns out one of them is perfect for today.”

Kagura’s gaze remained fixed on the Omnitrix. “I am confused. Why did you issue a command to your watch?”

Ben glanced at her. “It’s complicated… but it helps control my magic and lets me choose which one I want.”

“I see.” That didn’t sound like the full truth, but she chose not to dig into it.

Wendy took a step closer. “Which one are you changing into?”

“You’ll see.”

“Are you changing into another Take Over form?” Kagura asked.

“Something like that,” he turned to Kagura. “Lodestar isn’t my only transformation.”

“That is hardly unusual. From my understanding, Take Over wizards can possess several forms. How many do you have?”

Ben scratched the side of his cheek. “Uh, depending on how you count them? Somewhere around sixty.”

Kagura’s composure slipped, eyes widening. “S-Sixty?”

“Roughly.”

A short silence followed before Kagura recovered. “… That is considerably more unusual.”

Ben’s grin widened. “What can I say? I’m full of surprises.”

He then tapped the Omnitrix and scrolled through the newly unlocked icons until he found the one he wanted. The faceplate slid back, and the core rose from its housing. Ben turned toward the three girls, his grin widening.

“Ladies, meet Flipper.”

He then slammed his palm onto the raised core. Emerald light erupted across the shoreline, spilling over the shallows in a brilliant flash and forcing all three girls to shield their eyes.

When the glow faded, Kagura lowered her arm first and stared at the empty space in the water where Ben had been standing.

“He’s gone,” she said, looking toward the water in confusion.

Wendy swept her gaze across the shoreline. “He’s got to still be here.”

Carla’s ears angled forward. “Knowing Ben, he has likely transformed into something unnecessarily dramatic.”

A dark shape streaked beneath the clear water.

Before any of them could react, a sleek dolphin burst from the shallows in a glittering arc. His streamlined body bore a striking black-and-white pattern, with glossy black covering his back, dorsal fin, flippers, and the upper half of his narrow beak. Smooth white coloring spread across his face, throat, underside, and flanks, broken by a sweeping black stripe that curved behind his vivid green eye and continued along his side. The Omnitrix badge was positioned on its underbelly.

This was the Omnitrix’s transformation for a dolphin, Flipper.

(A/N: Provided by BàlintM)

Flipper twisted gracefully in midair before angling downward and piercing the water nose-first. The splash rose in a bright curtain behind him, and his black dorsal fin cut across the surface as he sped away from shore.

The splash drenched Wendy and Kagura.

Wendy wiped water from her face, laughing in disbelief. “Oh wow! Ben turned into a dolphin!”

Kagura stared, dumbfounded. “So he has…”

Flipper surfaced and released a rapid series of whistles and cheerful clicks.

Carla stared from beside the sandcastle. “And apparently lost the ability to speak.”

The human-turned-dolphin disappeared beneath the surface before shooting upward again. He cleared several feet of air, spun once along the length of his body, and landed cleanly.

Farther out, the dolphins in the bay changed direction. A series of clicks carried through the water. Flipper answered with a rapid burst of echolocation, and the pod approached with growing curiosity.

Within moments, four dolphins circled him.

Wendy stood waist-deep in the water, her eyes shining as Flipper joined them. “Oh wow! They think Ben’s one of them.”

“For all practical purposes, he is.” Carla said.

…

Behind the dune, the hidden Mermaid Heel members leaned forward as one.

One woman lowered her sunhat in open astonishment. “His Take Over Magic lets him become an animal?”

“Apparently,” another murmured. “I have never seen a full-body transformation that complete.”

Flipper cut through the water like an arrow, then curved sharply beneath one of the dolphins. Together, the group broke the surface in a line, their dark forms glistening beneath the sun before they plunged back into the water.

Maren watched Flipper move among the pod with professional interest. All the Take-Over wizards I’ve heard of can only turn into certain groups of creatures. Yet he can change into at least two different kinds?

Her eyes narrowed. “Such an interesting boy you’ve found, little sister,” she murmured.

…

Flipper left the pod and returned to the shallows. He circled Wendy once before rolling slightly onto his side, presenting the curve of his back and the base of his dorsal fin.

Wendy blinked. “You want me to hold on?”

Flipper released two quick chirps.

“That sounded like yes.”

Carla flew to the edge of the wet sand. “Wendy, do not do anything reckless.”

“It’s Ben. He won’t let anything happen to me,” Wendy assured her.

Flipper nodded his head emphatically.

She moved beside him and rested one hand against his smooth back. He remained perfectly still, allowing her to adjust before she wrapped both arms carefully around the base of his dorsal fin.

Flipper gave a softer whistle.

“I’m ready,” Wendy said.

He began slowly by pulling the bluenette through the shallows at little more than walking speed, allowing her legs to trail behind her. Wendy laughed as the water streamed around her, then tightened her grip when he gradually carried her farther from shore.

“Not too far!” Carla called.

The dolphin answered with an echoing chirp.

“I do not understand you!”

Wendy looked back, smiling broadly. “He said not to worry!”

“How do you know that?”

“Because it’s Ben.”

Flipper increased his speed, and Wendy laughed in delight. Her long blue hair streamed behind her as he carried her over the next swell, his body rising and falling with effortless control beneath her.

The wild dolphins closed around them. One surfaced to Wendy’s left, near enough that she caught the gleam of its eye before it slipped beneath the water again, while another leapt on the opposite side and showered her with sparkling droplets.

“This is amazing!” Wendy cried, tightening her arms around the base of Flipper’s dorsal fin.

It reminded her a little of flying on Terraspin, yet the experience was completely different. High in the sky, the rushing wind usually drowned out everything else and the land below became a distant patchwork of colors. Here, Wendy could smell the salt in the air, feel the cool spray against her cheeks, and watch every swell rise around her while dolphins raced close enough that she could almost reach out and touch them.

For the first time, Wendy found herself wishing that she could truly fly on her own. Not high above the clouds, but close to the world beneath her, skimming over the sea with the wind in her hair and animals racing beside her.

Without realizing it, she hugged Flipper a little tighter.

He felt the change immediately. If his dolphin face had allowed for a human smile, Ben would have been wearing one. Flipper’s unusually broad field of vision let him catch glimpses of Wendy behind him, and the pure happiness across her face told him everything he needed to know.

He dipped beneath the crest of a small wave while keeping Wendy safely near the surface. When they emerged on the other side, Flipper released a warning chirp before accelerating toward a broad swell.

Wendy understood just enough to brace herself.

Flipper climbed the slope of the wave and burst from the water in a smooth, controlled leap. Wendy screamed with pure excitement as they hung in the open air for a heartbeat before crashing back through the surface in an explosion of foam.

Her laughter followed them as they raced alongside the pod again.

From the shore, Carla watched with an expression that softened despite herself. Wendy laughed often enough when Ben amused her or when something caught her in a particularly good mood, but this was different. There was nothing complicated behind it, no joke or embarrassment or nervousness.

She was simply having fun.

Carla could not remember the last time she had heard Wendy laugh quite like that.

Kagura stood several yards away where the water reached her thighs, following every turn Flipper made.

Her expression remained carefully composed, but her body betrayed far more than her face ever would. She leaned forward whenever Flipper accelerated, and each time Wendy shouted or laughed, the fingers at Kagura’s side curled slightly before relaxing again.

A thought surfaced before she could stop it.

I want to try. Kagura almost frowned at herself.

There was no practical purpose to being pulled across the bay by a wizard transformed into a dolphin while wild animals swam beside them. It would not improve her swordsmanship, strengthen her Gravity Magic, advance a mission, or bring her any closer to finding her older brother.

It would accomplish absolutely nothing. Except make her happy.

For Kagura, that somehow made wanting it feel more indulgent than almost anything else.

Behind the dune, Maren noticed her lean forward yet again.

Araña lowered her binoculars slightly. “She wants a turn.”

Risley watched Kagura for another moment before nodding. “Definitely.”

Maren took an idle drink from her flask, though a smile had already begun tugging at her mouth. “He’d better notice.”

A few minutes later, Flipper brought Wendy back into the shallows. He slowed until her feet touched the sandy bottom and waited patiently for her to release his dorsal fin before tapping the Omnitrix badge with one flipper.

Emerald light flashed as Ben reappeared waist-deep in the water, wet brown hair falling messily across his forehead. “So,” he said with a knowing grin, “good ride?”

Wendy answered by throwing both arms around his neck. “Thank you, Ben! That was incredible!”

Ben laughed and returned the hug with one arm before playfully ruffling her wet hair. Wendy immediately squeaked and grabbed his wrist.

“Ben! Stop!”

“What? I’m improving it.”

“You’re making it messy!”

“Wendy, it was already messy.”

Wendy puffed her cheeks and shoved his hand away while Ben continued laughing.

Kagura watched their playful exchange from a short distance away, and something quieter stirred beneath the amusement she felt at the sight.

For the briefest moment, Wendy disappeared from Ben’s arms… and Kagura saw herself instead. Younger. Smaller.

Her older brother’s hand resting on her head after some childish disagreement she could no longer remember, while she complained and tried to push him away despite secretly enjoying the attention. The memory was incomplete. Most memories of those years were, fragmented pieces of warmth trapped between everything that had happened afterward.

Yet seeing Ben and Wendy together brought that old feeling back with unexpected clarity.

Kagura wanted that again. Not merely revenge. Not merely answers.

Her brother.

The thought tightened something in her chest.

She closed her eyes for only a moment, enough to settle herself before the emotion could reach her face. When she opened them, Wendy had released Ben and he was already looking in her direction.

Kagura’s stomach tightened. Did he notice?

Ben gave no indication that he had. Instead, he suddenly raised his voice toward shore. “Hey, Carla! Check my bag and bring me my goggles!”

Carla looked up from the steadily expanding fortification around their belongings. “Why don’t you come and get them yourself?”

“Because you’ve spent the last half hour building Fort Sandcastle instead of participating.”

“It is not a sandcastle.”

“Sure.”

“I also told you that I do not intend to enter the water.”

Ben spread his hands. “Good thing you can fly, then.”

The feline’s ear twitched.

He grinned. “Come on. Please?”

Before Carla could refuse, Wendy cupped both hands around her mouth. “Please, Carla!”

Carla’s resistance vanished almost immediately and her shoulders sagged. “Very well.”

Ben smirked. “Wow. Good to know who actually has authority around here.”

“I heard that.”

Carla searched the outer pocket of Ben’s bag and quickly found the goggles. White wings appeared from her back, and she flew them over before depositing them rather pointedly into Ben’s waiting hand.

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” Carla returned to shore without another word.

Ben turned toward Kagura and offered her the goggles. “Here.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“Put them on. You’ll see.”

Kagura studied both the goggles and his expression. “Ben, I did not ask for a ride.”

“Nope.”

That answer seemed to catch her off guard.

His smile softened. “That’s why I’m offering.”

Before she could formulate a response, he placed the goggles gently into her hand.

“Come on. You watched Wendy having fun for ten straight minutes. You might as well find out what all the excitement was about.”

Kagura’s eyes widened slightly. Ben had noticed. Heat threatened to reach her cheeks, but before she could retreat behind a denial, emerald light erupted around him.

Flipper splashed into the water. He circled Kagura once with an encouraging whistle before stopping directly in front of her. Just as he had with Wendy, he rolled slightly to present his back and the base of his dorsal fin.

Kagura stared down at him.

Wendy came closer, smiling brightly. “Go on, Kagura. It really is fun.”

Flipper released a gentle chirp.

Kagura looked toward the deeper blue beyond the shallows. “I have only just learned how to remain afloat.”

“That’s why Ben will keep you close to the surface,” Wendy assured her. “He won’t let you sink.”

The dolphin nodded emphatically.

Kagura met his vivid green eye. There was no teasing in it. No impatience. Only the same quiet encouragement Ben had shown when teaching her to float.

Her gaze dropped to the goggles in her hand. After another moment, Kagura secured them over her eyes.

“Very well.”

She stepped closer and rested one palm against Flipper’s back. His skin felt smooth and firm beneath her hand, and he remained perfectly still while she adjusted to the unfamiliar sensation.

Kagura drew one slow breath.

Then she wrapped both arms carefully around the base of his dorsal fin.

“I am ready.”

Flipper answered with a soft chirp.

…

Ben took things considerably slower with Kagura.

At first, Flipper remained in the shallows, pulling her through water shallow enough that she could have planted her feet almost immediately if she panicked. Kagura’s grip stayed tight, her knuckles pale against his black-and-white skin, while her legs remained rigid behind her.

Flipper made one easy circle, and then another. He never accelerated without warning and never moved far enough from shore that Kagura could no longer see Wendy standing nearby.

Gradually, something changed.

The water no longer felt as though it were constantly trying to rob Kagura of her footing. Its movement became predictable enough that she stopped anticipating every swell as a threat.

Her grip loosened by a fraction and Flipper noticed. In response, he carried her a little farther. The purple-haired maiden’s breathing quickened when the bottom dropped beyond easy standing depth, but she did not ask him to turn around.

One of the wild dolphins appeared beside them and matched Flipper’s pace. Another curved beneath the surface, close enough that the movement of its dorsal fin sent cool water washing across Kagura’s arm.

Her eyes followed it.

Flipper increased his speed and Kagura instinctively tightened her arms, but this time excitement accompanied the nervousness rather than replacing it.

Ahead, a gentle swell began to rise.

Flipper chirped once in warning and Kagura braced herself. They climbed the wave together and, for one breathtaking instant, they left the ocean entirely.

A dolphin leapt beside them, droplets shining around its body like scattered glass beneath the sun. Farther back, Wendy waved enthusiastically from the shallows.

Flipper and Kagura then plunged back into the water… and a laugh escaped her.

Another leap came and this time she did not stop herself. Her second laugh came easier, lighter and completely unguarded as foam rushed around them.

From shore, Wendy’s eyes widened.

Kagura was smiling.

Not the tiny curve of amusement Ben had occasionally managed to coax from her. Not the restrained satisfaction she showed after accomplishing something difficult.

Her entire expression had opened.

Hazel eyes bright beneath the sunlight, shoulders loose, mouth lifted into a genuine smile as Flipper carried her alongside the dolphins.

…

Behind the dune, Maren went completely still.

Araña slowly lowered her binoculars. “Maren?”

The swordswoman did not answer.

Risley glanced toward her and found nearly all of Maren’s usual teasing stripped from her expression. She was simply watching Kagura.

“Maren,” Risley said more gently.

Maren lifted her flask and took a drink.

Araña leaned closer. “Are you crying?”

“No.”

“There’s something wet under your eye.”

“Sea spray.”

Risley glanced pointedly toward the considerable stretch of dry sand separating them from the shoreline. “We are nowhere near the water.”

Maren took another drink. “Wind carried it.”

Araña’s expression softened. “You’re happy for her, huh, chica?”

For once, Maren did not answer with a joke as her eyes remained on Kagura. “She’s sixteen,” she said quietly. “She should be allowed to look sixteen once in a while.”

Risley said nothing after that.

Araña’s smile became smaller and more genuine.

Maren rubbed one thumb beneath her eye before finally turning a warning glare toward the younger girl. “Repeat any of this and I’ll pin you to the seabed with your own weight.”

Araña immediately raised both hands. “Your dignity remains completely intact.”

“Good.”

…

Flipper continued swimming with Kagura until her grip had relaxed enough that she no longer looked as though she expected the ocean to steal her away the moment she loosened it. The pod joined them again. Dolphins surfaced on either side, crossing ahead of Flipper and occasionally disappearing beneath him before emerging somewhere unexpected.

Kagura watched every movement.

One rolled onto its side as it passed, exposing its pale underside before twisting upright again. Another briefly raced Flipper nose-to-nose before peeling away with a burst of clicks.

Kagura smiled faintly.

Flipper then made a different series of clicks.

She looked down. “What is it?”

Naturally, he could not answer with words, instead he tilted his head.

He then slowly began descending.

The purple-haired girl’s eyes widened. “Ben?”

Water climbed from her shoulders toward her neck.

Her grip tightened instantly. “Ben.”

The human-turned-dolphin continued downward, deliberately slow enough that she could stop him if she wanted.

Kagura finally understood. Her gaze dropped toward the goggles covering her eyes. So this is why.

She drew in the deepest breath she could. A moment later, they slipped beneath the surface.

Her eyes squeezed shut instinctively.

Suddenly, everything changed.

The roar and chatter of the beach vanished into muffled distance. Cool water surrounded her entire body, supporting her from every direction.

It felt strange. Yet not entirely unfamiliar.

When Kagura reduced gravitational force around herself, she sometimes experienced something vaguely similar, that peculiar loss of ordinary weight as her body became easier to move. But Gravity Magic remained an invisible pressure obeying her command.

This was different, though. The ocean didn’t obey her at all. It only held her. It was cold, immense, and strangely gentle.

Flipper clicked softly beneath her, prompting the Mermaid Heel wizard to open her eyes. And forgot, briefly, that she was holding her breath.

Sunlight streamed through the blue-green water in great shifting columns, illuminating a world hidden beneath the glittering surface. Pale sand stretched below them in rippling patterns carved by the current, broken by gardens of coral, clusters of smooth white stone, waving seagrass, and beds of colorful shells.

Kagura’s eyes widened under the goggles.

Bloom corals grew in broad clusters across the reef, their layered petals resembling enormous roses in shades of pink, violet, gold, and blue. Nearby, long strands of silver-green pearlgrass swayed gently with the current, tiny glowing bubbles clinging to them like strings of luminous beads.

Farther along the reef, Lacrima crystal shimmered between branches of coral. Small formations grew naturally through the stone, sending slow pulses of blue and green light through the surrounding water. Their glow reflected from silver fish passing nearby, making whole schools flash like scattered jewels whenever they turned.

Kagura could only stare. Beautiful.

The word felt inadequate.

Flipper gradually carried her lower. They passed above a sea turtle gliding lazily between the coral gardens, faint luminous patterns glowing across its shell. A sleek reef shark moved through the distance, unconcerned with them as it disappeared behind a stone arch.

Schools of tiny fish surrounded Kagura and Flipper. She was startled when several brushed through the ends of her floating purple hair, but the alarm disappeared almost immediately. She turned her head to follow them, watching flashes of orange, silver, and turquoise weave around one another before vanishing into the pearlgrass.

Flipper slowed further to let her look. For perhaps the first time all morning, Kagura forgot entirely about her footing. Suspended above an underwater garden while sunlight shimmered across the sand and magical coral glowed beneath her.

Kagura had traveled across much of the kingdom. She had seen cherry blossoms coloring entire roads pink in spring, snow-covered hills beneath clear winter skies, and valleys stretching below mountain peaks.

Those places had been beautiful. But this felt different.

This was an entire world she had never known existed, hidden only a few feet beneath a surface she had spent years regarding as an obstacle.

A quiet smile spread across her face again. For several moments, Kagura simply allowed herself to look.

Then the ache began in her lungs. Reality returned quickly. She tapped Flipper’s side twice and pointed upward.

He responded immediately.

Flipper angled toward the surface and increased his speed without making the ascent abrupt. Light grew brighter above them until the shimmering ceiling of the sea rushed closer.

They burst through it together.

Flipper breached high enough that Kagura momentarily left the water with him. She sucked in a deep breath of fresh air as droplets streamed from her hair and goggles, sunlight warming her face.

Then gravity reclaimed them and they splashed back into the bay. A breathless laugh escaped Kagura before she could stop it.

The dolphin carried her toward shore at an easy pace, steadily slowing as the seafloor rose beneath them. He remained beside her until Kagura’s feet settled firmly into the sand.

Only then did she release his dorsal fin. Kagura straightened and pushed the goggles up onto her forehead.

Her shoulders were relaxed and her breathing was still slightly quick from holding her breath and from everything that had happened, but the smile lingering on her face remained unmistakable.

For once, Kagura made no attempt to hide it.

Wendy splashed toward her. “Miss Kagura, you have such a pretty smile!”

Kagura’s expression immediately settled back into its usual composure. “Y-You are mistaken.”

“I’m not! You looked really happy.”

Flipper released a string of amused clicks.

Kagura lowered her eyes toward him. “You are not helping, Ben.”

He answered with another cheerful chirp.

Once he was certain Kagura could stand without assistance, Flipper turned toward the shore and whistled to Carla. The white feline stood beside the sand structure she had been building, carefully smoothing the upper edge of one wall with her paw. What had begun as a simple barrier around their belongings now possessed four corner towers, an arched gate, a shallow moat, and a central keep decorated with arranged shells.

Flipper slapped the surface of the water with one fin before turning sideways and gesturing toward his back.

Carla understood the invitation. “No, thank you.”

He chirped again, adding a small encouraging nod.

“I said no,” she repeated, her tone gaining a sharper edge.

Another whistle followed, longer and far more persuasive.

Carla placed both paws on her hips. “I am perfectly content remaining dry and supervising our belongings. At least one of us should behave responsibly.”

Flipper gave a short, doubtful chirp before tapping the Omnitrix badge with the edge of one pectoral fin. Emerald light swept over his body, replacing the aquatic form with Ben, who emerged standing waist-deep in the water.

“Fine,” he said, pushing wet brown hair away from his forehead. “I figured I should ask before you accused me of excluding you.”

Carla lifted her chin. “I would have done no such thing.”

Ben turned his attention toward the structure behind her. “So that’s the barrier, huh?” he asked. “Because from here, it looks suspiciously like a sandcastle.”

Carla’s tail bristled. “Don’t be absurd.”

Wendy hurried out of the water onto the shore, dropping to her knees beside the structure. “Carla, your sandcastle is amazing!”

“It is impressive,” Kagura agreed as she followed. “It could compete with some of the structures entered in Seablossom’s sand-sculpting contests.”

Carla’s ears lifted despite her effort to remain unaffected. “It… is merely a fortified perimeter.”

Wendy pointed enthusiastically toward the tallest tower. “Can we build another one beside this?”

The white feline studied the western wall with sudden seriousness. “That side may require additional structural balance.”

“Definitely,” Wendy agreed. “And maybe another bridge!”

“A second bridge would create an unnecessary access point,” Carla said, though she moved closer to help Wendy reinforce the base of the new tower. “However, a smaller observation platform may be acceptable.”

…

By noon, Seablossom Bay had become packed with people crowded beneath striped umbrellas and children running between blankets and sandcastles. Wendy knelt beside their collection of towels and bags, attempting to squeeze the last of the water from the ends of her blue hair before tying it back.

Her stomach growled loudly enough that Carla’s ears twitched, and Wendy immediately pressed both hands over it with an embarrassed laugh. “I think swimming made me hungrier than I thought.”

“That happens,” Ben said, shaking sand from one of the towels. “Good news is we passed several restaurants coming down here, so odds are at least one of them has something good.”

Wendy tucked her towel into the bag. “What do you think, Kagura? Any place you would recommend?”

Kagura considered the question. “There are several restaurants near the harbor. One specializes in grilled fish and rice dishes, while another farther inland serves a wider selection.”

Ben hooked their larger beach bag over one shoulder. “Grilled fish sounds good to me.”

Carla nodded in agreement. “That’ll suffice.”

Kagura’s mouth twitched faintly before she turned to gather her sandals.

Ben caught the small smile and glanced toward her while folding the final towel. “So?”

She looked back at him. “So?”

“Did you enjoy the ride?”

“It was… acceptable.”

Wendy spun around. “Acceptable? Kagura, you were laughing!”

“I-I was not.”

“You were,” Wendy’s eyes brightened. “I heard you!”

Kagura’s gaze shifted toward Ben, apparently expecting him to provide a more reasonable account.

Ben gave her an apologetic grin. “Sorry, but I saw you smile too.”

Her hazel eyes widened. “But you were facing forward!”

“See, dolphins have a really wide field of vision.” His grin widened. “So, yeah. I saw it.”

Carla added. “I saw it as well. Even from the shore.”

The purple-haired girl’s composure slipped. “Well… T-That still proves nothing.” She turned toward the water to try—and fail—to hide the pink creeping on her cheeks.

“Relax,” Ben said, adjusting the strap of the bag. “Enjoying yourself isn’t a crime.”

Kagura’s eyes remained on the water for several seconds. Her fingers settled against the knot of her wrap before she finally exhaled. “I did enjoy it.”

Wendy’s expression brightened. “Really?”

Kagura looked at her.

The bluenette cleared her throat and reduced her smile to something considerably less triumphant. “I mean, that’s good.”

Ben bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Very subtle.”

Before Wendy could answer, her expression suddenly changed as she turned toward the ocean.

At first, Ben assumed she had noticed the dolphins again. Then her brows tightened and her head tipped slightly, listening past the noises of the beach.

“Someone’s calling for help.”

Ben straightened. “Where?”

Wendy pointed toward open water. “Out there. It’s really far away, but I can hear shouting.”

Kagura stepped closer to the shoreline and narrowed her eyes toward the horizon. More than a mile offshore was a fishing boat, distant enough that little could be distinguished beyond its dark silhouette and the uneven angle of its mast.

Ben frowned. “Their mast looks busted. Did they hit something?”

Kagura studied its position relative to the coastline. “There are reefs farther east, but none in that section of the bay.”

A sudden flash winked from the vessel… and then another.

Ben squinted as sunlight reflected toward shore in several deliberate bursts, disappearing and reappearing.

Carla squinted. “What is that?”

“Somebody’s reflecting sunlight,” Ben replied, watching another series of flashes strike across the water. “They’re using a mirror, polished metal, or something like that.”

Wendy glanced toward him. “But why?”

His expression became more serious. “Because it’s a distress signal.”

The sea suddenly erupted beside the boat.

A thick purple tentacle rose high above the mast, water cascading from rows of pale suckers lining its underside. It curled over the hull and tightened, wood groaning loudly enough that Wendy flinched.

Ben’s eyes widened. “Definitely not a reef.”

Two more tentacles then broke the surface.

The fishermen scattered across the tilting deck as several more limbs emerged around them. A huge purple head surfaced beside the vessel, its bulky mantle ridged with dark horizontal stripes and crowned by several short spikes. Two enormous yellow eyes glared from beneath the folds while thick tentacles churned the water around a hard hooked beak concealed at their center.

Kagura’s eyes widened. “Spineback Squids!”

“What?!” Wendy cried. 

“They normally remain farther offshore.” Her eyes sharpened as another striped mantle surfaced beyond the first. “And they do not usually hunt this close to Seablossom.”

Ben counted the visible shapes beneath the waves. “Great. Because one giant squid would’ve been way too convenient.”

The damaged boat began to dip sharply as the monster squid pulled it down.

Ben dropped the beach bag. “Get everyone away from the beach. I’ll handle the boat.”

Upon sending a mental command to the Omnitrix, emerald light burst across the beach.

When it faded, in his place stood a fish-like humanoid with pale green-gray skin, broad swamp-green fins flaring from the back of his neck and along his forearms, and a phosphorescent lure arcing from the top of his skull. His hands had four webbed fingers tipped with sharp black claws, a black, loincloth-like material hung between his legs, and his mouth was nothing but teeth—long, jagged, and exposed with no lips to hide them. He wore black, shoulder pad-like gear with green highlights, a green-and-blue brace around the gills on his neck, and the Omnitrix badge set at the center of his chest.

(A/N: Credit to SalvaShark)

“Ripjaws!” he announced in a raspy, gargling voice.

Kagura blinked. A fish monster?

Ripjaws wasted no time in diving beneath the surf, legs snapping together into a powerful tail that propelled him toward the damaged boat swiftly.

(A/N: Credit to SalvaShark)

The largest Spineback Squid had several tentacles wrapped around the hull. As Ripjaws closed in, one fisherman lost his grip and plunged overboard.

He angled toward the man, only to spot four more striped shapes prowling beneath the vessel. One circled beneath the keel while another stretched a tentacle toward the struggling fisherman.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

Ripjaws shot forward and rammed the limb aside. Another tentacle slammed across his flank and sent him tumbling, but he recovered almost immediately, lunged back, and sank his jagged teeth into it. A hard twist tore through the end of the limb, sending the injured squid recoiling into deeper water.

He grabbed the fisherman and powered toward the surface. They broke through a moment later, the man coughing and gasping as Ripjaws kept him afloat. When his eyes finally focused on the alien’s tooth-filled jaws, they widened all over again.

“Easy,” Ripjaws rasped. “I’m the good guy.”

The fisherman screamed anyway.

“Yeah, okay. Fair.”

Ripjaws spotted a broken section of mast floating nearby and shoved it beneath the man’s arms. “Hang onto this. I’ll be back.”

CRACK!

He spun toward the fishing boat. A fracture had split open along the damaged hull, seawater pouring through the broken timbers as the vessel listed sharply to one side.

“Boat’s going down!” someone shouted.

“No kidding!” Ripjaws called back. “Grab a rope, grab anything that floats, and get off!”

One fisherman stared down at him. “What the hell are you?!”

“The guy keeping you off the squid menu. Move!”

That got them going.

The fishermen scrambled across the tilting deck, throwing a heavy rope and several life-preservers into the water before abandoning the sinking vessel. They secured themselves along the line and the preservers while Ripjaws made a quick count to ensure everyone was accounted for.

“You guys hang on!” Ripjaws grabbed the rope and started towing the group toward shore.

As the boat slipped beneath the waves behind them, the captain lowered his head. “That was my father’s boat…”

“Then let’s make sure you stay alive to complain about it,” the fish-like alien remarked.

Ripjaws powered through the final stretch until the water became shallow enough for his tail to separate back into legs. Bracing his feet against the sand, he hauled the line closer while Kagura and several beachgoers waded out to meet them, catching the exhausted fishermen one by one and guiding them through the surf.

By then, Kagura had quickly understood what Ben was doing and began directing the rescue.

“Take them as they reach you,” she ordered, catching the first exhausted fisherman beneath one arm when his knees buckled. She guided him toward two civilians waiting behind her while Wendy hurried to steady another man stumbling through the surf.

Within moments, the last fisherman had been pulled safely onto the beach.

Then the water surged behind them.

The largest Spineback Squid hauled itself from the shallows, thick tentacles planting against the seabed before dragging its striped purple mantle completely above the surface. Another emerged beside it, followed by two more farther down the shoreline, seawater streaming from their ridged bodies as their glaring yellow eyes fixed on the beachgoers.

(A/N: Provided by BàlintM)

Screams erupted across the beach.

The creatures moved more slowly on land, but not nearly enough to be comforting. Their tentacles dug into the wet sand and hauled their massive bodies forward with disturbing speed.

“Keep going!” Wendy called to the fishermen as she moved between them and the advancing monsters. She swept both arms forward, releasing a powerful gust that struck the nearest squid across its face and forced several reaching tentacles backward. “Don’t stop until you’re away from the shore!”

Kagura glanced toward the belongings they had left farther up the beach and immediately realized her katana was still there.

A white blur shot past her.

Carla swooped down beside their belongings, grabbed the sheathed katana with both paws, and strained into the air with it. “Kagura!”

Kagura turned just as Carla reached her and caught the sword by its sheath. “Thank you.”

She drew the blade in one smooth motion, sunlight flashing along the blade. Her entire posture sharpened as she faced the creatures.

“Everyone, get away from the beach!” Her voice carried clearly above the panic.

People surged toward the boardwalk, but the sudden rush threatened to become a stampede of its own. Wendy hurried along the edge of the crowd, using short, controlled bursts of wind to keep frightened families from colliding.

“This way!” she called, pointing toward a broad stretch between two shelters. “There’s more room here! Please don’t push!”

One of the Spineback Squids stretched a tentacle toward three fishermen still limping away from the water.

Kagura intercepted it, her sword flashing once.

The end of the tentacle dropped into the sand with a wet thud before it could reach them. The squid recoiled violently, and Kagura reset her stance without wasting a movement.

“Keep moving.”

The fishermen obeyed immediately.

Above the confusion, Carla climbed higher and swept her gaze across the beach, searching for anyone the fleeing crowd had missed. Her ears twitched toward the eastern end, where several abandoned umbrellas and blankets fluttered in the breeze.

“Wendy! There are still people to the east!”

Wendy started to turn. “I’ll go!”

“No. Keep the crowd moving,” she called back. “I can reach them faster.”

Carla banked sharply.

Near an abandoned blanket stood a little girl, frozen in place and crying while adults rushed past her. One sandal had fallen several feet away, but the child seemed too frightened even to choose a direction.

A shadow swept over her as the tentacle descended.

Carla folded her wings and dove, catching the child beneath the arms an instant before the tentacle smashed through the blanket. Sand burst upward behind them as Carla beat her wings furiously and carried the girl clear.

“I have you,” she assured her, straining against the child’s frightened kicking. “Please hold still.”

“M-Mama!”

“We’ll find her.”

Carla climbed just high enough to see over the fleeing crowd. Her eyes swept rapidly from face to face until she spotted a frantic woman fighting against the flow of people moving inland, searching for someone.

“There.”

She carried the girl across the chaos and lowered her into the woman’s waiting arms. The mother crushed her daughter against her chest, tears already streaming down her face.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Carla hovered backward, breathing a little harder from the effort. “Get somewhere safe and stay away from the shore.”

The woman nodded quickly and disappeared into the retreating crowd with her daughter held tightly against her.

Carla turned at once and flew back toward the shoreline.

At the waterline, Ripjaws caught a tentacle sweeping toward two of the rescued fishermen. His claws dug into the rubbery flesh as he twisted and hurled it aside. “Sorry! Beach is closed!”

The squid’s mantle swelled in response.

Ripjaws eyed it warily. “Oh, that’s probably bad.”

The creature contracted and fired a thick stream of black ink across the beach.

“Kagura!” Wendy shouted.

Kagura turned a moment too late. The ink struck her left arm and sheath, spreading over both in a heavy, tar-like layer that staggered her and tightened when she tried to pull free.

“What is this?” she muttered, grimacing as the sharp stench of brine, rot, and something chemical reached her.

Another squid swelled.

“Wendy!” Carla warned.

Wendy thrust both hands forward and whipped the air into a rotating barrier. The next stream burst apart against the wind, scattering to either side, though several heavy droplets broke through and splattered across the sand.

One landed over the legs of an abandoned chair and began thickening around them.

Wendy stared. “That isn’t normal ink.”

“No kidding!” Ripjaws called before another blast struck him across the chest and forearms.

The sludge packed itself between his fins and bound his arms, turning every movement sluggish. Ripjaws snarled and tried to wrench his hands apart, only for the substance to stretch between them like heated tar.

“Oh, gross.”

Kagura lowered her gaze to the ink trapping her arm. “Gravity Increase: Threefold!”

A faint violet aura shimmered around the black mass before it abruptly sagged beneath its own multiplied weight. The tar-like coating tore free in one heavy sheet and slammed into the beach, burying itself in the wet sand.

Ripjaws glanced toward her from the shallows. She made the ink heavier.

Kagura flexed her freed arm and raised her katana again.

A scream sounded farther inland.

One of the smaller Spineback Squids had slipped around the defenders, a tentacle reaching toward civilians trapped between an overturned food stall and the boardwalk. Kagura pivoted and raised one hand, but the distance was too great.

“Gravity Incr—”

The tentacle stopped in midair. An instant later, it crashed into the beach beneath crushing invisible force, sending wet sand exploding around the flattened limb.

Kagura froze.

“Rule was no interference unless somebody was in danger.”

Maren stepped from behind one of the beach shelters, her long, sheathed odachi resting across one shoulder. The easy amusement she usually carried was gone, replaced by focused calm.

“I’d say this qualifies.”

Kagura stared at her. “Sensei?”

“Questions later, little sister.” She lowered the sheathed odachi until its tip touched the sand, and concentrated gravity slammed three tentacles down at once. Deep trenches formed beneath the pinned limbs as they writhed uselessly against the pressure.

Ripjaws paused while peeling hardened ink from his forearm. “Huh.”

The pressure vanished, and Maren was already moving. Her enormous weapon swept upward with surprising speed, its weight multiplying only at the instant of impact. The sheath struck a lunging tentacle with a thunderous crack and hurled it high enough to drag half the squid’s body off the sand.

Ripjaws’ green eyes narrowed. She lightens the sword while moving, then increases the gravity at impact. That sounded familiar.

“Web Net!”

Green threads streaked across the beach as Araña vaulted from behind another shelter. Her webbing wrapped several tentacles and anchored them to changing booths, buried rocks, and anything else sturdy enough to reach.

The squid heaved backward and two changing booths splintered apart.

Araña’s grin vanished. “That wasn’t supposed to happen!”

She sprang sideways and redirected the loose strands around a heavy boardwalk support. “Hold still, you oversized appetizer!”

One binding snapped before she could tighten it. A tentacle whipped toward a group of retreating civilians, but Maren stepped into its path and swept her sheathed odachi horizontally. A compressed gravity wave struck the limb broadside and hurled it back toward the surf.

“Risley! Get those people behind the boardwalk.”

“On it!” Risely exclaimed.

Closer to the shoreline, another tentacle snapped toward Wendy.

“Left,” Kagura warned.

The bluenette ducked beneath it and turned with the creature’s momentum.

“Sky Dragon’s Wing Attack!”

Twin currents hammered into the squid’s massive head, rolling its mantle sideways as sand and spray lashed across its yellow eyes. Araña seized the opening, tightening several strands around three of its tentacles.

“Got you!”

The squid flexed and lurched backward, yanking the greenette clean off her feet.

“Not got you!”

Maren caught the back of her swimsuit before she could be dragged into the surf and held her dangling a few inches above the sand.

Araña glanced over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Better anchors, Araña.”

Carla swept low over the boardwalk toward the last civilians and spotted an elderly man struggling to drag an enormous striped umbrella with him.

“Sir, leave it!”

“But this was imported!”

Carla’s eyes narrowed. “Your umbrella is replaceable. Your life isn’t!”

The man considered that for barely a second before releasing it.

At the waterline, Ripjaws tore the last stubborn strip of ink from his arm and flung it aside. Movement farther offshore caught his eye as two dark shapes circled beyond the monsters already crowding the shallows. “Aww, come on.”

Wendy glanced toward him. “What?”

“We’ve got more coming!”

Several more Spineback Squid surfaced farther down the coast, angling toward a less defended stretch of beach.

“Okay. Time to switch things up.”

Ripjaws slapped the Omnitrix badge on his chest, and emerald light erupted across the surf.

When the emerald light faded, Ripjaws had been replaced by a seven-foot humanoid of tangled green and black vegetation.

“Swampfire!”

Almost immediately, his familiar rotten stench rolled across the shoreline.

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Oh no.”

Carla’s ears flattened. “Not this one.”

Kagura glanced between them. “Why? What is…” The smell reached her, cracking her composure as her face twisted. “W-What is that?”

Maren pinched her nose while studying the transformation. “Interesting.”

“‘Revolting’ is more accurate,” Carla muttered.

Swampfire pointed toward the Spineback Squids. “Seriously? I’m getting blamed when those things smell like low tide crawled into a dumpster?”

The largest squid’s mantle suddenly swelled.

Araña’s eyes widened. “INK!”

Three streams of tar-black sludge shot across the beach. Swampfire planted his feet and thrust both palms forward, meeting them with a broad sheet of flame. The ink shriveled and burned before reaching the defenders, filling the air with greasy smoke and an odor somehow worse than either source alone.

Swampfire recoiled. “Okay. That one’s definitely not me.”

The squids immediately pulled back from the heat.

Swampfire’s eyes narrowed with satisfaction. “Oh, you don’t like fire. Good to know.”

He swept one hand sideways, sending a curved wall of flame racing across the wet sand between the monsters and the boardwalk. A smaller squid tried crawling around the edge, only for Swampfire to drive both hands toward the ground.

Thick vines burst from beneath the sand and wound around several of its tentacles. The creature tore one strand apart, but two more immediately twisted around its limbs and dragged them together.

Wendy stared. “I forgot he could do that.”

Carla hovered beside her. “I had hoped to forget this entire transformation.”

Swampfire looked over his shoulder. “I may not have a nose, but I still got ears over here.”

“Good.”

Kagura stepped beside Maren, her sword held ready. “Sensei, we need to force them back into the sea.”

“Agreed.” Maren shifted her sheathed odachi against one shoulder. “Leaving several tons of dead squid on the beach before the Tide Festival would create its own problem.”

Swampfire grimaced. “Gross.”

Maren glanced toward him. “Pot, meet kettle.”

“Okay, rude.”

Another squid lunged through the flames.

Kagura intercepted it, severing one reaching tentacle with a precise slash and throwing its balance onto the remaining limbs. Maren immediately intensified the gravity around its mantle, slamming the creature onto the sand.

Swampfire fired two short blasts into the soaked ground directly in front of it. Steam erupted across its face, and the squid recoiled violently toward the surf.

“That’s right,” he said. “Wrong direction.”

Another stream of ink arced toward Araña, but Wendy swept it aside with a burst of wind before turning both arms in a smooth circle.

“Sky Dragon’s Wave Wind!”

The swirling gust hammered the squid broadside. Araña tightened her webbing around its tentacles while Kagura exploited every opening, redirecting dangerous limbs with Gravity Magic and cutting only when necessary.

Maren moved through the fight with equal precision. Her odachi remained sheathed, becoming nearly weightless between strikes before its gravitational force multiplied at the instant of impact. Each blow drove tentacles into the sand or knocked entire creatures sideways without requiring her to draw the blade.

A heavy limb suddenly crashed toward Swampfire.

He caught it with both hands.

The squid immediately tried dragging him toward the water, but thick roots extended from Swampfire’s feet and burrowed into the wet sand.

“Yeah, no. I’m more of a swamp guy.”

Fire spread across his palms and the squid released him immediately.

Then the largest Spineback surged forward. One tentacle demolished a beach shelter while another struck the shoreline hard enough to snuff out part of Swampfire’s fire barrier. Wet sand scattered across the defenders as its massive striped mantle dragged closer.

Maren stepped forward, her expression sharpening. “That one’s mine.”

She brought the sheathed odachi down a gravity crashed over the leader. Its mantle slammed into the beach hard enough to buckle the sand beneath it, while several tentacles flattened despite their frantic efforts to rise.

Swampfire recognized the opening. “Kagura!”

Kagura extended one hand and added a focused gravitational field across the squid’s forward limbs. Nearby, Wendy drew a deep breath as Swampfire aimed both palms toward the saturated ground before the trapped monster.

“Ready?”

Maren glanced toward Kagura.

Kagura answered with a sharp nod.

“Now.”

Swampfire unleashed a powerful burst of flame.

The wet shoreline flashed into steam, and the Spineback reared instinctively from the sudden heat while the combined gravity fields held it in place.

“Drop it!”

Kagura released her pressure and Maren followed a heartbeat later.

Wendy’s cheeks filled as she inhaled. “Sky Dragon’s… Roar!”

The concentrated blast struck the squid squarely in the mantle.

Freed from the gravity pinning it down, the enormous creature slid backward across the beach. Its tentacles clawed desperately for purchase before its entire body crashed into the surf with a tremendous splash.

The remaining Spinebacks stopped advancing.

Swampfire spread both arms and sent another torrent of flame racing across the shallows. Steam hissed upward into a shimmering barrier between the monsters and the beach.

“Anybody else?”

Apparently not.

One squid retreated into deeper water. Another quickly followed, then the rest turned with them, their striped purple mantles disappearing beneath the surface until only dark shapes remained below.

Swampfire kept the flames burning until the final shadow vanished into the blue.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Just keep swimming.”

An uneasy silence settled over Seablossom Bay. Somewhere behind them, a damaged umbrella finally collapsed, followed by the snap of one of Araña’s loosened webs. Gradually, the stunned murmurs of civilians began filling the shoreline again.

Swampfire extinguished the remaining fire and surveyed the damage. Deep trenches from tentacles and Gravity Magic scarred the beach with streaks and puddles of black ink dotting it.

“Well… It could’ve been worse.”

Carla landed nearby, looking over the wreckage. “That observation doesn’t improve it.”

Swampfire tapped the Omnitrix dial and, in a flash of green, transformed back to human. However, his body was streaked with soot, sand, and patches of black ink.

Swampfire’s rotten odor vanished with him and several nearby Mermaid Heel wizards visibly relaxed. However, though the Methanosian’s odor had disappeared, the nauseous smell from the black ink did not.

Nearby, Kagura swung her katana and used an abandoned beach towel to get the last traces of black ink off before sliding the blade back into its sheath. Her gaze moved over the retreating civilians, the rescued fishermen, and finally to Ben, Wendy, and Carla.

“You handled yourselves well.”

Ben glanced toward the fading ripples offshore while peeling a dried strip of ink from his forearm. “I’ve had more experience with giant squid than any reasonable person should.”

Wendy turned to him. “You’ve fought giant squid before, Ben?”

“A few times.” He flicked the strip of ink into the sand. “Definitely more than I’m willing to admit.”

Carla gave him a flat look. “Your life continues to sound deeply irresponsible.”

“Hey, I don’t schedule the squid attacks.”

The corner of Kagura’s mouth shifted.

Ben caught it immediately. “Was that almost a smile there, Kagura?”

“No.”

“Sure.”

Kagura ignored his knowing grin and looked past him. The faint amusement vanished from her expression as her attention settled on several very familiar faces scattered across the beach.

Maren stood a short distance away with her sheathed odachi resting comfortably across one shoulder, her earlier battlefield focus already easing back into its usual relaxed confidence, while Risley, Araña, and three other Mermaid Heel wizards seemed equally fascinated by the state of the beach.

Kagura’s eyes narrowed. “Sensei.” The calmness in her voice was considerably more threatening than shouting.

Maren looked over pleasantly. “Mikazuchi-san.”

The young swordswoman’s gaze passed across the assembled guild members. “Why are all of you here?”

Araña laughed much too quickly and spread both hands. “What a coincidence, chica! We also decided to visit the beach today.”

“Completely independently,” Risley added with exaggerated seriousness.

One of the other women nodded quickly. “We like sand.”

Everyone looked at her.

Her confidence collapsed. “A-And water.”

Silence followed.

Kagura remained entirely unconvinced.

Maren, by contrast, showed no concern whatsoever. Kagura drew a slow breath through her nose, and Wendy subtly leaned toward Ben.

“Should we move?” she whispered.

“That would probably be smart.”

Before either could act on that thought, Wendy finally noticed Risley’s swimsuit now that nobody was being attacked by enormous sea creatures. The blue two-piece carried white geometric trim and an amber sash at one hip, resembling a more daring version of the clothes some women at Cait Shelter wore.

Wendy’s cheeks turned pink.

Risley caught her staring and glanced down at herself. “Something wrong?”

“N-No!” She waved both hands. “I just think your swimsuit is really nice.”

Ben’s eyes flicked briefly toward the outfit. “Huh. Kind of looks like something Pepel might wear if she decided to be a little more daring.”

Thinking of Cait Shelter’s attractive seamstress immediately warmed his face. Okay. New subject.

He cleared his throat and gestured toward the Mermaid Heel group. “Anyway, the whole ‘coincidence’ story would work better if you guys hadn’t been following us since this morning.”

Every Mermaid Heel wizard froze.

Kagura slowly turned toward them again. “Since this morning?”

Araña pointed accusingly at Ben. “T-That is an unproven accusation!”

The brunet raised an eyebrow. “Your green curls were sticking over a market awning.”

Araña touched her hair. “C-Coincidence.”

Ben pointed toward Risley. “And you bought cake from the café across the street and left crumbs behind you.”

Risley’s eyes widened. “I did not leave that many.”

Ben smiled. “So you admit it?”

She froze.

Araña turned toward her in betrayal. “Risley!”

“I panicked!”

Kagura’s stare grew colder.

Ben continued, gesturing toward another guild member. “One of you spent five minutes hiding behind a signpost.”

The woman near the back raised her hand weakly. “It looked wider from farther away.”

“And every time Kagura turned around, half of you changed hiding places at once.” Ben swept a hand toward the group. “That actually made you easier to spot.”

He then pointed toward Maren. “And her sword stuck out over basically everything.”

Maren glanced toward the enormous odachi resting on her shoulder. “It isn’t built for subtlety.”

“That only proves my point.”

Kagura’s composure finally began to fracture. “You followed us across Seablossom?”

The younger guild members recoiled almost in unison. Araña edged behind Risley, while Risley attempted to maintain her dignity as she took one careful step farther from Kagura.

Several excuses immediately overlapped.

“We stayed outside most of the shops.”

“We were only near the window.”

“Araña went inside.”

“Traitor!”

“You pushed me!”

“I encouraged you!”

Kagura remained silent as her eyes settled on Maren.

The older swordswoman lowered her odachi and rested its sheathed tip against the sand. “They were going to follow you whether I came or not.”

Araña exclaimed. “Maren!”

“So I came along to make sure they didn’t do anything stupid.”

Risley glanced around at the wrecked shoreline. “Technically, none of this was our fault.”

Kagura looked at her.

The ravenette reconsidered. “Not helping.”

Maren’s mouth curved. “I also established rules. No interfering, no questioning your friends, no arranging anything behind your back, and no getting close enough for you to notice us.”

Ben coughed into one fist. “That last one clearly needs work.”

“A little,” she admitted.

Kagura looked over the scattered webbing, broken shelters, black ink puddles, and deep trenches. She then returned her attention to her teacher.

“Was your surveillance successful?”

Maren considered the question with far more seriousness than it deserved.

Then she grinned. “You smiled.”

Kagura’s face warmed instantly.

Maren’s grin broadened. “So I’d call it a success.”

The purple-haired maiden’s fingers settled around her katana’s sheath.

Araña turned and ran. “Nope!”

A strand of webbing shot toward an overturned stall and pulled her into a fast arc several yards down the beach. Risley watched her escape, looked back at Kagura, and bolted in the opposite direction.

“Coward!” another guild member shouted while running after her.

“You’re running too!”

“Because I’m not stupid!”

The rest scattered.

Kagura remained still for half a heartbeat before charging after them. “Araña!”

“IT WAS RISLEY’S IDEA!”

“It absolutely was not!” Risley shouted.

Araña swung over another overturned stall. “KAGURA, VIOLENCE WILL NOT SOLVE THIS!”

“Violence will absolutely solve this!” Kagura countered.

Wendy watched the pursuit race down the beach as the Mermaid Heel members scattered ahead of Kagura.

She looked toward Ben. “Should we help them?”

Ben considered the chaos for a moment. “I think this is a guild problem.”

Carla folded her arms. “A sensible decision.”

“Mark the calendar.”

“I said sensible, not miraculous.”

Maren, however, remained exactly where she was. She reached into a small pouch on her white coverup to pull out her ceramic flask. After inspecting it, she opened it and took a satisfied drink while watching Kagura chase her guildmates farther down the shoreline.

“They’ll learn eventually.”

…

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this installment! This chapter will serve as Part 1 of another two-part story arc in Ben, Wendy, and Carla’s journey across Fiore. I originally planned for the entire story to fit into a single chapter, but it quickly became clear that there was too much to cover without rushing things. Still, I feel like plenty happened here for you fine readers to enjoy.

A huge shout-out to Masamune X23 for his help with editing, beta-reading, and consulting throughout the writing process. Major credit also goes to BálintM for his ideas and for providing the initial skeleton for this chapter.

Marielle Azure and Maren Kurogane are original characters created for this story. Credit to BálintM and Masamune X23 as well for their input in helping develop these two new characters.

Credit to BálintM for providing the image for Flipper and, more importantly, the idea to use him. It is confirmed that the Omnitrix does contain DNA samples for humans, dolphins, and white lab mice.

The next chapter will follow Ben, Wendy, Carla, and the wizards of Mermaid Heel as they investigate the sudden and mysterious disturbance of sea life along Seablossom’s coast. Will they be able to uncover what is causing it before the situation threatens the town and forces the cancellation of the Tide Festival?

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