When we finally touched down on the ground, I leapt out of the sleigh and hugged the ground.


    “Oh, how I missed you.” I groaned. Orion looked over at me as the others all piled out.


    “It was not that bad.” He said, rolling his eyes at me. I rolled over in the sand and started making dirt angels.


    I had been surprised at how fast the Order mobilized. Despite all the drama and tension, they got ready and prepared for their missions fast. They had quickly gathered gear and supplies, showing me where things were and pushing me along. I remembered none of what they had told me.


    “There needs to be a maximum capacity sign on that thing. Too many people in a tiny sleigh makes for a bad time.” I said, lifting my head from the ground.


    I was certain my melodrama was starting to drive the group nuts. Erik stared at me with bright blue eyes and motioned for me to get up. I hopped to my feet and started following the others down to the docks in some tiny East Coast town. I popped the headset Orion had lent me over my ears and pulled my hood up.


    “Nope, none of that mister.” Amelia said yanking back my hood and almost strangling me with my headphones as she ripped them off.


    “But I…” I tried to protest, but she cut me off.


    “You aren’t going to be antisocial this whole time. If I have to bug you the entire way to Greece, I will.” She smiled at me and I swooned a little. I couldn''t tell if her smile was playful or malicious. Maybe a bit of both?


    I wish I had gotten stuck with Amelia in the sleigh. Despite constantly being in her armor, something was inviting about her. Instead I got stuck between Ethan, who took his shirt off twice, and Tadashi, who is the worst conversationalist on the planet. Every time Ethan did something on my left, Tadashi would fidget on my right, like a little ball of anger.


    “Nervous?” Orion asked me, shoving the miniature sleigh into his backpack. He materialized his bow and for a moment, I was blinded. It shimmered with sunlight even in the dark of night. He pulled back and aimed out over the water. An arrow made entirely of light appeared at his fingers and he fired it. As it plummet into the water, it reminded me of a shooting star.


    “A little.” I replied.


    He continued shooting a streak of fiery light, arcing into the water. He smiled, and it looked like it hurt. I mean, anyone who smiles all the time like this guy had to have cheek pain, right?


    “Can I whip mine out and play with it too?” I asked sarcastically. I felt all the eyes turning to look at me without actually seeing them. Orion started to cry he was laughing so hard. He began clapping like a seal. It started a chain reaction and Amelia laughed so hard she snorted.


    “I think it’s for the best if you keep yours where you have it.” Amelia said breathlessly. She summoned her spear and twirled it like a cheerleader’s baton. That might actually explain her nimbleness, I thought. I tried to stop myself from imagining her in a skimpy cheerleader outfit. It did not work.


    Ethan and Tadashi followed suit and drew their swords, as if they were taking a pet for a walk; simply giving them fresh air and relief. I suddenly felt like an amateur. I’d only summoned the Scythe once and that was when I had picked it up. Besides that, I had received introductory fumbling with a wooden stick in the training room for a week. Chase said I wasn''t his worst student, but I didn''t know what that was compared to.


    I noticed Erik was walking further ahead and away from everyone else, so I tried to include him in the fun.


    “Hey Erik, you gonna play with yours? Can I watch?” I joked. Everyone laughed, but him. He stopped walking and even from the distance between us, I could hear his sigh.


    He held out his right hand and looked over his shoulder at me. The sky rumbled and I felt moisture and pressure in the air. It was enough to give me an instant headache. Thunder rumbled out over the water and the little port town.


    Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning struck his hand, cracking with a sound so loud that I fell back in terror and may or may not have peed myself a little. In his hand sat a silver hammer with runes etched into its sides.


    “Mjolnir.” I said in awe. “Like that guy from the comics.”


    The reference made Ethan and Orion excited and the two went off about comic books and I had to tune them out.


    “Happy?” Erik shouted back at me.


    “A little damp actually.” I called back. Regardless of how anyone took it, everyone laughed this time.


    We finally made it to the dock with only a few more inappropriate jokes, and one swat in the back of the head from Amelia.


    “There aren’t any boats here.” Ethan whined, looking around anxiously. We all looked and he was right. The dock was empty. Erik checked his watch and shook his head.


    “They should have been here by now.” He said impatiently.


    Orion pulled a little telescopic lens from his pocket and looked out over the water. I turned to look at him, confused. It was night time, how was he going to see...The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    “Out there. There is a ship just a bit out, maybe a few kilometres." He called out.


    “Is it heading towards us?” Erik asked him. Orion made a face, cause him and Erik were having a lover’s quarrel.


    “No, it looks anchored.” He said with a great deal less enthusiasm.


    “I’m not jumping in the ocean.” Amelia said flicking her wrist in dismissal. I thought I heard the ocean groan in disappointment. Might have been me though.


    After looking around some more, Orion pointed out to the water again.


    “There is a rowboat coming out to meet us.” He said, surprised.


    Sure enough, a few moments later, a rowboat pulled up to the dock.


    “’Ello lads!” A woman with a fiery red mess of hair stepped onto the dock. I say stepped, but it was more like stumbled.


    “Oh, and lass. Pardon me. Pretty lil’ one, aren’t ya?” She winked at Amelia, who put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.


    “Yer rides out on the waves a bit. You’ll hafta escuse me, the Flyin’ Dutchman can’t dock.” She informed us, while sizing us up.


    Ethan let out an excited squeak and pumped his fist in the air. She looked over each and every one of us, her eyes lolling one way then the other, until her eyes settled on me.


    “Uh oh.” I muttered, as she gave me a lewd smile and strode over to press herself against me. She wore a very open blouse that left nothing to the imagination. Her brown trousers were stained from spilled drinks, and her black laced boots went passed her knees. She reeked of alcohol.


    “Ain’t you a purty lil’ thing too." She moaned in my ear, wrapping me in a hug. I started to suffocate in her cleavage. The smell of alcohol and brine was overwhelming. She backed up to look me over again and her emerald eyes betrayed flecks of gold in the moon light. She slapped my ass so hard I nearly face planted.


    “This one is sittin’ next ta me. Come on lad.” She waved for me to follow her into the rowboat and I looked around at the group for help.


    Orion is trying his damnedest to stifle laughter. Erik even smirked and motioned for me to board the ship first. Amelia seems less pleased by the situation and my heart sunk. I moved forward, and our drunk host waved for me to come closer. I begrudgingly obeyed.


    At the end of the rowboat was a zombie sailor holding the ores and I turned back to the group with a finger raised to pose a question, but I decided it was better to see the varying reactions as each of them piled in behind me.


    As predicted, each of them made a polite commotion. Ethan is the only one who shrieked in terror, still getting over his fear of the Rabbi. The drunk woman laughed.


    “Ay, don’t mind me crew. They’re all a little stiff.” She cackled, but it’s the first thing about her that doesn’t scare the crap out of me. It’s the laugh of someone with no cares, no stress.


    Everyone tried so hard to sit away from the undead rower, that there was no room. He actually looked like quite the gentleman. He had a crisp navy uniform on, and his bones were bleached white and clean, with no scraps of dead flesh. It was like something out of a cartoon.


    Suddenly I was lifted from my seat and I looked behind me in a panic.


    “Ain’t enough room, so you’ll hafta sit in me lap.” The red-haired woman pulled me closer to her and I go stiff. And not in the fun way. The others all looked at me with teasing expressions and I could feel my cheeks turn crimson.


    “The names Siobhan O’Malley, and I’ll be yer Cap’n this evenin’.” She bellowed, just about deafening me. Everyone else made introductions.


    “What about you, Sweet-thing?” She whispered in my ear, pressig herself as close as she could against me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I tried to squirm loose, but I have all the muscle capacity of a wet noodle.


    “I’m…Dyson.” I muttered. Her warm breath on the side of my neck made me shiver. The smell of alcohol was beginning to make me sick. I hated drunks, but she was nice enough.


    I looked over at Amelia, hoping that this strange woman’s fascination with me hadn''t influenced the way she saw me, but she wasn''t paying attention to me anymore. It wasn''t like I had made a move on her or anything. We had shared a few moments of closeness, like when we had been watching that horror movie together. But it wasn''t like she was mine or anything...


    The group started talking amongst themselves and we all stared at the huge ghost ship as we came up to it. It defied all logic. The ship''s hull had massive holes that revealed a fleshy interior that seemed to pulse. The front of the ship appeared to have a giant mouth with jagged teeth made out of broken planks. Wisps of rope and sails flapped about, glowing eeriely.


    “Ya ever seen one so big?” Siobhan said, admiring her own ship. I chuckled at the familiarity of her inappropriate joke.


    “Oh, ya like Siobhan’s jokes do ya? We’re gonna have lots of fun Sweet-thing, you and me.” She stroked my thigh and I would have recoiled if I had anywhere to go. I looked longingly into the water, hoping we’d capsize so I could get away. Unfortunately, our oarsman was adept at keeping the boat balanced.


    ~*~


    As we got aboard the Flying Dutchman, I watched in wonder as several zombie and skeleton crewman went to work diligently at their jobs. I was impressed at how effective a work force they were. I wondered why no one has used the undead as a workforce before, until I remembered the visceral reaction the others had to the undead. It was fun to imagine a zombie driving a forklift though.


    The others spread out and began to wander the ship as Siobhan took the helm and called for the crew to raise anchor.


    "I like it here" A small voice said beside me and I just about jumped out of my skin and joined the crew.


    "Alma, you gotta stop coming and going like that." I said breathlessly. The little ghost girl looked at me with her big red eyes and cocked her head.


    "But I have a job I must attend to. I cannot be present all the time." She said, almost sadly. I noticed she had changed her attire from a hospital gown to a sailor uniform, like something from Sailor Moon.


    "No, I get that. Go do your reaping and stuff. Just stop scaring the crap out of me." I said, grasping the railing and looking out over the dark water. She floated behind me, as if to check, before floating beside me to sit on the rail. I turned to look back at the ship with her.


    I watched a skeleton walk in front of me. It turned, doing a double take, before bowing deeply, taking its hat off.


    "Ma''am." He said politely to the little ghost, before going back to his duty. I frowned. No one was bowing to me.


    "You a celebrity or something?" I asked. Alma shook her head and little wisps of light came off her.


    "Nope. But the undead recognize us Reapers as the ones that brought them beyond the Veil. Necromancy is a subjugation of the mortal form, but they often retain some piece of their former personality. Most are greatful to us for ferrying them across." She explained. I was shocked.


    "You mean they aren''t just animated corpses?" I asked, curiousity peaked.


    "Technically yes, but as I said, each crewman here has a fragement of who they once were in life. As an example, many of the crew of this ship were former pirates, navy, fisherman and the like. They remember their duty and jobs, and take pride in that memory. It may only be a tiny piece of who they once were, and it is not quite the same as having a soul, but it''s something." She said, kicking her legs back and forth.


    "Interesting." I said. I thought about Death''s Scythe, wondering what capabilities it had. It was hard to train with the actual Artifact cause if I touched someone, they''d just croak.


    But maybe there was more to it then just swinging a deadly stick.