“Should we all board this ship?” Conis asked. She looked at the faded hull and the thick cobwebs clinging to the railing. The faint creak of the wooden planks.
Ben stepped forward. “Probably not necessary,” he said after a brief pause. “It doesn’t look like a large ship anyway,” he added.
“It’s more of a ghost barge than a battleship,” Zala remarked, folding her arms.
“And by the looks of it, there haven’t been any living souls here in years,” Mikita added, wrinkling her nose. “Not unless cobwebs are hiring,” she added.
“There will be ghosts,” Robin said matter-of-factly. “Ghosts who eat everyone,” she added.
“Eat everyone?” Marianne echoed, visibly startled as she took a step closer to the group.
They all turned to Ben.
“There are no ghosts eating anyone,” Ben said dryly. He looked at Robin, who gave a mischievous smile in return. He sighed. “Just… old wood and bad lighting,” he added.
Alvida stepped closer and leaned against Ben. Her large breast touched his arm once more. “Okay, my love,” she said. Who’s coming with you?” she asked.
Ben blinked, montarily. He felt the press of her ample chest against his arm once again. “Uh… right,” he said, clearing his throat and glancing around. “Kaya, Zala, Robin, Alvida… and Kalifa. We will go on board the ship and investigate,” he added.
“?” Kaya said. She looked at the dark ship. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Are you scared?” Nojiko asked with a teasing grin.
“Ben would understand,” Vivi added gently.
“You can always hold his hand,” Raki comnted.
“No,” Kaya said quickly, squaring her shoulders. “I’m not scared,” she firmly said.
“She’s a big brave girl,” Alvida said with a smirk.
“I am brave,” Kaya said as she put her back up.
With that, the group made their way up the creaking gangplank. Ben, Kaya, Zala, Robin, Alvida, and Kalifa stepped carefully onto the deck. The ship groaned under their weight. The boards flexed with each step. Cobwebs brushed across their arms and faces, so hanging like ghostly curtains between cracked masts and shattered lanterns. The musty scent of seawater and decay filled the air.
“Feels like we’re walking into a haunted house,” Zala muttered.
“I told you there would be ghosts,” Robin said, smiling faintly.
Kalifa adjusted her glasses. “Let’s just stay alert. There might be more here than dust and superstition,” she said.
They all nodded and continued forward, their footsteps echoing softly on the creaking boards and groaning tal. Ben looked around the aged ship carefully. He thought though its wood was cracked and faded, tal components were subtly built into the fra. He could see rusted screws in wooden seams, hinges with reinforced brackets, and chains weaved through the sails like structural supports.
Ben narrowed his eyes. “This ship… it looks old, but it feels new,” he said. He thought this ship had more in common with the Miss Love Fleet than ships of its ti.
Alvida walked beside him. “Is there sothing you’ve spotted, my love?” she asked, brushing cobwebs from her hat.
He nodded. “There’s sothing off about it,” he said. “This ship should be hundreds of years old, however when you look at it, modern ships of today don't co close to it,” he added.
Zala tilted her head. “What does that an?” she questioned. She looked around the ship and thought the style of the ship was very different.
Robin knelt beside a wooden plank and gently brushed it with her fingertips. “He might be right,” she murmured. “This wood’s sitting atop a steel support beam,” she added. She stood and stepped to a nearby window, wiping the dust away with her sleeve. Peering in, her brows furrowed. “There are gauges and wires inside. This isn’t just an old ship. So of it, I have not seen anywhere besides the Miss Love Duck and Miss Love Geese,” she added.
“Is this a distance relative to the Miss Love Duck?” Kaya asked.
Ben smiled. “In terms of materials, yes,” he responded.
Kalifa adjusted her glasses. “I’ve morized the ship registries of Water 7. I don’t recall anything like this ever docking, or even being ntioned,” she remarked.
Ben stepped toward the edge of the deck. “Let’s keep looking. There might be secrets here,” he said. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel·fıre·net
They all moved carefully, stepping past splintered rails and tattered ropes. Their eyes caught sight of several lifeboats secured to the side, but instead of being made of wood, they were constructed from a tough, inflatable material, half-deflated and lined with unfamiliar valves.
“My love,” Alvida called, pointing ahead. “There’s sothing behind that broken door,” she added.
“What do you think it is?” Zala asked.
“I don't know but that bit feels different,” Alvida responded.
Ben approached the door. He looked and saw the letter “D” on the handle. It was the sa font and style which he saw on the different labs. “Let's go and check this out,” he added.
The group approached a narrow stairway leading down into the ship’s depths. Each step was tal, the clink of their heels echoed louder with every descent. The dimness swallowed them as they descended.
“It is getting dark,” Zala remarked.
Kaya slipped as she held the rail, her foot caught on a loose plank. She yelped and stumbled forward.
Ben reacted instantly as he caught her. His hands touched her large breast. “Careful,” he said, steadying her with a slightly awkward expression.
Kaya's cheeks flushed pink. “T-thank you,” she responded. She thought he had helped and saved her like he said he will. Her heart fluttered for a second.
Robin smirked from behind. “What a heroic save, Captain,” she comnted.
Alvida chuckled. “My love will always protect his harem,” she said.
Ben cleared his throat and looked away. “Let’s… just keep moving,” he said. He did thought Kaya`s breasts were soft.
They reached the bottom and erged into a dusty, cobweb-covered room. The air was stale and untouched. “This looks like a research lab,” Ben said. He saw the abandoned, yet strangely intact. There were tables lined with scientific instrunts, tubes and glass chambers, and stacks of faded paper cluttering the room.
Robin approached a cracked monitor. “None of this has power… but it looks like it did at one point,” she said. She thought back to the Miss Love Duck`s monitored and they all were powered.
Kaya walked toward a set of instrunts and squinted. “So of this I recognize… microscopes, centrifuges… but that—” she pointed at a strange, pod-shaped device with a rotating core “I’ve never seen anything like that. Not even in books,” she added.
Zala picked up a data slate with unreadable text. “This writing isn’t standard either. So of it’s in cipher,” she said.
Robin walked past her. “It looks like the ancient language, however the text has faded away,” she said.
Kalifa ran a gloved hand across the desk. “What were they researching here?” she asked.
“There might be sothing there,” Kaya said as she pointed to another hallway.
“Let's go,” Ben said.
They pressed forward and followed a narrow corridor lit only by their footsteps. Finally, they entered a chamber. A soft glow caught their attention.
“There,” Robin said. “That’s the only source of light we’ve seen so far,” she said.
Near the back of the room, a cylindrical tube stood upright. Inside, thick fluid shimred. The machine beside it emitted a low hum.
“It is still working after this long,” Zala said.
“That is incredible,” Kaya added.
Ben stepped toward the tube slowly. He was drawn by an unsettling presence he couldn’t explain. He reached up, wiped the foggy glass, and his eyes widened.
Inside, floating in the fluid, was a woman.
Her skin was a soft brown. She had long white hair that flowed freely around her. She was suspended in the liquid like silk. At the top of her back, she had partially curled dark charcoal-black wings.
“A Lunarian,” Ben whispered.
Kaya stepped closer. “A Lunarian?” she asked. Kaya thought she looked like Conis and Raki, however she was different.
Robin’s voice dropped to a murmur. “I have never seen one in the flesh,” Robin said.
“The World Governnt would pay a sum of 100,000,000 for any tip-off about a lunarian's whereabouts,” Kalifa said as she touched her glasses.
“I have heard of that as well,” Zala confird.
“My love?” Alvid asked. She thought Ben had ntioned soone similar before.
The group stood silently around the tube, the air growing colder with the weight of secrets.
Ben clenched his fist. He had seen her. She was the sa woman from his dreams. “We’re waking her up,” he stated.
Alvida smiled. “We will,” Alvida responded.
“How should we wake her up?” Zala asked. “Do we just turn that machine off?” she added.
Kaya walked closer to the machine. She looked at it. “I think so, I will be ready to heal her in case sothing happens,” she added.
“We also have the Heal Drinks,” Alvida added.
“Ben, be beware, the World Governnt will take more interest in us if they see a Lunarian with us,” Kalifa warned.
“There might be other bad actors who will co for us as well,” Robin added.
Ben smiled. He thought the next stop will be Amazon Lilly after this and then it will be the ti-skip. He thought the chances of the World Governnt knowing are slim and when they do know he will be ready. “They already have targeted us so having her on board will not make any difference,” Ben said. “Besides, we will take on the world of each other,” he added.
They all smiled. “Okay, Kaya turn off that machine,” he said.
Kaya gave a small nod and reached for the handle and pulled it down. A low hum faded into silence.
The liquid inside the containnt tube began to churn violently. The surface rippled and bubbled as if boiling from within.
Suddenly the reinforced glass shattered with a deafening burst. It sent shards flying in all directions. A rush of fluid surged out, splashing across the floor in a wave.
Ben turned into his hybrid form and used his wings to protect everyone. Everyone stepped back instinctively as the liquid gushed around their boots. In the center of the broken chamber, amidst the steaming fluid and shattered glass, they looked up and saw her.
“She is alive,” Zala remarked.
“She is beautiful,” Kalifa added.
Ben thought she was extrely beautiful. She was just wearing a white sheet.
The Lunarian woman stood still, her long white hair was soaked and clung to her pale skin. A faint glow emanated from the black wings which were folded behind her back.
She looked up and saw the girls and Ben. “You are from my dream,” she said.
“I saw you in my dreams as well,” Ben responded. “Join my crew,” he stated.
“Yes, I will,” she replied as the flas on her back flared. She thought this man had done a lot in her dreams.
Zala smiled. “You did not even ask her na,” she said.
“My love knows what he is doing,” Alvida said.
“My na is Ashivra,” Ashivra responded. She looked around. “I am not sure how I got there,” she added. “All I know I was being taken sowhere by soone inside that tube,” she said. She started to get a headache.
Ben approached her and hugged her. “Ashivra is a beautiful na,” he said. “Dont worry about the rest, we can figure it out later,” he added. “This ship may have so clues,” he said.
Ashivra smiled. She looked at Ben. “You are lucky, I like you so much,” she said as she rembered the dreams. They held hands, told stories and more.
Ben thought they had only just t. He thought he had seen her in a dream. He wondered if the dreams were more.
At that mont, there was a large cracking sound. “That was the sound of the hull breaking, we need to leave now,” Kalifa shouted. They all nodded and rushed up the stairs. Ben held Robin and Zala. Kaya had transford and taken Alvida while Kalifa used Moonwalk and Ashivra opened her wings and flew out.
They had left the ship just in ti and saw it sinking down rapidly.
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