Blue ocean was all Azucena saw when she emerged from the depths. Blue ocean as long as the eye could see. The two main questions were: how long could she actually see from the literal sea level, and even if there was land beyond the horizon, did their new friend navigate there. When she saw two more orange heads pop into view, she remembered the instructions she was given right before they departed were very clear on one thing: do not just open the suit. There was a decompression valve somewhere that would slowly return her to the air pressure on the surface. Her hands patted the plastic until she discovered a small plastic loop. That had to be it, right? She closed her eyes and pulled.

  It was only moments later when it occurred to her that it could have been a valve that released the air bags that kept her floating. Fortunately, she could feel the suit very patiently let out air to relieve the pressure. As the insulating air escaped the suit, she started to feel the heat of the pacific midday sun. How long would it take for us to just drift to our death in the middle of the Pacific? She could not help but wonder. She had never had agoraphobia, but now the open emptiness of the vast ocean was really starting to come down on her.

  "This doesn't look too good." Cassandra was the first to say something.

  Everyone was above the surface now, and none of them looked especially happy. "I'm starting to think we should have taken our chances on the submarine," Heinz said.

  Their unexpected ally just laughed. "I say, it would be quite lucky if a fishing boat would just sail to view right now, wouldn't it, Luca?" They literally blinked at the boy.

  It was mere moments later that Azucena heard the faint sound of a motor. Damn that kid! She was, obviously, happy about the "coincidence," but had to wonder what that implied. He could, indeed, alter reality, but there had to be some limitations. The Red Fist had not been able to just snap their fingers and bring him back, so as miraculous as the boy's ability seemed, there were things he, or the others of his kind, could not do. Where those limits were drawn, well, that was the question.

  She could hear shouting in a language she did not recognise. Logically, it had to be one of the Polynesian languages, but it was not like she knew any of them. Their boat was small, little more than a vat of metal with some fishing rods and a net, but it would probably be enough to hold all of them.

  They all started waving their hands at the fishermen, who turned and came to pick them up. The ship was "manned" by two women, both of light chocolate skin and dark curly hair. They directed their boat next to Azucena and the others and immediately began picking them up.

  Azucena was the third to get onboard, and glad to get rid of the suit. While it had been very literally a life saver, it had felt like being inside a Michelin man, barely able to move. Now, her skin was breathing the warm ocean air brought by the light breeze. She closed her eyes and laid back. It had been quite chaotic the last few days. She missed Fernanda. Hopefully, her girlfriend was ok. She felt like she could trust her mother to keep them safe – and the Red Fist was not after them, in any case.

  The metal floor of the small boat was almost flooded with water, but that did not stop Cassandra from lying down there in an X-shape. The water touching her skin was slowly vaporising.

  "What are you doing?" asked Luca, curiously looking at the steam rising from around the pyromancer.

  "Because of my magic," Cassandra said, "my body temperature can get a bit… extreme."

  "Does it hurt?" he asked.

  Cassandra shook her head. "It's more like having a slight fever."

  Luca looked confused. "I've never had a fever."

  Azucena wondered if the Primordials would ever get sick? Seemed like, if they were able to control the actual physical reality around them, they would just wish their ills away. That was, as far as she knew, the biggest difference between her magic and theirs: they worked on abstract concepts, rather than minutiae of forces like she did. She supposed that if a Corrupted could calculate everything down to subatomic level, they could effectively do what the Primordials did.

  "I know you all wonder, so I'll just say: they do get sick, but very rarely," the newcomer said.

  "Can I at least get your name? And preferable pronouns," Azucena said, still lying down and eyes half closed.

  "You can call me Matta. They/them," they answered.

  "So, what is your role in this, Matta?" Azucena asked.

  They smiled. "It's a long story, but the gist of it is that we – that is my, uh, organisation – have been trying to track down and free the Primordials for quite some time now."

  "They're called the Red Fist," Azucena said. "So, do you have a cool name like that?"

  They grinned. "Nah, names make you easier to pin down. We prefer to remain… elusive."

  "There must be some way you refer to yourselves?" Heinz asked.

  "There is, us."

  "That's very underwhelming," said Cassandra.

  "When you're up against powers such as the ones the Primordials possess… it's better to stay vague." They paused and let their gaze wander around the boat. "I promise I'll get a bit more specific when we settle down on the island."

  "The island?" Azucena had not heard anyone speak of their destination. The two women crewing the boat only spoke whatever the local language was around here, and she had not heard Matta talking to them in any language. "Don't say you planned this, somehow?"

  They shrugged a bit uncomfortably. "I might have."

  "How did you know where we would get out?" Heinz asked.

  "Don't forget that while you were imprisoned, I had infiltrated the crew. I have access to the navigation console, the maps, everything."

  "They're right, you know," said Anna, "I saw them."

  "I'm not even going to ask how you infiltrated an organisation like the Red Fist," Azucena sighed. One of the local women shouted something, and she opened her eyes, looking past the bow of the boat. "You have to be fucking kidding me," she said.

  There was the island. It was a small one, but its biggest feature was a hill – or a mountain? – in the shape of a skull.

  "We are not here by accident, as you can probably tell by now, but the specifics will have to wait until we have settled."

  At least – or unfortunately? – it was not the skull of a monkey.

  Although he saw himself as something of a globetrotter, Heinz had never been to Polynesia. He had seen pictures, of course, and the blue ocean and the white sands bordered by lush green vegetation were all there, yet there was a certain sense of scale that mere images failed to convey. It wasn't the size of the island, it was still very small, but the vastness of the azure emptiness that surrounded him. Even the nearest island must have been hundreds of kilometers away, and the continents… well, it was sure that the fishing boat they had just been on would not be able to take them anywhere near a continental coastline.

  The boat had docked on the end of a small rickety pier that led to one of the aforementioned sandy white beaches, beyond which a small jungle rose, before giving away to the mountain shaped like a skull. He could make out a few buildings between the shore and the forest and some even stood high above the water on long wooden stilts. Two children were running towards them from the nearby rocks that lined the water.

  Heinz almost lost his balance several times trying to bridge the space between the end of the pier and the shore, but was kept upright everytime by Anna. Unlike him, she didn't seem to suffer from the same wobbliness after days at sea.

  "Ever since I was… Corrupted?" she started, uncertainly.

  Heinz nodded to signal she had used the correct term.

  "Ever since I was Corrupted, I feel like I've been– I don't know how to explain it – in control of my body much more."

  "It's not uncommon," Heinz said, trying to regain his footing for the fifth time. "The magic often gives the Corrupted some, uh, physical enhancements too, like endurance or coordination."

  "Did you get any of these enhancements?"

  "I assure you, mine are strictly mental," Heinz laughed weakly.

  "So, what, you're just really good at pub quizzes?" Anna teased.

  Heinz laughed. He had been, but stopped going because it had felt like cheating. "I hope my skills have a bit less frivolous uses," he chuckled.

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  When they finally reached the shore, Heinz fell down on the warm sand. He hadn't realised how sore he felt until now. He had not felt this relaxed since he had left Schwarzwald days ago. "I wish we could stay here for a while."

  "Why can't we?" Anna asked.

  "The Red Fist will be after us in no time. We're not that far from where we escaped from the submarine."

  Matta, who had just arrived and was stretching their legs on the beach, looked at him and smiled mysteriously. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

  Heinz lifted his gaze and covered his eyes from the blazing sun. "What do you mean? Surely, they are already combing the area for–"

  "By now, they should be dead."

  Everyone around them stopped and stared at Matta. "Dead?" asked Azucena.

  "Before I got Luca out, I made sure that we would not be followed."

  There was silence.

  "Oh, that's what it was," said Cassandra, and shrugged.

  "You're not the least bit concerned about this?" Heinz said incredulously.

  "No," the woman replied. "They were the bad guys. It happens in this business."

  "In this business?! What do you think we're doing here?!" Heinz could barely contain himself. When did everyone become so cold?

  "You have to admit, " Anna said, "it was either them or us."

  "You were about to torture and kill me not that many hours ago!"

  "Uh, sorry?"

  Heinz lowered his gaze. Sometimes, he felt like he was the only one with any sense of ethics in this group. Ironically enough, since he was also the one who had been accused of killing someone's father.

  Anna was sitting next to him, calmly looking at the ocean. It felt unreal, thinking that this young woman here was the progeny of the Necromancer. To Heinz, there was not a being on earth more evil than him. She missed Helga too, and could see a resemblance in Anna. Maybe the same spirit too, though Helga would have never double crossed her friends for sake of revenge. On the other hand, she had not gone through everything her daughter had.

  They sat there, without saying a word, for a good part of an hour. After all they had been through, this was indeed a welcome respite, and if Matta was telling the truth, one that could be extended for several days, if the locals' hospitality lasted so long. From almost being tortured in a submarine to lying on the sand on a paradise island was indeed a nice change of pace for Heinz. It looked like the others didn't disagree either, judging from the serenity on all their faces.

  Somewhat reluctantly, Heinz turned his head as he heard footsteps approaching from the cliffs upon which the small village was built. The person coming down was an short stocky lady with a determinate step and long streaks of gray in her curly black hair.

  "Matta, what lazy bums have you brought to my doorstep?!" she shouted when she reached the beach. "It's past noon and everybody's arse is squarely on the sand! It won't do!"

  Matta turned and smiled brightly. Heinz realised he had not paid almost any attention to their appearance. Magic? They had an almost uncannily pale white skin and short black hair, glistening blue eyes and sharp features. Faerie blood? Faeries were one of those things many researchers seemed to kind of think maybe had been true at some point. There were no mentions of them from modern verifiable sources, but they appeared plenty in old grimoires and especially flash memoirs from wizards of yore. Heinz made a mental note to discuss this with the others when they had a chance to meet in private.

  "Ah, Raina!" The potential fae-blood exclaimed. "It has been too long!"

  "Not long enough, if you keep bringing castaways with you every damn time," the woman said with mock anger and wagging her finger.

  "You know me, I'm such a softie I just can't leave people to death!" Matta said over exaggerated drama.

  The older woman exhaled and smiled. "It is good to see you." She motioned to everyone on the beach. "And you, welcome to Motu Ivi!"

  "That," Matta noted, "Means Bone Island."

  "A descriptive term," Cassandra agreed.

  "Food shall be served shortly in the main hall," Raina said. "I'm sorry it is taking so long, we're scrambling a bit, as we weren't expecting so many visitors."

  "Please, don't mind us," Azucena said. "I'm sure we can buy–"

  "Does this look like an island with an ATM?" Raina interrupted, crossing her arms.

  "Oh, eh–" Azucena started and blushed. "I guess not. But we can't just–"

  "I'll find you ways to make yourself useful, don't worry," the local woman said. "You'll be here for a while."

  They way she said it sent chills down Heinz's spine

  The main hall of the village of the Bone Island had a frame made of coconut trunks that capered into a ceiling of woven pandanus leaves on the top, some ten meters high and maybe fifty long. Instead of a long table, it was littered with smaller round wooden tables, around which people sat on cushions. The sun was near the horizon and the faré – as the locals called it – had filled with people. The population of the island seemed to be around two dozen people and they were all dressed in various garbs: some wore jeans and t-shirts, while others the traditional dress made from local materials. Everyone seemed curious of the newcomers, which told Azucena that they seldom had visitors, or at least visitors who were not other Polynesians.

  The bowl of poisson cru in front of her laid untouched, though she had already finished her faraoa 'ipo – absolutely delicious coconut flavoured bread – and was looking forward to her reti'a – the coconut pudding dessert. She had not eaten fish for years, and was reticent about it. Ethically, there was little to object to with freshly caught wild fish on an island in the middle of the Pacific, a food the locals had eaten for millennia, but after such a long time, the threshold was high.

  Fortunately, she was interrupted by Heinz before she could make up her mind. "We need to have a little chat," he whispered, "just us, without Matta."

  It was not typical of the German scholar to be so secretive, and suspicious of someone. He was usually too trusting, rather than paranoid. But she could not fault him for his distrust, as she had her doubts about their pale saviour too. Their appearance had been almost too convenient. They were not the only one she was not entirely sure about. "How about Anna?"

  "Oh, I already told her."

  "She tried to kill you, for fuck's sake, Heinz!" Azucena spat. "Without her, we wouldn't even be here."

  "But that's all settled now," whispered.

  "Your call, I guess," Azucena said and rose up. "Where is our mysterious ally, anyway?"

  "They went out a minute ago," Heinz said, already tugging her to come along. "That's why it's now or never."

  As they emerged out of the hall, she could see Cassandra and Anna waiting by the edge of the jungle.

  "You saw it too," Cassandra said in a lowered voice as soon as Azucena and Heinz joined them.

  Azucena nodded. "Fae-blood."

  Heinz lifted his hands. "Let's not jump to conclusions."

  "I paid no attention to his appearance while we were in the submarine. I swear, it's glamour!" Cassandra said.

  "It could be just magic," Heinz protested.

  "As effortless as that? Nope, definitely glamour," Azucena said.

  "Well, what now? We leave?" Anna asked.

  "On the first ship that passes," Azucena agreed.

  "It might not be that simple," Heinz said. "I've been looking around a bit, and, I don't really see fresh things that are not local."

  Cassandra considered this and nodded. "It might, indeed, be a while."

  "Are we taking Luca?" Anna asked.

  "I think he is safest with Matta. Whatever they are," Heinz said.

  For some reason, Azucena almost protested. It was not like Heinz was wrong, but somehow, she had grown fond of the weird Primordial boy. It had been mere days since she saved the kid from that mall, but so much had happened since – and all of it because of him. She wanted to believe it wasn't because of his ability. In any case, as far as she knew, she was already rich, it wasn't like she needed more money. For real.

  Anna nodded slowly.

  Raina appeared at the door of the main hall and waved her hand. "Come on in!" she shouted. "We have matters to discuss!"

  They four Corrupted eyed each other, but said nothing. Inside, the lady who had turned out to be some sort of a leader led them to one of the bigger tables on the side. Matta and Luca were already sitting there.

  "What's up?" Cassandra asked as she sat down.

  "I was thinking you would want to talk about the future," Matta said. They didn't sound suspicious or even cold.

  Azucena shrugged and glanced at the others. They nodded.

  "How long until the next ship arrives?" Anna blurted.

  Raina looked at the woman quizzically. "The next ship?"

  "You know, that goes to Australia or something. So we can move on."

  Raina started to laugh. "Oh, dear, there is no such thing."

  Everyone froze. "What do you mean, no such thing?" Heinz asked. "There must be somewhere you get supplies from."

  "Not since the Cataclysm," Raina said and shrugged.

  "That is one of the reasons why I chose this place," Matta said and then looked warmly at Raina. "Along with the personal connection."

  "We can't just stay here forever. I want to get back to my life," Azucena protested.

  Matta grew serious. "What life is that? Hunting the rotting remains of the Great Undead Army?" They sighed. "You all have targets in your back now. The only thing Red Fist knows is that the submarine left the port in Chile and never finished its journey. They think you're dead, along with everyone else, even Luca. But if you suddenly reappear somewhere… There would be a lot of questions and they would not be asking nicely."

  "What?" Cassandra rose up in anger. "We stay here forever?"

  Fernanda…

  Matta shook their head. "Not forever. Until we are ready to fight. Until Luca is ready to fight."

  They all looked at the boy. He looked different. Eager.

  "You think he will be enough to fight all of… them?" Heinz asked.

  Matta grinned. "No, not just him."

  "Cut the theatrics, Matta. What's your plan?"

  "We will reawaken the Necromancer."