The Mage's Daughter, Serena.

Bill rowed Elias to the island where Merloine’s people had been playing.

“You sure you don’t want me to help row?” said Elias.

“I’ve got it,” Bill huffed. “Just make sure the keg doesn’t go overboard.”

Elias wrapped his legs around the base of the keg while Bill rowed.

Along the way, he forced himself to gaze at the black ink waves that sloshed around their boat, and the sun with the sunspot face in the sky. If his world had been destroyed, then was this some kind of afterlife? Or maybe this was one of several, and he’d gotten the short end of the stick while Tibby got to live it up in paradise with everyone else. He winced, and wondered if she would even miss him. Would anyone miss him?

“Did Merloine tell you about the Inkyard?” said Elias. “And about your world?”

“I already knew about it by the time I came here,” said Bill. “But it was good to have the confirmation.”

“How did you find out?” pressed Elias. “Someone must’ve told you.”

Bill grew quiet for a long time.

“When I was traveling with Kuchisake and the rest of our posse,” he said. “There was a samurai with us, Susumu. He was older than me, very straightlaced. A bit like a big brother to me.” He sighed, and his arms slowed. “As we all traveled together, I helped Kuchisake see herself as more than just a terrorizing monster. As she changed, Susumu grew sweet on her, just as I did.”

“Oh.” Elias squirmed. A sinking feeling welled in his chest.

“Kuchisake chose me in the end,” said Bill. “And Susumu didn’t like that one bit.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bill resumed rowing without a response for a while. But eventually he spoke again.

“You know that Susumu’s name apparently means something like ‘continuous growth’? Apparently he decided that meant that Kuchisake was his. He’d seen her grow, after all. Said stuff about how their worlds had been destroyed, but they’d both survived and ended up in this world, and went on to meet each other. Susumu decided that the kami must’ve brought him and Kuchisake together. The red string of fate bound them, and I stood in the way of that. Something like that, anyway.” Bill shook his head. “Not sure who told him about our worlds being destroyed. Must’ve thought we’d think he’d gone insane if he told us that.”

“What ended up happening to him?” Elias said.

“He challenged me to a duel for Kuchisake’s hand. And I shot him,” Bill said. “But not before he got me with his katana. Never seen a man draw a sword so fast in my life.” He pointed toward the right side of his face, likely referring to the eyepatch that covered his eye. “That incident broke up our group, and me and Kuchisake left to keep the peace.”

“He challenged you, you won, and you had to leave? That wasn’t fair to either of you,” said Elias.

“It wasn’t,” Bill agreed. He smirked at Elias over his shoulder. “But if I’d stayed with them, I wouldn’t have made my way here, and been around to fish you from the ink when you showed up. So if you think about it, me leaving my old group is the reason you’re not spread out among the fish right now.”

“I guess so.” Elias returned a shy smile back.

Upon arriving at the island’s shore, Elias saw nobody playing with a ball there.

“They must’ve gone back to their homes to rest,” Bill remarked, before gesturing toward the trees and thicket further inland. “Let’s get moving. There won’t be any sirentrees.”

“Thank you Bill.” Elias helped the man carry the keg down the path. As they moved further inland, Elias saw no signs of palm trees with coconuts like those on the island where Bill and Kuchisake lived. Not that he was much a fan of coconut water, but if he couldn’t drink the ink in the ocean, it left him wondering what the people here could sate their thirst with. Then again, he bore a keg filled with sloshing liquid.

Carrying the keg was a slow and arduous effort, and they needed to move slowly to avoid dropping and breaking the keg. The rustle of squirrels, twitter of birdsong, and even the sound of deers’ hooves against the forest foliage surrounded them. Normalcy, in other words. Elias breathed a sigh of relief. The path on this island was also mercifully a straight line, and not the convoluted branching that led to Merloine’s tower.

At the end of this straight path lay a clearing so large that it may as well have been a meadow. The meadow was divided into four fields of flowers, red, blue, green, and yellow.

“We’ll drop the keg off on the red flower field,” grunted Bill. “And then I’ll introduce you.” Elias followed Bill’s lead to the red flowers, and they set the keg down with heavy groans. Elias’ arms burned from exertion in the aftermath. His lungs swallowed air by the mouthful. Once he’d regained his bearings, he looked around.

A semicircle of wooden shacks sat on the red flowers. Each shack was several times larger than the shack that Bill and Kuchisake lived in. Bill approached the shack on the far left, and Elias followed. Bill produced a ring of keys from his pocket and opened the door. The interior was a long hallway that rounded a corner, and several doors lined each side of the hallway.

“Afternoon everyone,” Bill called into the entrance. “Brought more tea, and someone new. Make sure he feels welcome, okay?” The door to the room closest to the front opened first in response. A woman with long dark hair and a white dress emerged from it. The top of her head came up to Elias’ chest, and dark circles of sleeplessness crowded around her eyes. Her lips lightly pinched as her gaze drifted to his ears, and then his flicking tail. Then her mouth broke into a wide, unsettling smile. The sight of that smile made his tail lash in apprehension, and her smile broadened even further.

“Is everything all right?” Elias shifted beneath her gaze. “I’m Elias Jund. What’s your name?” A part of him wondered if Tibby felt a similar discomfort whenever men gave her unwanted advances.

The girl did not answer. She closed her eyes and swayed, as though committing Elias’ voice to memory.

A faint smell of paint wafted from her. Flecks of brown, white, and blue paint shone in her hair.

“Is something wrong?” he said. He turned and looked at Bill, who shrugged.

The girl still did not answer, but instead closed the distance between them. Her finger combed the width of his chest.

“I think you’ll make a fine addition to my collection.” Her voice was shrill. She giggled.“But I’ll need to devour every morsel of you first.”

Before Elias could think about what that meant, a man emerged from the same room. This man stood close in height to Elias. He wore a white tunic and long brown trousers. His hair was also dark, but curly and shorter than the girl’s. His skin shone darker as well. He rolled his eyes and pulled the long-haired girl away from Elias.

“Stop that Lin,” he grunted.

“Wait!” the long haired girl named Lin cried. Her hands scrabbled toward Elias. “Just one more touch.”

“This is why nobody helps you with your paintings.” The curly haired, dark skinned boy offered a sheepish smile to Elias. “Sorry about her. Lin is a bit touched in the head. I’m Marcel. Nice to meet you.”

Bill produced a few small jars of paint from a satchel at his belt.

“These are from Merloine, Lin. I’ll hand them over, but try not to scare Elias off, yeah?”

Lin’s gaze fixated on the tubes, as if he’d just presented her with precious stones. She nodded. Marcel released her, and she plucked the tubes of paint from Bill’s hand. She made no motion toward Elias again, but did shoot him furtive looks.

“Good girl,” said Bill, before motioning her outside. “Go take a swig of the tea outside. You know how you get when you don’t get your tea.” Lin nodded and walked out. Marcel followed after her.

More people emerged from the rooms. The girls wore white dresses like Lin while the boys wore white shirts and brown trousers like Marcel. The sameness of their clothing brought to mind the schools he’d heard about in the capital. The fancy academies where everyone wore the same uniform. Two people emerged from each room. Some had two girls and others two boys like Elias expected, but a girl and boy occasionally stepped out of the same room, just as Lin and Marcel had. The shared gender rooms earned a surprised look from Elias.

“You have something on your mind?” said Bill.

“No,” Elias lied, before shaking his head to push the thought out of mind. All of the residents strode past him without making a fuss about it. Maybe that was just the way things worked on this island. “Why does everyone’s clothes look the same?” he instead asked.

“Easy for Merloine to make,” said Bill. “And yours is on your pillow.” He pointed down the hall. “And yer room is at the end of the hall and around the bend. On the left.”

“Thanks.” Elias followed Bill’s instructions. As he rounded a corner, however, he saw a brief glimpse of red before his forehead struck someone else’s. Pain rippled through his brow as he stumbled back. He wasn’t the only one, and saw a girl on the floor of the hallway, rubbing her forehead.

“Oww,” she grunted.

“Sorry about that.” Elias reached out his hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She accepted the hand and returned to her feet.

The girl’s hair was scarlet red and drawn into a ponytail. Between that and her blue eyes, she must’ve been Merloine’s daughter Serena. There was something odd yet familiar about her eyes, but her chest drew Elias’ gaze before he could focus on it. The curve of her chest was already steep, and her slim torso and a pair of blue ribbons that framed her chest emphasized that well-endowed size further.

With an effort, Elias forced his gaze back on her face.

“You’re Serena, right?” he said. “Your father told me about you.”

She nodded. The mention of her father made her lips pinch to one side.

“What did he want this time?” Serena said.

“He just wanted me to try and be friends with you,” said Elias.

“No odd potions or anything?” pressed Serena. Her arms folded together. Seeing as they only pushed up her chest, Serena wasn’t exactly the epitome of intimidation.

“Nothing like that.” Elias glanced away. “We did bring that keg of tea though.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” She waved Elias’ words aside, and relaxed and let her hands fall to her sides. “We?”

“Me and Bill,” he said.

“Kuchisake didn’t come with you?” Serena deflated.

“She didn’t, I’m sorry.” He looked at her expression, his own eyes softening. “I’ve met her, but it’s been a bit…of a whirlwind. Haven’t really learned much about her.”

“She’s the one that planted the flowers,” Serena said. “Likes getting her hands dirty.” She looked as though she wanted to say more, only for another man to call out to her.

“Come and get a swig of the tea before it’s all gone.”

“Guess we’d better go,” she said.

“You go on,” he said. “I’ll catch up.”

She left, and Elias stepped into the room. It had two beds, each on opposite sides of the room, and a wardrobe against the wall next to each bed. Another door at the far end of the room led to an adjacent washroom. The right bed looked occupied, and the left bed had a folded up tunic and trousers like what the other men wore. Elias turned the trousers around, and smiled at the sleeve sewn into the back to accommodate his tail. Bill must have reminded Merloine about his tail.

He stripped off his clothing that had grown sweatsoaked after rowing beneath the sun. He’d been about to pull on the fresh trousers laid out for him when the bedroom door opened.

Elias found himself staring at Serena.

“Oh.” She looked him up and down. “I just remembered those clothes on the other bed, and I realized that you’re probably going to be my roommate. So I thought I’d…” She spoke without an iota of shame.

Elias’ face burned.

“Close the door!” he cried, interrupting her. His tail lashed behind him. His ears flattened against his hair.

Serena tilted her head at him.

“Why’re you embarrassed?” she said. “You’re pretty muscular, but not too burly. I like it. Don’t be ashamed to show off what you’ve worked to achieve.”

The fact that she just kept talking as though nothing was wrong, when Elias wore no shirt and his pants were only halfway up his legs, just made his blush all the fiercer. It didn’t help that this was the first time a girl that wasn’t his family complimented him, as far as he could remember. HIs tail flicked back and forth, seeming to savor the nice things she had to say about him.

“Can you please give me more compliments but on the other side of the door?” begged Elias. “Why did you show back up here anyway? I thought you were going to get some tea from the keg we brought.”

“I was, and I actually wanted to invite you along. But I just thought I’d introduce myself properly.” She snapped her fingers. “I know what’ll help.” She untied the ribbons from around her chest and then began to remove her dress.

“Stop!” cried Elias. “How is that supposed to help?”

Serena stopped, mercifully, and let her dress fall back down. Then she pouted at him, as though Elias was somehow the one in the wrong despite Serena being the one to keep talking while he wasn’t decently clothed.

“I thought stripping down to match you would make you comfortable,” she said. Her hands settled on her hips. “You’re making this really difficult, you know. I’m trying to be fair, and I’m not even undressing you with my eyes. I would even say that I’m being courteous right now.”

Elias stared at her. Maybe this was all a dream. He’d fallen unconscious from heatstroke during the boat ride back from Merloine’s tower, and this was all playing out in his mind.

“I just asked you to close the door,” he said.

“Ohhh. Why didn’t you say so?” She closed the door without stepping out first.

Elias pressed a hand to his forehead. Did all her brains go to her chest?

“Are you teasing me right now?” he said. “You were supposed to leave the room first!”

“Of course I’m not teasing you.” Her lips pinched to one side as she looked him up and down again. “I’d say you’re the one teasing me, in fact.” Her hand jumped to her mouth and her eyes widened. “Wait, did you plan this?”

Elias stared at her. “What?”

“No, this makes sense.” Serena began to pace back and forth in front of the door. Her hand cupped her chin, as though she was solving a complex mystery. “A cute boy shows up in my room one day, and he just so happens to show off his body when I want to introduce myself.”

“You came in here when I was changing!” Elias protested.

“And now he’s attempting to distract me from asking the real questions by asking me to leave the room.”

“What real questions?” said Elias. His voice rose as the absurdity of the situation really settled in. It became clear that Serena was speaking as though he wasn’t even in the room with her. At least that gave Elias an opportunity to pull up the new trousers, and slip his tail through the rear sleeve. He donned his shirt after that as well. Now that he wasn’t mostly naked in front of Serena, his confidence returned.

It surprised him how quickly she’d gone from gorgeous to…not gorgeous just from her speaking. It reminded him of how Tibby put up a strong and firm front around boys that would approach to deter unwanted advances…

His eyes widened.

“Wait, you’re doing this on purpose!” cried Elias.

Serena blinked a few times. Her eyebrow arched high for a moment.

“There’s no way you’d be this stupid.” he insisted.

Her lips pressed together.

“Yes.” Serena’s voice was flat. “I’m definitely doing this on purpose. Whatever this is.”

Elias’ eyes softened. She must’ve not been keen on sharing a room with a boy she couldn’t trust, so this was her preemptive attempt at making herself undesirable. He winced. She would’ve had a previous roommate. Maybe that unknown man had tried accosting her, and this whole back and forth nonsense was Serena’s way to keep that from happening again.

“I won’t ever touch you,” said Elias. “So you don’t have to worry about me, okay?”

“Thanks.” The flat look on her face lingered as she tied the ribbons back around her upper torso. Elias exhaled. That must not have been good enough. That probably sounded like what someone that would accost her would say. Before he could think of how to reassure her that he wasn’t up to anything bad, Serena beckoned him outside. “Let’s just go and drink some tea.”

“Yeah.” He followed Serena outside, and they walked down the hall in silence. Elias couldn’t think of anything to say, especially when her chest bounced with every step. He focused his gaze on the hallway ahead.