Charybdis

Airi checked the Water Study Room, since it seemed like the most likely place to find Wendolyn. When she entered, a school of watery fish was swimming through the air, while Wendolyn watched with bored eyes.

When Airi approached, the fish splashed down into a pool. “Let me guess.” Wendolyn crossed her gloved arms over her ribs. “Marianne’s assigned me to go fight Charybdis, and she sent you to tell me because she’s too much of a coward to tell me herself.”

Apart from Wendolyn, there was a group of students in the far corner of the room. Either they were too scared to leave, or they had some urgent group project to complete.

Airi handed the note to Wendolyn, who rolled her eyes. “That fool of a Head Mage. Of course I’m going to fight Charybdis. After these past two weeks, I think I’ll lose my mind if I don’t do something a little more interesting.”

She eyed Airi. “Although I’m surprised that she’s assigned you as well. I thought you were Mildred’s lackey.”

Airi smiled tightly. “Yeah, who knows.”

Wendolyn frowned as she read the rest of the note. “‘Nestor.’ Why is she assigning all of these nobodies? I despise working with uninteresting people.”

Surely Wendolyn would feel differently after she knew that Nestor might be the 7th first-class mage. Airi held the secret close, letting her eyes betray a hint of smugness. “The carriage will be at the bottom of the palace steps at nine o’clock tonight.”

“Tonight,” Wendolyn sighed, adjusting her glove. “That’s hardly enough time to pack.” She gave Airi a dry smile. “Don’t be late, or I’ll tell the carriage to leave without you.”

Airi's mood improved upon arriving at Mildred's room. Mildred wasn't there—no doubt out studying, as usual—but there was a note on the desk, the ink newly dried.

'Good luck.'

Beneath that, Mildred had drawn a smiley face, then crossed it out.

At 9 o’clock, Wendolyn walked down the steps to find Airi and Nestor sitting on a bench by a marble column. The carriage, black with plush velvet seats, had clearly been chosen for Wendolyn, and the horses stomped their hooves impatiently.

“What took you so long?” Airi asked, getting up. Wendolyn didn’t have any luggage with her. “Couldn’t decide what to pack?”

Wendolyn breezed past and let the footman help her into the carriage, casting a smirk over her shoulder. “I don’t think this will take longer than a day. Do you?”

Airi and Nestor boarded the carriage after Wendolyn. Nestor hugged his satchel to his lap, looking small and nervous. He swung his legs and snuck glances at Wendolyn, no doubt aware that he was sitting across from the strongest water mage in the world.

To distract him, Airi pointed at interesting things outside. “Nestor, look! It’s the theater.” “Look at all those daffodils!” “Oh, a duck!”

Wendolyn’s face twitched every time Airi spoke. She finally rotated her entire body away from Airi and opened The Great Ocean. Soon after, Nestor fell asleep, his head leaning against Airi’s shoulder. Dark outlines of farms and trees passed by, while overhead, falling stars illuminated trails across the sky.

They arrived at the shore in the morning. Beyond the dirt road, the gray ocean flung itself onto the rocky shore.

“The ocean! It’s real,” Nestor exclaimed, poking his head outside. “Wow, it goes on forever.”

“You’re out of your depth, little mage,” Wendolyn said.

“I’m not little! I’m six!”

Wendolyn leaned forward to pinch his cheek, but he squirmed away to cling to Airi’s arm.

“What’s Charybdis like?” Airi asked, prying her arm loose.

“It lives in the open ocean, in the center of a storm it’s created to destroy any ships. By logic, it’s a deep sea creature of some sort.”

“‘By logic?’ So no one’s ever seen it?”

“Plenty of people have seen it. They’re all at the bottom of the ocean, though,” Wendolyn said, checking her reflection in a small pocket mirror. “All 12 mages, and stars knows how many ships.”

12 mages. That was double the number that Gold had killed. Wendolyn didn’t look concerned at all; she’d begun reapplying her lipstick, as if she were going to a soiree instead of a battle.

“How do we get to it, if it lives in the ocean?” Airi asked. “Are we going to fly?” Nestor definitely couldn’t levitate both of them at once. Airi was certain that Wendolyn could do it, but she didn’t trust Wendolyn not to drop her into the ocean.

“Fly?” Wendolyn smiled disdainfully. “Stick your hand out the window.”

“What—”

“Do it, and you’ll see.”

Feeling like an awful fool, Airi stuck her right hand outside—but her right hand couldn’t feel anything, so she switched to her left. She didn’t feel anything particularly unusual—just a cool sea breeze. Nestor copied her.

“It’s windy,” Nestor said.

“This wind would drain your mana before you even lost sight of the shore. Down you would go, to drown like the 12 before you,” Wendolyn said, poking his nose. “Even Mildred would only last thirty minutes. Besides, I have no plans to take you two along.”

“We didn’t come all this way for nothing,” Airi insisted, thinking of the first-class test.

The look in Wendolyn’s eyes reminded Airi of how she’d looked at Airi’s crystal arm. After a moment, she sighed. “No. No, I suppose not. Come if you’d like. But whether or not you survive is your problem, not mine.”

“So if we’re not flying, how do we get there?” Airi asked.

“The same way you catch any big fish. With a boat.”

The carriage rolled into the coastal town of Herringport. Mist drifted through the streets, condensing on the faded blue rooftops. Airi saw several storefronts flaunting gleaming fish on hooks, and shopkeepers laying out their stands for the day. They all bowed as the carriage went past.

“I read about Herringport at school!” Nestor said. “It’s the biggest fishing town ever!”

“The ribbon eels here are supposed to be delicious.” Wendolyn walked up to a nearby fishmonger. “We want grilled ribbon eels for breakfast.”

The man ducked his head in apology. “Sorry, Distinguished Mage! We haven’t caught any ribbon eels in months. They’re found farther out, in deeper waters, and with Charybdis—”

Wendolyn had already walked away. “It looks we’ll have to kill Charybdis after all,” she said in disappointment.

“You’re heartless,” Airi griped.

Fishing boats bumped against the wooden dock. Sidestepping fishermen, Wendolyn strode to the end of the dock. Airi and Nestor ran to see what she was looking at: an old, overturned sailboat. Apart from being covered in dried seaweed, some of the wood looked rotten, and there were three holes in the sail.

“This is perfect.”

Wendolyn levitated it, turning it right-side-up and dropping into the water, where it bobbed feebly. “Get in,” she said to Airi and Nestor.

A group of fishermen had gathered on the dock to see them off.

“They’re crazy,” someone whispered. “That boat doesn’t even have a sail.”

“They’re mages; I’m sure they know what they’re doing.”

Shortly after the mist swallowed up the outline of Herringport, the wind picked up, buffeting them further from shore. Airi’s hair whipped into her face, wet from the salty spray. Nestor’s golden eyes glinted, eerie against the dark sky.

Legs crossed, Wendolyn gazed at the black clouds piling lower and lower. “We’re getting close. Any moment now, the storm could strike.” She slipped her makeup into her purse and clasped it.

Right on cue, a bolt of lightning arced from the sky, and the boat rocked in the suddenly-violent sea. Airi held on for dear life. She blinked the water out of her eyes and squinted, trying to spot a tentacle or a fin in the murky water. But if there was any sign of Charybdis, the flashing lightning and churning water hid it too well.

Another bolt of lightning zagged down, piercing the sail like a blinding arrow. The boat lurched, threatening to tip over. Nestor and Airi screamed and held onto their belongings. Meanwhile, Wendolyn stood up, struggling to balance in the rocking boat.

“What are you doing?” Airi yelled, coughing as a wave filled her mouth.

Wendolyn said something, but Airi couldn’t hear her.

“What?” Airi shouted again. “Louder!” She read Wendolyn’s lips, and her stomach sank.

“You’re on your own!” she was saying. A smirk crossed her face.

“Wait, no—!”

With that, Wendolyn leaped from the boat, disappearing into the waves just before a wave crashed overhead. As the boat tipped, Airi caught sight of a wave, so large that it looked like a valley. They slid into its depths.

Airi didn’t even have time to get angry. The wave slanted, launching them back upwards, and the boat flipped, flinging them into the water. Reaching out blindly, she managed to grab Nestor. Below, a vast, endless blackness awaited, filled with unseen horrors. She couldn’t go down there. Where was Charybdis? Did it know where they were? Was it coming up to get them?

She kicked hard for the surface, fueled by adrenaline. By her side, Nestor wasn’t moving. As soon as she had enough air in her lungs, Airi searched for the satchel. She had to find Tale of Flight and wake Nestor up. With the boat gone, flying was their only way out. But the books were ruined; the ink had blurred together on their sodden pages.

She tried to swim, but the current was too strong, and her dress dragged her down. With the last of her strength, she clung to Nestor and fought to keep her head above water. “Help!” she shouted weakly. “Help!”

The darkness beckoned. Airi felt her willpower slip away, and she sank beneath the surface. It wasn’t so bad, dying. She’d died once before. And if she died, she might not be so tired anymore...

“Hang in there!” Strong hands lifted her out of the water, and she felt solid wood beneath her.

“Let me go...” Airi said weakly. Her whole body ached.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nobody’s letting anybody go. First Mate, you got the kid?”

Airi’s eyes struggled to make sense of what she was seeing. There was a woman standing over her, dressed in a striped shirt. A green bandanna was tied around her frizzy black hair. Beyond that, Airi made out a tattered sail, bravely quivering in the wind, and a dark, stormy sky.

“Welcome aboard the Lucky Star,” said the woman, kneeling down beside Airi. “I’m Captain. You’re gonna be okay now.”