Silver Spirits

It took every bit of Scarlett's self control not to throw herself at Ben the way Nosebleed did, sobbing and begging him to take her back. Yet she remained frozen as everyone else rushed to him, including Percy. She wasn't sure when the two of them had become friends. Percy's version of friendship, at least. It took a little bit of time to get used to how dry he could be. Stitching Ben's wound up and being so close to him made the urge to pounce on him even bigger, until he expressed his feelings to her. Did he really think he was holding her back from her dreams? Scarlett wasn't even sure she had dreams anymore.

She was pulled away from him when the crew announced that the mermaid had the way out. Finally, they'd no longer be going in circles. She knelt down in front of where the mermaid was lying on her stomach at the edge of the lake, her bottom half still in the water. A good portion of Scarlett's crew was almost hypnotized by her beauty and charm. Scarlett thought she was sickeningly sweet. The mermaid lifted herself up and grinned when she saw Scarlett.

"Oh, I was waiting for you to come and talk to me!" she beamed. "You really are as beautiful as he says you are. No wonder all these wonderful men put up with you!"

"Put up with me?" Scarlett asked, shooting a look to her men.

They all drew back a bit, turning red from the embarrassment of being caught talking ill of their captain. Scarlett took a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked back to Ivanna, who seemed too bubbly and innocent to be mad at.

"I need you to tell me where my crew needs to go from here," she said slowly, so she kept Ivanna's attention while the others were still swooning over here.

Ivanna looked like she was analyzing Scarlett for a moment, trying to read her, then grinned bright.

"I like you," she announced. "I'll help. Hm, can you swim long distances? Might be easier if you take off that long skirt."

"Well, we-"

"I'll help you remove your clothes, captain!" an eager voice called from the back.

It was followed by about three or four more eager offers to help Scarlett with her "swimwear". She looked over to glare at them and found that Ben was doing the same, his eyes piercing into the soul of the random crew member who'd started it all. Scarlett rolled her eyes and turned back to the mermaid, lowering her voice a bit.

"Any way we could go on land?" she asked.

"Well, there is one way," Ivanna said as she flicked her tail pensively, "But I won't be able to take you there myself. You'll just have to pay very close attention. It might also take longer, and I can't control what the island decides to put you through."

Scarlett frowned, but nodded. "Tell me."

"Well, you could always follow the glass trail," she suggested. "It will lead you to the start of the labyrinth, but it will also take you through the jungle. Be careful what you touch in there. I've only heard of how poisonous nearly everything is. Oh, and there are these little shelled creatures that jump up out of the ground and pinch you. Nothing fatal, but they certainly are annoying. They'll leave little red marks on your skin that will sting for days. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to be on land, but if you really want to, I suppose I can't stop you."

"Where can I find this glass trail?" Scarlett asked.

"It's right there. Don't you see it?" Ivanna asked, pointing to something in the dirt.

"I see it!" Emily exclaimed, running over to where Ivanna had pointed.

Almost as soon as she looked over, a shard of glass seemed to materialize in the dirt, out of thin air. Emily bent down and picked up the shard of glass and held it up to the sun, where it glinted a light blue color. A few feet in front of her, another shard of glass appeared, this time pink. Emily bounded over and picked that one up as well. As soon as she did, a third piece of yellow glass appeared. The crew began to eagerly follow Emily as she picked up the shards, holding them all in the top layer of her skirt, but Scarlett was hesitant. It was strange to see that everything was suddenly going their way. It was almost like the island was challenging them, daring them to enter.

Scarlett muttered a thank you to Ivanna before following her crew, while the mermaid dreamily watched them go. She stayed back, letting Emily lead for a little bit. She would have made the crew much more enthusiastic, anyways. Scarlett would much rather have been alone. Of all of them, she was surprised to find herself the least excited to find the amulet. She held her hands in front of her and kept her eyes on everyone's feet as she walked, tucking a loose curl behind her ear and out of her face. Percy slowed down to walk with her, bumping her lightly.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said quietly, so the rest of the crew wouldn't overhear.

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you tell him what you told me?" Percy asked impatiently.

"He's making things... difficult," Scarlett muttered.

"Difficult?" Percy asked in disbelief. "Scarlett, you're the one making things difficult. He quite literally was shot off a cliff for you. If that doesn't express his feelings, then I don't know what does."

"It's not that," Scarlett protested. "Well, it is and isn't at the same time. I just can't have everything, and I can't force him to live my mess of a life."

"No, you can't," he agreed. "That's why you have to give up some things to make the person you care about happy. You're not the only one. He's giving things up, too. Like, oh, I don't know, his life."

"I suppose you're right," Scarlett sighed. "I suppose you've given up a thing or two for Emily, no?"

"Emily?" Percy repeated, instinctively looking over to Ben to make sure he was distracted before whispering back to Scarlett. "You will not believe what I've given up to keep this girl's attention. I haven't kissed her. Not even a peck on the cheek. At the most, I've held her hand, and even then her brother looked at me like I'd torn off her clothing. Scarlett, I have an addiction to something that I didn't realize I was addicted to until I gave it up. And it's very, very frustrating."

"You're disgusting. I don't want to hear any more about it," Scarlett laughed, pushing Percy away.

After Percy wandered off to join Emily, Scarlett caught sight of something glinting in the dirt. She assumed it was a piece of glass Emily had missed, but found that it was something much more valuable. A small ruby cut into a square, barely the size of her fingertip. She shrugged lightly and pocketed it with a sigh, just as she felt a small pinch on her ankle. She winced and looked down at the stinging red welt left on her ankle, as a shelled creature clicked it's pincers and disappeared.

"Are you alright?"

She lifted her head to see Ben standing in front of her, concerned. She shrugged lightly and put her foot up on a rock to get a better look at the pinch. Ben looked at it over her shoulder, lightly running his thumb over it. While the touch did sting, Scarlett was just glad to have Ben near her again.

"I've got three of them already," he said as they started walking again. "One of them found it's way into my boot, and gave me three in a row. They hurt at first, but the stinging dies down after a few moments."

"Oh."

Scarlett wasn't sure what else to say, but it still seemed as if Ben had taken her quiet "oh" the wrong way, as if she wanted to be left alone. He gave her a half smile and bowed slightly before quickening his pace to catch up. Scarlett hesitated, about to let him go and be done with it, but decided against it. Was she really going to let it eat away at her like this forever?

"Ben," she called out.

Ben stopped and turned on his heel, a sort of hopeful look on his face. Scarlett shifted awkwardly, suddenly unable to talk.

"Ben, I... well...," she stammered, the struggle getting worse as Ben slowly stepped towards her.

"Yes?"

"Will you stay back here with me?" Scarlett finally said, though it wasn't exactly the words she was looking for.

Ben seemed to let out a small breath, but smiled and nodded, lingering back to walk by Scarlett. She reached down to itch the stinging bite on her ankle, but Ben took her hand to stop her.

"Scratching it will make it bleed and scar," he told her.

"One more scar to add to the collection," Scarlett said with a weak little laugh.

She didn't pull away from Ben, instead lacing her fingers with his and leaning her head onto his shoulder. He didn't hesitate to put his arm tightly around her shoulders, like he'd been waiting for the moment to do so.

"Are we going to talk about it?"

"No."