Captain of the Ship

As the day proceeded onward after Ra and Sky's fishing argument, Khalil called Sky, Ra, Mandi, and Mizu over to the map of the sea that he had on the table within his cabin.

"So! If you let your eyes wander over to this side of the map!" Khalil explained. He let Mizu's eyes follow behind last as he dragged his finger across the blue waves drawn onto the map. Once he started to move to the corner, Mizu understood their location.

At the very edge of the corner, the map read '500 Miles from Antarctica', which she found impressive. From the outside, Faith was listening in on the conversation as well.

"So, we're about to the part of the water where the Leviathan resides. Worry not, like I said, I'll take care of him if he becomes an issue. However, I need somebody to help keep the boat straight so we don't lose our course. Can I leave that to you, Mizu?" Khalil asked. He had a method of picking the captain of the boat: Picking the most interested person who observed the map. Mizu showed promise that nobody else did.

"Um, yes! I'd love to... but isn't the wheel a little big for me?" Mizu asked. Khalil nodded, snapping his fingers at the sight of such an intuitive thought, leading her to the wheel at the top of his cabin.

Everybody followed to watch Mizu take heed of the ship. Since she had joined Alicas as an official Arkian, Sky and the others have been keeping close watch over her. Her sadistic mother was a person who grew into a hated enemy of the people of Alicas, and being the daughter of such a person offered Mizu more danger than safety. More commonly than not she walked with Sky until he was able to prove her innocence. As somebody who was in the same situation as her before, he deeply connected with her troubles.

Sky decided to give her a larger role of leadership, teaching her to control people and act in their best interests. For better or worse, Faith's departure had changed him to be a wiser, more mature leader of Alicas. Faith was able to recognize his changes and smiled in surprise after knowing what he had been doing. 

"The wheel isn't too big for you! You're like... only six inches shorter than the top! Plus, we can get you a stool. Now, get a feel for it. You see, it takes a while to start turning, so if you're going to make a move, you have to do it quickly, otherwise we'd hit the iceberg in front of us!" Khalil declared. While playfully raising his fist, he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Nobody saw that movie here, that's right... well, there was this movie--" Khalil was cut off while Sky shook his hands back and forth, driving the annoying topic away.

"Turn the wheel, move the boat. Not hard, right Ra?" Sky bumped Ra's shoulder, reminding him of the conversation from earlier.

"I got it... then, can I watch it for the time being?!" Mizu asked Khalil in excitement. He nodded, just as excited as her, and returned to the room below to speak with the other American Explorers.

"So, how did you call that one?" Khalil asked Sky. He shrugged, claiming that he wasn't sure what Khalil was talking about. Afterward, he began again, "Mizu's fascination with boats. How did you know she'd want to be the captain of this ship?"

"She's a talkative kid once she opens up. She's always liked boats, being on one like this would normally scare such a young kid, but she's a direct descendent from an Eternia, albeit, Nova Eternia. Anyway, she has interests just as other kids do, it'd be foolish to ignore them. If Mizu wanted to be the captain of a ship, she was allowed to. Same thing if she wanted to spar with me every day, she's allowed to. I have the room to care, so why not play into it?" Sky asked Khalil. He smiled, patting him on the back and sighing.

"Glad to see you've come all this way since nine months. Hell, a long time since then. Look at you, already growing up to be a great father!" Khalil complimented Sky, but his face grew red instead. Dani was covering hers at that point, and Faith caught on, chuckling even more.

She grew distant, thinking of what it would be like if she reintroduced herself to her father right now. However, knowing that her challenge wasn't done, she would feel empty right after. She wanted to beat Finlis no matter what, and hearing Sky changing already was motivating her in a new, profound way.

Sky had grown so much and although Faith's power had grown, that was the extent. She was still quick to hate things, quick to avoid, and quick to dismiss, but Sky didn't show any of those problems within himself. Faith had been alive for only twelve years at this point, but still couldn't excuse herself for her actions in being childish. She was born with maturity, yet lost somewhere along the way.

Faith watched Mizu as she analyzed the wheel, looking at it up and down, all around, and even within the spokes. She had an inherent hunger for knowledge that Faith didn't have either. It almost seemed as if Faith grew jealous toward Mizu. All in all, she knocked the idea out of her head, and relearned what it meant to be excited with things.

Perhaps Faith could learn to be a kid again alongside Mizu one day.