I'm trying to start a thing where I add in active followers in this book as side characters (I don't have enough ideas for OC's, haha). I've tried to do some research through your accounts, but if any of you followers yourselves want something changed about you, comment or shoot me a message!

The group stopped and ate on their way to the Hargeon port... A couple times.

Needless to say, they were starved from the events the night before, and the same morning. By the time they reached Nova's ship, it was sundown.

"We could've been here hours ago," Storm pointed out. "If it wasn't for Nashi."

"Shut up!" Nashi exclaimed, snapping her head from Reiki towards Storm, "you were just as hungry as I was."

Nova rolled her eyes as she reached the ship. The ramp hasn't gone up yet, so she strode right on. She was excited to be back on board. It was only 3 days, but she felt as if it had been forever and a half since she was with her crew.

Everyone who was on deck paused. They took a moment to recognize their former captain. Nova could sense them wanting a signal of some sort, so she smiled.

Then, cheering.

The whole ship was lively to see their captain again, even if she was gone for only a couple of days. The first woman who appeared from the small crowd was Wendy, a blue haired girl that took Nova's position when Gale and Nashi took her away.

"This is probably the only group of people who don't hate her," Storm stated.

Gale nodded, agreeing.

"Nova!" Wendy exclaimed, "I thought you weren't coming back for another 30 days!"

"Yeah well," she looked back at the group behind her, "we recently had a re-evaluation. Stop acting like you haven't seen me before! Get back to work!" She waved over some of the crew, "Varian, Sammi!"

"This is Reiki," she introduced the red head, then moved on to Gale, and went down the line, "Gale, Storm, and Nashi."

Wendy studied Nashi for a second longer, but quickly turned her headwhen she realized she was staring.

"Wendy," Nova gestured to her crew, "Sammi, and Varian."

Sammi seemed to be a quiet girl, with a delicate, tan face and big glasses. Her hair and neck was covered with a brown cloth, and she hid her hair quite well. She managed to make the cloth fit in with her clothing, which was the classic leather boots and trousers, with a plain white shirt and jacket. Sammi held her hand out for the others to shake. Gale had to shake with his left, as his right hand was currently in a sling as Storm broke it.

Varian was a small boy with black hair, and a blue streak in his bangs, which hung just above his eyes. Freckles scattered his face. His clothes were the same as the others, white and brown pirate cloths. He smirked as he introduced himself.

"Hello milady," he bowed when he introduced himself to Nashi. "You're quite lovely."

"Thanks, Varian," Nashi said proudly.

"Can I ask what that is around your head?" Reiki asked Sammi, who nodded ambitiously.

"It's called a hijab," she explained with a soft spoken voice. She swallowed, "Its, um, something I wear for my religion... But, King Zeref is..."

Reiki shook his head, "no need to explain any further."

Nashi pursed her lips. She overheard Sammi. It didn't surprise her that Zeref was against certain peoples. It was just another thing she could add on the list she hated about him.

"Hey Wendy," Storm greeted, "long time no see."

Wendy chuckled, "yeah, it's been a while."

"Sammi is my sails master," Nova explained. "Varian handles the weapons here.

"Come on, while they handle the ramp, I need to go below deck to see things are being handled."

Below deck was made from dark brown wood, and was lit up with torches. It was roomy, with a couple of bunks and tables. Some of the tables had maps and lamps sitting on top of them.

Nova was first met with some not very good news.

Her navigator, a boy about Reiki's age with a strong build, navy blue hair and red eyes, who was named Ori, was the one who informed Nova.

"Your mother is in town," he seemed as if he was hesitant to say anything at all.

Nova, who was bubbly and bright before, was now imagined to have steam pumping out of her ears. "Who cares. What are we doing with the kidnapper situation?"

"I have news on that," a girl stood up. Light, pastel blue hair, small figure...

Reiki furrowed his eyebrows. "You."

"Yes, me, Reiki," Edda retorted. "I wouldn't have gone to that stinky bar if I knew you would come right to us."

Nova turned to the redhead, "you know Edda? She's our spy here."

He sighed, "that explains a lot."

He was mostly referring to the personality change. When he first met her, she didn't seem so snarky. She wasn't quite nervous, but sad. That's what it was, she sounded depressed. Of course, her being a spy also answered the question of why she found Reiki to begin with. The crew must have sent her to keep an eye on their captain. He understood why, but regardless, she did digging into the ground that he wanted to be left untouched.

"Anyways," Edda breathed, "I don't know who it is, but I found out the motive, and his partners."

"Well?" Nova asked impatiently. Storm, Gale, and Nashi stayed behind them. They weren't sure what they were supposed to do.

"They're kidnapping kids for someone called the Dollmaker," Edda explained. "Apparently, the kids are still alive. But they're being experimented on tremendously."

"What would the Dollmaker want with the kids? What does he do?" Storm asked.

Nashi thought, while Edda spoke some more.

"As far as I know, he experiments with bones. Children's bones are fragile, and therefore, expensive. I'm pretty sure he makes the bones into something else, then sells them."

"Disgusting," Reiki muttered.

"He's not working with the king, is he?" Nashi placed her fingers on her chin.

Edda shrugged, "not sure. I didn't hear anything about that. I did find out that he was working with some nobles. The Lords of Adarian, Crocus, and Hargeon... which, now that I think about it..." She placed two fingers on her chin.

"Those are the three towns that surround the castle," Gale reminded them. "How possible is it for the king to be working with him?"

"Not very," Reiki shared. "What would the king use children's bones for? The king saves resources that are useful to him. He isn't interested in keeping expensive objects."

The king was a tyrant, but he was smart. He's not likely to waste time on things that he doesn't think could of use one day. He saves energy, and that's what makes him so dangerous to them.

Nova nodded in agreement, "Storm, what have you heard?"

"About this? Nothing," he answered. "It must be an extremely secret operation, because I didn't even know this guy existed."

"Or," Nashi chimed in, "they're just not idiots for sharing information at a bar that is run by teenagers."

"I'm going to kill you."

"I know."

Ori, the navigator, popped back into the conversation, "Captain, what if that's why your mother is here?"

Nova scoffed, "they wouldn't make a deal with her. She's not a lord, just a duchess."

"Your mom is a noble?" Gale scoffed, "and you were surprised that I had a sister."

"Wait," Nashi added, "I thought duches and duchesses were higher on the ladder than lords?"

Storm confirmed this, "yeah, that's supposed to be true. But since Zeref came into power, the politics system has been screwed up. Duches still hold more money, and therefore, power over the people, but they were stripped of their power to trade. Lords are in more control of trade with other countries, and are more likely to be on the King's council, though that's still not very likely. Zeref basically made sure that no one can even come close to competing with his own power or leadership, the bastard."

"Just an extreme case of paranoia," Reiki added.

"Sammi!" Nova called. "Get these three bedding. We'll spend the night here, and then continue the search tomorrow."

Sammi exclaimed as she raced towards a closet, "yes captain!"

"So I'm supposing we're staying here to beat the perv?" Nashi asked with deviancy showing in her voice.

Nova wanted to facepalm, "oh. I'm so sorry about this, it's just that-"

Nashi flapped her hand towards the captain, "Don't worry about it. How often does Zeref travel, anyways? This guy might leave by the time we're done. We'll stay and help. Right guys?"

"For once, I agree," Storm smirked while Reiki nodded confidently. After he said it, he was pretty sure he said something similar to her earlier.

"I'm going to go explore the ship now, later loser," Nashi punched Storm in the arm before she left.

He huffed before going after her, "excuse me?"

Reiki rubbed his temples before reluctantly leaving as well.

"Varian!" Nova exclaimed. The boy raced over to his captain from above deck. She had a loud voice. As he got to the deck below, she scribbled down a list on a piece of parchment with a quill, "I need you to find a weapon with any of these strange properties, okay?"

"Captain," Wendy said timidly behind Nova, "I need to speak to you. In private."

. . .

"I have to tell them, Wendy." Nova gripped onto the back of a chair in the Captain's quarters. It was above deck, while everyone else was below.

Wendy's eyes widened, "you mustn't! Nova, telling them that could ruin your whole operation. If he knew I was alive, if the kingdom knew I was alive..." Wendy's hands waved around as she spoke, telling Nova that it had taken he all of her strength to confess to her captain.

"You would be executed," Nova muttered. "I can't lie to them. I had just gotten angry at Gale and Reiki for lying to me. There has to be a way to tell them." Nova moved around the desk that was centered in the room. Wendy tok a step back.

"Listen," Wendy clenched her teeth, "I told you because sooner or later, once you overthrow Zeref, you would've found out, and I don't want to be involved. Let Nashi take the kingdom, it should be hers anyways."

The captain shook her head, "if what you say is true, then when Nashi gets ahold of that information... She's going to get you. She won't stand to have someone else's throne," she took a hold of Wendy's shoulders and gripped them tightly. "By law, the throne belongs to you until Nashi's of age."

"Then burn the family tree."

Nova let go of Wendy's shoulders and ran her fingers through her hair, "Wendy do you even know how many problems that could cause? That thing is the Dragneel's most prized possession-- not even Zeref has touched it!"

Well, as far as they knew. But who knew how heartless he really was?

The Dragneel family tree is sewn into a tapestry, one that no one but the family themselves has been able to touch. It hangs in a glass box in the Royal library, and no one can get to it without clearance from the family. The Dragneels are proud of who they are, and that's why the family tree is so precious to them.

And Wendy's name is sewn onto it.

Wendy let out a shakey breath, and started to rub her arms, "you know what would happen if I take the crown?"

"Yeah, the people would be happy they're not being ran by a tyrant leader."

Wendy shook her head, "they'll hate me. Because by that time, they'll know that Nashi exists, that she lives to take the crown. I'm the younger sister of a brutal king, they'll think that I'll be just as bad, if not worse. No matter how hard I'll try, I'll never live up to their expectations. If Nashi becomes queen though... The people will give her more of a chance than they'll ever give me."

Nova stayed silent.

She continued, "besides... Who will be here to run the ship while you're gone? I started the operation... I should probably keep it going."

"Wendy... Why did you run away from the castle? I know it wasn't because of Zeref."

Wendy smiled, then embraced Nova. "It doesn't matter. Just... Please, help the princess as much as you can after you leave here."

. . .

"She's back, milady."

A woman, one with snowy hair, rose her eyebrow at the soldier. She carefully put her quill back in the inkwell. She stood, almost elegantly. The candlelight flickered, but was nowhere near getting put out.

The soldier couldn't see much, just a figure standing before him.

"With the princess?" She asked, quietly. Almost a whisper.

The soldier swallowed, "ah, no, ma'am. No one in her party had the salmon hair."

She clicked her tongue, "you idiot." Still, she was composed. "Have you heard of hair dye?"

He flinched. "I... Well, yes milady..."

She sighed. "All is well. Bring me Nova and any other female that has not been seen with her before."

"You'll be able to recognize her?" He asked timidly.

The woman wanted to roll her eyes, but decided against it, "that is none of your concern."

"And of her other companions?"

"Oh, the males..." She muttered. "Kill them."

. . .

Do you guys want a summary chapter? I know with these long breaks in between it becomes harder to remember things 😅