The first thing Naomi felt was the burn of salt in her throat, her lungs heavy and constricted. Then came the slow creep of the aches and bruises that she knew covered her body, even without seeing it. She laid there for some time, breathing slowed, wondering if she was still floating in deep waters. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open - though she squeezed them shut reactively at the sharp glint of sunlight.

It took a few more attempts, but eventually she pushed herself up to a seated position with trembling arms, feeling the grit of salt beneath her pruned fingers. She could make out the barest of her surroundings: dark red rocky shores, chunks of splintered wood and the endless sea. Naomi turned - too quickly - and her stomach churned, body twisting compulsively to spew out the buildup of brine and blood. At least now she could confirm she really was on solid ground.

Behind her in the far distance, she could make out a vast stretch of golden sands mixed with tall, sun-bleached grass that grew in heavy tufts. There were ashy brown tree trunks, its leaves a yellowish green, with branches that looked more like they were woven in upright tangles. Naomi thought they looked somewhat like a broccoli vegetable, enlarged a hundred times. Even from a distance, she could see the air itself shimmer; the afternoon heat and humidity palpable against her skin.

"It's a savanna," A female voice said suddenly.

Perched atop a flat stone was Kaelen, braid in a frazzled ruin and several cuts on her face. She had on black slacks that tied off at the ankles, and her borrowed Calypsan naval top was torn at the shoulders to expose her defined arms. Beyond that, she didn't seem any worse for wear. Naomi's mouth fell open, but no words came out. Instead, a heavy groan sounded to her left, and she turned to see Darius laying in the shallow waves of the shore. His usually well-styled hair was matted with tangles, drooping seaweed stuffed into the pockets of his brown tunic.

Naomi forced herself up, staggering across the rocks to reach Darius. Every movement sent a stab of pain from the bruises that peppered across her ribs, but she gritted her teeth through it before settling beside him.

"Here," Naomi offered her hand in a hoarse voice, tugging him up to a dry spot. As much as she was helping him, they were both leaning on one another as the world spun.

"Told you it would be a rough night," Darius tried to joke, sucking in a quick breath.

The two collapsed in exhaustion against each other, breathing heavily. Naomi swallowed hard, speaking to no one in particular. "How long have we been here? The last thing I-"

Naomi jerked to her feet so quickly that Darius tipped to his side, grunting in pain. Her eyes shot around them in a panic, heart hammering against her chest. Despite her injuries, she began to pace in frantic motions. "Cassien - where is he? H-he gave me his ring, b-but-"

Kaelen's voice cut through. "He's not here. It's just us."

She heard her words, but didn't quite register them as anything more than ringing. "But he…" Naomi shook her head. "Then where are they? Did you see them at any point?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, doll. I'm not some all-knowing wizard," Kaelen muttered, stepping onto the shallow shore. "I was on a plank of wood when the two of you drifted nearby, so I pulled you on. Didn't have the time - or energy - to go out swimming for any others."

Naomi's body shook with adrenaline before a thought came to her mind: their connection. She could see exactly where he was, or at least deduce if he was close by. She squeezed her eyes shut, fist clenched, forcing out every external sensation around her.

"Um… What is she doing?" Kaelen mumbled distantly.

"Beats me. Must be a noble thing," Darius said, though Naomi could catch the edge of his lie. He knew exactly what was going on, and the Seravethian was not privy to such knowledge.

She tuned out their voices, reaching deep into her mind for every memory, every image of Cassien; the black of her vision blurred into blobs of violet, but nothing solid. The vision slipped away like a coin in quicksand, with neither confirmation or denial of his status.

"I can't see him," Naomi whispered so quietly that only she could hear.

Kaelen's brow raised in suspicion, opening her mouth to speak. Darius moved swiftly, like a blur of black and white hair - biting back the discomfort of his injuries - to stand in front of Naomi.

"Guess it's a good thing Naomi convinced us to take those cuffs off," Darius deflected the attention, pulling a slimy piece of kelp from his hair. "Thanks."

"Yes. Thank you, Kaelen, for saving us," Naomi echoed, though her mind was still racing.

Kaelen turned her head away swiftly. "Whatever. Where do you think we are?"

Darius craned his head to scan the environment. "If I had to guess, I'd say we're somewhere in southern Augustus."

"How do you know?" Kaelen mimicked his earlier tone from the ship.

Darius ignored her remark. "Two days going west takes us through the Elm routes, past Morenhalgen. Three days get us past the mid oceanic lines into Nirvanis. We were a little over six days in when the storm hit, so if we had kept on course until then, we'd at the very least be somewhere near Augustus. That's the hope, at least."

Naomi scrambled through her geographical knowledge, her mind sluggish. "Southern Augustus is mostly savanna and desert." The three of them turned their head towards the matching terrain. "That matches."

He nodded. "Augustus's capital is Augustine-"

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"-which is on the western coastlines," Naomi finished, sighing. "We're a long way off, then."

The two were fairly certain of their prediction, though there was no way to be sure until they had reached a form of civilization.

"Shouldn't you know more than us? Darius questioned, looking at Kaelen. "You're from this area, aren't you?"

"Seraveth is an entirely different country, and I never had a reason to step foot outside of it," Kaelen rolled her eyes. "But if we are in Augustus, then that means we're still half a weeks' time away from Redgorn by ship."

"And we are not leaving until we find the others," Naomi stated so firmly that not even Kaelen objected.

She swore inwardly that even if they didn't stay, she'd find Cassien herself. There was not any other alternative that she'd even consider entertaining.

**

The harsh heat began to ebb as the sun dipped lower into the sandy horizon, shades of gold and pink streaking across the sky. The three had stayed close to the shorelines for now but found a clearing that sat under the shade of several acacia trees and slanted boulders to lean on.

Naomi continued to discreetly try to connect to Cassien's vision, but each time the same blurriness obscured her vision. Exasperated, she pushed it to the back of her mind for now. Anxiety flooded her, but she forced logical explanations instead - most likely that he was sleeping or perhaps they were too distant. Whatever it was, the team couldn't afford her to be distracted at this time. At some point, Kaelen spotted several trunks floating in the waters, swimming off to retrieve them in hopes of finding supplies. Darius and Naomi sat across from one another on the ground, slick with desert sweat.

Darius's voice caught at the edge of her hearing, but she couldn't quite make out his words. "-think she knows?"

Naomi blinked several times to steady herself, her head swimming. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said: Your vision to Frosty. Do you think she knows about it?"

"Oh. Probably not," Naomi answered, rubbing her temple.

"Probably best to keep it that way for now," Darius studied her carefully. "You okay?"

She managed a tired smile. "Probably just banged my head at some point. I'll be fine."

He nodded, unconvinced, but left it alone for now as the two tended to their injuries. Of the three of them, Darius was visibly the most injured. There was a gash that twisted from the calf up to his knee, the bleeding slowed but still raw and blood oozing. They cleaned off what they could, but even the ocean water was gritty and dark. The dreadful, familiar feeling of a headache began to bloom at the back of Naomi's eyes, though she wasn't sure if it was either due to the tether between her and Cassien or the general injuries of their shipwreck. Whatever it was, now was the time to tend to herself.

Naomi glanced down at the fabric of her deep peach dress - torn, stiff with dried salt and blood. There were better uses for the dress now than just appearances.

Naomi looked at Darius, the apples of her cheeks turning pink. "Um… Do you mind turning away for a minute?"

Darius cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

She gestured awkwardly at her dress. "Some… adjustments are needed."

"Oh. Doesn't bother me."

Naomi glared at him.

Darius held his hands up in surrender with a half grin. "Right. Sorry."

He turned in his spot, more interested in the driftwood behind him.

It was such a nice dress, too, Naomi pouted, looking around for the sharpest piece of flint or stone.

She pushed the fabric away from her body to lay as flatly as possible against the sand. With a sigh, she ripped the skirt from the middle bottom hem upwards, stopping short mid-thigh. She separated the fabric between her legs, wrapping the length under her groin and around each leg before tying the fabric in a knot at her upper thighs - a set of improvised shortened pants. Her white bell sleeves had been muddied and nicked, but still otherwise usable. After deliberation, she tore the cleanest section off at her biceps, carefully slicing it into makeshift bandages. Her dress was dramatically altered from its original appearance, but it was much more practical than before to move in.

She nudged at Darius, who turned back around. "Let me see your leg."

Darius lifted his pant leg, revealing the clotted gash of dark red. Naomi picked out what obvious debris still lingered in the wound, brushing sand off from the area. She stifled a groan as she stood, walking towards the lapping shores. She cleaned the fabric quickly, scooping a handful of salty water in her palms before walking back.

Naomi knelt beside Darius, shooting him an apologetic look. "It's not our best option, but we're going to have to clean this somehow. It'll sting a bit."

"How bad could it be- fuck!" Darius swore, sucking in a deep breath right as Naomi splashed his wound, the salt burning at the exposed cut.

She worked as quickly as she could with inexperienced hands, wiping gently with the fabric. A small aura of golden light spilled from her palms at the same time in hopes that the warmth would mask the pain even a bit. At times like this, Naomi couldn't stop the feelings of helplessness spread through her; her magic was strong enough to aid in combat, sure, but it didn't have the same offensive presence or physical enhancements like Cassien's frost. Nor did it heighten her dexterity like Darius's, or even amplify her ability to command respect simply by existing like Aryn's emotional control. To her, it was pathetic - it hadn't even helped to spare Seraphine a breath of pain when she had been stabbed.

What exactly is the point of my magic?

Maybe if she were better at controlling her magic, like her mother had always lectured her on. She had the gift, but was she wielding it properly like Lunare had intended, or simply flung it around like a children's toy? Wasn't light usually supposed to be symbolized with rebirth and healing? She wanted with every ounce of her soul that the warmth of the light would mend the torn flesh, envisioning that when she pulled away, not a single mark would remain. But of course, it was wishful thinking.

Naomi gritted her teeth, a spark of anger igniting within her. Useless. I'm so useless. Can't cook, can't swim, can't heal, can't-

Then, something unexpected did happen: the wound began to close at a snail's pace, the skin stitching and tugging back together as the flesh faded from an angry red to baby pink. She pulled away immediately, rubbing her eyes so hard that she could see stars in the darkness of her vision. But when her eyes cleared once more, she knew she wasn't just seeing things.

Naomi froze, her mouth agape at the sight. The gash hadn't entirely disappeared, but it was sealed into a thin, pink line. Their gazes locked in both disbelief and utter shock, with Darius breaking the silence first.

He gawked at his leg, then back at Naomi repeatedly. "Uh, no one had mentioned you were a healer."

Her brain stuttered, still processing what had just happened. "I… I-I'm not. That's never happened before."

"Well, whatever you did to trigger it," Darius gingerly flexed his leg. "Seems to have worked better than any tincture I've taken."

Naomi slumped back against her heels, golden glow fading at the drop of her hands. How had she done that? Why had this not happened before - like when she had been so desperate to save Seraphine? Was it because of the severity of their injuries compared to the strength of her magic? Was this something her mother had kept from her? Was it because of the shard amplifying her powers?

A million other thoughts raced through her mind at once at the revelation. Most of all, hope was at the forefront. This could change everything about her legacy if she could properly learn to utilize it.

"Naomi?" Darius's voice was softer than she had ever heard him. "Naomi, say something. Are you okay?"

Naomi shook herself back to the present, letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. But do me a favour - not a word about this to anyone. Not until I figure out what the hell I just did."

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