Realm of Paradox

November Project–Started 2021 

The world has many faces.

Some show benevolent vales with small humble hamlets, and the others…

Well, the others are more of a sinister sort.

The waves crashed against the boat’s hull.

“Säde?”

Kathika looked around the dark cabin. Her sister Säde uncovered her ears.

“That was too loud, Kathika.”

“I know.”

“Where is he?” asked Säde, looking around the dark. The ringing in her ears continued evermore.

“The ship captain?”

“Yea.”

“Above deck. Mom came back from up there and told me she saw him steering the ship towards some landmass.”

“…the island he was talking about?”

“Maybe? Oh gosh, if he does bring us there, what’s going to happen…?”

“I don’t know?!”

“I’m going up there and investigating again.”

Kathika stormed off, leaving Säde in the cabin, as the former walked above deck. The skies were gray with the promising of a storm; a storm as dark as the island the captain was promising to steer to.
She noticed him, still at the steering wheel. Her father was hiding behind one of the masts, scared out of his wits. She gave him a kindhearted expression before turning to the captain.

“Change the route.” Her voice was stern, sharp as a jagged boulder.

“What for?” he sneered.

“Now.”

“Who are you to command my whereabouts? You’re but a twelve year old girl.”

“Are you sure I am nothing but a twelve year old girl? I can assure you, I am stronger than you’ll ever be as a thirty six year old man.”

“You and your gifted articulation. I dislike how you’re so rebellious, but then again… You and your entire family. All six of you, so harmless!”

The captain tackled Kathika, pinning her to the ground.

“Your hearts are so fragile.”

“Well so is your leg!”

She kicked him in the right shin, with all of her might, knocking him away and allowing her to rise to her feet.
He fell on one knee, grasping his other leg with both hands. Both she and her father could see the fracture in his leg. He was almost paralyzed with disbelief.
Her father stepped out of his hiding place, analyzing the situation with a wary gaze. The noise alerted her mother, who dashed out from the cabins below.
“What was that?”

“Change course, Syretia. You know how to do that, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

“We’re currently sailing towards Lilura Island. That’s the prison. We need to change direction, and hopefully before we arrive. If we were to arrive, there won’t be any hope of leaving.”

A brief hesitation, before Syretia nodded and walked to the steering wheel, ignoring the captain in the way. She gave the wheel a strong spin. Another. Yet another.

“That should be good. If you see the island in the horizon, inform me and I’ll ensure we don’t even get near there.”

“Okay, thank you!”

“œAnytime.”

The ship made a sharp turn to the right. The next to leave the cabins was Säde, giving a wary glance to the captain.

“He tried to attack me,” explained Kathika.

“I never realized you were that strong,” muttered Säde, looking to the captain’s leg fracture.

“It was an act of hysterical strength.”

“Either way, Kathika, you’re a strong one. You’ve put up quite a fight against them…” The siblings’ father looked to Kathika with a respectful smile. “Even while the captain fellow was holding us hostage, you’re the reason why he didn’t bring his team.”

“That’s what I said, old man,” snapped the captain.

“Old man?” The siblings’ father chuckled. “I’m not much older than you. I have four daughters and a wife, and we’ve protected each other without falter. What about you? You’ve done nothing but try to change what will never change, what strength our family has together and apart. With age comes wisdom… you hooligan. With age, comes the knowledge of the world, at the cost of knowing it is not all.”

“I should have battled you when I had the chance.”

“Ah, but you never had the chance.”

“Either way, good sir,” added Syretia, “your ship has been blown off course. By yours truly, specifically.”

The two other sisters—young children they were—exited the cabins as the ship sailed for a new land, the continent of Caprina. It was not anywhere near the older land they call home. It was not even anywhere near anywhere in the proximity of that land.

It was a newer, slightly more peaceful realm.

“Land, ho! Is that what they say?” asked the siblings’ father. “I don’t have much nautical experience, and I believe you do, Syretia.”

“That is what they say. Is the land spotted Lilura Island…?”

“Not at all. It’s a rather brighter and larger patch of land. Lilura’s grass is purple, yes?”

“Yes. What color is the grass over there?”

“Orange. It’s autumn, right?”

“It is autumn.”

Thus, the ship arrived at Caprina, intriguing a few current residents on shore. The ship cut through a few yards of sand on the shore.
“Hey!” exclaimed one of the residents, a tall man with a sailor’s hat, “you might not want to dock right there, there is a harbor in a mile or so.”

“Sorry!” replied the siblings’ father. “We didn’t know about that! We’re, Uhm, new here.”

“How new exactly? Where y’all from?”

“Nerezza. The archipelago.”

“Wait, the place with the regularly occurring kidnappings to Lilura Island?!”

“Yeah. We managed to steer our ship off course enough to get here instead.”

“Oh.. That is good. Who else is on the ship with you?”

“My wife and my four daughters… and the captain that was trying to bring us to Lilura.”

“The captain’s there? How’d you take over?”

“My second-eldest daughter broke his leg in self defense.”

“Oh gosh.”

“My wife Syretia has nautical experience, so she steered us here. We do not have a map. How far away is Nerezza from here?”

“Halfway across the world, but I wouldn’t recommend returning there.”

“Neither would I, I was just curious.”

“Makes sense.”

The six exited the ship as a few locals entered it to investigate. The two younger sisters were six and four years old. Kathika, who was indeed a twelve year old girl, stood tall over her two younger sisters, albeit not as tall as fourteen year old Säde.
Their parents, Syretia and Jaromir, were just as tall as Säde, warily looking to the residents. The residents, in return, analyzed them, as well as the ship.

“That ship does indeed belong to the Lilura administration. The captain whose leg was broken by this man’s second-eldest daughter is a Lilura admin.”

“They speak no lies,” mumbled another resident.

Each member of the family nodded and walked away from the ship. Some Caprinan officials escorted the captain away. Upon further inspection, the officials corroborated that the captain was indeed bringing them to Lilura originally; the ship was also investigated.

“Mrs.–”

“It’s Mrs. Tasnim.”

“Mrs. Tasnim, the ship that you six arrived on appears to be belonging to the entire Lilura faculty, not merely the captain’s personal ship–“

“There was a team,” muttered Kathika, “but we scared them off.”

“Kathika, more like you scared them off,” added Säde.

Smiling, Kathika looked to a few small scrapes on her arms. “I guess I did…”

The official looked down at the ground in surprise. She fought back against a whole team of people and she hardly looks thirteen.

“Well. Then. Uhm. You might want to speak to a few other officials about this.. maybe we can do something about the whole Lilura thing?”

“That would be great!”

One Week Later

“And how did they escape the scene?”

The official, a new one now, curled his mustache as Syretia sighed before answering— “They ran away. They fled. Kathika was then seized by the captain before she could stand, and then we were on the ship.”

“Oh. Hmm. They seem somewhat dangerous?”

“Not as dangerous as my daughter when she’s angry, clearly.” Syretia chuckled.

“That is true.”

The official looked down at his notes. “That’s all they needed to know, thank you, ma’am.”

Syretia smiled before turning away. “No problem, sir.”

She returned into the rather large inn, where the rest of her family was waiting. Säde looked up from eating breakfast as soon as she walked in.
“Did he get the information he needed?”

“He said so, but I think he would need to interview Kathika for a true perspective, as she was the most involved in resistances against the Liluran faculty. The officials of this land have tried to start resistance forces against Lilura Island for a while now, and now that we are here with a firsthand account of Lilura Island’s measures, they have an advantage against them.”

“I never realized that they had always wanted to fight back. I thought this was just a newer enemy of theirs.”

“Either way, the village allowed us to get a house here.”

“That’s great!”

Kathika entered the downstairs area of the inn, followed by the younger siblings, the six year old Palmira and the four year old Raisel.

“You said we were starting school here tomorrow, right? Mom?”

“Wait, school?” Säde looked to her mother in confusion, her topaz orange eyes glimmering in the setting sunlight. “They have that here?”

“Yes, they do, Säde. I wanted you guys to start over at the local school. It might be a good opportunity for all four of you.” Syretia smiled warmly. “Furthermore, your father and I are going to need to begin to work for the upcoming autumn festival in two weeks in order to afford the house. We needed to find you guys a way to spend those days.”