Chapter Text
“Your Excellency, please--”
“No, Alexander! I've told you a thousand times, no one leaves the island ,” King George Washington said, his grip on the arms of his throne tightening, flames licking around his shoulders.
“But sir!” Alexander argued, “We cannot just stand by as the people suffer!”
“Going on a wild, dangerous goose chase isn't going to help anyone, son,” the King said.
Alexander clenched his fists. “Your Highness,” he said gently, “If you could please reconsider--”
Washington seemed to soften for a moment before he shook his head and glared at the man in front of him. “Don’t try those tricks of yours on me, Hamilton. You may not leave this island, and that is final .”
“Sir, please.”
“That is an order from your king , Alexander.”
Alexander spun on his heels, the feathers on his arms elongating until as he flew from the castle hall.
○○○
“I can't believe this!” Alexander shouted as he sat on his bed.
“Alexander, mon ami, you know why George will not allow you to leave Tératos,” Lafayette said as he pulled his hair back with a ribbon.
Alexander huffed, the feathers in his hair and along his arms ruffling. “The war was so long ago, Gil. Surely things have changed since then! Surely humans can't be that bad!” he argued before wrinkling his nose, “And don't call the King ‘George’. It's odd.”
“He is my father in all but blood, I will call him George if I want to,” Lafayette countered, “And you know as well as I do, humans don't change.”
“Are you two honestly arguing about that? Again?” Hercules asked as he entered the room. He had a bandana tied around his head to his mane from his eyes, and he was carrying a tray loaded down with teapots and bottles of gin.
Lafayette was up in a second, taking the platter from his partner and placing it on the table, his webbed fingers dancing as he poured he and his companions each a drink. “Alexander asked George about leaving the island again,” he said, handing Hercules his cup.
“Do you know how unusual it is for you to call our king by his first name?” Hercules asked, taking a drink.
“Oui, and I do not care. What I do care about is notre cher petit oiseau chanteur and his insistence to leave our home!” Lafayette replied.
Hercules sighed, his tail swishing in annoyance. “Alexander, how many times are you going to get turned down before you understand that that's never going to happen. He's not going to let you leave,” he said.
“Not even if Tératos could be in danger?” Alexander argued, “We all know what's happening around here isn't normal. The disease, the earthquakes, it's not some natural thing.”
“Why do you even want to leave so badly? You've got a good life here,” Hercules pointed out.
Alexander ran a hand through his hair, patting down the mixture of frizzy hair and ruffled feathers. “I need to know what's out there.”
“Mon ami, you know what is out there. We all do. Humans are not kind to monsters, petit oiseau,” Lafayette said, taking a sip of his tea.
“How do you know? No one's left the island in 850 years! Besides, even if I did have to fight a human, I wouldn't mind. They deserve it,” Alexander grumbled, picking under his talons.
“How Jeffersonian of you, Alexander,” Hercules replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
Alexander narrowed his eyes. “Don't compare me to that elitist prick,” he said.
“Then stop sounding like him. This is your home, Alexander. Couldn't this be enough?” Hercules asked, sitting down next to his friend.
“You've got to admit, something unusual is going on,” Alexander stated.
“George will take care of it, Alexander. Avoir foi,” Lafayette reminded him.
Alexander sighed. “Are you two on patrol tomorrow?” he asked.
“Oui. The Adrienne pulls out of the harbour at seven,” Lafayette replied, and Hercules groaned.
“That is too early to be on a bloody boat,” he said.
“You did not have to agree to be my first mate, mon chaton,” Lafayette quipped back, sitting himself down on his lover's lap.
“Don't call me that.”
“Oh, but Hercules--”
“No,” Hercules interrupted, “No. I'm not a kitten, Gilbert.”
Lafayette smirked. “Non, you are my big, strong lion,” he teased, kissing Hercules’ nose.
“Please go be affectionate somewhere else,” Alexander interrupted, “It's sickening.”
“You're just jealous,” Lafayette said.
“Of you two? Never. Now shoo. I need to work,” Alexander said, pushing the two out the door.
“See you tomorrow, Alexander!” Hercules shouted as the couple walked down the street. Alexander rolled his eyes and made himself another tea and gin mix before sitting down at his desk, parchment and quills strewed all about.
Alexander was a novelist and a cartographer. He was the King’s official story teller--a title he didn't know existed but was proud of anyway--and his senior map maker and was always elbows deep in ink and paper.
He sat hunched over his desk for hours, quill scratching on parchment as he added new details to his latest map.
It was for Lafayette, for his ship. Alexander had drawn Tératos and the shallows around it, and then had marked the fastest ways to get around the island, both by sea and by foot.
It was supposed to be a birthday gift, but it had been nowhere near done when Lafayette’s birthday rolled around.
When Alexander finally went to bed, it was closer to dawn than to dusk, and any sleep he got would be short and unsatisfying.
He was used to it.
He was up at 6:30, when the sunlight just barely starting to seep through the window.
Alexander swore under his breath as he hauled himself out of bed, quickly tugging on his stockings and breeches and a tunic. He tied up his vest, stuffed his feet in some shoes, and shoved a hat on his head before racing out the door.
He hoped Hercules and Lafayette kept tea aboard the ship.
“Well, look who it is,” Hercules said as Alexander doubled over, panting from his mad dash to the docks.
“Quiet, you,” Alexander gasped, smoothing his hair and feathers. Hercules rolled his eyes.
“Gil is in his cabin, I believe he's making tea,” he said.
“Is it salt water tea?” Alexander asked.
“Knowing Lafayette? Probably.”
Alexander wrinkled his nose is disdain. “Is there any tea on board that he hasn't ruined?”
“Why? Did you not have time to make some at home?” Hercules asked.
“I woke up later than expected,” Alexander admitted.
Hercules groaned. “You stayed up all night again, didn't you?”
“Possibly.”
“Zeus’ beard, Alexander! I am semi-nocturnal. You are not,” Hercules said, exasperation clear on his face.
“But I had so much to do!”
“You're going to work yourself to death!”
Alexander huffed. “Let it go, okay?” he asked, his eyes seeming to grow brighter as he spoke. Hercules’ jaw clicked shut, seemingly of its own accord.
“Fine,” he relented. “C’mon, I think Gil has a map he needs you to look over.”
○○○
The Adrienne pulled back into the harbor just as the sun began to slip below the mountains. Alexander had looked over Lafayette’s map and then taken the position he always took when he was aboard the ship--perched on the bow with a quill in hand as he quickly sketched his surrounding.
It had been an uneventful day--no waves, no trouble, no pirates or mischief.
“Is Hercules Mulligan aboard?” a voice called as they sailed into the harbor.
“Aaron Burr, sir!” Alexander called down to the man on the dock.
“Hamilton. Is your friend Mulligan aboard?” Burr asked.
“Of course,” Alexander replied.
“Fetch him, would you? I've been sent by his mother--there's been an emergency,” Aaron Burr explained.
If Burr said it was an emergency, it was.
“Hercules!” Alexander yelled into Lafayette’s cabin, “Hercules, Burr says there's been an emergency, you have to go!”
“What?” Hercules growled, stalking out of the cabin.
“I don't know! Burr just said something about being sent your mother,” Alexander explained.
Hercules looked panicked for a moment before running down to the docks.
“What has happened?” Lafayette asked, sticking his head out of the cabin.
“No idea, but Burr said it was an emergency,” Alexander explained, and Lafayette’s look of panic was almost as intense of Hercules’.
“I have to go,” he said, “The crew knows what they're doing, probably. Make sure they do not destroy my ship, oui?”
And then he was gone, chasing after Burr and Hercules, leaving Alexander alone on the deck of the boat.
○○○
Alexander waited a few hours before making the trip up the mountain to Hercules’ den. He found Lafayette standing outside, the Nereid's scales glittering in the torchlight.
“What's going on?” Alexander asked, placing a hand on Lafayette’s shoulder.
“It is Elizabeth. She’s caught it,” Lafayette explained. He didn't have to say what ‘it’ was. Everyone knew of the disease that had swept Tératos, that had already killed dozens. The bloody handkerchiefs, the swollen sores that covered the body, the fevers and vomiting.
“No,” Alexander muttered, “No! I saw her two days ago in town! She was healthy!”
“Not anymore, mon ami. They've got her quarantined, and they say… they say she will not make it through the night.”
Alexander felt like he'd been punched in the gut.
He'd grown up with the Mulligans. They'd been the ones who raised him, the ones to take in the young, orphaned siren after the war. Alexander had been there after Elizabeth was born, had held her while Sarah slept. They were as close to family as Alexander had ever had.
“This can't be happening,” he whispered. “Why is this happening?”
“No one knows, mon oiseau chanteur,” Lafayette said, scratching at his scales. “No one knows.”
○○○
A few hours later, Elizabeth Mulligan was pronounced dead. Alexander watched as his closest friends cried over the body of the little girl who was as close to a sister as Alexander had ever had.
Hercules left the den hours later, his face red and puffy from crying, his mane matted, and his tail dragging in the dirt.
“We're fixing this,” he said, his voice so low Alexander could barely hear him.
“What do you mean?”
“We're going to figure out what the hell is going on, and we're going to stop it,” Hercules snarled.
Alexander blinked. “Right now?” he asked.
“Why wait?” Hercules replied.
“Be-because! You can't just leave ! Not now!” Alexander protested.
Hercules turned and glared at him, and Alexander swallowed the lump of fear in his throat. “I thought this is what you wanted,” Hercules said.
“Yes, but not right this second! We-we have to plan , to gather supplies… we have to go to the funeral,” Alexander pointed out.
Hercules was having none of it.
“What about Gil? You planning on stealing his boat and leaving him?” Alexander snapped, “Neither of us can sail, Hercules. We need him.”
“He won't come.”
“I wonder why,” Alexander said, running after his friend. “Hercules, stop !” he shouted, putting as much power in those words as he could.
Hercules stopped dead in his tracks. “Let me go, Alexander,” he said, but he sounded less angry. “Let me go. I have to go.”
“I know, Hercules. I know. We will. Just calm down, be patient, alright?” Alexander said softly, placing a hand on Hercules’ shoulder and staring into his eyes. “Calm down,” he whispered, his eyes practically glowing.
Hercules deflated, all the tension in his body dissipating.
“Good, good. Deep breaths, my friend,” Alexander said. He then noticed Lafayette exit the den, looking around frantically.
“Lafayette!” Alexander called, waving his arms, “Over here!”
“Oh, thank goodness! I thought… I don't know what I thought, but I'm glad he is with you, Alexander,” Lafayette said.
“He wanted to steal the Adrienne and leave the island,” Alexander said bluntly.
Lafayette, to his credit, didn't seem surprised. He simply sighed.
“I got him to stop and calm down, at least for right now. It'll wear off in a couple of hours,” Alexander said, “And he has a point, you know. Someone has to stop this.”
“I know,” Lafayette admitted, “But not now. We need to get this one to bed. We could all do with some sleep.”
“You two can stay at my house,” Alexander offered, “I don't think they'll let him stay here, and you know how he feels about your place.”
“Merci, Alexander,” Lafayette said, taking Hercules’ hand. The Nemean lion’s eyes were dull and hazy, and he seemed about as alert as a dead horse. It was unsettling.
“How insistent were you, Alexander?” Lafayette questioned, narrowing his eyes, “He wouldn't be phased by Aaron Burr in his under clothes in this state!”
“I'm sorry! He wasn't listening, I had to!” Alexander stated, “He'll be back to normal by sunrise, I promise.”
Lafayette sighed and led Hercules back to Alexander's house.
○○○
“I'm going to Angelica’s,” Alexander said the next morning.
“Why?” Hercules asked. He had as promised, went back to normal an hour or two after they arrived at Alexander's house.
“Advice. If anyone knows how to get off this island with our lives, it's Angelica Schuyler,” Alexander said, buckling his shoes.
“If she doesn't turn you in to George,” Lafayette felt the need to point out.
Alexander shook his head. “She won't,” he said, certainty in his voice.
Lafayette’s eyes narrowed. “How can you be so sure?”
“I just am, Gil. Trust me,” Alexander said. “You two gather up food and clothes and things. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to leave tonight.”
He didn't mention that he wasn't all that sure that the Schuylers wouldn't turn them in. He was operating on a hunch, and his hunches were almost always right.
He tried to seem casual as he walked down the city streets. No, he definitely wasn't planning on breaking the most important law in the kingdom. No, he wasn't doing it with the adoptive Prince. No, he wasn't suspicious at all .
“Angelica?” he asked as he entered her house, “Are you home?”
“ Lady Schuyler is working in her study,” Angelica’s assistant, a short little goblin named John, said.
“I need to talk to her. It's incredibly important,” Alexander said, crossing his arms. He knew what was coming.
“Why? So you can use your siren tricks on her?” John said, and Alexander felt his eyes rolling up into his head.
“I simply want some advice, John,” he said slowly. Every time he wanted to speak to Angelica, he had to have the same argument.
“How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not manipulating me right now?”
“Because if I was, you wouldn't even think to ask that question,” Alexander replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.
John narrowed his eyes. “I'm giving you ten minutes, and if anything seems off about the Lady after that time, I'm reporting you to the guard.”
“Of course, John,” Alexander sighed as John opened the room to Angelica's study.
The Sphinx was sitting at her desk, writing furiously. Her tail was twitching in agitation, her wings were puffed up, and Alexander could feel the annoyance radiating off her in waves.
“Lady Schuyler, you have a visitor,” John said.
“Eliza, please, I'm sure Maria will love whatever you get h--oh. Alexander. This is a surprise,” she said as she turned to face the siren.
Alexander smiled. “A good one, I hope,” he said, flirting shamelessly.
Angelica rolled her eyes. “I hope John didn't give you too much trouble,” she said.
“Only as much as he usually does,” Alexander replied. “He's still not convinced that I'm completely trustworthy.”
“That's because you're not, Alexander,” Angelica pointed out, and Alexander could feel his face heating up.
“I need advice,” Alexander said, fighting his embarrassment.
“That's typically what people need when they come to me, yes,” Angelica said.
Alexander rolled his eyes. “I… I need to know how to leave Tératos,” he said.
Angelica sucked in a breath. “Alexander, you know as well as I, leaving the island is treason ,” she said.
“We have to. We need to know what's going on. We don't need you to come with us, but if you could simply tell me how to get around the warding and then forget I ever came, that would be enough,” Alexander pleaded.
Angelica raised an eyebrow, her yellow feline eyes staring at him like age could see into his soul. “We,” she said simply, “So you're not alone in this endeavor?”
Alexander wanted to smack himself. “No,” he admitted, “Hercules and Lafayette are accompanying me.”
“So not only are you committing treason, you're committing treason with the King’s adoptive son? Have you finally lost your mind ?” Angelica asked.
“Angelica, please,” Alexander begged.
The Sphinx sighed. “I'd say no,” she began, “But Eliza… she had a vision, the other night. Something about a monster and a human and a ship. I couldn't really understand.”
Alexander nodded. Eliza’s visions were hard to comprehend.
“So I'll give you advice, but you'll have to figure it out yourself,” Angelica said.
“Angelica, please, we really don't have time--”
“Do you want my help or not, Alexander?
“ A mouth of stone with watery breath, a rocky eye sees past the death, the jagged cove where seagulls feast, and the maiden’s voyage to the east. The monster has us in his claw, will bleed the blood to paint red dawn, ” Angelica recited. “Is that all you need?”
“Yes, thank you, thank you so much!” Alexander said with a wide grin as he left the office, “I'll make it up to you, I swear!”
Angelica took a deep breath, wishing she'd never heard that damned siren sing.
○○○
“I know how we’re going to leave,” Alexander said as he reentered his home.
Lafayette looked up from where he appeared to be tying up a knapsack. “And how is that?” he asked.
“There’s a cave, apparently, in the east, that if we sail through it gets us through the warding,” Alexander explained, “Or something like that. Angelica didn’t really give me a straight answer.”
“It’s Angelica, what were you expecting?” Hercules grumbled. He was sifting through Alexander’s maps and seemed to be doing better today. Seemed being the key word. Alexander recognized the anger and sadness boiling under the lion’s skin. He’d seen it in the mirror.
“Do you have any idea where this cave could be, Gil? A cove full of gulls or something?” Alexander asked.
“There’s only one cave that I can think of that you can sail through,” Lafayette replied, “And it is to the east, on the edge of the island, where Jefferson and Madison used to live.”
“Don’t say his name ,” Alexander groaned, “That twat .”
“He was not so bad, before the rebellion. You could say we were friends,” Lafayette said with a shrug.
“Blasphemy,” Alexander gasped. Lafayette smacked him with a rolled up map.
“So we leave tonight?” Hercules asked.
“If we’ve got everything, I don’t see why not,” Alexander said.
“Oui, I believe we have all the supplies we’ll need,” Lafayette said, and then, “Alexander…”
“Yes?”
“Do you have any idea what we will be searching for, mon ami?”
Alexander smacked himself in the forehead. “Yes, yes, I forgot to say. Eliza had a vision, that’s why Angelica was so quick to help us. From what I gathered from Angelica’s riddle, there’s a monster we must defeat, or something similar,” he explained.
“Yes, that narrows it down. It’s not like we know any monsters,” Hercules sighed, running a hand through his mane.
“How many monsters can there be off of Tératos?” Alexander asked, “Don’t worry, Hercules. We’ll be fine.”
“If you’re so sure,” Hercules relented.
“I am.”
“Well then,” Lafayette said, “I say we load our things aboard the ship. It will be less suspicious now than at night, oui?”
“Good idea,” Alexander said, picking up a suitcase and a knapsack.
“Wait,” Hercules cut in, “What if someone does ask?”
“Then we say we’ve got orders from the King,” Lafayette supplied, “No one will question sa Majesté.”
Hercules nodded. “Well then,” he said, “I suggest we get started.”
○○○
The sun had long since set when the three friends returned to the Adrienne , slipping through the city as quietly as they could.
“We’re really doing this,” Alexander whispered as he stood on the deck of the ship, looking out over his home for what may be the last time.
“That we are, mon cher petit oiseau,” Lafayette said, leaning over the rail along with Alexander. He smelled of salt water and seaweed, as always, his scales glowing in the moonlight.
“I have something for you two,” Hercules said from him and Lafayette’s shared cabin. Alexander raised an eyebrow at Lafayette, who simply shrugged.
“This isn’t the part where you tell us you’re having second thoughts, is it?” Alexander joked.
“Of course not,” Hercules reassured, “It’s actually, well…”
He held out three vials.
“Merde, Hercules,” Lafayette said, taking one of the bottles of potion, “Where did you get this?”
“You two aren’t the only ones with friends in high places,” Hercules, a twisted semblance of a grin on his face.
“How long will it last?” Alexander asked, peering at the pearlescent liquid.
“Two months, give or take a few days,” Hercules said with shrug.
Lafayette and Alexander shared a look. “Will it… change us? Will we really become…?” Lafayette’s sentence trailed off.
“Will you really be human? No,” Hercules answered the unfinished question, “But you’ll look it, and that’s what counts.”
“So I’ll still be able to, you know,” Alexander said, gesturing to his throat.
Hercules chuckled, the first laugh of any sort they’d heard from him since Elizabeth died. “Don’t worry, you’ll be just as persuasive as ever, you just won’t have those ridiculous feathers.”
“My feathers are not ridiculous,” Alexander huffed.
“So,” Lafayette said, uncorking his vial, “Bottoms up, eh?”
Alexander nodded hesitantly. “See you on the other side, my friends.”
All three men drank.
It was an odd experience as if one had been dipped in freezing cold liquid, only for it to become boiling hot a moment later.
A minute later, Alexander opened his eyes, not having realized he’d closed them. “Holy hell,” he muttered, staring at his two friends.
No longer was Lafayette’s hair a tangle of kelp and seaweed, no, now it was tight, dark brown coils pulled into a puff on top of his head. Gone were his scales, his gills, and the webbing between his fingers. Even the odd green undertones to his skin and the dark blue of his eyes were gone.
Hercules was no better. His eyes weren’t as wide, weren’t as angled, weren’t yellow, and even more surprisingly, his hair was short . His ears didn’t have their usual point, and a quick glance confirmed that his tail had disappeared. Alexander would bet that if he smiled, his usual fangs would be gone.
“Mon dieux,” Lafayette mumbled, eyes wide as he stared. “I need a mirror.”
“This is bizarre,” Hercules agreed. “You both look like you, just different . Gods, Alexander, your eyes .”
“What? What’s wrong with them?!”Alexander shouted, his hands flying to his face. He absently noticed his talons had vanished.
“Nothing. They’re just not purple,” Hercules quickly reassured.
“I cannot help but be offended that the first things you notice are Alexander’s eyes,” Lafayette teased. Hercules blushed.
“Well, I, uh… I just…” he said, his hand immediately going to his mane--the mane that was no longer there. He yelped. “It’s gone! I-I can’t feel it! Where’s my mane?”
“Uh, Hercules, mon cheri, I don’t know how to say this…” Lafayette began.
“Humans typically don’t have manes , Hercules,” Alexander reminded him.
“You guys still have long hair!” Hercules pointed out. Lafayette shrugged. “Ridiculous,” Hercules sighed.
“This whole thing is… unsettling, to say the least,” Alexander said, staring at his own featherless arms.
“And you’re sure we still have our abilities?” Lafayette asked, “I do not wish to drown, mon chaton. Do you know how embarrassing that would be?”
“I mean, I can still see perfectly fine, so I think so,” Hercules replied.
“Well, I plan on going into the water at some point in the next two months. Will I or will I not die?” Lafayette pressed.
Hercules rolled his eyes at his partner’s dramatics. “Most likely? No.”
“I can not function on ‘most likely’s! I am a creature of the sea , the ocean runs through my veins , the water is my only true home --Alexander! Quickly now, make Hercules do something stupid,” Lafayette said, throwing his hands in the air.
“Why me?” Hercules asked.
“Because if this does not work, then you will be the reason I am misérable for the next two months.”
“Both of you, quiet!” Alexander said, glaring at the pair. They both immediately shut their mouths. “Hercules, walk around the deck three times and then sit,” Alexander ordered. Hercules did so without hesitation.
“That was not embarrassing in the slightest ,” Lafayette complained, and Hercules glared at him.
“Gil, I think you're safe to go underwater,” Alexander said.
“You think?” Hercules grumbled.
Alexander cracked his knuckles. “Well then, I say we get going. We want to make it past the warding by morning, don't we?” he said.
Lafayette nodded and took to the wheel of the ship as Hercules raised the anchor and untied the sails.
The were just pulling out of the harbor when Alexander heard a distinct, “What in Zeus’ name?”
“Hades’ helm,” he swore, and looking down at the docks he saw none other than Aaron Burr.
“What is the meaning of this?” Burr shouted. “What's going on? What-what's wrong with you, Hamilton? Where are your feathers?”
“Damn it all,” Alexander said, “Gil? Hercules? We’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?” Hercules asked.
“Aaron Burr.”
“You're kidding me.”
“Afraid not.”
“ Shit ,” Hercules said. “Can't you make him forget he saw us?”
“Not from this far away,” Alexander admitted.
Hercules pinched the bridge of his nose. “Have him come aboard, then.”
“How?” Alexander questioned.
“He's a shapeshifter , Alexander. Tell him to turn into a bird or a butterfly or something,” Hercules insisted.
Alexander sighed. “Aaron Burr, sir!” he shouted.
“Hamilton, what is going on?” Burr shouted back.
“Fly aboard, I'll explain everything,” Alexander yelled back. Burr seemed to consider his options for a moment before melting into a crow and flying up to the ship’s deck.
“Answer me, Alexander,” Burr ordered once he'd changed back into his more human form. “Where are your feathers? What's wrong with Lafayette and Mulligan? What are you doing ?”
Alexander would look back on this moment and say he panicked.
“Go to sleep!” he blurted out with as much intent as he could.
Aaron Burr slumped to the ground.
“Oh my gods,” Hercules muttered, “You killed him.”
“No I didn't!” Alexander protested, “He's just sleeping!” It'll be fine!”
“What are we supposed to do now?” Hercules asked, nudging Burr with his foot. The shape shifter didn't wake.
“We have to bring him with us. If we leave him now, he’ll tell Washington, and we can’t wait for him to wake up so I can make him forget this,” Alexander explained. “It's the only option we have.”
Hercules groaned. “You're telling Gil,” he said.
○○○
Alexander had been put on Aaron Duty, Lafayette saying he was the reason Burr was aboard, so he got to watch him. The king’s guard was tied to the mast, snoring soundly, as the sun rose over the ocean and ship and its crew approached the cave.
“This is it,” Hercules said, “Alexander, light all the torches and take up your arms. I’m going up to the bow; you never know what could be in there.”
Alexander nodded and took the flint and steel from his knapsack. Once all the torches were lit, he joined Lafayette as the ship’s helm, sword in hand.
“Do you think we’ll ever see it again, Alexander?” Lafayette asked.
“See what?”
“Tératos,” Lafayette replied, steadfastly looking ahead, “Do you think we’ll ever see home again?”
“I thought the water was your ‘only true home’,” Alexander teased.
“Do not get smart, mon ami,” Lafayette said, “Answer me. Do you think we’ll see our Île bien-aimée again?”
Alexander sighed. “I’ve got to hope we do.”
“And if not?”
“Then I say you take one final look at Tératos, my friend,” Alexander said, voice ominous, as the darkness of the cave swallowed them whole.
The air in the cave was full of energy, causing the hair on Alexander’s arms-- hair , not feathers, and wasn’t that a dizzying thought--to stand on end.
“All clear so far!” Hercules shouted.
The deeper into the cave they sailed, the more the air was filled with energy, cracking all around them, to the point where Alexander could feel his own skin buzzing.
“I think we’re good,” Hercules yelled. Lafayette nodded and sailed towards the light at the other end.
The cave was eerily quiet, the humming of the energy in the room the only sound. There was no noise of waves lapping against the sides, no drip of water from the stalactites above them, no splash of fish or turtles in the waters below them.
As a creature whose whole life was centered on noise, on sound, on words , it left Alexander with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
“I believe we are almost there,” Lafayette said. Alexander knew he was whispering, but compared to the silence of the cavern, it sounded like a scream.
Or maybe that was just the screams that broke out immediately after Lafayette spoke.
There was a haunting quality to them that seemed to carry them throughout the cave, rattling the rock.
“What in Zeus’ name?!” Hercules shouted, his dagger drawn.
Alexander pulled his sword from its sheath and hopped down from the helm onto the main deck.
He found the source of the unearthly screams.
Aaron Burr was clawing at the ropes that bound him with what appeared to be literal claws. His eyes were open but rolled back so that only the whites were showing, and his jaw seemed unhinged.
“Alexander! Make him stop !” Lafayette cried. The screams seemed to be reverberating through the entire cavern, and rocks and pebbles began to fall from the ceiling.
“Burr!” Alexander shouted, “Burr, stop! Please! Please stop!”
His words were drowned out by the noise.
Behind them, there was a loud crack as a stalactite was claimed by the waters.
“Aaron! Aaron!” Alexander yelled louder, wincing as more and more pieces of rock chipped from the roof of the cave and fell and hit him.
Still, Aaron screamed.
Ahead of them, a large chunk of stone fell, making waves that climbed the Adrienne ’s hull.
“Gil! Go faster!” Alexander shrieked.
“By the gods,” Hercules muttered, staring at the walls of the cave in horror, “It's all coming down.”
“Lafayette! C’mon!” Alexander yelled as more and more rays of light filtered into the dark tunnel through the ever-widening holes in the roof.
“I'm going as fast as I can!” Lafayette shouted back. “Get him quiet !”
“I can't!” Alexander yelled in replied. Even as he said the words, he felt the knot in his throat.
This was it. This was how they died. Crushed by a collapsing cave, helpless, without even looking like themselves.
Death. This was how it got him.
Lafayette’s cries joined Aaron's as a hunk of rock crashed into the deck of the ship. Hercules’ eyes were wide in terror as another piece fell, hitting Lafayette’s arm on its way down.
“Gil!” he shouted, running towards his love. Alexander could do naught but watch as the sleeve of Lafayette’s shirt became painted with blood, as the falling rubble hit Hercules’ face, as Aaron continued to scream, his arms torn to shreds.
His eyes slipped shut as he fell to the floor.