Ariné had to run a good deal before she finally found Jaeden again. She had not expected anything like that, and she still was not really sure what to tell Jaeden when she did find her.

Jaeden felt like she was going to cry, actually, but she was doing her best not to. She was hunched up against a wall at the back of the ship, though, so of course it was obvious she was upset. What was worse, though, was that she knew she had no right to be upset, since she should not have expected anything of him when she had told him she was not ready. It still hurt, though, more than she would have thought.

“Jae…?” Ariné said when her sister did not even respond to her presence, but again Jaeden kept her entire attention away from Ariné. “Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know he was with her or else I wouldn’t have said anything. I thought you guys–”

“Shut up,” Jaeden nearly shouted at her, though she also knew none of this was Ariné’s fault. Ariné never said the right things, though, so all she was doing is upsetting her further. “Just leave me alone.”

Ariné did feel bad, though, so she did not want to leave her sister alone. “I’m really sorry, Jae,” she said to her again, moving closer. Jaeden shifted to move away from her, but Ariné caught her anyways to hug her, wondering if that would make her feel better.

Jaeden just stayed rigid in her arms, not about to hug her back. She tried to calm herself down, though, not wanting Ariné to keep thinking she was upset. Well, she was, but she did not want people to know that. “Let go. I’m fine,” Jaeden commanded, gently shoving her sister away, making sure to use enough force so that she could not keep holding on to her.

Ariné did not believe that for a second. “But you just found him in bed with someone else! Of course you’re not fine!”

“I am!” Jaeden replied, clearly angry with the accusation. Ariné stepped back since she was startled by her sister’s sudden outburst. Jaeden looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Father is more important. We need to find another way off this ship.” It was all she could do to talk calmly like that, but Jaeden was trying. Focusing on something else would definitely help.

“Oh, right…” Ariné nodded, willing to go back to that since it was her idea in the first place. She looked doubtful for a moment, though, but she suddenly smiled. “I know! Acacia did something like that before! All we have to do is get her to do it again!”

Jaeden blinked, but she nodded after a moment. “Come on, then,” she replied, starting to walk off quickly towards the rooms. Ariné took a few seconds, but she hurriedly followed when she noticed Jaeden’s rush.

Acacia opened her eyes when she heard the door open, sitting up in the bed after she managed to blink enough to see properly. “Huh?” she asked, but she smiled when she saw Jaeden. She immediately got out of the bed, going to hug her sister. Ariné obviously never got the same attention she gave Jaeden.

“Hey,” Jaeden said lightly when Acacia hugged her, though Jaeden still did not return the gesture. “We need you to do something, Acacia.”

“You want to help bring Dad back? That’s what we’re gonna do,” Ariné explained, though she did not really think she had to since Acacia would already do anything Jaeden asked of her.

“We can get Dad back? How?” Acacia let go of Jaeden, looking very interested in their plans now since she wanted to help. Even after all that had happened, she still trusted both of her sisters completely.

“Your dimensional magic. Can you use it to make a portal for us to get off the ship? You’re the only one we can ask, so will you at least try?” Ariné explained, smiling at Acacia to show her how important this was.

Acacia nodded, though she was not really too sure that she could manage. It was for her father, though, and her sisters were counting on her, so she had to try as hard as she could. After a lot of concentration and time, she finally found the strength to open a portal, looking very happy at her accomplishment. “There we go!” she said rather excitedly.

“Good job,” Jaeden told her, though she did not feel happy enough to even fake a smile. Instead, she just moved forward through the portal. Ariné immediately followed, as did Acacia.

When the three were out, though, Ariné turned around and stared. “…You weren’t supposed to come with us,” she said to Acacia, looking very concerned now.

“You gotta have someone to bring you back, right?” Acacia retorted, smiling since there was no way Ariné could argue with that.

Jaeden ignored the two of them, glancing around the area to try to figure out where they were. The airship could be seen flying by them, so Acacia’s portal had only let them down on the ground, which still was good enough. She turned to head off in the opposite direction the ship was going, since obviously Lazuli was found earlier and therefore in that direction.

“Hey, wait up, Jae!” Ariné called, grabbing Acacia’s hand and taking off after their older sister. “We can’t run as fast as you!”

Jaeden was barely running, in her opinion, but she did slow down enough for the other two to catch up to her. She was completely focused on this mission, though, so she was now even wishing that her sisters were not with her since she could do a better job that way.

About that time, Amarisa would point out to Amaryllis that her children had just vanished from the ship.