The rain only got worse, the closer to the next continent the boat went. Waves started rocking the boat back and forth much more often and harder than usual, sending Suzuri into a sea-sick mush. Seth tried to keep the group positive with some music, even with his signature lute starting to sound extremely off. The wood had swelled up past fixing at this point, which caused him to be annoyed. Everyone else was just as annoyed, they just tried to not say anything. The rains became so hard it was impossible to see anything at all, so Art pulled his signature goggles down over his eyes. He could at least keep some of his vision that way, though he did look incredibly geeky with them down.
"Hey, Art," Suzuri said through her shivering.
"Yes, love?"
"You do realize I can't swim, right?"
"Don't be so pessimistic. We aren't going to capsize."
Suddenly, a huge wave came and wiped them out of the boat. Everyone scrambled to save what they could, which wasn't very much.
As they clung to the boat despirately, unsure of what to do, Seth said in a very annoyed way, "Oh yeah? Says you!"
"I hate..." Tara started, "I hate storms." Being originally from Gleeba, she wasn't very used to the rain, and she couldn't remember ever really seeing a true thunderstorm before this.
"I totally forgot to pack a swimsuit," Angelo said, holding on to the boat with one hand and Tara with the other. "Hey, baby, wanna see my speedo? It's as poka-dotted as your panties."
Taro grabbed a hold of Tara's other side. He and Angelo held on to her togerher to make sure she was perfectly secure. "Oh yeah, because now's the perfect time," Taro grunted.
Angelo beamed. "But we're all ready at the beach, right? I mean, one of the sexiest things ever is the motion of the ocea-" A wave hit them again, knocking the words right out of his mouth.
"You were saying?" Alicia asked with a stifled giggle.
Art wasn't the strongest of men, but he did his best to keep Suzuri above water as he clung to the capzised boat. "I did not see that one coming. Its as if the God of the Sea is playing with us," he said.
"I'd believe that," Suzuri said. "I hear the Gracos family isn't exactly tolerable ever since Gracos the VI was slain in the Somnia region a while back." She clung to him, not sure how much strength she really had. "Ahh, I wish I would have chose to be a paladin today. Had to go with the cute little mage outfit, didn't I?"
"Hey," Alicia said, "It IS cute."
Suzuri's body from her shoulders down was below the surface by this point. "Art," she said, "I love you." The water caused Suzuri's legs to cramp. "Platypunk gunk," she swore loudly as slipped out of Art's grasp. As she scrambled to get back to the reach of his hand, she sank like a rock, blacking out completely.
Suzuri came to some time later, much warmer and drier than she remembered herself being when she had passed out. She awoke on a floor covered with hay, smelling like horses. Suzuri sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around.
"Hiya," a little girl's voice said from the large doorway. Suzuri found it adorable that her bushy little mop of hair reminded her so much of Art. "If you're looking for your friends, they're all awake."
Suzuri noticed that her clothes were dry. How long had she been out? She stood up, feeling oddly rested, and followed the little girl outside of what appeared to be a barn on a farm.
"Where are we?" Suzuri asked.
The little girl answered, "This is The Famous Monster Farm! I'm the helper. I get to feed the monsters." She stretched her arms outward as if she had an amazing story to tell. "And, and, and guess what? The inside of a slime's mouth is so soft. One time a slime tried to eat my hand, but it didn't hurt at all!"
"Wow," Suzuri said, bending down to look the little girl in the eye. "That's amazing. See, I have a pet mimic. His name is Chompy, and he may look very mean, but if you know just where to tickle him, he'll be the cutest thing you've ever seen."
"A mimic named Chompy!" the little girl cried. "That sounds so cute! Do you have him with you?"
"No, I left him the care of my closest friend," Suzuri answered sadly. "I'm sorry you couldn't meet him. So, did anyone come with me at all?"
"You had a big party with you," the little girl said. "So many friends. They're just fine."
Suzuri smiled. "Oh thank the Heavens," she said. "Let me ask you a question, little one. What's your name?"
The little girl danced around and said, "My name is-" but even as her mouth moved, Suzuri didn't hear her name at all. "Hmm? What's wrong?"
Suzuri shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear your name." She felt a piercing pain in her stomach, and held on to it for dear life. She had a little one growing in there, which caused her to cry, "Gahh, Celestria, what is this pain?"
"Y'know," the little girl said, "It would have been nice to really meet you."
Suzuri couldn't stand it anymore. She flopped onto the ground, scream out, "Don't you even think you're taking this away from me, Celestria! I won't have that!" That's when she blinked a few times and realized that her location had changed, yet again.
Art was kneeling right over her. "Thank the Goddess. You looked like you were having a nightmare."
"Have we landed at Romaly yet?" Suzuri asked, sitting up. The pain in her belly was completely gone, and everything felt normal. "Just a bad dream. Vivid, and frightening as hell, but it looks like I'm fine."
Seth and Alicia called from a wide distance away, so Art pulled Suzuri up to her feet and they met up.
"We're in Romaly," Seth said with a nod. "Angelo, Tara, and Taro went ahead to scout the countryside. We wanted to lead you that way, so we stayed behind."
"You look horrible," Alicia said to Suzuri.
"I had a nightmare is all," Suzuri answered. "I think it was about..." she put her hand on her belly.
Alicia offered, "You wanna talk about it?"
The group headed along what seemed to be a nice dirt path along a different smelling land than the one they travered previously.
"Not really," Suzuri said. "It wasn't something that I want to repeat." Art reached over to kiss her cheek, giving her a slight smile when they walked into the incredibly run-down and overcrowded town of Romaly.
Tara waved from the weapons shop. "I've got a new axe!" she said excitedly. After she ran over to speak to Suzuri, her mood darkened a bit. "This place is so full of people that left Aliahan. It's horrible."
Suzuri nodded, looking around. Tara was right. Plenty of poor, homeless families sat along the walls of the buildings, both cursing the world they lived in and praying to Celestria for a blessing in their favor.
Angelo came out of the church, cringing. "And I thought I was bad," he muttered, finding the group meeting in a central location. "A priest asking 20 gold coins is bad enough, but this one wanted 2000. Like anyone here as 2000 gold coins!"
Seth was so disgusted at this display. "Art," he said, catching the prince's attention, "I'm going to need your help."
"What for?" Art asked.
"We're going to the castle here," Seth said, "And I need you to help me do that."
"What's in the castle?" Alicia asked.
Seth said, "My dignity." He started like he was going to walk there himself. "C'mon, Art."
Art agreed, not sure of what Seth was planning. Whatever it was, Seth looked determined to have it happen.