Oh... I really have no excuse other than I am a pathetic excuse for a prince. I'm going to try harder from now on, even if it takes away from my free time (which should have been used for writing anyway!)! I have four research papers that I'm getting assigned this week, but I'll try to get back to weekly updates. Thank you to all the loyal subjects who didn't lose faith in me. xD Especially Noma9, who was going to threaten me to write. That made me get off my lazy ass at 6:30 A.M. this morning and get back to writing.
Alice sneezed again, for about the hundredth time. For some reason, the moment they had gotten back down to Port Llaffan, Alice had broken down into a vicious fit of coughing and sneezing, her limbs slowly ceased functioning normally, and her only working eye's vision started blurring. The four of them were forced to stay in Port Llaffan for two weeks so that Alice could rest and recover. Stella had retrieved the fygg, and placed it into Alice's magical bag. She hadn't even been angry that Alice was taking a sudden, long break from fygg collecting.
Luckily, Alice remembered somebody in Angel Falls having displayed the same exact symptoms, back when they were simply just Aquila's apprentice that followed in his shadow, so she knew the recipe for her cure. She quietly croaked out the list of ingredients to Iris, who calmly wrote them down, and used a chimaera wing to go back to Stornway so she could use the alchemy pot in Erinn's inn.
Sheila giggled as she watched Bryson watch Jona learn how to make fishing nets. Bryson had helped Jona's father rest in peace, declaring that he was "going to take care of her when he got older". That's practically a love confession! Sheila giggled. So cute, so cute~
Rolling onto her back in the sand, Sheila grinned stupidly at the sky. It was a bright, clear sunny day. The sky was a wonderful shade of blue, the ocean was calm, and no clouds in sight! Sheila's very definition of a good day.
She frowned, Well, it'd be bunches better if Alice was feeling normal again. I've seen this type of sickness before, but never to this degree...! Maybe it's because she's a de-powered Celestrian? But there didn't seem to be any cause of it... she looked fine beforehand!
Closing her eyes in concentration and letting out a sigh, Sheila didn't notice the shadow casting down upon her, courtesy of the tanned, black haired Marine. Marine had been forced to stay behind with the two youngest members, neither of whom seemed to care that they were wasting time. Aren't those fyggs important? And if we've only found two, shouldn't we try to hurry up and move on? Not that I don't care that Alice is sick, I mean... that'd be an ass move, to be angry at a sick person.
"Ugh, where is that damn bastard... Fucking Iris...!" Marine growled in frustration, "It's been like, three fucking days! Where the hell is she?"
Sheila frowned, and opened her eyes to look at the furious paladin. "Don't call Iris names! Iris is probably working her hardest to get Alice's medicine!"
Marine rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You and Iris, I swear..."
A hand clamped down on Marine's shoulder, effectively scaring the shit out of her. "I would prefer you not swearing at all, Marine."
Sheila squealed happily, as Marine glowered at the taller female, who was almost ripping her arm right off from squeezing so hard. Iris smiled politely back at her, twirling a pouch in her other hand. It was a light beige bag, tied with a blood red rope, and was relatively small. There was a slight sloshing sound coming from within it, so there must be a vial.
Sheila ran up and grabbed it from Iris, who allowed it, and ran off towards the room in the inn they had been residing in. Sheila paused in the hallway, and placed her good ear on the door to hear if Alice was sleeping or not. There was muffled coughing, and it sounded like Alice was speaking in some ancient language (or maybe she just wasn't speaking properly, Sheila couldn't be sure). She knocked politely twice, and then entered.
"Alice, Iris brought you your medicine~" Sheila cooed, ignoring the fact that Alice looked ten times worse than she did yesterday, that her sheets and clothes were soaked in sweat, that Alice didn't really seem to be looking at her, and didn't try to touch her forehead, because it might be way hotter than it should be.
Alice reached out with both hands, making grabby motions. Sheila took out the vial inside, and quickly handed it over to Alice, who didn't hesitate to chug it all down in one gulp. It took a few minutes, but Sheila saw the redness of Alice's face slowly go away, revealing her normal pale skin. Alice got up out of bed, and went towards the bathroom, closing it shut behind her.
"...I'll be out in a few minutes. We're leaving when I'm out, okay?" Alice waited as Sheila ran out the door to go get the others, and then made the water as cold as possible. Though the medicine had gotten rid of the see able symptoms, Alice could still feel her insides burning. It was much more extreme than that case Alice remembered.
Is it because Celestrians never have had a mortal disease before? I suppose we've never stuck around in a single post for more than a few days without returning to the Observatory and purifying ourselves, but Papa never got sick, no matter how long he was in the Protectorate. Nevertheless, I refuse to let this puny sickness take me down. I am a Celestrian. We never get sick. I refuse to be the first to fall to a mortal disease.
Alice willed her body temperature to fall back down to a normal, safe heat before she got redressed into the colorful minstrel robes. She felt her body go into autopilot as she picked up her clothes, stuffed them into a separate pouch in her bag, and set out the door to meet up with the others by the docks.
When Alice was halfway across the village, Jona stopped her, putting down the fishing nets she had been making.
"Wait! Are you leaving?"
"Yeah. It's about time that we move on." Alice inwardly grimaced. She's terrible with goodbyes.
"Oh, um, er... I just... wanted to thank you!" Alice blinked, "I was worried beyond my wildest dreams that everyone'd cast me out of the village when I said I wasn't goin' to call Lleviathan anymore, but it turned out fine. It's like a dream, y'know?"
Alice nodded absentmindedly, barely listening to Jona as she rambled on. She didn't care about how Jona felt when she saw her father, or how she had wanted to stay with him.
". . .but it's hopeluss feelin' like that, isn't it? I mean, he's gone now, and I do miss him somthin' chronic, but we'll surely see each other again someday."
Alice felt her left hand start twitching, and grabbed it with her other hand. Gone...
"-I'm gonna be strong, youell see! I've got my Mam and Dad watchin' over me... and Bryson's a nice lad too." Jona blushed slightly, but Alice wasn't listening.
"...I've gotta go now. Goodbye, Jona." It was hard to keep the venom out of her voice, but Alice managed. She was painfully jealous of the girl, who was still feeling upbeat, and moving forward, despite the fact that she had no family, and lived by herself. The girl had the townsfolk to help her out if she were ever in trouble, and a boy who had sworn to take care of her. Alice left the girl behind without even so much as a second glance.
Iris watched Marine pace back and forth impatiently in amusement. It was always a treat to see Marine going back to her childhood habits that she'd always claimed to have overcome. She probably hadn't even noticed what she was doing, as usual. Iris glanced at Sheila out of the corner of her eyes, observing Sheila talking with the boat's captain, who had agreed to take the four of them to the mainland for free. Apparently, Bryson had told the captain how they had saved Jona, and he was mighty impressed.
"...What in the world is Marine doing?" The slightly raspy voice coming from behind her jolted Iris out of her thoughts (though she didn't show it), making her turn around to see Alice walking towards them, looking loads better than before.
Iris snorted, "She is being childish and impatient. Marine! Stop playing around, we are leaving."
Marine stopped her pacing, and looked over at them, swaying from the body's reluctance to stop moving. She huffed, and stomped over towards them. "Finally! Sheesh, let's get the hell out of here already!"
The three of them boarded the boat, with Sheila noticing them and joining them in the back. The captain looked over the four of them, approval radiating in his eyes (Marine made a mental note to beat him up if he tried talking to Alice).
"You four are comin' along to the mainland?" Marine nodded, and the captain gestured towards his crew to bring up the anchor, "Alright then, let's go!"
The anchor was lifted, the sails were opened, and the boat slowly made it's way out of the harbor, steadily picking up speed. The weather was favorable today, Marine noted, with not a single cloud in the sky. The waters were the calmest she had ever seen, despite the wind blowing its hardest. Somehow, it wasn't moving anything but the sails.
It's almost like something's controlling the weather for our favor... Marine hummed, not noticing the green tint that was slowly making it's way onto Alice's face. Sheila, however, did.
"Alice, are you okay?!" She hovered over the girl, worried deeply. Alice just got over her sickness, and now she's getting sick again!?
"Y-yeah... it's just that... I've never been on a boat before." Alice grimaced, nervously glancing at the water bumping against the boat. There was also the fact that Alice had never, in all her mortal cycles of living, learned how to swim. The very thought of being completely surrounded by water with no escape terrified her. She had no problems with baths, because she could easily get out of those. They were controllable, unlike oceans, rivers, lakes, or waterfalls.
All it would take is a single hole, and the boat would sink. Or the wind blows too hard and capsizes the boat. Or pirates (do they still exist these days?) could attack, and make me walk the plank to my watery grave. I was lucky Erinn saved me from that waterfall before I woke up. I never would have lived, Celestrian or not.
"Oh, it is your first time, Alice?" Iris smiled gently, "Do not worry, dear. The man knows what he is doing, and the weather is in our favor. It may be foreign to you, but this is how most mortals get around. The three of us have been on multiple boat rides before, and we are still here with you right now."
Iris could practically see the anxiety flowing from Alice, and as amusing as it was to see a being who usually got around with the help of wings (that need the wind to fly, mind you) be afraid that the wind might knock them over. She wanted so badly to laugh as hard as she felt she would, but that went against her well-learned principles and manners. She could not just laugh at a child (or what looks like a child) for being anxious about something that is a valid fear. Unless it was Marine. Then it was totally okay.
Stella, somehow, did not seem to get the message that Alice did not like boats, but it was a nice distraction. "Well, well, well! If you'd ever told me I'd be using some pathetic mortal's ship to get about the place, I woulda called you a fish-faced liar! Though, this boat gig isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. We should try to get us one of these, am I right? Well, at least we're going off to new shores this time. If we keep up a good work rate, you'll have all those fyggs gathered in no time, and I might even find where old fatguts has been hidin' as well..."
The boat slowly came to a stop, the sudden jerking almost sending Alice overboard if Marine hadn't grabbed her. The captain turned to them as his crew started to get things set up so they could dock properly.
"Well, ladies, I'm sorry to say that Slurry Quay is as far as we can take you. If youer lookin' to go sailin' all over, like, youell have to get youer hands on a boat of youer own. Word in the taverns is that there's a right beauty of a vessel down in Bloomingdale, just sitting there with no one to use her. You should try youer luck there."
Sheila waved eagerly at the captain as the four girls got off, "Thank you! We'll check it out~!"
The moment Alice's feet touched grass and soil, she collapsed onto the ground, freaking out her companions. Iris was about to reach out and pick her up, when she noticed that Alice was rubbing her face into the dirt.
"Alice, dear, please do not rub your face in dirt. It might not actually be dirt." Alice paused, and looked up at Iris with wide eyes (er, eye), the dirt coming off her face like the grainy substance it was.
"What d'ya mean? Dirt is dirt, Iris. You're weird." Alice cracked a smile, and started rolling around in the grass and such. "Sweet, sweet land! I never want to go on a boat ever again!"
The three older girls watched their charge roll around, turning their attention to a chuckling old man who was standing in front of the only building in sight.
"It's been a while since we've seen a boat from Port Llaffan! New to these parts, eh? Well, if you leave and follow this here road, " He pointed to the only road in sight, "you'll eventually get to Dourbridge. I'd wait until it's night time to leave, though, so you arrive at Dourbridge in the morning. It's dangerous for girls to be there in the night. Especially little girls." He gave Alice a meaningfull look, though it went unnoticed by the recipient.
"Is there anywhere we can rest, then?" Marine sighed, disappointed at the new obstruction they would have.
The old man gestured towards the building behind him, "You can stay at our home if you'd like. There's a bizarre right next to it."
The girls looked a little bit to their right, and saw the huge, red rug with boxes and merchandise spread out all over it. They wondered how they hadn't noticed it there beforehand. Iris wandered over, and began browsing the merchandise. She needed a new hat, and maybe a pair of boots. Port Llaffan didn't have anything she liked, and Iris had very high standards.
Marine stood there, blankly staring at Iris as she stood before Marine, smiling brightly. Sheila was trying hard not to laugh, but it was difficult. Mostly because beside her was Alice, who was laughing hysterically at Iris's hat.
"Why would you EVER buy that hat?!" Marine groaned.
"I thought it was cute." Iris grinned, basking in Marine's discomfort. She really didn't know what the problem was, though. It was a cute hat! A one of a kind hat that Iris had never seen before!
It was a hood of some kind, shaped to look like those lovely blue slimes that hung around Angel Falls (and some areas of Alltrade's island), with its mouth being the eye-hole for Iris to see out of. It just barely covered her mouth, which is probably why they couldn't see her smiling to show that she really did like it. The outside was really soft to the touch, almost slippery. It was even softer on the inside, and always cool. Iris really, really loved it.
"YOU LOOK LIKE A FREAK!"