Chapter II: Into The Thick Mist...
(Queue '1 Hour of HP Lovecraft Music')
"Grand Templar Euchre!"
Euchre took his gaze from the ephemeral sea to the subordinate kneeling at his feet.
"What is it, Reick?"
"I am here to give you the quartermaster's report-"
Reick extended a tied parchment of paper to Euchre.
"-And to relay a message from the cartographer!"
Euchre took the paper, unfolding it and reading over the report.
"And? What is the message from Miss Sorelia?"
"She tells me that the Seer's daughter has said something concerning enough, that we may have to alter our course..."
"What?"
Euchre took his eyes up from the paper in concern. He'd spent many hours going through various future possibilities for this voyage with the Seer and his daughter before it was charted. He'd thought they would have been able to avoid any and all potential obstacles.
And considering the Seer's track record of foresight... He was shocked that there was a sudden change happening now.
"Well, did he say why?"
Reick's face went slack for a few moments as he stared over the railing; Then it became taut with fear. He pointed with a shaking finger over the ship's railing.
"Th-That... is apparently... the cause..."
Euchre's head swiveled- He noticed the silhouette of a storm to the south, which was rapidly growing and thickening as he stared at it- almost as if it were creating its own mist and spewing it over the waves...
"What the hell is that?"
"The Storm of Eyes."
Euchre was startled for a moment, as he heard a familiar voice- He looked back down to see that the young man kneeling before him was, in fact, not Reick- but Sirus.
"I seriously dislike when you do that, Edmund. You will lose my trust before long."
Sirus sighed, dusting his knees off as he stood up.
"Don't be so churlish, Euchre." He said dismissively. Euchre looked back out over the waves, feeling a pang of panic arise in his chest as he noticed the storm seemingly having doubled in the time he had looked away.
"Can you explain what that is, exactly?"
Sirus leaned against the railing casually, staring out towards the storm with an absent-minded look in his eyes.
"Eh, it's something about being able to see into different worlds- something along those lines."
"Huh?!"
Sirus couldn't help but crack a grin. It wasn't often he got the mild-mannered Euchre to express surprise.
"Yeah. But, according to the Seer, last time this thing showed up was like, centuries ago. So... we don't exactly know what's inside."
Euchre bit his lip in anticipation. They were almost past the point of no return; He could see the creeping tendrils of the storm begin to pool around the area of their ship. Was this the way to go?
"Yeah, it probably is." Sirus replied, much to Euchre's shock.
"How-"
"You had that look on your face. I've seen it plenty of times before."
Sirus glanced back towards the storm for a moment.
"Trust me when I say, I wouldn't be signing up for this willingly. But the Seer said this would actually help us in the long-run."
Euchre's eyes furrowed in confusion.
"What? How?"
Sirus raised his hands in a gesture of-
"How would I know?" He asked rhetorically. "But, we are well-prepared for whatever comes. So, let's try and see if we can benefit from this."
Although Euchre was rife with hesitation, he decided to cull his worries for now, his unease growing as the ship began to slowly become engulfed by the swirling mist and thick fog-
"What the hell?!"
"Are those... eyes?!"
"We are sailing into the devil's mouth!"
As the mist fell over the ship, the vessel became noisy with the fearful whispers and outbursts of fright that came from the mouths of the crew; Euchre felt as if his nerves were on edge the deeper they went into the storm.
"Wow..."
Euchre turned to hear Sirus mutter something with incredulity, a disturbing grin plastered on his face.
"This is the first time I've felt fear in such a long time... I can't wait to see what's in store..."
It was not an understatement to say that Euchre was more than a little disturbed and terrified by Sirus' mutterings. He stared back into the depths of this seemingly-endless abyss...
Trying to find the edges of this thick fog...
"Ho! The waves are beginning to grow, Captain!"
Crewmates began to scurry around the ship as the mast and sides of it were suddenly assailed by large and powerful waves, which seemed to come all at once without warning;
CRACK!
The sky dimmed to that of a maelstrom; Crackles of lightning were the only respite of light in this swirling, chaotic darkness-
As the minutes carried on, the winds picked up with such a ferocity that crew members had to hold onto something hammered down as they moved across the ship-
"This is a doomed trip! Why have we forsaken our lives to this folly?!"
Euchre could hear the outcries of fear from a few of the crew members- and it greatly unsettled the rest.
"QUIET DOWN, YOU SPINELESS SLUG!"
And the Quartermaster made sure to quell such fears.
Finally, just as the crew felt as if the ship were going to be torn apart-
The winds stopped.
The waves grew complacent.
The storm overhead dissipated back into the black mist.
The crew was left recovering from the assault; The hull was rife with dents and leaks; The floorboards were cracked and pilfered with gashes; The masts were on the verge of breaking in two.
As the crewmates scrambled to fix the damages, the two Grand Templars at the top of the deck looked around. The mist was still thick and swirling with grey-black colors, but the violent waves and storm had seemingly left-
GREETINGS, WORLD HOPPERS.
Euchre heard a voice coming from all directions- Echoing through the mist-
I INVITE YOU TO TAKE A GLIMPSE INTO ANOTHER WORLD...
In that moment, Euchre felt as if his entire sense of being were being warped- He was hardly able to make sense of the process his mind and body were going through- The mist closed around him, enveloping his body... Slowly... slowly... slowly...
COME, AND REMEDY THE DISEASE THAT PLAGUES MY WORLD...