Once we'd arrived at Porth Llaffan, we had gotten there just in time (at sunset) to see the young fisher girl preparing to do the ritual.
"Huh, what's going on here?" Carly asked with a tilted head.
"I don't know..." Pavo frowned as she then poked the asshole mayor on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but what's this about?" she asked. Bryce then turned around and looked at us with a smile on his handlebar mustache.
"Oh, youer travelers, are you? Then I'd suggest standing back, Jona's about to do the summoning," he said, us then standing back as we saw the biblically-named girl then knelt in the ankle-deep water and started to pray.
"Oh mighty Lleviathan, I beseech you, give us the bounty of the sea... bless us with youer eternal grace," Jona said, her sounding extra adorable, even though she was obviously a teenager going through puberty from her voice. And we then saw the waters ahead of us, followed by the massive whale. And after a giant tail slap, I then held my hands over my head as a giant splash of water absolutely coated all of us, along with a bunch of fish that started to flop about on the shore.
"Ick! What the flap?! I'm flappin' soaked! How about give a warning to the newcomers, eh?!" Stella complained, and rightfully so. I then looked at Jona and saw that she looked a bit troubled. She soon skulked over to her house on the eastern side of town and I looked at the others with a smile.
"I think we should go visit this pink-haired girl," I said, the others frowning at my notion. "She might have some towels, y'know? And considering a giant whale is obeying a little girl, maybe she knows something about where a Fygg might be?" I said, that making Dillon gawk.
"Ah, of course! Something has to be related to a Fygg here. If that girl was able to command a giant whale, then maybe she's got a Fygg," he said as we then went to the house and knocked on the door. Jona then answered and she looked a bit surprised at us.
"Oh? Travelers from outside of town?" she asked, me nodding at that. "Come inside, quick," she said, us doing so and seeing that she did, in fact, have towels, as well as a warm fire. "I'm shooer that you probably want an explanation as to what that was in the town just now, hmm?" Jona asked, me nodding at that.
"Kinda, mainly because we got drenched with fish," I said.
"Sorry about that... well, the story is this... during the earthquake a few days ago, my father was out at sea and he hasn't returned... I feared he may be dead, so I prayed at the shores that he'd be alright... and then, Lleviathan showed up and granted me a slurry of fish. But soon, the mayor decided to be greedy, telling me to summon Lleviathan so no one would have to fish again... I don't think it's right and I want to give him a piece of my mind... but I wanted an outside opinion first, since everyone here seems to agree with Mayor Brice... what do you think? It's not right what we're doing, is it?" she asked, that making Pavo nod.
"It most certainly is not. You should be praising the Almighty on high, not some overgrown guppy. And besides, I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to be pushed around by the town," she frowned.
"T-Thank you... it's good to know that there are some that also share my opinion... you know what? I've made up my mind. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to give it to Mayor Bryce straight, no fuffing about anymore. I'm not going to summon Lleviathan anymore. I'm sure everyone would be angry, but I don't care. I don't want to deny the advice of a Celestrian after all," Jona smiled.
"Part Celestrian. She and I are partly mortal, due to reasons that would take a long while to explain," I said as I also noted that Keira yawned and looked to be tired out.
"I think it's time for bed, Keira... do you mind if you could give us a bed here, miss? I don't want to carry Keira all the way to the Inn," Dillon smiled.
"Of course you can. By the way, my name is Jona... may I get your names?" she asked. We then introduced ourselves (minus Stella) and then, we simply got out the sleeping bags (aka, fishing nets) and had a slightly good sleep. And when we woke up the next morning, Crux and I were surprised to see that we were sleeping in a very uncomfortable place... with Stella's head resting right on our chest and her... well, her chest on our face.
"Um... Stella? Stella, get up, please? I feel awkward here," I said, her then opening her eyes and then, after seeing where she was sleeping, she immediately jolted awake.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I-I must have rolled over in my sleep!" she said in shock, the others then waking up afterwards and for Veronica to note one thing.
"Hey... where's Jona at?" she asked as we then woke up the rest of the way and left the house. We then asked around the town and we all got the same story. Jona told off Mayor Bryce and he then whisked her off to the western side of the village. And the one that was the most concerned was Bryson, the mayor's son, who led us to the gate to the west.
"Be careful, and please make sure nothing happens to Jona, please?" Bryson said as I nodded.
"We'll find out what's going on, and I promise that nothing bad will happen to Jona," I said, making a small lie. Something was definitely going to happen to Jona, unless I stopped it. Would I? I would certainly try my hardest, that's for damn sure!
After going through the gate, we arrived at the cliff after a bit of walking where we encountered some tougher monsters, those being the Knocktopus, Chimaeras, Salamarauders, and the Mudrakers. Of course, the toughest of them was the Mortoad, but after defeating one, we found all of our levels increase for each vocation and getting way tougher! We then spent our skill points wisely and we gained extra power in our weapons of choice and our original vocations. So we were pretty happy as of right now, but we still kept vigilant on our way through the caves until we finally reached Cuddiedug Cliff. And it was there that we saw that Jona was shouting angrily at the greedy mayor.
"Treasure?! I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Jona shouted angrily.
"Now now, bach, I said every once in a while, only when you feel like it. And I'll even adopt you," Bryce said as I frowned angrily.
"No! I don't want to be adopted! My father... I know he's-" Jona was about to finish before the water started to make an audible bubbling sound.
"Guys, time for a bit of action, and quick," I said, us going towards the duo just in time for the Lleviathan to jump out of the ocean and to land right in front of Jona and Bryce, both of which were spooked... before Bryce then acted like a loon and started to bow to the whale.
"Oh, mighty Lleviathan! You have answered ouer call! Please, bring up the shiny coral and treasure from under these waves," Bryce said as I then shouted loudly.
"SHUT UP! Just, shut up, you despicable excuse of a mayor!" I shouted loudly, that making the others look at me in shock and, as I expected, the giant whale roared at Bryce... before then slamming into the ground right in front of Jona, which made her fly into the air!... And just before the poor girl could be snapped up by the jaws of the depths...
"EEEP!" shouted none other than Stella as she pushed the young girl out of the way as well as herself, before Jona was then caught by me, her looking at me in shock and then at the giant whale.
"L-Lleviathan?" she asked in surprise as the voice finally spoke.
"Unhand her right this instant!" the whale said telepathically, which made Jona gasp.
"W-Wait... t-that voice..." Jona gawked as the giant whale then had a bit of a light emerge from it... which caused the ghost of whale's past to appear, that being the gruff appearance of Jona's father. "Dad..." she gawked as I let Jona down and she went closer to him.
"So you know, uh... mister whale dad... we want nothing, and I do mean it, NOTHING to do with this buffoon of a mayor, since he was using Jona in every sense of the word, causing the town to follow suit. Trust me, I hate his actions just as much as you, and I literally met the guy yesterday," I said angrily.
"You said it better than I ever could," Jona's dad said. "Jona... during the earthquake, I was thrown off the boat and in the ocean... then, out of nowhere, a glowing fruit falls next to me. Nearin' death I was, all I could think of was you as I held the fruit tight... and then, I died... only, I didn't. Next I knew, I was a giant fish swimmin' through the ocean, like. I first started to give those fish to you to let you know I was watching over you... but then they started to use you, as this wandering traveler has stated. Please, come with me, and we can leave these horrible people behind," he said, Jona looking at him with a smile as tears went down her face.
"Daddy... I'm so happy to know the truth about what happened... but I just can't do it. I want to help out the village, do my fishing all straight, no strings attached. You don't need to worry. After all, I learned everything from you," Jona said as her dad then nodded, the mayor's son then arriving and looking at her in shock.
"Jona! I'm so relieved youer okay! I've been worried right sick!... And youer Jona's dad, right?... Don't worry, I'll help her out with the fishing and stuff, mister. I'm not like the other villagers or my father, I promise," Bryson said, which made Pavo look at him in surprise.
"You can... you can see him?" Pavo asked.
"Y-Yeah, ever since those pillow feathers got in my mouth, I can see ghosts," Bryson said, that making me smile as I saw that Jona's father was starting to gain a brighter light to him.
"I promise dad, I'll do good. You don't need to worry, I'll be okay, I promise," Jona said with a smile and through the tears. And then, Jona's dad's spirit started to smile as the brightness started to increase.
"All this time, I was focused on watching o'er you... but I never realized that my little girl had turned into such a fine young woman... I can't say how proud I am of you, love..." he said as he and the whale body he had gained became enveloped in light brighter than the sun shining down on us. "Just remember... no matter what happens... I will always be watching o'er you... I love you, Jona," he said as the light finally died down and Jona then smiled afterwards... and I also noted that the mayor looked a bit flabbergasted and looked to be a bit... well...
"L-Lleviathan... Jona... Lleviathan... Jona..." He was broken. But my attention was then at the thing that bonked me on the head shortly after, it being Fygg number 2, which I then got off the ground and placed in my bag. I then looked at Jona with a smile.
"Looks like the mayor got a screw loose after that experience... should we help him out?" Keira asked.
"He doesn't deserve it, but we don't want Bryson to be without a dad... let's just take him back to town and hope he recovers, both physically, mentally, and morally," Carly said.
"Thanks, guys... Jona? You want to help out and give the town the news?" Bryson asked, Jona simply looking out to sea for a second before then nodding.
"Mm... yes... let's go back now..." she said, me then simply giving her a piece of cloth that I'd gotten from her place.
"Here, you might need this," I said, her smiling at it.
"Th-thanks... my hero," she said, me smiling as she then wiped her tears and then we went back to town using Zoom. And when we got there, we then told everyone what had happened. Some were upset, but most were understanding, and all were in agreement that the mayor's ideas of using Jona and Lleviathan for a get-rich-quick scheme was terrible and that he deserved what he got. We then decided to get Bryce to his house and he simply fell asleep the moment the covers were put over him.
"I hope he recovers so I can yell at him for doing that to Jona," Bryson said with a frown.
"He'll be fine, just make sure that he gets some rest. He'll need to rest for a good while after that stunt... maybe seek a bit of therapy as well," I said with a smile.
"Um... I hate to be the rude one... what is therapy? You mean like aromatherapy?" Jona asked, me then sighing and facepalming.
"Yep... should've known that some things would be different... ahem... little known fact, but I, the human part of Crux, am from a different reality, same with Carly here. And in this reality, we have these doctors who listen to peoples' problems and help them get over things such as the thousand-yard-stare, mental illness, and any traumatic experience they might have had... in short, mister Bryce will need someone to listen to his problems in private and keep it secret from everyone else, try to help him discover why he does what he does and to try and better himself," I explained, that making the seafaring kids look at each other and then at me with a smile.
"I uh... I think I can try to manage that. He's my dad, and I am a bit more mature than most kids my age," Bryson said, me smiling at that.
"If you were able to make it to that cliff and avoid all the monsters on the way, I believe it," Keira smirked at him.
"Yeah..." I said as I then looked at the pillow that Bryson had and found, of course, a few feathers that had some kind of special properties to them. And they were from Crux's wings.
"Hard to believe that some of my wing feathers made it all the way here to this place," Crux said in my head.
"And uh... I wanted to thank you, Drake and Crux, for helping me out back there... I was scared when Llevia... er... dad... when he tried to eat me... though now that I think about it, he probably planned to let me out away from the village..." Jona said as Carly then smiled.
"I only just now got it... your name and your story of getting eaten by a whale... it's a lot like a story in our world about a prophet who ran away from his god, and then got trapped in a storm at sea. Shortly after, the crew threw him overboard and he got eaten by a whale. The prophet then prayed for three days for a second chance, and his god commanded the whale to spit the prophet on the shore and giving him a second chance... even though he didn't even get the chance to shower beforehand," Carly smirked.
"I see... and what was the prophet's name?" Veronica asked.
"You really want to know?" I asked, everyone nodding. "Jonah... with an H at the end," I said, that making Pavo smack her face along with Jona giggling at me.
"You're heroic and funny, heehee," she giggled. "But in all seriousness, what was his name?" she asked, me frowning and shaking my head.
"That was his name. Jonah with an h at the end," Carly said, that making the girl realize it wasn't a joke.
"Oh... you were being serious?... That's very weird..." she frowned.
"Regardless, we now have 2 Fyggs out of 7, so where could we go to search for more as of now?" Dillon asked.
"Well, maybe I could help you go to the southeastern continent? It's a big continent, there might be more of those shiny fruits there that could be endangering others," Jona said with a smile.
"Sounds good to me. We should probably get going, then," I smirked.
"Before we go... I wanted to know something, mister Drake," Jona said as she then looked at me with a big smile... and I wondered what she was going to ask. "Could I please... hug you? I want to show my appreciation," she said, me smiling at the awkwardness, but deciding it okay.
"Okay, a hug's fine," I smiled, her then rushing to me and hugging me tight... and where her hands were? "Um... maybe not on my butt? I'm already married," I said, Jona then looking me in the eyes with a smile.
"You do know that polygamy is okay, right? And so is being in a sexual relationship with girls 11 and up?" she asked, me then feeling even more awkward.
"W-Well... I'm not really into this... but how about, after you take us to the southeastern continent, I can cast Zoom and we can go visit my wife in Stornway? Ask her if she'd be okay with it?" I asked, Jona giggling at me.
"Thank you so much!" Jona smiled at me happily as she then skipped outside and I then facepalmed after she was out of view.
"What have I gotten myself into?..." I frowned.
"Hey, don't feel bad, cousin. Remember, this timeline and world is vastly different than our world... it's like medieval times, as opposed to the age of cars and planes," Carly smiled at me.
"What are those things?" Stella asked.
"How about I tell you all on the way there?" I asked, them nodding at me. It was off to Slurry Quay, then a quick visit to Stornway, and then a possible polygamy marriage between myself, a princess, and a girl no older than 12... I was going to have to explain a lot to my friends back home if I managed to get back. Either that, or lie about everything...