About an hour later, the ship began to slow down. They had reached their destination. The water was significantly rougher this far out into the ocean. The waves constantly slapped at the hull, reaching up multiple feet before descending back to water level. As a result, the boat was constantly rocking. Nothing horrible, but it was definitely disorienting. The wind roared and whipped at everybody's hair, like a monster trying it's best to bring them off their feet.
Lucy stumbled upright, holding the railing to drag herself to the prow. Loke attempted to help her, but Lucy pushed him away. However, she accepted Virgo's help. Lucy clutched onto Virgo's arm as the ship hit a particularly harsh swell.
Once she got within a few feet radius of Erza, Lucy called out to her. "Erza! Are we stopping here?"
Erza struggled to hear Lucy over the wind. She took a few steps closer, cupping a hand over an ear to signal her temporary inability to hear. Lucy repeated herself, significantly louder.
"Yeah, we are. This should be around where most of the attacks occurred." Erza yelled, gesturing at an array of navigational tools, both magical and paper, the only one that Lucy could recognize being a compass.
Lucy nodded. She began to give out orders. "Virgo, drop the anchor. Have Loke set up some rigging with Fati. Me and Erza and going to set up the fake fishing nets." Virgo dropped into a quarter bow before moving into the cabin to do her job. On the way, she alerted Loke to what he should be doing. He helped Fati, who was tying knots to assorted cleats.
Erza and Lucy steadily crept to the stern, unfurling one of multiple large nets that were rolled and fastened to the railing. Erza summoned two knives, one for herself and one for Lucy. They sawed at some of the net's ropes, making the holes bigger. Since this was just a decoy, they didn't want to actually trap fish in the net. The holes would allow most sea creatures to pass through. Whatever was attacking the ships would see the nets and assume this one was here to stay. At least, they hoped.
As the two were finishing tying the net and tossing it overboard, Lucy spotted something entirely unexpected.
"Happy?" She yelled in shock, squinting at the sky. Nobody heard her, considering that the wind had picked up even more, absolutely roaring past their ears and making it hard to keep their eyes open for more than a few seconds.
Happy was struggling to keep in the air during these conditions. Lucy watched him descend onto the deck, looking extremely relieved. Happy stayed on the ground for a moment, recovering. Lucy tapped Erza's shoulder, getting her attention. She turned and yelled something inaudible in response to Happy, too. Erza bent down to pick him up, then held him close to her ear.
"Gray and Natsu … sent me to find … ice room … didn't hear …" Happy shouted, trying to explain his presence. Even this close, Erza could not hear all of his words, and had to guess at his meaning. She got most of it, except "ice room". What did that mean?
Searching for an explanation would likely be more trouble than it was worth, so Erza just passed Happy to Lucy for him to repeat himself. Watching her expression, Erza figured that Lucy understood a similar amount of his wind-broken sentences. Lucy nodded to show her understanding, then placed Happy back onto the sun-bleached wood that made up the deck.
They both had to drop one more net before they could go below deck. Erza signaled for Happy to wait by holding her hands out, palms flat and fingers outstretched, and making a quick patting motion in the air. Happy nodded, sitting because of the difficulty to stand with the wind.
Lucy almost ran to the second net, eager to get into the cabin and hear exactly why Happy was here. Erza joined her not long after. They quickly got to work, unrolling and slicing open parts of the net.
About halfway through their work, Lucy felt cool pricks on her face, among the gusts of wind. She stilled for a moment, a question on her mind. Sadly, she was correct. It took only another minute for the spits of water, barely indistinguishable from the regular sea spray, to turn into full raindrops plunking onto her head. In another minute, it was an entire torrent. The world very suddenly looked to have a gray tint, the rain creating a soft mist that obscured vision to only a few feet. At the moment, neither of the girls could see or hear, and once the cold numbed their skin, they wouldn't be able to feel.
Fati, who had gone into the cabin with Loke not too long ago, came up upon hearing the pattering of rain. She remained under partial shelter, trying her damndest to yell at them to come down. Loke came up behind her. He wasn't as reluctant to get into the storm as her. He readied himself, then sprinted out to collect everyone.
Even with his non-human eyes, Loke struggled to see. All he could smell and hear was the rain. He ran aimlessly at first before stumbling to the ground from a mix of the slippery floor, wind, and a harsh swell of the ship. It gave him an idea: the girls would likely be holding onto something. He crawled to the railing, clenching the wood like a lifeline. Loke pulled himself against the elements, his voice breaking by how loudly he was yelling their names.
Minutes, and a lot of effort, later, Loke saw an irregular smudge in the mist. His hands ached as he tried to speed up, tried to reach whatever he saw. The smudge solidified, turning into a silhouette of a… cat?
By this point, Happy had noticed him. He tried to call out, but to no avail. The wind and rain ripped his words right out of his throat. Loke reached him moments later, shocked that Happy was here. Loke gathered him into his arms.
"Do you know … girls …?" Loke tried his hardest to yell over the noise. Happy shook his head. When the rain started, he got to the railing as quickly as possible, holding on for dear life. He had no clue where the girls were. Loke grimaced. He really didn't know what to do. He looked around, trying as hard as possible to see something, anything. But… nothing. His magical bond told him that Lucy was definitely alive, at least.
Loke knew he was going to feel horrible about this later, but it was all he could do. He turned back, creeping along the railing with Happy clutching at his clothes.
When Loke got back to the entrance to the cabin, his entire body felt near frozen. He stumbled down the steps, letting the door swing wildly behind him. The second he reached the first floor, he collapsed, letting Happy drop. He panted for a few moments before rubbing out his numb muscles. He could go back to the celestial world to recover, but he didn't want to abandon Lucy even more. He had to at least be here, in the human realm.
The cabin began as a large, open room with little furnishings, basically acting as storage space. Since this ship wasn't being used for any commercial purposes, nothing was being kept in the storage. Some empty barrels rolled around and slammed into the inner walls of the hull. Magical lanterns were the only source of light. Otherwise, there were covered holes in the walls for oars, if they're ever needed. The oars themselves were hung onto the wall using hooks.
The stairs continued, down towards the bottom floor. This is where the rooms were. Most of the rooms were empty, except for the few in and near the captain's quarters. They were filled with only a few beds, chairs, and food for this mission.
Loke wanted to sit before he traversed down the lower levels. He saw Fati sitting on the steps, too. She came over to help him, looking extremely worried. Inside, the wind and rain could definitely still be heard, but it was more muted.
"Did–Did the girls come in while I was out?" Loke asked, begging with his eyes for Fati to say 'yes'. Instead, she looked sad.
"No. They didn't. They're still out there."
Loke bit the inside of his cheek in worry. "I couldn't find them. I know Lucy's not dead, but… otherwise, I don't know."
"You found Happy, though!" She insisted, trying to bring up the mood, even slightly. She paused for a second. "Wait, why is Happy here?"
Happy looked up at the mention of his name. "Gray sent me out to find you guys. I saw the ship and followed it, but then the wind brought me off course. I didn't think I could turn back safely, so I tried my hardest to get to the boat."
Loke patted the cat's back, knowing how much energy he must have expended in such a short amount of time. "Head down to the rooms, Happy. Dry off and relax." Loke said softly. He caught Happy's expression. "They'll be okay, I promise."
Happy began to argue, but stopped when Loke gave him a pleading look. His breath caught in his throat. Without another word, he plodded sadly down the steps, disappearing into the darkness at the bottom of the stairs. Loke and Fati looked at each other, unsure what to do.
"I… I guess I'll go out to look for them, just for a minute. I need to check for damage, anyway." Fati offered, wringing her hands.
"You don't have to. They're strong, they'll be fine." Loke assured her.
"No, I need to." She said, firmly. "I've seen these storms do terrible things to people— and boats." Fati pulled out the hair tie that held her braids into its bun. She quickly ran downstairs, coming back up with her hair in a bonnet, a long, water-resistant jacket, and heavy duty boots with good traction.
"Wish me luck." Fati said solemnly, closing the door behind her.
"Good luck." Loke whispered too late, suddenly feeling very alone.
Fati nearly fell the second she left the cabin. The storm, somehow, had worsened. She promised herself that she would go back if she saw lightning.
Slowly, steadily, she crept to the first mast. She remembered tying a rescue line here. Fati felt around, semi-blind, until she felt the rough, thick rope. She fed it through her hands until reaching the frayed end. Fati tied it around her midsection, using some intricate sailor's knot to make sure she won't fall overboard and also that she can easily find her way back.
She felt significantly more confident with her rope harness. Fati allowed herself to be slightly less careful, knowing that, at least, a mistake won't cost her life. She yelled as loudly as she could, screaming Erza and Lucy's names. If her throat didn't vibrate and burn with the force of her voice, Fati wouldn't even know that she was speaking.
The ship hit a wave, rocking the boat so far onto its port side that Fati was thrown until her rope went taut. She dug her nails into the wood, desperately trying to get upright again. Debris collected between her fingers and nails, so much that it and the strain split one of her nails from bed to tip. Fati vaguely felt pain in that finger.
The ship righted itself momentarily until its momentum made it tilt again, this time on its starboard side. Fati was thrown again, screaming in raw fear, before her rope saved her. This cycle continued a few more times, each tilt having less and less power. Finally, and thank god for it, Fati felt stable enough to keep moving forward. Her legs shook, her entire body ached at the force it took to stop herself from careening too far each time. She couldn't stop, though. Not yet.
She reached the next mast, grabbing onto it with tears in her eyes. She found the rope that she had attached to this one, tying it to herself before removing the previous one. Despite everything, Fati pushed forward.
She was close to the helm when a horrifying roar shook the water. In mere seconds, the storm cleared. Fati looked up, seeing clearly for the first time in almost fifteen minutes. A genuinely terrified scream tore out of her throat at what she saw.
A deep gray cloud, entirely unnatural, was collected in the sky. It looked dense, as if some great hand had descended from the heavens to mash the clouds together into a ball. Fati stared up in fearful wonder at this phenomenon.
Moments later, the cloud imploded, spreading across the sky as if its intense density became too much for it. The rain returned, so harsh and extreme that it felt like needles were pressing into Fati's face. She continued to stare upwards. Great, horrifying eyes in the sky met hers. She wailed in absolute terror, dropping her head, completely unable to keep up the stare. Her shoulders shook, her limbs screamed at her to run, escape, but her brain wouldn't allow her to move.
The clouds collected themselves again. Fati did not lift her head this time, unable to move from her curled up position.
"FATI!" The scream shattered the blank fog that had taken over Fati's mind. She looked up, seeing Lucy and Erza, both bloodied.
"RUN! FATI, RUN!" They cried, near begging. Whatever was above them didn't matter; they didn't want Fati to get hurt. Fati disregarded their wishes. She crawled forward, tears now openly slipping down her face, moving towards her sign of hope.
"NO!" A massive boom thundered across the entire sky, shaking their bodies to their core. Fati felt the hair on her arms raise. The explosion happened moments later, rain coming down so hard that it felt like a power wash. A sob escaped Fati's lips as she kept crawling, pulling herself forward with sheer force of will.
She felt something soft. She sobbed more as she realized that it was Lucy. They desperately clutched onto each other, both for warmth and comfort.
The sky brought itself together once again. They watched as horrifying eyes, sharp and focused like those of a jaguar, looked down at them. This time, the clouds did not explode apart.
An animal-like roar shook the earth, creating waves and knocking the boat around. The clouds began to take a different shape, turning from a dense sphere to that of a hell beast, similar to a dog or wolf. The figure dropped, standing on the water beside the ship. It opened its jaw, exposing shadowy teeth, ready to clamp onto their boat.
Erza was the first to react. She re-equipped into new armor, jumping as best she could to get to the beast. Once in range, she slashed at its face, cutting it diagonally from brow to jaw.
The monster's shrill howl of pain hurt their ears. Erza fell back, colliding with the deck. She slid a few feet before rolling into a kneeling position.
"It can be hurt!" She yelled at the pair. "Throw everything you got at it!"
Lucy got up, pulling out Aquarius' key. She reasoned that, at this point, they've dealt with so many giant waves that another one wouldn't hurt too much. She stuck the tip of the key into one of the many puddles that had formed on the deck, begging that Aquarius would see the importance of the mission, just this one time.
She appeared in a flash of light, holding her trademark jug and mean expression. She seemed to want to say something mean, too, (likely about the puddle) until she saw what they were up against.
Uncharacteristically, Aquarius wanted to help. "What do I need to do?"
Lucy repeated Erza's words. "Throw everything you have at it."
Aquarius nodded, rolling her shoulders delicately before swinging her jug back. A giant tidal wave crashed into the creature, pushing it down into the water. It resurfaced not long after, but it was seemingly sputtering and trying to tread water.
"Lucy!" Erza called. "Keep it down. I'm gonna jump on it to deliver the finishing blow."
Lucy thought that was a very dangerous plan, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be Erza. She nodded.
Erza jumped off of the railing, soaring through the air. The beast attempted to swat at her with large, clawed paws, but was too late. It took out a chunk of the railing instead, right where Erza had launched from.
She landed near the back of its neck sliding down until she reached where the neck connected to its back. She hoisted her sword, ready to kill the monster. Erza had not looked at her surroundings close enough. A man was here, crouched on the top of the beast's head. He dropped, bringing Erza off her balance. She shouted in shock.
The man spoke, but not to Erza. "Kill this woman!" He declared.
The beast seemingly reacted to that, curling its head around to reach its back. It attempted to snap at Erza, but couldn't reach her very well, considering she was on its neck.
"Are you controlling this beast?" Erza demanded, pointing her sword at the man.
"When will you idiots learn?" He spat, angrily. "Keep your ships out of this goddamn water!"
Erza lunged, not gracing him with a response. The man went down easily, getting pinned immediately. He apparently wasn't trained very well. However, he yelled commands to his beast once again. It shook its back, causing Erza to have to let go of the man and hang onto the creature for dear life. She grunted, struggling to stay on. You don't need to know how to fight if you have a monster on your side, apparently.
Another one of Aquarius' tidal waves crashed into the beast, causing it to sink again. The water roared past both of them. Erza clenched even harder around the monster, having to fight the current.
The second the water receded, Erza jumped at the chance. She grabbed the man's head, shoving her gauntleted hand into his mouth. It looked painful, but it was effective. She knocked him in the head as hard as she could. He passed out, likely going to have a horrid concussion when he woke.
Erza felt the pride of victory for but a mere moment. The beast began to thrash wildly, knocking gallons of water into the air with every move. Erza tried to hold on, but it was impossible while also holding onto the man. She slid down the creature's side, landing hard into the water with a sickening crack. Erza floated for a moment before she began to sink.
She sputtered as water began to cover her face. Treading water was proving to be a challenge with both her armor and a human's worth of dead weight. She re-equipped out of her armor and into regular clothes, hoping that she could just float and wait out the beast's tantrum.
The creature had begun to form a magic circle along its entire body. The text was flaring purple, shining like a horrific beacon. The beast thrashed and wailed more, as if in pain. The circle's glow increased until it was near blinding. Erza was forced to avert her eyes.
A boom and crackle sounded, rippling the water and grating at her eardrums. Inexplicable heat warmed Erza's face. When Erza looked back at the beast, she saw nothing but empty ocean— not even a raincloud.
She didn't have the time, or energy, to question it.
Erza paddled as best as she could to get close to the boat. She screamed for help. Fati was ready with a rope, dropping it down until it slapped against the surface of the water. Erza grabbed it, her arm burning with the effort it took to pull her, and the man, up even just a little bit.
Fati saw her struggling. She started to walk backwards, rope in hand, slowly pulling Erza up to the dock. Lucy and Aquarius joined to help in her efforts. Every heave brought Erza slightly closer. Inch by inch, they brought her to the deck.
She collapsed onto the ship, dropping the man and panting heavily. She groaned, rolling onto her back. Lucy dropped to the floor beside her, also completely exhausted.
"What just happened?" She whispered, not really expecting an answer.
"I don't know." Erza mumbled, her eyes closed and eyebrows pinched.
"At least we finished the mission." Fati said optimistically, allowing her legs to buckle and bring her to the ground. Everyone laughed softly, breathily, agreeing with her. They remained like this, tired and on the floor, for a long time.