A long, guttural groan sounded across the deck. On the starboard side of the ship, a tall man sat hunched over the edge, his face a sickly shade of green. Next to him sat a blonde woman, awkwardly rubbing his back.

"Maria... heeeelp meeee..."

Dimaria's nose wrinkled, tightening her grip on the brown paper bag. It wouldn't do for one of Alvarez's ships to be covered in vomit, after all - and certainly not for one of the Spriggan Twelve to be seen in such a state.

"How much longer...?"

"An hour and a half," she replied.

Serena groaned, falling backwards off of the bench and flopping around on the deck like a fish.

Dimaria rolled her eyes. Even in such a sickly state, Serena still managed to be the most annoying of the Twelve.

"Can't you make time go faster?"

"My magic doesn't work that way!"

Serena groaned again, rolling onto his stomach. "I pray for the sweet release of death!"

Dimaria turned around to face the sea - anything was better than watching Serena at that moment. "Just another eighty-nine minutes and forty-seven seconds... forty-six... forty-five..."

"God! Make it end!"

Dimaria focused on a vaguely dagger-shaped cloud. "Can't you just go lie down in the cabins?"

"Alas, I cannot!" Serena gave a weak flop to emphasize his words. "For my legs are too flimsy with sickness - "

She peered at him over her shoulder. "I'm not carrying you. You'll vomit on me."

"I won't!" He all but threw himself at her feet. "I promise!"

Dimaria stared down at him, baffled. Serena never behaved this humbly - quite the opposite. Such a display from him was something she thought she'd never see.

He was never going to live this down.

"Fine, fine. I'll carry you." She stood up and stretched.

"My saviour!"

Serena hung limply in Dimaria's arms as she carried him to the cabins and unceremoniously tossed him onto the rock-hard mattress. He was out like a light, snoring loudly almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

She rolled her eyes again. "Even when you're asleep, you're loud as ever..."

Heading back up to the top deck and slumping back onto the bench, she closed her eyes to simply enjoy the sound of the waves.

Things were surprisingly peaceful now. It almost felt... wrong.

She opened one eye and glanced around. "...Guess I should be grateful for this peace... god knows it won't last long..."

She leaned back and let herself relax.