I love all the poor english these people speak.
Mel hates it. xD
When Iris and Sheila returned, there was much scolding all around. For Alice, it was because she had wasted money and ran off. Marine had been stupid and had allowed Alice to slip away in the first place. Sheila had volunteered the group to go to a stranger's house without consent of the other three, and Iris had brought up getting non-fish food, which made them leave town for hours. After that was settled, the four of them made their way down to Jona's, because Sheila had already told Jona they'd be there, and it'd be rude to not show up (words of Iris).
Before they left, though, Marine handed Sheila a bundle of clothes. Sheila unwrapped it, and stared at the red and yellow robe that was tied together at the top, and had little gold stars outlining the outfit. On top of that was a pair of blue shorts with knee-length socks, and...
"M-Marine!" Sheila squeaked in embarrassment. "W-What am I supposed to do with these?!"
"You wear them." Marine snickered, and placed the cat ears on top of Sheila's head. After that, she forced Sheila to go get changed into her new outfit. Iris stood beside Marine, looking at her with suspicion.
"...Marine, what are you up to?"
"What? Me? I haven't done anything!"
"...Hmmm." Iris glared at her for a few minutes, and turned her head to the side when Sheila came back to them. Alice and Marine broke into a fit of giggles on the side.
"Y-You look adorable, Sheila!" Marine managed to speak between giggles. Alice wasn't able to, so she just gave Sheila a thumbs up.
Sheila hung her head, somewhat embarrassed by her outfit. Iris covered her face and walked away briskly towards Jona's house, ignoring the three of them.
When the four of them arrived at Jona's, who lived in a small cabin with a fire roaring INSIDE of the cabin, there were numerous fish rolling on a stick, being roasted for eating. Alice grimaced at the sight of fish. Guess I won't be eating dinner. Not that I even need food in the first place...
As the four other girls ate merrily, Alice gazed deeply into the fire, entranced by how the flames leapt out at her. Around her, the 'older' girls discussed things.
"So, youer all travelers?" Jona smiled at her guests, making idle chitchat. "I mean, youer not from the island, are you?"
Marine waved a hand nonchalantly, "No, no. We came here from Stornway. Alice there is from... Angel Falls." And then promptly started to laugh for seemingly no reason, almost choking on her fish.
"...Is she okay?" Jona looked worriedly at Marine, hoping that there wouldn't be a death in her cabin tonight.
Iris pushed Marine out of her seat, "Yes, yes. Do not worry, Miss Jona, Marine will be fine. Now, what was it that you wished to ask us?"
"Oh, yes! I'm ever so glad you folk came along. I've been waitin' for someone who ain't from this island to come along. It's... a matter of morals-"
"Jona! You in, dab?" A voice came from the outside, cutting off Jona's train of thought. She looked towards the door, frowning slightly. A man with braided black hair came inside (without knocking, mind you), and looked at the group of them in surprise. Alice blinked at the distraction, blurry spots dancing across her vision.
"O-Oh! I didn't know you had comp'ny..." He raised an eyebrow at Marine, who had passed out on the floor, but ignored her otherwise, since nobody seemed to be worried. "Er, I've not ever seen youer faces around here. Huh. Anyhow... Jona, Mayor Bryce wants a word with you. You'd best come along now, dab."
With that, Jona was dragged out of the cabin without another word. Alice frowned at the forced removal of their host, and hopped off her seat, making her way towards the door.
"Alice? Where are you going?" Sheila blinked at Alice passed by her.
"I'm going to get Jona. She didn't look too good. Besides, she had a question on morals, didn't she? Nobody has better morals than me!" Sheila shrugged, allowing Alice to leave, and turned back to Iris.
"Guess its just you'n'me, Iris!" Iris stared blankly at Sheila's beaming face.
Alice, please come back soon. Or may Marine come back to life sometime in the future. Maybe we should bury her.
Alice walked along the beach, and spotted a ghost of a nice, young lady who was wearing similar clothes to the dress Alice had rejected earlier, along with a long, red veil that dancers wear to flutter in the breeze. The lady turned around to see Alice staring at her, and smiled.
"Oh, can you see me? Wonderful... listen, can you do something for me, child? You see, the townsfolk are all wrong... that thing they're summoning isn't my dear Lleviathan at all! That pooer Jona... she's bein' used by somethin'. Bein' controlled, like. Would you mind looking out for her? Youer the only person I can ask, seein' as I appear to have kicked the bucket. Somethin' bad's brewin', you hear? Be careful, child."
Alice took the words in stride, and continued on her way to where she assumed the mayor's house was (mortal logic: biggest house is for the most important person). Alice slipped inside, only to see the very man from before, along with a large, bulkier man who was wearing some kind of circular hat. Luckily, they seemed to be playing a game of poker, so they were distracted for the moment.
Alice made her way around them, and trotted down a corridor, halting outside an open door when she heard a voice boom. "Jona, it's been a tidy old while now since Dylan went missin' in that last storm. I'm sorry for you deep within my heart, bach, I truly am, but you have to realize that it's hopeless to go on believin' he's alive. He's not goin' to come back, Jona."
Alice peeked into the room to see an old guy, presumably the mayor, on one side of a table with a younger kid beside him (his son, Alice assumed), the boy seeming to be just a year or two younger than Jona. On the other side of the table, of course, was Jona, her head hanging low.
"...And that's why I've decided I'll afto adopt you afterall." The son turned to his father, seeming to be surprised.
"W-What?!" The boy's mind wheeled through a train of thought, and finally came upon the decision that this is a good thing. "Th-That's fantastic, isn't it, Jona? You don't have to be all alone now!"
The mayor nodded, "You and my young Bryson here get on alright, and I've always thought of you as my own daughter, anyway. You've been brave on youer own for long enough, bach. Now's the time to let go and move forward."
Jona looked up from her stance of shame, and looked defiantly at the man. "...Thank you, Mayor. I-I'll be shooer to give it some thought... but, erm... since I'm here, there's somethin' I was hopin' to talk to you about..."
"Oh? What is it, bach?"
"...It's just... I've been thinkin'... and I decided that I shouldn't summon Lleviathan anymore."
The mayor flipped out at this, "Wh-But-! Jona!"
"I-It's just that I don't feel like this is right, livin' like this. Dependin' on Lleviathan to bring us our fish. So, I-"
"Don't start spoutin' nonsense like that! Have you gone daft, Jona?! No one in the village wants to hear this! Brazen! Traitorous, this is! And anyway, what else have you got to offer Port Llaffan? I don't see any other way you could help out here."
"Well... I might not have anything right now, but I could learn...!" The mayor knocked that aside.
"Never mind, I think that enough has been said for now. You must be tired, bach. Take youerself home, and have a good rest, alright? We'll talk more tomorrow."
Jona slowly looked up at the mayor, whose eyes seemed to be glazed over in greed. She sighed, and exited the room, bumping right into Alice. Jona glanced down at her in surprise.
"Oh, it's you! Alice, right?... I suppose you overheard all that chatter, didn't you? Well, no matter. It's probably better that you did. Youer coming back with me to my place so we can finish our chat, aren't you?"
Alice smiled, and took Jona by the hand, leading her back to her place. All the while, Alice's thoughts couldn't help but swerve elsewhere.
"With this, we'll become father and daughter. I'll be able to teach you all sorts of things."
"Dis is easy! A little of dis and a little of dat, and 'da three o' us will be together fo'ever! 'Till the day w'part, 'da three o' us will go through 'da thickest o' thin! Wat'dya say, Alice?" Alice saw the overly large grin that normally adorned her face, and felt her face heat up.
"Y-yeah...!"