Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Note: Well, first off, sorry for the delay. A few days turned into a few months... Anyway, I'm trying something different where I'm not posting anything except for this story. Hence the slow update as I resisted... By writing a bunch of half chapters and outlines for future stories. So, if all goes well, the next chapter should arrive before the end of the month is up! That should give me enough leeway, and who knows, maybe the next chapter will get uploaded sooner.

IIIII

"Wow, this is so cool!" Percy yelled, grabbing the bars of the boat fence and leaning over to watch the glowing water sparkle from the moonlight above as it rippled behind the boat. Smiling behind her son, Sally watched Percy, knowing in the past few hours that he'd had the time of his life exploring the ship, and while she felt a little tired, it was well worth it. Being able to spend the day with her son left her feeling more relaxed and stress-free than she had in years. An odd state of mind to be in, considering some disaster event was going to be happening soon. But it's how she was feeling, the relief very different from the constant worry or fear Sally would generally have, always thinking a monster might be waiting for Percy somewhere. But now, on the ship, it was relaxing and taking quite the load off her shoulders.

"It sure is... Hungry Percy?" Sally asked after another minute passed, with both of them watching the ocean. The last time they'd had some food was breakfast, and even that had been a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So getting some food was definitely next on the list before they did anything else. Seeing Percy nod, Sally stood up, looking away from the water and back towards the boat, a little unsure of where to go for food. They'd searched the boat, at least the top of it, walking the decks and looking at all the interesting equipment on what they now knew was a massive cruise ship. But still, the size of it was too large to explore in one day, and Sally hadn't seen a single sign for a place to eat or even a waiter.

Notice a couple passing by. Sally took a step forward, ready to ask her question, then stopped. From the looks of it, the cruise they were on had been out to sea for a while, and despite being dressed in new clothes from the closet in their cabin room. Sally could only imagine how suspicious it would be for a mother and son to be on the boat and not have eaten a single meal all this time. If she were in the couple's shoes, she'd be more than a little suspicious. Maybe even thinking they were stowaways, and if she thought of that, then no doubt others would as well.

"If it helps, madam, the kitchen on these types of ships is usually on the second floor. Of course, depending on the passenger size, every floor may have one. But I would suggest making your way downstairs."

"Good to know, thank your Butler," Sally said before grabbing Percy's hand and making their way towards the stairs. Even if the AI was wrong, which so far he hadn't been, so she doubted he was now. They didn't have a better plan or option at the moment, so following Butler's advice and heading for the lower floor was the best bet. Plus, they hadn't explored that part of the ship yet, so either way, Percy would enjoy it.

A few minutes later, and a few flights of stairs, Sally and Percy made it to the second floor and, seeing a crowd of people, followed them. It was close to midnight now, and given that the cabins were in the other direction, wherever these people were going might just have food. At least, that was the hope. All the walking they were doing was getting Sally hungrier and hungrier every minute that passed, so she could only imagine how Percy felt. The boy seemed fine at the moment, but once the excitement at being on a ship wore off, she was sure he'd feel differently.

Hearing some muffled music, Sally watched as the crowd pushed past them and pursed her lips. Having caught a glance of what was going on inside and now sure it wasn't a dining area they were heading towards. Opening the door a crack to double-check, Sally confirmed her previous conclusion. The darkened room, lights, and loud over-the-top music looked more like some dance club than a kitchen. "Sorry, Percy looks like we'll have to keep looking. Maybe the next floor down will have some food?"

"I wouldn't waste your time. The dining hall is at full capacity. They're no longer allowing anyone inside."

Snapping her head to the side, Sally saw a brunette leaning against the wall, wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a denim blue jacket looking very out of place compared to everyone else she'd seen on the boat. In fact, Sally was sure this woman was the only one she'd seen who wasn't wearing a dress, and since she wasn't, there really was no reason for Sally to have changed into the red dress she was wearing now. It was tight and uncomfortable, and she was really missing her usual outfit.

"It was the best choice at the time, madam, and plus, this way, you fit in with all the other passengers on the boat. Unlike you and Percy, this woman has a boarding pass and doesn't need to worry about looking like a stowaway."

Staying silent, partly because she knew Butler was right and partly because she didn't want to look like an escaped mental patient in front of her new acquaintance. Sally turned to the woman and began to question her. "What do you mean the dining hall is at full capacity?"

The brunette smiled a little nervously, then waved at the floor. "The new year's party down below, except for those invited, anyone else looking to attend must have gotten in before they hit full capacity. Or so I'm told, I could have been rejected because of my outfit. If you want to try your luck, then go ahead. They might let you in with that kid of yours."

Shaking her head, Sally considered the chance of being allowed in and decided against it. "No, thank you for telling us. I suppose we'll get food elsewhere."

"...If it's just food you want. I can help you get some. A friend of mine works in the kitchen."

"Really?" Sally's eyes widened in surprise. "Thank you, that would be amazing."

"No problem, us stowaways need to stick together... Oh right, the names Elena by the way." Elena flashed another smile, this one looking more confident before heading off in the direction Sally and Percy had just come from. "Come on, it's this way."

Watching as Percy left her side and began to follow Elena, Sally did the same while imagining herself giving Butler a dead stare in her mind, knowing the AI could see it. All the advice about blending in and Elena being able to wear what she was because of having a boarding pass now sounds ridiculous. The woman was a stowaway and somehow could instantly tell that they were too. A fact that was a little worrying given that their clothes were supposed to help them blend in.

"Well, madam... at least you'll now be getting some food?"

Quickening her pace, Sally ignored the AI and walked up next to Elena, wanting to find out everything she could about the boat they were on and better, as the brunette said than a fellow stowaway.

IIIII

"Now get out of here, please! The inspection team is coming!" The waiter glared before slamming the door closed in front of him.

"Well... He was... Helpful?" Sally murmured as the three stood outside the kitchen side door. The so-called friend of Elena's attitude left much to be desired, especially considering the man had been dressed as a waiter. But she was grateful all the same for his help in getting her and Percy some sandwiches. He hadn't needed to, but he did, and for that, she was more than willing to overlook what had just happened.

"Like the sandwich Percy?" Sally asked her son, watching as the boy practically devoured the ham and cheese sandwich like a ravenous wolf. Percy barely spared a moment to give her a nod before turning his attention back to his food once more.

"Wow, you both must have been hungrier than I am." Elena shook her head in amusement, her sandwich vanishing at a more moderate pace compared to Percy.

Taking a bite of her own food, Sally shrugged in response. It was true in a way since neither of them had eaten all day, and she had been getting pretty hungry. But at the same time, she was also attempting to get back some energy for when the disaster would hit. It hadn't happened in a few minutes of arrival like Butler had claimed, the AI very obviously having avoided mentioning that all evening. But that didn't mean it was completely wrong. If the disaster didn't happen today, then maybe it would tomorrow.

"Sorry to interrupt, madam, but the disaster is starting soon."

"WHAT!" Spitting out a chunk of bread, Sally coughed while ignoring the look she got from Elena. "Now? Why now?"

"I do not know, madam. But I believe it would be in your best interest to make your way back to the cabin room."

"Okay, alright." Sally breathed out, trying her best to calm down and stay focused. Now was not the time to have a meltdown. She needed to get Percy to safety. Shakily kneeling down next to her son, Sally did her best to keep her voice as level as she could, not wanting to frighten her son. "Listen, Percy, something bad's going to happen soon. I don't know what, but I need you to keep hold of my hand. Do not let go, okay. Promise me, Percy."

Eyebrows furrowing, Percy nodded his head. "I promise, mom."

Grabbing her son's hand, Sally stood ready to head back to the cabin when she noticed Elena still standing there. The woman looked confused, with no small amount of worry in her eyes. "Sally, what's going on? What's happening?"

Hesitating for the slightest moment, Sally tried to think of what she could say to convince the woman a disaster was coming but couldn't think of a plausible explanation. It wasn't as if she could tell Elena her AI told her what was about to happen, right? So, discarding any possible lies she could think of, Sally did the only thing she could. She told the truth... Some of it, that is.

"I don't know how I know. Call it a feeling or a sign from a guardian angel. But I know a disaster is about to hit this ship. I don't know what, only that it's about to happen right now!" Sally rushed out as quickly as she could, feeling as if a timer was hanging above her head and the seconds ticking down with every breath she took. "Now, if we stay here, chances are we won't live very long, so I'm getting my son back to the cabins."

"...Okay, let's go," Elena said, grabbing Percy's other hand.

"...You believe me?" Sally asked, surprised, subconsciously moving forward the moment Elena grabbed Percy's hand. Jogging down the hall at a slow enough pace that Percy could keep up without them without her carrying him.

"No." Elena shook her head. "But whatever has got you worried enough to come up with a story like that is probably trouble I can't deal with. Plus, it can't hurt following you. It's not as if I have anything else to do tonight."

Accepting the answer, Sally led the way to their cabin. The ship, fortunately, had very few people milling about the deck, allowing them to reach the cabin floor in less than a few minutes. Entering the cabin room, Sally finally let go of Percy's hand and bolted the door behind them, the tension that had built up in her body slipping away a little now that they were safe.

Taking a deep breath, Sally leaned against the door, making sure to keep her voice low as she tried to question her AI. "Butler, how lo-?"

However, before she could even finish her question, Sally felt the ship rock way more than it should be. Tilting further and further unbalancing her and making her slide to the floor, back still against the door. A quick glance at Percy showed he was clinging to the side of the bed, the heavy four wooden posts thankfully keeping it in place. Though Sally knew if the boat tilted further, that wouldn't last long.

"Dios mío..." Elena's voice sounded throughout the room. "I didn't expect-"

*SCCCRRRREEEEEEEEEEECCCHHHHHH!*

With that piercing noise, Sally felt something hit her side before she was thrown across the room, her stomach doing little flips before she slammed her head into one of the bedposts, making her vision go a little fuzzy. Feeling a small soft hand grab her arm, Sally blinked, trying to focus, and saw her son's outline. Percy looked as if he was shouting, but all Sally could hear was a high-pitched buzz around her. Ignoring whatever was being said, Sally grabbed Percy and wrapped her body around the boy, using herself as a shield as she held them against the bed frame. Not wanting to risk the chance of Percy getting flung across the room as she'd just been.

As soon as she did that, Sally felt the ship shift again, almost as if it was spinning. The dizziness from it all made her want to let go, but she didn't, holding on with all her might. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough, and Sally felt weightless, almost as if she was falling, forcing her to let go of the bedposts, unable to hold on any longer.

"PERCY!" Screaming, Sally felt Percy slide right beside her before she slammed down, hitting the ground with a thud. Her vision now worse than before, Sally forced her eyes to look around even as they burned. In a split second, seeing the bed, which should have been on the ground about to fall on top of her. Sally curled up into a ball, covering her head before she felt the supposedly soft mattress slam into her. She was only able to feel a sharp, piercing spike of pain before her vision darkened, falling into a sea of darkness.

IIIII

"Mom, mom! Mom, are you okay!"

Hearing Percy's voice, Sally groaned, feeling as if every bone in her body was aching as she tried to sit up and look at her son. Her vision darkened for a few seconds before she refocused, the action giving her a headache, but Sally tried her best to ignore it. "P-Percy... Percy, are you alright."

He looked fine except for a slight scratch on his cheek, but that didn't comfort her. Who knows what had happened after she'd blacked out. Whatever had just happened to the ship was not exactly the disaster she'd been expecting. Nor did she ever think she'd get flung across a room like that.

"I'm fine." Percy very quickly shook his head back and forth. "Elena said she went to go get you medi... Medi... Medicine."

Smiling at the way Percy struggled to say medicine, Sally tried to get up, wanting to show Percy that she was fine and in no need of any medication. But that backfired as soon as she bent over to push herself off the ground, her headache returning in full force as well as pain flaring from her back and thigh.

Looking down at herself, Sally noticed the thin piece of wood sticking out of her thigh for the first time. Her attention had been so focused on Percy that she hadn't even realized she'd been injured. Now that she knew, though, Sally felt as if the pain in her leg was growing every second. Just breathing alone was making it hurt, not to mention her back. Though her back felt more like it was bruised, probably from her getting tossed around earlier and in no way nearly as bad as her leg was feeling.

"Butler, what just happened?" Sally asked, biting her lip as the ship rocked, sending another wave of pain in her leg. The ocean was definitely the wrong place to get an injury like this.

"A large, almost oversized wave hit the ship ten minutes ago. Large enough to flip the entire boat upside down. Percy wasn't injured, and neither was Elena. But you, on the other hand, certainly took advantage of having only two luck. Madam, You were hit by a vase, thrown across the room, smashed against the ceiling during the ship's turnover, before finally having the mattress and bedframe fall on top of you."

Looking at the disaster-filled room and all the broken objects scattered about. Sally opened her mouth, then closed it a few times as her gaze settled on the bed. The frame having shattered the wooden floor from the force of the drop and, in all likelihood, the reason she had the injury she did on her thigh.

After a few more seconds, Sally found her voice. "I think I got rather lucky."

Sure she was injured, but with the way the wood was broken and the small tiny gap between the mattress and the floor where it looks like she was pulled from. Sally considered herself lucky and amazed to have not been killed. If the bedframe was only a few more inches in any other direction, it no doubt would have hit her instead of the floor. As it was, she'd just been practically crushed by a mattress and had to deal with the after-effects. The wooden spike in her leg and a minor price to pay to be alive.

Ding!

[You have gained a new skill!]

[Pain Resistance] Lvl.1

Description: While you can still feel pain, you now feel 2% less than before.

"Butler, how did I get this skill? I thought you said stats and skills were given after the event was done. We're still here on the boat."

"That is true to an extent, but in some cases, either by repetition or by finding special books, skills can be unlocked. In your case, it was repetition, with you getting hurt repeatedly in a short amount of time."

"Hold up." Sally frowned. "Wouldn't that mean I could just stab my other leg to upgrade the skill again? Or if I want a new skill like, say, playing the piano. Wouldn't I just need to play a lot to get the skill?"

"Not exactly, madam. If you stabbed your other leg, the skill wouldn't upgrade, and you'd die from blood loss. Once you gain a skill such as pain resistance, you will need to go through double, maybe even triple, the amount of pain you went through to reach the next level. As for active skills, you would need to learn how a piano is made, learn the keys, the proper form, and play a song at least a hundred times before gaining a new skill."

"So basically, I would just be learning the piano anyway. Just the same as everybody else." Sally sighed, a small part of her hoping she'd be able to somewhat cheat her way to becoming stronger quicker. It would have been pretty cool to just pick up something and learn it... Though she supposed it would probably get old after the first few times.

Hearing the door click, Sally turned to watch the door and felt no small amount of relief as she saw Elena walk inside. A small first aid kit in her arms. The woman looked a little tired, with a small bruise underneath her cheek but otherwise alright. "You okay, Elena?"

"Sally? Thank god you're all right. I rushed back as fast as I could." Elena replied, pushing her hair back and coming across the room to crouch next to them. "This was all I could find, but hopefully, it has what you need."

Watching as Elena skillfully opened the case and immediately located a syringe and bottle. Sally raised an eyebrow, surprised that the woman she'd met actually seemed to know what she was doing. "Are you a nurse?"

Chuckling, Elena grabbed a cotton ball out of the med case before replying. "I trained a little at my local clinic in hopes of being able to get passage into America... It didn't work out. Now hold still."

"...I see. Well, I'm glad you did." Sally muttered softly as she tried to ignore the needle slipping into her arm. The way Percy shuddered and refused to look an amusing distraction. The boy hated needles even more than she did. "Elena, are there any bandages that can be used for Percy's face?"

"Just a minute... There we go. Yes, there should be a few. I'll patch him up as soon as we get this wood out of your leg."

"Thank you."

With a look of concentration on her face, Elena's eyes narrowed. "Don't thank me yet. We don't have any equipment here, so the only option we have now is to pull the wood from your leg. It won't be pretty, Sally. Worst comes to worst in case of infection. When we get out of here, you might have to get your leg amputated."

"Butler?" Sally murmured, trying to mask it as a groan.

"There should be no risk of an infection. Once you get bandaged up, your regeneration will kick in. It'll be slow, but you'll still heal faster than a typical human."

"Okay, Elena, go ahe- OUCH!" Crying out at the pain shooting up her thigh, Sally squeezed her eyes tightly shut, doing her best to hold back the tears that had been surprisingly absent all this time despite the pain she'd been in... Till now, that is.

"Sorry." Elena apologized. " I'll get you fixed up as quickly as I can."

Shuddering, Sally felt a cold sweat break out on her back as she resisted shaking her leg away. Able to feel every pinch and prick of the needle as Elena stitched up her wound. Thankfully, that didn't last long as whatever drug she'd been given kicked in. Numbing the pain too far more manageable levels. After another minute passed, Sally felt a small hand fall on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she looked at Percy's worried pale face, giving the boy the best reassuring smile she could muster.

"Don't worry, Percy. Elena will have me up and walking in just a few minutes. Then we can get on out of here, kay." Sally tried to comfort her son. A small part of her briefly considered whether this would traumatize the boy or give him nightmares before pushing it out of her mind. She could worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get Percy off of this ship and to safety.

"Done," Elena said, cutting the last bandage and slapping on the last bit of tape. The dressing looked a little messily put together but still a far cry better than anything Sally could have done, that was for sure.

"Good, thank you, Elena." Sally sat up a little higher, giving the woman a slight hug before pulling away and using the wall to give herself a boost up. It hurt, which was to be expected, but Sally could deal with that for now.

"No thanks needed. You saved my life." Elena replied, giving a short glance towards the door. "Without you, I'd probably be another body in the hall."

Staying silent, Sally felt her stomach twist and nausea fill her as she realized what Elena was saying. She hadn't really thought of what they'd see when leaving this cabin. But with how bad the wave had been, the fact there were dead bodies lying about probably shouldn't have surprised her. Still didn't change the nauseous feeling she had.

"How bad?"

"...I'd consider keeping a hand over Percy's eyes when we leave. No child should see what's outside." Elena softly whispered.

Nodding, Sally leaned on her uninjured leg, running her hand through Percy's raven black hair as Elena bandaged him up. She wasn't sure how exactly they'd be able to get out of the ship, considering it was flipped, and she was pretty sure there wasn't going to be an escape hatch on the bottom. But one way or another, Sally was getting Percy off this boat and back to the safety of land. After that, well, she had no idea.

IIIII