Myling lifts her head, looking at the younger Mages from between her fingers. "U-Um, so, are you…okay now?" she asks awkwardly. "I have a message from Danate a-and I was waiting until you fo-four were all together again." Myling says. She cries when everyone turns to look at her simultaneously.
"A message from Danate?" Mana asks, thinking back to the reward she and Ken won from the hide and seek game.
Veiss blinks. "Oh, right. I haven't seen him around lately." he says.
Akane frowns, thinking. "Didn't Genesis take him, Rina, and that blind Silver Sabelum guy to Fiore?"
"Fiore?" Emile gasps. "Danate's probably taking Rina to see her mom. And Koz has that mission…"
"R-Right." Myling nods. "Um. He said it was an emergency s-so he passed off the responsibility of your reward to me." she says to Mana. "While you were…absent, I told K-Ken the same thing a-and since he was getting me instead of Danate, he decided to use me as a dress up doll instead of taking the S-Class mission." Myling shudders, thinking back on how long that day ended up being.
Episode 29 (Part 2): A Mother's Love
Some time earlier...
"So, uh, you're not mad at us for being late?" Koz speaks up.
Genesis shakes his head. "I understand that people can get tied up in other affairs so it doesn't bother me too much." he says. "My First Mate on the other hand..." he trails off, shivering. "she's pissed."
Koz yawns, putting his hands on the back of his head as he follows Genesis. "Well she's gonna get the hell over it." he says. "It wasn't my fault."
Genesis laughs and shakes his head. "You won't be saying that when you meet her." he says.
Kyza just looks between the two young men warily, rethinking the plan of seeing Koz off.
The three of them approach the port, Kyza amazed at the size of all the ships and everything going on and Koz overwhelmed by all the blurry silhouettes colliding together. He discreetly grabs onto the strap of Kyza's satchel so he doesn't lose him.
"Wow," Kyza says in awe. "The ship that I snuck onto to escape Guiltina is nothing compared to these." he says. "Which one is yours?" he asks, turning to Genesis.
The young man puffs his chest out proudly as he leads the boys towards the end of the port. "This one." he says, presenting the ship to them. "The Revivescere, my pride and joy." Genesis says with a happy sigh, gazing at his ship.
The Revivescere is a large galleon ship made purely of ash black wood. It has its name emblazoned proudly on the hull and, of course, it has a phoenix as its figurehead. The Phoenix Fire guild emblem is front and center on the sheet of the mainsail.
"So cool." Kyza says. Then he pouts, "I wish I could go."
Koz shrugs. "It's nice, I guess. Can't see much." he says. "And I told you you're welcome to come as long as you don't bother me." Koz says to Kyza.
Kyza stomps his foot and crosses his arms. "I know! But I promised Lennox I wouldn't because she'd worry." he says. "She called earlier, she's waiting for me in Veneto." he sighs. "Are you good from here?"
"Ye-" Koz stops himself. "wait no, you have to come and tell this girl that it wasn't my fault we were late-"
"You're good? Alright, buh-bye Koz! Have a safe trip and be safe coming back!" Kyza says, bows, and starts running away.
"Kyza!"
"Byeee!"
And Kyza is gone.
Koz rolls his eyes. "Damn brat." he mutters and turns to Genesis. "So, where's your crew? I don't hear anything coming from your ship."
"Oh I don't have a crew."
"...Huh?"
"It's just me and my little sister - ah, my First Mate." Genesis corrects himself. "I mean, I guess you could say she's my only crew mem-"
"GENNY IS THAT THE LITTLE PISSANT WHO MADE ME WAIT FOR HIS BITCH ASS TO GET HERE?"
Koz freezes. His little sister talks like that?
Genesis smiles as he leads Koz onto his ship. "Yeah, Carson, he's right-"
Koz vaguely sees a blurry, pink haired figure stomping towards him. He ignores her tirade of insults and tries to focus on her features the closer she gets. 'Carson' is practically in his face when Koz is able to mostly distinguish her features.
Carson has the same pink hair and blue eyes as Genesis but is much paler; like she doesn't get the same amount of sun as him. She's also dressed similarly to her brother: a white shirt (although hers actually fits her) adorned with a loose red ribbon tie tucked into black trousers, a wide red linen sash tied around her waist, and brown leather boots on her feet.
"Well!?" Carson snaps angrily. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Koz looks down at Carson - she's a head shorter than him and almost two heads shorter than Genesis. That coupled with the baby fat Koz can barely make out on her cheeks: "I'm blind and even I can see that you're too fucking young to have a potty mouth like that." Koz says.
Carson's eye twitches.
Unbeknownst to Koz, the sky just above The Revivescere begins to get darker. Genesis just sighs and lets the inevitable happen. Trying to stop Carson will only get him caught in the crossfire.
Carson grits her teeth. "You little-"
"Why is everything darker than usual?" Koz asks, interrupting her. Suddenly, white noise starts ringing in Koz's ears and then, for the first time in his life, he can see everything perfectly clearly: Carson's annoyed face, Genesis' exasperated face, and the giant imposing ship that is The Revivescere.
Damn. If only Kyza were still here. Koz thinks dazedly to himself.
And then everything goes black.
When Koz comes to, his vision is back to being horribly blurry and he has a horrible headache - probably from falling onto the hardwood of the ship and whatever Genesis' damn sister presumably did to him. Koz can make out the sky and his companions' faces that are swirling above him but his hearing is still recovering from whatever Carson did.
"Koz...okay...hear…!?" Genesis' muffled voice calls.
"...fine...barely hurt…" comes Carson's unbothered voice.
Koz glares at them both. "Right now I'm wishing I were deaf too." he snaps. "My hearing is off, just leave me alone." he says, shoving them to the side and pushing himself up off the ground. He turns to Carson, "What the hell was that?" he asks.
"Punishment for telling me what the fuck to do." Carson says, sticking her tongue out at him.
Koz just scoffs.
Genesis sighs for the upteenth time today and slaps the back of his sister's head. "Sorry about her," he says. "She didn't actually do that on purpose, despite what she wants you to believe. Carson just can't control her Magic quite well yet and when she's angry...well, that happens." Genesis explains.
Carson crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, fine, whatever. I'm sorry you were in the way and got struck by lightning."
Koz looks to Genesis for an explanation.
"Weather Magic."
"Ah."
Carson begrudgingly introduces herself to Koz properly, to which he does the same, and locks herself in the Captain's Quarters.
Genesis begins to show Koz around the ship (moreso telling him where everything is so he can make his way around) and tells him how the ship works.
Genesis is the 'Captain' for two reasons: he owns the ship and he pilots and works every aspect of the ship via telekinesis. He charts their routes and looks up information about their target destination with his Archive Magic.
His First Mate and younger sister, Carson, keeps the weather under control so every trip is smooth sailing. It's easier for her to control her Magic when she's by herself or just with her brother so she tends to keep away from their passengers whenever possible - meaning she's inside the Captain's Quarters the majority of each trip. Carson isn't an official member of Phoenix Fire but being that she is the sister of one of their S-Class Mages and someone who sails under their emblem, Nadine and the others unofficially recognize her as one.
When asked about how he made S-Class without any aggressive Magic, Genesis tells Koz that reaching S-Class doesn't necessarily mean that you're all brawn (which Koz takes with a grain of salt). Yes he can use his Archive screens aggressively and defensively, but Genesis actually succeeded in his S-Class Exam by outsmarting his opponents. He uploaded faulty information into their minds and in the end his fellow examinees brought their defeat upon themselves. The mastery Genesis has over his telekinesis also played a part in his win.
"So," Genesis says as he leads Koz back above deck. "Tell me about the mission," he says. "All your letter said was that you need passage to Fiore."
Koz grumbles and pulls the request sheet out of one of his many pockets. "Some Mages want to look around Fiore with a fresh set of eyes-" Koz stops, glaring at Genesis when he feels the 'you're blind how the hell are you gonna do that' look on him. "I can manage just fine. All I need you to do is take me to their guild." he says and continues, "they want to look around together and if we don't find what they're looking for there, they want me to take them back to Valiance with me to look there."
"Hm." Genesis says as he reads the request over. "Kind of rude of you to refer to their sister as a 'what'." he mumbles.
"Whatever."
Genesis stays quiet for a moment.
"What?" Koz says. "You can't do it or something?"
"It's not that." he says. "I just - with Revenant Beasts increasing activity lately, I've met quite a few people who have lost their siblings in one way or another." Genesis explains. "Two are in Phoenix Fire, actually." he says and pauses again. "...But there's no way they got separated this far." Genesis says, shaking his head. "Nevermind." he says.
"So how long's this thing gonna take?" Koz asks.
Genesis hums and cracks his fingers. He activates his Archive, a flat golden keyboard appearing in front of him along with several matching golden screens. Genesis starts typing away and mumbling to himself. "From this port to...Hargeon is the closest one…about this many nautical miles...with the speed of The Revivescere..." Genesis nods and turns to Koz. "About three or four days if everything goes smoothly."
"Smoothly?"
"Yeah, like no pirate attacks and stuff."
Koz groans.
Genesis gasps suddenly, "Oh, and by the way, we'll be heading to Margaret Town before heading to…Magnolia, was it?" he says. "I already sent a message ahead of time so Lamia Scale is expecting us."
"Lamia Scale?" Koz frowns. "Why?"
"Rina - one of my guildmates - her mother is an S-Class Mage there! Her and her not-boyfriend are going to stay there while I go to drop you off in Magnolia." Genesis explains. "Once I leave you there, I'm going back for them and we'll be on our way back to Valiance until you call me to take you back."
"Goddess help me, I didn't know your bumfuck guildmates were on the ship." Koz mumbles and heads below deck, retreating to the room Genesis showed him earlier. "Should've asked Kyza to stay." he grumbles. "Could've kept those guys company so I didn't have to..." Koz sighs and throws himself on his bed for the next few days.
Hopefully those Fairy Tail Mages aren't as annoying as everyone else he seems to meet.
Below deck, in Rina's room…
Rina and Danate sneeze simultaneously, causing them both to frown.
"Is someone talking crap about us?" Rina frowns.
Danate sniffles. "I hope it's that and not a cold…" he says and shivers. "Imagine getting seasick while having a cold."
"You'll be fine, Danate."
"...Mmph. Whatever the case, I can't wait to be back on solid ground again."
Rina smiles giddily, "I can't wait to see my mom again." she says happily. "And I can't wait to introduce you to her!"
"Right…" Danate says and frowns again. "You're not…staying, are you?" he asks. "In Fiore?"
Rina frowns in confusion. "No? Why would I stay?" she asks. "Sure my mom lives there but my life is back in Valiance with you." Rina says. Her confusion only grows when Danate's face steadily turns redder and redder by the second. "Dan-?" she starts and cuts herself off when she realizes what she just said. "I-I mean, w-with you and everyone - everyone else!"
"Right." Danate repeats, still flustered. "That's…good. I would - we would miss you. A lot." he says.
"R-Right." Rina nods, her cheeks coloring to match his.
"Right."
"Right."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm gonna go take a nap in my room." Danate says and makes a break for the door.
"Me too." Rina says and throws herself on her bed. "Goodnight!"
"G-Goodnight!"
Above deck in the Captain's Quarters…
Carson frowns, her eye twitching. "I sense heterosexual activity on my boat." she scowls.
"This is my boat-" Genesis starts but Carson quickly interrupts him.
"TELL THEM TO KEEP THEIR HANDS TO THEMSELVES ON MY BOAT, GENNY! I'M THE ONE WHO HAS TO WASH THOSE SHEETS!"
PF x AH x SS
A/N another update coming within the month
they were supposed to be posted consecutively on the same day but i was threatened by emile's father