Chapter 6: Tantrums and Seasickness

Sayako Nightbringer


I am so stupid.

I sat up in my bed, gripping my pillow tightly. We'd only been on the ship about a couple days, and I was the only one who hadn't been able to sleep both nights. Not sleeping was going to wipe me out eventually, but I figured that it was better than the dreams my mind would have come up with.

Leon had spent the last couple of days sparring with Stahn, trying to improve the blond's skills. Rutee kept saying it was pointless, that a country boy like him wouldn't remember, which always ended up turning into a vocal argument between the three.

I hadn't seen Phillia and Mary much, but that's because I wasn't really into exploring the ship. Leon seemed to be avoiding me too, but it's not like he had a reason to say anything to me. I sighed, burying my face in my pillow.

Boy I wish I could get some sleep...

"Erica."

My head snapped up at the voice, not having heard the door open. I smiled when I saw Leon, but that faded quickly when I spotted the serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, watching him shut the door behind him. His cape was missing, as was Chaltier, so I looked down at my – still working – watch to see the time.

"It's four in the morning, what's up?" I asked, looking back up at him. His eyes narrowed, pulling his look into a light glare which made me flinch.

"Leon...?"

"Exactly how much do you know?" he asked harshly, slightly scaring me. I was really bad at reading people, but just from knowing his character somewhat, I think I knew why he was worried about my knowledge. Thank god I was good at lying, because I'd need it right now.

"I don't know what's going to happen when we retrieve the Eye of Atamoni, if that's what you're worried about." Crap, I hadn't meant to sound that... harsh? Cold? I have no idea.

Leon watched me for a moment, not really seeming to believe me. I somehow found the strength to keep my face neutral, which is usually impossible for me. If anyone else was staring at me, I'd bust up laughing. I can't help it, I laugh when I'm being stared at.

Without another word, Leon turned and left my room, shutting the door quietly. I slumped into my pillow with a weak laugh.

"I thought I was in trouble there for a moment... He's probably going to be more careful of me now... Man..."

I got up and pulled one of the smaller blankets around my shoulders before heading up onto the deck. The fresh air was nice, but it was freaking cold.

"Remind me not to go on boat trips when I get home..." I muttered, leaning my arms on the side of the boat, just watching the ocean.

I shook my head and sat down, putting my back against the wood and wrapping the blanket around me better. Before it could reach my mind what I was doing, my eyes drooped closed and I passed out.

-x-

My back hurt really bad when I woke up, which made me whimper a little in pain and try to straighten myself up enough to pop my back. Once my back was popped, I looked around the ship from where I was sitting.

Crew members were bustling about the ship, and it was bright daylight out, meaning I'd slept a while. I yawned and stretched, finally allowing my mind to wake up.

"Erica-san?"

I looked up, frozen in half-stretch with my arms still in the air. Phillia stood there with a quizzical look on her face which made me laugh nervously and put my arms down.

"Yeah? Sorry, just kinda woke up."

She nodded, waiting for me to get to my feet before speaking. "Back at the cathedral... what was Leon-san talking to you about?" she asked timidly. I stared at her, clutching the thin blanket in my arms out of surprise.

I truthfully had no idea how to answer that. I hadn't even realized that the others had been paying attention.

"I was telling her not to be a nuisance. She may be the enemy's secret weapon in their eyes, but here she's just a normal girl. So I was making sure she understood to not get in our way" Leon spoke up, standing a little off to the side. I'd jumped a little when he had spoken at first, not expecting him to come to my rescue. I mean... wasn't he mad at me or something for possibly knowing too much?

Phillia nodded. "Thank you Leon-san. Come on," she said to me, pulling me to the other side of the ship and out of Leon's hearing range.

"Is there something else you wanted?" I asked, feeling nervous again. She shrugged a little, shaking her head.

"No. I just felt like talking to you. Besides, I didn't want you to feel like you've got nothing to do here like I did at first," she explained, smiling at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're... not suspicious of me?"

Phillia giggled at this. "The only two who are suspicious of you is Leon-san and Rutee-san. Stahn-san's following their lead because he doesn't want to seem like he doesn't know what he's doing."

This time I laughed. "Probably doesn't want his ego crushed again by the two biggest egos here," I added, throwing us into a small giggle-fit.

"What's this about ego's?"

We both turned around to see Mary standing there. She was grinning at us, probably because she'd heard. I grinned back.

"So, you two don't think I'm here to ruin everything?"

Mary laughed. "No, we never thought that. Rutee doesn't really want a chance that her reward might be taken away. It's one of the reasons she wanted to bring you along, especially since the bad guys wanted you so much it seemed. She'll come around."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "That just leaves Leon. And I've already got him mad at me."

Mary and Phillia looked at each other, probably completely confused at my words.

"Why don't you try talking to him?" Mary suggested. "I mean, it couldn't go too wrong, could it?"

I looked at her like she'd grown another head. "Did I just hear you correctly? Try and explain things to the most stubborn and least trusting guy on this ship? Besides the fact that he worries about stupid things..." I grumbled.

"Like what?" Phillia asked. I shook my head.

"I can't really explain. I don't really understand it myself. As it is, he won't tell me why he's mad," I replied, folding my arms and looking over my shoulder at the ocean.

It was true, in any other circumstance, I wouldn't know why Leon was so worried. He's not exactly one to voice his problems or feeling to people either.

I looked at my feet, lost in thought. Truthfully, I was scared to bring it up, the real reason why he was worried about how much I knew. Right now, I didn't want to hear anything about certain things.

"I wonder if he misses Marian-san."

My heart jumped into my throat at the mention of that name. I bit my lip to calm down then looked up, fighting to keep my face neutral.

"Who's that, Phillia?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't sound shaky.

"Right, you weren't here when we met her. She's a maid at Hugo's mansion," Mary replied. "She seemed to know Leon really well, and I think she's seen a lighter side of Leon from how close they seemed. I wouldn't be surprised if he's ever smiled around her."

I couldn't help it, I had to look away from them. Half of me wanted to know Marian, cause I was sure she was the type to be friends with everybody. The other half...

The other half wanted to stay as far from her as possible.

"Erica-san?" Phillia asked, trying to look at my face. I turned away from her, which brought a confused sound from her.

"Sorry, but I need some fresh air..." I mumbled, rushing away from them.

Mary and Phillia stood there, the orange haired woman getting a thoughtful look on her face.

"But we're already outside..."

I stood at the back of the ship, gasping a little. It sucked to know I had no stamina to speak of, but this ship was also huge. My hands gripped the wood while my head hung so my hair fell over my shoulders, hiding my face.

It had surprised me, for them to bring Marian up of all things. My chest tightened the more I thought about it. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"I need to pull myself together... Where the heck did my self-control go?" I half-yelled to the ocean, gripping the wood tighter.

Leon... He cared about what would happen to Marian if I knew about what would happen. It's why I had lied. If he knew that I knew what would happen later on, then I'd have absolutely no chance to become friends with him.

It's not just friendship... my mind corrected me. I laughed bitterly, lowering myself to sit on my knees.

But that's where it has to stay. It's not something I can EVER tell him.

"Are you alright?" a voice spoke from behind me suddenly.

"AH!" I yelped, turning around quickly and jumping to my feet. Stahn straightened up with a surprised look on his face.

"Erica? What were you doing back here?"

I laughed nervously, my heart in my throat from being so startled. "Ah... um... I..." I silently cursed my inability to speak. Especially the fact I had no excuse for why I was back here.

"Maybe she was getting away from the crowd?" I heard Dymlos offer to Stahn. He thought for a moment.

"Getting away from everybody?" he asked me, making it seem like Dymlos wasn't even there. In a normal situation, I would have laughed, but they didn't know I could hear them.

"...Yeah... What about you?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Phillia and Mary were worried about you when you ran off and asked me to find you."

I blinked, startled again. "They... were worried?"

Stahn nodded. "They told me that you looked upset when they mentioned Marian-san."

I flinched, feeling ice run down my spine. I looked away from him, sure that my face looked dark.

"Oh~ This is interesting..." Dymlos said, sounding amused. I twitched, feeling angry all of the sudden.

I looked at Stahn with a glare, which made him twitch a little. Suddenly, I didn't care about them knowing that I could hear, I just wanted him to stop analyzing my emotions.

"And if it is? I won't let you make whatever you want of what you think is going on in my head, Swordian."

Stahn's eyes widened, his hand instantly going to his sword in a protective fashion.

"Y-you... Can hear him?"

I didn't respond, instead glaring at the sword on his hip. After a moment, a transparent blue haired man appeared next to Stahn, who I then switched my glare to.

Dymlos crossed his arms, watching me carefully.

"When did you begin to hear us?" he asked me directly, not even trying to speak through Stahn now.

"Since I first saw you guys. I heard Phillia's sword first."

"Erica!" Chaltier called out as he and Leon ran up. I only glanced at them, still irritated at Dymlos.

Leon looked at me then at Dymlos, a look of surprise crossing his face briefly. Stahn looked at Chaltier with an equally surprised look.

"You know she can hear you?" he asked, making Chaltier flinch.

"Ah... Um..." the silver haired man stuttered, not sure what to say.

"We found out by accident," Leon cut in, looking at me. He seemed surprised at my dark expression, but didn't ask about it.

"Why were you hiding it?" Stahn asked me, turning his gaze away from Leon.

I shrugged, suddenly really calm. "I didn't think you guys needed to know. Just keep this from Rutee and Phillia and their respective Swordians. I don't want you guys making a big fuss about it."

"Don't you want to try and find out why you can hear us?" Dymlos asked, confused. I shrugged.

"I don't really care why. Now can you four please leave me alone?" I snapped, glaring at them. Chaltier flinched slightly.

"Erica..." he mumbled, probably not sure how to handle me right now. I looked away from them, my conscience catching up with me and making me feel bad about yelling at them.

"...Come on, Stahn. Let's let her get some space to herself," I heard Leon say.

"But...!"

"Leave it."

Stahn looked at me once more before following Leon back to the other side of the ship. I stood there until I couldn't hear them before I slumped against the wood of the ship with a shaky laugh.

"I wanted to be more natural and calm about this... but I'm acting like a brat... Dang it!" I yelled, slamming the side of my fist into the wood against my back. I slumped down into a sitting position and put one hand against my face.

"Heh... If I told anyone about this back home, I wonder if they'd think I was the one at fault? I'm just making the others uncomfortable and making them worry about me for no reason."

"Erica...?"

My head snapped up at Chaltier's voice, seeing the sword on the short crate beside me. I pulled him down and just stared at him, surprised.

"Chaltier... why are you.. here?"

"Bo-chan left me here, letting me comfort you, maybe? Seeing as you seemed upset," he mumbled, sounding a little confused himself at Leon's actions.

I laughed weakly. "I highly doubt that, Chaltier."

"What did Dymlos say? He can be a little mean sometimes, but he means well..."

I shook my head and just smiled a little. "It was my fault for overreacting. He was just watching my reactions a little too closely for my liking. Though, running away from Phillia and Mary wasn't a smart move either."

"Why'd you run from them? Did they say something mean?"

"No, it's not that. Just... they were talking about stuff I didn't like hearing."

"Oh... Well... I won't pry, but if you want to talk to anyone I can listen. Bo-chan is a little stubborn, but you can talk to him too, considering he knows about where you come from originally" Chaltier said. I smiled and hugged the sword in my arms, earning a surprised yelp from him.

"Thanks... Ah!" I yelped, looking up.

"What? What is it?" Chaltier asked, startled. I giggled a little as a memory of a certain problem returned to my mind.

"We just might want to go check on Leon."

"Huh? Why? Ah...! You can't mean..."

I nodded, getting to my feet. "I have a feeling he will need our help," I told him, walking off to go find Leon.

I spotted everyone else on deck, but I couldn't see Leon anywhere. Walking over to Mary, I tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh? Erica! You feeling better?" she asked. I nodded.

"Hey, have you seen Leon anywhere? I want to give his sword back to him."

"You have his sword? Odd... Um... I think he said something about going to his cabin and to not disturb him."

I nodded. "Thanks." I turned and walked to the door that would lead me blow deck. "That sounds like his problem has already shown itself..." I mumbled, giggling slightly as I tried to find Leon's room.

"It's this one." Chaltier pointed out to me, stooping at a door down the hall. I lifted one hand and knocked at the door, earning a grumble in return.

"What? I told you guys not to bug- Erica?" Leon said as he opened to door. I studied his face, silently noting how pale he looked.

"I figured."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Figured what?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're seasick."

If Leon were a cat, I'm sure his fur would have stood on end with the dark look he gave me. He pulled me inside and shut the door before going to his bed and sitting down to calm his nerves.

"I should have known that you'd know about this, but it still irks me. Either way, did Chal help?"

I blinked. "Huh...?"

Leon glared at a random spot in the wall across the room. "You looked upset over whatever you and the idiot had been talking about. Since you seemed to take a liking to Chal, I figured he'd be able to cheer you up a little."

I stared at him, almost not quite believing my ears. He left Chaltier with me because he was concerned? I smiled a little, letting a small laugh escape without meaning to.

He looked up at me with a glare. "What are you laughing about?" he grumbled, just causing me to laugh more. I just shook my head.

"It's nothing, just relieved."

"About what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That you don't seem to hate me from possibly knowing too much..." I mumbled, suddenly extremely self-conscious. Leon sighed in aggravation.

"I'm irritated with you, yes. But I don't know where that thought would have taken a wrong turn in your head to make you think I hated you because of that. I'm not shallow-minded you know."

I waved my arms in front of me, panicked. "I didn't mean that! Um... I'm just saying that I'm glad that we can still talk and... um..."

Leon sighed and shook his head a little, but he winced then raised a hand to his head a moment after. I watched him, a little worried.

"You alright?" I asked quietly, not wanting to aggravate any headache he might have.

"No... Just don't feel well. The sooner we get there the better. Do you mind letting me get some sleep? I just need to rest a bit before trying to deal with the idiots."

I giggled a little while he laid down and then nodded. "Yeah, I'll let you sleep. You get better, kay?" I told him semi-sternly, which he just raised an eyebrow to.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out," he mumbled, sounding exhausted. I smiled and set Chaltier on the desk in the room before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind me.

Truthfully, if I wouldn't have looked absolutely stupid, I would have whooped for joy. He didn't hate me! I should have known better that he wouldn't hate someone for something as simple as knowing too much, but with how tense it had been, I wasn't surprised that my mind instantly jumped to that conclusion before I could really think about it.

I glanced back at the door behind me then giggled, walking down the hallway and whistling to myself. For once since I arrived, I felt that everything would be okay. Felt that for at least a little while, I could put my worries out of my head and focus on getting to know the group I would be spending time with. Which would be really odd concerning that Rutee was more worried about how I'd affect her chances for more Gald than she was worried about how I might screw this all up.

I laughed to myself. I'm really going to need to learn how to at least protect myself. Maybe I'll ask Mary to teach me. Leon teaching me would be too awkward and Stahn goes mainly by instinct I believe...

Boy, was I looking forward to being on land again. Watching the ocean is great and all, but it has its limits.


Sayako: Gawd, I keep giving Leon too much screen time... I promise that everyone will get more screen time as this story goes on! And also... I have a request of everyone. I can see that a lot of people are reading this, and I like that, but can a little more people review? It doesn't help to know people are reading this. It would be nice to hear your thoughts, even if you're just saying "good job" or something stupid like that. I'd rather if you were unique in your reviews, but not everyone can give "detailed" reviews. Believe me, I can't either. :)

Look forward to the next installment of Dreams vs. Reality!

I don't own Tales of Destiny. But you guys know this by now, so I'll stop saying it every chapter. :D