Sola twisted his sword in his hand, waiting for one of the chasers to make the first move. The dragon like creatures snarled at the pair, their white eyes glowing slightly in the darkness of the night. While they had soft features, their claws and fangs were dangerously sharp, and Sola had to step back as the first of them leapt at him, its wings extended and its claws out.
The fighter yelped as he wasn’t able to redirect the strike, and the chaser's claws grazed his arm. In response Zero swung forward, striking the pseudo dragon in the shoulder. Though he made a solid hit, the creature managed to soften the blow somehow, as if it were made from the clouds it hid in. The creature wailed as it was flung away from them, the rest of the flock being riled by the sound. As soon as the first was scared away, two more jumped into its place with a chorus of frenzied shrieks. Zero stood his ground and held up his bracers to give Sola a chance to recover. The chaser that attacked him snarled in frustration as its claws pinged off his hard exterior. With a delighted wheeze Zero laughed at it, swinging up sharply and nailing it under the chin.
Beside him Sola was quick to regather his bearings. The scratch he had stung, but it was shallow and wouldn't interfere with his own attack. Seeing Zero was distracting one of the two closest to them, Sola artfully swung his sword at the second chaser; slicing through the thin leathery material of its wing. A thin pale blood oozed out, and it hissed at Sola as it backed out of his weapon's range. The remaining four chasers hesitated to join in on the fray, they were ambush predators and it was hard for them to adjust when the prey started fighting back.
“Not bad!” Sola called jovially as Zero swung at the one he had just wounded. It barely avoided the swing, but was enough to drive it further away from them. “Gotta admit, ain’t never seen somebody just punch one of these suckers, it was so satisfying!”
“I am glad you found it amusing, because it was odd for me,” Zero responded. “It felt like I was punching a marshmallow. A very large one.”
“Oh fun!” Sola exclaimed as another chaser tried to bite his shoulder. Its fangs stuck on the pauldron, and he grabbed it by the horns to try to yank it off. “I’ve fought them a few times, they have this thing they do where they, uh, they kinda-” He struggled to think of the right words while he tussled with the one trying to bite his neck.
“Do you need assistance with that?” Zero asked as he swung at another one. His attack went wide, and with a snarl the chaser bit into his arm. He heard a tooth crack, oh that had to hurt.
“They’re kinda translucent, no thats not the right word-” Sola started, completely ignoring Zero’s offer to help him. ((“Transparent? No wait, that’s not right either. Zenith why are you like this?”)) “Ugh, they’re just, they're not solid! They’re part cloud, so it cushions the blow of non magic weapons.”
“What perfect enemies for two of the people on this ship who do not have magic,” Zero sighed.
"You just watched me pull Tempest out of a tattoo, my sword is as magic as it gets!" Sola shouted indignantly. As if to prove his point he turned and carved through the shoulder blade of the closest chaser. It howled in pain as it's wing went limp and blood splattered across the deck. The blood was quickly diluted by the rain water, draining down the sloped deck and off the side. Sola flicked the blade to his left hand, and raised it, preparing to finish off the wounded chaser in front of him. Instead, he was knocked back as another of the many chasers took its place. The creature swung a surprisingly solid tail at him, and lost his footing on the wet boards. It was enough of a distraction to knock him flat, and Sola gasped as it leapt onto his chest and drove the air from his lungs.
Sola tried to kick out, but his leg was pinned awkwardly by sharp talons. A thump to his left let him know that Zero was occupied and would not going to be coming to his aid any time soon. He had just enough time to think about how sharp the chaser’s fangs were when a shot rang out over the din of the storm. The cloud chaser on top of him went limp and slumped over lifelessly.
“Could you please try to keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep,” Aka said calmly as they emerged from the stair well. Sola let out a soft grunt as he shoved the body off of him, taking a moment to make sure his arm wasn't still bleeding. Once he was sure it had stopped he looked up at his savior. The faun flicked their ear as rain drops started to dampen their fur, clearly annoyed to be getting wet. However Sola was more focused on the smoking pistol they had in their raised hand, which hissed as the rain hit the heated barrel. He had never seen a weapon like that before, had Aka made it themselves?
“I’m so sorry,” Sola replied jovially as he sat up. “I told Zero to keep it down, but his guests are getting a bit rowdy!”
“I did no such thing!” Zero apparently didn't understand sarcasm. Sola would have to work with it on that.
Sola pushed himself back to his feet, preparing to give Aka further instruction when he was cut off by Captain Keizeron slamming his door to his sleeping quarters open.THe captain narrowed his eyes as he quickly assessed the situation at hand. With a deft flick of his wrist, he traced a rune in the air, a trail of purple light following his finger tip. The chaser that had been trying to bite Zero started to glow with an intense purple light for just a moment before it was violently ejected from the deck. It flew through the air, unable to right itself and crashed into a tree in the distance with a loud howl.
“I didn't think you were responsible for this,” Aka informed Zero reassuringly.
“Please focus on the task at hand,” Keizeron ordered. He stepped out into the rain, drawing a sword from a scabbard hastily put on in the dark. Another of the two chasers started to encircle him, snarling.
Before either could attack, Willow poked her head out from below deck and nervously looked over at the captain. “Uh, Annie Mea wants to know if she can have five more minutes,” she called as she pulled herself into the rain. The cleric had on a silken scarf around her hair which she quickly took off to prevent it from being damaged by the rain.
“For Aria’s sake,” Keize cursed as he slashed at the foe in front of him. The chaser snarled as the seemingly non magic weapon cut through it.
Willow carefully picked her way across the deck, avoiding the three remaining cloud chasers that weren’t currently engaged in combat. She nearly slipped as she reached Sola’s side, and looked nervously at the blood on his shirt. “Are you alright?” Willow asked, blinking rain water out of her eyes.
Another crash of thunder made the deck rattle as Sola gently took his hand from his wound. “Eh, I’ve been better, I’ve had worse,” He shrugged, making a waving motion with his hand.
Willow narrowed her eyes at him. “Hold still,” she commanded.She kept one hand on her chest, touching the crest of Vothos that was engraved in her armor and with the other hand she traced a rune in the air over him. A slow green glow emanated over the injured bicep, and Sola marveled at the feeling. Most healers used light magic, as it was the most prevalent kind. Clerics who used earth magic were a rarity, and much fewer of them could be found on the air ships Sola had spent half of his life on. The sensation was surprisingly different, while not as warm it felt more comfortable. As Willow pulled her hand away Sola noticed a thin white line where the injury had been moments before.
“Sorry,” Willow winced. “I’m not good at getting rid of the scars yet. It’s kinda tricky-”
"That's fine." Sola flexed his arm, everything seemed to be in working order. “What’s one more?”
Now that the injury had been taken care of Sola assessed the situation on hand. Of the initial seven chasers that had attacked the ship, only five were- one of the two chasers encircling Keiz let out a dying screech as the captain thrust his blade through it’s chest- only four were still standing. Once the cloud chasers realized they were outnumbered they would flee. That was if the chance even arose; given how annoyed Aka and Keiz looked Sola doubted they would be able to get away.
One of the chasers leapt towards Aka, its claws outstretched, but was intercepted by Zero, punching down hard on its head. There was a loud snapping noise as the impact of the horn cracked the gauntlet he was using. Zero recoiled as if he had been hurt, shaking his hand out.
The chaser growled as it tried to get back to it’s feet, and Aka and Zero readied themselves for another attack. Before either party could move a bubble emerged from the wood beneath the dragon with a tiny pop. The chaser’s eyes went wide as the bubble floated past it as if it forgot the task at hand. While it was distracted, a second much larger bubble formed from the wood deck. It barely noticed as suddenly it was engulfed. It’s cries became muffled as it tried to pop the bubble, only to find the material was too slippery for it’s claws to pierce.
Across the deck the remaining chasers were also consumed by large bubbles, whining as they began to float above the deck much to the crews bewilderment. Even the two fallen chasers were picked up and began bouncing along. With an exaggerated yawn, Mea stepped onto the deck, stretching her arms out.
“Sorry I’m late, did I miss anything?” Annie asked, her hair tentacles writhing in the rainwater. They almost looked happy, but Sola didn’t know many aquans and couldn’t say for sure whether their hair could show emotion.
He glanced over to the captain who’s face was wavering between annoyance and admiration over the enchanted bubbles. Sola found himself impressed with the bubbles as well, the chasers were struggling against their confinements showing just how strong they were. No matter how they scratched or thrashed they were unable to pop the walls of their confinements.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Mea warned as Sola reached forward to poke one of the bubbles. “I can make them impenetrable from the inside, but the outside? Not so much. If you touch one of those you’re going to let them out again.”
“So what do we do with them now?” Willow asked curiously.
“Don’t know, didn’t really think this far,” Mea shrugged. Over the pouring rain Keiz could be heard sighing loudly. “Normally they just kinda float away and I have escaped by time they pop. But the rain is keeping them from moving around too much and keeping them at ground level. Deck level? Anyway, does anyone have any wind magic? But not like, strong wind magic. It has to be kinda gentle to bump them along without popping them.” The aquan woman talked animatedly, moving her hands around as she bumbled on to the point where Sola lost track of what she was even saying.
Aka snapped their fingers as Mea finished rambling. “I have something that should work,” they said, and without explaining themselves they darted below deck. After a few moments they reappeared with a small ornate fan in their hands. “I can use this to cast breeze. It’s not a very strong spell, we won’t be filling our sails with this but it should be enough to take care of our current problem,” they explained.
As the crew watched Aka opened the fan and held it out in front of them. It was a pale green color with swirling pattern made of inlaid gem chips, and in the center was a white bird with gold accents. The bird’s wing were open, reaching both sides of the fan in its frozen attempt to take flight. The fan glowed read as Aka channeled the spell inside, and several hidden runes in the pattern lit up as they activated it. They made a large arc with their arm, waving the fan at the trapped chasers.
Like Aka explained, the wind that was produced was no gale storm, it even seemed to have difficulty fighting against the stronger winds of the storm, but it worked. The weightless bubbles were gently pushed from the deck and floated off a bit of a distance before popping. The two dead ones plummeted to the ground below, but the living chasers inside seemed unhurt by the experience. Now completely disinterested in continuing their siege on the Fortunes Favor, the remaining pseudo dragons flew off, whining and snapping at each other as they went.
“How did you do that!” Zero asked with excitement, looking over at a grinning Mea. Behind her Aka clicked the fan closed without a word.
Mea tossed one of her tentacles over her shoulder. “Oh, didn’t you know? Aquan magic is like so much stronger in the water. If I can’t reach a lake or a river, rain has the same effect.”
“While I appreciate your effort, I believe the crew as a whole needs to work on our response times to when the emergency bell is rung.” Captain Keizeron said as he re-sheathed his sword. He wiped a small bit of pale blood from his jacket and addressed the crew. “Sola, Zero, your shift is over. Sola I would like you to debrief in my quarters before you go to bed. Aka, Willow, take point. Wake Annie Mea and I when you’re tired.” He instructed quickly before turning on his heel and heading back into his room, shutting the door behind him.
“I think what he meant to say was ‘excellent work defending the ship with no damages or major injuries team,’” Sola said, rolling his one good eye. He raised his sword, and it began to glow a bright gold. It sizzled a little bit in the rain, but as he gently laid it back on his skin it turned a deep indigo blue and wrapped around his bicep. It nestled on top of his new scar like a cat on a wrinkled blanket. Satisfied the injury didn’t mess up the tattoo placement, he pivoted and headed toward the captains quarters while the rest of the crew scattered. He saw a yawning Mea reach her arms towards Zero, as if asking it to carry her back down. Zero obliged while Aka and Willow realized they would be stuck out in the rain for the next two hours at least.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The door was unlocked, so Sola let himself in. He had been invited after all, and he would have felt silly knocking when Keiz had entered only moments ago himself. The room was larger than any of the other quarters Sola had been in, but that was unsurprising. Over the years he had been in and out of many a captains quarters, the only thing that was different about this one was how sterile it felt. Since this was the first night of the Fortune’s Favor’s maiden voyage there was little personality in the room, save for a few odd books and Keizeron’s academy jacket. Keiz was sitting at the desk, quickly jotting down notes in a brand new journal on what looked to be the third page. A few orbs of light danced around the desk, not enough to brighten the whole room, but enough to read and write by. He motioned Sola over as the door shut behind him.
“I can make an assumption about what lead to the cloud chasers attacking us, but I would like for you to recount to me what happened in detail for accuracy’s sake,” Keiz said as he looked up form his book. The quill he was using was rather ornate, but he seemed to write quite quickly with it.
Sola nodded, and began explaining how he had noticed the cloud chaser’s encircling the ship, and how he had made the call to prep for battle before ringing the bell. He talked about how they barely had to hold their ground for a minute before the rest of the crew came to back them up. All the while Keizeron was taking precise notes of what he said. Sola glanced over the journal, and was unsurpised to see that Keiz was using short hand to assist with the fast notes. What interested Sola was the fact that he didn’t seem to be using the standard that they taught at the academy, instead he was using a much more complicated variant. He knew what was being written, it was almost word for word what he was saying, but occasionally Keiz would make a symbol for a certain word, instead of any letter at all. Sola didn’t know every written language, there were far too many for that, but the symbols were one’s he didn’t recognize. Even after Sola stopped talking, the captain continued to write some things out, and had now lost the younger man on what was even being written.
“Any details you want to include about your crew mates? Did they all pull their weight in the fight?” Keiz asked after a moment of silence. He didn’t look up from his book, but the pen did stop.
“Uh,” Sola paused, crossing his arms defensively. He wasn’t sure why the captain was asking for his opinion on his crew mates, but he wasn’t about to bad mouth any of them on their first night.
“No one is going to get into any sort of trouble,” Keiz assured him, correctly guessing why Sola had paused. He finally looked up, his violet eyes glowing in the half light of the room. “I simply want to know what needs to be worked on while we travel together. You know as well as I do how dangerous it can be to be employed on these ships, I want to be assured that our companions are people I can trust to have my back.”
Sola considered this, shifting on his feet. “It was not a long enough fight to get a good gauge on all of them. Zero kept up with me, but his equipment got damaged during the fight. I’ve seen a few times now that Aka has excellent aim and doesn't hesitate, and Willow did heal my arm, but is lacking in confidence. Mea was the last to respond to the bell, but her magic was impressive enough to stop the fight in its tracks.”
Keizeron finished transcribing Sola’s thoughts and set his quill down. He spent a few moments in silence, looking over the notes and flipping back a page to consider something older. Sola fidgeted as a minute ticked by and nothing was said between them. Finally, he stroked the curly strands of his beard and shut the book. Keizeron looked up with a thin smile. “Sola Rea, I’m nominating you as first mate.”
“What?” Sola sputtered in surprise. “Can you just do that?” ((“Wait, can you do that without consulting the crew first?” “Well, I just did sooo- yeah,”))
“Do you not want the position?” Keizeron raised an eyebrow skeptically. “The job will have some more responsibility of course, but it also comes with a pay raise.”
“It’s not that,” Sola back pedaled immediately. “It’s just that most ships I’m on already have the position filled, so I forgot we didn’t have one already.”
Keiz nodded in understanding. “I would have liked to have vetted you all before we set out and already appointed the position, but the guild master wanted our expedition started too quickly for any such formalities. But from what I have seen you are the most experienced of the crew, and I need someone I can trust to make informed decisions in my stead if I’m not available.”
“Sounds reasonable. I’ll do it,” Sola agreed, nodding. It sounded like something he would have done anyway, no need to turn down a pay bump.
“Excellent, We can notify the rest of the crew in the morning then, and if they all agree the position is yours. Thank you Sola, you are dismissed,” Keizeron excused him, setting the journal in a drawer in his desk. Sola nodded to his captain, and then turned to leave so they could both get some rest. Keiz would have to be up for his turn on watch soon enough.
First mate. It was a position he had wanted before, but the opportunity had never presented itself. And now he was just being handed the title without having to apply for it. All that stood between him and the job is the rest of the crew agreeing he was the best fit for the job. What a strange twist of fate, he thought with a grin. Although, if he were being honest it was the only option. Unless the rest of the crew learned the ropes with incredible speed, none of them had the same level of experience he did. Aka would have been his next pick, on terms of intelligence they seemed the most collected and sensible. However they lacked the sailing background and the people skills that Sola had to pull the position.
Sola stepped back into the rain, quietly shutting the door behind him. He glanced around the now deserted deck, a slight smile on his face. Willow was standing a bit away from the edge of the deck, looking over to where the dead chasers had fallen. She looked up when she heard Sola leave the office, and gave him a cheerful wave. The rain didn’t seem to bother her, and Sola recalled from an earlier conversation she grew up on a ranch and must have worked in similar conditions before. Sola waved back, a bit more enthusiastically, and made his way below deck.
It was quite back by the rooms, the sound of the rain a bit muted by some enchantment Sola couldn’t name. More of the orbs of light were strung to the walls, dim now in the late hours. As Sola made his way to his room he heard something that made him pause. Listening closely to Zero’s door he could hear some distinct clanking and whirring noises, and he could only assume it was the sound of the automaton trying to repair the parts that had been damaged in the scuffle with the cloud chasers.
Finally Sola made his way back to his room, and he suddenly realized just how exhausted he felt. He took little time to strip out of his soaking wet clothing, and cast a minor warming spell on himself to dry off. He knew he really shouldn’t be using his magic, but so long as he stuck to low level spells he figured it would be fine. He hoped. Sola pulled some of his spare clothes from his crate, tugged them on and was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
~*~
Much to everyone’s dismay it was still raining when dawn arrived, though the storm was significantly less intense than the night before. It was no longer thundering, and the winds were much more manageable. Because of that Keizeron took a moment at breakfast to announce that they would continue their trip to Alephia as scheduled. He then followed up with his nomination of Sola for the position of first mate, asking if any one had any other suggestions they would like to make. No one had any problems or wanted to oppose Sola, so he was appointed with no further issues. Sola was given a polite round of applause from his crew mates, and a “speech!” from Mea that he quickly declined.
After they finished eating Keizeron gave Sola a quick run down of the responsibilities he would be in charge of now, while the rest of the crew prepped the Fortunes Favor to continue sailing. The rain slowed down the process, but they made due and got ready as fast as they could. It continued to rain the whole day, creating a gloomy atmosphere for the crew. After their shifts Aka and Willow spent as much time under the deck as they could, avoiding the cold and wet conditions. Mea spent hours sifting through their supplies, taking notes and muttering to herself. Keiz assumed she was trying to avoid working above deck, but he wasn’t actually sure she could count. She was a fine cook but he may have to swap someone else to the quarter master job. He was not entirely sure what criteria the person who hired them was looking for when she chose each crew mate.
Sometime after noon Zero approach Keiz and Sola at the helm. He presented his broken gauntlets, and admitted that after messing with them all morning it was unable to fix the damage it had suffered while fighting the chasers. There was a crack in the metal, and since it was on his right hand Zero was having trouble getting it sealed without magic.
“I thought automatons were ambidextrous?” Sola asked as he looked at the damaged weapon.
Zero gave a shrug in response. “Maybe coordination with my left hand is one of the gears I am missing?” It suggested.
The three of them struggled for a few minutes to figure out what to do about the crack. Zero and Sola largely didn’t have magic, and Keizeron didn’t have any mending spells. Finally Aka came to their rescue. They produced a previously unknown set of tinkerers tools, and with a practiced efficiency that surprised even Zero they pulled off the broken weapon. Aka retreated below deck to work out of the rain, and Zero followed like a ducking following its mother.
Following dinner Mea joined them on deck to train her magic. With Mittens by her side she stood on the deck and drew a small rune. There was a moment, and then the rain came to a halt around her, no longer falling on the deck. As the crew watched she closed her eyes in concentration, and gently expanded her arms causing the rain free area to expand as well. It slowly moved outwards, collecting more water as it went, until it almost covered the entire ship. The tips of the sails and the bottom of the ship were unprotected, but it was an impressive display none the less. Mea’s eyes were narrowed with focus, and it looked like it was a strain on her to keep such a large bubble up for so long.
“That’s incredible!” Williow exclaimed. She leaned over the edge to try to put her hand through the shield, but quickly realized she was leaning over nothing and jumped back before completing her goal. “Why didn’t you do this last night?”
“Wouldn’t have been able to blow away the chasers if I was concentrating on keeping everyone dry,” Mea explained through gritted teeth. “I can’t keep this up long, so there wouldn’t have been much of a point since I came up last anyway. Just thought I’d get some practice in while it’’s still raining.”
“I could probably get a blank stone for you to enchant. With a little work we could likely make a permanent rain shield for the ship,” Keiz mused as Sola took the helm. “Enchanting stones are fairly expensive, but could be worth it for a charm like this. Once we’re done with our run and start going to port towns again I can see if we can find one for you to use.”
“I would appreciate that,” Aka muttered as they flicked some droplets from their coat. “I will pitch in some coins if that’s what it takes.”
The crew managed to get a little work done during their brief solace from the rain, but after about ten minutes Mea grew too tired to continue. With a shudder, she slumped to her knees, and the rain began pouring onto the deck once more. She sighed, stretching her arms while Zero helped her back to her feet. Mea complained about wanting some fish to eat, and the rest of the crew went back to their business.
The rest of the day passed slowly, with less and less chatter between the crew mates until they worked in relative silence. Eventually it grew dark enough that Keiz ordered the crew to anchor down for the night. He left Sola to oversee the process while he conferred with Aka. Despite the slow down, it seemed like they would still be able to reach Alephia the next day. Albeit, much later than they originally intended.
The crew took turns on night watch, but it seemed like the commotion on the first night deterred any further chasers from attacking the ship. Morning came without any indecent, though it was still raining much to the crews exasperation.
“I’m starting to think that this storm is an omen,” Sola commented bitterly as he and Aka got ready for the morning. Sola was last on night watch, and had gone to Aka’s chambers to talk since the rest of the crew was sleeping. Other than Mea who had been on the last watch with him, but she was making breakfast currently.
Aka scoffed in response as they brushed their thick hair out. “When I was younger my father told me that sailors saw harbingers in just about anything, but I thought that was an exaggeration. How long do I have to be on a ship before I start thinking natural weather phenomenon is a terrible omen?
“I don’t think everything is a terrible omen. Just things that are terrible,” Sola huffed. “We’ve been stuck in this weather for three days now, that doesn’t happen often.”
Aka gave him a wry smile. “We’re simply not moving fast enough to escape the front we got caught in. The winds haven’t been strong enough to blow us out, but are going in the same direction so they weren’t able to leave us behind either. Besides, I don’t think this is an all together terrible thing. It’s forced the crew to work a bit harder, and learn things faster than if we had had clear weather the whole time. It’s raised the learning curve. When the weather does finally clear up things will seem easier.”
“With a crew this small things are never going to seem easy,” Sola laughed easily. “But having to overcome such an annoying start sure will give us a chance to prove ourselves.”
“And even land a promotion,” Aka ribbed. They pulled on their red coat, a crest emblazoned on the left shoulder. It was a carefully embroidered design of a black sheep with twisted horns and a ring of light behind it. The Lulaloon family crest.
“I think he was already considering me for the position before the fight. It just made him determine faster that he was right,” Sola puffed his chest out a little bit. Why not take some pride in his new well earned title?
Once Aka had finished getting ready the two of them headed together down a floor to the galley. Even though she was still cooking, Mea greeted them at the door. Since stopping the rain was too taxing to hold for a long time, Mea had taken to pulling the rain from her crew mates clothes as they came to get food to train. It was a smaller gesture, but Sola still appreciated it.
After breakfast the crew got back to work and made their way into the skies. Unlike the first two days, they were starting to draw close to a large city, and began seeing signs of civilization instead of continuous forested land. The Fortunes Favor began to sail over country side and ranches, and occasionally they spotted a few small towns. They even saw another ship for the first time since leaving Sahale. Though the weather had lightened a bit, it was still heavy enough that most sailors didn’t want to be out if they didn’t have to be. Despite having a communicator, Keizeron didn’t try to contact the other ship. It was the formal thing to do, to prove to the other crew that the ship they were approaching wasn’t full of pirates; but the two ships’ paths didn’t overlap. The other ship never hailed them either, and it quickly became apparent they didn’t want to be out in the rain any longer than they needed.
As the sun started to set and the gloomy weather became even darker Aka and Keiz poured over their map to see just how far off they still were from Alephia and the first temple of Aria. In spite of their best efforts, Aka explained they were still an hour away. The crew would be settling down later than normal if they pressed on, but they would have it done tonight so that when they got up in the morning they could get started on their first real job. It would also give Keizeron more time to hear back from their patron, as he only had a general idea of where they were headed next.
Before too late Keizeron gathered the crew together and told them they’d be sailing a bit into the night, making sure their were no major complaints against the plan. He was the captain, but he would listen if any of his crew mates had a better idea. While they grumbled about being kept up late, no one objected to finishing the blessings run that day. The biggest concern was the fact that only about half the crew could see properly at night, while the other half found it difficult. Eventually they all conceded, helped along by the fact that none of them wanted to be stuck in the storm any longer than they needed to be. Keiz reassured them that given the circumstances, the temple would likely be empty. They’d be able to get in, get their blessing, and leave quickly.
Despite Aka's calculations it was nearly two hours before the floating island of Alephia came into view, looming far above the main land. While Keizeron thought he would be relieved to finally see the island, once it came into view it was clear something was off. The temple stayed open at all hours so it could be used by people who came in late, but it was usually deserted after nightfall. That, paired with the rain had made Keiz assume they would have the temple all to themselves when they arrived. Instead there were two other ships tied to the docks, one of which was a unity ship.
“That’s weird?” Willow said cautiously, glancing nervously at her captain for reassurance. “Why would a unity ship be here so late?”
“How is that weird? I thought they protected the temple?” Mea replied as she leaned over the railing to get a better look. It was hard to see the ships through the rain, but anyone who had encountered a unity ship knew what they looked like. And why you should avoid them when they were in places you didn’t expect.
“They do guard the temple, but the ones who work here are stationed on the grounds. There’s no reason for a government ship to be here on a normal night,” Willow shook her head. “It is a normal night right? There’s not a holiday coming up I was unaware of?”
“No, This is unusual,” Keizeron confirmed as they approached the docks. Using a messaging spell Keiz hailed the dock master to get clearance to land. It took several minutes before someone responded, and they sounded just as confused as the crew felt about how many ships there were so late at night. Eventually Keizeron got all the info he needed to bring the ship down, and as soon as they landed Sola and Zero disembarked to finish tying them to the docks.
As they finished working Keizeron brought his small crew together. “I want everyone to stay on guard while we’re down there. The unity ship could be nothing, but I have the feeling it’s not. Just in case, I want Annie Mea to stay on the ship and watch it while we’re in the temple. Once we’ve confirmed its all clear you can join us,” He instructed. Mea gave him a sharp salute in what appeared to be a genuine acknowledgment of his command. He could only hope he was making the right decision as they made their way down the gang plank and approached the temple.
