Breathing in the congested moldy air and sitting on damp wooden planks. Fiviana's head kept hitting the wall because of the shuddering ship that had been sailing for hours. With sunken dark bags under her closed eyes, Fiviana fell forward when the ship finally anchored after hours on the sea.
The sounds of wooden boards creaking from the hundreds of footsteps echoed inside her head, forcing her to open her exhausted and red eyes.
She scrutinized her surroundings and looked into the distance but saw nothing but mist. She forced herself up but almost tripped over the rotten floorboards as she tried to follow the crowd.
Everyone but her had boarded off the boat, and Fiviana stood there trying to recollect everything and why she was even on this boat in the first place. She threw herself onto the railings and stared into the pitch black waters below. The sea here was so calm, there were no waves, not even a single ripple in the water.
"This is for sure not Nautilus…" She rested her head in the palm of her hand as she tried to recover her thoughts.
That's when she heard faint footsteps behind her. There were still people on board and she turned around to see who was standing behind her. Behind her stood a girl in a beautiful red and white dress; her hair reminded Fiviana of the color of the crimson moon, which she had witnessed only once in her life.
Isadora looked at the little girl resting against the railings with tired eyes. Inside Isadora's mind, she wondered how such a young girl could have gotten on a warship. Had the dragons really recruited a child to fight in the wars? How utterly disgraceful, Isadora thought inside her head.
Or was this young girl a human who had just accidentally gotten aboard during the Silver Saint's attack? That is possible right? She even got the horns of the dragons, so she can't be a human.
Isadora breathed a sigh of relief and approached the troubled little girl.
But as Isadora approached Fiviana, Fiviana's vision started to grow blurry. The image of Isadora approaching was slowly being distorted and soon enough the red-haired lady was upside down.
"Hey! Are you okay? You look really pale."
Fiviana's balance grew unsteady and started to wobble and before she knew it she fell. Isadora ran up to her and caught her in her arms.
Isadora checked the young girl's vitals to make sure she wasn't in threatening danger but let out a sigh of relief as she realized that she had only fallen asleep due to exhaustion.
"Isadora, about the recruitment of new men into our legion to fulfil the required manpower." Glei peeked out of the control room and saw Isadora carrying a young girl on her back.
"A stray?"
"I don't know, but most likely."
Glei checked the military's database and saw there were no identity matches with anyone in the army.
"Looks like a stray," Glei said pouring a cup of coffee.
"But how did she even get on board?"
"Beats me, perhaps she sneaked onboard to see her dad or something?" Glei shrugged before sipping her hot coffee.
"But her dad isn't here to pick her up?" And that's when Isadora realised that he had most likely died in the assault they had launched earlier. Guilt washed over Isadora as she gently put Fiviana down onto a bed.
"This was so unnes…"
Glei quickly put her index finger over Isadora's lips before reminding her not to utter such words of disapproval against the will of the King.
"But you know I'm right, you saw how our comrades died!"
Her friend put down the coffee cup and sighed. Saying the answer that Isadora hated so much, that it is nothing that could be done because they are dragons and need to follow their King. She had heard it so many times when talking about the pointless deaths caused by endless war.
Isadora with grey eyes stared at the sleeping innocent child that was dragged into such a mess.
Night came and went and Fiviana dreamt about being caressed by fluffly clouds. The warmth it brought her soul reminded her of the bed she used to sleep on in the Fivindius mansion. The morning sunlight hit her eyelids and made them shudder.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that she had been this entire time sleeping on a luxurious bed. She sat up in bed groggy and looked around. The door suddenly opened and a maid walked in.
She bowed her head before hastily leaving again. The maid returned with the same red-haired lady she had seen on the ship.
The lady smiled warmly at Fiviana before introducing herself.
"My name is Isadora, it is nice to be acquainted with you."
Fiviana still confused spoke out her name.
"Fiviana."
Isadora finally made eye contact with Fiviana and smiled once they finally did.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I do also, but first let's get you something to eat."
Isadora asked the maids if they could prepare breakfast for Fiviana and they nodded before hurrying off into the kitchen.
Isadora put clean clothes on the bed before standing up and closing the door behind her. Fiviana was now completely alone again. She looked at the clothes at the bedside, still sitting in bed she reached out for them and stretched them out. It was gorgeous… even more than the ones her dad would buy her.
She hesitated a bit but after looking at her ripped-up dress she decided to put them on. There was a mirror in the room and once she had put the clothes on and looked into the mirror, she looked exactly like a princess. The clothes were so incredibly beautiful and elegant that she just twirled around in joy seeing them on herself.
As she was twirling in front of the mirror the maids entered the room and placed a tray on her bed before coughing once to alert her.
Fiviana turned around in embarrassment and stared down at the ground with flushed cheeks.
"Once you have finished eating, please call out for one of us and we will take you to Isadora's office."
Fiviana nodded and sighed, she needed to get back to her sister who was still sick. She had to escape from this place and get back no matter what to the shrines of Serenity.