The Blaze shines down upon the sea and the ship that sails it as Alix and company surge toward the cliff bearing the town of Amal. It's been close to a month since they took off to the town. The journey has been rather boring, to say the least.
It's just that there isn't much to do while at sea. In the beginning seeing the water reflect the sun and seeing fish swimming under the ship while sailing is cool and beautiful but, after a month of just that...it loses its effect.
That is why Alisa has decided to make things more interesting on her own!
"Okay, spirits! Let's start making the elements move!" Alisa calls aloud to the beings that only she can see. All around her are small lime green lights fly around the ship as fast as they can. They fly through the sails and around the pirates then do it all again! The wind around the ship begins to blow harder than before allowing the sail to catch more air. Alisa smiles then looks at the group of dark blue spirits still floating next to her.
"You guys are next! Let's make some waves!" The spirits fly into action, immediately diving down into the water. They fly underneath the ship then jump back out, raising some of the sea water with them before they go back under to jump out again. The spirits do this repeatedly first out of synch then in unison until they have created a small wave for the ship to ride upon.
Alisa starts jumping as she feels the ship lift. "YES! We did it! We're riding the wind and waves! I didn't think that we could actually do it! This is so cool! You guys are great at what you do! Everyone! Look we-"
"ALICE!" Alisa jolts as the booming voice of Alix calls out to her. Alisa slowly turns to the Captain's Quarters where Alix is standing at the entrance glaring at her. "What do you think that you are doing?"
Alisa gulps and starts explaining herself. "I-I just got bored so I asked the spirits if they could make the ship go faster and they said yes! Then I met some water spirits that said that they wanted to help too and I asked how could they help and they said that they could make waves, which I didn't even believe at first. So, I asked them to prove it and they did and it looked really cool so I asked them if they could do it under the ship and they said yeah so they started doing it and it was really cool and the ship was moving really fast so I thought it was good!"
Alix rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Alright, but did you think for even a second that if things went wrong that the entire ship could capsize with the crew onboard?" Alisa froze and she became timid.
"I-I didn't think about that no."
Alix sighs. "Next time you want to do 'something cool' why not just practice your magic on the water around us? This is the perfect time for you to practice spirit savantry yet you are not taking advantage of it."
"Well..." Alisa starts to refute. "...I thought about doing that! But then I started and it was fine at the start until it got all boring and stuff so I had to do something else for a bit then I saw us getting passed by some of the fish underwater, which made me realize that we were going really slow and that would just make things take longer so I asked Kent why and he said-
"Stop." Alisa stops. Alix rubs the bridge of her own nose. "You know what, it isn't even the fact that you decided to blow extra wind in the sails that upsets me. It is just that you could have been practicing with the water instead of the wind to increase your understanding of water savantry, but you didn't!"
"But I'm talking to the water spirits so I sort of am practicing with water mana!" Alisa said trying to defend herself from reprimand.
"We both know the sort of practice that I am talking about." Alix lets out a breath to calm herself and waves her hand dismissively. "You know what? It is fine. There is something that I will need you for later so just keep conversing with the spirits. As much as I lack the ability to understand why you focus so much on the dancing I do understand that the core of your magic is learning from the beings that only you can see. So, have fun, I guess."
A large smile rises in Alisa's cheeks. "I will! Thank you, mom!" Alix once again waves dismissively. She had been working on spells when the ship shifted aggressively, messing up her focus and precision. It was frustrating!
She shook her head. 'Maybe this is just a sign that I should take a break.' Alix looked out to the sea. All she'd been doing during the journey thus far had been work so it was time for a break. If for nothing else it would give Mo and Nuka peace of mind.
Alix decided to take this time to go over and check on Holiday, since Alisa has been up to no good there was no telling what the other was up to. It didn't take long to find him. He was just leaning against the one of the ship's masts, staring out into the distance.
Alix approached him. He called to her without turning to face her. "This is my first time actually seeing it, you know?" Alix wasn't surprised by Eric's clocking her before she spoke. It was part of his magic to have enhanced senses, after all.
"I assume that you are talking about the ocean?" Eric nods.
"I grew up in the mountains. So I would always hear about the sea but coming to Pesinwok had been my first chance to actually see it! And being on this ship is the first time that I get to experience it! And that's not all!" Eric pushes off the mast, turns, and faces Alix.
"I've started learning the sword at school and more about the Runic clan thanks to you! There's just been so many more welcome experiences in my life recently and it's in no small way thanks to you!"
Alix nods in understanding. "Had I not discovered your magic then you may have been imprisoned for serial murder by my mother and the other police officers. So you do have me to thank for taking you off of that path."
Eric's faces twitches slightly. "That not exactly what I meant." He lets out a calming breath and looks over to the east where the coast of Pesin can still be spotted. His eyes then wander to where the mountains that he grew up in stand far in the distance. A trace of nostalgia came into his eyes and a gentle smile arose from his lips.
"You wanted to know about how I got the runic brand, right?" Alix's eyes widened and she grabbed Holiday by the shoulders, forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"Are you about to tell me about the way that you received this lost magical art?"
"I-I guess?" Eric answers slightly shocked by the girl's sudden jump in mood. "I mean, I still can't really get into detail about it but I could at least tell you a bit."
Alix's pupils dilated for a moment as she intensified her gaze. Her eyes were so focused that Eric felt like they were trying to pull the information directly out of his head.
"Okay, Mama Wolf. I already agreed to tell you. Could you let go of me now?" Alix realized that she'd become too excited and released the boy from her grasp. Eric rubbed his arms as they felt slightly sore from the strength of the girl's grip. "Thanks. Now, can we go somewhere more private. I don't want everyone on the ship to know about my uncomfortable past."
Alix accepts the boy's request and motions for him to follow her. "We can go into the Captain's Quarters. We should have plenty of privacy there." Alix turned to walk over to her private quarters when she was prevented from doing so by a pleading Alisa.
"Mom~ I wanna hear Eric's story too! Can I come? Pleeeaaase?"
"Why would you even want to come?"
A sinister smirk rose on the young girl's face. "So I know Eric's weakness! That way I can pick on him like he picks on me!"
"Umm, you do realize that I'm right here, right?" Eric asks from behind Alix.
"So?" She yells confrontationally. " I'm also interested in how you got that weird thing on your chest! There are multiple reason for a sister to want to hear her brother's story!"
"Didn't you just admit to wanting to use the chance to get something that you could use against me?" Alisa stood silently staring at Eric. She refocused on Alix.
"So can I come?" Eric rolled his eyes as Alisa completely ignored his question. Alix merely shrugged.
"You can do what you want as long as you do not bother me." Alix shifts her gaze over to the side. "You can come too, if you want." Eric and Alisa followed her gaze and saw that she was talking to Kent.
"Sure!" Kent shrugged. "It isn't like I've anything better to do, and I can't help but be interested in the time that Holiday got branded by a group of maniacs from the past." Alix nodded then gestured for everyone to follow her to the Captain's Quarters.
Upon entering the first thing that one would notice is the large fish tank within, where Mo was currently relaxing like a King on vacation. The next thing would be the small bird perch set up beside a desk with a Lumi Lamp (which is a Lumi crystal placed atop metal stand with a shade to guide the light) shining upon it.
There roosted Nuka, who was resting up in comfort. Finally, they would see a little, fluffy bed on the floor where Trouler's big, round body was slowly rising and falling in unison with his resting breaths.
"I see you like the set up!" Kent said proudly.
Alix nods in response. "It is well suited for my companions so I do appreciate the detail. Now, shall we get started?" Alix sat down in the desk chair and turned to Eric. "You are to tell us about the ruin that you visited."
"It isn't really that simple but okay." Eric replied as Kent pushed over three barrels for the rest of them to it upon. Eric sat down and breathed in nervously.
"Here we go. I'll tell you just a bit about how I got this rune." Eric taps his chest, gesturing to the mark on it. "As well as how I was the only survivor of a group of nineteen others that got trapped. Including..." Eric paused for a moment as a pained look came to his face.
"..My best friend, Kendall."