Chapter 122: B3 — 64. Let’s Not Be Stupid

AuthorSME

POV:

1: Rachel Park (our Lunar Hare!)

Recap:

Rachel was greeted by Twilight, a.k.a. Scarlet's inner demon, The Reaper of Blood, and had her first real conversation with the horror incarnate ... except, she wasn't so horrible ... belittling, but considering her responses, that's understandable.

Twilight told Rachel that gods were real, this curse that was trying to steal their free-will wasn't strong enough to even realize what she was, and that her response was thus limited.  However, Rachel gained some very valuable insights into the mysterious being ... and did she mention Founders ... hmm...

Well, before Twilight completed the trial for their party, she warned Rachel to be more careful, and in the future, they shouldn't do quests that 'severely' out-level them ... there are also 2x more trials left in the Legend's Quest ... and they get way harder the further they go.

Harder ... and Twilight had to get them out of this one?  Not good.

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Rachel noticed a wooden trap door appear below the cracked orb out of the corner of her vision while passing into the lush jungle environment, rushing toward Scarlet.  Once she’d gathered everyone together, then they’d probably need to return to the location.

The strangest part of the island was its complete lack of life onshore.  There weren’t even insects that she could detect, nor birds in the trees; silence permeated the entire area, which she assumed was because of the fog, and the fact that this was a copy dimension, as Twilight had pointed out, which took inspiration from real places the mysterious being had visited.

Her ears searched for every tiny sound that was made within several miles, but only the humans made noise, and her little Sky Reaver was now screeching since she’d been separated from the group, looking for any of them.  No one appeared in immediate danger by their sobs, questioning, self-reflecting tones, and body movements.

Scarlet was the most vocal, crying hysterically while collapsing to her knees and butt, and Rachel could guess why; if the curse showed you what the heart most desired, then for Scarlet, it would be life before The Oscillation.  The devastation upon dashing that dream, even if she was partially aware of the fact, must have been crushing to the eighteen-year-old girl.

Alexa had been split off from them to the west of the island from their docking location.  She’d also fallen to her knees and butt in the damp mud, more in stunned confusion instead of panic, while collecting her thoughts, and Gisele swooped down to join her, seemingly able to discover her location surprisingly quickly.

“Oh … Gisele, hey…”  Alexa mumbled, petting the bird’s head after it landed beside her, hopping closer with a small chirp.  “I … think I was in a dream … it was so realistic, though … I started to believe all of this was a … well, maybe it still is … hmm…”

Her sister-in-law released a depressed sigh, pulling back her blonde bangs to stare around at the dense jungle.  “Well … the best thing we can probably do is wait for someone to come get us … Rachel or Scarlet will find us.  You think so, too, right?”

Gisele chirped again, hopping in circles to look around.

“Yeah … man … now I’m a bit depressed.”

Cahira was actually further northeast than Rachel, scratching her scalp while mumbling to herself.  “Aye … hold-up, this ain’t the place I … a devilish trick of the mind?  Hmm … must ‘ave been since everybody be more split than a banana on Sunday.  Huh … ya tackless island, makin’ me believe I’d completed mi quest.  Guh … best be lookin’ fer the crew … and there was so much treasure.  Aye … the x be not too far distant!  Mmh … it can wait.”

It sounded like The Pirate Queen had unsummoned her map with the licking flames that roared to life before dying down.  “Yo, Rach, ya hearin’ me?  Bah, a likely case unless ye be havin’ the same issues as mi own useless brain … eh, back to the ship, or wait fer the lasses?  Mmh … best be waitin’ on mi arse fer a bit.  Ah, practicin’ mi shots seems ah proper use of mi time!  If I draw some buggers attention, then all the marrier!”

Rachel forced a chuckle as she began pulling out her weapons to figure out which would be the best to start with.

Ohan’s reaction was a bit of a shock to her; he’d stumbled to a tree, using it as support, sheathed sword shaking in his left hand.  “No … no, but … he was right there with his girlfriend … we were home.  No…”

His voice cracked with an underlayer of anger before he drew his sword and began destroying the foliage and trees around him in a rage.  The actions were utterly out of character with what Rachel had expected from the very cool, emotionally controlled man, but she could surmise that having something so close to your heart ripped away from you so quickly might elicit such a response.

She could hear her brother’s four energy creatures foraging through the island undergrowth, looking for them, and one was decently close to where Scarlet was but would possibly miss her with its direction.

The wind pulled back Rachel’s hair as she ran; Scarlet glanced up as she neared, bloody tears falling down her cheeks from the Vespertine Reaper’s blue eyes.

“R-Rachel…”  Scarlet sobbed as she neared with a comforting smile.

“Hey, hey, I’m here … woah…”

Rachel grunted as Scarlet lurched forward at a surprising speed, tackling her to the ground to bury her face into Rachel’s sports bra; a muddy pool of water sprayed around them as her hair fanned out, now caked with the gunk.  Scarlet clung to her, body shaking uncontrollably while Rachel rubbed her back comfortingly.

Scarlet didn’t babble or say anything, and it took two minutes of lying in the mud before the girl started to get control of herself, left cheek pressing against Rachel’s breast as she mumbled, “... Why … is life so cruel?”

“I don’t know,” Rachel whispered, hugging the back of her pajama top that had a few rips in it from the two fights they’d gone through.  Two of her fingers had slipped through the shirt, rubbing her slightly damaged bra strap before moving to her skin in back and forth motions.  “Did it make you think The Oscillation didn’t happen?”

Scarlet’s arms tightened around Rachel’s back again, face pressing against her back as she mumbled, “Mhm…”

Rachel took a deep breath, chest forcing Scarlet’s body up slightly so she could see her bloody cheeks, liquid slowly sinking back into her skin past the mess of dirty black locks, and she hugged her a bit tighter, not knowing what else she could say.

She felt a lump pass through Scarlet’s throat before she sniffed, seeming to cough a little out of reflex.  “... I don’t want to be … this … you were there … we met up at University … my parents made me go, and … we became friends,” her voice cracked.  “My family was back together … everything was so nice.”

Her tail was really uncomfortable, digging into the clay-like dirt, but she dealt with it, untangling her fingers from the back of Scarlet’s shirt to move them to her face.  She brushed back her hair to see her red cheeks; every so often, a few crimson tears would leak out as she let her release all the pain.

“I … we were picking out classes, and … I thought all of this was some nightmare … I was so scared and excited when I saw Maria … I was too nervous to talk to her, but … but I wanted to, and she seemed happy with her brother.”

“Fiona?”  Rachel asked, feeling the reverberations in her chest with Scarlet’s body pressing down on her.

“... Umm … yeah, she, uh … I tuned into her stream once … I’d only seen a short clip of what she used to look like before, but … how could it do that to me?”  She moaned, chest fluttering with her sharp breath.  “I … even Kyle had moved here … giving tours around Miami.”

Wow … it’s kind of crazy how much time passed for Scarlet compared to me … no wonder it felt so real to them; weeks must have gone by in their own fantasies, but I guess that’s how much is in Scarlet’s heart.  It really shows how much different I am.

Taking another deep breath, she let it release in a slow stream.  “It was a curse … I broke it before it could make us controllable zombies.”

“It’s just … so cruel…”  Scarlet repeated, sniffing again.  “Why did it show us that, though?  What did it show you?”

Rachel’s lips tightened; it was a lot of information that she honestly wouldn’t want to share too much of with many others, possibly only Maria and Fiona.  This would be the best time to do it in private; just as she’d predicted, her brother’s energy creature had moved off to the right.

“... Uh … are you okay now?  If you want to talk about it, then I’m listening.  Once you’re okay, then I’ll tell you my experience, but I’m still concerned about you.”

“Oh … oh, no, no, I’m fine!”  Scarlet cleared her throat, hastily sticking her hand on the mud beside them to hoist herself up; her pressure pushed Rachel’s concealed hair further into the damp soil, but it didn’t hurt.

Rachel smiled a little as Scarlet became flustered, rubbing her dirty arm before pausing and releasing pitiful groans.  “No … I’m sorry, Rachel … I’m so sorry, I just … I didn’t mean to tackle you into the mud, but I just … I was so happy to see you and sad and…”

“It’s fine!  No, it’s totally fine, Scarlet,” Rachel chuckled, mud making a squelching noise as she unstuck herself, running her hands through the clumps of clay in her hair after standing up.  “I’m just happy you’re doing better.  That was pretty cruel, though … I know you’re still going through a rough time.”

Once out of the gunk, Rachel smiled at her.  “We’re sisters now, remember?”  She chuckled, opening her arms.  “Want another hug; what’s some mud?”

Scarlet’s facade began to break down again, and she stepped forward to hug her, sniffling as Rachel bent down a little to pick her up into a bear hug.  “See?  We’ll be fine, right?  So, want to talk about it anymore?”

“Mhm-mmh … no, you tell me about it … was it bad?  How did you get out … no, of course, you got out because you’re so awesome!”

“Okay, I wouldn’t go that far,” Rachel chuckled, squeezing a tiny bit harder until Scarlet gave a low squealing giggle.

“Okay, okay … uncle!”

Letting her go, Rachel held out her hand.  “Hey, let’s grab Alexa and Gisele first, then tell my brother everyone’s fine.”

Scarlet’s flush face softened, fingers closing around her palm.  “T-Thanks, Rachel … thank you so much for … for letting me be a part of your family.”

“Of course, and my mother would kill me if I let anything happen to you,” she winked, guiding her in the direction of her brother’s construct.  “You don’t know how scary a Korean mom can be if she wants to be!”

“Oh, I bet,” Scarlet giggled.  “Umm … so, what about…”

“Ah,” Rachel used her free hand to scratch the back of her dirty scalp, releasing a soft hum; they didn’t know the exact reason why the island showed them the visions, and it might be easier not to go that deep into the topic or else it might open up some misunderstandings in Scarlet’s mind.  “Well … I know it might sound a little crazy, but actually … met a copy of your inner devil.”

Scarlet’s fingers flexed, slowing to a stop while staring up at her with widening eyes.  “Y-You don’t mean … you met … you met The Reaper of Blood?”

“Well, kind of,” Rachel mumbled, gently tugging her arm to get them moving again.  “She called herself Twilight, the creature that’s in-between, whatever that means, but it does correlate to your Twilight Branch that links your Scarlet and Reaper Trees.”

“Twilight,” Scarlet mumbled, vision falling to the nighttime jungle floor; sheens of light were passing through the dense canopy, but the darkness wasn’t an issue for them.  Alexa had to stay put because she couldn’t see much of anything without a guide.  “So … you don’t seem very scared?  Are you sure it was her?”

“No, not exactly,” Rachel replied, brushing back large ferns and flowers while making her way to the bright energy creature.  “The power of the curse we were under couldn’t actually copy Twilight; figures, right?  I mean, she’s super powerful … she talked about gods and goddesses like they were annoying bugs buzzing in her ear.”

“Woah … I wouldn’t be surprised, though,” Scarlet whispered, and a shiver ran through her body.  “H-How did it … why did the curse show you that?”

“I have a theory,” Rachel mumbled, “but the important part was what she told me … she’s the only reason we made it out of this alive.”

“Wait … you’re not joking?”  Scarlet asked, her tone becoming concerned.  “Nope…”

Rachel told Scarlet about much of the conversation she had with Twilight, including the exasperated and elitist mannerisms she displayed.  The part about people fearing and wanting power made Scarlet roll her eyes; it was an utterly different experience than what she’d experienced, but that only made sense because this was only the tiniest fragment of who Twilight really was.

Nam’s constructs managed to find them as Rachel told Scarlet about the experience with her demon, and he appeared to understand the message, which made her realize her brother’s intentions when talking to his wife below deck earlier.  It meant he’d personally witnessed the whole fight above the ship but hadn’t told Alexa about it; he didn’t like that she was getting involved with this dangerous side of his sister.

The construct vanished, and Rachel quickly wrapped up her story, causing Scarlet to huff with dissatisfaction.  “She sounds a whole lot more reasonable, and … she likes to mess with me; I hope she likes sleeping because it’s her sole hobby forever!  Freakin’ Twilight … like a flippin’ pony Alicorn.  Wow … I just can’t get that stupid image out of my head.”

Utterly lost on what a pony alicorn was, Rachel bypassed the remark.  “Just to keep it simple, I think we should probably not mention Twilight to the others.”

“Oh … uh, yeah, that uh … yeah, okay,” Scarlet mumbled, surprisingly conflicted.

“So … can you teleport us to Alexa?  She’s with Gisele right now, but … alone in a copy dimension’s scary dark jungle.”

Scarlet’s expression broke with concern.  “Oh, my goodness!  I’m so sorry!  Yeah, umm … where is she?”

Pointing the direction, Scarlet took several jumps through shadow before they finally reached her sister-in-law.

“Hey, Alexa, how are you feeling?”  Rachel asked as they appeared.

Alexa jumped at the sudden voice and shadow that appeared out of nowhere.  “Oh!  Uh … Rachel?  Eh … hey, is everyone with you?”  She asked with a sheepish smile, pulling back her hair; there was a hint of disappointment still in her voice.

“No, we came to get you first!”  Scarlet took a few steps forward to hug her as Alexa got up, brushing off her muddy knees, but stopped after thinking twice about how dirty she was.  “Umm … so, are you okay after whatever you saw?”

Rachel was slightly surprised to see Alexa show a full blush while scratching her neck, probably forgetting how easily they could see her in the dark.  “Uh … yeah, no, I’m just a bit, umm,” she swallowed a bit of saliva, “disappointed a bit, I guess.”

“Yeah … I get that,” Scarlet mumbled, the emotion evident in her tone.  “You don’t need to share it if it’s painful.”

Alexa’s half-smile fell a little while rubbing her neck, fist closed against her belly while shifting a bit shyly in the mud.  “Well … not really painful, per se, but just … a bit embarrassing.  I guess I know why it kind of made me believe that … umm, I was a magical girl,” she mumbled.  “I mean, I really want to help Nam with … ya know, what he’s going through, and I feel a little helpless, but … I can’t argue the thought hasn’t crossed my mind … magical powers would be fun … no, nevermind.”

Rachel giggled lightly.  “Is that why you wanted to join us?”

“... Kind of,” Alexa admitted with a wince.  “The adventure was super enticing, but I just want … to know a bit more about this stuff to try and help Nam.  He acts really tough, but I know some of the things he did at the Police Station and … well, how he feels about himself isn’t the same.”

Rachel’s smile fell a bit upon hearing the confession, remembering the position her family had been on the night of The Oscillation with the people attacking the Police Station, and the actions Nam had to take that obviously still haunt him.

She licked her lips, rubbing her own neck; it reminded her of the ease she could cause people pain and kill.  “Yeah … there’s a lot of bad that came with The Oscillation.”

Alexa took a deep breath, releasing it in a long puff.  “... Okay!  Umm, but if there’s anything you two want to talk about … was it really bad for you, Scarlet?”

“Uh … it was, but Rachel helped me get through it,” she mumbled, gripping her side.  “So … should we go find the others then?”

Rachel noticed the baby Sky Reaver acting a little discouraged on Alexa’s shoulder but dismissed it.  “Yeah … uh, we probably should leave Ohan to cool down a bit … he took the thing pretty bad.”

“Oof … he’s okay, though?”  Alexa asked.

“Yeah … but the jungle around him isn’t.  He’s sitting down right now, but I don’t think he’s really that calm by how his teeth are grinding and some of his movements.”

Scarlet’s vampiric eyes returned while scanning the area.  “What about Cahira?”

“Hehe, well … she took it surprisingly well.  I think her big vision was about completing this quest and getting a big haul.”

Alexa chuckled a little, hugging herself.  “I think that can actually come true, though.”

It also gave Rachel a good understanding of Cahira’s character; in her heart, she really just wanted the freedom to chase adventure, and she was alright with that.  She probably had the most surface-level emotions out of everyone she knew, wearing her heart on her sleeve for all to look.

“Okay, Scarlet, you want to grab her?”  Rachel asked with a bright smile.  “We can’t all squeeze in around you to teleport, and I don’t think Alexa would like the Blood Portal experience.”

“The what?”  Alexa questioned, adjusting her hair again as a breeze picked it up.

“Eh,” Scarlet forced a smile, “yeah, it’s another teleport thing I can do that’s, uh … pretty uncomfortable.  Maria HATES it, but yeah … I’ll go grab her … which is where?”

Rachel pointed out the direction of The Pirate Queen’s voice, and she rushed that way to grab the woman.  There was a rather strange discussion revolving around Cahira thinking Scarlet was there to join some kind of exhibitionist game?  Scarlet was probably piping red in the face at that because she swiftly rejected it.

Once the woman was secured, they used her shadow to get to the boat and report in; they passed the first trial.  Molly was pretty emotional about wanting to know what happened, but Sam calmed her down.

Finally, Scarlet snatched Ohan and pulled him to their location.

Cahira took the time to detail the strange dream that involved an unusual cricket creature and a puzzle, artifacts hidden around the island that Rachel actually solved.  While Rachel slaved away with the proper sequence, the rest of the crew had taken to lazing about the island, enjoying themselves.

One particular part about a romantic moment that sparked between her and both Legendkin caused Rachel’s ears and tail to remain stiff, but luckily she didn’t go into too much detail because it was beginning to heat Rachel’s chest; Alexa cried for more detail, but the discussion was swiftly dropped when Scarlet returned with Ohan.

The Samurai’s cold mood instantly dropped the atmosphere; his gaze shot between them, and the first thing he asked was, “What the hell was that?”

You are reading story The Oscillation at novel35.com

This was exactly what Rachel didn’t want to fully explain, but she understood why he’d be so up in arms about it.  “A curse.”

Ohan’s jaw tightened, his lips pulling in as his nose twitched with rage, hard glowing brown eyes locking on her.  “... What kind of curse would do that?”

Rachel took the glare without issue.  “The kind that doesn’t want you to ask questions while it works at stealing your ability to have desires … turning you into its slave, fully conscious of the act, but lacking any motivation to fight it once completed.”

“Who…”  Ohan asked, clearly to find the identity of the person he’d murder.

Cahira shook her head, shrugging with a soft frown.  “Can’t say, love.  From what the lass here says, it be a sort of ritual in the jungle.  Could be no one’s doin’ but this Quest’s.”

He didn’t appear to like that answer, but his temper was slowly calming.  “... Is there more … could there be someone that created it that we need to slay next?”

The Pirate Queen opened her mouth, shutting it soon after as Rachel butted in.  “Possibly, but it’s not for certain.  I discovered that there are two more trials next … and we should be very cautious.  We almost died in this trap … not all these challenges are about physical strength.”

“Then we should get going,” Ohan mumbled, glancing around.  “What’s next?”

“Wait, thar be two?”  Cahira asked, glowing blue eyes creasing with a thoughtful expression.  “Huh … well, I’ll be damned; how’d ya come by this savory bit of information?”

Rachel brushed back her hair while turning to the fiery-haired woman.  “It was revealed while the curse was breaking.”

“Oh, huh … I should keep a better eye out,” Cahira mumbled.  “I suppose there could be clues at the end of each trial…”

“Maybe,” Rachel shrugged.  “A hidden wooden door appeared after all the totems burned away.  That’s probably our next clue.”

“Which direction?”  Ohan prompted, jumping at the bit to destroy the next trial as if it had personally wronged him.

Cahira held up her hands with a forced laugh.  “Hol’up, big fella!  I’ve gotta nab the treasure on mi map above ground before we go below … who be knowin’ what trigger be sparkin’ next after we hop in the hole?”

“... I’ll wait by the entrance until you finish.”

Rachel released a soft sigh; Ohan was very upset by the vision he’d been sucked into, and it wouldn’t be easy dealing with his hovering grudge.  He could just jump in and start it without them being present, but it was a risk she’d have to take.  The issue was that she didn’t know the exact location anymore after they’d moved so often; there wasn’t any sound that would help her locate the area.

“Uh … to be honest, I don’t know,” she mumbled, glancing over at Scarlet before the Samurai could respond.  “Scarlet, could you scout around for a few miles?  It should be a clearing big enough to see from the sky.”

“Oh, sure!  Umm … then just come back and take Ohan there?”

“I’d appreciate it,” Ohan nodded, neutral tone returning.  “While you’re digging up treasure … I’ll look for clues around the site.”

“Okay, uh … sounds good!”  Scarlet said with a forced laugh, disappearing into shadows.

It didn’t take long for her to discover the area and deliver Ohan to the place.  She then teleported each of them to the direction Cahira pointed in, using her compass to determine the proper location.

They were on the shores across the island with a long jutting peninsula of sand running out to sea; the water washed up over the area every so often, causing the sand to stay wet.

Cahira glanced at her map and pointed at a location with glee.  “Uh … aye, we got ourselves buried treasure, mi lasses!”

A short wooden shovel appeared out of flames, and she handed it to Rachel.  “Ya seem like the most capable of the lot with grunt work, eh, mi girl?  Ah, maybe ya two would like washin’ in the sea first?”  She chuckled, eyeing Scarlet and her muddy appearance.  She chuckled, nudging her side.

“Uh, sure … Scarlet?”  Rachel gasped as the girl’s arms latched around her chest from behind with a giggle, vanishing with her in the shadows to appear over the ocean.

“Got ya!”  Scarlet snickered as the salty breeze rushed past them.

A smile lit Rachel’s lips as she took a deep breath; they hit the water, dropping meters below its surface.  The riptide they entered was fairly strong, but she could easily combat the force with Scarlet.

Rachel swiftly outpaced Scarlet, powerful dolphin-like kicks propelling her forward as dirt and mud were pulled off her body with the motions; Scarlet seemed to have more trouble with such a method, losing her bottoms at the first attempt and having to retreat to snatch them.

Scarlet took a bit longer to reach the shore, water dripping off her body as she exited, trudging through the waist-high currents as it tried to carry her back to sea; it succeeded once, pulling the sand out from under her feet to her shock and causing her to dip back below the waves.  Cahira and Rachel were the only ones to see it, chuckling at her struggles.

The girl’s cheeks were a bit heated with frustration when she finally made it out of the water, but she didn’t use her shadows; the PJ bottoms were tied much tighter around her hips, but it seemed part of the left leg had been torn off at the mid-thigh with her kicks from the damage they received during her fight with the bats.

“Missin’ a leggin’, mi lass!”  Cahira pointed out with a smirk.

“Yeah … I noticed,” Scarlet mumbled; her shirt was sticking to her bra, giving it an imprint.  “I think this place has a grudge against me … that was way more difficult than it should have been.”

“Hmm,” Rachel nodded with a small grin, “maybe … I mean, you did basically slaughter the first two challenges.”

“Right!”  Scarlet huffed, glaring down at her wet skin.  “Geez … Cahira, you don’t have any, uh … extra clothes, right?”

“‘Fraid not,” she replied with a forced smile.  “We’ll need ta complete this Quest to get ya some decent threads.”

“Is it really that bad?”  Alexa asked, moving closer to inspect her.  “Oof … wait, yeah … those aren’t gonna last much longer.”

“Ugh … can you check the back?”  Scarlet asked, grabbing her shoulder to try and sneak a peek.  “I feel like there’s just a lot more torn off … part of the cuts were from my own blood exiting too fast,” she grumbled.

“Oh … your blood comes out?”  Alexa asked with a soft hum.  “Wait, like Noblesse?”

“Uh … kind of,” Scarlet mumbled, waiting for Alexa to finish her inspection.  “More like Kuriyama Mirai, yea know, from…”

Alexa squealed.  “Kyoukai no Kanata?!  I love that show; she’s so cute!”

“I know!”  Scarlet replied, expression brightening with the topic.  “I can make all sorts of weapons, but I kind of like the scythe the most.  It makes me think of…”

Rachel took the purely wooden shovel Cahira offered her and began digging; the light of the falling Flush Moon and orange moon, mysterious effects overpowered by the pink sphere, still hanging in the sky to aid her.  The shovel broke four times, requiring Cahira to spend her own reserve energy to restore it.

They both listened to the girls fangirl out about topics far outside their realm of expertise.

“Oh, let me guess!”  Alexa hummed while inspecting her clothes in the overhead starlight.  “Uh … Haqua?”

“Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai,” Scarlet giggled, “but nope, wasn’t thinking about her.”

“Ruby Rose?”

“Ooh, close second!”

“Oh, oh, I know … umm, her name was … Shinoa Hīragi!”

“Ding, ding, ding!  I love the Owari no Seraph prequel light novel, and the manga is so good!  You know … even though it has Vampires, it’s, ya know … not that bad since they’re mostly enemies with the demons.  I actually read it all in incognito mode so my parents wouldn’t know,” she mumbled with a sheepish smile.

“Hehe,” Alexa’s tone died down a bit with a low groan.

“What?”

“Uh … I don’t know how long your bra strap is gonna last.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Scarlet cried with a moan.    “How bad is it?”

“I mean, there’s a few tears in the fabric, and if more are made or more pressure put on some parts … yeah, it could cause some trouble.”

“Ugh … okay, thanks, Alexa.”

“No problem!  Umm, yeah, so … oh, is Rachel already almost down to the chest?”

Cahira hummed softly.  “Broke four of mi shovels gettin’ there; she’s got the strength of a monster, alright.”

“... Thanks,” Rachel chuckled, standing in the waterlogged hole she was swiftly digging.  Water and sand were trying to fill in her efforts, but her speedy actions were outpacing the effort.  “Hey, Scarlet, mind making a small barrier around to stop the water?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, lips still pushed to the side with dissatisfaction from the news about her bra.

Scarlet created a circular barrier around her, causing the waves to bow around it, and within another minute, she’d struck a chest.

“That be the sound!”  Cahira cheered.

Digging her hands into the sand around it, Rachel’s feet sunk into the moist hole as she forced the box out with a loud suction sound, repositioning herself as the ground shifted.  Tossing it out, she worked herself back to the crew.

Cahira took out the key from her tight leather pants and popped it into the lock; no sand had gotten into the contraption.  A click sounded, and the lid was thrown back to reveal a rainbow-colored pearl nearly the size of the chest.

The Pirate Queen’s eyes sparkled.  “Oh, mi beauty; this be worth a fortune once we get ta Pirate’s Cove!”

“Uh … Cahira,” Rachel prompted, causing the woman to pull back her hair to give her a questioning look.  “I think you should increase your treasure hold a lot … this is a very high-level Legendary Quest, and I’m guessing your store is already almost filled.  I just think it would do you better to have the treasure than the combat points at this time since we’re helping you on that front.”

“Not a bad idea, mi lunar friend!”  Cahira grinned.  “Mmh … yer sayin’ I should upgrade mi ship’s size, eh … I suspect it be costin’ a pretty price, but … with ya helpin’ me on these adventures … I’ll drop the wager!  Hehe, yer not wrong, though, mi lass; my ship is bulgin’ at the seams with loot after those two hordes.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see the new ship!”  Alexa cheered.

“That be my hopes, too!”  Cahira replied, frowning down at the box.  “Eh … normally, I believe a crew would be the tool I’d use to bring back the spoils ta the ship.  Uh…”

“I got it!”  Scarlet raised her hand.  “Although, I mean … I’m kind of actually running out of blood … which is kind of crazy,” she chuckled.

“Oh, can I volunteer?”  Alexa hesitantly asked.  “I mean, you’re not going to drain me dry, right?”

“Eh, no, no,” Scarlet mumbled, “umm … I wouldn’t want to do it from you guys … maybe a monster we meet next.”

“Ah, I’m sure we’ll meet up with some beasties next,” Cahira urged.  “Aye, let’s get back mi ship; we need to store this precious cargo and upgrade the vessel!”

Scarlet used her Blood Portal to do it in one go with Alexa’s assurances that she’d endure however it felt.  They quickly hopped through, and sure enough, the blonde was a bit mortified by the experience of being touched everywhere as you passed through but played it off pretty well.  Scarlet figured out that if she stood at the halfway point, she could utilize Blood Portal at twice its distance since she could see them and the destination.

While everyone was answering questions, Cahira upgraded the ship with everyone onboard, causing a bit of panic as blue flames exploded across the vessel.

It kept its sleek red and black theme while expanding into what Cahira described Barquentine-class; a sailing ship with three or more masts.  This ship had three.

At 58 meters long, with a beam of 10 meters, and a draft of 4 meters, she was a decent size bigger than the previous vessel.  Her highest mast shot 35 meters into the sky, hull made of some unique hardened wood that was as strong as steel; a major upgrade was the ship had the aid of some form of saltwater electrohydrodynamic-based engine, utilizing the sea itself as fuel, which eased Cahira’s personal energy cost.  Much of the extra size, however, was dedicated to the Treasury.   Rachel could absolutely see the difference between the increased girth.

Selvaria had gone through a few slow healing treatments below deck while they’d been away and wanted to join them on the next challenge, eager to prove herself with the tone in her voice.  Rachel still wanted Anthony with her parents, and Alexa agreed to stay behind this time.

Maria was running lower on energy after everything she had to heal from Selvaria’s complicated body and outside of sunlight, so she was confined below the deck; she’d been crying out warning shouts when the ship started to change, though, which had a few people laughing.

Elena wanted to join, but after Twilight’s warnings, Rachel shot the girl down to her disappointment, but it dispersed when she mentioned she wanted her nearby to protect her family.

Rachel dismissively left her little Sky Reaver on the ship to look after things before heading out; with Selvaria joining them, they decided to trek the rest of the way to meet up with Ohan.  She figured with Cahira, a fully juiced up Selvaria as the tank, Ohan and herself, rocking Flush Moon energy, for close-combat, and Scarlet’s versatility, that they had a decent team.  

Again, Fiona came to Rachel’s mind; a lot of the issues could have been solved if they had the tiny OP Fairy girl that could scout by air and possibly solve the fog matter by being outside its effects from above.

Ohan was waiting to meet them, but Rachel was still concerned about how cool-headed he could be on this upcoming journey.  He could handle himself, she was sure, but rash decisions based on emotional rushes could affect others; she just hoped none of that would happen with the crew they brought.  The only real concern was probably Cahira; Rachel wasn’t sure how much the woman’s body could take.

They stopped outside the trapped door; Ohan mentioned he couldn’t find any other clue besides the strange symbols written on the ground that none of them could translate.  Scarlet decided to go first to check out the interior since she could just teleport out, and Rachel opened the trapped door.

Not a sound was made, which surprised Rachel’s ears as it smoothly lifted up; the only noise came from the plop as it struck the dirt.

They peered into the depths; it was a narrow hole that dropped over ten meters below with strange wooden handles and footholds as a ladder that appeared to be just wooden spikes stuck into the earth.

“Well … here I go!”  Scarlet said with a nervous chuckle.

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