Serena’s thoughts were muddled - like pushing through tar - she tried to figure out why the old stairwell was oddly familiar. She had been here before, but when? It felt like… the Vengeance’s stairwell. However, things were different and not quite right. Where were the steel deck plates? Why were there greasy oil lanterns hanging from the walls instead of the usual aetherlights?
“I’m dreaming again,” she muttered, the sound of her voice reaching her ears a half second after she spoke. An unnatural fog clung around her, muffling sounds and preventing the light from reaching too far. Serena unhooked one of the oil lanterns and cast it about, peering through the darkness. The tal hinge on the lantern squeaked as she moved.
There it was again.
The heavy wood door stood before her. The familiar words etched into it. Fourth Deck. Why was she here again? Serena tried to think and rember. There was sothing… sothing about Alia.
She found her hand holding the key. The captain’s key. She looked at it. Why was it here? Serena slowly moved her eyes to the defiant door in front of her. There was sothing coming from within. Serena pressed an ear against the hard wood.
Music. Singing. The mournful song flowed into her ears, and she couldn’t stop a tear from falling down her cheek. Why would soone so talented be singing such as sad song? Serena felt a chill, a sudden drop in temperature, and the song stopped. She looked down and saw she had inserted the key into the lock.
“No,” she whispered, “The fourth deck is off-limits, even to the captain”. Serena forced herself to remove the key, and as she did, it evaporated into white mist. “Only the one who made the agreent may enter,” she mumbled.
When had she learnt that?
Heavy footsteps sounded above her.
“Who’s there!?” She called out, the delayed and muffled sound disorientating her speech. Serena scrambled up the stairwell, chasing after the person. “Wait!” She yelled, following the noises through twists and turns of the corridors, only her oil lamp giving her any light.
Serena turned a corner as the sound of a door closing echoed in the space. It was a familiar door with familiar brass lettering upon it.
Captains Quarters.
“This is my room…” she whispered, placing a hand on the doorknob and twisting. She stepped through and found herself not in a room but standing on a field of fog that reached out as far as she see. There were no walls and no ceiling. Just darkness and a floor of fog.
There was sothing else. A man, sitting in a chair, facing away from her. He wore a brown uniform, and the edges of a grey bushy beard could be seen. On his head, he wore a triangle-shaped hat. A captain's hat.
Serena approached him but found that the closer she got, the harder the fog beca to walk through. It was pushing her back, resisting her presence like it didn’t want her there.
“Hey!” She called out. The man turned his head slightly.
“You’re here.” A deep, gruff voice croaked out that seed oddly familiar. She couldn’t place it.
“Who are you?” She asked, fighting against the fog. She was a few ters away from the man but could not get closer, no matter how much she exerted. The fog began frothing, becoming agitated at her continued attempts. It clung to her now, working its way up her body.
“You’ve committed a cardinal sin. There will be a punishnt.” Grumbled the man.
“What sin!?” Serena yelled. “Who are you!?”
A mont of silence while the fog engulfed her, blocking her vision. At the last mont, she saw the man had begun to turn into white mist.
“Too late… You must protect the girl...”
“Protect who? Alia!?” She choked out as her vision turned back, and she was wrenched from the dream into the waking world.
“Alia!” Serena shouted, sweat running down her forehead.
“Hello, yes, that’s my na.” Ca the reply.
Alia, wearing her white and blue uniform, stood in the doorway to the bedroom. She was carrying a plate of steaming sardis. Her mouth opened as she tilted her head in confusion.
“Were you having a nightmare?” She asked.
Serena took a few monts to calm down. Yes, it was a nightmare. “Quick!” She exclaid, “Pen and paper!” Seeing Alia hesitate for a mont, she leapt from the hammock and pushed past her into the office space. She sat down on her desk and began trying to rember the events.
“Fourth deck… fourth deck… was it open or locked?” She scribbled what she could rember. Was there music? There was a man. Soone had committed a sin. It didn’t fit together! Damn it!
Sothing at the end. She had to protect soone.
“What’s going on?” Alia asked.
Alia. She had to protect Alia. Who told her that?
“Anathor,” she said. The moose responded almost imdiately.
“Yes, captain?”
“I think the ship is trying to talk to . I’m having dreams again.”
“Hmm… Can you understand it?”
“I don’t know!” Serena stopped her hands from grabbing her horns. “It’s all… foggy. It vanishes from my mind as soon as I wake. It feels different from the previous tis. Has the ship said anything to you?”
“... No, captain, although…” Another paused for a mont, “It has been more… active recently. Ever since Miss Thornheart cast that wonderful healing spell.”
“?” Alia questioned. “Did I heal the ship?”
“I do not know, little one,” Anathor replied. “There is a chance… so of your magic soaked into the fourth deck. It may explain so of the things I have been sensing. Have any of you been hearing… music at all?”
“Music?”
“Yes.”
“There was music in my dream. Soone singing… I think,” Serena said, re-reading her notes. “I can’t rember anything else! Are you hearing music, Anathor? Alia?” The girl shook her head.
“Sotis…” Ca the gruff voice.
“Is it sothing that’s a concern for us?” Serena eyed the moose.
“... No. Only echoes of the past. If Miss Thornheat could avoid casting that spell again unless absolutely needed… if it happens too many tis, we could be in violation of the agreent.”
Serena rubbed her eyes. She would need to ruminate on this later. “How far from Kenhoro, Anathor?”
“Two hours, captain. Mainland will be within visual range soon.”
“Are we still being escorted?”
“Yes, captain.”
“Before any of that…” Alia put the plate of sardis in front of her, and its delicious sll finally reached her nostrils. “Eat before it gets cold!” the healer exclaid with a smile.
“You got us breakfast?”
“I got you breakfast. I wanted to eat together, but couldn’t resist! I had my share on the way back! The head cook gave a little extra. So…” Alia shuffled on her feet, looking everywhere but at Serena.
“So…?” Serena mimicked, placing the first piece of sardis in her mouth. Seven hells, it was even better than yesterday! She could imdiately feel her mood improving and the stress of the nightmare fall away.
“So what’s the plan, with ?”
Serena swallowed. “Since you’re up, head to To’s quarters. He’s got sothing to give you. There’s not enough ti for a lesson on your letters, but he can give you so more information about Kenhoro, so you don’t do anything completely stupid.”
“You’re not going to keep trapped on the ship!?” The girl raised both hands in the air. “Thank you!”
“You thought I would keep you locked up in here?” Serena asked, seeing Alia nod in response. “When we make land, we will all be finding quarters in Kenhoro. Only the engineers need to stay close, as they’ll be making use of the dock’s cranes to repair the ship properly, as well as install a new turret. They’ll be working day and night, so the noise from the steam grinders and rivet guns will prevent anyone from sleeping.
“So crew mbers have family hos they can stay at. Most will stay in the barracks. I don’t think putting you in a barracks and mixing with other crews is a good idea, so we’ll be renting a place.”
“We?”
“Yes, we,” Serena said, not missing the sparkle in Alia’s eyes and the grin she failed to hide. “I’m keeping you close until you understand a bit more about how things work. After a week or two of supervision, I don’t see why you can’t be left to wander about the city and surroundings yourself. I can’t keep you chained to forever, can I?”
“I suppose… not.”
“There are so hotels I’ve stayed in before. One is owned by a family friend, so we’ll try there first.”
“Okay!” Alia gave a characteristic thumbs up. “I’ll head to To’s then… but before that… can you give your hand?” Alia reached out her hand, palm facing upwards. Serena narrowed her eyes. What was she up to now?
“Why?”
“So I can heal you! You had a nightmare, right?”
“... I don’t need healing.”
“Well, I need the practice. Please?” Alia wobbled her hand, inviting Serena to grasp it. Serena sighed and then accepted the request. Their hands clenched together, and for a few seconds, nothing happened.
“Well?” Serena asked.
“Ah, sorry! Here I go!” Golden light with blue flecks flowed down Alia’s arm into Serenas' body. She felt the familiar warmth of a comfortable hug across her entire self. Her mind settled, her emotions stabilized, and she felt fully awake, despite not having her morning coffee.
“Thanks. That… helped.” She said. Alia’s magic was really sothing. She felt full of life. The healer flashed a triumphant smile.
“No problem! Can I do this every morning? It helps practice and would help you… start the day?” Alia’s eyes took on a pleading look, and once again, a mory of the wolf pup she had raised as a young girl ca to mind.
“... Fine.”
“Thanks!”
“... You can let go now,” Serena said, eyeing their joined hands, which was now becoming awkward.
“Can I also put a ward on you? For protection?”
“You can do that? Maintain it from a distance?” Maintaining wards on her own body was impressive enough, but for Alia to do that to another person was a whole other level of capability. It was like a warrior maintaining an aura on a weapon that wasn’t in their hands.
Although given what she suspected Alia to be capable of, it wasn’t that surprising.
“I think so… I’ll have to see. Can I try?”
“Which ward?”
“The Ward of Thew. It gives a general boost to all your… uh… to your capabilities. Makes you a bit stronger and gives you an all-round defence against physical attacks. It should stack well with your own aura.”
“First-circle, right?”
“Yeah, I want to start with sothing small first. See how my aether reserves handle it.” Alia explained. Serena thought about chastising her for referring to an Aseco ward as sothing small but decided against it. They had been holding hands for nearly a minute now, and Serena didn’t want to drag it out any longer.
It would be awkward if her hand started to sweat.
“Alright, try it.”
“Okay! One mont!” Alia’s eyes focused on nothing, and Serena sensed the spell forming within her. The aether frothed and turned as it got ready to be expressed by its master’s intention. “First circle. Ward of Thew.” Alia chanted, and Serena’s body began imdiately glowing with golden light.
She clenched her free hand and then, removing her other hand from Alia’s, clenched that one as well. She was definitely stronger. She knew her capabilities very well. This was at least a quarter increase for sure, maybe more. Unbelievable.
Sothing small, apparently.
“How’s your aether holding up?” She asked Alia, who was grinning at her wildly.
“It’s good! I want to see how it changes with distance!” Alia bounced to the far side of the room and then back. “Doesn’t seem to be any difference. How does it feel?”
“Great. I never imagined I would be touched by the Aseco’s grace of gold. It’s incredible, to be honest.” Thankfully, the only witnesses to this were Anathor and both of them. If it got out that a demon had been warded by Aseco spellwork, it would cause a diplomatic incident between Cascadia and the Federation. “I can’t exactly walk around glowing, though, can I? Best to cancel it for now.”
“Not just yet! Let try sothing else! Hand!” Alia reached out to Serena, who accepted the request once again. Alia closed her eyes for a mont, and the aether inside her tumbled and boiled before suddenly settling down. “No, not like that…” Alia mumbled, and the aether again beca frantic. “Like that!” Alia said, opening her eyes which were shining blue. “Third circle. Cloak of Secrecy,” the healer said, and imdiately, the golden glow dimd to almost nothing.
Serena resisted an urge to swallow. Did this idiot just cloak an externally cast ward? She had never heard of that happening. Was it even possible? Apparently so.
“Have you… ever done this before?”
“Yes! Although not in this… you know.” Alia trailed off, smart enough not to keep vocalising the reality of her soul and body, regardless of where they were.
Serena released her hand from Alia’s once again and focused inwards. She could feel the ward still, a subtle shimr, like her aura. They were laced together, forming sothing far stronger than what they could do alone. Serena stood up and walked around the quarters, adjusting her body to the change. “How’s the aether now?” She asked.
“Still good. I’ll cancel it from a distance if it ever becos a problem, but for now, I’d like to keep it going,” Alia shrugged, suddenly looking shy. “After what happened at the port… I’d feel a lot better if I could protect you in so way.” Serena stopped, noting the girl had begun to blush a little.
This idiot kept doing things that were making her heartbeat kick into gear.
Serena resisted a sigh. From the dream she had just experienced, it was possible that the ship was requesting that she protect Alia. If that was true, then she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do! The one who was supposed to be under her protection was protecting her!
“I see. Let know if it becos a problem. Don’t hesitate to cancel it if you need the aether, especially when we’re separated over greater distances in the city.”
“Mmm! I’ll keep it in mind!”
“Good,” Serena collected her thoughts. “I need to wash up, then head to the bridge, make sure the docking goes alright,” She pointed a finger at Alia, “You head to To’s now, alright?”
“Okay!” Alia bounced to the door, poised to open it. “One more thing!”
“What is it now…?”
Alia gave her a cheeky grin. “If you keep snoring during the night, I’m going to kick you in your sleep!” She flung the door open and vanished before Serena could respond.
Tsk! What an idiot she was!
Alia was the one who snored!
“Hang on, why are all of the major cities on mountains? Doesn’t it make farming difficult?” Alia asked.
“Did the captain not go over this with you?”
“Not really, she said you would give a history lesson.”
Alia was sitting in To’s quarters which was the epito of organization. She couldn’t yet read the nurous labels that were attached to everything, but she could see there was so highly complex system of colour-coding that Tos had applied to the room.
Tos had been giving her the rundown on Kenhoro. Being close to the front line and to a country called the Sabanis Dominance, it had a constant stream of demon and human travellers and rchants. Apparently, about one in five of the population was human, and there were even human-majority districts in so parts of the city.
She interrupted him, however, as he made an offhand comnt about how the entire city was located in the mountains like all the others.
“I see. I guess I should start at the beginning.”
“Yes, please!”
“One thousand years ago, many-”
“Wow, when you say at the beginning you really an it, huh?” Alia couldn’t stop her outburst and felt herself be crushed under To’s glare. “Sorry…” She muttered.
“One thousand years ago,” Tos continued, intentionally pausing, daring her to interrupt again. “One thousand years ago, many nations - both demon and human - inhabited the Cascadia continent. Back then, there were no airships. No firearms. No steel. The Words were unknown to us. Everyone lived on the ground, prospered, fought wars and got on with life. Cascadia saw it all, floating in the sky as it always had done… and then!” Tos flourished with hands, bringing his two fists together. “A collision!”
Alia felt her eyes go wide. She had to admit the man had a talent for storytelling. She felt like a kid being told stories by a grandfather.
“Our continent collided with unknown dark lands in the far north, and from these treacherous lands ca legions of black beasts! Titanic creatures that sought to destroy all life!” Tos threw his hands dramatically in the air. He was definitely enjoying himself.
“Oh my!” Alia exclaid.
“They were led by the chaos god known as Anathema, although most people refer to it as the Malignant Darkness.” Tos raised a finger to his lips. “Don’t say the first na out loud, it brings bad luck!” Alia nodded frantically.
“They butchered their way across the continent in a century-long invasion we call The Long Discordancy. Outmatched and facing extinction, humans and demonkind fled to the mountaintops and plateaus, where we built our fractured civilization on higher ground. The invaders spread with them an inhospitable wilderness, the ancestor to the great forest that blankets the world even today!”
“And it was in one of these desperate small plateau kingdoms,” Tos continued, raising a finger, “That a young woman was born, a talented mage that led her subordinates to battle against the enemy forces. Her hellfire spells burned the black legions to ash, and bit by bit, they began to win!”
“Only then did the avatar of the enemy appear. He was far stronger than anything that had co before! Hellfire tickled his skin, and swords broke upon him! The young mage battled him for seven days and seven nights, but she was not strong enough! It was then, when all seed lost, all her subordinates laying dead around her, that the future empress communed the First Word and Spoke for the very first ti!”
“What then!?” Alia had drawn her knees up, lost in the story. She could see it now in her mind, a beautiful demon - who looked just like Serena - in shining armour conquering a great evil!
“Then, Elana took her place on what would later be called the True Throne, fashioned out of the skeleton of the avatar himself, and began the long process of expelling the invaders from the continent, gathering all to her cause. This reconquista took eighty years, and during this ti, Elana communed the Second Word! The wilderness was pacified, and the most dangerous beasts were slaughtered. So descendants species remain even today if you go deep enough.”
“Once the enemy had been forced back to their ho continent to lick their wounds, Elana - who was only a queen then - knew it would only be a matter of ti before they communed their own Words. So she marched to the point of collision and prayed to the higher gods for seven years! Eventually, her faith reached a great god of hellfire, who communed the Third Word with Elana, and when she Spoke it, the enemy land was driven from our sky, never to be seen again!”
Tos took a much-needed breath. “Then, returning ho, she was content in ruling as a benevolent queen. However, the kingdoms began to fall back into their own ways, fighting over land and religion. She knew they had to be united should the enemy ever return. Therefore over the next century, Queen Elana unified much of the continent and ford the Empire of Cascadia and beca Empress! That was a bit over eight hundred years ago, and we have prospered ever since under her rule! The end!”
Alia clapped enthusiastically. “That was a great story, uh, not a story. A great telling of history! Thanks, Tos! You did kinda skip over the last eight hundred years, though…”
“Hmm…” Tos said, scratching his jaw. “I rembered halfway through I have two hundred crew paynts I need to docunt and balance, so I skipped the latter chunk. So of the books on the captain’s shelves are history books, so you can dig deeper when you learn to read Imperial.”
“Oh, okay! Well, it explains why all the major cities are in the mountains. Do many people live on the ground?”
“Yes, as populations grew and the need for more fertile farmland beca urgent, more effort was put into clearing more forest. As of today, every major city has significant ground around it that is cleared for farming. Nurous small towns and villages have popped up there as well. Practically the entire Centralis basin is cleared of forest and has been for a while now.”
“I see! I can’t wait to see Kenhoro!” Alia was itching to walk on land. The ti on Port Highwind was so short, and then she had been stuck onboard for a week! She was definitely getting claustrophobic.
“That reminds , take this.” Tos fished out sothing from his person. “Captain gave this to . It’s a symbol of her house, the Halen House. There’s a good chance you’ll be stopped at random tis and asked about who you are and what you’re doing. Showing them this should clear things up.”
He handed her the dark tal piece, which had a silver carving of a wolf attached. “Take this and wear it around your neck.” He gave her a piece of string, which she threaded through a hole in the tal and tied it to form a makeshift necklace.
She would definitely treasure this for the rest of her life!
“Myself, Dagon or the captain will be with you at all tis during the first week so that you find your feet in the city. We can give you an advance on your first month's paynt, so you have so money to spend. Any questions?”
Alia shook her head. “Nothing cos to mind!”
“Right. I have so work to do. We don’t have ti to start on letters properly, but we’ll go over the numbers. Look here: This is the imperial script for number one….” Tos wrote down all the numbers from one to twenty and told her to go practice in silence.
Alia obeyed, happy to finally learn so Imperial. It seed to be in base ten, but the numbers from ten to twenty had their own special symbol. After that, things seed to flow in the sa manner as they did in her old world. She lost herself in the task, and before she knew it, she was filling out the fifth page.
“We’re landing,” Tos said, barely looking up.
“We are!? Are we even moving? I can barely feel it!”
“The last part of landing takes the longest. Heavy ships like the Vengeance will spend twenty minutes coming into dock at half a knot or less.”
“Why so slow?”
“Because the ship is thousands of tonnes of tal, wood and demon. If that hits the side of a building or a crane at anything above a knot, it’ll plough straight through simply due to inertia. Battleships co in even slower.”
Alia squird in her seat, her excitent rising. Soon she would be outside! On the mainland!
“Any mont now, we’ll hit the keel blocks, and the shoring arms will attach to the hull to hold it in place…” As Tos finished, a jolt rippled through the ship's structure. It felt similar to the last mont of a train pulling into a station.
Alia tapped her feet like an excited child.
They had arrived in Kenhoro!
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