Roy, looking like he hadn't slept since the invention of caffeine, slumped over the bridge console. "Alright, time to see what the Three Musketeers of my class are up to," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. The whole Noruma clinic had left him more stressed than a cat in a dog show. "Maybe seeing Emiko, Hina, and Alejandro will, I don't know, magically unclench my soul."
Eryndra, arms folded and looking like she could arm-wrestle a kraken and win, stood beside him. "Serenity's saying it's smooth sailing. We'll be there in half a day, give or take a sea monster detour."
"Smooth sailing sounds...suspiciously boring," Roy said, a sliver of hope poking through his cynicism. "After demonic seagulls, calamari of doom, and pirates who probably needed a good therapist more than a treasure map, I could use some actual quiet." He plopped into the captain's chair, attempting to achieve "relaxed," but mostly achieving "mildly less tense."
Beside him, the two Super Elite Presidroids, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, stood there like statues who'd really committed to the bit. Coats? Check. Mechanical limbs ready to do…something? Double check.
The quiet lasted about as long as a politician's promise. The klaxon went off, proving Murphy's Law was alive and well and living on the Nightshatter.
"Captain," Serenity's voice, so monotone it could cure insomnia, chimed in. "We've got a giant sea serpent. Two hundred meters off starboard. Size…exceeds 'holy crap' and is approaching 'we're all gonna die' territory."
Roy bolted upright, his brief flirtation with relaxation dying a swift, tragic death. "That's... not ideal. Visuals. Now. Please."
The screens lit up, displaying a serpent that looked like it had been hitting the gym and eating smaller boats for breakfast. Its scales were the size of super-sized coffin lids. Each one was basically a tiny, sharp death frisbee. The thing turned its head towards the Nightshatter, opening its jaw wide enough to swallow a minivan.
"Oh, please tell me it's not going to spit –" Roy started, because tempting fate is apparently his superpower.
The serpent, naturally, chose that moment to unleash a volley of those scale-frisbees. They whistled through the air like a chorus of very angry, very metallic birds.
"CIWS! Turn those scales into glitter!" Roy shouted.
The Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) did its thing, spinning and spitting bullets like a caffeinated Gatling gun. The scales were shredded into a surprisingly festive shower of metal confetti. The serpent hissed and launched more scales.
"More incoming!" Eryndra shouted, bracing herself.
A presidroid rushed in holding a sandwich. "Captain! Your sandwich!"
"Serenity!" Roy yelled, his eyes doing the pinball across the monitors, whilst managing to fit in a bite. "Fry its eyeballs with the laser! Then, uh, hit it with the big guns! The really big guns!"
"Affirmative," Serenity said. The laser array targeted the serpent's eyes. A beam of light zapped the monster's face. It thrashed and roared, sounding like a very large, very unhappy garbage disposal.
"Main guns, FIRE!" Roy yelled, slamming a button with the dramatic flair of a Shakespearean actor. A BOOM that could wake the dead rocked the Nightshatter. Shellfire ripped across the serpent's flank, tearing off chunks of scales, but the thing still wouldn't go down. Apparently, it was playing on "hard mode."
Eryndra's eyes widened, probably because she was the only one who noticed the giant tail whipping around. "Tail strike! Brace yourselves, people! This is gonna be… impactful!"
The ship shuddered like it had just been punched by a giant, watery fist. Roy stumbled, doing a little dance with the instrument panel. Dials went all red and blinky, and the hull groaned like a grandpa getting out of a chair. But, crucially, it held.
"Alright, that's it! No more Mr. Nice Captain!" Roy growled, wiping sweat from his brow and probably getting some sandwich on it. "Serenity, warm up the railgun! We're going full 'obliterate' mode!"
While the serpent did its best impression of a scale-spitting sprinkler system, the CIWS continued its confetti-making mission. Meanwhile, the deck started humming like a giant, angry beehive as the railgun's magnetic coils prepared to unleash some serious destruction.
"Railgun at full power, Captain," Serenity confirmed, still chillingly calm.
Roy, with a piece of his sandwich halfway to his mouth, managed a very dignified, "Fire."
A flash brighter than a star erupted from the front weapon. The railgun slug screamed across the water, a streak of superheated metal that went straight through the serpent's middle like a hot knife through...well, a giant sea serpent. The impact was so ridiculously loud that Roy assumed the ocean practically exploded. When the mist cleared, the serpent was in two pieces, sinking like a pair of very heavy, very dead weights. Blue blood spread across the waves.
Roy just stood there, blinking, his heart trying to break the sound barrier. Then, he let out a laugh that was about 50% relief, 50% "super relief. "Well... that's one way to file a 'sea monster complaint'," he managed, finally.
By late afternoon, the Nightshatter docked at the Triplet Village, which now looked like it had actually gotten its act together. More walls made of stone, wood, a few new non-classmate villagers were milling about in the 2nd section behind the newly built 3rd Wall. As roy made his way through the village, multiple classmates were giving Eryndra the side-eye.
Greta, looking like she'd been wrestling with an engine and the engine had won, jogged over. "Captain! You're back! You missed, like, a ton of stuff! We've got walls! We're trading! We've got a freakin' wizard who offered to teach us! Apparently all a handful of us students can tap into the latent extraordinary!"
"Sounds...surprisingly productive," Roy said, stepping through the gate that led from the new, super-official concrete dock to the 1st sector. "No giant monster attacks, I hope?"
In a way, it still felt strange having Greta show him kindness. She never physically harmed him in the past, but certain laughed whener other bullied him.
Alejandro, one of the triplets, waved from a newly-built watchtower. "Just some pathetic pirates and raiders who took one look at our walls and weapons then decided they had better things to do! And, hey, check out our catapults! They're fancy!" He pointed at a row of catapults that looked like they'd been designed by a committee of medieval engineers with a serious gunpowder fetish.
Greta beamed. "We're making them better! We're using learning enchantments to make them stronger and more durable. Plus, we're recycling the bullets from Stella's infinite assault rifle for gunpowder and scrap metal to plate the sector Walls! It's, like, genius-level resourcefulness!"
Roy nodded, impressed despite himself. "Not bad, Greta. Using your...brain... Good job."
She grinned. "Exactly! We need these things to pack a punch! Like, a serious punch!"
Meanwhile, Eryndra was getting the full "who the heck is that?" treatment from more of the students. She gave them a polite nod, which promptly sent them scurrying away like startled squirrels.
Takara, looking like she'd just run a marathon in a sauna, emerged from a side alley. "Roy! You're here! And...who's she?"
Roy shifted, suddenly feeling like he was in the middle of a very awkward soap opera. "Uh, that's Eryndra. My...ex-wife. Sort of."
Takara's eyes widened. "Ex-wife?! You got hitched and divorced in less than a mith?! What, did you have a shotgun wedding on a deserted island?! Who was the pastor, Blackbeard?!"
Roy blushed, because this was not how he wanted this conversation to go. "No, no, you idiot! This is the copy of Yance's box-wife. I let her out of the box, right, after... the box... thing."
Takara's gaze shifted to Eryndra, with a facial expression. But she straightened up, a determined glint in her eyes. "I've been training. I'm ready, so if you are even letting ex-wives on the ship now? I should be able to come too."
Roy sighed. "Eryndra is..." he winced, "she's special. If that doesn't make sense, good."
"So an ex-wife gets a pass, but I can't even—?"
Roy winced. "I am not calling you not-special. If you can figure out what's special about her I'll give you the ship!"
She glared at Eryndra, but Roy didn't explain, to Takara's visible dismay, so she continued on, "I can help! Enchantments! Weapons! Armor! I can make things, like, super durable!"
Roy frowned. "Look, I'm not trying to build a harem here. And, crew safety regulations...and such. Plus, I can't have anyone who may push me off the ship."
"What? It's not fair!" Takara snapped, sounding like a teenager denied a trip to the mall. "If I can prove I'm useful, will you let me join? Huh? Will you?"
Roy sighed, exchanging a look with Eryndra that probably said help me. "Alright, fine. Here's the deal. You block one of my artillery shots with an enchanted shield. One shot. Real ammo. If it survives, I'll consider it. But don't come crying to me if you fail. Get better and try again later."
Takara's jaw set. "Deal! You're on!"
Greta, clearly enjoying the drama, fetched a steel plate. Takara scribbled glowing runes on it with a sphere of light on her fingertip, muttering incantations like she was ordering a really complicated pizza. Teddy and Lincoln stood guard, their mechanical eyes evaluating everyone around. A small crowd gathered, because who doesn't love a good "will she or won't she get blown up" spectacle?
Takara finished her enchanting, the runes glowing with a faint, slightly pathetic light. Roy did his best to pretend he wasn't shocked to see a classmate use magic.
"Okay," Roy said, as one of the Nightshatter's medium sized artillery cannons swiveled to face the shield. "Put the shield on that stand. And then, uh, maybe run away."
Takara set the plate on a wooden stand, her hands shaking.
"Fire!"
The BOOM was loud and the shell hit the shield...and went straight through it like it was made of paper-mâché. The steel was shredded, the runes fizzled out, and Takara's hopes and dreams went up in a puff of very un-magical smoke.
Takara's shoulders slumped. "It...it wasn't ready," she whispered, sounding like she was about to cry.
Roy sighed, feeling a pang of guilt that was quickly overshadowed by relief that she wasn't a red smear on the landscape. "Sorry, Takara. You tried. That's...something."
Takara looked up, "I can get stronger..."
Roy winced. "You 'need' to get on the ship, right? This ocean? It's full of stuff, BAD stuff. Nightmares. Things that would make you wish you'd stayed home and taken up, like, competitive knitting. That's not a slam, if I thought you could handle this I'd say so, but you are not ready," he explained eloquently. In reality, he almost 1 for 1 lifted those words from a movie he saw.
Takara's eyes were filled with a mixture of disappointment. "Fine. I'll just...train harder," she muttered, stomping off.
Alejandro gave Roy a look that said, "You're a bit of a jerk, but I understand. Also, sweet movie reference."
Greta cleared her throat, looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. The crowd dispersed, probably to place bets on when Takara would snap and start enchanting things to explode.
Later in the day, Roy was sitting on a half-built wall with Eryndra, watching the sunset paint the sky in shades of "slightly less apocalyptic than usual." Below them, the catapults gleamed, students were practicing runes, and Takara was sulking in a corner, probably plotting Roy's demise via enchanted cutlery.
"I feel bad," Roy muttered, sounding like a sad puppy. "I know we have known each other since before I can remember, I just don't want her to, you know, die horribly on my ship."
Eryndra shrugged, because she was apparently the queen of emotional detachment. "But you're right. She'd be a sea monsters snack in about five seconds."
He nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. "It's a tough job, being the Captain of Not Getting People Killed."
"It's kinda funny hearing you say that while covered in crumbs," Eryndra said as she brushed crumbs of a sandwich off his vest.
Silence settled between them, filled only with the sounds of village life and the distant, ominous rumble of something that probably shouldn't exist.
Roy stood up, brushing off some existential dread. "We'll stay another night. See how things are progressing, maybe check out the 'wizard'. Tomorrow, we sail again. Back to the, you know, watery abyss of doom."
Eryndra gave him a small smile, trying to be encouraging. "The Nightshatter awaits its captain."