Vera stood at the edge of a half broken ship, barely functioning as a raft. It was a horrible series of events that haunted her.
As soon as Naren killed the Basilisk, there was only a minute of peace before the fleshy walls began to contract. Self contained and meticulous rumbling sent the the two surfing down the canal of the creature that Vera would much rather never experience again.
If the stench wasn't bad enough, the only thing they managed to salvage as they dove out of the creature's behind, were only loose pieces of planks, barely resembling even half of a ship. The only silver lining was the creature diving deep into the sea soon after.
Now Vera was left alone to her thoughts as the only other human nearby slept like a log. Her eyes drifted along the glistening black sea. Only now could she fully absorb everything that happened.
The slaves aboard the ship, the soldiers, even that subhuman Sergeant. They were all now floating around in the deep depths where light would never kiss their skins again. The last words of Boris, his face as he mangled himself to stay in control.
Vera's stomach lurked, her insides pouring out into the ocean secluding them. Wiping her mouth, her thoughts were scattered. Then she grabbed onto the most recent one she could think of staring at her hands. The stinging sensation of when Naren slapped her hand.
Staring over at the sleeping curly headed boy the words he said echoed in her head: "I'll take you home."
The thoughts of her mother, her family, her home came flooding back. Especially the very second her mother pushed her out of the way, falling into the infinte void below. But above all, the fear of it all came back.
'Why did I say I wanted to go home. I don't want that. What's wrong with me.'
The truth was she said it in the heat of the moment. Her surviving the Basilisk. No, it must've been before that. The matter of fact way Naren spoke about finding his sister.
'What's so wrong about not wanting to. I'd rather survive.'
"Naren...Sir, you must wake up."
She nudged the curly haired boy with her foot, his eyes springing open. Naren was perpetually tired, used to sleeping twelve hours a day at least, but he was easily woken up. And when he woke up, it became that much harder to go back to sleep.
The red-haired boy grumbled as his heavy eyes let in barely enough light to see Vera's figure over head. Immediately regretting it, Naren flipped over to his side.
Vera continued shaking Naren.
"Naren! You must get up! I-I'm famished..."
Her voice trailed off as her stomach's grumbles took over.
Naren sprung up, his golden eyes half covered. He shoved a hand on Vera's mouth.
"Mmmgg mmphm mhh."
"So loud. What'd you want."
Now that he was finally up, she didn't know what to say. In fact, she didn't even really know him. To her, Naren was a total mystery. Someone who popped in out of nowhere. With some magical abilities letting him teleport around.
In fact...He was quite scary.
Vera didn't even realize she was staring when she spoke out.
"Pardon my rudeness...but...what are you?"
Naren titled his head. A grim look in his eyes.
"I'm cursed."
Vera's face was shrouded in an unidentifiable emotion. Something like pity mixed with guilt. Even a bit of fear in it.
"Like a witch..?"
"Like my sister."
An uncomfortable beat of silence filled their dingy raft. Only the sounds of waves crashing could be heard. As well as the occasional bird.
"...your sister had cursed you?"
"Yup. Now people keep forgetting me."
The atmosphere was almost as murky as the water around them. Vera didn't know what to say and Naren didn't care to hear it. Suddenly, their little partnership seemed to be the furthest from being feasible.
Vera opened her mouth to speak, but their makeshift dinghy finally began to let out. Assuming it was just the poor engineering between the two, Vera waived her head over the edge. Her face immediately paling and pulling back.
"What's up?"
Naren followed suit, seeing Vera all shaken up and trembling.
His eyes narrowed as his face went pale.
"Where's the ground...?"
The black restless murky waters that had been carrying them for the past hour was suddenly dozens of meters under them. Suspended in the air, the dinghy was held up by a obsidian pillar of water.
And just as suddenly as Naren's heart dropped, so did the rogue pillar.
The dinghy came crashing down, slamming onto the ground, splitting the crude ship in two.
Naren's eyes bulged our of his face as he watched Vera being taken away. He scampered towards the other half of the dinghy, the little girl still cowering from the initial shock.
He managed to grab hold of the edge pulling back using it all his strength. Trying and shaking as the rough waves continued to ellipse all around them. Oscillating into large pillars of pure black geysers.
"Shrimpy...Do something!"
The waves came crashing down next. Coming from angles that shouldn't have been possible, like there were no currents in these black waters. Naren's grip began to dwindle as he finally decided to abandon his half of the dinghy jumping onto Vera's.
He looked onto the sea as his previous vessel got sent into an upwards ascent at least thirty meters into the air, before coming back down and splintering into a hundred pieces.
He grimaced as he tried shivered, all wet and cold.
"Why's the sea so mad?!"
As the words left his mouth, the dinghy flipped, swallowed up by the sea. The rough waters seemed to pulling them down, a short water spout materializing, wrapping itself around Naren's legs.
He panicked, grabbing onto the free little girl, who let out a little screech as they both began being drawn deeper into the depths.
As the spout disappeared, they were met with even worse troubles.
A large reptilian creature swam through the waters circling the two. The only thing visible through the murky depths were the soft glint of its razored maw. As if smiling at the little feast it would enjoy.
Naren grabbed hold of Vera, trying to use her as a shield as the beast swam at them aggressively. The little girl kicking and screaming as she tried to break free.
But in the last moment, it was yanked deeper into the depths. The same torrenting spout grabbing hold of its new victim.
A couple seconds later, the two finally broke the waters surface. Gasping for air as their lungs celebrated in respite.
Vera's breathing was even more haggard and ragged than Naren as she quickly turned her attention towards him. Immediately, kicking and splashing water at him, trying to attack.
"You good for nothing thug!"
"Woah, all the fancy words are gone."
"How the he— How on earth can you use a maidan as a shield! You brute!"
"It's back!"
Naren swam back, noticing a stray piece of lumber from their once magnificent vessel. He grabbed hold of it, pulling his chest over.
'Thank you for staying strong...SS Dinky 2...'
He outstretched his hand to Vera, pulling her aboard the plank as well.
"Me? Use you as a shield? Why would someone as noble as me—"
A flick of dark waters splashed over Naren before he could finish his sentence. Vera muttering to herself: "What have I done to deserve such a fate...Stuck in the black sea with an ingrate."
Naren hung over that last sentence. The black sea. Alice would go on and on about how dangerous it was.
A sea that saw no consistency in neither navigation nor meteorology. Where the creatures could be as large as islands or as small as a blood vessel, both capable of leading an entire town to extinction. It was a hellish sea that only shaman ever crossed one that even they were unsure if they'd live through.
The black sea, which seemed to breath as if it lived to kill.
It was only now that he understood how tumultuous it was. Even after almost dying, the sea had somehow returned to a tranquil calm like nothing had ever happened.
"What on earth..."
Naren was taken out of his thoughts as he followed Vera's gaze. A fishing boat at the end of it.
He grew excited at first before fixating on something else. Right by the ship, something was floating. Bobbing silently in the water was something brown.
It wasn't until it got closer that Naren realized what it was.
A man...drowning.
"What the hell..."