Going a bit Overboard [America Braide]

Althea gripped the side of the vessel with one hand, the other clamped over her mouth.  She felt like she wanted to die right there and then on that wretched boat which kept swaying back and forth.  The wizard’s knees barely able to support her at all, and eventually they gave in, Althea practically sprawled out everywhere on the boat.  She was warned by Tethys, the dragon who had taught Althea water dragon slayer magic, that transportation wouldn’t feel ‘very good’, but that was a huge understatement.  Her entire stomach was moving every which way along with the eternally swaying boat, leaving her immobilized.  Pulling herself up just enough to have her mouth reach over the side of the boat, she had to quickly vomit.  To be honest, it was Althea’s first time on any time of transportation since learning her new magic.  The motion sickness was extremely overwhelming, but it was the worst it would probably get.  The sailors on the boat along with her kept casting confused yet amused glances at the young girl, having never really seen such intense sea sickness.

Anyways, Althea could only really just hold out until the boat arrived at its desired destination: Mount Helicon.  The vessel was just full of a bunch of fishermen looking for places to sell their wares, but they allowed the wizard to hitch a ride free of charge.  But, at that point in time they were close enough to the island to see it.  As soon as Althea hear the word “land”  she immediately heaved herself upwards, looking over the edge of the boat and into the horizon.  And there it was, a line of mountains laid in the midst of the fog, giving Althea enough strength to stand on her feet.  They had arrived!  Leaping right off the boat and into the water, motion sickness subsiding the moment she left the vessel.  The wizard swam to the shore, leaving a stream of water in her wake.

Althea was able to reach the shore in a flash, immediately caressing the solid ground.  It felt great to have finally gotten off the hell-ish ship, and she wasn’t planning on getting onto one once more any time soon.  After spending a bit of time simply laying on the ground, basking in the Sun, the young girl eventually got up, ready to perform the task she was on Mount Helicon for in the first place.  Briefly stretching, Althea was about to make her way towards the town before the scent of a familiar mage reached her senses.  Turning around, she caught sight of an approaching redhead, grinning once she realized who it was.

“Hey Mer, didn’t think I’d see you here!”  Althea exclaimed once the rune user had reached the shore.  “And yeah, I’m here to beat up some pirates, but I sure am happy to see you again.”  Last time the pair had done a mission together was at Mountain Village where they had dealt with a chupacabra problem, which was a particularly fun thing to do.  Seeing and fighting with magical creatures was always something Althea enjoyed to do.  Although pirates weren't as mystical as chupacabras, they were still pretty cool and the young girl was looking forward to dealing with them.  “Okay, let’s go to the village then!”

Running across the beach, not fast enough to kick up sand but enough to simply move at a quicker pace than simply walking, Althea kept a lookout for the village.  Eventually, she slowed her pace, entering the small coastal town that had posted the job.  Part of it was built on top of the beach, but the majority of the village was on top of regular earth.  The strong scent of cooking fish and all sorts of crabs wafted towards Althea, causing her mouth to water a fair amount.  But, what really caught her attention were the villagers wielding spears, points aimed at Althea and Mer.  They meant business with them, although the spears were just particularly sharp shells on sticks.  “Stop right there and state your business!”  One called out to them, taking an swift step towards the pair.

“We’re here to protect you guys from the pirates!”  Althea exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips in a moody fashion.  “So now you should explain what you guys are doing, why the spears?”  The one who had stepped forward looked the girls up and down, trying to judge if they really were able to utilize magic.  Eventually, they sighed, lowering their crudely made spear.  Although apprehensively, the rest of the group also lowered their arms.  “Fine, I believe you then.  We're using these to defend from the four-finger pirates, but can you really handle them?”  At this question, Althea nodded vigorously, confident in her skills as a wizard.  Sighing, the villager gave in, “Come then.  I’ll show you where they’ll be coming to collect our hard-earned riches.”

Althea was led through the town, looking around the vicinity mostly out of curiosity.  Getting to Mount Helicon was a pain and the girl wasn’t planning on waste the visit.  According to a few people, it had several tourist attractions, although the section Althea and Mer were currentley in was mostly just for actual residents.  But, many of the houses looked like they were torn straight from a brochure with seashells embedded in the roads and houses made up of bright coral-colored planks.  She just guessed that those pictures must have come from somewhere, the tourist areas just mimicking how they actually were.  Grinning to herself, Althea reckoned that this was the better deal.  A free ride here and streets clear of flashing cameras?  The only price was dealing with pirates, which was fun in its own right.  The thought of crossing cutlasses with a pirate captain while on top of a mountain, rain pouring from the sky, was nothing less than awe inspiring.  But as the pair arrived to the cave, she paused her daydreams after realizing she didn’t really know how to use a sword.

Once the leader finished speaking and Mer had agreed to the plan, Althea also nodded in agreement.  “Yep!  I’m all with it!”  She felt the redhead’s eyes on her, turning to meet them, offering a wide but determined grin.  “Let’s do this.”

The group who had escorted the girls to the cave left once the sound of gunshots echoed through the air.  “Those pirates sure are punctual huh?”  The leader murmured under their breath, turning to Mer and Althea.  “Don’t worry about anyone being hurt.  Those were just to announce their presence, they said they’d do something like that the first day they visited this village.”  They squeezed their weapon tighter, obviously not too happy about the current situation in their home.  Turning they started out of the cave, their entourage following.  “Make sure you two succeed.  Everyone’s counting on you.”  And with that, they were gone.  Now just realizing the importance of the mission they were currently on, Althea promptly jumped up into the air, hanging onto a sturdy stalactite hanging from the ceiling.  Before anything could really do down yet, the wizard cast a quick enchantment on her comrade just in case.  All there was to do was wait, and she didn’t need to do so for too long.

“Just this way, Captain Four-Fingers.” A voice said, several footsteps approaching the shaded enclosure.  “Argh, ye know that if this is a trick I’ll have yer ‘eads on me rusty hook?”  A hoarse voice bellowed.  That was the moment Althea saw her opponent for the first time, and for some reason they didn’t have a hook for their hand, which was weird considering their threat.  “Yes Captain…”  Said the leader of the group from before, looking down at their feet tensely.  “Now, where is yee boot-”  Now that the captain was right underneath her, Althea let go of the stalactite, aiming a dive kick at the pirate’s head which eventually connected.  She pushed into his head with her feet, launching herself away- doing a flip for the heck of it before landing.  “Surprise!”

The villagers wielding spears suddenly turned on the other pirates, attacking them bitterley.  Four-Fingers scowled, “I be knowin’ this ‘ere be a trap!  I’ll be buryin’ ya in Davy Jones's Locker now!”  Promptly, the captain summoned a canon in one hand and flames in another, Althea falling into her fighting stance.  “It’s you who will… uh…” She glanced at Mer for a bit of help wit the quip before the pirate captain came charging, flaming hand held outwards.  Stepping aside at practically the last second, Althea whipped around to face the pirate, fists engulfed by fluidly moving water.  While his back was still turned, she aimed a punch at him which connected, causing Four-Fingers to stumble from the blow.  But, the pirate quickly recovered from the recoil, turning to bash Althea with his loaded cannon.  The blunt attack caused the wizard to practically fly into the cave wall, falling to the ground.  “Don’t… Challenge… the great Four-Fingers!”  The pirate thundered, aiming the cannon at the girl.  Able to roll away right when he pulled the trigger, Althea mostly was able to avoid sustaining maximum damage from the blast, although it had still singed her skin a bit.  She  got to her feet, taking a breather for a moment before joining in on the fray.

Althea decided that then would be the end of things when she leapt into the air, descending onto Four-Fingers with a kick similar to the one she had performed with their first encounter.  Smiling as he knew the attack, the captain reached out to grab hold of the incoming leg when Althea spun herself around, doing a backflip in mid air.  Her foot landed squarely on the pirate’s head, disorienting him.  Following up her surprise attack, she launched two more simultaneous punches before landing onto the ground.