Ms. Fortune and The Sea of Stolen Souls

Job Details

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It was a cold morning with a brisk wind blowing outside, with the suggestions of a storm apparently brewing high overhead. It was most likely raining somewhere close by, and the reduced temperature, as well as the gloom of the morning made it a very quick conclusion to arrive at, once one had simply looked at the skies. Still, this weather did little to affect the activities of the flourishing Hosenka. It was morning, after all, a little past eight, and there were clients to be responded to, and money to be made. As such, even though a good number of the more prudent folk carried umbrellas in their hands, just in case the threat of rain became all too true, there was not a single chance that a spell of bad weather would bother the business and activities of the flashy ‘Spa Town’. Not so far away, in the complex of canyons that housed the light guild known to Earthland as Luminous Rose, the activities and businesses of the denizens of the rose quartz crevasses continued their hustle and bustle with even less care than was present in the denizens of Hosenka major, for this subterranean fortress, built into the sides of a great rift in the earth south of the spa city, was so constructed as not to fear any natural threats made by the weather.

For those with little or nothing to do, such glowering mornings were the perfect time to hunker down in bed, or whatever contraption was used to facilitate sleep, and engage sleep with as much gusto as could be mustered, or if one had probably had their fill of slumber the night before, it was quite tempting to have a warm edible item at hand, while occupying oneself with whatever entertainment facilities were available. Others with a significant other would be sure to lend and borrow each other’s body heat, while engaging in matters better left behind closed doors. But for those with nothing to do, and lacking all such options as have been mentioned above, such mornings could be restless and difficult to manage. If the restlessness came from the mind, it was only worse. And it was in such a predicament as this that the Pergrandian young woman known to some as Nita Fortune found herself, with lots of time to kill and a lack of interest in, or presence of, the tools with which this process of slaughtering the being called Time could be achieved.

For the umpteenth time that morning, the blonde mage sighed as she picked her little nifty electronic device and stared at its glowing screen. It was supposed to be an iLac, but she had never really wrapped her head around comprehending all its abilities. Quite ironic, she mused, given that she was considered intelligent by those who had been patient enough to attempt to gauge her mental capabilities. Patient, because most people often wrote her off as the ‘brainless beauty’ stereotype, and while that was quite insulting, Nita was not given to attempting to convince them otherwise, for it was very likely that their opinions of her were irrelevant, or if they were not, she could find a way of manipulating this underestimation of her abilities to her own advantage. In any case, intelligence was often not universal, and that was one of the quirks of being human. People had fields in which they excelled, and others in which they were flops. If someone excelled in everything, such a person was a perfect being, and even the beings referred to as gods, despite people’s opinions or levels of understanding, were not perfect. The existence of a perfect being transcended everything, and it seemed that it was in human nature to strive towards a perfection they would never achieve. Pulling her thoughts away from such dismal thoughts, the Luminous Rose mage fixed her gaze on the iLac’s screen. Nothing of interest there either. With a frustrated grunt, she flung the glowing device at one of the pillows on her bed, and pulled her body off the sheets. There was no point remaining in bed if she was just going to mope the day away.

A hot shower did a little good for her mood, and by the time Nita exited her room, she was not in a particularly dour mood, although she was bored. Herein one would notice something strange about her. For all intents and purposes, the Pergrandian seemed to be of the more social, extroverted sort. But a true extrovert would be quick to seek the company of others, once bored. Nita only tended to seek human company only when she was in a good mood, or as a last resort, yet her apparently bright, sunny personality, coupled with her unnatural charm, made her a people magnet, a burden she had learned to bear rather skillfully.

Having escaped the confines of her room, the young mage decided that a walk would be the best use of her time, and perhaps help her find something reasonable to do. Perhaps she would head towards the mission boards. Maybe there was something interesting on the boards. Personally, Nita was not all for taking missions at the very present moment, but she didn’t mind seeing what items were on the board. Besides, she could always nab high-level but less urgent missions, to be done at a time when she felt more peppy and eager to see the world. There was also nothing wrong with providing advice, if anyone was willing to take it, on how some missions were to be navigated. Even if many people tended to undervalue Nita’s abilities, her guild members did not, and it did feel good to see that she was beginning to be recognized in the guild as one of the powerhouses of Luminous Rose. That was a victory, even if a small one. The more she was recognized for her power, the closer she was on the path to becoming a hero, someone that the people of Fiore, perhaps even Earthland eventually, would be able to depend on to live in peace and safety.

The trip to the mission boards did not take long, and soon the Pergrandian was scanning the missions on the board. There seemed to be few people around the area, so she could focus on looking at the contents of the board without being distracted. So far, none of the jobs looked rather outstanding; Nita was not minded to believe that the world was becoming a better place because of that, though. There were times when business was steep, and there were times when there wasn’t really much to do. This was most definitely one of those off days. Nita was about to leave the mission boards, when her eyes caught sight of a mission paper at a corner of the board. The Pergrandian picked the paper off the board and began to scroll through its details. She had never been to the River Village, although she knew its general location; it was north east of the Luminous Rose guild hall, and quite a good distance too. It seemed there seemed to have been a sort of curse placed on the people of the River Village, which was most definitely why the mayor of the village had enlisted the services of an exorcist. The exorcist’s prescription of the problem did seem to hold some merit, though. Rather than being a curse, the apparent reduction in the general vivacity of the village’s inhabitants was due to the souls of the villagers having been stolen. An interesting conclusion, but one that ticked the boxes. Nita was sure though, that the stealing of the villagers’ souls was not complete, else they would probably not be alive to begin with. But it was very likely that if nothing was done to rectify the situation, death would probably come to the villagers after a while.

If there was anything Nita was desirous to be known for, it was the fact that she was very uncomfortable with leaving people to suffer, especially when she thought herself able to provide help or succor of some kind. Her brow unconsciously furrowed into a frown of concentration. Initially, she had not really wanted to leave the guild premises today, but this was a rather sufficient reason to stop lazing about and do something about this mission. These people needed her help. What good was wanting to be a hero, when one saw that people were in need of help, and one decided to choose her personal comfort over the lives of people? Even if the River Village was quite a small settlement (which it actually was), Nita was not interested in helping just so that people could sing her praises. If she was to be seen as reliable, then everyone, from the well-known to the obscure, had to know her as someone they could put their trust in. Even if, on completion of this mission, people didn’t get to know of her deeds for the River Village people, she would sleep content with the fact that out there, people got another shot at life because of her. The blonde mage’s eyes traveled further down the page, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw the price attached to the mission. The fact that the pay looked rather good was definitely an additional incentive for the Pergrandian, and Nita was certainly not complaining about having more money in her coffers. She nodded as if concluding a conversation with an unseen entity. It was decided. She would go and help the people of River Village.

Preparing to attend to this mission didn’t take long, especially as Nita had already performed the necessary daily morning ablution called bathing. Before long, she was ready to go, although anyone who saw her would imagine that she was probably going on a date, shopping or something so much less dangerous than finding out why a village of fishermen had to have the ill fortune of growing bags under their eyes and having their hair fall off. She took a map and located River Village, just to have an idea of the general direction of the place, and then, in the comfort of her room, the Pergrandian held out her hand, and a blue dot formed in empty space a little higher than her head. The dot traveled downwards, forming a blue line that ran down till it almost touched the ground, and then the line began to expand left and right, until it became a rectangle wide enough for Nita to step into. For a moment, the young mage paused to be sure that she was not missing anything important, then stepped into the strange portal, which by now looked like the surface of a dark pool held perpendicular to the ground by some weird play of gravity, bordered by the bright blue that made up the limits of its dimensions. As if stepping into water, Nita felt the change in pressure in her ears, although there was not the usual feeling of cold, as though the water into which she stepped was of the same temperature as that of the room in which she had previously been. This was the Interdimensional Sea, that connected all points in the universe, or so it was said. As she normally traveled in this strange dimension, Nita swam for a bit, until she felt she was near her desired location. And then a portal opened, quite similar to the one that had opened in the Luminous Rose guild hall not many seconds ago, and through it stepped the Pergrandian.

If the skies above Hosenka were grey, they were positively black above the River Village, and the wind was almost howling as it blew with fury. A few heads slowly turned to look at the dripping mage, as she stared back at them, and then they turned away. That was a very bad reaction. Most times, when a portal opened out of nowhere, responses varied from curiosity to fear. These guys responded as though they had just seen a fish in a basket. And they were fishermen, so a fish in a basket would be the definition of ‘too ordinary to be graced with a name’ ordinary. Wow. It really looked bad.


WC: 2057

For a long while, the only thing Nita could do was stand and watch the people of the River Village shamble about. The scene was so depressing, and the weather was only amplifying the feeling of misery that hung thickly in the area, almost like a palpable blanket that one could cut with a knife. The only problem was that at the present moment, Nita was not quite sure just what sort of knife she would be using to cut this terrible pall of despair that hung over the village. She also could sense that while it was a rather unnatural effect, it was not particularly of a typical magical type, which meant that attempting to negate or dispel it would be profitless. It was very likely that, if these people’s souls had indeed been stolen, the thief of souls had to be apprehended, and the souls of these people needed to be returned to them. But first, the Pergrandian felt it might be wise to do a bit of scientific study on the scenario, rather than just take everything at face value. She walked up to the nearest person, a man, although it was difficult to determine what chronological age he was at, seeing as his sunken eyes, thinning and greying hair, as well as general physical wasting made him seem to be an octogenarian or at least close to that age bracket. And yet, the fact that most of his bones did not seem to have lost volume, an effect which naturally came with the lengthy passage of years on those who managed to live to old age, suggested that this fellow was probably a lot younger than he presently looked. If Nita were to venture a guess, she would most likely assume this fellow to be somewhere on the younger side of middle age. Gently, she reached out to him, firstly to see whether the man would shirk at her approach, but the fellow just shambled along, uncaring of her presence. Following the man, who really seemed to have gotten the zombie shuffle down pat, Nita poked at him. He made no indication that he felt he had been touched. For her part, the Pergrandian mage observed with not a little bit of worry that the fellow’s skin felt cold and clammy, almost corpse-like. She held his hand and stopped walking, to see what his response will be. And all he did was stop. He just stared ahead, his eyes and mouth slightly opened, his hand trailing backward to where Nita still clutched the corpse-like wrist. Nita felt the man’s wrist for signs of a pulse. After a bit of time, she detected the beat. It was there, but it was slow, and very faint, proof of the fact that this fellow, most probably like most, if not all, of the rest of the denizens of this village, were just moments away from death. When they would die, Nita could not say, but it was probably not going to take too long, with the way things were looking. The young Luminous Rose mage sighed and let go of the man’s hand. Without turning, his lips began to work as though he was trying to say something. Seeing this strange activity, the light mage hurried to face him, eager to know what he was trying to say. Perhaps there would be some clue to solving this terrible affliction that had an entire village in its clutches. As Nita waited for the man to speak, she wondered whether this thing was like a plague, in the sense that it was contagious. It probably wasn’t apparently, as could be surmised by the fact that someone from the village had actually been responsible for sending a message that had given rise to her having to visit the village, but magic was weird in its workings. The ‘rules’ and ‘laws’ that governed magic were rather diverse, and difficult to classify into particular determinate causes and effects, which was why most academicians would laugh in your face if you said that the study of magic was supposed to be a branch of the sciences. Still, there had been some degree of success in the study of that esoteric field, but enough for anyone worth their salt to realize that, unlike most schools of science, there was no ‘one size fits all’ rule, as far as the laws of magic were concerned.

”Alma…”

Fortunita raised an eyebrow as she studied the man. Alma. She had read in the mission briefing that this was practically all that people seemed to be able to say. It sounded like a personal name, although Nita was not very sure about from what clime or culture such a name was derived. She just hoped that this was not a case of some ravishing beauty that stole the hearts of everyone in the village, almost literally, because that would just be bathetic. For Nita’s part, she was already beginning to form theories in her head regarding who might probably be responsible for all this. The mission details had mentioned that the problems started after a Monster Hunter and his crew sailed down the river to go monster hunting. This was likely a very relevant clue to solving this matter, but most times, monsters were supposed to be brutal forces of nature and proof of the powers of the natural world. If a monster hunter had riled a monster enough to desire punitive action against the River Village, Nita was sure that what she would have seen on arrival at the village should have been complete and utter destruction. That the village remained undestroyed, though the people were suffering could only mean that there was likely a rather intelligent force behind all of the woes of the River Village. Nita wanted to guess maybe a necromancer or some other sort of magical entity whose magic rotated around life, or the lack thereof, and thus could easily steal the souls of others in order to sustain themselves.

Her consideration of the matter at hand was momentarily halted as she sensed a body move faster than the normal zombie shuffle that seemed to be so popular around these parts. ”Don’t hide from me, I’m not an enemy,” Nita called out, turning to face a building behind which she knew the person who had been observing her had slipped. ”I came across a message of yours detailing a need for help, and I responded to the summons as fast as I could.” There was a bit of silence, as it seemed the person behind the house was hesitant. Then out from behind the thatched wall of the building stepped an old lady, who, despite her age, was way more full of life than even the children caught in the disease of the zombie shuffle. She seemed surprised on seeing Nita. ”You look so young… and did you come alone?” she asked. The Pergrandian could sense the disappointment in her voice. No mighty, muscle bound heroes with glorious armor and majestic bearing had responded to the call for help, just a little girl, who was apparently young enough to be her grandchild. But Nita was not to be discouraged so quickly. She was well aware that to work effectively as a hero, she had to make people able to trust that she could keep them safe. ”Greetings, ma’am,” the Pergrandian responded cheerfully. ”Don’t be fooled by my looks. I know I’m young and all that, but I’m much tougher than I look. If there’s anything or anyone that needs saving, I’m going to put my life on the line to make sure that happens.”

”Wasn’t there anyone you could come with? Or a higher ranked member of your guild who could take the job?” the woman asked, before realizing that she wasn’t in any position to ask for what sort of heroes she wanted to do the saving. ”Oh, I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized, when she noticed the slight drop in Nita’s cheery expression. ”I didn’t mean to insult you. It’s just that… I’m scared. I’m really scared. A professional Monster Hunter and his team of twenty five hunters went up against whatever it is you’re going out there to fight, and they never returned. You’re only one, and please forgive my bluntness, but you look more like you should be chasing romantic interests and trying to build a future and settle down. Or is it that the impending war between Bellum and Pergrande is so great that most of the heroes are occupied with it, and as such others such as yourself have had to answer?”

Nita smiled and shrugged. [pink=pink]”I really can’t say anything about the war, or whether that’s why most of the well-known folk were unable to respond to your summons. But yes, it would be fun to chase love interests and seek happiness in my young age. Only issue is, there’s so much suffering in the world, like what presently entails in your village. Through some weird twist of fate, I have been loaned this great power, and as I stood moments ago while reading your summon for help, the only question that kept reverberating in my mind was this: what kind of person would sit back and focus on her own goals with no thought for the well-being of others? I don’t know whether it’s only the well-known heroes who should be qualified to go around saving others, but the reason I came is simply because I just couldn’t ignore this call, when there was even the slightest possibility that I could do something to bring joy back to this village.”[/color]

For a moment, the woman was silent. Then she nodded, a look of respect on her face. ”You seem to be quite the incredible young woman,” she said with a smile and a nod. ”And if my earlier comments were insulting, please forgive me. One part of me wants this nightmare to be over as quickly as possible. And yet, I’m worried that I might be sending people to their deaths, if the mission does not successfully turn out. But since I’m at the end of my rope, I shall decide to place the lives of my people in your hands. What is your name, child?”

”Call me Nita Fortune.”

The old woman nodded. ”Please come with me, Nita. I must explain to you what I know about this whole issue. It is said that having proper knowledge is the first and most important step to winning a battle.” Nita walked up to the woman and fell in step alongside her as the woman began walking through the village, explaining everything as she could. ”My name is Everlue Green, and I am the mayor of River Village. Our village is quiet and peaceful, and we have no reason to show or receive hostilities to other people. We have lived in peace and safety for as long as I remember, until the coming of this Monster Hunter. He did not seem to be a bad fellow himself, and wanted to use our village as a springboard from which to launch out on an expedition. He and his crewmates were respectful enough and not disruptive, and they paid us well to use our village as a temporary base of operations. It seemed they had this dangerous quarry on the Cloud Sea, which they desired to hunt, and they even brought two ships with which to achieve their goal. They set sail in one of the ships, and left the other behind, in case their first ship got sunk, and they needed to regroup and sally forth again. And they never returned. It was shortly after this that the people of my village began growing lean, losing their hair and looking generally devoid of life, even if they’re able to move. As you probably know, I got the services of an exorcist, who said she was unable to exorcise whatever curse was here, because it was less of a curse and more of an issue of the souls of my people being stolen. So you need to find whoever is responsible for stealing the souls of the villagers, and get the culprit to return these souls. Whatever the monster hunters left behind is available for you to use, because I’m afraid they will never be coming back. Also, if you return successfully, I shall be glad to gift you most of the proceeds they left behind for safekeeping.”

Nita nodded. ”So, off to the Cloud Sea I go, then. However, I’ll probably have to borrow a fishing boat from you to get down the river.” The old woman shook her head. ”Why not take the hunters’ second ship?” Nita was about to point out that ships were not like cars that a single person could drive, when the old woman continued, ”I know nothing about technology of nowadays, but it seems that the ships being used by these Monster Hunters can navigate themselves. At least, when the hunters were sailing out, none of them seemed to be responsible for moving the first ship, and yet it moved. If the second one is like it, I suppose you should be able to move it without issues.”

”That so?” Nita asked, interest budding in her mind. ”I’d love to see the ship, please.”


WC: 2230
TWC: 4287

Everlue took Nita to a makeshift dock, quite obscured from immediate view by vegetation. In the water by the dock was a ship, not as large as Nita had expected, but if she was going to use it to deal with this quest, it would most certainly be large enough for her. After all, how much space did a single person need on a ship? ”I take it that this is the vessel,” the Pergrandian said, ”and though I’m not complaining, truth is, it looks a little small for a ship meant to carry 25 people.” The old mayor smiled. ”That may be true, but I don’t think this vessel was built to be used for long voyages. It was simply meant to convey the monster hunters to wherever they sought to go. Their intent, as they had told me, was to hunt the creature they were looking for, and be back by evening. I don’t think such a journey would need such things as cabin spaces.” Nita looked at the ship again. The old woman was right; while the vessel certainly did not have enough living spaces for twenty five people, it could easily accommodate them, if there weren’t plans to be living on it. Just before boarding the ship, Nita turned to the old woman. ”Oh, before I leave, how far away from here is the Cloud Sea?” Everlue pointed in a roughly north western direction. ”Quite a number of miles in that direction, as the crow flies. But don’t be worried about how fast you’ll get to the Cloud Sea. As I believe I said earlier, if in different words, this ship is some sort of technological wonder, and I’m sure you will be personally impressed by its speed once it begins to move.” There was a pause, as Everlue’s expression became sad. ”Initially, when it seemed as though no one would be responding to my request, I had thought to use this vessel to go out in search of help. But I cannot leave my people here like this. What if something happens, and they need help? Or what if someone who could help came along. Besides, I’m not sure I would have known where to go. Most of us in the River Village rarely ever leave the river. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons I got elected as mayor is because I’d done a lot of traveling in my youth, so I knew more about the outside world than the rest of us. And even then, that was a long time ago. I’m sure that Fiore would have changed by now to become unrecognizable.” She took Nita’s hands in hers gently. ”Thank you for coming to help us. Find out what’s behind all this and solve it for us. And please, come back safely.”

Nita nodded and boarded the little ship, looking round at the new surroundings. She had never ridden a ship before, and while she was sure that the people of River Village would be rather good with boats and swimming, a fishing boat was a whole different game from a ship, even if this one was small. However, Everlue had talked about using the ship as though the old mayor could easily do it. There had to be an inconsistency somewhere. If Everlue had hardly left the River Village, then where would she have learned to sail a ship? The old mayor had mentioned something about the ship sailing without being steered, but how was she to start it? Before she could ask what was boggling her mind, she saw etched on the deck of the ship: Controls are in the cabin. And the cabin wasn’t very difficult to find, the ship being as small as it was. On the wall of the cabin were a set of instructions that looked relatively easy, more or less being summarized to putting on a computer in the cabin. Nita did so, and the lights in the cabin came on, just before a holographic image of a sailor formed a little distance away. ”Greetings! I believe I am addressing the captain of this vessel?” Captain of a vessel? Didn’t sound so bad. ”Well, you could say so,” Nita replied. After answering questions about whether she wanted a passenger experience or a sailor experience, and the location she wished to go, along with the disclaimer that neither food nor drinks would be served, the holograph asked Nita to exit the cabin and come up onto the deck of the ship. As she did, the hologram materialized beside her and said, ”Give the order to sail, Captain.”

”Anchors aweigh!” the Pergrandian called out in glee. By itself, the ship began moving forward, slowly but surely picking speed as it began sailing down the river. Soon, the vessel was cutting through the still waters of the river at an incredible pace, keeping to the center of the river as if it was magically being repelled from both riverbanks at the same time. The old woman was right; even though the Cloud Sea was many miles away from the River Village, with the speed they were going, it would not probably take long before the got to the sea. As the ship glided along, Nita began asking the hologram questions about the Cloud Sea, since it did seem to be quite the store of geographical and nautical information. It was good to know that while their destination could have incredibly wild storms, the weather on the Cloud Sea just off the northwestern bay of Fiore was usually calm, even if the low hanging clouds made navigation a bit treacherous, something that Nita wouldn’t have to worry about, thanks to the self-steering technology of the ship. The wind was so calming though, and there still seemed quite some distance between the ship and the open sea, so Nita decided to take a quick snooze, availing herself of the cabin, which had the only bed on the ship. Nita was not inclined to meet the sea unready, and had therefore asked the ship’s artificial intelligence (if she could call it that) to awaken her when there were still a number of miles to the sea, something which would be very possible, given the vessel’s state of the art technology. Having given the instruction, she curled up on the cabin bed, and dozed off.

The sound of the voice of the ship’s AI pulled Nita from a vague and formless dream, drawing her back to the waking world. She sat up and turned to look at the light construct. ”I was saying, Captain, that we have about ten minutes before we arrive where the river empties itself into the Cloud Sea.” Nita nodded and expressed her thanks, although she wondered whether the hologram was sentient enough to feel appreciation for gratitude. Well, that didn’t matter. At present, she had enough time to have her wits gathered about her by the time they reached the Cloud Sea. When they arrived, she would have to search the area for anything that may have been left behind by the monster hunter and his crew. Once that had been settled, finding out what had happened to them would be no big issue, as she could use her psychometry to gain a reading on the item and figure out what had happened to it, and thus derive clues to figuring out what had happened to the hunters, or find another item that would be able to provide more informative clues. In a few minutes, Nita was out on the deck, turning her gaze northwest. The land sloped gently towards the sea, but the wide vista the area afforded meant that even with the gentle sloping, one could see for miles in almost every direction, as the altitude of their position gave a good visual advantage. She frowned in mild confusion, and turned to the hologram, which was spinning the ship’s rudder (though Nita was not certain that the rudder was actually functional).

”I thought you said that the Cloud Sea around the coast of Fiore usually had good weather,”, she said.

”Indeed I did, Captain,” came the reply.

”Then why does it look like we’re riding into the mother of all storms?” the Pergrandian asked, pointing towards the sea, which, due to its low lying clouds, and the nasty storm which seemed to be rushing in from much further north, seemed to be blanketed in darkness and thunderclouds. ”I believe I did mention that the good weather along Fiore’s coast is a usual occurrence. Sadly, probability does not seem to be in our favor today, as far as the weather is concerned.” Well, that was a bummer, but Nita was convinced that storm clouds would not stop her from figuring out what was going on. Besides, they would not be sailing out into the open sea, so hopefully, they would not have any issues with getting lost in the storm. The Cloud Sea did have a reputation of getting mariners lost. As the ship sailed into the mouth of the river, the wind picked up dramatically, and soon, Nita’s hair and clothes were whipping about her. The sound of thunder growled in the darkness to the north, and soon the sun was obscured, as a stormy gloom descended on the ship. It seemed they had somehow moved into another world.

Nita’s psychic sense alerted her of some strange movement at the sides of the ship. Something rose up out of the sea and climbed over the ship’s banister. It was ugly, and that was an oversimplification. It was terribly ugly, with six arms, a face that would make Death get the chills, and three tongues. ”Wait, what?!” Nita gasped as she tried to ensure that it wasn’t the gloom playing tricks on her. No, it wasn’t the gloom. This thing had three tongues. With a rasping croak, it charged at her, its hands outstretched, with its claws reaching out towards her. Fortunately, it seemed rather slow, but it was nothing near a zombie shuffle that this thing was doing. For starters, it wasn’t cursed with the apparent stiffness that seemed to afflict most zombies, and its movements were very deliberate. Having looked at the monstrosity, Nita decided that she was not going to let this thing touch her. Her M.A.D.A.M guns appeared in her hands, and she fired a shot into the face of the ugly creature, as it tried to reach her. The bullet snapped its head backwards, and it remained for a moment just standing there with its head thrown back. Then with another rasping croak, this one longer and more drawn out than the first time it had croaked, the creature collapsed backwards onto the deck. At that point, a bolt of lightning struck, and illuminated the crowd of fish men that had already managed to clamber on the boat. ”When did they--? Ah shit.” Next followed a series of ducking, dodging and shooting. Sure enough, there was nothing to video her performance, but still, it was best to practice to be in perfect form, whether one was being watched or not. Yes, she knew, she was such a show off. Looking at the muscular limbs of these horrific creatures, and their equally muscular jaws, Nita knew that they could probably lay the damage thickly, once they managed to get an opponent. But the problem they would have would be getting her. A few had tried to bite hologram, but had passed through its incorporeal body. As such, they proceeded to attempt to wreck the ship. The others had been more interested in catching Nita, who simply would allow them to congregate after her, and then blink to a less crowded area and shoot the ones trying to damage the ship. Soon enough, the deck was littered with the corpses of the demonic-looking fish men.

”Brilliant performance, Captain. While I am not trying to undermine your efforts, using a sabre would have struck a much more impressive nautical figure,” the hologram remarked, causing the Luminous Rose mage to chuckle. ”So, you do have a sense of humor. Who knew? In any case, what’s the point? It’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone, am I?”

”On the contrary, Captain, this ship was designed to serve Monster Hunters, whose vocation is highly bolstered by reputation, a lot of which is built by the displaying of their skills. And what better way to display their skills than to document the stages of a hunting routine and broadcast such on a video network?” Nita turned sharply to the hologram. ”Wait! Is footage of all this being broadcast somewhere?”

”No, but it’s being recorded. Various sturdy and well-built cameras installed on this vessel have been designed to begin recording once a hunt begins, so that the action can be seen from different angles. The Captain can then create content to be streamed by using the console in the cabin to edit and upload videos to Fiore’s lacrima network.”

”Wow,” Nita said, looking impressed. ”Looks like those monster hunter guys really did invest a lot into their work. Many more reasons to make sure this ship doesn’t sink. But wait, does that mean I was being recorded while I was sleeping?” The hologram shook its head. ”As the cabin is the only place of proper privacy on this ship, nothing is ever recorded in the cabin, unless the Captain orders it. Since you gave no such orders, your privacy is secure.” Nita was about to reply with relief, when the ship shuddered from stem to stern. ”It appears, Captain, that we have stopped moving.”

”Oh, no shit, Sherlock!” the blonde mage replied in alarm, as she saw the reason for the ship’s stopping. A huge, no, gigantic slimy-looking tentacle was firmly wrapped around the stern of the ship. As Nita ran towards the rear of the vessel, more tentacles seemed to emanate out of the churning depths, as well as a huge bulbous and incredibly foul-looking, repugnant head, which was the owner of the appendages. As Nita prepared to engage this new monster, the ship shuddered again, and she turned to see a similarly gigantic and hideous head staring at her through small (in comparison with the rest of its massive head) yellow eyes. ”Oh, beautiful. There are two now.”


WC: 2394
TWC: 6681

For a moment, the gigantic monstrosities stayed motionless, watching Nita with their ugly yellow eyes, as the stormy sea rocked the ship, which had been entwined by the krakens. Then as though each was a mirror image of the other, they began to produce a strange keening sound, as free tentacles descended to smash into the ship. Some were aimed at Nita, but for the most part, it seemed that these tentacle horrors were simply interested in smashing everything to smithereens, and by everything, that would be the ship, and whatever was on it. It looked like this was a job that demanded a bit of chopping, and chopping would be done. The M.A.D.A.M guns disappeared, now being replaced by a gigantic greatsword. Nita swung the weapon at one of the descending tentacles, as it approached to crash into the ship. To her irritation, her greatsword, Sirius, did not chop the appendage clean off, instead lodging into the tentacle, which began to writhe violently like a wounded snake. Unwilling to release her sword, Nita was swung off her feet and into the air as the tentacle thrashed wildly and flailed about. ”Uh, a little help here, Magic Ship Guy,” Nita called out, as she saw another great tentacle snaking her way, intending to grab hold of her.

”Very well, as you desire, Captain,” the hologram replied, standing at full height and clearing its throat. ”While an incredibly rare and frightful sight, the deep sea kraken, known to many Fiorean taxonomists and zoologists as Sepia megalocosmos, is still considered by many to be a cryptid, and a figment of the imagination of superstitious sailors and urban legend. Its lifespan--”

”WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” yelled Nita, interrupting the hologram, as she managed to dislodge her sword and hack the other approaching tentacle on her way down. She rolled and righted herself sword at the ready, as she shot daggers at the hologram. Being a hologram and thus a non-living thing without emotions, the hologram remained unfazed by her murderous looks. ”You asked for help, and I have simply provided the most practical help that I am able to afford.” Nita groaned. ”So, no cannons, harpoon guns, or firepower or any other such thing as weapons on this vessel?” she asked. The hologram shook its head. ”I am built for transportation and recording purposes. You could say I am a scientific vessel.”

”Scientific vessel my foot!” Nita retorted, chopping away at another tentacle. ”You mentioned yourself that you were designed for the purpose of monster hunting. What sort of monster hunters design a ship and don’t think about it having weapon systems?” The hologram shrugged, with a condescending air. ”I strongly suspect that you mistake me for a pirate vessel, Captain. I mentioned that I was designed to serve monster hunters, not hunt monsters. I am sure there is a difference between these two vocational designations. A pirate ship would be more likely what you’re looking for, and while I have no business with criticizing the Captain’s preferences, I fail to see why a civilized vessel such as this ship would be preferred less to a smelly, barnacle tainted, rat infested pirate ship.” Seemed most, if not all nautical personnel, living or artificial, were doomed to be salty. Nita rolled her eyes and chopped at another tentacle. Just before her sword struck it, however, a strange dark patch formed on the tentacle, and slimy, viscous ink was suddenly ejected straight at the Pergrandian mage. She narrowly avoided it, causing the deck to hiss and bubble where the strange substance landed. ”What was that?!” she asked, almost hysterically, dodging another pounding from one of the giant krakens. ”Krakens are known for their ability to emit highly corrosive acidic ink as a means of defense, when they are attacked.” Well that was grand. While Nita felt like castigating the hologram for not telling her about this special defense mechanism of the krakens, she remembered that she had not been to pleased when the hologram had started giving an oral presentation on the kraken.

”While you’re in the process of fighting the krakens, if you could find a way to mitigate the attacks these creatures are inflicting on the vessel’s hull, I would be most grateful,” the hologram stated, just after a heavy tentacle bash left a dent in the ship’s banister. Nita swung her huge sword as hard as she could, and lopped the tentacle clean off. The kraken responded in a frenzied flurry of pain and rage, trying to smash any and everything it could get its hands on. It seemed that at this rate, the two monsters would sink the ship. But Nita had come up with an idea. Even though the krakens were eager to sink anything that wasn’t them, they had correctly recognized Nita as the more viable threat, and were focusing more of their attention on her. Unfortunately, she could not fight them in the water, but who said anything about fighting in the water? The greatsword Sirius vanished, and so did Nita’s clothes, immediately replaced by a futuristic suit with glowing designs. Ports opened on the boots of her new outfit as a high tech jetpack constructed itself on her back, and Nita launched herself into the air, her flight path being followed by an ion trail. From this position of advantage, she began to dart and weave about in the air, throwing cards at the tentacles and avoiding their strikes. Fortunately for her, creating these cards did not pose a heavy burden on her magic reserves, and so she could keep this up as long as was necessary, while evading the attacking tentacles, something that her increased speed had made more possible to do. Soon enough, the krakens were focusing solely on her, and paying little attention to the little ship, which bravely navigated its way around flailing tentacles and through churning waters.

Soon, the krakens, big as they were, were beginning to show strong signs of wear and tear. A well-aimed card set a tentacle alight, and the kraken to which it belonged, tired of the abuse, made a loud shriek and descended below the waves, to remain permanently out of sight and out of mind. The second kraken tried to be stubborn, but Nita assaulted as well with her Unlucky Draw cards until the beast gave up and followed its colleague beneath the waves. ”Well, that takes care of that—wait, what was that?” From her aerial position, Nita could see the monster hunter ship far below her. While the storm persisted, the sea had surprisingly remained calm, but there seemed to be some strange lights that blinked out beneath the ship. Due to the storm, it was so dark that the Pergrandian could hardly make out anything, but then a bolt of lightning struck bright and clear, and in the brilliance of its illumination, she saw something in the waters beneath the ship, something serpentine.  Then from the sea rose a great draconian sea monster, hissing loudly as its great coils entwined the ship.

The Leviathan had arrived.


WC: 1182
TWC: 7863

This creature was huge, well not so huge, but very very long. And it seemed to either forget, or take no notice of the fact that whatever had just dealt with the two krakens was still in the air, flying over the ship that it had entangled. The sea monster drew back, and then lunged for the ship, intending to crunch the vessel with its great sharp teeth. On a different day, in less dangerous and less magically charged circumstances, Nita would have probably just stayed by and waited for the Leviathan to try a bite, being well aware that there weren’t too many living creatures that could chew metal and not regret their stupidity. But today was not one of those days. The Luminous Rose mage was almost completely certain that if that gigantic sea monster crunched the ship, that would be the end of it for the ship. So, engaging her jet pack, she flew at top speed towards the sea beast, changing position once very close, so that she rammed into its cheek, feet first. It was not enough to damage the beast so terribly, but at least it got the creature’s attention. Unwilling to give it a chance to attack, the light mage pressed the offensive, throwing Unlucky Draw after Unlucky Draw in order to damage the beast. In reply, the sea snake hissed at Nita, and released a torrent of water from its mouth, much faster than the Pergrandian mage expected it to attack. The blast swept her out of the sky, and into the raging ocean. For a while, it seemed that the battle had reached its conclusion, but suddenly, Nita launched out of the sea, and landed in an almost dramatic pose on the deck of the ship.

”Impeccable performance, Captain,” the hologram piped up. ”I’m quite certain this latest footage will be rather exciting to the fans when the video is uploaded. If it is uploaded.” Nita glowered at the hologram, as she unsummoned the Threads of Time Future, replacing them with her Mistress of War outfit. She also summoned Polaris, as she replied, ”really, who should you be cheering for?” The holograph shrugged again. ”I am a pragmatist,” it said, ”and as such, I do not believe we shall actually walk away from this battle. And while, since I am not human, I am unable to feel remorse or sorrow that I shall not probably survive this encounter, I believe that we both share a desire to come out of this quandary alive. So, I shall try to hide my pessimism, and attempt to prevaricate the likely truth and engage in ego-bolstering falsehood by cheering for you, if that is your desire.”

”Are you even listening to yourself? Whose side are you really on?” Nita gasped, before recovering her decorum. ”For what it’s worth, it’s not like cheering for me will affect your ability to function. Now, wish me luck!” The Leviathan was bringing its great maw to attempt another chomp on the ship, and Nita used the opportunity to target its nearer eye with her whip. Polaris struck home, and the great sea beast roared in pain and rage. But Nita was not going to just stand there and wait for the beast to see what it would do after being attacked. She had already broken into a run, and she leaped into the air again, lashing out with Polaris, which entangled itself on one of the sea creature’s horns, allowing Nita to swing herself around and land on the gargantuan beast’s head. Then the flexible lash of Polaris straightened out so that the whip transformed into a long spear, which Nita grabbed with both hands, twirled over her head, before gripping the shaft of the spear and stabbing the weapon downward with all the force she could muster. The blade of the long spear sank deep, and the Leviathan roared again, before plunging itself towards the sea, with the intention of submerging itself with Nita in tow. The Celestial Fate mage however was uninterested in fighting the beast under the waves, which would very likely provide it was a lot more advantages, not the least of which being her inability to plant her feet on a solid substrate from which she could push off and make attacks. Still, for all intents and purposes, she appeared unwilling to leave the head of the beast alone, working Polaris like a butter churn as she stabbed downward again and again. Just before the mighty beast’s head hit the surface of the sea, Nita leaped off it, landing gracefully on the deck of the ship. ”So, how about that? Are you more inclined to cheer for me now?” The hologram did not seem impressed. ”The sea beast is not dead, so there is no reason to break out the champagne yet.”

”In the end you’re such a diva,” Nita said with a grimace. ”If the ship taken by the monster hunters who went before me was just like this one, it’s no wonder they never returned from their hunt.”

”Well, I haven’t attempted to sink of my own free will, with you on board, so I’m doing my best,” replied the artificial intelligence evenly. ”Anyway, I felt it necessary to inform you that the reason I doubt our ability to survive this encounter is because this is most likely the creature that the hunters were seeking. It is said that no living human has laid eyes on the Leviathan of the Deep and lived.” Nita scoffed. ”I’ve laid eyes on it. I’m still alive.” Just then, the Leviathan resurfaced, its maw opened as it began to take in a deep breath for a sort of roar attack. ”We shall not be for long…” insisted the AI. Nita ignored it, instead hefting her spear, running a little distance, and flinging the weapon, which, as it flew through the air towards the monster’s maw, transformed into a fulminating shaft of bright radiance. The flying weapon sailed into the beast’s mouth, and there was an unnatural shriek as it fell backward into the raging sea, send a gigantic wave of spray that drenched the ship. And the waters calmed, the wind stopped, and the clouds parted, revealing the sun shining down on the victor of this marine battle. ”Well, what do you have to say for yourself now, naysayer?” Nita mocked. ”Now I’ve defeated it, let’s find what happened to those hunters, and I can finally call this a day.”


WC: 1084
TWC: 8947

”There is something very calming about the calm after a storm, such as this is,” the ship’s AI said, sounding relieved for a being that was not supposed to be alive. Nita was about to reply, when, as though flipped on by a light switch, the storm sprang up once more, wilder and more violent than before. The sky had grown so dark it was almost like night. ”Yeah,” Nita had to shout so that her voice could be heard above the howling winds, ”such as this is,” she finished sarcastically, although she wasn’t sure the ship’s AI would really be able to appreciate the power of sarcasm. Then the sea began to rise; initially, Nita thought it was a rather humongous wave, but she soon realized that the water seemed to be forming the shape of a pillar, or something similar. Then the pillar began to define itself, until Nita, alone aboard her automated ship, found herself face-to-face with the giant figure of a beautiful woman holding a scepter. The woman lowered her head, so that her glowing eyes fixed themselves on the Pergrandian.

”Who would be so foolish as to rouse my fury? Your reasons for coming here are futile and ultimately doomed, for none can face the might of Alma, Queen of Sirens, and live to tell the tale,” the sea woman boomed. ”Wait, you’re Alma?” Nita asked in surprise, remembering what the old mayor of River Village had told her about the diseased people of the village, and the only name on their lips, the same name she had heard when she had come to the River Village. Fortunately, despite the howling of the wind, it seemed that Alma could hear her just fine. ”Can I ask what’s going on with the people of the River Village? They seem to have suddenly gotten a thing for baldness, and they can’t sleep, because they’ve fallen in love with you, or something.” Alma laughed. ”Yes, I stole their souls, and stored them all in this lovely trinket of mine.” The Siren Queen stroked the crystal globe hanging around her neck. ”Of course, I started with those foolish hunters they sent after my Leviathan… which you seem to have killed!” Alma didn’t sound happy at that last sentence. ”Oh yeah, uh, about that…” Nita laughed nervously, ”it didn’t seem to be very big on dialogue and non-violent strategies.” For a moment, Alma looked at her, then the Siren Queen sighed. ”I would have demanded that you join my sirens, since you’re pretty, though not as beautiful as me, but you’ve killed a number of my pets and I already don’t like you.”

”Works for me,” Nita replied. ”My hair never did well with salt—wait, what?” A huge lance of water suddenly shot forth from the sea, aimed directly at Nita, she evaded it, and it cut through the mast behind her like a hot knife through butter. ”I should like to point out that even though I am not alive, I do not desire to get sunk. Besides, you will lose a treasure trove of delightful videos if you let me go down to the bottom of the sea,” the ship’s AI intoned behind her. ”Right. You do know that the likelihood of your survival will only be possible if I’m still alive, right?” Nita retorted, dodging another lance. Alma lifted a gargantuan hand, and Nita saw the water that made up her fingers sharpen and freeze into nasty looking claws, which descended towards the ship. Glad that she was still wearing her Threads of Time Future, Nita leaped off the ship and took to flight. Alma’s swipe, which had been aimed at the ship, was diverted off course as she tried to readjust the swipe to hit Nita in vain. But the sea witch was not done. Suddenly, Nita cried out in pain as the falling rain began cutting at her. It was no longer raining water but ice knives. Seeing there was no way to escape the rain except by flying above the clouds, Nita flung the spear in her hand, the weapon turning to light as it struck the Sea Queen. ”You dare attack me? DIE!”

A huge tsunami rose and descended on the Pergrandian, submerging her in an instant. Confident that this had been enough to finish off the Luminous Rose mage, Alma threw back her head and began to laugh with glee, when she noticed something in front of her. The sea witch looked in surprise at Nita, hovering in front of her face, the mage’s right arm outstretched and fingers splayed out, palm facing Alma. ”You’re quite a tough nut to--”

”Your turn. DIE!!!”

A black beam, wreathed with spiraling runes, fired outwards from the Pergrandian’s palm, smashing into Alma’s head. There was a scream and an explosion of water, and Nita found herself plunging into the ocean. As she fell into the water, she reached out with her psychic sense to locate the orb of souls that Alma had worn about her neck, and then, activating her jet pack once more, zipped through the water, snatched it and curved her fight pattern out of the water to land on the deck of the ship. Or more accurately, collapse. ”I’m knackered. Let’s hope that--” Nita’s words were cut short as the sea rose once again, twisting into Alma’s wrathful form. Nita could only stare in shock, as the Siren Queen glowered down at her. ”Don’t think you’ve won, landlubbing brat. I will return to have my revenge, and it shall be soon!” And the figure dissipated into sea spray, as the storm ceased immediately, the sun illuminating the sea in a myriad of majestic colors. ”I’ll bitchslap you again if you return,” Nita said to no one in particular, as she sat up on the ship’s deck. The AI materialized beside her and said, ”Great news, Captain. Due to the storm, I was unable to manage the ship’s telecommunication devices, but now the weather is fine and dandy, I can discern a beacon similar to the one installed on this vessel, some miles away. In other words, the other ship of the Hunters seems to be still functional.”

After a bit of sailing, they found the ship. It was still functional indeed, if by functional, it meant split in two pieces and grounded on a huge rock close to shore. The radio was still working, and that was what Nita’s ship had picked on. Stretching out her own senses, Nita could detect faint signs of life nearby. A bit of searching revealed a cave, in which twenty six zombie-like forms were huddled. The Monster Hunters. Nita managed to herd them aboard the ship, and what followed was an uneventful, if uncomfortable return to the River Village. Feeling the power emanating from the crystal globe she had retrieved from Alma, Nita was sure it was a prison, and breaking it would free the souls within. Yet she feared breaking it far away from the village, as there was the possibility of returning souls being hijacked on their way home. Once she had returned, to the surprise and joy of the mayor, Nita smashed the crystal, and white streaks began dissipating here and there, as each soul found its respective owner. There was a lot of noise and celebration, and everyone began looking for the brave mage who had saved them all. But she was not to be found, except behind the locked doors of her ship’s cabin, fast asleep from exhaustion.


WC: 1257
TWC: 10204