Alix stomps out of the captain's quarters with Alisa at her tail. "Uh, mom? Why were you being so mean to Holiday?" Alix ignored the question, continuing to walk without looking back. "Ahem! I-it's just that, I've never seen you get that mad at him before and he was just telling us something that was hard for him to talk about! I don't think you should've gotten that mad at him?"
"I don't care how hard it is for him to talk about it, I could see that much! The issue was-" Alix paused for a moment. "Actually, it isn't even worth it anymore. Just be quiet and stand next to me." Alisa opened her mouth again but stopped and simply did as she was told.
Alix quickly made it to the bow of the ship where Isabelle Chancy was waiting. "Good, you're finally here! Now, do tell me Ms. Ren. How do you plan on getting us from here..." Isabelle pointed down at the water then slowly traced the wall in front of them up until she was pointing to the top of the cliff hanging high above them.
"...to there?"
Alix rolled up the sleeves of her Spellcaster's robe. "Just sit quietly and let us work!" Isabelle narrowed her eyes at Alix but did not speak any longer, she simply nodded and let the girl do her thing.
Alix let out a deep breath and put Mo's fish bowl down. She looked down at him while shaking out her wrists. 'Are you ready, Mo?"
Mo was shaking out his fins similar to Alix. 'I just hope we can actually do this!"
'In theory, we should be able to make it." Alix said as she stared up at the wall before her. 'Of course, theories need to be tested before they can become truth and this one has yet to have the chance to be as such!"
Mo smirks at Alix. 'Then this can be the first test!" Alix nods without looking down. She then looks over her shoulder to Alice, who is fidgeting mindlessly. Noticing that Alix is staring at her, Alisa meets her eyes and Alix speaks.
"Watch me. This is what I envision from your magic in the future!" Alisa frowned in confusion but still didn't speak, though she did desperately want to.
Alix and Mo both closed their eyes. They focused on their bond, on the silver thread that was connecting them. They thought back to when they scraped out a victory over the Djinns. How they had been in sync in mind, body, and magic!
Together, they focused on the Abyssal Sea.
Neither was sure what is was or where it came from but they knew that they were the only two that could control it. Alix widened her stance to improve her stability. She breathed slowly and in a constant flow, just like a gentle stream flowing through a forest.
Meanwhile, Mo gently floated out of his bowl until he was at the same height as Alix's head. A sight that was amazing to any that didn't know that Mo was capable of such an act!
Alix felt the power within her and that same power in Mo. Then, in one big move. Alix and Mo both lifted their arms towards the sky then swung them down hard, slamming onto the deck of the ship!
The other crew members watched silently as they did not wish to disturb the girl's focus. Alix and Mo kept their hands on the deck. Isabelle was most fascinated by the sight.
She didn't quite know what to make of it? Sweat started to pour from Alix due to the concentration and strain of whatever she was doing.
The silence was deafening as the two sat for what felt like hours but was merely twenty seconds. Twenty seconds, that is, until the ship started to shake slightly. Kent was standing far from the action at the helm but frowned when his ship began to vibrate. For a moment, panic took over his mind but then he saw Alix and Mo focusing on something and managed to calm himself down.
'Calm yourself, Kent. It's not here.' Kent reassured himself but continued to keep his eyes surveying the situation, just in case. Luckily, he did not have to keep watch for long as Alix finally broke the silence.
"Abyssal Sea..." She said aloud along with Mo, though she and the other monsters were the only ones able to understand him.
"Geyser."
For a moment, the rumbling stopped which confused everyone onboard. Then, in an instant, the ship was propelled into the air.
The ship flew forth at incredible speeds in a direction that it was never meant to travel...up! At this moment, Eric comes stumbling out of the captain's quarters and is shocked to see the ship being pushed into the air by a literal geyser of dark water.
"What the hell is happening!?" He screamed as the wind rushed past his ears. No one answered him. They couldn't really hear him and were similarly desperately trying to keep their balance!
Alix and Mo gritted their teeth in pain. It was taking all of the focus they had to ensure that the ship continued going up as they were headed to the top of the cliff! Sweat was now dripping off of Alix and her ivory skin reddened from the strain! She did all she could to keep the geyser pushing!
Alisa's eyes were wide. 'This is what she meant!' She had just realized that Alix was doing something that she should, theoretically, be able to do at some point should she continue to practice her magic. Alisa had to admit, this was really cool!
Isabelle was the most surprised of all of them! She'd never seen Alix do magic nor had she ever seen anything like this in person! She'd heard myths about Spirit Savants creating mountain ranges and calling forth tsunamis that consumed towns and created lakes but, she'd believe those to be just stories! 'Now I'm starting to think something like that may have been possible!"
The entire journey up took around five minutes of Alix and Mo consistently using the power of the Abyssal Sea until they'd made it to the top. The crew members watched as the water caressed the bottom of the ship and gently placed it onto the cliff, some meters away from the edge to avoid falling back down. Then the water just disappeared as though it was never there.
The only wetness on the ship was from the sea that it was just floating on five minutes ago.
Alix and Mo's eyes shot open. They panted in exhaustion and satisfaction as they'd managed to complete their task. "Mom!" Alix was still on the ground when she felt Alisa's arms wrap around her neck. "That was amazing! How did you do that? How did you know that you could do that?! Are you sure that you aren't a spirit savant because that looked a whole lot like savantry!" Alisa proceeded to let out all of the words that she'd been waiting speak for the past ten minutes.
Alix tried to push the girl off but was too tired to achieve any actual results. "That's not important right now, Alice. Do you see Amal?" With Alix's reminding Alisa looked over the side of the ship to see if she could spot the town.
A thick, dark fog sat in the distance likely being the same one from the stories that Alix heard from Denver. "No, but I do see the fog where the town should be, so that's a start!" Alisa relayed getting an approving nod from Alix.
"Good." Alix said. She decided to take a moment to catch her breath before doing anything else.
"I have to say, that was quite the showing, Ms. Ren!" Isabelle slowly walked over to Alix with her lips upturned. "I never expected you to be a spirit savant! I thought it was well known by now that you were a sorceress?"
"I am a sorceress." Alix said as she pushed herself up from the ground. Isabelle lifted a brow.
"Oh~? If that is so, then what do you call the magic that you just did to lift the ship? Unless you are telling me that it was some sort of advanced sorcery?"
"It is not sorcery but it is not spirit savantry either."
"Then, what is it?"
"The Abyssal Sea." Alix answered and moved over to Mo. He was currently flopped on his side still panting.
'Jeez! That sure took a hell of a lot outta me! I'm gonna need a long break after that one, Lexi!"
'You and me both!" Alix agreed as she picked Mo up from the ground and put him back into his fish bowl. Isabelle was just standing their frowning as though she'd been told some bad joke.
"What the hell is the Abyssal Sea? Some sort of sad child's river of comfort?" Alix rubbed her eyes and looked at Isabelle.
"Look, I don't know what it is either, I just know that I can use it because of Mo! Now would you ponder more quietly? I'm going to sleep!" Isabelle and the rest then looked into the sky where the Blaze was now out of sight. Seemed that they had arrived just as the night rolled in.
Kent's eyes went round in shock as he could've sworn that it was only the middle of the day. "Where the hell did the time go?"
"Uh, cap?" Kent looked down from the helm where he saw Waloe staring up at him. "Seeing as yer mother's going to rest, why not we all 'turn in' for the night! It's been a long journey, after all!"
Kent smiled down to the woman. "That sounds like a great idea! Let's get some rest!" Waloe nods and relays the information to the rest of the crew. Alisa stands with a confused look.
"Why are they talking like that?"
"Hey, Mama Wolf?" Eric calls out but Alix lifts her hand before he can speak.
"Holiday, I do not have the energy to listen to you or Alisa ramble right now. Whatever you have to say to me you can just say it in the morning."
"No! It's not that!" Eric tries to explain but Alix slowly limps exhaustedly into the captain's quarters and closes the door before he gets the chance to finish. Eric stares at the door without moving for a bit before following the rest of the crew below deck.
...
A few hours have passed. Blaze's domain is nowhere in sight as it is still the middle of the night when a figure arises from below deck. The figure has a longsword holstered to his side with a buttoned leather vest over his cream linen shirt. It is Eric Holland, still awake during this late hour. His shoes clack against the deck as he walks to the railing at the edge of the ship.
He leans against the rail and stares into distant fog. He isn't looking for anything, just staring and thinking. In all honesty, Eric hasn't managed to get a good night's sleep since the events at the ruin. Years spent kept awake by guilt and sadness but it was a punishment that he felt he deserved for making it out of there alone.
'And now, I'm here! Trying to go into another one of those things when I promised all of them that I would never go back. Hmph! Some friend I am!' Eric sighs to himself. 'What am I even trying to do? Complete the rune so I don't have to rub blood on my chest anymore? Or is it the rune that wants to be completed and is compelling me to do so? Aagh! I just don't get it!'
Eric ruffles his own hair. All of these questions were giving him a headache. It didn't help that the pirates had just partied like the world was ending before all blacking out drunk!
*Creeaak*
Eric turn to look over his shoulder at the sound. There is no one there but he does take the moment to stare at the door to Alix's room.
'Then there's Mama Wolf. She just wants me to finish the rune so that she can see what it can do! I don't think she even cares what happens to me anymore! In fact, I don't think she ever cared?' Eric scoffs and turns away from the door. 'Selfish and driven, just like my real mama!' Eric shakes his head thoughtfully.
'I don't now what sort of person you see in my future, Mama Wolf. But I'm not it.'
Eric looks back to the fog. He frowns as he notices something off. For one, the fog looks much closer than it was just a few moments ago. And he could swear that there was a figure within it? He leaned in to try to see the person more clearly but all he could make out was a silhouette.
"Hey!" He called out. "Hey is anyone over there?"
No response.
Eric's brows furrowed. "Are you shy or something?" Eric waited again.
"So, you've come?" A voice questioned from somewhere. Eric couldn't tell where from as it sounded like it spoke from all around him. He started to look around for the speaker but didn't see anyone other than the figure in the fog.
"Was that you?"
The figure chuckled. "Good old, Eric! You were always a curious person! Glad to see that hasn't changed!"
Eric's cocked his head to the side. "You know me? How? If you're up here then there should be no way for you to know anything from the outside world?" Eric tried to peer through the fog to get a better look at the figure, but the fog seemed even denser than it was before. "What the hell's going on?"
"Hell? Oh! I guess that would be a good description of the ruin that you crawled out of!" Eric's eyes went wide.
"Wait. How do you-"
"Oooh, too little too late, Eric!" The voice started to cackle as the wind picked up and blew the fog around the ship. "But don't worry! I'm sure the place that you're going will be comforting! It'll feel like your hell away from hell!"
The chilling laughter of the figure echoed through the fog. The figure fades away like smoke. Eric, in a panic, draws his blade and tries to jump off of the ship to pursue the figure, however he found himself unable to move as the fog coiled around him like snakes strangling their prey!
He grunted and kicked to try to get free but it felt like he wasn't making contact with anything despite being able to feel that familiar sensation of suffocation as the fog snakes strengthened their grip on him! The fog flowed across the ship effortlessly while Eric continued to struggle. Then, he heard the sound of a door opening?
He looked over his shoulder with what movement he had available and watched as the fog seemed to have opened the door to the Captain's Quarters where Alix was sleeping.
"M-Mama...Wo-Wolf...." Eric tried to call but couldn't due to the squeezing of the snakes. He could do nothing but watch as the fog entered the girl's room. He tried to keep fighting but eventually was too worn out.
Eric lost consciousness. His sword clanged to the ground as his arms went limp.
Within an instant the fog receded, slowly returning to its original position. It left no sign of its presence behind. Including, Eric on the deck who completely vanished without a trace. As well as Alix...
Who, along with Mo, disappeared from their room in the middle of the night. Without a sign of struggle.
They were all just...gone.