Quin, disturbed by violent motion and noise, begins to stir awake.
He finds himself swaying from side to side on the floor of a cell.
"Damn, my head," he mutters.
He holds his head, still feeling the lingering pain from being hit, and notices that his hands are chained to the wall.
He hears the sound of loud music and partying coming from somewhere above him.
It's so noisy.
Adding that to the constant swaying, which is making him nauseous, the clanging of his chains against the iron wall, and the pain from being hit in the head, everything begins to compound, giving him a serious headache.
He looks around his cell.
It's completely empty apart from a bucket in the corner and the chains used to tie him up.
Outside his cell, he notices someone—a skinny, young, delinquent-looking guy who is probably supposed to be watching him.
Instead, the boy is tiptoeing while standing on a chair, trying to see whatever is going on outside.
"Where am I, and where is everyone else? Anna! Zane! Can you hear me? Is anyone there?"
He calls out after noticing that they aren't around him.
There is no response.
The skinny delinquent turns around after noticing the noise.
"Huh? You're awake. Finally, I can get out of here," he rants to himself, clearly unhappy about being assigned watch duty.
"That damn runt, how dare she force something like this on me. She's lucky Catherina was there. If she ever pulls something like this on me again, I'll kill her."
He begins to leave.
Quin watches him go in confusion.
What was he talking about just now?
He said something about being forced by someone named Catherina to watch over me.
That guy is a thug by the looks of it, so this is most likely their hideout.
And from what I can tell, based on this constant rocking...
We are at sea!
A while later, the door opens again.
Rather than the delinquent, Sid is the one who walks inside.
"I heard you finally woke up. You took your sweet time, didn't you? What a drama queen. I didn't even hit you that hard," she says, mocking him for how easily he fell down as she walks toward his cell.
"Sid."
Quin speaks somberly but sternly.
"So you really did betray us."
"Duh," she responds flatly.
Her heartless reaction annoys Quin.
"Where are Anna and Zane?!" he asks furiously.
"Now that's more like it," Sid responds, pleased with his reaction. "Don't worry about your buddies. They're okay. You guys are actually quite lucky. If it were any other bunch of shmucks, they'd be done for, probably going through hell by now on the lowest floor. But you were special, and lucky me that I happened to be the one to get you guys."
"Enough beating around the bush. Where are they?" Quin cuts her off.
She smiles at him in response.
"Great energy you've got there. It'll come in handy. I still don't know how she did it, but Anna was able to sense the monsters before they appeared, so the boss has taken an interest in her. And Zane is good in a fight, so if he's lucky, he should survive even if he's on the lowest floor."
"That doesn't answer my question," Quin retorts.
"Relax, I'll get to that."
She walks closer and leans against his cell.
"Anna is safe. She's in one of the boss's special cells. That's probably the safest place to be on this boat, so you don't need to worry about your girlfriend. I was even planning on checking up on her after you, get some of that good air, you know."
She turns around and leans against the cell, looking up at the small window, the only source of light in the cell.
"As for Zane, he didn't get too lucky. Nobody wanted him. But that is expected. He was all bloodied up when he came here, after all. He was sent to the lowest floor, but he should be fine as long as he proves his worth and can recover."
She holds her chin.
"Although, that too is proving difficult. He wouldn't even look at me when I went to feed him today. All the other cellmates ended up eating his food."
"Why would he?" Quin retorts.
Sid laughs.
Then she wipes her tears and looks at him.
"But you do. Why is that?"
He ignores her question.
"So where am I, if not the lowest floor? You said something about cellmates just now. Why am I alone?"
She looks at him with a blushed grin.
"That handsome face of yours was able to bewitch Catherina."
Catherina? I've heard that name before.
...That guy that was here when I woke up said it.
"Who is Catherina?" He stops his pondering to get the answer straight.
"You're quite the lucky bastard, aren't you? Catherina stopped by to see you. She's a big shot. She was interested in you, said you had a pretty face, and that wasn't the only thing pretty about you, if you know what I mean."
"What are you saying?"
"See how your pants are down? She already checked you out, and she was quite satisfied. You don't have to worry. Soon enough, you'll be out of this cell and living the good life."
"That's not what I asked," Quin interrupts her rambling again.
She takes a moment to look at him with a deadpan expression before responding.
"She's one of the people who works directly under the boss, and you belong to her now. Basically, do whatever she tells you to."
"What about you?" Quin comes up with another question. "Do you also work under the boss?"
She looks away from him, avoiding the question.
He notices this and continues pressing her.
"Anyways, I'd better—"
"Why didn't you just pick us if that's how things work around here?" Quin interrupts before she can get any words out.
"Hey there, mind your own business," Sid responds, starting to get furious.
"Touched a sore spot, did I? Looks like you're just some lackey. From the way you were speaking, I could have sworn you owned the place."
"Shut your mouth," she retorts. "Don't speak on things you don't understand."
"What is there to understand? You're clearly just taking orders from somebody else. Going out to look for innocent people to trick sure seems like lackey work to me."
"Enough", Sid slams her hands against the cell bars, "I'm leaving."
Sid finally has enough and turns around to leave.
"Why do this?" he yells after her.
She keeps moving not turning around to face him and answers bluntly,"It's better than being dead."
"But you had the chance to run away when we were outside."
Sid stops right at the door for a moment.
She doesn't say anything for a moment.
"You wouldn't understand."