Morning arrived under a heavy sky.
Low clouds hung over the ocean, dulling the sunlight and painting the deck a muted grey. The sea itself was calm, though the quiet felt uneasy—like something waiting to go wrong.
Reoloy stood near the bow rail with a folded map in his hands.
He compared the chart with the distant line of the horizon, mentally tracing their course. The ship cut steadily through the water, the sails catching a gentle wind.
Around him, the others had already begun moving about.
Hugo and Graham were charged with keeping an eye on the whale-beast. Reoloy had figured that it was an instruction they would be willing to receive from him.
He had been right.
Reoloy watched them for a moment.
Normally, they grumbled even when they actively helped with anything. Though Hugo was usually the core culprit. Graham kept it closer to his chest and contained the other boy's outbursts.
Today, none of that had happened.
Reoloy looked away after some time. He chalked it up to some kind of resignation to the current state of affairs. Whatever the case, that was their business.
Further along the deck, Selene leaned against the railing, quietly observing the water.
She had asked if there was anything she could do, exhibiting an unusual proactiveness for her, though admittedly, Reoloy didn't really know her to be sure it was a departure from her usual self.
He had told her to keep an eye out for anything that looked shiny. Granted, the girl never opened her eyes, so he wondered if he'd allocated the right person to the job.
'She gets around just fine...' he thought. 'Must be that common character trope.'
He dismissed any concerns, deciding that if she had accepted the role, she could handle it.
Cisco sat nearby, fidgeting with a flare gun. The sound of the metal jostling across his fingers as he twirled and tossed it around carried across the deck.
Reoloy had left him to do what he probably did best—sensing.
The flare was meant for an extremely precise period; any margin of error and they were all likely going to die. He had given him his instructions already, so all he could do was hope it all went well.
Lohan sat cross-legged on a crate nearby, lazily tossing a small pebble into the air and catching it again.
She was on stand-by.
Lohan was the only person whose combat ability he—kind of—had no doubts about. The others were probably a decent enough level for this "quest", but she stood in a league of her own among them.
He could tell even without having seen her fight.
Reoloy folded the map.
"Laurencia."
The woman appeared almost instantly.
"Yes, boss?"
His eyebrow rose.
"Since when has that been a thing?"
She shrugged, smiling pleasantly.
"Since now."
Reoloy chose to brush past it.
"Here's a rough draft of the next few key points on the route."
She accepted the map with an exaggerated flourish.
Laurencia let out a whistle.
"This route is a mess."
"It's necessary if we don't want to die," he explained plainly. "Though I don't know what to do for that last section."
"So it's going to get that much more hectic," she said sarcastically. "Great."
"It's been that hectic since the start."
Laurencia sighed, scratching the back of her head and turning to walk back to the wheel.
"Just so you know, I'm keeping the blast staff with me for whatever happens next," she called out as she left.
Reoloy gave a light chuckle, finding it funny that she thought he expected anything different from her.
Lohan caught the pebble again and looked over.
"You sure you don't want me to do anything?"
"For now, no," he answered. "But soon."
In one motion, she hopped into a squatting position.
"How soon then?"
A bright reflective twinkle gleamed from the ocean's surface just a good few metres to the ship's right.
"Reoloy!" Selene called.
A tense expression overtook his face.
"As soon as right now," he said. "Everyone, get ready!"
He activated his glove relic, rolling his wrists as he did.
"A really long challenge is starting."
---
Just like Reoloy had said, the quiet didn't last long.
Not even ten minutes later, the loud noise of something heavy splashing out of the water suddenly echoed. The essentially still ocean trembled before more similar sounds were heard repeatedly from around the boat.
Everyone froze.
"What are those...?" Selene asked cautiously.
The sea continued erupting as the creatures causing the commotion became plentiful enough to fill the sky. They looked like a horrendous mix between cockroaches and krill. Crystal shells covered their backs, split open where thin wings fluttered rapidly.
"They look like they're preparing something!" Graham shouted.
The water went almost still as finally more stopped surfacing, but then the wind trembled.
"This pattern is..." Reoloy muttered.
"Shit," he exclaimed. "Everybody cover your ears!"
The insectoid creatures released a high-pitched screech, the sound shattering any nearby glass and sending vibrations that could be felt in their very bones.
The vessel's crew tightly clamped their hands against their ears, gritting their teeth as they desperately waited out the onslaught.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the attack weakened before completely stopping.
Lohan was already moving.
She dashed forward, fist glowing faintly as ki gathered. Her punch slammed into one of the creatures with a dense thud, sending it flying backwards. Not stopping there, she swung around, throwing spinning kicks at a few others and sending them back into the water.
The creatures shrieked once more, causing Lohan to fall back onto the ship, defending herself from the sonic assault.
Suddenly, the monsters stopped, instead shifting into incredibly stiff stances midair.
Reoloy acted immediately, rushing down the deck and preparing to leap into the ocean.
He gave a brief nod to Cisco, who understood, aiming his gun high and waiting a moment before letting it off.
Immediately, a thick plume of purple smoke filled the immediate area above the ship, providing cover from whatever it was the small creatures were trying to do.
---
The reincarnator pushed through the water steadily, trying to pace himself while going as fast as he could. He had hit the sea with decent momentum, and he was making decent progress into the depths.
This was one of his more reckless gambles. His current self wasn't athletic enough to swim as deep as he needed to and stay there for a prolonged period.
He had to be quick and effective.
Reoloy caught a glimpse of something glimmering even in the darkness of the deep ocean. Turning and resolving himself as he came face to face with a much bigger shelled organism than the ones above.
Its body was completely encased in crystal. Only one shadowed opening remained, and from it stared a single black and yellow eye surrounded by sickly grey tendrils.
'So this is the queen,' he thought, suspended in place. 'Looking at it for real, it's more disgusting than I thought...'
He felt his lungs burn up a little bit, pushing his thoughts aside and swimming towards the monster.
---
Up above, Laurencia circled the same segment of water, trying desperately to avoid the shelled monsters as they attempted to ram themselves into the boat.
Currently, the kids were all putting forward their best effort to repel whatever few managed to make it dangerously close.
"No one hurt?" Cisco asked.
"I'm fine," Lohan answered. "There's just too many of them."
The deck lurched violently as a few monsters managed to slam into the hull from the left.
Laurencia tightened her grip on the wheel, boots planted wide as the ship shuddered beneath her.
"Keep them off of us or we sink!" she shouted.
A cluster of crystal-shelled insects broke through the thinning smoke, their wings buzzing like grinding blades as they dove toward the deck.
"Hugo! Graham! Selene!" Lohan yelled, glancing toward the ship's left side. "You guys watch the left! I'll take care of this side."
She kicked off the floorboards and shot forward. Ki flared faintly around her body as she drove a straight punch into the first creature that crossed her path. Following up, she inhaled deeply before unleashing a rampant flurry of punches, knocking away all of the beasts that were closing in.
The last of the smoke cleared up, revealing the insectoids in the back line already preparing the same unknown attack from earlier.
Cisco, however, had sensed it and preemptively taken aim.
"Not happening."
A yellow cloud burst into the air, thwarting the monsters once more.
Another heavy impact rocked the vessel. Though Hugo had managed to block off the actual blow, a thin trail of blood falling down his arm.
Hugo gritted his teeth as he punched away yet another insect, its hard shell making his hand throb in pain.
"No. You. don't!" he barked, jumping in the air and sweeping three of them away with a kick.
Another one darted toward him immediately.
He snatched it midair, threw it onto the deck and landed on top of it with a crunch.
"These things are seriously getting annoying," he spat, looking to his side.
He then grabbed a nearby crate and heaved it upward just as more creatures dove. The insectoids smashed straight into the wooden box, splintering it apart and staggering off target.
Hugo didn't stop there.
He smacked a few others away, then threw a spartan kick that sent a couple flying back. He caught another and drove both hands into its shell, violently ripping it apart.
"Hugo," Graham called calmly, drawing the brunette's attention. "Don't do too much. Remember, we're conserving our strength."
Hugo frowned. He understood the sentiment, but conserving strength aside, this wasn't easy—especially since Graham hadn't been helping in the slightest.
"Okay, I hear you..."
A shrill screech cut through the air again as more insects circled above the yellow smoke.
Lohan skidded to a stop near the centre of the deck, scanning the sky.
"They're regrouping!"
"We can see that," Selene answered, ducking as one clipped the railing beside her.
Cisco paused, feeling for their movements through the smoke. It was different from before.
They weren't aiming for them.
The boat rocked violently as the water around them was bombarded with the creatures making reentry.
"What just happened?" Hugo asked, confused.
Before speech could fill the silence, Reoloy surfaced from the ocean with a loud gasp for air.
Laurencia ran to the railing and threw down a rope, helping him up.
Once he had made it back onto the ship, he composed himself, his expression souring. Lohan came closer, checking frantically for injuries.
"I failed," he said out of the blue.
Reoloy then turned to the older woman.
"Use the blast staff," he said, pointing to the distance. "On that."
Laurencia's eyes widened.
"You want me to hit the giant whale?" she asked, trying to grasp his potential reasoning. "I don't think it will do much. At most, that thing will just get agitated."
Reoloy nodded. "That's precisely the point."
The water began to tremble once more.
"Hurry!"
Laurencia rapidly released the relic, pointing it haphazardly at the whale, figuring it was a big target anyway and unleashed a blast that instantly crossed the distance and struck the behemoth.
The third guard beast let out a loud wail, the ocean becoming more violent the longer it went.
She looked to Reoloy for the next course of action, noticing that he appeared unusually upset.
Shelving her observations, she grabbed the boy by his shoulders.
"What now?!" she yelled through the sound of violent waves.
"Get the ship out of here!" Reoloy answered, snapping out of his thoughts. "We don't want to be here for this!"
The insectoids came flying out, surrounding the whale-beast as they seemingly shifted targets. They began a brutal bombardment against the whale, only serving to enrage it further.
The giant creature flailed wildly, sending wave attacks at the smaller organisms.
The crew on the ship held on for dear life as Laurencia pushed the vessel to its limits in an effort to escape the area.
In an act of miraculous fortune, the ship made off just as the shelled queen rose from the depths, signalling the beginning of a deadly fight between the two beasts.
---
It had taken them over half a day to get out of the danger zone.
During that time, there had been no space for rest. They still had to fend off a few shelled stragglers, and the violent ocean had continuously swept onto the deck, threatening to sweep them away.
Not to mention the important fixes to the ship that had to be made from the damages it had sustained.
Reoloy slumped against the left railing, catching his breath.
"Okay, guys," he started. "We should be fine for the next while."
He closed his eyes, wiping sweat from his brow.
"The fifth guard beast was a more hectic one, but the sixth is still a long way off," he continued. "We'll use that time to recover and think up a plan o—"
Out of nowhere, he felt a heavy blow to his side.
Reoloy fell to the ground, clutching his ribs and violently heaving. He looked up to find the towering figures of Hugo, Selene and Cisco.
"Why...?" he forced out, struggling to scan their expressions while overwhelmed with pain.
Selene leaned down, getting into his face, her eyes still closed. She looked back up at Cisco, seemingly seeking silent confirmation for something.
Cisco gave no response, his lip only stiffening.
The pinkette sighed, turning back to the blue-black-haired boy.
"What are you guys doing?!" Lohan exploded, preparing to launch forward, only to be stopped by a bright-white beam sword to her neck.
"No interference," Graham said, holding two swords of light.
He looked at Laurencia, who stood frozen in place.
"That goes for you, too."
Reoloy's mind raced. He wondered what had triggered this. Was there something he had missed? How had they coordinated this right under his nose? And more importantly, why were Cisco and Selene involved?
"I just want to ask you one question before anything else," Selene said, interrupting his train of thought. "Have you lost your memories?"
Reoloy stared up at them blankly, still nursing his side.
'What...?'
He looked at everyone.
They stared expectantly.
Some kind of misunderstanding had formed while he wasn't paying attention, but still, if they thought it was an issue of memory, why the extreme measures to get it out of him?
"If you wanted to know, you could've just asked me nicely," he said weakly, suspecting that he had an internal injury.
Selene smiled.
"We figured you wouldn't answer us," she said. "Given your fixation with secrets these days."
She dropped from her crouch into a full sit.
"Look, I don't like any of this either," she continued. "Just answer the question."
Reoloy pondered his response.
Realistically, if he said no, they would probably grill him more harshly, and if it came out he was an imposter, then even Lohan would be lost as an ally. If he said yes, there was a higher likelihood of getting through this. He could also use the amnesia angle moving forward.
It was a win-win.
His pain-addled mind struggled to even formulate the thoughts, but he made his choice.
"Yes, it's true," he finally said. "I don't remember anything from before I woke up in Galma."
Everywhere went silent except for the gentle traversion of the ship through the sea. Reoloy watched each of them carefully, preparing answers to any questions they could throw at him.
Selene stood up slowly.
"All of this really is interesting..." she said.
She strolled casually to the centre of the deck, standing beside Laurencia, who only tensed further.
"He's lying."
In an instant, Graham redirected his second blade toward Reoloy, and it extended, piercing through his right thigh before retracting and striking the left.
"Huh?"
Was all Reoloy could get out before being met with a brutal backhand from Hugo, knocking him out.
"Are you guys serious?!" Lohan yelled, her ki flaring weakly from exhaustion.
Guilt plastered onto Cisco's face. He hesitated for a moment, looking at his friend's face, despite not believing that it was actually him.
"As serious as can be," Hugo said, hoisting Reoloy onto his shoulder.
"Hey," the green-haired boy said. "What are you doing?"
The brunette swung Reoloy's limp body over the railing, sending him carelessly tumbling into the sea, bumping his head on the ship on his way down.
"No!" Cisco shouted, leaning over and searching the water for any signs of the unconscious teen.
He froze, his hands trembling and nausea building up.
'What if we're wrong and it's actually him?'
Reoloy's smiling face flashed through his mind sending him to the floor, retching and convulsing.
"Calm down," Hugo said callously, looking down at Cisco. "There's no time for you to pussy out no—"
Lohan appeared between Cisco and Hugo, freezing the latter instantly. She glared murderously at them as she leapt onto the metal bars.
"If I survive this," she said, her voice chillingly hollow. "You'd better hope I never see you again."
And then she jumped into the dark ocean after Reoloy.