Considering that it was already halfway through the day when Audrey’s group came across Captain Styles and his crew, plus the considerable amount of time it took for them to keep the negotiation rolling to their advantage, it did not come as a huge surprise when the lots of them only started sailing back into the open water when dusk was already closing in. Not that they have any complaints against it; after all, it was not like they have a say on the matter. They were not exactly in the position to be calling shots, in the first place. They could already count themselves lucky to meet someone who could rescue them from the underwater cave. Otherwise, there was no telling how long they would stay trapped in that god forsaken place.However, as the wind carried their sail forward, Steve suddenly realize an anomaly.“How come this ship is doing this?”He muttered under his breath. At this point, the guy was already wearing a conflicted expression as a result of his perplexion. So when A
“We still have a few hours left before our departure. In the meantime, go ahead and feel free to make yourself busy with your own stuff.”After a short while, Captain Styles made this announcement and almost immediately, everyone from his crew cheered and left whatever they were doing. Judging by how quickly these people reacted, Audrey’s friends could tell right away that this was how the captain and his crew normally carried out their typical task throughout day.“Interesting.”David could not help but comment and without him knowing it, he was already nodding his head in complete approval. The fact that Captain Styles could command this kind of cooperation spoke volumes of how good he was at doing his thing. The instant the captain gave the w
“You dare make a fool of people?! You must be seeking death!”The queen roared as soon as Audrey and her friends were brought to her presence. The news of them escaping the imprisonment by using sorcery and tricking her constituents to do their bidding enraged to the monarch.“Do you think my kingdom is a joke?”She went on to throw them a rhetorical question. But even without them answering her, she was already fuming with rage.“This is unforgivable. A blasphemy to the highest degree! And because of that, I sentence you to be the lowest of my slaves. Now, I will turn you people into fish to exfoliate my royal feet!"Everyone was like…The heck?When they heard the sentence given to them. At first it sounded petty and lame for them. However, when realization hit them, that was when they understand how dreadful was the punishment they were about to receive because if that were to happen, then they would be bound to forever servitude doing nothing but eating the callus off of the queen
"It's true, his blood holds some power. But only traces of it, an insignificant amount. In fact, he barely possesses any; too faint if I might add. His incompetence almost forced me to drain every last drop of blood there is in his body before I could even produce any gratifying outcome. "Anyway, I am glad those vermins, whoever they were, helped me get rid of that pest of a son of yours. I plan to thank them in person in the near future. I have a feeling it will be sooner than I am expecting.""That boy may be your firstborn and he may came from an impressive bloodline and have Lilith's blood flowing in his vein. But I imagine it was nowhere near as potent as quite the likes of that of your daughter's. After all, the deity's power was only passed down to the female descendant. Aye?"The thing is, as soon as a descendant of Lilith got pregnant with a female child, all the deity power she holds will be drained out from her body and be used as a nourishment to the fetus; in a way Audre
Audrey appeared more anxious than before and this was the exact opposite of what Nero wanted to happen. To begin with, his sole purpose for speaking to Audrey was to make her feel better. All he wanted was for his master to confide in him in order to lighten her burden; in case the pent-up emotion was weighing her down. However, from the current looks of it, his probing questions only agitated the other party and made her more stressed than she already was. Thus, the cat no longer said anything afterward lest his words ended up adding to Audrey’s growing anxiety. He was afraid that the more he talked, the more perturbed the other party would become. Of course, it goes without saying that this was the least of his intention right now.So to avoid blowing things out of proportion, Nero just left Audrey to her own devices in the meantime. Sporting a look of defeat on his tiny furry face, little Nero returned to his previous post where he and Monami were sitting. Meanwhile, Audrey watch
A single whirlpool, or an eddy, was a common occurrence in the ocean, but a pair of whirlpools was something that only existed in myths. Or at least that was what common people were made to believe.For decades, people have believed that a pair of whirlpools which was known as a modon, was possible. However, while experts in this area have predicted for decades that they might form in the ocean, nobody had ever seen one; or rather, there was no living soul yet that could tell the tale of its wonder.Captain Styles remained unbothered even after their ship was surrounded by raging currents and whirlpools. In fact, he just shrugged his shoulder when he saw them appear. His action implied that this was not something to fuss about. Likewise, he did not see the point of explaining anything since he reckoned that even if he tried, given that they were in the middle of a fight or flight response, Audrey and her friends would still not understand a thing from what he will going to say. Henry
It was no longer that hard to guess that the leviathan that tried to abduct the group was no other than the same Kraken that was rumored to be working under Romanov's command. As a matter of fact, it already became an established belief that the beast was the contracted spirit animal of the said captain. One of the common themes that could be observed among multiple accounts of varying sailors whenever they were asked to talk about this infamous tandem was that of how the Kraken was only acting in Captain Romanov’s stead; it was basically taking orders from its master. So whether this tentacles-ridden, creature of the deep blue sea would bring forth nightmare or bestow salvation upon the unwitting person that ended up crossing them, it was all highly dependent on the other party’s mood. In the past, it was made known that Alec Romanov had once received the noble task of ferrying the soul of those who died in the open water and apparently taking them with him to the other side. It
Audrey's group was offered to stay in one room mainly because that was the only accommodation left, to begin with. Nevertheless, their room was not in any way disappointing because they were given a huge space that could house more than a dozen people at once. In fact, they would not be surprised if Captain Styles would go on and tell them that this was one of the largest cabins he has on the ship so far; probably only second to his personal chamber.On the other hand, the captain claimed that the reason behind his decision of putting them together inside one room was that he was trying to be considerate of them. He figured they would prefer it this way."Youngsters tend to stick around with their mates nowadays. Besides, I noticed you guys always stay in a group. So I figured you would like this setup." The captain told them.Well, to begin with, it was not like they have anything against it. The thing was, their room was spacious enough to accommodate the whole group comfortably,
[Distract them for me.]“Was it not only right for Steffi to get to use to eye whenever she feels like it?? I mean, she is older than the two of you so naturally, she was supposed to have more authority above both of you, no?.”“Ehhh… She’ll be fine. I’m the youngest so they should let me wear it more.” (Meredith)“The kid is right. The eldest should have the eyeball. She is a genius” (Steffi)Steve, on the other hand, seemed to get what Audrey was trying to do, so he said something that would surely add fuel to the fire.“But what about the middle child? I am sure, Ariel wants to have her turn too.&rdqu
“Now, where are we? Right, cooking.”Steffi changed the topic on purpose, before turning to her sisters.“I need the eye to check if it's ready, who has it?”“It’s around here, somewhere,”Meredith replied as she started to rummage through a pile of disorganized drawers. She felt obliged to respond since she was the last one to use the Magus Eye. Unfortunately, she forgot where she left it.“The last time I saw it, you put it in the utensils compartment, Meredith” Steffi insinuated using a lazy tone so the other party rebutted,“Don’t use that tone with my name.”Ariel on the other hand joined in this time to inform them that the eye was nowhere to be seen.“It’s not there this time.”After a while of contemplation, Meredith’s face lit up as she recalled something.“Aha! Steffi always put it in the dish cabinet:”And just like that, she found where her sister was hiding it.Consequently, the group found it interesting to watch how the three sisters could be talkative without having t
“I agree with Ariel. Why don’t we invite them over? This way, we could continue our chat there whilst they take their much-needed rest.” This time, it was Meredith who spoke and she deliberately told her sisters this. Nonetheless, she has spoken the words loud enough to be heard by others. The students, on the other hand, were beyond ecstatic when they overhear the ongoing conversation. But decided that it would be best not to allow their emotion to show on their faces. At this point, Meredith turned to the group and greeted them with a bow. “Let me apologize on my sister’s behalf. The thing is, it has been a while since we had visitors. As such, we are no longer accustomed to receiving guests.” She insinuated before she slowly approached the bunch of bewildered youngsters; careful not to bump her toe as she felt her way through the darkness. Her blindness was made obvious by her action and it made her appear pitiful to any onlooker. Truth be told, the Grae’s current act of displ
“Seriously, when will they stop obsessing over Cercei?”Tsking in annoyance, Steffi stealthily moved her slender fingers next to the Magnus Eye with the full intention of taking it back from her younger sister’s possession.“These people were getting on my nerves!”She purposely added this to appeal to her sisters’ sentiment so that their minds could focus somewhere else and they would not notice it once she started hogging the magic eye all for herself again. Meanwhile, her plan worked, as it always did. Ariel readily agreed to her and with a voice full of despondency, she said,“That’s how the mage community works. They fear what they could not understand and so they are set on destroying anything that they cannot control.”Ariel finished with an exasperated sigh. Meredith, on the other hand, could not help but clenched her fist as she was reminded of their good friend’s plight. Then with her brows knitted together, she roared,“The gal did not deserve all this hatred.”Meanwhile, t
On the flip side, rewinding the clock a tad, just a few minutes before Audrey’s group discovered that they unknowingly fall under a spell, the Graes were already watching them. “The eye! Who has the eye?” Meredith, the youngest, shouted at the top of her lungs. Steffi, on the other hand, stepped away from the giant cauldron before answering. “Over here. I had it with me.” She purposely put a safe distance between her and her two sisters before taking the eye out from her pocket. Afterward, she put the eyeball inside her empty socket. Meanwhile, Ariel, the middle child among the three sisters complained, “You again? You are always snagging our eyes by yourself.” “I know right? Give us a chance as well.” Meredith seconded. But Steffi only rolled her removable eye and mumbled, “Oh, shut up! Stop whining, it's because I have more use of this than the two of you combined.” Ariel no longer argued. But Meredith was different. “Give me that, it is my turn today.” She insinuated and
“But this was done in consideration of what was the lesser evil. News about how the petrifying monster has been terrorizing the Black Forest had already reached the ears of the masses and as a result, was causing mayhem among the people; both non-magic and magic practitioners alike. If it was not for that, the mage community would not make a move.” “Terrorizing, you say.” The Grae mockingly repeated Niccoli’s word that struck her noggin the most. Then with a contemptuous scoff, she added, “What an interesting choice of words considering that it was you, students, who made the first move against her. If you were to ask me, I think it is more accurate to say that it was the other way around. You all are the ones doing the terrorizing. You brought the melee with you and now that she retaliated, you turned her into a villain?” Everyone fell silent afterward but it was not because they were trying to come up with better arguments to refute the other party’s words. Rather, it was due to
Audrey was on her dormitory bed when all that happened, and she was absolutely oblivious to the problem that was headed her way. Meanwhile, the results of the examination were announced on the third day. The students gathered around the square early in the morning and crammed in front of the announcement board to check their results. They also wanted to find out which class they had been allocated to. Niccoli dragged Audrey into the heavily obstructed crowd and finally came before the Herbalist Division’s announcement board. Niccoli immediately found their names, and as expected, both of them had obtained the highest marks for the test. They were also allocated to the Herbalist Division’s violet class for that autumn enrollment. Niccoli was also excited to see the name ‘Andrew’ written on the top of the list. Everyone envied her marks. “Andrew! You are the first! You are the first!” Niccoli was extremely surprised and held onto Audrey’s shoulder. He was very excited, and it was as i
[Alright, I must admit it’s my fault this time. My bad.] “As you should!” Ultimately, Nero acknowledged the part he played in inciting the agitated hut to action. But he also did not forget to let Audrey know that he did not appreciate her tone. [Needless to say, raising your voice is completely unnecessary. Besides, getting mad at me won’t change anything, will it? You’re kind of embarrassing me, just you know.] The cat tried to reason out but with her and her friends’ lives at stake and almost put in danger, Audrey did not back away easily this time. “Oh yeah? Then swear to me that from now on, you will be mindful of your choice of words. We have to be careful with every word we are saying because it was not every time that we got a chance to take it back.” Meanwhile, Nero’s response came shortly. However, it was so brief. Moreover, it did not sound sincere either. [Okay. I promised] So Audrey prompted the cat to state the matter precisely because she did not want him to circ
“What if the Graes already took notice of us as soon as we entered their perimeter and right now, we are under a spell; making our eyes play a trick on us? What if what we are seeing right now is not real?”“Well, if that is the case, then I guess there is only one way to check it.”Audrey insinuated and without wasting another breath, she said the passphrase."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."Slowly, it dawned on the others as well what was possibly happening and so without waiting to be told what to do, they recited the same thing too."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."They whispered into the air one after another and almost immediately, the landscape changed into something else, right before their naked eyes.Everyone watched with an awestruck face as the trees turned into fences. At the same time, just a few feet away from where they were standing, they noticed how an empty lot from moments ago started to morph into what seemed to be an inconspicuou