Gull was an apt nickname for the flighty barrelman of the ship. Not only because he was always found squatting in the crow’s nest, but because of his physical resemblance to his namesake animal. With a hooked nose and beady eyes, Gull looked as if he was constantly wary of everything around him. This may have been good for his role as a lookout, but the same couldn't be said for his social skills. As such, everyone left Gull to his own devices. Apart from Raine, who apparently was familiar enough to climb up the mast without being pelted with traps.
"Hey, Gull!" Raine said as he crouched down next to Gull.
"Hello. I have news for you," Gull said.
His shaky words sounded skittish, as if the very sound waves were liable to bolt away at any moment.
Raine nodded, not daring to speak loudly near the jumpy, frail man. Nikorai watched as Gull fished out a silver compass from the pocket of his baggy pants and placed it in the palm of his hand. The needle was haphazardly turning in every direction.
"Because we are terribly close to Kosira, the fog has been getting thicker. Navi and I have been working hard for the past few days to keep on track, but it's hard to see in the mist. Just in case the ship doesn't make it... I want you to have this."
Gull placed the compass in Nikorai's hand with trembling hands. It was heavy, probably made of solid silver or iron. As Raine turned it over in his hands, he noticed that it was well worn. The casing was chipped and scratched at the back, though the glass cover at the front was virtually unharmed in comparison. The back of the compass had an engraved symbol, though the scratches made it difficult to decipher what the symbols depicted.
"Thank you, Gull. I'm confident that it'll be useful when adventuring," Raine bowed his head. "I'm also sure that your abilities will land us in Kosira safely."
Look over the platform. I want to see where we are.
I'm not your servant. If you want me to do something, you should ask nicely, like a normal person, Raine grouched. Besides, there's nothing but fog.
Nikolay sighed. I overestimated your ability to do basic actions. I'll do it myself.
As Nikolay focused his energy on taking control of the vessel, he was quickly stopped by Raine's steadfast refusal to move from the spot.
I'm sick of you acting so rude for no reason. In your supposed hundreds of years on this Earth, have you not learned how to be nice? I'm not budging until you apologise.
Move.
Nikolay pushed up against Raine's unfaltering wall with little success. There was a brief pause, before Raine was jolted with the impact of Nikolay's full willpower ramming into his mind. Unlike the weird, uncomfortable feeling when their consciousnesses had interacted with each other, this felt much more like a full-body tackle. Raine didn't know it was possible to feel winded in your own mind, but it was a somewhat similar feeling when he was sent reeling from the impact.
With the internal struggle that was happening, it was difficult to maintain full control of Nikorai. There was a brief moment where neither Raine nor Nikolay were actively directing the vessel while they were too busy squabbling. In the absence of a consciousness piloting them, Nikorai's muscles relaxed, causing their legs to give way.
Oh-
Raine barely had time to react before Nikolay took advantage of his panic and slipped into control. Nikolay managed to save their skull from cracking against the hard wooden floorboards, but their fall was far from graceful.
"Are you okay, Raine?" Gull timidly asked, appearing scared of their sudden collapse.
"Just felt a little faint, that's all," Nikolay gruffly muttered in Gull's direction.
That is NOT how I speak.
Who said I had to pretend to be you? Nikolay bristled. I refuse to act like a pansy buffoon in my own body.
"If you say so," Gull trailed off with an uncertain tone.
It wasn't clear whether Gull was aware of what had just happened, but Nikolay didn't particularly care. Now that he was able to move by himself, Nikolay quickly rushed over to the edge of the crow's nest. The impenetrable wall of mist was so thick that they couldn't even see the water below. Nikorai leaned dangerously over the barrier, peering deep into the mass of swirling white vapour.
As they stood there, Raine felt a sense of unease wash over him. If not for the sound of waves crashing against the ship, it would have been as if they were sailing through a void.
Hesitantly, almost with anticipation, Nikorai reached their hand out to touch the white cluster of fog.
The mist was cold. Not the kind of cold that chilled to the bone — but rather, a clammy cold that stuck unpleasantly to their skin.
Nikolay quickly withdrew Nikorai from the ship's edge and sat back down in the crow's nest. Neither of them felt better after doing that, but Nikolay would sooner jump overboard than say it out loud.
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That was all I needed. You can take back your precious control of the vessel now.
There was the sensation of a vacuum seal being broken, as Nikolay pulled away from the physical world. Raine rushed his way into the vessel to avoid a major gap between switching, lest the previous accident happen again.
You're done already? You made such a big fuss of being in control, just to reach out into the fog like a Disney princess?!
Pretending not to hear Raine's hurtful insult, Nikolay explained, I have a feeling that you'll need to use Nikorai for certain parts of the journey. The prophecy was made for you, not me. Better for you to get used to the body now.
Raine was suddenly subjected to a vision of Nikolay's presence curling up in the corner of their mind.
Are you... sleeping?! I can't believe you're slacking at a time like this.
There's no reason for me to be present here. Not much for you to mess up in this confined ship.
Even though Raine was perfectly fine with Nikolay butting out of his life, it still felt wrong to have a voice in the back of his head throughout the whole thing.
At the very least, can you help from back there?
I'll try my best. Idiots are pretty hard to convince, though.
Yeah, and pricks aren't that great at giving helpful advice.
You're lucky that I'm filled with wisdom, then.
Gull's voice snapped Raine out of the argument. "Raine? Can you hear me?"
"Oh! Uh, yes. Could you say that one more time?" Raine hastily responded.
"I wanted to let you know something that I just thought of. It's regarding the prophecy about you."
"What about it?"
"The line of the prophecy about 'a serpent's domain'. I think that it's referring to Serpent Isle, an infamous island off the coast of Kosira. There are legends of a serpent around those waters, so it's deserted."
"Oh! I would've never gotten that myself. Thank you," Raine held out his hand for Gull to shake. "I appreciate all that you've done for me on this journey."
"...No problem," Gull said as he weakly gripped Raine's hand.
There was a vigorous handshake, mostly conducted on Raine's part, and then a brief exchange of farewells as Raine climbed his way back down to the ship.
I can't believe this.
Hmm?
This- bird of a man knows the prophecy, and I don't. I always knew that the gods hated me.
Calm down, Nikolay. They were probably too busy... or something. Do gods get busy? Anyway, Gull only knows because the Captain was told the prophecy when they took me on as a passenger.
Oh, that makes everything better. So everyone on the ship knows except for me?
It's not a big deal. You only got here like... an hour ago. I can tell you now, even.
...I'm listening.
Raine fished around in their jacket pocket and pulled out a folded square of paper. It was crinkled and covered in lint, which evoked a powerful pulse of disapproval and disgust from Nikolay.
When Raine unfolded the paper, it revealed unintelligible spider-like handwriting scrawled across the page. Nikolay waited for Raine to interpret the indecipherable webs of ink, but quickly discovered what was happening when there was no response.
Raine, I can't read your handwriting.
Not my fault that you're illiterate.
It's completely your fault for having a doctor's handwriting. Are you even a doct- No, there's no way that a moron like you can be a doctor.
I'm sure I would've gotten into medicine if I was interested, Raine sniffed. But you're right. I'm not a doctor.
So you work at McDonalds. Good to know. Can you please read what your kindergarten handwriting says?
I can't believe you downgraded me from a doctor to a kindergartener, Raine said in a fake-hurt tone. The prophecy is as follows:
When crimson light shines upon a serpent's domain, all creations will understand the meaning of eternity. A wild beast, released from its prison of resentment, seeks to free its brethren.
One that treads the line between mind and spirit returns a key to its rightful place. Unbreakable steel shatters indestructible metal: destiny and curse intertwine. Strengthened by the past, the loop of infinity is closed.
On cue, the wind whistled ominously around them when Raine finished reading. Along with the sudden gust of wind, there came the acute feeling of having someone watching them. Nikorai involuntarily shivered.
Nikolay spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if the atmosphere hadn't just completely changed. Seems straightforward enough. It looks like the gods have probably interpreted most of it already, given that you're here. To be honest, most of it sounds like random filler. The main gist is that you're the chosen one who's supposed to slay this wild beast.
Navi reckons that the 'crimson moon' part is supposed to be the upcoming lunar eclipse in a couple of months, Raine worriedly thought. That doesn't give us long to figure out what the hell we're supposed to do, no matter how straightforward the prophecy seems.
I'm sure it'll all go according to plan. You're fated to fight this supposed beast, one way or another, Nikolay said with a hint of bitterness. You find the artifacts, slay the evil being and save the world.
You seem awfully convinced. What if I trip over the railing and accidentally drown us?
As likely as it seems for a dolt like you, prophecies aren't ever wrong.
Never? Surely in the history of the entire world, they've misjudged something. Give me a probability.
One in a billion. No, that's too high. One in infinity. A prophecy always comes true, even if the events leading up to it are changed. No matter how hard you try to fight it, in the end you'll realise it's all futile.
The spite tainting Nikolay's words made Raine uneasy. Are we speaking from experience, or...?
There was a brief pause, before Nikolay replied, Navi is looking for you.
Sure enough, there was the sound of Navi's voice echoing from the other side of the ship.
"Raine! Over here!"
Nikorai swept their gaze across the deck to locate the voice, and saw Navi waving at them from the balcony. She was shouting with little concern for the eardrums of the surrounding crew. They swiftly made their way towards her while Raine waved back.
Navi leaned over the railing to look at them. "We're actually arriving earlier than expected. We should be there by this afternoon."
Didn't Gull just say that we might not reach Kosira?
As they were about to respond to Navi, another crew member tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Navi gave Nikorai an apologetic wave and then allowed herself to be dragged back inside.
Of course, Raine was glad to know that they were finally getting off this boat. But underneath the superficial layers of relief, a sense of anxiety crept in as well. Once they were in Kosira, the journey truly began. The mentions of a prophecy, gods, and the world's looming end were fine in writing, but they became all too real when he actually had to do something about it.
As for his involuntary companion Nikolay, that grouchy man (he was a man, right?) was full of unanswered questions. He definitely knew more than he was letting on, but his reticent nature made it difficult to pry anything out of him.
Stuck with a vague prophecy and an unwilling partner, Raine could only face the future with a feeling of dread.