The sea of Horo-jara was not in a sunny state that day.

The crew had erred in their weather prognostications. The Kagatsean Sea was a maritime Eden in late summer. Schools of fish should have been leaping and frolicking all over the water. Swarms of shoyogo should have graced the surface, splashing the seawater or tidal waves as amusement for children and mating calls. The water should have been as pristine as the heavenly sky. Instead, it was turbid, a reflection of the gloomy blob above. The relentless rain gnawed at the ship's deck and assaulted the rounded roof. Monstrous waves threatened to rupture the hull. No luxurious creatures were there, save for a pair of tiger-headed giants with golden scales—giant fish shachihoko—straining to propel colossal alien vessel.

"Increase speed!"

"Four shachihokos have been forced to increase the speed of the enemy’s ships, Captain!”

"Why are the two auxiliary turbines not yet operational?”

"Cannon ammunition! Get me more cannon ammunition!"

"Water's creeping into the aft hull, where are the patchers, you fool!"

The mayhem was the crew's own, but it aggravated the ringing and vertigo in their heads, not to mention that the din of bullets and the barrage of raindrops had already beaten them first. Meanwhile, the modest boat they were travelling on seemed impassive; it continued to cleave through the waves with immense bravado, a stark contrast to the crew aboard. Gunfire and cannon volleys were exchanged with the pursuing pair of ships—the sole fleet to endure the savagery of nature. They were once many, but lots of their compatriots were left behind, becoming sea graves dispersed by the ferocious waves.

A man suddenly lunged at the small ship's bridge.

"By the gods, can't you go any slower?" he raged. His form glowing golden distracted the crew members agitatedly pacing to and fro.

"All four turbines are already engaged, Lord Wisesa. But that's it, there's no more in these waves!" shouted back the ship's captain.

An energy resembling an animal bulged out from Wisesa's back, supporting him. "That means you can still pick up speed! Make it faster!"

"You're out of your mind! The waves will capsize our ship!"

"Well, our ship is going down either way, you moron!" Wisesa snapped. "But I guess you'd rather die with a hole in your body, wouldn't you?"

Anxiety rubbed off on Wisesa's bones. He ended up mimicking the unease behaviour of the crew. His eyes remained fixed on the giant splashes in the ocean before one of them violently jolted the ship. The thunderous roar of the shachihokos was more frightening, more deafening than the cannon’s boom.

"Fucking pirates," Wisesa growled. "They should have let us go. This isn't even a cruise ship, or a merchant vessel full of expensive cargo!"

His last sentence brought wide-eyed stares to himself.

"We do have valuable ‘cargo’," remarked one of the crew. "What else if not you and that Kalimasada woman?"

Wisesa was pensive, then turned to the door. "That damn girl," he muttered.

"We can't just leave her alone at a time like this," the rest of the crew nodded in agreement. "She should be out there too, smashing those ships into sea graves!"

"I'll take her, I'll take her, okay?" Wisesa silenced them. "Just keep shooting!"

Wisesa shot his feet against the crowd of people running in the opposite direction, descending two floors before finding a red wooden door with a gold plate emblazoned on it.

"Alicia, where are you, for the sake of Soul Durga?" Wisesa breached the door. It never occurred to him to knock. His eyes then fell on the little girl curled up on the bed, a glowing orb nestled between her arm and midriff. Blue light pulsed around her, but her face was pallid, drenched in cold sweat.

"Oh, not the ‘other’ you again! It's the same speech as Orb, right? I... I can't...!" Alicia's words intertwined with gasps for breath.

"You want to stay here and drown?" Wisesa asked. "They need you. You have to use Orb to do something about the pirate situation!"

"You're not listening to me!" Alicia's cheeks suddenly puffed up as she reached for the bucket, spewing out saliva and emptiness, but the nauseous turmoil churning her insides continued. "I cannae even wake up with the ocean in such tumult! I regret it! I hate sea travel!"

She retched again.

"What good is Orb with you?"

"Can't you see I'm trying? Arcane blessings during ordinary days keep me afloat. But this storm is insane, too deadly! Not to mention Orb needs my mana and I havenae eaten all day! Imagine if I don't hold onto Orb now!"

Wisesa's right hand held Alicia's hand, while her left pushed the lass' nape with force. "Then Orb has a point. Don't be stupid. We're close to Kagatse, and you can fly, right? The waves won't mess you up when you fly. Stop the pirates and we'll reach Kagatse in no time!"

Orb signalled to Wisesa with a whistle, followed by Barong, who delivered the message in the common tongue. "It asked you to bring the girl."

"Oh my gods! She's not a babe!" Wisesa scowled, but Orb persisted with the same mellifluous tone. The plea was met with a resigned sigh. "You vexing, spoilt brat." The girl was then placed on his back.

As Wisesa climbed the stairs to the deck, Alicia brought her lips to the lad's ear. "Sorry to trouble you," she whispered. "I should have waited a little longer for the flying ship."

"And get airsick at high altitudes? You're always troublesome wherever we go."

"No trouble for me when facing Bathara Kala."

"Fool. That's a different experience. It seems only fitting that you just wander around aimlessly in some remote village.”

"You're mean."

Upon reaching the deck, Wisesa dropped the girl off while the crew clamoured with increasingly dire news. "We're out of ammunition!"

What a coincidence, indeed. Now their only hope was a lady languishing before them, whose skin numbed by the wind and rain, and whose trembling grew pronounced with each passing wave. But she could not allow the doubtful gaze slam her into the looming provocation of failure and the image of despair.

Orb's purring offered solace. Once again, and again. It's nothing, Alicia. Fortify your body and mind. You were just remembering your victory against Bathara Kala, right? This... is nothing.

With twitching lips, Alicia nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. "Yes, yes... I'll do it," she said. "I trust you. Help me, Orb."

With her body emitting a fitting cerulean radiance, the force field of Orb expanded ever larger. Her feet no longer touched the wooden floor, the vibrations of the waves no longer felt in her stomach. A shiver still ran through her, but she banished the thought. Orb confirmed that this was nothing, so losing all the mana should not be an issue now.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Alicia's troubled gaze met with Wisesa's. "Are y-you really going to let me fight alone?"

"The last two ships, Wisesa!" Barong shouted with enthusiasm. "We can't let one girl steal all the attention!" Nevertheless, it did not stop being a seller of its own power. "Of course, if only you make full use of my power—"

"Nuh, uh. Free lodger has no say in using its power. Let alone think about it." Wisesa showed off his golden light as well and flew off.

Alicia left the crew with an Arcane blessing on each cannon. "Just in case," she said. "But dinnae destroy those ships! We're not going to take lives!"

"Really? Lord Wisesa sank other ships just before!" the ship captain interjected.

Orb's white eye locked on Wisesa and Barong, screeching in frustration. "Divine Mercy'...," Alicia replied weakly, punctuated by a sigh. "Don't do that again while I'm here!" The two youths floated together on the rain-lashed horizon.

The pirate ships were wooden frigates without sails, clad in white cages and human skulls, a spectacle of sea catacombs. Golden shachihoko heads adorned each bow, twitching with the intention of exploding fireballs. Two real shachihoko pulled the ships in front and two others pushed from behind, with metal chains shackling them all. Wisesa meandered on the horizon dodging incoming attacks, while Alicia, too tired and stiff, dove straight for the fiery metal spheres. Although the Arcane shield might render them harmless, it did not mean Alicia would not feel the turbulence. Nausea raged in her stomach again.

Each youth fell upon each ship like a meteor. Throngs of pirates were perplexed as the blue light illuminated their ship. Alicia stood ready, her right hand already drawing flickering plasma energy from the Arcane source. However, her eyes widened when she saw that almost all of the pirates were women, from the contours of their bodies and their fluttering lashes. They wore shabby armour and elaborate mouth covers that looked like diving breathers.

Alicia's goggles did an excellent job of scanning each of them: all of them were magic practitioners, their average level being Maximo Novitius Two. That should be easy; Orb's optimism said so. Yet, seeing the crowd of filthy pirates inside the bobbing ship made her even more repulsed.

"Please stop chasing us, and ask your fish to cancel this accursed weather!" Alicia's plea sounded soft, but the pirates grinned slyly. The prey had ventured into the den of beasts.

A strident shriek rang out, "Kanojo o tsukamero!" and suddenly, all the pirates brandished their rifles and spears, darting towards the bookworm.

Alicia unleashed a forked lightning bolt from her left hand, throwing the rogues to the bow and sides. Then with a swing of her hand, Orb gracefully orbited around its worthy wielder, inflicting injuries upon the arms, knees, and ribs of those who dared to touch her. The burly women at each corner positioned their rifles diagonally across their bodies to bar Alicia's movements, while a number of women in animal masks posed behind them in quick hand gestures, shouting, "Ninpo: Sokubaku Unagi!".

Alicia remained unfazed. Plasma energy exploded from both her hands and Orb, repelling the cursed humans until her gaze instinctively fell on the towering tendrils of water. Whirling in place, the tendrils then took the form of blunt eel heads, whipping the ship and creeping towards her. With momentum, Alicia unleashed a plasma of energy at one of the eels, but instead of blasting it away, the blue energy enveloped it, leaving Alicia at the helm. The subdued eel obeyed her orders to destroy its kind and repelled the pirates, some of whom slipped and fell off the ship. But Alicia was ever compassionate, in line with the tenet of her ball pal. She made the eels swallow those who fell, disposing of them into the ship's interior. Their compatriots did not appreciate her kindness, it seemed, as one of them was poised to strike Alicia's busy ribs with a rifle.

How the Divine had cursed the pirate. The stock was met with an Arcane shield instead. That nauseous face had now turned ferocious. It was enough that her ribs had been tortured some time back. No more!

The Arcane Plasma flung those who knew little gratitude into the ship’s interior, no doors involved.

But that did not mean the battle was over. Quite the contrary, the sea robbers possessed a resilience that rivalled Alicia's determination. The lighter-bodied masked pirates replaced their sturdier comrades, surrounding the lass while swinging the daggers attached to the threads. With all but one hand, they made yet more strange gestures, ending with their index and middle fingers pressed together while the rest were bent.

"Buki ni chūi shite! Kanojo wa ikite hitsuyōda!" bellowed the ship's captain, perhaps the only man on board.

"Ryōkai, taichō!" chorused the others, then chanted in unison, "Ninpo: Senkō Kyōryoku!"

Alicia anticipated the gleaming threads to entangle her promptly. Her hands were already forming a force field when the threads began to dart in all directions, seemingly unconcerned with the presence of the Arcane dome. Alicia was stunned for a moment, her eyes unable to keep up with the motions of those thin riggings, which closed the vessel's open space into a maze of threads. A handful of threads silently emerged from the cracks in the floor, wrapped tightly around her fingers, then the meshes pierced her flesh until she gasped and Orb fell. The Arcane force field remained lit, but Alicia was immediately yanked to the floor until it crumbled! Several robbers with threads were also there.

The female pirates gathered around Alicia, waiting for the others to pull out the Arcane sealing device. Alicia thrashed and screamed as her hands were forcefully pulled back by the thread.

However, from the darkened heavens, Wisesa struck down along with the rain, and Barong Heads on either side lunged and seized the pirates one by one into every corner of the hull! Profound inner strength catapulted the remnants of those pressing their elbows against the lass' back!

With his yellow dagger, Wisesa cut the thread that entangled Alicia. "Why not use your usual energy wave move?”

Alicia could not answer. Her mouth was full of the intention to vomit. She crawled and reached for Orb, but in the end, the guts waiting on the roof of her mouth had to be expelled immediately. "Oh, Divine Mercy. I'll never be able to stand a sea journey."

"Well, we've entered Kagatsean waters, so you'll have to endure a bit longer." Wisesa offered his hand, which Alicia welcomed with her injured one.

"Ouch...," the girl winced.

"The other hand, idiot."

Alicia glanced down at her hand. Fortunately, the noose did not actually sever her finger.

"Ye didnae say the pirates were women," Alicia pointed out.

"You didn't ask." Wisesa was indifferent.

"And ye dinnae feel any guilty at all about sinking the previous ships?"

"I don't care about their gender! They do men's work, so they suffer men's consequences. Isn't that what progressive Westerners want to hear? Are you a progressive, Alicia?"

"Ye don't need to know. This conversation has gone off the rails enough."

Alicia looked up; the pirates were down, but the rain was unfortunately still pouring. The sky remained almost as dark as night. "The storm persists. Is it because we did predict the weather wrong?"

"I tried asking the rider fish with heads like Barong's," said Wisesa. Barong glanced away. "My intentions were good at first; I released them and asked who told them to create this storm. Instead, they went crazy and wanted to pounce on me, so I killed them all. The fish in your place did the same. Yet the storm hasn't abated."

"Oh, this is bad," Alicia sighed. "That means there's another ship after us."

"You don't suspect the people here?”

"Ninshu artists dinnae manipulate weathers," Alicia clarified. "They... use shachihoko fish to do the work. That's why Kagatse's agriculture and plantations are among the best in the world. The shogunate also uses them to create the most dangerous battlefields in the waters—"

Alicia was nauseated and turned around once more.

This time Wisesa allowed Barong's energy to interact with the real world, so he did not have to bother lifting the girl up, let alone risking a spray of vomit. The yellowish beast seemed to share the same sentiment, pinching the hem of Alicia's collar with a long outstretched arm. "You've finally learnt to empathize. That's me when you go overboard on magic trivia." The lad shook his head.

"It's done, aye?" The gloom on Alicia's face was striking. "Please take me back to the ship. I can't take it anymore."

"What about the people here?" asked Barong.

"What about them?" Alicia's eyes swept over the armoured pirate whose consciousness still drifted somewhere. "They're fine. As long as the ship’s safe, matters of life and death are their concern now."

"Oh, eh, alright." Barong's bulging eyes appeared deflated, its gaping jaw lending a dopey expression. Alicia felt somewhat uneasy regarding such an expression.

"Barong...," Alicia began slowly. "What happened on the ship next door?"

Wisesa flew out of the hole, presenting the fruits of his and Barong's labour to the lass. The lass' eyes were as wide as Barong's.

"Stupid!" the lass screamed. "Stupid, stupid, I told ye not to kill them!"

"We didn't kill them," Wisesa deflected, "we just split the ship in two! See? They're still sitting on the other side of the ship, perfectly fine!"

"By the Silent Divine, Wisesa!" With the help of Orb, Alicia intended to wrap the pirates around the other ship. However, they instead used the Ninshu technique and threw themselves into the sea, taking even their non-practising friends with them. Alicia was momentarily confused, but her foreboding still lingered in the recesses of her chest. Regardless, her eyes were foggy after doing that crazy work. Seeing that Alicia was about to faint, they returned to the ride ship.

The crew did not extend their gathering with applause. The storm still raged, and they kept their ignorance that this was conjured by magic, not a prediction error. Alicia turned her back to them, hastily consuming Stillmajik potion, hoping to retain it this time and not succumb to its bitter taste. At least the pirate ships were receding from the view. They had just to make sure the ocean’s wrath did not steer the vessel toward the gates of Hades.

But no, their peace was short-lived. A violent tremor shook the entire ship, and from the dark abyss, a colossal red emerged, along with massive tentacles ensnaring the ship’s perimeter. To make matters worse, masked pirates slid from it onto the deck with armaments in hands ready and sure. Golden eyes adorned with vertical irises bore down upon the crew, greeted by yet another screech of shachihokos demanding prey. Atop the cephalopod’s crown rested an elongated contraption of metal and gold. It was not just a fancy hat for display.

It was a submarine. []