The following day came quickly. The first of Resh's suns was only just beginning to peek over the horizon as the six team members walked down the coastal town's street.

"So, what happened again?" Fiona asked as she rubbed her temples.

"We decided to go fight the Japhinth...." Harlan muttered to her.

"Yes, yes, I got that. How did we get back to the room, though?" Fiona clarified.

"I carried you; Rheba carried Odell," Gwyn explained.

"I'm never drinking again," Odell muttered for the seventh time that morning. He more stumbled than walked with the group.

"I wasn't too heavy or anything, was I?" Fiona asked.

"Light as a feather," Gwyn replied.

Fiona frowned as she considered the idiom. She wasn't too sure she liked it.

"Please do regale us with how fighting a beast became our job!" Hal muttered in a snide tone. He had woken from a relatively peaceful slumber to the news.

Rheba sighed.

"We are capable and have the necessary expertise to take care of the beast. Why should we not seek to drive it out?" the Bentulousian warrior said. Harlan shook her scaly head in disagreement but said nothing.

"We were not asked, nor does it serve us," Hal replied. Harlan nodded in agreement.

"It is obstructing our goal in sight," Rheba added.

"I don't see what the issue is," Gwyn said," It can't be any harder than taking down those bandits. We got this!" he confidently declared.

"You're right partner!" Mem said from atop Gwyn's shoulder. The Needaimus that rode along with the other team members desired to shut Mem up but settled for just shaking their heads.

Captain Stone was throwing some rope onto his ship, which had previously tied the vessel to the pier. The author, Kako, was eagerly waiting on the boat. She leaned against the team's Ali-442 vehakul that had brought them all the way to the coastal town.

"Ah," Odell broke from his stumbled state for a moment to address the sight. "What's the Ali doing here? Who's that?" he exclaimed.

"After defeating the beast, we intend to sail over to Nun; Harlan brought the vehakul to the shore last night," Gwyn explained.

"You... drove it without me!" Odell stammered at the Zenotote girl. She shyly nodded and took a step back.

"You didn't push any weird buttons, did you? Did it handle okay? How's the steering?" Odell began to throw many questions at Harlan, and she calmly answered each.

"Hurry up, lads and lasses, the daylights about to start burning!" Captain Stone shouted to the group. They made their way onto the ship.

The captain's boat resembled something like a flat bed truck. The front was made up of two sections stacked on top of each other. The top housed the helm, while the bottom had a kitchen and restroom. The rest of the ship was a flat space where cargo could be loaded for moving across the channel or seats could be set out for fishing. The captain used it for both. On the ship's side, the name "Sea Spirit" was written.

The ship began to shudder as the captain started it. The vessel floated to hover just above the water and set off into the channel.

At the early hour, the water was still calm. The City of Nun shined brightly in the distance and looked as if it had never gone to sleep. The coastal town shrunk behind the vessel without ever noticing the Sea Spirit leave.

The Needaimus of all members bonded to their limbs. Odell found himself sitting in a chair set up next to the Ali. Next to the chair was a small circular table and another chair to which Kako had decided to move. She shuffled and flipped some cards on the table while Odell held his six-fingered hand to his grey forehead.

The hovering technology the ship had on its base reduced the swaying of the waves, but Odell still didn't feel well enough to do much.

"We will have good fortune in this battle," Kako said after a moment of card flipping.

"Who are you anyway?" Odell asked. He did not recall meeting her the previous night.

"Kako, my dear. I'm a writer. And a semicolon."

Odell blinked several times as he wondered how the newcomer predicted the question he would ask.

Rheba stood on the edge of the flatbed portion of the ship. She had a hand over her forehead and stared out into the sea.

"There's nothing out there yet," she said.

"I don't think you need to be that focused to search... when it shows up, we'll know...." Gwyn said as he recalled seeing a portion of the beast on the previous day.

"We must remain on guard otherwise," Rheba replied.

They sailed across the water for several hours until the captain finally stopped in the middle of the channel. The ship was turned so that its front faced the channel, with both cities running along either side.

The old Aqueenian sailor then ran from the helm to the room just underneath. He emerged with a sizeable cannon-looking object.

The team watched as the old sailor positioned the cannon and fired it into the open sea. A ball of what could only be described as goo sailed across the early morning sky and plunked into the sea.

"What was that?" Gwyn asked cautiously.

"Some fantastic bait!" Captain Stone replied.

"Be at the ready!" Rheba shouted.

Her words came too late. The water began to churn and stir moments before she could shout. The calm sea instantly became rough as just under where the bait had been shot; the beast started to emerge.

Its body resembled that of a snake as it climbed up into the sky. In mere moments, it rivaled the height of the skyscrapers in the distant City of Nun. The Japhinth looked down from the sky as it turned its giant head.

The body was red and looked more smooth than scaly. Its head was long with a snout like a wolf. The eyes were black and beady and stared daggers at the group below. Small fins, relative to the beast's size, sat by its head in a similar manner to some eels.

Gwyn gulped and clenched his good hand tightly.

The beast bared sharp fangs at the boat as they stared at one another.

“It’s… big….” Odell said as he stared up at the giant beast from on top of the chair seat. He already felt too unwell to stand, and the sight of the ferocious beast just made his condition worse.

“She’s a big one,” Captain Stone commented with a laugh. Of all the passengers on the boat, only two had laid eyes on the ferocious sea beast before.

The Japhinth made an enormous roar that echoed across the clear sky. The waves seemed to tremble at its fury and woke many in the cities that surrounded the scene. Sirens that resembled the sound of an air raid fired off in the coastal town of Aqui. Meanwhile, the citizens of Nun that could witness the sight began to cheer for the excellent show that was about to begin.

Rheba punched a fist into a flat palm.

“Let’s begin the plan!” she shouted as the beast watched them with beady eyes.

“I suppose that’s my cue!” Kako happily chirped as she stood up from her chair. She gently pushed her twintails from in front of her shoulders to behind before waving her hands. Purple energy glowed around her palms.

She waved them around a moment before thrusting them to Rheba. The Bentulousian warrior was suddenly enveloped in the purple hue.

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“How should I–” Rheba began to speak, but Kako quickly interrupted.

“Keep your mouth shut, or you might bite your tongue!” she said in a haughty voice.

Before anything else could be said, Rheba was suddenly thrust into the air at the giant beast. Everyone else watched in awe as the giant warrior flew to the head of the even more enormous monster.

“Alright, you're next dear!” Kako said with a wink to Harlan. The green Zenotote began to shake her head vigorously. She had not quite agreed to the plan, but she had not been bold enough to outright turn it down.

Harlan’s refusal was not enough, and before long, she too was sent soaring through the sky at the beast.

Gwyn quickly made his way to the Ali-442 and opened the door.

“Odell– Actually, you’re not in the best shape… Hal, I need help!” He shouted. Hal shrugged and ran to help Gwyn with his segment of the plan. Fiona and Odell just watched.

Rheba had been thrust with enough force to feel like she was shot out of a cannon. Her brown fur, short as it was, furiously gave way in the wind and her orange braids and tail fluttered without care.

“Mini, points,” Rheba managed to say over the gust.

Currently 1583, I would expect it to be plenty here! The purple Needaimus fastened to her arm happily said. The numbers appeared in the corner of Rheba’s field of vision.

Rheba weighed her options in her mind. Her Needaimus awarded “points” for doing honorable or good things. Anything from holding a door open to giving a compliment to saving people from a burning fire could count, but the Needaimus type was a Surri built for combat. Victory over opponents, taking leadership when none were around, and fighting for glory awarded far more.

She could spend those points whenever she wanted to add more “weight” to her words, and the ability would make it happen. The cost of points depended on how much demand the words conveyed. Something that Rheba could do ordinarily would be 0 points, and the amount scaled up with how extraordinary the announced words would be.

“I will punch hard enough to bruise!” Rheba declared. She reached the beast and decked it in the chin at that moment. The Japhinth let out a cry as its whole head was turned upright. The soundwave from the punch echoed across the water, and the number only Rheba could see began to tick down for the points spent.

Rheba began to fall, and Harlan quickly caught her from behind. Unlike the Bentulousian warrior, she had remained tethered to Kako’s magic. The plan had been two-fold. Rheba would punch the beast, and Harlan would be used to reel her back in.

“I’m not fond of this arrangement,” Rheba said as a long ear on her head flicked.

“Nor am I,” The scaly scientist replied in disgust.

“Look out!” Fiona shouted from the boat.

The Japhinth had quickly recovered and was lunging and the duo in the air with its mouth open and ready to snap shut.

“Pull them back!” Odell shouted.

“Sorry dear, the spells not that convenient,” Kako replied in an ‘oops’ tone.

Fiona gritted her teeth and zapped next to the duo in the air as they began to fall toward the ocean. Simultaneously, the Japhinth’s large mouth was starting to surround them like a cave in.

Fiona grabbed the two and quickly locked onto the ship as the beast’s teeth snapped shut. There was a flash of light three times, each getting closer to the boat. They appeared in a final zap on the Sea Spirit an instant later. Fiona breathed heavily and fell over. Between recovering from the previous night’s alcohol and realizing just how close they were to getting eaten whole, she was spent.

“Fiona! You can teleport others! All this time, you made me walk!” Odell shouted from his chair.

“Not now, Odell!” Fiona shouted back weakly as she lay on the ground.

“Gwyn, are you ready!” Rheba shouted.

The Japhinth was looking at the boat with rage in its eyes. Its jaw ached, and though it could not comprehend how the one who punched was sitting on the ship rather than in its stomach, a roar echoed out from the beast. Its fury would not easily be sated. Unfortunately for the Japhinth, getting angry was part of Captain Stone’s plan.

The top of the Ali began to slide back, and a Gatling gun quickly was lifted to the top. The group had mounted the bandit's captured weapon into the Ali at Gwyn’s behest. However, they did not understand why he wanted it. The Nonpareil awkwardly rested his bad left arm onto the gun and firmly gripped the crank in his good right hand.

“Eat lead, Levy!” Gwyn shouted to the Japhinth as he began to turn the crank. Laser energy began to spew out of the end of the rotating gun. “Or lasers, I guess,” Gwyn said as the shots sailed past the beast. Hal popped up in the open roof and helped Gwyn rotate the weapon.

The beast was unprepared as the laser shots bombarded across its face. It seemed to reel back but powered through the pain as it prepared to dive onto the ship and sink it beneath the waves.

The Japhinth never got a chance to attack, however. As Gwyn moved the gun to shoot it, he targeted the left eye, which was quickly obliterated by the heavy weapon. The beast made a cry of pain and dove into the water.

Gwyn quieted the Gatling gun. Captain Stone made his way back to the helm.

“Don’t let up on the gun just yet, son; she’s got a bit more fight in her!” he shouted. A dark shadow could be seen getting larger and larger from underneath the boat.

Captain Stone took off as fast as ‘Sea Spirit’ could move. They just cleared the area of the shadow as large teeth emerged from the water and shut with a loud snap.

In front of the ship, the beast's tail grew out of the sea like a giant tree. The captain spun the helm and the boat scrapped against the Japhinth’s smooth hide.

“She’s serious now!” the old captain said with a shout and a laugh. The beast's head could be seen behind the ship as it chased after. A large wake formed, which might have been confused for a tidal wave in any other situation. As soon as it got close enough, it would be able to swallow the entire ship, crew and all.

In the distance, the cities of Nun and Aqui began to shrink and go out of view.

“What do we do!” Fiona shouted.

“Should we throw the Bentulousian again?” Harlan asked. Rheba glared at her.

“I’ll try to shoot the other eye!” Gwyn shouted as he, with Hal’s assistance, rotated the heavy gun to aim at the chasing head.

“Steady boy!” She’ll be more dangerous if she’s blind! Just stick with the plan!” Captain stone yelled back.

As the good eye of the Japhinth trained on Gwyn, it dove beneath the waves.

“So, what do we do?” Gwyn shouted back to the captain. He was answered with a belly laugh.

“Captain, you’re having far too much fun!” Kako said with a sly smile.

“Your one to talk!” Odell shot back at the writer.

“Keep calm, young ones! I wouldn’t risk my precious ship with a reckless plan! Look ahead!”

The captain pointed out into the channel in front of them from the helm. All on the Sea Spirit turned to look.

In the distance, two ships were coasting in the water. They were large and blocky—Hobusian in design.

“Those ships…” Odell muttered as they came into view. He held a hand to his head like a visor and squinted his eyes.

“The cavalry is here!” the captain shouted. “Use that new-fangled gun to keep her head below the water for a moment!” Gwyn did as asked and laid down fire on the sea to keep the beast from coming up.

As the ‘Sea Spirit’ sped through the two ships, Odell let out a cry:

“Oh, no! It’s my Dad’s ship!”

Something was shot off like a cannonball from the larger of the two Hobusian vessels.

“Ease up on the fire!” Captain Stone shouted to Gwyn as he stopped the Sea Spirit. The Nonpareil stopped shooting.

The Japhinth immediately emerged from the water and opened its large mouth. The only thing the crew on the small ship could see looked like a jagged cave that was about to swallow them. Before it could consume the boat, a loud sound like an explosion echoed from atop the Japhinth’s head.

The beast’s eyes rolled back into its head, and it fell limp and began to float on the water. A light hiss as it fell unconscious was the last thing heard.

The group on the boat let out a sigh of relief while Captain Stone and Kako chuckled. On top of the Japhinth’s head stood Platon, the Hobusian guard who held the title of ‘world’s strongest.’ He slid his hand across his bony crown, which seemed to bend back across his head similarly to combing one's hair. A visible lump could be seen where he had struck the beast on the head.

Rheba looked at her own fist.

“I still have a long way to go,” she said silently as she tightened her grip.

“I love it when a plan comes together,” mused Captain Stone.

Platon leaped off the head of the Japhinth as the smaller ship began to make its way to the beast. The crew jumped out and quickly began to wrap ropes around it.

The world's strongest landed on the Sea Spirit. The whole vessel shook as his feet made contact. Platon stood straight and looked at the rag tag team. His shoulders were broad, and he was a hair taller than Gwyn, which was well above the average for his species. Notably, no Needaimus was bonded to any limb.

“Odell,” he spoke with a voice that sounded like a rumble.

“Hey, Platon…” Odell had tried to sneak from his chair into the confine of the Ali, but the giant Hobusian had arrived before he could hide.

“Where were you in that fight?” Platon asked with his arms crossed. The large Hobusian ship began to sail closer as the world's strongest gave the prince a disappointed look.

“Do they know each other?” Gwyn whispered after making his way from the Ali to Fiona.

“Platon teaches all the children of their noble families in combat… he likes to say Odell is his worst student,” Fiona explained.

“Hey!” Gwyn suddenly shouted to the Hobusian warrior, “Odell may not have been helpful here… but he took a face full of books so I could defeat a bandit leader!”

“Gwyn…” Odell whispered in a tone that indicated the Nonpareil should stop helping. Platon closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Captain Stone!” A shout came from the larger Hobusian vessel as it got closer. Odell’s father, King Fio, jumped off the larger ship and landed on the smaller Sea Spirit. “Shouldn’t Aqueenians solve their own problems?” he asked with a laugh. The captain chuckled in reply and made his way from the helm.

“You still owe me for the Leth Lake incident!” the captain shouted back. Neither of the two had any sort of malice in their voices. When they came close, they clasped hands together in an aggressive handshake.

With the funeral for King Whitlock taking several days after the regicide, Odell’s father had left Quenth as the team freed Horizon. His ships had to detour due to the Japhinth, and Captain Stone’s call would delay him further, but he was happy to take a bit more time before getting back.

“What’s the Leth Lake incident?” asked Gwyn.

“Just old men reminiscing; pay no mind to what they say,” Odell said while rolling his eyes.

As the old men got lost in their idle chat, the rest of the team began to relax. The second Hobusian ship began to haul away the Japhinth that they tied to their boat, and Kako happily was writing in a notebook.

“What are they going to do with Levy?” Gwyn asked as he sat down next to their vehakul. Fiona, Odell, and Rheba had chosen to sit and use the Ali as a support to lean back on, and the nonpareil followed suit.

“Levy?” Rheba asked.

“That’s what some old guy on the beach called the Japhinth,” Fiona explained as she shook her head. “Gwyn, we shouldn’t name the sea monsters,” she added.

“Hahaha, I like it,” Odell said with a laugh.

“They will pull the Japhinth out to the open sea, them they will release it,” Rheba told Gwyn.

“I see,” Gwyn replied. He turned back to listen to the old men.

“That is why I insist you must join us for a meal on my ship!” King Fio said though Gwyn had not heard what led up to his invitation.

Odell began to squirm.

“Ah, I suppose it won’t hurt. Hey kids, the hoity-toity king here wants to feed us!” The captain yelled to the team. King Fio laughed and smacked Stone on the back.

“I’m up for some free food!” Gwyn replied with a smile. The others did not share his enthusiasm but couldn’t say no to a king.