Gwyn retreated to the lower deck as soon as he felt burning discomfort in his stomach. His head was painful on both sides, likely due to his grinding teeth, but it made him wonder if a brain vessel might have burst. He steadied himself on the wall of a hallway as he shuffled down. At some point, the pain turned to dizziness, and he thought he might fall over without support.
There was no telling how safe the ship was, and he knew that when getting on, but in the moment the thoughts flared up, he began to regret ever getting on the ship. What if some new monster attacked and tore the boat apart? What if their fancy hover technology shut down, and the thing went underwater? What if some villain stowed away to kill them?
He was certain most of the thoughts were stupid, yet they plagued him endlessly like rancid breath on the nostrils. He almost wanted to shout ‘shut up’ endlessly, if only to quiet the torrent in his mind.
“You okay partner?” Mem asked from atop his shoulder. Gwyn wasn’t sure how the Needaimus could assume he was anything but not okay. There was no way the metal creature shouldn’t be able to feel the intensity from his thundering heart, it felt like it was pounding hundreds of times harder than it should. Gwyn scratched at his neck before realizing he needed to divert his sole good hand to reach for the pills. “I think you might want to slow down on those.”
“It’s fine; I’ve checked and double-checked and triple-checked with the doctors about dosage. It’s impossible to OD on these.”
“Not sure what you mean, but I don’t think it’s the same thing I meant.”
“Just be quiet a moment, my head is killing me.”
In the distance, in the dark of where the hallway curved, Gwyn could see the annoying face of the deceased king. He crossed his arms and shook his head. The earthling crunched the pill between his teeth, and the vision vanished. He felt his heart and head return to normal in an instant and made a sigh of relief. The pain subsided, the monster inside sealed once again. He wondered what would happen if he formed a tolerance to the medicine, but for now, it helped to ease his condition.
“It’s been a moment.”
“Shut up. It’s only been half a moment at least.”
Mem seemed to perk up on his shoulder, though Gwyn was sure he was the only one who saw the changes in his Needaimus emotions—so he was probably just crazy.
“Ah, well enough for a, what do you call it, a smartass comeback at least!”
“Whatever. Did you see the man down the hall a moment ago?”
“You’ve asked me many times before, and my answer is the same.”
“So, no.”
Mem shuffled from his left shoulder to his right.
“I think you might be feeling some side effects.”
The Needaimus made a point, if no one else could see the same thing Gwyn was seeing, it was a text book case of hallucination. Given that Resh wasn’t exactly the place the earthling could hope to get the proper help, he hoped it wasn’t actually the case; he was drifting closer and closer to the point of no return. He could only imagine coming back to earth practically foaming at the mouth and raving about the other world he wound up in—they would put him in special care for sure. Though Gwyn could not be sure that he wouldn’t just wake up in a hospital bed anyway. He hoped it could all be a dream at least, like some Alice in Wonderland gone wrong.
A sudden point of light pressure on the Nonpareil's back made him jerk and spin around suddenly. A blue princess made a light laugh.
“What was that? You act like a leneetle crawled up your back.” She laughed some more in a soft way that eased Gwyn. She had a nice voice; if anything, he could easily see her doing music or ASMR on earth.
“Whatever.” If the earthling didn’t have a bad arm, he would have crossed them across each other and turned away. Even had he done so, he figured the princess wouldn’t care. He had tried again and again to tell her he wasn’t going on the trip, but it was the motivated Fiona who signed him up anyway and sorted out the details later. Given that she managed to convince him to come in the end, he wasn’t sure he could make too much of a fuss about it.
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“We’re getting further down the channel! We should go above deck and take in the fresh air! It’s good to let the suns hit your skin!”
“Maybe it’s good for sparkly skin, but I turn red like a lobster.”
“What’s a lobster?”
“A crustacean, lives in water, has lots of little legs and two claws. Turn red when you cook them.”
“You turn red in the sun? Would you look like an Aqueenian?” Fiona made a pondering expression that danger alarms should have accompanied. “I might want to see that actually.” A devious smile paired with Fiona grabbing Gwyn’s arm before he could skitter away.
“I mean I’ll get sunburn if I stay outside too long, I won’t turn ruby red, for crying out loud.” Fiona’s smile suggested to Gwyn that she knew just as well but was going to use any excuse. He may have been reading too much into it, but either way, now that she had him, it was too late.
The next instant, they stood on the upper deck of the ship. The sudden shift made his head spin, and he managed to pull his hand free from the princess to cover his mouth. Fortunately, nothing came out this time. “Stop… stop teleporting me without my permission!” Gwyn gagged.
Fiona laughed and patted his back. It was under the very real duress of getting dragged along by the princess’s ability, regardless, that made Gwyn go on the trip; he was hoping he could have avoided it for the duration.
“Oh, you’ll be okay. Besides, it’s traveling in an instant more fun?”
“No,” Gwyn groaned. His stomach seemed to be settling.
From atop the nonpareil’s shoulder, Mem seemed to shudder.
“I wish you’d at least give me a warning; I can activate personal level adjustments,” Needaimus added.
“That would be nice?” Gwyn added.
“Oh, no. They’re for me. You’re on your own, partner.”
“Damn you.”
Fiona chuckled. “At the very least, you’re still good friends with Mem.”
Gwyn, at last feeling okay, shifted his weight so that he stood tall. He looked at the princess, who wore an expression of something he couldn’t identify. Out beyond the ship, the outline of unlived land passed by in shades of browns and greens. The flat prairie-like plains that seemed to dominate most of the Aqueenian land slowly gave way to lusher grasslands and plentiful trees.
“What do you mean still friends,” Gwyn finally asked after a moment of pause.
An unexpected chop came to Gwyn’s head with a flash of red light. The girl had zapped what she could have cleared in a jump just to get him. He might have snapped at her, but Fiona’s large purple eyes were shaky and quite possibly a little wet.
“When my friend, Odell, visits, he doesn’t spend the whole time locked in his room until I have to pry him out under doctor’s orders! While my friend, Rheba, has been here, she’s been willing to go to shops and restaurants while not working! Even though she only does one-word replies, my friend, Harlan, at least replies to my electronic mail!”
Fiona seemed to need to take a moment to catch her breath. Or possibly come up with something about Hal to justify her argument. Gwyn didn’t plan to let her continue, though.
“I… duly noted….”
Fiona’s eyes grew wider, but she didn’t press the issue again. Her face turned back into a grin, though it seemed a little off, and she ran to the edge of the ship. She began to chatter about the passing scenery, telling the earthling all about Resh, but her voice still sounded forced. Gwyn could no longer avoid hearing it. He wanted to run away again, but he walked up next to her and listened instead.
He still didn’t want to go on the trip, but maybe he could pretend. The thought of the friends left on earth, the family left who he had left without making a reply, echoed in the back of his mind. Didn’t his mom send him something right before he ended up in another world? They might never get a reply from him again; they probably already had his funeral, but he didn’t have to abandon the connections he made in the new world, no matter how strange some of them were. He told himself that, but he wasn’t sure he could flip a switch so easily.
“So, do you think he can do it?” Fiona asked. Gwyn realized the conversation changed, but he wasn’t listening.
“Do what?”
Fiona gave him a look of squinted eyes and a downturned mouth. He was pretty sure he knew what she was conveying but wasn’t about to acknowledge it.
“Odell. I just mentioned how I think he will have the hardest time getting a ship.”
“Right… I just figured he would have an easy time… so I didn’t think much of it….”
Fiona chuckled and nudged his side with her elbow.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“Indeed, he is!” Mem added without any reason too. Fiona laughed again and tapped her Needaimus bonded arm.
“Sun thinks so too. But I guess that’s okay. Nonpareils shouldn’t be good liars.”
Gwyn frowned and stared out at the distant landscape.
“Could you not call me a Nonpareil anymore.” He didn’t want to convey any anger, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded. Either way, even with his face turned, the earthling was certain he could feel large purple eyes looking directly at him.
“Alright,” Came the princess's voice in a respectful tone. Then it turned more devious, “Now, why don’t you tell me about how Odell will have such an easy time, o apparent expert on Hobusian culture and current politics.”
Gwyn groaned.