Nero discovered that traveling on a floating, wooden box for a dozen hours equated to standing up with nothing to do but fight the urge to throw up overboard. It was, by far, one of the worst experiences of his entire life. Sure, the pain of summoning Sharmon had been excruciating, but it had only lasted for a few seconds.

If anybody had offered Nero to suffer from that pain again, for double or maybe triple the amount of time he had gone through before in exchange of not feeling "kinda sick" for twelve freaking hours he would have jumped at the idea without a second thought.

Ferguson was right, Nero would have wished that was the last time he traveled by boat, but he knew he'd have to go back to Port Hope by sea in a week's time. He hadn't even arrived at Trena yet and he was already dreading the return trip.

Some six hours into the voyage, Araven woke up and joined Nero on the sun deck.

"How's it going?"

"I'm dying.", said Nero.

"Are you seasick?"

"Yeah... how come you're not?"

Araven shrugged.

"Motions don't make me dizzy."

"Do you have something for this...?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Wait, really...?"

Araven nodded.

"...dude, if I knew that I would have woken you up. Please, help me."

"Alright... how many hours do we have left before arriving?"

"I don't know. Probably seven."

"Alright. Sit against the wall, close your eyes and count to ten."

Nero followed the doctor's orders and started counting.

One, two, three... four... five......

He opened his eyes, and saw only blackness.

In a panic, he got up, and noticed he was in a bed.

"What... what the...? Where the hell am I?"

Then, he heard the creaking sound of wood, and noticed the bed rocked gently left and right. He was still aboard the ship...?

He left the bed, put on his boots (did he take them off...?) and walked outside.

Ah, right. He was in the lower decks of the ship. He walked up to the sun deck and found Araven and Ferguson chatting happily while the crew was about getting ready to dock in less than hour.

"Good evening, sleeping beauty.", said Araven.

"What... what did you do to me?"

"I just put you to sleep. How are you feeling?"

"My head's heavy and my legs are a little wobbly..."

"Still seasick?"

"Actually, no."

"Good. Your body got used to it while it rested. It's a neat trick I learned back in Platea."

"Dude, you're a lifesaver... I was having a horrible time earlier."

"Glad I could help."

Nero took in a deep breath, and looked at the orange sky. Things sure looked differently when not feeling sick, and knowing that they were but minutes away from their destination. The only thing left to take care of was...

He turned and looked at the Captain's quarters.

"What has she been up to?", asked Nero.

"The captain came out of her quarters a while back to see how long until we arrived, and ordered the crew to prepare the ropes."

"Did Sharmon come out of the room?", asked Nero.

"...not that I remember. Is something the matter?"

The boy said nothing, instead looking at the closed door. He didn't like the idea of a random woman of questionable motives prying into Sharmon's life. First, because it was unfair for her to find out stuff while he didn't, and second, because the last thing Nero wanted was for people to find out about the delicate situation his life was in. It was not an exaggeration to say that captain Elena was holding his life hostage in there with no chance for Nero to intervene or control the situation.

...sure, she probably didn't have any evil intentions, but her finding out stuff like that would certainly give her lots of power over them, power she could use to manipulate the situation to get more time alone with him. Nero couldn't tell anyone, but having Sharmon out of his sight with no way to contact him made him very anxious.

Fortunately for his nerves, Sharmon walked out of her quarters onto the sun deck followed by her just a few minutes later. She seemed extremely pleased with herself.

"Eggy! What news?", she asked looking up the crow's nest.

"Aye! There's a light up ahead, some forty minutes away!, shouted the man on watch.

"Alright, ladies... that's Trena's lighthouse up ahead, so you know what to do. Helmsman! Watch the distance and don't fuck up the degrees; keep a solid five miles from the shore. The rest of you! Lower the sails, and head down to the rowing deck!"

"Aye, cap'n...!"

"The crew respects you.", said Sharmon, crossing his arms.

"They do since I shot the last douche bag who tried to mutiny," she gave her blunderbuss a soft pat, "and fed the other nine to the sharks."

"Haha..." laughed Ferguson, uncomfortably.

She looked at him with an eerily friendly smile.

Nero gulped. Chances were she wasn't kidding.

Nero wanted to take a look at the city from the ship, but night was befalling them and there wasn't a lot of lighting down at Trena's harbor. In fact, Sharmon himself aided with his own -at this point almost trademark- sphere of light, only that this one was bigger and had to be placed even above the crow's nest to not interfere with the watcher's view.

After a few minutes of maneuvering, the ship was safely tied to Trena's dock.

"Very well...! Lower the ramp and unload the cargo...!

"Wait, you're gonna unload cargo this late at night...?", asked Ferguson.

"Yep. Now get moving."

She kicked him in the back, and made him tumble down the ramp.

"W-Woah...!"

Looks like he didn't hit anything. Nero decided he did not want to be kicked like that and hurried off the ship. He took a moment to look around him while the rest walked down.

...it was a sorry sight.

The streets of Trena were all made of dirt. The moldy, wooden houses looked run-down -most if not all of them had holes on their rooftops- and there was trash everywhere: on the beach, on the docks, on the streets near the harbor...

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There was the distinct smell of rotting fish floating about, too, which almost made Nero want to throw up again.

The people walked looking down, and didn't talk to anybody, but those who were close enough to the docks stared at them as they passed by. If Nero was poor, then these people were flat-out miserable; their eyes made suspicious and judgemental after generations of decadence.

"Welcome to Trena...!", said Elena in a more than obviously ironic tone.

"The people here... I've never seen such profound sadness...", said Araven, wincing. It was almost hurting him.

"And you better watch your stuff, too. Things you might consider garbage might be worth their weight in gold around here.", said Elena.

"It'll be fine, I'll take them to the inn.", said Ferguson.

"What are you going to do now, Elena?"

"Oh, I'm staying on my ship. I ain't going down, it's filthy.", she said.

Nero didn't blame her. She was young, beautiful, and knew her trade well.

"Thank you for ferrying us here, captain.", said Araven.

"Don't mention it, I got paid for it. Say... are you sure you wanna go down there? I can arrange for you to stay on my ship..."

Her eyes flashed at Sharmon.

"Uh... that won't be necessary, thank you.", said Ferguson.

Well said, dude!

"Tch, boring. Well, I also got hired to take you back to Port Hope, so I guess we'll be seeing each other again.", she said.

The way she said it, and considering she was only looking at the sorcerer, it totally felt like she was just talking to him.

"Are you leaving tomorrow morning?", asked the blonde.

"No. I'll stay moored the whole week. Loading and unloading the cargo will take a few days, and by the time we're done, it'll be only a few more until we have to ferry you back."

"I see."

"Then, we'll be going now. See ya."

Ferguson took the first step forward, and Nero and the group was about ready to follow him when they heard the captain's voice from the ship.

"...one night!"

Everyone turned around.

This time, Elena was looking at Nero.

"Lend me your familiar for one night."

"She's... awfully persistent...", said Ferguson.

"And why should I?", asked Nero.

"I'll work with you if you accept."

"Work... with me? I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean."

"Like I said, I can arrange for all of you to stay on my ship. It'll be safer than the rickety inn the guide is going to take you, anyway. I'll also work with you and take you around places after I'm done unloading the ship, if you need it. In exchange, I want your sorcerer to stay with me for tonight."

"B-But the accommodations have already been prepared...", said Ferguson.

"Then you can stay there. I want Sharmon on my ship, and I don't mind the kid and the blonde staying in the lower decks."

"I'm... I'm not sure we can agree to that arrangement... we're here on official state business...", said Ferguson.

His tone was weak, but his arguments stroke a chord in Nero's anxious side.

"...now that he mentions it, we're here to complete a test for the College, and the state is expecting us to perform.", he said.

"I don't see the problem.", said Elena.

"If they made arrangements for us to stay at the inn, and then we don't show up, and they find out that it was because my familiar was fooling around with the ferry's captain..."

Nero shook his head. He didn't even want to think about it.

"I'm sorry, we'll be staying at the inn, after all..."

"I accept.", Sharmon interrupted.

"WHAT!? NO, YOU DON'T!", shouted Nero.

"Keep your mouth shut, boy. You have no idea what you are talking about."

"And you do...!? Do you know what she's asking of you...!?", Nero was outraged.

The sorcerer crossed his arms, still looking at Elena.

"Ferguson."

"Ye-Yes...?"

"Take us to the inn, we will tell them we will be staying there tonight. Also, the captain has offered to be our means of transportation for the week, facilitating travel times."

"And what would that mean, exactly...?", he asked.

Sharmon looked at him over his shoulder.

"It would mean we may not be staying at the inn every single night during our week here. You are our guide and the government representative. Fetch us our orders, and we will get the job done. Nycea and the College should have no problems with this arrangements."

"Dude...! Why are you doing this...!?", murmured Nero.

"You will thank me later, brat."

"What in the hells are you talking about...!?"

The sorcerer stared at Nero deep in the eyes.

"I am talking about your future."

"Watch out, kid. Your familiar is way more clever than you.", Elena chuckled.

Nero sighed.

"What's your opinion on all this? You've been awfully quiet.", he said to Araven.

"Oh, I'm fine either way."

He smiled.

Damn it, you traitor...! You wanna stay on the ship, too!

"Ferguson. You have your orders. We are staying at the inn, but you will come with us should the need arise to travel by ship."

He turned to address Elena again, crossing his arms.

"I shall not spend the night with you, but I will if we are in need of your services, apart from the return trip, then I will honor your request.", said the sorcerer.

She walked down the ramp up to Sharmon, and placed a finger under the chin of his mask.

"...alright, handsome. You got yourself a deal."

Nero let out an exasperated sigh. Ferguson was scratching the back of his head in confusion. So, they would be going to the inn, after all...

"Then, I'll be seeing ya."

She winked at him and returned to her ship.

"Let us go.", said Sharmon.

"Ye-Yes..."

Ferguson resumed the march and the group followed him through the dusty, poorly lit streets of Trena.

"Dude, what have you done...? I'm still confused."

"I got us a ship with a willing crew and competent captain, brat. For someone who spends so much time reading, you sure seem to know nothing about this world."

"That was a massive score. You're lucky the captain was lusting for him so hard.", said Araven.

"Don't even say it, dude. I do not like the idea of that woman spending time with my familiar."

"Why, you jelly? He's not your property, you know?"

"That's... not it, damn it. Besides, why does she even like him in the first place!? She hasn't even seen his face!"

"Neither have you. Oh, ooohh..."

Araven seemed to have realized it.

"...bah, forget it."

Nero was in a bad mood. Sharmon? That Sharmon? With a woman? Impossible.

"...well, here we are."

Ferguson stopped at a place that looked as miserable as everywhere else, but bigger. A wooden sign above the doors had the words "TRENA INN" carved on it.

After a very quick check-in the group headed upstairs to their allocated room. Ferguson opened the door and Nero took a look around. It was more spacious than the ship, and it didn't rock left and right, but those were the only two things that could be considered an improvement over sleeping aboard Elena's vessel.

Nero's left eye caught something small and black moving away from him at very high speeds.

"IS THAT A FREAKING RO-"

PAFF...!

Ferguson had taken off his boot and splattered the bug with it the second he noticed it.

"Don't worry. I got some home made insecticide with me; I'll place it at the entrance and in the corners and tomorrow morning we'll wake up to them dead."

"You mean to tell me that shit doesn't keep them from creeping into the room...!?"

"Well, no. They gotta come in, eat the pesticide, and then die after a while.", said Ferguson.

Nero looked at the squished cockroach. It was one of those horribly big ones.

This trip was going to suck so damn bad. Unless...

Nero looked at Sharmon and for a second the wild idea of selling him off to Elena became so much more enticing.

"Araven..."

"Yeah?"

"...can I ask you to put me to sleep tonight again? I won't be able to rest if you don't help me."

Araven frowned in confusion, but ultimately decided to do it at Nero's insistence.

----------------------------------------

The following morning, Nero woke up to what could only be described as an insect massacre. Ferguson had placed his poison after Nero had been forcibly slept, and apparently it had had just the effect he had promised.

Nero almost ran out of the room, followed downstairs by the others a few seconds later. Needless to say, he hadn't bathed, or washed his face, or anything. He was filthy, like everything else around him, and he hated it. He hated everything about Trena, and he had only been there for a few hours, the vast majority of them asleep.

They were served breakfast -an extremely hot soup with vegetables unknown to Nero- while Ferguson took a moment to talk with the innkeeper about what was needed from the group that day. Then, he returned to the table with a paper in his hand.

"Here's today assignment."

"Let's see..." Araven took it.

Dear contestants,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Trena. I have been informed of your arrival and I'm hoping your valuable assistance will result in a much needed improvement on the mood of the locals.

Your orders for today are to head south and deal with a plague crawler that is ruining the crops of the nearby farmers.

Sincerely,

Arcturus Sanz, acting Governor of Trena.

"What else does it say?", asked Nero.

"...that's all it says."

"Wait, what!? He isn't going to receive us, or debrief us, or anything? This thing barely has any pointers in it...!"

Sharmon crossed his arms.

"This region is largely uninhabited. It is safe to assume that we will run into this... plague plant if we simply head southwards."

Ferguson nodded.

"The Governor sent word yesterday that he wouldn't be able to welcome us personally, but don't worry, I know where the fields are."

Sheesh. Trena was turning out to be one disappointment after another. The group got up, and walked out of the inn. Now that there was sunlight, Trena looked a little less sinister, but unfortunately not less miserable. It was in a frank state of social emergency.

The few people on the streets looked at the group like they didn't want them to be there. They made Nero feel like he didn't belong.

"By the way, Ferguson... what's a plague crawler?"

"Oh, I'll tell you along the way. You're gonna love 'em..."