"Got your suitcases ready?" Issei asked as we boarded everyone on the ship.
"For the last time, we packed everything up nice and secure." Cecily groaned.
"Mom, sleepy..." Cene muttered as he hugged her with all his might.
"Your son seems to think you forgot his blankie." Issei then chuckled before seemingly pulling it out of thin air, "But don't worry, I gotcha covered!"
"Whoa, how'd you do that!?" Eleanor looked astounded.
"It's just Materialize." I explained, "It's the Blue Iro's Ability, Meil and Grim can do it... too."
Taking a closer look at his irises revealed something daunting. Indeed, Issei's Eyes were quite dark, almost looking completely black even. It's really weird, he must be super close to converting from Gray if that's the case, because there's just no other way I can think of for them to be that dark. Hm...
"Oh, right." He pointed to his Eyes with a nonchalant smile, "Where I'm from, we've got more Eye colors than you guys. Mine are just pure black since birth."
"A-A b-black Iro!?" Eleanor shivered, "That's a sign of misfortune, you know..."
"That's just a superstition from an old folktale, though." Othelia was quick to defend him, "Trust me, I found it scary too at first, but his Eyes are quite charming when you get used to it. Besides, if anyone could tell if his Iro meant misfortune or not, it'd definitely be me, right?"
"Hmm, you've got a point..." Cecily thought to tease the young and budding couple, "But hey, what'd you just say his Eyes were?"
"Charming?" Othelia then finally noticed before panicking a bit, "A-Ah, I-I meant charming as in funny looking!"
"Yeah." Issei didn't seem at all interested in her flustered movements, insteading agreeing with her as he pulled his Eyes outward with his fingers, "It's cause they're slanted as hell. Being Japanese does that to a person."
"Right, where even is Japan?" Eleanor asked, "I don't wanna sound like I'm bragging, but I take pride in my research as a cartographer. I've seen countless maps of the world, but none mention it."
Doesn't wanna brag, then humbly brags. That's my sister alright. But yeah, come to think of it, everything about this guy feels strange. He says he's from a different world, which Aru apparently confirmed thanks to her not knowing anything about him either, but he could just have some other circumstances doing that, no? His skin is kind of paler than most people, with a hint of yellow to it, but that could just be because he's not eating well. Those Eyes of his are the greatest mystery of all though...
"Where exactly is Japan?" He guffawed, "It's a sort of banana-shaped island at the very right of the map, if I had to describe it."
"So, in other words, Simpleton?" She figured.
"No, not this map. My map." He sighed, "For God's sake, how many times do I have to tell you - I'm from a different world! In my world, there are no Iros, but technological advancements made great headways in overall quality of life. There's a fuckton more countries, 7 continents, and a helluva lot more fun things to spend time doing - like playing video games and watching porn!"
No Iros? Does he mean to say that everyone's Eyes are black? No, he mentioned earlier that they have more Eye colors than we do, so what does that mean? The color of a person's Eyes determines their life philosophy, so how can they have nothing to believe in? Is he saying everyone's a nihilist from birth to death? Hey wait, what was that last thing he said? Porn?
"Dude, that's kinda..." We all looked at him weirdly.
"Hm?" He seemed genuinely puzzled, "What is it?"
"You... watch... porn?" I manned up to ask him straight up, "I mean, you do you, but if you wanna go to a brothel specifically to ask some guy to fuck a girl right in front of you instead of digging in yourself, then..."
"What? No, not in real life, dammit!" He blushed, "It's through my smartphone or from a magazine, so it's perfectly fine! Geez, I didn't think you guys actually knew what porn was..."
"Smartphone? Ugh, who cares? Everyone knows what porn is, dipshit." I furrowed my brows at him, "They say mankind learned how to draw a pair of tits before they invented the first letter, after all."
"I've heard of that!" Cecily snapped her fingers, "It's those cave paintings they found a while ago! The ones with poorly drawn dicks on them said to be thousands of years old!"
What the hell is up with this conversation. We're all adults here, and yet we're talking about something so vulgar? Damn, and to think we're on a journey to save Grim... He must be facepalming so hard all the way up in Heaven. Not to mention, Aru and Cene are present!
"Alright, I think we should stop now..." I bashfully suggested as I went to cup Aru's ears.
"Uncup my ears, mortal!" She loudly exclaimed, "Do you really think this Goddess hasn't experienced such pleasures with her beloved before?"
"Eh?" We got scared to ask any further, but asked anyways, "Y-You and that Ouroboras guy... Did it?"
"Fufu, but of course!" She felt proud of her petite body, as if it was in any way, shape or form appropriate to do so, "Granted he wasn't conscious at the time from drinking too much, but still."
"That's illegal!" We shouted in unison.
"Illegal." Cene even learnt a new word in the heat of the moment.
"Muahaha! Foolish mortals, laws have no place on Mount Ivrys!" She put her arms up, only for me to grab them as if I had handcuffed her and subsequently lift her up from the ground, "Whoa, hey! Easy there, mortal!"
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"You have the right to remain silent, heathen." I carried her aboard the ship, "A girl your age shouldn't be making these kinds of jokes."
"I'm older than the universe itself!" She protested.
"Didn't ask, plus you're making me sick, so I win." I dusted my hands off as I signaled to the others, "All aboard, then! Come on!"
Heeding my words, the others carefully made their way aboard the ship as well as we made the final plans to depart. The ship was company owned, in other words - Carl would be furious if we so much as even dented it, so I'm being particularly careful here. That being said, Aru is making it difficult by haphazardly running around the place. Ah, and now she tripped on the ropes. Aaaaand now she's crying...
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"Bwaaaahhh!" She bawled her Eyes out loudly.
"There there, it's all fine, see?" Cecily patched her up with a bandaid and a kiss to the scraped knee, "Man, you really do remind me of Nelly, Aru. She used to get hurt like this all the time back when she was little. Sigh, now look at her..."
"Yeah, I'm seeing her alright." Aru looked Westward, "Honestly, I don't see the resemblance at all. She's getting drunk with Meil Deram right about now. Literally couldn't be me."
"She's what!?" Cecily jolted, "Y-You mean she got hurt somewhere and Meil administered alcohol to the wound, r-right?!"
"..." Aru remained silent with a somewhat surprised look on her face, "Damn you for knowing your daughter so well, colorful mortal."
Phew, that was close. Had Aru actually corrected Cecily just now, I would've turned the ship around immediately so we could pay our black and white friend a visit. Geez, for a Goddess, she sure is devilish...
"Oi, don't think that'd work, Edward Saint." She suddenly turned around to face me with a scary glint in her Eye, "I am Allucius, the Water Goddess. Turning the ship around would only be nullified by my powers to control the direction the waves take you."
"You can do that?" Eleanor seemed intrigued.
"I see you're all nautically challenged." She pouted, "Did none of you seriously notice that I've been doing that this entire time?"
"Now that you mention it..." Issei felt the wind brushing past his face as he checked the water below us, "We have been going super fast!"
"I just chalked it up to the winds being nice to us." Othelia shrugged.
"Aru, that's amazing!" Cecily gave her a hug out of habit, "Oh, youuuu! You're just so squishy and cute, I could hug you for days!"
"Gah! Hug your son, not me, dammit!" She shoves Cecily away, "Hmph! Do that again and I'll permanently curse you with a rain cloud above your head!"
"Dohhh, don't be so mean, Aru~!" Cecily tried to hug her again, but noticed a single droplet of water fall on her head, instantly telling her to stop in her tracks, "O-Or maybe, ahem! Or maybe I was indeed being just a tad too touchy..."
"Good. You're smart enough to know when to stop fooling around." Aru nodded, "Must be the years of battle experience always keeping you on your toes."
"Right, I keep forgetting you were in the war, Cecily..." Eleanor admired her completely, "That's so cool...!"
"It's not like that was her first bout with bloodshed, mind you." I stepped in, "You do realize that she and I are still Generals of ARA, right? Well, absentee Generals, but all the same, really."
"Again with that story, bro?" Eleanor still didn't believe me, "You don't have to lie to try and appeal to me, you know? It's kinda pitiful..."
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Cecily giggled at me before playing with Cene a bit, "I met daddy there, didn't I? Yes I did~!"
"Dada!" Cene squealed with joy after getting tickled.
"Eh?" Eleanor stopped, "Wait, it's true!?"
"Your little sister's quite hard to deal with, I see." Issei chuckled, "It makes me glad that pain-in-the-ass little sisters are a common thing between our worlds."
"Oi!" Eleanor shot back a warning sign, though neither of us paid her any mind.
"You got a little sister too?" I asked.
"No, I'm a single child." He shook his head, "But in the books I read, the female lead is always like that."
"Female lead?" Cecily recognized the term, but was confused nonetheless, "But were talking about sisters here?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"...No..." She looked horrified.
Ignoring the fact I have zero idea what we're talking about, the rest of the ship ride actually went just as planned, without any further injuries. Wait a second, now that I think about it, Aru can cast Heal, so why didn't she just do that to herself from the start instead of embarrassing herself like that? Just then, I felt her discreetly tugging on my shirt as I steered the ship.
"I-I was scared, okay...?" She whispered with a flushed face, "I'm not good with pain, so I didn't think about that in the moment. Please don't tell anybody this."
"Ah, is that so?" I continued steering with a smirk, "To think even you had a meek side. I always just wrote you off as a helpless brat constantly seeking attention, but it seems I was wrong."
"How dare you!" She got mad all of a sudden, "I am no meek child nor helpless brat! I AM ALLU-!"
"Hey guys, guess what Aru just told me?" I called everyone's attention, instantly scaring her in the process.
"N-Never mind! Never mind, mortal, I'll let it slide this time, so please do not speak a word more!" She begged and pleaded with tears in her Eyes.
Well, I'll be damned. This ship ride is turning out to be way more fun than I had expected! Speaking of, I think I see some land just over the horizon.