43 Cidney and the Leviathan

Ai had explained everything to the girls, about meeting Azura, meeting her husband, and the hints that he gave about the Blood Plague trials that she would face as well as mentioning the fact that, since the last thing he mentioned was the final trial, that she was likely to fail the last trial.

Aiya looked in shock with a hint of fear while Andromeda stood there calmly with a smile.

"You seem pretty calm, Ameda. Something you need to tell us?" Ai said and Andromeda nodded.

"I can't say exactly, but you won't need to worry. Just follow your heart, if what you said is true, your husband knows what will happen but you will still be ok. Just believe in yourself." Ai could tell that Andromeda knew more than she was letting on, but decided not to push it for now.

"Alright, well that's it for now, I'm gonna go get some rest, I'll come to meet with you girls again soon."

Andromeda took a step forward. "Can I... give you another hug?" She asked, blushing.

Ai shook her head. "Like I said, I'm not ready for that yet. I'll give you a chance, but I still don't trust you yet." Andromeda smiled and nodded.

Ai returned to the real world and looked over at Amari, still snoring, she had kicked the covers off of the bed and the pillow she was crushing earlier started to rip, feathers spread out covering her body.

Ai couldn't help but giggle at the image as she laid down and closed her eyes. Her consciousness slowly faded away.

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Ai sat up and stretched as she let out a loud yawn, partly on purpose.

"Mnnnn, too loud sis. My head hurts." Amari laid in bed with the covers over her head.

Ai sat up in bed and let out a playful giggle. "That's what you get for sticking a tentacle in my mouth, big sis~" She teased.

"Eh? The hell are you on about, I don't remember anything that happened last night."

"Well, I broke your nose, you passed out, I killed a few people, and you destroyed a pillow."

"W-what!? When the fuck did you kill people? Who did you kill?"

"Oh, just a few idiots trying to rob people. I got bored so I decided to rob them of their souls~" Ai said with a creepy giggle.

"Oi, well, whatever. But seriously, my head hurts." She said as she pulled a feather out of her hair.

"Well, they should be bringing breakfast up shortly. A healthy meal should make you feel right like rain."

"Eh? I don't wanna get wet, why don't you just cast that restoration spell of yours?"

"Not a chance, you deserve every bit of that headache after subjecting me to your tentacle torture~" She said with the sweetest smile, with a hint of sadism.

"Mn, fuck it, I'm going down for food." Amari said as she donned the cloak and the face mask, making sure to pull the hood over her face.

Ai giggled and hopped out of bed, reactivating her own disguise.

The two went downstairs and returned the key to Orlan, who wished them well and hoped they would return. Sitting at one of the tables, one of the waitresses brought them a large plate filled with breakfast items, namely eggs, sausage, and biscuits.

As they sat there, enjoying their meal, a voice rang out nearby, causing Amari to grip her aching head.

"Amari!? Is that you!?" A woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes approached them.

"Ain't no doubt about it, I'd recognize that big-ass sword anywhere! How ya been, Ami?" The woman sat down with the two as Ai looked at the woman in annoyance and Amari slammed her head on the table.

"Not so damn loud, Cidney, I got a killer headache." Amari said as she gritted her teeth from the throbbing feeling.

"Oh, sorry hun, why don't you have little Aiya use restoration?" Cidney said much quieter.

"Because my loving big sis decided to be an annoying drunk last night and deserves every bit of torture that comes her way." Ai responded, the volume of her voice growing louder and louder with each word.

"s-s-s-sis, please." Amari cried out in vain.

Ai simply sat there and smiled. Cidney let out a soft chuckle. "Well that sounds about right, anyways, what'r you girls doin' in a big city like Rubar? I thought y'all hated the big city?"

"Fuckin' despise it. Blame my sis." Amari said, her head still on the table.

"Well since y'all are here, how about a good ol' fashioned wyvern hunt for old times sake?" Cidney asked with a grin.

"Ah, sorry, we are headed back to a town called Lockwood and we are going after a troll on the way there." Ai explained.

"Lockwood eh? Well, the wyvern is on the way there, actually, and that troll is in that swamp, right? The rock that the wyvern is holed up in is right off the river bank leading into that very swamp, two birds with one stone and all that, right? Plus we can take my ship down the river and cut your travel time down. On top of that, I'll split the reward with y'all fifty-fifty, givin' y'all 5 gold pieces."

Ai's eyes widened in excitement and a hint of greed. She struggled to keep her composure. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. What'dya say sis?"

Amari simply groaned and waved her hand. "Whatever, just shut up, yeah?"

Ai clapped her hands together, making a loud metal clanking sound, causing Amari to flinch. "Great! So when do we leave?"

Cidney looked at Ai's mechanical hands but decided not to ask. "Well, I told my crew to get ready to leave by this afternoon, but if you're making your way to Lockwood, we can leave in a couple of hours and make it there by nightfall after we deal with the wyvern and your troll."

"That sounds great! Erm, I mean, good. Sis and I will go around town and pick up some supplies and we'll meet you... Ah, where is your ship?"

Cidney smirked. "Well, it's only the biggest, mightiest ship in the docks, you're looking at the captain of the legendary vessel, the Leviathan!" She said excitedly as she loudly exclaimed her title, garnering mixed looks of annoyance and reverence from the other patrons.

Amari loudly slammed her head on the table, which in turn made her hangover even worse. "Urg, I'm gonna be sick, shut the fuck up, would you!?"

Ai and Cidney couldn't help but giggle. Ai had a feeling she was gonna like this woman.

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Ai and Amari walked through the Main Market District, picking up supplies, well, Ai picked out supplies and Amari stood far away from people, holding her hood over her face to block out the bright morning sun.

After gathering supplies for the trip, the girls made their way to the docks, walking far down the causeway. At the very end, docked in one of the last spots, was a large black ship, the sails were dyed red with the image of a Kraken painted in black on each sail. On the side, painted in red were the words "LEVIATHAN". Several crewmen could be seen hauling supplies below deck quickly.

The girls walked up to the ramp as Amari stopped. "Ah, sis? I'm not too sure about this." Amari's hangover was mostly gone, though she still held the hood down as the sun still irritated her eyes.

"Eh? Don't tell me my strong, big sis is afraid of ships!" Ai said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Mn, I'm not too big on things that move around a lot." Amari said as she fought the urge to puke just thinking about the rocking boat.

Ai sighed. "Well, you didn't seem to have a problem with it when I asked you earlier."

"I had a headache, damnit, I just wanted you to shut up." Amari rubbed her forehead.

"It's too late now, just think about the fun we're going to have killing a wyvern and a troll!" Ai said excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll deal just this once. But if we can't make it back to Lockwood by sundown, I'm jumping ship and walking the rest of the way."

Ai giggled and smiled. "Fair enough, let's go!"

Ai skipped up the ramp to the ship as Amari reluctantly followed behind.

[Cidney: Level 20 Dragoon Berserker]