Vile Retribution

A few days have passed ever since they left the port of Astera. Though they were getting used to life at sea, there was one thing that would eventually plague any of them at one point.

'I am definitely bored.'

Leona wore a simple white cotton shirt with the military coat tied to her hip as she trained with her sheathed longsword on the deck out of boredom, practicing light swings and parries with an imaginary opponent, but it had already become part of her daily routine at that point. Krieg was still too seasick to have a proper bout with her and Phoebe's fighting style was already rubbing off the wrong way on her.

'You aren't supposed to use my movements. They are made for the weapon like a dagger. A longsword will make a poor choice of arms for what you're trying to accomplish.'

Her words rang in Leona's ear as if a way to remind her to stop trying to incorporate the style of an assassin to her swordsmanship. She untied the leather belt from the scabbard and guard before returning both around her hip.

The sun was beginning to settle as she walked towards the starboard of the ship. Waves in the distant horizon reflected the sunset's orange tint which made her feel at ease.

For a moment her leather belt came loose and almost dropped her longsword, but thankfully she reacted just in time to grab the scabbard before it could hit the ground. Upon looking downwards, she noticed the military uniform she borrowed in Akrapocalis was now showing signs of use; seeing how it lasted her a few months of rough travel, it was nothing short of a miracle she could still wear it.

She sighed for a bit as she adjusted the belt on her hip

As she headed downstairs for a break, a familiar voice greeted her.

"Hey stinky."

Charlotte threw a piece of cloth against Leona's face. Thankfully she saw it coming and grabbed it before it could land on target.

"I would rather have you not call me stinky." She used the cloth to dry the beads of sweat coming down from her forehead. "Are you on a break as well?"

"I'm not feeling too great so I came down here." She leaned her head against the couch. "Can you call Cecile? She can help me recover."

Leona nodded as she threw the cloth over on her shoulder and headed to the soldier's quarters. It was a simple matter of walking down the hallway from the dining room. After many nights entering the wrong rooms from the lack of a light source, Leona became oddly accustomed to knowing where each of the crewmember's rooms were.

She stopped by the end of the hallway and knocked on Cecile's door a few times.

"Cecile? It's me, Leona. Charlotte needs some help with a relief of sorts."

"Ah?! Princess Leona? I'll be right there- Ack!" With a loud crash and heavy footsteps against the wooden floor, the half elf opened the door to greet Leona. "Sorry I was sleeping."

Her usually well kept hair had a few unruly ends pointing outwards and as opposed to the uniform she would be seen wearing everyday when helping sailing, she was wearing a simple cotton shirt and trousers while also barefooted.

"I can see that… in any case, Charlotte is in need of your assistance."

She turned around and started heading back while Cecile passed right beside her in a light jog. Once they were in the dining hall, the half elf kneeled beside Charlotte while holding her hand between hers.

Leona on the other hand, sat on the opposite couch and drank some water from a waterskin she left hidden behind it. She caught a glimpse of a faint blue light coming from them which didn't bother her at first but after a few seconds passed, said light became brighter.

Once she shifted her attention to the both of them, she realized the flashes of light came not from Cecile but instead from a few light blue globules floating around her as if they were dancing around her.

"Oh that feels much better." Charlotte seemed relieved from whatever was troubling her. "I should've listened to Percival the first time."

She opened her eyes and noticed Leona standing a few meters behind Cecile with one orb of light hovering between her hands.

"What are these lights?"

"They are spirits, Princess Leona." The half elf answered without moving or opening her eyes as she was still focusing on the incantation to help the captain. "My mother was a spirit user and she taught me how to communicate with them. Though my abilities pale in comparison to hers, I'm still able to evoke some of them to my aid."

Looking closely, she could see a surge of mana around Cecile's body as the ice-aspected spirits began to emit a faint light that grew brighter as she maintained her discreet chanting. The air suddenly felt colder as if the heat was sucked out of it by the spirits as they floated around their master. At that distance even Leona could feel the pleasantly cold breeze over her sweat soaked shirt.

"Ah…" Charlotte had a satisfied expression on her face. "Thank you Cecile, that is enough."

One by one, the spirits began to disappear with dimming lights. The one between Leona's hand shone brightly for a brief moment before also vanishing in thin air.

The half elf stood up and bowed.

"My pleasure. I'll be heading back to my quarters now, excuse me."

"By all means."

She hurriedly walked back to the hallway before entering her room.

"Were you having a sun stroke?"

Leona sat beside the now much better Charlotte who was in the middle of drinking water from her canteen.

"Navigating under this blazing sun is nothing to scoff at."

She took a big swig of water.

"Isn't it better to have multiple people steering the ship then?"

"Ah… thing is though, if I do let somebody other than Cecile on the helm, we might as well try to sail the ocean blindly."

"Wait… then who is navigating?"

"For now, Luka." She stood up and stretched her arms. "I'll go there to take the lead. We might be a bit off track but I can find my bearings."

For a moment Leona was worried and decided to follow the captain out of the dining hall. After climbing up the set of stairs and making an U turn, they climbed yet another set of stairs before getting to the helm of the ship. There, Luka was trying his best to keep the wheel as stable as possible and although his focus and effort were commendable in Leona's eyes, Charlotte gave him a slap to the lower back that was audible from the deck below them.

"Yeowch!"

He straightened his back in an instant and looked mildly horrified at the captain who just gave him a spanking.

"I thought a slap might loosen you up." She chuckled. "You're doing this wrong, Luka."

"Huh? But captain you told me to-"

"Keep the ship going the same way, didn't I? When I said that I meant the actual way and not straight forward." She gently brushed him off with her right shoulder before turning the steering wheel slightly to the right which made the ship turn softly to the same direction. "There, this is the right way."

The shift was so small it made Leona raise an eyebrow as she asked.

"How can you tell?"

"The sun." She pointed upwards. "Although small, that deviation could make us miss the coast of Nara entirely."

Luka hit his own palm with his closed fist as if realizing something.

"Ah. Now I remember, you did mention the ship 'drifts' slightly on sea. I'm so sorry Captain."

He bowed low.

"You don't need to apologize." Despite his mistake, Charlotte had a smile on her face. "Seafaring is a hard skill to pick up from scratch. Me and Cecile are able to navigate just fine because we spent most of our childhood on the high seas so it became second nature to us." She kept turning the wheel ever so slightly in order to keep going in the right way. "In any case, go rest with the others. Cecile will need you all in good shape tonight."

Luka straightened his back and saluted.

"Yes, captain."

He left shortly thereafter.

Leona remained quietly observing how Charlotte occasionally glanced at the sky before making adjustments which made her wonder how accurate those corrections were.

"Say Charlotte." She leaned against the wooden railing near the steering wheel while facing towards the captain. "Does Cecile use her spirit powers often?"

"No, not really." Despite answering, her eyes seemed extremely focused on what she was currently doing. "She only ever makes use of her powers when I ask her to do so. She explicitly said to me that whatever magic she wields was not made to hurt others."

Leona scratched the side of her face. She didn't know much about spirit magic as it was one of the least studied methods of bending nature to one's will.

Unlike elemental magic where one could learn to cast a myriad of different spells; spirit magic was heavily dependent on the user's affinity to evoke sentient beings to their command. Fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning and water spirits always existed beside mankind but only a handful of them were able to make use of their powers let alone being able to communicate with them.

'I know I was told to obtain true mastery of magic, but what does that really entail?' Leona pinched her nose ridge between her right thumb and index finger; her brows frowned. 'Magic… did he mean spirit magic as well?'

"You're making that face again." Her thoughts were interrupted by Charlotte's voice. "For a time I've come to notice every time you're thinking too hard you start making an expression like you ate something incredibly sour."

"Ah." Conscious of what she just heard, her eyes widened and she brought her right hand to hold her chin while slightly looking away. "I'm just lost in thought that is all."

"You can talk to me about it, if it helps."

"I… I was told I needed to know more about magic. That I had to master it in order to realize my goals, but I don't know what he meant by mastery."

"Did your mentor say that?"

He was no mentor of hers, in fact, she never really met him in person. But as the one who saved her from certain death by mana overload, he was an enigmatic figure she looked up to.

"Something like that."

"I scarcely know anything about magic but I'm sure Cecile would be willing to help you with that."

"Are you sure? She didn't seem like she wanted to share."

"You just don't know her well enough." She let out a short chuckle. "I did promise her to not say anything but can you keep it a secret?"

"Huh?"

"That girl was always excited to talk about you when you first came to the city."

"Was she?"

She nodded with a smile on her face.

"Princess Leona, this, Princess Leona, that. She could barely contain herself before meeting you in person. Apparently her parents made you and your family a big deal to her childhood."

Her right hand moved from her chin to her left arm while her eyes widened a bit. To Leona, she was but another Arcadian in a faraway land, but in Cecile's eyes, the young and inexperienced tactician was more like a hero. It made her feel guilty from doubting her intentions when she shared the story about her family.

"I see… I never thought I'd be seen like this from anyone."

"That is exactly why I'm telling you. All you need is to ask her about whatever magic whatsit you want to learn. I guarantee, she would be more than happy to assist you."

She nodded as if making up her mind.

"Thank you Charlotte. I'll go talk to her."

"Yep, enjoy your time."

She decided to climb down the stairs and when she made an U turn to head to the dining hall she bumped into Krieg who seemed to be having another bout of seasickness.

"Ah! I'm sorry Krieg."

"It's nothing." He seemed to be at his limit. "Excuse me."

He dashed to the side of the boat before vomiting whatever was that he had in his stomach. Looking at his state made Leona stand by his side while softly rubbing her open left palm on her back as if a way to provide relief.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"It's not your fault…"

"Still… hm?"

She couldn't help but feel like she was being watched as she turned around, but the deck only had Luka and Yuriel working adjusting the ropes for the sail.

'Strange… I swear someone was staring at us.'

"Is something wrong, Leona?"

"Ah, no, nothing. I'll ask if Cecile can do something about this seasickness."

"Mhm. I would greatly appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

In the back of the ship, a recovered Kaeli was holding a piece of hardtack as she sank her teeth into it. She had collected a few more supplies by stealing from the barrels on the back of the deck that were usually unguarded due to being less savory supplies.

'There is no doubt about this. They are heading to Nara at this point…' She seemed troubled as she munched on the dry biscuit. 'I must finish this as soon as I see a chance of getting out of this ship.'

The previously weakened sparks from her arm were now crackling with newfound energy as if she managed to regain all the mana she had spent in the previous encounter.

'Enjoy it while you can, Leona Crossford…'