Chapter 48: Drafted

 

“We should be out now. There’s no way they can pursue us this far out. Not without pissing Kior off.” Varhi claimed, leaning over the railing to look out over the ocean in the direction they had come from. All around them wasn’t a single hint of land, or ship. It had been for half a day now.

“So… How long until Kior catches us trespassing, then?” Sairek asked a little nervously. He was joined by Cyial and Nayleen standing beside him, all who were behind Varhi as he continued to gaze out.

“'Dunno. I’d assume not long now. We’ll rev the engine down to quarter speed and slowly make our way towards land until somebody sees us. In the meantime though…” Varhi paused, stepping backward and moving past them towards the ship’s steering wheel and inputting a sequence of movements into the lever. When he finished, small rumbling emitted just below deck and Varhi pointed forwards to the front of the ship, the other three walked over and stared down past the front to see a small cannon emerge from the front just underneath them, then point upwards.
“You may want to stand back.” Varhi cautioned them. “I don’t want to hit you in your faces.”

The trio stood back as ordered, but Sairek turned around, giving him a questioning look. “I don’t understand, why are you shooting upwards—”

Varhi slammed the steering wheel with his fist, and rather than a loud boom, there was a high-pitched whistling noise from not just the front of the ship, but in all compass directions. Each side shot out bright white sparkles of fire upwards, soaring high into the sky. They all looked up, watching, shielding their eyes from the morning sun as these glittering and sparkling projectiles continued their ascent upwards higher and higher. At last when it seemed like they were about to descend, they instead exploded into giant large particles with a loud crackling sound, causing a shower of lights up above.

“Distress flares?” Nayleen questioned.

“Exactly.” Varhi nodded. “With this, someone is bound to find us sooner or later. They will be able to see these from extremely far away, even in the daylight. The flares use the ethereal the ship uses as fuel to launch the flares, so we can keep going and going. Even more, military ships of Kior will have equipment to detect the signature to come and investigate. I’ll fire off a few more of these and we’ll have people here probably within an hour.” Varhi stated, slamming his fist into the steering wheel again to launch another volley.

“This thing never ceases to impress.” Sairek muttered, looking up as he watched the lights sail up into the sky again. “Are you sure this is a good idea though?”

“Sairek, I know you’re nervous, but what else can we do?” Cyial asked him.

“Yeah. Besides, weren’t you thinking about sneaking into Kior in the first place way back a month ago?” Nayleen reminded him.

“That idea was spawned out of ignorance… and desperation to try and answer what happened with my Mother.” Sairek grumbled. “Besides, the idea was to keep a low profile. This isn’t that. But… I guess you’re right either way. I just don’t know how to handle this still…”

“Relax, we’ll help you through it. You’re not doing it alone.” Varhi attempted to calm him, then frowned. “Damn, I think your cheesy lines are starting to rub off on me.”

* * *

“Ships are approaching!” Cyial called down from up above, on lookout on top of the mast. “They’re fast, too!”

“Those flares worked like a charm.” Varhi smirked. "About an hour, just like I predicted."

Sairek looked up, watching as Cyial began to work his way to climb down. When he did, he dusted the bottom of his robe. “They will probably be here in ten minutes or so.” The demon answered.

“That quickly when they’re still on the horizon?” Sairek asked, looking ahead. He couldn’t make out any ships yet, though Cyial had a major sight advantage, both with height and his demon eyesight.

Cyial nodded. “They look even faster than this ship when it’s not broken.”

“Not surprising. They are military ships. This ship may be impressive for you, but don’t forget they even have things that can fly, so higher speed for actual military vessels rather than a civilian one isn’t strange, no matter how expensive this thing is.” Varhi said.
Sairek gulped. This was making him feel even more intimidated. Varhi cast him a glance. “What is up with the tensions between Kior and Ceareste anyways? Why did your guys’ relationship go so awry?”

Sairek frowned. "You don't know?" Varhi shook his head, then glanced at Nayleen, who gave an absent shrug. Sairek's frown deepened. "I guess Kior has kept it more hush-hush than I thought."

"That is honestly not surprising." Varhi commented flatly. "Kior doesn't like to show any signs of weakness or... Well, any signs of anything, really. Except power. So?"

“When— When my mother got sick after the century ceremony, Father blamed Kior for it. They of course denied it, but Father was insistent. The two kingdoms almost went to war over it. Father was… extremely distraught.” Sairek explained, looking down at the deck slightly. “Maybe that could have been the end of it just then, but the reality however is that my mother wasn’t the only person to get sick with the same disease. Regenar Kior got hit with the same disease too. Obviously however, he hasn't succumbed to the disease like my mother did; he's still alive, but he needs to be taken care of daily. He’s still sick ever since then and it’s been over a decade now...”

“Wait a minute, that is why he hasn’t shown himself in so long?” Nayleen blinked in surprise. “There were rumors he was sick but the rumors never explained what it was. We were told it was just a medical condition from birth.”

“That is only half true… Both his mother and father died due to health complications unrelated to this. He’s had his own share of problems, too since birth. He was a sickly child. When he became King after both of his parents’ deaths, he was barely older than us now. His parents were still younger than my father, too. By the time symptoms began to show of the same thing my mother got, he was barely fourteen.” Sairek frowned. “Because of both his sickness and young age, he has an advisor who does most of the work for him. I forget what their name is, though. Either way, they are basically Regenar’s guardian more or less now that his parents are gone… Although he is an adult by now, he still needs to be taken care of because of his health. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.
“Anyway, my father blamed the sickness on Kior and Kior blamed the sickness on Ceareste. The accusations spoiled any and all relationships that were previously established since the last war. Kior took it personally and Father definitely took it personally. Then when you take the recent incidences where Kior has apparently been spotted trespassing in other people’s territories and… yeah.”

“No wonder he was so against you going to Yggdrasil. It’s right in Kior territory, even if the grounds themselves are owned by no country.” Nayleen frowned.

“I’m sure it was a small part of it, but it really was just sheltering me. He’d freak out if I ever snuck out into the village for whatever reason.” Sairek shrugged. “Either way… That is why I am nervous. I can’t imagine Kior will take very kindly to my presence… I don’t blame them for what happened, though. I’m not single-minded like my father is, but no doubt Kior’s perception of Ceareste now will give them preconceived impressions of me, even though most of it happened when I wasn’t even born yet.” He finished with a grumble.

“We’ll see what happens. But this isn’t really about that anyway. It’s about Masirean, and you investigating to clear their name should hopefully give you some brownie points.” Nayleen tried to calm him down.

“I guess we’ll see… There was no backing out of this eventual confrontation with Kior anyway… It had to happen sooner or later. I guess it’s better I do it than my father.” Sairek sighed.

“Well, let me handle the first bit if you want me to. They’re going to be extremely curious and suspicious about what the heck is going on. There’s five ships approaching us, one of them is a rescue ship. They’re already wary, no doubt.” Varhi warned, nudging their head towards the front of the ship.

They all turned, the ships were indeed visible by now, and were slowing down to stop. “All for one lone damaged ship?” Cyial questioned. "This seems like an overuse of resources, even for Kior."

“Well, I did send a flare signal up using ethereal flares. No doubt they picked up at least one, possibly two royal jewels on that signature as well.” Varhi replied with a side-long glance.

Sairek and Nayleen both looked at each other and winced. Sairek’s face became a little more pale and sighed in resignation. “Sweet Lands…” He murmured under his breath. "I guess there's no hiding it, then..."

The ships eventually came to a stop, and a voice echoed across the sea, loud and audible like it was being spoken through loudspeakers of some sort.
“Civilian ship, you are trespassing into Kior territory! Cut your engine and submit yourselves for inspection!”

Varhi wordlessly moved the lever in a sequence to lower the sail back down, then pulled the lever to pull the ship idle to a stop. “Be right back,” he said, quickly sprinting past them inside the ship. Sairek watched, staring at this… small fleet that was in front of them, preparing to take them in, for good or bad. Moments later, the ambience of the ship began to quiet down as Varhi halted the engine down below. Less than a minute later, he came sprinting back out of the ship just in time for the voice to come back.

“Submission acknowledged. Prepare to be boarded. Do not resist.”

Cyial frowned. “...Could they at least try to be not intimidating?”

Nayleen shrugged. “This is just how Kior handles things. It’s nothing personal. Kior doesn't like to show anything but power; remember?”

Varhi nodded. “Iron-fisted policies. Just do what we are ordered to do and submit, and nothing bad will probably happen.”

“Probably you say…?” Sairek asked dryly, sending a glare towards the mercenary.

“I’ll do my best to be persuasive.” Varhi winked.

“That does not fill me with confidence.”

“I can be an obedient dog when I need to be. I’ve had lots of practice.” Varhi smiled an empty smile. “Look sharp, here they come.”

They watched as a ship moved to position right beside them. People onboard the ship were visible, wearing mostly black armor and masks over the armor, causing them all to look similar. A steel plate board, long and wide, extended from the Kiorian ship and clasped onto theirs. Varhi fiddled with the lever, and allowed the board to descend fully, as the railing on the side they were being boarded on lowered, allowing the steel plate to have proper leverage without the railings of the ship getting in the way. Of the people on the other ship, a good seven of them began to approach, swords at their hip and firearms on their other hip. Sairek shuddered slightly at seeing them and his pulse hastened slightly, but despite his gnawing apprehension, his expression was fair and neutral, not allowing any weakness to show, just as he was taught.

“...This isn’t the kind of crew I was expecting. Nothing but children?” The man leading the line of soldiers commented and stood in front of the other six behind him. His voice was muffled slightly behind the mask, but it was still clear enough to understand. “Where is the Captain?”

“Probably in prison in Masirean, if I were to take a guess.” Varhi replied. “By inheritance until his release, I am the captain now.”

“Why did you release distress flares?”

“We were being chased by Masirean’s military and had no choice but to take refuge in here. You can tell by the condition of the ship that it wasn’t a clean escape. The hull is breached and the ship is barely able to stay afloat, despite on-site repairs.” Varhi answered again.

“Are there any wounded?”

“No—” Varhi began, but Sairek, Cyial and Nayleen all immediately pointed at him. His left eye twitched. “You guys…” He grumbled under his breath.

“Well maybe if you rested like I told you to instead of repairing the ship, thus undoing the stitches so I had to patch you up twice, it wouldn’t be a problem still.” Cyial scolded him, causing Varhi to wince.

“Alright, you all seem… passive enough. Is there no one else on board?” The man asked. They all shook their heads in unison. “Alright. Come aboard. We will tow the ship back to the city for repairs, treat the wounded and we'll process you for more questioning.” The man said. However, the way he said it wasn’t a suggestion. It was an order. At least they seemed to be trusting of them enough to not disarm them or anything. At least not yet. Sairek didn’t know if he’d be able to part with his staff to people he didn’t explicitly trust. Fuyiki was one thing, but relinquishing his staff to the Kior military was on a whole different level.

“Fair enough I suppose.” Varhi agreed.

“Single-file across.” The man continued, turning around and heading back towards their ship. Another man followed behind, but the other stayed behind, waiting for the group to follow. Varhi stepped forward first, followed by Cyial, then Sairek and Nayleen at the back.

“...Did we grab everything?” Nayleen whispered behind him.

Sairek glanced back slightly. “It’s all in the je—”

“Hey! No whispering!” Someone behind them warned, causing Sairek to stiffen, look straight ahead and fall silent until they crossed the steel board onto the ship. They were practically surrounded by other members of the ship as more people approached them. One man looked different than the rest of them, but was still dressed in black armor and wearing a mask with a long nose and only two sockets for his eyes were among them. The man who had spoken to them so far reported to him.

“Four members onboard, children. One wounded but stable. The ship is in urgent condition but isn’t sinking. They say they were fleeing from Masirean and their former captain was taken under arrest before they escaped.” He began, but then turned to look directly at Sairek. “Yet interestingly, the Prince of Ceareste is on board. With the jewel…”

Sairek gulped and moved instinctively to ‘hide’ the jewel within the fist of his left hand.

“He is not the captain though. The wounded boy apparently is.” The man continued, gesturing over to Varhi. “We should probably treat him first as we tow the boat back to the city.”

“Hmm. Take the boy to the infirmary then, and put these two into a holding cell for now.” The captain gestured at Nayleen and Cyial, who both immediately became tense.

“Holding cell!?” Cyial protested. “But—”

“Relax, I am not placing anyone under arrest. However, you will be under watch until our business is finished. We will deal with this one step at a time. I have many questions to ask of you two.” He said, looking towards Varhi and Sairek, then his eyes fell on Sairek. "Especially you in particular, boy."

“O-Oh. I apologize for my indiscretion…” Cyial mumbled in apology, though he still didn’t like it. Sairek glanced at Cyial who was giving him a concerned look. He wanted to give his own as well to express to him he felt the same, but he couldn’t let his mask slip or show any signs of weakness, just in case.

“Very well…” Sairek agreed, turning back ahead to look at the man.

“Good.” The man gestured with his hand, giving a silent command. Soldiers marched up to Cyial and Nayleen and began ushering them away. Sairek turned to Cyial and gave him one last concerned look, but turned his gaze forward as he and Nayleen were led inside the ship.
“With me.” The man ordered, looking at Varhi and Sairek. Sairek gave a quick glance to Varhi, who had mimicked the same gesture, but the older boy nodded in affirmative to him. He went on ahead of Sairek, allowing the Prince to follow behind him. Sairek didn’t need to look back behind himself to feel the presence that more lackeys were following him. As they walked, the captain raised his hand and gave another signal. “Follow the standard rescue operation procedure, tell the medical ship we need supplies and to send a staff member on board for one wounded civilian, afterwards the ship can go rendezvous with Group C to carry out its patrol. Relay these orders to the other ships.”

“Yes sir!” Someone from up above called.

They headed inside the ship just like Nayleen and Cyial did, but there were stairs leading down at the entrance of a wider hallway than Sairek was used to on Jimmy’s ship. Three people could fit side-by-side here, though they still walked single-file. They immediately passed the stairs and walked not very far until the captain opened a valve door and gestured them inside. Varhi walked in, and Sairek followed after him. A quick glance around showed it was just a medical room. There was an examination bed and table full of tools that made Sairek squirm a little as he thought of ways they might be implemented. Hopefully Varhi wouldn’t need any of them though. “Injured boy, lay on the bed and wait for the doctor to arrive. Prince, take a seat and wait. I will be back in a few minutes when the doctor gets here. Don’t try to leave.”

He didn’t even wait for a response from either of them as he closed the door shut and sealed it with the valve handle, leaving them to stand in the room by themselves.

“This isn’t necessary… Dammit, Cyial.” Varhi grunted.

“Just accept the free medicine… You know how Cyial is with injuries. Especially yours. It is kind of your fault for not listening to his orders.” Sairek frowned.

“Tch… Weird time to get revenge for it.” Varhi scoffed as he unhooked his belt and began pulling off his armor. Sairek moved to help him out of it. When he was out of the armor, he secured his belt again and climbed up onto the examination table.

Sairek glanced and looked at the bandage, noting it was red once more, though not as bad as last time. “...Again?” He blinked. “How’d you rip the wound open this time?

“I ‘unno. Doesn’t really hurt, though.”

“Varhi…!” Sairek hissed in a scolding tone.

“If it doesn’t hurt, it can’t be that bad. I probably just opened it a little. Fixing the stitches and replacing the bandages should be fine.” He grunted.

Sairek sighed. He didn’t want to argue, especially not here. He moved to sit himself down in a chair, setting his staff along his lap.

A little more than five minutes later as they sat in uncomfortable silence, the valve door turned and opened once again and a woman dressed in a white lab coat stepped in. She wore glasses with hazelnut-colored hair pulled back in a short ponytail. Her attire looked… extremely strange to Sairek; a white coat and navy blue shirt underneath. She wore glasses and was carrying a kit of some kind in her left hand. The captain stepped in as well after her.

“Perfect, you’re set up for the examination process already. What a good patient you are.” She complimented Varhi, placing the bag onto the surgery table on top of the tools. “Sit up for me please, I need to undo the bandages and check the wound.

“...You have no idea.” Sairek drawled dryly to her compliment whilst watching Varhi sit up obediently and stick his tongue out at him. He took a quick glance to his side as the captain stepped right next to him, uncomfortably close. He resisted the urge to fidget. The doctor unraveled the bandage, until Varhi’s wound was clear. The gash was still horrible looking, though less deep than it had been the first time. However, the wound was still open, and bleeding.

“Ouch.” She winced. “I’m surprised you’re handling this as well as you are.”

Varhi shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“It doesn’t hurt?” She asked.

“No, I’m kind of used to it by now I suppose.” Varhi said.

She didn’t answer, but she did frown. She rummaged into her kit briefly, pulling out a tiny swab. They all watched as she swiped it gently into Varhi’s wound, who didn’t even flinch, then she pulled over to another table, dabbing the swab and Varhi’s blood onto a glass scale like thing that was sitting on a counter, and then looked down over top of it through a tiny scope on the machine as an intense light shone on the droplets of blood.
“Hmm... I see.” she hummed, not giving them a clue what she was up to. She pulled back, rummaging into her kit again, where she pulled out a syringe in a bottle. She poured some of the liquid into the syringe, and then hovered it near Varhi’s side.

“Hey, wait a min—O-Oi!” Varhi protested as she stuck the needle right into his side and began to inject it into him. She finished before he had a chance to swat her away, his positioning ready to defend himself as he shifted how he sat on the examination table. “Just what did you give me!?”

“An anti-venom.” She answered plainly. “I’m surprised you’re not dead already, actually, so I figured I would give it to you urgently. Sorry.”

“W-What?” Sairek blinked. He got flashbacks to Balgira and his chest tightened on reflex. “Hold on… don’t tell me— Was that guys’ sword poisoned…!?” He demanded, staring at Varhi.

"...Poisoned?" Varhi asked, his expression shifting.

“I figured it was a sword slash. Yes, it would seem so. So I injected the anti-venom directly.” She confirmed. "There's no need for accuracy, like getting it into your veins or anything."

Varhi’s protective stance dropped and his face scrunched up into one of utter hate. “Oh, that son of a—” His right eye twitched. “Well, I'm glad I delivered him his just desserts, then.” He growled.

“Again, I’m surprised you’re not dead. On a normal person, just a few milligrams would be enough to paralyze someone in a matter of minutes, and then cause the rest of the muscles to lock up, including your lungs. You would die from suffocation or blood loss. I’ll have to examine the rest of you to make sure the poison hasn't spread anywhere else. I honestly do not know how you’re still alive right now.”

Sairek glared at Varhi, not out of anger, but astonishment. Not only did his wounds recover insanely quickly, but he resisted even powerful poisons such as that, too? One that would have killed him in minutes, and yet, over a day later, he was still able to resist it, and to this extent?
He couldn’t say anything, though. Kior may be too interested if they knew of Varhi’s ability to heal and shrug off such toxins with ridiculous ease. While still looking at Varhi, he provided a plausible explanation that he knew wasn't true and said, “Perhaps it was due to how much blood he lost. He lost a lot before we stitched the wound. And it reopened, so we had to stitch it again.”

Varhi looked like he was about to speak, turned to glance at him, then looked away quickly, saying nothing.

“I guess so. It’s a miracle, in any case. You should be thankful.” The doctor said.

“Damn that cheating bastard…! That’s… That’s just as cheap as mages!” Varhi scoffed.

“...Anyway, the poison would have stopped the wound from healing properly, leaving it to remain open. I’ll change the bandages now and in a couple of weeks you should be good as new, though try not to use the arm too much so it heals properly. Oh, by the way, it should start hurting again in a few minutes, so prepare yourself.”

“Meh. Won’t hurt as much as my pride.” Varhi sniffed.

She didn’t answer him, instead getting fresh bandages and disinfecting them before wrapping them around Varhi’s waist. Once secured, Varhi moved to get up, but she pressed a hand to his torso to stop him. “Hey, I said I need to examine you for more poison.”

“Aww.” Varhi booed sadly. Sairek bowed his head down to shield his face as he closed his eyes and sighed internally. “Isn’t there just some medicine or pill you can give me?” Varhi pressed.

“I’d like to ask you to stop being difficult.” She replied, refilling the syringe again. Then she moved a piece of machinery from the surgery table and wheeling it over Varhi.

“What is that thing?” Sairek asked, looking back up.

“It’s a scrying lens. I can use it to look at his levels of ethereal throughout his body and judging on patterns, I’ll be able to tell if something is wrong somewhere if there’s nothing wrong on the surface. Like poison.”

“A bit of an invasion of privacy, but go ahead I guess.” Varhi quipped.

Sairek watched her scan Varhi for a few moments, then abruptly, she moved the syringe and stabbed Varhi in the arm with it, the same spot where he had been cut and it had healed already.

“Gyah! Will you quit that!? At least give some warning! Why does everyone stab things into me without consent? Fingers, claws, talons, beaks, swords, needles—What the Flaming Lands is next on the list!? You know I'm not dying!”

“Hm, I didn’t expect you to feel that one. I guess it’s better being safe than sorry.” She shrugged. “Okay, you’re all done now. You can get dressed.”

“Yeah... Thanks.” Varhi forced out as he moved to sit back up and swing himself off the examination bed. When he landed on his feet, he hissed and stumbled, clutching his side. “Oh… Oh wow, y-you weren’t— kidding… Ugh…”

Sairek rolled his eyes. “Here…” He sighed, grabbing Varhi’s armor and helping him pull it back on. Varhi grimaced as he held his arms up, but he didn’t let the pain stop his movements.

“Thank you for your work.” The captain said to the doctor, then turned to them. “Now since that is done, I want you both to come with me.” He said, then glanced at Varhi, "Unless you feel you can't handle it, of course."

“I'll be alright, sir…” Varhi saluted with a slight wince.



Sairek and Varhi were led back to the stairs they initially passed the first time around, and then went down another floor to apparently the bottom of the ship, walking through another set of rooms until arriving to what Sairek could only consider the captain’s room, considering how decorated and furnished it was. They were guided by more soldiers than last time, and were waiting outside the room. There were no chairs to sit on for them, so they were forced to stand, as did the captain as he turned around at the front of a desk in the room, looking at the both of them appraisingly.

“First things first, what are you doing all the way out here?” The man questioned Sairek.

Sairek stifled a gulp. He couldn't see the man's expression, but he felt like he was being stared down. “Well… I was on my way to visit the council and… ultimately, Yggdrasil, sir.”

“By yourself?”

“Well, not with any of my father’s men following me, if that’s what you mean.”

“You’d go this far on your own, with the Cearestian jewel in your possession?”

“It’s mine. Wherever I go, it goes. Anyone who tries to steal it or do me harm will face my wrath and its full power. Surely, it is the same for your country's jewel as well?” Sairek asked.

The man was silent at that. Even though his face was covered, the mood in the room changed slightly.

“It’s… not?” Sairek asked with a subtle frown.

“It used to be that way, but with His Majesty being sick, and getting worse, there’s not really any point, is there?” The man said, reaching up to remove his mask to show his features for the first time. He was a man with black, but thin hair, starting to bald. A light beard covered his face. There was a faint, small scar that hadn’t fully healed on his cheek, just under his right eye. His expression was serious, accusatory as he looked at Sairek.

“Look, I know what my father has accused your kingdom of, but it has nothing to do with me. I wasn’t even born yet when that happened, though I am affected by the outcome too; I lost my mother from it.” Sairek forced himself to say, his grip on his staff tightening. “I know our countries don’t like each other and I don’t want to make excuses for my father’s accusations, even though I’m sure he’s hurting from the loss just as much as I am, but I am not here to accuse anyone. The reason I was going to Yggdrasil was, if by slim hope, I could maybe, just maybe, get some answers myself at most, and at the very least, pay proper respects to her mother, since I never got that chance. I... I personally just want some closure, and figure out who I am. That's the reason I left the castle on this trip in the first place. My father and I don't exactly... get along much since Melina's death."

The man growled in discontent, but seemed to accept that Sairek wasn’t necessarily the one to blame at least. “How did you end up in Masirean territory, then?”

Varhi glanced at Sairek for permission, and the Prince nodded to him. “I can answer from here. I was doing a job for Avotash Masirean and was sent to deliver a message to Ceareste’s capital. You know how Masirean and Ceareste are allies now since Kior’s relationship fell apart with Ceareste, right?”

The man sent Varhi a look of 'do you think I am stupid?'

“...Right!” Varhi acknowledged the look, but grinned. “Well, the message was a lie. In it, Avotash accused Kior of trespassing on Masirean soil.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yup. Sairek read it, shortly before he left for this trip to Yggdrasil. I went back to Masirean to get paid for the job. Then I got offered a new job. But that job was fake, too. Avotash tried to get me killed. My captain figured out I was in danger, and went from Masirean to Ceareste and was trespassing by doing so. By happen-chance, our Prince here just happened to be nearby on his way to Yggdrasil and he informed Sairek that Avotash was acting suspicious. Sairek was interested and went to investigate himself because I was also in trouble. He saved me, but when our captain came to pick us up, it turned out Avotash had gotten word of what he did, and took over our ship and was waiting for Sairek's return. I guess he learned we picked up Sairek somehow, too.
“We managed to escape the ship thanks to my captain holding Avotash off. We hid for a while, stole the ship back when his guard was lowered and barely managed to escape, with a bit of a scuffle, and now here we are.” Varhi summarized. Sairek thanked him in his head that he was smart enough to keep the details brief whilst still telling the truth.

“Quite a story…” The captain murmured. “But I can tell you’re leaving details out.”

“We are, but that’s why we need to go to the council.” Varhi spoke before Sairek could. “Avotash is hiding things, and he’s making you guys take the fall over it, but it involves more than just Kior. All countries should learn about the facts all at once. That’s the most responsible thing to do with the information that we found out. And sorry, but I hold allegiance to nobody – not even Sairek. I am not a citizen of anywhere. However, I believe the fact that he is going straight to the council when he could absolutely use the information we learned, which could be extremely advantageous to his country, is something that should be applauded. He's here right now, telling you before he even tells his own country what he has learned.”

“Yes. My reason to go to Yggdrasil is quite different now than what it was before I left...” Sairek murmurred.

“I still don’t completely believe you but given your actions, you were at least trying to not trespass by making yourselves seen. You haven’t broken any laws; not here at least. When we get to the city, we will invite you all as guests as normal, and then you can be on your way. However, given that Masirean is apparently searching for you, we will be keeping you on surveillance.”

Sairek resisted a frown at not being believed, but at least they got the go-ahead to be able to enter Kior without any further trouble. This was probably the second best-case scenario for them. He nodded that he understood. “Then, what is next for us two now?”

“We’ll take you to the holding cells like the rest of your friends until we dock.” The man answered. “They are small but furnished; they can be used either as temporary rooms, or temporary jail cells, depending on the circumstances we need to use them for. We will probably get to the mainland by dinner time. We’ll serve you lunch in an hour. That should suffice until we reach the city. Your group should rest until then. Especially you.” He gestured at Varhi.

* * *

Varhi and Sairek were led into the holding cells where Cyial and Nayleen were in a single one. After the crew escorting them left, Cyial and Nayleen immediately burst into questions, asking what happened and how’d it go.

“We’re going to be going to the city free, but he still finds us suspicious. We’ll be watched.” Sairek answered them, looking around the room. It was made out of steel walls, floor and ceiling. Small for all four of them but there was a double bed, a small table with two chairs to eat on and another desk and chair, perhaps for writing or whatever. There was no bathroom, though they had been informed one was at the end of the hallway here as they were approaching the cells.

“What do we do after, then?” Cyial asked.

“I’m… not sure to be honest.” Sairek frowned, moving himself to sit on the bed with a weary groan. It felt surprisingly comfortable, and rather than sit on the bed, he shimmied his body up onto it completely, laying down on his back with a sigh. “I’ve been so concentrated on trying to get us out of Avotash’s clutches, I haven’t had time to think about what’s next other than getting to the council. Kior isn’t going to help us get there, though. They certainly won’t give me special treatment here.”

“If it’s all the same to you, we should probably loiter in the city for a few days.” Varhi suggested. “Crossing the wasteland on foot is extremely dangerous, you know. We’re going to need to be very prepared and well rested when we set out. It’s going to be two weeks of non-stop walking."

“No horses or anything?” Nayleen asked.

Varhi shook his head. “They’d die out there easily. And camels wouldn't make a month trip to and back; so renting is out of the question. There’s barely any water outside of Kior until you get near the border, no grass either. Ethereal is going to be difficult to recover, too. It’s pure sand and dirt and barely any trees. It’ll be very hot during the day and very cold at night. There’s a reason most people use ships to get to the city and leave it, instead of going through the wasteland. Unfortunately, ours is not fit enough to do that anymore and trust me, what you have in your wallet Sairek is still not going to be enough to fix it.”

“That expensive…?” Sairek frowned. “But didn’t they say they will repair it?”

“They’ll repair it but they’re not going to do it for free. It’s going to be confiscated until I pay up. But with how much the damage was, it’ll take a long time to repair anyways. We’re not talking about just a day or three. It might be nearly an entire month. These things are not easy to build or fix.” Varhi frowned. “Like it or not, the ship is out of the question now. It has served its purpose and getting us out of there, but that's all it could have done.”

“Damn…” Sairek huffed.

Cyial looked at the desk, noticing an empty notebook and pen. He moved over to sit at the desk, pulling the notebook towards him. “We should make a list of things we’ll need and then spend the next couple of days shopping and laying low.” He suggested.

“Given Kior’s size, there’s pretty much nothing here you can’t buy. You usually just need to find it, which… can be an issue sometimes.” Varhi admitted. “Obvious stuff would be non-perishable foods, water, extra bags so Sairek isn’t carrying all the load, and a set of frost berry drinks.”

“Huh? What’s frost berry drinks?” Sairek asked.

“Frost berry drinks are drinks imbued with ice magic from a frost berry, usually helps lower body temperature even in hot climates. There’s also desert berries which are the opposite. They work by keeping our body temperatures warm,” Cyial answered, “but we are all dressed pretty warmly and Nayleen still has her coat that Bryn gave her in Shamira if the desert gets too cold at night. At worst, we could force a fire, that should be fine. It’s the heat we should be worried about. We might need to get some lighter clothes. We’ll become baked if we travel dressed as we are, except for Nayleen.”

“Trust me, the heat is the worst of the worries.” Varhi interjected. “Yes, it makes travelling shit, but as long as you have something to shade yourself from sunburn, have plenty of water and occasionally sip some frost berry drinks, you’ll be okay. You won’t die from the heat. It’s hot, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not gonna kill you like the monsters will try to do. Of course, lighter clothes helps, not saying that. Just saying we really, really need to put that as the highest priority with what we take with us.”

“Alright…” Cyial began writing in the notebook again. “Well, we’ll need at least enough water to last us two weeks in such heat, then. Three weeks to be on the safe side. What about rain, then? Does it rain at all?” He asked, glancing up from the notebook.

“It does, but you wouldn’t want to rely on it for survival. The showers are quick and infrequent.” Varhi answered. “They can help cool the place a little, but they also make the sand muddier and harder to get through. Also it makes the quicksand in the desert more dangerous.”

“...Q-Quicksand?” Sairek stammered, pushing himself upright on the bed to look at Varhi with concern.

“Well yeah, it’s a desert bigger than any country. There’s quicksand in some places. I wouldn’t worry about it too much for you. Quicksand is basically just a mix of sand and water. You could probably push it out of the way and free yourself with magic alone.” Varhi replied, then gestured towards himself as well as the other two. “Us on the other hand will pretty much be relying on you to help bail us out.”

“...I’m liking this idea less and less.” Sairek frowned. “We can’t just get another ship to sail most of the way ourselves?”

“You’ll need a private boat. None go that way. They go to the Cyvolta checkpoint and then either to Masirean or Ceareste from here. Problem is that either way, that goes into Masirean territory again. I suppose you could rent a private boat, but it may be best to keep your head down, Sairek.” Varhi cautioned him. “The more attention you draw when you’re… you know, the worse it will be. Masirean may stake the place out with pirates thinking we'll do that instead of crossing on foot.”

“So why doesn’t somebody but me do it, then?” Sairek asked.

“Because they’ll want to ask questions. Nobody’s going to pay that much to go to the council, and if they want to go to the council they’re gonna ask why. And paying that much brings attention.” Varhi replied and then frowned. “It’s hard to explain but… Well, when you see Kior itself, you might understand better."

Nayleen shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but I guess you’re right. It’ll probably be best if we just leave quietly on foot and you don’t go out in public as much as possible, Sairek.”

“You’re both starting to concern me a bit, now.” Sairek admitted.

Varhi shrugged. “With good reason. Look, Kior isn’t a bad place, but you have to go in with a certain level of knowledge if you don’t want to get screwed over, let’s put it that way. First line of defense is to not let people know you are there in the first place. The first order of action when we get into the city is to find a good place to stay. Preferably not cheap, too. Somewhere that most of the masses couldn’t afford to go to and is more private. The higher-end of things, but not too high-end. There’s plenty of places like that. It’ll be more expensive but a drop in the bucket for your wallet right now. Will help us rest better, too.”

“So… there are a bunch of inns?” Sairek questioned.

“Well, there’s inns, but no. I’m talking about temporary housing.” Varhi clarified.

“...Temporary housing…?” Sairek repeated in confusion.

“There’s way too many people in Kior for everyone. The city is that big and it still isn’t enough. Like I said, almost the entirety of Kior’s population lives in this single city. It’s a lot of people. So… privileged people live in the houses. Those who pay the most, and can keep paying, live either week-to-week or month-to-month paying rent. If you can’t pay, you get evicted and the next person who bids gets to live in the place.” Varhi answered.
“There’s extremely tall skyscrapers you’ll see. A huge amount of them are homes, hundreds of smaller living areas for each building, just to house people. Each of them have hundreds of people paying week-to-week or month-to-month, working their asses off to keep a roof over their heads.”

“Geez…” Cyial let out from the desk. “I knew it was bad from what I heard, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“If you’re lucky, you can buy land and get your own place built and not have to live paycheck-to-paycheck.” Varhi replied. “So… most business owners, basically. Or, you draft yourself into the army. Which lots of people do. Mercenary work like for me also counts for that. It’s dangerous, so it pays better with lots of benefits. You get your own living space without having to pay rent.”

“No wonder why it’s ‘war-like’...” Sairek frowned.

“Yes, Kior’s army is quite formidable indeed, but as formidable and intimidating as it is here, a lot of it wouldn’t really work too well away from the city, like the airships, for example. So really, Kior’s military isn’t great at offense, but it is practically untouchable in defense.” Varhi said. “Kior has the entire desert, really. They don’t have a need for more territory right now. That’s why I found Avotash’s reason to send me on the mission quite suspicious because I had just arrived from Kior only a few months ago. It didn’t make sense. Then there was that guy who came back from Karvadean, of course.”

“Haven’t they still been trespassing in other countries either way, though?” Sairek asked.

“Don’t know, but we should work with what we for sure do know for now. Getting to the council and reporting it and forcing a meeting.” Varhi said. "That giant cloud of energy in Karvadean is only going to get worse and it's going to take all four countries co-operating to shrink that thing down to prevent a catastrophe. What happens after that, I dread to think about, but hopefully it's not worse than that cloud triggering."

“I suppose once we do that, more secrets will be forced to come to light and we’ll have our answers… but it may not be without consequence. I guess it’s too late to turn back now, though.” Cyial frowned. “Anyway… We’ve gotten off-track, guys.”

“Sorry.” Varhi shrugged, glancing at Cyial, then to Sairek again. “Weren’t you guys wanting to come here anyways? For Cyial’s…” He trailed off.

Sairek opened his mouth to answer, but glanced towards Cyial, who looked back at him in turn briefly, then glanced away. “Well… now may not be a good time for us to try to obtain that…” Cyial muttered.

“Are you sure?” Sairek asked.

“Yes… Besides, thanks to your, um... 'generosity', it’s not as dire now…” Cyial mumbled, still keeping his eyes away from anyone else.

“And we can do it again when you need it.” Sairek replied with a warm smile.

Cyial smiled weakly, turning back to look at the Prince. “Th…Thank you Sairek.”

“Or whenever you just want to feel good again.” Varhi interjected, causing Sairek’s smile to turn one into embarrassed shock for a moment, and he snapped a glare towards Varhi.

“Will you be quiet…!” He hissed, face beginning to color.

Varhi shrugged innocently. “What? Considering it feeds Cyial, you should connect with each other as much as possible, in my opinion. It’s a win-win!”

“That’s… not the point, and nobody asked for your opinion!” Sairek tried to argue. Nayleen cupped her hands over her mouth, letting out muffled hiccups of laughter. “Geez… Look at what you have created, Nayleen.”
That did not calm her laughter down at all. Sairek groaned mirthfully, glaring back at Varhi, until he was startled as Cyial moved right next to him and kissed him right on his cheek, causing him to gasp, sputter and squeak in surprise. “C-Cyial!?”

“Love, you, Sairek.” Cyial smiled gently, giving him a wink.

“A-Ah… I love you, too…” He managed to force out, then moved to crawl under the covers of the bed to hide his embarrassment. “I can’t handle this right now…” He grumbled under the covers.

He felt Cyial place his hand over top of him over the covers and rub and pat him gently. “You’re going to have to get used to it, you know, if we’re eventually going to go more public with this whole dating thing.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Sairek grumbled from underneath the blankets. “But why do you have to tease me at the same time…?”

“Oh, I don’t have to. Your reactions are just fun. Nayleen is right, you know. You are fun to tease.”

Sairek groaned from within his protective bundle of blanket.

* * *

They were served lunch and it was a serviceable meal by traditional standards, but for all of them, it was the best, most filling meal they had all eaten in nearly two weeks.

After eating, when the servant who had given them their meal came to collect their dishes, she had looked at them all strangely, and commented at how dirty they all seemed, and offered them to go and get clean one-by-one; an offer they all eagerly accepted. They offered Varhi to go first so he could get help with his bandages.

When Varhi came back, looking much more presentable and fresh, it was Sairek’s turn. The servant led him through the hallway of rooms before coming to the end of the hall and allowed him inside for his privacy. It was just a small room with a showerhead. He undressed himself and turned the shower on. There was only cold water, but it was fresh and clean and after not being able to properly wash for weeks by this point, it was extremely relieving. As he showered, he glanced at his arm where he had been shot to examine it. The wound by now had completely closed, but there was some slightly visible scarring on his skin, slightly white blotches that he didn’t know would ever fully heal. It wasn’t really visible unless you were looking at it closely, but a constant visual reminder of what he had done forever being stuck to him like this if it all ended badly started to irk him.

He couldn’t stay in the shower for too long though, so he urged the thoughts out of his head and gave himself a good and strong rinse. He was impressed, but not surprised at the amount of dirt and grime that was coming off of his skin and hair. It was quite visible as it was going down the drain. They’d need to wash all of their clothes properly when they got to the city, too. This shower cleansing wouldn’t last long with equally dirty clothes. It was surprising none of them had started getting sick yet, especially with how weak they had gotten.

Washed thoroughly, Sairek redressed and allowed Nayleen to go next, followed by Cyial. Each of them felt much more comfortable now that they were finally clean.

With nothing else to do though, they decided to rest, though the bed couldn’t fit all four of them. Even though it could comfortably fit two people, they gave Varhi the full bed so he could recover from his injury more easily, though it was too humid for the blankets. They instead took the blanket for the bed to make a makeshift one on the floor for Nayleen, while Sairek and Cyial were comfortable in each other’s embrace in one of the free corners of the cell until they both drifted off to sleep thanks to the gentle rocking and swaying of the boat while they moved through the ocean water.

When Sairek awoke again, his head was cuddled in Cyial’s lap as the other lad had dozed off, leaning against the corner of the wall, one arm gently hanging around Sairek’s torso and the other helping balance his head for his lap. Sairek wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he was feeling the need to eat and use the bathroom again soon. However, not being a ‘morning person’, his laziness caused him to just happily settle his head back against Cyial’s loose hold onto him, content, and try to get a few more minutes of peaceful sleep. He started to manage that for a time, drifting back once more… until it was loudly interrupted by a horn which blared through the ship that caused him and Cyial to jolt upright, startled at the noise. A crackled female voice spoke through an intercom that echoed in their room and the rest of the ship.

“Docking request granted. Docking sequence initiated. Guests, please prepare to disembark. Thank you.”

“Sweet Lands…” Sairek murmured, pulling off his gloves to wipe the sleet out of his eyes. “I guess that means we need to get ready…”

“That is one way to wake people up I guess…” Cyial grumbled, mimicking Sairek’s motions with his eyes.

“Yup… That’s Kior for you…” Varhi grunted, slowly sitting himself upright, holding his side gently as he shimmied his form to slide off the bed. “Let’s be proper guests and remake this bed to… um… Nayleen?”

Unlike the three boys, Nayleen was still laying sprawled on the blankets, snoring, undisturbed.

“But… How—?” Sairek demanded to know, pressing his palm into his face.

“She is both simultaneously the lightest and heaviest sleeper I’ve known…” Cyial concurred. “Come on, let’s wake her up…”

* * *

As the four of them were guided back onto the deck of the ship, surrounded by soldiers, the captain stood there as well, issuing orders to prepare them and the rest of the ships following them for docking. When he was finished, the man turned to them. He was wearing his mask once again, covering any features on his face that would have shown any emotions, reminding Sairek he needed to do the same as well.

“So… How will this work?” Sairek asked.

“When we dock, we’ll have you all registered into the country. There’s a small facility for this kind of thing for people who come overseas at the military base, so it won’t be an issue.” The man answered, then glanced towards Cyial. “We’ll also get your demon collared as well.”

Everyone but Varhi made small movements or sounds of surprise and shock, but despite trying to hold his emotionless mask, Sairek had the most emotional reaction out of all of them. “W-What—Collar!?” He demanded to know sternly.

“He is your demon, right?”

“He is my friend—”

“So he is your demon.” The captain interjected swiftly before Sairek could argue, causing him to clench his teeth. “So he will be collared, to signify he is not to be messed with by local authorities. It is for his protection.”

“His protection? What does that even mean?” Sairek growled heatedly.

“In Kior, there’s normal civilian status, and then there is demon civilian status. Demons who are banished fall under the latter category, and until they prove themselves reliable and trustworthy will remain there. Banished demons came to this world by committing terrible crimes in the underworld, so they are often searched by authorities and under heavy surveillance watch.” The man began to explain. “The collars designate that he is your property. You will get a bracelet that will be connected to his collar. If he does anything, then you will be the one liable for him, but authorities will know he is a guest. At the same time, if anyone tries to do something to him, then you can use the bracelet to know where he is as he does work for you.”

It took everything Sairek had with every fibre of his being to withhold back-talking the man, lest they all be removed from the country before they’ve even hit land within it.

“...Okay, then.” Cyial agreed.

“Cyial…?” Sairek whispered. “I can’t let them do that to you…!”

Cyial closed his eyes and just shook his head. “I'm collared only until we have rested and restock our supplies, then we’re leaving for the council… They get removed when we leave the city, so it will—”

“No, no. Both collar and bracelet must be on at all times. It will be removed when you leave Kiorian territory at any border agency.” The captain corrected Cyial. “It isn’t just for the city.”

Cyial flinched at that. “I...  I can’t get in without having to do this…?” He reiterated quietly.

“Absolutely not.”

Cyial clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly shut. After a moment, his expression loosened into one of resignation. “...I guess I don’t have a choice, then... Fine,” he sighed.

“Cyial…!” Sairek hissed, then snapped his glare back to the captain. “That is inhumane…!”

“It is the law. If you refuse to follow the law here, then I cannot permit you access into the country. You will be deported back to Masirean on the next ship that leaves and locked within a detainment center until that time happens.” The man warned him. “There, you will be Avotash’s problem once again. Apparently he allowed law-breakers in there to run around freely, but I assure you, we at Kior hold a much stricter policy. I am already being lenient enough as it is. I should be locking you into a detainment center for questioning at the circumstances of your arrival alone.
...However, as much as the law threatens you if you break it, it also protects you if you follow it. It is give and take. This is how we ensure the security and safety of our citizens, as well as our guests. I expect you to respect them.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Varhi interrupted behind them all as he crossed his arms, unamused. “The last time I was here in Kior, I was jailed and was nearly executed by a corrupt superior of yours that I was getting paid to sniff out for corruption in the first place. Does the name ‘Landry Haleth’ ring a bell?”

“...Who are you again?” The man questioned him.

“Varhi, and I’m nobody special. Just a sell sword for hire. The job needed unfamilliar faces Well? It was six or seven months ago. I know it made news around the security forces networks.” Varhi pressed, moving his left hand to cup it under his chin as his arms were still semi-crossed.

The man paused, thinking for a moment to recollecting his memory. “Landry was…” He paused again before reforming his sentence. “Landry had been trafficking drugs using the prisons, is that correct?”

“Mhm. And executing people he didn’t appreciate, like he tried to do with my own captain and I.”

“In that case, that is his problem. It has nothing to do with my unit. We are part of the Kiorian naval fleet, not the prison unit.”

“Yes, but wasn’t Landry transferred from the naval unit to the prison unit? That is what our info said.” Varhi continued.

“There are many naval units, not just this one. As of now, there are a dozen naval units. He was not part of this one.”

“O-Oh… You guys um… expanded. A lot...” Varhi stammered, dropping his left hand down some in genuine surprise. “Didn’t Kior only have three, or four fleets half a year ago? All under the command of just one guy? That... was Landry initially, right?”

The captain chortled softly. “Power shifts quickly in Kior. Especially when one doesn't do their duties. What does this all have to do with your little demon, anyways?”

"Not little..." Cyial grumbled under his breath, though Sairek could hear him still.

“Well, I was hoping since you are a captain, that you’d, uh, y’know... Throw us a bone, since I would have indirectly been the cause for your promotion?” Varhi tried with an open-handed shrug and giving his best puppy-eyed smile.

“Varhi…” Sairek warned dryly with a glare.

Sairek figured the man wouldn’t take kindly to this, but he actually snorted in amusement before letting out a short bark of a laugh. “I appreciate your forward honesty, lad... However, you would basically be asking me to repeat what Landry did; break the rules, just it would be for your benefit this time instead of to your detriment. The answer would be no regardless.”

“Welp, I tried.” Varhi gave Sairek an apologetic shrug. Sairek merely sighed and shook his head at him.

“Enough, guys. I’ll survive. Besides, I’m basically bound to Sairek anyway…” Cyial tried to jest, but his tone was dry and there certainly wasn’t any humor to his voice.

“Don’t joke about that kind of thing, Cyial. You are a person…” Sairek scolded him in a saddened tone.

“Not to the rest of the world, apparently…” Cyial replied a little hoarsely, giving the captain a quick glance with contempt. “It’s okay, really, I’m… used to it by now.”

Sairek watched Cyial, unconvinced, but there was nothing he could do…

He thought Kior might have been good for Cyial since it seemed like people were more accepting of demons here, but maybe he was wrong, given that putting Cyial on a literal leash was supposed to protect his friend somehow from the masses and harassment, Sairek feared the worst for his friend.