Just watching Kira speak with the seer was painful. Everything she tried to hide came out in front of this woman, and Marina was starting to see just how deeply that prophecy had affected her. The seer claimed that it was unavoidable, but she just couldn't understand why Kira had to suffer like that. That just... didn't seem very fair.

The Seer's words brought her attention to something she had mostly forgotten about: the strange tower in the ocean. Chaos had made that? Was that what had attacked their kingdom recently? It was apparently abandoned now, but if this seer spoke even a fraction of the truth...

Reluctantly, she nodded. 

"... As a knight, I will do whatever I can to protect the Kingdom," Marina said. "Say what you must, and then we'll decide what is true or not."

The seer nodded at Marina. “Good. Then please take your princess there, and by the time you both return, this kingdom will be much better for it.”

With that, she left, and Kira had to resist the urge to drag her back and demand for a less vague explanation. She already knew she wouldn’t get it. Because apparently seers only worked in their own mysterious, selfish, manipulative ways.

She began turning the woman’s words in her mind, trying to find faults in them. Would she really not have awakened as a senshi if she had not been chained to a rock? What if she’d gone to fight the sea monster like Nerida did, fully aware of her duty and what she must do? Having the luxury of choice afforded to her had not saved Nerida, that was true. But was that the only reason Kira had succeeded?

Had she not been chained, would she not have turned those chains into a part of her own powers? That power had saved both her and numerous teammates in her many dangerous adventures. And was that all thanks to the Seer?

She frowned and balled her fists, still feeling as if she were just a pawn being manipulated in the woman’s games. Just because she’d come out alive and more powerful didn’t mean there wasn’t also a price to pay for her lack of information.

“I don’t like this at all, given how I ended up last time because of her vision. But do you think I should do this?” she asked Marina, her gaze traveling to the ocean, where, taller than all the buildings, the tower still stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I won't force you to do anything you don't want, but... I also don't think she's lying about that tower's importance." Marina followed where Kira was looking at, her face impassive as she studied the foreign object. Was something evil still lingering there?

"And like I told you before, I will not leave your side, no matter what happens out there." It was easy to read between her words. Marina had no intentions of abandoning her assigned and self given duties now. She might not have the same kind of power Kira had, but she would certainly try as well as she could to keep her safe.

“No, she probably isn’t about that. But I would be ready for traps and other trickeries,” she said with a sigh.

She turned to look at Marina when the knight spoke again, the words touching her heart deeply. She smiled, feeling that overwhelming sensation of being appreciated again, after being so long without it. “Thank you. I… I appreciate it.”

Again, she recalled vaguely that they had had a serious conversation among all the drunken mess, and that she’d been very emotional about it. Those same feelings were resurfacing, tugging places in her that she usually kept walled off, even if she couldn’t completely remember what had been said. Afraid she would be drowned in it if she dwelled on it too much, she straightened herself and headed for the sea.

“Well, come on, then. You can’t fly, and I can’t carry you, so we’ll have to take a boat.”

As soon as the word boat came out of Kira's mouth, Marina visibly tensed. Kira was right about having no other way to get to the spire, but... did it have to be by ocean? Now she really was regretting eating breakfast today.

"R-right, I'll go down to the harbor and see if we can borrow a ship..." Marina said, trying to cover up her discomfort. She refused to show any weakness, not even to boats. An hour later, Marina had found a sailor willing to help. He insisted they take his sailing ship, claiming it was "the fastest one on the island". She was already imagining how badly it would rock going over all those waves, but she couldn't reject a more efficient mode of transportation. And so she had reluctantly boarded the deck with Kira, the sailor coming along to captain it for them. 

"We should make it to that spire out in the ocean in about... an hour if the wind keeps up!" he called as they hopped over the choppy waters. He hadn't lied about how fast they could go, and Marina was already going pale. She would have gone below deck, but she didn't want to draw attention to her sickness, so she stayed put and gripped the metal railing at the boat's edge so hard that her hands hurt.

She was too busy fuming about the seer and wondering what other trickery might await her in the tower to completely miss Marina’s reaction to their transportation choice. She simply nodded as her knight went to borrow a ship. Technically, the royal fleet was available to her, but it could be a hassle trying to go through the proper channels to use one, and it’d probably unnecessarily alarm her parents if they knew what she was doing. Either way, it was probably faster to just go along with Marina’s plan.

She thanked the sailor who had gracefully lent them his ship, promising to bring it back in one piece and hoping she wouldn’t have to break that promise. At first she was a bit wary that he’d be coming—she didn’t want to take an unnecessary risk with an innocent civilian—but she’d just have to protect him the best she could whatever happened.

Kira stood near the captain as he told them they should be there in an hour, her gaze fixed on the spire sticking out like a sore thumb on her kingdom. Maybe she should bring it down once whatever this was was over.

Once she’d glared at it for fifteen minutes straight, she found it exhausting, and turned to look at Marina. To her surprise, the knight seemed pale and was gripping the edge until her knuckles turned almost white.

“Um. Are you okay? Are you sick?” she asked, cautiously approaching her. If Marina wasn’t on peak condition, she would rather her not come on this potentially dangerous mission.

Marina had been too busy trying to calm her stomach with sheer force of will to even notice Kira walking up to her, and she cursed herself for not paying attention. 

She gave her a weak smile and nodded mutely, not trusting herself to be able to respond with words at the moment. Did they really have to go this fast? The boat hit another particularly large wave, and Marina stiffened again. Was the deck spinning beneath her, or was it all in her head? Her hand flew up to her mouth as a wave of nausea hit her. The sea air was doing the exact opposite of helping her.

"I-I'm fine..." Marina said, barely recovering, though her lie wasn't very convincing.

Kira blinked as Marina simply nodded, then flinched when they hit a wave. She seemed… nauseous.

“You don’t look fine. Actually, your face is kind of purple… or green.”

Nausea… could she be…? But that was impossible. It only took her this long to even come to that conclusion because it was so preposterous.

“You’re not… seasick, are you?” she scrunched up her face in confusion and disbelief. As a nation that dwelled by the ocean, seasickness was practically unheard of in Andromeda. After all, every little child was on a boat almost as soon as they could walk. Some even swam before they could properly crawl. The water had always been their friend.

And yet… A small smile tugged on her lips and she tried to stifle it. It would be hilarious if this was indeed true, wouldn’t it?

Well there went her secret. Marina decided to give up on protesting at all, and groaned instead, slumping against the railing more. To be honest with herself, she felt more like curling up somewhere and not moving for a while than exploring a spire, but this was important. She'd feel better when they hit land.

"My apologies..." she said, not making eye contact with Kira. "I've never been great with boats..." The sailor overheard Kira's guess and turned to look back at them.

"Seasick?" Marina blushed at how stunned he sounded. "I don't think I've dealt with that in a long while, but... there's a bucket by the ropes over there. Try not to mess up the deck, Knight..." Brilliant advice, she'd keep the bucket in mind.

“How have you managed to get seasick while living in an island your entire life?” Kira giggled. “And here I thought the ocean was every baby’s cradle around here. How are you meant to save me now, oh gallant knight, if you’re going to be too busy puking over the side of the boat while I fight some sea creature?”

She knew she was poking fun, but she couldn’t resist. It was too easy, after all.

“We’re going to have to remedy this whenever we get back. I can’t have everyone hear that I have a seasick knight. Maybe I’ll subject us to 40 days and 40 nights at sea; that should be enough to cure your problem,” she added jokingly.

MODERATOR NOTE


This RP has been inactive for over 45 days. If you are still interested in continuing your storyline, please post within the next 7 days or this thread will be moved to the Graveyard section. All RPs that are moved to the Graveyard can be retrieved by Sailor Saturn using the Storyline Revival Requests thread.

Marina tried not to look ashamed when Kira brought up not being able to do her job if they were out on the water. That really could be a problem if another sea monster appeared. But... that wouldn't happen, right? The 40 days and 40 nights at sea idea was enough to make her heart race, and she shook her head.

"I don't... don't think that's necessary. I don't know if I'd make it." Marina almost lost her composure as another wave passed under the boat, and she reluctantly stood up. "Excuse me, I should probably go below deck and sit down now..." Or maybe try and sleep the rest of the trip away. She took a few shaky steps towards the door that led to the ship's interior. "I'll be better when I get back on land."

Moderator's Note: Hey, guys, just a heads-up, your role-play has been inactive for almost a month. This isn't an official warning, just a little bump.

MODERATOR NOTE


This RP has been inactive for over 45 days. If you are still interested in continuing your storyline, please post within the next 7 days or this thread will be moved to the Graveyard section. All RPs that are moved to the Graveyard can be retrieved by Sailor Saturn using the Storyline Revival Requests thread.

She frowned as Marina excused herself, worried for her friend, but not knowing what she could do about it. If Marina had told her earlier, before they departed, she could have packed something that would help the seasickness. Right now she just hoped her friend could make it to land without passing out.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, and they soon arrived at the tower that was Chaos' creation. There was no land to dock at, but there was an opening on the side where they'd blasted it when they were trying to force their way in. Kira easily jumped into the water and climbed into the opening.

She turned towards the boat and looked for Marina in case she needed help.