Storyline Name: Rose Colored Glass
Creator(s): Sailor Uranus and the RNG
Relaxed
Plot Summary: The sea... beautiful and mysterious, and host to the Rose-Colored-Glass Cruiseliner, an exquisite and beautiful ship that highlights times long past in Earth's history. Each deck a different era of a different culture is represented in themes, with such highlights as Japan's feudal age and pre-World-War Geisha-studded tea-houses, America's Wild West saloons and Chicago prohibition-era speakeasies, Italy's Roman bath-houses, stunning dance-halls from Europe's castle-studded past - all complete with authentic artifacts from those long-ago ages. Senshi new to Earth get a discount for tickets to the Cruiseliner, not only for their amusement and general history/culture gathering, but also so the cruise could feature sentences like "A favorite relaxing yet educational pasttime of Senshi from across the Galaxy!"


This voyage is frequented by two senshi: Sailor Nocturnus and Sailor Desert Rose - who actually won the tickets for free at a random drawing. While they might not know each other, they would be rooming together in one of the large "Presidential" suites of the ship, complete with their own balcony and access to the Captain's deck. 


At first the cruise goes smoothly, with dances, cooking demonstrations, chocolate tastings, stories from history, star gazing at night, plays, concerts, ballets, movies - you name it, they offered it, and Nocturnus and Desert Rose's attendance was welcomed at every single event. 


On the second night of the cruise, however, as activity died down and most were returning to their beds, the senshi - returning to their suite after a long day of activities - come across a strange sight as they pass through the historical exhibits: 


Ghosts!




Details on any necessary information: The artifacts are haunted! Many of the artifacts are haunted! What will they do?! Do they fight the (MOSTLY ANGRY) ghosts?! Do they try to find out why they are angry?! (THEIR ARTIFACTS WERE TOTALLY GRAVE-ROBBED AND/OR STOLEN FROM MUSEUM EXHIBITS) OR DO THEY JUST RUN FOR THEIR LIVES OH MY GOD GHOSTS!
Note: These ghosts are poltergeists, and so can move / throw / interact with objects, but you'd be hard-pressed to defeat them with physical means~
--Ghosts can be of any era, up to you guys to introduce them, etc~ I gave ideas in the first thing for potential ghosties xD
Best place to start: SEEING THOSE GHOSTS! WAAAAAAAAH! XD


Restrictions: Characters listed below only
OOC Thread: CrackShips Event Thread or OOC Thread of the player's creation (or skype)
Member to Character List:

• Sailor Desert Rose - Poet of Mercury
  
  
• Sailor Nocturnus - Aurae
  
  

Eirinn rubbed her eyes sleepily. It had been a grand day on board, and she had to admit, despite her misgivings, that it had been the right decision to come. She never would have pictured herself on an ocean liner, in the middle of the cast deep oceans of Earth, even thinking about it made her shiver, but it was one step in the direction of confronting the phobia, her own secret shame. While roaming the interiors of the vast multi-level ship it was easy to convince herself that she was on land. In fact Eirinn avoided areas of the ship where a large view of the ocean was offered. She had not even managed to bring herself to step out onto the shared balcony. And she kept a wide berth around the pools too.

But, though she had not been able to make much headway against the terror that water held for her, she was learning a lot and had an agreeable roommate, and a lovely room. It was to this room that she was heading after an evening lecture on Ethics and Inequities in Feudal Japan. Eirin had just turned down the narrow hallway when she heard a sort of pounding noise that caused her to turn around.

A rhythmic pounding, growing louder by the second, was coming from behind her at the far end of the hall. A running shape began to materialize from the shadows wearing some sort of scaled or plated armor. The shape was bulky, and though massive, was flat on top. It took her a second to realize this was because the running form ended at the shoulders. She could find no head! A feeling of nausea at the wrongness of what she was seeing twisted her stomach just as her eyes caught a gleam of silver overhead. The being was charging her with a sword!

Sailor Nocturnus

Pamina stood out on the balcony of the Presidential Suite, the salty ocean breeze tugging at her long hair. In the dark blue sky, only the slightest sliver of the moon remained. So far from the light pollution of the shore, the stars seemed so much brighter and more numerous than she had seen them from her dorm room window back on the Japanese mainland. The dark eyes looked up, reflecting back those glittering stars, and wondered if her mother was out there, somewhere distant, looking down on her.

She sighed.

This trip... she still wasn't really sure why she had accepted it. It sounded exciting at first—that she couldn't deny. And the activities she had done today were fun. She still didn't really understand a lot of the rules on Earth, but somehow even though she was too young to do a lot of things she wasn't too young to be on this cruise alone. Well, okay, she wasn't actually alone. She had a roommate—a red-haired girl who seemed nice enough.

They hadn't really talked much. Pamina knew that she needed to make more of an effort to be friendly, but in this strange and huge ship everything felt a bit overwhelming.

The young girl turned away from the endless inky stretches of the ocean and headed back inside. She felt a bit hungry... maybe she could get hot chocolate. Her dark eyes considered the phone on the desk inside, but the thought of placing a call felt too intimidating. No, maybe it was something she could serve herself at the dining hall. Nothing on this ship ever seemed to close.

Wandering the hallways, she felt less and less like she knew where she was or where she was going. There were so many dark halls, and she stumbled through and around exhibits on all sorts of eras from the Earth. Too many to for the child traveler to keep straight.

And then she heard it: a strange, rhythmic noise.

Pamina paused, her dark form melting almost immediately into the shadows, listening and alert. Her mind tried to track it. It was close by!

For a moment, Pamina considered running, but she heard another sound—footsteps! Someone else was there, too! Even if it was scary, she couldn't in good conscience leave someone else to a questionable fate. She had to investigate. It only took a few more turns down a few more corridors to hear the sound get louder and louder... and then she saw it.

Eirinn, her roommate, targeted by a massive armored figure with a sword!

She ducked back into the shadows. There wasn't much time to think about what to do. Her fingers closed around the Asturlab, always kept close, and she called out those now-familiar words.

"Illuminate the Darkened Night!"

In her place stood Sailor Nocturnus. The sailor soldier-in-training knew she was much, much smaller than the rushing shape, but she needed to do something! She didn't want to risk her attacks in such a narrow space, with someone else so close by! Instead, the black and navy guardian ran forward and tried to throw herself at the shape, hoping to knock it off-course enough to stop it from swiping Eirinn with the dangerous-looking sword!

Eirinn could not even summon a sound as the first swing narrowly missed her. She would not even have a chance to transform, and her other weapons were in the room. A trickle of fear crept in as she braced for the next swing, trying to guess where it would land. If she could only buy a second! Her mind still could not wrap around what she was seeing.

A blur of black and navy threw itself at the charging form and Eirinn realized it was the other senshi on board, her roommate. Despite the size difference, the action startled the charging figure for a second, and that was all she needed. Grasping the pendant around her neck she whispered, "Heart of Aran Cara, please lend me your power!"

When the creature raised its sword again, she was ready and her own sword crackled against its curved blade, parrying it aside enough to make a slash at the attacker's shoulder, which was higher than her own head! "Thank you." she said to her roommate while dropping into a defensive stance.

She could see her sword had pierced its armor in one place, but the attacker did not even seem to react, and there was not even a trickle of blood. "Something is very wrong here." She still could not get rid of that nagging fear.

Sailor Nocturnus

When her roommate transformed as well and struck back, Sailor Nocturnus—having picked herself up from where she rolled after colliding with the rushing thing—eyed the attacker carefully. When Sailor Desert Rose parried against the thing and slashed it, her eyes widened.

"It's only armor!" she gasped. "There's nothing inside!"

The petite, dark-uniformed figure stood still for a moment as her mind whirled through attempts to solve this strange puzzle. She had fought so many creatures of so many different kinds, but they had all been strange entities forged from or manipulated by Chaotic evil. This... this didn't feel the same. This entire time she could feel the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, that eerie sense of unease sending shivers down her spine. This wasn't the "normal" kind of enemy!

Sailor Nocturnus paused for a moment, wondering if it would be possible to reason with the thing, but at that moment it recoiled and readied itself to strike again. She reacted immediately, summoning the stars to her call, feeling their familiar power gathering within her.

Concentrate, she reminded herself. Only the armor. Only the armor.

"Ecliptic Rotation!"

The stars and shockwave that shot forth from the shattered disc of golden energy flew true, aimed only for the strange attacker that the soldier-in-training of the night intended on damaging and dispersing. Hopefully it would stop... whatever this thing was. Maybe then she and Eirinn could try and figure out what was really going on. Nocturnus kept her mind focused, remembering previous successful uses of her primary attack, unwilling to risk any injury to her ally in this confined space.

"Armor does not fight on its own!" It made no sense, Eirinn thought, as she readied her sword again, not wishing to call down an attack in close quarters. If she damaged it once, she would simply have to do so again. But her companion was faster, unleashing an attack of light that made her squint to see through it. When it cleared, the armor laid in pieces on the floor. Sailor Nocturnus had been correct in her assessment. There seemed to be nothing within the armor.

Lowering her arm, she let herself relax a bit, though the realization still made the hair on her arms stand up. "How is that...possible?" she asked aloud, wide-eyed. She nudged the armor with her foot, but it did not stir. But she noticed a feeling in the air, a coldness and a tingly sensation.

However something did stir. A scraping sound was her only warning as the sword suddenly leapt from the ground and impaled itself deep into the wall between the two girls, eliciting a surprised gasp from Eirinn. Warily, she reached out a hand to touch the hilt. It was cold to the touch but stuck fast.

"This has the feel of...a shadow walker....I think you would call it a ghost? One who is not alive and yet walks the world of the living. I have only heard stories. What do you think?"

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus shivered, her gloved hands rubbing her upper arms. Ghosts. This was not something she was really familiar with until Earth, but it was definitely not something she wanted to experience. Like Eirinn, she had only heard stories of this kind of creature. When she heard others talk about it, they weren't the tales she gave much weight to. But standing here in this hallway, having just been nearly impaled, and feeling the eerie cold... it was hard to be dismissive.

"Why... why would a ghost be here?" she asked her companion. "This is a cruise ship."

Weren't ghosts supposed to be in spooky abandoned mansions? Or run-down and empty insane asylums? Or dark and wild forests where unsolved murders happened? This was a modern ship. It had all this stuff about the past, but it was all fake... right?

Nocturnus glanced around, wondering if the thing was gone. She didn't really feel that same cold anymore... but she remained on her guard just in case.

“I…do not know. But that is the same armor I saw in the room where my class was held. Perhaps it followed me? It certainly seemed…angry. Could we somehow have activated a curse or displeased the spirits in some way?” Metaphysical matters were not something Desert Rose considered herself an expert in, but as a child she loved to listen to tales around the fire. This on the other hand was much more real. “We should check the other artifact-heavy areas of the ship. If this one is…active, the others could be as well.

No sooner than she said that, screams could be heard coming from the deck below. Her eyes widened in open fear and she wrapped her arms around herself. “That is the pool!” Blushing with the knowledge that she had revealed her fear openly, her own personal shame, she willed her feet to move. They needed to check this out and fast. Taking a deep steadying breath she pushed off of the wall and began running in that direction.

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus followed Sailor Desert Rose towards the source of the screams, mulling through what the other girl had suggested. So Eirinn had seen that thing before... now Nocturnus regretted not going to the same lecture with her roommate. It was something about feudal Japan, wasn't it? Hmm, well, that did at least match up with the presence of that style of armor. Maybe that was some kind of clue? At the moment the young sailor soldier-in-training was feeling like a less-equipped Nancy Drew dropped into a dangerous mystery.

As they reached their destination, she gave the other soldier a comforting smile, remembering the moment of unease that the redhead had displayed at the mention of the pool.

The pool was located just outside of a section dedicated to Ancient Greece, and the decoration of this area mimicked an old bath house. Of course, the services were fitting with what a modern cruise ship pool and those choosing to partake of the water wore modern swimsuit attire. At the moment they were all running in panic from what appeared to be a huge semi-transparent bull-like creature. The deck of the pool was scattered with broken ceramic shards; all of the decorative urns around the area had been smashed.

Sailor Nocturnus gasped, looking up at it.

"A... a minotaur?"

Sailor Desert Rose returned the smile. Her terror of water was something she had hoped to conquer on this trip, but she had not quite intended it to be in this manner. In truth, the red head would rather have had to fight ten of those ghost samurais than to take one step into that pool. I am so weak! It is disgraceful. My knees tremble like a lamb! If only the other senshi knew of her innermost fear, she would surely look down on Eirinn.

Nonetheless necessity urged her on and they soon came to the entrance to the great pool.

“By the three suns! What manner of creature is this?” To have done this much damage in such a short time….but how did one fight a creature that was only partly in this world? There was not any time to wait. “Please clear the area everyone!” Eirinn called out, not that those in the room needed any encouragement to move. It had not seen her yet, the moment was perfect. Raising her hands she readied an attack. “Dance of Scorching Sands!” Pushing her hands forward, two whirlwinds of burning hot wind arced towards the creature. She could only pray to the gods that it would work against such a thing,.

Sailor Nocturnus

The creature roared in rage as the blazing breeze from Sailor Desert Rose arced towards it. It swung around, snorting hot and angry breath through its nostrils. It swung itself around, furious, but somehow... something seemed strange...

Sailor Nocturnus watched it carefully, trying to figure out what exactly had happened. What was it about this scenario that seemed so unusual to her?

Her dark eyes widened suddenly: the columns around the pool... they were still intact! Even though the bull-like beast filled its surroundings and thrashed around, it seemed to pass right through the faux ancient decor surrounding the pool.

"It isn't touching anything!" she tried to call to her comrade.

So it was a ghost. Or something like a ghost?

As if realizing that it had caused no further destruction, the thing suddenly turned towards the two sailor soldiers. Sailor Nocturnus caught the flash of movement and dove to the side just in time to feel the air rush past her that followed the massive shard from one of the broken urns. It hit the wall and fractured; she braced herself against the spray of debris. She hadn't even seen the creature reach out to touch anything.

That had to be a sign! What kind of creature was this?!

In her haste to attack, Desert Rose realized she had not paid enough attention to her surroundings. Sailor Nocturnus had hit upon something she had missed. The young senshi clearly had a good head on her shoulders. She chastised herself for not being more observant.

As its body passed through a pillar she tilted her head, green eyes wide open in curiosity. It was here, and yet not here. But somehow it had still noticed her attack, though she wondered if it had made any impact at all.

"So it seems, but can we touch it?!" Eirinn called through the sounds of shattering pottery. They had been noticed, but the motion did not come from the creature itself. Now suddenly the two of them had become the creature's main target, as vases and porcelain remnants flew towards them. Ducking, she felt the stirring in her hair as a sharp fragment narrowly missed her eye. "I...have a suspicion....that the entire ship....is like this. But why?" she managed to spit out between parrying flying projectiles with her sword and maneuvering. She could only be thankful that the passengers were away from here. Or were they?

A whimper from behind her caused her to spin around. There, by the edge of the pool stood a small girl of maybe five frozen terrified to the spot and trembling. Her toes hung over the concrete edge of the pool wall and she wavered on her feet in a pink bathing suit, cringing as small debris rained down.

"Young one, you must run!" she tried to call to the girl, but it was in vain, the small child was too terrified to hear her. A scraping noise alerted her to the movement of one of the larger vases as it slid across the tile heading right for the girl. Time seemed to slow as she sprinted down the remaining length of the poolside, chills of fear raising goosebumps on her arms as her footfalls came nearer to the still waters. She collided into the young girl and shoved her out of the way, just as the vase hit her side and her feet skidded out from under her, sending her falling over the edge.

White-hot terror clawed at her heart as the cold sensation of water hit her body in slow motion. It was going to swallow her up whole into its greedy depths! She could feel it climbing her body, enveloping  her in its deadly embrace. She could not even summon a voice to scream with as she saw her death before her. Her only thought was for Aya as she closed her eyes in acceptance of her fate. Her knee slammed into something hard, stopping her descent into the aqueous depths. Her eyes flew open to find herself shoulder deep in water, but kneeling on the bottom lining and still quite alive. Taking in a shaky breath, she slowly reached down to retrieve her sword, moving quite carefully in her newfound environment.

OOC:

Sailor Nocturnus

It all happened so fast that Nocturnus barely saw the little girl before Sailor Desert Rose shoved her out of the way and disappeared beneath the depths.

"Desert Rose!" the younger sailor soldier-in-training screamed in alarm.

She wanted to run to the edge or dive in after the girl, but a quick glance up at the beast—still raging—made it clear that she didn't have time to take her eyes off the enemy. Instead, she ran forward, taking advantage of the slippery tile to slide herself forward and catch the arm of the child, spinning the little girl around to place herself defensively in front. Sailor Desert Rose was a sailor soldier; this was a child and civilian. Sailor Nocturnus only hoped that the other young woman was alright and would understand her choices.

"Ecliptic Rotation!"

The dark-clad young one faced the bull-creature head-on and gathered her power, unleashing a flurry of stars and the familiar shock wave of energy. It was easier to stay focused with so few other targets in the immediate area, an unlikely side-effect of Desert Rose's unintended dive.

The thing howled and bellowed as the attack collided with it, but it seemed successful. The ghostly image faded. Hoovering objects just waiting to be used as projectiles clattered uselessly to the ground. As she paused to catch her breath, she heard the little girl run off towards a distant voice that called to her, still crying loudly.

Sailor Nocturnus nearly threw herself over the edge of the pool, searching into the depths for the figure of the flame-haired young woman. If she had to, she'd dive in. This wouldn't be the first time she had dragged someone through water... and at least this time, the maximum depth was 2.2m, based on the signs around the pool.

Eirinn seized her sword from the smooth bottom and with strength launched herself up and out of the waters. She hoped her still shaky legs were not evident as she called out to her companion. “It is fine. I am…unharmed.” The last part she spoke almost as a question, still surprised to find that she had survived her near-drowning.  Taking stock of the room as she walked towards the other senshi the red head could see that the threat had been extinguished and she felt a flush of shame.
 
“It appears you have taken care of things. I am sorry I was not able to help you.” Her face was hot with shame as she explained. “Water is my heart’s most terrible fear. It is so shameful. I am not fit to guard a dunemouse much less my own sister. You must laugh at me. I am a farce of a First Sister.” It hurt to confess her weaknesses, but in a way it was a relief to speak it after keeping it secret for so long.
 

Just them the general ship alarm sounded, and the captain’s voice came on ordering all guests to return to quarters at once and await further instructions. There was a nervous edge to his voice that he did his best to disguise. A few crewmen ran past the doorway. Eirinn blinked away the shameful moistness that had begun to gather in her eyes and steeled her resolve. Failure or not, she would still do her best to protect the people of this ship. “Should we go speak with the captain?” Maybe they could glean some information.

Sailor Nocturnus

At Sailor Desert Rose's ashamed confession, it was not possible for Nocturnus to feel the mocking that the other woman felt was due to her. In fact, the star-bedecked young girl could only focus on the relief that flooded through her to see the older teenager had not drowned. At least her fear of water was not coupled with the kind of panic that fills lungs and disorients movement; maybe that had something to do with her current form as a sailor solder. Instead, Sailor Nocturnus offered her comrade a kind smile.

"Everyone is afraid of things," she said softly. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself."

The announcement from the captain caught her attention immediately afterward, and she nodded at Desert Rose.

"Yes, let's find him. Maybe he knows something about this."

This "relaxing cruise" was getting more and more suspicious by the minute!

“You are too kind.” Eirinn responded placing a brief hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. Eirinn could not afford to be so soft on herself, but somehow she still felt cheered by the comment. “Let us hope the captain knows more than we do.”
 
Traveling down the hall it was immediately apparent that things were going from bad to worse. A semi-transparent woman in a long gown with a helmet bearing two horns shrieked at them in high pitch vibrato as she phased through one wall and into another. Loud crashes and bangs could be heard on floors above and below them even though muffled by the sound proofed floors. Desert Rose cringed inwardly, hoping with fervor that no one was being seriously hurt. They were only two, and too many things going on. She knew they could serve the people of this ship better by finding the source, but she didn’t have to like it.  Her body itched to respond to each crash, feeling more and more tense with each alarming sound.
 
A portrait of a whaling ship in a storm on the wall moved of its own accord, as if the painting inside were a video screen. The sound of the creaking ship and sailor’s calls competed with the sound of waves as the painted sea rolled. A violent wave crashed up, and into the frame of the painting, sending water splashing out of the frame and all over Desert Rose’s fuku. She gave the painting a dour look, not in any mood to interact with water again today and moved on.  
 
Finally they reached the bridge, which was in a relatively calmer state of chaos, not seeming to have any relics within it, though stress was written on the faces of all hands on deck. The captain stood at the front of the bridge, and turned immediately upon their arrival, setting down his coffee cup with a clatter that spoke to the steadiness of his hands. One did not become the captain of a world class ocean liner easily, and the captain did a remarkable job of schooling his face to calm, but Eirinn could see the tightness in his eyes.
 

“Ladies, I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you are on board. I am sorry for the imposition, but it seems we have a bit of a crisis on our hands.” He said in a smooth British accent.

Sailor Nocturnus

She felt distrustful of him, although she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Maybe that would be something disproved or proved soon. Perhaps it was that he didn't seem to mind that the ship was under attack, passengers screaming as they ran from ghosts and objects. Nocturnus longed to help them all as she and Desert Rose headed towards the bridge, but she followed the older girl knowing this was probably the right choice at the moment. To be here, standing in front of this man calmly sipping coffee, did not sit right with her.

Still, the child was not aggressive enough to confront him with so little evidence. She tried to keep her voice neutral, rather than suspicious.

"Yes, we have seen it. What is going on? What do you know about this?" she asked, her dark eyes searching his face and awaiting a response.

The captain let out an exasperated sigh. "What I know, is that my ship is out of control, and the exhibits from our lovely museum have decided to up and have a stroll about the decks!" He ran a hand through his hair and downed the remaining coffee in a single gulp as if it were the last drop of water in a barren land. 

"But...we have a bigger problem." He spoke low, forcing Eirinn to lean in a bit. 

"Something has cut the connection to one of our azimuth thrusters, a rudder if you will. It would be an easy matter to rectify if we could get to the portside controls, but apparently there are..." he grimaced, dislike evident on his face, "a band of Huns camping out portside. To make matters worse, I am being told there is an actual fire breathing dragon in the diesel engine room." He pointed to the figure of what was clearly some sort of mechanic with oil stains on his coveralls who was currently having his arm treated for what looked to be a nasty burn.

"In summary, I have a ship that I cannot slow down, can only halfway steer, and I am trying to do what I can not to incite pandemonium. I may be able to buy some time ladies, but I must ask for your help. I need access to my ship, and fast."

Eirinn did not claim to have a great knowledge of ships, but the simple way in which he explained it made it clear they were in grave danger. She met Sailor Nocturnus' eyes for a moment, conveying the concern in her expansive green eyes. 

It was also clear why he spoke so quietly. Before she could try to utter any words of assurance, the bandaged mechanic spoke up. 

"Tell 'em captain! You have to tell them!"

Sailor Nocturnus

Nocturnus listened to the explanation, trying to keep her suspicions from influencing her reasoning. The list of issues was impressive—lost ability to steer, no access to the controls where repairs could be made, and a dragon in the engine room. A fire-starter literally surrounded by plenty of fuel to feed the flames. If it lashed out aggressively, the entire ship could explode! This was definitely a bad spot they found themselves in.

"What is it that you must tell us?" she inquired of the captain, glancing at the man in grease-stained overalls with the burned arm.

She didn't like the manner of his interjection—it made her lack of trust for the captain feel more justified. This injured man seem to think that the pair of sailor soldiers were under-informed, and that did not make Sailor Nocturnus feel terribly confident about the task ahead. She remembered too many instances of rushing in to a situation without knowing much, typically a sign of disaster and delays ahead. If that happened here, she didn't know what she and Sailor Desert Rose could be expected to overcome.

The advertised "relaxing" aspect of this cruise seemed less and less likely as their time here continued.

OOC:

The captain spluttered. "It's just nonsense and bother, crew superstition and all. Don't pay any mind to...hey!"

Without waiting for the man to finish Eirinn walked to the injured man, laying a hand upon his uninjured shoulder. "What is it that you know?"

The man, clearly shaken, began to babble in a cockneyed accent. "It's cursed it is! I knew it would be no good to bring it aboard. It 'as the pharaoh's curse it does sure as anything!"

Eirinn's eyes knitted with confusion trying to follow the odd accent and figure out what the man was speaking of. "Please, I don't understand. What is cursed. Is it something aboard the ship?"

"The golden scarab of course, the one they just put in the Egypt room. Me cousin's an archaeologist see. He told me it was stolen...I tried to warn them..."

"That is enough!" The captain boomed from across the room. "There is no such thing as a pharaoh's curse. And besides, I have been assured by our head curators that all of our acquisitions are more than legal. You're wasting their time. They need to be saving my ship." He crossed his arms, clearly agitated, but a loud bang from somewhere within the ship made im turn to fiddle with the instruments.

"I have seen that relic" Eirinn said to Sailor Nocturnus. If the man was right, they should waste no time in investigating the piece. But if the man was wrong, it could be a fatal delay in the saving of the ship. She was sure at least that the man thought he was speaking truth. She could not quite say the same about the captain. "I think it is worth checking out."

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus nodded at Sailor Desert Rose.

"I agree. I bet that this 'curse' is responsible for at least some of this," she replied, turning to give the captain a solemn stare. "Getting to the root of this issue will save your ship and the lives of those aboard it."

The Huns blocking the control room and the dragon in the engine room—those were things to be concerned about, but it seemed like there were sure to be more and more awful things happening as soon as they addressed what was already going on. There were only two of them. It would take too much time to fight off or dispel each separate problem.

Nocturnus looked back at her companion. Desert Rose stated that she had seen the relic, so hopefully she could lead the pair of them to it—and fast!

The weary captain ran a hand through his hair. "I don't quite know what I believe anymore. Just please, save my ship." More loud thumps echoed from above and he grimaced, turning resolutely back to the displays.

Desert Rose nodded, her hand folding around the pendant about her neck in a subconscious prayer that they were making the right decision. She nodded tersely, understanding the question in Sailor Nocturnus' eyes. Without sparing a word in farewell to the men o the bridge she spun and took off at a run, knowing Nocturnus would follow.

The entrance to the Egypt room was decked out in ornate gold hieroglyphics, clearly not historically original but designed to inspire awe. But inside were relics of all kinds including pieces of one of the pyramids, a sarcophagus, and a miniature replica of the pyramid of Giza as well as several large statues of Egyptian gods. Miniature on this cruise ship however was a relative word. The top towered over her and at the top was suspended a large gold scarab clearly the great centerpiece of the display.

"There it is!" Desert Rose cried out, pointing.

Sailor Nocturnus

Nocturnus shivered in the room, feeling immediately unsettled as soon as they approached this area. The gold-painted Egyptian marvels that rose around her should have seemed beautiful and awe-inspiring, but instead they were looming and oppressive. There was something about this place that she could neither identify nor shake the discomfort from. Her dark eyes glanced rapidly about the room, as if waiting to be attacked.

When Sailor Desert Rose pointed out the gleaming golden scarab, Sailor Nocturnus felt the thudding of her heart in her chest rapidly intensify.

"...So what do you think they meant when they said there was a 'pharaoh's curse'?" she asked her companion, slowly turning around to survey the room once again, wondering what was about to happen.