章 22: Sailing Sun
"What was the kid doing down there of all places? It's god damn scorching there."
Marcello asked in worry as he placed his mug of water down near little Junko.
"Get her to drink something."
Marcello pat Elaryn on her shoulder as he looked around at the people staring at the scene.
"What's the problem now? The kid brought food and ale through that Cursur Religion Hellish heat. Stop staring at the kid already."
Most people looked away but some still watched the scene play out.
Some yelling was still coming from further below deck, closer now.
"I say stop starin' and go shut the traps of those screaming cows from below if ya got nothin' better to do!"
Marcello yelled at the few who were still staring without a care.
"Gods. Where's the manners?"
He muttered as he sat down next to Elaryn, comforting little Junko over her loss of food even though he didn't know it.
...
Time passed as time does. The ship was again on the move, sailing below the setting sun. Yet the atmosphere wasn't calm.
A little while ago.
Junko, after calming down, was given a few pieces of dried meat and some lukewarm water. She was comforted by Elaryn and Marcello and no one tried to bother them as they were busy with getting their hands on the food that was stuck further below deck in that hazy heat and the keg of ale that came like a gift from the Blue Moon.
The now calm little Junko, no longer in distress, left to roam the main deck with Marcello choosing to follow along with her and keep an eye on the little one. Elaryn chose to stay behind as being a mage with lower than lower-than-average physical specs wouldn't do well in the physically demanding heat and haze directly below the sun.
Junko, now walking on the main deck of the ship, who was bearing the heat and steam without much trouble, kept an easy stride going while Marcello struggled to keep up.
She had already mostly explored everything below deck and there were few places she had yet to see. Well, besides the number of places below deck that she had forgotten about after stumbling upon the dried food.
Marcello could only wipe his brow as he took a seat to catch his breath at the bow of the ship, choosing to just keep an eye on the girl from afar since it wasn't like she could do anything to invite trouble in a matter of short moments.
'Gone.'
Were the creatures below the ship? Staring into the steaming hot ocean below, little Junko could see nothing but a few heavy corpses sitting far below at the bottom of the ocean.
She didn't keep staring for long as the heat and steam were bothering her a little.
Jumping off the wooden railing that she was peeking over, she turned her head to the side only to meet one familiar figure and one not-so-familiar figure.
"Hello. Little one."
Little Junko turned her head to look at the two. The Prince and his Fairy companion.
Her gaze barely even passed the Prince, looking at him for no longer than a single lone instant before her eyes turned to the floating Fairy next to him.
Neither the Prince nor his Fairy companion felt like they could keep their backs straight with the little predator eyes looking straight through their beings.
"My friend here wanted to talk with you."
The Prince spoke to Junko, no useless noble frivolousness added to his words.
Junko, with not a single sliver of interest, turned and began to walk away only to be blocked by a body larger than hers.
"Your Highness. I do apologize for the child's rudeness."
Marcello spoke with a lowered head while turning little Junko back around.
The child in question looked at Marcello curiously for a moment before again laying her gaze on the duo that had approached her.
"It is no matter, my companion here simply wished to have a word or two with the child. Thus neither my own nor your presence is needed here anymore."
The Prince quickly changed his tune as another person joined the dialogue.
"Now let us leave them to their talk and grab some water from below. Working under this sun is making me work up quite a sweat. I will see if I can make some cold water for everyone while we are down there. "
"Thank you, your Highness, I trust that your Fairy Companion will do a much better job at keeping an eye on the young girl than I could."
Marcello gave a fake laugh out of politeness, trying to speak as professionally and clearly as he could while being dragged off by the Prince of his Empire.
As they were leaving, another face joined them. "Ah, your highness. Perfect timing."
They spoke, clearly exhausted.
"Captain. Good to see you are doing better, why don't we take this conversation below deck?"
As the trio now walked off and Junko and the Fairy were left alone, silence came in to replace the presence of the two men.
Junko, who had lost her reason to stay in place, looked straight through the existence before her.
She then turned and walked off, only to be followed by the floating Fairy who flew next to her, keeping some distance.
Junko could then hear a voice. It wasn't like usual sound which she had already experienced a good amount of, this was different. The 'source' of the sound seemed like it didn't even exist.
"Young Apex."
Junko stopped in her tracks. The only possible source for this voice would be the Fairy, thus, she turned her head and looked straight at her now.
The Fairy floated back a slight amount before speaking again.
"The Faelian Star."
The fairy leaned forward.
"From that Empress' Gift. From the Presence of Terror. From your Nature of Existence."
Junko couldn't quite understand the meaning of her words, though she knew they were directed at her.
"What Cosmos Is Your Wish?"
Still not knowing the extent or importance of the words that the fairy was using, Junko's momentary interest was fading as this all just sounded like gibberish to her and the fairy wasn't giving her enough time to fully comprehend the meaning of her words before moving on to new ones.
Turning and leaving, little Junko had seen basically everything on the main deck of the ship, except one place.
Looking up above her, the crow's nest.
There were no other people on the main deck. A clear coast.
...
The fairy still kept her eyes on the Young Disaster in front of her.
Standing on the edge of the crow's nest as the sun was beginning to set, the young girl looked at the vast sky with eyes that reflected it all back in a darkened violet tint.
She had received no answer to her first question nor the questions after that.
The young apex truly seemed to not hold any interest in her anymore.
The fairy didn't know if this was good or bad.
Before she could decide, she felt a tingle spread across her skin followed by a small shiver.
The wind was becoming restless. The surrounding mana flow was...
Looking back in the direction of 'that' continent, she could see a giant flying straight towards them.
An Apex of Ancient Rank at most. Even if she retracted every blessing she had cast and used the elemental advantage of the ocean, her victory wasn't certain.
However, that was before the young Apex next to her 'changed' her core. Now, with the full might of a fairy and the advantage of location, she could kill the approaching Apex and at worst lose a limb or two to the sharp wind surrounding the approaching giant.
Just as she was about to re-establish a link with the Prince, she stopped in her tracks as the shivers caused by the approaching Apex turned into uncontrollable trembling.
Little Junko had turned her head to face her approaching kin.
Though the distance between them was large, she managed to make eye contact with the dragon.
Her interest in the appearance of her kin was slight, it's brazen flying, seemingly patrolling the sea caught her eye.
It was one of the Apex that the Elden Ones sent out.
As Junko looked at the dragon, her interest started to slowly fade.
The flying Apex slowed down to a near halt.
The pair of eyes that pierced through it were more terrifying than any other it had experienced.
Junko raised her hand towards the dragon, wanting it to leave her alone.
She used her innate [Fright Infliction].
This is what caused the fairy by her side to tremble as she did. Even though she wasn't the target as Junko, without realising it, focused her innate ability towards the dragon and only towards it.
Thus an Apex felt true Terror for the first time.
The type of unnatural, primal fear that could drive a normal being to suicide.
The Apex left faster than it arrived. Using all the wind it could to speed itself up.
With the huge gusts of wind the Apex created, the ship started to naturally sail yet again.
Junko lowered her hand, looking back into the vast sky above. A few of the moons were visible to her. Though she wanted to reach out and grab them, she understood that her reach was still too short.
A little while later, some people emerged from below deck after feeling the ship starting to move again, not finding his Higness' fairy nor the little girl that was with her on the main deck, a frantic search started.
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