Chapter 125: Heathens
Standing by the railing of The Canary, I stared downwards into the abyss; into the boundless darkness of the Sunless Skies, at the swishing, pounding waves.
Tossing my Book of Heresy into the air, I controlled the Quill and pressed more words into its pages.
It's not that complicated now that I think about it.
Curses flushed out of my Cursed Vessels and upwards into the Book of Heresy, then moments later, it rushed back down at me and into my mouth and ears.
Then-
"Hello?"
-Nemora's voice came through the tether without the influence of her Blessings.
"It worked." Responding with a tensely fatigued voice, I released my breath with a relieved sigh.
"Good job, can you spread it to others?"
"Not yet. Still another minute."
"Got it."
Glancing at my Book of Heresy, I stared at the words written within it:
[Alora - Nemora - Double-Threaded Audio Tether - 50 Metres - 2 Minutes]
Correct, instead of 'Communication' I used an 'Audio Tether' that was threaded in both directions, linking us in a two-way connection.
It took a bit of critical thinking to come up with, but I succeeded after using up a large reserve of my Book of Heresy; I hope it doesn't come back and bite me in the ass.
...Hopefully not.
"How is it going with Hildekar? Was he able to stabilise the ship? Adjust course? Is he able to point us North?"
"Stabilise, yes; adjust course, no. I can't see far enough to tell North from South. There are no landmarks, nor is there an Aurora to lead the way. We're in the dark. Literally."
That didn't sound like good news-
...Technically, there is a way. If I Counter the darkness for just a split second, long enough to spot the Uclidian Mountain Range, I can point out its direction for Hildekar to follow.
"I might have a way. But I'll save it for later. For now, we stabilise."
"Agreed. We are not in a rush; I've prepped us for a year's worth of travels. Understanding our immediate surroundings is our top priority at the moment, and not aiming for the Uclidian Mountain Range."
Nemora agreed with me, understandably so. Even if we did aim The Canary towards the Uclidian Mountain Range, we couldn't be certain as to how long it'd take us to arrive there. Nor could we know if the direct route is safe to traverse.
So for now, stabilise.
Stay alive.
That is our immediate goal.
---
Only a minute after that conversation between Alora and Esme, deep down within the freshly reinforced corridors of The Canary, Esme was following a couple of steps behind Hilda.
Their steps echoed in the silence.
It was only interrupted intermittently by the sound of a metal flap clanking open, followed by the sound of flames flickering to life.
Suddenly-
"Can you guys hear me?"
Esme's ears twitched with elation at the sound of her sister's voice trickling into her ear, "Loud and clear, sister."
"Same here, the stiff green one and I are both alive and kicking."
"The black haired bitch beside me is alive, can confirm."
"I can hear you too. I've begun adjusting The Canary's rudder to support us with Nemora's help. It should be stabilising soon, no more drastic swaying. It should help Lily."
"E, eh-?! Lady Alora, you can do this?!"
"Lily. Shut the fuck up. Don't talk. I already told you."
"Sorry!"
One by one, the group responded to Alora's powers.
Esme's lips rose as she glanced forward at Hilda, "That's good. Hilda and I are still going steady down here. Lighting it up as we go."
Hilda, hearing Esme's voice, turned back with a slight tilt to her eyebrows. They furrowed with vague confusion.
During that split-second, Esme's blistering golden eyes sizzled with instant suspicion.
She slowed her steps while maintaining her smile towards Hilda.
"Say, dear sister, you connected this to all of us, correct?"
Esme stared directly at the bewildered Hilda, her steps having also slowed to follow suit with Esme's.
"Correct." Alora, her precious sister, confirmed it.
Esme moved both hands behind her back and relaxed her face; she strolled up to Hilda's side, to the side of the girl who stood there with vague confusion. Winking at her, "Come on Hilda, we've got to continue going."
"Mhm. What were you talking to just now? Dear sister?" Hilda walked slowly alongside Esme, glancing at her curiously as she questioned.
"It's nothing. I was just practising conversations I'd have with my sister."
"Oh."
Thus.
The girls continued their journey in silence.
But...
Amid that silence...
"Hilda?" Alora's voice came through inside Esme's ears.
"Esme, what happened to Hilda? Why can't we hear her?" Nemora's came next.
"What do you think, retards? She's fucked." Vanessa's pessimistic take came in as usual.
"Not necessarily. Esme was talking to her just now, but we can't hear her, even after Alora confirmed that she connected all of us; including Hilda." Hildekar's remained the voice of relative reason.
"...I did. It should have, at least." And Alora's, Alora's voice quivered within everyone's ears with bubbling worry and faint, growing...
Rage.
Esme continued walking alongside her sister's dear maid.
"Jill. Elden. Change of plans. Get down there immediately. Alora will take over your position."
"Copy that."
"Fine."
Still, Esme continued in silence.
Her steps aligned with Hilda's.
Her warmth with Hilda's.
Yet, amid that warmth, surging beneath her veins, condensing and preparing itself for an outburst of immediate destruction, was a blinking amalgamation of orange and blue; fire and lightning.
---
Hopping over the railing, I landed my feet onto the main deck. Casting my gaze up, I observed Jill and Elden rush into the belly of The Canary with stiff movement, a mixture of nerves, fear and worry.
Eyeing the helm a second later, I crossed gazes with Nemora.
Hildekar hadn't been able to see her face after the news of Hilda's perilous position was conveyed, but I could.
I can see it clearly.
Not worry or anxiety, but cold, calculated precision.
She's taken a grasp of her situation well. From brief panic and confusion to her usual demeanour.
...Naturally, however, she could also see my face.
I've yet to receive any comments on the similarities between my face and Esme's, and I don't expect to hear them either; they've long realised that we are twins.
This wasn't what she was focusing on, though.
Nemora was staring at my face.
Scrutinising it.
Then, sighing, her lips apologetically drifted downwards.
And that made me wonder.
As I stood here with highly-pressurised Curses thrashing through my Cursed Vessels in an outburst; I wonder what my face looks like at the moment.
---
An unlit oil lamp hovered beside the quiet girls.
Hand in hand, they lingered in the silence.
Neither spoke.
Neither commented.
Till-
"Esme. Something is wrong, isn't it?"
Esme looked upwards at the maid, at the cascading locks of beautiful ruby-red hair drifting down the sides of her glossy skin.
But her eyes lay out of vision, in the darkness.
Their interlaced palms coiled together, one oozing with faint sweat, and the other with the slithering slips of dual Curses.
"Why do you think so, Hilda?" Esme blankly asked her in return.
Then, shifting, twisting her head to the right, downwards, at her lover's sister:
"I feel normal."
"Mhm." Esme mumbled.
"There's nothing wrong with me."
"Mhm."
"But-"
Esme stared back into the swirling emerald and golden eyes.
"-something is wrong with me, isn't it?"
Loosening her hold on Hilda's hand, Esme released their tightly interlocked fingers and took a step back, all the while maintaining eye contact; Hilda didn't hold on, nor did she react poorly; she merely watched on.
And, only a second after, Esme nodded.
"Yes. Something is wrong with you. Do you feel normal? Is everything fine with you?"
Hilda tilted her head and pondered for a moment; not casually, but seriously. She genuinely put a lot of thought into it, even raising her arms, curling her biceps, and pinching her cheeks.
"...I think so?"
"Hm. Then, let's stay here. Let's wait."
"For what?"
"Wait and find out, little Hilda."
"...I'm not little, hmph."
---
To my left, sprays of liquid black flushed over the railing and onto the hull of The Canary, flooding the deck. The liquid trickled down over to me and splashed over my feet, drenching me.
To my right, the dismal darkness stared back at me as the ship swayed heavily. If not for the Curses holding my feet firmly to the deck, I'd have been sent flying off into that very darkness, into the waters of the Sunless Skies.
I couldn't see far enough to spot the black liquid, but it was there.
While I surveyed the immediate surroundings, I listened in closely to Esme's words.
She was conversing with Hilda, whom I had connected to but couldn't hear or convey my words to.
Please stay safe, Hilda.
Please protect her, Esme.
It felt horrible not being able to do anything to protect Hilda; I would throw away almost anything to save that cheeky, uselessly sexy lady.
But I couldn't.
And that, that annoying, pestering emotion that arose with this helplessness...
I hate it.
As I stood there half-agonising over Hilda's situation, and half surveying-
Click.
A distant, fuzzy noise swashed into my ears alongside the cacophonous waves.
Click. Click.
A distorted, erroneous clicking sound.
Click. Click. Click.
This time, it came louder, harder, faster;
Click! Click! Click!
Stronger.
My heart skipped a beat while my eyes darted around frantically.
Something...
CLICK!
It broke through the sound of the thunderous waves.
But it also directly broke through the waves; not just 'it', but 'they'.
They broke through the surface from my left, from my right, and from the bow of the ship.
Dozens of them.
Heathens.
"Shit. Nemora!"
"I hear you! I see them!"
"Damn it! Fuck! What the hell are they!"
Nemora and Hildekar weren't blind to it either; of course they weren't. Because even if Hildekar couldn't see them physically at the moment, he could certainly see that.
The Curses.