[PQ] just a haze on the water

DELPHIA

The ship was getting closer but for Vi's sake was it still far away. The waves in the open water were making it difficult, but she continued to swim forward, hoping to inch her way closer. But Tishy had other ideas.

The cat, still in her ghostly form, bounded up to the surface of the water and sprinted with as much ease as if she were on dry land. The vines on the ship gave perfect purchase for her to climb up, perching herself on the rail of the deck. Once there, the Cat Sith re-entered the physical realm, shadows pulsing wildly as she meowed loudly at all those around.

---

Delphia keeps swimming and Tishy runs to and climbs aboard the ship to try and get people's attention.

Here in the forest dark and deep

I offer you

Eternal Sleep

please just don't forget me Raising an eyebrow as the hands came clasping over his ears, Ronin could only grin as he realised why. Remi's voice echoed even through the barrier he'd created, and he turned his head to kiss the alchemist's wrist as he guided his hands away once again. The crew had slowed the ship, giving a chance for the hunter to look for Delphia in earnest now. Whilst he didn't see her or hear her at all, though, he recognised the meowing of the cat. The cat that had thought about stealing his wish from the Miana Pool. How could he forget? "She's close by," he called out, not nearly with Remi's volume. "Look overboard, see if you can spot her! Maea too!" Maybe the girl was with Delphia? Ronin recognises Tishy and advises for them to look in the water for both Delphia and Maea.

dont know where the lights are taking us
but something in the night is dangerous

He’s probably right, that you can’t drown with water magic. But what does Wessex know about water magic? Or drowning? She can’t drown - period. Shrugging, the Wraith spreads herself out across the deck at Ronin’s direction, perhaps going to the back of the ship to look over. Keen eyes spot something small in the water and she raises her hand to signal to someone. “I think I see someone -” she yells, in hopes that a crew member with a rope or something to toss overboard will show up.

There’s no point in going down there to get her.

If Remi happens to be nearby and can hear her, she turns to ask him a question. “So this isn’t regular Ghost Whale behavior, is it?” If he isn’t close, she’ll keep her musings to herself and hope to find a Torchliner to tell her suspicions to because it happened too fast ICly and now Apopo has already erupted.

Delphia has been spotted. Maea, of course, has not.

The rest is up to you.

DELPHIA

The ship slowed even more, and through her bond with Tishy, Delphia could tell that some attention had been garnered. Feeling a surge of strength thanks to the passing of two posts, Delphia forced herself once more into the realm of the spirits. She ran atop the water as fast as her legs would carry her. Between the vines and the rope, much like the Cat Sith before her, she propelled herself up to the deck of the ship. Only then did her body reappear as she stood, shaking ever so slightly from the exertion. So many souls gathered, so much walking between worlds, and the swimming on top of it all was a lot, even for someone with her stamina.

Tishy scurried over, climbing up to her bonded's shoulder. She conveyed sounds - words she didn't know - to Delphia, and from it the demigoddess got a bare grasp on what had been said. She held up a hand, and before her several orbs of light appeared, floating and spinning lazily above her hand. "This is Maea." she said, pointing to one in particular. "She perished inside one of the whales."

Here in the forest dark and deep

I offer you

Eternal Sleep

it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name

Turning towards the water, the alchemist did as his husband instructed and peered into the waves. Neither hawks nor lions were meant for hunting in these sorts of biomes though, and he found that there was far too much movement for his predatory gaze to lock onto anything. Which hardly seemed to matter, given Delphia's sudden appearance on the deck behind him.

This is Maea.

So Maea had..become a hybrid? If that was the case, he didn't really know what sort of animal he was...looking..at...

"Why the fuck was she even in the water?" Remi asked incredulously. He'd gone in because it was the only way of easing the deaths of the drowning sailors. Wessex was...well, a machine for all he knew. "Why were you in the water?"

No. Hero. Types. And yet..

it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay

please just don't forget me Delphia appeared and Ronin felt as though he could breathe more easily, though she didn't come bearing good news. The hunter's stood, statuesque almost, at hearing that the pale woman who had come to join them had been a) swallowed by one of the whales and b) killed as a result. There was a tangle of thought and emotion that came with that: had she called for help? Had they failed to hear her? Had they contributed by accident? But of course none of that would do much more than drive Ronin mad, so instead he left Remi and Delphia to their conversation and instructed the sailors to get them back to shore. Mission accomplished, he supposed.

dont know where the lights are taking us
but something in the night is dangerous

Well, Wessex thought she knew what Delphia was all about. But when the girl produces an orb and declares it to be Maea, the Wraith raises a brow. The girl is dead and there’s no bringing her back, which is unfortunate. She knows there will be mourning in the Ground at the news. But she holds her tongue; saying that it was pretty shitty to join a mission where she couldn’t do anything but collect souls of the dead, when there was very real danger in the water (case and point) to the rest of them wouldn’t do anything. She knows how out of touch the other demigoddess is, how single-minded and oblivious she can be. There’s no point in her chiming in.

Loki spots the kitten and her eyes narrow, a little trill of interest running through her. It feels like she wants to hunt it, which makes Wessex snigger to herself.

it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name

Receiving no answer from Delphia and with Ronin taking charge of things, the alchemist turned his gaze towards where the ship they had sailed for was finally being claimed by the sea. Jaw tense and his hands gripping the railing of the boat with ever-increasing frustrating, Remi scanned the horizon for signs of Ludo, as if that might help him gauge on what level of colossal fuck-up they were currently on.

Perhaps Delphia's presence was all the answer he needed. Especially since, if she had Maea's soul, it was likely she had the souls of the other sailors as well. Silent they returned to shore, with Remi leaving both Wessex and Delphia to spread or keep the details of what had happened, as they would.

---

FIN. Thanks friends! Sorry Chan >.>

it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay