Argathripe - Book 2 ~ (The Dead City Series)

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ Chapter 8 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

Scarlet

Soon after getting on the boat, I figured out I got sea sick really easily. The bobbing and wobbling of the ship made me want to hurl. And I did, multiple times. Theo basically stayed in his room, other than coming out on the rare occasion, or whenever there was food involved. Katrina seemed to enjoy the ship and how large it was. She usually stayed up in the crow's nest, and usually on the edge. That made me even more nervous. One time she actually did lose her balance, but was easily able to catch herself with her wings. Her black spots were getting darker, I could tell, and she also tried to hide the fact that she was getting weaker. She hadn't been able to lift as heavy as she could've before. At one point she just kind of passed out with no warning. Theo came out to help with her at that point, too. The captain was nice enough, especially with the fact that I couldn't keep my food down half the time. I was at the stern of the ship. The wind felt nice in my hair, but kept getting in my face.

"You should cut your hair. Not short-short, but shorter," Katrina said, coming up beside me.

"I miss the train..." I said, feeling like I might throw up again.

She chuckled. I scowled the best I could.

"Oh, poor poor Scarlet, even paler when she's on the water," She teased.

"Shut up," I grumbled, I had been teased at by my brother before because of how pale I was.

She laughed again. I growled in annoyance. I was getting better at that.

"We should be in Argathripe soon. There, we'll meet King Salhom. He's the king of the angels. Don't freak out if they seemed a bit freaked out," Katrina told me.

"Why would they freak out?"

"Because this is the first year they're letting demons in. They really hate demons. Except the king."

"Oh. Why would they seem freaked out at us?"

"Because A. has a demon friend on board."

I remembered I hadn't met whoever 'A.' was yet. "Who's A?"

" She's not bad. She didn't seem too much for conversation, but I know she likes chocolate."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"She seemed to start shaking whenever I brought out the chocolate I brought along."

"Why do you like chocolate so much?"

"Because it's amazing and wonderful and amazing and delicious and chocolatey and amazing and did I say how amazing it is?" I was pretty sure she was having a stroke.

I took a step away from her. "What's your favorite food/desert?" She asked.

"Pizza with pepperonis," I said matter-of-factly.

"Wow. Real exotic."

"Oh hush. When's lunch?"

She laughed once again. "You're fun."

"Katrina you didn't answer my question. When's lunch? We're still having lunch, right? I would rather be on this stupid plank of wood for another day with lunch rather than have no lunch at all!" I was going ballistic from the stupid boat existing now.

"Stupid plank of wood, huh? You really hate the water!" She kept laughing. She calmed down and said, "Also, you can call me Kat. You don't need to waste your breath saying my full name. Only people who don't really know me call me that."

"Oh. Okay. Lunch?!"

"Yes, yes. Lunch is in about five minutes. Wanna come with me to get Theo?"

"Uh," I thought for a moment, unsure. "Sure, Kat!"

Theo's cabin that he shared with Katrina wasn't the cleanest sight. They had a bunk bed, Theo was on the top bunk. He looked comfortable, but still uncomfortable at the same time. He also had no shirt on. His ears and tail were poofy, and one of his wings was sprawled out over the side of the railing. He was sleeping on his stomach. His back was covered in the dark spots. He somewhat looked like a weird kind of fungus.

"Why is he sleeping on his stomach? Wouldn't it be better if he slept on his back?" I asked, as quietly as I could.

"It's because of the wings. If you sleep on your back, they'll hurt and be sore in the morning. Common logic all winged-people learn the hard way," She explained, not caring to lower her voice.

"Why are you talking so loudly?" I asked in a normal voice. Maybe Theo was a really heavy sleeper.

"Theoooooo! It's time for lunch!" She had climbed on the ladder and was violently shaking the entire bunk bed structure.

I heard Theo grunt and mutter something.

"No. Come on! We'll be in Argathripe soon!" Kat said, trying to convince him to get out of bed.

"Finne..." He grumbled.

Kat jumped off the ladder, making a loud thumping sound and also shaking the entire room once more. I heard a random shout from below us

"Who's below?" I asked, looked at the ground as if it had the answer.

"I think A. Or some random crew members," Kat said.

I looked at her with an unimpressed look on my face.

"What?" She put her hands out all innocently.

Suddenly the door slammed open and Theo, who had just started to climb down the ladder, lost his grip, cursed, and fell on top of Kat. I burst out laughing as the both of them struggled to stand up while cursing all the while.

"What in the heck is going on?!" The person who had slammed the door open yelled.

I couldn't stop laughing, but I turned to look at who it was. It was a girl who seemed to be extremely young, had very long, dark brown hair that covered her left eye, jeans that were slightly ripped on the knees, and a dark dark green sweatshirt with the hood up over her head. She also seemed extremely short, even for her age. Maybe barely four foot ten. She also looked a little mad.

"Some of us are trying to do things! Keep it down, you Grinesolians!" She shouted at them.

She looked at me. I stared at her. Am I next? I didn't do anything!

"Hi. I'm A. I haven't talked to you yet," She said, completely changing everything about herself.

I stared at her some more. She looked at me as if she hadn't barged in here to yell at Kat and Theo in the first place. Suddenly she was here just for me.

"Uh, cool? I'm Scarlet," I said, introducing myself as well.

"M-hm. I believe that your partner will be a demon or something, so it's best we not talk about that with the angel we'll be taking along with us," She continued.

"Why a demon?"

"Because I have a certain demon in mind who fits the prophecy, but also is just a special demon in general."

"How?"

"You ask a lot of questions, you know that?"

"I do?"

She grunted and frowned. She looked like she was fighting a smile, though. I noticed something weird with her eyes. I looked at Katrina's eyes, then back at hers. I saw it then, the difference. Katrina had a light in hers, but A. didn't seem to. Her eye was just a dull blue. Odd, I thought to myself.

"Alright. Time for lunch. C'mon you three," She ordered, walking out of the room.

"She's kinda bossy..." I said, trying to not let her hear me.

"Yeah, but apparently she's really good at this kind of thing, so we're stuck with her," Kat answered.

Then something hit me. "What species is she?"

Kat and Theo looked at each other. They both had a weird expression.

"Is she a human?!" I said, trying not to be too loud.

They both looked at me. "Yes," Theo replied.