Sinbad, this is Crystal.

Chapter 3(Part 1)

"I'm telling you, Crystal, it's not even that cold. You'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," Crystal hotly retorted. "You've been swimming in there for more than an hour." 

Sinbad dove under the boat to the other side and splashed at Crystal. 

"Hey!" She yelled. "As if I'm not dirty enough!"

Sinbad laughed. He reached his hands out on the rail of the boat, pulling his upper body up so he could look at Crystal more clearly. 

"Finally decided to dry off?" She asked.

"Of course not, I'm here to make you an offer. I-"

"Will get up or Crystal will dump your clothes in the great blue beyond? Good offer, choose the first option."

Sinbad chuckled at her antics as she grabbed his garments and held them dangerously close to the surface of the water.

"Hey now, Crystal, calm down!" Sinbad leaped from the water to push his clothes back into the boat. This time it was Crystal's turn to laugh.

"My actual deal, thank you very much, is for you to get in the water in five or so minutes or I am throwing you in the water myself."

Crystal chuckled. "Oh, that's funny."

Sinbad made a face. No intention of laughing.

"Wait, Sinbad, you're serious?!"

"As serious as can be."

"Nope, no, no, no," Crystal shook her head. "I-I don't even know how to swim. Remember?"

"That's something I can teach you. Trust me."

"Sin-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

Crystal looked at Sinbad. He really was serious. But the smirk on his face was just proof he wanted to have fun. It was already hard to say no to him. Now, as this kind man drenched in sparkling sea water kept smiling at Crystal, Sinbad was practically irresistible. 

She sighed in defeat. 

"Sinbad, if I die or drown or get eaten by a shark or anything like that, I am haunting you for the rest of your life and there will be no dungeon you can capture, country you can create, or ally you can make that will hide you from me. Do I make myself clear?"

Sinbad snorted. "Yeah, yeah, just hop in already."

Crystal bit her lip. "Turn around."

Sinbad looked confused now. 

Crystal gave him a look.

"I have to take off most of my clothes right? Turn around."

Sinbad rolled his eyes but turned his body away regardless. He could feel the boat's weight shifting and could hear Crystal's breath getting shaky. 

"Okay," she said fearfully. She placed her hand on Sinbad's shoulder, which he promptly grabbed. 

He turned around. Her face was bright red. She was probably not used to showing that much skin. Sinbad would do his best to respect that. By not staring.

Crystal dipped one foot into the water and immediately pulled away. "You said it wasn't going to be cold."

"You'll get used to it the more you move. You got this, Crystal." Not staring.

"Okay, Sinbad. I trust you." With that, Crystal jumped off the boat and into the water.

And she was met with a biting cold. For a split second, the world seemed to get dark and void. The water didn't feel like water, but an endless space that consumed her surroundings. And it was freezing her. She gasped up for air and luckily she didn't jump too far away from the boat so she latched on to its side.