Disappearance of Roselei Hawthorne

Chapter Eleven

"I'm boooooooooored." Celty groaned. Right now, everyone was gathered in the ship's cabin after enjoying a nice lunch cooked by Gideon. Lillia sat comfortably in a chair whilst reading a book, and Vulcan and Kallen played a game of chess.

"You would be less bored if you go help Gideon clean the kitchen like I told you to." Lillia sighed. "C'mon Celty, I know its a bit tiresome to be stuck in the same daily routine but we'll make it to the mountains soon enough."

"You know, Celty, you could also just find something to do." Vulcan pointed out. "Like this game that Kallen is teaching me. Its so full of thinking and strategy. It takes a lot of concentration."

"That sounds boring." Celty turned up her nose.

"Well, we've given you two very good options, so either pick one or stop complaining." Lillia frowned as she turned the page in her book. Kallen snickered, thinking of how much she sounded like an exasperated mother.

"The good news," Gideon began as he stepped out of the kitchen, "is that if we stay on course we'll make it to the Foggy Mountains tomorrow evening."

"Really?" Celty asked excitedly. "Oh, yes! Finally!"

"So what's our plan for when we land there?" Kallen asked. "The letter is very vague, so we don't even know what we're supposed to be looking for."

"Well, since they're mountains, I'd say we should start by climbing them." Gideon suggested. "It wouldn't make sense for there to be anything important at the base of them."

"Do we even have the equipment for climbing a mountain?" Kallen asked.

"Well, we have rope. And arms and legs. I'd say that's enough." Gideon shrugged.

"Clearly you've never climbed a mountain before." Lillia rolled her eyes. "How are we supposed to secure the rope to the top of the mountain?"

"Well... I suppose you bring up a good point." Gideon sighed. "Tell me, have you climbed a mountain before?"

"Actually, yes." Lillia leaned back in her seat. She closed the book she was reading and set it on the table beside her. "When I was nineteen, we went to Anaestes. We were told that there was a red eagle spotted near one of the mountains."

"I thought red eagles were extinct." Kallen said as he moved one of his chess pieces.

"They are, which is exactly why Roselei decided that we 'had' to have one." Lillia scoffed. "She made us climb the highest mountain in Anaestes, so that we could search for the bird's nest. We did end up finding a nest, but it wasn't a red eagle's nest. It was a sapphire starling's nest."

"Well, that's not surprising. Sapphire starlings are pretty common in mountain regions." Kallen pointed out.

"Yeah. Roselei was pretty disappointed about it." Lillia shrugged.

"What would she have even done with such a bird?" Gideon snickered slightly.

"Well, she said she wanted it to be her pet. Something about a friend of hers having a pet crow... and how she was jealous... I don't really know. Roselei did a lot of weird things for little to no reason." Lillia breathed a hefty, yet fond sigh. "But that's beside the point. The point is that I have climbed a mountain, so I know what to do."

"But that doesn't really answer my question." Kallen pointed out. "Do we have all the necessary equipment for climbing mountains?"

"Well... no." Lillia admitted. "But we can just free-climb it! It'll be fine!"