ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴇɪʟᴇᴅ ꜱᴇɴꜱᴇ

Chapter IV: Do you want to know a secret?

Sylvia's first day at the sea was nearing its end as the bright sun slowly made its way under the horizon in the west. She was resting her head into her arms that were on the edge of the ship in a relaxed manner. Lorraine came up to her with a tired look. She was definitely ready to hit the bed.

"Sylvia, have you been assigned where you'll sleep yet?" she asked while rubbing her eyes to try and keep them open for a little while more.

"Oh, right. A sleep place.. No, no I haven't."

Upon the other's answer, Lorraine's gaze lit up.

"Then you'll sleep next to my hammock! Finally, someone pleasant will be beside me. Daniel always snores, so I'll have you for emotional support." Sylvia smiled at the woman's rambling before Lorraine took her arm and dragged her down to the bedrooms.

Lorraine seemed exhilarated while she sat Sylvia down to her hammock. Sylvia lightly tested the hammock for its support and level of comfort.

"Yeah, they're not the best, but you'll just have to deal with it for the next 15 days." the pirate explained upon seeing a tad bit of discomfort on Sylvia's face.

"Lorraine, by the way, where are we heading on this journey?" Sylvia asked, suddenly realizing she didn't know that either. She didn't know many things about the pirates and the voyage ahead of her. Lorraine laughed from embarrassment, feeling sheepish for leaving Sylvia completely clueless although it wasn't entirely her responsibility to inform the other woman.

"We're going towards Yebrana, the oceanic area of the sea people."

The elven healer's eyes flickered full of hopes and dreams as Lorraine said the word Yebrana. One of Sylvia's many wishes had been to visit different regions of the world, to see and learn about other species and cultures. For her to see the merfolk felt like a fantasy finally come true. Lorraine detected the latter's bright reaction.

"I see, you want to meet the mermaids and mermen, huh?" she suggested with a warm simper, to which Sylvia nodded enthusiastically. She leaned in closer to Lorraine as if to hear better what she was saying.

"Have you seen them before? What are they like? Are they extraordinarily mystical like they say in the ancient books?"

"Of course I've seen them! Hell, I've even talked to them. You don't know that we pirates have alliances with the sea people? Most of us are great friends with them."

Sylvia tilted her head in confusion, signaling for the pirate to continue.

"See, king Eshil doesn't give two flying shits about the poor, which is most of the kingdom anyway. That's why a lot of the citizens resort to crimes for survival, like piracy. In actuality, many pirates don't want to hurt others unless there's a reason to. That's why we have formed alliances with Yebrana, we bring them different kinds of supplies in exchange for coins or treasure."

Sylvia was thoroughly enchanted by Lorraine's tales. She couldn't wait to see the merfolk, the small amount of pictures she had seen of them in books and such were magical.

"Don't get too excited now, it'll take a day or two for us to get into their region." Lorraine calmly finished her explanation and Sylvia sighed from disappointment.

"Ah, come on. I won't be able to sleep if that's all I'll think about."

Sylvia began preparing for her nightly routine as the rest of the crew packed into the cabin. Being completely truthful, she did feel quite uneasy sleeping in a room mostly full of men. However, the fact that she was next to Lorraine in the corner made her feel much better. As she hopped to lie down on her hammock and made herself as comfortable as she could, Sylvia made brief eye contact with Arthur, who was set opposite of her. The young woman gave a polite smile to the man before she closed her eyes. Her body and mind were immensely worn out and understandably so. It had been a restless day for her.