Crossing Universes (NaNoWriMo13)

Chapter Fifteen

Zala stopped in her tracks when she heard that, not believing her ears. "Ten... Thousand coins?" She sputtered, "That's outrageous! No way do we have that kind of money!"

"That was what I was saying, but he won't lower the price!" River exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exaggeration and frowning. "He was the only one that would be willing to give us the hip to sail across the ocean and get to Majestic."

Zala sighed and started walking again, River leading her to the docks again. "Perhaps I can convince him to lower it and tell him why is very important to get there."

Upon reaching the docks, they walked up to a short, stout sailor, both of Zala and River looking angry.

"Look. You need to lower the price a bit. We don't have enough coins to buy it and we need it immediately. We are on a mission sent out by King Shoko." Zala said, placing her hands on her hips firmly.

"Sorry, but that means nothin' to me. You need to either earn the money or take your leave." He sneered.

Zala groaned internally. "Sir, we need this boat!"

"Yes. And I need the coins."

River looked at her. "Perhaps we can find a solution to getting the money?" She whispered, "Find temporary jobs and slowly work up the money?"

Zala looked back at her and sighed. "If that's what it takes, sure." She said as she started walking away, River following her from behind.

"Um... Actually, we have other options?"

"What other options?" Zala asked, looking back over her shoulder.

River pointed to a board that said 'MISS LEVICITY PAGEANT. 10 THOUSAND COINS GRAND PRIZE. FREE SIGN UP.'. "That's one option." She said.

Zala frowned. "Yeah, but we don't have any dresses or anything to wear. We... Actually... There might be a store with nice dresses less than 5000 coins." She muttered, thinking. "Let's get Violet and we'll discuss this in the cafe. We can all enter and there will be a hire chance of us winning."

River nodded. "Alright. Let's hurry then considering the sign up ends tonight." She said as they walked back to the cafe.

River, Zala, and Violet sat at a separate table while the guys, who seemed a bit confused by the girls having a private meeting, sat at a nearby table.

"Alright, we need to get ten thousand coins to get the ship and the only ways to get the money is get jobs or win a pageant." Zala explained.

Violet's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah. A pageant? Sorry, but I don't do dresses."

"Yes, but we need to money in order to get the ship. The sailor refused to lower the price so he would take all the money. Jobs would take weeks, maybe months, while the pageant would only be two days."

Violet sighed, "Fine, I'll do it... But the dress better be comfortable for me. No short short, strapless dresses."

"That'll do then. River?"

"I'm fine with it. Just find some cheap, nice dresses that we can wear and is affordable."

"Alright then. Let's go get some dresses. There should be some shops." Zala said, smirking a bit as she got up and went out the door, Violet and River following her. Zala held her chin up high and starting walking like a model would.

Violet and River looked at each other with raised eyebrows before they both shook their heads and continued on.

Same as Violet and River, Ciel and Gildar watched Zala with confused looks.