An Ocean of Lies (AFOS II)

Chapter 7: Jo

Roisin checked one of the gizmos on her desk, trying to keep herself steady on her feet while tracing something on her map. Jo tried to stand, but every time she pushed herself up, gathering strength, the ship seemed to destabilize further. She sat on a corner, closing her eyes, praying to the creators, at least the ones she remembered. She never, ever prayed. Not even back at the forest, but drowning was more terrifying than dying of anything else. She'd rather die of literally anything else, creators preserve her. The ship stopped moving for a second. Jo emptied her stomach in the fanciest vase she ever saw just before the shaking resumed.

Roisin glanced in her direction, then checked her gizmos over and over. She lifted them, shook them, checked again. Jo used the vase a couple more times. She wasn't immune to seasickness, after all.

"Something's up with the ship's shields," Roisin managed to say before falling on her desk. "The magic current readers are going crazy," so that's what those pretty moving brass objects were. Her stomach wanted to empty again, but there was nothing left. "I need you to wait here, do you hear me? We don't want you falling off board, we went through too much trouble to get you to lose you just like that," she tied her hair with a scarf. Jo hugged the vase: she wasn't going anywhere. "We'll have to drop anchor, steer the ship further away from the Ethereal Basin," the smuggler muttered to herself, gesticulating. "I'll be right back," she disappeared into the fog.

Jo pushed the vase away as far as she could, without losing her balance. She didn't want to see it, but she didn't want it to tip over with the ship's movement. On second thought, she might need it again. Better keep it close, just in case.

Roisin was taking too long, the ship wouldn't stop moving. She didn't want to die, they weren't going to die, were they? Roisin didn't look that worried, did she? How long did ships take to sink? The fog ocean was entirely made of fog, in places. The Ethereal Basin was one of them: not thick enough to be water, not thin enough to be entirely breathable. Agonizing death, hours of drowning, falling into the bottom of the ocean. Attempting to swim would be pointless, like trying to fly. If they were lucky, they might be eaten by a sea monster. If they weren't, she still had her trusty dagger on her. Her mouth felt salty, thick. She felt another wave coming up her throat.

The world stopped shaking around her. Jo could feel her body stabilizing, her stomach settling, her mind too. The ship rocked back and forth, softly. She felt like she was going to faint.

Roisin entered her cabin, drenched in water. Her magical clothes saved her from the fog, but not from rogue waves, it seemed. She glanced at Jo's vase, but didn't make a comment.

"You may go back to your quarters, girl, there's nothing you can do to help," Roisin said, squeezing water from her clothes. "Right, the vial. Take it, tell him to drink all of it, he'll feel like new in a matter of minutes," she helped Jo to stand on her feet. Her legs were still shaking.

"Thank you," she tucked it tightly in her pants' pockets. "but I can't just go to bed not knowing what's going on, anxiety and fear of sinking: not the best sleep inducers, you know?"

Roisin rubbed her temples. Her nose was red from the cold, her fingers trembled. "Look, we have no idea what's happening out there. I managed to steer the ship away from the Ethereal Basin, we're safe in a little corner of water. The mages are figuring out what's happening as we speak," she pat her hair with one of her towels. "We need magic, absurd quantities of magic, to float over the Ethereal Basin. The ship is enchanted with runes in the bottom, they keep the flow going, nice and steady, we've never had any problems before, I don't understand," she sighed. She looked tired. "Maybe we hit something, maybe the runes wore off, there's no telling in the darkness. Some lucky soul will have to go down there and check tomorrow, at first light. In the meantime, the mages are trying to figure out if there's something else— our elder mage says she feels a disturbance in the magic around us. Maybe we're being followed by a magical sea creature. This part of the ocean is mostly uncharted, none really knows what lurks within its waters, you know?"