Kumari lives in Cevalon, as princess of fire and sun, but has never been outside the castle. Jae is the son of a conspiracist, who, when he was still alive, warned him to trust no one. Chiro is an illusionist, paid by the king and queen to put on sh...
A peaceful happy breakfast ruined by whatever the jigoku was going on outside.
Jae immediately gets up after the first lurch of the train, running after Kumari, to make sure she's okay. Chiro gets up too, but to find out what's going on.
He heads towards the front of the train, surely some official would tell him? He goes, and stops by windows and portholes, to see if he can spot anything.
To his surprise, he can.
There's a very large wooden ship, and it's way too close to the Ocean.
Chiro presses closer to the porthole, trying to get a good look at it. He can't seem to place its origin, as it doesn't have any kingdom flags...
All it has is one black flag.
...Could it be signaling flags? The number six? No, number flags were triangular...
If it'd only it'd flap in a different direction, then he could see if there was any yellow on it... Then it'd either mean stop instantly, or altering course to port.
The wind changes.
It flaps in a different direction.
And it's neither of those things.
In the center of the black fabric is a very obvious white symbol.
A skull, with swords crossed underneath it.
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The Jolly Roger.
Somebody shouts.
"PIRATES!"
And Chiro asks himself again, this time aloud, "Why does everything always have to go wrong?"
He figures there's no point in finding an official when he hears the voice of the woman announce across the train's sound system...
"There are pirates off the starboard bow. Please remain calm and return to your rooms as we deal with the situation. Thank you for traveling with Ocean Express."
Oh yes. Very reassuring.
Chiro sighs, trying to get to Kumari's room, but as he's on his way he bumps right into Jae, who's been dragging Kumari along.
"Are you okay!" The three ask all at once.
"Hit my hip," Kumari replies. "Good otherwise!"
"I think everybody's okay for now," Jae says. "Nobody's screaming, at least, which makes it easier. Probably won't be okay for long though, seeing as there's pirates."
"They're just used to it," Chiro explains. "Ocean's crew and passengers always expect pirates at some point, and so far we've been able to deal with them."
