The skies darkened as they were covered with thick clouds, The wind was slowly getting stronger, flock of birds flew higher in the opposite direction. Yes, this is what navigators and sailors fear the most; a sea storm was about to come. It has been three days since Their ship; named Himawari or Sunflower left the port of Leiden and the girls on the ship frolicking about, all excited to be out at sea, trying to fish but to no avail. The boys caught all the fishes and lobsters and octopuses and the girls cooked them for their meals. But now that a sea storm was about to hit them, the worry on Prince Yusha's face grew deeper.
"Hey little brother, what's with the long face? Did you and Kristina quarrel?" asked Sophia who gave a light tap to Yusha's shoulder while giggling. "Are you crazy? Is that all you know? Look here I did not want to alarm anyone in case you would panic but, there's a sea storm coming." he said as he grabbed his sister's shoulders with a serious expression. "Oh dear, what do we do? This is my second time being on a ship, and I have not experienced any storms yet, we have to tell everyone" said Sophia all flushed and lifted her skirt a little and started to run towards the others but her brother grabbed her arm to stop her. " Wait, do not alarm them like that, I will talk to the boys and you gather the girls here, we'll tell you about it and what to do in a calm manner. Remember, under any circumstances, stay calm, do not panic. Staying calm is key to dealing with any type of storms or sea monsters. I think it is time us boys tell you what the sea and travelling in ships are like, get some snacks ready while you're at it." Said Yusha and Sophia just nodded and headed straight to the kitchen while Yusha went to talk to Sebastian, Peter and Marquis Helio.
"So? What do you want to tell us?" asked Kristina once everyone was gathered and seated in the kitchen. "Ladies, I will now tell you something of utmost importance. A sea storm is coming so I will slightly change the direction of our ship to prevent any damage from happening, we can only stay calm and pray that it is not a very strong one. Judging by the direction the flocks of birds flew, it does not seem to be a dangerous one at most." is what Yusha said and he quickly went to steer the wheel a little to the west and came back in. "Let us raise the sails, boys come and help me, quick, the storm is starting!" he said and so the boys did as they were told and went back in the kitchen where the girls were sitting, all anxious. The boys were all drenched, the ship was waving vigorously for a while then it was a little calmer but it was still raining heavily and the wind was still quite strong.
"Make us a cup of tea please while we go to our cabins and dry ourselves and get changed before we catch a cold." Said Sebastian to Sophia and gave her a light kiss on her forehead as if to calm her anxiety down. "Do you need any help?" asked Melody to Helio but the latter patted her head and just smiled and said "No, but her majesty might need a hand here don't you think?" Melody nodded and went to help prepare the tea. The boys headed to their cabins. "Ah woe is us, what in the world is happening out there? They would not even let us take a peek." exclaimed Sophia. "Maybe they have their reasons... Hey since they went out at sea with their fathers and uncles since they were little, why don't we ask them to tell us about some of their adventures while we have tea?" suggested Kristina. "Shall we?" responded Sophia with a huge hopeful grin on her face.
"It's o"Ah that is indeed rejuvenating. Nothing compare to a piping hot cup of tea. So, you are asking us to tell about some of our adventures at sea, correct?" asked Peter while eating his pumpkin spice cake and sipping his tea like a starved child. "Yes, if you do not mind that is gentlemen." said Sophia softly. "Well I have a peculiar story to tell. Once when I was fourteen, I went out at sea for business with my uncle. I was quite the rebellious boy at home so my father had sent me away with my uncle. There was a storm just like this one but then when the rain had stopped, we all went back to the forecastle of the ship to see what was going on outside. it was blurry, there was a lot of fog and we could hear the sound of a wind chime in the silence. The sound got louder and louder, closer and closer, that is when we saw it..." said Helio but before he could even finish what he was saying Kristina was already yelling "Aaaaah" in fear. kay Kristina, calm down, let him continue, what did you see?" asked Sophia all excited. "A ghost ship. basically the St. Louis ship that supposedly disappeared without an trace 70 years ago. Yet there it was still sailing, although it's sails were torn and the wood of the ship was moldy, I saw it with my own eyes and we even went on it to see what it was all about. When the ship got closer to ours, we sent a ladder to it and climbed in. It was my father, a few crewmates and me. We had a ship tour, sort of and we found some old hieroglyphs and maps in ancient Balamkadarian language, but of course we could not decipher any of them. We also found a table with piping hot food laid on in the kitchen of the ship and that scared us out so we all started to run back to the ladder and get off the ship, and that is when the headless female ghost in white robe carrying a wind chime appeared before us. It is said that if you look at it for more than three seconds you will later die of mysterious deaths so we did not look at it and ran as fast as we could and got back on our ship, however there was a few who did stare for more than three seconds. One died from having a rat going into his stomach, the other died all of a sudden and the next day when an autopsy was conducted with our consent and his family's consent, they had found a huge lump of human hair in his stomach and intestines an the third one went insane, he was crawling on fours and chanting some weird chants and ended up jumping off the window of his detention room." continued Helio.
Kristina was covering her face and shivering in fear and muttered "I hope we do not come across that ghost ship..." and just then the sound of a wind chime was heard. "Aaaahhhh!!" Screamed Kristina and Melody in unison while Sophia burst in laughter. "Hey I actually brought a few wind chimes with me and thought I would hang them around the ship as decoration, I quite like the sounds they make in the wind especially when the surroundings are quiet or when there is a downpour; mysterious, just nice." said Sophia after laughing her lungs out. "You act like a boy, you are full of mischief, that gave us a heart attack you know? Your Majesty?" Said Melody who sounded upset and angry. Sophia calmed them down and reassured them that if they ever come across that ghost ship, they would just ignore it until it is gone and act like they are a ghost ship as well, however Sophia was more curious than ever to solve the mystery behind the ghost ship. Do ghosts really exist in this world?
"Well I have many stories but before that, more importantly, the seas are vast and are full of mysteries. There are sea monsters which are gigantic fishes or octopuses that attack and can eat up an entire ship in one go, however they rarely come to the surface, they are most of the time very deep under. But still, it does not kill to be careful, especially in the calm belt." Said Yusha.
"Well Ii have a story too, it is about when my big brother and I went to Plough Kingdom when I was eight. We did not originally intend to go there though, there was a big storm and we were shipwrecked on the shore of Plough Kingdom. Not many of us survived but fortunately my brother and I did along with a few other crewmates. It was a very unlucky journey, we even met with the Butcher pirate crew so we were a little injured. Despite that I admired the strength and sense of loyalty of it's two female members Anne Bonnie and Mary Reed who fought back to back against our men, I daresay they were stronger than their male crewmates. Anyway a school took us in and treated our injuries but weird things kept happening during our stay there. It was a boy's boarding school that was built over an old mental asylum. Fortunately we did not stay for long, it gave us creepy vibes you know." Said Peter. "Alright, all those were all interesting, what about you Sebastian, I mean I can call you Rhydian now right?" asked Sophia. "Yes of course you can, but I am still undercover when away from the Western Empire's territory. Also it is getting late, I will tell you my stories on our journey another time, let us all go to sleep now." Said Sebastian who got up and washed the teacups, forks and plates.
Back in their respective cabins, Sophia could not sleep, Kristina and Melody could not either so they went to Sophia's room. It started to rain again, there was a crash of lighting and thunder too and that scared the girls off so much that their scream was so loud it sent the boys flying over. That night they all stayed in Sophia's room and slept there. Poor peter who was a lone young teenager who could only cuddle with a pillow next to three couples cuddling in each other's arms, warming each other up and sleeping soundly. "Oi oi oi oi oiii…. Show some respect to the children here please do not let me catch you in the middle of an X-rated action, my eyes are very innocent, I take pride in this..." murmured Peter to himself in his sleep.