Chapter Twenty-Four

Paranoid, Elysia continued to scan the horizon, expecting dozens of ships to chase them, but even after several minutes, none did.

She sent an image request to Ione to scout receiving an affirmative radiating with pride. A moment later, she heard two separate splashes. Without even checking her bonds, she knew her twin joined in the scouting. She didn’t understand why they felt the need to compete on everything water related, but she didn’t care as long as they didn’t endanger themselves.

From first-hand experience, she doubted there was anything that could catch them if they wanted to escape. At least nothing she knew of.

A few core pulses later, she received the first series of images from both of them somehow simultaneously. She shook her head at the absurdity as she parsed through them. Fortunately, they scouted in different directions, so their reports didn’t overlap. Sereia swam eastward, deeper into the ocean, while Ione swim south along the shore.

Based on their initial reports, nothing blocked them in either direction for several kilometers. Even the lightning elemental fleet meant to block their original course disappeared. It was like something scared them away. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The only thing that happened was her divine lightning bolt.

Well, and the slaughter her family performed to give her a level. A shiver tinged with fuzzy warmth radiated through her as she thought back at the red ocean. Her family was willing to perform a massacre to save her. Not that she wouldn’t do the same in their shoes.

Instead of dwelling on her mistakes, she turned her attention to the human duo. “Shift course to the south, following the shore. According to Sereia and Ione, the elementals left, or at least backed off. We need to find somewhere to fix Umbra. We should be near Portland by now.”

Eva nodded her head and grabbed the steering wheel as Joe unfolded a map. He then beckoned Elysia over with a wave and pointed at a spot a little way off the western shore of Oregon, nearly to Northern California.

“We passed what we think was the inlet to the Columbia River before the motors gave out. As best as we can tell, we are somewhere near Crescent City, California, but it is hard to tell with the dense forest.” Joe paused for a moment to formulate what he wanted to say next. “If any of these smaller cities remained inhabited, we would have seen activity by now. Some of the cities were near the size of Port Alberni, yet it’s like they were erased from existence.”

She had a feeling this would happen. The only reason she found her hometown was because she knew what to look for. She wouldn’t be surprised if every city down to San Francisco ceased to exist.

They could backtrack up to Portland. If Port Alberni survived the much larger city of Portland, similarly isolated from the ocean by a river should have survived. Did they want to backtrack, though?

If only the damn elementals didn’t damage Umbra. She didn’t want to contact any human settlements after what happened up north, but now they had no choice. Her welds wouldn’t last forever and the humans needed food and fresh drinking water to survive.

Actually, supplies wouldn’t be a problem. Who needed to fish when they had a mermaid and cat fish to catch food? If Sereia couldn’t conjure drinkable water, she could probably turn the saltwater drinkable.

The only problem was they were a sitting duck with the damage to Umbra. She doubted her welds would survive rough water, so that meant they needed to stay near shore and hope a storm didn’t hit. After all they went through, she didn’t want to lose Umbra.

That meant they needed to find civilization capable of repairing and hopefully improving her. Her mind flashed back to the looting she performed on the elemental ship. As long as where ever they went accepted gold and gems for the work. If her loot didn’t wash away, she should have a bunch of crystals, too.

They just needed to find somewhere willing and capable of fixing Umbra quick. She had no doubt the elementals would return, probably with much larger numbers that meant she needed to prepare. Maybe they could outfit Umbra with some weaponry.

A giggle escaped her imagining a massive cannon mounted on the front of Umbra. Joe gave her a look, but she ignored it in favor of examining the map. As Joe said, there wasn’t much between them and the Bay Area. Most of Northern California was sparsely populated at least along the shore. Though the idea of hitting the likely dozens of dungeons hidden just inland tempted her.

She shook away that thought just as quickly as it appeared. They were already playing with fire, trying to navigate the ocean in a critically damaged boat while elementals waited to strike. It was already ill-advised to stop at their hometown, but she couldn’t resist. Hopefully, once they got the elementals off their back, they could delve the dungeons at their leisure.

Course set in her mind, Elysia returned her attention to the human staring at her with a look crossed between amusement and worry. “Even if a city survived, we need major repairs to Umbra, so that means we probably need to travel to the Bay Area. I just hope we make it there in one piece and they are friendly, unlike the humans up north.” Elysia paused and gave Joe and Eva an apologetic look. “No offense, but the hospitality up there was lacking.”

Neither human contested her statement for obvious reasons.

Elysia returned to staring out the window at the setting sun, a wave of exhaustion hitting her as she realized what time it was. It felt like an eternity since she last slept. Unfortunately, it would be a bit longer. She couldn’t sleep in case the elementals returned.

A glance at the humans told her she wasn’t the only one worn out. Now that she focused on the duo, she noticed they were barely keeping themselves upright, though they did an excellent job at hiding it, especially Eva, who leaned slightly into the steering wheel for support.

Fortunately, soon after she received another barrage of images, this time giving the all clear well over ten kilometers in every direction on the water. They didn’t know what lurked inland. Ione could find out, but she didn’t want to push her family any harder. They needed to conserve their energy in case the elementals attacked again. Besides, the distance they maintain from shore should protect them from any land bound threats.

“You two can take a break. As far as the fish can tell, we should be in the clear for now.” An audible sigh of relief escaped the humans. Eva instantly letting go of the steering wheel. Without its support, she stumbled back several steps right into the waiting arms of Joe, who lowered her to the couch as he too laid down next to her.

A smile formed as Elysia spectated them, but she averted her gaze soon after returning her focus to the window to make sure Umbra remained on course. Whatever system Eva used to control the sails, it seemed to have an auto mode as even after said girl fell asleep, Umbra continued to sail straight, maintaining a half a kilometer’s distance from shore.

Eva was a genius when it came to technology. Hopefully, she could keep them safe and nurture their talent, as Joe wasn’t a slouch in his own right. If they could equip Umbra with weaponry and better technology, those two could be a force.

Deciding to give the humans some space, Elysia exited the control room and descended the stairs. Just like they left it, devastation reigned below deck. The once pristine walls had several holes, revealing her amateur welding job. Fortunately, despite looking crude, the scrap metal she welded remained in place and dry.

Actually, the entire space was almost unnaturally dry, as if something sucked out all the moisture. Of course, that something was a mermaid and cat fish team. When they weren’t fighting with each other, they made an excellent team.

Fearing the worst, she opened the still intact door to her bedroom. Inside, she found her bedroom almost untouched. With the door closed and likely some help from a mermaid, the bedroom survived the flooding.

Her eyes gravitated toward the bed as it leeward her and as if singing a siren song, but she smothered the temptation.

Instead, she scooped up her backpack, still laying against the wall to the left of the door where she left it. A quick peek inside told her nothing appeared unaccounted for, probably because they weren’t near a shopping district.

However, upon entering her closet, she froze. Unlike the bedroom, it looked like a bomb went off. The pile of clothes she gathered from her looting draped themselves over almost every horizontal space. Some even hung from the exposed rafters and draped over the safe.

As soon as her eyes landed on the safe, a scowl formed. Laying off to the side was the door, revealing the interior of the safe. Most of the contents remained where she left it, but one of the skill crystals was missing.

Based on the cleanly cut hinges, she knew the broken safe wasn’t natural, but since the only thing missing was the crystal she planned to give one of her crew anyway, any anger dissipated soon after. Now that she had a storage ring, she didn’t have much use for the safe, anyway.

At that thought, her eyes gravitated down toward her right hand to find her slightly blackened but still intact ring. Worry sparked, but upon peeking inside, she found her stash undamaged within. Still, upon examining the ring, she found several hairline cracks in the band.

It wouldn’t survive another divine lightning bolt. She wasn’t even sure it would survive a heavy load of regular lightning. Yet another thing she needed to repair. Was anything she owned not broken?

Curious, she ran her eyes down her body, finding her armor undamaged, despite how long she wore it. Other than the momentary storing after Sereia broke the levee, the armor remained on since before she met her team for Mezo. It was definitely worth what she spent on it, just based on how long it lasted. Somehow, everything she ordered from the Chrotile siblings survived. Hopefully, they ran into Urus again.

Elysia set her backpack down next to the safe, then turned her attention to the wall next to the safe and withdrew the remaining drawers of nuts and bolts. She kept the buckets of ball bearings in her ring just in case she needed them at a moment’s notice, but it was a waste to carry around a hardware store’s worth of nuts and bolts.

As long as Umbra didn’t sink, she could always grab more when she needed. Actually, even if Umbra sunk, she could probably retrieve more. Could Sereia and Ione re-float Umbra if she sank? That might be too much to ask. Umbra may be sleek, but she was also quite heavy. Best to avoid her sinking.

That same thought sparked annoyance as she stared at the safe. Why couldn’t they ask her to open the safe? She arrived at most a minute after they did. Now her waterproof safe wasn’t so waterproof.

Now with extra space, she stored away her backpack and emptied her safe, then trotted out of the closet, not wanting to deal with the mess. Her eyes locked on to the door but her feet gravitated toward the bed.

She should remain on guard in the control room just in case Umbra moved off course, but despite her thoughts, her body continued to push her toward the bed.

After all she went through, she earned a brief nap. Just a short nap, though. Her family needed a break more than she did.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.