ALL NOVEL Opening
It’s a cool autumn’s day just like any other as the Grandcypher soars through the skies. Djeeta, Lyria, and Vyrn are on the deck sorting through all the loot they’ve picked up over the last few missions when a certain crew member suddenly interrupts their busywork.
“Sharrrrrrrrrk! Shark shark sharrrk!” The winged shark shouts as she flies up from below deck, circling the trio.
“Hey Ursula! Something the matter?” Vyrn asks, dropping a spear covered in rust into a box labelled ‘keep’.
“It seems like she’s excited about something, I wonder what it could be?” Lyria is sorting all manner of gems, orbs, rupees, and other trinkets into neat piles.
As if to answer her question, a muscular, pink haired crew member with a huge grin on her face runs onto the deck with a letter in hand.
“Hey, Captain!” Meg calls out. “I just got a letter from Mari!”
“Yeah? What’s it say?” Djeeta asks as she continues to casually toss all manner of weapons into a large crate behind her labelled “reserve” with barely a glance.
“They’ve recently restored part of Auguste that got wrecked when all that sumo stuff happened, and they’ve turned it into something she calls a nightlife district. Apparently they’re trying to boost tourism by focusing on things you can still do during the off season.” Meg explains. “She’s invited us all to go check it out for a week!”
“Wow!” Lyria exclaims. “I’m not sure what a nightlife district is, but it sounds like fun!”
“Yeah, it explains why sharky’s so excited too. You wanna go to Auguste don’t you?” Vyrn surmises.
“Sharrrrrrrrk!” Ursula loops around the dragon a few times before returning to Meg’s side.
“Can we go, captain? I want to see how Mari and the townspeople are doing.”
Djeeta takes a moment to think while inspecting a particularly impressive looking sword. “We should be able to manage it.” She answers before throwing the sword in with all the otherwise rusted and damaged weapons in the ‘keep’ box.
“Yeah.” Vyrn says. “There are a few jobs coming up soon, but the rest of the crew should be able to handle them. If it’s just us going it shouldn’t be a problem!”
“Yes! Thank you!” Meg pumps a fist in the air. “I’ll let Mari know, I can’t wait!” She’s practically beaming as she looks at the letter once more.
“Gotta say, Meg, you’re way more pumped up about this than usual. Don’t you usually get real anxious when we’re headed to Auguste?” Vyrn asks.
“Yeah, but that’s during the summer. If we’re going now, that means we won’t have to keep an eye out for giant sea creatures, or primal beasts, or zombies, or anything else attacking!”
“I don’t see what the seasons have to do with that, but I’m glad you’re excited.” Vyrn lifts the ‘keep’ box up into the air with him. “We’re pretty much done here, so I’ll go tell Rackam to set a course for Auguste after taking these inside.” He says before flying in the direction of the storage room.
Djeeta gives him a thumbs up before picking up the ‘reserve’ crate, but she struggles to lift it properly due to the sheer number of weapons inside.
“Hey, let me get that for you!” Meg effortlessly lifts the heavy crate, hoisting it onto one of her shoulders. “Where am I taking this?”
Djeeta gestures for Meg to follow her before running to the side of the deck, only to point off the side with a grin.
“Huh? You want me to just… throw them overboard?” Meg asks, to which Djeeta nods.
Meg raises an eyebrow. “What’s the point of that?”
“Lifting heavy boxes is good exercise.” The captain explains.
“Huh, I guess it can be. Fair enough!” Meg then proceeds to tip the contents of the box off the side of the ship, and Lyria claps as she watches all manner of weapons fall into the clouds below. Meg, although a little confused about her current situation, can’t help but smile at the thought of returning to Auguste and seeing Mari again. Who knows, maybe this will be the time she’s finally able to do it…
Meg’s heart skips a beat, but she doesn’t let it get to her. The three of them continue talking about the upcoming trip while Ursula flies around happily, all of them completely unaware that someone else has been listening in on their conversation.
“Hehehe… Oh, this sounds perfect.” The interloper giggles to herself before returning below deck.
Several days later, in the bedroom of a small Auguste apartment, a resident is curled up in their bed, wrapped from head to toe in a blanket sporting a picture of Meg and Ursula striking a heroic pose. Only to be awoken by an unexpected noise.
“Let’s go, Ursula!”
“Let’s go, Ursula!”
“Let’s go, Ursula!”
Their limited edition Meg-brand cuckoo clock is going off, heralding the start of a new day.
“Urghhhhhh… What time is it…?” The occupant pokes a head out from under the blanket, revealing her fluffy ears and dishevelled blonde hair.
“Why did I set that to go off so early today…? It’s not like I-” Her eyes go wide with realisation.
“Wait! Oh my gosh today’s the day!” The Erune girl leaps out of bed, still holding on to the Meg plush she was cuddling in her sleep. She does a few spins with the doll before very gently placing it on her dresser, right next to her Meg desk calendar. She crosses out yesterday’s date, and looks at the box for today with a massive grin. Today, as well as the next 6 days, are simply labelled as “Meg”, each one accompanied by either a love heart or a small drawing of Meg herself.
“I can’t believe it, I finally get an entire week of Meg all to myself! No work, no skyfaring crews, just the two of us!” She says to herself as she hurriedly changes out of her shark print pyjamas, she’s taken the week off from her various jobs so she can focus entirely on her beloved. “Oh, I can see it now! Shopping, dancing, going on romantic walks around town at night when the autumn weather is just cold enough that we need to huddle together for warmth… Oh c’moooooon, these fit just fine a couple weeks ago!” Her train of thought is interrupted as she struggles to put her shorts on.
She manages it after a bit of fighting, and looks over at a very important item on her dresser, the plastic toy ring that Meg gifted her the last time they were together, and she gasps as a thought occurs to her.
“Wait, what if this is when it happens? What if Meg finally pops the question!? What if this trip becomes the first big step towards the rest of our lives together!?” Her heart skips a beat as a myriad of fantasies fly past her pleading eyes, and she gently slaps herself on the cheeks to bring herself back to reality. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Mari. None of that can happen until you meet her at the dock, so you gotta get ready first.”
Mari hurries over to the bathroom to freshen up and fix her hair. “That airship she works on should be arriving soon, I hope I can make it in time!” Her stomach rumbles as she brushes her teeth. There’s no time to prepare breakfast, but she can at least grab a quick pastry at the bakery on the way.
She does everything she can to get ready as fast as possible, but there’s just so much to do, she needs to make sure she looks her very best for Meg. Still, she manages to get through her morning routine in record time, driven purely by her desire to see her again after several months apart. All that’s left are the finishing touches. Her ear accessories, her favourite sunglasses, her heart necklace, her bangle with the floral design, the anklet, the belt she started wearing around her thigh to match with all the ones Meg has, and of course she can’t forget the ring, ever since Meg gave it to her she’s never left home without it. She gives herself a final once over with a triumphant look on her face, making sure she hasn’t forgotten anything before she’s finally ready to go.
“Not long now, Meg. I’m coming!” She says to the poster in her living room before rushing out the door with a smile on her face, completely unaware of the additional guests that have been invited on this trip, or of the beast that has started to stir beneath the busy town.
