Huuuh? Wasn’t that...?
The sight had frozen Orania in shock. Ice spread through her head, completely freezing over her earlier excitement to enjoy some fishing on Noelige Lake.
No way... No way, right...?
Her heart was in disbelief, but she knew what she had seen. Once the wind had blown Yanna’s hat off her head...a tattoo of an eye had been revealed.
I-Is that girl a p-pirate...?
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Orania?”
She jolted, then turned toward the voice to find a grinning Mia Luna Tearmoon.
“N-Nothing! Nothing at all...”
“Really? You’re looking awfully pale.”
“I’m fine... I’m just feeling a bit overheated...”
“My, we can’t have that! Why don’t you put on a hat? I’ll go ask if there’s anything we can get you to drink.”
Just as Mia was about to head off in search of a beverage, a young boy toddled over to her. That’s when Orania realized his forehead was covered, and it looked awfully intentional.
I-Is he a pirate too...?
Orania took another look and realized...that a bandana tied around the forehead was the spitting image of a pirate! He had an innocent face, but now, Orania had begun to feel an amorphous sense of malice coming from the boy. She involuntarily scowled.
The boy handed Mia a clay vessel containing a mysterious liquid.
“My, Kiryl. What is this?”
“Patty said it’s juice. Here, take some!” The bandana-wearing boy handed a cup to Orania as well.
“O-Oh. Th-Thank...you?” She said, sporting a forced, awkward smile as she stared at the boy. That bandana really does make him look like a pirate... Oh my gosh! How terrifying!
All the people in Ganudos feared pirates. There were stories of pirate ghosts, phantom pirate ships, and hordes of haunted pirate hooks that would drag you into the sea... Basically, almost every ghost story in Ganudos was about pirates in some form or another. But the stories that had instilled the most fear in young Orania weren’t those of ghosts, but of the three-eyed pirates, who were much realer than phantoms.
If they managed to catch you, they’d sell you as a slave! Sometimes, they’d tie your limbs together and throw you into pits of crocodiles, and at other times, they’d trap you in a barrel and sink you at sea, or even make you fish fodder! These stories were not only terrifying but carried a sense of reality the ghosts stories lacked. And having grown up so sheltered, Orania took them at face value.
How frightening!
Orania was terrified of pirates. She wanted to stay far away from anyone with the Mark of the Third Eye—children be damned!
“Thank you, Kiryl. Oho ho! This really is delicious,” said Mia, fondly patting the pirate on his head. An illustrious princess patting the head of a commoner boy was a rare enough sight in and of itself, but this was just bone-chilling! How could she pat the head of a pirate?! Orania couldn’t believe her eyes.
E-Eeek! Is she a pirate captain or something...?
Orania could see a giant phantom shark baring its fangs from behind Mia’s back. Now, if anyone was going to hallucinate anything behind Mia, they might expect that to be a gentle moonbow... But at least in Orania’s eyes, Mia looked like a terrifying beast.
“We’ll soon be arriving, Your Highness,” said Santeri, entering the conversation with perfect timing. It was only then that Orania realized that after setting sail from port, the boat had headed straight to the opposite shore from the island, taking the same route that ships carrying carriages would follow. She peered into the water, which was a deep blue—and the water was quite deep itself, in fact.
“There used to be a bridge that connected the island to the land, but it sank. It used to be here, and plenty of fish live in its remnants.”
“Hmm... We might be able to catch a big one...” Orania opted to force down her fears and focus on fishing. I’ll be okay... We’re just fishing... I just need to stay far away from Mia and those two children, she told herself, trying to switch gears.
But that was when the great white shark bared its fangs. “Oh, Orania. I had a favor to ask!” said Mia, approaching her with a full-faced grin.
“Huh? Um... What is it, Princess Mia...?” she asked, quaking in her boots.
Mia didn’t seem to notice. “I was hoping you could teach the children how to fish.”
“Hweek...?” Her overwhelming fear caused an awfully strange-sounding cry to leave her throat as she froze in fear.
“Very few of us from the student council have ever fished before, and while the captain of this boat and Santeri can help, we’re still short on hands. So, I was hoping you might be willing to step up...”
Orania now noticed that the young girl with the hat was standing right next to Mia, her tattoo peeking out from behind her bangs. For a second, Orania thought she was just a cute, clumsy girl. But then, she rectified that mistake. She’s not being clumsy. This is on purpose! They’re threatening me...!
Not to mention, the bandana-wearing boy was right there as well, and the expressionless girl behind them looked kind of scary if Orania squinted. She looked just like Mia but gazed at her as if trying to discover her heart’s deepest secrets. It was terrifying.
“U-Um, I...”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry. I wasn’t going to leave everything to you alone! I planned to help as well.” Mia put on a mischievous grin. “I want this day to be fun, and I know seeing your excellent skills up close would help with that!” added Mia in obvious flattery.
U-Ugh... If only we weren’t on a boat... Then I’d be able to run away...
Reluctantly—very reluctantly—Orania nodded.