novelzi Chapter 203: PORT OF SANDS (1)
Chapter 203: PORT OF SANDS (1)
[Port of Sands — 10:22 AM — Day 14]
The Port of Sands smelled of salt, motor oil, fried fish, and something Max identified as cheap boat fuel mixed with cheap magic.
"Welcome to the only place in the ocean where the Temple and pirates share a table," said Max as he tied up the boat. "Rule number one: no one asks where you come from. Rule number two: no one answers if they ask."
"Rule number three?" asked Jessica with her notebook ready.
"Don’t write rules in public."
Jessica took notes anyway.
---
The team disembarked in order.
First, Alex.
Dark cap, black sunglasses, his jacket hood pulled up. His completely white hair was visible at the edges because a cap didn’t cover all of that hair. The sunglasses hid his eyes but not the rest of his face.
He stopped on the dock and looked at the port.
*No one is looking at me,* he thought. *Good.*
Three people on the dock looked directly at him.
*No one who matters is looking at me,* he corrected.
Behind him came Grim.
80cm form. Wearing a child’s outfit someone had found on the boat — shorts, a button‑up shirt, a cap that covered his skull but not the crimson flames in his eyes.
Alex looked at him.
"This makes you inconspicuous?"
**"Completely."**
"Grim. Your eyes are showing."
**"Children have eyes too."**
"Not with flames."
**"Some do."**
Alex decided not to continue that conversation.
---
Then the girls came down.
One by one from the deck to the dock.
Emily was first — wearing a short dress over leggings, her hair loose. She stopped in front of Alex on the dock.
Alex looked at her.
"Good," he said.
Emily looked at him.
"Just good?"
"You look perfect, though today more than usual."
Emily smiled, gave him a quick kiss, and walked past him toward the port.
---
Kira was second — her combat gear replaced with something more casual: a sleeveless sky‑blue blouse, a red skirt‑shorts combo, and black boots. Her ears and tail were hidden, but she still carried her bow on her shoulder.
She stopped in front of Alex with her usual expression — direct, evaluating.
"Well?" said Kira.
Alex looked at her for a second with a smile.
"Well what?"
Kira looked at him with a blank expression.
"How do I look?"
"You look perfect."
"The same ’perfect’ as Emily?"
"No. Different perfection."
Kira looked at him for a second.
"That doesn’t clarify anything."
"It wasn’t meant to clarify anything."
Kira walked past him toward the port with something that wasn’t exactly a smile but wasn’t nothing either.
Suddenly her hand was grabbed and she was pulled back toward Alex, who took her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. A tongue kiss.
"You look very beautiful, you know, though I like it better when your ears and tail are free," and he smiled at her. "Although for our safety, keep them hidden."
"Yes..."
She said nothing more and left after Emily.
---
Maya was third — with the port map already in her hand because Maya never arrived anywhere without prior terrain information.
She stopped in front of Alex and waited.
"Very good," said Alex before she could ask.
"Thank you." Maya showed him the map. "There’s a maritime cartography stall in the north sector that opens at eleven. If we leave now, we’ll get there before there’s a line."
"You’ve been waiting for this port for two weeks."
"You’ve been ignoring for two weeks that I’ve been waiting for this port for two weeks."
"You know, I don’t want to sound too dumb, but I doubt there’s much of a line at a cartography stall."
Maya walked past him. "Akari, let’s go."
Akari also walked past him, looking at Alex with her golden eyes without stopping.
Alex stopped her.
"Wait, I’m not saying anything about your tastes and hobbies. I know it’s important to you..."
"Sorry, I got a little upset... I thought you found it weird that I like something like that."
"You know, I don’t care about any of that. It’s nice, and it’s very good that you like those things, because otherwise neither Kira, nor Raven, nor Emily, nor I would know what to do — even with Kira’s Predator’s Sense."
Alex hugged her and stroked her hair from her ponytail and back.
"I guess since I’ve been in this group, my priorities have changed. Before, I liked dungeon exploration more," she looked down thoughtfully.
"I miss that a little, and giving the guys direction. But since I’ve been with you, I’ve become more interested in finding the best way to keep you all safe."
Alex kissed her tenderly.
"And you don’t know how much I appreciate that."
"Can I have another?"
Alex smiled.
"As many as you want."
---
Raven, fourth.
No different outfit than usual — dark cloak, F3 in a latent state, her eyes without the green glow because the Fragment was at rest. She got off the boat and stopped in front of Alex with her hands in her pockets.
Her black hair stood out under a red bandana.
She wore a burgundy velvet jacket with skull buttons, a black lace corset, shorts, thigh‑high stockings, and leather boots — a pirate style with combat accessories.
Silence.
"Well?" said Raven.
"We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile."
"I am."
"You look like a pirate captain."
"Which is perfect since we’re on an island with more pirates."
"Good point."
"Alright, now tell me how sexy I look." Raven put her arms around his neck and smiled flirtatiously.
"Well, there’s no denying it." He kissed her on the lips, and Raven reciprocated, letting herself be carried away for a few minutes.
Raven looked at him for another second, seeming thoughtful.
"Good." And she walked past him.
Alex followed her with his eyes.
*Raven looked like she wanted to say something,* he thought. *I don’t know if that’s good or worrying.*
---
Seraph, fifth.
Alex opened his mouth.
"No," said Seraph before he could say anything.
"I was just going to—"
"No."
She walked past.
Jessica behind her with her notebook open.
"Jessica?"
"Observing." She stopped.
She looked at Alex with her usual evaluating eyes. "Good too?"
"Yes."
"Interesting." She made a note. "Is it the same standard for everyone, or does it vary according to specific parameters for each person?"
Alex looked at her.
"Next question."
Jessica walked past, still writing.
---
[Port of Sands — North Sector — 11:05 AM]
The port was exactly what Max had described and more.
Market stalls mixed with permanent businesses in unfinished concrete buildings.
Cables crisscrossed between facades.
Signs in three different languages, two of which Alex didn’t recognize. Domesticated creatures used as cargo — something resembling a two‑meter lizard with saddlebags on its back, three curved‑beak birds the size of large dogs pulling a cart, and a creature Alex couldn’t classify but that smelled of motor oil and had four arms.
And in the middle of all that, the people. Sailors, merchants, maritime hunters with scars that told stories without words, pirates who didn’t introduce themselves as pirates but had the posture and weapons of those who had taken more than one ship in their lives.
**"Master."** Grim at his side, his crimson flames turning in every direction. **"This place has many stories."**
"Do you read them on the spiritual plane?"
**"You don’t need the spiritual plane."** Grim looking at the four‑armed man. **"They show on their faces."**
"Great. I’m being out‑analyzed by an 80‑centimeter skeleton."
---
[Maritime Map Stall]
Maya was already there when the rest of the team arrived at the north sector.
Four maps spread out on the counter. The vendor — a sixty‑year‑old man with a magnifying glass hanging from his neck — looked at Maya with the expression of someone who had been selling maps for thirty years and had just found his ideal customer.
"This one has currents updated up to six months ago," the vendor was saying.
"And this one?" Maya pointed to the one on the right.
"That one has the migratory creature routes. Older, but more complete in that regard."
"Both." Maya took them. "And do you have anything about the unregistered zones? Specifically south of the Three Currents Trench."
The vendor looked at her.
"What do you need that for?"
"To know what’s there."
"What’s there is the reason there are no maps."
"Perfect." Maya. "Do you have an incomplete one?"
The vendor sighed and pulled a fourth map from under the counter.
Maya bought it without asking the price of any of them.
Akari on her shoulder looked at the four maps with her golden eyes.
*Four maps,* Maya thought as she folded them. *Plus the two I have from the boat. Plus Kira’s notes from Predator’s Sense.*
*Still not enough.*
+++
Exxs Note:
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that my new novel, "Others Summon Dragons, I Only Summon Legendary Memes," has been signed. If you’d like, you can read it; it will be pinned there.
If you want to take a look, I know the name is very... but oh well haha