Cool, Cold, and Colette

Well, I know I said I didn't care about the town, but this is admittedly worse than I expected. I'm pretty sure the buildings that collapsed were empty, but somebody's going to be very angry about this.

The torn-up boat lay beside us, badly tilted. I can see several people on the boat, all passed out, their clothes drenched.

It seems they had a full crew already set up. It must have required a lot of money to get this many people, not to mention the boat.

Climbing over splintered wood, I crawl into the large hole in the bow, entering the hull. Leftover water splashes around my feet as I land. Two more splashes echo around the room as Vol and Elizabeth follow behind.

"Wow, you really wrecked this place, Seb..."

"I didn't know it'd be this bad," I reply, a bit awkwardly, "This is why we need to test things first."

"You have to admit, though... That was pretty impressive," Elizabeth said.

Pft, ha-ha. Okay, that one got me.

You know, while we do disagree on things and argue sometimes, I am glad to have Vol and Elizabeth as my friends.

Crawling up through the broken-down ship, we come across more unconscious crewmembers. A couple of them look to be a little bit worse off than just "unconscious." Several are bleeding from the head. We ignore them and continue onward. The sword takes priority right now.

Coming to a locked door near the stern of the ship, Elizabeth steps forward in a sideways stance, raising up her leg.

*Slam*

With one hard kick to the lock, the door flies open, cracking against the wall. It seems like she's been getting stronger recently.

"Now *that* was impressive," Vol says as he looks at the door, close to falling off its hinges.

We enter what appears to be a luxury cabin of some sort. Out of nowhere, a fireball comes flying toward us. It's fairly weak, though, and fades quickly after Elizabeth takes a step to the side, easily avoiding it.

As one, we look in the direction it came from.

One of the larger nuns lies unconscious over a bar table. The other is sitting in a corner, her head lolling against the wall. There, on the ground between them, clutching the sword tightly, is the smallest nun. She looks a mess. Her hair and robes are wet and clammy, sticking to her skin.

Her shawl must have come off during the crash. At our gazes, she startles and skitters backwards. Something about her looks familiar, though.

"Hold on. You're that girl that brought me to the church, aren't you?"

She doesn't respond to my query, but I'm sure it's her. This is the teenage girl that randomly showed up at my doorstep and led me to the church where I first met Risus. But if she's working for Risus, what in the world is she doing, stealing Elizabeth's sword?

"Why did you take the sword?"

She clutches it tighter, shivering slightly. It's hard to tell if it's out of fear or cold. Those wet robes can't be too comfortable in the cold night air. Come to think of it, I didn't hear her cast the spell for the fireball she shot at us. Was she already using it to warm herself before we got here?

Wait, back up. Wasn't she expelled from the church after having her healing blessing taken away? What is she doing back with the nuns?

Well, the girl is trapped here. I could just rip the sword from her, but she already looks scared out of her mind. We might not get any answers if I do that. Maybe a friendly approach is more appropriate. Let's see..

Make her more comfortable. Engage trustworthiness. Apply guilt to pressure her. Get her to return the sword. Question her about her motives.

Let's give this a shot.

"Vol," I say quietly, turning to him, "can you make a small fireball to warm her up?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure."

He draws a few quick symbols with his finger, finishing in less than a second.

"Rogsful," he says, casting a fireball spell of the lowest level. It was probably an intentional choice to avoid accidentally setting the boat on fire. Smart guy, that Vol.

I turn back to the girl, lowering myself to her level, showing that I'm not a threat.

"Is that better?" I ask, giving her a small smile.

She still looks a bit scared, but she nods. First response. Positive result.

"You know, I think you led me to the church once. Do you remember? I fell asleep during my prayer," I chuckle awkwardly.

The corners of her mouth turn up for a second before falling back down. Positive result.

"You know, that sword you're holding belongs to my friend here," I say, gesturing at Elizabeth. 

She glances away from me, pulling the melted sword closer to her chin. Negative response.

"My name is Sebastian. This is Elizabeth and Vol. They're good friends of mine. Would it be okay if you told me your name? I'd really like to know it."

"...Colette."

"Well, Colette, this sword might not look like much, but it really means a lot to Elizabeth," I continue in a soft voice and changing my expression to something resembling sorrow.

"Do you think she could have it back?" I ask, moving my head down to peer into her eyes.

Trembling, she holds the sword out. I reach out slowly and pick it up from her outstretched hands, then hand it to Elizabeth.

Course corrected. Positive response.

"Thank you," Elizabeth says.

"I'm s-sorry," the girl sniffs, "I didn't know it-it'd be like this..."

"It's okay," I say kindly.

I reach out a hand and push a few loose strands of hair out of her face, letting them fold behind her ear. She looks up at me. Positive response.

"It's alright if you can't say, Colette, but I was hoping you could tell me the reason for all this," I say, looking into her face with an expression of kindness as I place my hand on her shoulder.

"...okay. I'll tell you..."