Author's Note

With another chapter, the story continues, so shall everything else. Hope you all enjoy and comment on what part of the story was or is your favorite.

''We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.''

-Aristotle Onassis.

Battle Of Mind By The Sea

''Boss,'' Daring heard Blank call her name as she looked over the beautiful view of her ship in all its lightly mangled glory. At the speed they were currently traveling, they would reach their destination, Seaquestria, in a few minutes. They had traveled throughout the night, Daring, Blank, and occasionally Echo with the assistance of Ai directing in different shifts to keep The Optiquest on the correct course according to the map. ''This place. . .it's-'' Daring hummed in agreement.

It was certainly different than Equestria, though the name Seaquesria would normally imply otherwise. Going by the scare information they were able to secure from The Crystal Empire after dropping off the Alicorn Amulet, this region was known to be a haven of sorts from a land above to the one below where the unfortunate, and needed past of the denizens were laid bare for all to see and judge. The glorious mountain's peak containing what appeared to be a village exuded a sense of sadness the closer they approached, even if the clear, blue water was something to behold in itself. ''-Different. And because of that, I already don't like it here, but then again; when does my opinion matter to a place that can't respond?''

Grass and Yuu walked over, observing the parchment with an intense glare, trying to decipher what The Gold of God could be a code word for or if it was indeed a literal object that would need protection or destruction. ''I don't know, Yuu. This could be some kind of medicine, and not something to use to get dirty with. Or. . .it just represents an idea.''

Yuu shook her head, convinced it could be something that she could use for something towards her own purposes of what she loved to do. That, or it could lead her to what she may have wanted. ''I'm sure my Master would disagree, but we need to find it first,'' Yuu commented lazily floating about until she decided to plop down on Grass's mane, resting on her horn as she examined the parchment still.

''Well, we're here, so we should try splitting up to cover more ground to look for this thing,'' Rin said as she walked over, the stains of blood, dust, dirt, and everything else in between making her appear as a wild attempt at a painting that had no idea of what the theme should be. Daring, Grass, and Blank all shied a bit away at Rin who quirked a brow at the actions of her teammates. ''What?''

Daring looked at her medic and navigator, wondering out of the two of them, who would tell-

''-You stink, Ms. Rin.'' Yuu simply said, the trio plus Rin looking shocked at the directness of the statement as the Fairy sounded completely uncaring of the tone of voice used to convey a sensitive topic, let alone to a member of different species that held sentience. ''We have been in this world for under a month, and you or my Master has failed to practice proper hygiene.''

Taking a step back and shaking her head as she almost said something out of instinct in retaliation, Rin did. . .care about the issue, just not with the same intensity as everypony else and Yuu may have. She had an excuse! They've been fighting for their lives in this new world and for pretty much nonstop, and constantly moving somewhat made putting time aside to practice something like hygiene somewhat unneeded. ''Well, out of all of us, I don't really think you have much room to talk, little Ms. Likes To Get Dirty. You literally play in the mud, and you're trying to lecture me?'' Rin stalked over to the Fairy, Grass's nose not able to take the scent so up close so she opted for stepping back and levitating Yuu over to Rin's waiting hand when she scoffed at the motion. ''What's your excuse?''

Yuu simply stood up, straightening out her dress and looking up to Rin with a bemused expression, her lips curled up deviously like a cat who got away with knocking a vase over as she folded her arms, watching the glint in Rin's eyes challenge her own as she wondered how someone like Ms. Akame was unable to tell the reason why she frolicked in the mud, and so very proud, but have been given nary a complaint from anyone. ''I simply purify the surrounding air so the combined smell of certain chemicals or naturally occurring scents do not interfere with the nasal receptors of other lifeforms,'' Yuu said, her tone a bit cheeky as Rin brought her closer and motioned for her half-hearted explanation to continue. ''I do remain dirty, but I do not at least smell dirty.''

Rin growled as Daring and Blank focused their attention back on piloting the ship as Grass took back to looking over the parchment, each of their glares to Rin getting to her as she took Yuu down towards the figurehead of the ship, passing by Echo and Hanabi as the both of them stopped their conversation to look at the Fairy and Human walk by, the look of mild surprise making them forget their topic of conversation to question the smell of. . .sweat, dirt and regret?

''Well, you think you're so without fault, don't you?'' Rin asked, spying her best friend at the top of the ship, at the crow's nest as he looked to be doing something as Ai and Snow were assisting him. Instead of taking her time climbing the rope, Rin eyeballed the distance and accordingly held back shattering the wood beneath her foot as she leaped up, the wind making her hair flow about every which way.

Yuu remained unfazed with the small smirk on her face as the wind did the same thing to before the forces of gravity began to bring the both of them back down, Ai noticing the arrival of her Master's friend as she stuck her hand out, eyes green as Rin's body was levitated over the edge of the nest, her feet landing neatly on the edge as she looked at her friend wiping a hand over his body that was covered in a mixture of what looked to be steadily forming water that looked just about ready to begin steaming as a purple substance was flowing in the middle before spreading out to cover the area of Jamir's body that it touched before returning to it somewhat circular form inside the mixture. ''W-What are you doing?'' Rin asked, noticing her friend dressed down in nothing but his grey and black boxers as he looked to see his friend behind him.

''Sup. Trying this new cleaning material that I heard might work from some of the books that I ended up reading on the ship, and after Ai confirmed it's not hazardous to Humans, I thought it might help to be a quicker way to get clean, and so far,'' Jamir commented in a positive tone, liking that it pretty got almost any grime and stain out without having to alter the formula to make the substance made it for the most promising thing they could use in a pinch. He then noticed the. . .he wanted to say, dour expression Rin had while Yuu was grinning a mile wide. ''Let me guess; Yuu's bluntness that you stink? Been there, done that.''

''N-No,'' Rin said, blushing, Yuu giggling like a kid in a candy store at the display. ''Anyways, what the hell is this miracle cleaner? Bleach mixed with baking soda or something?'' Ai nudged Snow, who created a baseball-sized piece of ice before willing it to melt into water and willing the molecules to get a bit more excited as the water nearly created steam before Ai used her powers to bring a flower with purple leaves over and crush the plant in a pestle and mortar before mixing into the water as said water was put into a small bowl with a simple cloth rag. ''It smells like-''

''-Lavender? Yea, it's I guess a byproduct of crushing it up and the oils being released, but it's pretty effective, and it even goes in deep to clear anything just under the skin.'' Jamir said, relishing the feeling and being happy that he could finally have the chance to get clean to some degree, though a good shower would be so much better. ''Any luck with the parchment?''

''No, Master. We still cannot find out what is going on pertaining to El Oro De Dios. Me and Grass Song have thought about it perhaps being a cipher of sorts that may contain what the item in question could actually be, but I believe that we may have our answers when we dock,'' Yuu said, a bit saddened that she, her sister, or any of the crew could uncover the parchment's meaning past the name. Echo's lead of where she found the parchment would be another lead they would undertake, but the ferocity she spoke of it made going to the place in question to secure whatever it took a bit more precedence.

Shaking his head and putting on a fresh set of clothes, a black shirt wore underneath a tan jacket and black cargo pants once again as it was easy to have simple clothes that would require very little thought as long as it was practical for the mission ahead. ''Hopefully, we can get a step closer to getting home, God knows what my deranged sister is up to, and how many people she's hurt,'' Jamir said, looking to the land in the distance, noting how they began to come to a stop towards the nearby shore, the crisp sea-salt air blowing in his face the entire time. ''I have no idea of what we're gonna see when we go back.''

''Snow, Snow!'' Snow chirped, Ai and Jamir preparing to offboard the ship.

''Go get cleaned up, and meet us down there, we'll set up a perimeter so we don't get ambushed like last time. Yuu; stay here and keep Rin comfortable,'' Jamir used his Life Drive to disconnect Yuu from the Life Drive temporarily as to not get sucked in when he got too far as a part of the security measure. ''And trust me, that stuff will work. Let's go!'' Jamir hopped out of the crow's nest, letting gravity drop him down towards the white sand just before Ai caught him as he slowed his descent down to the ground as Daring, Blank, Echo, and Grass with Hanabi went off of the ship, admiring the sight around them as Rin got to cleaning herself up once she stripped down to just her underwear.

''Don't want to hear it,'' Rin said, eyeing Yuu staring at her in a joking manner, eating up the less than stellar expression she had as she washed herself up, her eyes closing as she let the stress of the situation around her and their Fairies sink In with her own personal emotions. Rin was. . .fed up. Tired. Angry. Every emotion and them some if she could give it a name. Detroit. America. Their home.

In trouble. And they were not there to do anything. She herself did not have the best of assurance that her city could defend itself very well without some proper defenses. The police, military, and even the subset of both that held users that had Fairies equipped for combat would pale in comparison to Junko and her Strike Force team, easily able to contend with the like of most Life Drive users. The principle that they were not there still stuck with her. Both of them tried to defend their town, city, state, and even the world that everyone lived in from those who would harm it, for the sake of peace. ''I hate this. That bitch of a tyrant needs to be taken down, once and for all.''

''My Master won't let you do that, you know,'' Yuu said, not disagreeing with her, but also not being foolish enough to go blindly with the idea of killing another without the correct moral and literal circumstances to enact such an action without repercussions of any kind. Junko was always a troubled child, from what Rin could tell, and her rise to power made her quite the adversary for those not experienced at all or well-enough versed to where most actions would be able to be predicted, but it mattered little to Jamir as he practiced temperance versus an aggressive nature where it needed to be counted. ''He's unable.''

Rin huffed, and course she know she didn't mean literally, but he chose not to in favor of their bond as siblings and what they grew up together with, the memories, and his own moral compass convincing him of his belief in change for the one who would need it the most versus ending it all. So many tears, so much blood, the expenses.

All for nothing, as far as Rin would come to know over the years of fighting a scaled-down war before it went global if it hadn't already when they were gone. ''I don't care. Somebody has to. This loss of life can't keep going on,'' Rin sighed, holding the lukewarm rag in her grasp as she finished washing all the gunk and crud out of her hair, the faint smell of the lavender oil from the flower tickling her nose as she stared down at her feet and floor, her mind in a haze. ''I follow your Master because he inspires. He's. . .strong, psychically but more emotionally and he understands me. He understands my flaws, takes them in stride. M-My past in Japan doesn't matter to him, me being as important as I was. . .or still am to some is like a spec of salt to him.'' Yuu nodded along as she heard Rin pour out her emotions, her body shaking a tad from the cold air, but she also had the notion that she wanted to cry if she hadn't already.

Rin would never lie to herself that it was hard being strong; even if she was one of the literal strongest. To be socially competent. To have had, and possibly still have the weight of a small country and its people on her mind made her life transition to Detroit. . .difficult at first. ''But now. . .I don't think even what I'm doing now is worth anything, at least not if we can't at least be in the place where our efforts would actually matter the most versus here.''

Yuu hovered around, taking all the information from Rin in kind and equating it to her own experience with Junko. She would never tell another soul as her sister and Snow knew well-enough, and though her Master did understand enough, it had to be Junko herself to break down truly why she had done everything that led up to the point that the two of them were left in. Two halves of one whole, broken apart by the notion, outside influence, and any other factors that played a part in the two of them being essentially at war due to clashing ideas.

Among the other things that happened in their childhood.

''Well, Ms. Rin, I can't say much on how you may be feeling, but I do know that I can say that whatever course of action you decide to take, that my Master would come to accept it. You made the choice to follow him and be his friend when he held little of those in regard because of his character, and for that; me, my sister, and Snow will forever be in your debt for giving our Master a friend.'' Yuu bowed, the action surprising Rin and even more so what she said. She was pretty sure the three of them were friends with Jamir, right?

''But you're his first few friends, right? It would make more sense for you to be friends versus-'' Yuu held a tiny hand up to stop Rin as she expressed her own look of contemplation. Her tiny hands clenched as she willed a bit of electricity to spawn around her, small bolts arching in the air with no clear direction except for away from the pair. The glare Yuu gave Rin made her question her own poker face as the intensity was that great, the message behind those orbs that what she thought was probably wrong.

''We live for our Master. Anything that he may need, that if we are able, we will provide him with anything that he may have the slightest want for. We are his sword and shield, his gun and bullets, his eyes and ears. He has provided the absolute best care for us and though we ask for almost nothing, he provides everything that he is able.'' Yuu said, her tone unwavering and the words she used helping her to convey exactly how she felt to Rin. ''He is, unironically the only one we would follow to the end of the universe itself, and he could be wrong. He could be the cause of it all, and still, we would follow.''

Rin couldn't believe that, even for a second. Anything he did? Even if he started a war? Killed thousands? Doomed the world itself? Or if no matter what he did, they would continue to follow, even with the notion that any of his ideas could or would be seen as completely crazy? ''That sounds like slavery in a way.''

Yuu shook her head, tiny tears dropping to the floor by Rin's feet as she smiled, wiping the emotional outburst away. Her Master would be sad if she was, she would be strong. No matter what it took. ''Yes. . .if we choose to let it be. If we got nothing out of the arrangement. And if we knew our Master held any shred of evil in his heart, then it would be,'' Yuu said, giving Rin a bit of a different perspective when it came to the relationship that he held with his Fairies, and even so with her own as well. It did seem unfair at times, but Rin began to feel a sense of sadness grow from her mind and heart. ''If you open yourself to those ideas, and consult your own Fairies, you may find some fashion of catharsis.''

The talk that she did not know that she needed was very welcome when she stopped being inside her own thoughts and allowed herself to see those of another.

Perhaps she should try.