The Legend of Vox Machina: The Curse of Zia Zircon

Ch 5: Set Sail

Vox Machina boarded the Kings vessel through a door on the ships side. The interior was as lavish as one would expect a king's personal vessel to be. Ornate carvings lined the support beams that wrapped the red carpeted halls. Kerosine lamps provided a dull light meant to exude a relaxed atmosphere.

That said, Zia wasn't relaxed by the lighting.

Much like when they entered the palace,  Zia had a great urge to turn around and get the hell out of there. Preferably, before she was kicked off the vessel in mid air.

She knew the fear was irrational. Her and the others were on board by order of the sovereign. The likelihood of being thrown off mid journey was low, she knew. But it was still there thanks to her overactive imagination.

If the crew was superstitious it was likely they wouldn't appreciate having a cursed being like her on board and if they deemed her to be bad luck...but no, she shooed the thoughts away decidedly. The kings order was sufficient protection against such a thing occurring.

It had to be.

She needed to focus on anything other than the little voice in her head that told her she didn't deserve to even stand on something as nice as this ship. The voice that told her her mere presence would anger those aboard and earn her nothing but scorn from the strangers upon this vessel.

She focused her gaze down at the red carpeting and guilt gripped her as she realized how filthy her boots were. The previously spotless carpet now spattered with flecks of dark brown with every step she took.

Her cursed eye sight made the stains all the more prevalent to her in the dim lit space, but normal eyes wouldn't be as keen to the blotches marring the surface. So she hoped that no one would one else would notice them.
She'd gotten so focused on the stains she hadn't noticed the group was coming to a halt before a door. She almost tripped over Scanlan, doubling over catching herself on the wall to keep herself from totally falling on the gnome.

Zia winced, uttering a hurried "Sorry...!" to the gnome.

"Don't worry, about it." Scanlan waved a hand, his eyes were decidedly not on her face for a moment. He smirked lightly as he eyed her, eyes flicking up to hold her gaze once he'd decided he'd gotten a good enough look down her dresses front. "You can step on me anytime, Treasure Chest."

"Oh my god, gross Scanlan!" Keyleth swatted his head with her staff before Zia could do so much as splutter. She helped the statuette straighten up locking arms with her.

"He can be so disgusting sometimes..!" Keyleth huffed in annoyance.

Zia said nothing, her lips pressed together.

She knew she should probably be scandalized by the comment, and even the gnomes actions, but she found herself feeling more hurt by Keyleth's admonition of the gnome. Was his insinuation really that gross? Was the idea of doing something sexual with her really so disgusting?

She had all the time in the world to ponder that while she was in the shower.

They were all allowed time to freshen up while the departure preparations were being made.
There was even a magical laundry to rid their clothes of the back alley grime.

Keyleth was most thankful, as her tunic had been covered in so many throw up stains.

Once clean and deemed presentable enough to represent the King they were allowed passage to the upper deck.

Zia enjoyed being back in the open air almost immediately. While the inside of the ship had been very nice it had made her feel very trapped in such a stuffy space.

She breathed deeply walking with Pike to the ships front. It felt good being in a more open area.

T shaped rutters swung into place, sails were unfurled on the mast, and the four crystals that hugged the ships wooden siding glowed to life.

The ship took off without delay, rising through a sea of fluffy clouds.

Zia stopped to stand adjacent to Percy with Pike at the ships bow. Her gloved hands rested feather light upon the ships banister. Zia's eyes were set back on King Uriel's castle. As the ship ventured further away from it, her view of such a pretty palace was stolen by a haze of white.  The mist of the cloud's innards was cool on Zia's stone skin as they passed through the cloud's fog. When they emerged above the cloud's fluffy edges, Grog and Keyleth came sprinting over, wondrous excitement on each of their faces.

Zia turned to take stalk of their heading at the same moment that Pike leapt up onto Grog's back. She was not disappointed by the new view, leaning slightly over the banister to see around Percy's frame.

Wispy clouds drifted far above snow capped blue-grey peaks. Pine trees littered the expansive rolling hills of green, brown trenches  mixed in between further breaking the wonderful coloring. Zia'd never been on a ship quite like this before, let alone one that flew, so she'd never seen a landscape from such an angle.

But as they sailed closer to their destination, Zia's smile dimmed. The land directly below them was burnt up.  Not even a single blade of grass remained.

"The land's so charred..." Zia murmured the words completely stunned. "....there's nothing left."

"No, there isn't." Lady Allura walked up to the group. She strode to stand beside Trinket and Keyleth. "As you can see, the creature has already razed three villages and miles of farmland."

"One creature did all this?" Zia was stunned.

"Indeed. We don't know much about what you're being sent to kill, but what we do know is that it's likely large, and has a preference for burning everything in its wake."

"Charming." Percy frowned tightly.

"I can assure you it is anything but. If this evil persists, the kingdom will starve to death." Lady Allura's tone was grim.

"Sounds like the starving people will be lucky," Zia frowned further. "Given this things penchant for ashen villages."

"Indeed they will be." Lady Allura agreed. "Which is why it is imperative that this creature be slain."

"This mission sounds kind of deadly." Keyleth chuckled nervously. "Do we really want to do this?"

"The reward'll be worth the risk, even if that risk is pretty high." Zia insisted, though she wasn't referring to the golden box's contents. She was referring to all the people they would help. The sense of accomplishment they would finally have after doing something that mattered.

"Yes, this task is dangerous, which is why only the most noble, heroic and true..."

"Yeah, yeah, nobility and heroism is fine and all, but we're in this for the money." Vax interrupted her. "Like the stone woman said."

"I see." Lady Allura seemed unimpressed. "So it's coin over character. Not surprising."

Before Zia could correct Vax or anyone else on what she really meant by her words, the ship was already setting down. It was time to get off.

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Here's the new chapter 5! Sorry for the delay guys! Ch 6 will be out soon! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to let me know!

To everyone who liked the old Ch 5, sorry but it was just too rushed and out of character and it didn't sit right with me at all. I will be covering all 3 (or more if prime makes em) seasons of vox Machina so I have plenty of time to flesh out Zia and Percy's relationship properly.