Rising Above Yourself (Varian x Pirate! Reader)

Ch.15

“She's so INSANE!” The quill drags thin lines of ink across the parchment paper of a journal.

Subconsciously, the young alchemist drew a random picture of lily in a mug. “It bugs the hel-- heck out of me when she does that. Being so….so….you know what I mean, Rudiger?” 

The raccoon stares at his companion then smiles, moving to curl up against Varian's stomach. He chitters in reply.

Varian sighs and smiles, putting away the journal. “Alright. I guess that's enough venting, huh?” He lays back and holds Rudiger to nuzzle his nose. 

The bowl of stew sat on the table in Varian's room which Rudiger happen to eat when Varian was consumed in reading Demitri's journal. By now Rudiger moved to curl up next to Varian's side and fell asleep. Quietly, Varian got up to eat but sighed a little after noticing the bowl of stew was empty. He took the bowl and left his room to make his way to the kitchen. 

Before Varian could reach the stairs that lead up to the upper deck, the ship jerked and the bowl fell from his hands so he could catch himself. “What are those pirates up to now?” 

The smell of sea salt waters drifted from a draft to where Varian stood. 

"We're back on waters already? Well I guess I was up for hours." 

As the young alchemist makes his way up the stairs to the main deck, there was something unusual about this whole scenario. It was quiet. Even with the waves from the waters, it felt still. Eerily still. He should've brought Rudiger with him, not like he's scared or anything. Just for comfort. 

Once making it to the steps that lead down to the dining room and kitchens. It was quiet yet again. These pirates better not be pranking him because this was getting really ridiculous. 

"Hello?" Varian pushes the doors to the dining room open and only seen a few pirates asleep either on the floor or on the table. He scoffs and rolls his eyes while closing the doors, "Probably done with drinking." 

Now off to the kitchens, he heard small noises coming from the utensils, pots, and pans clanking from the ship's movements. 

"Whoa!" Varian tripped over something and landed onto the wooden floors. "Ow….." He groans and looks back to see one of the twins asleep. "Where's- oh no." The other twin laid on the beam above Varian and rolled off. "ACK!" Landing right on top of the young teen.

With a few attempts to shove, the sleeping twin finally plops off to the side and Varian got up to dust his clothes off. 

"What is going on here?" A very faint smell seemed to off with the scent of the stew that Varian came to get earlier. He stepped over to the giant pots to peer in and scoops up a spoonful of stew. As an alchemist, he could tell when an ingredient had been added into something that did need or didn't need. Like this particular food. 

Varian didn't know what it was though. Even for an alchemist, he hasn't come across this kind of ingredient.

"I figured you would be up." 

The sudden voice that broke through the silence made Varian jump and turn around to face, Demitri. The lanky doctor places his full bowl of stew onto the counter while pushing up his glasses. "You know there's something wrong with the stew, yes?"

"Yes, but I don't know what it is." Varian tries to think until Demitri spoke up. 

"The gill of a siren." 

Varian freezes and stares at Demitri before snorting to hold back a laugh. "What?" 

"It sounds silly, I know. I don't believe in such things so mystical, but along my travels with the Captain. My perspectives have changed and I've researched and studied remedies on the mystical and mythical side."