Ayla, the Girl
Ggh...! Damn it, these punks are stronger than we thought!
L-let's fall back for now. We don't have the numbers for this!
The pirates chasing the girl quickly turned tail.
Even so, the tension showed no sign of leaving her face.
Her hands were trembling like leaves, so I approached to calm her down.
Are you all right?
P-please don't come any closer...!
Huh? We just saved you, and that's how you treat us?
Come on, miss. Do we really look like bad guys to you? Like those scary-looking pirates?
Judging by Luna alone, her caution is understandable.
Wh-what's that supposed to mean?!
...
The girl continued to eye us warily, showing no sign of letting down her guard.
The Captain's statement is correct. We are not bad people.
Captain...?
Hehe. Ever heard of the Voyager Savior Party?
Wait... Then you must be...!
Hehe. Now you recognize me? Yours truly is Luna, Lavistar's greatest oracle, inheritor of the Moon Staff, and proud member of the Voyager Savior Party!
You know about the Voyager Savior Party?
Yes. Well...
...I heard that the Voyager Savior Party carries on the name of the Savior Party once led by the Star Savior...
And that its leader is the Journey Captain, personally appointed by Lady Alicia to oversee the long-standing tradition of the Journey...
Ahaha... I was just throwing that out there. Guess we're more famous than I thought...
Asherah might have been happy to hear that.
Yes. Since I was confined at home, all I could do was read whatever I could get my hands on...
And you can't research Flora's founder, the Pirate King, without coming across stories from the Age of Darkness.
*Sigh...* In any case, I'm so relieved you aren't after the map—
*Thud*
The girl sighed in relief, then seemed to grow dizzy, staggered, and collapsed.
H-hey! Stay with me!
Even as she lay unconscious, the girl clutched an old piece of parchment like she'd never let it go.
Blink detected.
Captain, Luna.
Oh, looks like she's coming around.
...Where... am I...?
*Cough...* Yes... I'm okay. I think I just collapsed once I relaxed.
*Cough... cough...*
The girl kept coughing as she rummaged through the pouch at her waist and pulled out a packet of medicine.
The girl shook some pills from the packet into her palm and swallowed them dry, as if it were second nature. Soon, her coughing stopped.
Phew... I'm feeling a little better now. I'm sorry.
As the curse grows stronger... I sometimes lose consciousness like this.
A curse? What do you mean?
...Well...
...
I should introduce myself first. It's a little late, but let me do it properly.
My name is Ayla. I am the eldest daughter of the Floren family.
Our family dates back to the founding of Flora.
They say our ancestor was a loyal follower of the legendary pirate known as the Pirate King, who founded Flora.
That's amazing! So your ancestor was a pirate?
Yes. Our family has an heirloom passed down through generations known as the Pirate King's treasure map.
Ayla showed us the old map she'd been clutching.
The Pirate King's treasure map... The one from the quest board...
Smile, you said it was probably some bait ad disguised as a quest—
*Poke!*
Ow, ow! Stop poking me!
...So you saw it too.
...Did you post that quest, Ayla?
...Yes, that's right.
They say this treasure map is an heirloom the Pirate King entrusted to our ancestor, one of his loyal followers.
It's such an old story that no one even knows how long it's been in our family's possession.
Long enough that even this treasured heirloom eventually faded from memory.
Wow... I didn't know our house had a place like this!
Oh, maybe there are still things here that belonged to the Pirate King!
...When I was little, I admired the Pirate King, so I was obsessed with searching the mansion for any trace of him.
Huh? What's this box...?
Tucked away in the farthest corner of a dark storeroom, inside the oldest box, was an ornate sealed case.
It showed signs of once being sealed with several locks and magical wards...
But perhaps because so much time had passed, the locks had corroded and crumbled, and the writing on the magical seals had faded.
In the end, I was just a fearless, curious child... and I opened the box.
Inside, I found this map. And the moment I excitedly broke the wax seal bearing the Pirate King's crest...
...Eek!
A brilliant light burst from the unfurling map and began to envelop me...
Mom, Dad...! Please help me...
...And that was when the Pirate King's curse took hold of me.
For the first few days, I was so ill I could barely open my eyes.
I came close to death several times, and even the best doctors my parents called in couldn't determine the cause.
I told my parents I'd unsealed the treasure map, and they began looking into the relic from then on.
So much time had passed that it had faded into a forgotten legend even within our own family.
After asking around, they eventually found a pirate who knew the story behind the treasure map.
The Pirate King buried all his treasure somewhere in Flora and left behind a map to its location.
To prevent anyone from finding it, he placed a curse on the map's seal that would slowly drain the life of whoever broke it.
To lift the Pirate King's curse, one must find the treasure he left behind and follow the curse-breaking instructions hidden inside...
So that's why you're still...?
...Yes. It gets worse with each passing year.
Possibility of an illness or viral infection rather than a curse—
Neither my parents nor I believed the old legend about a curse right away.
But even after I was examined by doctors all across Flora and even in NOA...
None of them could find the cause of my illness.
In the end, my mother and father decided to search for the Pirate King's treasure and left home.
By the time I'd recovered enough to be up and about again, all I could do was sit by the window and stare outside for hours.
I kept hoping my mother and father would come back someday, smiling brightly with a way to break the curse...
...
But no matter how much time passed, they never came back...
When I finally couldn't bear it anymore and stepped outside my room, I overheard the servants talking...
They said my parents' ship had been wrecked while they were on their way to search for clues to the treasure...
...In the end, something terrible happened to them because of me...
I could clearly picture Ayla, so young and frail, weighed down by a mysterious curse and the devastating news of her parents' fate.
...For a while, I was lost in guilt and grief.
Just like before, I didn't set foot outside my room, and I kept every window shut...
For days, I skipped meals and cried myself to sleep from exhaustion...
...But one day, I went to close a window that had been left open, and the view outside caught my eye...
It was nothing special... but I found myself thinking, maybe I want to keep living after all.
...
So I posted a quest at Candle Square, looking for someone to accompany me on an adventure.
I'm physically weak, and... this would be my first adventure. I thought it would help to have someone by my side to guide me.
Then those pirates are...
They call themselves successors to the legendary Pirate King.
Almost no one believed the story about the legendary treasure map I mentioned in my quest posting, but...
Ironically, those pirates did. They became pirates because they idolized the legendary Pirate King.
They're chasing me, saying the treasure should be theirs.
Ayla sat up resolutely and gave us an awkward smile.
So I would like to formally request the Voyager Savior Party's help...
I'll do everything I can to avoid being a burden, so please help me find the Pirate King's treasure that can break my curse...!
I'm sure those pirates won't give up easily... I can't let them take the map without even putting up a fight...
If I let them win that easily, I could never face my parents after everything they did for me... So please...!
After hearing Ayla's heartbreaking story, I wanted to accept her quest without a second thought.
But a treasure hunt...
Even with a map, the target is an object hidden by pirates in the distant past.
How long this quest may continue... unknown.
Could Luna use astrology to find it?
Come to think of it, Luna, you said you were Lavistar's greatest oracle and inheritor of the Moon Staff, right?
Then I need your help all the more! If you can't accept the quest... maybe you could do a reading to find the treasure's location...
Or... at least tell me whether I can break this curse at all...!
Please, I'm begging you!
Ngh... You mean... you want a reading... right?
Warning. Unreliable prophecy. Recommend not trusting it blindly.
Hey, enough with the "unreliable" stuff!
Please, I'm begging you...!
W-wait...! Um... right, the fee!
I can't do a reading for free! And my fee's pretty steep, you know?
I'll pay whatever you ask...!
Will this be enough?
S-seriously...?
Yes, of course.
Our financial problems... solved this easily...?
...Hmm. Listen...
You seem pretty desperate, so I can do a reading for you...
But this isn't just for fun. It means peeking into fate itself.
If you take it lightly, you might not like how things turn out.
Yes, I'm prepared... I'm not asking this lightly, either.
*Sigh...* All right. Then sit here for a moment.
Luna stood before Ayla, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
...
...!
Ngh...!
*Pant... pant...*
What's wrong, Luna?!
...
Luna!
...Oh, Captain...
...
Ah... It's nothing.
Maybe I'm just feeling a little... off? Ahaha.
Sorry, I guess I'm not in great shape right now. I don't know why, but I just can't seem to get a reading.
Not working? Then... does that mean you couldn't see my future...?
Yeah! Sorry! Here, take your money back.
L-Luna...
...Luna's complexion appears poor.
...
Luna?
...Ah, sorry.
...
Captain, I'm really not feeling well... Can I head back first?
Luna...
...I will help Luna back. Captain, stay and talk with Ayla.
Smile immediately helped the dazed Luna to her feet and headed back.
...Thank you.
On the way back to our lodging, I glanced back and saw Ayla gazing sadly out at the distant sea.