Lav watched as big brother Durand did his magic. He had never seen him do something this big. The big snake drawing rippled, and light shone through.
Lav wasn't concerned that the light would alarm the people above deck. It was noon anyway, but more importantly, this light was different. It moved! It was like a cloud but see through; it was like a bird but freer in its flight. It was awesome, and it was his big brother's magic.
Lav felt proud as someone other than them was seeing it. Bolb, the food guy, was awestruck as he watched. Yel was giggling at that expression, so brightly it felt like he was laughing for both of them. In those moments Lav felt his emotions flowing through Yel to the world, making it unnecessary for him to express himself.
The red light split and gathered, and a big snake appeared. Bolb stepped away, Lav could see any remaining doubt the man had vanished at this moment.
Lav continued to observe.
Big brother Durand looked pale; he was hardly keeping his eyes open, his voice was tired.
"I shall release this snake upon this ship. It will spill no blood... my faithful servant, Bolb." Bolb readied himself, straightening his body. "Go and use this event as a reason for anchoring at the nearest town. The crew needs to release their stress, and new and dangerous monsters are roaming the sea. Those reasons should be enough for an immediate stop. You should be in the boat that is going to bribe the officials, even as someone's helper, and to that boat we three will be secretly placed with your efforts. Can you do all of these?"
"As you wish, my lord."
Bolb stood like a knight. Lav thought he looked cool, like a loyal helper of heroes in stories.
"Good."
Big brother Durand closed his eyes and let himself sleep. At the same time, the big snake went out through one of the windows of the below deck, just big enough for its body to pass. From above deck, the big snake must have looked like it came from the sea.
Lav heard the screams, shouting, the drawing of swords from their sheaths.
Bolb bowed to them, then went up the ladder.
Lav saw a certain glint in Bolb's eyes and realized something. 'Oh! Smart guy.' Bolb knew the snake wasn't going to kill anyone, so he would put his body on the line as the crew fought it. After that, his request to be part of the boat to do first contact would surely be accepted. He would show a brave front and want to be part of more important duties as a reward for his bravery.
Above deck, Bolb's loud grunts and moans entered the main stage. Lav inwardly clapped him with admiration for his performance.
"Come, monster! I will be the end of you!!"
"Ohh!" Yel exclaimed.
Did Yel realize Bolb's plan too?
"He is so brave to fight that monster, even his shouts are manly!"
No, Yel was just being Yel. Lav inwardly smiled at Yel's cuteness. Sometimes he wanted to ruffle his fluffy bright yellow hair just like big brother Durand did, but Yel would be angry, so he stopped himself from the impulse.
The drama above unfolded as everything was going with the plan. After a few hours, Bolb came back. His expression was sour. Did something affect the plans? Because big brother Durand was still sleeping, Lav decided to take the leader role.
"Our knight, why the sour face?"
Bolb knelt in front of them.
"My lords, everything is going as your lord's plan, but the captain found the use of a longboat unnecessary, so I and one other person are ordered to use a small boat."
"What is the problem?"
"The small boat doesn't have a proper below deck area that I can hide your lordships in. It has only one small space that can fit at most two people."
"Two people… Are you sure?"
"Yes, my lord, I checked it. Three is impossible."
"...When will the boat sail?"
Lav noticed he was having a problem with his breathing, but he still pushed through with the conversation.
"Tomorrow morning."
"One last question, how long did the big snake last until it dissolved?"
"Not much, a little less than a quarter of an hour."
"...Go and come back at nighttime. We will decide who will go... and who will stay."
Bolb bowed and went up the ladder. He closed the deck hatch, burying the two half nymphs in the dark.
"Two people..." Yel had a low tone while saying those words, a tone he would rarely use.
Two people meant separation, separation forever. Breaking a bond that had existed as long as they had known themselves.
"What if we don't use this chance to escape?" Yel asked, his brows tightened.
"I don't think we will get another chance... It was always in my mind to escape using big brother's magic, fly away with it, but it seems that isn't possible. We need something as big as that snake to carry us, but a quarter of an hour won't let us escape from the pirates."
"But..."
"It's okay, Yel, I feel the same."
Silence crept in between Yel and Lav. Silence that would claw their throats from inside, silence that would prevent their tears from dropping as it would mean, giving this silence a name.
Lav looked at big brother Durand's sleeping face and noticed Yel was looking at him too.
"The decision is obvious..." Yel said.
"Yes, it is." Lav agreed; tears slid down his cheeks.
"We can't let one person stay as that would be cruel, so instead of two, only one will escape."
"And among us three, if we ask who should be the one that escapes, we would point to each other, but there is one person that can't point to us."
"Big brother, blame your sleepy ass." Yel cried, hugging his big brother, crying into his shoulder. Lav joined him.
"Lav, I am scared. I am scared of the pirates, scared of this ship, I want to escape too."
"Will you? I am scared too... Will you leave me alone?"
"I won't but— but. Why can't we, all three can't escape. I don't want to be a slave, I don't know what the pirates will do to us. I just don't want to be here. I want to return home."
"...Yel." Lav was incapable of comforting Yel, he didn't have any words for that.
Big brother Durand would have the words, some magical words they needed to hear for them to continue their lives. The words they would never hear... Without those words would they be stuck in this moment their entire lives, never capable of continuing? Lav didn't know,
big brother Durand wasn't waking up!
This was the first time he had used magic to create something that big; normally he would be only tired, but this time… They had shaken him, slapped him, even yelled at him without fear of being heard by the pirates, yet he didn't wake up even after night came upon them.
They heard the familiar footsteps of Bolb and wiped their tears and snot. Bolb seemed surprised by something, perhaps his current lords' red eyes.
"My lords..."
Lav calmed his breathing and grabbed big brother Durand's shoulder.
"This lord is still sleeping, got bored of this ship it appears to be. We two are still entertained by it, so you shall only take this lord." Lav did his best to let out a stable voice.
"...As you wish."
Bolb threw a cloth over big brother Durand and then raised him from the floor. Bolb bowed and carried big brother Durand above. The deck hatch closed as if it would never open again.