After they reached the inn, everyone holed up in a single large room built to house large parties like themselves, only coming out in shifts to watch the cart. Not only was socializing with the cursed unpleasant, it also ran the risk of exposing them, so they gladly limited their interactions to the bare minimum.
Fortunately, Amy returned within only an hour or two, and called everyone down to the cart to discuss business. They would have debriefed in the room, but, unfortunately, the cursed had no qualms with stealing from an unguarded cart, and so watch had to be kept. Still, the city streets were filled with noise, so as long as they talked quietly, the risk of being overheard was minimal.
“I got a ship.” Amy said. “Luckily, an old friend of mine was docked here. He’s willing to leave tonight, provided we…service the crew in addition to payment.”
“He won’t try to hold us to that after we cure him, right?” Steph asked.
“No. He’s not the most upstanding guy out there, but he has his limits, and that used to be one of them. The crew was never allowed to have sex while at sea; it’s too distracting in case of monster attacks. They’d just have to make do with masturbating before bed or something.”
“I bet he was a popular captain.” Sylvie said sarcastically.
“He was more popular than you’d think. He kept his trips short, paid well, and kept his crew safe. Most of the people working with him have been doing so for ages now, and they’re content. I don’t know how much of that still applies, the curse has dramatically reduced discipline pretty much everywhere, but it should be fine when they’re cured.”
“So, what are we doing in the meantime?” Maia asked. “Selling stuff?”
“Yes.” Amy replied. “I’ll be selling and buying trade goods where I can, but I’ve set some money aside that you lot can use to buy weapons, potions, materials, and the like. I’ll take care of food and water, so you just focus on the combat stuff.”
She took out a small pouch of coins and handed it to Maia. “I’ll need a couple of you to stay with me as guards, though. It’s dangerous to be a lone shopkeeper nowadays.”
“I can handle that.” Sylvie said. “I…don’t want to see the city right now. It’ll make me too depressed.”
“I think I’ll do the same.” Steph added. “But…I have another request. Before we leave…would it be alright to attempt to rescue Bishop Liam? He’s my mentor, and I’d hate to know he’s stuck here and cursed while I could have done something.”
“Of course.” Maia said. “We’d have to do it just before leaving, though, in case things go wrong and we need to make a quick escape.”
“That works out. I know where he sleeps, and with people like Sylvie we should be able to get there relatively unseen under cover of night.”
“If I may, I would be a better infiltrator.” Galiena said. “I am very proficient in scaling walls, picking locks, and leaving no trace. Being a boneshifter allows me significant flexibility in how I approach these sorts of things.”
“His room is on the third floor of the cathedral’s living quarters, can you get in and get him back safely?” Steph asked.
“No problem. Worst case scenario, I just jump down. A fall of thirty or so feet is not significant enough to leave one of us more than mildly wounded. I assume his room has a window?”
“It does.”
“Then this should be child’s play, unless he is particularly portly.”
“He’s thin.” Steph said. “Or…used to be thin. I haven’t seen him in years, and definitely not since the curse began spreading.”
“Is there any way I can help?” Violet asked.
“While you would indeed make for an excellent infiltrator, I would rather train you before sending you on missions like this.” Galiena said. “However, we can keep you nearby, and you can be backup as well as help run him to the boat. You will be significantly faster than I.”
“Got it.” Violet said.
“Right, sounds like we have our plan, then. While you do that, we’ll deal with the crew of the boat.” Maia said. “Amy, when do we meet back up with you?”
Amy began making her way to the driver’s seat. “At sunset.” She said. “Best stay with me until I’ve set up shop, though; it wouldn’t do to have you unsure of where to find me when it comes time to meet up.”
A few hours later, as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, everyone met up at where Amy had parked her cart for the day. “I got a lot done.” Amy said appreciatively. “We should be set for the next while. How were things on your end?”
“We got tomes, mostly.” Maia replied. “Tomes and some more materials for Emily.”
“Go ahead and load them up in the cart.” Amy said. “Steph, Galiena, Violet, the ship we’ll be boarding is the rightmost one. Once you have the cargo, just meet us there. Depending on how long you take, we might still be in the process of getting the cart belowdecks.”
“How…are we going to do that?” Elise asked. “I haven’t seen many ships, but I imagine this cart is a bit bigger than most cargo.”
“It folds in on itself. We’ll need to move our stuff into the hold first, so it’ll take an hour or so, but it’ll fit.”
“Oh.” Elise replied.
“It’s a nice cart.” Amy replied, a hint of pride in her tone.
“We’ll be keeping an eye out in case you send out a distress signal.” Maia said. “Good luck out there.”
“You as well.” Galiena replied.
With that, the two groups went their separate ways, and the cart began to roll down the streets towards the harbor. The ride took only about ten minutes, and soon enough the cart was rolling up a wide ramp onto the deck of a ship.
“Well, the woman of the hour’s here.” A gruff voice said. “Ya know the drill; start unloading the cart and the lads will start taking it down into the hold. In the meantime, why don’t ya get those mercenaries on out and we can see if they’re all ya made them out to be, eh?”
“Much obliged, Captain Cyril.” Amy said. “Don’t be looking too long, though; we’ll be needing their help to unload the cart.”
“What’s the rush?” Cyril asked. “I know ya want to be off as soon as ya can, but an extra five minutes never hurt anyone, did it?”
“I suppose.” Amy relented. “We have a few women out collecting a late acquisition anyway, so I suppose it’s not crucial.”
“See?” Cyril said, laughing heartily. “Alright, everyone out.”
Maia and the rest of her group obediently exited the wagon, and were met with distinctly lewd looks and some cheers. “I am Maia, leader of these mercenaries.” Maia said, stepping forward and trying not to shudder under the disgusting gazes of the sailors. “I was told Amy had an arrangement with you regarding us?”
“Maia, eh? Your parents had some sense of humor. Anyway, no need to be so formal, lass.” A black-haired man near the front, Cyril, by the sound of his voice, said. “It’s mutually beneficial, I’m sure. The lads need some relief, and I’m sure a pretty woman such as yerself will be feeling rather empty soon. Now, come here and let us get a good look at ya.”
Maia stepped forward. “Alright, but no touching until the cargo has been unloaded.” She instructed, glancing at his hands that were already gesturing lewdly. “We were told that we’d be getting our pay docked if we delayed departure by getting frisky.”
“Amy, since when were ya such a stick in the mud?” Cyril groaned. “Ya can’t let us have a little fun?”
“Believe me, I would love nothing more than to have some fun.” Amy said. “But I have some very demanding clients at the moment, and I know things will escalate if I let them. Better to wait until we’re on the open sea when they’ll have nothing to do anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Cyril grumbled, stalking in a circle around Maia and looking her up and down. “Ye’ll be with me once we’re done here.” He said approvingly. “And the sooner that cart’s unloaded, the sooner we can get to it. Lads, get ready! The ones who work the hardest get the first shift with them!”
The assembled sailors gave another cheer, and Maia quickly retreated into the cart, where she began to bring out the cargo. The process took about twenty uncomfortable minutes, and when it was finally finished the cart had been put into the hold, and everyone was on the deck
“Alright, lads,” Cyril began, pointing at roughly half of the sailors, “I was paying attention. You lot, you’ve got first shift with the lasses. We’ll give it half an hour, then we’ll switch out. Some of ya will have to go two to a woman, but there’re multiple holes for a reason. We’ll work out an actual rotation once the rest get back here.”
“If I may, Captain.” Amy said. “These girls are…quite a bit more insatiable than normal women. They might be coming to you early after they’ve wrung these men dry.”
Cyril grinned. “Well, isn’t that somethin’? We’re still waiting on the rest of yer crew, so maybe all o’ us will be able to get a turn before we weigh anchor. The lot of ya who aren’t on first shift with the lasses, start making preparations to depart; we leave the moment I’m done with these lasses. Provided I can walk, that is. The rest of ya, follow me and I’ll show ya yer quarters.”
He laid an arm on Maia’s shoulder and she had to resist the urge to slap it away. “Alright. No touching until we’re in bed, though.”
“Are ya kidding?” Cyril asked, reaching down towards Maia’s chest. “I can’t wait a second longer.”
This time Maia actually shook off his arm, giving him a cool glare. “You misunderstand me, captain. Consider this foreplay; I’m going to have you seeing stars without even needing to touch you.”
Cyril raised an eyebrow. “Now this I’d like to see.” He said. “Very well then.”
He led the group of people down belowdecks, to a small hallway with a bunch of doors. “Fortunately for ya, we don’t got any other passengers on this trip.” He said. “There should be rooms aplenty for ya. Lads, take the lasses to rooms as you please, I’m going to see if this lass is all talk or not.”
He steered Maia into a room, and once they were both inside closed the door and locked it. “Alright, I’ll give ya five minutes.” He said. “If I’m not feeling it, then we’re getting straight to it.”
Maia turned, giving him the first genuine smile she had given any of the crew, brimming with excitement at being able to finally get out of this situation. “Oh, I won’t need that long.” She said. “Come here and close your eyes.”
“Don’t I need my pants off first?” Cyril asked, but stepped forward and closed his eyes anyway.
“No.” Maia replied, then surged forward and grabbed his face, muffling his cries as she initiated the cure. Once he went limp, she dragged him over to the bed, then took a moment to peer through the peephole on the door, making sure the hall was empty before she left the room. Judging by the muffled cries of alarm and the thumps she was hearing, everyone else was taking care of their sailors, so Maia went into the next closest room.
“Two unconscious sailors, just as ordered.” Elise said, sitting on the bed with a distinct air of smugness about her as she looked at the two bodies on the floor. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.”
“Just don’t hold it against them when they’re cured.” Maia said, walking over and beginning the curing process on the two. “It’s not really their fault.”
“I know, I know.” Elise said. “I’m gonna go grab some more sailors now, is that alright?”
“Let’s wait until they’re properly cured before we go.” Maia said. “We want to make it seem like it took at least a little time to get these people spent.”
“Fair enough.” Elise replied. “I’ll give them the rundown when they wake up, then.”
“Thanks, Elise.” Maia said, flashing her wife a smile. She then left the room, repeated the process for all the other rooms, then returned to the room where Cyril had first taken her, where she waited for him to wake up.
It took only a few minutes before Cyril was groaning and sitting up, shaking her head and blinking. She looked mostly human, but Maia’s instincts told her that she was a siren now. The major difference was that her hair had turned a light blue and lengthened greatly, but it was tied up in a ponytail, allowing Maia to see that her ears had become pointed.
“What…happened?” Cyril asked, a musical lilt to her voice.
“Sorry for the rough treatment, Captain Cyril.” Maia said. “We needed to cure you and your crew of the curse if we were to be traveling with you.”
“The…curse?” Cyril asked groggily.
“Aira’s Fervor.” Maia replied. “And let me reintroduce myself; I am Maia, champion of the Goddesses, and it is my goddess-given mission to rid the world of this curse. Unfortunately, our only means of doing so is to turn people into monster girls, so you’ll have to forgive the changes; if there was another way, we would have done that.”
“Monster girls? Do you mean monstrous maidens? And…wait, girls?” Cyril looked down, giving a gasp as she beheld her new form. “I didn’t even realize. I’m so…so…”
“So…?” Maia prompted.
“So perfect!” Cyril squealed, leaping to her feet and twisting around to look at herself. “I’m a siren, just like in the legends my grandpappy told me! I’m gorgeous, and this voice, I could listen to it all day! And I think those are gills, so I should be able to breathe underwater! And despite being so slender, I feel even stronger than before!
“Cyril’s an awful name for a beaut like me.” She said. “Ya know what, call me Corina! I was gonna give it to the first daughter I had, but I think it fits the new me more!”
“I’m…glad to see you like it.” Maia said slowly. “I’m going to let you get reacquainted with yourself, I need to get the rest of the crew cured.”
“Aye, go right ahead.” Corina said. “It’s a shock we’ve been able to sail at all, given how that curse makes people act. I almost had a mutiny on my hands a couple o’ times. Let me know when yer ready and I’ll get the ship sailing. Impaired as the lads may be right now, they should still ‘o gotten the ship at least somewhat ready.”
“Will do, Captain.” Maia replied. “In the meantime, would you mind hiding in the closet? I’m afraid of what would happen if they saw a completely unfamiliar woman in this cabin; I’m the only one able to cure people, and I’d like to prevent this from turning into a brawl while I get to people.”
Corina snorted. “Ya kidding? If the rest of the lasses are anything like I am now, a brawl would be over in a couple ‘o seconds flat. Still, I see the wisdom…yeah, I can hide for a few minutes.”
Maia gave her a smile. “Thanks. I’ll be back with them shortly.”
She left the room, and was somewhat surprised to find Amy waiting for her in the hallway. “I’ll be coming with you, and staying topside.” She said. “I’ll need to direct the others if they get back while you’re down here curing people.”
“Alright.” Maia replied. “Follow me.”
Maia retraced her steps and emerged back onto the deck with Amy in tow. “Everyone!” She called out. “Captain Cyril says it’s time to switch roles!”
There was a chorus of cheers, and the sailors gathered remarkably quickly. “I’ll lead you to your rooms.” Maia said. “Amy’s going to stay up here to help fill in the rest of our team, they should be getting back any minute now. There will be more than enough for the rest of you, though, so don’t worry about that.”
“Eh, I’ll just get ‘er later.” One of the sailors mumbled.
Maia pretended not to hear, and turned on her heel, striding back towards the cabins. The sailors followed her like a group of children excited to see some new curiosity the merchant had brought into town, and Maia had no issues directing them to their rooms.
From there, it was a simple matter of repeating what she had done with the first batch, and the ship’s crew were all either cured or in the process of it. After quickly letting Corina know that she could come out to do whatever final checks she needed to get the ship underway, Maia began to return to the ship’s deck.
Midway up the stairs she was able to make out some conversation, so she stopped and took a quick peek to make sure it was the rest of their team, and not some guard or something. Sure enough, Violet and Steph were carrying a robed man between them, and Galiena was a short distance away, boarding the ship.
Satisfied, Maia stepped out to meet them. “Let’s take him inside, quickly.” She said. “How’d it go?”
“Way too well.” Violet said. “We had to wait a bit for it to get dark enough, but once we did, Galiena just…scaled the wall like some sort of spider, then came out a couple of minutes later with him. Then we just…walked back to the ship. No one stopped to bother us at all, it was uncanny.”
“That is yet another symptom of the curse.” Galiena said, walking up to them. “For the bystanders, there was no personal gain to dealing with us. Even the guards would only stop us if we were actively killing the man, and only then to keep their jobs. There are effectively no laws unless someone who has money or influence is involved.”
Maia shook her head sadly. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.” She said. “Well, let’s get him belowdecks and cured.”
As they began to make their way down, they met with Corina, who was leading a group of sailors topside. “Ah, they’re back with yer…cargo? Why do ya have a priest?”
“He was my mentor, long ago.” Steph said. “I couldn’t bear to think of him staying cursed, so we abducted him to cure him. It’s what he would have wanted.”
Corina shrugged. “Well, it’s none ‘o my business. And, before I forget again, yer deal with me is effectively void. Or, at least, the sexual parts are; I’ll still be takin’ the money. But there won’t be any sex on my ship, from anyone, understand? We’ll be needing all of ya if a monster or pirates attack us.”
“Or the army.” Amy said. “That’s in the realm of possibility too, now.”
Corina made a face. “Well…that’d normally be a dealbreaker, but I can’t exactly leave all of ya here, not while I’m in yer debt like this. We’ll just have to go sail around the rest of the world until things settle down here.”
“If you don’t mind, we’ll be needing another ship in the future, to bring us to the Isle of Advent.” Maia said. “We’ll give our projected route once we’re out of port, maybe you could meet us at the endpoint?”
Corina thought on that for a moment. “Why don’t we just take ya all the way there?” She suggested. “So long as ya do work ‘round the ship, I won’t charge ya extra.”
“Not tenable for our current situation.” Maia said. “We’ll explain more later. For now, I’d like to get on the ocean as quick as possible.”
“Fair enough.” Corina said. “Lasses, out of the way, let them get the priest through.”
Maia gave her a thankful smile. “I’ll come meet up with you the moment Liam here has finished being cured. Thanks again, Captain.”
And with that, Maia led the rest of her group into one of the unused rooms, where she began the process of curing Liam. And, seeing as how she had nothing else to do while she waited, she sat down and closed her eyes, basking in the soothing sound of the ocean gently lapping at the boat’s hull.