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【𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘】
*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*
HIMARI CLOSED HER EYES, LISTENING TO THE SONGS that the birds in the sky above her were singing. The sounds of the ocean waves slapping against the side of the boat had become background noise to her now, merely just a part of the peaceful ambience that came with standing under the shining sun, right in the middle of the ocean.
She had to raise a hand to her head, holding down the hat that was pulled low over her eyes as a semi-strong breeze washed over her, brushing her long, white-haired over her shoulders. Her other hand gripped the railing in front of her as she inhaled the strong, salty smell of the ocean that surrounded her.
Himari could hardly believe that she was actually standing on the edge of a boat, that was halfway across the sea towards the very place that she had been too busy to dread visiting for the last six months.
The arrival of the people of Horodaka had taken up most of her time, not long after Hange's decision to launch an expedition in Marley after they had received word of the Azumabito's reply. She'd been there, standing on the edge of the docks with Sora, Hange, Levi and Yelena at her sides when the boats had finally appeared, bringing thousands of people with them.
She'd stared in both shock and surprise as they flooded the exit ramps of the boats and began to crowd the boardwalk around the port once the boats had docked on the edge of the island. There had been just so many of them - so many people who had agreed to follow Sora to Paradis knowing that it was safer for them on foreign land, than to remain on their own.
And while the country itself was quite large, Sora had surprised Himari even more when she'd explained that their population was very small. The number of residents consisted of a little under one hundred thousand, but not all of them had chosen to make the long trip across the ocean.
From what Sora had told her, only ninety percent of the population had agreed to make the move from Horodaka to Paradis. Those that had stayed behind consisted of the people who were too sick to travel, too old to travel, or did not care about what may happen to them if they remained behind on the island.
It had been a somewhat euphoric feeling, seeing so many people coming ashore. These were people who didn't see Paradis as the devils that the rest of the world did. These were the people who saw them as humans - a race of humans who had drawn the short end of the stick and had ended up as the scapegoat for the rest of humanity's anger and hatred. They, much like the people of Paradis, were outsiders to the world, because of the people who had stood in front of their nation as their official leaders.
The curse placed upon the Kobayashi family had damned these people for thousands of years, leaving them vulnerable and weak to attacks from other nations. Himari wasn't going to allow that to happen again.
