The sun rose, indicating the next day was starting. The sky above had no clouds in sight and if people had keener eyes than others they could see seagulls soaring in the sky. Down below, on the other hand, the ocean was as calm as it could be with small waves and light breezes. Between the two bodies of blue was a cruise ship, sailing the sea without a care in the world.
Inside the semi-large ship, a group of four could be seen eating at a table in the dining hall of the ship. If people saw this group they would walk a bit slower to make sure who the colourful people at the table were.
A grey-haired Kuranta could be seen enjoying her simple breakfast of bacon and eggs with a cup of tea as her drink. Sitting beside her was a vampire who had a plate of steak in front of her. In front of those two were two other people. One of them was an Ursus who had black and white hair, enjoying the same dish as the vampire, a piece of steak. Finally, there was the only man in the group who was eating a simple egg sandwich and had a cup of black coffee.
When Grani finally swallowed a bite from her food, she recollected the things that happened to them these past days.
"I really didn't expect that we would encounter so many things on this trip," Grani couldn't help sighing on the ship, "It feels like we were in a movie."
FEater raised her head and nodded at her, "It's better than a movie! We met the royal family!"
Lin Ye put down his sandwich and sighed lightly, nudging FEater's shoulder, "I understand you are excited but please don't be shouting this in public. Although we got the royal family, not many people would like to have their prince killed," Lin Ye placed his right elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand. He glanced at FEater and smirked, "So for the best, control yourself, Superstar, okay? Don't want to have our head on the chopping board do we?"
Realising what she just did, FEater blushed and shrunk back into her seat. Luckily for them, only they were on the ship so there was no one to hear them talking, "Ah, sorry," She stammered, "I was just excited."
Lin Ye laughing made her know that he was not mad at her, but it did not stop the embarrassment that followed.
He waved his hand at her, "Don't worry. Just be careful next time."
After receiving a stern nod from the panda, Lin ye locked his eyes on the vampire, "So, Warfarin? Did you get what you wanted?"
Hearing her name being called, Warfarin stopped eating and raised her brow at him, "Why do you ask that?"
"Just curious," Lin Ye shrugged, "Was it as you thought it was?"
"I am still not sure. I only got your little sister's blood as a sample," She said as she rummaged through her pouch. Finally found it, Warfarin pulled out a tube that had a red liquid in it, "We still need to go back to the ark to analyse it. However, my intuition tells me her blood is just like yours, albeit it might vary in quality."
Lin Ye tapped on the table as he hummed. He nodded at the medic and took a sip from his coffee.
Bitter.
Just how he liked it.
The superstar glanced at the both of them, "What are you talking about?"
The two doctors looked at each other and talked through their eyes.
Lin Ye put down his cup and smiled at the panda, "Nothing important. Just an experiment."
"Don't be like that," FEater folded her arms and stared at them, "I'll be working with you after this. Don't be so secretive."
With a roll of the eyes from Warfarin and a slight laugh from Lin Ye, they went back to eating their food. Seeing that they were ignoring her, FEater could only slump back in her seat and eat. Grani nervously chuckled at all of this.
Although Lin Ye felt guilty for keeping her in the dark, he did not really have a choice in doing so. Even if what FEater said was true, not even some high position members of Rhodes Island knew about his blood and the L-Cell.
It did not take long for Lin Ye to finish his food first. He looked at the rest of them and saw they still had a good amount of food on their plates. Although something was missing. His mind went to people who were absent from the table. Three people to be precise.
With how few people were on this ship, each of them had a room for themselves. Even Nian wanted a room for herself. Lin Ye was the one to knock on their doors to invite them to breakfast. While the three people that were here did answer him when he knocked on their doors, saying they will be there, the three others did not answer. Lin Ye thought that they were still asleep so he slipped a note under each of their doors, saying that they should eat.
Lin Ye expected that they would come out from their room but seeing that his food was gone and them not in sight, he might need to check up on them.
Maybe it was just a deity thing? They may not eat breakfast.
With those thoughts running in his mind, Lin Ye excused himself and went to their rooms.
Luckily for Lin ye, the dining hall was not far from their room, so it did not take him long to be in front of the first room.
Nian's.
He glanced at the wooden door and thoughts were appearing in his mind. He realised that Nian was acting strangely last night.
When the worker of the ship told them they were assigned to their own room, Lin Ye expected that Nian would want to stay with him, seeing how these past days they would sleep with each other. Surprisingly, Nian told him that she wanted her own room.
Was she angry at him?
Did he do something wrong to her?
Should he apologise?
Apologizing for something you don't know about to a girl? Based on what Dad said, bad idea.
Lin Ye sighed and shook away these thoughts.
Let's just do things the best way I know how to, winging it.
With that idea in his mind, Lin Ye knocked on the door, "Nian? It's morning. Don't you want to eat breakfast?"
Silence.
Lin Ye raised his brow and knocked again, "Nian? Are you asleep?"
No reply.
Lin Ye did not like this situation. Although he did not like it, he went to the knob and twisted it. Surprisingly, it was not locked.
Did she forget to lock it before she slept?
Lin Ye saved that question for later as he slowly pushed the door open, "I'm coming in."
He glanced behind the door and saw the room was completely dark. The curtains were closed letting in no light through the windows.
Lin Ye squinted his eyes at the bed in the corner of the room and saw something under a blanket. He sighed at the sight. Nian was still sleeping.
Although he did not want to wake her up, Nian still needed to eat. Kids should eat more than adults.
That was what his Mom told him at least.
He slowly reached out to the side and switched on one of the two lights in the room. Lin ye slowly walked into the room and went to the bed, "Nian, wake up."
The lump on the bed did not move. Nian must be in a deep sleep. Seeing this, Ye lightly raised the sheet up to see what was under it, "Nian, wake-."
He stopped as he stared at the thing that was not his little sister.
It was a pillow.
His heartbeat raised.
Just when he was about to bolt and find that little dragon, a mature woman's voice rang behind him.
"Surprise."
Lin Ye spun around and saw someone leaning back on the wall next to the known closed door. He turned around and faced the mysterious person.
Facing the woman, Lin Ye tilted his head toward her. He was not confused at this new person who suddenly appeared on their private cruise, he was confused that he knew this person.
"Nian?" A brow was raised on his face at the woman in front of him, "Is that you?"
The smile on this older version of Nian grew into a smirk, "So you know it's me, Gege?"
Lin Ye smiled, "How can I not?" He remembered something, "Did you get your memories back again?"
With the smirk still not leaving her face, Nian folded her arms around her chest and walked closer to him. Just as Lin Ye was about to ask her more questions, the room slowly got hotter.
The heat all came from Nian. A sword appeared behind her back. Lin Ye was no swordsmith but that sword was beautiful. Although it was not whole - fragments of it were floating in the shape of the sword - it did not lessen how it looked.
In fact, that trait of it makes it more beautiful.
However, the heat was getting uncomfortable now.
Realizing this, Lin Ye raised a brow at Nian. Seeing her smirking at him, Lin Ye knew she was doing this on purpose now.
"You know what will happen next?" Nian asked.
He was used to it by now.
For the duration of him taking care of her, although rare, Nian would suddenly heat up the area where she was.
It looked like he needed to do the usual.
Lin Ye sighed and a black mist blew out from his mouth.
The room went back to normal.
Nian's eyes narrowed at the sudden loss of heat in the room. She looked around Lin Ye only to see that his feet were encased in a layer of black frost. The dragon raised her head and found Lin ye smiling at her.
"What happened after this?" Lin Ye repeated her question, "You already know this."
Nian raised her hand and slowly reached for the sword's handle. She did not grasp it just yet, waiting for Lin Ye to make the first move.
Unfolding his arms, he stood tall in front of her. Lin Ye was not scared of what she had just done. This only made Nian ready herself.
"We are going to have breakfast," He said as he raised his brow at her. Like he was confused at what she was expecting, "What else?"
This took the deity by surprise.
With how sudden he was, the crimson sword that was behind her back disappeared.
"Huh?" Nian gasped.
"Breakfast," Lin Ye deadpanned as he put both hands on his waist, "It's morning. You need to eat."
"Don't treat me like a pet!" Nian pouted and pointed at him.
"I'm not," Lin Ye chuckled, "You're my little sister."
The finger that she was pointing at him lost its heat and bent down. Lin Ye glanced away from the finger and to the owner. Nian's face was slightly red now. She pulled back her hand and let the two dangle to her side.
"That was not supposed to happen." She muttered.
Although her head was lowered down, Lin ye could easily see the slight red colouring of her ears from here.
Seemingly recovered from what Lin ye just said, Nian rummaged through her hoodie's pocket and pulled out a small notepad. Seemed he made the right choice in buying her a hoodie that was far bigger for her at the time. Nian perfectly fits into it now.
Let's focus on how my little sister is now a full-grown adult.
As Nian was going through the pages of her notepad - flipping through it page by page - Lin Ye walked behind her and glanced at what she was reading.
Scene 1: The main character appeared behind the male lead(ML)
Scene 2: The female lead(FL) announces herself to him.
Scene 3: FL heats up the room they were in.
Scene 4: FL challenges ML.
Scene 5: ...
Scene 6: ...
And the list went on.
Is she doing a movie?
Lin Ye raised his brow at the thing writing on the notepad. A light chuckle passed through his mouth.
"What is that, Nian?" Lin Ye hummed, "Are you making a movie?"
Although he knew what this was, at least he could talk to Nian about something.
Just noticing that he was behind her, Nian spun her head and stared at him with wide eyes.
Nian glanced at the note in her hands and back at him, "This?"
Seeing how confused she was, Lin ye smiled, "Yeah."
Without moving, Nian raised the notepad and gave it to him, "... Something like that."
With the notepad in his hand, Lin Ye read what was on it.
Nian spun around and faced him, waiting for his reaction. As she stood in front of him, Nian saw how serious he was reading her notes. Slipping through the pages slowly.
... It slightly made her fiddle her fingers, not liking how long he was taking his time in looking through it.
After what felt like an eternity passed, Lin Ye finally was on the final page of her notepad.
Then he closed it and lifted his gaze towards Nian, "When did you write this?"
Lin Ye's question surprised her but she managed to answer him, "Just this morning."
"Oh?" Lin Ye hummed, "So that's why you did not answer when I called you earlier this morning."
Nian's confused look was enough for Lin Ye to know she was too engrossed in her writing to not notice him.
It seemed that Nian was influenced by watching a lot of movies with him and FEater.
He chuckled, making Nian blush.
Then he looked back at the notepad and to the bed. An idea popped into his head. With his mind now set, he walked towards the bed and sat on its edge. Lin Ye raised his head and looked at Nian.
"Come here," He patted beside him.
Nian sat next to him and stared at him confused.
"You have a pen on you?" Lin Ye asked.
Although she was confused, Nian still pulled out a pen from her pocket and gave it to him. Lin Ye gladly took it and opened the notepad again.
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
The answer that she got was Lin Ye moving closer to her and holding the notepad closer to her face.
"Your story is fine but you need to change something," With the pen in his hand Lin Ye tapped on a scene, "Like this scene. The ML and FL will fight to the death. While it does sound cool, you did not establish these two characters well enough."
"What do you mean?" Nian moved in closer to him.
"Like who are these characters? What are they fighting for? What relationship do these characters have with each other?" Lin Ye explained as he wrote all of this on the notepad, "It helps the viewer relate to these characters more, making this fight more impactful to watch."
Nian nodded seriously as she listened to all Lin Ye was saying.
"How do you do that?" She asked.
"Do simple things. Like, add flaws to them," Lin Ye tapped on the word ML, "For an example, the ML. If you want to make him more relatable, add flaws to him. If he's strong physically, make him weak in other aspects. Mentally? Emotionally? Both?"
Then Lin Ye wrote the word people on the notepad and drew a circle around it.
"People are flawed beings. No matter how perfect a person could be on the outside," Lin Ye smiled, "And sometimes cracked things make them more beautiful," He said. Lin Ye turned his gaze to Nian and patted her head, "For example, your sword is one of the most beautiful things I saw."
As she was being pat, Nian stared at Lin Ye under his hand. She even leaned into his hand to get more heat from his hand.
Then she caught herself and pulled back. Nian shot up from the bed and pointed at him with a glare on her face, "This is not what should happen!"
Lin Ye only raised a brow at her sudden outburst, "Huh?"
With her finger still on him, Nian yelled, "I should take my revenge for the embarrassment that you made me go through!"
"Embarrassment? Was being my little sister an embarrassment to you?" Lin ye looked hurt now. He lightly lowered his head at her, "Sorry for that."
"No! It's not - I mean -," She stumbled with her words. Nian saw his head raised and stared at her confused. Seeing this, she managed to mutter something to him, "I was just joking."
Hearing this, Lin Ye sighed in relief, "That's good. I thought I was a bad brother for a second."
Lin Ye pushed himself up and walked towards her. Now with only a few inches apart, Lin Ye got to see how different she was now. The most noticeable thing was her height. The child was just as tall as his waist was gone. Replacing her was a woman who was a few inches shorter than him now, about eye level now. The hoodie that he bought that barely fit her was now perfectly suited for her now.
Although they were completely different, Lin Ye smiled at her just the same. She was still the same Nian that he knew.
He smiled at that thought and patted her again, "Let's go and get something for you to eat. I heard there are some spicy dishes served here."
Although she was about to say something, when Nian saw him smiling at her like he usually does, she could only sigh and let her hair be messed up by him.
"Okay."
Lin ye chuckled at her reply.
After a while, Nian spun around and walked towards the door, "Let's just go already. You're lucky I'm hungry."
Although she sounded rude, Lin Ye chuckled at how red her ears were.
As Nian was opening the door, a black sword sudden appeared on her next. She stared at the blade blandly and followed it to where its owner was glaring at her.
Skadi glared at the dragon as she aimed her sword at the divine being's throat, "What were you about to do?"
At first, Skadi was about to go to the dining hall to get something to eat. She overslept because of some... thoughts she needed to deal with yesterday. As she was passing the other's room, Skadi noticed that one of the rooms was hotter. Like it was more of a sauna than a bedroom.
When she saw the door of the room open to the sight of this person appearing with Lin Ye not far behind her.
Although there was a sword on her neck, Nian did not seem bothered by her situation now. Heat slowly radiated from her body, making Skadi's body tense. Just as the two were about to react, a voice stopped them.
"Skadi? What are you doing?"
Both of them turned their gaze towards Lin Ye, seeing him looking at them confusingly.
"She was about to hurt you," Skadi explained first.
"Ah, that," A troubled smile appeared on his face, "She was just joking. Don't worry. Let's just get something to eat."
Skadi did not get the chance to say anything when Nian walked past her.
"Like he said I did not want to hurt him," Nian said. Then she smiled at Lin Ye, "He's my Gege after all."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Discord
Edit: Jaq