"Wow, our ice queen can't wait to enjoy some alone time with her knight." Watching Zero and Lu Mingfei leave, first mate Grayson put on a teasing voice.
Ye Sheng and Aki exchanged a glance and smiled together. Selma came over when she saw them. "Are you two going to enjoy some alone time too?"
Aki immediately blushed and hurriedly waved her hands. "Ye Sheng and I are partners, not in that kind of relationship. Th-that's against the rules..."
"So if it weren't against the rules, you would be in that kind of relationship?" Selma gave Aki no room to escape.
"Huh? No, that's not-rules are rules. Even if Ye Sheng were my..." Steam practically rose from Aki's head as she began to babble.
"Selma, as an Executive Department intern, you need to respect your seniors, or we'll make life difficult for you later!" Ye Sheng hurried to her rescue, tapping Selma lightly on the head three times.
"Hehe, Aki's so sweet. She'd never make life difficult for me." Selma covered her head with both hands and stuck out her tongue. "Ye Sheng, does tapping me on the head three times mean you want me to come to your room in the middle of the night?"
"It means I want you to go back into your rock for three hundred years before you come out and torment anyone else!" Ye Sheng said in exasperation.
The Latina girl was full of mischief and loved studying myths and supernatural tales from different countries, especially Journey to the West. She had secretly assigned roles to everyone around her: Professor Mans was the Golden Cicada with his magical powers intact, and Ye Sheng was the odious Zhu Ganglie, who had stolen away Aki, the long-legged spider demon. Grayson was the tireless, uncomplaining Sha Wujing, while the true protagonist, Sun Wukong, was naturally the adorable and enchanting Selma herself.
But today's S-Rank had been too dazzling, too cool. With a heavy heart, Selma handed the role of Sun Wukong over to Lu Mingfei. Then who was Zero? Zero was Bai Jingjing! That was right-A Chinese Odyssey counted as Journey to the West too!
As a Journey to the West fan, Selma watched not only the 1986 adaptation but Stephen Chow's A Chinese Odyssey as well. She loved them both!
Then who was she herself? Chang'e? Oh gosh, that's a little embarrassing. If Zero were a little older, she'd actually be quite like Chang'e. A rabbit demon? But I love eating spicy rabbit heads. Being a rabbit demon might not be such a good idea...
It was over. The moment Lu Mingfei arrived, the entire fantasy stage play Selma had painstakingly constructed for this team fell apart. No, I have to change the setting, Selma thought. Once she returned to school, she would take an elective in Indian Mythology. Its wild imagination fascinated her too.
"Selma!" came the voice of the Tang Monk-no, the Golden Cicada-oh, no, Professor Mans. "What are you daydreaming about? You're the only one on this ship with nothing to do. Hurry up and put the brass jar in the storage compartment!"
"Ah, yes!" Selma hurriedly took the objective of their mission from Ye Sheng and hauled it into the ship's storage compartment with a grunt.
"Hmph, who knows what nonsense goes through her head all day," Professor Mans said, watching Selma bustle away enthusiastically. "She's certainly strong, though."
The brass jar was heavy, but it was still a piece of cake for Selma. With a burst of brute strength and a "Hup!" she took it from Ye Sheng. Holding the brass jar, she kept close to the wall and carefully descended the steps one at a time. The storage compartment was the first compartment on her left.
Selma entered the storage compartment, placed the brass jar in its cushioned rack, and tightened the securing knobs on both sides so it wouldn't slide out as the ship rocked. As she bent down to check that it was secure, her gaze swept over the upper half of the jar. A crack snaked down from the rim, extending roughly ten centimeters. Selma switched on her flashlight and leaned closer. The crack was pitch-black inside, its bottom invisible, but she could feel a faint current of air within, as though the jar were breathing.
"Ye Sheng, was this jar already cracked?" she asked, pressing her communicator.
"It should have been like that from the start," Ye Sheng said.
Selma glanced at the crack again, thought no more of it, and turned to leave the storage compartment.
The Moniach's interior was cramped, with pipes running overhead that forced her to duck every few steps. Selma followed the corridor toward the upper deck, involuntarily slowing as she passed the infirmary.
Selma stood outside the door for a while. She wanted to knock and go in to check on Lu Mingfei, but she hesitated, withdrawing the hand she had reached out.
Selma obsessively refreshed the Nightwatch Forum. She had been trying to figure out exactly what Zero and Lu Mingfei were to each other. Zero's aura was like that of Hades, her attitude toward the entire world one of absolute indifference and emptiness. Lu Mingfei, on the other hand, was like Persephone. Hades, the queen of that void, had locked all her attention, protectiveness, and special treatment onto a single point: Lu Mingfei, her Persephone. To outsiders, she was an iceberg, but inside, that iceberg melted for just one person.
Selma wasn't sure whether her judgment was right, but there was one thing she knew for certain: when Zero was watching over Lu Mingfei, she didn't want to be disturbed. Selma knew how to read people's moods too. She dared to tease Aki, but she would never dare interrupt Zero and Lu Mingfei's time alone.
Selma returned to the deck and saw Ye Sheng and Aki sitting on an overturned equipment case. Both had peeled off the upper halves of their wetsuits, and their quick-drying shirts clung wetly to their bodies. Each sat quietly. It was neither exactly deliberate nor exactly natural; neither of them simply made any move to break the silence.
Selma didn't go over to talk to them. At her age, she usually felt that every emotion in the world could be fitted into the framework of some story. Whether it was Journey to the West, A Chinese Odyssey, or Indian Mythology, there was always a ready-made role and plot waiting.
"Selma."
She turned. Professor Mans stood at the doorway to the wheelhouse, staring at her.
"Everything put away?"
"Yes, and the door's locked too!"
"Come help me compile the data."
"Yes, sir!"
Selma followed Professor Mans onto the bridge. He walked over to the helm and picked up the satellite phone. "Headmaster, the primary objective of the Kui Gate operation has been recovered. Everyone is safe. No fatalities."
A low, gentle voice came from the other end of the phone. Selma was too far away and caught only a few indistinct words.
"Yes, he really is outstanding," Professor Mans said. "Just as you described him. Even more outstanding, in fact."
There was another stretch of speech Selma couldn't make out.
"Understood. I'll bring them back safely." Mans hung up. "Grayson, tell the engine room to prepare to get underway. Once the rain eases a little more, we'll head out through the Three Gorges shipping channel and try to reach the Yichang stretch before dawn."
The Moniach's deck rose and fell gently in the downpour, like a great fish breathing slowly. A strange fishy smell drifted intermittently on the wind from downstream.
Selma sniffed and paid it no mind. She thought the first thing she would do after returning to the academy was take a hot shower, and the second was write a grand farewell ceremony for her Sun Wukong role-Sun Wukong's golden-hooped staff would officially pass to the S-Rank freshman Lu Mingfei, while she, Selma, would be promoted to Nezha.
Nezha was from Chinese mythology too, so it didn't count as changing the setting. Perfect.
Selma leaned over the ship's rail and looked out. The fishy smell grew stronger and stronger, and an enormous whirlpool appeared on the water.