It had been at least three hours since Philip left the room to find out more about the ritual and how much time you had until landfall. Before leaving, he told you that this was probably the best time to get some sleep but there was no way you were going to sleep on a boat full of cultists who had depraved plans for you. You had nearly paced a hole in the floor before sitting on the bed with your head in your hands, contemplating your life choices.
The door opening made you stand in attention and Philip slipped in glaring back at the door before turning a softer gaze to you.
"There you are," you let out a relieved sigh, though it sounded more worried than you had liked considering he paused with a look of mild surprise. Ignoring the slight warm feeling on your face from this stare, you force yourself forward. "Er... Well?"
Philip shook his head to snap out of it and cleared his throat.
"It's going to be cutting it close but I think I found a way off the ship," he murmured, moving closer so you could hear him. "There's a lifeboat on the starboard side that looks unguarded. They're about to call dinner, so when they do, we will act as if we are going to the dining hall with the rest but slip away when no one is looking."
You felt a wave of sickness come over you as you thought about what these people considered "dinner".
"I guess the myth of cannibal witches had to come from somewhere..." you murmured, linking your hands together and rubbing the back of one of them with your thumb. "Strange, I never ran into them in my time..."
"Who's to say you haven't? They all look normal enough for this place, don't they? You wouldn't know unless they did something to clue you in," Philip moved past you to gather the items on the desk. "From what I understand, they did to me what they've done to other innocents. Offered something under false pretenses and once they get them out to sea, they're more open about their intentions. Ugh, with how cheerful they were while discussing their plans for us, it makes me sick."
You nodded, picking up the idea that they had sold Philip the idea that they were going Selkidomus sighting, akin to whale watching in the human world, you guessed. Once Philip cleaned off the desk of his belongings, he turned to you.
"If I had known, I would have never involved you," he gave you a stern look and you nodded again.
"You've said that a dozen times already. I know," you sighed, remembering the near mental breakdown he had when he returned after finding out the truth. He paced the room, muttering it under his breath over and over again like a madman and saying some pretty violent things toward the partygoers that made you want to hide in the bathroom until he was done. The man was terrifying enough when he was angry, whatever that was, it was more so. He had to be masking and as scared as you were but refused to let you see it.
Philip opened his mouth to say something when a horn blared above you somewhere, announcing dinner. He glared up at the ceiling and whispered.
"Do you have your things, Dove?"
You clutched your satchel to your side under your cloak.
"Right. Stay close and do as I say. Remember, they still have an advantage over us with magic."
Hearing this, you reached into your satchel and made sure several glyphs were at the ready.
Philip led you out into the hall where several partygoers were heading toward the dining room. You felt him take your arm and link it around his with your hand held firmly in his gloved one. Someone behind you cooed and made a comment about how the two of you looked together and you felt your face warm again. You weren't certain if it was a genuine compliment or one to just butter you up considering your role later on. However, you couldn't help but look at Philip out of the corner of your eye.
They were right about one thing. He was very handsome. His eyes alone were a downright gorgeous blue and you had noticed over the time that he was around you, he was taking better care of himself. His beard was shorter and well-trimmed than it was when you met him. His clothes were cleaner too and his scent was a thousand times more pleasant when you were around him, as if he was putting effort into his appearance for you-
You shook your head. Stop. No. Pump the breaks. That was not happening, that was not going to happen, and you don't care how good he looked, he was still a dangerous man. A dangerous, handsome man who happened to do whatever it took to protect you...
"Are you okay? You look a bit feverish..." Philip's voice whispered as you glared off.
Your head perked as you felt the man start to move you away from the crowd and your heart started to race. This was it. Time seemed to slow down. It was like a suspenseful scene in a thriller movie where the protagonist was hiding from the antagonist and was mere seconds away from being found out. Unconsciously, your hand tightened in Philip's.
"Calm down, you're shaking like a leaf."
"I-I can't," you breathed, your throat feeling tight. A sudden thought was shoved into the forefront of your mind. This wasn't some campy horror movie. This was real. Surely, the people around you were watching you and Philip like hawks, right? The thought of so many eyes on you made things worse. How were the two of you going to pull this off if that were the case? If this was a constant thing, the partygoers luring unexpecting people into a trap, someone would have tried to escape right?
People around you started to mutter under their breath which didn't help things. Your chest felt tight and your breathing started to become short. The halls of the ship were becoming suffocating. Your body broke out into a cold sweat and you were beginning to feel dizzy with overwhelming nausea.
"Are they okay?" some of the voices around you echoed as they were slowly engulfed by what reminded you of static on a disconnected television. You felt Philip move and saw his mouth move out of the corner of your eye but you barely heard what he said with an expression of concern.
Your surroundings changed without warning, unaware that Philip had whisked you into a small, dark room where you were now facing him, clutching his arms.
"Easy, you're panicking," he whispered.
"Panicking..." You nodded, the concept clicking in your mind as your eyes fixated on Philip's vest. You threw yourself into a panic attack. Your hands tightened on his arms when you felt the slightest movement from him. "D-Don't leave... I-I need..."
"Only an act of God would make me leave you right now," he leaned to try to look at you. You flinched when you felt your hood being pushed back. "I'm here. Just focus on calming down. You're okay. I have you."
You nodded again and started forcing yourself through the motions of trying to pull yourself out of it. After a couple of minutes, you began to feel some semblance of normalcy and you began to talk to yourself under your breath.
"I'm okay... I-It'll pass... I'm fine..." You shut your eyes tightly and leaned forward, your forehead finding Philip's chest. "It'll pass..."
Philip stared down at you with a reddened, shocked expression which slowly faded into concern once more as his hands moved from your arms to slowly embrace you, gauging your reaction the further he went. Before you knew it, you were enveloped in his arms, prompting you to do the same. The brush of his ponytail against one of your hands caused you to take it and start kneading it between your fingers to help calm yourself further. The sound of his own heartbeat against your ear seemed to help. That, coupled with soft words of encouragement from the man caused any dread you had start to fade.
A knock on the door made you open your eyes. You weren't sure how much time had passed since this started.
"We're fine," Philip's voice answered a posed question. "We'll be right there! Just had a bit of an issue."
The sound of it rumbling against your ear made you realize you were still against his chest, only instead of standing, the two of you were on your knees holding one another. As much as you just wanted to shove him away, you found you didn't have the energy to do so. In fact, your entire body hurt to the point you didn't want to move. With a hiss, you forced yourself into a sitting position with a moan.
"Oh good, you got through it," Philip gave a sigh of relief. "You had me worried."
"It was just a panic attack," you side-eyed the floor with a glare. You had been in the Boiling Isles for how long and this was the first panic attack you had? Then again, nothing this dire had happened during your time. With a huff, everything started to come back to you before your eyes widened. "Oh god, I messed it up! We're not going to be able to-!"
"Shhhhh," Philip reached to grab your hands when you gripped your head. "Enough of that or you'll have another one. I already thought about it and I think it would be best if we did attend dinner."
"... What?! Are you out of your mind-!?"
"Listen. We will go into the dining hall and sit down. We have witnesses who saw this and know you may not be feeling well so when the food comes, act like you are nauseated and excuse yourself to the washroom. When you get there, stay there."
You stared at him as you tried to process what he was saying.
He gave you a slight smug smirk with a raised brow.
"Well, I get to play the part of your concerned husband. I'll give it ten to fifteen minutes before I come to find you, and we make our way to the lifeboat. Okay?"
"... What if I have another panic attack? What if it messes this plan up too?"
"Just breathe and focus on what we need to do. You were able to pull off calming down on your own, you can do this."
Biting your lip, you nodded. Philip quickly pulled your hood up, followed by his, got you on your feet, and whisked you out of the room and toward the dining hall. Several guests were standing outside of the room as if they were trying to eavesdrop but he waved them off, telling them that you were fine and it was nothing to worry about. You just weren't feeling well.
You did your best to stay calm, distracting your mind as much as you could while you were seated at a large table with Philip sitting close to you. This certainly wasn't what you had in mind. Instead of having multiple smaller tables scattered across the room like in a normal restaurant, there was one long table in the center surrounded by chairs and lined with a spread of appetizers that you were hesitant to try knowing the company you were temporarily keeping. In the center of the table was a better-sculpted statue of what this supposed "Slaytr" god looked like and it was quite monstrous. It looked like a literal demon from a horror movie, with jagged teeth, horns, and all. Could be what Satan himself looked like.
Almost immediately, Philip struck up a conversation with several of the witches around him and seemed genuine with it. This couldn't have been the same man you were planning to escape with. You were too physically and emotionally drained to follow his lead so as he conversed, you took a look at the food on the table and was surprised at how... normal it looked. Well, "normal" for the Boiling Isles, anyway. You were pretty sure a lot of it was stuff you couldn't eat so you only picked at the options you were semi-okay with. The fatigue you were feeling in the aftermath was hell.
Philip apparently thought it was time to move and you suddenly felt his large hand place itself on your upper thigh under the table with his fingers dipping into a sensitive area through your clothing. With a loud squeak, you stood abruptly and covered your reddening face. Did he just-?!
"Mourning Dove, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick again?" Philip's soft voice asked with a hint of concern in his tone. You could swear you could hear him suppressing a smirk, too. However, it did remind you of the plan, so instead of glaring in his direction, you nodded and rushed off toward where several fingers were pointing for the bathroom.
"That pervert! I'm going to deck him so damn hard when this is over with that'll rebreak his nose!" you huffed under your breath, trying to ignore how hot your face felt when you locked yourself in the bathroom. Instead of feeling tired now, you were angry. To try to combat it and keep yourself from giving away the fact you weren't technically "sick", you ran the water and splashed cold water on your face in an attempt to cool your thoughts. "And who the hell is he calling "Mourning Dove"! As if calling me "Dove" and posing as my husband wasn't enough!"
As you were drying them and muttering angrily under your breath to try to keep the image of his hand on a tender area out of your head, you heard the door open and without missing a beat, you turned and threw the towel at the face of the newcomer.
"I see you're feeling better," Philip chuckled before removing the towel and tossing it aside. "Let's put a pin in this. We have to move."
Begrudgingly, you allowed him to take your hand, and the two of you headed toward where he said the lifeboat was. The dread you felt earlier started to creep back but you did your best to swallow it down. It was okay. This time there was no one else around. The two of you would be able to do this, right?
"Keep watch while I do this," he ordered as he started the process of launching the boat. You nodded and moved to the corner of a nearby wall to see if anyone was in the area. Thankfully, it seemed quiet as if everyone on board had gone to dinner simultaneously, leaving no one to patrol the decks. A loud click and positive affirmation from the man caused you to glance back over your shoulder to see Philip rush to a nearby crate, pull what looked to be stored supplies out of it and begin to load them into the lifeboat. You caught sight of a couple of blankets, rations, and some other items you found strange but didn't question it. Once he was done, he turned to you and waved you over. "Come here, quickly now!"
You did as you were told and Philip wrapped an arm around your waist to keep you steady as you stepped in and sat on the first plank seat. He snatched up one of the blankets and wrapped it around you before going eye-to-eye with you.
"Stay under the blankets and don't move until I tell you, all right?" he whispered then pulled away. "Settle in, I'm going to lower it."
Your heart slammed against your rib cage as you felt the boat and yourself lowering below the deck. It wasn't long before it rocked, indicating it had reached the water without issues.
"O-Okay! I-I think that's it," you called out in a hushed tone, but when you glanced up, you realized Philip was no longer in sight. "Philip?"
Moments turned into minutes and the man didn't answer, causing a sinking feeling in your gut. Did he get caught? You clutched the blanket to you as you stared at the spot Philip had been. The only noise you could hear was the boiling sea below your feet and the icy cold wind tussling your hair.
"Come on, Philip... Where are you?"
The sound of rushed footsteps made you perk up and then immediately lower your head with the dreaded thought that it wasn't Philip. His form appeared at the ledge of the ship, and it quickly climbed down along the side and jumped down into the lifeboat. Relief washed over you as you watched him pull off his coat, snatch up the oars, place them in the oar lock, and then begin paddling away from the ship.
"Where the hell did you go?!" you hissed at him. His brows flashed before he gave an amused smile.
"What? Don't tell me you were actually worried about me," he rolled his eyes. You felt your eyelid flicker.
"You're such an ass! What do you take me for? Only a monster wouldn't be worried about you in this situation!" you scoffed angrily. This caused him to frown. "I just got over a panic attack, I'm still feeling the effects of it, and you decide to just disappear on a ship of cannibal witches without so much as a word! Tell me, who WOULDN'T be worried in that situation?!"
"Ah... I had not thought that through... I apologize for making you stress more. That was not my intention."
"Okay, then what was your intention of disappearing like that?!"
Philip watched you calmly momentarily before glancing over your head toward the steadily shrinking ship in the distance. As you opened your mouth to continue chiding him, a loud explosion made you jump and turn. Your jaw dropped at the sight of the ship looking like a raging fireball on the boiling sea.
