Reina, looking more than a little green, gripped tightly onto the railing of the boat. Her navy-blue hoodie was pulled up, in an attempt to hide the distress on her face from any who might see her.
She was going to die. Or, at least, be violently ill. The young woman had always been prone to motion sickness -- something that always bothered her, seeing as she couldn't read on moving vehicles due to this. To avoid the sick feeling, she had to be able to see that she was moving, along with feeling the movement.
And between the torturously long flight where all she could see was unmoving blue sky, and this boat ride where all she could see was unmoving blue water... well, it was really, really getting to her. It didn't help that she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in over two days now, courtesy of her nerves, motion-sickness, and insomnia.
Unable to register enough movement outside the boat to quell her queasy stomach, Reina shifted her eyes back towards the deck boat as she sighed. Her gaze met her guardian's, Reaper, who was floating a foot off the ground right by her (as usual). His skeletal body, covered by a black robe could be described as creepy, thanks in no small part to his hollow, black eyes. He slightly cocked his head to the side quizzically, asking her if she'd be alright. A small, genuine smile showed on the girl's face at the spirit's display of concern. "I'll live, Grim. Thank you," she said gently, using the nickname she had given him.
It was then that she heard a small scream that made her jump. Her head snapped to another girl, who had just rounded a corner and was the obvious source of the yelp. Her eyes were locked on the unsettling Reaper, uncertainty in her eyes as she took a few timid steps to move past them, her own guardian resting on her shoulder.
Reina flinched a bit at the girl's reactions, once again being reminded that these people were all like her -- everyone on this boat had a guardian as well, and they could see other guardians. It hadn't been something Reina had had to think about before today.
Quickly, she looked at Reaper and gave him a slight nod, silently asking him to turn into his butterfly form. He, as usual, obeyed without any hesitation, and a moment later a blue and yellow butterfly landed on Reina's raised hand.
"I-I'm sorry," she said to the girl with an apologetic smile. "He's, um, not really as scary as he looks..."
The only response she got was a curt nod as the girl kept moving past her, leaving her and Reaper alone again.
Reina swallowed hard as she looked down at the butterfly on her finger, feeling far more guilty than she should about the distress they had caused the girl. "Sorry..." she whispered to no one, her voice cracking.
She really must have been tired. To have to be holding back tears after something as small as that? How pathetic of her.
Reaper crawled along her finger, moving himself just an inch closer to her face in another show of concern. Reina forced a smile for him as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie, fighting back a sob. After a few more moments, she had herself mostly composed.
"Sorry, Grim, but please stay as a butterfly for a while longer, okay?" she said.
Reina couldn't remember the last time she had felt so relieved -- stepping off that boat had been an excellent feeling.
The sight in front of her was also quite amazing. All the new students like her were gathered, listening to a scatter-brained teacher greet them. Along with the students, of course, were their guardians. It was such a strange thing to see all these unique creatures at once, especially since she had only ever seen a few spirits before today. A few were in their butterfly forms, as Reaper was.
Still feeling a little queasy (though the feeling was mercifully fading) she pulled down her hood and followed the teacher's directions, entering the reception building and getting her class and room numbers: Class 1 and Room E77. Spending a moment to wonder what her roommate and classmates would be like, she shifted her focus on deciding what to do.
Seeing as she only had half-an-hour, it would be best to quickly head to her room to drop her things off, and then make her way to the courtyard to wait for the Headmaster's speech.
With an anxious excitement gripping her chest, Reina stepped out of the reception building and moved to start off towards the dorms.