Voyage Of The Villainess

"Argh." Iris opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was multiple eyes of monkeys staring at her. She closed her eyes once again, to comprehend what was happening. \'Am I still dreaming? The last thing that happened was..."

She jolted up. "That\'s right! The ship is falling and then!" She clutched her head when a stinging pain throbbed from it. 

"The Master of our Great Lord is awake!" 

Iris was startled to hear multiple screams and cheers. And as she was even more surprised to see that she was in some sort of a stage or altar, lying in a flowery bed like some poisoned Snow White waiting for her prince. And in front of her were monkeys of different colors and sizes.

\'What the f*ck is happening? What is this place? Did I get transported to the Planet of the Apes or something now?\'

"Iris!" Iris turned her head when she heard Lila\'s voice who was on the verge of tears. "You\'re awake! Finally!" Lila cornered her in a hug.

"What is happening? What is this place?"

"This place is called Simia." 

"Simia?" 

"Yes, that is what they told me," Lila said.

"Them?" 

"Greetings, lady Lila and lady Iris." All of the cheerings stopped. Iris looked behind Lila and saw two ape beastmen approaching her. Somehow, a melancholy flashed towards Iris\' mind when she remembered Baru with those two.

\'Speaking of Baru, where is that white monkey? My Baru Jr.\'

At the exact time, Iris was startled when Baru, her white monkey jumped on her left shoulder.

"U-u-a-a-ah!"

"It\'s the great Baru!" Someone yelled from the audience. "Let\'s all, give our respects!"

Now, Iris was really beyond shock when all the beastmen monkeys kneeled down. 

"Lila, what\'s the meaning of this?" 

"Ah about that..."

"Allow me to enlighten you, master of our great lord." One of the ape beastman or more like an ape woman approached Iris. She was wearing a flowy long purple dress and had a smooth-looking mixture of black and brown fur.

"You are?" Iris asked.

"I am Fortia, Lady Iris." The ape woman bowed down. "The Chief of Simia Clan."

"Before Simia was established, our first lord, the great Simia, united every ape beastmen on the continent. He was the strongest among us and he was the only one who had silken white fur among the monkeys. From generation to generation, no one inherited his trait. That was why when we saw the Great Lord Baru, everyone believed that he was the incarnation of our great leader and founder. As the master of our great lord, we will do our utmost best to serve you."

Iris\' eyes almost sparkled from what she said. But she remained composed. "Serve me? What kind of service will you do?"

"As the master of the great lord Baru, we will serve you with food, offer you golds and riches, and we will see to it that your stay here will be to the highest quality of comfort. And we will be honoured if you command us of anything you wished."

"Hoho, really?" Iris asked.

Lila who was watching the whole exchange, was this really necessary right now? She had been a week in this place and there were no signs of their other crewmates either. When she woke up, they ended up in some forest. With Iris only by her side and Kayden seemingly watching them. But before she could speak, Kayden had already left them without saying anything. Then these ape beastmen appeared and claimed that they would help her and Iris.

Lila was quite troubled seeing Iris\' nonchalant actions since she woke up. \'Is she not worried about the others? We should leave here and look at the others. Maybe Iris will refuse the offer.\' But her thoughts were completely opposite to Iris\' response.

"Then, I will gladly oblige to your offer," Iris said with a huge grin on her face.

Lila\'s eyes widened but remained her mouth shut seeing the grinning face of Iris. \'Why did she agree? Now that she is awake, we should look for the others as well! She didn\'t even ask where the others were when she first woke up.\' 

"Thank you, lady Iris." Fortia bowed down. Her yellow-slit eyes flashed with malice which Iris failed to see. "Since you just woke up, lady Iris. Please have all this meal that the finest chefs of the clans prepared."

A table was brought in front of Iris. And soon ape beast women that were wearing green flowy tunics that closed to hanfus which was the first thing Iris noticed.

"Thank you for the feast!" Iris said with extreme delight as she eyed the food.

"Iris," the troubled and worried Lila, was interrupted by Fortia when she held her hands. 

"Lady Lila, you should join lady Iris as well to celebrate her waking up," she pulled Lila to a seat beside Iris.

"Lila!" Iris put a piece of bread in front of Iris. "Let\'s eat now. It will be a waste to not eat with all these delicacies in front of us." She said as she forked some roasted meat.

Lila clenched her fist that was in her lap. "How can she not be worried? Why is she not asking about our other crewmates?"

"What\'s the matter, Lady Lila?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Fortia. "Is the food not to your liking?"

"Ah," she started grabbing the piece of bread and started eating. 

"No, I am just thinking of something," Lila said while she was now continuously eating. She was also quite bothered that they were on some stage and everyone was watching them eat.

"Save it for later. Lila." Iris said with a huge grin, "and enjoy the food while some of it is still hot as well." Then she looked towards Fortia and the other monkeys. "You guys, why don\'t you eat as well?"

"We\'re alright," Forsia said. "All that food is for Lady Iris and Lady Lila. Please eat with your heart\'s content."

"Then, if it\'s alright, will be alright, if the next time we will eat in somewhere more inclusive and also our rooms to something more private. It seems my friend here was uncomfortable with the place with many eyes staring at her."

Lila glanced up. Yes, she was indeed troubled by that. However, that was not her worry right now. "Iris we need to look..." But her words were cut off again by Forsia\'s response.

"Of course, Lady Iris, Lady Lila. We have prepared your personal rooms and will be guided there once you finish your meal."

"Cool," Iris said. "You are that Lila! You don\'t have anything to worry about anymore now."

"Yes," Lila could only agree meekly in the end, as she scooped the bowl of soup that was in front of her. Her eyes were downcast and gloomy which didn\'t escape Iris\' probing eyes. But she just remained nonchalant as she talked with Forsia.

\'Since I met Iris, she was the one that Lila found among the crew to be very uncomfortable with. But she was also the one who was with Malaya the most. Why are you not asking anything about the crew? I have been worried all this time. Are you not worried about them, Iris?\' She thought as she ate her food in silence.

She glanced back towards Iris who was eating with great enthusiasm as if she was not worried about anything. 

After a few hours both Iris and Lila were guided towards their rooms. Their rooms were opposite each other. And to Iris\' observation, the whole place was screaming of the culture of the East back on Earth.

\'Ho, this is interesting. Back in Heliyas, I base the culture there in the classical western style. But to see this different culture. It meant that we made our way out of the Red Current.\'

"This will be your room, Lady Iris," Forsia said as she gestured to Iris\' room. "And the opposite room will be Lady Lila\'s room."

"Thank you," Lila said. She has been staying here for three days now. And she wasn\'t able to bring herself to be brought up to have her room and stayed with Iris on that stage while the others worshiped them like some deities. If not for Iris\' she thought she would never get out of that situation. However, her thoughts from earlier, was still not leaving her mind.

"Then if you have anything to require, Lady Iris. Please call any of the assigned servants. I\'m afraid that I will need to leave due to my work."

"Oh right, you are the chief here, we apologize if we bothered you with your work," Iris said.

"It\'s nothing to be concerned about. This is my duty as the chief, to serve the master of our Great Lord Baru." Forsia bowed down. "I will take my leave now." Then together with her three maidservants, they walked ahead.

Lila took this as a signal to enter her room. But she was surprised when Iris grabbed her hands.. "Let\'s have some quality time to talk in my room," Iris said as she pulled Lila to her room.