Chapter 1: First song

Ace sat on the railing of the stone bridge the over looked the harbor where the navy, merchants, and the occasional pirate would dock their ship as they went ashore. Ace had only been on a ship once when she had stowed away to get off of Tortuga. She hadn't known where the ship was headed and she didn't care in the least. Anywhere was better than that wretched little town of whores and drunks. The only thing that she ever liked was when she would meet one of the few nice men who would visit the island and show her their guns and swords. One even showed her how to handle them properly.

Ace thought back to her home as the moon rose over the water. It hadn't been a happy home, not even a home really just a small bedroom that she couldn't be in for the majority of the time because her mother had customers to entertain. She slept in the streets most nights unable to remain in the bars and whore houses.

'A child is bad for business…' Everyone had said.

Not that she could be considered a child after everything she had been exposed to. She had seen more things in four years than most women see in eighteen.

She was eleven and alone now. No one had paid her any mind since she arrived in Port Royal. She had made the docks her new home. She made some coin by helping the deck hands load up ships and the dock master with tracking down the owner of ships to collect pay for docking. She enjoyed the life more or less. It was better than being a bastard child on an island of whores condemned to the same life.

She watched as a new ship entered the harbor and lowered a long boat that was carrying a group of people. The small boat was being rowed right toward her and the bridge. She stayed where she was and simply watched as the boat arrived at the shore.

A group of armed men stepped out and than helped a gentleman out followed by a girl her own age. The girl looked over at her with confusion and hopefulness on her face. Ace waved at the girl giving her a kind smile in response to her unsure look. At this the girl smiled and waved back. One of the guards saw this and turned around to face Ace who was still atop her perch. The man gave her a small smile as if he approved of her trying to make the new girl comfortable in her new home.

As the large group left heading into town Ace returned to watching the moon and stars dance around in the sky in any fashion they choose. Oh how she envied them. They could do as they pleased and never have to worry about where they would sleep, where they could find work, or how they would eat for the day… They didn't have the everyday worries of a young homeless child.

Ace breathed out heavily kicking a rock into the water and watched as the ripples spread out until they simply faded away into nothing.

"Oh how cute you are!" A soft female voice said from behind her.

Ace turned around to find a young woman smiling down at her. Her hair was the color of sweet honey and shined even in the dim light of the moon. Her emerald green eyes bore down on Ace like a giant weight that she could not lift.

"Are you all alone?" The woman asked gently.

Ace simply nodded her head.

"Do you have a home?"

Ace shook her head.

"Any family?"

Again she shook her head.

"Can you talk?" This question seem to hold a letter of superior importance over the others for some reason.

"Yes." Ace replied.

Her voice was soft hardly above a whisper. Had the woman not been what she was she never would have heard the small reply of the young child before her.

Ace's voice was soft and soothing to the ears, much like a first drops of the early morning rains are such to the burns on one's body. It flowed from her lips like sweet honey giving her simple answer sounded as though she had been thinking of how to answer it for hours. Picking out the best pitch, tone, speed, vibrato, and tempo as to how to say just that one word. It had been only one word, but the very perfection of that one word made up Serena's mind for her. This girl was going to be project. This girl was going to save them from their curse one day, but first she had to know the curse for herself. She had to feel the pain and agony of having to feed off the only thing that really dictates when and how you die.

"Would you like a home? A warm bed? And some good food?" Serena asked in a careering gentle voice.

Ace had turned back around to face the harbor, but snapped back to attention at the return of the kind woman's voice. Ace took in what she was offering unable to believe what was practically being handed to her.

She could have a family. A normal family that wouldn't make her leave in the small hours of the morning and not let her come back till they didn't have customers to tend to. No. This would be a real family. One that would take care of her, make her laugh, and love her for who she was. She would belong somewhere. For the first time her life she would belong.

Ace jumped down off her perch and ran into the arms of the woman wrapping her in a giant hug as her answer. Ace breathed in the scent of the woman. She smelled of the sea in the early morning, it was the smell of new begins. And a new begin this was indeed.

Serena wrapped up the young girl in her arms and began walking toward the harbor. She held the small girl in her arms, preparing herself for what she was about to do. Serena hated how humans must be changed but there was no other way.

"Where are we going?" Ace asked in a small and tired voice. She had been drifting off to sleep.

"Home my dear… Can you swim?" Serena asked the still groggy Ace.

Ace simply shook her head as a response.

Serena looked over the edge of the dock she stood on. It had to be at least twelve or thirteen feet deep. Deep enough for a young girl that couldn't swim to drown without any questions.

"I'm sorry… But you'll get your home soon enough." Serena whispered to the now half sleeping Ace.

Serena lowered Ace down into the water and slipped in beside her before dragging her deep under the water.

Ace's eyes shoot open as she felt the cold dark water surround her small body. She struggled under the water to return to the surface, to return to life, to return to… to a life with nothing. A life of hardship and pain. As this thought past through Ace's mind she stopped her struggle and allowed herself be pulled back down to the harbor floor and into the caring arms of a warm woman. Ace forced herself closer to the woman holding her. Looking up at the surface of the water she could see the moon fading away to the harsh first light of the new dawn. The stars stopped their dance and the moon sank down below the water to rest until the next twilight when it would be free again.

As the new dawn began Ace let out her breath and took in the cold salt water into her lungs. Her vision blurred with spots of black until that was all she saw. Her world had gone black and cold. She would die now. She would leave this hell of a world she lived in. With a sudden burning pain and silent scream Ace left the world she had been born into.