Fire in the Sky

Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance (Vyse x Fina)

Timeline: The end of Skies of Arcadia and onward

Summery:

Soldiers still loyal to Glacian have revived Ramirez and begun to rebuild

Glacian's armada. Will Vyse and company be able to defeat this threat

or will this truely be Arcadia's end.

Chapter 1: "Victory"

"Pirate's Wraith," I shouted, as I brought both of my cutlass' down on Ramirez's wounded body in an X-like slash, effectively ending the battle between us.

"No, this can't be happening!" Ramirez screamed as his and Zelos' melded bodies finally gave up from the force of my attack. "Aarghhhhhh!!" Ramirez screamed one final time as he and Zelos' combined form dissipated into the air leaving only Ramirez's fragment of the silver moon crystal glimmering on the battered deck of the Delphinus.

"It's finally over," Fina said in a hushed voice as I walked over to where the last piece of Ramirez lay and carefully picked it up.

"Fina, Ramirez lived in the skies and died in the skies. We sailors, when one of us dies, it is customary to return the body to the skies. Would you mind if we did the same for Ramirez?".

"No... please go ahead," Fina said, forcing a weak smile on her gentle face.

I walked over to the opposite side of the deck, while staring at the small, glowing crystal in my right hand. "Ramirez, may you rest in peace," I said as I brought my arm back and, using all of my strength, threw the tiny crystal from the Delphinus and watched it disappear into the horizon. I was brought out of my daze by the rumbling coming from the lost continent Soltis. The entire continent broke apart and once again sank beneath the clouds into deep sky, disappearing before our very eyes to sleep once again in darkness.

"Goodbye Ramirez," Fina said in a voice just above a whisper. There was a moment of silence on the deck of the mighty airship before someone spoke.

"Well, what now?" Aika asked with a bright smile on her face, her voice full of confidence once again. "We've already sailed around the world, and there's no use for the moon crystals anymore," she said, turning to Vyse.

"Since when did we need a reason to sail? We're still young, who knows what kind of trouble we can still get into," I replied, a smile on my face as well.

"Haha, so what's next Captain Vyse?" Aika asked me while nudging me with her elbow and stressing the word "Captain".

"Ummm Vyse, Aika I... I have something to ask you," Fina said in her polite, curteous tone. "I would be honoured if you would allow me to continue to sail with you."

"We wouldn't have it any other way," I replied.

"Of course you can sail with us," Aika said while leaping into Fina's arms, hugging her tightly.

"Well, well. It's all so touching," Gilder said from behind us.

"Hey, why don't you all come with us?" Aika asked, her hand interlaced with Fina's.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Gilder said with a shrug. "But I should probably get back to the Claudia. My men must be going crazy without me. I'll continue my search... for the good life."

"I've decided I want to be a fisherman again," Drachma interjected with his rough voice. "I want to live the rest of my life in peace. Out of respect for Jack... and for Rhaknam".

"Enrique, how about you?" Vyse asked the young Valuan prince.

"I must return to Valua. Someone has to organize the survivors and start rebuilding."

"I understand. Good luck everyone."

"Hey, what about us" Daigo, the Yafutoman prince, called from above.

"Yes, what about us?" Clara called from the Primrose, "Aren't we your friends too?"

"Clara please, we just saved the world together. Can't you just enjoy the moment?" Centime, the kind engineer, called from his ship, the Ironclad.

"Son," Dyne said from the deck of the rebuilt Albatross, the Albatross 2. "I'd be honoured if you called me dad from now on."

"Hey, when can we get something to eat around here?" Gordo, the former black pirate turned resturant owner, called from the enormus dining table set up on the bridge of his ship the Bloodlust.

Baltor, the nefarious black pirate, yelled from his ship, the Blackbeard "Aye, the big fella has a point. I think this calls for a party."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha, I never thought I'd agree with Baltor." Thrusting my fist in the air, I yelled out, "Everyone back to Cresent Isle for the biggest feast in history!". A resounding, "Aye, aye," echoed through the air as all the remaining ships in the makeshift armada headed off towards the small island, with the Delphinus leading the way.

The victory celebration lasted all night with food, loqua, music and dancing. Drachma was sharing stories with other sailors at the hurridly-constructed bar, Enrique was slow dancing with Moegi at the top of the small cliff that overlooked the pond, and Aika was dancing with many of the other girls from the Primrose.

"Thank you, Captain Vyse, sir, for the dance," Belle said with a curtious bow as the current song ended.

"No problem, Belle," I replied with a smile. "And you don't have to call me sir."

"O..ok, thank you again," she said sweetly as she ran over to Aika and her friends with a bright smile on her face.

"Excuse me, pardon me, com'n through," Gilder said as he pushed through the crowds toward me. "Hey, Vyse, is this a party or what?" the whimsical pirate asked, his voice slightly slurred. "And what are you doing down here when their's a pretty young girl up there," he said, pointing to the meeting room.

"Gillllder, where are you?" Clara shouted over the sound of the music and conversations.

"Oh...uh, see ya, Vyse," Gilder said as he took off, trying to lose himself in the crowd, with Clara in hot pursuit.

"Heh heh heh, good luck Gilder," I said as I made my way over to the bar and took two glasses of wine, then over to the small elevator and up to the balcony outside the meeting room. Fina was there looking up at the firey red moon over Nasr, the light reflecting off her robe and giving her a angelic appearance. Before her, all I could say was, "Hi".

"Vyse, hi," Fina said, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Uh... here," I said, extending one of the wine glasses.

"Th..thank you, Vyse," Fina said with a shaky voice, as she took the glass and walked over to the the small bench underneath the window and sat down. I followed right behind her.

"Are you ok?" I asked, taking a seat right beside her.

"I... I'm ok, Vyse," Fina said, playing with the wine glass in her hand. "It's just that Ramirez was my friend and now he... he..." Fina couldn't finish her sentence as she broke out into tears, dropping her glass on the floor. I stared at her for a moment, and before I could think of anything to do, my body did it for me.

"Fina, I'm sorry," I said as I wrapped my arms around her, embracing her. She stopped crying as quickly as she started and looked up into my face with her beautiful emerald eyes. I wiped away the tears flowing down her cheeks, "I'm sorry."

"Sniff...Vyse..." she said, regaining her composure, but her voice still a little shaky. "Thank you for staying by my side today. I don't know if I could have made it without you." She finished by placing her head on my shoulder and returning the hug I gave her, as I kept one of my arms around her waist.

"Let's just try to have fun tonight, ok?" I said offering her the best smile I could, if it was one thing I couldn't stand, to see it was her crying.

"O...ok Vyse. Your right. This is a celebration. I'll try to have fun."

"Alright then," I said, standing up and offering her my hand. "Do you know how to dance?"

"No, not really," she replied, staring at me.

"Then I'll teach you," I said with a grin as I helped her up. After she was standing, I palced my arms around her waist again, and she placed her arms around my neck as we began to sway back and forth. The music and celebrations began to fade away, as I concentrating only on the girl in my arms and the fact that now Arcadia was free.

End of chapter 1