Chapter 1
The Birth of a Legend
It is the Age of Pirates in the Spiral. From world to world, courageous men and women sail off in search of new lands, adventure, and treasure. For most pirates, treasure means riches within the Spiral. Others view adventure as the treasure. And there are pirates that view their crew as their greatest treasure. And for one particular crew, the latter had gotten bigger by five. In the realm of Skull Island, on a pirate ship with a phoenix for a jolly roger, the two captains smiled with joy as they watched six small figures in five different cradle-baskets.
Their daughters.
The husband and wife captains went over to each cradle and addressed a daughter. The first cradle had a blue blanket covering the firstborn newborn. Even when asleep, she showed signs of leadership on her face. The father placed something around his daughter's neck, a silver locket with their phoenix emblem on the front and her name on the back.
"This is for you, Victoria."
The second daughter slept with such grace under her purple blanket. This little one had developed a reputation of somehow leaving her cradle and make her way around the ship, much to the surprise of the crew. Like with Victoria, the two parents gave the child a similar locket.
"Try and stay put, Mary."
The third daughter was a born fighter and the fact that she was showing signs of fighting in her sleep didn't surprise them. The day the five sisters were born, she came into the world fighting. It was a bit tricky to place the locket around her neck, but the mother distracted her sleeping daughter with her green blanket while the father performed the task. Once it was done, he spoke to his wife.
"Ursa will defiantly strive to become the strongest."
"As long as she remembers to use that fighting spirit to help her crew and sisters." She replied.
The fourth daughter slept soundly in her red blanket, giving her curious eyes a rest. After placing a locket around her neck, the two waited until their daughter stopped showing signs of waking up before the mother spoke to her.
"Sleep well, Lydia."
The fifth daughter was asleep under her black, but the aura around her was as strong as it would be if she were awake. It took the crew's witchdoctor to tell the parents that their youngest daughter had the potential to become a great and powerful witchdoctor herself. After giving the child the locket, the father spoke to her.
"And you rest well, Maya. Don't want your magic to run out swiftly."
Once the last locket was placed, the two parents stood back and looked on happily at their quintuplet daughters. They have traveled the Spiral and saw many of its wonders and obtained vast treasure. But no treasure in the entire Spiral could match their children.
Suddenly, the sound of cannon fire snapped them out of their joy and brought their attention to the door to the cabin as one of their mates, a Marleybone-ian named 'Lucky' Jack Russell burst through the door with a sword in his hand.
"Captains Nightingale! We're under attack! It's the Armada!"
A sense of dread fell upon the parents as they burst from the cabin and looked off the port side. Sure enough, one of the dreaded clockwork ships was firing upon them. The new father growled as his wife gave orders
"Curse those automatons and their creators to oblivion!"
"Get someone down below for repairs! Musketeers, fire the cannons! Buccaneers and Swashbucklers, draw your blades! Witchdoctors, cast your spells!"
The crew obeyed as they followed their captains' orders. But as she looked to the attacking ship, the mother gave out another order.
"Jack, Milo, Birgus, Gaspard, Mike! To the cabin with further orders!"
The men responded as the mother returned to her husband.
"We have to send the girls off!"
The husband nodded and hugged his wife. Neither of them were sure if they would survive, but they were going to do what it took to make sure their daughters were safe.
As her husband manned the battle above, the mother entered the cabin and began taking each child from their crib.
"Men, we need you to do a very important task."
"And that is, Captain?" the nervous gray rat asked.
The woman responded by handing him Mary.
"Take each of my daughters to safety. Milo, take Mary to Mooshu. I have an old friend there who can find her a home."
Milo was surprised but managed to speak.
"Well, alright. What's his name, Captain?"
"Egg Foo Yung."
The rat remained silent but stunned as he took the purple clothed babe.
The mother then took the red blanketed daughter and brought her to Lucky Jack
"Take Lydia to Lord Reginald Spaniel in Marleybone. He is the best marksman I know."
Jack took Lydia as the mother continued with Maya and handed her to a human man with auburn hair.
"Mike, take Maya to Hatshepsut in Krokotopia. She will tend to Maya's mojo."
She picked up the struggling Ursa and brought her to a muscular crab-man.
"Grizzlheim will be best for Ursa, Birgus. Make sure she gets to Sven Svenson safely."
She then took up Victoria, who was wide awake and looking up to her mother before she was given to a Guniea Pig man.
"And finally, take Victoria to Cool Ranch, Gaspard. Deliver her to Wild Bill Peacock and Calamity Jane in Cooper's Roost."
"But why them? I don't recall you ever meeting them." Gaspard asked.
The mother replied, keeping most of the information enigmatic.
"Let's just say they're old friends from one of my first adventures."
The shaking of the ships cut off the conversation save for one. As the five crewmates began to depart, the captain spoke one last time to them.
"And thank you all. For everything."
The five men made their way from the cabin back to the chaos outside. As they made their way across the deck, they could see the enemy ship getting closer for the enemy to board. They were losing, and their lives were on the line.
Jack looked around until he spotted the lifeboats and motioned his comrades.
"This way, lads!"
The five charged their way to the boats, well…Milo was running like a coward as he kept Mary close. Upon reaching the boats, the five set the boat and began to board. Gaspard, Mike, and Milo took Ursa and Lydia from Jack and Birgus as they lowered the boat. Once the boat was in the skyway, they cast off, watching as those on the ship died or fled.
The last thing they saw of their ship, their home, was the execution of their beloved captains. Jack, Gaspard, and Milo removed their headgear as the five mourned for the captains, only for the silence to be broken by the coo of young Victoria. Remembering their mission, they sailed off to their destinations.
It took some time, but they were able to succeed before splitting off down their own paths. Jack chose to stay near Marleybone so as to keep an eye on Lydia from a distance as was Milo to Mary. Mike, however, suffered a fatal accident and was inadvertently brought back as a zombie. A common thing, but at least he still maintained his humanity. Gaspard was able to drop off Victoria with the people their captain told him about before departing, the same with Birgus after leaving Ursa at Grizzlheim.
Just the mother requested, the five sisters were adopted into separate households, never knowing of their heritage. Lydia was adopted by Lord Reginald and grew up in an aristocratic environment. But despite such a lavish life, Lydia wanted more and the Lord knew her pirate blood called her. So in secret, he would train her in the art of marksmanship. Give her any projectile weapon, such as rifles, pistols, even a bow and a quiver of arrows and Lydia would shoot it.
Mary was immediately adopted after Milo left her at Sujimura Village with a middle-aged goose. Egg Foo Yung brought Mary to a clan of Ninja Pigs where a couple wanted her. When the child was older, the entire clan took part in training her in the art of Ninjitsu, but the girl developed a cocky, mischievous attitude as well, which would sometimes land her in hot water. Like with her Marleybone-ian sister with guns, give Mary a blade and she will dance a deadly dance of blades.
As expected, Ursa fit in well in Grizzlheim. The young child sought every day to improve her strength from doing heavy chores to lifting whatever she deemed fit. Of course, she was stubborn and rebellious with a hot temper. So she was inducted as a Viking at a young age. Let's just say no one should mess with Ursa when she has a war-ax or a Warhammer in her hands.
Maya was brought to Krokotopia as promised, but her upbringing was a little harsh and not due to the weather. The cruel rulers in the kingdom Hatshepsut lived in thought it would be entertaining to watch children fight to the death. And among them, Maya was one of the 'contestants.' Thankfully, Maya was smart and before she was taken into the ring, she whipped up several potions that would induce her opponent into a death-like sleep, granting them time to escape hours later. In between rounds, her guardian continued her teaching via the Dreamtime, as magic was outlawed.
And young Victoria was brought to Cooper's Roost and to the two people her mother told Gaspard about. Unfortunately, neither of them could keep her. But after a day of discussing on what to do with the infant, Jane had to go to the neighboring city of Santo Pollo to smuggle supplies to the oppressed city with the infant strapped to her back. She had set the baby down only for a moment when a group of banditoads decided to kidnap and ransom the baby. But before their plan could be carried out, the local hero, a masked bull named El Toro, stopped the banditoads in their tracks. They surrendered when Jane pulled out her rifle on them. Knowing her reputation just as well as El Toro's, the group scattered, either fleeing or surrendering.
Shortly after that, El Toro disappeared as he usually did as Jane continued to try and figure out what to do with Victoria. She was ready to consider leaving her with the church when she was approached by the town's local aristocrat, Don Rodrigo De La Vega. Apparently, according to him, he observed what had happened from the shadows and asked Jane why she had the child in such a dangerous situation. When Jane told him about the child being an orphan and that her parents recently passed away, the ever-jovial, charismatic man became serious.
Jane remembered that Don Rodrigo himself was an orphan before being adopted by the late Don Rafael. To her surprise, the current Don, who was one of the last people she considered, offered to adopt the child as his own daughter. This was one time where Jane was unsure and so proposed a meeting between Don Rodrigo, Jane, and Bill concerning the girl's fate.
When the meeting came at the De La Vega hacienda, both Bill and Jane openly expressed their concerns with Don Rodrigo raising the child. They had left out the part about Victoria's pirate heritage, feeling that it was one thing that should be kept secret about the baby.
But Don Rodrigo countered strongly every time the two former members of the Magnificent Seven made an argument against him. He was well-aware that the child shouldn't inherit his traits, but he guaranteed that she would be given a home and a family who loved her. And when she grew older, they would teach her how to fight in case something should happen.
The argument could have gone well into the night had the baby Victoria did not begin to fuss. To Jane's and Bill's amazement, Don Rodrigo kindly took up the child in his arms and calmed her down, a gentle loving smile spread across his face. Both former gunslingers gave each other looks before coming to an agreement.
And so the next morning, Don Rodrigo De La Vega signed the papers that claimed Victoria as his child.
Like with Lydia, Victoria lived a life of luxury and grew a deep hatred for injustice. But what was different was the loneliness the child felt. Even though Don Rodrigo always made time, he was still a busy man. Victoria had servants and a nanny to talk to, but she felt something was missing. Something deep within her was telling her that something was incomplete. To drown out the feeling, Victoria De La Vega would study and practice medicine and fencing. She wondered every often if the feeling would be erased.
Then came the day of her 16th birthday…
