Second Love
Nasrad was a new city since the attack by Valua. After a year and a half the great Bazaar in the heart of Nasrad was finally building back up to its' former glory. Shops had re-opened and merchants returned. The economy was picking back up quickly, due in no small part to generous donations from Enrique, the new Valuan Emperor, who was dead set on atoning for the atrocities committed by his late mother.
The other economic factor that helped rebuild the Bazaar was Vyse the legend. Not only did he save all of Arcadia, but after the Great War he had also graciously donated the majority of his treasures found around the world and much of his plundering from fellow pirates to the Restoration of Nasrad. Any time supplies were needed on their Island, Vyse and his crew made sure to have everything imported from Nasrad. Although Nasrad was the closest port to their Island Base, Vyse would have imported everything from that desert city even if it were on the opposite side of the globe, so long as he knew he was helping rebuild the city.
Never one to have people do work for him that he could easily do himself, Vyse, along with his wife and co-pirate Fina, and best friend Aika, would do most of the necessary shopping themselves. Because of the diversity at the Bazaar, it was often difficult to find everything their ship and base needed at less than three different shops at different places in the Bazaar, so to cover more ground they would divide the list. Aika had realized after the first few visits that they divided the list in a way that required her to spend more time off the ship so that they could have their alone time. Apparently an entire island wasn't enough.
The redhead searched all the shops she could find for the items on her list, many of them she assumed to be made-up. As she continued going over the list, she failed to notice that she was starting to enter a part of the bazaar that was yet to receive any benefits from the boom in the economy, an area which was also frequent to thieves and gangs.
"Why do they always send me after the impossible things?" She muttered to herself. Then she noticed that it had suddenly gotten quiet. She looked up and saw not a single person in either direction. Never one to be afraid of abandoned alley ways, Aika calmly turned around and began heading back the way she came.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Said a gruff voice. Aika turned behind her to see a tall dark skinned man, probably a Nasrean native, wearing white pants of oddly high quality with a matching vest. "It seems you've wandered into my part of the bazaar. I'm afraid I'll have to be robbing you now." He said.
Aika rolled her eyes, pirate wannabe, she thought to herself. "I'm sorry," she started, "I didn't realize I had wandered into the trash heaps, I'll leave you to your refuse now." She said as she continued on her way.
"Why you little-"The man said, drawing a sword.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Mason," entered another voice. Aika turned to see a well built brunette young man, not much older than she, standing atop a collapsed building with some sort of fruit in hand. "Don't you know? That girl is with Vyse the Legend himself, I sure wouldn't want to make him mad if I were you." He said taking another bite of his fruit.
"Haha good, then I can hold her for a big ransom." Mason replied as he started running towards Aika.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." The young man said tossing aside the core of his fruit.
As Mason charged Aika stood in place hunching slightly in a defensive stance. Mason and his blade were but inches away when Aika shifted slightly, dodging the sword and at the same time pulling a small knife from within her boot. As Mason stumbled passed her she threw the knife and hit her target directly in the back of his calf muscle causing him to collapse to the ground. He let out a scream of pain as he pulled the knife from his leg tossing it on the ground; he then disappeared back into the debris of the Bazaar.
"Sure does run fast for a guy who just got stabbed in the leg." Said the strange young man.
"Friend of yours?" Aika asked.
"More or less." He replied. "Well just less actually. Most people here in this Bazaar know me whether they like it or not. I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dean." He said as he extended his hand.
"My name is Aika; it's nice to meet you Dean." She said.
"Likewise. Now then, can I help you with some shopping there?" He said pointing to her list.
"Yeah it would be nice to get some help from a local." She replied handing it to him.
"Alright then, let's see what we've got here." He took a quick glance over the list. "Well here's your problem." He said pointing to one of the items. "I'd be willing to bet my seven years of sailing experience that there's no such thing as bi-polycarbonate gear grease, or bi-polycarbonate anything for that matter. Unfortunately it appears that you have been had."
"Yeah I figured as much." She said a bit embarrassed.
"Well in any case, would you mind if I walked you back to your ship? When Mason gets embarrassed he tends to return with more man power."
"Yeah, that would be great actually."
As the two began heading towards the docks, Aika noticed that many of the local Nasreans were sending somewhat dirty glances in their direction, particularly at Dean who seemed to be accustomed to it. After a fairly uncomfortable twenty minutes, the two arrived at their destination.
"Well Dean it was nice meeting you. Maybe I'll see you again the next time we stop by." Aika said.
"Actually Aika, I was hoping you might do me a favor." He said. "Would it be at all possible for me to join your crew?"
Aika was a bit caught off guard by the request. Usually if someone wanted to join the crew they went to Vyse. In fact if people wanted anything they saw it fit to ask Vyse, Aika had always been a little Jealous of his fame. Nevertheless their new ship was short a few hands and it wouldn't be difficult to pay another salary.
"Well I can't really say for sure." She finally replied. "This sort of thing is really up to the captain, but if you want I can take on the ship and we could talk to him in person."
"That would be great." He said with a smile.
Aika lead Dean to the galley hoping Vyse would be there eating lunch, but much to her dismay he wasn't which meant there was only one other place he could be. Aika approached Emily, the crew's cook.
"Em, have you seen Vyse lately?" Aika asked.
"The last I saw him was about half an hour ago for lunch," she replied, " he was eating with Ms. Fina, and then after that they went back to their room. I could only speculate as to what they're doing in there."
"Please don't." Aika said. "Well Dean I guess we'll just have to wait a bit. In the meantime why don't you have Emily here cook you something to eat."
"No thank you, I'm not too hungry, although it would be great to get something to drink." He replied. Emily nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, then reappearing a moment later with a glass full of a purple liquid. "Thank you." He said as he took the glass.
Aika helped herself to an empty table and motioned for Dean to join her. He took the spot across the table from her. He took a big sip from the glass, the stopped abruptly.
"What is this?" He asked.
"That would be alcohol free Loqua." She replied. "A little while some of the crew got somewhat tipsy, and there was a bit of an accident aboard the ship, so as punishment Vyse is only buying alcohol free for the next few months."
"I see." He replied with a bit of a laugh.
"So Dean," she started, "I couldn't help but notice that as we were walking through the Bazaar, there were quite a few dirty looks shot in your direction. Care to explain?"
"Haha yes I was wondering when you might ask about that. Well let me ask you, what sort of person do you think the Nasreans might hate the most considering the recent past?"
"Just as I though, you're a Valuan soldier."
"Former Valuan solder." He said with extra emphasis on the word former. "A damn good one I might add seemed like I got a new promotion every week. I've even fought you, Vyse, and Fina a couple times too, both on land and in the sky."
Aika started to tense up a bit as he said this which didn't go unnoticed by Dean.
"Haha don't worry, I'm not here for vengeance or anything, and in fact I couldn't be happier you guys took down the monster the Armada turned into. Let me tell you a story. This story is about a boy, his mother, and his younger sister. One day the boy's sister and mother both became very ill, and because he didn't have a father, it was up to him to make money for medical bills. So this boy being as strong as he thought he was joined the glorious Valuan Armada which not only paid well, but was all too happy to cover any medicinal needs. He was first put in First Admiral Alfonso's unit. After a month of standard patrol the First Admiral was sent on a top secret mission that the boy could know nothing about, only that it involved capturing an oddly dressed young woman." Aika began to recognize this story.
"That same night, the ship was also attacked by two pirates, a young man with a cutlass, and a young lady with a very large boomerang. After defeating the Admiral, the two pirates took the young lady with them and let the crew of the ship, including the boy to return home. After being stationed with each of the Admirals at least once I, the boy that is, began to see more of the world and the way Valua was treating it. What he saw disgusted him, but unfortunately he needed the money very badly and there wasn't much he could do."
"Then one day, I was out on another patrol ship," He said abandoning the story format, "when I saw the strangest thing. A continent was rising from the cloud floor. After the continent had finished reassembling itself, I saw an even more curious sight as a strange beam shot from the tower of the continent into the sky, moments later I watched horrified as enormous yellow moonstones began battering my home of Valua. So I, along with a few other loyal soldiers, hijacked an elite vessel and did what we could to aid in the resistance. I returned home as quickly as possible, helping any survivors I could along the way, but when I got to my own home there was nothing but rubble. I never saw my sister or my mother again."
Aika's eyes began tearing up. "I'm so sorry." She said wiping away the moisture.
"Well it's all in the past now." He said. "I just wish I could have been there to help take down that bastard Galcian."
"So what did you do afterwards?"
"Well I took my ship which I had commandeered for the time being and though I would head out to join your crew then. I started running low on and fuel headed for Nasrad, but what was left of the Nasrean fleet blew my ship to bits, so I've been more or less stranded in Nasrad ever since, forced to live in poverty because no one trusted me enough to let me work. I figured one day you and I would run into each other and I could finally get out of that hell hole, which brings me to right now."
"Well Dean I can promise if Vyse says no to you joining right away I can bug him into letting you join with a bit of my persuasiveness, it's just a matter of breaking his spirits." Aika said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Really? Well that would be great, I really appreciate it Aika." He said with a smile. Aika was surprised to find herself blushing.
The two spent the next hour talking about their pasts. They discovered they actually had a pretty fair amount in common with each other. Everything from favorite foods to the loss of their families, the two seemed to be linked together.
"Well Dean," Aika started, "I think it's about time I go see if Vyse is up yet, why don't you wait here?"
"Alright then." He replied.
Aika stood from the table and began heading down the hall towards the captain's quarters. She found herself to be smiling the entire way down. After a short walk she stood outside Vyse and Fina's door, trying to listen for any activity. Luckily for her it was completely silent. She knocked. At first there was no response so she knocked again.
"What is it?" Shouted Vyse from behind the door.
"It's me." She replied. "Could you come out here for a second?"
"What for?"
"Just come here."
Aika could hear some stirring within their room. Then the door opened to reveal a slightly disheveled Vyse. Aika could see Fina still sleeping in their bed.
"What do you need?" Vyse asked, still groggy.
"Well I brought a new crew hopeful aboard, and I thought you could meet with him?"
"Couldn't this have waited?" Vyse asked as he stretched and yawned.
"Well we have been waiting for almost two hours now, and since you guys did send me on that wild goose chase earlier, I figured it's the least you could do."
"Haha alright then, let's me this guy, where is he?" He said now fully awake.
"He's in the galley."
The two walked back down the hallway. Dean stood up as they entered.
"Vyse this is Dean, Dean this is Vyse."Aika said introducing the two.
"It's good to meet you Dean. Aika here says you'd make a pretty decent sailor, care to go over your history with me?"
Dean replayed the story he had just told Aika, making sure to add in all of his sailing and engineering history.
"I see, that's quite the story Dean, I'm really sorry for your loss. I must say you're more than qualified, do you mind if Aika and I step out and discuss this a bit?"
"Not at all." He replied.
Vyse and Aika returned to the hallway out of earshot.
"So what do you think Vyse? Is he in?" Aika asked holding in her excitement.
"I don't know, do you think we can trust him? He's former armada after all."
"Kori and Foster are both former armada, and so far they've been valuable crew members."
"I know, but I can't help but feel like there's something he isn't telling us, and usually I'm right about this sort of thing."
"Vyse just don't worry about it. If anything does happen you can hold me personally responsible."
"Yeah, but what if something happens to you? I'd never forgive myself. And I can tell you're already getting a little too involved in this."
"Vyse don't worry, I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. Plus when is the last time you did your old pal Aika a favor?"
"Alright fine, he's in. But I want you to watch him."
"Oh I'll watch him alright." She laughed.
Vyse shook his head and walked back into the galley. "Alright Dean," he said, "You're in."
Dean jumped from the table. "Thank you Vyse, you won't regret this."
"Yeah I sure hope so." He replied, Aika elbowed him in the ribs. "Anyway, is there a particular job you feel suited for?"
"Well I consider myself to be a jack of all trades. I know my away around a boat, I'm a pretty good engineer, I know more than my fair share of cannons, and I'm a halfway decent cook. But I was really hoping I could fight alongside you and the ladies."
"Is that so?" Vyse said skeptically.
"It is indeed."
"Well then, let's see what you've got."