AN: Thanks to all reviewers. It's encouraging.
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Chapter 3The Color of Hazard
Fuji Syusuke, resident magician and infamous member of the Seigaku crew, the masters of the Eastern Seas, was a curious person by nature. They had put in at port earlier that week for the sake of provisions. Having been eating fish and select seaweeds for three days before that, Momoshiro and Eiji had been on the verge of going on strike. Not that they had had anywhere to go other than into the sea, Fuji reflected, but Oishi had insisted. At the very least, it was vital that they replenish their supply of fresh water. The water that Fuji created out of the salty sea waves could be drunk by no one other than himself. The spicey flavor inevitably added to rather than detracting from the need for spring water.
He hadn't done it on purpose, really, he hadn't. It wasn't his fault that he liked spicy foods.
But that was beside the point.
What they had not expected to receive while on land was the addition of a new member to their crew.
"Looking for something?"
The figure perched upon the rail started, falling backwards from the thin support with a surprised gasp. Fuji caught him before he could hit the deck and startled, golden eyes stared up at him for a moment before the boy scrambled away, scowling.
He moved as one hunted, always alert and tense like someone who was accustomed to being tricked. The dark green tunic and black leggings he had selected from their cargo hold only served to accent his oddly pale skin and intense, golden glare.
Chuckling softly, Fuji leaned casually against the railing where the boy had been but a moment before.
"Were you looking for something?" he repeated, glancing down in toe the water, flecks of foam sloshing against the sides of the vessel as it cut through the surf.
Regarding him warily for a moment longer, the boy shook his head and looked away.
To say the least, Fuji was intrigued. What is he hiding from, I wonder? Or more importantly, what is he hiding?
As soon as he could, Ryoma escaped the magician's presence on the upper deck, swinging himself easily down hatch and descending the ladder quickly. The narrow hallway at the bottom was deserted for the moment. Leaning against the wall beside the door to his tiny room, he closed his eyes, fighting the dizziness that swept over him. Grasping at the pendant that lay hidden beneath his tunic, he took several deep breaths, waiting for the spasm to pass. He could sense the ocean all around him, uncountable phantoms of water stretching far below him, immovable and ancient, and it soothed him.
When the pain had gone, Ryoma stumbled into his room and shut the door, bolting it securely behind him before sitting down on the bed and pulling the pendant free of the fabric. The emerald lay sparkling in his palm, mocking his weakness. He growled, stuffing it back under his shirt. Damn those navy soldiers and that forsaken pirate crew before them. What had they fed him? Poison?
Dropping back on the cot, he pulled the blanket over his shoulder and curled up on his side. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, groping for the power he knew was there waiting to replenish his exhausted strength, but there was nothing, just a slippery, magical barrier like a glass prison around his mind.
With a sigh, Ryoma rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling of wooden planks. Maybe he was just tired. Heaven knows all the running over the past few months had worn him out.
Running. That was all he seemed to be doing of late, running from the wind and the waves and the people who rode them, pirates and navy alike. The lacerations across his back still stung to some degree—not enough to impair his movement but just enough to be irritating—and his head ached from the batter of the wind and the rain. But the bed was warm enough if nothing compared to the lazy lagoon he'd awakened in all those months ago.
Well, better get some sleep, he supposed. The last thought in his mind as he drifted into an uneasy sleep was, how in the world was he going to get off this ship?
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The smooth, black surface hummed beneath his boots as Mizuki stepped aboard, surveying the vessel carefully. Sleek and small, the ship was built for speed, the sparkling, enchanted nets draped about its transparent gray sails like clouds of silver and woven mist that shrouded it in an elusive, flickering aura. Most remarkable, however, was the fact that the entire ship seemed to have been made of glass.
"And you're telling me this is seaworthy?" he asked incredulously, tapping the polished black surface beneath his feet with a toe. "It's not going to shatter into a million pieces the moment we meet a wave of any substance?"
The sailor glanced at the captain's badge on the navy officer's pristine, black-violet uniform and snapped out a smart salute. "Yes, sir. It's the newest stealth model in the service, fitted out with the best spells our mages can offer. It's been in testing for the past year but it's finally ready to go."
"And what is it supposed to run on?" The captain raised his eyebrows at the netted sails.
"The nets don't interfere with the sails." The sailor grinned at his superior's obvious interest, proud to be a member of the Medusa's first crew. "Those nets are specially developed for the capture and restraint of magical beasts."
"Is that right?" Shading his eyes, Mizuki ran his gaze over the silvery nets once more with sharpened curiosity. The escape of his last catch was still eating at him and he could hardly wait to begin the chase once more. And of course, there was always that damned magician. His fists clenched and he ground his teeth as that perpetually smiling face flashed through his mind. He always seemed to be stealing things out from right under Mizuki's nose. But not this time, he promised the horizon silently. Not this time….
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"Nya! Who's cooking tonight?" Eiji bounced into the long, narrow room that served as the crew's dining hall and dropped onto the bench beside Oishi. "I'm hungry!"
Glancing up from a map of the nearby regions, the black-haired man frowned uncertainly, casting an evasive glance at the closed kitchen door. "Well…. I think dinner's going to be served soon. Meanwhile, why don't you go get the others? Tell Momo he can take a break from the crow's nest for now. Fuji says we don't have anything to worry about for a good hour."
The redhead didn't seem to notice his best friend's unease, dashing out of the room with a gleeful shout. As he disappeared down the hall, the first dish appeared on the table—a vast bowl of steamed and salted vegetables from their time in port. With a sigh, Oishi folded his map and tucked it into his coat pocket, trying his best to ignore the red mixed in with the selection of greenery. By the time the first of the crew began to arrive, the table was set for seven and all the food was laid out in a colorful array.
Chattering incessantly, Eiji guided a still drowsy Ryoma to the seat between him and Momoshiro. "The food smells wonderful, doesn't it, Ochibi? We usually only eat two meals a day, sometimes with a snack in between. But we never know when we can re-supply. Every dawn and evening, some of us are assigned to fishing duty. I'll show you tomorrow." Abruptly, he paused and scanned the other occupants of the room. Something was wrong. "Where's Fuji?"
The implications of this were lost on Momo as he snatched up his fork and all but attacked a plate of fresh fish. "Ah, who cares? The more for us."
Just as Momo moved to place the fish in his mouth, the kitchen door opened at last and said magician stepped into the room, a soup ladle still grasped in his hand. Everyone froze. The fish meat dropped from Momo's fork as his bottom jaw hit the table.
Everyone's eyes turned towards the platters of food, frozen in the act of reaching for their dinner—everyone except Ryoma. His golden eyes still half closed in sleep, he picked up his fork and stabbed a of the miniature rice ball. Five pairs of fearful eyes followed the morsel's journey to his mouth while Fuji tilted his head to one side, curious. The rice ball disappeared and their newest and unsuspecting member chewed…. And swallowed. Eyes closed, Ryoma reached calmly for his water glass, downed it, then reached for Momo's and drank that down too. That done, he reached nonchalantly for the fish.
Even Fuji's eyes were open in surprise.
"Ochibi?" Eiji ventured worriedly. "Are you all right?"
Ryoma blinked sleepily, glancing up at the faces turned towards him in confusion. "Uh?"
Momo exploded. "Oi, Echizen! What'd you drink all my water for? Don't just keep eating and ignore me! Haven't you got any taste buds at all? No one keeps eats Fuji's cooking after the first bite without serious preparation and long years of endurance."
Kaidoh hissed in agreement. Suddenly, the violet-eyed youth stopped ranting and turned slowly to stare at Fuji. The magician had raised a slender hand to cover his mouth and his shoulders were trembling.
Fuji Syusuke was laughing.
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He and his men had come upon the beast mostly out of chance. Marking the progress of the speeding black vessel on the maps spread out before him, Mizuki narrowed his eyes at the spot marked with an X in the middle of the Trickster's Sea through which they were traveling now. It had been storming, the shrieking, serpentine creature thrashing in the foaming waves as it tore through their weighted nets, blood streaking its beautiful, emerald scales. It had completely torn apart the ships they'd been called to assist before they'd managed to subdue it, smashed their sturdy boards to mere splinters.
But it wasn't the lives lost in that catastrophe that bothered the captain now. The men and women had been honored and immortalized upon the obsidian obelisks before the navy headquarters. As far as he was concerned, that meant it was all in the past. No, what bothered him now was the equipment that had been lost to the dark, raging waters, irreplaceable equipment worth tens of millions of gold pieces. The sorcery required to forge such equipment had been lost eons ago and it had only been their great fortune that Mizuki had been able to procure five of the seven sets historians estimated to still be in existence in the world. Thanks to the accident, that number had now been reduced to three.
"Captain." One of the sailors appeared in the doorway, clearing his throat. "We're getting close, but something seems wrong. The weather patterns and the currents—we've never seen anything like it."
Pushing back his stool, Mizuki stood, snapping the maps shut with a brisk flick of his wrist. "It's as I suspected. Slow down the ship and wait for further orders. I've got to take a look at this myself."
"Sir," the soldier ventured cautiously. "There's something unnatural about everything out there. I'm not sure it'd be best for you to be heading up right this minute."
The captain brushed past him disdainfully. "I am a magician, soldier. I know what I'm doing."
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It was the middle of the night that the warning came, a loud shout from Eiji whose turn it was to perform lookout duty. Ryoma woke with the nervously excited cry ringing in his ears and immediately rolled onto his side, fighting the urge to empty the contents of his stomach onto the floor. Something very wrong was approaching, something that made his skin crawl and his stomach lurch in protest. Scrambling out of bed, he darted into the hallway and up the ladder through the open hatch as the doors of the other rooms slammed open and confused talk cut over the lash of the waves.
"What is it?" Momo had his saber drawn as he vaulted onto the deck, staring around wildly. "Are we under attack?"
"Look! Look!" Eiji swung down the ropes from the crow's nest to the deck, pointing at something in the water.
Leaning over the rail, Inui adjusted his glasses, squinting intently into the foaming water. A faintly glowing bit of debri was clunking softly against the side of the ship. Despite the strong currents and gusting winds, the object drifted gently as though uncaring of the wrath of nature. "It appears to be something off a smashed vessel. I can see bits of wood and some broken planks going by. Shall I fish it up for a closer look?"
"Well, seeing as we all know how interested you are," Fuji murmured. "Feel free. It appears rather…. interesting. I wonder what could have happened to the other ship? We might have to be wary. I haven't seen a ship totally destroyed like that since the last mage battles up north."
Unhooking a bundle of netting from the side of the ship, Inui and Kaidoh cast it down into the water. The object was heavier than it looked and it took all their strength to haul it aboard. By the time it clunked onto the wooden boards, both were panting heavily.
Unable to wait, Eiji fell upon the bundle, pulling the net loose and tossing it aside to reveal an oblong box. Running his fingers along the cold, smooth surface, the redhead frowned. "But it's metal! How can it be made of metal, nya? It was floating!"
Even as he exclaimed in surprise, Inui was kneeling down beside him, feeling for some type of clasp or keyhole. But there didn't seem to be any. Muttering, he adjusted his glasses once more and frowned. "Stand back." As Eiji scrambled away, he let both his hands hover just above the securely melded lid and concentrated. For a moment, the box glowed white then—nothing.
Watching from beside the ship's rail, Ryoma breathed a mental sigh of relief. A light cough came from behind him and Fuji moved past him, standing before the metal container and gazing calculatingly down at it. A ghostly blue aura flickered around him as he passed his hand over the metal box and at once, runes began to trace themselves in sapphire light upon the lid. His eyes were open but narrowed, gleaming with the same icy, vibrant blue of the chaotic seas.
"Oi, Ochibi! We should get back." A hand closed on his wrist and Eiji hauled him back several yards to where the rest of their crew had gathered to watch. Wiping a hand across his brow, the redhead grinned nervously. "It's been a long time since I've seen Fuji casting spells that required this much power. For the future, when he does, you want to be as far away as possible."
"Is he good?"
"Good?" Momo clapped a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head in mock pity. "You mean you haven't heard of him? He's good all right, excellent actually. He's the Master of the Eastern Seas, but most people know him as the Devil's Magician." Shuddering earnestly, he added with a grimace, "Though if you ask me, I'd say he's the Devil Incarnate."
A tinge of worry tingled up his spine and Ryoma focused his attention upon the mage once more. All the symbols that had been forged into the metal sides of the object had been set aglow and any minute now, the box might be opened. As the sapphire light faded, he could have sworn he heard the soft click of the lock disengaging. But instead of stooping to open it, Fuji just stood for a long moment, staring down at it. Then abruptly he turned and smiled ruefully at them.
"I'm afraid I haven't had much luck either. I'll take it down to the cargo hold, if that's all right with all of you." That said, he picked up the metal contraption as though it weighed nothing and descended the ladder into the depths of the ship.
Eiji gaped. "Fuji couldn't do it? Nya, I wonder what's in it? It must be something really, really, really valuable!"
Valuable. The corners of Ryoma's mouth quirked upward in a dry, sardonic smile. The knot in his stomach had loosened somewhat but he could still feel the nausea waiting just beyond the edges of his consciousness to engulf him. There was no doubt that the contents of the container were valuable. One thing was for sure. He had to get rid of that box.
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AN: I'm sorry if that chapter wasn't as eventful. Still, thanks for reading and please review.
