Chapter 4 - Blind Date 101
The first-mate of the ship Soar shook in trepidation as he gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles had turned white long time ago. His gnarled fingers cramped into claws, holding on for dear life. The few sailors who foolishly stayed on deck slid and and tip over like a bad humpty dumpty eggs, trying, and failing to stand.
The ship's five masts moaned as runic winds, with hurriacane strength, literrally shot them across the tossing sea.
At the very helm of Soar was an ordinary man dressed in a priest's robe. He stood firmly before the howling malestorm, completely unperturbed. Despite his hair flying in a million direction, his eyes were wide open with the whitish glow of magic. Lips turned downward in a seemingly perpetual scowl, muttering a few chants ever few seconds to direct the winds.
"Don't you think we should slow down?" yelled the first mate at the fearless man.
Instead of replying, the malestorm strengthened. The entire ship groaned under the stress of the wind, flying faster than ever before.
The first mate fear that this might be a frighteningly short trip.
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"I hate parties," stated Gremio blandly when Tir suggested the activity. "Especially balls with all that...dancing."
"You have no choice," stated Tir just as blandly. He was the Young Master afterall. "My wish is your command."
"I never said that," grumbled Gremio.
"You might as well. I'm not giving you a choice," said Tir in an off-handed sort of way as he picked out cravats for the occasion. Kasumi selected fourteen of them, careful to ensure that the pair had enough color to match every occasion.
Gremio frowned. Tir had never been so straight forward about ordering him.
"How exactly are you going to force me, Young Master?" asked Gremio, puzzled. Had Tir became clever on him?
"Easy," said Tir mysteriously as he got into his formal garbs. Kasumi really did make sure they were well prepared. There were no doubt that they would be the best dressed Torans around. "I made a bet with Sai"
"What bet?" Gremio did not like the sound of this.
"For all your earning in the casino, I bet him that you will show up and dance one round with a lady in a blue dress." Tir decided continued to pull at the edges and seams of his clothes.
"No!" Gremio stated firmly, parking his bums on a chair. "I'm not going!"
Tir turned on a heel. "Why?" He crossed his arms. Why was Gremio being obstinate now? "It's only forty-thousand potch bet and all you have to do is show up."
"It's not that."
Tir stared at Gremio's constrained expression, trying to catch exactly why Gremio would not jump at the chance to gain some pretty potch. Then it dawned on Tir.
"Don't tell me that you don't know how to dance."
Gremio growled and looked away, not admitting to anything. "I'm not going and you're not taking my winnings from the casino."
Tir smacked a palm to his own forehead. This might take a bit more work than he first guessed.
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Bernadette touched her cheek lightly, feeling the flush underneath her pale skin.
"You look fabulous," praised Sai goodheartedly.
"I feel like a naked fool," said Bernadette dryly. "I've never gone out without less than half of my throwing daggers."
Standing tall with perfect posture, Berndatte took another sip of the wine. The military life had bestowed upon her a robust body and a sense of modesty that conflicted with her current dress code. The blue dress Sai had selected for her accentuated every curve and dip. The cut at the neck was low while the cut up to her theigh was high. Her shoulders were sensually bare; however she kept the long flowing sleeves, a style reminiscent of popular court fashion found in Falena.
The dress was so worthless that she could only conceal two dozen blades.
"You have mastery of a Flow Rune. I believe you can do without knives." Sai looked away, doing a cursory around the ball room.
The room was half full of people of varied background. This is a ball only for the upper echelon of the passengers, so the display of other guests was like a parade of gaudy peacocks.
After some time, Sai returned his attention back to Bernadette.
"Seen enough?" asked Bernadette. She had a good idea of what Sai was up to. Observation was the first and foremost tool of any statesman.
"Only that compared to the rest, you are most beautiful, Auntie," said Sai as he nodded toward the group of men who were openly ogling her. "The real fools are those who never realized it until now." Sai took Bernadette's hand and kissed it. "May I have this dance? Milady."
Bernadette chuckled and nodded. She allowed herself to be pulled along. Sai could be so effortlessly charming and gentlemanly. He was growing up just fine.
Sai selected a showy routine for the dance; he had to ensure that he could frighten away all possible suitors away from Auntie Berns. Meanwhile, they fill the time talking about politics and recent discovery. He was not about to bore her with the trifling matters of a child.
Time passed. The kitchen staff served their traditional Islander fete and people began to mingle.
Sai meandered off to socialize and introducing himself to others as the inconsequintial newphew of Bernadette.
Having some time to herself, Bernadette took some time to talk to Captain Cerum. There were some arrangements to be made once they reach port.
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The assigned lady in blue dress had her creamy back against the unbeatable duo of Young Master and Man Servant. With her chocolate hair pulled into decorative braids, Gremio could see exactly how tender and soft her neck was.
"The bet is for you to dance with her," said Tir, motioning towards the Lady.
Gremio glanced at her again. The woman had just finished speaking the the Captain of the ship and had turned her attention to the snack table.
"I can't do this!" squeaked Gremio. He felt terribly embarrassed at the thought of walking up to a complete stranger, asking for a dance. Not to mention that he had only approximately thirty minutes of practice prior to coming here.
Tir had heard it enough times to want to rip off the blond's hair. "Yes you can."
"I can't dance."
"She doesn't know how to dance either," cajoled Tir.
Gremio made a face. "Like that's going to help."
"By the True Runes, Gremio! You had faced countless battles, overthrew Scarlet Moon Empire, and was even once eaten by flesh devouring spores then brought back to life! And now you say you can't go out there for a dance?"
Some more badgering from Tir eventually forced Gremio to capitulate. Tir was right. This was only a dance. It was free money and it would send a very clear message to that little bugger, Sai. Besides, the woman maybe some ugly cow with clown makeup, ape nose, huge lips and buck teeth. Hell, he was a war hero, with a cool cris-cross scar on his cheek and generally not-bad looking; she should feel honored to have a chance to dance with a fine human specimen like him.
Tir handed Gremio a couple glasses of sparkling champaign and patted the man on the back as a form of encouragement. "Good luck".
Gremio made a face, but went forward nonetheless. He crossed the vast expanse of the the ball room floor, taking decidedly large strides and mentally convincing himself that this was a trifle chore and that he would probably step on the woman's toes for good measure.
He was about to clear his throat and say "Hey, Lady" when the said lady in blue turned.
Gremio froze in mid-step as he saw Bernadette's face. Even more beautiful than before, Gremio suddenly stopped breathing, and he made the mistake of stopping.
Due to his upper momentum, he accidentally slipped on the freshly waxed floor. All in one motion, he pitched forward, a heavy thud, accidentally chucking the champagin into her face with a gut-wretching splash. He slid forward like snow board on a bed of plush snow. When he finally stopped, he was on his back. Then he saw the most amazing thing in the world.
He saw pretty silver sandles and shapely toes before he looked up and saw wondrous smooth legs and glorious blue panties.
Gremio was in a very benevolent heaven.
Bernadette's frosty was frosty as she stepped back with a death bell knoll of her half heel sandle. She pulled her dress closer to her to cover the obvious mishap. "It's you."
Gremio suddenly plunged into a very cold hell.
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"Did it worked?" whispered Sai. He was fairly interested in Bernadette's affairs.
"I don't know." replied Tir.
They heard the shattering of glass and a commotion.
"I don't like the sounds of that," said Sai.
"Neither do I."
The two schemers squatted behind a hallway column on the second deck overlooking the ballroom below. They both had done their best to 'coincidentally' leave their two pseudo guardians together. Afterward, they met up on the second deck, determined to watch their plan bloom and pat themselves on the back.
Tir dared the danger of discovery. He peeked for five seconds before ducking low behind a column with a grimace.
"What? Did it work?" asked Sai urgently.
"No. It was an utter disaster."
"How?" Sai looked visibly crestfallen. He rarely have his schemes fail. "I set it up so Auntie would be without suitors."
"Take a look," said Tir, shaking his head again.
Sai took a peek for only one second before he dropped quickly. He thought about it for a mere two seconds then fished around in his pocket for a Thunder Rune.
Tir raised an eyebrow. It was not everyday that he encounter a random kid carrying a powerful elemental Rune. But it was not everyday that a mere child like himself overthrow an Empire either. "What are you doing?"
Sai looked remarkably calm as he lightly attached the Thunder Rune to his left hand. "Just a precaution. Auntie is a beast with her Flow Rune."
"And you intend to stop her?" asked Tir incredulously.
Sai's expression turned wicked and even slightly haughty; an expression that exactly matched Luc's in his moment of triumph. "Auntie is a very good magician, likely the best with Flow on this ship, but I'm pretty good too..." There was a sparkle in his eyes as his left hand crackled with electricity. "Very Good."
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In all her military life, she had been teased, made a fool of, tricked, and even outcast due to her family connections. Never once was Bernadette had ever so embarrassed. Never once did she want to break someone's bones so badly.
Gremio looked like a hapless victim of war, anticipating death by fire.
All around, people paused momentarily to watch the drama. Those who knew Bernadette by reputation looked at each other nervously. Sure that she was off duty now, sure that the Captain is the only who can throw people overboard. They were also sure that Bernadette would avenge her own honor by taking it out on the entire Island Federation Navy.
Captain Cerum, who happened to be nearby, coughed, trying to alleviate the situation. "I think the right thing to do is stand up, hand her a napkin, and apologize," he tried to whisper to Gremio, but most of the ball room heard it anyways.
Gremio laughed nervously and grabbed a square blue cloth napkins and offered it to Bernadette.
Bernadette took the napkin and whipped her face clean, looking very pissed.
"Ms. Bernadette, I'm..." Gremio started.
Bernadette smacked him with the damp napkin and stumped out of the hall.
Looking like a kicked puppy, Gremio finally uttered, "...sorry..."
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