Act Five: The Inventor of Lightening and The Shitennou
"Ever since Ouranös had boarded the ship, he never left. He meant to, but the pay as well as the adventure was too enticing."
"Or maybe he found a good family," Michiru suggested, her eyes half shut. Haruka shrugged it off, and there was an awkward silence."So what did this story have to do with the adventure that you just got back from?" the aqua haired maiden prompted, as she rested her head on her hand.
The pub had hit a lull, switching from the late, late evening, to early twilight. Even though she knew that the night was still young for the pirate, Haruka looked exhausted. The aqua haired woman knew better than to point it out, knowing that the blonde would still stubbornly go on with her tale.
"Well, had I known better, it would have warned me of all that I would be going through with the star seed," said Haruka flatly. Despite her condition when she first came in, and looking so spent currently, a light seemed to strike her eyes as she continued to speak. The blonde sea captain moved about, stretching sore back muscles, before settling her upper body on the table. She breathed in a couple of times before talking again. "Well, Setsuna, the Queen of Scorpus, had given me more clues to look for the next item. She hoped that this time around I would not be resorting to stealing, but things have a tendency of switching hands, especially when it's something of high value."
"The only thing that she had given me this time were coordinates—admittedly it was more than she had given me last time, but still a bit on the vague side."
The seas were in a choppy mood around midday, Haruka had found herself in an unusual part of the globe—new territory to her. Ouranös consulted all of his maps, helping to guide the frustrated sea captain. The crew looked all around them when they dropped the anchor into the sea—a new anchor that Scorpus had gladly replaced after the star seed incident. The coordinates that were given to Haruka seemed to be faulty—at least according to her first in command.
It was quiet out save for the sound of the wind and the ocean. Ouranös pursed his lips, resting his upper body on the wooden railing. "Are you sure she said that what she wanted was supposed to be here?"
Haruka looked out into the distance, hoping to see an island—something—somewhere close by, but to no avail. "Those were the coordinates that Setsuna gave me," she said, her voice sounding weak even in her ears. She suddenly felt like a fool, even though she never had a reason to distrust the Scorpus Queen. The blonde looked over at her twin counterpart. "Are you sure that we're in the right place?"
The lithe blond man looked over at her, rolling his eyes. You doubt me? his look said. Instead of carrying a pocket watch, he carried a compass, and showed her the face of it. He unrolled a well loved map, and showed her that as well. "I can pull out the whole astrolabe if you wish. But it'll tell you the same thing: we are exactly where the coordinates that you gave me are."
She looked over at Randy and Proteus. "Do not let this get out to the crew," she told all three of the men. "We'll stay here for a few hours' time as a break, and then lift the anchor and move on."
"To where?" prompted her first in command with a raised eyebrow.
Haruka hated to admit it to herself, but he was right—where would they go next? Then she glanced over at him. "We'll see when we lift the anchor, now won't we?" she said, her voice sounding deceptively easy and light, when on the inside she was screaming in panic.
Even though the seas were choppy, the sky was a light blue, and the clouds were puffy and white, giving them an ideal shade from the harsh sun. As her men brought out the barrels, both full and empty, she stayed around the railing, straining her eyes looking for that small island that would bring another clue to that doll that Setsuna wanted so much. But there was none. Around her, her men continued to play cards, drinking the ale from some of the more full barrels, and eating the bread that would soon mold or go stale.
Ouranös came up behind her, peeling a bright orange between his fingers, dropping the skins on the deck as he stood silently next to her. She could smell the tart, tropical fruit as he began to eat it, wedge by wedge. The sea captain looked over at him, momentarily forgetting her own gloom.
"Is there any reason why you're always eating those when we're out at sea?"
Ouranös smacked his lips a couple of times as his face began to twist up from a particularly sour piece of orange. "Our doctor from my old ship said that things like oranges prevented scurvy. Forced fruit down our throats, and if we didn't, he gave us a good helping of the guilt trip to get us to. The captain became paranoid, and started bringing along dried fruits along the longer voyages." He shrugged. "Kind of a habit that I cropped up. Though it seems to work because I've never had the sickness."
The lithe man held up the orange to his captain. "Want a piece? I need to hurry up and eat what I have stashed before it goes bad."
Haruka obliged him and took what was left from him, pulling apart her own wedge before handing it back to him. She popped it into her mouth, and bit it down. It's tart flavor flooded into her cheeks as she thought to herself, a silence falling between the two. She found that she had been staring at the cloud above them, and snapped herself back to reality. "I suppose I should get my crew to start eating them as well then?" She glanced over at her first in command. She turned back to look at the cloud.
Ouranös shrugged, distracted as well. He followed her line of sight, wondering what she had been looking at while they were talking. They both focused on the cloud. It was unmoving, unlike the rest of them, the bottom of them a dark gray in color. He almost wanted to reach up and try to touch it because it seemed so low to them.
Blue light webbed out, and within a millisecond, it blinked right out. Haruka turned her head to the side, not once pulling her eyes from it. The blue light flashed again, white and blue.
"Lightening?" she mumbled.
In the corner of her eye, she noticed that Ouranös looked just as confused. The silence around them felt even more intense around them as they watched the strange, foreign cloud. The sea continued to hit restlessly against the small sloop, her men continuing in relaxing a bit. It was too quiet. The wind ruffled her hair, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end, as the cloud snapped into action again. Blue lightening fluttered, starting from the center, and rippling to the outside, before disappearing once more.
"Move," she found herself saying, her heart beginning to hammer as it warned her that something was going to happen.
Ouranös turned away from looking at the cloud, to look at his numbed captain. "What?"
The blonde young woman suddenly came to life, her body buzzing with energy. "MOVE!" she shouted at him, grabbing his shoulders and yanking them both away from the railing. Her dark blue eyes scared him, a bruise already forming at his upper arm. His hair was standing up on end, but he didn't' seem to notice all this, eyes right on the spot where they had both stood moment's earlier.
Lightening struck down into the ship within the blink of the eye. The railing exploded, sending splinters in all directions. The crew went silent, confused—they had all seen the spark of electricity. Some stood up, alarmed, with hands on their swords or pistols. All of the crew at that moment were thinking the same thing: it didn't make one bit of sense. The sun still shown in the skies, peaking through another cloud, though it moved like any other cloud. It was the one that remained stationary above them that confused them all.
Haruka stood, deafened by the sound of electricity striking so close to them. The only thing that she could hear, was the high pitched whistling coming from her ears, as she kept both eyes on the cloud.
It struck again!
This time lightening hit the center of the ship, leaving a black smudge mark as it disappeared, the sound of it booming around them. The crew scattered, snapping into action, reaching to pull the anchor out of the sea, or pulling the sail up so that it could catch some wind. Others went below deck, and Haruka ran for the helm where the wheel was.
The cloud struck again, and a man screamed in pain. Her eyes searched, and found one of her crew fallen right on deck, blood oozing from his face, and his skin burned. The men who had set out towards the anchor gave her the signal, and she turned towards the men who had headed out towards the sails. They were still pulling the thick ropes into place, the sail waving about wildly, as they scrambled in a mad panic. The blonde sea captain's eyes darted back up to the cloud, feeling like a sitting duck: it was as if the thing was alive and targeting!
BLAM!
Haruka was thrown away from the captain's wheel, the wind being knocked out of her as the lightening exploded in front of her. She hit the wood of the ship, tumbling down the small flight of stairs. Pain seared from her cheek bone and her arm, she was deaf from the thunder, and now blinded from the bright, sudden flash. Even though the blonde was so wholly helpless, she could feel the vibrations from the ground, her men still working to get them away from the live cloud—but she still struggled to right herself.
Her hearing began to clear up, and she could hear her men yelling, many of them screaming from either pain or panic. Everything was white around her, though things began to take shape. Another figure was on the ground right next to her, and she knew that it was Ouranös. Her heart was in her throat, and she could hear it above everything else around her. Soon she was able to discern who was who running around on the deck—Randy was hobbling, blood dripping from his face because of the splinters from the explosions.
Soon, what was left of the uninjured stopped, all looking up at the cloud. Haruka rolled over so that she could look up at their inanimate enemy. The vapors of the cloud slowly began to clear, and she watched, confused and dumb, as ropes began to drop from it.
"A ship?" she whispered.
Indeed, the cloud showed the hard surface of the hull of a ship. How it stayed up in the air like that, was a mystery to Haruka—it was magic for all she cared. All she knew was that this ship had so clearly beaten hers, and without once showing themselves.
Her mind began to darken, but she struggled to stay conscience long enough to see the faces of her enemy. Men, or so she assumed, moved swiftly down the ropes, one calling for the attention of her crew and their unconditional surrender. Of course they had to: there was no one conscience enough to send out any orders. Swords and pistols thudded to the ground, sending vibrations up to the blonde pirate's body.
The rope nearest to her began to move as someone's weight pulled down on it. A blur. A shadow, moved down, her mind continuing to darken—but she screamed in her mind to stay awake long enough to see... She blinked rapidly, and she could see the bottom of the person's brown leather boot. It was high heeled, heavy, and rich. The ship's captain, she thought deliriously. Her head yelled as vibrations were sent to it, when the leather boots touched the deck of her ship.
Haruka felt the presence of the person, a shadow. Before she was gone, she saw bright green eyes, and she almost thought it was Titania, though she remembered that the woman had hazel eyes, not green...
The light was warm all around her, almost candle light. Cradling her body was something that felt like a pure, silky cloud. Slowly, Haruka came to, though she kept her eyes shut as she took in her surroundings. Even though her body and instincts felt completely safe where she was, her mind took over and made sure what everything told her was correct.
She found that she was in a small room, laying on a futon against the wall. Hanging from the ceiling at different lengths were lanterns—the soft orange glowing that she had seen behind her eyelids. At the wall facing her feet was a latch leading out into the hall she assumed, and above her head, when she felt like she was alone enough to look up, were small circular windows. It was dark outside because of how thick the clouds were.
The blonde pirate heard the latch being unlocked, and quickly she settled into the same position, closing her eyes just enough to look like she was still sleeping, but while she could still see who was coming in. Instead of one person, it was two—and to her chagrin, it was two women. One was a brunette, her hair tied into a high ponytail; while the other had her hair cut short, framing her face, wisps of dark blue. She moved her eyes downwards, and felt her heart jolt to a stop, seeing the brown leather, high heeled boots that she had seen before she had lost conscientiousness.
"I don't think that it was a good idea attacking them like that," said the smaller blue haired woman, her voice soft. She put a curled index finger to her chin, looking worried. "And kidnapping their captain wasn't that intelligent of a move either, Makoto..."
"I didn't kidnap her Mizuno. I told the crew that I would return her unharmed as soon as we were done talking." Haruka saw the brunette glance over at her 'sleeping' figure. "That is if she ever wakes up."
"Then why the attack on her ship—her crew, herself included, are not going to take too kindly about that move."
"I like to cut all the bullshit." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Plus we needed to test our new weapon to see if it actually worked." The tone of her voice was unexpected. She didn't sound at all like every other pirate that Haruka had come across, greedy and arrogant, but someone who wanted to protect the life and well being of her own crew and ship—perhaps even a cause greater than that. "And if it meant testing it on our rendezvous, then so be it."
Mizuno looked as if she was about to say something in rebuttal, but Makoto raised a finger, silencing her. "I don't trust anyone, no matter how much someone says that they're reliable. I only trust the crew and the people that I protect."
Haruka suddenly sat up, her eyes cold as she faced Makoto. "So you can see why I'm royally pissed that you attacked my ship. It doesn't help your case when you target practiced my ship, then drag me off to talk to me over tea. Kind of threatened my trust a bit, don't you think?"
At first the brunette captain was tense, surprised that their visitor was wide awake so quickly, then her shoulders relaxed, a sort of faint smile on her face. Behind her Mizuno looked worried, and even guilty as she observed the blonde sitting on the edge of the futon. She knew she was standing in a room with two rather large and charismatic personalities. It was as if two gods were in the arena, flexing their muscles before attacking if everything went wrong. She rolled a term in her mind almost humored by it if it weren't for the situation: Clash of the Titans.
Makoto ignored what she said, and instead she replied through half shut eyes, "Welcome to my ship, the Io's Argus. It's a Sungrazer-class ship—a kind of battle cruiser that my friend Ami has ramped up." She indicated the blue haired woman who still stood behind her.
"What country is this ship from?" Haruka almost ordered her.
"I'm not at liberty to say. Though I'm almost surprised that you don't know with as much running around as you do."
Before Haruka could come up with anything crushing to say to the other woman, Makoto waved her hand, heading towards the still opened hatch. "Since you seem to be more than well now, I think we should take our business to a more larger and comfortable room—my quarters, if you don't mind. Your first in command will also join you."
The blonde sea captain had to put in a conscience effort to not drop her jaw. "He's here?"
Makoto looked over her shoulder, a smile touching her lips—immediately looking years younger, almost like an innocent child. She rolled her eyes. "Of course—and he wouldn't let us forget it. He insisted on coming with you, but he was escorted to a guarded room so you two wouldn't get into trouble and try to escape. I told him that we would get him when the time arose. Needless to say, he wasn't at all happy about it."
No, I would not think so, thought Haruka sarcastically.
The blonde sea captain followed Makoto and Ami out through the hatch, finding herself in a narrow hall like she had suspected. Though what threw her off about the ship, was the fact that it didn't look like the under deck of any other ship: instead of being made of wood, it was made of some sort of amber and cream metal, well polished. As the small group moved down the hall, she saw hatches closed and locked about every four feet, crew moving in and out of them. The ceiling was low and curved, lit by what she guessed was electricity.
Even though the metal ground below her feet felt so solid, she knew that they must be floating somehow in the air—the ship well camouflaged by the cloud. The passageway finally opened up a bit as they came towards the end of it, a large hatch barring their way. Where the captain's quarters had to be.
"Our helm is located in the upper decks. Despite it being a sort of air ship, it still works just the same. Above this one is the actual gathering area for my crew, the mess hall, things like that. Below this deck is storage," informed Makoto as she searched for her key on a large and heavy keyring hung on her belt. When she found the large amber key, she unlocked the latch and it gave way with a loud click as the lock moved out of place.
All three women entered into Makoto's quarters, and that was when the rather cramped ship finally opened up. Even though it was spacious, the room was still crowded with all sorts of objects.
Towards the left, where there was a large window overlooking the floating clouds, were stacks and stacks of books. Volumes cradled by leather with flecks of gold printed on them, identifying what they were. Haruka could smell the dust and paper of the large volumes and immediately felt at home. The floor was covered with tapestries, flashes of color warmed by the orange and yellow lighting glowing from the ceiling. When Haruka finally pulled her eyes from the old volumes, she was immediately drawn to the floor, catching stories from all over the globe—even from places she had never been to—brightly colored and elaborately stitched.
The walls were decorated with the inner workings of the Io's Argus, amber and copper pipes winding from floor to ceiling. A clockwork gadget ticked away the time from the far corner right next to a daybed, which was covered with thick red and gold blankets, and pillows thrown about it.
The center was covered with more gears and cogs, wires and small bits of pipes. Off to the side was a round, heavy oak table, with chairs covered with red velvet at the seat. Even though it was a dinner table, it was covered with maps instead, and golden navigator's tools. Chipped tea cups dotted the surface, and water ring patterns where they had stood too long and too hot.
"Captain!" shouted a voice, loud enough to make the blonde jump. The voice yanked her out of the mood of the room. All three women turned around to see a petite, curvacious woman, skirts flying as she ran down the narrow hall towards them. She came to a sudden halt, and bent over, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Then she stood up, her posture straight and correct, puppy brown eyes piercing. "I am against you on moving my patient," she said tersely to Makoto.
"Your patient?" both captains said out loud, confused. Then Makoto's eyes brightened, and glanced at Haruka before speaking to the petite woman. "Thebe, as you can see, your patient is in fine working order, and doesn't appear to have any injuries."
She ushered them into her quarters, towards the unkempt table. The brunette captain settled herself at the head of the table, and took a sip of tea before frowning at it. She placed it back down onto the table. Haruka took her seat next to her, Thebe moving over her like a worried mother hen, while Ami took her chair across from her, looking between the two captains. Thebe continued checking the blonde woman's pulse, holding her wrist gently as she counted under her breath, her other soft hand at the woman's forehead for her temperature. Makoto waited patiently for the brown-eyed doctor to do her duties before beginning.
"Do you have any ringing in your ears? Do you ache anywhere? How's your vision? Your hearing?" Thebe asked softly, her eyes so fierce, that Haruka knew that if she tried to lie, the woman would see right through her and nail her for it. Haruka shook her head every time, checking all of her senses. Even though the blonde sea captain was telling the truth, the doctor looked at her in the eyes, trying to find out if there was any minute thing wrong with her.
Haruka slowly slid an arm behind Thebe, a smile touching her lips. "Don't worry—I am perfectly fine." Her hand slid down to the woman's round rump, giving it a firm squeeze. Thebe jumped at the action, color rising to her cheeks. She pulled away, giving Haruka a sly smile, before turning and nodding to her captain and leaving the room—but not before giving Haruka one last look.
Makoto laughed. "You haven't been awake on my ship for more than twenty minutes, and you're already hitting on some of my crew!" She continued to giggle, as Haruka shrugged, unabashed. Ami stayed silent, her cheek resting against her hand. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the two, before pulling out a book and opening it wide enough to make its old spine crack.
A few moments later, Ouranös walked in, and behind him was a large, tanned, muscled man. Though he was middle aged, his beard was white, stopping just at his collar bone, and had a sort of smug smile on his face, even though nothing had happened. Just as Haruka thought that, the burly man gave the lithe blond man a shove right into his shoulder. Ouranös sneered and made sure to move away from the man, taking his own seat next to Haruka.
"Ahh, Jova, how is it going?" asked Makoto lightly. The man clamped a large hand over her shoulder, greeting the captain of the clouds. "And I'd be nice to anyone of this crew," she added, indicating both Haruka and her first in command.
"How are you doing?" Haruka asked, her voice low, but polite.
The look on the blond man's face said everything: his eyes were dark and the corner of his lips twitched with fury—either at the whole incident or at Jove. "Fine," he answered instead, though it came out as more of a snarl than a happy reply. He crossed his arms over his chest, kicking his feet up onto the table. Haruka didn't say anything about his manners, knowing that he was going to do anything to irritate the captain who had attacked them so ruthlessly.
"I want to slit that man's throat," he added, though his voice was so low that only Haruka could hear him. Her own lips twitched as she restrained a laugh at his ill humor.
"Jova here," Makoto introduced the large man as he sat a few chairs down, "Is the ship's second in command—" Haruka could see the points of contention between Ouranös and the cloud captain's first in command. Two dogs barking at each other and testing their limits. A dominance test. "He's also a very good body guard, even though I keep insisting that I can defend myself," she grinned at him as he rolled his eyes. "But he seems to know better than I do. In case, if the need arises, there is also my navigator, as well as the third in command of the ship, Ganymede."
In the corner of Haruka's eye, she noticed Ouranös chest just slightly puff out. He had one up on the large man sitting near the other end of the table. She turned her attention back to the ship's captain, who sighed, and stretched out her hands in front of her.
"Now," Makoto began slowly, "Might I ask why you were around my territory?" It seemed to be an innocent enough question, but Haruka knew better than that. The brunette knew something and was waiting to hear the right answer before going any further with her business.
"These coordinates were given to me by a very close friend of mine." Haruka paused, wondering how much of her hand she should reveal to a stranger who was ruthless enough to attack a ship without any warning. "She wanted me to retrieve something for her. And I take it, because I ended up in the middle of the sea, instead of on the coast of some foreign land, that I was somehow supposed to meet with you." She looked up from her own long fingers to Makoto, her eyes hiding any emotion that would show weakness.
Makoto turned her head to the side. "Who was this dear friend of yours that gave you those coordinates, may I ask?" Even though the request was kind enough, Haruka knew that if she didn't say anything, the brunette captain would order her to say it.
"She is the Queen of Scorpus, I don't know if you've heard of the island—" Makoto waved a hand impatiently.
"I know where this place is, and I am familiar with the ruler as well." The woman folded her hands in her lap. "My Queen is well acquainted with her, and is close friends with her, so I don't think you are a threat if what you say is true."
"Your Queen? Who is she?" asked Haruka. She waved her own hand lightheartedly. "After all, it's only fair that you tell me after I've told you who I've been hired by."
"You haven't been hired by her," corrected Makoto, seeing right through the blonde sea captain. "You do these missions for her voluntarily—and without any profit, if what I've heard is correct."
"I wonder who gave you that information," Haruka muttered under her breath. It was frustrating that this brunette captain of the clouds knew so much of her, and yet the blonde knew so little in turn.
Makoto smiled innocently. "I know a few people here and there—mainly from Elysia. Information has a sort of trickling effect over there." Haruka knew that was very true. The brunette breathed in again. "Anyway, you will find out who my boss happens to be in good time, but I don't think I'm the one to tell you. I am actually deeply sorry for being so infuriating." She waved her hand. "Go on—what was it she wanted from me?"
"Here's the confusing part—she mentioned a doll. She wanted a doll. Though she said that she wasn't sure if it was in one piece, or that it would be done on time—she seemed deeply worried about that one factor."
Ami looked up from her reading to look at her captain, her eyes surprised, then worry seeped into them. Makoto nodded her head at her, and the blue haired woman turned to look at Haruka.
"We had found pieces of what looked like a human sized doll quite a few months ago. True, the hands and feet, and so on, felt like porcelain to the touch, but there was something strange about these body pieces. Inside of these pieces were a network of gears and cogs, wire connecting them together so that the electric current could flow smoothly..." She stopped, when Makoto shook her head—it was too much unneeded information.
"I believe it is important my captain," Ami said, an annoyed tone subtly showing through her calm voice. " When I put just enough electric current—it wasn't all that much, mind you—the fingers were able to move individually. However I could not control which one. At that time, we had only found one hand and one foot.
"Makoto, like you it seems, started going on these profitless missions of her own accord, to find more parts. It was hard going at first, and we only had rumors at first, things that sounded like myth. Eventually we started asking people of high rank because these pieces were not cheap to make. We started making progress, finding pieces here and there in private collections as art work or rare technology. Soon my captain seemed be satisfied enough to report it to our Queen—and our Queen wanted us to continue searching!
"I was hired to stay on board, though this time for a different reason: I was to put together this doll, as we called it. Before I was training her navigator on some of the tech that I had helped to make for the kingdom's military, and putting together the doll had become some sort of hobby. I didn't mind, but it was such a strange request—"
Makoto raised a hand, and stood. "Here, we will show you what we have, and what comes next in her tale will make a whole lot of sense."
Ami nodded, though her mouth was slightly opened, her mind still back in time at the memory she was explaining. Everyone at the table stood, and the brunette captain led them out of her quarters and back into the narrow passageway. They moved silently, the sound of clothing shuffling in Haruka's ears. Something in the pit of her stomach dropped, though she felt excited at the feeling.
Makoto turned to look over her shoulder. "We are actually heading towards the front of the ship, my quarters are located in the back because of the size," she explained as they continued on. "We will be heading to the bottom deck where we have our doll hidden. None of my crew knows about it, as I'm sure your own crew doesn't know of your secret side missions." She winked, her eyes understanding as she looked back at Haruka.
Haruka still wasn't sure of what she thought of this cloud captain. All the information had sent her brain into overload—needless to say that she would have a lot to think about tonight. And she was sure that Ouranös would have a lot to say once they were alone as well. She snapped her attention back to the present when she realized that the small blue haired woman had started talking again.
"Slowly the doll began to take its shape, but we could no longer find anymore pieces. We only had one full leg, an arm, part of a torso, and another hand put together. There should have been more pieces..."
They came to a stairwell, twisting downwards to the bottom deck. The lights were dimmer here, because so few of Makoto's crew were down there at any given time, save for whenever they landed to pick up or drop off what they carried. There seemed to be two different conversations going on at once: Ami's strange tale, and then Makoto showing them around the ship. Haruka didn't mind, because the more that Ami explained the doll, the more worried she became—had she finally bitten off more than she could chew?
"So you are not a privateer?" asked Haruka.
"What?" Makoto asked, distracted, as her feet reached the floor of the third level of the ship. "Oh no, we're not. We work for the Queen's navy, but we're much higher than that—we get orders and missions directly from her mouth. Most of the work we do is at the ignorance of her people. Kind of like a secret service." She laughed at the term.
"Most of the time we don't do any fighting, and strange, secret hunting for doll parts—we do ambassadorial type things, guard her lands. Things like that."
The space at the bottom most deck was open, much like Haruka's storage deck was—though much more expansive. Boxes and crates of all different sizes were stacked on top of each other, reaching all the way to a ceiling that disappeared into the darkness. Lining the outer walls were electrical lanterns, spotted here and there, giving just enough light to see what was in the room. Haruka noted to herself that they were again moving towards the back of the ship, passed rows and rows of crates.
The sound of steam and creaking metal echoed around them. Other than that the room was silent, save for their even footsteps, as their booted feet hit the metal flooring. Soon they came to the doorway of a smaller room. There Makoto clapped her hands, a light coming out at the sound. In front of them was a box the size of a person—an eerie feeling crept up the blonde's spine, and she closed her mouth when she realized that it was open. Ami had told them that the doll's pieces was human sized.
The short blue haired woman began to speak once more. "Then we found something else. Our mission carried us to the tip of the earth, where the stars hardly move and the sun rarely shines. We came to this sort of temple that the locals had built, and they led us in. And we found the rest of the doll," Ami finished lamely.
As if on cue, Makoto began to unlock the box, lifting up the top without any help. Ouranös and his captain jumped back, gasping with shock. The remaining three people stood calmly where they were, completely used to seeing what the two strangers had seen for the first time. In the box was indeed a doll—what appeared to be mostly a doll anyway. The porcelain parts were elaborately carved, with intertwining vines, and the joints were hooked together with cogs and wires that were intertwined artfully.
Haruka's eyes followed up the vines, and they suddenly stopped, though the porcelain color never stopped. She realized that the one last remaining part of the doll—was human. It was a human girl, and she looked as if she was asleep, but Haruka knew better: she had to be dead. The real parts of her body were covered from her collar bone down, at least until her thighs began. Her hair was dark, raven black, her lips small and round, her body frail—what was left of it.
"It's a girl," Haruka said dumbly, her voice hoarse in her throat.
"But that's what we found," Makoto finished for Ami. "We were actually on our way to deliver her to the Queen. So far we don't know who she is or where she came from."
Haruka couldn't pull her eyes away from her, feeling both warmed and eerie: after all it was a corpse of a child with a half prosthetic body. "Is there anyway that you could send a message to your Queen that I must take this child and deliver it to mine? I suppose that Setsuna plans on giving this girl a proper burial."
"I can do better than that," the lightening captain said with a wry grin on her face. She closed the lid with a snap, re-locking it with one of her many keys. "Come, follow me, and I'll introduce you to my helm."
As they walked to the uppermost deck, Haruka found that they were still sheltered. Ouranös and Ami seemed like they were deep in their own conversation. As the blonde captain watched them, Ami pointed out different gadgets here and there, scattered all over the ship, explaining how they worked and what their importance was. When they got the the helm, the lithe man's eyes lit up, his mouth opened into an "O" shape.
Two other crew members helped to man the helm, covered with glittering buttons, levers—but most importantly, the captain's wheel. A tall, lanky man stood there, his wispy brown hair tied into a knot and trailing down his back. When the young man felt a presence behind him, he turned around to greet them all. His eyes were bright gray, and the lightening captain introduced him as her navigator, Ganymede
Haruka noticed some kind of common uniform amongst the crew around the area when she took a few seconds to look about her, something she hadn't noticed of the ship—of course it made sense that Makoto's crew would be wearing uniforms since she worked for some Queen as a lapdog.
The remaining nameless crew left the room with a slight bow of the head towards Makoto before leaving. She closed the hatch, and Makoto showed the two from the Iphis around the helm. Haruka found that she too as fascinated like her first in command, watching the brunette and the blue haired woman point to different buttons, which stood for things like the pressure in the pipes, communication to other rooms, and the direction of the propeller.
"It's an airship, of course," explained Makoto, "So this ship doesn't necessarily run by sails—but by a kind of balloon, right above the main part of the ship. Inside the balloon is a kind of hot air, that's lighter than air—"
"Wait, air that's lighter than air?" interrupted Ouranös. He was still looking down at the console that shimmered out in front of him. Buttons were framed by an amber metal, and the blond man was hypnotized by all that was around him.
Ami laughed, her eyes closed in delight. "Yes, have you never heard of something like that?"
"I mean our ships were pretty advanced—I mean back when I was part of my own ruler's navy..." His eyes looked down, looking passed the controls, then he snapped back, looking up at the blue haired woman. "They used electricity and some models were even able to run without the aid of sails. The ships still ran on water though—nothing so off the wall as moving in the air, and being able to harness electricity as a weapon."
"Anything's possible if you can put it together," Ganymede said, waving to the captain's wheel. Haruka saw Jova rolling his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest—technology wasn't his type of thing. A man meant more for defense and battlefield. Of course a guarding position worked just as well.
Makoto had her back turned away from them as she began a strange series of tapping on some strange object. It was black, and welded right into the console, and each time its beak hit the surface, it would hum for a split moment before rising back into the air, silent, until the captain tapped it again. Her legs crossed over each other, as her fingers moved, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She waited, and the beaked machine stood silent.
As Ganymede, Ami, and Ouranös continued to talk about technology (slowly moving over to navigation of course), Haruka watched the gadget, unable to pull her eyes away—what did it do? Suddenly, the little machine snapped into action of its own accord, Haruka jumping in surprise because she had been watching it so intently. In a similar sort of language, it spoke back to Makoto, who was then writing on a piece of fresh parchment, slowly and almost to the same rhythm of the strange object. It paused again, but not for long, and worked even more furiously.
When Makoto was finished, she straightened up, turning around as she read over the bit of paper. Her lips moved slightly as she read, and Haruka slowly began to put together what the black gadget with the beak did. But she waited patiently, listening almost contentedly to her first in command enjoy himself for the first time in a long while.
"This is my telegraph," Makoto finally explained, folding up the parchment and placing it in one of the pockets of her jacket. "Through an electrical current, I am able to send messages and get messages to and from my Queen through a series of tapping. It's kind of like learning a whole new language." She said the last part from experience, rubbing the back of her neck.
"It wasn't that hard to learn," piped up Ami, pulling her attention away from her conversation.
"Says the person with a photographic memory," growled the cloud captain playfully.
"So what did the Queen say?" prompted Haruka.
"Orders are clear—you are allowed to take possession of the doll and deliver it to your Queen. There was no debate, or any other side orders: just take the doll." The brunette looked slightly confused. "As if she knew everything that was going to happen."
"I've stopped questioning how people of higher ranks manage to know everything," Haruka answered wryly, giving her an ironic look. She paused, putting herself back to business. "So how do you suppose that we get the doll from your ship to mine?"
"I've got a series of pulleys that can lower the crate down onto your ship—how you get it below your decks is for you to figure it out." She leaned against a part of the console, gazing out of the windows. "Now I have to call up a few of my crew so they can lug it to where the system is, and our Ami can go to the controls—"
BLAM!
The ship shook violently, throwing everyone into the ground—though the only person that had remained standing was Jova, a man of sturdy build. Ouranös and Haruka looked at each other from across the helm, confused. The lithe man's bottom lip was bleeding, probably clipped from the control counter. All of a sudden alarms started screaming, and the calming copper color of the interior turned red, as lights began to flash in warning.
"We're being attacked," snarled the brunette captain, her eyes an electric green.
"Who are they?" asked Haruka as she staggered to her feet. She felt helpless, standing around the helm doing nothing, but she knew nothing of the controls. Makoto was just as quick on her feet, though her long arms reached out for the console, her fingers darting over button after button.
"Cannon fire," answered Jova to his captain.
Moment's later, crew rushed in to their aid, helping those on the floor back up, before going to their stations. They rushed around just as quickly as her own crew would, and everyone was once again jolted as the ship shook around violently.
Just when Haruka was about to ask again who the enemy was, Makoto finally answered by shaking her head. "I don't know who in Hades it is, though I can guess."
"We've taken damage below decks, captain," said Ganymede with a calm voice. Though when Haruka glanced at him to watch him speak, she saw the panic clear in his eyes. He turned away from her, to look at the console, his eyes moving quickly as he read something. Ganymede looked up at his captain. "Sir, the ship's name is called Heavenly Kings. So far they have not noticed the Iphis and are continuing their attacks on our ship. '
The look on Makoto's face darkened, but she snapped into action without any hesitation. "Prepare the doll's crate into the loading station," she snapped at one of the crew, "Gather as many men as you need so it can safely be lowered onto the Iphis. We will counter attack this enemy ship and keep them distracted."
She then turned to Haruka, who had been watching the scene moving on around her. "You need to get back to your ship, and move out as quickly as you can."
"We need to stay and help you," insisted Haruka. "If this ship, the Heavenly Kings, is powerful enough to attack your ship from the air, then you need everything you can throw at them." The sea captain didn't like the idea of leaving someone behind so that she could run away like a coward.
"No!" shouted Makoto, making everyone around her jump. She stopped herself and closed her eyes before taking a couple of deep breaths. The green-eyed woman leaned some of her weight against the empty captain's chair. "No. The doll needs to get out of here, before anyone can get a hold of it, and delivered to safety. I don't know what the hell it is, I don't know where it came from. All that I know is that Khaos wants it. And because you are involved now, they're your enemy as well."
Without another moment passing, Haruka and Ouranös were hurried out of the helm. Ami and Jova ran along side them, their captain left behind.
"My first in command and I can ride down along with the crate, so that we can get everything in one go, and leave," Haruka suggested, as they all shot down the staircase once they reached the other end of the ship.
Down, down they went, at a dizzying speed—at least in Ouranös' opinion. He noticed that it was his captain that set the pace. She was like the wind, and he almost struggled to keep up. He was surprised that she agreed to leaving so quickly without much debate. The blonde woman was not one to be ordered around so easily as well as the first to leave a battle. The lithe blond man wondered what she had up her sleeve.
As soon as they got to the bottom most deck, they ran to the back where the doll was kept hidden and safe. It had been moved to the open area, crew standing around it. When Haruka moved around so that she could get a closer look at what was happening, she saw a wide doorway in the floor next to the crate. Few of the men knelt down, tying ropes securely around it, before hooking it with the heavy chain that would lower it down to the ship waiting below.
The blonde sea captain felt the floor move underneath her once more, as the ship took another volley. Boxes moved around in their bindings, and everyone held fast, grabbing on chains or leaning against each other for support. When the metal floor became still, only then did the crew begin working diligently once more at getting the crate secured.
The doors in the ground were slowly opened, and Haruka could see down below her. Surrounded by the choppy ocean was her ship, waiting. The Iphis was the size of her palm from that distance, and she could tell that the majority of her crew was on deck waiting for her return. Many of her own crew was leaning against the ships cannons, which looked loaded and ready at the first order by Randy who stood at the captain's wheel.
She wanted desperately to see the enemy, but the space was too small to see anything other than her ship. The sea captain felt a wave of relief, knowing that the other ship had to be at least some distance off—hopefully enough of a distance that would give them time to run if they so chose.
Finally the crate was ready, and was slowly lifted up into the air, and repositioned over the opened floor. Ouranös and his captain nodded to each other, before stepping on top of the crate, holding onto the thick chain that would lower them down. Both moved into crouching position so that they would be more secure as the crate was finally lowered towards her reliable sloop.
As the crate was moved out of the ship, Haruka was finally able to see the opposing ship, as well as the damage done to the Io's Argus. Even though there were still white clouds concealing most of it, darker, black clouds bled from the ship's wounds. The main part of the ship was copper, amber, and gold, highlighted with silver. Its name was wielded proudly on the side, also in silver. It was a majestic sight, even though it was slowly being picked apart by the ship diagonal from them.
The ship was a galley ship, almost identical to the one that Diamond owned, though much less elaborate and with a different color scheme. The main body of the ship was silver in color, highlighted with light blues and grays, but from that distance Haruka could not tell what friezes it was decorated with along its side: she really didn't want to get close enough to see.
Cannon fire shot upwards, and the two from the Iphis could hear the whizzing of the cannon balls as they passed them. Haruka felt a nervous energy at the tips of her body, eager to get into the fight as soon as possible. The blonde woman felt like a sitting duck, and prayed to the God Poseidon that they were small enough to not be noticed by the enemy crew. She looked downwards, noticing that they were getting towards her ship at a swift rate, and stood restlessly, ready to jump when she got close enough.
Soon the crew took notice of the tiny wooden island that was making its way towards them—they swarmed around the area of where it would land, knowing that it was their captain, seeing her silken jacket fluttering out around her, as well as her second in command, still calmly kneeling. Carefully, they reached out to steady the crate, helping ease it down as the chain continued to lower its precious cargo. Haruka and Ouranös were finally able to jump off of it, and immediately the blonde captain assumed her position.
"Carry the crate below decks," she ordered a small group of five crew. Then she pointed to another, "You guys, ready the sails, and lift anchors—it's going to get really messy soon."
AN:
Thank you, Petiyaka for the review! Interesting review... KaE. I understand. I generally add a story to favs, and wait for a story to be completed. Just hope it's not boring...?
