"All right. It's simple. You tell your king that you quit, and break the oath and you can be captain of my ship."
"What?"
"You heard me. If you stay with me, you can be captain of the Black Wings."
Krad blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his mind of Dark's sudden proposition. "Why would I want your ship? I've got my own."
"Good point…" Dark said, scratching his chin. "Good point…"
"Now what?" Krad asked, almost boredly.
"I don't know…I'm out of ideas…" Dark said sheepishly.
"Well than I guess that means no deal, hmm?"
"Krad! You can't just leave, though! I'll miss you!" The violet haired male said, giving Krad a pleading look.
The blonde sighed. "Dark…"
"Yes?"
"I can't just give everything up like that…I've worked hard to get my ranking—hard to get where I am today. So…"
"So that means no," Dark said, sulking.
"No…that means I'll think about it."
"You'll think about it, huh? Can I change the deal? Let me make a new one with you, okay?" The pirate captain said, his eyes glinting with eagerness.
"You…don't make deals often, do you?" Emiko asked, chuckling. "It's a one time thing, Dark—you blew your chance."
"What? No—that's not fair!"
Krad released a drawn smile. "And why not?"
"Because I'm the captain of this ship, and what I want to happen, happens. You get it? That's why I'm making a deal with you—I want you to stay…so I'll be damned if you don't."
Krad shrugged indifferently. "All right…one more offer, but that's it—okay?"
Dark smirked. "Trust me—there's no way you can refuse this offer."
The blonde nodded. "Go on?"
"Satoshi."
Krad's eyes narrowed, and there was a long silence before he said in a quieted tone, "What of him?"
"This boy…you talk about him a lot. Like he was a brother—someone close to you, at any rate…"
"Dark, get to the point, what does your offer have to do with Satoshi?" The militia officer asked, concern gripping his features.
"Oh, nothing. I just felt like saying that to get your attention is all," Dark said, shrugging before smirking. "No…just joking. I can see that you want him to be in your company again, right?"
Krad stated dryly, not having been too fond of Dark's short-lived joke, "I don't much care where he is. Just as long as he's safe and away from that bastard."
There was no asking as to just whom Krad was referring to.
"Kei…" Dark murmured before asking, "So do you want revenge on him?"
Krad said nothing, and looked off into the distance.
"But," Dark continued—having taken Krad's response to be a 'yes', "You won't be able to get to him if we leave you at Azumano…you know what I'm saying? Rarely does a fleet of any sort stop by that place, and you're not likely to find a crew to go with you…so…"
The blonde drew in a deep breath, slowly releasing it. "So really my only choice to get Satoshi away from him is to stay with you…"
Dark nodded. "We—my crew and I—can help you do it, if you want us to."
"No…that's fine. I think I can manage…if you can get me back to my lord's court I can take things from there."
Dark's shoulders slumped. "So that's it? We'll just drop you off there and be gone? Never to see each other again?"
The blonde flinched, covering it up quickly though before saying coldly, "You won't want to see me again after that."
"And why not?"
"Because, Dark, it would seem that you have forgotten…it is my task to kill you. I cannot abandon that mission so easily," the other male returned quietly.
Now it was Dark's turn to fall silent. "After…everything, you'd still do that…?"
"I have to. I have no choice."
"Oh, would you cut that out—both of you are acting like children," Emiko said, having been almost completely forgotten by the two males. "Krad—you have every choice in the world, and Dark—you should know that he plans to be loyal to his king until the end. Don't make this worse on you."
The woman sighed and said, "I'll let you two figure this out on your own, but remember—you only live once; Don't make any choices you think you might regret."
Dark blinked. "What?"
"Just remember that, okay? You may not understand now, but maybe when you grow up it'll make a little more sense, Dark," The woman said with a small smile as she stood up and stalked away.
"Hell…what was that all about?" the captain asked, shaking his head and tossing a quick glance to the blonde.
He hadn't made any move at all, still staring across the blue waves and into the ever-reddening sunset.
"Krad?"
"Hm?"
"I just…I want you to know that I respect any decisions you're going to make…but if we ever meet again after this whole thing is over…" he paused before saying, "I'm not going to fight you."
"…Why?"
"Because…dammit," he cursed quietly, "I don't think I could ever put my blade against yours."
"Yes…but why?" The blonde asked, turning to regard Dark curiously.
Dark shifted uncomfortably. "Because…because…I think I l—"
"You…what?"
Dark shook his head, forgetting that sudden though. "I think I'd lose. That's what I was going to say."
"Oh…"
An awkward silence developed around the two, and Krad let out a sigh. "I wouldn't fight you. I don't think I could win against you because…Dark, this is going to sound horribly stupid, me just threatening you and everything, but…You're the best friend I've ever had…and I just couldn't bring myself to do that."
This brought a smile to Dark's face, and he cocked his head slightly to the side to get a better view of the blonde. "What about Satoshi?"
"You said it yourself…he's like a brother to me. You…on the other hand…"
"I get it. Thanks, Krad. You're the best friend I've ever had."
The blonde nodded. "Thank you." He shifted uncomfortably then, and said a long moment later, "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure, anything. What is it?"
Krad paused, choosing his words carefully. "I know…that you know how I feel about Satoshi being with Kei…but his safety isn't the only thing that I'm worried about…when he's around him…"
Violet eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that…?"
"I mean…Satoshi…he holds something that…if in the wrong hands, could be disastrous…and I can only pray Kei himself doesn't know and is just using the boy…"
"What are you…talking about? That doesn't make a lot of sense, you know…"
"All right…I'll…try to explain. You've heard the legend of…" Krad swallowed, "Of the ancient Hikari family…correct?"
Dark's brows narrowed as he pondered this question, and he said after a brief moment, "They were pirates, right? What does that have to do with this?"
"Hold on—let me continue," Krad said as he cast a quick glance at the ocean, watching as the ever fleeting hues of orange and red were slowly masked by deep purples and blues—stars becoming apparent in the darkening sky. "They were pirates, but they were also renowned artists. It was said that they brought they had the ability to bring their artwork to life…"
The blonde sighed, continuing, "But that isn't the point. The last Hikari—the most famous—was called 'The White Shadow'. They called her this…for many reasons. One—was because of her name: Shiroi—meaning white, and two, because it is said that she could plunder any ship or estate right without ever being detected…slipping away like a shadow before she was ever caught."
Dark nodded, listening.
"Anyway, in her last year of pirating it is said that she stole the heart of a man, and they fell deeply in love. She was…eventually impregnated by the man, and he told her she should stop her thieving because things were getting much too dangerous to continue. She begged to be allowed one last stand, and eventually the man succumbed and she left for her final stand." Krad paused, catching his breath, and then went on, "She found an artwork left behind from her ancient ancestors, long forgotten by most. It had…impeccable power and was on the verge of releasing mass destruction, so she did what she could. She sealed the artwork and locked the key to its power into a small charm…a necklace…"
The moon was now rising, illuminating the drawn face of the blonde and the eager face of the indigo haired male.
"So? What happened then?" Dark asked when Krad ceased his story telling.
The blonde's voice turned cold and bitter and he said, "She died."
"What? But what about her child? And the artwork…?"
"She gave birth to her child and died shortly after. There are no reports that the artwork has ever been found."
Suddenly, a thought hit Dark. "Wait…how do you know this?"
Krad shrugged, his gaze not meeting Dark's.
"Hikari? Aren't you…aren't you a Hikari?"
"I am."
"She was…you're mother, wasn't she…"
"She was."
Dark's brows narrowed. "Oh…I'm sorry to hear that…"
"No, it's all the past. I never knew her, so…it isn't as bad as it sounds," Krad said with a shrug.
"But…if she hadn't died…then you're father wouldn't have—"
"That's enough, Dark…Please don't remind me. I've reminisced about that enough for one day," The blonde said with a bland expression.
"Right…I'm sorry…"
There was another expanse of silence before Dark spoke again, "Hey…what happened to the necklace, though?"
"Ah…yes…I forgot to tell you. It had been entrusted to one of my mother's close shipmates after her death…She didn't want my father to get it because…even though he was a good person she knew he had a greedy heart and might…do something the rest of us would regret. Anyway, when I was about eight her old crew paid a visit to Azumano and dropped by to check up on me…You can imagine how that went," he said with a dry chuckle, "and I ended up having that necklace in my possession before they left."
"After I joined the king's forces I passed that necklace on to…" Krad's voice died away, leaving Dark to find his own conclusion.
"You gave it to Satoshi…"
"And now that I'm not there to protect him from Kei…"
"You think Kei even knows about it, though?" Dark asked.
"My mother's tale is very well known…it must have just slipped by your ears. And it doesn't help that he's come in on me talking about it with Satoshi more than once…"
"Damn…But…Isn't there…He wouldn't know where to find the artifact, would he…?"
Krad sighed. "There is an incantation…it's very small…but it's inscribed on the back of the charm. It…it tells where to find the island the artifact…"
"So that means…"
"It's highly probably that he…that he'll go after it."
"And for us that means…?"
"It means that if he gets it…we're going to be in one hell of a fix."
--
Hah! I finally updated…Oh, wow—I'm so sorry! I hadn't meant for it to take this long…but I kinda had writer's block and about two weeks ago figured out what I was going to do and then…forgot. So, I want to thank Genkai1314 for helping me remember and allowing me to update this chapter! I'll try not to make you guys ever wait this long again for me to update a story, so please forgive the horribly long expanse of time as well as any errors you might have found. Thank you for reading this, and I hope you will continue to do so!
