AN: Characters may or may not be slightly OOC in this chapter, but then it is an AU and so I am taking some artistic license, so to speak. Hope you guys like it.

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Chapter 9

Mapped in Scales

"It has been decided."

"But he's too young! You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry, Rinko, but that's the point. We need someone young, someone who can adapt when the time comes. He's the most promising we've seen in decades. The Council has made its decision. It has to be him…"

…Ryoma wasn't sure what had woken him at first, but it wasn't hard to figure out. There was someone in his room.

He shot bolt upright in bed, clutching the stone around his neck. "Who—"

"Calm down. It's me."

"Syusuke?" Ryoma relaxed, the drowsiness clearing enough from his eyes for him to pick out the magician's familiar shape in the darkness. "What are you doing?"

Fuji stood up from the stool he had been occupying and sat down on the edge of Ryoma's bed. His gaze wandered around the small room, bare of furnishings save for the bed, one stool, and a box that served as a table. Oishi had insisted Ryoma have a room to himself after hearing about his collapse in the museum.

"I have been thinking."

Ryoma gave him an odd look then lay back down, staring up at the dark ceiling. "I…remembered some things."

There was a long pause in which Fuji turned to look at him before he continued. "I think—I think I'm supposed to be the guardian of the Heart of the Sea…I think the Council decided to put an enchantment on me so that I'd sleep until the battles were over, until a guardian would be needed again. That's way I only remember a bit of the fighting…"

He trailed off again, shivering. Even though it was only a little bit of fighting, there had been so much blood, so many injured, dying, and dead. It made his heart ache in a rather unfamiliar way. "Why does everything always have to be like this?"

Fuji's gaze was distant as it lingered upon his face. "The history of humanity has always been written in blood."

Ryoma let out a half angry, half disgusted hiss. "But it doesn't have to be."

"No," Fuji agreed, "it doesn't. And we're always trying to write it with other things—creativity, innovation, technology…"

"And yet when those things falter, it's the innocents who suffer."

"So eloquent all of a sudden."

The teasing statement failed to elicit a smile. Ryoma rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. Nightmarish memories kept circling like vultures in his head and the lingering stench of blood in his nostrils made his stomach heave. He tensed when a hand landed on his shoulder, going perfectly still.

"We're trying, Ryoma. I promise that we're all trying—well, we as in the people on this ship anyway. You're in the right place now, and none of us are going to let the darkness that destroyed your city overrun this world. It is our home too, you know."

Sighing, Fuji moved to sit next to him, his hand tracing gentle circles on the shorter youth's back. "Let me tell you the other half of the reason why I became a magician."

Ryoma relaxed a little, listening, though he did not raise his head.

"When I was very little, pirates attacked my town. They burned down several buildings before we could stop the fire, and they took anything valuable they could lay their hands on before the navy arrived—far too late to do anything of course." His smile got just a bit sharper on the edges. "My parents were killed on that raid, leaving me and my two siblings. I became a magician because magic was the best weapon I could find for changing the world. And I became a pirate because what better way was there to weed out the bad eggs than from within? My little brother thought differently though; he joined the navy. I am—a bit—sadistic, I know, but it's the suffering of wicked men that I really enjoy."

This last was said with a hint of wry humor and Ryoma snorted. "At least you're honest."

"Yes, well. Honesty, like all things, has its place. And in many cases, a rather high place. I'm sure you agree with me."

At last, Ryoma looked up at him and nodded slowly, though he couldn't completely push away the fear inspired by that night. His golden eyes clouded as he recalled the meeting earlier during dinner…

"Atobe? Are you serious? Atobe Keigo is here?"

Momo nodded, shooting the glowering Sanada a nervous look before turning back to Oishi. "It looks like it. We ran into him in a tavern earlier—a bit before noon I think it was. He and his crew just arrived yesterday to restock or something."

"Who is this Atobe?" Kamio asked warily from his seat at the head of the long, rectangular table.

"He's the captain of Hyotei," Inui reported, glancing up from his notebook, "quite famous for his skills with the rapier. He is also famous for being quite vain and rather self-centered with a very overblown sense of self importance."

"I hardly think it matters who this pirate is—he is a pirate if I am not mistaken, right? Well, anyways, I thought we were looking for information, not old friends—or is it old enemies? You never said… The point is—"

"The point is," Momo cut him off—they were all getting quite good at this—, "He'd heard of this "Heart of the Sea" everyone's looking for. They were searching for it for a while too, but not anymore."

"Not anymore?" Yosei raised his eyebrows, an expression mirrored by his twin. "Why not?"

"He said he didn't think they needed it."

"…Even Atobe can't be arrogant enough to believe he can control the oceans without help."

"Well, no, but he told us he doesn't believe the crystal actually exists or someone would have found it by now—or at least heard of it before now."

"He does have a point for once," Inui mused, pushing his glasses up his nose. "The number of powerful artifacts discovered over the past two centuries has decreased steadily and now make up less than 0.01 percent of recovered relics. Some people even claim that all the treasures to be found of the ancient world have been found. Though of course, I myself am of a slightly different opinion. There are always mysteries in the world and it's quite unlikely, if not impossible, that people could have uncovered them all."

"That wasn't all he said," Sanada cut in, frowning down at the roast fish on his plate. "He mentioned running into a lot of trouble in their search, and other stories they'd heard of—entire crews turning up dead after declaring they'd found a clue to the crystal's whereabouts, things and people going missing. He didn't say so but I'll bet he was scared. No respectable captain, after all, would direct his or her crew into a curse if they weren't willing. And even if they were…"

"Do you think he was right about a curse?" Kamio asked uneasily. After all, he was more or less the captain of their mismatched crew.

"It isn't impossible," Fuji mused, but there was no fear in his faint smile.

Eiji swallowed, scooting closer to Oishi. "Nyaa! I'm not sure I want to keep looking for it anymore."

"It's not very likely though," Inui assured him, flipped through his notebook. "All legendary artifacts are surrounded by myths and factual stories of bloodshed and misfortune. In ninety-eight percent of these cases, there is no actual curse. No more of a curse than human greed that is."

"But that is in itself a great curse, isn't it?" Shinji stared pensively into the depths of his cider. "After all, anything that can make one person take another's life is a great curse. Hmm, though perhaps curse isn't the right word. Can you break a person's greed? Or hatred or jealousy or thirst for revenge? I mean, it is possible to break curses and so if you can't break those "curses" then it's not a very good comparison. Speaking of which—"

"I just want to make this clear," Kamio interrupted, raising his voice so everyone would hear him. "Are you all sure you want to continue with this search? I mean, I don't want to risk anybody's life for my curiosity. And curse or no curse, the navy and whatever it is they've got with them have already tried for us once. I won't blame any of you if you don't want to continue. I'm sure you could find other ships here."

They all fell silent, exchanging glances and picking at their plates. Ryoma fidgeted in his seat, not looking up from the tabletop. Whatever any of them chose to do, he knew where he was going. If he wanted any chance at peace, he had to get to the bottom of all this.

Fuji was the first to break the silence. "Saa, I'm not afraid of curses or demons. Actually, I'm not too bad at curses either, if I do say so myself."

"And I," Inji said, glasses shining in the lantern light. "I am most certainly not giving up such an excellent data-collecting opportunity."

Beside him Kaidoh shrugged and nodded with a soft hiss. The others were slower to give their assent, but give it they did. Though none of them were fools, it was hard to imagine backing down after spending so many years at the top of the sea-fairing food chain.

"Well, now that it's settled, I'd like you all to take a look at this." Fuji pulled out the map they'd bought and spread it out across the table before him, careful not to damage the age-worn parchment. "Ryoma and I think we found the location of the crystal."

"What?" Mom leapt up and scrambled around the table for a better view. "Why didn't you say so earlier? And here we've spent all this time talking about how hard the damn place is to find!"

Choosing to ignore his exclamation, Fuji traced a finger along a line of fading ink. "It's hard to tell for sure—this map is very old you understand. But we think this is a beach not that far from here. There should be a cave there leading to a network of underground passageways that used to connect this continent with Ardalys."

Inui's notebook was already open on the table, his pen hovering above a half-filled page. "May I see that?"

Fuji glanced at Ryoma who nodded and passed the map over. "We should be prepared, however, should that black ship catch up with us."

"We've fought the navy before," Kaidoh pointed out. "Though there was that new magician of theirs."

"Not a magician," Fuji corrected, "a demon."

Kamio gasped. "But why would the navy stoop to using demons? Everyone knows demons are evil and can't be controlled for long. I mean, even the navy can't be that desperate to catch us."

"No," Fuji agreed, "but what if they didn't know he was a demon? What if I were to tell you that this demon…was once human?"

"Demons born from greed and hatred and bloodlust," Sanada mused. "I have heard of them. Some of the most dangerous criminals in history gave up their humanity and became demons, which were later hunted down and slain or sealed away."

Kamio frowned uneasily. "They are powerful, aren't they? And you're saying there's one masquerading in the navy and that he's the one coming after us?"

Fuji's smile didn't fade, though it took on a distinctly cold undertone. "I am saying that it is a definite possibility, and that we should be prepared."

…Ryoma shook his head to clear it and sighed. They should both be getting to bed if they wanted to be ready for tomorrow. "So what were you thinking about when I woke up anyway—that you had to think about it in my room?"

"Well…" Fuji drew out the word, as though pondering what he was about to say with care. "I was debating testing a theory."

"A theory?"

"Saa, a question that's been on my mind for a while."

Ryoma eyed him curiously. "What kind of question?"

Silence followed and Ryoma started to turn so he could get a better look at his companion's face. He started as gentle fingers slid under his chin and tilted his head up. Next thing he knew, the magician had leaned forward and caught his lips in a firm but gentle kiss.

Golden eyes widened and Ryoma froze in shock. Unperturbed, Fuji pulled back slowly, his hand sliding down to rest on the smaller youth's neck, and seemed to be deep in thought. "Hmm, I think I've solved my question."

Still dazed, Ryoma blinked. "and what was the answer?"

"Yes." Fuji smiled. "The answer was—or rather is—yes."

Ryoma shifted a bit uneasily. This kind of thing had never happened to him before and he wasn't sure how to react. "Dare I ask what the question was?"

"Mm, I don't know. Do you dare?" Fuji's smile widened as Ryoma scowled. "Let's just say that I've decided that I…like you in something more than a friendly way."

Speechless, Ryoma averted his gaze, embarrassed. He had seen other people in romantic relationships before, of course, but he'd never taken part in them himself. His father's determination in the past to pair him off had only driven him away from any ideas of romance.

"Does it bother you?"

Gathering his wits, Ryoma answered with his gaze locked somewhere on the creased bedcovers. "Are you asking me if it bother me that you like me, or if I like you back?"

The moment the words were out of his mouth, Ryoma felt his face grow hot. He could not believe he was having this conversation.

Fuji chuckled, reaching over to tuck a lock of emerald hair behind his ear. "Both."

"I—I don't know." Ryoma stopped, taking a deep breath. He did enjoy the magician's company more than most, and his close proximity didn't bother him as much as he thought it should have. Still, he didn't know if that meant he really—"liked"—the man. Then again…he swallowed and added, "I guess I'm okay."

"Good, because I don't give up when I've decided that I want something."

Wary, Ryoma scooted a little ways away from him. "Well, goodnight then, Syusuke."

Fuji smiled, leaning back against the headboard. "Goodnight, Ryoma."

Dark emerald eyebrows went up. "Aren't you leaving?"

"Saa, did I say that?"

"Fuji…"

"I thought I'd just stay here for a while longer. Don't let me interrupt your sleep."

Ryoma stared at him for a moment longer then sighed in resignation and lay back down, drawing the blankets up around him. He let his eyes close, relaxing with some effort. His mind whirled with half confused questions, but now was not the time. There was just one more thing.

"Did you…did you ever catch those pirates? The ones that raided your hometown?"

Ryoma didn't have to look to see the cold smile that tugged at Fuji's lips. He could hear it in the magician's voice. "A long time ago, my dear, a long time ago."

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AN: Please review!