BETWEEN THREE ROGUES
By Eric 'Erico' Lawson
Thirty: Do You Really Think I Would Hurt Them
They had said that there was nothing on the other side of the Dark Rift. Legends said that Daccat had traveled the world and had pillaged and taken the treasures of the lands under all six moons. Fina had said there was an entire continent and the descendants of another lost civilization living there waiting to be discovered.
Only Fina had spoken with a sense of absolute knowing, and Vyse would always back his Silvite partner to the hilt. It became a mantra that he'd fed to the crew the entire time that they were inside The Dark Rift. Fina says that there's more on the other side, and I believe her. He took to saying it without blinking, staring hard at every crewmember who evoked the response out of him until they backed away, believing him or not. When Fina started getting sick and then finally had her breakdown in the shadow of the Black Moon Stone at the heart of the Dark Rift, everyone worried. Vyse almost stopped eating, and Aika divided her time between sleeping in Fina's bunk and clinging to Vyse in her own quarters with a desperate need that he understood perfectly. Without Fina, neither of them felt balanced. And neither of them felt like sleeping in the enormous bed in the captain's cabin without her.
But one morning, as they were on the outbound leg inside the Rift by his reckoning, Vyse overheard Marco speaking to one of the Esperanzan sailors in a corridor belowdecks, with Pow ruffing softly in support. The older sailor had been speaking out of fear, giving himself to that familiar hopelessness. And Marco had stood there, short but sprouting and filling out as he was finally eating right and getting fresh air, and was defiant in the face of that pessimism. 'Fina says that there's more on the other side, and I believe her.' He parroted Vyse's words at the older man, who took a step back, and Marco walked around him and disappeared.
It spread like wildfire after that, until not even the rescued sailor Robinson who spent all his time within eyesight if not arm's reach of his wife failed to repeat it.
They all believed in Vyse, and because of Vyse, they believed in her. They kept on believing until they cleared the Dark Rift and it went from believing to knowing.
The night that they went to plant the tattered expedition flag and hold a ceremony for the sailors of Esperanza who never saw the other side, there was a hush when Fina stepped forward to climb onto one of the skiffs. Vyse watched as every set of eyes turned to her and stared in wonder and reverence, he watched as Fina felt it and shivered and almost turned back to run away from them. If Aika hadn't come up and put one hand on her shoulder and used the other to grip Fina's hand tightly, the Silvite probably would have run away. She held Fina's hand through the entire ceremony, grounding their blond-haired lover.
And that night when they had finally gone to bed, in their bed, Vyse and Aika cuddled Fina between them as the Silvite shakily confessed that she didn't like everyone looking at her like that. Like she was an oracle with all the answers.
Vyse had smiled when Aika had leaned in and captured Fina's lips with hers, getting her to relax. Then she had pulled back and smiled.
'You don't know everything, Princess. It's part of your charm.' And then Fina had smiled and nestled in tightly between them, falling asleep shortly after.
They had said that The Dark Rift was the edge of the world.
Vyse was happy to say that it was just the beginning of the next horizon.
The Skies Under the Blue Moon
Delphinus, Engineering Compartment
173 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Among the many lessons that Dyne had tried to impress on Vyse in the 7 years that he and Aika had served as crewmembers aboard the Albatross were several that touched on the responsibilities of a captain. A captain was not only responsible for the lives of every single one of his crewmembers, but for the entire ship itself. A captain had to know the ins and outs of every job and posting, at least enough to be passable at it. He couldn't hold a candle to Aika's talents in engineering, but he had learned enough in the 7 years they'd flown together to keep pace with her explanations and to help her out with the less detailed work. He was a much better ship's helmsman and navigator, though.
It was with that same attitude that he now dragged Prince Enrique down into the belly of the ship, giving Enrique a much more hands-on tour about the mechanics that kept them in the air and sailing on. Enrique did his best to follow along, but it was clear that mechanical engineering had not been a topic that he'd studied during his time in the palace. The explanation about the condensors that gave the ship lift went right over his head, and the followup about the moonstone reactors, and why they were so much more efficient as a power source than the tanks of combustible gas used just prior to the Valuan-Nasrian War of 20 years ago was something that Enrique knew only as a historical lesson. He did seem to grasp that the ship's enormous turbines that powered the four propellor driveshafts as well as the maneuvering spinners utilized steam power; The ship's water reservoir was enormous, and waste heat pumped through the secondary piping passed through the storage cisterns that gave the ship its most unique feature, that of hot water for the showers and the kitchens.
Engine maintenance was looking to be another subject that would require multiple lessons for Enrique to grasp.
"Enrique." Vyse said patiently, while the never-one-to-suffer-fools-lightly Lapen stood by and tried his best not to explode and call the exiled Prince whatever terrible name he'd thought up today. "This is important. A good captain needs to know these things. A good captain has to project confidence and understanding to his crew. Do you think it would do me any good to spout off arbitrary demands to Lapen here, or Hans, or Aika without a clear understanding of how difficult the work is? The only thing that would accomplish would be to get them all mad at me."
"Yes, Vyse, but you're the captain. I'm not." Enrique tried to argue. "When am I ever going to need to know this? When I'm on the bridge, I spend my time in cartography and navigation!"
"You're a command officer aboard." Vyse reminded him. "On this ship, you may not be captain, but in rank of authority you fall right behind Aika."
"And Fina." Enrique pointed out, while Lapen's arms tightened.
Vyse laughed a little. "Have you ever known Fina to give an order?" He asked, smiling easily. She had, but only ever in private. The rest of the time, it was always couched in a request given with an easy smile. "No, Enrique. Fina's place aboard is unique. She goes where she is needed." He set a hand on Enrique's elbow. "You gave us this ship. You gave us this chance. I need to know that if I'm not here, if I'm indisposed, that there will be someone else that the crew can look to for direction."
Enrique seemed uncomfortable with that. "Won't they look to Aika?"
They would, Vyse knew, but an uncomfortable truth settled in his chest. That if Aika was hurt enough that she couldn't give orders as his first officer, that he would have already been cold and dead for longer. Vyse would never let her, or Fina be hurt so long as he drew breath.
Whatever was playing out over his face as he waded through that dire possibility was enough to startle Enrique into the beginnings of awestruck horror. Vyse shook it off and managed a smile. "Contingencies, 'Rique. Contingencies." And Enrique swallowed and nodded, then Vyse laughed to break the somber tone. "I wish Aika was here, though. She could explain it so much better. She's forgotten more about engineering than I'll ever know. Tore apart an entire moonstone engine when she was eight, you know. Put it back together again and it ran even smoother. Dad couldn't find it in him to get mad at her."
"Where is Aika anyways?" Enrique glanced around. "I didn't see her scheduled for the second shift."
"Ah, she…" Lapen started, but Vyse cut him off.
"Indisposed." Vyse told the exiled prince, "Not feeling the greatest this morning. But she'll be back tomorrow, I stopped and spoke to Ilchymis at breakfast and he'll be looking after her. Her and Fina both, actually."
Menstrual cramps, Vyse shook his head. He knew that it was part of being a woman, his mother had drilled that into his head when he was younger that there were times that girls would prefer to be left alone, and both of his loves swore that the medicine they were taking for birth control helped to make their monthlies hurt less, but apparently passing through the Dark Rift had been rough on them in ways that nobody had ever thought of. He wasn't sure how usual it was for two women to go through their monthly at the same time, but somehow Aika and Fina were.
"How do you know that, sir?" Lapen inquired, one eyebrow raised. "I only just found out myself half an hour ago when I called up to the bridge and got a message routed back from Dr. Ilchymis."
Because he had been there in the room with the both of them, Vyse didn't say. Because he'd felt how his loves had cringed away from him when they woke, hands around their abdomen and their heads aching. Because he'd set the shower to scalding to soak towels at Aika's request so they could have something warm to hold against themselves. Because he'd carried them, both of them from the captain's cabin to Aika's and set them onto the smaller bunk side by side. Because he'd lingered there with his mind warring between the need to go get help for them and the feelings of warmth that seeing his loves curl up next to each other and find solace in the easy belonging of tanned skin next to pale, red hair transposed against blond.
"They told me first." He said, which was both true and left out plenty of details that neither of the men standing by him deserved to know. Lapen nodded, reading something into it that made him dismiss his idle curiosity. Vyse blinked when the reaction from Enrique wasn't nearly so muted.
For a moment, just a moment until Enrique schooled his features, there was outrage and fury. And loathing, a loathing directed straight at him.
174 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
There were plenty of new things to mark down in his sailor's journal, and the benefit of having Tikatika and Domingo on hand was that the two were remarkable in finding things that Vyse might have stumbled across blindly. The morning after the flag ceremony, Tikatika had directed them towards a nearby island where he'd seen birds roosting. Domingo had been the one to warn them off of hunting the birds for food, pointing out that they were apparently nesting. They'd marked the position of the nest for later scrutiny and left the strange, long-legged birds in peace as they headed north. They didn't get a day past the thin sky rift before they came across a discovery so blatantly obvious that even Marco could pick it out when he was up on the bridge for part of his shift.
With Don at the helm, Vyse, Domingo and Enrique went out onto the foredeck to watch as the newest object of their attention came into view. Along a line of small islands that had somehow formed close together or been wrestled together stood an enormous wall of carved stone, perhaps pristine white at one time but now crumbled in places and grayed with age and exposure to the elements. It wasn't a consistent barrier, but as he scanned the horizon, adjusting the telescopic lens of his goggle, Vyse could make out that other parts of the wall stood further along to the east, gently curving for a time until it faded off into the horizon heading north. Like it was marking a border.
Like it was a warning.
"Definitely manmade." Domingo hummed cheerfully, making a sketch of them. "And very old. I'd have to get closer to them and get my hands on some samples to make a more educated guess, but we're looking at structures that must be at least a thousand years old. If these ancient walls could talk, can you imagine what they would say?"
"Stay out?" Vyse intoned sarcastically. He looked over to Enrique, not surprised to find the prince making a face like he'd sucked on a lemon. "You have an idea for a name, Domingo?"
"The Great Walls?"
Vyse thought about it. "No. How about the Guardian Walls?"
Domingo sounded it out in his head and shrugged. "Good as anything else. Are we flying in for a closer look?"
"I think we'd better." Vyse scanned the horizon again. "Enrique, how are our supplies looking?"
"Fair, although if we can find some skyfish soon, we'll be in better shape. And the crew would appreciate some fresher fare."
"Hm. I'll talk to Tikatika. He mentioned seeing some off to the west closer to this side of the Dark Rift the other day, and he should be able to supply a heading after we finish up here. We'll have to break out the fishing nets again."
"It's been a learning experience, fishing." Enrique admitted. "But there is that old saying about teaching a man to fish."
Vyse snorted under his breath and turned back for the hatch back inside of the ship. "You've been teaching me how to swordfight at the next level. What saynig do you suppose goes with that?"
"Teach a man to swordfight, and he'll either get himself into more trouble, or get himself out of it." Enrique intoned.
"I'm a Blue Rogue." Vyse reminded the man as he reached the hatch and spun the pressure seal, swinging the hatch open.
"Meaning what?" Enrique asked as he followed him inside.
"It's usually both." Vyse admitted wanly.
Delphinus
Rec Room
175 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Morning
The Blue Moon had been low on the horizon and barely visible when they had cleared the sky rift, but once they sailed past the Guardian Walls, it had been steadily tracking up in an arc that would take it directly overhead. Just like the Yellow Moon seemed eternally locked above Valua, and the Red Moon hung above the great desert that they had crossed to reach the Temple of Pyrynn, so long ago.
If Vyse were to look out the window of the gym, he would have to crane his neck to see it because of its azimuth and squint harder because of the glow of sunrise. Of course, that would first require him to not be quite so distracted by the morning training Enrique was putting him through.
It was crazy how good Enrique was with a blade. He only had one sword to the twin cutlasses Vyse favored and he was still grinding Vyse down.
"Not bad." Enrique praised him as he gave ground a step, never faltering from the narrow profile he presented towards Vyse. "Your footwork's improved. You'll need a grounded stance if you hope to match Galcian. The sword he uses is more of a cudgel and he's been known to throw his opponents ass over teakettle in training even when he isn't trying to kill them. When it comes to Galcian, never try to duel him on his own terms. The man lives on raw power and brutality. A much better tack, which you seem to be more suited for thankfully, is to be where his blade isn't and to then follow it up with precise strikes."
"You're saying…" Vyse started, using his off-hand and his side-gripped cutlass to deflect Enrique's blade away, "...He's like a boulder you gotta chip away at?" His riposte was a straight thrust that actually forced Enrique to weave to the side, and then that long and tapered dual-edged blade of his swept back and knocked Vyse's blade away.
Enrique was a skinny little thing, but while he'd never seen much of a hard day's work or sailing, the musculature he did have had been developed for the singular purpose of dueling. Underneath the royal vestments he still wore on occasion as circumstances allowed for was the build of a honed swordsman. The strength of his right arm and shoulder and his back were considerable, and his legs were toned, hiding their explosive power.
Impatience, as always, got the better of Vyse. He came at Enrique again in a flurry of swordstrikes that pressed the prince backwards, even causing him to lose the beret from the top of his neatly trimmed blond hair. And just like always, Enrique parried and dodged and weaved until the tempo faltered and Enrique's sword curved around, catching at the hilt and ripping first his main cutlass away and then his off-hand sword shortly after. The duel ended with Enrique's blade scant inches away from Vyse's face, and he froze.
Then Enrique smirked and retracted his blade, sheathing it. "There's a time for ferocity, Vyse, and that wasn't it."
"As you say." Vyse sighed. "I swear it's like you're made of ice some days. Does nothing faze you?"
"Many things." Enrique said. "However, in a duel, losing one's temper is the quickest way to ensuring you get run through." He reached down for his beret and set it atop his head, then tapped the side of his skull. "This is the most important weapon you will ever wield, Vyse. The moment you lose control of it is the moment you may as well start swinging a wooden club at your opponent."
They were interrupted when the partition dividing their half of the center gym area from the other moved aside, and Fina walked in with a small smile.
"Let's stop for a water break." Enrique told Vyse, eyeing the Silvite and giving her a polite nod. "It seems you're needed for ship's business."
"Always." Vyse said, drinking a quick swig from his thermos of cool smallbeer as he walked over to meet her out of earshot of Enrique. Fina's smile only deepened as he neared, and she reached out for his hand. Only present company kept her from leaning up into him for a kiss, and that was a near thing given her body language. "Good morning, Fina."
"Captain." She answered him, squeezing his fingers gently. "I was wondering if you'd made any plans yet for lunch."
"Unless an emergency comes up, I'm free." Vyse lifted the eyebrow over his goggle. "What did you have in mind?"
"Miss Fatima and Mrs. Caruso were so ecstatic with the ingredients that we found on Spice Island that they're making a special meal. Of course, right now I'm still busy in the ship's greenhouse keeping an eye on the new cuttings and plantings, so they offered to make a picnic basket for myself and the two 'helpers' I mentioned."
"Helpers." Vyse repeated, sliding his arm up Fina's sleeve, tracing the soft skin underneath. He lowered his voice. "Can she make it?"
"I hope she does." Fina admitted, and Vyse could only nod. "But after our sick day yesterday, she said that she had some catching up to do in engineering. There's one modification for the Moonstone Cannon that we've been planning since our run-in with that creature at the exit of the Dark Rift, and she's agonizing over the design before we commit to the fabrication phase. It should help to tighten the focus of the beam and limit bleed-off."
Vyse bit his lip. "Speaking of bleeding, how are you feeling today?"
Fina laughed at his concern. "I'm fine now, Vyse. Ilchymis had just the thing, and with that, all we needed was some rest. It's okay, Vyse, just a part of life." He opened his mouth to speak, and she raised a hand to stop him. "And Aika's fine, too. Do you think I would let her go crawling around in engineering if she wasn't?" That hand came up and pressed gently against his chest, and Vyse sighed.
"No. You wouldn't. But she really does push herself too hard. So do you."
"And you don't, lover mine?" Fina countered, shaking her head at him. "Everyone on board this ship looks up to us. Counts on us. That's why we have to look out for each other."
Vyse blinked, and something in his head clicked into place. "That's why you set up a picnic in the greenhouse for us." Fina's smile turned radiant as he said it so clearly. "You're trying to get Aika and me to relax a little."
She shrugged. "And I miss you. How often do I get to spend time with you two when we're not sleeping or in the thick of a fight?"
Not often enough, Vyse knew. "I'm sorry." He apologized, and his hand went up her arm, past the sleeve and her elbow and the golden band around her bicep until he was cupping her shoulder and caressing it with his thumb. Her eyelids fluttered as she shivered briefly. "I'll be there. I promise. I just hope Aika will be also."
"If she doesn't, that's okay too." Fina reassured him. "It just means I get you to myself if she's busy."
Vyse blinked at the possessive purr in her voice. "I thought we shared?" He asked her hesitantly. Fina smiled, then did what she must have been wanting to do the entire time she'd been in the gym, watching him sweat and duel. She gripped his shirt and pulled him down as she leaned up, pressed her free hand behind his head, and kissed him hard. His own arms went around her and palmed her backside, pulling her in even closer.
He had no reason to stop her, and soon they were both breathing hard as they pulled apart. A promise beckoned in her darkening blue eyes.
"Sometimes we share." She said huskily. "And sometimes we take turns."
Vyse swallowed as his blood pooled in his groin at the suggestion. "Aika's okay with it?"
"Her idea." Fina's teeth showed in her grin. "So, yes."
He laughed softly. "Moons, I love you two."
"And we love you, you pirate." Fina teased him, finally pulling back and making no move to hide how flushed her face was. She blinked twice, then looked over to Enrique and smiled even more saucily, waving at him. "Don't hurt him too badly, Enrique. The ship needs him, after all."
Vyse grinned as she sashayed back out the way she'd come, and kept on grinning until he turned back around to face Enrique. Then the grin died.
Enrique's face was purpled in swallowed rage, and there was a look of such utter loathing on his face. Like somehow Vyse wasn't his friend or his ally, but had instead descended to the depths of the lowest barrel of humanity's dregs.
"Break's over." Enrique declared in crisp and bitten off words. "Blunt your blades." As he spoke, Enrique was already drawing out his own sword and running a hand over it, whispering the words to a spell that surrounded the edges of his sword with just enough concentrated magic to keep it from being able to draw blood. It could still break bones, though, and Vyse wondered if he meant to try for it.
Warily, he did the same to his cutlasses. "Enrique, is there something wrong? Why are you so angry at me?"
"You have the gall to stand there, you blackguard, and feign innocence to the cause of my rage?" Enrique thundered, and this time around, there was no easy rhythm. He came charging at Vyse like an executioner, and every slice and stab of his sword was deadly accurate.
"The hell, Enrique?!" Vyse snapped, finding himself pressed to his absolute limits as Enrique's stamina persisted, never letting up. He kept pressing and pressing, never giving Vyse a moment to attack.
"In every way, Vyse, in every way but one you are the most honorable man I have ever met! And yet for all your fairness, your courage, and your mercy, you persist in causing harm for your own foul desires!"
"What in blazes are you talking about, you maniac?" Vyse snapped back at him, using a crossguard block to keep Enrique from bringing his sword down in a heavy overhanded blow that would have set his bell ringing for hours.
Enrique's legendary composure, the thing he forever tried to impress on Vyse as necessary for swordfighting, seemed well and truly lost. And the fight only ended when his off-hand cutlass was torn away from him and a ferocious slash resulted in a blow right at his wrist, forcing him to drop his sword.
Enrique stood there over him as Vyse crumpled to the ground, cradling his injury, hissing at what wasn't a break, but would definitely leave a bruise until he got it treated. The two of them breathed in loud, gulping gasps, Vyse afraid and Enrique barely holding on to his sanity.
"Please." Vyse begged him. "Enough, Enrique. Whatever I've done, I apologize. Whatever I've done, tell me so I can fix it."
The wild look in Enrique's eyes finally died off. He scowled and slid his rapier back in its scabbard, then turned away.
"She deserves better than this. They both do. Tell them the truth, Vyse. Or I will."
Leaving Vyse hurting and flummoxed as to his rage, Enrique stormed out of the rec room to report for his duties.
Afternoon
As they headed north and tracked east, keeping Tikatika's gimlet eye fixed on the blue moon, Vyse got a queasy feeling in his stomach that he couldn't place. To be certain, there was whatever had set Enrique off and left the prince fuming, which was a reaction that Vyse had never inspired out of the man before. Aika only showed up at the tail end of lunch, after he and Fina had finished their nibbling and she'd pinned him down onto the stack of burlap bags of soil in their greenhouse for some very aggressive kissing. They'd moved to separate, but Aika had given Fina a good, hard kiss of her own and then shoved her back at him with a grin before going after the last of the food. The feeling had started when they'd departed Spice Island and it stayed with him even now. It felt like he was being watched, and the usual suspects weren't responsible. Marco was too busy with his duties and keeping tabs on Pow, and everyone else had their assignments.
Standing on the Bridge, he asked Tikatika for a scan of the horizon and it came back negative. There was nobody around them in any direction in the Central Sky.
In Hindsight, Vyse realized, he should have also told Tikatika to look up. But then, it had never occurred to him that there were ships that could fly above condensor altitude limits.
So there they were, getting pounded by a pair of strangely designed warships with angry animal-faced carvings on their bows, and as the ship rattled around him, Vyse was scowling to himself and realizing that the Guardian Walls they'd passed by days ago really were a warning.
He activated the speaking tubes by the captain's chair. "Bridge to Engineering. Aika, tell me we're holding up under this."
"For now. The Delphinus is packing some serious armor, but those warshots they're lobbing at us are playing hell with our systems! It's like we're getting nailed by squalls here, if the ship was any smaller and less sturdy we'd have foundered!"
Vyse had to agree with that assertion. The bulk of the enemy's firepower seemed magically based, and worse, they darted down to a proper altitude only rarely. Torpedoes seemed to be their best bet for an attack, but the pounding from their blue magic shells kept tossing them around like a kite in a storm, making firing and tracking their shots a dicey proposition.
It was the kind of challenge that one man lived for. He switched channels. "Khazim."
"Captain! These blasted eastern ships are giving us a devil of a time!"
"They're throwing magic shells at us, Khazim." Vyse told him. Fina made a noise to get his attention, and he looked over to see his Silvite raising one hand, channeling magic around it. Purple magic.
The power of ice, and of neutralization. With her other hand, she made a zipping motion over her mouth, then set her hand on one of the pedestals that served as a feeder line to the ship's moonstone reservoir.
A silencing spell. He caught onto it quickly.
"Khazim." He was calm in the face of the danger. "Load a blank moonstone warshot and switch the forward battery to spell-receive. We're going to try something here. If we can keep ourselves from getting hit, can you land the shot?"
"Get me close and keep us from being rattled, Captain Vyse, and I will hurt them." Khazim answered heatedly. Vyse smiled.
"Load up every torpedo tube as well. I want them sunk after we shut them up."
"Aye-aye, sir!"
Vyse killed the connection, grabbed the black tricorn hat that Rupee Larso had gifted to him in Maramba and stood up, glancing to the helm. "Don."
The old Esperanzan sailor looked back for half a second and then smiled thinly. "Let me guess. You'd like to take the wheel."
"If you don't mind." Vyse said, slipping the hat on and pulling it down until it was snugly fit over his hair.
"Not in the slightest." Don stayed on station until Vyse was beside him, and kept his hands on the telemotor until Vyse had one on it. Then he stepped back. "You have the conn."
"I have the conn." Vyse answered him, and slid into place. He didn't look back over his shoulder. He didn't dare. He kept his eyes on the strange warships four times smaller than they were and flipped the switch for Engineering. "Aika? Get ready for some quick speed changes."
"Pulling off a trick?"
"In true Blue Rogues fashion. Fina?"
"I am ready, captain." That steady, reassuring voice answered him. Vyse gripped the wheel tighter, and waited.
In all, it took only 20 seconds to reverse the fortunes of battle. The lead ship with their spellshots dove down, firing on them. Vyse jerked the ship to a halt and their shot sailed past their nose harmlessly, then moved the throttle back to full, bursting ahead and turning in sharply to clear their stern and narrow their profile. The swordfighting lessons with Enrique paid off in full as the followup shot screamed just off their portside, and then the enemy ship was closing in.
Vyse kept the ship steady and on track for a perfect broadside as he felt the pressure of Fina's magic flowing into the ship's reservoir and into the forward battery. Khazim had his perfect chance, and he took it; the enspelled shell smashed amidships on the lead enemy vessel and their cannons fell eerily silent. The hatches over the torpedo tubes all snapped up in a synchronized burst and six perfectly aimed torpedoes screamed through the ether, striking the crippled vessel and blowing it apart down to the keel. As the cheers rose up, Vyse shivered to see that the other ship hadn't even waited to react to the death of their once-partner, but had instead moved in and thrown mooring lines that caught to the ship's rails, tethering them in.
"You have the conn, Don." Vyse said, stepping back.
"Aye, sir." The Esperanzan quickly resumed his post, and Vyse looked over to Fina and then Enrique, who in spite of still being furious at him for some reason, knew well enough to stay focused and follow orders in the life or death situation.
Vyse lingered just long enough to trigger the shipwide broadcast by the helm. "All hands, lock down your doors and arm yourselves. Aika, meet us at the foredeck hatch. Prepare to repel boarders."
176 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Evening
The bad part about sailing into unknown skies to find unknown lands was that you lacked any meaningful intelligence about where you were headed. What might be there. Or who.
After taking down one aggressor vessel with some marvelous flying and strategy, they'd been boarded by the second. By only two men of such unique appearance and skills that it had taken them all aback. They carried no weapons, fought only with fists and feet and elbows. After demanding that they, the 'Westerners' surrender their swords and weapons, and being refused, the two had almost beaten them.
Almost. Enrique had found that his skill with a blade was neutralized by the swiftness of their movements. In the end it had taken first Enrique's ability to shield physical blows and then Vyse's talent of summoning up ghostly counter-attacking auras to neutralize their clear advantage. Put on the back foot by the unexpected defense and then blown off of them by the combined spellcasting and grenade work of rapidly forming ice pillars by Fina and Aika, the pair that had called themselves Jao and Mao in horribly stilted and old Mid-Ocean trade tongue had opted for retreat. But not before declaring the group they were with, and warning them to fly no further.
Vyse paused as he finished up his meal and let the name roll through his mind again.
The Tenkou.
The thing that he'd struggled to understand the most was the visceral and angry reaction that they'd had to him. As if they knew him somehow, or perhaps saw a reflection of a long-hated enemy in his appearance. They kept looking at his face, at his head the most in that fight.
There was something important there. Something he was missing, that he wasn't seeing.
They just didn't know enough for him to figure it out. He got up with a grunt and took his tray back over to the counter, giving a faded smile to Fatima and the Esperanzan who worked with the cook on the night shift. "It was very good. You outdid yourself tonight, Fatima. How are the spices working out for you?"
The Nasrian woman smiled and nodded at him as her associate took the tray for cleaning. "Very good, captain. The Khale, especially. You need good Khale to make proper kabal skewers."
"Oh?" Vyse lifted his chin up. "Been a while since I've had one of those. Not since we left Nasrad the last time."
"My mother makes the best in all of Nasr. I could probably come close." Fatima said, then shrank back and bit her lip. "Captain, if...do you think that we'll make it back?"
"Yes." Vyse replied immediately. "Why are you worried about that?"
"I'm just not sure if I would be welcomed back home. My mother…" Fatima started delicately. Vyse waited her out, and after a moment she sighed. "I did not part on the best of terms with her when I left for Esperanza. I followed a sailor I thought was in love with me. But it was mere infatuation for him."
"We'll make it back." Vyse promised her. "Trust me. And I think that she would be happy to see you again. Any parent would be, who thought their child was lost forever. And you know what? If she makes the best kabal skewers in the world, why not make a batch of your own to show her you still remember the things she taught you?" Fatima stared at him and Vyse shrugged. "You do have the Khale now."
A faint but genuine smile came to her dark-skinned face at that, and Fatima nodded. "Yes, I do. Thank you, captain. If we make it back to Maramba..."
"You'll get your shore leave." Vyse reassured her, and she bid him good night. Vyse left the galley behind and went to the living quarters.
He was surprised to see Enrique waiting at the end of the hall, next to the door to the captain's cabin. Aika was there as well, which was less of a surprise, but even she seemed puzzled and on edge at Enrique being there. Vyse recalled the last thing Enrique had said to him in the morning after their training came to an abrupt end.
Tell them the truth, Vyse. Or I will.
Well. Something had been stuck in Enrique's beret all day. It seemed that it was going to be resolved tonight, one way or the other. And Vyse was a Blue Rogue, which meant he didn't back down from greater dangers. Or from conflicts that he didn't understand, but might have a chance at resolving.
"Enrique." He said politely on reaching them. His smile was a little warmer when he looked to Aika. "Hey, Aika."
"Hey yourself." The redhead returned the greeting. She gave a brief sidewards glance to Enrique. "Enrique caught me down in engineering right before my shift ended, asked me to meet him here in the corridor. Hasn't told me why yet."
"To correct a wrong that has stood for too long now." Enrique explained, his eyes glimmering darkly as he looked at Vyse. "I wanted Miss Fina to be here for this discussion as well, but I had trouble finding her. I will have to talk with her later. Or you will, Miss Aika." Aika blinked and looked over to Vyse in obvious confusion, and all he could do was shrug.
Then Enrique opened the door to the captain's cabin and walked inside, going still three paces in. Following the exiled prince, Vyse saw what had captured his attention. Fina was sitting at the desk in the cabin, dressed in a pale green nightgown gifted to her by the Hortekans. The hem of it clung to her ankles as she used Cupil, in the form of a hairbrush, to smooth out her shoulder length tresses. Fina paused and looked up in surprise to see Enrique standing in the room, and glanced past him to raise an eyebrow at Vyse and Aika.
"I should have known." Enrique muttered darkly, slowly shaking his head. "My apologies for the interruption, Miss Fina. I know it's inappropriate decorum for me to see you like this, I will try to make it brief. This won't take long." He gave Vyse another withering stare, then turned to Aika, and his face softened to a look of apology, of sorrow. "Please, Miss Aika. Please, sit. You will want to when you hear this."
"Should I…" Vyse started to say, motioning after Aika, and Enrique spun on him with a hiss, his aura flaring to life with crackling yellow light.
"You can stand, you miserable cretin."
"Wow. Okay." Vyse held his hands palms up and backed away, but Aika and Fina both jerked up with furious looks.
"What the hell's wrong with you, Enrique?!" Aika snapped at him. Her brown eyes flared as she jumped between Enrique and Vyse, as if to shield him. Which, if Enrique were truly serious and cut loose with his magic that was running amok, she could in an instant.
Her presence calmed Enrique down enough that the blistering rage in his eyes went to a simmer and became traced with guilt. His yellow aura faded away, and Enrique released his held breath in a loud exhale.
"My apologies, ladies. This is...not easy for me to do. To bring up. My temper has gotten the better of me. I promise you, I will not harm Vyse. Even though he has wronged you." Enrique walked over to the desk and the mirror, nodding briefly to Fina. "Please. Sit."
To nobody's surprise but Enrique's, Aika and Fina sought each other out and sat side by side at the foot of the enormous bed that had once been meant for an admiral. Or for a prince. And now Vyse slept in it, as did his loves. They reached for the other's hand as they waited, looking up at Enrique in wariness.
The exiled prince swallowed, clenched and unclenched his hands once, and then started off. "I never had any doubts that the three of you were such good friends. How could you not be, with all the trials that you have gone through? And yet it was not until we stopped in Sailor's Isle that I began to wonder at what romantic bonds might exist. When Vyse called you 'My Aika,' you smiled and kissed him, and I thought, certainly, you were the love of his heart. Yet later on before Esperanza, I caught Miss Fina walking from this cabin with the bedsheets and a swooning smile and way about her. And I began to worry."
"Wait, I remember you mentioning that." Aika said in confusion. "Worry about what?"
"You both care for Vyse." Enrique declared flatly. "You might even claim to love him. Yet he is playing with your hearts and your affections, and being truthful to neither of you. Just this morning I caught him kissing Miss Fina with such passion and heat that it stirred even my blood." He bowed his head. "This is what I did not wish to hurt you with, but to let him drag this on, to let him toy with you both and being faithful to neither one of you? I am a Blue Rogue and took the Oath, and in every other respect, he has my faith and trust. But what he is doing to you two? That I cannot stand for as a chivalrous man, or as a man, period." Then he stood and waited, as Aika and Fina blinked rapidly.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Vyse said wearily, walking over and sitting at the desk. Honestly, how did Enrique not see it?
"You think that Vyse is cheating on me." Aika said flatly.
"With Miss Fina, yes." Enrique nodded, his voice pained. "He's made advances on both of you, and it is blackguardly behavior. Please, do not think less of each other. Do not let your friendship end because of Vyse's philandering ways. What you two women have is so precious, don't let him ruin it."
"I'm getting tired of explaining this." Vyse grumbled, setting a hand to his forehead with another aggrieved sigh and looking over to his two lovers. He rolled his eyes, and allowed himself to finally smile when Fina caught on and smirked herself.
"What we have is precious, Enrique." Fina agreed, and with Enrique watching and making a squeaking noise of disbelief, the Silvite leaned over and set her hand behind Aika's head, pulling her in for a soft and languorous kiss full of love and attraction. Aika returned the kiss eagerly, humming in clear satisfaction as Fina's hand held her fast so she could not separate their lips.
Enrique gawked, and Vyse felt a sense of peace fall over him as his loves embraced, bound to one another as much as they were to him. It went on for perhaps ten seconds, long enough that Enrique blushed and started to turn away until he caught sight of Vyse in the corner of his eye and froze.
Vyse just smiled at him until Enrique jerked his head back and kept watching.
At length, the two young women finally separated, and Aika tapped Fina's nose with a fingertip, making the Silvite giggle. "It'd be hard for Vyse to cheat on me if I'm sleeping with her too, prince."
"What?" Enrique got out shakily.
Vyse sighed again, folded his arms as he sat at the desk, and waited. Enrique was an intelligent man. He should be able to piece it together. Still, watching the process would be either amusing, or worthy of a groan.
Enrique looked back to Vyse. Then he looked to Aika and Fina. Then back again.
"You mean that you and Vyse…" He started, pointing to Aika.
"Yes." The redhead told him simply, and Enrique's finger moved to Fina.
"And you and Vyse…"
"Yes." Fina said, her smile never fading. It even widened as his other hand came up, and he pointed at both of the young women.
"And you both…" Enrique whispered incredulously, stopping when the girls held up their hands, fingers interlaced together. "But…How?" He looked back at Vyse. The Blue Rogue captain rolled his eyes.
"Do you really think I would hurt them?" Vyse asked him sadly. "I understand why you were so upset earlier, but honestly, Enrique."
"You didn't have to be." Fina reassured the prince.
"I think we broke him." Aika remarked, raising one leg up and stretching forward to unlace her boots.
"You will if you keep that up." Vyse grinned. Aika always had such flexibility, especially with her legs. She made the act of removing her shoes a burlesque.
Enrique stepped away, shaking his head and shaken, shaken to the core of himself. "All three of you. Together." And Vyse held his hand out, palm up and open, thinking and projecting Now you understand.
"How long?" Enrique asked, pacing in a furious, slow circle, and making the strangest gesture at them, a lopsided thing that tried to gesture at all of them and failed to reach any of them. "Were you always...in all the time I knew you…"
"Not long before we met you." Fina said, picking up the slack when she caught on that Vyse just wanted the day to be over and Aika seemed more than happy just pulling her boots off. "Well, consummated anyways." She blushed at the memory of those wonderful first three nights, and Vyse's thoughts drifted back to them as well, the first night when Aika unraveled beneath his hands and his body and she wept happily in his arms after while he buried his blurry eyes into her hair. The second night when Fina revealed how deep still waters ran and showed the reverse of her shy nature as it went from him taking her to her taking him, and the third…
"It's love, Enrique." Fina said with a longing sigh. "We love who we love. We are together, three people made whole. Just because you've never heard of it or considered it doesn't make it wrong. It's just different."
Enrique swallowed and nodded at that. "And you're all happy with how this works."
It warmed Vyse's heart when he realized that he and both of his loves had nodded their heads at the exact same time.
The prince shook his head again, then pressed his right arm across his chest and bowed to Vyse. A far deeper bow than usual.
"Vyse, I stand dishonored. I impugned your honor wrongly. I thought you to be a villain of low morality in your romantic dealings. I stand corrected and chastened, and…"
"Oh, shut up." Vyse got up to his feet and closed in, hugging Enrique tightly to make him stop talking. "You're forgiven, but please lay off the formality with us. We're off duty, and you're more than a crewmember. You're our friend."
"After everything I said? After everything I've done, thinking the worst of you?" Enrique croaked.
"You did it because you cared about Aika and Fina. You were wrong, incredibly so, but your heart was in the right place." Vyse reassured him, and found that his smile came easily again. "I love them with the whole of my heart, Enrique. I would tear it out before hurting them. You can do whatever you have to if it's to protect them. I will never get angry at you for looking out for them. And besides, all you did was yell at me a little, make some faces, and bruise my wrist." He couldn't stop the chuckle. "Aika's done a lot worse over the years."
"Has she?" Enrique blinked.
"Story for another night, I think." Aika hummed. "I'm glad you know now, Enrique. I don't go running around the ship yelling about our relationship to everyone, but...Vyse is right. You're one of our closest friends. You deserve to know that we're together, and we're happy about it."
"I just wish I'd known sooner." Enrique confessed. "It would have saved me some very awkward conversations. Not to mention, I'll never win that bet now."
"Bet?" Vyse backed off a step and blinked. "What bet?"
"You didn't know?" Enrique realized. "Mistress Kalifa has been running a betting pool on which of your dear ladies you are actually romantically involved with. I had wagered 200 gold pieces on you and Aika being lovers."
Vyse found he had no immediate response to that bit of news, and settled on staring blankly. Aika was far less restrained, and laughed loudly and openly, which prompted Fina to giggle and hide it behind her hand.
"And you can't change your bet?" Vyse asked, when he found his voice again.
A rueful Enrique shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. Once a bet is made and put into Kalifa's ledger, it is considered final. She does allow for the placing of new bets, however. Still, now that I know the truth, I can hardly place a bid on the correct answer." The prince shrugged. "It wouldn't be sporting."
Vyse tensed up when he heard Aika draw in a breath sharply in a particular fashion. That particular sound meant nothing good; it always meant that she'd gotten an idea in her head. Sometimes, those crazy ideas worked out well. More often than not, though, they prompted a great deal more explosions and unnecessary chaos.
The redhead bounced in place, flashing her teeth as she worked it out. "Well, Enrique, since you're losing money on the bet anyways...how do you feel about changing up the odds some and screwing with everyone else?" Enrique looked confused until Aika started explaining it, and then he was smiling at the possibilities. Imperfectly, of course. There was something about the deception, innocent as it was, which still chafed at his royal sensibilities.
Enrique agreed to the plan, and seemed ready to keep talking about it until Fina leaned behind Aika and started to undo the pigtails that her red hair was bound up in. The moment that her hair started to become unbound, Enrique's face reddened and he looked away before stuttering out an apology for intruding into 'their' evening and making his way out of the captain's cabin, closing the door behind him with a solid click. Fina looked confused.
"What was that about?" She asked Vyse and Aika. It was Aika who answered.
"It's an older tradition, and a lot of people don't follow it anymore, but. In some places in Mid-Ocean and especially in Valua, the act of letting down a woman's hair and seeing it down is considered very intimate. Like, husband and wife intimate."
Fina blushed even brighter at that, but she didn't stop helping Aika get ready for bed. Vyse filed it away for review later, and started removing his uniform as well.
"Tomorrow's going to be interesting, isn't it Aika?" He asked, when they were all dressed for bed and slid in under the covers. The girls shoved Vyse into the middle and snuggled up on either side of him, and Aika hummed cheerfully as they slowly warmed the sheets up with their combined body heat.
"Oh, Vyse. You have no idea."
Delphinus, Galley
177 Days After the (First) Grand Fortress Escape
Morning
The plan started early, when Vyse and Enrique met up for breakfast the next day. Neither one of the girls were with them, and most of the other sailors aboard paid the duo little mind. Enrique was seen as one of Vyse's most trusted associates, and a voice of reason and sensibility that the crew largely got along with. Even Khazim, who presumably would have the most reason to hate Enrique, had warmed up once word got to him that Enrique had argued against the sacking of Nasrad, had tried to prevent it, and then been dismissed when he protested the brutality of it after the fact. They picked up their trays, said their greetings to Miss Polly who was working the stove to plate up fresh hashbrowns, and took their meal of bacon, oatmeal, Ixa'takan low-alcoholic garpa juice, and the aforementioned fried potatoes off to what had quickly been set aside as the captain's table to enjoy it. Everyone else sitting and breaking their fast was still too sleepy and too focused on their own forthcoming days (Or the rest in lieu of, for the night crew) to pay them much attention or pester them with questions. Vyse glanced up from his meal only briefly to make a sweep of the room's occupants, watching Kalifa off in the back corner of the galley as she sipped from a thermos of what was likely her favored tea blend and went over something in a leatherbound journal.
Then Fina came in, grabbing her usual thermos of coffee from Polly and a piece of fruit before sauntering over and plopping next to Enrique and across from Vyse. The Silvite smiled at him, and Vyse smiled back.
"You're looking cheerful this morning." He ventured.
"Shouldn't I be?" Fina asked innocently, reaching across the table and grabbing a slice of bacon that he hadn't gotten to yet. She bit the end off and chewed at it for a bit before swallowing. And then she raised her voice loud enough so that Don and Hans and Osman over at the next table could hear her. "Say, Vyse. How would you feel about having dinner with me tonight?"
"Oh? Well, I - I suppose that could be really wonderful." He answered, playing his part to the best of his acting abilities.
"I meant, just with me." Fina added, fluttering her eyes at him. Vyse had to force himself not to speak too soon, and stiffened himself into a straight posture as he looked back at her.
Don't look at everyone else, don't look at everyone else, yes they're staring at you DON'T LOOK AT THEM
"I...certainly. If you want to."
"I do." Fina purred, popping the rest of her stolen bacon into her mouth. She swallowed it down, followed it up with a sip of her coffee, then got up from the table, walked around, and gave him a gentle peck on the side of his cheek. "My room. Tonight, half past the fifth bell."
Forcing a blush to his cheek from something so simple as a kiss to it was easy when Vyse could feel the eyes of over a dozen crewmembers staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"I'll be there." He got out, stunned that his voice seemed hoarse. Well, that was a surprise. The smile Fina gave him was blinding in its joy, and she sauntered out of the galley, presumably to carry out her usual duties while daydreaming about her 'date' that evening.
As Vyse stood a few minutes later, Enrique excused himself and went walking in the direction of Kalifa. Vyse walked for the main doorway that would take him to the stairs that led up to the bridge.
He tried not to pay attention to the hushed whispers that he left in his wake.
Midday
Lunchtime was always busier than breakfast, and the crowd gathered when Vyse and Enrique sat for their midday meal was already chatting away. Vyse tried not to look at them again, but Enrique did.
"They're talking about me, aren't they?" Vyse asked quietly.
"Probably." Enrique tempered his hopes. "They do keep looking in our direction and no, stop it don't start smiling now you smug bastard…" Vyse clenched his jaw and tried to think of awful things to stop the natural impulse, and Enrique sighed and leaned his face forward into his hand. "Moons, how is this my life now? You see what you've done to me, you and those two girls?"
"Admit it, you're having fun for a change." Vyse snorted.
"Just don't ruin it Vyse. Please."
"Trying not to." Vyse shrugged and tore off a bite of bread from his small loaf, dipping it to soak in his stew. "But trying not to pay attention to everyone else when they're all watching you is harder than it sounds."
"Try." Enrique impressed on him. "If I'm to be party in this deception then I will not have it ruined because you can't keep it together."
"That's fair." Vyse conceded. As he popped the lump of now soggy bread in his mouth and started chewing, the chatter in the galley picked up in volume. The cause didn't become apparent until Aika suddenly manifested at their table, perky and bouncy, and with a grin that she was as quick to as a punch on most days.
"Hey, Vyse." Aika said brightly.
"Hey, Aika." Vyse grunted back, looking down at his meal and dipping another piece of bread. The chattering subtly lowered in volume, and Vyse could feel even more stares burning into him.
"Um, Vyse?"
"Yeah? You need something? Something wrong with the ship?"
"Well, the ship's fine." Aika said, a little less steady than before. "I just, um. How do I look today?"
Oh, damnit Aika, what kind of a loaded question is that?
He forced himself to look up, and was instantly stunned. Somehow, Aika's hair wasn't in its usual fashion. The tightly bound twin pigtails that jutted up and out from her head were missing, and in its place was a delicately coiffed braid of her blazing red hair that hung down to her breasts. And she was playing with it after having pulled it over her shoulder. And biting her lip as she watched him, waiting for an answer.
Enrique made a stiff noise that might have been a groan if he'd allowed it to be uttered. Vyse did his level best to remember that this was a game they were playing, that she was doing this for their own entertainment and to watch the rest of the crew fall over themselves in a mad scramble of gossip and wilder betting. But she wasn't playing fair.
She knew he loved her hair, loved it when she wore it long. Damnit.
"You look very pretty, Aika." He told her honestly, and the whispers dropped to almost nothing around them. "But I thought you couldn't wear your hair down like that when you were working."
"Lapen and Hans have their engineering crews up to speed finally. I'm working on the Moonstone Cannon today, and there's no risk of getting my hair caught in a gear while I'm working with that." She explained. There was a flash of indecision. Nerves. "I...you really think I look good like this?"
"You always look good to me." Vyse told her honestly, and immediately winced. Damnit, damnit, damnit. That wasn't part of the game, he could hear the whispers picking up speed again.
It was hard to feel bad about it when she looked at him with such relief after an honest confession.
"Well, good." Aika said cheerfully, and stood back up. Then she clasped her hands together in front of her, flipped her braid back over her shoulder, and swayed gently from side to side so her hair swung like a hypnotic pendulum behind her. "Say Vyse, I feel like it's been forever since we just relaxed together. Why don't you come up to my cabin tonight? We can...catch up." She suggested.
"Uh-huh." Vyse blinked, his eyes moving in time with her braided red hair, watching it flicker back and forth behind her. Damnit, how had she gotten her hair to look like that? Had Fina helped her? Of course Fina would have helped her, they were to kill him at this rate.
"You should bring dinner."
"Uh-huh." He couldn't look away, he should be looking away.
"Half past five? I get off work at five bells, and that would give me time to freshen up."
"Uh-huh."
The whispers had gone cold. Aika leaned down over the table and stopped swaying, staring him in the face until he remembered to blink.
"My eyes are up here, Vyse." She chuckled, and another honest blush heated his cheeks.
"Sorry."
"It's all right. I don't mind if you look." Aika winked at him, and then she traced his jaw with a fingertip before sliding it down towards the hollow of his throat. The lump he tried to swallow down as she teased him didn't quite make it all the way.
She stood up and stretched, and Vyse bit the inside of his cheek to keep from making a noise that nobody else had any business hearing him make.
"Don't be late." She said in a teasing voice, and went strolling off. Vyse watched her go for a few seconds and just barely remembered to push his tray out of the way before he laid his arms on the table and let his head drop down into them.
As the whispers picked up in volume and stopped being whispers, Vyse felt Enrique lean over the table to speak softly in his ear so no one would overhear them.
"How do you keep up with the both of them, Vyse? Where do you find the stamina?"
"I honestly don't know." Vyse mumbled into his arms. Enrique made a hum that made him sound way too pleased with himself as he pulled back, and then the prince raised his voice for the benefit of everyone else still watching them.
"Vyse, do you realize you just made dates with both Miss Aika and Miss Fina tonight?"
Vyse buried his face into his arms even more, not sure whether to grin like a maniac or moan like a condemned man.
This is a game. This is a game, this is a game this is a game!
One he was losing.
Evening
Galley
Vyse knew the part he was supposed to play. He knew that it was all according to Aika's deviously orchestrated plan. The gossip about his 'meetings' at breakfast and lunch had blazed through the ship like wildfire, as Enrique later informed him, and when he went to dinner at five bells, he was amused to find Fatima already packing a basket of wrapped platters and bowls for his 'evening out' and she asked him who he was going to see.
Putting on his best panicked face, Vyse quickly shook his head and told her that he wasn't seeing anyone and could he please have a tray for his own dinner. The shock on the Esperanzan woman's face was immediate and visceral, though she did as he asked. Less than ten seconds after she finished serving him, she whispered to the next person in line after him, which turned out to be Pinta, one of the biggest gossips aboard. The boy didn't even grab his dinner after that, he just took off like a shot to spread the word.
Vyse sat at his usual table and ate very slowly, trying to look the part of a miserably conflicted fellow who'd been offered two ships full of wealth and could only make off with one. Thank the Moons he would never have to choose between Aika and Fina for real. Even thinking about it made his heart hurt.
By the time Enrique joined him at his table at half past, the appointed time for when Fina was 'expecting' him to come to her cabin and when Aika 'expected' him in her own, the dinner crowd was a little larger than usual. Even people who would normally be on duty were stopping by, claiming that they only wanted to 'get a little snack before getting started' and then conveniently stuck around. They didn't sit at a table, they weren't that willing to test their captain's nerves, but they were definitely clustered in the direction of the doors as they stood around and made not so furtive glances in his direction.
Gossip traveled faster than the Delphinus and he was apparently the juiciest source of it to be had.
By the time the clock hit six bells, the galley was full to bursting, and Vyse made Enrique call up to the bridge and down to engineering to make sure that the ship-critical operations were unaffected. Enrique informed him that Lawrence was at the helm and keeping the ship in an idling pattern for the evening, the exterior hatches were all closed and locked from the inside, Domingo was up on the lookout tower, and Lapen was on duty in engineering with all systems nominal. For a ship that wasn't moving, that covered the bases. To Vyse's regret, he couldn't order everyone to leave. And he couldn't leave himself, since this needed to happen in front of witnesses. He just didn't expect it to happen in front of this many.
At shortly after six bells, Aika and Fina walked into the galley side by side, the both of them looking irritated, and the room went dead silent. Aika still had her hair in its braid, and Fina had changed from her usual Silvite dress to one that was of Ixa'takan manufacture, soft and green with a neckline that went up to her throat when buttoned and a hemline that parted at the knees and sloped down to her calves. Not a dress to be running in, especially when she was storming in sandals, and so she moved at just a hair shy of that pace.
Vyse turned and stared at them, trying for a Looper in the foglights look and probably not getting close enough. Not when he was stuck glancing between Fina in that dress that shimmered around her and Aika with her hair looking perfect, but it seemed to suffice, because Vyse got the distinct impression that everyone else was too busy staring at the irate and put-out women storming towards him to pay much attention to his face.
"Vyse!" They both said at the same time, and then startled and looked at each other, as if recognizing that they weren't the only one there who'd come to speak with him.
Vyse wisely kept his mouth shut, praying that they would figure out how this was all supposed to work.
"Oh, hey Fina." Aika said, paused, then added as an afterthought, "Nice dress."
"Hello, Aika." Fina greeted the other woman. "I like what you've done with your hair."
Aika patted the elaborate braid, still as perfect as it'd been at lunch. "A girl oughta look her best every so often." She explained haughtily. "How's a guy supposed to know she's interested otherwise?"
Oh, this wasn't just gossip, Vyse realized. This was full-on, four-star dinner theater and they really should've sold tickets. Not like there were many crewmembers who could afford them, Vyse imagined that most of the crew were placing their Kalifa-sponsored bets with their future wages.
"How indeed." Fina smiled back, baring her teeth, before turning away from Aika in outright dismissal. "Vyse, I've been waiting for you up in my room. You didn't forget about our date, did you?"
"Woah. Woah, woah, hold up there, Princess." Aika cut in, taking a step towards Vyse in possessive fury. "Vyse had a date with me tonight!"
"What?!" Fina exclaimed, gasping loudly. Vyse wondered at her ability to fake that much upset, but the Silvite pressed on before he could dive too deeply into it. "No, he - you're lying! He'd never be with you, not when he has me! Not after the kiss we shared yesterday morning!"
Audible gasps broke out, shattering the quiet. Vyse flinched and shut his eyes.
"Oh, one kiss and suddenly you think he's going to fall at your feet." Aika snapped sarcastically. "Vyse is all man, you wouldn't know what to do with him. I bet you wouldn't even know how to kiss him properly, someone as naive as you."
Fina puffed her cheeks out and stomped her foot. "Oh, I'll show you naive, Aika!" And then Vyse snapped his eyes open when he felt warm hands press against the side and the back of his head, thumbs stroking his earlobes.
His eyes shot wide. Not in the script, not in the script NOT IN THE SCRIPT!
Then Fina was leaning down and into him, pushing him awkwardly into the table as she full-on kissed him in front of every member of the crew, who immediately went wild with hooting and whoops and cheers.
It was tender and warm and inviting, and when she finished and pulled back, he almost reached for her to keep it going. He stopped himself at the last moment, gaping and wondering where in the Hell that had come from.
Then Fina smirked, set a hand to her hip and stepped back. "What do you think of that, then?"
Aika hissed between her teeth. "You call that a kiss? Oh, honey. Let me show you." Then she spun Vyse around so his legs were free and his back was fully against the table, and climbed into his lap. Her brown eyes smouldered like embers, and he caught the faintest edge of a red glow behind them as her magic stirred in tune with her heart. He leaned back away from her, feeling the warm weight of her over his legs and his pelvis, and she tangled a hand into his messy locks and leaned in, not breaking her eyes away from his face.
"This is a proper kiss." Aika hummed. She drove her tongue into his mouth, making him moan before they were blasted by the noise of an entire roomful of people going crazy. Pinned down, held in place and trapped (And not exactly in a state of mind to resist it), Vyse gave in and just enjoyed it. Enjoyed being kissed by them both in the open.
Uncounted seconds later, Aika finally pulled away, gasping for air, and the noise around them didn't let up until Aika smiled victoriously and crawled off of him, staring down Fina.
"Told you, Princess. He couldn't possibly be serious about you. Did he even ask you out or did you force it on him and he was too polite to say no?"
Fina made a face. "Well, that - I mean, he...Well, what about you?!" She blustered. "Did Vyse ask you out or did you just tell him it was going to happen, you crazy Ixa'ness manhunter?"
And then Aika was making a face as she tried to protest it, and failed to. So the redhead, finally back to script, turned and stared down Vyse. "I think it's time we settled this, Vyse. Go ahead and tell her that you and I have a bond that she'll never understand!"
"Forget her, Vyse." Fina chimed in, sidling in next to Aika and hip-bumping her away with a slight glare before turning those piercing blue eyes of hers onto him. "Tell her that I'm the one you're destined to be with. I have been ever since you rescued me from the clutches of Valua!" And everyone fell silent, Vyse could see the room full of people leaning in, waiting for him to make his choice, to settle the bet.
Remember the script, remember the script. Don't ruin this, don't say anything, DON'T.
Clamping his mouth shut, Vyse looked between them twice over, then stood up and ran for the doors. With twin shouts of, "Vyse!" coming from his loves, he bailed out of the galley and dashed towards the captain's cabin. It didn't take him nearly as long as he thought it would; Moons bless adrenaline, he supposed. Then he was in the cabin, with the door closed behind him, and letting his racing heart slowly pace back to its resting speed as the weight of everything they'd done sank in. He ended up taking two steps to his left and sank to the floor, laughing softly and burying his head into his knees.
Holy hell, my love life is entertainment for everyone on board this ship.
That thought was immediately followed by, Nobody ever mentioned kissing in the plan. Since when did those two decide that they were going to be kissing me in front of the Moons and everyone!?
Which, naturally, was the perfect time for said two girls to come charging into the cabin, making Vyse very glad that the door swung open on the other side of the frame. Getting his face smashed in would be the perfect way to end this wringer of a day.
They came inside, looked around, and closed the door behind them before finally seeing him sitting on the other side of it. "Vyse!"
"Kissing wasn't a part of the plan." He said dully. "You changed the plan."
Aika and Fina looked at each other for a bit, and then Aika folded her arms. "What, you didn't like it?"
There was no way not to laugh at that. "Took me by surprise."
"Yes. We know." Fina nodded. "Vyse, we love you, but you're a terrible liar. Actually, that might be one of the reasons why we love you."
"If you'd known what was coming, would you have been able to react the way you needed to to sell the ruse?" Aika asked him. Vyse cocked his head to the side, considered it, and then shrugged and surrendered to their wisdom. "That's why."
"Just tell me we don't have to do anything else like that for a while." He told them weakly.
"Probably not." Aika reassured him, and moved to sit down beside him. "Scoot over." He did so, and Aika and Fina sat down on either side of him. He reached for their hands on an impulse, and they let him take theirs. "It felt good, though."
"What did?" He asked.
"Kissing you in the open like that." The redhead admitted, tipping her head back and resting it back against the wall. "It felt right."
"Like we didn't have to hide it." Fina added softly.
Vyse held them tighter. "I'm not ashamed of us. I'm not ashamed of either of you. You know that, right?"
Fina laughed and leaned her head into his shoulder. "Yes. We know that."
"So the next time you want to kiss me, kiss me." He blinked. "Or kiss each other." Fina lifted her head up, and Aika turned to stare at him as well. Vyse smiled, looking between them. "I'm serious. I don't care what anyone says. Blue Rogues Fly Free."
"Huh." Aika hummed. "Never thought of using the Code like that."
"The Code's got to change, then." Vyse said. "I've been working on it."
"Is it finished?"
"Nowhere near yet." Vyse pulled them back in tight to his sides, and their outer arms crossed over his stomach. "But I've got the start."
"Can we hear it?" Fina asked him.
Vyse breathed in, closed his eyes, and felt it lift up from his mind and his heart. "If you Would be Free, Live to Make Others Free."
Aika made a considering noise, and their clasped hands over his stomach tightened. "Ixa'taka." The redhead said in wonder.
"Ixa'taka." Vyse nodded. "And everywhere else."
The girls didn't say anything for a few moments afterwards, but Fina finally found the right answer. "You really are going to change the world, My Pirate."
We all will, he thought and failed to vocalize.
A knock at the door broke the cuddle-filled moment, and Vyse sighed. "I'd like to be alone, so unless the ship's in danger or under attack, leave off!"
"It's just me, Vyse." Enrique's muffled voice came through the door.
"Oh. We did want to hear how everyone else took our performance, Vyse." Aika mentioned.
Vyse rolled his eyes. "Fine. ENRIQUE! You can come in!"
The door opened parways, just a crack, not enough for Enrique to see very far. Then it paused. "Are you decent?" The exiled prince asked hesitantly.
"Oh, for...Yes, Enrique." Vyse grunted. The door swung open the rest of the way, and then Enrique stepped in with Fatima's foregone basket of food in his hand. He took in the sight of them huddled together on the floor, their backs to the wall, and smiled uneasily.
"I thought Miss Aika and Miss Fina might like something to nibble as they missed dinner. And seeing as Fatima was kind enough to prepare a basket, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste." He set it down next to Aika and stepped back. "I think you all carried off that performance quite spectacularly. You had them stirred up at breakfast and lunch, but what you three did just now?" Enrique had to shake his head. "Everyone rushed Kalifa right to place new wagers after Vyse went running out with the two of you hot on his heels."
"How did the odds get changed?"
"I'll have the answer for you tomorrow. After the dust settles." Enrique said. "I suspect that it'll be the talk of the ship for days. Should do wonders for morale. How do you plan to follow it up?"
"I don't." Vyse told him flatly. "Right now, I think we've done enough. Let them gossip and waste their money. And you did your part?"
"I put 300 gold on Fina, yes." Enrique hummed. "I'm just throwing my money away now."
"You gave it to me, though, so technically it's my money." Vyse reminded him cheerfully, and Enrique rolled his eyes.
"That line again. If there's nothing else you three need, I think I shall retire for the evening. This level of deception, even if done for harmless reasons, is draining on me."
"Enrique?" Aika said as he started to turn. He looked down at her, and the redhead bit her lip. "Thank you. Thank you for being our friend. For saving us. For everything."
Enrique's eyes softened. "A pleasure." He replied, and doffed his beret in salute. "My sword, and my loyalty are yours."
He stepped back out and closed the door behind him, leaving the three of them sitting with a basket of food as the light of the sunset poured through the reinforced windows opposite of them.
Neither girl went to move from their spot.
"Aren't you two hungry?" Vyse wondered. "Don't you want to eat?"
Fina pressed the side of her head over his heart, listening to his heartbeat. Aika leaned on his shoulder and lifted her hand to cup the back of the Silvite's head.
"In a bit." Aika whispered back. They seemed comfortable resting where they were. Vyse was more than happy to let them be. They deserved every moment of happiness that they could take.