A/N: CHA! A new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 13: Van Black

April 9, X792 - Early Afternoon

"You should really consider yourself lucky," Gordon grumbled as he measured the burnt hole that Eli had created on the deck of the middle ship, "You managed to catch me in a good enough mood to help you out here."

"Good enough mood my ass," Cordelia retorted while her eye twitched in annoyance. Though, she felt a bit proud of herself when she saw the large knot on the metal mage's head that she had given him earlier, "You could have saved yourself that bump on your head if you had just listened to me the first time."

"You could have asked me like a normal person rather than tackling me from behind."

"Like you would have said yes if I had."

"I guess we'll never know."

"Do want a matching bump?"

"So those three are pretty useless, ya know," Gordon said, quickly changing the subject. The two looked over at Eli, Seth and Isaak. Seth was sitting in a chair with his injured leg propped up thanks to Mia becoming a mother hen and hovering over him. Eli and Isaak stood on either side of him, watching Gordon and Cordelia take care of the hole, "Didn't you order them to fix this hole? And now I'm the one cleaning up their mess."

"I suppose you're right," Cordelia sighed.

"Don't go agreeing with him!" Eli shouted.

"Shut up!" she snapped, turning and giving Eli his own knot on the top of his head.

"You seem more irritated than usual," Gordon mentioned.

"Yeah, well, I've got a giant melted hole in the middle of one of my ships, three men who can't even fix it even though they caused it, and I still can't use my magic right now thanks to that sniper or whatever! What if I end up exploding from magical back up?!"

"Can that really happen?!" Seth shouted.

"Of course it can really happen!" Cordelia continued, beginning to move around dramatically, "You don't just get shot with a magic bullet like that and not expect some sort of consequence!"

"Stop freaking him out!" Eli yelled, throwing a small ball of blue fire at her. It quickly spread across her shoulders and torso, freezing her in place.

"GAH! So cold!" she cried as she tipped over from the ice that now coated her top half.

Gordon paled at the sight while Isaak had started laughing. Mia was currently standing over a passed out Seth, fanning him quickly in hopes of bringing him back into consciousness.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Cordelia continued while she rolled around on the deck, "Stop, drop and roll! That's supposed to work, right?! Why isn't it working?!"

"Because it's not normal fire, you idiot," Eli said, finally managing to catch her and sit on her to keep her from moving again. He easily melted the ice off of her, smirking down at her, "Looks like you're gonna survive this time. Maybe you should thank your savior properly," he said, turning his smirk into a charming smile. That smile instantly caused a plethora of women around the area to swoon.

Cordelia, though, only felt her eye twitch in irritation again before she pushed him off of her. She added a second knot to his head before turning back to Gordon, "Yes, they are rather useless, aren't they?" she asked, fixing her coat back into place.

"Are we just gonna pretend that none of that just happened?" Gordon asked.

"What are you talking about?" she replied, a dark shadow covering her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, not wanting to deal with an angry Cordelia, "So about fixing this hole," he said, changing subjects again, "It shouldn't be too hard to do, but I do have one question."

"What's that?"

"Does Kasra really have to be here to watch me do it?"

They both turned to see that Kasra was indeed sitting across from them in a rather plush chair with an expensive and colorful umbrella propped up above him. He had a glass vase of an orange colored tea next to him with a smaller glass next to it full of the same liquid, the glasses sitting on top of intricately carved, dark wooden table. The table also had a dark purple and green cloth splayed across it to keep the wood from being stained by the sweating glasses. Kasra relaxed fully back into the chair, crossing his legs and propping his head against one hand as he watched the scene in front of him carefully. A wide smile graced his face as he eyed all of Gordon's muscles, especially when the metal mage moved and they flexed.

"Oh, don't mind me," Kasra said, "I'm just enjoying the view."

Cordelia made a face while Gordon turned to the side and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I do believe standing like that will make it awfully hard for you to fix that hole," Kasra said, chuckling lightly.

"That does make it a bit awkward," Cordelia said.

"You think?!" Gordon shouted.

"Well, no matter," Cordelia said, grinning up at the metal mage, "The hole needs to get fixed and you already agreed to fixing it!"

"But what about him?!"

Cordelia simply shrugged in response, "It doesn't bother me much. I'm not the one he's mauling with his eyes."

"Wench!"

SMACK

"What was that?" Cordelia asked after smacking Gordon upside the head and creating a second knot on it.

"Tch, nothing," he grunted.

"Good, then get to work," she suddenly said with a smile before turning to Kasra, "And you enjoy his work."

"I suppose Ingrid is right," Kasra said, "You are quite the lovely new guild master."

Cordelia simply rolled her eyes in response, but she did pull a chair up next to him. Without saying anything and unsure of where it even came from, Kasra filled up a second glass with the cold tea and handed it over to Cordelia. She sniffed at it at first before both her and Kasra took a sip of it, both letting out a satisfied 'ahhh'. Though, Cordelia was fairly sure that Kasra had done it for a completely different reason from herself, considering Gordon had finally turned back to his work.

. : + : .

"What, pray tell, are you doing, Zipporah?" Alisa asked, standing just above the other woman. The two were currently standing behind a stack of boxes, watching Gordon fix the deck.

Zipporah fiddled with the beads on her braid nervously, "Nothing much, really."

"I find that doubtful when you have us hiding behind boxes," Alisa stated, "Why must we hide? It is not like you have not spoken with any of those people before."

"That's not the problem!" Zipporah hissed, "Now shush!"

"Do not shush me!"

"Please be quiet!" Zipporah cried as she slammed a hand to the woman's mouth, receiving a flat stare from her in response, "You're going to ruin my plan."

The two went still for a moment, Zipporah hoping that they hadn't been found out yet. She turned back to Gordon working on the deck still and the others sitting around watching him. It seemed like no one had noticed them hiding nearby yet, causing Zipporah to sigh out in relief and release her hand from Alisa's mouth.

"Honestly," Alisa sighed, "I do not see the need to be so rash."

"I'm just trying to do some good, old-fashioned admiring and you almost gave me away!"

"Admiring?" Alisa questioned, lifting a curious eyebrow, "Which one are you admiring?"

"Uh…" Zipporah replied, realizing that she had actually just given herself away to Alisa, "I'm not telling you!"

"You know, at least when Kasra creeps on people, he does it out in the open," Alisa began, "Your creep factor just went up passed Kasra's. I do not believe that is a good thing, my dear."

"I'm not a creeper!"

"On the contrary, I do believe this is what they call creeping."

"If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!"

Alisa went quiet at that statement as she watched the scene a bit longer. She attempted to guess which person that her friend had her eyes on during this process. She quickly crossed Eli and Isaak off the list, figuring that Zipporah didn't want to get mixed up in the mess that they were already a part of with Cordelia. She then crossed Cordelia and Mia off the list, knowing Zipporah didn't swing that way. Kasra was a big, giant no. So that only left Seth and Gordon. She didn't think that Zipporah had even shown much interest in either man, not that she paid that close attention to when her friend was gawking over someone. Though, she had mentioned she was admiring someone. She supposed that it would be hard to admire Seth, who was still sitting in a chair passed out. So that only left…

"Zipporah Fieri!" Alisa suddenly shouted when things clicked together, "You are admiring him?! Him of all people?! You need to have some standards!"

Zipporah's eyes went wide at her friend's outburst and the fact that it totally turned everyone's attentions near the boxes. She turned to look at Alisa, seeing anger across her face, "You revealed us! I told you to just be quiet!"

"I will do no such thing! I cannot just sit idly by when you like such a man!"

"ACK! Shut up!" Zipporah yelled, trying to throw both of her hands over the woman's mouth now. Alisa wasn't having it a second time and kicked Zipporah off of her, sending the redhead flying across the deck. She skidded until she was hanging over the hole. She stared up at Gordon with surprised eyes, the man staring down at her with just as much surprise. She felt her body begin to fall through the hole, but she was quickly yanked upwards and out of it by Gordon, "Ahaha…thanks," she said with a nervous laugh, a light blush across her cheeks.

"Yeah, whatever," he grunted at her, "I'm working here, so keep out of my way."

"Come Zipporah," Alisa said, walking up and yanking her by the back of her shirt. She began to drag the woman across the deck, causing her to cry in embarrassment, "We have much to talk about."

The group surrounding the hole stared after the pair in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.

"Oi! Who told you to stop working?!" Cordelia suddenly shouted, bonking Gordon in the back of the head with her empty glass. Gordon felt his entire body twitch in annoyance, but managed to keep his mouth shut as he turned back to his work again.

. : + : .

Night had fallen across the ship, most of the mages having gone to sleep. Cordelia was walking up towards the middle ship, unable to sleep herself. She had talked some things over with Matilda and Devin. Devin knew where Ocean Rage was currently touring and she had given that information to Matilda. The caffeine addict then worked to moved the ship in the correct direction of the first island of Caelum, which happened to be its smallest island called Nube. Once all that had been settled and Cordelia had been reassured by her navigator that they would be reaching Nube at some point the next day, she left the navigation cabin.

She had first made her way down to her living quarters and attempted to go to sleep, but it never came. She moved into her office then, reading through more files and making notes for herself. She had decided to keep a journal of her day to day activities and such once she had became guild master, and so she filled out a few pages in that. She also made notes to herself to still speak with Securus and Devin privately. She had supposed that Devin might still be up, but she wasn't going to bother him so late at night over something she could speak with him about on another day. Once she had completed all the work she could, she found that she still wasn't tired…or at least her brain wasn't letting her sleep yet. So that was when she had decided to take a walk across the guild and make sure everything was calm and quiet.

She had quietly made her way across the decks, having been too lazy to put any shoes back on. She had thought several times about going into some of the dorms at the back of the guild and waking up Zinnia or Eli to mess with them, but she was sure that would start more trouble than it was worth. She was also certain that Bones with sleeping with Zinnia tonight and she knew how he could be if someone decided to sneak into a room that he was sleeping in and guarding for the night, even if it was herself. So she quickly let any idea of randomly waking people up go.

Cordelia sighed heavily as she came to the side ship that carried all the smaller boats for mages to use on missions, taking a seat at the edge of the ship. She let her legs hang over the side as she stared down into the water. Her eyes landed on the moon's reflection, causing her to look up at it, "It's such a nice night and I have no one to share it with."

"I'm here."

Cordelia jumped slightly when she heard the voice. A hand landed on her shoulder to ensure she wouldn't go falling into the ocean. She looked to her side to see Gamu smiling at her, "You scared me…again," she said, pressing a hand to her chest.

"I never mean to scare you," he said as he perched himself next to her.

"I know."

"It's late."

"I know that too."

"Cordelia can't sleep?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"No, I suppose not," she smiled softly over at him, "Looks like you can't sleep either."

"Mmm, I never sleep much," he answered, beginning to fiddle with her hair. He concentrated on tying together several small braids throughout it, a silence falling over the two. Though, a thought eventually came to his mind, "Cordelia."

"Yes Gamu?"

"Where is Duke?"

She glanced over at him, seeing that he had stopped with the braiding while a sad look crossed his face, "That's a good question," she said as she looked back up at the moon, "He went on a very long mission."

"To where?"

"Another country…a whole other continent I think."

"For what?"

"There were people there that needed help. They must have really needed it for their request to reach all the way to Earthland."

"But why did Duke go?"

"Because he likes to help people and he could do that better now since he was no longer the guild master when he took the request. I also think the place that sent the request was very important to him…at least from what dad told me."

Gamu didn't answer her that time as he turned to look down in the water.

"Ya know," she began in hopes of getting him to smile again, "Some times people do things that the people around them don't like. They don't do these things to hurt the people they care about. They do it because to them it's the right thing to do. That's how Duke felt about this mission. Ace and I have been sad that he's been gone so long too, but we know he'll come back."

"How do you know?"

"Because he promised he would and Duke doesn't break his promises. He promised you too, right?"

Gamu was quiet again as he thought back to the day that Duke had come to say goodbye to him. He remembered the man setting his hand on top of his head and promising to come home again. A sudden smile split across his face at the memory, "Yeah, he did."

"Then we'll see him again one day. We just have to be patient until then," she grinned at him, "Besides, you still have a lot of exploring to do with me. Three years is a lot of time to waste, ya know."

"Is it?"

Cordelia sweat dropped at the question, "Just a little, yeah."

"Then we can catch up some tonight," he said, jumping up from the side of the boat and pulling Cordelia with him, "There was someone still serving drinks."

"I'd like that," she smiled at him. She let Gamu pull her along across the deck as she reached up with her free hand to feel all the braids, "Gamu…just how many braids did you make?"

"Huh?" he questioned, his mind already off on a new subject. He looked back her with his own smile, "They look pretty!"

"That didn't really answer my question," she mumbled. Though, she left the braids in for the night since they seemed to make Gamu smile. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was really going to see them so late at night.

. : + : .

April 10, X792 - Just Before Dawn

Cordelia slowly woke up to the feeling of being carried. She blinked her eyes open a few times and took a look around her. She saw that stars were still in the sky, but it looked as if the sun would be peaking over the horizon any moment. She also felt heat all around her, the feeling almost lulling her back into sleep until she heard someone speak.

"I hope you know that if you fall asleep on the deck like that, that you're going to get sick."

Cordelia looked up to see Eli above her and she realized then that she really was being carried, "I figured I drank enough to keep warm."

Eli sighed in response to that, "You know it doesn't work like that. You were cold when I found you and Gamu on the deck."

"You just left him there?!"

"Calm down," he said, "I had the bartender carry him down to an empty dorm on the boy's ship."

Cordelia sighed in relief at knowing that Gamu was all right.

"How did you two end up passed out on the deck like that anyways."

"We were drinking and catching up last night. I couldn't sleep and neither could he, so we hung out. Guess we lost track of time and eventually fell asleep at the bar."

"Why couldn't you sleep? I don't ever remember you having problems like that before."

"I guess I'm just thinking about a lot of stuff," she answered with a yawn, "I still have files to read over and I have to make sure we're on track for the treasure. Plus, I have to get things ready for when everyone is able to start taking missions again. And then there's that sniper guy that was with the Black Skulls. I have to be prepared if they try to attack us again. And we don't even know what all the other members of their crew can do. So I have to make sure that everyone is safe and-"

"Whoa, okay," Eli said, quickly interrupting her, "No wonder you couldn't sleep."

"I actually should finish up reading over some more files so I can make sure I have a decent understanding of what everyone on the guild is capable of," she said, attempting to get out of his arms.

"Yeah, I don't think that's happening," he said as he tightened his grip on her.

"But Eli!"

"Look, those files and everything will still be there later on, but for now you should really get some sleep. How are you supposed to run things when you can't think straight from lack of sleep?"

"Fine."

"Glad you see it my way," he said, happy that she hadn't actually fought him on the subject. Though, this also worried him too since it was unusual for her to give in so easily like that. She really must have been tired then. He then had to wonder how much sleep she had actually gotten since she became the guild master. It had barely been a week and she was already wearing herself out, "I think you're going to need to find a good balance between work and sleep and everything," he said, deciding to voice his thoughts. He waited for a reply from her, but he never received one. He looked down to see that she had already drifted back to sleep, "Yeah, you definitely need to find a balance."

He continued walking to the front ship, laughing lightly when he saw Matilda passed out on the deck with Sam taking over the navigation for the time being. He then made his way down to Cordelia's bedroom to place her in her bed. He looked around the room for a moment when he finally reached it, seeing all sorts of collectibles and pictures from missions and special events and such over the years. It almost looked like she had a picture of herself with every single member of the guild. Though, he smirked when he saw the closest one next to her bed. It was from several years ago and consisted of only four people - Cordelia, Ace, Zinnia and himself. They were all smiling widely after having just returned from their first S-Class mission with Cordelia.

"That was a good day," he said quietly as he carried Cordelia over to her bed and laid her on it. He quickly pulled her covers up over her before taking a seat at the end of the bed. He heated up his body temperature with his Fire Magic in order to heat the bed just enough to keep Cordelia in a peaceful sleep. She had always seemed to sleep easier when she was warm.

His smile quickly dropped though when he thought back to the reason he had woken up so early himself. He hunched over in his spot on the bed, his elbows digging into his knees from a seemingly invisible weight on his shoulders. Originally he had come to speak with Cordelia about his worries, but now he wasn't so sure. Not when she had so much to deal with right now. His problems would only weigh her down more, "How am I supposed to tell her that I saw the Dark Water again?"

. : + : .

Morning and the afternoon had come and gone and the guild had stopped in port on the island of Nube by evening.

"It looks so pretty," Zinnia said as she stood outside with Cordelia on the deck of the head ship.

Cordelia had to agree. Nube was a fairly pretty island, especially with all the big puffy clouds surrounding it. The warm colors of the evening light cascaded through those clouds, creating a scene that was just waiting to be painted. The land itself was brightly colored in white sand and neon green grass. Palm trees and a few flowers filled the areas around the paths that covered island, leading farther inland.

"So…what's the plan now?" Zinnia asked.'

"Well, we have to speak with Van Black, we know that much," Cordelia answered, "But I can't just go barreling across the island looking for her myself. Not unless I want to get sick all over her the first time we meet."

"You could always use some of the serum that Jack created for you."

"I don't want to waste it. I only want to use that serum for emergencies. I can always send someone out to greet her for me…even if that may come off being a bit rude."

"Who are you going to send out?"

"You called for us?" Devin asked, interrupting the conversation and answering Zinnia's question at the same time. The two women turned to see Devin, Alexander and Alai standing on the deck.

"I did," Cordelia smiled at them, "I have a request to make of you three. I need you to go inland and find Van Black for me. Then bring her back here so I may speak with her."

"Why not go get her yourself?" Alexander asked.

Devin turned sharply to glare back at the younger man, but Cordelia quickly stopped him before he could say anything.

"I have land sickness, so unfortunately that stops me from venturing out onto Nube myself, so I need your help," she answered, the two staring each other down for a long moment, "But I suppose if you don't want to do this for me, I can just find someone else to help Devin out. I just thought that maybe you'd like to have some fun at a concert and maybe fight off some security guards if they try to keep you from reaching Van Black after the concert."

"Alexander, I want to fight," Alai said quietly but sternly from next to him.

Cordelia smirked at that comment, knowing she had the man right where she wanted him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Fine, we'll help you out," he huffed, "But I hope you know that tricking us into doing this isn't what a guild master should do."

"Tricking?" she questioned as if she hadn't known what she had just done, "I told you, you were more than free to choose not to do this."

"I think that's enough of that," Zinnia said, stepping in front of Cordelia with a smile, "We appreciate you doing this, but please do keep in mind that Van Black is mean to be a guest on our guild, so don't go dragging her all the way here by force."

"Understood," Devin answered for the team.

"Oh, and I'd like to clarify that Devin is the leader for this little mission," Cordelia said, staring down Alexander again, "So you need to follow whatever he says. I don't need you causing a bigger mess because you went flying solo."

"Why do you assume we would cause more problems?" Alexander asked.

"Just call it a hunch," she grinned, "Now go have some fun."

Devin escorted the twins off of the ship and onto the docks before anything further could be said.

"Seems like he still doesn't trust you," Zinnia frowned.

"I'm sure he has reason to," Cordelia said, "It's not like he dislikes me at least, but I think I'll have to take things slow with that one. He also seems to be a bit tricky himself. He's perfected a fake smile, so that's a bit of a problem."

"You can tell it's fake?"

"Yes, when you know how to make one yourself, you can tend to spot them."

Zinnia didn't say anything else as the two turned back to watching the evening sky of Nube.

. : + : .

"Man, she always ruffles my feathers," Alexander grumbled as the trio walked into the mainland of the small island.

"You don't even know her," Devin snapped back at him.

"I know that she stands for authority."

Devin glared back at him, "Yeah, you definitely don't know Cordelia at all. You think she got the position of guild master in order to boss people around?" he asked, receiving no reply from Alexander, "Tch, she already did that before she came into the position."

"So what am I supposed to think of her? I want to go off completing missions, not being stuck on the guild hunting down treasure."

"She's doing this so we can all continuing surviving on that guild, you idiot."

"And she needs all of us for that? I don't want to be chained down."

"That's why she gave you this mission!" Devin shouted. He took a moment to calm himself down before he spoke again, "Look, you want to know the type of person Cordelia is? She's the type to go out of her way to see everyone happy, despite how it might affect her," he explained, reaching a hand up to touch his new headphones for a moment, "Maybe if you'd stop worrying about yourself for a moment, you'd see that."

"I worry about Alai too."

The two men stopped for a moment when they realized that Alai was no longer walking with them. They turned back around to see the woman leaning up against a tree, looking as if she was overly dizzy.

"Alai!" Alexander shouted, running back towards her.

"Is she all right?"

"I forgot that she doesn't do so well on land."

"Should we take her back to the guild?"

"No," Alai said harshly, "I can handle this."

She took a deep breath before she pushed herself up off of the tree with her head held high and began walking again.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Alexander asked, hovering over her as they walked along the path.

"I'm fine," she huffed out, "We have a job to do, so stop complaining so much."

Alexander was surprised to see his sister so eager to go on a mission on land, but she was pushing through without complaints. He supposed he would need to do the same now, and so he smiled down at her, "Yeah, all right."

. : + : .

The trio came into the middle of town expecting there to be a large concert going on, but it was fairly quiet. They saw where things were being set up off in the distance for an eventual concert, but it didn't seem like one would be happening tonight. Devin managed to catch a man passing them to ask about Ocean Rage.

"Excuse me," he began, "Isn't there supposed to be a concert going on tonight?"

"Yeah, that actually got pushed back a day. Some technical problems or something I think."

"I see. Do you know if the band is staying on the island tonight then?"

"I believe so, but they're aren't taking visitors right now."

"Could you point us in the right direction anyways?"

"Sure thing. Go up this hill and you'll see several large trailers. I think the band is staying in them instead of a hotel."

"Thanks," Devin said with a nod. He quickly moved up the hill that the man pointed out with Alexander and Alai close behind him.

Once at the top of the hill, they saw the trailers that the man had been talking about. They set their sights on an all black one and Devin was pretty sure that's where Van Black would be. He began making his way towards it, but several large bouncers stepped in their way.

"The band ain't taking visitors tonight. Head on home," one of them said.

"We just need to speak with Van Black," Devin said, "It's important that we see her."

"Oh sure buddy, I bet it's real important that you get her autograph," another man huffed, "Piss off already!"

"Martial Speed: Form Flicker!" Alai shouted. The small girl zipped in and out of sight around the bouncers, making precise hits with her fists and legs in order to bring them all down easily. More security guards began coming towards them after that, Alai springing into action before Alexander and Devin could say anything.

Alexander then turned towards Devin with a grin, "We'll handle things out here. You get into the trailer and speak with Van."

Devin watched him run off to support his sister in battle, causing him to sigh, "Wasn't I supposed to be the one giving orders?" he mumbled as he walked up to the black trailer. He listened from outside if there were any people in it, but no noise could be heard. Still, he needed to check the inside of it, so he threw open the door and closed it behind him. He walked in to see a nicely decorated inside, the walls filled with all the records the band had released and the awards they had won. There was a bed towards the back and a couple of couches in the main area of the trailer. He then turned his head to the right to come face to face with a revolver.

"I believe the bouncers told you that we weren't taking visitors," a woman said from behind the gun. Devin instantly recognized that honeyed bourbon voice, knowing that the woman pointing a gun at him was none other than Van Black. He looked from the gun to the woman to see she was rather tall and had nicely tanned skin along with an hourglass figure. Her jet black hair was straight and fell all around her, hitting the top of her hips. The matching black eyes watched him with a heated stare, the straight face she wore adding to her intimidation. She wore a crimson top with a black leather jacket over it. The jacket was left open and there was a white print of the band name on the back of it. She had on tight black pants with a pair of killer black heels that had silver studs covering them. At her hips was a black leather belt that carried a second revolver on her left hip, the one that usually hung on her right side currently being in her hands. She had several black rings on random fingers and studs up along both ears as well.

"And I believe you need better bouncers," Devin finally said. He was sure that making a smart remark probably wasn't in his best interest right now since she still had the gun pointed at him, "What's with the guns anyways?"

"One can never be too cautious," she answered, keeping the gun on him until she knew he wasn't a threat, "I'm not just a pretty face, ya know."

"Looks like it. Mind if we talk without the gun pointed at my face?"

"What do you want? And I swear if you say an autograph, I'll slam one of my heels into your head."

I don't doubt you will," Devin said, paling slightly, "But I came on a request of my guild master."

"Don't tell me you all want a free show."

"As awesome as that would be, no," he answered, "We have questions about a treasure. William Blackstroker's treasure."

The woman groaned loudly at his answer, "After all these years, that old man is still making my life fucking ridiculous!" she growled, but she had managed to put away the revolver finally. She then leaned back against a wall and crossed her arms, "What's your name, kid?"

"Devin McLain," he answered, "Are you Van Black then?"

"The one and fucking only," she grumbled.

"Well, we found a treasure map that we're pretty sure is authenticate and it led us to you. It had some of your band's lyrics on it. Though, I was a bit surprised that Blackstroker knew the lyrics. I figured since he was dead that he wouldn't know your work."

"Dead? Pffft!" Van snorted in reply, "Is that what that old man is telling people nowadays?"

"So Blackstroker isn't dead?"

"Hell no…the old man doesn't know when to die! He just likes to screw with people. Although that time he trapped a baby kraken in pop's old place was pretty damn hilarious."

"Uh…" Devin said, unsure of how to answer her, "Okay, wait, so if Blackstroker isn't dead then why is he having people search for his treasure?"

"I suppose that's something I'll have to discuss with your guild master, isn't it?"

"So you're willing to come talk to her?"

"Yeah, sure. If you all came all the way here to find me, then I suppose it's only right that I go see her. I would like to ask why she didn't come herself?"

"Would you believe me if I said land sickness?"

"Haha! That's fucking priceless! The old man has to deal with that too!"

Devin sighed in relief that she actually believed him.

"Don't look so worried," she smirked at him, "I don't bite…much. Now, lead the way!"

. : + : .

"Do you think that those three will really bring Van Black back with them?" Zinnia asked, looking over at Cordelia.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be able to," Cordelia answered, "But it might not be until late tonight that they come back since they'll have to wait for the concert to be over."

It was then that movement along the path that the trio had left down earlier caught their attention. Over the hill they saw Devin, Alexander and Alai appear. Cordelia gave them an odd look, not expecting them back so soon. Though, her eyes quickly averted to the woman that came up behind them. She knew in an instant that this was Van Black. It was in the way she carried herself and the look she held in her eyes. Power and confidence seemed to practically waft off of her, and when she looked up at Cordelia with that crooked grin of hers, it felt as if everything stopped for a moment.

Even Zinnia seemed to feel the heaviness in the air as Cordelia straightened her back up and copied the intimidation that the dark haired woman emitted. It was almost like watching a stand off. Zinnia had to admit that the two women were so much alike one another and they hadn't even spoke to each other; but she knew that both of them came from long and proud histories and now it appeared to be a battle of whose pride was deeper.

'I hope this meeting doesn't blow up in our faces because of Cordelia's pride,' Zinnia thought.

A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Credits

Van Black - MyDearWatson

So that was a pretty fun chapter and I'm excited that I got to introduce Van as well!

I have one captain position left for the Southern area. Same rules still apply.

Nube is Latin for cloud. I decided to go through an name all seven of the islands in Caelum, with Dreadburner's help, and so they'll all be sky based since Caelum is Latin for sky.

Mia and Hagi's pictures are now up on my profile as well! Go check them out!

Also! I've decided on something that I'm sure you all will be happy about. So I had decided to continue doing weekly updates for Thunder Stone and so I wanted to do that for Storm's Helm as well. So every Sunday you all should receive an update for this story. That'll give me time between Thunder Stone's updates on Thursdays to get a Storm's Helm chapter completed. Although, you're all getting this specific update a little early since tomorrow my little brother is graduating and it's Mother's Day, so I'll be a little busy. But yeah, expect to see Storm's Helm Sundays from now on! CHA!

All right! So onto those reviews!

Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter!

Dreadburner94 - Haha, yeah, those last two chapters came out back to back. Not sure how I was even able to do that either. Yeah, both Zhuues are pretty interesting, but the one for Storm's Helm is much more entertaining, I think. And Hagi…he does need to figure out how to hold his comments back somehow. Poor guy is gonna end up in some major trouble otherwise. And Isaak did a good job of covering for Eli, so hopefully Eli will stop acting like a fool, but that's a bit doubtful right now. And yeah, whenever Madmartigan finds out that Daniel already gave them away, I'm sure he's gonna be more than just angry with him. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

GhostOfOnyx - LOL, yeah, I guess the quick chapter was a bit of a surprise attack for you all. But I'm glad you liked the chapter and how things are moving along with all the characters. Jack is pretty fatherly towards everyone, especially when he worries over their health and everything. And Hagi is always such fun for me to write! Even when he's causing trouble like that! Yep, Cordelia definitely has some reflexes on her when the situation calls for it. Eventually we'll get more back story on Cordelia and Isaak, but yeah, I would keep an eye out for that Eli vs. Isaak moment, lol. And I do actually appreciate the info with the guns! I learned something from your review! ^.^ But seriously, it is appreciated for future references since I always look to better my writing and everything and knowing exactly how something like that would play out helps. And now worries on when you can get a review in! Hope you liked the chapter!

Origm2012 - Haha, yeah I actually have been in a situation like that before. Makes it so hard to choose on what to do! But I'm glad to hear that you're liking both Zhuue and Jack. And I agree, I think that moment with Jack was needed for Kato. But we'll have to wait and see what that moment between Zhuue and Jack was about! :3 Well, it seems that Mia probably moved up on your list of characters just by her having a scythe, lol. And no, Hagi never fails! Honestly, I don't even know how I write Isaak the way I do. I'm totally not smooth at all in real life so I'm not sure how I can write him like that, lol! But whatever, it seems to working itself out! And more info to come on Cordelia and Isaak! (Don't know when though…does that count as another cliff hanger/teaser? I'm sure you'll count it as one :p) Yep, I thought it was time to see some more of Seth's magic! Yeah, I think Zinnia paired with just about anyone makes a dangerous combo of magic, but with Securus it definitely makes it that much more dangerous. Yep, I got Seth matched up with who he'll be fighting seriously! I totally can't wait for you to meet the guy, lol! But the showdown between Securus and Daniel should definitely be pretty awesome whenever it happens! It actually should be happening way sooner than I had originally thought. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Momochan77 - Glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! I was laughing myself during the scene with the cotton ball beard. And Hagi and Mia just work so well together! I love their friendship! And I'm glad you liked that magic canceling bullet, but I'm sure Daniel has more up his sleeve! And I hope you liked that little fanning moment between Mia and Seth! Yeah, I think I through most of you for a loop with the whole Cordelia and Isaak having dated thing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Benthino - Yep! That last one was a super quick update! ^.^ And I'm glad to hear that you're liking the way your characters are turning out! And thanks again for sending over those characters you gave me too! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Joshua1277 - Haha, yep, Kato just keeps getting laid into, both physically and with lectures. I'd say I'd feel bad for him, but he sorta asked for it. Yeah, Eli has a hard time dealing with Cordelia's past relationship with Isaak still. And yeah, that combo of magic between Zinnia and Securus is pretty hard to beat, so I think Madmartigan might be in a bit over his head…although we still have to meet the rest of his crew too! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

LightandDarkHeart - Yep, Eli has reason to dislike Isaak, even if the relationship is already over. But it's mostly because he doesn't realize certain things himself as to why he acts that way. Yeah, that magic canceling bullet definitely makes things tricky for the guild and we haven't even seen everything that Daniel can do yet! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

silverhawk88 - In time we'll find out all the back story between Cordelia and Isaak. But I'm glad you picked up on that mention of Mac through her wood magic. ^.^ Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

reven228 - Yeah, Daniel is definitely gonna make things tricky for the guild and we haven't even seen his full abilities yet! And yeah, a full attack will be in the future from the pirates and that's gonna be pretty awesome now that I've gotten Madmartigan all figured out. And I'll have to think about that S-Class Force, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

IdentityCrisis.03 - Oh yeah, Daniel will definitely be getting another chance here soon. But yeah, since Cordelia and Zinnia work so well together and because Securus actually listens to Cordelia, they worked together nicely this time around. But I'm sure that won't happen every time, much to Cordelia's dismay. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

DarkHyena - LOL! Yep, those chapters were back to back there. But I'm glad you enjoyed that action scene in the last chapter! And yep, Eli acts the way he does for a reason, so more info on that relationship to come in the future! I do love the friendship between Hagi and Mia myself! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

XLil MEkoX - Haha! Yeah, definite surprise chapter for you all. Yep, I do enjoy throwing you guys those curve balls! But yeah, Cordelia and Isaak used to date! I was fairly certain you'd be all over that, lol. That whole thing will be explained eventually…just don't know when exactly. And I hope you enjoyed the scenes with Gordon and Zipporah in this chapter! Yep, pretty sure Madmartigan is gonna be super angry when he finds out that Daniel messed up already. Yes! I totally pictured Vash when I was writing Mingo! I know he probably won't jump out with Love and Peace…yet, but the doughnuts could work so well, haha! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Sakura-Fiction - Glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! As well as Zhuue's antics! Yep, Cordelia and Isaak used to date! But poor Eli can't let it go. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

ThePrinceOfLight - I'm gonna combine both of your review responses here, lol. Glad you enjoyed the interaction between Ajax and Mac. That was pretty fun for me to write. And that Jean and Rin scene, lol! They are definitely not the best flirters around! And I'm glad that Daniel turned out so well for you! Nope, Kato never gets a break, but he sorta had it coming. But I'm glad you liked that moment between Kato and Jack. Yep, Cordelia and Isaak dated! Seems I threw most of you off with that one! I figured that Daniel would be one to start off with a bang, so that's how it ended up, lol. And I'm sure that Madmartigan is not going to be pleased with him, but first he needs to deal with Securus! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Ogrespi - Yeah, that last chapter was up super quick! But I'm glad you've enjoyed the past couple of chapters. But yep, Cordelia and Isaak used to date. I don't think you were the only one shocked over that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

frozenwolf94 - Glad to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter! As well as that battle between Securus and Daniel. And that full battle between marksmen will be coming soon! And yeah, Cordelia and Isaak used to date! More info on that subject to come…eventually! And no worries on when you can review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

That should be it for this chapter!

See you all next Sunday!

Please remember to review!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson