A/N: Finally! A new chapter!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 14: Enter: The Western Vice Admiral!
April 10, X792 - Evening
Cordelia and Van sat silently in the guild master's office. The two stared each other down, although Van wore a smirk unlike the straight faced Cordelia.
"Pretty nice place you've got here," Van finally said, peering around the cabin. She pulled a cigarette pack out from her jack and stuck one in her mouth without thinking. She grabbed for a lighter and stopped to look over at Cordelia, "You don't mind if I have a smoke, do you?" she asked, only receiving a flat stare from the woman in front of her, "I take that as a no," Van said as she stuck the cigarette behind her ear for the time being, "I assumed that as a guild master of a guild at sea, you'd be more, I don't know, wild?"
"Yes, well, I feel a bit on edge right now," Cordelia answered, glancing down at the guns at the woman's hips, "Considering the type of lineage you might come from."
"A girl's gotta take care of her herself, right?" Van replied, smirking as she pulled her guns from the holsters and set them on the desk, "Isn't that why you have big boy there behind you?" she asked, motioning towards Seth, who was standing behind Cordelia slightly to the left, his leg having healed enough to help Cordelia out that evening thanks to Jack. Seth only smiled warmly at her in reply.
"I guess…ohhhhhhhh! Check out these little babies!" Cordelia said, staring down at the guns with sparkles in her eyes, "They look pretty old. Mind if I pick them up?"
"Little? You're fucking kidding me, right?"
Cordelia answered her by calling forth a large shotgun and slamming it on the desk, "Mine's bigger," she said while picking up one of the revolvers and finally sending her own smirk over at Van, "So yeah, they're little."
Van laughed as she picked up the shotgun, "I think I might just like your style," she said, staring down the barrel of the gun. She continued investigating the gun while Cordelia gawked over her own weapons. After another quiet moment, Van looked back over at Cordelia, "What maker is your gun from? I don't see any insignia or name on it."
"That's because it was hand made here on my guild by my own crafter," Cordelia answered as she continued looking over the gun in her hands. She stared down into the barrel of it before Seth interrupted her.
"Could you maybe refrain from staring down the barrel of the gun," he said with a nervous laugh, "I don't want to be the one to explain to the guild how you blew an eye out."
"I know how to handle a gun!" Cordelia retorted loudly, "I'll look where I damn well please. Besides, I haven't seen a gun like this in a long time. It's so nicely done!"
"I could always check my trailer out to see if I have some extras for you," Van said, "It's not often I come across someone who understands the simple beauty of these revolvers."
"Are you trying to win over my heart?" Cordelia asked with a playful smile, "But I couldn't take something like that from you. I'm sure they cost you a great deal."
"Tch, not at all. Got too many of these damn things actually. The old man always gives me a new pair whenever I see him. I really don't know where he gets them all from, but he always thinks they make the greatest damn gifts. Got my first guns when I was eight. That about gave my mom a heart attack."
"HA! My mom was the one to actually give me my first pair or guns before my father and he was the one teaching me magic!"
"Well, you seem to be able to hold your own well…I mean, you are the guild master for this place, right?" Van said, peering back at Seth again, "So why do you have big boy back there?"
"Uh…extra reassurance?" Cordelia answered, "I honestly didn't know what to expect form this meeting and considering the subject of our discussion, I wanted to be sure I'd be covered. It's nothing against you personally, I suppose. But you did give off a pretty powerful air around you when you came over that hill."
"I get that a lot. Probably thanks to that damn old man," Van said, "But I guess I should feel a bit proud of myself if you went out your way to bring in another mage with you to this meeting, especially when I don't even have any magic myself."
"I wouldn't get too cocky."
"But you were the one that added fire to my ego and it was already pretty large to begin with," she smirked, "But I suppose we should get down to business. I'm sure you're a busy woman like myself."
"More so now that I'm the guild master. Do you know what it's like taking care of a bunch of mages?" Cordelia asked as she moved to grab the map from the cabinet she had locked it up in.
"I can imagine. I have a band to take care of. They're pretty fucking stupid sometimes."
"Guess we have more in common than I thought," Cordelia chuckled, "Here we are," she said as she grabbed the map and placed it on the desk so Van would be able to read it.
Van glanced over the white writing on the paper and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that's the old man's hand writing all right. He thinks he's so fucking clever with this shit."
"Yes, Devin did mention that Blackstroker was still alive," Cordelia said as she took her seat again, "So what's the story with that? Is there really any treasure then? And how exactly are you related to Blackstroker? I mean, I assumed that you had to have some sort of connection to him if your song lyrics showed up on the map."
"The old man is my grandfather," Van answered with a sigh, "I use Black as a stage name so people won't make the connection between us. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get any sort of job with the Blackstroker name? Other than being a pirate, it's really fucking hard."
"So you don't like your grandfather?"
"I never said that. I actually really love the man…as fucking annoying as he is," Van said, mumbling the last part, "I just didn't want that kind of life for myself, so I made my own path. The old man was pretty happy with me after I told him I would decide my life for myself. It was one of the decent lessons he ever taught me."
"So what's the deal with the map then?"
"I guess you could say that the old man got bored," Van said with a shrug, "I mean, what would you do if you had a shit ton of money and nothing but time on your hands? So he decided to make a game with both those things. This map isn't the only one out there. He made several of them, each belonging to a different country. Looks like you happened to find the one for Caelum. And fate must love you since I just so happened to be in Caelum. I am the answer to the first clue for the Caelum map."
"You're the answer?" Cordelia questioned, "No offense, but what if you had died or something?"
"Then I guess no one would have ever gotten the Caelum treasure."
"Wait," Seth said, "So this guy is so rich that he has treasure hoards hidden across several countries AND still has enough money to travel around with his pirate lifestyle?"
"Yep."
"And he's just putting money out there for people to take?" Cordelia asked.
"Yep."
Cordelia and Seth exchanged glances before looking back at Van and asking, "Why?"
"I tried to ask him the same damn thing," Van said, "Asked why he just doesn't give some of that money to his family. He simply said that his family was too stupid to know what to do with that kind of money. He said they'd probably blow it all on lame ass shit that they'd just end up throwing away anyways. And I had to agree with him. A lot of people in my family are materialistic. Maybe it comes from the pirate blood."
"So why say that he's dead?" Cordelia asked.
"I'm not really sure on that one. I hadn't really heard about that rumor yet, but I'm sure he'd say he did it so people would actually go looking for the treasure. People would probably be too scared to try for it otherwise. Afraid that the old man would come after them if they tried."
"Does he know when people are looking for his treasures?" Seth asked.
"I believe so. He mentioned that he put a spell or something on the maps that alert him when people have found it and start using it to hunt down treasure. I guess it gives him something new to do for a while. I mean, really, he's just a bored old man with too much money and time on his hands. I guess this is his way of getting entertainment. Call it a live action movie if you will. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already somewhere nearby, seeing how things are playing out for the first clue."
"And how are things playing out? How does the map move onto the second clue? You did say you were the clue, after all," Cordelia said.
Van was quiet as she stared at Cordelia for a long moment, like she was studying her, "I've decided that I like you, Guild Master Murdock. I think you'll make it out of this treasure hunt victorious and you remind me of the old man a bit. I like that. So I'll help you out with the next clue," she said, pulling out a pocket knife from her coat and pricking one finger with it. She let a single drop of blood fall on the map, the crimson liquid sinking into the paper. Once the blood had completely soaked in, a portion of blackness that covered the paper disappeared and the writing on the paper changed as well.
Cordelia and Seth leaned over the table to look at the changes, Cordelia turning the map towards her and reading the white writing, "Congratulations! You've managed to find my granddaughter and got her to like you enough to uncover the next clue! She's a bit of a tough nut to crack, but she's quite the adorable little girl! I have the pictures to prove it!"
At that, Cordelia and Seth looked up at Van with grins while Van just rolled her eyes, "Keep reading," she huffed.
"Now then, below is the next clue. Good luck and happy hunting! William Blackstroker," Cordelia read off, "On an island of fog, you will find dangerous beauties. Find the frozen beauty and you will find your way to the third clue. But be warned, your ears and weak-willed men may be the death of you on this island."
"Dangerous beauties?" Cordelia questioned.
"Your ears being the death of you?" Seth added, "What kind of place is that?"
"I can't tell you everything," Van said, "But I can tell you this clue leads you to the island next to Nube, Nebula."
"The island of fog!" Cordelia said.
"Exactly."
Cordelia stared down at the map with a confused expression, "While I appreciate you helping me with all of this, why would you help me? We have no history together and this is your grandfather's treasure we're hunting."
Van shrugged as she leaned back in her chair, "I've never really cared for the old man's money, so it's not like I want it. I have my own way of making money that I quite like. And while I think you remind me of the old man, I also see myself in you. You're making your own way in life, but you're also leading the way for other people too. Guess I just feel like helping out a kindred soul. Pretty sure my band would tease the shit out of me if they heard me talking like this too. Being sentimental like this really isn't my style. But what's that expression?" she thought, tapping her index finger on her chin, "Ah right, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. So just take my help while I'm giving it to you."
Cordelia went quiet for a moment, thinking back to the conversation she had with her father a few days ago. About how she was just starting out as guild master and that she needed to learn to take these kind of gifts when they were given to her. She then smiled over at Van, "I appreciate the help then. We'll probably head out to Nebula in the morning. You're more than welcome to stay and enjoy our guild until then."
"I may take you up on that offer, so long as you have some decent liquor and you give me a place where I can have a smoke," Van answered.
"Of course we can do that," Cordelia said. Though, before she could say anything else, shouts and gun shots coming from above deck interrupted them. The trio in the office exchanged looks before Cordelia and Van grabbed their guns and went flying out the door.
. : + : .
It had been a fairly quiet evening on the ship. There was a light breeze blowing and the warm colors of the evening sky cascaded over the guild. It was the kind of night that Securus really enjoyed taking in. It wasn't often that the guild mellowed out like this, but he mostly blamed that on their current guest for the night. He may not have seen Van Black as a dangerous person, but it seemed that many of his guildmates had hidden away for the night when she came on board. Maybe they could tell that Cordelia was feeling uneasy about things and they had decided not to cause trouble for the time being. Whatever it was that had the guild quiet, he decided to relish in it. Although, there was one small thing currently irritating him.
"John, would you sit down already?" Securus asked after taking a swig of the sake near him, "You're ruining this rare moment of peace by pacing back and forth."
"I can't help it," John answered, "I don't like not having something to do."
"You need to learn how to relax already," the lazy S-Class replied, "There's nothing to be done while Cordelia is busy talking with Van. Why don't you grab something to eat?"
"I've already done that."
Securus stared the man down as he continued his pacing, taking another swig of sake before speaking again, "If you're that desperate for something to do, then go mop down the decks of all ten ships. It's getting old watching you move back and forth like a damn pendulum."
"I've already done that too."
"You're a freak of nature," Securus mumbled as he lit up a cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke. John suddenly stopped his pacing to study Securus for a moment, "What?" the marksman snapped.
"You seem to be drinking and smoking more than usual…and at a quicker pace too," John said, "Is everything all right?"
"I'm surprised you picked up on something like that in all your pacing," Securus said, "But nothing's wrong. I'm just annoyed that I can't enjoy this night because of you."
"You're more defensive than usual too."
"It's nothing," Securus waved him off, "Now either sit down next to me or piss off somewhere else."
John gave him an unamused stare. Though, he found it a bit odd at how snappy the other man was being. Securus was normally one that just went with the flow, so for the man to appear to be so tense was unusual, "Yeah, something is definitely off with you."
"Look, would you just drop it alr-" Securus began to say before suddenly going quiet. He looked around the area the two men were in, only seeing a few other guild members sitting at the tables that littered the deck of the main ship.
"Securus? What is it?"
"Shut up," Securus snapped back at John as he stood from his seat. He began moving to the edge of the deck, trying to figure out what the strange feeling in the air was. A heaviness was suddenly hanging in the air, one that normally meant danger. He dropped his cigarette to the deck, smashing it with a boot before his entire body went still. He could feel someone watching him, but that wasn't the only thing he could sense. Along with the target on his back, he could sense multiple other dangers in the area, 'This isn't good. It's been too long since I've been out on a solo mission. This could stir him up more if things get out of hand,' Securus thought as he attempted to pinpoint the main person targeting him. He was sure that was the person in charge and if he took them out then the rest would fall with him.
"Securus," John tried again, feeling worried now by the look on his friend's face.
"I said shut up," Securus hissed, turning to glare back at John. In that split second, a loud whistle echoed through the air and suddenly there were men crawling across the guild with weapons at the ready. Securus turned back around to come face to face with a man wearing a familiar eye patch, "You're that sniper from the other day."
"Aye, the name's Daniel Sierra," he answered, causing Securus to scrunch his nose in disgust from the smell of his breath, "Now then," he began, pulling out the gun from his left holster and aiming it at Securus's head, "I'll only say this once, hand over the map and no one gets hurt."
"How cliché," Securus said, "What's next? For every minute we don't give you the map, you'll kill someone?"
"You better watch yourself there, buddy," Daniel growled, "I'm not afraid to pull the trigger."
"You talk an awfully big game for someone that was almost taken out by my gun."
"Tch, just a lucky shot."
"Care to try your luck again?"
"I think you have other things to worry about," Daniel smirked, motioning behind him. Securus turned to see John taking on several of the attacking men, the older man trying his best to hold them all back from reaching the dorms where most of the guild had disappeared to, "Looks like your friend's in trouble. Hmm, but so are you. You still have a gun pointed at your head."
"If you think John is weak, you're sorely mistaken," Securus said, turning back to the man with a smirk, "And if those men are just guns for hire like I think they are, then they don't stand a chance."
John pulled out his cutlass, which happened to be enchanted with Impact Magic, and swung it in a large arc. The blade barely missed slashing across a handful of men, but this wasn't what they had to be worried about. Just as the blade passed them and they thought they were in the clear, a large, invisible force pushed them backwards and away from John. Once the first wave was down, a second wave of men attempted to attack the large man, a few of them jumping high to avoid the blast from the sword, "Void Skip!" John shouted. In an instant, he had moved across the deck to stand behind the men. He then swung his cutlass again and the impact hit the men, knocking them down like the first group.
"What did I tell you?" Securus asked.
"Shut up! You shouldn't get cocky with a gun pointed at your head!" Daniel shouted, "You don't even know what kind of bullets I have. Although, it wouldn't matter since the gun is aimed right at your head, but let's find out which bullet this might be," he said, quickly moving the gun to shoot at John.
"John!" Securus shouted. John looked up from his fighting just in time to watch Daniel pull the trigger. A rusty brown bullet flew out from the barrel and straight towards John. Luckily, the man had enough time to dodge thanks to Securus's shout. The bullet hit a large table, which caused it to rapidly decompose until it was just a pile of ash and sawdust, "Just what kind of bullet was that?!" Securus shouted, swinging back around to look at Daniel again.
"It's my decomposing bullet," Daniel grinned widely, "Whatever it hits will instantly start dissolving. Just think what would have happened if I had sent it though your head instead!"
'We can't have this guy on the guild. Those bullets will really cause problems and who knows what other kind of bullets he has,' Securus thought.
'Just let me kill him already.'
Securus shook his head violently at the sound of the low and deep voice speaking to him. He willed for the voice to go away and leave him be. He couldn't let him out while he was so close to the guild.
'You know you're aching to take him out. Just let me do it already. I've been cooped up for so long!'
Securus continued to ignore the voice as he looked back over at John, "OI! John! We need to move somewhere else for the time being! Think you can skip the three of us out of here?!"
"What about the guild? We can't just leave it unprotected!"
"If I know Cordelia, she'll be popping up any minute now," Securus said with a smirk.
As if to prove him correct, Cordelia, Seth and Van came bounding across a bridge.
"What's going on?!" Cordelia shouted.
"Looks like we're being raided by a Black Skull member," Securus answered, "We're actually about to take care of him. Think you can hold off the idiots he hired to help him?"
"Wait! Securus!" Cordelia yelled, watching as John made his way over towards the two marksmen, "His bullets aren't normal! You can't just leave!"
"That's why we have to get out of here. He could kill someone."
"But he could kill you too!"
"Don't worry about me, sweetheart," Securus grinned, "I'll be back in one piece. I'll make sure John does too."
"We ain't going anywhere!" Daniel shouted, aiming his gun to shoot again.
"Wanna bet?" Securus said, grabbing onto his shirt collar just as John landed a hand on his shoulder.
"Securus!" Cordelia shouted, a gun shot going off at the same time. Seth yanked Cordelia backwards just in time for the bullet to miss her and hit the deck. The deck dissolved away like the table had, leaving a large hole, "What the fuck?! This deck was just fixed! You better give him hell, Securus!"
Securus simply smirked at Cordelia's reaction as he nodded back at John.
"Void Skip!"
"And don't you dare think about letting him out either!" Cordelia demanded right before the trio flashed out of sight. She grumbled under her breath about lazy ass men doing whatever they felt like for a moment before Seth grabbed her attention.
"So…what are we going to do about all these guys?" he asked, motioning towards the still growing crowd of bandits and thugs.
"Where did he even find all these people?" Cordelia said, "I thought Nube was supposed to be the smallest island of Caelum."
"He might have picked up a crew or two along the way here," Van answered, "I thought I remembered seeing some ships in port on the other side of the island. Figured they were here for the concert though."
"Guess we have no choice but to fight them off," Cordelia answered, "You can head back to my office if you want," she said, looking over at Van.
"You're fucking kidding me, right?" Van huffed, "Don't assume that I can't fight just because I don't have magic."
"It's your choice," Cordelia shrugged, "But don't be yelling at me if you get hurt."
"I think I can handle a few thugs."
"I hope you all weren't thinking of fighting all by yourselves," Mac said, walking up one of the bridges to the main deck with her staff in hand.
"Trying to keep all the fun for yourselves, I see," Isaak added, walking up another bridge with his hands at the ready by his Rune Cards.
"Really, Cordi, you shouldn't be so selfish," Ace smirked, showing up on another bridge with Jay right behind him.
"Talk about overkill," Cordelia laughed, looking towards the bandits on her guild, "You really picked the wrong people to mess with. I hope you have some damn good medical insurance," she said, recalling her shotgun in order to call out a different gun, "The Twin Pistols should be enough to deal with this lot. Sometimes simple is better," she said, calling forth the pistols. She then looked over at Seth, who was in the process of taking off his hooded jacket as it allowed him to move around easier. This revealed three more tattoos on his back, consisting of a pair of fairy wings at the top, a pair of eagle wings right under them and a wyvern's tail on his lower back, "You gonna be okay to fight?"
"Chimera Shift: Tiger!" he announced, his skin taking on the appearance of tiger stripes again as well as his nails turning into sharpened claws, "Of course I am," he smiled down at her.
She nodded at him before turning back to the thugs in front of her, "We're not aiming to kill, but if they happen to leave here limping or unconscious, well then, that's what they get for working with a pirate! Let's show them why we're called Storm's Helm!" Cordelia shouted.
With that, the bandits seemed to explode outwards, taking on any mage that they happened to come across. A group of men headed towards Mac first, figuring the shorter woman would be an easy target to take out.
"Wood Make: Thorn Wall!" Mac shouted when she saw them bringing down swords at her. A dense, wooden foliage rose up all around her, large thorns sticking out from it. The swords chopped into the parts of the wood, but the force behind the swings weren't enough to cut through it. A couple of the men jumped back with painful yelps, the thorns having stuck them, "Ya know, you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Mac said from within the foliage, "Wood Make: Splinters!" she yelled as she slammed a hand against the wall from the inside. This caused a storm of splinters the fly out from the wall and towards the men. They shouted in pain as they attempted to run and shield themselves, "Think you can get away that easily?!" she shouted as she broke the top of the wall with her staff and launched herself up and out towards them. She began chasing them across the deck, passing Isaak as a group of men came to face him now.
"You really should just give up now," Isaak said with an easy smile.
"Like a pretty boy like you can do anything!" one of the men shouted.
"Heh, guess I'll have to show you then," Isaak said as he opened up one of his card pouches and pulled out five cards, "Rune Card Magic: Purify!" he announced as he threw the cards at the man that had spoken to him. They floated around the man for a moment before they began to glow a bright purple, the purifying light inflicting damage on the man, "The rest of you care to take me on?" he asked, still smiling at the men.
Another man shouted as he ran at Isaak with a large club in his hands, bringing it down towards Isaak with as much force at he could muster.
"You clearly don't think before you act," Isaak said, "Rune Card Magic: Rune Shield!" he shouted, throwing up a handful of cards out in front of him in order to generate a magic shield. The club continued coming down until it was suddenly stopped by the shield, catching the man holding it off guard, "Looks like I win again," Isaak said as he moved in close and punched the man right in the gut, causing him to drop the club. The other three men attempted to attack Isaak after that, but they didn't get very far, "You all are rather annoying. Rune Card Magic: Barrier Trap!" he yelled, throwing out several cards at each of the men. The cards arranged themselves around the thugs before generating a magic barrier and trapping them inside, "Really, how can you all be so stupid?" Isaak asked with another smile as he slid his glasses up by his index and middle fingers. He then glanced over at Ace and Jay, who had handful of bandits surrounding them.
"Ready to put that training to good use?" Ace asked, glancing back at Jay.
"You know it," the younger man answered.
"Then let's get started!" Ace shouted, pulling out a sword from both side holsters. The ones he pulled out were his twin, steel katanas, each deadly sharp and balanced perfectly. One had a handle wrapped in black cloth, being named Yin, while the other was wrapped in white cloth, being named Yang, "X Marks the Spot!" he said as he slashed the swords across each other, sending out a large black and white 'X' towards the bandits.
"Wyvern's Fang!" Jay shouted, calling forth his go-to sword. It was a one-handed, cutlass-like sword with a hand guard that was said to be made from an actual tooth from a wyvern, "Air Wave!" he announced, slashing his sword forward to send out a burst of concentrated air into the middle of the 'X'. This forced Ace's attack to move at a higher speed, keeping the thugs from being able to dodge it. The mixed attack of darkness and light magic hit the bandits dead on, exploding on impact. They all instantly fell to the ground, smoke wafting off of them and scratches across them from the added force of the concentrated air, "Hell yeah!" Jay cheered, as he turned to give Ace a high five, the older man returning the gesture.
While the fighting continued, Cordelia had managed to keep an eye on all of it along with her own fights, Van Black and making sure that Seth was actually all right to fight. In the midst of her watching everyone else, she didn't realize she was out of bullets until it was too late.
"Christ! Watch yourself!" Van shouted, pointing a revolver over Cordelia's shoulder to shoot at the man that was targeting the guild master. She pulled the trigger without hesitation, hitting the man in the leg, "Reload already!"
"Yeah, yeah," Cordelia mumbled as she called forth two new cartridges of bullets for both of her pistols. She quickly reloaded and was back to shooting off the rounds at the thugs, "Where the hell do they all keep coming from?!" she shouted, watching as her mages had to keep taking on wave after wave of bandits.
"Does it matter?" Van asked, the two women standing back to back, "Just keep taking them out!"
"Hey! Who's the guild master here?!"
"Blame it on the pirate blood," Van mumbled, "Where's the rest of your guild anyways?"
"Uh…heavy sleepers?" Cordelia offered, only receiving an eye roll from the other woman.
While the two women continued shooting off bullets, Seth was doing his best to keep the thugs from reaching them. While he wasn't one for starting fights, his instincts had been shouting at him to protect his guild master, allowing him to ignore the growing pain in his wounded leg. His tiger form gave him an added bonus in both strength and speed, giving him an advantage over the bandits around him. It might have been an overly large advantage, but he wasn't about to let them get the upper hand during the fight.
He charged one man, quickly jumping up into the air before coming back down with a fist at the ready. Unfortunately for the man, he hadn't been quick enough to move out of the way and took to the full force of the hit. Seth's fist landed right in his gut, slamming the man against the deck and even creating a small dent under him. Two other men tried to come up behind Seth then, attempting to take him out with some lead pipes. Seth was quicker though, having sensed them instantly. He zipped behind them, causing confusion between the two men and giving Seth a distraction to work with. Before either man could figure out what happened, Seth slammed their heads together, causing them both to slump to the deck in unmoving heaps. He then turned to take on the next wave of men, but as he did, pain shot up his wounded leg and had him falling forward.
"Seth!" Cordelia shouted as she watched the large man go down. Her eyes narrowed as she watched a man bringing down a wooden club with nails through it towards Seth. She recalled her pistols then and brought forth the large shotgun from earlier. She took quick aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet easily busted through the club, causing splinters of wood and loose nails to explode outwards. The man holding the club threw his arms up in agony over his face, as pieces of wood and a few nails had hit him. While the shotgun had stopped the one man, other men started to gang up on Seth while he was down, causing Cordelia to break away from Van in order to help him, "Back the fuck off!" she shouted as she kicked one man in the back to get him to move. Just as a foot was coming down towards Seth's head, Cordelia pointed the barrel of the gun in the man's face that was about to stomp on him, "Do it and I'll shoot," she warned lowly.
The man froze in that moment, too afraid to do anything with a shotgun pointed at him. Though, in the same instant, gunshots went off from an area that Van wasn't in. Cordelia turned to see that a couple of bandits had now pulled out guns, managing to catch Isaak off guard. Isaak watched with wide eyes as the bullets rushed closer and closer to him. He attempted to reach for some cards to create another shield, but he had run out of them from the current pouch he was using. He tried to grab for another pouch, but he knew that he didn't have enough to unbuckle it and throw out the cards.
"Shit," he cursed.
"ISAAK!" Cordelia shouted.
. : + : .
An overly large, white ship moved along the ocean not too far from the island of Nube. In another twenty minutes or so the ship would be able to see the island come into view. This ship happened to be the main vessel used for the Western Naval Forces of Earthland. Across the main deck, a low ranked officer ran as quickly as he could to reach the main office of the boat, which he hoped one of his three commanders were in after the phone call he had received. He finally came to large, white double doors with golden doorknobs. He knocked hard three times, hoping he would receive an answer.
"What is it?" a gruff voice asked from inside.
"Vice Admiral Bern Eversaw!" the man shouted, "We just received an urgent message from Nube!"
"Stop shouting through the door and come in already," the same voice ordered.
The man stepped into a nicely decorated room with plush chairs and a large oak desk. The room was lowly lit, causing the three figures in the room to be covered mostly in shadows, but he quickly recognized the Vice Admiral sitting behind the desk. He noted that the other two figures were the two Captains of the Western Forces. One was a young woman who was lazily reclined back in one of the plush chairs. The other was a man just a year younger than Bern himself who stood stiffly beside the desk.
"What was the message?" Bern asked, his face mostly shadowed by the room's lighting.
"Well, it appears that a large fight has broke out in one of the ports. It's scaring many of the residents and they're afraid that it will soon move further inland and put the civilians in danger."
"Did they mention who the fight was between?"
"It looked like thugs mostly," he answered, "But there was mention of it happening on a large fleet of ships and a few people had seen a marking on some of the fighters. A cracked helm to be specific."
Bern's body tensed at the mention of the marking and large fleet, 'Finally a fight worth getting mixed up in,' he thought as he peered over at his Captains. He saw that they had both become much more intrigued by the conversation now, but they were sadly mistaken if they thought he would be sending them out to investigate. It would only cause much bigger problems if he did, "I will handle this matter on my own," he finally said, "No one else needs to come with me."
"But sir!" the male Captain began to protest.
"No one else," Bern repeated in a harsh tone, "I've been needing a good fight for a while now. Do you really want to be the one getting in my way of that fight?"
"No sir."
"Good. I'll move on ahead myself on one of our smaller boats," Bern said as he stood up. The thirty-one year old stood tall at an intimidating 6'7". That intimidation was only added by the lean and muscular build he had to him. As he began to move forward, the light from outside the office revealed more and more of him. His white hair was short and spiky, a few pieces of it falling into brown eyes. He had a fair complexion, but that complexion was marred by scars all across his body, the most prominent being the foot long, jagged marking across his torso. He was dressed in a pair of black, dress shorts that ended past his knees, heavy boots and a dark blue captain's coat that was simply draped across his shoulders. He was shirtless underneath, showing off his muscled torso and the scars that covered it.
"Make sure you say hello to them for me," his female Captain said with a lazy smirk.
Bern stopped near the doorway to glance back at her, "Just make sure the two of you stay here. You'll piss me off otherwise."
"Ohhh, so scary," she replied.
Bern simply grunted at her as he pulled out a blue toothpick from the inside of his coat and began chewing on it. He then looked over at the man that had come to give him the message, "Make sure we get more blue toothpicks from the next town we stop in. I'm getting low."
"Yes sir!"
"Also, don't go causing problems while I'm gone," Bern added as he picked up a large, black halberd and placed it in the holster on his back. The weapon was also currently covered in a black sealing cloth, "You two seem to do that quite often when I leave on my own."
"It's all her fault!"
"He just doesn't know how to have a good time."
"Whatever," Bern huffed as he walked out the door, "Do anything stupid and you'll earn an hour's sparring time with me when I get back."
"Harsh," both Captains replied.
A/N: And there we are! Hope you all enjoyed it!
Credits
Bern Eversaw - Origm2012
So first off, I would like to apologize on being a bit late with this chapter. I thought I would be able to finish by Sunday or even Monday at the latest, but I was moving over the weekend along with having to do a couple other things, and I was just worn out. Seriously…I crashed at friend's place during the process of moving and I legit fell asleep on top of my computer while Thor: The Dark World was playing. I never fall asleep when Thor is on the screen, lol. I mean, have you seen that man smile?! Ahaha…anyways, so needless to say, it was a super busy weekend and I didn't have the energy to make myself write. But things should hopefully be back to normal now, so expect another update for this story on Sunday!
And we got to meet our first Vice Admiral! I've been so excited to introduce Bern too! I can't wait to use him in a fight scene for the next chapter! It's so awesome how I keep picturing it in my head! So I hope he turned out well for you all!
There was also going to be another fight scene in this chapter with Securus, John and Daniel, but that got pushed to the next chapter, mostly because I liked where this one ended and I still got a cliff hanger in there! Expect to see many more of those in the near future! Muwhahahahaha!
Anyways…
Holy crap! We're over 200 reviews now! You all are just so awesome! I didn't expect things to turn out like this for this story, but I'm very happy to see that so many of you are enjoying the story so far and with only 14 chapters down. I can't imagine where we'll be in like another 40 of them! But thank you all for your continued support and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!
Now onto those lovely reviews! Thanks to all of you that reviewed last chapter!
Benthino - Haha! Well I'm glad you're enjoying the quick updates so much! But still, no heart attacks! And yes! So much is about to happen, especially now that we get to see the Naval Forces appear! CHA! Although…I'm not sure about those ninjas, lol. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Origm2012 - Yeah, I had myself laughing while I was writing that opening scene, so I'm glad to hear you liked it too. And yep, someone actually likes Gordon! Really…I'm beginning to like him more and more myself, but that's mostly because I finally figured out all of his history now. And yeah, Gamu made his next appearance! I can't wait to introduce Duke! But like you said, that won't be for a while. Haha! That song makes another appearance! Yeah, the twins are pretty interesting in how they act around each other and other people. And that land sickness list keeps growing, doesn't it? I figured you would take that as a teaser, lol. And I hope I did Bern justice for you! I've been so excited to write him into the story ever since you sent him into me, so I really hope he turned out well! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Ogrespi - I don't like keeping you all waiting that long for an update, so I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the quick updates. That's why I felt so bad for missing this Sunday's update! T.T But I'm glad that you like that scene with Kasra and Gordon in the last chapter! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
reven228 - Yep, that was a fun chapter to start setting things up! Which are starting to happen this chapter now. And yeah, that pride of Cordelia's can get the better of her most times, but thankfully she didn't ruin the meeting between her and Van in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Joshua1277 - Yeah, Gordon just keeps getting the short end of the stick, lol. Haha, and yeah, creeping just going all around the guild! I can see the Judge vibe you get from Duke, but I will say that he's not gonna be as…uh…brutal? That's the best word I can think of, lol. I suppose you'll see when we meet Duke. Glad you picked up on that Dark Water. You'll want to remember that for later chapters. Yep, the twins don't like authority, Alexander more so. And we got some explanation on Blackstroker this chapter, but I'm sure there will be more in the future! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
DarkHyena - Yeah, the poor guy got freaked out by the possibility of magical back up! Yep, Cordelia is already running herself thin, poor girl! And I'm glad you liked the scene with Devin! He does seem to have a problem with women and guns, doesn't her? LOL! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
XLil MEkoX - Glad to hear that you enjoyed those scenes with Gordon! I was hoping you would! Yeah, eventually Cordelia will figure out how to balance things out and rely more on the people around her, but for now she'll try to carry all that weight on her own. And I'm glad you're still liking Gamu! He is just too cute! :3 More on Duke to come soon! I haven't forgotten about the twins, lol! And sorry for missing the scheduled Sunday update, but we should be back to normal now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Momochan77 - Yay! Glad you liked that fanning moment! And that you're still liking Gamu! I love writing him! And it seems that Devin keeps finding himself at the other end of a gun barrel, lol. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
AkumaXHwaorang - No worries on the reviewing. But I'm glad that you're enjoying how the story is coming along so far! And that the characters seem in character still. That is something that I worry about. And yes! A battle between marksmen is about to happen! I try to catch myself on how often those phrases are used, but the advice is appreciated and noted! I'm liking the planned updates myself…minus the fact that I missed this past one, but ya know, moving interrupted that one, lol. And yeah, I thought it was time that Gamu made another appearance, so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed his scene! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
IdentityCrisis.03 - ^.^ Glad to hear that you liked Van's character! And yeah, there are a handful of them with that land sickness, but at least Alai was able to push through it. But yeah, Gordon and Zipporah. I think that's gonna be an interesting duo, so watch out for that development. I guessed there would be a few of you that were ahead of me time wise, so Storm's Helm Monday for you then hopefully from here on out. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
PlaguedAmbition - Yeah, things are definitely starting to heat up now, especially with this chapter! I hadn't really thought what would happen with Securus if he got hit by one of those magic cancelling bullets. It probably would cause some big problems though, so let's hope he doesn't get hit with one of them! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Dreadburner94 - Sigh…yeah…Gordon, lol. Just give him some time and hopefully he'll slowly redeem himself! But yeah, super awkward for Gordon with Kasra watching him! Yeah, Cordelia definitely needs to find that balance, but it'll probably take a while before she actually does. The twins are a bit like the TS twins. I don't think they're as outright mean and rude as the Cipini twins, but there is that same trust issue between the two of them. But at least Devin was able to keep them mostly in line. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
ThePrinceOfLight - Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and the beginning scenes! Haha! Yeah, Gordon has himself two admirers! And I figured it was time for Gamu to show up again, so I'm glad you liked his scene too. Yep, Alexander is still wary of Cordelia, so that's something they'll both have to work on. And Blackstroker is alive! What a twist! Haha, couldn't help myself with that. Sorry for missing this Sunday, but things should be back on track now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
CryptozoologyConundrum - LOL, more on Zipporah's interest in Gordon to come soon! But I'm glad to hear that you're liking the way he's being portrayed so far. And I had been picturing the same thing for that last scene, so it's awesome to hear that you saw it the same way! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
That should be it for this time around!
You should see another update on Sunday!
Please remember to review!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson