A/N: YAS! A new chapter!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 22: Dark Water
April 11, X792 - Midday
A siren stepped forward at Cordelia's command. The creatures green eyes could only look at Cordelia's fierce blue ones for a few seconds before she had to look away, "You came here because of a map, correct?"
"Correct."
"Then I will take you to the statue you seek. Bring something to break it though."
Cordelia turned back to face her guild, "Drop anchors here! And someone bring me a bat or a crowbar or something!"
"Will this work?" Alisa asked, handing over one of her lead pipes.
"Perfect. Thank you," she said as she turned back towards the siren that had stepped up to her, "Adonia was able to clear out this fog. Can you all do that while we're walking to this statue?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Then do it. I'm not taking any chances of something sneaking up on me."
The siren gave out the orders to the others and soon the fog had lifted from the area while they constantly moved their wings back and forth, "Will you follow me now?"
"One other thing first," Cordelia said as she turned to look back towards the front ship, "Devin! Matilda! You're coming with me! Move it!"
The group from the front ship moved to the middle ship at Cordelia's below, Devin now having his headphones hanging around his neck.
Eli was the first to approach her, "I'm coming with you too."
"No, I need you to stay here. If any of these creatures start acting up, I want you to put them in their place. Blow them away in a torrent of fire if you need to."
Eli looked as if he wanted to argue with her for a moment, but he seemed to know better than to try to go against her, "Yeah, all right. Just make sure you're not gone for too long."
She simply nodded at him before looking back at the siren, "Let's go. We'll make a quick stop at our infirmary though. There's something I need to pick up."
The group of four made their way across the bridges and stopped at the infirmary, surprised to see Jack and Zhuue standing outside waiting for them.
"Jack?" Cordelia said.
"Been hearing what's been going on since I was snapped out of the trance," Jack answered, holding out a syringe to her that was filled with a dark purple liquid, "I figured you might need this."
Cordelia gave him a knowing smirk, "Thanks. You always seem to know what I need before I get here."
He returned her smile, "Just remember that it only lasts an hour. I'm still working on the batch that will last six hours."
"An hour should be more than enough," Cordelia said just as she stuck the needle into her leg and injected the liquid, "I'm still amazed that you were able to come up with something to cure my land sickness," she said as she handed him back the syringe.
"I'm simply doing my job," he said, "Now get going. Your time is already ticking down, but you better make sure to get back to the infirmary when all of this is finished."
"Yes sir," she said with a smirk before she began walking towards the edge of the ship. She looked over at the two mages she had brought with her. She had chosen Devin for the back up strength he brought with him while she had chosen Matilda since the woman knew her way around the island due to her maps. If the siren in front of them led them the wrong way, Matilda would know.
"How are we supposed to get over to the other side?" Devin asked as they reached the edge of the ship.
"I will carry you over," the siren answered, fanning out her wings to their full extent.
Devin made a face at the thought of the creature touching him, especially after what they had just done to their guild. He quickly switched over to his Angela form, spreading out his own wings, "I'll carry myself over."
"Take Matilda with you," Cordelia said, not wanting to take the chance of the siren doing anything to her navigator. Devin nodded at her and picked Matilda up before he flew over to the island. Cordelia turned to face the brunette woman next to her, "You seem to be rather obedient compared to many of your other counterparts."
"Not all of us are like Adonia," she answered, "Do not misunderstand, I am still a deadly creature, but I am not an idiot or a mindless eating machine."
"I see. What is your name?"
"Rhouth. I was the Second General to Adonia."
"Well Rhouth, I think I'm gonna like you, so long as you don't eat any of my men."
"I think that is something I can do, my lady,' she said with slight bow.
"Ah, you can just call me Cordelia," she answered with a smile.
"But you are the queen now, my lady."
Cordelia sighed, "Yeah, I guess I did say that. Well, let's get going, Rhouth."
Rhouth lifted Cordelia up and carried her over to the island. Devin and Matilda watched as Cordelia touched ground, almost expecting her to fall on her face in sickness, but that moment never came.
"Jack must be really good at what he does!" Matilda said.
"Aye, he is," Cordelia said with a smile, "Now then, show the way," she said, looking over at the siren.
Rhouth nodded in reply and began moving across the island, following along the outskirts of the dip that created the cove. They came to center of the curve and were just about to turn to walk in a straight path away from it when Cordelia noticed two figured teetering on the edge of the small cliff around the cove.
"Lance! Chris! What are you two idiots doing?!" she shouted at them.
The two men seemed to break away from the trance they were in when they heard Cordelia's voice. They stumbled backwards with a surprised look in their eyes.
"What the hell? How did we get here?" Chris asked.
"Looks like they got caught up in the siren's song too," Devin said.
"Oi! Where are Tazz and Rio at?" Cordelia said.
The two men looked around them to see that they were the only ones from their team in the area.
"The last thing I remember is being chased by that tiger and then we got separated," Lance said.
"Well, go find the other two and get them back onto the guild. You did take out that pirate, right?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah, mostly thanks to Tazz," Chris said, "Micky should still be on the island too."
"Good. I want to bring her back onto the guild, so we'll handle finding her. Just worry about the other two for now."
"Aye!" the two men said before taking back off the way they had come.
Once the two had left to find the other half of their team, Rhouth continued leading the other three down the path that led to the statue, "Now, this statue probably is not what you are expecting it to look like," Rhouth explained, "So do not be surprised by its appearance. It was placed here by Blackstroker himself, so it was not a design of our choosing."
Cordelia and the others could hear disappointment in her voice, so it made them wonder what this statue exactly was. The clue had said it was a frozen beauty, so Cordelia had assumed that it would look like a siren or a mermaid, but now Rhouth made it sound like that assumption would be wrong. The trio didn't have to wait too much longer to find out what the statue was when they came to a small clearing. Right in the middle of the clearing was a life sized statue made out of white marble that was covered in leaves and vines from the many years it had been standing there. Cordelia, Matilda and Devin could only stare at the statue with either flat looks or sweat drops falling down their heads.
"Seriously?" Cordelia said, being the one to wear a flat stare.
"I did say the design was not of our choosing," Rhouth said.
"That old man must be vain as hell…calling himself a frozen beauty," Cordelia said, still staring at the marble statue of who she assumed was William Blackstroker, considering the name that was inscribed at the bottom of the statue. He stood with a sword in one hand while he had one leg posed on top of a barrel, the man wearing a wide grin from underneath a curled mustache. Cordelia only felt her eye twitch in annoyance at the stupid grin carved into his face. Blackstroker probably knew the kind of trouble they would have to go through just to get to the statue, "If I ever meet this guy, I'm giving him a good punch to the face."
"It really is an eyesore," Rhouth said with her own flat look from beside Cordelia, "So you can go ahead and smash it when you are ready, my lady."
"Don't mind if I do."
"Just make sure you do not smash what is inside of the statue. Blackstroker made sure it was hollow on the inside to hide what you need for the map. It is a small jar that should be at the bottom of it."
"Then that means I can still smash that stupid grin of his," Cordelia said with a dark smirk as she approached the statue, "If you're watching Blackstroker, I hope you know the trouble you're having me and my guild go through for your treasure! It sure as hell better be worth it when we're finished!"
With that, Cordelia swung the lead pipe as hard as she could through the head of the statue, white chunks of marble exploding outwards from the force of the hit. She continued demolishing the statue with hit after it until there was nothing left but the stump of one foot and the bottom of the barrel. White dust rose up around her from the destroyed marble and through it, Cordelia could see the jar that Rhouth had spoken of. It was just a small mason jar, but it appeared as if the metal lid had been melted onto the jar as if to keep whatever was in it from getting out. Cordelia arched an eyebrow at the sight of it before picking up the small object. She brought it to eye level to see it was only a fourth of the way full of a thick, black liquid.
"What is it?" Devin asked, having moved towards the statue with Matilda.
"Is it squid ink or tar or poison or something Blackstroker created himself?" Matilda rattled off quickly.
Cordelia turned the jar around in her hands a few times, feeling as if she had seen the substance before, which sent a feeling of terror up through her spine. That feeling of terror shot out through the rest of her body when the liquid moved and slammed up against the glass jar. Cordelia gasped and threw the jar up as she jumped away from it. Devin managed to catch it before it fell and smashed across the ground. He looked over to see that Cordelia had gone white as a ghost and her eyes were wide with fear.
"Cordelia?" he asked, "Are you all right?"
"How…how did Blackstroker get that? Why did he use it? What was he thinking?!" Cordelia said, her voice rising with each question, "I can't bring that onto the guild! I won't!"
"Cordelia?" Matilda said, feeling very worried for her master. She hadn't seen fear like that on the woman before.
Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to chase away the memories from her mind, "I won't bring it on the guild! I can't risk it!"
"But Cordelia, we need it for the clue, right? We have to bring it with us," Devin said, "Do you know what this stuff is? What's the problem with it?"
"The map isn't worth bringing it onto my guild!"
Matilda and Devin exchanged glances, unsure of what was going on.
"We can always bring the map out onto the island if you don't want to bring this stuff onto the guild," Matilda suggested.
"It doesn't matter! If we open the jar, it'll find a way onto the ship! It'll find a way to Eli!"
"Eli?" Devin questioned, looking between the black liquid and his guild master, "Cordelia, what is this stuff exactly?"
"Dark Water."
A heaviness seemed to fill the air at those words, as if the island itself felt terrified by the substance in the jar. Rhouth had even taken a few steps back from the area, looking just as frightened as Cordelia.
"If…if we had known that is what Blackstroker left here, we would have gotten rid of it long ago," Rhouth said.
"Dark Water?" Devin said, "Never heard of it. What's so bad about it?"
"It is also known as the Heretic's Water," Rhouth explained, "It is a cursed water that even the gods will not touch."
"So what does it have to do with Eli?" Devin continued, looking over at Cordelia now. Though, he received no answer from her, causing him to sigh, "Okay, look. We just fought all those sirens and the bandits back on Nube and the Black Skulls. If you suddenly stop the treasure hunt now, everyone back at the guild will be upset. We have to bring this back with us."
"I don't want it on my guild! I will not bring it back!"
Devin shoved the jar into Matilda's hands before walking over to stand in front of Cordelia, "That's enough! You're the guild master of Storm's Helm, remember? You're seriously going to let that tiny bit of black water stop you from setting out what you promised to do?! What about the guild?! How are you going to keep everyone fed and taken care of if you stop the hunt?! You just killed the queen of the sirens without flinching! What happened to that woman?!"
Cordelia went quiet at Devin's words, knowing he was right. Though, that didn't help subside the fear she felt when she looked back over at the jar, "Why did it have to be Dark Water?" she whispered.
"Blackstroker doesn't seem to be the type to make things easy," Devin said, "He seems to be the type to make you work every step of the way, so this will just be another hurdle we have to step over. If you took on sirens and Bern, you can handle this."
She looked up at him, seeing the reassurance in his gray eyes through his mask. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and nodded at him. She looked back over at the jar that Matilda held, walking over to take it. She reached out with a shaking hand, pulling it back quickly when the substance jumped out at her again.
"If it bothers you that much, we can carry it back," Devin said.
"No, I don't want that stuff involved with any more people than it already is. I'll take it back myself," Cordelia said, trying to sound as confident as possible as she reached out for the jar again. The black water began reacting as soon as her hand wrapped around the glass, as if it knew who she was. That made another shiver run up her spine, but she ignored the red flags going off in her head as she fully took the jar into her possession. She shoved the jar into an inside pocket of her coat so she wouldn't have to look at it any longer, "All right," she said, her voice still sounding slightly off, "We still need to find Micky and then get away from this island."
The other three nodded at her and began to follow her in the direction that Lance and Chris had run off in.
. : + : .
Lance and Chris had managed to find Tazz and Rio and make their way back to the guild just as Cordelia and the others made their way back onto the guild with a still unconscious Micky and Tazz's bike, the bike being carried by Rhouth. Cordelia quickly made her way over to the group to check up on them.
"What happened to Rio?" she asked, seeing that the young man was still unconscious.
"I had to knock him out when the singing started," Tazz answered.
Cordelia looked over at her to see the wound on her stomach. She frowned at it for a moment before a proud smile appeared on her lips, "You fought well, Tazz. Thank you."
"No problem!" she answered with her own smile. She then peered behind Cordelia to see her bike on the deck, "Betty!"
Cordelia placed a hand on her shoulder before she went off running towards the bike, "You need to go see Jack first. I don't want your wound getting any worse."
Tazz was about to argue with her when Chris appeared in front of her, "She's right. Even if Rio was able to heal it some, Jack still needs to look at it and finish taking care of it. Rio will be mad if he finds out that you went and made things worse after he went and healed it for you."
"Tch, like I care," she mumbled, "But fine! Let's go see Jack!"
Cordelia nodded in thanks towards Chris as he helped Tazz towards the ship that the infirmary was on. Cordelia then turned towards Rhouth, "Thank you for your help."
"Of course, my lady. Will you be staying here with us now? You are our queen."
"I can't do that. I have a guild to look after. I am their master first," she answered as she looked down at the new mark on her arm, "But the selfish part of me can't really just give up this power to control sirens. Seems like that'd be pretty handy in the future," she said with a laugh.
"Well, we obviously cannot follow you. This is our home and not all of us can control ourselves around your men."
"I understand. So how about this," Cordelia said, "You all stay here and I will go my own way. I'll still be your queen, but in the mean time while I'm gone, why don't you be in charge of things."
"Me? But my lady, that is a rather large responsibility and honor."
"Well you seem to have a pretty good head on your shoulders, so I think I can trust you to keep everyone in order. I know you eat…uh…meat, but let's try sticking to animals on the island and any nasty sailors that might pass by here."
"I suppose that is something I can work on for you, my lady."
"It would be appreciated," Cordelia said before a dark look appeared on her face, "But if I find out that any of your sisters have wounded or killed any of my mages, I'll come back here with an army. You might be a dangerous creature, but I promise that I'm plenty more dangerous. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my lady," Rhouth said with a bow.
"Good, just make sure to look out for this symbol on them," she said, pointing to her green guild mark, earning a nod from the siren, "All right then, this is where we'll take our leave. I'll be back eventually to check in on you all, so don't do anything stupid."
"You have my word," Rhouth said. She was just about to fly off the ship to meet up with the rest of her sisters when she stopped to look back at Cordelia, "My lady…please be careful with that Dark Water. Even the smallest amounts can cause the largest of catastrophes. I would hate to hear that is what brought your demise."
A serious look crossed Cordelia's face, "I know what that water can do. I will take the proper precautions," she said before another smile appeared, "Besides, it'll take more than some stupid water to take me out!"
Rhouth smiled softly in response, "I am glad to hear that, my lady. Please take care."
With that, the siren flew away from the ship. Cordelia could feel the anchors rising and Matilda guiding the ship away from the foggy island. Cordelia continued to stand in the same spot, watching as the island slowly faded away. But even as the island disappeared from view and the fog started to lift, the anxiety that filled Cordelia stayed within her. She could feel the jar in her pocket weighing heavily on her and she found herself wishing that she hadn't brought the jar onto the guild.
"Cordelia," Devin said as he came to stand next to her, "What do you want to do with Micky?"
"Clean her up and put her in handcuffs," she said, "And use the magic suppressing ones. I don't need her using her magic on the guild again."
"Is she going to be staying with us then?"
"For a short time, yes. Her crew will eventually appear to get her. If Madmartigan wants her, he'll need to come aboard the guild to get her."
"So you're hoping to use her as bait?"
"Exactly. I have some things I want to discuss with that man," she said, finally looking over at Devin to see the worried look in his eyes, "Don't worry. I won't be starting any fights with him. Still, I want everyone on high alert. Make sure to let everyone know that."
"Yes ma'am."
She turned to leave to head towards the front ship, but stopped to place a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you," was all she said before continuing on her walk. Though, Devin knew that her thanks wasn't just for following her orders. He was really beginning to wonder why the Dark Water had her so frightened and what it all had to do with Eli.
. : + : .
"Ow!" Cordelia yelped as Jack none too gently stuck her with another syringe in her shoulder, "You could be a bit more gentle, ya know!"
"Maybe I would be if you had come to the infirmary like you were supposed to," Jack answered as he pulled out the syringe and replaced it with a new one to stick into her other shoulder, "Instead, you make me come all the way to your office to take care of you. Do you even know what my infirmary looks like right now? I had to leave Zhuue there to take care of the other women who got hurt in this last fight."
Cordelia pouted at his words, "I'm sorry. I didn't know that it would turn into a fight like that with the sirens."
Jack sighed, feeling a little guilty by the look on her face, "Well, it's not like it's your fault that they ended up that way. They were simply doing the same as you and protecting their guild, so don't you go thinking their wounds are all your fault."
Cordelia was quiet for a moment as she watched Jack put away the needles and began pulling out the supplies needed to wrap her shoulders while the liquid he injected her with did its job with healing her, "How are Tazz, Nanami and Zipporah? They looked the most worn out."
"They'll be fine after some well earned rest. They're all tough girls."
"That's good to hear."
Jack began to wrap up her shoulders in white gauze after that. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, but he had also heard the hint of fear in it. He could only guess it was from the mason jar that sat in the middle of her desk. She had been staring at it the entire time he had been in the room and it was really making him wonder what the substance in the jar was. Though, before he could wonder further on the subject, the door to the office was opened. The pair looked up to see Finn standing in the doorway. The older man looked at Cordelia for a moment before his gaze moved towards the jar on her desk. His eyes narrowed at it before he closed and locked the door behind him.
"So Devin was right," Finn said as he took a seat across from Cordelia.
"He told you?"
"He mentioned that he was worried. He told me about the Dark Water you found and how you reacted to it. I wasn't sure if it could be true. Dark Water isn't something that's easily captured like this," he said, looking at the jar, "Are you okay with having it on the guild?"
"Of course not," Cordelia said lowly, "But I need it to unlock the next clue apparently. How I'm supposed to drop it onto the map though, I have no fucking idea. I want to figure it out as soon as possible and then get this shit off the guild. The longer it's on the guild, the more likely Eli will find out about it or it will find a way to him. I don't want that happening," she said as she tightly grabbed onto the sides of her chair.
"Don't do that," Jack said, knocking her on the side of the head with his knuckles, "You tense up like that and I can't wrap your shoulders properly and you're only bound to make them start bleeding again if you do that."
"Sorry," Cordelia grumbled as she forced herself to relax.
Finn looked back at the doctor fixing up his daughter, a smirk appearing on his lips, "Well, you have your answer right behind you."
"Huh?"
"You have a doctor under your command that can literally make miracles happen. I'm sure that he can help you out with coming up with a way to extract a drop of the Dark Water to put onto the map. And how to expose of it possibly," Finn explained, looking back at Jack again, "You think that's something you can figure out?"
Jack looked at Finn for a moment before he looked down at the jar, "I suppose it's not the hardest thing that's ever been asked of me. I can figure something out."
"Don't be breaking it out of the jar all willy-nilly," Cordelia said quickly, "I don't want that stuff moving on its own on the guild. And it will if given the chance."
"What is it exactly?"
"It's a curse," Cordelia answered lowly.
"It's called Dark Water," Finn said, "It can wrap around a person and force them down into the water. It has drowned countless people over the years, so I ask that you use caution when working with it."
"I understand. I'll figure something out for you as quickly as I can. I'll keep this project to myself as well as it seems you don't want people knowing its on the guild."
"That would be helpful. Thank you," Cordelia said.
"Of course," he said as he finished wrapping up her shoulders, "There we are. You should be good to go for now. Just don't make any quick movements for a little while."
Before Cordelia could give her thanks to him again, rattling came from the office door.
"Oi!" Ace called out, "Why is the door locked?! Open up, Cordi!"
Jack grabbed the sealed jar before Cordelia could and placed it with his other supplies to take back with him to the infirmary. Once it was hidden away, Finn moved to unlock the door. Ace ran in as soon as Finn opened it for him.
The sword mage looked around at the three in the office, trying to figure out what had been going on. Though, he quickly shook his head as he remembered why he had come to the office to begin with, "You need to come to the surface now. The Black Skulls are here."
"That was much quicker than I expected," Cordelia said as she stood up.
"Remember what I said!" Jack called out, "No quick movements!"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she said with a wave of her hand. She quickly followed her brother out the door, leaving behind the other two men without another word. The pair made it to the top deck of the front ship to see the large black ship belonging to Madmartigan right next to it, said man standing at the center of his crew to stare down Cordelia. She could feel movement behind her, her own mages moving in to back her up if she needed it. Devin was on the front deck already with a now awake Micky standing next to him. Cordelia felt her lips twitch up into a smirk, "Madmartigan! It's so nice of you to make a visit to our humble abode!"
"Give me back my mechanic!" he shouted, getting right to the point of his appearance.
"I suppose we do have something you want back," Cordelia said, looking over at Micky, "I hope you know how much trouble you've been causing us by sending your men after the map."
"That map was mine to begin with, so I want it back as well."
"I don't think you're really in any position to be demanding things right now. Not only has your mechanic wounded my mages, your sharpshooter has too. I don't really see any reason for me to listen to any demands you have. Really, I should be handing Micky over to the Navy, but you see, I'm not on the greatest of terms with the Western Forces right now. Once again, that's all thanks to you," she explained, her smirk growing, "So I can always wait until we hit southern waters and hand her over then."
Madmartigan's crew began to shout in protest, but he quickly silenced them by lifting up his hand, "You're a rather haughty little girl," he said, "Thinking you have control of the situation. You sound just like him."
"Him? Him who?"
"Duke Ramirez."
Cordelia's eyes went wide at hearing the name, "How do you know Duke?"
"You're the master of that guild yet you know nothing!" Madmartigan said, almost laughing at the mere thought of it all, "I hope you know that Duke isn't as nice as he seems. He was the one who took my hand after all," he explained, holding out the silver hook attached to his arm, "But you sound just like he used to. So arrogant and sure of himself! If you're not careful, little girl, you'll lose something even greater than a hand like he did!"
Cordelia's brow furrowed as she stared the man down, "What did you do to Duke?!"
"Maybe you should ask that himself. It's not my place to tell you about your own guild history. Your old man knows about it too, so I'm honestly surprised that you don't. Maybe they don't trust you as much as you thought."
"You better shut your mouth! You don't know Duke or my father! You're just telling lies to get what you want!"
"You can believe what you want," Madmartigan said with a shrug, "But the truth is on the guild. You just have to look hard enough for it. Now, I don't really want to have to deal with you or your guild any longer than I have to, so just hand over my mechanic and the map and we'll be on our way."
"I'm not handing anything over to you!"
"Look, you went and pissed the lovely lady off," Mingo said, stepping up to cut Madmartigan off before he said anything else, "I must apologize on behalf of my Captain. I'm his first mate, Domingo Barton, but you can just call me Mingo," he said, with a small bow and a wink.
Cordelia only gave him a harsh stare in response.
"Wow, I usually get at least a blush with that introduction," Mingo said with a nervous laugh, "Anyways, I would greatly appreciate it if you would give us back Micky. She was simply following orders."
"And she got caught. That's her own fault. She even stabbed one of my mages!"
"And you have every right to be angry over that, but she is a part of our crew. You must understand what it's like to have part of your family taken from you," Mingo said, hoping to reach out emotionally towards the woman, "So if you would be so kind as to hand her back over, I would owe you one."
Cordelia contemplated his request, looking over at Micky. She eventually gave in with a sigh, "Hand her over."
"What?! But Cordelia! She-" Ace began.
"I know what she did!" she snapped, effectively cutting him off, "But that is her crew and her superior is dropping his pride to have her back. I can't deny him his family."
Devin nodded at her and threw Micky over to the black ship with the cuffs still on her.
"Thank you," Mingo said with a smile.
"I hope you know the only reason you got her back was because your first mate is a decent man," Cordelia said, looking over at Madmartigan, "You should get more like him for your mangy crew."
"You should stick to taking care of your own crew," Madmartigan huffed, "Now hand over the map!"
"Like hell you're getting the map."
"Little girls should listen to the demands of someone who's stronger than them," Madmartigan said as he pulled out a gun to point at her.
"And men shouldn't be so stupid as to think their enemy is weak," Cordelia answered by calling for a gun of her own to aim at him, "Be grateful you got your mechanic back and piss off!"
"You'd take on an enemy without knowing what they could do?"
"You're doing the same and I guarantee I have more men behind me than you do. And the Navy is nearby, I'm sure. I also have the ability to call out sirens right now. You feel like having your men eaten today?"
"Captain," Mingo said, "I don't think this is the right time for a show down. We've got Micky back. Be happy with that for now."
Madmartigan weighed his options, keeping his gun pointed at Cordelia, "We'll keep hunting you down. The map and the treasure are mine!"
"Go ahead and send your men out. We'll keep sending them back beaten and bloody," Cordelia warned, "And I'll tell you this, you keep hurting my mages like you've been doing and I'll hunt you down and kill you myself. I have no qualms about that, I assure you."
"So you'll finish what Duke started?" Madmartigan asked, beginning to laugh loudly, "You're so much like him that I'm starting to think that you're really his daughter instead of Finn's. I'll be looking forward to the day that you'll come hunting me down. I'll be waiting for you then, little girl!"
"Just you remember that it will be a Murdock that takes you out, Madmartigan! Duke may be a part of my family, but it is Murdock blood that runs through me! Enjoy your time while you're still alive!"
"And you do the same, little girl!" he answered, "Move out!"
The black ship sailed off from the guild, the mages still being able to hear Madmartigan laughing as they disappeared.
Once they were fare enough away from the guild, Cordelia let out a relieved sigh and recalled her gun before dropping to the deck, "I'm so tired!"
Ace looked down at her, "What do you think the history with Duke and Madmartigan is?"
"I don't know. I'll figure it out later. I'm totally burned out for the day," she answered, letting out another sigh, "Now take your sister to the middle ship for a drink."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me! You owe me for acting like a moron and being entranced by sirens! And I'm too tired to move anymore! I'm not supposed to make quick movements! Doctor's orders!"
"Then what was that with pulling out a gun on Madmartigan?!"
"Doctor's orders!" she shouted, completely ignoring his question.
"Fine, whatever!" Ace said as he picked up one of her legs and began dragging her across the deck.
"So mean! You won't even pick me up like a proper gentleman!" she cried.
"If you want a gentleman then call one of your bodyguards!"
"This is why you don't have a girlfriend!"
"And you don't have a boyfriend!"
Devin felt a sweat drop run down the side of his head at their antics as he closely followed them to the middle ship, feeling like he needed a drink himself after the day they all had.
Storm's Helm Question Corner!
Today's question comes from PlaguedAmbition for Nanami:
You seem to spend a lot of time with Securus. Why is that?
Nanami: If you're insinuating that I like him, you are quite wrong.
Securus: Well damn. Just shoot me through the heart why don't you.
Nanami: I'm just being honest.
Securus: Oi! Watson! What are you gonna do to fix this?
Nanami: There is nothing that needs to be fixed!
Watson: Why are you dragging me into the middle of this?! She answered the question! Sorry if you didn't like the answer!
Securus: You're the writer. You can do whatever you want. You've been making it so she's been giving me all this attitude lately!
Watson: She did just save you…
Nanami: Maybe I should have let you fall into the pit of mermaids.
Securus: Weren't you the one that said you secretly ship us?
Nanami: What?! Watson-san!
Watson: Ahaha…well look at the time! I have places to be and people to see! Looks like we gotta cut this interview short! *runs off screen*
Nanami: Watson-san! We aren't finished here! Did you even speak to Dread-kun about this?! *runs after Watson*
Securus: *turns to the screen with a smirk* The ladies really can't get enough of this. See you all next Sunday!
A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it!
So I think that was a nice wrap up to the second clue/island while also opening up more questions! What is Dark Water exactly? What does it have to do with Eli? What is the history between Duke and Madmartigan? When will Cordelia figure it out? And how will Jack get that drop of Dark Water needed for the map? All to be answered…eventually!
But I'm really excited to be getting into the third clue/island and introducing the next Black Skull member that will take on Storm's Helm! Especially with things heating up between Madmartigan and Cordelia! It's just a countdown now when that showdown will happen! I can't wait for it all!
So we'll jump right on into those awesome reviews!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter!
Joshua1277 - Yeah, Nanami did an awesome job keeping her guildmates from falling into the water while also taking on a siren general. And I actually looked up sirens online before I wrote that chapter and I learned something new since they are actually viewed as a mix between birds and women throughout mythology. I had always thought they were more sea based, but nope! They're bird women! Yeah, that Diamond Magic is pretty tough and I was excited to finally show it off for Zipporah. And I'm glad you liked that final fight between Cordelia and Adonia! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Origm2012 - Haha! Guess I updated right on time then! Yeah, Gamu was turned into a literal parrot that time, but it just worked so well! Glad you liked Nanami in her fight! I was super pumped to be able to show off her fighting abilities since all the other S-Class have pretty much been shown in some sort of fight except for her. Yeah, Aria and Alisa are always entertaining for me. And yeah, when I was writing Zipporah's scene, it did feel like those two were evenly matched, so I quite liked how it turned out. Haha! Yeah, I wanted to give Adonia a different sort of weapon, and the curved swords popped up into my head and I was like, I know they have to have a name! Thank God for google! And in some siren lore, they did eat men…they even had piles of rotting flesh and bones around them *insert disgusted face*…but then in others, they just lured men to crash their ships into rocks. So I went with the deadlier version of them. Oh yeah, Cordelia was definitely not messing around with Adonia, not after what she had the other sirens doing to the guild. I think you're gonna find that some of the characters in Storm's Helm will kill much easier than they do in Thunder Stone. But I'm really glad to hear that you liked that final scene. I really did enjoy writing it. I'm not sure what kind of mood I was in writing all the scenes…I think I thank a lot of it on that song I was listening to, but I had been wanting to get to some more gritty scenes like that, so I think it just took control of itself until it all turned out the way it did. Parasyte is pretty good. I think some people were complaining because it wasn't as good as the original or something. I've never watched the original version, but I thought this version of it was good. I liked it, so I would say to watch it if you have a chance to. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
reven228 - Long live the queen! Glad you enjoyed the chapter and all the fights that came with it! We're slowly getting closer to the end of the arc too! And that mysterious Sam…lol! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
DarkHyena - Nanami kicked some definite butt in her scene! LOL, guess they weren't manly enough to be entranced by those sirens! Yeah, Zipporah definitely started kicking butt harder in her scene with the siren tried to mess with Gordon. Yep, and first blood goes to Cordelia! And thank you for the new question! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
XLil MEkoX - HAZZAH! Action packed chapter! Nanami and Zipporah were definitely kicked some major butt in their scenes! And I've been waiting to show off Zipporah's magic, so I'm glad you liked the way that turned out! Haha! Glad I could make you laugh with that Gamu moment! Cordelia really stepped into that role of badassery, didn't she? LOL, well I'm glad you liked her scene too! And I'm glad you're still liking the question corner! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Momochan77 - Glad you liked the chapter! We definitely got to see the women in action! CHA! Yeah, Eli snapped right out of that once the middle name was added into the threat, lol! But I'm sure he and the others appreciate those brownie points! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Benthino - Yeah, those sirens were pretty nasty. And yep, acid fire! It worked so well for the Green Fire when I was working on expanding the colors in Rainbow Fire. And yeah, Cordelia is now queen! CHA! And I'm sure Zhuue made sure that Jack didn't do anything stupid, but we got to see him this chapter! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
CryptozoologyConundrum - Glad you've been enjoying the story! And all those CordEli moments! You are more than welcome to be Captain of that ship, lol! Yep, Cordelia is queen of the sirens now! And thank you for your question! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
LightandDarkHeart - Haha! Glad you enjoyed that last chapter! All that action and punches and loops and Gamu! And now Cordelia is queen! And I don't mind the whole 'Cool!' thing, lol! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Dreadburner94 - Yep, queen of the sirens! And that cryptic message…haha! I'm sure you couldn't help yourself with that. Glad you liked Nanami's scene! I really had a lot of fun with that and having her on that timeframe basically since she had all those loops going and also fighting a siren. I'm glad I was finally able to show her off in a fight! And well…Cordelia is a bit selfish, so she's keeping the title! CHA! Let's just hope that doesn't come back to bite her in the ass! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
ThePrinceOfLight - Glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Haha, yeah, Gamu was turned into a legit parrot this time around. Glad you liked the fight scenes for Nanami and Zipporah. Yeah, using that full name sure did the trick. Yep, Cordelia is now the queen of the sirens! And she kept the title too, so I'm sure that will eventually come in handy later on down the line! Oh man, seeing Sam and Hagi get advice from Elfman would be ridiculous, lol! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
IdentityCrisis.03 - :3 Glad you're liking all the action! Glad to hear you like Nanami's magic! It really is fun to use since she can jump through loops and everything! Yeah, Securus probably did get off a little easy there. And yep, Eli finally snapped out of that trance. Just use the full name and it's like magic! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
frozenwolf94 - Glad you enjoyed the fights and seeing Zipporah's magic! And I'm glad you liked that gun wall too! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Saiyan God.101 - Cordelia is the queen now! CHA! And I guess all it took for her to leave with a level headed siren, lol, so she lucked out! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Sakura-Fiction - Over 9000?! How am I supposed to beat that?! Haha! But I'm really glad you liked all the fight scenes and all that girl power with it! CHA! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
And that should be it for this time around!
See you all next Sunday!
Please remember to review!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson