Ouch…my head…
Vyse opened his eyes.
Why is it so dark? he thought. Am I dead?
He sat up and heard wind howling outside.
That sounds like…the Dark Rift? But what am I doing here?
Then, another thought crossed his mind:
Where did everyone else go?
He immediately jumped up, but he fell down again when a searing pain shot through his leg. Looking down, he noticed the bandage covering his knee. "Well, that answers that question," he said to himself.
Suddenly, the door flew open and Aika looked in.
"So you're awake," she said. She sounded breathless, as if she had run to the room.
"Is everyone alright?" Vyse asked.
Aika nodded. "But according to Rei, we should have all burned alive. He says that we're all extremely lucky."
Vyse chuckled. "Well, that's comforting," he said sarcastically. "Who's Rei?"
"He's the guy who saved us," Aika said, helping Vyse up. "You should meet him."
When Vyse and Aika got to the bridge, Fina rushed over to them.
"Thank the Moons you're alright!" she said, hugging Vyse.
Vyse hugged her back. "I thought you all died or something. I was so worried…" he said.
A dark-haired man walked over to him. "So, you're Vyse?" the man asked.
"Yeah…" Vyse said.
The man smiled. "Good," he said. "I'm Rei."
"Do you know what happened to us?" Vyse asked.
Rei nodded. "Unfortunately, I do," he said solemnly. "You were hit by a very powerful cannon. I saw you and your crew fall on a small island in Low Sky. A few of them were still conscious and they helped me carry the rest of them onto the ship. I don't know if all of them ended up on the island, though…"
Vyse scanned the room and noticed that a few people were missing. How can someone stand to be that sadistic…? he thought. "…Well…what happened to the Delphinus?"
Rei sighed. "It was completely gone by the time I got there. It must have been fried instantly," he said.
Vyse stared at the floor. Leine…I swear I'll get my revenge… he thought. I'll make you pay… He tuned out the conversation that Rei and Fina were having and repeated vulgar sentences about revenge over and over in his head for what seemed like hours. "Where is he?" he asked ten minutes later.
"I don't know," Rei said. "We could look for him, but it will obviously take quite a while since he could be anywhere."
"I don't care," Vyse said, clinching his fists. "I want to find him."
"Alright," Rei said.
"This place is so boring!" Leine said loudly. He shifted his weight in the large chair and swung his legs over one side. "Isn't there anything to do?"
The muscular, brown-haired man by the window sighed. "How am I supposed to know?" he said. "It's not like I come here on a daily basis." He turned around and looked down upon the rest of Crescent Isle.
"Poor Vyse, he must have led a boring life," Leine said. He laughed and stretched. "Hey, why don't I burn it all?"
The man at the window involuntarily flinched as he felt the air get warmer. "I-I don't think that you should do that," he stammered.
Leine grinned. "Well, why not?"
"Vyse'll get you somehow," the man said. "I'm sure of it."
"Vyse is dead," Leine scoffed. "The Deathwish Cannon took care of that."
"That boy isn't normal," the man chuckled. "He can survive damn near anything. Believe me, I've seen it happen." His chuckle turned into a loud laugh. Leine stood up and walked to the window.
"You know how much I hate being laughed at," he growled. "I've had enough of that to last a lifetime." He lightly touched the wooden windowsill, and a tendril of smoke curled up from under his fingers. Everyone who ever laughed at me will regret it later…
The man blinked upon hearing Leine's thoughts. He and Leine both had the power to read each other's minds. What do you mean by that? he thought.
Leine smiled and headed toward the door. Just think about it, Vigoro…
"I thought we'd head to your island first," Rei said to Vyse. "Leine may not be there, but this way, you and your crew can get supplies and things in case he wants a fight."
As the Archnemesis got closer to Crescent Isle, Vyse could see people walking around on it. What the…? he thought. Then he spotted the one thing in his life that had actually earned his raw hatred: the Dragonslayer.
"That son of a bitch!" he screamed suddenly. "How dare he just go and…and…" He turned away from the window. Aika and Fina ran over and looked out.
"Oh my goodness…" Fina put a hand to her mouth as Aika punched the wall in frustration.
"That's it! We're heading over there NOW and I'm kicking his ass!" Vyse said. Fina covered her ears, as she wasn't used to hearing so much bad language from anyone, especially Vyse.
"Wait," Gilder said, "you can't do that, he'll make mincemeat out of you. We need a plan."
Rei nodded. "He's right. I suggest that we go later tonight, since you and your crew have better knowledge of the island than they do."
"Whatever," Vyse growled. "But Leine is mine."
Leine awoke quickly. He could faintly hear voices outside. That doesn't sound like my crew, he thought. He put his boots on, grabbed his sword, stepped out the door…
…And stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the man in front of him.
Vyse smiled. "What's the matter, Leine?" he asked, chuckling. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."