Author: Liz Luthor (AKA Kiwi)
Disclaimer: I wish I could just do one of these and let it account for all of my chapters... Anyway, Skies of Arcadia in all its glory is completely and utterly out of my possession. What kind of a lifeless bum would want to sue a person for writing a fan fic, anyway...?
Author's Notes: First of all, I'd like to issue a very deserving THANK YOU to my ONLY reviewer of the past three chapters: Son of Santa. If anyone else IS reading this, would you be so kind as to say something?? Nah, I'm just kidding... I love you all, really. But, uh, y'know... it never hurts to review... :P
"Vyse," Dyne began, his smile fading to a stern frown, "King Enrique came to talk to you."
Vyse brightened, then asked, "That's a good thing- right?" He looked back and forth between his father and Aika, then at me.
"Don't look at me," I said innocently.
Dyne continued, "...He said he's heard news that someone's after him."
"Well, he is a king," Vyse reasoned. "He's probably got a lot of people after him. It goes with the territory."
"Yeah, but this is different... He says he thinks it has something to do with the black merchant." I nearly fainted in my seat. Enrique thought I was after him?! Who told him that?!? Well, my life was about to get A LOT harder... I felt Raine glance at me, but I didn't want to look suspicious, so I didn't react.
Aika noted, "Oh, I've heard of him... He sells stuff in the black market for a price to the criminal that wants it sold. He hasn't hurt anybody, though... He doesn't even steal stuff himself, he just makes it easier for thieves to make a profit from it. Okay, I guess that's pretty bad, too... But still, what could he do to Enrique?"
Dyne shrugged. "King Enrique said he wouldn't be worried if it were anybody else, but this guy's been sneaking around right under his nose for a long time now. He said that if the black merchant wants him killed, he'll get dead, one way or another." It took everything I had, but I held back a hugely confident smirk as I thought of how easily I could scare up the King... There was still something weird about this, though.
I forced myself to join in the conversation and asked, "What does this have to do with Vyse?" Everyone turned and looked at me after I spoke up for the first time. I tried not to look nervous.
"Actually," Dyne continued, turning once again to his son, "he said that he thought you might be able to help him find the black merchant."
"Wait a minute," Raine piped in, "why does he think the black merchant is after him, anyway? Maybe it's just some gang pulling his leg."
"Well, it's not likely that Enrique would fall for something like that..." Aika said thoughtfully.
Dyne shrugged and sat back in his chair. "He didn't give too many specifics. I told him we weren't expecting you anytime soon, so I guess he probably went back to Valua to search you out." He paused. "Isn't it a strange world we live in? He can track you down anytime he wants, but he can't find the one criminal who's single-handedly brought about the resurrection of the black market after King Enrique's ascent."
Vyse thought about this for a moment, nodding in agreement. Then he looked at me and said, "Hey, Talis, do you have any idea who this guy is? Is there any word of him over in Nasrad?" I cleared my throat and shook my head quickly. Part of me really didn't want to lie to him... If I told them all that I was the black merchant and assured them that I would never plan an assassination on anybody, they would definitely believe me. But I still couldn't stand to let my secret go.
Raine glared at me for a split-second before returning to the conversation with a sigh. "...Well, this is obviously not a good time to bring this up, but the sooner the better, I suppose," she declared. "Vyse, the reason we're here is because there's a Black Pirate and his crew planning to kill you."
The house, and seemingly the whole island, was filled with utter silence. Vyse's mother turned from her cooking to look at her son worriedly.
Aika interrupted the emptiness. "So what? Black Pirates? They're all after us. We've probably even beat 'em before. What's so threatening about a buncha Black Pirates?"
Raine and I exchanged hopeless glances; we had both expected this reaction, and neither of us had a reasonable answer. Nonetheless, I replied, "I know it doesn't sound like a very big deal, but... We both had a really bad feeling about it. So bad that we both left our homes and traveled all the way here to tell you about it, if that's any indication."
Vyse looked slightly puzzled. "...Y'know..." he started, "Isn't it kind of a weird coincidence that you two, me and Aika, and Enrique all came here at around the same time on the same day? And then that Enrique thinks the black merchant's after him, and you guys say that some Black Pirates are after me?"
"Are you trying to accuse us of something?" Raine was fully ready to defend herself.
"No, no, that's not it... I just think this must be connected somehow..."
It was connected. I knew it, too, but I couldn't say anything without revealing my identity. Enrique probably thought I was after him because of the Black Pirates. I had escaped, so now they were threatening me by spreading rumors that I was after King Enrique... They knew it would make my job a lot harder. Now they were waiting for the effects to reach me; if they didn't get what they wanted soon enough, they would tell the King who I was and I would suffer the much deserved punishment of one who planned an assassination on the King. What could I do?
Unfortunately, I wouldn't have as much time to make this decision as I would have hoped for.
There was a deafening explosion on the island, and we all ran outside instinctively to see what had happened. "It's the Black Pirates!!" Aika yelled, referring to a large air-ship with the ominous black skull-and-crossbones flag. Way to point out the obvious.
Vyse turned around and yelled, "Are these the ones??" I nodded gravely, then glanced at Raine. She looked terrified.
"There's something too powerful about this ship. It doesn't look strong enough to have caused that explosion," she shouted over all the noise. About a third of the island was smothered in flames, which spread a lot faster than I had expected. The pirates didn't fire anymore once they saw us all come out of the house. Raine was right- the ship didn't appear large enough to carry as powerful a weapon as would be required to produce so much damage.
I looked around the island for a brief moment, searching for anyone who was in pain. Then I looked up at the ship. Standing on the deck was the captain, who I'd met the other night in Valua. He was glaring right at me. It was so unexpected I nearly jumped as a cold fear overtook my body. Normally I wouldn't be so threatened by someone glaring at me; it happened every single day. But this guy just stood there, absolutely hating every inch of me with his unnerving silver eyes.
Finally, I pulled my gaze away from him and watched as fiery destruction crawled along the island. "Vyse!" I yelled. He turned to me. "I've got a plan! You and Aika go and gather everyone who's hurt and bring them to the dock to board Raine's ship! Dyne, sir, take your wife and everyone who isn't injured and escape from your ship. Raine, prepare the StarWing for take-off and help the injured get on board. After you're all set to leave, let Vyse take the helm and work on healing everybody. Don't leave anybody on this island, and don't attack the enemy, either. We need to get out of here!!" Everyone but Raine began to follow my orders.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked, both worried and warning me at the same time.
I looked back up at those fierce, glowering silver eyes and replied grimly, "I have to get rid of this threat." As soon as Raine left my side, the Black Pirate jumped from his ship and down onto the island, about fifty yards away from me. He smirked, an unbearably knowing expression fixed on his face. I was afraid to move; I felt he could predict my every breath without so much as a second thought. So I decided to do exactly what I never even would have considered doing: I ran straight for him without even pulling out my sword.
Vyse jumped into one of the burning houses through a window and jogged around inside, avoiding the flames and shouting for the presence of anyone living. He found a man and his daughter, unharmed but panicking, and led them outside the way he had come. As the three of them exited the house, Aika jumped down from the one next door with a little boy following and a dog in her arms. She gave the pet to the man Vyse had rescued, then signaled to the others to keep going as the two of them ran to the next houses.
In total, they found a little over half a dozen people injured. After searching through all of the flaming area of the island, Vyse and Aika met Dyne back at his house. They separated the population of the island into the injured and not injured, then parted with their assigned groups to evacuate.
He gave the reaction I'd hoped for and prepared to attack me. I wasn't confident in my strength or ability to fight, but my lean frame could carry itself easily enough. I continued running straight for him and didn't stop, even when I was less than three feet away. He attempted to punch me in the gut once I was close enough, but I gripped his shoulders and used them with my momentum to hurl myself over him. I flipped in mid-air before landing on my feet on his ship. It was more graceful of a landing than I could've hoped for, but I couldn't keep my balance. I caught myself from falling, then pulled out my sword to face the crowded horde of pirates who were craving bloodshed before me.
"After him!" shouted the captain from below. "Leave him alive, though- we need him."
"Aye, Cap'n Xaer!" they responded in unison. 'Captain Xaer?' I thought. 'Never heard of him...'
Once Dyne had lead his group of frightened citizens to the entrance of the base, he gave them instructions as to where to go, then ran around the island one more time to make sure no one was left behind. Finally, he reentered the underground base, which was luckily unharmed, and boarded the Albatross II, taking the helm and giving his wife the job of keeping everyone calm. Fortunately, they didn't have a hard time getting away from the island, and Raine's ship departed soon after.
There was no pattern to the pirates' attack; they simply did whatever they could to get me down. My current battle plan consisted of one thing: stay up. I would avoid a few attacks, then attempt to attack them, then avoid a few more attacks after I missed. Some of them fought with swords, daggers- even a chunk of wood from their ship to knock me over the head with- and others used their bare hands. I stood about as much of a chance as Granny Sue in a room full of Gigas, but I fought nonetheless.
With every jump or dodge, I slowly made my way to the bridge. Nobody noticed until my back was to the door on the inside. I knew they would tear their own ship apart without hesitation within minutes to get to me in there, but it gave me a break. I eyed the helm and made my way over to it, listening as pirates gathered on the roof above. 'Perfect,' I smiled, taking control of the ship. I abruptly drove it forward before taking a sharp right turn and then climbing higher in elevation to avoid the fire below. I heard men falling off the roof, screaming for help from their companions and clawing to stay aboard. I started to follow the StarWing, but suddenly the Black Pirate's ship was out of my control. I looked around for problems with the controls and they started to glow a blue color. 'Oh no...'
Raine had steered her ship as fast as possible away from the island as soon as everyone was on board, then given control to Vyse when he entered the bridge. She walked into one of the living quarters, where Aika was working on drawing strength from the Green Moon to heal a boy and a girl with burn marks. In the next room sat three people: a married couple and their daughter, all three moaning in pain and trying to nurture their burned skin or bleeding injuries. Raine silently called upon magic from the Green Moon and healed them, advising them to get some rest. There was one more room left, this one with two teenage boys and a whimpering dog. Before Raine could heal them, she heard shouting from the deck.
"Aika, heal the last two!" she yelled as she ran through the hall. Vyse was in the bridge, turned halfway around and shouting at something in the distance while steering the ship back around. Raine looked back toward the island and saw a figure seem to float from it onto the Black Pirates' ship. 'Talis, please be okay...' she willed her thought strongly, as though it would reach the ears of Fate himself.
When I raised my eyes to the deck again, Captain Xaer was standing there, also glowing a faint blue color. I recognized the supernatural glow from when Raine had rescued me the other night. Clearly, he was summoning strength from the Blue Moon. I realized he was using the power of wind to drive the ship. Hoping for the chance that he was concentrating too hard to block me, I busted out of the bridge and charged at him with my sword. His reaction was quicker than I'd guessed. The ship stopped glowing and Xaer avoided my blow. Without any wind or outside control, our means of transport began falling in the sky. As we plummeted further into oblivion, Xaer didn't seem very worried about descending uncontrollably to his inescapable death. Instead, he began concentrating again to cast another spell. The ship and everything on it began to glow that same ghostly blue, but as I looked at Xaer, I noticed he wasn't the one controlling it- he looked just as confused as I was.
I lifted my head up to where Raine's ship flew nearly a hundred yards above us. I could see her standing on the rim of the deck, her blue aura equal to ours. Slowly, the Black Pirate ship began to elevate, until it was right up next to the StarWing, where Raine stood, straining to keep up the spell. I quickly jumped over to her ship and pulled her down from the rim, breaking her concentration on the spell. I saw Xaer jump over to the burning island just before the ship lost its aura and fell again. I looked behind us at the bridge, where Vyse stood at the helm and gave me a thumbs-up sign before turning the ship back around and powering it full-speed away from the island. Ahead, Dyne waited for us in the Albatross II.
"Raine..." I began, breathless, "What was that?" She looked up at me as we both lay exhausted and fighting for air on the deck of her ship. She didn't answer me. "...Are you okay?" I asked. She gave a weak nod and then passed out.
Two and a half hours later, I was switching places with Vyse and taking the helm as he walked back to get some rest. We had decided to head to Valua and talk to King Enrique, much to my dismay. I had taken no part in that decision, obviously, but if I had protested they would've become suspicious. Raine was asleep in her own quarters, and Aika was apparently trying to cook. It smelled... interesting. But I kept my mouth shut.
I wondered as we glided through the clouds what would happen to Captain Xaer. His crew was dead, as far as we knew, and he had no means of escape from the burning island, but I found it hard to believe that he would be defeated so easily. A picture flashed in my mind of his chilling, silver-eyed glare and I held back a shiver. I knew he was more powerful than I, just by looking into those haunting-
Wait a minute. Back in Valua, he... Yes, I remembered it correctly. Back in Valua, I had looked into those same exact eyes- but they had been yellow.
Well, there was a good deal more action in this chapter, and it was longer, too. Way fun to write. :) Please review it and tell me what you thought! Oh, and by the way... what's the name of that stupid island, anyway?? I know it was Pirate Isle, but what did they call it to cover it up? I can't remember it for the life of me! If you know it, please tell me in your review. :)