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Skies of Arcadia: The Ruins of Tal'Kalen

Chapter One: Leaving

Aika was sitting in the tavern quietly eating her breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, a few strips of bacon, and a biscuit. Aika lifted the biscuit and bit down upon, only to recoil from it holding her mouth. "OW! Damn, that is incredibly stale...well, no use just wasting it." Aika simply slipped the biscuit under the table into the eager teeth of Pow. "That's a good dog." Aika giggled quietly before digging back in.

A few moments later, Vyse opened the door and sleepily stumbled to the table, taking a seat across from Aika. Aika smiled at him from across the table. Her hair was still down. "Good morning Vyse."

"Good morning Aika," he said groggily.

Aika giggled again. "Pleasure seeing you up this morning. The only time you're ever up this early is if we're going somewhere. Or if your father is around."

Vyse smiled. "Yeah, it is pretty early still. Is Fina up yet?"

Aika shook her head. "No, I haven't seen her up. So, tell me, Vyse. What's so special that you got up early for?"

Vyse smiled and scratched his head. "Well, Fina and I had a talk last night. We both decided that it's time to start out on a new journey. We don't know where to, or what for. We just plan on going and traveling."

"And would I be invited on this trip?" Aika asked giving Vyse the sad puppy dog look.

"Heh, of course you are. When I say 'we,' that includes you."

Aika smiled. "Well that sure is a relief. I've been itching to get back out into the skies and see what treasure awaits us out there." Vyse laughed. "Wait a second though...did you say you didn't have a flight plan?"

"Yes."

"Well, I may just have one for you. I spoke with Kirala last night, and she said she'd come across some valuable information is Nasrad."

"Such as?"

"She heard a rumor that out in the Nasr deserts lies the ruins of an Old World city. Another Blue Rogue told her, but I guess she didn't catch his name. Apparently if you can scour the deserts enough to find them, they're filled with ancient treasures and artifacts. I'm sure the Sailor's Guild would love to know its location as well. Vyse, this could be the one that makes us rich!"

Vyse rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm...I'm up for it. Sounds good to me."

Aika smiled to Vyse. "That's great. That's the Vyse I've come to know, always up to a challenge." Aika stood up and took her plate over to the sink and washed it off. Turning over her shoulder she asked, "Vyse, do you want anything while I'm up?"

"No, that's ok Aika. If we're going to leave today we'd better get started loading up the ship."

"But Cap'n, you can't just set out on an empty stomach. At least you won't throw it all back up like Enrique."

Vyse laughed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Just bring over some of those biscuits, they'll be fine."

Aika picked up a couple and sat back down at the table. "Have fun trying to bite through those things. Pow even had a-"

"Pow?"

"Ah...Pow? Who said Pow?" Aika gave a fake nervous laugh. Vyse only smiled.

As he started eating, Aika started to daydream. She would glance over at Vyse occasionally and think Wow. He really is handsome. Maybe...yes. I should tell him now. There's no one around to interrupt us, and I can't hold this in much longer.

Aika immediately straightened up in her chair and put on a sober face. Her voice had a trail of nervousness in it. "Um...Vyse. I...I uh, have something that I need to talk to you about."

Vyse looked up. "Alright, what is it?"

"Well...ah...ok. Vyse, I just have to let-" she was cut off as the tavern door opened and Fina stepped in. Dammit. "Um...I'll tell you later..." Vyse nodded.

"Hey Fina. Come on, have a seat," Vyse motioned. Fina smiled sleepily and took the seat next to Vyse.

"Tell Fina about the trip, Vyse. I'm going to go find Kirala and start loading the ship." Vyse nodded and the pair shared a smile as she walked out.

Fina looked puzzled. "Trip? What trip?"

Vyse smiled. "Last night when we discussed about setting sail again, we didn't know where we would end up. Kirala told Aika about a discovery that could push us into the territory of freaking rich if we can find it before anyone else."

Fina emerald pools lit up. "Really? Where is this place?"

"Well, we're not exactly sure. Aika told me that Kirala heard about it from another Blue Rogue. Apparently the ruins of ancient civilization called Tal'Kalen lie somewhere in the deserts of Nasr. If we could find it, the Sailor's Guild would surely send plenty of gold our way. Plus we could keep any of the treasures we find there."

Fina stared at the table, seemingly deep in thought. "Tal'Kalen...Tal'Kalen...oh my. Now I remember. I remember reading about it back in the Great Silver Shrine. It was never destroyed by the Rain of destruction, but preserved."

Now it was Vyse's turn to look puzzled. "Preserved? How could that be? Was it built like Glacia?"

"No. Before the Rains of Destruction ever reached the city, the tremors sent by the Rains' pounding sunk the whole city under the sands. It is said that everyone that lived there died, with one exception, but the city itself remained perfectly preserved. There is supposedly a swirling vortex of sand that takes on a fluorescent color that hovers above the cities location."

Vyse smiled. "Well, it doesn't sound like anything that we couldn't handle. Wait...you said with one exception?"

"Wait, there's more to it than that. It is said that one powerful mage survived the tremors and sinking. It has been told that he has created a powerful demon to protect the city against anyone foolish enough to try and steal from it. The Demon doesn't have a normal name, but rather a title. I believe he was called The Unholy Legion. That really doesn't make much sense though since it's just one creature. The vortex is also the work of the mage."

Vyse's face drooped into a slight frown almost immediately. "Well, that just puts a damper on things, doesn't it?" The two shared a laugh at this. "Hey, do you want anything to eat before we go? If not, I'm going to go help Aika and Kirala load up The Journeyer."

Fina merely shook her head. "No, go on. I'll be out to help in a bit. Also, I need to talk to you later. In private."

Vyse nodded before walking out of the tavern. After he shut the door behind him, an leaned up against it and swore silently to himself. If they both wanted to tell him what he thought they were going to tell him, he was in for heartache and one hell of a headache.

Domingo breathed in the fresh air as deeply as he could. The only feeling in the world better than the fresh air sweeping past your face was finding a new piece mystery in history. He planned on staying out on the deck for most of the trip to Nasrad. His ship was large, but he was a one-man crew all by himself. His ship also had an autopilot system that made his life infinitely easier. The Discovery may not have been the newest toy in the store, but it was top of the line in quality.

Domingo raised his telescope to his eye and looked out through the sky. He would be to Nasrad by the next morning. Knowing that he might be on the verge of making a monumental discovery, Domingo got pretty excited. To quell this he spent most of the day drinking large amounts of loqua and occasionally firing his pistol into the endless blue. Randomly firing guns and raucously singing old sailor's tunes were a good way to pass time while drunk.

Maiev stood on the Maramba pier admiring her ship, The Vashj. That ship was her absolute pride and joy, and what she had worked so hard in her life for. It was a medium sized ship, made mostly of steel with The Vashj painted on the side in bold purple letters. Her ship was easily the best looking of those docked in Maramba.

Maiev, like her ship, was one of the prettiest in the bunch. She wasn't old at all, especially for a captain, at only about nineteen years of age, and had slightly bronzed skin and dazzling purple eyes. Her sandy brown hair hung down below her shoulders. On top of her curvy form she wore a purple tank top, a blood red light flight jacket, a pair of black leather pants, a pair of black leather boots to match, tanned gloves, and had a pair of blood red flight goggles sitting on top of her head.

"All right! Everyone in line! Roll call!" Maiev suddenly shouted. Her crew immediately lined up for roll. Upon the sight of her crew, one would immediately notice that almost the whole crew was made up of women. There was only one man aboard the ship, and many of the crewmembers weren't really sure as to why or how he ever got onto Maiev's crew in the first place, let alone as a navigator. "Second in command Angela!"

A tall, slim, athletically built blonde woman wearing a red tank top and red cargo pants stepped forward and shouted, "Aye Aye Cap'n Maiev!" Everyone down the list would answer the same way.

"Helmswoman Tyrande!" A slim woman with glasses and blue hair stepped forward. She wore a blue flight vest and a white long sleeve shirt. A pair of blue flight goggles lie strapped across her head as well. "Gunners Alexia, Raze, and Teresa!" Three identical looking women stepped forward. They were one of the only pairs of triplets born in Maramba in recent history, and they all shared a tall figure and blue eyes. The only way of telling them apart was their hair color. Alexia dyed hers blonde, Raze dyed hers red, and Teresa kept her a natural black. They all wore identical black uniforms. "Delegate Jasmine!" A short woman with purple dyed hair and a pair of flight goggles strapped across her eyes stepped forward and answered. Her petite frame was covered by a purple uniform. "Builder Christina!" A mid-sized woman with blonde hair that wore a blue flight vest and tanned gloves stepped forward. She was one of the most talented builders in Arcadia, and was sought out by Enrique and Moegi of Valua. She thought this to be mostly because she had once lived in Upper Valua, but tired of the life and escaped. "Artisan Usaki!" A woman of obvious Yafutoman decent stepped forward. She was wearing traditional Yafutoman dress. She was the newest addition to Maiev's crew. "Lookout Jade!" A woman with dyed green hair and an even curvier body that Maiev stepped forward. She was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and a bright green tank top, both of which accentuated her curves nicely. She held in her desire to answer with a 'For what?' and answered in regular fashion. She was the joker and lighthearted member of the crew. "And lastly, Navigator Apoc!" Apoc stepped forward and answered, but then under his breath muttered 'Why do I always get called last...' He was the only male member of the crew. Only Maiev really know what he looked like. He always wore a dark trench coat with a belt holding various throwing knives strapped around the outside, and a large floppy hat black as the night that covered his eyes. He then wore a deep blue bandana over the rest of his face. "Oh, lighten up Apoc. You should be happy I even let you on my crew." The girls got a laugh out of this. Apoc only kicked the dirt.

"Well, it isn't fair. Being a navigator is very important and hard work. I don't get treated with the kind of respect I should."

"In all due respect, Apoc, you do your job wonderfully. But you really do bitch about it too much. Lighten up a little," Maiev taunted. The rest of the girls continued to laugh while Apoc just continued to angrily mutter to himself.

After a moment of two or silence, Jade spoke up. "Um...Cap'n Maiev. You called us all here, and we loaded up the ship, but you haven't yet told us where exactly we're off to."

"Yes, that information would be important," said Alexia.

"Indeed it would," chided Raze.

"So exactly where are we going?" questioned Teresa.

Maiev laughed lightly. "Why, ladies and ungentleman, we are off to find the ruins of an ancient civilization. And since we're going to get their first, we're going to be the richest girls on the planet because no one can keep pace with The Vashj. We'll be bathing in jewels and diving into pools of gold. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

All of the girls' eyes lit up. Jasmine spoke out. "Really? I mean really! We're actually going to go looking for adventure and mystery and intrigue-"

"And love?" Tyrande chimed in.

"-Yes and love and we're going to be the richest people in all of Arcadia? Rich enough to take baths in our gold?" Jasmine finished.

Maiev giggled. "Maybe not people, I haven't decided how much of the share Apoc will get yet. But yes, we will be the richest women in Arcadia."

Apoc grunted while the girls started to carry on. "Oh my, a life of luxury awaits us! What are we waiting for let's go!" shouted Christina.

The normally quiet and shy Usaki also chimed in, "Yes, let's get a move on we don't have all day!"

The girls started to get carried away with their delusions of grandeur before Angela calmed them down. "Come on now ladies, we have to reach the ruins and hoard everything there first. We're not quite rich yet."

Jade sighed. "Oh well thanks a lot Angela. You just took the cloud right out from under my feet." All of the girls giggled.

"Like it or not, girls, it's the truth. We aren't rich yet. And if you keep carrying on, everyone else in Maramba will know about it as well," Maiev said with a slight bitterness in her tongue.

"Yes, everyone else will know if you keep shouting about it. I told you this because I thought you could keep it a secret."

Maiev turned around with a gasp. Standing before her was the young Blue Rogue who had told her about the ruins.

"Who the hell is he?" shouted Jade.

"I am the reason you even know about the ruins," the Blue Rogue quipped casually. "Now, Maiev was it? I don't think I ever actually properly introduced myself." Maiev shook her head. "Well, in that case, Maiev of the Blue Rogues, I am Morgan of the Blue Rogues. Pleasure to meet your crew. Rowdy as Black Pirates to say the least."

Jade and Angela glared daggers at Morgan while the rest of the crew simply muttered under their voices. "Well, we may be as rowdy as Black Pirates, but we could take them in a fight any day of the week. Just like I could take you in a fight. Come on, right here, one on one," Jade shouted.

"Yeah, and after she's done beating you senseless, it's my turn!" shouted Angela. The rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

Morgan snorted. "Is this the kind of treatment I get after delivering such valuable information to a crew of beautiful women?"

"I think he's just trying to get into our pants," Tyrande said. All the other girls laughed uproariously.

Maiev managed to keep her laughter to a giggle. "I'm quite sorry, Morgan. My crew takes kindly to some and not to others-"

"Damn right!" shouted Angela.

"- As you can well see already. But, they do bring up a point, Morgan. Exactly why did you choose to share this information with me?"

"Well, I might as well be honest with you. You're quite an attractive woman. When I saw that you were also a Blue Rogue, I felt that I was only doing the right thing in letting you know my little secret. Just helping a fellow Air Pirate," Morgan said, sounding almost hurt in his words.

"You think he's serious?" Usaki whispered to Jade.

"Nah, I still think he's just trying to show Maiev his O-face." The whole crew giggled at Jade's statement.

"Oh, don't listen to them. They always like this in front of men. I'm not entirely sure why, but I do thank you deeply for this information. Though it does seem weird to me that you would give up such information, especially to a person you really don't know."

"Well, If my crew and me are unable to find the ruins for ourselves, we want someone else to find them. And Moon willing it would be another Blue Rogue."

"That bastard is going looking for the ruins too!" Christina said.

"Yeah! He's probably just going to follow our trail because he knows we'll be able to find it," Tyrande said.

"That's ok, we'll leave him in the dust with The Vashj," Alexia, Raze, and Teresa all said at the same time.

"I still do get creeped out when all of you speak in unison like that," Jade said.

"I agree," Usaki said shyly. The triplets only shrugged.

Maiev was unable to hold in her laughter. After she composed herself again, she put her hand out to Morgan. "Really lad, we do appreciate this information greatly. Just know that we won't cut you any slack when it comes to finding these ruins because of it though."

Morgan took Maiev's hand and shook it. "I doubt you will be the one's cutting any slack. Just keep heading north from here, and you should soon come across it. I must ready my crew now, so I bid you adieu," he said as he brought Maiev's hand up to his mouth and lightly placed a kiss upon her gloved hand before turning face and walking back towards town. Maiev stood staring at her hand.

"Exactly what the hell was that?" questioned Jasmine.

"Yeah, who the hell does he think he is," shouted Angela.

"Just coming out and kissing Cap'n Maiev's hand like that? What is that all about?" Tyrande complained. "Wait, Christina. Do they do that in Valua? They do, don't they? He must be Valuan then."

"That doesn't exactly make a better case for him," Jade said. The rest of the girls giggled.

"It's alright ladies. We'll just have to show him up by finding those ruins first, now won't we?" Maiev said, once again regaining her composure.

"Yeah, we have to show that jerk what were made of!" Tyrande and Angela cried out at the same time.

"Yeah, he'll see that we're the best crew ever assembled!" Jasmine said.

"Now come on Jasmine," Alexia said.

"Indeed, let's be realistic here," Raze followed.

"Yes, the crew that Vyse the Legend assembled during Soltis was the best ever," quipped Teresa.

All of the girls nodded solemnly. "I sure wish I could meet Vyse the Legend," Christina said.

"Yeah, he's a real dreamboat," Jade said dreamily.

"Yeah, but he hangs around with those two other broads, Aika and Fina. I don't blame him though, the best always travel with the best," Angela sighed. The rest of the girls followed suit.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but when are we gonna get this show on the road? My feet are getting tired standing up here not doing anything," Apoc called down from the ship. He had gotten bored and decided to just get on while everyone quarreled.

"Not doing anything? Sounds exactly like you, Apoc," Jade snickered.

Maiev laughed. "Alright everyone, for once in his miserable life, Apoc is right. Let's go make...or would it be find history? Well, I dunno. But let's go!" The whole crew cheered and then ran aboard the ship, eager to get started and get rich.

"Bloody hell, that was embarrassing standing up there in front of those dumb wenches and getting ridiculed," Morgan complained.

"Ah, what's it matter? Everything is gonna be just fine. Shall we begin boarding Cap'n?"

"Yes. Roll call!" Morgan shouted. His crew lined up immediately, and followed the same procedure as Maiev's crew had. "Second in Command Gix!" A tall man who was a little flabby around the gut and wearing a green vest stepped forward. "Helmsman Lupe!" A man of obvious Maramban descent stepped forward and saluted. If his flight goggles weren't covering his eyes, you would have been able to see the deep purple in them. "Gunners Trey, Azinzas, and Yoshi!" Three men of differing heights and backgrounds- Valuan, Nasarian, and Yafutoman stepped forward. "Sailor Wildro!" A short fat man stepped forward, his bald head gleaming in the morning sun. "Builder Arlo!" A regular looking man wearing white pants stepped forward. "Lookout Sega!" An average sized man wearing a bight green flight vest and a pair of bright green flight goggles stepped forward. "Navigator Birbry!" a Hortekan man stepped forward, and the green war paint on his chest and face shined in the morning sunlight.

"Alright then. Men, you know what we're up to, and I don't plan on leaving this mission unsuccessful. Now let's go!" A cheer rose from the men as they headed down to the port and to Morgan's ship, The Red Dawn, which looked old but had all the new technology.

Morgan smiled to himself before going off after his crew. He had it all right now. A feisty crew, a good ship, a bottomless pocket, and devilish looks and charm. Not many girls could resist his smooth words and blue eyes, let alone his well muscled body and blonde hair. But this Maiev and her crew, they were something else. But Morgan wasn't sure if he liked that something else. Smiling again, he took off down to the docks.

"Everything is in order Cap'n! We're ready to sail whenever you are!" Aika said cheerfully. She was excited to get back into the skies.

"Ok then. Is everyone ready?" Vyse asked.

A cry of 'Aye Aye!' rose from the assembled company of Aika, Fina, and Kirala, who had decided to partake on this journey as well. Pow barked excitedly.

"Well then, let's go make history...again!" Vyse called as he gave the wheel a full spin.

"Aye Aye!"

Author's Note: The action will start next chapter. Really, it will. No, seriously.

Author's Other Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I need a fire under my feet to keep me going.