The Day the Moon Shines
By: deep.Indigo
Chapter 6: Eranda Kono Michi, Tatoe Arehatete Itemo
(Even If This Path I Chose Becomes Dilapidated)
"YEAH!! We
made it through the Dark Rift!!" Vyse cheered as the Delphinus soared
into the
blue sky from the black sky rift.
"We
rule!" Aika cheered,
punching a fist into the air. "Now we just have to get to Yafutoma and
get the
Blue Moon Crystal!"
"I
find it amazing how you
make it sound like such an easy thing," Ramirez commented, his first
unprovoked
statement for the day.
Aika
and Vyse shrugged a
little, then both grinned. "It can't be any tougher than what we've
done up
'til now!" the latter reasoned.
Ramirez
silently admitted that
this was true, and though he was impressed that they had actually made
it
through the Dark Rift, he of course didn't tell them that. There was no
point
in making their egos swell any further.
As
the Delphinus and its
crew's morale soared through the azure sky, they passed a minor sky
rift, and
then, moving north, they encountered a vast wall encircling an unseen
area;
many portions of it were dilapidated and fallen. The compass jumped
hysterically as they moved on, and stopping briefly to inspect the
area, they
discovered that it was an ancient Yafutoman structure called the
Guardian
Walls. A similar event had occurred only minutes earlier with the nest
of a
bird called an uguisu, which was a sign among sailors that a human city
was
nearby, and the two almost simultaneous discoveries only helped to
bolster the
already towering morale of Vyse and his crew. Once the two discoveries
were
recorded, the Delphinus moved on towards a distant island country,
presumably
Yafutoma, and even Ramirez was looking forward to visiting the strange
land.
They
were roughly halfway from
the Guardian Walls to Yafutoma when they were attacked by out of
nowhere by a
double-ship with a red sail and a blue sail accompanied by a small
fleet of
ships with brightly colored purple and red paper sails.
The crew of the Delphinus was
rocked violently to one side when the attack connected, and yelling in
surprise, they moved immediately into battle mode. Although the ships
astoundingly could move high into the sky, beyond the range of normal
gunfire,
the Delphinus' torpedoes could still reach them, and before long, the
normal
boats were defeated and on the run. However, there still remained the
odd
double-boat, which had for some reason stayed out of the battle, and
now loomed
ominously before them.
"Man,
what is that
thing, anyway?" Aika wondered. "It's one ship...or maybe it's two...or
is it
one?"
"It's
getting closer..."
Enrique noted just before it swooped by and came to a sudden halt next
to the
ship.
"Hey,
what the heck—?!" the
scarecrow-haired piratess exclaimed. "What the heck do they think
they're
doing?!"
"I'm
willing to guess they
aren't the welcome committee!" Vyse said. "Come on, let's get on deck
and see
what they want! It looks like there's only the two of them!"
Vyse
ran, closely followed by
Aika, Fina, Enrique and then Ramirez, out of the control room, leaving
Marco to
hold their position, and made his way to the deck, where the two
invaders,
nearly identical in appearance, waited.
"Westerners..."
a voice called
down to them from the strange Yafutoman ship.
The
five looked up to see two
dusky-skinned men, almost identical in appearance, glare down at them.
They
both had black eyes and strangely style black hair; however, the armor
of the
one who had spoken was red, while the armor of the one who had yet to
speak was
blue.
"...You
are a long way from
home," the blue-armored one called.
"Yeah,
we noticed," Vyse
yelled up at them. "What do you want?!"
The
two men stood. "I am Jao,"
stated one with the red armor.
"I am Mao," the one with the
blue armor declared. "It is our quest..."
"...to
collect one thousand
swords," Jao completed. They leaped down from their ship onto the deck
of the
Delphinus, both of them landing perfectly, and faced Vyse and the
others. "You
have..." Jao, and then
Mao stated, "two options. You
can surrender and give us
your swords..." Mao began, and Jao finished, "...or you can die, and we
will
take them."
"Nothing
doing!" the Blue
Rogue snapped, pulling those swords from their respective sheaths. "You
want them,
you'll have to fight me for them!!"
The
two Yafutoman pirates
laughed out loud. Jao said, "You wish..." and Mao continued, "for an
honorable
battle?" Jao stated, "That is how we prefer it! But..." Mao spoke, "by
yourself, you are no match..." and Jao completed, "for the two of us."
Jao
took a step forward. "If
any of your companions wields a sword..."
Mao
stepped up to join him.
"...Then let him fight beside you."
Vyse
glanced back at Enrique,
who nodded and took a step forward. Before he could advance any
further,
though, Ramirez placed a hand on his shoulder, restraining him.
"My
apologies, Your Highness,"
he said in a neutral tone. "But since I am a better swordsman than you,
please
allow me to fight this battle."
Vyse,
Aika, Fina and Enrique
all stared at the silver-haired youth, who kept his gaze trained on the
Prince
of Valua.
"It
is true that you are
better with a sword than me, Ramirez," Enrique said after a few
seconds. "But
you don't have a sword."
"I
will if you lend me yours,"
Ramirez countered calmly.
Enrique
blinked, then looked
over at Vyse, who nodded once.
"Let
him borrow it,"
said the brunet captain. "He's so eager to fight, after all..."
The
corner of Ramirez's mouth
twitched upwards once as Enrique drew his sword and gave it to him, but
other
than that, his expression did not change. "I can't risk you getting
yourself
killed, Vyse," he commented dryly as he walked up to join the Air
Pirate.
"Aww,
how cute," Vyse said
sarcastically, "Ramirez cares whether I live or die."
"Weren't
you paying attention
the first time I told you? It isn't whether you live or die. It's
whether I
kill you or your stupidity kills you," Ramirez replied dryly.
The
two Tenkou pirates watched
the exchange, sweating slightly.
"Foreigners
certainly..." Mao
began, and Jao concluded, "are strange."
"Yeah,
well...we're unusual by
anyone's standards," Vyse grinned, moving into battle position.
"Westerners..."
Jao began; Mao
concluded, "prepare yourselves."
"The
same goes for you,"
Ramirez stated smoothly. "Now that I'm in this battle, both of you will
die."
"Rude,"
Jao observed, taking
up a battle stance.
"And
overconfident," Mao
added, moving into a fighting position. "Come at us, westerners..."
"If
you dare!" Jao concluded.
Vyse
and Ramirez did dare, and
with a flash of three green blades, they charged at the twin
Yafutomans, Vyse
facing Mao, Ramirez attacking Jao.
Fina,
Enrique and Aika hung
back, watching the fight. Although Mao and Jao were unarmed, they had
considerable strength and talent; even faced with Vyse and Ramirez's
power,
they were holding their own.
"Hey,"
Aika whispered to her
friends, "d'you really think it's a good idea to let Ramirez have a
sword?"
"It's
a little late to do
anything about that," Enrique replied. "Besides, Vyse said it was all
right,
and I trust his judgment. Besides, my preferred type of sword, the
rapier class, is quite different to what I understand he is used to, so
that may have an effect on things."
Aika
scowled. "Yeah,
well...for some bizarre reason, Vyse seems to have a blind spot where
Ramirez
is concerned."
"Vyse
is trying to befriend
Ramirez," Fina said. "I don't think he's being too soft on him or
anything."
The
redhead shrugged. "Yeah,
you are right," she conceded. "But still, I think we have to
keep a
closer eye on Ramirez. It's just crazy to think that he's not planning
to stab
us in the back when we least expect it."
"I'm
not saying that we should
trust him entirely, per se," Enrique argued, "but at the same
time, if
we want him to feel welcome and at ease, and gain his friendship—or at
the very
least, remove his hostility—then some measure of trust is necessary.
Would you
want to be friends with someone who obviously didn't trust you?"
Aika
made a face, and Fina
giggled a bit, despite the battle that still raged in the background.
"I
like to think I'm a little
different from him," the redhead muttered grudgingly.
Fina
was about to make a
comment when a scream pierced the air. The three looked sharply in
alarm at the
battlefield to see Ramirez pulling Enrique's sword out of Jao's body,
and Jao
collapsing and clutching at the bloody wound left behind. At first it
looked as
if the wound was mortal, but Jao managed to back away, with Mao coming
next to
him, having been defeated by Vyse in a less violent manner, to help him.
"Oh,
good, now you're
together; that will make it easier," the three heard Ramirez say, and
he moved
to attack the two at once. However, Vyse blocked him and held him back,
giving
the Tenkou pirates time to retreat further.
"Westerners,
you are strong,"
Mao declared.
"We...will
meet again," Jao
breathed, stopping the flow of his life fluids with a fist in the
wound. With
that, the two leaped over the railing of the Delphinus, causing Aika,
Fina and
Enrique to come running up in shock; but the two had landed on their
own ship,
which rose and moved away as soon as they were in a safe position.
"We
are the commanders of the
Tenkou pirates," Mao called to them, his strong voice carrying over the
winds.
"The
next time we meet...will
surely be your deaths!" Jao yelled, and with that, the dragon-shaped
double
ships soared high into the heavens and out of sight.
Once
they were gone, Vyse
turned to Ramirez.
"You
didn't have to try to
kill them, you know," he said angrily. "They might have been willing to
kill
us, but that doesn't mean we should have been trying to do the same
thing. Plus
they were unarmed!"
"You
would have preferred to
surrender your blades?" Ramirez queried coldly. "That seems out of your
character, Vyse."
"That's
not what I'm
talking about!" the young captain argued. "We had swords. They had
their bare
fists. Why did you have to try to cut Jao into little pieces?!"
"Oh,
geez," Aika muttered in
the background, placing her hands on her hips. "They're arguing again."
"He
was the enemy," Ramirez
stated flatly. "If you don't destroy an enemy immediately, he may come
back
stronger to destroy you later."
"Dammit,
Ramirez, you're
getting creepier and creepier every day!" Vyse shouted, sheathing his
cutlasses. "I swear you're doing this deliberately just to freak me
out!!"
Ramirez
smirked lightly. "A
valid guess, but not everything I do is centered on you."
It
was a blatant lie, but Vyse
had no way of knowing that.
"And
what about the sword you
used?! Enrique lent it to you; you had no right to use it to try and
take a
life!" the brown-eyed pirate snapped.
Ramirez
regarded the rapier in
his hand, still dripping with blood. "It is impolite to return
a dirty
sword," he conceded.
"You
missed the point entirely—"
But that was as far as Vyse got, for Ramirez took a quick step forward,
grasped
the pirate's left sleeve, drew it around the blade of Enrique's rapier
and
pulled the sword through, effectively cleaning off the blood.
Vyse
gaped. "You just—you
just—I can't believe you just—"
"Here
is your rapier, Your
Highness," Ramirez said, turning to Enrique, who hesitantly accepted
the
proffered sword. "My apologies for dirtying it."
At
that, Vyse's anger doubled.
"You'll apologize for getting an easily cleaned sword dirty, but not
for
ruining my shirt?!"
Ramirez
glanced back at him.
"What are you complaining about?"
The Air Pirate
stamped his foot,
thoroughly vexed. "You got me all bloody!!"
"The
look suits you," the
silver-haired young man replied calmly, the edge of his mouth twitching
upwards.
It
took a moment for the
implication of his statement to sink into Vyse. When it did, he
throttled the
air to keep from throttling Ramirez, then stalked off past him towards
the door
leading back into the Delphinus.
"I'm
getting changed," he
muttered as he passed Aika. "Take over the helm for me, would you?"
"Aye-aye,
Captain," the
redhead sighed as Vyse retreated into the ship. She turned to Ramirez
and
glared with all her might; he had the gall to look slightly amused.
"You,"
she intoned,
pointing a finger at him, "are IMPOSSIBLE. C'mon, Enrique, Fina, let's
get back
inside."
The
three left, with Enrique
and Fina glancing back at Ramirez, who remained on the deck.
Once
they were gone, Ramirez
laughed out loud. /That was fun,/ he smirked mentally as he
turned
toward the nearest guardrail and walked to it, admiring the spacious
skies. /Let's
see if he can hold to his infantile philosophies now./
Ramirez
enjoyed the feel of
the wind blowing past him all the way to Yafutoma.
"Stupid frickin' Ramirez,
can't believe he got my shirt all bloody, he's just lucky I have a
spare," Vyse
muttered to himself as he balled up his now stained shirt and threw it
in a
corner. "I'm nice to him, I give him all these frickin' breaks, I even
comfort
him when he has a goddamn nightmare, and how does he thank me?!
He
cleans Enrique's stupid sword on my shirt!!" Pulling out a replacement
shirt
from his drawers and drawing it over his shoulders, he continued to
rant,
"Well, this is the last goddamn straw!! I'm sick of trying to be his
friend!!
He can friggin' rot for all I care!! Stupid, stupid Ramirez..."
Replacing his scarf and belt, which were still clean, Vyse stormed out
of his
room and made his way to the control room, still steaming.
The Delphinus docked at the
main capital of Yafutoma, and Vyse were greeted by a crowd of locals
who stared
and commented on their strange appearances—and confirmed for them that
they
were indeed in Yafutoma. Two royal guards ran down, and claiming that
the Lord
Mikado wished to meet them, escorted them to the royal palace and
brought them
before the royal family.
The
five stood in a line
before the aged King, who sat upon a throne at the top of three steps;
to his
left stood the lovely young princess. To his right, at the bottom of
the
stairs, were two men with the distinct appearance of weasels, both of
whom
glared distrustfully at them. The King and Princess, who were the ones
who
counted, looked upon Vyse and his party benevolently, but Vyse was
slightly
nervous regardless, though he had the good sense not to let it show.
"Visitors
from the land of the
setting sun," Mikado said in a low but pleasant voice, "what brings you
through
the Dark Rift to our land?"
Vyse
stood a little straighter
and nodded politely. "We're on a quest," he told them. "We're here to
explore
your lands, and more importantly, we're seeking out the Blue Crystal."
"The
Blue Crystal?" Mikado
repeated. "Hmm...I believe that you are referring to what we call the
'Magatama'. It has been missing, however, ever since the time of the
Old World.
It can be located somewhere in Mt. Kazai, which is near here; however,
the
interior of Mt. Kazai is extremely dangerous, and no one who has gone
there has
ever returned."
Vyse
nodded. "We understand
that it's dangerous, but the importance of our mission outweighs the
risks," he
replied. "We have to get the Blue Crystal."
"Hmm..."
The King of Yafutoma
regarded the young pirate silently for a moment, and then nodded. "Very
well. I
will assist you. However, in return I would like you to retrieve the
Magatama
for us."
"Sire,"
the older of the
weasel-like men spoke then, "as your advisor, I must strongly counsel
against
cooperating with these...people. They are westerners, and cannot be
trusted. We
must purge them from our midst!!"
"Kangan,
I appreciate your
concern," Mikado said to him, briefly redirecting his gaze. "However, I
believe
that these young people can be trusted, so be reassured. And besides,
Moegi,
you have always been interested in the Western culture, have you not?"
"Yes,
Father," the young
Princess replied demurely.
Turning
back to Vyse, he
continued, "If you can retrieve the Magatama for us, I shall grant you
anything
you desire."
"Thank
you...actually, I was
wondering if we could borrow the Crystal ourselves," Vyse replied.
The
King frowned slightly. "That alone I
cannot grant," he said. "The Magatama is a symbol of the successor
to the
throne, and it is necessary to choose an heir. At the very least, I
would like
for it to remain in Yafutoma while you are here."
Vyse
sweated a bit. "Uh, I
guess so..."
"I
will send a message to the
ship parts dealer, down at the port, to escort you to Mt. Kazai,"
Mikado
stated. "You may leave at any time. However, I recommend that you take
a look
around Yafutoma first, to settle down from your long trip."
"Thank
you very much," Vyse
said, and the five were dismissed. Walking outside the palace to the
exit to
the city, Aika was the first to speak, as usual.
"Hey,
Vyse, what are we going
to do about the Crystal?" she queried. "They want it, so we can't just
take it
from them..."
Ramirez
shifted his eyes over
to her to watch the conversation, but said nothing as Fina added, "We
might be
able to persuade them to give us the Crystal, but if it's such an
important
symbol to them, it's possible that won't work..."
Vyse
shrugged. "Let's not
worry about it now," he said. "For now, let's just concentrate on
getting the
Crystal in the first place."
"Good
idea," Aika nodded.
"Best to take it one step at a time."
"Er...speaking
of one step at
a time..." Enrique spoke up.
"Yeah?"
Vyse asked, turning to
him.
Ramirez
caught the glance
Enrique sent his way before continuing, "Er...how many of us should go
to Mt.
Kazai?"
/Not
a bad attempt at a
diplomatic way to say, 'What do we do about Ramirez?',/ the
aforementioned
thought with slight amusement as Vyse narrowed his eyes and, turning
his gaze
to Ramirez, frowned at him.
The
Admiral and the Air Pirate
stared each other down for a full minute, the silent tension rising in
the air,
until Ramirez finally said, "What His Highness meant to say was, 'What
do we do
about Ramirez?'. Judging from your extended silence, you seem to need a
translation."
Vyse
scowled at the barely
veiled insult, placing his hands on his hips. "I know what he meant,"
he
growled. "I'm just trying to figure out what the heck to do with you."
"Any
ideas yet?" Ramirez
queried, and forced himself to bite back another insult; provoking Vyse
too
much would end up costing him.
"A
bunch," Vyse replied.
"Keelhauling comes to mind."
Aika
snickered, Fina looked
clueless, Enrique looked alarmed. Ramirez, whose knowledge of sailing
was horribly antiquated and outdated, and whose brief firsthand
experience had hardly afforded him familiarity with everything about
it, knew not the meaning of the term, so
he maintained an indifferent mien. He had a feeling it was something he
didn't
want to happen, though.
Vyse
sighed in irritation when
his comment provoked no reaction out of his intended target. "Doesn't anything
get to you?" he asked in exasperation.
Ramirez
studied the brunet
rogue. "Letting things 'get to you' is generally bad practice," he
replied.
Moving straight to the topic at hand, Ramirez continued, "If you're
going to
take me along, I'll need a weapon. If you'd rather not risk a little
more blood
on your shirt, though, maybe it would be better to leave me behind."
Vyse
glared at the insolent
Admiral. "You know, on some ships, keelhauling is standard procedure
for any
sailor who talks to their captain the way you talk to me," he snapped.
"If
you think it will help, by
all means, go ahead and try," Ramirez replied, and received a perverse
pleasure
at the look of shock on the rogue's face.
"You're
insane!" Vyse managed
to say after a moment.
/Not
knowing what
keelhauling is helps,/ Ramirez thought, but had the good sense not
to voice
his internal comment.
Another
moment passed before
Vyse threw up his hands in disgust. "You've had plenty of time to cool
down
since you first started traveling with us," he said. "But maybe you
need a
little more time. Stay on the Delphinus while we go to Mt. Kazai."
/Your
funeral,/ Ramirez
mentally replied, but again, he bit back the rejoinder in favor of not
pushing the agitated rogue too far. Instead, he just nodded and calmly
accepted the order,
which
seemed to infuriate the Air Pirate further, though he didn't yell at
Ramirez
for it.
"Let's
go," Vyse muttered,
moving out into the city of Yafutoma, and his companions followed.
As
they wandered the city of
Yafutoma, the young captain thought to himself that perhaps Aika had
been correct
in some of her assumptions.
"It
would have been easier if
I had just left him back there..." he muttered to himself, thinking
back on the
incident that had brought the troublesome Silvite into their midst.
Vyse
had been doing his best
to keep his distance from Ramirez; he really didn't want to talk to him
at all
right now. He was beginning to feel that perhaps he had been mistaken
in
thinking that he had seen something in the other man. Still...there was
that
incident a few nights ago...
The rogue shook his head. He really
didn't have the time to dwell on that right now. He had to get some
supplies
for the trip into Mt. Kazai; that was the most important thing to be
doing
right now.
He
and his friends spent the
next hour exploring Yafutoma, buying supplies and talking to the
locals. Two
girls, sisters named Urala and Kirala, even agreed to join Vyse's crew
aboard
the Delphinus, considerably lightening Vyse's mood; ever since he'd
become its
captain, due to one thing and another, he hadn't had the time to seek
out crew
members, and that made managing the giant ship extremely difficult.
With those
two helping them and Marco, it would make things much easier.
Finally,
Vyse and the others
went to the ship parts dealer, who flew them to the top of Mt. Kazai,
since the
Delphinus was unable to go to those altitudes. Using the suits he had
given
them, they made their way down through the extinct volcano, and after
fighting
a giant shellfish, they finally found the Blue Moon Crystal.
Celebrating
with Fina and Aika,
Vyse led them and Enrique out of Mt. Kazai. As they walked, talking
cheerfully,
the conversation turned somehow to Ramirez.
"Oh,
him?" Vyse said
nonchalantly. "I dunno. He's pushed me to my limit, you know... I
figure maybe
we could dump him here."
"Are
you serious, Vyse?" Aika
asked, staring.
"Why
not?" Vyse shrugged. "I'm
tired of dealing with him. He's completely unfriendly, and if we leave
him
here, he won't be able to follow us for a while, if at all. We could
ask King
Mikado to make sure he doesn't leave, as a favor for getting the Blue
Crystal
for him."
"You
found a solution rather
easily, didn't you," Enrique noted. "Before, you felt guilty about
using the
easy way out, isn't that right? Why has that changed?"
"He's
one person, and here, he
can't get reinforcements from Valua. This is the best place to leave
him," Vyse
argued.
Fina
cast her eyes
downward and said nothing.
Aika
shrugged, folding her
arms behind her head; she hadn't noticed Fina's action. "I agree with
Vyse.
Leaving Ramirez here won't hurt him or anyone else, and the people here
are
nice. He'll get alone fine."
"Leaving someone someplace
where he has no friends or allies is...rather cruel, though, don't you
think?"
Enrique protested. "Especially since he has no way of leaving."
"Well,
he hasn't exactly tried
to make himself feel welcome," Vyse pointed out with a sigh. "I've cut
him a
lot of slack, but he refuses to give me any respect in return. It's
hard to run
a ship with people like that on board. Personally, I've had enough of
him."
Enrique
sighed. "Well, it is
your decision as captain," he replied, though it was evident that the
idea did
not agree with him.
Fina
remained quiet, uncertain
and saddened about the idea. She did not want to leave her old friend
behind,
but it was true that he was becoming a hindrance.
They
continued to talk among
themselves as they walked up and out of the caverns of the volcano.
After
informing the ship parts dealer of their success, the young captain and
his
friends returned to the city of Yafutoma. The four stood before King
Mikado and
presented to him the Blue Crystal; there was some talk about the
succession, in
which Aika asked Moegi if she was to be the next ruler of Yafutoma and
Moegi
dodged the question. However, the topic was forgotten when Mikado
declared
that, in celebration of Vyse's amazing feat, they would have a feast in
their
honor. Ramirez was almost forgotten until Enrique pointed out that it
was
heartless to leave him on the ship and
deny him food. Vyse considered it and, deciding that since he was going
to
abandon Ramirez in Yafutoma, acceded to letting Aika and Fina retrieve
the
subversive Silvite and have him join them at dinner.
Ramirez was surprisingly
quiet and even-tempered the entire time, though, all considering; Fina
wanted
desperately to question him, but the memory of his anger when he'd
revealed
that he knew that she had spoken of him without his consent kept her
tongue in
check. Aika had no desire to speak to Ramirez at all, and the feeling
was
mutual, so their trip back to the Yafutoma palace was silent. Aika and
Fina
became more vocal when they met up again with Vyse, but Ramirez, who
exchanged
a brief glare with the Air Pirate, remained silent. Beyond the stare,
though,
Vyse paid Ramirez no more attention, and almost immediately returned to
being
his bright and enthusiastic self. Ramirez didn't care, or rather, he
convinced
himself he didn't care; during the feast, he just quietly watched Vyse
and the
others' easygoing and cheerful banter and antics as he ate.
After
the banquet, Princess
Moegi led Vyse and the others to their sleeping quarters. The talk on
the way
was mostly about the deliciousness of the food and thanks for the
hospitality,
but when they arrived at the rooms, Aika brought up the matter of
succession
again.
"How
does it work, anyway?"
she queried. "You never said when I asked earlier if you'd be next on
the
throne, after all."
"Er,
well..." Moegi stammered,
a bit abashed. "Let's see..."
From
behind them, an unctuous
and fruity voice laughed. "I will be the next King," the owner of the
voice,
the younger of the weasel-like men from the Yafutoman throne room, said
triumphantly, "when Moegi and I are wed."
"I
will never marry you,
Muraji!!" Moegi cried, glaring at him past the surprised members of
Vyse's
group. "And you will never be the King of Yafutoma!"
"Oohohoho,"
Muraji laughed,
bringing a hand up to his mouth. "And who will take the throne, then?
Daigo is
exiled from this land, after all, and I do believe that traitors cannot
become
King. Oohohohoho!"
"Why,
you little—" Vyse
growled, moving forward, but Enrique stayed him with an outstretched
arm and
faced Muraji himself.
"I
do not know your motives,"
he said coolly, looking down at the advisor's son, "but that is not how a nobleman treats a lady."
Muraji
shook. "You—you don't
frighten me," he stammered. "When I become King, I'll see to it that
all you
westerners are thrown out of Yafutoma!!" And with that, he ran away.
/Looks
like the dregs of
humanity can be found anywhere,/ Ramirez commented to himself,
glowering
after him. Glancing briefly at Vyse, he mused, /I should follow
him...make
sure he doesn't cause any trouble and cause me any inconvenience. But
Vyse
won't let me go off on my own. I'll wait a moment longer./
"Prince
Enrique, I'm sorry!"
Moegi cried. "I'm so sorry that you felt you had to defend me like
that..."
Enrique
smiled away the
apology. "Think nothing of it," he told her. "Where I come from, there
are
codes on how a lady like yourself should be treated. Well," he added,
"it's not
used very much anymore, but..."
"I'm
sorry. Thank you," Moegi
replied with a smile, bowing to him. "Thank you very much, Prince
Enrique." She
then walked past them and left for the palace.
Enrique
gazed after her.
Ramirez regarded him curiously, and noted how Aika elbowed Vyse, looked
at him
pointedly, and then smirked at the Prince of Valua cattily, as if
conveying a
silent message. Vyse grinned, but it was an embarrassed one. Glancing
back at
Fina, Ramirez saw that she was staring wide-eyed at both of them, not
understanding what was going on. The white-haired Admiral, on the other
hand,
understood perfectly. He shifted
his glance to Enrique, still gazing after Moegi. It seemed the young
Prince
was attracted to her...
/Well,
it's not my
business,/ the Admiral thought, turning his back to the scene and
entering the rooms. Vyse caught the action and followed him in,
motioning to
Aika and Fina to follow. Fina did so, and Aika tapped Enrique on the
shoulder,
who jumped slightly at the touch and blushed at Aika's knowing grin.
The two of
them entered the rooms, and with the others, prepared for bed—although
what
they were sleeping on were paper mats...
Ramirez
waited for his
unwanted companions to settle into bed before sneaking out. He hadn't
bothered
to change yet; there would be time for that eventually. For now,
though, he
stealthily made his way down the Yafutoman walkways to find Muraji.
Shortly,
Ramirez did find him,
and was surprised to find him talking to none other than his colleague,
Belleza, the fourth Admiral of the Valuan Armada.
Well,
perhaps he was not so
surprised; he knew that Galcian had planned to reach the lands of the
East by
heading west. Ramirez should have known, seeing as he had been the one
to tell
Galcian that the world was round. That was not to mention that Ramirez
also
knew that Galcian had intended to send Belleza and Vigoro to Yafutoma.
However,
she being where she was, and he being where he was now, made things so
fortuitous that Ramirez had to be surprised, considering his recent run
of bad
luck.
Belleza
and Muraji were at the
end of their discussion, and the two parted ways. Ramirez crept after
Belleza;
any mischief Muraji might manage would undoubtedly be mainly her doing,
anyway.
She
didn't get far before
Ramirez saw his chance, strode up to her, and grabbed her shoulder. He
knew
Belleza well enough to leap back when she spun around, and when she
struck, it
was only empty air. She still saw who had accosted her, though, and
Ramirez
forced himself not to smirk at the shock on her face.
"Ramirez?"
Belleza said in a
low voice, straightening, a frown on her lips. Ramirez briefly admired
her
ability to recompose herself so quickly in such situations before she
queried,
"What are you doing here?"
"Is
that it? No 'hello', no
'how have you been doing'?" Ramirez inquired dryly.
She
chuckled. "Wherever you've
been, it's given you a sarcastic sense of humor." She frowned again and
regarded him. "But still, your disappearance has caused an uproar in
Valua.
Where did you go, and why did you leave your weapons behind?"
Ramirez's
eyes narrowed.
"Vyse," he began, but Belleza raised a hand.
"Say
no more," she sighed. "I
know how it is."
Ramirez
smiled thinly and
without humor. "I've been his prisoner since then."
"Hmm..."
Belleza regarded
Ramirez thoughtfully. "So Vyse defeated you, then? Pretty good,
handsome..."
she commented, mainly to herself.
"He
got lucky," Ramirez
snapped.
The
cherry red-haired Admiral
smirked lightly. "That kid is made of luck." Her smile increased. "But
everyone's luck runs out sometime. For example, if he was still lucky,
we
wouldn't be meeting like this."
Ramirez
shrugged and allowed
himself an inobtrusive smile. "This is true."
"How
did you escape, just
now?"
The
silver-haired Admiral
chuckled a bit. "He's gotten...complacent around me," he told her. "He
thinks I
can be befriended, even trusted."
Belleza
laughed at that.
"Vyse, you might be good-looking, but you are such a fool," she
murmured to
herself. Speaking now to Ramirez, she continued, "So what am I to
assume,
Ramirez? Have you approached me to return to Valua with me after
Yafutoma is
conquered, or do you have something else in mind?"
Ramirez
raised an eyebrow.
"Have you something characteristically devious in mind, Belleza?" he
queried
ironically.
"You
make your own decisions," she replied with a shrug.
The
pale Silvite smiled then,
not without humor. "I think you'll appreciate what I have in mind,
then," he
said. "Vyse humiliated me. I want revenge. I have told him to his face
that I'm
going to kill him. He doesn't seem to want to believe that I'm serious.
Fina
and Prince Enrique seem to also think I'm harmless, for some reason;
only that
annoying redhead knows better."
The
crimson-haired lady
Admiral chuckled. "Doesn't that sound familiar."
"So,
I intend to use their
falsely-placed trust against them," Ramirez continued. "I told them
that I
follow Lord Galcian only, but they ignored me... Whatever comes next
will be
their own fault."
Belleza
shook her head,
smiling. "Speaking of Lord Galcian, he has been worried about you," she
commented.
Ramirez
looked at her. "Oh?"
"Not
especially, though," she
added. "He knows you can take care of yourself."
Ramirez
kept his expression
neutral. "Will you take a message to Lord Galcian for me?"
"Why
not? We're helping each
other out now."
"Tell
him that I have not
betrayed him by staying with Vyse; rather, I intend to subvert that
pirate's
power, as I just told you. You know as well as I do that Vyse will
probably get
all the Crystals first. Therefore, I'll wait until he has done so—and
then
strike. I'll find some way to contact Lord Galcian on my own between
now and
then, to update him on the situation, but I want him to know that much
first."
She
nodded. "I'll be sure to
relay your message to Lord Galcian." Belleza paused. "What do you want
done
with your sword, Ramirez?"
Ramirez
considered the
question, then replied, "I will retrieve it when Lord Galcian brings it
to me."
Belleza
smirked at that.
"You'll betray Vyse at his greatest moment of exaltation, using the
sword that
you left behind in Valua that will be returned to you by Lord Galcian
himself...I love the symbolism. He'll hate you forever, you know—Vyse,
I mean.
There's no way a guy like him can ever forgive the type of betrayal
you're
planning."
Ramirez
laughed at that. "Why
would I care?"
"Just
thought you might like
to know," she replied, shrugging. "By the way, what do you intend to do
if we
succeed in conquering Yafutoma? We have already seized the Delphinus.
There's
not much he'll be able to do in that position."
"I
wouldn't underestimate
him," Ramirez replied. "If it happens, then what I have planned will be
rendered unnecessary, in which case I'll simply return to Valua with
you. But
if he succeeds in fending you off—and knowing him, I wouldn't be very
surprised
if he manages it—then I'll stay with him. I believe that my method will
be more
beneficial in the long run, since Lord Galcian won't have to spend
precious
time and resources hunting after the last three Crystals; we can just
let Vyse
do all the work."
"Clever,"
Belleza smiled. "And
devious. I like the way you think, Ramirez."
"Hmm..."
he murmured, not entirely sure he liked being complimented by the
female Admiral. "Be warned, though; if
I'm to gain Vyse's trust, I will have to make motions against you and
Valua."
Belleza
shrugged. "Considering
the benefits we will reap in the end? It's worth it. I will still try
to conquer
Yafutoma, though; I can't go against Lord Galcian's orders."
The
shorter Admiral nodded, understanding completely. "Good luck."
"And
you, too."
"Will
you be telling Vigoro of
what we've discussed?"
"That
muscle-bound lunkhead?
Vigoro is strong, but he can't act worth a damn. If he were in on this,
he'd
blow it all for sure. No," and Belleza shook her head, "the only ones
who will
know about this will be you and I and Lord Galcian. It's best that way."
Ramirez
nodded and glanced
over his shoulder. "I should return before I'm missed," he said,
turning away.
With a slight smirk, he added, "See you tomorrow, Belleza..."
Belleza
laughed and turned
away as well. "Hope to see you there, Ramirez."
The two parted ways, heading
to the opposite ends of the battle spectrum.
NOTES: We own nothing except our ideas. Don't take our ideas.
All
properties of Skies of Arcadia/Eternal
Arcadia [Legends] belong to everyone it is to whom
they belong.
Ayu: Yeah, yeah, it was cheap,
completely skipping the fight scene(s)...but we're lazy, and we wanted
to get
on with the plot stuff... I hope the readers will forgive us ^^; And
from now
on, we are flat-out skipping over or only briefly mentioning
unimportant
battles.
Ianthe: Actually, we never did much
with unimportant battles...
Ayu: Quiet, you fool!! (*smacks
her*)
Ianthe: Ow...I'm abused...
Ayu: Dammit, I hated writing for Mao
and Jao. Damn their tag-team dialogue.
Ayu: Yes, that wasn't how the fight
went in the game. It's called "creative license".
Ianthe: We didn't remember a lot of
the specifics of what happened around this time—so just for this fic,
we
started a new game and played over four days—
Ayu: I played for seven hours
straight one day!
Ianthe: —to get to the Yafutoma
portion to refresh our memories. Don't you feel special?
Ayu: And we still don't remember a
bunch of specific details ;_;
Ianthe: GODDAMMIT, IT'S THE
MAGATAMA, NOT THE MAGA SPHERE!! Just because you can
translate it directly doesn't mean that you should!!
Besides, the Blue Crystal even looks like a magatama!
Ayu: In the fourth Harry Potter
book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Karkaroff's voice is
described as being 'unctuous' and 'fruity'. I thought that that was so
hilarious for reasons I'm sure Rowling never intended that I had to use
it
myself here.
Ayu: The title of this chapter is a
line from the first ending theme of Slayers TRY, don't be
discouraged.
Full lyrics can be found at my lyrics site, Campus
Lyrics!, the link to
which you can find below.
Contact deep.Indigo: deep.Indigo@negativenergy.zzn.com
Contact Ianthe of d.I: ianthefira@rangersgrove.zzn.com
(URL: Ranger's Grove (rangersgrove.tripod.com))
Contact Ayu of d.I: ensoph@goddess.zzn.com (URL:
~ T H E :
E T E R N A L : M I N D ~ (theeternalmind.sterlingsylver.net))
