The Day the Moon Shines
By: deep.Indigo
Chapter 7: Kirai ni Naritai, Demo Kirai ni Narenai
(I Want to Hate You, But I Can't Hate You)
The light
was warm.
Vyse
yawned and, sitting up
from his tatami bed, stretched luxuriously. He had slept well, with
many
pleasant dreams, and as such was in a good mood. He glanced over at his
companions, who all slept on the floor with him; they were all asleep
too. Vyse
frowned slightly upon seeing Ramirez, whose back faced him, but he
shrugged.
/He'll
be out of my hair
soon enough,/ he thought as he stood, scratching himself. With
another
yawn, Vyse collected his clothes and changed into them, then went to
leave to
wander around Yafutoma again before the others woke up.
Stepping
outside into the cool
morning air, Vyse stretched. While he was not really looking forward to
seeing
Ramirez's reaction to being left behind, at least that would get rid of
the
troublesome youth. Staring absently into the clear water, he allowed
himself to
momentarily dwell on the recent events. What with all that had
happened, things
had gotten rather complicated...
He
was shaken out of his
reverie by the sound of a loud engine moving overhead. The Yafutoman
ships were
particularly quiet when they sailed, so he looked up towards the source
of the
noise, and then he saw it: a Valuan warship. It wasn't the only one,
either.
"Oh,
Moons—" he breathed before he
ducked back inside and shut the sliding door behind him. /What the
hell is
Valua doing here?!/ he thought wildly. /Dammit! And here I
thought I
could relax for a while!/ He looked down at Fina, Aika, Enrique and
Ramirez, all still sleeping. He really hated to wake them up, but there
was no
choice.
He
knelt down to the closest
one, Aika, and shook her shoulder. "Aika," Vyse said urgently. "Wake
up. We've
got a problem."
The redhead murmured and turned over,
not waking up.
"Aika!"
Vyse snapped. "Wake
up!!"
"What's
wrong?" Fina inquired
quietly, yawning and getting up from her tatami mat.
"Valua's
here," he told her.
She
sat upright, her remaining
somnolence gone. "Valua? How?" she questioned fearfully.
"That's
what I'd like to
know," Vyse growled. "How'd they make it through the Dark Rift? It's
impossi—no, wait, it is possible, because they're here," he
corrected himself. "Damn! We're going to have to get moving, now!"
Fortunately,
as he spoke, Aika
and Enrique were already stirring. Ramirez, who apparently had not been
as
asleep as he had seemed, was simply sitting up on his tatami, regarding
Vyse
quietly.
The Blue Rogue
sent a glare the Silvite swordsman's way. "Did you have anything to do
with this?" he asked,
attempting to
keep his voice calm.
"What?
How could I have
anything to do with this? I have not been in touch with the Armada
since you took
me prisoner," Ramirez stated calmly, though with a raised eyebrow.
"What's
going on?" Aika
murmured, rubbing her eyes.
"Like
I said, the Armada's
here," Vyse told her, still looking mistrustfully at Ramirez.
Aika and Enrique both sat up
and stared at their captain. "The Armada's here? How?" the former asked.
"Ask
our resident Armada Admiral," Vyse remarked dryly, and three sets of
eyes joined him in
staring at
Ramirez.
The
jade-eyed swordsman glared
back at them all. "Of what, exactly, are you accusing me?"
"We
would like to hear an
explanation before anyone starts accusing anyone of anything," Enrique
said
quietly. "I do not know why Valua is here. Do you?"
Ramirez
regarded them all for
a few seconds before replying, "Isn't it obvious? Valua is here to
conquer
Yafutoma."
Vyse
stood, walked over to the shorter man, stopped in front of him, and
glared down at him. He had only one
word to
say: "Explain."
The young Admiral stared at the young
captain for a moment before beginning. "As I said, Valua is here to
conquer
Yafutoma. The plan for this has been in the works for several lunar cycles.
It really
was only a matter of time until it was put into action."
Vyse
glared at him. "Why
didn't you tell us?"
"You
didn't ask," Ramirez replied.
The Air Pirate
glared at him witheringly, then
turned. "We should try to find out what's going on," he said, "Fina,
you should
stay here. I don't want them getting their hands on you again."
"All
right..." Fina replied,
clasping a hand to her chest. The worry was clear on her face as she
continued,
"Vyse, please be careful..."
Enrique and Aika had by then
moved away on opposite ends of the room, out of sight, to change. Vyse
smiled
at Fina comfortingly and said, "Don't worry; we'll be all right. You
just take
care of yourself, all right?"
Fina
smiled a little and
nodded.
Ramirez,
who was now standing,
cleared his throat a bit, and Vyse turned to give him a withering glare.
"What?
You can't tell me
you're jealous," the brunet captain said.
He raised an eyebrow and
did not answer Vyse's query.
Vyse
sighed. /...He just
has to be difficult..../ A sudden thought occurred to him. /...Hey.
He
could just go back with the Valuans, right? He'd probably prefer that
to being
stranded here. I should at least ask him if he'd like to leave with his
comrades./
Clearing
his throat, he addressed
the silver-haired man. "Ramirez. Do you want to go and join the
Valuans? I
won't stop you if you want to leave now."
Ramirez
blinked and stared at
the brown-eyed youth, amazed. Aika and Enrique, who had re-entered the
room,
watched the two, tensely waiting for his reply. But what could he say?
His
natural answer should be obvious, but Ramirez now needed to stay with
Vyse to
carry out his plans.
/It
figures that Vyse would
do this to me,/ he thought, disgusted, though he didn't betray what
he
felt. /He always does this to me...clouding my thoughts and
confusing my
emotions. Why can't he just let me hate him, like I'm supposed to?!/
"No," he said quietly.
Vyse
blinked. "No, what?"
"No,
I don't want to rejoin
the Valuans," Ramirez clarified sullenly.
The captain of the Delphinus
stared in open disbelief.
"You...what? Why?"
He
cast his eyes away. "If you
must know, it's because I know who is spearheading the assault against
Yafutoma," he muttered, "and I don't like either of them."
Vyse
continued to stare. /Couldn't
he just put up with them? I mean, he hates me, too, and..../
Shaking these
thoughts aside, he asked the Silvite male instead, "Who is leading the
attack?"
Keeping his expression
neutral, Ramirez replied, "Admirals Belleza and Vigoro. They were the
ones who
were
supposed to be sent, as per the plan, so unless things have changed in
my...absence...they should be the ones you will be dealing with."
Vyse
gave Ramirez a funny
look. "I thought you hated me."
Ramirez
waited for Vyse to
make his point.
"So
why not just deal with
Belleza and Vigoro until you go back to Valua?" the brunet eventually
insisted. "I don't
get it."
Ramirez's
face reddened. /Damn
you, why can't you just accept my excuse?!/ he swore internally. He
didn't
dare say a word, though.
Vyse
regarded the blushing
Admiral. /...That's unusual.../ he mused. /.......Heh. I get
it. He
really does want to see the world with us. Maybe I was right. He does
have
something about him that is worth saving... Maybe...maybe I can help
change him
after all.../ For the first time since arriving at Yafutoma, Vyse
smiled at
the green-eyed man.
Feeling
flustered, Ramirez
glared at the pirate. "What are you smiling at?" he demanded.
Vyse
grinned and shook his
head. "Nothing, nothing," he said with a small laugh. "So you want to
stay with
us?"
Feeling
the heat in his face
and hating it, the pale swordsman nodded once.
Enrique
and Aika, who now
stood nearby, exchanged glances. "Vyse," the former said, "we'd better
go see
what the Armada wants before it's too late."
"Yeah,
you're right," the
captain of the Delphinus said, looking over at him. He glanced at
Ramirez and
asked, "Are you coming with us?"
"I
have no sword," the silver-haired
youth replied flatly.
Vyse
sweatdropped. "Oh
yeah..."
"I'll
stay here and wait for
you," Ramirez continued.
The
Blue Rogue nodded and
turned to the doors. "Aika, Enrique, let's go!" he called to his
teammates, and
with nods of assent from them both, the three left the rooms and ran to
the
docks.
Ramirez leaned against the
wall, despising the way that exchange had gone. /Why? Why can't he
just
accept what I tell him? Why does he have to read into my actions? Why
can't he
just leave me alone?/ He continued to brood as such, trying
furiously to
will away the redness in his face.
Fina, still in her bed clothes,
watched Ramirez silently. Again, she wanted to reach out to him, to
talk to
him, but she was afraid of what he might say. She stood there for
several long
minutes before she finally summoned the courage to address him.
"...Ramirez?"
He
looked up at her sharply,
his pale face still faintly flushed. "...What?"
"Are
you...are you all right?"
she queried hesitantly.
He
looked at her intently for
a moment, then glanced away once more. "I'm....fine, Fina," he said at
length,
not wanting to reveal to anyone the thoughts that plagued him.
She
bit her lower lip and
looked away. After another tense moment of silence, she said, her voice
quavering slightly, "....Are you sure?"
He
bit back the bitter reply
that almost escaped his lips. Right now, what he had to do, despite any
desire
of his to do otherwise, was to get them to trust them, so he simply
replied,
"Yes."
The teenage Silvite regarded him, still
worried, but she relaxed anyway. She looked down at her feet and
murmured, "I'm
sorry...about talking about you, I mean... I didn't think it would hurt
anyone..."
"...What
did you tell them,
Fina?" he asked after a few brief moments of thought.
She smiled in happy relief; he was
taking it much better than she thought he would. Briefly, she
summarized what
she had told Enrique and Aika, adding that she hadn't told Vyse
anything.
"I'm sorry," she added once
she was finished. "I'm truly sorry..."
Ramirez
shook his head. "Stop
apologizing," he told her. "What's done is done."
Her smile then was warm, the way it had been in the past. "Thank
you," she beamed at him.
He
blinked rapidly, and
turning away from her, he picked up his jacket and proceeded to pull it
on.
"There's nothing to thank me for, either," he said as he did so.
She
averted her gaze demurely.
"But... I was afraid that you would...." She trailed off, unwilling to
finish
the sentence.
"I
would what? Hate you?" he
inquired, turning to her.
Fina
did not meet his gaze.
Well,
he certainly wasn't
happy with her, but hate her? ...Perhaps... Ramirez found that
ever since
his bad experiences with Valuans, it was surprisingly easy to hate
people... But
whatever happened here, Fina would probably eventually report it back
to Vyse
or Aika, so it was in his best interest to treat her kindly.
So, as he finished buttoning
his jacket, he said in a mild tone, "Don't be stupid, Fina. I couldn't
hate
you."
Again,
she smiled up at him.
"I'm so happy... I was so afraid. I've really missed you, you know. I
really
don't want...you to hate me."
Ramirez
was mildly surprised
at that. Previous to this, he had been deliberately cold to her, trying
to make
her forget their previous friendship; if she hated him, that meant he
wouldn't
have to feel bad about killing her, if such a thing were to become
necessary.
He regarded her for a moment, then said, "Why don't you get dressed,
Fina?"
She
blushed deeply and quickly
gathered her clothes before ducking away behind a paper screen. Ramirez
respectfully turned his back to it.
"How
was life without me?" he
asked, raising his voice to make sure he was heard, as she made herself
decent.
"Did the Elders treat you well?"
"...Yes," she said, removing
her bed clothes. "But...that doesn't change the loneliness I felt. I
only had
Cupil... The Elders...didn't talk to me that much..." She pulled on her
leggings,
trying to hurry her dressing a bit.
"Mm.
What have you experienced
here in Arcadia, Fina, since your descent?"
"Well...
I was attacked almost
immediately...but...Vyse and everyone saved me. Even though they didn't
know
me..." She broke off temporarily to pull on her dress.
Ramirez
hoped she wouldn't go
into a spiel about friendship. He really didn't want to hear about
it—not from
her, not about them. "And then?"
"...Let's
see... Then the
Valuans came and captured all the pirates... I don't know if it was
because
they helped me or because they were pirates..." Her dress on, she then
went
about the task of putting on her various adornments.
"It
was because they attacked
a Valuan flagship and got away with it," Ramirez told her. "And also
because you
were with them. And, to a lesser degree, because they were pirates."
Pulling
on her boots, she
spoke again after a few moments of silence. "But...they're good people.
I know
that piracy is wrong...but, even though they committed such acts, they
are still
good..."
"Lord
Galcian does not allow
anyone to make a fool of the Armada," Ramirez replied, his voice
deceptively
neutral. "'Good' and 'evil' don't matter. Only power matters."
Fina did not respond to
that, at first. Stepping out from behind the screen, she asked,
quietly, "Do
you really believe that?"
"I
would not say it if I did
not believe it."
"...What
happened to you, on
this planet?"
Ramirez
was at a
loss of what to say. He did not want to share his painful memories with
Fina, especially
since he had a feeling that, even if he swore her to secrecy, she would
end up
telling one of her friends. However, saying so would probably hurt her,
and
that, too, would be reported to Vyse or Aika. Finally, he said in a
distinctly
cool tone, "I don't want to talk about it."
"...All right..." She gazed
sadly at the floor. "I think...something really bad must have happened
to
you...."
/Whatever
gave you that
impression?/ Ramirez thought sarcastically. He did not speak,
though.
Fina
gazed up again and
straightened her veil a bit.
"I'm
glad, though...that I can
talk to you again. Even if you've changed...you're still my old friend,
Ramirez."
He
looked at her then, wordlessly.
It was undeniably strange, that someone would still call him a
friend... He bit
back the urge to say that he had no friends, and turned to face her
instead. He
regarded her for a moment more before asking quietly, "How do you
consider me a
friend, even though we're on opposite sides?"
Pain
flashed then across
Fina's face. She averted her eyes and said softly, "I...aren't you
staying with
Vyse?"
Ramirez realized then his
mistake. He had forgotten that, in their
world, if he were to choose to stay on the Delphinus, that was the same
as
becoming an ally. Saying that he was still on Lord Galcian's side as he
just
did could have ruined everything. Choosing his words carefully, he
replied, "I
am. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that I believe in Vyse's
sincerity
yet."
"...Oh..."
She gazed at the
floor again. "But..." she continued, looking up to meet his eyes once
more,
"...I hope you can come to like him someday..."
Ramirez
shrugged. In an
offhand manner, he queried, "How much do you like him?"
Her
eyes widened slightly.
"I....." she trailed off, blushing. She gazed up at him, embarrassed.
"I..."
Though she tried, she could not finish her sentence.
Again,
jealousy welled in
Ramirez's heart, and he still knew not the reason why. "Are you in love
with
him?" he inquired, unable to keep a certain degree of coldness out of
his voice.
"...I...don't
know..." she
whispered, suddenly afraid again.
"Hmph,"
Ramirez growled,
turning away. He couldn't explain why any feelings Fina had towards
Vyse would
bother him; it was her life, wasn't it? Why would he care if she was
attracted
to him... Ramirez scowled, but it was meant for himself rather than
Fina. He
had been inexplicably attracted to Vyse as well... It meant nothing, of
course,
since he could stop those bizarre feelings anytime he pleased. The
entire
betrayal he planned was proof of that. Still, it annoyed and disgusted
him that
it had happened in the first place; any feelings of that sort were by
nature
wrong.
But
even thinking so, Ramirez
still felt jealous.
Fina
gazed at him worriedly,
wondering at the source of his obvious discomfort. She was about to say
something to him when Vyse and the others returned.
"Fina!!"
Aika called, shoving
the sliding doors open. When she saw her Silvite friend, she sighed a
breath of
relief and walked in, Vyse and Enrique behind her.
"What's
wrong?" Fina asked,
staring nonplussed at her friends.
"Nothing,
nothing," Vyse said,
waving a hand. "We were just a little worried about you. It's nothing."
The pirate girl glanced at the male
Silvite, then looked back at Fina again. "Hey, he didn't do anything
weird while
we were gone, did he?" she asked, not very quietly.
Ramirez,
obviously overhearing
that, glared at the orange-haired pirate.
"...Um,
no..." Fina said, face
reddening slightly. "We just talked..."
"And
what exactly do you mean
by 'anything weird'?" Ramirez demanded icily.
"Never
you mind," Aika said to
him, waving a hand impatiently. "Since it's pretty obvious now that you
didn't
do anything."
The Admiral narrowed his eyes and
looked away; as he did so, he noticed Vyse and Enrique watching him.
/For...what do they want?/ he grumbled
internally.
"What's
going on with the
Valuans?" Fina asked, looking over at Vyse. "What are they doing now?"
"They're
having an audience
with King Mikado," Vyse told her, frowning. "And they seized the
Delphinus.
We're totally outnumbered...nothing we can do for right now. So we're
just
going to wait for whatever's going to happen to happen."
"They
seized the Delphinus?"
Ramirez asked with not entirely feigned interest. Belleza had told him
that
yesterday, but as a rule, he didn't trust her more than he had to. Her
specialty was deception, after all.
"Yeah,"
Vyse said with a sigh.
"We're just gonna have to wait for them to make the next move."
/I
hate not having a plan
like this.... I have no idea what we can do if they do take over
Yafutoma.. We
might all be arrested again. Ah, well... It does no use to think
negatively.
I'm sure somehow, things will work out all right,/ Vyse mused to
himself,
the room growing silent.
"Hmm,"
Ramirez murmured,
kneeling down on his tatami. "Is that your best plan?"
"What's
wrong with waiting?"
Vyse asked, sitting. "Besides, better options might show up later. For
right
now, we've got our hands tied."
Ramirez
regarded Vyse with an
odd expression on his face, then looked down at his knees, saying
nothing.
Aika
leaned against one of the
walls as Enrique and Fina stood. "Well, what brilliant ideas do you
have, Mr.
Master Strategist?" Aika questioned dryly.
Ramirez
remained silent for a
moment. "...I...suppose...waiting is the best option at this time," he
said
begrudgingly, to which Aika smirked, triumphant. A warning glance from
Enrique
kept her from making a smug comment, though, and for the next
half-hour, they
waited in silence.
The
sound of shoes tapping
against wood alerted them to someone running up to the room outside
just before
the sliding door was opened by Moegi, who had a look of dire distress
on her
face.
"What's
wrong, Moegi?" Aika
cried, alarmed at the look on the Yafutoman Princess's face.
"You
must all flee!" she
cried, quickly entering and shutting the door behind her. "Something
terrible
has happened! The Valuans...they've—"
"Negotiations
didn't go their
way, so they took over forcibly?" Ramirez guessed, rising to his feet.
Moegi
looked at Ramirez,
surprised. "How did you know?"
He
shrugged. "Their general
tactics are easy to predict: 'If you won't give it to me, I'll take it
from
you.' As long as they get what they want in the end, they don't care
about the
means."
"Aren't
you insulting Galcian
by saying that?" Aika wondered, crossing her arms.
Ramirez
glanced at her contemptuously but did not reply.
Moegi
frowned and nodded once.
"They'll be here soon to take custody of you all," she said. "Vyse,
everyone,
you must escape at once!"
Vyse
nodded grimly. "We can't
hope to fight them like this. Escaping is the best course of action."
Aika
threw down her hands,
exasperated. "Vyse, how are we gonna escape? They've got the
Delphinus!"
"I
have a solution for that,"
Moegi interrupted, turning to the back of the rooms. "There is a boat
that will
take us above the clouds. Please, follow me." She then opened a hidden
sliding
door and beckoned to the others. Not needing to be told twice, Vyse and
everyone exited through the doors, with Moegi last, carefully shutting
the
doors behind her.
Hurrying
down the passage, the
group boarded the small ship that had been hidden back there. Moegi
launched
the ship, and they began to soar to somewhere high above the clouds,
well out
of the Valuans' reach.
After
a while, Aika turned to
Vyse and asked, "Now what? We've escaped for now, but..." The
boisterous
piratess trailed off, gazing down at the clouds from the side of the
ship.
"...Well..."
Moegi began
hesitantly, "I think my brother can help us..."
"Huh?
You have a brother?"
Aika asked, turning to her.
"Yes...he
disobeyed a direct
order from my father," she murmured, looking down at her feet. "As
such, he was
exiled to the shrine at the top of this island. I have not seen him in
years,
but..."
"It's
the best bet we've got,"
Vyse said when the Princess trailed off. "Let's go!"
Moegi's strange boat soared
straight upwards, heading up to a place where the Armada's ships would
never be
able to reach. Ramirez knew that this was the decisive moment; he had
to
pretend to extend his hand first, since Vyse was far too angry with him
to do
so. Still, the thought of having to submit to him disgusted him, so it
was only
after Aika and the others finished a conversation with Moegi about her
brother
Daigo and how he had been exiled to their destination that he finally
worked up
the nerve to step up to his hated adversary.
"Vyse," Ramirez said clearly.
"Can I talk to you?"
The
brunet rogue turned to
face him, a questioning look on his face, encouraging him to continue.
"Yeah?"
Ramirez
looked away briefly.
Vyse wasn't as angry as he thought he would be... Somehow, it made this
more
difficult. "You're going to be fighting a fleet of the Armada's ships,"
he
said, keeping his voice and expression emotionless. "And you don't have
the
benefit of the Delphinus' power to help you."
Vyse
looked back over the edge
of the boat. "Yeah, I know. What are you getting at?" he asked.
Ramirez
eye's flickered
momentarily, the only betrayal of his true feelings. "It's simply that
I
suddenly realized that deciding to stay with you could be construed as
an act
of treason," he replied. "Therefore it would be in my best interest to
stay out
of sight. As for yourself, since you lack your ship, you are at an
extreme
disadvantage. My proposal is simple: if you help me stay unseen, I will
help
you fight. In short, I am calling a truce."
"Yeah?"
Vyse said,
straightening, and turned to face the shorter man full on. "Well, I'm
willing
to accept that," he replied, trying to restrain a slight smile. /I
guess I
really did misjudge him.../ he thought to himself idly. "You don't
have a
weapon, though," he continued.
Ramirez
frowned slightly.
"That isn't my fault," he replied, slightly terse. "In any case, it's
possible
that Princess Moegi's brother can remedy that. This is a contingency
that
currently can't be helped, so it's better to see what happens first."
Vyse
nodded, and turned back
to get a good look at what was below them.
Yafutoma
could be blocked out
by his two hands now; he could see a number of Armada warships, but
they were far
below them, and even if any of them noticed their boat now, there
probably
wasn't anything the Armada could do. He hated the fact that he did not
have a
plan, but there wasn't a choice. He just prayed that things would turn
out all
right.
Arriving at the island Moegi
had spoken of, they soon found that they had to fight their way in.
Strange
pirates were all over the place, and it was a long and difficult battle
to the
temple at the top. Upon entering the courtyard area of the temple, they
were
greeted by two familiar faces.
"You
dare..." called Jao from
the roof, and Mao entered, "show your faces here, westerners?!" The two
leapt
down to the paneled ground, and moving into battle poses, Jao called,
"It is
time..." Mao ended, "...for you to die!!"
"HEY!!"
a voice from inside
the temple roared before Vyse and the others could even begin to bring
their
weapons to bear. "Hold it, you two!!"
Jao
and Mao halted then and
quickly parted to the sides as a tall, impressive figure stepped out
from the
temple.
"Now
you face..." Mao said
grimly. "...Our
leader," Jao finished,
glaring at Vyse and the others as a tall, muscular figure stepped out
of .
"Daigo!"
Moegi cried out,
recognizing the man who had just appeared.
"Moegi?"
the aforementioned
man said in astonishment. "What are you doing here? Has Father changed
his
mind?"
"Whoa,
this guy's your
brother?" Aika cut in, staring at Moegi and then Daigo. "What's he
doing
leading a bunch of pirates?"
"You're
pirates,"
Ramirez noted.
"No
one asked you!" she
hissed. "And that's beside the point, anyway!"
Moegi's
face fell, and she
averted her gaze. "Father has...Yafutoma is..."
Daigo
sat then. "Tell me the
story from the beginning," he ordered.
So the Princess did—about the
ambitions of Muraji and Kangan, about their betrayal, about Valua
coming to
conquer Yafutoma, and how her current companions were fighting to stop
Valua.
At the end, Daigo nodded seriously.
"I
will help you," he said
decisively. "Though I embraced freedom during my time as a pirate, I
cannot
ignore my country in its time of dire need. It is my duty as the prince
of
Yafutoma, regardless of being exiled!"
Vyse
smiled in relief.
"Thanks, Daigo," he said. "I'm sure you'll be a great help!"
The prodigal Prince grinned in reply, and
added, "If you need any supplies, you can just take what you need of
ours.
There's no sense in jumping in unprepared, right?"
"Great!
Actually..." Vyse then
turned to Ramirez, who quietly stood in the back. "He needs a
sword...he lost
his a while ago. Can you help us out?"
Daigo
stood and, turning back
to the shrine, motioned for them to follow. "Come in and pick out
whatever
suits your fancy."
Ramirez
glanced briefly at
Vyse before the two of them followed Daigo inside. The structure looked
antique, even ancient, and the walls were covered so thickly with
swords of all
shapes and sizes that even an inch of wood could not be seen beneath
them.
"If
there's a sword you
prefer, you're sure to find it in here," Daigo told the two with some
amusement
in his voice. "Jao and Mao won't be particularly pleased that I'm doing
this,
but it's just one sword, and it's for a greater cause anyway. They'll
get over
it."
Ramirez
eyed the wall of
swords, studying them carefully. Finally, he selected a katana with its
handle
wrapped with red and black and its scabbard lacquered in the same
colors, and
then drew the blade. He first checked the balance of it, and was
pleased to
find that it left nothing to be desired. The weight and length were
reasonably
appropriate as well. Ramirez then held up the katana and inspected its
edge.
"Yafutoman
blades are
unparalleled in excellence and sharpness," Daigo commented then, having
noted
his actions. "A fly can't walk the edge without cuttings its feet."
Ramirez
glanced back at Vyse
with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Is that so," he said quietly.
Satisfied
with his choice, he replaced the sword in its scabbard and attached it
to its
accompanying sword belt, which he then tied around his waist.
Vyse
just gave him a look and
made a mental note to talk to him later. /I swear, he's going out of
his way
to make me uncomfortable,/ he thought as he and the other two men
left the
building. /Sheesh, and he just called a
truce, too... Can't he make up his mind?/
The
group reassembled and,
checking their weapons, armor and items, made their way to the bottom
of the
stone bridges that lead up to the temple to the house-boat in which
they had
arrived. Vyse hesitated, realizing then that the tiny boat would be
utterly
useless in a battle. Daigo just threw his head back in a hearty laugh
when he
commented on it, though.
"You
should come with me," he
said, gesturing towards his own ship. It, like all the other ships they
had
seen in Yafutoma, was made of paper, and brightly colored.
"You
sure about that?" Vyse
asked, slightly surprised.
"Of
course! You need to be on
the battlefield to find your Delphinus, after all!" Daigo replied.
The
young rogue grinned. "Good
point. Thanks!"
The
group boarded Daigo's
ship, and with a grand motion, it and a fleet of the Tenkou's brightly
colored
ships soared into the air.
The
pirates engaged the Valuan
fleet, but neither side could gain the upper hand. While the Tenkou
ships were
more maneuverable, the Valuans had better weaponry. The battle went on
for
several hours before Daigo, sensing the futility, was about to order
the ships to
withdraw.
"Lord
Daigo!" one of the
Tenkou pirates called to him then, quickly walking up. "Just now, a
ship
matching the description of the Delphinus has been spotted!"
"It
has?" Vyse asked
immediately. "If it is the Delphinus, we can take it back and win this
war
ourselves!"
"Well,"
Daigo said, looking
down at the young captain, "We can try to get up close to it. But...
are you
sure about this?"
Vyse
grinned in reply. "Don't
worry about it, Daigo! We're gonna take back the Delphinus, Air Pirate
style!"
Daigo
grinned back. "Of
course, my friend. I'd almost forgotten about your undying spirit! All
hands!
Bring us to boarding distance of the Delphinus!"
At
the Yafutoman Prince's
command, the Yin Yang pulled close to a ship that could only be the
Delphinus.
Pulling a worried Fina close, Vyse reassured her she wouldn't fall, and
prepared to jump.
"You
hanging on tight?" Vyse
grinned at Fina, his arm around her waist.
"Er...yes,"
she replied,
blushing faintly. Watching them from the corner of his eye, Ramirez
scowled,
his new Yafutoman sword clutched in his right hand.
"Then
let's go!" And with
that, he leapt from the Yin Yang to the deck of the Delphinus.
"Our
turn now!" Aika said
cheerfully. "You go on ahead, Enrique!"
"What?
AAAAAUGGGH!" Enrique screamed
as she pushed him over the side and then jumped herself.
Ramirez
launched himself from
the Yafutoman ship and landed with ease with the others, bringing his
sword to
bear as he did so; Yafutoman and Valuan soldiers had already surrounded
them.
He smiled darkly, for he was glad for the chance for battle. It would
allow him
to vent his frustration and jealousy.
"Admiral
Ramirez!" one of the
Valuan soldiers said, startled, upon recognizing the last of the
boarders.
"What are you doing here, with these pirates?!"
The Silvite let his sword answer
for him.
"Admiral
Ramirez!! What are you
doing?!" another Valuan soldier cried, the first one having already
been
silenced. The other soldiers hesitated to go into battle mode, the
appearance
of the sixth Admiral having confused them, and the Yafutoman fighters,
confused
by the others' indecision, also faltered; that was their fatal error.
Vyse
sighed inwardly, and
launched himself into the fray. He didn't like killing people, but
there was
too much at stake here. They needed to have control of the entire ship,
and for
that, they couldn't have any enemy soldiers running around, armed or
not.
Dispatching one of the guards, he turned to make sure that Fina and the
others
were all right.
Enrique
had gotten to his
feet, and was fighting a Valuan soldier who was obviously not fighting
at his
full capacity, probably due to reservations and confusion over fighting
the
Prince of Valua. Aika and Fina were both fighting a Yafutoman soldier
who
seemed to be a match for both of them, but they seemed to be able to
handle
themselves regardless.
Vyse
rushed and engaged
another Yafutoman soldier, before that soldier could get any ideas
about
helping his comrade. Blocking a strike from the soldier's polearm, he
swerved
slightly and moved forward, slicing with his secondary blade deep into
the side
of the upper right chest. With a scream and a flash of blood, the
Yafutoman
soldier stumbled—in the wrong direction. Vyse's cutlass dug deeper into
his
body, cutting almost to his spinal cord, and when the rogue pulled his
blade out,
the soldier fell back in a sea of red.
Quickly
scanning the
battlefield, he saw another Yafutoman soldier, this one threatening to
put
Enrique in a tight spot. Vyse ran up to assist his friend, and between
the two
of them, the Yafutoman soldier didn't stand a chance.
Once
that soldier was on the
deck, Vyse once again surveyed the battlefield and found that all the
opposing
warriors were dead or unconscious, the girls having had been more
merciful to their
opponents than the boys had been. Signaling them to follow, he opened
the door
to the interior of the Delphinus and hurried in the direction of the
control
room.
There
were small skirmishes
with Valuan and Yafutoman soldiers on the way, but Vyse's group easily
dispatched
them all with little collateral damage. When the group arrived at the
control
room, they found Muraji and a host of Yafutoman soldiers waiting for
them.
Muraji
looked positively
shocked to see them there. Gathering up what little courage he had, he
ordered
his soldiers to attack the 'invading' group, but they were easily
defeated.
"Please
don't kill me!!"
Muraji blubbered, on the floor, as Enrique held the point of his rapier
before
him.
"As
much as I would like to
run you through, it would be dishonorable to kill a defenseless man,"
Enrique
replied coolly, drawing back his sword and sheathing it. "You are now
our
prisoner."
"Yes,
yes," the weasel-man
babbled, nodding his head rapidly. "Thank you, you are much too
generous..."
Ramirez
frowned slightly,
watching the scene. Enrique was too
generous. He would have to do something to ensure that Muraji wouldn't
cause
trouble at an extremely inconvenient moment...
Stepping
up to the cowering
man, he glared down at him and drew his sword. Holding the blade close
to
Muraji's neck, he spoke in a tone that promised death, "Prince Enrique
may be
merciful, but I am not. Misbehave and I will separate your head from
your
body." With that, he pulled the blade away and returned it to its
sheath, his
entire demeanor calm but serious.
Muraji
degenerated into a
quivering mass.
Vyse
pulled Ramirez aside.
"Two things," he said in a low voice. "One, thinly veiled death threats
are not
good for truces, and I'm referring to when you first got that sword.
Second, what
you did just now was totally out of line."
"I
was simply ensuring that he
knew his place, and if he stepped out of it, his life would be
forfeit,"
Ramirez murmured in reply. "Prince Enrique isn't threatening enough do
so
properly. As for the other thing, I don't know what you're talking
about."
Vyse
rolled his eyes. "Well,
whatever," he muttered. "I'll talk to you about it later." He turned
away and
took up the Delphinus' wheel in his hands. "All right, everyone, we've
got some
battles to fight! Let's go!" he cried, steering the ship into the fray.
The
first ship that they
encountered was a big, thick one, with a huge cannon equipped. Ramirez
and
Enrique recognized it immediately, and the former was slightly amused
when Aika
commented, "What ship is that? For some reason, it gives me the
creeps..."
Enrique
informed her, "That's
Vigoro's ship, the Draco."
"GAH!
No wonder it's so
gross!" Aika exclaimed, disgusted, holding her arms as her face turned
red.
"Talk about overcompensation!"
They
engaged the Draco, and
battle ensued. Despite Vigoro's jeering over communications, and that
the Draco
did have an extremely powerful cannon, in the end neither of them were
a match
for Vyse and the Delphinus. Smoking and in shock, Vigoro and his Draco
began to
retreat when the Lynx, Belleza's flagship, appeared. The two ships were
about
to engage in battle, when a brilliant blue light blazed forth from Mt.
Kazai.
"Please
don't tell me..." Vyse
groaned, looking in its direction, "that some idiot awakened the
Gigas?!"
The
mountain broke apart and a
gigantic blue draconic bird soared into the sky, telling him that some
idiot
had awakened the Blue Gigas. With a shrill cry, the Gigas spread its
wings, and
a great blast of wind crashed through half the Valuan fleet.
"Bluheim..."
Fina whispered,
feeling paralyzed. "It's awake..."
Ramirez
frowned, slightly
disconcerted. The Delphinus' Moon Stone Cannon was developed based on
information gathered from the Red and Green Gigases, and was supposedly
as
powerful as a Gigas' main weapon, but... There was a distinct
difference in
supposedly having that power and actually having that power. If the
Moon Stone
Cannon wasn't strong enough to take down a Gigas, they would be dead
before
long.
Meanwhile,
the rest of the
Valuan fleet decided that discretion was the better part of valor and
retreated. Enrique watched them go, feeling slightly relieved. There
was no way
normal ships could stand up to a Gigas; if they stayed, they'd only be
destroyed. He felt grateful to Belleza, whom he was sure had given the
order to
retreat.
Turning
to the captain of his
ship, he asked, "Vyse, what's our next move?"
"You
have to ask? We take
Bluheim out!" Vyse replied with a cocky grin. "The Moon Stone Cannon is
supposed to be as strong as a Gigas, right? Besides, if we don't beat
Bluheim,
who will?! Let's go!"
Fina
stepped up to Vyse, and
said, "Bluheim gets its strength from the Blue Moon, so it has
accelerated
speed and can use the wind as a weapon... If you hold your ground, you
should
be able to keep from getting blown away."
Vyse
nodded, taking note of
her advice, and engaged the blue beast.
The
battle was long and
strenuous—Bluheim knocked the Delphinus completely off-course more than
once,
and due to its speed, it attacked almost constantly with devastating
attacks.
Only Fina and Aika's constant healing, along with the Delphinus' high
constitution and top-class armor, kept the Delphinus from getting wiped
out
completely.
Finally,
with one last blast
of the Moon Stone Cannon, the Blue Gigas Bluheim flopped down on the
side of
Mt. Kazai, apparently dead.
"Vyse,
we did it! We beat a
Gigas!" Aika exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah,
and it looks like
Daigo's ships have taken care of business, too," Vyse grinned back. In
the
distance, the Yin Yang had cornered a small, weasel-like man holding a
brilliantly shining Blue Crystal.
Ramirez
hated to admit it, but
he was impressed. To defeat not only an Admiral, but a Gigas almost
immediately
after that... Vyse would probably want to talk to him later about it,
too, and
there was no way he could get away with dismissing the rogue's
accomplishments.
Besides...he had managed to pull himself out of a tough situation—he
had lost
his ship!—and managed to come out the hero yet again. Luck like that
just
shouldn't be possible... Ramirez shook his head. He truly hated to
admit it,
but he...admired Vyse. Ignoring the sound of his heart, Ramirez told
himself
that he only admired Vyse.
Still
grinning, Vyse
continued, "Let's go back to Yafutoma, and make sure the King's okay."
With
that, the Delphinus, although it was fairly battered from the battle,
headed
for the island country. Once
they returned, the royal family greeted them enthusiastically and
gratefully.
"Thanks
to you, we have our
country back, and what's more, I have my son back," Mikado said,
evidently
quite pleased with how things turned out. "As a token of our
gratitude," he
continued, "I would like you to have the Magatama. You did say you
needed it,
correct?"
Aika
stared at him. "Didn't
you say you needed it to determine the successor to the throne?"
The
aged monarch shook his
head. "We don't need such a thing anymore. Daigo has proved himself
most
worthy, so his return is far better for the fate of the country than
any
Crystal would be."
"Yeah!!"
Aika cheered. "Vyse,
Fina, we got the Blue Crystal! Only three left to go!"
Her
two companions shared her
enthusiasm, and Vyse bowed slightly to Mikado. "Thank you very much,
Your
Highness," he said politely.
"No, no, it is I who must be
thanking you, Vyse," the king of Yafutoma replied, smiling. "It was you
who
saved our land and brought back our rightful heir, after all."
Moegi, after a pensive silence,
stepped forward
suddenly, and said, "Father... I have a request. I want to go with
them. We
cannot remain ignorant of the world around us anymore; this invasion
has shown
us this much."
All
eyes turned to Moegi.
"Moegi..."
her father
articulated, surprised.
"You
and my brother shall
fulfill your duties to Yafutoma by staying here," Moegi stated quietly.
"I
shall fulfill my duties to Yafutoma by traveling with these people."
Mikado
regarded her for a few
moments, then nodded slowly. "Very well," he said sagely. "Make your
country
proud, Moegi."
The
Yafutoman princess smiled
warmly at her father, and walked over to Enrique, prompting several
knowing
looks from his companions.
"Prince
Enrique," Daigo said
then. With a smirk-like grin, he continued, "Please take good care of
my
sister..."
Moegi
and Enrique turned
bright red as everyone else but Ramirez laughed.
Recomposing
himself, Enrique
replied earnestly, "You have my word as one prince to another."
Daigo
smiled warmly and
nodded. "That is good to hear. I knew you were a good man for her."
"Yeah,
Enrique'll 'take care'
of Moegi in all sorts of ways, won't you?" Aika added, elbowing the
Valuan
Prince.
Enrique
blushed furiously.
"Hey, stop that!" he cried, embarrassed.
Aika
laughed. "Just kidding!"
she grinned. "Don't take it so seriously, Enrique!"
"Oh
yes," said Daigo, after
they calmed down, "I would like to give you an additional gift. I
noticed your
ship can't travel high or low like ours can, so I'm giving you this
scroll with
the information necessary to build an engine that can." With that, he
walked up
to Vyse and handed him a scroll with the afore-said information on it.
Vyse
opened the scroll and
surveyed it. "Wow..." he breathed, an enthusiastic light shining in his
eyes.
"Amazing! Thanks, Daigo!"
The
Yafutoman prince nodded,
and smiled. "It's the least I could do."
The
captain of the Delphinus grinned excitedly and
nodded to Daigo. "Thanks again!" He bowed to the Prince and his father.
"And
thank you for the Blue Crystal, too!"
Mikado
smiled and nodded his
respect to the young pirate. Vyse and company left shortly after, Fina
glowing
with happiness as she carried the Blue Moon Crystal in her arms, and
Vyse
walking with a certain perk in his step as he carried the Book of
Polarity.
"When
we get home and Brabham
makes that engine for us, there won't be anywhere in the world we can't
go,
will there?" Aika commented, grinning.
"Nope!"
the young pirate
grinned back.
"Can't
wait!" Aika cheered,
stretching.
Suddenly
remembering, Vyse
turned to Ramirez, still smiling. Ramirez regarded him with a guarded
frown,
not knowing what to expect.
"Thanks."
Ramirez
blinked. Of all the
possible scenarios he had envisioned, Vyse thanking him was towards the
bottom.
"For what?"
The
brown-eyed rogue grinned.
"What else? For your help and cooperation."
The
male Silvite stared at the
other man, not sure how to respond. After a minute, he gave up and
looked away.
"Another
thing, Ramirez," Vyse
added. The silver-haired swordsman glanced at him. With a little smile
and a
little shrug, the brunet rogue continued, "That last battle...what's
your
opinion?"
Ramirez
blinked. "You mean
against Bluheim?"
"Yeah.
Thanks for your help
with that one, too."
Without speaking, the strategic genius looked away,
considered the question, and then looked back, allowing his expression
to be
more peaceable than usual.
"Well
done."
He
didn't say any more, but he
didn't have to.
Vyse
blinked at him, surprised
at the lack of a sarcastic comment, but then smiled. "Well, we should
board the
Delphinus, and get going, okay?" he said, as he turned, and headed for
the
carrier boat that was docked in the harbor.
His
companions all nodded, and
the five of them returned to their battered but victorious ship.
Various
Yafutoman mechanics had been on board, by order of the King, so the
bodies were
cleared out, and they were currently at work on fixing the damage.
Giving their
thanks as they passed, Vyse and company returned to the control room to
discuss
their next move.
"So,
now what, Captain?" Aika
grinned at Vyse as they situated themselves around a table, a map and
the Blue
Crystal between them.
"We
heard home, of course!"
the male Air Pirate smiled back.
"Yeah!
We have to tell
everyone back home what we've found!" Aika cheered. "How are we gonna
get back,
though? The Dark Rift was hell to navigate before, and it's not gonna
be any
better this time..."
"You
don't have to navigate
the Dark Rift," Ramirez said quietly. All eyes were on him as he
continued,
"Just sail east from here."
Aika
stared at him, surprised.
"Huh? But...wouldn't we fall off the edge of the world?" she asked,
utterly
confused.
Ramirez
stared back at her for
a few seconds...then began to laugh.
"Hey,
what's so funny?!" Aika
demanded, irked.
Shaking
his head, Ramirez
replied, "Nothing, really...just that you were serious." Recomposing
himself,
he continued, "No, we won't fall off the edge of the world, because
there is no
such thing. The world is round."
Aika
glared at him and demanded, "How do
you know that?"
"I
spent my entire childhood
looking down on Arcadia," Ramirez replied, his tone slightly amused.
"Trust me,
it's round. You tell them too, Fina."
"Eh?"
Fina looked surprised at
being addressed so suddenly. She didn't look thrilled at being put
upon,
either. "Well..." She paused, uncertain, then continued, softly.
"Um...well...yes."
Despite
all this, Vyse didn't
look too surprised. "Aika, didn't Belleza say something about coming
here from
the west?" he asked his childhood friend.
"Hmm..." The red-haired
piratess looked thoughtful. "Now that you mention it... Then again, you
can't
always be sure what she says is the truth, right?"
"A
valid point, but this time
she's telling the truth," Ramirez stated.
"There
are ancient texts in
the Valuan library that also state that the world is round," Enrique
added.
"And some scholars perpetuate this as well. However, nobody has been
able to
prove it, and those who claim that the world isn't flat usually get
prosecuted..."
"Well,
this is a great
opportunity to prove that the world is round once and for all, isn't
it?" Vyse
grinned.
"Yeah!"
Aika cheered. "In any
case, it's better than the Dark Rift again," she added.
"Great!
So now that that's
decided, let's move out!" Vyse declared, holding up a fist.
"Aye-aye,
captain!" most of
his crew responded, and they went to their respective stations to sail
east to
return to Crescent Isle.
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.
Ianthe: If this chapter sucked, it's
my fault.
Ayu: ^_^; How is it your fault?
Ianthe: ...Because I don't got teh
mad skillz?
Ayu: We've been doing fine before
now... Anyway, we finished chapter eight before we finished
this...that's how
much we didn't want to write this chapter. I think it might show...
Ayu: The title of this chapter is a
line from Kirai ni Narenai (I Can't Hate
You), the second opening
theme from Magic Knight Rayearth. The
full line is "Kirai ni naritai demo
kirai ni narenai itsumo kokoro
ha
yurete iru", which means "I want to hate you, but I can't hate you; my
heart is
always wavering". I think that this is an amazingly appropriate line
for
Ramirez. 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))
