Authors Note: I'm pushing this one, so sorry if sucks just a bit. It's…dear god, 1:34 at night, and no coffee and no sleep makes Seig something something…

A Pirates Tale

Chapter 5: Chains

Captains Log, the nineteenth of August, the Third Age

Once again I find myself on a ship, and I welcome the surroundings with open arms. The Black Chimaera is indeed an impressive model, where for many ships a voyage to the isolated world of Traverse Town would take weeks, Faustus promises we will be there within a day.

I cannot say that I honestly trust Faustus. He is indeed a strange individual, mostly keeping to himself, locked within his cockpit. This does, however, give me ample time to explore the rest of his ship. Mostly standard issue: a kitchen, a bedroom and, thankfully, a bathroom with a shower. Ah, here comes the devil as I speak. I'll end the log for now.

Captain Sora of the King of Hearts

Hastily wrapping up his entry, Sora shoved his log under the heap that was his jacket. Faustus gave him an odd look of unspoken curiosity as he made his way to the refrigerator. Pulling it open, he withdrew two sodas. Tossing one to Sora, he popped the one in his hand and pulled up a seat next to Sora's position at the table.

"I set her on auto, so we should be all right." He said, and Sora nodded. By "should be alright" he, of course, meant, "If we don't run headlong into any stars, meteors or chunks of space crud." Faustus looked hard at Sora, as if trying to read his face. Or his soul. Either way, the feeling was rather awkward. Taking another steady sip from his pop, he nodded slowly towards Sora's jacket.

"What's with the diary?" He asked casually. Sora's eyes flicked towards his jacket. A corner of his leather logbook was poking out. Hastily shoving it again under his jacket, Sora just shrugged, trying desperately to make it seem like it was nothing.

"It's just a log of my travels." He said simply. Faustus gave a low, amused laugh.

"A kid like you has travels? Huh, never would have thought it." Sora glared at him. He didn't like being called a kid, it was always so belittling.

"And what about you? You can't possibly be any older than I am." Faustus, continued looking at Sora, as if trying to decide to trust him or not. He, much like Sora, was lacking in trust of others.

"I'm 19." He said simply, as if it finished the topic indefinitely.

"All right, so you're two years older than I am." He admitted, causing a slight, brief smile from the enigmatic man. "But what do you do? I mean, owning your own ship and all that."

"Well, if you must know," Faustus said, taking the last swig from the pop, and expertly tossing it into the trashcan behind him. "I'm an assassin for the Empire." Standing up, he began staring out the window opposite of him. Either there was something greatly interesting in the vast emptiness of space, or he was desperately trying to avoid Sora's gaze.

"A few months ago, I was assigned to track down the exact pirate ship you're after, the King of Hearts. The group isn't exactly bloodthirsty, but they've obviously caused the Empire enough trouble to send me after them." Faustus chuckled. "For that reason, I admire these pirates."

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

"I wish I could cause the Empire as much hell as these guys are. I've wanted to take it to them for so long…"

"But…you work for them, right? Why go against those you work for?" He reminds me of Ansem. Sora thought, wishing he still had his sword at the moment. Guys with the same qualities as Ansem weren't exactly trustworthy. Faustus turned to Sora.

"Because I hate those bastards. I'm not exactly working for them by choice."

"Then why not quit? Run away to the farthest planet in the system and stay there?" Sora asked. "That's what I'd do."

Faustus tore his gave from the stars passing by, and turned to Sora. His face was expressionless, a blank slate devoid of feeling.

"It's not as simple as that, mate." He said wearily. Sora crumpled his can, and made an attempt to copy the move Faustus made, but only succeeded making the can bounce of the rim, and clank on the metal floor.

"Why not?"

"Because," Faustus said. "They own me." He took a seat next to Sora, and stared hard at the dull, industrial-produced metal. Taking a deep breath, he began his tale, regardless of any invitation.

"I started in the business as a randomly hired man, mostly doing random odd jobs for whoever paid. Eventually, my rep for being a damn good assassin got around and…about a year ago, a man came to me. Nice suit, sunglasses, you know, the rich guy who wants someone gone. The big, powerful CEO who was a habit for playing dirty. " Sora nodded understandingly. "He gave me an offer: Knock off some Ambassador from some odd planet who was trying to pass a bill he didn't like. If I could get it done, I'd get a paycheck large enough to last me the rest of my life. So, naturally, I accepted. No questions, no answers. Nothing personal, pure business. I left for the capitol, Dalamascia, got there, and crept in to this guy's house. All really simple stuff. I had no idea who he was; I assumed he was just some man." Faustus gave a short, sardonic laugh. "Man, how wrong I was. I got there, and in an instant, WHAM! Twenty guns were pointed in my direction. Someone tipped the man off, and I was busted. I thought, there in that hallway, that I was going to die." He gave a halfhearted, stale chuckle. "Sometimes I kinda wish that they did shoot me. But, Death passed me by that night. The Ambassador came, just as they were going to shoot me down, and offered me two choices: I could die right then and there…or I could work for him and the Empire. Looking back…I'm still not sure I made the right choice." Faustus sighed, and scratched his raven-haired head. Looking up at Sora, a mixture of pain and fury radiated in his eyes.

"I'm chained to them, man. Whatever he says I do, I have to do. I don't have choices any more…choices can get me killed."

The pair was silent for what seemed to be forever. Well, at least to Sora it did. Both stared at some object in the room for a while, before Faust stood up, cleared his throat, and started walking to the back of the ship.

"I'm gonna go check on the engine room, then go to bed." He pushed a button next to a wall, and a panel slid open, leading to a descending stairway. "I'll catch you in the morning."

The door slid shut behind Faustus with a long, drawn out hiss. Sora sat in his chair, and Sora stared out the window. Long after Faustus had gone to bed, and slept a constantly uneasy sleep, Sora stood up, gently dumped his crumpled and broken can in the trash, and went to sleep.

Authors Note: Yeah, I'm back. Not much of a comeback, but its still one. This is all talking, I know, but deal until the next one, K?