CHAPTER 4
THE Beginning OF A VOYAGE

The bridge of the Delphinus looked exactly like Fina had seen it last, with a few minor changes.

In the captains chair sat Captain Mackenzie, Where Vyse had been during the Crystalline War. The flag above his head was no longer the graceful creature she had drawn for Vyse's Blue rogues symbol, for it had been replaced with the flag of the New Valuan Empire, the six moons, with the yellow and Silver moons at the top, with the planet Arcadia in the centre, showing the Valuan continent, as well as parts of Mid-Ocean.

In the place of Aika, herself, Hans and Lawrence stood Men and women in Valuan Uniform. She had already met up with Marco, Who was the ships Helmsmen. They had been very happy to see each other, and had had a brief breakfast to share their stories. Now she stood on the bridge as Marco took his station, as the Delphinus prepared to leave for Crescent Isle.

"Captain, engines are at full capacity and are ready for departure. The Moonstone Cannon is loaded with a new moonstone, and the pressure shutters are standing by and ready close when we reach Upper Sky," Marco called.

"Thank you Marco, but we're not heading over Valua."

"Sir?"

"I have orders from Emperor Enrique Vadeck Himself, we are to head to Crescent Isle, Via the South Dannel Strait...at half speed."

"But...but sir, that means we won't get to Crescent Isle for another week!"

"That's the plan."

"but why?...sir?"

"Only Miss Silvairian can tell you that," The captain sighed, looking down at Fina "But I don't want anybody to pester her for information, am I clear?"

"AYE AYE!" the crew roared.

Daniel had still not taken his eyes off of Fina. She was gazing at the floor, shifting from foot to the other.

She suddenly looked up and locked eyes with his.

The captain gazed into her deep pools of aquatic green eyes, she stared back into his hazel ones, they stared at each other for a long time. Suddenly someone coughed.

"Uh...sir? We can leave now."

The captain blinked and tore his eyes away from Fina.

"Very well, Mr. Marco. Ahead, half speed, destination, the South Dannel Strait."

"South Dannel Strait, One half speed, Aye sir."

There was an auditable groan as the Docking clamps released the Delphinus from their grip. The Captain felt the ship shudder as she moved off her moorings.

He gazed down at Fina, who, he noticed, was blushing heavily.

He sighed and slumped in his chair, he had to talk with her.

"Miss. Navada," he called to his Vice-Captain as he stood up, "You have the bridge. Miss Silvairian, may I talk with you...in private"

Fina looked up at the captain and flushed, before nodding and looking down at the floor again.

As the door closed behind them, Marco stared keenly after them.

"You think, they'll get together"

Catherine Navada stared intently at Marco before slumping in the captains chair.

"I honestly don't know Marco. Maybe, only time will tell."

The Captain's Quarters were the largest quarters on the Delphinus, roughly half the size of the Grand hall at the the aft of the ship.

On the walls were numerous pictures of ships and ports, as well as a few pictures of unfamiliar people on the desk, which was directly opposite the door at the other end of the room.

In the centre, backed against the wall, sat a large,

four-poster bed, the symbol of the New Valuan Empire emblazed on the dark blue sheets.

The captain sat down in the large leather chair behind his desk and took off his hat, placing it upside down, before clasping his hands together in front of him.

Fina stood in front of him, looking like a small child being told off in the principal's office.

"I'm not going tell you off Miss Silvairian," The captain said, a hint of amusement in his voice"I just want to talk to you about a few things."

He gestured to the chair behind her and she sat down, her hands folded in her lap.

"Now first off, I'm going to explain what is going to happen when we reach Crescent Isle. When we reach the Island, I am going to explain all of this to Captain Dyne, Ok?"

Fina nodded.

"Now, my orders, were to bring you home to Crescent Isle. Once we arrive, You and myself will head down to the Island via a Lifeboat..."

"Did you say 'you and myself'?" Fina asked surprised.

The captain raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, I shall be coming with you to insure...um...that nothing bad happens."

Fina looked puzzled but allowed Mackenzie to continue.

"Once we land, You, me, Captain Vyse and Miss Aika will gather in your meeting room..."

"How do you know about that?" Fina asked.

"Please be aware that Emperor Enrique was with you during the Crystalline War, he has given me the information personally."

"Oh."

"So to continue. In the meeting room, you, Captain Vyse, and Miss Aika will talk, about your relationship with each other. Should you decide to stay with them, then I will leave and you may never hear from me again. If you wish to leave, then my orders are to take you to Valua, or to any other place you want to go. I am going to be there to insure that...um...Captain Vyse does not...force you to stay with him."

Fina studied the captain intently, sensing a great amount of worry for her. She was surprised, because to show he worried, showed he cared, but why did he care? He didn't know her that well.

"Secondly," The captain continued,"I would like you to explain to me the situation that led to your running away."

Fina sighed and once again began to retell the story, of how she had decided that she was finally going to tell Vyse how much she truly loved him, how she had seen him and Aika kissing, and how she had run away.

By this time the tears returned again, and she slumped forward onto the Captains desk, the hot droplets splashing on the wooden surface.

As she lent her head against the desk, she suddenly felt something warm over her hands.

Upon looking up she found them covered by the Captains own, and when she looked up into his eyes, she found her self looking into eyes filled with concern.

"Hey, it's ok, there's no need to cry." he said quietly.

He then did something totally unexpected, he gave her a small smile. She blinked, he never smiled, this guy was about as hard nosed as you got.

She found herself smiling shyly back at him, a warm shade of pink creeping onto her cheeks.

He looked down, distracted and removed his hands from hers, his face going red.

She stood up, feeling that he wanted to be alone.

She was just about o reach for the doorknob when a question suddenly filled her mind. She looked over her shoulder, to find the young captain, staring back at her.

"Captain Mackenzie? Have you ever...been in love?"

The captain sighed and looked down at a picture on his desk. He picked it up and stared hard at it, before handing it over to Fina for her to see.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The picture had been drawn on the bridge of an old Valuan Battle Cruiser. And Admirals ship, judging from the décor. In the centre stood two young children, no older than 10 years old.

It was a boy and a girl.

The boy was obviously the Captain, but the girl looked strangely, familiar.

Both were holding each others hands, both smiling happily at each other. She saw a look in each others eyes that she had only every seen Enrique use when he talked about Moegi.

"That was taken well over 15 years ago," the captain sighed as he slumped in his chair"the boy, as you can guess, is me. The girl...is Piastol Mendosa."

Fina gasped, now she recognised her. The picture was in Black and white, so she couldn't see Piastol's telltale white and purple hair.

"That was taken just before Admiral Mendosa's fleet set off for Nasr." the Captain said quietly as he gazed off distantly, "I had met her, only ayear before. My father worked as a navigator for the Valuan Armada, and so I met her through him.

She was a sweet and innocent girl, much like an older version of her little sister, Maria.

I believed it to be love at first site, despite both our fathers severely disapproving of our relationship.

You see I was nothing more than a son of a Navigator from Lower City, While she was the daughter of a Wealthy Valuan Admiral from Upper City.

Somehow we managed to stayed intogether for over a year, then Mendosa decided to take both his daughters away with him to Nasr, during the war.

Before they left, she had this picture drawn for me, to remind me of her when she was gone. Then we shared our first kiss."

The captain slumped back in his chair and swivelled to look out of the porthole.

"Well, I think you know the rest of the story. Mendosa's ship, The Aquila, sank near the Nasr Kingdom. I was devastated when I heard about it. Not only had my father been on that ship, but so had Piastol. My one true love, gone, I never would see her smiling face again. From then on, I decided that I would never fall in love again.

Years later, when I worked from that salvaging company, I saw her face again, only it looked...a whole lot different.

Me and my work mates were resting on Sailor's Island, taking a break from taking apart an old transport ship for some one.

I decided to take a walk before dark and found myself in front of the Sailor's Guild.

That was when I saw her face on the Bounty List, under the name of the Angel Of Death."

"But why didn't you go after her?" asked Fina, sitting down across from him again, "If you knew that she was alive why didn't you look for her?"

"Because...because I couldn't." the young man said sadly, "I could never get the time off to go search for her. I figured if she saw me, she might recognise me, and stop her evil ways. But I couldn't get the money for a small ship to search for her. A few months later I heard that Piastol had given up bounty hunting, after a Captain Vyse Dyne had set her life straight. I believe you were there when he did it?"

She looked down, distracted at the thought of Vyse.

The captain smiled slightly again.

"I thought as much. The last I heard of her, she had gone off to look for her sister, Maria, who I heard was recovered by the Aquila's Doctor.

I figured she had probably moved on, and had probably found a guy like her."

Fina bit her lower lip.

"She...she came to Crescent Isle, a week after the Crystalline War finished. She...met Our helmsmen. Lawrence."

"Lone-wolf Lawrence?"

"Yes...I heard they married and travel the world together."

To Fina's surprise, The Captain chuckled slightly as he stared out of the porthole.

"I guess the Lone-wolf, isn't so lonely now, eh"

"I'm sorry Captain, about Piastol. If she had known you were still around, I'm sure she would have looked for you...instead of going on a revenge mission against Vyse."

"Of that I have no doubt," The captain said quietly, as he stood up from his desk, "but the fact is, she didn't. She forgot about me, even though I never forgot about her. The only girl I ever loved...gone. I don't even know why I keep that picture. Maybe to remind myself, of happier times."

Fina sighed and stood up again, before placing the picture on Daniel's desk.

She walked over to the door and sighed. So he couldn't love her. That was that. He was too sunk in depression to see that. She looked over her shoulder, to see the Captain, holding the picture in his hands, a heartbreaking look on his tired face.