Chapter 10 Sigh…I'm Such a Liar. You Know Where We Are…the Ship
"Where is that dratted boy?" Egomaniac hissed. "Doesn't he ever think of the trouble he causes me?"
Across the small space between the ships—they were still disconnecting them—the questing group heard the yell that happened a little bit ago.
Poor Kun was utterly confused, having no idea of what had been going on while the giant had been here. And the only one bothering to describe things was the troubadour, memorializing the events for himself in verse so he could profess them to the lovely Serenity the next time he saw her. No doubt she would love to hear of his courage. And, as you know, his sentences, needing to rhyme in a hurry did not always make the best sense.
"Eh? What the heck was that?" Axel asked, staring across the vast expanse of the sea.
Coolly, Sir Blaydelot swiveled him around as he said, "It came from over there."
"Oh. Do you think it was a witch?"
"No." Sighing from where he was removing all his armor, which was a struggle with slick hands, the true knight almost choked on his own wretched scent. "It had to have been the pirate captain. It sounded like him. I wonder what his problem is…besides the fact that I bested him?"
"BARLEYO!"
Muggy cast a worried look at his brother, the latter of whom was studying a map he had made of the ocean and the constellations. The youngest Gruff hoped he wouldn't hear the angry yell or notice the pirate coming back across the ships. Kid, this is Put'oh. The guy obsessive about your safety. Do you think he's going to miss seeing the enraged face of a guy commonly known for kidnapping, looting, and murdering even if he is involved in his maps? Maybe if it had been a speech, but this…
No way.
"Get below decks!"
"But maybe he went through a change and he's just coming over to congratulate us or something."
Yeah, right.
That's why he looks completely able to do the Glare of Death.
Put'oh was no fool as much as everyone else thought him one. He gripped his brother firmly, daring him to Squirm, and led him away. That left the others to deal with the encroaching captain.
Blaydelot, cleaning his sword at seeing the threat, grimly gripped it tightly. Apparently, the idiot had not learned his lesson. Well, this time he would get it…
"Now, why is that familiar?" Axel asked, scratching his head. He was watching the pirate captain swinging across from the plank, but unfortunately, the undead's old wrists could not support his weight and he dropped with a splash into the sea. His hands feebly held the ropes from above.
Kun raced over to the side. "We have to help him!"
The others looked at him as if he were mad, but the short guy was already diving over the edge.
Surprisingly, he was a great swimmer. In hardly any time, the short punk had snagged the pirate like a fish does a lure and was dragging him back to the Virtually Unstoppable. However, Egomaniac was giving a wail as gesturing with stubs at something floundering in the water. So, Kun went back to retrieve the drowning hands.
"Oh, I remember now! (I'm surprised he remembered anything that happened nearly ten pages ago.) That albino dude! I wonder what happened to him?"
Of course, the others all had to pry into his personal affairs and find out just what he was talking about. Once they realized he was being serious and that it had happened a long time ago, they stared at him in horror. Blaydelot raced to the end of the ship, but the only flounderers in the water were Kun and Egomaniac. If anyone else had been there, he obviously had to have died.
Kun was having a new set of problems as he got closer to the ship. A voice was talking to him in his head. While this would have been in indicator of madness in anyone else, he found it a common occurrence and sighed. What did Sama-san-dono want to complain about now?
Kun! I refuse to help this pirate captain. He is planning on destroying the world. I won't be a part of it. We're going to let him sink.
No! Kun thought-yelled back. That's not nice at all! I won't let him get hurt.
Kuuuuuunnnn… It was a warning tone.
No! I'll let my hat sink to the bottom of the sea if you continue to pressure me.
That was a mighty terrible threat. So, Sama-san-dono went quiet. But he was trying to take control of the boy's body without him realizing it.
During this interlude, the pirate captain watched with utter fascination as Kun's face went through a series of expressions as if he were speaking to someone. But, obviously, no one was there. That was when it hit him.
There had been a ritual done at his death that would allow him to inhabit any one of his kin's bodies when he chose. But, waiting for the perfect time, he had forgotten all about it. On the day he decided to do it, his corpse would finally decay into nothing, but his spirit would continue living within another. There was no time like the present to try it. Besides, then he would find out just where Barleyo was hiding.
There was nothing more startling for poor Kun, who was fighting off his other self taking over, when the arm he had been gripping completely dissolved. It was a lot like poking a stick at a very dead fish in the water: little flakes of dead flesh were all that remained with a smoky whiteness. (Nervous laughter. How would I know that? I'm not a psychotic girl who ruins the rest of fish! I swear!)
Despite Kun's best efforts, the body soon was gone and sinking into the ocean, leaving him covered in little flakes of old rotted skin.
Kun! I can't believe you! Get out of the water now! I don't want evil bits of his flesh touching me!
As much as he disagreed with his other self on a lot of things, this was not one. He hurried out of the water, unable to contemplate how he had just pulverized the pirate captain.
"Down there, what went on? One moment the pirate was there the other he was gone!"
Kun, drenched and shivering in the constant ocean breeze, only stared agape at them all with an expression commonly found on cows standing in the middle of the street chewing their cud.
Across the way, the pirates were beginning to grumble amongst themselves, pointing over at them. And Tanner was still searching for any sign of this mysterious albino guy. Sir Blaydelot had gone back to doing what was needed in a pinch, as he had the most developed brain among the group. Slicing each and every rope that connected them to the pirate ship, Captain Yesah was soon sailing away from the pirate ship, the pirates on which were still preparing to sail.
"You really need to stop being so overprotective," Yesah commented as he returned to his cabin.
"See?" Muggy said, trying to get onto something high enough that he could his brother in the eye.
But the one of the set of Gruff twins did not meet Muggy's gaze. Instead, he was working his way through a speech and debating if such a sarcastic remark would go over the audience's heads or if anyone would be insulted enough to realize what he meant. He was hoping they would be so insulted they would want to throw him out.
A constantly-tripping brother with the ability to Squirm was not the best combination on a ship, or anywhere for that matter. After the boy freed himself from his brother's grasp that had helped right him at the moment his foot slid (Put'oh was very good at recognizing the exact moment his brother was tripping. Instantaneous reaction.) he went back to the top of the ship. At least if his brother were caught up in his work to live out his dream—that being to make it so all children could have fun, but to do that, you first have to have a world able to sustain them and give them all equal chances to have fun. It wouldn't do to favor only those monetarily gifted—Muggy could do what he wanted above decks.
What did he do? Why, he glued himself to Sir Blaydelot, of course, seeing how the knight was able to do all sorts of dangerous things without reprimand and withsaid actionssaving the day. At least, the knight had saved the day as far as Mokuba was concerned.
"Hi."
Blaydelot, completely cleaned with sea water, had his armor back on. Of course, the armor had been cleaned with fresh water to avoid rusting, but no one was to know just what water source Blaydelot had used. He looked down at the old boy (not quite a young man and not exactly a boy, so an old boy. Get it?) trotting along beside him, keeping pace very effectively. He must have had a lot of practice trotting along after people with longer legs.
"Hello. What have you come for, youngling?"
"I know I'm too old for the job, but can I be your page? And don't tell my brother."
"Oh?"
"He doesn't like me doing anything that wouldput me any way in harm's path. But he doesn't understand how boring all his speeches are for me. I don't want to do that the rest of my life. I want to adventure!"
"Ah," Blaydelot remarked, "you have a spirit like my own. Of course I'll let you be my squire." When Muggy was going to protest, the knight placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You're too old to be a page, so I've raised your status to squire."
Eyes lighting up, he thanked the young man profusely. Then he remembered something. Something he should never have forgotten.
"Um, is it possible you could come a short ways with me? I have a lesson with another brother soon, and if I don't show up exactly on time, he won't be pleased. He may come looking for me. Usually, he wouldn't be able to waste time like that, but if I angered him enough, he'd find me. And he could, no matter where I was."
Beneath his helm, Blaydelot's eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips. He might have heard of whom this Gruff was referring to. But he had never heard the sorcerer go by the name "Gruff."
"Who exactly would you be referring to? What does your brother do?"
"He is a sor—"
"MUGGY!" Yeah, just guess who that was finally having stopped obsessing over his speech long enough to obsess over his brother.
"Oops. I'll find you later!"
The knight hid a smirk as Muggy raced over to Put'oh. He knew all about family, especially siblings, not understanding you. Neither Sir Blaydelot's parents, older sister, or younger sister understood him or his desire for adventure. Here, then, was one who could. And, if he had connections to the great sorcerer, there was no way the knight was giving up the Gruff.
Not even if it meant making Put'oh an enemy.
