AN: Yes, my friend has transformed this chapter. She wishes to remain anonymous, so I will respect that and not give her name.
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"Captain! Blue Rogues!"
"I see them, Lok."
"But Captain! It looks like they're-"
"Dispose of them."
"But sir! There is a rumor-"
"Do I look like a man to believe in a rumor that is likely not to be true?"
"N-no, sir!"
"Good. And while you are at it, take a picture. I'd like to see what she's…come up with."
"Yes, sir!"
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The teenaged girl started at the sudden shouts. She turned her head to see many crew members running around the deck, switching ropes and tying others down. Gazing into the sky ahead, she could see a dark sail in the distance.
"Serie! Come on! Get over here!"
Serie's eyes snapped to the direction of the starboard side. Her father was there, waving her over. She ran over, knowing, and excited about what she knew he was going to say. Sure enough, when she reached him, Vyse grinned at her and tapped his twin cutlasses.
"Okay, now for the briefing: We are preparing to board the Abyss, captained by Rogin of the Black Pirates. Our mission: -"
" 'Get the loot, give them injuries to last till next year, and have them eat our dust'?" Serie finished. He was so predictable.
Vyse scratched his neck. "Actually, I was going to say 'hit and run,' but that's basically the same." He grinned sheepishly. "Cut your old man some slack. His jokes aren't the same anymore."
Serie gave a dramatic sigh. "Oh, all right."
At this point, Vyse started getting a stern look in his eye. "Now, Serie, I don't want you to-"
"Overwork myself? I've been told that thousands of times, and I still have yet to get an injury." She glanced over Vyse's shoulder as she caught sight of his childhood friend walking toward them. "Aika! Get your boomerang, we're going into business!" Vyse turned his head and gave Aika a grin.
"She's getting excited again." Vyse ruffled Serie's silver hair. His eyes softened. "Honestly, you're really turning out like-" He froze with a sad look on his face.
Aika and Serie exchanged looks and quickly wondered out loud what they thought Rogin looked like. Joining in on the verbal abuse after a while, Vyse slowly warmed up.
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There is a time. A meeting will take place. His destiny will be fulfilled.
The girl will not need it anymore.
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"Hyah!"
"What the-" the pirate fell face-down onto the deck. All at once, attention was drawn to the shadow that was slowly growing larger on the deck, until-
WHAM! Three more men collapsed. Guns were drawn as a figure stepped lithely down in front of them.
"Hey, there! I hope I'm not interrupting anything!" Aika smirked as her boomerang hit home. She backed up as she felt her best friend jump down beside her, hearing yet another body slump to the ground.
"It's Vyse!"
"Run!"
"Yes, run!" Vyse taunted, taking down yet another man with a lazy swipe of a cutlass. The remaining pirates dropped their weapons and scampered down a stairwell.
"Oh, come on. I don't even get to touch the ground and the action's over!" Serie suddenly appeared beside the two. They looked at her, shared a look with each other, and burst into laughter.
She clenched her fist and glared at them. "Dad! You never let me even touch a bad guy! How am I supposed to overwork myself if I don't do any work?"
Vyse scratched his chin. "You got a point there. And by the way, while we're on raids, it's not 'Dad', it's 'Captain'."
"Now, where have I heard that before?" Aika chuckled to herself and headed for the staircase.
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Lok was nervous. How could he tell his captain that two of the most famous people on Arcadia had set their eyes on his gold?
Tentatively, he reached up and tapped his captain's arm.
"WHAT!" Rogin whirled around, his fingers still caressing the small knobs on the console.
The door burst open then, and cries echoed through the corridor. Lok turned to see three figures standing in the doorway. He grabbed his quiver and prepared to release an arrow when Rogin held his arm out, blocking him. Lok look up at him, his spirits somewhat falling.
The trio who had just entered stood in a triangle: a man flanked by two women. The man had brown, shaggy hair that was beginning to grow grey. He was wearing a blue tunic and brown boots, and wielded two cutlasses: one in each hand. A scar across his cheek and the tinted-blue glass eye patch confirmed Lok's suspicions: this was Vyse the Legend.
Then, Lok thought, turning to the woman on Vyse's right, this must be Aika. She was clothed in worn, yellow leather and a heavy belt around her waist. In her one gloved hand, he held a vicious-looking boomerang. Her hair was held back from her face by age-old goggles resting above her bangs. The hair itself was a fiery red and came down to her shoulders, ragged at the end.
So, Lok figured, the last person had to be Fina. He had heard many tales of the amazing trio's adventures around and above Arcadia in his seventeen years on this vessel. Instead, he received a slight mental shock as he examined the last of the three: sure, her slightly curled hair was the color of moonlight on a tree trunk, but that's where the similarities ended. Fina was said to be incredibly shy; whereas this girl had the seasoned expression of someone who's had lots of experience at getting the gold: an almost hungry face. Instead of a white robe that Fina was said to have worn, this girl wore thin black boots, a black skirt that went down to her knees, and a small utility belt holding it up. Matching it was a blouse that was blue on the bottom and faded to white at the top. A golden circuit-like pattern trimmed the sides and curled over her shoulders. Her left hand was covered in black leather, but her right arm looked strange. It seemed as though the color was off; different than that of the skin around it…
Lok was brought back to reality when he felt Rogin's callused hand smack his head. He realized Vyse had been talking while he had been staring at the mysterious girl.
"-So, just so you know, your ship will sink if it has too much on it. Would you like to have us take it off your hands?"
"In other words, pretty please." Aika raised her boomerang.
Rogin unsheathed his katana with a loud ring. "You want my permission? You ask with your words; I answer with my blade!" With that, the captain ran full out for Vyse.
Lok affixed an arrow into his bow and looked up to aim it. He saw Vyse parry one of Rogin's power swings with a roll to the side. He saw Aika raise a fist and start to chant under her breath. He saw the mysterious girl, with a flick of her left wrist, grip a spear-
"LOK, YOU BASTARD, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" Rogin bellowed, swinging his blade up to block an oncoming sweep of a cutlass.
Lok snapped, noticing the girl he was staring at make her way over to him as if she were an Arcwhale and he were a baby Sardis. He grabbed his quiver just in time to –THWACK-block the fall of her spear. Her eyes hardened and she leapt back, gripping the spear with more control. Within the five seconds she was doing this, Lok eyed the spear. It was a strange design, unlike anything he'd seen before: the shaft was fabricated from what appeared to be wood, but the impact was that of hard metal; the tip was a hastily carved moonstone (either purple or blue; Lok couldn't tell.) tied with heavy twine to the shaft, with one long continuous strip of the moonstone continuing halfway down, reaching out from the shaft into a deadly edge.
The girl snarled and , muscles rippling, thrust with incredible strength (with her left hand, Lok noted). He swung it away with his quiver. He wasn't ready, however, for her to be taking advantage of the momentum, ricocheting off her right elbow, to slice once more at him. Instinctively, he grabbed the wooden frame of his bow and twisted it over the spear, twisting some more so that it fell from her grip and she was thrown several feet.
Having ignored the surrounding battle, he chanced a look to see the odds: Rogin was flashing his blade back and forth, Vyse was furiously swiping the air that Rogin had previously occupied, Aika was-
"Pyrulen!"
A wave of heat suddenly enveloped Lok. He dropped both his bow and quiver. The heat was unbearable. He was going to burst into flame any moment now. He was-
Suddenly, it stopped. He looked up from his crouch to see Aika holding her palm to her waist, where blood was beginning to seep through. He heard Rogin say "Don't you be touchin' my boy!" and he got up, only to be knocked off his feet as the girl, still on the floor, spun her legs around and knocked him over.
He heard a cry from his captain. Vyse had slashed his arm. "Don't you be touching my girl!" and the fight continued, this time, with more and more blood on the floor.
Lok felt rather than heard the girl get up and stumble toward her dropped spear. With a roar, he stormed after her, grabbing her shoulders and knocking her down, fighting to get there first. His own weapons long forgotten, Lok reached out and slammed her head onto the floor, his other hand shooting forward and grabbing the spear. His hand holding her down suddenly felt numb: she was grabbing onto it with her left hand in a vice-grip. He lashed out with his foot, knocking her backward again, then spun around and turned her spear on her.
Suddenly, the tables had turned. Lok was standing above the girl lying on the ground, holding her spear to her neck. She was half supporting herself on her left arm, and then she looked into his eyes.
Lok froze. He saw those eyes, sparkling emeralds, and they cast a spell on him. He couldn't move. Somewhere, in the regions of his gut, something stirred. His mouth felt dry.
Then, her voice rang out, clear as a bird's call, pure as an unprocessed moonstone.
"Well?"
Even though it was one word, Lok felt the whole world was hanging on it. He lost all knowledge of the battle around him. He could only gaze into those eyes…he was quite aware of how close the point of the spear was to her neck…
A concussion rocked the ship, knocking those on their feet down to their knees. Vyse had jumped to strike at Rogin, but had smashed into the back wall. Aika collapsed onto the floor, whispering up a storm. Rogin slammed into the side wall. As for the teenagers, Lok had been knocked to the floor, spear flying across the cabin. The girl had been jolted off the ground and was now lying on the console, rubbing her neck. Lok had a last look of the girl collapsing, then a flash, before he too let his head sink to the floor.
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Vyse swung his cutlass at the soldier, sending him flying into the one behind him. He had no idea what was going on. One minute had been prepared to unleash a Pirate's Wrath, the next, armed soldiers. This however, he could handle. He hefted his second cutlass and prepared to strike when he noticed the door was being crowded by what looked like a steady flow of the soldiers. He gritted his teeth and made a decision.
"Aika!" He cried, even as he dodged bullets aimed for his head. "Get everyone back to the Delphinus!" He himself rolled past a new onslaught of soldiers and ran for the door, knowing, counting, that there were too many to fight in this small a bridge. He glanced back at Aika, who was running toward the console, where, Vyse grimaced, his daughter lay sprawled upon. Trusting Aika, he ran down the corridor, cutting down still more soldiers fighting his crew. A young man kicked down a soldier and ran with Vyse.
"Captain! I headed toward the bridge when I saw the ship! It's humongous! It was onto us, and then-"
"It's all right, Marco. I thank you for abandoning your position." Vyse stabbed a soldier blocking the door and ran past, up the stairs before he could he the man fall to the floor. Marco grimly set his paces after his captain.
Once onto the deck, Vyse gaped. The Abyss was flanked on either side by two giant ships: One being the Delphinus, another being a strange vessel that appeared to have neither sails nor wings, but a gargantuan yellow moonstone had been strapped to it's back-
"Captain!"
Vyse shook out of his trance and slammed into a soldier about to sink his dagger into Marco's leg. He picked up the young man and helped him run to the Delphinus. He handed Marco to Lawrence to help him up, then turned back to block and oncoming slash of a sword. He heard a cry coming from the door he had just left and saw red hair being knocked back into the stairwell. Aika thrust her head out and yelled at Vyse.
"Get going!"
Vyse leaped over the railing and landed on the deck of the Delphinus. He had to trust Aika, and he knew nothing got in her way, so he had no trouble leaving her to fend for herself. Several soldiers jumped up after him, and, not wanting to harm them any more than he had to, kicked them over the railing to fall back onto the Abyss. He ran inside and up the bridge, where his crew members were running around, checking meters and pulling levers. Upon seeing their captain, shouts were flung at him as Vyse dove for the helm, working on bringing the Delphinus away.
"Captain! What about-?"
The door to the bridge slammed open, and Aika burst in, breathing heavily and holding a hand to her side. She looked at Vyse, who nodded, and had he not been busy trying to steer away to get a clear shot, he would have noticed the defeat in her eyes.
"Khazim! Aim for that vessel! It's not getting away!" Vyse shouted and spun the wheel, causing Delphinus to swivel around and both ships came into view. At this time, the Abyss was covered in black smoke, and they could barely see the ship on the other side.
"Ready the Moonstone Cannon!" Vyse barked, sweat beginning to pour down. He watched as the immense barrel slowly made it's way out of it's stationary position. The Abyss, under cover of the smoke, began to sink.
Something was wrong. Vyse couldn't shake his head of it, but something was missing. When a shout from Marco caused him to turn his head, he didn't notice the lifeboat slowly making its way out of the smoke, or the bulk of a very large person still on the deck, slowly making it's way toward the strange ship.
Just as the Cannon was charging, there was no further need of it. The people on the bridge saw a spectacle they thought could never happen.
The ship shimmered, then disappeared.
Jaws hanging, the crew was silent for a moment. Vyse sighed, then pulled a lever, and the barrel of the Moonstone Cannon slowly backed into the hull of the Delphinus. Wiping his hand over his forehead, he let the rest of his crew relax and head toward their normal stations. When he and Aika were alone, he turned to his best friend. His mood changed abruptly when he saw her face.
Aika was standing next to him, her arm hanging limply at her sides. Her gaze was focused on her boots, and she looked weak. Vyse grabbed her shoulders.
"Aika? Hey…" Vyse gently shook her until he raised her head. Her eyes gazed into his own, and he was shocked to see her eyes had lost their spark. "What's wrong? Hey, is it because we didn't get any gold? Come on-"
"I've failed you." Her voice came weakly, and she pulled away. Vyse stared at her.
"You've what? No, you did great back there. It wasn't your fault we didn't get any gold. Hell, you even got Serie out of there-"
"I've failed you." She repeated, her voice breaking. She looked down to hide her watering eyes.
Vyse looked at her in wonder. He shook his head, thinking he needed time alone, and slowly started for the door, wanting to check in Serie where he knew she would be: in her room. She never liked being on the bridge, even during battles. A harsh voice stopped him in his track, though.
"I've failed you."
Vyse turned around, now completely shocked. Aika had never acted like this. She was standing where he had left her, still facing the helm. Her hands had clenched into fists, and she was shaking. She turned and looked at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. Vyse, who had never seen her cry, looked at his best friend worriedly. He started to walk toward her again when she screamed at him.
"I'VE FAILED YOU!" She slammed her fists into the center table and stood, though shaking madly. She repeated, even louder, "I'VE FAILED YOU!" and when Vyse rushed to her side, lost for words, she collapsed on the floor, determinedly looking away from him.
"Aika…what's wrong?" Vyse finally sputtered. He placed his hand reassuringly on her shuddering back. She pulled away again.
"No…don't…" She replied, and she crawled away from him. Vyse fell to his knees. He knew something had gone wrong…what was it? His mind raced. Was it Serie? His heart pounded. But he had seen-
No. Wait. He hadn't seen…but…his heart stopped.
"Aika…" Vyse pulled her to a standing position, and shook her again. She started sobbing. "Aika! Please, tell me what's wrong!" And Aika looked at him, and she looked scared. She whispered again.
"I've failed you."
Suddenly, Vyse knew. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't breathe. He wasn't aware of anything, nothing but seeing Aika run toward the consol with Serie lying on top - soldiers running after her to block her path – Aika being attacked by soldiers in the stairwell – there was nothing, no one slung over her shoulder, and she had used both hands to fight –
Aika gasped, and raised a hand to cover her cheek. Vyse snapped to the present. His clenched fist was still hovering past her head, and an ugly bruise was beginning to how through Aika's hand. He had hit her. He had hit her. He had hit her.
All the emotions that rushed through Vyse suddenly broke through, and he sat down hard on the floor, not caring. Not seeing, Aika's face full of sadness as she stepped backwards. He ran his hand through his hair. Reality was slamming repeatedly into his head again and again. She couldn't…Serie couldn't be…
Aika saw her best friend crumpled on the floor, and flashbacks were hitting her hard. She kept remembering her other best friend crumpled on the ground, surrounded by blood, bright eyes peering at her from under an overturned bed, and she couldn't hold in the sobs. She stared at Vyse, her hand now stifling the sobs, and tears blurred her vision.
She felt empty. After years of sticking with Vyse, she had finally been unable to do what he had asked her to do. And it wasn't a stupid thing like treasure. It was his own daughter. She saw him on the floor, broken, and she knew that she had done that to him. She couldn't protect him. She had just killed her best friend. She knew it, even as she had jumped onto the deck of the Delphinus empty-handed, save for her boomerang. I, Aika thought, am so selfish.
With that thought burning a hole through her chest, Aika wiped her eyes and closed the door behind her, shuddering as she heard a mournful wail erupt into being behind her.