"Aifreed! It is too dangerous!" Seipher shouted at his captain, who had boarded the enemy captain's vessel.
"Captain Patty!" Aifreed shouted, "You dare use my technology against me?!"
The ship's captain emerged from below deck, along with six undead soldiers.
"You can not stop me!" The captain shouted, "The army of the undead is unstoppable!"
Aifreed tore through the six undead men with ease and chased the Captain around her ship.
Aifreed tackled the enemy Captain, pushing her gun tightly against his head, "Tell me how to stop this! Now!" She shouted.
"You can't! The army is too strong!" The enemy captain cackled victoriously.
"If we're going down," Aifreed said, "You're coming with us!"
Aifreed shot her musket straight through the ship, landing a perfect shot to the engine, which began heating up.
A gunshot fired straight through Aifreed's chest, she gasped.
The light faded from her eyes. She could feel herself drifting away.
"No!" Seipher shouted, hopping to the ship.
Seipher slit the throat of the undead shooter and ran over to Aifreed on the sinking ship.
"Aifreed... No..." He said, tears welling in his eyes.
"Seipher..." She put her bloody hand on his shoulder, "Finish this... for me..."
Tears streamed down Seipher's face as he watched the life leave his Captain, whom he had known all of his life.
"No... Not now... not ever..." Seipher held her hand tightly, mourning as the ship sank.
A bright object was floating out of the lower story of the ship, a gleaming Red Cross.
"The Reaper's cross..." Seipher whispered to himself and then looked to Aifreed's lifeless body.
•••
"Yuri, be careful..." Judith told him, "Hopefully, Raven and Karol are making progress with Altosk."
"We'll definitely need their support," Patty said. Her head was spinning.
"Don't worry, we'll get out of this," Yuri told them.
"Hurry to Zaphias, take Flynnieboy for the quick visit."
Flynn rolled his eyes, "Thanks for that!"
Yuri watched Ba'ul ascend into the sky, leaving him alone in the quiet forest.
He held his Blade, carrying Dein Nomos in his sheath and a Blastia in his pocket.
Climbing the large vine, he searched for the white-haired entity, who was once their nemesis.
He reached the calm Aer Krene, where Duke was not to be found.
"Duke!" Yuri shouted, his voice echoing throughout the land.
"I know you're here, or else there would be monsters around here!" Yuri shouted.
Duke sighed and appeared behind him, "What is it?"
Yuri drew Dein Nomos, "I have come to return this."
Duke took the blade in his hand, "Does the child of the full moon have no use for it anymore?"
"She will after the battle," Yuri replied.
"So I've heard..." Duke muttered, "The Blastia have returned?"
Yuri held up his arm to show him, "The genius mage rigged these up. They use hardly any Aer."
"Hardly any?" Duke raised his eyebrow, "So it uses some?"
"It would take five thousand of these running at full power to account for one old model," Yuri told him.
"That is interesting..." Duke whispered to himself, "With the spirits watching over us, the Aer would likely be so minuscule that it would never harm our world..."
"Exactly," Yuri replied, "But there is a psychopathic doctor that wants to use Zaude's power to raise the dead. Imagine how much Aer that will consume."
Duke sighed, "It's a shame that humans will never learn."
"I know," Yuri told him, "Some of them won't, but we have learned. Together, we can put a stop to this."
Duke shook his head, "My power came from Tarquaron. With it shut down, I am afraid that I am useless in combat."
Yuri reached into his pocket, "Not with one of these." Yuri held his hand, containing a Bhodi Blastia, to Duke.
Duke looked at it and sighed, "I am impressed with the craftsmanship, and I will not attempt to stop you..." He turned his back and closed his eyes, "But I cannot join you, to do so would make me a hypocrite."
"You care about the world," Yuri told him, "You have a chance to help it."
"I am sorry," Duke told him, "My decision is final."
Yuri sighed, defeated, "You're as stubborn as always."
"I suppose so," he replied.
"I'm going to leave this Blastia here," Yuri told him, setting it on the ground, "Consider it a souvenir."
Duke picked it up and examined it, "Never."
Duke tossed the Blastia as far as he could into the forest.
Yuri sighed, "I guess that's that then."
"Yuri..." Duke said.
Yuri turned to face him, "What?"
"Good luck."
•••
Flynn immediately hopped off Ba'ul and ran inside the castle towards Löder's room, carrying a Blastia heart.
Flynn jiggled his doorknob, "Löder!" He shouted.
Flynn kicked the door, breaking one of the hinges.
When it wouldn't budge, he rammed his body into it, breaking the door down entirely.
"Löder!" He shouted to the empty room.
"Huh?" He asked, walking over to a note that was placed on the desk.
If you want his highness brought back alive, I suggest you stay away from Zaude.
-Doctor Akutō
"Damnit!" Flynn shouted, crumpling up the paper in anger and then rushing back out to Ba'ul.
"Löder's gone!" He shouted to the remaining party members on the ship.
Flynn hopped aboard the ship, "Akutō is using him as leverage to prevent us from going to Zaude!"
"We still have no choice," Patty told him, "Under no circumstances can we allow him to raise that army."
"But Löder..." Flynn said.
"Yeah, it sucks," Patty told him, "But I know what this army can do, and it will be unstoppable."
"You heard her, Flynn," Judith told him.
"Ba'ul," she said, "Take us to Dahngrest, we should be able to find Yuri there in addition to Raven and Karol.
"So that jerk is still using living beings as bait?" Rita asked.
"Oh, when I get my hands on him..." Rita made angry fists as if she was picturing choking the life out of Akutō.
Estelle placed her hand on the mage's shoulder.
"It's going to be ok."
Rita calmed down, "I guess we need to be levelheaded..."
Repede waddled over to Estelle and laid next to her feet.
"Repede, I know you're tired from all of the exercise..." Estelle told him, "But we will need you, buddy."
She cast a healing Arte on him to rejuvenate his strength.
Repede whined and yawned, stretching out his legs.
•••
"So, do we have any support from the other guilds?" Karol asked.
"I'm sorry..." Harry told him, "It appears that no other guild wants to be involved in this situation."
"But Altosk doesn't have a formal fleet!" Raven shouted at him.
"It's out of my control, I can't ask people to die," Harry replied.
"Fair enough, but make sure they understand the gravity of the situation," Raven told him.
"I wish Nan were here..." Karol whispered to himself.
"At least we can use Altosk's ground forces, hopefully it'll come in handy," Raven told them.
"That's not enough..." Karol said, "We need a fleet."
"I just hope the Knights will be enough..." Raven responded.
•••
Ba'ul descended to Keiv Moc. Yuri hopped on the ship.
"Any luck?" Judith asked.
"Nope," Yuri responded, "He's as stubborn as ever."
"I figured as much," Rita said, "We nearly killed him trying to get him to change his mind."
"But, we did change his mind..." Patty told her, "Maybe he'll help us again?"
"His aid was certainly appreciated in our time of need," Flynn said.
"What are you talking about?" Rita asked, "He nearly killed us because he was stubborn, despite what we had done to prove our method."
Ba'ul howled and descended to Dahngrest, where Raven and Karol were waiting.
Karol hopped aboard the ship, "Raven, aren't you coming?"
Raven shook his head, "I'd love to, but I've got to assemble Altosk, I guarantee I'll be there for the final battle, though."
"We're counting on you, old man!" Yuri shouted.
"Don't worry. You won't have to fight without Raven the Great!" The old man shouted as Ba'ul ascended and set sail for Zaude.
"Is everyone ready?" Yuri asked.
"I've never been more ready!" Karol shouted in a focused state.
"I'm ready for my revenge!" Rita shouted.
"The seas are a cruel mistress to those who have done treacherous deeds!" Patty hollered.
"As if I'd let him get away with hurting poor Repede..." Judith said, scratching Repede behind his ear.
Aggressive bark*
"I have allowed the suffering of others in the past, ignoring larger scale injustices just because they didn't violate specific laws, that will not be the case this time," Flynn said.
"Do justice and punish the unjust!" Karol shouted.
"The fate of the world is at stake, once again, and we will not let it down," Estelle planted her foot firmly.
•••
Back in the forest of Keiv Moc, a once mysterious man contemplates his view on reality.
"The very idea has crumbled before me..." Duke whispered to himself.
"My life... is a lie..." He said, louder.
"I was a fool!" Duke shouted, and in his first-ever display of rage, tossed Dein Nomos into the depths of the forest.
"So this is what it is like to be human..." he whispered.
A mysterious voice rang softly in his head, "Would you have wanted me to be a spirit?"
Duke's eyes widened at the sound of the voice, "Elucifer?" He asked.
"You miss me every day, you know I wanted peace for all living things."
Duke closed his eyes and sat, "Where are you? You can't be here. You're dead."
"I am not dead as long as your memories of me live on."
"So... this isn't real?"
"Real is a point of view. You know how I would think, you know what I believed in, so your subconscious can speak for me."
"That doesn't make any sense..." Duke said to himself.
"You could ignore your own subconscious, or you could listen to what Elucifer would've said."
"Peace... for all living things..."
"Indeed. The world made a drastic change, it wasn't the first change, and it won't be the last," the voice told him, "Why do you think you can't change?"
Duke opened his eyes, and the voice vanished.
"Could I change?" Duke looked off into the direction of where he threw Dein Nomos.
He sighed, "No, no, I can't."
•••
Löder awoke in a cage on a stone pillar miles above the water.
The sound of the sea waves and the electronic typing drowned out any other noises.
He looked around him. The world was in sight. It would be beautiful if it were under more pleasant circumstances.
On the other side of the pillar stood Doctor Akutō, his savior and attacker.
"Akutō?" He asked.
"Oh good, you're up," he said, walking over to him.
Löder gripped the bars of the cage, "How could you do this? Why would you help me?"
"Pitiful..." Akutō told him, "I can smell your fear, it's even stronger than the stench of the salty seas, but not as strong as the beautiful scent of failure from all of you and your bloodline."
Löder inhaled forcefully, "Why help me? Why not let me die?"
"So many questions for such a sheltered Noble..." Akutō replied, "Long have you been groomed for your role..."
"You see," the menacing young doctor went on, "Alexei wanted to harness the power of the child of the full moon to access power thought not to be possible..."
"What he didn't account for..." Akutō said, "Was Estellise's unimaginable power... it was too much for him to wield."
"He thought there was no other way. He was arrogant to not look for another way," Akutō took on a more menacing tone.
"He didn't realize that all of the imperial candidates descend from the children of the full moon..." Akutō told him, "Even you..."
"But I don't understand..." Löder said, "I don't have that kind of power..."
"Exactly," Akutō told him, "You have a tiny portion, so small that it's unable to be harnessed. Most of the candidates are like you. Estelle was just different."
"You..." Akutō pointed at him, "You don't have enough power to pose a threat, but you have enough to unlock Zaude for me."
"So..." Löder spoke, "You were keeping me alive just to use me...?"
"Precisely!" Akutō shouted.
"I raised you like a pig for slaughter!"
Akutō laughed at the waves crashed against the stone pillar they stood upon.
"Enough talk..." Akutō pressed a series of buttons.
Löder felt a sudden tingling in his stomach, "W-what?" He asked.
"Don't worry. This won't kill you, or even hurt you," Akutō assured him.
"You'll just feel a little sick," he told him as Zaude's massive core began to rise from the ocean.
The water's buoyancy began to change due to Zaude's sheer size. Akutō laughed as it ascended.
"Yes!" The doctor shouted, "Unlimited power! Right in the palm of my hand!"
"You're insane..." Löder told him.
"That does hurt my feelings," Akutō told him, "But I must do what is right. Once you see the results, you'll come around."
"Doubtful..." Löder whispered to himself.
Zaude's core began to glow ever so slightly.
•••
Now that things had calmed down, the full impact of what had happened sunk into Estelle. Her head began spinning, and she lost her balance.
"Estelle!" Rita said, catching her, "It's ok..." she comforted.
"Sorry..." Estelle said, "Just so much has happened, even in the dungeon I never lost faith that I would see you all again."
Rita gripped Estelle tightly, "You're staying in my sight until this is over, and hopefully most of the time after as well."
Estelle smiled and gave Rita a peck on her lips.
"Awww," Judith and Patty looked at the couple.
"So..." Karol said, "How does your relationship work... in private?"
Yuri and Flynn's eyes widened, and they shook their heads no.
"No!" Yuri mouthed to him.
"What do you mean?!" Rita asked, agitated.
"I mean, Raven isn't here now..." Karol said, going against the advice given to him by Yuri and Flynn, "Do you two cuddle?"
The girls gave him a disgusted look, and Rita walked over and raised her hand.
"Rita, no," Estelle said, lightly grabbing her arm.
"Karol..." Flynn said, horrified.
"No, no! I think it's wonderful!" Karol said, "I was just reading and doing some research, so I thought..."
Rita looked at Estelle, who sighed.
"Fine," Estelle told her.
Thwack!
"Ow!" Karol said, rubbing his head.
Patty and Judith snickered, Yuri and Flynn shook their heads.
•••
Ba'ul sailed at rapid speeds, but it would still take them hours to reach Zaude.
Over the horizon, the sun slowly set. Ba'ul was fast, but as fast than the rotation of the sun.
Inside the cramped room, the party slept.
Rita held Estelle on the top bunk, Yuri and Karol doubled up on the bottom, Judith was sleeping on a soft cot on the floor, and Repede was curled in the corner, missing his cuddle buddy.
Standing awake on the edge of the ship, the pirate queen stared into the distance.
"Why am I having these visions?" She asked herself.
"Will I ever sleep peacefully again?"
The wet snout of a faithful pooch startled her. She turned to see a concerned Repede.
"Oh, Repede," she said, scratching him behind his ear, "You don't have to worry about me."
Repede whined and motioned towards the bedroom of the ship.
"I guess a little sleep would do us both some good..." Patty said, walking into the cabin and curling up with Repede in the corner.
"I just hope it'll be uneventful this time..."
