Ballad of a Captain's Heart

by KidHeart4

Heart was seeking out adventure in the stars with her family and their crew. Then upon meeting Captain L'Orange she would find just that and more as together they embark on a journey. They will face creatures of the stars, fellow pirates, and the curse of the enchanting starmaid. Perhaps along the way they will uncover some treasure and something they may been aware seeking out.

16. To Steal a Thief

Chapter Sixteen: To Steal a Thief

Heart:

Not long after making our plan we brought our ship above the palace, keeping it afloat in the atmosphere. Trent would remain onboard to keep her steady while the rest of us took the longboats to infiltrate the magnificent structure. Dive, Grin, and I took one. Marestella, Avarin, and Catalina took the second. Melodia, Norelle, and Irving took the third. As a small fleet we began our descent to various openings found among the castle while those inside were busy with their plans.

"You sure you should sneak in alone?" Grin asked as we neared one of the windows to drop me off.

"You two need to help the others with their part of the plan so I can find Duke and get him out," I reminded them.

"Yeah, but who's going to cover you sis?" Nosedive asked with worried blue eyes.

With a light smile I attempted to reassure him, "You are, in case something goes wrong."

"Alright sis, please be careful," Nosedive requested with a proud smile curving his beak.

"You're sounding a bit like Wing there," I mentioned before reaching for the window sill.

He didn't say a word to that remark. Then with that I crept through the window I'd made a slim opening in and started sneaking down the hallway. The walls I soon realized felt like shifting sand at the very touch, running my fingers through the dust of countless stars. Yet it also remained standing. The floor at my boots was that of transparent rose quartz smoothed by waves beating down on it. I had to plan every step carefully so not to attract unwanted attention. So far the others had not made their presence known either from what I could tell.

I would pause when I'd find the bodies of rusted and sunken armor patrolling the halls, ducking into closets and other small spaces to remain undetected. With cautious steps and some luck I made my way to what I could only guess was the main chambers where I heard Maria humming her enchanting tune.

"She wouldn't see him before the wedding," I half scoffed while trying to think, "so she must be having him wait elsewhere?"

From the doors of that grand bedroom I would find the central stairwell and look down from the base. As I did I would catch glimpses of the others infiltrating the emaculate halls. Some would now be tucking some treasure into their tunics and satchels, others making sure to swipe a sword or two from the guardsmen.

It was then that I noticed a guard myself stepping out from the hall across the stairwell from me. I quickly ducked down so not to be seen, only to see him look around and then turn back to head down the hall again. A sly smirk curved my lips as I breathed, "Where there's a guard, there is loot?"

I bit my lip to keep from chuckling at the vague memory and began creeping along the stairwell over to that hallway. Keeping in mind the pattern I'd observed from the guard I would wait for him to approach again and then turn around. With him marching away I would sneak through from behind. This would bring me to an ornate door that I found to be locked. Without a lockpick this time I waited for the guard to go by once more and reached a hand out to swipe the ring of keys at his belt, holding my breath in the process. I managed to slip it off from his hip and found the match to the lock. An elegant key of silver to look like an octopus at the head and a ray of tiny tendrils along the main tentacle made up this item that I slid in above the door's handle. Then with a quick turn I heard the mechanism click and I was able to slip in without a sound.

Once inside I tucked the keyring into my vest pocket and looked ahead before taking another step.

My heart leapt with relief when I saw him. He was looking out a window while adjusting the sash around his throat. From the reflection of the glass I could see the distant look in his eye. He was dressed in white and silver fabrics of silk and other fine cloth. His under shirt was that of white mythril and lace. The vest and sash over that was of the rare metal. His dress slacks were a shade as deep and dark as the emerald sea on a stormy night. No longer did he wear his familiar shades of burgundy and black. Not a trace of gold was left on him. Even, I now realized, his wedding band had been set onto the nightstand behind him. I then also noticed it wasn't his sash he was fixing, but instead he was tracing along his finger with unease in his shoulders after he must have just taken it off.

While his back was turned to me I made my way over to the furniture piece and managed to tuck away his ring for safe keeping at the moment. Only then did I realize how easy this was with him in this trance. If he'd been left to his own senses he would have turned around once the lock clicked open. Yet he wasn't left as himself. A heat began to boil my blood a bit knowing how little she cared for him as he was. To her he was simply a possession or a play thing to flaunt and hold.

I then carefully stood up and walked over to him. With a cautious hand I reached out to him and spoke in barely a voice, "Duke?"

He turned with a bit of a jump that was unlike him. Then he looked to me with lingering surprise before pulling back from me. Yet he didn't make a sound beyond that. Instead he watched my movements carefully, as though daring me to try again. Instead I simply stood before him as I attempted, "Do you still know me?"

"I only really know Maria. I need to focus on the ceremony for her," he shrugged.

"You don't remember your crew? Your friends?" I asked trying to fend off the sting of his words as best as I could, "Us?"

"It doesn't matter much either way now does it?" He replied, "I made a promise to her an' I intend to keep it."

"Duke you don't have to pay such a price, I know this isn't what you want! You yearn for adventure! You live for your crew and the thrill of the chase! Your heart belongs out in space where you can be free!" I pushed.

He gave a half smile and a light chuckle, "All that does sound nice...but still I know goin' back on my word isn't an option."

"Why?! I'm right here to get you out of here! The other's are waiting to get us out of here-!"

"I can't keep runnin' from her, nor do I want to anymore," he told me as traces of who he was slipped further away.

In this palace her magic held him down tightly it seemed, his will weakened as he stood. Yet he did say, "I'm okay with the price I paid. If nothin' else I remember the deal I made was more than worth the cost...even if I don't remember what that deal was."

My hands stifled a gasp as I took in these words...words meant for me as he looked away trying to remember this himself. I shook my head and reached a hand out to grasp his sleeve now, "Duke...you paid that price for me, but I'm not willing to let you pay it! If you do than I'll lose you...and I can't bare it...not again..."

"Again?" he asked looking to me.

I slid my hand to his, holding it in both of mine now, "Please, we'll figure this out,-"

"I knew you'd come looking for what isn't yours you petty little thief!" her voice echoed harshly through the room.

Duke and I had both jumped this time as we looked to the door to find Maria glaring right at me. As we had his hand had momentarily gripped mine. Yet he then let go as she approached us, keeping her anger focused on me.

However her remark towards me hadn't shaken me. If anything I felt a bit of pride run through me as I attempted to stand between them. Though as I did I would suddenly feel something wrap tightly around my feet. Glancng down I would find the quartz like floor crack and allow the sands to bind them to the floor as I began to sink. Duke looked to me surprised to see this as well.

Maria walked over to me, the sands remaining steady at her feet to allow her closer. While they only tightened around my ankles to pull me further down.

"Maria-"

"Don't worry my dashing captain, she won't be back to distract you again," Maria assured while glaring down at me as I attempted to pull myself free.

With every movement the sands only spread up along my limbs and torso.

"Do you know anything about the drake you're trying to marry?" I demanded, "Do you understand him or care for him?"

"I know that his heart will belong to me, I understand his promise made to me, and I care for the desires I will happily give him," she assured.

Half way down through the sands she then sneered at me, "I'll deal with you shortly for daring to even attempt at stealing him for yourself again."

"Duke!" I attempted desperately as he looked to me with a brief touch of concern in his eye, "Duke I will not give up trying to get you free of this!"

Before I could continue further to reach him, my mouth was filled with sand as a tendril of it closed over it. My muffled cries to him silenced as I gasped for breath instead. Then I was quickly pulled under their feet, encased by the sands and dumped into a cell deep beneath the main floors of the castle. For as soon as I could breath again I cried out for help. This was only answered by echoes of my own voice ringing through the dungeon I'd found myself in. Then it was followed by her wicked giggling as her shimmering eyes gleamed out from the darkness across from the bars I stood behind.

"Let him go!" I shouted, my voice ringing out boldly through the dungeon we stood in.

"He gave up his freedom to save you already wench! However he only saved you from becoming one of my kin. There are far worse fates I could bestow if you don't give up this fool's errand," she warned with a smug smile, "Although seeing you feasting on the hearts and blood of others would have been a fitting end to you for all the grief you've put me through."

The knuckles of my fingers turned sheer white as I gripped the bars of my cell, "You don't even love him!"

"Of course I do," she said in a wounded tone with a hand over her heart, "I love that he is mine."

"He isn't! I held his heart well before you were even born! I gave up my magic to be with him again! I will not let you take him from me now!" I snapped as I felt a rush of anger, drawn from a time we'd only begun to remember, flashed in my eyes, "I will not stop fighting to get him back!"

"Better be careful with your words. One way or another they may be your last," she taunted after taking back her composure from my sudden outburst.

"And I will still fight for him!" I swore, "And I think you know outright killing me won't work don't you? He'll feel it."

I wasn't sure as to how I knew this, but I felt it in my core. Or perhaps I was bluffing even to myself?

"Then I'll simply have to do something else with you won't I?" she snickered, "Perhaps I'll find a witch to sell you to and let her finish the job that prince couldn't! You deserve as much for taking him before me you little sow!"

Where before I would have shuddered I found I didn't care about her threat. My hands gripped the bars firmly still, "I am the one that knows him through and through, and the one that he knows just the same! You can pull us apart and we will find each other again!"

Before I could continue her hand swiftly shot out and gripped my throat with her coral painted nails digging into it. To this I quickly grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward towards the bars as she cried out in a snarling cry, "How dare you?!"

"Call me what you want! Threaten me! I really couldn't care less!" I snapped while pulling her arm still, pressing her into the bars herself now by holding her wrist tight.

I glared at her, my focused eyes to hers filled with sudden panicked, "I will not let you steal him from me now!"

"There's nothing you can do," she insisted while gathering her composure and pulling free from my grip, "Our vows will be shared with the stars as our witnesses. Then I will conclude my song and the drake you knew will slip away, leaving my dashing captain left to me."

"You mean his shell! He won't be anything like that anymore because you know if he held onto any shred of himself he wouldn't stay with you!" I snapped.

"You see that's where your wrong," Maria snickered, "He could have run when we were on the ship before, but he didn't. He resigned in this fight to save you, and he was perfectly fine with the price he paid."

"Doesn't that tell you even more where his heart lies?" I asked while slickly running a hand to my vest and retrieving the keyring I still held while her back was turned.

"For now perhaps, until the final refrain is sung that is. Then nothing will break him free of our bond, and he will give his heart to me," she assured while looking over her shoulder, "And when this happens I am curious what will become of you."

"Is that so?" I hissed while carefully feeling the ends of each key to find the match to the lock before me.

I tucked the key back into my flared sleeve when she turned around to give a smug smirk. She looked me over up and down, "You may become my kin yet. There is more than one way after all. If your heart is so devoted to him as you say it will crumble at such a betrayal. When it shatters after being torn from him, it could very well twist from the heartache and leave you shifting into a starmaid yourself. Then you'll wander hungrily as I have until the sailor you come to fancy comes into view and the cycle continues on. A perfect fate for you if you ask me."

As she giggled at her own cruel words towards me we would hear the thundering steps come barreling towards us. In an instant that followed the door to the dungeon burst open, being ripped from it's hinges as Grin shouted to me, "Door was unlocked, so I let myself in! Now let me get that one for you!"

As I jumped back he would then throw the door with all his might into the bars of my cell. Stepping to the side I managed to avoid the metal door that held me in that was now flying by me and into the back wall. The starmaid watched with widened eyes as Grin and Nosedive rushed in for me and I was able to slip out of my prison.

Nosedive beamed with a prideful smile, "Was that what you meant by covering you sis?"

"Dive!" I cheered while running over and hugging him, "Thanks guys!"

"Now let's go get your drake back!" Nosedive insisted.

Just then the starmaid snarled as she shifted into sand herself, "You will not take my sailor bold from me! Once my song is finished there will be escape for him!"

With that she melded into a ribbon of sand that slid up through the castle, more than likely heading to the ship as she called out, "It's time for our wedding my dear captain!"

Then again we heard her command, "As for our unwanted guests, I'll let our guards greet them for us!"

We were already giving chase up the winding steps and merging hallways attempting to impede us. As they went to bar our way my gentle giant of a friend would throw his fists forward, collapsing the walls with a mighty force. We would soon find our allies in combat with suits of armor and other puppeted attire from sunken voyages. Skeletal sailors readied their cutlasses, undead knights brandished their lances and swords, and the floating ghostly armor of vikings would bring forth their axes.

In the main hall entrance now leading to the docks we attempted to bar the way of the starmaid, only for her to slip by and reform just outside the doors. She looked back at us with that shark like grin as her soldiers shielded her.

Irving would find himself dodging the blade of an axe that was meant to cleave his straw body right in half, "Don't want to fall to pieces now!"

Then he would catch the floating gauntlet to represent the arm wielding the heavy weapon with his sickle and yank it forward, causing it to drop.

"This is always so fun!" Marestella laughed while pushing forward with the triton she'd kept in her cabin to block one of the lances.

Avarin would dodge a swipe of a fallen sailor to then cut them down instead with her curved blade, "Your idea of fun is troubling my friend!"

Marestella only grinned back in response as she knocked back another suit of armor.

Melodia now scurried about as a pair of sailors ran after her, ducking under Grin for him to knock them into the wall together with his bolder like fist, while his friend laughed from behind him upon seeing this, "You're not trapping this mouse!"

"I think it's time to cool things off," Catalina would then state with a smirk before taking a quick breath and releasing it as the ground at the feet of these soldiers grew slick, or even froze the metal boots in place upon the frigid surface for some of them.

Norelle would then look up and see our captain as I did, calling out to him in a voice of song to try and pull him from his stride, "Captain!"

Yet Maria countered this attempt by humming her own melody to pull him towards her still.

Stunned by this we watched as he went to leave through the doors. In our bewilderment and growing concern that maybe we were too late the soldiers still standing managed to surround us.

"Duke!" Marestella called out in a sisterly tone scolding him, "If you leave I really will take over the ship!"

Duke paused briefly with a confused touch in his eye to hear this. Yet he then shook it off and went to step forward.

"No! It can't end this way! Captain please!" Norelle begged her friend, "Remember how much you love adventure, if you go with her you'll never go on one again!"

"We need our captain!" Melodia chimed in bravely.

Duke would pause again once more, but was then pulled still by her acursed tune now whistled to him. He then fell into step like a dog trying to please it's master. Seeing this made my very blood boil beneath my skin.

"You see?" Maria giggled, "He knows where his heart belongs now. Don't you my sailor bold?"

"Yes my dear Maria, ya have my word," he assured her while we were all forced to listen with twisting stomachs and tightening chests.

He then stepped forward towards the doors, looking back at us for barely a moment as though we were strangers to him that he was trying to place in his head.

As a pair of iron gloves reached to pull me back I would then hear Nosedive yell out as he checked it into the wall, "Sis go to him now!"

Not giving it a second thought I ran, jumping into a slide along the ice with direction that proved where I'd grown up. Duke's eye widened to see this as I went gliding into him, caught only by his instincts, I knew, as I grabbed a hold of him in return. I then gripped the sleeves of his new coat, pleading to him, "Duke don't go with her! Come back with us! This isn't what you want! It's not who you are!"

"It is what I want...I want to make her happy. I'm her roguish captain, an' I can't break her heart," he said with a smile that was barely half of his.

"As soon as you say your vows to her the drake we know will die! You won't be anything but her doll to play with! She doesn't love you!"

"I do love him!" Maria insisted with venom in her eyes while watching us, "And he will know that quite well!"

"What do you love about him?! What do you even know about him?!" I demanded.

"That he is mine, as I said before," she said in a voice smooth and sweet as honey, "And I will be his."

As Duke went to pull away I held onto him tighter, desperately thinking of what to do. Then I glanced down at the sapphire I wore and grasped at the only idea I had. Quickly unclasping it I reached up and fastened it around his neck over the sash he was wearing. Looking up at him I attempted, "Please, save him from this! Duke, don't go with her! You can't leave us! You're my thief remember?!"

While I did this Duke had remained still, allowing this and giving me a glimmer of hope to cling to. Then he pulled away, stepping back from my grasp while reaffirming, "I'm her sailor bold, an' I will not break her heart."

"Duke!" I pleaded as I was suddenly grabbed by a pair of undead soldiers before I could grab for him again.

Maria laughed with cruel delight while hurrying over to him and hugging him tight. She nuzzled her head against his chest as she let out a relieved breath. As she did her dress of ocean sky blue and sea green she'd been wearing turned to a sea foam white. Her hair was then adorned with pearls, as was her neck and wrists. She then took Duke by the hand and lead him up to the ship while instructing her soldiers, "Bring our guests, I want them to witness every moment of this now!"

She looked over her shoulder at me, "I can't wait to see the outcome."

We were then forced and dragged along, fighting every step of the way as we all were thrown onto the deck and tied down. That is accept for me, who was strangely left free, but guarded...as though she knew there was nothing left I could do to stop what was happening. He'd ignored my cries, he'd pulled away from my grasp. Even the sapphire around his neck had lost it's gleam now as he met with her at the helm. The ship floated up from the palace, bringing us to the stars so Duke could begin the ceremony he was puppeted to perform. Not far from us I could see Trent at the wheel of our own ship trying to keep it close if we could get away and hop over. Still the starmaid paid little attention to this.

Instead she looked up at Duke as he spoke in a distant tone that she mistook for love and obediance, "We're gathered here today to unite my dear Maria and myself in a bond that cannot be severed...?"

"Our vows then?" Maria prompted in an eager manner to keep him from remembering our recently made vows of our own.

Duke nodded and offered her his hand, "To you Maria, I vow my freedom to...all that I am is now yours to hold if you wish it. I give up my life of adventure to stay at your side. I give myself to keep you happy. My heart..." he faltered briefly while glancing at me before continuing, "is now yours to hold my dear Maria. This I vow to ya..."

As these words reached my ears I would find my vision become blurred. My core began to twist as I crumbled to my knees wishing this wasn't occurring. Yet with every attempt I made to stop it, a soldier would pull me back until I remained their kneeling and watching still.

Then Maria looked to Duke and answered, "To you my sailor bold, I vow to make happy. To provide you with delight and lasting devotion to what I now possess. We will remain together in our place among the stars where no one can pull you away. May my song bind us to where you can not break away to wander ever again."

I held them back as I listened, fighting with every fiber of my being not to let them fall as I looked up at them in this blurred vision. I tried to pull myself to my feet with the aid of the rail beside me, only to stumble as my legs lost their strength it seemed. For a moment I wondered if her words had been true. When her song was complete, would my own begin in her place as I cried out for him? This I chose not to focus on as I looked up at him still.

"Duke..." I attempted as I stumbled onto my hands and knees, "Duke please...!"

"Then with these rings to bind us," Duke proclaimed as they took their bands made of seashell and slipped them onto the other's finger, "I pronounce us wed...an'...may I..."

Duke faltered as he heard me, before she hummed once more to draw him close to her.

"May I kiss my bride?" his voice echoed in slight bewilderment down to me as she grabbed him by his coat front and kissed him.

With his breath stolen by this kiss I watched as he gave in and held her. In my chest I could have sworn the shards of glass that rended my heart ran deep enough to draw blood. Trying to stand once more proved useless once more. Our friends still tied to the beam and forced to watch looked on with eyes of shock as this occurred. Their mouths had all been tied and gagged to keep them from breaking their vows as they were promised to one another. Only my cries had been cruelly left to attempt, knowing I couldn't do anything to sever them.

Then as she pulled away from him we heard her words drifting to us in song.

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

As her haunting melody at last concluded from her coral painted lips she looked up at Duke like a child being given a new doll. Then she glanced at me with a gleam of greed in her eyes, waiting to see what would happen as she held onto her captain.

I tried again to stand only to feel a sharp pain in my chest resonating through my body. My legs seemed to refuse to stand as I grabbed the railing. Tears flowed down my face, breaking down my reserves as I looked up at Duke. He simply looked to his new bride, every trace of the drake I knew spirited away so he could be molded to her liking. I wanted to reach out for him, to pull him away from this fate somehow. Yet I couldn't even stand it seemed.

Then, while still looking to him, I gripped the railing tighter and pulled my legs into motion whether they resisted or not. The pain in my chest continued, but I let that fuel me instead. With every ounce of strength I still had I fought the restraints she thought I was held down by. Then, albeit while trembling, I stood as myself still looking up at Duke.

To this Maria only scoffed and shook her head, "It would have been so fitting...but either way I have the real prize don't I?"

I didn't answer.

"In fact I am in such a wonderful mood now that I am wed to my sailor bold, that I have decided to let all of you go free and return to your ship," she commanded as the others were set free, but with the guards ready to attack if we attempted any sort of fight.

Trent was allowed to bring our ship near for us to board. All of us watched with bewildered and heavy hearts as we were forced away from our friend and captain. One by one we attempted a good-bye only for it to be cut short as they were each pushed along. Then it was my turn to reluctantly hop over.

Yet as I was lead to the rail Maria spoke out, "Be lucky I am letting you free. Your fate could still be much worse. However I think living with the heart break will be cruel enough. After all this time..." she mused knowing she meant both our lifetimes we'd shared now, "Yet you still couldn't steal him away from me now. Live with that to your dying day and that will be painful enough I think."

The tears hadn't stopped still, and though I wanted to save face in front of her, I also found that I simply didn't care. What mattered most to me was in her arms as she nuzzled her head against his chest again. Her hand slid to over his heart that she toyed with now, twirling a finger over it to taunt his shifting desires. Until she brushed against the sapphire still hanging from the gold chain I had fastened around his neck. As it shifted Duke brought a hand up to it and looked it over in bewilderment, "This...isn't mine?"

He looked to Maria, but then remembered well from her song, "It's not yours due to the gold I know ya don't care for..." He turned his confused gaze to our ship and it's crew before finding me still on their deck.

With this he slipped from her grasp while unclasping the chain. I had nearly turned away at this point when I noticed him approaching me. My heart leapt to my throat as he drew near, but quickly sank when I feared it was one last taunt allowed by her.

Then he said, catching my attention from the weary glare I was giving her by grasping my hand before I could turn away, I turned to Duke as he spoke, "I believe this is yours...isn't it?"

I looked to him uncertain of this, despite knowing it was true in a way, "You were looking for it...perhaps you should hold onto it?"
He shook his head while sliding behind me now and swiftly bringing the chain around my neck. His fingers were smooth and gentle so not to catch my hair in the latch as he clasped the necklace back in place. Then he carefully brushed my hair back into place before stepping around me to see how it looked, "I wanted ya to have this..."

"Duke, I...are you sure?" I stammered in disbelief.

He tilted his head curiously to hear and see my reaction, before he replied in bewilderment, "Of course I'm sure sweetheart?"

My eyes widened as he slipped in the end, causing my heart to skip a beat in my chest. Upon seeing this reaction, he smiled while stepping around to face me and then added with a charming smile returning to his face, "I love seein' ya blush like that."

"Duke!" I cried while throwing my arms around him, "Duke, I thought I'd lost you!"

Just when I'd thought perhaps it was a momentary lapse and started to pull back from confusion, I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me close to him. Then he reassured me softly, "You're the only one that accepts me for who I was...an' who I am now...so of course ya didn't lose me darlin'!"
Just as he pulled back slightly to try and brush my tears away we both caught sight of Maria glaring down at us both from the helm of the ship. Duke instintively pulled me against him again as we backed up towards the rail.

"Let go of him right now you little thief!" Maria commanded as I held onto him in return.

To this she attempted her song once more, her eyes wide with shock to see Duke remain with his arms around me, "How?!"

"She can't steal what's already hers," Duke smirked as he then climbed up onto the rail of the ship, sweeping me up in his grip in the process.

He then shot out his grappling hook and gave a nod to the others who were at their stations. With that he tugged at the rope and went to swing us over. Suddenly as he did Maria let out a shriek and grabbed at my leg in an unnatural movement of speed and precission to yank me down back onto the deck. With that same strength she shoved me to the floor while looming over me. Unable to stop the given order to attack, as Duke held onto the rope he'd begun to swing on to reach the others, the cannons collided with the ship I was still on.

"Heart!" Duke cried out through the smoke as the ship began to break apart from the solid hit it had taken.

I scrambled to my feet only to be knocked back down by the rush of sand knocking me back down with the force of a storm behind it.

"I will steal her from you then!" Maria screamed as she glared at Duke while the ship began to descend and break apart.

I managaed to jump up enough to grab the shrouds nearby to keep from falling off the now plummeting ship. Maria locked herself into place with binds of sand that hardened for her. With a glare shot towards me we both held on and then with a sudden crash everything went black.

I awoke to the snarling and gnashing of jaws drawing close as I lay sprawled out on the deck of the broken up ship. In an attempt to leap up I was swiftly struck back down by the force of a finned hand that scratched up my cheek a bit in it's powerful motion. Then she hissed, "My hunger has returned because of you! So now I will feast once more on the blood and flesh I crave, starting with you!"

The sands returned to bind me to the planks of wood I couldn't leap up from in time. As I looked up I realized we were back on that moon, collided with her now broken seashell palace. The tower of the sand castle loomed over us, daring for anything to shift it's careful balance. Though it no longer glowed with light, but had grown rather bleak and black around us. I looked up realizing, "Your magic is weakening now that your song is done isn't it?"

"Observant as usual I see. However there is a way to strengthen my magic again," she mused in a growling hunger.

Her razor like nail drew close to my throat, grazing it smoothly as she toyed with me as her meal, "Your blood will nourish me, and that strong heart of yours will be quite the delicacy. Then with the magic that provides me I will seek out that crew, and my sailor bold once more!"

"He won't-!"

"You're right! What's done is done, and he's made his choice thanks to your thievery! However...that will not save his heart from being in my hands...beating as I bite into it!" She snarled as I fought against my restraints, "Then at least his will be joined with yours once more now won't it?"

As she reared back her hand to rake across my chest I would see someone catch her wrist, shrouded by the darkness around us. Then in that same motion they would pull her back from me, shoving her back a bit and then drawing their blade to break away the sand binding me down. Without needing to see him I felt the strength of his embrace pull me up into his arms before I saw the soft red light of his cybernetic eye giving off it's glow.

"I've got ya sweetheart!" he assured me while making sure I was in the grip of his free arm.

Just as Duke went to turn around while I held onto him did Maria lunge at us, revealing herself in flashes of light sparked by the sapphire I wore still, a more bestial form of what she was. Her jaw unhinged with clashing teeth and wicked claws, she grabbed for us both. Duke took his saber and swung, knocking her back and slashing into her arms. He winced as the blade met with her scales and flesh, causing her to shriek in a frenzied hunger now. It was not unlike that of a heartbroken lost lover screaming, unrelenting through the fierce storm of anguish from starved affection. Then suddenly she lunged again, knocking us both together into the mainmast of the ship we were on, shifting it's careful weight holding up the tower above.

At this we heard that tower begin to chip and crumble with flakes of shell raining down slowly at first. Yet still Maria held Duke by the throat with an unnatural strength as she swore, "You two, whether it's here or if you manage to escape me now, you will be torn apart! Fate will catch up to you my sailor bold and she will crumble once it does! Mark my words, you will not be free-!"

"Let him go!" I shouted while shifting enough in his grip to kick her in the jaw, sending her reeling back as the tower began to fall down over us.

As she fell to the deck all we could do was make a break for it. Duke tightened his grip and ran as the whole structure beneath and around us trembled. It finally shook violently enough to knock us to our feet, sending me flying out of his grasp a bit away from him. I rolled a bit until I slid to a stop with the palace walls still falling around us.

Duke:

With everything crumbling over the two of us now along with Heart and I knocked to the ground I tried to evaluate quickly on what to do. Looking up I would see pieces of the ship beginning to crack and slam down onto the deck, shaking it in a horrible rage. As I tried to get up I would feel the claws of the starmaid graze my boot just as I evaded her in time. I looked over my shoulder to see her caught by her tail, pinned by a beam of wood just as another wall of shells came crashing down.

"Duke!" Heart cried just as I dodged one last swipe and turned to see Heart trying to scramble to her feet.

Behind me I would hear Maria screaming to me for help, begging to be let go. While Heart, leaping from falling pieces one after another, simply tried to reach me. It wasn't a question as I hurried to her. We both came to a suuden pause as we heard creaking and cracking above our heads, causing us to look up before we were forced to leap to the ground, as the ship trembled wildly just as I had tried to reach a hand out to her. Then looking up once more I would find the foremast coming crashing down to try and seperate us with it's mass. Without even a breath taken I scrambled to my feet and took a leap as I swept her up in a tumbling roll to pull Heart from it's collision with the deck that threatened to nearly knock us off of it. In the same instant we would hear the last agonized shriek of Maria as she had leapt after me, and was caught under the weight of that beam.

With Heart in my arms I knelt over her now, shielding her from anything that dared fall over us, and from the blood curdling scream that suddenly ceased.

"Duke!" Heart cried out as we both heard my tunic and vest tearing from the shards of shells and woods cutting into me now as I held her close.

With every blow I took I knew a bruise or scar would make their mark. Yet I simply didn't care. Instead I tightened my hold around Heart, slipping a hand over the back of her head to shield her, "I've got ya sweetheart!"

I then felt her hand quickly slip to the back of my head to pull me closer to her as we heard another beam nearly graze it. All we could do then was hold onto each other as the palace and ship crumbled in an attempt to claim us still.

Then after a good while, with our clothing torn here and there and rather battered and worn bodies, the trembling ceased. Dust and debris settled around the both of us. In that dark tomb that tried to ensnare us as well we looked to one another. To our relief the other was still breathing and looking back through the ebony shrouding us. When I was certain the commotion caused by the falling ship and castle was over I stood up with Heart and began trying to push away the broken pieces. Bit by bit we carefully began to climb out, with me making sure she went up ahead of me.

Suddenly as I went to push the next piece of broken ship away a light from above came beaming down over us. As we shielded our startled eyes we would see our crew digging Heart and I out from the rubble.

"You're alive!" Nosedive cried out with tears misting in his eyes as he saw his sister looking up at him.

"Captain, you're back!" Norelle exclaimed just as relieved.

"Just when I was about to take over the ship to!" Marestella laughed while wiping moisture from her own eyes.

Joyful cheers and sighs of relief soon surrounded the wreckage as we were pulled out safely and back onto our ship.

Once we were steady on our feet we were tackled into a group hug, with Grin forming as the strong support to gather us all in. Then we all looked down to the fallen ship and palace below and took a respectful moment of silence for the child Maria may have been long ago, and her father that may have tried to save her before it was too late.

"Let's head to Port Slater," I then suggested more than ordered.

As everyone started to head to their stations they then came to a pause and looked back to me. In turn I faced each and every one of them with growing pride in my chest.

"Thank you everyone," I said with a mist in my eye, "I don't know if I deserve such a fine crew."

"Well we needed a captain, and we couldn't decide on who it should be without you," Marestella shrugged.

"Didn't I put Ava in charge if somethin' should happen?" I asked a bit bewildered.

"She didn't want to be captain," Catalina shrugged, "So we had no choice."

Looking to Avarin she half scoffed, "It's way too much work!"

I shook my head as they all exchanged smiles and hearty laughs. Then they went about their tasks as though none of us knew what else to say as the shock of it being over washed over us.

Though the treat was over, it were as though something in the air still lingered around us. Only then did I remember Maria's final threat.

However this was shaken off for the moment as I turned to Heart now.

I had gone to change back into my usual attire and had found her once more looking out my cabin window when I was done. Hearing me approach her Heart then turned to face me, wearing a fresh tunic and slacks, but without a vest for the moment. There was a mist of her own lingering in her eyes as we took in the aftermath of everything. She was also clasping the sapphire in an iron, but still trembling, grip with her arms folded over her chest.

"Ya saved me from her curse Heart...just as ya swore ya would," I said with a warm smile.

"I'm not sure what I did...I just didn't want to leave you..." she replied.

"An' ya didn't. I don't think you could...but why I wonder? Her song was over, I'd given my vow, an' betrayed ya with that kiss...so why then...?" I inquired while looking over her.

With a tired, but still sweet, smile she answered, "Because I still trusted you...I trusted us..."

A tear of my own escaped my eye as I heard this from her. I then reached a hand to caress her cheek as I had so often since all of this had begun, and well before that, and chuckled softly, "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost that Heart..."

"You won't ever have to worry about that Duke," she promised me.

With her own tears shed for me to catch she then slipped a hand into her vest pocket and slipped my ring back into place on my own hand. Then I swept hers up in mine and kissed it as I had when we'd met. Next was her cheek as I slipped my hand up along her back to pull her close to me. Finally, as she leaned in, we tilted our heads just enough to share a kiss as I breathed, "I love ya Heart."

"I love you too Duke."

Then the distance between us was closed, and the final threat forgotten in that moment. All that mattered in that instant was that we were holding onto one another. She proved this by then wrapping her arms around my lean frame as I pulled her against me. Then with a sigh of relief shared I kissed the top of her head while stroking her hair as we looked out at the passing stars, back on the ship and in the arms of the thief that had stolen me back to stay with her again.