The fishwoman was still silent, but looked at the intruder with both curiosity and hatred. Bianca wasn't surprised by the second emotion. Not only did fishmen already have a well-known, and well deserved, prejudice against humans, but this poor woman had also been enslaved by the very people she must have hated. Bianca could empathize with that.
"Hey." Bianca said. "You look like you've had a rough go."
The fishwoman only kept up her silent gaze.
"I know you probably don't trust me." Bianca continued. "But I'm here to set you free. I'm not with those humans who put you here."
A flash of curiosity crossed the fishwoman's face, but nothing more.
Bianca approached the glass bowl and ran her hand across its surface. The top of the bowl was open to let in air, but the opening was so small it hardly mattered. She couldn't break it without using her ability, but she needed to save that for later. She would have to get this fishwoman to agree to come free first.
"My name's Bianca. I'm a pirate." She said.
The look on the fishwoman's face changed again to one of skepticism. Bianca could only smile.
"It's true." She said. "I mean, sure, I don't have a crew yet, but I'm as much of a pirate as anyone else."
"You don't look like one." The fishwoman said.
"Oh good, you can talk." Bianca replied, but then stopped short. "Why does everyone say that I don't look like a pirate? I don't think I look too bad."
The fishwoman just looked at her, but now her gaze was more quizzical than angry.
Bianca stared back at her for a moment.
"You want to escape, don't you?" She said.
The fishwoman took a moment, but nodded.
"Good. We'll have to work together to break this thing then. And we should probably hurry; I'm sure the marines will be here soon, and a lot of people are waiting upstairs for their freedom too." Bianca said.
The fishwoman sat up in her bowl.
"What happens after you free me?" She said, warily.
Bianca looked her dead in the eyes, but her face was one of confusion.
"What do you mean?" She said.
"Don't play dumb." The fishwoman snarled. "Humans always want something."
Bianca took a moment to think about this. She had assumed this woman had been through some terrible experiences with humans, but perhaps she had assumed too little. She knew that humans could be cruel, but had this fishwoman experienced a cruelty she had yet to see?
"I don't want anything, except for you to consider something." Bianca finally replied.
The fishwoman was clearly taken aback by her words. Humans were meant to be her enemy, but this new one seemed different from all those she had met.
"And what request is that?" She asked with a reserved tone.
"I don't know what it is about you, but something tells me you're strong." Bianca began.
"Of course I am. And don't you forget that!" The fishwoman interrupted.
Bianca nodded, but continued.
"So my request for your consideration is thus. Join my crew and sail the seas with me as a pirate." She said.
An eerie silence fell over the room, as if time itself had stopped. The fishwoman couldn't believe what she had just heard. Surely she wasn't serious.
"Quit joking around!" She screamed. "What kind of fool do you take me for? A human and a fishman working together as pirates? Don't make me laugh."
Bianca stared at her, and anyone could see the look of determination in her eyes.
"I'm not joking." She said.
Suddenly, the rage on the fishwoman's face disappeared.
"I don't care what species you are, and I don't care what anyone else says." She continued. "Right now, I'm here to free you. Whether you join my crew or not is up to you. But I don't care if you're a fishman. Now let's bust this bowl."
She spoke no more words, and simply readied a punch.
The fishwoman was silent, and made no move to help. She couldn't believe her eyes. This stranger had shown up and freed the slaves, and now she wanted to help someone who wasn't a human like her. Not only that, but she wanted her to join her crew. Had the world gone mad?
"Any time now." Bianca called.
The fishwoman snapped back to reality. She stared at Bianca for a moment, and then placed her hands upon the glass. She gave Bianca a nod.
With all her natural might, Bianca heaved a punch right into the glass. At the same time, unbeknownst to her savior, the fishwoman created a surge of water under her palms strong enough to break a normal man in half. As the forces collided on either side of the glass their combined strength caused a ripple of cracks to appear on the surface. As each pulled away the cracks began to grow larger, until they finally burst and caused the entire bowl to collapse.
The fishwoman spilled out onto the floor, but recovered quickly. She towered over Bianca by at least two feet as she stood, but Bianca was not intimidated much to her surprise. Instead, the young woman held out her hand.
"Otto Bianca, nice to meet you." She said.
The fishwoman tentatively took her hand in her own.
"Alphyne." She said, curtly.
"Good to meet you, Alphyne. Ready to cause some trouble?" Bianca asked.
Alphyne nodded, and at the idea a smile appeared on her face exposing a row of sharp teeth.
Bianca smiled as well, but when her mind turned to business she had a thought.
"You don't need a weapon, do you?" She asked.
"No. I just need my hands and feet." Alphyne replied.
Bianca was glad that was the case. She herself didn't really need a weapon either, but she had always preferred it when she had one back home. Being without her halberd put her at a disadvantage in combat since she couldn't totally utilize her abilities yet.
"Alright then. The rest of the people I freed should be waiting upstairs." She said.
With that the duo took off up the flight back to the main floor. Once there they found Alice standing with all of the other slaves in the foyer. A few of them seemed shaken, but all things considered they were all okay. Alice waved Bianca over while Alphyne stood by the doorway.
"Things don't seem good, lady." Alice said. "The marines are outside already."
Bianca sidled over to the door and took a look out its window panel to find that there were indeed around forty marines standing rank and file outside. That was a significantly larger number than she had faced before, but with Alphyne at her side they surely had a good chance of making it out alive. She returned to Alice and knelt down beside her.
"Okay, Alice, I want you to take everyone around back and get them as far away as possible. My new friend and I will hold off the marines while you make your escape." She said.
Alice looked like she wanted to protest, but the old man from the basement took hold of her shoulder before she could. He gave her a soft look, but clearly Alice knew what was meant. She gave Bianca a hug before leading the rest of the slaves towards the back of the manor. Bianca then turned to Alphyne.
"Ready?" She asked.
"I'm always ready to fight humans." Alphyne replied with a crack of her knuckles.
Bianca grinned, she knew she was going to like this one.
