Chapter 2: The Kraken Awakes….
The grandfather clock on the landing outside Falcon's bedroom gonged loudly at the stroke of twelve. Long and loud chimes that forced the Englishman awake resonated throughout the house, the windows on the far side of his bedroom rattling. Something had to be done about that clock, it nearly woke him up every hour with it's so loud a chime the chandelier on the hall ceiling shook. If Apollus couldn't get it fixed, it was going to go flying out the attic window tomorrow night.
Ryoma had a room to himself just down the hallway. It was different from what he was used to in Japan but it served and as an added bonus, it had a solid brick wall between it and the clock. The noise wasn't drowned out but softened, which was partly the reason Falcon had chosen that room for their visitor. The samurai could be very irritable if he didn't get a good nights sleep. Wondering if he could replace that clock with a silent sundial Edward drifted back off to sleep himself. The only thing to break the silence now was the continuous line of snoring echoing from behind Falcon's door.
The window at the far end of the landing slowly slid open with a short scraping and swiftly the slim figure crept jn, the footsteps hardly making a sound on the carpeting. Clad in dark clothes the figure was completely invisible in the nighttime shadows. It paused, listening intently for any signs of movement in the household. After a couple of seconds it crept silently along the rail towards the door at the far end. Quickly it froze as a loud creek echoed out from the bottom of the stairs and a dim light began to travel upwards. Apollus was slowly trudging his way back up the stairs to his room having gone to the kitchen for a drink of milk. The old butler was still in his night attire with a starched night cap and a pair of slippers on his feet. A small candle dimly lighting his way.
Reaching the top of the stairs he paused to readjust his spectacles. He yawned lightly before carrying on towards a smaller set of stairs that lead up to the servants quarters. He stopped beside the grandfather clock and listened as the pendulum inside no longer seemed to be swinging. The usual ticking had slowed to almost nothing. Clearly the thing was broken.
"I'll just have to get that fixed in the morning." He muttered sleepily to himself before carrying on. Once he had disappeared around a corner, the door to the inside mechanisms of the clock creaked open and a head stuck itself out. Once ensured that it was alone again, the intruder crept quietly out of the clock it had been forced to take refuse in and back along the corridor towards the door.
Slowly the handle was turned and the recently oiled hinge allowed entry without so much as a creaking. Slowly the room was entered. Moonlight was falling from window on the far side, the curtains half closed, the light itself falling across a bed. From here the intruder could see that bed was occupied. The opportunity for a kill was there, but not tonight. The time wasn't right. Now there was only one target in mind, the stone lying on the beside table half revealed in moonlight. Slowly the room was crossed inch by inch towards the prize.
A loud hiss of an unsheathing sword broke the silence followed immediately by a loud clicking as an electric light was switched on. Ryoma had a Katana's hilt steady in one hand, the blade lancing up so the tip laid gently against Ayame's throat. The young girl looked very guilty frozen with her arms outstretched towards the Power Stone. A moment of utter silence passed and Ayame forged a nervous smile.
"Just this once, I'm going to pretend I didn't find you here tonight." He stated in japanese. "I'm giving you to the count of three to get out. 1.…" Ayame hesitated, wondering if she could throw a shuriken before he could flick that blade across her skin. Ryoma seemed to sense her thought and pressed the cold metal harder against her throat. "2.…" She wasn't going to get a chance to fight back. He'd strike her down before she could even blink and while the instinctive temptation to attack anyway was strong, the rational part of her mind was telling her to cut her losses and run.
Which she did, bolting to the door and out it before the samurai could count to three. Ryoma listened as the sound of light footsteps began fading before with a sudden jolt the window at the far end of the landing was shut as the girl made her escape. He sighed out load and replaced his sword. This trip was going to become very tiresome very quickly if he had to keep an eye on her all the while.
----
The next morning Falcon found that the pendulum inside the grandfather clock had been broken in half as if someone had pressed against it too hard stopping the thing at a few minutes past twelve. That he didn't mind that at all. Whoever had committed the act had given a good few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
"Good morning young master." Apollus greeted the young man as he descended the stairs to the main hallway, his red jacket hung over his shoulder. His blonde hair was still an untidy mess with his goggles sitting on top of his head. The butler was already in his usual attire complete with pink bow tie. "I apologise for the earliness but you have another visitor." Edward looked back up at the grandfather clock, then realized it wasn't working and turned his attention to a wall clock over hanging the entrance to the main living room.
"It's only seven." He asked himself, threading his arms into his jacket. "Who is it?"
"Your friend from the British Museum in London." The aging butler replied. "Your father invited him around for Christmas lunch last year sir, if you recall. He's waiting in the living room with your Japanese friend." Edward still being drowsy paused for a moment to search his clouded memory.
"Why are my guests always early?" He asked himself as he struggled to make himself presentable. "Bring in some tea Apollus, a green one for Ryoma and the usual for myself and our visitor." Before the old butler could argue that he hadn't been able to find green tea in the first place Falcon was already through the door into the living room.
The man waiting by the fire place was short, a good head and shoulders shorter than Falcon himself. His clothes were quite plain, a simple pale brown suit with a short tie around his neck. His brown beard was thick and shaggy around his chin, reaching down past his chest, his hair long past his shoulders. To mark out his eyes were a short pair of spectacles sitting on the ridge of a hooked nose. Under one arm was a rectangular parcel wrapped heavily in brown paper, the words; 'Property Of The British Museum' printed in thick red letters on the top.
"Edward." The man began with a short smile. "Hope I'm not too early."
"It's better than being late. I wasn't expecting you until lunch." Falcon added, pausing to readjust the goggles on his forehead. The shorter man looked up before smiling, his lips barely visible through his thick beard.
"For once the trains were running on time and my taxi was early." The two of them shook hands.
"Who is your friend?" Ryoma asked sceptically coming though the door behind them.
"This here is Doctor Erode, an old family friend and my contact in the British Museum achieves." Falcon explained patting the far shorter man on the shoulder nearly sending the doctor's glasses of the end of his nose. "Since the Power Stones date back to the time of Atlantis I thought it best to see what I could find out about the sunken city." Ryoma gave the man a sceptical glance over.
"My specialty, folklore and legends of course." The doctor stated readjusting his spectacles.
"I take it you've not yet been introduced to Ryoma here?" The samurai simply shot them both a silent glare his eyes not even blinking.
"Ryoma?" Erode asked. "This is the Japanese friend you spoke off?" Falcon nodded doing up his jacket. "I must say, you neglected to inform me he was one of the last samurai. For shame." He stated recognising the traditional robes of one of the last samurai clans and gave Ryoma another look over. "A few colleges of mine that specialise in ancient Japanese culture would be most interested in meeting you down in London."
"Some other time." Ryoma replied with a flat emotionless expression before simply turning away to look out the window. Clearly he did not have much liking to the little man. Erode looked a little stunned, his face betraying his thoughts that perhaps he had upset the samurai in some way.
"He offends easily." Falcon told the surprised man with a short smile placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about him, tell me; did you bring the documents?" Erode nodded placing the parcel under his arm down and begun unwrapping the brown paper. Falcon leaned over his shoulder eagerly.
"The maps as well?"
"The maps as well…" The Doctor repeated with a smile before revealing what appeared to be several panes of glass windows inside his large package stacked against each other. Falcon looked a bit confused as if this was not what he expected. He walked around the doctor to get a better view. Now Falcon could get a better look at them he could see these were actually safety glass to protect the parchments inside. "Keep in mind they are on loan from the museum in my name so I'd be most grateful if you treat them with extreme care." Erode continued gently laying them down beside a chair.
"Maps?" Ryoma repeated raising an eyebrow. Erode nodded once and knelt down by the coffee table, placing one of them across it face up. Inside was a very old piece of paper made from crushed grass. The outlines had eroded over time but the middle was still intact showing that someone had used it to draw a map perhaps a dozen centuries or so ago. "Egyptian hieroglyphics?" The samurai stated in a question recognizing the symbols on the paper a snake and bird amongst them.
"Yes this was found in an expedition to Egypt about two years ago." Erode replied as Falcon examined the paper closer. Within the encircling hieroglyphs was a definite map, showing a shoreline and a large island off the coast. Within the centre of this island were several symbols that neither the Englishman nor the samurai could recognise. They were glyphs of a sort but not Egyptian. "This and several others in the collection I've brought were found in a tomb unearthed just east of the valley of the kings." Erode reached down and placed another of them on the table next to the first. This map showed a close up off the island on the first, showing its shoreline. It had high cliffs, a mountain in the middle and a bay on the eastern side. Their strange markings were there as well, nine of them in all placed in a circle around the island. "Since the Ancient Egyptians spread far and wide during their time and there aren't many indications on the document as to where this map refers."
"Well what do these hieroglyphics say then?" Ryoma asked pointing to the first map. Erode gave them a glance.
"Roughly translated, what's it says reads as; across the sea to the island kingdom of wealth, gold and silver traces through lines of power."
"That's pretty vague." Falcon stated with a disappointed look on his face.
"Well, a good deal of it faded over time." Erode added gesturing to the rough edges. The beginnings of more hieroglyphics were more than evident but not enough to recognise them. "Clearly there is more, but it is my hypothesis that these maps provide proof that the ancient Egyptians knew of the existence of Atlantis." He paused before sighing out load. "Of course I can't actually say that in front of my colleges if I want to keep my reputation. At least not without hard evidence." Falcon suddenly put out a hand to silence both of them looking up into space intently. He paused for a moment of utter silence before sniffing the air.
"Is something wrong?" Erode asked with a raised eyebrow. All Ryoma could smell was the faint fumes of cooking food coming from the kitchen.
"Yeah…" Falcon stated with a flat expression standing up. "It's breakfast time." With that he went for wallet in his back pocket. He flipped through the coins inside before pocketing it again grumbling something under his breath. Ryoma and the Doctor cast each other a glance.
"What's wrong with breakfast?" The samurai asked sceptically.
"Nothing when outside this house." Falcon replied finishing buttoning up his jacket and wrapping his white scarf around his neck. "It's when it's cooked here that's the problem." He looked back through the doorway towards the kitchen and then grimaced as a sudden look of panic passed over his face. "My family had to hire the only cook in the world whoprepares twelve course meals for breakfast lunch and supper."
"Then why not just tell him to stop?" Erode asked stacking the glass displays up against the two others he'd brought with him.
"Believe me I've tried." Falcon offered with a short bow making for the door. "But no one tells Gourmand when to stop cooking. He takes it personally." The Englishman paused at the door. "Very personally." He added with a nervous smile. "Care to join me outside; we can talk about all this at a little place that just started serving food all day." Apollus came walking in at that moment with a silver tray. "Change of plans Apollus, hold the tea. Tell Gourmand I'm sorry but I'll have to miss breakfast again." With that he flung the door open.
"Now young Master, not again…" The Butler protested as Falcon hurried a surprised Ryoma and Erode out the door.
"Hold down the fort." The young man added with a grim smile before shutting the door after them.
"When Gourmand hears about this, I might have to." Apollus groaned looking apprehensive.
---
Where once the shop had been deserted, now it was bustling with activity and all Mel had to do to achieve this miracle was hang a sign outside her door that stated 'Hot food and Drink available.' Within a single day, she had more customers than she'd had in a month and not just there for the food.
Scholars who wants to read and eat at the same time and couldn't else ware found this little shop a refreshing addition to the city. Ayame watched them come and go from behind the counter, a dazed look on her face at how much it had changed. She had just gotten used to an empty quiet shop where she could practise her English in relative privacy and suddenly she was being swamped.
Converting the backroom into a kitchen and cooking the food herals, Mel finally had a use for the tables she had placed around the store. People could sit, eat and read the books on offer.
"The only problem is some of them leave sticky finger marks on the pages." She told Ayame in passing, a plate with a small pie on it in one hand and a Charles Dickens novel in the other. The young girl still favoured the yen, but quickly she was learning about the currency system and only ended up overcharging two customers. Which was a valid improvement on her mistakes when business first started to boom.
"Two steak pies, your best coffee and a round of buttered toast." A voice proclaimed as the door opened and Falcon walked in, a wide smile spread across his face.
"Anything else m'lord?" Mel asked finishing serving another customer.
"Don't serve beer here yet?" The Englishman asked with hopeful gleam to his eyes. Mel maintained a flat expression and shook her head slowly. "Oh well, whatever's got the same effect then." Ayame avoided catching Ryoma's eye as the samurai and another English man followed Falcon inside. Quickly she pretended to be counting the money in the till but still she could feel his gaze on her, burning into the back of her head like a slow burn.
"You must really not like your cook if you go out to avoid his meals." Doctor Erode commented placing his wrapped pieces safety against the wall when Falcon found them a table by the front window. The appearance of Ryoma in the shop turned a few heads. It wasn't just his distant nationality that attracted their attention either. Not many people in England had seen a man in robes like those before and the swords were foreign to them.
"Gourmand's good at his job, no doubting that." The Englishman remarking sitting himself down to take detailed note of the books on the shelves behind him. "He just tends to take it over the top. I like a hot meal as much as the next man, but no one can have two portions of stuffed duck for breakfast every morning…with all the trimmings I might add."
"Surely not." Erode replied looking a little taken aback. Falcon laughed shortly to himself.
"He has the belief that anything less complex than a roast dinner is beneath him. The man takes requests for bowls of cereal as a direct insult to his cooking skills."
"Glad you warned me." Mel added in placing the first part of Falcon's order down on the table. A large mug of coffee and a steaming steak pie, a polished knife and fork ready for use. "I was going to ask if he'd mind cooking some more pies for me. Business has been so good since I started serving food with my books I'm running low on supplies." Falcon reared his head back and laughed.
"He'd have attacked you with a butcher's knife if you'd asked him."
"You surround yourself with some very strange people Edward." Erode commented with a raised eyebrow.
"I've noticed that." Ryoma sighed trying to hide a grin from sight.
"Had any breakfast yet Erode old chum?" Falcon asked slicing open the pie, the sweet smell of cooked meat and pastry leaking forth into the air.
"Oh, thank you." The doctor replied as he was handed a slice on a plate. "It's a shame we don't have many places like this near the museum. Best I can manage for a good meal there is a sandwich I wrapped in the morning." Falcon tried to say something but had a mouth full of pie and the words didn't make it past his lips. All the other two heard as a muffled murmur. He paused to swallow before trying to repeat.
"You were saying about the maps?" Erode hesitated before swinging one of the glass panes around and placing it against one of the walls with the parchment side facing them.
"Here, as you can see we have the island on the coast." He stated pointing to the map he had shown them before. "And these mines symbols…" His finger jabbed at the icons Ryoma had observed earlier. Feeling an observing presence the samurai looked back to see Ayame standing over his shoulder looking at the parchment in curious interest. When she noticed he was looking at her she smiled nervously and bid a hasty retreat. "From my researches into what folklore exists on Atlantis I have been able to find the meaning for these three." He gestured to the bottom ones. "This one…" Their attention was drawn to the very bottom. Two concentric circles, a smaller one eclipsing the other with a white light directly through the middle vertically made up the icon and was placed right there. "Is the ancient symbol for fire; this next one…" Just to the right was another one, circular like before only with a triangle directly in the middle. "This means water."
"Ah." Ryoma stated, realizing the obvious. "Let me guess, this next one…" He pointed towards the next icon in sequence. "This means earth correct?" Erode blinked, as if incapable of understanding how the samurai could have guessed that. "You see it Falcon?" The Englishman up properly in his chair and examined the nine symbols carefully himself. His eyes widened as the realization spread to him.
"Erode, I think you've just discovered absolute proof that the Power Stones are from Atlantis." The Doctor looked dumbstruck, before glancing at the map himself for what he missed. "Nine symbols, nine stones." Falcon added pointing to the icons. "Those other ones mean light, darkness, wind, wood, lightning and metal…" He turned to look at the samurai. "That right Ryoma?" The Japanese man nodded once.
"Dear god I must be blind." Erode breathed, before suddenly looked embarrassed. "I've been an archaeologist for thirty years, I spent two of those studying this document, found nothing and you spotted it in two minutes." He sighed out load, took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. "I'm really not at my prime."
"Dad often said time'll make fools of us all." Falcon remarked before lifting the coffee mug to his lips. "And when you see his fading features you can believe it."
A moment later the door to the shop flung itself wide open and a figure staggered in, gripping the doorframe to support himself as he stopped to catch his breath. Everyone looked up in surprised at the sudden intrusion, even Mel who once she saw who was on her doorstep managed a wide smile. Ryoma looked back and was left a little dumbstruck at the familiar figure.
"Wang-Tang!" Falcon announced with a wide smile across his face. Erode looked a little sceptical at the Chinese man standing in the doorway struggling for breath. His height was average but he still managed a good few inches on the Doctor. Long black hair tied back into a pony tail behind his head, falling over one shoulder lazily. His clothes were light silk, their colours pale apart from the colour on the white shirt which was brightly decorated with blue traces. Ayame looked their new arrival over from the back of the shop. From appearance he looked only a few years older than herself and, she added with a thick blush tingeing her face, he was well built for his age.
"Falcon, Ryoma…" He began still heavily out of breath. "Apollus told me this was where I could find you." Wang-Tang nearly dropped to his knees had Ryoma not caught him.
"Dear god man you look like you ran all the way from China." Falcon remarked kneeling by his side.
"For the most part I did." Wang-Tang replied, the look on his face, the look of fear… Falcon hadn't seen that look over a year now. "I had to come here; I had to warn you…"
"Wang-Tang… what happened?" Falcon asked adopting a serious expression that seemed so out of place on him.
"He's alive, Falcon…" He replied simply. "He took my Power Stone. He came back from the grave and took my Power Stone!" Falcon was deadly silent for a brief moment, before his eyebrows knotted in the middle.
"Please tell me this is some joke." He stated with an emotionless voice but his face portraying a sudden surge of emotional distress. Wang-Tang grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him close.
"You think I'd come all this way on a jest?" He demanded with anger in his voice. Falcon brushed him off, frantically shaking his head.
"You must have made a mistake." The Englishman told him. "You must have."
"I saw him!" Mel just stood there watching the Chinese teen, her face slowly filling with something Ayame had not seen her express thus far; unhindered terror.
"Say it. Who's alive?" Mel asked, a lump forming in her throat. With Ryoma's help Wang-Tang made it back to his feet.
"Kraken." That one word was like a shockwave passing through the shop. Falcon shivered at the mention. Mel clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in horror. Ryoma was frozen to the spot; his face as unreadable as ever by behind that thin veil was chaotic emotional turmoil. Ayame watched in amazement as the one word rendered them all catatonic.
---
It was not uncommon for fog to creep in over the docks in the morning, but this much this quickly certainly raised a few heads in surprise. A mere moment ago the sun had been illuminating the sky. Now it was drowned in an unending sea of grey and rolled off the river, engulfing everything in its path. The two Turbine ships on the river vanished in a second, the regatta of fishing trawlers and ferries around them disappearing one by one as well. Before too long it was impossible to see across the harbour. The fog followed up over the docks and through the narrows streets between the buildings.
"You smell that?" A sailor asked as their small party managed to make it ashore on a small rowing boat.
"Smell what?" Another asked tying the line to the dock. Several more sniffed the air around them. It was horribly pungent with a smell that as seamen they were all familiar with. "Gunpowder?"
Then the sound began and one by one they craned their necks sky ward. Slowly the fog began to break above them, the bow of a Turbine ship sailing through, the fans on its underside breaking up the outline in the dense illusion. Slowly the vessel carried on through the fog, disappeared completely as quickly as it had come.
The Prince Octopus was a formidable vessel, named in honour of its predecessor the King Octopus which now lay with its bow jutting out of the icy northern sea. Their captain hadn't just taken any Turbine ship either. He had chosen the most heavily ship available. The Prince had out matched all other ship of its kind, duelling with ease in the air as befitted the inherited grace of a prince. Bristol was swallowed in fog leaving any possible defenders virtually blind. As always their Captains skills with black magic pulled through for them. If this raid was successful, not only would it fill their hull with contraband it would effectively send a message to the world that even the British Empire could not withstand the coming of the pirates age.
"Alright you miserable sods, for those of you new to tha jumpin' gig, listen up." Puss the first mate shouted to those to take the first plunge, his green jacket and bandana flapping furiously in the intense winds produced by the constantly whirling fans. All thirty of the 'volunteers' were on deck already strapped into the gliding apparatus. "It's very simple so you dunderheads should be able at get it the first time around." The small thin man jabbed a finger over at the edge of the ship; the roofs passing beneath it. "The only thing you have to do before any of you can start having fun is 'off' every copper on the streets. THEN you can start hauling loot." A few muttered grumbles echoed out from the small crowd.
"Business before pleasure boys." Octo, the second officer told them. "Well what the hell are ya waitin' for? Move it, Move it!" As ships took to the air, piratical tactics had had to change to adapt. Gone were the days when ships were boarded and island colonies ransacked. One by one, these pirates knock offs of the paratrooper descended carefully off the side of the moving ship. As they moved through the air their fall was slowed from fatal consequences by a metallic device strapped to their backpacks, a pair of canvas wings on metal struts lancing out with their arms; basic equipment for their profession such as rifles, hand guns and an assortment of blades hung from hooks on either side ready for use. Gliding softly downward they landed across streets and roofs in the city without so much as a footstep to alert the mystified police and by the time any of the old bill realized something was wrong, bullets were already firing.
-
"Look Edward, illuminate me." Erode offered growing slightly impatient. "Just who or what precisely is this 'Kraken', you all keep speaking of?" Mel has ushered them into the store room at the back of the shop which she had converted into a makeshift kitchen. A pot of coffee stood on the top of oven she had moved from the upstairs rooms to downstairs. While Mel had a perfectly good kitchen upstairs, it would have been far too impractical to use for her business as it would require to be constantly darting up and down the small flight of stairs behind the counter. After that outburst the customers had decided they had been some back later in the afternoon and left. Ayame switched the open sign outside to 'closed' and locked the door after them.
Wang-Tang had had to take a long journey to get here. He had crossed two continents, catching what transportation he could and running the rest of the way. Fear had driven him on, refusing his body to rest until it was too tired to even breathe. He hadn't eaten for over five days and it finally showing. Now he had reached the finishing line the hunger he had forced out of his body returned with a vengeance. Mel had given him the pie Falcon had begun and no longer seemed to want.
They all looked to the Englishman to talk, but he simply stood with his back to them; his arms crossed in front of himself. Even facing the other way they could all feel the scowl on his features.
Ayame quietly let herself in, managing to avoid being sighted and shooed away by the samurai standing nearby. What peeked her curiosity a combination of things. Part of her was genially curiousness of this was all about, The ninja within wanted to see if they would be talking about the Power Stones and the teenage girl part wanted to get another look at Wang-Tang. He was sitting on top of one of the work surfaces helping himself to some food. He was just so handsome. The ninja within tried to re-affect some control, but teenage hormones seemed to be far stronger willed.
Mel placed a cup of water nearby for him and was waiting patiently for someone to speak. Ryoma stood over his shoulder, his arms folded inside his robes, one eye closed against the light. Erode was sitting a nearby chair tapping his foot lightly on the floor waiting for an answer for his question.
"In the late seventeen hundreds a pirate named Jonathan Cross ransacked merchant ships on the passage between England and the Caribbean colonies." Ryoma started as Falcon stood there not saying a word. "Mercilessly he plundered Spanish and English merchant ships alike. Any naval ship that went after him never returned to port. Each time he would leave only one survivor of each target so they could tell the story. He became such a threat to the sea trade routes the merchants began referring to him as Kraken, naming him after the legendary sea monster." Erode stared at the samurai with a flat readable expression, his eyes wide.
"You can't expect me to believe this is the Kraken you're talking of…" he looked around at the emotional ridden faces around him. "Surely he must dead and buried by now, hung for piracy?"
"No one ever caught him." Ryoma told him. "And one year ago, Falcon, Wang-Tang, Mel and I met the man." Erode chuckled deep in his throat and leaned back in his chair.
"That would make the man in question over two hundred years old." His laugh was not echoed by the others and quickly even his died away, the silence climbing the room once more. Erode's eyes glanced from one to the other. "Oh now surely that's preposterous."
"I haven't told you the whole story. That was just the public version." Ryoma added gaining his attention. "Jonathan Cross was never any ordinary pirate. What he used to overcome his targets was potent black magic." Erode was silent for a moment before he burst out laughing.
"Oh this is just stupid." He declared standing up pausing to wipe laughter induced tears out of his eyes. "Two hundred year old pirates and black magic? Now I know you are simply making this up."
"This is no story I can assure you good sir." Mel told him managing a straight face despite the bad memories bubbling plainly in her eyes like a broth. "Cross was heir to a long family of necromancers whose line came from Atlantis itself." That last bit caught the Doctor's attention and he sat down. "Alone his power was not enough to prolong his life like that, but with a power source in his hands he could invoke a spell powerful enough to stave off the aging process."
"Like this for instance." Ryoma began again, reaching into his robes and showing him the Power Stone of Lightning. "When we crossed paths with the pirate Kraken last year, he was in possession of three Power Stones, all of which he had taken from the holds of rich merchant vessels. These he had used to keep himself alive and young for over two centuries." The samurai paused, words freezing in his throat. He swallowed and carried on. "Over that time he had learned how to master Power Stone magic to achieve tasks of great magnitude. With so much as a single stone in his hands, he's capable of great evil." Erode fixed him with a hard stare, his spectacles sliding over the edge of his nose.
"Good sir, I am a man of considerable reputation and scientific nature. Do you expect me to believe this fairy tale without proof?" He stood up again. "I can accept that the power Stones contain great amounts of energy as I believe they can be explained by science, but when one starts to talk to me about magic…" He shot Mel a glare. "Even that from Atlantis, I must be sceptical."
"Kraken is quite real." Wang-Tang assured him with an iron gaze that measured up to the Doctor's own with ease. "He lives and he has my Power Stone in his grasp."
"Kraken is dead Wang-Tang!" Falcon stated angrily, turning around to face them now breaking his self inflicted silence. "After two hundred years, he is dead. We killed him! We saw his ship go down in flames, sinking into the frozen sea."
"I saw him Falcon, alive and well!" Wang-Tang repeated again grinding his teeth. "He hit me with that metal claw on his right arm!" He showed them all the blue bruising on his neck and chest. "He spoke to me as well! I'd recognise his voice anywhere and he told me he was coming for you and your stone."
"You must have been drunk." Falcon retorted back with anger burning in his eyes, his fists tightened at either side. "Imagined the whole thing."
"Imagined the whole thing?" Wang-Tang repeated with wide eyes. "Imagined the whole thing? You think I'd run all the way here, travelling as quickly as I could by train and Turbine ship if I wasn't completely sure?" Wang-Tang pushed himself up. "Kraken is alive!" Falcon seized him by the shirt angrily and yanked him up.
"Kraken is gone!" The Englishman hissed from between his teeth. This was something he could not would not accept. Kraken was gone, committed to the sea just like he had so many others. Others just like Alicia…
Falcon froze, noticing finally the way they were all looking at him. Erode and Mel were just standing there with stunned expressions on their faces. Ryoma was glaring at him in disapproval and Ayame looked a little taken aback. Falcom shut his mouth, let go of Wang-Tang and turned away again. "He is gone." Ryoma gave the Chinese man a sharp gaze before saying,
"We never did see the body." He let that hang in the air and silenced gripped them again.
Ayame reached into her pocket and took out the stone she had acquired in Manches. Power Stones, legendary items of great elemental power. Now she knew just how many there were, nine, one of which lay in her hand. The jewel contained elemental water, that she knew from the moment it came to her, instinctive knowledge unlocked. Briefly she wondered what kind of a name she could carve for herself if she not only brought this stone back to her clan but the other eight as well?
The stone had chosen her the samurai had stated plainly only several nights ago. If that were true could she give this rock up when the time came to return to Japan? She pictured handing it over to the lord of her clan and even the mental image send a rocketing feeling of grief and guilt surging through her. This stone, this belonged to her and only her, that what the message clearly was.
"It's certainly foggy all of a sudden." Doctor Erode commented as if trying to change the subject, glancing momentarily out the small window at the back of the room.
"Foggy?" Wang-Tang repeated before looking out the window himself. The alleyway the door next to the window opened out into was almost completely chocked in thick grey mist.
"That's odd; it was clear skies a moment ago." Mel commented in passing. The scene was eerily familiar.
"What is that smell?" The Doctor asked sniffing the air. Falcon looked up, smelling it as well. Ayame could smell it also. It was an unfamiliar smell that stung her nose.
"Gunpowder." Wang-Tang muttered sliding down off the work surface to the floor. A moment later, the loud unmistaken succession of gunshots echoed through the streets, intermingled with loud screams. "It's him…"
Falcon was instantly at the door, throwing it open and running out into the alleyway. The air was so thick with fog he could barely see an inch in front of his nose. The overpowering scent of gunpowder was everywhere, flowing on the fog like wind from above. This was impossible. Kraken was dead. He was dead, he was dead!... wasn't he?
Glancing up, Falcon watched as the clouds and fog began to break, the bow of a colossal Turbine ship sliding effortlessly through the air, the fans on the underside bellowing wind down through the streets. Swiftly it passed overhead, the fan blades a mere twenty meters from the spiking chimney pots.
"What the devil is going on out there?" Erode asked sticking his head out the door. The second he did the wooded frame of the door exploded in a spray of shards as a bullet struck the side. Falcon crouched down low as another lanced out of the fog over his head rebounding off the brick wall behind him.
Instantly he ducked back through the door and slammed it shut after him, bolting it even before it was fully closed.
"Stay away from the windows!" He yelled, all too late as the bayoneted end of a rifle smashed through the panes and fired a shot. Ryoma swung his sword through the air with a precise swipe, saving Erode as the bullet had been close to striking the doctor in the chest.
"Open up in there landlubber!" A rough voice shouted from beyond and something slammed hard against the door from the outside. Falcon put his weight against trying to keep it closed while Wang-Tang shoved the table up to block the window.
"The front door!" Mel proclaimed. Ryoma turned on one heal still with his sword in one hand and made for the main shop entrance. Just as he made it past the counter, the loud smashing of windows echoed through the building. He was too late, the pirates had broken the door down and several of them were already inside the store. One of them, sighting the samurai, grinned evilly before raising the barrel of his rifle.