Food was brought to Centime's cell twice a day, but other than that he received no visitors for three days. He was not mistreated but neither was anyone paying him much attention; on the fourth day, though, Admiral De Loco himself ventured into Centime's jail cell. To the engineer's surprise the childlike admiral was completely without escort, and he held the door open as he beckoned to Centime.
"Walk with me," he ordered, the smallest trace of a sneer in his voice. "Share my vision of Ixa'taka with me."
Feeling apprehensive but figuring he ought to comply, Centime crossed the tiny cell and allowed De Loco to lead him down the hall. It was the first time he had really seen the twisting tunnels of the mines; every now and then they glimpsed one of the citizens of Horteka, working hard as Valuan soldiers prowled about behind them. Glittering in a few mine carts were pale green Moon Stones; De Loco noticed Centime studying them and his wicked smirk intensified.
"One of the purposes of this place is to gather Moon Stones," explained De Loco. "We process them and use them to fuel our ships and help our weapons function. What do you think?"
"Fascinating," croaked out Centime, although he found the entire situation far from fascinating; quite the contrary, the poor treatment of the Ixa'takans made him feel sick.
They wended their way further into the silent mountain, the scuffing of their feet the only sound. The air was becoming increasingly more dank, but it felt as though they were moving upward; the floor leveled out, and suddenly they were treading on echoing steel. The lights brightened very drastically, painting livid spots over Centime's line of vision, and De Loco led him up to a banister overlooking a massive chamber. They looked down together.
A magnificent green ship was suspended by cable cords, overlooking a fathomless pit that Centime supposed led out of the mountain. Valuan soldiers swarmed over the exoskeleton of the vessel; it looked weathered indeed, having recently battled its way through South Ocean, and he could only assume they were attempting to repair it. Many others were clustered around the bow, where they seemed to be tinkering with an enormous cannon protruding from it.
"My newest creation," De Loco said proudly, waving his arm to indicate the grand weapon. "A destructive weapon powered completely by Moon Stones, and concentrated into a single devastating blast. I have christened it the Moon Stone Cannon."
Centime was too horrified to answer right away; his eyes were wide, staring at the prototype cannon with numb shock. Something as powerful as this cannon constructed by Moon Stones had the potential to destroy entire islands, possibly even all of Ixa'taka itself! He could not even begin to imagine what De Loco was planning to do with such a dangerous weapon, but he had a sinking sensation that it would not be anything good. He realized then that the dwarflike admiral was watching him closely for any such reaction, so he swallowed hard and said, "Yes . . . a magnificent creation."
"I'll be frank with you, Centime," De Loco began irritably, a snarl in his voice. "Valua's engineers aren't up to my standards. Construction on everything in this mine is far too slow." A greedy gleam shone in his beady eyes. "But you . . . together, Centime, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. Aid me in the final constructions of the Moon Stone Cannon, and I will give you whatever you wish. Do we have a deal?"
He fixed the Blue Rogue captain with an appraising look, and rocked back on his heels in surprise when Centime firmly shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, Admiral. I will never aid you when your primary aim is global destruction," said Centime gravely.
De Loco growled and gritted his teeth, clearly nearing the end of his patience. Before he could lash out at Centime, he shrieked, "Take him out of my sight! Throw him in his cell, and let him rot there! Rot! ROT!"
Alfonso watched the entire thing with a grin on his face. While Centime continued to thwart De Loco, it would be very difficult to find the Lost City of Rixis, the resting place of the Green Moon Crystal. While Rixis remained hidden, he, Alfonso, was secretly opposing Grand Admiral Galcian.
All glory to the Empress.
Author's Note: I have updated at last! To those of you who loyally follow this fic, I apologize profusely for my lack of updates. College is busier than I thought it would be!
MasterofShadows: Sorry, but the shorter-chapters bit makes my life loads easier. Glad you like this, though.
Meowzy-chan: Of course he didn't leave! Lawrence is justa big softie. Hee.
The Right Hand of Fate: Ah, glad you like the Domingo/Lawrence relationship. They are rather like an old married couple, XD, glad you like it.
Lady Lanet:Many thanks.
Silver Kidia: A comic version of this? Oh, do it! I would love that so much... I just want to see it. And no, sadly I can't read French.
Sir Exal: Oh, really? I'm so glad you know what goes on in my head. Hilarious. Actually, I hate Alfonso with a passion, and it's impossible to love or hate the other characters because they have such small roles in the game. Is it okay with you if I just write the story? Thanks. Despite your snobbiness, thanks for reading and glad you like it... I think.
Syek: Ooh... Zivilyn Bane... I'll have a think on that. Fabulous idea. I'll bake you some cookies next chapter...
Meowzy-chan: (again) Sorry! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! And don't punch walls.
Onasi: Thanks a bunch!
anonimize: If it does have slash in it, then get over it and quit reading. No one's making you read this.
Derek Barona: You had me worried for a sec... everyone loves the interaction between Domingo and Lawrence, so it's nice to hear good things about them, thanks! And just to warn you know, there might be slash at some point, so you might want to steer clear... as for Alfonso, he'll never be a good guy... but everyone has to choose sides, ne?
Thanks to everyone (except the few of you who left dumb ass reviews - you just suck).