Chapter 6x: Ships Ahoy!
Roy is being escorted by his vassals, Dart, and the Mage General Cecilia to Ostia. Due to the need to reach Ostia quickly, they are traveling by ship instead of land to save a couple a days from avoiding traveling through other Marquesses' land. Given Dart's reputation, no one normally stands in his way, however...
"We set sail in an hour! Till then, go diddle daddle around with yer needs!" Dart orders the group.
"This will be a good time to restock on supplies," Roy says.
"I concur, let us go restock on our weapons and such," Cecilia replies.
The group split up into smaller groups to do their own thing.
Sol is walking aimlessly around in Badon where she sees a man at a stall trying to sell stuff.
"Selling this secret book for 10000 gold! It has been forged by the flamebreath of dragons and bound together with the hides of dragons!" the merchant is giving an epic story for the item he's selling.
"If that be such an item, why you be selling it so cheap?" Sol tries to speak normally but some pirateness slips in.
"You pirate! You wouldn't understand!" the merchant says intending to trick Sol into buying it.
"That be so?" Sol says taking the bait.
Given her allowance from Dart is well over 10,000 gold worth, she isn't that worried about splurging. Since it was a skillbook, even if it wasn't as epic as it sounded, it would still help her by increasing her skill to land hits easier.
"Here be yer money, now give me the book!" Sol says pushing a pouch of 10,000 gold forward.
"The merchant quickly grabs the bag without counting the money then runs off, leaving the book behind of course.
Sol shrugs, then picks up the skill book then opens it up. She goes to read it but it's not in a readable language! In fact it didn't look human at all, it looked completely foreign!
"Arr! This be a useless purchase!" Sol kicks the book.
The book lands onto the ground and the pages glow.
"This be a strange book..." Sol says. "Maybe be a magic book instead?"
"Oh my!" a random passerby says surprised at the glowing book. "What kind of marvelous adventure does this book entail?" the robed man picks up the book.
"Ahoy! That be me book!" Sol says feeling possessive.
"Is that so, good lady?" the man asks. "This book just caught my fancy and I felt the sudden urge to just pick it up and ascertain its contents."
"Arrr... that book not be in the common language." Sol says.
"fascinating!" the man says as he opens the book. "Hmmm... This isn't even in the ancient language! This is quite the find, young lady!" the man looks at the contents excitedly with his eyes wide open.
"What ye reckon it to be then?" Sol asks.
"It seems to be a rare artifact! Oh the mysteries hidden in this gem! I must decipher this book!" The man then closes the book. "Young lady, where is your entourage? I must formally request to journey along with you so that I may continue to analyze this rare artifact!"
"What ye be saying..." Sol scratches the back of her head confused at what the man is saying.
"Oh my! That energy ring... or should I say bracelet in this case? I've never seen one so big! Oh please, you must let me travel along side you so that I may examine these rare artifacts!"
Sol finds it hard to say no the man whose eyes sparkle in excitement, but she can't just let anyone on.
"Ye be wantin to come with me, but that be a dangerous game ye be playin then. There be fighting and blood everywhere this journey." Sol warns the robed man.
"Fear not! For I employ the practice of elder magic! I profess my ability to quote, unquote 'fight with the big boys'," the robed man says perplexed if he used his quote right.
"Yarrr, so you be a magic man then? In particular, the one who be usin dark magic," Sol asks to confirm.
"That is correct young lady! Although it pains me to hear it be called dark magic..." the robed man says feeling dejected.
Roy is picking out weapons for himself and his vassals that came along. Cecilia came along to help advise him.
"When buying weapons, you want to buy weapons that are higher quality but are also able to be used by the person you intend to give the weapon to. No point in buying a steel sword for an amateur as they can only handle iron weapons after all." Cecilia gives basic advice.
Roy looks at his rapier wondering about that.
"Your rapier is a special weapon, only noblemen and noblewomen are taught how to use a rapier. It sets them apart from the peasants and even the knights as well." Cecilia adds after noticing Roy looking at his rapier. "Such weapons are custom-made, and aren't sold in a common blacksmith."
"Thank you for the lesson, Cecilia sensei!" Roy bows.
Dart enter a familiar tavern. The tavern where Eliwood and Hector first met Fargas and asked him for passage to Dread Isle. If it weren't for that, Dart wouldn't have then gotten the chance to travel the land. After reminiscing, Dart sits down on a stool.
"What can I get you?" the bartender asks.
"Something light as I be sailing soon." Dart asks the bartender.
"Understood." The bartender goes to get a drink.
"Yarr!" Dart places money on the counter. "Some extra as I plan to take the mug with me too."
"Very well, you've well paid over the value of the mug," the bartender gathers the money into a pouch.
A quick hour passes and now the group is boarding the ship. Cecilia takes notice of the robed man and feels uneasy from his presence.
"Sol, who is this man?" Cecilia makes an inquiry.
"This guy be some magic man who be a man of studyin," Sol replies.
"...You don't know his name?" Cecilia sighs with her head down.
"My apologies! I forgot to introduce myself earlier! I am Sifar, born in the Missur region, but without a home as I've traveled since I was born." Sifar says as his introduction.
"Sifar, huh? Your robe is a peculiar color. Silver is not a color that is affiliated with any practices of magic. Red for anima, black for dark, and white for light." Cecilia states.
"My robe is an angelic robe," Sifar replies.
"A-angelic robe! But those are white for their purity!" Cecilia exclaims.
"You can say my elder magic has tainted the robe to this color. A robe of purity has mixed with the elder magic I've used, causing it to fuse the common colors of the two with each other. That is my theory at least." Sifar says.
"That's... not the problem. Angelic robes are supposed to bless the user by fusing into the person and increasing their life force! You aren't supposed to wear it!" Cecilia says flabbergasted.
"This robe is similar to this girls energy bracelets. Normally an energy ring would fuse into the person wearing it as well, increasing the natural strength of said person. However, with the energy bracelets, there perhaps is too much power stored in them for the young lady to fully absorb at this moment." Sifar states his theory. "Likewise, with my angelic robe, there is far more potential the robe holds that I can contain for now. So I'm wearing it for the unique chance that I doubt I will ever run into again!" Sifar's eyes sparkle as he grasps the robe he's wearing, marveling at its magnificence.
"So you are saying like this girl's bracelets giving her immense strength, your robe gives you immense life force?" Cecilia says not fully grasping the meaning of what she said.
"That is correct. Would you like to see a demonstration sometime?" Sifar asks Cecilia.
"H-how do you plan on demonstrating?" Cecilia says baffled at the offer Sifar gives.
"Seeing how you guys are armed up, I assume you expect battle can come so I will show you during one of those battles!" Sifar chuckles. "I do warn you guys however, try not to agitate me when I'm fighting, cause I tend to lose a little reason when I'm fighting. Elder magic is not the easiest magic to control after all." Sifar warns the group.
"Why do you use it if you know you can't control it fully?" Cecilia feels a sweat drop from thinking about Sifar losing control.
"Ah but that's what makes it fun and exciting! Will I lose my mind first or gain control first? Such is how my adventurous mind works," Sifar says quite excited.
"..." Cecilia is silent and thinks Sifar is crazy.
Time passes by and the ship is well into the ocean. Sol is found leaning on the bowsprit of the ship. Roy walks up to Sol, with two of his vassals standing guard nearby.
"Hello Sol." Roy says to get Sol's attention.
"Pherae boy, eh?" Sol says while still aimlessly looking forward.
"I haven't had a chance to speak to you since our duel." Roy continues to speak while being uneasy of Sol's manner of speech.
"Arr, that tussle be a grand shame to me," Sol shakes her head. "Losin control o'er me strength be the worse kind of painful feelin for a swashbuckler."
"Pardon?..." Roy is overwhelmed by Sol's speech.
"I forgets you be a refined, noble landlubber," Sol nods her head to herself. She then takes a deep breath while closing her eyes.
"Sol?" Roy says confused.
"Good afternoon son of Marquess Phreae, I am Sol, daughter of Dart the legendary pirate," Sol introduces herself in a proper and noble manner. She does a fake curtsy since she isn't wearing a dress.
"Huh?" Roy is astounded from the sudden shift in tone.
Roy's vassals are seen on the ground from utter shock.
"How rude! You should reply back to a lady when she introduces herself to you!" Sol pouts.
"I-I am Roy, son of Marquess Pherae, pleased to make your acquaintance!" Roy bows out of habit from his normal greetings.
"Is this an act?" the green vassal whispers to the red vassal.
"Has got to be, but I'm dying from holding in laughter from watching a pirate girl speak like a lady," the red vassal whispers back.
"It is my pleasure to journey with you across the sea," Sol replies back to Roy.
"The sea is an amazing view. I never have been on a ship, so this is quite the breathtaking view." Roy says as he walks up to the railing of the bow. Roy turns to his left to look at Sol only the have the sun in his eyes. "Befitting of your name, you radiate brightly in the sun that I have to shield my eyes." Roy says while shielding his eyes from the sun.
"Such praise is inappropriate to describe me, a lady of no status," Sol says turning her body away from Roy.
"Nonsense! A lady is defined by her character not her dress and status!" Roy exclaims loudly.
"You really mean that?" Sol says turning around with radiant smile, leaning forward a little with her arms around her back.
"Ahoy Sol!" a pirate calls out to Sol.
"Son of a biscuit eater! Arr, why you be cuttin into me talk with the noble boy? Yarr gonna be walkin the plank when me be done with yer scallywag butt!" Sol angrily says.
"Such character," the red vassal says.
"Much fitting," the green vassal follows up.
"Very ladylike," the red vassal continues.
"So dead!" Sol says pointing an axe to them.
"Sol! Thar be scallywags on our tails!" the pirate yells out.
"What mooncalves!" Sol yells back.
"If I understand right, there are some ruffians attacking us?" Roy asks Sol.
"Aye, matey," Sol replies.
"Let us assist!" Roy insists.
"Thank ye, matey. I be lookin for me old man now," Sol runs off towards the quarterdeck.
"Lancer! Iron!" Roy calls out to his two vassals that were nearby.
"Yes, milord!" They salute.
"We shall assist in the defense. Prepare yourselves!" Roy commands.
"As you wish, milord!" They march off to get their newly bought weapons.
"Old man! Trouble be brewin!" Sol barges into Dart's room.
Dart is snoring with a drink spilled on top of him.
"Ahoy!" Sol shakes Dart trying to wake him up.
"Zzzzz... Sol... zzzzz" Dart turns a little in his sleep but shows no signs of waking up.
"This be what I reckon it be?" Sol says aloud.
Sol quickly darts back to the deck.
"Old man be out cold! I be in charge now! Status report, mateys!" Sol yells out taking charge of the bad situation.
"Sol, it be mighty bad!" a pirate reports back. "They be settin up gangplanks on both sides!"
"Arr, they be asking for a trip straight to davy jone's locker." Sol says angrily. "Rout 'em up!"
"Sol! We be taking in water!" another pirate cries out.
"Dem scurvy dogs!" Sol grits her teeth. "Deal with it! Thar be no scallywag who be havin a chance verse me!" Sol arrogantly says.
"Aye, aye!" majority of the pirates go to deal with the water leaking into the ship.
"They be boarding the ship!" one of the leftover pirates reports.
"Ah it seems it's my time to shine already," Sifar says looking at the gangplanks being set between boats.
"That's not the reaction a person should be having..." Cecilia says feeling uneasy at Sifar's attitude.
"Given we are on board with the strongest pirates of the seas, there is nothing to fear anyways. These pirates are no match for us, in fact I feel loathsome this won't do justice to demonstrating just how my angelic robe works without intentional inhibiting myself." Sifar sighs. "Please allow me to handle one of these gangplanks by myself. I will try to show you the extend of this robe's power.
"Well... Now then..." Cecilia says turning her attention back to the invading ships. "Roy, as a leader in training, you will have to lead the people. What would you do in this situation?" Cecilia says to test her student.
"Hmmm..." Roy ponders over the situation. "Given Sifar will be taking care of one plank on his own, there are three more planks to cover. We just need to have pairs rotate blocking the planks to keep the pirates at bay. Eventually we will exhaust them." Roy gives his answer.
"B minus!" Cecilia declares Roy's grade. "While your strategy is sound, it does not account for fliers they may have. There have been many pegasus pirates lately following suit of the wife of the legendary pirate."
"Yarr, Me new toy be a treat for them pegasus knights!" Sol smirks while holding on to a hand axe.
"Sol and I will cover one gang planks on this side of the boat. Lancer and Iron will cover the gangplank on the bottom side of this side. Sifar will handle the top gangplank of that side. The remaining pirates will cover the bottom of the other side!" Roy says his idea.
"Satisfactory, let us commence then!" Cecilia orders.
"Mateys! Ye be killin on the back starboard! If ye be letting any scurvy dogs over, ye be set for a keelhaulin! Hoist the colors!" Sol translates Roy's order to her mateys.
"Aye, aye!" the pirates rush over wanting to avoid punishment.
Sifar is blocking the front starboard gangplank.
"Arr! Ye be the flea ridden bilge rat!" a pirate says to Sifar.
"Oh, hello again," Sifar impassively replies.
"I'll cut out yer tongue and feed it to the sharks ye cargo thieving scabby sea bass!" the pirate says furious at Sifar's attitude.
The pirate charges at Sifar with intense hatred in his eyes. Sifar doesn't bat an eyelid and blows him away with a flux.
"Oops, I forgot I was supposed to let myself get hurt on purpose." Sifar displays a silly face towards Cecilia. Cecilia sighs at how easygoing Sifar is acting.
"Ye'll meet yer rope's end for that!" The pirate springs back towards Sifar.
Sifar leans back enough to only to be grazed at his chest area from the pirate's axe. Sifar's robe shows to not be cut, but is red where the slash landed.
"Gonna need a bit more 'umph' in your swing," Sifar says feeling dissatisfied with the amount of damage he took from one swing.
"We'll rip 'n' burn yer jolly roger!" the pirate says as Sifar gets surround.
"What is going on?" Cecilia is shocked at what she is witnessing.
Sifar continues to barely "dodge" in the sense he lets himself get grazed by the blades of the pirates. Eventually Sifar's robe turns entirely red from his own blood. But the most peculiar thing is that the robe is not appearing cut at all despite being chopped and sliced through.
"Oh, I guess I should mention that this angelic robe repairs itself using my life force so just having my robe get cut means I take damage. But I need to speed up the process which is why I am also taking some bodily cuts as well. Those also get healed up due to the excess life force I have. But big wounds like broken bones and severed body parts, are not going to heal that fast for me." Sifar sticks his tongue out as he jumps up and steps on the face of a pirate to jump further up. "Alright, you happy now, Mage General?" the airborne, blood dripping Sifar says turning towards Cecilia.
"You are a monster." Cecilia turns her head away from how gruesome Sifar looks.
"Die ye scurvy scum!" a pirate says as he throws a hand axe at Sifar.
The hand axe skids on the top of Sifar's head causing him to lose his jumping momentum and crash into the ground. Sifar starts to hear his own heartbeat sound loudly in his ears.
"Whelp, there goes my sanity." Sifar mutters. A dense purple aura surrounds Sifar as he slowly stands up and turns around and faces the pirates.
"What is this uncomfortable feeling..." Cecilia says, clinging to herself.
"Keeee hee heee heeeeee..." Sifar starts to laugh in a different tone from his usually carefree tone. "I believe its time to wrap this up." Sifar gives a sinister look as blood trickles down the center of his face. Sifar pulls out a new tome. "The essence of life which is bound to you, I claim for myself! Nosferatu!"
A purple mist surrounds a pirate which then causes the pirate to whither in front of his mateys as the purple mist dissipates away from him and accumulates into Sifar. The blood flow on Sifar's head halts just leaving a stained trail behind. Sifar then collects the life essence of the rest of the pirates to restore Sifar's body back to ideal conditions. His robe remains completely blood stained to the point it just looked like a blood-red robe. Sifar then closes his eyes.
"The immortal red robe?" Cecilia says with horror.
Sifar opens his eyes and has his easygoing demeanor returns. "I am not immortal, just durable. Course I am stealing the life essence from these unfortunate souls to restore my life force to abundant levels, so the illusion of being immortal is present. However, I can't just allow myself to suffer any hit as I can't regenerate lost body parts. Also, nosferatu tomes are not cheap to make or buy so I refrain from excessively using this tactic of just stealing their life essence." Sifar says as his nosferatu tome withers away from too much use.
"You are far too dangerous of an individual to keep around!" Cecilia says holding her elfire tome out.
"I could call you a dangerous individual as well then, Mage General. You are far stronger than I am currently." Sifar says. "Is it fair that the strong kill off the weak before the weak can also get strong?"
Cecilia gives an irritated look towards Sifar. She puts her tome away as the current situation doesn't warrant for the execution of someone.
Iron and Lancer are blocking the back port gangplank.
"Yarr, you be messin with the wrong knight!" the red vassal, Iron says.
"Imitating the enemy is the first step to becoming like them," The green vassal, Lancer says.
"I was trying to imitate Sol then," Iron grins towards Lancer.
"That was a terrible impression regardless," Lancer sighs.
"Tis a shame we are on a boat. Had this been an open plain where we can ride, I could have shown my might and grace to the gorgeous Cecilia!" Iron says trying to sound elegant.
"Mage General Cecilia has much better suitors than the likes of yourself. I would recommend giving up on such an ideal." Lancer shoots down Iron's spontaneous dream. "Besides, we have sworn ourselves to Lord Roy! We cannot just abandon such duties for frivolous reasons!" Lancer condones Iron's attitude.
"Yes, yes, mother." Iron ends it there.
"Here come the pirates!" Lancer says drawing his sword, Iron follows in suit.
Lancer takes the initiative and charges at the first pirate on the plank. The pirate does a wild swing that is easily dodged by Lancer who then cuts down the pirate and knocks him into the ocean. The next pirate comes up and attacks with a more concise swing that Lancer had to parry. Lancer redirects the axe to the ground and then kicks the axe out of the pirates hand. Lancer then thrusts his sword forward. With no where for the pirate to go, the sword pierces right through the pirate. Lancer tosses aside the pirate into the ocean and taunts the next pirate to come. The next pirate charges forward wanting to get revenge. Lancer thwarts the pirates obvious attack by striking him before he can even finish his swing.
"Hoo, three pirates down in quick succession while not sustaining any injuries. Quite the vassal Roy has there." Cecilia comments aloud.
"Switch with me, Lancer!" Iron begs.
"Very well, switch!" Lancer says jumping back.
"My magnificence shall be broadcasted here and now!" Iron says brandishing his sword.
"Try not to over do it now," Lancer warns Iron.
The next pirate dashes in swinging. Iron laughs and marvels at himself before blocking the predictable swinging pattern of the pirate. Iron then strikes the pirate dead center on his chest, killing him instantly. Taking from Lancer, he then tosses aside the pirate into the ocean. The next pirate charges forward with a smirk on his face as if he's planning something. Iron however thinks nothing of it and continues to toy with the pirate and focus more on looking graceful in combat. To Iron's dismay though, a sudden hand axe flies right past his face. Iron, shocked by the sudden projectile almost cutting his beautiful face, lets out a sigh of relief.
"Idiot! Hand axes come back!" Lancer yells out.
"Oh my- gaaaaaaaah!" Iron is struck on his back by the hand axe and falls onto all fours.
"Die ye landlubber!" the smirking pirate now laughs while starting a chop motion with his axe at Iron.
Iron narrowly dodges the chop by rolling to his side. Lancer then intervenes and takes out the pirate who is focused on Iron. Lancer looks for the hand axe throwing pirate but doesn't see him in sight.
"So he ran away..." Lancer mutters.
"My moment of glory... ruined by a hand axe. Why must the chance gods play with my feelings!" Iron cries out.
"Maybe if you weren't treating this like a game, you'd need not to rely on chance!" Lancer reprimands Iron some more.
Sol and Roy are guarding the forward port gangplank.
"Alright Sol, now we just have to hold them back and then we should be good."
"Maybe ye be standing back but not me! No swashbucklin lovin pirate be waitin for the fun to come to her!" Sol says pointing her axe towards the other ship.
"Sol?..." Roy is hesitant to understand what Sol meant.
"I gonna be killing them all!" Sol yells out charging forward onto the other ship.
"Sol wait!" Roy says holding his hand out to no avail.
Sol dashes accross the gangplank. One pirate was making his way through but Sol quickly smacks him into the ocean with his axe before jumping on to the enemy ship.
"Scurvy dogs dare be pickin a fight you be not winnin?" Sol furiously taunts the enemy pirates.
"We be not scared of a little lass!" One pirate says.
"Ye die first!" Sol swings her axe.
The pirate didn't have time to react and gets cleaved into two.
"Shiver me timbers!" a pirate says with his knees giving up on him seeing the carnage that just happened.
"Pfft, ye scallywags be fish tryin to fight a shark!" Sol yells out.
Sol swings her axe on the pirate on his knees. She cleanly decapitates his head off. Tired of wasting her breath, Sol focuses on just swinging her axe through the screams of the pirates regretting their decision of challenging the ship of the legendary pirate Dart.
Roy decides to not let himself miss out on the action as there is some value experience to obtain! Roy orders Lancer to come and guard his gangplank as he goes to board the ship. Seeing Sol slaughtering pirates left and right, Roy goes further into the ship. Roy runs into two pirates who were coming as back up for the bow. Roy gets into stance ready for battle.
The first pirate makes his move and tries to chop Roy. Roy side steps easily and does a quick counterattack thrust onto the pirate. It wasn't too much damage but enough to allow for a second thurst to finish off the pirate. The second pirate does a wide swing that Roy ducks under easily. Roy then does a upwards vertical slash that only grazes the pirate from how far Roy was from him. Roy then uses his momentum to combo his first attack with a rotating slash.
"These pirates are very weak. Why did they even think they could handle attacking anyone, let alone Dart?" Roy ponders aloud.
"Ye noble rat! I dare ye to say that to me face!" The captain of the ship walks up to Roy.
Roy quickly points his rapier towards the captain.
"Ye should worry about that lass at the bow! Me first mate no push over to a lass!" the captain sneers at Roy.
"I'm honestly more worried about your friend than Sol..." Roy comments.
"Haaaah? Bwahahaha- Ow!" The captain feels something hit his head. "Who be throwin at the mighty captain of this ship?"
The captain looks down to see his first mate's head lying there.
"Me first matey..." the captain slowly says with a sweat drop coming down his head.
Lets go and watch that fight, shall we?
The hunchbacked first matey is drooling from looking at Sol.
"Me body be devouring you all night long!" the first matey slobbers thinking about fine dining with Sol in the cabin.
"Yer jolly roger be lookin puny small there, landlubber!" Sol verbally jabs at the first matey's pride.
"Ye be hanging on the yardarm when me be done with ye!" The first matey retorts.
Sol makes the first move and swings her axe at the legs of the first matey. The first matey pulls out a sword and blocks the swing with it. Sol is surprised at first but doesn't let it get to her. Sol then goes for an overhead chop. The first matey catches the block with his sword. The first matey attempted to redirect the axe by causing it to slide down the blade but is overpowered in the beginning. The first matey's blade sinks into his shoulder while Sol's axe slid down the blade. The first matey lets out a pain gasp and drops his sword behind him. Seeing the first matey's situation, Sol grips her axe with both hands and jumps up into the air. She does a horizontal swing with all her might with the sole intention of blasting his head out of here. Sol's axe cuts right through the neck like tissue. The first matey's head beams straight ahead.
A group of Pegasus pirates are waiting out in the sky above the boat.
"Umm... I don't think we're gonna be able to salvage the situation here." one of the pegasus pirates says.
"Why would we even help these savages? They don't even treat us like pirates!" another says.
"Why did we leave Ilia again?" a third one says.
"To be like the richest pegasus knight there was, Farina!" the first one says.
"I think we may have missed a key point that made Farina so successful..." a fourth one says.
"That's right! She married a well off pirate!" they said in unison.
"Maybe we should just try joining Farina's crew!" the second one said.
"Even if we don't marry well of pirates, the pirates there should respect us more as Farina is there!" the third one says.
"Yea we should- Waaaah!" the fourth one's pegasus dodges a hand axe thrown at her. "Just where did that hand axe come from?" the fourth one looks down at the boat.
The fourth feels a cold sweat as she sees Sol looking straight at her. Sol then smirks and starts jumping up the mast.
"What kind of insane-" the fourth pegasus pirate is cut off by the hand axe returning. "Waaah not again!"
Sol reaches the top of the mast and catches the hand axe. She then jumps off the top of the mast towards the fourth pegasus pirate.
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A PIRATE ANYMORE!" the fourth pegasus ex-pirate starts crying out of fear.
Sol lands on to the pegasus and then grabs the fourth ex-pirate from behind. Sol takes a deep breath.
"I be preferin not to kill off the dyin female pirate population. So ye all should surrender to me before I be losin me cool." Sol tries to speak more properly but some pirate accent gets mixed in.
"Considering our options, you leave us no choice but to surrender and join you!" the second one says.
"Yes, please take us with you! We will feel honored to serve under a lady pirate like yourself!" the third one says.
"Yarr! Ye be known as the pegasus pirate unit. I be assignin ye names now." Sol says while she let's go of the fourth. "One, Two, Three, and Four!" Sol names them all numbers!
"We're really just numbers?..." One says.
"Is this just laziness or uniqueness?" Two says.
"At least we have some significance right?" Three says.
"I think i need new pants..." Four says.
"Yo ho ho!" Sol laughs as she pats Four's shoulder fairly hard.
"Definitely need new pants now..." Four cries a little more out of shame.
The captain picks up the head of his fallen comrade.
"First matey!" the captain cries out.
Roy did not need a fair fight again a pirate so he thrusts his rapier forward to the captain not paying attention.
"AAAAAARRRRR!" The captain yells out enraged. "First ye scallywags be boardin me ship! Then ye be killin me crew! Then ye be killin me first matey! Ye all be swimmin with the fishes soon!" The captain draws his two axes.
"Dual wield..." Roy mutters to himself.
"Aaaarrrr!" The captain yells out as he does a double chop with both axes.
Roy jumps out of the way as the captain smashes the deck of his ship, making a hole in the deck.
"Ye be breakin me ship too! Ye all gone too far!" The captain says in blind, irrational rage.
The captain does a horizontal spinning axe swing. Roy ducks under the first swipe then instinctively tries to counterattack but stops himself and quickly has to duck again to dodge the second axe. But to not waste energy, Roy readies himself to counterattack after the second swing and then unleashes a counterattack after dodging. The captain is pushed back as he yells out more incoherent sentences. Roy takes the offense this time and charges towards the captain. Roy decides to join in all the fun his allies take in and jumps into the air preparing an aerial stab. The captain holds his axes up to defend but Roy cleverly lands on the axes with his feet and then thrusts forward onto the captains shoulder, disabling the captain's left arm. The captain then swings his right axe. Roy uses the force of the swing to assist him in jumping back and lands smoothly. Deciding to finish in style, Roy raises his rapier into the air then twirls it back down to a finishing thrust onto the captain.
"Avast..." the captain's last word.
Roy turns around and walks back towards Dart's ship, not looking at the captain collapse to his death.
"And so ye be havin it! These beauties be joinin us to adventure the great seas!" Sol introduces the pegasus pirates.
"Yarrr!" the group of male pirates cheer.
"We be living the dream!" one pirate says.
"I be knowin all along followin Dart be leadin to this!" another says.
"Wait, you all joined Dart's crew for women?" Roy asks.
"We be poor men from poor familes. We be never datin a beauty there... But the legends of Dart be givin us hope to find a beauty being a pirate!"
"Dart be a man for all to follow!"
"Wait, do you guys even pillage people?" Roy asks more questions.
"Be golly! That be mighty mean to the poor villagers! We be searchin for buried treasure not stealin a poor man's doubloon."
"Wouldn't that make you guys just adventurers then?" Roy then asks a logical question.
The group of pirates then all look at each other.
"Yarrr! But we be workin so hard for this accent! To be not a pirate now be like fishin just to be lettin the fish go!"
"Pirate logic," Iron says to Lancer.
"Sometimes I question your logic," Lancer sighs.
"I think people have lost the meaning of the word pirate," Cecilia sighs.
"Very interesting, I must take note of this 'Pirate Logic'," Sifar takes mental notes.
"Ahhh! You!" Cecilia points at Sifar.
"Ahhh... Me," Sifar replies.
"Yaaaaaaaarrrr!" Dart yells out in a yawn as he comes onto the deck.
"What be happenin while I be snoozin?" Dart sleepily asks the crew.
"Daft pirates be tryin to attack while ye be visitin the land of dreams." Sol replied.
"Hang on!" Cecilia intervenes. "I can't believe I didn't notice earlier but, you were sleeping the whole time, Dart?" Cecilia asks.
"Aye, I be takin a rest in the quarters with some grog but me memory be fuzzy after me first sip," Dart says while scratching his head trying to remember anything before passing out.
"I believe your drink may have been sedated." Cecilia says feeling uneasy at such tactics being used.
"Oh, so that's what those pirates wanted that chemical for..." Sifar realizes something.
"You gave them the drug to sedate Dart?!" Cecilia replies surprised and angry.
"Well to be fair, I was doing business then," Sifar doesn't deny it.
"I knew you were a dangerous person!" Cecilia says while drawing her elfire tome. The tome glows showing it's primed to fire off. "What kind of person gives a dangerous drug to pirates?!" Cecilia gives an uncomfortable glare to Sifar.
"Cecilia sensei! He probably has a reason!" Roy exclaims at Cecilia's sudden aggression.
"You can not be too trusting, Roy! This man is unstable! He could lose control of his magic and turn on us!" Cecilia furrows her brow.
"While the risk of elder magic is eventually losing control of yourself, it doesn't lead to carnage, just emptiness..." Sifar says trailing off at the end. "Even if I do turn on you guys, I'm no match for the likes of the Mage General or Sol from the looks of it."
"Why do you mention Sol of all people?" Roy asks.
"She is similar to me, harboring an ancient artifact that bestows immense strength to the beholder. Not to mention her power makes it impossible to escape without only a small wound. I won't be able to heal myself back," Sifar says.
"That still doesn't clear you for doing business with pirates!" Cecilia continues to be against Sifar.
"The pirates had employed an ordinary person to me to request for a drug to help alleviate insomnia." Sifar quickly says.
"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Roy asks.
"I had seen through the ruse. It's just I was experiencing the pains of hunger. So I had turned my head this one instance to satisfy my own need. I eventually regretted it and attempted to retrieve the drug back, but failed to do so," Sifar narrates.
"You see? You can blame a person for wanting to feed himself!" Roy says to calm down Cecila.
"If it put your mind at rest, you can just detain me as a prisoner during the journey," Sifar says holding his hands out. "I simply implore that I may be able to do research while confined."
"..." Cecilia contemplates the idea.
"Cecilia sensei! You cannot deny a person without any justification!" Roy says taking a stand.
"Hrrmmmm... " Cecilia grumbles. "Fine, don't blame me if anything goes wrong now." Cecilia walks towards the cabin to rest.
"Your sensei really cares about you," Sifar comments.
"Eh?" Roy blinks feeling confused as Sifar's comment.
"She's just looking out for you. Its not safe in Lycia to travel freely, so can I understand her qualms with letting a stranger join the group." Sifar continues.
"Well, I don't sense any malice in you, so I trust you!" Roy says to Sifar.
"What? You can sense how people are feeling?" Sifar asks.
"Its only a small inkling, but my intuition has been accurate since I've been using it." Roy grins.
"I might have to do some research on you too then!" Sifar grins back.
Between writer's block and having busy days lately. Hard to find time to write. July gonna be my busiest month yet so I'll try to fit one more chapter in before then.