PHASE 2: Business Beckons
The interior of the aircraft was that of middle class people. The area reserved for the passengers weren't that big at all but sure, it was comfortable. She looked around; everyone seemed to be bored while waiting for their arrival. Moments later, a flight stewardess approached the passengers while pushing a handcart full of edible goods. One by one, she asked every seated commuter if they'd like to purchase something.
The silver-haired maiden checked her wallet, opened it and stared at emptiness. She doesn't have any money left with her.
Oh, crap. I'm broke. I need to get a job soon.
The flight attendant soon moved towards her. "Would you like to buy anything? It's good to fill up your appetite once in a while," she said, pompously showing the merchandise items for sale.
"Ah, nevermind. I'm not yet hungry," replied the girl with silver hair. "By the way, I wish to use your washroom. Will you mind giving me some directions?"
"If you say so. Anyway, to get to the washroom, you just have to walk past the last seat here, and then turn left. You should see a hallway forking in two separate directions. At that time, turn right. Keep walking straight and you should see a stairscase and next to that is the ladies' restroom," she gestured her hands corresponding to each of her guidelines.
"Thank you," she smiled at the stewardess as she stood up to visit the washroom. Once she reached the end of the seats, she turned left, right then straightforward. A set of stairs now was in front of her and alas, beside it was the ladies washroom. It was inevitably quiet there. She rotated the silver doorknob and gave it a slight push which produced a soft, creaking sound as she entered the room.
"What are you doing?! You're going to kill all of us! Are you out of your mind?!"
Without even getting the chance to use it, she immediately but quietly went out of the washroom, alarmed by the set of words she heard. She looked at all directions, trying to find the source of the distressing statement. "It's from up here," she looked at the staircase, thinking whether she should go and take a look if everything was fine.
"Hey! Stop it! Are you cra–," the voice continued in an upset tone but before finishing the sentence, it went to a halt. The next thing she heard was multiple rumblings, as if something heavy fell on the floor above.
STRICTLY: No trespassing. Authorized personnel only.
The sign pinned near the stairs displayed those words in big, bold and red letters. Despite that, she advanced her left foot on the first stair, continued with another step with her right foot as if she hadn't noticed the huge sign on the wall. She continued progressing upwards until she reached the next floor. Another sign appeared right before her eyes, "Flight deck. This way," she read it in her head whilst looking at the arrow pointing to the east.
"Woah! This aircaft is huge! I wonder why they limited the space for the passengers?" she mumbled to herself. "Anyway, nevermind."
She kept on walking without making any fuss, her beautiful hair slightly swung every time she took another step. She stopped when the path turned into a sharp curve leading to the east. She took a deep breath before she peeked into the corner. There was a slightly huge space in front of her and in the midst of the empty gap; a room with a bulky iron door was slightly ajar, enabling her to see glimpses of what was happening inside the flight deck.
A hollow scream escaped from the room, "H-help me!"
"No one will hear you from here. I'll crash this airship and make it explode in the air, just like fireworks. I don't care if ALL of the passengers die. Hahaha!" From the tiny gap, she saw the man unsheathe a dagger, aiming it at his defenseless prey, "You poor bastard, no one will sa–"
The iron door creaked as a massive amount of air hurled into its direction, bursting it open.
"Say that again, will you?" In the blink of an eye, the silver-haired maiden appeared in front of him. She was holding his right wrist with robust force, slowly breaking some of his bones. The dagger fell on the ground as the man groaned in pain. Both the man and his victim were in shock.
"Finally, someone to play with. All I get to fight these days are all small fries." The girl looked around the room, it was a mess. Blood was randomly scattered on the flight deck. It seems the source of it was the pilot of the aircraft who lay dead on the floor. He had a severe stab on his temple and judging from his condition, he was already dead.
"Who the hell are you?" He was startled. "Wait… You're the woman who doesn't know how to fall in line. What a pi–" he stopped before he could finish, another scream replaced his words as the girl tightened the grip on his wrist.
"Let's just say I'm a concerned passenger who doesn't want any troubles or delays with my flight. Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"It's none of your business!"
"What did you do with this aircraft?" Another question came in.
Despite the ruthless pain he's experiencing, he gave an evil smile, "Nothing."
"Oh, nothing?" The girl released a sarcastic intonation. She looked around for the second time, checking the place if there was really nothing wrong. A red beeping light in the control panels caught her attention, digits similar to those of a digital clock showed up in intervals. But unlike regular clocks, the digits kept on reducing. 10:57… 10:56… 10:55… 10:54… 10:53… 10:52… 10:51… "What's this?!" she asked the man again, pointing it at the timer she saw.
"Ah. That's just for display," he said, grinning.
"Stop fooling around with me! Answer my questions or else–"
The man challenged him, "Or else what?!" He compressed his uninjured hand, swinging it towards her face but unfortunately, the girl just dodged it without getting any scratch.
What's with this woman?!
Seeing the dagger which fell on the ground earlier, she picked it up. She tossed it in the air a few inches, caught it with her hands and landed an attack on man's arm; the girl sliced his flesh vertically until the sharp blade reached his shoulder. The sound of splitting meat reached the eardrums of the man, making him nervous. He turned petrified as he saw his own skin being torn apart like a feeble piece of tissue paper.
"I'll ask again, what did you do and what is that thing?"
He couldn't scream for his voice started to stutter. He tried to say something but he only gave an incomplete answer, "I… I… I-I…" His lips froze as he saw his own blood flow.
"I'm getting impatient." The girl carelessly pulled out the dagger from the man's shoulder then tossed it in the air. With such force, the blade stuck straight into the iron wall. "I don't need that anymore," she said, making the man more jumpy. She raised her right hand to launch another attack; penetrating the man's open wound with her bare hands while insisting, "Answer!" Blood came spurting out like confetti.
"WHAT IS THAT THING?! EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO ME." Her voice grew louder while she rotated her hand inside the man's flesh.
"I-It's a device u-used to hack… the system of this b-blimp. W-When the timer… reaches z-zero, this aircraft… will t-turn from auto-pilot mode to manual," he paused once in a while to grasp for air. "Considering t-that the pilot… is dead… We're all going to–"
What he heard next made him gulp in uneasiness, "I don't like that answer. I want you to do something about it. Or else…" Stopping for a while, she removed her bloody hand from his open wound. "You already know what will happen. Don't try doing anything stupid," she said in conclusion. She then freed the man from her deadly grip; he hurriedly tried to fix the problem he caused. Despite the pain, he engaged his injured hands to repair the system. A couple of minutes already passed but to no avail, everything he did seemed worthless.
Finally, the injured man said anxiously, "I-I can't fix it…"
"Then you are of no use anymore!" He felt a light strike on his nape, a little later, his vision blurred. The next thing he saw was darkness and then he fell on the floor with a thud.
Looking behind, the silver-haired maiden saw the man's victim on his knees, still conscious. He was watching in shock all along while he froze like a statue, not being able to move from his position. Judging from his appearance, he looked wealthy for he was wearing a luxurious tuxedo. "Sir, are you all right?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fine." He answered as he tried to regain a hold of himself in formalities.
"Sorry to ask you a favor but… Do you know how to fly this thing?" Her tone of voice was pleasant, contrary of how she behaved earlier.
"I'm sorry, I cannot but I do know of someone who does." At the back of the wealthy-looking man, there was another iron door. He opened the door and there another man sat on the floor, tucking his knees as he recoiled to hide. He was wearing an aviator's uniform similar to the dead pilot. But his current behavior was that of a person belonging to a mental hospital for he was severely traumatized. "He's the aircraft's co-pilot," the wealthy-looking man introduced.
"Hey! Stand up, the lives of innocent people will depend on you now," she said to the cowering man with a hysterical face. She tried to convince him to take charge over flying the blimp but he only gave an impression that he heard nothing at all.
1:09… 1:08… 1:07… 1:06… 1:05…
The co-pilot only gave him a disturbed look for seconds. Realizing that plain speech won't encourage him, she approached the man and gave him a crisp slap on the face.
"Where's your dignity as a pilot?!" she shouted. "When that timer reaches zero, you should be able to fly this thing manually, can you do that?" She was somehow proposing, "You have no other choice but to say yes!"
With that, he came back to reality. First, the co-pilot's eyes wavered in hesitation but realizing the burden of his sworn responsibility, he finally agreed. "O-Ok, I will. Leave it to me," he decided. He sat on the deck's chair, taking charge of flying the aircraft.
"That's more like it. Thank you," the lady smiled at him. "I trust you with that. Anyway, I'm going back to my seat downstairs. The stewardess there might be wondering why I haven't returned yet."
The wealthy man spoke, "Let me thank you for saving me. As gratitude, I'll cover up this entire mess for you. Rest assured that no one will know about this incident." After hearing those words, she turned her back to leave the flight deck while using a white handkerchief to get rid of the blood in her hands.
"Ah, please wait. One more thing…" he interrupted her footsteps. "I would like to hire you as one of my bodyguards, will that be fine? I'll compensate you with the sufficient amount of money you'll require," he said while shoving off the dirt in his expensive coat.
This job offer just came right in time!
"Well… That's great," she said.
The man offered his hands to her as a sign of their business agreement, "I'm Light Nostrade, and I'm looking forward to make use of your outstanding skills."
She firmly shook hands with his new employer and guaranteed him, "My name is Amaranth. Consider everything done under my service."
"Great. Meet me at the entrance of Ringon airport when the aircraft arrives," Nostrade settled. "We will discuss further negotiations later."
"Roger," she replied whilst leaving the flight deck.