Xinda's father was one of a kind. He drew odd looks if he dared to show himself in public. When he spoke, his words made people uneasy. The White Berets had tried to keep him in line, but he wasn't going to give up. There even came a time when Xinda couldn't remember what her father looked like without his face swollen.

"Xinda," he used to tell her, exhausted, his eyes swollen shut from one of his daily beatings, "don't ever let someone else tell you what to believe."

She took his words to heart, of course. But, she was only a little girl. It was hard to take the advice of a man who had only gotten pain and suffering out of following his own. It was downright terrifying.


"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed in utter disbelief. "You mean my perfectly good money is totally useless here? Unbelievable."

I jammed the beli back into my pocket, crossed my arms, and began heading out of the store. If the cashier was going to be a bitch about it, she could just put the clothes back up herself.

"Are you from the Blue Sea, honey?"

I looked up at the source of the voice, my hand against the door. A chubby, dark-skinned, blue-haired woman, both younger and shorter than me, was speaking. She was smiling in a friendly way, but her orange eyes looked tired more than anything else.

"Yes, actually," I replied, donning a sexy, flirtatious smirk as I moved to lean against the wall next to the door. "Why do you ask? Is there an exotic air about me?"

As I spoke, I tried to emphasize my accent. But, the woman only giggled in amusement.

"Actually, you don't have the wings," she pointed out. "You look like you've been through hell. Do you need some help, darlin'?"

I flushed sheepishly, straightening up a bit and clearing my throat.

"You're too kind...uhh..."

"Xinda. I'm Xinda."

I nodded.

"Xinda," I repeated, testing how it sounded on my voice. "Well, you're very kind, Xinda, but I have nothing of worth to pay you back with."

She waved the concern off.

"I don't mind, sugar. I'll help you out."

As she spoke, she headed toward the counter where the selected items had been stacked haphazardly. I followed her. Naturally, I was full of questions, but I'd save them for when we left the store.

"Have a good day, and thank you for your business!" the checkout woman called after us.

Once we had left the store, Xinda asked my name.

"Ah, my name is Barcelona Signet."

"So, Barcelona," Xinda began, peering into the shopping bag. "Looks like you have a child with you?"

I nodded without a moment's hesitation.

"My first mate and my cabin girl. They're on the beach."

I pointed in some vague direction, and she nodded.

"Do you all need a place to stay? While you're here, anyway?"

Thinking nothing of her random acts of kindness, I beamed gratefully.

"Why, certainly! If you've got a space, we'd be willing to take it!"

The winged woman grinned, gently nudging me toward the beach.

"Get your crew, sugar. I'll be waitin' right here."


The White Berets had been on his case a lot, lately. It seemed they just had it out for him more than usual. Xinda couldn't figure out why.

And, of course, having that much pressure on him really took its toll.

Beaten and bruised, his face swollen to monstrous proportions, Xinda's father scrambled to his feet. The authorities stood at the ready, glaring harshly at him. Their hands went to their belts, where everyone knew they kept their knives. Even so, the man stood still. And once he'd said what he needed to say, not even the proud White Berets wanted to be anywhere near him.

"You know what?" he shouted, loud enough for the crowd to hear him. "I'm done with it! You all know he's been dragging it out like some kind of sick game! Well? Come on, Eneru! Show us you're not a coward! Prove me wrong! It won't change anything! Gan Fall was eighty times the god you will ever be!"

"What are you doing?" Xinda's mother shrieked hysterically, clutching her confused daughter's shoulders. "Apologize before - !"

"No! I'm sick of playing this game! I'm sick of - "

His sentence was cut off in a most gruesome way. And, his daughter had the privilege of watching as her own father's mangled and swollen body disintegrated into nothingness. Xinda got firsthand experience of what a person's final moments sounded like if they were filled with pain. And, she wasn't entirely sure the screams would ever clear from her mind no matter how hard she tried. Never before had Xinda seen Heaven's Judgement with her own two eyes. She'd only ever heard hearsay, listened to people tearfully attempt to explain it only to find they were at a loss for words. And finally, finally she understood.


"Were you not thinking?" Moscow demanded, the stray curl on his head zigzagging in agitation. "Did it not occur to you that she's trying to gain something?!"

Seoul sat on the cloud beach, preparing to watch Moscow and me argue for the umpteenth time in our piracy career.

"Do not speak to your captain like that!" I scolded him. "And, besides, you don't know her!"

"Neither do you," he pointed out, his jaw setting.

"I mean you didn't meet her, smartass. She was very sweet, and I could tell it was genuine! And I'm a good judge of character, you know. Plus, she called me 'sugar'."

Moscow gave me that look that he got whenever he thought I was making a stupid decision. Well, what did he know, anyway?

"Can't you just try?" I pleaded.

"Why don't you?" Moscow retorted. "You're the captain. You're supposed to look out for your crew's safety."

I groaned. I hated when he gave me his stupid moral speeches.

"You aren't my mother, Moscow."

"Well, somebody's got to act as one to you if you're going to make such childish decisions."

My eyes narrowed.

"My childish decisions got us new clothes and a place to stay. What can you say for yourself?"

Moscow maintained eye contact(well, sort of; it was more like eye-to-forehead contact because his vision was so terrible), his body language making it clear he wouldn't back down from his opinion. I threw the clothes at him, nailing him in his stupid dead face.

He caught the clothes as the fell from his face, an Seoul approached to look through what I'd purchased. Or, what Xinda had purchased.

"Captain, I've been around longer than you. I know nobody is that generous for no good reason. She's bad news. I don't care if she did give you a ridiculous pet name."

I flushed and turned away from him.

"I think we should give her a chance," I grumbled.

"Moscow, what could it hurt?"

Seoul's voice turned both sets of eyes toward her. She was holding a little dress up to herself.

"I trust Barcelona. A place to stay couldn't hurt. Besides, we're basically in heaven. How bad could it be?"

I turned a wide grin on my first mate, pointing at Seoul.

"She gets it."

Moscow let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Drama queen.

"Fine. Fine. We'll go. But, I'll kill her at the first sign of trouble," he conceded, not facing either of us.

I beamed even brighter and threw an arm around his shoulders.

"That's my Moscow," I cooed.

He shrugged my arm off, still refusing to look at me.