It would seem that there are some who are confused about the last chapter. Mark's dagger, while it has properties of its own, is still made of metal and as everyone knows, metal conducts electricity. When Hector threw the dagger, Erk's thunder spell was just finished so the lightning bolt was drawn to the dagger. It curved because it started going down already but was pulled towards the dagger and struck Tamara who was in it's path. Hypothetically, it would work in the real world, but please don't try this at home. It is very dangerous.

Sorry about the really late update. It was nothing big, rather it was just a lot of little things that get added up to a bigger thing. Not much of an excuse, but it'll do.

Chapter 10X: Trip in Tortuga

Flash

"Oh dear, it seems something went off track. Oh well, we'll just use the backup plan but I bet you're happy now, aren't you?"

"Hmm..."

"Hmm? Are you okay? I thought you would be happy about this development."

"Well, maybe…no it's nothing…perhaps…"

"…?..."

Flash

Lyn spoke slowly but vehemently, "Canas, either you explain yourself quickly or I'm going to start killing you slowly and painfully by disemboweling. Matthew is second." Matthew looked fearfully at Lyn but even more so at Canas because he's holding both of their lives in his hands.

"Err… Yes, well incubi and succubi survive by participating in rather adulterous acts in order to survive." Everyone started at Mark who was still standing in the same position looking downward. "They drain energy of the host during these acts and can sometimes leave the host on the verge of dying. There is also the problem of offspring."

Lyn let a moment to let all of this sink in before she advanced again. "Well you better think of something quick before I go all Breakfast Club on you."

Everyone was looking at Lyn now but Lyn gave them a glare that said that if they want to be on her warpath then go ahead and question her choice of words. Not wanting to do this, they turned back to Canas who was already hurrying to a shelf.

He took another vial of red liquid and drew a symbol on Mark. He went back to his circle and started to chant something else. The circles glowed but only faintly this time. Canas took a breath before facing Lyn.

"Okay, it's done. Mark will still be an incubus but he will get his energy source from something else. Mind you though, this is only temporary."

"Canas, you are really pushing your luck."

"Calm down Lyn. I can't do anything in this current state. Give us a day. Tomorrow, we should be able to keep Mark under control."

Mark has been silent up until this minute when he started to burst. "Will everyone stop making my decisions for me? I would like to say my input now."

Lyn and Canas looked down at his comment. Trying to smooth things over, Lyn spoke calmly to him, "Well, Mark what would you like to say?"

Mark looked embarrassed a bit and spoke back quietly, "Um… I just said what I wanted to say. The whole stop making my decisions for me. I'm okay with whatever you guys do."

Everyone looked like they wanted to strangle him for making them feel bad. Now they all agree that they should spend the rest of the day sightseeing and wait until the next day to get Mark back to normal, well as normal as Mark can get.

Hector was wondering something ever since Canas told them that Mark was to feed on a different energy. "Say Canas, what type of energy were you talking about when you said that Mark fed on a different kind?"

Canas was dead tired and almost half a sleep when he replied. "Oh that. He needs to be kissed."

Everyone looked at Canas like he was crazy. Then they looked back at Mark. Everyone is looking a lot today. Serra heard this as well and jumped at the opportunity. She lunged at Mark before he could react and wrapped her arms around his neck before giving him a deep mouth to mouth kiss.

Onward the spectators stared, except for Canas because he was asleep on the floor, while Mark was flailing his arms uselessly before going limp. By the time Serra let go, Mark slumped to the floor unconscious. Hector and Matthew went forward and prodded him with a stick.

"What happened to him?" They asked.

Serra shrugged, "I don't know. At first I felt this energy leaving me but then I felt the connection kind of went backwards and was flowing into me. Now I feel…HYPER!" Serra started to literally bounce off of the walls until the group forced Erk to take her outside.

Lucius spoke up, because now he was the only one that understands the situation and is not incapacitated, "It would appear that Mark cut off the flow of Serra's energy to him and reversed it by accident so his energy got transferred to her. Now we just have to wait and see if he…"

Lucius trailed off because Mark was starting to stir now. He sat up and looked at his hand, slowly rotating it. He smirked, well half smirked half grinned, and walked out the door.

"We should probably follow him. He'll be hunting now that he's hungry," Lucius said with signs of worry, "I'll be taking care of Canas."

The others nodded quickly and rushed outside to find Mark only to see nothing. Mark had already wandered off to find his first victim. They split up to find Mark. Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood were the lucky ones of find him. He had Pricilla cornered.

"Come with me and I'll show you some fun tonight," Mark spoke smoothly, gently stroking her face. Pricilla was pushed up against the wall and was blushing furiously. There was one thing missing from this picture though, where was Raven?

Well, he wandered away from Pricilla to look at the armory next door. Then his sister sense started to tingle. Something was happening to Pricilla and it was not something that was acceptable to an innocent girl that happens to be his sister. He hurried out and ran where his sense told him to. Soon, he caught sight of Mark and Pricilla.

It took a second for it to register in his brain that Mark was hitting on his sister, but when he realized it, he was mad. He ran forward with his Steele Blade drawn ready to lop Mark's head off. Mark noticed this in time though and easily sidestepped him.

"Calm yourself Raven. What use will become of this violence?" Mark sickened Raven. Here he was talking about the use of violence when just earlier he was hitting on his sister. Didn't Mark know the Code of the Honorable Brotherhood? Strike down all who attempts to claim your sister.

Raven was angry and Mark apparently saw that so he quickly hightailed it out of there. Incubi love to and need to seduce the opposite sex and are willing to share hosts, but they do not like conflict so are also willing to back out before they get too hurt.

Mark tried to run away but before he could, he collapsed on the ground. Lyn and the others approached him slowly and quietly so the don't surprise him. He slowly opened his eyes and muttered, "What happened?"

They looked at him as if he was crazy because he just tried to get a girl, something the old Mark wouldn't do, and then he forgets about it. Yeah it was getting weirder by the minute. After deciding that Mark was sane, ... enough, through the protests of Raven and surprisingly Mark, they decided to go their separate ways and explore the port.

Raven was sticking closely to Pricilla now and she couldn't go anywhere without him. Hector and Eliwood decided to explore together but Mark politely declined sightseeing with Lyn. They walked down different roads to see the great port of pirates.

After several minutes, Lyn walked through a random door. She saw people hurrying around trying to do something. A hand grabbed her and pulled her along down a hallway.

"Where have you been? We've been waiting all day for you to show up. Now get going." A short man with a top had hurried her to a dressing room and shoved her in it before she can voice her protest and confusion.

Inside it was no better. Girls of all ages were dressed in really weird costumes. One of them pulled her into a group and they started to change her clothing. Again, she was not able to tell them that there was a mistake and she didn't want to get changed against her will.

Meanwhile, Eliwood and Hector were combing the street looking for something fun to do. They chanced upon a theater and decided that it was better than nothing. They wanted to keep a low profile so they wore some brown cloaks to blend in with the crowds. Inside, it was a huge room filled with seats and even an upper level. They walked through the standing crowd near the front of the stage.

The program had already started while Hector and Eliwood were trying to weave their way through. Hector looked up to get a very nice view of the female dancers. He quickly grabbed Eliwood and spoke in an almost hypnotic voice, "Yo dude, come stare with me."

Mark was walking around as usual when he came to a large man standing by a door. "Excuse me," he asked, "What is happening in there?"

The man looked down at him and told him that it there was a show going on. Mark smiled pleasantly; he always did love the arts. He moved to pay the man the admission fee before the man asked him, "What's your name?"

"Mark," Mark told him.

"Your name's cropped a bit short there isn't it. Surely you came from somewhere or someone because you're standing here in front of me. Tell me, what is it that you do."

"Oh well, I'm a tactician."

"Alrighty then, Mark the Tactician…" The words left the man's mouth but he trembled as the spoke 'tactician'. Mark was afraid that he wasn't going to get to see the show so he was about to ask him what was wrong but the man opened the door for him.

Mark moved to pay him but the man would not accept his money. The man said something about how Mark's greatness precedes him and that he can't accept money from the Great Mark. Then he was worried about the Ghost of Mark. Mark was wondering about getting the guy to a doctor but he decided that the show was more important.

Mark found himself on the upper floor of the theater and was enjoying the view. It was a great view that allowed him to see the entire stage and was close enough to see the facial expressions of the actors. Then he saw something that surprised him.

Lyn was coming out in a red dress. It was like her blue Sacaen dress, but this one showed a lot more cleavage and she was wearing some feathers on her head. He only smiled and waited to see what she was going to do.

Hector and Eliwood were dumbstruck, here was Lyn dressed in a weird costume. Lyn was always the one who prided her dignity and so forth so it was a surprise to see her like this. It was also a chance to get good blackmail material.

Lyn was nervous. That was the only word that described her emotion right now. Well, that and the fact that she wanted to rip the heads off of the people who forced her into this. One of the stagehands urged her to get on with her act already. The only problem was that she had no idea what kind of act she was supposed to do.

The idea came to her as she felt her sword. It was left there because she threatened to kill anyone who dared lay a hand on her sword. She still doesn't know how they managed to change her without removing her sword belt. Anyway, her idea was to do the most complex sword kata she knew. That should be a good enough act. If it wasn't, oh well she didn't volunteer for this anyway. She took a deep breath before starting.

After the show, the whole room was silent when Lyn walked off the stage. Mark, Hector, and Eliwood also exited and met each other outside the door. They were talking about the show when the door opened to show Lyn with a scowl on her face and the short man following her shouting about how she ruined him and so forth.

Mark stepped in to tell the man that she was one of their companions and was not scheduled to do anything. Besides, he thought that the kata was pretty cool. The man still wasn't convinced until another noble walked by and complimented him on the expert swordsmanship of Lyn.

The man stood with his mouth open until one the girls from the dressing room came out and dragged him back in. She came out again and told Lyn that she can keep the new dress because she was so good.

All of this is happening way too fast and the lords and Mark had to take a minute to steady their minds. After letting it sink in, Lyn turned to Mark and said, "Thanks for sticking up for me back there."

"Don't worry. It was the truth." Mark looked away purposely before saying his next line, "Besides, I thought that you did great and looked pretty in that outfit."

Both Lyn and Mark started blushing after the comment. Hector couldn't resist and jumped out and started chanting, "Mark likes Lyn, Mark likes Lyn, Mark likes Lyn…"

Out of nowhere, Matthew jumped out as well and started chanting along with Hector. Mark and Lyn stood rooted to the spot, their faces brighter than a tomato with sunburn. Eliwood shook his head and slapped his face at the idiocy of his companions.

Lyn managed to shut Hector and Matthew up for a while when they went back to the inns. Somehow, news traveled fast and everyone in the camp knew of Mark and Lyn. Some of the pirates even knew and blessed Lyn and Mark. The stories got twisted along the way and one of them ended with Mark saving Lyn from man eating bananas.

Being unable to take the cruel and unusual punishment any longer, the two retired to their rooms hoping that tomorrow the whole thing would blow over. It was when Mark was half asleep that he realized he didn't feed today on human food or kisses.

Before you start judging what kind of theater it was, just know that it is not so bad. They do all kinds of shows there for all ages. This just happened to be a dancing day with girls in skimpy outfits. Had the group read the obvious sign on the outside of the building, they would have known that, but since they didn't they had to witness that display. The theater's most popular show is the one for kids that airs once a week. It teaches kids about basic education like counting and the alphabets. Just think Seasame Street.

This chapter isn't really one of my favorites but it'll have to do. The chapters that I will upload today doesn't really strike my fancy, but it's only my opinion.