The next day, Fritz wandered around on the island and could not help but smile as he saw the crews of the two ships got along so well. Some of them were playing games, others were swimming in the sea.
"Feels a bit like it was before isn't it?" Silvereye asked looking from his shoulder. Fritz nodded silently.
"Fritz-san!" Riki-ken called as he came running up to him.
"Is there something wrong?" Fritz asked feeling a needle of worry poke him. The young boy shook his head.
"I just wondered if Mayu- san told you anything last night." he said as little Harlock came up to them as well. Fritz shook his head.
"She has a sort of memory loss. Even if she really does know what has happened she can not remember it."
"Don't worry, Mayu is gonna help us, and maybe under the way her memory comes back." Silvereye said bringing back the hope to the two boys.
"But.. Does she not have a crew? I have not seen any of them." Riki-ken asked again.
"My crew is made up completely of androids my father made. They would not leave the ship even when I asked them." Mayu smiled as she came up to them. Fritz nodded.
" An android crew? That Tochiro- sama made?" Riki-ken's eyes shined. "Can I take a look?" He asked hopefully. Mayu was a bit surprised but smiled friendly.
"Sure. Rowa can show you around, just tell her that I had given you permission."
"Yeay!" The young boy called and ran down the way, before he stopped and turned.
"Are you coming Harlock?" He called. Little Harlock sighed and ran after his friend.
"Boys will be boys." Fritz smiled.
"You were even worse when you were a kid." Laughed Silvereye, reminding him that he usually had followed any one, that did something special on board the Atlantis, learning about everything he could. It had given his father a bit of a migraine as he never knew where his son and pets were.
"I guess all children are like that... I used to race through the halls of the Arcadia when I was little as well." Mayu smiled.
"There is one thing I am wondering..." She said as they sat down on the soft grass. Fritz looked at her.
"You said your father wanted you to stay on Titan as back up..." She started to say but cut herself of. Fritz smiled.
"My father may believe that I did not know but, my father was always a bit to careful when it came to me. My father wanted me to stay on Titan in case it got dangerous. My father wanted me to stay safe." He smiled.
"I see." She smiled. "Like Harlock wanted me to stay on the Earth, my father loved so much." She smiled and looked over the island. They were sitting on a little hill that gave them a look out over the island.
"Your crew seems to enjoy themselves" She smiled and looked at the crews.
"Well this is one of the safe heavens for pirates after all." Fritz said as he leaned back on the tree behind him. Silvereye changed back to his wolf form and rested his head to Fritz stomach. Mayu looked at them and smiled faintly. She remembered how Lighting used to lay next to his master as they were visiting her.
"I had no idea the wolfs could change form... I never saw Lighting do that." She said and looked to Silvereye. The young wolf lifted his head and looked at her.
"There was most likely no need. Lighting never change unless there is a real reason for it. Me and my uncle stay mostly in our falcon forms to confuse the enemy, while my soul brother Mizu is in his true form." Silvereye said as he lifted his head and smiled at her.
"Another wolf I take it?" She smiled. Fritz nodded.
"Mizu stayed on the Wolf planet to wait to see when the leader would see something again, hopefully it be soon. I don't like having no clues about what has happened to them." Fritz said and clenched his fists over the wolf back. Silvereye whined low.
"What about your ship computer... You said something about scanning for anything that maybe we could not tap into." Silvereye asked Mayu, a little hope shined in his eyes.
"Not much I can tell you... Kikan is still looking into it. She said that she had found a log by the Arcadia's main computer, saying something about a old legend. Something about a black witch that used to steal children and never let them go." She said. She knew why Fritz paled a bit.
"Just like you and Pinoko... Yet I have heard that story. An old lady near were I used to live on earth, used to always say then I played to loud; don't make to much noise or you'll wake the dark spider woman. If you wake her then she will come for you, and capture you in her web and take you away, and you will never return." Fritz said looking hard on the grass, remembering that tale quite well.
"Master..." Silvereye whispered in his head and he looked up. Mayu looked strait at him, yet he could see that she looked past him, like she was not there. Mayu saw a sort of memory in front of her, yet it was weak and clouded like it was just a memory if a dream, yet it was the name Pinoko that had triggered it.
In her mind, she saw herself besides another woman, she was around her age, maybe a few years older. She had red brown hair that reached down to her shoulders, she had a black ribbon in the hair on the right side of her hair. She was dressed in the same dress as she was, the same black dress with the red spider mark it that she had on in her nightmare. Both of them faced some targets some pace from them. Mayu was armed with her gun and the other girl was armed with some knifes. Both of them not missing their targets even once. Mayu could feel eyes on her back as their eyes were turned only to the targets.
"Good Pinoko, your aim is getting much better. Mayu, do not hesitate. Even if you hesitate for just a second to show your enemy mercy, they will kill you." A woman's voice said behind them. A voice she knew well.
"Mayu?" Fritz said and took a hand to her shoulder. Mayu jumped back to reality. Fritz jumped a bit as Mayu suddenly hang by his neck, as she shook and breathed hard.
"Mayu..." Fritz said and hugged her, realized how scared she was.
"What if my nightmares are real... What then." She whispered. Fritz noticed that she had not meant for him to hear it, yet he said nothing.
"Well well I would say we came at a bad time, or what do you think, Riki?" Little Harlock laughed, making both Fritz and Mayu jump away from each other. Silvereye could not help but chuckle to himself, as he saw the bashful faces on both his master as well as Mayu.
"Shut up." Fritz growled to him alone.
"Whats wrong?" Mayu asked being the first to gather her wits. Yet she wondered just how bad that had looked since the two boys could not stop grinning.
"Nothing wrong... Just wondered what we should do now?" Little Harlock asked as they both sat down with them. Fritz leaned back a little and looked up at the fake sky over them.
"I am not sure... According to what Mayu found, Tochiro sr left a note about a old legend... Not sure what that means yet.." Fritz said.
"When was that note placed there then?" Riki asked quickly.
"Not long before they left, but nothing else." Mayu asked.
"Well it is one more piece for our puzzle and we have gotten a few more of the missing pieces, now we just need to piece them together." Silvereye sighed.
"Missing pieces... Missing piece.." Fritz suddenly said and looked strait at Mayu. "Of course! Silvereye you are a genius!" Fritz said and took hold of Silvereye's head and made him look strait at him.
"He is?" Riki asked confused.
"Silvereye, got hold of Mizu, tell him to head to the great leader again, and make a meting. Tell him to tell the leader we found the missing piece and we coming." Fritz said as he stood up.
"Okey..." Silvereye said not to sure what to make of his master's thinking.
"Irai, come in." Fritz called on his com link, his eyes shining.
"Yes captain."
"Make the ship ready and inform the others as well, we'll head to the Wolf Planet as soon as possible." Fritz ordered.
"Yes sir." Irai answered, for the first time since the great pirates had vanished had she heard such hope in her captain's voice again, so she rushed of to do as she was told hoping that they may finally have found the clue to finding them.
"I done as you asked.. But would you be so kind and explain just what is going on?" Silvereye asked, his face as confused as the others on that hill.
"Like I said before, Mizu stayed on Luviji to wait and see if the great leader would see something that could lead us to them..."
"The great leader can see into the future, past and present." Silvereye explained quickly as he realized Mayu, Little Harlock and Riki had not a clue what his master was on about.
"And he could not see anything. He said it was like darkness had swallowed them the only thing he did tell us was that he needed a missing piece, a light to light up the darkness." Fritz said walking back and forth.
"Now it only struck me when Silver just said it." Fritz said and turned his look over to Mayu. "You were that missing piece. The fact that you vanished first and now the others are missing before suddenly you reappear after a year."
"So what does that mean?" Riki asked, still not quite following.
"So if we take her to the leader, maybe he will see something..." Silvereye said as he finally followed his master.
"You said he could see the past as well." Little Harlock asked carefully. "Then he will maybe see something that can help you find your memory back again." He said looking to Mayu. She nodded carefully. She did not say anything or show it but remembering her nightmare as well as the day time nightmare she just had he feared just what did lay in her past.
"But what ever we may find we should head out now as soon as we can." Riki shined up. Both him and Little Harlock rushed back to their ship to get ready to leave.
"Don't worry Mayu. What ever we find, we will still help you." Fritz said as he lay an hand to her shoulder.
"Fritz-san, I..." She started to say but could not bring herself to tell him, that she may know of this Pinoko girl he spoke of before or that she might have killed Harlock.
"Just call me Fritz, you and me are about the same age. I wish Hiko and the other swords men were still with us. Hiko could perhaps have given you your memory back like he did before..."
"Who?" Mayu asked.
"Some old friends of ours. Had it not been for them.. I am not sure if any of us would have have still been alive..." Fritz smiled sad.
"What happened to them?" Mayu asked careful yet she regretted asking as she saw the pain in his eyes.
"I don't know... It happened right before Harlock, Father and the others vanished. It started with Hiko, and followed on down to his apprentice Kenshin and then to the others. One by one the sword masters fell into a sort of coma. It even affected the Pirate knight at the end. There is still no change in their contrition. It some sort of connection with the immortals and the great pirates disappearance." Fritz cursed angry.
"And it was not just the Sword masters but their guardians as well. Even my sister Silver on a different planet was effected, when her soul sister passed out." Silvereye said worried.
"Then what could have happened?" Mayu asked as they were now walking back to the ships.
"The only immortal not affected was Black Jack, and even as good doctor as he is could not understand it... He went with Harlock on that fateful day and also vanished." Fritz said, not really looking anywhere.
"Black Jack... Where have I heard that before.." She said thinking to herself.
"Black Jack is a renown mercenary doctor... I would not be surprised if you have heard of him." Fritz said smiling at her. Mayu nodded, yet why did the image of the woman from her back flash show up in her head...
"Well just set your ship to the coordinates I give you and we will be on Luviji soon enough. It would seem like things are finally looking up, at least now that you are here." Fritz smiled and nodded to her, before he left to his ship again. Mayu smiled faintly to him and walked into the Princess Mayu again.
--
A hour after take of from the Deathshadow island, Mayu were sitting in her captain's room by herself. She had a glass of wine in her hand and were looking at the picture of her Mother and father.
"We are on course now, captain." Kikan said to her in her head. Mayu smiled. She had not been surprised that Kikan already had the coordinates to the wolf planet, and that the ship was ready from the second they got the message from Irai.
"Thank you, but Kikan." Mayu said with a sigh.
"Yes?" The ship asked.
"Please, at least you, can you just use Mayu?" Mayu looked into the roof.
"Okey, Mayu." The ship answered.
"Kikan, do you ever dream?" Mayu asked as she looked into her glass.
"Dream?" Kikan asked confused.
"Yeah. Like did you dream while you where shut down after my father was done building you? During those years you waited?" Mayu asked standing up and moved over to the window. She could see the Deathshadow sailing next to her ship.
"No, I do not dream during the time I am shut down, but I do know about dreams." Kikan answered.
"Then tell me, what would you do if your worst nightmare could prove be reality?" Mayu asked looking out. There was a long silence.
"I would do my best to change it. Even if that would prove to be impossible, then I would do my best to do the best out of it." Kikan said. Mayu nodded.
"I suppose so..." She said as her mind trailed of back to the dream like memory and the young Pinoko and the voice in her memory. The voice made it go cold down her back, as she sensed the evil with in it, but the fact that scared her, was the fact that she felt safe hearing it. She growled to herself forcing the memory back and focused on the mission ahead of her, not knowing what else this journey would bring.
Author's note:
I am so sorry it took so damned long to get this chapter done. I ran into a serious block that did not loosen up until a few days ago. but here it is. and again I planed to make this longer and have what will be the next chapter in here but I feared it would be to long. anyway hope you liked it.
Ligthingtooth.