The should-be ghost ship doesn't scare me; its aura does. No matter how hard I try to convince myself that nothing is going to happen during this search, something in the depths of my thoughts tells me to stay on high alert all the time, and that's what I do.

I dismissed the crewmen following me some time ago, leaving me alone exploring the battleship nearly as large as Arcadia. The air locks still work, therefore at least I would not explode into a cloud of blood and flesh in case my suit is penetrated by debris from who-knows-where.

I know something is going to go terribly wrong, therefore I bring a nihilium knife which Tochiro recovered from one of the long-abandoned armoury with me. If the soldier comes, I can still defend myself at some point with the old knife. Somehow, its bluish-green glow comforts me, causing my heartbeat to slow down to a more...normal rate.

'Anything at your side, Captain? I heard you dismissed everyone you've brought,' Yama says through the intercom.

Of course there's something, I just can't see it, I want to say, but I lie, 'Nothing at the moment.' It's hidden.

'Captain, are you okay? You sound scared.'

Of course I'm scared! How can I defend myself if I can't even see my enemy! I need more than crew members! 'No, it's fine. I think it's just the connection problem.'

'Okay, I'll send someone to check the intercom.'

Shit no. 'It's fine. Keep searching the ship.'

Yama says nothing for a moment as if thinking for his decision.

'Alright, Captain. Just don't get yourself killed.'

Easier said than done, Yama. 'I'll try.'

The link goes dead. My adrenaline level rushes all the way up beyond its limit, my heart speeding up against my own will. I have a sudden urge to run, to get out of this place, to abandon everyone and go and hide. This is not a foreign feeling: once Miime did that to me, and I nearly had a heart attack.

Fuck.

I don't know where the crazy idea come from; I shout, 'I know you are here! Don't think I don't understand your tricks!'

There is no reply, at least not in the form of words. A breeze so soft that I nearly forget the person causing it is NOT Miime. I suddenly forget who I am dealing with and plunge into

This pneuma… I have felt it before…

A place far, far away from here… A long time ago… Before…

Before I destroyed earth.

'Something tells me that we're related.'

I have seen this person before. I have seen him. But where and when exactly?

It won't be fun if you continue to stand frozen like this, Captain of Arcadia. Use your brain.

I jump, one thing that surprises me. I have gotten used to people speaking suddenly, therefore this does not make any sense. I shouldn't be that afraid.

But the voice…the voice…

It's — fuck, it's fucking echoing in my brain!

'I advise you to stop using tricks,' I unsheathe my sabre, 'or I'll do the same to you. Don't complain afterwards if you continue.'

You won't.

An invisible force pulls on my collar and drags me in midair despite my best effort to keep myself on the floor. I feel the intercom being snached away and it snaps somewhere which is definitely out of my reach. It drops me almost as fast as it snatched me up, and I land smoothly with a roll, the nihilium knife still in my hand.

'What the heck you're playing?' I ask out loud. Even if I hadn't said it, the soldier would also have heard me. Any effort to hide my thoughts would have been a waste of strength and brain cells.

I wait holding the knife up. I wait with my heart racing. I wait for the answer which never seems to come.

This time, I get a figure emerging from the darkness as an answer.

I don't know why I choose to enter like that. Dramatically. Scarily. Slowly.

Like the nemeses in those old movies.

He doesn't want me to play. Fine.

He doesn't like tricks. Fine.

He doesn't recognise me. Fine.

I do not expect him to look so terrified either. The tight trembling grip on his nihilium knife betrays him and shows his fear. The legendary, undefeatable space pirate who successfully destroyed more than half of Gaia's ship with one single, also undefeatable battleship is afraid of a soldier half a metre shorter than him. I want to laugh, but instead only a smirk appears on my lips behind the mask.

And he definitely doesn't know his soft spot who is also my target is coming here to aid him. Although I am disturbing the dark matter signature around us, she, being a pure-blood Nibelung, has a power greater than my expectation. In less than fifteen minutes, she will break all barriers I have set and come to rescue.

Which is part of my plan in case I can't finish Harlock in the time limit.

The flash of his knife brings me back to reality. Another unexpected movement: he attacks.

I'm tired of being a gentleman towards this soldier. As though lost in his thoughts, for a moment he stands there perfectly still, not moving or even breathing. I don't know what he is playing, but that doesn't matter.

I strike.

His reflexes are fast. He doesn't block me with the metal knife, but instead steps aside and, fuck, let the blade dig into his shoulder. Blood no different from a human's flow out from the wound, first staining his dark clothes to an even darker shade of black and then my gloves, the leather being the only barrier preventing the blood from bloodying my hand. The small hooks of the knife, which originally exist to deal more damage on the enemy, now become an unwanted resistance that prevents me from drawing away.

Is this part of his plan as well?

An invisible yet powerful blow hits my left shoulder, knocking me backwards. I feel myself ripping the knife out from his flesh, but somehow I manage to grab hold of the soldier's mask and tear it away.

I lost track of space as the air in my lungs are knocked out by something hard. If he had been any normal opponent, I would have thought that I hit the floor.

But the soldier can master dark matter better than I.

'Nice try, Harlock.'

I have heard that voice before. I try to get up but fail as blue mist keeps me pinned on the floor. My heartbeat and the soldier's footsteps become the only sound that I can hear. My hastened breath soon joins the dreadful song. I've never been so scared before, not even when I was going to lose my fight against the three other Deathshadows. I feel my weapons being torn away.

I hear my knife being pulled away from my grip. The soldier stands before me, peering down as if deciding where he should stab me.

He instead pulls his goggles up. My eyes widen in recognition: the brown eyes, the bluish-green hair.

'Mayu?'

A smirk plays on her lips. 'Schön dich wieder zu sehen, Harlock.'

Pain erupts from my heart as the knife bore down and cut open my flesh. I hear some noise from a distinct place, then the blade twists,then the blade twists in me and sends out another wave of pain. It leaves my body in the most painful way possible, the hooks doing their job properly this time.

The only thing I was able to feel before I lose conscious was the warm, sticky blood gluing my jacket to my skin.