To The Horizon

by dreamcastaway

The age of exploration has dawned upon the world of Arcadia but not all is well. Skies darkens as Valua's war engines expand outwards. In spite of this, brave adventurers set sail in search of untold treasure. And where there is treasure, there will be Air Pirates. This is my attempt to bring that gorgeous story to life with additional scenes and expanded lore.

13. Bread And Circuses

Nothing could have prepared Vyse and Aika for the view awaiting them once the Little Jack passed into Valua proper. A glimmering city lit by electric lights that illuminated it so brightly that they seemed to be holding the dark clouds at bay. Without them, you'd be forgiven for fearing that the sky would fall and swallow the land beneath it in a horrible miasma. It was terrible. It was beautiful. However, that was only one half of Valua. As the Little Jack drew towards the docks, the scene changed and the wonderful golden city on the lake shore grew smaller and smaller. They weren't heading to the Upper City; they were slinking off to a less-reputable portion of the Lower City. A place where anything could be found for the right price. Say, an experimental Valuan harpoon cannon. Drachma outlined the situation for his young companions with his typical gruffness. The Upper City was for the rich nobles; the Lower City was for everyone else. Far more people lived in the Lower City, crammed into towering stacks of shanty shacks or piled into community halls where the most that could be called "yours'' was a tiny bunk. Each inch the Little Jack made towards the dock revealed a fresh indicator of Valua's depraved and imbalanced social order: the smell of rancid garbage, a scream in the distance, the howling of a feral huskra. Pinta had said that dreams sailed in the direction of hope. The Lower City was where dreams went to die. There was no hope in this place. Only dogged grit and desperate struggling.

The young rogues regarded it with abject horror as the Little Jack came to rest in a grimy dock sequestered at the far end of the Lower City. Drachma looked at it as plainly as you'd look at a mountain. It was what it was and it sure as shit wasn't his problem to fix. Those idiot kids were here on some stupid mission. For them, this was one of the most important moments of their almost-assuredly short lives. For him, this was just another pit stop on his inevitable collision course with Rhaknam. So it was that the old fisherman trampled down the gangplank with two would-be heroes in tow like so much freshly caught fish.

"That's it then," he growled as he looked around the docks. "Deep'n tha heart of the empire 'an cravin' different kinds of trouble."

Aika wandered forward, almost bumping into a surly looking worker with a rusted metal leg. He gave her a vicious look before limping onward. The redhead seemed caught in a daze. It was hard to believe what she was seeing.

"It's so much worse up close," she said quietly. "The smell, the dirt… Oh gods, I really hope that was mud I just stepped in…"

Drachma turned to regard Vyse. The young sailor's eyes darted about with a somberness to match his friend's but there was an undeniable hint of recklessness underneath it. "What now, boy?"

"Same as it always was," Vyse replied firmly. "We need to head into the city, learn what we can. Someone's bound to have heard about a bunch of captured air pirates. And wherever they are, we gotta save them."

"The city is bigger than I imagined," Aika noted. "We'll need a bit of luck to learn anything. And if they're across the lake, in the Upper City…"

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," Vyse said confidently.

Drachma grunted.

"Do as ye might," he said as if to dismiss the rest of the conversation. "I gotta hunt down me black market man 'an see 'bout that cannon. Ain't no doubt that one's gone… missing 'an made way down here. I'll find y'idiots later. Iff'n ye ain't in a ditch somewhere."

"Seriously?" Aika seemed surprised. "I figured you'd grab your cannon and be done with us."

"Captain wouldn't do that," Vyse offered with surety. The old man rolled his good eye.

"Suppose'n I gots a morbid curiosity about yer fool's errand is all," he explained. "Imagine ye'll bite dust before me business is done."

Vyse saluted. "Aye, Captain," he affirmed before looking at Aika. "Let's get a move on."

The walk from the dock into the nearest neighborhood was uneventful save for the growing grime and slickness that came to fill the cracked brick streets. The young pirates would pass one sorry sight but it was soon replaced by another with a horrible swiftness. Makeshift tents and shanties where old men and women, thin and emaciated, sat with sad resignation. A doomsday crier barked out to anyone who would listen about a coming day of judgement where the Moons would burst with wrath upon their oppressors. No one seemed to buy that one, and the pair were all too quick to press on as the would-be priest pointed at them and hollered of the coming storm. Children dived into dumpsters, one of them popping up with a sort of slop that might have been food before a swarm of tiny compatriots began to fight over what little slivers could be shared.

Vyse regarded it with an anger he didn't know he was capable of. That anyone could let people live like this, that the nobles were content to live comfortably across the lake, was unimaginable. Yet, it was real and as he walked underneath flickering moonstone street lamps it was all he could do to focus on the mission he was here for. As much as he wanted to solve each and every problem before him, there was too much risk. A stray amount of attention might be enough to signal curious guards or other troubles. So he walked carefully with Aika until finding a place to stop. They settled for a splintered bench looking over the lake waters. He exhaled a frustrated breath as he sat down. Aika joined him, shifting a bit closer to him and gazing out towards the Upper City.

"I want to smash it into dust," she admitted. "I'd slink over there, steal all their gold, and toss it to everyone here. Maybe keep a little for myself.." It was a playful statement but her voice didn't hold her usual mischief.

"It's funny," Vyse started. "I guess I'm kinda thankful.."

"Thankful?" Aika couldn't imagine what he meant.

"For the perspective," the young rogue explained. "Back home, all we knew of Valua were armada ships and soldiers. Now? I have a clearer picture. Of Valua. Of its people. And yeah, I hate it as much as you do but that.. I dunno… Sometimes I feel like there's this fire in me and seeing this kicks it into overdrive.."

"As if that fire could get any bigger," Aika said teasingly. "You always could see the best of anything."

"We've stolen from plenty of Valuan ships," Vyse noted. "But we're not Black Pirates, we're Blue Rogues, and that means something. It means we don't put up with injustice like this. If that means I gotta rob every last ship of every last coin… if that could help solve things here… well, then that's all the more reason to keep sailing."

"Ain't it just the saddest load of crap you ever heard?"

The pair did a double take as a young voice crowed from off to their side. A young boy, perhaps twelve or maybe thirteen years old, leaned against a nearby railing. Matted red hair flipped and cowlicked in every direction, stray strands falling over his freckled face. His cheek bore a grimy bandage that barely covered a fresh cut. He wore a patchy tan tunic with baggy green shorts and a matching oversized scarf. The result was that he looked younger than he was; like a child who was wearing adults' clothing in an attempt to seem mature. He looked at Vyse and Aika with hungry dog-like eyes, smirking wide. An idle hand floated up to scratch at his nose.

"Something bothering you, kid?" Vyse cast an unimpressed glance at the boy. In reply, he scowled.

"I ain't no kid," he insisted. "And I ain't bother 'cept for the fact I had to listen to your sappy little tune."

Aika huffed. "Did anyone ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

The boy shrugged. "Those lessons go in one ear and out the other down in Lower City," he explained. "I'll drop eaves if I want. I ain't like I'm the only one curious about your hides. Two fresh-faced tourists walkin' about our home. Everyone's takin' you for a pair of marks. Which they ain't wrong about."

"We're not marks," Aika scoffed. "Listen to you! Trying to act all tough!"

"Callin' it like I see it," the boy retorted. "Right off the docks, so you're definitely sailors. Though I dunno about that pirate talk. You look like a pair of ninnies more than Blue Rogues."

"You know a lot of pirates?" Aika shot the question back firmly. "If not, cut your yapping!"

Vyse chuckled. "Don't let him get to you, Aika."

"Easy for you to say," Aika lamented. "He's almost as obnoxious as you were back in the day."

"I wasn't that bad," Vyse said as he looked at the boy. For his part, the red-headed urchin growled.

"Are you trying to start a fight with me?! You better watch it! Do you even know who you're talking to?"

Aika narrowed her eyes in confusion. "You haven't even told us your name.."

The boy stood up taller. "I'm Marco! Everyone in this town knows who I am! I own this place!"

Aika stood up to match the boy's bluster. "Well congrats on being the King of Trash, bucko!"

"Heh. For such a short kid, you talk a big game," Vyse said. He was far more amused than Aika.

"Whatever!" Marco scowled further at the pair. "Not like you're here to help us. Folks like you talkin' your own big game about pirate stuff or whatever but I bet that's just jabber. You sickos probably came to watch the executions and that's it."

Vyse quickly rose to his feet, stepping closer to Marco as if he couldn't believe what the young boy was saying. "What do you mean, 'executions'?"

Marco leaned in and gave Vyse a small shove backwards. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said with mock respect. "I guess you don't got those in the civilized world or something?"

The young rogue stared seriously at Marco, and the street rat hesitated for a moment. A flicker resembling shame crossed his face. "Talk," Vyse said commandingly.

Marco sighed. "Buncha air pirates got nabbed," he explained. "When it's a big enough catch, the nobles drag 'em into the coliseum fer a public execution. Sometimes hanging, sometimes something bloodier. Folks eat that crud up! Everyone goes to watch!"

Aika cast a glance to Vyse that betrayed her deep concern. Marco noticed but said nothing, opting to keep his eyes locked on the young man before him. It was only a moment before Vyse asked another question.

"When?"

"Tomorrow," Marco said with some annoyance. "Gimme some room and calm the heck down. It ain't like it matters or you got reason to care, right? Folks get axe'd all the time in the coliseum. Literally!"

Aika placed a hand on Vyse's shoulder. "We need to find the captain," she said seriously. "Figure out what to do."

Marco laughed. "If you're lookin' for the best seats in the house, I can hook you up with some of the best. So long as you're alright with a little splatter."

Vyse rounded on the boy. Whatever amusement he had at Marco's street-wise act had faded.

"Do I really look like someone who'd put up with that? Someone who'll cheer like one of those stuffy nobles as heads fly?"

"No…" Marco managed. "You look like someone who's rushin' to get the axe himself."

Vyse smirked. "Not planning on it," he said. "Now, why don't you find someone else to pester?"

Marco backed away, raising a hand in affected supplication. "Gladly," he said snottily. "I got everything I wanted here anyway. Little bit of amusement and such. I'd say it was nice to meetcha but while I'm a lotta things, I ain't no liar."

He turned and started running away. "Later, idiots!"

Aika groaned before leaning against the nearby railing. In spite of everything, she managed a smirk. "You know, I take it back," she said slyly. "You were much worse than that."

Vyse watched as Marco slinked off into the dark streets but chuckled all the same. "Guess I might've ended up like that if I lived here," he said sympathetically. "It can't be easy…"

"You heard him," Aika said. "Your dad and the crew will be executed tomorrow! In some gross spectacle where everyone's gonna cheer! I swear, if Fina's with them too…"

"We'll figure it out," Vyse said reassuringly. "I'm not letting a single Valuan touch her or hurt any of them."

Vyse turned and started to walk down the street. Aika quickly jogged to his side. Somehow, the streets seemed darker than before but she could swear that whenever Vyse spoke, the lamps flickered with fresh light. Maybe it was a quirk of the moonstones or maybe she was imagining it. Either way, she felt some worry evaporate from her heart.

"We got most of what we need," Aika noted. "Weapons and some crystals. If the captain decides to tag along, that'd help too. We'd just need to find out how to get into the coliseum and bust everyone out before it's too late."

Vyse lifted an idle hand to his pouch. "Yeah," he said. "We'll just take stock an-"

He paused. His pouch was mostly empty save for his moonstones. The remaining crystal that Fina gave them back on Pirate Isle was gone. It took only a moment to figure out where it had gone. It must have happened when an enterprising street-rat gave him a little shove.

"I'll be damned…" Vyse's voice brimmed with amusement.

"What is it?" Aika slipped into some worry once more.

"That snot-nosed brat stole our sacres crystal…"

"What?!" Aika grimaced with a gremlin-like rage. Vyse could've sworn she'd grown fangs. "We need that! I swear I'm gonna hunt down that little rat ba-"

"It's fine," Vyse said with a fresh chuckle. "Let him have it. He beat us fair and square. No point in chasing him down when there's work to do. We'll find somewhere to rest and plan out what's next. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day…"

---

Finding an inn to rest at wasn't much trouble. Unlike a port where there might be a few hostels or flophouses, there was only one establishment where a traveler could find some rest: a small bar called the Last Call. When Vyse and Aika entered, it mostly seemed a place where you could drink murky whiskey and oddly piss-colored wine but there were a few rooms available to rent out. Sailors and merchants likely came and went enough that it could keep the lights on and the owner was so ambivalent about guests that they didn't bat an eye when the two rogues told them that a large bearded man with a metal arm would be joining them and covering the fee for the night.

"If he doesn't," the owner said. "We'll just take a few of yer fingers for payment instead."

The room was more of an expanded closet than proper lodging, an open attic-like space with a few beds shoved in although there was a small door to a balcony that jutted off the building's side. The blankets were musty and moth-eaten but Aika flopped right on to one of them. Whatever risk of fleas and bedbugs existed felt secondary to her own exhaustion. They'd spent over a week in the Little Jack's tight quarters—Vyse's lodgings little more than a hammock dangling outside the engine room—and even with the clock slowly ticking down toward the execution, it felt good to take even a few moments to find some quiet. Especially since whatever happened tomorrow was sure to be loud and dangerous. For all Aika knew, this would be the last bed she ever got to lay down in.

"It's been so long since I just… laid down on a bed and closed my eyes.." Aika sighed comfortably. "Or at least that's what it feels like."

Vyse sat in a nearby chair. He smiled affectionately at his friend. She always had a knack for finding joy in the smallest things. "It's not like we've had much time to rest since leaving home," he noted. "Even that stop on Sailor's Island was too short. It's been one thing after another. Rhaknam, the captain, Baltor.."

"I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to," Aika said. "I just keep thinking about your dad and the others."

"Nothing's been the same since we raided the Cygnus," Vyse agreed, "But you know… even with all this trouble, I don't regret it. Sticking it to the admiral, meeting Fina…"

Aika nodded. "She's something special," the redhead admitted. "Strange and secretive but kind too. I can't imagine what she must be dealing with right now.."

Vyse rubbed his chin in thought. "What I don't understand is what the Valuans want with her," he mused. "The Armada's never pushed that far into Meridia and then she shows up.. Suddenly, they're deploying every spare ship they have to find her."

"Mystery for another time," Aika said softly. "S'like your dad would say: focus on the goal in front of you."

Vyse nodded. "Not to the point that we get no rest," he said. "Whatever happens tomorrow, we need to be alert and ready. Who knows when we'll get to sleep in real beds again?"

Aika chuckled. "Really slumming it in that hammock, are we?"

"Eh, I don't mind it," Vyse said. "It's just that the Little Jack's engine is so old, it creaks as loud as an arcwhale."

"Hmph," a low voice grunted. "Well, 'scuse me fer havin' an old ship."

Drachma trampled into the room with a plodding heave, looking at the young sailors with his usual mixture of annoyance and frustration. "If ye don't like it, find another damn ship," he scowled. "It ain't meant for keepin' a buncha passengers cozy. She's meant fer me only."

Vyse turned to look at the old fisherman. "It's not like that," he said. "You know we're grateful…"

The old man took a moment to examine the pair, cold eye running up and down. They looked damn young and in over their head. Downtrodden but determined. Idiots, he thought.

"Judging by yer looks, I'm guessin' ye've sussed out the news 'bout them executions," he said coldly. "S'bound to be yer old man 'an the crew. Figure yer best chance might be to save 'em all 'fore they reach the coliseum… Iff'n ye could manage t'get deeper'n the city."

Vyse paused for a moment as he thought about the situation. "We'd need to figure out where they're being kept," he said plainly. "Which would mean asking, which could draw attention. Without good information, we gotta stick with what we know.."

"Yer not thinkin' 'bout that, are ye?" Drachma seemed less impressed than he did skeptical.

"I am," Vyse said. "Which means we can't do anything until tomorrow."

Aika sat upright. "What are you talking about?" Her voice was filled with urgency. "Shouldn't we be out there right now trying to save them? You're not seriously gonna wait, are you? If we don't do something, they'll be killed!"

"If we go rushing around the city, the guards will notice something's up," Vyse said calmly. "If they catch us, we're dead. We know exactly where Dad and the others will be tomorrow: the coliseum. All we need to do is sneak in and get them out of there."

"S'got potential to be right bloody," Drachma noted sternly. "Ye ready fer that, boy?"

Vyse nodded. "I think if we had more time, I'd play it like you suggested," he explained. "But that's a luxury we really don't have. We know where we need to be and when. That'll do. And if it gets messy? Well, nothing's getting in the way of their freedom. I'll fight the entire Valuan army if I need to."

Aika smirked. "Tomorrow at the coliseum then," she noted with some excitement. "We get in, break some chains… maybe some skulls.."

"Might be ugly," Drachma said. "But at least it's something."

"Now that there's something resembling a plan, I feel a lot better," Aika said. She stood up and walked over to the corner of the room where their weapons rested. "Besides, if doing the right thing were always easy then everyone would be doing it. We'll just need to rise to the occasion, yeah?"

Vyse looked at Drachma seriously, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his legs. "Last chance to walk away," he said. "This is our business. You don't nee-"

A clattering smacked upon the roof as something—or someone—knocked over what sounded like loose piping. Metal rolled in a slinking slip, rumbling against the tin roof as a light voice cursed beneath its breath. Vyse immediately rushed to the balcony with Drachma and Aika in tow. A shadow darted out of view. Drachma huffed with anger.

"Someone's spyin' on us," he growled. "We can't let 'em git away!"

Aika was already placing her hands down in a makeshift step. "Vyse! Boost!"

The rogue nodded, stepping into Aika's hands and pushing off the ground. His friend gave a forceful toss upwards and hurled her friend to greater heights. It wasn't so high to the roof; Vyse cleared the top easily and landed in time to watch the shadowy figure dart further away. The dark sky and flickering lamplight only highlighted the smallest fragments of their figure, revealing ruddy red hair as they rushed into the night. Vyse began his chase. Darting with all his speed towards the rooftop's end, he was just about to reach the figure before they leapt right off in a leap that cleared the gap to the next building.

Vyse paused for a moment at the edge. Okay, if that's how you want to play this…

Stepping back, the young pirate sprinted and made a leap of faith that carried him to the other rooftop. He tucked into a roll, dirt and grime clinging to his shirt as he rose to his feet. The shadow took a look back, uttered one last curse, and kept running. The rooftop was packed with clutter: makeshift benches made of wooden planks and held up with cinder blocks, a pitiful array of long-abandoned beds beneath trash and boxes. The shadow raced onwards, leaping over the bench. Vyse kept close on his heels. As they passed a nearby chimney, the eavesdropper pulled at some pathetic piping until a piece of it broke and tossed soot into the air. Vyse covered his un-goggled eye and ran through the choking smog in time to leap across another gap in pursuit of his prey.

The pair landed on a low shack roof, the shadow tucking into an artful roll and popping into a fresh run before leaping down into the streets. Vyse landed much harder, heaving a breath as he leapt further dowards. In the distance, the shadow was frantically trying to pull the cover off a manhole. Vyse rushed and tackled them to the ground. He tugged the eavesdropper upwards by the collar.

"Put me down, you glass-eyed freak!" Fresh lights flickered from nearby lamps to reveal Marco. Vyse kept his hold.

"Marco!" Vyse dropped the boy to the ground where he landed firmly on his rear. "Why am I not surprised?"

Marco grumbled as he stood back up. "You didn't need to drop me on my ass, bucko!"

Footfalls snapped on the street as Aika rounded into the view with Drachma sauntering behind her. "Did you catch them?" She ran up and stopped as she noticed Marco. The redhead crossed her arms in annoyance. "Well, well… if it isn't the King of Trash.."

"At least I don't have hair like a scarecrow," he countered before smirking. "I heard everything you were chatting about. So if I were to, say, go tell the guards.."

Drachma pounded into view, raising his metal arm threateningly at the boy. "Wrong words," he said sternly. "We needs ta'be killin' ye now, lad."

Marco scoffed. "Go ahead, lugnut," he mocked. There was the hint of something darker in his words. "It's not like anyone would care! 'Sides, you think I like this place? At least if I'm dead, I don't need to find dinner in the garbage or snag pocket change off another corpse. So do it!"

Drachma reached with his arm and placed his hand about Marco's neck. "No regrets. That's good.."

Aika rushed to Marco's side. "Captain! He's a kid!"

Vyse looked at Drachma with renewed purpose. "Drop him," he ordered. To his surprise, the old man listened and stepped away from the boy. Marco spat at the fisherman's feet.

"Marco.." Vyse regarded the young man as if everything was normal again. He nodded towards the manhole. "Where were you going? Where's that hole lead?"

"There's catacombs under the city," the boy explained furtively. "The sewers lead down to 'em. Old World stuff. I live down there.."

An idea popped into Vyse's mind. "Do any of those catacombs lead towards the coliseum?"

Marco paused for a moment. He looked at Vyse as if he'd grown a second head. "You were serious? Talkin' about breakin' folks outta there?"

Aika exhaled. "Of course we were," she said plainly. "If we don't, our friends'll die."

"If any of the catacombs lead there, we can use them to sneak in," Vyse said. He made it sound as easy as fetching water from a well.

Marco doubled over, crowing with laughter to the point that tears filled his eyes. "Are you people stupid or something?" The question hid the slightest sliver of actual concern. "The guards will find you and smash your skulls! You lookin' to get killed?!"

Vyse looked at the boy for a moment before uttering a single word: "Pathetic."

The boy paused, face shifting into anger. "What did you say?!"

"Blue Rogues don't give up," Vyse affirmed. "I'm not gonna start now even if you'd give up in a heartbeat. Marco, I swear that if you ever went sailing you'd start bawling at the smallest storm. "It's too much! I need my mom!"

Marco all but tackled Vyse, who held firm and didn't budge. "Don't call me pathetic," the boy spat. "I don't need your pity!"

Vyse leaned down somewhat to look the boy in the eyes. "You're right," he said. "This is a bad situation and the odds are slim. But if you run into a storm, there's always a way out. No matter how bleak things seem. I need to do this…. I will do this.."

"You're an idiot then," Marco said. He stepped back and crossed his arms.

Vyse turned to Aika and Drachma. "We're going through the catacombs tomorrow," he declared. "We should rest up until then. Tomorrow's gonna be a hard one."

The trio started to walk away. "Wait!" Marco reached out after them. "Aren't you gonna kill me?"

"Of course not," Vyse said as he turned back to the boy. "But if you're really sick of all this, then keep an eye out tomorrow. You're tired of living but I want you to see something interesting before you die.."

---

The next morning came all too soon. While part of the night was spent preparing weapons and supplies, working through a mountain of anxiety, it passed quickly once heads hit pillows. The journey to Valua had not been an easy one between Rhaknam and Baltor, and a chance to find something resembling actual rest was too important to pass up. Every second of their rescue attempt would demand the utmost focus. A single stray step or one moment of hesitation might lead to disaster. Vyse wasn't going to let that happen. There was only one way this day would end, he swore: with his friends safe and on their way back home. With his father out of whatever cell he was rotting in. With Fina free and staring at a blue sky.

They woke early, hoping to avoid too much suspicion in the streets. A light fog permeated the streets, which were oddly silent. It didn't take long to reach the path towards the catacombs. It also didn't take long to run into their first complication: Marco was waiting for them. He stood by the manhole, picking at his nose and smirking as the trio approached.

"Morning," Vyse said calmly. "Come to wish us luck after all?"

Marco groaned. "As if," he said. "Thing is… yer gonna be poking through my home and none of you skullheads know your way around down there like I do.."

Aika rolled her eyes. "And you've come to help us out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Not quite," the boy said. "It's just that… if you don't reach the coliseum, how am I gonna watch you three get smacked the hell up?"

Vyse nodded as if the explanation was entirely reasonable. "Gonna be our tour guide then? If that's the case, you need to keep close. Even if that's your stomping grounds, I bet there's some foul stuff down there."

Marco made a coughing noise that might've been a laugh. "You dunno the half of it," he said.

Drachma stomped toward the manhole and lifted the cover off with one jerk of his metal arm. "We're wastin' time," he said. "Yer either comin' or no. I dun care which." With that, he began climbing down into the sewers.

The young boy reached into his pocket and flashed a rusty looking knife at Vyse. "Ain't like I'm harmless," he said. "But yer word goes, I guess. So long as you don't wander off either. Moron.."

He pushed Vyse aside and made his way to the ladder, clamoring downwards into the sewers. Vyse and Aika followed afterwards. Each rung brought them closer to the bottom, the air growing thick with the smell of filth. As they reached the bottom, Vyse leapt off the ladder and looked around. A sloshy river of fetid water, almost green in color, flowed downwards from the city. The party stood at its side, gathered on a narrow walkway of grimey stone. Electric lanterns sputtered. One cracked with a spark that awoke a cluster of nearby tsirats that shrieked and fluttered over deeper into the sewers.

Aika took it all in with disgust. "You live down here?"

"Better than livin' on some street corner and havin' a guard put a boot to my head," he said. The boy was already walking down the pathway. "Now I ain't kidding: keep close. Goggle-Head was right about one thing: I'm not the only one livin' down here."

Their footsteps echoed against the stones as they followed Marco. Drachma snuffed as he examined his surroundings. "Crud like this backin' up means rats 'an more," he noted. "Gunk'd up 'nuff and ye even get wanderin' slime."

"Very astute, grandpa," Marco chuckled as he continued. "See, it used to be that the sewers were a decent place to lurk; thieves, assassins, even some families. Then it started to change.."

Vyse narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

"They started tossin' corpses down here," Marco explained. "Down from the coliseum and elsewhere. Folks got sick. Well, more sick than they were… and the bodies drew all sorts of nasty crap.

As if to prove the point, a slinking mound of bluish sludge glomped down from a nearby pipe and slapped against the floor like so much spilt jam. It came within a foot or so of Aika's head and began lurching towards her.

"Moons, this is gross!" She whipped out her boomerang and gave a massive swing that launched the slime across the sewage and into the adjacent wall with a splatter. "That was literally slime!"

Vyse drew his own weapons and walked cautiously. "Why don't they do anything about these monsters?"

"They tried," Marco explained. "At least the prince did; nobles are bastards but at least that fella seems to give two craps about us. He led an expedition down here once the catacombs were found. Said he was gonna clear out monsters and thieves alike so book-people could study the Old World."

Drachma growled somewhat. "Dun matter if a runt is well-meaning," he said. "Seein' as there's still plenty down here."

"At least he did something," Marco noted. "They was talking all about history and Fulmarians and crime and all this snooty stuff and then bam! Suddenly they're callin' it a lost cause!"

Vyse wondered at that. "The prince ran away?" It made sense to him; even if he was brave enough to explore the catacombs, he was still a noble.

"Ain't like they gave him a lotta soldiers to work with," Marco said. "It all felt symbolical and whatever. Like the empress was letting her kiddo play make believe. "

"What's a Fulmarian?" Aika's question echoed through the hall.

"Old World folks," Drachma interjected. "Met some scholar at Polly's what jabbered 'bout them."

"Point is, the prince's plan for bringin' justice and brainy knowledge fell right on its ass," Marco said. He picked his nose idly and flicked the result into the sewage. "Then the bodies really started piling up down here. Most people avoid it now but I know how to avoid trouble…"

He started to rush ahead of them, pace increasing as they drew closer to a ledge. Marco peered over the side. The gross waters fell over the edge like a dank waterfall, slipping downwards through a large hole within the floor. With a grin, the young boy leapt downwards past the waters and down into the hole where he landed with a wet thud. Vyse jogged to the edge and cast his gaze downwards.

"Guys?! Trouble!" Marco's voice echoed upwards. "Big trouble!"

Aika stopped at Vyse's side, reaching into her pocket to grab her red moonstone in her hand. Vyse nodded back at her and the pair leapt down through the hole and deeper underground. It was a markedly different place than the sewers above. The brick path was replaced with ancient stone slabs that were partly submerged in murky green waters. Stone pillars held up side walls, bearing writing on their side that neither of them understood. Not that there was much light to see them by; instead of bright yellow moonstone lights, a sort of blue-violet haze hung about the room. The air's phosphorescence cast a glow fluttered about with galvanized energy. And there, before the two of them, was Marco. His knife was drawn in shaky defense as strange figures shambled towards him.

"Marco! Get back!" Vyse ran forward and immediately placed himself in front of the boy. The figures shambled forward and he gasped as they came into view.

They were corpses. Three shambling bodies, rotting and covered in tattered clothing. Two of them bore milky and fetid eyes but the last didn't have any at all. One twitched as a muscle was forced into a broken and unnatural position, an arm bending back with an impossible snap. Like a puppet being yanked about. It made sense in a sick sort of way once he realized what was happening. Each of the decaying bodies' skulls were partially caved in. Large, roach-like bugs rested upon their heads. Pincers latched onto the sides and strange proboscises snaked into the broken skulls. Whatever these people had been in life, they were little more than broken mockeries in death. Monstrous marionettes carrying their hosts towards their next meal.

Vyse didn't hesitate at all. Aika was with him and judging from the hard slam behind him, Drachma was as well. The young pirate rushed at the nearest corpse and stabbed his cutlass into their chest. The body slammed into the nearest wall, pinned by Vyse's attack. Seemingly unaffected, it began to walk up the blade and towards Vyse. "Aika! Don't let them get close!"

The redhead swallowed her terror and nodded, her eyes locked on another one of the corpses as it limped dully towards her. She ran her red moonstone down her boomerang's side. It began to glow red with heat and magicks, casting red light around the tunnel.

"Here we go!"

Aika hurled the boomerang towards her target where it slid low and cut into their leg, hot edge slicing deep. The bones cracked and the boomerang, aided by its imbued magicks, sailed back into Aika's hand. The corpse fell to the ground and began crawling towards them.

"Vyse? They're still moving!"

Against the wall, Vyse's would-be victim was still attempting to shamble towards him. "Yeah, I know!"

"Hrrrrraaagh!" Water splashed as Drachma rushed by them both and slammed his fist downwards at the corpse crawling towards Aika. It rammed right into the horrid deathroach on its skull, which gave a squeal as it was crushed. The old fisherman stood up, walking towards the farthest corpse and backhanded its skull. There was another squeal as it fell to the ground.

"The bug, boy! Gut it!"

Vyse lifted his second cutlass. Pulling the first out from the corpse, he stepped back and slashed at the final roach with both. Instantly, the body fell to the ground. There was a clattering sound as something fell from its hand: a moonstone sword that the victim must have wielded in life. A full ten seconds of silence hung upon the air.

"Seriously, how do you LIVE down here?!" Aika looked at Marco slack-jawed as she gestured towards what remained of the corpses.

"Very carefully!" Marco shouted back at her.

Vyse flicked some grime off his blades and sheathed them. He raised a hand to calm everyone down before walking over to Marco.

"You okay? I told you to keep close." His voice held all the concern of a big brother.

"They've never come up this far before," Marco insisted. "I'm sorry… It's usually fine, I swear…"

Drachma shook his metal arm, tossing some unsavory gunk to the ground.

"Ain't no time fer chidin'," he said seriously. "Ye ken jabber 'bout this later 'else we lose time or more shite creeps up on us.."

Aika walked towards the corpses without a word and brought her moonstone to bear. With a few crackles, she cast three pryi spells that lit the fallen bugs ablaze. "Don't wanna risk any of these crawling away.."

Vyse smiled at Marco in spite of it all. "C'mon," he said kindly. "The old man's right; we need to keep moving. And we need your help if we're gonna reach our friends.."

"Storm's passed," Marco muttered.

"That's right," Vyse said. It ignited a fresh fire in the boy. He gestured for the group to follow further down into the catacombs. Vyse spared a moment to grab the fallen sword and sling it over his back as Marco guided them deeper and deeper into the stony halls.

"I sleep in one of the crypts on the side," Marco explained as they walked by a handful of side pathways. "The worse stuff is far down. That's where they toss most of the bodies.. Right under the coliseum.."

The group pressed onwards and onwards into the catacombs. The hallways filled with glowing gloom but there were no more signs of monsters for the time being. Instead, the air started to take on a strange quality as wind slowly blew through the hall. Vyse could feel the hair on his neck stand up.

"What's going on? I can almost feel that in my teeth."

"We're deep down," Drachma noted. "Pressin' below towards the lower sky. Air in Valua takes on a charge as this. Felt this a'time I were chasing Rhaknam down the north side o' the continent."

Vyse looked at Drachma. "You sure?"

A sudden flash filled the hall, followed by a rumble of thunder. The hallway ahead of them was full of cracks and holes with nothing else below them but open sky. Lightning crackled and darted in the grey beneath them as the hall was reduced to little more than thin walkways. Thunder roiled with each new flash of light. The sky sparked with hunger and fury. What gloom remained in the hall was sucked out into the great maw below.

"Aye," Drachma scoffed before pressing forward. His tone shifted ominously as he gave a simple command: "Now, don't fall.."

"Most of the shamblers walk right off the edge," Marco explained as he pressed onwards. Behind him, Aika and Vyse walked over the makeshift walkways carefully.

"Not looking down, not looking down, not looking down," Aika repeated as they made their way to the far side. Ahead of them, the hallway resolved into a normal shape again.

"We're close," Marco said nervously. "There's this big chamber at the end of the hall. It's right below the coliseum but…"

Aika looked at the boy suspiciously. "But what?"

"It lives up there."

"You know, when you say "it" like that, the result is really ominous," Aika noted. Regardless, she drew her boomerang and moonstones. The catacombs had already proven dangerous enough.

"What do you mean, Marco?" Vyse pressed forward without hesitation even as his question lingered on the air.

"It's like that slime frome before," the boy explained. "There was so many bodies and stuff tha-"

A sick roar jolted through the halls, building higher and higher until it broke into a gargling shriek, wet and blood-thirsty. Vyse's feet stumbled against something in the dark. It clanked and clattered as he kicked it, tumbling into a larger room lit with cracks of yellow moonlight. He'd accidentally kicked a skull. Worse yet, the hallway was full of scattered bones and bloody bits. A slimy beast dragged itself out of the shadows. It might have once been a bird or other creature before tireless feasts and corpse pecking transformed it into a jiggling abomination of slime and fat. Beady eyes and sloshing tongue indicated a face although the rest of its body was little more than a jelly-like mass. Half-dissolved skulls sloshed within its gut. It turned a dull gaze at the party, saliva dripping from its open jaw. It gave the appearance of a sick smile, eager to feast.

"By the Moons…" Drachma uttered before shoving Marco back. "Boy, best be ready to run if need 'rises."

Vyse took a step forward, drawing his swords. Aika joined him.

"Never was going to be easy…" The redhead was already imbuing her boomerang with cold purple magicks.

Marco stared at the group. "You can't be serious! You're gonna fight that thing?!"

"If that's what it takes to save everyone," Vyse noted. "Then we really don't have a choice."

Vyse and Aika exchanged a knowing glance. She grinned at him. "You know, we're gonna need to think of a cool name for the purple magic stuff."

"Heh, you said cool," Vyse teased. Drachma grunted in disapproval.

"Don't let that thing slobber on ya," he ordered. "Let's gut it 'an be done.."

"Aika, I'm gonna need some speed.." Vyse didn't even wait for the reply before he started running at the beast. There was no doubt in his mind that she was already thinking of it. So he dashed in as fast as he'd ever ran in his life and watched as a slick sheet of ice began to form ahead of him. An indigo light shimmered from the moonstone in Aika's hand. The ice shimmered and formed a track before him. Vyse jumped upon it and began to slide at the creature. A slimy tendril—it was barely an arm—swiped at the young rogue. Vyse ducked under it and brought both his cutlasses to drag along the monster's gelatinous side. It gurgled in anger, turning to face him and vomiting a steaming, acidic saliva that missed and splashed into a nearby wall.

"Everything down here is the grossest thing I've ever seen," Aika groaned. She fished for her red moonstone and crackled a pyri spell before the creature that rose to singe its belly. The gluttonous mass was hardly fazed as it shambled towards Aika. "Uh, guys….""

A fist slammed into the monster's face. Drachma's cold steel hand rammed against the monster although the old man was nowhere to be seen. A wire snaked back from the detached fist and snaked back towards the fisherman, snapping taut as it retracted back towards him. He'd literally fired his hand like a cannonball from a distance. The monster flopped about in a confusion that was only matched by this companions' bafflement.

"Holy hells," Aika muttered.

"I don't even want to know how that's possible," Vyse gritted as he slipped in and slashed at the monster again. His red moonstone blades seared deeply, burning away fats and slosh. For all the damage he was doing, the monster's body seemed to reform back into its writhing shape.

Aika narrowed her eyes, looking from her cold boomerang and back to the sodden creature. Focusing intensely, she began to imbue it with even more magic than before. What had started as an unrefined crystali spell in the Shrine Island ruins had blossomed into a more intuitive notion as she carried her purple moonstone from one trial to the next. She felt the boomerang grow colder still, touched with the more advanced power of a crystales spell. Eyes darting back to the monster, she hurled it at the beast.

"Vyse! Captain!" Her voice cried out to call their attention to her attack as the boomerang jutted into the monster's gelatinous side and began to spread icy energy throughout its body. Slowly but surely the monster started to freeze.

Vyse glanced at Drachma, who nodded back. The pair rushed at the monster from either side: Vyse leaping up to smash his blades against the creature's head and the old man hurling a punch from the other side. The blows struck true and shattered their target into icy bits. Almost immediately after, the rest of the body began to crack and flake into little more than shards.

"Serves 'em right," Drachma spat. The trio hardly took time to rest. Aika retrieved her boomerang as Vyse turned towards a ladder at the end of the room that led upwards.

"That's the coliseum above us?" He asked the question casually to Marco. The boy peered out from the hallway. It took him a moment to even register Vyse's words. To his eyes, all he saw were heroes. Monster-slaying, villain fighting honest-to-Moons swashbucklers.

"Y.. yeah," he managed. "Are you just gonna.. head up there? Don't you realize what you just did?"

Vyse smirked.

"That was the opening act," he said, nodding upwards towards the arena. "This is the main event."

---

Fina thought she had seen the worst that Valua had to offer. She was wrong.

From her room at the Imperial Palace, Fina imagined the squalor and suffering within the Lower Ctiy. The contrast was so stark as to speak for itself; even as a prisoner she had unique comforts. The dark city across the bay had pained her. Seeing it close was another matter entirely and the coliseum was more terrible than anything she could have imagined. From her seat in the royal box, Fina had a clear view of the arena in its entirety. Stand after stand was packed tightly with dirty faces and desperate men whose pain was supplanted with something else: eagerness. Broken people, worn down by noble indifference and inequity, brimmed with anticipation and delight at the upcoming bloodshed. They were like carrion birds circling about a freshly fallen animal. It was clear, even to someone like Fina, that the coliseum offered an intoxicating delusion: power. From their seats and stands, the impoverished Lower City citizens were able to feel some measure of excitement and control. After all, they weren't the ones with their heads beneath the executioner's axe. As bad as life was for them, at least they had tickets to the show.

She looked at it all and felt terribly sick. At the side, the Empress gave a knowing hum.

"It wasn't always like this, you know." Her voice held no pity. It was clear that she found the entire affair amusing. "The city teemed with filth and crime, the people lapping at any sign of weakness.."

Teodora smirked wickedly. "Then I showed them how strong I was," she explained. "I taught them to fear me. Lest they believe I feared them.."

Fina pleaded: "You could help them."

The Empress shook her head.

"You are a sweet, foolish girl," she crooned. "Like my son.." There was the slightest touch of nostalgia to her voice that disappeared almost immediately. The older woman cast her gaze towards the festivities.

Down below, Dyne and his crew were being led into the area. The captain looked ragged and bruised, his men equally distressed and mistreated. All of them were bound in shackles. Fina felt her heart sink.

"These pirates wronged me," the Empress noted. "Sit and watch. Learn what it means to oppose my will."

A figure at Fina's side shifted uncomfortably. Prince Enrique leaned forward in his seat and looked down into the area with utter revulsion. He darted about, searching for something, although Fina could not guess what that was. For all the man's talk of standing up to his mother, they'd found themselves here. No plea had reached the empress' heart, no protestation had awakened whatever inner goodness her son desperately wished still remained.

Fina looked at Enrique, watching as his expression shifted further and further into dismay, and felt the last spark of hope within her heart fizzle into nothingness. They had lost, and now Dyne and the others would suffer for it.

Sensing the young woman's gaze, Enrique turned to look at her. "I am sorry," he managed to say. "I wished for another path but could not find it."

Fina stared at him angrily. "I'm sure those men down there will appreciate how sorry you feel."

The crowd roared down below as the prisoners were led about. An executioner clad in heavy armor and bearing a massive axe stood upon a high platform. "Citizens! It is an auspicious day! Behold the rogues who dared to stand against the might of Valua!"

Boos filled the air and an assortment of objects—rotting foods and filth, bottles and cans—rained down at the pirates as the crowd spat countless invectives at Dyne and his crew. Enrique wasn't watching; instead, he looked at Fina as though the Silvite had just slapped him across the face. Eyes wide, he felt something burn within him that he could not put words to. A mixture of fury and righteousness that set his blood alight. Fina was right. Something had to be done. Wordlessly, he stood up and walked out of the royal box. He snaked his way past guards and downwards towards the common stands. As he passed through an archway into the stadium, the prince stood against a balcony and began to mutter an invocation. A faint hint of light glowed about his hand… which was seized by a tight grip that seemed to nullify the magic. He spun his head about to find Ramirez standing beside him.

"Your Highness," the silver-blonde man muttered with faux-concern. "Is the sight not to your liking?" He fixed cold and knowing eyes upon the prince.

"Unhand me," Enrique ordered. Ramirez held his grip firmly as the light on the prince's hand dimmed.

"Your hand is shaking," Ramirez noted softly. "Not that I blame you.."

"What?" Enrique looked at the newly-minted admiral with confusion.

"It's disgusting," Ramirez said honestly. He turned to regard the ravenous mases. "All these people packed into an arena, jeering and eagerly waiting for heads to roll. Makes me feel sick.."

"I see it for what it is," Enrique uttered. "None of this can last..."

Ramirez affected a shrug. He released his grip on the prince's hand and joined him at the railing.

"Whether we like it or not," he began. "This is justice in Valua."

"This is not justice," Enrique insisted.

"But it will come to pass," Ramirez said sternly. His voice dripped with unspoken threats. "Lord Galcian wills it."

"You mean that my mother wills it," Enrique countered with some sadness.

"As you say," Ramirez intoned suggestively.

The Silvite kept near Enrique's side like an azbeth hawk watching their prey. The prince found himself caught between two truths: if he didn't do something, those men in the arena would die—but he also had no doubt that if he did act, Ramirez would do anything and everything to stop him. He was a loyal beast who would not endure anyone to stymie his master's will. Enrique fixed his eyes firmly on the other man.

"You know this is wrong," he said. "Those men don't need to die like this, our citizens shouldn't be cheering for something like this.. Fina shouldn't be forced to watch her friends die."

Ramirez' expression changed to cold fury with such speed that Enrique expected the man to strike him.

"You don't get to speak to me.. about her," Ramirez growled.

The two men glared at each other, a tension so thick that it took everything in their wills to avoid drawing blades in that very moment. Enrique could not allow another mockery of justice; he would not sit idle while his country careened down the wrong path. Never again. But neither could Ramirez, for all his understanding of the other man and distaste for the bloody spectacle, allow anyone—even the prince himself—to subvert Lord Galcian's will.

In the arena below, the executioner beckoned Dyne to be brought up to the platform. Two armored guards shoved him into position, some of the rogue's crew crying out in protest and insisting they die in place of their captain. Dyne's legs were kicked out from under him and his head forced down to the block. The seasoned pirate showed no fear. In the stands, Enrique and Ramirez held firm in their standoff.

"Victor Dyne! You are sentenced to death for the crimes of piracy and treason! Your punishment shall be swift and just!"

A cry rang out through the crowd, a fluttering of confused gasps that grew into shouts of panic and excitement in equal measure. There was no falling axe or cheers; there was only an uproar of sudden pandemonium touched with the most elusive feeling in all of Valua: hope.

Enrique and Ramirez turned to look down at the arena; both men found themselves thrust into shock.

Someone… a brave and foolish someone… was rushing towards the execution stage.

---

This is the moment for Fina. The young woman's eyes are shut tight, the sting of tears burning at her face. She has never felt so small and helpless. There is the temptation to rise up and call upon the numerous magicks at her disposal but a quick glance to the nearby guards makes it clear that this would certainly result in her death as well. She wonders if that would be a good thing. Would her death stop the Valuans from finding the Moon Crystals? If so, and if it might save even a single life down in the arena, she is willing to risk it. She takes a breath and then another but before she can stand, a cry of shock forces her to open her eyes and she sees the most beautiful thing she's ever seen in her life: Vyse and Aika close behind him. In that moment, she realizes that she'll never need to fear anything ever again.

This is the moment for Empress Teodora. A cold excitement pumps through her heart as the totality of her power is impressed upon the masses. She lost so much on the day her husband died, but she had endured and in that enduring, she had grown strong. Nations feared her, the masses were her plaything. The executioner raises his axe, looking to the Empress for approval and she nods. But the axe doesn't fall. Instead, some ratty peasants have dared to intrude upon her dominion. For the first time in ages, she feels some of her power slip away from her grasp.

This is the moment for Prince Enrique. At the sight of the strange young man and his companion, the fire in his heart grows even bolder. He knows one thing for certain, or at least believes it with such sudden fervor that it must be true: the men in the arena would survive. He turns and begins to run towards the exit. There is only one way for the pirates to escape and it just so happens that he knows those underground pathways better than most. He doesn't even wait to see how the battle goes. Instead, he rushes down a stairwell and through the arena gates out into the street. He draws his cloak around him and makes swiftly for the catacombs. There is work to be done.

This is the moment for Ramirez. His eyes are locked on the prince, hand sliding towards his blade when the other man turns and runs. It takes a little less than a second for him to do likewise, but he doesn't chase after the prince; he turns and runs towards the royal box. The pirates will not settle for saving their own. They will try to take her as well, and if that happens it will mean the end of his master's hard work. He rushes upwards, tossing aside guards and rushing into the box. He grabs his fellow Silvite and pulls her out of her seat, downward through the coliseum, and into the night. It is tempting to stay and fight, but his desires are secondary to his master's will.

This is the moment for Victor Dyne. He has lived as good a life as a pirate could ask for and knew this day might come. The rugged man looks to his crew in apology. He could not save them and he is so very sorry. He takes a breath, closes his eyes, and thinks about his wife and son. Knowing that they are safe stalls the shaking throughout his body. He exhales and prepares to die, but death does not come. His men are yelling. The Valuans are yelling. The crowd is yelling. He opens his eyes and sees his son, his ever-reckless son, running at him with cutlasses ready. The pirate grins wide and starts to rise up from his knees, turning to rush at the nearest Valuan. Mischief and mayhem are afoot and he is all too eager to show these bastards what it means to tangle with the Blue Storm of Meridia.

This is the moment for the world. Valua has choked the skies for decades. Nasr stands on edge, awaiting renewed hostilities. Every day is quiet and that is the most terrifying thing of all. The days are spent waiting for war. In Meridia, fishers sail nervously in search of fish and fear that straying even an inch too close to a Valuan patrol could spell your doom. In a distant land, strange metal ships hang above scattered villages and every night people disappear. Valua is a giant, and this is the moment where the giant starts to fall..

---

Vyse's shoulder slammed into the nearest guard, sending them tumbling to the arena floor with a metallic clanking. The strike elicited a fresh roar from the crowd, who were all too eager to see the arena explode with violence. He pressed onward and barreled toward another Valuan. The guard raised a steel truncheon upwards and swung it furiously at the young rogue. There was no effort to avoid the strike; instead, Vyse lashed out with one of his cutlasses. He swung with such raw righteousness that the red moonstone blade slashed through the club's shaft and carried through to strike at the Valuan's helmet. The soldier toppled to the side as Vyse continued to rush towards his father.

Behind him, Aika was already fast at work rescuing the crew. The redhead darted and weaved through soldiers, pyri spells crackling and her boomerang sailing from one target to the next. She ran by the Albatross' chained crew and slashed their bindings away. Vice-Captain Briggs, Landis the Navigator, Luke, Boris, and others. With each strike, their numbers grew.

"Sorry we're late boys," Aika offered with a boisterous laugh. "Vyse wouldn't stop to ask anyone for directions!"

"Down 'ere!" A grizzled voice called out as Drachma beckoned the crew to head towards an open grate down to the catacombs. "Lest more war-dogs 'an steel-heads join the fray!"

"You heard them," Briggs called out, taking what command he could. A stray Valaun rushed at him but the seasoned pirate dipped and dodged until he seized their sword-arm in his own grasp and wrested the blade from them. He stabbed his captor without ceremony, waving the bloodied steel in the arm. "This way!"

The crew began to rush towards their escape save for Luke, who turned and began to run in Vyse's direction. As Aika and Drachma protected the fleeing rogues, the stubborn raider sprinted to catch up to his friend. His arrival came not a moment too soon. Four guards stood between Vyse and the executioner's platform; he dashed to face them, feinting a motion towards one pair before tearing into the other. Vyse was as fearsome as he'd ever been but he was only one man. The other Valuans snapped back into action and began to rush the young man. Luke crashed into the pair, sending them to the ground where he immediately seized one of them in a grapple and jerked at their arm in a painful dislocation.

"Think we're gonna let you have all the fun?" Luke's voice managed a mirth that would have seemed impossible mere moments ago. "He's your dad but he's also our captain!"

Vyse smirked, deflecting a fresh sword stab away from his side and snapping up a leg to kick the offending Valuan in the chest. "Wouldn't dream of it," he offered. He darted back towards Luke and leaned back just enough for the fallen assassin's blade—which had rested on his back ever since its recovery in the catacombs—to dangle right within Luke's reach. Without needing any direction, the raider took hold of the blade and swung its ragged edge at one of the Valuans before him. That left one rising from the ground and the other nearest Vyse.

"Keep moving," Luke said, excitement dripping from voice. "Just like before. I got this one!"

Vyse knew that Luke's word was more than good but as if to prove the point, his fellow raider lurched forward after his first strike and immediately finished off the toppled Valuan with a swift stab of his blade. The remaining Valuan shook with fear but began to move towards the escaped pirate. Vyse gave Luke a nod, something he'd done plenty of times before, but called one more thing before he turned to run towards his father.

"Mabel's waiting for you!"

Luke grinned wide, all semblance of pain and mistreatment fading from his body, as he barreled down at his prey. Not a damn thing in all of Valua was gonna stop him from seeing the woman he loved.

The crowd gazed onward and their cheers shifted from mere calls for blood to something far more hopeful. The excitement of an escape attempt was giving way to a realization: this was not an "attempt" anymore. Each fallen soldier, each step towards the execution platform, was an open challenge towards the long-held truth that nothing could stand against the empire. The soldiers on the ground were losing and unless something was done, their defeat would be an overwhelming embarrassment.

That something came to a head as Vyse reached his father. The executioner, stunned in disbelief until this moment, had finally brought his axe up high. A head was going to roll today, he'd decided. There was no way that he would allow these dirty pirates to undermine the application of justice. Valuan blood had been spilt and needed to be matched. And so he swung his axe downward. There was simply one little problem: Victor Dyne was no longer on his knees.

As the executioner's axe cut down through the air, Victor Dyne stood up but at the last possible moment, the grizzled captain shifted to his side and let the heavy blade cut into handcuffs binding his wrists. They clattered to the ground with a shattered smattering of metal, leaving the Blue Storm of Meridia free and face to face with a towering instrument of Imperial will. The executioner's golden armor glimmered in the arena light, his helmet fitted with yellow moonstone spikes and sunken eyeholes that showed just the barest touch of the Valuan's eyes underneath.

"You want this," Dyne started, shaking off drips of blood from his wrist. "You're gonna need to really work for it."

Another soldier on the opposite end of the platform drew closer, sword raised. Victor Dyne laughed and the crowd cheered in response. The dynamics had shifted; this was no longer about watching Valuan justice. It was about watching arrogant oppressors get their due rewards. The executioner charged forward while the soldier at Dyne's back did the same. He exhaled and spun to twist the lesser Valuan into the executioner's path. A mighty moonstone-inlaid axe fell down and cut into flesh and armor. Dyne had spun the other soldier about and into the path of the executioner's strike.

"Aww, now look what I made you do," Dyne teased. The executioner roared with anger.

"Arrogant pirate scum! You'll pay for your insolence!" He swung his axe again.

A glinting of motion flashed through the arena as Vyse leapt upon the platform in time to bring his two cutlasses up in a cross-shaped block that smashed into the axe's strike. The Valuan's blow was so strong that it brought Vyse to his knees.

"Vyse!" Dyne could hardly believe what he was seeing. His boy, his little boy, had become a pirate in his own right.

Vyse grimaced as he pushed against the axe. "Dad…. A little help…."

Almost immediately, the captain was fishing through the fallen corpses nearby, grabbing a small pistol from one of the disposed Valuans. He fired one shot and then another, each colliding with the armored executioner until he staggered back, bringing his axe back away from the two pirates.

"Didn't expect I'd need to use this," the Valuan growled before slicing the air before him with a magically imbued sweep. The raw energies of the yellow moonstone in his blade cracked an energized blast of power that boomed throughout the coliseum.

For a moment, all Vyse and his father saw was blinding white. Their vision recovered just in time to watch as the executioner started to rush towards them in a desperate tackle.

"Step aside, boy!"

A growling voice, filled with a surprising amount of desperation rang out from behind the two pirates. Vyse and his father immediately rolled to the side as Drachma rushed at full force from the other end of the platform. It was like watching two warbeasts on a collision course. The air grew still, everything grew quiet and then…. BAM!

A thunderous clashing of men and metal burst throughout the arena followed by a tinny clang. Drachma's metal arm had arced right by the barreling Valuan and smashed right into their imposing helmet. The blow crushed the metal inwards and cracked against the executioner's skull. The Valuan stumbled for a few moments before toppling over, his head coming to fall right upon the headsman's block. The crowd went absolutely ballistic. Some called for blood but it was clear the battle was won. Vyse and his father leapt off the stage, Drachma tromping close behind.

"Couldn'ta dealt with one rough fella without me, boy?" Drachma growled in annoyance as he ambled back towards the rest of the crew along with Vyse and his father.

"We woulda figure out something," Dyne said with a bit of effort. "But the help's appreciated, friend.."

By the catacombs entrance, Aika had arrayed all the magic at her disposal to ward off a veritable platoon of guards. They lay about in unconscious heaps, some clearly fallen victim to pyri spells, and a few—pinned to the ground by purple magicks—were unfortunate enough to have run into the redhead's new crystali invocations. She greeted Dyne with a hug before beckoning him down below.

"We gotta get moving," she said. "More and more will come. Once we're in the catacombs, we'll figure out how to get the heck outta here!"

Around them all, the crowd cheered with delight. As Aika guided the others down into the catacombs, Vyse walked out into the arena and bowed to the crowd with an astonishing panache. He took a moment, looked at them all and made a promise that he didn't know he'd be able to keep.

"Free skies!" His voice called out his simple demand with such power that all of the cheer grew silent for a moment. He grinned and called out again. "Free skies!"

It ignited something in the broken citizens. One by one, their cheers grew. Some of them called back to him and Vyse, caught up in the moment but somehow as comfortable as he'd ever been, grinned wide. The coliseum swiftly filled with one cry, repeated over and over: "free skies."

Vyse turned, offered one more bow, and climbed down into the opening toward the catacombs. When the grate was laid flat, Aika encased it in the deepest layer of ice that she could conjure. They'd done it; the crew was rescued. But that didn't mean their hard work was over yet.

---

Marco had swiftly led the fleeing crew down into the catacombs and into a side passage that ended in what seemed to be a dead end. A few surreptitious shoves into choice bricks opened up a hidden passage that led further into the underground tunnels. The long hallway ended in a strange open chamber with high pillars and a mouldering fresco of a brilliantly shining moon flanked by erupting moonstones. Perhaps the side room had been a church or some type of place to worship the moons, but as Vyse joined the rest of the crew in the well-hidden chamber he couldn't help but feel that the image on the wall was not one meant to be revered, but instead feared. A powerful moon, an angry moon, whose wrath fell down upon the world. A fitting image for a harsh land. Was it left here by the Fulmarians so many years ago? Perhaps, but there was little time to ponder over it.

As Vyse and Aika sauntered into the room, a muted cheer went up that left the pair feeling more self-conscious than ever. The crew looks at them like heroes but f it had been their heads on the block, Vyse had no doubt in his mind that his father would have moved heaven and hell to save him as well.

"If you were any later, I'd be a whole head shorter right now," Dyne teased. "I knew you were tough, son, but this? We might need to find a doctor to see if you're crazy because this is… a lot. You understand that, right?"

Vyse smiled. "Of course I do," he said seriously. "But the other option was doing nothing and I'm sure as hell not ready to take over as head of the Dyne family any time soon."

Briggs chuckled to the side. "We can't wait around too long," the aging pirate noted. "Even tucked away like this, they know we're underground and they'll be coming."

Dyne looked around. "How did you even get to Valua?"

Vyse jerked a thumb towards Drachma. "That's Drachma Gealbhan of the Little Jack," he explained. "Took us here with some begrudgement."

Drachma huffed somewhat. "Had business this way," he insisted. "'An the next matter'll be gettin' the hells outta here now. We'll need to cut back to the Jack and shoot off before they close the Grand Fortress gates again. S'about time now that the entrance is open but they'll rush to change that soon."

Aika nodded. "Captain's right," she insisted. "The hard part will be getting to the ship without being noticed but there's gotta be a way towards the docks through these tunnels and…"

She paused with worry. Vyse had noticed something amiss too, his gaze shooting around the room as a fresh sense of fear rocked his heart. "Wait… where's Fina?"

Whatever good cheer had permeated throughout the pirates' ranks seemed to be sucked away instantly. Vyse looked around from face to face but there was no sign of the kind-faced woman anywhere. Dyne sighed.

"She was held separately from us," he explained. "There's special circumstances at play here, son. She's more than we realized, and important enough that Valua'll do anything to keep her in their custody."

Aika wandered over to Vyse, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder. "What are you thinking, Vyse?"

"We need to go save her. Now and before it's too late," he declared. "This will be our only chance and with the city in disarray, it could be the best opportunity we'll find."

Dyne nodded. "It's dangerous but now's the chance to strike," he agreed. "The only difficulty will be making sure we can get her back to the ship in time."

"I might be able to assist with that."

A clipped voice rang through the room as a side passage opened near to the moon fresco and a hooded figure in a velvet cloak entered the room with such confidence and command that the crew didn't know what to make of it. Some reached for their weapons, others stood in firm silence. Eventually, TImmus and Landis began to move towards the well-spoken man slowly. The hooded man raised his hand and, with a sweeping gesture, conjured a bright wall of warding energy that placed a barrier between himself and the suspicious pirate crew. The figure smirked beneath his cloak.

"You must be the friends that Fina spoke of," he said with some amusement. "Brave and cunning, but also rather base and reckless, I'd say."

Vyse walked closer towards the barrier. "You know Fina?"

"We made something of a friendship in her time here," the cloaked man explained. "But that's a matter for a different time. If you wish to save her, you need to make for the Upper City rail system as quickly as possible."

Aika folded her arms with some skepticism. "Why's that?"

"If she is being taken anywhere, it will be the safest place possible," the man countered. "You've proven that the normal parts of the Upper City are not untouchable but there's one place that is…"

Dyne coughed in pain before catching his breath. "The Grand Fortress," he noted. "They'll ship her off to the fort and that'll be the end of it."

"Exactly," the voice said. "Which means it's now or never. Your crew needs to reach a ship and escape before the gate closes, but you'd best hurry to the rail system and try to catch the guards before they can send her away. The tracks run out of the Upper City station and then around Darkmoon Bay."

Drachma huffed. "Which means we'd need t'catch ye as yer movin' about," he mused. "Iffn the train reached the fort, anyone aboard would be lost to us."

Vyse nodded. "Can't let that happen," he said. The young man looked at their strange benefactor seriously. "I appreciate this but there's one thing I need to ask.."

The cloaked figure hesitated. "If I can help, I shall but… my hands are very much tied."

Aika scoffed. "How are you supposed to trust some Valuan stranger right now? This could be a trap."

"Seems to me you need all the friends you can get," the man countered. "Hardly a time to get picky."

Vyse rubbed his chin in thought. "I don't know who you are or even care to know," he started. "Do you have any authority to stop them from closing the Grand Fortress gate?"

"Not impossible," their strange benefactor said. "But my word will only buy some time."

Vyse shrugged. "If it means getting our ship out of here safely, that's fine."

"And what about you?" The cloaked figure seemed taken aback by how casually Vyse talked about doing the impossible. Rescuing Fina was hardly a certainty and yet this young pirate made it sound no less complicated than falling asleep. "What's next isn't exactly a stroll in the park."

"Me and Aika will head towards the trains," he declared before looking at the room. He glanced from his father to the rest of the crew, giving commands that he didn't technically have the authority to give. Everyone listened regardless.

"The rest of you will follow Captain Drachma to the Little Jack and make ready to leave. You'll need to find all of us on that train before we reach the fortress. We'll find a way to signal you."

Drachma nodded. "Fair 'nuff,' he said. "But iff'n ye screw it all up, I'll hauling yer folks out here lest that fortress gate close and spell doom for us all."

Dyne looked at his son seriously. "Sure you want to do this?"

Vyse grinned. "I will do it," he said before looking around the room to find Marco.

The young boy had found his way to Luke. The raider bore a fresh cut across his face from the battle in the arena that was sure to leave a scar and it wasn't clear what Marco thought he could do to help before the boy pulled out the sacres crystal he stole from Vyse, which had been fashioned by Fina so many days ago. He offered it quietly to the raider, who thanked him and cracked the crystal such that a phosphorescent blast of green magicks emanated out and began to mend the cut on his face.

"You coulda gotten meals for a week selling that, kid," Luke noted. "Don't need to waste it on a scallywag like me."

"You were bleedin' all over the place," Marco said plainly as if dripping blood in the catacombs was as bad as dragging dirt into a well made house. "So shuddap and be grateful, okay?"

Vyse smiled, walking to Marco. "Gonna need your help to find the quickest path to the Upper City," he said.

"Right, right," Marco said with a snuff of his nose. "S'gotta be down this way..."

The young boy stood up and was already guiding Vyse and Aika towards a separate exit. Vyse paused, giving the cloaked figure one last look. "Don't suppose I can ask you one last favor?"

A grin poked out from underneath the cloak. "That depends," he said. "I'm taking a huge risk even now by talking to you."

"I'm not gonna ask that you reveal your face or whatever," Vyse said honestly. "Just help get my father and the others to the docks. If you can do that, me and Aika can handle the rest.."

The stranger seemed to consider it as Vyse, Aika, and Marco gathered their supplies and made ready to travel towards the Upper City streets. He spoke up soon after, voice careful and considered

"I'm sure you will, friend.. But let's make no mistake: there's a version of this where you never escape the Upper City.."

Vyse shrugged. "We already gave folks one show to remember," he told his co-conspirator. "Might as well make the encore something worth remembering as well.."

Beneath his cloak, the man nodded. "You have my word that I will guide your friends to safety," he insisted. "This time tomorrow? Your stay in Valua will be little more than a memory."

---

The journey through the catacombs was a quiet one and surprisingly uneventful given the surplus of shambling corpses, grow slimes, gluttonous beasts, and other troubles that had become almost commonplace ever since the group had descended down below. The old stone floors of Fulmarian vaults gave way to the more familiar Valuan brickwork paths and sewage rivers of before as Marco guided Vyse and Aika towards the Upper City. There was a sense that the underground was becoming, if not clean, at least a little more well managed than before. As if it was at least occasionally cleaned out and tended to by whatever thankless workers drew the short straw. Eventually, they reached a ladder leading upwards.

"This is it," Marco noted. "A one way climb into the thick of the Upper City. Middle of Riqueza, near some of the merchant quarters. Train's gonna be a little north from there. Guards too maybe but…"

Marco paused. His face began to contort in a mixture of worry and something else. Through it all, the young boy attempted to mask his emotional battle with a sneering that did little more than draw more attention to the struggle.

"What's wrong?" Vyse intuitively sensed the issue at hand. Aika, too, looked at Marco with worry.

"Vyse… Don't go." Marco's voice shook with unfallen tears.

"You know we don't have a choice," Aika said. "Our friend is counting on us."

"If we could stay and fix it all," Vyse started. "We would but if we don't move fast, we might never see Fina again.."

Marco shook his head. "No! It's not like that," he insisted. "My parents tried to run away from the city too and they died! There's guards everywhere and no way out! You can't escape from Valua! You can't escape through the Grand Fortress! You can't! And if you go up that ladder, you'll die! It's impossible!"

The boy had slipped into full-blown tears. Vyse reached out and placed a hand on Marco's shoulder, kneeling until his eyes were looking directly at the young thief.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Vyse said sincerely. "But I can't stay. I don't have a choice. Because every time I hear the word "impossible," I want to prove whoever said it that they're wrong…"

Marco snuffed his nose a little. "Vyse, I'm serious…"

"He is too," Aika said in turn. "And I agree. Even if nothing about this seems possible, even if saving our friend is a shot in the dark we don't have a choice. We need to try.. Or else we'll spend the rest of our lives with the guilt of doing nothing at all.."

Vyse stood up, looking towards the ladder and following it upward so that he could see the Upper City light's peeking in from the manhole above. "Don't worry about us," he said. "I believe that we'll make it out... I will find a way... that's what's keeping me going."

Aika sighed, placing a hand on the ladder's rungs. "Every day's a challenge, kiddo."

Vyse nodded. "I have to know what I can accomplish... I never give up, and so far, nothing has ever stopped me," he said with a grin at Marco. "Impossible is just a word to let people feel good about themselves when they quit. So I'm gonna climb that ladder…"

"And I'm gonna be right beside him," Aika added.

"And we're gonna save our friend and prove that it's not impossible to escape. How's that sound?"

Marco nodded, wiping more tears away. He seemed overcome with a strange sort of shame. Do you think I could ever be a sailor? If I could ever... sail the skies?'

"Of course you can," Vyse said, ruffling Marco's hair. "You're pretty damn tough already."

"I just, I just…"

Aika stepped away from the ladder and made a motion across her wrist, removing a small bracelet and holding it out to Marco. It was plain leather with a small skull-like scarving on the side. She gave Vyse a glance and her fellow rogue nodded with instant approval. Aika's eyes locked with Marco's as she held the simple piece of jewellery towards the boy.

"Before our first day on his father's crew," Aika began. "I made a pair of matching charms for me and Vyse to wear while we were out in the skies. This is mine; s'just a bit of leather and some elbow grease but it means something to me. It's a reminder of when I was finally old enough to join a crew and see the world.

She placed it into Marco's hand. "Hold on to that for me," she said kindly.

"Until you can find us both out there in the sky and give it back," Vyse explained with a smile. "Which means you best keep a good head on your shoulders from now on. It would be a shame to make a fine lady like Aika wait too long to get her keepsake back."

The young boy nodded wordlessly. He could hardly understand what he'd done to earn such kindness and confidence from two strangers but he did not question it. Finally, he managed to nod to the ladder.

"Your friend is waiting," he said, eyes fixed on his new gift.

"That she is," Vyse offered before moving towards the ladder and starting to climb. Aika quickly join him and started her own ascent. Down below, Marco called out one last time.

"I'll find you both soon! I promise! Out there!"

Both Vyse and Aika knew that Marco was telling the truth.

---

Under less dire circumstances, emerging into the neon-lights of Riqueza's finer districts would be quite the accomplishment. Few people, if any, had ever survived the catacombs and made their way into the lush Upper City. But as Vyse and Aika clambered up through the manhole and into the luxurious streets, it mostly just looked like two grimey and less-than-acceptably smelling sailors plopping up into the middle of a nearly abandoned district. Vyse scurried up first and wiped off a mixture of blood and grime on his pants before Aika emerged and took a deep breath of the first fresh bit of air she'd enjoyed in hours.

The city was gorgeous. It was as if the Lower City and all the violence of the coliseum had been hidden away and all that was left were boutiques, bright lights, comfortable benches to break up leisurely strolled, and an assortment of bistros and other delights. Sightseeing would have to wait until they weren't fugitives from the law. Without too much warning, Vyse began to jog off with Aika in tow.

"The north," Vyse noted. "That's where we're gonna catch a train."

"Not like we'll be able to miss it," Aika noted. "Just gotta look for the big metal thing that's presumable covered in a bajillion diamonds or whatever passes as norma-"

The redhead tumbled to the pristine streets as she collided with another pedestrian. She looked up in time to see a rotund woman with a criminal amount of rouge slathered upon her face; a small boy in a fine blue strolling suit hid behind woman, whose dress was large and cloyingly bright enough to give a candy-shop a run for its money in the raw sweetness department. The slightly bit of the woman's silken skirt was scuffed, and she looked at Aika with an intense fury.

"Hooooww darrre you!" Her voice shrieked like an echoing bat. "This ensemble is part of Pertegaz' latest collection and you'd marred it with your frivolous cavorting! And…." She gave a snif. "What horrible perfume are you wearing?!"

Aika stood, ready to swing an angry fist at the woman before a quick glance to Vyse led to a different approach. "How dare YOU!"

Aika shoved a finger at the woman, and Vyse did likewise.

"Indeed! How dare you! Do you not realize who you've struck?"

The woman sputtered. "I don't… I…"

Vyse stood up taller as Aika shifted into an overly affected pose of nobility. He looked at the Valuan. "This is Lady Violante! Twelfth cousin to Admiral Alfonso Aznar y Cabanas!"

Aika brushed at her hair. "Can you not tell by my delicate blonde hair?"

The Valuan looked at Aika's red locks and nodded. 'Oh, I see! I see! Yes, so majestically blonde! Discúlpame por favor! I will be more careful!"

Aika huffed. "You better! Or else my cousin will hear of this!"

Vyse walked up to Aika and made a show of offering his arm, which she took. "Come now, my lady. We must be off! To the gala! Thankfully they won't allow riffraff like this woman to attend. Ha-rumphrumph!"

The two rogues held back their laughter and hurried off down the street as quickly as they could, coming upon a bridge connecting one portion of the district to another. Vyse looked down and realized that there was no water beneath them. There were tracks instead. Rail tracks.

Vyse pulled away from Aika and leaned forward on the bridge's side, turning to look both ways until he saw a sort of station in the distance. Ahead of them, a collection of red rail cars rest at the station. Flicking his goggle, Vyse was shocked as he noticed a familiar face come into view: it was Fina, flanked on either side by two guards and followed closely by a silver-haired man.

"Aika! She's there!"
As if on cue, the train gave a holler as the engines began to pick up the pace and the cars started to slide out of the station one after another after another. Down the tracks and towards the bridge.

"You can't be serious," Aika muttered. "What do we do? We can't run down and reach the door on time.."

Vyse grinned. "That's alright," he said. "They're coming straight to us."

"You can't be serious.."

"We're gonna jump to the roof as it passes, yeah."

"Can't there be a Plan B or something?"

Vyse shook his head. Below the bridge, the train drew closer and closer. "Look, it'll be easy," he insisted. "We just take a breath, hop, and land on the train. S'fine!"

"Or! Or we go tumbling, fall off the side, and break literally every bone in our bodies!"

The train began to pick up ever more speed, racing towards the pair. Vyse took Aika by the hand and drew her a little closer to the bridge's side. "Look, we'll count to three and it'll be fine."

"Okay. That doesn't sound so bad," Aika offered.

Vyse smiled. "Great! One, two.."

There was no 'three.' With a quick turn and a gallant leap, he jumped off the bridge with his friend in tow. They fell downwards towards the speeding train where their friend awaited rescue.

---

Galcian surveyed the coliseum ruins with a cruel mixture of annoyance and admiration. On the one hand, the pirates' demise had been denied in broad view of an entire audience. Some mere boy and a gaggle of compatriots had rushed into one of the most sacred halls of Valuan justice and upended everything they stood for. Galcian hardly gave two damns for the appearance of "Valuan" strength but that anyone might undermine his will was vexing in its own right. Yet, looking at the fallen soldiers there was a certain artistry to it that he could appreciate, a context that imbued each corpse with historic meaning. Let it never be said that he was a humorless man; if anything, Galcian was the only one here capable of seeing anything amusing in the situation at all. For all of his calm examination, his focus was nearly broken by the constant shouts and crowning of Empress Teodora.

The aged Empress wandered the arena floor with fire in her heart and countless curses upon her lips. How dare anyone get in the way of her will? Did everyone understand the utter humiliation she was feeling in this moment? She flitted from guard to guard, questioning them and demanding to know how it was possible that anyone could interrupt the festivities. Nearby, a team of mages worked to thaw the collection of ice blocking the latch downwards to the catacombs. Galcian wandered towards them.

"After you break through," he ordered. "Send a strike team down and operate under one assumption: they mean to flee. They will not attempt to hide below; our failed expeditions make it clear that would be foolish. Instead, go as deep as you can towards settlements or docks.."

"Yessir," one of the Valuan's intoned. He grew silent as the Empress approached.

Teodora wheeled on Galcian, jabbing a finger at the Lord Admiral. "This is unacceptable," she said cruelly. "Do you understand me? This is UNACCEPTABLE! You will find them and bring them to me ALIVE that I might see their heads roll one by one. Do you understand?"

"Childish," Galcian replied. The entire arena grew silence.

"What… did you just say to me?" Teodora looked at Galcian in utter shock. The Lord-Admiral merely shrugged.

"You are being childish," he repeated. "The criminals will be dealt with…"

"How dare yo-"

"Quiet," Galcian snapped. By some miracle, the Empress stopped. "This was not entirely unplanned for. In the event of a disruption, Admiral Ramirez was to bring the girl to the rail-line that she could be kept safe. No doubt that is where our rogues are headed next: after the Silvite."

He turned his gaze to a nearby guard: "What is the status of the fortress gate?"

The guard hesitated. "It's open, sir. The Prince insisted that they open early; said there was important business."

That caught Galcian by surprise. In his experience there were no such things as coincidences. If the prince somehow had his fingers in any of this, that meant for certain that the air pirates would be moving to find the girl. The Lord-Admiral exhaled.

"Move quickly to close the gate," he ordered. "Place all ships on full alert and escort the empress back to the palace. I will make for the express rail-line and deal with our intruders personally..

Galcian looked towards the Empress. "They will pay for their foolishness, Your Highness. That much I promise.."

---

The wind whipped fast as Vyse stood up on the train's top and shakily found his footing. It was just like being on a rocking ship, he told himself, if that ship was blasting forward at many miles per hour and zipping along yellow moonstone tracks. He held his hands at his side and worked to find a balance until it eventually seemed to come together. Alright, that was the first step.

The second step was making sure that Aika wasn't dead. The redhead had flopped against the metal top and risen to her feet with a look of pure confusion on her face. She rocked back and forth, causing Vyse to hold her close and give her a little shake to draw her back to reality.

"You with me, Spitfire?"

Aika groaned. "You didn't count to three!"

Vyse chuckled. "There wasn't time," he insisted. "Now, c'mon, we need to move further down the train as fast as we can."

He started to walk forward with deliberate strides, Aika at his side. Wind soared about them and the Upper City grew more and more distant behind them as the train speed off. It pressed onwards and away from the city towards rocky mountains. In the distance ahead, a towering monument of metal walls heralded the Grand Fortress' approach.

"They were letting Fina on at the front of the train," Vyse called out over the wind. "We're gonna need to get up there, make sure she's okay and then…" He paused.

"What? Then what?" Aika was waiting for an answer.

"I dunno," Vyse said as he began to pick up the pack and actually jog down the rooftop. "I haven't really been thinking too far ahead!"

Aika raced after him. "We'll need to find a way to help the others find us," she noted. "Because if we're on the train when it reac-"

The entire train rocked and shook as something slammed into it from behind. Turning, Vyse saw another train—which has clearly shot down the tracks at a pace completely eclipsing their own—grinding against the back of the last car. Without ceremony, a powerful looking man with fine clothes and a cunning, goateed face leapt to their train. His eyes were hungry as a beast on the hunt, his aged face stern and cold. He held a huge claymore at his side, yellow moonstone edge gleaming. If Vyse or Aika were to try carrying such a massive and heavy weapon, they'd need to drag it behind them. This man, this stern monument to Valuan power, kept it lightly by his side as if it weighed little more than a child's toy.

"Vyse," Aika began nervously. "Who the heck is that?!"

"I don't know but he looks really mad," Vyse noted. "New plan: run! We need to reach Fina before he gets to us."

The duo turned and immediately rushed up the rumbling train roof, stumbling at points and rushing even though the man behind them didn't even bother to pick up his pace. It didn't take long until there were no more cars left. The pair stopped above a nearby hatch, nodded to each other and opened the entrance to the cabin below. They leapt in and rose to their feet with weapons drawn. It was a spacious enough car with a few benches, perhaps meant for military personnel more than anything else. For a moment all was quiet until Vyse locked eyes on what he'd been looking for: Fina.

The young woman was flanked on either side by two elite Valuan soldiers with mighty pauldrons on their armor and bayoneted arquebuses in their arms. They all turned and Fina's green eyes lit with the most wonderful sort of surprise.

'Vyse! Aika!"

A guard took a step forward to step between the young rogue and his captive. "Who are you?!"

Vyse drew his weapons. "I'm really tired of having to explain it," he said. 'So let's just say I'm the guy whose friend you really shouldn't have taken."

Aika looked at Fina. "Sorry we took so long," she offered. "Are you okay?"

Fina, caught in disbelief, managed to nod.

'If you want her," the guard said. "You'll need to get through us."

Vyse gripped his blades tighter. "Was hoping you'd say that.."

A shot rang out as the Valuan's arquebus fired but the shot went wide as Aika's boomerang slammed into the weapon. The Valuan shoved Fina backwards and out of the fray. Within a moment, Vyse was upon them both. He began to slash and twist, bayonets striking and glancing off his cutlasses in a furious display of righteous fury versus intense martial training. Each attack was matched by the Valuan guard's clear skill. A strike would come in, they would block and try to shove Vyse off balance, and the rogue would somehow recover with desperate speed to handily deal with the two foes easily. It was a gorgeous and all too inconvenient statement. Perhaps if they had the luxury of time, Vyse would wear the soldiers down but that wasn't the case. Not when another foe was slowly making their way to the train car.

Aika watched it all and felt the simmering of an idea in his mind; something that had been awakened in her all the way back on Sailor's Island during her time with Pinta. With a mixture of red magick and some guidance from her boomerang, she could create the perfect attack to deal with the two foes but it also risked burning up Vyse in the process. If only…

Behind them all, Fina watched as her friend and now hero fought off her captives and looked beyond them at Aika. The Silvite's mind wandered until she caught a flicker of Aika's thoughts and saw, in her own mind's eye, what the other woman intended. Fina locked eyes with her friend.

"Aika! Do it!" Her voice called out firmly over the clash of moonstone blades.

Aika seemed confused. "What?!"

"Do it!"

Fina's command was so firm and certain that Aika immediately sprung into action. She poured red magicks into her boomerang's moonstone blade and began to spin it about like a fan blade. In the middle of the melee, Vyse felt a small hand grab him and pull him back out away from the Valuans. A flash filled the car as Fina's eyes lit with a silver glow and she conjured a sort of magical shield around herself and Vyse while Aika discharged an astounding blast of fire from her weapon.

It was the providence of moonstones, the height of her imagined techniques in those moments where the moonberry had filled her mind with arcane knowledge and insight. What name has she and Pinta jokingly given it again? The Alpha Storm? The Lambda Burst? Whatever the case, the train car burst with flame that seer the two Valuans, the rest of which shot off into the night sky in a massive gout of fire visible for miles. Fina held Vyse tight to her, focusing on her barrier. It seemed to crack and buckle only slightly until the fire disappeared entirely. Soon, the barrier faded. All that was left were the fallen Valuans and the trio.

Fina pulled away from Vyse, leaning against the wall. "Vyse… Aika… I don't… How…"

Vyse stood up, offering a hand to Fina. "What do you think? We're here to save you, silly."

The Silvite took the hand and stood up, barely understanding any of it. "You did all this for… me?"

The young rogue looked at her with the deepest admiration and spoke as if the question was the silliest thing in the world. His answer was plain. "You're our friend," he said.

Fina thought she'd understood that word. Rami had been a friend, playing with her and looking after her during all their time back home. He had been an integral part of her to the point that she couldn't have imagined life without him. But then he'd left and she'd been alone for so very long. When they reunited down here, they were no longer friends. This was something else entirely. Vyse and Aika weren't the same as Rami; they were something better. They were not going to say one thing and do another. They weren't going to be there one day and then disappear. No, when Vyse said the word "friend" he meant it in both a wonderfully plain and intensely important way.

They were friends. With all the implications and responsibilities that held. The raw simplicity of it, the sheer beauty of knowing that she had true friends, brought the Silvite woman to tears. She tossed herself into Vyse's arms and cried.

"Thank you," she cried. "Thank you so much!"

Aika wandered over. "Hey, it's okay. We're here now. No way that we were going to let them steal you away."

Fina nodded, peeking up to look at them. "Take me with you," she said even if it didn't need to be said. "Away from this place.."

Vyse nodded, further into the train car. "Everything's alright now," he said. "Now, if we could find a brake or…"

Fina felt something jolt through her mind as a familiar sensation rushed through her being. She was able to warn Vyse just in the nick of time. "Look out!"

A silver sword cut down through the air to slide across Vyse's shoulder, drawing a flash of blood as the pirate shifted into a defensive stance. Vyse brought his cutlasses up in time to parry a fresh strike as a silver-haired warrior made to stab at his neck. Their blades clashed and Vyse retaliated with a fresh cut forward in an attempt to push back whoever it was that had attacked but he found nothing but air. Blood trickled down his arm and splattered against the train car's floor before he realized what was going on.

The tall man from aboard the train's roof stood before him, cold face arrayed in mock apology. To his side, a silver-haired man whose appearance reminded him of Fina stood with a freshly blooded rapier.

"Apologies," the older man said in a deep baritone. "But the reunion ends here."

The silver-haired man made to move again but the older soldier raised a finger to hold the man at bay. He looked at Vyse. "I am Galcian, Lord of the Imperial Armada. You have caused us a great deal of trouble, boy. What is your name?"

Vyse kept his cutlasses ready. Aika stepped in front of Fina and held her own weapon aloft. Yet in spite of all this, Vyse kept a confident smirk. "I'm Vyse of the Blue Rogues," he said. "Are you two the cleaning crew? We tried not to make too much of a mess."

Galcian chuckled. "You're the one who made a fool out of Admiral Alfonso," he noted. "Now.. That girl is useless to you; hand her over to me.. and I will allow you to live. I may even let the rest of your crew survive for the time being. Deal?"

Vyse scoffed. "No way. I have no clue what you want from her but I'd rather die than let you touch her again!"

The silver-haired man at Galcian's side grinned wickedly. "That could be arranged…"

Galcian gave his hand a sweep: "Do you honestly think that after attacking the Valuan Armada you'll be able to fly the skies freely?"

Vyse fixed his eyes upon Galcian. He stood tall and proud. "We don't need your permission for anything... If we see something we want, we take it."

Aika grinned. "Free skies, bucko!"

"That's disappointing," Galcian said tiredly. "I'm afraid you leave us no choice…"
Vyse gripped his weapons tightly, Aika at his side, and prepared to fight until either he was victorious or his muscles wouldn't even allow him to move anymore. He'd fight for days if it meant keeping these two Valuans before him from drawing even one footstep towards Fina. His eyes locked with the silver-haired man before him. The fire in his heart grew hotter in the face of his enemy and just before he was going to make his move…

BAM!

A cannon shot slammed into the train, rocking the car and splitting it in half. Near the front, Galcian and his cohort sped onwards while the other half of the car began to slow down with a screech. He took a step back from the now open floor and moved closer to Fina and Aika. Through the blast of smoke, he could just see as the Valuans drifted further away.

A wonderful burst of motion shifted besides them as the Little Jack burst into view. Her familiar green hull shone in the moonlight as the fishing vessel drew closer to the train car. A powerful looking adornment rested upon the bow: a mighty harpoon on mixed metals and moonstone inlays. On the deck, Captain Dyne and the others beckoned. The ship rose up to meet them.

"Jump, son!" His father called, the ship's deck only somewhat to the train car's side. Aika rushed forward and made the leap first. Vyse turned to Fina, smiled, scooping the woman in his arms before he also hopped across to the ship's deck. The Little Jack peeled off through the mountains and towards the Grand Fortress gate.

Vyse placed Fina carefully down upon the before looking at his father. "You made it to the ship!"

"You found Fina!" His father's voice burst with pride.

Drachma's voice boomed down from the helm. "Ain't no time fer celebration' yet,'' he howled. "All who are able: man a post and take up a cannon. We're pressin' on through the gate!"

The deck burst into action as Dyne's crew took up their familiar positions in unfamiliar surroundings. Cannons were arrayed along each side of the deck as some sailors moved down to take up positions below deck.

Vyse looked at Fina. "Head up to the bridge with the captain," he said. "I'll be safer there."

"No."

Vyse paused. "No?"

"I want to help."

It brought a grin to his face. In the preparations, Aika had come to his side. "She can come with me down into the engine room," she said. "We'll need all the power we can get. Fina… how are your enchantments? Purple magicks?"

Fina smiled shyly before finding some measure of pluck. "I can manage but..."

"Good," Aika said, already on the move. "We're gonna need to keep the engine from overheating as we push..."

Fina's eyes glanced at the harpoon at the front of the deck. "Is that… a weapon?"

Vyse looked at Fina. "Yeah, why?"

She continued to look at it. "That material is…" She looked at Vyse. "Let me stay up here. I have.. an idea.."

"Lass!" Drachma called out again.

Aika began to rush upwards towards the helm and then down towards the engine room. Vyse looked up at the bridge. "Captain! Keep us flying straight shot!"

Drachma called back. "Shut yer gab 'an get ready," the old man said.

The mountains had begun to shift into cold steel walls and walkways as the inside of the pass grew dotted with gun emplacements and the outer fringes of the Grand Fortress. In the distance, the large gateway into the fortress was slowly starting to close. Vyse looked to his father, who nodded.

The young man took it as a cue. He called out to the rest of the rogues with a powerful hollar.

"If any gun even looks at us funny," Vyse ordered his crewmates. "I want you to blast it into bits!"

A roar rang throughout the ship as the Little Jack began to run down the pathways towards the open gate. Cannons belched as the fishing vessel cut by toll stations and miniature defensive encampments. Fire cracked and metal splintered as the tiny vessel pressed deep into the fortress' heart. One shot and then another and then another. Arms once meant to kill a dread arcwhale were now turned against the empire itself. It was like watching a fly destroy a home. The Little Jack pressed on, small as a gnat, and the fortress burned around it.

"Hold, hold!" Dyne voice cut out above the cannonfire. "Ship ahead!"

A Valuan patrol vessel had taken up a valiant position between the gate and the Little Jack, firing offer token shots from its cannons in the hopes of somehow swatting its target out of the air. Loose shot and flying fire sailed by the Little Jack, splintering the odd piece of hull here or there but no nearly

Drachma bellowed. "We ain't slow for anything," he called. His next order carried down to the engine room. "Girl! I want ye t'ready the harpoon cannon. It'll take a minute to charge up the necessary energy…"

All was fire and fury save for one thing: Fina. Vyse suddenly couldn't find her. His heart sank when he finally did.

In the commotion, she was walking upwards towards the bow and the giant harpoon fixed upon the Little Jack's bow. Vyse ran after her, desperately calling her name, and caught up just in time to watch the young woman place a hand upon the weapon's moonstone-speckled metal and watch as she began to channel growing energy into the harpoon itself. It started as a subtle thing, a silvery glow that mixed with the weapon's own yellow magick arcings that spread through the woven moonstones but it grew into a powerfully bright glittering that seemed to emboss the harpoon with a power beyond anything that Vyse had ever seen.

He ran up to Fina's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Fina?"

A voice called out in his mind: trust me.

Vyse held firm at Fina's side as the harpoon grew hotter and hotter with magical light. Behind him, he could hear Drachma and then his father call out the same word: "Brace!"

Pulling Fina aside, he drew her close and kneeled upon the deck before looking back at the crew and shouting a command: "FIRE!"

On the bridge, Drachma flipped a switch. In the engine room, Aika shoveled one last smattering of purple crystals into the ship so as to prevent overheating. On the deck, Dyne and his crew took cover. The Valuan ship ahead of the Little Jack fired one last useless volley. Then, it happened

The harpoon cannon rocketed forward, spear burning bright with Fina's enchantment until it slammed right into the Valuan vessel with a thunderclap. The harpoon seemed to burn even brighter in the moment, magick and machinery working in terrible harmony. Silver light and electric jolts arced from the spear and rippled through the patrol boat. It cracked and started to shatter into pieces. There was a sound like a tin can being crushed and then a thunderous explosion as magical energy ignited and burst.

What remained of the Valuan ship fell lifelessly downwards The harpoon itself grew dimmer as it was retracted and returned to the Little Jack. The path before them was clear. The Little Jack rushed forward, sliding through the last part of the closing gate and off into the open skies.