Chapter 10
Fever
Ebony flapped his wings twice to gain some height and then stretched them open to glide in a semi-circle over the pair. This maneuver, although unnecessary, allowed him more time to study the pirate and the witch and notice the awkward atmosphere that surrounded them. Not knowing what could have possibly caused it or what was best for him to do, he quickly flew once around the girl's head and stopped in front of her face, instantly tilting his head when noticing the look in her eyes. The young witch, his Mistress, was sad and, if he knew her as well as he believed, was very close to tears. He was ready to voice his concerns with a hoarse caw, his only way to openly communicate with her, but she was quicker.
"You got them?"
He cawed instead in confirmation. The simple noise did nothing to hide the fact that he was aware of her hidden emotions. The witch seemed to understand and she shook her head, her lips twisting in one of those fake smiles of hers.
"Then our work here is done, for now."
She turned around, walking away, and he swiftly followed not knowing what else to do. Soon he was landing on her shoulder, using his black wing to brush her face softly as if she was the most fragile thing in the world. The gesture didn't go unnoticed by her as she slightly leaned in the touch, enjoying the familiar feeling of feathers in her skin. The girl didn't look back when she talked again, but the raven knew that her words were meant for the pirate who was now sitting on the edge of the roof, looking far into the night sky.
"You are not coming; I take it."
"I'll be back later."
She closed her eyes.
"As you wish."
Her steps this time were quicker, as if she was trying to get away from the boy as fast as she could, probably because there were tears already running down her cheeks. Ebony knew it wouldn't be long until those tears turned into something more, a thought that become more solid when he realized she was not running towards Shakky's. Shaking its head the raven prepared itself for the inevitable long night that was about to come.
••••••
It was already morning when Ace opened the door to the bar and he was very surprised to find Shakky still awake and waiting. Dark, sharp eyes instantly fell on him and they narrowed slightly upon noticing he was alone.
"Where is she?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he just walked and laid down on the sofa opposite her, his eyes glued to the ceiling.
"Ace, tell me where she is."
The woman's voice was more demanding now and he sighed.
"I don't know. If she's not here already, I don't know where she can possibly be."
"What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know?"
The pirate's eyes never left the ceiling. Not even for a moment.
"We were...separated."
Shakky remained silent for a moment.
"What exactly happened between you two?"
Silence.
"Fine, don't answer. I am tired of worrying about you two. If you want to argue and then disappear then do so, but don't come back to me later crying when something happens to one of you. If not both of you."
She was up in an instant and marching towards the stairs to the second floor, the anger emitting from her enough to shake even Ace's stubbornness. Shakky was already up the first few stairs, so she almost missed the boy's whisper.
"I hugged her."
She froze.
"You..."
"Yes. She was falling and I run, but I wasn't sure I'd make it in time. The next thing I knew she was lying there in front of me and I just...I just hugged her. I wanted to be sure that she was there, alive and I didn't think about it. I just...acted."
The tapping of heels on wood was the only sound that was heard for the next few moments, and then Shakky was standing over him, offering him a glass of what smelled like whiskey. Ace raised himself and moved aside, opening enough space for her to sit next to him and then accepted the glass.
"Drink, and there's more where this came from. When you're ready, we can talk again."
He emptied the glass almost immediately, closing his eyes and enjoying the burning feeling the drink left on his throat. When it was gone he moved the hand with the glass towards the woman and she filled it again. A few more sips, and he placed the once again empty glass down on the table where he proceeded to study it, twirling it slowly around itself.
"She reacted at first and hugged me back, but then I had to ruin it."
"You told her something, didn't you?"
He nodded and looked the barwoman straight in the eyes.
"I told her that I didn't want to lose her."
A look of sympathy and understanding was all he could see in those big black eyes.
"You moved too quickly for her."
He sighed and let his head fall back.
"I know. You tell me to wait the same morning and I go and say this only a few hours later."
"Ace, you couldn't help it. You told me she was falling; you thought she was going to die. Is it really your fault that your emotions got the best of you?"
A small shake of his head was the answer to her question.
"Then why are you so hard on yourself?"
"Because I let her leave without explaining anything more to her and without asking her what I wanted to for quite some time. I regretted it the second she was gone, of course, but I was too damn stubborn to go after her. Maybe I was thinking she'd come back and so I just waited there until the sun was almost out. Then I decided to come here, telling myself she was probably waiting in the dark the way she always does, only to have you tell me she never returned. Shakky, she's missing. She's out there alone because I couldn't control myself. What if something happened to her?"
Instead of answering, the older woman just looked out of the window.
"She's not alone. Ebony is with her."
"A raven can't protect her from everything."
She kept looking outside at the sunny Sabaody.
"No, but he can protect her from herself. Anyway, go to sleep for now, and hope she'll be back soon. I have a feeling this nice weather won't last for long."
••••••
Shakky's words couldn't be more true. Just a few hours passed since he fell asleep, and a loud crack informed him of the raging storm now taking place outside. His worries and fears grew with every passing thunder, but he tried to remain as calm as he could and fall back to sleep instead of running out and screaming Calypso's name.
His patience seemed to eventually pay off when he heard the soft clicking of the bar's door opening, and he was ready to jump on his feet and check if it was indeed the witch, but the sudden sound of coughing was enough to keep him frozen in place. The door was still open, and he could hear the sounds of the storm, the wind blowing through the trees, and the raindrops drumming on the rooftops, but none was as loud to his ears as that coughing, growing louder and more desperate with each passing moment, accompanied by the stressed flapping of wings. Then, he heard the thud of something heavy hitting wood and, in a heartbeat, he was up and rushing to the side of the girl who was lying unconscious on the floor, clothes soaking wet and body cold and shivering violently. For a moment he just stayed there, staring down at her face with his fingers around her wrist trying, with his own fingers now trembling too, to look for her pulse. A pulse he found too weak and yet strong enough to keep him from losing all hope and from growing more desperate. The simple thought that he could still do something to help the witch motivated Ace and he carefully maneuvered his arms around the shivering girl, bringing her close to his chest, and stood up.
"Shakky!"
He repeated the name until he could hear noises from the second floor and then walked towards Calypso's room, leaving the door open behind him so Shakky could easily follow. The woman entered the room not long after him and stopped upon seeing him sitting on the floor with Calypso held flat on his chest, a blanket dropped over his shoulders and around the girl's body. Ebony was sitting on Ace's shoulder but his head was brushing against his owner's damp hair and face. A face Shakky could tell was paler than usual.
When this information was properly registered she ran and knelt next to the boy, her hands swiftly removing the blanket so she could examine the girl better. It didn't take long to notice the dark wet clothes, possibly from being exposed to the rain for a long time, and the trembling. The girl's body was trembling so violently that the usually composed barwoman was now cursing under her breath.
"What happened?"
"She came back a while ago, coughing. Then she collapsed."
Cursing louder the woman forcefully removed Calypso from Ace's arms and started removing her clothes one after the other. The freckled pirate was just sitting there, not moving and holding his breath, a deep blush taking over his face as soon as he realized what the older woman was doing. Only when Shakky started unfastening the black corset and he noticed that the girl was bare underneath did he manage to remove his eyes from the limb figure and look away, his blush deeper than before.
"Why are you still here? Go bring me a change of clothes. Warm ones."
He stood without saying a word and ran towards where he knew the hidden wardrobe was. He started looking around frantically, throwing clothes left and right and not caring for the mess he was making. He didn't have the time to care. Soon he was handing a pair of warm, cotton pajamas to the woman, his brown eyes remaining stubbornly turned away from the now-naked girl. He dared to look back at her only when he heard Shakky muttering something about a towel. Seeing as there wasn't one around, he quickly removed the red shirt he was wearing and handed it over to her. The woman just locked her bright black orbs with his chocolate ones, making no move to take the garment.
"Just take it. This shirt is not more important than her."
A slight nod and the shirt was used to dry the pink mess of hair in the best way possible. When this too was done, Shakky just carried Calypso to the bed and enveloped her with the blanket she and Ace brought from the mall not so long ago. She sat next to the lying form for a while, just until the shivering was mostly gone, brushing the pink locks away from a face that was not as pale anymore. Then she stood up and left, stopping before closing the door to look at the pirate. He hadn't moved an inch from his position next to the bed. His eyes kept staring at the witch's face, her slightly open lips and her closed eyes, and his eyebrows were furrowed in what could be a mix of anger and worry.
"You're staying, I presume?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he got rid of his shoes and slipped under the cover, carefully bringing the sleeping thief towards him and positioning her head to rest on his shoulder. He then moved his free arm protectively around her waist and placed his head in such a way that his lips were touching her forehead, the furrow in between his eyes never leaving.
"I'll take that as a yes."
The woman then closed the door of the candlelit room, knowing that her help was not necessary anymore by either of the occupants, but not before Ebony could follow her to the bar. The front door was left open, forgotten by all of them until now, banging on the wall by the force of the wind and allowing a chill to invade the dark shop. Sighing, Shakky started walking towards the door to close it before it got off its hinges, but was forced to a stop when she stepped into something big and hard. Confused, she glanced down only to find it impossible to see because of the darkness and so she bent down and picked up the foreign object, bringing it closer to her face to examine. A well-timed lightning flash reflected itself on the many surfaces of a dark purple amethyst as big as the palm of the ex-pirate holding it. A second one revealed a bunch of even more gems littering the floor and, a little farther away, a leather bag, half empty since only a few gems were still inside.
Shakky angrily shook her head at the sight and started gathering the scattered stones back in their bag which she then proceeded to throw on the sofa with more strength than necessary.
"Damn Calypso, a bunch of gems aren't worth more than your life."
She then turned to the raven who was sitting on top of the still-open door, its dark glowing eyes never turning away, never blinking.
"Just take them somewhere Ace won't be able to find them. There's no reason for him to know what happened yet."
Ebony simply cawed and flew, diving to grasp the leather bag in his claws and then rising again to soon become one with the darkness at the back of the shop.