Chapter 16
The Bounty
Ace remained awake for a long time after Calypso fell asleep, contemplating her words while stroking her hair and watching her slumber. The slight frown on his face betrayed his conflicted emotions about the revelations of her powers, which she considered a weakness. The knowledge that another soul resided inside her, capable of causing as much destruction as he had witnessed, was difficult for him to fully comprehend. He wasn't sure how exactly he could help her control it. He knew it wasn't wise for her to always hide away in fear and that, eventually, she would have to face her other side. He hoped that by training her to grow stronger with her other abilities, he could help her achieve that.
As he pondered the best way to train her, he felt her stir in her sleep, moving closer to nuzzle his side, a sign that she was about to wake up. Smiling, he brushed a few curls off her face and leaned in to kiss the top of her head, meeting her now-open eyes that were studying his face.
"You didn't sleep at all, did you?"
He chuckled and pulled her closer to his body.
"I did for a bit, but I guess I wasn't as tired as you."
Yawning softly, she sat up to stretch before giving him a quick kiss.
"Do you know what time it is?"
Shaking his head, he also stretched.
"Not really. But I can still bring my princess some breakfast in bed if she desires. She must be really hungry."
Calypso's cheeks flushed at the nickname, but she nodded, her stomach growling slightly.
"Your princess wouldn't mind, Mister Portgas. She would also like sweets for breakfast. Lots of them."
The pirate shook his head and stood from the bed to walk for the door after covering her back again with her blanket.
"Your wish is my command."
He then walked to the door and outside to the bar to find Shakky enjoying her morning coffee. The woman looked at him with a warm smile when he entered and placed the newspaper she was holding down on the bar.
"Good morning. Here for breakfast, I assume?"
The boy nodded and sat on a stool, his eyes already scanning the front of the paper, smiling when he saw nothing about Calypso on it. Pulling the paper closer to start leafing through it, he turned to the barwoman who had just returned from the kitchen.
"Is there anything interesting in the papers today?"
Shakky smiled when she saw him already going through the pages and focused on preparing food for him and the girl back in the room.
"I didn't have a chance to finish it yet. I've only been through a couple pages. Do you see anything of interest?"
He was about to answer negatively when he turned to a page with a drawn picture on it. The person in the picture looked familiar, and it didn't take him long to recognize a detailed drawing of his lover on a wanted poster. His throat instantly dried up, and he swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he read the attached article, which confirmed his fears that the survivors had recognized and pointed to Calypso as the murderer. The article was going on to describe her as some sort of ruthless killer that wouldn't hesitate to kill someone in plain sight and that needed to be apprehended as soon as possible for the safety of others. His eyes opened wide. He turned to Shakky and slid the paper toward her.
"Shakky, take a look at this."
The barwoman walked to the bar, and soon her curious expression turned to shock, with some ash from her cigarette also dropping on the drawing.
"Oh no…"
Ace swallowed again and looked at her with pain in his eyes.
"If I show this to her she'll be depressed again, and it took a lot of effort for her to accept that what happened wasn't really her fault."
The older woman sighed and stared at him.
"She needs to know, Ace. Maybe not all the details, but she definitely needs to know she has a bounty now."
Her eyes closed momentarily as she leaned on the bar, her face hidden behind her hands.
"This girl is all about protecting you, and having a bounty will mean she will need to find other ways to do so. Maybe we can tell her only what is necessary to know so you can both stay safe."
The pirate's frown increased as he considered the woman's words carefully.
"Meaning what? That I tell her there is a bounty out for her that you saw while out for an errant?"
Shakky took hold of the pack of wanted posters that came with the newspaper and started leafing through them until she found Calypso's, which she handed to Ace.
"Just give her this. I will make sure the newspaper is gone before she comes out of her room."
She then turned to grab the tray of food to bring to him, a small, reassuring smile on her lips.
"Now take this and go back to her. She's probably already wondering what's taking too long."
Ace rolled up the wanted poster and put it in his back pocket before reaching for the tray to carefully take a hold of it.
"I hope you made her some hot chocolate too. She's going to need it to cheer her up after I tell her the news…"
The barwoman chuckled and gave him a warm smile.
"Of course I did. I know she'd be expecting one anyway."
The young man smiled back and started for the room he shared with his witch, his steps careful so he wouldn't drop the tray as he considered how to break the news to her. Before entering the room, he stopped to take a deep breath to calm himself and smiled as he pushed the door open.
"I have your offerings, my lady!"
He walked the steps to place the tray on the lap of the now-grinning girl who was already eyeing the sweets.
"So many sweets!"
"Of course there are. You specifically requested them, and as you know, your wish is my command."
Calypso turned to give him a loving smile and brush his cheek as he moved to lie by her side.
"Thank you, love."
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"For bringing you the food?"
She shook her head.
"For everything you have done for me, and for loving me no matter the troubles I cause you."
Ace simply moved to ruffle her hair and peck her cheek.
"You are the best kind of trouble, Cal. Now go on and eat. Shakky even made you your favorite drink."
The girl's smile grew, and she focused her attention on the food while he kept staring at her, his smile growing sad as he knew he'd soon have to take all this happiness she felt away. As if sensing his thoughts, Calypso stopped eating and stared at him, frowning when she noted his expression and the pain he was trying to hide that his eyes betrayed.
"Ace, what's wrong?"
His attention was on her again, and his eyes stared at her with panic. In the end, he shook his head and gave her a strained smile.
"Nothing's wrong. I just got a bit distracted, that's all."
Her eyes squinted suspiciously at him as she kept studying him, noting the slight twitch of his eyebrow. Sighing deeply, she moved the tray to her nightstand and turned around so she would face him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Ace, please. I can tell something's bothering you and that you're worried about it. I want to know what it is."
"Eat first. I promise to tell you after."
There was now anger and annoyance in her eyes, and she did nothing to try and hide it.
"I am no longer hungry, so you can tell me."
Lowering his head in defeat, he reached to bring forth the rolled-up paper and offered it to her, his eyes avoiding hers.
"Here…"
She didn't hesitate to unroll the paper, soon staring into the drawn picture of her wanted poster. For a while she didn't move or speak, staring instead at the paper with a blank expression, her eyes darting from the picture to the number underneath. Eventually, she turned to him with a slight smirk on her lips.
"That's a big number for just a few murders. It looks like they consider me a real threat."
Ace's expression turned to one of shock, as this was definitely not the reaction he was expecting from her. He was expecting panic, tears, and maybe some anger, but instead she looked accepting of what happened and willing to even joke about it.
"You seem surprised…"
"I am. I didn't expect you to react so calmly."
Her eyes moved to the poster again and she moved to stroke it.
"I was expecting this to happen to be honest. I don't recall everything that I did when I lost control, but I am sure that I didn't kill everyone. People talk, especially when they have been attacked."
She pointed to the name over her bounty and her smirk grew.
"Also, look at this cool name they gave me. The Nightstalker. I like it. I think I'll keep it!"
Ace couldn't help but giggle at her words.
"I guess they had to call you something since they didn't know your real name. Although I have to admit that 'Nightstalker' Calypso has a nice ring to it."
She giggled too before stopping to look at him with a sad smile, one of her hands reaching to hold his and stroke it.
"Still, this will make things more difficult for us. I will no longer be able to walk around freely like before."
"I wouldn't be so sure about this. I mean...they don't have a proper picture of you yet. People may not recognize you from just a sketch."
She raised an eyebrow at his words and raised the poster to point at her drawn face.
"Ace, they know the color of my eyes. This is something very distinctive, even without a proper picture. It won't be as easy for me to evade bounty hunters, especially considering one of them has already seen me."
It took him a while to understand what she was talking about, and when he did, he facepalmed. He had forgotten about the band of bounty hunters they had already met twice before and only barely managed to escape from.
"Last time he only had his eyes on me for a bounty, even though he had no idea who I was. Now he will have a proper prize for you that he will wish to collect on for sure."
She gave him a slight nod.
"Not only does he know about both of us, but he also has a rough idea of where we frequent. He'll definitely keep an eye out for us, if not start actively looking for us."
A slight panic seemed to take over the pirate, who moved to pull his lover into a tight embrace, causing her to smile.
"We could always fight him if he comes too close. Although there may be another solution..."
Her eyes instantly moved to look into his face, her curiosity evident in them.
"What other solution?"
Ace placed a kiss on the top of her head and smiled.
"We can travel. A moving target is not so easy to find. Maybe we can even board Red Hair's ship and travel with him. No one will easily mess with an Emperor."
She remained silent, a deep frown in her face. His idea was logical, but she knew it would be impossible to achieve. After a few moments of staring at him in silence, she broke the embrace and moved to increase the space between them, causing the pirate's smile to disappear and once again turn into a frown.
"Traveling with Shanks is not an option."
"Why not? I'm sure he'll agree to take us to the New World with him. Once there, we can do as we please."
"First of all, I doubt he'll be back soon, and even if he is, we can't easily sail to the New World."
"I never said it'd be easy, Cal, but it won't be if we stay here, always looking over our shoulders and waiting to be caught."
Ace reached for her hand again, only for her to flinch when he touched it and bite her lip. Ebony, sensing her internal turmoil, flew from his nest and landed on her shoulder, letting out a worried caw as he stroked her cheek with his wing. The appearance of the bird was all Ace needed to confirm that something was wrong and that Calypso was once again holding back information he needed to know. This time, when he reached for her hand, he made sure to hold it securely in his.
"Cal, talk to me. What is it about traveling to the New World that scares you so much?"
Tears escaped the corners of her eyes, and she rushed to brush them away with her free hand. She avoided looking at him when she spoke again.
"If I tell you, you'll be angry. Sad too."
He gave her a reassuring smile and brought his hand to try and turn her head so she could look at him. Eventually she relented and stared into his eyes with her tearful ones.
"I promise you I won't be mad, love."
After a few moments of studying his expression and body language she nodded and let out a soft sigh, as she knew there was no easy way to tell him what he wanted to know.
"I am dying."
His smile disappeared instantly and he moved closer to her, his hands now cupping her face as he wanted to look at her when she answered his next question.
"Are you sick?"
Her heterochromatic eyes kept staring into his as she let more tears escape them, and she bit her lip softly.
"I have been sick since the day I left home."
Ace now understood why she thought he'd be angry, yet he tried to remain calm so he'd keep his promise to her.
"Are you telling me that leaving your island made you sick?"
She answered with a nod before she started elaborating.
"It doesn't seem to happen instantly, but after a while of being away, I could feel my body start weakening. There are no records of other people leaving the island for me to know if it affects everyone the same way, although I have a feeling how long someone lasts depends on the individual."
She gave him a sad smile and leaned into his touch.
"I have been away from home for almost four years, and I can feel my body reaching its limit. I know I don't have much longer. Maybe a year…"
The pirate felt his body temperature rise in response to her words as his anger started becoming too difficult to control.
"And all this to do what exactly? Save me and protect me?"
His voice was tense, and he felt her body stiffening in response; her voice was lower when she answered.
"I told you that I couldn't let you die. And I tried as hard as I could to keep you away, even though I loved you. I wanted to save you the pain when I died."
Ace finally made sense of that conversation he had accidentally overheard between Calypso and Shakky back when he first woke up, and he also recalled how Calypso was getting more easily tired lately than in the beginning. Closing his eyes, he shook his head and moved back so he could look at her better.
"Damn it, Calypso, it would have been alright if I had died! I was a stranger to you for you to kill yourself over me!"
The look she gave him now was a glare filled with fury that not even her tears could diminish.
"I have told you before! I couldn't let you die because I loved you!"
He stood up from the bed and started pacing around to try and push back his frustration. When he stopped, he stared at her, confusion visible in his expression.
"Explain that to me! How can you love a man you never met? I'm honestly curious because, the way you say it, it was enough to risk your own life to do so. To still risk it with every breath you take!"
The raven on her shoulder cawed at him angrily as he sensed his outburst hurting the girl, but she raised a hand to calm him. Her body started trembling, yet she never took her eyes away from him.
"The first time I dreamed of the War I was only a child. I had dreams about it and about your death every night after that moment. In a way, you and the War were the only constants in my life. Can you really blame me for falling for you?"
For a long moment, he felt winded and not sure how to react to such a revelation. Without noticing, he took the couple steps to the edge of the bed and sat down.
"That's...not what I expected to hear…"
He noticed how she was now hugging herself while her raven tried to comfort her, and he felt a familiar pain in his chest that forced his eyes away from her.
"I have so many questions now. What made you fall for me? Was it pity? My looks? What I went through?"
Calypso brushed her tears again and looked at him with a sad smile.
"When I was older, it was also your looks, but, I think, it was mostly how everyone loved and fought for you that originally made me attracted to you. I kind of wish it could be the same for me…"
She lowered her eyes and blushed slightly.
"I felt that for them to go to such lengths to keep you safe, you were really worthy of love. Even the love of someone like me."
With tears now also in his eyes, he pulled her closer and into a tight embrace, his hand brushing her hair and back as he felt her body tremble as she cried.
"I...understand. At least everything makes sense now."
"I'm sorry! I should have tried harder to keep you away…"
He shook his head and kissed the top of her head as he shushed her.
"You don't get to regret it now, Calypso. The time to regret all this was before you made me fall for you too. Now it's not just your problem; it's ours. And we will fight it together."
Her only reply was a nod and the movement of her arms, which moved to embrace him back as she nuzzled his chest, her trembling and cries slowly receding. He nuzzled her hair too before moving to have a better look at her face.
"Are you feeling better now?"
She nodded and gave him a sad smile.
"I am. And I am sorry for all the pain I will cause you in the future."
The look he gave her was one of confusion.
"What are you talking about? What pain?"
Her expression mirrored his.
"I speak of when I die. Even if we do leave here, you now know I don't have long to live."
He laughed loudly, causing her expression to twist more in confusion.
"Calypso, you can be really dense sometimes. There is no way I am letting you die. I am going to drag you back to that island of yours so you can be healthy again, and if anyone has a problem with me or you when we get there, they will get the end of my flaming fist in their face."
Her confusion now gave way to resignation.
"I am a criminal on my island, Ace. If you take me there, I'll die for sure. If they decide they don't want to kill me, then I'll probably be locked away for the rest of my life."
The young man simply shook his head and smiled brightly.
"I refuse to accept this. There's no way your family won't support you. Even if they are afraid of Nemesis, they'll have to accept that I can help you control her. After all, I promised you I'd train you. Once they see how well you control her and your powers, they'll have to agree you are no longer a threat."
She pulled him down for a quick kiss as she let a few tears run down her cheek and then pressed her forehead against his.
"The night I left was one of the times Nemesis came out. I attacked those who came to stop me, and I also attacked a good friend of mine. The last thing I remember is her lying in a pool of blood. It's not only Nemesis or me leaving the island that makes me a criminal. I also have the blood of my people in my hands."
"Calypso, I'd go face all these a hundred times over having you die off out here."
His words brought a smile to her face, and she pecked the tip of his nose.
"It's no use talking about this anyway. I don't know the way home."
"How is that possible? Where is this place?"
"Somewhere in the Florian Triangle, if my calculations are correct."
His eyes fell to her desk and the huge tome she was studying lately, which made the reason for her fascination and interest in legends now clear in his mind.
"Yeah, I suppose that makes it a hard place to find."
A hand reached for his face to stroke his cheek.
"Ace, it's alright. I have come to accept my fate if it means I get to spend the rest of my days with you."
The pirate just gave her a weird look.
"I need you to hear what you just said, think of everything that you said before, and then tell me if you are crazy or not. Because after everything you told me today, there is no way I'm just going to let you die. We are going to find that damn island!"
She let her exasperation become known with a roll of her eyes.
"Ace, how are we going to achieve this? We have no ship, no crew; I am a wanted woman, and you are hiding. Even if we do eventually sail, after a while I'll just get so weak I won't be able to move, and if we are ever in danger, I'll just be a burden."
The pirate pouted slightly and poked her cheek with his finger.
"We have friends, silly woman, who will help us if we ask. Shakky, Uncle Ray, and even Shanks and his crew."
"Uncle Ray is away training Luffy, and Shakky can't just leave her bar to sail on a fool's errant. Come on, Ace, just let it go."
"No. I'm going to let it settle for now, but I am not letting this go. You didn't do so when it came to me dying, so you don't get to ask me to quit."
Calypso fell silent and lowered her head, unsure of what to say. Huffing, he pulled her closer.
"I am not quitting on you."
Her eyes remained away from him when she spoke.
"It will be easier for you if you do, though. You now have a life you can live, Ace."
"You know me well enough by now to understand that this is not who I am. Especially not for a life without my girl. It won't be much of a life without you."
The smile decorating her lips was now sad.
"I can't say I don't understand the way you think, but you need to remember that this is all a choice I made myself from the beginning, knowing well enough how it will end. One life for another. Mine, for yours. This way, the scales of Fate will remain balanced."
"Well then, I choose to spend the rest of my life with you, trying to find your island. If you are going to die anyway, I'll at least send you off knowing I did everything I could to save you. It's this simple."
More tears escaped her eyes as she turned to look at him.
"Then I guess I can't change your mind and save you the pain."
"No, you can't."
His hand moved to brush her tears away once more, a wide grin on his face.
"I didn't care to know much about Roger, but one thing I know of him is that, even though he knew he would die, he set out to sea and made the most out of the time he had. He lived his life and did what no one else had done before. Let's take a clue from him. Even if I can't save you, let's not spend the rest of our time together in tears."
She returned his grin with one of her own and moved to give him a desperate kiss, nuzzling his face after breaking it.
"I can promise you I'll try. But you better prepare to care for me when I start getting sicker."
"Like feeding you and carrying you from the bathtub to your bed?"
"And carry me on your back so we can watch the sunset and the stars together."
"It's a deal."
He kissed her again, softly and tenderly this time.
"I do love you, my flaming dream. I hope you know that all I do and say is because of this."
"I know. You've shown me more than once that this is what I can expect from you. After all, you are literally willing to die for me. I don't know what proves your love better if not this."
The smile she gave him next made his heart skip a beat, and he eagerly returned it before his eyes fell on Ebony grooming his feathers on the foot of the bed, causing him to remember something.
"Calypso, it just dawned on me that you never met the tiger you saved in person."
Both the girl and the raven looked at him, the later letting out a short caw, which caused the witch to give her feathered companion a glare before turning to the pirate again with a slight frown.
"Indeed. I did what I did for him and didn't even have the chance to meet him properly. Where is he?"
Ace pointed towards the door.
"Shakky is probably pampering him like the huge baby he is, but I am sure she won't mind it if I steal him for a moment."
Calypso smiled and nodded, crawling out of his embrace to sit against her pillows, an action that caused him to pout slightly. Still, he stood up and walked outside of the room, soon returning with the tiger in his arms. The tiger was happily purring and playfully trying to bite his hand only to hiss when his wounds caught fire, a sight that caused both the pirate and the witch to giggle. Soon, Ace was sitting next to her, presenting the tiger to her with a proud smile.
"Here he is. He has grown a bit fatter since last you saw him, and of course he has come out of his shell."
The tiger stopped struggling to escape his hold when he noticed the woman in the room and gave her a curious look that she returned with a loving one. Careful not to scare the little animal, she brought a hand close to its face so it could smell her. After a while, the tiger started licking her fingers, which meant she could now pet it, keeping her eyes on her lover while she did.
"So, what's his name?"
Ace gave her a confused look and placed the tiger down so it could move around freely.
"What do you mean? You saved him; I thought you'd want to name him yourself."
She just gave him a small smile and stroked the animal's fur, causing her raven to complain and fly on her lap to demand some attention from her.
"Ace, I saved him for you. I wanted you to not be fully alone when I died, and I felt that this tiger would be for you what Ebony is for me."
His eyes opened wide at her words, and he stared at her before looking down at the animal that was now trying to claw at Ebony's tail, causing him to flap his wings angrily and try to poke the tiger with his beak.
"I see...In this case, I may have a name for him."
Calypso kept staring at him with anticipation.
"When we were young, we used to be three brothers. Me, Luffy, and...Sabo. Unfortunately, Sabo died when we were still kids, murdered by a Celestial Dragon."
There was rage in his eyes for a while, which he shook away and reached to also pet the tiger himself.
"I'd like this tiger to have his name. This way, I will always feel my brother close, and maybe Sabo's spirit will help him grow into a strong and proud tiger."
The witch smiled warmly and held his hand, squeezing it softly.
"I think I like this name."
"I want him to like it too. I'm not going to name him something he doesn't like."
She motioned to the tiger that was looking up at them with interest.
"Ask him then. I'll know if he likes it or not."
Ace nodded and raised the tiger so it would be at his eye level.
"What do you think about being named after my brother, Sabo?"
The cub stared at him for a few moments before mewling happily, causing the young woman's smile to grow.
"He likes it!"
"I am glad you do, Sabo. I am sure you'll grow up to become as strong as your uncle."
"Oh, he'll definitely become big enough for you to ride. I won't be surprised if his size triples in the next few months."
The pirate smiled and cuddled the purring tiger tenderly.
"Then I guess I'll also have to train him too so he can be able to fight all the evil men that may come after us!"
His words caused Calypso to smirk playfully.
"Speaking of training, you did say we'll start doing so when we wake up. Maybe it's time for my first lesson?"
He smirked back and winked.
"Fine then, princess. Go get dressed while I go ask Shakky to pack some lunch for us, and then we'll go find a quiet place to train."
The witch cheered and rushed to do as instructed, a hum already escaping her lips.
••••••
At the same time, in another part of Sabaody, a bounty hunter barged into his band's hideout with a poster in his hand. Still wheezing, he looked at his boss who was resting behind a desk with his legs on it, holding a half-empty bottle.
"Boss! There's something you need to see!"
The older bounty hunter eyed his underling as he took a generous sip from the bottle.
"Why ya bargin in 'ere like this? I was restin'."
The bounty hunter swallowed and walked to the desk, raising the poster in his hand for his boss to have a good look.
"Boss, look! This is the girl we have seen around with this man we think is a pirate! It looks like she also has a bounty, and a big one to top that!"
His boss sat up and grabbed the wanted poster to bring it closer to his face, his eyes focusing on the image of the woman with the mesmerizing eyes. Slowly, a wolfish grin appeared on his lips.
"Looks like that lass wasn't just a pretty face after all...A bounty o' forty-six million means the Seagulls will do anythin' t' get 'er. Thankfully, we have a good idea where t' start lookin' for 'em both."
The underling looked at his boss with curiosity.
"You think that man will still be with her?"
His boss eyed him, and his smirk grew.
"Lad seemed t' be madly in love. They'll definitely be together."
"But Boss...We don't know who that man is yet. We were unable to find any information, no matter how hard we looked."
The older man turned to stare at a stack of papers on the desk, his brow furrowed as he seemed to be considering something when his eyes fell on an old newspaper on the top of the pile.
"I 'ave an idea who that lad is, but no way t' prove it…"
His underling glanced at the paper about the war in Marineford.
"Boss, you don't think that man was-"
The other man banged his hand on the desk hard enough to silence him and gave him a furious glare.
"I said I've no way t' prove it, but my senses are tellin' me it's 'im!"
He pointed to the poster of the woman, and his frown darkened.
"She's in the middle o' this; my instincts tell me so. And Grizzled Gouger's instincts are ne'er wrong…"
The young man nodded, sweat already on his face as he gulped.
"So am I to tell the others we have a new target?"
Gouger nodded and sat back in his chair.
"Yes. An' bring me that Transponder Snail. I need t' call that Seagull we work with."
The underling bowed and rushed out of the room to fulfill his boss's order.
••••••
On the other end of the Grand Line, a young woman landed on the deck of her ship and swiftly made her way across it towards the cabin of her captain, a cheerful hum accompanying her that didn't stop even when she opened the door to the cabin. The woman and the man sitting around the table studying a map of the Grand Line looked up, the former pursing her lips with suspicion.
"I asked not to be disturbed."
The younger woman laughed loudly and moved to sit on the table, successfully covering most of the map with her body and veils.
"But I have some delicious news for you. News you'd both die to know…"
The man crossed his arms over his chest as he noticed the newspaper in the woman's hands.
"What is in there?"
Sky-blue eyes fell on the newspaper before hiding it from sight.
"No, not yet. First…"
She brought forth a wanted poster that she raised for both people to see, enjoying their gasps of shock. The man was already patting his vest for his pipe, only for the woman at his side to reach in his pocket and give it to him.
"This is a bounty!"
"Yes, it is."
"Why a bounty?"
She revealed the newspaper again and opened it to the article about the murder in Sabaody.
"Apparently she is wanted for murder."
The older woman reached to touch a scar on her chest as she read the article. In the end, she smiled.
"That's good news."
The man had another outburst at her words.
"How is this good news? They talk about murder!"
Her sharp, yellow eyes were on him, and she reached to squeeze his shoulder.
"They do. But now we also know where to look."
She pointed at the shape on the map close to the Red Line and smirked.
"This is where we need to go to find her."
The other woman giggled and sat up to twirl around.
"Oh, this will be so fun! I wonder if we'll get there in time…"
This time the yellow eyes were on her, glaring intensely.
"We will. A lot depends on it. Now go! Both of you! I need this ship ready to sail as soon as possible. We're going to the Sabaody Archipelago."