FicWad

Chapter 12

Payback time!

We were halfway between the chasm and the intersection when we met Vyse and Fina. They hadn't found much in their room, only some petty gold, so they were quite glad to hear of our discovery. We started to walk back to where the chest was, experiencing rope-swinging for the third time that day. I was a bit suspicious of the remaining branches, but no accidents happened. They were all in a good mood and talked about what they'd do with the winnings, and they suggested that I maybe buy a new ship or upgrade the one I had now. Since where would I put a half chest of diamonds, in my wallet? I felt relieved that we had found the treasure, not to mention that there was some in the first place. And also that the job was done. All that was left was to split it up, and then I would forever leave the three Blue Rogues. But still, it had been nice to just for once work with people who did not only think of about money. Most of the time, I had to put up with people who gladly stabbed each other in the back if they got paid. And not just that, they were good people and that...

Then I quickly reminded myself why I worked alone. It was the truth, I couldn't risk it all again! And also, I was different from others. Not in a positive way, but that's the whole point. No one would like to be together with that sort of person, someone like me. If only Aika would manage to realize that. Okay, so she had saved me from falling to my death in the chasm, I appreciated that, but what bothered me was what she had done when we had opened the treasure chest. It wasn't the hug itself that bothered me, but the fact that I... had actually liked it. I tried my best to not think about it, but the memory of her soft touch kept coming back. This was the danger of working with others. I had built my mind-walls for a reason. I wanted to keep others away.

"Here it is!"

I looked up from my thoughts. Ahead of us was the door leading to the treasure chest's room. We entered; and then Vyse and Fina got a look at our find. Needless to say, they were quite happy.

"Wow, this is just great!" Vyse exclaimed.

"Really so," Fina said as she let her gaze take in all the diamonds.

"So we found it first," said Aika. "Now, how much did we bet?"

"Nice try!" said Vyse. "There were no bets."

Fina didn't seem to listen, instead she looked down at the floor and then raised her head so she had her eyes on the shelf with the swords.

"This shelf has been moved," she said and pointed at some marks on the earthy floor.

Aika and I hadn't noticed it before, but now we could see the semi-circular marks, emitting from the shelf.

"Sounds like a secret door to me!" said Aika. "And you know what that means, right?"

"I'm sorry to say that it's not additional treasure," said Fina. "But me and Vyse found a door in the room we encountered. It seemed to be blocked from the inside. Maybe the rooms are connected."

After getting rid off the swords, we simply pulled the old shelf down. It fell in pieces as it hit the floor. Where it once had stood, a door could be seen. Aika was on it immediately and tried it out. It opened and showed a room pretty much identical to the one we were in, only a little more rectangular.

"This is the room, alright," said Vyse. "Now we'll just walk back. And we don't have to worry about holes in the floor."

The chest itself was quite heavy, so we took a sack from the second room and stuffed it with all the diamonds. We would split it up later. Aika carried the diamonds while Vyse and I took the moonstones. Fina carried a sack of gold that she and Vyse had missed on their look through. Vyse asked her if she could manage it on her own, but she replied that she could carry him if it was necessary. He took it for a "Yes" and then we started to walk. Since we were still there, we decided to go get the swords as well after we had put off our load at the dock, Vyse seemed very enthusiastic about that. Not to mention get the packages that we had to leave behind us. Heavy breathing was mixed with the sounds of our footsteps and the rouges' well-meant bickering. Fina looked a bit strained, but she managed fine. It looked a bit odd to see this demure girl carry a huge sack, but she was a Blue Rogue after all. She was not as frail as she might look like. And the first time I saw her, she had been yelling at that salesman in Nasrad's bazaar. In the back of my head, I wondered if they had recognised me from that day. Probably not, it was just for a few seconds. And besides, most people would only like to see the back of me anyway. But why did it bother me now, when it hadn't done so before?

xXx

Finally, all the treasure was loaded onboard the /Delphinus/. It had been a little hard to get it down to the ship from the dock, but now it was all in the store on the bridge. Fina looked down on her hands and saw that they were still red, they ached a little too, especially after their high-five celebration. She should've wore gloves, but a few calluses wouldn't hurt. It would look good, actually. Fina didn't want be seem like the quiet girl with all looks and no guts. She was a Blue Rogue.

"A successful raid," Vyse said, standing at the ship's wheel. "Let's get out of here."

Vyse set the course straight for the east. They wouldn't need to get up the same way and Crescent Isle lay to the east in the first place. Aika and Esteban stood at their usual place to the starboard side. Fina glanced a bit in their direction. The mercenary had seemed just a tad more talkative since they found the treasure. This was the first time she really thought about it; but he reminded her a bit of Ramirez. All compassion, care and joy seemingly washed away, buried deep within himself. But not entirely. Esteban did care about others, in his own way. Although, he didn't seem to expect anyone else to lift a finger for his sake.

Fina thought about what she had said to Aika this morning: "No one wants to be alone.". Fina herself had been ready to accept new friends, but was it the same with Esteban? It was possible he had given up all hope, whatever had happen to him. If so; she couldn't say she didn't understand him. Back at the silver shrine, Fina had sometimes wondered why she longed for something she might never find again? But she hadn't known she would meet Vyse and Aika. It was never too late for change.

"We'll just travel to the North Ocean and then we'll do the afterburner," said Vyse. "If we're going like last time, we should end up at Crescent Isle."

"Just remember to be ready with the propellers this time," Aika said, smiling just a little teasingly.

Fina pulled the altitude lever towards her, and now the Delphinus rose up in the sky to medium-height. Already they were approaching the twin-cliffs. The time was just afternoon, so they would surely get back to Crescent Isle before evening fell. And then they would divide the treasure. After that, Esteban would be gone. That thought made her sad. Would he ever change? No one did, unless they had a very big reason for it. Fina could only hope that Aika might've given him some insight. Or why didn't she do it, herself? She had to face it; Aika was much better at this. Although Fina loved her new life as a Blue Rogue, she still felt the loss of her old life. In Esteban, she had seen how she might've ended up, emotionally. That was why the thought of her old life at the silver shrine had made her a bit more sad than usual. But it wasn't Esteban's fault, she knew it. Just like Vyse said, it would heal. But she wouldn't be this far if not for her friends. A broken heart couldn't heal on its own. Fina loved her little group.

"Here we are. Fina, raise."

She shrugged off her thoughts, replied with a short "Affirmative" and set the ship in an upwards course.

"Okay, we're soon above the clouds. Soon we'll... WHAT!"

From behind the cliffs, two huge ships suddenly appeared. The ships were almost the half the size of the /Delphinus/, the figureheads resembled skulls, their sails were black as the sin. Not too far-fetched, since they were Black Pirates! One of the ships was much sleeker and armoured than its Black Pirate companion, in the bow was a long spike. They sailed straight towards the /Delphinus/. Already, they threw huge ropes with grapples on the Blue Rogue's ship to make sure their prey wouldn't get away. On both ships, a boarding party waited eagerly.

"Aika! Send more power to the engines, we'll shake them off!"

It seemed to work. The Delphinus moved up slowly with the Black Pirates after her. But after just a few seconds, the two black ships started to move themselves, like it was a gigantic tug-o-war. The Black Pirates won and the Delphinus dropped in height.

"Damn!" said Aika. "I don't suppose we could turn on the afterburner?"

"It'll take too much time," said Vyse. "I guess these guys want to thank us for the last time."

The three ships lay side by side with each other now, then the Black Pirates jumped over. There were maybe ten of them in each group, all dressed in a similar outfit. These weren't just some regulars. They might be a Black Pirate clan, or maybe privateers. As soon as they had reached the deck, they rushed to the door that led into the /Delphinus/.

"Everyone, get ready for battle!" was Vyse's short order.

Already Fina could hear the sound of the Black Pirates, running up the stairs. Vyse and Aika drew their weapons and placed themselves in between the starboard panel row and the platform that housed the captain's chair. Esteban hooked his crossbow off his belt and loaded it with an arrow, then made sure he had his daggers with him. Kneeling on one knee, he took post at the end of Aika's panel row, aiming at the door. Fina could see he looked tense, a bit too tense. Fina herself stood behind the captain's chair, her heart pounding as she prepared her magic. She told Cupil to float over the door and be ready with his weight-form. She didn't like battles at all, but sometimes it was necessary. Like now. Now she could hear the Black Pirates just outside the door. It would start at any second now. She wished she had a weapon, except for her magic. Being born under the silver moon, she excelled in silver magic, but she couldn't use it much now.

Then the door was flung open! Immediately, an arrow flew across the bridge to the door. A yell of pain was heard, but that didn't stop the others pirates that filtered in. Cupil fell down on the first three invaders. He didn't do much damage, but he created some confusion. Vyse and Aika jumped into the fray, taking advantage of the distraction. Fina shot off a ray of ELECRTI, being careful to not hurt her friends. No matter how many there were, only a few could pass through the door at the same time. So far so good, but then more pirates joined in. Vyse and Aika were slowly but oh so surely pushed back. As they were driven back, Fina unleashed a volley of CRYSTALES. Several pirates were frozen but more came. Esteban now fought with daggers, but with no one to watch his back he was driven away. At least the pirates would have three fronts to fight, but it didn't help much.

Then she realized that her friends were over the steering wheel while she was...

"Get her!" screamed one of the Pirates.

... all by herself! Cupil flew to her rescue, but too late. He was smacked away by a red-haired pirate who then leapt up the stairs where Fina stood. She immediately fired a quick WEVLI to drive the pirate off. It worked, but then someone grabbed her from behind! Her arms was locked in a iron-hard grasp. She kicked back, in hope to hit her capture's knee.

"Whoa! Looks like we godda wild one!" said the one who grabbed her.

Fina then thought of what Aika had taught her. She let her head fall forward, her chin rested against her chest. Then she thrust backwards, hoping that the head-butt would hit a target. It did hit, but no effect was achieved, other than some swearing. The next moment, she was lifted up and placed over her capturer's shoulder. Fina wiggled and kicked the pirate in the chest as hard as she could several times, but it was like kicking a stone-wall. Judging from the little she could see of him, he was of enormous built.

"You seem ta have lot'sa spirit in ya!" said the voice. "Let's take you oudda' here, lass."

With that said, the pirate quickly went down the stairs and headed for the door. Fina got one last look at the bridge. Vyse, Aika and Esteban fought like wild huskras. They had seen Fina was abducted, but they couldn't get to her in time! Many Black Pirates lay dead in the room, and she could only hope that her friends would make it. As it looked now, it didn't seem very promising. The pirate rushed out of the bridge, down the stairs and then out on the deck. Fina had her eyes turned towards the bridge, but it was far enough to tell that they stood at the gunwale, farthest out in the bow but to the starboard.

"Chester!" said a new voice. "How is the battle proceeding?"

The big pirate breathed heavily and then said:

"Theyrra' a lot tougher than we thought, but I godda' hostage for us."

Fina could hear some footsteps, and then a new pirate could be seen. This one was dressed in a red long coat and black trousers. His hair was long and blonde, his scarred face was something from a nightmare. He looked Fina in her eyes and grinned appreciatively. A grin straight from hell.

"A nice catch indeed. Tie her up and then return to battle!"

"Uuh, sure capn'," was the reply.

Chester put her down and then he started to tie her hands behind her back. Fina struggled as much as she could, but to no avail. It only seemed to make the captain happier.

"You seem very persistent," the captain said. "That shows you will last longer."

"I'll last longer than you," Fina replied. "You won't get away with this!"

"Oh, don't be too sure, lassie," the captain grinned as he pinched her cheek, his nails dug into her flesh. It hurt, but Fina didn't notice. "Be nice, and you'll be our hostage, if they ever want you back. Continue to oppose me, and we'll keep you for our own pleasure."

All out of sudden, an explosion was heard. For a short moment, Fina thought that the Black Pirates had open fired. But then she saw that the Delphinus' bridge's window had been blown out from the inside. Smoke arose. Both pirates looked up. That was all distraction Fina needed. As only her hands were tied up, she started to run.

"GET HER!" the captain screamed.

But even if Chester was big, he was quite fast. Fina didn't get far until she was grabbed again.

"Thadd's... not... very nice!" he told her as she was dragged back.

"Be careful with her, idiot," said the captain. "Those cats can bite pretty well. Put her on the ship."

And so the last ray of hope died. Fina, the Blue Rogue, had lost. Chester and his captain quickly tied her up and this time made it firm. Then they simply vaulted her over the gunwale. For a short moment she thought she had been thrown overboard, but then she landed on the deck, face down. She was aboard their ship.

"OK, Chester!" she heard the captain say. "I've changed my mind. Go tell the others we're leaving."

"What about her?"

"Ah, just let her lie down for a bit. Blue Rogues are nothing but scum anyway."

Fina could hear some footsteps over at the Delphinus/, and then she was alone. Other than some distant sound of battle, quietness ruled. She tried to get free from her new bindings but with both hands and feet tied up, she had no success. Had Cupil been there, he would've easily cut the ropes off. It was hopeless. All Fina could do was to wait to be brought inside the ship. What would happen to her then? All alone with those Black Pirates. /Male Black Pirates! Her heart froze as she thought of the likely outcome.

Then, Fina heard the sound of running feet. They came closer and soon she both heard and felt that something or someone had landed just next to her. The sound of a knife was heard and then the unmistakably sound of a knife cutting ropes off. She didn't see who it was, though.

"Hey! Get them!"

Fina raised her head and saw that several Black Pirates had moved out from within the ship, and now rushed towards her and her unknown saviour. The last ropes were cut off. As soon as she got up, she noticed that the ship started to loose altitude.

"Quick! Get back!" said a voice she knew very well.

For the first time she got a look at her unknown saviour. It was Esteban! How he had managed to get out of the bridge was beyond her, but that was not important. Not now. The Black Pirates got closer by the second. Fina and Esteban swiftly climbed up on the rail and then jumped up and grabbed the Delphinus' gunwale. But already, the pirates had reached their target. The Black Pirate ship seemed to have stopped to ease the capture. That way, the pirates who grabbed them around their ankles didn't float in thin air, making the Blue Rogues fall down. Fina kicked reflexively, but in vain. Soon she would loose her grip. Then Esteban raised his left hand, the right one still held on to the gunwale. She knew what he would do: shooting himself free. At least he could keep himself up with one hand, Fina couldn't.

"Escape!" he screamed, pointed his hand downwards, and then unleashed a volley of ELECRTI.

All out of sudden, the grip around Fina's feet loosened. She quickly climbed over, safe at last. But the quick relief was then changed to shock. What had happen to Esteban? She quickly turned around and saw him being carried away inside the ship. One of the Black Pirates seemed to have been burned. No, electrified! So that's what Esteban had done! He had taken out the pirate that held Fina, letting himself be... Oh no!

"Stop!" she cried and prepared a wave of WEVLI.

Then suddenly, something hit Fina in the back, something massive. Her heart was crushed, but she forced herself to turn around and unleash the spell that would be used to save Esteban. Chester took the full hit and flew back several meters, Fina herself was pushed against the gunwale, almost falling over. But as Chester hit the ground, he stood up and rushed at her again. Would she have time to attack both the pirates that had taken Esteban and Chester?

"Be gone!" she screamed with a sudden rage that was new to her.

She summoned up an ETERNUM and aimed it all at Chester. Her eyes were closed, so she didn't see him take the hit, fall down and slowly die. With the spell launched, Chester was forgotten for the moment. Fina quickly turned around and saw that the Black Pirates' ship was gone. She looked down from the gunwale and saw the two ships deep down; they sailed in the borders of normal and lower sky, going away from the /Delphinus/. With Esteban onboard. Her hands in front of her eyes, she fell down on her knees, her body convulsing with sobs. It was she who should have been taken, but Esteban had saved her. She would've been their prisoner, but Esteban had sacrificed himself. For her. She should've saved him, but she had failed.

After a few moments, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Fina, are you alright?"

It was Aika. Fina turned her head and looked at her two friends. Her sight was a little muddled from the tears. She could see they were relieved to see her safe, but also worried for...

"Where's Esteban?" Aika asked.

"They took him," said Fina.

She filled them in on what had happened. Vyse and Aika shared some words themselves. How Esteban, in the middle of the fight had picked up his new cannon and blasted a hole in the Delphinus' window, jumping out on the deck. Now the Black Pirates on the bridge were defeated, but back then they had effectively blocked the only way out. Esteban had risked so much to save Fina, all to be captured himself. Just as Aika had said, he was far from a cold-blooded ice-block. The tears on Aika's face gave witness of her sorrow, but they couldn't hide her anger. Vyse was the only one of the three of them who kept himself together, but he was troubled also, least said. Very least said!

"Get back to the bridge," he said with suppressed wrath. "We will not let them get away with this, or with him!"